VMware VCENTER CONFIGURATION MANAGER 5.3 - SOFTWARE REQUIEREMENTS... Quick guide

vCenter Configuration ManagerHardware and
Software Requirements Guide
vCenter Configuration Manager 5.3
This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all
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EN-000439-01

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Contents
About This Book 5
Overview 7
Agent and Collector Host OS Platform Support 8
Understanding the VCM Installation Manager 8
Understanding VCM Installation Configurations 8
Hardware Requirements -- Collector Machines 11
Determining the Size of Your Environment 11
Identifying Your Specific Hardware Requirements 12
Hardware and Operating System Requirements -- Agent Machines 15
VCM Agent Requirements 15
Windows Custom Information supports PowerShell version 2.0 17
Software Provisioning Requirements 17
Software Provisioning Component Software Requirements 17
Software Provisioning on Guests 17
UNIX/Linux Patch Assessment and Deployment Requirements 17
Agent Proxy Requirements for Use with VMware vSphere/ESX/ESXi 18
Minimum Operating System Requirements 19
Minimum Hardware Requirements 19
Supported vCenter Server Collections 20
FIPS Requirements 20
FIPS for Windows 20
FIPS Used by VCM Agent Proxies 20
Software and Operating System Requirements -- Collector Machines 21
Sizing Impacts on Software Requirements 21
Software Installation and Configuration Overview 22
32-bit and 64-bit Operating Systems 22
Upgrade Considerations 22
Configuring a 32-bit Operating System for a VCM Installation 22
Configuring Windows 2003 SP2 Operating System 22
Uninstalling Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration 23
Installing and Configuring IIS 24
Installing .NET Frameworks 25
Configuring the WCF ISAPI Extensions 27
Installing and Verifying SQL XML 3.0 SP3 29
Installing and Configuring SQL Server 29
Configuring SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS)-Related Settings 35
Preparing for VCM Installation 39
Configuring a 64-bit Operating System for a VCM Installation 42
Configuring Windows 2003 SP2 Operating System 42
Uninstalling Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration 43
Installing and Configuring IIS 44
Installing .NET Frameworks 46
Configuring the WCF ISAPI Extensions 47
Installing and Verifying SQL XML 3.0 SP3 49
Installing and Configuring SQL Server 49
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vCenter Configuration Manager Hardware and Software Requirements Guide
Configuring SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS)-Related Settings 60
Preparing for VCM Installation 65
Agent Sizing Information 69
UNIX/Linux Machines 70
Mac OS X Machines 71
Configuring SQL Server 2005 for VCM 73
SQL Server Database Settings 73
SQL Server Processor Settings 74
Configuring SQL Server Processor Settings 75
SQL Server IO Configuration 76
Using SQLIO to Determine IO Channel Throughput 78
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About This Book
About This Book This guide, VCM Hardware and Software Requirements Guide, describes the hardware and software
requirements that must be met in order to ensure a successful VMware vCenter Configuration Manager
(VCM) installation. This document contains the following information:
nHardware requirements for VCM Collector machines
nHardware requirements for VCM Agent machines
nSoftware requirements and procedures for verifying or installing required components
nSupplemental reference information
Read this document and complete the associated procedures to prepare for a successful installation.
VCM Hardware and Software Requirements Guide covers
VCM 5.3, Foundation Checker 3.0, and Service Desk Connector 1.3.0.
Intended Audience
The information presented in this manual is written for system administrators who are experienced
Windows or UNIX/Linux system administrators and who are familiar with managing network users and
resources, and performing system maintenance.
To use the information in this guide effectively, you must have a basic understanding of how to configure
network resources, install software, and administer operating systems. You also need to fully understand
your network’s topology and resource naming conventions.
Document Feedback
VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send
your feedback to [e-mail].
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Technical Support and Education Resources
The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book
and other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
Online and Telephone
Support
To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product
and contract information, and register your products, go to
http://www.vmware.com/support.
Customers with appropriate support contracts should use telephone support for
priority 1 issues. Go to http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.
Support Offerings To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs,
go to http://www.vmware.com/support/services.
VMware Professional
Services
VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands-on labs, case study
examples, and course materials designed to be used as on-the-job reference tools.
