Memory Usage % Metric may show much higher than the guest OS utilization in vRealize Operations Manager 6.7 and later versions

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Memory|Usage % may show much higher than the guest OS utilization on some objects in vRealize Operations Manager 6.7. and later versions.
• Triggers Alert '"High memory workload caused by Guest Memory Needed metric not being collected" for VM objects.

Environment

Aria Operations Manager 8.x

Cause

In most cases, this issue happens due to one or more of the following:

• When a host is connected to vCenter, vCenter requests Virtual Machine guest stats provided to the host by VMware Guest Tools.  If no Virtual Machines are publishing guest stats at the time the host is reconnected to vCenter, the host stops collecting guest stats.  This scenario commonly occurs during host upgrades, when Virtual Machines are migrated off of the host, followed by maintenance operations and a host reboot.  Since there are no Virtual Machines on the host immediately after the reboot, the host disables publishing of guest stats.
• The vCenter adapter credentials used to collect from the target vCenter does not have required privileges to change stat level mappings.  If the guest stats are not available in the correct vCenter stat level, vRealize Operations Manager will not collect them.

Resolution

There is currently no resolution for vCenter Server 6.0.

This issue is resolved in vCenter Server 6.5 U3 
This issue is resolved in vCenter Server 6.7 U3 

Workaround:
Complete all of the following.  If one set of steps resolves the issue, you may skip the other remaining steps.

VMware Tools

Ensure Windows OS Guests or Virtual Machines with a Windows OS are running guest VMware Tools version 10.3.2 (10338) or later.

Note: The vCenter VM summary page will show the Guest Tools version if you click More info.

VMware vSphere Adapter Credentials

Ensure the vRealize Operations Manager VMware vSphere adapter credentials have the Performance > Modify intervals privilege enabled in the target vCenter(s).  See Minimum Collection User Permissions in vRealize Operations Manager 6.x and later for more information.

Note: The adapter credentials in use can be reviewed or modified in vRealize Operations Manager by clicking Configure on the VMware vSphere solutions under Administration > Solutions.

Once the credentials have been corrected, complete the following:

1. Log into the vRealize Operations Manager UI as an administrator.
2. Navigate to Administration > Solutions.
3. Select VMware vSphere.
4. Under Configured Adapter Instances, select an adapter instance and click Stop Collecting.
5. Once the adapter instance has stopped, click Start Collecting.
6. Repeat steps 5 and 6 on all other desired adapter instances.

vSphere Hosts Metrics

Disconnect and reconnect the parent hosts from vCenter

1. Log into the vCenter Server UI as an Administrator.
2. Ensure each host to be reconnected has at least one Virtual Machine deployed with minimum VMware Guest Tools versions of 9.10.5 for Linux or 10.3.2 for Windows.
3. Under Navigator, select the desired host and right-click it.
4. Select Connection > Disconnect, and click Yes at the prompt.
5. Once the host has been disconnected, right-click the same host under Navigator.
6. Select Connection > Connect, and click Yes at the prompt.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for all other needed hosts.

Virtual machine guest metrics will start collecting in vRealize Operations Manager within a few collection cycles.

Note: Disconnecting a managed host does not remove it from vCenter Server; it temporarily suspends all monitoring activities that vCenter Server performs. The managed host and its associated virtual machines remain in the vCenter Server inventory.

Additional Information

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• For more information on the vSphere Hosts Metrics issue, see Missing or Stopped Virtual Machine Guest Metrics in vRealize Operations Manager 6.x or later (55697).
• See Minimum Collection User Permissions in vRealize Operations Manager 6.x and later (53164) for more information about the required Collection user permissions.
• See https://packages.vmware.com/tools/versions for VMware Guest Tools version details.

Impact/Risks:
The guest memory values can cause Capacity Calculations to be inaccurate for the Memory container.