XenDesktop Installation and configuration

We are assuming that ,  virtual machines are hosted using Citrix XenServer. Each virtual machine is an independent system called a guest operating system. Citrix XenCenter allows you to connect to the XenServer environment and administer guest operating systems

This is also applicable in case of Hyper-V and VMware Environments,

Part 1: Install XenApp

Xenapp Installation and configuration is already covered. Below is the link. there is no need to reinvent the wheel

http://technologyandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2014/06/xenapp-installation-and-configuration.html

Now we have to do following things:

1) Create XenApp Farm SQL Database

2) Install the Desktop Delivery Controller

3) Configure Active Directory Computers

4) Configure Desktop Delivery Controller

Configure Active Directory Computers

Start the virtual machines in the following order:

1. ABCDMC1
2. FILER1
3. ABCSQL1
4. ABCPVSRV1
5. ABCPVSRV2
6. ABCXAMaster
7. ABCWI1

Wait until each virtual machine is completely powered on and at the authentication screen before powering on the next virtual machine.

·         Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDMC1 virtual machine.Open the Active Directory Users and Computers console.

·         Expand the ABC.Local node in the left pane and click Computers.

·         Drag the ABCDDC1, ABCDDC2 and ABCDDC3 computers to the Servers > XenDesktop OU. Click Yes in the Active Directory Domain Services warning screen. The three computers move to the XenDesktop OU.

·         Drag the ABCWinXPMaster computer to the Desktops > OS > WinXP OU.

·         Click Yes in the Active Directory Domain Services warning screen. The ABCWinXPMaster computer moves to the WinXP OU.

Create a SQL Farm Database

Use the following procedure to create a SQL farm database on the ABCSQL1 virtual machine.

1. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCSQL1 virtual machine.
2. Open and connect to the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio console.
3. Right-click ABCSQL1 > Security and click New > Login . The Login - New screen appears.
4. Type ABC\_XD in the Login name field and click OK.
5. Right-click ABCSQL1 > Databases and click New Database. The New Database screen appears.
6. Type XenDesktop-ABC in the Database name field.
7. Click ... to select a database owner. The Select Database Owner screen appears.
8. Type ABC\_XD in the Enter the object names to select pane and click Check Names.
9. Click OK. The Select Database Owner screen closes.
10. Click OK. The New Database screen closes.

Install the Desktop Delivery Controller

Use the following procedure to install the Desktop Delivery Controller on the ABCDDC1 virtual machine.

1. Within the XenCenter console, start the ABCDDC1, ABCDDC2 and ABCDDC3 virtual machines.
2. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC1 virtual machine.
3. Within the XenCenter console, select XD_30.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list.
4. Close the Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller 3.0 Wizard if it appears.

The Desktop Delivery Controller installation can be completed using the wizard. However, for the purposes of this class you will install the Desktop Delivery Controller from a command prompt.

5. Click Start > Run , type the following:

D:\W2K3\EN\SETUP.EXE -NOSITES

The Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller Setup Wizard appears.

This command prevents the Web Interface and the default sites from installing automatically. For the purposes of this class, Web Interface has already been configured on a separate server.

