Manage Compute Resources

Manage VMware Vcenter Server

You can add, delete, edit, sync, and bulk import VMware Vcenter servers and also view the complete inventory of compute resources like data center, cluster, hosts and virtual machines (VMs).

Add a VMware vCenter Server

Complete the following procedure to manually add a VMware vCenter server in order to manage it.

Before you Begin

You must install a Data Center Hypervisor license to collect vCenter server inventory information. For instructions on how to add this license, see Licenses and Software Updates chapter in Cisco Prime Infrastructure Admin Guide.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Inventory > Device Management > Compute Devices.

Step 2

From the Compute Resources pane, click Discovery Sources.

Step 3

From the Add Device drop-down list, choose Add Device.

Step 4

Specify the following parameters in the Add Discovery Source dialog box:

  1. Protocol—Choose HTTP or HTTPS.

  2. Server—Enter the hostname or IP address of the vCenter server.

  3. Port—Enter 80 for HTTP or 443 for HTTPS.

  4. Username and Password—Enter the credentials required to log into the vCenter server.

    You will need to enter the password a second time in order to confirm it.

Step 5

(Optional) Click Verify Credentials to confirm the credentials you entered are valid before adding the vCenter server.

Step 6

Click Add.

Step 7

From the Discovery Sources page, locate the vCenter server you just added and view its value in the Virtual Inventory Collection Status column.

If No License is displayed, you need to install a Data Center Hypervisor license. This license is required to collect the server's inventory information.

CSV File Requirements for Importing Vcenter

To import a VMware vCenter server from another source into Cisco Prime Infrastructure using a CSV file, download a sample template by doing the following:

  1. Choose Inventory > Device Management > Compute Devices.

  2. From the Compute Resources pane, click Discovery Sources.

  3. From the Add Device drop-down list, choose Bulk Import.

    The Bulk Import dialog box opens.

  4. Click the here link to download a bulk virtual discovery sample template.

To enable full inventory collection in Cisco Prime Infrastructure, you must provide values for the following parameters in the CSV file for the discovery source:

  • IP address or hostname

  • Password

  • Port number

  • Username

  • Protocol

Monitor Compute Resource Performance

Prime Infrastructure monitors the managed compute resources by periodically polling the devices.

Prime Infrastructure supports periodic polling of a predefined set of key performance indicators (KPIs) related to CPU, memory, disk and network for monitoring the health of the virtual elements. Prime Infrastructure does not poll the VM directly, but it gets the data periodically from the Vcenter via the application programming interfaces (APIs). The default polling interval is 5 minutes. You can change the polling interval as described below.

Set the Polling Interval for Data Center Devices

Polling can be enabled on a data center, cluster, and host. When you do so, polling is automatically enabled on the children of the entity you select for polling. For example, if you enable polling on a cluster, pollilng is also enabled on all of the hosts and VMs that belong to that cluster.

To set the polling interval:

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Settings > System Settings, then choose Inventory > Datacenter Settings.

Step 2

Choose the polling interval from the drop-down list.

5 mins is the default value.

Step 3

Click Save.

Set Up Cluster Monitoring

Complete the following procedure to monitor a cluster:

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Inventory > Device Management > Compute Devices.

Step 2

From the Compute Resources pane, click Clusters.

Step 3

Check the check box for the cluster you want to monitor and then click Start Monitoring.

Note the following:

  • To stop monitoring a cluster, complete this procedure but click Stop Monitoring in Step 3 instead.

  • You cannot stop the monitoring of a parent data center or cluster from its child host or cluster. However, you can stop the monitoring of a child host or cluster from its parent data center or cluster.