Microsoft Licensed Virtual Machines 

The following section outlines the self-service deployment and activation process for licensed Microsoft Windows Server virtual machines and vApps into the US Signal vCloud Director environment.

View the full guide with step-by-step photos here

Deploying Into An Existing Vapp

1. Log into your vCloud Director environment with a user account designated with Organization Administrator access and select the Home button.
2. Navigate to the vApp you wish to deploy the licensed server into by left-clicking the vApp.
3. Once in the vApp menu, select the Add VM button in either the vApp Diagram or Virtual Machines view.
4. Drop down the Look In: field and select Public Catalogs.
5. In the list of server templates available for deployment, select which OS version you would like to deploy into your environment. Ensure to choose a template located in the same region as your Resource Pool for a faster deployment process.
   1.  Notice the catalog GRR would be located in Grand Rapids and DTW is located in Detroit.
6. Enter the desired name for your virtual machine and select which storage profile you want the virtual machine to be in.        Note: This name serves as a label in vCloud Director for the virtual machine. The computer name will be specified in the following step.
7. Enter a name for the computer name and select which vCloud network the virtual machine should be attached to. When using Guest OS Customization, during the virtual machine deployment process the Windows computer name will be set to this value.
8. After the completion of the virtual machine deployment you will see the server listed in the existing vApp. Upon first boot of the server right-click the virtual machine and select Power On and Force Customization. After the first boot, this feature should be turned off to prevent any accidental guest OS customizations.
9. The server will power up, but will automatically reboot from the Guest OS Customization process. Next, retrieve the local administrator password that gets automatically generated by right-clicking the virtual machine and select Properties.
10. Under the Guest OS Customization tab, the randomly generated local administrator password will be available.                   *After network connectivity has been established for Windows 2012 and 2016 Virtual Machines, the server will be automatically activated with Microsoft. However, with Windows 2008 servers, you will have to follow the below procedure to fully complete the activation process.
11. Obtain console access to the virtual machine by left-clicking the virtual machine in vCloud Director or right-clicking and selecting Pop-Out Console. 
12. In server manager select the Activate Windows option. 
13. The product key has been embedded into the server installation. Simply click Next without entering a product key into the field and the server will activate with Microsoft successfully.

Deploying A New Vapp The Catalog

1. Log into your vCloud Director enviroment with a user designated with Organization Administrator access and select the Home button.
2. Select the Add vApp from Catalog button to begin the deployment process.
3. Drop down the Look In: field and select Public Catalogs.
4. In the list of vApp Templates available for deployment, select which OS version you would like to deploy into your environment. Ensure to choose a template located in the same region asnyour Resource Pool for a faster deployment process.
   1. Notice the catalog GRR would be located in Grand Rapids and DTW is located in Detroit.
5. Enter a unique name for the new vApp and if you have multiple US Signal Resource Pools select which destination you want to target.
6. Enter the desired name for your virtual machine and select which storage profile you want the virtual machine to be in. Note: this name serves as a label in vCloud Director for the virtual machine. The computer name will be specified in the following step.
7. Enter a name for the computer name and select which vCloud network the virtual machine should be attached to. When using Guest OS Customization, during the virtual machine deployment process the Windows computer name will be set to this value.
8. If you would like to modify the resources assigned to the virtual machine you can modify the number of CPUs, memory amount, and hard drive size before deployment of the vApp and virtual machine.
9. Verify all the vApp and virtual machine information is correct and select finish to begin deployment process.
10. During the vApp deployment process the status will indicate a Busy/Creating status. When the status has changed to Stopped you can power on the vApp, which will additionally power on the virtual machine.
11. Use the green power button on the vApp to start up all the virtual machines inside the vApp.
12. The server will power up, but will automatically reboot from the Guest OS Customization process. Next, retrieve the local administrator password that gets automatically generated by right-clicking the virtual machine and select Properties.
13. Under the Guest OS Customization tab, the randomly generated local administrator password will be available. 
    1. *After network connectivity has been established for Windows 2012 and 2016 Virtual Machines, the server will be automatically activated with Microsoft. However, with Windows 2008 servers, you will have to follow the below procedure to fully complete the activation process.
14.  Obtain console access to the virtual machine by left-clicking the virtual machine in vCloud Director or right-clicking and selecting Pop-Out Console.
15.  In server manager select the Activate Windows option.
16. The product key has been embedded into the server installation. Simply click Next without entering a product key into the field and the server will activate with Microsoft successfully.

Microsoft Applications

If you have licensed a qualifying Microsoft application (SQL, Exchange, etc.) through US Signal you will have the ability to attach Microsoft install media to vCloud Director virtual machines for software installation. License keys have already been embedded into the software installation process. Public catalogs containing the installation media for the product you have licensed will be shared with your vCloud Director organization. 

Note: Please copy the media you wish to use to a catalog in your organization before attaching it to a virtual machine.

1. If you do not already have a catalog, navigate to the Catalogs tab, and click the plus sign to add a new catalog to your organization.
2. If you have multiple Resource Pools under your organization, it may be necessary to manually specify the storage policy upon which you wish to store your catalog contents.
3. Once the catalog has been created, navigate to Public Catalogs, and select the ISO you wish to use from the Media & Other tab. Right-click on it, and select Copy to Catalog, and select the desired destination catalog within your organization.
4. Once the copy process is complete, right-click the virtual machine you would like to install the license product on and select Insert CD/DVD from Catalog.
5. Select the media you would like to attach to the virtual machine. The supported applications and versions offered through US Signal’s SPLA licenses are outlined in the FAQ section of this document. Once the media has been inserted you can perform the installation of the application. 
6. Once the application installation has been completed remove the media from the virtual machine by right-clicking the virtual machine and selecting Eject CD/DVD.

Remote Desktop Services Licensing 

1. Install the role for Remote Desktop Services on a virtual machine in the US Signal vCloud Director environment. This virtual machine will then serve as the licensing manager for your RDS environment in your US Signal cloud environment.
   1. You can reference the Microsoft Tech Net documentation for installing the RemoteDesktop Services to ensure it fits your use case and the role is installed per vendor best practice guidelines.
2. Once the Remote Desktop Services roles is installed and you have activated the license server you will need to retrieve your Server ID, which will be provided to the US Signal Technical Operations Center during the RDS licensing process.
   1. Right-click the server in RD Licensing Manager and select Properties.
   2. Under the connection method tab, modify the connection method to Telephone and document the License Server ID value.
3.  At this point please work with the US Signal Technical Operations Center to install SPLA RDS license packs on your server.
   1. Right-click the server in RD Licensing Manager and select Install Licenses.
   2. Contact the US Signal Technical Operations Center via phone or email with the following information to complete the activation process. The contact information can be found in the FAQ section of this document and on the US Signal website. Customer Name Circuit ID License Server ID.
   3. US Signal will provide a License Key Pack ID, which will be entered into the field in the below screenshot. After the successful activation the RDS SALs will be available for assignment in your RD Licensing server.

FAQ

Contact Technical Operations Center (TOC)

Toll Free: 888.663.1700 | Fax: 616.988.0414 | toc@ussignal.com