Monitor the health and performance of your VMware vSphere infrastructure.
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Overview
Use VMware to connect to the vCenter and gather metrics, events, and alerts about your vSphere clusters, ESXi hosts, virtual machines, datastores, and disks.
Use Cases
Use this extension to:
Monitor the health and performance of your VMware.
Ensure optimal splitting of resources between the virtual machines.
Detect problems and pinpoint the root cause in your virtualization and application layer.
Requirements
Time synchronization
Differences in system time can lead to missing VMware metrics. For Dynatrace to properly display monitoring data, synchronize time settings on all monitored host environments and vCenters with an NTP server.
Active VMware vCenter
ActiveGate with EEC Performance Profile of High or Dedicated deployed on a Linux or Windows environment. For more information about the performance profiles, see Dedicated performance profile configuration.
When you use the dedicated performance profile, the REST Interface is disabled by default. In order to ingest vCenter Triggered Alarms and vCenter Custom Attributes & Tags, you need to manually turn on the REST Interface in the ActiveGate's custom.properties file by setting the following:
[collector]
restInterface = true
ActiveGate connected to the vSphere
A user with read-only permissions in vSphere
Compatibility information
This extension uses pyVmomi, the Python SDK for the VMware vSphere Management API.
If you are concerned about license usage due to the number of metrics collected and their potential cardinality in larger VMware vSphere deployments, please contact your Dynatrace account team. You can also check the FAQ.
Feature sets
When activating your extension using monitoring configuration, you can limit monitoring to one of the feature sets. To work properly, the extension has to collect at least one metric after the activation.
In highly segmented networks, feature sets can reflect the segments of your environment. Then, when you create a monitoring configuration, you can select a feature set and a corresponding ActiveGate group that can connect to this particular segment.
All metrics that aren't categorized into any feature set are considered to be the default and are always reported.
A metric inherits the feature set of a subgroup, which in turn inherits the feature set of a group. Also, the feature set defined on the metric level overrides the feature set defined on the subgroup level, which in turn overrides the feature set defined on the group level.
VM CPU
Metric name
Metric key
Description
CPU Capacity Contention
vmware.vm.cpu.capacity.contention.average
Percent of time the VM is unable to run because it is contending for access to the physical CPU(s)
CPU Capacity Usage
vmware.vm.cpu.capacity.usage.average
CPU usage as a percent during the interval
CPU Core Count Contention (Ready)
vmware.vm.cpu.corecount.contention.average
Time the VM vCPU is ready to run, but is unable to run due to co-scheduling constraints
CPU Idle
vmware.vm.cpu.idle.summation
Total time that the CPU spent in an idle state
CPU Co-stop
vmware.vm.cpu.costop.summation
Time the virtual machine is ready to run, but is unable to run due to co-scheduling constraints
CPU Latency
vmware.vm.cpu.latency.average
Percent of time the virtual machine is unable to run because it is contending for access to the physical CPU(s)
CPU Wait
vmware.vm.cpu.wait.summation
Total CPU time spent in wait state
CPU Demand
vmware.vm.cpu.demand.average
The amount of CPU resources a virtual machine would use if there were no CPU contention or CPU limit
Active (1 min peak)
vmware.vm.rescpu.actpk1.latest
CPU active peak over 1 minute
Running (1 min peak)
vmware.vm.rescpu.runpk1.latest
CPU running peak over 1 minute
CPU Active (1 min average)
vmware.vm.rescpu.actav1.latest
CPU Active (1 min average)
CPU Running (1 min average)
vmware.vm.rescpu.runav1.latest
CPU Running (1 min average)
Base ESXi Host Metrics
Metric name
Metric key
Description
CPU Usage
vmware.host.cpu.usage.average
CPU usage as a percentage during the interval
Disk I/O Rate
vmware.host.disk.usage.average
Aggregated disk I/O rate. For hosts, this metric includes the rates for all virtual machines running on the host during the collection interval.
