About Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins

Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-in consists of four plug-ins bundled together to support VMware vCenter Server 6.5. Each plug-in addresses specific functions and services for the various components of VMware vCenter Server 6.5 protected by Neverfail IT Continuity Engine. 

Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins proactively monitor the VMware vCenter Server 6.5 environment. Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins provide protection for all associated VMware vCenter Server 6.5 configuration data, services, and application data files.

Supported Versions and Platforms

• VMware vCenter Server 6.5 up to and including Update 1d       
  • on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, on Windows Server 2016
  • using one of the following Databases either local or remote (where compatible)
    • SQL Server 2008R2 up to SP3, SQL Server 2012 up to SP3, SQL Server 2014 up to SP2, SQL Server 2016 up to SP1
    • vPostgres 9.4 (embedded with vCenter 6.5) 
    • Oracle 12c Standard/Enterprise Edition Release 1 (starting from Neverfail Continuity Engine v8.5 Update 3 which bundles Neverfail for Oracle Database Plug-in)
• VMware vCenter Server 6.0 up to and including Update 3c           
  • on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2
  • using one of the following Databases either local or remote (where compatible)
    • SQL Server 2008R2 up to SP3, SQL Server 2012 up to SP3, SQL Server 2014 up to SP1
    • vPostgres 9.3 (embedded with vCenter 6.0)
    • Oracle 12c Standard/Enterprise Edition Release 1 (starting from Neverfail Continuity Engine v8.5 Update 3 which bundles Neverfail for Oracle Database Plug-in)  

Known Issues

Sometimes, VMware Service Lifecycle Manager service fails to start its vCenter child processes following a switchover. 

Workaround: Procedure is documented in  How to start the vCenter Server 6.x services on the active server when VMware Service Lifecycle Manager (vmon) service fails to start them  (EN-3399)

Install/Uninstall the Neverfail for vSphere Plug-ins Via the Neverfail Advanced Management Client

The Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins can be installed either via the Neverfail CE deployment process or by using Application -> Plugins in the Neverfail Advanced Management Client using the procedure below. Neverfail recommends that for initial deployments of Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins, installation should be performed using Engine Management Service.

Important: After installation of the VMware vCenter Server Plug-in you must add a username and password for the plug-in via the Edit Plug-ins dialog. 

To manually install the Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins, follow the steps below:

1. Unzip the Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins to the desired location.
2. Launch the Neverfail Advanced Management Client.
3. Navigate to Application-> Plugins.
4. Click on the Installbutton.
5. Click the Browsebutton and navigate to the location of the <plug-in name>.dll file.
6. Click OKto complete the installation.
7. Repeat this process for each of the five individual plug-ins.

To remove/uninstall the Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins, follow the steps below:

1. Launch the Neverfail Advanced Management Client.
2. Navigate to Application-> Plugins.
3. Select the desired plug-in to be removed/uninstalled.
4. Click on the Uninstallbutton in the 'Plugins' pane.
5. When the plug-in is uninstalled, the files are not removed.  This is by design for future functionality and therefore the following workaround is provided:
6. Copy the contents of the r2\plugins\<sponsor>\<version>folder to a different location (e.g. C:\temp).
7. Delete the contents of the r2\plugins\<sponsor>\<version>folder.
8. To reinstall the plug-in, when prompted for the location of the plug-in files, navigate to the new folder location (e.g. C:\temp).

Note: As an alternative, reinstallation can be accomplished by using the downloaded files from the original download location after removing the plug-in.

Monitoring  

For Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins, monitoring consists of the following:

• Service Availability Monitoring
• Application and Performance Monitoring

Service Availability Monitoring

Neverfail Engine monitors services specified by the plug-ins to ensure application availability. In the event that a specified service stops or fails, Neverfail Engine can take up to three pre-configured actions to remedy the issue. 

Application and Performance Monitoring  

Rules - The following 'Rules' are installed by Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins:

Check Connection to vCenter Platform Services Controller

VMware vCenter Server 

• Check Connection to vCenter Platform Services Controller
• Check that vCenter can contact and query the database 
• Check vCenter license
• Check Platform Service Controller Web Interfacestatus
• Check vSphere Web Clientstatus
• Check vSphere Client (HTML5)status

VMware vPostgres

• I/O Data Operations Per Sec
• Maximum Connections
• Cache Hit Rate
• Index Cache Hit Rate 
• Database size

To configure/modify these 'Rules', follow the steps below:

1. Using the Neverfail Advanced Management Client, click on Application-> Rules.
2. Select the desired 'Rule'.
3. Click on the Editbutton at the top of the 'Rules' pane.
4. Configure/modify the desired fields (listed below).

o    Condition: (the condition being evaluated) for example, see the Note above.

o    Inverval: (the length of time the condition exists)

o    On Failure: (action to take upon first failure) Note: The default is set to 'Log Warning'.

