This scenario enables you to provision resources specified in a Terraform configuration that has been uploaded by an end-user of Embotics® vCommander®. An optional approval workflow using the output of the Terraform plan command is also included.

Changelog

Version 1.0: Initial version.

Prerequisites

• A system with Terraform installed that is accessible through SSH. This system is referred to hereafter as the Terraform host. The Terraform host will be used to keep state and must be configured to use the proper credentials to allow access the Terraform host.

• Install the Terraform Workflow Plug-in Step Package

Install the Terraform plug-in workflow step package

Go to Embotics GitHub / Plug-in Workflow-Steps and clone or download the repository. Then install the wfplugins-terraform step package. The workflows in this scenario reference those Terraform plug-in workflow steps.

To learn how to download and install workflow plug-in steps, see Adding Workflow Plug-In Steps in the vCommander User Guide.

Set up the Service Catalog

To set up the service catalog to allow Terraform configurations to be uploaded, you must do the following:

1. Create the Terraform organization
2. Configure an automated deployment destination
3.  Configure a default ownership policy
4.  Create the Terraform deployment service request form
5.  Create the Terraform deployment approval workflow
6.  Create the deploy Terraform template completion workflow
7.  Create the Terraform deployment blueprint

Create the Terraform organization

The Terraform service request needs a form that can identify the owner of the deployed resources. That form must be assigned to an organization.

Note: The Terraform organization will already exist if you went through the Deploying Embedded Terraform Configurations scenario.

1. Log into vCommander, go to Configuration > Organizations and Quotas, then click the Organizations tab.
2. Click Add.
3. In the Configure Organization dialog, for Organization Name, enter "Terraform Org".

   

4. Add groups or users to the organization.
5. If you need to configure additional organization details, click Next and configure the organization as required.
6. Click Finish when you're done.

Configure an automated deployment destination

For the Terraform configuration to be able to provision resources, configure an automated deployment destination and assign the destination to Terraform Org.

The specific steps that are required depend on whether you are using vCenter, AWS, Azure, and SCVMM managed systems. For more information, see Configuring Automated Deployment for Approved Service Requests.

Create the deployment destination

For the Terraform configuration to provision resources, you must configure an automated deployment destination and assign the destination to Terraform Org.

For information on how to configure deployment destinations, see Configuring Automated Deployment for Approved Service Requests. This topic provides information for vCenter, AWS, Azure, and SCVMM managed systems.

Configure a default ownership policy

To ensure that new VMs are visible to organization members, configure a default ownership policy that automatically assigns ownership of new VMs to Terraform Org.

1. In vCommander, go to Configuration > Policies.
2. On the Policies tab, click Add.
3. On the Choose a Policy page of the Policy Configuration wizard, select Default Ownership from the list of policies, then click Next.
4. On the Policy Name/Description page, enter a name and a description, then click Next.
5. On the Choose a Target page, from the Target View Type list, choose Operational to view a hierarchy of the entire compute infrastructure, then in the tree on the right of the page, select the target  infrastructure elements for the policy, and click Next.
6. On the Configure the Policy page, select Enable Policy for the policy to come into effect immediately after you finish configuring it.
7. From the Take Action drop-down, select Notify Only, then click Next. When this option is selected, when the policy is triggered, a notification alert is created, but no action is taken for the service.
8. In the Default Owners area, for Organization, select Terraform Org.
9. On the Summary page, review the summary and click Finish.

Create the Terraform deployment service request form

After the organization has been created, you need to create a form to capture the user that will be set as the owner of the deployed VM created by the Terraform template.

1. In vCommander go to Configuration > Service Request Configuration, then click the Form Designer tab.
2. Click Add.
3. In the Add Request Form dialog, type "Terraform Deployment" for the Form Name, and in the Organizations section, select Terraform Org and click Add. Then click OK.

   

4. Click Save to save the form.

Create the Terraform deployment approval workflow

Next, you need to create the approval workflow to run the Terraform generate the Terraform plan and have it approved. You can import an existing workflow definition that is provided from the Scenarios repository. See Importing and Exporting Workflow Definitions in the vCommander User Guide for more information.

