vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
vCenter Chargeback 1.6
This document supports the version of each product listed and
supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced
by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this
document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
EN-000535-00
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:
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The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.
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2 VMware, Inc.
Contents
About This Book 5
Introduction to vCenter Chargeback 7
1
What Is Chargeback 7
Chargeback Solution for Virtual Environments 7
Overview of vCenter Chargeback 8
Installing vCenter Chargeback 11
2
Hardware Requirements 11
Software Requirements 12
Prerequisites for vCenter Chargeback 13
Download and Extract the vCenter Chargeback Installer 15
Install vCenter Chargeback 15
Create a vCenter Chargeback Cluster 19
Install vCenter Chargeback with an Existing Database Schema 22
Upgrading vCenter Chargeback 25
Services Related to the vCenter Chargeback Application 28
Accessing the vCenter Chargeback Application 30
Data Collector 30
Uninstall vCenter Chargeback 37
Configuring Administration Settings 39
3
Activate the Application 39
Configuring Generic Settings 39
Managing LDAP Servers 42
Managing vCenter Servers 44
Managing Data Collectors 48
Managing the Application License 54
Manage Report View 55
Managing Attributes 56
Manage System Health Thresholds 57
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Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions 59
4
Resource Based Authorization in vCenter Chargeback 59
Permissions Defined in vCenter Chargeback 60
Managing Roles 61
Managing Users 66
vCenter Chargeback User Authentication 73
Managing Chargeback Hierarchies 75
5
Creating a Chargeback Hierarchy 75
3
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy 78
Managing and Configuring vCenter Chargeback Cost Elements 87
6
vCenter Chargeback Cost-Related Elements 87
Managing Cost Models 92
Managing Fixed Costs 96
Managing Cost Templates 99
Managing Billing Policies 101
Configuring Cost at the Entity Level 103
Physical Infrastructure Costing 105
Configuring a Pricing Matrix for Virtual Machines 107
Generating Reports 111
7
About Reports 111
Generate a Cost Report 113
Generate a Usage Report 114
Generate Cost Comparison Report 116
Scheduling Report Generation 117
Managing Reports 122
Managing Archived Reports 125
Report Dashboard 128
Monitoring System Health 131
8
vCenter Chargeback Events 132
Administration Utilities 133
9
Database Password Change Utility 133
vCenter Chargeback IP Address Reset Utility 134
vCenter Chargeback Database Management Scripts 135
Troubleshooting vCenter Chargeback 139
10
Troubleshooting Utility 139
Troubleshooting Issues in vCenter Chargeback 140
Index 153
4 VMware, Inc.
About This Book
The vCenter Chargeback User's Guide provides information about configuring and using the chargeback solution
for virtual environments that use VMware Infrastructure or VMware vSphere.
Intended Audience
This book is intended for anyone who wants to install, upgrade, or use vCenter Chargeback. The information
in this book is written for experienced Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual
machine technology and datacenter operations.
VMware Technical Publications Glossary
VMware Technical Publications provides a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to you. For definitions
of terms as they are used in VMware technical documentation, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
Document Feedback
VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your
feedback to docfeedback@vmware.com.
Technical Support and Education Resources
The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and
other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
Online and Telephone
Support
Support Offerings
VMware Professional
Services
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To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product
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Customers with appropriate support contracts should use telephone support
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VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands-on labs, case study
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Services provides offerings to help you assess, plan, build, and manage your
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http://www.vmware.com/services.
6 VMware, Inc.
Introduction to vCenter Chargeback 1
vCenter Chargeback is an end-to-end cost reporting solution for virtual environments using vSphere. Before
you install and start using vCenter Chargeback, an understanding of what chargeback is and about chargeback
solution for a virtual environment would be helpful.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“What Is Chargeback,” on page 7
n
“Chargeback Solution for Virtual Environments,” on page 7
n
“Overview of vCenter Chargeback,” on page 8
What Is Chargeback
Chargeback is a mechanism to account for the operational costs involved in providing and maintaining an
IT infrastructure, including the costs for IT services and applications. Measuring resource utilization and
calculating the corresponding IT operational cost enables you to account for the IT resources utilized and bill
for the services provided.
In a non-virtual environment, a physical server and the associated resources like the applications running on
it can be easily mapped to the department using them, making the billing for such resource utilizations
relatively easy. Also, costs incurred due to maintenance and licensing can be directly associated to a
department, thereby enabling you to calculate the complete IT operational costs.
In a virtual environment, however, the task of calculating the IT operational cost for each department becomes
very difficult. Multiple virtual machines run on a physical server, which might be shared across different
departments or cost centers in an organization. As a result, resource utilization for this server and, therefore,
the cost incurred cannot be directly associated to any single department or cost center. The difficulty in
accounting gets further compounded when applications and services get shifted over time to different servers,
based on the load and available infrastructure resources.
Chargeback Solution for Virtual Environments
In a virtual environment, a chargeback solution requires a flexible metering system that can account for the
utilization of resources shared across the organization.
These measurements can be based on allocation or actual usage of individual servers and resources. In the case
of VMotion, DRS, or HA being enabled, the measurements could be based on the allocation or actual usage of
resource pools.
To support chargeback, the virtual environment and the chargeback solution must provide ways to measure
resource usage and associate the usage with a specific costing model. The chargeback solution must also
support the use of different costing models so as to charge the various departments or cost centers differently.
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7
vCenter
Chargeback
database
vCenter
Server
database
vCenter Server
VIM APIJDBC
Data Collector
vCenter Chargeback
Load Balancer
ESX
host02
ESX
host03
ESX
host01
vCenter Chargeback
UI
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
A chargeback solution for a virtual environment defines a hierarchy with different types of entities such as
departments, divisions, business units, cost centers, physical servers, virtual machines, and so on. For each
entity type, a cost model is defined that determines the rate for each unit of a resource utilized. The chargeback
solution determines the resource usage by using either utilization-based metering or allocation-based metering
of virtual machines. The metered parameters are then associated with the designated entities, and the cost
model defined for that entity along with specific chargeback formulas are used as part of the overall chargeback
solution.
Overview of vCenter Chargeback
Determining the resource utilization and calculating the corresponding cost for a virtual environment that uses
VMware vSphere typically involves VMware professional services’ work or use of partner solutions. These
solutions are built using custom methods for VMware vSphere resource data collection and chargeback cost
calculation for organizations.
vCenter Chargeback is an end-to-end cost reporting solution for virtual environments that use VMware
vSphere. This Web-based application interacts with the vCenter Server Database to retrieve usage information,
calculates the cost by using the defined chargeback formulas, and generates reports. Figure 1-1 shows how
vCenter Chargeback interacts with various components of a virtual environment.
Figure 1-1. vCenter Chargeback in a Virtual Environment
vCenter Chargeback runs on an Apache Tomcat server instance. The user interacts with the vCenter
Chargeback application through a load balancer (Apache HTTP Server). vCenter Chargeback connects to a
vCenter Chargeback database that stores application-specific information, such as the defined chargeback
hierarchies, cost models, users, roles, and so on. The application also interacts with the vCenter Server and
vCenter Server database through a data collector. The data collector communicates with the vCenter Server
using VIM APIs and with the vCenter Database using JDBC.
8 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 1 Introduction to vCenter Chargeback
When you install vCenter Chargeback, the vCenter Chargeback application, the load balancer, and the data
collectors are installed and run on the same machine. Although the vCenter Chargeback database can also be
installed on the same machine, in a real-world scenario you would install the application and the database on
separate machines.
vCenter Chargeback retrieves the virtual infrastructure inventory and the resource usage information for each
virtual machine from the vCenter Server database through the data collector. The data collector replicates this
information in the vCenter Chargeback database. vCenter Chargeback uses this information from the vCenter
Chargeback database along with the cost model and chargeback cost calculation formulas to generate the cost
reports. A single data collector instance can communicate with multiple vCenter Server instances and vCenter
Server databases and replicate the relevant information in a vCenter Chargeback database.
vCenter Chargeback also lets you create a cluster of vCenter Chargeback instances that share a single load
balancer. Each user request is routed through the load balancer. The load balancer forwards the request to a
vCenter Chargeback instance in the cluster based on the number request currently being serviced by each
instance in the cluster. All the vCenter Chargeback instances in a cluster are connected to the same vCenter
Chargeback database.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
10 VMware, Inc.
Installing vCenter Chargeback 2
Before you install vCenter Chargeback, you must ensure that the minimum hardware and software
requirements are met and the relevant pre-installation tasks are performed.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Hardware Requirements,” on page 11
n
“Software Requirements,” on page 12
n
“Prerequisites for vCenter Chargeback,” on page 13
n
“Download and Extract the vCenter Chargeback Installer,” on page 15
n
“Install vCenter Chargeback,” on page 15
n
“Create a vCenter Chargeback Cluster,” on page 19
n
“Install vCenter Chargeback with an Existing Database Schema,” on page 22
n
“Upgrading vCenter Chargeback,” on page 25
n
“Services Related to the vCenter Chargeback Application,” on page 28
n
“Accessing the vCenter Chargeback Application,” on page 30
n
“Data Collector,” on page 30
n
“Uninstall vCenter Chargeback,” on page 37
Hardware Requirements
The system on which vCenter Chargeback is installed must meet the minimum hardware requirements for
installing and running the application.
vCenter Chargeback can be run on a computer or a virtual machine that matches or exceeds the following
hardware specifications:
n
2.0GHz or faster Intel or AMD x86 processor
n
4GB or more of RAM
n
A minimum of 2GB disk storage (3GB recommended)
n
10/100 Ethernet adapter (Gigabit recommended)
If you want to install the vCenter Chargeback database on the computer on which vCenter Chargeback along
with the load balancer and data collector is already installed, then additional storage, memory, and processor
capacity are required.
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11
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Software Requirements
Other than an operating system, you must have a database management system and a Web browser installed
to run and access vCenter Chargeback.
Operating Systems
The vCenter Chargeback application can be installed and run on the following operating systems (32-bit and
64-bit):
n
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP2
n
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2
n
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
n
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit only)
Database Management Systems
vCenter Chargeback supports the following database management systems (both 32 bit and 64 bit):
n
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (Standard and Enterprise)
n
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (Standard and Enterprise)
n
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express
n
Oracle Database 10g (Standard and Enterprise)
n
Oracle Database 11g (Standard and Enterprise)
Web Browsers and Flash Player Plug-In
vCenter Chargeback is a browser-based application that is tested and supported on the following:
n
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x and 8.x
n
Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and later releases
n
Adobe Flash Player for Windows Plug-in version 10.1 or later
n
Adobe Flash Player for Linux Plug-in version 10.1 or later
VMware vCenter Server
vCenter Chargeback supports VirtualCenter Server 2.5 Update 3 and later releases and vCenter Server 4.0 and
later releases.
12 VMware, Inc.
Prerequisites for vCenter Chargeback
Before installing and running vCenter Chargeback few pre-install tasks have to be preformed.
Networking Prerequisites
You must perform the following pre-installation tasks for the successful installation and running of vCenter
Chargeback:
n
Check whether the ports are free.
Ensure that the ports that you specify during the installation are free. While installing you must specify
the port numbers for the following:
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
HTTP port
Load-balancer port
HTTPS port
If any of the specified port is also configured for another service and the service is not running, then the
installer will use the specified port. However, this might result in a port conflict and either of the configured
services might fail.
n
Set a static IP address on the machine.
Before you install the vCenter Chargeback application on a machine, you must obtain a static IP address
from your network administrator. Set this IP address on the machine on which you are going to install
vCenter Chargeback. Preferably, obtain and set static IP addresses on all the servers and databases that
the application communicates with.
This port is used by vCenter Chargeback for communication using the
HTTP protocol. The default port number is 8080.
This port is used by vCenter Chargeback to communicate with the load
balancer. The default port is 8009.
This port is used by the load balancer to listen for user requests. The default
port is 443.
Database-Related Prerequisites
Before you begin the vCenter Chargeback installation you must create a vCenter Chargeback database and a
corresponding database user. vCenter Chargeback stores the application-specific data, such as cost models,
chargeback hierarchies, and users and roles, in the vCenter Chargeback database. You must, therefore, first
create a database for storing this data. The database management systems supported by vCenter Chargeback
are listed in “Software Requirements,” on page 12. You can either create the database yourself by referring to
the corresponding product documentation or ask your database administrator to create one for you. Ensure
that the database is not configured to be case-sensitive.
If you using an Oracle database as the vCenter Chargeback database, you must configure the database to use
the Unicode (AL32UTF8) character set to support the following scenarios:
n
You want to deploy the vCenter Chargeback database in a non-English environment.
n
You want to synchronize the vCenter Chargeback database with a vCenter Server database that has nonEnglish data.
After you create the vCenter Chargeback database, you must also create a database user to access this database.
Ensure that the database user has the privileges to create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to
the database.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
You must provide the details of this vCenter Chargeback database and database user when installing vCenter
Chargeback. The installer will use these details to create the database schema and objects. Also, vCenter
Chargeback will log in to the vCenter Chargeback database using the details of this database user and perform
the necessary database operations.
NOTE Instead of using the default database users, such as sa, SYS, and SYSTEM, create a database user with just
the required privileges and access the database with this users credentials. This is a good security practice.
Other Software Prerequisites
You must ensure that the following pre-install tasks are performed:
n
Ensure that system time of all the servers and databases are in sync.
You must ensure that the system time of the machines on which you install vCenter Chargeback and
vCenter Chargeback database are in sync. If you plan to install a separate data collector on a different
machine, then the system time of this machine must be in sync with that of the other machines.
n
Ensure that MSI Installation is enabled.
Before you start the installation, you must ensure that MSI installation is enabled on the machine. If not,
you must manually install Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86) before running the
vCenter Chargeback installer.
n
Ensure that port exceptions are configured on the Windows firewall.
If the Windows Firewall is enabled, you must set the port exceptions for the HTTP, load balancer, and
HTTPS ports on the Windows Firewall. If these exceptions are not set, the application will be not be usable.
n
Ensure that the Windows user has the Log on as a service permission.
If you want to use the Windows authentication option for the vCenter Chargeback database, you must
ensure that the Windows user has the Log on as a service permission. If this permission is not set on
the user, the installation will fail. Also, the installer must be run in the context of this Windows user.
Preinstallation Checklist
The pre-installation checklist helps you ensure that you have all the required information and have performed
the necessary pre-install tasks.
Table 2-1. vCenter Chargeback Pre-Install Checklist
Item Requirement Checked
Hardware Configuration
CPU 2.0GHz or faster Intel or AMD x86 processor
RAM 4.0 GB or more
Disk space Minimum 2.0 GB; Recommended 3.0 GB or more
Card 10/100 Ethernet adapter (Gigabit recommended)
Network Configuration
Static IP Address Write down the IP address of the machine on which you plan to install
vCenter Chargeback. Ensure that the machine has a static IP address.
Port Numbers HTTP Port (default: 8080)
Load-balancer Port (default: 8009)
HTTPS Port (default: 443)
Ensure that the default ports are free. If not, use any other free ports.
Note down the port numbers that you want to use.
Database Configuration
14 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
Table 2-1. vCenter Chargeback Pre-Install Checklist (Continued)
Item Requirement Checked
Type Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or later
Oracle Database 10g or later
Database name Create a database for vCenter Chargeback and note down the database
name.
URL IP address of the vCenter Chargeback database Ensure that the machine
on which the database is installed has a static IP address.
TNS listener port for Oracle database
Database instance name for SQL Server database
Database user name and
password
Software Configuration
System Time Ensure that system time of all the servers and databases are in sync
Microsoft SQL Server Ensure that the SQL Server Browser service is running if you are using
MSI Installation Is MSI installation enabled?
Port Exceptions on
Windows Firewall
User name of the database user who has privileges to create and delete
schema, as well as to read from and write to the database.
Password for this user
If you are using Windows Authentication for a Microsoft SQL Server
database, then you must have the Windows user account name. This
user must have the Log on as a service permission.
Password for this Windows user account
If you are using Windows authentication, ensure that you run the
installer in the context of this Windows user.
a database instance name and dynamic database instance port to
connect to the vCenter Chargeback database.
If not, install Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable Package (x86).
If you have enabled Windows Firewall, you must set the port exceptions
for the HTTP port, load balancer port, and HTTPS port.
Download and Extract the vCenter Chargeback Installer
You must first download the installer files and extract its contents on to the machine on which you want to
install vCenter Chargeback. You must run the installer on the local machine and not from a remote machine.
Procedure
1 Download the installation-related files, vCenter-CB-
version_number-build_number
http://www.vmware.com/products/vcenter-chargeback/overview.html.
2 Extract the content of this ZIP file to the machine on which you want to install the application.
The vCenter-CB.exe file is the installer file.
What to do next
Run the installer to install vCenter Chargeback.
Install vCenter Chargeback
vCenter Chargeback can be installed on any system or virtual machine that meets the system requirements.
Prerequisites
Ensure that you run the installer on the machine on which vCenter Chargeback has to be installed. Do not run
it on a remote machine.
.zip, from
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-CB.exe file.
The installation wizard is displayed.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
4 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next.
If the specified installation directory exists, ensure that it is empty. If the specified installation directory
does not exist, the installer creates the directory. The install path must contain at least one folder. You
cannot provide only the drive name. Also, the directory path must contain only ASCII characters.
5 Enter the vCenter Chargeback database-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
Database Port
Database Name
SQL Authentication Mode
Database Username
Database Password
If the installer successfully connects to the database, the next screen is displayed.
The type of database used to create the vCenter Chargeback database. This
can be either SQL SERVER or ORACLE.
The IP address or host name of the system on which the vCenter Chargeback
database is installed. For an SQL Server database, you can also provide the
vCenter Chargeback database instance name. The database instance name
must contain only ASCII characters.
For Oracle Database, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
For SQL Server, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
IP Address\Database Instance Name
Host Name\Database Instance Name
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. For an
Oracle database, you must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using
the default port 1521. For an SQL Server database, specify the database
instance port if you are using a static port.
Name of the database in which vCenter Chargeback stores the applicationspecific data. For Oracle Database, ensure that you provide the service name
and not the SID.
This option is applicable only for SQL Server databases. For an SQL Server
database, the authentication type can be either SQL Server Authentication
or Windows Authentication.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to the database. If
you select Windows Authentication for SQL Authentication Mode, you
must provide the Windows user account name. The user name must be of
the form DomainName\UserName. Also, the user must have the Log on as
a service permission.
Password for the user name that you have provided. If you select Windows
Authentication as the authentication type, you must provide the password
for the Windows user account. Ensure that the Windows user account
password does not contain any special characters. The installer might fail if
the password contains special characters.
16 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
6 Enter the IP address and port details for the vCenter Chargeback application, and click Next.
Option Description
IP Address
HTTP Port
Load-Balancer Port
Server Instance Name
Static IP address of the machine on which you are installing vCenter
Chargeback. Do not use localhost instead of the IP address.
An unused HTTP port through which vCenter Chargeback can
communicate.
An unused port through which vCenter Chargeback can communicate with
the load balancer (Apache Server).
A unique user-defined name for the vCenter Chargeback instance. This name
is used by the load balancer to identify the instance. Ensure that the instance
name contains only ASCII characters.
If the specified ports are free, the next screen is displayed.
7 Enter the load balancer-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
IP Address
Admin Email Address
HTTPS Port
Static IP address of the machine on which you are installing vCenter
Chargeback. Do not use localhost instead of the IP address.
Email address of the server administrator. Ensure that the email address
contains only ASCII characters.
An unused port through which the Apache Server can communicate. The
load balancer listens on this port for user requests.
If the specified port is free, the next screen is displayed.
8 Enter a user name and password for the vCenter Chargeback administrative account, and click Next.
The password must not exceed 24 characters in length.
NOTE If you are using Oracle Database for your vCenter Chargeback database, ensure that the user name
for the administrative account contains only ASCII and non-ASCII characters. Extended ASCII characters
in the user name is not supported. This restriction is not applicable if you are using Microsoft SQL Server
for you vCenter Chargeback database.
9 Choose to install the required data collectors and click Next.
The Install vCenter Chargeback Data Collector option is selected by default. You must have at least one
instance of this data collector running and registered with the application for the database synchronization
jobs to run.
You can optionally choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector and vShield Manager Data
Collector. All the data collectors can be installed even after a vCenter Chargeback instance is installed. If
you are installing the vShield Manager Data Collector, choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector too or ensure that at least one instance of VMware Cloud Director Data Collector is running.
10 (Optional) If you chose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector, enter the VMware Cloud
Director database-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
The type of database used to create the VMware Cloud Director database.
The only permissible value is ORACLE.
The IP address of the system on which the VMware Cloud Director database
is installed.
The database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Option Description
Database Port
Database Name
Database Username
Database Password
If the installer successfully connects to the database, the next screen is displayed.
11 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts installing the various components and creating the database schema. If the installation
is successful, the URL for accessing the vCenter Chargeback application is displayed.
12 Note this URL, and click Done.
The installer displays a dialog stating whether you want to generate your own SSL certificate.
13 Click Skip now, I'll generate it later.
When you install the application for the first time, the installer performs the following tasks:
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. You
must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using the default port 1521.
Name of the database in which VMware Cloud Director stores the
application-specific data. This must be the service name and not the SID.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
read the VMware Cloud Director database objects.
Password for the user name that you have provided.
n
Connects to the database and creates a schema for the application data.
n
Installs the application.
n
Installs the load balancer, which receives and routes all user requests to the application.
n
Installs the data collector, which synchronizes the vCenter Chargeback database with the vCenter Server
databases.
