VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Connector

This section of the documentation contains technical information on the ASM Core to VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Connector.

Including:

• The name of the .NET assembly file

• The connection methodology

• The resource and link types that can be discovered

• The events that are generated

• The actions that can be called under workflow control

For compatibility and version support details, refer to the ASM Connector Matrix.

You should familiarize yourself with the information in Installing Connectors before installing any connectors, and read the Integration topics for more information on how to configure them.

Functionality

The VMware vCenter Configuration Manager connector allows organizations to enhance the following processes:

• Incident Management. Automatically discover machine resources into the ASM Core Federated CMDB for the purposes of incident classification, reporting, and routing.

• Asset Management. Automatically discover installed software into the ASM Core Federated CMDB for the purposes of comparing the actual deployments of software with software license assignments.

• Change Management. Automatically enforce the initiation of a formal Change Management process in ASM Core whenever a server administrator attempts to roll out changes (eg: Windows service packs or security bulletins) using VMware vCenter Configuration Manager.

Connector Details

Information fields	Description
Connector	VMware vCenter Configuration Manager <-> ASM Core
ASM Core	v10 and above
Third-party application	VMware vCenter Configuration Manager
Assembly	Infra.Connector.vCM.dll
Configuration file	Infra.Connector.vCM.icnf
Connection methodology	Database

Connector Installation

The steps below detail how to install the connector.

1. Download the connector zip package, save it in a temporary directory then unzip it.

2. The unzip folder should contain 4 sub-folders: Bin, Config, Doc, and vCM Scripts.

3. Prepare the vCM Database. See vCM Database Preparation.

4. Prepare the ASM Core Server. See ASM Core Server Preparation.

5. Configure a Connection Source. See Connection Source Creation.

vCM Database Preparation

A number of operations must be performed against the vCM database server as part of the connector installation. These operations must be performed by an account that is a database owner of the target database catalog such that any objects created in these steps should be created in the “dbo” schema.

Some of these operations are performed by shipped database script files (*.sql). Others should be performed by the SQL Server administration interface.

The connector connects solely to the main vCM database catalog. By default this will be called “VCM”; in some upgraded environments this may be “SCM” or “ECM”.

vCM utilizes additional database catalogs with suffixed names e.g.“VCM_Unix” and “VCM_Coll”. The database account used by the connector requires some access to one of these, the “Unix” database. However, the connector will never connect to this database directly.

1. Copy the contents of the vCM Scripts directory to your vCM database server.

2. Login to the SQL Server administration interface as an administrator.

3. Create a dedicated database login for the ASM connector.

4. On the main database catalog:

   • Run the provided SQL script Create_vSM_Connector_Objects.sql. (This creates the stored procedure used by the connector.)

   • Run the provided SQL script Grant_vSM_Connector_Access_Main.sql. (This creates the vSM_Connector database role and assigns it permissions.)

   • Add the dedicated login as a user to the catalog

   • Add the user as a member to the database role vSM_Connector.

   • Run the provided SQL script Enable_vCM_Integration.sql. (This enables vCM to create RFC events.)

5. On the “Unix” database catalog:

   • Run the provided SQL script Grant_vSM_Connector_Access_Unix.sql.

   • Run the provided SQL script Grant_vSM_Connector_Access_Unix.sql. (This creates the vSM_Connector database role and assigns it permissions.)

   • Add the dedicated login as a user to the catalog

   • Add the user as a member to the database role vSM_Connector.

Maintenance

If required at a later date, RFC events can be disabled by running the database script Disable_vCM_Integration.sql.

ASM Core Server Preparation

1. Copy the contents of the bin and config directories to the following locations on the ASM Core server:

File Name	Target Location(s)
bin / Infra.Connector.vCM.dll	< ASM Root> <Target System>/bin
config / Infra.Connector.vCM.icnf	<Target System>/config
config / Infra.Connector.vCM.Install.scp

2. In the ASM Core Server Console, execute the SQL script Infra.Connector.vCM.Install.scp against the target system.

Restart the following Windows services:

• The World Wide Web Publishing Service

• The ASM Connector Service

Connection Source Creation

When creating a new VMware vCenter Configuration Manager source from the Source option of the Integration Platform, some specific parameters have to be entered as follows:

DB Connection String	Identifies the database server and catalog using an ADO.NET Native SQL Server Client connection string, minus explicit credentials. E.g. Server=server-host-name-instance-name;Database=vCM
DB User ID	The login id of the database user assigned to ASM Core.
DB Password	The password of the database user.

Two modes of authentication against the database are supported:

• SQL Server Authentication

• Integrated Windows Authentication

SQL Server Authentication

In SQL Server Authentication the connector uses the credentials of a user created within the database. In this scenario, the credentials of that user are specified within the “DB User ID” and “DB Password” parameters.

Integrated Windows Authentication

In Integrated Windows Authentication the connector is authenticated using the credentials of a Windows account granted permission to the database. When this method is used the “DB User ID” and “DB Password” parameters are ignored and should be left blank. Instead, connector is authenticated using the account of the executing process. To use this mode of authentication:

1. The “DB Connection String” parameter requires an addition suffix, “;Integrated Security=SSPI”. E.g. Server=server-name;Database=main;Integrated Security=SSPI Where main is the name of the main database (see previous explanations about main vCM database).

2. The following processes must be configured to execute using a Windows account with the prerequisite database permissions.

   • The IIS Application Pool used by the ASM Core virtual directory (directories)

   • The various ASM Core Windows services

A common mistake users make when configuring Integrated Windows Authentication is to only configure the account for one of the required processes. If the IIS Application Pool is configured with the correct account but the ASM Core Windows services are not, users may be confused as the connection will succeed within main application but background tasks such as scheduled FCMDB scans will fail.

Incident Management

The VMware vCenter Configuration Manager connector allows you to populate your Federated CMDB with machines (ie: physical servers, virtual servers, desktops, and laptops) for the purposes of incident classification, reporting, and routing.

Resource Types

Machine

A resource that represents a single computer.

Field	Data Type
Machine ID	Int
Machine Name	String
Domain Name	String
Manufacturer	String
Model	String
Primary User	String
Primary User NT Domain	String
Primary User NT Login	String
Last Rebooted	date/time
Is Managed by vCM	Boolean
Is VM	Boolean
OS Name	string
OS Vendor	string
OS Version	string
Time Zone	string
Machine Type	string

Recommended Configuration