VMware vSphere 5.

0:
Install, Configure, Manage
Lab Addendum
Lab 16: Using Alarms
Document Version: 2011-11-30

Please note that the sequence of the lab addenda differs slightly from the sequence of
the VMware vSphere Install, Configure, Manage 5.0 labs. This is necessary in order to
provide compatibility with NETLAB+. The labs should be performed in the order of the
lab addenda.

Copyright Network Development Group, Inc.

www.netdevgroup.com
NETLAB Academy Edition, NETLAB Professional Edition, and NETLAB+ are registered trademarks of Network
Development Group, Inc.
VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. Cisco, IOS, Cisco IOS, Networking Academy, CCNA, and CCNP are
registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Lab 16 Using Alarms

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1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 3
2 Objective: Demonstrate the vCenter Server alarm feature ....................................... 3
3 Pod Topology .............................................................................................................. 4
Task 1 Create a virtual machine alarm that monitors for a condition ............................ 5
Task 2 Create a virtual machine alarm that monitors for an event ................................ 6
Task 3 Trigger virtual machine alarms and acknowledge them ...................................... 7
Task 4 Disable virtual machine alarms ............................................................................ 8

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Introduction

This addendum provides detailed guidance on performing Lab 17, Using Alarms of the
VMware vSphere 5.0 Install, Configure, Manage course, using a NETLAB+ system.

Objective: Demonstrate the vCenter Server alarm feature

In this lab, you will be using the vclient machine to complete your objectives. You will
be performing the following tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Create a virtual machine alarm that monitors for a condition.

Create a virtual machine alarm that monitors for an event.
Trigger virtual machine alarms and acknowledge them.
Disable virtual machine alarms.
Prepare the datastores for the future labs.

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Pod Topology

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Lab 16 Using Alarms

Task 1

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Create a virtual machine alarm that monitors for a condition

In this task, you will create a virtual machine alarm that monitors for a specific condition.
1. Click on the vclient graphic in the topology to launch the virtual machine.
2. Double-click the vSphere Client icon.
3. At the vSphere Client login screen, set host name as vcenter-1, then enter the
username vadmin and the password, vmware123. Click Login.
4. Go to Home > Inventory > Hosts and Clusters.
Select the <your_name>-1 virtual machine in the inventory and click the Alarms
tab.
5. Click Definitions. Notice that the virtual machine inherited alarms defined at the
vCenter Server level.

6. Right-click anywhere to the right of the list of alarms and select New Alarm. The
Alarm Settings dialog box appears.
7. In the General tab, set the Alarm name to VM CPU Usage. Leave the
Description field blank. For the Alarm Type Monitor select Virtual Machine
and select Monitor for specific conditions or state, for example, CPU usage,
power state. Leave Enable this alarm selected.

8. Click the Triggers tab and click Add.

9. Add the following trigger.
a. Set the Trigger Type to VM CPU Usage (%).
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b. Set the Condition to Is above.

c. Set the Warning to 25.
d. Set the Condition Length to for 30 sec from the drop-down menu.
e. Set the Alert to 50.
f. Leave the Condition Length set to default of 5 minutes.
10. Leave Trigger if any conditions are satisfied selected.
11. Do not change anything in the Reporting tab.
12. Click the Actions tab.
13. Click Add.
14. Configure the following action settings:
a. Set the Action by clicking in the space below the Action header and select
Suspend VM from the list.
b. Leave the Configuration as is.
c. Set the Green to Yellow to Once from the list.
d. Set the Yellow to Red to blank from the list.
e. Leave Red to Yellow blank.
f. Leave Yellow to Green blank.
15. Click OK.
16. Verify that your alarm appears in the list of alarms. It should appear at the end
of the list.

