VMware vSphere App HA 1.1 What's New

I have been presenting during VMware Partner Exchange in Singapore as well in certain workshops for customer and many times we brought up vSphere App HA as part of application availability solution which is part of vSphere Enterprise Plus.

Previously with the 1.0 release, I did a post on the setup but it slip from my mind that there was an minor update to 1.1 on 8th April 2014 which I forgotten to update here which I find it pretty useful.  Do check out my previous post to have a better understanding.  The setup does not change much.

In 1.0, it only support vSphere web client 5.5 and using vCenter Hyperic 5.7.  With the release of 1.1, it will now support from vSphere 5.1 U2 and creation of custom service where it is non default applications in vSphere App HA.  Lastly the pain in 1.0 of not able to edit a policy after it is created it now possible.  Finally this is fixed else you would need to delete and re-create a policy due to minor changes and reapply to all the VM involved!

Instead of remember the compatibility, you can check out the compatibility matrix site.  Refer to the vCenter Hyperic 5.8.1 Documentation Center to see the other supported services under the section: vCenter Hyperic Resource Configuration and Metrics.

The only draw back on this release is there is no direct in place upgrade from 1.0 to 1.1, you would need to redeploy your App HA appliance.  For vCenter Hyperic, it is now supporting 5.8.1, so you might want to either upgrade it or redeploy it.

You can download the documentation here.  There a few new default applications that are added with all the default applications list as below:

Services
Version
Operation System
Apache Tomcat
6.0, 7.0
Windows, Linux
IIS
6., 7., 8.
Windows
Microsoft SQL
2005, 2008, 2008R2, 2012
Windows
Apache HTTP Server
2.2
Windows, Linux
Sharepoint
2007, 2010
Windows
SpringSource tc Runtime
6.0, 7.0
Windows, Linux
PostgresSQL
8.x, 9.x
Windows, Linux
Oracle
10 g2, 11 g2
Windows, Linux

In order to add any custom service, vCenter Hyperic Server must be able to restart the service.  The only article that I was able to find was in Japanese here.  I have listed out some of the confusion between vSphere App HA and vCenter Hyperic as stated in the post above.
  • the term "virtual machine" used in the vSphere App HA is referred to as a platform in vCenter Hyperic.
  • the term "service" used in the vSphere App HA is referred to as a server in vCenter Hyperic.
Do note that you need to setup your vCenter Hyperic before setting the service in vSphere App HA will make things easier for you.  Refer to the Hyperic guide to setup a new service.  Make sure you create the "Server" for the service you want to monitor with the exact SAME name as in the vSphere App HA console below later.

To add a custom service, you will first discover the "Server" in vCenter Hyperic.  Note down the name of the service as above.  Next you would need to SSH to vSphere App HA appliance.  To do that, you would need to enable SSH Permit root access if you are accessing via a SSH client otherwise you can just proceed from the vSphere web client remote console.

Next you need to enter the following command in vSphere App HA vApp Console with the service name you have noted down from vCenter Hyperic portal with the example below the service name is JBoss7.1:

# /opt/vadm-engine/bin/custom_service.sh add
Enter service name: JBoss7.1

Once completed, you will see your service name available when creating a policy. You will also see the status as AppHA-Custom.  You can refer to the vSphere App HA user guide page 20.

Hope this is useful for those using vSphere App HA.


Update 15 Dec 2014
  • Correction on the console command to vSphere App HA vApp and wording to improve the descriptions.
  • Add link to Hyperic Server guide to add a service.

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