vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide vCenter Configuration Manager 5.3 This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started 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 © 2006-2010 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws.
Contents Copyright 2 About This Book 9 Preparing for Installation Using Installation Manager Understanding Installation Configurations Understanding Tools Installation Checking Prerequisites for Installation Hardware and Software Requirements Administration Rights Default Network Authority Account Default Collector Services Account VMware Application Services Account VCM Remote Virtual Directory Secure Communications Certificates Server Authentication Understanding VCM's Use of FIPS Cryptography VCM’s
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Launching and Logging Onto VCM How to Launch VCM and Log On Getting Familiar with the Portal General Information Bar Portal Toolbar Sliders Where to Go Next Getting Started with VCM Discover, License, and Install Windows Machines Verifying Available Domains Checking the Network Authority Assigning Network Authority Accounts Discovering Windows Machines Licensing Windows Machines Installing the VCM Windows Agent on your Windows Machines P
Contents Licensing ESX/vSphere Server Machines as Virtual Machine (VM) Hosts Configuring Web Services for ESX/vSphere Server Communication Adding the Web Services User to the Administrator Role Using the VI Client/vCenter Client Installing the ESX Web Services Certificate on the Agent Proxy Machine For ESX 2.5.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Manually Uninstall the Repository Install Package Studio Manually Uninstall Package Studio Install Package Manager on Managed Machines Using Package Studio to Create Software Packages and Publish to Repositories Creating Packages Using VCM Software Provisioning for Windows Prerequisites Collect Package Manager Information from Machines Collect Software Repository Data Add Repository Sources to Package Managers Install Packages Related Sof
Contents Viewing SMS Viewing SMS Viewing SMS Viewing SMS Further Reading Dashboards Server Data Client Data Reports Getting Started with Windows Server Update Services Getting Started with Windows Server Update Services Making VCM Aware of the WSUS Server Performing WSUS Server Collections Performing WSUS Client Collections Exploring WSUS Collection Results Viewing WSUS Clients Viewing WSUS Reports Further Reading Accessing Additional Compliance Content Locating the Content Directory Launching the Conte
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 8 VMware, Inc.
About This Book This guide, VCM Installation and Getting Started Guide, describes the steps you must take in order to ensure a successful VMware vCenter Configuration Manager (VCM) installation. This document contains the following information: n Preparing for the VCM installation. n Installing VCM. n Getting started with VCM and its components. n Maintenance and troubleshooting. Read this document and complete the associated procedures to prepare for a successful installation.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Technical Support and Education Resources The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs. Online and Telephone Support Support Offerings VMware Professional Services 10 To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product and contract information, and register your products, go to http://www.
Preparing for Installation 1 This chapter provides important information that will help you prepare to install VCM components and tools in your enterprise. This chapter contains the following sections: n Using Installation Manager: Provides an overview of Installation Manager, which is used to install and activate all VCM components and tools. n Understanding Installation Configurations: Describes the supported installation configurations for VCM.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Using Installation Manager Installation Manager performs new installations as well as upgrades, and provides a highly simplified process for installing components and tools. Installation Manager has a straightforward interface that steps you through the entire installation or upgrade process. Installation Manager: n Performs the checks to ensure the machine(s) meets the hardware and software prerequisites necessary for installing.
Preparing for Installation Understanding Tools Installation The VCM tools include: n Foundation Checker n Job Manager n Import/Export and Configuration Content Wizard (CCW) n Web Services Toolkit All of the tools are automatically installed. Installation procedures are provided in "Using Installation Manager" on page 12. VCM tools may be installed separately on a non-Collector machine as appropriate.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide The Local System account named NT AUTHORITY\System has unrestricted access to all local system resources. This account is a member of the Windows Administrators group on the local machine, and a member of the SQL Server sysadmin fixed server role. If the NT AUTHORITY\System account does not have access to the VCM installation binary files (possibly because someone removed the account or inherently removed access), the installation will re
Preparing for Installation Secure Communications Certificates VCM uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) to secure all HTTP communication with Windows and UNIX Agents in HTTP mode (includes all UNIX Agents and Windows Agents in HTTP mode). TLS uses certificates to authenticate the Collector and Agents to each other. You must specify certificates for the Collector and for the Enterprise during the installation process.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide is shared between two collectors. Server Authentication is required to establish a TLS connection with an Agent. All Collectors should have a common Enterprise Certificate. Each Collector Certificate is issued by the Enterprise Certificate, and is capable of Server Authentication. n The Collector Certificate is used to initiate and secure a TLS communication channel with an HTTP Agent.
Preparing for Installation For UNIX/Linux, each UNIX/Linux installation package is targeted for one or more supported platforms. To install the UNIX/Linux Agent using a provisioning system, extract the installation package as appropriate and then deploy the extracted file with the provisioning system. The Enterprise Certificate is embedded in the installation package on the collector.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Cryptography used in VCM Software Components VCM uses various software components that also use cryptography. Microsoft’s IIS, Internet Explorer, and SChannel (SSL/TLS) systems also call the CryptoAPI, and thus use the Windows FIPS-validated modules. VCM for Virtualization uses ActiveX COM components for SSH and SFTP, and for wodSSH, wodSFTP, and wodKeys (by WeOnlyDo! Software at www.weonlydo.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager 2 This chapter explains how to use VCM Installation Manager to install VCM and all of its components and tools. To install only the VCM tools, follow the installation procedures in "Installing and Getting Started with VCM Tools" on page 241. IMPORTANT When performing an upgrade to VCM 5.3.0, be sure to read Upgrading VCM and Related Components. This chapter provides a step-by-step guide to the Installation Manager. CAUTION Before Installing VCM 5.3.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Insert the installation CD into the machine on which you are installing VCM and all of its components. The installation screen appears. NOTE If the installation screen does not appear automatically or if you are installing from a network location, navigate to the root directory on the CD or share and double-click setup.exe.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager 2. Click Run Installation Manager. The Introduction page of the Installation Manager appears. 3. Click Next. The License Agreement page appears. 4. If you accept the terms explained on the License Agreement page, select the appropriate option and check boxes, and then click Next. The Identify Available and Installed Components page appears. It may take a few minutes for Installation Manager to identify which components are available for installation.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 5. When the Select Installation Type page first appears, the VMware vCenter Configuration Manager and Tools options are automatically selected. To view all the components, select the Advanced Installation check box. The list expands to display the individual components. For a normal installation, all of the options should be selected. Click Next. The Gather System Information page appears. 6.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager n If the Foundation Checker detects missing or improperly configured settings, you are notified with the message "Errors detected". You will not be allowed to proceed with the installation until the errors are resolved. Click View Results. The Foundation Checker Results Web page appears. See the following example.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 7. When the Foundation Checker process has completed successfully and you have viewed the results of the checking process, click Next. The Specify License Location dialog box appears in front of the Verify Components to be Activated page. 8. Click Browse to locate the license file provided by VMware. When you click OK, the Verify Components to be Activated page appears. NOTE If you have not received your license file for VCM 5.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager 9. The Verify Components to be Activated page updates to display the components included in the license. Installation Manager installs VCM and all of its components on your machine. However, only the licensed components will be activated. Review the Components list to confirm the contents of your license file. If you applied an incorrect license file, click the link below the Components list and browse for a different file.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 12. Specify the SQL Server instance and type a database name as needed. Click Validate. It could take a minute or two, and then the page updates to include the other SQL Server database settings. 13. Modify any file locations as needed, and then click Next. Most SQL database system administrators recommend that the Data files (.mdf) and the log files (.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager 15. Change the values as needed, otherwise click Next. The SRS Instance configuration page appears. 16. Click Validate and wait for the validation process to complete (it could take a minute or two). If the validation fails (for example, if the SSRS installation passed, but the foundation checks failed during the validation process), first verify that both "http://localhost/reports" and "http://localhost/reportserver" are accessible through a web browser.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 18. Change the path as needed, otherwise click Next. The NetBIOS and Active Directory configuration page appears. 19. If you are managing only specific domains with this Collector, click the Specific NetBIOS Domains and Specific AD Domains options and configure as needed; otherwise, click Next. The Default Network Authority Account configuration page appears.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager 20. Type the account information as specified in "Default Network Authority Account" on page 13, and then click Next. The Default Collector Service Account configuration page appears. 21. Type the account information as specified in "Default Collector Services Account" on page 14, and then click Next. The Application Services Account configuration page appears. 22.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide To specify a certificate different from the Collector certificate, click the Select button associated with Select your Enterprise Certificate. For more information about certificates, see "Secure Communications Certificates" on page 15. NOTE VCM does not allow apostrophes in TLS certificate names. Before selecting a certificate, verify that the name does not contain an apostrophe.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager 26. The vSphere Client VCM Plug-in (VCVP) provides VMware vSphere Client users with the ability to Collect, Run Compliance, Run VCM Patching Assessments, and Run Reports on VM Hosts and Guests. To configure the settings: n Select Use SSL only if you configured the machine for SSL. n Whether you are using SSL or not, you should define the user name and password at this time.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide downloaded. Either change the path or click Next. The Create a Software Repository and local cache under page appears. 30. The Software Repository is used by Software Provisioning as a location to store packages for distribution to other systems. Either change the path or click Next. The Virtual Directory page for the Software Repository appears. 31. Enter a name for the virtual directory, and then click Next.
Installing VCM Using Installation Manager 32. Package Studio Components will be installed in order to support Software Provisioning functionality, including creating and publishing packages. Either change the path or click Next. The Installation Summary page appears. 33. Wait for the components to be installed. The Installation Complete page appears. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 34. When the installation completes, you can select the Launch Product Portal option to start VCM after you click Finish. 35. Review the displayed information. If it is incorrect, click Back and make any necessary changes. If it is correct, click Install. The installation process begins. A status bar displays the process stages until the installation is completed, at which time the Installation Complete page appears.
Upgrading VCM and Related Components 3 This chapter provides important information that will help you upgrade VCM and the tools in your enterprise. This chapter describes the following: n Upgrading to VCM 5.3.0 n Upgrading Existing UNIX Agents n Upgrading VCM for Virtualization n Upgrading VCM Reports Prerequisites VCM provides support for 64-bit systems (64-bit hardware and 64-bit operating system), and SQL Server 2005.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide To recover if the upgrade process is unsuccessful, reinstall the version from which you were upgrading, reconnect the databases from the back up copies, and replace the CMFILES$ share files. Contact VMware Customer Support to assist with identifying possible causes for the unsuccessful upgrade process before again attempting the upgrade. Assumptions for Upgrading Your VCM Collector and Database n Your current installation is functional.
