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.
The VMware vCenter Operations Manager Administration Guide (Custom User Interface) describes how to
configure and manage the VMware® vCenter™ Operations Manager Custom user interface.
Intended Audience
The information in this document is intended for anyone who must configure or manage
vCenter Operations Manager by using the Custom user interface.
Before vCenter Operations Manager can begin collecting and analyzing your data, you must configure it.
After it is configured, you can manage vCenter Operations Manager by performing basic system
administration tasks.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Configuring vCenter Operations Manager,” on page 9
n
“Managing vCenter Operations Manager,” on page 9
n
“Log In as the admin User,” on page 10
n
“Using the Custom User Interface,” on page 11
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Configuring vCenter Operations Manager
The key to getting the greatest benefit from vCenter Operations Manager is to configure it properly.
vCenter Operations Manager can perform some configuration tasks for you, such as discovering resources,
but you must perform most configuration tasks manually.
The configuration tasks must be performed in a particular order.
1Define the adapter instances that vCenter Operations Manager uses to collect data. See Chapter 2,
“Configuring Adapters,” on page 13.
2Define the resources for which vCenter Operations Manager collects data. See Chapter 3, “Configuring
Resources,” on page 19.
3Specify the information that vCenter Operations Manager stores for each resource, and identify which
types of information are key performance indicators (KPIs). See Chapter 4, “Configuring Attribute
Packages,” on page 39.
4Define how related resources fit together into groups and how those groups relate to each other. See
Chapter 5, “Configuring Applications,” on page 59.
5Configure vCenter Operations Manager for your users. See Chapter 6, “Configuring and Managing
Users,” on page 67.
6(Optional) Set up the alert notification feature to notify users of alerts when they are not using
vCenter Operations Manager. See Chapter 7, “Configuring Alert Notifications,” on page 79.
Managing vCenter Operations Manager
You manage vCenter Operations Manager by performing typical system administration tasks.
Manage your vCenter Operations Manager users. See Chapter 6, “Configuring and Managing Users,”
View system performance and status information and examine log messages. See Chapter 8,
n
“Performing Basic System Administration Tasks,” on page 105.
View, respond to, and resolve administrative system alerts. See Chapter 9, “Resolving Administrative
n
System Alerts,” on page 119.
Back up vCenter Operations Manager data and processing components. See Chapter 10, “Backing Up
n
and Recovering Data,” on page 127.
Troubleshoot database and connection issues. See Chapter 12, “Using System Tools,” on page 149.
n
Log In as the admin User
When vCenter Operations Manager is initially installed, you must log in as the admin user to perform
administrative tasks. During the configuration process, you can create additional administrators by
assigning users to the Administrators group.
NOTE Some vCenter Operations Manager features, such as querying the vCenter Operations Manager
database directly, require you to log in as the admin user.
Procedure
1In a Web browser, type the URL for the Custom user interface.
OptionDescription
Standalone version
vApp version
https://ip_address
https://ip_address/vcops-custom
ip_address is the IP address or fully qualified host name of the vCenter Operations Manager server or
vApp.
2Type admin in the User name and Password text boxes.
The default admin account password is admin.
3Click Login.
After you are logged in, your Home page appears in the browser window.
NOTE If your session is inactive for 30 minutes, it times out and you must log in again.
What to do next
If you are using the standalone version of vCenter Operations Manager, change the default admin account
password as soon as possible. To change your password, select User Preferences at the top of your Home
page.
10 VMware, Inc.
Using the Custom User Interface
When you log in to the Custom user interface, your Home page appears in the browser window. The Home
page contains the following components.
Chapter 1 Configuring and Managing vCenter Operations Manager
Dashboards
Widgets
Menus
Icons
The tabs near the top of the Home page are your dashboards. The user
groups to which your account belongs determine which dashboards are
available to you. You can switch to a different dashboard by clicking its tab
or selecting it from the Dashboards menu. You can click Home at any time
to return to your Home page.
The panes on a dashboard are called widgets. A widget is a collection of
related information about attributes, resources, applications, or the overall
processes in your environment. Each dashboard contains one or more
widgets. For information about configuring and using widgets, see the
VMware vCenter Operations Manager Getting Started Guide (Custom User
Interface).
You use the menus at the top of your Home page to select and use Custom
user interface features.
You click icons on pages and widgets to perform tasks in the Custom user
interface. When you point to an icon, a tooltip appears that describes the
function of the icon.
vCenter Operations Manager uses adapters to exchange information with the data collection landscape.
Configuring adapters involves defining and maintaining adapter instances and credentials.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“How Adapters Collect and Process Data,” on page 13
n
“Defining Adapter Instances,” on page 14
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“Modifying Adapter Instances,” on page 16
n
“Customize an Adapter Kind Icon,” on page 17
n
“Suppress No Data Receiving Alerts,” on page 17
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How Adapters Collect and Process Data
Adapters work with the vCenter Operations Manager Collector to collect and process data.
The Collector acts as a gateway between vCenter Operations Manager and its adapters. The adapters
connect to and collect data from data sources, transform the data into a format that
vCenter Operations Manager can consume, and pass the data to the Collector for final processing.
Depending on the data source and the adapter implementation, an adapter might collect data by making
API calls, using a command-line interface, or sending database queries. Some adapters collect data for each
resource independently and other adapters extract data for all resources based on a specified time range.
vCenter Operations Manager uses embedded adapters and external adapters. Embedded adapters are the
most common type of adapter implementation.
Embedded Adapters
An embedded adapter is a Java component that runs as a plug-in in the Collector. Embedded adapters
actively connect to a data source and pull values from it.
Advantages of embedded adapters include better maintainability, control, and visibility into the
management of the adapter and the data that it collects. Embedded adapters also use common functions,
such as job scheduling, that are already part of the Collector.
Embedded adapters create resources through manual or auto-discovery. A particular embedded adapter
might support one or both resource creation methods.
Manual discovery
Auto-discovery
You configure and manage embedded adapters in the user interface.
You send a request to the data source to return all available resources and
select the resources to add. This method is often referred to as discovering
resources or the discovery process.
The data collection process discovers new resources and creates the
resources for you. You do not need to manually add new resources.
External Adapters
External adapters push data from outside sources. The key advantage of an external adapter is flexibility in
how the adapter is created and deployed.
External adapters use vCenter Operations Manager OpenAPI to send information. OpenAPI has a simple
form, which accepts data through an HTTP request, and an advanced form, which uses Java RMI.
External adapters use auto-discovery to create resources. With auto-discovery, the data collection process
discovers new resources and creates the resources for you. You do not need to manually add new resources.
You configure and manage external adapters outside of the user interface.
Defining Adapter Instances
An adapter instance defines the type of adapter to use to connect to a particular data source. It also defines
the information that is required to identify and access that data source. A vCenter Operations Manager
administrator must define an adapter instance for each data source that uses an embedded adapter.
NOTE You do not define adapter instances for external adapters. External adapters push data from outside
sources to vCenter Operations Manager. You manage external adapters outside of the core
vCenter Operations Manager domain.
An adapter instance definition typically includes the data access method and a host, port, and credential.
The exact information in a particular adapter instance definition depends on the type of adapter.
An adapter instance can have one or more credentials. You can add credentials before you create an adapter
instance and select the correct credential when you define the adapter instance, or you can add credentials
when you define the adapter instance.
After you define an adapter instance, you can discover and define resources for it.
View the List of Defined Credentials
Before you add, edit, or modify credentials for an adapter instance, you must list the defined credentials for
the specific adapter kind and credential kind combination.
2Select the adapter kind to list credentials for from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
3Select the kind of credentials to list from the Credential kind drop-down menu.
The available credential kinds depend on the adapter kind. For example, if you select Hyperic Adapter,
the credential kind that you select might be Hyperic database credentials.
Existing instances appear for the credential kind that you select.
14 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 2 Configuring Adapters
Add a Credential
You must define a credential for each adapter instance that provides data to vCenter Operations Manager.
Adapter instances use credentials to sign on to data sources. The information that you provide depends on
the adapter kind and credential kind combination.
Prerequisites
View the list of defined credentials for the adapter kind and credential kind combination. See “View the List
of Defined Credentials,” on page 14.
Procedure
1At the top of the list of credentials, next to Action, click Add.
2Type a unique name for the credential instance in the Instance name text box.
3Type or select additional information for the credentials.
4Click OK to add the credential for the adapter kind.
The credential appears in the list in the Manage Credentials window.
Add an Adapter Instance
You must add an adapter instance in vCenter Operations Manager for each embedded adapter. The
information that you provide depends on the type of adapter.
Prerequisites
Install the adapter. For information about installing a particular adapter, see the installation and
n
configuration guide for that adapter.
Create a credential or, if you plan to create a credential when you add the adapter instance, become
n
familiar with creating credentials. See “Add a Credential,” on page 15.
2Select the collector to use from the Collector drop-down menu.
Unless you added additional collectors, the only available collector is vCenter Operations Server. You
can change the name of this collector when you install the standalone version.
3Select the adapter kind to add from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
4Click the Add New Adapter Instance icon.
5Type a name for the adapter in the Adapter Instance Name text box.
6Type or select additional information for the adapter instance.
7Select the credential to use to sign on to the data source from the Credential drop-down menu, or click
Add to add a new credential.
8(Optional) Click Test to test the adapter instance.
aSelect the collector to use from the Collector drop-down menu.
Unless you added additional collectors, the only available collector is vCenter Operations Server.
You can change the name of this collector when you install vCenter Operations Manager
Standalone.
bSelect the adapter kind of the adapter instance to edit from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
3Select the adapter instance to edit and click the Edit Selected Adapter Instance icon.
4Edit the adapter instance information.
5Click Test to test the adapter instance.
6Click OK to save your changes.
16 VMware, Inc.
Delete an Adapter Instance
If an adapter instance is no longer needed, you can delete it.
aSelect the collector to use from the Collector drop-down menu.
Unless you added additional collectors, the only available collector is vCenter Operations Server.
You can change the name of this collector when you install vCenter Operations Manager
Standalone.
bSelect the kind of the adapter instance to delete from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
3Select the adapter instance and click the Remove Selected Adapter Instance icon.
4Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
Customize an Adapter Kind Icon
vCenter Operations Manager uses icons to represent the kind of adapter through which you access each
resource. For example, icons appear in the Data Source column of widgets that list resources. You can
customize icons to represent any kind of adapter.
1Open the advanced.properties file in the vcenter-ops\user\conf\analytics directory.
2Add the property disabledNoDataReceivingAlertIds = resourceID.
resourceID is the resource ID of the adapter instance.
3Save your changes and close the advanced.properties file.
4Restart the Analytics service.
18 VMware, Inc.
Configuring Resources3
A resource is any entity in your environment for which vCenter Operations Manager can collect data, such
as a router, switch, firewall, database, application server, or TCP/IP-based application.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Defining Resources,” on page 19
n
“Creating and Assigning Resource Tags,” on page 23
n
“Grouping Resources by Physical Location,” on page 27
n
“Configure Parent-Child Resource Relationships,” on page 29
n
“Starting and Stopping Metric Collection,” on page 30
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“Using Maintenance Mode,” on page 31
n
“Modifying Resources,” on page 33
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“Modifying Resource Tags,” on page 35
n
“Customize a Resource Kind Icon,” on page 36
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Defining Resources
VMware, Inc.
Before vCenter Operations Manager can collect data for resources in your environment, a
vCenter Operations Manager administrator must define each resource to vCenter Operations Manager. You
define only resources that use embedded adapters. Resources that use external adapters are already defined
in vCenter Operations Manager.
vCenter Operations Manager requires specific information about each resource. You typically obtain this
information by performing resource discovery in vCenter Operations Manager for each adapter instance.
During the resource discovery process, vCenter Operations Manager lists all of the resources for the adapter
instance and you select which resources to track. For adapters that do not support resource discovery, you
must define resources individually.
A resource can be a single entity, such as a database, or a container that holds other resources. For example,
if you have multiple Web servers, you can define a single resource for each Web server and define a
separate container resource to hold all of the Web server resources. Applications and tiers are types of
container resources. See Chapter 5, “Configuring Applications,” on page 59.
If you do not want vCenter Operations Manager to collect all of the available attributes for a resource, you
can define a specific set of attributes to collect, called an attribute package, and assign it to the resource. See
You typically define resources to vCenter Operations Manager through the manual discovery process.
Discovering resources is usually more efficient than adding resources individually.
NOTE You use discovery to define resources for embedded adapters. Resources that use external adapters
are already added to vCenter Operations Manager and do not need to be discovered.
If the adapter type does not support discovery, you must add resources individually. See “Add an
Individual Resource,” on page 21.
Prerequisites
Add adapter instances for the resources that you plan to define or, if you plan to add adapter instances
n
during the discovery process, become familiar with defining adapter instances. See “Add an Adapter
Instance,” on page 15.
If you plan to add an attribute package during the discovery process, become familiar with creating
n
attribute packages. See “Creating Attribute Packages,” on page 42.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2On the List tab, click the Discover Resources icon.
3Select the collector to use from the Collector drop-down menu.
Unless you added additional collectors, the only available collector is vCenter Operations Server. You
can change the name of this collector when you install the standalone version.
4Select the adapter kind from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
5Select an adapter instance from the Adapter instance drop-down menu, or click Add to create a new
adapter instance.
6Make any additional selections for the adapter kind.
Depending on the adapter kind that you select, additional menus might appear.
7(Optional) To omit resources that have already been added from the discovery results, select the Only
New Resources check box.
8Click OK to start the discovery process.
The discovery process can take several seconds to several minutes.
When the discovery process is finished, the Discovery Results window lists your resource kinds.
9Double-click each resource kind that contains resources to add.
The resource list shows all of the resources of the specified resource kind. You can sort the resource list
by clicking any column header. To find a specific resource in the list, type all or part of the resource
name in the Search text box and click Search.
20 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
10 Select options for each resource kind.
OptionDescription
Import
Collect
Attribute Package
Import the resources but do not start collecting data. Resources appear in
the resource list as Not Collecting and data is not stored and analysis is
not performed.
Import the resources and start collecting data. When you select the Collect
check box, the Import check box is also selected.
To use a nondefault attribute package for the resource kind, select an
attribute package from the drop-down menu or click Add to define a new
attribute package.
11 Click OK.
The Discovery Results window closes and the new resources appear on the List tab.
What to do next
If you did not select the option to start metric collection when you defined a resource, you can start metric
collection after the resource is defined. See “Starting and Stopping Metric Collection,” on page 30.
Add an Individual Resource
In some cases, you might want to add an individual resource by providing its information to
vCenter Operations Manager. If an adapter instance does not support resource discovery, you must add
each resource individually.
When you add an individual resource, you must provide specific information about it, including the kind of
adapter to use to make the connection and the connection method. If you do not know this information, use
the discovery process to define the resource. See “Discover Resources,” on page 20.
You can add resources for most devices and application servers that use embedded adapters. You do not
add resources that use external adapters. Resources that use external adapters are already added to
vCenter Operations Manager.
Prerequisites
Add an adapter instance for the resource or, if you plan to add an adapter instance when you add the
n
resource, become familiar with defining adapter instances. See “Add an Adapter Instance,” on page 15.
If you plan to add an attribute package for the resource, become familiar with creating attribute
n
packages. See “Creating Attribute Packages,” on page 42.
If you plan to add a super metric package for the resource, become familiar with creating super metric
n
packages. See “Creating Super Metric Packages,” on page 45.
For Hyperic or IM portal server resource kinds, obtain the attribute files from the software supplier and
n
install them on the vCenter Operations Manager collector.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2On the List tab, click the Add Resource icon.
3Type a name for the resource in the Resource name text box.
Use only letters and numbers in the resource name. Do not use nonalphanumeric characters or spaces.
The resource description is for informational purposes only.
4(Optional) Type a description of the resource in the Resource description text box.
5Select an adapter kind from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
6Select an adapter instance from the Adapter instance drop-down menu, or click Add to add a new
adapter instance.
7Select a resource kind from the Resource kind drop-down menu.
Additional configuration options might appear, depending on your selection.
8Type the name of the resource that the adapter monitors in the Target to collect from text box.
The name must be the name of the resource as it appears in the adapter's operating environment. For
example, if the adapter kind is Hyperic and you select MS SQL 2005 Database as the resource kind,
type the name that Hyperic assigns, such as MSSQL 2005 MSSQL.4.
NOTE Depending on the resource kind that you selected, the Target to collect from text box might not
be available and additional text boxes might appear.
9Accept the default attribute package in the Attribute package drop-down menu, select a different
package, or click Add to define a new package for the resource.
The default attribute package depends on the resource kind.
10 Accept the default super metric package, if any, in the Super metric package drop-down menu, select a
different package, or click Add to define a new package for the resource.
A default super metric package is not available unless you previously defined a default super metric
package for the selected resource kind.
11 Type the collection interval, in minutes, in the Collection Interval (Minutes) text box.
For example, if you expect the resource to generate performance data every 30 minutes, set the
collection interval to 30 minutes.
