vRanger 7.8 - User Guide

About event monitoring configurations

The configurations for event monitoring are done by way of the configuration file for the Quest vRanger Service, Vizioncore.vRanger.Service.exe.config. This file is located in the vRanger installation directory. The default is C:\Program Files\Quest\vRanger.

 

CAUTION: Change only the values listed in the following topics unless directed otherwise by Quest Support.

•	Opening the configuration file

•	Configuring replication monitoring

•	Configuring virtual appliance (VA) monitoring

•	Configuring datastore monitoring

•	Restarting the Quest vRanger Service

Opening the configuration file

Complete the steps in the following procedure to open the configuration file.

To open the configuration file:

1	Open the Vizioncore.vRanger.Service.exe.config file with your text editor of choice.

2	Make the required changes carefully, using the following information as guidance.

▪	Configuring replication monitoring

▪	Configuring virtual appliance (VA) monitoring

▪	Configuring datastore monitoring

▪	Restarting the Quest vRanger Service

 

NOTE: Not all text editors include line numbers. If you do not see the referenced line numbers in your text editor, this absence is not an indication of a problem.

Configuring replication monitoring

Replication monitoring logs replication task failures to the Windows® event log with the Event ID of 10001. The log also includes the error message and information about the task such as source VM, target host, and vCenter.

To configure replication monitoring:

1	In the Vizioncore.vRanger.Service.exe.config file, scroll to line 162 or search for Replication FailureWriteEventLog.

2	Change the value “false” to “true”, ensuring the quotation marks remain.

3	Save the file and exit.

Continue to the next topic to make additional changes.

Configuring virtual appliance (VA) monitoring

When enabled, at the specified interval, the vRanger VA monitor goes through all the configured VAs and checks to make sure that their power is turned on. The vRanger VA monitor also verifies that vRanger is able to connect to the VAs using the specified IP addresses and credentials.

To configure VA monitoring:

1	In the Vizioncore.vRanger.Service.exe.config file, find the lines corresponding to the preferred setting:

▪	VirtualApplianceMonitoringEnabled: line 204.

Set this value to “true” to enable monitoring of the VA.

▪	VirtualApplianceMonitoringEventLogFailureLogMax: line 207.

This setting is the maximum number of times that a particular VA failure can be logged to the Event log before a success. Change the value of “7” to the preferred value, ensuring the quotation marks remain.

This setting is intended to limit the number of messages in your event viewer. A refresher message appears periodically based on the next value.

▪	VirtualApplianceMonitorSecondaryIntervalInHours

This value determines how often the refresher message occurs for a failed VA check after the FailureLogMax value has been reached. The default is 6, which indicates that it logs an event every six hours.

▪	VirtualAppliancesConnectionCheckIntervalInMinutes

This setting determines how often vRanger checks the connection to configured VAs. The default is 5, which indicates that it checks the connection every five minutes.

2	Save and exit the file.

Continue to the next topic to make additional changes.

Configuring datastore monitoring

When enabled, at the specified interval, the datastore monitor goes through all the configured datastores and determines if the space available on the datastore exceeds the specified threshold. This check might be either by percentage or a specific value in gigabytes. When this exception occurs, an event is logged in the Windows® event log with an ID of 12000.

To configure datastore monitoring:

1	In the Vizioncore.vRanger.Service.exe.config file, find the lines corresponding to the preferred setting:

▪	DatastoreMonitoringEnabled: line 218

Set this value to “true” to enable monitoring of the datastores.

▪	DatastoreMonitoringSpaceThresholdValue: line 220

This setting is the threshold value for a datastore space before a warning is sent. This value is modified by the DatastoreMonitoringSpaceThresholdType setting.

▪	DatastoreMonitoringSpaceThresholdType: line 222

This value determines whether vRanger checks for percentage of free space or an absolute value in GB. Set “0” for percent, “1” for GB.

▪	DatastoreMonitorCheckIntervalInMinutes: line 224

How often vRanger checks the datastores for low space (in minutes) — the default is 30 minutes.

▪	DatastoreMonitoringEventLogFailureLogMax: line 227

The maximum number of times a particular datastore monitor failure can be logged to the Windows event log before a success — the default is 7.

This setting is intended to limit the number of messages in your event viewer. A refresher message appears periodically based on the next value.

▪	DatastoreMonitorSecondaryIntervalInHours: line 230

This value determines how often the refresher message occurs for a datastore that has reached its space threshold value after the FailureLogMax value has been reached. The default is 6, which indicates it logs an event every six hours.

2	Save and exit the file.

Restarting the Quest vRanger Service

For the changes to take effect, you must restart the vRanger Service.

To restart the service:

1	On the vRanger machine, click Start > Run.

2	Type “services.msc” and click OK.

3	Find the vRanger Service. Right-click the service, and click restart.

 

Using the vRanger Console

vRanger Console overview

vRanger uses Windows PowerShell® with a Quest snap-in to provide scripting access to vRanger features and functions. This feature lets vRanger integrate with other data protection solutions and offers an efficient configuration option for advanced users.

The snap-in includes the vAPI cmdlets required to create and manage jobs and view relevant information data reading your virtual environment.

For more information on PowerShell, see https://technet.microsoft.com/library/dn425048.aspx.

vRanger Console overview

Using the vRanger Console

vRanger uses Windows PowerShell® with a Quest snap-in to provide scripting access to vRanger features and functions. This feature lets vRanger integrate with other data protection solutions and offers an efficient configuration option for advanced users.

The snap-in includes the vAPI cmdlets required to create and manage jobs and view relevant information data reading your virtual environment.

For more information on PowerShell, see https://technet.microsoft.com/library/dn425048.aspx.

Configuring the vRanger Console

The vRanger installer automatically installs Windows PowerShell® 1.0 and the vAPI snap-in during the product installation. Before using the vAPI cmdlets, you must first configure the PowerShell execution policy to run the vRanger scripts. This process is a one-time configuration that does not need to be repeated.

To configure the vRanger Console:

1	Click Start > All Programs > Quest > vRanger Backup & Replication > vRanger Console.

When opening the vRanger Console for the first time, you see an error message stating that the execution of scripts is disabled on your system. This issue is due to the default PowerShell execution policy, which must be enabled.

2	At the prompt, type the following command, and press Enter.

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

 

NOTE: PowerShell and vAPI commands are not case-sensitive.

3	When the prompt re-appears, close and re-open the vRanger Console.

When the vRanger Console restarts, you should see a screen with a blue background and a list of vAPI cmdlets.

The vRanger vAPI is now configured and ready for use.