VMware vCenter Chargeback Manager - 2.5 User’s Guide

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vCenter Chargeback Manager

User’s Guide

vCenter Chargeback Manager 2.5.0

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-000965-00

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vCenter Chargeback Manager User’s Guide

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:

docfeedback@vmware.com

Copyright © 2012 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at http://www.vmware.com/go/patents.

VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

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3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

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About the User's Guide 5

Introduction to vCenter Chargeback Manager 7

What Is Chargeback 7

Chargeback Solution for Virtual Environments 7

Overview of vCenter Chargeback Manager 8

Supported Product Integration 9

Configuring Administration Settings 11

Activate the Application 11

Configuring Generic Settings 12

Managing LDAP Servers 16

Managing vCenter Servers 18

Managing Data Collectors 24

Managing the Application License 31

Manage Report View 32

Managing Attributes 34

Manage System Health Thresholds 35

Manage Computing Resources 36

Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions 37

Resource Based Authorization in vCenter Chargeback Manager 37

Permissions Defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager 38

Managing Roles 39

Managing Users 46

vCenter Chargeback Manager User Authentication 54

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Managing Chargeback Hierarchies 57

Creating a Chargeback Hierarchy 57

Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy 60

Managing and Configuring vCenter Chargeback Manager Cost Elements 69

vCenter Chargeback Manager Cost-Related Elements 69

Managing Pricing Models 80

Managing Fixed Costs 85

Managing Cost Templates 88

Managing Billing Policies 90

Configuring Cost at the Entity Level 93

Physical Infrastructure Costing 95

Configuring a Pricing Matrix for Virtual Machines 98

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vCenter Chargeback Manager User’s Guide

Generating Reports 103

About Reports 103

Generate a Cost Report 106

Generate a Usage Report 108

Generate Cost Comparison Report 109

Generate Showback Report 111

Scheduling Report Generation 113

Managing Reports 119

Managing Archived Reports 124

Managing Automatic Report Scheduler 127

Report Dashboard 129

Monitoring System Health 133

Configure System Health Alert Notification 134

vCenter Chargeback Manager Events 135

Administration Utilities 137

Database Password Change Utility 137

vCenter Chargeback Manager IP Address Reset Utility 138

Configuring Database Properties For Removing Stale Reports 140

Statistics Collection Scripts 140

vCenter Chargeback Manager Database Management Scripts 148

Index 151

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About the User's Guide

The vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 use vCenter Chargeback Manager. The information in this book is written for experienced Windows system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.

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Introduction to vCenter Chargeback

Manager 1

vCenter Chargeback Manager is an end-to-end cost reporting solution for virtual environments using vSphere. vCenter Chargeback Manager can also be used with VMware vCloud Director. Before you install and start using vCenter Chargeback Manager, an understanding of what is chargeback and about chargeback solutions for a virtual environment would be helpful.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“What Is Chargeback,” on page 7

“Chargeback Solution for Virtual Environments,” on page 7

“Overview of vCenter Chargeback Manager,” on page 8

“Supported Product Integration,” on page 9

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.

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JDBC

vCenter Chargeback

Manager

Load Balancer

vCenter Server

Data Collector

vCenter

Chargeback

Manager

database

vCenter Chargeback

Manager UI

vCenter

Server

database

ESXi

host03

ESXi

host02

ESXi

host01

VIM API

vCenter Chargeback Manager User’s Guide

To support chargeback, the virtual environment and the chargeback solution must provide ways to measure resource usage and associate the usage with a specific pricing model. The chargeback solution must also support the use of different pricing models so as to charge the various departments or cost centers differently.

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 pricing 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 allocationbased metering of virtual machines. The metered parameters are then associated with the designated entities, and the pricing model defined for that entity along with specific chargeback formulas are used as part of the overall chargeback solution.

Overview of vCenter Chargeback Manager

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 Manager 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 cost and usage reports. Figure 1-1 shows how vCenter Chargeback Manager interacts with various components of a virtual environment using VMware vSphere.

Figure 1-1. vCenter Chargeback Manager in a Virtual Environment

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Chapter 1 Introduction to vCenter Chargeback Manager

vCenter Chargeback Manager runs on an Apache Tomcat server instance. Users interact with vCenter Chargeback Manager through a load balancer (Apache httpd Server). vCenter Chargeback Manager connects to the vCenter Chargeback Manager database that stores application-specific information, such as the defined chargeback hierarchies, pricing models, users, roles, and so on. The application interacts with the vCenter Server using VIM APIs and with the vCenter Server database through a data collector. The data collector communicates with the vCenter Server Database using JDBC.

When you install vCenter Chargeback Manager, a load balancer and a data collector can also be installed and run on the same machine. You can also choose to install the load balancer, vCenter Chargeback Manager server, and data collector on different machines. Although the vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager 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 Manager database. vCenter Chargeback Manager uses this information from the vCenter Chargeback Manager database along with the pricing 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 Manager database.

vCenter Chargeback Manager also lets you create a cluster of vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager instance in the cluster, while ensuring session affinity for an instance, based on the number of requests currently being serviced by each instance in the cluster. All the vCenter Chargeback Manager instances in a cluster are connected to the same vCenter Chargeback Manager database.

If you have a VMWare vCloud Director setup, you can install the vCloud Director data collector and configure it appropriately so that the vCloud Director setup can be integrated with vCenter Chargeback Manager. You can then generate various reports of the organizations classified under the different categories, such as PayAs-You-Go, Reservation, and Allocation Pool.

Supported Product Integration

vCenter Chargeback Manager integrates with various products from VMware and provides utilization and accounting information for different entities based of the configurations defined on the entities.

VMware vSphere

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides cost reporting solution for virtual environments that are created by using vSphere. You can integrate a vSphere setup with vCenter Chargeback Manager by installing and configuring an instance of the vCenter Chargeback Manager data collector. The vSphere inventory and the corresponding storage information along with the usage statistics is synchronized in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database by the data collector on a periodic basis. This integration provides cost reporting solution for virtual environments created by using vSphere. This allows charging for vSphere inventories such as ESXi hosts, virtual machines, and resource pools.

VMware vCloud Director

You can integrate a vCloud Director setup with vCenter Chargeback Manager by installing and configuring an instance of the vCloud Director data collector. The vCenter Servers configured in the vCloud Director must also be added to vCenter Chargeback Manager. You can then generate cost and usage reports for various org vDCs that are classified under different categories, such as Pay-As-You-Go, Reservation, and Allocation Pool.

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VMware vShield Manager

To obtain the usage data associated with the network entities from your vCloud Director setup in to vCenter Chargeback Manager, you must install and configure the vShield Manager data collector. This enables metering and charging for external network bandwidth.

VMware vCenter Operations Manager

vCenter Chargeback Manager can be integrated with vCenter Operations Manager to generate dashboard reports on vSphere inventories. The dashboard reports showcase various information, such as, projected cost for future time period and cost optimization opportunities along with associated cost savings for the vSphere entities. This integration is done by adding a vCenter Server that is integrated with vCenter Operations Manager to vCenter Chargeback Manager.

VMware IT Business Management Suite

The vCenter Chargeback Manager connector for IT Business Management Suite is a Windows-based application that obtains the virtualization costs from vCenter Chargeback Manager and provides this cost data to IT Business Management Suite so that it can include the virtualization costs in the Cost Model. The connector scans vCenter Chargeback Manager for a specific hierarchy and creates a report schedule in vCenter Chargeback Manager to generate cost report for this hierarchy on a daily basis. The connector also fetches the generated and archived report, and provides the cost data for each virtual machine in the hierarchy to IT Business Management Suite. IT Business Management Suite populates detailed analysis and reports in its Cost Model and dashboard.

In an integrated setup, the connector and the vCenter Chargeback Manager are deployed on site, while the IT Business Management Suite is deployed as a SaaS application. The integration of vCenter Chargeback Manager with IT Business Management Suite provides CIOs visibility across all IT assets, and enables them to easily identify the cost reduction opportunities by comparing virtualization costs and physical costs.

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Configuring Administration Settings 2

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:

“Activate the Application,” on page 11

“Configuring Generic Settings,” on page 12

“Managing LDAP Servers,” on page 16

“Managing vCenter Servers,” on page 18

“Managing Data Collectors,” on page 24

“Managing the Application License,” on page 31

“Manage Report View,” on page 32

“Managing Attributes,” on page 34

“Manage System Health Thresholds,” on page 35

“Manage Computing Resources,” on page 36

Activate the Application

When you log in to vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Provide the username and password of the Super User.

3 Click Add.

The details about this license is stored in the application and can be accessed from the License page of the Settings tab.

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Configuring Generic Settings

Before you start using the various features of vCenter Chargeback Manager, you must configure few settings in the application.

Some of the generic settings can be configured from the Settings tab. You can configure the SMTP server settings and the log level from the General page of the Settings tab.

The General page of the Settings tab lists all the vCenter Chargeback Manager instances added to the cluster. In the case of a stand-alone installation, a single URL for the vCenter Chargeback Manager is displayed. You can remove the vCenter Chargeback Manager instances that are not required or not responding from this page.

Configure the SMTP Server Setting

You must configure the SMTP server setting in vCenter Chargeback Manager 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, click General.

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)

Enable password protection for emailed PDF documents

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.

If you select this option, the PDF reports sent through email are password protected and the password for the corresponding report is sent through a separate email.

4 Click Add.

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 Manager.

You must have the Super User role to perform this task.

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Procedure

1 In the Settings tab, click General.

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

User Name

Password

Maximum Attachment Size(KB)

Enable password protection for emailed PDF documents

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.

If you select this option, the PDF reports sent through email are password protected and the password for the corresponding report is sent through a separate email.

4 Click Edit.

Chapter 2 Configuring Administration Settings

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.

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:

If the vCenter Chargeback Manager service is restarted.

When the database is polled for changes, which automatically occurs every hour.

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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.

3 Click Apply.

Remove a vCenter Chargeback Manager

You must ensure that vCenter Chargeback Manager instances that are unavailable or not required are removed from the cluster.

In a cluster configuration, the load balancer forwards the requests to a vCenter Chargeback Manager instance that has a lighter load. However, even if a vCenter Chargeback Manager instance is unavailable and not responding, the load balancer tries to forward the requests to such an instance. You must, therefore, monitor the health of the vCenter Chargeback Manager instances and remove those instances from the cluster that are not responding.

When you remove a vCenter Chargeback Manager from the UI, the corresponding entries for the instance is removed from the System Health. However, the instance is still in the cluster and the load balancer sends requests to it. You must manually remove the instance from the load balancer by running the

ModifyLBWorkers.bat file. You must have the Super User role to perform this task.

NOTE Removing a vCenter Chargeback Manager instance does not correspond to uninstalling the instance. Only the details of the instance is removed from a database table and from the application UI. The instance exists on the system that it is installed. You can log in to this instance and use it, if the instance functions correctly.

Procedure

1 In the Settings tab, click General.

A list of vCenter Chargeback Manager instances is displayed under the Chargeback Servers section.

2 Select the vCenter Chargeback Manager that you want to remove.

3 Click Remove.

4 Click OK to confirm the remove operation.

The vCenter Chargeback Manager details are removed from the database and the System Health page.

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What to do next

You must run the ModifyLBWorkers.bat file to remove the corresponding vCenter Chargeback Manager entry from the load balancer. Run the following commands from the command-line prompt:

> cd

Installation_Folder

> ModifyLBWorkers delete

\vCenter-CB-Tools\load-balancer\bin\

Server_Instance_Name

<Installation_Folder> is the complete folder path provided during the vCenter Chargeback Manager installation. The default installation folder is C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vCenter Chargeback. Server_Instance_Name is the name that you have provided during the installation.

You must restart the Load Balancer service after running the ModifyLBWorkers.bat file.

Configure VM Instance Job Interval

vCenter Chargeback Manager applies the fixed cost defined in a pricing matrix on the virtual machines in a hierarchy by running the VM Instance job that periodically checks for new and updated hierarchies, and hierarchy selection criteria and the corresponding pricing matrix.

The VM Instance jon runs every 5 minutes. However, this job interval is configurable. You must have the Super User role on vCenter Chargeback Manager to configure the job interval.

Procedure

1 Click General in the Settings tab.

2 In the VM Instance Job Interval section, specify the time interval for the job.

The time interval you specify is in seconds.

3 Click Apply.

Configure Storage Infrastructure Costing Mode

vCenter Chargeback Manager can account for the storage either based on the storage profiles defined on the virtual machine or based on which storage the virtual machine files reside.

You must have the Super User role in vCenter Chargeback Manager to perform this task.

