Before you configure VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS) to collect alarms, events, and tasks data from a vSphere environment, you must connect VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS) to one or more vCenter Server systems.

VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS) can collect two types of data from vCenter Server instances and the ESXi hosts that they manage.

  • Events, tasks, and alerts are structured data with specific meaning. If configured,VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS) pulls events, tasks, and alerts from the registered vCenter Server instances.
  • Logs contain unstructured data that can be analyzed in VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS). ESXi hosts or vCenter Server Appliance instances can push their logs to VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS) through syslog.

Prerequisites

  • For the level of integration that you want to achieve, verify that you have user credentials with enough privileges to perform the necessary configuration on the vCenter Server system and its ESXi hosts.
    Level of Integration Required Privileges
    Events, tasks, and alarms collection
    • System.View
      Note: System.View is a system-defined privilege. When you add a custom role and do not assign any privileges to it, the role is created as a Read Only role with three system-defined privileges: System.Anonymous, System.View, and System.Read.
    Syslog configuration on ESXi hosts
    • Host.Configuration.Change settings
    • Host.Configuration.Network configuration
    • Host.Configuration.Advanced Settings
    • Host.Configuration.Security profile and firewall
    Note: You must configure the permission on the top-level folder within the vCenter Server inventory, and verify that the Propagate to children check box is selected.
  • Verify that you know the IP address or domain name of the vCenter Server system.

  • Verify that you are logged in to the VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS) web user interface as an administrator.

  • For the vSphere integration to function correctly, ensure that the Cloud Proxy virtual machine is set up with a host name that meets the following criteria:
    • The host name is valid.
    • The host name can be resolved through DNS.
    • The host name is reachable from the ESXi host.

Procedure

  1. Click the two arrows icon in the upper-left corner of the screen to expand the main menu.
  2. Navigate to Configuration > vSphere Integration.
  3. Click Add vCenter Server.
  4. In the Hostname text box, enter the IP address for the vCenter Server.
  5. In the Username text box, enter the user name for the vCenter Server service account.
  6. In the Password text box, enter the password for the vCenter Server service account.
  7. From the Cloud Proxy drop-down menu, select an installed Cloud Proxy.
    Important:

    The Cloud Proxy is deprecated. You can continue to use your existing Cloud Proxy configurations, but there will be no new feature updates to the Cloud Proxy.

  8. Click Test Connection.
  9. Click Save.
  10. (Optional) To register another vCenter Server, click Add vCenter Server and repeat steps 1 through 9.
    Note: Do not register vCenter Server systems with duplicate names or IP addresses. VMware Aria Operations for Logs (SaaS) does not check for duplicate vCenter Server names. You must verify that the list of registered vCenter Server systems does not contain duplicate entries.

What to do next