vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide vCenter Chargeback 1.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com © 2009 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws.
Contents About This Book 7 1 Introduction to vCenter Chargeback 9 What Is Chargeback? 9 Chargeback Solution for Virtualized Environments 9 Overview of vCenter Chargeback 10 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback 13 System Requirements 13 Hardware Requirements 13 Software Requirements 13 Operating Systems 14 Database Management Systems 14 Web Browsers 14 VMware vCenter Server 14 Prerequisites for vCenter Chargeback 14 Pre‐Installation Checklist 15 Install vCenter Chargeback 16 Basic Installation or First‐Time I
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Manage Attributes 37 Add Attribute 37 Delete Attribute 37 Manage System Health Thresholds 38 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions 39 Users 39 Create User 39 Modify User 41 Delete User 41 Permissions 41 Permission Types 42 Global Permissions 42 Hierarchy Permissions 42 Cost Permissions 42 Reporting Permissions 42 Role‐Based Access Control Permissions 42 Permissions to Access User Interface Tabs 43 Manage Permissions 43 Assign the Super User Role to a U
Contents 6 Creating and Configuring a Cost Model 57 vCenter Chargeback Cost‐Related Elements 57 Chargeable Computing Resource 57 Base Rate 58 Rate Factor 58 Fixed Cost 58 Billing Policy 58 Cost Model 59 Cost Template 59 Manage Cost Models 60 Create a Cost Model 60 Modify a Cost Model 61 Delete a Cost Model 62 Manage Global Fixed Costs 62 Create a Global Fixed Cost 62 Modify a Global Fixed Cost 63 Delete a Global Fixed Cost 63 Manage Cost Templates 63 Create a Cost Template 63 Modify a Cost Template 65 Dele
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 8 System Health, Utilities, and Troubleshooting 79 System Health 79 Events 80 Utilities 80 Troubleshooting Utility 80 Database Password Change Utility 81 Database Management Scripts 82 Generic Scripts 82 Space Calculation Scripts 82 Data Purging and Restoring Scripts 83 Troubleshooting 85 Unable to Send Report Through Email 86 Storage Syncing Job Fails 86 Unable to use Custom SSL Certificates 86 Unable to View the vCenter Chargeback Plug‐In in the VI Client 86 Report Does no
About This Book The vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide provides information about configuring and using the chargeback solution for a virtualized environment. Intended Audience This book is intended for anyone who wants to install, upgrade, or use vCenter Chargeback Manager. The information in this book is written for experienced Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.
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1 Introduction to vCenter Chargeback 1 Before you install and start using the vCenter Chargeback application, an understanding of what chargeback is and chargeback solution for a virtualized environment would be helpful. This chapter provides a quick overview of the vCenter Chargeback application.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide A chargeback solution for a virtualized environment defines a hierarchy with different types of entities such as departments, divisions, business units, cost centers, physical servers, virtual machines, and so on. For each entity type, a cost model is defined that determines the rate for each unit of a resource utilized. The chargeback solution determines the resource usage either using by utilization‐based metering or allocation‐based metering of virtual machines.
Chapter 1 Introduction to vCenter Chargeback vCenter Chargeback retrieves the resource usage and allocation information for each virtual machine from the vCenter Server database through the data collector. The data collector replicates this information in the vCenter Chargeback database. vCenter Chargeback uses this information from the vCenter Chargeback database along with the cost model and chargeback cost calculation formulas to generate the cost reports.
