Integrating with VMware vROps


vRealize Operations (vROps) is an IT operations management platform of VMware, to monitor and manage the performance, capacity, and health of IT infrastructures, using the AI/ML technology.

Configure a connection with VMware vROps to view the alert, metric, and topology data from VMware vROps and derive actionable insights.

  
You can view the collected data in various BMC Helix application and derive the following benefits: 

BMC Helix application

Type of data collected or viewed

Benefits

BMC Helix Operations Management

Events (VMware vROps alerts received as events)

Use a centralized event view to monitor and manage events, perform event operations, and filter events. Identify actionable events from a large volume of event data by processing events.

For more information, see Monitoring events and reducing event noise.

BMC Helix Operations Management

Metrics

Detect anomalies and eliminate false positives. Use alarm and variate policies to detect anomalies through static and dynamic thresholds.

For more information, see Detecting anomalies by using static and dynamic thresholds..

BMC Helix Discovery

Topology

  • Import all CIs fromVMware vROpsin BMC Helix Discovery
  • Visualize automatically created service models in BMC Helix Discovery

For more information, see Managing your IT infrastructure.

BMC Helix AIOps

Situations (created from alerts)

  • Improve the mean time to resolve (MTTR) based on the situation-driven workflow
  • Lower the mean time to detect or discover (MTTD) and the time required for investigating tickets.

For more information, see Monitoring situations.

BMC Helix AIOps

Services (created from topology)

Perform root cause analysis of the impacted services.

For more information, see Performing causal analysis of impacted services.

As a tenant administrator, perform the following steps to configure a connection with VMware vROps, verify the connection, and view the collected data in various BMC Helix applications.

ConnectorSteps.png

Supported versions

BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations supports the following versions of VMware vROps for data collection:

  •  8.18.2 (Events, Metrics)
  •  8.5.0 (Events, Metrics, Topology)

Task 1: To plan for the connection

  •  Depending on the location of the third-party product (SaaS, on-premises), choose one or more BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations deployment modes and review the corresponding port requirements. For information about various deployment modes and port requirements, see
  •  Based on the deployment mode, use the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations SaaS deployment or the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway or both. For more information about the gateway
  •  The on-premises gateway must be able to reach the third-party product on the required port (default is 443).
  •  To collect topology data from third-party by using BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations , BMC Helix Discovery must already contain the third-party entities. When entities will be collected by BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations later after configuring the connection, the existing entities in BMC Helix Discovery are updated with external_id and any other additional attributes.

In the preceding list, third-party product refers to VMware vROps.

Task 2: To configure the connection with VMware vROps

  1. Depending on the deployment mode, perform one of the following steps to access BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations:
    • BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations SaaS – Log on to BMC Helix Portal, and click Launch on BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations.
    • BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway – Use the following URL to access BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations: https://<hostName>:<portNumber>/swpui
  2. On the CONNECTORS tab, click add_icon.pngin the SOURCES panel.
  3. Click the VMWare vROps tile

  4. Specify the following details for the source connection:
    1. Specify a unique instance name. 

      Best practice
      We recommend that you specify the instance name in the following format: 

      <sourceType>_<sourceControllerServerName>_<InstanceQualifier>

      The instance qualifier helps you to distinguish the multiple instances configured from the same source server. For example, you can name your instances as vROps_Host_PROD, vROps_Host_TEST, and so on.

    2. Specify the VMware vROps host name and port number (default value is 443).
    3. Make sure that the HTTPS check box is selected to indicate that you plan to use an https connection to the VMware vROps host.

      Warning

      We recommend that you do not select the Allow Unsigned Certificate option in a production environment.  You might want to select this option to allow unsigned certificates in a test environment. See the VMware vROps documentation to learn how to install SSL certificates.