Upgrading VCM and Related Components 1. Detach a VCM 4.11.1 or newer database that is running in a 32-bit system. 2. Copy the VCM database to a 64-bit machine that is running the 64-bit version of SQL Server 2005. 3. Attach the existing VCM 4.11.1 or newer database to SQL Server. 4. Install VCM 5.3. Because versions of VCM prior to 4.11.1 cannot be installed on a 64-bit platform, you will not be upgrading VCM on a 64-bit platform. Before Upgrading Before upgrading to VCM 5.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n Installing using Add/Remove Programs: When invoking setup.exe from Add/Remove Programs, the option to repair VCM is available. The Repair option checks for missing files and settings, and then replaces them. CAUTION You should not invoke Repair unless directed to do so by VMware Customer Support. Repair requires access to your original installation media. 2. Click Next. The License Agreement page appears. 3.
Upgrading VCM and Related Components To upgrade an Agent: 1. Click Administration | Machines Manager | Licensed Machines | Licensed Windows Machines. 2. Select the machine or machines you are upgrading, and then click the Upgrade Agent icon on the Licensed Windows Machines toolbar. The Machines page appears. 3. Select a machines option. Option Definition All machines Upgrade the Agent on all machines that appear in the list of licensed machines.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Click Administration | Settings | General Settings | VCM Remote. 2. Select Will Remote automatically upgrade old Remote clients. 3. Click Edit Setting. The Edit Setting wizard appears. 4. Change the setting to Yes. 5. Click Next. The confirmation page appears. 6. Click Finish. The setting change is saved. Upgrading Existing UNIX Agents Upgrade packages are available to update the UNIX Agents on various platforms.
Upgrading VCM and Related Components 1. Locate the AgentUpgradeLocal.sh file in \Program Files\VMware\VCM\WebConsole\L1033\Files\UNIX_Remote_Command_Files. 2. Open the AgentUpgradeLocal.sh file with a text editor like Wordpad. 3. In the AgentUpgradeLocal.sh file, locate the following entry: CSI_INSTALL_PACKAGE_LOCATION = CHANGE_THIS_TO_A_LOCAL_OR_NFS_DIRECTORY 4.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n HP-UX (PA-RISC) Agent Upgrade n Red Hat Enterprise 2.1 Agent Upgrade (use only CMAgent.5.1.0.Linux.2.1) n Red Hat Enterprise 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, SUSE Enterprise 9 and above Agent Upgrade n Solaris (SPARC) Agent Upgrade n Solaris (x86) Agent Upgrade To upgrade the UNIX Agent(s) using one of the remote upgrade packages, follow these steps: 1. Navigate to Console | UNIX Remote Commands | UNIX Agent Upgrade.
Upgrading VCM and Related Components Platform Not Supported for Upgrade to 5.3 Agent Proxy You can install or upgrade an Agent Proxy machine only to the 5.1.3 Agent if it is collecting from this platform. This platform is not tested with the 5.3 functionality. Platform Supported Agent Version ESX 2.5 5.1.3 Agent File Name Upgrading an Agent Proxy Machine If a new version of the Agent Proxy becomes available, the upgrade process installs the newer version on your agent proxy machine. 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. The following executable must be accessible from your non-Collector Agent Proxy Machine. The path to this file on the Collector machine is as follows, or is in the path relative to where you installed the software. C:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\AgentFiles\CMAgentInstall.exe Then execute the copied CMAgentInstall.exe on your Agent Proxy machine. 2.
Upgrading VCM and Related Components NOTE If you have previously used this Agent Proxy to perform a collection from your upgraded Collector, the first collection may fail due to a password encryption issue. If so, try resetting the VM Host password at Administration | Machines Manager | Additional Components | VCM for Virtualization | Licensed VM Hosts. You may set the password for multiple hosts at the same time if desired.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 46 VMware, Inc.
Getting Started with VCM Components and Tools 4 This chapter covers global getting started procedures for VCM and all of its components and tools. After completing this chapter, you should proceed to the specific getting started chapters in this manual that apply to the components you have licensed and the VCM tools you plan to use. The remaining getting started chapters within this document build on this one.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Launching and Logging Onto VCM If you have not already launched VCM after closing Installation Manager, follow the procedure detailed below to launch and log onto VCM. IMPORTANT Before you launch VCM, you must either configure Internet Explorer Pop-up Blocker Settings to add your Collector to your list of allowed web sites, or disable Pop-up Blocker.
Getting Started with VCM Components and Tools As shown in the following diagram, there are several major controls and areas in the Portal. The following subsections describe the general information bar, global toolbar, and sliders in the Portal. General Information Bar The general information bar displays the VCM Collector’s (active SQL Server) name, your VCM user name and active Role, and the following buttons: n Log Out: Exits the Portal. The Portal closes, and the VCM Logon screen appears again.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide The Select all displayed data rows button selects all the rows in the data grid. The Copy button is used to copy information from the selected rows in the data grid to the clipboard. The Copy link to clipboard button is used to copy the link of the content on-screen to the clipboard. Click the View data grid in separate window button to display the data grid in a separate window.
Getting Started with VCM Components and Tools Select: If you want to: Intersite Transports, Servers, Connections and Licensing. Reports Patching(**) Administration*** n View Active Directory Group Policy Container Settings. n View information about Active Directory Domains, DCs, and Trusts. n Track and display access control entries and security descriptor data on all collected objects. n View Active Directory Schema information. n Run "out-of-the-box" reports against your collected data.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Where to Go Next You are now ready to proceed to Getting Started with VCM to start using VCM and all of its components and tools. Once you have completed the steps in Getting Started with VCM, you must proceed to the next applicable chapter in this guide relevant to the components you have licensed in your installation.
Getting Started with VCM 5 Before you can begin using VCM to manage the machines in your enterprise, you must complete the following steps: 1. Discover, License, and Install Windows Machines. 2. Discover, License, and Install UNIX/Linux Machines. 3. Discover, License, and Install Mac OS X Machines. 4. Discover, License, and Collect Oracle Data from UNIX Machines. 5. Customize VCM for your Environment. 6. Set up and use VCM auditing.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide If the Windows machines that you want to manage belongs to a domain that is not shown in this list, then you must add that domain manually. Click Add, then follow the steps in the Add Domain wizard to manually add that domain. Once the domain is shown in the Available Domains list, you will be able to manage Windows machines in that domain.
Getting Started with VCM 1. Click Administration | Settings | Network Authority | Available Accounts. 2. If you need to add a new account, click Add and follow the prompts. NOTE Repeat the Network Authority Available Accounts wizard, creating a specific account for each domain that has machines that you intend to manage through VCM. Assigning Network Authority Accounts VCM offers considerable flexibility in assigning Network Authority Accounts to domains and machine groups.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide The following procedure illustrates how to assign Network Authority to accounts by NetBios domain. However, you can also assign Network Authority by Active Directory Domain, or even by Machine Group (Administration | Settings | Network Authority | Assigned Accounts | By Machine Group). For more information on these options, see the online Help. 1.
Getting Started with VCM Your initial discovery can take anywhere from one afternoon to a couple of days, depending on the size of your network. You may not have a 100% success rate with the first discovery process you run because some machines may not be available during that time (for example, laptops that are not currently on the network). It may, therefore, take a few days to coordinate and resolve scenarios in order for you to discover the machines in your enterprise.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 3. Type a Name and Description for this new Discovery Rule, then click Next. The Discovery Method page appears. 4. If you have Active Directory in your environment, VMware recommends a discovery that is targeted for Active Directory. Select By Active Directory. 5. For an initial discovery, do not select Also discover the presence and version of the VCM Agent when this rule is run.
Getting Started with VCM 8. Create the filter. For more specific filtering of machines for discovery and other advanced features, refer to the online Help. Click Next. The Important page appears. 9. Select Yes so that you can run the Discovery Rule immediately. Because you are discovering machines for the first time, you want to run the discovery now. Leave License and Install Agent on Discovered Machines unselected.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide VCM requires that you specify the machines you want to manage. Remember, the number of licenses you have purchased may not match the number of machines that have been discovered and are visible in Administration | Machines Manager | Available Machines | Available Windows Machines or Administration | Machines Manager | Available UNIX Machines.
Getting Started with VCM 4. Leave the Install VCM Agents for the selected machines box unchecked during your first pass at licensing machines. Once you have more experience licensing machines and deploying the VCM Windows Agent, you may choose to check this box when licensing. The machines that you selected appear in the Selected area. Click Next to view your Product License Details. The licensed machine count has increased by the number of machines that you have selected to license. 5. Click Next.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 3. Click Install and follow the prompts. NOTE To use advanced options such as HTTP communication for your agent, or to deploy the agent from an alternate source, refer to the online Help. To access the online Help at any time during the wizard, click the Help button in the lower left corner of the dialog box. 4. Verify that your agent installation job has completed.
Getting Started with VCM 1. On your Collector, navigate to the Agent files directory at: c:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\AgentFiles 2. Locate the CMAgentInstall.exe file, and then install it from a network share or copy it to the target machine. 3. Navigate to the collector data directory at: c:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\CollectorData. Locate the Enterprise Certificate .pem file. This file must be accessible during the agent installation. The path used here is the default location.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide NOTE For Vista, Windows7, and Windows 2008 only: If you set compatibility mode on any Agent executables to a prior version of Windows, the operating system may be reported incorrectly in VCM. To Manually Uninstall the VCM Windows Agent The VCM Windows Agent uninstall executable will be present only if the Agent was installed manually using CMAgentInstall.exe or CMAgentInstall.msi.
Getting Started with VCM n PORTNUMBER: Installs the Windows Agent on the port number specified, using HTTP instead of DCOM. For HTTP installs, where PORTNUMBER is set, you must also specify a certificate file using the syntax: CERTIFICATEFILE=”x:\[mypath]\[mycert].pem”. For example: msiexec.exe /qn /i "C:\temp\CMAgent[VersionNumber].msi" PORTNUMBER=2666 CERTIFICATEFILE=”x:\mypath\mycert.pem” n INSTALLDIR: Changes the default root directory specification (%SystemRoot%\CMAgent). For example: msiexec.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 8. Restart the machine to apply the changes. 9. Install the Agent as specified in Licensing and Deploying the VCM Agent. 10. After installing the Agent on the target machine, re-enable UAC. To enable, perform the steps specified above. In Step 5, select Enable UAC in the Tool Name list. 11. Restart the machine to apply the changes. Disabling UAC using Group Policy Use the following procedure to disable the UAC on multiple machines.
Getting Started with VCM Performing an Initial Collection You are now ready to collect data. VMware recommends using the default filter set, which collects a general view of the licensed Windows machines in your enterprise configuration, until you are ready to build specific filters and target your collections. The first time you use the default filter set for a collection, the VCM Agent will return all of the data (as specified by the filters in the default filter set) to be stored in the VCM database.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 5. For initial collections, there should be no conflicts with previously scheduled or running jobs containing the same data types. Click Finish. 6. Verify that your collection job has completed before proceeding to the next step. To do so, click the Jobs button at the top of the Portal window to access the Jobs Summary.