Procedure

1 Click General in the Settings tab.

2 In the Storage Infrastructure Costing section, select the storage infrastructure costing mode.

Option Description

Profile Based

Placement Based

3 Click Apply.

The storage whose capabilities match the storage profile defined on the virtual machine is considered for cost calculation.

The storage on which the virtual machine files reside is considered for cost calculation.

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Managing LDAP Servers

You can configure one or more LDAP servers in vCenter Chargeback Manager. vCenter Chargeback Manager 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. You can also configure the LDAP server for secure communication using SSL certificates.

In the case of a Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, you can also configure a read-only domain controller in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

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.

The distinguished name (DN) of the entity in the LDAP hierarchy from which groups and users can be added to the application. If not specified, vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

If you have selected Enable LDAPS, then a dialog requesting you to accept the SSL certificate is displayed.

5 Accept the SSL certificate.

If you click Cancel, the LDAP Server setting configuration fails.

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.

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What to do next

You can now add the Windows Active Directory users and groups to vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 47.

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 Manager.

If the SSL certificate on the LDAP server is changed, you must modify the LDAP server setting in vCenter Chargeback Manager to obtain the modified SSL certificate. Else, communication with the LDAP server fails.

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.

CAUTION Changes to the LDAP server settings might impact the corresponding LDAP users and groups that are already added to the application. If you change the BaseDN to the DN of an entity that is lower in the LDAP hierarchy compared to the currently set DN, then LDAP users that exist above the new DN will not be able to log in to vCenter Chargeback Manager, and the resources created by them in the application, such as hierarchies, pricing model, and reports, might get orphaned and become unusable.

If you modify the LDAP server setting to provide details of a Windows Server 2008 Active Directory read-only domain controller, then you must ensure that all the LDAP users and groups currently added to vCenter Chargeback Manager are also listed in the read-only domain controller. If not, the users that do not have an entry on the read-only domain controller cannot access vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Procedure

1 In the Settings tab, click LDAP 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

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.

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.

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Option Description

LDAP Limit

Enable LDAPS

5 Click Save.

If you have selected Enable LDAPS during the modify LDAP Server setting operation or the SSL certificate on the LDAP server has changed, then a dialog requesting you to accept the SSL certificate is displayed.

6 Accept the SSL certificate.

If you click Cancel, the LDAP Server setting configuration fails.

The table on the LDAP Servers page lists the modified information for the selected LDAP server.

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.

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.

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 Manager.

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.

Communication with the vCenter Server is secured using a SSL certificate. After you add or modify the vCenter Server settings in vCenter Chargeback Manager, you can view and install the SSL certificate presented by the vCenter Server. If you chose not to install the SSL certificate, the vCenter Server is not added to and cannot be accessed from vCenter Chargeback Manager.

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Add vCenter Server Information

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager.

You must have the Super User role or the Administrator role to perform this task.

IMPORTANT We recommend that you do not add a vCenter Server 5.0 or vCenter Server 5.0 Update 1 server to vCenter Chargeback Manager because of a known memory leak issue. Also, do not add a vCenter Server 5.0 Update 1a server because of a known upgrade issue in vCenter Server. If you have a vCenter Server 5.0, vCenter Server 5.0 Update 1, or vCenter Server 5.0 Update 1a server, then first upgrade this to vCenter Server 5.0 Update 1b and then configure it in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Prerequisites

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 Manager.

You must ensure that the system time on the vCenter Server, vCenter Chargeback Manager, vCenter Server database, vCenter Chargeback Manager database, and data collectors are in sync.

When adding a vCenter Server to vCenter Chargeback Manager, you must provide a vCenter Server user name and vCenter Server database user name. Create a clone of the Read-only role in vCenter Server and include the following permissions in this cloned role:

Storage views.View

Global.Licenses

Extension.Register extension

Extension.Unregister extension

Extension.Update extension

Profile-driven storage.Profile-driven storage view; if you are using vCenter Server 5.0.

Global.vCenter Operations User; if you have integrated the vCenter Server with VMware vCenter Operations.

Create a user in vCenter Server for vCenter Chargeback Manager and assign this cloned role to the user. Also, create a user in the vCenter Server database for vCenter Chargeback Manager and ensure that the user has read access on the VPXV_HIST_STAT_DAILY, VPXV_HIST_STAT_WEEKLY, VPXV_HIST_STAT_MONTHLY, and

VPXV_HIST_STAT_YEARLY views.

NOTE Do not provide the user details that vCenter Server uses to connect to the vCenter Server database.

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.

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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

Database Name

Database Type

Authentication Type

Database Username

Database Password

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

If the listener port is not included in the database URL, vCenter Chargeback Manager connects to the database by using the default listener port 1521.

For Microsoft SQL Server, this URL can be in the following formats:

IP address/host name\database instance name

IP address/host name:database port

For example:

123.123.123.123\chargeback_db

If the database port is not included in the database URL, vCenter Chargeback Manager connects to the database by using the default port 1433.

You can also specify a well formed JDBC URL that starts with 'jdbc' and contains the database name. If the vCenter Server database is on an Oracle RAC environment, then you must provide a JDBC URL for the database.

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.

This option is available only if you have set the Database Type to SQL

Server. You can set the Authentication Type to Credential Based Authentication or Windows Authentication. Credential Based

Authentication lets you access the database using SQL Server authentication. If you select Credential Based Authentication, you must provide the database user name and password to access the database. Windows Authentication lets you access the database using a Windows user account that can authenticate in to the SQL Server database. If you select Windows Authentication, you can provide a domain user name and password to access the vCenter Server database.

A database user name to access the vCenter Server database. Ensure that this is not the same user that vCenter Server uses to connect to the vCenter Server database.

If you have selected Windows Authentication, then provide a domain user name to access the vCenter Server Database. The domain user name must be of the form user@domain.com or domain\user. If you do not specify a domain user name, then vCenter Chargeback Manager uses the details of the domain user who started the current session of the vCenter Chargeback Manager service to access the vCenter Server Database.

Password for the database user name or domain user name entered.

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Option Description

Enable Stats Replication

Select this option if you would like to register vCenter Chargeback Manager as a plug-in to vSphere Client. If this option is selected, each time you log in to this vCenter Server using the vSphere Client, the vCenter Chargeback Manager plug-in is displayed on the vSphere Client. You can access the vCenter Chargeback Manager from the vSphere Client as a vCenter Server user. Ensure that you do not register more than one vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager Database. Statistics starting from three months prior to adding the vCenter Server are collected. vCenter Chargeback Manager considers the existing vCenter Server inventory to have existed for the three month period prior to adding the vCenter Server.

4 Click Add.

A dialog requesting you to add an SSL certificate for secure communication with the vCenter Server is displayed.

5 Accept the SSL certificate request.

If you click Cancel, the add vCenter Server operation is cancelled.

The vCenter Server is added to the application and included in the table listing the vCenter Server instances.

What to do next

After you add a vCenter Server to vCenter Chargeback Manager, the data collector synchronizes the data from the vCenter Server database in to the vCenter Chargeback Manager database if you have selected the Enable Stats Replication option. By default, the stats collection level is set to 1 in vCenter Server. With this level setting, the split utilization data for disk read and disk write, and network transmitted and network received cannot be fetched. To obtain this split utilization data, you must run a tool that modifies the stats collection level for these specific counters. See KB 2010099 for further details.

You can log in to the vCenter Server by using a vSphere Client and access the vCenter Chargeback Manager plug-in if you have selected the Register As vSphere Client Plug-in option. You must, however, provide the IP address or the DNS name of the vCenter Server during login. If you use localhost during login, the plug-in might be unavailable.

Edit vCenter Server Information

Changes to the vCenter Server configuration must be manually reflected in the vCenter Chargeback Manager. 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 Manager.

If you change the SSL certificate on the vCenter Server or upgrade the vCenter Server, then you must modify the vCenter Server information in vCenter Chargeback Manager to import the new SSL certificate. If the new SSL certificate is not imported on to the vCenter Chargeback Manager machine, then communication with the vCenter Server fails.

To modify the vCenter Server information in vCenter Chargeback Manager, 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.

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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.

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

Database Name

Database Type

Authentication Type

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

If the listener port is not included in the database URL, vCenter Chargeback Manager connects to the database by using the default listener port 1521.

For Microsoft SQL Server, this URL can be in the following formats:

IP address/host name\database instance name

IP address/host name:database port

For example:

123.123.123.123\chargeback_db

If the database port is not included in the database URL, vCenter Chargeback Manager connects to the database by using the default port 1433.

service_name

The database type can be either SQL Server (default) or Oracle.

This option is available only if you have set the Database Type to SQL

Server. You can set the Authentication Type to Credential Based Authentication or Windows Authentication. Credential Based

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Option Description

Database Username

Database Password

Enable Stats Replication

A database user name to access the vCenter Server database. Ensure that this is not the same user that vCenter Server uses to connect to the vCenter Server database.

Password for the database user name or domain user name entered.

4 Click Save.

Chapter 2 Configuring Administration Settings

If the SSL certificate on the vCenter Server has changed, a dialog requesting you to accept the new SSL certificate is displayed.

5 Accept the SSL certificate request.

If you click Cancel, the modify vCenter Server operation is cancelled.

The modified information is reflected in the table displayed on the page.

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 Manager.

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.

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Managing Data Collectors

When you install vCenter Chargeback Manager, you can optionally install a data collector. You can register more than one data collector with a vCenter Chargeback Manager instance. You can also install the vCloud 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.

View Data Collectors on page 24

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

Enable Data Collector on page 27

If a data collector registered with the application is disabled, you can enable it from the application.

Disable Data Collector on page 27

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.

Delete Data Collector on page 28

A data collector registered with the application can be removed or deleted.

Configure VMware vCloud Director Data Collector on page 28

If you have installed the vCloud Director data collector, you must configure its properties from the Data Collectors page of the Settings tab.

Configure vShield Manager Data Collector on page 30

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 Data Collectors page of the Settings tab.

Modify Super User Password for Cloud Data Collectors on page 31

If you change the password of the super user that was used when installing the vCloud Director data collector and vShield Manager data collector, you must change the same from the Data Collectors page to ensure that these data collectors function correctly.

View Data Collectors

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.

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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.

The data collector runs two types of synchronization jobs: polling jobs and listening jobs. Polling jobs are jobs that run periodically at fixed interval of time and poll the vCenter Server database to fetch the changes in the database. Each time the job run completes, the last synchronization time for the job is updated. Stats Synchronization and Storage Synchronization are polling jobs.

Listening jobs start once and perform the initial synchronization. These jobs then register a listener with the vCenter Server and listen continuously for any update. These jobs run continuously and are not periodic. They are always in the Active state and never set to Done. These jobs update their status and the last synchronization time only when an update in the vCenter Server database, for which the job is listening, is processed successfully.

Table 2-1 lists the information displayed on the Data Collectors page.

Table 2-1. Information About Data Collectors Registered in the Application

Information Type Description

Data Collector ID The ID of the data collector defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

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 Manager every 30 seconds. If vCenter Chargeback Manager does not receive any update from the data collector for more than 150 seconds, then vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 2-1. 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:

Storage Synchronization: The data collector obtains the storage information for all the virtual machines managed by the 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 vSphere 5.0 and later, the data collector fetches the storage profiles and groups the datastores under the profiles that they match.

When calculating the storage utilization, vCenter Chargeback Manager 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. The VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices service must be running on the vCenter Server machine for the storage synchronization to complete successfully. For vCenter Server 5.0, the VMware vSphere Profile-Driven Storage service must also be running on the vCenter Server machine for the storage synchronization to complete successfully.

Hosts & Clusters and VMs & Templates Synchronization: The data collector copies the vCenter Server inventory in to the vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager database.

Datastore Synchronization: This synchronization job ensures that all information about the datastore view of the vCenter Server are synchronized in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database.

Network Synchronization: This synchronization job ensures that all information about the network view of the vCenter Server are synchronized in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database.

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 Manager database. This synchronization job ensures that the statistics information is periodically replicated in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database with the corresponding information in the vCenter Server database.

IMPORTANT By default, the stats collection level is set to 1 in vCenter Server. With this level setting, the split utilization data for disk read and disk write, and network transmitted and network received cannot be fetched. To obtain this split utilization data, you must run a tool that modifies the stats collection level for these specific counters. See KB 2010099 for further details.

Global Configuration Synchronization: The data collector fetches global configuration data of the vCenter Server and stores it in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database. Currently, this synchronization job fetches the custom attributes from the vCenter Server.

Not periodic: Indicates that the job runs eternally.

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.

Active: The job is successfully running. This status is applicable only for nonperiodic jobs.

Running: The job is in progress.

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.

Failed: The job has failed. If the job has failed, the job is reassigned to a data collector after 10 minutes.

