check-vmware

command module
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check-vmware

Go-based tooling to monitor VMware environments; NOT affiliated with or endorsed by VMware, Inc.

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Table of Contents

Project home

See our GitHub repo for the latest code, to file an issue or submit improvements for review and potential inclusion into the project.

Just to be 100% clear: this project is not affiliated with or endorsed by VMware, Inc.

Overview

This repo contains various tools used to monitor/validate VMware environments.

Tool Name Status Description
check_vmware_tools Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor VMware Tools installations.
check_vmware_vcpus Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor allocation of virtual CPUs (vCPUs).
check_vmware_vhw Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor virtual hardware versions.
check_vmware_hs2ds2vms Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor host/datastore/vm pairings.
check_vmware_datastore Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor datastore usage.
check_vmware_snapshots_age Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor the age of Virtual Machine snapshots.
check_vmware_snapshots_count Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor the count of Virtual Machine snapshots.
check_vmware_snapshots_size Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor the cumulative size of Virtual Machine snapshots.
check_vmware_rps_memory Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor memory usage across Resource Pools.
check_vmware_host_memory Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor memory usage for a specific ESXi host system.
check_vmware_host_cpu Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor CPU usage for a specific ESXi host system.
check_vmware_vm_power_uptime Alpha Nagios plugin used to monitor VM power cycle uptime.

The output for these plugins is designed to provide the one-line summary needed by Nagios for quick identification of a problem while providing longer, more detailed information for use in email and Teams notifications (atc0005/send2teams).

Some plugins provide optional support to limit evaluation of VMs to specific Resource Pools (explicitly including or excluding) and power states (on or off). See the configuration options, examples and contrib sections for more information.

check_vmware_tools

Nagios plugin used to monitor VMware Tools installations. See the configuration options section for details regarding how the various Tools states are evaluated.

check_vmware_vcpus

Nagios plugin used to monitor allocation of virtual CPUs (vCPUs).

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING vCPUs allocation have usable defaults, but Max vCPUs allocation is required before this plugin can be used. See the configuration options section for details.

check_vmware_vhw

Nagios plugin used to monitor virtual hardware versions.

As of this writing, I am unaware of a way to query the current vSphere environment for the latest available hardware version. As a workaround for that lack of knowledge, this plugin applies an automatic baseline of "highest version discovered" across evaluated VMs. Any VMs with a hardware version not at that highest version are flagged as problematic. Please file an issue or open a discussion in this project's repo if you're aware of a way to directly query the desired value from the current vSphere environment.

Instead of trying to determine how far behind each VM is from the newest version, this plugin assumes that any deviation is a WARNING level issue. See GH-33 for future potential changes to this behavior.

check_vmware_hs2ds2vms

Nagios plugin used to monitor host/datastore/vm pairings.

This is a functional plugin responsible for verifying that each VM is housed on a datastore (best) intended for the host associated with the VM.

By default, the evaluation is limited to powered on VMs, but this can be toggled to also include powered off VMs.

The association between datastores and hosts is determined by a user-provided Custom Attribute. Flags for this plugin allow specifying separate Custom Attribute names for hosts and datastores along with optional separate prefixes for the provided Custom Attributes.

This allows for example, hosts to use a Location Custom Attribute that shares a datacenter name with datastores using the same Location Custom Attribute. If not specifying a prefix separator, the plugin assumes that a literal, case-insensitive match of the Location field is required. If a prefix separator is provided, then the separator is used to retrieve the common prefix for the Location Custom Attribute for both hosts and datastores.

This is intended to work around hosts that may include both the datacenter name and rack location details in their Custom Attribute (e.g., Location).

This plugin optionally allows ignoring a list of datastores, and both hosts and datastores that are missing the specified Custom Attribute.

In addition to specifying separate Custom Attribute names (required) and prefix separators (optional), the plugin also accepts a single Custom Attribute used by both hosts and datastores and an optional prefix separator, also used by both hosts and datastores.

If specifying a shared Custom Attribute or prefix, per-resource Custom Attribute flags are rejected (error condition).

check_vmware_datastore

Nagios plugin used to monitor datastore usage.

In addition to reporting current datastore usage, this plugin also reports which VMs reside on the datastore along with their percentage of the total datastore space used.

check_vmware_snapshots_age

Nagios plugin used to monitor the age of Virtual Machine snapshots.

The current design of this plugin is to evaluate all Virtual Machines, whether powered off or powered on. If you have a use case for evaluating only powered on VMs by default, please add a comment to GH-79 providing some details for your use-case. In our environment, I have yet to see a need to only evaluate powered on VMs for old snapshots. For cases where the snapshots needed to be ignored, we added the VM to the ignore list. We then relied on datastore usage monitoring to let us know when space was becoming an issue.

