Configuring VM manager for subcapacity reporting

If you use License Metric Tool for subcapacity reporting, perform additional configuration tasks to balance the workload of your VM Manager Tool.

Before you begin

Make sure that you define enough VM Manager Tool connections. Every VM Manager Tool should handle the workload and complete its tasks within the time that is determined by the pooling interval.

Procedure

  1. If you use the central or distributed VM Manager Tool, set the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter to at least 50 MB on the endpoint where the VM Manager Tool is installed. This way, you eliminate the risk of reaching the maximum size of files that can be uploaded to the BigFix® server during the configuration.
    1. Log in to the BigFix console.
    2. In the left navigation bar click Computers. Right-click the computer on which the VM Manager Tool is installed, and click Edit Computer Settings.
    3. Edit the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter to increase the maximum archive size.
    Note: You can check whether _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize is exceeded by checking the Software Scan Status analysis. The Is archive size exceeded? column provides the information for computers on which the VM Manager Tool is installed.

    9.2.14 Starting from application update 9.2.14, you can check whether the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter is exceeded on the Computer Support Data panel. For more information, see: Troubleshooting problems with computers.

  2. Set the value of pooling interval to 30 minutes. It is a mandatory setting if you use License Metric Tool for subcapacity purposes.
    • For the local and central VM Manager Tool, go to Management > Advanced Server Settings, and set the value of the vmm_pooling_time_interval parameter.
    • For the distributed and disconnected VM Manager Tool, set the value of the vmm_pooling_time_interval parameter in the vmmmainconf.properties file. By default, the file is in the following location.
      • For distributed VM Manager Tool
        • UNIX /var/opt/BESClient/LMT/VMMAN/config
        • Windows C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\LMT\VMMAN\config
      • For disconnected VM Manager Tool
        • UNIX VM Manager Tool install dir/config
        • Windows VM Manager Tool install dir\config
  3. To check whether you defined enough VM Manager Tool connections, perform the following steps.
    1. Stop the VM Manager Tool.
      • To stop the local VM Manager Tool, stop the License Metric Tool server.
      • To stop the central, distributed, or disconnected VM Manager Tool, go to the VMMAN directory, and run the following command.
        • UNIX ./vmman.sh -stop
        • Windows vmman.bat -stop
    2. Define the VM manager connection. For more information, see: Adding VM managers in local and central mode or Adding and editing VM managers in distributed and disconnected mode.
    3. Clear the logs directory. By default, the directory is in the following location.
      • For local VM Manager Tool
        • Linux opt/ibm/LMT/VMMAN/logs
        • Windows C:\Program Files\ibm\LMT\VMMAN\logs
      • For central and distributed VM Manager Tool
        • Linux /var/opt/BESClient/LMT/VMMAN/logs
        • Windows C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\LMT\VMMAN\logs
      • For disconnected VM Manager Tool
        • Linux VM Manager Tool install dir/logs
        • Windows VM Manager Tool install dir\logs
    4. To check whether all connections are correctly defined and gather the data, go to the VMMAN directory, and run the following command.
      • UNIX ./vmman.sh -runonce
      • Windows vmman.bat -runonce
    5. To verify that the results of the command are correct, check whether you see the following message for every defined connection.
      CODSV0001I: [ vmmconf_<number>.properties ] Data was successfully retrieved
      from the VM manager at https://<URL>
    6. To see how long it took to complete the runonce command, go to the logs directory, and open the trace.log file. Note the time between log messages.
      For example.
      2018-07-25 11:35:38 : (main) com.ibm.license.mgmt.datacollector.Runner:
      :initialiseLogger::Logger initialised successfully. 
      … 
      2018-07-25 11:37:49 : (main) com.ibm.license.mgmt.datacollector.Runner::runCollector
      (Configuration)::Finished 'run once' command.
      • If the time between log messages stays under 20 minutes, it means that you defined enough VM Manager Tool connections and that every VM Manager Tool completes its tasks within the acceptable time. You can define more connections if needed.
      • If the time between log messages goes above 20 minutes, distribute connections to another VM Manager Tool so that every VM Manager Tool completes its tasks within that time. To limit the amount of data collected by a single connection, set users with limited access to a subset of computers and split the load between multiple VM Manager Tool connections.
        Tip: Even though the pooling interval is 30 minutes, keep the time between log messages under 20 minutes. You need to allocate time for VM migrations as well as periods of higher network traffic or higher hypervisor workload.
    7. Start the VM Manager Tool.
      • To start the local VM Manager Tool, start the License Metric Tool server.
      • To start the central, distributed, or disconnected VM Manager Tool, go to the VMMAN directory, and run the following command.
        • UNIX ./vmman.sh -run
        • Windows vmman.bat -run
    8. In case of central and distributed VM Manager Tool, check the size of data that was collected from this VM Manager Tool, and whether it exceeds the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter.

Results

After you complete the configuration of VM Manager Tool connections, results are stored in the following directory.
  • For local VM Manager Tool
    • Linux opt/ibm/LMT/VMMAN/upload
    • Windows C:\Program Files\ibm\LMT\VMMAN\upload
  • For central and distributed VM Manager Tool
    • Linux /var/opt/BESClient/LMT/VMMAN/upload
    • Windows C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\LMT\VMMAN\upload
  • For disconnected VM Manager Tool
    • Linux VM Manager Tool install dir/VMMAN/upload
    • Windows VM Manager Tool install dir\VMMAN\upload
To send the results to License Metric Tool, perform the following steps.
  • For local VM Manager Tool, run the import.
  • For central and distributed VM Manager Tool, ensure that the fixlet Schedule VM Manager Tool Scan Results Upload is running. Then, run the import.
  • For disconnected VM Manager Tool, create the package with disconnected scan results and manually transfer it to the disconnected data source. Then, run the import.

What to do next

If a VM Manager Tool stops collecting data, go to the logs directory and check whether the log file contains the following message.
[WARNING] Data collection from some defined vm managers did not finish within defined 
pooling interval 30. Please consider increasing the vmm_pooling_time_interval setting 
in vmmmainconf.properties file or divide your vm manager connections to more VM Manager Tools.
If that happens, configure a new VM Manager Tool and split the workload.