System Center 2012 Orchestrator Unleashed

Description

Using System Center 2012 Orchestrator, you can capture and document processes across your entire IT organization, establishing the automation you need to deliver advanced cloud services and self-adjusting computing resources.

Authored by five leading System Center experts, this comprehensive reference and technical guide brings together all the knowledge you’ll need to architect, install, implement, integrate, and maximize the value of your own Orchestrator solutions. The authors introduce current best practices based on large-scale enterprise implementations they’ve personally led or participated in.

This up-to-date guide shows how to apply Orchestrator’s major improvements to implement IT process automation in any environment, including private clouds. You’ll start with context: what Orchestrator does, how it has evolved, how it works, and essential architecture and design techniques. Next, the authors help you make crucial up-front decisions about activities, runbooks, security, and administration. Finally, you’ll find expert guidance for integrating Orchestrator with the rest of System Center and with Windows Azure cloud services—including advanced automated workflows that encompass both data center and cloud.

Detailed information on how to…
• Understand System Center 2012 Orchestrator’s capabilities, evolution, architecture, and design, including SP1 improvements and R2
• Successfully install System Center 2012 Orchestrator and migrate smoothly from Opalis Integration Server 6.3
• Take full advantage of Orchestrator’s advanced new runbook automation capabilities
• Configure activities associated with runbook control, systems, scheduling, monitoring, files, email, notification, and data handling
• Design runbooks for fault tolerance and optimal performance
• Enforce strong security using roles, permissions, and auditing
• Deliver integration capabilities for Operations Manager, Service Manager, Configuration Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, and Data Protection Manager
• Automate end-to-end data center/ cloud workflows with integration packs and PowerShell
• Create your own integration packs with Orchestrator Integration Toolkit (OIT.SDK)
• Support Orchestrator 2012, troubleshoot problems, and discover the best web and third-party resources

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Table of Contents

Introduction     1
Disclaimers and Fine Print    3

PART I:  ORCHESTRATOR OVERVIEW AND CONCEPTS
Chapter 1  Orchestration, Integration, and Automation     7
Orchestration, ITIL, and MOF     8
Integration, Automation, Orchestration The Differences     9
   About Integration     10
   Using Automation     11
   About Orchestration     12
   Benefits of Orchestration     13
   How Orchestration Can Help     15
   What Not to Expect with Orchestration     16
Positioning of Orchestrator in System Center 2012     16
Typical Use Cases    19
   Regular Maintenance and Daily Operations     19
   On-Demand Requests     20
   Incident Management     20
   IT Process Automation     21
   Business-Oriented Processes Automation     21
   Elastic Data Center     21
Managing a Project     22
   Define Your Processes     22
   Consistency Checking     23
   Report on Operations     23
   Technical Implementation     23
Example: Orchestrating a VM Deployment     23
Summary     27
Chapter 2  What’s New in System Center 2012 Orchestrator     29
The History of Orchestrator     30
   The Beginnings of Orchestrator: OpalisRobot     30
   OpalisRendezVous     30
   Opalis Innovates     31
   Goodbye Robot, Hello OIS     32
   Microsoft’s Acquisition of Opalis Software     33
   OIS to Orchestrator     34
   OIS Migration to Orchestrator     35
   Where Orchestrator Fits into System Center     35
OIS 6.3 Versus Orchestrator 2012     37
   Terminology Changes     37
   Services     40
   Other Terminology Changes     41
   Concept Changes     44
   Architecture and Feature Changes     45
   Prerequisite/Sizing Changes     45
   Licensing Changes     47
Summary     47
Chapter 3  Looking Inside System Center 2012 Orchestrator     49
Architectural Overview     50
Server Components     52
   Management Server     53
   Runbook Server     54
   Orchestrator Database     54
   Web Service     54
   Orchestration Console     54
   Runbook Designer     55
Deployment Models     58
   Minimum Installation Model     58
   Additional Runbooks and Scaling Out     59
   Multiple System Center 2012 Orchestrator Installations     59
Windows Services     63
   Orchestrator Management Service (omanagement)     63
   Orchestrator Remoting Service (oremoting)     63
   Orchestrator Runbook Server Monitor (omonitor)     64
   Orchestrator Runbook Service (orunbook)     65
Global Settings     65
Integration Packs     67
Runbooks     68
Data Bus     69
Connectors     71
Consoles     71
   Using the Orchestration Console     72
   Using Deployment Manager     72
   Using Runbook Designer    72
   Using Runbook Tester     73
   Data Store Configuration     75
   Community Tools     76
Communication     76
Summary     78
Chapter 4  Architectural Design     79
Planning and Implementing Orchestrator     79
Planning for Physical Design     83
   Hardware Requirements     84
   SQL Hardware Best Practices     88
   Server Placement     90
   Network Traffic and Protocols     90
   Physical High Availability of Orchestrator Components     90
   Scaling Out     92
Planning for Logical Design     92
   Orchestrator Software Requirements     92
   Runbook Design Standards and Best Practices      93
   Service Accounts     96
   Determining the Development Process and Security Model     97
   Designing Logical Fault Tolerance     101
Summary     104

