Memory Usage % metric may show much higher than the guest OS utilization.
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Memory Usage % metric may show much higher than the guest OS utilization.

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Article ID: 318915

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Updated On:

Products

VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
  • Memory|Usage % may show much higher than the guest OS utilization.
  • Triggers Alert '"High memory workload caused by Guest Memory Needed metric not being collected" for VM objects.

Environment

Aria Operations 8.x

Cause

In most cases, this issue happens due to the following:
  • When a host is connected to vCenter Server, vCenter Server requests Virtual Machine guest statistics provided to the host by VMware Guest Tools. If no Virtual Machines are publishing guest statistics at the time the host is reconnected to vCenter Server, the host stops collecting guest stats. This scenario commonly occurs during ESXi host upgrades, when Virtual Machines are migrated off the host, followed by maintenance operations and a ESXi host reboot. Since there are no Virtual Machines on the host immediately after the reboot, the host disables publishing of guest statistics.
  • The vCenter Server adapter credentials used to collect from the target vCenter server does not have required privileges to change stat level mappings. If the guest statistics are not available in the correct vCenter server stat level, Aria Operations 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 server VM summary page will show the Guest Tools version if you click More info.

VMware vSphere Adapter Credentials
Ensure the Aria Operations 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 Aria Operations by clicking Configure on the VMware vSphere solutions under Administration > Integrations.

Once the credentials have been corrected, complete the following:
  1. Log into the Aria Operations UI as local user admin.
  2. Navigate to Administration > Integrations.
  3. Select vCenter.
  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 Server.
  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 Aria Operations 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

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

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