HP VMware ESXi management environment integration note

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HP VMware ESXi management environment

integration note

Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 2

Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2

Operating systems and virtualization software support for ProLiant servers.................................................. 3

VMware ESXi integration with HP Systems Insight Manager

...................................................................... 3

Hardware monitoring with HP Systems

Insight Manager........................................................................... 

Proactive notification of server issues .................................................................................................. 

HP VMware ESXi provider and profile summary .................................................................................. 

ProLiant server information available using VMware’s vSphere client and vCenter Server ......................... 

Comparison of HP SIM with HP Insight Providers and vCenter Server/vSphere Client with VMware providers 

Managing HP VMware ESXi ................................................................................................................. 

Using HP-SIM to manage servers running ESXi.....................................................................................8

The “First Time Wizard”................................................................................................................ 

Global Protocol Settings page...................................................................................................... 

System Protocol Settings page...................................................................................................... 

Status Polling ............................................................................................................................. 

Identifying problems with hardware components............................................................................ 

Data Collection and Reporting ..................................................................................................... 

Property pages........................................................................................................................... 

Indications in the HP SIM user interface......................................................................................... 

Troubleshooting WBEM Indications in HP SIM ............................................................................... 

Using HP Insight Control /Virtual Machine Manager to manage ESXi .................................................. 

Hardware Monitoring using vSphere Client and VMware vCenter Server ............................................. 

Insight Remote Support integration ................................................................................................... 

HP Insight Remote Support Standard............................................................................................. 

HP Insight Remote Support Pack ................................................................................................... 

HP Virtualization Bundles ................................................................................................................ 

Appendix A: Changing standards in the server management environment................................................ 

Web-based Enterprise Management................................................................................................. 

Common Information Model............................................................................................................ 

Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware ..................................................................... 

Appendix B: Hardware information available in management tools......................................................... 

For more information.......................................................................................................................... 

Call to action .................................................................................................................................... 

Summary of content (31 pages)