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2 Installing vCenter Chargeback 2 This chapter includes the following topics: “System Requirements” on page 13 “Prerequisites for vCenter Chargeback” on page 14 “Install vCenter Chargeback” on page 16 “Starting the vCenter Chargeback Application” on page 21 “Downloading and Installing Data Collector” on page 22 “Deploying vCenter Chargeback as a Virtual Appliance” on page 23 “Uninstalling vCenter Chargeback” on page 25 System Requirements This section provides details of the m
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Operating Systems The vCenter Chargeback application can be installed and run on the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows 2003 Server with SP2 Microsoft Windows 2003 Server R2 Microsoft Windows 2008 Server Database Management Systems vCenter Chargeback supports the following database management systems (both 32 bit and 64 bit): Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (Standard and Enterprise) Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (Standard and Enterprise) Oracle Datab
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback You must provide the details of this vCenter Chargeback database and database user when installing vCenter Chargeback. The installer will use these details to create the database schema and objects. Also, vCenter Chargeback will log in to the vCenter Chargeback database using the details of this database user and perform the necessary database operations.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Table 2-1. vCenter Chargeback Pre-Install Checklist (Continued) Item Requirement Checked Network Configuration Static IP Address Port Numbers Write down the IP address of the machine on which you plan to install vCenter Chargeback. Ensure that the machine has a static IP address.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback To install the application 1 Run the vCenter-CB.exe file. The installation wizard is displayed. 2 Click Next on the Introduction screen. 3 Accept the end‐user license agreement, and click Next. 4 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next. Ensure that the installation directory path has at least one directory (for example, C:\vCenterChargeback10\) and does not point to just a drive (for example, C:\).
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 8 Enter a user name and password for the vCenter Chargeback administrative account, and click Next. The password must not exceed 24 characters in length. 9 (Optional) Choose to install the data collector and click Next. The Install Data Collector option is selected by default. You must have at least one instance of the data collector that is running and registered with the application for the database synchronization jobs to run.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback 5 Provide the following vCenter Chargeback database‐related information, and click Next: Database Type: The type of database used to create the vCenter Chargeback database. This can be either SQL SERVER or ORACLE. Database URL: The IP address of the system on which the vCenter Chargeback database is installed along with the port at which the database listener service is running or the vCenter Chargeback database instance name.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide To add an application instance to a cluster 1 In a command‐line window, enter the following command: cd /vCenter-CB-Tools/load-balancer/bin/ here, is the complete folder path provided during the vCenter Chargeback installation.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback Database Username: Name of the database user. The database user must have privileges to create and delete schema, as well as read from and write to the database. Database Password: Password for the user name that you have provided. If the installer connects to the database and detects a vCenter Chargeback schema, a dialog is displayed. 6 Click Use it. The vCenter Chargeback instance will use this existing vCenter Chargeback database.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide VMware vCenter Chargeback DataCollector ‐ Embedded: Starting this service starts the Data Collector instance that was installed along with the vCenter Chargeback application. VMware vCenter Chargeback DataCollector ‐ Individual: Starting this service starts the Data Collector instance that was installed individually (in this case, the name of the instance is DataCollector) and not with the application.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback 5 Provide the path for the installation directory, and click Next. Ensure that the installation directory path has at least one directory (for example, C:\vCenterChargeback10\) and does not point to just a drive (for example, C:\). If the specified installation directory exists, ensure that it is empty. If the specified installation directory does not exist, the installer will create the directory.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide To deploy a vCenter Chargeback virtual appliance using VI Client 1 Start VI Client and log in to a VirtualCenter Server or ESX Server. 2 Select File > Virtual Appliance > Import. The Import Virtual Appliance Wizard is displayed. 3 Select Import from file, enter the path of the vCenterChargeback.ovf file, and click Next. 4 Confirm the virtual appliance details, and click Next. 5 Accept the end‐user license agreement, and click Next.
Chapter 2 Installing vCenter Chargeback 12 Provide the user name and password for the application. 13 Confirm the password. After the virtual machine has booted, the screen displays the URL similar to http://:8080/cbmui/index.htm for accessing the vCenter Chargeback application.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide You must also remove the instance name from the list of instances included in the worker.balancer.balance_workers parameter under the Define the LB worker section. For the previous example, the entry might be as follows: # Define the LB worker worker.balancer.type=lb worker.balancer.sticky_session = 1 worker.balancer.method=R worker.balancer.balance_workers=worker1,worker2,chargeTest,sample0 Delete the chargeTest entry from the list of instances.