Done: Refers to jobs that are run at specific intervals and the previous run is complete.

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Modify Job Interval

You can control the time interval between two consecutive job runs for jobs that do not run eternally.

Ensure that the job interval time specified is sufficient enough to run the job completely. The data collector starts a job run only after the earlier job run is completed. If the specified interval is too small, then the job might not start exactly after the specified minutes post the last synchronization time. The job will start only after the earlier job run is completed.

Procedure

1 Click Edit in the Job Interval column.

The Change Job Interval screen is displayed.

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 Manager 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 data collector is disabled and the synchronization jobs associated with the data collector are assigned to other registered data collectors, if any.

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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 Manager 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.

Configure VMware vCloud Director Data Collector

If you have installed the vCloud Director data collector, you must configure its properties from the Data Collectors page of the Settings tab.

Only users with the Super User role assigned to them can perform this task.

Configuring the vCloud Director data collector ensures that vCenter Chargeback Manager related events in the vCloud Director are processed. Based on the vCloud Director version, the data collector properties that can be configured differ.

If you are integrating a vCloud Director 5.1 setup, then the corresponding database information is not required.

NOTE Only the vCenter Chargeback Manager related events are processed by the vCloud Director data collector. To update the vCloud Director Org hierarchies in vCenter Chargeback Manager, the corresponding vCenter Server must be added to vCenter Chargeback Manager and the vCenter Chargeback Manager data collector must be running to synchronize the vCenter Chargeback Manager database with the vCenter Server database. If the vCenter Chargeback Manager data collector is not installed or is not running, then the changes will not be processed and the changes in the vCenter Server and the vCloud Director Org hierarchy is not accounted for in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Procedure

1 In the Settings tab, click Data Collectors.

2 Select the VMware Cloud Director tab.

3 Select a property and click Edit.

You can edit several properties for vCloud Director Data Collector.

Property Description

VMware vCloud Director URL

VMware vCloud Director Administrator Username

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The IP address or the FQDN of the machine on which vCloud Director is installed and running.

User name of a vCloud Director Administrator user. The user must be an administrator user to ensure that all the API calls from the data collector to the vCloud Director are processed.

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Property Description

VMware vCloud Director

Password for the vCloud Director Administrator user.

Administrator Password

VMware vCloud Director database host

VMware vCloud Director database type

IP address of the vCloud Director database. This option is available only for vCloud Director 1.5 and vCloud Director 1.5.1.

The type of database used to create the vCloud Director database. The permissible values are SQL_Server and Oracle. This option is available only for vCloud Director 1.5 and vCloud Director 1.5.1.

VMware vCloud Director database name

VMware vCloud Director database port

Name of the vCloud Director database. This option is available only for vCloud Director 1.5 and vCloud Director 1.5.1.

Port on which the vCloud Director database is listening for request. If no port details are specified, vCenter Chargeback Manager considers the default database port. This option is available only for vCloud Director 1.5 and vCloud Director 1.5.1.

VMware vCloud Director database username

VMware vCloud Director database password

Event processor job interval (in seconds)

vCloud Director database user name. This option is available only for vCloud Director 1.5 and vCloud Director 1.5.1.

Password for the vCloud Director database user. This option is available only for vCloud Director 1.5 and vCloud Director 1.5.1.

vCloud Director data collector runs a job that reads and processes the chargeback events in vCloud 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 Manager during cost calculation.

Failed events processor job interval (in seconds)

vCloud Director data collector runs a job to clear failed chargeback events in vCloud Director. This property defines the time in seconds between two such job runs.

Unprocessed VMware vCloud Director chargeback non VM and non Disk event lifetime (in seconds)

This property defines the time for which an unprocessed chargeback event, which is neither a virtual machine-related event nor a disk-related event, is retained in the database. Virtual machine-related events are the events such as virtual machine creation and deletion. Disk-related events are events such as creation of an independent disk and associating a disk with a virtual machine.

The default value is 100 days. 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:

Event was generated when it was not necessary.

Event fails to get persisted in the vCloud Director database.

Unprocessed VMware vCloud Director chargeback VM and Disk event lifetime (in seconds)

This property defines the time for which an unprocessed chargeback event, which is either a virtual machine-related event or a disk-related event, is retained in the database. Virtual machine-related events are the events such as virtual machine creation and deletion. Disk-related events are events such as creation of an independent disk and associating a disk with a virtual machine.

Event was generated when it was not necessary.

Event fails to get persisted in the vCloud Director database.

VMware vCloud Director apply overage charge on Allocation Pool vDC

Set this flag to true to consider the percentage guarantee value along with the allocation value for the computing resources. This is global flag and is applicable for all Org vDCs in the Allocation Pool model. The default value is false.

The Change Data Collector property screen is displayed.

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4 Modify the property value and click Save.

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What to do next

If you modify the vCloud Director URL, the database details, or the unprocessed event lifetime values, you must restart the data collector for the change to take effect.

You can test the connection to the vCloud Director database by clicking the Test VMware Cloud Director database connection link. This link is available only if you integrate with a vCloud Director 1.5.x setup.

Configure vShield Manager Data Collector

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 Manager. You can see these instances in vCenter Chargeback Manager only after the VMware vCloud 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 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 external traffic 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.

The Edit vShield Manager Setting screen is displayed.

6 Modify the property values and click Save.

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.

What to do next

If you modify the External traffic 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.

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Modify Super User Password for Cloud Data Collectors

You must have the Super User role to perform this task.

Procedure

1 On the Settings tab, click Data Collectors.

2 Select the VMware Cloud Director tab.

3 Click Change password for 'superuser' for cloud data collectors link.

Here, superuser is the user name used when installing vCenter Chargeback Manager.

The Change Password screen is displayed.

4 Enter the new password for superuser.

5 Confirm the new password.

6 Click Change Password.

What to do next

You must restart the vCloud 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 Manager license by clicking License on the Settings tab.

The following table lists the license information displayed on the License page.

Table 2-2. 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 Manager 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 Manager setup.

Current Count Used This entry indicates the current number of ESXi host CPUs or the virtual machines running on

the ESXi hosts that are accounted for by using your vCenter Chargeback Manager setup.

Maximum Count Allowed

Is Valid Whether the current license is valid or not.

This entry indicates the maximum number of ESXi host CPUs or the virtual machines running on the ESXi hosts that can be accounted for by using your vCenter Chargeback Manager setup. This maximum limit is defined in the license.

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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.

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 Manager 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.

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.

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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.

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

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.

8 Click Footer.

The Footer section of the report template displays three sub-sections.

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

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 based on the system date and time on the machine where vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

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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 64. The attributes set on the hierarchy and entities can be used to filter the hierarchies

and entities on which a report needs to be generated or scheduled.

If you integrate a vCloud Director setup with vCenter Chargeback Manager by installing the vCloud Director data collector, then a default attribute is created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. This attribute is called

EntityLevelOverageFlag. You can use this attribute to override the global data collector property, VMware vCloud Director apply overage charge on Allocation Pool vDC, at the entity level. This attribute can be set

to true or false.

You can manage the attributes in the application from the Manage Attributes page of the Settings tab. The page display a table listing the attributes created in vCenter Chargeback Manager and those imported from the vCenter Servers that are added to vCenter Chargeback Manager. The Source column of the table lists the vCenter Server name from which the attribute is imported. For attributes created in vCenter Chargeback Manager, this column is empty.

Add an Attribute

You can define one or more attributes in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

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.

Modify an Attribute

You can modify the attributes defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager

You must be the owner of the attribute or should have the Super User role to modify the attribute. Also, you can only modify attributes that are created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. Attributes imported from vCenter Server cannot be modified.

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Procedure

1 In the Settings tab, click Manage Attributes.

The page displays a table with all the attributes available in your vCenter Chargeback Manager installation.

2 Select the attribute that you want to modify and click Edit.

3 Modify the required information.

4 Click Save.

The modified attribute details are listed in the table.

Delete an Attribute

The attributes that are not required can be deleted from the application.

You cannot delete attributes that are imported from the vCenter Server. If an attribute is deleted from the vCenter Server, it is also deleted from vCenter Chargeback Manager during the next run of the data collector synchronization job.

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 Manager, vCenter Chargeback Manager 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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2 In the vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager Database section, set the Normal and Alert response time limits.

The Normal, Warning, and Alert latency ranges for the vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

Manage Computing Resources

You can specify the computing resources that will be available to the users in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

On the Computing Resources page of the Settings tab, you can specify the computing resources that will be available to the users in vCenter Chargeback Manager. To know more about the chargeable computing resources defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager, see “Chargeable Computing Resource,” on page 70.

Users can perform computing resource-related operations, such as defining base rates and rate factors, and generating reports, only for the selected computing resources. Specifying which computing resources are available to the users does not effect the data collector jobs. The data collector fetches the relevant information for all the computing resources.

You must have the Super User role to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Settings tab, click Computing Resources.

2 Select the computing resources that the users can use in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

3 Click Apply.

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Authenticating and Managing Users,

Roles, and Permissions 3

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides user management features that enable you to manage the various users, roles, and permissions defined in the application.

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides resource-based authorization. The application defines different permissions for each resource. The application also provides few predefined roles. In addition, you can create new roles and users as per your requirements.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Resource Based Authorization in vCenter Chargeback Manager,” on page 37

“Permissions Defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager,” on page 38

“Managing Roles,” on page 39

“Managing Users,” on page 46

“vCenter Chargeback Manager User Authentication,” on page 54

Resource Based Authorization in vCenter Chargeback Manager

vCenter Chargeback Manager defines various resource types and authorizes access to a resource on the basis of the role assigned to a user.

Table 3-1 lists the various resource types defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Table 3-1. Resource Types Defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager

Resource Type Description

VMware vCenter Server This resource type refers to the vCenter Server instances added to vCenter Chargeback

Manager. A user must have read permission on a vCenter Server to read its entities and add them to a chargeback hierarchy.

vCenter Server Entity This resource type refers to the entities in the vCenter Server hierarchy.

Data Collector This resource type refers to data collectors registered with vCenter Chargeback Manager. 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 Manager.

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 Manager.

Only a super user has all permissions on this resource type.

Chargeback Hierarchy This resource type refers to the hierarchies created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. A user

must have read permission on a chargeback hierarchy to access the hierarchy.

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Table 3-1. Resource Types Defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager (Continued)

Resource Type Description

Chargeback Hierarchical Entity

Attribute This resource type refers to any attribute created or imported in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Tier This resource type refers to the storage tiers created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. A user

Pricing Model This resource type refers to the pricing models defined or created in vCenter Chargeback

Cost Template This resource type refers to the cost templates created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. A user

Fixed Cost This resource type refers to the fixed costs created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. A user

Report This resource type refers to the reports created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. A user must

Schedule This resource type refers to the reporting schedules created in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Role This resource type refers to the roles defined or created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. Only

Billing Policy This resource type refers to the billing policies defined or created in vCenter Chargeback

Automatic Report Scheduler

This resource type refers to any entity created or added to a hierarchy in vCenter Chargeback Manager. A user must have read permission on the entity and the corresponding hierarchy to access it.

Only users with the Administrator role and Super User role have create permission for this resource type.

must have read permission on the vCenter Server to access storage tiers.

Manager. A user must have read permission on a pricing model to use it for cost configuration and report generation.

must have read permission on a cost template to use it for cost configuration.

must have read permission on a fixed cost to use it for cost configuration.

have read permission on a report to access the report.

A user must have read permission on a schedule to access the reporting schedule.

users with the Administrator role or Super User role have create permission for this resource type.

Manager. A user must have read permission on a billing policy to use it for cost configuration and report generation.

This resource type refers to the automatic report schedulers defined or created in vCenter Chargeback Manager. A user must have read permission on an automatic report scheduler to access it and the corresponding schedules.

Permissions Defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 3-2 shows the permissions that can be set for the resource types defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Table 3-2. 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

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Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Modify

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Table 3-2. Permissions Applicable for Each Resource Type (Continued)

Entity Cost

Resource Type Create Read Update Delete

Tier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Pricing 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

Automatic Report Scheduler

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:

Data Collector

LDAP Server

SMTP Server

vCenter Server Entity

Attribute

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 Manager 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.

Predefined Roles in vCenter Chargeback Manager on page 40

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides 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, No Access, Dependent Resource Update, and Dependent Resource Read. These roles have a set of permissions on the various resource types defined in them.

Create a Role on page 44

Apart from the system-defined roles, you can define your own custom roles in vCenter Chargeback Manager. These roles can then be assigned to the users created in the application.

Modify a Role on page 45

You can modify an existing role, other than the system-defined roles.

Delete a Role on page 45

You can delete any of the existing custom roles in the application. The system-defined roles cannot be deleted.

