Streamlining VM Provisioning on Multi-Cloud & Cost Optimization: Insights from Delhi VMUG Talk on VMware Aria Suite

 Greetings, tech enthusiasts! Imagine the frustration of waiting eight long days for a virtual machine to be provisioned. In today's fast-paced world, that's simply unacceptable. However, in a recent event at Delhi VMUG, I shared our remarkable journey from these excruciating delays to the astonishing reality of reducing VM build time to a mere eight hours. Buckle up as we explore how we streamlined VM provisioning in a multi-cloud environment, optimized costs using VMware Aria Suite (SaaS), and revolutionized the way we operate.

The Delhi VMUG Event:

At the Delhi VMUG event, I had the privilege of sharing our experiences and insights into these challenges. The event was buzzing with discussions on cloud management, multi-cloud architectures, and the future of VM provisioning. It was clear that many organizations faced similar challenges, and the hunger for solutions was palpable.

 Streamlining VM Provisioning on Multi-Cloud:

Multi-cloud, as I highlighted during my talk, is the modern way forward. The flexibility it offers is unparalleled, but managing VM provisioning across diverse cloud platforms can be a daunting task. This is where VMware Aria Suite (SaaS) came into play. By automating and orchestrating the provisioning process, we achieved a level of efficiency we'd only dreamt of before. Requests were fulfilled swiftly and consistently across different clouds.

Cost Optimization Using VMware Aria Suite:

Cost optimization is a critical aspect of cloud management. The beauty of VMware Aria Suite is its ability to optimize costs seamlessly. Through intelligent resource allocation and monitoring, we were able to trim our cloud expenses significantly. Real-time insights allowed us to make data-driven decisions, avoiding unnecessary expenditures and ensuring that every penny was put to good use.

 Multi-Cloud Architecture and Use Cases:

Exploring the intricacies of multi-cloud architecture, we delved into various use cases. From ensuring high availability to disaster recovery, multi-cloud offered us the flexibility to cater to different needs. Case studies and practical applications showcased the versatility and robustness of this approach.

 Reducing VM Build Time:

The highlight of our journey was the reduction of VM build time from a frustrating 8 days to a mere 8 hours. The audience was enthralled as I detailed the strategies and tools we used. Automation, pre-configured templates, and intelligent workload placement were key elements in this transformation. Metrics spoke for themselves, highlighting the monumental improvements we achieved.

Key Takeaways:

Streamlining VM provisioning is essential for project efficiency.

VMware Aria Suite is a game-changer for cost optimization.

Multi-cloud architectures offer unparalleled flexibility and resilience.

Cutting VM build times enhances agility and productivity.

Our journey from days to hours in VM provisioning was not just a transformation for our organization, but a testament to the power of innovation in the tech world. As we continue to embrace the multi-cloud era and leverage tools like VMware Aria Suite, we are well on our way to unlocking even greater efficiency and cost savings.

I invite you to share your own experiences or questions in the comments section below. Feel free to connect with me on social media for further discussions on streamlining VM provisioning, cost optimization, and cloud management.

Session Recording:

VMUG Delhi - Streamlining VM Provisioning on Multi-Cloud, Cost Optimization, and Automated Security - YouTube

VMinclusion Taara: Empowering Women's Career Comeback with VMware's Free Technical Certification Program

 

Returning to work after a career break can be challenging, especially for women who may face various obstacles in re-entering the workforce. However, VMware, a leading technology company, has taken a significant step forward by introducing Taara, a women return-to-work program. Taara offers a free technical certification course designed specifically for women in India who have taken a career break. This blog post will provide an overview of the program, eligibility criteria, course details, and the numerous benefits it offers.

Who can apply? Taara is open to women who meet the following criteria:

1. Career break: Applicants must have been on a career break for at least six months.
2. Indian citizenship: Only women who are citizens of India and reside within the territorial jurisdiction of India are eligible.
3. Graduation completion: Candidates should have completed their graduation at least six months ago and have not yet been employed by any organization.

Program Insights: Taara offers a well-structured learning path with three distinct levels of courses. Let's explore each level in detail:

Level 1 - Self-paced Learning: Course Name: VMware Certified Associate Duration: 3 to 8 Hours Exam: Online or Offline Upon completion, participants earn a VCA certificate, a digital badge, and a special voucher to unlock the next level.