Courses are available onsite, in the classroom, and live online. For onsite pilot
programs and implementation best practices, VMware Consulting Services
provides offerings to help you assess, plan, build, and manage your virtual
environment. To access information about education classes, certification
programs, and consulting services, go to http://www.vmware.com/services.
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Overview 1
Overview The purpose of this manual is to help you determine your specific hardware and software requirements,
and then to install and configure the prerequisites necessary for a successful installation of VMware
vCenter Configuration Manager (VCM).
Before proceeding through this manual, consider the following questions. The answers that you provide
will help you to determine your hardware and software requirements throughout the course of this
document.
nHow many Windows (Servers and Workstations) and UNIX/Linux machines do you plan to license?
nHow often do you intend to collect data?
nHow much data do you intend to collect?
nHow long do you plan to retain the data that you collect?
nWhat additional VCM components do you intend to license? See Download VMware vCenter
Configuration Manager for more information about VCM components.
nWill you be required to run a split installation due to corporate policies?
A split installation across two machines should be used only when your corporate policy requires you
to have your SQL Server data stored on a centralized database server. Split installations are
implemented and supported only by VMware Customer Support. Installation instructions are not
provided in this manual.
nDo you fully understand your VCM security requirements? See the VCM Security Environment
Requirements (Technical White Paper) on the Download VMware vCenter Configuration Manager site.
To use this document effectively, begin by determining the hardware requirements for the VCMCollector
machine (See “Chapter 2: Hardware Requirements — Collector Machine”). Next, determine the supported
hardware and operating systems for your VCM Agent machines (See “Chapter 3: Hardware and
Operating Systems Requirements — Agent Machines”). After you are confident that you have determined
your hardware requirements, you must then install and configure the software and settings required by
the Collector machine (See “Chapter 4: Software and Operating System Requirements — Collector
Machine”).
As you work through each chapter, complete each of the activities and procedures in the order in which
they appear. When you are finished, you should be able to run the Foundation Checker application
successfully, thereby ensuring an efficient and successful VCM installation. The Foundation Checker is a
VCM application that scans the Collector machine for the necessary prerequisites.
Refer to the following table for an overview of each chapter and the tasks associated with that chapter.
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Read this chapter: To do the following:
1 -- Overview Understand how VCM and its related components are installed.
2 -- Hardware Requirements—
Collector
Determine your specific VCM Collector hardware requirements, based on the number
of machines in your enterprise and the VCM components that you plan to license.
3 -- Hardware and Operating
System Requirements — Agent
Machines
Determine your specific VCM Agent hardware requirements, based on the VCM
components that you plan to license. This chapter includes a detailed list of the
supported operating systems,
4 -- Software and Operating
System Requirements —
Collector Machine
Prepare the Windows® server for VCM installation by installing and configuring the
necessary software prerequisites.
Appendices Access reference material to supplement the hardware and software requirements
information.
Table 1-1. Chapter Outline
If you have questions about the Windows® server/workstation or UNIX® machine configuration or
requirements not answered in this document, contact your VMware account representative or VMware
Customer Support.
Agent and Collector Host OS Platform Support
All Agent and Collector host OS platform support is specific to versions and editions indicated in the
supported platforms table. All installations tested, except as noted, utilize the vendor’s default
configuration. A variety of vendor-supplied, 3rd-party, and custom lock downs, endpoint security
products, policies, and restricted system configurations can reduce or block the performance or
functionality of VCM’s components. Troubleshooting and support of VCM components in such locked-
down or reconfigured environments is not included under the standard product maintenance agreement.
Support in such environments is available through an additional Professional Services engagement.
Understanding the VCM Installation Manager
All VCM components and tools are installed with the VCM Installation Manager, which is a single tool that
steps you through the process for installing components and tools.
The Installation Manager installs all VCM components on your machine, even if you have not purchased
licenses for all of the components. Only the VCM components that are included in your VCM license file
are activated during the installation process. This installation method allows you the flexibility to purchase
more licenses and activate additional VCM components as needed. The components are already installed
on the machine and need only be activated with additional licenses.
When preparing your system for a VCM installation, determine your requirements based on which
components you plan to license within your configuration. Use the hardware requirement worksheet and
associated tables in “Chapter 2: Hardware Requirements — Collector Machine” to assess your
requirements based on your individual licensing plan. In addition, consider whether you will have a single-
server or a multiple-server installation configuration.
