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VMware vCenter Operations Manager - 5.0 Started Guide

VMware vCenter Operations Manager
Enterprise Getting Started Guide
vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise 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-000714-00
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.
VMware, Inc.
3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com
2 VMware, Inc.

Contents

VMware vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise Getting Started Guide 5
Introducing vCenter Operations Manager Features and Concepts 7
1
Viewing Resources in vCenter Operations Manager 7
Understanding How vCenter Operations Manager Collects Data 8
Understanding Alerts 8
Understanding Health Ratings 10
Monitoring Virtual Resources 11
Analyzing Performance and Capacity 13
Designing Your Workspace 17
2
Working with Dashboards 17
Working with Widgets 22
Using and Configuring Widgets 25
3
Edit a Widget Configuration 26
Configure Widget Interactions 26
Advanced Health Tree Widget 31
Alerts Widget 33
Application Detail Widget 35
Application Overview Widget 36
Configuration Overview Widget 37
Data Distribution Analysis Widget 38
Generic Scoreboard Widget 40
GEO Widget 43
Health Status Widget 44
Health Tree Widget 45
Health-Workload Scoreboard Widget 47
Heat Map Widget 48
Mashup Charts Widget 51
Metric Graph Widget 53
Metric Graph (Rolling View) Widget 56
Metric Selector Widget 59
Metric Sparklines Widget 60
Metric Weather Map Widget 62
Resources Widget 64
Root Cause Ranking Widget 65
Tag Selector Widget 67
Top-N Analysis Widget 68
VC Relationship Widget 70
VC Relationship (Planning) Widget 71
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3
Introducing Common Tasks 73
4
Logging in and Using vCenter Operations Manager 73
Monitoring Day-to-Day Operations 75
Handling Alerts 80
Optimizing Your Resources 89
Index 97
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VMware vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise Getting Started Guide

The VMware vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise Getting Started Guide introduces VMware® vCenter™ Operations Manager Enterprise, its user interface, and key terms and concepts. It also describes how to set up dashboards and configure widgets.
Intended Audience
This information is intended for anyone who uses or administers vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise.
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Introducing vCenter Operations Manager Features
and Concepts 1
vCenter Operations Manager collects performance data from monitored software and hardware resources in your enterprise and provides predictive analysis and real-time information about problems. It presents data and analysis through alerts, in configurable dashboards, on predefined pages in the user interface, and in several predefined reports.
Before you start using vCenter Operations Manager, become familiar with key vCenter Operations Manager features, concepts, and terminology.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Viewing Resources in vCenter Operations Manager,” on page 7
n
“Understanding How vCenter Operations Manager Collects Data,” on page 8
n
“Understanding Alerts,” on page 8
n
“Understanding Health Ratings,” on page 10
n
“Monitoring Virtual Resources,” on page 11
n
“Analyzing Performance and Capacity,” on page 13

Viewing Resources in vCenter Operations Manager

In vCenter Operations Manager, a resource is an entity in your computing environment for which vCenter Operations Manager collects data. A resource can be a single entity, such as a router or database, or a container that holds other resources.
Applications and tiers are types of container resources. An application defines an interdependent set of hardware and software components. A tier is a group of resources that performs a specific task in an application. An application can contain multiple tiers. With applications and tiers, you can combine, track, and analyze metrics for related resources over a period of time.
To make resources easier to find in the user interface, a vCenter Operations Manager administrator assigns resources to resource tag values. A resource tag is a type of information, and a resource tag value is an individual instance of that type of information.
You can view resources in many places in the vCenter Operations Manager user interface, including the Environment Overview page. The list on the left side of the Environment Overview page contains the resource tags and resource tag values. The List tab contains the resources.
In the example, the resource tag value called VMware vCenter Operations is selected in the left pane under the Application resource tag, and the List tab shows the resources assigned to the VMware vCenter Operations resource tag value. The resources are tiers in the VMware vCenter Operations application.
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Figure 1-1. Example of Resources on the Environment Overview Page