The collection interval for a resource influences the collection status for that resource. The collection
interval for the adapter instance resource determines how often to collect data. For example, if the
collection interval for the adapter instance resource is set to five minutes, setting the collection interval
for a resource to 30 minutes prevents the resource from having the No Data Receiving collection status
after five collection cycles (25 minutes).
12 Select the Enabled or Disabled check box to enable or disable dynamic thresholding and early warning
smart alerts.
Dynamic thresholding is enabled by default, which is the recommended value. Early warning smart
alerts are enabled by default only for applications. Early warning smart alerts work best for
applications and application-like container resources. Container resources have at least two levels of
resources beneath them, such as an application that contains tiers, which each contain resources.
Early warning smart alerts are generated for a resource only if the resource and its children have at least
the required number of metrics defined. By default, the minimum number of metrics is 40, not
including vCenter Operations Manager generated metrics.
13 (Optional) If you plan to take the resource offline for maintenance at regular intervals, select the
maintenance schedule for it to use from the Maintenance Schedule drop-down menu, or click Add to
define a new maintenance schedule.
14 Click OK to add the resource.
What to do next
When you add an individual resource, vCenter Operations Manager does not begin collecting metrics for
the resource until you start metric collection. See “Starting and Stopping Metric Collection,” on page 30.
For each new resource, vCenter Operations Manager assigns tag values for its collector and its resource
kind. In some cases, you might want to assign other tags. See “Creating and Assigning Resource Tags,” on
page 23.
22 VMware, Inc.
Creating and Assigning Resource Tags
A large enterprise can have thousands of resources defined in vCenter Operations Manager. Creating
resource tags and tag values makes it easier to find resources and metrics in vCenter Operations Manager.
With resource tags, you select the tag value assigned to a resource and view the list of resources that are
associated with that tag value.
A tag is a type of information, such as Application or GEO Location. Application and GEO Location are
predefined tags in vCenter Operations Manager. Tag values are individual instances of that type of
information. For example, if your offices are located in New York, London, and Mumbai, you define GEO
Location tag values for those locations.
You can assign any number of resources to each tag value, and you can assign a single resource to tag values
under any number of tags. You typically look for a resource by looking under its application, its location, its
tier, and possibly other tags.
Predefined Resource Tags on page 23
n
vCenter Operations Manager includes several predefined resource tags. It creates values for most of
these tags and assigns resources to the values.
Add a Resource Tag on page 24
n
If the predefined resource tags do not meet your needs, you can create your own resource tags to
categorize and manage resources in your environment.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
Add a Value to a Resource Tag on page 25
n
A resource tag is a type of information, and a tag value is an individual instance of that type of
information. You can add multiple values to a resource tag. If a resource tag is locked, you cannot add
values to it. vCenter Operations Manager maintains locked resource tags.
Create a Resource Kind Tag on page 25
n
You can create a tag for any resource kind that has existing resources. The tag has a value for each
resource of that kind.
Associate a Resource with a Tag Value on page 26
n
You can assign any number of resources to each tag value, and you can assign a single resource to tag
values under any number of tags.
Use a Tag to Find a Resource on page 26
n
The quickest way to find a resource in vCenter Operations Manager is to use tags. Using tags is more
efficient than searching through the entire resource list.
Predefined Resource Tags
vCenter Operations Manager includes several predefined resource tags. It creates values for most of these
tags and assigns resources to the values.
For example, when you add a resource, vCenter Operations Manager assigns it to the tag value for the
collector it uses and the kind of resource that it is. It creates tag values if they do not already exist.
Collectors (Full Set)Each defined collector is a tag value. Each resource is
ApplicationEach defined application is a tag value. When you add a
Applications (Full Set)Each defined application is a tag value. When you add a
Maintenance Schedules (Full Set)Each defined maintenance schedule is a tag value, and
Adapter KindsEach adapter kind is a tag value, and each resource that
Adapter InstancesEach adapter instance is a tag value, each resource is
Resource KindsEach kind of resource is a tag value, and each resource is
Recently Added ResourcesThe last day, seven days, 10 days, and 30 days have tag
Health RangesGood (green), Abnormal (yellow), Degraded (orange), Bad
Entire EnterpriseThe only tag value is Entire Enterprise Applications. This
GEO LocationThis tag always exists, but it has no default values. You
TierEach defined tier is a tag value. When you add a resource
assigned to the tag value for the collector that it uses when
you add the resource to vCenter Operations Manager. The
default collector is vCenter Operations Server.
tier to an application, the tier is assigned to that tag value.
Resources that belong to the tiers are not given the tag
value.
tier to an application, or a resource to a tier in an
application, the tier is assigned to that tag value.
resources are assigned to the value when you give them a
schedule by adding or editing them.
uses that adapter kind is given the tag value.
assigned the tag value for the adapter instance or instances
through which its metrics are collected.
assigned to the tag value for its kind when you add the
resource.
values. Resources have this tag value as long as the tag
value applies to them.
(red), and Unknown (blue) health statuses have tag values.
Each resource is assigned the value for its current health
status.
tag value is assigned to each application.
must create values and assign resources to them manually.
to a tier, the resource is assigned to that tag value.
Add a Resource Tag
If the predefined resource tags do not meet your needs, you can create your own resource tags to categorize
and manage resources in your environment.
Prerequisites
Become familiar with the predefined resource tags. See “Predefined Resource Tags,” on page 23.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the Environment Overview page.
3Click the Add Tag icon to add a new row and type the name of the tag in the row.
24 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
4Click OK to add the tag.
The new tag appears in the tags list.
What to do next
Add a value to the resource tag. See “Add a Value to a Resource Tag,” on page 25.
Add a Value to a Resource Tag
A resource tag is a type of information, and a tag value is an individual instance of that type of information.
You can add multiple values to a resource tag. If a resource tag is locked, you cannot add values to it.
vCenter Operations Manager maintains locked resource tags.
Prerequisites
Add a resource tag. See “Add a Resource Tag,” on page 24.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the Environment Overview page.
3Select the tag to add values to and click the Add Tag Value icon.
4Type the name of the tag value in the new row.
For example, if the resource group is composed of JBoss servers and you assigned the name JBoss to the
tag, type a name to associate with one of the JBoss servers, such as JBoss1.
5Click OK to add the tag value.
The tag value appears in the tag list.
Because vCenter Operations Manager considers each tag value to be a resource, it starts collecting metrics
that vCenter Operations Manager generates when you create a tag value. You can view the health score for
any tag value. See “Metrics that vCenter Operations Manager Generates,” on page 40.
What to do next
Associate a resource with the tag value. See “Associate a Resource with a Tag Value,” on page 26.
Create a Resource Kind Tag
You can create a tag for any resource kind that has existing resources. The tag has a value for each resource
of that kind.
For example, if you have a resource kind of AppServers, and resources of that kind named AppServer1,
AppServer2, and so on, you can create a resource kind tag named AppServers and it will have tag values of
AppServer1, AppServer2, and so on.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2Click the Manage Resource Kind Tags icon on the left side of the Environment Overview page.
The Manage Resource Kind Tags window opens.
3To create a resource kind tag for a resource kind, select the check box in the Show Tag column of its
If resources of the kind that you selected are present, a tag for that kind appears in the tag list on the
Environment Overview page. If you expand the tag, a tag value appears for each resource of that type.
What to do next
Associate resources with the tag values. See “Associate a Resource with a Tag Value,” on page 26.
Associate a Resource with a Tag Value
You can assign any number of resources to each tag value, and you can assign a single resource to tag values
under any number of tags.
Prerequisites
Create a resource tag. See “Add a Resource Tag,” on page 24.
n
Add a value to the resource tag. See “Add a Value to a Resource Tag,” on page 25.
n
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2Drag the resource from the list in the right pane of the Environment Overview page onto the tag value
name.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select a range of
resources.
The resources that you selected are now associated with the tag value.
Use a Tag to Find a Resource
The quickest way to find a resource in vCenter Operations Manager is to use tags. Using tags is more
efficient than searching through the entire resource list.
Tag values that can also be tags are Applications and Resource Kinds. For example, the Applications tag has
values for each application that is defined in vCenter Operations Manager, such as Online Banking. Each of
these applications is also a tag that has values equal to the tiers that it contains. The Online Banking
application might have tag values for Web Servers, DB Servers, and so on. These tiers might also contain
subvalues. You can expand the tag value list to select the value for which you want to see resources.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2In the tag list on the left side of the page, click a tag for a resource with an assigned value.
When you click a tag, the list of values expands under the tag. The number of resources that is
associated with each value appears next to the tag value.
A plus sign next to a tag value indicates that the value is also a tag and that it contains other tag values.
You can click the plus sign to see the subvalues.
26 VMware, Inc.
3Select the tag value.
The resources that have that tag value appear in the pane on the right. If you click the Invert Results
icon, the list includes resources that do not match the tag values that you select. For example, if you
select New York and London, all of the resources that are not in either of those cities appear in the list.
If you select multiple tag values, the resources in the list depend on the values that you select.
OptionAction
Select more than one value for the
same tag
Select values for two or more
different tags
The list includes resources that have either value. For example, if you
select two values of the GEO Location tag, such as New York and London,
the list shows resources that have either value.
The list includes only resources that have all of the selected values. For
example, if you select two values of the GEO Location tag, such as New
York and London, and you also select the Tier value of the Resource kind
tag, only tiers that are in New York or London appear in the list. Tiers in
other locations do not appear in the list, nor do resources in those cities
that are not tiers.
4Select the resource from the list.
Grouping Resources by Physical Location
Depending on your environment, you might want to group some or all of your resources according to their
physical location. When resources are grouped according to their physical location, you can see the health of
all of the resources in a particular place.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
To group resources by their physical location, you must activate the geographical location feature, create
values for the GEO Location tag, and assign the resources that you want to track to GEO Location tag
values.
Activate the Geographical Location Feature on page 27
n
To group resources by location, you must activate the geographical location feature in
vCenter Operations Manager.
Create a GEO Location Tag Value on page 28
n
Before you can assign resources to a location, you must create that location as a value of the GEO
Location tag and define its position on the map. Create tag values for each of your office locations.
Assign a Resource to a GEO Location Tag Value on page 28
n
You define a resource's location by assigning it to a value of the GEO Location tag.
View the Resource Map on page 29
n
You can use the world map on the Geographical tab on the Environment Overview page to see the
health of the resources at some or all of your defined locations.
Activate the Geographical Location Feature
To group resources by location, you must activate the geographical location feature in
vCenter Operations Manager.
The Geographical tab on the Environment Overview page and the GEO widget show a world map that
includes the locations of resources that have GEO Location tag values. Because these maps use the Google
Maps API, you must license the Google Maps API to use the geographical location feature.
Prerequisites
Go to the Google support Web site at http://support.google.com, read the license agreement for the Google
Maps API, and follow the procedure to license the API for your use.
2Select Google from the Geo Panel Provider drop-down menu.
3In the Google Map Key text box, type the key that you received from Google.
4Click OK to save your settings.
After you activate the geographical location feature, any user who connects to vCenter Operations Manager
can use the Geographical tab or GEO widget.
What to do next
Create GEO Location tag values. See “Create a GEO Location Tag Value,” on page 28.
Create a GEO Location Tag Value
Before you can assign resources to a location, you must create that location as a value of the GEO Location
tag and define its position on the map. Create tag values for each of your office locations.
Prerequisites
Activate the geographical location feature in vCenter Operations Manager. See “Activate the Geographical
Location Feature,” on page 27.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the page.
3In the tag list, select GEO Location.
4In the Tag Value pane, click the Add Tag Value icon.
5Type the name for the location and press ENTER.
6Select the new tag and click the Manage Location icon.
7Type the location in the Search text box and click Search.
Your entry does not have to match the tag value exactly. For example, you can create a tag value called
Los Angeles and search for Los Angeles, CA.
8In the list of search results, click the location.
You must click the location even if it is the only search result.
9Click Save to save the tag value.
What to do next
Assign resources to the tag value. See “Assign a Resource to a GEO Location Tag Value,” on page 28.
Assign a Resource to a GEO Location Tag Value
You define a resource's location by assigning it to a value of the GEO Location tag.
Prerequisites
Activate the geographical location feature in vCenter Operations Manager. See “Activate the
n
Geographical Location Feature,” on page 27.
Create GEO Location Tag values for your office locations. See “Create a GEO Location Tag Value,” on
n
page 28.
28 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2Drag the resource from the list in the right pane of the Environment Overview page to the GEO
Location tag value name.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select a range of
resources.
The resources that you selected are now associated with the GEO Location tag value.
View the Resource Map
You can use the world map on the Geographical tab on the Environment Overview page to see the health of
the resources at some or all of your defined locations.
The GEO widget shows a map similar to the map on the Geographical tab. You can add the GEO widget to
any dashboard.
Prerequisites
Activate the geographical location feature in vCenter Operations Manager. See “Activate the
n
Geographical Location Feature,” on page 27.
Create GEO Location tag values for your office locations. See “Create a GEO Location Tag Value,” on
n
page 28.
Assign resources to the GEO Location tag values. See “Assign a Resource to a GEO Location Tag
n
Value,” on page 28.
Procedure
To show the world map, select Environment > Environment Overview and select the Geographical tab
n
in the right pane.
To show specific locations on the map, select one or more tag values under the GEO Location tag in the
n
left pane.
By default, the Geographical tab shows all resources for all locations.
To move the map, drag the map or use the direction arrows in the top left corner of the map.
n
To zoom the map, click the plus and minus buttons under the direction arrows.
n
Configure Parent-Child Resource Relationships
When resources are related, the health score of one resource is based on the metrics of its child resources
and its own metrics. You can define resource relationships so that vCenter Operations Manager analytics
can consider these relationships when it calculates health scores.
Most, if not all, resources in an enterprise environment are related to other resources in that environment.
Resources are either part of a larger resource, or they contain smaller component resources, or both.
The most common resource relationships gather similar resources into tiers and related tiers into
applications. You define those relationships by defining applications. In addition, frequently other
relationships exist between resources. For example, for each application that runs on an application server,
you might define a child resource. You define these types of relationships by configuring resource
relationships.
You must define applications and tiers to add resources to tiers or tiers to applications. See Chapter 5,
2In the Parent Selection column, expand the resource tag and select a tag value that contains the resource
to act as the parent resource.
The resources for the tag value appear in the top pane of the second column.
3(Optional) If the list of resources is long, filter the list to find the child resource or resources.
OptionDescription
Navigate the resource tag list for a
resource
Search for a resource by name
4To make a resource a child resource of the parent resource, select the resource from the list and drag it
to the parent resource in the top pane of the second column, or click the Add All Resources To Parent
icon to make all of the listed resources children of the parent resource.
Expand the resource tag and select a tag value that contains the resource.
The resources for the tag value appear in the top pane of the List column.
If you select more than one value for the same tag, the list contains
resources that have either value. If you select values for two or more
different tags, the list includes only resources that have all of the selected
values. You can click the Invert Result icon to show the resources that do
not match the tag values that you selected.
If you know all or part of the resource name, type it in the Search text box
and press Enter.
You can use Ctrl+click to select multiple resources or Shift+click to select a range of resources.
Starting and Stopping Metric Collection
When you add an individual resource to vCenter Operations Manager, vCenter Operations Manager does
not start collecting metrics for the resource until you start metric collection. When you discover a resource,
you can select an option to start metric collection on the discovery results page. If you did not select this
option, you must start metric collection for the resource.
You can start and stop metric collection for specific resources, including tag values, and for adapter
instances.
Start or Stop Metric Collection for a Resource
You can start and stop metric collection for specific resources. When you add an individual resource to
vCenter Operations Manager, vCenter Operations Manager does not begin collecting metrics for the
resource until you start metric collection. When you stop metric collection for a resource,
vCenter Operations Manager retains its metric data in case you restart metric collection at a later time.
Because tag values are stored in vCenter Operations Manager as resources, you can also start and stop
metric collection for tag values. When you start metric collection for a tag value,
vCenter Operations Manager generated metrics are collected for it. With these metrics, you can see the
health score that reflects all of the resources that have that tag value.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2(Optional) On the List tab, select the resource or resources to affect.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select a range of
resources. If you do not select any resources, all of the resources in the system are affected.
3Click the Start Collecting or Stop Collecting icon to start or stop metric collection for the selected
resources.
30 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
Start or Stop Metric Collection for an Adapter Instance
When you start or stop metric collection for an adapter instance, metric collection starts or stops by using
specific adapter instances for the resources that you want to affect. Resources that do not use the adapter
instance are not affected.
If a resource collects metrics through more than one adapter instance, only the metrics that are collected
through the selected instance are stopped are started. Other metrics remain in the same collection state.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2On the List tab, select the resource or resources to affect.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select a range of
resources.
3Click the Perform Multi-Collecting icon.
The Adapter Instance Resources window opens. The window lists all of the adapter instances that the
selected resources use.
4Click the adapter instance to start or stop metric collection.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual adapter instances or Shift+click to select a range of
adapter instances. To select all of the listed adapter instances, click the heading row.
5Click the Start Collecting or Stop Collecting icon to start or stop metric collection.
