Within our new All Apps organization, we leverage Supervisor Services that are accessible through Kubernetes as well as VMware Cloud Foundation Automation.
This post walks through deploying VMware Data Services Manager (DSM) as a Supervisor Service and using it to create databases automatically through the Automation portal.
Deploy DSM Appliance
In vCenter open the Administration Menü and go to Solutions > Client Plugins. Click ADD
Select Local Files and click on Upload Files. Select the DSM OVA and click NEXT
Choose a name for the VM and a folder. Click NEXT
Select a compute resource. Click NEXT
Review details. Click NEXT
Select the storage. Click NEXT
Select the Destination Network. Click NEXT
Define a password for the root user, vCenter Hostname, vCenter SHA-256 Thumbprint and scroll down
Define the vCenter Administrator username / password. Define the network properties and scroll down
Define the rest of the network properties. Click NEXT
Select the vCenter to associate. Click NEXT
Check all parameters. Click FINISH
Check the status of the DSM plugin
Create an Infrastructure Policy and a DSM Admin
Change to the inventory view, select the vCenter and open the Configure tab. Under Data Services Manager > Infrastructure Policies click CREATE DSM-MANAGED POLICY
Define a name for the Policy. Click NEXT
Select one or more compute resources that share the same storage policies. Click NEXT
Select a storage policy. Click NEXT
Select compatible network port groups. Click NEXT
Click on CREATE IP POOL
Define an IP Pool name and the Pool settings. Click NEXT
Select the created IP Pool. Click NEXT
Select a VM Folder. Click NEXT
Select one or more VM Classes. Click NEXT
Check all parameters. Click CREATE POLICY
Change to Data Services Manager > Permissions > Data Services Manager Console. Click CREATE LOCAL USER
Define the credentials for a DSM Admin. Click CREATE
Basic Configuration of DSM Appliance
Login to the DSM Appliance in the Browser with the created DSM Admin User
Change to Version & Upgrade > Postgres and choose the versions you want to enable. Click ENABLE
Note: In the current version VCF Automation only supports the provisioning of Postgres databases through the self-service interface.
Click SAVE on the Enable Data Service message
Check the Status of the enabled version
Change to Namespaces and click CREATE NAMESPACE. Define a Namespace Name and click CREATE
Change to Data Service Policies and create a policy (this step is only necessary if you want to create a Database from the DSM UI. Automation creates his own policy)
After that step you can try to create a postgres database over the UI. You can do that under Database > Postgres > CREATE DATABASE
Configure DSM Service in VCF Automation
Login to the Provider Organization on VCF Automation and change to VCF Services > Data Services. Click CONFIGURE SERVICE
Define the DSM FQDN and the Admin Username / Password. Click TEST REMOTE CONNECTION

Check the status and click CONFIGURE

Click NEW POLICY to create a Data Service Policy for Automation
Create a Policy (only showing the summary)
Configure the DSM Supervisor Service:
Before configuring the service you have to prepare a values.yaml (it´s also available on the download page) for the DSM Service:
Configure the values.yaml file for the VMware Data Services Manager Supervisor service.
The values.yaml file provides the VMware Data Services Manager Supervisor service with the necessary connectivity and authentication details to your VMware Data Services Manager Provider. Review and edit the following parameters:
- consumptionClusterName: The name of the Supervisor installed on the cluster
- endpoint : https://<DSM-provider-ip-or-fqdn>
- rootCA : The Base64-encoded PEM CA certificate of your VMware Data Services Manager appliance. You can get the certificate by exporting it from your web browser when opening the VMware Data Services Manager URL in a tab.
- user : The username of a VMware Data Services Manager administrator account
- password : <DSM_admin_password>
- image : You must customize this parameter only for an air-gapped environment and replace the packages.broadcom.com domain with the local registry. Both the imgpkgBundle location in packages.yaml and the image location in values.yaml must point to the local registry.
- isSupervisor : Must be set to true.
For more Details about this step go to: https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/dsm/data-services-manager/9-0/using-vmware-data-services-manager-with-vmware-cloud-foundation/using-as-a-provider/install-the-dsm-supervisor-service.html
Open the vCenter UI again and go to Supervisor Management > Services. Click ADD on Add New Service
Click UPLOAD on the Register Service page
Choose the Data Services Manager Consumption Operator file (you can download here). Click FINISH
Click on ACTIONS > Manage Service on the Data Services Manager Consumption Operator Service
Select Version and Supervisor and click NEXT
On the review page insert the values.yaml parameters created at the beginning of that section. Click FINISH
Check the Status of the DSM Service under “your supervisor” > Configure > Supervisor Services
Deploy a Database over VCF Automation:
Login to a All Apps Organization in VCF Automation
Change to Build & Deploy > Services > Database and click CREATE
Define the Basic Information and click NEXT
Define the Infrastructure Parameter and click NEXT
Define the Backup and Maintenance Parameter and click NEXT
Define the Advanced Settings and click NEXT
Check all parameters and click CREATE POSTGRES CLUSTER
Check the Status of the Database Instance
Have Fun!
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