Set Creation Date to human readable format

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

The vCenter Adapter in VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations) publishes the Configuration|Creation Date Virtual Machine property as the number of milliseconds that have elapsed since January 1, 1970.

Product versions prior to vRealize Operations 8.1 can only display the raw value as a long integer.
In vRealize Operations 8.1 and above, this property can be displayed in a human readable format to show the actual creation time of the Virtual Machine in vCenter.

Note: A vRealize Operations enterprise license is required for the following procedure

Environment

VMware vRealize Operations 8.1.x and above

VMware Aria Operations 8.18

Resolution

To see the Configuration|Creation Date property in a human readable format, create a List View, and set the Transformation of Creation Date to Timestamp.
Absolute Timestamp format is selected by default, but you can switch to the Relative Timestamp format.

Example:

1. Log into the vRealize Operations UI as a user that has permission to create Views.
2. Navigate to Dashboards > Views.
3. Click New View to create a new custom View.
4. Set a Name for the View.
5. Set Presentation to List.
6. Set Subjects to Virtual Machine.
7. Under Data, set the drop down box from Metrics to Properties, then filter for Creation Date and add the Creation Date metric to the View.
8. In the Data list on the right, select Configuration|Creations Date.
9. On the right, under Configuration > Transformation, set the transformation down box to Timestamp:

• Absolute Timestamp

Example: April 4, 2020 1:11:02 PM GMT-6:00

• Relative Timestamp

Example: 4 Day(s)

10. Save the View.

 

In addition, starting from VCF Operations 8.18 you can set filtering conditions in a human readable format as well.

1. Under Filter, set the drop down box from Metrics to Properties.
2. Then filter for Creation Date and select the Creation Date property.
3. In the Transformation down combo, select Timestamp.
4. Select "is" condition
5. On the right, under "Select Duration" down box,  set the transformation Absolute or Relative data range:

Example: from April 1, 2024 00:00 to  April 30, 2024 23:55
or
Example: Last 30 days