Configure the vCenter LAM

The vCenter LAM allows you to retrieve event data from one or more vCenter systems at configurable intervals. It parses the JSON responses it receives into Moogsoft Onprem events.

You can install a basic vCenter integration in the UI. See VMware vCenter for integration steps.

Before You Begin

The VMware vCenter integration has been validated with vCenter v6.0 and 6.5. Before you start to set up your integration, ensure you have met the following requirements for each vCenter system:

You have the hostname or the IP address of the vCenter instance.
You have credentials to connect to vCenter.

Configure the LAM

Edit the configuration file to control the behavior of the vCenter LAM. You can find the file at $MOOGSOFT_HOME/config/vcenter_lam.conf.

See the LAM and Integration Reference for a full description of all properties. Some properties in the file are commented out by default. Uncomment properties to enable them.

Configure the connection properties for each target source:
- host_name: Host name or IP address of the vCenter instance.
- user_name: vCenter console account username. If you are using a network domain for authentication, format this as <domain>\\<user>. For example: "mycompany\\johndoe".
- password or encrypted_password: vCenter console account password or encrypted password.
- vm_names: Names of the virtual machines to fetch events from.
If you want to connect through a proxy server, configure the host, port, user, and password or encrypted password properties in the proxy section for the target.
Configure the SSL properties if you want to encrypt communications between the LAM and the REST connection:
- disable_certificate_validation: Whether to disable SSL certificate validation.
- path_to_ssl_files: Path to the directory that contains the SSL certificates.
- server_cert_filename: SSL root CA file.
- client_key_filename: Client SSL key.
- client_cert_filename: Client SSL certificate.
Configure the LAM behavior for each target:
- request_interval: Length of time to wait between requests, in seconds.
- max_retries: Number of times the LAM attempts to reconnect after connection failure.
- retry_interval: Length of time to wait between reconnection attempts, in seconds.
- retry_recovery: Length of time between recovery requests, in seconds.
Optionally configure the LAM identification and capture logging details:
- name: Maps to $Laminstancename, so that the agent field indicates events Moogsoft Onprem ingests from this LAM.
- capture_log: Name and location of the LAM's capture log file, which it writes to for debugging purposes.
Optionally configure severity conversions. See Severity Reference for further information and "Conversion Rules" in Tokenize Source Event Data for details on conversions in general.
Optionally configure the process logging details:
- configuration_file: Name and location of the LAM's process log configuration file. See Configure Logging for more information.Configure Logging

Example

An example vCenter LAM configuration is as follows:

monitor:
{
    name: "vCenter Lam Monitor",
    class: "CvCenterMonitor",
    request_interval: 60,
    max_retries: -1,
    retry_interval: 60,
    targets:
    {
        target1:
        {
            host_name: "examplevcenter1",
            user_name: "vcenter_user1",
            #password: "password",
            encrypted_password: "qJAFVXpNDTk6ANq65pEfVGNCu2vFdcoj70AF5BIebEc=",
            disable_certificate_validation: false,
            path_to_ssl_files: "config",
            server_cert_filename: "server1.crt",
            client_key_filename: "client1.key",
            client_cert_filename: "client1.crt",
            request_interval: 60,
            max_retries: -1,
            retry_interval: 60,
        }
        target2:
        {
            host_name: "examplevcenter2",
            user_name: "mycompany\\johndoe",
            #password: "password",
            encrypted_password: "bDGFSClSHBn8DSw43nGwSPLSv2dGwdsj50WD4BHdfVa&",
            disable_certificate_validation: false,
            path_to_ssl_files: "config",
            server_cert_filename: "server2.crt",
            client_key_filename: "client2.key",
            client_cert_filename: "client2.crt",
            request_interval: 60,
            max_retries: -1,
            retry_interval: 60,
        }
}

Configure for High Availability

Configure the vCenter LAM for high availability if required. See High Availability Overview for details.

Configure LAMbot processing

The vCenter LAMbot processes and filters events before sending them to the Message Bus. You can customize or bypass this processing if required. You can also load JavaScript files into the LAMbot and execute them.

See LAMbot Configuration for more information. An example vCenter LAM filter configuration is shown below.

filter:
{
    presend: "VCenterLam.js",
    modules: [ "CommonUtils.js" ]
}

Start and Stop the LAM

Restart the vCenter LAM to activate any changes you make to the configuration file or LAMbot.

The LAM service name is vcenterlamd.

See Control Moogsoft Onprem Processes for the commands to start, stop and restart the LAM.

You can use a GET request to check the status of the vCenter LAM. See "Check the LAM Status" in Configure the REST LAM for further information and examples.

Configure vCenter

You do not need to perform any integration-specific steps on your vCenter systems. After you configure the integration, it polls vCenter at regular intervals to collect event data (every 60 seconds by default).

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