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Predefined Roles in vCenter Chargeback Manager

Super User Role

Table 3-3 lists the permissions defined in the Super User role for each of the resource type.

Table 3-3. 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

Pricing 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

Automatic Report Scheduler

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Administrator Role

Table 3-4 lists the permissions defined in the Administrator role for each of the resource type.

Table 3-4. 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

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Yes Yes Yes Yes No

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Table 3-4. Permissions Defined on the Administrator Role (Continued)

Resource Type Create Read Update Delete

Entity Cost Modify

Chargeback Hierarchy

Chargeback Hierarchical Entity

Attribute Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Tier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Pricing 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

Automatic Report Scheduler

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Hierarchy Manager Role

Table 3-5 lists the permissions defined in the Hierarchy Manager role for each of the resource type.

Table 3-5. 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 No No No No

Tier No No No No No

Pricing 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

No Yes No No No

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

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Table 3-5. Permissions Defined on the Hierarchy Manager Role (Continued)

Resource Type Create Read Update Delete

Billing Policy Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Automatic Report Scheduler

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Report Generator Role

Table 3-6 lists the permissions defined in the Report Generator role for each of the resource type.

Table 3-6. Permissions Defined on the Report Generator Role

Resource Type Create Read Update Delete

Entity Cost 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 No No No No

Tier No No No No No

Pricing 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

Automatic Report Scheduler

No No No No No

No Yes No No No

No Yes No No Yes

Yes Yes Yes Yes No

vCenter Guest User Role

Table 3-7 lists the permissions defined in the vCenter Guest User role for each of the resource type.

Table 3-7. 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

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Table 3-7. Permissions Defined on the vCenter Guest User Role (Continued)

Resource Type Create Read Update Delete

Entity Cost Modify

Chargeback Hierarchy

Chargeback Hierarchical Entity

Attribute No No No No No

Tier No No No No No

Pricing 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

Automatic Report Scheduler

No Yes No No No

No No No No No

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.

Dependent Resource Update Role

Table 3-8 lists the permissions defined in the Dependent Resource Update role for each of the resource type.

vCenter Chargeback Manager assigns this role to the user on the dependent resources. For more information,

“Assign a Role to a User for a Resource,” on page 52.

Table 3-8. Permissions Defined on the Dependent Resource Update 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

Pricing Model No No No No No

Cost Template No No No No No

Fixed Cost Yes Yes Yes No No

No No No No No

Modify

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Table 3-8. Permissions Defined on the Dependent Resource Update Role (Continued)

Resource Type Create Read Update Delete

Report No Yes Yes No No

Schedule No Yes Yes No No

Role No No No No No

Billing Policy No Yes Yes No No

Automatic Report Scheduler

No No No No No

Dependent Resource Read Role

Table 3-9 lists the permissions defined in the Dependent Resource Read role for each of the resource type.

vCenter Chargeback Manager assigns this role to the user on the dependent resources. For more information,

“Assign a Role to a User for a Resource,” on page 52.

Table 3-9. Permissions Defined on the Dependent Resource Read Role

Resource Type Create Read Update Delete

Entity Cost 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 No No No No

Tier No No No No No

Pricing Model No No No No No

Cost Template No No No No No

Fixed Cost No Yes No No No

Report No Yes No No No

Schedule No Yes No No No

Role No No No No No

Billing Policy No Yes No No No

Automatic Report Scheduler

No No No No No

Create a Role

Apart from the system-defined roles, you can define your own custom roles in vCenter Chargeback Manager. 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.

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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

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.

4 Select the required permissions for the available resource types.

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.

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.

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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 Manager instance. You can create more users in the application. To create and manage users in vCenter Chargeback Manager, 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 Manager, 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:

Resources on which he is given access privileges by a super user.

Resources created by him.

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 an 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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Creating Users

You can create multiple users and groups in vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager user whose details are defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

LDAP User

This is a Windows Active Directory user. The LDAP server must be configured in vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager to add such a group. The group details are defined in the Windows Active Directory.

vCenter Chargeback Manager also defines another type of user called VC User. This is a vCenter Server user. This user can access vCenter Chargeback Manager from the vSphere Client when he logs in to a vCenter Server that has been added to vCenter Chargeback Manager with the Register As vSphere Client Plug-in option selected. This user is added automatically to the list of users when the user logs in to vCenter Server.

Create a Local User

A local user is a user whose account details are defined in the vCenter Chargeback Manager. 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 contains at least 8 characters and should not exceed 24 characters in length. The password cannot be same as the user name. Also, the password must be alphanumeric and include a combination of upper-case and lower-case characters and contain at least a numeral.

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 Manager.

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5 Click Add.

The newly created user is added to the table displaying the users and groups created in the application.

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 an LDAP User

You can add Windows Active Directory users to vCenter Chargeback Manager. The account details of such users are originally defined in the Windows Active Directory. An LDAP user added to vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 an LDAP user, ensure that the LDAP server is configured in the application. If no LDAP Server is configured in vCenter Chargeback Manager, an error message stating the same is displayed when adding an 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 Manager. 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.

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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 an LDAP Group

Like LDAP users you can also add LDAP groups to vCenter Chargeback Manager.

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 an LDAP group, ensure that the LDAP server is configured in the application. If no LDAP Server is configured in vCenter Chargeback Manager, an error message stating the same is displayed when adding an 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 Manager. 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 an 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.

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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.

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 Manager.

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.

The password must contains at least 8 characters and should not exceed 24 characters in length. The password cannot be same as the user name. Also, the password must be alphanumeric and include a combination of upper-case and lower-case characters and contain at least a numeral.

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.

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.

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.

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Assign a Role to a User on vCenter Chargeback Manager

The role assigned to the user on vCenter Chargeback Manager defines the actions that the user can perform in the application. A user must have a role assigned to him on vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

You can assign only a single role to a user on vCenter Chargeback Manager. 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 Manager.

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 Manager 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 Manager, 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 an LDAP user or group.

4 Click Apply.

The selected role is assigned to the user on vCenter Chargeback Manager.

What to do next

Assigning a role on vCenter Chargeback Manager, 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.

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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.

The role that users can assign to other users on a resource depends on:

The permissions that the user has on the resource.

The roles that the user has access to.

When you assign a role to a user for a resource, vCenter Chargeback Manager automatically assigns either the Dependent Resource Update role or the Dependent Resource Read role to the user for the dependent resources.

Table 3-10 lists the resources in vCenter Chargeback Manager that have a dependent resource.

Table 3-10. Dependent resources in vCenter Chargeback Manager

Parent Resource Dependent Resources

Pricing Model Billing Policy and Fixed Cost

Cost Template Fixed Cost

Schedule Report

Automatic Report Scheduler Schedule

If you assign a role with update permission on the parent resource, then vCenter Chargeback Manager assigns the Dependent Resource Update role to the user for the dependent resources. If you assign a role with only read permission on the parent resource, then vCenter Chargeback Manager assigns the Dependent Resource Read role to the user for the dependent resources.

For example, if you assign a role with only read permission to a user on a pricing model that you have created, then the user automatically get read permission on the fixed costs defined in the pricing model.

Procedure

1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Permissions.

2 Select the required resource type from the list.

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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.

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.

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 Manager

The role assigned to user on vCenter Chargeback Manager can be revoked as and when required.

Procedure

1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Permissions.

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.

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The role is revoked from the user. Revoking the role assigned to the user on vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager 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 an LDAP user. If you are logging in as an 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. If the LDAP user contains special characters in the user name, then to log in to vCenter Chargeback Manager as such a user, replace each special character with an underscore (_) in the user name.

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 Manager 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

LDAP Code

The user name of a user.

Password for the user.

The user type.

If you select LDAP for Login in to, you must specify the LDAP Code for the LDAP server.

3 Click OK.

For a Local user, after three successive failed login attempts, the account gets locked and the application displays a Captcha image during login. You must authenticate with the correct user account details and enter the text in the Captcha image to unlock the account and log in to the application. If you do not unlock a locked user account, vCenter Chargeback Manager automatically unlocks it after 30 minutes.

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 vSphere 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 19.

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 Manager and the vCenter Server resource.

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After registering the application as a plug-in, when you log in to the vCenter Server through the vSphere Client, the application might display a security warning message for installing or ignoring the SSL certificate from the vCenter Chargeback Manager instance. You must install this certificate.

When you access vCenter Chargeback Manager from the vSphere Client plug-in, you can see only the entities of the vCenter Server on which your user account is created. You cannot access any other vCenter Server added to vCenter Chargeback Manager, including vCenter Servers that are linked to the vCenter Server on which your user account is created.

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

The existing password.

The desired new password. The password must contains at least 8 characters and should not exceed 24 characters in length. The password cannot be same as the user name. Also, the password must include a combination of uppercase and lower-case characters.

Re-enter the new password.

4 Click Change.

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Managing Chargeback Hierarchies 4

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager 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 Manager 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 Manager entities are custom entities that could represent a logical parent for the vCenter Server entities. For example, the vCenter Chargeback Manager entities could represent the departments, cost centers, or business units in an organization. A vCenter Chargeback Manager entity can contain one or more vCenter Server entities and vCenter Chargeback Manager entities.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Creating a Chargeback Hierarchy,” on page 57

“Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy,” on page 60

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 Manager 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 Manager.

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 60.

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 Manager. You must also have a read privilege on the vCenter Server.

Prerequisites

Ensure that the vCenter Server is added to vCenter Chargeback Manager. To know more about how to add a vCenter Server to the application, refer to “Add vCenter Server Information,” on page 19.

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. You can add the entities from the vCenter Server hierarchy in the Hosts and Cluster view or the VMs and Templates view.

5 Click Create.

A chargeback hierarchy similar to the vCenter Server hierarchy with the selected view is created.

vCenter Chargeback Manager displays all the virtual machines, including the ones that are suspended or powered off, in the chargeback hierarchy. However, vCenter Chargeback Manager does not display the status of the virtual machines and ESXi hosts added to the hierarchy. All the virtual machines in the hierarchy have the same icon and do not indicate whether they are powered on, suspended, or powered off. This, however, does not affect the usage and cost calculation. The usage statistics that are used by vCenter Chargeback Manager to calculate the costs are tracked by vCenter Server and stored in the vCenter Server database.

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 60.

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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.

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 59.

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 Manager.

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 4-1 describes each of the parameters in the CSV file entry.

Table 4-1. Parameters in the CSV File Entry

Parameters Description

UniqueId

ChildName

ParentId

ChildEntityType

description

vcIP/DNS

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 Manager 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 Manager.

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Table 4-1. Parameters in the CSV File Entry (Continued)

Parameters Description

vcEntityMoId

vCenterViewId

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 Manager 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 the chargeback hierarchy population CSV file. The latest version is 1.5.0. If this line is not present, the format of the CSV file entries 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.

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.

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 Manager does not display the status of the virtual machines and ESXi hosts added to the hierarchy. All the virtual machines in the hierarchy have the same icon and do not indicate whether they are powered on, suspended, or powered off. Also, vCenter Chargeback Manager does not show the status of the virtual machines in the vCenter Server hierarchy. The vCenter Server hierarchy displays all the virtual machines, including the ones that are suspended or powered off. However, this does not affect the usage and cost calculation. The usage statistics that are used by vCenter Chargeback Manager to calculate the costs are tracked by vCenter Server and stored in the vCenter Server database.

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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 Manager 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.

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 searches for entities that have been fetched and displayed in the application.

Add a vCenter Chargeback Manager Entity

You can add vCenter Chargeback Manager entities to a chargeback hierarchy to logically group vCenter Server entities in the hierarchy. A vCenter Chargeback Manager entity can represent the departments, cost centers, and business units in an organization.

To add a vCenter Chargeback Manager 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

Manager entity and select New Chargeback Folder from the pop-up menu.

You can add vCenter Chargeback Manager entities to the hierarchy or to another vCenter Chargeback Manager entity in the hierarchy. You cannot add a vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 ESXi 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.

When adding a vCenter Server entity, vCenter Chargeback Manager displays all the virtual machines, including the ones that are suspended or powered off, in the vCenter Server hierarchy. You can, therefore, include all the entities that are present in the vCenter Server hierarchy to the chargeback hierarchy.

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vCenter Chargeback Manager does not display the status of the virtual machines and ESXi hosts in the vCenter Server hierarchy. Also, after adding the entity to the chargeback hierarchy, vCenter Chargeback manager does not display the status of the virtual machines and ESXi hosts in the chargeback hierarchy. All the virtual machines in the hierarchy have the same icon and do not indicate whether they are powered on, suspended, or powered off. This, however, does not affect the usage and cost calculation. The usage statistics that are used by vCenter Chargeback Manager to calculate the costs are tracked by vCenter Server and stored in the vCenter Server database.