6. Read and respond to the license agreement and click Next.
7. If prompted, click Yes in the warning screen.
8. Deselect the Citrix License Server component and click Next.
9. Select Create new farm and type ABC_XD_Farm in the farm name field and click Next.
10. If prompted, click Yes in the warning screen.
11. Select XenDesktop Platinum Edition and click Next.
12. Select Use an existing database server and Configure license server now and click Next.
13. Verify that SQL Server is selected as the database server type and click Configure. The Create a New Data Source to SQL Server screen appears.
14. Select ABCSQL1 in the Server field drop-down list and click Next.
15. Click Next to accept the default authentication settings.
16. Select Change the default database to and select XenDesktop-ABC from the default database drop-down list.
17. Click Next to accept the default SQL Server settings.
18. Click Finish. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen appears.
19. Click Test Data Source to ensure the connection is configured properly. The Test results should return a success message.
20. Click OK in the Test Results screen.
21. Click OK. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen closes.
22. Click Next.
23. Authenticate to the database using the following credentials:
• Username: ABC\_XD
• Password: Password1
24. Click Next.
25. Type ABCDMC1 in the License server name field and click Next.
26. Click Next. The installation begins.
27. When prompted for the Service Pack 2 CD-ROM, select WIN2K3.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list and click OK. The Files Needed screen appears.
28. Click Browse.
29. Click the CONVLOG.EX_ file and click Open.
30. Click OK. The Files Needed screen closes and the Desktop Delivery Controller installation continues..
31. When prompted for the Desktop Delivery Installation media, select XD_30.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list and click OK.
32. Click Yes to restart ABCDDC1. The ABCDDC1 virtual machine restarts for the first time.
33. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC1 virtual machine. The installation automatically continues.
34. Click Yes to restart ABCDDC1. The ABCDDC1 virtual machine restarts for the second time.
35. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC1 virtual machine. The installation automatically continues.
36. Deselect Start the License Management Console now and click Finish. The Active Directory Configuration Wizard appears.
37. Click Next.
38. Click Browse and select ABC > Servers > XenDesktop and click OK.
39. Click Next.
40. Click Finish. The Active Directory configuration begins.
41. Click Close. The Active Directory Configuration Wizard closes.
42. Click Yes. The Access Management Console and the discovery configuration screen opens.
43. Click Skip this screen in future and click Next.
44. Click Next to accept the default components.
45. Click Add Local Computer and click Next.
46. Click Next. The discovery process begins.
47. Click Close this wizard when discovery is successful. The discovery configuration screen closes.

Configure the Desktop Delivery Controller

Use the following procedure to configure the Desktop Delivery Controller on the ABCDDC1 virtual machine.

1. Click Start > Run . The Run prompt appears.
2. Type REGEDIT and click OK. The Registry Editor appears.

Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that can require an administrator to reinstall the operating system. Citrix cannot guarantee that problems resulting from incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved.

3. Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Citrix > IMA > RUNTIME nodes and double-click UseRegistrySetting.
4. Type 1 in the Data value field and click OK.

The UseRegistrySetting key determines whether or not an election process is necessary to determine the Desktop Delivery Controller roles.

5. Double-click the MasterRanking key and verify that the value is set to 1. A MasterRanking registry entry value of 1 identifies the ABCDDC1 virtual machine as the farm master.
6. Restart the ABCDDC1 virtual machine and log on as a domain administrator

Part 2: Install Additional Desktop Delivery Controllers

Install Second Desktop Delivery Controller

Use the following procedure to install the Desktop Delivery Controller on the ABCDDC2 virtual machine.

1. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC2 virtual machine.
2. Within the XenCenter console, select XD_30.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list.
3. Close the Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller 3.0 Wizard if it appears.

The Desktop Delivery Controller installation can be completed using the wizard. However, for the purposes of this class you will install the Desktop Delivery Controller from a command prompt.

4. Click Start > Run , type the following:

D:\W2K3\EN\SETUP.EXE -NOSITES

The Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller Setup Wizard appears.

This command prevents the Web Interface and the default sites from installing automatically. For the purposes of this class, Web Interface has already been configured on a separate server.

5. Read and respond to the license agreement and click Next.
6. If prompted, click Yes in the warning screen.
7. Deselect the Citrix License Server and Citrix Management Consoles components and click Next.
8. Select Join existing farm and type ABCDDC1 in the controller name field and click Next.
9. Select Use an existing database server and click Next.
10. Verify that SQL Server is selected as the database server type and click Configure. The Create a New Data Source to SQL Server screen appears.
11. Select ABCSQL1 in the Server field drop-down list and click Next.
12. Click Next to accept the default authentication settings.
13. Select Change the default database to and select XenDesktop-ABC from the default database drop-down list.
14. Click Next.
15. Click Finish. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen appears.
16. Click Test Data Source to ensure the connection is configured properly. The Test results should return a success message.
17. Click OK in the Test Results screen.
18. Click OK. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen closes.
19. Click Next.
20. Authenticate to the database using the following credentials:
• Username: ABC\_XD
• Password: Password1
21. Click Next.
22. Click Next. The installation begins.
23. When prompted for the Service Pack 2 CD-ROM, select WIN2K3.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list and click OK. The Files Needed screen appears.
24. Click Browse.
25. Click the CONVLOG.EX_ file and click Open.
26. Click OK. The Files Needed screen closes and the Desktop Delivery Controller installation continues..
27. When prompted for the Desktop Delivery Installation media, select XD_30.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list. and click OK.
28. Click Yes to restart ABCDDC2. The ABCDDC2 virtual machine restarts for the first time.
29. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC2 virtual machine. The installation automatically continues.
30. Click Yes to restart ABCDDC2. The ABCDDC2 virtual machine restarts for the second time.
31. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC2 virtual machine. The installation automatically continues.
32. Click Finish.