    4. Specify the number of maximum concurrent REST API requests that should be executed during a collection schedule (de fault value is 5).
    5. Specify the user name and passwordMake sure that the specified user can access the VMware vROps REST API.
    6. Specify the auth source name to authenticate users for accessing the VMware vROps REST API.
      The value in this field must match the auth source name that you specify when logging into the VMware vROps UI. For example, if the auth source name for an LDAP user for logging into VMware vROps is qa1.pun-vrops.abc.com, enter qa1.pun-vrops.abc.com.

      Important

      If you are using a local auth source, leave this field blank.

    7. Specify the time in seconds, after which no attempt should be made to establish a connection (default value is 30).
    8. Click Proxy and specify if you want to configure a proxy server. If yes, specify the host name and port number (default value is 8888).
       
  5. Click VALIDATE AND CREATE.
    The specified connection details are validated, and the corresponding source connection is created in the Source Connection list.
  6. Select the source connection that you created from the list if it is not selected already.

    Important

    The destination host connection is created and configured automatically for each tenant when the source connection is created.

  7. Ensure that the options for the datatypes for which you want to collect data are selected.
  8. Click a data type and specify the configuration parameters in the Collectors section as described in the following table:

    Parameter Name

    Description

    Data Type

     

    vROPS Managed Alerts

    vROPS Managed Metrics

    vROPS Managed Topology

    Collection Schedule

     

    Select one of the following options to specify the data collection frequency:

    • Duration: When you select this option, data collection happens constantly. Specify the schedule in minutes, hours, or day. 
      Default: 5 minutes
      Example:
      Collection Schedule
      is set to 5 mins.
      Current time is 00:30.

      If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is collected every 5 mins, first at 00:30 and next at 00:35, and so on.  
    • Cron schedule: When you select this option, data collection happens periodically. Specify the schedule by using a cron expression.
      A cron expression is a string consisting of five subexpressions (fields) that describe individual details of the schedule.  
      These fields, separated by blank spaces, can contain any of the allowed values with various combinations of the allowed characters for that field.
      Default: */5 * * * * (evaluates to 5 minutes)

      Format:
      Minutes Hours (24-hour format) Day of Month Month Day of Week

      Example:
      If you specify 10 15 3 7 * , data is collected at 15:10 hours every third day in the month of July.

    For more information about how this parameter affects data collection, see Data collection schedule.

    ✅️

     

    ✅️

     

    ✅️

     

    Data Collection Window

    Specify the historical time period (in minutes) from the current time for which the data should be collected.

    Default: 5 minutes

    Example:

    Collection Schedule is set to 5 mins.
     Data Collection Window is set to 5 mins.
     Current time is 00:30.

    If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is collected first at 00:30 for the interval 00:25 - 00:30, and next at 00:35 for the interval 00:30 - 00:35, and so on.

    For more information about how this parameter affects data collection, see Data collection window.

    ✅️

     

    ✅️

     

    ✅️

     

    Data Latency

    Specify the time (in minutes) by which the data time window should be shifted back on the timeline.

    This parameter is useful in delayed data availability situations.

    Default: 0 minutes

    Example:

    Collection Schedule is set to 5 mins.
     Data Collection Window is set to 10 mins.
    Data Latency is set to 2 mins.
     Current time is 00:30.

    If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is collected first at 00:30 for the interval 00:18 to 00:28 and next at 00:35 for the interval 0:23 to 00:33, and so on.

    For more information about how this parameter affects data collection, see Data latency.

    ✅️

     

    ✅️

     

    ✅️

     

    Extract data for Adapter Kinds

    Ensure that VMWARE is selected.

    Supported adapter kind: VMWARE

    ✅️

    ✅️

    ✅️

    Collect metrics including entity hierarchy

     

    Select this option to collect and view VMware vROps entity data in a hierarchical manner.

    Important: Before using this option, make sure to raise a support request for device cleanup in BMC Helix Operations Management.

    Use the Resource Kinds and Resource Name Regex options along with the Collect metrics including entity hierarchy option to collect data for the required resources.

