How to install VCOPS 5.8 (VMware vCenter Operations Manager)

What is VCOPS?

Vcops is a utility used to monitor potential issues in your vsphere environment. It is a vapp comprised of two vms working together. The first vm is the Analytics vm and the second vm is the UI vm. The two vms are configured with 2 vcps (each) and 16gbs of RAM between them (7 and 9). One gathers data from vsphere and the other one reports it to you via a browser. Vcops is installed via ovf and treated as a unit; meaning that you power on the vapp itself, never the individual vms (this will break the heartbeat between them).

How to install VCOPS

1. Download the ova from vmware.com/downloads

2. Launch the vsphere client and connect to the vcenter server (you can't connect to the esxi host for this)

3. Select the Datacenter that you will be using

4. Select the IP Pools Tab

5. Click on Add

6. In the first tab, name the pool (pool1 in this case) and specify the subnet to use and the gateway information.

7. Select the DNS tab and add the necessary information (domain name and dns server ip).

8. Click on the Associations Tab and select the network to be used (VM Network in my case).

9. To deploy the ovf, click on File in the Upper Right Corner of the vsphere client.

10. Select Deploy from OVF.

11. Click on Browse and find the .ova (archive) just downloaded.

12. Continue with the wizard. Click on Next and agree to the license.

13. Name the Vapp (vcops in my case)

14. Select your configuration type (small deployment = default)

15. Select your esxi host and decide how to allocate the space (thick vs thin).

16. Once finished, power on the vapp that contains the two vms that make up vcops. Power on the vapp.

17. Launch your browser and using https:// point to the ip address or name and follow it with /admin.

18. Log in as admin/admin.

19. Finish the configuration of VCOPS. Specify who is the vcenter server, change the admin password (admin) and root password (vmware) and identify the SMTP server.

20. Once you finish, log into VCOPS (the ui vm) by pointing to https://its_ip/vcops-vsphere.

NOTE: What follows are some captures that show you what to expect when you log in and the badges showing the health of the vsphere components. You will see three major badges, Health, Risk and Efficiency. The badges use different colors (green, yellow, orange, red), indicating serious problems, potential problems or no problems. These major badges also have minor badges. For example, Health has 3 minor badges called Workload, Anomalies and Faults. Risk has other minor badges like Time Remaining, Capacity Remaining, Stress and Compliance. Efficiency has Reclaimable Waste and Density.

Select your different icons (such as vcenter server, esxi host, datastores, vms) and look at the results. One of the captures will show you the different vms and their states. Notice one vm is grayed out (with an X instead of a color). That vm was not running.