Disk Bus Resets
vmware.host.disk.busResets.summation.count
Number of SCSI-bus reset commands issued during the collection interval
Disk Commands
vmware.host.disk.commands.summation
Number of SCSI commands issued during the collection interval
Disk Commands Aborted
vmware.host.disk.commandsAborted.summation
Number of SCSI commands aborted during the collection interval
Queue Command Latency
vmware.host.disk.queueLatency.average
Average amount of time spent in the VMkernel queue, per SCSI command, during the collection interval
Disk Read Requests
vmware.host.disk.numberRead.summation
Number of disk reads during the collection interval
Disk Write Requests
vmware.host.disk.numberWrite.summation
Number of disk writes during the collection interval
Disk Read Rate
vmware.host.disk.read.average
Average number of kilobytes read from the disk each second during the collection interval
Disk Write Rate
vmware.host.disk.write.average
Average number of kilobytes written to disk each second during the collection interval
Read Latency
vmware.host.disk.totalReadLatency.average
Average amount of time taken during the collection interval to process a SCSI read command issued from the guest OS to the virtual machine
Write latency
vmware.host.disk.totalWriteLatency.average
Average amount of time taken during the collection interval to process a SCSI write command issued by the guest OS to the virtual machine
Memory Compression Rate
vmware.host.mem.compressionRate.average
Rate of guest physical memory page compression by ESXi
Memory Decompression Rate
vmware.host.mem.decompressionRate.average
Rate of guest physical memory decompression
Host Memory Consumed %
vmware.host.mem.usage.average
Percentage of host physical memory that has been consumed
Memory Active (Avg)
vmware.host.mem.active.average
—
Memory Consumed (Avg)
vmware.host.mem.consumed.average
—
Memory Swap In (avg)
vmware.host.mem.swapIn.average
—
Memory Swap Out (avg)
vmware.host.mem.swapOut.average
—
Network Usage
vmware.host.net.usage.average
Network utilization (combined transmit-rates and receive-rates) during the interval
Data transmit rate
vmware.host.net.transmitted.average
Rate at which data was transmitted during the interval
Data receive rate
vmware.host.net.received.average
Rate at which data was received during the interval
Data Receive Rate
vmware.host.net.bytesRx.average
Average amount of data received per second
Data Transmit Rate
vmware.host.net.bytesTx.average
Average amount of data transmitted per second
Host Network Interface Speed
vmware.host.nic.link_speed
Link Speed of Physical Network Interface Card
Received Packets Dropped
vmware.host.net.droppedRx.summation
Number of receives dropped
Transmitted Packets Dropped
vmware.host.net.droppedTx.summation
Number of transmits dropped
Cluster Metrics
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Total CPU Processors
vmware.cluster.cpu.cores
—
Cluster CPU Capacity
vmware.cluster.cpu.capacity
—
Cluster CPU Used
vmware.cluster.cpu.used
—
Cluster Memory Capacity
vmware.cluster.mem.capacity
—
Cluster Memory Used
vmware.cluster.mem.used
—
Cluster Storage Capacity
vmware.cluster.storage.capacity
—
Cluster Storage Used
vmware.cluster.storage.used
—
VM Memory - Max
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Memory Granted
vmware.vm.mem.granted.maximum
Amount of host physical memory or physical memory that is mapped for a virtual machine or a host
Ballooned memory
vmware.vm.mem.vmmemctl.maximum
Amount of guest physical memory reclaimed from the virtual machine by the balloon driver in the guest
Memory Consumed
vmware.vm.mem.consumed.maximum
Amount of host physical memory consumed for backing up guest physical memory pages
Memory Consumed %
vmware.vm.mem.usage.maximum
Percentage of host physical memory that has been consumed
Memory Max Usage
vmware.vm.mem.max_usage
Current upper-bound on memory usage.
VM Status
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Guest Heartbeat Status
vmware.vm.guest.status
The guest heartbeat. The heartbeat status is classified as: 0=Green : Guest operating system is responding normally. 1=Gray : VMware Tools are not installed or not running. 2=Yellow : Intermittent heartbeat. May be due to guest load. 3=Red : No heartbeat. Guest operating system may have stopped responding.
