Virtualization Manager Data Collector requirements for VMware
For Virtualization Manager data collection, VMware Tools (VM Tools) must be installed to enable collection of key properties of a VM Guest, such as the IP address, host name, mount points, disk path, available space on VM guest volumes, and guest operating system of the VM. Whenever data collection cannot retrieve a host name, a VM Guest will not be treated as a host in the Inventory and Virtualization Manager reports will not be populated with host details. For example, a host name may not be available in the following situations: the VM may be down, VM Tools may not be installed on the VM Guest, or a VM template may have been collected.
The VMware Data Collector uses the VMware Infrastructure SDK to make XML API calls over HTTP to retrieve data from ESX servers. The VMware Data Collector is multi-threaded, enabling it to poll up to five vCenters in one polling cycle.
VMware requires the following access for data collection:
View-only VMware User ID that has a role with the following privileges:
Read-Only
Browse Datastore
Note:
Permissions can be granted to an existing local account or domain/AD user.
Assign the user to the root-level folder permissions of vSphere.
The administrator user who provisions the read-only role for collection must be an administrator at the root level, not just at a data center or other level. If multiple vCenters are available for administration in the client (Linked Mode), that administrator user must be provisioned at the root level for each vCenter Server from which data is collected.
Port 443 must be open. Data collection uses HTTPS without certificate validation for encrypted connections. This allows the use of a self-signed certificate on the VMware server.