Getting Started with VCM 1. Begin by looking at the Windows Operating Systems Dashboard under Console | Dashboards | Windows | Operating Systems. 2. Note that several other Windows Dashboards are also available. Take time to familiarize yourself with the remainder of the Windows Dashboards. Windows Collection Results are also available to you in a more “raw” format by data class.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. When you select the node, you will see a Summary Report as displayed above of the data class that you selected. Click View Data Grid to go directly to the data grid, or click an area of the Summary Report to filter the data before the data grid is displayed. 70 VMware, Inc.
Getting Started with VCM TIP The default view is the Summary Report; however, at any time you may switch the default view to go directly to the data grid by using the ’Enable/Disable Summary’ feature on the data grid view. See About Data Grids in the online Help for more information on how to filter and sort your data and get full use of the data grid.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Getting Started Collecting Windows Custom Information As a System Administrator, you can extend the data that VCM can collect by using a script, which will allow you to view, report on, alert on, detect change on, and run compliance against data not currently exposed by VCM. This extension allows you to view, report on, alert on, detect change on, and run compliance against custom data not currently exposed by VCM.
Getting Started with VCM n You must obtain or write a PowerShell script that will return data in a VCM-compatible elementnormal XML format. n The VCM agent (for VCM 5.3 or later) must be installed on each VCM-managed machine used to collect the Windows custom information. Older agents must first be upgraded. n PowerShell must be installed on each VCM-managed machine. PowerShell is installed by default on Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 machines.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 11. Click Next and then Finish. 12. Run a collection using your new collection filter. 13. Ensure the job completes. 14. View data in the Custom Information nodes ( Console | Windows | Operating System | Custom Information). When the Windows Custom Information data is available in the VCM database, you can generate reports and enforce compliance.
Getting Started with VCM The Job History Machine Detail view displays a single row for each WCI filter included in the collection job. These rows provide information about the execution of the WCI scripts and the parsing of the script results. In cases where the script cannot be executed because prerequisite components are not installed or available (such as PowerShell is not installed), the status for a row will be “Not Executed.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Executing PowerShell Scripts PowerShell contains built-in policies, which limit its use as an attack vector. The primary policy is for script execution. By default the script execution policy is set to Restricted, which means that PowerShell can only be used interactively or for executing commands directly from the command line. The additional policy settings are as follows: n AllSigned: Any PowerShell script (.
Getting Started with VCM For additional information about Windows PowerShell and signing scripts, see: n Scripting with Windows PowerShell: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptcenter/dd742419.aspx n Windows PowerShell Owner's Manual: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176949.aspx n Signing Windows PowerShell Scripts: http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/magazine/2008.04.powershell.aspx n Execution Policies: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd347641.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Example of Developing a Custom PowerShell Script for Use with the WCI Data Type In this example, the objective is to collect scheduled tasks information from Windows clients. On newer systems, Windows conveniently provides the schtasks.exe utility to report on scheduled tasks created either through the Task Scheduler user interface or through use of the AT command. n Running schtasks by itself returns only basic data about tasks.
Getting Started with VCM The first challenge can be seen by looking at the column names returned by the schtasks command. Even the basic schtasks command (no options) has a column name of Next Run Time. Since this column name includes spaces, it cannot be used as-is as an attribute name in an XML document. Other column names returned by the more verbose execution of schtasks have similar problems.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide It is still possible that reordering the list among tasks that have the same name, will cause “extra” changes to be reported, but regardless of these changes, it is reasonable to have VCM display the friendly task names in the user interface. Because task names also can contain characters that would not be valid for XML element names, the task names, as with the column names, are encoded using the ToCMBase64String function.
Getting Started with VCM These steps are explained in the following subsections. Adding UNIX/Linux Machines Before you can collect data from your UNIX/Linux machines, they must be displayed in the Available UNIX Machines list located in the Portal under Administration | Machines Manager | Available Machines. NOTE A Discovered Machines Import Tool (DMIT) is available from VMware Customer Support to assist you with the following process.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide NOTE When you expand your UNIX/Linux collections to a broader set of machines, you may want to use other methods to add your UNIX/Linux machines. Refer to the online Help for the advanced features such as importing from a file or using IP Discovery. 4. Enter the Machine and the Domain, and then select DNS for Type. For Machine Type, select the appropriate operating system. Modify the port number if you are not using the default.
Getting Started with VCM 5. Click Next. The Product License Details page appears. 6. The licensed machine count has increased by the number of machines that you have selected to license. 7. Click Next. The Important page appears. 8. Review the information. 9. Click Finish. Installing the Agent on UNIX/Linux Machines Before collecting data from your UNIX/Linux machines, you must install the VCM Agent on each licensed UNIX/Linux machine. For information about upgrading existing Agents, see the online Help.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Verify that the machine on which you intend to install the agent has enough free disk space. For more information, see the VCM Hardware and Software Requirements Guide. 2. When VCM is installed on the VCM Collector machine, the necessary Agent packages are created in the following locations: \Program Files (x86)\VMware\VCM\Installer\Packages or \Program Files\VMware\VCM\Installer\Packages.
Getting Started with VCM inflating: CSIInstall/scripts/AltSource_ftp.sh inflating: CSIInstall/scripts/AltSource_rcp.sh inflating: CSIInstall/scripts/AltSource_sftp.sh inflating: CSIInstall/scripts/AltSource_wget.sh extracting: CSIInstall/scripts/AltSourceCmd inflating: CSIInstall/InstallCMAgent inflating: CSIInstall/csi.config inflating: CSIInstall/CMAgent. creating: CSIInstall/.security/certificates/ inflating:CSIInstall/.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Installation Options with Default Values Description CSI_CREATE_USER=Y Recommend keeping default value. The user is being created. This value indicates whether or not the user is to be created. Note: When installing in trusted mode on HP-UX v1.0 (11.11), the user must already exist on the target machine. If you attempt to install and create the user, the installation of the Agent fails. CSI_USER_ID=501 Recommend keeping default value.
Getting Started with VCM Installation Options with Description Default Values CSI_USE_NEXT_AVAILABLE_ Setting this option to Y will allow this Group ID to be the next available LOCAL_GID=Y Recommend local Group ID starting at CSI_CFGSOFT_GID. keeping default value. CSI_AGENT_PORT=26542 Recommend keeping default value. This option specifies the port that the CM Agent will be listening on. CSI_CREATE_LOCAL_ SERVICE=Y Recommend keeping default value.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide NOTE If you are using the custom configuration file, csi.config, proceed with the installation in Silent Mode. Silent Mode: If you execute InstallCMAgent in silent mode, the installation proceeds silently. It uses the values specified in csi.config without prompting for input. To run the installation in silent mode, enter: # ./CSIInstall/InstallCMAgent -s You might use this method if you have manually edited the csi.
Getting Started with VCM 12. In addition to creating the necessary user and groups, and configuring the machine to run the Agent, the installation also creates a new directory in the named CMAgent (unless this directory was changed in the configuration).
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n The uninstall reverses all changes made by installation, however the installation log files are retained in /install. defaults to the CMAgent directory that was created during installation. Refer to "Locating the Agent Directory" if necessary. n After executing UninstallCMAgent, VMware recommends that you delete the remaining the CMAgent directory prior to running a new installation.
Getting Started with VCM 3. Select the machine(s) from which you want to collect data. To select multiple machines, use Shift-click or Ctrl-click. Use the double arrow to move all visible machines to the selection window, 500 at a time. Leave the default options selected, then click Next. NOTE UNIX Patch Assessment is automatically licensed and enabled if you have licensed your UNIX/Linux Agent machines.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Note that several other UNIX Dashboards are also available. Take time to familiarize yourself with the remainder of the UNIX Dashboards. UNIX Collection Results are also available to you in a more “raw” format as well. This level of reporting is more relevant for day-to-day operations, troubleshooting, and analysis, and can be viewed in a Summary report or data grid format.
Getting Started with VCM When you select the node, you see a Summary Report as displayed above of the data type that you selected. Click View data grid to go directly to the data grid, or click an area of the Summary Report to filter the data before the data grid appears. Several other categories (called “data classes”) of information regarding your UNIX/Linux Collection are available under the UNIX tab. The UNIX tab is where the remainder of your collected UNIX/Linux data is visible through the Portal.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Like Dashboards, Reports are run real time against the current data available in the CMDB for the machines in the active machine group, and therefore they are only as current as the time of the last collection. In addition, it may require time for the report to generate based on the volume or complexity of the data requested. Refer to the online Help for more information on how to schedule and disseminate reports.
Getting Started with VCM 2. Click Add Machines. The Add Machines page appears. 3. Select Basic, and then click Next. The Manually Add Machines - Basic page appears. NOTE When you expand your Mac OS X collections to a broader set of machines, you may want to use other methods to add your Mac OS X machines. Refer to the online Help for the advanced features such as importing from a file or using IP Discovery. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. Enter the Machine and the Domain, and then select DNS for Type. For Machine Type, select the appropriate operating system. Modify the port number if you are not using the default. NOTE The port number specified must be the same number used when the Agent is installed on the managed Mac OS X machine. 5. Click Add to add the entry to the list. 6. Repeat for any other machines. 7. Click Next and accept the changes.
Getting Started with VCM 5. Click Next. The Product License Details page appears. 6. The licensed machine count has increased by the number of machines that you have selected to license. 7. Click Next. The Important page appears. 8. Review the information. 9. Click Finish. Installing the Agent on Mac OS X Machines Before collecting data from your Mac OS X machines, you must install the VCM Agent on each licensed Mac OS X machine. IMPORTANT The Collector should be installed before the Agents are installed.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. Use chmod u+x to change the permissions on the agent binary file. 5. In the directory where you copied the file, execute the agent binary package to create the necessary directory structure and extract the files. The command and output will look similar to the following example, with differing file names depending on the operating system: # ./CMAgent..Darwin UnZipSFX 5.51 of 22 May 2004, by Info-ZIP (http://www.
Getting Started with VCM Installation Options with Default Values Description • +H means only for HP-UX • +L means only for Linux • +D means only for Darwin (Mac OS X) • + means for all OS CSI_CREATE_USER=Y Recommend keeping default value. The user is being created. This value indicates whether or not the user is to be created. CSI_USER_ID=501 Recommend keeping default value. This value is the integer value for the user ID of the created user.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Installation Options with Description Default Values CSI_USE_NEXT_AVAILABLE_ Setting this option to Y will allow this Group ID to be the next available LOCAL_GID=Y Recommend local Group ID starting at CSI_CFGSOFT_GID. keeping default value. CSI_AGENT_PORT=26542 Recommend keeping default value. This option specifies the port that the CM Agent will be listening on. CSI_CREATE_LOCAL_ SERVICE=Y Recommend keeping default value.