NOTE If the installation fails due to some reason, the uninstaller is automatically invoked and all the
components installed till the failure occurred is removed.
What to do next
You can also choose to generate an SSL certificate after the installation is complete by clicking Generate my
own SSL Certificate. If you choose to generate an SSL certificate, follow the instructions in “Generate an SSL
Certificate for vCenter Chargeback,” on page 18.
If you want to enable SSL v3 and strong authentication on the Apache Tomcat server, follow the instruction
provided at http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/ssl/ssl_howto.html. You must restart the application-related
services after making the necessary configuration changes in the Apache Tomcat server.
Generate an SSL Certificate for vCenter Chargeback
After you have installed vCenter Chargeback, you can generate an SSL certificate for the vCenter Chargeback
instance.
You can generate an SSL certificate for vCenter Chargeback either when installing the application or after you
install the application.
Procedure
1 Select Generate SSL Certificate from the Start > Programs > VMware > VMware vCenter Chargeback >
vCenter Chargeback Tools menu.
The Generate SSL Certificate window is displayed.
18 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
2 Provide a pass phrase for the default key and press Enter.
You are prompted to enter the pass phrase three more times. Provide the same pass phrase and press Enter
each time.
3 Provide the required certificate information and press Enter.
You are prompted to enter the some information to be included in the generated SSL certificate.
Option Description
Country Code
State or Province Name
Locality Name
Organization Name
Common Name
Email Address
A two letter code for the country.
Name of the state or province.
Name of the city or town.
Name of the organization.
Your name.
An email address.
4 Provide the requested extra attributes for the certificate and press Enter.
Option Description
A challenge password
An optional company name
A user-defined password
Company name. This is optional and can be left blank
5 Provide the pass phrase and press Enter.
You are prompted to enter the pass phrase again. Provide the same pass phrase and press Enter.
The SSL certificate is generated with the information provided.
6 Press any key to complete the process and close the window.
The generated SSL certificate can be seen when you access the application.
Create a vCenter Chargeback Cluster
Apart from installing standalone vCenter Chargeback instances, you can also create a cluster of vCenter
Chargeback instances. A cluster has more than one vCenter Chargeback instance accessing the same vCenter
Chargeback database.
Cluster Installation
When you install the vCenter Chargeback application for the first time on a machine, a load balancer is also
installed. The existence of the load balancer enables you to have more than one instance of the vCenter
Chargeback application running, with each instance accessing the same vCenter Chargeback database.
These vCenter Chargeback instances form a cluster. All user requests are routed through the load balancer.
Also, all the instances in the cluster share the same administrative account information. However, you must
ensure that each instance of vCenter Chargeback in the cluster is of the same version.
The load balancer ensures that no single vCenter Chargeback instance is loaded disproportionately with user
requests. Also, if one of the instances fails, any request currently being serviced by that instance is automatically
redirected to another instance in the cluster. For the failover to happen successfully, you must ensure the
following:
n
All the vCenter Chargeback instances in the cluster, the vCenter Chargeback database, and the data
collectors have the same system time. That is, the system times are in sync.
n
All the vCenter Chargeback instances in the cluster are in the same network domain.
VMware, Inc. 19
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
n
Multicasting must be enabled on the machine on which the vCenter Chargeback instance is installed.
Installing a vCenter Chargeback Cluster Instance
You can create a cluster of vCenter Chargeback instances that use the same database and load balancer.
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-CB.exe file.
The installation wizard is displayed.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
4 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next.
If the specified installation directory exists, ensure that it is empty. If the specified installation directory
does not exist, the installer creates the directory. The install path must contain at least one folder. You
cannot provide only the drive name. Also, the directory path must contain only ASCII characters.
5 Enter the vCenter Chargeback database-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
Database Port
Database Name
SQL Authentication Mode
Database Username
Database Password
The type of database used to create the vCenter Chargeback database. This
can be either SQL SERVER or ORACLE.
The IP address or host name of the system on which the vCenter Chargeback
database is installed. For an SQL Server database, you can also provide the
vCenter Chargeback database instance name. The database instance name
must contain only ASCII characters.
For Oracle Database, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
For SQL Server, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
IP Address\Database Instance Name
Host Name\Database Instance Name
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. For an
Oracle database, you must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using
the default port 1521. For an SQL Server database, specify the database
instance port if you are using a static port.
Name of the database in which vCenter Chargeback stores the applicationspecific data. For Oracle Database, ensure that you provide the service name
and not the SID.
This option is applicable only for SQL Server databases. For an SQL Server
database, the authentication type can be either SQL Server Authentication
or Windows Authentication.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to the database. If
you select Windows Authentication for SQL Authentication Mode, you
must provide the Windows user account name. The user name must be of
the form DomainName\UserName. Also, the user must have the Log on as
a service permission.
Password for the user name that you have provided. If you select Windows
Authentication as the authentication type, you must provide the password
for the Windows user account. Ensure that the Windows user account
password does not contain any special characters. The installer might fail if
the password contains special characters.
20 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
If the installer connects to the database and detects a vCenter Chargeback schema, a dialog is displayed.
6 Click Use it.
The vCenter Chargeback instance will use this existing vCenter Chargeback database.
7 Enter the IP address and port details for the vCenter Chargeback application, and click Next.
Option Description
IP Address
HTTP Port
Load-Balancer Port
Server Instance Name
Static IP address of the machine on which you are installing vCenter
Chargeback. Do not use localhost instead of the IP address.
An unused HTTP port through which vCenter Chargeback can
communicate.
An unused port through which vCenter Chargeback can communicate with
the load balancer (Apache Server).
A unique user-defined name for the vCenter Chargeback instance. This name
is used by the load balancer to identify the instance. Ensure that the instance
name contains only ASCII characters.
If the specified ports are free, the next screen is displayed.
8 Ensure that the Install Load Balancer Server option is not selected, and click Next.
9 Choose to install the required data collectors and click Next.
The Install vCenter Chargeback Data Collector option is selected by default. You must have at least one
instance of this data collector running and registered with the application for the database synchronization
jobs to run.
You can optionally choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector and vShield Manager Data
Collector. All the data collectors can be installed even after a vCenter Chargeback instance is installed. If
you are installing the vShield Manager Data Collector, choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector too or ensure that at least one instance of VMware Cloud Director Data Collector is running.
10 (Optional) If you chose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector, enter the VMware Cloud
Director database-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
The type of database used to create the VMware Cloud Director database.
The only permissible value is ORACLE.
The IP address of the system on which the VMware Cloud Director database
is installed.
The database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
Database Port
Database Name
Database Username
Database Password
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. You
must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using the default port 1521.
Name of the database in which VMware Cloud Director stores the
application-specific data. This must be the service name and not the SID.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
read the VMware Cloud Director database objects.
Password for the user name that you have provided.
If the installer successfully connects to the database, the next screen is displayed.
11 (Optional) If you chose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector or the vShield Manager Data
Collector, enter the password for the vCenter Chargeback administrative account and click Next.
You must provide the correct password for the data collectors to call the vCenter Chargeback APIs.
VMware, Inc. 21
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
12 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts installing the various components. If the installation is successful, the URL for accessing
the vCenter Chargeback application and the information required to add this installed instance to the
cluster is displayed.
13 Note this information, and click Done.
The administrative account for accessing this instance will be same as the one used by the existing vCenter
Chargeback instance.
NOTE If the installation fails, the uninstaller starts automatically and removes all the components installed.
Adding a vCenter Chargeback Instance to a Cluster
Installing a vCenter Chargeback cluster instance does not automatically add it to the cluster. You must
manually add a vCenter Chargeback instance to a cluster.
You can add a vCenter Chargeback instance to a cluster by running the ModifyLBWorkers.bat file on the
machine on which the load balancer is installed.
Procedure
1 On the machine on which the load balancer is installed, open a command-line window.
2 Navigate to the \vCenter-CB-Tools\load-balancer\bin directory.
cd
Installation_Folder
\vCenter-CB-Tools\load-balancer\bin\
where, Installation_Folder is the complete folder path provided during the vCenter Chargeback installation.
The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Chargeback.
3 Run the ModifyLBWorkers.bat file to register the vCenter Chargeback instance with the load balancer.
ModifyLBWorkers
Host_IP_Address Load-Balancer_Port Server_Instance_Name
Here, Host_IP_Address is the IP address of the machine on which the new vCenter Chargeback instance is
installed, Load-Balancer_Port is the port through which the vCenter Chargeback instance communicates
with the load balancer, and Server_Instance_Name is the name of the new vCenter Chargeback instance
that you want to add to the cluster. Load-Balancer_Port is same as the port configured during the new
vCenter Chargeback installation. Server_Instance_Name is the name that you have provided during the
installation.
4 Restart the Load Balancer service from the Start > Programs > VMware > VMware vCenter Chargeback
> vCenter Chargeback Services menu.
Install vCenter Chargeback with an Existing Database Schema
You can create a stand-alone vCenter Chargeback instance that uses an existing vCenter Chargeback schema.
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-CB.exe file.
The installation wizard is displayed.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
22 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
4 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next.
If the specified installation directory exists, ensure that it is empty. If the specified installation directory
does not exist, the installer creates the directory. The install path must contain at least one folder. You
cannot provide only the drive name. Also, the directory path must contain only ASCII characters.
5 Enter the vCenter Chargeback database-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
The type of database used to create the vCenter Chargeback database. This
can be either SQL SERVER or ORACLE.
The IP address or host name of the system on which the vCenter Chargeback
database is installed. For an SQL Server database, you can also provide the
vCenter Chargeback database instance name. The database instance name
must contain only ASCII characters.
For Oracle Database, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
For SQL Server, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
IP Address\Database Instance Name
Host Name\Database Instance Name
Database Port
Database Name
SQL Authentication Mode
Database Username
Database Password
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. For an
Oracle database, you must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using
the default port 1521. For an SQL Server database, specify the database
instance port if you are using a static port.
Name of the database in which vCenter Chargeback stores the applicationspecific data. For Oracle Database, ensure that you provide the service name
and not the SID.
This option is applicable only for SQL Server databases. For an SQL Server
database, the authentication type can be either SQL Server Authentication
or Windows Authentication.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to the database. If
you select Windows Authentication for SQL Authentication Mode, you
must provide the Windows user account name. The user name must be of
the form DomainName\UserName. Also, the user must have the Log on as
a service permission.
Password for the user name that you have provided. If you select Windows
Authentication as the authentication type, you must provide the password
for the Windows user account. Ensure that the Windows user account
password does not contain any special characters. The installer might fail if
the password contains special characters.
If the installer connects to the database and detects a vCenter Chargeback schema, a dialog is displayed.
6 Click Use it.
The vCenter Chargeback instance will use this existing vCenter Chargeback database.
If you click Create new schema, the existing schema is overwritten.
7 Enter the IP address and port details for the vCenter Chargeback application, and click Next.
Option Description
IP Address
HTTP Port
VMware, Inc. 23
Static IP address of the machine on which you are installing vCenter
Chargeback. Do not use localhost instead of the IP address.
An unused HTTP port through which vCenter Chargeback can
communicate.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Option Description
Load-Balancer Port
Server Instance Name
If the specified ports are free, the next screen is displayed.
8 Enter the load balancer-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
IP Address
Admin Email Address
HTTPS Port
If the specified port is free, the next screen is displayed.
9 Choose to install the required data collectors and click Next.
An unused port through which vCenter Chargeback can communicate with
the load balancer (Apache Server).
A unique user-defined name for the vCenter Chargeback instance. This name
is used by the load balancer to identify the instance. Ensure that the instance
name contains only ASCII characters.
Static IP address of the machine on which you are installing vCenter
Chargeback. Do not use localhost instead of the IP address.
Email address of the server administrator. Ensure that the email address
contains only ASCII characters.
An unused port through which the Apache Server can communicate. The
load balancer listens on this port for user requests.
The Install vCenter Chargeback Data Collector option is selected by default. You must have at least one
instance of this data collector running and registered with the application for the database synchronization
jobs to run.
You can optionally choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector and vShield Manager Data
Collector. All the data collectors can be installed even after a vCenter Chargeback instance is installed. If
you are installing the vShield Manager Data Collector, choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector too or ensure that at least one instance of VMware Cloud Director Data Collector is running.
10 (Optional) If you chose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector, enter the VMware Cloud
Director database-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
The type of database used to create the VMware Cloud Director database.
The only permissible value is ORACLE.
The IP address of the system on which the VMware Cloud Director database
is installed.
The database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
Database Port
Database Name
Database Username
Database Password
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. You
must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using the default port 1521.
Name of the database in which VMware Cloud Director stores the
application-specific data. This must be the service name and not the SID.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
read the VMware Cloud Director database objects.
Password for the user name that you have provided.
If the installer successfully connects to the database, the next screen is displayed.
11 (Optional) If you chose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector or the vShield Manager Data
Collector, enter the password for the vCenter Chargeback administrative account and click Next.
You must provide the correct password for the data collectors to call the vCenter Chargeback APIs.
24 VMware, Inc.
12 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts installing the various components. If the installation is successful, the URL for accessing
the vCenter Chargeback application is displayed.
13 Note this URL, and click Done.
The installer displays a dialog stating whether you want to generate your own SSL certificate.
14 Click Skip now, I'll generate it later.
The administrative account for accessing this instance will be same as the one used during the original
installation when the existing vCenter Chargeback database schema was created.
NOTE If the installation fails, the uninstaller starts automatically and removes all the components installed.
What to do next
You can also choose to generate an SSL certificate after the installation is complete by clicking Generate my
own SSL Certificate. If you choose to generate an SSL certificate, follow the instructions in “Generate an SSL
Certificate for vCenter Chargeback,” on page 18.
Upgrading vCenter Chargeback
You cannot directly upgrade your existing vCenter Chargeback setup to vCenter Chargeback 1.6.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
If you are using a vCenter Chargeback 1.0.x setup, you must first upgrade to vCenter Chargeback 1.5. You
must then uninstall the vCenter Chargeback 1.5 setup but retain the database. Then install vCenter Chargeback
1.6 using the existing vCenter Chargeback database. Refer to the vCenter Chargeback 1.6 Release Notes for
detailed install and upgrade instructions.
Pre-Upgrade Tasks for vCenter Chargeback
The pre-upgrade tasks ensure that you have a backup of the database and necessary configuration files. Also,
the completion of the pre-upgrade tasks ensures that vCenter Chargeback can function smoothly after the
upgrade is completed.
Prerequisites
In your current vCenter Chargeback installation, check and ensure that the following criteria are met.
n
No roles have names containing the prefix CBM_150_DEFAULT_ROLE_NAME_.
n
None of the LDAP users are assigned the Super User role.
n
None of the user names contain the prefix CBM_150_USER_.
Procedure
1 Check whether the data collector has synchronized all the vCenter Server hierarchies.
You can check the status and last run time for the data collector synchronization jobs from the Data
Collectors page of the Settings tab of the application. You can also browse the vCenter Server hierarchies
and vCenter Chargeback hierarchies in the application to verify whether the hierarchies are synchronized.
2 Stop all the vCenter Chargeback related services.
3 Take a backup of the existing vCenter Chargeback database.
If the upgrade fails due to some unforeseen reason and you are not able to use the existing setup either,
you can use the database backup to recover the data.
VMware, Inc. 25
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
What to do next
After you have taken a backup of the database, you must purge the vCenter Chargeback database. See KB
1026068 (http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1026068) for further instructions.
You can also back up the relevant configuration files from the current vCenter Chargeback installation, so that
you can restore the existing installation if the upgrade fails. See KB 1026796
(http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1026796) for further details.
Upgrade vCenter Chargeback
You can upgrade an existing vCenter Chargeback instance to a later version.
Prerequisites
Before you upgrade a standalone vCenter Chargeback instance, stop the corresponding vCenter Chargeback
service and the data collector services. If any vCenter Chargeback related service is running, the upgrade
process fails.
For a cluster installation, you must upgrade each vCenter Chargeback instance in the cluster. You must first
upgrade the instance that has the load balancer. Before upgrading the first instance of a cluster, you must stop
all the related services. When the first instance is upgraded, the corresponding vCenter Chargeback database
is also upgraded. After the upgrade, the vCenter Chargeback service and the corresponding database, data
collector, and load balancer services are automatically restarted.
NOTE You must upgrade all the instances in a cluster to ensure that the application functions correctly. A
cluster with multi-version vCenter Chargeback instances might not function correctly.
Ensure that you are running the installer on the machine on which you want to install vCenter Chargeback. If
you run the installer from a shared location on the network, the installer might fail.
If the existing instance vCenter Chargeback has a VMware Cloud Director Data Collector installed, ensure that
you provide the same VMware Cloud Director database details for the vCenter Chargeback instance during
upgarde.
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-CB.exe file.
The installation wizard is displayed.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
When the installer detects an older version of vCenter Chargeback, an Alert dialog box is displayed.
4 Click Upgrade to 1.5.0.0 in the Alert dialog box.
5 If the vCenter Chargeback database is an SQL Server database, the installer displays the Database
Configuration screen.
You can change the SQL Authentication Mode option on this screen.
a (Optional) Select Windows Authentication as the authentication type.
b Provide the Windows user account name in the form DomainName\UserName.
The user must have the Log on as a service permission.
The installer checks whether all the vCenter Chargeback and data collector services are stopped. If any of
the services are running, the installer stops the services.
26 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
6 Choose to install the required data collectors and click Next.
The Install vCenter Chargeback Data Collector option is selected by default. You must have at least one
instance of this data collector running and registered with the application for the database synchronization
jobs to run.
You can optionally choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector and vShield Manager Data
Collector. All the data collectors can be installed even after a vCenter Chargeback instance is installed. If
you are installing the vShield Manager Data Collector, choose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector too or ensure that at least one instance of VMware Cloud Director Data Collector is running.
7 (Optional) If you chose to install the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector, enter the VMware Cloud
Director database-related information, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
Database Port
Database Name
Database Username
Database Password
The type of database used to create the VMware Cloud Director database.
The only permissible value is ORACLE.
The IP address of the system on which the VMware Cloud Director database
is installed.
The database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. You
must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using the default port 1521.
Name of the database in which VMware Cloud Director stores the
application-specific data. This must be the service name and not the SID.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
read the VMware Cloud Director database objects.
Password for the user name that you have provided.
If the installer successfully connects to the database, the next screen is displayed.
8 Provide the password for the administrative account of the existing installation and click Next.
9 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts upgrading the various components. If the upgrade process is successful, the URL for
accessing the vCenter Chargeback application is displayed.
10 Note the URL, and click Done.
The vCenter Chargeback instance is upgraded.
What to do next
You can now connect to the upgraded vCenter Chargeback setup. Ensure that you clear your Web browser
cache before you access the application.
Post-Upgrade Changes in vCenter Chargeback
When you upgrade an existing vCenter Chargeback 1.0 or 1.0.1 installation to vCenter Chargeback 1.5, the
installer makes changes to the user-defined resources created in the existing installation.
In vCenter Chargeback 1.5, user names are case-insensitive. Therefore, the installer renames users in the
existing setup that have the same name but with different casing. The installer uses the prefix CBM_150_USER_
for the duplicate names. You can rename users with such prefix appropriately.
Unlike earlier release, in vCenter Chargeback 1.5 a user cannot be assigned individual privileges on the entities.
Therefore, privileges assigned to the user on entities are grouped together into roles after upgrade. These roles
have names with the prefix CBM_150_DEFAULT_ROLE_NAME_. You can rename such roles.
VMware, Inc. 27
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
If a vCenter Server is added to vCenter Chargeback with the Register as Plugin option selected, then the user
whose authentication details are used when adding the vCenter Server is automatically added to vCenter
Chargeback. Also, vCenter Server users who have generated reports on this vCenter Server are automatically
added to vCenter Chargeback. You can delete the users that are not required and also assign appropriate roles
on the ones that are required.
In earlier releases, any user can view any of the vCenter Servers or cost models. However, starting from vCenter
Chargeback 1.5, users must be assigned role with privileges to access the cost models and vCenter Servers.
Only the super user can view all the resources in the application. The vCenter Server users who are added to
the application can view the vCenter Server to which they belong. These users can also view the default
hierarchy of the corresponding vCenter Server.
In earlier releases of vCenter Chargeback, users with the view privilege on a hierarchy have privileges to view
all the reports generated on the hierarchy. After the upgrade, a user can view only the reports that he has
generated. If the user who has generated the report is deleted, then the report is assigned to the super user.
Scheduled report generation might fail after the upgrade is compete. The users who scheduled the reports
must be assigned roles with access privileges on the cost models, chargeback hierarchies, and chargeback
hierarchical entities used for scheduling the reports. vCenter Chargeback does not display any error message
stating the scheduled report generation failed due to lack of privileges.
The Report Viewer role in the earlier versions of vCenter Chargeback is upgraded to the Report Generator role
in vCenter Chargeback 1.5. After upgrade, users with the Report View role are assigned the Report Generator
role, which has more privileges. Assess the privilege requirements for such users and reassign new roles
appropriately.
Any local fixed cost added to a cost template in the existing setup is renamed after the upgrade. If you upgraded
from vCenter Chargeback 1.0, then the fixed cost name is prefixed with CT_
id_of_cost_template_fixed_cost
If you upgraded from vCenter Chargeback 1.0.1, then the fixed cost name is prefixed with
G_
id_of_cost_template_fixed_cost
.
Services Related to the vCenter Chargeback Application
When vCenter Chargeback is installed, by default, a load balancer is installed. You can install one or more data
collector instances too. The services related to vCenter Chargeback and its corresponding components must
be started for the application to function properly.
