This blog has been talking about automation in virtual labs for a while now — so what exactly do we mean by it? Maybe it is time we bring some clarity around this.
Automation to a lot of users of virtual labs is the ability to spin up and tear down virtual machines on the fly (leveraging a central repository/library). This enables IT admins to provide lab users with self-serve capabilities. At VMLogix, we view this level of automation as a great start. However VMLogix LabManager provides a lot more in the name of automation (to IT admins and users alike).
A couple of pictures will speak a thousand words. The first picture below is the VMLogix LabManager high level architecture layout. Like you will see, many virtual hosts are managed by a central VMLogix LabManager server. These virtual hosts are able to bring up and tear down VMs, multi-machine VM configurations etc. on the fly (thanks to the VMLogix VMagent existing on each host — see the second picture). Thats where the definition and implementation of automation stops in the conventional sense.
High level VMLogix LabManager architecture
The second image below is more interesting in the context of automation and VMLogix LabManager. Each virtual host can support multiple VMs (LabManager supports multiple hypervisors including Citrix, Microsoft and VMware) — in each VM, you have the option of running a VMLogix guest agent. We believe that this guest agent provides the next level of automation & management support in virtual labs. IT admins and users can now run several operations inside each of the VMs — for example, installing software, cleaning the machine environment, capturing a movie, executing a command, pausing operations etc. You can see the full list of operations here.
Automation in the virtual hosts and virtual machines
We believe that this “second level of automation” provides users with a lot of flexibility and truly takes away manual repetitive tasks out of their hand. Think of the time you have spent getting a build machine ready, a test machine environment ready, a developer machine ready, …. and the list keeps growing. You can now automate all these operations to get the internals of a VM setup the way you want it. And if our repertoire of operations out of the box is not sufficient, you can build custom operations as well 
Now, does this level of virtual lab automation help you in your job?
Today VMLogix LabManager supports leading hypervisors from Citrix, Microsoft and VMware as well. As newer hypervisors from these industry leaders are released (such as Hyper-V), VMLogix is committed to maintaining the hypervisor agnostic stance as a strategic differentiator.
[Updated] — Here is a movie of LabManager deploying a configuration with guest operations (watch the “Deploy a Multi-Machine Configuration” movie).
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- Srihari Palangala
August 21, 2008 at 11:53 pm |
[...] etc.), centralized lab management across multiple hypervisors (which will control VM sprawl), powerful automation and optimization of lab resources (including storage via linked [...]
September 3, 2008 at 5:41 am |
[...] difference between automation support for provisioning and guest OS automation — check out what exactly we mean by guest OS automation in VMLogix LabManager. Let me highlight a few of the operations in context of what customers have asked or raised above [...]
September 3, 2008 at 5:48 am |
[...] stance (the only lab management product to support Citrix XenServer and now Microsoft Hyper-V), automation capabilities, user/team management & collaboration support and advanced [...]
September 23, 2008 at 4:30 am |
[...] Guest VM automation capabilities in VMLogix LabManager – and the ability to run operations in guest VMs (such as software installations, executing scripts, running test scripts, uploading logs, capturing a movie etc.) captured a lot of interest among the audience – especially among the software test professionals who stopped by our booth. A lot of people could immediately see how they would benefit from powerful functionality of this nature [...]
September 30, 2008 at 12:04 am |
[...] commands in the guest VMs of a multi-machine configuration. I’ve written in the past about it here and here. Among other things this allows you to bring up a multi-machine config. in a synchronized [...]
October 13, 2008 at 1:23 am |
[...] automation and self-service in the provisioning of multi-machine environments. In addition, VMLogix LabManager supports guest VM automation operations. Both of these advanced automation capabilities mean that users spend less time on mundane [...]
October 22, 2008 at 1:48 am |
[...] the manual effort and time necessary to provision multi-machine configurations. Features like automation with guest VMs brings about a huge saving (and practically eliminates user intervention) in the time required to [...]
March 28, 2009 at 7:12 pm |
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo