Source and destination application columns are blank in flow report exports, VCF Operations for Networks

Products

• VCF Operations for Networks

Issue/Introduction

When exporting a flow report to a CSV file from the VCF Operations for Networks UI:

• The Source Application and Destination Application columns appear blank.
• This occurs even though Virtual Machines (VMs) are correctly assigned to Application Definitions.
• Within the UI, the same flow queries successfully display application names and allow for application-based filtering.

 

NOTE:  VCF Operations for Networks was formerly named Aria Operations for Networks (AON), and prior to that was named vRealize Network Insight (vRNI).

Environment

VCF Operations for Networks 6.13

VCF Operations for Networks 6.14.x

Cause

The raw, un-aggregated flow export function does not perform the secondary mapping required to append application metadata to the resulting CSV output.

Data extraction for Source and Destination Application fields requires the analytics engine to perform a grouping or aggregation step. In un-aggregated ("raw") flow queries, this metadata is not linked to the export records by design.

Resolution

To extract flow data that includes populated application mapping, utilize one of the following two methods:

Method 1: Execute an Aggregated Query

Executing an aggregated query forces the analytics engine to map and group the flows by application prior to generating the CSV.

1. Navigate to the Search bar in the UI.
2. Run a grouped flow query. Examples include:
   • sum(bytes) of flows group by Source Application, Destination Application
   • sum(bytes) of flows group by Source Application
3. Export the results to CSV. The application columns will now be populated.

Method 2: Leverage the Migration Planning Workflow (Version 6.14+)

This feature is purpose-built for analyzing traffic between application boundaries.

1. Navigate to Plan and Assess > Migration Planning.
2. This workflow natively creates migration waves based on network traffic between application VMs and provides optimized reports that map application dependencies and calculate traffic volumes without manual query manipulation.

Additional Requirements

Ensure your environment meets the following architectural and licensing baselines to support advanced application metadata mapping:

• Licensing: An Enterprise License is required.
• Sizing: The platform cluster must be deployed using an Extra Large (XL) brick size.

Additional Information

• System Recommendations and Requirements
• Working with Application Discovery