5. Click OKto save the changes.

Note: This dialog is also used to Enable/Disable the selected 'Rule'. 

Tasks - The following 'Tasks' are installed by Neverfail for vSphere 6.0 Plug-ins: 

• Pre Start
• Periodic 
  • Protected Services Discovery
  • File Filter Discovery
  • Registry Filter Discovery

To configure/modify Periodic 'Tasks', follow the steps below:

1. Using the Neverfail Advanced Management Client, click on Application-> Tasks.
2. Select the desired 'Task'.
3. Click on the Editbutton at the top of the 'Tasks' pane.
4. Configure/modify the 'Interval' field. 
   
   Note:'Interval' is the only field available for configuration/modification and is measured in seconds (secs).
5. Click OKto save the changes.

Note: This dialog is also used to Enable/Disable the selected 'Task'.

Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins  

VMware vCenter Server 6.5 Plug-in

This is a list of all services protected by this plug-in:

VMware vCenter Server 6.5

• VMware Afd Service
• VMware vCenter Configuration Service
• VMware Service Lifecycle Manager 

VMware vCenter Server 6.0

• VMware afd Service
• VMware Component Manager
• VMware Content Library Service
• VMware ESX Agent Manager
• VMware HTTP Reverse Proxy
• VMware Inventory Service 
• VMware Message Bus Config Service
• VMware Performance Charts
• VMware Service Control Agent
• VMware Syslog Collector
• VMware System and Hardware Health Manager
• VMware vAPI Endpoint
• VMware vCenter Configuration Service
• VMware vCenter Workflow Manager
• VMware VirtualCenter Server
• VMware Service Manager
• VMware vSphere Auto Deploy Waiter
• VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector 
• VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector Web Server
• VMware vSphere Profile-Driven Storage Service
• VMware vSphere Web Client
• VMware Virtual SAN Health Service 

When the plug-in is installed, all protected services will be set to manual unless otherwise stated.

VMware Platform Service Controller 6.5 Plug-in

This is a list of all services protected by this plug-in:

 VMware Platform Services Controller 6.5

• VMware Afd Service
• VMware Certificate Service
• VMware Directory Service
• VMware Identity Management Service
• VMware Secure Token Service
• VMware vCenter Configuration Service
• VMware Platform Service Controller Client
• VMware DNS Service
• VMware Service Lifecycle Manager 

VMware Platform Services Controller 6.0

• VMware afd Service
• VMware Certificate Service
• VMware Component Manager
• VMware Directory Service
• VMware HTTP Reverse Proxy
• VMware Identity Management Service
• VMware License Service
• VMware Security Token Service
• VMware Service Control Agent
• VMware vCenter Configuration Service
• VMware Platform Services Controller Client

VMware Update Manager 6.5 Plug-in

 VMware Update Manager 6.5 and 6.0

This is a list of all services protected by this plug-in:

• VMware vSphere Update Manager Service
• VMWare vSphere Update Manager UFA Service

VMware Authentication Proxy 6.0 Plug-in

This is a list of all services protected by this plug-in:

VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy

• VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy
• VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy Adapter

VMware vPostgres Plug-in

This is a list of all services protected by this plug-in:

• VMware Postgres (apply only for vSphere 6.0)

Protected Data

This is a description of the protected data set determined at plug-in install time. Please note that exact filters will depend upon the configuration of the application plug-ins at the time of install.

VMware vSphere 

• All registry data, security certificates, and configuration files.
• All VMware vCenter Server database instances discovered at install time.

Unsupported Components or Features

The plug-in does not protect the following application features or components:

• These plug-ins do not support deployments with a local Oracle database except the scenario and versions mentioned in Supported Versions and Platforms section from above.
• These plug-ins do not protect user preference settings for Virtual Infrastructure Client programs when installed on the vCenter Server.

Applies To

Neverfail for vSphere 6.5 Plug-ins

Related Information

None

KBID-3023