Task 2

Create a virtual machine alarm that monitors for an event

In this task, you will create an alarm that responds to a specific event.
1. Select the Training datacenter in the inventory and click the Alarms tab.
2. Click Definitions. Right-click anywhere in the empty space to the right of the list
of alarms and select New Alarm. The Alarm Settings dialog box appears.
3. In the General tab, enter the following information:
a. Set the Alarm name to VM Suspended.
b. Leave the Description field blank.
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c. Set the Alarm Type Monitor to Virtual Machines and select Monitor
for specific events occurring on this object, for example, VM powered
On.
d. Leave Enable this alarm selected.
4. Click the Triggers tab.
5. Click Add.
6. Double-click the trigger in the Event column to display a drop-down menu with a
list of triggers. Enter the following values:
a. Set the Event to VM suspended (near the end of the list).
b. Leave the Status set to default.
7. In the Conditions column, click the Advanced link. The Trigger Conditions dialog
box appears.
8. Click Add.
9. In the Argument column, select Change tag and select VM name from the list.
10. In the Operator column, leave equal to selected.
11. Click the area under the Value column. Type <your_name>-1 as the virtual
machine name. The virtual machine name is case-sensitive.

12. Click OK.

13. Without making changes in either the Reporting tab or the Actions tab, click OK.
Verify that your alarm appears in the list of alarms. It should appear at the end
of the list.

Task 3

Trigger virtual machine alarms and acknowledge them

In this task, you will trigger both alarms, view the triggered alarms, and acknowledge
each alarm.
1. Select the <your-name>-1 virtual machine in the inventory and click the Alarms
tab. Click the Triggered Alarms button. Triggered alarms are displayed in this
pane.
2. In the inventory, right-click the <your_name>-1 virtual machine and select Open
Console. Position the virtual machine console so that you can see both the
console and the Triggered Alarms pane at the same time.
3. On the virtual machines desktop, right-click cpubusy.vbs and select Open with
Command Prompt. This action starts one instance of cpubusy.vbs. Wait at least
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30 seconds before the alarm is triggered. When the virtual machine is

suspended, the alarm has been triggered.
Your VM CPU Usage alarm appears briefly in the Triggered Alarms pane, so you might
not see this alarm if you were not viewing the pane at the time the alarm was triggered.
Nevertheless, you should see the VM Suspended alarm after the virtual machine is
suspended.
4. Verify that your VM Suspended alarm is triggered. You should see an entry for
this alarm in the Triggered Alarms pane. The Acknowledged and Acknowledged
By fields are blank.

5. Right-click your VM Suspended alarm and select Acknowledge Alarm. The

Acknowledged and Acknowledged By fields are now populated.
6. Power on the suspended virtual machine by right-clicking the virtual machine in
the inventory and selecting Power > Power On.
7. In the virtual machine console, close the cpubusy.vbs script window.
8. Close the virtual machine console.
9. In the Alarms tab, right-click VM Suspended in the Name column and select
clear . In the inventory, verify that the red alert icon is removed from the virtual
machine.

Task 4

Disable virtual machine alarms

In this task, you will disable your VM Suspended alarm and your VM CPU Usage alarm.
1. Disable your VM suspended alarm:
a. Select the Training datacenter in the inventory and click the Alarms tab.
b. Click Definitions.
c. Locate your VM Suspended alarm in the list and right-click it. Select Edit
Settings.
d. In the General tab, deselect the Enable this alarm check box and click OK.
2. Disable your VM CPU Usage alarm:
a. Select your <your_name>-1 virtual machine in the inventory and click the
Alarms tab.
b. Click Definitions.
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c. Right-click your VM CPU Usage alarm and select Edit Settings.

d. In the General tab, deselect the Enable this alarm check box and click OK.
If this is the last lab you are completing during this lab reservation, it is important to
manually shutdown your esxi-1 virtual machine. Click on the esxi-1 VM in the
topology, press F12 to Shutdown/Restart, enter the root password, and press F2 to
Shutdown. Repeat the process for the esxi-2 VM. Wait until vCenter acknowledges the
host has been shutdown. The hosts will gray out and be listed as not responding. You
may now end the lab reservation.
Note: In a real vSphere deployment, you would not power down your ESXi servers after
making configuration changes. In the NETLAB+ environment, all virtual machines are
powered off at the end of every reservation to conserve resources. NETLAB+ is unable
to gracefully shutdown the ESXi server VMs like the other VMs. Performing a manual
shutdown of the ESXi servers will prevent a non-graceful shutdown, which may cause
configuration errors during the next lab reservation.
1. Exit the vSphere Client.
2. Close the vclient window.

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