VMware vCenter 5.1 Installation: Part 13 (VUM Configuration)

In Part 12 we configured VUM to use trusted SSL certificates. Now that the under the covers configuration of VUM is done, we need to perform some basic GUI configuration to make VUM useful. Every environment is different, and VUM is quite customizable, so the steps below are just basic guidance for a vanilla VUM setup. Creating custom baselines, tweaking remediation options, and other settings are not covered below.

1. If you haven't already installed the vSphere 5.1 vSphere Client for Windows, now is the time. After that is installed, connect to your vCenter server and click on the Plug-Ins menu. You should now see an available plug-in.

2. Click on Download and Install. Run through the installation wizard using all default values.

3. After the installation is completed, close the vSphere client.

4. Reconnect to the vCenter server using the vSphere client. If all goes well you should NOT get an SSL certificate warning and you should see a Update Manager tab in vCenter.

 

 

If you get an SSL warning, then you probably goofed up the SSL certificate replacement process and you should re-visit Part 12.

 

5. Depending on your server hardware vendor, you may want to add the HP depot URL to VUM so know when they release updated software. Unfortunately at this time I'm not aware of a Cisco VIB depot. Open the Admin View of VUM.

 

 

6. Once the VUM Admin page opens click on Configuration. Add a Download Source and use the following URLs:

 

HP:

http://vibsdepot.hp.com/index.xml

 

Dell:

http://vmwaredepot.dell.com/index.xml

 

 

Validate the URL then click OK.

 

7. After the URL is added, click on Download Now and wait a minute or two.

 

8. If you open the Patch Repository tab and sort by vendor you should now see some HP patches listed.

 

 

 

9. You can create your own patch baselines, which is out of the scope of this article. But I would recommend you at least attach the host and VM critical patch baselines. Switch to the Hosts and Cluster view, then click on the Update Manager tab.

 

10. Right click in the left pane and select Attach. I would recommend you select both baselines, unless you build your own.

 

 

 

11. Switch to the VMs and Templates view, change to the Update Manager view, then right click in the left baseline pane and select Attach. Again, unless you have a custom baseline, I would select all three options.

 

 

 

And there you go...a pretty vanilla VUM configuration. You will probably want to tweak some remediation settings, and possibly schedule regular scans (say weekly) for updates for both VMs and ESXi hosts. Next up is Part 14, which fixes the LogBrowser service SSL issue.

 

Note: When using VUM if you try and import a patch file, you will likely get an SSL security warning. You will notice that a self-signed VMware certificate is presented for you to trust. I've seen mentioned elsewhere that for now users are unable to change this particular certificate to a trusted one. So just "ignore" the error, as much as it may pain you.