Understanding How vCenter Operations Manager Collects Data

vCenter Operations Manager can collect several types of data for a single resource. For example, for a database server it might receive data on free disk space, CPU use, and average response time. Each type of data that vCenter Operations Manager collects is called an attribute.
A metric is an instance of an attribute for a particular resource. For each metric, vCenter Operations Manager collects and stores multiple readings over time. Each piece of data that vCenter Operations Manager collects is called a metric observation or value.
A vCenter Operations Manager administrator creates attribute packages to define combinations of attributes and assigns attribute packages to resources. An attribute package specifies the attributes to collect for the resource to which it is assigned.
An administrator identifies the attributes that are most important in your enterprise as key performance indicators (KPIs). A KPI is a high-priority metric that might indicate a severe problem in your infrastructure if it exceeds its normal value range. vCenter Operations Manager treats KPIs differently from other attributes.
A vCenter Operations Manager administrator might also create super metrics and super metric packages. A super metric is useful when a single metric cannot tell you what you need to know about the behavior of your enterprise. For example, you might have a super metric that tracks the average free disk space for all of the database servers in your enterprise by averaging the free disk space metric for all servers. A super metric package is similar to an attribute package, except that it defines combinations of super metrics.

Understanding Alerts

For each attribute, vCenter Operations Manager maintains thresholds of normal behavior and generates anomalies when a metric violates a threshold. If vCenter Operations Manager determines that the current combination of anomalies indicates a real problem, or if a KPI violates a threshold, it generates an alert.
An alert is a notification that informs you of an abnormal condition that might require attention. An alert can describe a problem in a resource, including applications and tiers. Different combinations of conditions cause different types of alerts.
For example, if CPU use for all of the servers in a tier exceeds a threshold, vCenter Operations Manager generates an anomaly for each out-of-threshold metric value and sends an alert to notify you of the problem. The alert lists all of the anomalies for each metric.
You can view alerts in several places in the vCenter Operations Manager user interface, including the Alerts Overview page. If a vCenter Operations Manager administrator sets up the alert notification feature, you might also receive alerts in email messages.
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Chapter 1 Introducing vCenter Operations Manager Features and Concepts
On the Alerts Overview page, the list on the left side of the page contains resource tags and resource tag values and the right pane contains alerts. By default, the alert list includes alerts for all resources. If you select a resource tag value in the left pane, the alert list contains only the alerts for the resources that have the selected resource tag value.
Figure 1-2. Example of Alerts on the Alerts Overview Page

Using Thresholds to Identify Abnormal Behavior

A threshold is a value that marks the boundary between normal and abnormal behavior for a metric. When a metric crosses a threshold, vCenter Operations Manager generates an anomaly. vCenter Operations Manager uses dynamic thresholds and hard thresholds.
With dynamic thresholds, vCenter Operations Manager determines whether to generate an anomaly based on how often a metric has violated its thresholds and by the amount of the violation. vCenter Operations Manager calculates and continually adjusts a degree of abnormality for the metric. If the metric value is within this degree of abnormality, vCenter Operations Manager does not generate an anomaly, even if the value is outside of the dynamic threshold.
A hard threshold is a value that a vCenter Operations Manager administrator defines for a metric. A hard threshold changes only when an administrator changes it.
The dynamic threshold for a metric appears as a shaded area in a metric graph. Out-of-range values that generated anomalies appear as yellow areas. You can view metric graphs in several places in the user interface, including the Metric Graph widget.
Figure 1-3. Example of a Dynamic Threshold for a Metric
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Understanding KPI Alert Generation

When a KPI violates a threshold, vCenter Operations Manager always generates an alert. When they configure attribute packages, vCenter Operations Manager administrators can identify any attribute for any resource as a KPI.
The type of alert that vCenter Operations Manager generates depends on the type of threshold that the KPI uses. When a KPI violates an internally calculated dynamic threshold, vCenter Operations Manager sends a Smart KPI Breach alert. When a KPI violates a user-defined hard threshold, vCenter Operations Manager sends a Classic KPI HT Breach alert.

Identifying the Root Causes of Alert Symptoms

The root cause of an alert is the condition or symptom that was the first step in the chain of events that led to the alert. For example, a slowdown in network traffic through a particular router could lead to an increased time per transaction for users of your Web site, which in turn could cause vCenter Operations Manager to generate an alert for the Web server resource.
For each alert, vCenter Operations Manager lists the most likely root causes of the symptoms that caused the alert and ranks the causes in order of importance.
You can view root causes in the Root Cause column on the Alerts Oveview page and in the Root Cause Ranking widget.
Figure 1-4. Example of Root Causes on the Alerts Overview Page

