Pre-requisites for Monitoring a VMware vSphere/ESX Server by Directly Connecting to that Server

  • Ensure that the remote agent has IP connectivity to the vSphere/ESX server.
  • Ensure that the remote agent has web access to the web services interface (port 80/443) of the vSphere/ESX server. 

  • Configure all the tests that the remote agent executes with the name and password of the root user to the vSphere/ESX server. However, if, owing to security constraints, you cannot use root user permissions, you can alternatively configure the tests with the credentials of a user who has been assigned the following permissions:

    Permission

    Purpose

    Diagnostics

    This permission is required for log monitoring. The eG agent needs this permission to run the VmHostd Log Monitor test, the VMKWarning Log Monitor test, and the VmMessages Log Monitor test.

    TerminateSession

    vSphere/ESX servers terminate user sessions based on timeout periods. The default timeout period is 30 mins. When you stop an agent, sessions currently in use by the agent will remain open for this timeout period until vSphere times out the session. If the agent is restarted within the timeout period, it will open a new set of sessions. To enable the eG agent to close already existing sessions before it opens new sessions, you have to configure all the tests with the credentials of a vCenter user with permissions to TerminateSession.

    To see how you can create such a user on the ESX server, refer to the Creating a Special Role on an ESX Server and Assigning the Role to a New User topic.

  • VI APIs are memory-intensive, and therefore, while monitoring ESX servers in an agentless manner, the default memory setting of 128 MB will not be sufficient for the remote agent to pull out the required metrics. The maximum memory setting of the remote agent should hence be increased to any value between 256 MB and 1024 MB, but the exact value will depend upon the number of ESX servers being monitored in your environment. Refer to Increasing the Memory Settings of the eG Agent that Monitors ESX Servers to know how to alter the memory settings of the eG agent.