Managing connections

In the Connections view, manage your connections to define the parameters to connect to the cloud providers where you want to deploy your templates.

• Add a connection
• Search for a connection
• Edit a connection
• Test a connection
• Delete a connection

Add a connection

To add a new connection, follow these steps:

1. In the left-side navigation bar, click Manage > Cloud Connections.

2. Click Create Connection.

3. Select the cloud provider to which you want you connect. The following cloud providers are supported:

   • Amazon EC2
   • IBM
   • IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
   • IBM Cloud Private
   • IBM Workload Deployer
   • IBM Cloud Orchestrator (ICO)
   • Google Cloud
   • Huawei Cloud
   • Microsoft Azure
   • Nutanix
   • OpenStack
   • VMware NSX-T
   • VMware NSXv
   • VMware vRealize Automation
   • VMware vSphere

   • Other

     Note: Apart from the values available in the provider type drop-down list, a generic provider type that is named Other can be used. You do not have to explicitly define a cloud connection of type Other, because it is provided implicitly by the system. It does not define any connectivity attributes and must be used for cases wherein the cloud connection details are captured inside the provider section of the template itself.

4. In Select a Namespace > Assign Access section, select either of the following values based on your requirement:

   • Make Connection Globally Accessible - Connections created globally are accessible by all users.
   • Make Connection part of a namespace - Associate the connection with a specific namespace. For this option, you must select a Namespace from the drop-down list to which the connection must be assigned. The namespace that is present on the right-hand corner of Cloud Connections main page is preselected and you can modify if needed.

   Note: If you create a cloud connection in a specific namespace, then only deployments to that namespace can use the cloud connection.

5. Enter the connection name and description, and specify the required connection parameters depending on the cloud provider you selected.

   Note: The connection name must begin with an alphabet and must have a combination of only these characters: [a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_-]

   Cloud Automation Manager must have access to the provider cloud region where you want to deploy your templates. The access is granted by supplying Cloud Automation Manager with access credentials. The method for obtaining access credentials depends on the cloud provider.

   For information about specifying Amazon EC2 access credentials, see Configuring an Amazon EC2 connection.

   For information about specifying IBM Cloud access credentials, see Configuring an IBM Cloud connection.

   For information about specifying IBM Cloud Kubernetes service credentials, see Configuring IBM Cloud Kubernetes service.

   For information about specifying IBM Multicloud Manager, see Configuring IBM Multicloud Manager.

   For information about specifying IBM Workload Deployer credentials, see Configuring IBM Workload Deployer connection.

   For information about specifying IBM Cloud Orchestrator credentials, see Configuring IBM Cloud Orchestrator (ICO) connection

   For information about specifying Huawei Cloud credentials, see Configuring a Huawei Cloud connection.

   For information about specifying Azure access credentials, see Configuring an Azure connection.

   For information about specifying Nutanix credentials, see Configuring a Nutanix connection.

   For information about specifying OpenStack access credentials, see Configuring an OpenStack connection

   For information about specifiying VMware vRealize Automation credentials, see Configuring VMware vRealize Automation.

   For information about specifying vSphere access credentials, see Configuring a vSphere connection.

   For information about specifying VMware NSX-T access credentials, see Configuring a VMware NSX-T connection.

   For information about specifying NSXv access credentials, see Configuring an NSXv connection.

6. Click Create. The connection is added to the connection list.

Search for a connection

In Cloud Connections page, you can use the following methods to search for connections:

• You can select a namespace from the top right drop-down list. The list of cloud connections in the page changes based on the selected namespace. You can also select "All namespaces" to see all cloud connection records for which you have access.
• You can enter text in the search text to filter the connection list.
• You can use the show filter icon next to search text to filter records based on type or namespace. The namespace option has Show Globally Accessible option, which refers to those connections that are globally accessible across all namespaces and are not assigned to any specific namespace. All connections created prior to 3.1.2.0 are by default globally accessible.
• You can click the Name header to sort the connection records.
• You can even combine these search mechanisms for better results.
• The pagination options allows you to limit the number of records displayed at a time.

Edit a connection

To edit an existing connection, follow these steps:

1. In the left-side navigation bar, click Manage > Cloud Connections.

2. In the connection list, click the connection that you want to edit.

3. Modify the existing connection details and parameters.

   Note: All connections existing prior to 3.1.2.0 release are by default globally accessible across all namespaces.

   Important: You can change a namespace to globally accessible but cannot assign a different namespace for a connection. You can also change a globally accessible namespace to a different namespace but be informed that with this namespace change you may not be able to perform any operations on existing deployments.

4. Click Update.

Testing a connection

To test a connection, follow these steps:

1. In the left-side navigation bar, click Manage > Cloud Connections.

2. In the connection list, click the menu in the ACTIONS column for the connection that you want to test.

3. In the action list, click Test Connection. If the connection is successful, a green check mark is displayed in the ACTIONS column for the connection.

Delete a connection

To delete a connection, follow these steps:

1. In the left-side navigation bar, click Manage > Cloud Connections.

2. In the connection list, click the menu in the ACTIONS column for the connection that you want to delete.

3. In the action list, click Delete Connection. A confirmation window is opened.

4. Click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the connection.