Step-by-Step Explanation of Ballooning, Compression & Swapping in VMware

 Modifying snapshotLimit Post-deployment in VMware Aria Automation 8.x

https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleNumber=389946

Issue/Introduction

In VMware Aria Automation 8.x, the snapshotLimit property defines the maximum number of snapshots allowed for a deployed virtual machine. Once a deployment is created, snapshotLimit becomes a read-only property, preventing modification via API or UI.

This article provides a workaround for increasing snapshotLimit post-deployment when the limit needs to be raised.

Environment

VMware Aria Automation 8.x

Cause

• snapshotLimit is immutable after deployment and cannot be modified using API PATCH updates.
• API updates return a success code but do not actually modify the snapshotLimit value.
• Unlike other custom properties, snapshotLimit is locked in compute_state.custom_properties within the Provisioning Database.

Resolution

Prerequisites

• Ensure you have valid backups or snapshots before proceeding.
  • Note: This procedure includes direct modifications to the underlying database. Do not proceed without backups or snapshots.

Procedure

1. SSH into the vRA appliance and connect to the Provisioning Database:
   
   vracli dev psql provisioning-db
   
   
2. Run the following command to update snapshotLimit:
   
   UPDATE compute_state 
SET custom_properties = jsonb_set(custom_properties, '{snapshotLimit}', '"2"') 
WHERE custom_properties->>'snapshotLimit' IS NOT NULL 
AND name = 'Cloud_vSphere_Machine_1-mcm849-289474512219';

   Note: Replace "2" with the desired snapshot limit.
   Note: Replace 'Cloud_vSphere_Machine_1-mcm849-289474512219' with the actual VM name.
3. Verify the update:
   
   SELECT name, custom_properties FROM compute_state 
WHERE name = 'Cloud_vSphere_Machine_1-mcm849-289474512219';

4. Test snapshot creation in Aria Automation.

• Expected Outcome
  • The snapshot limit is successfully increased.
  • Snapshots can now be created within the new limit.