VMware vRealize Operations Manager - 6.6 Deployment and Conﬁguration Guide

vRealize Operations Manager vApp

Deployment and Conﬁguration Guide

vRealize Operations Manager 6.6

vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide

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

hps://docs.vmware.com/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

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

docfeedback@vmware.com

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About vApp Deployment and Conguration 5

About Installing 7

Installation Overview 8

Workow of vRealize Operations Manager Installation 8

Sizing the vRealize Operations Manager Cluster 9

Add Data Disk Space to a vRealize Operations Manager vApp Node 9

Complexity of Your Environment 10

About vRealize Operations Manager Cluster Nodes 12

About vRealize Operations Manager Remote Collector Nodes 13

About vRealize Operations Manager High Availability 13

Preparing for Installation 15

Platform requirements for vRealize Operations Manager 15

Requirements 15

Using IPv6 with vRealize Operations Manager 15

Cluster Requirements 16

Installing vRealize Operations Manager 19

Deployment of vRealize Operations Manager 19

Create a Node by Deploying an OVF 19

Installation Types 21

Installing vRealize Operations Manager for a New User 22

Installing vRealize Operations Manager as an Administrator 24

Expand an Existing Installation of vRealize Operations Manager 25

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Resize your Cluster by Adding Nodes 27

Gathering More Data by Adding a vRealize Operations Manager Remote Collector Node 28

Run the Setup Wizard to Create a Remote Collector Node 28

Adding High Availability to vRealize Operations Manager 29

Run the Setup Wizard to Add a Master Replica Node 29

vRealize Operations Manager Cluster and Node Maintenance 30

Cluster Management 32

vRealize Operations Manager Post-Installation Considerations 35

About Logging In to vRealize Operations Manager 35

Secure the vRealize Operations Manager Console 36

About New vRealize Operations Manager Installations 37

vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide

Updating, Migrating and Restoring 39

Obtain the Software Update PAK File 39

Create a Snapshot as Part of an Update 40

How To Preserve Customized Content 40

Backup and Restore 41

vRealize Operations Manager Software Updates 41

Install a Software Update 42

Install a vRealize Operations Manager Software Update from the Administration Interface 43

Migrate a vCenter Operations Manager Deployment into this Version 44

Index 45

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About vApp Deployment and Configuration

The vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Conguration Guide provides information about deploying the VMware® vRealize Operations Manager virtual appliance, including how to create and congure the vRealize Operations Manager cluster.

The vRealize Operations Manager installation process consists of deploying the vRealize Operations Manager virtual appliance once for each cluster node, and accessing the product to nish seing up the application.

Intended Audience

This information is intended for anyone who wants to install and congure vRealize Operations Manager by using a virtual appliance deployment. The information is wrien for experienced virtual machine administrators who are familiar with enterprise management applications and datacenter operations.

VMware Technical Publications Glossary

VMware Technical Publications provides a glossary of terms that might be unfamiliar to you. For denitions of terms as they are used in VMware technical documentation, go to

hp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

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vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide

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About Installing 1

When you install vRealize Operations Manager, you can install the product in an environment that has never been monitored by vRealize Operations Manager. You can also migrate, which captures an environment monitored by a previous version of vRealize Operations Manager so that the new copy of vRealize Operations Manager can monitor that environment.

You can migrate at installation time, or you can postpone a migration until after your copy of vRealize Operations Manager is in production use. In other words, you can run vRealize Operations Manager to monitor a fresh environment, and at any time, decide to add an environment that was being monitored by a previous vRealize Operations Manager.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“Installation Overview,” on page 8

“Workow of vRealize Operations Manager Installation,” on page 8

“Sizing the vRealize Operations Manager Cluster,” on page 9

“Complexity of Your Environment,” on page 10

“About vRealize Operations Manager Cluster Nodes,” on page 12

“About vRealize Operations Manager Remote Collector Nodes,” on page 13

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“About vRealize Operations Manager High Availability,” on page 13

Download OVF/Installers

Monitor your environment

New

install

NoYes

New installation

Licensing

Custom certificates

Add new solution

Configure solution

Configure monitoring policies

Expansion of

existing installation

Run remote collectorRun data node

vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide

Installation Overview

You prepare for vRealize Operations Manager installation by evaluating your environment and deploying enough vRealize Operations Manager cluster nodes to support how you want to use the product.