Using Maintenance Mode
Many resources in the enterprise might be intentionally taken offline. For example, a server might be
deactivated to update software. If vCenter Operations Manager collects metrics when a resource is offline, it
might generate incorrect anomalies and alerts that affect the data for setting dynamic thresholds for the
resource's attributes. When a resource is in maintenance mode, vCenter Operations Manager does not
collect metrics from the resource or generate anomalies or alerts for it.
If a resource undergoes maintenance at fixed intervals, you can create a maintenance schedule and assign it
to the resource. For example, you can put a resource in maintenance mode from midnight until 3 a.m. each
Tuesday night. You can also manually put a resource in maintenance mode, either indefinitely or for a
specified period of time. These methods are not mutually exclusive. You can manually put a resource in
maintenance mode, or take it out of maintenance mode, even it if has an assigned maintenance schedule.
Add a Maintenance Schedule
You can use maintenance schedules to put certain resources into maintenance mode at specified times. The
scheduled maintenance time can be daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
To set up a maintenance schedule for a resource, you define the schedule, then you assign the schedule to
the resource, either by adding the resource or by editing it. You can create multiple maintenance schedules,
and you can assign each schedule to multiple resources.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Maintenance Schedules.
2Click the Add Schedule icon at the top of the list of maintenance schedules.
3Type a name for the maintenance schedule in the Schedule Name text box.
4Select the start and end times that resources assigned to the schedule will be in maintenance mode from
the Start Time and End Time drop-down menus.
5Configure the recurrence pattern.
OptionDescription
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Yearly
Set the number of days between maintenance periods or set to every
weekday.
Set the number of weeks between maintenance periods and the day of the
week.
Set the number of months between maintenance periods and either the day
of the month or the week and day.
Set to a specific date or a specific month, day, and week.
6Click OK to save the maintenance schedule.
The new maintenance schedule appears in the list in the Manage Maintenance Schedules window and is
available when you add or edit resources.
Start Maintenance Mode on a Resource
You can place one or more resources in maintenance mode.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2On the List tab, select the resource or resources to place in maintenance mode.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select a range of
resources.
3Click the Start Maintenance icon.
4Select how long to keep the resource in maintenance mode.
OptionAction
I will come back and end
maintenance myself
End Maintenance in
End Maintenance on
Maintenance mode starts for the selected resource when you click OK. You
must manually end maintenance mode for the resource.
Type the number of minutes that the resource is in maintenance mode.
Type the date that maintenance mode stops in the text box, or click the
n
calendar icon and select a date.
Select the time that maintenance mode stops from the drop-down
n
menu.
5Click OK to save your changes.
The resource is now in maintenance mode. The Collection Status column shows either In Maintenance(Manual) or In Maintenance till, depending on your selection.
32 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
Stop Maintenance Mode on a Resource
If a resource was in maintenance mode for an unspecified period of time, the only way to remove it and
restart metric collection is to manually stop maintenance mode. You can also stop maintenance mode for a
resource that was in maintenance mode for a specified period of time or that is in maintenance mode
because of its assigned maintenance schedule.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2On the List tab, select the resource or resources on which to stop maintenance.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select range of
resources.
3Click the End Maintenance icon.
Delete a Maintenance Schedule
When you do not need a maintenance schedule, you can delete it.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Maintenance Schedules.
2Select the maintenance schedule to delete and cilck the Delete Schedule icon.
3Click Yes on the confirmation window to delete the schedule.
Edit a Maintenance Schedule
When you edit a maintenance schedule, you can change the schedule name, start time and end times, and
recurrence pattern.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Maintenance Schedules.
2Select the maintenance schedule to edit and click the Edit Schedule icon.
3Edit the maintenance schedule.
4Click OK to save your changes.
Modifying Resources
You might need to edit or delete resources to maintain your resources in vCenter Operations Manager. You
can also change the default settings for a resource kind.
Edit a Resource
When you edit a resource, you can modify one or more of its permanent characteristics, such as its collector
or attribute package.
To temporarily change the state of a resource, start or stop collection or place the resource in maintenance
mode. See “Starting and Stopping Metric Collection,” on page 30 or “Using Maintenance Mode,” on
page 31.
3Click the Edit Resource icon on the top of the list.
The Resource Management window opens. The items that appear in the window depend on the type of
resource that you are editing.
4Edit the resource.
IMPORTANT Modifing some characteristics can have unintended consequences.
5Click OK to save your changes.
Edit Multiple Resources
You can change the same property for multiple resources at the same time. For example, you can assign a
new attribute package to several resources, or to all resources of a given resource kind, at the same time.
You can change one or more properties and leave other properties unchanged.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2On the List tab, select the resources to edit.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select a range of
resources.
3Click the Edit Resource icon on the top of the list.
The Resource Management window opens. The window contains only the values that you can change
for the selected combination of resources.
NOTE If you select resources of different kinds, the window might include only the Super Metric
package drop-down menu.
4To change a value, select the check box next to the menu or text box and type or select the new value.
5Click OK to save your changes.
Only the selected values are changed. If you did not select the check box next to a text box or menu, its
value is not changed.
Delete a Resource
If you do not need a resource, you can delete it.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2On the List tab, select one or more resources to delete.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual resources or Shift+click to select a range of
resources.
3Click the Delete Resource icon on the top of the list.
4Click Yes on the confirmation window to delete the resource.
Each resource that you selected is marked for deletion and locked. Resource deletion occurs in the
background and might take a few seconds or longer, depending on the number of resources that you are
deleting.
34 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
Change the Default Settings for a Resource Kind
Most or all resources of a particular resource kind typically use the same attribute package and super metric
package. You can set the default packages to use for a resource kind and specify whether resources generate
early warning smart alerts and use dynamic thresholds by default.
vCenter Operations Manager uses the default values that you specify when you add a new resource of that
kind, either manually or through resource discovery. In most cases, you can change the default values when
you add or edit a resource. You cannot change the default super metric package for a resource during
resource discovery, but you can edit the resource after it is added.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the page.
3Edit the resource tag.
OptionAction
Change the resource tag name
Change a tag value name
4Click OK to save your changes.
Your changes appear in the tag list on the Environment Overview page.
Delete a Resource Tag or Tag Value
If you do not need a resource tag or tag value, you can delete it.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Environment Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the page.
3Delete the tag or tag value.
Double-click the tag name and type a new name.
Expand the tag to show its values and double-click the value to type a new
name.
OptionAction
Delete a tag
Delete a tag value
Click the tag name and click the Remove Tag icon.
Expand the tag, select the value, and click the Remove Tag Value icon.
4Click OK.
The tag or tag value does not appear in the tag list on the Environment Overview page.
Remove a Resource from a Tag Value
If you need to recategorize a resource, you can remove the resource from its current tag value.
If a tag is locked, you cannot add resources to or remove resources from any of its values.
vCenter Operations Manager maintains locked tags.
Procedure
1Select Enviroment > Environment Overview.
2Select the tag value from the tag list on the left side of the Environment Overview page.
The assigned resources for the tag value appear on the right side of the Environment Overview page.
3Drag the resource from the right side of the Environment Overview page to the UnTag line at the end
of the tag list.
Customize a Resource Kind Icon
You can customize the icon to show for any resource kind. In most locations where it shows metric data for
resources, vCenter Operations Manager includes an icon to show the kind of each resource.
You can select from the default icons that vCenter Operations Manager provides, or you can upload your
own graphics files. When you change a resource kind icon, your changes take effect for all users.
36 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 3 Configuring Resources
Prerequisites
If you plan to use your own icon files, verify that each image is in PNG format and has the same height and
width. The best image size is 256x256 pixels.
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 the average response time for a
database request. Each type of data is called an attribute in vCenter Operations Manager. A
vCenter Operations Manager administrator creates attribute packages to tell vCenter Operations Manager
which attributes to track for your resources.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Understanding Data Collection,” on page 39
n
“Creating Attribute Packages,” on page 42
n
“Creating Super Metric Packages,” on page 45
n
“Modifying Attribute Packages,” on page 53
n
“Modifying Super Metric Packages,” on page 54
n
“Super Metric Use Case,” on page 56
n
“Configure Weighted Metric Groups,” on page 57
n
“Prioritize Threshold Checking,” on page 57
n
“Enable the Combined Dynamic Threshold Plug-in,” on page 57
n
Understanding Data Collection
Before you begin creating and modifying attribute packages in vCenter Operations Manager, become
familiar with how vCenter Operations Manager collects data. The key concepts to understand include
attributes, metrics, super metrics, thresholds, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Attributes and Metrics
Each type of data that vCenter Operations Manager collects is called an attribute. An attribute package
contains a combination of those attributes. You assign attribute packages to resources to specify the
attributes to collect for the resource.
A metric is an instance of an attribute for a particular resource. For each metric,
vCenter Operations Manager collects and stores multiple instances over time. Each piece of data that
vCenter Operations Manager collects is called a metric observation or value.
If a single metric cannot tell you what you need to know about the behavior of your enterprise, you can
define a super metric. A super metric is a formula that contains a combination of one or more metrics for
one or more resources. Like attributes, super metrics are combined in packages, called super metric
packages. You can assign super metric packages to resources.
A threshold is a value that marks the boundary between normal and abnormal behavior for a metric. When
a metric crosses one of its thresholds, vCenter Operations Manager generates an anomaly.
vCenter Operations Manager can use dynamic and hard thresholds. It defines dynamic thresholds for a
metric based on historical and incoming data. A dynamic threshold changes, and a hard threshold is static.
A hard threshold changes only when you change it.
With dynamic thresholds, vCenter Operations Manager uses historical data to evaluate the performance of
IT components in the context of previous conditions, and it uses incoming data to adjust dynamic thresholds
to better define what is normal and abnormal for a metric. By determining what is normal in your
environment, vCenter Operations Manager can filter out alerts that are associated with normal behavior,
including alerts that might be triggered by hard thresholds, and instead generate alerts only for abnormal
behaviors that are precursors to real problems.
vCenter Operations Manager uses dynamic thresholds by default for all metrics except system attributes.
You can specify hard thresholds for specific attributes when you create an attribute package. In most
environments, you should use dynamic thresholds.
Configuring Dynamic Threshold Properties
The analytics.properties and advanced.properties files in the vcenter-ops\user\conf\analytics
directory define important configuration settings, including dynamic threshold properties.
For example, one of the properties in the analytics.properties file controls when
vCenter Operations Manager recalculates dynamic thresholds. Its default is 1:00 a.m. Another property
controls whether vCenter Operations Manager checks the integrity of each metrics file in the
vCenter Operations Manager file system database (FSDB) once a week during the recalculation. If it finds a
problem, vCenter Operations Manager can either generate a system alert for that resource, or try to repair
the file and generate the system alert only if it cannot repair the file.
Edit the analytics.properties and advanced.properties files only if you are an advanced user.
Key Performance Indicators
You identify the attributes that are most important in your environment as KPIs.
vCenter Operations Manager treats KPIs differently from other attributes. Threshold violations by a KPI
generate different types of alerts from non-KPI attributes.
When a KPI for an application or a tier violates a threshold, vCenter Operations Manager examines the
events that preceded the violation. If it finds enough related information, vCenter Operations Manager
captures the set of events that preceded the violation as a fingerprint. If it finds a similar series of events in
the future, it can issue a predictive alert warning that the KPI violation is likely to occur.
Metrics that vCenter Operations Manager Generates
For every resource that you define, vCenter Operations Manager generates and stores metrics in an attribute
package metric group called vCenter Operations Generated. vCenter Operations Manager uses these metrics
when it calculates the health of a resource. The vCenter Operations Generated package appears when you
list the metrics for a resource.
The vCenter Operations Generated metric group is included as part of every attribute package. Because
these metrics are similar to other metrics that you define, you can mark them as KPIs or include them in
other attribute packages, but this is typically not necessary. You cannot remove metrics from the vCenter
Operations Generated attribute package metric group.
40 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
Except for Self - Total, any metric that vCenter Operations Manager generates that begins with Self
includes data only for the resource. Metrics that begin with Full Set include data for all of the resource's
children, but do not include the resource itself.
Self - Metric CountNumber of metrics defined for the resource.
Self - KPI CountNumber of KPI defined for the resource.
Self - Active Anomaly CountNumber of currently active anomalies for the resource.
Self - New Anomaly CountNumber of new anomalies for the resource. An anomaly is
new if it occurred for the first time in the most recent
collection cycle.
Self - Active KPI Breach CountNumber of KPIs for the resource which are currently
violating their thresholds.
Self - New KPI Breach CountNumber of KPIs for the resource with new threshold
violations. A breach is new if it occurred for the first time
in the most recent collection cycle.
Full Set - Metric CountNumber of metrics defined for the resource’s children.
Full Set - KPI CountNumber of KPI defined for the resource’s children.
Full Set - Anomaly CountNumber of currently active anomalies for the resource’s
children.
Full Set - New Anomaly CountNumber of new anomalies for the resource’s children. An
anomaly is new if it occurred for the first time in the most
recent collection cycle.
Full Set - Active KPI Breach CountNumber of KPIs for the resource’s children which are
currently violating their thresholds.
Full Set - New KPI Breach CountNumber of KPIs for the resource’s children with new
threshold violations. A breach is new if it occurred for the
first time in the most recent collection cycle.
Self - Total AnomaliesTotal number of active anomalies for the resource and all
its children. This is the only vCenter Operations Manager
generated metric that includes the resource itself and its
children. If you display the metric graph for this attribute,
it includes the calculated noise line for the resource, which
is the number of anomalies that triggers an early warning
alert.
AvailabilityCan be one of the following values.
1 (data is being received properly)
n
0 (resource is unavailable)
n
-1 (adapter resource is not receiving data for this
An attribute package is a group of attributes that are related to a specific resource. When you assign an
attribute package to a resource, vCenter Operations Manager collects metrics for the attributes in the
attribute package.
Add an Attribute Package on page 42
n
When you add an attribute package, you set a collection interval, specify the attributes to collect for a
resource, configure the type of threshold to use for each attribute, and indicate which attributes are
KPIs.
Set Hard Thresholds for an Attribute on page 43
n
By default, vCenter Operations Manager uses dynamic thresholding for attributes. You can override
this behavior by setting hard thresholds for an attribute in an attribute package.
Metric Data Types on page 44
n
Most of the data that vCenter Operations Manager stores and analyzes is numeric, but it can also track
other types of data and alert you if the values are unexpected.
Set the Data Type for an Attribute on page 44
n
By default, vCenter Operations Manager recognizes the type of data that it receives for each attribute.
You can override this behavior by explicitly setting the data type for an attribute in an attribute
package.
Add an Attribute Package
When you add an attribute package, you set a collection interval, specify the attributes to collect for a
resource, configure the type of threshold to use for each attribute, and indicate which attributes are KPIs.
To set hard thresholds for an attribute in a package, see “Set Hard Thresholds for an Attribute,”
on page 43. To set the metric data type for an attribute in a package, see “Set the Data Type for an
2Select the adapter kind for the attribute package from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
3Select the resource kind for the attribute package from the Resource kind drop-down menu.
The list shows attribute packages for your selections.
4Click the Add New Attribute Package icon.
5Type a name for the attribute package in the Package name text box.
6Type a collection interval value, in minutes, in the Collection Interval (mins) text box.
For example, if you expect the resource to generate performance data every 30 minutes, set the
collection interval to 30 minutes.
The collection interval for a resource influences the collection status for that resource. The collection
interval for the adapter instance resource determines how often to collect data. For example, if the
collection interval for the adapter instance resource is set to five minutes, setting the collection interval
for a resource to 30 minutes prevents the resource from having the No Data Receiving collection status
after five collection cycles (25 minutes).
NOTE The collection interval that you set for a resource overrides the collection interval in the attribute
package that you assign to the resource.
42 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
7Select the check box next to each attribute to include in the package.
8For each attribute, select whether a violation of the upper or lower dynamic threshold is a KPI.
9Click OK to return to the Manage Attribute Packages window.
10 Click OK to save the attribute package.
What to do next
After you create an attribute package, you can assign it to a resource. You can assign an attribute package
when you add a resource, either through discovery or individually, and when you edit a resource. See
“Defining Resources,” on page 19.
To make the attribute package the default package for resources of its resource kind, see “Change the
Default Settings for a Resource Kind,” on page 35.
Set Hard Thresholds for an Attribute
By default, vCenter Operations Manager uses dynamic thresholding for attributes. You can override this
behavior by setting hard thresholds for an attribute in an attribute package.
A hard threshold is static. A hard threshold changes only when you change it. In most environments, you
should use dynamic thresholding instead of hard thresholding.
You can set multiple thresholds, each with a different criticality level, for the same attribute. You can also
define the criticality level that a metric must violate for it to be considered a KPI breach. Hard thresholds
that are not set as KPIs generate notification alerts if they are violated.
8To make a violation of the hard threshold a KPI, select the Violation of the Hard threshold is a Key
Indicator check box and select the criticality level from the Select Criticality Level at which a Hard
Threshold becomes Key Indicator drop-down menu.
The criticality level indicates the level that must be reached for a violation to be considered a KPI
breach.
9Click OK to save your settings.
