Overview

The VMware module will connect to a vSphere server.

  • it will detect automatically any new Virtual machines and ESX hypervisors.
  • it will collect data from the ESX and Vitual machines.

Configuration

To define a VMware source module:

  1. You must declare the VMware module in the file /etc/shinken/synchronizers/synchronizer-master.cfg.
  2. Then configure the source in the file /etc/shinken/sources/sync-vmware.cfg
    to enable the source.
  3. Then configure the source in the file /etc/shinken/module/sync-vmware.cfg
    to define the behaviour of the module (linked to the module defined

During the Shinken Enterprise installation process, a VMware module called sync-vmware is defined but set to inactive.
It is mainly to provide Administrator with an example.

sources/sync-vmware.cfg

Property description

source_name

sync-vmware 
order3 
import_interval5 
modulessync-vmware 
enabled0

1 - Activate the source

0 - Viewed in the interface, but doesn't collect data nor import objects.

description        This source is about loading hosts from VMware vSphere 

module/sync-vmware.cfg

Here is the list of parameters required by the module to be updated the in cfg file.

PropertyDefault (if not set)Description
vcenter vcenter.fqdn.comFQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) or IP Address of the vSphere server.
user                           

DOMAIN\user

User used to connect to the vSphere server. Must be a read-only account.
password                  

PASSWORD

Password for the user access.
esx_templates esxHost template to set on the detected esx or esxi hosts.
vm_templates vmware-vmHost template to set on the detected virtual servers.

The default column shows the value used by the module if the Shinken Enterprise Administrator didn't set it.


Here there an example of the module definition:

define module{
  enable           1
  module_name      sync-vmware
  module_type      sync-vmware
  check_esx_path   /var/lib/shinken/libexec/synchronizer/esx_discovery.pl
  vcenter          myesx.ovh.com
  user             admin
  password         XYZ
  esx_templates    esx
  vm_templates     vmware-vm
}

 

Automatic templates for Virtual Server based on their OS

Some host templates are automatically added to the detected Virtual Server, based on the value set on the vSphere data
(VM definition and/or the VMware tools).

Here is the list of the host templates that may be automatically attached to a host detected in an ESX:

 

  • centos
  • debian
  • debian5
  • debian6
  • fedora
  • linux
  • oracle-linux
  • redhat
  • redhat4
  • redhat5
  • redhat6
  • windows
  • windows-datacenter
  • windows-enterprise
  • windows2000
  • windows2003
  • windows2008
  • windows2008r2
  • windows2012
  • windows7
  • windowsnt
  • windowsvista
  • windowsxp




Mutilple vSphere

 

=> Define an additional VMware source module. You can have has many VMware source module as you need.

 

To add an ESX to your monitoring environment:

  1. Duplicate the cfg file
    • for exemple, sync-vmware.cfg => sync-vmware-EU.cfg

  2. Update parameters inside sync-vmware-EU.cfg pointing to the new ESX
    • at least, you need to change module_name and vcenter parameters
      • => module_name    sync-vmware_EU
      • => vcenter               myesx-EU.ovh.com

  3. Edit the file /etc/shinken/synchronizers/synchronizer-master.cfg

    • Edit the line sources   

      • sources               syncui,cfg-file-shinken,active-dir,sync-vmware,sync-vmware-EU,cfg-file-nagios,discovery

  4. Restart the synchronizer

    • => service shinken restart synchronizer