Understanding VCM Installation Configurations
VCM supports one installation configuration: the single server installation in which the Collector and the
VCM Databases (SQL Server databases) are installed on a single machine.
A split installation across two machines should be used only when your corporate policy requires you to
have your SQL Server data stored on a centralized database server. Split installations are implemented and
supported only by VMware Customer Support. Installation instructions are not provided in this manual.
The following diagram illustrates a typical VCM Enterprise-wide, single-server installation as installed by
the Installation Manager.
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Overview
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Hardware Requirements -- Collector
Machines 2
Hardware Requirements -- Collector
Machines
Your VCM hardware requirements are directly dependent on the number of physical and virtual
machines within your enterprise you plan to license for use with VCM. Use the information in this chapter
to determine how many machines you plan to manage and what VCM components you plan to license.
Once you have this information, you will be able to continue using this chapter to determine the individual
hardware requirements that you must satisfy in order to ensure a successful VCM installation.
Disk space requirements vary based on:
nNumber of machines from which you are collecting data
nType of data collected and filters used
nFrequency of collections
nData retention
Determining the Size of Your Environment
VCM hardware requirements are recommended based on whether your enterprise contains 1 to 1,000,
1,000 to 2,000, 2,000 to 5,000, or more managed machines. To determine the number of managed machines
on which to base your collector size, consider the number of Windows (servers and workstations),
UNIX/Linux, and virtual machines that you are licensing. In addition, identify any other VCM components
that you are licensing. Populate the worksheet in this section with your enterprise-specific data to
determine your total number of managed machines.
The following charts are designed to help you determine your sizing requirements for installing VCM.
Within VCM, the term “managed machines” is used to identify the servers and workstations from which
VCM collects data and manages. However, for the purposes of sizing your environment, it is necessary to
expand this definition to account for the Microsoft Active Directory (AD) objects (if you are licensing VCM
for AD) that you anticipate having in your environment within the next 12 to 24 months. Use the formulas
within the following worksheets to determine how your AD objects will increase your ’managed machine’
count, and thereby affect your final sizing requirements. By taking these considerations into account now,
you will be sure to have adequate disk space to accommodate VCM both now and in the future.
Once you have completed the following worksheet and determined the number of managed machines,
you will need to size your Collector machine. See "Identifying Your Specific Hardware Requirements" on
page 12 for more information.
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Example: Determining Managed Machine Count for a Typical Enterprise
In this example, an enterprise containing the following machines and objects represents 1177 managed
machines, and therefore falls into the 1000 to 2000 managed machines category.
Product Description Anticipated Number of Managed Machines
within the Next 12-24 Months
VCM Windows Servers 92
vSphere/ESX/ESXi Servers 5
Virtual Machines (VM) 50
Windows Workstations 920
VCM
for AD
Divide total number of AD objects by 100 to get the
approximate ’machine count’ for your AD environment.
10,000 AD Objects/100 = 100 managed machines
to accommodate VCM for AD
TOTAL 1177 managed machines
Table 2-1. Example of Sizing Worksheet with Sample Data
Product Description Anticipated Number of Managed Machines within
the Next 12-24 Months (See Note)
VCM Windows Servers
ESX Servers
Virtual Machines (VM)
Windows Workstations
VCM
for AD
Divide total number of AD objects by 100 to get the
approximate ’machine count’ for your AD environment.
TOTAL MANAGED MACHINES
Table 2-2. Sizing Worksheet: Populate with data specific to your enterprise
NOTE Enter the number you expect to manage in the next 12-24 months. While this number may not
reflect your current licensing plan, planning for the future will ensure that you have enough disk space
available when the need arises.
Identifying Your Specific Hardware Requirements
Refer to the following tables to determine your specific hardware and disk configuration requirements.
Use the total number of managed machines that you identified in the previous section to locate your
environment size (1 to 1,000, 1,000 to 2,000, 2,000 to 5,000, or more). If you have over 2000 machines in
your environment, contact VMware Customer Support to assist you in determining your specific
hardware requirements.
