VMware vSphere PowerPack Release Notes version 307.1

Version 307.1 of the VMware: vSphere Base Pack PowerPack addresses an issue that caused virtual machines to change parents repeatedly after being moved, and prevented configuration data from updating correctly.

  • Minimum Required SL1 Version: 10.2.0

  • Minimum Required VMware vSphere PowerPack Version: 215

CAUTION: Upgrading from versions of this PowerPack prior to 215 may cause some VMware collections to stop working or cause outages. It is recommended to first upgrade to version 215 of the PowerPack before upgrading to this release.

Before You Install or Upgrade

Ensure that you are running version 10.2.0 or later of SL1 before installing "VMware: vSphere Base Pack" PowerPack version 307.1.

For details on upgrading SL1, see the relevant SL1 Platform Release Notes.

Additionally, if you are upgrading from a previous version, you might need to take the following actions depending on which version of the PowerPack you currently have installed:

  • If you are upgrading from a version prior to 303, then you must manually remove these Dynamic Applications, which were removed in that version:

  • VMware: RetrieveServiceContent Metadata Performance

  • VMware: InventoryCountPerformance

  • VMware: InventoryCacheMetaPerformance

  • VMware: PerfMetadataPerformance

  • VMware: QuickStatsCache

  • VMware: QuickStatsCacheMetaPerformance

  • VMware: Remove Session Cookies

  • VMware: Performance Counter Lookup Configuration

For instructions on deleting Dynamic Applications, see the section on "Performing Other Tasks in the Dynamic Application Manager Page " in the Dynamic Application Developmentmanual.

  • If you are upgrading from a version prior to 304, then you must delete an obsolete snippet (ResourcePoolResourceAllocation) from the "VMware: ResourcePool Performance" Dynamic Application, as it can cause fail events. In addition, you must also delete the following collection objects from the "VMware: ResourcePool Performance" Dynamic Application:

  • CPU Limit

  • CPU Max Usage (Mhz)

  • CPU Reservation

  • CPU Shares

  • Memory Limit

  • Memory Max Usage (Bytes)

  • Memory Reservation

  • Memory Shares

For instructions on deleting Collection Objects, see the section on "Performing Bulk Actions on Collection Objects" in the Dynamic Application Development manual.

Installation Process

To install this PowerPack:

  1. Search for and download the PowerPack from the PowerPacks page (Product Downloads > PowerPacks & SyncPacks) at the ScienceLogic Support Site.
  2. In SL1, go to the PowerPacks page (System > Manage > PowerPacks).
  3. Click the Actions menu and choose Import PowerPack. The Import PowerPack modal appears.
  4. Click Browse and navigate to the PowerPack file from step 1.
  5. Select the PowerPack file and click Import. The PowerPack Installer modal displays a list of the PowerPack contents.
  6. Click Install. The PowerPack is added to the PowerPack Manager page.

Upgrade Process

NOTE: You must have VMware: vSpherePowerPack version 215 or higher installed to perform this upgrade.

By default, installing a new version of a PowerPack will overwrite all content in that PowerPack that has already been installed on the target system. You can use the Enable Selective PowerPack Field Protection setting in the Behavior Settings page (System > Settings > Behavior) to prevent the new version of the PowerPack from overwriting local changes for some commonly customized fields.

If you are currently using the Dynamic Applications in this PowerPack to monitor devices, collection errors might occur for one or two polling cycles during the installation of a new version. To prevent collection errors during an upgrade, you can optionally disable collection for monitored devices before performing the following steps and re-enable collection after the upgrade.

To upgrade the PowerPack, perform the following steps:

  1. Familiarize yourself with the Known Issues for this release.
  2. See the Before You Install or Upgrade section. If you have not done so already, upgrade your system to the 10.2.0 or later release.
  3. Go to the Support Site and download version 307.1 of the PowerPack to a local computer.
  4. Go to the PowerPack Manager page (System > Manage > PowerPacks). Click the Actions menu and choose Import PowerPack. Import the PowerPack version 307.1. For details on importing PowerPacks, see the chapter on Installing a PowerPack in the PowerPacks manual.
  5. Click the Install button. For details on installing PowerPacks, see the chapter on Installing a PowerPack in the PowerPacks manual.
  6. See the manual Monitoring VMware for instructions on using the new PowerPack.

If you upgrade to version 307.1 of the PowerPack, and devices are present that should not be, see the section on "Purging Inventory Cache for a VMware vCenter Device" in the Monitoring VMware manual.

Enhancements and Issues Addressed

The following enhancements and addressed issues are included in version 307.1 of the "VMware: vSphere Base Pack" PowerPack:

  • Addressed an issue that caused virtual machines to change parents repeatedly after being moved, and prevented configuration data from updating correctly. (Support Cases: 00347377, 00363078, 00369398)

Known Issues

Please see the requirements and limitations that apply to specific functionality in the VMware: vSphere Base Pack PowerPack in Monitoring VMware Systems.

The following known issues affect version 307.1 of the of the VMware: vSphere Base Pack PowerPack:

  • After upgrading, component devices may report as "Unavailable" while a session reset takes place. These devices should return as the inventory is rebuilt.

The length of time that devices are unavailable depends on the size of the vCenter you are running. For example: For a vCenter of 12,000 devices or less, this length of time should not exceed 2 hours. ScienceLogic recommends you file a Support case if devices remain unavailable for longer than 2 hours.