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Foglight for VMware 6.1.0 - Installation Guide

Enabling VMware Performance Agents to collect data from a Virtual Center

Foglight™ for VMware uses the VMware Performance Agent to collect information from monitored environments. Each VMware Performance Agent can monitor an entire Virtual Center. To enable the agent to monitor your virtual environment, you must grant the agent privileges for accessing the Virtual Center and collecting data from it.

 
* 
IMPORTANT: Follow this procedure only if your environment does not include Foglight for Resource Optimization.

Configure these privileges on the Virtual Center using the VMware® Virtual Infrastructure Client.

First, you create a role and assign it privileges for browsing datastores, viewing and terminating sessions, and modifying performance intervals. Next, you assign that role to a user account that you want the VMware Performance Agent to use for accessing the Virtual Center. You will associate the selected user account with the VMware Performance Agent instance in a later step, when you configure the VMware Performance Agent properties (see Setting the Configuration properties ).

Figure 10. VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client

To grant a VMware Performance Agent privileges for collecting data from a Virtual Center:
1
In the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client, on the tool bar, click Administration.
The Administration screen appears.
Figure 11. Administration screen
2
Right-click a role and choose Add from the shortcut menu that appears.
The Add Role dialog box appears.
Figure 12. Add Role dialog box
3
In the Add Role dialog box, in the Enter Name box, type the name of the role you want to add.
4
Select the following privileges:
•
Datastore > Browse Datastores
•
Sessions > View and Terminate Sessions
•
Performance > Modify interval
5
Important. If you are using Foglight for Resource Optimization, you must include additional privileges to this role. For more information, see the Foglight for Resource Optimization User Guide.
6
Click OK.
The Add Role dialog box closes.
7
In the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client, on the toolbar, click Inventory.
The Inventory screen appears.
Figure 13. Inventory screen
8
In the left pane, right-click Hosts & Clusters, and choose Assign Permissions from the shortcut menu that appears.
The Assign Permissions dialog box appears.
Figure 14. Assign Permissions dialog box
9
In the Assign Permissions dialog box, in the Assigned Role area, select the role you just created.
10
In the Users and Groups area, click Add.
The Select Users dialog box appears.
Figure 15. Select Users dialog box
11
Assign the selected role to a user account that you want the VMware Performance Agent to use for accessing the Virtual Center, and click Add.
12
Click OK.
The Select Users dialog box closes.

Configuring VMware Performance Agents for data collection

Configuring VMware Performance Agents for data collection

Foglight™ for VMware uses the VMware Performance Agent to collect information from monitored environments. Creating a VMware Performance Agent instance creates the agent process on the Agent Manager host. Activating the VMware Performance Agent starts that agent process, while starting an agent instance’s data collection enables the agent to start collecting data from the monitored Virtual Center and to send it to Foglight for VMware.

When the VMware Performance Agent package is successfully deployed, create one or more agent instances, activate them, and start their data collection. To perform these steps in a single operation for one or more monitored hosts, use the Administration tab of the VMware Environment dashboard.

Each VMware Performance Agent monitors a single Virtual Center. When you create a VMware Performance Agent instance and the Agent Setup wizard determines that the Virtual Center was not previously monitored by this Foglight instance, it starts importing historical data into Foglight. This data is not immediately available as it takes some time to collect it. This process can import data collected over 30 days or less, depending on the amount of data available in the Virtual Center. This allows you to explore VMware metrics as soon as the data is imported, instead for waiting for the agent to collect some data from the Virtual Center. The Metric History column in the Agents table indicates the progress of the historical data import. Historical data is intended for charting, trending, and general presentation purposes. It does not cause any alarms to fire.

To import Virtual Center historical data, the minimum recommended Virtual Center Statistics Levels must be at least 2 in the samples that are collected for one month for the agent to populate 30 days of historic collections. The following table lists the minimum Statistics Levels for all collection frequencies. For more information about Virtual Center Statistics levels, see your VMware® documentation.