Level 2 - Self-paced and Pre-recorded Teaching Videos: Course Name: vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [v6.7] Duration: Theory - 20 hours, Hands-on Labs - 20 hours Exam: Online (Pearson VUE) or Offline Successful completion of this course rewards participants with a vSphere 6.7 Foundation certificate, a digital badge, and an exam voucher to unlock the next level.

Level 3 - Self-paced and Pre-recorded Teaching Videos: Duration: Theory - 20 hours, Lab - 20 hours Exam: VMware Certified Professional Exam (Based on the candidate's chosen area) Upon completing Level 3, candidates earn an industry-recognized certification based on their chosen area of expertise within the program.

Benefits: Taara offers a wide range of benefits for participants, including:

1. Flexible Exam Options: Exams can be taken online or offline, allowing candidates to schedule them in advance at their convenience.
2. Certification and Vouchers: At the end of each course, participants receive a certificate and an exam voucher to unlock the next level, helping them progress through the program.
3. Free of Cost: Taara is a free program worth 2 lakhs, eliminating financial barriers for eligible candidates.
4. Upskilling Opportunities: Participants gain access to additional upskilling trainings, mentorship programs, interview preparation guidelines, webinars, and other activities sponsored by VMware, ClealyBlue, and Smart Start.
5. Doubt Clarification: VMware conducts regular webinars and technical sessions to address participant queries and provide further guidance.
6. Job Portal Reservation: Women restarting their careers receive special reservations on job portals, improving their chances of finding suitable employment.
7. Job Openings Updates: Dedicated WhatsApp and Telegram groups keep participants informed about the latest job openings in relevant fields.

Conclusion: VMware's Taara program is a commendable initiative that aims to empower women seeking to return to their professional careers. By offering a free technical certification course and a supportive learning environment, Taara provides the necessary tools for women to upskill and reenter the workforce confidently. If you're an eligible candidate, don't hesitate to apply for Taara and embark on an exciting new journey towards professional success.

Apply here: http://www.vmware.com/taara/

We encourage all eligible women who are eager to restart their careers to take advantage of the Taara program offered by VMware. Don't let doubts or hesitations hold you back. Seize this opportunity to upskill, gain industry-recognized certifications, and open doors to new career possibilities. Register now and embark on an exciting path towards professional growth and success. Good luck on your journey!

Simplifying Google Cloud platform (GCP) Management with VMware Aria Automation

 

Many VMware customers are now embracing a multi-cloud strategy to propel their digital business growth. While the cloud offers numerous advantages, managing multiple clouds presents its own set of challenges. These challenges arise from handling diverse data, applications, and policies across various clouds. VMware Aria Automation is a platform designed to address these complexities. It enables customers to deliver a unified self-service multi-cloud environment, simplifying operations and facilitating scalable growth.

As part of VMware's commitment to empowering customers on their multi-cloud journeys, a plugin-based architecture was announced in the April release. This architecture enables seamless integration with native public cloud resources, offering enhanced flexibility and control. VMware is thrilled to announce the addition of support for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to further expand the capabilities of our multi-cloud solution. In this blog, we will explore the exciting new features that come with this update.

New Plugin-Based Native GCP Resource Support

Support for GCP VMs

VMware Aria Automation now offers support for provisioning virtual machines (VMs) hosted on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This support is made possible through the plugin-based architecture, expanding the capabilities of the platform. With this new feature, users can take advantage of all properties and features available in GCP, rather than being limited to a predefined set by VMware Aria Automation.

The addition of support for GCP VMs in VMware Aria Automation through the plugin-based architecture brings enhanced flexibility and access to the latest features available on GCP. Users can now leverage the full range of properties and benefits provided by GCP, unlocking greater customization and real-time updates. This integration simplifies the management and provisioning of GCP VMs within the VMware Aria Automation platform, offering a seamless experience for users.

