Chris Childers Blog

Deploying VMM 2012 Service Templates with Powershell

2012-03-20T12:21:00Z

One of the most exciting capabilities in System Center 2012 is the ability to deploy applications using Service Templates. Service templates allow us to define a logical model of an application and its infrastructure requirements. Once we have a Service Template defined in Virtual Machine Manager 2012 (VMM 2012) we can assign who has access deploy it to into a Private Cloud. We typically manually deploy a Service Template via App Controller or the VMM 2012 Console. But what if we want to automate the deployment? We can accomplish this using the VMM 2012 PowerShell Cmdlets.

My goal in this post is to provide you with a basic walkthrough of the Cmdlets and sequence needed to deploy a Service Template in VMM 2012 with PowerShell. To illustrate this process, I’m using the Stocktrader sample application and Service Template. I’m running VMM 2012 RC and I have the Stocktrader sample Service Template imported into my library. My examples do not include error checking and validation that you would want to add in an operational environment.

Let’s jump into the example:

# We need the VMM Server, Release and Cloud as inputs

param([string]$VMMServer, [string]$Release, [string]$CloudName)

# Check to see if the VMM module is loaded

$ImportCheck = Get-Module|where { $_.Name -eq "virtualmachinemanager" }

if (-not $ImportCheck){import-module virtualmachinemanager}

# We set the static variables we need.

$ServiceTemplateName=" Stocktrader Service"

$ServiceConfigName = " Stocktrader Service"

$SQLTierConfiguration="*SQL*"

$WEBTierConfiguration="*WEB*"

$OPTierConfiguration="*OP*"

$BSLTierConfiguration="*BSL*"

$ParameterList=@()

$ParameterList+=@{Name="configadmin";Value="configadmin"}

$ParameterList+=@{Name="configadminPassword";Value="Passw0rd"}

# Connect to the VMM server

$VMMServerObj=Get-SCVMMServer -ComputerName $VMMServer

# First we need to set a variable that references our cloud object.

# We use Get-SCCloud to reference the Cloud object that we passed into the script.

$Cloud = Get-SCCloud -Name $CloudName

# We need to find the correct version of the Service Template that we want to deploy.

# We use Get-SCServiceTemplate to find the Stocktrader Service with the correct version number.

$ServiceTemplate = Get-SCServiceTemplate -Name "Stocktrader Service"| where { $_.Release -match $Release }

Get-SCServiceConfiguration -Name $ServiceConfigName | Remove-SCServiceConfiguration

# The next set of commands creates a new Service Configuration object.

# By default the Service Configuration will only exist temporarily until the deployment is complete.

$ServiceConfig = New-SCServiceConfiguration -ServiceTemplate $ServiceTemplate -Name $ServiceConfigName -Cloud $Cloud -ServicePriority High

# We use Update-SCServiceConfiguration to perform placement on the configuration

#If placement fails we stop executing the script

$ServiceUpdate = Update-SCServiceConfiguration -VMMServer $VMMServer -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig

if($sc.deploymenterrorlist -ne $null)

{

Write-Host "Cloud Placement failed for Service Deployment..."

break

}

# The Stocktrader example requires us to define configuration settings that will be used to deploy an instance of the service.

# Each application tier needs knowledge of how to communicate to other applications tiers. We also need to define a configuration admin account.

# The next set of commands sets each ComputerTierConfiguration setting based on the ServiceConfiguration ComputerName generated by the placement engine.

$ConfigValue = Get-SCVMConfiguration -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig | where { $_.ComputerTierConfiguration -like $SQLTierConfiguration}

Get-SCServiceSetting -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig -Name "sqlComputerName" |Set-SCServiceSetting -value $ConfigValue.ComputerName

$ConfigValue = Get-SCVMConfiguration -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig | where { $_.ComputerTierConfiguration -like $WEBTierConfiguration}

Get-SCServiceSetting -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig -Name "rootWebMachineName" |Set-SCServiceSetting -value $ConfigValue.ComputerName

$ConfigValue = Get-SCVMConfiguration -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig | where { $_.ComputerTierConfiguration -like $OPTierConfiguration}

Get-SCServiceSetting -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig -Name "rootOPMachineName" |Set-SCServiceSetting -value $ConfigValue.ComputerName

$ConfigValue = Get-SCVMConfiguration -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig | where { $_.ComputerTierConfiguration -like $BSLTierConfiguration}

Get-SCServiceSetting -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig -Name "rootBSLMachineName" |Set-SCServiceSetting -value $ConfigValue.ComputerName

# Set the admin user/pass info

foreach($Parameter in $ParameterList)

{

Get-SCServiceSetting -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig -Name $Parameter.Name |Set-SCServiceSetting -value $Parameter.Value

}

# We are ready to create an instance of the service.

# We use New-SCService to pass in the ServiceConfiguration and VMM Server.

$NewService = New-SCService -VMMServer $VMMServer -ServiceConfiguration $ServiceConfig

Once I save this script to a file I can run it directly from a Powershell prompt to execute:

PS c:\stocktraderdeploy.ps1–VMMServer “vmm01” –Release “1” –CloudName “Production”

Now I have a deployed version 1 of the Stocktrader Service in my Production Cloud!

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included utilities are subject to the terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/copyright.htm.

Monitoring SharePoint 2010 with Operations Manager 2012 APM - Advanced Configuration

2012-02-28T18:44:00Z

In this video, I walk through some of the advanced configuration options for monitoring SharePoint 2010. This builds on my previous post about Monitoring SharePoint 2010 with Operations Manager 2012 APM.

For more information on Operations Manager 2012 APM templates please visit: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh457578.aspx.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included utilities are subject to the terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/copyright.htm.

