Deploy linux machines in Aria Automation with no domain, only short name

Products

• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

In some cases, it may be necessary to deploy Linux machines from Aria Automation where the machines are configured with static IPs and provisioned using only short names, without the need for a domain name.

 

Environment

Aria Automation 8.x

Cause

Aria Automation's network profiles require a domain name to be specified during the deployment process. There is no immediate or obvious workaround for this limitation.

 

Resolution

To resolve this, modify the hostname for the machine using cloud-init at deployment time.

Documentation on leveraging cloud-init can be found here:
https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/aria/aria-automation/8-14/assembler-on-prem-using-and-managing-master-map-8-14/maphead-designing-your-deployments/initialize-general/initialize-cloudconfig-commands.html

An example of the commands used to accomplish this are in the "runcmd" block included below:

cloudConfigSettings:
      cloudConfig: |
        #cloud-config
        runcmd:
          - sed -i "s/.local /   /g" /etc/hosts
          - hostnamectl set-hostname `hostname | sed 's/.local//g'`