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HP VMware ESXi management environment integration note Abstract.............................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2 Operating systems and virtualization software support for ProLiant servers..................................................
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Abstract VMware virtualization technology has changed the computing landscape, transforming IT infrastructure with market-leading virtual machine products. More and more enterprises are compelled to use resources more efficiently, respond quickly to business needs, and increase consistency of IT operations to reduce costs and deliver quality service at times of uncertainty. VMware vSphere™ is the industry’s first cloud operating system.
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Operating systems and virtualization software support for ProLiant servers HP delivers and supports a wide range of VMware products certified on ProLiant server platforms. For a complete and up-to-date listing of supported operating systems and versions, visit the ProLiant OS Support Matrix at http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/us/en/servers/4x-servers.html.
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Hardware monitoring with HP Systems Insight Manager Insight Providers collect data from sources such as drivers and system firmware to populate the CIM data model. HP SIM receives the system hardware inventory and hardware health monitoring data. Table B-1 in Appendix B lists the component information provided by the environment by data source.
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During the identification process, HP SIM determines whether or not a managed node is running the ESXi operating system. If an ESXi operating system is running, HP SIM attempts to contact both the VMware providers and HP Insight Providers. HP SIM identification communicates with these providers so that it can immediately contact and collect data from the appropriate providers.
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occur. The server consolidated health status is updated as the indication is delivered.
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HP VMware ESXi provider and profile summary The Insight Providers conform to the Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) and Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) standards. The Insight Providers extend the CIM data model to provide administrators with information specific to ProLiant platforms. The Insight Providers collect data from various sources such as drivers and system firmware to populate the data model. HP SIM 5.3.
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 Remote Command Line Interface. It is possible to manage VMware ESXi through a remote execution environment that can run VMware ESXi command scripts.  Advanced manageability and usability features. Users can manage the entire virtualized IT environment with VMware ESXi.  VMware’s vSphere client. Users can manage VMware ESXi, virtual machines, and (optionally) VMware vCenter Server with a common user interface.  VMware View Portal.
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Figure 5.
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Global Protocol Settings page A user may enter credentials in the global protocol settings page at any time by navigating to Options-->Protocol Settings-->Global Protocol Settings. When discovery runs (default schedule is once daily) or when new nodes are discovered, the global WBEM credentials are used to identify WBEM on the managed node (see Figure 6). If the ESXi managed node has already been discovered and does not have WBEM listed as a management protocol, then the user must run Options-->Identify.
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System Protocol Settings page If the user does not supply credentials at the global level, then the user can declare the credentials at the managed node level. From the System page the user selects the “Tools & Links” tab, “System Protocol Settings.” Once the system credentials are entered, the user must run “Identify” so that the credentials are validated (see Figure 7). The credentials will only be applied to the managed node that is selected. Figure 7.
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The HP SIM Systems page provides an overview of the managed node. The Systems page summary includes IP and DNS information, links to additional management tools such as property pages, and WBEM events list. Figure 8 provides examples of how the HP SIM Systems page integrates with HP Insight Providers. Figure 8.
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HP SIM can subscribe for and receive WBEM indications. These indications are asynchronous alerts that give HP SIM users a real-time status for hardware components that are experiencing problems. Figures 9 and 10 provide an example of how WBEM indications are activated and deactivated. Figure 9 depicts an example of how these indications are reported using the HP SIM interface. Each indication or event in the Events list contains a link that will provide a detailed display of the indication content.
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Alternatively, users may choose to create subscriptions using the CLI: Mxwbemsub –a –n Users can specify which HP SIM Central Management Server (CMS) is the destination address for the WBEM subscription. In the example shown in Figure 10, the HP SIM CMS is not declared and the local CMS is being used as the destination. Figure 10.
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Every five minutes, HP SIM Status Polling collects an overall status value from the Insight Providers. This polling task collects the overall status from all WBEM protocol nodes. In Figure 12, the circled item shows the health status on the SIM systems page. This example indicates that a Major condition exists. Figure 12.
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Identifying problems with hardware components HP SIM, using HP Insight Providers, provides a way to identify malfunctioning hardware components. The Systems page Health Status link reflects the status reported by the providers. Select the Health Status link to navigate to the SIM Property Pages status tab. The following example illustrates an error status in HP SIM. Selecting the Health Status link launches the SIM property pages.
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Data Collection and Reporting HP SIM Data Collection and Reporting inventories the hardware and software/firmware on the managed node. This data is cached within SIM so that a user can compare inventories at different points in time or compare the hardware configuration on different servers. By default, data collection is run bi-weekly (administrators can alter the collection interval). SIM provides a default Data Collection Report.
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Figure 15.
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SIM also allows an administrator to create custom reports for one or more managed nodes (Figure 16). A user can select one or more reporting categories and select individual properties from each category. The report can be exported to XML or CSV. Figure 16.
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Property pages HP SIM Property pages (Figure 17) display overall server characteristics, status information, and configuration/inventory data. The Property page data, prepared and reported in real time, is exclusively WBEM data. Figure 17.
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Indications in the HP SIM user interface The Insight Providers for ESXi deliver indications to HP SIM as events occur. HP SIM receives notification by monitoring a change in state that generates an instance of an indication for a particular event. Indications are displayed in All Events or on an individual system basis under the System Page Events tab (Figure 18). Open an event to get more details. Figure 18.
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Troubleshooting WBEM Indications in HP SIM Follow these steps if a subscription fails: 1. Make sure WBEM is a discovered protocol on the managed node: Systems Page-->Product Description table-->Management Protocols. 2. Make sure the node is accessible: Properties link on the Systems Page or Options–> Identify. Follow these steps if no indications display in HP SIM: 1. Select Options–>Events–>Event Filter Settings. 2. Select Accept unregistered events as highlighted in Figure 19.
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Using HP Insight Control /Virtual Machine Manager to manage ESXi HP VMware ESXi can be managed (Figure 20) in HP Insight Control /Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).
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Hardware Monitoring using vSphere Client and VMware vCenter Server There are two ways to view server hardware information using vSphere software:  vCenter Server is the tool which provides unified management of all the hosts and VMs in your data center from a single console with an aggregate performance monitoring of clusters, hosts and VMs. It uses a client application utility named vSphere Client as its primary user interface.
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The Events tab shows all management actions performed on the ESXi host. To view these events, the vSphere Client must be connected to the vCenter Server. The Alarms tab shows all the alerts that have been triggered for a host, as well as all the Alert definitions that pertain to that host. These alerts may be defined for the particular host, or may be defined at a higher level in the inventory and inherited by the host.
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Insight Remote Support integration The HP Insight Remote Support Software is a portfolio of infrastructure remote support software that automatically provides continuous secure remote support for HP servers and storage. Systems can be remotely monitored for hardware failure using proven secure technology. In many cases, problems can be avoided before they occur.
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Appendix A: Changing standards in the server management environment The system management world is moving to standards other than Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) because SNMP-based management solutions have received increased scrutiny for their simple structure and weak security protocol relative to current alternatives. SNMP is a management standard in widespread use for a variety of management needs. It is a lightweight, mature, and non-proprietary standard.
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WBEM has been broadened to include Web Services for Management (WS-Management) as an alternative management protocol. WBEM is generally viewed as more versatile than previous management standards such as SNMP because of its richer data model, which includes associations and inheritance, and its web-based protocols. Security can be built into WBEM more simply than into SNMP because it can leverage more secure, web-based protocols such as HTTPS. Common Information Model CIM is defined by the DMTF.
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Appendix B: Hardware information available in management tools Currently, vSphere Client can display certain ProLiant server information by retrieving and decoding data using the standard Intelligent Platform Management Interface, such as individual and overall status, main system, processor, fan, power supply and memory subsystem. However, there is more detailed ProLiant server information available with HP SIM.
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Data source HP SIM vCenter Server and vSphere Client package type  Fan collection health status  Fan redundancy set, number of fans, associations with individual fan members, and redundancy status Power Supply Subsystem  Individual power supply type, physical power supply location and health status  Individual and overall power supply health status  Individual power supply module removal conditions and package type  Power supply collection health status  Power supply redundancy set, number
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For more information For additional information, refer to the resources listed below. Resource description Web address Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. http://www.dmtf.org/standards/cim/ HP VMware ESXi http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/software /vmware-esx3i/index.html HP Provider Architecture on ESXi ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/servers/vmware/es x3i/HP%20WBEM%20Provider%20for%20ESXi%20Scrip ting%20Tools%20Guide.pdf HP Systems Insight Manager http://www.hp.