Power Status
vmware.vm.power.status
Current power state of the virtual machine. Status Codes: 0=Powered On 1=Suspended 2=Powered Off
Fault Tolerance Status
vmware.vm.fault.tolerance.status
The fault tolerance state of the VM. 0 = Enabled, 1 = Starting, 2 = notConfigured, 3 = Running, 4 = Disabled, 5 = needSecondary
Consolation Needed
vmware.vm.consolidation.needed
Indicates whether a disk associated with the virtual machine requires consolidation. Status codes: 0=false 1=true
Amount of storage set aside for use by a datastore or a virtual machine
ESXi Host Memory
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Memory Swap In Rate
vmware.host.mem.swapinRate.average
Rate at which guest physical memory is swapped in from the swap space
Memory Swap Out Rate
vmware.host.mem.swapoutRate.average
Rate at which guest physical memory is swapped out to the swap space
Memory Granted (avg)
vmware.host.mem.granted.average
Amount of host physical memory or physical memory that is mapped for a virtual machine or a host
Ballooned memory (avg)
vmware.host.mem.vmmemctl.average
Amount of guest physical memory reclaimed from the virtual machine by the balloon driver in the guest
Memory cache consumed (avg)
vmware.host.mem.llSwapUsed.average
Storage space consumed on the host swap cache for storing swapped guest physical memory pages
Memory Latency
vmware.host.mem.latency.average
Percentage of time the virtual machine spent waiting to swap in or decompress guest physical memory
Memory Capacity Contention
vmware.host.mem.capacity.contention.average
Percentage of time VMs are waiting to access swapped, compressed or ballooned memory
VM Info
Metric name
Metric key
Description
VM CPU Cores
vmware.vm.cpu.num_cores
—
VM Memory Size
vmware.vm.mem.size
—
ESXi Host Memory - Basic
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Memory Consumed (max) %
vmware.host.mem.usage.maximum
Percentage of host physical memory that has been consumed
Datastore Relationships
Metric name
Metric key
Description
—
vmware.info.datastore_relations
—
VM Reservations
Metric name
Metric key
Description
VM CPU Reservation
vmware.vm.reservation.cpu
—
VM Memory Reservation
vmware.vm.reservation.memory
—
VM CPU - Max
Metric name
Metric key
Description
CPU Usage
vmware.vm.cpu.usage.maximum
CPU usage as a percentage during the interval
CPU Max Usage
vmware.vm.cpu.max_usage
Current upper-bound on CPU usage
ESXi Host Memory - Max
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Memory Granted (max)
vmware.host.mem.granted.maximum
Amount of host physical memory or physical memory that is mapped for a virtual machine or a host
Ballooned memory (max)
vmware.host.mem.vmmemctl.maximum
Amount of guest physical memory reclaimed from the virtual machine by the balloon driver in the guest
Memory cache consumed (max)
vmware.host.mem.llSwapUsed.maximum
Storage space consumed on the host swap cache for storing swapped guest physical memory pages
Memory Swap In (max)
vmware.host.mem.swapIn.maximum
—
Memory Swap Out (max)
vmware.host.mem.swapOut.maximum
—
Memory Consumed (Max)
vmware.host.mem.consumed.maximum
—
Memory Active (Max)
vmware.host.mem.active.maximum
—
ESXi Host License
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Host License Expiration Time
vmware.host.license.expiration
Time until the license expires on this host
ESXi Host Status
Metric name
Metric key
Description
System Overall Status
vmware.host.overall.status
The overall alarm status of the host. 0=Green 1=Gray 2=Yellow 3=Red
Connection Status
vmware.host.connected.status
0=Connected to the server. For ESX Server, this is always the setting. 1=The user has explicitly taken the host down. 2=Virtual Center is not receiving heartbeats from the server.
