Technical Support Services Blog

turn on suggestions Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Subscribe
Article Options

6 Simple Steps to Monitoring ESXi with Insight Remote Support

by charles_quesada on 10-19-2011 06:17 PM

This morning when I came into the office, it was so cold and rainy in Costa Rica that I had to make myself a warm cup of coffee to get things going. While I was getting my beverage ready, I could not avoid overhearing a conversation between two colleagues regarding ESXi hardware monitoring, and the steps it takes to get it working properly with HP Systems Insight Manager and Insight Remote Support Advanced.  

 

I decided to create this simple “informational guide” in order to clarify the steps necessary to properly configure VMWare ESXi managed nodes, and clear out any confusions when referring to Insight Remote Support Advanced and ESXi configuration.  

 

One of the most common questions about VMware and IRS is the fact that for VMware ESX Classic HP has developed HP SNMP Management Agents, which monitor the Server hardware and are in charge of sending notifications to IRS. Those cannot be use for the ESXi releases. Instead, HP has also created the very specific HP ESXi Offline Bundle for VMware ESXi. 

 

Another common inquiry is related to the ESXi distribution files being use by the end user to perform the ESXi installation.  ESXi could be downloaded from the VMware site, although this process does not include the HP ESXi Offline Bundle.  In order to download VMware ESXi with the HP Bundle integrated within, it must be downloaded directly from the HP Web Site.

 

You can download the HP VMware ESXi distribution files from the following sites:

 

The HP VMware ESXi 4.0

https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=HPVM06.

 

The HP VMware ESXi 5.0

https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=HPVM09.

 

Next, I will be sharing six simple steps to configure ESXi with HP SIM and Insight Remote Support Advanced. 

 

  • The first step: Ask what type of ESX do you have running on your servers. If it is VMware ESX Classic, then you must download HP SNMP Management Agents from the HP Web Site. 

 

  • Second step: Find out if VMware ESXi installation was performed using an HP VMware ESXi image.  Get the vm-support from ESXi server and verify by opening the file /bootbank/oem/oem.txt.  The HP version shows up “hp”, and the VMware version “general”. 

 

  • Third step:  If you have determined that you have an HP VMware installation, it is not necessary to install the HP bundle, as the WBEM providers are already integrated. If the installation took place using the VMware ESXi you must download the bundle.  Below you will find the links to download the HP Bundle depending on the actual ESXi version installed.  

VMware ESXi 4.0 hp-esxi4.0uX-bundle-1.6-5.zip (3.1 MB)

VMware ESXi 4.1 hp-esxi4.1uX-bundle-1.1.zip (3.1 MB)

VMware ESXi 5.0 hp-esxi5.0uX-bundle-1.0-20.zip (7.3 MB)

 

  • Fourth step: Perform the ESXi systems’ bundle installation using the vihostupdate utility, following the installation instructions to perform the task for each version of ESXi.

 

VMware ESXi 4.0 Installation Instructions

VMware ESXi 4.1 Installation Instructions

VMware ESXi 5.0 Installation Instructions

 

  • Fifth step: Perform in the HP Systems Insight Manager GUI. The task consists of discovering the VMware ESXi systems and identifying all the attributes from the operating systems and hardware. This will allow your device to be selected by the Remote Support Configuration and Services as eligible. Besides identifying the server, you must add country code, site and contact information.  The identification process will require WBEM credentials to be added into the Options à Protocol Settings à Global Protocol Settings.  This can also be done from the Systems Properties page for each one of the ESXi devices.  I always recommend running an Identify Systems task from the Options menu right after adding the credentials.     

 

  • Sixth and final step: Subscribe to WBEM Events from the Options à Events menu in HP SIM. This will enable the system to send indications to HP Systems Insight Manager, Systems Event Analyzer and consequently to HP Support Center creating a case automatically. 

 

So you see, setting up VMware ESXi systems to be monitored by Insight Remote Support Advanced is not that complicated.  It is just a matter of getting facts clear, updating the operating system if needed, and properly identifying those hosts prior to subscribing to WBEM events. 