Configure Second Desktop Delivery Controller

Use the following procedure to configure the Desktop Delivery Controller on the ABCDDC2 virtual machine.

1. Click Start > Run . The Run prompt appears.
2. Type REGEDIT and click OK. The Registry Editor appears.

Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that can require an administrator to reinstall the operating system. Citrix cannot guarantee that problems resulting from incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved.

3. Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Citrix > IMA > RUNTIME nodes and double-click UseRegistrySetting.
4. Type 1 in the Data value field and click OK.
5. Double-click the MasterRanking key and verify the value is set to 3. A MasterRanking registry entry value of 3 identifies the ABCDDC2 virtual machine as a member server in the farm.
6. Restart the ABCDDC2 virtual machine and log on as a domain administrator.

Install Third Desktop Delivery Controller

Use the following procedure to install the Desktop Delivery Controller on the ABCDDC3 virtual machine.

1. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC3 virtual machine.
2. Within the XenCenter console, select XD_30.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list.
3. Close the Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller 3.0 Wizard if it appears.

The Desktop Delivery Controller installation can be completed using the wizard. However, for the purposes of this class you will install the Desktop Delivery Controller from a command prompt.

4. Click Start > Run , type the following:

D:\W2K3\EN\SETUP.EXE -NOSITES

The Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller Setup Wizard appears.

This command prevents the Web Interface and the default sites from installing automatically. For the purposes of this class, Web Interface has already been configured on a separate server.

5. Read and respond to the license agreement and click Next.
6. If prompted, click Yes in the warning screen.
7. Deselect the Citrix License Server and Citrix Management Consoles components and click Next.
8. Select Join existing farm and type ABCDDC1 in the controller name field and click Next.
9. Select Use an existing database server and click Next.
10. Verify that SQL Server is selected as the database server type and click Configure. The Create a New Data Source to SQL Server screen appears.
11. Select ABCSQL1 in the Server field drop-down list and click Next.
12. Click Next to accept the default authentication settings.
13. Select Change the default database to and select XenDesktop-ABC from the default database drop-down list.
14. Click Next.
15. Click Finish. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen appears.
16. Click Test Data Source to ensure the connection is configured properly. The Test results should return a success message.
17. Click OK in the Test Results screen.
18. Click OK. The ODBC Microsoft SQL Server Setup screen closes.
19. Click Next.
20. Authenticate to the database using the following credentials:
• Username: ABC\_XD
• Password: Password1
21. Click Next.
22. Click Next. The installation begins.
23. When prompted for the Service Pack 2 CD-ROM, select WIN2K3.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list and click OK. The Files Needed screen appears.
24. Click Browse.
25. Click the CONVLOG.EX_ file and click Open.
26. Click OK. The Files Needed screen closes and the Desktop Delivery Controller installation continues..
27. When prompted for the Desktop Delivery Installation media, select XD_30.ISO in the DVD Drive drop-down list. and click OK.
28. Click Yes to restart ABCDDC3. The ABCDDC3 virtual machine restarts for the first time.
29. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC3 virtual machine. The installation automatically continues.
30. Click Yes to restart ABCDDC3. The ABCDDC3 virtual machine restarts for the second time.
31. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCDDC3 virtual machine. The installation automatically continues.
32. Click Finish.