Power Status
vmware.host.powered.status
The host power state. See the description in the enums for the PowerState data object type. 0=The host is powered on. A host that is entering standby mode entering is also in this state. 1=The host was specifically put in standby mode, either explicitly by the user, or automatically by DPM. 2=The host was specifically powered off by the user through VirtualCenter. 3=The host is disconnected, or notResponding, we can't have knowledge of its power state
Base VM Metrics
Metric name
Metric key
Description
CPU Usage
vmware.vm.cpu.usage.average
CPU usage as a percentage during the interval
CPU Ready Percent
vmware.vm.cpu.ready.percent
Time that the virtual machine was ready, but could not get scheduled to run on the physical CPU during last measurement interval
CPU Ready
vmware.vm.cpu.ready.summation
Time that the virtual machine was ready, but could not get scheduled to run on the physical CPU during last measurement interval
CPU Swap Wait
vmware.vm.cpu.swapwait.summation
CPU time spent waiting for swap-in
CPU Usage in MHz
vmware.vm.cpu.usagemhz.maximum
CPU usage in megahertz during the interval
Disk Usage
vmware.vm.disk.usage.average
Aggregated disk I/O rate. For hosts, this metric includes the rates for all virtual machines running on the host during the collection interval.
Host Consumed Memory %
vmware.vm.mem.usage.average
Percentage of host physical memory that has been consumed
Active Memory Used
vmware.vm.mem.active.average
Amount of guest physical memory that is being actively read or written by guest. Activeness is estimated by ESXi
Memory Compression Rate
vmware.vm.mem.compressionRate.average
Rate of guest physical memory page compression by ESXi
Memory Decompression Rate
vmware.vm.mem.decompressionRate.average
Rate of guest physical memory decompression
Memory Swap In Rate
vmware.vm.mem.swapinRate.average
Rate at which guest physical memory is swapped in from the swap space
Memory Swap Out Rate
vmware.vm.mem.swapoutRate.average
Rate at which guest physical memory is swapped out to the swap space
Data transmit rate
vmware.vm.net.transmitted.average
Rate at which data was transmitted during the interval
Data receive rate
vmware.vm.net.received.average
Rate at which data was received during the interval
Datastore Max Total Latency
vmware.vm.datastore.maxTotalLatency.latest
—
VM Disk
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Disk Highest latency
vmware.vm.disk.maxTotalLatency.latest
Highest latency value across all disks used by the host
Total Write latency
vmware.vm.disk.totalWriteLatency.average
Average amount of time taken during the collection interval to process a SCSI write command issued by the guest OS to the virtual machine
Read Requests
vmware.vm.disk.numberReadAveraged.average
Number of disk reads per second during the collection interval
Write Requests
vmware.vm.disk.numberWriteAveraged.average
Number of disk writes per second during the collection interval
Read latency
vmware.vm.disk.totalReadLatency.average
The average time a read from the virtual disk takes
Read rate
vmware.vm.disk.read.average
Average number of kilobytes read from the disk each second during the collection interval
Write rate
vmware.vm.disk.write.average
Average number of kilobytes written from the disk each second during the collection interval
Read Requests
vmware.vm.virtualDisk.numberReadAveraged.average
—
Write Requests
vmware.vm.virtualDisk.numberWriteAveraged.average
—
Read Rate
vmware.vm.virtualDisk.read.average
—
Write Rate
vmware.vm.virtualDisk.write.average
—
Read Latency
vmware.vm.virtualDisk.totalReadLatency.average
—
Write Latency
vmware.vm.virtualDisk.totalWriteLatency.average
—
Throughput Contention
vmware.vm.virtualDisk.throughput.cont.average
—
ESXi Host Info
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Number of CPU Cores
vmware.host.cpu.num_cores
—
Memory Size
vmware.host.mem.size
Total amount of physical memory on the host in bytes.
Memory Used (MB)
vmware.host.mem.used_mb
Physical memory usage on the host in MB
ESXi Host Disk Latency - Advanced
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Disk Highest Latency
vmware.host.disk.maxTotalLatency.latest
Highest latency value across all disks used by the host
Physical Device Read Latency
vmware.host.disk.deviceReadLatency.average
Average amount of time, in milliseconds, to read from the physical device
Physical Device Write Latency
vmware.host.disk.deviceWriteLatency.average
Average amount of time, in milliseconds, to write to the physical device
Queue Write Latency
vmware.host.disk.queueWriteLatency.average
Average amount of time spent in the VMkernel queue, per SCSI write command, during the collection interval
Total Write latency (StoragePath)
vmware.host.storagePath.totalWriteLatency.average
The average time a write issued on the storage path takes
VM Volume
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Backing Device Capacity
vmware.vm.device.capacity
—
Volume Capacity
vmware.vm.volume.capacity
Total capacity of the disk, in bytes. This is part of the virtual machine configuration.