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 Manager 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.

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 Manager 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) 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.

6 (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 Manager hierarchy are same and one of the highlighting options is selected.

7 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.

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8 Select the vCenter Chargeback Manager 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

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.

Rename a Chargeback Hierarchy or a Chargeback Entity

You can edit the names of chargeback hierarchies and the vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

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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 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.

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 attributes in the application, including the ones imported from the vCenter Servers, and the corresponding values assigned to them on the entity, if any. You cannot modify the values assigned on a vCenter Server entity.

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4 Enter or update the values for the attributes that you want to assign to the entity.

You can overwrite the values of only the attributes created in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

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.

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 Manager 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 Manager. 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.

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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 pricing 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.

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.

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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 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 Manager 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.

You cannot backdate hierarchies imported from a VMware vCloud Director setup in to vCenter Chargeback Manager. vCenter Chargeback Manager identifies the hierarchies imported from VMware vCloud Director by using the attribute VcloudOrgEntity set on them. Therefore, if the VcloudOrgEntity attribute is set on any user- defined hierarchy in vCenter Chargeback Manager, 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.

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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.

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 Manager Cost Elements 5

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Manager to successfully generate the required cost reports.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“vCenter Chargeback Manager Cost-Related Elements,” on page 69

“Managing Pricing Models,” on page 80

“Managing Fixed Costs,” on page 85

“Managing Cost Templates,” on page 88

“Managing Billing Policies,” on page 90

“Configuring Cost at the Entity Level,” on page 93

“Physical Infrastructure Costing,” on page 95

“Configuring a Pricing Matrix for Virtual Machines,” on page 98

vCenter Chargeback Manager Cost-Related Elements

You must know about the vCenter Chargeback Manager cost-related elements to effectively create and configure a pricing model.

vCenter Chargeback Manager includes the following cost related elements.

Chargeable computing resource

Base rate

Rate factor

Fixed cost

Billing policy

Pricing model

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 Manager accounts for the following computing resources:

CPU

Disk Read and Write

Disk Read

Disk Write

Memory

Network Received and

The CPU usage is measured in GHz.

The usage is measured in GB/hour.

The memory usage is measured in GB.

The network usage (both upload and download) is measured in GB/hour.

Transmitted

Network Received

Network Transmitted

Storage

vCPU

The network usage for download measured in GB/hour.

The network usage for upload measured in GB/hour.

The usage is measured in GB.

The number of virtual CPUs in the virtual machine.

If the vCloud Director data collector and vShield Manager data collector are installed, vCenter Chargeback Manager also accounts for the following resources:

Count of Networks

The number of networks that belong to an organization, an org vDC, or a vApp in vCloud Director.

Enabled IPSec VPN

The number of enabled IPSec VPN tunnels.

Tunnel Count

NAT Service

DHCP Service

FIREWALL Service

Load Balancer Service

Static Routing Service

Gateway HA Enabled

Full Gateway Configuration

External Network Transmit

External Network Receive

Whether the NAT service for vCloud Director network is enabled or not.

Whether the DHCP service for vCloud Director network is enabled or not.

Whether the firewall service for vCloud Director network is enabled or not.

Whether the load balancer service for vCloud Director network is enabled or not.

Whether the static routing service for vCloud Director network is enabled or not.

Whether HA is enabled on the gateway in the vCloud Director network.

Whether full gateway configuration is used in the vCloud Director network.

The external network usage for upload measured in MB.

The external network usage for download measured in MB.

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External Network

The external network usage for upload measured in MB/hour.

Transmit Rate

External Network

The external network usage for download measured in MB/hour.

Receive Rate

NOTE The cloud data collectors fetch the external network traffic data only for networks that have a vShield Edge instance in vShield Manager. An Edge instance is present only if the network is either PRIVATE_ROUTED ORG NETWORK, ROUTED VAPP NETWORK or FENCED VAPP NETWORK. Therefore, the external network counters are not charged for other types of vCloud Director networks. Also, the chargeable external traffic networks are present at org level. Therefore, these counters are not accounted for in reports that are generated at the vDC level.

Attributes for Accounting Chargeable Computing Resources

The amount of computing resource to be accounted for depends on the attributes defined in the billing policy expression.

The attributes used by vCenter Chargeback Manager are as follows:

usage

The actual utilization of the resource by the virtual machine. The usage statistics are collected by the vCenter Server and replicated in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database by the data collector synchronization jobs. This attribute can be used only with CPU, memory, storage, disk I/O, network I/O, vCPU, and external network transmit and receive computing resources. For storage, the usage attribute indicates the total provisioned storage space for the virtual machine. For vCPU, the usage attribute indicates the vCPU count.

reservation

allocation

The amount of resource reserved for the virtual machine. This reservation is configured in vCenter Server. Reservation can be defined only for CPU and memory. The reservation information is replicated in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database by the data collector synchronization jobs.

The amount of resource allocated for the virtual machine. This is a user-defined allocation and is configured in vCenter Chargeback Manager. If you have integrated a vCloud Director setup with vCenter Chargeback Manager, then the allocation values that you have defined in vCloud Director are imported in to vCenter Chargeback Manager by the cloud data collectors. This attribute can be used with all computing resources except external network transmit and external network receive. For all the network-related services, such as NAT service, DHCP service, and full gateway configuration, allocation attribute indicates whether the corresponding service is enabled or not for the virtual machine.

Unlike reservation, an allocation value does not assure a minimum resource availability to the virtual machine. Neither does this value define a maximum resource utilization. That is to say, the allocation values do not impact the resource reservation and resource utilization. This attribute is useful when you want to enforce a minimum amount of resource to be charged, irrespective of the actual resource utilization or the resource reservation.

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size

This attribute can be used only for memory. The memory size is fetched from the vCenter Server and replicated in the vCenter Chargeback Manager database by the data collector synchronization jobs.

burstable utilization

This attribute lets you account for the 95th percentile of actual utilization. This attribute is available only for the external network transmit rate and external network receive rate computing resources.

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 5-1 lists a set of sample base rates for a unit of each chargeable computing resource.

Table 5-1. 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

The base rate duration is configurable. vCenter Chargeback Manager lets you define the base rate for an hour, day, week, month, quarter, half-year, or year for each computing resource. The precision for a base rate value is four digits.

In the case of time zones with daylight savings time, if you configure an hourly rate for a resource, then the cost of the resource for a day is accounted for either 23 hours or 25 hours, as applicable. However, daylight saving days are considered as full days and a daily cost configured for a resource is charged entirely and not adjusted based on the number of hours in the daylight saving day. Similarly, the weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and yearly rates are considered in entirety and not adjusted for daylight savings.

For example, if you configure an hourly rate of $1 for a resource, then the total cost for the resource for a day would be either $23 or $25 based on the date. However, if you configure a daily rate of $10 for a resource, the cost of the resource for a day is accounted as $10 for any day of the year.

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 5-2 lists sample base rates, rate factors, and the total cost for a unit of the chargeable computing resource

consumed, reserved, or allocated.

Table 5-2. 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

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Table 5-2. Sample Base Rates and Rate Factors (Continued)

Chargeable Resource Base Rate ($) Rate Factor Total Charge ($)

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 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.

A one-time fixed cost is a charge that you want to levy once on an entity for a service provided. For example, virtual machine provisioning fees. This is a one-time cost that you want to charge for every virtual machine provisioned. If the time when the fixed cost is applied on an entity falls within the reporting duration, then the report generated on the entity or its parent includes this cost.

Billing Policy

A billing policy determines the amount of chargeable computing resources units to be considered, the corresponding base rates, and fixed costs for calculating the chargeback cost.

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides the various billing policies. Each billing policy only accounts for the amount of resource consumed, reserved, or allocated during the reporting duration.

Fixed Cost

Only the fixed costs associated with each entity in the chargeback hierarchy is considered for billing. The fixed costs include the vServices and guest operating system costs defined in the pricing model, any attribute name-value pair rulebased fixed costs defined in the pricing model that are applicable on the hierarchical entities, fixed costs explicitly set on the hierarchical entities for the

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pricing model, and virtual machine instance costs defined for the pricing model. The actual usage and any allocated and reserved units of the chargeable computing resources are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

fixed costs = include;

Actual Usage

Reservation Based

Allocation Based

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 pricing model and the actual used units of the chargeable computing resources. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

other resources = usage;

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. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = reservation; memory = reservation; other resources = usage;

This policy takes into account the allocation units you set on the hierarchical entities for the computing resources in vCenter Chargeback Manager. In the case of a vCloud Director hierarchy imported in to vCenter Chargeback Manager, the allocations defined on the entities in vCloud Director is also imported and accounted for during cost calculation. The allocated units along with the base rates defined in the pricing model is used for calculating the total cost. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

CPU Reservation

Memory Reservation

Maximum of Usage and Reservation

other resources = allocation;

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. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = reservation; other resources = usage;

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. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

memory = reservation; other resources = usage;

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.

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The maximum of usage and reservation is not calculated by comparing the total used units for the entire reporting duration against the total reserved units for the entire reporting duration. vCenter Chargeback Manager compares the used and reserved units for each sample available for the specified reporting duration to calculate the total units to be charged. The samples are fetched from the vCenter Server database. vCenter Server provides samples for the following time slices: 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours, and 1 day.

vCenter Chargeback Manager uses the largest time slice sample available to calculate the maximum of used and reserved units. For example, if a report is generated for a week using this billing policy, then for calculating the total CPU and memory units to be charged, vCenter Chargeback uses the daily sample for each day of the week and compares the used units for each day with the reserved units of that day and accounts for the maximum of the two. If for any days of the week the daily samples are unavailable, then vCenter Chargeback Manager uses the 2 hour samples only for those days to calculate the total CPU and memory units to be charged.

All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = max(usage, reservation); memory = max(usage, reservation); other resources = usage;

Maximum of CPU Usage and CPU Reservation

Maximum of Memory Usage and Memory Reservation

Fixed Cost and Actual Usage

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. The total CPU units to be charged is calculated in the same way as specified for the Maximum of Usage and Reservation billing policy. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = max(usage, reservation); other resources = usage;

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. The total memory units to be charged is calculated in the same way as specified for the Maximum of Usage and Reservation billing policy. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

memory = max(usage, reservation); other resources = usage;

This policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity and the actual utilization of the chargeable computing resources by the entity for calculating the total cost. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

Fixed Cost and Allocation

This policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity and the user-defined allocations units set on the entity for the chargeable computing resources when calculating the total cost. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

other resources = allocation; fixed costs = include;

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Fixed Cost and Reservation

Fixed Cost and CPU Reservation

Fixed Cost and Memory Reservation

When calculating the total cost, this policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity, the reserved capacity of CPU and memory for the entity, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources by the entity. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = reservation; memory = reservation; other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

When calculating the total cost, this policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity, the reserved capacity of CPU for the entity, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources by the entity. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = reservation; other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

When calculating the total cost, this policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity, the reserved capacity of memory for the entity, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources by the entity. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

memory = reservation; other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

Fixed Cost and Maximum of Usage and Reservation

Fixed Cost and Maximum of CPU Usage and CPU Reservation

This policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity, the maximum of used and reserved units of CPU for the entity, the maximum of used and reserved units of memory for the entity, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources by the entity for calculating the total cost. The total CPU and memory units to be charged is calculated in the same way as specified for the Maximum of Usage and Reservation billing policy. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = max(usage, reservation); memory = max(usage, reservation); other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

This policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity, the maximum of used and reserved units of CPU for the entity, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources by the entity for calculating the total cost. The total CPU units to be charged is calculated in the same way as specified for the Maximum of Usage and Reservation billing policy. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = max(usage, reservation); other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

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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 all the fixed costs associated with an entity, the maximum of used and reserved units of memory for the entity, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources by the entity for calculating the total cost. The total memory units to be charged is calculated in the same way as specified for the Maximum of Usage and Reservation billing policy. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

memory = max(usage, reservation); other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

This policy takes into account the number of virtual CPUs and the total amount of memory allocated to the virtual machine on the ESXi host, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources for calculating the total cost. All fixed costs are ignored. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

vCPU count = usage; memory = size; other resources = usage;

This policy takes into account all the fixed costs associated with an entity, the number of virtual CPUs and the total amount of memory allocated to the virtual machines on the ESXi host, and the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources by the entity for calculating the total cost. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

vCPU count = usage; memory = size; other resources = usage; fixed costs = include;

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If you install the vCloud Director data collector, then additional billing policies are available in you vCenter Chargeback Manager setup. By default, fixed costs are not included in any of the billing policies, except the Pay As You Go Fixed Charging billing policy. However, you can modify the billing policies to account for the fixed costs.