    Using the combination of Collect metrics including entity hierarchy, Resource Kinds, and Resource Name Regex, data is collected in a following manner:

    • No option is selected: No metrics data is collected.
    • Only Resource Kinds and Resource Name Regex are specified: Metrics data for only selected resources are collected.
    • Only the Collect metrics including entity hierarchy option is selected: Metrics data for only VMwareAdapter Instance, ClusterComputeResource, Datacenter, and Datastore will be collected.
    • All the options are selected: Metrics data for the selected resources are collected. By default, metrics data for VMwareAdapter Instance, ClusterComputeResource, Datacenter, and Datastore will also be collected.
      Examples:
      • When the VMwareAdapter Instance resource is selected, metrics data for VMwareAdapter Instance, ClusterComputeResource, Datacenter, and Datastore are collected. The specified regular expression applies to only the VMwareAdapter Instances resources.
      • When the Datacenter resource is selected, metrics data for VMwareAdapter Instance, ClusterComputeResource, Datacenter, and Datastore are collected. The specified regular expression applies to only the Datacenter resources.
      • When the HostSystem resource is selected, metrics data for HostSystem along with VMwareAdapter Instance, ClusterComputeResource, Datacenter, and Datastore are collected. The specified regular expression applies to only the HostSystem resources.
      • When the VirtualMachine resource is selected, metrics data for VirtualMachine along with VMwareAdapter Instance, ClusterComputeResource, Datacenter, and Datastore are collected. The specified regular expression applies to only the  VirtualMachine resources.

    Using the combination of Collect metrics including entity hierarchy, Resource Kinds, and Resource Name Regex, metrics data in BMC Helix Operations Management is displayed in a following manner:

    • All the options are selected: Data is collected depending upon the resource kind and regex specified.Separate devices are created for HostSystem, Virtual Machine, and VMwareAdapter instances resources. 

      Datacenter, Datastore, and ClusterComputeResource resources are the entities of VMwareAdapter instances resource.

      Separate devices are not created for Datacenter, Datastore, and ClusterComputeResource resource kinds because they are the entities of VMwareAdapter instances resources. 

      Each VMwareAdapter instance device will contains the metrics data of its entity resources in a hierarchical manner.
      vROPs_Hierarchy.png

       

    • Only Resource Kinds and Resource Name Regex are specified: Data is collected depending upon the resource kind and regex specified. For each resource separate device is created.

    Important: We do not recommend creating two connectors, one with the option selected and other without it. Two separate connectors might lead data to be stored into duplicate devices that could increase the data load in BMC Helix Operations Management.

    ❌️

    ✅️

    ❌️

    Resource Kinds

    • To collect alert, metrics, and topology data, select at least one option from this list.
    • To collect metrics data, click icon_addResourceKind.pngto add a slot. Select the Resource Kinds.
      You need to select only one resource kind in each slot to collect metrics filtered by resource names that match a specified 
      regular expression (regex). By default, the HostSystem option remains selected. You can change it by selecting another option from the list. 
      You can add multiple slots with different combinations of resource kind and regex. 

    The following resource kinds are supported:

    • HostSystem
    • VirtualMachine
    • ClusterComputeResource 
    • Datacenter 
    • Datastore 
    • VMwareAdapter Instance 

    For information about collected metrics for host systems and virtual machines, see the following sections in the vRealize Operations documentation:

    • Host System Metrics
    • Virtual Machine Metrics
    • Calculated Metrics

    ✅️

    ✅️

    ✅️

    Resource Name Regex

     

    Specify the regular expression for the resource name. Metrics are collected for the resources whose names match the regular expression.

    Examples:

    • To collect metrics for the resource names starting with aus, specify the regex as aus-.
    • To collect metrics for the resource names ending with aus, specify the regex as .*aus$
    • To collect metrics for all resources, specify the regex as .*

    Important: You can specify multiple regular expressions for the same resource kind. However, make sure that regular expressions are not conflicting. For example, do not enter, center-* and [^center].*. The former expression collects metrics for the resource names whose names start with center. The later collects metrics for the resource names whose names do not start with the center.

