You can add VMware vCenter servers as data source in vRealize Network Insight.

Multiple VMware vCenter servers can be added to vRealize Network Insight to start monitoring data.

Note: To bring vRealize Network Insight data into VMware vCenter, use the vCenter Plug-in for vRealize Network Insight. To know about how to install and use the plug-in, see vCenter Plugin for vRealize Network Insight.

Prerequisites

  • Your predefined roles in the VMware vCenter server must have the Global.Settings privilege assigned at the root level. Also, you must propagate this privilege to the children roles.
    Note: When you add a role in the VMware vCenter server, by default the role is created with three system-defined privileges: System.Anonymous, System.Read, and System.View. These privileges are not visible in the vSphere Client but are used to read certain properties of some managed objects. See the vSphere Web Services API documentation for more information.
  • To configure and use IPFIX, you must have following VMware vCenter server privileges:
    • Distributed switch: Modify and Port configuration operation
    • dvPort group: Modify and Policy operation
      Note: IPFIX is supported on the following VMware ESXi versions:
      • 5.5 Update 2 (Build 2068190) and later.
      • 6.0 Update 1b (Build 3380124) and later.
      • VMware VDS 5.5 and later.
  • To identify the VM to VM path, you must install VMware tools on all the VMs in the data center.
To know more about roles in VMware vCenter, see the vSphere Security guide.

Procedure

  1. Go to Settings > Accounts and Data Sources.
  2. Click Add Source.
  3. Under VMware Managers, select VMware vCenter.
  4. Provide the following details:
    Option Action
    Collector VM Select a collector VM from the drop-down menu.
    Note: You can add maximum 10 VMware vCenter Server per collector.
    IP Address/FQDN Enter the IP address ( IPv4 address or IPv6 address) or fully qualified domain name of the VMware vCenter server.
    Note: You must add the data source using either IP address or FQDN. Do not add the data source using both IP address and FQDN.
    Username Enter the user name with the following privileges:
    • Distributed Switch: Modify
    • dvPort group: Modify
    Password Enter the password for vRealize Network Insight software to access the VMware vCenter Server system.
  5. Click Validate.

    If the number of VMs discovered exceeds the capacity of the platform or a collector node or both, the validation fails. You will not be allowed to add a data source until you increase the brick size of the platform or create a cluster.

    The specified capacity for each brick size with and without flows is as follows:
    Brick Size VMs State of Flows
    Large 6k Enabled
    Large 10k Deactivated
    Medium 3k Enabled
    Medium 6k Deactivated
  6. Select Enable Netflow (IPFIX) on this vCenter to enable IPFIX.
    For more information on IPFIX, see the Enabling IPFIX Configuration on VDS and DVPG topic.
    Note:
    • You cannot enable IPFIX on DVPGs that have NSX-T Edges connected.
    • If you enable IPFIX in both VMware vCenter and VMware NSX Manager, vRealize Network Insight automatically detects and removes flow redundancies by disabling IPFIX on few of the DVPGs for the associated VMware vCenter.
  7. Add advanced data collection sources to your VMware vCenter server system.
  8. (Optional) In the Nickname text box, enter a nickname.
  9. (Optional) In the Notes text box, add a note if necessary.
  10. Click Submit.

Results

The VMware vCenter server systems appear on the homepage.