 

I hope this information comes in handy for anyone out there having issues understanding the the process and how to set it up properly when it comes to automating HP hardware running the ESXi operating system.   I enjoy assisting and collaborating with my fellow engineers around the globe.  Enjoy the rest of the day as I am sure I will!

Labels:

We encourage you to share your comments on this post. Comments are moderated and will be reviewed and posted as promptly as possible during regular business hours.

To ensure your comment is published, please follow our community guidelines.

Comments
by Brian King(anon) on 10-28-2011 05:36 PM
Options

Good article! You might also be interested in a post we've written about monitoring ESX hosts in Opsview:

 

http://labs.opsview.com/2011/08/5-easy-steps-to-monitoring-your-esx-hosts-using-opsview/

 

0
by Technical Support(anon) on 11-02-2011 07:59 AM
Options

Are there any limits on esxi in terms of how many guests I can run on one esxi server or how much RAM/CPU I can assign to a guest?

0
by charles_quesada on 03-26-2012 03:30 PM
Options

Hi, to answer your question, let me tell you there are not limitations at all.  The limitations are set based on the amount of hardware resources you have on your physical server to assign to your VMs.  For HP SIM and IRS monitoring purposes it is seem less

0
Post a Comment
Be sure to enter a unique name. You can't reuse a name that's already in use.
Be sure to enter a unique email address. You can't reuse an email address that's already in use.
Type the characters you see in the picture above.Type the words you hear.
 

