OCB Quick Setup Guide: Part 5/9 Configuring the VA - Admin Menu

Continuing the OnCommand Balance crash course, we run through basic initial configuration options of the OCB VA via the Admin menu.

Note: Below is pretty much a full list of everything that can be configured via Admin, and not all the items below need to be configured (some were populated in part 1.) Infact, here I only configure ’12. License:’ and ‘15. Advanced: Manage the Virtual Interface Client Plugin.’

Image: OCB Admin menu

1. Configuration: Network

Network configuration - Host Name, System Name, System Contact, System Location
Network adapter configuration - DHCP/STATIC, Management Address, Management Net Mask, Management Gateway, Primary DNS, Secondary DNS, Doman Search Addresses

Note: I did encounter a small bug here (Version 4.1.0.1) - on entering a Secondary DNS IP and clicking update, both DNS IP’s disappeared and the only way to get DNS back was via the console!

2. Configuration: Date and time

System time & date
NTP - NTP Status, NTP Address

3. Configuration: Active Directory

Enable Active Directory
Active Directory Server - Server Address, Server Port (389), Search Bind DN, Search Bind Password
Active Directory search location - Search Base DN, Login Search Attribute

4. Configuration: Email

Email - SMTP Host, Port (25), User Name, Password, Reply To (balance@noreply.com)
Predictor Email Configuration - Enable alerts, recipients
Alert Email Configuration - Enable alerts, recipients

Filter Configuration
Only send on first occurrence?
Severity - Critical, Warning
Category - Application Storage Threshold, Application Dynamic Threshold, Server CPU and Memory Threshold, Storage CPU and DiskGroup Threshold, Collection, Volume Threshold, Volume Capacity Threshold

5. Configuration: SNMP

Enable SNMP service
SNMP - Host, Port (162), Transmit Community (public), Receive Community (public), SNMP Version (v1 or v2c)

Filter Configuration
Severity - Critical, Warning, Informational
Category - Application Storage Threshold, Application Dynamic Threshold, Server CPU and Memory Threshold, Storage CPU and DiskGroup Threshold, Collection, Volume Threshold, Volume Capacity Threshold

6. Configuration: Syslog

Enable syslog service
Syslog - Address

Filter Configuration
Only send on first occurrence?
Severity - Critical, Warning
Category - Application Storage Threshold, Application Dynamic Threshold, Server CPU and Memory Threshold, Storage CPU and DiskGroup Threshold, Collection, Volume Threshold, Volume Capacity Threshold

7. Configuration: Alert view

Severity - Critical, Warning
Category - Application Storage Threshold, Application Dynamic Threshold, Server CPU and Memory Threshold, Storage CPU and DiskGroup Threshold, Collection, Volume Threshold, Volume Capacity Threshold

8. Configuration: Applications

Initially, this section is not populated. Later on this page can be used to configure Abnormality Detection and Performance Index Analysis for all applications that Balance is monitoring.

9. Configuration: Data growth

- Delete ‘Temporary File Usage’
- Add capacity & ‘Discover new hard disk’

Note: regards data retention - “At 100% capacity used, OnCommand Balance will start pruning raw data older than 30 days and hourly average data older than 6 months. In short, OnCommand Balance will work its way back pruning data to no less than 6 months in age to maintain adequate disk space for upgrades.”

10. Configuration: Health report

11. Users:

Add/Delete Users
Create New User - Authentication (Local/AD), User Name, Password, E-mail Address, User Type (Admin/User), Session Timeout (hours 1, 4, 8, 12)

12. License:

Input license keys as required.

13. Advanced: FTP Log Files

14. Advanced: Install/Upgrade Balance Proxy

15. Advanced: Manage the Virtual Interface Client Plugin

vCenter Server IP Address/Host Name
vCenter Server User
vCenter Server Password
vCenter Server Action - Register/Unregister

Image: Registering the Balance Plugin with vCenter

The newly Registered Plugin is automatically Enabled in the vSphere Client

Image: The com.akorri.bp.vmware.plugin Enabled

Note: The Balance tab in the vSphere Client will say “Balance is currently not Monitoring …” until we have discovered the vCenter, hosts and guests - coming up!

16. Advanced: Balance System Performance
17. Advanced: Balance MIB

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