    ❌️

    ✅️

    ❌️

    Include Resource Properties

     

    Select this option if you want to collect the resource properties data (granular level attributes data), which is required for topology creation in BMC Helix Discovery.

    Important: Data collection might take longer for the first time if you select this option.

    ✅️

    ✅️

    ✅️

    Batch Parallelism

    Specify the number of threads that you want to be executed in parallel to collect data.

    ❌️

    ✅️

    ❌️

    Criticality

     

    Specify the criticality for the alert data, for example, Critical, Warning, and Information.

    Data for all criticality levels is collected if you don't specify any criticality.  

    ✅️

    ❌️

    ❌️

    Alert Type

    .

    Specify the type of alert data you want to collect, for example, Administrative and Network alerts.

    The connector collects all alerts if you don't specify any alert type. This list is updated automatically from VMware vROps.

    ✅️

    ❌️

    ❌️

    Alert Sub Type

     

    Specify the sub-type for the selected Alert Type to collect alerts based on the specified type and sub-type, for example, Availability and Compliance.

    The connector collects all alerts if you do not specify any alert sub-type. 

    This list is updated automatically from VMware vROps.

    ✅️

    ❌️

    ❌️

  9. Click CREATE COLLECTORS to create the required collector streams for the selected data types.
  10. Click a data type and specify the configuration parameters in the Distributors section as described in the following table:

    Parameter Name

    Description

       

    Max Batching Size

    Specify the maximum number of data items to send in a single POST request to the destination API. The batch size depends on the destination’s ability to buffer the incoming data.

    Default: 250

    vROPS Managed AlertsvROPS Managed MetricsvROPS Managed Topology

    Max Batching Delay

    Specify the maximum time (in seconds) to wait before building a batch and processing.

    Default: 3 seconds

    ✅️✅️✅️

    Base Retry Delay

    Specify the initial time (in seconds) for which to wait before retrying to build a batch and processing. The waiting time increases in the following sequence: n1, n2, n3, and so on, where n indicates the number of seconds.

    For example, if you set the value to 2 seconds, retry is performed after 2, 4, 8, 16, ... seconds.

    Default: 2 seconds

    ✅️✅️✅️

    Max Intra-Retry Delay

    Specify the maximum limit for the base retry delay. For example, if you set the value of this parameter to 60 seconds and the value of the Base Retry Delay parameter to 2 seconds, retries would be performed 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 64,...seconds later again.

    Default: 60 seconds

    ✅️✅️✅️

    Max Retry Duration

    Specify the total time for retrying a delivery. For REST destinations, a delivery is a batch of data items in one POST request. 

    For example, if you set the value of this parameter to 8 hours, and the value of the Base Retry Delay parameter to 2 seconds, requests are sent for 2+4+8+16+32+64+132... until 8 hours in total duration is reached. After that, no subsequent attempts are made to retry the delivery.

    The assumption here is that if there is an outage or other issue with the destination tool, recovery should take less than the value of the Max Retry Duration parameter to complete.

    Default: 5 minutes

    ✅️✅️✅️

    Attributes To Be Dropped When Updating Events

    Specify the event attributes that you do not want to get updated in BMC Helix Operations Managementwhen updating the event data. 

    All event attributes are collected from the source to BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations, but whatever attributes you specify here are not sent to BMC Helix Operations Management, while updating the event data.  

    For example, if you do not want event's severity, source address, source category, and sub-category to be updated in BMC Helix Operations Management, you need to specify those attributes as severity,source_address,source_category,source_subcategory, in a comma-separated format.