Understanding Health Ratings

vCenter Operations Manager examines internally generated metrics and uses its proprietary analytics formulas to determine an overall health rating for a resource. The health rating, which ranges from 0 to 100, gives you a quick overview of the current state of a resource.
vCenter Operations Manager generates and stores internally generated metrics for every resource. Internally generated metrics include the total number of alerts and anomalies and the number of active alerts.
The health rating appears as a numeric rating and as a colored indicator in the user interface. The color is based on the range of the health rating. You can view the health rating for a resource anywhere that a resource is listed and in the Health widget. For resources that VMware vCenter Server™ manages, health ratings appear in the VC Relationship widget and on the Resource Detail page.
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Chapter 1 Introducing vCenter Operations Manager Features and Concepts
Figure 1-5. Example of Health Ratings on the Environment Overview Page

Monitoring Virtual Resources

vCenter Operations Manager provides performance, relationship, and capacity data for objects in your virtual environment. It uses badges to represent derived metrics and give you a high-level, broad view of the performance and condition of your virtual environment.

Interpreting Workload Scores for Virtual Resources

vCenter Operations Manager combines the metrics that show demand on virtual machines and other virtual objects in a single value called a workload. These metrics include CPU use and memory use. vCenter Operations Manager indicates workload as a numeric score and as a colored circle. The color is based on the range of the workload score.
Workload scores typically range from 0 to 100. A score of 0 indicates that an object is not being used. A score greater than 100 indicates that an object is trying to access more resources than are currently available. When an object's workload score is greater than 100, you might need to allocate more resources to the object or move some tasks to other objects.
You can view workload scores for virtual objects in the VC Relationship widget and on the Resource Detail page.
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Figure 1-6. Example of a Workload Score on the Resource Detail Page

Interpreting Capacity Scores for Virtual Resources

The capacity score indicates how close a virtual object is to exhausting its available computing resources. The computing resources include disk space, memory size, and network capacity.
To calculate the capacity score, vCenter Operations Manager combines applicable metrics from the object and applies its analytics algorithms to determine long-term cycles and trends. It uses these results to calculate when an object might run out of a type of resource.
vCenter Operations Manager indicates capacity as a numerical score and a colored hexagon. The color is based on the range of the capacity score. You can view capacity scores for virtual objects in the VC Relationship (Planning) widget.
Figure 1-7. Example of a Capacity Score in the VC Relationship (Planning) Widget

Viewing Change Events for Virtual Resources

A change event is any change to the virtual infrastructure. It can include changes on virtual machines or ESX hosts, such as adding, removing, connecting, or disconnecting an ESX host, and starting, stopping, or reconfiguring a virtual machine.
vCenter Operations Manager can show change events on its performance graph on the Resource Detail page for a virtual object. A vCenter Operations Manager administrator can configure whether change events appear on performance graphs.
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Chapter 1 Introducing vCenter Operations Manager Features and Concepts

Analyzing Performance and Capacity

With vCenter Operations Manager forensics features, you can analyze the performance and capacity of your resources and use this information to balance the resources in your environment. Forensics features include cross-silo analysis, top-n analysis, the problem fingerprint library, capacity analysis, and VC analysis.

Examining Anomalies with Cross-Silo Analysis

With cross-silo analysis, you can examine graphs that show the number of anomalies over time for particular resources. You can zoom in on a graph to focus on a specific period of time, such as immediately before an alert. You can also click on a location in a graph to see a ranking of the likely root causes for the anomalies at that specific time.
Cross-silo analysis information appears on the Cross-Silo Analysis page. For applications, the anomaly graph includes a line that shows the internally determined 90 percent threshold. If the number of anomalies exceeds this threshold, vCenter Operations Manager generates an early warning Smart Alert.
Figure 1-8. Example of Cross-Silo Analysis

Using Top-N Analysis to Determine Best and Worst Performers

With top-n analysis, you can identify the top or bottom resources, metrics, or alerts in selected categories, such as the five most or least healthy resources in a tier. You can also select the resource tag and time frame to analyze and the categories to show.
Top-n analysis information appears on the Top-N Analysis page and in the Top-N Analysis widget. The Resource Health pane shows the health of the resource. The information that you select in the Tools pane appears in the right pane.
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Figure 1-9. Example of Top-N Analysis