10 Click OK to return to the Manage Attribute Packages window.
Metric Data Types
Most of the data that vCenter Operations Manager stores and analyzes is numeric, but it can also track other
types of data and alert you if the values are unexpected.
Type a value for the wait cycle. vCenter Operations Manager multiplies
the wait cycle value by the collection interval to calculate the number of
minutes that a threshold must be out of bounds before generating an
anomaly.
Type a value for the cancel cycle. vCenter Operations Manager multiplies
the cancel cycle value by the collection interval to calculate the number of
minutes the metric must be in bounds before canceling an anomaly.
For example, if a resource sends the string Good when operation is normal and Bad when a problem occurs,
vCenter Operations Manager analytics can learn this information and generate an anomaly when it receives
Bad.
Table 4‑2. Metric Types
Data TypeDescription
commonThe attribute data is numeric. This is the most common
type of attribute.
multinomialThe attribute data is one of a limited set of possible values,
either string or numeric.
sparseIf you know that vCenter Operations Manager will not
receive data for an attribute on a regular basis, use the
sparse data type. Using the sparse data type prevents
vCenter Operations Manager from generating anomalies
when it does not receive the metric as expected.
Set the Data Type for an Attribute
By default, vCenter Operations Manager recognizes the type of data that it receives for each attribute. You
can override this behavior by explicitly setting the data type for an attribute in an attribute package.
IMPORTANT If you do not set the correct the data type, vCenter Operations Manager does not use the proper
analytic algorithms when it evaluates the metric.
Prerequisites
Become familiar with the metric data types. See “Metric Data Types,” on page 44.
2Select the adapter kind of the attribute package from the Adapter kind drop-down menu.
44 VMware, Inc.
3Select the resource kind of the attribute package from the Resource kind drop-down menu.
The Manage Attribute Packages window lists the attribute packages for the resource kind that you
selected.
4Select the attribute package and click the Edit Selected Attribute Package icon.
The Manage Attribute Packages window displays the attribute details for the package.
5In the directory tree in the left pane, select the attribute.
Information about the attribute appears in the right pane.
6Click the arrow on the right side of the Advanced Configuration bar to show additional configuration
options.
7Select the data type for the attribute from the DT Type drop-down menu.
If you do not make a selection, vCenter Operations Manager detects the metric type. If the metric type is
sparse, you must set it. vCenter Operations Manager cannot detect a sparse data metric.
8Click OK to save your settings.
9Click OK to return to the Manage Attribute Packages window.
Creating Super Metric Packages
Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
You can combine different metrics by using mathematical formulas to define a super metric. Super metrics
are useful when you need to track combinations of metrics, either from a single resource or, more
commonly, from multiple resources. A super metric is a formula that contains a combination of one or more
metrics for one or more resources. A super metric package contains one or more super metrics.
For example, consider the transfer of packets along a network. The ratio of packets out should stay
approximately equal to 1, and a slight deviation can indicate an abnormality. This abnormality cannot be
detected if packets in and packets out are studied separately. You must be able to track the ratio of these two
metrics.
You cannot assign a super metric directly to a resource. Instead, you create a super metric package that
contains the super metric and assign the package to the resource. The same super metric can be part of more
than one package. For example, if you create one super metric package that contains the super metrics for
WebServer1 and another package that contains all of the super metrics for all Web servers, the super metrics
for WebServer1 can be in both packages.
Design a Super Metric on page 46
n
Because super metric formulas can be complex, design a super metric before you use the
vCenter Operations Manager user interface to create it. The key to creating a super metric that alerts
you to the right situations is knowing your own enterprise and your data.
Super Metric Specifications on page 47
n
A super metric formula can consist of one or more metric specifications. You can specify a particular
resource and metric, such as CPU use for Database Server 2, or you can specify a metric and use ThisResource, which indicates the resource to which the super metric is assigned.
Super Metric Functions on page 47
n
vCenter Operations Manager includes functions that you can use in super metric formulas. The
functions are either looping functions or single functions.
Build a Super Metric Formula on page 49
n
A super metric formula can include one or more metric specifications, super metric functions,
arithmetic operators (such as the plus or minus sign), and constants. You can enter any number of
constants as part of the formula.
You create a super metric when only a combination of metrics can let you know if your systems are
behaving normally.
Add a Super Metric Package on page 51
n
When you create a super metric package, you specify the metrics that it contains, configure threshold
characteristics for each super metric, and indicate which threshold violations should be considered
KPIs. If you include the same super metric in more than one package, you can set different
characteristics for it in each package.
Assigning Super Metric Packages on page 52
n
You can assign a super metric package to any resource, regardless of whether any metrics from the
resource are used in the super metric package. In most cases, you assign each super metric package to
a related resource.
Export a Super Metric on page 52
n
You can export a super metric from one vCenter Operations Manager instance and import it to
another vCenter Operations Manager instance.
Import a Super Metric on page 53
n
You can import a super metric that was exported from another instance of
vCenter Operations Manager.
Design a Super Metric
Because super metric formulas can be complex, design a super metric before you use the
vCenter Operations Manager user interface to create it. The key to creating a super metric that alerts you to
the right situations is knowing your own enterprise and your data.
Procedure
1Determine the resources that are involved in the behavior to track.
When you define the metrics to use, you can select either specific resources or resource kinds. For
example, you can select the specific resources Database Server 2 and Database Server 4, or you can
select the resource kind Database Servers. When you select a resource kind, the super metric uses all of
the resources of that kind that are children of the resource to which you assign the super metric.
2Determine the metrics to include in the super metric.
If you are tracking the transfer of packets along a network, the metrics are packets in and packets out
because you are interested in the ratio of those metrics. In another common use of super metrics, the
metrics might be the average CPU use or average memory use of the resource kind that you select
3Decide how to combine or compare the metrics.
For example, to find the ratio of packets in to packets out, you must divide the two metrics. If you are
tracking CPU use for a resource kind, you might want to determine the average use, or you might want
to determine what the highest or lowest use is for any any resource of that kind. In more complex
scenarios, you might need a formula that uses constants or trigonometric functions.
4Decide where to assign the super metric.
You place super metrics in a package and assign the package to a resource. For many super metrics, you
assign the super metric package to an application to have it monitor all of the resources of the specified
kind in that application. In other cases, you define the resources to track in the super metric, but the
resource that you assign the super metric to determines where alerts occur if the super metric shows
abnormal behavior. You typically assign super metrics to a tier or application.
46 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
Super Metric Specifications
A super metric formula can consist of one or more metric specifications. You can specify a particular
resource and metric, such as CPU use for Database Server 2, or you can specify a metric and use ThisResource, which indicates the resource to which the super metric is assigned.
For example, if you select the transaction time metric and instruct vCenter Operations Manager to use this
resource, when the super metric is in a package assigned to Web Server 1, it uses the transaction time for
Web Server 1. If you assign the package to Web Server 2, it uses the transaction time for Web Server 2.
Assign any package that contains the super metric only to resources for which the metric is collected. You
can combine specific resource metrics and This Resource metrics in the same formula.
Super Metric Functions
vCenter Operations Manager includes functions that you can use in super metric formulas. The functions
are either looping functions or single functions.
Looping Functions
Looping functions work on more than one value.
Table 4‑3. Looping Functions
FunctionDescription
avgAverage of the collected values.
combineCombines all of the values of the metrics of the included
resources into a single metric timeline.
countNumber of values collected.
maxMaximum of the collected values.
minMinimum of the collected values.
sumTotal of the collected values.
Looping Function Formats
All looping functions have four possible formats.
Table 4‑4. Looping Function Formats
FormatDescription
funct(res:met)Checks one level below the indicated resource and acts on the values of the metric
for all of the resource's children.
For example, avg(Tier1;CPUuse) returns the average of the CPUuse metric for all
of the children of the Tier1 resource.
funct(reskind:met)Checks down the resource tree and acts on the values of the metric for all of the
resources of the indicated resource kind that are below the resource to which the
super metric is assigned. The metric might be a specific metric or an attribute kind.
For example, sum(DomCont:BytesReadSec) totals the value of all instances of the
BytesReadSec attributes for all resources of DomCont kind below the resource to
which you assign the super metric.
functN(res:met,n)Similar to funct(res:met), except that it checks down or up the number of levels
indicated by n instead of working on only the immediate children. This behavior is
inclusive.
For example, avgN(App1:CPUuse,3) averages the CPUuse metric for the children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the App1 resource. If n is negative, the
function checks the resource's parents instead of its children. If n is 1, this format is
the same as funct(res:met).
funct([val1,val2,val3...])Array format of a looping function. It can include any number of of the following
values, separated by commas.
n
n
n
For example, max([$This:CPUavg,Host3:CPUavg,VM:CPUavg]) finds the value of the CPUavg metric for the
resource to which the super metric is assigned, for the resource called Host3, and for all resources of type
VM that are below the resource to which the super metric is assigned in the resource tree.
A resource:metric or resource kind:metric pair. The function takes the value of
the specified resource, not its children, unless you include a resource kind. If
you use a resource kind, you must specify a single metric for it, not a metric
kind. The function checks all resources of that type below the resource to which
it is assigned and acts on the value of the specified metric for those resources.
A constant.
A function or expression that returns a single value, such as
floor($This:AvgTransTime) or 100-(DBServer3:MemoryUsed).
Although this example uses the same metric in all three res:met pairs, you do not need to use the same
metric. For example, you can have one function take the average of the physical memory used for one
attribute, and the virtual memory used for a second attribute for one or more defined resources.
Single Functions
Single functions work on only a single value or a single pair of values.
Table 4‑5. Single Functions
FunctionFormatDescription
absabs(x)Absolute value of x. x can be any floating point number.
acosacos(x)Arccosine of x.
asinasin(x)Arcsine of x.
atanatan(x)Arctangent of x.
ceilceil(x)The smallest integer that is greater than or equal to x.
coscos(x)Cosine of x.
coshcosh(x)Hyperbolic cosine of x.
expexp(x)e raised to the power of x.
floorfloor(x)The largest integer that is less than or equal to x.
loglog(x)Natural logarithm (base x) of x.
log10log10(x)Common logarithm (base 10) of x.
powpow(x,y)Raises x to the y power.
randrand(x:y)Generates a random number between x and y.
sinsin(x)Sine of x.
sinhsinh(x)Hyperbolic sine of x.
sqrtsqrt(x)Square root of x.
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Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
Table 4‑5. Single Functions (Continued)
FunctionFormatDescription
tantan(x)Tangent of x.
tanhtanh(x)Hyperbolic tangent of x.
Build a Super Metric Formula
A super metric formula can include one or more metric specifications, super metric functions, arithmetic
operators (such as the plus or minus sign), and constants. You can enter any number of constants as part of
the formula.
You must follow certain procedures and rules when you build a super metric formula in the
vCenter Operations Manager user interface.
Prerequisites
Become familiar with how to construct super metric specifications. See “Super Metric Specifications,”
n
on page 47.
Become familiar with the super metric functions that vCenter Operations Manager provides. See “Super
n
Metric Functions,” on page 47.
Procedure
To use a function, select it in from the Function drop-down menu and select the resource or resource
n
kind and metric or attribute kind to use in its argument.
For looping functions that are in functN format, type the comma and value of n in the function
n
argument.
To select a resource and metric, click the resource in the Resource pane and double-click the metric in
n
the Metrics pane.
The database IDs of the resource and metric appear in the formula line at the top of the window.
Define a metric for the resource to which the super metric is assigned.
n
aIn the Resources pane, click any resource that contains the metric to use.
bClick the This Resource icon or type $This on the formula line.
If the This Resource icon is already selected, do not click it again. After you click the ThisResource icon, you must click it again to turn it off before you can add a specific resource to the
formula.
cIn the Metrics pane, double-click the metric.
To select a resource kind and attribute kind as an argument for a looping function, click the kind in the
n
Resource Kinds pane and double-click the kind in the Attribute Kinds list.
The database IDs of the resource kind and attribute kind appear in the formula line.
To shorten the resource kinds list, type all or part of the resource kind in the Search text box and click
n
the arrow next to the text box.
To use looping functions in array mode, type brackets to enclose the array and type commas between
n
each value.
Use values that are the same type, either single values or arrays.
n
Arrays are defined when you select a resource kind and attribute kind instead of a particular metric.
Select a resource kind and single metric only as part of the argument for a looping function.
n
If you select a resource kind, you must select an attribute kind.
To see the formula with resource and metric names instead of IDs, click the Show Formula Description
n
icon in the area beneath the formula line.
To select function names and formats and arithemetic operators, either type them directly on the
n
formula line or select them from the drop-down menus.
To use parentheses to specify the order of operations in the formula, either type them directly on the
n
formula line or select them from the Operators drop-down menu.
To clear the metrics or attribute kinds lists, click the Clear Selection icon in the Resources or Resources
n
kind pane at any time.
Add a Super Metric
You create a super metric when only a combination of metrics can let you know if your systems are
behaving normally.
When you add a super metric, you might find it helpful to open two vCenter Operations Manager browser
tabs. For example, you can create the super metric in one tab and view a dashboard that shows the Resource
Selector, Metric Selector, and Metric Graph widgets in the other tab. When you use two tabs, you can also
see the metric graph of a metric and verify that it is correct before you use it in a super metric.
Prerequisites
Design your super metric formula. See “Design a Super Metric,” on page 46.
n
Become familiar with the user interface for building super metric formulas. See “Build a Super Metric
n
Formula,” on page 49.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Super Metric Editor tab.
2Click the Add New Super Metric icon.
3Type a name for the super metric in the Super Metric Name text box.
4Define the formula for the super metric.
Select, in order, each function or operator to use and the metrics or attribute kinds to use in each
function or with each operator.
5To verify the formula, display a metric graph that shows what its value was during a past time period.
aClick the Visualize Supermetric icon.
The metric graph pane replaces the Metrics and Attribute Kinds panes.
bIf you are prompted to select a resource, select the resource to which to assign the super metric in
the Resources pane.
cClick the Data Controls icon and select the date range for the data.
dIf the formula uses resource kinds, and you want the graph to use only resources that are current
being collected, select the Only Monitoring Resources check box.
eClick the Show Graph icon.
50 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
6Click OK.
vCenter Operations Manager checks the syntax of your formula. For example, it verifies that the
number of opening and closing parentheses are the same and that single values and arrays are not
mixed. If your formula is not valid, an error message appears that describes the cause of the problem.
You must correct the formula before you can save the super metric.
What to do next
Add the super metric to an existing super metric package, or create a new super metric package. See “Edit a
Super Metric Package,” on page 55 or “Add a Super Metric Package,” on page 51.
Add a Super Metric Package
When you create a super metric package, you specify the metrics that it contains, configure threshold
characteristics for each super metric, and indicate which threshold violations should be considered KPIs. If
you include the same super metric in more than one package, you can set different characteristics for it in
each package.
You can also add a super metric package when you add an individual resource or edit a resource. See “Add
an Individual Resource,” on page 21 or “Edit a Resource,” on page 33.
Prerequisites
Create one or more super metrics. See “Add a Super Metric,” on page 50.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Package Editor tab.
2Click the Add New Attribute Package icon.
3Type a name for the super metric package in the Package name text box.
4Select a super metric to add to the package from the list on the left side of the window.
The characteristics that you can set for the super metric appear in the right pane.
5(Optional) To set the upper dynamic threshold violation for a super metric as a KPI, select the Violation
of the Upper Dynamic threshold is a Key Indicator check box.
6(Optional) To set the lower dynamic threshold violation for a super metric as a KPI, select the Violation
of the Lower Dynamic threshold is a Key Indicator check box.
7(Optional) To set and use hard thresholds for a super metric, click the down arrow to the right of
Advanced Configuration and configure the hard threshold options.
OptionAction
Critical Level
Threshold Operator
Compare Value
Wait Cycle
Cancel Cycle
Select the criticality level of the hard threshold.
Select the threshold operator.
Type the value to compare to the hard threshold.
Type a value for the wait cycle. vCenter Operations Manager multiples the
wait cycle value by the collection interval to calculate the number of
minutes that the hard threshold must be out of bounds before generating
an anomaly.
Type a value for the cancel cycle. vCenter Operations Manager multiplies
the cancel cycle value by the collection interval to calculate the number of
minutes that the hard threshold must be in bounds before canceling an
anomaly.
8To make a violation of a hard threshold a KPI, select the Violation of the Hard threshold is a Key
Indicator check box and select the criticality level from the Select Criticality Level at which a Hard
Threshold becomes Key Indicator drop-down menu.
The criticality level indicates the level that must be reached for a violation to be considered a KPI
breach.
9Click OK to save the super metric package.
What to do next
After you create the super metric package, you can assign it to a resource. See “Assigning Super Metric
Packages,” on page 52.
To make the super metric package the default package for a resource kind, see “Change the Default Settings
for a Resource Kind,” on page 35.
Assigning Super Metric Packages
You can assign a super metric package to any resource, regardless of whether any metrics from the resource
are used in the super metric package. In most cases, you assign each super metric package to a related
resource.