Workflow of vRealize Operations Manager Installation

The vRealize Operations Manager virtual appliance installation process consists of deploying the vRealize Operations Manager OVF or an installer once for each cluster node, accessing the product to set up cluster nodes according to their role, and logging in to congure the installation.

Figure 1‑1. vRealize Operations Manager Installation Architecture

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Sizing the vRealize Operations Manager Cluster

The resources needed for vRealize Operations Manager depend on how large of an environment you expect to monitor and analyze, how many metrics you plan to collect, and how long you need to store the data.

It is dicult to broadly predict the CPU, memory, and disk requirements that will meet the needs of a particular environment. There are many variables, such as the number and type of objects collected, which includes the number and type of adapters installed, the presence of HA, the duration of data retention, and the quantity of specic data points of interest, such as symptoms, changes, and so on.

VMware expects vRealize Operations Manager sizing information to evolve, and maintains Knowledge Base articles so that sizing calculations can be adjusted to adapt to usage data and changes in versions of vRealize Operations Manager.

Knowledge Base article 2093783

The Knowledge Base articles include overall maximums, plus spreadsheet calculators in which you enter the number of objects and metrics that you expect to monitor. To obtain the numbers, some users take the following high-level approach, which uses vRealize Operations Manager itself.

1 Review this guide to understand how to deploy and congure a vRealize Operations Manager node.

2 Deploy a temporary vRealize Operations Manager node.

Chapter 1 About Installing

3 Congure one or more adapters, and allow the temporary node to collect overnight.

4 Access the Cluster Management page on the temporary node.

5 Using the Adapter Instances list in the lower portion of the display as a reference, enter object and

metric totals of the dierent adapter types into the appropriate sizing spreadsheet from Knowledge

Base article 2093783.

6 Deploy the vRealize Operations Manager cluster based on the spreadsheet sizing recommendation. You

can build the cluster by adding resources and data nodes to the temporary node or by starting over.

If you have a large number of adapters, you might need to reset and repeat the process on the temporary node until you have all the totals you need. The temporary node will not have enough capacity to simultaneously run every connection from a large enterprise.

Another approach to sizing is through self monitoring. Deploy the cluster based on your best estimate, but create an alert for when capacity falls below a threshold, one that allows enough time to add nodes or disk to the cluster. You also have the option to create an email notication when thresholds are passed.

During internal testing, a single-node vApp deployment of vRealize Operations Manager that monitored 8,000 virtual machines ran out of disk storage within one week.

Add Data Disk Space to a vRealize Operations Manager vApp Node

You add to the data disk of vRealize Operations Manager vApp nodes when space for storing the collected data runs low.

Prerequisites

Note the disk size of the analytics cluster nodes. When adding disk, you must maintain uniform size

across analytics cluster nodes.

Use the vRealize Operations Manager administration interface to take the node oine.

Verify that you are connected to a vCenter Server system with a vSphere client, and log in to the

vSphere client.

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vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide

Procedure

1 Shut down the virtual machine for the node.

2 Edit the hardware seings of the virtual machine, and do one of the following:

Increase the size of Hard Disk 2.

You cannot increase the size when the virtual machine has snapshots.

Add another disk.

3 Power on the virtual machine for the node.

During the power-on process, the virtual machine expands the vRealize Operations Manager data partition.

Complexity of Your Environment

When you deploy vRealize Operations Manager, the number and nature of the objects that you want to monitor might be complex enough to recommend a Professional Services engagement.

Complexity Levels

Every enterprise is dierent in terms of the systems that are present and the level of experience of deployment personnel. The following table presents a color-coded guide to help you determine where you are on the complexity scale.

Green

Your installation only includes conditions that most users can understand and work with, without assistance. Continue your deployment.

Yellow

Your installation includes conditions that might justify help with your deployment, depending on your level of experience. Consult your account representative before proceeding, and discuss using Professional Services.

Red

Your installation includes conditions that strongly recommend a Professional Services engagement. Consult your account representative before proceeding, and discuss using Professional Services.

Note that these color-coded levels are not rm rules. Your product experience, which increases as you work with vRealize Operations Manager and in partnership with Professional Services, must be taken into account when deploying vRealize Operations Manager.