Getting Started with VCM NOTE If you are using the custom configuration file, csi.config, proceed with the installation in Silent Mode. Silent Mode: If you execute InstallCMAgent in silent mode, the installation proceeds silently. It uses the values specified in csi.config without prompting for input. To run the installation in silent mode, enter: # ./CSIInstall/InstallCMAgent -s You might use this method if you have manually edited the csi.config file, if you have modified the csi.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide drwxr-x--- 3 root cfgsoft 4096 Jul 2 17:34 Agent drwxr-x--- 3 root cfgsoft 4096 Jul 2 17:34 CFC -rw-rw---- 1 root cfgsoft 49993 Jul 2 17:34 CSIRegistry -rw-rw---- 1 root cfgsoft 0 Jul 2 17:34 .CSIRegistry.
Getting Started with VCM NOTE Consider these points when uninstalling an Agent: • The uninstall reverses all changes made by installation, however the installation log files are retained in /install. defaults to the CMAgent directory that was created during installation. Refer to "Locating the Agent Directory" later in this document if necessary.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide The data classes and filters for Mac OS X include the following: 104 n Machines | General n File System | File Structure n System Logs | syslog events n IP Information | General n IP Information | Routing n IP Information | Interfaces (IF) n IP Information | Open Ports n Security | Users | Current n Security | Users | Information n Security | Groups n Custom Information – subset of CITs n Properties files (.
Getting Started with VCM 4. The Data Types dialog box appears. Select the Select All check box, then confirm that the Use default filters option button is also selected. Click Next. 5. For initial collections, there should be no conflicts with previously scheduled or running jobs containing the same data types. Click Finish. 6. Verify that your collection job has completed before proceeding to the next step. To do so, click the Jobs button at the top of the Portal window to access the Jobs Summary.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Exploring Mac OS X Collection Results Now that you have performed an initial Mac OS X collection, you can explore that data in the Portal. Dashboards Mac OS X data is displayed in the UNIX Dashboards. Each Dashboard is run only when the node is selected against the current data available in the CMDB for the machines in the active machine group. Therefore, Dashboard data is only current as of the time it was collected.
Getting Started with VCM When you select the node, you see a Summary Report as displayed above of the data type that you selected. Click View data grid to go directly to the data grid, or click an area of the Summary Report to filter the data before the data grid appears. Several other categories (called “data classes”) of information regarding your Mac OS X Collection are available under the UNIX tab. The UNIX tab is where the remainder of your collected Mac OS X data is visible through the Portal.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide An alternate way to view your collected Mac OS X data is by running VCM Reports or creating your own custom reports using VCM ’s reporting wizard. To begin exploring the reporting functionality, go to the Reports slider, then click Machine Group Reports | UNIX.
Getting Started with VCM 1. Add UNIX machines hosting Oracle and install the Agent. 2. Discover Oracle Instances. 3. Create the Oracle Collection User Account. 4. Perform an Oracle collection. 5. Explore Oracle collection results. 6. Explore reference information about Oracle. For instructions on removing access to the Oracle database, see "Removing Access to the Oracle Database" on page 112. Adding UNIX Machines Hosting Oracle and Installing the Agent 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. In Administration | Machines Manager | Additional Components | VCM for Oracle, click Add. The Add Oracle Instances wizard opens. 2. Select the machine(s) on which you want to add an Oracle Instance. Click Next. The Configuration Values wizard page appears. NOTE On UNIX Machines, a Machines - General collection is necessary to see machines in the wizard. Supported UNIX machines displayed in the wizard include Solaris versions 9 and 10.
Getting Started with VCM n Machine Name n Oracle Home (Collected) n Oracle Home (Override) n Oracle SID n Oracle Software Owner (Override) n Oracle Software Owner (Override) n Oracle User 3. In the Schedule wizard page, set the job timing schedule. You can run the action immediately or schedule it to run later. Click Next. You can remove access to the Oracle database.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide d. Type the ORACLE_SOFTWARE_OWNER_ACCOUNT. If left blank, VCM will attempt to derive it by determining the owner of the ORACLE_HOME directory. This account is used to log into the Oracle database to create the Oracle OS-authenticated User account (Oracle Collection User account). 3. On the Files Wizard page, select the InstallOracleCollectionUserAccount.sh file. 4. Run the job as root.
Getting Started with VCM d. Connect to the Oracle database using the sqlplus binary. e. The Oracle OS-authenticated account will be removed for Oracle database. f. If the option was chosen to store results in a local directory, the job status (success or failure) will be returned here. 1 After the Oracle OS-authenticated account is removed, VCM will not be able to collect Oracle data unless an account is recreated.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide chmod o+r $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/mesg/sp1us.msb chmod o+r $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/mesg/sp2us.msb chmod o+rx $ORACLE_HOME/nls chmod o+rx $ORACLE_HOME/nls/data chmod o+r $ORACLE_HOME/nls/data/lx1boot.nlb chmod o+r $ORACLE_HOME/nls/data/* chmod o+rx $ORACLE_HOME/oracore chmod o+rx $ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo chmod o+r $ORACLE_HOME/oracore/zoneinfo/timezlrg.
Getting Started with VCM n Oracle Management View Data Types n Oracle Mgmt View – Audit Table Privs For Oracle 9i Online Documentation, see: (http://www.oracle.com/pls/db92/db92.docindex?remark=homepage) For Oracle 10g Online Documentation, see: (http://www.oracle.com/pls/db102/homepage) Customize VCM for your Environment You have now completed the preliminary setup procedures. For more information about how to use VCM, refer to online Help, available in the Portal.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide How to Set Up and Use VCM Auditing The VCM Auditing capability tracks all changes in the security aspects of VCM. Security-related events are written to the Windows Event Log, which is stored on the Collector, independent of the VCM application. The format of the event log prohibits any modifications to the recorded entries, making it a secure, tamper-proof auditing record of changes in security.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization 6 VCM collects virtualization configurations for Virtual Machine (VM) Host servers and their respective VMs (also known as Guests) through a single console. In addition, it collects operating system and security information for VM Host servers. Virtual machine data is displayed in the Console slider under the Virtual Environments node, providing a logical grouping of the configurations of VM Host servers and VM Guests.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide The VCM Agent is not installed directly on the ESX/vSphere Servers and vCenter Servers; instead collections are accomplished using what is referred to as "agentless collections". There are two types of agentless collections, and each type is specific to a particular configuration. One type uses an Agent Proxy, and the other type uses a direct call to the vSphere API using vSphere PowerCLI.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization In order to configure VCM to seamlessly collect from virtual machines, the various actions specified in the following sections are performed on three machines. The action locations are as follows: n In VCM: The action is performed using the VCM Portal. n On Agent Proxy machine: The action is performed on the Windows machine designated as the Agent Proxy. n On ESX/vSphere Server: The action is performed on the ESX/vSphere Server.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Configuration Section VCM Agent Proxy Machine ESX/vSphere Server Step 11: Installing the ESX Web Services Certificate the Agent Proxy Machines ** Step 12: For ESX 2.5.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization In VCM: 1. Click Administration | Machines Manager | Available Machines | Available Windows Machines. 2. In the data grid, select your designated Agent Proxy machine, and then click License. The Machines page of the Available Machines License wizard appears. 3. Confirm that your machine appears in the Selected list, and then click Next. The Product License Details page appears. 4. A list of your total and available licenses is displayed.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide In VCM: 1. Click Collect. The Collection Type Selection dialog box appears. 2. Select Machine Data, and then click OK. 3. In the Available list, double-click the designated Agent Proxy machine to move it to the Selected list. 4. Select the Select Data Types to collect from these machines option, and then click Next. 5. Expand the Windows node, and then select the Machines data type check box. 6.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization 6. Configure the following options: n Install From: In the drop-down list, select the name of the Collector used to manage virtual machines. n Schedule: Select Run Action now to install immediately, or select Schedule the Action to run later and configure the settings to correspond to you company policies. 7. Click Next. The Important page appears. Review the contents, click Back to make any necessary alterations. 8. Click Finish.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Copying files from the Collector to the ESX/vSphere Server (requires access to the Collector and to the target ESX/vSphere Servers). 2. Running script files on the ESX/vSphere Server (requires access to the ESX/vSphere Servers). 3. Adding ESX/vSphere Servers to VCM. 4. Licensing the ESX Servers in VCM. 5. Licensing ESX machines as Virtual Machine (VM) Hosts.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization Setting these variables will enable the execution script listed in Step 4 (csiprep.py) to create a user account on the ESX/vSphere Server (if it does not already exist), add that user to the sudoer file, and then add the key for that user to the authorized key file. If the user account does not currently exist, then the csiprep.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 3. Select Basic Name, Domain, Type, and then click Next. The Manually Add Machines - Basic page appears. 4. Type your ESX/vSphere Server Machine using a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), select the Domain, and select DNS as the Type. In the Machine Type drop-down list, select ESX. NOTE Enter the fully qualified machine name of the ESX/vSphere Server as the "Machine Name".