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Monitoring SharePoint 2010 with Operations Manager 2012 APM

2012-02-21T18:54:00Z

Can Operations Manager 2012 monitor Sharepoint 2010? I get this question on a weekly (if not daily) basis. The answer is yes and no. Yes, OM2012 can monitor server-side page execution in SharePoint 2010 environments. There are some default configuration limitations. We will explore how to do more advanced configuration in a future post. Client-side (browser) monitoring is not supported. In many cases, server-side monitoring will be enough to understand SharePoint health and performance. Let’s take a look at the level of information we can get by default.

For this walkthrough, I’m using Operations Manager 2012 Release Candidate and a SharePoint 2010 environment. First, we need to make sure that OM is monitoring the SharePoint host. This will initiate the application discovery process. Under Authoring, we create a new Add Monitoring Wizard and Select .NET Application Performance Monitoring. After naming the template, we can search for Web Applications and Services. In my list, the ‘SharePoint -80’ instance has been discovered. We will add this to the selected objects list.

Next we need to specify the server-side settings we will use to monitor the SharePoint environment. In my test environment, I’m going to choose the default 15000ms. We can accept the defaults for the rest of the template and click create to generate a monitoring instance. Note: You will need to do an IIS reset on the target SharePoint server(s) in order for APM monitoring to start. Otherwise you will see the ‘Monitored Applications’ state as ‘Not Monitored’ in Operations Manager.

Once a restart has completed, we need to execute transactions in the SharePoint environment. In my test environment, I simply connect to the SharePoint home page. This page generally takes greater than 15000ms to load on first run (after a reset) and consequently I get performance alerts. You will need to make sure that you set your alerting threshold to a level that will generate alerts. Start with the default and reduce as necessary until alerts are raised.

The performance alert description indicates that a “SitePages/Home.aspx” transaction has exceed the 15000ms thresold we defined. Clicking the included link brings us to the diagnostic detail.

Inside the alert detail we can see the transaction took 21,783ms to execute. We can also see which server executed this request and the time it was executed. We can also see that 4,433ms of time was taken executing a WCF request.

I’ll dive into advanced configuration and how we can enable deeper visibility in an upcoming blog post. As you can see, with a few simple steps we are able to monitor SharePoint 2010 and provide application performance insight.

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Use of included utilities are subject to the terms specified at http://www.microsoft.com/info/copyright.htm.

Why DevOps Matters

2012-02-13T03:12:00Z

Do a search on DevOps and you will find a heated debate on whether its real, if it’s new or if it matters. I think the question of whether it’s real or matters is difficult to argue against. Here’s why: business expectations have accelerated; technology is constantly changing and we demand more and we demand it faster. This pressure has cascaded across technology teams and has resulted in a refactoring of our processes, team organization and tools. Need convincing? Look at the agile movement as evidence. Development teams transitioned from a waterfall model to an agile model to accommodate fluid changes in business goals. Is DevOps new? The answer is Yes and No. Yes, as a strategic organizational goal. No, because it is typically perceived internally as a tactical response to specific challenges.

Whether we agree or disagree that DevOps is new is largely irrelevant. We can agree that business pressure and advances in technology have transformed how we deliver services to our customers. The idea of DevOps is just as the name suggests: alignment between development and operations. Ideally we should call it BizDevOps. Alignment between business goals, development and operations is the real change agent. I’ll stick with DevOps for the sake of popularity and acknowledge that business drivers are the catalyst.

So What Exactly is DevOps?

DevOps is about people, process, technology and communication across the application lifecycle. It’s about collaboration; it’s about efficiency and it’s about feedback across the intersection points. Have you ever heard the old adage “it worked fine on my dev machine, it must be your server”? If so, you have already felt the pain of a breakdown in the lifecycle. These are the types of situations that DevOps looks to address.

A Look Back:

I’ve been in the technology world for the last 17 years. In the late 90s I ran a software development project that was responsible for building a client-server application and deploying it worldwide to 100+ locations. Deployment was by far the most costly and painful part of the project. Every location had different implementation requirements and challenges. Development worked in a vacuum to revise requirements and address a constant stream of level 3 type issues. One offs became more and more frequent to accommodate field issues. In short, our waterfall approach and lack of focus beyond development caused us significant pain. Sound familiar?

During the project, web programming models came into popularity. This new paradigm brought the prospect of centralized management and deployment efficiency. This in turn changed the business economics and forced us to re-think the project. This disruption was good from an economic standpoint. But our organizational structure, methodologies and tools weren’t agile enough to capitalize on the full benefit across the software lifecycle. Eventually we got there and we focused on operational success along with the end user requirements. But we weren’t well equipped to manage constant change in the process and maintain our deliverables. Luckily this worked in the 90s … it doesn’t work now.

A Look Forward:

I would sum up our world today as one of constant change and delivering services to our customers. Virtualization, cloud computing and automation are re-shaping the future and accelerating our ability to deliver business value. Our world demands agility. We have seen a big shift on the development side with agile methodologies. This has impacted how the business views the development process. We need this same agility and collaboration across the entire lifecycle. It’s beginning to happen. Customers are defining roles that focus on the Dev/Ops divide; collaboration is starting to happen across teams and tools are helping to enable this transformation.

That said, most organizations are far from having the efficient processes, tools and culture in place to effectively capitalize on the constant changes. It’s typical to see an emphasis on one area without the others. It requires commitment across the organizations that are involved in delivering technology services and applications. It requires rethinking processes, especially at the intersection points. And it requires leveraging tools to automate and manage.

Private and public cloud strategies are driving a focus on self-service IT, automation and time to market. The goal is to accelerate the delivery of applications and services to meet business demands. Many argue that DevOps becomes irrelevant as we embrace PaaS solutions and abstract the infrastructure. I would argue that we only shift focus and the concept of DevOps becomes even more critical to delivering on the benefits.