VMware Cloud Director Billing Policy - Actual Usage

VMware Cloud Director Billing Policy Allocation Pool

VMware Cloud Director Billing Policy - Overage Allocation Pool

This policy takes in to account the user-defined allocation units for count of networks, enabled IPSec VPN tunnel count, and NAT, DHCP, and firewall services. For all other computing resources, the actual usage is considered for cost calculation. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Actual Usage Pricing Model. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

count of networks = allocation; enabled IPSec VPN tunnel count = allocation; NAT service = allocation; DHCP service = allocation; FIREWALL service = allocation; other resources = usage;

This policy takes in to account the actual usage for external network transmit and external network receive computing resources. For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units in vCenter Chargeback Manager are considered for cost calculation. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Allocation Pool Pricing Model. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

external network transmit = usage; external network receive = usage; other resources = allocation;

This policy calculates the overage cost for CPU and memory based on the actual usage and allocation unit defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager. For the external network transmit and external network receive computing resources, the actual usage is considered. For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units in vCenter Chargeback Manager are considered for cost calculation. The overage rates must be explicitly set in the pricing models. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Overage Allocation Pool Pricing Model. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

cpu = usage; memory = usage; external network transmit = usage; external network receive = usage; other resources = allocation;

VMware Cloud Director Billing Policy Reservation Pool

This policy takes in to account the actual usage for external network transmit 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 Pricing Model. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

external network transmit = usage; external network receive = usage; other resources = allocation;

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VMware Cloud Director Billing Policy - Pay As You Go Fixed Charging

VMware Cloud Director Billing Policy - Pay As You Go Resource Based Charging

This policy takes in to account the actual usage for external network transmit and external network receive computing resources. For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units in vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 Pricing Model. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

external network transmit = usage; external network receive = usage; other resources = allocation; fixed costs = include;

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 transmit and external network receive computing resources. For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units in vCenter Chargeback Manager are considered for cost calculation. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Pay As You Go - Resource Based Charging Pricing Model. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

vCPU count = if (vmpoweron) {allocation;} memory = if (vmpoweron) {allocation;} external network transmit = usage; external network receive = usage; other resources = allocation;

VMware Cloud Director Billing Policy - Networks

This policy takes in to account the actual usage for external network transmit and external network receive computing resources. For all other resources, the user-defined allocation units in vCenter Chargeback Manager are considered for cost calculation. This billing policy is set in the VMware Cloud Director Networks Pricing Model. The expression for the billing policy is as follows:

external network transmit = usage; external network receive = usage; other resources = allocation;

vCenter Chargeback Manager also lets you define and manage your own billing policies. To know more about creating and managing custom billing policies, see “Managing Billing Policies,” on page 90.

Pricing Model

A pricing model defines base rates for the chargeable computing resources, the currency, the billing policy to be used for calculating the total cost, and other costs.

The other costs include cost for the guest operating system installed on the virtual machine and cost for vServices such as, High Availability, Fault Tolerance, and virtual machine creation and deletion cost. A pricing model also enables you to define different billing policies for different time periods. After you define a pricing model in the application, you can define rate factors and fixed costs on entities or hierarchies for the selected pricing model. You can also use the pricing 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 on one or more entities in the hierarchies.

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Managing Pricing Models

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides a default pricing model called Default Chargeback Pricing Model. The pricing models defined in the application can be viewed and managed from the Pricing Models page of the Manage Cost tab.

You can start using the application by creating a chargeback hierarchy and generating basic reports using the default pricing model. You can modify this pricing model as per your requirements. You can also create and manage multiple other pricing models.

Starting with vCenter Chargeback Manager 2.0, the application includes the Default Allocation Based Chargeback Pricing Model. You must only modify the base rates in this pricing model.

If you have installed the vCloud Director data collector, vCenter Chargeback Manager provides few more pricing models:

VMware Cloud Director Actual Usage Pricing Model

VMware Cloud Director Allocation Pool Pricing Model

VMware Cloud Director Overage Allocation Pool Pricing Model

VMware Cloud Director Reservation Pool

VMware Cloud Director Pay As You Go - Fixed Charging Pricing Model

VMware Cloud Director Pay As You Go - Resource Based Charging Pricing Model

VMware Cloud Director Networks Pricing Model

NOTE These pricing models do not define any base rates or fixed costs. You must modify the pricing models and set the required base rates and fixed costs before using them for generating reports. If you define and include fixed costs in these pricing models, ensure that you modify the corresponding billing policies and select the Add/Include Fixed Cost option.

Create a Pricing Model on page 80

You can create multiple pricing models in vCenter Chargeback Manager. Defining multiple pricing models enables you to charge different sets of entities or hierarchies differently. It also enables you to compare the costs calculated using different pricing models for a hierarchy or a set of entities.

Modify a Pricing Model on page 83

After a pricing model is created, you can modify it as and when required.

Delete a Pricing Model on page 85

You can remove invalid or unwanted pricing models from the application. However, you cannot delete the Default Chargeback Pricing Model and Default Allocation Based Chargeback Pricing Model.

Create a Pricing Model

You must have create privilege for the pricing model resource type on vCenter Chargeback Manager to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Pricing Models.

A table listing all the pricing models created in the application is displayed.

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2 Click Create.

The Pricing Model screen is displayed.

3 Provide a name description for the pricing model and set the currency type in the General tab.

Option Description

Name

Description

Currency

Name for the pricing model. This is mandatory information. The character limit for the pricing model name is 255 characters.

An optional description of the pricing model. The character limit for the description is 512 characters.

The currency type used for defining the base rates and special costs in the pricing 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 pricing 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 pricing 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.

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 Manager, a duration value of Monthly is equal to 30 days, Quarterly is equal to 91 days, Halfyearly 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.

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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.

If you want to charge for the complete allocation, even if the usage is less than the allocated units, select the Even if usage is less than allocation, charge for allocated units option.

10 Set the costs for vServices and guest operating systems and the time period for which the costs are

applicable in the Other Costs tab.

vServices include high availability, fault tolerance, and creation and deletion of virtual machines. You can specify whether these vServices costs are prorated and also whether the virtual machine power state needs to be considered.

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.

Option Description

Update from now onwards

Update for the effective period

11 Specify the fixed cost for various guest operating systems and the duration for charging the same.

This is the default selection indicating that the costs for vServices and guest operating systems will be effective from the time of creation till it is changed at a future date.

If you select this option, you must specify the start and end date of the period for which the costs for vServices and guest operating systems will be effective. You must enter the dates in the mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end date is not specified, the costs will be effective from the specified start date till infinity.

You can specify whether the cost is a one-time cost or whether it is prorated. You can also specify whether the virtual machine state should be considered, if you do not define the cost as a one-time cost. If a virtual machine has the specified operating system installed on it, then the set rate would be charged.

If you want to charge all guest operating systems uniformly, select All Other Operating Systems from the list and define the cost. You can also use this option to define a cost for all the guest operating systems, excluding the ones for which you have explicitly defined a cost in the pricing model.

12 (Optional) In the Rules tab, define the attribute-based fixed cost rules.

You can specify fixed costs to be charged on entities that satisfy an attribute-value condition. That is to say, if an attribute-value pair is set on an entity, then a fixed cost can be charged on it by linking the attribute-value pair with the fixed cost in the pricing model.

At least one attribute must be imported or created and one fixed cost must be created in vCenter Chargeback Manager, to define attribute-based fixed cost rules.

a Click Add Row.

b Select the attribute.

c Specify the value for the attribute.

d Select the fixed cost for the specified attribute-value pair.

e (Optional) Repeat the above the steps to link multiple attribute-value pairs with the corresponding

fixed costs.

13 Click Create.

The newly created pricing model is added to the table listing the pricing models.

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Calculate Base Rate Using Base Rate Calculator

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

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 pricing 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 pricing model link on the top of the Suggested Metrics page. The Pricing 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 pricing model creation task.

NOTE The values entered in the Base Rate Calculator screen persist only as long as the current session is active.

Modify a Pricing Model

After a pricing model is created, you can modify it as and when required.

You must have update privilege on the pricing model to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Pricing Models.

A table listing all the pricing models created in the application is displayed.

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2 Select the pricing model that you want to modify, and click Edit.

The Pricing Model screen is displayed.

3 In the General tab, modify the name and description as required.

You cannot modify the currency type for a pricing 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 pricing 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 pricing 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 pricing model.

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 pricing model. You can also modify the existing base rates for different time periods.

The duration can be Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Half-yearly, or Yearly. In vCenter Chargeback Manager, 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.

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.

If you want to charge for the complete allocation, even if the usage is less than the allocated units, select the Even if usage is less than allocation, charge for allocated units option.

7 Modify the fixed cost for vServices and guest operating systems and the corresponding time period in the

Other Costs tab.

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8 Modify the attribute-based fixed cost rules in the Rules tab.

If you have defined attribute-based fixed cost rules in the pricing model, then at least one rule persists in the pricing model and cannot be deleted. To override this condition, you could perform one of the followings tasks:

Modify the value for the attribute in the rule such that the criteria is never satisfied.

Delete the fixed cost from vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Delete the attribute from the vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Create a new pricing model with the same information but without attribute-based fixed cost rules.

9 Click Save to save all your changes.

NOTE The name of the pricing model and the start dates are mandatory information and do not have any default values.

Delete a Pricing Model

You can remove invalid or unwanted pricing models from the application. However, you cannot delete the Default Chargeback Pricing Model and Default Allocation Based Chargeback Pricing Model.

You must have delete privilege on the pricing model to perform this task.

CAUTION If a pricing model is deleted, any entity-specific cost configuration done for this pricing model will also be deleted and the information cannot be retrieved.

Procedure

1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Pricing Models.

A table listing all the pricing models created in the application is displayed.

2 Select the pricing model that you want to delete, and click Delete.

A dialog box confirming the action is displayed.

3 Click OK.

The pricing model is deleted from the application and, consequently, from the table listing the pricing models.

Managing Fixed Costs

vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

Create a Fixed Cost on page 86

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.

Modify a Fixed Cost on page 87

You can modify the fixed costs as and when required.

Delete a Fixed Cost on page 88

You can delete invalid or unwanted fixed costs from the application.

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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.

When defining fixed costs, you can specify whether the cost must be prorated. Prorated fixed costs are considered only for the time for which they are applied on the entity.

For example, you define a fixed cost that must be charged on a monthly basis and assign this cost on an entity on the fifteenth day of the month. At the end of the month when you generate a report on this entity or any of its parent entity, the cost for only the second half of the month would be accounted for.

Also, if an entity is moved within the hierarchy after a prorated fixed cost is applied to it, then the rolled-up fixed cost on the new and old parent entities is accounted for only the duration for which the child entity was in the branch of the parent entities.

You must have create privilege for the fixed cost resource type on vCenter Chargeback Manager 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 the fixed cost details on the General tab.

Option Description

Name

Description

Currency

Prorate

Consider VM State

One Time

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.

Select this option to specify that the fixed cost is prorated.

If selected, the fixed cost is accounted only for the duration for which the virtual machine is in the powered on state.

If the defined cost has to be charged only once on the chargeback entity or hierarchy, then select this option. If you select this option, then you cannot set any duration value for the fixed cost. Also, one-time fixed costs cannot be prorated and do not consider the virtual machine power state.

4 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.

5 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.

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6 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.

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.

vCenter Chargeback Manager does not maintain a history for the Prorate and Consider VM State options of a fixed cost. Therefore, if you change these options, vCenter Chargeback Manager uses the values set for these options on the fixed cost at the time of report generation immaterial of when these options were modified on the fixed cost.

Procedure

1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Fixed Cost.

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 fixed cost details 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.

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.

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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.

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 Manager 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.

Create a Cost Template on page 88

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.

Modify a Cost Template on page 89

After a cost template is created, you can modify it as and when required.

Delete a Cost Template on page 90

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

You must have create privilege for the cost template resource type on vCenter Chargeback Manager 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.

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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.

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 rounds off the precision 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 Propagate 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. You can also specify whether the cost must be applied to all descendants or only to the immediate child entities. You can also select a filter to ensure that the cost is applied to specific entity types, such as virtual machines, ESXi hosts, and vApps.

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.

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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

You must have delete privilege on the cost template to delete 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 delete, and click Delete.

A dialog box confirming the action is displayed.

3 Click OK.

The cost template is deleted from the application and, consequently, from the table listing the cost templates.

Managing Billing Policies

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides various system-defined billing policies. In addition, it lets your define you own billing policies.

You must have privileges on the billing policy resource type to create, update, and delete billing policies. You can view and manage the billing policies from the Billing Policy page of the Manage Cost tab.