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization In VCM: 1. Click Administration | Machines Manager | Available Machines | Available UNIX Machines. 2. Select your ESX/vSphere Server in the data grid, and then click License. 3. Confirm that your machine appears in the Selected list, and then click Next. 4. A list of your total and available licenses appears. Confirm that a UNIX Linux/Mac Server license is consumed, and then click Next. 5. Confirm your action, and then click Finish.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 5. Enter information related only to the following areas: n Agent Proxy: Select the configured Agent Proxy machine. n SSH Settings: Specify the port and user ID used in the SSH file on the ESX server. The User ID is the same account as the connection account specified in Running Scripts on the ESX/vSphere Server. NOTE Even if you have this information, do not configure the Web Services settings in this wizard.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization 1. Adding the Web Services User to the Administrator Role Using the VI Client/vCenter Client. 2. Installing the ESX Web Service Certificate on the Agent Proxy Machine. 3. For ESX 2.5 Only: Setting Up VirtualCenter to Collect Virtualization Data. 4. Adding Web Services Settings to VCM.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. Click Add. 5. Select the user name that you defined in Running Scripts on the ESX/vSphere Server (csi_acct in that example). For ESX 2.5, select the Windows account you want to use for Web Services communication. Click Add. The user name is added to the Users and Groups list. NOTE Although the example uses the same user account for both Web Services and SSH, they are not required to be the same account. 6.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization On the Agent Proxy machine: 1. Log on to the Agent Proxy machine. The steps provided here cannot be performed remotely. 2. Open Internet Explorer, and then navigate to the location of your ESX or VirtualCenter machine (for ESX 2.5 only). For example, https:// or https://: Internet Explorer displays an error message, indicating a problem with the security certificate.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. Click the Certificate Error field on the red-shaded address bar. A dialog box appears with information about the error message. 5. Click View certificates at the bottom of this dialog box. The Certificate dialog box appears with information about the certificate. 132 VMware, Inc.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization 6. Click Install Certificate. The Certificate Import Wizard appears. 7. Click Place all certificates in the following store, and then click Browse. The Select Certificate Store dialog box appears. 8. Click Show physical stores. Select Third-Party Root Certification Authorities | Local Computer. Click OK. 9. Click Next, and then click Finish. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide For ESX 2.5.x Only: Setting Up VirtualCenter to Collect Virtualization Data In VCM: 1. Add your VirtualCenter machine and license it. For more information on how to add and license a Windows machine, see "Licensing Windows Machines" on page 59. 2. Click Collect on the Portal toolbar. 3. In the Available list, double-click the VirtualCenter machines to add them to the Selected list.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization Exploring Virtualization Collection Results Now that you have performed an initial Virtualization collection, you can explore that data in the Portal. Recall that each Node Summary is run against the current data available in the VCM database. Therefore, Dashboard data is only current as of the time it was collected. In addition, the amount of time it takes for the data to display is based on the volume or complexity of the data requested.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Viewing the Virtualization Environments Select Console | Virtual Environments to begin viewing virtualization configuration data for licensed Virtual Machine Hosts and their associated Virtual Machine Guests, including security, network and storage information. Several other categories of information (data types) are available under the Virtual Environments node.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization Virtualization Reports To view reports related to your Virtual Environments, select Reports | Machine Group Reports | Virtual Environments. Like Dashboards, Reports are run real-time against current data available in the VCM database, therefore the data is only as current as the time that the collections were run. In addition, it may require time for the report to generate, based upon the volume or complexity of the data requested.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Go to Add/Remove Programs. 2. Select Show Updates. The list displays updates associated with installed programs. 3. Look for any of the following KB numbers, which indicate earlier versions of PowerShell. Versions of v1.x prior to RC2 are MS-based installations. These versions will appear as Windows PowerShell in the programs list. n KB926139 - Windows PowerShell v1.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization Configuring the EcmAgtStartup Identity 1. On the Collector, select Administrative Tools | Component Services. The Component Services window appears. 2. Expand Component Services | Computers | My Computer | DCOM Config. 3. Right-click EcmAgtStartup, and then select Properties. The EcmAgtStartup Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Identity tab. 5.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n Password: Type the password associated with the user name. 7. After specifying the password, the script runs, creating a .txt file in the user's C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\VCM PowerShell Credentials folder. NOTE The credentials are securely saved as .ps1 to the user's profile in a "VCM PowerShell Credentials" folder. These files are accessible only to this user.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization 6. In the Command Text text box, revise the script as specified in the description on the previous page. Clone this remote command for each vCenter Server to collect vCenter Host Profiles data from. Replace the "{server name here}" with the vCenter Server to collect from and replace the "SERVER NAME HERE" in the VBScript with the same server name.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n Run Action now: Runs the job immediately when you finish the wizard. n Schedule the Action to run later: Runs the job based on the time and date that you enter. n Time: To specify a time for the job, enter the time in the time field, and then click AM or PM. n Date: To specify a date for the job, use the Calendar. 10. Click Next. The Confirmation page appears. 11. Review the information and click Finish.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization n You have not created the credential file for this machine (for example, vcenterserver1.local). n You did not create the credential as the correct user (use Run-as on Cmd.exe as EcmAgtStartup Identity) n You did not specify a valid vCenter Server instance. n None of the machines for which data was found were licensed. n In some cases, like Host Users and Groups, you must have credential files for the ESX/vSphere Servers as well.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. On the VCM Collector, browse to: [path]\VMware\VCM\Tools\vSphere Client VCM Plugin\bin 2. Double-click VCVPInstaller.exe. The VCVP Plug-in Registration dialog box appears. 3. Configure the following options: n Register: Select the option to register the URL for the plug-in. (Select Unregister only if you are discontinuing the use of the plug-in on the target vSphere Client.
Getting Started with VCM for Virtualization 1. Select Administration | Settings | Integrated Products | VMware | vSphere Client VCM Plug-in. 2. Select the setting you want to configure, and then click Edit Settings. 3. The Settings Wizard page appears. The information to be configured will vary depending on selected setting. Configure the options as follows: n Machine group against which the external reports will be run: Type the name of the machine group. The default value is All Machines.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Upgrading the vSphere Client VCM Plug-in The vSphere Client VCM Plug-in integrates VMware vCenter Configuration Manager into the vSphere Client to provide VCM data and functionality within vCenter. After upgrading VCM, you must upgrade the Plug-in, which means vCenter users must un-register it and then re-register it. Upgrading the Plug-In To upgrade the vSphere Client VCM Plug-in, follow these steps: 1. Upgrade VCM. 2.
Getting Started with VCM Remote 7 Getting Started with VCM Remote Many workstations come and go from the network. This transient behavior is especially true of mobile workstations, such as laptops. From a mobile workstation, you can connect by dialing in, connect from a client site via a Virtual Private Network (VPN), or connect from an alternate location via a DSL line or cable modem.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Before Collecting Remote Data Begin using VCM Remote by following the steps outlined below. For more information, click any step to jump to the related section.
Getting Started with VCM Remote The VCM Remote Client can be installed using any of several methods, including a manual installation (provided below), "Installing the Remote Client using a Command Line" on page 151, or "Installing the Remote Client using Windows Remote Commands" on page 152. All the methods are described in this section. Additionally, communication between the Collector and the Remote Client is secured using Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificates.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. Accept the default installation location, or click Change to enter a different location. Click Next. 5. Type the name of the Collector machine and the path to the Web Console’s ASP path as follows: n Collector Machine Name: Type the name of the machine on which the VCM Collector and Microsoft IIS are installed. n Path to ASP Page: This path was created in the IIS default web site by the VCM Remote server installation.
Getting Started with VCM Remote 7. Configure or select one of the following certificate options: n If you copied the VCM-generated Enterprise certificate to the CM Remote Client, to locate the certificate (.pem), click Browse. n If you are using an existing Enterprise certificate in the client certificate store, select Skip Certificate Deployment. IMPORTANT Do not select Skip Certificate File Import unless you are certain the Enterprise certificate exists in the client certificate store.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide msiexec.exe /qn /i "[path]\cm remote client.msi" COLLECTOR="YourCollectorName" PATHTOASP="VCMRemote/ecmremotehttp.asp" INSTALLDIR="c:\Program Files\VMware\VCM Remote Client” CERTIFICATE_ FILE="[path]\YourEnterpriseCertificateName.pem" /log "[path\]filename.log" NOTE If the names and paths contain spaces, you must use double quotation marks. See the example above. Where: /qn: No error messages are displayed. [path]\cm remote client.
Getting Started with VCM Remote 1. On your VCM Collector, copy ...\VMware\VCM\AgentFiles\CM Remote Client.msi to...\VMware\VCM\WebConsole\L1033\Files\Remote_Command_Files. 2. On your VCM Collector, copy ...\VMware\VCM\CollectorData\.pem to the same location specified in step 1 (to...\VMware\VCM\WebConsole\L1033\Files\Remote_ Command_Files). 3. In VCM, select Console | Windows Remote Commands. 4. Click Add. The Remote Commands wizard appears. 5.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide sAddRemove = 1 'Whether or not VCM remote should appear in the Add/Remove programs List, should be 0 = hide, 1 = show sMSIPackageName = "CM Remote Client.msi" 'Name of the MSI package that installs VCM Remote Agent CheckVars If sAddRemove = 0 Then AppToRun = "msiexec.exe /qn /i " & Chr(34) & EcmAgtContext.JobDownloadDirectory & "\" & sMSIPackageName & Chr(34) & " ALLUSERS=1 COLLECTOR=" & Chr(34) & sCollName & Chr(34) & " PATHTOASP=" & C
Getting Started with VCM Remote sVirDir = Trim(sVirDir) End If If sInstallDir = "" Then sInstallDir = "c:\vcm remote client" Else sInstallDir = Trim(sInstallDir) End If If sAddRemove <> 0 And sAddRemove <> 1 Then sAddRemove = 1 'Set whether or not VCM Remote appears in the Add/Remove programs list. 1=display, 0=do not display End If If sAddRemove = "" Then sAddRemove = 1 End If If IsNumeric(sAddRemove) = False Then sAddRemove = 1 End If sAddRemove = Trim(sAddRemove) End Sub 9.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n Run Action now: This option immediately installs VCM Remote Client on the target machines. n Schedule the Action to run later: This option allows you to specify the Time and Date for the installation. NOTE The job appears in the Instant Collection job history queue as Install CM Remote Client. 16. Click Next. When you are ready to proceed, click Finish.
Getting Started with VCM Remote 1. In VCM, click Administration | Settings | General Settings | VCM Remote. The default selection for the Broadband, Dialup, and LAN collection filter settings that VCM Remote will use for connections require you to edit the setting and specify a collection filter. 2. To specify the name of the filter set for each connection, select the setting that you want to change, then click Edit Setting. The General Settings Edit Setting wizard appears. 3.
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Getting Started with VCM Patching 8 Getting Started with VCM Patching You can use VCM Patching to assess the state of managed Windows and UNIX/Linux machines, and deploy patches on those machines. The process to assess managed UNIX/Linux machines differs from the process to assess and patch Windows machines.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Click Patching | Windows | Bulletins. To obtain a comprehensive view of all released bulletins, click By Bulletin. If you know the affected product for which you want to find a bulletin, click By Affected Product. 2. Check for updates as follows: n By Bulletin: Click Check for Update in the data grid toolbar. n By Affected Product: Click the product you want to view, and then click Check for Update in the data grid toolbar. 3.
Getting Started with VCM Patching 5. If no conflicts appear, click Finish to begin your collection. NOTE If you experience problems collecting data from your Windows machines via the VCM Patching Filter Sets using the default Network Authority Account, either provide that account with access to the Windows servers or provide a separate Network Authority Account for use with these particular machines. See Default Network Authority Account for more information.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 2. Refer to VMware Deployment Summary for a list of issues that might impede distribution of a given bulletin. 3. Click On the Web to link directly to the vendor's information pertaining to this bulletin. NOTE Be sure to view all of the information in the Bulletin Detail window.
Getting Started with VCM Patching 5. Read the confirmation screen, and then click Finish. VCM Patching creates your template and places it in the Assessment Templates folder (Patching | Windows | Assessment Templates). Create an Affected Product Template To create a template based on bulletins related to a specific product, follow these steps. 1. Click Patching | Windows | Bulletins | By Affected Product. 2. In the middle pane, locate and select the product. 3.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 6. The bulletin that relates to the product you selected appears in the Selected pane. Click Next. 7. Read the confirmation screen, and then click Finish. VCM Patching creates your template and places it in the Assessment Templates folder (Patching | Windows | Assessment Templates). Run the Assessment To complete the VCM Patching assessment, you must run the template that you just created.
Getting Started with VCM Patching 1. Verify that the correct Machine Group is active. 2. Click Patching | Windows | Assessment Templates. 3. In the list of available templates, select the template that you want to run. 4. Click Assess. VCM displays a dialog box indicating the assessment status. 5. When the Assessment finishes, click the Refresh toolbar button and view your results. Explore VCM Patching Windows Assessment Results To view the assessment results on Windows machines, follow these steps. 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide patch staging, deployment, and reboot options, see Patch Staging and Deployment Schedule in the online Help. NOTE If you have a licensed VCM Service Desk Integration implementation, the Service Desk Connector dialog will appear prior to the VCM Patching Deploy Patches Wizard. For more information about VCM Service Desk Integration, see Getting Started with Service Desk Integration. 5.