 

Support for VM snapshots in GCP

VMware Aria Automation has introduced enhanced snapshot capabilities for virtual machines (VMs) hosted on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This new feature, built on top of the classic VM objects, expands the snapshot functionality within the platform. With these enhancements, users can effectively manage and utilize snapshots for their GCP deployments, enabling greater control over system states.

Key Snapshot Use Cases:

The plugin-based framework in VMware Aria Automation now supports the following snapshot use cases for GCP:

Creation of a new snapshot from a disk resource while creating a new deployment using a blueprint

Deletion of an existing snapshot

Update an existing snapshot.

Restoring a disk from a snapshot

 

VMware Aria Automation's enhanced snapshot capabilities for GCP VMs empower users to effectively manage system states and configurations. With the ability to create, delete, update, and restore snapshots, users can maintain control over their deployments and easily revert to previous states as needed. These features offer greater flexibility, efficiency, and peace of mind for managing GCP deployments within the VMware Aria Automation platform.

Support for managing network resources in GCP

VMware Aria Automation has expanded its capabilities to support the provisioning and management of network resources on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This feature enables users to seamlessly configure and optimize network connectivity within their GCP deployments, fostering efficient communication between Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks. The plugin-based architecture empowers users with various operations, including adding, removing, updating, and patching network resources, as well as switching to custom mode.

VMware Aria Automation's expanded support for managing network resources in GCP enhances the connectivity and communication capabilities within GCP deployments. With features such as VPC Network Peering, add/remove/update peering, custom mode switching, and network patching, users can optimize their network configurations to meet specific requirements. This enhanced functionality offers an optimized user experience, enabling efficient network management within the VMware Aria Automation platform.

Support for managing disks resources in GCP

VMware Aria Automation now offers comprehensive support for managing disk resources on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). With the plugin-based architecture, users can easily attach, detach, and encrypt disks, leveraging storage profiles for efficient disk management within GCP deployments. This capability simplifies disk resource operations, enhancing the user experience and enabling faster provisioning of VM instances.

Key Disk Resource Management Features:

The plugin-based architecture in VMware Aria Automation provides the following essential capabilities for managing disk resources in GCP:

Disk creation (present)

Disk deletion (absent)

Disk display (describe)

VMware Aria Automation's support for managing disk resources in GCP through the plugin-based architecture streamlines disk operations within GCP deployments. With features such as disk creation, deletion, and display, users can efficiently provision, manage, and assess disk resources according to their specific requirements. This enhanced functionality improves the user experience and accelerates the provisioning of VM instances, facilitating a more streamlined and efficient disk management process within the VMware Aria Automation platform.

Support for storage buckets in GCP plugin

The StorageBucket resource represents a bucket in Cloud Storage. VMware Aria automation supports creating and deleting a Bucket resource in GCP. Also provides the ability to patch and update the storage bucket. StorageBucket Resource can be managed with default access control.  Bucket resources can be patched and updated. It provides an option for users to lock the retention policy of a Bucket resource.

Manage shielded instance resources in GCP

VMware Aria Automation supports the creation of Shielded VMs, by using a dedicated “shield” property. Shielded VMs offer verifiable integrity of the compute Engine VM instances, so the user can be confident his instances haven’t been compromised by boot- or kernel-level malware or rootkits.

Learn more about how VMware Aria Automation plugin-based Architecture supports the latest GCP capabilities: GCP resource support in VMware Aria Automation.

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you found it enjoyable. Please feel free to share it on social media if you think it's worth sharing.

Streamlining Day-2 Actions for Multi-Cloud and On-Premises Environments: Boosting Efficiency with Aria Automation

In this blog post, we will explore the capabilities of Cloud Assembly for managing resources after deploying cloud templates. Once your templates are deployed, Cloud Assembly provides you with a range of actions to effectively manage your resources. However, the availability of these actions depends on factors such as the resource type and the support for specific actions on your chosen cloud account or integration platform.

As an administrator or project administrator, you can set up Day 2 Actions policies in Service Broker.