For example, if a super metric package includes the average free space for all database servers, you assign
the package to the database server tier. If another super metric package includes all of the super metrics that
are defined for a particular application, you assign it to the application. Super metrics are the only attributes
that you can assign directly to a tier or an application.
To make vCenter Operations Manager generate problem fingerprints for your applications, you must assign
super metrics to an application or its tiers and designate the super metrics as KPI. Fingerprints can help you
predict problems with applications.
If you use looping functions that have resource kinds or This Resource metrics in a super metric, the
resource to which you assign the super metric determines which of the resource's metrics are included in the
super metric.
When you use resource discovery to define a resource, vCenter Operations Manager assigns the default
super metric package, if any, for its resource kind. When you add a resource individually, you can accept
the default super metric package or assign a different package. A default super metric package is not
available unless you previously defined a default super metric package for the selected resource kind. To
change the super metric package for one or more resources, see “Modifying Resources,” on page 33.
Export a Super Metric
You can export a super metric from one vCenter Operations Manager instance and import it to another
vCenter Operations Manager instance.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Super Metric Editor tab.
2Select the super metric to export and click the Export icon.
vCenter Operations Manager creates a super metric file, for example, SuperMetric.bin.
3Select Save File and click OK to download the super metric file to your computer.
What to do next
Import the super metric file to another instance of vCenter Operations Manager. See “Import a Super
Metric,” on page 53.
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Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
Import a Super Metric
You can import a super metric that was exported from another instance of vCenter Operations Manager.
If the super metric to import contains a reference to an object that does not exist in the target instance, the
import fails. vCenter Operations Manager returns a brief error message and writes detailed information to
the log file.
Prerequisites
Export a super metric from another vCenter Operations Manager instance. See “Export a Super Metric,” on
page 52.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Super Metric Editor tab.
2Click the Import icon.
3Click Browse, select the super metric file to import, and click Open.
4Click Import to import the super metric file.
If the target instance has a super metric with the same name as the super metric you are importing, you
can click Yes to create a super metric with the same name or No to cancel the import.
After the import is finished, the super metric appears in the Manage Super Metric window.
Modifying Attribute Packages
To maintain your attribute packages in vCenter Operations Manager, you might need to edit, clone, or
delete an attribute package.
Edit an Attribute Package
When you edit an attribute package, you can change the package name, change the collection interval, and
add or remove attributes from the package.
To change hard threshold settings for an attribute in a package, see “Set Hard Thresholds for an Attribute,”
on page 43. To change the metric data type for an attribute in a package, see “Set the Data Type for an
2(Optional) Select the adapter kind and resource kind of the attribute package to delete.
3Select the attribute package to delete and click the Remove Selected Attribute Package icon.
4Click Yes on the confirmation window to delete the package.
Modifying Super Metric Packages
To maintain your super metric packages in vCenter Operations Manager, you might need to edit or remove
a super metric package.
Edit a Super Metric
When you edit a super metric, you can change its name and edit the super metric formula.
Prerequisites
If you plan to change the super metric formula, see “Design a Super Metric,” on page 46 and “Build a Super
Metric Formula,” on page 49 for information on designing your formula and using the
vCenter Operations Manager user interface to build it.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Super Metric Editor tab.
2Select the super metric to edit.
You can use the Search box to search for the super metric.
The packages to which the super metric belongs appear in the Packages pane.
3Click the Edit Selected Super Metric icon.
4To change the super metric name, type a new name in the Super Metric Name text box.
5To change the formula for the super metric, select, in the order in which they will be used, each function
or operator to use and the metrics or attributes kinds to use in each function or with each operator.
6To save your changes, click OK.
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Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
vCenter Operations Manager checks the syntax of your formula. For example, it verifies that the number of
opening and closing parentheses are the same and that single values and arrays are not mixed. If your
formula is not valid, an error message appears that describes the cause of the problem. You must correct the
formula before you can save your changes.
Edit a Super Metric Package
When you edit a super metric package, you can change the name of the package, add or remove super
metrics from the package, and change threshold settings for super metrics in the package.
You can also edit a super metric package when you add an individual resource or edit a resource. See “Add
an Individual Resource,” on page 21 or “Edit a Resource,” on page 33.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Package Editor tab.
2Select the super metric package to modify.
You can use the Search box to search for the super metric package.
The resources to which the super metric package is applied appear in the Resources pane.
3Click the Edit Selected Attribute Package icon.
4To change the package name, type a new name in the Package name text box.
5To add or remove a super metric from the package, select or deselect the check box next to the super
metric name.
6(Optional) To set the upper dynamic threshold violation for a super metric as a KPI, select the Violation
of the Upper Dynamic threshold is a Key Indicator check box.
7(Optional) To set the lower dynamic threshold violation for a super metric as a KPI, select the Violation
of the Lower Dynamic threshold is a Key Indicator check box.
8(Optional) To set and use hard thresholds for a super metric, click the down arrow to the right of
Advanced Configuration and configure the hard threshold options.
OptionAction
Critical Level
Threshold Operator
Compare Value
Wait Cycle
Cancel Cycle
Select the criticality level of the hard threshold.
Select the threshold operator.
Type the value to compare to the hard threshold.
Type a value for the wait cycle. vCenter Operations Manager multiples the
wait cycle value by the collection interval to calculate the number of
minutes that the hard threshold must be out of bounds before generating
an anomaly.
Type a value for the cancel cycle. vCenter Operations Manager multiplies
the cancel cycle value by the collection interval to calculate the number of
minutes that the hard threshold must be in bounds before canceling an
anomaly.
9To make a violation of a hard threshold a KPI, select the Violation of the Hard threshold is a Key
Indicator check box and select the criticality level from the Select Criticality Level at which a Hard
Threshold becomes Key Indicator drop-down menu.
The criticality level indicates the level that must be reached for a violation to be considered a KPI
breach.
If you do not need a super metric, you can delete it.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Super Metric Editor tab.
2Select the super metric to delete.
You can use the Search box to search for the super metric.
The packages to which the super metric belongs appear in the Packages pane.
3Click the Remove Selected Super Metric icon.
Delete a Super Metric Package
If you do not need a super metric package, you can delete it.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Package Editor tab.
2Select the super metric package to delete.
You can use the Search box to search for the super metric package.
The resources to which the super metric package is applied appear in the Resources pane.
3Click the Remove Selected Attribute Package icon.
Super Metric Use Case
Consider an application, such as a Web-based business, where all of the servers in a tier perform a similar
activity, such as processing transactions. In this use case, it might be useful to know the average of a metric,
such as CPU usage, for all of the servers. You can define a super metric to track this number and assign it to
the tier.
Prerequisites
Become familiar with creating or editing super metric packages. See “Add a Super Metric Package,” on
n
page 51 or “Edit a Super Metric Package,” on page 55.
Become familiar with assigning super metric packages. See “Assigning Super Metric Packages,” on
n
page 52.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Super Metrics and click the Super Metric Editor tab.
2Click the Add New Super Metric icon.
3Type a name for the super metric in the Super Metric Name text box.
For example, Average CPU Use.
4Select avg from the Functions drop-down menu.
5In the Resource Kinds pane, select the resource kind, or type all or part of the name of the resource type
for the transaction servers in the Search text box, for example, AppServ, and click the arrow next to the
text box.
The attributes for the resource kind appear in the Attribute Kinds pane.
56 VMware, Inc.
6Double-click the AvgCPUtil attribute.
The database ID of the resource and metric appear in the formula line at the top of the window.
7(Optional) To see the resource name and metric name, click below the formula line.
8Click OK to save the super metric.
9Add the super metric to an existing super metric package, or create a new super metric package.
10 Assign the super metric package to the tier.
Configure Weighted Metric Groups
With the weighted metric groups feature, vCenter Operations Manager calculates the weight of individual
metrics based on the number of metrics in the group so that every top-level group has equal weight in the
health calculation.
When the weighted metric groups feature is enabled, the total anomalies metric shows the weighted total
anomalies that are related to the total number of metrics. When the weighted metric group feature is
disabled, each metric has equal weight when vCenter Operations Manager calculates health, for example,
two CPU metrics have the same effect on health as two memory metrics.
Procedure
Chapter 4 Configuring Attribute Packages
1Open the analytics.properties file in the vcenter-ops\user\conf\analytics directory.
The vCenter Operations Manager vApp uses the analytics.properties file on the Analytics virtual
machine.
2To enable or disable weighted metric groups, set the useMetricGroupWeightingForHealth property to
true or false.
3Save your changes and close the analytics.properties file.
4Restart the Analytics service to make your changes take effect.
Prioritize Threshold Checking
You can pause dynamic threshold calculation when the data queue size exceeds a certain value. This feature
enables you to prioritize threshold checking over the dynamic threshold calculation.
Procedure
1Open the advanced.properties file in the vcenter-ops\user\conf\analytics directory.
2Set the dtBlockIfDataQueueSizeOver property to the data queue size.
For example: dtBlockIfDataQueueSizeOver = 200
NOTE Setting the dtBlockIfDataQueueSizeOver property to 0 disables the feature.
3Save your changes and close the advanced.properties file.
4Restart the Analytics service.
Enable the Combined Dynamic Threshold Plug-in
The combined dynamic threshold plug-in provides faster and more accurate dynamic threshold calculations
by combining the information learned from all previous dynamic threshold algorithms.
Procedure
1Open the advanced.properties file in the vcenter-ops\user\conf\analytics directory.
3Save your changes and close the advanced.properties file.
4Restart the Analytics service.
58 VMware, Inc.
Configuring Applications5
An application is a type of container resource that defines an interdependent set of hardware and software
components that delivers a specific capability that supports your business. A vCenter Operations Manager
administrator builds application topologies to determine how applications are affected when one or more of
the resources that they contain experience problems.
After you configure an application, you can view real-time analysis for any or all of the affected resources in
the application, understand where in the application problems arise, and determine how problems spread to
other resources.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Understanding Applications,” on page 59
n
“Add an Application,” on page 60
n
“Creating and Assigning Application Tags,” on page 61
n
“Use a Tag to Find an Application,” on page 62
n
“Modifying Applications,” on page 63
n
“Modifying Application Tags,” on page 64
n
Understanding Applications
In vCenter Operations Manager, applications are three-level hierarchies. Each application contains one or
more tiers, and each tier contains one or more resources.
A tier is a group of resources that performs a specific task in an application. For example, you can group all
of your database servers together in a tier. The resources that make up a tier can also contain other
resources, but they do not have to.
When you define application hierarchies for your resources, vCenter Operations Manager can calculate and
store fingerprints for your applications. 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, such as other anomalies, it captures the set of events that preceded the violation. This captured
series of events is called a fingerprint.
With fingerprints, vCenter Operations Manager can monitor events in the future and, if it finds a similar
series of events, issue a predictive alert to warn you that a KPI violation is likely to occur. The information
that vCenter Operations Manager obtains after it generates the fingerprint assists you in correcting the
problem.
vCenter Operations Manager generates fingerprints only for applications. Because the only type of attribute
that you can assign directly to an application or tier is a super metric, vCenter Operations Manager
generates fingerprints only if you assign super metrics to a tier or application and mark them as KPIs. See
“Creating Super Metric Packages,” on page 45.
To maintain the highest possible server performance, vCenter Operations Manager tracks each captured
fingerprint to determine if the set of conditions it represents recurs and if those conditions help to predict
future problems. If a fingerprint is not useful in predicting problems, vCenter Operations Manager
deactivates it and stops checking for its recurrence.
Add an Application
You build an application topology by adding an application. When you add an application, you can select
from a list of predefined templates, or create your own custom template, to define the tiers in the
application.
Configured application tags appear in the left pane of the Application Overview page and the list of
configured applications appears in the right pane. For each application, a graph shows the application
health over the last 24 hours, the current health score, icons that indicate the health of each tier, and the
number of Smart Alerts and Classic Alerts.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Click the Add New Application icon.
3Select a template, or select Custom to define your own application from a blank template, and click Go.
The default tiers for each template appear next to the template name. The tiers for the selected template
also appear at the bottom of the window.
4Type a name for the application in the Application text box.
5(Optional) To add a tier to the application, click the Add New Tier icon and type the tier name in the
row that appears.
For example, if you are configuring a tier of Web servers, you might type Web Servers.
6Select a tier in the Tiers pane.
7Filter the resources to add to the tier.
You can select a resource tag and tag value in the Resource-Tags list to show only the resources that
have that tag value. If you click the Invert Result icon, the list includes resources that do not match the
tag values that you selected. For example, if you select New York and London, all of the resources that
are not in either of the cities appear in the list. If you select multiple tags, the resources in the list
depend on the values that you select.
OptionDescription
Select more than one value for the
same tag
Select values for two or more
different tags
The list includes resources that have either value.
The list includes only resources that have all of the selected values.
60 VMware, Inc.
8Select the resources to add to the tier from the List tab and drag them to the tier Resources pane.
You can select one resource, press Shift+click to select a range of resources, press Ctrl+click to select
multiple individual resources, or click the Select All to icon to select all of the listed resources.
You can also add all listed resources to a tier by clicking the Add All Resources To Tier icon.
NOTE You can add the same resource to more than one tier.
9Continue to select tiers, filter resources, and add resources to tiers until the application topology is
finished.
10 Click Save to save the application.
The new application appears in the list of applications in the Application Overview page.
Creating and Assigning Application Tags
You can use application tags to categorize and manage applications in your environment. Creating
application tags and tag values makes it easier to find applications in vCenter Operations Manager. Rather
than searching through thousands of applications in a long list, you can easily use tags to find the
applications you want.
Add an Application Tag on page 61
n
With application tags, you can index applications for ease of manageability. Defining tags appropriate
to your environment makes it easier to find applications in vCenter Operations Manager.
Chapter 5 Configuring Applications
Add a Value to an Application Tag on page 62
n
You can assign any number of applications to each tag value, and you can assign a single application
to tag values under any number of application tags.
Associate an Application with a Tag Value on page 62
n
When an application is associated with a tag value, you can use the application tag hierarchy to select
it in vCenter Operations Manager.
Add an Application Tag
With application tags, you can index applications for ease of manageability. Defining tags appropriate to
your environment makes it easier to find applications in vCenter Operations Manager.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon.
3Click the Add Tag icon to add a new row and enter the name of the tag in the row.
4Click OK to save the tag.
The new tag appears in the tags list on the Application Overview page.
What to do next
Add a value to the application tag. See “Add a Value to an Application Tag,” on page 62.
You can assign any number of applications to each tag value, and you can assign a single application to tag
values under any number of application tags.
Prerequisites
Add an application tag. See “Add an Application Tag,” on page 61.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the Application Overview page.
3Select the tag to which to add values and click the Add Tag Value icon.
4Type a name for the tag value in the new row.
5Click OK to add the tag value.
The tag value appears in the tag list.
What to do next
Associate an application with the tag value. See “Associate an Application with a Tag Value,” on page 62.
Associate an Application with a Tag Value
When an application is associated with a tag value, you can use the application tag hierarchy to select it in
vCenter Operations Manager.
Prerequisites
Create an application tag. See “Add an Application Tag,” on page 61.
n
Add a value to the application tag. See “Add a Value to an Application Tag,” on page 62.
n
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Drag the application from the list in the right pane of the Application Overview page onto the tag value
name.
You can select one application, press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual applications, or press Shift
+click to select a range of applications.
The applications that you selected are now associated with the tag value.
Use a Tag to Find an Application
Rather than searching through the entire application list, you can use tags to find the applications you want
more easily.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
62 VMware, Inc.
2In the tag list on the left side of the page, click the tag for which the application was assigned a value.
When you click a tag, the list of values expands below the tag. The number of applications associated
with each value appears next to the tag value. You can collapse and expand a tag by clicking it again.
You can also use the toolbar buttons above the tag list to collapse and expand application tag branches,
clear all selected application tags, and manage tags.
3Click the tag value.
The applications with that tag value appear in the right pane.
4Select the application from the list.
Modifying Applications
To maintain your applications in vCenter Operations Manager, you might need to add or delete tiers, add or
delete resources from tiers, change the names of tiers, or delete applications.
Edit an Application
When you edit an application, you can add and delete tiers, add and delete resources from tiers, and change
the names of tiers.
IMPORTANT Do not delete a tier that contains resources for which metrics are being collected. If metrics are
being collected when you delete a tier, vCenter Operations Manager generates alerts regarding the negative
performance of the individual resources that correspond with their respective applications. In addition,
metric collection might malfunction.
Chapter 5 Configuring Applications
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Select the application to edit.
3Click the Edit Selected Application icon.
4Edit the application.
OptionAction
Add a tier to the application
Remove a tier from the application
Change the name of a tier
Add a resource to a tier
Delete a resource from a tier
Click the Add New Tier icon and type the tier name in the row that
appears. For example, if you are configuring a tier of Web servers, you
might type Web Servers.
Select the tier in the list and click the Remote Selected Tier icon.
Double-click the existing name and type a new name.
aSelect the tier in the Tiers pane.
b Select the resources to add to the tier from the resource list.
cDrag the selected resources from the tier Resources pane.
a Select the tier in the Tiers pane.
b Select the resources to remove from the tier in the resource list.
cClick the Remote Selected Resources From Tier icon.