The services related to the application and the corresponding components are:
VMware vCenter
Chargeback Service
VMware vCenter
Chargeback Load
Balancer Service
VMware vCenter
Chargeback
DataCollectorEmbedded
VMware vCenter
Chargeback
DataCollector
Starting this service starts the application.
Starting this service starts the load balancer. This service must be running so
that the load balancer can receive user requests and route them to the
application for them to be serviced.
Starting this service starts the Data Collector instance that was installed along
with the vCenter Chargeback application.
Starting this service starts the Data Collector instance that was installed
individually (in this case, the name of the instance is DataCollector) and not
with the application.
.
28 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
VMware vCenter
Chargeback - VMware
Starting this service starts the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector instance
that was installed along with the vCenter Chargeback application.
Cloud Director
DataCollectorEmbedded
VMware vCenter
Chargeback - VMware
Cloud Director
Starting this service starts the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector instance
that was installed individually (in this case, the name of the instance is VMware
Cloud Director DataCollector) and not with the application.
DataCollector
VMware vCenter
Chargeback - vShield
Starting this service starts the vShield Manager Data Collector instance that
was installed along with the vCenter Chargeback application.
Manager DataCollectorEmbedded
VMware vCenter
Chargeback - vShield
Manager DataCollector
Starting this service starts the vShield Manager Data Collector instance that
was installed individually (in this case, the name of the instance is vShield
Manager DataCollector) and not with the application.
Managing Application-Related Services
All the services required for successfully running and accessing vCenter Chargeback are configured to start
automatically when the machine is powered on and the operating system is started. You can also manually
control these services.
If the database service corresponding to the vCenter Chargeback database stops, then the data collector services
stop automatically after a period of time. If the database service is started before the data collector services
stop, then the data collectors will be able to communicate with the database and will not stop. If the data
collector services stop, then you must manually start the data collector services after restarting the vCenter
Chargeback database service.
If you start the vCenter Chargeback service, before starting the corresponding database service, then you must
manually restart the vCenter Chargeback service after restarting the database service.
Prerequisites
Before starting any of the application-related services, ensure that the database service corresponding to the
vCenter Chargeback database is started and is running without any issues.
Procedure
1 Select the relevant service menu from the Start > Programs > VMware > VMware vCenter Chargeback >
vCenter Chargeback Services menu.
The menu provides shortcuts for the following services:
n
VMware vCenter Chargeback
n
VMware vCenter Chargeback DataCollector
n
VMware vCenter Chargeback Load Balancer
n
VMware vCenter Chargeback - VMware Cloud Director DataCollector
n
VMware vCenter Chargeback - vShield Manager DataCollector
2 Select the relevant shortcut to start or stop a service from the selected service menu.
VMware, Inc. 29
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Accessing the vCenter Chargeback Application
If all the required services are running, you can access vCenter Chargeback through a supported Web browser.
Procedure
1 Click Launch Chargeback Homepage from the Start > Programs > VMware > VMware vCenter
Chargeback menu.
2 Enter the login credentials, and click Login.
Data Collector
vCenter Chargeback interacts with the vCenter Server and vCenter Server database through a data collector.
The data collector synchronizes the information in the vCenter Chargeback database with that in the vCenter
Server database.
This release of vCenter Chargeback provides two more data collectors. These are the VMware Cloud Director
Data Collector and the vShield Manager Data Collector. These data collectors enable you to integrate VMware
Cloud Director with vCenter Chargeback.
vCenter Chargeback support VMware Cloud Director 1.0 and the versions of vShield Manager supported by
VMware Cloud Director 1.0.
The VMware Cloud Director Data Collector polls the VMware Cloud Director database for chargeback events.
These events details are used to call specific vCenter Chargeback APIs. A chargeback hierarchy for each
organization in the VMware Cloud Director setup is created in vCenter Chargeback and also the corresponding
allocation details are set on the entities.
By integrating VMware Cloud Director with vCenter Chargeback, you can perform the following tasks:
n
Meter and charge for allocation and usage of VMware Cloud Director resources, including virtual
datacenters, vApps, templates and media file storage.
n
Meter and charge for external network bandwidth, network count, and network services, such as DHCP,
NAT, and firewall.
n
Deliver multi-tenant chargeback reports.
However, this release does not include support for the following features:
n
Charging for storage utilized by partially created or imported virtual machines, vApps, and templates
and media files.
n
Charging for resources utilized by virtual machines that are created by vShield Edge.
The vShield Manager Data Collector fetches the network statistics from the vShield Manager for the networks
included in the VMware Cloud Director setup.
The vShield Manager Data Collector fetches the external traffic information from vShield Manager for the
following types of VMware Cloud Director networks:
n
Private routed org networks
n
Routed vApp networks
n
Fenced vApp networks
In the case that a routed or fenced vApp network is connected to a private routed org network, then the external
traffic information of the corresponding virtual machine is recorded at both, the vApp network level as well
as the org network level.
30 VMware, Inc.
n
Download Data Collector on page 31
The installer for the data collector is bundled with the application and can be downloaded from the
vCenter Chargeback application.
n
Install vCenter Chargeback Data Collector on page 32
You can have more than one data collector installed. You can install an individual data collector instance
using the data collector installer.
n
Install VMware Cloud Director Data Collector on page 33
If you want to integrate a vCenter Chargeback instance with a VMware Cloud Director instance, you
must have a VMware Cloud Director Data Collector instance installed and running.
n
Install vShield Manager Data Collector on page 35
If you integrate a vCenter Chargeback instance with a VMware Cloud Director instance, you must have
a vShield Manager Data Collector instance installed and running to fetch the network statistics from
vShield Manager.
n
Upgrade the Data Collector on page 37
Upgrading a vCenter Chargeback instance does not automatically upgrade the standalone data collector
instances associated with it. You must manually upgrade each such data collector instances.
Download Data Collector
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
The installer for the data collector is bundled with the application and can be downloaded from the vCenter
Chargeback application.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vCenter Chargeback application.
2 Click Tools on the top-right corner of the page.
3 Select the relevant data collector download option from the Tools menu.
Option Description
Download Data Collector
Download VMware Cloud Director
Data Collector
Download vShield Manager Data
Collector
Select this option to download the installer for the vCenter Chargeback Data
Collector.
Select this option to download the installer for the VMware Cloud Director
Data Collector.
Select this option to download the installer for the vShield Manager Data
Collector.
4 In the download dialog box, click Save File.
The installer files are downloaded and saved on your system.
What to do next
You must extract all the install-related files from the ZIP file.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Install vCenter Chargeback Data Collector
You can have more than one data collector installed. You can install an individual data collector instance using
the data collector installer.
If you are integrating vCenter Chargeback with VMware Cloud Director by installing the VMware Cloud
Director Data Collector and vShield Manager Data Collector, then you must install and run more than one
instance of the vCenter Chargeback data collector. This ensures that the inventory and statistics information
for the vCenter Server instances added to VMware Cloud Director and vCenter Chargeback is synchronised
and available in the vCenter Chargeback database even if a data collector instance fails.
Prerequisites
Before you start the installation, ensure that the system time of the machine on which the data collector is being
installed is the same as the vCenter Chargeback and vCenter Chargeback database system time. That is, the
system time of all these machines are in sync.
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-CB-DC.exe file.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
4 (Optional) If a data collector instance exists on the machine, you can either create a new instance or upgrade
the existing instance.
a Select the required option.
b (Optional) Provide a unique name for the instance.
The default name is DataCollector. Ensure that the data collector instance name contains only ASCII
characters. The installer does not prompt for a name if you are upgrading an existing data collector
instance.
c Click Next.
5 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next.
If the specified installation directory exists, ensure that it is empty. If the specified installation directory
does not exist, the installer creates the directory. The install path must contain at least one folder. You
cannot provide only the drive name. Also, the directory path must contain only ASCII characters.
6 Provide the details of the vCenter Chargeback database that the data collector must synchronize with the
vCenter Server databases, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
The type of database used to create the vCenter Chargeback database. This
can be either SQL SERVER or ORACLE.
The IP address or host name of the system on which the vCenter Chargeback
database is installed. For an SQL Server database, you can also provide the
vCenter Chargeback database instance name. The database instance name
must contain only ASCII characters.
For Oracle Database, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
For SQL Server, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
IP Address\Database Instance Name
Host Name\Database Instance Name
32 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
Option Description
Database Port
Database Name
SQL Authentication Mode
Database Username
Database Password
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. For an
Oracle database, you must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using
the default port 1521. For an SQL Server database, specify the database
instance port if you are using a static port.
Name of the database in which vCenter Chargeback stores the applicationspecific data. For Oracle Database, ensure that you provide the service name
and not the SID.
This option is applicable only for SQL Server databases. For an SQL Server
database, the authentication type can be either SQL Server Authentication
or Windows Authentication.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to the database. If
you select Windows Authentication for SQL Authentication Mode, you
must provide the Windows user account name. The user name must be of
the form DomainName\UserName. Also, the user must have the Log on as
a service permission.
Password for the user name that you have provided. If you select Windows
Authentication as the authentication type, you must provide the password
for the Windows user account. Ensure that the Windows user account
password does not contain any special characters. The installer might fail if
the password contains special characters.
The installer connects to the database and checks whether a vCenter Chargeback schema is present.
7 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts installing the data collector. If the installation is successful, the URL for accessing
vCenter Chargeback is displayed.
8 Note this URL, and click Done.
NOTE If the installation fails, the uninstaller starts automatically and removes all the components installed.
What to do next
After you install a separate data collector, the Data Collector service starts and runs automatically. You can
manually start and stop the service from the Start > Programs > VMware > VMware vCenter Chargeback
menu.
Install VMware Cloud Director Data Collector
If you want to integrate a vCenter Chargeback instance with a VMware Cloud Director instance, you must
have a VMware Cloud Director Data Collector instance installed and running.
You can install a VMware Cloud Director Data Collector instance along with vCenter Chargeback or separately
by using the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector installer. Although you can install more than one VMware
Cloud Director Data Collector instance, only one instance will be interacting with the VMware Cloud Director
database at any given point of time. Another data collector instance will be used only in the case of a failover.
Prerequisites
Before you start the installation, ensure that the system time of the machine on which the data collector is being
installed is the same as that on the VMware Cloud Director database, vCenter Chargeback, and vCenter
Chargeback database. That is, the system time of all these machines are in sync.
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-VCLOUD-DC.exe file.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
4 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next.
If the specified installation directory exists, ensure that it is empty. If the specified installation directory
does not exist, the installer creates the directory. The install path must contain at least one folder. You
cannot provide only the drive name. Also, the directory path must contain only ASCII characters.
5 Provide the details of the vCenter Chargeback database that the data collector must synchronize with the
VMware Cloud Director database, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
Database Port
Database Name
SQL Authentication Mode
Database Username
Database Password
If the installer connects to the database and detects a vCenter Chargeback schema, a dialog window is
displayed.
The type of database used to create the vCenter Chargeback database. This
can be either SQL SERVER or ORACLE.
The IP address or host name of the system on which the vCenter Chargeback
database is installed. For an SQL Server database, you can also provide the
vCenter Chargeback database instance name. The database instance name
must contain only ASCII characters.
For Oracle Database, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
For SQL Server, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
IP Address\Database Instance Name
Host Name\Database Instance Name
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. For an
Oracle database, you must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using
the default port 1521. For an SQL Server database, specify the database
instance port if you are using a static port.
Name of the database in which vCenter Chargeback stores the applicationspecific data. For Oracle Database, ensure that you provide the service name
and not the SID.
This option is applicable only for SQL Server databases. For an SQL Server
database, the authentication type can be either SQL Server Authentication
or Windows Authentication.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to the database. If
you select Windows Authentication for SQL Authentication Mode, you
must provide the Windows user account name. The user name must be of
the form DomainName\UserName. Also, the user must have the Log on as
a service permission.
Password for the user name that you have provided. If you select Windows
Authentication as the authentication type, you must provide the password
for the Windows user account. Ensure that the Windows user account
password does not contain any special characters. The installer might fail if
the password contains special characters.
34 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
6 Enter the VMware Cloud Director database-related information, and click Next.
NOTE If you have an existing VMware Cloud Director data collector instance, ensure that you provide
the same database details as provided when installing the existing VMware Cloud Director data collector
instance.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
Database Port
Database Name
Database Username
Database Password
The type of database used to create the VMware Cloud Director database.
The only permissible value is ORACLE.
The IP address of the system on which the VMware Cloud Director database
is installed.
The database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. You
must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using the default port 1521.
Name of the database in which VMware Cloud Director stores the
application-specific data. This must be the service name and not the SID.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
read the VMware Cloud Director database objects.
Password for the user name that you have provided.
If the installer successfully connects to the database, the next screen is displayed.
7 Enter the password for the vCenter Chargeback administrative account and click Next.
You must provide the correct password for the data collector to call the vCenter Chargeback APIs.
8 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts installing the data collector. If the installation is successful, the URL for accessing
vCenter Chargeback is displayed.
9 Note this URL, and click Done.
NOTE If the installation fails, the uninstaller starts automatically and removes all the components installed.
What to do next
After you install a VMware Cloud Director Data Collector instance, the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector
service starts and runs automatically. You can manually start and stop the service from the Start > Programs
> VMware > VMware vCenter Chargeback menu.
Install vShield Manager Data Collector
If you integrate a vCenter Chargeback instance with a VMware Cloud Director instance, you must have a
vShield Manager Data Collector instance installed and running to fetch the network statistics from vShield
Manager.
You can install a vShield Manager Data Collector instance along with vCenter Chargeback or separately using
the vShield Manager Data Collector installer.
Prerequisites
Before you start the installation, ensure that the system time of the machine on which the data collector is being
installed is the same as the vCenter Chargeback and vCenter Chargeback database system time. That is, the
system time of all these machines are in sync.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
The vShield Manager Data Collector can run jobs successfully only if an instance of the VMware Cloud Director
Data Collector is installed and running. You must, therefore, ensure that at least one instance of the VMware
Cloud Director Data Collector is running.
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-VSM-DC.exe file.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
4 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next.
If the specified installation directory exists, ensure that it is empty. If the specified installation directory
does not exist, the installer creates the directory. The install path must contain at least one folder. You
cannot provide only the drive name. Also, the directory path must contain only ASCII characters.
5 Provide the details of the vCenter Chargeback database that the data collector must synchronize with the
VMware Cloud Director database, and click Next.
Option Description
Database Type
Database URL
Database Port
Database Name
SQL Authentication Mode
Database Username
Database Password
If the installer connects to the database and detects a vCenter Chargeback schema, a dialog window is
displayed.
The type of database used to create the vCenter Chargeback database. This
can be either SQL SERVER or ORACLE.
The IP address or host name of the system on which the vCenter Chargeback
database is installed. For an SQL Server database, you can also provide the
vCenter Chargeback database instance name. The database instance name
must contain only ASCII characters.
For Oracle Database, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
For SQL Server, the database URL can be in any of the following formats:
IP Address
Host Name
IP Address\Database Instance Name
Host Name\Database Instance Name
(Optional) The port on which the database service is listening for requests.
If the port number is not specified, the installer uses the default port. For an
Oracle database, you must specify the TNS listener port if you are not using
the default port 1521. For an SQL Server database, specify the database
instance port if you are using a static port.
Name of the database in which vCenter Chargeback stores the applicationspecific data. For Oracle Database, ensure that you provide the service name
and not the SID.
This option is applicable only for SQL Server databases. For an SQL Server
database, the authentication type can be either SQL Server Authentication
or Windows Authentication.
The name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to
create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to the database. If
you select Windows Authentication for SQL Authentication Mode, you
must provide the Windows user account name. The user name must be of
the form DomainName\UserName. Also, the user must have the Log on as
a service permission.
Password for the user name that you have provided. If you select Windows
Authentication as the authentication type, you must provide the password
for the Windows user account. Ensure that the Windows user account
password does not contain any special characters. The installer might fail if
the password contains special characters.
36 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback
6 Enter the password for the vCenter Chargeback administrative account and click Next.
You must provide the correct password for the data collector to call the vCenter Chargeback APIs.
7 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts installing the data collector. If the installation is successful, the URL for accessing
vCenter Chargeback is displayed.
8 Note this URL, and click Done.
NOTE If the installation fails, the uninstaller starts automatically and removes all the components installed.
What to do next
After you install a VSM Data Collector instance, the VSM Data Collector service starts and runs automatically.
You can manually start and stop the service from the Start > Programs > VMware >
VMware vCenter Chargeback menu.
Upgrade the Data Collector
Upgrading a vCenter Chargeback instance does not automatically upgrade the standalone data collector
instances associated with it. You must manually upgrade each such data collector instances.
Prerequisites
Before you upgrade a data collector instance, ensure that you upgrade the corresponding vCenter Chargeback
instance.
Procedure
1 Run the vCenter-CB-DC.exe file.
2 Click Next on the Introduction screen.
3 Accept the end-user license agreement, and click Next.
4 Select Upgrade Previously Installed Data Collector and click Next.
5 Click Upgrade in the Alert dialog box.
6 Click OK.
7 Review the information displayed on the Pre-Installation Summary screen, and click Install.
The installer starts installing the data collector. If the installation is successful, the URL for accessing
vCenter Chargeback is displayed.
8 Note the URL, and click Done.
NOTE If the installation fails, the uninstaller starts automatically and removes all the components installed.
Uninstall vCenter Chargeback
If you do not require a vCenter Chargeback instance, you can uninstall the instance.
When you uninstall a vCenter Chargeback instance, the corresponding load balancer, if installed with the
instance, and all the embedded data collector instances are also uninstalled. You can optionally delete the
corresponding database schema and the vCenter Server plug-ins.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Prerequisites
If you want to uninstall the vCenter Chargeback instance that was initially installed and is part of a cluster,
you must first uninstall all the other vCenter Chargeback instances in the cluster before this instance is
uninstalled. That is, the vCenter Chargeback instance that includes the load balancer must not be uninstalled
before other instances from the cluster are uninstalled.
Procedure
1 Start the uninstaller from the Start > Programs > VMware > VMware vCenter Chargeback >
Uninstall VMware vCenter Chargeback menu.
Do not remove the application using Add/Remove Programs. The application is not removed cleanly and
you might have to manually delete some files that were not deleted during the uninstall process.
2 Select the required options and click Uninstall.
3 Click OK to confirm the uninstallation.
4 Click Done.
What to do next
If you uninstall an instance that is part of a cluster, ensure that you manually remove the entries corresponding
to the instance from the worker.properties file located at
For example, if the instance name is chargeTest, you must remove the following section from the
worker.properties file:
Installation_Directory
\Apache2.2\conf\.
# Set properties for chargeTest (ajp99)
worker.chargeTest.type=ajp99
worker.chargeTest.host=90.0.1.1
worker.chargeTest.port=8009
worker.chargeTest.lbfactor=1
The entry (ajp99), in this case, is the AJP port of the load balancer.
You must also remove the instance name from the list of instances included in the
worker.balancer.balance_workers parameter under the Define the LB worker section. For the example
suggested in the previous step, the entry might be as follows:
# Define the LB worker
worker.balancer.type=lb
worker.balancer.sticky_session = 1
worker.balancer.method=R
worker.balancer.balance_workers=worker1,worker2,
chargeTest
,sample0
Delete the chargeTest entry from the list of instances.
38 VMware, Inc.
Configuring Administration Settings 3
As an administrative user, you can perform various administrative tasks, such as configuring the LDAP and
SMTP servers in the application and adding as well as updating vCenter Server information.
To perform these administrative tasks, you must have the Super User or Administrator role. The user account
details provided during the installation has the Super User role defined on it. Log in to the application by using
this administrative user account.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Activate the Application,” on page 39
n
“Configuring Generic Settings,” on page 39
n
“Managing LDAP Servers,” on page 42
n
“Managing vCenter Servers,” on page 44
n
“Managing Data Collectors,” on page 48
n
“Managing the Application License,” on page 54
n
“Manage Report View,” on page 55
n
“Managing Attributes,” on page 56
n
“Manage System Health Thresholds,” on page 57
Activate the Application
When you log in to vCenter Chargeback for the first time after installation, you are prompted to enter the
license key.
Procedure
1 On the Add License screen, enter the license key.
2 Click Add.
The details about this license is stored in the application and can be accessed from the License page of the
Settings tab.
Configuring Generic Settings
Before you start using the various features of vCenter Chargeback, you must configure the LDAP and SMTP
servers in the application.
You can optionally set the log level. These settings can be configured from the Settings tab.
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39
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Configure the SMTP Server Setting
You must configure the SMTP server setting in vCenter Chargeback to send the generated and archived reports
through email.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickGeneral.
2 Click Add in the Email Setting section.
The Manage Email Server screen is displayed.
3 Provide information about the SMTP server that the application uses to send emails.
Option Description
Server HostName
Server Port
Email Address
Authentication Type
User Name
Password
Maximum Attachment Size(KB)
4 Click Add.
Static IP address of the SMTP server. If the sever does not have a static IP
address, ensure that you provide the FQDN.
Port number on which the SMTP server is listening for requests.
Email address that the application must use to send emails.
Type of authentication to be used to access the SMTP server. The default is
Anonymous.
User name to be used for authentication, if authentication type is Require
Login.
Password for the user name provided above.
The maximum permissible file size for email attachments. The size specified
is in KB.
The email address provided is displayed in the Email Setting section.
Edit the SMTP Server Setting
After configuring the SMTP server setting, you can change it any time, provided you have the required
privileges. For instance, if the SMTP user account password is changed on the SMTP server, you must also
reflect this change in vCenter Chargeback.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickGeneral.
