Vertiv-vsphere-plugin-installer-user-guide
Vertiv-vsphere-plugin-installer-user-guide
Installer/User Guide
Vertiv™ vSphere Plugin Installer/User Guide
The products covered by this instruction manual are manufactured and/or sold
by Vertiv. This document is the property of Vertiv and contains confidential and
proprietary information owned by Vertiv. Any copying, use, or disclosure of it
without the written permission of Vertiv is strictly prohibited.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Product Overview 1
1.1 Features and Advantages 1
1.2 Supported vSphere Version 1
1.3 Thermal Insight Version 1
1.4 System Requirements 1
1.4.1 Hardware 1
1.4.2 Network 1
2 Installation 3
2.1 User Account Registration 3
2.1.1 Registration 3
2.1.2 Download the vSphere Plugin 3
2.2 vSphere Plugin Installation 4
3 Setting Up the Application 11
3.1 vSphere Plugin Initialization 11
3.1.1 Logging in to plugin 11
3.1.2 vSphere Mode Initialization 13
3.1.3 VxRail Double-vSphere Mode Initialization 16
3.2 vSphere Mode 18
3.2.1 Associate servers and thermal devices 18
3.2.2 Setting alarms for a single server 21
3.2.3 Thermal device alarm 24
3.2.4 Displaying the Thermal Insight device information 31
3.2.5 Alarm delay 33
3.3 VxRail Double-vSphere Mode 35
3.3.1 Associate VxRail cluster with thermal device 35
3.3.2 Associate VxRail cluster with alarm of thermal device 38
3.3.3 Alarm delay 40
3.3.4 Shutdown polling configuration 42
3.3.5 Alarm-Triggered shutdown process 43
4 Troubleshooting 45
4.1 Uninstall the Software 45
4.2 Common Issue 45
Appendices 47
Appendix A: Technical Support and Contacts 47
1 Product Overview
Vertiv™ vSphere Plugin is a thermal management application that enables you to view the air conditioning data of Vertiv™
Thermal Insight in vSphere. It also provides alarms alerts from Thermal Insight.
1.4.1 Hardware
• A normal vSphere environment, with at least one cluster and three servers under vSphere
• At least one server to run a virtual machine with 2CPU, 2G memory and 8G hard disk
1.4.2 Network
• Plugin network to access Thermal Insight
• Plugin to run in the vSphere network environment
2 Installation
2.1 User Account Registration
If vSphere Plugin is the first Vertiv software you want to download, then you need to register on the Vertiv software download
portal. After registration, you can download and install the latest version of the application.
NOTE: A user can download the software if they already have an account.
2.1.1 Registration
1. Navigate to www.Vertiv.com in the web browser and hover your mouse over the Support tab.
2. Click Software/Firmware Updates, then click the Software Product Downloads menu option. The Software
Download page appears. Locate the Vertiv™ Thermal Insight Software Download on the page.
3. Click View Details and click the Register menu option.
NOTE: Do not close the web page. The web page automatically refreshes and displays a registration form, Create an
Account for Infrastructure Management Software registration form. Use this form to enter account activation code.
4. Enter the mandatory field details, provide a valid email address, and agree to the terms of use. Click the Create
Account.
5. An activation code is sent to the email address you provided. Check your email.
6. Enter the activation code in the Code field on the Create an Account for Infrastructure Management Software
registration form and click Submit.
3. After entering the previously registered User name and Password, click the LOG IN button.
4. Click the Download option. Once the application is downloaded, you can install the thermal management
application.
NOTE: For more information on account registration and application download, refer to the Software Download
section of Vertiv™ Thermal Insight User Manual SL-71140.
1. Enter vSphere, select a host, deploy the plugin service, and upload the plugin package.
NOTE: Ensure that you have downloaded the plugin installation package and OVA file from the www.Vertiv.com.
2. Select the name and folder of the plugin virtual machine by specifying a unique name and target location.
NOTE: Select the Host for which virtual machine is installed on Windows.
5. Select the storage device on which the virtual machine is installed. Typically, it is installed on the vSAN store.
6. Set up the virtual machine network. Specify the correct network configuration as follows:
NOTE: Do not enter the network configuration if the DHCP service is available.