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING age values have usable defaults, but may require adjustment for your environment. See the configuration options section for details.

check_vmware_snapshots_count

Nagios plugin used to monitor the number of snapshots per Virtual Machine.

Monitor the number of snapshots for each Virtual Machine. VMware recommends using no more than 3 or 4 snapshots per Virtual Machine and only for a limited duration. A maximum of 32 snapshots per Virtual Machine are supported. See https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1025279 for more information.

The current design of this plugin is to evaluate all Virtual Machines, whether powered off or powered on. If you have a use case for evaluating only powered on VMs by default, please add a comment to GH-79 providing some details for your use-case. In our environment, I have yet to see a need to only evaluate powered on VMs for old snapshots. For cases where the snapshots needed to be ignored, we added the VM to the ignore list. We then relied on datastore usage monitoring to let us know when space was becoming an issue.

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING count values have usable defaults, but may require adjustment for your environment. See the configuration options section for details.

check_vmware_snapshots_size

Nagios plugin used to monitor the cumulative size of snapshots for each Virtual Machine.

While individual snapshots are listed, it is the cumulative size for a Virtual Machine crossing a given size threshold that determines the overall check result.

The current design of this plugin is to evaluate all Virtual Machines, whether powered off or powered on. If you have a use case for evaluating only powered on VMs by default, please add a comment to GH-79 providing some details for your use-case. In our environment, I have yet to see a need to only evaluate powered on VMs for old snapshots. For cases where the snapshots needed to be ignored, we added the VM to the ignore list. We then relied on datastore usage monitoring to let us know when space was becoming an issue.

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING age values have usable defaults, but may require adjustment for your environment. See the configuration options section for details.

check_vmware_rps_memory

Nagios plugin used to monitor memory usage across Resource Pools.

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING memory usage have usable defaults, but max memory usage is required before this plugin can be used. See the configuration options section for details.

check_vmware_host_memory

Nagios plugin used to monitor ESXi host memory.

In addition to reporting current host memory usage, this plugin also reports which VMs are on the host (running or not), how much memory each VM is using as a fixed value and as a percentage of the host's total memory.

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING memory usage have usable defaults, but max memory usage is required before this plugin can be used. See the configuration options section for details.

check_vmware_host_cpu

Nagios plugin used to monitor ESXi host CPU usage.

In addition to reporting current host CPU usage, this plugin also reports which VMs are on the host (running or not), how much CPU each VM is using as a fixed value and as a percentage of the host's total CPU capacity.

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING CPU usage have usable defaults, but may require adjustment for your environment. See the configuration options section for details.

check_vmware_vm_power_uptime

Nagios plugin used to monitor Virtual Machine (power cycle) uptime.

This is essentially the time since the VM was last powered off and then back on (e.g., for a snapshot).

In addition to reporting current power cycle uptime, this plugin also reports which VMs are on the host (running or not) and the uptime for each.

Thresholds for CRITICAL and WARNING CPU usage have usable defaults, but may require adjustment for your environment. See the configuration options section for details.

Features

  • Multiple plugins for monitoring VMware vSphere environments (standalone ESXi hosts or vCenter instances) for select (or all) Resource Pools.

    • VMware Tools
    • Virtual CPU allocations
    • Virtual hardware versions
    • Host/Datastore/Virtual Machine pairings (using provided Custom Attribute)
    • Datastore usage
    • Snapshots age
    • Snapshots count
    • Snapshots size
    • Resource Pools: Memory usage
    • Host Memory usage
    • Host CPU usage
    • Virtual Machine (power cycle) uptime

  • Optional, leveled logging using rs/zerolog package

    • JSON-format output (to stderr)
    • choice of disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info (the default), debug or trace.

  • Optional, user-specified timeout value for plugin execution.

Changelog

See the CHANGELOG.md file for the changes associated with each release of this application. Changes that have been merged to master, but not yet an official release may also be noted in the file under the Unreleased section. A helpful link to the Git commit history since the last official release is also provided for further review.

Requirements

The following is a loose guideline. Other combinations of Go and operating systems for building and running tools from this repo may work, but have not been tested.