Create a Billing Policy

vCenter Chargeback Manager lets you to define custom billing policies as per your requirements.

A billing policy defines an expression that is used for identifying the amount of computing resources units to be considered for calculating the costs. Therefore, a billing policy must account for all the computing resources. The billing policy contains an expression for each resource. The expression includes an attribute value that identifies the computing resource units to be considered for cost calculation. The attribute values can be allocation, reservation, size, and usage. The attribute value reservation is available only for CPU and memory. The attribute value size is available only for memory. To know more about the attributes, refer to “Attributes

for Accounting Chargeable Computing Resources,” on page 71.

The expression can be set to obtain the maximum of available attributes. You can also define an expression that calculates the resource units only if the virtual machine is on. Also, for storage resources, you can specify whether the expression must account for thin provisioned disks as thick provisioned. A billing policy can also account for the fixed costs and the state of the virtual machine.

You must have create privilege for the billing policy resource type on vCenter Chargeback Manager to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Billing Policy.

A table listing all the billing policies created in the application is displayed.

2 Click Create.

The Billing Policy screen is displayed.

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3 Provide a name and description for the billing policy.

Option Description

Name

Description

Name for the billing policy. This is mandatory information. The character limit for the name is 255 characters.

An optional description of the billing policy. The character limit for the description is 512 characters.

4 Select the Expression tab.

5 Select a resource and define an expression for it.

a To include only an attribute, select the required attribute from the Attribute drop-down menu.

The following attributes are available in vCenter Chargeback Manager.

Allocation: The user-defined allocation value for the resource is considered for cost calculation.

Usage: The actual resource usage is considered for cost calculation.

Reservation: The amount of resource reserved by the user is considered for cost calculation. This attribute is available only for CPU and memory.

Burstable Utilization: This attribute lets you account for the 95th percentile of actual utilization. This attribute is available only for the external network transmit rate and external network receive rate computing resources.

b To obtain a maximum of a set of attribute values, click MAX and then select the required attributes

from the Attribute drop-down menu.

c To calculate the resource units only for the powered-on virtual machine, first select the VM Power

On/Off option and then define the required expression for the selected resource.

d To account for the storage linked clones, select the Distribute Linked Clones option. This option is

available only if you define an expression for the storage resource. Accounting for linked clones is only supported with vCenter Server 4.0 and later.

e To charge thin provisioned disks as thick provisioned, select the Charge as Thick Provisioning

option. This option is available only if you define an expression for the storage resource. Charging as thick provisioning is only supported with vCenter Server 4.0 and later.

f Repeat this step for each computing resource. You can select All other resources from the Resource

drop-down menu and define an expression for all the computing resources for which an expression has not been defined in the billing policy.

NOTE The billing policy must account for all the computing resources.

6 (Optional) Select Add/Include Fixed Cost to consider the fixed costs during cost calculation.

7 Click Create.

The created billing policy is displayed in the table on the Billing Policy page.

Example: A Sample Billing Policy Expression

Let us try to define a billing policy that accounts for the maximum of reserved units and actual utilization for memory and CPU only for virtual machines that are powered on, maximum of allocated or provisioned storage and also consider the linked clones, the number of vCPUs, and allocation value for all other resources.

Table 5-3 lists the resources and the corresponding conditions, operators, and attributes for defining this billing

policy expression.

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Table 5-3. Sample Billing Policy Expression

Resource VM Power On/Off MAX Operator Attribute(s)

CPU Yes Yes reservation, usage N.A.

Memory Yes Yes reservation, usage N.A.

Storage No Yes allocation, usage Yes

vCPU No No usage N.A

All other resources No No allocation N.A.

In this billing policy, if you want to account for the fixed costs, then you must select the Add/Include Fixed Cost option. The expression of this billing policy is as follows:

cpu = if (vmpoweron) {max(reservation, usage)}; memory = if (vmpoweron) {max(reservation, usage)}; storage = distribute linkedclones; max(allocation,usage); vCPU = usage; all other resources = allocation; fixed cost = include;

Edit a Billing Policy

Distributed Linked Clones

You can modify the custom billing policies at any time.

You must have update privilege on the billing policy to perform this task. However, you cannot modify the system-defined billing policies that are listed in “Billing Policy,” on page 73.

Procedure

1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Billing Policy.

A table listing all the billing policies created in the application is displayed.

2 Select the required billing policy from the table and click Edit.

The Billing Policy screen is displayed.

3 (Optional) Modify the name and description on the General tab.

4 Select the Expression tab and modify the required expressions.

a To modify only the expression for a resource, select the resource, click Clear selected expression, and

define the new expression.

b If you want to delete a resource from the list of resources and corresponding expression, select the

resource from the list and click Delete row. You can delete all the resources by clicking Delete All.

c You can include or exclude fixed costs by selecting or deselecting the Add/Include Fixed Cost option.

5 Click Save.

Delete a Billing Policy

You can delete custom billing policies if they are no longer required.

You must have delete privilege on the billing policy to perform this task.

NOTE The system-defined billing policies cannot be deleted.

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Procedure

1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Billing Policy.

A table listing all the billing policies created in the application is displayed.

2 Select the required billing policy from the table and click Delete.

3 Click OK to confirm the delete operation.

Configuring Cost at the Entity Level

The base rates defined in a pricing model are global values and can be applied uniformly to the entities and hierarchies for which you generate a report.

In a real-world scenario, however, you might want to charge each entity or a set of entities differently. That is, the resource usage costs for one virtual machine might differ from that for the other. This can be achieved only if the costs for each entity or a set of entities in the hierarchy are configured separately. You might also want charge specific fixed costs for some of the entities.

View Cost Configuration of an Entity

You can view entity-specific cost configuration details in the Configure Cost tab.

You must have read privilege on the hierarchy, chargeback hierarchical entities, and the corresponding pricing models to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click View Entity Cost.

2 Select a hierarchy from the hierarchies included in the drop-down menu.

The menu includes only the hierarchies on which you have at least the read privilege.

3 Expand the hierarchy and select the required entity.

4 Enter the time period for which you want to view the entity-specific cost configuration details.

5 Select the required pricing model from the Pricing Model drop-down menu.

Only the pricing models on which you have the read privilege are displayed in the drop-down menu.

6 Click Fetch.

The entity-specific cost configuration details for the selected entity and pricing model and the specified duration are displayed. If the entity is not configured for the specified duration or pricing model, a message stating the same is displayed on the page.

Edit Cost Configuration of an Entity

The entity-specific cost configuration details can be set from the Configure Cost tab.

The cost configuration is applied on an entity for the specified pricing model and time period. These cost configuration details will be considered when a report is generated on the entity using the specified pricing model.

IMPORTANT Ensure that you follow the sequence stated in this procedure. After you have entered some information, reverting to an earlier step in the task might reset the entries on the page.

You must have entity cost modify privilege on the chargeback hierarchical entities to perform this task. You must also have update privilege on the pricing models and read privilege on the hierarchies.

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Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit Entity Cost.

2 Select the required hierarchy from the hierarchies included in the drop-down menu.

Only the hierarchies on which you have at least the read privilege are included in the drop-down menu.

3 Expand the hierarchy and select the entity for which you want to configure the costs.

4 Select the pricing model for which you want to specify entity-specific cost configuration details on the

selected chargeback entity.

5 Specify the duration for which the cost configuration will be effective.

The default selection is Update from now onwards, indicating that the cost configuration details will be effective from the time of setting these details on the entity till they are modified at a future date.

If you want to set the cost configuration details for a specific duration, select Update for the effective period and specify the start and end date of the time period. The dates have to be entered in the

mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end time is not specified, the cost configuration details will be effective till they

are modified at a future date. You can view the existing cost configuration details for the specified time period by clicking Get cost configuration.

6 (Optional) Select a cost template from the Apply a Cost Template drop-down menu.

Only the cost templates on which you have read privilege is displayed. The rate factors and fixed costs defined in the cost template are populated in the corresponding fields on the screen.

7 Enter the rate factors for the computing resources in the Rate Factors tab and click Update Rate Factors.

The rate factor value can be between 0 and 999.99. The application considers a precision of up to two decimal places. If the rate factor is not specified for a computing resource, vCenter Chargeback Manager uses 1 as the rate factor of the computing resource.

If you have selected a cost template, the rate factors defined in the cost template are populated in the Rate Factors fields corresponding to each computing resource. You can modify these rate factors, if required.

You can view the rate factors already defined for various computing resources for different time periods by clicking Show next to Historical values.

When you click Update Rate Factors, only the defined rate factors are set on the entity. No other cost configuration is set.

8 In the Fixed Costs tab, select the required fixed cost from the Apply a Fixed Cost drop-down menu and

click Add to the list.

The fixed cost is added to the list of fixed costs displayed in the table. For each fixed cost that you want to include, repeat this step.

If you have selected a cost template, the fixed costs included in the cost template and on which you have read privilege are added to the list of fixed costs to be applied on the selected entity. You can add more fixed costs to this list or remove existing fixed costs from the list.

9 (Optional) Check the Propagate option corresponding to an added fixed cost, if the cost has to be applied

10 Click Update Fixed Costs to set the added fixed costs on the entity.

When you click Update Fixed Costs, only the fixed costs added are set on the entity. No other cost configuration is set.

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11 Select the Enable/Disable Billing tab to configure the billing status.

Option Description

Enable (default)

Disable

12 Click Update Billing.

When you click Update Billing, only the defined billing status is set on the entity. No other cost configuration is set.

The cost configuration details are set on the entity for the selected duration and pricing model.

What to do next

You must repeat this procedure for each pricing model that you want to configure on the entity.

Physical Infrastructure Costing

In vCenter Chargeback Manager you can define rate factors also at the host and cluster level and the datastore level. You can do this from the Edit Infrastructure Cost page of the Configure Cost tab.

Chapter 5 Managing and Configuring vCenter Chargeback Manager Cost Elements

This option enables billing on the entity for the specified time period. You can use this option if billing was earlier disabled on the entity for the specified time period.

Select this option if you want to disable billing on the entity for the specified time period.

When you generate a report on a chargeback hierarchical entity or a chargeback hierarchy, vCenter Chargeback Manager checks whether any entity-specific cost configuration is set on the entity or the entities in the hierarchy for the selected pricing model. If the entity-specific cost configuration details are specified, vCenter Chargeback Manager uses these details and generates the report.

If no entity-specific cost configuration details are available for the selected pricing model, vCenter Chargeback Manager checks whether any rate factors are set at the host and cluster level and the datastore level for the virtual machines on which reports are being generated. If rate factors are set at these levels for the selected pricing model, then vCenter Chargeback Manager uses the rate factors when calculating the costs and generating the report.

Set Rate Factors at the Hosts and Clusters Level

vCenter Chargeback Manager lets you set rate factors at the hosts and clusters level. You can charge all the virtual machines in a cluster or on an ESXi host uniformly by setting rate factors at the hosts and clusters level.

NOTE You cannot set the rate factor for the storage resource at the hosts and clusters level.

Prerequisites

You must have read privilege on the vCenter Server, entity cost modify privilege on the chargeback hierarchical entities, and update privilege on the pricing models to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit Infrastructure Cost.

2 Select Hosts & Clusters from the drop-down menu.

3 Expand the Hosts & Clusters folder by clicking the plus sign.

4 Click the plus sign next to Clusters to view the clusters defined in the vCenter Server instances added to

vCenter Chargeback Manager.

To view the ESXi hosts that are not included in any cluster, you can click the plus sign next to Unclustered Hosts.

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5 Select the cluster or an individual ESXI host for which you want to define the rate factors.

If you select a cluster, the right pane of the page displays the cluster properties and the ESXI hosts under the selected cluster along with the fields to set the rate factors for individual computing resources.

6 Select a pricing model from the drop-down menu.

7 Specify the duration for which the rate factors will be effective.

The default selection is Update from now onwards, indicating that the rate factors will be effective from the time of setting them on the entity till they are modified.

If you want to set the rate factors for a specific duration, select Update for the effective period and specify the start and end date of the time period. The dates have to be entered in the mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end time is not specified, the rate factors will be effective till they are modified at a future date. You can view the existing rate factors for the specified time period by clicking Get Rate Factors.

8 (Optional) Click Show next to Historical values to view the historical base rate and rate factor values of

all the computing resources for the specified time period.

9 Specify the rate factors for the required computing resources and click Update Rate Factors.

10 Click OK in the information dialog box.

Managing Datastore Tiers

vCenter Chargeback Manager lets you define rate factors for individual datastores. You can also create tiers, add datastores to the tiers, and set rate factors at the tier level.