3 Configuring Administration Settings 3 After you install and run the application, log in to the application by using the administrative user account details provided during the installation. As an administrative user, you can perform various administrative tasks, such as configuring the LDAP and SMTP servers in the application and adding as well as updating vCenter Server information. To perform the administrative tasks described in this chapter, you must have the Super User role.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Configure the LDAP Server Setting You must configure the LDAP Server setting to enable Windows Active Directory users to access the application using their Windows Active Directory login credentials. vCenter Chargeback supports Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Active Directory. To configure the LDAP server setting 1 In the Settings tab, click General. 2 Click Add in the LDAP Setting section.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings To remove an LDAP server 1 In the Settings tab, click General. 2 Click Remove in the LDAP Setting section. A dialog confirming the action is displayed. 3 Click OK. IMPORTANT If you remove an LDAP server, the corresponding users and groups will also be deleted from the application. Configure the SMTP Server Settings You must configure the SMTP server settings in vCenter Chargeback to send the generated and archived cost reports through email.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide To remove an SMTP server 1 In the Settings tab, click General. 2 Click Remove in the Email Setting section. A dialog confirming the action is displayed. 3 Click OK. Set Currency The default currency set in the application is US Dollar. To modify the currency setting 1 In the Settings tab, click General. 2 In the Currency Setting section, select the required currency from the Select Currency list. 3 Click Apply.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings Manage vCenter Servers To determine the computing resources utilization for the virtual machines and calculate the total costs, you must first add the vCenter Server instances in your virtualized environment to the vCenter Chargeback application.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Register As VI Client Plugin: Select this option if you would like to register vCenter Chargeback as a plug‐in to VI Client. If this option is selected, each time you log in to this vCenter Server using the VI Client, the vCenter Chargeback plug‐in will be displayed on the VI Client. You can access the vCenter Chargeback application from the VI Client as a vCenter Server user.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings Manage Data Collectors When you install vCenter Chargeback, you can optionally install a data collector. You can also register more than one data collector to a vCenter Chargeback installation.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Job Interval: The interval between consecutive job runs. The values can be: ‐1: special code for jobs that run eternally. Positive number: A positive value indicating the repetition interval in minutes. The consecutive job starts n minutes from the completion of the earlier run of the job, where n denotes the value entered in this field. Last Synchronize Time: The time stamp when the synchronization job was last completed.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings The data collector is deleted and the synchronization jobs associated with the data collector are assigned to other registered data collectors, if any. IMPORTANT If only a single data collector is running, do not delete it. If deleted, the synchronization jobs will not run and the data in the vCenter Chargeback database will not be in sync with the data in the vCenter Server databases.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Manage Report Template Like most reports, the chargeback report has multiple sections, such as Header, Title, Body, and Footer. The Title section appears only on the first page of the report. The contents in these sections can be modified as per your requirements. The information in the Body section is defined when generating the report. The Header section is the report header that appears on all pages expect the first.
Chapter 3 Configuring Administration Settings 10 Select an option from the Footer Settings section to display the required information in the selected sub‐section. The available options are: Copyright: The copyright information that you want to include in the report. Page Number: Selecting this option ensures that each page of the report is numbered. Report Creation Time: Date and time of report generation. This is the system date and time on the machine on which the application is installed.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide To remove an attribute 1 In the Settings tab, click Manage Attributes. A table listing all the attributes added to the application is displayed. 2 Select the attribute that you want to remove. 3 Click Delete. You can also delete attributes that are imported from the vCenter Server. Deleting these attributes from the application will not delete them for the vCenter Server.
4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions 4 vCenter Chargeback provides user management features that enable you to manage the various users and roles created in the application. The application defines some permissions and roles. In addition, it allows you to create roles and users as per your requirements.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 3 Enter the following information: User Type: The user type must be Local. User Name: A unique user name to identify the user. The user name cannot exceed 255 characters in length. Password: A password to authenticate the user. The password must not exceed 24 characters in length. Confirm Password: Re‐enter the password. 4 (Optional) Select the Assign the Super User Role to the user option to grant the privileges defined in the Super User role to this user.
Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions 4 Select the required group from the LDAP Groups section. You can search for a group by specifying the group name or a search string in the LDAP Groups section and clicking Search. The application searches all the Unique Name (sam account name in Windows Active Directory) and Common Name values in the Windows Active Directory and return all the groups that match the search string.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Permission Types The permissions defined in vCenter Chargeback can be classified under five categories. Global Permissions The Manage Admin Console permission is the only global permission defined in vCenter Chargeback. Users with this permission can perform various administrative tasks, such as add vCenter Servers to the application, manage licenses, manage data collectors, and configure LDAP and SMTP servers.
Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions Permissions to Access User Interface Tabs On the product user interface, the tabs that a user can access depends on the role or permissions assigned to the user. Only users having the Super User role can access all the tabs and all the features available on each tab.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 3 Select the user from the table listing the users. If any role has already been assigned to the user on the selected hierarchy, the same is displayed under Currently Assigned Role. You can select multiple users by holding down the CTRL key while selecting the required users. 4 Select the required role from the list under Set Role. NOTE You can set only a single role on a user for a hierarchy.
Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions Revoke Roles and Permissions Assigned to a User Roles and permissions set on a user can be revoked as and when required. To remove the role assigned to a user 1 In the Users & Roles tab, click Permissions. A page listing all the users, their type, and whether the user is a Super User is displayed. The page also provides an option to select a hierarchy. 2 Select the required hierarchy from the list of hierarchies.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Report Viewer Entity Cost Manager Table 4‐1 lists these predefined roles and the permissions that have been set on them. Table 4-1.
Chapter 4 Authenticating and Managing Users, Roles, and Permissions 4 Select the hierarchy and reporting permissions that you want to assign to the role. Ensure that you add the View Chargeback Hierarchy permission to each newly created role. Without this permission, a user cannot view any hierarchy and, therefore, cannot perform any task. NOTE The application allows you to assign only those permissions that are defined at the entity level of a hierarchy.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide To log in to the application 1 Open a Web browser and enter the application URL. The application URL should be of the following type: https://:/cbmui/ 2 3 Enter the following details on the login screen: User name: The user name of a user Password: Password for the user Login in to: The user type Click OK. On successful log in, the Getting Started tab of the application is displayed.
5 Managing Chargeback Hierarchies 5 vCenter Chargeback interacts with the vCenter Server to determine the utilization of the computing resources by various virtual machines that are created in the vCenter Server hierarchy. vCenter Chargeback enables you to create multiple chargeback hierarchies, which can be different from the vCenter Server hierarchies. A chargeback hierarchy is an organization of vCenter Server entities and vCenter Chargeback entities.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 3 Select Custom Hierarchy (default). 4 Click Create. An empty chargeback hierarchy with the given name is created. To add entities to this hierarchy and manage the hierarchy, see “Manage a Chargeback Hierarchy” on page 51. Synchronize a Chargeback Hierarchy with a vCenter Server You can create a chargeback hierarchy and synchronize it with a vCenter Server. The created chargeback hierarchy will be same as the vCenter Server hierarchy.
Chapter 5 Managing Chargeback Hierarchies Format of the CSV File The format of the entries in the CSV file should be as follows: , , , [[, ] [, , { | } ] ] In this format: UniqueId: A unique number to identify the entity. The UniqueId of the first entry in the file must be 1. ChildName: Name of the entity. ParentId: The UniqueId of the parent of this entity.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide View a Chargeback Hierarchy You can view all hierarchies created in the application from the Manage Hierarchy tab. To view a chargeback hierarchy 1 Click the Manage Hierarchy tab. 2 Select the chargeback hierarchy from the drop‐down list on the left pane of the page. The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed. The right pane provides various details about the selected hierarchy.
Chapter 5 Managing Chargeback Hierarchies Add a vCenter Chargeback Entity You can add vCenter Chargeback entities to a chargeback hierarchy to logically group vCenter Server entities in the hierarchy. A vCenter Chargeback entity can represent the departments, cost centers, or business units in an organization. To add a vCenter Chargeback entity to a hierarchy 1 Click the Manage Hierarchy tab. 2 Select the chargeback hierarchy from the drop‐down list on the left pane of the page.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 4 Right‐click the entity that you want to remove and select Delete from the pop‐up menu. A dialog confirming the action is displayed 5 Click OK. The entity and its child entities, if any, are removed from the hierarchy. Even if an entity is deleted from the hierarchy, the generated reports will include these deleted entities for the time period they were available in the hierarchy. vCenter Chargeback maintains the history of the chargeback hierarchies created.