Isolating and Resolving Issues with Problem Fingerprinting

When a KPI for an application or tier violates a threshold, vCenter Operations Manager examines the events that preceded the violation. If it finds enough related information, it captures the set of events that preceded the violation as a fingerprint. If vCenter Operations Manager finds a similar series of events in the future, it can issue a predictive alert to warn of a likely KPI violation.
Fingerprinting helps you to quickly isolate and resolve problems by reducing the number of possible silos and tiers in which a problem might have occurred, capturing the events that precede a problem for root-cause analysis, and notifying you of problems before they occur.
You can see fingerprint information on the Problem Fingerprint Library page. If you select a fingerprint branch in the left pane, the details for that branch appear in the right pane.
Figure 1-10. Example of Problem Fingerprints
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Chapter 1 Introducing vCenter Operations Manager Features and Concepts

Performing Capacity Analysis

Some metrics, such as disk space use or network traffic measurements, frequently show long-term trends. Short-term fluctuations can hide this data or make it difficult to calculate.
The capacity analysis feature looks at the overall value trend for a selected metric, tells you when a metric is likely to reach a threshold, and indicates how confident vCenter Operations Manager is of the prediction. This information can help you plan for infrastructure upgrades, such as adding additional storage and network routers.
Capacity analysis information appears on the Capacity Analysis page.
Figure 1-11. Example of Capacity Analysis Information

Analyzing and Balancing Virtual Resources

With the VC analysis feature, you can compare the metric values of different objects in your virtual environment by using predefined heat maps or by creating your own custom heat maps.
A heat map contains rectangles of different colors and sizes, and each rectangle represents an object in your virtual environment. The color of a rectangle represents the value of one metric, and the size of a rectangle represents the value of another metric. For example, one of the predefined heat maps shows the total memory and percentage of memory use for each virtual machine. Larger rectangles are virtual machines that have more total memory. Green indicates low memory use and red indicates high memory use.
vCenter Operations Manager updates heat maps in real time as its collects new values for each object and metric. The colored bar below a heat map is the legend. The legend identifies the values that the endpoints represent and the midpoint of the color range.
Heat map objects are grouped by parent. A heat map that shows virtual machine performance groups virtual machines by the ESX hosts on which they run.
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Designing Your Workspace 2

You can customize your vCenter Operations Manager workspace to meet your specific needs. Depending on your access rights, you can add, delete, and arrange widgets on your dashboards, create new dashboards, edit widget configuration options, and configure widget interactions.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Working with Dashboards,” on page 17
n
“Working with Widgets,” on page 22

Working with Dashboards

When your user account is created, a vCenter Operations Manager administrator assigns you to one or more user groups. These user groups determine which dashboards are available to you when you first log in to vCenter Operations Manager. If your user account has the necessary access rights, you can modify your dashboards and create dashboards.

Create a Dashboard

You typically create a dashboard by selecting a dashboard template. A dashboard template contains all of the information in a dashboard definition. You can also create a dashboard by defining and arranging the widgets that the dashboard contains.
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vCenter Operations Manager includes predefined dashboard templates. If the predefined templates do not meet your needs, you can create your own templates. See “Create a Dashboard Template,” on page 19.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
n
If you are creating a dashboard by selecting widgets, become familiar with the available widgets. See
“Working with Widgets,” on page 22.
Procedure
1 On your Home page, click the plus (+) sign to the right of the last dashboard tab.
17
2 Create the dashboard.
Option Action
Create a dashboard from a template
Create a dashboard by selecting widgets
a Drag a dashboard template to the right side of the window.
b Select the number of columns to use on the dashboard from the Select
a Click the Create Dashboard Using Widgets icon at the top left side of
b Drag each widget from the left pane to the right pane.
c Select the number of columns to use on the dashboard from the Select
d (Optional) To change the size of the columns, drag the divider bars under
3 Type a name for the dashboard in the Tab Name text box.
4 (Optional) Select Yes next to Mark as Default to make the new dashboard your default dashboard.
5 Click OK to save your changes.
What to do next
The tab for the new dashboard appears to the right of the other dashboard tabs on your home page. To change the order of the dashboard tab, see “Change the Order of Dashboard Tabs,” on page 20.
Layout drop-down menu.
the window.
Layout drop-down menu.
Drag to Change Layout.
If you used a template to create the dashboard, you might want to change the layout or the widgets that it contains. See “Edit a Dashboard,” on page 18 or “Working with Widgets,” on page 22.