    ✅️✅️✅️
    Device Filters and Metrics filtersDevice and Metrics filters help remove unwanted data and send only the required data to BMC Helix applications. The data is filtered by using the regular expression (regex) provided for device name, monitor name, monitor type, and metrics, and is sent to BMC Helix applications.
    Device Name RegexSpecify the regex for the device name. Metrics for devices whose names match the regex are sent to BMC Helix applications.
    Examples:
    • To send data for the devices that contain the string Linux in their names, specify the regex as .*Linux.*.
    • To send data for the devices that contain the string Cisco and Linux, specify the regex as (?=.*Cisco)(?=.*Linux).*.
    • To send the data for the devices whose names start with the string Linux, specify the regex as ^Linux.*. 
    Important:
    If you are using multiple regex, make sure that the regex do not conflict.
    For example, do not enter .*Linux.* and ^(?!.*Linux).* together. The former regex sends metrics for the devices whose names contain the string Linux, while the latter regex sends metrics for the devices whose names do not contain the string Linux.
    ❌️✅️❌️
    Monitor Name RegexSpecify the regex for the monitor name. Metrics for the monitors whose names match the regex are sent to BMC Helix applications.
    Examples:
    • To send data for the monitors that contain the string system in their names, specify the regex as .*system.*.
    • To filter out the data for monitors that contain system in their name, specify the regex as ^(?!.*system).*.
    • To send the data for monitors whose names start with the string system, specify the regex as ^system.*.
    Important:
    If you are using multiple regex, make sure that the regex do not conflict.
    For example, do not enter .*system.* and ^(?!.*system).* together. The former regex sends metrics for the monitors whose names contain the string system, while the latter regex sends metrics for the monitors whose names do not contain the string system.
    ❌️✅️❌️
    Monitor Type RegexSpecify the regex for the monitor type. Metrics are sent to BMC Helix applications for the monitor type that matches the regex.
    Examples:
    • To send data for the monitor type that contains the string health, specify the regex as .*health.*.
    • To send data for the monitor type that starts with the string health, specify the regex as ^health.*.
    • To filter out the monitor type that contains the string health, specify the regex as ^(?!.*health).*.
    Important:
    If you are using multiple regex, make sure that the regex do not conflict.
    For example, do not enter, ^health.* and ^(?!.*health).* together. The former regex collects metrics for the monitor type whose names contain the string health, while the latter regex collects data for the monitor types whose names do not contain the string health.
    ❌️✅️❌️
    Metrics RegexSpecify the regex for the metrics. Metrics are sent to BMC Helix applications whose names match the regex.
    Examples:
    • To send metrics that contain the string avg in their names, specify the regex as .*avg.*.
    • To filter out the metrics that contain the string avg, specify the regex as ^(?!.*avg).*.
    • To send metrics whose names start with the string avg, specify the regex as ^avg.*.
    Important:
    If you are using multiple regex, make sure that the regex do not conflict.
    For example, do not enter, .*avg.* and ^(?!.*avg).* together. The former regex sends metrics whose name contains the string avg, while the latter regex sends metrics whose name does not contain the string avg.
    ❌️✅️❌️
    Events FiltersEvents filters help remove unwanted data and send only the required events to BMC Helix applications. The data is filtered by using the regular expression (regex) provided for host, message, and detailed message and is sent to BMC Helix applications.
    Host RegexSpecify the regex for the host name. Events for the hosts whose names match the regex are sent to BMC Helix applications.
    Examples:
    • To send data for the host name /inventory/pricing, specify the regex as ^/inventory/pricing$.
    • To filter out data whose host name contains the string inventory, specify the regex as ^(?!.*inventory).*.
    • To send the data for the host whose names start with the string inventory, specify the regex as ^inventory.*. 
    Important:
    If you are using multiple regex, make sure that the regex do not conflict.
    For example, do not enter .*(inventory).* and ^(?!.*inventory).* together. The former regex sends events for the hosts whose names contain the string inventory, while the latter regex sends events for the hosts whose names do not contain the string inventory.
    ✅️❌️❌️
    Message RegexSpecify the regex for the event message. Messages for the events that match the regex are sent to BMC Helix applications.
    Examples:
    • To send events whose messages contain the string HRV alert, specify the regex as .*HRV alert*.
    • To filter out the events whose message contains the string HRV alert, specify the regex as ^(?!.*HRV alert).*.
    • To send events whose message starts with the string HRV alert, specify the regex as ^(HRV alert).*. 
    Important:
    If you are using multiple regex, make sure that the regex do not conflict.
    For example, do not enter .*HRV alert.* and ^(?!.*HRV alert).* together. The former regex sends events whose message contains the string HRV alert, while the latter regex sends events whose message do not contain the string HRV alert.
    ✅️❌️❌️
    Detailed Message RegexSpecify the regex for the detailed message. Detailed messages for the events that match the regex are sent to BMC Helix applications.
    Examples:​​
    • To send events whose detailed message contains the string ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s, specify the regex as .*ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s.*.
    • To filter out the events whose detailed message contains the string ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s, specify the regex as ^(?!.*ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s).*.
    • To send the events whose detailed message starts with the string ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s, specify the regex as ^(ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s).*.
    Important:
    If you are using multiple regex, make sure that the regex do not conflict.
    For example, do not enter .*ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s.* and ^(?!.*ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s).* together. The former regex sends events whose detailed message contains the string ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s, while the latter regex sends events whose message do not contain the string ci_display_name: easyTravel-k8s.
    ✅️❌️❌️
  11. Click CREATE DISTRIBUTORS to create the required distributor streams for the selected data types.
  12. Click one of the following buttons:

    • SAVE STREAM: Click this button if you want to edit the integration details before creating the instance. After you save the stream, the connector that you just created is listed in the SOURCES panel. Move the slider to the right to start the data stream.
    • SAVE AND START STREAM: Click this button if you want to save the integration details and start receiving data immediately.

    Important
    For a data stream, the Run Latency (max/avg), Items (Avg per Run), and Last Run Status columns on the Streams page might show the status as No Runs during the data collection process. After completion of the process, these columns are updated with an appropriate status.​​​​​​

    For more information about data streams, see Starting-or-stopping-data-streams. 

Task 3: To verify the connection

In BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations , on the SOURCES panel, confirm that the data streams for the integration you created are running. Data streaming is indicated by moving colored arrows.

VmWarevrOps_Streams_224.png

  • A moving dark blue arrow (EventsStream_Icon.png) indicates that the event stream is running. Event data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.
  • A moving red arrow (MetricsStream_Icon.png) indicates that the metric stream is running. Metric data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.
  • A moving light blue arrow (TopologyStream_Icon.png) indicates the topology stream is running. Topology data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.

To view data in BMC Helix applications

View data collected from VMware vRops in multiple BMC Helix applications.

To view events in BMC Helix Operations Management

  1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, select Monitoring > Events.
  2. Filter the events by the VropsAlert class.
    VMWare vROPs.png

Incoming events from VMware vROps are processed in BMC Helix Operations Management through a set of deduplication rules to determine whether the incoming event is a duplicate event or a new event. For more information, see Event-deduplication-suppression-and-closure-for-reducing-event-noise.

For information about events, see Monitoring and managing events..

To view metrics in BMC Helix Operations Management

  1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, select Monitoring > Devices.
  2. Click the links for the required device.
  3. On the Monitors tab, click the required monitor.
    The Performance Overview tab shows the metrics graph.
    vROPs_Metrics.png 

    For information about metrics, see Viewing collected data

BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations identifies all the VMware vROps KPI metrics. All the KPI metrics are prefixed with KPI in BMC Helix Operations Management. You can use these metrics for baselining.