PART II:  INSTALLATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
Chapter 5  Installing System Center 2012 Orchestrator     107
Orchestrator Installation Roadmap     107
   Planning for Installation     108
   Installing Orchestrator Features     110
   Performing Post-Installation Tasks     111
Installing Orchestrator     112
   Installing the Management Server     113
   Installing the Runbook Server Using Installation Media     123
   Installing the Runbook Server Using Deployment Manager     126
   Installing the Web Service     128
   Installing the Runbook Designer Using the Installer     131
   Installing Runbook Designer Using Deployment Manager     134
   Using the Command-Line Installation Tool     136
Performing Post-Installation Tasks     139
  Registering and Deploying Integration Packs     139
  Migrating Opalis Policies to Orchestrator     145
Summary     150
Chapter 6  Using System Center 2012 Orchestrator     151
Framework for Creating Runbooks     151
Analyzing the Desired Automation     152
   Orchestrator Usage Scenarios     153
   Analyzing Actions in the Automation     155
Translating Actions to Runbook Activities     159
Creating the Runbook in Orchestrator Runbook Designer     161
   Configuring the Runbook Designer     161
   Checking In and Checking Out     163
   Configuring Runbook Properties     163
   Using Activities and Links in Your Runbook     164
   Data Manipulation When Configuring Activities     166
   Using Published Data     168
   Using Computer Groups with Runbooks     169
   Using Regular Expressions     171
   Using Counters     173
   Using Schedules     174
   Creating and Using Variables     176
Validating the Runbook     179
Managing Runbooks Using the Orchestration Console     181
Managing Runbooks with the Orchestrator Web Service     185
   Web Service Resource Discovery     187
   Using Visual Studio to Interact with the Web Service     188
   Using PowerShell or VBScript to Interact with the Web Service     193
   View Orchestrator Data by Using Excel PowerPivot     196
Summary     200
Chapter 7  Runbook Basics     201
Anatomy of a Runbook     202
   General Information     202
   Runbook Servers     203
   Logging Properties     203
   Event Notifications     203
   Job Concurrency     204
   Returned Data     205
   Runbook Security     205
Using Activities     209
   Activity Properties     210
   Published Data     213
Orchestrator Standard Activities     214
   System Activities     214
   Scheduling Activities     214
   Monitoring Activities      214
   File-Management Activities     214
   Email Activities      215
   Notification Activities     215
   Utilities Activities     215
   Text File Management     215
   Runbook Control     215
Monitoring Activities     215
Orchestrator Custom Activities     216
Orchestrator Workflow Control     216
   Starting Point     216
   Smart Links     218
   Embedded Loops     220
Drag and Drop     220
Managing Runbooks     221
   Starting and Stopping Runbooks     221
   Importing and Exporting Runbooks     222
   Versioning Runbooks     226
   Auditing Changes     226
Runbook Logging     228
   Real-Time and Historic Runbook Logs     228
   Trace Logs     229
   Audit Logs     231
Building Your First Runbook     232