Chapter 5 Managing Chargeback Hierarchies Move Entities Within a Hierarchy You can move the entities within a chargeback hierarchy. This is particularly useful if you want to rearrange the entities within a chargeback hierarchy. You cannot, however, rearrange the entities that are under a vCenter Server entity. To move an entity within the hierarchy 1 Click the Manage Hierarchy tab. 2 Select the chargeback hierarchy from the drop‐down list on the left pane of the page.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide View Properties of a vCenter Server Entity A chargeback hierarchy can contain entities from more than one vCenter Server. In a chargeback hierarchy, you can identify the vCenter Server to which an entity belongs by viewing its properties. To view the properties of a vCenter Server entity 1 Click the Manage Hierarchy tab. 2 Select the chargeback hierarchy from the drop‐down list on the left pane of the page. The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed.
6 Creating and Configuring a Cost Model 6 This chapter includes the following topics: “vCenter Chargeback Cost‐Related Elements” on page 57 “Manage Cost Models” on page 60 “Manage Global Fixed Costs” on page 62 “Manage Cost Templates” on page 63 “Configure Cost at the Entity Level” on page 66 vCenter Chargeback Cost-Related Elements This section introduces you to the cost‐related elements of vCenter Chargeback.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Base Rate Base rate is a global rate that you want to charge for a unit of chargeable computing resource used or allocated. For example: Chargeable Resource Unit Base Rate ($ per unit) CPU GHz‐Hour 0.0399 Memory GB‐Hour 0.0048 Network Received and Transmitted GB 0.0008 Storage GB‐Hour 0.0013 Disk Read and Write GB 0.
Chapter 6 Creating and Configuring a Cost Model CPU Reservation: This policy takes into account the CPU capacity reserved for a virtual machine. This reserved CPU capacity along with the actual utilization of other chargeable computing resources is used for calculating the total cost. Memory Reservation: This policy takes into account the memory capacity reserved for a virtual machine.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Manage Cost Models vCenter Chargeback provides a default cost model called Default Chargeback Cost Model. You can start using the application by creating a chargeback hierarchy and generating basic reports using this cost model. You can modify this cost model as per your requirements. You can also create and manage multiple other cost models.
Chapter 6 Creating and Configuring a Cost Model 8 Set the base rate for the following: CPU: Charge for the CPU usage per hour. Disk Read and Write: Charge for the disk read and write operation per hour. Disk Read: Charge for only the disk read operations per hour. Disk Write: Charge for only the disk write operations per hour. Memory Usage: Charge for the memory used per hour. Network Received and Transmitted: Charge for the data received and transmitted over the network per hour.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Delete a Cost Model You can remove invalid or unwanted cost models from the application. To delete a cost model 1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Cost Models. A table listing all the cost models created in the application is displayed. 2 Select the cost model that you want to delete, and click Delete. A dialog box confirming the action is displayed. NOTE The Default Chargeback Cost Model cannot be deleted. 3 Click OK.
Chapter 6 Creating and Configuring a Cost Model After a global fixed cost is created, you can associate it with an entity, a set of entities, or hierarchies. This can be done while configuring costs at the entity level. Global fixed costs can also be added to a template and then set on an entity or a hierarchy. Modify a Global Fixed Cost You can modify the global fixed costs as and when required. To edit a global fixed cost 1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Global Fixed Cost.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide To create a cost template 1 In the Manage Cost tab, click Cost Template. A table listing all the cost templates created in the application is displayed. 2 Click Create. The Cost Template screen is displayed. 3 4 Enter the following information in the General tab: Name: A name for the cost template. The character limit for the cost template name is 255 characters. Description: An optional description of the cost template.
Chapter 6 Creating and Configuring a Cost Model Ensure that the local fixed cost name is non‐numeric. A numeric name might result in an error when the total cost is calculated. NOTE A duration value of Monthly is equal to 30 days, Quarterly is equal to 91 days, Half‐yearly is equal to 182 days, and Yearly is equal to 365 days. c Click Add. The local fixed cost is added to the list of fixed costs displayed in the Selected Global and Local Fixed Costs section of the tab.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Configure Cost at the Entity Level The base rates defined in a cost model are global values and can be applied uniformly to the entities and hierarchies for which you generate a report. In real time, however, you might want to charge each entity or a set of entities differently. That is, the resource usage costs for one virtual machine might differ from that for the other.
Chapter 6 Creating and Configuring a Cost Model 7 Enable: Select this option if you want to enable billing on the entity for the specified time period. You can use this option if billing was earlier disabled on the entity for the specified time period. Disable: Select this option if you want to disable billing on the entity for the specified time period. (Optional) Select a cost template from the Apply Cost Template list.