Getting Started with VCM Patching NOTE Navigate to Patching | VCM Patching Administration | Windows | Job Manager | Running to view the status of your job. If you have scheduled the job to run later, navigate to Patching | VCM Patching Administration | Windows | Job Manager | Scheduled | Deployments. If you have licensed and activated VCM Service Desk Integration, your Windows patching job will appear in the Pending Response node until it is approved by VCM Service Desk Connector.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Getting Started with VCM Patching for UNIX/Linux Machines Welcome to VCM Patching for UNIX/Linux. When licensed, you can use VCM Patching for UNIX/Linux to determine the patch status of UNIX/Linux machines. The process is as follows: As indicated in this diagram, you must always collect assessment data from the UNIX/Linux machines before using VCM Patching to install the patches on them.
Getting Started with VCM Patching NOTE Before you can deploy patches to a UNIX/Linux machine, VCM Patching for UNIX must be licensed on the UNIX/Linux machine. For a list of UNIX/Linux machines and operating systems supported for patch deployment, see the VCM Hardware and Software Requirements Guide. Check for Updates to Bulletins VMware recommends that you use VCM to check for updates to VCM Patching Bulletins prior to performing an assessment for UNIX/Linux machines.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n The Patch Signature File (.pls) files must reside on the Collector. By default, VCM Patching is set to execute the action to download the .pls files automatically every 4 hours. The .pls files are used to determine if required patches are installed on the VCM-managed machine. You can view the patch files in: Console | UNIX | Security | Patches | Assessment or Console | Change Management | Non VCM Initiated | By Machine.
Getting Started with VCM Patching Assessment Results node. Using a Template to Run an Assessment UNIX assessment templates are filters for the patch assessment results data. To run an assessment and filter the assessment data using a template, follow these steps to create and run an assessment template: 1. Click Patching, and then click the UNIX/Linux Platform of your choice. 2. Click Assessment Templates. 3. Click Add, and then add Bulletins to your assessment template. 4.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 2. Follow the Collect wizard and select the option to collect machine data. Specify the UNIX machines to collect data from, specify a data type to use for the collection, and then select the Patch Assessment data type. Alternatively, you could collect using the UNIX Patch Assessment collection filter. 3. Complete the wizard. When the assessment completes, the results are reported in the Assessment Results node.
Getting Started with VCM Patching Explore Assessment Results and Acquire the Patches After you have collected assessment data from your VCM-managed UNIX/Linux machines, use the Assessment Results data grid to view the assessment results. This data grid displays all of the UNIX/Linux machines that were assessed, the patch status for each machine, and details about the patches. In Patching | [UNIX/Linux Platform] | Assessment Results, follow these steps to view the results. 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 3. Review the patch status for each machine. The patch status for the assessed machine is indicated by one of the following icons: Patch Status Description Patched: The patch has already been applied to this UNIX/Linux machine. Patch-Machine Mismatch: The operating system version or hardware architecture of the patch do not match those of the UNIX/Linux machine.
Getting Started with VCM Patching If you define an alternate location for a particular Machine Group such as Servers (in Patching | VCM Patching Administration | Machine Group Mapping wizard | Local Patch Path), you must select that Machine Group at the top of the VCM Portal before you deploy the patches. Otherwise, if the same Machine Group is not selected, VCM Patching will not acknowledge the machine group mapping to the alternate patch location, and the patches will not be deployed.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide You can install the UNIX patches using the Deploy wizard from the following locations: User-created Assessment Template, Imported Template, or Assessment Results (All Bulletins). To install the patches on UNIX/Linux machines, follow these steps; this example shows deploying the patches using All Bulletins. 1.
Getting Started with VCM Patching The pre-install and post-install scripts used in the Deploy actions are remote commands, which differ from using a VCM remote command to install a patch. The patch assessment and deployment process for UNIX/Linux does not use remote commands. However, if you choose to deploy a patch using a usercreated remote command, be aware that the patch will not be assessed until you run an assessment.
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Getting Started with Software Provisioning 9 The VCM Software Provisioning components consist of VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Package Studio, software package repositories, and Package Manager. VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Package Studio Package Studio is the application used to build software packages for installation on target Windows servers and workstations. A software package provides the files and metadata necessary to install and remove programs.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Overview of Component Relationships The following diagram displays the general relationship between Package Studio, repositories, and Package Manager in a working environment.
Getting Started with Software Provisioning n Software Repository for Windows: Installed on at least one Windows machine in your environment, and installed on the same machine with Package Studio. Install the repository before installing Package Studio. n VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Package Studio: Installed on the same machine as your software repository. n Package Manager: Installed on all Windows machines on which you are managing software provisioning.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide The repository and the virtual directory are added to the locations specified during installation. The default location for the repository is C:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\Tools\Repository (on 32-bit machines) or C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VCM\Tools\Repository (on 64-bit machines). The default virtual directory SoftwareRepository is added to Internet Information Services (IIS) | Web Sites | Default Web Site. Procedure (unattended using .
Getting Started with Software Provisioning Prerequisites Target machine meets the supported hardware requirements, operating system, and software requirements. See VCM Hardware and Software Requirements Guide for currently supported platforms and requirements. Access to the PackageStudio.msi, which is available on the VMware website or in the vCenter Configuration Manager application files. The default location in the VCM application files is C:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\AgentFiles\Products.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide You can add the following arguments if you want to specify locations other than the default directories: REPOSITORY_ROOT=C:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\Tools\Repository\ (Defaults to this or uses the Repository’s value if it is already installed) PACKAGESTUDIO_DIR="C:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\Tools\Package Studio\" (defaults to this path) Manually Uninstall Package Studio Use the following script to run an unattended uninstall the Package M
Getting Started with Software Provisioning 1. Select Administration | Machines Manager | Licensed Machines | Licensed Windows Machines. 2. In the data grid, locate the machines on which you are verifying the existence of the necessary Agent Extensions, and then verify that the Agent Ext. For Prov. Version column contains a value of 5.3 or later. If it does not, you need to either install or upgrade the VCM Agent.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Start the VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Package Studio. Select Start | All Programs All | VMware vCenter Configuration Manager | Tools | Package Studio. 2. Click Manage Packages. Configure the package contents based on the options on the following tabs: a. Click Properties. Type a Name, Version, and Description. Select the Architecture. These are required fields.
Getting Started with Software Provisioning n You have created software provisioning packages using VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Package Studio and published the packages to the repositories. n Package Manager is installed on the target machines. Package Manager is automatically installed when you install the VCM 5.3 Agent or later.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 8. Review the information, resolve any conflicts, and then click Finish. You can monitor the process in the Jobs Manager. See "Viewing Provisioning Jobs in the Job Manager" on page 190 for more information. When the collection is completed, select Console | Windows tab | Operating System |Software Provisioning | Repositories. The data grid displays the packages in the repositories.
Getting Started with Software Provisioning Install Packages The process of installing packages includes identifying and processing dependencies and conflicts, running any specified prescripts, running the installation using any specified command arguments, and then running any specified post-scripts. You can also remove packages. Procedure 1. Select Console | Windows tab | Operating System |Software Provisioning | Package Managers 2. Click Install.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Related Software Provisioning Actions You can use the following management options in VCM when working with software provisioning: n Job Manager: Displays current jobs running, and job history. Use the job history when troubleshooting the processing of a job. See "Viewing Provisioning Jobs in the Job Manager" on page 190 for more information.
Getting Started with Software Provisioning In this example the Compliance rule checks whether the source, where platform=Any and section=Release, was added to selected Package Managers as a source. If not, then add the repository source to the machines where the rule fails. Procedure 1. Select Compliance | Machine Group Compliance | Rule Groups. Either add a rule to an existing rule group or create a new rule group. 2. To add a rule to a Rule Group, expand your rule group, and then select Rules.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide In this example, you want to determine if a software application named XSoftware is correctly installed. If the software is installed correctly, a service named XService should be running. Configure a Compliance rule to determine if XService service is running. If it is not running, install the XSoftware package. Procedure 1. Select Compliance | Machine Group Compliance | Rule Groups.
Getting Started with Software Provisioning 21. Select one of the following Security Options: This option determines if a package is installed or removed based on the state of the signature. Select one of the following options: n Install secure signed package only: The package must be signed and the public key of the signing certificate you used to sign the package is available on all the machines on which you are installing or removing the package.
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Getting Started with VCM Management Extensions for Assets 10 Getting Started with VCM Management Extensions for Assets VCM Management Extensions for Assets (VCMMXA) facilitates the storage of asset data across multiplatform enterprises into a single repository. With VCMMXA, you can integrate and manage data not collected by VCM. This data appears in the VCM Console. To get started using VCMMXA, follow these steps. Step 1: Add, Edit, or Delete Hardware and Software Configuration Item Fields.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. Click Administration | Settings | Asset Extensions Settings. The VCMMXA navigation window appears. 2. Select to configure either the hardware or software configuration item fields. 3. Consider whether the fields are listed in the order in which you want them to appear in the Console. If not, click Column Order in the data grid view to reorder the fields to your specifications. 4.
Getting Started with VCM Management Extensions for Assets 1. Click Administration | Settings | Asset Extensions Settings | Hardware Configuration Items. The Hardware Configuration Items view appears. 2. Click VCM Devices or Other Devices, depending on the type of field you want to delete. 3. If you are editing an existing field, select the field, and then click Edit. Otherwise, to add a field, click Add. The Add:Edit Fields wizard appears. 4.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 5. If you are adding a field, determine how you want this field to be populated. Click the appropriate option button: Manually (free-form text), Lookup (pick from list of predetermined values), or Dynamically (population from another source), and then click Next. If you are editing a field, you cannot change the population method. For more information, click Help. Otherwise, click Next. 6.
Getting Started with VCM Management Extensions for Assets Add or Edit a Software Configuration Item Field 1. Click Administration | Settings | Asset Extension Settings | Software Configuration Items. The Software Related Configuration Items view appears. 2. Review the available fields, and then determine whether you want to add, edit, or delete any of the existing fields. If you are editing an existing field, select the field, and then click Edit. Otherwise, to add a field, click Add.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 6. Assign the roles that should have edit access to this field. Users with these roles can then edit the values of the field from Console | Asset Extensions | Software Configuration Items. Click Next. 7. Confirm your addition or edit, and then click Finish.