 It's important to note that the actions you can perform are also influenced by the entitlements set by your administrator. These entitlements determine the level of access you have and the actions you are authorized to execute,

You might also see actions that are not included in the list. These are likely custom actions added by your administrator

List of possible actions for Multi-cloud and  On-Premises

Action	Applies to  these resource types	Available for these cloud        types	Resour ce origin	Description
Add Disk	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Add additional disks to existing virtual machines. If you add a disk to an Azure machine, the persistent disk or non-persistent disk is deployed in the resource group that includes the machine. When you add a disk to an Azure machines, you can also encrypt the new disk using the Azure disk encryption set configured in the storage profile. When you add a disk to vSphere machines, you can select the SCSI controller, the order of which was set in the cloud template and deployed. You can also specify the unit number for the new disk. You cannot specify a unit number without a selected controller. If you do not select a controller or provide a unit number, the new disk is deployed to first available controller and assigned then next available unit number on that controller. If you add a disk to a vSphere machine for a project with defined storage limits, the added machine is not considered as part of the storage limits. Only resized disks are considered. If you use VMware Storage DRS (SDRS) and the datastore cluster is configured in the storage profile, you can add disks on SDRS to vSphere machines.
Apply Salt Configu ration	Machines	n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Install a Salt minion or update an existing minion on a virtual machine. The Apply Salt Configuration option is available if you configured the SaltStack Config integration. To apply a configuration, you must select an authentication method. The Remote access with existing credentials uses the remote access credentials that are included in the deployment. If you changed the credentials on the machine after deployment, the action can fail. If you know the new credentials, use the Password authentication method. The Password and Private key use the user name and the password or key to validate your credentials and then connect to the virtual machine using SSH. If you do not provide a value for the Master ID and Minion ID, Salt creates the values for you.
Cancel	n  Various resource types in deployments n  Deployments	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deploye d n  On-boarded	Cancel a deployment or a day 2 action on a deployment or a resource while the request is being processed. You can cancel the request on the deployment card or in the deployment details. After you cancel the request, it appears as a failed request on the Deployments page. Use the Delete action to release any deployed resources and clean up your deployment list. Canceling a request that you think has been running too long is one method for managing deployment time. However, it is more efficient to set the Request Timeout in the projects. The default timeout is two hours. You can set if for a longer period of time if the workload deployment for a project requires more time.
Change Lease	Deployments	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Change the lease expiration date and time. When a lease expires, the deployment is destroyed and the resources are reclaimed. Lease policies are set in Service Broker.
Change Owner	Deployments	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  Onb oar ded	Changes to deployment owner to the selected user. The selected user must be a member of the same project that deployed the request. If you want to assign a service administrator or project administrator as the owner, you must add them as a project member.
Change Project	Deployments	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	The change project action is only available for deployments with onboarded resources. The onboarded deployments can include only machines and disks. The action is not available for deployed cloud templates nor migrated deployments. If you make any changes to the deployment resources, for example, add a disk, you cannot run the change project action. Change the project of an onboarded deployment. This action allows you to change individual deployments from the onboarding project to a different project. Action constraints: n  The initiating user must have permission to run the change project action. n  If you are an administrator moving the deployment, you could move the deployment to a project where the owner is not a member and therefore loses access. You can add the user to the target project or move the deployment to a project where they are a member. n  The target project cloud zones must be the same as the source project cloud zones. If they are not, any future day 2 actions involving cloud account / region resources that you run might not work.
Change Security Groups	Machines	n  VMware vSphere	n  Deploye d n  On-boarded	You can associate and dissociate security groups with machine networks in a deployment. The change action applies to existing and on-demand security groups for NSX-V and NSX-T. This action is available only for single machines, not machine clusters. To associate a security group with the machine network, the security group must be present in the deployment. Dissociating a security group from all networks of all machines in a deployment does not remove the security group from the deployment. These changes do not affect security groups applied as part of the network profiles. This action changes the machine's security group configuration without recreating the machine. This is a non-destructive change. n  To change the machine's security group configuration, select the machine in the topology pane, then click the Action menu in the right pane and select Change Security Groups. You can now add or remove the association on the security groups with the machine networks.