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7 Generating Reports 7 After you have configured the application, created and configured chargeback hierarchies, and defined cost models, you can generate various cost reports and cost comparison reports.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Generate a Cost Report You can generate cost reports for an hierarchy and for individual entities in a hierarchy. To generate a cost report 1 In the Reports tab, click Create Reports. 2 Select the required chargeback hierarchy from the drop‐down list on the left pane of the page. The collapsed view of the chargeback hierarchy is displayed. You can expand the hierarchy by clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of the hierarchy name.
Chapter 7 Generating Reports 6 Show these columns in the usage table: This option is available only if the Show these details in report option is selected. Select this option to include the usage statistics in the report. You must also select the types of information that should be displayed in the usage table in the report. Show fixed cost in report: This option is available only if the Show these details in report option is selected.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 6 Include resource summary in report: Select this option to include the summary of costs for the selected resources in the report. You must also select the type of resource summary to be reported. The resource summary, like cost summary, can be either Basic (default) or Complete. If you select this option, you must also select the resources whose cost summary have to be reported. For virtual machines, apart from cost, the resource usage details are also displayed.
Chapter 7 Generating Reports Half Yearly: This is similar to the Quarterly option. In this case, the report is generated for a six‐month duration. The report for the duration January to June is generated on the set date in July. The report for the duration July to December is generated on the set date in January. Yearly: This option is similar to the Monthly option. You can select the month and day starting from which the billing has to be done.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Reschedule Report Generation A report generation schedule can be modified to define a new schedule. To change a report generation schedule 1 In the Reports tab, click Scheduled Reports. A table listing all the report generation schedules is displayed. 2 Select the required report schedule from the table. 3 Click the scheduler icon above the table. The Schedule Report screen is displayed.
Chapter 7 Generating Reports 4 5 Enter the following details: To: The email address of the recipients. The email addresses should be separated by commas. Subject: A subject for the email. Body: The body text for the email. Click Save.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Email Report After a report is generated, you can send it to one or more recipients through an email. To email a generated report 1 Click the mail icon above the generated report. The Email Report screen is displayed. 2 3 Enter the following details: To: The email address of the recipients. The email addresses should be separated by commas. Subject: A subject for the email. Body: The body text for the email. Click Send.
Chapter 7 Generating Reports View Archived Report After a report is generated and archived, it can be viewed any time. To view an archived report 1 In the Reports tab, click Archived Reports. A table listing all the archived reports is displayed. 2 Select the report that you want to view. 3 Click the Microsoft Word document icon to view the report in the .rtf format. If you want to view the report in the .pdf format, click the Adobe PDF icon. If you want to view the report in the .
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Email Archived Report After a report is generated and archived, you can send it through email to one or more recipients. To send an archived report over email 1 In the Reports tab, click Archived Reports. A table listing all the archived reports is displayed. 2 Select the report that you want to email. 3 Click the mail icon. The Email Report screen is displayed. 4 5 Enter the following details: To: The email address of the recipients.
8 System Health, Utilities, and Troubleshooting 8 vCenter Chargeback interacts with various servers and databases. It also stores information about users and various components, such as hierarchies and entities. To ensure that the application and the corresponding components are working properly, one must monitor the health of the entire system periodically and should be able to troubleshoot the issues, if any.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide General Info: This section provides information about the number of vCenter Servers added to the application and the number of vCenter Chargeback hierarchies and entities created. It also displays the URL and port details for the SMTP and LDAP servers. This section displays the total number of CPUs of all the powered‐on ESX hosts that are currently added to the chargeback hierarchies defined in the application.
Chapter 8 System Health, Utilities, and Troubleshooting On Linux (vCenter Chargeback virtual appliance), run the following commands: cd /opt/vmware/cbm/vCenter-CB-Tools/troubleshooting/bin bash vCenter-CB-support.sh You must log in as root to successfully run this utility. 2 Provide the folder name and directory path where the generated logs have to be stored when prompted. 3 You can choose to collect the system event logs. On Windows the Application log and System log is collected.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide 2 3 Enter the following information: Existing password New password Confirmation of the new password Restart the vCenter Chargeback service and the data collector services. Database Management Scripts vCenter Chargeback provides SQL scripts that can help database administrators to manage the vCenter Chargeback database. These SQL scripts can be run by a database user with the required permissions from the SQL prompt.