NOTE: Do not fill the field of Host Name, IP Address, Netmask Prefix, and Gateway if you dynamically obtain the IP
through DHCP.
a. The IP Address, Netmask Prefix, Gateway, and DNS parameters only function if the Hostname is entered.
b. Hostname: Enter the host name if you need to set the IP statically.
c. IP Address: Enter the IP Address if you need to set the IP statically.
d. Netmask Prefix: Enter the Netmask Prefix if you need to set the IP statically.
e. Gateway: Enter the Gateway if you need to set the IP statically.
f. Specify the DNS and DNS Domain information in the binary if you need DNS service.
g. Root Password: Modify the password corresponding to root used by SSH.
NOTE: If a root password is not provided, the default password vertiv should be used.
h. Debugging: Activate debug mode to modify the photon-customization-debug.log and the bootstrap.log if
necessary.
When DHCP automatically assigns an IP address: After the virtual machine is deployed, start the virtual machine
and wait for DHCP to assign an IP address.
If you manually set the IP address: After the virtual machine is deployed, the IP address of the startup virtual
machine can be used.
After starting the plugin virtual machine, enter the plugin IP address in the browser and enter the plugin service web interface
for registration and authentication.
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2. After logging in the first time with default credentials, you are required to change your password. Change the
password in the user drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the interface. The default username, admin,
cannot be modified. See Figure 3.2 below and Figure 3.3 below.
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3. Remember your changed password. If you lose your password, click on the Restore Password, and you can reset
it to the default password as vertiv@1234.
1. Enter the required information in the IP address, Thermal Insight API Key, and Thermal Insight API Secret fields
according to the interface prompts.
2. Click Install to register.To obtain the Vertiv software API key and the Vertiv software API secret, go to Thermal
Insight's System settings and select Integrated Management. For more details, refer to the Vertiv™ Thermal
Insight User Manual SL-71140.
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After completing registration, click Next to enter the Select Integration Mode page, as shown in Figure 3.6 below.
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After Thermal Insight is registered, there are two modes to Select Integration Mode: vSphere Mode (selected by default) and
VxRail Double-vSphere Mode, as shown in Figure 3.7 below.
• Enter the required information in the vSphere IP/Host Name, vSphere User Name, vSphere Password, and
vSphere Plugin IP/Host Name fields.
• Click Register.
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• Enter the required information in the vSphere IP/Host Name, vSphere User Name, vSphere Password, Vertiv
Plugin IP/Host Name fields.
• Click Register.
After Thermal Insight is registered, there are two modes to Select Integration Mode: vSphere Mode (selected by default) and
VxRail Double-vSphere Mode, as shown in Figure 3.7 on the previous page.
To register the vSphere, follow the Step 3: Register the vSphere to Plugin. on the previous page .
1. Enter the required information in the VxRail Host Name/IP, VxRail User Name, VxRail Password fields.
2. Click Register.
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NOTE: If the plugin registration fails, there may be two situations. First, the authentication information entered is
incorrect. Confirm the information and try again. Second, the plugin has been registered before. When the plugin was
previously uninstalled, the alarm information of the Vertiv air conditioning device was left in vSphere. Enter vSphere
to manually delete the global alarm and custom alarm of the Vertiv air conditioning device.
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2. Select a host under the cluster and click to enter the current host summary interface. For example, 10.146.100.12
as shown in Figure 3.11 on the facing page.
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3. If the current host is not connected to the summary interface, the Vertiv-Thermal Insight interfaces prompts that
the device is not connected, as shown in Figure 3.12 below.
4. Switch to the configuration interface by clicking the Configure tab. Select Vertiv - Thermal Insight -Connected
Thermal Device in the left menu bar to enter the Vertiv configuration interface. See Figure 3.13 on the next page.
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5. Figure 3.14 shows Thermal Equipment List. Click the check box from the Thermal Equipment List that needs to
be configured. Click APPLY in the upper left corner. The pop-up message Thermal Device connected with ESXi
host successfully is displayed. It indicates that the thermal equipment is connected to the server. Selecting a
device and clicking CLEAR will unbind the server from the device. See Figure 3.14 below.
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• Global alarms: These are the default Vertiv refrigeration device alarms installed by the plugin to all hosts under
vSphere when it is registered and installed in vSphere. It is not necessary to set the global alarm manually.
• Custom alarms: These alarms need to be selected from the list according to the refrigeration equipment by the
device to the host. Only the custom alarms installed on the device can be triggered on vSphere, and the linkage
actions preset in the alarm definition can be executed.