If you do not need an application, you can delete it. When you delete an application, the fingerprints, alerts,
and anomalies associated with the application are also deleted.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Select the application to delete.
3Click the Remove Selected Application icon.
4Click Yes on the confirmation window to delete the application.
Modifying Application Tags
To maintain application tags, you might need to remove an application from a tag value, edit or delete an
application tag, or edit or delete a tag value.
Edit an Application Tag
When you edit an application tag, you can change the tag name and the names of its tag values.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the page.
3Edit the application tag.
OptionDescription
Change the tag name
Change a tag value name
Double-click the tag name and type a new name.
Expand the tag to show its values and double-click the value to type a new
name.
4Click OK to save your changes.
Your changes appear in the tag list in the Application Overview page.
Delete an Application Tag or Tag Value
If you do not need an application tag or tag value, you can delete it.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Click the Manage Tags icon on the left side of the page.
3Delete the tag or tag value.
OptionDescription
Delete a tag
Delete a tag value
Click the tag name and click Remove Tag.
Expand the tag, select the value, and click Remove Tag Value.
4Click Close.
The tag or tag value does not appear in the tag list in the Application Overview page.
64 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 5 Configuring Applications
Remove an Application from a Tag Value
If you need to recategorize an application, you can remove it from its current tag value.
Procedure
1Select Environment > Applications Overview.
2Select the tag value from the list on the left side of the Application Overview page.
The assigned applications for the tag value appear in the tag list.
3Drag the application from the list on the right to the UnTag line at the end of the tag list on the left.
To use vCenter Operations Manager, a user must have a user account. If your organization uses an LDAP
user database, a vCenter Operations Manager administrator can import some or all of the LDAP users to
vCenter Operations Manager.
vCenter Operations Manager provides user group-based security. You can place each user in one or more
user groups, and you can assign access rights to user groups. For example, one user group might be able to
view only the resource integrity levels, another user group might be able to configure resources, and a third
user group might have root permissions to administer other users.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Create a User Account,” on page 67
n
“Importing LDAP Users,” on page 68
n
“Configuring User Groups and Access Rights,” on page 72
n
“Set Password Policies,” on page 75
n
“Maintaining Users and User Groups,” on page 75
n
“Run the User Audit Report,” on page 77
n
Create a User Account
You must create a user account for each person who uses vCenter Operations Manager. You can create users
from the vCenter Operations Manager user interface.
If you use an LDAP user database, you can also import some or all of your LDAP users into
vCenter Operations Manager. See “Importing LDAP Users,” on page 68.
NOTE In a vApp installation, users that you create from the Custom user interface do not have access to the
vSphere user interface.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2Click the User Management tab and click the Add New User Account icon in the User Accounts pane.
3Type the user's first and last names, the user name and password for the user account, and the user's
email address.
4(Optional) Type information about the user in the Description text box, such as the purpose of the
user's interaction with vCenter Operations Manager.
5Select the Is Enabled check box to activate the user profile.
If you do not select this check box, the user account is inactive and the user cannot log in to
vCenter Operations Manager.
6Deselect the Is Locked check box.
If you select this check box, the user account is locked and the user cannot use
vCenter Operations Manager.
7Select Change Pswd At Next Login to force the user to change his or her password at the next login.
8Click OK to save your configuration.
After vCenter Operations Manager creates the user account, the account appears in the User Accounts pane.
By default, new users are set to use the light color scheme, the local browser time, and to have no
administrative privileges.
What to do next
Assign the user to a user group. See “Assign a User to a User Group,” on page 74.
Importing LDAP Users
If you use an LDAP database to manage users and groups, you can import users from one or more groups to
vCenter Operations Manager. When you import LDAP users, you can create user records and assign them
to vCenter Operations Manager groups in one operation.
When you import LDAP users to vCenter Operations Manager, only the user name is imported. The user
password is not imported. When an LDAP user logs in, vCenter Operations Manager queries the LDAP
database to validate the password. LDAP users cannot change their passwords in
vCenter Operations Manager.
You can import LDAP users manually or with autosynchronization. When you import LDAP users
manually, vCenter Operations Manager retrieves the users that match your criteria. With
autosynchronization, you map LDAP groups to vCenter Operations Manager groups. Autosynchronization
runs at specified intervals. You can import LDAP users manually at any time.
Before you can import LDAP users, you must define the LDAP host in vCenter Operations Manager. To use
SSL to communicate securely with the LDAP server, you must import a security certificate on the
vCenter Operations Manager server.
Add or Modify an LDAP Host Definition on page 69
n
To import LDAP users, you must define the LDAP host in vCenter Operations Manager. You can also
modify existing LDAP host definitions.
Configure Secure Communication for LDAP Import on page 70
n
You can import a security certificate to the vCenter Operations Manager server truststore file to
communicate securely with an LDAP host.
Import LDAP Users Manually on page 70
n
When you import LDAP users manually, vCenter Operations Manager retrieves the LDAP users that
match your criteria. You can import all users, or select specific users, and assign users to
vCenter Operations Manager groups. You can manually import users at any time.
Import LDAP Users with Autosynchronization on page 71
n
With autosynchronization, you map LDAP groups to vCenter Operations Manager groups. The
import retrieves all members of the LDAP groups and adds them to the mapped
vCenter Operations Manager groups.
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Chapter 6 Configuring and Managing Users
Stop Importing LDAP Users on page 72
n
You can configure the autosynchronization feature to stop importing LDAP users to a
vCenter Operations Manager group.
Add or Modify an LDAP Host Definition
To import LDAP users, you must define the LDAP host in vCenter Operations Manager. You can also
modify existing LDAP host definitions.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2In the User Accounts pane, click the Import From LDAP icon.
3Add, edit, or delete an LDAP host.
OptionAction
Add a new LDAP host
Modify an LDAP host definition
Remove an LDAP host definition
4Define or modify the LDAP host settings.
Click Add.
Select an LDAP host definition and click Edit.
Click Delete
OptionAction
LDAP Description
LDAP Host Name
Port
SSL
Username Field
Base DN
Username
Password
Type a unique description for the LDAP host.
Type the LDAP host name or IP address.
Type the port number to connect to the LDAP host.
Select if you imported an SSL certificate for LDAP import. You can use SSL
only if you imported a security certificate in the
vCenter Operations Manager server trust store.
Select or type the LDAP field to use as the user name in
vCenter Operations Manager.
Type the base distinguished name for the user search. Only users under
this base will be found.
Type the user name to connect to the LDAP database.
Type the password to connect to the LDAP database.
5(Optional) To limit the users that vCenter Operations Manager finds on the LDAP host when you
import LDAP users, type values in the search criteria and attribute text boxes.
All of the text boxes are optional.
OptionDescription
Group Search Criteria
Member Attribute
User Search Criteria
The LDAP search criteria for finding groups. If you do not specify group
search criteria, vCenter Operations Manager uses the default search
parameters (|(objectClass=group)(objectClass=groupOfNames)).
The name of the attribute of a group object that contains the list of
members. If you do not specify a member attribute,
vCenter Operations Manager uses member by default.
The LDAP search criteria for finding and caching specific users that the
member field looks up. Type sets of key=value pairs, for example, (|(key1=value1)(key2=value2)). If you do not specify search criteria,
vCenter Operations Manager searches for each user separately and the
search operation might be time consuming.
The attribute name of a User object to be matched with the Member entry
from the Group object. If you do not specify an attribute name,
vCenter Operations Manager treats the Member entry as a DN.
Additional attributes to apply to the LDAP context environment. Type sets
of key=value pairs separated by commas, for example,
certificate.cer is the name of the security certificate.
3Restart the vCenter Operations Manager Web service.
Import LDAP Users Manually
When you import LDAP users manually, vCenter Operations Manager retrieves the LDAP users that match
your criteria. You can import all users, or select specific users, and assign users to
vCenter Operations Manager groups. You can manually import users at any time.
Prerequisites
Define the LDAP host in vCenter Operations Manager. See “Add or Modify an LDAP Host Definition,”
n
on page 69.
Verify that you have the Import From LDAP access right.
n
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2In the User Accounts pane, click the Import from LDAP icon.
70 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 6 Configuring and Managing Users
3Select the LDAP host from the Ldap Host drop-down menu.
vCenter Operations Manager populates the user name and password text boxes by using values from
the LDAP host definition.
4Click Lookup.
vCenter Operations Manager searches the LDAP data and lists all of the users that it finds. If the search
returns a user who is already imported to vCenter Operations Manager, that row is dimmed and
locked. You cannot reimport users.
5Select the users to import.
OptionDescription
Import all of the users in an LDAP
group
Import an individual user in an
LDAP group
Check Import All for that group.
Click in the Import column and select true.
6For each user that you selected to import, select the vCenter Operations Manager group to which to add
the user in the Groups column.
7Click Import.
If you try to import a user who has the same name as a user in vCenter Operations Manager, a message
states that one or more users could not be imported and the row for the user is yellow.
After the LDAP users are imported, their user accounts appear in the User Accounts pane.
Import LDAP Users with Autosynchronization
With autosynchronization, you map LDAP groups to vCenter Operations Manager groups. The import
retrieves all members of the LDAP groups and adds them to the mapped vCenter Operations Manager
groups.
By default, autosynchronization runs at one hour intervals. If you are an advanced user, you can change the
autosynchronization interval by editing the ldapSyncInterval property in the vcenter-
ops\user\conf\web\web.properties file.
Prerequisites
Define the LDAP host in vCenter Operations Manager. See “Add or Modify an LDAP Host Definition,”
n
on page 69.
Verify that you have the Import From LDAP access right.
n
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2In the User Accounts pane, click the Import from LDAP icon.
3Select the LDAP host from the Ldap Host drop-down menu and click Edit.
4Select the Auto Sync check box to enable autosynchronization.
The Account Groups and LDAP Groups lists appear at the bottom of the window.
5Click Load LDAP Groups.
vCenter Operations Manager populates the LDAP Groups list.
6In the Account Groups pane, select a vCenter Operations Manager group.
8Select the LDAP group to import to the vCenter Operations Manager group that you selected.
9Repeat Step 6 through Step 8 for each LDAP group to import.
10 Click OK to save your configuration.
The next time that autosynchronization runs, vCenter Operations Manager retrieves the members of the
LDAP groups that you selected and adds them to the mapped vCenter Operations Manager groups.
Stop Importing LDAP Users
You can configure the autosynchronization feature to stop importing LDAP users to a
vCenter Operations Manager group.
Prerequisites
Verify that you have the Import From LDAP access right.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2In the User Accounts pane, click the Import from LDAP icon.
3Select the LDAP host and click Edit.
4Select the Auto Sync check box to enable autosynchronization.
The Account Groups and LDAP Groups lists appear at the bottom of the window.
5Click Load LDAP Groups.
vCenter Operations Manager populates the LDAP Groups list.
6In the Account Groups pane, select the vCenter Operations Manager group.
7Click the Remove Groups icon.
The LDAP Groups list shows all of the LDAP groups that were imported to the selected
vCenter Operations Manager group.
8Select the LDAP group to stop importing to the selected vCenter Operations Manager group.
9Click OK to save your configuration.
vCenter Operations Manager stops importing LDAP users to the vCenter Operations Manager group that
you selected. The next autosynchronization also removes any existing users from the selected
vCenter Operations Manager group.
Configuring User Groups and Access Rights
You can place each user in one or more user groups, and you can assign access rights to user groups. The
access rights that you assign to a user group determine the vCenter Operations Manager features that
members of the user group can use. vCenter Operations Manager provides several predefined user groups.
You can also create your own custom user groups.
Perform access rights-related tasks only when you are logged in as a user who has administrative privileges.
Predefined User Groups on page 73
n
vCenter Operations Manager includes several predefined user groups.
Add a User Group on page 73
n
If the predefined user groups do not meet your needs, you can create your own user groups.
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Chapter 6 Configuring and Managing Users
Configure Access Rights for a User Group on page 74
n
To enable users to perform certain actions in vCenter Operations Manager, you must assign access
rights to each user group. You define which menus users within a user group can access and the
actions that the users can perform.
Assign a User to a User Group on page 74
n
You can assign any number of users to a user group, and each user can belong to any number of
groups. You can create administrators in addition to the default admin user by assigning users to the
Administrators group.
Predefined User Groups
vCenter Operations Manager includes several predefined user groups.
Table 6‑1. Predefined User Groups
GroupDescription
AdministratorsHave full access to the system.
OperatorsCan manage the environment, but cannot manage users and user groups or edit the
password policy.
UsersCan view the environment, including the Environment Overview, Applications Overview,
Alerts Overview, Cross-Silo Analysis, and Problem Fingerprint Library pages. Members of
this group can also view the support Status tab and run performance, behavior, and
anomaly correlation reports.
Add a User Group
If the predefined user groups do not meet your needs, you can create your own user groups.
Prerequisites
Become familiar with the predefined user groups. See “Predefined User Groups,” on page 73.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2On the User Management tab, click the Add New Group icon in the Account Groups pane.
3Type a name for the user group in the Group name text box.
4(Optional) Type a description for the user group in the Description text box.
The description can include information about the group, such as the purpose of the group's interaction
with vCenter Operations Manager.
5Click OK to save your configuration.
The new user group appears in the Account Groups pane.
What to do next
Assign access rights to the user group. See “Configure Access Rights for a User Group,” on page 74.
To enable users to perform certain actions in vCenter Operations Manager, you must assign access rights to
each user group. You define which menus users within a user group can access and the actions that the
users can perform.
Prerequisites
Add user groups to vCenter Operations Manager. See “Add a User Group,” on page 73.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2On the Access Rights tab, select the user group under Account Groups.
3In the Access Rights pane on the right, select the check box for each menu and menu option that group
members can access.
The Access Rights pane contains an expandable list of access rights for actions that you can perform in
the vCenter Operations Manager menus. The Administrative Access right provides access to the Admin
menu. If the check box for an access right is deselected, group members cannot perform the associated
action.
4Click the Save Changes icon to save the access rights for the user group.
What to do next
Add users to the user group. See “Assign a User to a User Group,” on page 74.
Assign a User to a User Group
You can assign any number of users to a user group, and each user can belong to any number of groups.
You can create administrators in addition to the default admin user by assigning users to the Administrators
group.
NOTE Only by the admin user can perform some vCenter Operations Manager features, such as querying
the vCenter Operations Manager database.
Prerequisites
Become familiar with the predefined user groups. See “Predefined User Groups,” on page 73.
n
If the predefined user groups do not meet your needs, create new user groups. See “Add a User
n
Group,” on page 73.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2On the User Management tab, select a user in the User Accounts pane.
You can press Ctrl+click to select multiple individual users or Shift+click to select a range of users.
3Drag the user to the Account Groups pane and drop it into the user group.
74 VMware, Inc.
Set Password Policies
You can configure the account lockout, password strength, and password change policy settings for
vCenter Operations Manager user passwords.
NOTE vCenter Operations Manager sessions time out after 30 minutes of inactivity and require users to log
in again. You cannot change this timeout value.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2Select the Password Policy tab.
3In the Account Lockout Policy group, configure the account lockout settings.
OptionDescription
Active
Allowed Login Attempts
4In the Password Strength Policy group, configure the password strength policy settings.
Chapter 6 Configuring and Managing Users
Locks users out of vCenter Operations Manager after the number of failed
login attempts specified in Allowed Login Attempts.
The number of login attempts that a user can attempt before being locked
out of vCenter Operations Manager.
OptionDescription
Active
Password Min Length
Password Must Have Letters and
Numbers
Password Must Not Equal To User
Select this check box to set password strength requirements.
The minimum number of characters that a password can contain.
Select this check box to require passwords to contain at least one letter and
at least one number.
Select this check box to prevent users from using their user name as their
password.
5In the Password Change Policy group, configure the password change policy settings.
OptionDescription
Active
Password Expiration Period (days)
Password Prior Expiration Warn
Period (days)
Forces users to change their passwords after the number of days specified
in Password Expiration Period.
Number of days before users are forced to change their passwords.
Number of days before a password expires that users are warned that their
passwords are about to expire.
6Click the Save Policy icon to save your configuration.
Maintaining Users and User Groups
To maintain users and user groups in vCenter Operations Manager, you might need to add, remove, or edit
user accounts and user groups.
Edit a User Account
When you edit a user account, you can change user and password information. You can also activate,
deactivate, lock out, or unlock a user account.
If you imported a user from LDAP, you cannot change user name or password-related information, but you
can edit other user information.
2On the User Management tab, select the user and click the Edit Selected User Account icon.
3Type different values in the appropriate text boxes to modify the user's first and last name, user name,
password, email address, or description.
4Change the user account options to modify the behavior of the user account.
OptionAction
Enable or disable the user account
Lock or unlock the user account
Change the password change
policy
5Click OK to save your changes.
Remove a User Account
Select or deselect the Is Enabled check box. When a user account is
disabled, it becomes inactive and the user cannot log in to
vCenter Operations Manager.
Select or deselect the Is Locked check box. When a user account is locked,
the user cannot use vCenter Operations Manager.