Clone a Dashboard

You can create a dashboard by making a copy of an existing dashboard.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard to clone.
2 Click Clone on the Dashboard Tools bar.
3 Type a name for the new dashboard and click OK.
What to do next
The tab for the new dashboard appears to the right of the other dashboard tabs on your Home page. To change the order of the dashboard tab, see “Change the Order of Dashboard Tabs,” on page 20.
When you clone a dashboard, all of the widgets that are in the original dashboard appear in the new dashboard. You might want to change the layout of the new dashboard or the widgets that it contains. See “Edit a
Dashboard,” on page 18 or “Working with Widgets,” on page 22.

Edit a Dashboard

You can change a dashboard name, select or deselect a dashboard as your default dashboard, and change the number and size of the columns that appear on a dashboard.
For information about adding and removing widgets from a dashboard, see “Working with Widgets,” on page 22.
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Chapter 2 Designing Your Workspace
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab of the dashboard to edit.
2 Click Edit on the Dashboard Tools bar.
The available widgets appear in the left pane of the Dashboard Editing: Edit a Tab window.
3 Edit the dashboard.
Option Action
Change the name of the dashboard
Make the dashboard your default dashboard
Change the number of columns on the dashboard
Change the size of the columns on the dashboard
Type a different name in the Tab Name text box.
Select Yes next to Mark as Default.
Select a different value from the Select Layout drop-down menu.
Drag the divider bars under Drag to Change Layout.
4 Click OK to save your changes.

Delete a Dashboard

If you do not need a dashboard, you can delete it.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard to delete.
2 Click Delete on the Dashboard Tools bar.
3 Click Yes on the confirmation dialog box to delete the dashboard.
After the dashboard is deleted, its tab does not appear on your Home page.

Create a Dashboard Template

If the predefined dashboard templates do not meet your needs, you can create your own dashboard templates. A dashboard template contains all of the information in a dashboard definition. You can use a dashboard template to create dashboards.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
n
Select a dashboard to use for the template, or create a dashboard to use for the template. See “Create a
Dashboard,” on page 17.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard to use for the template.
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2 Click Create Template on the Dashboard Tools bar.
3 Type a name for the new dashboard template and click OK.
After the dashboard template is created, you and other users can use the template to create dashboards. See
“Create a Dashboard,” on page 17.

Delete a Dashboard Template

If you do not need a dashboard template, you can delete it.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 On your home page, click the plus (+) sign to the right of the last dashboard tab.
2 Click the Manage Templates link.
3 Select the dashboard template to remove and click the Remove Selected Dashboard Template icon.
4 Click Yes on the confirmation dialog box to delete the dashboard template.

Change the Order of Dashboard Tabs

You can change the order of the dashboard tabs on your home page.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click Reorder Tabs on the Dashboards bar.
Your dashboard tabs appear on the left side of the Reorder Tabs window.
2 Drag each tab to its new location.
3 Click OK to save your changes.

Configure Dashboard Switching

You can configure vCenter Operations Manager to switch from one dashboard to another. This feature is useful if you have several dashboards that show different aspects of your enterprise's performance and you want to look at each dashboard in turn.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Select Dashboards > Reorder Tabs.
2 Select On next to the dashboard.
3 Type the number of seconds to wait before switching the dashboard in the Seconds text box next to the
dashboard.
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Chapter 2 Designing Your Workspace
4 Select the dashboard to switch to from the To this Tab drop-down menu next to the dasbhoard.
5 Click OK to save your changes.

Share a Dashboard

You can share a dashboard with one or more user groups. When you share a dashboard, it becomes available to all of the users in the user group that you select. The dashboard appears the same to all of the users who share it. If you edit a shared dashboard, the dashboard changes for all users.
NOTE Other users can only view a shared dashboard. They cannot change it.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard to share.
2 Click Share on the Dashboard Tools bar.
3 Select the dashboard in the Shared Dashboards pane and drag it to one or more user groups in the Accounts
Groups pane.
4 Click OK to save your changes.
After you share a dashboard, an icon appears on the dashboard tab to indicate that you are sharing the dashboard. When another user views the shared dashboard, a key icon on the dashboard tab indicates that the user cannot edit the dashboard.

Stop Sharing a Dashboard

If you do not want other users to be able to use a dashboard that you previously shared, you can stop sharing it.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard to stop sharing.
2 Click Share on the Dashboard Tools bar.
3 Select the dashboard on the Shared Dashboards pane and click the Stop Sharing Dashboard icon.
4 Click OK to save your changes.
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Working with Widgets

A widget is a pane on a dashboard that contains information about configured attributes, resources, applications, or the overall processes in your environment. Widgets can provide a holistic, end-to-end view of the health of all of the applications in your enterprise. If your user account has the necessary access rights, you can add and remove widgets from your dashboards.