Connect to Remote Console	Machines	n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  Discovered n  On-boarded	Open a remote session on the selected machine. Review the following requirements for a successful connection. n  As a deployment consumer, verify that the provisioned machine is powered on.
Create Disk Snapshot	Machines and disks	n  Microsoft Azure	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Create a snapshot of a virtual machine disk or a storage disk. n  For machines, you create snapshots for individual machine disks, including boot disk, image disks, and storage disks. n  For storage disks, you create snapshots of independent managed disks, not unmanaged disks. In addition to providing a snapshot name, you can also provide the following information for the snapshot: n  Incremental Snapshot. Select the check box to create a snapshot of the changes since the last snapshot rather full snapshot. n  Resource Group. Enter the name of the target resource group where you want to create the snapshot. By default, the snapshot is created in the same resource group that is used by the parent disk. n  Encryption Set Id. Select the encryption key for the snapshot. By default, the snapshot is encrypted with the same key that is used by the parent disk. n  Tags. Enter any tags that will help you manage the snapshots in Microsoft Azure.
Create Snapshot	Machines	n  Google Cloud Platform n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Create a snapshot of the virtual machine. If you are allowed only two snapshots in vSphere and you already have them, this command is not available until you delete a snapshot.
Delete	Deployments	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Destroy a deployment. All the resources are deleted and the reclaimed. If a delete fails, you can run the delete action on a deployment a second time. During the second attempt, you can select Ignore Delete Failures. If you select this option, the deployment is deleted, but the resources might not be reclaimed. You should check the systems on which the deployment was provisioned to ensure that all resources are removed. If they are not, you must manually delete the residual resources on those systems
	NSX Gateway	n  NSX	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Delete the NAT port forwarding rules from an NSX-T or NSX-V gateway.
	Machines and load balancers	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere n  VMware NSX	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Delete a machine or load balancer from a deployment. This action might result in an unusable deployment.
	Security groups	n  NSX-T n  NSX-V	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	If the security is not associated with any machine in the deployment, the process removes the security group from the deployment. n  If the security group is on-demand, then it is destroyed on the endpoint. n  If the security group is shared, the action fails.
Delete Disk Snapshot	Machines and disks	n  Microsoft Azure	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Delete an Azure virtual machine disk or managed disk snapshot. This action is available when there is at least one snapshot.
Delete Snapshot	Machines	n  VMware vSphere n  Google Cloud Platform	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Delete a snapshot of the virtual machine.
Disable Boot Diagnostics	Machines	n  Microsoft Azure	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Turn off the Azure virtual machine debugging feature. The Disable option is only available if the feature is turned on.
Edit Tags	Deploymen ts	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Add or modify resource tags that are applied to individual deployment resources.
	NSX Gateway	n  NSX	n  Deploye d n  On-boarded	Delete the NAT port forwarding rules from an NSX-T or NSX-V gateway.
	Machines and load balancers	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere n  VMware NSX	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Delete a machine or load balancer from a deployment. This action might result in an unusable deployment.
	Security groups	n  NSX-T n  NSX-V	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	If the security is not associated with any machine in the deployment, the process removes the security group from the deployment. n  If the security group is on-demand, then it is destroyed on the endpoint. n  If the security group is shared, the action fails.
Delete Disk Snapshot	Machines and disks	n  Microsoft Azure	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Delete an Azure virtual machine disk or managed disk snapshot. This action is available when there is at least one snapshot.
Delete Snapshot	Machines	n  VMware vSphere n  Google Cloud Platform	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Delete a snapshot of the virtual machine.
Disable Boot Diagnostics	Machines	n  Microsoft Azure	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Turn off the Azure virtual machine debugging feature. The Disable option is only available if the feature is turned on.
Edit Tags	Deploymen ts	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Add or modify resource tags that are applied to individual deployment resources.
	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Power off the machine without shutting down the guest operating systems.
Power On	Deployments	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Power on the deployment. If the resources were suspended, normal operation resumes from the point at which they were suspended.
	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  Disc over ed n  On-boarded	Power on the machine. If the machine was suspended, normal operation resumes from the point at which the machine was suspended.
Reboot	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Reboot the guest operating system on a virtual machine. For a vSphere machine, VMware Tools must be installed on the machine to use this action.
