You have a complex workflow or one that has saved you a lot of time?
The two workflows that I have created and that I am happiest with are my VNic upgrade and my Hardware Version upgrade workflows.
The first one I published as a document here. It is pretty short and sweet and it has saved our server operations team a lot of time by them not having to change the mac when we upgrade the nics to vmxnet3.
The second one is more involved and actually includes the vnic workflow as a part of it.
I wrote this one when we were faced with upgrading the virtual hardware to version 7 across 100s of virtual machines. Due to the way our company is set up my group does not have access to the guest operating system, just the vmware layer so that limits what I can do.
The workflow starts with one of the vmware admins selecting a virtual machine and entering in the email address of the owner of the server.
The workflow sends email messages throughout the workflow, instructing the server owner of what their next step is.
For example, when it is waiting for the VM to be powered off it sends an email to the owner telling them to shut down the VM whenever it is convenient for them.
Basic steps:
- Check if the tools show "Up to date"
- Wait until the VM is powered off
- Take a snapshot
- Upgrade the virtual hardware to version 7
- Upgrade the nics to VMXnet 3
- Power the VM back on
Now it is your turn. Got any cool workflows you want to show off?