Chapter 8 System Health, Utilities, and Troubleshooting spaceTablesData: This script returns the amount of space that can be retrieved by purging the cost, hierarchy, and report data that is older than the specified number of months. spaceStatsData: This script returns the amount of space that can be retrieved by purging the performance statistics data (from the CB_VC_PERFORMANCE_STAT table) that is older than the specified date and has the specified sample interval.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide The data purging scripts provided are: purgeCostData: This script removes the cost‐related data that is older than the specified number of months. The number of months is specified using the MONTHS_IN_HISTORY parameter in the Oracle script and the @MONTHS_IN_HISTORY parameter in the SQL Server script. You can set this parameter appropriately before running the script.
Chapter 8 System Health, Utilities, and Troubleshooting The data restoring scripts provided are: restoreTablesData: This script restores the data from the cost, hierarchy, and report related CSV files to the corresponding vCenter Chargeback database tables. In the SQL Server script, you must set the @ARCH_DIR parameter to the complete path of the folder in which the CSV files and the Schema.ini file are saved.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Unable to Send Report Through Email The probable reasons might be: The SMTP server is not configured. Check whether the SMTP server is configured on the application. The SMTP server is not reachable. Ensure that the SMTP server is reachable over the network. A third‐party application is blocking vCenter Chargeback from sending email. Ensure that no third‐party application, such as an anti‐virus application, is blocking vCenter Chargeback from sending emails.
Chapter 8 System Health, Utilities, and Troubleshooting The VI Client was open and connected to the vCenter Server when the application was registered with the vCenter Server instance. Restart the VI Client and connect to the vCenter Server. Accept the vCenter Chargeback SSL certificate. The plug‐in should now appear in the VI Client. You logged in to the VI Client by specifying the IP address of the vCenter Server as localhost.
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide Installer Throws the SQL Driver not Found Error If you are running the installer from a shared location on the network, the installer might fail with the following error: SQL driver not found. You must copy the installer files on to the local machine and then run the installer. A probable alternative is to map this shared location to a network drive and then run the installer.
Chapter 8 System Health, Utilities, and Troubleshooting Changes to the vCenter Server Hierarchy are not Reflected in vCenter Chargeback If there are changes to the vCenter Server hierarchy, these changes can be viewed by clicking the refresh button next to the vCenter Server hierarchy in the vCenter Chargeback application. This refresh button is displayed only if there is a change in the vCenter Server hierarchy and the Hierarchy Manager tab is refreshed.
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Index Symbols 54, 55 A archived reports delete 78 email 78 manage 76 reschedule 77 view 77 attributes add 37 delete 37 manage 37 B base rate 58 billing policy 58 C chargeable computing resource 57 chargeback hierarchy about 49 add vCenter Chargeback entity 53 add vCenter Server entity 52 assign attributes 54 create 49 CSV file format 51 custom 49 delete entity 53 delete hierarchy 54 import from CSV file 50 manage 51 move entities 55 rename entity 53 sharing cost 55 synchronize with vCenter Server 50 vie
vCenter Chargeback User’s Guide G global fixed cost about 58 create 62 delete 63 manage 62 modify 63 I installing vCenter Chargeback basic installation 16 cluster installation 18 installation scenarios 16 pre-installation checklist 15 prerequisites 14 using existing database schema 20 L LDAP Server configure 28 edit 28 remove 29 license key about 27 delete 35 manage 35 replace 35 local fixed cost 58 M modify currency setting 30 modify log level 30 P permissions access UI tabs 43 cost type 42 global typ
Index change password 48 create LDAP group 40 create LDAP user 40 create local user 39 delete 41 modify 41 utilities change database password 81 database management scripts 82 troubleshooting 80 V vCenter Chargeback about 9 deploying as virtual appliance 23 pre-installation checklist 15 prerequisites 14 starting the application 21 uninstall 25 virtualized environment solution 9, 10 vCenter Server Information add 31 delete 32 edit 32 Manage 31 virtual appliance configure 24 deploy 24 manage 25 VMware, Inc
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