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VMware vRealize Operations Essentials
VMware vRealize Operations Essentials

VMware vRealize Operations Essentials: Harness the power of VMware vRealize Operations to efficiently manage your IT infrastructure

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VMware vRealize Operations Essentials

Chapter 2. Install, Configure, and Administer vRealize Operations Manager

This chapter will guide you through installing vRealize Operations, establishing the cluster, and setting the initial configuration, including establishing your initial groups and default policy. Finally, we will look at some of the ongoing administrative tasks needed to keep the solution healthy and running smoothly.

The topics we will cover are:

  • Initial planning and preparation
  • vApp deployment
  • Adding Nodes and High Availability (HA)
  • Initial configuration, policies and groups
  • Administration of vRealize Operations

Note

This chapter will only cover the installation of vRealize Operations as a virtual appliance. Installation on Linux and Windows is also possible; however, this needs special consideration, and is outside the scope of this book.

Planning for installation

Before you start installing vRealize Operations, you need to do some planning and preparation. The main areas you need to look at are product compatibility, architecture, and sizing. Due diligence in these areas at this stage will make for a successful implementation of vRealize Operations.

Product compatibility

Ensuring you are installing the solution on compatible equipment, and that the systems you want to manage are compatible, is the first thing to check.

Note

This chapter refers to the installation of vRealize Operations 6.1. You can find the latest requirements in the release notes for the version you are installing at https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vrealize-operations-manager-pubs.html.

vRealize Operations is relatively flexible with respect to the interoperability of the older versions of vSphere, so I have rarely come across situations where compatibility with vSphere holds a project up.

The following is a summary of the compatibility requirements:

  • vSphere...

Installing vRealize Operations Manager

As vRealize Operations is provided as a virtual appliance, installation is relatively straightforward. Installation involves the following main activities:

  • Install the required nodes
  • Configure the Master node
  • Add the Data nodes
  • Enable the Master Replica node (optional)
  • Configure the installation

Deploy the vRealize Operations nodes

First you need to download the vRealize Operations Manager virtual appliance code .ova file from My VMware, and store it somewhere from where you can access it with the vSphere Web Client.

Note

If you do not have a license for vRealize Operations, you can register for an evaluation and get the code from http://www.vmware.com/go/try-vrealize-ops-dl-en.

Deploy the vRealize Operations nodes

You will use the vSphere Web Client to install the nodes, and will need to have sufficient permissions to deploy the OVF templates. The permissions required in vCenter Server are:

  • All Privileges | Datastore | Allocate space
  • All Privileges | Network | Assign network
  • All Privileges | Virtual...

Configure the vSphere solution

The next step in installing vRealize Operations is to connect it to your vCenter(s), and the way to do this is to configure the VMware vSphere Solution.

Solutions are how vRealize connects to resources to manage them. A solution is usually delivered by way of a separately installed Management Pack. The VMware vSphere Solution is, however, installed automatically during the initial installation of vRealize Operations Manager, so there is no further code installation required, just configuration.

Tip

The End Point Operations solution is also installed automatically during vRealize Operations installation. We will cover other solutions in Chapter 7, vRealize Operations Manager Solutions and the End Point Operations solution in detail in Chapter 10, End Point Operations.

Solutions, or Management Packs, usually contain the following:

  • Adapter(s): A plug in to vRealize Operations that connects to the resource being managed, and collects metrics and properties.
  • Dashboards...

Migrating from vCenter Operations 5.8.x

vRealize Operations offers the capability to migrate from vCenter Operations 5.8.x; however, you can only migrate from vCenter Operations 5.8.x to vRealize Operations 6.0.x.

If you want to migrate from vCenter Operations 5.8.x to vRealize Operation 6.1, you must first migrate to vRealize Operations 6.0.3 and then perform an upgrade to vRealize Operations 6.1.

Note

Migrations are potentially complex operations – the vRealize Operations Manager vApp Deployment and Configuration Guide for vRealize Operations 6.0.3 has information on how to migrate and, more importantly, details on whether you ought to engage VMware's Professional Services Organization (PSO) for design and migration advice.

If you already have vCenter Operations 5.8.x, you should consider the migration option if:

  • You want to retain the metrics data that you have already collected from your estate
  • Your current operational practices make extensive use of the health, alerting, and...

Configuring groups and policies

Groups and policies are key to configuring vRealize Operations to meet your operational imperatives and service level agreements (SLAs).

If you take the simple example of an organization with production and test environments, it is usually the case that you will operate them in different ways.

For example, in a test environment, you may not be interested in receiving non-critical alerts, and you may overcommit significantly your CPU and memory resources. In a production environment, you will more likely be interested in receiving more alerts, and you may adopt a more conservative allocation policy for CPU or for memory resources.

We use policies to define how features in vRealize Operations Solutions operate, with respect to capabilities such as alerts and capacity planning. We use Groups to assign policies to groups of objects. So in the preceding example, we may create a grouping of all the objects in our test environment and attach a Test Environment policy...

Managing vRealize Operations

Administration of vRealize Operations is done in two places, the Administration panel of the vRealize Operations UI or the Admin UI.

Administration panel

We used the administration panel earlier, when we were installing the vSphere solution and creating our first policy. The panel is also used for:

  • Licensing: Installing vRealize Operations licenses and applying them to the objects.
  • Credentials: A central point for managing the credentials you create for your solutions.
  • Inventory Explorer: A list of all the objects in the environment. You can manually delete and edit the groups of objects here.
  • Object Relationships: There are hierarchical relations between the objects, and these are generally created by the Solutions you install. You can view and change those relationships here.
  • Maintenance Schedules: You can put objects into ad hoc or scheduled maintenance mode. When in maintenance mode, their metrics are not collected and they are not alerted on. This is where you...

