The status of the tasks that were recently initiated from VMware Aria Operations appears in the Recent Task list. You can determine whether a task is finished, still in process, or failed.

How Recent Tasks Work

The Recent Tasks page reports on logged task events, and the log entries appear in the messages area so that you can troubleshoot failed tasks.

Where You View Recent Tasks

From the left menu, select Administration, then click Recent Tasks.

Recent Task Options

Review the information in the task list to determine if a task is completed or if you must troubleshoot a failed task. To see the details about a task, select the task in the list and review the associated objects and task messages.

Table 1. Task List
Option Description
Export

Exports the selected task to an XML file.

The exported information, which includes the messages, is useful when you are troubleshooting a problem.

Edit Properties

Determines how long the recent task data is retained in your system.

Set the number of days that VMware Aria Operations keeps the data, after which it is purged from the system. The default value is 90 days.

Status drop-down menu

Filters the list based on the status value.

All Filters
Filters the list based on the selected column and the provided values. You can filter the tasks based on the following criteria.
  • Task
  • Started Time
  • Completed Time
  • Automated
  • Object Name
  • Object Type
  • Event Source
  • Source Type
  • Submitted By
  • Task ID
Filter (Object Name)

Limits the tasks in the list to those that match the entered string.

The search is based on a partial entry. For example, if you enter vm, objects such as vm001 and acctvm_east are included.

Task

Name of the task.

For example, Set CPU Count for VM.

Status

State of the task.

Possible states include the following values:
  • Completed. Task completed successfully on the target objects.
  • In Progress. Task is running on the target objects.
  • Failed. Task failed to run on the target objects. If the task started, the reasons for failure might include a faulty script, a script timed out, or actions are not taken. If the task did not start and immediately reports as failed, the reasons might include that the task was not able to start or the script was not found. If the task was not initiated on the target object, it might have failed because of communication or authentication errors.
  • Maximum Time Reached. Task is running past the amount of time that is the default or configured value. To determine the status, you must troubleshoot the initiated action.
  • Not Dispatched. The action adapter was not found.
  • Started. Task is initiated on the object.
  • Unknown. An error occurred while running the action, but the error was not captured in the task logs. To investigate this status further, check the VMware Aria Operations support logs for the vCenter Adapter, available in the Administration area, and check the target system.
Started Time

Date and time when the task started.

Completed Time

Date and time when the task finished.

A completed date does not appear if the task failed or if the maximum timeout is reached.

Automated

Indicates whether the action in the task list is automated, indicated by Yes or No.

Object Name

Object on which the task was started.

Object Type

Type of object on which the task was started.

Event Source

The UUID or the name of the event that triggered the action automatically. when an event is triggered that is associated to the recommendation, it triggers the action without the user intervention.

For example, you can automate Alert recommendations that have an associated action. Automation is disabled by default. You configure automation in the Override Alert / Symptom Definitions area of a policy when you create or edit the policy in Administration > Policies.

An administrator who has the Automation role has permission to automate actions in the Override Alert / Symptom Definitions area of the policy workspace.

Source Type

Authentication source that the user who started the task used when accessing VMware Aria Operations .

Submitted By

Name of the user who initiated the task. This column displays the automationAdmin user account for automated actions that are triggered by alerts.

Task ID

ID generated when the task, which included one or more actions, was started.

The task ID is unique for the task for each adapter. If a task includes tasks that ran using two adapters, you see two task IDs.

If the task is a delete snapshot action, two task IDs are generated. One ID is for the retrieve snapshots based on date task, and the other ID is for the delete selected snapshots task.

The Associated Objects are the objects on which the selected task ran.

Table 2. Associated Objects for Selected Task Details
Option Description
Object Name

Detailed list of objects that are included in the task selected in the task list.

If the task ran on only one object, the list includes one object. If the task ran on multiple objects, each object is listed on a separate row.

Object Type

Type of object for each object name.

Status

Current state of the task.

The following are columns displayed for a Workload Optimization task
Source Cluster The source Cluster from which the VM is moved during Workload Optimization.
Destination Cluster The destination Cluster to which the VM is moved during Workload Optimization.
Source Host The source Host from which the VM is moved during Workload Optimization.
Destination Host The destination Host to which the VM is moved during Workload Optimization.
Source Datastore The source Datastore from which the VM is moved during Workload Optimization.
Destination Datastore The destination Datastore to which the VM is moved during Workload Optimization.
Completion Date The date when the task was completed.

The Messages are the log of the task as it ran. If the task does not finish successfully, use the logs to identify problems.

Table 3. Messages for Selected Task Details
Severity drop-down menu

Limits the messages based on the Severity value.

Filter (Message)

Limits the message in the list to those that match the entered string.

The search is based on a partial entry. For example, if you enter id, then messages that contain Task ID and the phrase did not complete are included.

Severity

Message level in the logs.

The severity includes the following values:
  • All. Displays all the messages.
  • Error. Messages generated during a task failure.
  • Warning. Messages generated as warning when the task is in progress.
  • Information. Messages added to logs as the task is processed.
Time

Date and time the entry was added to the log.

Message

Text of the log entry.

Use the information in the message to determine why a task failed, and to begin to troubleshoot and resolve the failure.

The messages appear with the most recent entry at the top of the list if you do not sort the columns.