2 Click Edit in the Email Setting section.
The Manage Email Server screen is displayed.
3 Modify the required SMTP server settings.
Option Description
Server HostName
Server Port
Email Address
Authentication Type
Static IP address of the SMTP server. If the sever does not have a static IP
address, ensure that you provide the FQDN.
Port number on which the SMTP server is listening for requests.
Email address that the application must use to send emails.
Type of authentication to be used to access the SMTP server. The default is
Anonymous.
40 VMware, Inc.
Option Description
User Name
Password
Maximum Attachment Size(KB)
User name to be used for authentication, if authentication type is Require
Login.
Password for the user name provided above.
The maximum permissible file size for email attachments. The size specified
is in KB.
4 Click Edit.
The email address is displayed in the Email Setting section.
Delete the SMTP Server Setting
You can remove an existing SMTP server and add a new one.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickGeneral.
2 Click Remove in the Email Setting section.
A dialog confirming the action is displayed.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
3 Click OK.
Set Log Level
By default, the log level for the application is set at the info level. You can change the log level at any time in
the application as per your requirements.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
NOTE In the case of a cluster installation, the changing of log level in one application instance will not be
reflected in the other instances in the cluster immediately. The change will get reflected:
n
If the vCenter Chargeback service is restarted.
n
When the database is polled for changes, which automatically occurs every hour.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickGeneral.
2 In the Log Setting section, select the required log level from the Select Log level list.
Option Description
trace
debug
info
warn
error
fatal
The trace level is the most informative level providing fine-grained
information about the events.
The debug level provides event information that are most useful to debug
an application.
(default): The info level provides coarse-grained informational messages that
highlight the progress of the application.
The warn level provides information about potentially harmful situations.
The error level designates error events that might still allow the application
to continue running.
The fatal level designates very severe error events that will presumably lead
the application to abort.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
3 Click Apply.
Managing LDAP Servers
Starting with vCenter Chargeback 1.5, you can configure one or more LDAP server in the application. vCenter
Chargeback supports only Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Active Directory.
You can view and manage the LDAP servers from the LDAP Servers page of the Settings tab.
Configure the LDAP Server Setting
Configuring the LDAP server setting in the application enables Windows Active Directory users to access the
application using their Windows Active Directory login credentials.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, click LDAP Servers.
2 Click Add.
The Manage LDAP Server screen is displayed.
3 Enter the information related to the LDAP server that you want to configure in the application.
Option Description
Server Name
Server Address
User Name
Password
BaseDN
Port
LDAP Limit
Enable LDAPS
A user-defined name to uniquely identify the LDAP server. You can provide
a full name or a short code to identify the LDAP server.
Static IP address of the LDAP server. If the sever does not have a static IP
address, ensure that you provide the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN).
The LDAP account to authenticate in to the LDAP server. The user name can
be of the formats user_name@domain_name or domain_name\user_name.
Preferably, use the User Principal Name (UPN).
Password for the user name provided.
vCenter Chargeback automatically fetches the root base dn and uses this
value.
Port on which the LDAP service is listening. The default port is 389. If you
select the Enable LDAPS option, ensure that you change this to a secure port,
say 636.
The maximum number of Windows Active Directory users or groups to be
fetched and displayed in the Add User Account screen of the application.
Select this option to enable LDAP over SSL.
4 Click Add.
On successfully configuring the LDAP server setting, the details of the LDAP server, except the authentication
information, are displayed in the table on the LDAP Servers page.
What to do next
If you have selected the Enable LDAPS option, you must download the certificate from the LDAP server on
to your local machine and add it to the vCenter Chargeback keystore. To do this, on the machine on which the
load balancer service is running, you must then run the following command:
Installation_Path
keystore "
file_alias
42 VMware, Inc.
Installation_Path
-file "
\VMware\VMware vCenter Chargeback\jre\bin> keytool -import -trustcacerts -
\VMware\VMware vCenter Chargeback\jre\lib\security\cacerts" -alias
LDAP_Server_Certificate_Path
"
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
Installation_Path refers to the location where vCenter Chargeback is installed on the machine. file_alias refers
to any user-defined alias for the certificate file. LDAP_Server_Certificate_Path refers to the complete file path
along with the name of the LDAP server certificate on the local machine.
When you run the keytool command, you are prompted to enter the password for the vCenter Chargeback
keystore. The default password is changeit. After entering the correct password, the certificate is be displayed
and you are prompted to confirm whether you trust the certificate. Type yes and press Enter to add the
certificate to the keystore.
You can now add the Windows Active Directory users and groups to vCenter Chargeback so that they can
access the application using their Windows Active Directory login credentials. To know more about adding
LDAP users and groups to the application, see “Creating Users,” on page 67.
Edit the LDAP Server Setting
After you have configured an LDAP server in the application, you can modify its details any time, provided
you have the required privileges. For instance, if the LDAP user account password is changed on the LDAP
server, you must also reflect this change in vCenter Chargeback.
To perform this task, you must have the Super User role or the Administrator role. If you have the
Administrator role, you can only edit those LDAP server settings that you have configured.
NOTE Changes to the LDAP server settings might impact the corresponding LDAP users and groups that are
already added to the application.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickLDAP Servers.
2 Select the required LDAP server from the table displayed on the page.
3 Click Edit.
The Manage LDAP Server screen is displayed.
4 Modify the required LDAP server setting.
Option Description
Server Name
Server Address
User Name
Password
BaseDN
Port
LDAP Limit
Enable LDAPS
A user-defined name to uniquely identify the LDAP server. You can provide
a full name or a short code to identify the LDAP server.
Static IP address of the LDAP server. If the sever does not have a static IP
address, ensure that you provide the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN).
The LDAP account to authenticate in to the LDAP server. The user name can
be of the formats user_name@domain_name or domain_name\user_name.
Preferably, use the User Principal Name (UPN).
Password for the user name provided.
vCenter Chargeback automatically fetches the root base dn and uses this
value.
Port on which the LDAP service is listening. The default port is 389. If you
select the Enable LDAPS option, ensure that you change this to a secure port,
say 636.
The maximum number of Windows Active Directory users or groups to be
fetched and displayed in the Add User Account screen of the application.
Select this option to enable LDAP over SSL.
5 Click Save.
The table on the LDAP Servers page lists the modified information for the selected LDAP server.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
What to do next
If you have selected the Enable LDAPS option, you must download the certificate from the LDAP server on
to your local machine and add it to the vCenter Chargeback keystore. To do this, on the machine on which the
load balancer service is running, you must then run the following command:
Installation_Path
keystore "
file_alias
Installation_Path
-file "
\VMware\VMware vCenter Chargeback\jre\bin> keytool -import -trustcacerts -
\VMware\VMware vCenter Chargeback\jre\lib\security\cacerts" -alias
LDAP_Server_Certificate_Path
"
Installation_Path refers to the location where vCenter Chargeback is installed on the machine. file_alias refers
to any user-defined alias for the certificate file. LDAP_Server_Certificate_Path refers to the complete file path
along with the name of the LDAP server certificate on the local machine.
When you run the keytool command, you are prompted to enter the password for the vCenter Chargeback
keystore. The default password is changeit. After entering the correct password, the certificate is be displayed
and you are prompted to confirm whether you trust the certificate. Type yes and press Enter to add the
certificate to the keystore.
Delete the LDAP Server Setting
Any LDAP server that is no longer in use and configured in the application can be deleted from the application.
To perform this task, you must have the Super User role or the Administrator role. If you have the
Administrator role, you can only delete those LDAP server settings that you have configured.
IMPORTANT If you remove an LDAP server, the corresponding LDAP users and groups will also be deleted
from the application.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickLDAP Servers.
2 Select the required LDAP server from the table displayed on the page.
3 Click Delete.
A dialog confirming the action is displayed.
4 Click OK.
Information about the LDAP server is deleted from the table displayed on the LDAP Servers page.
Managing vCenter Servers
To determine the utilization of computing resources by the virtual machines and calculate the total costs, you
must first add the vCenter Server instances in your virtual environment to vCenter Chargeback.
You can add more than one vCenter Server to the application. The application also lets you modify the
information about the vCenter Server instances and delete a vCenter Server from the application when it is no
longer required.
Add vCenter Server Information
vCenter Chargeback can calculate overall resource utilization and corresponding cost only for vCenter Servers
that are added to the application. You can add one or more vCenter Server instances to vCenter Chargeback.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task.
44 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
Prerequisites
n
Before you add a vCenter Server, you must ensure that the vCenter Server is accessible over the network.
Also, ensure that vCenter Server and the vCenter Server database have static IP addresses. If not, you must
provide the FQDN for such servers and databases when adding them to vCenter Chargeback.
n
You must ensure that the system time on the vCenter Server, vCenter Chargeback, vCenter Server
database, vCenter Chargeback database, and data collectors are in sync.
n
When adding a vCenter Server to vCenter Chargeback, you must provide a vCenter Server user name and
vCenter Server Database user name. You must ensure that the vCenter Server user has at least read access
on all the entities that would be added to vCenter Chargeback including the storage views. Also, the
database user must have read access to the VPXV_HIST_STAT_DAILY, VPXV_HIST_STAT_WEEKLY,
VPXV_HIST_STAT_MONTHLY, and VPXV_HIST_STAT_YEARLY views.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickvCenter Servers.
A table listing information about the vCenter Server instances added to the application is displayed.
2 Click Add.
The vCenter Server Information screen is displayed.
3 Enter information about the vCenter Server and its corresponding database that has to be added to the
application.
Option Description
vCenter Server Hostname/IP
vCenter Server Display Name
vCenter Server Description
vCenter Server Username
vCenter Server Password
Database URL
FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server. The IP address or host name
cannot be edited after the vCenter Server is added to the application.
A display name for the vCenter Server.
A description of the vCenter Server. This is optional.
User name to access the vCenter Server.
Password for the user name entered.
URL to access the vCenter Server database.
For Oracle Database, this URL must have the format:
IP address/host name:TNS listener port
For example:
123.123.123.123:1521
For Microsoft SQL Server, this URL can be in the following formats:
IP address/host name\database instance name
or
IP address/host name
For example:
123.123.123.123\chargeback_db
Database Name
Database Type
Name of the vCenter Server database. For example, vim_vcdb, which is the
default name given by vCenter Server. If you are using Oracle Database, then
the database name can be either the service name or SID. If you are providing
the service name, ensure that you prefix the service name with a forward
slash (/). For example:
/
service_name
The database type can be either SQL Server (default) or Oracle.
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Option Description
Authentication Type
Database Username
Database Password
Register As VI Client Plugin
Enable Stats Replication
4 Click Add.
If you have set the Database Type to SQL Server, you can set the
Authentication Type to Credential Based Authentication or Windows
Authentication. If you select Credential Based Authentication, you must
provide the database user name and password to access the database. If you
select Windows Authentication, you need not provide the database user
name and password to access the database.
If you set the Database Type to Oracle, this option is not available.
A database user name to access the vCenter Server Database.
Password for the database user name entered.
Select this option if you would like to register vCenter Chargeback as a plugin to vSphere Client. If this option is selected, each time you log in to this
vCenter Server using the vSphere Client, the vCenter Chargeback plug-in
will be displayed on the vSphere Client. You can access the vCenter
Chargeback application from the vSphere Client as a vCenter Server user.
Ensure that you do not register more than one vCenter Chargeback instance
as a plug-in for a single vCenter Server.
Select this option if you want the resource usage statistics from the vCenter
Server Database to be replicated in the vCenter Chargeback Database.
Statistics starting from three months prior to adding the vCenter Server are
collected. vCenter Chargeback considers the existing vCenter Server
inventory to have existed for the three month period prior to adding the
vCenter Server.
The vCenter Server is added to the application and included in the table listing the vCenter Server instances.
What to do next
You can log in to the vCenter Server by using a vSphere Client and access the vCenter Chargeback plug-in if
you have selected the Register As VI Client Plugin option. If you have added the vCenter Server using its
DNS name, then you must log in to the vCenter Server using the same DNS name to access the plug-in.
Similarly, if you have added the vCenter Server using its IP address, then you must log in to the vCenter Server
using the same IP address to access the plug-in. If you use the DNS name and IP address interchangeably to
access the vCenter Server by using a vSphere Client, then the vCenter Chargeback plug-in might not be
available.
Edit vCenter Server Information
Changes to the vCenter Server configuration must be manually reflected in the vCenter Chargeback
application. For example, if the vCenter Server user account password or the password for the vCenter Server
database user is changed, you must also reflect this change in vCenter Chargeback.
To perform this task, you must have the Super User role or the Administrator role. If you have the
Administrator role, you can edit only those vCenter Server settings that you have configured.
NOTE You cannot modify the vCenter Server ID, host name or IP address of the vCenter Server, and the vCenter
Server version number.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickvCenter Servers.
A table listing information about the vCenter Server instances added to the application is displayed.
2 Select the vCenter Server for which you want to modify the details, and click Edit.
The vCenter Server Information screen is displayed.
46 VMware, Inc.
3 Modify the required vCenter Server details.
Option Description
vCenter Server Hostname/IP
vCenter Server Display Name
vCenter Server Description
vCenter Server Username
vCenter Server Password
Database URL
FQDN or IP address of the vCenter Server. The IP address or host name
cannot be edited after the vCenter Server is added to the application.
A display name for the vCenter Server.
A description of the vCenter Server. This is optional.
User name to access the vCenter Server.
Password for the user name entered.
URL to access the vCenter Server database.
For Oracle Database, this URL must have the format:
IP address/host name:TNS listener port
For example:
123.123.123.123:1521
For Microsoft SQL Server, this URL can be in the following formats:
IP address/host name\database instance name
or
IP address/host name
For example:
123.123.123.123\chargeback_db
Database Name
Database Type
Authentication Type
Database Username
Database Password
Register As VI Client Plugin
Enable Stats Replication
Name of the vCenter Server database. For example, vim_vcdb, which is the
default name given by vCenter Server. If you are using Oracle Database, then
the database name can be either the service name or SID. If you are providing
the service name, ensure that you prefix the service name with a forward
slash (/). For example:
/
service_name
The database type can be either SQL Server (default) or Oracle.
If you have set the Database Type to SQL Server, you can set the
Authentication Type to Credential Based Authentication or Windows
Authentication. If you select Credential Based Authentication, you must
provide the database user name and password to access the database. If you
select Windows Authentication, you need not provide the database user
name and password to access the database.
If you set the Database Type to Oracle, this option is not available.
A database user name to access the vCenter Server Database.
Password for the database user name entered.
Select this option if you would like to register vCenter Chargeback as a plugin to vSphere Client. If this option is selected, each time you log in to this
vCenter Server using the vSphere Client, the vCenter Chargeback plug-in
will be displayed on the vSphere Client. You can access the vCenter
Chargeback application from the vSphere Client as a vCenter Server user.
Ensure that you do not register more than one vCenter Chargeback instance
as a plug-in for a single vCenter Server.
Select this option if you want the resource usage statistics from the vCenter
Server Database to be replicated in the vCenter Chargeback Database.
Statistics starting from three months prior to adding the vCenter Server are
collected. vCenter Chargeback considers the existing vCenter Server
inventory to have existed for the three month period prior to adding the
vCenter Server.
4 Click Save.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
The modified information is reflected in the table displayed on the page.
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Delete vCenter Server Information
If you no longer want to calculate costs and generate reports for the virtual machines managed by a vCenter
Server, you can remove the vCenter Server from the vCenter Chargeback application.
To perform this task, you must have the Super User role or the Administrator role. If you have the
Administrator role, you can delete only those vCenter Server settings that you have configured.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickvCenter Servers.
A table listing all the vCenter Servers is displayed.
2 Select the vCenter Server that you want to remove and click Delete.
If any of the entities of the vCenter Server are part of a chargeback hierarchy, the Manage linked entities
screen is displayed.
3 (Optional) Click Delete all these entries to remove the entities from the hierarchy permanently.
You can retain the entities by clicking Keep all these entries. If you choose to retain the entities, they will
be temporarily removed from the hierarchy and will appear automatically when you re-add the vCenter
Server at a later stage.
4 If none of the vCenter Server entities are part of any of the chargeback hierarchies, the a dialog box
confirming the delete operation request is displayed. Click OK.
Managing Data Collectors
When you install vCenter Chargeback, you can optionally install a data collector. You can also register more
than one data collector with a vCenter Chargeback instance. Starting with vCenter Chargeback 1.5, you can
also install the Cloud Director Data Collector and the vShield Manager Data Collector.
All the data collectors registered with the application can be managed from the Settings tab. You must have
the Super User role to view and manage the data collectors.
n
View Data Collectors on page 49
vCenter Chargeback stores and displays information about each data collector registered with the
application. The data collectors registered with the application and their corresponding details can be
viewed from the Settings tab.
n
Enable Data Collector on page 51
If a data collector registered with the application is disabled, you can enable it from the application.
n
Disable Data Collector on page 51
When a data collector is installed, it is registered with the application and is enabled by default. If you
do not want to use a data collector, you can disable it from the application.
n
Delete Data Collector on page 51
A data collector registered with the application can be removed or deleted.
n
Configure VMware Cloud Director Data Collector on page 52
If you have installed the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector, you must configure its properties from
the Cloud Data Collectors page of the Settings tab.
n
Configure vShield Manager Data Collector on page 53
If you have installed the vShield Manager Data Collector, you must specify the user name and password
to access the vShield Manager instances. You can set this access information from the Cloud Data
Collectors page of the Settings tab.
48 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
n
Modify Super User Password for Cloud Data Collectors on page 53
If you change the password of the super user that was used when installing the VMware Cloud Director
Data Collector and vShield Manager Data Collector, you must change the same from the Cloud Data
Collectors page to ensure that the data collectors function correctly.
View Data Collectors
vCenter Chargeback stores and displays information about each data collector registered with the application.
The data collectors registered with the application and their corresponding details can be viewed from the
Settings tab.
Procedure
1 Click the Settings tab.
2 Click Data Collectors.
A table listing all the data collectors registered with the application and their corresponding details is displayed.
Registered Data Collectors
The Data Collectors page displays a table listing all the synchronization jobs that each registered data collector
is running for each vCenter Server added to the application. If multiple data collectors are running,
synchronization jobs are equally distributed among them.
Table 3-1 lists the information displayed on the Data Collectors page.
Table 3-1. Information About Data Collectors Registered in the Application
Information Type Description
Data Collector ID The ID of the data collector defined in vCenter Chargeback.
Data Collector Heart Beat The time stamp when the data collector was last known to be running. The data collector
updates this information with vCenter Chargeback every 30 seconds. If vCenter
Chargeback does not receive any update from the data collector for more than 150
seconds, then vCenter Chargeback considers the data collector to be down and reassigns
the all jobs to another running data collector, if any.
Data Collector Host Name The name of the machine on which the data collector is running.
Registered Indicates if the data collector is enabled or disabled.
Data Collector Name The name of the data collector provided during the installation.
vCenter Server Name The display name of the vCenter Server added to the application.
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Table 3-1. Information About Data Collectors Registered in the Application (Continued)
Information Type Description
Job Type The type of the synchronization job.
Job Interval The interval between consecutive job runs. The values can be:
Last Synchronize Time The time stamp when the synchronization job was last completed.
Job State The status of the synchronization job. The displayed values are:
n
Storage Synchronization: The data collector obtains the storage information for all
the virtual machines managed by the VirtualCenter Server or vCenter Server. For
vSphere 4.0 and later, the data collector fetches all the files of a virtual machine and
the datastore information of each file. For vCenter Server 2.5, the data collector
fetches all the disks of a virtual machine and the datastore details of each disk. When
calculating the storage utilization, vCenter Chargeback accounts for thin
provisioning and linked clones. The first run of this job might fail if the first run of
the Hosts & Clusters and VMs & Templates Synchronization job takes more than 5
minutes to complete. In vSphere 4.0, the VMware VirtualCenter Management
Webservices service must be running on the vCenter Server machine for the storage
synchronization to complete successfully.
n
Hosts & Clusters and VMs & Templates Synchronization: The data collector copies
the vCenter Server inventory in to the vCenter Chargeback database. This
synchronization job ensures that the Hosts & Clusters view and VMs & Templates
view of the vCenter Server inventory are synchronized in the vCenter Chargeback
database.
n
Datastore Synchronization: This synchronization job ensures that all information
about the datastore view of the vCenter Server are synchronized in the vCenter
Chargeback database.
n
Network Synchronization: This synchronization job ensures that all information
about the network view of the vCenter Server are synchronized in the vCenter
Chargeback database.
n
Stats Synchronization: If the Enable Stats Replication option is selected for a
vCenter Server added to the application, all the vital performance statistics required
for cost calculation is replicated in the vCenter Chargeback database. This
synchronization job ensures that the statistics information is periodically replicated
in the vCenter Chargeback database with the corresponding information in the
vCenter Server database.
IMPORTANT For vCenter Server 2.5 Update 3, ensure that the stats collection level is
set to 2 or above for the average memory usage counter to be available. If the stats
collection level is set to 1, the cost for actual memory usage cannot be calculated.
n
-1: Indicates that the job runs eternally.
n
Positive number: Indicates the repetition interval in minutes. The consecutive job
starts n minutes from the completion of the earlier run of the job, where n denotes
the value you enter in this field.
n
Running: The job is in progress.
n
Waiting: The job is yet to start. It is either waiting to be assigned to a data collector
or waiting for the assigned data collector to start it.
n
Failed: The job has failed. If the job has failed, the job is reassigned to a data collector
after 10 minutes.
n
Done: Refers to jobs that are run at specific intervals and the previous run is
complete.
