Configure a
vCenter Server
Cloud Account in
VMware Aria Operations

To manage your

vCenter Server

instances in

VMware Aria Operations

, you must configure a cloud account for each

vCenter Server

instance. The cloud account requires the credentials that are used for communication with the target

vCenter Server

Verify that you know the

vCenter Server

credentials that have sufficient privileges to connect and collect data, see Privileges Required for Configuring a vCenter Adapter Instance. If the provided credentials have limited access to objects in

vCenter Server

, all users, regardless of their

vCenter Server

privileges see only the objects that the provided credentials can access. At a minimum, the user account must have Read privileges and the Read privileges must be assigned at the data center or

vCenter Server

level.

Any cloud account credentials you add are shared with other cloud account administrators and

VMware Aria Operations

collector hosts. Other administrators might use these credentials to configure a new cloud account or to move a cloud account to a new host.

From the left menu, click

Data Sources

Integrations

Accounts

tab.

Click

Add

On the Accounts Type page, click

vCenter

Enter a display name and description for the cloud account.

Display name. Enter the name for the

vCenter Server

instance as you want it to appear in

VMware Aria Operations

. A common practice is to include the IP address so that you can readily identify and differentiate between instances.

Description. Enter any additional information that helps you manage your instances.

Select the

Physical Data Center

you want to associate with the

vCenter Server

cloud account.

If no physical data center is created or if you want to create a new physical data center for your cloud account, you can add a new physical data center. For more information, see Adding Physical Data Centers in VMware Aria Operations

In the

vCenter Server

text box, enter the FQDN or IP address of the

vCenter Server

instance to which you are connecting.

The

vCenter Server

FQDN or IP address must be reachable from all nodes in the

VMware Aria Operations

cluster.

To add credentials for the

vCenter Server

instance, click the

Add

icon, and enter the required credentials. The vCenter credential must have

Performance > Modify intervals

permission activated in the target vCenter to collect VM guest metrics.

Optionally, you can use alternate user credentials for actions. Enter an

Action User Name

and

Password

. If you do not enter an action user name and password, the default user specified is considered for actions.

Credentials are stored in

VMware Aria Operations

and can be used for one or more instances of the

vCenter Server

To monitor application services and operating systems, it is recommended that you enter action credentials with guest operations privileges such as

guest operation alias modification

guest operation alias query

guest operation modifications

guest operation program execution

guest operation queries

Determine which

VMware Aria Operations

collector or collector group is used to manage the cloud account. If you have only one cloud account, select

Default collector group

. If you have multiple collectors or collector groups in your environment, and you want to distribute the workload to optimize performance, select the collector or collector group to manage the adapter processes for this instance.

The collector for

VMware Aria Operations

can also be the cloud proxy. Select the cloud proxy you just deployed as the collector for this vCenter cloud account.

The cloud account is configured to run actions on objects in the vCenter Server from

VMware Aria Operations

. If you do not want to run actions, deselect

Activate

for Operational Actions.

Click

Validate Connection

to validate the connection with your

vCenter Server

instance.

In the

Review and Accept Certificate

dialog box, review the certificate information.

If the certificate presented in the dialog box matches the certificate for your target

vCenter Server

, click

If you do not recognize the certificate as valid, click

Cancel

. The test fails and the connection to

vCenter Server

is not completed. You must provide a valid

vCenter Server

URL or verify the certificate on the

vCenter Server

is valid before completing the adapter configuration.

To modify the advanced options regarding collectors, object discovery, or change events, expand the

Advanced Settings

For information about these advanced settings, see Cloud Account Information - vSphere Account Options.

Click

Manage Registrations,

enter the credentials to register your

VMware Aria Operations

instance in

vCenter Server

, and then click

Enter username and password for a user with

vCenter Server

Select the collection credentials checkbox.

Click

Add

to save the configurations.

The

vCenter Server

adapter instance gets saved.

The cloud account is added to the list.

VMware Aria Operations

begins collecting metrics, properties, and events from the

vCenter Server

instance. Depending on the number of managed objects, the initial collection can take more than one collection cycle. A standard collection cycle begins every five minutes.

For information about the network port that

VMware Aria Operations

uses to communicate with a

vCenter Server

system and

VMware Aria Operations

components, see http://ports.vmware.com.

You can activate vSAN Configuration for your cloud account. For more information, see Configure a vSAN Adapter Instance .

You can use the

vCenter Server

for service discovery, see Configure Service and Application Discovery.

vSphere