BA

VMware
Overview
Using VMware's PowerCLI, this scanner task utilizes a PowerShell script to gather storage and
performance data from a targeted vCenter or ESXi servers.

Requirements
The system running Mitrend Scanner requires:

Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 or later.

Microsoft .NET 4.5 Download Installer Here.
PowerShell 3.x - Install Instructions Here (Not supported in Vista)
PowerCLI 5.x to 6.x - Download PowerCLI Here

Targeted System Requirements: Scanner can collect data by targeting a vCenter server, or target ESXi
instances directly

vCenter versions 5.x to 6.x can be targeted to gather data from all attached ESXi hosts
ESXi versions 5.5 to 6.x can be targeted directly to scan individual ESXi hosts

Instructions
There are three different variations of VMware scans avalible:

Configuration : Gathers capacity, utilization and configuration of all VMware hosts, VMs,
datastores and clusters managed by a vCenter, or an individual ESXi, server.
Config & History : Gathers Configuration data (see above) as well as historical information for
datastores, clusters, and virtual machines.
Config, History & Performance : Gathers Configuration & History data (see above) as well as
realtime performance data for the duration of the scan.

1. Download the latest version of the Mitrend Scanner application.

2. Rename it from MitrendScanner.renameToExe to MitrendScanner.exe and open the
executable.
3. Select the VMware category.
4. Select one of the VMware scan types, more information on each type is provided when they
are selected.
5. Click BEGIN SCAN.
6. Using any of the following methods, populate a list of hosts to scan.
 Click ADD VCENTER SERVER to scan hosts attached to the provided vCenter server.
The vCenter user requires a minimum access role of "read-only"
Click ADD ESXI SERVER to populate the list with ESXi servers (Not avalible for Config &
History type)
ESXi 5.5 and 6.x are the only ESXi versions that can be targeted directly. To
scan other ESXi versions, target their associated vCenter server.

7. Ensure the desired targets is checked in the target list, then click NEXT.
8. Once the scan completes, review the Failure and Complete tabs as needed, then click
CONTINUE.
9. Enter your Mitrend account credentials, provide a name for the assessment, and click
UPLOAD AUTOMATICALLY. This will upload the collected data to Mitrend for processing.
You can also export the results and manually upload them at a later time.

List of Collected Statistics

The following is a list of all the statistics we collect for Hourly (Realtime), Daily, and Yearly interval
duration. The level listed indicates the vCenter Server setting required to record that statistic at
intervals beyond the Realtime level.

VM-Hosts
Stat Name
mem.usage.average
mem.swapinrate.average
mem.swapin.average
mem.zero.average
mem.shared.average
mem.granted.average
mem.consumed.average
mem.vmmemctl.average
mem.reservedcapacity.average
mem.unreserved.average
mem.totalcapacity.average
mem.state.latest
mem.overhead.average
cpu.idle.summation
cpu.totalcapacity.average
Stat Name
cpu.usage.average
cpu.ready.summation
cpu.swapwait.summation
cpu.costop.summation
cpu.usagemhz.average
disk.numberwriteaveraged.average
disk.devicewritelatency.average
disk.write.average
disk.queuelatency.average
disk.totalwritelatency.average
disk.numberreadaveraged.average
disk.maxtotallatency.latest
disk.queuewritelatency.average
disk.queuereadlatency.average
disk.totalreadlatency.average
disk.kernelreadlatency.average
disk.devicelatency.average
disk.kernellatency.average
disk.kernelwritelatency.average
disk.maxqueuedepth.average
disk.totallatency.average
disk.read.average
disk.usage.average
disk.devicereadlatency.average
disk.maxtotallatency.latest
net.usage.average
sys.uptime.latest

Virtual Machines
Stat Name
cpu.usage.average
cpu.usagemhz.average
Stat Name
mem.usage.average
mem.consumed.average
datastore.read.average
datastore.totalreadlatency.average
datastore.totalwritelatency.average
datastore.write.average
disk.usage.average
disk.used.latest
disk.provisioned.latest
disk.unshared.latest

Datastores
Stat Name
disk.used.latest
disk.provisioned.latest
disk.capacity.latest
disk.unshared.latest
disk.numberReadAveraged.average
disk.numberWriteAveraged.average
datastore.numberReadAveraged.average
datastore.numberWriteAveraged.average

Troubleshooting
Missing PowerCLI Errors
To confirm you have the proper version of PowerCLI, open PowerShell and run the initialization script
provided with PowerCLI. This script is within your PowerCLI install directory. By default, it is located
here: "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMwareInfrastructure\vSphere PowerCLI\Scripts\Initialize-
PowerCLIEnvironment.ps1"

1. Open PowerShell
2. Launch the PowerCLI initialization script with the command.
 {PowerCLI Install Dir}\ScriptsInitialize-
PowerCLIEnvironment.ps1

You may need to set your PowerShell execution policy to "Remote Signed" execute
this script. See here.

3. Execute the command Get-PowerCLIVersion

If any of the above commands fail, or if your PowerCLI version is lower than 5.1 you may need to
install or update PowerCLI. Click Here for more PowerCLI related info.

Invalid Server or Credentials

1. Open PowerShell and execute the PowerCLI initialization script (see Missing PowerCLI
Errors)
2. Enter the command

Connect-VIServer -server {vCenter Hostname or IP}

3. A pop-up should appear prompting for your username and password.

If the above commands yield a valid connection, and do not produce a PermissionDenied error, the
provided user should have sufficient privileges to run the VMware scan task.

If the above commands yield a "Network Connectivity error" you may be using an invalid hostname or
IP, or the server may not be reachable/powered on.

Powershell Permission Errors

In a Powershell instance enter the following command:

NOTE: Mitrend highly recommends contacting your System Administrator prior to executing
the following command, as it will be modifying your current Powershell sessions security
settings.
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

If the above command fails it can be due to one or more issues:

1. The error "Access to the registry key is denied." indicates that the account you are using
does not have sufficient privileges to modify the Powershell Execution Policy.

2. Close the powershell instance. Start a new Powershell instance via Right Click -> "Run as
Administrator". You will need to enter Administrator credentials.

3. The error "Windows Powershell updated your execution policy successfully, but the setting is
overridden by a policy defined at a more specific scope." indicates that your Domain
 Administrator has a group policy in place which dictates Powershell Execution Policy

4. The local policy change is being overridden by a Group Policy. Contact your System
Administrator for further steps and information.

Further details are available on the Microsoft Exchange Remoting Page, specifically under the
"Connect to a remote Exchange Server" and "How do you know this worked?" sections.

Help and Support

If you have any difficulties or questions, contact us at support@mitrend.com