Modify Job Interval
You can control the time interval between two consecutive job runs for jobs that do not run eternally.
Procedure
1 Click Edit in the Job Interval column.
The Change Job Interval screen is displayed.
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Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
2 Enter the new job interval.
The specified job interval must be in minutes.
3 Click Save.
The new job interval is displayed in the table.
Enable Data Collector
If a data collector registered with the application is disabled, you can enable it from the application.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickData Collectors.
A table listing all the data collectors registered with the application is displayed.
2 Select the data collector that you want to enable.
3 Click Enable.
Disable Data Collector
When a data collector is installed, it is registered with the application and is enabled by default. If you do not
want to use a data collector, you can disable it from the application.
IMPORTANT If only a single data collector is running, do not disable it. If disabled, the synchronization jobs
will not run and the data in the vCenter Chargeback database will not be in sync with the data in the vCenter
Server databases.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickData Collectors.
A table listing all the data collectors registered with the application is displayed.
2 Select the data collector that you want to disable.
3 Click Disable.
The jobs assigned to the selected data collector are unassigned from it and the data collector is disabled.
Delete Data Collector
A data collector registered with the application can be removed or deleted.
IMPORTANT If only a single data collector is running, do not delete it. If deleted, the synchronization jobs will
not run and the data in the vCenter Chargeback database will not be in sync with the data in the vCenter Server.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickData Collectors.
A table listing all the data collectors registered with the application is displayed.
2 Select the data collector that you want to delete, and click Delete.
A dialog box confirming you action is displayed.
3 Click OK to confirm deletion.
The data collector is deleted and the synchronization jobs associated with the data collector are assigned to
other registered data collectors, if any.
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Configure VMware Cloud Director Data Collector
If you have installed the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector, you must configure its properties from the
Cloud Data Collectors page of the Settings tab.
Only users with the Super User role assigned to them can perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, click Cloud Data Collectors.
2 Select the VMware Cloud Director tab.
3 Select a property and click Edit.
You can edit several properties for VMware Cloud Director Data Collector.
Property Description
VMware Cloud Director database
host
VMware Cloud Director database
name
VMware Cloud Director database
port
VMware Cloud Director database
username
VMware Cloud Director database
password
Event processor job interval (in
seconds)
Failed events processor job interval
(in seconds)
Unprocessed chargeback event
lifetime (in seconds)
VM Instance job interval (in seconds)
The Change Data Collector property screen is displayed.
IP address of the VMware Cloud Director database.
Name of the VMware Cloud Director database.
Port on which the VMware Cloud Director database is listening for request.
If no port details are specified, vCenter Chargeback considers the default
database port.
VMware Cloud Director database user name.
Password for the VMware Cloud Director database user.
VMware Cloud Director Data Collector runs a job that reads and processes
the chargeback events in VMware Cloud Director. This property defines the
time in seconds between two such job runs. If the time between two job runs
is too large, then virtual machines that are created and removed within this
time frame might not be accounted for by vCenter Chargeback during cost
calculation.
VMware Cloud Director Data Collector runs a job to clear failed chargeback
events in VMware Cloud Director. This property defines the time in seconds
between two such job runs.
This property defines the time for which an unprocessed event is retained in
the database. After this lifetime period, events are removed from the
database because they are in an inconsistent state and cannot be processed.
Inconsistency can occur due to the following reasons:
n
Event was generated when it was not necessary.
n
Event fails to get persisted in the VMware Cloud Director database.
VMware Cloud Director Data Collector runs a job to apply the fixed costs
defined in the virtual machine instance price matrix on the virtual machines
in the vDCs (virtual data centers). This property defines the time in seconds
between two such job runs.
4 Modify the property value and click Save.
What to do next
After you modify a property value, you must restart the data collector for the change to take effect.
You can test the connection to the Cloud Director database by clicking the Test VMware Cloud Director
database connection link.
52 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
Configure vShield Manager Data Collector
If you have installed the vShield Manager Data Collector, you must specify the user name and password to
access the vShield Manager instances. You can set this access information from the Cloud Data Collectors page
of the Settings tab.
The vShield Manager Data Collector cannot function if the user name and password for the vShield Manager
instances are not set. After installing the vShield Manager Data Collector, the vShield Manager instances do
not appear immediately in vCenter Chargeback. You can see these instances in the application only after the
VMware Cloud Director Data Collector processes the vShield Manager-related events.
Only users with the Super User role assigned to them can perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, click Cloud Data Collectors.
2 Select the vShield Manager tab.
3 Select the property from the vShield Manager common properties section and click Edit.
You can modify the job interval for the broadband statistics collector job run by the vShield Manager Data
Collector. vShield Manager Data Collector runs a job that collects broadband statistics from vShield
Manager for all the registered networks. The broadband statistics collector job interval defines the time in
seconds between two such job runs.
The Change Data Collector Property screen is displayed.
4 Modify the property value and click Save.
5 Select the required instance from the vShield Manager instances section and click Edit.
You can modify the following settings for the selected vShield Manager instance.
Property Description
Host
User name
Password
Confirm password
Host name or IP address of the vShield Manager instance.
User name used to connect to the vShield Manager instance.
Password for the user.
Password for the user.
The Edit vShield Manager Setting screen is displayed.
6 Modify the property value and click Save.
What to do next
If you modify the Broadband statistics collector job interval property value, you must restart the data collector
for the change to take effect. You need not restart the data collector if you have made modifications only to the
vShield Manager instances.
Modify Super User Password for Cloud Data Collectors
If you change the password of the super user that was used when installing the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector and vShield Manager Data Collector, you must change the same from the Cloud Data Collectors page
to ensure that the data collectors function correctly.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 On the Settings tab, click Cloud Data Collectors.
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2 Click Change password for 'superuser' for these data collectors link.
Here, superuser is the user name used when installing vCenter Chargeback.
The Change Password screen is displayed.
3 Enter the new password.
4 Confirm the new password.
5 Click Change Password.
What to do next
You must restart the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector after changing the password.
Managing the Application License
If you have the Super User role, you can view the details of the current vCenter Chargeback application license
by clicking License on the Settings tab.
The following table lists the license information displayed on the License page.
Table 3-2. License Information
License Information Description
License Key The current license key used to access the application.
License Type The type of license used to access the application.
Activated On The date and time when the application was activated using the current license key.
Expiry Date The date on which the existing license will expire.
Count Type vCenter Chargeback provides a CPU-based or VM-based licensing. This entry defines whether
the license in based on the number of CPUs or the number of virtual machines in your virtual
environment that is accounted for using this vCenter Chargeback setup.
Current Count Used This entry indicates the current number of ESX host CPUs or the virtual machines running on
the ESX hosts that are accounted for by using your vCenter Chargeback setup.
Maximum Count
Allowed
Is Valid Whether the current license is valid or not.
This entry indicates the maximum number of ESX host CPUs or the virtual machines running on
the ESX hosts that can be accounted for by using your vCenter Chargeback setup. This maximum
limit is defined in the license.
Replace the Application License
You must replace an expired license with a valid license. You can also replace an existing valid license with
another valid license.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickLicense.
A table listing the details of the license added to the application is displayed.
2 Click Replace.
The Replace License screen is displayed.
3 Enter a valid license key and click Replace.
The new license replaces the existing license. The details of the new license is displayed in the table.
54 VMware, Inc.
Delete the Application License
An existing license can be removed from the application.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
IMPORTANT Removing a license will render the application unusable till another valid license is added.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, clickLicense.
A table listing the details of the license added to the application is displayed.
2 Select the license and click Delete.
A dialog confirming the action is displayed.
3 Click OK to confirm the deletion.
Manage Report View
vCenter Chargeback provides a report view that is used by all the generated reports. You can configure the
report view to display a specific set of information in each of the generated reports.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
Like most reports, the chargeback report has multiple sections, such as Header, Title, Body, and Footer.
The Title section appears only on the first page of the report. The contents in these sections can be modified as
per your requirements. The information to be displayed in the Body section is defined when creating the report.
The Header section is the report header that appears on all pages expect the first. The Footer section is the
report footer that appears on all the pages.
Changes made to the report view is reflected only in the reports generated after the report view is changed.
Existing archived reports are not affected by the changes made to the report view.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, click Report View.
2 Select Header.
The Header section of the report view displays four sub-sections.
3 Select a sub-section from the Header section of the report view.
4 Select an option from the Header Settings section to display the required information in the selected sub-
section.
Option Description
Text
Image
Report Name
Report Description
None
The text that you want the report header to contain. For example, the name
of the organization.
An image that you want the header section to display. For instance, the
company logo. Ensure that the image size does not exceed 1MB.
The name of the report entered when generating the report.
A description of the report provided when generating the report.
(default) No information is displayed in this sub-section in the report.
Repeat this step to set the information for each sub-section as required.
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5 Click Title.
The Title section of the report template displays nine sub-sections.
6 Select a sub-section from the Title section of the report template.
7 Select an option from the Title Settings section to display the required information in the selected sub-
section.
Option Description
Text
Image
Report Name
Report Description
None
Repeat this step to set the information for each sub-section as required.
8 Click Footer.
The Footer section of the report template displays three sub-sections.
The text that you want the report header to contain. For example, the name
of the organization.
An image that you want the header section to display. For instance, the
company logo. Ensure that the image size does not exceed 1MB.
The name of the report entered when generating the report.
A description of the report provided when generating the report.
(default) No information is displayed in this sub-section in the report.
9 Select a sub-section from the Footer section of the report template.
10 Select an option from the Footer Settings section to display the required information in the selected sub-
section.
Option Description
Copyright
Page Number
Report Creation Time
None
The copyright information that you want to include in the report.
Selecting this option ensures that each page of the report is numbered.
Date and time of report generation. This is the system date and time on the
machine on which the application is installed.
(default) No information is displayed in this section in the report. This is the
default selection.
Repeat this step to set the information for each sub-section as required.
11 (Optional) Click Preview to preview a sample report on the right pane of the page.
12 Click Save.
The report view is saved and will be used when the next report is generated.
In each section, the configured sub-sections will use the space available in the adjacent empty sub-sections.
A configured sub-section will first try to expand and use the unused space in the sub-section to its right, then
to its left, then to its bottom, and lastly in the sub-section above it. The content of a sub-section is center-aligned.
Also, the images are stretched to fit into the available space.
Managing Attributes
An attribute provides additional information about an entity in an hierarchy. You can define an attribute in
the application and then assign it to an entity.
For example, you can create an attribute called Geo_location, and then assign it to various entities and set
values indicating their geographic locations. To learn more about assigning attributes to entities, see “Assign
Attributes,” on page 82.
56 VMware, Inc.
Add an Attribute
You can define one or more attributes in vCenter Chargeback.
You must have the Super User or Administrator role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, click Manage Attributes.
2 Click Create.
The Create Attribute screen is displayed.
3 Enter the name and description for the attribute.
A attribute can be attached to an entity to provide additional information about the entity. The attributes
associated with an entity can be included in the chargeback reports.
4 Click Create.
The attribute is added to the table listing the attributes added to the application.
Delete an Attribute
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings
The attributes that are not required can be deleted from the application. When you delete an attribute, it is
permanently deleted along with the corresponding values set on the entities.
You can also delete attributes that are imported from the vCenter Server. Deleting these attributes from the
application will not delete them for the vCenter Server.
You must have the Super User or Administrator role to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, click Manage Attributes.
A table listing all the attributes added to the application is displayed.
2 Select the attribute that you want to remove.
3 Click Delete.
The attribute is deleted from the application and is removed from the table.
Manage System Health Thresholds
The System Health tab provides information about the status of the entire system based on the response time
of the various servers and databases in the system. The response time limits can be set in the application.
You must have the Super User role to perform this task.
You can set the response time limits in milliseconds for vCenter Chargeback, vCenter Chargeback database,
vCenter Server, and vCenter Server database. The response time limits define the Normal, Warning, and Alert
latency ranges.
Procedure
1 In the Settings tab, click System Health Thresholds.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
2 In the vCenter Chargeback Server section, set the Normal and Alert response time limits.
The Normal, Warning, and Alert latency ranges are defined as follows:
Option Description
Normal
Warning
Alert
3 In the vCenter Chargeback Database section, set the Normal and Alert response time limits.
The Normal, Warning, and Alert latency ranges for the vCenter Chargeback database are defined using
these limits.
4 In the vCenter Server section, set the Normal and Alert response time limits.
The Normal, Warning, and Alert latency ranges for the vCenter Server are defined using these limits.
The Normal latency range is (0, normal response time limit). The default range
is (0, 30000). If the response time is in the Normal latency range, the server
is responding fine.
The Warning latency range is (normal response time limit + 1, alert response time
limit). The default range is (30001, 120000). If the response time is in the
Warning latency range, the server is responding slowly and might need some
attention. The slow response could also be attributed to network congestion.
The Alert latency range is (alert response time limit + 1, ...). The default range
is (120001, ...). If the response time is in the Alert latency range, the user must
take immediate action to rectify the issue.
5 In the vCenter Server Database section, set the Normal and Alert response time limits.
The Normal, Warning, and Alert latency ranges for the vCenter Server database are defined using these
limits.
6 Click Apply.
The response time limits and the corresponding ranges set on this page are used on the System Health tab to
show the health of the different servers and databases.
58 VMware, Inc.
Authenticating and Managing Users,
Roles, and Permissions 4
vCenter Chargeback provides user management features that enable you to manage the various users, roles,
and permissions defined in the application. The application defines various permissions and also provides
some predefined roles. In addition, it lets you create new roles and users as per your requirements.
Starting with vCenter Chargeback 1.5, the application defines resource-based authorization.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Resource Based Authorization in vCenter Chargeback,” on page 59
n
“Permissions Defined in vCenter Chargeback,” on page 60
n
“Managing Roles,” on page 61
n
“Managing Users,” on page 66
n
“vCenter Chargeback User Authentication,” on page 73
Resource Based Authorization in vCenter Chargeback
vCenter Chargeback defines various resource types and authorizes access to a resource on the basis of the role
assigned to a user.
Table 4-1 lists the various resource types defined in vCenter Chargeback.
Table 4-1. Resource Types Defined in vCenter Chargeback
Resource Type Description
VMware vCenter Server This resource type refers to the vCenter Server instances added to vCenter Chargeback. A user
must have read permission on a vCenter Server to read its entities and add them to a
chargeback hierarchy.
Data Collector This resource type refers to data collectors registered withe vCenter Chargeback. Only a super
user has all permissions on this resource type. A user with the Administrator role has only
read permission on this resource type.
LDAP Server This resource type refers to the LDAP servers configured in vCenter Chargeback. An LDAP
user, by default, has read permission on the corresponding LDAP server.
SMTP Server This resource type refers to the SMTP server configured in vCenter Chargeback. Only a super
user has all permissions on this resource type.
Chargeback Hierarchy This resource type refers to the hierarchies created in vCenter Chargeback. A user must have
read permission on a chargeback hierarchy to access the hierarchy.
Chargeback Hierarchical
Entity
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This resource type refers to any entity created or added to an hierarchy in vCenter Chargeback.
A user must have read permission on the entity and the corresponding hierarchy to access it.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Table 4-1. Resource Types Defined in vCenter Chargeback (Continued)
Resource Type Description
Attribute This resource type refers to any attribute created or imported in vCenter Chargeback. Only
Tier This resource type refers to the storage tiers created in vCenter Chargeback. A user must have
Cost Model This resource type refers to the cost models defined or created in vCenter Chargeback. A user
Cost Template This resource type refers to the cost templates created in vCenter Chargeback. A user must
Fixed Cost This resource type refers to the fixed costs created in vCenter Chargeback. A user must have
Report This resource type refers to the reports created in vCenter Chargeback. A user must have read
Schedule This resource type refers to the reporting schedules created in vCenter Chargeback. A user
Role This resource type refers to the roles defined or created in vCenter Chargeback. Only users
Billing Policy This resource type refers to the billing policies defined or created in vCenter Chargeback. A
users with the Administrator role and Super User role have create permission for this resource
type.
read permission on the vCenter Server to access storage tiers.
must have read permission on a cost model to use it for cost configuration and report
generation.
have read permission on a cost template to use it for cost configuration.
read permission on a fixed cost to use it for cost configuration.
permission on a report to access the report.
must have read permission on a schedule to access the reporting schedule.
with the Administrator role and Super User role have create permission for this resource type.
user must have read permission on a billing policy to use it for cost configuration and report
generation.
Permissions Defined in vCenter Chargeback
vCenter Chargeback provides five different permissions, create, read, update, delete, and entity cost modify,
which can be set on a role for the different resource types.
Table 4-2 shows the permissions that can be set for the resource types defined in vCenter Chargeback.
Table 4-2. Permissions Applicable for Each Resource Type
Entity Cost
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
VMware vCenter
Server
Data Collector Yes Yes Yes Yes No
LDAP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No
SMTP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Chargeback
Hierarchy
Chargeback
Hierarchical Entity
Attribute Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Tier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cost Model Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cost Template Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Fixed Cost Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Report Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Modify
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Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions
Table 4-2. Permissions Applicable for Each Resource Type (Continued)
Entity Cost
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
Schedule Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Role Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Billing Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Modify
You can assign permissions on a resource type to a user only through a role. However, you cannot assign
permissions for the following resource types:
n
Data Collector
n
LDAP Server
n
SMTP Server
n
Attribute
n
Role
The application automatically handles permissions for these resource types. Also, you cannot assign the create,
update, and delete permissions for the VMware vCenter Server resource type during custom role creation.
Managing Roles
A role is a set of permissions assigned to a user. vCenter Chargeback provides some predefined roles that can
be assigned to the users and groups created or added to the application. You can also create any new roles.
n
Predefined Roles in vCenter Chargeback on page 61
vCenter Chargeback provides the various predefined roles that can be assigned to the application users.
The predefined roles are Super User, Administrator, Hierarchy Manager, Report Generator, vCenter
Guest User, and No Access. These roles have a set of permissions on the various resource types defined
in them.
n
Create a Role on page 65
Apart from the system-defined roles, you can define your own custom roles in vCenter Chargeback.
These roles can then be assigned to the users created in the application.
n
Modify a Role on page 65
You can modify an existing role, other than the system-defined roles.
n
Delete a Role on page 66
You can delete any of the existing custom roles in the application. The system-defined roles cannot be
deleted.
Predefined Roles in vCenter Chargeback
vCenter Chargeback provides the various predefined roles that can be assigned to the application users. The
predefined roles are Super User, Administrator, Hierarchy Manager, Report Generator, vCenter Guest User,
and No Access. These roles have a set of permissions on the various resource types defined in them.
Super User Role
Table 4-3 lists the permissions defined in the Super User role for each of the resource type.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Table 4-3. Permissions Defined on the Super User Role
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
Entity Cost
Modify
VMware vCenter
Server
Data Collector Yes Yes Yes Yes No
LDAP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No
SMTP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Chargeback
Hierarchy
Chargeback
Hierarchical Entity
Attribute Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Tier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cost Model Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cost Template Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Fixed Cost Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Report Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Schedule Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Role Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Billing Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Administrator Role
Table 4-4 lists the permissions defined in the Administrator role for each of the resource type.
Table 4-4. Permissions Defined on the Administrator Role
Entity Cost
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
VMware vCenter
Server
Data Collector No Yes No No No
LDAP Server Yes Yes Yes Yes No
SMTP Server No No No No No
Chargeback
Hierarchy
Chargeback
Hierarchical Entity
Attribute Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Tier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cost Model Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cost Template Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Fixed Cost Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Report Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Schedule Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Modify
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Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions
Table 4-4. Permissions Defined on the Administrator Role (Continued)
Entity Cost
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
Role Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Billing Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Modify
Hierarchy Manager Role
Table 4-5 lists the permissions defined in the Hierarchy Manager role for each of the resource type.
Table 4-5. Permissions Defined on the Hierarchy Manager Role
Entity Cost
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
Modify
VMware vCenter
Server
Data Collector No No No No No
LDAP Server No No No No No
SMTP Server No No No No No
Chargeback
Hierarchy
Chargeback
Hierarchical Entity
Attribute No Yes No No No
Tier No No No No No
Cost Model Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cost Template Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Fixed Cost Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Report Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Schedule Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Role No No No No No
Billing Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes No
No Yes No No No
Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Report Generator Role
Table 4-6 lists the permissions defined in the Report Generator role for each of the resource type.
Table 4-6. Permissions Defined on the Report Generator Role
Entity Cost
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
VMware vCenter
Server
Data Collector No No No No No
LDAP Server No No No No No
SMTP Server No No No No No
Chargeback
Hierarchy
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No No No No No
No Yes No No No
Modify
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
Table 4-6. Permissions Defined on the Report Generator Role (Continued)
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
Entity Cost
Modify
Chargeback
Hierarchical Entity
Attribute No Yes No No No
Tier No No No No No
Cost Model Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Cost Template Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Fixed Cost Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Report Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Schedule Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Role No No No No No
Billing Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes No
No Yes No No Yes
vCenter Guest User Role
Table 4-7 lists the permissions defined in the vCenter Guest User role for each of the resource type.
Table 4-7. Permissions Defined on the vCenter Guest User Role
Entity Cost
Resource Type Create Read Update Delete
VMware vCenter
Server
Data Collector No No No No No
LDAP Server No No No No No
SMTP Server No No No No No
Chargeback
Hierarchy
Chargeback
Hierarchical Entity
Attribute No No No No No
Tier No No No No No
Cost Model No No No No No
Cost Template No No No No No
Fixed Cost No No No No No
Report No No No No No
Schedule No No No No No
Role No No No No No
Billing Policy No No No No No
No Yes No No No
No Yes No No No
No Yes No No No
Modify
No Access Role
The No Access role has no permissions defined on it. This role can be assigned only on the Chargeback
Hierarchical Entity resource type.