   Copying a File     232
   Preserving Copied Files     233
   Monitoring File Changes     234
   Using Logic in Links     235
Summary     238
Chapter 8  Advanced Runbook Concepts     239
Advanced Schedules     239
   Using the Monitor/Date Time Activity     240
   Using the Check Schedule Activity     242
Invoking Child Runbooks     245
Looping Considerations     246
   Behavior with Multiple Data Items     246
   Configuring Looping Properties for an Activity     246
   Preventing Infinite Loops     248
   Monitoring for Conditions in Activities     249
   Runbook Looping     251
Using Junctions     253
   Synchronizing Branches     253
   Republishing Data     253
   Junction Examples     256
Working with Data     258
   Data Manipulation Functions     258
   Regular Expressions     260
   Testing Functions and Regular Expressions     263
Error Handling     265
   Overview of a Simple Runbook     265
   Adding Error Handling     266
Computer Groups and Alternative Options     268
   Entry Types     269
   Using Computer Groups     269
Using Variables     270
   Using NOW() As a Variable     271
   Using Environment Variables     272
   Using Encrypted Variables     272
Using Counters     272
Summary     273
Chapter 9  Standard Activities     275
Configuring Standard Activities     276
   General Tab     276
   Run Behavior Tab     276
Runbook Control Activities     277
   Initialize Data Activity     277
   Invoke Runbook     278
   Return Data     280
   Junction Activity     281
System Activities Category     282
   Run .Net Script     283
   Using Run Program     286
   About Query WMI     289
   Start/Stop Service     290
   End Process     291
   Restart System     292
   Save Event Log     293
   Run SSH Command     294
   SNMP Activities     296
Scheduling Category     297
   Monitor Date/Time Activity     297
   Check Schedule     298
Monitoring Activities     298
File Management     300
Email Activities     302
Notification Activities     304
   Send Event Log Message     305
   Send Platform Event     306
   Send Syslog Message     306
Utilities Category     307
   Using Counters in Orchestrator     308
   Data-Handling Activities     310
   Other Utility Activities     315
Text File Management     316
Summary     317
Chapter 10  Runbook and Configuration Best Practices     319
Runbook Best Practices     319
   Designing Runbooks for Fault Tolerance     326
   Designing Parent and Child Runbooks     327
   Using the Run Program Activity     331
   Looping Within a Runbook     332
Configuration Best Practices     334
   Specifying a Runbook Server and Runbook Throttling     334
   Configuring SQL Server     335
   Purging the Orchestrator Database     336
Useful SQL Queries     337
Verifying Runbook Design     339
Summary     348
Chapter 11  Security and Administration     349
Orchestrator Security Model     349
   Running a Runbook Using a Specific Account     353
   Auditing in Orchestrator     357
   Changing Service Accounts     360
   Database Roles     363
   Exporting and Importing Runbooks     363
User Roles and Security     366
   Connecting Remotely     369
   Creating Runbook Folders     373
   Assigning Permissions to Runbooks for Help Desk Operators     374
Summary     377

