How to enable NumericServerInfo on the vmware probe

Products

• DX Infrastructure Management
• NIMSOFT PROBES

Issue/Introduction

There is a set of information made available by vCenter through the WebServices API that the vmware probe does not present by default. The collection of information is known as HostNumericServerInfo, or sometimes NumericServerInfo in the literature. This includes information about server fans, running temperatures, power supplies, etc. UIM does not present this for monitoring by default. There is a configuration hand-edit that can enable the data for monitoring. This document will explain how to enable these monitors. However, there are some reasons the monitors are disabled by default. That discussion will be considered first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The HostNumericServerInfo content in the Managed Object Browser (MOB) is found behind a link labeled ‘runtime’. All labeling beyond this link is subject to relabeling at any time by the vmware server. The issue this causes for the probe is mostly related to alarms. It is quite possible for alarms to be issued by the probe for which the naming content changes unexpectedly. When this happens, the Clear alarm is formed with mismatching naming. The original alarm is now orphaned, and must be cleared by hand. 

 

One other issue is that NumericSensorInfo monitors are only supported in the Auto-Configuration mode. Static is not supported for these elements.

Environment

Release:
Component: CAUIM

Resolution

To enable the NumericServerInfo monitors, hand edit the mondef.cfg file on the probe robot host. (As always, make a backup first.)  Search down for ‘using = NumericSensorInfo’. You should find three occurrences of this string. They will be associated with three configuration blocks: <UnitModifier>, <HealthState>, and <CurrentReading>. Three lines below each, find a line like ‘active = no’. Set this line to ‘active = yes’, save the file, and restart the probe.

 

The new monitors will be found at the individual Host level of the tree. The actual monitors available are configurable in the Vmware interfaces. What is actually presented is outside UIM control. Depending on this external configuration, the list may be hundreds long. That list is outside the scope of this document. You can shrink the list by enabling only one or two of the ‘active =’ specifiers.

 

As mentioned before, these new monitors are not supported as Statics. Do not enable them at the Host level. Instead, add them to a Template and deploy that Template to the Auto Configuration node, as described in the probe documentation.