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Table 1‑1. Effect of Deployment Conditions on Complexity

Current or New Deployment

Complexity Level

Green You run only one

Green Your deployment includes a

Yellow You run multiple instances of

Yellow Your deployment includes a

Yellow You are deploying

Yellow You are deploying a multiple-node

Yellow Your new

Yellow Your vRealize Operations Manager

Yellow You want help in understanding the

Condition Additional Notes

vRealize Operations Manager deployment.

management pack that is listed as Green according to the compatibility guide on the VMware Solutions

Exchange Web site.

vRealize Operations Manager.

management pack that is listed as Yellow according to the compatibility guide on the VMware Solutions

Exchange Web site.

vRealize Operations Manager remote collector nodes.

vRealize Operations Manager cluster.

vRealize Operations Manager instance will include a Linux based deployment.

instance will use high availability (HA).

new or changed features in vRealize Operations Manager and how to use them in your environment.

Chapter 1 About Installing

Lone instances are usually easy to create in vRealize Operations Manager.

The compatibility guide indicates whether the supported management pack for vRealize Operations Manager is a compatible 5.x one or a new one designed for this release. In some cases, both might work but produce dierent results. Regardless, users might need help in adjusting their conguration so that associated data, dashboards, alerts, and so on appear as expected.

Note that the terms solution, management pack, adapter, and plug-in are used somewhat interchangeably.

Multiple instances are typically used to address scaling or operator use

paerns.

Remote collector nodes gather data but leave the storage and processing of the data to the analytics cluster.

Multiple nodes are typically used for scaling out the monitoring capability of vRealize Operations Manager.

Linux deployments are not as common as vApp deployments and often need special consideration.

High availability and its node failover capability is a unique multiple-node feature that you might want additional help in understanding.

vRealize Operations Manager is dierent than vCenter Operations Manager in areas such as policies, alerts, compliance, custom reporting, or badges. In addition, vRealize Operations Manager uses one consolidated interface.

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vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide

Table 1‑1. Effect of Deployment Conditions on Complexity (Continued)

Current or New Deployment

Complexity Level

Red You run multiple instances of

Red Your deployment includes a

Red You are deploying multiple

Red Your current

Red Professional Services customized

Condition Additional Notes

vRealize Operations Manager, where at least one includes virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

management pack that is listed as Red according to the compatibility guide on the VMware Solutions

Exchange Web site.

vRealize Operations Manager clusters.

vRealize Operations Manager deployment required a Professional Services engagement to install it.

your vRealize Operations Manager deployment. Examples of customization include special integrations, scripting, nonstandard congurations, multiple level alerting, or custom reporting.

Multiple instances are typically used to address scaling, operator use paerns, or because separate VDI (V4V monitoring) and non-VDI instances are needed.

Multiple clusters are typically used to isolate business operations or functions.

If your environment was complex enough to justify a Professional Services engagement in the previous version, it is possible that the same conditions still apply and might warrant a similar engagement for this version.

About vRealize Operations Manager Cluster Nodes

All vRealize Operations Manager clusters consist of a master node, an optional replica node for high availability, optional data nodes, and optional remote collector nodes.

When you install vRealize Operations Manager, you use a vRealize Operations Manager vApp deployment to create role-less nodes. After the nodes are created and have their names and IP addresses, you use an administration interface to congure them according to their role.

You can create role-less nodes all at once or as needed. A common as-needed practice might be to add nodes to scale out vRealize Operations Manager to monitor an environment as the environment grows larger.

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The following node types make up the vRealize Operations Manager analytics cluster:

Chapter 1 About Installing

Master Node

Data Node

Replica Node

The following node type is a member of the vRealize Operations Manager cluster but not part of the analytics cluster:

Remote Collector Node

The initial, required node in vRealize Operations Manager. All other nodes are managed by the master node.

In a single-node installation, the master node manages itself, has adapters installed on it, and performs all data collection and analysis.

In larger deployments, additional data nodes have adapters installed and perform collection and analysis.

Larger deployments usually include adapters only on the data nodes so that master and replica node resources can be dedicated to cluster management.

To use vRealize Operations Manager high availability (HA), the cluster requires that you convert a data node into a replica of the master node.

Distributed deployments might require a remote collector node that can navigate rewalls, interface with a remote data source, reduce bandwidth across data centers, or reduce the load on the vRealize Operations Manager analytics cluster. Remote collectors only gather objects for the inventory, without storing data or performing analysis. In addition, remote collector nodes may be installed on a dierent operating system than the rest of the cluster.

About vRealize Operations Manager Remote Collector Nodes

A remote collector node is an additional cluster node that allows vRealize Operations Manager to gather more objects into its inventory for monitoring. Unlike data nodes, remote collector nodes only include the collector role of vRealize Operations Manager, without storing data or processing any analytics functions.

