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VCF Automation Plugins#

The VCF Automation plugins provide comprehensive visibility and management capabilities for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployments within Backstage. It enables teams to monitor deployments, manage resources, and oversee project configurations through an intuitive interface. The plugins support Aria Automation 8.x as well as VCF Automation 9.x, including both vm-apps (classic) and all-apps organization types.

Features#

  • Deployment Monitoring: Track VCF deployment status and operations
  • Resource Management: Manage vSphere VMs and other VCF resources including CCI Supervisor resources
  • Project Configuration: Configure and monitor VCF projects across different organization types
  • CCI Support: Full support for Cloud Consuption Interface (CCI) Supervisor namespaces and resources
  • Multi-Organization Type: Support for both vm-apps (classic) and all-apps organization models in VCF 9
  • Permission Controls: Fine-grained access control integration
  • Entity Integration: Seamless catalog entity synchronization with proper entity relationships
  • Status Tracking: Real-time deployment and resource status with live Kubernetes object monitoring
  • YAML Visualization: Beautiful syntax-highlighted YAML rendering for Kubernetes manifests
  • YAML Editing: Interactive YAML editing capabilities for CCI Supervisor resources with Monaco Editor

Screenshots#

Project Overview#

Project View

Project Details#

Project Details 1 Project Details 2 Project Details 3

Deployment Overview#

Deployment View

Deployment Details#

Deployment Details 1 Deployment Details 2

vSphere VM Overview (VCFA 8 and VM Apps orgs in VCFA 9)#

vSphere VM View

vSphere VM Details (VCFA 8 and VM Apps orgs in VCFA 9)#

vSphere VM Details 1 vSphere VM Details 2

Resource Overview (VCFA 8 and VM Apps orgs in VCFA 9)#

Resource View

Resource Details (VCFA 8 and VM Apps orgs in VCFA 9)#

Resource Details

CCI Supervisor Namespace Overview (VCFA 9 All Apps Orgs)#

CCI Supervisor Namespace View

CCI Supervisor Namespace Details (VCFA 9 All Apps Orgs)#

CCI Supervisor Namespace Details 1 CCI Supervisor Namespace Details 2

CCI Supervisor Resource Overview (VCFA 9 All Apps Orgs)#

CCI Supervisor Resource View 1 CCI Supervisor Resource View 2

CCI Supervisor Resource Details (VCFA 9 All Apps Orgs)#

Basic Information#

CCI Supervisor Resource Details 1

Manifest Details#

CCI Supervisor Resource Details 2

Object Status#

CCI Supervisor Resource Details 3

Resource Conditions#

CCI Supervisor Resource Details 4

Defined Resource Manifest#

CCI Supervisor Resource Details 5

Live Kubernetes Object Manifest#

CCI Supervisor Resource Details 6

CCI Supervisor Resource YAML Editing (VCFA 9 All Apps Orgs)#

The VCF Automation plugin provides powerful YAML editing capabilities for CCI Supervisor resources, allowing users to directly modify Kubernetes resource manifests through a professional Monaco Editor interface.

Edit Resource Manifest Button (Overview Page)#

For CCI resources (both standalone and deployment-managed) with proper permissions, an "Edit Resource Manifest" button appears in the resource overview page, providing quick access to the YAML editor modal.

YAML Editor Modal (Overview Page)#

CCI YAML Editor Modal The modal includes: - Monaco Editor: Professional code editor with YAML syntax highlighting - Real-time Validation: Live YAML syntax validation with error feedback - Fixed Status Bar: Validation status remains visible at the bottom - Save Confirmation: Confirmation dialog before applying changes

Edit Manifest Tab (Details Page)#

CCI YAML Editor Tab The dedicated "Edit Manifest" tab provides: - Integrated Editor: Monaco Editor embedded directly in the details page - Auto-loading: Manifest automatically loads when tab is selected - Full-height Editor: Optimized for comfortable editing experience - Inline Actions: Save and Cancel buttons within the tab interface

Plugin Components#

Frontend Plugin#

The plugin provides frontend components for:
- Deployment visualization
- Resource management
- Project configuration
- Status monitoring

Learn more about the frontend plugin

Backend Plugin#

The plugin provides a backend deployment that:
- Handles API integration
- Manages permissions
- Processes operations
- Tracks resources

Learn more about the backend plugin

Ingestor Plugin#

The plugin provides a backend that:
- Discovers entities in your VCF Automation environment
- Generates the relevant Backstage entities to represent the VCF Automation resources
- Adds required metadata to the generated entities to allow the frontend plugin to pull runtime data
- Adds, updates and deletes the entities in the Backstage catalog based on the current state in VCF Automation

Learn more about the ingestor plugin

Available Components#

Deployment Components#

  • VCFAutomationDeploymentOverview: High-level deployment status
  • VCFAutomationDeploymentDetails: Detailed deployment information

VM Components#

  • VCFAutomationVSphereVMOverview: VM status overview
  • VCFAutomationVSphereVMDetails: Detailed VM configuration

Resource Components#

  • VCFAutomationGenericResourceOverview: Resource status
  • VCFAutomationGenericResourceDetails: Resource configuration

Project Components#

  • VCFAutomationProjectOverview: Project status overview (supports both vm-apps and all-apps)
  • VCFAutomationProjectDetails: Project configuration details (supports both vm-apps and all-apps)

CCI Components (New)#

  • VCFAutomationCCINamespaceOverview: CCI Supervisor Namespace overview with VM classes, storage classes, and zones
  • VCFAutomationCCINamespaceDetails: Detailed CCI Supervisor Namespace information with status tables
  • VCFAutomationCCIResourceOverview: CCI Supervisor Resource overview with manifest and object data, including YAML editing modal
  • VCFAutomationCCIResourceDetails: Detailed CCI Supervisor Resource with tabbed views, YAML rendering, and integrated YAML editor tab

Entity Types Created#

The ingestor creates the following Backstage entity types:

  • Domain: VCF Projects (with project-specific external links)
  • System: VCF Deployments (with deployment-specific external links)
  • Component:
  • vSphere Virtual Machines (Cloud.vSphere.Machine)
  • CCI Supervisor Namespaces (CCI.Supervisor.Namespace)
  • CCI Supervisor Resources (CCI.Supervisor.Resource)
  • Resource: Other VCF resources (generic resources)

Entity Relationships#

  • CCI Supervisor Resources are marked as subcomponentOf their parent CCI Supervisor Namespace
  • Deployments belong to their parent Project domain
  • Resources are part of their parent Deployment system
  • Dependencies are properly tracked between resources using dependsOn relationships

Prerequisites#

Before getting started, ensure you have:

  1. VCF Automation Backend Plugin installed
  2. VCF Ingestor Plugin configured
  3. Access to VCF deployments
  4. Proper permissions setup

Getting Started#

To get started with the VCF Automation plugin:

  1. Install frontend and backend plugins
  2. Configure API integration
  3. Set up entity synchronization
  4. Configure permissions
  5. Add components to entity pages

For detailed installation and configuration instructions, refer to the frontend and backend documentation linked above.