Setting rate factors at the tier level enables you to apply the same rate factor to multiple datastores. The rate factors set at the datastore level can be overridden by the rate factors set at the entity level in the chargeback hierarchy. You can also define rate factors for VM storage profiles defined in the vCenter Server. The rate factor configured on a storage profile is applied to all the datastores that match the storage profile.

When the storage cost is calculated, vCenter Chargeback Manager checks for the cost configuration on the datastore. If the datastore matches a profile and is listed under a profile, then the cost configuration on the profile is considered. If the datastore or the profile is grouped under a tier, then the cost configuration details of the tier is used for calculating the storage cost.

If a datastore matches more than one profile, then the datastore appears under each matching VM storage profile. In such a case, the highest user-defined rate factor set on the VM storage profiles is considered. Therefore, if a datastore matches two different profiles and if you have not defined any rate factor on either of the profiles, then default rate factor of 1 is considered. If you have defined rate factor on both the profiles, then the highest of the two rate factors is considered. However, if you have defined rate factor on only one of the profiles (say, 0.75), then the user-defined rate factor is considered even if it is less than the default value of 1.

Create a Datastore Tier

You can create a datastore tier in vCenter Chargeback Manager and add various datastores and storage profiles to it. This enables you to define a standard rate factor for a set of datastores.

You must have create privilege for the tier resource type on vCenter Chargeback Manager to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit Infrastructure Cost.

2 Select DataStores from the drop-down menu.

3 Click Create Tier at the bottom of the left panel.

4 Provide a name for the newly created tier and click outside the editable tier name field.

Datastore tier names are not case-sensitive.

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A new datastore tier folder is created.

Modify the Name of a Datastore Tier

You can modify the name of the tier folder at any time after it is created.

You must have update privilege on the tier to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit Infrastructure Cost.

2 Select DataStores from the drop-down menu.

3 Right-click the tier folder whose name you want to modify and select Edit label.

4 Enter the new name for the tier folder and click outside the editable tier name field.

Add a Datastore to a Tier

After you have created a tier, you can add one or more datastores and storage profiles to it.

Adding datastores and storage profiles to a tier enables you to set rate factors for multiple datastores uniformly.

Prerequisites

You must have update privilege on the tier and read privilege on the vCenter Server to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit Infrastructure Cost.

2 Select DataStores from the drop-down menu.

3 Expand the ungrouped folder by clicking the plus sign (+) next to it.

Only the ungrouped datastores and storage profiles corresponding to the vCenter Server instances on which you have read privilege are displayed.

4 Right-click the datastore that you want to add to a tier and select Move this Datastore to another tier.

5 Right-click the tier folder to which you want to add this datastore and select Put the Datastore/Storage

Profile in this tier.

The datastore is moved from the ungrouped folder to the selected tier folder.

Set the Rate Factors on a Tier, Datastore, or Storage Profile

vCenter Chargeback Manager lets you define rate factors at the datastore level. You can set the rate factors on individual datastores, storage profiles, and tiers.

NOTE You cannot set rate factors on individual datastores that are already grouped under a storage profile or tier. Also, you cannot set rate factors on storage profiles that are grouped under a tier.

Prerequisites

You must have the entity cost modify privilege on the tier and update privilege on the pricing model to set rate factors on a tier. You must have read privilege on the vCenter Server and update privilege on the pricing model to set rate factors on a datastore.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit Infrastructure Cost.

2 Select DataStores from the drop-down menu.

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3 Select the tier for which you want to configure the rate factor.

The right pane of the page displays the datastores included in the tier, their details, and the field to configure the rate factor for the tier.

If you want to set the rate factor on an ungrouped datastore or storage profile, select the required datastore or storage profile from the ungrouped folder.

4 Select the pricing model from the drop-down menu.

5 Select the duration for which the rate factor will be effective.

The default selection is Update from now onwards, indicating that the rate factors will be effective from the time of setting them on the datastore till they are modified at a future date.

For a tier, the duration is always from the time of setting the rate factor till it is updated at a future time.

6 Specify the rate factor and click Set.

7 Click OK on the information dialog box.

The new rate factor is set on the datastore or tier for the selected pricing model and specified time period.

Move a Datastore or Storage Profile to Another Tier

You can move datastores and storage profiles across tiers.

After a datastore or storage profile is moved from one tier to another tier, the rate factor that it inherited from first tier is overridden by the rate factor configured on the second tier. However, this rate factor change history is maintained.

If a datastore or storage profile is ungrouped, then any rate factor set explicitly on the datastore or storage profile is applicable.

You must have update privilege on the tier and read privilege on the vCenter Server to perform this task.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit Infrastructure Cost.

2 Select DataStores from the drop-down menu.

3 Expand the tier folder containing the datastore or storage profile that you want to move.

4 Right-click the datastore or storage profile that you want to move to another tier and select Move this

Datastore to another tier.

5 Right-click the tier folder to which you want to move this datastore and select Put the Datastore/Storage

Profile in this tier.

The datastore or storage profile is moved to the new tier folder.

Configuring a Pricing Matrix for Virtual Machines

vCenter Chargeback Manager provides functionality to charge a fixed cost for virtual machines in a hierarchy based on the vCPU count and memory.

You can define one or more pricing matrices for the virtual machines in your hierarchies, such that the virtual machines are charged a fixed cost based on the vCPU count and memory bundle. This cost is applied only for the duration when a virtual machine is powered on and is not pro-rated.

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A price matrix is associated with a pricing model and can contain multiple cost entries for different vCPU count and memory bundles. You can also define a criterion to specify the hierarchies for which the price matrix is applicable. You can define multiple pricing matrices with different hierarchy selection criteria for each pricing model defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager. Each hierarchy selection criteria for a selected pricing model must be unique. Also, each entry in the pricing matrix must be unique.

vCenter Chargeback Manager applies the fixed cost defined in the pricing matrix on the virtual machines in a hierarchy by running the VM Instance job that periodically checks for new and updated hierarchies, and hierarchy selection criteria and the corresponding pricing matrix. Based on the hierarchy and entity selection criteria, the application uses the corresponding pricing matrix to apply the fixed cost on the virtual machines in the hierarchies that match the specified criterion as follows:

1 vCenter Chargeback Manager checks for the hierarchy selection criteria and the corresponding pricing

matrices defined in it.

2 vCenter Chargeback Manager uses the pricing matrix corresponding to the first matching criterion for

each hierarchy.

3 vCenter Chargeback Manager first searches for a row in the pricing matrix that has the same vCPU count

as in the virtual machine.

4 If such a row is not found, then vCenter Chargeback Manager selects the row with the next higher value

of vCPU count than in the virtual machine.

5 For the selected vCPU count, vCenter Chargeback Manager checks for a memory value equal to or higher

than the memory in the virtual machine.

6 If a row with the vCPU count or memory value equal to or higher than the vCPU count or memory in the

virtual machine is not found, then vCenter Chargeback Manager uses the default cost configured in the matrix.

NOTE For hierarchies imported from vCloud Director, the vCPU count and memory allocation values synchronized from the vCloud Director database is considered for applying the fixed cost. For hierarchies created in vCenter Chargeback Manager, the vCPU count and memory utilization values synchronized from the vCenter Server database is used for applying the fixed cost.

If a virtual machine configuration is changed, then the corresponding change in the fixed cost is applicable from the time the configuration change is effected. If the fixed cost in the pricing matrix is changed, then the change is effected from the next run of the job.

By default the VM Instance job runs every 5 minutes. You can configure the time interval for the job run from the General page of the Settings tab. To know about how to configure the VM Instance job interval, see

“Configure VM Instance Job Interval,” on page 15.

If any row in the matrix is deleted, then the corresponding fixed cost is also deleted and is not considered during reporting. Similarly, if a cost matrix is deleted, then the costs defined in the matrix is lost and is not considered when a report is generated on the virtual machine, the parent entity, or hierarchy.

You must have a Super User role to create and manage virtual machine instance pricing matrix. Also, the defined fixed cost is reported only if the report is generated by a Super User.

Create a Pricing Matrix for Virtual Machines

A pricing matrix defines multiple costs based on vCPU count and memory bundles and is associated with a pricing model and a hierarchy selection criterion.

Procedure

1 In the Configure Cost tab, click Edit VM Instance Cost.

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2 Select a pricing model from the drop-down menu.

A table listing the hierarchy selection criteria defined for the pricing model is displayed on the page.

3 Click Create.

The Selection Criteria and VM Instance Matrix screen is displayed.

4 Select whether you want to apply the VM instance matrix to all hierarchies or only specific hierarchies.

5 Define the hierarchy and entity selection criteria, if you selected Specify hierarchy selection criteria.

a Define the hierarchy selection criteria based on the hierarchy name.

You must select a string comparison operator and specify a compare string. The available comparison operators are Equals, Starts with, Ends with, and Contains. You can also define the hierarchy selection criteria based on the hierarchy attribute by clicking Enter Hierarchy Attribute.

b (Optional) Click Add Row under Entity selection criteria and define the entity criteria.

The entity selection can be based on name or attribute. You must select a comparison operator and specify a compare string. The available comparison operators are Equals, Starts with, Ends with, and Contains. You can define multiple entity selection criteria. The criteria filters the entities in the selected hierarchies on which the pricing matrix is applied.

6 In the VM Instance Matrix section, specify the time period for which the costs in the price matrix is

applicable.

Option Description

Update from now onwards

Update for the effective period

This is the default selection indicating that the cost for each vCPU count and memory bundle will be effective from the time of creation of the matrix till it is changed at a future date.

If you select this option, you must specify the start and end date of the period for which the costs for each vCPU count and memory bundle will be effective. You must enter the dates in the mm/dd/yyyy format. If the end date is not specified, the costs will be effective from the specified start date till infinity.

7 Click Add

A new row is created in the table in the VM Instance Matrix section.

8 Enter the required vCPU count.

9 Click the Memory column of the row and enter the memory value in MB.

10 Click the Cost column of the row and enter the cost for the specified vCPU count and memory bundle.

11 Select the duration for which the cost is charged on the virtual machine.

12 Specify the default cost and duration.

If a virtual machine in the hierarchy has a vCPU count and memory bundle that does not match any entry in the defined virtual machine instance cost matrix, then this default cost is applied to the virtual machine.

13 Click Create.

A row corresponding to the specified hierarchy selection criterion is added to the table on the Edit VM Instance Cost page.

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Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

About the User's Guide

What Is Chargeback

Chargeback Solution for Virtual Environments

Overview of vCenter Chargeback Manager

Supported Product Integration

Configuring Administration Settings 2

Activate the Application

Configuring Generic Settings

Configure the SMTP Server Setting

Edit the SMTP Server Setting

Delete the SMTP Server Setting

Set Log Level

Remove a vCenter Chargeback Manager

Configure VM Instance Job Interval

Configure Storage Infrastructure Costing Mode

Managing LDAP Servers

Configure the LDAP Server Setting

Edit the LDAP Server Setting

Delete the LDAP Server Setting

Managing vCenter Servers

Add vCenter Server Information

Edit vCenter Server Information

Delete vCenter Server Information

Managing Data Collectors

View Data Collectors

Registered Data Collectors

Modify Job Interval

Enable Data Collector

Disable Data Collector

Delete Data Collector

Configure VMware vCloud Director Data Collector

Configure vShield Manager Data Collector

Modify Super User Password for Cloud Data Collectors

Managing the Application License

Replace the Application License

Delete the Application License

Manage Report View

Managing Attributes

Add an Attribute

Modify an Attribute

Delete an Attribute

Manage System Health Thresholds

Manage Computing Resources

Resource Based Authorization in vCenter Chargeback Manager

Permissions Defined in vCenter Chargeback Manager

Managing Roles

Predefined Roles in vCenter Chargeback Manager

Create a Role

Modify a Role

Delete a Role

Managing Users

Creating Users

Create a Local User

Create an LDAP User

Create an LDAP Group

Modify a User

Delete User

Assign a Role to a User on vCenter Chargeback Manager

Assign a Role to a User for a Resource

Revoke the Role Assigned to a User for a Resource

Revoke the Role Assigned to a User on vCenter Chargeback Manager

vCenter Chargeback Manager User Authentication

Modifying the Password of a User Account

Managing Chargeback Hierarchies 4

Creating a Chargeback Hierarchy

Create a Custom Chargeback Hierarchy

Synchronize a Chargeback Hierarchy with a vCenter Server

Import a Chargeback Hierarchy from a CSV File

Format of the CSV File

Managing a Chargeback Hierarchy

View a Chargeback Hierarchy

Add a vCenter Chargeback Manager Entity

Add a vCenter Server Entity

Rename a Chargeback Hierarchy or a Chargeback Entity

Delete an Entity from the Hierarchy