Assumptions:
The requirements listed in this table are based on the following considerations:
nDaily collections using the default filter set with additional Microsoft AD security descriptors collected
using VCM for AD
n15 days retention of data
nSimple recovery mode only
nDaily VCM Patching collections
nVCM is the only application running on your server. If you intend to run other applications, contact
VMware Customer Support to prevent conflicts
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VCM for AD collections cause the TempDB database to grow significantly. Plan to increase your hardware
requirements if you have a fully populated Microsoft Active Directory and plan to perform frequent AD
collections.
Longer data retention, additional WMI, registry filters, and custom information collections will also add to
the requirements listed below. For questions about how your specific requirements are affected, contact
VMware Customer Support.
Requirements Number of VCM Managed Machines
1-1000 1000-2000 2000+ (See Note)
Processors Dual Xeon or single Dual Core
2 GHz minimum
Quad Xeon or two Dual Core
2 GHz minimum
Eight-way Xeon or four Dual
Core 2 GHz minimum
RAM 4 GB+ minimum 6 GB+ minimum 12 GB+ minimum
Number of Separate
Disk Channels
2 3 4
Table 2-1. Minimum Hardware Requirements by Number of Managed Machines
NOTE If you are managing over 2000 machines on one collector, based on your calculations using
"Determining the Size of Your Environment" on page 11, contact VMware Customer Support for your
specific hardware requirements.
Hardware Requirements -- Collector Machines
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Number of VCM Managed
Machines RAID Channel and RAID Level Partitions Usable Space
1-500 Channel 0 -- RAID 1 OS 36 GB
Collector Data
Files
36 GB
TempDB 36 GB
SQL Log Files 28 GB
Channel 1 -- RAID 0+1 (recommended) or RAID
10
SQL Data Files 56 GB
501-1000 Channel 0 -- RAID 1 OS 36 GB
Collector Data
Files
36 GB
Channel 1 -- RAID 1 TempDB 56 GB
SQL Log Files 56 GB
Channel 2 -- RAID 0+1 (recommended) or RAID
10
SQL Data Files 113 GB
1001-2000 Channel 0 -- RAID 1 OS 36 GB
Collector Data
Files
54 GB
Channel 1 -- RAID 1 TempDB 113 GB
Channel 2 -- RAID 1 SQL Log Files 113 GB
Channel 3 -- RAID 0+1 (recommended) or RAID
10
SQLData Files 227 GB
Table 2-2. Minimum Disk Configuration Requirements by Number of Managed Machines
NOTE The space allocations in this table do not include space for backups. Backup space should be
allocated equal to the size of the VCM data for a single full backup, or larger if you want to keep multiple
partial backups.
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Hardware and Operating System Require-
ments -- Agent Machines 3
Hardware and Operating System
Requirements -- Agent Machines
The Agent machines are the managed machines from which VCM collects data. The Agent is supported
many different machine and operating system types.
VCM Agent Requirements
The amount of additional disk space required on a managed machine running an Agent (Windows,
UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X,or AD) is fairly constant. Each machine requires no more than 200 MB in order to
run an Agent. However, the recommended memory to run the HP-UX Agent is 1 GB.
The following table provides the list of hardware platforms and operating systems supported by VCM.
While it may be possible to install Agents on platforms/operating system versions other than those listed
below, such configurations will not be supported. From time to time VMware introduces support for
additional platforms/operating systems. Please contact VMware Customer Support to confirm if a
particular platforms/operating system combination is supported by a later version of VCM if it is not listed
below.
Agent Supported Operating System Supported
Hardware Platform
Windows Microsoft Windows 2000 (up to 5.2.1 Agent only) x86
Microsoft Windows 2003 x86 and x64
Microsoft Windows 2003 R2 x86 and x64
Microsoft XP Professional (including SP3) x86 and x64
Microsoft XP Professional (SP2 and earlier up to 5.2.1 Agent only) x86 and x64
Microsoft Vista Business (including SP1) * x86 and x64
Microsoft Vista Ultimate (including SP1) * x86 and x64
Microsoft Vista Enterprise (including SP1) * x86 and x64
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 * x86 and x64
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 * x86 and x64
Microsoft Windows 7 * x86 and x64
UNIX/Linux AIX 4.3.3 (up to 5.1.3 Agent only) See Note. RISC
AIX 5L 5.1 RISC
AIX 5L 5.2 RISC
AIX 5L 5.3 RISC
AIX 6L 6.1 (5.2 Agent or later) RISC and PowerPC
Debian 4.0 (Package LSB-Release is required) x86 and x64
HP-UX 11i v1.0 (11.11)
(If you are installing on HPUX 11.11, Patch PHSS_30966 is required.)