Getting Started with VCM Management Extensions for Assets 3. Verify the machines you want to edit appear in the Selected pane. Click Next. 4. Select the fields to edit, and then click Next. 5. Enter a value for each of the fields displayed, and then click Next. 6. Confirm your change, and then click Finish. The VCM Devices data grid updates the values of the fields for the machines you edited and displays the resulting data.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide NOTE If you want to change only the values for that device, and not the device name or description itself, click Edit Values, instead of Edit. The Edit Values Wizard allows you to quickly edit the specific field values that you select. The Edit Device wizard is a longer wizard designed to let you edit the entire device asset record. 3. Follow the prompts through the wizard to complete the action.
Getting Started with VCM Management Extensions for Assets 1. Select the record, and then click Delete. 2. Click OK to confirm your deletion. VCMMXA deletes the requested record from the Software Configuration Items data grid. Further Reading For information on how to customize for your environment, refer to Customizing VCM. Each of these areas regarding customization also applies to VCMMXA.
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Getting Started with VCM Service Desk Integration 11 Getting Started with Service Desk Integration VCM Service Desk Integration allows you to track planned and unplanned changes to managed machines in your organization, and to integrate these changes with your organization’s change management process.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Service Desk Integration in Job Manager When VCM Service Desk Integration is licensed and activated, it suspends any requested change to a VCM-managed machine while VCM integrates with the Service Desk application to pass the change through a change management process. If a job was suspended in VCM, it appears in Administration | Job Manager | Pending Response.
Getting Started with VCM Service Desk Integration Further Reading Refer to Customizing VCM for information on how to customize for your environment. Each of these areas regarding customization also applies to VCM for Service Desk Integration. You can also read Maintaining VCM after Installation for important information regarding additional data retention settings and database maintenance steps which should be taken.
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Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory 12 VCM for Active Directory (AD) collects AD objects across Domains and Forests, and displays them through a single console. This data is consolidated and displayed under the Active Directory slider, providing a logical grouping of AD object and configuration information, allowing you to view your AD structure, troubleshoot issues, and detect change.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Confirming the Presence of Domains Prior to setting up VCM for Active Directory, you must confirm that all fully-qualified DNS Domains that you want to manage have been discovered by VCM. Domains are discovered during the VCM installation process; however, you may need to manually add Domains that were unavailable during the installation process. 1. Click Administration | Settings | Network Authority | Available Domains. 2.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory Adding and Assigning Network Authority Accounts Before you can perform any type of action (Discovery, Collection, and so forth), the Collector must gain access to each Domain to interact with the selected Domain Controllers (DCs) in the organization. A VCM network authority account must have administrator rights and be added for each Domain to be managed in the organization. Once these accounts have been added, they must be assigned to Domains.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. Select By Browse List, then click Next. The Discovery Filters page appears. 5. Select Only discover machines in the Browse List that match these criteria. 6. Specify the filter parameters. Select Domain Controller Type <> " (two single quotes). 7. Click Next. The Important page appears. 8. For the Would you like to run this Discovery Rule now? option, select Yes. 9. Click Finish.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory Verifying Domain Controller Machines in Available Machines Once your Domain Controller discovery is completed, verify that your Domain Controllers are available for licensing and Agent installation. 1. Click Administration | Machines Manager | Available Machines | Available Windows Machines. 2. Verify that the domain controller machines are available in the Domains that you added in your discovery rule.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 9. Verify the method used for communication. The default communication method is DCOM. For most VCM for Active Directory configurations, the default values in this screen should be used. Click Next. The Schedule page appears. 10. Select Run Action now, and then click Next. 11. Click Finish.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory 4. Click the Tools tab. 5. In the Tool Name list, select Disable UAC. 6. Click Launch. A Command window displays the running action. When the command is completed, close the window. 7. Close the System Configuration dialog box. 8. Restart the machine to apply the changes. 9. Install the Agent as specified in Licensing and Deploying the VCM Agent. 10. After installing the Agent on the target machine, re-enable UAC. To enable, perform the steps specified above.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Performing a Machine Data Type Collection Now you must perform a collection based on the Machines Data type. Refer to Performing an Initial Collection for detailed procedures on how to perform a collection. 1. Configure the Machines page (Step 2) as follows: n Add only your Domain Controllers to the Selected list. n Select the Do not limit collection to deltas check box.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory 1. Click Administration | Machines Manager | Additional Components | VCM for Active Directory. NOTE If the Domain Controllers that you want to collect from are not listed in Additional Products | VCM for Active Directory node, you may need to confirm or repeat the procedures described in the previous sections. 2. Click Install to deploy VCM for Active Directory to the Domain Controllers from which you want to collect Active Directory data. 3.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide as possible with VCM for AD. If you have machines that you plan to promote to Active Directory machines, but have not yet done so, you must install VCM for Active Directory manually. Go to Program Files\VMware\VCM\AgentFiles and run the ADProductInstall.exe installer. 4. Click Next. 5. Verify that Run Action now is selected, then click Finish.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory NOTE A single Domain Controller may be selected as both an FDS and RDS. We recommend selecing DCs with reliable connections and availability to serve in the FDS and RDS capacities for VCM for Active Directory collections. If you change your RDS, any data previously collected from the RDS is not purged. The data is refreshed when you run a new collection and gather data from the new RDS. 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 5. Click Finish. 6. When the Setup DCs action is completed, VCM for Active Directory performs a schema and a structure collection. The information obtained from the structure collection identifies the OU structure which supports the use of VCM for Active Directory. IMPORTANT Click Administration | Job Manager | History | Instant Collections | Past 24 Hours to verify that all jobs have completed before proceeding to the next step.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory 4. Click Select Data Types to collect from these machines. 5. To ensure that a full collection will occur during setup of VCM for Active Directory, click the Do not limit collection to deltas check box. NOTE The delta collection feature makes subsequent collections run faster and more efficiently than the initial collection. For the initial collection, make sure that you click the check box so that the delta feature is disabled. 6. Click Next.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 10. To specify a location click the lookup ellipsis button (...). The Select an AD Location page appears. 11. Expand the Enterprise tree, and then select an AD Location. 12. Click OK, to close the page. 13. On the Location page, click Next. 14. Click Finish. IMPORTANT Click Administration | Job Manager | History | Instant Collections | Past 24 Hours to verify that all jobs have completed before proceeding to the next step.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory Exploring Active Directory Collection Results Now that you have performed an initial Active Directory collection, you can explore that data within the Portal. VCM for AD presents enterprise-wide, summary information in graphical SSRS charts that you can view, export, or print. Each VCM for AD Dashboard is run only when the node is selected against the current data available in the CMDB. Therefore, Dashboard data is only current as of the time was collected.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide When you select the node, you will see a Summary Report, as displayed above, of the data you selected. Click View Data Grid to go directly to the data, or click an area of the Summary Report to filter the data before the data grid is displayed. NOTE The default view is the Summary Report.
Getting Started with VCM for Active Directory Active Directory Reports An alternative way to view your collected AD data is by running VCM Reports or creating your own custom reports using VCM’s reporting wizard. To begin exploring VCM’s Reporting functionality, click Reports | Active Directory Reports. Like VCM for AD Dashboards, AD Reports are run real-time against the current data available in the CMDB, therefore they are only as current as of the time that the data was collected.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Further Reading Refer to Customizing VCM for information on how to customize for your environment. Each of these areas regarding customization also applies to VCM for Active Directory. You can also read "Maintaining VCM After Installation" on page 247 for important information regarding additional data retention settings and database maintenance steps which should be taken.
Getting Started with VCM for SMS 13 Getting Started with VCM for SMS VCM for SMS provides continuous enterprise-wide OS, application, and security configuration management of all Microsoft SMS infrastructure components. By solving the issues associated with complex SMS installations, VCM for SMS integrates with SMS 2.0 and SMS 2003 to deliver an extensive solution for compliance monitoring, vulnerability assessment and remediation, change management, and software distribution.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n If all SMS Servers that you want to manage are listed, then they have been discovered; however, they must be licensed in order to make them available for SMS collections. Refer to "Licensing Windows Machines" on page 59 for instructions on how to license these machines. n If you cannot locate your SMS Servers in this data grid, then they have not yet been discovered by VCM.
Getting Started with VCM for SMS Performing SMS Client Collections Now that your SMS Server Collection is complete, you must perform another collection using the Microsoft SMS Client Filter in order for VCM to collect SMS information from your SMS client machines. Once this collection is complete, you will be able to view all SMS Server and Client related data through VCM. 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. To view the SMS dashboard, select Console | Dashboards | Enterprise Applications | SMS Dashboard. 2. Click the SMS Client links or the Chart bars to drill down to detailed information on the machine or group of machines. Viewing SMS Server Data The Windows tab of the Console contains information about your SMS Server and Client machines. 230 VMware, Inc.
Getting Started with VCM for SMS 1. To view a list of your SMS Servers, along with additional information obtained during your initial SMS Server collection, select Console | Enterprise Applications | SMS | SMS Sites | Site Information | Sites. 2. View the list of Servers currently hosting SMS in the data grid. Viewing SMS Client Data The Windows tab of the Console contains information about your SMS Clients. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 1. To view a list of your SMS Clients, select Console | Windows (tab) | Enterprise Applications | SMS | SMS Clients | SMS Advanced Clients. 2. View the SMS client machines in the data grid, along with details about the SMS component they contain, the Resource file, and Version number.
Getting Started with VCM for SMS 1. To begin exploring VCM’s Reporting functionality, select Reports | Machine Group Reports | Enterprise Applications | Microsoft SMS Reports. 2. View the SMS report data in the data grid. As with the VCM for SMS Dashboard, Reports are run against the current data available in the CMDB. Therefore, they are current only as of the time when the data was collected.
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Getting Started with Windows Server Update Services 14 Getting Started with Windows Server Update Services VCM for Windows Server Update Services (VCM for WSUS) provides continuous enterprise-wide OS, application, and security configuration management of Microsoft WSUS client components. To use VCM for WSUS, follow these steps. 1. Make VCM aware of your WSUS Servers. 2. Perform WSUS Server collections. 3. Perform WSUS Client collections. 4. Explore WSUS collection results.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n If you cannot locate your WSUS Servers in this data grid, they have not yet been discovered by VCM. You must first discover, and then license these machines before you can collect from them. Refer to "Discovering Windows Machines" on page 56, and then "Licensing Windows Machines" on page 59 for instructions on how to discover and license Windows machines.
Getting Started with Windows Server Update Services 1. As with the WSUS Server collection, use the procedure described in "Performing an Initial Collection" on page 67 to initiate your WSUS Client collection. 2. Using this procedure, instead of selecting the default filter set, choose the Select a Collection Filter Set to apply to these machines option, and then select Microsoft WSUS Client Filters from the Filter Sets list.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Viewing WSUS Reports In addition to using Reports to view your WSUS Server data, you can also run Reports to view data about your WSUS Client Settings and WSUS Client State. 1. To view information about your WSUS Servers, click Reports | Machine Group Reports | Enterprise Applications | Microsoft WSUS Reports. 2. Select WSUS Servers, and then click Run. The report lists your WSUS Servers and other information about those machines.