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Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions
Create a Role
Apart from the system-defined roles, you can define your own custom roles in vCenter Chargeback. These
roles can then be assigned to the users created in the application.
Only users having the Super User role or the Administrator role assigned to them can perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Roles.
A table listing all the roles defined in the application is displayed.
2 Click Create.
The Create Role screen is displayed.
3 Enter a name and description for the role.
Option Description
Role Name
Role Description
4 Select the required permissions for the available resource types.
A name to uniquely identify the role. Provide a meaningful name to the role
so that it is easy to identify the use of the role and the permissions assigned
on the role. The character limit is 255 characters.
A brief description of the role that you are creating. You can define the
purpose of the role in this field. The character limit is 512 characters.
5 Click Create.
The newly created role is added to the table displaying the roles defined in the application.
Modify a Role
You can modify an existing role, other than the system-defined roles.
You must have the Administrator role or the Super User role to perform this task. If you have the Administrator
role, you can edit only the roles that you have created. A user with the Super User role can edit any roles other
than the system-defined roles.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Roles.
A table listing all the roles defined in the application is displayed.
2 Select the role that you want to modify, and click Edit.
The Edit Role screen is displayed.
3 Modify the required information.
You can modify the name and description of the role and also the set of permissions assigned to the role.
4 Click Save.
The modified role details are displayed in the table on the page.
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Delete a Role
You can delete any of the existing custom roles in the application. The system-defined roles cannot be deleted.
You must have the Administrator role or the Super User role to perform this task. If you have the Administrator
role, you can delete only the roles that you have created. A user with the Super User role can delete any roles
other than the system-defined roles.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Roles.
A table listing all the roles defined in the application is displayed.
2 Select the role that you want to delete, and click Delete.
A dialog box confirming the action is displayed.
3 Click OK.
Managing Users
When the application is installed, a user with the Super User role is created. The user name and password for
this user are provided during the installation.
This is the only user that exists in a freshly installed vCenter Chargeback instance. You can create more users
in the application. To create and manage users in vCenter Chargeback, you must have either the Super User
role or the Administrator role. Before you start creating users and assigning them roles on various resources,
you must understand the relationship between users, roles, and resources.
In vCenter Chargeback, a super user, that is a user with the Super User role, has access to all the users and
resources created in the application. This user has complete access in the application.
An administrator, that is a user with the Administrator role, has access only to the users that he has created.
An administrator cannot access the users created by a super user or by another administrator. Also, an
administrator can access only the following resources:
n
Resources on which he is given access privileges by a super user.
n
Resources created by him.
n
Resources created by the users that he has created.
All other users can only see the super user and the users that have been created by the administrator or super
user who created them. For example, consider the following scenario. We have a super user S1, two
administrators A1 and A2, and six users U1, U2, U3, U4, U5, and U6. The super user S1 has created the two
administrators and the user U1. The administrator A1 has created the users U2 and U3. The administrator A2
has created the user U4, U5, and U6.
Now, S1 can access all the users. A1 can see S1 and has complete access on U2 and U3. A1 cannot see or access
any other user. Similarly, A2 can see S1 and has complete access on U4, U5, and U6. A2 cannot see or access
any other user.
The user U1 can see only S1. This user cannot see the administrators and the users created by the administrators.
The users U2 and U3 can see S1, A1, and each other. They cannot see the users U1, U4, U5, and U6, and the
administrator A2.
Similarly, the users U4, U5, and U6 can see S1, A2, and each other. They cannot see the users U1, U2, and U3,
and the administrator A1.
Also, a user, other than an administrator or super user, can access only the resources on which he has been
given access and the resources created by him. If the user is a LDAP user and has no roles assigned to him,
then the role assigned to the LDAP group to which he belongs is considered.
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Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions
Creating Users
You can create multiple users and groups in vCenter Chargeback as per your requirements. You must have
the Super User role or the Administrator role to create users.
The application lets you create the following types of users and groups:
Local User
This is a vCenter Chargeback user whose details are defined in vCenter
Chargeback.
LDAP User
This is a Windows Active Directory user. The LDAP server must be configured
in vCenter Chargeback to add such a user. The details of the user are defined
in the Windows Active Directory.
LDAP Group
This is a Windows Active Directory group. The LDAP server must be
configured in vCenter Chargeback to add such a group. The group details are
defined in the Windows Active Directory.
vCenter Chargeback also defines another type of user called VC User. This is a vCenter Server user. This user
can access vCenter Chargeback from the VI Client when he logs in to a vCenter Server that has been added to
vCenter Chargeback with the Register As VI Client Plugin option selected.
Create a Local User
A local user is a user whose account details are defined in the vCenter Chargeback application. You can create
more than one local user in the application.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task.
NOTE Only a user with the Super User role can assign a role when creating a user.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Users.
A table listing all the users created in the application is displayed.
2 Click Create.
The Add User Account screen is displayed.
3 Enter the type, name, and authentication details of the user.
Option Description
User Type
User Name
Password
Confirm Password
The user type must be Local.
A unique name to identify the user. The user name cannot exceed 255
characters in length.
A password to authenticate the user. The password must not exceed 24
characters in length.
Re-enter the password.
4 Select the required option from the Role section.
The default is not to assign any role to the user. You can alternately assign the Super User role or the
Administrator role to the user on vCenter Chargeback.
5 Click Add.
The newly created user is added to the table displaying the users and groups created in the application.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
What to do next
The role assigned to the user defines the permission that the user has in the application. You must, however,
assign roles to the user on the individual resources for him to access those resources.
Create a LDAP User
You can add Windows Active Directory users to vCenter Chargeback. The account detail of such users are
originally defined in the Windows Active Directory. An LDAP user added to vCenter Chargeback can log in
to the application using the Windows login details.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task.
NOTE Only a user with the Super User role can assign a role when creating a user.
Prerequisites
Before you add a LDAP user, ensure that the LDAP server is configured in the application. If no LDAP Server
is configured in vCenter Chargeback, an error message stating the same is displayed when adding a LDAP
user.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Users.
A table listing all the users created in the application is displayed.
2 Click Create.
The Add User Account screen is displayed.
3 Select LDAP User from the User Type list.
4 Select the required LDAP Server.
The LDAP Users section of the screen displays a table listing the Active Directory users defined in the
selected LDAP server. The number of users listed in this table is limited by the LDAP Limit set in the
LDAP Server configuration.
5 Select the required users from the LDAP Users section.
You can add multiple users at the same time by selecting each of the required users from the LDAP Users
section. You can select more than one user by pressing the Ctrl button and clicking the required user
names.
You can also search for a user by specifying the user name or a search string in the LDAP Users section
and clicking Search. The application searches all the Unique Name (samAccountName in Windows Active
Directory) and Common Name values in the Windows Active Directory and return all the users that match
the search string.
6 Select the required option from the Role section.
The default is not to assign any role. You can alternately assign the Administrator role to the user on
vCenter Chargeback. An LDAP user cannot be assigned the Super User role.
7 Click Add.
The newly added LDAP users are added to the table displaying the users and groups added to the application
on the Users page.
What to do next
The role assigned to the user defines the permission that the user has in the application. You must, however,
assign roles to the user on the individual resources for him to access those resources.
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Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions
Create a LDAP Group
Like LDAP users you can also add LDAP groups to vCenter Chargeback.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task.
NOTE Only a user with the Super User role can assign a role when creating a user.
Prerequisites
Before you add a LDAP group, ensure that the LDAP server is configured in the application. If no LDAP Server
is configured in vCenter Chargeback, an error message stating the same is displayed when adding a LDAP
group.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Users.
A table listing all the users created in the application is displayed.
2 Click Create.
The Add User Account screen is displayed.
3 Select LDAP Group from the User Type list.
4 Select the required LDAP Server.
The LDAP Groups section of the screen displays a table listing the Active Directory groups defined in the
selected LDAP server. The number of groups listed in this table is limited by the LDAP Limit set in the
LDAP Server configuration.
5 Select the required group from the LDAP Groups section.
You can add multiple groups at the same time by selecting each of the required groups from the LDAP
Groups section. You can select more than one group by pressing the Ctrl button and clicking the required
group names.
You can also search for a group by specifying the group name or a search string in the LDAP Groups
section and clicking Search. The application searches all the Unique Name (samAccountName in
Windows Active Directory) and Common Name values in the Windows Active Directory and return all
the groups that match the search string.
6 Select the required option from the Role section.
The default is not to assign any role. You can alternately assign the Administrator role to the group on
vCenter Chargeback. An LDAP group cannot be assigned the Super User role.
7 Click Add.
The newly added LDAP groups are added to the table displaying the users and groups added to the application
on the Users page.
After a LDAP group is added, a user belonging to that group can log in to the application. This LDAP user
need not be explicitly added to the application. The LDAP user will have the same role as that set on the LDAP
group.
What to do next
The role assigned to the group defines the permission that the group has in the application. You must, however,
assign roles to the group on the individual resources for granting access on those resources.
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Modify a User
After a user is created, you can change the password for the user by using the Modify User feature of the
application. You can modify the password of only a Local user.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task. If you have the Administrator
role, then you can reset the password for only the users that you have created.
The password for an LDAP user, LDAP group, or vCenter Server user cannot be reset from vCenter
Chargeback.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Users.
A table listing all the users created in the application is displayed.
2 Select the required user name and click Edit.
The Edit User Account screen is displayed.
3 Modify the password and click Save.
Delete User
You can remove invalid or unused users from the application. However, you cannot delete the user that is
created during installation.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task. If you have the Administrator
role, then you can delete only the users that you have created.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Users.
A table listing all the users created in the application is displayed.
2 Select the user that you want to delete, and click Delete.
n
If the selected user has the Administrator or Super User role and has created other users in the
application, the Delete User screen is displayed. You can reassign the users created by the selected
user to another administrator or super user. Select the administrator or super user to whom the users
have to be reassigned.
n
If the users does not have the Administrator or Super User role or has not created any users in the
application, then a dialog confirming the deletion is displayed.
3 Click OK.
The user is deleted from the application. The resources created by this user are assigned to the administrator
or super user who created the user.
Assign a Role to a User on vCenter Chargeback
The role assigned to the user on vCenter Chargeback defines the actions that the user can perform in the
application. A user must have a role assigned to him on vCenter Chargeback or on the resource defined in the
application to enable him to perform some actions in the application.
When you create a user, no roles or permissions are assigned to it by default. You can assign the Super User
role or the Administrator role when creating the user. Alternately, you can assign a role to the user after creating
the user.
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You can assign only a single role to a user on vCenter Chargeback. If the user already has a role assigned to it,
the same is removed and the new role is set on the user. Only a user with the Super User role can assign the
Super User role or the Administrator role to a user on vCenter Chargeback.
You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task.
NOTE If you assign a role to an LDAP group for a resource, then the LDAP users belonging to the LDAP group
will be assigned the same role on the resources. However, the LDAP user cannot perform any action on the
resources, if the LDAP group does not have at least read privileges on the various resource types at the vCenter
Chargeback level.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Permissions.
A page listing the users, their type, whether the user has the Super User role or the Administrator role,
and if the user is a vCenter Server user then the vCenter Server name or if the user is an LDAP user or
group then the IP address of the LDAP server is displayed. The page also provides an option to select a
resource type.
2 Select the user from the table listing the users.
If any role has already been assigned to the user on vCenter Chargeback, the same is displayed under
Currently Assigned Role.
3 Select the required role from the menu under Set/Reset Role.
Ensure that you do not select any resource on the left-side pane.
NOTE You cannot assign the Super User role on a LDAP user or group.
4 Click Apply.
The selected role is assigned to the user on vCenter Chargeback.
What to do next
Assigning a role on vCenter Chargeback, other than the Super User role, only defines the actions that the user
can perform in the application. This does not implicitly give access to the resources created in the application.
To access a resource, the user must have either created it or should be explicitly assigned a role for the resource.
If the user is assigned the Administrator role, then he implicitly gets access to all the resources created by the
users that he has created.
Assigning the Super User role to a user automatically provides him with complete access to all the resources.
You need not explicitly assign a role to the user for each of the resources created in the application.
Assign a Role to a User for a Resource
A user can access a resource created in the application only if he has created it or has privileges to access it. A
user can be given privileges to access a resource by assigning a role to him for the required resource.
If a user is assigned the Super User role, then he can access any resource created in the application. If a user is
assigned the Administrator role, then he can also access the resources created by the users that he has created.
You can assign only a single role to a user for a given resource. If a user already has a role assigned to him for
a given resource, the same is removed and the new role is set on the user for the selected resource.
A user with the Super User role can assign any role on any resource to a user. A user with the Administrator
role can assign any of the system-defined roles, other than Super User and Administrator roles, and the custom
roles created by him. This user can assign the roles only to users created by him and on the resources he has
access to.
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A user not having the Super User role or the Administrator role can assign a role to other users only on the
resources that he has access to. This user can assign only the roles he has access to and have the same or a
subset of the privileges that are defined in the role assigned to him.
The role that users can assign to other users on a resource depends on:
n
The permissions that the user has on the resource.
n
The roles that the user has access to.
NOTE If you assign a role to an LDAP group for a resource, then the LDAP users belonging to the LDAP group
will be assigned the same role on the resources. However, the LDAP user cannot perform any action on the
resources, if the LDAP group does not have at least read privileges on the various resource types at the vCenter
Chargeback level.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Permissions.
A page listing the users, their type, whether the user has the Super User role or the Administrator role,
and if the user is a vCenter Server user then the vCenter Server name or if the user is an LDAP user or
group then the IP address of the LDAP server is displayed. The page also provides an option to select a
resource type.
2 Select the required resource type from the list.
3 Expand the resource type folder and select the resources for which you want to set the role on the user.
You can select more than one resource by pressing the Ctrl key and selecting each of the required resources.
However, the roles that you can assign on these resources would depend on the intersection of the
permissions you have on each of the selected resources.
4 Select the user from the table listing the users.
If any role has already been assigned to the user on the selected resources, the same is displayed under
Currently Assigned Role.
5 Select the required role from the menu under Set/Reset Role.
6 Click Apply.
The selected role is set on the user for the selected resources.
The role set on the user is applicable only for the selected resources. You must individually assign roles to the
user on the all required resources in the application. A user can have different roles on different resources.
Revoke the Role Assigned to a User for a Resource
Roles set on a user for a resource can be revoked as and when required.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Permissions.
A page listing the users, their type, whether the user has the Super User role or the Administrator role,
and if the user is a vCenter Server user then the vCenter Server name or if the user is an LDAP user or
group then the IP address of the LDAP server is displayed. The page also provides an option to select a
resource type.
2 Select the required resource type from the list.
3 Expand the resource type folder and select the resources for which you want to revoke the role on the
user.
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4 Select the user from the table listing the users.
If any role has already been assigned to the user on the selected resources, the same is displayed under
Currently Assigned Role.
5 Click Unassign this role under Current Assigned Role.
The role is revoked from the user for the selected resources. The user can no longer access the selected resources.
Revoke the Role Assigned to a User on vCenter Chargeback
The role assigned to user on vCenter Chargeback can be revoked as and when required.
Procedure
1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Permissions.
A page listing the users, their type, whether the user has the Super User role or the Administrator role,
and if the user is a vCenter Server user then the vCenter Server name or if the user is an LDAP user or
group then the IP address of the LDAP server is displayed. The page also provides an option to select a
resource type.
2 Select the user from the table listing the users.
If any role has already been assigned to the user, the same is displayed under Currently Assigned Role.
3 Click Unassign this role under Current Assigned Role.
The role is revoked from the user. Revoking the role assigned to the user on vCenter Chargeback does not
automatically remove the roles explicitly assigned to the user for the various resources. The user can continue
to access the resources that he has created and the resources for which he has been assigned a role.
vCenter Chargeback User Authentication
After a user is created, you can log in to the application using the credentials of this user.
You can log in as either a Local user or a LDAP user. If you are logging in as a LDAP user, you must provide
the login credentials defined in the Windows Active Directory. The LDAP user login name can be the
samAccountName or the FQDN. Although you can create a user of the type LDAP group, you cannot log in
to the application as an LDAP group.
If an LDAP group is added to the application, you can log in as an LDAP user belonging to that group. This
user will have the same roles and privileges as set on the LDAP group. If this LDAP user is not already added
to the application, the same would be done when the user logs in.
NOTE The LDAP user name and password must contain only ASCII characters. If you log in to vCenter
Chargeback as a user that contains extended ASCII or non-ASCII characters in the user name or password,
then the login operation might fail.
Procedure
1 Open a Web browser and enter the application URL.
The application URL should be of the following type:
https://
IP address:port number
/cbmui/
2 Enter the user authentication details on the login screen.
Option Description
User name
Password
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Password for the user.
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Option Description
Login in to
LDAP Code
3 Click OK.
On successful log in, the Getting Started tab of the application is displayed.
What to do next
You can also access the application from the VI Client as a vCenter Server user, provided the application is
registered with vCenter Server. To know about registering an application with vCenter Server, see “Add
vCenter Server Information,” on page 44.
The vCenter Guest User role is the default role assigned to the vCenter Server user. If the user is same as the
user whose details are used to register the vCenter Server with the application, then this user is assigned the
Hierarchy Manager role on vCenter Chargeback and the vCenter Server resource.
After registering the application as a plug-in, when you log in to the vCenter Server through the VI Client, the
application might display a security warning message for installing or ignoring the SSL certificate from the
vCenter Chargeback instance. You must install this certificate.
The user type.
If you select LDAP for Login in to, you must specify the LDAP Code for the
LDAP server.
Modifying the Password of a User Account
After you log in to the application, you can modify the password any time.
Only Local users can change their password. LDAP users and groups must change the password in the
Windows Active Directory.
Procedure
1 Click Tools on the top right corner of the screen.
2 Select Change Password.
The Change Password screen is displayed.
3 Enter the existing and new passwords.
Option Description
Old Password
New Password
Confirm New Password
4 Click Change.
The existing password.
The desired new password. The password must not exceed 24 characters in
length.
Re-enter the new password.
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Managing Chargeback Hierarchies 5
vCenter Chargeback interacts with the vCenter Server to determine the utilization of the computing resources
by various virtual machines that are created in the vCenter Server hierarchy. vCenter Chargeback enables you
to create multiple chargeback hierarchies, which can be different from the vCenter Server hierarchies.
A chargeback hierarchy is an organization of vCenter Server entities and vCenter Chargeback entities.
The vCenter Server entities include virtual machines, ESX Server hosts, data centers, resource pools, host
folders, and virtual machine folders. A chargeback hierarchy can contain entities from more than one vCenter
Server. The vCenter Chargeback entities are custom entities that could represent a logical parent for the vCenter
Server entities. For example, the vCenter Chargeback entities could represent the departments, cost centers,
or business units in an organization. A vCenter Chargeback entity can contain one or more vCenter Server
entities and vCenter Chargeback entities.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Creating a Chargeback Hierarchy,” on page 75
n
“Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy,” on page 78
Creating a Chargeback Hierarchy
To identify the resource utilization and generate a usage or cost report, you must first create a chargeback
hierarchy and add the required entities to it.
You can create one or more chargeback hierarchies in the application as per your requirements. Creating
multiple chargeback hierarchies lets you organize a set of vCenter Server entities in multiple ways and also
identify and compare the costs for each of these hierarchies. You can also create one hierarchy for each vCenter
Server.
Create a Custom Chargeback Hierarchy
You can create a custom chargeback hierarchy and add vCenter Server entities and vCenter Chargeback entities
to it.
To perform this task, you must have a role with the create privilege for the hierarchy resource type assigned
to you on vCenter Chargeback.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, click Create Hierarchy.
The Create Hierarchy screen is displayed.
2 Enter a name and description for the hierarchy.
The name must not exceed 255 characters and the description must not exceed 512 characters in length.
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3 Select Custom Hierarchy (default).
4 Click Create.
An empty chargeback hierarchy with the given name is created.
What to do next
To add entities to this hierarchy and manage the hierarchy, see “Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy,” on
page 78.
Synchronize a Chargeback Hierarchy with a vCenter Server
You can create a chargeback hierarchy and synchronize it with a vCenter Server. This chargeback hierarchy
will be same as the vCenter Server hierarchy.
To perform this task, you must have a role with the create privilege for the hierarchy resource type assigned
to you on vCenter Chargeback. You must also have a read privilege on the vCenter Server.
Prerequisites
Ensure that the vCenter Server is added to vCenter Chargeback. To know more about how to add a vCenter
Server to the application, refer to “Add vCenter Server Information,” on page 44.
The vCenter Server should be running to complete the hierarchy creation.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, click Create Hierarchy.
The Create Hierarchy screen is displayed.
2 Enter a name and description for the hierarchy.
The name must not exceed 255 characters and the description must not exceed 512 characters in length.
3 Select Synchronize with vCenter Server.
4 Select the required vCenter Server and the vCenter Server hierarchy view to be used for creating the
chargeback hierarchy.
The application lists only those vCenter Server machines that are added to the application and on which
you have the read privilege.
5 Click Create.
A chargeback hierarchy similar to the vCenter Server hierarchy with the selected view is created.
The custom attributes defined on the various entities in vCenter Server are imported into the chargeback
hierarchy. These attributes provide additional information about the vCenter Server entities and can be
displayed in the chargeback report.
