VMWare VCenter Exporter for Prometheus


Keywords
VMWare, VCenter, Prometheus
License
BSD-1-Clause
Install
pip install vmware-exporter==0.18.4

Documentation

vmware_exporter

VMware vCenter Exporter for Prometheus.

Get VMware vCenter information:

  • Basic VM and Host metrics
  • Current number of active snapshots
  • Datastore size and other stuff
  • Snapshot Unix timestamp creation date

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Usage

Requires Python >= 3.6

  • Install with $ python setup.py install or via pip $ pip install vmware_exporter. The docker command below is preferred.
  • Create config.yml based on the configuration section. Some variables can be passed as environment variables
  • Run $ vmware_exporter -c /path/to/your/config
  • Go to http://localhost:9272/metrics?vsphere_host=vcenter.company.com to see metrics

Alternatively, if you don't wish to install the package, run it using $ vmware_exporter/vmware_exporter.py or use the following docker command:

docker run -it --rm  -p 9272:9272 -e VSPHERE_USER=${VSPHERE_USERNAME} -e VSPHERE_PASSWORD=${VSPHERE_PASSWORD} -e VSPHERE_HOST=${VSPHERE_HOST} -e VSPHERE_IGNORE_SSL=True -e VSPHERE_SPECS_SIZE=2000 --name vmware_exporter pryorda/vmware_exporter

When using containers combined with --env-file flag, please use capital letters to set bolleans, for example:

$ podman run -it --rm -p 9272:9272 --name vmware_exporter --env-file config.env pryorda/vmware_exporter
$ cat config.env
VSPHERE_USER=administrator@vsphere.my.domain.com
VSPHERE_PASSWORD=Secure-Pass
VSPHERE_HOST=192.168.0.1
VSPHERE_IGNORE_SSL=TRUE
VSPHERE_SPECS_SIZE=2000

Configuration and limiting data collection

Only provide a configuration file if enviroment variables are not used. If you do plan to use a configuration file, be sure to override the container entrypoint or add -c config.yml to the command arguments.

If you want to limit the scope of the metrics gathered, you can update the subsystem under collect_only in the config section, e.g. under default, or by using the environment variables:

collect_only:
    vms: False
    vmguests: True
    datastores: True
    hosts: True
    snapshots: True

This would only connect datastores and hosts.

You can have multiple sections for different hosts and the configuration would look like:

default:
    vsphere_host: "vcenter"
    vsphere_user: "user"
    vsphere_password: "password"
    ignore_ssl: False
    specs_size: 5000
    fetch_custom_attributes: True
    fetch_tags: True
    fetch_alarms: True
    collect_only:
        vms: True
        vmguests: True
        datastores: True
        hosts: True
        snapshots: True

esx:
    vsphere_host: vc.example2.com
    vsphere_user: 'root'
    vsphere_password: 'password'
    ignore_ssl: True
    specs_size: 5000
    fetch_custom_attributes: True
    fetch_tags: True
    fetch_alarms: True
    collect_only:
        vms: False
        vmguests: True
        datastores: False
        hosts: True
        snapshots: True

limited:
    vsphere_host: slowvc.example.com
    vsphere_user: 'administrator@vsphere.local'
    vsphere_password: 'password'
    ignore_ssl: True
    specs_size: 5000
    fetch_custom_attributes: True
    fetch_tags: True
    fetch_alarms: False
    collect_only:
        vms: False
        vmguests: False
        datastores: True
        hosts: False
        snapshots: False

Switching sections can be done by adding ?section=limited to the URL.

Environment Variables

Variable Precedence Defaults Description
VSPHERE_HOST config, env, get_param n/a vsphere server to connect to
VSPHERE_USER config, env n/a User for connecting to vsphere
VSPHERE_PASSWORD config, env n/a Password for connecting to vsphere
VSPHERE_SPECS_SIZE config, env 5000 Size of specs list for query stats function
VSPHERE_IGNORE_SSL config, env False Ignore the ssl cert on the connection to vsphere host
VSPHERE_FETCH_CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTES config, env False Set to true to collect objects custom attributes as metric labels
VSPHERE_FETCH_TAGS config, env False Set to true to collect objects tags as metric labels
VSPHERE_FETCH_ALARMS config, env False Fetch objects triggered alarms, and in case of hosts hdw alarms as well
VSPHERE_COLLECT_HOSTS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of host metrics
VSPHERE_COLLECT_DATASTORES config, env True Set to false to disable collection of datastore metrics
VSPHERE_COLLECT_VMS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of virtual machine metrics
VSPHERE_COLLECT_VMGUESTS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of virtual machine guest metrics
VSPHERE_COLLECT_SNAPSHOTS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of snapshot metrics

You can create new sections as well, with very similiar variables. For example, to create a limited section you can set:

Variable Precedence Defaults Description
VSPHERE_LIMITED_HOST config, env, get_param n/a vsphere server to connect to
VSPHERE_LIMITED_USER config, env n/a User for connecting to vsphere
VSPHERE_LIMITED_PASSWORD config, env n/a Password for connecting to vsphere
VSPHERE_LIMITED_SPECS_SIZE config, env 5000 Size of specs list for query stats function
VSPHERE_LIMITED_IGNORE_SSL config, env False Ignore the ssl cert on the connection to vsphere host
VSPHERE_LIMITED_FETCH_CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTES config, env False Set to true to collect objects custom attributes as metric labels
VSPHERE_LIMITED_FETCH_TAGS config, env False Set to true to collect objects tags as metric labels
VSPHERE_LIMITED_FETCH_ALARMS config, env False Fetch objects triggered alarms, and in case of hosts hdw alarms as well
VSPHERE_LIMITED_COLLECT_HOSTS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of host metrics
VSPHERE_LIMITED_COLLECT_DATASTORES config, env True Set to false to disable collection of datastore metrics
VSPHERE_LIMITED_COLLECT_VMS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of virtual machine metrics
VSPHERE_LIMITED_COLLECT_VMGUESTS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of virtual machine guest metrics
VSPHERE_LIMITED_COLLECT_SNAPSHOTS config, env True Set to false to disable collection of snapshot metrics

You need to set at least VSPHERE_SECTIONNAME_USER for the section to be detected.

