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Configure the VMware vSphere connector

The VMware vSphere connector uses an API connection.

Prerequisites​

Access to the VMware vSphere Web Services SDK of the vSphere server is required.

To collect as much information as possible from each VM, it is recommended to install VMware tools on the virtual machines. To ensure acceptable data quality, VMware tools should be kept updated. Without an up-to-date installation of VMware tools, Flexera cannot guarantee satisfactory data output.

Procedure​

In Snow Integration Manager, add the VMware vSphere connector and configure the settings.

  1. Enter a Site name for this collection of vSphere servers.

    This setting will override the Global site id.

  2. To set up a proxy server, select the desired proxy in Proxy. Proxies can be configured in the Proxy profiles tab in the Snow Integration Manager main interface.

  3. To add one or more vSphere servers to scan for virtual machines, select Add.

  4. On the vSphere Server window, enter the Connection name for this connection.

  5. To access the server’s VMware vSphere Web Services SDK , enter the Webservice url and the user credentials in User and Password. For details on the user type and the roles required, see Users and Roles requirement.

  6. By default, virtual machine templates are excluded when data is gathered. To include the templates, clear the Exclude VM Templates checkbox.

  7. By default, hosts that are powered off or in maintenance mode are included when data is gathered. To exclude hosts that are powered off or in maintenance mode, select  Exclude Powered Off Hosts.

  8. By default, Report VMs individually is not enabled. Read Report VMs individually before you enable this feature.

  9. Datacenter naming convention has by default [DCC name] / [Cluster name] enabled. This will in most cases give a correct representation of the infrastructure in the licensing tools, and is the recommended setting.

    caution

    The Legacy DCC naming option was removed in Snow Integration Manager 5.14 and reinstated in 5.30. Only change from the default setting to this option is if you are upgrading from earlier versions and need to continue using user-defined names.

    To use the legacy naming convention, supported in earlier versions of the connector, select Legacy DCC naming and choose from these options below:

    • DCC name

    • Cluster name

    • User defined

  10. To verify the connection, select Test.

  11. To save the settings, select OK or select Cancel and close.

Report VMs individually​

Report VMs individually is a feature that is introduced with SIM 5.16.

In Snow Integration Manager 5.15 and earlier, the VMware connector creates one inventory file per physical host. With Snow Integration Manager 5.16 and later, if Report VMs individually is enabled, the VMware connector creates one additional inventory file per VM. As with Snow Integration Manager 5.15 and earlier, an inventory file is also created per host.

This feature is not enabled by default.

caution

Only enable the feature when its functionality is fully understood and required and when Snow Inventory Agent cannot be used. Should you feel the need to discuss how this feature works in relation to how your Snow environment is configured, please contact your technical reference person at Flexera before enabling the feature.

Report VMs individually enables the ability to inventory basic hardware data and the operating system, if it is reported. To obtain full hardware and software inventory of a VM, it is recommended to install Snow Inventory Agent on it.

note

  • Please read Technical Description: Snow Inventory and User Guide: Snow Inventory Server in regards to identity information and the Hostname normalization feature to prevent computer duplication. Note that Hostname normalization is included with Snow Inventory Server 6.1.0 and later.

  • For full datacenter inventory, a complete datacenter structure, and all software that is installed on each VM, install Snow Inventory Agent on each VM, and do not enable Report VMs individually.

  • To inventory with focus, only on operating systems that are used in a datacenter, including complete datacenter structure, and limiting the software inventory to operating systems, do not install Snow Inventory Agent on VMs, and enable Report VMs individually.

Scan status report​

When a successful scan of virtual machines is completed, the inventory file gets an extra tag called ScanStatusReport in this form:

<ScanStatusReport ElementName="VirtualMachine" Result="Success"/>