Reconfigure	Load Balancers	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware NSX	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Change the load balancer size and logging level. You can also add or remove routes, and change the protocol, port, health configuration, and member pool settings. For NSX load balancers, you can enable or disable the health check and modify the health options. For NSX-T, you can set the check to active or passive. NSX-V does not support passive health checks.
	NSX Gateway port forwarding	n  NSX-T n  NSX-V	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Add, edit, or delete the NAT port forwarding rules from an NSX-T or NSX-V gateway.
	Security Groups	n  NSX-T n  NSX-V n  VMware Cloud n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Add, edit, or remove firewall rules or constraints based on whether the security group is an on- demand or an existing security group. n  On-demand security group   Add, edit, or remove firewall rules for NSX-T and VMware Cloud on-demand security groups. n  To add or remove a rule, select the security group in the topology pane,  click  the Action menu in the right pane, and select Reconfigure. You can now add, edit, or remove the rules. n  Existing security group   Add, edit, or remove constraints for existing NSX-V, NSX-T, and VMware Cloud security groups. n  To add or remove a constraint, select the security group in the topology pane, click the Action menu in the right pane, and select Reconfigure. You can now add, edit, or remove the constraints.
Refresh Terraform State	Terraform Configurati on	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Retrieve the latest iteration of the Terraform state file. To retrieve any changes that were made to the Terraform machines on the cloud platforms that they were deployed on and update the deployment, you first run this Refresh Terraform State action. To view the file, run the Get Terraform State action on the configuration. Use the deployment history tab to monitor the refresh process.
Remove Disk	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Remove disks from existing virtual machines. If you run the day 2 action on a deployment that is deployed as vSphere machines and disks, the disk count is reclaimed as it applies to project storage limits. The project storage limits do not apply to additional disks that you added after deployment as a day 2 action.
Reset	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Force a virtual machine restart without shutting down the guest operating system.
Resize	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  Google Cloud Platform n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Increase or decrease the CPU and memory of a virtual machine.
Resize Boot Disk	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Increase or decrease the size of your boot disk medium. If you run the day 2 action on a deployment that is deployed as vSphere machines and disks, and the action fails with a message similar to “The requested storage is more than the available storage placement,” it is likely due to the defined storage limits on your vSphere VM templates that are defined in the project. The project storage limits do not apply to additional disks that you added after deployment as a day 2 action.
Resize Disk	Storage disk	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Increase the capacity of a storage disk. If you run the day 2 action on a deployment that is deployed as vSphere machines and disks, and the action fails with a message similar to “The requested storage is more than the available storage placement,” it is likely due to the defined storage limits on your vSphere VM templates that are defined in the project. The project storage limits do not apply to additional disks that you added after deployment as a day 2 action.
	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Increase or decrease the size of disks included in the machine image template and any attached disks.
Restart	Machines	n  Microsoft Azure	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Shut down and restart a running machine.
Revert to Snapsh ot	Machines	n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Revert to a previous snapshot of the machine. You must have an existing snapshot to use this action.
Run Puppet Task	Managed resources	n  Puppet Enterprise	n  Deploye d n  On-boarded	Run the selected task on machines in your deployment. The tasks are defined in your Puppet instance. You must be able to identify the task and provide the input parameters.
Shutdo wn	Machines	n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed	Shut down the guest operating system and power off the machine. VMware Tools must be installed on the machine to use this action.
Suspen d	Machines	n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Pause the machine so that it cannot be used and does not consume any system resources other than the storage it is using.
Update	Deploymen ts	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Change the deployment based on the input parameters. For an example, see How to move a deployed machine to another network. If the deployment is based on vSphere resources, and the machine and disks include the count option,
Update Tags	Machines and disks	n  Amazon Web Service n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	Add, modify, or delete a tag that is applied to an individual resource.
Unregister	Machines	n  Amazon Web Service n  Google Cloud Platform n  Microsoft Azure n  VMware vSphere	n  Deployed n  On-boarded	The unregister action is only available for onboarded deployment machines. Unregistered machines are removed from the deployment, along with any attached disks. By removing the resources, you can then re-run the onboarding workflow for the unregistered machine. You might want to onboard the resource again, this time to a new project. If you make any changes to the machine, for example, add a disk, before unregistering the machine, the unregister action fails.

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you found it enjoyable. Please feel free to share it on social media if you think it's worth sharing.