A remote collector node is usually deployed to navigate rewalls, reduce bandwidth across data centers, connect to remote data sources, or reduce the load on the vRealize Operations Manager analytics cluster.

Remote collectors do not buer data while the network is experiencing a problem. If the connection between remote collector and analytics cluster is lost, the remote collector does not store data points that occur during that time. In turn, and after the connection is restored, vRealize Operations Manager does not retroactively incorporate associated events from that time into any monitoring or analysis.

You must have at least a master node before adding remote collector nodes.

About vRealize Operations Manager High Availability

vRealize Operations Manager supports high availability (HA). HA creates a replica for the vRealize Operations Manager master node and protects the analytics cluster against the loss of a node.

With HA, data stored on the master node is always 100% backed up on the replica node. To enable HA, you must have at least one data node deployed, in addition to the master node.

HA is not a disaster recovery mechanism. HA protects the analytics cluster against the loss of only one

node, and because only one loss is supported, you cannot stretch nodes across vSphere clusters in an aempt to isolate nodes or build failure zones.

When HA is enabled, the replica can take over all functions that the master provides, were the master to

fail for any reason. If the master fails, failover to the replica is automatic and requires only two to three minutes of vRealize Operations Manager downtime to resume operations and restart data collection.

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vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide

When a master node problem causes failover, the replica node becomes the master node, and the cluster runs in degraded mode. To get out of degraded mode, take one of the following steps.

Return to HA mode by correcting the problem with the master node. When a master node exits an

HA-enabled cluster, master node does not rejoin with the cluster without manual intervention. Therefore, restart the vRealize Operations Analytics process on the downed node to change its role to replica and rejoin the cluster.

Return to HA mode by converting a data node into a new replica node and then removing the old,

failed master node. Removed master nodes cannot be repaired and re-added to vRealize Operations Manager.

Change to non-HA operation by disabling HA and then removing the old, failed master node.

Removed master nodes cannot be repaired and re-added to vRealize Operations Manager.

In the administration interface, after an HA replica node takes over and becomes the new master node,

you cannot remove the previous, oine master node from the cluster. In addition, the previous node continues to be listed as a master node. To refresh the display and enable removal of the node, refresh the browser.

When HA is enabled, the cluster can survive the loss of one data node without losing any data.

However, HA protects against the loss of only one node at a time, of any kind, so simultaneously losing data and master/replica nodes, or two or more data nodes, is not supported. Instead, vRealize Operations Manager HA provides additional application level data protection to ensure application level availability.

When HA is enabled, it lowers vRealize Operations Manager capacity and processing by half, because

HA creates a redundant copy of data throughout the cluster, as well as the replica backup of the master node. Consider your potential use of HA when planning the number and size of your vRealize Operations Manager cluster nodes. See “Sizing the vRealize Operations Manager Cluster,” on page 9.

When HA is enabled, deploy analytics cluster nodes on separate hosts for redundancy and isolation.

One option is to use anti-anity rules that keep nodes on specic hosts in the vSphere cluster.

If you cannot keep the nodes separate, you should not enable HA. A host fault would cause the loss of more than one node, which is not supported, and all of vRealize Operations Manager would become unavailable.

The opposite is also true. Without HA, you could keep nodes on the same host, and it would not make a dierence. Without HA, the loss of even one node would make all of vRealize Operations Manager unavailable.

When you power o the data node and change the network seings of the VM, this aects the IP

address of the data node. After this point, the HA cluster is no longer accessible and all the nodes have a status of "Waiting for analytics". Verify that you have used a static IP address.

When you remove a node that has one or more vCenter adapters congured to collect data from a HA-

enabled cluster, one or more vCenter adapters associated with that node stops collecting. You change the adapter conguration to pin them to another node before removing the node.

Administration UI shows the resource cache count, which is created for active objects only, but the

Inventory Explorer displays all objects. Therefore, when you remove a node from a HA-enabled cluster allowing the vCenter adapters collect data and rebalance each node, the Inventory explorer displays a dierent quantity of objects from that shown in the Administration UI.

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+ 32 hidden pages

VMware vRealize Operations Manager - 6.6 Deployment and Conﬁguration Guide

Contents

About vApp Deployment and Configuration

About Installing 1

Installation Overview

Workflow of vRealize Operations Manager Installation

Complexity of Your Environment