Perform initial configuration of the Skyline Collector.

To configure VMware Skyline Collector, you perform an initial configuration of the Skyline Collector that registers with the Cloud Service Organization.

Open a web-browser, and enter the FQDN/IP address of the Skyline Collector in the address bar.

Note:

A browser security warning may appear when accessing the Skyline Collector. The warning is expected behavior.

Register and Configure Network Settings for Collector

Register the Collector to Cloud Service Organization and set up hostname verification and a proxy for Skyline Collector communication with VMware.

Hostname Verification verifies that the Skyline Collector is connecting to VMware (vcsa.vmware.com), by looking at the 'dnsName' and 'subjectAltName'. Hostname Verification ensures your product usage data is being sent to VMware.

Also, the Skyline Collector supports a proxy for accessing the Internet.

To configure the Skyline Collector, perform the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Enter the registration token that you have copied from the Skyline Advisor onboarding setup or from Skyline Advisor Dashboard >Add Collector > Collector Setup to associate your Skyline Collector to your Organization. Click Next.
    The Configure Collector page has two steps: Register Collector Token and Network Confguration. Under Register Collector Token step, there is a Collector Registration Token text box and the NEXT button.
  2. Under Network Configuration, to activate or deactivate the hostname verification, follow these steps:
    Option Description

    Activate Hostname Verification

    To activate hostname verification, toggle the switch to the right. The switch states Enabled, and turns Green[].

    Deactivate Hostname Verification

    To deactivate hostname verification, toggle the switch to the left. The switch states Disabled (Not Recommended), and turns gray [].
  3. To configure a Proxy for the Skyline Collector, follow these steps:
    Option Description

    Activate Proxy

    To activate a Proxy, toggle the switch to the right. The switch states Enabled, and turns Green[]. Follow the given steps to complete the Proxy configuration.

    Deactivate Proxy

    To deactivate a Proxy, toggle the switch to the left. The switch states Disabled, and turns gray []. No further action is needed.
    1. Enter the Proxy IP Address.
    2. Enter the Proxy Port Number.
    3. If necessary to authenticate to the Proxy, toggle the Authentication switch to the right. The switch states Enabled, and turns Green[].

      The Skyline Collector supports basic access authentication.

      The Skyline Collector does not support NTLM access authentication.

    4. Enter the Proxy Username.
    5. Enter the Proxy Password.
  4. Click Continue.
    Configure Collector page is displayed with a message as 'Successful Collector registration'. Also, a Continue button is provided.

Results

The Skyline Collector is now registered with your Cloud Services Organization.

Name Collector

For easy identification, enter a friendly name for your Skyline Collector.

To add a name for your Skyline Collector:

Procedure

  1. Enter a Friendly Name for the Skyline Collector.

    The collector name must have minimum of four to a maximum of thirty two characters. Letters, numbers, and the following symbols are allowed: period [.], hyphen [-], and underscore [_].

  2. Click Name Collector.
  3. Click Continue.
    Name Collector page is displayed. In the Friendly name field, Demo-Collector name has been entered. And a message is displayed as 'Collector Name successfully configured'.

Add Product

Add at least one product to your Skyline Collector.

To add vSphere to the Skyline Collector, follow these steps:

Prerequisites

The following permissions are required for the account used to add the vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector. These permissions are sufficient for both collecting product usage data, and transferring support bundles with Log Assist.

  • VMware vSphere

  • vCenter Server Read-Only role

  • RoleGlobal.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:

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 in the Skyline Collector fails the privileges check within the Skyline Advisor.

Important:

If you have enabled, ESXi Host Encryption, or vSAN Encryption, the Cryptographic operations > Direct Access permission is required to allow the successful transfer of encrypted support bundles.

This permission does not apply to Virtual Machine Encryption.