Select or deselect the Change Pswd At Next Login check box.
You can remove a user account from vCenter Operations Manager.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2On the User Management tab, select the user account in the User Accounts pane and click the Remove
Selected User Account icon.
3Click Yes in the confirmation window to delete the user account.
Edit a User Group
When you edit a user group, you can change its name and description.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2On the User Management tab, select the user group in the Account Groups pane and click the Edit
Selected Group icon.
3Modify the user group information.
You can change the user group name and description.
4Click OK to save your changes.
Remove a User Group
If you do not need a user group, you can remove it.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Security.
2On the User Management tab, select the user group in the Account Groups pane and click the Remove
Selected Group icon.
3Click Yes in the confirmation window to remove the user group.
76 VMware, Inc.
Run the User Audit Report
The User Audit report shows information about the users, groups, and access rights configuration of a
vCenter Operations Manager system. For each user, it shows the groups that the user belongs to and the
access rights that are granted to each group. The access rights are arranged by group.
Procedure
1Select Admin > User Audit Report.
2Select the report format from the Report type drop-down menu.
vCenter Operations Manager generates an anomaly when a metric violates its threshold. If
vCenter Operations Manager determines that the current combination of anomalies indicates a real problem,
it generates an alert. An alert is a notification to inform you of an abnormal condition that might require
attention.
Alerts appear in the vCenter Operations Manager user interface on the Alerts Overview page, in the alert
watch list, and in the Alerts widget. If a vCenter Operations Manager administrator sets up the alert
notification feature, users can find out about alerts even when they are not using
vCenter Operations Manager.
This chapter includes the following topics:
“Configuring and Modifying Alert Handler Instances,” on page 79
n
“Configuring Email Alert Notifications,” on page 83
n
“Modifying Email Alert Notifications,” on page 93
n
“Configuring Mulitilevel Alert Rules,” on page 97
n
“Configuring Hint Text for Alerts,” on page 99
n
“Configure Alerts for vCenter Server Events,” on page 103
n
“Retrieve Keys from the vCenter Operations Manager Database,” on page 103
n
Configuring and Modifying Alert Handler Instances
An alert handler sends alert notifications. You can configure alert handler instances to send alert
notifications as email messages or SNMP traps, or to save alert notifications in a log file. If you use EMC
Smarts, you can configure an alert handler instance to send notifications to the SAMS Global Console. You
can create an unlimited number of alert handler instances.
An alert handler instance sends alert notifications for all new, updated, and canceled alerts. If an attempt to
send an alert notification fails, the handler continually retries the notification. After five minutes, if all alert
notification attempts fail, the handler generates an administrative system alert and continues to retry the
notification until it succeeds.
Add or Edit an Email Alert Handler Instance on page 80
n
To send alert notifications to users in email messages, you must create an alert handler that sends alert
notifications to an email filter.
Add or Edit an SNMP Trap Alert Handler Instance on page 81
n
An SNMP trap alert handler instance sends all alerts, of all types, as SNMP traps to a destination host
that you specify. Any filtering, by alert type or any other critieria, must be done on the destination
host.
Add or Edit a Log File Alert Handler Instance on page 81
n
A log file alert handler instance saves alert nominations to a log file on the
vCenter Operations Manager server.
Add or Edit an EMC Smarts Alert Handler Instance on page 82
n
If you use vCenter Operations Manager with EMC Smarts, you can configure an alert handler instance
to send alerts directly to the EMC Smarts SAM Global Console.
Start or Stop an Alert Handler Instance on page 83
n
You can start and stop alert handler instances from the vCenter Operations Manager user interface.
Delete an Alert Handler Instance on page 83
n
If you do not need an alert handler instance, you can delete it.
Add or Edit an Email Alert Handler Instance
To send alert notifications to users in email messages, you must create an alert handler that sends alert
notifications to an email filter.
Prerequisites
Set up filtering rules, define email templates, and configure email alert notification settings. See
“Configuring Email Alert Notifications,” on page 83.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
2Add or edit an email alert handler instance.
OptionAction
Add an email alert handler instance
Edit an email alert handler instance
a Click the Add Alert Handler icon.
b Select Email from the Outbound Alert Type drop-down menu.
cType a name for the alert handler instance in the Instance Name text
box.
Select the alert handler instance and click the Edit Alert Handler icon. You
cannot change the outbound alert type.
3Configure or modify the email alert handler settings.
OptionDescription
SMTP_HOST
SMTP_PORT
Type the IP address of the SMTP server. The SMTP server delivers email
messages to the recipients of the alert notifications.
Type the SMTP port number. The default value is 25.
4Click Test to test the filter.
vCenter Operations Manager verifies that the SMTP host and port you specified are valid and checks
the syntax and data of the emailFilter.xml file.
5Click OK to save your configuration.
vCenter Operations Manager starts the alert handler instance.
80 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
Add or Edit an SNMP Trap Alert Handler Instance
An SNMP trap alert handler instance sends all alerts, of all types, as SNMP traps to a destination host that
you specify. Any filtering, by alert type or any other critieria, must be done on the destination host.
The MIB file vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\snmp_alertplugin\mibs\VMWARE-VCOPS-EVENT-MIB.mib
contains the information that you need to enable the receiving party to interpret the traps.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
2Add or edit an SNMP trap alert handler instance.
OptionAction
Add an SNMP trap alert handler
instance
Edit an SNMP trap alert handler
instance
3Configure or modify the alert handler settings.
a Click the Add Alert Handler icon.
b Select SNMP Trap from the Outbound Alert Type drop-down menu.
cType a name for the alert handler instance in the Instance Name text
box.
Select the alert handler and click the Edit Alert Handler icon. You cannot
change the outbound alert type.
OptionAction
Instance Name
destination_host
port
community
Type a name for the alert handler instance.
Type the IP address of the SNMP trap receiving host.
Type the port number to use. The default port number for SNMP traps is
162.
Type the community name of the SNMP trap receiver. The default is
public.
4Click Test to send a test trap with test data to the configured destination.
If the attempt fails, vCenter Operations Manager generates an error message.
5Click OK to save your configuration.
vCenter Operations Manager starts the alert handler instance.
Add or Edit a Log File Alert Handler Instance
A log file alert handler instance saves alert nominations to a log file on the vCenter Operations Manager
server.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
2Add or edit a log file alert handler instance.
OptionAction
Add a log file alert handler instance
Edit a log file alert handler instance
a Click the Add Alert Handler icon.
b Select Log File from the Outbound Alert Type drop-down menu.
cType a name for the alert handler instance in the Instance Name text
box.
Select the alert handler instance and click the Edit Alert Handler icon. You
cannot change the outbound alert type.
Type the log file path. The path must be on the
vCenter Operations Manager Server. The complete path must be no longer
than 50 characters. If the path is too long, vCenter Operations Manager
cannot update the alert instance.
4Click OK to save your configuration.
NOTE You cannot use the Test button to test a log file alert handler instance.
vCenter Operations Manager starts the alert handler instance.
Add or Edit an EMC Smarts Alert Handler Instance
If you use vCenter Operations Manager with EMC Smarts, you can configure an alert handler instance to
send alerts directly to the EMC Smarts SAM Global Console.
When you use an EMC Smarts alert handler, EMC Smarts users can see vCenter Operations Manager alert
information and can open vCenter Operations Manager to see alert details from their EMC Smarts display.
Prerequisites
Obtain the broker name, SAM server name, and user name and password for your EMC Smarts
configuration. See the Integration Guide for VMware vCenter Operations Manager and EMC Smarts.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
2Add or edit an EMC Smarts alert handler instance.
OptionAction
Add an EMC Smarts alert handler
instance
Edit an EMC Smarts alert handler
instance
a Click the Add Alert Handler icon.
b Select Email from the Outbound Alert Type drop-down menu.
cType a name for the alert handler instance in the Instance Name text
box.
Select the alert handler instance and click the Edit Alert Handler icon.
When you edit an alert handler instance, you cannot change the outbound
alert type.
3Configure the alert handler settings.
OptionAction
Instance Name
Broker
SAM Server
User Name
Password
Type a name for the alert handler instance.
Type the broker name, SAM server name, and user credentials for your
Smarts configuration.
Type the name of the SAM server.
Type the user name.
Type the password.
4Click Test to test the alert handler instance.
vCenter Operations Manager verifies that all required fields contain values and tries to connect to EMC
Smarts.
82 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
5Click OK to save your configuration.
vCenter Operations Manager starts the alert handler instance.
Start or Stop an Alert Handler Instance
You can start and stop alert handler instances from the vCenter Operations Manager user interface.
NOTE When you create an alert handler instance, vCenter Operations Manager starts it for you.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
2Select the alert handler instance.
OptionAction
Start the alert handler instance
Stop the alert handler instance
Click the Start button on the toolbar at the top of the page. The Alert
Handler Status column shows Started when the instance is activated.
Click the Stop button on the toolbar at the top of the page. The Alert
Handler Status column shows Stopped when the instance is deactivated.
Delete an Alert Handler Instance
If you do not need an alert handler instance, you can delete it.
Procedure
1Select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
2Select the alert handler instance and click the Delete Alert Handler icon.
A filtering rule is a set of conditions and email addresses. The vCenter Operations Manager email plug-in
uses filtering rules to send email alert notifications to the proper users based on the affected application,
resource kind, alert level, and other criteria.
An email template definition specifies which email template file to use for a given alert type, subtype, and
status. An email template file defines the body text of an email alert notification.
vCenter Operations Manager provides several default email template files. You can also create your own
custom email template files. In general, you use the default email template files for most notifications and
create custom email template files for users that require different information in their notifications. You can
create custom email template files before or after you configure email template definitions.
You typically have more email template file definitions than email template files. Most email template
definitions point to the same email template file, even though they are for different combinations of alert
types and recipients.
emailFilter.xml is an XML file that defines the filtering rules and template files to use for email alert
notifications. The file also contains general settings that apply to all email alert notifications.
IMPORTANT Do not edit emailFilter.xml directly unless you are familiar with XML structure and syntax. A
formatting mistake might prevent email alert notifications from working. If you edit emailFilter.xml
directly, make a backup copy of the file before you change it.
After you edit the emailFilter.xml file, you must restart the email filter plug-in instance in
vCenter Operations Manager to make your changes take effect.
Sample emailFilter.xml File
This sample emailFilter.xml file shows the entire content of emailFilter.xml contained within the
<EmailFilter> and </EmailFilter> tags. None of the entries are case-sensitive.
The first part of the emailFilter.xml file is a <Templates> element, which contains a series of <Template>
elements. Each element specifies the template file to use for alert email messages of a particular type,
subtype, and status. You can use the following types of template files.
Default templates
Default template files, which are included with
vCenter Operations Manager, are designed to use with an alert type,
subtype, and status if a custom file is not specified for the recipient.
emailFilter.xml includes a <template> element for each default template. Do
not change these elements. To change the messages sent to all users for a
particular alert type, modify the default message template.
Custom templates
Custom template files are unique to your installation and are designed for
particular users. The <template> element for a custom template includes a
<sendTo> attribute that specifies the recipient.
The following sample element is a default template.
alert_typeAlert type. Valid values are as follows:
alert_subtypeAlert subtype.
statusChange in alert condition that generated the notification. Valid values are
sendToEmail address of the intended recipient. This attribute is used only with
RESOURCE
n
TIER
n
APPLICATION
n
FINGERPRINT_PREDICTION
n
FINGERPRINT_GENERATION
n
SMART
n
CLASSIC
n
ADMINISTRATIVE
n
HEALTH
n
RISK
n
EFFICIENCY
n
Valid values for SMART alerts are as follows:
EARLYWARNING
n
KPI_BREACH
n
KPI_PREDICTION
n
Valid values for CLASSIC alerts are as follows:
KPI_HT_BREACH
n
NOTIFICATION
n
ABNORMALITY
n
Valid values for ADMINISTRATIVE alerts are as follows:
SYSTEM
n
ENVIRONMENT
n
Valid values for HEALTH alerts are as follows:
WORKLOAD
n
ANOMALY
n
FAULT
n
Valid values for RISK alerts are as follows:
TIME
n
CAPACITY
n
STRESS
n
COMPLIANCE
n
Valid values for EFFICIENCY alerts are as follows:
WASTE
n
DENSITY
n
NEW, UPDATE, and CANCEL.
custom templates.
The content of the <template> element is the file name of the template file.
Elements for General Settings
Email alert notifications use general settings.
86 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
Table 7‑2. Elements for General Options
ElementDescription
<SendFromEmail>(Optional) Sets the address to use as the from address for all email alert
notifications. If you do not include this element,
vCenter Operations Manager sends messages from the default email
sender address in the vcenter-ops\user\conf\email.properties
configuration file.
<FilterRule> Element
The rest of the emailFilter.xml file contains one or more <FilterRule> elements. Each <FilterRule> element
defines a set of conditions for an alert and one or more email addresses to which to send notifications for all
alerts that meet those conditions. <FilterRule> should have a name attribute. The name attribute can be any
text that describes the filter rule.
Each <FilterRule> has one or more conditions, which are contained in a <Conditions> tag. Each <condition>
element includes a type setting and a value to match. In the sample file, the following conditions are used in
the first rule:
In this example, the rule contains three conditions. The first condition is of type Application and it checks
for the value Online Trading. The type setting defines the type of data to check for the matching value to
determine if the condition is met.
Table 7‑3. Valid Type Settings
TypeDescription
AlertTypeType of alert. For a list of alert types, see Table 7-1.
For example: <condition type="AlertType">ADMINISTRATIVE</condition>
AlertSubTypeSubtype of the alert. For the subtypes that you can use with each alert type, see Table 7-1.
For example: <condition type="AlertSubType">ENVIRONMENT</condition>
ApplicationName of a vCenter Operations Manager application. The condition matches if the alert is
for any resource in the application.
For example: <condition type="Application">OnlineTrading</condition>
CollectorUnique name of a vCenter Operations Manager collector.
For example: <condition type="Collector">vCenter Operations
Collector</condition>
LevelMinimum alert criticality level. Alerts of this level or above match this condition. Valid
types are NONE, INFO, WARNING, IMMEDIATE, and CRITICAL.
For example: <condition type="Level">immediate</condition>
ResourceKindName of a resource kind in the format AdapterKind:ResourceKind.
For example: <condition type="ResourceKind">OPEN_API:DEMO</condition>
RootCauseTierTier in an application. It is a match if one of the root causes of the alert is on the tier. You
must include the application name and the tier name in the format Application:Tier.
For example: <condition type="RootCauseTier">Online
Trading:Network</condition>
StateState of the alert. Valid values are OPEN, ASSIGNED, SUSPENDED, and SUPPRESSED.
For example: <condition type="State">Open</condition>
StatusStatus of the alert. Valid values are ACTIVE, NEW, or CANCEL.
For example: <condition type="Status">Cancel</condition>
TagTag name and value pair in the format TagName:TagValue.
For example: <condition type="Tag">Geo Location:Chicago</condition>
TierTier within an application. You must include the application name and the tier name in
the format Application:Tier. The condition matches if the alert is for any resource in the
tier.
For example: <condition type="Tier">Online Trading:Network</condition>
If the filter contains multiple conditions, an alert must meet all of the conditions to be considered a match
for the filter.
Following the conditions, each rule contains an <Addresses> element that contains one or more <sendto>
subelements, each of which specifies a single email address, the type of message to send, and a delay time
and resend time. The delay time and resend time are optional.
type
Specifies the type of message to send, which is either email or sms. sms sends
the full alert message and sms sends only header information. The address is
the email address to which to send the notification.
resend
Sets the repeat interval for the notification. For example, if the resend
interval is set to 60, vCenter Operations Manager sends a notification to the
address every hour for as long as the alert condition is met.
delay
Interval between when an alert that meets the conditions of the filtering rule
occurs and when vCenter Operations Manager sends the first message to the
address. For example, you might want to delay the message if the recipient
should be notified only if the condition is not corrected within a specified
time period.
For example, the following element sends a notification to the email address name3@example.com.
In this example, the first message is sent two hours after the alert condition occurs and the message repeats
every hour until the condition is resolved.
You can enter as many <FilterRule> elements as necessary to filter alert notifications and send each
notification to the correct members of your organization. If an alert matches the conditions for more than
one filter, it is sent to the address for each condition that it matches.
Email Template File Format
An email template file can be in text (.txt) or HTML (.html) format. The default email template files are
HTML files.
Formatting Rules
Email template files must follow specific formatting rules.
If you create an email template in HTML format, it must contain standard HTML formatting tags.
n
An email template file can contain a single line for the message subject and any amount of text for the
n
message body.
The subject line in an email template file must start with $$Subject=. The text that follows the equals
n
sign is the message subject. If you do not include a subject line, the message uses a default subject.
88 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
You must store custom email template files in the vcenter-
All email template files can include placeholders, which are replaced with information from the alert. A
placeholder can be a replaced by a single value, such as an alert type, or it can represent multiple values,
such as the health of the parent or child resources. Placeholders must be enclosed in double braces ({{}}).
The subject line can contain only single-value placeholders.