 
Table 3. Collection Intervals
Collection Interval
Collection Frequency
Statistics Level

1 Day

5 Minutes

1

1 Week

30 Minutes

1

1 Month

2 Hours

2

1 Year

1 Day

1

 
* 
IMPORTANT: Before creating your first VMware Performance agent, you must configure a Virtual Center user with sufficient privileges. For more information, see Enabling VMware Performance Agents to collect data from a Virtual Center.
To create, activate VMware Performance Agent instances, and start their data collection:
1
Log in to the Foglight browser interface.
2
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, choose VMware > VMware Environment.
3
On the VMware Environment dashboard that appears in the display area, open the Administration tab.
Figure 16. Administration tab
4
Launch the Agent Setup wizard. In the Agents area, click Add.
The Agent Setup Wizard appears with the Select an Agent Host page open.
Figure 17. Agent Setup Wizard
5
Select the host machine running the Agent Manager that you want to manage the VMware Performance Agent you are about to create, and click Next.
The Agent Setup Wizard refer shes, showing the Select Virtual Center page.
Figure 18. Select Virtual Center page
6
Specify the Virtual Center that you want to monitor.
a
In the Virtual Center box, type the fully qualified name of the host on which the Virtual Center is running.
b
In the Port box, type the port number of the host running the Virtual Center that will be used by the VMware Performance Agent to connect to the Virtual Center.
c
If you want to enable the VMware Performance Agent to collect the Foglight for Storage Management data, select the Enable Storage Collection check box. Foglight for Storage Management can help you optimize the VMware environment by monitoring virtual storage and its underlying physical storage components. For more information about this product, see the Foglight for Storage Management documentation.
d
If you want to import historical data, select the Enable Historical Metric Data check box. This data is not immediately available as it takes some time to collect it. This process can import data collected over 30 days or less, depending on the amount of data available in the Virtual Center. Selecting this option allows you to explore VMware metrics as soon as the data is imported, instead for waiting for the agent to collect some data from the Virtual Center.
e
Click Next.
The Agent Setup Wizard refreshes, showing the Credential Verification page.
Figure 19. Credential Verification
7
Specify user credentials the VMware Performance Agent needs to log into tho Virtual Center host. Select one of the following options:
 
* 
IMPORTANT: The Virtual Center user account must have sufficient privileges. For more information, see Enabling VMware Performance Agents to collect data from a Virtual Center.
•
Add vCenter(s) to a new credential: Select this option if you want to create a new credential for the selected vCenter. Click Next and continue to Step 8.
•
Add vCenter(s) to an existing credential: Select this option if you want to use an existing credential for the selected vCenter. This option is suitable if an existing credential has the information needed to access the vCenter. Click Next and continue to Step 9.
For complete information about Foglight credentials, see the Administration and Configuration Help.
8
Creating a new credential only.
Figure 20. Create New Credential
a
Specify the following information:
•
Credential Name: Type a name that uniquely identifies the credential.
•
User: Type the vCenter user name.
•
Password: Type the vCenter password.
•
Confirm Password: Type the vCenter password.
b
Select a lockbox in which you want to keep the credential. A lockbox can be used to group credentials for access and/or security. In smaller Foglight installations, you can use the default System lockbox.
c
Click Next.
The Summary page appears.
Figure 21. Summary
d
Click Finish.
The Agent Setup Wizard closes, and the Agents area refreshes, showing a newly created VMware Performance agent instance.
9
Using an existing credential only.
Figure 22. Select Existing Credential
a
Select an existing credential that you want to use to access the vCenter.
b
Click Next.
The Summary page appears.
Figure 23. Summary
c
Click Finish.
The Agent Setup Wizard closes, and the Agents area refreshes, showing a newly created VMware Performance agent instance.

Using an alternative method to create and configure VMware Performance Agents

The following procedure describes the process of creating and activating VMware Performance Agent instances and starting their data collection using the Agent Status dashboard. This dashboard is useful for creating agent instances one Agent Manager at a time.

Another way to create agent instances is using the fglcmd command-line interface. For more information about the available fglcmd commands, see the Command-Line Reference Guide.

To create, activate VMware Performance Agent instances and start their data collection using the Agent Status dashboard:
1
Log in to the Foglight for VMware™ browser interface.
2
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, choose Administration > Agents > Agent Status.
The Agent Status dashboard appears in the display area.
Figure 24. Agent Status dashboard
3
On the Agent Status dashboard, click Create Agent.
The Create Agent wizard appears with the Host Selector page open.
4
Specify the monitored host that you want to use to monitor with the VMware Performance Agent.
In the Create Agent wizard, on the Host Selector page, select the system on which the Agent Manager is running, and click Next.
If the system name does not appear in the list, check that its Agent Manager is active and connected to the Management Server.
The Create Agent wizard refreshes, showing the Agent Type and Instance Name page.
Figure 25. Agent Type and Instance Name page
 