What to do next
You can modify a chargeback hierarchy as per your requirements. To know more about editing a chargeback
hierarchy, refer to “Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy,” on page 78.
Import a Chargeback Hierarchy from a CSV File
You can create a chargeback hierarchy by importing a hierarchy defined in a .csv file.
To perform this operation, you must have a create privilege for the hierarchy resource type and a read privilege
on all the vCenter Server instances whose entities are specified in the CSV file.
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Prerequisites
Before you begin, you must ensure that the .csv file entries are in the correct format. To know more about the
format of the .csv file entries, refer to “Format of the CSV File,” on page 77.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, click Create Hierarchy.
The Create Hierarchy screen is displayed.
2 Enter a name and description for the hierarchy.
The name must not exceed 255 characters and the description must not exceed 512 characters in length.
3 Select Import hierarchy from .csv file.
4 Enter the path of the .csv file or alternately you can browse the system or the network to locate the file.
5 Click Create.
A chargeback hierarchy is created using the entries from the .csv file.
What to do next
You can use the created hierarchy as is or modify it as per your requirements.
Format of the CSV File
The entries in the CSV file used to create a chargeback hierarchy must adhere to the format defined by vCenter
Chargeback.
Starting with vCenter Chargeback 1.5, a new format for the entries in the CSV file is defined. This new format
is as follows:
UniqueId, ChildName, ParentId, ChildEntityType [[, description] [, vcIP/DNS, vcEntityMoId,
vCenterViewId]]
Table 5-1 describes each of the parameters in the CVS file entry.
Table 5-1. Parameters in the CSV File Entry
Parameters Description
UniqueId
ChildName
ParentId
ChildEntityType
description
vcIP/DNS
vcEntityMoId
vCenterViewId
A unique number to identify the entity. The UniqueId of the first entry in the file must be 1.
Name of the entity.
The UniqueId of the parent of this entity. If this entity is the root entity, the ParentId must
be -1.
The type of the entity. If the entity is a vCenter Chargeback entity, the ChildEntityType
must be 101. If the entity is a vCenter Server entity, the ChildEntityType must be 0.
(optional) Description of the entity. For a vCenter Server entity, this is not applicable.
The IP address or the DNS name of the vCenter Server as configured in the vCenter
Chargeback application.
The moid (managed object ID) of a virtual machine as defined in the vCenter Server. You can
obtain the entity MoID by using vSphere SDK or through the vCenter server MOB
(http://{vcserverIP}/mob)
The vCenter Server hierarchy view to be used for creating the chargeback hierarchy. If you
want to use the Host & Clusters view, then set vCenterViewId to 1. For the VMs & Templates
view, set vCenterViewId to 2.
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The following sample is an example of the contents of such a file:
#version 1.5.0
1,CB-folder,-1,101
2,CB-folder-1,1,101,vCenter Chargeback entity
3,cbm-vc,1,0,12.123.123.123,vm-203,1
4,CBM_1.5_B2,2,0,23.123.123.123,vm-218,2
The first line of the CSV file specifies the version of vCenter Chargeback. If this line is not present, the format
defaults to that for vCenter Chargeback 1.0. Starting with the vCenter Chargeback 1.0.1 release, blank lines in
the CSV file are ignored and lines starting with the hash sign (#) are considered as comments.
Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy
After creating a chargeback hierarchy, you can perform various tasks on the hierarchy, such as view the
hierarchy, modify the hierarchy by adding and deleting entities, manage attributes for individual entities in
the hierarchy, and set the allocation units for individual computing resources.
View a Chargeback Hierarchy
You can view the hierarchies created in the application from the Manage Hierarchy tab.
You must have a role with the read privilege on the hierarchy to view the hierarchy and its entities.
Procedure
1 Click the Manage Hierarchy tab.
2 Select the chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed. The right pane provides name, description,
and various other details about the selected hierarchy. You can modify the description by providing the
new description and clicking Update.
3 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
The left pane of the page displays the expanded chargeback hierarchy.
NOTE vCenter Chargeback does not display the status of the virtual machines and ESX hosts added to the
hierarchy.
What to do next
You can also search for entities in the hierarchy by using the Search field below the hierarchy on the left pane
of the page. When you search for an entity, vCenter Chargeback highlights the first entity in the hierarchy
whose name contains the search string. You can click the next or previous icon next to the Search field to find
the other entities in the hierarchy whose names contain the search string.
Starting with vCenter Chargeback 1.5, the application does not load the entire hierarchy when the hierarchy
is selected. Only when the hierarchy or an entity is expanded, the entities in the next level are fetched and
displayed in the application. The search operation only searched for entities that have been fetched and
displayed in the application.
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Add a vCenter Chargeback Entity
You can add vCenter Chargeback entities to a chargeback hierarchy to logically group vCenter Server entities
in the hierarchy. A vCenter Chargeback entity can represent the departments, cost centers, and business units
in an organization.
To add a vCenter Chargeback entity to a chargeback hierarchy, you must have update privilege on the
chargeback hierarchy and the parent entity.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
3 Right-click the hierarchy or the entity in the hierarchy to which you want to add a vCenter Chargeback
entity and select New Chargeback Folder from the pop-up menu.
You can add vCenter Chargeback entities to the hierarchy or to another vCenter Chargeback entity in the
hierarchy. You cannot add a vCenter Chargeback entity to a vCenter Server entity.
4 Provide a name for the added entity and click outside the entity-name text box.
The character limit for the entity name is 255 characters. The entity names are not case-sensitive.
The entity with the provided name is added to the chargeback hierarchy.
What to do next
You can undo an add operation by right-clicking the newly added entity and selecting the Revert this add
operation option. However, this option is not available on the entity if any further changes are made to the
entity or to the chargeback hierarchy.
Add a vCenter Server Entity
If you are creating a custom chargeback hierarchy, you must add vCenter Server entities, such as ESX Server
hosts and virtual machines, to it. You can also add a cluster or an entire data center to the hierarchy.
To add a vCenter Server entity to a chargeback hierarchy, you must have the read privilege on the vCenter
Server and update privilege on the chargeback hierarchy and the parent entity.
Prerequisites
Ensure that the vCenter Server is added to vCenter Chargeback and the Hosts & Clusters and VMs & Templates
Synchronization job successfully synchronized the vCenter Server inventory in the vCenter Chargeback
database.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
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3 Right-click the entity to which you want to add a vCenter Server entity and select New vCenter Server
Entity from the pop-up menu.
You can add a vCenter Server entity to the hierarchy or to a vCenter Chargeback entity in the hierarchy.
You cannot add a vCenter Server entity to another vCenter Server entity in the chargeback hierarchy.
4 Select the required vCenter Server from the drop-down menu on the right pane.
Only the vCenter Server instances on which you have a read privilege is included in the menu.
The selected vCenter Server is displayed on the right pane.
5 (Optional) Select the Import entity attributes option at the bottom of the right pane.
Selecting this option ensures that the attributes, if any, defined on the vCenter Server entities are imported
along with the other details. These attributes provide additional information about the vCenter Server
entities and can also be displayed in the chargeback reports. You can overwrite the values for these
attributes in vCenter Chargeback. However, these new attribute values will not reflect in the vCenter
Server.
NOTE The imported attributes are not refreshed with the updates that happen on the vCenter Server.
6 (Optional) Click the arrow icon next to Filters & Views at the bottom of the right pane of the page.
The filtering and hierarchy view options are displayed.
7 (Optional) Select the required filtering and hierarchy view options.
The default is No highlighting and the Hosts & Clusters view. The view type selected must be same as
the view type used to add the existing vCenter Server entities in the chargeback hierarchy. The entities in
the selected vCenter Server hierarchy will be highlighted only if the view type for the hierarchy of the
selected vCenter Server and the vCenter Chargeback hierarchy are same and one of the highlighting
options is selected.
8 Expand the vCenter Server hierarchy and select the entity that you want to add to the chargeback
hierarchy.
The number of vCenter Server entities selected is displayed next to the cursor indicating that the entity is
selected and available for adding to the chargeback hierarchy. You can also select multiple entities and
add them at the same time. To select multiple entities, press the Ctrl key and click the required vCenter
Server entities.
If you add a vCenter Server entity to a chargeback hierarchy, you cannot separately add its parent entity
or any of its child entities to the same chargeback hierarchy.
9 Select the vCenter Chargeback entity to which you want to add this vCenter Server entity.
The selected vCenter Server entities are added to the chargeback hierarchy.
After a vCenter Server entity is added to a chargeback hierarchy, you cannot delete any of its child entities
from the chargeback hierarchy without deleting this added entity.
What to do next
You can undo an add operation by right-clicking the newly added entity and selecting the Revert this add
operation option. However, this option is not available on the entity if any further changes are made to the
entity or to the chargeback hierarchy. If you add multiple entities at the same time, you can revert the add
operation for only one of the entities. To revert the add operation for an entity, right-click the required entity
and select Revert this add operation.
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Rename a Chargeback Hierarchy or a Chargeback Entity
You can edit the names of chargeback hierarchies and the vCenter Chargeback entities in them.
To perform this task, you must have update privilege on the hierarchy and the chargeback hierarchical entity.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
3 Right-click the entity and select Edit label from the pop-up menu.
4 Provide a new name for the entity and click outside the entity-name text box.
The character limit for the hierarchy and entity names is 255 characters. The hierarchy and entity names
are not case-sensitive.
Delete an Entity from the Hierarchy
You can delete the vCenter Server entities and vCenter Chargeback entities from a chargeback hierarchy. If
you have added a vCenter Server entity to the chargeback hierarchy, you cannot remove any of its child entities
without deleting the directly added vCenter Server entity from the chargeback hierarchy.
Even if an entity is deleted from the hierarchy, the generated reports include these deleted entities for the time
period they were available in the hierarchy. vCenter Chargeback maintains the history of the entities created
in the chargeback hierarchies. Therefore, the cost information of the deleted entities can be retrieved for the
period they existed in the chargeback hierarchy.
To delete an entity, you must have delete privilege on the chargeback hierarchical entity and update privilege
on the hierarchy.
CAUTION You cannot undo a delete entity operation.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
3 Right-click the entity that you want to remove and select Delete from the pop-up menu.
A dialog confirming the action is displayed.
4 Click OK.
The entity and its child entities, if any, are removed from the hierarchy.
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Delete a Chargeback Hierarchy
You can remove invalid or unwanted chargeback hierarchies from the application.
You must have delete privilege on the hierarchy to delete it.
CAUTION You cannot undo a delete hierarchy operation. If a hierarchy is deleted, all the information associated
with the hierarchy is lost.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Right-click the hierarchy and select Delete this hierarchy from the pop-up menu.
A dialog box confirming the action is displayed.
3 Click OK.
The chargeback hierarchy is deleted permanently from the application.
Assign Attributes
You can assign one or more attributes to the entities in a chargeback hierarchy. For example, you can create
an attribute called Geo_location and then assign it to the required entities and give it a value that indicates
their geographical location.
You must have read privilege on the hierarchy and update privilege on the chargeback hierarchical entity to
perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
3 Right-click the entity to which you want to assign attributes and select Manage Attributes from the pop-
up menu.
The Assign Attributes screen is displayed. The screen lists the entities created in the application and the
entities imported from the vCenter Server. It also displays the attribute values, if any.
4 Enter or update the values for the attributes that you want to assign to the entity.
You can overwrite the values of the attributes imported from the vCenter Server. However, these changes
will not be reflected in the vCenter Server.
5 Click Apply.
The attributes with their values are assigned to the entity and can be included in the chargeback report.
The attribute value assigned to an entity does not get propagated to the child entities. You must individually
set the value for the attributes on each of the entities.
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Move Entities Within a Hierarchy
You can move the entities within a chargeback hierarchy. This is particularly useful if you want to rearrange
the entities within a chargeback hierarchy. You cannot, however, rearrange the entities that are under a vCenter
Server entity.
You must have the update privilege on the hierarchy, the chargeback hierarchical entity, and the current and
new parent chargeback hierarchical entity to move entities within a hierarchy.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
3 Right-click the entity that you want to move, and select Cut Entity from the pop-up menu.
NOTE This menu option is available only for the vCenter Chargeback entities created in the hierarchy and
the vCenter Server entities that are directly added to the hierarchy.
4 Right-click the destination entity and select Paste Entity from the pop-up menu.
The selected entity and all its child entities are moved under the destination entity. You cannot paste the
entities under a vCenter Server entity.
What to do next
You can undo a paste operation by right-clicking the pasted entity and selecting the Revert this paste
operation option. However, this option is not available on the entity if any further changes are made to the
entity or to the chargeback hierarchy.
Allocate Computing Resource Units for a Chargeback Entity
You can allocate some computing resource units for a chargeback entity. This allocation can be used to calculate
the cost when using an allocation-based billing policy.
Allocation of computing resource units is different from reservation of computing resource units. The
reservation of computing resources for a virtual machine is performed in vCenter Server. The allocation of
computing resource units is performed in vCenter Chargeback. An allocation of computing resource does not
imply that the chargeback entity will get to use the set amount of computing resource units at all times. This
allocation is used purely for calculating the cost when using an allocation-based billing policy.
You can set the allocation units, when you want to charge an entity for a fixed amount of computing resource
units, immaterial of the actual resource usage. For example, you want to charge a virtual machine for a
minimum of 2GHz of CPU and 4GB of RAM immaterial of the actual CPU and memory usage by the virtual
machine. In this case, you can set the allocation units for CPU and memory on the virtual machine, define an
allocation-based billing policy, and create a cost model with appropriate base rates for the computing resources
and set the allocation-based billing policy.
You must have read privilege on the hierarchy and update privilege on the chargeback hierarchical entity to
perform this task.
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Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
3 Right-click the chargeback entity for which you want to allocate computing resource units and select Set
allocation units from the pop-up menu.
The Define allocation units for the selected entity screen is displayed.
4 Define the time period for which the allocation is applicable.
The default selection is Update from now onwards indicating the allocation is applicable from the time
of setting the values till it is changed at a future date. Alternately, you can set a definite time period by
selecting the Update for the effective period option and defining the start and end dates of the required
time period.
5 (Optional) Click Get and then click the Show link next to Historical values to see the historical allocation
values set for all the computing resources.
6 Set the allocation units for the required computing resources.
7 Click Set.
8 Click OK in the information dialog box.
9 Close the Define allocation units for the selected entity screen to return to the Manage Hierarchy tab.
The defined allocation units for the specified time period is set on the chargeback entity. You can set multiple
allocation units for different time periods.
What to do next
The allocation units defined for a chargeback entity does not propagate to its child entities. You must
individually set the allocation units for each chargeback entity in the hierarchy as per your requirements.
Share Virtual Machine Cost
If you have a virtual machine that is shared by multiple departments and want to charge these departments
proportionately, you must configure the share percentage in the hierarchy. The share percentage can be set
only on virtual machines that are individually added to the chargeback hierarchy.
You must have the update privilege on the hierarchy, on the virtual machine that is being shared, and the
parent chargeback hierarchical entities to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
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3 Right-click the virtual machine whose cost has to be shared and select Manage cost sharing from the pop-
up menu.
NOTE This menu option is available only for the virtual machines that are individually added to the
hierarchy.
4 Click OK on the information dialog box.
5 Right-click the vCenter Chargeback entity that shares this virtual machine and select Share Cost in this
folder from the pop-up menu.
The Set cost sharing screen is displayed.
6 Set the share percentages and click Apply.
The share percentages must total up to 100.
The shared virtual machine is displayed in the hierarchy. You can change the share percentage or share the
virtual machine again with more entities, by performing the same steps.
Backdate a Chargeback Hierarchy
You can backdate a chargeback hierarchy so that the resource utilization details for the last three months from
the current date are considered.
You must have update privilege on the hierarchy to perform this task.
NOTE If you have upgraded to vCenter Chargeback 1.5 and the chargeback hierarchy contains entities from
vCenter Server instances added before the upgrade, then do not backdate the hierarchy.
You cannot backdate hierarchies imported from a VMware Cloud Director setup in to vCenter Chargeback.
vCenter Chargeback identifies the hierarchies imported from VMware Cloud Director by using the attribute
VcloudOrgEntity set on them. Therefore, if the VcloudOrgEntity attribute is set on any user-defined hierarchy
in vCenter Chargeback, you cannot backdate that hierarchy.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the left pane
of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed. The right pane provides various details about
the selected hierarchy.
2 Click the arrow icon next to Tools below the hierarchy.
The Hierarchy tools options are displayed.
3 Click Backdate.
4 Click OK in the information dialog box.
View Properties of a vCenter Server Entity
A chargeback hierarchy can contain entities from more than one vCenter Server. In a chargeback hierarchy,
you can identify the vCenter Server to which an entity belongs by viewing its properties.
You must have a read privilege on the hierarchy and the chargeback hierarchical entity to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Hierarchy tab, select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop-down menu on the
left pane of the page.
The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
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2 Expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
The first-level entities in the hierarchy are displayed. You can view all the entities in the hierarchy by
clicking the plus sign to the left of the entities that have sub-entities.
3 Right-click the vCenter Server entity and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
The vCenter Server Entity Properties screen displays the vCenter Server to which the entity belongs and the
complete inventory path of the vCenter Server entity.
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Chargeback Cost Elements 6
vCenter Chargeback provides various cost-related elements. These elements enable you to define the cost to
be charged for each computing resource, fixed costs, and the cost calculation formula.
You must set the various cost-related elements in vCenter Chargeback to successfully generate the required
cost reports.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“vCenter Chargeback Cost-Related Elements,” on page 87
n
“Managing Cost Models,” on page 92
n
“Managing Fixed Costs,” on page 96
n
“Managing Cost Templates,” on page 99
n
“Managing Billing Policies,” on page 101
n
“Configuring Cost at the Entity Level,” on page 103
n
“Physical Infrastructure Costing,” on page 105
n
“Configuring a Pricing Matrix for Virtual Machines,” on page 107
vCenter Chargeback Cost-Related Elements
You must know about the vCenter Chargeback cost-related elements to effectively create and configure a cost
model.
vCenter Chargeback includes the following cost related elements.
n
Chargeable computing resource
n
Base rate
n
Rate factor
n
Fixed cost
n
Billing policy
n
Cost model
n
Cost template
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Chargeable Computing Resource
A chargeable computing resource is any computing resource that must be accounted for when calculating the
IT operational costs. The usage of the computing resources is measured and the corresponding charge is
calculated.
vCenter Chargeback accounts for the following computing resources:
CPU
Memory
Network bandwidth
Storage
Disk Read and Write
vCPU
The CPU usage is measured in GHz.
The memory usage is measured in GB.
The network usage (both upload and download) is measured in GB/hour.
The usage is measured in GB.
The usage is measured in GB/hour.
The number of virtual CPUs in the virtual machine.
If the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector and vShield Manager Data Collector is installed, vCenter
Chargeback also accounts for the following resources:
Count of Networks
The number of networks that belong to an organization or a vApp in VMware
Cloud Director.
NAT Service
Whether the NAT service for VMware Cloud Director network is enabled or
not.
DHCP Service
Whether the DHCP service for VMware Cloud Director network is enabled or
not.
Firewall Service
Whether the firewall service for VMware Cloud Director network is enabled
or not.
External network
bandwidth
The external network usage (both upload and download) is measured in
MB/hour.
Base Rate
Base rate is a global rate that you want to charge for a unit of chargeable computing resource used, reserved,
or allocated for a specific duration.
Table 6-1 lists a set of sample base rates for each chargeable computing resource.
Table 6-1. Sample Base Rate Values
Chargeable Resource Unit Duration Base Rate ($)
CPU GHz Hourly 0.0399
Memory GB Hourly 0.0048
Network Received and Transmitted GB/hour Hourly 0.0008
Storage GB Hourly 0.0013
Disk Read and Write GB/hour Hourly 0.0008
vCPU Count Hourly 0.04
NOTE The base rate duration is configurable. vCenter Chargeback lets you define the base rate for an hour,
day, week, month, quarter, half-year, or year for each computing resource.
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Rate Factor
Rate factor is the multiplication factor to be used along with the base rate to calculate the charge for a unit of
chargeable computing resource used or allocated for a specified duration. Rate factors are useful when you
want to charge the entities in a hierarchy differently.
The rate factors enable you to apply a cost that is a multiple or a fraction of the base rate. The rate factor value
can be between 0 and 999.99. The precision is up to two decimal places.
Table 6-2 lists sample base rates and rate factors.
Table 6-2. Sample Base Rates and Rate Factors
Chargeable Resource Base Rate ($) Rate Factor Total Charge ($)
CPU 0.0399 1.1 0.0439
Memory 0.0048 1.1 0.0053
Network Received and Transmitted 0.0008 1 0.0008
Storage 0.0013 1 0.0013
Disk Read and Write 0.0008 0.75 0.0006
vCPU 0.04 1 0.04
Fixed Cost
A fixed cost is a definite cost that can be charged on an entity. Fixed costs can be recurring costs or non-recurring
or one-time costs.
Recurring costs that are charged periodically for specific resources or services can be defined as fixed costs in
the application. For example, the annual maintenance cost for the network or for each server. Costs that are
applicable to almost all the entities and hierarchies can be defined as fixed costs. This lets you update such
costs periodically and manage them centrally. It also ensures that all the entities and hierarchies are uniformly
charged for common services and resources.
In addition, you can also define fixed costs that are specific to an entity, a group of entities, or an entire hierarchy.
For example, the real estate cost for physical storage of the servers. This cost differs based on the actual
geographic location.