Supported in trusted mode.
PA-RISC
HP-UX 11i v2.0 (11.23) Itanium
HP-UX 11i v2.0 (11.23) PA-RISC
HP-UX 11i v3.0 (11.31) Itanium
HP-UX 11i v3.0 (11.31) PA-RISC
Table 3-1. Agent Operating System and Hardware Requirements
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Agent Supported Operating System Supported
Hardware Platform
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 (ES/AS) (up to 5.1.3 Agent only) See
Note.
x86
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (ES/AS) including Desktop with
Workstation edition
x86
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (ES/AS) including Desktop with
Workstation edition
x86 and x64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 Server, Desktop with
Workstation, and Advanced Platform
x86 and x64
Solaris 2.5 (up to 5.1.3 Agent only) See Note. Sparc
Solaris 2.6 (up to 5.2.1 Agent only) See Note. Sparc
Solaris 8 Sparc and Sparc-V9
Solaris 9 Sparc and Sparc-V9
Solaris 10
(certified and verified on Solaris 10 zfs and custom information data
class collections on both zfs and vxfs)
Sparc, Sparc-V9, x86,
and x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9 x86 and x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10 x86 and x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10.2 x86 and x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10.3 x86 and x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 x86 and x64
Mac OS X(servers and
workstations)
Mac OS X 10.4 Intel and PowerPC
Mac OS X 10.5 Intel and PowerPC
Oracle 9i Solaris 9 Sparc and Sparc-V9
Solaris 10 Sparc and Sparc-V9
Oracle 10g Solaris 9 Sparc-V9
Solaris 10 Sparc-V9, x86, and
x64
Active Directory Microsoft Windows 2000 x86
Microsoft Windows 2003 x86 and x64
Microsoft Windows 2003 R2 x86 and x64
Microsoft Windows 2008 x86 and x64
VCM Remote VCM Remote supports the same platforms as the Windows Agent
* The platforms indicated above with an asterisk (*) with agents prior to the 5.2.1 agent may not correctly
report the name of the operating system. We recommend upgrading these platform agents as soon as
possible.
NOTE The platforms above indicated with the "(up to 5.1.3 Agent only)" note are supported only to the
Agent version specified. You can install the 5.1.3 version of the Agent on the platforms specified, but you
cannot install newer or the current Agent. This means that you will not be able to use the new features in
this release on those platforms.
The platforms above indicated with the "(up to 5.2.1 Agent only)" note are supported only to the Agent
version specified. You can install the 5.2.1 version of the Agent on the platforms specified, but you cannot
install newer or the current Agent. This means that you will not be able to use the new features in this
release on those platforms.
Contact VMware Customer Support for the earlier supported Agents.
The following x64 Platforms have been tested.
nFor Windows: Intel64 and AMD64
nFor Linux: Intel64 and AMD64
nFor Solaris: Intel64
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Itanium is not supported for either Windows or UNIX/Linux.
Windows Custom Information supports PowerShell version 2.0
PowerShell version 2.0 is required for Windows Custom Information (WCI). VMware recommends that
you upgrade from PowerShell 1.0 to PowerShell 2.0, which introduced a number of useful functions.
Because of the additional ability to have the execution policy set at the process level, PowerShell 2.0 is the
base requirement for WCI in VCM. The default script type command line used for script based filters in
WCI includes options to set the process-level execution policy to Remote Signed. This allows WCI to
execute collection scripts against systems whose machine and user level signing policies may be anything,
without having to change the setting. Out-of-the-box, VCM’s Windows Custom Information non-in-line
collection filters will fail if executed against PowerShell 1.0 client systems.
PowerShell 2.0 is supported on all platforms that support PowerShell 1.0. For more information, see the
online Help.
Software Provisioning Requirements
VCM Software Provisioning provides the components to create software provisioning packages, publish
the packages to repositories, and then install and remove software packages on target machines.