Configure Third Desktop Delivery Controller

Use the following procedure to configure the Desktop Delivery Controller on the ABCDDC3 virtual machine.

1. Click Start > Run . The Run prompt appears.
2. Type REGEDIT and click OK. The Registry Editor appears.

Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that can require an administrator to reinstall the operating system. Citrix cannot guarantee that problems resulting from incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved.

3. Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Citrix > IMA > RUNTIME nodes and double-click UseRegistrySetting.
4. Type 1 in the Data value field and click OK.
5. Double-click the MasterRanking key and verify the value is set to 3. A MasterRanking registry entry value of 3 identifies the ABCDDC3 virtual machine as a member server in the farm.
6. Restart the ABCDDC3 virtual machine and log on as a domain administrator.

Part 3: Configure the XenDesktop Farm

Configure the XenDesktop Farm

Use the following procedure to configure the XenDesktop farm on the ABCDDC1 virtual machine.

1. Open the Access Management Console.
2. Expand the ABC_XD_Farm > Controllers node and verify that the following Desktop Delivery Controllers appear:
• ABCDDC1
• ABCDDC2
• ABCDDC3
3. Right-click the ABC_XD_Farm farm and click Properties. The Desktop Groups Properties screen appears.
4. Click the Session Reliability node in the left pane.
5. Verify that Session Reliability is enabled.
6. Click the License Server node in the left pane.
7. Verify that ABCDMC1 is identified as the license server.
8. Click the Browser Acceleration node in the left pane.
9. Select Compress JPEG images to improve bandwidth.
10. Select Adjust compression level based on available bandwidth and click OK. The Desktop Groups Properties screen closes.

Create a USB Support Policy

Use the following procedure to create a USB support policy on the ABCDDC1 virtual machine.

1. Launch the Presentation Server Console.
2. Select Enable pass-through authentication and click OK. The Presentation Server Console appears.
3. Right-click Policies and click Create Policy. The New Policy screen appears.
4. Type USB Support in the Policy Name field and click OK. The New Policy screen closes.
5. Click Policies in the left pane and right-click the USB Support policy.
6. Click Properties. The USB Support Properties screen appears.
7. Expand the Client Devices > Resources > USB folders and click USB.
8. Select Enabled and Allow mapping of client USB devices and click OK. The USB Support Properties screen closes.
9. Right-click the USB Support policy and click Apply this policy to. The USB Support Policy Filters screen appears.
10. Click Users in the left pane.
11. Select Filter based on users and click Add List of Names.
12. Type ABC\Domain Users in the Name field and click OK.
13. Click OK. The USB Support Policy Filters screen closes.

Configure Web Interface for XenDesktop

Use the following procedure to configure the Web Interface for XenDesktop on the ABCWI1 virtual machine.

1. Log on as a domain administrator to the ABCWI1 virtual machine.
2. Open the Access Management Console and expand the Citrix Resources > Configuration Tools > Web Interface node.
3. Right-click the http://ABCWI1.ABC.Local/Citrix/XenApp Web Interface site and click Manage server farms. The Manage Server Farms screen appears.
4. Click Add and type ABC_XD_Farm in the Farm name field.
5. Click Add and type ABCDDC2 in the Server name field.
6. Click OK.
7. Click Add and type ABCDDC3 in the Server name field.
8. Click OK.

ABCDDC1 is not added to the Web Interface site configuration list because it is used as a dedicated Desktop Delivery Controller in this course.

9. Verify that Use the server list for load balancing is selected and click OK. The Add Farm screen closes.
10. Click OK. The Manage Server Farms screen closes.

vCloud Suite Architecture-2

In this Blog we will discuss vCloud Logical design& Architecture and Management Architecture.

vCloud Infrastructure Logical Design

VMware Cloud Team have taken a building block approach to deploying vCloud Infrastructure. The following top-level logical building blocks are used to segregate resources that are allocated for management functions from resources dedicated to user-requested workloads:

·         vSphere virtual management cluster – Contains the core and optional components and services needed to run the vCloud instance. This includes core vCloud components such as VMware vCenter Server, vCloud Director, vCenter Chargeback Manager, vCenter Orchestrator, and optional components such as the vCenter Operations Management Suite and vFabric Application Director.