Accessing Additional Compliance Content 15 VMware provides several additional VCM Compliance Content Packages relative to the different components you have just activated. These packages are not available in the Portal until you download and import them. It is important to check to see if any of the VCM Compliance Content Packages are important to your organization, and then import them at this time. Before you begin using this content, you must complete the following required steps: 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide If the particular Content Package(s) you have imported contains filter sets, they will appear under Administration | Collection Filters | Filter Sets. Particular VCM Content Package(s) may contain SSRS Reports, SSRS Node Summaries, and SSRS Dashboards, which will show up in their respective locations in the Portal. Once this content has been imported into the Portal, further collections using custom filters may be required to use it.
Installing and Getting Started with VCM Tools 16 All VCM components and tools were automatically installed on the Collector machine by the VCM Installation Manager during installation, as explained in the chapter Using VCM Installation Manager. However, if you want to install only the VCM tools on a non-Collector machine, follow the procedure in the first section in this chapter, Installing the Tools Only.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide NOTE The VCM Tools installation has prerequisites much like a VCM installation. Each tool in the Advanced Installation has its own installation requirements. For example, Import/Export (I/E) and Content Wizard cannot be installed on a machine that is not running VCM, and Job Manager requires .NET.
Installing and Getting Started with VCM Tools 2. When you launch the Job Manager Tool the first time, you must add your VCM Collectors before you can view any job data originating from those machines. Click the Servers button, located below the menu bar. The Add Collector dialog box appears. 3. Type the machine name of your Collector in the Machine name of the Collector text box. 4. Click Test Connection to verify that your connection is valid.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n Backup (export) and restore (import) Business Objects to the same machine. n Backup (export) and import (if needed) Business Objects during a VCM upgrade. n Export and migrate (import) Business Objects to additional machines in a multi-Collector environment (during setup or to move custom content).
Installing and Getting Started with VCM Tools 2. To use Import/Export, you must identify a source for the data to be imported or exported. Click Connect to Source (or Connect to Target, if you are exporting). The Connect to Data Store dialog box appears. 3. If you are importing, you can either select a Server in the drop-down list or type a server name in the text box, or import VMware content supplied by Installation Manager. To import content, click the ellipses button (...
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide As you proceed through the wizard, you can select which content packages you want to import. Be advised that some Content Packages are very large. Therefore, in order to maximize performance and reduce the possibility of encountering a network issue impacting the download and/or import process, we recommend that you subdivide your imports to no more than two to three packages at a time. Follow the wizard to completion.
Maintaining VCM After Installation 17 Once you have performed initial setup and familiarized yourself with VCM and its components and tools, VMware recommends you step through the specific configuration settings for each licensed component and customize them. Additionally, you should perform routine maintenance on your VCM CMDB just as you would any other SQL database in your enterprise. Follow the guidance below to keep VCM running smoothly and performing efficiently. 1.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide In addition to several general global settings, the following components also have specific settings that should be considered if you have licensed that particular component. n Asset Extensions (VCMMXA) n VCM for Active Directory n VCM for Virtualization n UNIX n Windows For more information on settings specific to those products, refer to the Help associated with each product.
Maintaining VCM After Installation Configure Database File Growth After VCM is installed, the installer creates a single 250 MB data file and a 25 MB log file. As data is added to VCM through normal operations, these files will grow as required. Unfortunately, the growth settings are set to default, which can easily cause fragmentation in the files. It is important to set the AutoGrowth setting properly in each of the databases.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Configure Database Recovery Settings SQL Server supports the following individual “Recovery Models” in SQL Server. They can be set differently for each database. They are: n Simple: In Simple recovery, the only information kept in the transaction log is data that is necessary to recover the database to a known good state when the server restarts. It is a misconception that this setting does not cause the transaction log file to grow.
Maintaining VCM After Installation 2. Open the Management folder, right-click Maintenance Plans, and then select Maintenance Plan Wizard. The SQL Server Maintenance Plan Wizard opens. 3. Click Next. The Select Plan Properties page appears. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 4. Enter a maintenance plan name, and then select Single schedule for the entire plan or no schedule. Click Change. The Job Schedule Properties - Maintenance Plan dialog box appears. 5. Set the scheduling properties for the job, as shown in this example. It is best to schedule the run time when the system is idle or has low usage. 6.
Maintaining VCM After Installation 7. Select the maintenance tasks to be performed. Select Check Database Integrity, Rebuild Index, Update Statistics, and Clean Up History. Click Next. The Select Maintenance Task Order page appears. 8. Specify the order for the maintenance tasks to be performed. Click Next. The Define Database Check Integrity Task page appears. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 9. Click the Databases drop down menu. Select the CSI_Domain, VCM, VCM_Coll, VCM_Raw, and VCM_UNIX databases for the integrity check, and then click OK. When the databases are selected, Specific databases appears in the drop down field. Check the option Include indexes. Click Next. The Define Rebuild Index Task page appears. NOTE Select the databases shown here, including the VCM_Raw database.
Maintaining VCM After Installation 10. Specify how the Maintenance Plan should rebuild the Index. Click the Databases drop down menu. Select the CSI_Domain, VCM, VCM_Coll, and VCM_UNIX databases, and then click OK. When the databases are selected, Specific databases appears in the drop down field. In the Advanced options area of the dialog box, select Sort results in tempdb. Click Next. The Define Update Statistics Task page appears. NOTE It is not necessary to rebuild the Index for the VCM_Raw database.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 11. Specify how the Maintenance Plan should update the database statistics. Click the Databases drop down menu. Select the CSI_Domain, VCM, VCM_Coll, and VCM_UNIX databases, and then click OK. When the databases are selected, Specific databases appears in the drop down field. Click Next. The Define History Cleanup Task page appears. 12. Specify the historical data to be removed from the SQL Server 2005 machine.
Maintaining VCM After Installation 13. Select Write a report to a text file, and specify the folder location. Writing the report to a file saves a record of the maintenance plan actions for future reference. Click Next. The Complete the Wizard page appears. 14. Verify the selections in the Maintenance Plan Wizard. Expand the tree selections to view the settings. Click Finish. The Maintenance Plan Wizard Progress page appears. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide 15. When the Maintenance Plan Wizard completes, verify that the actions specified in the wizard were successful. To view, save, copy, or send the report, click Report and select an option. You have now established a routine maintenance plan to assure that SQL Server 2005 continues to operate efficiently.
Troubleshooting Problems with VCM A This chapter provides important information that will help you troubleshoot issues that may occur during the VCM software installation, upgrade, or use.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide n n The bulletin information was removed from the UNIX Agent machine. n Bulletin information may not be loaded on your Collector. If the Check for Updates action is indicating that no updates are available, then try the Force option on Check for Updates. n An upgrade of the Collector to 5.3 failed to reprocess the bulletin information in order to extract the necessary information required for filtering.
Troubleshooting Problems with VCM To Resolve the Problem 1. Open a command prompt. 2. Navigate to the C:\Program Files\VMware\VCM\AgentData\protected directory, and delete these two files: ECMv.csi.pds and ECMv.csi.pds.lck. 3. Execute the following command: GenerateAgentProxyKeys.cmd. 4. Verify that the following files were generated: _securecomm_public_key.txt _ssh_public_key.txt 5. From the command prompt, execute the following command: DatabaseUploadKey.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide Updating the VCM Virtual Directory To update the VCM virtual directory, follow these steps: 1. Access Internet Information Services by opening a command prompt, and then typing compmgmt.msc. 2. Expand the Services and Applications node. Then expand Internet Information Services | Web Sites | Default Web Site. 3. Right-click the VCM virtual directory, and select Properties. 4.
Troubleshooting Problems with VCM 3. Click the Show Details button on the right hand of the screen. 4. Click the check box next to the affected report. 5. Click the Delete option. You will be prompted to be sure that you want to delete this item. Click OK. 6. Click Upload File. 7. On the Upload File screen, next to the File to Upload text box select Browse. 8. Select the report from the reports directory. 9. Click OK. The report should now include all of the new parameter modifications. VMware, Inc.
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Configuring a Collector as an Agent Proxy B Although it is not recommended, you can configure your Collector as an Agent Proxy. If you choose configuring your Collector as your Agent Proxy, the following configuration steps replace steps 1 - 4 in the "Configuring Agent Proxy Virtualization Collections" on page 118. You should perform the following configuration steps only if you are using your Collector machine as an Agent Proxy. 1. Verify membership to CSI_COMM_Proxy_SVC. 2. Generate key pairs. 3.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide generated/uploaded and distributed. To change the password for the new user account, you must log in as the user rather than allowing an administrator to reset the password. If the password is changed by the new user, the keys do not need to be regenerated.
Index % %Systemroot% environment variable 63 A about this book 9 access by user 47 accessing compliance content 239 account application services 14 collector services 14 network authority 13 Oracle collection user 110 active directory (AD) 209 agent 213 collection results 223 configuration 216 data collection 220 domain controllers 209 getting started 209 network authority account 211 reference information 226 run determine forest action 218 run setup DCs action 218 AD (active directory) 209 adding asset
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide change detection WCI 74 check for UNIX/Linux updates 169 for Windows updates 159 CMAgentInstall.
Index disabling UAC on Windows machines disaster recovery plan discovering domain controllers, AD Oracle Instances Windows machines domain controllers active directory deploying AD domains active directory AD, confirming presence verifying ftp, use binary mode 61, 65, 214 258 211 109 53, 56 209 216 209 210 53 E enabling popup blocker 48 enterprise certificates 15 environment variable, %Systemroot% 63 ESX 2.
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide tools understanding configurations using installation manager InstallCMAgent installing Package Manager for Windows Package Studio packages repositories integration Service Desk 13, 241 12 12 87, 100 184 182 189 181 205 J job manager job status reporting WCI jobs history provisioning 241-242 74 190 L LAN launch an assessment launching content wizard license Windows machines licensing AD agent agent proxy ESX servers virtual machine ho
Index PowerShell executing for WCI for Windows Custom Info scripts, troubleshooting signing scripts for WCI WCI getting started prerequisites check for installation for upgrading vCenter Server collections protected storage resolving problems provisioning compliance remediation compliance rule install agent jobs History Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) purge for WCI 76 72 80 76 75 13 35 137 260 191 190 16 190 63 74 R recovery plan Red Hat install UNIX agent Red Hat workstations upgrading reference inform
vCenter Configuration Manager Installation and Getting Started Guide SSL resetting required secure channel SUSE install UNIX agent 261 83 T templates for compliance ToCMBase64String toolbar in portal tools foundation checker getting started import/export, content installation job manager troubleshooting PowerShell scripts vCenter Server data collections 239 77 49 241 47, 241 241 13, 241 241-242 259 80 142 U UAC disabling on Windows machines 61, 65, 214 uninstall agent 64 agent, Mac OS X 102 agent, UN
Index Web Services configuring ESX certificate 130 settings 134 virtualization 128 settings 134 user roles virtualization 129 user, adding 129 Web.
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