After you install the management pack, add and configure an instance to start collecting data. The adapter instance provides you with a holistic view of the storage network connected to the vCenter Server system. The adapter discovers the storage devices only for the ESXi 5.1 update 2 and later.

Prerequisites

Verify that the following conditions are met:
  • Read-only credentials are not adequate to connect and collect data from the vCenter Server and fabric CIM servers. You must provide credentials with sufficient privileges.
    To collect data from the vCenter Server objects, you must have full credentials for:
    • System.View
    • System.Anonymous
    • System.Read
    • Host.Config.Storage
    • Host.Cim.CimInteraction
    • StorageProfile.View
    • StorageViews.View

    To collect data from the fabric CIM server objects, you must have administrator privileges.

  • The CIM agent is enabled on all storage network switches from which you are collecting data, and that you can provide credentials with sufficient privileges to connect and collect data. If the user account has limited access to objects in the storage environment, you can only collect data from objects for which you have permission. Credentials must include at least read permissions.

  • All storage network switches with the CIM agent enabled are added to DCNM or BNA solutions.
  • The fabric CIM service supports switch profile and fabric profile. The supported versions for the Fabric Profile are 1.1–1.6.

  • A vSphere API for Storage Awareness (VASA) provider is registered as a storage provider with the vCenter Server host for your adapter instance. VASA providers gather information from arrays that support the environment and provide the data to vCenter Server system. If the VASA provider is not registered with vCenter Server host, the Management Pack for Storage Devices cannot discover objects in the array. The minimum support version is VASA 1.0. See information regarding storage providers in the ESXi and vCenter Server 5.5 Documentation.

  • Ensure that the VASA provider is configured to monitor the third-party storage devices. Contact your third-party storage vendor to get the required support on configuring the VASA provider.

Procedure

  1. In the menu, click Administration.
  2. In the left pane, expand Solutions and click Other Accounts.
  3. Under Other Accounts, click the Add Account icon.
  4. Select the Physical Storage Devices Adapter and configure the instance settings.
    Option Action
    Display Name Enter a name for the adapter instance.
    Description Enter a description for the adapter instance.
    vCenter Server Enter the FDQN or the IP address for the vCenter Server instance to which you are connecting.
    Note: The vCenter Server FDQN or IP address must be reachable from all nodes in the VMware Aria Operations cluster.
  5. To add the credentials used to access the vCenter Server, click the Add icon.
    Option Description
    Credential Name Enter the name by which you are identifying the configured credentials.
    vCenter Username Enter the username with which you connect to vCenter.
    vCenter Password Enter the password with which you connect to vCenter.
    Note: Any adapter credentials you add are shared with other adapter administrators and VMware Aria Operations collector hosts. Other administrators might use these credentials to configure a new adapter instance or to move an adapter instance to a new host.
  6. Click OK and then click Test Connection to validate the connection.
  7. You can configure the Advanced Settings or leave it as default.
    Option Description
    Collectors/Groups Select the collector upon which you want to run the adapter instance. A collector gathers objects into its inventory for monitoring. The collector specified by default has been selected for optimal data collecting.
    Auto Discovery Select true to false to determine if new objects added to the monitored system are discovered and added automatically after the initial configuration of the adapter.
    Enable Smart data collection via CIM API Select true to enable smart data collection using the CIM API.
  8. Click Save Settings.

Results

The adapter instance is added to the list.

What to do next

Verify that the adapter is configured and collecting data by viewing the application-related data.