Reset the vc.uuid of a VM monitored by Aria Operations

Products

• VMware Aria Suite

Issue/Introduction

To detail how to keep historical data on VMs that have been copied and pasted between vCenters.

Environment

VMware vRealize Operations Manager 7.x
Aria Operations 8.x

Cause

In the case a VM has been moved from one VC to another, based on VM's vc.uuid vRealize Operations Manager identifies if this is the same VM that it has been monitoring and keeps the historical data for it.
In the case a copy-paste of the VM is preformed, the VM's vc.uuid needs to be reset to keep the objects different, otherwise vRealize Operations Manager will interpret them as one single object.

Resolution

Reset the vc.uuid of a copy/pasted VM to keep the historical data.
 

Reset the vc.uuid

When a VM is copy/pasted to another vCenter, reset the VM's vc.uuid immediately after the move.
To reset the vc.uuid for a VM, open PowerCLI and run the following commands:
 

$spec = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualMachineConfigSpec
$spec.instanceUuid = ''
$vm = Get-VM -Name “MovedVM”
$vm.Extensiondata.ReconfigVM_Task($spec)

Note: Replace MovedVM with the name of the moved VM.

 

Fix a VM shown as monitored by multiple vCenters

Once a VM has been copied and pasted to a different vCenter, and the above steps were not followed, vRealize Operations Manager will show the object as being controlled by multiple vCenter adapters.
To resolve this issue, follow the steps below.

1. Log into the vRealize Operations Manager UI as the local admin.
2. Navigate to Administration > Solutions.

Note: Navigate to Administration > Solutions > Cloud Accounts in vRealize Operations Manager 8.x.

3. Select the VMware vSphere solution, then select one of the vCenter adapter instances monitoring the target VM and click Stop Collecting.  Repeat this for all vCenter adapter instances monitoring the target VM.

Note: In vRealize Operations Manager 8.x, click the expand menu option next to the adapter name, then click Stop Collecting.

4. Navigate to Administration > Inventory Explorer.
5. Filter for the target VM.
6. Click the Show Columns button at the bottom of the pane, then enable Identifier 2 and click OK.
7. Note the value of Identifier 2 for the target VM; this is the MOID of the VM.
8. Navigate to the MOB page of the target VM for the vCenter that currently houses it vi https://vc_ip_or_fqdn/mob/?moid=vm_moid, and log in as a vCenter Administrator.

Note: Replace vc_ip_or_fqdn with the IP address or FQDN of the vCenter, and replace vm_moid with the MOID of the VM noted in step x.

10. Under Methods, click ReconfigVM_Task.
11. Replace the contents of the Value field to:

<spec>
   <!-- optional -->
   <instanceUuid></instanceUuid>
</spec>

12. Click Invoke Method to reset the vc.uuid, of the VM.
13. Back in the vRealize Operations Manager UI, navigate to Administration > Solutions.

Note: Navigate to Administration > Solutions > Cloud Accounts in vRealize Operations Manager 8.x.

14. Select the VMware vSphere solution, then select the vCenter adapter instance that currently houses the target VM and click Start Collecting.

Note: In vRealize Operations Manager 8.x, click the expand menu option next to the adapter name, then click Start Collecting.

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:
Failure to reset the vc.uuid on a VM that has been copied and pasted to another vCenter will result in only a single object being seen and monitored in vRealize Operations Manager.
If as a result of the copy/paste the VMs appear in the different VCs, monitoring will proceed through different vCenter adapter instances, and there is no guarantee which one will be publishing the metrics/properties/relationships.
This is an unsupported case and may lead to various anomalies.