Volume Free Space
vmware.vm.volume.free_space
Free space on the disk, in bytes. This is retrieved by VMware Tools.
ESXi Host Sensors
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Sensor State
vmware.host.sensor.state
Hardware sensor state within the ESXi Host. 0=Green 1=Gray 2=Yellow 3=Red
default
Metric name
Metric key
Description
—
vmware.info.datastore_info
—
—
vmware.info.host_relations
—
Host Availability
vmware.host.availability
100% if Connected and Powered On, else 0%
VM Availability
vmware.vm.availability
100% if Connected and Powered On, else 0%
VM Datastore/Storage
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Storage Committed
vmware.vm.storage.committed
Total storage space, in bytes, committed to this virtual machine across all datastores.
Storage Uncommitted
vmware.vm.storage.uncommitted
Additional storage space, in bytes, potentially used by this virtual machine on all datastores.
Datastore Read Latency
vmware.vm.datastore.totalReadLatency.average
—
Datastore Write Latency
vmware.vm.datastore.totalWriteLatency.average
—
ESXi Host Memory - Min
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Memory Consumed (min) %
vmware.host.mem.usage.minimum
Percentage of host physical memory that has been consumed
Memory Granted (min)
vmware.host.mem.granted.minimum
Amount of host physical memory or physical memory that is mapped for a virtual machine or a host
Ballooned memory (min)
vmware.host.mem.vmmemctl.minimum
Amount of guest physical memory reclaimed from the virtual machine by the balloon driver in the guest
Memory cache consumed (min)
vmware.host.mem.llSwapUsed.minimum
Storage space consumed on the host swap cache for storing swapped guest physical memory pages
Memory Swap In (min)
vmware.host.mem.swapIn.minimum
—
Memory Swap Out (min)
vmware.host.mem.swapOut.minimum
—
Memory Consumed (Min)
vmware.host.mem.consumed.minimum
—
Memory Active (Min)
vmware.host.mem.active.minimum
—
ESXi Host Network
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Network Usage (min)
vmware.host.net.usage.minimum
Network utilization (combined transmit-rates and receive-rates) during the interval
Network Usage (max)
vmware.host.net.usage.maximum
Network utilization (combined transmit-rates and receive-rates) during the interval
ESXi Host Disk
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Host Disk Capacity
vmware.host.disk.capacity
—
ESXi Host CPU
Metric name
Metric key
Description
CPU Capacity Contention
vmware.host.cpu.capacity.contention.average
Percent of time the VM is unable to run because it is contending for access to the physical CPU(s)
CPU Capacity Usage
vmware.host.cpu.capacity.usage.average
CPU usage as a percent during the interval
CPU Idle
vmware.host.cpu.idle.summation
Total time that the CPU spent in an idle state
CPU Co-stop
vmware.host.cpu.costop.summation
Time the virtual machine is ready to run, but is unable to run due to co-scheduling constraints
CPU Latency
vmware.host.cpu.latency.average
Percent of time the virtual machine is unable to run because it is contending for access to the physical CPU(s)
CPU Ready
vmware.host.cpu.ready.summation
Time that the virtual machine was ready, but could not get scheduled to run on the physical CPU during last measurement interval
CPU Ready Percent
vmware.host.cpu.ready.percent
Time that the virtual machine was ready, but could not get scheduled to run on the physical CPU during last measurement interval
CPU Swap Wait
vmware.host.cpu.swapwait.summation
CPU time spent waiting for swap-in
CPU Total Hz
vmware.host.cpu.total_hz
Total CPU Hz available to Host (num of CPU Cores * Hz for Each Core)
CPU Used Hz
vmware.host.cpu.used_hz
Used CPU Hz of Host
CPU Wait
vmware.host.cpu.wait.summation
Total CPU time spent in wait state
CPU Usage in MHz (avg)
vmware.host.cpu.usagemhz.average
CPU usage in megahertz during the interval
CPU Usage in MHz (min)
vmware.host.cpu.usagemhz.minimum
CPU usage in megahertz during the interval
CPU Usage (min)
vmware.host.cpu.usage.minimum
CPU usage as a percentage during the interval
Running (1 min average)
vmware.host.rescpu.runav1.latest
CPU running average over 1 minute
Running (1 min peak)
vmware.host.rescpu.runpk1.latest
CPU running average over 1 minute
Active (1 min peak)
vmware.host.rescpu.actpk1.latest
CPU active peak over 1 minute
CPU Active (1 min average)
vmware.host.rescpu.actav1.latest
CPU Active (1 min average)
ESXi Host Disk Latency - Basic
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Command latency
vmware.host.disk.totalLatency.average
Average amount of time taken during the collection interval to process a SCSI command issued by the guest OS to the virtual machine
VM Memory
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Ballooned Memory
vmware.vm.mem.ballooned
The size of the balloon driver in the VM, in MB. The host will inflate the balloon driver to reclaim physical memory from the VM. This is a sign that there is memory pressure on the host.
