Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 6)

If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:

• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 1)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 2)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 3)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 4)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 5)

Reviewing the deployment scenario

Figure 1 shows where we are in our scenario for performing an express deployment of Windows Azure Pack. So far we have completed the following tasks in our contoso.com virtual test environment running on the Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V host named HOST30:

• Deployed and configured System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) on the virtual machine named SCVMM01 with the VMM database located on the SQL Server virtual machine named DB01.
• Deployed and configured Service Provider Foundation (SPF) on the virtual machine named WAP01.

Figure 1: Windows Azure Pack is ready to be installed on virtual machine WAP01.

At this point we are now ready to install Windows Azure Pack on WAP01 using the express deployment scenario approach. The sections below cover the following:

• Installing Windows Azure Pack
• Configuring the installation
• Verifying the installation

Installing Windows Azure Pack

To install Windows Azure Pack you must use the Microsoft Web Platform Installer. The latest version of this installer is version 4.6 and it can be obtained from the Microsoft Download Center. Once you’ve download the installer, double-click on it to launch it. The initial screen of the installer will look something like this:

Figure 2: Step 1 of installing Windows Azure Pack.

Type Windows Azure Pack in the search box of the installer screen and press ENTER. A list of Windows Azure Pack features and components will be displayed. Select the item named Windows Azure Pack: Portal and API Express to perform an express deployment of Windows Azure Pack:

Figure 3: Step 2 of installing Windows Azure Pack.

With the Windows Azure Pack: Portal and API Express item selected, click Add to download this item. Doing this will result in a number of other components also being added to your download list:

Figure 4: Step 3 of installing Windows Azure Pack.

After clicking Install in the above screen, click I Accept in the dialog below:

Figure 5: Step 4 of installing Windows Azure Pack.

The Web Platform Installer will begin downloading and installing the components needed to perform an express deployment of Windows Azure Pack:

Figure 6: Step 5 of installing Windows Azure Pack.

Once all of the components have been downloaded and installed, click Continue as shown in the dialog below:

Figure 7: Step 6 of installing Windows Azure Pack.

The Finish page should verify that you successfully installed all the required prerequisites for an express deployment of Windows Azure Pack:

Figure 8: Step 7 of installing Windows Azure Pack.

At this point Windows Azure Pack has been installed on virtual machine WAP01. But Windows Azure Pack must still be configured before you can begin using it. Let’s cover that next.

Configuring the installation

When you clicked Continue in Figure 7 previously, Internet Explorer should have opened as shown below. Note that the reason the “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate” has been displayed here is because we’re using a self-signed SSL certificate for IIS on WAP01. If this message is displayed, simply click “Continue to this website (not recommended)” as shown below:

Figure 9: Step 1 of configuring the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

An introductory screen should now be displayed as shown here:

Figure 10: Step 2 of configuring the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

After clicking Configure Now on the above screen, the Database Server Setup page will be displayed:

Figure 11: Step 3 of configuring the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

In the Database Server Setup page shown above, type the name of your SQL Server (we are using DB01 for this walkthrough) in the Server Name box. Then select Windows Authentication for the Authentication Type. Now type a passphrase and confirm it as shown above. The passphrase is used to encrypt secrets in the configuration store of Windows Azure Pack. Don’t forget this passphrase, write it down somewhere and keep it somewhere safe.

Note:
If when typing your passphrase you see a message indicating that SQL Authentication must be enabled for this product to work, go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188670.aspx and follow the steps listed to change the security authentication mode to SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode, then follow the steps to enable the sa login for your SQL Server. Make sure you use a strong sa password and don’t forget it and keep it safe.

On the next page you are asked whether you want to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP):

Figure 12: Step 4 of configuring the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

The Features Setup page now lists the Windows Azure Pack features that will be configured. Click the checkmark at the bottom right of the page to begin configuring these features:

Figure 13: Step 5 of configuring the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

The next figure shows Windows Azure Pack in the process of being configured:

Figure 14: Step 6 of configuring the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

The next figure shows Windows Azure Pack having been successfully configured:

Figure 15: Step 7 of configuring the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

Now let’s test whether our Windows Azure Pack express deployment is working or not.

Verifying the installation

We will verify our Windows Azure Pack express deployment by seeing whether we can successfully open the Management Portal for Administrators. This is the web-based portal that lets administrators configure and manage user accounts, resource clouds, tenant offers, and so on.

Begin by opening the URL https://localhost:30091/#Workspaces/WebSystemAdminExtension/quickStart in Internet Explorer. When you do this you should see a Windows Security dialog like the one shown below:

Figure 16: Step 1 of verifying the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

Enter your administrator credentials into the Windows Security dialog as shown above. If your credentials are not accepted and you get Access Denied, log off WAP01 and then log on again to update your security token. Once you’ve successfully logged on, you’ll be given a brief tour of the features of the Management Portal for Administrators. Readers who are already familiar with Windows Azure, Microsoft’s public cloud, will immediately see the similarity between the Windows Azure Management Portal and the Windows Azure Pack Management Portal for Administrators:

Figure 17: Step 2 of verifying the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

The Main Menu page of the tour shows you your current logon credentials:

Figure 18: Step 3 of verifying the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

The Create New tour page shows you what service offerings you can create using the Management Portal for Administrators:

Figure 19: Step 4 of verifying the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

The Commands tour page shows examples of the types of actions you can perform using the Command Bar at the bottom of the Management Portal for Administrators:

Figure 20: Step 5 of verifying the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

The Notifications tour page shows you an example of an error notification message as displayed in the Management Portal for Administrators:

Figure 21: Step 6 of verifying the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

Once your tour is finished, the main All Items page of the Management Portal for Administrators is displayed:

Figure 22: Step 7 of verifying the installation of Windows Azure Pack.

If you got this far then your express deployment of Windows Azure Pack has succeeded!

Conclusion

In this series of articles we have examined what Windows Azure Pack is, what it’s components are, and the different deployment scenarios. We have also walked through the steps for performing an express deployment Windows Azure Pack. In future series we will look at how to configure service offerings for Windows Azure Pack tenants and how to provision Web Sites and Virtual Machine Clouds using Windows Azure Pack.

If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:

• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 1)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 2)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 3)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 4)
• Deploying Windows Azure Pack (Part 5)