Note: The workflow definition that you will import has steps that contain credentials. Therefore credentials with the same name must exist on the vCommander installation where you're importing the file. For the workflow definition to successfully import, you can either add the appropriate credentials to vCommander or edit the workflow definition in a text editor to remove the credential names before you import it. 

1. Go to Embotics Git Hub / Scenarios and clone or download the Scenarios repository.
2. In vCommander, go to Configuration > Service Request Configuration > Approval Workflows and click Import.
3. Go to the Scenarios repo that you cloned or downloaded, then from the Deploying_User_Provided_Terraform_Configurations directory, select the Terraform Approval .yaml or .json file, and click Open.

   vCommander automatically validates the workflow and displays the validation results in the Messages area of the Import Workflow dialog.

   

4. Enter a comment about the workflow in the Description of Changes field and click Import.
5. Select the Terraform Approval workflow from the list of approval workflows and click Edit.
6. In the Approval and Pre-Provisioning Workflow Configuration dialog, go to the Steps page and customize the step details as required for your Terraform environment and deployment destination.
7. Click Next when you are done.
8. On the Assigned Components page, click Next.
9. On the Summary page, enter a comment about the workflow in the Description of Changes field and click Finish.

Create the deploy Terraform template completion workflow

Next, you have to create the completion workflow to apply the Terraform plan. You can import an existing workflow definition that is available from the Embotics Git Hub.

1. In vCommander, go to Configuration > Service Request Configuration > Completion Workflow and click Import.
2. Go to the Scenarios repo that you cloned or downloaded, then from the Deploying_User_Provided_Terraform_Configurations directory, select the Uploaded Terraform completion workflow .yaml or .json file, and click Open.

   vCommander automatically validates the workflow and displays the validation results in the Messages area of the Import Workflow dialog.

3. Enter a comment about the workflow in the Description of Changes field, and click Import.
4. After the Deploy Terraform Template completion workflow is imported, select it from the list, and click Edit.
5. In the Completion Workflow Configuration dialog, go to the Steps page and customize the step details as required for your Terraform environment and deployment destination.
6. Click Next when you are done.
7. On the Assigned Components page, ensure the Do not apply this workflow to any custom component option is enabled, and click Next.
8. On the Summary page, enter a comment about the workflow in the Description of Changes field and click Finish.

Create the Terraform deployment blueprint

Finally, create the Service Definition for the Terraform deployment service.

1. In vCommander, go to Configuration > Service Request Configuration.
2. Click the Service Catalog tab, then click Add Service.
3. For Name, type "Uploaded Terraform Deployment" and click Next.
4. On the Component Blueprints page, select Add > New Component Type.
5. In the Create New Component Type dialog, enter "Uploaded Terraform" for Name,  enter 0 for Annual Cost, then click Add to Service.

   

6. Select the new Uploaded Terraform component blueprint, click the Infrastructure tab, then from the Completion Workflow dropdown, select Uploaded Terraform Completion Workflow.
7. Click the Form tab, then from the Toolbox at the right side of the window, do the following:
   • Click Input Text Field. Then in the added Input Text Field form element, enter "Name" in the  Display Label box, ensure that the Required check box is enabled, and click OK.
   • Click File Upload. Then in the added File Upload form element, enter "Configuration" in the Display Label box, ensure that the Required check box is enabled, and click OK.
8. Click Next.
9. On the Deployment page, click Next.
10. For the purposes of this walk-through, we’ll skip the Intelligent Placement page. Click Next. To learn more, see Intelligent Placement.
11. On the Visibility page select Publish - Specific organizations, users and groups and add Terraform Org. Then click Next.
12. On the Summary page, click Finish.

Log in and test

1. Log in to the Service Portal as a member of Terraform Org.

2. Click + Service Catalog, then for "Uploaded Terraform Deployment", click + Add to request the service.
3. On the Service page, complete the form that appears. You must complete all fields marked with an asterisk (). Click Next when you are done.
4. On the Component page, enter a name for the infrastructure that Terraform will deploy.
5. Click Choose, browse a valid Terraform configuration file, and click Open.

   Note: A sample Terraform configuration file (embotics-terraform-aws-configuration.tf) is provided with this scenario. You can use this file for reference, or modify it as required for your Terraform environment and deployment destination.

6. Click Submit to submit the request.