Functional module
View global alarms for vSphere level installations. When the plugin is installed, the global alarm gets installed on all hosts in
vSphere.
1. Select Host in the left pane. Click the Configure tab, and then select Vertiv - Thermal Insight - Connected Alarms
menu option.
2. In the Connected Alarms page, list of custom alarms is displayed, select the alarm that needs to be installed on
the host, and then click Apply.
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• Delete the associated custom alarm in the Alarm Definitions page of the host.
• Uncheck the associated custom alarms in the Connected Alarms page, and then click Apply.
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CAUTION: When an alarm occurs on the refrigerant device connected with the host, it must be pre-installed
on the host to trigger the alarm on vSphere and then execute the alarm preset action. The alarms installed on
the host can be global alarms or manually associated custom alarms.
Some custom alarms may have the same name as global alarms, but their scope of action is different. By default, the global
alarms are installed on all hosts and are effective for all hosts. Custom alarms are only effective for the associated Host.
If the global alarm and custom alarm installed by a host have the same name, it is recommended to disable the global alarm
manually on the host to avoid conflicts. If you are unable to disable global alarms on the Host, upgrade the vSphere system
version to 7.0.
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• For the newly added alarm definition, the Object type is the host, and the definition scope is the entire vSphere.
• 10.146.100.15 represents the name of vSphere.
• You can edit, disable/enable, and delete alarm definitions.
You can add some advanced operations to the alert rule when editing alarm rule. These operations are:
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NOTE: Do not modify the IF rules. Otherwise, alarms will not be triggered. See Figure 3.20 below.
After configuring the alarms for a single server, the corresponding alarms will be displayed under the selected Server
Configure - Alarm Definitions list.
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For newly added alarm definitions, the Object type is the host, and the definition scope is the current server.
You can add advanced operations to the alert rule while editing. These operations are:
NOTE: All operations on this interface are only applicable to the selected server.
Trigger an alarm
After the device is connected as mentioned in vSphere Mode on page 18 , vSphere displays the alarm information received
from Thermal Insight.
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1. Click Monitor tab, and then select Issues and Alarms menu option.
2. Click Triggered Alarms option.
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When an alarm occurs, the alarm rules are executed, as shown in Figure 3.25 above. For example, an alarm operation is set for
sending emails, SNMP traps, run scripts, etc. It indicates that you have configured these options in advance.
NOTE: In this example, the Maintenance mode is selected. Entering the maintenance mode migrates the virtual
machines running on the server and then shuts down the server. For more details on the migration strategy of virtual
machines, visit https://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/drs-dpm.html.
End of alarm
When the alarm is over, the alarm information in the Triggered Alarms page will no longer be displayed.
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Click the Monitor tab and click on the All Issues and Triggered Alarms under Issues and Alarms to check the list of issues and
alarms. You will see the previous CRAC system and input overvoltage alarm is disappeared. See Figure 3.27 aboveand Figure
3.28 on the next page.
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Figure 3.28 Monitor - All Issues Window After the Alarm Ends
If the user is configured to send emails or scripts, it implies that these actions are executed when the alarm is triggered.
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Click the > sign on the left of the device name view the detailed information of device, as shown in Figure 3.31 below.
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The CRAC Status page displays the CRAC supply air temperature and return air temperature trend through the line chart.
Users can view the summary of all host bound devices on the current page.
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To view the supply air temperature and return air temperature line graph of other host connected to the refrigerant
equipment, select a host name in the drop-down box displayed on the top right corner of the page.
You can view the alarm delay interface in the menu Vertiv - Thermal Insight.
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Alarm classification
Alarms are classified as:
• Global alarms: These are the default alarms which gets installed when the plugin is registered to vSphere.
• Custom alarms: These are extended alarms. It is used to configure special alarms for a single server.
The alarm data displayed in three columns indicates the alarm name, alarm type, and delay time (in seconds).
Modify delay
To modify the alarm time, enter the delay time (in seconds) in the text box, and then click Save.
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As shown in Figure 3.36 above, the delay time of the CRAC high voltage frequent alarms is modified to 0 seconds. It indicates
that the alarm will trigger immediately and the warning rule will be executed.
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2. Select one of the VxRail cluster from the list and click on it. The VxRail cluster interface will appear on the right
side, as shown in Figure 3.38 below.