Summary of Widgets

vCenter Operations Manager includes many types of widgets.
Table 2-1. Summary of Widgets
Widget Name Description
Advanced Health Tree Similar to the Health Tree widget, but includes information about the resource's
grandchildren and indicates the health of each resource that it shows.
Alerts Lists all alerts for all monitored resources.
Application Detail Shows the health and alert counts for each tier in a single selected application.
Application Overview Shows the overall health and the health of each tier for one or more applications.
Configuration Overview Shows statistics for the overall monitored environment.
Data Distribution Analysis Shows how often a metric had a particular value, as a percentage of all values,
within a given time period. It can also compare percentages for two time periods.
Geo Shows the location of resources that are assigned to GEO Location tag values.
Health Status Shows health information for selected resources, or all resources that have a
selected tag.
Health Tree Shows the indicator for a selected resource, its parent resource, and its child
resources.
Health-Workload Scoreboard Shows color-coded health or workload scores for selected resources.
Heat Map Shows performance information for a selected application as a heat map.
Mashup Chart Brings together disparate pieces of information for a resource. It shows a health
chart, an anomaly count graph, and metric graphs for key performance indicators (KPIs). This widget is typically used for an application.
Metric Graph Shows the recent performance of selected metrics graphically.
Metric Graph (Rolling View) Cycles through selected metrics at an interval that you define and shows one
metric graph at a time. Miniature graphs, which you can expand, appear for all selected metrics at the bottom of the widget.
Metric Selector Shows all metrics for the resources that are selected in the Resources widget.
Metric Sparklines Shows the values collected for one or more selected metrics graphically over a
time period that you select.
Metric Weather Map Uses changing colors to show the behavior of a selected metric over time for
multiple resources.
Resources Lists all defined resources.
Root Cause Ranking Shows the likely root causes for symptoms for a selected resource.
Generic Scoreboard Shows values for selected metrics, which are typically KPIs, with color coding
for defined value ranges.
Tag Selector Lists all defined resource tags.
Top-N-Analysis Shows the top or bottom five metrics or resources in various categories, such
as the five applications that have the best or worth health score.
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Table 2-1. Summary of Widgets (Continued)
Widget Name Description
Chapter 2 Designing Your Workspace
VC Relationship Shows the performance status of objects in your virtual environment and their
VC Relationship (Planning) Provides use and badge metric information (risk, time, capacity, stress,
relationships. You can click an object to highlight its related objects and double­click an object to view its Resource Detail page.
efficiency, waste, and density) for the resources in your virtual environment. You can use this information to plan for capacity upgrades or rebalance the workload in your virtual infrastructure.
For detailed information about these widgets, see Chapter 3, “Using and Configuring Widgets,” on page 25.

Add a Widget to a Dashboard

You add a widget to a dashboard by editing the dashboard. You can add any widget to any dashboard. A dashboard typically contains widgets that show related information, such as different views of the performance of a particular group of resources or similar alerts for separate applications.
NOTE You can add any number of widgets to a dashboard, but the more widgets that you add, the further you must scroll down the browser window to use a widget.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
n
Become familiar with the available widgets. See Chapter 3, “Using and Configuring Widgets,” on page 25.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard.
2 Click Edit on the Dashboard Tools bar.
The available widgets appear in the left pane of the Dashboard Editing: Edit a Tab window.
3 Drag the widget to add from the left pane to the right pane.
4 Click OK to save your changes.
The widget appears on the dashboard.
What to do next
If necessary, edit the widget configuration. See “Edit a Widget Configuration,” on page 26.

Remove a Widget from a Dashboard

You can remove a widget from a dashboard by editing the dashboard or by clicking an icon on the widget's toolbar.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard that contains the widget to remove.
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2 Remove the widget from the dashboard.
Option Action
Remove the widget by editing the dashboard
Remove the widget by using the widget toolbar
a Click Edit on the Dashboard Tools bar.
b Find the widget in the right pane and click its Delete Widget icon.
c Click OK to save your changes.
a Click the Close Widget icon on the widget's toolbar.
b Click Yes on the confirmation dialog box to remove the widget.