The following operating systems are supported platforms:
Supported Operating System Supported Hardware Platform
Microsoft Windows 7 x86, x64
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 x64
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 x86, x64
Windows Vista SP2 x86, x64
Microsoft Windows XP SP3 x86
Microsoft Windows XP SP2 x64
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 x86, x64
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2 x86, x64
Table 3-1. Software Provisioning Operating System and Hardware Requirements
Software Provisioning Component Software Requirements
The following are the VCM Software Provisioning components and their software requirements:
nVMware vCenter Configuration Manager Package Studio: The application used to the create the
software packages. Requires .NET 3.5.1.
nSoftware Repositories: The file system used to store the shared software packages. Requires .NET 3.5.1
and IIS 6, 7, or 7.5.
nPackage Manager: The application on each managed machine that downloads packages from
repositories, and then installs and removes the software contained in the packages. Requires .NET 3.5.1.
Software Provisioning on Guests
Any virtual machine guest on VMware ESX 3.5 and vSphere 4 (both i and non-i versions) meeting the
above requirements can be used for any of the VCM Software Provisioning components.
UNIX/Linux Patch Assessment and Deployment Requirements
UNIX patch assessments and deployments are currently supported for the following platforms.
Hardware and Operating System Requirements -- Agent Machines
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The associated assessment PLS files require at least 20 MB.
Supported Operating System Supported Hardware Platform
AIX 5L 5.1 RISC and PowerPC
AIX 5L 5.2 RISC and PowerPC
AIX 5L 5.3 RISC and PowerPC
AIX 6.1 RISC and PowerPC
HP-UX 11iV1 (11.11) PA-RISC
HP-UX 11iv2.0 Itanium
HP-UX 11i v2.0 PA-RISC
HP-UX 11i v3.0 (11.31) Itanium
HP-UX 11i v3.0 (11.31) PA-RISC
Mac OS X 10.4 Intel and PowerPC
Mac OS X 10.5 Intel and PowerPC
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (ES/AS) including Desktop with
Workstation edition
x86 (includes Intel and AMD architectures,
excludes Itanium)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (ES/AS) including Desktop with
Workstation edition
x86 and x64 (includes Intel and AMD
architectures, excludes Itanium)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 Server, Desktop with
Workstation, and Advanced Platform
x86 and x64 (includes Intel and AMD
architectures, excludes Itanium)
Solaris 8 Sparc and Sparc-V9
Solaris 9 Sparc and Sparc-V9
Solaris 10 Sparc, Sparc-V9, x86, and x64
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9 x86 and x64 (includes Intel and AMD
architectures, excludes Itanium)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10 x86 and x64 (includes Intel and AMD
architectures, excludes Itanium)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 x86 and x64 (includes Intel and AMD
architectures, excludes Itanium)
Table 3-1. UNIX/Linux Patch Assessment and Deployment Operating System and Hardware
Requirements
Agent Proxy Requirements for Use with VMware vSphere/ESX/ESXi
The VCM Agent is not installed directly on the ESX/vSphere Servers and vCenter Servers; instead
collections are accomplished using what is referred to as "agentless collections". There are two types of
agentless collections, and each type is specific to a particular configuration. One type uses an Agent Proxy,
and the other type uses a direct call to the vSphere API using vSphere PowerCLI.
When collecting from ESX 2.5/3.x, vSphere 4, and ESXi Servers, you must configure at least one VCM
Agent Proxy machine. The Collector communicates with the Agent Proxy, and the Agent Proxy then
directly communicates with the ESX 2.5/3.x, vSphere 4, and ESXi Servers using SSH and/or Web Services
for necessary data collection actions. In the case of ESX 2.5, the Agent Proxy communicates with the
VirtualCenter Servers to collect certain ESX 2.5 data it cannot collect directly. The data is processed by the
Agent Proxy and relayed to the Collector.
When collecting from vCenter Server, you must configure the Collector with the necessary components,
including an Agent (installed by default), Remote Commands (VCM functionality that includes vCenter
Collection PowerShell templates to be the model for your local scripts), PowerShell 2.0, and vSphere
PowerCLI 2.0. The Collector Agent runs the vCenter Collection remote commands, which include your
Powershell scripts, and then vSphere PowerCLI accesses the vSphere APIon the vCenter Servers to
perform the necessary data collection actions. The data is relayed to the Collector and added to the
database.