3. From the VxRail cluster interface, click Configure and click Connected Thermal Device under Vertiv - Thermal
Insight. The Connected Thermal Device window will appear. Select the device from the Device List that is used
for cooling the current VxRail cluster and click CONFIRM BINDING, as shown in Figure 3.39 on the facing page.
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After binding, the pop-up message appears to confirm that the thermal device is connected with the VxRail
cluster. In order to trigger actions according to the alarms of thermal device, you also need to bind the alarms of
device with the current VxRail cluster.
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1. Select and click on the VxRail cluster to open the VxRail cluster interface.
2. From the VxRail cluster interface, click Configure and click Connected Alarms under Vertiv - Thermal Insight. A
new window for Connected Alarms will appear.
3. The connected alarms are dived into two type:
• Critical Alarm
• Important Warning
4. Click on the checkbox to select the Critical Alarm and Important Warning.
5. Click CONFIRM BINDING in the lower right corner to take effect.
6. If the alarms occurring in the thermal device are among the selected alarms, it can now trigger the shutdown of
the Vxrail cluster. See Figure 3.41 on the facing page for the alarm binding process.
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To uncheck an alarm that has been bound, click on the checkbox again that has been checked on the same page. Click
CONFIRM BINDING to uncheck the alarm, as shown in Figure 3.42 on the next page.
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1. Click Menu and select Vertiv – Thermal Insight to open the Alarm activation time configuration interface. See
Figure 3.43 on the facing page.
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2. You can set the delay time of each alarm. The default delay time of each alarm is 15 seconds, which means if
these alarms are triggered and lasted more than 15 seconds, the VxRail cluster shutdown function will be
triggered. If the alarms end within 15 seconds, the shutdown process will not be triggered. The maximum
configuration period is 86400 seconds (24 hours).
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3. Click SAVE to set the polling configuration. After entering the shutdown process in VxRail Double-vSphere
Mode, the plugin will repeatedly seek confirmations from VxRail Manager according to the number of polls and
the polling interval until all the virtual machines of the user are shut down.
After the thermal device generates an alarm, if the alarm meets the existing alarm configuration (conforms to the connected
thermal devices, the connected alarms, and is not cleared after the alarm delay time has passed), vSphere will display the
alarm information received from Thermal Insight and start the shutdown process:
1. The plugin first shuts down all user virtual machines in the workload VxRail, leaving only the system virtual
machines running.
2. After the plugin sends a shutdown command to the workload VxRail Manager, it starts to repeatedly confirm with
the workload VxRail Manager that whether the entire workload VxRail cluster can be shut down. The settings of
the shutdown polling interval and the number of polls described in Shutdown polling configuration on the
previous page determine the period of repetitive confirmation.
3. Once the workload VxRail cluster confirms that it can be closed within the pre-defined period, the plugin will start
to shut down the entire workload VxRail cluster and push the event log about Plugin shutdown VxRail cluster
success to the workload vSphere.
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NOTE: If the specified time is exceeded and it is still impossible to confirm whether the workload VxRail can be closed,
then the shutdown operation will be aborted, and the event log VxRail shutdown failed will be pushed to the workload
vSphere.
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4 Troubleshooting
4.1 Uninstall the Software
1. Uninstall all the registered information on the plugin interface, including the vSphere, VxRail Manager, and the
Thermal Insight.
2. Shut down the virtual machine on the vSphere interface and delete the virtual machine.
Issue Solution
• The authentication information entered is incorrect. In this case, confirm the information and try again.
Plugin registration failure. • If you have previously registered the plugin, but an abnormal situation occurs when uninstalling the plugin, the alarm
information of the Vertiv device is retained in vSphere, and this information may cause the plugin registration to fail. In
this case, enter vSphere first to manually delete the global alarms and custom alarms of the Vertiv device, and then
restart the plugin registration process.
Appendices
1-800-543-2378
1-800-543-2378
1-800-222-5877
1-800-543-2378
A.2 Locations
United States
Vertiv Headquarters
Westerville, OH 43082
Europe
Asia
Hong Kong
©2024 Vertiv Group Corp. All rights reserved. Vertiv™ and the Vertiv logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vertiv Group Corp. All other
names and logos referred to are trade names, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. While every precaution has been
taken to ensure accuracy and completeness here, Vertiv Group Corp. assumes no responsibility, and disclaims all liability, for damages resulting
from use of this information or for any errors or omissions.
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