HP Insight Remote Support 7.0.9 Monitored Devices Configuration Guide

Chapter 36: Configuring VMware vCenter
Servers
Insight RS can collect virtual machine configuration information for your IT environment from your vCenter
installation. Insight RS automatically discovers any VMware vCenter installations when the ProLiant
Windows server it is installed on is discovered as long as the proper security credentials are configured.
Insight RS supports collections for vCenter virtual machine guests, but does not support monitoring of the
virtual machine guests.
Note: vCenter installations on a virtual machine are not supported.
Communication with a vCenter installation requires the configuration of security credentials within the
Insight RS Console. Once discovered, information about the virtual machines on any server in your
environment can be collected and sent automatically to HP on a scheduled basis. The vCenter cluster
uses the same warranty and contract information as the ProLiant server it's installed on. When the ESX
and ESXi servers are discovered, Insight RS does not have the ability to tell which vCenter cluster
manages them.
The vCenter collection gathers information about the VM Guests and how they are configured on the
VMware vCenter cluster. There must be a Proactive Care contract on at least one of the ESX or ESXi
devices that make up the cluster. This is an environment wide contract based on a single server
entitlement, not an entitlement against each of the servers on which virtual machines are installed.
The vCenter cluster appears in the Insight RS Console with a name of the form: VC@<hostname>.
Note: Although vCenter installations are visible in the Insight RS Console, they are not
monitored for events.
Insight RS does not differentiate between multiple DataCenter objects or between multiple cluster objects
being managed by a given vCenter instance. Insight RS 7.0.9 does not have hierarchical capability and
therefore cannot represent these constructs. All hosts from all clusters are added to Insight RS without
differentiating the various clusters in which they may be configured.
Insight RS can use CIM ticket authentication on ESXi clusters managed by vSphere, which offers the
following advantages:
l It allows Insight RS to communicate with the ESXi hosts when they are in lockdown mode.
Important: Insight RS supports ESXi hosts in lockdown mode when they are managed by
vCenter in a cluster configuration. Standalone ESXi hosts managed by vCenter are not
supported.
l It allows Insight RS to discover ESXi hosts when it discovers the vCenter server without having to
enter WBEM credentials for each ESXi host; the CIM ticket is used for the credentials instead.
To enable CIM ticketing for ESXi devices, whether in lockdown mode or not, you must provide the
credentials for the VMware vCenter cluster to the discovery tasks (see "Add VMware vCenter Protocol
Page 258 of 267HP Insight Remote Support 7.0.9:Monitored Devices Configuration Guide