PART III:  INTEGRATION PACKS AND THE OIT
Chapter 12  Orchestrator Integration Packs     381
An Integration Overview     382
Active Directory Integration Pack     382
   Active Directory IP Typical Use Case     382
   Active Directory IP Activity List     383
   Active Directory IP Supported Versions     384
   Active Directory IP Configuration Settings     385
Exchange Admin Integration Pack     386
   Exchange Admin IP Typical Use Case     386
   Exchange Admin IP Activity List     386
   Exchange Admin IP Installation Notes     388
   Exchange Admin IP Supported Versions     390
   Exchange Admin IP Configuration Settings     390
Exchange User Integration Pack     391
   Exchange User IP Typical Use Case     391
   Exchange User IP Activity List     391
   Exchange User IP Installation Notes     392
   Exchange User IP Supported Versions     392
   Exchange User IP Configuration Settings     392
FTP Integration Pack     394
   FTP IP Typical Use Case     394
   FTP IP Activity List     394
   FTP IP Installation Notes     395
   FTP IP Supported Versions     395
   FTP IP Configuration Settings     395
HP Integration Packs     397
   HP iLO and OA     397
   HP Operations Manager     399
IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Integration Pack     402
   IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus IP Typical Use Case     402
   IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus IP Activity List     402
   IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus IP Installation Notes     403
   IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus IP Supported Versions     403
   IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus IP Configuration Settings     403
Representational State Transfer (REST) Integration Pack     404
   REST IP Typical Use Cases     404
   REST IP Activity List     405
   REST IP Installation Notes    405
   REST IP Supported Versions     405
   REST IP Configuration Settings     405
HP Service Manager Integration Pack     406
   HP Service Manager IP Typical Use Case     407
   HP Service Manager IP Activity List     407
   HP Service Manager IP Installation Notes     407
   HP Service Manager IP Supported Versions     408
   HP Service Manager IP Configuration Settings     408
VMware vSphere Integration Pack     409
   VMware vSphere IP Typical Use Case     409
   VMware vSphere IP Activity List     409
   VMware vSphere IP Installation Notes     412
   VMware vSphere IP Supported Versions     412
   VMware vSphere IP Configuration Settings     412
Community-Developed Integration Packs     413
   Orchestrator.codeplex.com     413
   Scorch.codeplex.com      413
Summary     414
Chapter 13  Integration with System Center Operations Manager     415
Integration Pack Requirements     415
   System Center 2012 Orchestrator     415
   System Center 2012 Operations Manager     416
Installing the Integration Pack     416
Configuring the Integration Pack     416
   Connectivity Requirements     416
   Granting Access to the Connection Account     417
   Configuring the Connection Account     417
Activities at a Glance     419
Activities in Depth     419
Use Case Scenarios     422
   Incident Remediation     423
   Server Maintenance Mode (Windows or *NIX)     424
   Group Maintenance Mode     429
   Creating a Runbook for Group Maintenance Mode in Operations Manager 2012     430
   Branch Office Maintenance Mode     435
   Processing Alerts in Bulk     438
Summary     443
Chapter 14  Integration with System Center Service Manager     445
Communication Requirements     445
Integration Pack Requirements     446
   System Center 2012 Orchestrator     446
   Locale Settings     446
Installing the Integration Pack     446
Configuring the Integration Pack     447
Activities at a Glance     448
Activities in Depth     449
Use Case Scenarios     450
   Closing Resolved Incidents     451
   Creating a Change Calendar     454
   Automating Service Requests     457
Troubleshooting the SCSM IP     471
Summary     472
Chapter 15  Integration with System Center Configuration Manager     473
Integration Pack Requirements     473
   System Center 2012 Orchestrator     473
   System Center 2012 Configuration Manager     474
Installing the Integration Pack     474
Configuring the Integration Pack     474
   Creating the Connection Account     474
   Granting Access to the Connection Account     475
   Connectivity Requirements     478
Activities at a Glance     479
Activities in Depth     480
Use Case Scenarios     482
   Creating and Populating a Collection     482
   Applying Endpoint Protection Policy     488
   Applying Software Updates     492
Summary     505
Chapter 16  Integration with System Center Virtual Machine Manager     507
Integration Pack Requirements     507
   System Center 2012 Orchestrator     508
   System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager     508
Installing the Integration Pack     508
