User goals and features

PATROL for Citrix XenServer provides the following features to monitor your environment:

Monitoring Citrix XenServer by using BMC ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration Console

With version 3.0.00 of BMC PATROL for Citrix XenServer and version 9.0.00 of BMC PATROL Agent, you can configure your Citrix XenServer environment by using the BMC ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration Console. This configuration the transfer of monitoring data from BMC PATROL for Citrix XenServer to BMC ProactiveNet. For more information, see the BMC Online Technical Documentation portal at https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/vsn3000/Home.

New operating system support

Version 3.0.00 adds support for the following operating systems:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x, x86
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x, x86-64

Process renamed

The vsm_main.exe JRE process has been renamed to java.exe.

New application class

Version 3.0.00 adds a new application class, VSM_XEN_PDISK_CNTR. This application class contains parameters that report disk use for XenServer hosts.

New parameters

The following parameters have been added in version 3.0.00:

Parameter	Description
VSM_XEN_RESOURCEPOOL application class
Pool_CPU_Usage	Displays the amount of CPU used (in megahertz) by all the XenServer hosts in the resource pool
Pool_Network_Usage	Displays the amount of network bandwidth used (in MBps) by all the XenServer hosts in the resource pool This metric is computed as a sum of the rate at which data is received and the rate at which data is transmitted by each of the XenServer hosts in the resource pool.
Pool_Disk_Usage	Displays the disk transfer rate (in KBps) by all the XenServer hosts in the resource pool. This metric is computed as a sum of the read data (Disk IO Read Rate) and the write data (Disk IO Write Rate) for all the XenServer hosts in the resource pool.
VSM_XEN_PCPU_CNTR application class
CPU_Usage	Displays the amount of CPU used (in MHz) by a XenServer host
VSM_XEN_PNET_CNTR application class
Network_Usage	Displays the amount of network bandwidth used (in MBps) by a XenServer host. This metric is computed as a sum of the network data received and transmitted by the physical NICs of a XenServer host.
VSM_XEN_VNET_CNTR application class
Network_Usage	Displays the amount of network bandwidth used (in MBps) by a VM. This metric is computed as a sum of the total network data received and transmitted by the virtual network interface cards (vNIC) of a VM.
VSM_XEN_VDISK_CNTR application class
Disk_Usage	Displays the total disk transfer rate (in KBps) for a VM. This metric is computed as a sum of the read data (Disk IO Read Rate) and the write data (Disk IO Write Rate) for a VM.
VSM_XEN_PDISK_CNTR application class
Disk_Usage	Displays the total disk transfer rate (in KBps) for a XenServer host. This metric is computed as a sum of the read data (Disk IO Read Rate) and the write data (Disk IO Write Rate) for a XenServer host.
VSM_XEN_STORAGE application class
SR_Usage	Displays the total disk transfer rate (in KBps) for the storage repository

Discover virtual machines, storage repositories, and resource pools

To monitor the Citrix XenServer environment, you can add either a resource pool master or a standalone host. When you add a resource pool master for monitoring, PATROL for Citrix XenServer discovers the inventory (hosts, virtual machines, and storage repository) of that resource pool. It also fetches performance data such as memory, network, processor, and disk details for all the hosts and virtual machines that are part of the resource pool. A resource pool comprises of multiple hosts, bound together into a single managed entity that can host virtual machines. Shared repositories are discovered at the resource pool level and local repositories are discovered at each host level.
For a standalone host (one that is not part of a resource pool), PATROL for Citrix XenServer discovers all the virtual machines and storage repositories associated with the host. It also fetches the performance data, such as memory, network, processor, and disk details for the standalone host and the associated virtual machines.

Assess how your virtual and physical resources are being used in your virtual environment

Application classes and parameters enable you to determine the impact that resources assigned to your virtual machines have on your physical resources.

Collect inventory data

PATROL for Citrix XenServer collects inventory data for the hosts, virtual machines, and storage repositories in the Citrix XenServer environment.