Find HP in Social Media

Facebook Twitter YouTube SlideShare Flickr
About the Author
  • More than 30 years in Sales and Marketing in IT services business. Currently managing a program on services for x86 based environments.
  • I am a Master Technologist working in the Global Escalation Team for HP. My primary focus areas are SAN, EVA troubleshooting and EVA performance analysis.
  • Candice Held has worked for Hewlett-Packard (HP) for almost 35 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Electronic Business (E-Business) that she completed while working for HP in 2006. She is now a Communication Specialist for Support Automation in HP. During her career in HP she has had 25 years of experience in communications as a technical writer, technical editor, Management of Change (MoC) representative, and Communications Specialist. She is married and has two adult children. Her hobbies include cross country skiing and fly fishing with her husband.
  • I graduated in Software Engineering. Joined HP family five years ago, I deliver Insight Remote Support technical consulting for HP customers, in North America, Canada and Latin America. Assist setting up, installing and configuring the solution in customers' IT environments.
  • I am an identical twin. My brother’s name is Greg Tinker and we have been extremely fortunate working similar careers within HP, known to our HP colleagues and many of our customers as "The Tinkers". Our job is to be the technical lead on major business operational outages with millions of Dollars/Euros hanging in the balance. We both have a complete background in architectural, Infrastructure and application environments from both the proactive and reactive side of HP Enterprise Service (HP ES), and HP Enterprise Business (HP EB).
  • I am an identical twin. My brother’s name is Chris Tinker and we have been extremely fortunate working similar careers within HP, known to our HP colleagues and many of our customers as "The Tinkers". Our job is to be the technical lead on major business operational outages with millions of Dollars/Euros hanging in the balance. We both have a complete background in architectural, Infrastructure and application environments from both the proactive and reactive side of HP Enterprise Service (HP ES), and HP Enterprise Business (HP EB). We have always attended the same schools, studied the same material (big surprise, as we are identical twins), and have always worked as a close team and strive to demonstrate our teaming ability’s to others. We each have more than 11 years experience supporting mission-critical enterprise customers on a broad range of technologies. We’ve both won the HP MVP award multiple times as well as coauthored books, programs, and whitepapers in our spare time.
  • Guillaume Oget, Global Industry Strategist for HP Technology Consulting, is responsible for creating a Vertical Industry Strategy covering internal organizational models, industry solutions portfolio, and go to market strategy to enable Technology Consulting to better address Industry specific needs. Guillaume is also leading solution development in the Banking, Healthcare and Retail industry segments. Prior to joining Technology Consulting, Guillaume served as an Industry Architect for the Transportation Industry globally where he initiated cloud solutions and supported consultative selling initiatives. Before that, Guillaume setup and managed a global RFID solutions practice for 5 years, supporting more than 50 projects in industries covering Retail, Banking and Transportation. He had direct assignments with Telecom, Banking and Retail clients in all regions. Guillaume has filed 9 patents, including 5 granted in the RFID space and has a CISSP certification.
  • More than 25 years in the IT industry, managing ITSM, service development and delivery projects in Technology Services. Specialized in end2end support for ISV based business solutions. Certified ITIL and project management expert.
  • Kevin has been the program manager for the HP Web Services Always On Support Communities for the past several years, and is responsible for the administration, management, and planning for commercial and enterprise social media capabilities.
  • I joined the HP family in 1996 after working the previous 10 years as a Field Engineer and finally as a Network Administrator. I started with HP as a Response Center Engineer supporting high-end CPU hardware then was recruited into a new team supporting Predictive Software which evolved into Instant Support Enterprise Edition (ISEE). I now am a Technical Solutions Consultant III working in the Global Competency Center for HP. My primary functions include support for HP Insight Remote Support, its associated applications and am a Knowledge Capture Support (KCS) / Services Access Workbench (SAW) champion for HP. My goal when working with either HP customers or HP's field engineers is to find a solution to the problem as quickly as possible, often other problems are found during the process and the customer appreciates it when those are also resolved. I make myself available and never close a case until both the customer and I are satisfied with the outcome. This process builds true relationships and to my delight this has often enabled me to assist the same people over the years.
  • I have been with HP for 13 years, always in Services - first as a Services Channel Sales rep, then a Channel Services Segment Manager, and now, in WW Technology Services Marketing. These may be my formal job titles, but I'm really a Cheerleader for HP Services! I feel that HP has great services, exceptional Technical Experts and Delivery teams, and so many cool things are going on at HP Services. So, stay tuned...
  • Think technology services is exciting? I do. For me, nothing is better than seeing companies get the most out of their technology & people to do cool things... evolve, merge, grow ... After more years than I care to mention working with HP Customers its still exciting & matters to me. Love sailing too.
  • I have worked with Data Protector (formerly Omniback II) since 1999. Traveling across the United States as a Sr. Technical Consultant, I deliver Data Protector consulting for a broad variety of HP customers.
  • MrCollaboration (aka Jim Evans) is an HP Global Services Alliance Manager. He has worked in the IT industry for more than 30 years, 22 of which were spent with Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq and HP. He works with many third party vendors and partners to develop processes to facilitate excellent support and service for mutual customers. Jim is also HP’s representative to the Technical Support Alliance Network (TSANet).
  • I've been working in Customer Service for over 20 years. During my career I've provided support services for Languages, Programming Libraries and Operating Systems. During the last 10 years I've provide support for Linux and more recently VMware. My current role is as a Technical Account Manager working in the HP Custom Mission Critical Services Industry Standard Operating Systems team. I provide both reactive and proactive operating system support for proLiant servers and blades. Our services in the Custom teams are built on statement of work contracts for large HP customers who need a customized mission critical support offering.
  • I like to listen as much as I like to talk. Why? My 25+ years in the technology industry has taught me that the key to delivering value to customers is to understand what they value in the first place! I developed this passion for customers and consultative selling during my 12 years with Accenture, and I have continued to approach customers in a consultative way during my 12+ year tenure with HP. I also have a passion for HP given my knowledge of our Product and Service Portfolio and the differentiators we possess that position us as a leader in the areas our customers are telling us they want to go. Converged Infrastructure, Converged Cloud, Big Data – and the associated Service and Support implications – all such exciting technology trends where our success will hinge upon our ability to differentiate ourselves versus others in the areas that matter most to our customers. Right up my alley, and I am proud to be part of the great HP team where I know we have the best solutions in the industry!
  • Tommaso Esmanech is the visionary director in charge of automation strategies in HP Technology Services. He is defining the strategic direction for Technology Services automation, generating new development technology directions by determining the competitive landscape and differentiating HP solutions. Prior to his current role, Tommaso held a variety of global, regional and country positions covering web services, knowledge management, call center operations, partner management, product management and marketing in several companies including HP, Compaq, IBM and Editel. Beyond HP, Tommaso collaborated with Milan Engineering University in the publication of Redesign Post-Sale Support (ISBN: 978-88-203-3887-9).
Labels