Supported Agent Proxy Versions
The supported agent proxy versions are as follows:
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Platform Agent Proxy Version
ESX 2.5 Up to 5.1.3 Agent Proxy only
ESX 3.0 Up to 5.2.1 Agent Proxy only
ESX 3.5 Up to 5.2.1 Agent Proxy only
ESXi 3.5 Up to 5.2.1 Agent Proxy only
vSphere (ESX) 4.0 VCM 5.0 Agent Proxy or later
vSphere (ESX) 4.1 VCM 5.0 Agent Proxy or later
Table 3-1. Supported Agent Proxy Versions
NOTE The platforms above indicated with the "Up to 5.1.3 Agent Proxy only" note are supported only to
the Agent version specified. You can install the 5.1.3 version of the Agent Proxy on the platforms specified,
but you cannot install newer or the current Agent. This means that you will not be able to use the new
features in this release on those platforms.
The platforms above indicated with the "Up to 5.2.1 Agent Proxy only" note are supported only (for
vCenter Collections) to the Agent version specified. You can install the 5.2.1 version of the Agent Proxy on
the platforms specified, but you cannot install newer or the current Agent. This means that you will not be
able to use the new features in this release on those platforms.
The following sections list the minimum operating system and hardware requirements for each Agent
Proxy machine. These requirements may vary based on:
nNumber of machines from which you are collecting data
nType of data collected and filters used
nFrequency of collections
nData retention
Minimum Operating System Requirements
The VCM for Virtualization Agent Proxy machine must be running Windows 2003 SP2. For more
information on installation and configuration, see "Configuring Windows 2003 SP2 Operating System" on
page 42.
Minimum Hardware Requirements
The VCM for Virtualization Agent Proxy is, by default, installed on the Collector. Although the
Virtualization Agent Proxy is available on the Collector, it requires special configuration to make it work
properly. It is recommended, therefore, that an Agent Proxy server always be configured for collecting
data from ESX servers. If more than 50 ESX servers are to be managed, additional agent proxy servers
should be configured to maintain the ratio of one agent proxy per 50 ESX servers.
The designated VCM for Agent Proxy servers should meet the following minimum hardware
requirements. An Agent Proxy server meeting these requirements can manage approximately 50 ESX
Servers.
nProcessor: Dual Xeon or single Dual Core 2 GHz minimum
nRAM: 4 GB minimum
nDisk Space: Each VCM for Virtualization Agent Proxy requires an additional 93 MB of disk space,
above the 200 MB required for the standard Agent. In addition, you will also need:
n4 MB per ESX server for data model storage
n150 MB per ESX server for Agent master files
Hardware and Operating System Requirements -- Agent Machines
VMware, Inc. 19

Supported vCenter Server Collections
VCM supports collecting data from vCenter Server 4, 4.0.x, and 4.1, and have tested collections on 4.0.1
and 4.1.0.
FIPS Requirements
If your organization must conform to the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), the following
tables list the VCM-supported standards.
FIPS for Windows
For the following Windows platforms, VCM uses the Microsoft CryptoAPI and the Microsoft
Cryptographic Service Providers (CSP), which is included with Microsoft Windows.
Operating System Version Hardware Platform FIPS Module Certificate
.NET 3 cil 894
Windows Vista 1 x86 899
Windows Vista 1 x86 and 64-bit 894
Windows Vista 1 x86 and 64-bit 893
Windows Vista 1 x86 and 64-bit 892
Windows 2003 SP2 x86 and 64-bit 875
Windows 2003 SP1 x86 and 64-bit 382
Windows 2003 SP1 x86 and 64-bit 381
Windows 2003 Gold x86 and 64-bit 382
Windows 2003 Gold x86 and 64-bit 381
Windows XP SP2 x86 240
Windows XP SP2 x86 238
Windows XP SP1 x86 240
Windows XP Gold x86 240
Windows XP Gold x86 238
Windows 2000 All x86 103
Windows All 2000 x86 76
Table 3-1. FIPS Support for Windows Machines
FIPS Used by VCM Agent Proxies
The VCM Agent Proxy uses the OpenSSL FIPS v1.1.2, which is validated to the 918 certificate.
vCenter Configuration Manager Hardware and Software Requirements Guide
20 VMware, Inc.