Using the Public Cloud Connections Wizard

Using the Public Cloud Connections Wizard

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The Public Cloud Connections wizard guides you through the steps to create and schedule daily data collection from your public cloud instances. Collected configuration and workload data is then analyzed and used to recommend sizing and placement optimization opportunities.

The Public Cloud Connections wizard is accessible from the Densify Console's landing page or from the Public Cloud > dropdown menu.

The following cloud platforms are supported through the Public Cloud Connections wizard:

Note:  Collection of billing data is not supported for Google Cloud Platform.

You can modify the connections once they have been created:

Additionally, you can collect and analyze AWS data through the Densify API. Refer to the following use cases for an example of API data collection:

Considerations when Working with Large Environments

In large environments, Densify highly recommends batching your accounts into smaller groups for improved performance when creating the cloud connections. i.e. 10 accounts at a time. You can use a resource tag, such as organization or business unit to split the total number of accounts so that data is collected in manageable batches.

Configuring a Connection to AWS

You can connect to your AWS account with the following method:

  • IAM User and Access keys—This process prompts you to enter your AWS credentials for either configuration/workload data. Your information is verified and can then be saved. Densify then creates the required audits and analyses and schedules them to run regularly.
  • IAM Role—An IAM cross-account role that establishes a trust relationship between AWS accounts. In order to create the connection you need the prerequisite information, including the external ID and Role ARN. See:

You need to create a separate cloud connection for resource utilization metrics and for the billing data that you want to collect. For example, if you need to collect both workload and billing data from the same account, you need to create two connections using the same credentials.

Using the Public Cloud Connections Wizard—IAM Role

To learn more watch the video:

  1. On the Densify landing page, click Connect to your AWS accounts.

    2. or

    from the Densify Console, navigate to Public Cloud > Add Cloud Connection.

  2. Click on the Amazon Web Services tab.
  3. Select the connection type:
    • Resource Utilization Metrics—This connection type is for collecting CloudWatch data.
    • Billing—This connection type is for collecting billing data. The collection of billing data must be enabled separately. Contact [email protected] to enable this feature.
  4. Select Connect Using: "IAM Role".
  5. The Densify Account ID is predefined. This value must match the value you entered when you created the role in AWS.
  6. Enter the AWS-specific connection parameters, as listed in the table below. Refer to AWS Data Collection Prerequisites for an IAM Role on page 1 for details on creating the accounts and obtaining the credentials.

    7. Table: AWS Connection Parameters - IAM Role

    Field

    Description

    External ID

    The external ID specified for Densify, when you created the IAM role in AWS.

    If you need to edit or review a saved connection, for security reasons, you will need to re-enter the external ID.

    Role ARN

    The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for IAM role that you created in AWS.

    Note:  The External ID and the Role ARN are encrypted and are not displayed as plain text in log files.

  7. Once your AWS connection parameters are entered, verify your connection using Click to Verify Account Connection.
    • If the credentials are valid, you will be connected and authenticated. Once the account is verified, Densify discovers the AWS account ID and displays the ID number. See Table: AWS Account ID and Connection Type Parameters below.
    • For billing connections, in addition to the discovery of the AWS account ID, the linked accounts connected to the payer account, CUR report configuration, and S3 bucket(s) are also discovered and validated. See Table: AWS Connection Parameters - Billing below.

      • Note:  The number of instances returned is a high level estimate obtained when Densify verifies the connectivity. It may not match the number of instances discovered during the more detailed, scheduled data collection.

    • If the credentials cannot be validated, then review the displayed error message and correct your credentials. It is possible that the user account does not have the required permissions. See AWS Data Collection Prerequisites for an IAM Role on page 1AWS Data Collection Prerequisites for an IAM Role (CloudWatch and Billing) for details.

    The Save Connection button is disabled until the connection is successfully verified for both create new and edit modes.

  8. When account verification is successful the following additional information is displayed:

    9. Table: AWS Connection Parameters - Billing

    Field

    Description

    AWS Account ID

    The AWS account ID is automatically discovered based on the validated access key ID and the secret access key combination. This parameter is automatically populated after verification and cannot be modified.

