View Source

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:

Configure the module in the file /etc/shinken/modules/sync-vmware.cfg
to define the behaviour of the module
Then configure the source in the file /etc/shinken/sources/sync-vmware.cfg
to enable the source. and call the module configured in step 1.
Then you must declare the VMware source in the file /etc/shinken/synchronizers/synchronizer-master.cfg.

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	Example	Description
source_name	sync-vmware	Name of this source. Must be unique.
order	3	Order in the merge algorithm of this source data. Look in the Synchronizer page for more information about it.
import_interval	5	Launch this source every import_inverval minutes.
modules	sync-vmware	The module to launch
enabled	0	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	A description to show on the UI.

modules/sync-vmware.cfg

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

Property	Default (if not set)	Description
*vcenter*	*vcenter.fqdn.com*	FQDN (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*	*esx*	Host template to set on the detected esx or esxi hosts.
*vm_templates*	*vmware-vm*	Host 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{
  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

As a source/module can talk to one vSphere server only, in order to take data from numerous vSphere servers, you must define as many source/module as your vSpheres instances.

To link your monitoring solution to a new vSphere, you must:

Duplicate the source and modules configuration files (.cfg), for example:
- /etc/shinken/modules/sync-vmware.cfg => /etc/shinken/modules/sync-vmware-EU.cfg
- /etc/shinken/sources/sync-vmware.cfg => /etc/shinken/sources/sync-vmware-EU.cfg
Update parameters inside your new module in the file /etc/shinken/modules/sync-vmware-EU.cfg pointing to the new vSphere server:
- at least, you need to change module_name and vcenter parameters
  - => module_name sync-vmware_EU
  - => vcenter myesx-EU.ovh.com
Update parameters inside your new source in the file /etc/shinken/sources/sync-vmware-EU.cfg pointing to your new module:
- at least, you need to change source_name and modules parameters
  - => source_name sync-vmware_EU
  - => modules sync-vmware_EU
Declare your new source in the synchronizer daemon. 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
Then you can restart the synchronizer
- => service shinken restart synchronizer