Click here to view the list of KPI metrics
  • VirtualMachine
    •  usagemhz_average
    • used_summation
    • usage_average
    •  actual.capacity
    • total_usage
    • used
    • mem.free_latest
    • reservation_used
    •  swapped_average
    • vmMemoryDemand
  • VMwareAdapter Instance
    •  usagemhz_average
    • vm_usagemhz_average
    • usage_average
    • actual.capacity
    • total_usage
    • total_need
    • number_vc_events
  • Datastore
    • totalLatency_average
    • usage_average
    • used
    • disktota
    • freespace
  • Datacenter
    • usagemhz_average
    • usage_average
    • actual.capacity
    • used
    • total_need
  • ClusterComputeResource
    • usagemhz_average
    • usage_average
    • actual.capacity
    • diskused
    • swapused_average
    • total_need
  • HostSystem
    • usagemhz_average
    • used_summation
    • utilization_average
    • usage_average
    • actual.capacity
    • total_usage
    • swapused_average
    • total_need
    • used

  

To view the topology data in BMC Helix Discovery

In BMC Helix Discovery, select Explore > Data, and click <count> Import Records in the Miscellaneous section. The Import Record List page shows the CI records received from VMware vROps. For information about records, see Managing your IT infrastructure.

To view services and situations in BMC Helix AIOps

Before you view services and situations in BMC Helix AIOps, create a Business Service model in BMC Helix Discovery. For information about creating models, see Managing models..

In BMC Helix AIOps, on the Overview page, view the services and situations for the event and topology data received from VMware vROps.

Marking devices for deletion in BMC Helix Operations Management

If the devices in BMC Helix Operations Management are not collecting any metrics data for a particular time period, you can mark them for deletion by using the shouldSupportTopologyLifecycle and itemExpiryDuration parameters.

For example, if you want to mark devices for deletion that do not collect any metrics data in 5 hours in BMC Helix Operations Management, set the shouldSupportTopologyLifecycle parameter to true and set the value of itemExpiryDuration parameter to 5 hours.

Important

  • For BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations to identify the device for deletion, a monitored device must receive metrics data at least once after configuring the settings. When this device stops receiving data, it is marked for deletion.
  • If a monitored device stops receiving metrics data before configuring the settings, it is not considered for deletion.

To mark the devices for deletion:

  1. Click Configure Mediatoricon_gear.png adjacent to VMware vROps.
  2. Expand the VMWARE VROPS METRICS section.
  3. Click COLLECTOR CONFIGURATION.
  4. Enable the Edit JSON option to view the collection configuration parameters in JSON format.
  5. Set the value of the shouldSupportTopologyLifecycle parameter to true and then click SAVE.
    By default, the value is set to false.
  6. Click DISTRIBUTER CONFIGURATION.
  7. Enable the Edit JSON option to view the distributer configuration parameters in JSON format.
  8. Edit the itemExpiryDuration parameter as shown in the following example: 

    "itemExpiryDuration":{
    "unit": "HOURS"
    "value": 5
    }
    • The valid values for unit are SECONDS, MINUTES, HOURS, and DAYS.
    • The default value for itemExpiryDuration is 30 days and minimum value is 1 hour.
    • If itemExpiryDuration is set to less than 1 hour, BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations considers the value to be 1 hour.
  9. Click SAVE to save the settings. 
  10. Click SAVE & CLOSE.

Mapping between VMware vROps and BMC Helix Operations Management

The following table shows the mapping between VMware vROps and BMC Helix Operations Management:

Event attribute

VMware vROps Status/ State

BMC Helix Operations Management

Status/ state

ACTIVE/ OPEN

Open

ACTIVE/ ASSIGNED

Assigned

ACTIVE/ SUSPENDED

Acknowledged

ACTIVE/ SUPPRESSED

Closed

ACTIVE/ Any state except listed above

Open

UPDATED, NEW/ Any state 

Open

CANCELLED/ Any state

Closed

Severity

Critical

Critical

Immediate

Major

Warning

Warning

Info

Information

None, Auto

Unknown

 

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