    Connection Name

    This field is displayed only after the connection has been validated.

    Use the connection name to clearly identify the AWS connection in Densify. This name will appear in the Saved Connections list and based on the connection type, it will appear under the corresponding Resource Utilization Metrics or Billing heading.

    The connection name is initially set to the AWS Account ID. You can modify the connection name to something meaningful for quick identification.

    The connection name must be unique within the AWS connection type section, so if the name is already in use, you are prompted to enter a new connection name.

    Note: The Connection Name is limited to 32 characters. The Connection Wizard prevents you from entering a string that is more than 32 characters.

    Billing Report

    When creating billing connections, a list of available Cost and Usage Reports (CUR) is displayed.

  9. After you have specified the connection name and/or selected the billing report, click Save Connection.
  10. The connection status, at the bottom of the page, will be updated. You will also see the connection listed in the Saved Connections section, under the Resource Utilization Metrics heading for a configuration/workload connection or under the Billing heading for a billing connection.

    11. For resource utilization data, the initial audit collects the last 60 days of data, if available, and each, subsequent daily audit collects the last 24 hours of data. For billing data, one month of historical data is collected, if available. This value is configurable. Contact [email protected] for details

  11. If you want to add another connection, click Add New Connection and follow steps 3 to 7 again to configure the connection.
  12. Close the Public Cloud Connections page once you have completed creating all your AWS connections.

Once the connection has been verified data collection starts. You will be contacted, within one business day, once your data collection and analysis are complete. Subsequent data collection, analyses, and database refreshes are scheduled to run on a nightly basis.

Using the Public Cloud Connections Wizard—IAM User and Access Keys

To learn more watch the following video:

  1. On the Densify landing page, click Connect to your AWS accounts. From the Densify Console, navigate to Public Cloud >Add Cloud Connections.
  2. Click on the Amazon Web Services tab.
  3. Select the connection type:
    • Resource Utilization Metrics— This connection type is for collecting CloudWatch data.
    • Billing— Use this connection type for collecting billing data.
  4. Enter the AWS-specific connection parameters, as listed in the table below.

    5. Table: AWS Connection Parameters - Resource Utilization Metrics

    Field

    Description

    Access Key Id

    The public cloud's IAM (Identity and Access Management), user access key ID and secret access key.

    For Billing connections, use the credentials configured with your S3 bucket. This can be the same account credentials as for your Resource Utilization Metrics connection, depending on your AWS account configuration.

    Secret Access Key
  5. Once your AWS connection parameters are entered, verify your connection. Click Click to Verify Account Connection.
    • If the credentials are valid, you will be connected and authenticated. Once the account is verified, Densify discovers the AWS account ID and displays the ID number. See Table: AWS Connection Parameters - Billing below.
    • For billing connections, in addition to the discovery of the AWS account ID, the payer/linked account, CUR report configuration, and S3 bucket(s) are also discovered and validated. See Table: AWS Connection Parameters - Billing below.
    • If the credentials cannot be validated, then review the displayed error message and correct your credentials. It is possible that the user account does not have the required permissions. See AWS Data Collection Prerequisites for an IAM Role (CloudWatch only) on page 1 for details.
  6. If you selected billing then specify the following parameters:

    7. Table: AWS Connection Parameters - Billing

    Field

    Description

    AWS Account ID

    The AWS account ID is automatically discovered based on the validated access key ID and the secret access key combination. This parameter is automatically populated after verification and cannot be modified.

    Connection Name

    The connection name is used to identify the public cloud connection in Densify. This name will appear in the Saved Connections list and based on the connection type, it will appear under the corresponding Resource Utilization Metrics or Billing heading.

    The connection name is initially set to the AWS Account ID. You can modify the connection name to something meaningful for quick identification. The connection name must be unique within the AWS connection type section, so if the name is already in use, you are prompted to enter a new connection name.

