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VMware

Learn how to use OneIQ Pulse to discover VMware vCenter or VMware ESXi™ hosts to profile clusters, datacenters, datastores, hosts and VMs

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Written by Alpha Team
Updated today

Overview

OneIQ Pulse for Datacenter collects configuration and performance data from VMware vCenter as well as standalone VMware ESXi hosts. Supported objects include vSphere and vSAN clusters, datacenters, datastores, hosts, and virtual machines.

This article explains how to deploy OneIQ Pulse to connect with a VMware platform.

Prerequisites

  • Outbound Internet connectivity on port 443 (SSL) to OneIQ

  • A read-only user for VMware vCenter or ESXi host

  • OneIQ Pulse server - Windows Server 2016 or later with the following specifications.

Machines

Without Network Flows

With Network Flows

Up to 5,000

2 vCPUs, 4 GB memory

4 vCPUs, 8 GB memory

5,000–10,000

4 vCPUs, 8 GB memory

8 vCPUs, 16 GB memory

NB: For environments larger than 10,000 machines, contact our team.

Enable Network Flow Collection (Optional)

OneIQ Pulse can capture flows from VMware vSphere Distributed Switches. By default, flows are received on port 9995.

Verify Supported Versions

  • VMware vCenter Server: 5.5 and later

  • VMware vSphere: 5.5 and later

  • VMware vSAN: 6.0 and later

Check Configured VMware vCenter Statistics

Set minimum statistics collection to:

  • Interval Duration: 30 minutes

  • Save For: 1 week

  • Statistics Level: Level 1

For details on how to configure statistics in VMware vCenter, see VMware documentation for versions 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, and 8.0.

Verify Networking

Ensure a network path exists from OneIQ Pulse to VMware vCenter Servers or standalone ESXi hosts on port 443 (HTTPS).

  • A network path must exist from OneIQ Pulse to VMware vCenter Servers or standalone VMware ESXi hosts. By default, VMware uses HTTPS on port 443.

  • Network flows passing through VMware vSphere Distributed Switches can be captured using the embedded network flow collector in OneIQ Pulse. By default, it is configured to receive network flows on port 9995.

Discover VMware vCenter or VMware ESXi

Open the OneIQ Pulse console and follow the steps below:

  1. In the Select Discovery Target, choose VMware vCenter or ESXi Server

  2. Enter the following information:

    1. FQDN hostname or IP as Hostname or IP address for

      • VMware vCenter or

      • Standalone VMware ESXi host (not managed by VMware vCenter)

    2. Read-only Username and Password

  3. Click Create to initiate discovery

  4. Add a certificate to the trusted list if the VMware vCenter or VMware ESXi host is being discovered for the first time by clicking Trust.
    ​

  5. Upon successful discovery, a new VMware tile will appear in the Dashboard with the following information:

    • Hostname or IP address

    • Username

    • Status

Repeat the steps above for each VMware vCenter or standalone VMware ESXi host.

OneIQ Pulse only displays tiles for discovered VMware endpoints. Configuration and performance data for VMware clusters, data centers, data stores, hosts, and virtual machines are available in the OneIQ Portal.

VMware ESXi host limitations

Standalone VMware ESXi hosts can be discovered only if VMware vCenter does not manage them. Otherwise, OneIQ Pulse will show the following message:

VMware ESXi server with address [IP Address] is managed by VMware vCenter [IP Address] and cannot be monitored directly.

Storage capacity metrics of datastores and virtual machines will be missing for standalone VMware ESXi hosts.

What's next?

Use OneIQ Pulse to discover other supported datacenter platforms and collect network flows to identify dependencies.

Cloud-native platforms inside the datacenter can be connected using the following OneIQ Pulse connectors:

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