·         Resource group – Represents vCloud-dedicated resources for end-user consumption. Each resource group consists of vSphere clusters (vSphere hosts managed by a vCenter Server) and is under the control of vCloud Director. vCloud Director can manage the resources of multiple resource groups.

One important topic to discuss is the placement and use of vCenter when it comes to vCloud Director. It's a recommended practice to have 2 vCenter servers in a vCloud environment. Use 1 vCenter server for hosting Datacenters/Clusters/VMs that are relevant to vSphere and vCloud Infrastructure Components. Use another vCenter server for hosting vCloud Resources.

vCloud Management Architecture

The management cluster hosts the necessary vCloud infrastructure components. Separating infrastructure components from resources used for end-user workloads improves manageability of the vCloud infrastructure.

Core management cluster components include the following:

·         vCenter Server or VMware vCenter Server Appliance.

·         vCenter Server database.

·         vCloud Director cells.

·         vCloud Director database.

·         vCloud Networking and Security Manager (one per resource group vCenter Server).

·         vCenter Chargeback Manager.

·         vCenter Chargeback database.

·         VMware vCenter Update Manager.

·         vCenter Orchestrator.

·          VMware vCloud Networking and Security Edge gateway appliances deployed by vCloud Director through vCloud Networking and Security Manager as needed, residing in the resource groups, not in the management cluster. 

vCloud Director Constructs:

We need to understand these constructs and terminologies as they are core to how the vCloud Director works:

Organization : The unit of multitenancy that represents a single logical security boundary. An organization contains users, virtual datacenters, and networks. So in Short it is either a Division of an enterprise or enterprise itself

Provider virtual datacenter : A grouping of compute and storage resources from a single vCenter Server. A provider virtual datacenter consists of a single resource pool and one or more datastores. Multiple organizations can share provider virtual datacenter resources.

So in Short it’s a datacenter which provides service to many enterprises or organization

Organization virtual datacenter : A sub-grouping of compute and storage resources allocated from a provider virtual datacenter and assigned to a single organization. A virtual datacenter is a deployment environment where vApps can be instantiated, deployed, and powered on.

An organization virtual datacenter allocates resources using one of the following models:

·         Pay As You Go.

·         Reservation Pool.

·         Allocation Pool. 

Catalog : A repository of vApp templates and media available to users for deployment. Catalogs can be published to all organizations in the same vCloud environment

vApp: A container for a software solution in the vCloud, and the standard unit of deployment for workloads in vCloud Director. vApps contain one or more virtual machines, have power-on operations, and can be imported or exported as an OVF.

 a vApp is just a logical container for 1 or more virtual machines. This vApp could for instance contain a three tiered app which has an internal network and a firewalled outbound connection for a single VM, which would look something like this:

External network : External networks provide external connectivity to organization virtual datacenter networks and are backed by port groups configured for Internet accessibility. 

vApp network : A network that connects virtual machines within a vApp, deployed by a consumer from a network pool. vApp networks can be directly connected or routed to an organization virtual datacenter network.

 Network pool : A network pool is a collection of isolated Layer 2 virtual networks available to vCloud Director for the automated deployment of private and NAT-routed networks.

Network Pools

vCloud Suite Architecture-1

This blog talks about vCloud Suite architecture. I will try to explain it as clearly as I can. vCloud Suite is the VMware’s Cloud solution for Hybrid cloud for an enterprise. It’s a step up in a big way from its earlier Avatars of vBlock Solutions and VMware vCloud Director. Though this suite is an evolution on these earlier suits.

I will write multiple blogs to explain in detail vCloud Suite architecture. This particular blogs covers only its components. The next one will go much deeper into architecture and the terminologies in vCloud Suite.

You wont regret going through vCloud Suite Architecture series blog.

Below is the diagram of all technologies that come together to make vCloud suite.

