You can add, edit, or delete vSphere to/from the Skyline Collector. vSphere includes vCenter Server, and ESXi hosts and virtual machines managed by that vCenter Server.

Follow these steps to add, edit, or delete a vCenter Server to/from the Skyline Collector:

Prerequisites

The following permissions are required for the account used to add a vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector. These permissions are sufficient for both collecting product usage data, and transferring support bundles to VMware Global Support Services (GSS) using Skyline Log Assist.

  • vCenter Server Read-Only role

  • Global.Diagnostics

  • Global.Health

  • Global.Licenses

  • Global.Settings

  • Host profile.View

  • Storage views.View

For detailed instructions for how to create a user account with the given permissions, see Knowledge Base Article 59661.

Important:

If you have enabled ESXi Host Encyrption, or vSAN Encryption, the Cryptographic operations > Direct Access permission is required to allow the successful transfer of encrypted support bundles. This permission is only required for this reason, and is not needed unless you have enabled ESXi Host Encryption, or vSAN Encryption. This permission does not apply to Virtual Machine Encryption.

Important:

You must assign the required permission to a user account. Assigning the required permission to a group, and using a user account within that group to vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector fails the privileges check within the Skyline Advisor.

Procedure

  1. In the Skyline Collector, click Configuration.
  2. Under Products, click vCenter Server.
  3. Choose one of the following three options:
    Option Description

    Add vCenter Server

    To add a new vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector, click Add vCenter Server. To complete the adding of a vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector, follow the given steps.

    Edit vCenter Server

    To edit a vCenter Server, click Edit.

    You can only edit the following properties for a vCenter Server instance:

    • Account Username

    • Account Password

    After you have finished editing the vCenter Server instance, click Update.

    Delete vCenter Server

    To delete a vCenter Server from the Skyline Collector, click Delete.

    Deleting a vCenter Server removes it from the Skyline Collector, and discontinues the collection of product usage data for all vCenter Server objects. Findings, Upgrade Recommendations, and Log Assist will not be available for the deleted vCenter Server (vSphere) environment.
  4. After clicking Add vCenter Server, follow these steps to add a vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector.
    1. Enter the FQDN/IP Address of the vCenter Server.
    2. Enter a Account Username for connecting to the vCenter Server, from the Skyline Collector.
    3. Enter the Account Password.
  5. To complete adding the vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector, click Add.

Results

vCenter Server has been added to the Skyline Collector. Repeat these steps to add additional vCenter Servers to the Skyline Collector.