Collecting capacity data from virtualization hosts for Xen and KVM (BigFix scenario)

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For Xen and KVM, connection to the VM manager does not have to be defined in License Metric Tool to collect capacity data. The data can be collected directly from virtualization hosts by using the Run Capacity Scan on Virtualization Hosts task.

Before you begin

This method is applicable on the following virtualizations:
- Xen Hypervisor
- XenServer (formerly Citrix Hypervisor)
  Important: Starting from application update 9.2.12, it is recommended to collect data from XenServer (formerly Citrix Hypervisor) by configuring connections to VM managers. For more information, see: Adding VM managers in local and central mode.
- PowerKVM
- KVM x86 not managed by RHV-M nor Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager
  Tip: If your KVM x86 hosts are controlled by RHV-M or Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager, configure the RHV-M or Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager respectively as a VM manager in License Metric Tool. Do not use the Run Capacity Scan on Virtualization Hosts task. For more information, see: Adding VM managers in local and central mode.
For information about supported versions of these virtualizations, see: Supported operating systems.
This method does not support BIOS limits.

About this task

Ensure that virtualization hosts from which you want to collect capacity data meet the following prerequisites.

KVM hosts

Ensure that the following prerequisites are met on the KVM hosts:

The host runs on Linux x86 or Linux on Power
Bash shell is available
libvirt-client library is installed directly on the hypervisor or inside a container running within the hypervisor (virsh command is available)
- The container needs to have either nova_libvirt or nova_virtqemud name
libxml2 library is installed (xmllint command is available)

Note:

Starting from application update 9.2.37, support for KVM virtualization with libvirt running in a container has been introduced.

Xen hosts

Ensure that the following prerequisites are met on the Xen hosts:

The host runs on Linux x86
Bash shell is available
xl command is available
libxml2 library is installed (xmllint command is available)

Procedure

Log in to the BigFix® console.
In the navigation tree, click Sites > External Sites > IBM License Reporting (ILMT) > Fixlets and Tasks.
In the upper right panel, select Run Capacity Scan on Virtualization Hosts.
Note: If the Run Capacity Scan on Virtualization Hosts fixlet is not relevant for KVM hosts, where libvirt-client library is installed inside a container, please perform the following procedure:
- Login in to the BigFix console.
- In the navigation tree, click Computers.
- Select the computer, for which the fixlet is not relevant.
- Right-click this computer, and then click Edit Computer Settings.
- Add a computer setting. Specify the name as run_vtech_scan, and provide true for the value.
Optional: To collect information about host names of virtualization hosts, select Collect host names of virtualization hosts.

This option affects the format of information about virtualization hosts that is displayed in the Server ID column on the reports. If you select this option, the column contains information about the vendor, type and host name of the host as specified in the managedServerTagTemplate parameter. If you do not select this option, the column contains the serial number of the host instead of its name. For more information about the managedServerTagTemplate parameter, see: Advanced server settings.
To start the scan, click Take Action.

Important: If you run this task on the host, you no longer need to run the Run Capacity Scan and Upload Results task on that host.
From the list of applicable computers, select the supported hosts.

Important: The list is filtered out to the computers that meet the prerequisites. However, not all of them are virtualization hosts.
Optional: By default, the capacity scan is scheduled to run every 30 minutes. However, in an environment with many KVM or Xen hosts, consider lowering the frequency of the scan. To specify the frequency of the scan, open the Execution tab, specify the details, and click OK.
For environments with multiple hosts, run the scan once per one to six hours.
Restriction: You can change the frequency after you obtain the acceptance of the IBM Software Asset Management Team.
Schedule the upload of scan results to the BigFix server.
1. In the upper right pane, select Schedule VM Manager Tool Scan Results Upload, specify the frequency, and click Take Action.
2. Select the hosts from which you collected the capacity data, and click OK.
Tip: To check the status of the capacity scan on the endpoints, activate the analysis Status of Capacity Scan on Virtualization Hosts. If the status is other than OK, check the return code to learn what is the cause of the problem and how to solve it. For more information, see: Return codes of capacity scans on virtualization hosts.
Wait for the scheduled import or run it manually to transfer the data to License Metric Tool.

Removing capacity scan data from the host

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During the capacity scan, some files and folders are generated on the virtualization host. If you no longer collect capacity data from a particular host, remove the files and folders that were created by the capacity scan.

Procedure

Stop the actions that were created by the Run Capacity Scan on Virtualization Hosts task on the specified endpoints. Otherwise, the scan continues running and the files are recreated.
1. In the navigation tree of the BigFix console, click Sites > External Sites > IBM License Reporting (ILMT) > Actions.
2. Select the actions, and in the lower pane, click Stop.
In the navigation tree, go to Fixlets and Tasks.
In the upper right pane, select Remove Capacity Scan Data from Virtualization Hosts, and click Take Action.
Select the computers from which you want to remove the data that was generated during the capacity scan, and click OK.