Resize a Widget

You can change the height of a widget on a dashboard.
The width of the column that contains a widget determines the width of the widget. To change the size of the columns on a dashboard, see “Edit a Dashboard,” on page 18.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard that contains the widget to resize.
2 Resize the widget.
Option Description
Make the widget larger
Make the widget smaller
Click the Expand Widget icon on the widget's toolbar.
Click the Shrink Widget icon on the widget's toolbar.

Expand or Collapse a Widget

When you collapse a widget, its data is hidden and only its title bar is visible. You can expand a collapsed widget to make its data visible again.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard that contains the widget to expand or collapse.
2 To expand a widget, or collapse an expanded widget, click the Expand/Collapse Widget icon on the
widget's toolbar.
The Expand/Collapse Widget icon arrow changes direction depending on whether the widget is collapsed or expanded.
24 VMware, Inc.

Using and Configuring Widgets 3

Widgets include configuration options that you can edit to customize them for your use. For example, you can select the metrics that the Data Distribution Analysis widget shows by editing its configuration. The available configuration options vary depending on the widget type. Some widgets do not show any data until you configure them.
Most widgets can provide information to, or receive information from, other widgets. For example, you can configure the Metric Sparklines widget to show a graph for a metric that you select in the Metric Selector widget. These relationships are called widget interactions.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
“Edit a Widget Configuration,” on page 26
n
“Configure Widget Interactions,” on page 26
n
“Advanced Health Tree Widget,” on page 31
n
“Alerts Widget,” on page 33
n
“Application Detail Widget,” on page 35
n
“Application Overview Widget,” on page 36
n
“Configuration Overview Widget,” on page 37
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n
“Data Distribution Analysis Widget,” on page 38
n
“Generic Scoreboard Widget,” on page 40
n
“GEO Widget,” on page 43
n
“Health Status Widget,” on page 44
n
“Health Tree Widget,” on page 45
n
“Health-Workload Scoreboard Widget,” on page 47
n
“Heat Map Widget,” on page 48
n
“Mashup Charts Widget,” on page 51
n
“Metric Graph Widget,” on page 53
n
“Metric Graph (Rolling View) Widget,” on page 56
n
“Metric Selector Widget,” on page 59
n
“Metric Sparklines Widget,” on page 60
n
“Metric Weather Map Widget,” on page 62
n
“Resources Widget,” on page 64
25
n
“Root Cause Ranking Widget,” on page 65
n
“Tag Selector Widget,” on page 67
n
“Top-N Analysis Widget,” on page 68
n
“VC Relationship Widget,” on page 70
n
“VC Relationship (Planning) Widget,” on page 71

Edit a Widget Configuration

You customize a widget by editing its configuration options. Some widgets do not show data until you configure them. The available configuration options vary depending on the widget type.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
n
Become familiar with the configuration options for the widget to edit.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard that contains the widget to edit.
2 Click the Edit Widget icon on the widget's toolbar.
The content of the Edit Widget window depends on the type of widget.
3 Type another name in the Widget title text box to customize the name of the widget.
4 Select a Self Provider option to specify where the objects that the widget shows are defined.
This option is not available if the widget cannot receive data from other widgets.
Option Description
On
Off
Define the objects that the widget shows in the widget configuration.
You configured, or plan to configure, one or more other widget to provide objects to the widget.
5 Select a Refresh Widget Content option to specify whether the widget refreshes data after a specific time
period.
The default setting is Off.
6 If you set Refresh Widget Content to On, type the refresh interval, in seconds, in the Widget Refresh
Interval text box.
7 Edit any remaining configuration options, if required.
For example, if you set Self Provider to On, you must define the objects that the widget shows.
8 Click OK to save the widget configuration.

