Configure Artifactory for use with VMware vRBT

Link to configure vRBT Workstation instructions – https://www.brianmacinnes.com/configure-vrbt-for-vrealize-vra-vro-8-x

Deploy the Bitnami Artifactory OVA

• Create a DNS FQDN for your Artifactory (alternately you could use your local hosts file on your workstation if you can’t create DNS entries)
• Download the Bitnami OVA appliance https://bitnami.com/redirect/to/2208417/bitnami-artifactory-7.41.13-3-r03-linux-vm-debian-11-x86_64-nami.ova
• Deploy the Bitnami OVA Appliance (there are no OVA options, although I recommend thin-provision)
• Start the VM once the deployment finishes

Passwords

• Connect to the Artifactory Server using the VM’s Console
• Obtain and record the Artifactory admin password (yellow text in the banner screen)
• Log in to the local console by using the default username bitnami and the default password bitnami
• You will be prompted to change the default password for the bitnami account

Enable SSH (optional)

• Connect to the Artifactory Server using the VMware Console
• Run the following commands to enable SSH

sudo rm -f /etc/ssh/sshd_not_to_be_run
sudo sed -i 's/PasswordAuthentication no/PasswordAuthentication yes/g' /etc/ssh/sshd_config
sudo systemctl enable ssh
sudo systemctl start ssh

Configure a Static IP

• SSH to the Artifactory server using the DHCP address or connect to the VM’s Console
• Get the current interface name (in my case it was ens160)

ip a

• Run the following command to edit the network settings and configure the static IP that matches the DNS entry or /etc/hosts entry you created:

cd /etc/systemd/network
sudo vim 25-wired.network

• Configure your Static IP using the interface name using the following as an example: (enter :wq to save when finished)

[Match]
Name=ens160

[Network]
Address=192.168.99.169
Gateway=192.168.99.1

• Restart the networking service so the changes take effect

sudo systemctl restart systems-networkd.service

Configure the Artifactory Web Certificate

• Note: Maven will enforce the validity of the FQDN in the Apache Servers certificate, so we must create a self-signed certificate that matches our DNS or hosts entry
• SSH to the Artifactory server or connect to the VM’s Console
• IMPORTANT: When the dialog asks for Common Name you must enter the FQDN of your DNS or local hosts entry

cd /opt/bitnami/apache/conf/bitnami/certs
sudo openssl req -new -key ./server.key -out ./cert.csr

• Create the self signed key and restart the Artifactory service

sudo openssl x509 -in ./cert.csr -out ./server.crt -req -signkey ./server.key -days 1000
sudo systemctl restart bitnami

Initial Login to Artifactory

• Open the HTTPS URL in a web browser to your Artifactory Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Log in with the username admin and the random password you recorded from the VM Console
• Set the Base URL to match your custom DNS or hosts entry. Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Configure Proxy if needed, otherwise skip to the next section
• Create Repository: Select Maven as the repository type and select Next
• Select Finish

Enable Anonymous Access

• Open the HTTPS URL in a web browser to your Artifactory Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Select the Administration Tab (Gear Icon on the upper left)
• Expand User Management
• Select Settings and tick the box for Allow Anonymous Acess
• Click Save

Create a new Local Repository for the vRBT Artifacts

• Download vRBT 2.26.4 https://flings.vmware.com/vrealize-build-tools
• Unzip the archive
• Open the HTTPS URL in a web browser to your Artifactory Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Select the Administration Tab (Gear Icon on the upper left)
• Expand Repositories
• Select Repositories
• Click Add Repositories in the upper right
• Choose Local Resository
• Select Maven as the package Type
• Set the Repository Key to “vrealize-build-tools“
• Select Create Local Repository on the lower right

Add the vRBT Repository to the Virtual libs-release Repository

• Open the HTTPS URL in a web browser to your Artifactory Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Select the Administration Tab (Gear Icon on the upper left)
• Expand Repositories
• Select Repositories
• Select the Virtual tab
• Select libs-release to edit the Virtual Repository
• Scroll down to the Repositories section
• Add the vrealize-build-tools repository to the included repositories by selecting the checkbox then click the right facing arrow
• Click Save

Add the vRBT Repository to the Virtual libs-snapshot Repository

• Open the HTTPS URL in a web browser to your Artifactory Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Select the Administration Tab (Gear Icon on the upper left)
• Expand Repositories
• Select Repositories
• Select the Virtual tab
• Select libs-snapshot to edit the Virtual Repository
• Scroll down to the Repositories section
• Add the vrealize-build-tools repository to the included repositories by selecting the checkbox then click the right facing arrow
• Click Save

Upload the vRBT Artifacts

• Download vRBT 2.26.4 https://flings.vmware.com/vrealize-build-tools
• Unzip the archive
• Open the HTTPS URL in a web browser to your Artifactory Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Select the Application Tab
• Expand Artifactory
• Select Artifacts
• Select realize-build-tools from the folder lists
• Click Deploy in the upper right
• Under Single Deploy choose select file
• Select the iac-maven-repository.zip file from the vRBT files you extracted
• Tick the box that says Deploy as Bundle Artifact
• Click Deploy

Upload the Keystore Artifact

• This step assumes you have already created the Keystore using the vRBT workstation setup instructions: https://www.brianmacinnes.com/configure-vrbt-for-vrealize-vra-vro-8-x/
• Open the HTTPS URL in a web browser to your Artifactory Ex. https://artifactory.nslab1.com
• Select the Application Tab
• Expand Artifactory
• Select Artifacts
• Select vrealize-build-tools from the folder lists
• Click Deploy in the upper right
• Under Single Deploy choose select file
• Select the archetype.keystore-2.0.0.zip file
• Set the Target Path to com/vmware/pscoe/build/archetype.keystore/2.0.0/archetype.keystore-2.0.0.zip
• Click Deploy

Conclusion

You now have Artifactory configured to host the artifacts needed by vRBT for building and pushing IAC and vRO Packages