Troubleshooting

This section addresses some frequently asked questions about BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere monitoring.

Can I install BMC PATROL Agent on VMware vCenter Server computer?

Yes, you can install it. However, BMC does not recommend this architecture. BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere uses remote monitoring architecture.

Which version of BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere supports Linux?

BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere versions 3.0.00 and later support Linux.

Can I monitor multiple VMware vCenter Servers by using a single BMC PATROL Agent?

It depends on the VMware vCenter Server inventory. For large VMware vCenter Server environments, BMC recommends you to monitor single VMware vCenter Server by using one or more dedicated BMC PATROL Agents.

Which are the different processes spawned by BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere, and how to identify them?

BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere per VMware vCenter Server spawns two Java processes for the following actions:

• Inventory and performance data collection 
• Event data collection

You can identify these processes by using the process command line arguments. On Windows, you can use Windows Task Manager or a third-party utility such as Process Explorer to view the process command line arguments. Typical process command line arguments are listed as follows:

Inventory and performance Java process arguments

"C:\PATROL\Patrol3\\jre64\bin\java.exe" –Xmx3200M -Dlog.Prefix="C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\log\<PATROL_Agent_Host_Name>-<vCenter_Server_Name>" -Duser.language=en -Duser.region=US -cp C:\PATROL\Patrol3\Patrol3\vsm/bin/com.bmc.patrol-sdk-1.1.00.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\bin\vsm.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\Patrol3\vsm/bin/vijava-5.1.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm/bin/dom4j-1.6.1.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm/bin/javax.xml.bind.jar com.bmc.patrol.common.RemoteCollector

Event collector Java process arguments

"C:\PATROL\Patrol3\\jre64\bin\java.exe" -Duser.language=en -Duser.region=US -cp "C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\bin\com.bmc.patrol-sdk-1.1.00.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\bin\vsm.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\bin\vijava-5.1.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\bin\dom4j-1.6.1.jar;C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\bin\javax.xml.bind.jar"

VSMEventCollector https://<vCenter_Server_Name>:443/sdk bpmvs "C:\PATROL\Patrol3\vsm\log\VSMVimCollector_evt_<vCenter_Server_Name>_443_%g.log"
|WARNING -weekevent -t 1360325050000_1360929850000

In case of multiple VMware vCenter Servers monitoring on a single BMC PATROL Agent, use vCenter_Server_Name field of the argument.

What are the minimum VMware vCenter Server user privileges required to monitor VMware vCenter Server using BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere?

To monitor entire VMware vCenter Server, BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere requires a read-only user who has access to the highest level of the VMware vCenter Server tree. To set user account settings, perform the following steps:

1. Log on to the VMware vSphere Client.
2. Select the highest object in the left hand Tree view of a VMware vCenter Server.
3. On the Permissions tab, add the operating system user account that the KM will use to access the web services of VMware vSphere, and set read-only role for the user name.

All the objects under the highest object to which the user has access will be monitored if the user does not have access to the root object of VMware vCenter Server.

What is the difference between Enterprise mode and Cloud Lifecycle Management mode?

If you select the Enterprise mode to monitor data, the entire set of application classes and parameters available with the BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere is discovered. 

If you select the Cloud Lifecycle Management mode to monitor data, a limited set of application classes and parameters that collect only aggregate data is discovered. This mode also aids to improve your scalability. For a list of application classes and their associated parameters available in the Cloud Lifecycle Management mode, see BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere Online documentation.

Can I upgrade to the new Java version?

BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere 3.2.00 is certified with JRE 1.6.0_26. Minor upgrades from Oracle are typically backward compatible (for example, 1.6.0_39). Check with the development team if you want to run BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere with a different JRE version.

After integrating with BMC ProactiveNet Server, what do I do if the data does not show up?

For more information, see the Self-Help document ID KA365692 in the BMC Knowledge Base.

How do I verify whether my monitoring user account is set up correctly to monitor VMware vCenter Server by using BMC PATROL for VMware vSphere?

Connect to a vCenter server by using VMware vSphere Client, and verify whether the connection brings you the VMware vCenter Server inventory that you want to monitor.

Enable or disable debug

If you encounter certain problems using this KM, BMC Support might request that you enable the debug. Follow one of the three options to enable debug.

Using PATROL configuration variable

    Access the /VSM/Global/DEBUG pconfig variable.

    Set this variable to 1 to enable the debug, and set to 0 to disable the debug.

    Logs will saved in $PATROL_HOME\Patrol3\vsm\log