Configure Widget Interactions

You can configure a widget to show information for resources, applications, tags, or metrics that you select in another widget. For example, you can configure the Metric Sparklines widget to show a graph for a metric that you select in the Metric Selector widget. Both widgets must appear on the same dashboard.
When you configure widget interaction, you specify the widget that provides the information, called the providing widget, to the widget that shows the information, called the receiving widget.
26 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Using and Configuring Widgets
For some widgets, you can define two providing widgets. For example, you can configure the Root Cause Ranking widget to receive data from the Tag Selector widget and the Health Status widget. In this case, the Root Cause Ranking widget shows root cause data for any resource that you select in the Health Status widget or for resources that have the tag value that you select in the Tag Selector widget.
Widget interactions apply only to the dashboard where you define them. For example, on one dashboard, the Root Cause Ranking widget might receive its resources from the Health Widget widget. On another dashboard, the Root Cause Ranking widget might receive its resources from the Tag Selector widget.
Prerequisites
n
Verify that you have the necessary access rights to perform this task. Your vCenter Operations Manager administrator can tell you which actions you can perform.
n
Become familiar with the widgets that can provide and receive data from other widgets. See “Supported
Widget Interactions,” on page 27.
Procedure
1 Click the tab for the dashboard that contains the widgets to interact.
2 Click Interactions on the Dashboard Tools bar.
The Receiving Widget column on the Configure Widget Interactions window lists the widgets on the dashboard that can receive information from another widget on the dashboard.
3 For each receiving widget, select a providing widget or select None.
If the Providing Widget column has two drop-down menus for a receiving widget, you can select one providing widget from each menu. When you select None for all of the providing widgets, that widget does not show any data unless you configure it is as a self provider.
4 Click OK to save the configuration.

Supported Widget Interactions

Many widgets can provide data to, and accept data from, other widgets. These relationships are called widget interactions.
In the following table, the widgets in the Providing Widgets 1 column can provide a resource ID to the widget in the Receiving Widget column, and the widgets in the Providing Widgets 2 column can provide a metric ID to the widget in the Receiving Widget column.
If widgets appear in both the Providing Widget 1 and Providing Widget 2 columns, you can select one providing widget from each column.
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Table 3-1. Widget Interactions
Receiving Widget Providing Widget 1 Providing Widget 2
Advanced Health Tree
Alerts
Application Detail
Application Overview None
Configuration Overview
Data Distribution Analysis
Generic Scoreboard None
GEO
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Alerts
n
Health Status
n
Health Tree
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Resources
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Advanced Health Tree
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health Status
n
Health Tree
n
Heat Map
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Resources
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Application Overview
n
Tag Selector
n
Advanced Health Tree
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health Status
n
Health Tree
n
Heat Map
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Resources
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Metric Selector
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Application Overview
n
Tag Selector
n
Application Overview
n
Tag Selector
n
Application Overview
n
Tag Selector
28 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Using and Configuring Widgets
Table 3-1. Widget Interactions (Continued)
Receiving Widget Providing Widget 1 Providing Widget 2
Health Status
Health Tree
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Heat Map None
Mashup Charts
Metric Graph
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Advanced Health Tree
Alerts
Generic Scoreboard
Health Tree
Health-Workload Scoreboard
Heat Map
Resources
Root Cause Ranking
VC Relationship
VC Relationship (Planning)
Advanced Health Tree
Alerts
Generic Scoreboard
Health Status
Health-Workload Scoreboard
Heat Map
Resources
Root Cause Ranking
VC Relationship
VC Relationship (Planning)
Advanced Health Tree
Alerts
Generic Scoreboard
Health Status
Health Tree
Health-Workload Scoreboard
Heat Map
Resources
Root Cause Ranking
VC Relationship
VC Relationship (Planning)
Advanced Health Tree
Alerts
Generic Scoreboard
Health Status
Health Tree
Health-Workload Scoreboard
Heat Map
Resources
Root Cause Ranking
VC Relationship
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Application Overview
n
Tag Selector
Metric Selector
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Metric Selector
n
Root Cause Ranking
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Table 3-1. Widget Interactions (Continued)
Receiving Widget Providing Widget 1 Providing Widget 2
Metric Graph (Rolling View)
Metric Selector
Metric Sparklines
Metric Weather Map None
Resources
n
Advanced Health Tree
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health Status
n
Health Tree
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Resources
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Advanced Health Tree
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health Status
n
Health Tree
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Resources
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Advanced Health Tree
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health Status
n
Health Tree
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Resources
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Advanced Health Tree
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health Status
n
Health Tree
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
VC Relationship
n
VC Relationship (Planning)
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Metric Selector
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
Alerts
n
Generic Scoreboard
n
Health-Workload Scoreboard
n
Heat Map
n
Metric Selector
n
Root Cause Ranking
n
Application Overview
n
Tag Selector
n
Alerts
NOTE For the Resources widget, the Alerts widget is in a separate provider category. If it is a provider, selecting one or more alerts displays the resources for those alerts. You can select the Alerts widget and any providing widget that is selected from the other two categories.
30 VMware, Inc.
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