    Note: The Connection Name is limited to 32 characters. The Connection Wizard prevents you from editing the Connection Name to a string that is more than 32 characters.

    Billing Report

    For billing connections, a list of available Cost and Usage Reports (CUR) is displayed.

  7. After you have specified the connection name and/or selected the billing report, click Save Connection.
  8. The connection status, at the bottom of the page, will be updated. You will also see the connection listed in the Saved Connections section.

    9. For CloudWatch data, the initial data collection audit will pick up the last 60 days of data, if available, and each daily audit will collect the last 24 hours of data.

    For Billing data, by default 6 months of historical data is collected, if available. This value is configurable. Contact [email protected]

  9. If you want to add another connection, click Add New Connection and follow steps 3 - 7 again to configure the connection.
  10. Close the Public Cloud Connections page once you have completed creating all your AWS connections.

Once the connection has been verified data collection starts. You will be contacted, within one business day, once your data collection and analysis are complete. Subsequent data collection, analyses, and database refreshes are scheduled to run on a nightly basis.

Configuring a Connection to Microsoft Azure

To learn more, watch the following video:

There are two methods for creating Azure connections:

Click the Microsoft Azure tab to create a connection to your Azure environments. You will enter your Connection Name and an account user name and password in order to collect configuration, workload data or billing data from your hosted infrastructure.

You need to create a separate cloud connection for resource utilization metrics and for the billing data that you want to collect. For example, if you need to collect both workload and billing data from the same account, you need to create two connections using the same credentials.

Your information is verified and the connection can then be saved and is scheduled to run regularly. In order to create the connection you need the relevant account information. See Microsoft Azure Data Collection Prerequisites for details on the obtaining the required credentials to enable data collection.

Using the Public Cloud Connections Wizard

  1. On the Densify landing page, click Connect to your AWS accounts.

    2. or

    from the Densify Console, navigate to Public Cloud > Add Cloud Connection.

  2. Click on the Microsoft Azure tab.
  3. Click the appropriate radio button to select the type of connection to create:
    • Resource Utilization Metrics—This connection type is for collecting utilization data.
    • Billing—This connection type is for collecting billing data.
  4. Enter the Azure-specific connection parameters. Refer to one of the following topics to obtain the required information:

    5. Table: Account Information - User Credentials

    Field

    Description

    User Name

    Enter the user name associated with your Azure account.

    Password

    Enter the user's password.

    Connection Name

    Use the connection name to clearly identify the Azure subscription in Densify. This name will appear in the Saved Connections list.

    The connection name must be unique within the Azure connection type section, so if the name is already in use, you are prompted to enter a new connection name.

    Note: The Connection Name is limited to 32-characters. The Connection Wizard prevents you from entering a string that is more than 32-characters.

    Table: Account Information - Service Principal

    Field

    Description

    Application ID

    Specify the Application ID/Service Principal. Both the ID and the corresponding key are provided when you create the application through your Azure portal. 

    Secret Key

    Enter the key corresponding to your application/service principal. This is called the Client Secret in the Azure portal interface.

    Tenant ID

    The tenant ID corresponds to the local Active Directory.

    Connection Name

    Specify a name for the connection. This name will appear in the Saved Connections list. If a name is not specified, the Application ID is used.

    If the name is already in use or the connection exists, you are prompted to enter a new connection/account name.

    Note: The Connection Name is limited to 32 characters. The Connection Wizard prevents you from entering a string that is more than 32 characters.

  5. Once your information is entered for all fields, click Click to Verify Account Connection to validate the credentials.
    • If the credentials are valid, you will be connected and authenticated. Once the account is verified, all subscriptions that are associated with the account or Application ID are listed. Select the subscriptions that you want to include in the audit.
    • For billing connections, you can select the subscriptions for which you want to collect billing data.
    • If the credentials cannot be validated, then review the displayed error message and correct your credentials. It is possible that the user account does not have the required permissions. The user account/Service Principal to be used for data collection only requires the "Reader" role privileges to collect utilization and billing data. See Microsoft Azure Data Collection Prerequisites for details.
  6. Once the connection has been verified, click Save Connection.
  7. The connection status, at the bottom of the page, will be updated. You will also see the connection listed in the Saved Connections section, under the Resource Utilization Metrics heading for a configuration/workload connection or under the Billing heading for a billing connection.

