System Center 2012 App Controller: we drive Virtual Machine Manager 2012 and Windows Azure into one team

    Greetings to all workers and not only!

    Today I would like to talk about the hybrid cloud, namely how to twist the Private Cloud into one song with the Public Cloud, or to be precise, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 with Windows Azure.
    A very uncomplicated sequence of actions will lead us to the desired result.
    Well, further under the cat, you are welcome ...




    System Center App Controller Overview



    And so, in the beginning we will define a bit what role the App Controller plays in the System Center family, and indeed in the cloud infrastructure as a whole. App Controller allows us to:

    1) Manage and view services in a private cloud using Virtual Machine Manager 2012, and in public, Windows Azure from one console, in a single interface

    2) Create new services and virtual machines also in different types of clouds

    3 ) View the history of events and operations of VMM and Windows Azure

    4) Manage access and roles based on user accounts

    5) View and edit a library of resources for different types of clouds

    6) Migrate workload between clouds

    A similar list of features provides us with System Center App Controller in its current beta edition, CTP2 SP1. Some things are not yet fully implemented, but not those that I have already listed.

    Actually, then I want to talk about the binding of clouds using AC - and this is not the type of voltage in the circuit. (smile)
    Let's start.

    How to tie one chain?



    Before doing anything, let's understand what AC is from a technical point of view. It will be quite easy to guess that this is nothing more than a Web portal. To work, he uses Silverlight (from the user's point of view - so be sure to roll). It is arranged as a three-tier application - Web + SQL + VMM Server / Azure Subs.
    And if the Web means IIS, then the first thing we need to do is issue certificates for the AC portal — we still need to interact with the outside world and somehow authenticate ourselves.

    Theme with certificates and other seker



    First of all, I recommend to immediately resolve the issue with certificates. To do this:

    1) Open the web server where our AC / DC is located, uh ... just AC, portal and go into the management of IIS. We select our server in the IIS interface and select Server Certificates .



    2) Next, open the item and choose the creation samopodpisovannogo certificate - the Create Self-the Signed Certificate .. . What type of certificate to use - personal or business, but the business of each - responsible. For my games and tests, I used a self-signed certificate. In production, I naturally do not recommend doing so.



    3) Next, let's go through the certificate creation wizard, in the top line, enter the name of the certificate (in my case I came up with IT2BE-Azure), and in the lower menu, select the value Personal .



    4) Certificate successfully created. Next we need to export it.



    5) To export a certificate, call the mmc console using the Win + R combination and enter mmc . Well, or how are you used to calling MMC? In the MMC, add the Certificates snap-in , and when adding, specify the My user account .



    6) Next, open the snap-in and climb here - Trusted Root Certification Authorities -> Certificates and look for our fresh certificate. Oh, found !!!



    7) Next, we need to export the certificate, and it will have to be done twice - we need a couple of certificates with different types of keys. Let's start by getting an X.509 certificate (aka .cer) . Right-click on our Serta and choose the Export ... . We choose the option as in the picture - we do not need the export of our private keys.



    8) Next, select the type of certificate - DER - X.509 - .cer



    9) Now we specify the directory for exporting the certificate.



    10) Now we repeat the export procedure, but this time we export our keys. We also select Export ... , then select Yes, export the private key , proceed further and do as in the picture.



    11) Next, select the account to work with cert (optional) and protect it with a password.



    12) And indicate where to make the export



    13) Next we go to the portal Windows Azure and go under your account. Immediately make a reservation - we need the old version of the portal for now, so if you are already in the new version - switch to the old version. Next we select Hosted Services, Storage Accounts & CDN , then Management Certificates and Add Certificate . In the left margin below, Subscription ID , copy the value to the clipboard - it will come in handy soon.



    14) Now add the certificate (which .cer )



    15) The result is successful!



    16) Now let's go back to the App Controller portal, in the Overview menu , click Connect a Windows Azure Subscription



    17) Set the name of our private cloud in AC ( Name field , description in the Description field , subscription number (Now we need copy-paste, or rather just paste - if you have already made a copy) - the Subscription ID field , we specify our PFX certificate and the corresponding password - Management Certificate and Password fields respectively.



    18) Now in the App Controller we have a public Windows Azure cloud, or rather its subscription. Now it would not be very bad to screw a private cloud here, namely VMM2012.



    19) We continue to dig - we do this by clicking on the digger and fill in the data. In the Connection Name field, enter the name of our connection to the private cloud, the description in the Description and the server name and port in the Server name and Port fields, respectively. A tick on SSL-certificates ensures automatic import of required certificates from SCVMM to App Controller.



    20) And here is the result!



    Conclusion



    This is an interesting, fairly simple method that Azure and Virtual Machine Manager integrate with each other in App Controller. The rest of the charms will tell next time ... or leave you to play. (smile).

    I can only say that the functionality is really interesting, and I want to believe in the further integration of control systems for different types of cloud models.

    PS> For a snack)))

    Private cloud library - ISO images and not only



    Choosing a cloud for deployment



    Choosing a template for creating a VM



    And here it is, Windows 8 in the cloud, at the start ...



    Author's note: the last screen deliberately shows the possibility of installing the OS, using an ISO image and an empty VM through a browser.

    PSS> I also highly recommend reading the overview report on App Controller.



    PSSS> Do not forget about the MVA virtual academy - there you will always find interesting and comprehensive materials on new products and technologies from Microsoft.

    Sincerely,

    Information Infrastructure Expert, aka Technical Evangelist
    George A. Gadzhiev
    Microsoft Corporation

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