Planning for installation


Before you start installing vRealize Operations, you need to do some planning and preparation. The main areas you need to look at are product compatibility, architecture, and sizing. Due diligence in these areas at this stage will make for a successful implementation of vRealize Operations.

Product compatibility

Ensuring you are installing the solution on compatible equipment, and that the systems you want to manage are compatible, is the first thing to check.

Note

This chapter refers to the installation of vRealize Operations 6.1. You can find the latest requirements in the release notes for the version you are installing at https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vrealize-operations-manager-pubs.html.

vRealize Operations is relatively flexible with respect to the interoperability of the older versions of vSphere, so I have rarely come across situations where compatibility with vSphere holds a project up.

The following is a summary of the compatibility requirements:

  • vSphere...

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Key benefits

  • Extract the optimum performance, availability, and capacity of your IT infrastructure with the help of vRealise Operations Manager
  • Leverage the power of strategic reports to drive tactful decision-making within the IT department
  • A pragmatic guide to proficiently manage your applications and storage

Description

This book will enable you to deliver on the operational disciplines of Performance, Health, Capacity, Configuration, and Compliance by making the best use of solutions provided by vRealize Operations. Starting with architecture, design, and sizing, we will ensure your implementation of vRealize Operations is a success. We will dive into the utilization of a solution to manage your vSphere infrastructure. Then, we will employ out-of-the-box Dashboards and the very powerful Views and Reporting functionality of vRealize Operations to create your custom dashboards and address your reporting requirements. Next, we go through the Alerting framework and how Symptoms, Recommendations, and Actions are used to achieve efficient operations. Later you will master the topic of Capacity Planning, where we look at how important it is to craft appropriate policies to match your requirements, and we’ll consider attitude toward capacity risk, which will aid you to build future project requirements into your capacity plans. Finally, we will look at extending the solution to manage Storage, Applications, and other IT infrastructures using Management Packs from Solution Exchange, as well as how the solution can be enhanced with the integration of Log Insight.

Who is this book for?

If you are a vSphere administrator and wish to optimize your virtual environment, this book is your go-to guide on vRealize Operations. As a vSphere administrator, it is assumed that you have a good understanding of both physical and virtual infrastructure. A basic knowledge of application monitoring and log analysis would be useful when we dive into the capabilities of the solution.

What you will learn

  • Architect, design, and install vRealize Operations
  • Migrate from the previous vCenter Operations Manager 5.x version, configure vR Ops policies, and create custom groups
  • Use out-of-the-box Dashboards, Views, and Reports and create your own customized Dashboards, Views, and Reports
  • Apply the Alerting framework of Symptoms, Recommendations, and Actions, and create your own Alerting content
  • Leverage the power of Capacity Planning to maximize the utilization of your virtual infrastructure
  • Manage the rest of your infrastructure, including storage and applications, with vRealize Operations Management Packs
  • Extend the solution with vRealize Hyperic and Log Insight

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Dec 31, 2015
Length: 302 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785284755
Vendor :
VMware
Tools :

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Product Details

Publication date : Dec 31, 2015
Length: 302 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785284755
Vendor :
VMware
Tools :

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Table of Contents

11 Chapters
1. Introduction to vRealize Operations Manager Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Install, Configure, and Administer vRealize Operations Manager Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Dashboards, Badges, and Widgets Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Views and Reports Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Alerts, Symptoms, Recommendations, and Actions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Capacity Planning and Capacity Projects Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. vRealize Operations Manager Solutions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. vRealize Infrastructure Navigator Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. vRealize Log Insight Integration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. End Point Operations Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.2
(5 Ratings)
5 star 40%
4 star 40%
3 star 20%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Amazon Customer Feb 05, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
VMware vRealize Operations Essentials is a great route to accelerate the initial learning curve and the author does a great job of describing the concepts in a clear and concise manner. Great Job!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Bragazzi Jan 25, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
[Disclosure: I am a Technical Reviewer on this book]“VMware vRealize Operations Essentials” is an excellent reference. It is loaded with step-by-step details for making the most of vROps. Matthew does a great job of not only clearly articulating the steps required to complete a task, but also the “how” and “why”. This is important to me as I want to know what effect each step will have on the overall solution.I really appreciated that the book includes in-depth information on vROPs in addition to its integration with vRealize Log Insight and several management packs. The book is written in a well-structured and logical way that takes you from installation and configuration to advanced administration, custom views and finally through a variety of integration options. It’s a good book for any vROps administrator to have; to not only get started but also to reference as their experience grows.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Smith Jones Mar 10, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
The writer provides an insight into VM Ware. Overall a complete book which greatly povides a better understanding of VM Ware Products.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
daphnis Feb 21, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
As a VMware partner consultant who specializes in VMware products, particularly vROps and has deployed it at many customer sites, I found this book, based on version 6.1 of the product, to be probably the best material on the subject at present. The author provides a good outline of most all of the functionality within the product, most notably content on Infrastructure Navigator, Log Insight, upgrades (from 6.0 to 6.1), and the previous Hyperic functionality now called Endpoint Operations. Several of these are written about in a comprehensive way for the first time in this book complete with screenshots that show installation all the way through integration with vROps. This book is also much more competently reviewed and edited than most other titles I have read from Packt. The other titles from Packt on this product are good as well, but this book by Mr. Steiner is very comprehensive of the entire suite and shows users how to maximize the value of these products by illustrating their points of integration. Anyone who uses or wishes to use vRealize Operations should go ahead and pick up a copy as they won't regret it.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Vinay Mar 03, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
The best part of the book is it provides real world examples and ends on a positive note with the app getting developed.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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