A filtering rule is a set of conditions and email addresses. The vCenter Operations Manager email plug-in
uses filtering rules to send email alert notifications to the proper users based on the affected application,
resource kind, alert level, and other criteria.
You define filtering rules in the emailFilter.xml file, which is in the vcenter-
If you are using the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, edit the emailFilter.xml file on the second virtual
machine.
For vCenter Operations Manager Standalone, you can edit emailFilter.xml directly or you can use the
Configuration File editor. This procedure describes how to use the Configuration File editor.
For the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, you must edit emailFilter.xml directly. You cannot use the
Configuration File editor with the vCenter Operations Manager vApp. For descriptions of the XML
elements in emailFilter.xml, see “emailFilter.xml File,” on page 84.
Procedure
1To start the Configuration File editor, use any standard Windows method to run the file
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar.
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar is in the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf
directory.
2Select Actions > Open to open emailFilter.xml or another XML file, or select Actions > New to create a
new XML file.
To review your changes before they take effect, you can create and modify other XML files.
3Click the Add icon near the top right of the window to add a filtering rule.
4Type a name for the filtering rule in the Rule name text box.
5Click the Add icon near the top center of the window.
6Select the condition type and condition value and click OK.
An alert must meet all of the conditions that you enter to be considered a match for the filter. You can
add any number of conditions for a filtering rule.
7Click the Add icon near the top right of the window.
You can add any number of addresses for a filtering rule.
aFrom the Address type drop-down menu, select email to send the message subject and text, or
select SMS to send only the message subject to the email address.
bType the destination email address in the Address value text box.
c(Optional) If the email address should receive messages at intervals while the alert condition
remains in effect, type a value in the Resend value text box.
For example, type 60 to send an alert notification email message every hour as long as the alert
condition is met.
d(Optional) To specify a delay between the time an alert meets the conditions of the filtering rule
and when vCenter Operations Manager sends the first message to the email address, type a value
in the Delay value text box.
For example, you might want to delay sending the message if the recipient should be notified only
if the condition is not corrected within a specific period of time.
eClick OK.
8Click OK to close the Filtering Rule window.
9Save your changes.
OptionAction
Save your changes to the currently
open file
Save your changes to a different file
Select Actions > Save.
Select Actions > Save As. The plug-in only reads emailFilter.xml.
10 Select Actions > Close to close the Configuration File editor.
90 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
11 To make your changes take effect, restart the email filter plug-in.
aIn vCenter Operations Manager, select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
bSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Stop icon.
cSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Start icon.
Add an Email Template Definition
An email template definition specifies which email template file to use for a given alert type, subtype, and
status. An email template file defines the body text of an email alert notification.
You configure email template definitions in the emailFilter.xml file, which is located in the vcenter-
If you are using the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, edit the emailFilter.xml file on the second virtual
machine.
For vCenter Operations Manager Standalone, you can edit emailFilter.xml directly or you can use the
Configuration File editor. This procedure describes how to use the Configuration File editor.
For the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, you must edit emailFilter.xml directly. You cannot use the
Configuration File editor with the vCenter Operations Manager vApp. For descriptions of the XML
elements in emailFilter.xml, see “emailFilter.xml File,” on page 84.
vCenter Operations Manager provides several default email template files in the vcenter-
ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf\default_templates directory. If the default template
files do not meet your needs, you can create custom template files. For formatting requirements, see “Email
Template File Format,” on page 88. You can create custom email template files before or after you configure
email template definitions.
Procedure
1To start the Configuration File editor, use any standard Windows method to run the file
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar.
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar is in the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf
directory.
2Select Actions > Open to open emailFilter.xml or another XML file, or select Actions > New to create
an XML file.
To review your changes before they take effect, you can create or modify other XML files.
3Click the Add icon near the top center of the window.
4Define the alerts for which the template definition should be used.
OptionAction
Alert Type
Alert Sub-type
Status
Select the alert type.
Select the alert subtype.
Select the change in alert condition that generates the notification. Active
indicates that the existing alert was updated.
5(Optional) To use the template definition for email alert notifications sent to a specific email address,
type the email address in the Send to text box.
This setting is an additional condition for the use of the template.
6In the Template text box, type the name of the email template file to use for the email alert notifications
that meet the conditions in the template definition.
The email template file does not have to exist. You can define the template and create the actual email
template file later.
7Click OK to close the Email Template window.
8Save your changes.
OptionAction
Save your changes to the currently
open file
Save your changes to a different file
9Click Actions > Close to close the Configuration File Editor.
10 To make your changes take effect, restart the email filter plug-in.
aIn vCenter Operations Manager, select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
bSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Stop icon.
cSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Start icon.
Select Actions > Save.
Select Actions > Save As. The plug-in only reads the emailFilter.xml.
Configure General Settings for Email Alert Notifications
You can configure the subject for generic email messages, the email address from which alert notification
email messages are sent, and the number of minutes that vCenter Operations Manager waits before
checking the emailFilter.xml file for changes. These settings apply to all email alert notification messages.
You configure general settings for email alert notifications in the emailFilter.xml file, which is located in
the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf directory.
If you are using the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, edit the emailFilter.xml file on the second virtual
machine.
For vCenter Operations Manager Standalone, you can edit emailFilter.xml directly or you can use the
Configuration File editor. This procedure describes how to use the Configuration File editor.
For the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, you must edit emailFilter.xml directly. You cannot use the
Configuration File editor with the vCenter Operations Manager vApp. For descriptions of the XML
elements in emailFilter.xml, see “emailFilter.xml File,” on page 84.
Procedure
1To start the Configuration File editor, use any standard Windows method to run the file
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar.
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar is in the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf
directory.
2In the Subject text box, type the subject line to use for generic messages.
If vCenter Operations Manager cannot find a valid email template to use to send a particular alert
message, it sends a generic message to the defined recipient.
3In the Email sender text box, type the email address from which to send alert notification email
messages.
NOTE Do not type a value in the File reload time (minutes) text box. The file reload feature is obsolete.
92 VMware, Inc.
4Select Actions > Save to save your changes to the currently open file, or select Actions > Save As to
save your changes to a different file.
The plug-in only reads the emailFilter.xml file.
5Select Actions > Close to close the Configuration File editor.
6To make your changes take effect, restart the email filter plug-in.
aIn vCenter Operations Manager, select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
bSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Stop icon.
cSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Start icon.
Modifying Email Alert Notifications
You can edit and delete filtering rules and email template definitions.
Edit a Filtering Rule
When you edit a filtering rule, you can modify the condition type, condition value, and email address values
for specific conditions.
You define filtering rules in the emailFilter.xml file, which is in the vcenter-
If you are using the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, edit the emailFilter.xml file on the second virtual
machine.
For vCenter Operations Manager Standalone, you can edit emailFilter.xml directly or you can use the
Configuration File editor. This procedure describes how to use the Configuration File editor.
For the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, you must edit emailFilter.xml directly. You cannot use the
Configuration File editor with the vCenter Operations Manager vApp. For descriptions of the XML
elements in emailFilter.xml, see “emailFilter.xml File,” on page 84.
Procedure
1To start the Configuration File editor, use any standard Windows method to run the file
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar.
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar is in the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf
directory.
2Select Actions > Open to open emailFilter.xml or another XML file, or select Actions > New to create a
new XML file.
To review your changes before they take effect, you can create and modify other XML files.
3Select the filtering rule from the list on the right.
4Click the Edit icon near the top right of the window.
The list on the left shows the existing conditions for the filtering rule. The list on the right shows where
to send alert notifications if they meet the conditions for the rule.
5To edit a condition, select the condition and click the Edit icon.
You can change the condition type or condition value.
6To edit an email address for a condition, select the address and click the Edit icon.
OptionDescription
Address type
Address value
Resend value
Delay value
7Save your changes.
OptionAction
Save your changes to the currently
open file
Save your changes to a different file
8Select Actions > Close to close the Configuration File editor.
Select email to send both the message subject and text, or SMS to send
only the message subject to the email address.
Type the destination email address.
(Optional) If the email address should receive messages at intervals while
the alert condition remains in effect, type a value in the Resend value text
box. For example, type 60 to send an alert notification email message every
hour as long as the alert condition is met.
(Optional) To specify a delay between the time an alert meets the
conditions of the filtering rule and when vCenter Operations Manager
sends the first message to the email address, type a value in the Delay
value text box. For example, you might want to delay sending the message
if the recipient should be notified only if the condition is not corrected
within a specific period of time.
Select Actions > Save.
Select Actions > Save As. The plug-in only reads emailFilter.xml.
9To make your changes take effect, restart the email filter plug-in.
aIn vCenter Operations Manager, select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
bSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Stop icon.
cSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Start icon.
Delete a Filtering Rule
If you do not need a filtering rule, you can delete it.
You define filtering rules in the emailFilter.xml file, which is in the vcenter-
If you are using the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, edit the emailFilter.xml file on the second virtual
machine.
For vCenter Operations Manager Standalone, you can edit emailFilter.xml directly or you can use the
Configuration File editor. This procedure describes how to use the Configuration File editor.
For the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, you must edit emailFilter.xml directly. You cannot use the
Configuration File editor with the vCenter Operations Manager vApp. For descriptions of the XML
elements in emailFilter.xml, see “emailFilter.xml File,” on page 84.
Procedure
1To start the Configuration File editor, use any standard Windows method to run the file
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar.
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar is in the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf
directory.
2Select Actions > Open and open emailFilter.xml.
3Select the filtering rule from the list on the right.
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Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
4Click the Delete icon.
5Select Actions > Save to save your changes to emailFilter.xml.
6Select Actions > Close to close the Configuration File editor.
7To make your changes take effect, restart the email filter plug-in.
aIn vCenter Operations Manager, select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
bSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Stop icon.
cSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Start icon.
Edit an Email Template Definition
When you edit an email template definition, you can change the alerts and email address for which the
template is used and specify a different email template file.
You configure email template definitions in the emailFilter.xml file, which is located in the vcenter-
If you are using the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, edit the emailFilter.xml file on the second virtual
machine.
For vCenter Operations Manager Standalone, you can edit emailFilter.xml directly or you can use the
Configuration File editor. This procedure describes how to use the Configuration File editor.
For the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, you must edit emailFilter.xml directly. You cannot use the
Configuration File editor with the vCenter Operations Manager vApp. For descriptions of the XML
elements in emailFilter.xml, see “emailFilter.xml File,” on page 84.
vCenter Operations Manager provides several default email template files in the vcenter-
ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf\default_templates directory. If the default template
files do not meet your needs, you can create custom template files. For formatting requirements, see “Email
Template File Format,” on page 88. You can create custom email template files before or after you edit email
template definitions.
Procedure
1To start the Configuration File editor, use any standard Windows method to run the file
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar.
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar is in the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf
directory.
2Select Actions > Open to open emailFilter.xml or another XML file, or select Actions > New to create
an XML file.
To review your changes before they take effect, you can create or modify other XML files.
3Select the template definition in the list on the left.
4Click the Edit icon near the top center of the window.
5To change the alerts for which the template is used, select a different option from the appropriate drop-
down menu.
OptionAction
Alert Type
Alert Sub-type
Status
Select the alert type.
Select the alert subtype.
Select the change in alert condition that generates the notification. Active
indicates that the existing alert was updated.
If you are using the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, edit the emailFilter.xml file on the second virtual
machine.
For vCenter Operations Manager Standalone, you can edit emailFilter.xml directly or you can use the
Configuration File editor. This procedure describes how to use the Configuration File editor.
For the vCenter Operations Manager vApp, you must edit emailFilter.xml directly. You cannot use the
Configuration File editor with the vCenter Operations Manager vApp. For descriptions of the XML
elements in emailFilter.xml, see “emailFilter.xml File,” on page 84 for descriptions of the XML elements in
emailFilter.xml.
Procedure
1To start the Configuration File editor, use any standard Windows method to run the file
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar.
FilterPluginConfEditor.jar is in the vcenter-ops\user\plugins\outbound\filter_alertplugin\conf
directory.
2Select Actions > Open and open emailFilter.xml.
3Select the email template definition from the list on the left.
4Click the Delete icon.
5Select Actions > Save to save your changes to emailFilter.xml.
6Click Actions > Close to close the Configuration File Editor.
96 VMware, Inc.
7To make your changes take effect, restart the email filter plug-in.
aIn vCenter Operations Manager, select Admin > Configure Outbound Alert.
bSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Stop icon.
cSelect the email filter plug-in instance and click the Start icon.
Configuring Mulitilevel Alert Rules
You can configure complex alert rules that evaluate multiple conditions on related resources. For example,
you can write a multilevel alert rule that generates an alert if the workload on a virtual machine exceeds A
for B cycles, health is below C, and the host's CPU use is above the dynamic threshold.
Because the hard threshold conditions in multilevel alert rules do not generate additional alerts, the
multilevel alert feature reduces the number of alerts and lets you focus only on important alerts.
Multilevel alert rules do not have a specific alert type in the vCenter Operations Manager user interface. The
user interface shows a multilevel alert as KPI HT alerts, but the alert description identifies the alert as Multi
Level Rule. Rule details and triggers appear in the Reason pane on the Alert Details page. Multilevel alerts
are also visible as KP HT Breach in the mashup chart for the alert and the INFO field shows the rule details.
Multilevel Alert Rules XML File Format
Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
The multi-level-alert-rules.xml file contains elements and attributes that define multilevel alert rules.
The following sample multi-level-alert-rules.xml file contains a multilevel alert rule that includes nested
conditions and dynamic threholds.
tagSpecifies a text string. vCenter Operations Manager adds this text to the information string of
alerts that the rule triggers.
alertSpecifies the resource kind on which the alert is defined. vCenter Operations Manager checks all
resources of the specified resource kind if the resource or its parents satisfy the rule. For example,
the rule VirtualMachine cpu_usage > 50 AND HostSystem cpu_usage 50 defines an alert
on VirtualMachine.
attributeKeyThe attribute key of an attribute. You can obtain attribute keys from the
vCenter Operations Manager database. See “Retrieve Keys from the vCenter Operations Manager
Database,” on page 103.
criticalityCriticality level of the alert. Valid values are critical, immediate, info, none, and warning.
<cond> Element
The <rule> element can contain one or more <cond> elements. Each <cond> element defines a condition. You
can nest <cond> elements.
The <cond> element contains several attributes.
Table 7‑6. <cond> Element Attributes
AttributeDescription
operatorArithmetic operator. Valid values are and and or. You can nest operators.
typeThreshold type. Valid values are ht for hard threshold and dt for dynamic threshold.
Operators for ht are >, >=, <=, =, and !=. You must escape operators, for example, < is <.
Operators for dt are above, below, and abnormal.
Add a Multilevel Alert Rule
To add a multilevel alert rule, you define a rule in the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file.
Leaving the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file empty disables the multilevel alert rule feature.
Prerequisites
Become familiar with the syntax of the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file. See “Multilevel Alert Rules XML
File Format,” on page 97.
Procedure
1Open the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file in the vcenter-ops\user\conf\analytics directory.
In a vApp installation, the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file is in the Analytics virtual machine.
2Add the rule to the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file.
3Save your changes and close the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file.
Your changes take effect the next time vCenter Operations Manager reads the multi-level-alert-rules.xml
file. By default, vCenter Operations Manager reads the multi-level-alert-rules.xml every 30 minutes. You
can change this interval by modifying the multiLevelAlertRulesUpdateInterval property in the vcenter-
ops\user\conf\analytics\advanced.properties file.
Each time vCenter Operations Manager parses the multi-level-alert-rules.xml file, it cancels alerts that
do not have corresponding rules.
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Configuring Hint Text for Alerts
You can configure hint text for all types of alerts. Alert hint text can appear on the Alert Detail page in the
Custom user interface or in email alert notifications.
You configure hint text that appears in the user interface in the alert-hints.xml file.
You use the {{AlertHints}} placeholder in an email template file to configure alert hint text for email alert
notifications. For more information, see “Configuring Email Alert Notifications,” on page 83.
Alert Hint Text XML File Format
The alert-hints.xml file contains elements and attributes that define alert hint text. An alert hint text
definition is composed of a condition and alert hint text. For the hint text to appear in the user interface for
an alert, the alert must meet the defined condition.
<condition> Element
The <condition> element defines the conditions that an alert must meet for the hint text to appear in the user
interface for the alert. If an alert satisfies more than one condition, all of the associated hint text appears for
the alert.
The <condition> element contains several attributes. None of the attributes are required.
Chapter 7 Configuring Alert Notifications
Table 7‑7. <condition> Element Attributes
AttributeDescription
attributeKeyMatches an attribute key associated with the alert. You can obtain attribute keys from the
vCenter Operations Manager database. See “Retrieve Keys from the vCenter Operations
Manager Database,” on page 103 .
NOTE Specify all metrics by attribute key, except for super metrics. Specify super metrics by
name.
resourceKindMatches the resource kind key associated with the alert.
minDurationDuration of the alert, in minutes, must be greater than or equal to this value.
criticalityMatches the criticality level of the alert. Valid values are critical, immediate, info, none, and
warning.
alertTypeMatches the type of the alert. Valid values are as follows: