6.5.1

Table 4‑4. Alarm Environment Variables (Continued)
Variable Name Variable Description Supported Alarm Type
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_USERNAME The user name associated with
the event.
Event
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_DATACENTER The name of the data center in
which the event occurred.
Event
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_COMPUTERESOURCE The name of the cluster or
resource pool in which the event
occurred.
Event
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_HOST The name of the host on which
the event occurred.
Event
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_VM The name of the virtual machine
on which the event occurred.
Event
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_NETWORK The name of the network on
which the event occurred.
Event
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_DATASTORE The name of the datastore on
which the event occurred.
Event
VMWARE_ALARM_EVENT_DVS The name of the vSphere
Distributed Switch on which the
event occurred.
Event
Alarm Command-Line Parameters
VMware provides command-line parameters that function as a substitute for the default alarm environment
variables. You can use these parameters when running a script as an alarm action for a condition, state, or
event alarm.
The command-line parameters enable you to pass alarm information without having to change an alarm
script. For example, you can use these parameters when you have an external program for which you do not
have the source. You can pass in the necessary data by using the substitution parameters, which take
precedence over the environment variables. You pass the parameters through the  dialog box
in the alarm denition wizard or on a command line.
Table 4‑5. Command-Line Parameters for Alarm Action Scripts
Variable Description
{eventDescription} The text of the alarmStatusChange event. The {eventDescription} variable
is supported only for Condition and State alarms.
{targetName}
The name of the entity on which the alarm is triggered.
{alarmName}
The name of the alarm that is triggered.
{triggeringSummary}
A summary of the alarm trigger values.
{declaringSummary}
A summary of the alarm declaration values.
{oldStatus}
The alarm status before the alarm is triggered.
{newStatus}
The alarm status after the alarm is triggered.
{target}
The inventory object on which the alarm is set.
vSphere Monitoring and Performance
118 VMware, Inc.