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Billing Policy
A billing policy determines the cost types and the amount of chargeable computing resources units to be
considered for calculating the chargeback cost.
vCenter Chargeback provides the following billing policies:
Fixed Cost
Actual Usage
Reservation
Allocation
CPU Reservation
Memory Reservation
Only the fixed costs associated with each entity in the chargeback hierarchy is
considered for billing. The actual usage of the chargeable computing resources
is ignored.
In this policy, the actual utilization of the chargeable computing resources of
the virtual machines is determined. The total cost is then calculated by using
the base rates set in the cost model and the actual used units of the chargeable
computing resources.
This policy takes into account the capacity of a chargeable resource reserved
for a virtual machine. vCenter Server allows only CPU and memory
reservation. This reserved capacity of CPU and memory along with the actual
utilization of other chargeable computing resources is used for calculating the
total cost.
This policy takes into account the user-defined allocation units of chargeable
computing resources for the chargeback entities. The allocated units along with
the base rates defined in the cost model is used for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the CPU capacity reserved for a virtual machine.
This reserved CPU capacity along with the actual utilization of other
chargeable computing resources is used for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the memory capacity reserved for a virtual
machine. This reserved memory capacity along with the actual utilization of
other chargeable computing resources is used for calculating the total cost.
Maximum of Usage and
Reservation
Maximum of CPU Usage
and CPU Reservation
Maximum of Memory
Usage and Memory
Reservation
Fixed Cost and Actual
Usage
Fixed Cost and
Allocation
Fixed Cost and
Reservation
In this policy, the maximum of the used and reserved units of CPU, the
maximum of the used and reserved units of memory, and the actual utilization
of other chargeable computing resources is used for calculating the total cost.
In this policy, the maximum of used and reserved units of CPU along with the
actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources is considered for
calculating the total cost.
In this policy, the maximum of used and reserved units of memory along with
the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources is considered for
calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity and the
actual utilization of the chargeable computing resources for calculating the
total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity and the
user-defined allocations units of the chargeable computing resources for
calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity, the
reserved capacity of CPU and memory, and the actual utilization of other
chargeable computing resources for calculating the total cost.
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Fixed Cost and CPU
Reservation
Fixed Cost and Memory
Reservation
Fixed Cost and
Maximum of Usage and
Reservation
Fixed Cost and
Maximum of CPU Usage
and CPU Reservation
Fixed Cost and
Maximum of Memory
Usage and Memory
Reservation
vCPU Count and
Memory Size
Fixed Cost and vCPU
Count and Memory Size
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity, the
reserved capacity of CPU, and the actual utilization of other chargeable
computing resources for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity, the
reserved capacity of memory, and the actual utilization of other chargeable
computing resources for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity, the
maximum of used and reserved units of CPU, the maximum of used and
reserved units of memory, and the actual utilization of other chargeable
computing resources for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity, the
maximum of used and reserved units of CPU, and the actual utilization of other
chargeable computing resources for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity, the
maximum of used and reserved units of memory, and the actual utilization of
other chargeable computing resources for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the number of virtual CPUs, the total amount of
memory allocated to the virtual machines, and the actual utilization of other
chargeable computing resources for calculating the total cost.
This policy takes into account the fixed costs associated with the entity, the
number of virtual CPUs and the total amount of memory allocated to the virtual
machines, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources
for calculating the total cost.
VMware Cloud Director
Billing Policy Allocation Pool
VMware Cloud Director
Billing Policy Reservation Pool
VMware Cloud Director
Billing Policy - Pay As
You Go Fixed Charging
VMware Cloud Director
Billing Policy - Pay As
You Go Resource Based
Charging
This billing policy is available only if the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector is installed. This policy takes in to account the actual usage for
external network transfer and external network receive computing resources.
For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units are considered for cost
calculation. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Allocation
Pool Cost Model.
This billing policy is available only if the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector is installed. This policy takes in to account the actual usage for
external network transfer and external network receive computing resources.
For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units are considered for cost
calculation. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Reservation
Pool Cost Model.
This billing policy is available only if the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector is installed. This policy takes in to account the actual usage for
external network transfer and external network receive computing resources.
For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units are considered for cost
calculation. The policy also takes in to account the fixed costs set on the entities.
This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Pay As You Go - Fixed
Charging Cost Model.
This billing policy is available only if the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector is installed. This policy takes in to account the user-defined allocation
units for virtual CPUs and memory only if the virtual machine is powered on.
It also takes in to account the actual usage for external network transfer and
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external network receive computing resources. For all other resources, the userdefined allocation units is considered for cost calculation. This billing policy is
set in the VMware Cloud Director Pay As You Go - Resource Based Charging
Cost Model.
VMware Cloud Director
Billing Policy - Networks
In vCenter Chargeback 1.5, you can also define your own billing policies.
Cost Model
A cost model defines base rates for the chargeable computing resources, the currency, the billing policy to be
used for calculating the total cost, and special costs, such as cost for the guest operating system installed on
the virtual machine. A cost model also enables you to define different billing policies for different time periods.
After you define a cost model in the application, you can define rate factors and fixed costs on entities or
hierarchies for the selected cost model. You can also use the cost model to generate various reports.
Cost Template
A cost template consists of entity-specific cost configuration details. These are rate factors for the chargeable
computing resources and the fixed costs.
You can set these values in a cost template and use the template to configure the costs at the entity level.
Managing Cost Models
This billing policy is available only if the VMware Cloud Director Data
Collector is installed. This policy takes in to account the actual usage for
external network transfer and external network receive computing resources.
For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units are considered for cost
calculation. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Networks
Cost Model.
vCenter Chargeback provides a default cost model called Default Chargeback Cost Model. The cost models
defined in the application can be viewed and managed from the Cost Models page of the Manage Cost tab.
You can start using the application by creating a chargeback hierarchy and generating basic reports using this
cost model. You can modify this cost model as per your requirements. You can also create and manage multiple
other cost models.
If you have installed the VMware Cloud Director Data Collector, vCenter Chargeback provides five more cost
models:
n
VMware Cloud Director Allocation Pool Cost Model
n
VMware Cloud Director Reservation Pool
n
VMware Cloud Director Pay As You Go - Fixed Charging Cost Model
n
VMware Cloud Director Pay As You Go - Resource Based Charging Cost Model
n
VMware Cloud Director Networks Cost Model
These cost models do not define any base rates or fixed costs. You must modify the cost models and set the
required base rates and fixed costs before using them for generating reports.
NOTE If you define and include fixed costs in these cost models, ensure that you modify the corresponding
billing policies and select the Add/Include Fixed Cost option.
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n
Create a Cost Model on page 93
You can create multiple cost models in vCenter Chargeback. Defining multiple cost models enables you
to charge different sets of entities or hierarchies differently. It also enables you to compare the costs
calculated using different cost models for a hierarchy or a set of entities.
n
Modify a Cost Model on page 95
After a cost model is created, you can modify it as and when required.
n
Delete a Cost Model on page 96
You can remove invalid or unwanted cost models from the application. However, you cannot delete the
Default Chargeback Cost Model.
Create a Cost Model
You can create multiple cost models in vCenter Chargeback. Defining multiple cost models enables you to
charge different sets of entities or hierarchies differently. It also enables you to compare the costs calculated
using different cost models for a hierarchy or a set of entities.
You must have create privilege for the cost model resource type on vCenter Chargeback to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Cost Models.
A table listing all the cost models created in the application is displayed.
2 Click Create.
The Cost Model screen is displayed.
3 Provide a name description for the cost model and set the currency type in the General tab.
Option Description
Name
Description
Currency
Name for the cost model. This is mandatory information. The character limit
for the cost model name is 255 characters.
An optional description of the cost model. The character limit for the
description is 512 characters.
The currency type used for defining the base rates and special costs in the
cost model.
4 In the Billing Policy tab, set the period for which the billing policy will be effective.
The default selection is Update from now onwards, indicating the billing policy will be effective from the
time of creation of the cost model till it is changed at a future date.
The other option is Update for the effective period. If you select this option, you must specify the start
and end date of the period for which the billing policy will be effective. You must enter the dates in the
mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end date is not specified, the billing policy will be effective from the specified
start date till infinity.
5 Select the required policy from the Billing Policy list.
6 In the Base Rates tab, set the period for which the base rates will be effective.
The default selection is Update from now onwards, indicating the base rates will be effective from the
time of creation of the cost model till it is changed at a future date.
The other option is Update for the effective period. If you select this option, you must specify the start
and end date of the period for which the base rates will be effective. You must enter the dates in the
mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end date is not specified, the base rates will be effective from the specified start
date till infinity.
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7 Set the base rate and the corresponding duration for the computing resources.
The duration specifies how often the specified rate is charged for the corresponding computing resource.
The duration can be Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, or Yearly. In vCenter
Chargeback, a duration value of Monthly is equal to 30 days, Quarterly is equal to 91 days, Half-yearly is
equal to 182 days, and Yearly is equal to 365 days.
NOTE If the base rate for a chargeable computing resource is not entered, the base rate for that resource
is considered to be zero.
8 (Optional) Select Overage to define an overage rate for the corresponding computing resource.
An overage rate lets you charge different rates for the allocated units and the units used beyond the
allocation.
9 (Optional) If you have selected the Overage option, specify the rate to be charged for the allocated units
of the computing resource and that for the units used beyond the allocation.
10 Set the cost for vServices in the Other Costs tab.
vServices include high availability, fault tolerance, and creation and deletion of virtual machines.
NOTE If you set the fault tolerance cost, this cost will be charged on virtual machines that have fault
tolerance turned on or disabled. The cost is not charged for virtual machines that have fault tolerance
turned off.
11 Specify the fixed cost for various guest operating systems and the duration for charging the same.
If a virtual machine has the specified operating system installed on it, then the set rate would be charged.
12 Click Create.
The newly created cost model is added to the table listing the cost models.
Calculate Base Rate Using Base Rate Calculator
vCenter Chargeback provides a base rate calculator that helps you calculate the base rate for CPU, memory,
and storage. The computed base rates when charged enable you to recover your hardware cost over a defined
period.
The base rate calculator also helps you identify and calculate the fixed costs to be charged per virtual machine.
Procedure
1 Click Tools on the top-right corner of the page.
2 Select Base Rate Calculator from the Tools menu.
The Base Rate Calculator screen is displayed.
3 Click Set Investment.
4 Set Recovery Tenure and Currency.
5 In the Hardware Cost section, specify the cost per server, the number of servers, the CPU and memory
capacity, the storage cost, and the storage capacity.
6 In the Other Cost section, specify the other costs incurred.
These costs can include license costs, maintenance cost, overheads, and so on. If the specified cost is
applicable for each of the servers individually, then select the checkbox next to the cost. If the cost is a
recurring cost, then select the checkbox under the Recurring Cost column corresponding to the specified
cost. You can add and delete additional costs using the Add and Delete buttons.
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7 Click Calculate Metrics.
The calculated costs are displayed in the Suggested Metrics page of the screen.
8 Specify the number of virtual machines in the Number of VM field.
9 Specify the total number of hours to be considered for a month.
10 Set the attribution percentages for the CPU and memory.
The attribution percentages must add up to 100 percent.
The annual, monthly, and hourly rates are displayed.
The various costs for different time periods are displayed on the Suggested Metrics page. You can note down
these values and use them to create cost models and fixed costs in the application.
If you want to use only the base rates for CPU, memory, and storage, you can click the Save these values in
cost model link on the top of the Suggested Metrics page. The Cost Model screen is displayed with the hourly
base rates for CPU, memory, and storage populated in it. You must enter the remaining required values before
completing the cost model creation task.
Modify a Cost Model
After a cost model is created, you can modify it as and when required.
You must have update privilege on the cost model to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Cost Models.
A table listing all the cost models created in the application is displayed.
2 Select the cost model that you want to modify, and click Edit.
The Cost Model screen is displayed.
3 In the General tab, modify the name and description as required.
You cannot modify the currency type for a cost model.
4 In the Billing Policy tab, modify the billing policy and the effective time period.
a (Optional) To fetch the current billing policies set in the cost model, select the Update for the effective
period option, specify the required time period, and click Get.
You can retain the currently set billing policies and add more policies for different time periods in
the same cost model.
b To add another billing policy, set the effective time period, select the billing policy, and then click
Set.
Repeat this for each billing policy you want to add to the cost model.
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5 In the Base Rates tab, modify the base rates for the chargeable computing resources, the duration, and the
effective time period.
a (Optional) To fetch the historical base rate values, select the Update for the effective period option,
specify the required time period, and click Get.
b Click the Show link next to Historical values.
The historical base rate values for the specified period is displayed for each of the computing
resources.
c To add another set of base rates, set the effective time period, set the base rates and corresponding
duration, and then click Set.
Repeat this for each set of base rates that you want to add to the cost model. You can also modify the
existing base rates for different time periods.
6 (Optional) To create or modify the overage rate for a computing resource, select Overage and provide the
rate to be charged for the allocated units of the computing resource and that for the units used beyond the
allocation.
7 Modify the fixed cost for vServices and guest operating systems in the Other Costs tab.
8 Click Save to save all your changes.
NOTE The name of the cost model and the start dates are mandatory information and do not have any default
values.
Delete a Cost Model
You can remove invalid or unwanted cost models from the application. However, you cannot delete the Default
Chargeback Cost Model.
You must have delete privilege on the cost model to perform this task.
CAUTION If a cost model is deleted, any entity-specific cost configuration done for this cost model will also be
deleted and the information cannot be retrieved.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Cost Models.
A table listing all the cost models created in the application is displayed.
2 Select the cost model that you want to delete, and click Delete.
A dialog box confirming the action is displayed.
3 Click OK.
The cost model is deleted from the application and, consequently, from the table listing the cost models.
Managing Fixed Costs
vCenter Chargeback provides functionality to create and manage fixed costs. These fixed costs provide a means
to charge various resources identically.
The fixed costs defined in the application can be viewed and managed from the Fixed Cost page of the Manage
Cost tab.
n
Create a Fixed Cost on page 97
You must create the fixed costs that you want to charge on the entities and hierarchies. These costs can
include periodically charged costs and one time costs.
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n
Modify a Fixed Cost on page 98
You can modify the fixed costs as and when required.
n
Delete a Fixed Cost on page 98
You can delete invalid or unwanted fixed costs from the application.
Create a Fixed Cost
You must create the fixed costs that you want to charge on the entities and hierarchies. These costs can include
periodically charged costs and one time costs.
You must have create privilege for the fixed cost resource type on vCenter Chargeback to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Fixed Cost.
A table listing all the fixed costs created in the application is displayed. You can view the details of the
fixed cost by clicking the plus sign (+) in the Details column of the table. The details include the value of
the cost, the duration indicating how often the cost is charged, and the time period for which the set value
and duration is valid or applicable.
2 Click Create.
The Fixed Cost screen is displayed.
3 Provide a name, description, and currency type for the fixed cost on the General tab.
Option Description
Name
Description
Currency
A name for the fixed cost. The character limit for the fixed cost name is 255
characters.
An optional description of the fixed cost. The character limit for the
description is 512 characters.
The currency type used for defining the fixed cost.
4 (Optional) If the defined cost has to be charged only once on the chargeback entity or hierarchy, then select
the One Time option.
If you select this option, then you cannot set any duration value for the fixed cost.
5 In the Cost Details tab, set the period for which the cost will be effective.
The default selection is Update from now onwards, indicating the defined cost will be effective from the
time of creation of the fixed cost till it is changed at a future date.
The other option is Update for the effective period. If you select this option, you must specify the start
and end date of the period for which the cost will be effective. You must enter the dates in the
mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end date is not specified, the cost will be effective from the specified start date
till it is changed at a future date.
6 Enter the value of the cost and select the duration indicating how often the cost is incurred.
The duration can be Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, or Yearly.
7 Click Create.
The newly created fixed cost is added to the table listing the fixed costs.
What to do next
After a fixed cost is created, you can associate it with an entity, a set of entities, or hierarchies. This can be done
while configuring costs at the entity level. Fixed costs can also be added to a template and then set on an entity
or a hierarchy.
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Modify a Fixed Cost
You can modify the fixed costs as and when required.
You must have update privilege on the fixed cost to modify it.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Fixed Cost.
A table listing all the fixed costs created in the application is displayed. You can view the details of the
fixed cost by clicking the plus sign (+) in the Details column of the table. The details include the value of
the cost, the duration indicating how often the cost is charged, and the time period for which the set value
and duration is valid or applicable.
2 Select the fixed cost that you want to modify and click Edit.
The Fixed Cost screen is displayed.
3 In the General tab, modify the name and description of the fixed cost as required.
NOTE You cannot modify the currency type and the One Time option.
4 In the Cost Details tab, set the period for which the modified cost value and duration will be effective.
The default selection is Update from now onwards, indicating that the defined cost detail will be effective
from the time of updating the fixed cost till infinity.
The other option is Update for the effective period. If you select this option, you must specify the start
and end date of the period for which the cost will be effective. You must enter the dates in the
mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end date is not specified, the cost detail will be effective from the specified start
date till infinity.
5 (Optional) To fetch the cost values and duration set for a specific time period, select the Update for the
effective period option, specify the start and end dates of the time period, and then click Fetch.
6 Enter the value of the cost and select the duration indicating how often the cost is incurred.
The duration can be Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, or Yearly.
For one time costs, duration is not applicable.
7 If you are defining the cost for a specific time period, click Set.
You can set more than one value and duration for different time periods by repeating Step 4, Step 6, and
Step 7.
8 Click Save.
The modified fixed cost is displayed in the table listing the fixed costs. You can view the modified cost details
of the fixed cost by clicking the plus sign (+) in the Details column of the table.
Delete a Fixed Cost
You can delete invalid or unwanted fixed costs from the application.
You must have delete privilege on the fixed cost to remove it from the application.
CAUTION Deleting a fixed cost removes it from the entities on which it is configured and does not reflect in a
report. Only fixed costs that exist in the application at the time of report generation are included in the report.
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Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Fixed Cost.
A table listing all the fixed costs created in the application is displayed.
2 Select the fixed cost that you want to delete, and click Delete.
A dialog box confirming the action is displayed.
3 Click OK.
The fixed cost is deleted from the application and, consequently, from the table listing the fixed costs.
Managing Cost Templates
vCenter Chargeback enables you to create cost templates that contain entity-specific cost configuration details.
The cost templates defined in the application can be viewed and managed from the Cost Template page of the
Manage Cost tab.
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Create a Cost Template on page 99
Entity-specific cost configuration, such as the rate factors and fixed costs, must be defined on the entity.
If you want to apply a standard entity-specific cost setting on more than one entity, you can create a cost
template that contains these settings, and apply the same to the required entities.
Chapter 6 Managing and Configuring vCenter Chargeback Cost Elements
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Modify a Cost Template on page 100
After a cost template is created, you can modify it as and when required.
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Delete a Cost Template on page 100
Invalid or unwanted cost templates can be removed from the application. However, deleting a cost
template does not remove the entity-specific cost settings applied on the entities using the cost template.
Create a Cost Template
Entity-specific cost configuration, such as the rate factors and fixed costs, must be defined on the entity. If you
want to apply a standard entity-specific cost setting on more than one entity, you can create a cost template
that contains these settings, and apply the same to the required entities.
You must have create privilege for the cost template resource type on vCenter Chargeback to perform this task.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Cost Template.
A table listing all the cost templates created in the application is displayed.
2 Click Create.
The Cost Template screen is displayed.
3 Provide the name, description, and currency type for the cost template in the General tab.
Option Description
Name
Description
Currency
A name for the cost template. The character limit for the cost template name
is 255 characters.
An optional description of the cost template not exceeding 512 characters in
length.
The currency used to define the costs in the cost template.
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vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide
4 In the Rate Factors tab, set the rate factors for the chargeable computing resources.
The rate factor value can be between 0 and 999.99. The application considers a precision of up to two
decimal places.
5 Click the Fixed Costs tab.
6 Select the required fixed cost and click Add to the list.
The fixed cost is added to the list of fixed costs displayed in the List Of fixed costs to be applied to the
cost template section. Repeat this step for each fixed cost that you want to include in the cost template.
NOTE Only the fixed costs having the currency type same as that set on the cost template are displayed
and can be added to the cost template.
7 (Optional) Check the Distribute option corresponding to an added fixed cost if the cost has to be applied
to the child entities of the entity on which the cost template is applied. However, if this option is selected,
this cost will not be applied to the selected entity. When a cost report is generated, the fixed costs on the
child entities will be rolled-up to the parent entity.
8 Click Create.
The cost template is added to the application and is displayed in the table listing the created cost templates.
You can view the details of the cost template by clicking the plus sign (+) in the Details column of the table.
Modify a Cost Template
After a cost template is created, you can modify it as and when required.
You must have the update privilege on the cost template to modify it.
Procedure
1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Cost Template.
A table listing all the cost templates created in the application is displayed.
2 Select the cost template that you want to modify and click Edit.
The Cost Template screen is displayed.
3 Modify the name and description as required in the General tab.
NOTE The name of the cost template is mandatory information and does not have any default values.
Also, you cannot modify the currency type.
4 Click the Rate Factors tab and modify the rate factors for the computing resources.
5 Click the Fixed Costs tab and add new fixed costs or remove existing fixed costs as required.
6 Click Save.
Changes made to a cost template are not automatically reflected on the entities on which the template is applied.
You must explicitly reapply the template on the entities for the changes to take effect.
Delete a Cost Template
Invalid or unwanted cost templates can be removed from the application. However, deleting a cost template
does not remove the entity-specific cost settings applied on the entities using the cost template.
You must have delete privilege on the cost template to delete it.
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