Prometheus configuration

You can use the following parameters in the Prometheus configuration file. The params section is used to manage multiple login/passwords.

  - job_name: 'vmware_vcenter'
    metrics_path: '/metrics'
    static_configs:
      - targets:
        - 'vcenter.company.com'
    relabel_configs:
      - source_labels: [__address__]
        target_label: __param_target
      - source_labels: [__param_target]
        target_label: instance
      - target_label: __address__
        replacement: localhost:9272

  - job_name: 'vmware_esx'
    metrics_path: '/metrics'
    file_sd_configs:
      - files:
        - /etc/prometheus/esx.yml
    params:
      section: [esx]
    relabel_configs:
      - source_labels: [__address__]
        target_label: __param_target
      - source_labels: [__param_target]
        target_label: instance
      - target_label: __address__
        replacement: localhost:9272

# Example of Multiple vCenter usage per #23

- job_name: vmware_export
    metrics_path: /metrics
    static_configs:
    - targets:
      - vcenter01
      - vcenter02
      - vcenter03
    relabel_configs:
    - source_labels: [__address__]
      target_label: __param_target
    - source_labels: [__param_target]
      target_label: instance
    - target_label: __address__
      replacement: exporter_ip:9272

Current Status

  • vCenter and vSphere 6.0/6.5 have been tested.
  • VM information, Snapshot, Host and Datastore basic information is exported, i.e:
# HELP vmware_snapshots VMware current number of existing snapshots
# TYPE vmware_snapshot_count gauge
vmware_snapshot_timestamp_seconds{vm_name="My Super Virtual Machine"} 2.0
# HELP vmware_snapshot_timestamp_seconds VMware Snapshot creation time in seconds
# TYPE vmware_snapshot_timestamp_seconds gauge
vmware_snapshot_age{vm_name="My Super Virtual Machine",vm_snapshot_name="Very old snaphot"} 1478146956.96092
vmware_snapshot_age{vm_name="My Super Virtual Machine",vm_snapshot_name="Old snapshot"} 1478470046.975632

# HELP vmware_datastore_capacity_size VMware Datastore capacity in bytes
# TYPE vmware_datastore_capacity_size gauge
vmware_datastore_capacity_size{ds_name="ESX1-LOCAL"} 67377299456.0
# HELP vmware_datastore_freespace_size VMware Datastore freespace in bytes
# TYPE vmware_datastore_freespace_size gauge
vmware_datastore_freespace_size{ds_name="ESX1-LOCAL"} 66349694976.0
# HELP vmware_datastore_uncommited_size VMware Datastore uncommitted in bytes
# TYPE vmware_datastore_uncommited_size gauge
vmware_datastore_uncommited_size{ds_name="ESX1-LOCAL"} 0.0
# HELP vmware_datastore_provisoned_size VMware Datastore provisoned in bytes
# TYPE vmware_datastore_provisoned_size gauge
vmware_datastore_provisoned_size{ds_name="ESX1-LOCAL"} 1027604480.0
# HELP vmware_datastore_hosts VMware Hosts number using this datastore
# TYPE vmware_datastore_hosts gauge
vmware_datastore_hosts{ds_name="ESX1-LOCAL"} 1.0
# HELP vmware_datastore_vms VMware Virtual Machines number using this datastore
# TYPE vmware_datastore_vms gauge
vmware_datastore_vms{ds_name="ESX1-LOCAL"} 0.0

# HELP vmware_host_power_state VMware Host Power state (On / Off)
# TYPE vmware_host_power_state gauge
vmware_host_power_state{host_name="esx1.company.com"} 1.0
# HELP vmware_host_cpu_usage VMware Host CPU usage in MHz
# TYPE vmware_host_cpu_usage gauge
vmware_host_cpu_usage{host_name="esx1.company.com"} 2959.0
# HELP vmware_host_cpu_max VMware Host CPU max availability in MHz
# TYPE vmware_host_cpu_max gauge
vmware_host_cpu_max{host_name="esx1.company.com"} 28728.0
# HELP vmware_host_memory_usage VMware Host Memory usage in Mbytes
# TYPE vmware_host_memory_usage gauge
vmware_host_memory_usage{host_name="esx1.company.com"} 107164.0
# HELP vmware_host_memory_max VMware Host Memory Max availability in Mbytes
# TYPE vmware_host_memory_max gauge
vmware_host_memory_max{host_name="esx1.company.com"} 131059.01953125

References

The VMware exporter uses theses libraries:

The initial code is mainly inspired by:

Forked from https://github.com/rverchere/vmware_exporter. I removed the fork so that I could do searching and everything.

Maintainer

Daniel Pryor pryorda

License

See LICENSE file

Known Vulnerabilities