4.1 Alarms

Use this Knowledge Script to monitor vCenter alarms, which are actions that are triggered when a condition or set of conditions occurs within vCenter. A default set of alarms is defined for vCenter, but vCenter administrators can also define custom alarms.

This script raises an event when monitored vCenter alarms are triggered, acknowledged, and cleared. You can also raise events for currently triggered alarms. You can filter the vCenter alarms by alarm type and alarm name. Use the Objects tab to define the resources you want to monitor.

NOTE:VMware vCenter 4.1 or earlier does not support the ability to generate events when a vCenter alert or warning alarm is acknowledged or cleared.

A list of VirtualCenter_Alarms events with the same short event message will not display individual event details. By default, AppManager collapses event details based on the object and the short event message. If the short event message is the same for a series of events, the list of events will collapse. To view the individual event details, disable event collapsing for that specific Alarms job.

In addition, you can use the VirtualCenter_Alarms Knowledge Script to monitor changes to your ESX and ESXi hardware. For more information, see Section 4.2, Using the Alarms Script to Monitor ESX and ESXi Hardware.

Each event report shows the following information:

  • Target

  • Category

  • Description

  • User name

  • Time on vCenter when the alarm occurred

NOTE:The first time you run this script, you may experience a short delay before actual monitoring begins. This delay is caused by the various initialization processes that must be carried out by the Alarms script.

4.1.1 Resource Objects

Run the Discovery_VirtualCenter Knowledge Script on the objects you want to monitor before running this Knowledge Script. You can also monitor objects that the Discovery_VirtualCenter Knowledge Script does not discover, such as distributed virtual port groups and distributed virtual switches.

You can run this script on the following resource objects:

  • vCenter server

  • Clusters

  • Datacenters

  • Datastores

  • Hosts

  • Resource pools

  • Virtual appliances (vApps)

  • Virtual machines

  • Folders (you can only monitor the folder objects found under the Host & Clusters parent folder in the TreeView pane)

  • Distributed virtual port groups (not displayed in the TreeView pane)

  • Distributed virtual switches (not displayed in the TreeView pane)

  • Network (not displayed in the TreeView pane)

  • VMware distributed virtual switch (not displayed in the TreeView pane)

4.1.2 Default Schedule

The default interval for this script is Asynchronous. After you start the Knowledge Script, its job status appears as Running.

4.1.3 Setting Parameter Values

Set the following parameters as needed:

Parameter

How to Set It

General Settings

Job Failure Notification

Event severity when AppManager fails to log in

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which AppManager cannot log in to vCenter. The default is 5.

Event severity when Alarms job fails unexpectedly

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which the Alarms job fails. The default is 5.

Event severity when filter settings contain conflicts

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which the filter settings contain conflicts. The default is 15.

Event severity when Alarms job has delayed start

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which the Alarms job does not start when it is expected to start. The default is 25.

Additional Settings

Event Details

Event detail format

Select HTML Table or Plain Text as the format for the detail in an event message. The default is HTML Table.

Monitor vCenter Alarms

Event Notification

Raise events when host is in maintenance mode?

If you want to suppress the alarms while the host is in maintenance mode, then deselect this checkbox. The default is selected.

Alert Alarms

Raise event if vCenter alert alarm is triggered?

Set to Yes to raise an event if a vCenter alert alarm that matches your criteria is triggered. The default is Yes.

Event severity when vCenter alert alarm is triggered

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which a vCenter alert alarm is triggered. The default is 5.

Raise event if vCenter alert alarm is acknowledged?

Set to Yes to raise an event if a vCenter alert alarm that matches your criteria is acknowledged. The default is unselected.

Event severity when vCenter alert alarm is acknowledged

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which a vCenter alert alarm is acknowledged. The default is 25.

Raise event if vCenter alert alarm is cleared?

Set to Yes to raise an event if a vCenter alert alarm that matches your criteria is cleared. The default is unselected.

Event severity when vCenter alert alarm is cleared

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which a vCenter alert alarm is cleared. The default is 25.

Raise events for currently triggered vCenter alert alarms

Set to Yes to raise events for vCenter alert alarms that are in a triggered state when this job first starts. The default is unselected.

Event severity for currently triggered vCenter alert alarms

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of events for vCenter alert alarms that are in a triggered state when this job first starts. The default is 5.

Alarm name

If you want to raise events on specific alarms, provide the names of the vCenter alarms you want to monitor. AppManager raises an event when an alarm matching your type, name, and status criteria is triggered. If you do not enter an alarm name, AppManager raises events for all alert alarms.

The asterisk (*) and (?) are acceptable wildcards. Separate multiple names with a comma, without any spaces. This parameter is not case-sensitive.

NOTE:You must enter at least a * for this script to run. Do not leave this parameter blank.

Also raise events on unassociated TreeView objects?

Select Yes to raise an event for unassociated objects in the TreeView pane. The default is unselected.

NOTE:To monitor a datastore cluster object, select Yes for this parameter.

Warning Alarms

Raise event if vCenter warning alarm is triggered?

Set to Yes to raise an event if a vCenter warning alarm that matches your criteria is triggered. The default is Yes.

Event severity when vCenter warning alarm is triggered

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which a vCenter warning alarm is triggered. The default is 15.

Raise event if vCenter warning alarm is acknowledged?

Set to Yes to raise an event if a vCenter warning alarm that matches your criteria is acknowledged. The default is unselected.

Event severity when vCenter warning alarm is acknowledged

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which a vCenter warning alarm is acknowledged. The default is 25.

Raise event if vCenter warning alarm is cleared?

Set to Yes to raise an event if a vCenter warning alarm that matches your criteria is cleared. The default is unselected.

Event severity when vCenter warning alarm is cleared

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of an event in which a vCenter warning alarm is cleared. The default is 25.

Raise events for currently triggered vCenter warning alarms

Set to Yes to raise events for vCenter warning alarms that are in a triggered state when this job first starts. The default is unselected.

Event severity for currently triggered vCenter warning alarms

Set the event severity level, from 1 to 40, to indicate the importance of events for warning alarms that are in a triggered state when this job first starts. The default is 15.

Alarm name

If you want to raise events on specific alarms, provide the names of the vCenter alarms you want to monitor. AppManager raises an event when an alarm matching your type, name, and status criteria is triggered. If you do not enter an alarm name, AppManager raises events for all warning alarms.

The asterisk (*) and (?) are acceptable wildcards. Separate multiple names with a comma, without any spaces. This parameter is not case-sensitive.

NOTE:You must enter at least a * for this script to run. Do not leave this parameter blank.

Also raise events on unassociated TreeView objects?

Select Yes to raise an event for unassociated objects in the TreeView pane. The default is unselected.

NOTE:To monitor a datastore cluster object, select Yes for this parameter.