Configuring VM manager for subcapacity reporting

If you use License Metric Tool for subcapacity reporting, perform additional configuration tasks to balance the workload of your VM Manager Tool.

1. If you use the central or distributed VM Manager Tool, set the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter to at least 50 MB on the endpoint where the VM Manager Tool is installed. This way, you eliminate the risk of reaching the maximum size of files that can be uploaded to the BigFix® server during the configuration.
   1. Log in to the BigFix console.
   2. In the left navigation bar click Computers. Right-click the computer on which the VM Manager Tool is installed, and click Edit Computer Settings.
   3. Edit the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter to increase the maximum archive size.

   Note: You can check whether _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize is exceeded by checking the Software Scan Status analysis. The Is archive size exceeded? column provides the information for computers on which the VM Manager Tool is installed.

   Starting from application update 9.2.14, you can check whether the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter is exceeded on the Computer Support Data panel. For more information, see: Troubleshooting problems with computers.

2. Set the value of pooling interval to 30 minutes. It is a mandatory setting if you use License Metric Tool for subcapacity purposes.
   • For the local and central VM Manager Tool, go to Management > Advanced Server Settings, and set the value of the vmm_pooling_time_interval parameter.
   • For the distributed and disconnected VM Manager Tool, set the value of the vmm_pooling_time_interval parameter in the vmmmainconf.properties file. By default, the file is in the following location.
     • For distributed VM Manager Tool
       • /var/opt/BESClient/LMT/VMMAN/config
       • C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\LMT\VMMAN\config
     • For disconnected VM Manager Tool
       • VM Manager Tool install dir/config
       • VM Manager Tool install dir\config
3. To check whether you defined enough VM Manager Tool connections, perform the following steps.
   1. Stop the VM Manager Tool.
      • To stop the local VM Manager Tool, stop the License Metric Tool server.
      • To stop the central, distributed, or disconnected VM Manager Tool, go to the VMMAN directory, and run the following command.
        • ./vmman.sh -stop
        • vmman.bat -stop
   2. Define the VM manager connection. For more information, see: Adding VM managers in local and central mode or Adding and editing VM managers in distributed and disconnected mode.
   3. Clear the logs directory. By default, the directory is in the following location.
      • For local VM Manager Tool
        • opt/ibm/LMT/VMMAN/logs
        • C:\Program Files\ibm\LMT\VMMAN\logs
      • For central and distributed VM Manager Tool
        • /var/opt/BESClient/LMT/VMMAN/logs
        • C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\LMT\VMMAN\logs
      • For disconnected VM Manager Tool
        • VM Manager Tool install dir/logs
        • VM Manager Tool install dir\logs
   4. To check whether all connections are correctly defined and gather the data, go to the VMMAN directory, and run the following command.
      • ./vmman.sh -runonce
      • vmman.bat -runonce
   5. To verify that the results of the command are correct, check whether you see the following message for every defined connection.

      CODSV0001I: [ vmmconf_<number>.properties ] Data was successfully retrieved
      from the VM manager at https://<URL>

   6. To see how long it took to complete the runonce command, go to the logs directory, and open the trace.log file. Note the time between log messages.
      For example.

      2018-07-25 11:35:38 : (main) com.ibm.license.mgmt.datacollector.Runner:
      :initialiseLogger::Logger initialised successfully. 
      … 
      2018-07-25 11:37:49 : (main) com.ibm.license.mgmt.datacollector.Runner::runCollector
      (Configuration)::Finished 'run once' command.

      • If the time between log messages stays under 20 minutes, it means that you defined enough VM Manager Tool connections and that every VM Manager Tool completes its tasks within the acceptable time. You can define more connections if needed.
      • If the time between log messages goes above 20 minutes, distribute connections to another VM Manager Tool so that every VM Manager Tool completes its tasks within that time. To limit the amount of data collected by a single connection, set users with limited access to a subset of computers and split the load between multiple VM Manager Tool connections.
        Tip: Even though the pooling interval is 30 minutes, keep the time between log messages under 20 minutes. You need to allocate time for VM migrations as well as periods of higher network traffic or higher hypervisor workload.
   7. Start the VM Manager Tool.
      • To start the local VM Manager Tool, start the License Metric Tool server.
      • To start the central, distributed, or disconnected VM Manager Tool, go to the VMMAN directory, and run the following command.
        • ./vmman.sh -run
        • vmman.bat -run
   8. In case of central and distributed VM Manager Tool, check the size of data that was collected from this VM Manager Tool, and whether it exceeds the value of the _BESClient_ArchiveManager_MaxArchiveSize parameter.

[WARNING] Data collection from some defined vm managers did not finish within defined 
pooling interval 30. Please consider increasing the vmm_pooling_time_interval setting 
in vmmmainconf.properties file or divide your vm manager connections to more VM Manager Tools.