Compressed Memory
vmware.vm.mem.compressed
The amount of compressed memory currently consumed by VM, in Kb.
Swapped Memory
vmware.vm.mem.swapped
The portion of memory, in MB, that is granted to this VM from the host's swap space. This is a sign that there is memory pressure on the host.
Memory Capacity Contention
vmware.vm.mem.capacity.contention.average
Percentage of time VMs are waiting to access swapped, compressed or ballooned memory
Memory Latency
vmware.vm.mem.latency.average
Percentage of time the virtual machine spent waiting to swap in or decompress guest physical memory
VM Snapshots
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Current Snapshot Age
vmware.vm.current_snapshot.age
Age of the current snapshot. VMware does not recommend using a given snapshot for more than 24 to 72 hours.
VM Network
Metric name
Metric key
Description
Received Packets Dropped
vmware.vm.net.droppedRx.summation
Number of receives dropped
Transmitted Packets Dropped
vmware.vm.net.droppedTx.summation
Number of transmits dropped
Network Utilization
vmware.vm.net.usage.maximum
Network utilization (combined transmit-rates and receive-rates)
Data received Rate
vmware.vm.net.bytesRx.average
Average amount of data received per second
Data Transmit Rate
vmware.vm.net.bytesTx.average
Average amount of data transmitted per second
ESXi Host CPU - Max
Metric name
Metric key
Description
CPU Usage in MHz (max)
vmware.host.cpu.usagemhz.maximum
CPU usage in megahertz during the interval
CPU Usage (max)
vmware.host.cpu.usage.maximum
CPU usage as a percentage during the interval
FAQ
What is the Custom Metric Usage of this extension?
The formula for datapoints used by the extension per minute is as follows:
(7 x <number of clusters>) + (70 + (14 x <avg number of disks>) + (1 x <avg number of datastores>) + (5 x <avg number of NICs>)) * <number of hosts> + (58 + (9 x <avg number of Disks) + (3 x <avg number of datastores>) + (2 x <avg number of volumes>) + (3 x <avg number of NICs>)) * <number of VMs> + (11 x <number of datastores>)
The result can be multiplied by 0.001 to get the amount of DDUs used per Minute or by 525600 to get the amount of datapoints used per year.
What vSphere events are included in the extension?
The following events are included in the VMware (remote monitoring) extension:
Alarm Events:
AlarmActionTriggeredEvent
ESXi Host Events:
EnteredMaintenanceModeEvent
HostCnxFailedEvent
HostCnxFailedNoConnectionEvent
HostCnxFailedTimeoutEvent
HostConnectedEvent
HostConnectionLostEvent
HostDisconnectedEvent
HostShutdownEvent
DRS VM Events:
DrsVmMigratedEvent
DrsVmPoweredOnEvent
VM Events:
VmDisconnectedEvent
VmGuestShutdownEvent
VmMigratedEvent
VmPoweredOffEvent
VmPoweredOnEvent
Alarm events may be ingested as either logs or events. For large environments, we recommend using event-based alarms. If you're using version older than 3.14.2, log-based alarms aren't supported when lowering the Task Size parameter due to performance constraints. However, with version 3.14.2+, log-based alarms can be used with a lowered task size.