In the figure above all the components of the suite are mentioned. For the sake of simplicity I will mention them once again. vCloud Suite components are:

  1)      vCloud Director

  2)      vCloud Networking and security

  3)      vCenter

  4)      Site Recovery Manager

  5)      vSphere

  6)      vCloud Automation Center

  7)      vCenter Operations management suite

  8)      vFabric Application Director

  9)      APIs

  10)   vCloud Connector

  11)   vCenter Orchestrator

I will try to explain each of these components in detail ( or most of it, I don’t think I need to explain what vSphere or vCenter is). After this I will try to explain the concepts and architecture of the vCloud suite. There is no end to explaining n number of things VMware has. The main objective of the blog is to understand just the high level architecture of VMware’s vCloud suite.

VMware vCloud Director : VCloud Director (vCD) is VMware Inc.'s cloud computing management tool. It manages Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) architectures by monitoring and controlling various cloud-computing components, such as security, virtual machine (VM) provisioning, billing and self-service access. It focuses on private and hybrid cloud-computing infrastructures. A typical installation creates a vCloud Director Server group comprising several servers. Each server in the group runs a collection of services called a vCloud Director cell. All members of the group share a single database. Each cell in the group connects to multiple vCenter servers, the hosts that they manage, and the vShield Manager servers that are configured to support the vCenter servers

Diagram: Courtesy VMware Inc

vCloud Networking and security : VMware vCloud Networking and Security is the software defined networking and security solution. It provides a broad range of services in a single solution, including virtual firewall, VPN, load balancing and VXLAN extended networks.

Site Recovery Manager: SRM 5.5 offers limited support for vCloud Director environments. Using SRM to protect the management structure of vCD is supported. In order to ensure all management components are restarted in the correct order, and in the least amount of time vSphere Site Recovery Manager will be used to orchestrate the fail-over. . Using SRM to protect virtual machines within vCloud resource pools (virtual machines deployed to an Organization) is not supported .Due to this limitation these will be failed-over through several manual steps. All of these steps can be automated using tools like vSphere PowerCLI or vCenter Orchestrator.

vCloud Automation Center: VMware vCloud Automation Center™ (formerly DynamicOps Cloud Automation Center) enables you to rapidly deploy and provision business-relevant cloud services across private and public clouds, physical infrastructure, hypervisors, and public cloud providers. It provides

• Unified cloud management that seamlessly spans private and public clouds that are based on VMware or other technology
• Fast delivery of virtual, physical and cloud-based infrastructure services that meet the needs of both the business and individual users
• Simpler management of multivendor virtual desktop solutions through automation and orchestration of tasks across the tools and infrastructure required to deliver the virtual desktop service
• Intelligent resource management designed to help ensure higher utilization through placement, prevention and reclamation of resources across virtual and physical servers

vCenter Operations management suite: Provides predictive capacity and performance planning, compliance and configuration management, dynamic resource metering, cost modeling, and report generation using the following components:

  ·       vCenter Operations Manager

  ·         vCenter Configuration Manager

  ·         vCenter Infrastructure Navigator

  ·         vCenter Chargeback Manager 

vFabric Application Director: it seeks to significantly simplify the process of deploying applications and updating those applications. vFabric Application Director works by allowing you to declare your application and its components and make a blueprint of that application. vFabric Application Director then integrates with the vCloud API’s to deploy your application into a private or public cloud.

An important aspect of vFabric AppDirector is that it is not about building up a single image. It is about assembling an entire multi-tier application into a container that even contains the scaling rules for each of the tiers. This container is actually a vApp, but all of the complexities of dealing with a vApp are completely handled by vFabric AppDirector and shielded from the user.

vCloud Connector: VMware vCloud Connector can be used to move workloads between vSphere and private/public vCloud Director based IAAS clouds.

vCenter Orchestrator: VMware Orchestrator is a free vCenter feature that helps automate VMware vCloud Suite, vSphere and other virtualization management system processes. 

Orchestrator's workflow engine can be used to automate bulk operations and create workflow processes for integrating existing third-party tools.  It can be installed as a virtual appliance, a vCenter add-on or a standalone product for a Windows Server installation.