Configuring the Integration Pack     508
   Connectivity Requirements     509
   Security Credentials     509
   Granting Access to the Connection Account     509
   Configuring the Connection Account     509
Activities at a Glance     511
Activities in Depth     513
Advanced Deployment Capabilities in VMM 2012     518
   Configuring Service Templates     520
   The VMM Service Designer     521
   Service Template Components     521
   Additional Service Template Properties     522
Updating Running Service Instances     524
Use Case Scenarios     525
   Enabling Self-Service     525
   Virtual Machine Provisioning     535
   VM Checkpoint and Recovery     540
   VM Lifecycle Management     543
Working with Service Templates     551
   Deploying a Service Instance (Service Template)     551
   Scaling Out a Machine (Computer) Tier     553
   Scaling In a Machine Tier     554
   Performing In-Place Servicing     555
Summary     557
Chapter 17  Integration with System Center Data Protection Manager     559
Integration Pack Requirements     559
   System Center 2012 Orchestrator     559
   System Requirements      560
Installing the Integration Pack     560
Configuring the Integration Pack     560
Activities at a Glance     564
Activities in Depth     564
Use Case Scenarios     565
   Creating a Recovery Point Before Installing Software     566
   Preparing a Server for Patch Management     568
   Restoring a SQL Server Database to a Network Folder     570
Troubleshooting the DPM IP     573
Summary     576
Chapter 18  Integration with Windows Azure     577
Integration Pack Requirements     578
Installing the Integration Pack     578
Quick Introduction to PFX Files     578
Configuring the Integration Pack     579
Activities at a Glance     582
Activity Categories in Depth     582
Use Case Scenarios     583
   Deploying a New Virtual Machine in Windows Azure     584
   Getting Information About a Virtual Machine in Windows Azure     588
   Copying Files from a Local Folder to an Azure Storage Container     589
   Deploying a New Web Service in Windows Azure     592
Summary     597
Chapter 19  Runbook Automation in the Data Center and the Cloud     599
Factors in Process Automation Planning and Design     599
   The Role of Orchestrator in Cloud Computing     601
   The Rise of the Hybrid Cloud     602
Use Case Scenarios     602
   CMDB Automation (Dynamic Asset Management for Data Center and Cloud)     603
   Cross-Platform Integration (Linux Service Restart)     609
   Cloud Bursting (Capacity Management for Hybrid Cloud)     615
Summary     617
Chapter 20  The Orchestrator Integration Toolkit     619
Overview of the Orchestrator Integration Toolkit     620
   Development Planning     620
   Developing the Workflow Activities     622
   Deploying Workflow Activities     622
   Preparing the Project     623
Installing the Orchestrator Integration Toolkit     623
   Installation Prerequisites     624
   Toolkit Installation     624
   Validating Toolkit Installation     626
Using the Command-Line Activity Wizard     627
   Starting Assembly Creation     627
   Creating a New Activity Assembly     628
   Adding Activities to the Command-Line Activity Assembly     630
   Testing and Validating the Assembly     635
   Converting Opalis QIK CLI Assemblies     636
Using the Integration Pack Wizard     637
   Creating a New Integration Pack     638
   Updating and Converting Integration Packs     643
Using the Orchestrator SDK     644
   Choosing a Development Approach    645
   Start Building an SDK Activity Project    653
   Creating a Custom Resource File     654
   Declarative Approach     659
   Using the Imperative Approach     663
   Cascading Dependencies Approach     666
Summary     671

PART IV:  APPENDIXES
Appendix A  Community Solutions and Tools     675
Utilities and Scripts    675
   Category Switcher     675
   End User Portal for System Center Orchestrator     676
   Orchestrator Health Checker     676
   Orchestrator Remote Tools     676
   Orchestrator Visio and Word Generator     676
   Parse Orchestrator Export     677
   Sanitize Export     677
   SCO Job Runner     677
   SCOrch Launcher     677
   System Center Orchestrator Web Service PowerShell     678
Integration Packs     678
   Working with Utilities     678
   Working with System Center     680
   Working with Other Microsoft Products     681
Appendix B  Reference URLs     683
General Resources     683
Microsoft’s Orchestrator Resources     684
Additional Resources     686
Blogs     688
System Center 2012 Resources     689
Appendix C  Available Online     691
PowerShell Scripts for the Operations Manager IP     691
PowerShell Scripts for the Virtual Machine Manager IP     691
Scripts for the Data Center Automation     692
Live Links     692
Index     693

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Appendix B: Reference URLs

Appendix C: Available Online

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