Procedure

  1. On the Add Product page, click Add next to the vCenter Server.
    Add Product page is displayed. Here, a list of all the Product Type with Status and Action column is provided. Each product typ has a ADD next to it. Back and Continue buttons are provided at the bottom.
  2. Enter the FQDN/IP Address of the vCenter Server.
  3. Enter the Account Username.
  4. Enter the Account Password.
  5. To complete adding the vCenter Server to the Skyline Collector, click Add.
    Add Product page is displayed. You are ading a vCenter Server to the Collector. It has the following field: FQDN/IP Address, Account Username, Account Password, and a ADD button.
    Note:

    The close X icon in the Add Product pop-up can move out of view when configuring a product. If this happens, scroll up the pop-up until you see the X icon to close it.

    The Configured Products section at the bottom displays the configured products of the currently selected product type (e.g., vCenter). It does not display the configured products for all supported product types.

  6. Click Continue. vSphere has been added to the Skyline Collector.
  7. Close the pop up window. To add another product, click Add. If you want to add other products later, click Continue to proceed.
    Add Product page is displayed with vCenter Server added to the Skyline Collecot. The Status field shows Product Added and the Action field shows Manage.

    You can add more products to the Skyline Collector after completing the setup.

Auto-Upgrade

Choose whether to enable the Skyline Collector to automatically upgrade when new versions of the Skyline Collector are available.

When a new version of the Skyline Collector becomes available, there are two options for upgrading your Skyline Collector.

1. Manually upgrade your Skyline Collector. For manual upgrade, see Update Skyline Collector.

2. Automatically upgrade your Skyline Collector by enabling Auto-Upgrade within the Skyline Collector.

Enabling Auto-Upgrade means you no-longer have to complete the manual process of checking for, and upgrading your Skyline Collector.

Prerequisites

The Skyline Collector must communicate with vapp-updates.vmware.com.

Procedure

  1. To Enable Auto-Upgrade, toggle the switch to the right. The switch states Yes, and turns green [].
    1. Using the dropdown menu, pick a day of the week for the Skyline Collector to check for and install updates, if available.
    2. Using the dropdown menu, pick a time of the day for the Skyline Collector to check for and install updates, if available.
    3. Click Save to save your settings.
  2. Click Continue.
    Auto-Upgrade page is displayed. Enable Auto-Upgrade toggle button is enabled and a green colour is shown. The other options : Pick a day of the week and pick a time of the day fields are also filled. The page also has a SAVE button to save your changes. Back and Continue buttons are also displayed.

Results

If enabled, your Skyline Collector will check for updates on the day/time that you have chosen. If an update is available, your Skyline Collector will automatically be upgraded.

What to do next

You have successfully completed all your task. Review the tasks on the Summary page, then click Continue.

Customer Experience Improvement Program

Agree to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program Enhanced participation level.

As part of the Enhanced Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), VMware collects technical information about our customer's use of such products for the following purposes given, such as to improve VMware products and services, and advise our customers on how best to deploy and use our products and services. The data collected through this Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is separate from the configuration, performance, usage, and consumption data that we collect and use to facilitate delivery of our products and services (such as tracking entitlements, providing infrastructure related support, monitoring the performance, integrity and stability of the infrastructure, and preventing or addressing service or technical issues) (Operational Data).

For additional information regarding the CEIP, see the Trust & Assurance Center at https://www.vmware.com/solutions/trustvmware/ceip.

Note: By configuring your VMware products to participate in the Skyline service, each product will be enabled to send product usage data to the Skyline services as part of the Customer Experience Improvement Program. You may add, remove, or modify your product configurations at any time. For detailed instructions, see our Skyline Collector User Guide. To disable participation in the Customer Experience Improvement Program, you must Deregister the Skyline Collector. For instructions how to Deregister the collector, see Knowledge Base (KB) article 74677.

Procedure

  • ♦Review the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). If you Agree to participate, click Accept and Continue.
    The Customer Expereince Improvement Programme (CEIP) page is displayed with the ACCEPT AND CONTINUE button in the bottom.

Results

You have successfully configured the Skyline Collector.

What to do next

You are on the Skyline Collector Dashboard. You can view the overall status of the Collector.

Go back to the Skyline Advisor Onboarding wizard, and perform the following steps:

  1. Click Verify to check for successful Skyline Collector setup and onboarding.

  2. Click Continue to Skyline Advisor to proceed and access Skyline Advisor Pro.