* 
IMPORTANT: If the VMwarePerformance agent type is not listed, you likely need to deploy the VMware Performance Agent package to that host. For more information, see Deploying VMware Performance Agent packages to monitored hosts .
5
On the Agent Type and Instance Name page, select VMwarePerformance.
6
Specify the name of the VMware Performance Agent instance that you are about to create.
•
To have Foglight for VMware assign a generic name, ensure that Generic Name is selected.
•
To use a specific agent name, select Specify Name, and in the Name box that appears, type the agent name.
7
Click Next.
The Create Agent wizard refreshes, showing the Summary page.
Figure 26. Summary page
8
In the Create Agent wizard, on the Summary page, verify that the host name and agent name are correct, and click Finish.
The Create Agent wizard closes, and the Agent Status dashboard refreshes, showing in the Tasks area that the Deploy Agent Package task is in progress. After a few moments, a green icon appears in the Status column, indicating a successful deployment.
Figure 27. Create Agent task successful
If agent creation is not successful, there are several things you can do to troubleshoot the deployment failure. For more information, see the online help for the Agent Status dashboard.
9
Configure the properties of the newly created agent instance.
When a VMware Performance Agent connects to the Management Server, it is provided with sets of properties that the agent uses to configure its correct running state. Foglight stores agent properties on the Management Server.
a
Select the agent instance and click Edit.
b
From the menu that appears, choose Edit Properties.
The Agent Status dashboard refreshes, showing the VMware Performance Agent properties in the display area.
Figure 28. VMware Performance Agent Properties
 
* 
NOTE: When multiple agents are selected, you can only edit the properties that are common to all selected agents.
c
Click Modify properties for this agent only.
d
Edit the agent’s properties, as required.
For more information, see Setting the VMware Performance Agent properties .
e
When finished, click Save, then click the Back To Agent Status button.
10
Activate the newly created VMware Performance Agent instance.
On the Agent Status dashboard, select the row containing the agent instance that you want to activate, and click Activate.
The Activate Agent(s) message box appears, showing the status of the activation process.
The Create Agent wizard closes, and the Agent Status dashboard refreshes, showing in the Tasks area that the Deploy Agent Package task is in progress.
After a few moments, the Activate Agent(s) message box closes, and the Agents area on the Agent Status dashboard refreshes, showing a green icon in the Status column, indicating a successful activation.
Figure 29. Agent successfully activated
If agent creation is not successful, there are several things you can do to troubleshoot the deployment failure. For more information, see the online help for the Agent Status dashboard.

Setting the VMware Performance Agent properties

The VMware Performance Agent collects data from the virtual infrastructure and sends it to the Management Server. The agent keeps track of resource utilization metrics and alerts you when certain pre-defined thresholds are reached.

When an agent connects to Foglight Management Server™, it is provided with sets of properties that it uses to configure its correct running state. Each agent is provided with a combination of two types of properties: agent properties and shareable properties.

Default versions of these properties are installed with Foglight for VMware. However, you can edit the default shareable and agent properties, configure agent properties that apply only to a specific agent instance, and create edited clones of shareable properties that are used by a subset of agents of a certain type.

There are two ways to access the VMware Performance Agent properties:

•
On the VMware Environment dashboard, on the Administration tab, select an agent instance and click Edit Properties (see Configuring VMware Performance Agents for data collection ). This method only provides access to the Configuration properties, but not the Black List and Data Collection Scheduler properties.
•
On the Agent Status dashboard, select an agent instance and click Edit Properties. This method provides access to the full set of VMware Performance Agent properties, and is described in this

For more information about working with agent properties, see the Administration and Configuration Guide.

To modify agent properties:
1
Log in to the Foglight browser interface.
2
Ensure that the navigation panel is open.
To open the navigation panel, click the right-facing arrow on the left.
3
Navigate to the VMware Performance Agent properties. An agent instance can have a combination of global and private properties. Global properties apply to all instances of the agent type, while private properties apply only to specific agent instances.
f
On the navigation panel, under Dashboards, choose Administration > Agents > Agent Status.
 
* 
IMPORTANT: Another way of editing the VMware Performance Agent properties is through the Agent Properties dashboard. The properties you specify on this dashboard apply to all instances of the VMware Performance Agent type. To be certain that you are editing properties for a particular agent instance, without overwriting any properties of other VMware Performance instances, use the Agent Status dashboard instead of the Agent Properties dashboard.
g
On the Agent Status dashboard, select the instance of the VMware Performance Agent whose properties you want to modify and click Edit Properties.
h
Click Modify the private properties for this agent to indicate that you want to edit the properties of the selected VMware Performance Agent instance.
A list of agent properties appears in the display area.
Figure 30. Agent Properties

The configuration of agent properties described in this section include:

•
Setting the VMware Performance Agent properties
•
Setting the Configuration properties
•
Setting the FileCollector properties
•
Setting the vSwitchCollector properties
•
Setting the Duplicate VM List properties
•
Setting the Black List properties
•
Setting the Data Collection Scheduler properties
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