Usage

There are several ways to get the desired profile to run during the VM lifecycle:

1. Attach vRA Property Group to vRA Blueprint

When the SovLabs Configuration is created, a vRA property group for that configuration is also created. That Property Group contains a custom property of SovLabs_NotificationGroup with a value of the profile name.

By setting this property to the profile name, we enable that profile to run during the machine’s lifecycle.
The vRA Event Broker Subscription (EBS) created during the configuration of the SovLabs modules controls the order in which the various integrations will run.

The easiest way to enable the profile for your build is to add the SovLabs Property group to the vRA blueprint, either at the blueprint level, or at the machine level.

1. Login to vRealize Automation.
2. Click on the Design tab > Blueprints
3. Click the blueprint name to Edit it
   1. Click on the vSphere machine component on the Blueprint Design Canvas
   2. Click on the Properties tab
   3. In the Property Groups section, add the vRA property group for Notifications:
      • Property Group name: SovLabs_NotificationGroup

Repeat for all desired vRA blueprints and provision!

2. Set the SovLabs Custom Property to the desired profile name

Instead of adding a Property Group to the blueprint, a more streamlined method is to simply set the SovLabs Custom Property to the desired profile name.

This can be done with the Profile Name as a hardcoded value.

For the Notifications module, the SovLabs Custom Property is SovLabs_NotificationGroup

3. The SovLabs profile can be chosen dynamically using the SovLabs Template Engine

For this example, assume there is a vRA Custom Property called location and it’s value is set to “Norcross”.
If we want to use one Notifications profile for the “Norcross” location and different one for any other location, you could write a template that does this:

if location is “Norcross”, set the SovLabs_NotificationGroup property to
my_Notifications_profileA
otherwise set it to
my_Notifications_profileB

Template Syntax: {% if location == "Norcross" %}my_Notifications_profileA{% else %}my_Notifications_profileB{% endif %}

Result: SovLabs_NotificationGroup is set to my_Notifications_profileA

If location had been set to something other than “Norcross”, the result: SovLabs_NotificationGroup is set to my_Notifications_profileB

*See documentation on the SovLabs Template Engine and the SovLabs Template Tester .

Disable

If you enabled the integration by adding the Property Group to the Blueprint, remove it

1. Login to the vRA tenant
2. Click on the Design tab > Blueprints
3. Hover over the desired blueprint name and click Edit
   1. Click on the vSphere machine component on the Blueprint Design Canvas
   2. Click on the Properties tab
   3. In the Property Groups section, remove the vRA property group for Notifications:
      • Property Group name: SovLabs_NotificationGroup

Repeat Step 3 for all desired blueprints

Or, unpublish the Event Broker Subscriptions for Notifications (Recommended)

Unpublishing the Event Broker Subscriptions is a non-destructive and simple way to disable the workflows for SovLabs module Notifications module from running for all builds.

1. Login to the vRA tenant
2. Click on the Administration tab -> Events -> Subscriptions
3. Highlight the Event Broker subscription and click Unpublish

The vRA EBS will go to “Draft” mode and will not execute until you click “Publish” to publish it again.

Manage Notification Message Server

1. Login to vRA tenant
2. Click on the Catalog tab
3. Request the Manage Notification Message Server vRA Catalog Item
4. Fill out the form accordingly (see below) and Submit

Manage Notification Message Server

Create, update or delete a SovLabs Notification Message Server

Field	Value
Action	Choose whether to create, update or delete a SovLabs Notification Message Server
Message Server	Shown when 'Action' is Update or Delete Select an existing SovLabs Notification Email Group to update or delete
Configuration label	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update No spaces, periods or special characters except underscore (_) and dash (-) Unique label DO NOT prepend with your tenant name and an underscore, e.g. mytenant_
Address	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Message Server address
Port	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Message Server port
Type	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Select the notification message type
Protocol	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Select the message server protocol based on Type selected above
Enable SSL?	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Check only if SSL is enabled on the message server
Message Server HTTP verb	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update and 'Message type' is WebService Select the HTTP Verb The HTTP verb used must be in the message body content to properly direct the server's behavior. The Notifications module does not modify URL with parameters.
Enable credential?	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Check only if credentials are enabled on the message server
Enable STARTTLS?	Shown when 'New Message Server?' is checked and 'Message type' is Email Check to enable STARTTLS
Network timeout	Shown when 'New Message Server?' is checked Defaulted to 6000. Update accordingly
Credential Configuration for Message Server Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update and 'Enable credential?' is checked
Create credential?	Check the checkbox to create a new credential. Uncheck the checkbox to use an existing credential.
Credential	Shown when 'Create credential?' is not checked Select the appropriate credential from an existing list of credentials
Credential Configuration label	Shown when 'Create credential?' is checked No spaces, periods or special characters except underscore (_) and dash (-) Unique label DO NOT prepend with your tenant name and an underscore, e.g. mytenant_
Username	Shown when 'Create credential?' is checked Username that has necessary permissions
Password	Shown when 'Create credential?' is checked User's password

Manage Notification Email Group

1. Login to vRA tenant
2. Click on the Catalog tab
3. Request the Manage Notification Email Group vRA Catalog Item
4. Fill out the form accordingly (see below) and Submit

Manage Notification Email Group

Field	Value
Action	Choose whether to create, update or delete a SovLabs Notification Email Group
Email Group	Shown when 'Action' is Update or Delete Select an existing SovLabs Notification Email Group to update or delete
Configuration label	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update No spaces, periods or special characters except underscore (_) and dash (-) Unique label DO NOT prepend with your tenant name and an underscore, e.g. mytenant_
To addresses	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Enter all the email addresses to send the notifications TO This field is templatable. Click the link below to view documentation on the SovLabs Template Engine SovLabs Template Engine page
CC addresses	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Enter all the CC email addresses to send the notifications to This field is templatable. Click the link below to view documentation on the SovLabs Template Engine SovLabs Template Engine page
BCC addresses	Shown when 'Action' is Create or Update Enter all the BCC email addresses to send the notifications to This field is templatable. Click the link below to view documentation on the SovLabs Template Engine SovLabs Template Engine page