Aria Automation Components in VCF 9 (Also Called VCF Automation) : Know Abouts

Kinshuk Tripathi

Author : Priyanka Matadh, Kinshuk Tripathi

In VMware Cloud Foundation 9, Aria Automation is no longer a standalone product—it becomes part of the new VCF Automation platform.
VCF Automation combines VMware Aria Automation + VMware Cloud Director capabilities, providing a unified self‑service private cloud layer.

Below are the core components of Aria Automation (VCF Automation) in VCF 9:

Tenant Management

VCF 9 integrates Cloud Director‑based multitenancy into Aria Automation.
Key tenant‑level components include:

  • Multi‑Tenancy Engine (for internal LOBs or external customers)
  • Resource Allocation Services (compute, storage, Kubernetes, network)
  • Identity & Access Management (IAM) with federated identity, RBAC
  • Tenant Operations dashboards for cost, capacity, and usage visibility

These capabilities are inherited from VMware Cloud Director and extended within VCF Automation.

Cloud Governance Layer

Governance in Aria Automation (VCF Automation) includes:

  • Quota policies (CPU, memory, storage, networking limits)
  • Lease policies (automatic expiration or reclamation of resources)
  • Naming policies
  • Showback reporting for tenant transparency

End‑User Cloud Consumption (IaaS Services)

This is the user‑facing part of VCF Automation:

  • Self‑service VM provisioning
  • VKS cluster (Kubernetes) lifecycle management
  • Network, Volumes, VM images, and Backup (Velero) services
  • Modern UI for developers and cloud admins

Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) & GitOps Engine

Aria Automation uses a modern IaC engine that includes:

  • Visual blueprint designer (drag‑and‑drop)
  • YAML-based low‑code IaC
  • GitOps integration for source‑controlled automation
  • Policy-as-Code support

This allows platform engineers to automate or template any resource deployment.

Embedded Private Cloud Services

Out‑of‑the‑box services delivered through Aria Automation in VCF 9:

  • VM Service
  • Kubernetes Cluster Service (VKS)
  • Network Service
  • Volume Service
  • Image Service
  • Data Protection Service (Velero)

Integration Component (Aria Suite Lifecycle Migration)

When upgrading to VCF 9:

  • Existing Aria Automation 8.x systems are imported into VCF Operations, then upgraded into the new VCF Automation component.
  • VCF Operations handles the lifecycle and integration.

API Layer & Modern Cloud Interface

VCF Automation includes:

  • UI for admins and developers
  • CLI
  • REST APIs
  • Kubernetes declarative APIs

VKS Cluster Fleet Management

For Kubernetes:

  • Centralized management of all VKS clusters
  • Policy management
  • Backup and recovery using Velero
  • Multi-cluster operations.

Blog 6: Create a Virtual Machine in Aria Automation (VCF 9)

Aria Automation provisions VMs through Projects, Cloud Templates, and Deployments.

Before creating a VM, ensure:

✔ Cloud accounts (vCenter) are configured
✔ A Cloud Zone + Fabric have been created
✔ A Project exists (compute, storage, network assigned)
✔ You have permission to deploy resources
✔ Image mappings and flavor mappings are defined

Log in to Aria Automation

  1. Open Aria Automation URL from VCF Automation.
  2. Sign in using organization/admin credentials.
  3. Select Cloud Assembly (the design module).

Configure Cloud Accounts [if not done earlier]

·  Go to:
Infrastructure → Connections → Cloud Accounts

·  Add or validate vCenter cloud account.

·  Confirm:

  • Datastores
  • Networks
  • Clusters / Resource Pools
  • Tags (optional)

Create a Project ;

·  Go to Infrastructure → Administration → Projects

·  Click New Project or open existing.

·  Configure:

  • Users / Groups
  • Cloud Zones
  • Resources (compute, storage, network)

·  Save.

Create a Cloud Template/Blueprint:

·  Navigate to:
Design → Cloud Templates

·  Click New From → Blank Cloud Template

·  Drag vSphere Machine onto the canvas

Configure the basic YAML:

formatVersion: 1

resources:

  MyVM:

    type: Cloud.vSphere.Machine

    properties:

      image: win-16

      flavor: medium

      networks:

        – network: ‘${resource.net.id}’

Click Deploy → Validate → Save.

Add Networks & Storage to Template

You may need to define:

  • Network (private, DHCP, static)
  • Storage policy
  • CPU / Memory override (optional)

Example:

            properties:

  cpuCount: 4

  totalMemoryMB: 4096

  storage:

    bootDisk:

      capacityGB: 40

Deploy the VM

  1. Click Deploy
  2. Choose the Project
  3. Provide any required inputs (if your template uses input variables)
  4. Click Submit

Aria Automation now:

  • Selects target cluster/host using policies
  • Provisions VM on vCenter
  • Applies network/storage settings
  • Powers on the VM

Deployment appears under:
Deployments → Active Deployments

STEP 7 — Monitor Deployment

Inside the Deployment screen, you can view:

  • Provisioning logs
  • IP address assignment
  • Timeline events
  • VM object details

STEP 8 — Access the VM

Once deployed:

  1. Go to vCenter → VM list
  2. Open console, IP address, or SSH/RDP depending on template
  3. Validate OS customization, network readiness, and resource allocation

Your VM is now fully provisioned.

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