Collect performance data

PATROL for Citrix XenServer collects performance data for the configured hosts and their virtual machines. After you add a host to the Citrix XenServer environment and if the host is part of a resource pool, you need to configure performance data collection account for all the hosts in that resource pool to collect performance data. If that host is not part of any resource pool, you do not need to configure performance data collection for that host. For more information about accessing performance data for hosts and virtual machines, see Accessing memory and CPU resource utilization data:.

Accessing memory and CPU resource utilization data

Using PATROL for Citrix XenServer, you can access performance data for hosts and virtual machines, measuring how virtual resources affect your physical resources.

The performance data that you can measure includes the following:

Allocation of CPU or memory resources that have been assigned to a host (XenServer) or a virtual machine.
Information about how the resources are being used by the hosts or virtual machines.
The rate of resource utilization, which is percentage of resources used versus the amount of resources allotted.

Monitor the migration of virtual machines from one host to another

Citrix XenServer environment supports live migration of a virtual machine from one XenServer to another. You can migrate virtual machines from one host to another manually depending on your requirement. In addition, the workload balancing server recommends virtual machine optimization depending on the availability of the resources. Depending on your requirement, you can apply the recommendation.
PATROL for Citrix XenServer monitors both types of migrations and displays the number of virtual machines that are migrated to and from a host during the last hour in the Host_VMInMigrations and Host_VMOutMigrations parameters for the host. For a virtual machine, it also displays the number of times that machine was migrated during the last hour. When a virtual machine is migrated, annotation of the VM_MigrationCount parameter displays the following information:

- Name of the host from where that virtual machine is migrated.
- Name of the host to which that virtual machine is migrated.
- Type of migration (manual or recommended by the workload balancing server).
  In addition, a custom event is generated every time a virtual machine is migrated. The event contains the same information as displayed by the annotation of the VM_MigrationCount parameter.

Handle pool master failover

Citrix XenServer environment continuously monitors all the hosts (XenServers) in a resource pool. If the pool master fails, another host is selected as the pool master so that the resource pool is managed without downtime. If pool master failover occurs, PATROL for Citrix XenServer detects the failover and takes the necessary actions to detect the new pool master and keeps the monitoring uninterrupted. For more information, see Pool master failover:

Pool master failover

PATROL for Citrix XenServer handles the following pool master failover scenarios:

PATROL Agent is running and the performance data collection account is configured for the hosts in the resource pool: In this case, the KM tries to the get the IP address of the new pool master. If IP address is found, the KM tries to find the host name corresponding to the IP address. If KM is able to find the host name, it connects to the new pool master and keeps the monitoring uninterrupted. If the KM is not able to find the IP address, the annotation report of the Pool_CollectionStatus parameter (under the VSM_XEN_RESOURCEPOOL application class) displays an appropriate error message. You need to modify the pool master details to start the monitoring.
If the PATROL Agent is running and the performance data collection account is not configured for the hosts in the resource pool: In this case, the KM is not able to find the credentials for the new pool master. Therefore, you need to configure the performance data collection account for the new pool master.
PATROL Agent is not running: In this case, at the startup of the PATROL Agent, inventory is not discovered and the new pool master IP address and DNS mapping is not done. Therefore, the KM is not able to find the IP address of the new pool master. You need to modify the pool master details to start the monitoring.

Access report

PATROL for Citrix XenServer includes the XenServer configuration report. For more information, see Viewing XenServer Configuration report:

Viewing XenServer Configuration report

In PATROL for Citrix XenServer, you can view the XenServer configuration report, which lists the following information:

XenServers for which performance data collection account is configured by using a regular expression.
XenServers for which performance data collection account is configured individually.The following figure shows a sample XenServer configuration report:

XenServer configuration report

Configure your Citrix XenServer environment using the BMC ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration console

With version 3.1.00 of BMC PATROL for Citrix XenServer and version 9.0.00 of BMC PATROL Agent, you have the capability to configure your Citrix XenServer environment by using the BMC ProactiveNet Central Monitoring Administration console. This configuration controls the transfer of monitoring data from BMC PATROL for Citrix XenServer to BMC ProactiveNet. For more information, see the BMC Online Technical Documentation portal at: https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/vsn3000/Home.

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