    8. For resource utilization data, the initial audit collects the last 60 days of data, if available, and each, subsequent daily audit collects the last 24 hours of data. For billing data, one month of historical data is collected, if available. This value is configurable. Contact [email protected] for details

  8. Click Add New Connection, to add another connection.

Once the connection has been verified data collection is scheduled.

You will be contacted within one business day, once your data collection is complete.

Note:  If you create another connection, you must ensure subscriptions are not included in more than one cloud connection.

Configuring a Connection to Google Cloud Platform 

Cloud Cost Intelligence and the prerequisite data collection are not supported for the Google Cloud Platform

Other Public Cloud Connections Features

These are common Public Cloud Connections features:

Accessing the Wizard from the Densify Console

Once you have collected data and are using the Densify Console you will not see the Densify landing page.

You can still access the Cloud Connections wizard from the Public Cloud >  Add Cloud Connection menu.

Editing a Connection

You can edit a saved connection directly from the Public Cloud Connections wizard.

You cannot edit the user name or credentials. If you want to change the credentials, you need to delete the existing connection and create a new one with the new credentials.

  • For AWS connections you can modify the External ID.
  • For Azure connections you can change the Subscriptions In Scope.
  • For Google Cloud connections you can provide a new Service Account Key File. See Using the Public Cloud Connections Wizard, above.
  1. Select a cloud provider. Only connections for the selected provider are displayed in the Saved Connections list.
  2. Select the connection to be modified from the Saved Connections list. The current connection settings are displayed. Displayed settings change depending on the selected cloud provider:
  3. Review the existing information and make your changes, as required.
  4. Click Click to Verify Account Connection.
  5. Once the connection has been verified, click Save Connection to update the connection.

Reviewing a Connection

You can edit a saved connection directly from the Public Cloud Connections wizard. You can also view the status of the most recent connection.

You cannot edit the user name or equivalent settings. If you need to change the credentials, you will need to delete the existing connection and create a new one.

This feature can be useful to update passwords that expire regularly. You can also review the status of recent audits.

  1. Select a cloud provider. Only connection for the selected provider are displayed in the Saved Connections list.
  2. Select the connection to be modified from the Saved Connections list. The current connection settings are displayed. Displayed settings change depending on the selected cloud provider:
  3. The connection status for all accounts/subscriptions or projects contained in the selected connection are displayed,

    4. A scroll bar is displayed if there are too many accounts to display in the window.

  4. Review the existing information and update the password, if required.
  5. Click Click to Verify Account Connection to validate the new setting.
  6. Once the connection has been verified, click Save Connection to update the connection.

Deleting a Connection

You can delete a configured connection directly from the Public Cloud Connections wizard.

  1. Select the required Cloud provider tab. Only the connections for the selected tab are displayed in the Saved Connections
  2. Select the connection to be deleted from the Saved Connections list and click Delete Connection.

When you delete the connection the audit workspace folder and all of the contained audits are deleted. The account name is removed and is no longer displayed in the Saved Connections list.

Changing Credentials

You need to delete and recreate the AWS and Azure connections to change credentials.

When you delete a connection, the corresponding cloud environments are not deleted. They are no longer refreshed as there is no new data collection. Historical data for the account is maintained in the database. If you re-create a connection for the same account using the wizard, the new audits automatically link to the existing cloud environment and historical data.

Configuring Public Cloud Connections to use a Proxy Server

You can configure your public cloud connection to use a proxy server, for additional security. You need to provide the following information to [email protected]:

  • Proxy server name
  • Proxy server access port
  • User Name and encrypted password, if authentication is required

Next Steps

Once the connection has been created, you will be contacted within one business day to confirm your data has been loaded and analyzed. You can then do the following: