Enabling the Custom Host Naming Functionality

Infoblox IPAM Plug-In for VMware supports the functionality of automatically assigning custom names to created VMs instead of vRA’s default names. This is ensured by integrating third-part extensions with vRA and Infoblox Plug-In. Infoblox Plug-In provides built-in integration with the Custom Hostname Extension for vRA. For other third-part extensions, you will need to specify some parameters manually in Infoblox Plug-In workflows.

The example below applies to the Custom Hostname Extension for vRA. To enable custom hostnaming functionality for vRA, do the following:

1. Download and install the vRA Custom Hostnaming Extension package as described in https://dailyhypervisor.com/vrealize-automation-custom-hostnaming-extension/.
   As the result, the “Custom Hostname Properties Template” property group is created in vRA.
2. In vRA, go to Administration –> Property Dictionary –> Property Groups.
3. Find the “Custom Hostname Properties Template” group.
4. Click Copy to create your own property group for custom host naming.
5. Make the following changes to the newly-created property group:
   1. Delete the following properties:
      • Custom.Deployment.HostnameScheme
      • Custom.Deployment.NoIndexOnFirst
      • Custom.Hostname.OwnerShortNameIdentifier
      • Custom.ComponentMachine.NoIndexOnFirst
   2. Set theCustom.ComponentMachine.HostnameScheme property value to {LOC}{GRP}{APP}{###}. This is an example hostname scheme that you will use for custom hostname generation.
6. Click OK to save the property group.
7. Add the property group you configured to the appropriate location.
8. Set the properties you will use as parts of the hostname scheme, in this example {LOC}{GRP}{APP}{###}, in the appropriate locations. For example, do the following:
   • In Infrastructure –> Endpoints –> Endpoints –> vCenter (vSphere endpoint) –> Custom properties, add a custom property “LOC” (which means location) with the value “SantaClara”.
   • In Administration –> Users & Groups –> Business Groups –> open a group to edit –> Custom properties, add a custom property “GRP” (which means group) with the value “DEV”.
   • In Design –> Blueprints –> open a blueprint to edit –> Custom properties, add a custom property “APP” (which means application) with the value “LNX”.
9. In the blueprint, assign two property groups to VM:
   • “Infoblox-Default” or your custom Infoblox-specific property group
   • Custom Hostname property group that you created in step 4.
10. Save the configuration.

For more custom host naming options, see xxx