VMware vCenter
This article describes how to report on VMware vCenter consumption with Exivity
Introduction
When deploying the vCenter Extractor template for Exivity, it is required to configure a user with appropriate permissions. Additionally, the following process must be completed in order to report on vCenter consumption:
Create Exivity vCenter user
Configure an Extractor
Configure a Transformer
Create your Report
Exivity supports Out of the Box integration with vCenter version 6.5 and higher. For versions before 6.5, please contact support@exivity.com.
Create Exivity vCenter user
Exivity needs a user with a reader role in order to retrieve consumption data. Please follow this procedure:
In your vCenter Configuration Manager go to Configuration > Local Users and Groups > Users.
Create a new User, insert username and password.
Take note of the username and password, they will be used later on to configure Exivity
Click on Create.
Under Users and Groups, click Add, select the previously created user.
On the Select Users and Groups dialog, click Add, and then click OK.
Add a Reader role in the dropdown.
Finally, click on OK.
Configure an Extractor
To create the Extractor, browse to Data Sources > Extractors in the Exivity GUI and click the Create Extractor button. This will try to connect to the Exivity Github account to obtain a list of available templates. To create a new Extractor based on the vCenter template follow these steps:
Provide a name for the Extractor in the Name field above
Pick vCenter 6.5 (VM Inventory REST API) template from the list
Click the Create button.
Once you've created the Extractor, go to the Variables tab:
Fill in all required variables with the values that you gathered in the previous step. You have the option to encrypt a variable in case it contains sensitive information (i.e. password) by clicking the lock icon on the right of each variable field. When finished, click Update.
Once you've filled in all details, go to the Run tab to execute the Extractor clicking on Run Now:
If the variables are correct and your vCenter is reachable for Exivity, you should get a successful result.
Configure a Transformer
Once you have successfully run your vCenter Extractor, you can create a Transformer template via Data Sources > Transformers in the Exivity GUI. Browse to this location and click the Create Transformer button. Make any changes that you feel necessary and then select the run tab to execute it for a single day (today) as a test.
Create a Report
Once you have run both your Extractor and Transformer successfully create a Report Definition via the menu option Reports > Definitions:
Select your vCenter dataset, and your preferred Reporting Columns to break down the report (we recommend only cluster_name for the default report). When you are ready, click on Create.
Once you have created the report, you should then click the Prepare Report button after first making sure you have selected a valid date range from the date selector shown when preparing the report.
Once this is done you should be able to run any of the Accounts, Instances, Services or Invoices report types located under the Report menu for the date range you prepared the report for.
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