Adding VM managers in distributed mode

In advanced VM management, you add VM managers by creating configuration files, where you specify web address, type, and credentials that are required to access a VM manager. Each VM manager uses a separate configuration file.

Before you begin

VM managers for which configuration files are created are displayed in the BigFix Inventory user interface. However, they can be managed only in the VM Manager tool command-line interface.

9.2.7 VM Manager Tool, starting from update 1.5.0.0, is enhanced to attempt to automatically fix the most common problems with the VM manager connection parameters. This feature is disabled by default. To enable this feature, go to the BES Client\LMT\VMMAN\config directory, open the vmmmainconf.properties file and change the setting of the vmm_fix_parameters_enabled parameter to true. While fixing connection problems the VM Manager Tool can connect using the HTTP protocol when the defined HTTPS connection is not available. This setting is enabled by default. To disable switching protocol from HTTPS to HTTP, go to the BES Client\LMT\VMMAN\config directory, open the vmmmainconf.properties file and change the setting of the vmm_http_connection_allowed parameter to false. For more information, see: VM Manager Tool settings.

Procedure

  1. Go to the BES Client\BFI\VMMAN\config directory.
  2. Copy the vmmconf_template.properties file and rename it to vmmconf_name.properties. This file now represents a new VM manager.
    Attention: Each time you create a VM manager configuration file, use the vmmconf_template.properties file as a template. Do not copy and edit configuration files that you previously created for a different VM manager. After you load the configuration file for the first time, an ID is generated for a VM manager. Each ID must be unique. When you copy and edit an existing configuration file, the ID is duplicated.
  3. Edit the file and specify the following parameters:
    vmm_url
    Specify the web address of the VM manager. You can specify either a full URL or only the host name or IP address.
    For example, vmm_url=http://192.0.2.0/wsman.
    Important: The default URL differs depending on the virtualization type.
    • vCenter
      • https://<vCenter_IP_address>/sdk/vimService.wsdl
    • RHV-M
      • https://<RHV-M_IP_address>/ovirt-engine/api
    • Hyper-V
      • https://<Hyper-V_IP_address>/wsman
    • 9.2.12 Citrix Hypervisor (formerly XenServer)
      • https://<Citrix-hypervisor>
    • 9.2.17 Nutanix
      • https://<NUTANIX_PRISM_ELEMENT_IP_ADDRESS>:9440/PrismGateway/services/rest/v2.0
    vmm_type
    Specify the type of the VM manager. The possible values are VMWARE_V_SPHERE, MICROSOFT_HYPER_V, KVM_RHV_M, XEN_MANAGER, ORACLE_VM or NUTANIX.

    For example, vmm_type=MICROSOFT_HYPER_V.

    vmm_login
    Specify the user name that is used to access the VM manager.
    For example, vmm_login=administrator\cluster.com.
    Important: VM managers use different definitions of users:
    • For Microsoft Hyper-V, you must use the Administrator account. The user is defined as user_name\domain or user_name@domain. For example: test\cluster.com or test@cluster.com.
    • For VMware, the user is defined as domain\user_name, for example: cluster.com\test.
    • For RHV-M, the user is defined as user_name@domain, for example: test@cluster.com.
    • 9.2.12 For Citrix Hypervisor (formerly XenServer), the user is defined as user_name, for example root.
    • 9.2.14 For Oracle VM Server for x86, the user is defined as user_name, for example: test.
    • 9.2.17 For Nutanix, the user is defined as user_name, for example: test.
    vmm_password
    Specify the password that is used to access the VM manager. The password is encrypted and saved when you load the configuration files.

    For more information about optional parameters, see Configuration parameters.

  4. Save the configuration file. To establish the connection, you must run the VM Manager Tool and load the configuration file.

What to do next

Run the VM Manager Tool.