Building source code
  • Go 1.14+
  • GCC
    • if building with custom options (as the provided Makefile does)
  • make
    • if using the provided Makefile
Running
  • Windows 7, Server 2008R2 or later
  • Windows 10 Version 1909
    • tested
  • Ubuntu Linux 16.04, 18.04

Installation

  1. Download Go
  2. Install Go
    • NOTE: Pay special attention to the remarks about $HOME/.profile
  3. Clone the repo
    1. cd /tmp
    2. git clone https://github.com/atc0005/check-vmware
    3. cd check-vmware
  4. Install dependencies (optional)
    • for Ubuntu Linux
      • sudo apt-get install make gcc
    • for CentOS Linux
      • sudo yum install make gcc
    • for Windows
      • Emulated environments (easier)
        • Skip all of this and build using the default go build command in Windows (see below for use of the -mod=vendor flag)
        • build using Windows Subsystem for Linux Ubuntu environment and just copy out the Windows binaries from that environment
        • If already running a Docker environment, use a container with the Go tool-chain already installed
        • If already familiar with LXD, create a container and follow the installation steps given previously to install required dependencies
      • Native tooling (harder)
        • see the StackOverflow Question 32127524 link in the References section for potential options for installing make on Windows
        • see the mingw-w64 project homepage link in the References section for options for installing gcc and related packages on Windows
  5. Build binaries
    • for the current operating system, explicitly using bundled dependencies in top-level vendor folder
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_tools/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_vcpus/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_vhw/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_hs2ds2vms/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_datastore/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_snapshots_age/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_snapshots_count/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_snapshots_size/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_rps_memory/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_host_memory/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_host_cpu/
      • go build -mod=vendor ./cmd/check_vmware_vm_power_uptime/
    • for all supported platforms (where make is installed)
      • make all
    • for use on Windows
      • make windows
    • for use on Linux
      • make linux
  6. Copy the newly compiled binary from the applicable /tmp subdirectory path (based on the clone instructions in this section) below and deploy where needed.
    • if using Makefile
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_tools/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_vcpus/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_vhw/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_hs2ds2vms/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_datastore/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_snapshots_age/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_snapshots_count/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_snapshots_size/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_rps_memory/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_host_memory/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_host_cpu/
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/release_assets/check_vmware_vm_power_uptime/
    • if using go build
      • look in /tmp/check-vmware/
  7. Review configuration options, examples and contrib sections usage details.

Configuration options

Threshold calculations
check_vmware_tools
Tools Status Nagios State Description
toolsOk OK Ideal state, no problems with VMware Tools (or open-vm-tools) detected.
toolsOld WARNING Outdated VMware Tools installation. The host ESXi system was likely recently updated.
toolsNotRunning CRITICAL VMware Tools (or open-vm-tools) not currently running. It likely crashed or was terminated due to low memory scenario.
toolsNotInstalled CRITICAL Fresh virtual environment, or VMware Tools removed as part of an upgrade of an existing installation.
check_vmware_vcpus
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, vCPU allocations within bounds.
WARNING vCPU allocations crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL vCPU allocations crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_vhw
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, homogenous hardware versions.
WARNING Non-homogenous hardware versions.
CRITICAL Not used by this plugin.
check_vmware_hs2ds2vms
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, no mismatched Host/Datastore/Virtual machine pairings detected.
WARNING Not used by this plugin.
CRITICAL Any errors encountered or Hosts/Datastores/VM mismatches.
check_vmware_datastore
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, Datastore usage within bounds.
WARNING Datastore usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL Datastore usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_snapshots_age
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, snapshots age within bounds.
WARNING Snapshots age crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL Snapshots age crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_snapshots_count
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, snapshots count per VM within bounds.
WARNING Snapshots count per VM crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL Snapshots count per VM crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_snapshots_size
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, snapshots size within bounds.
WARNING Cumulative snapshots size for a VM crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL Cumulative snapshots size for a VM crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_rps_memory
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, memory usage across Resources Pools within bounds.
WARNING Memory usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL Memory usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_host_memory
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, memory usage for the specified ESXi host system is within bounds.
WARNING Memory usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL Memory usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_host_cpu
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, CPU usage for the specified ESXi host system is within bounds.
WARNING CPU usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL CPU usage crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
check_vmware_vm_power_uptime
Nagios State Description
OK Ideal state, VM power cycle uptime is within bounds.
WARNING VM power cycle uptime crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
CRITICAL VM power cycle uptime crossed user-specified threshold for this state.
Command-line arguments
  • Use the -h or --help flag to display current usage information.
  • Flags marked as required must be set via CLI flag.
  • Flags not marked as required are for settings where a useful default is already defined, but may be overridden if desired.
check_vmware_tools
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
powered-off No false No true, false Toggles evaluation of powered off VMs in addition to powered on VMs. Evaluation of powered off VMs is disabled by default.
check_vmware_vcpus
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
powered-off No false No true, false Toggles evaluation of powered off VMs in addition to powered on VMs. Evaluation of powered off VMs is disabled by default.
vcma, vcpus-max-allowed Yes 0 No positive whole number of vCPUs Specifies the maximum amount of virtual CPUs (as a whole number) that we are allowed to allocate in the target VMware environment.
vc, vcpus-critical No 100 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of vCPUs allocation (as a whole number) when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
vw, vcpus-warning No 95 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of vCPUs allocation (as a whole number) when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_vhw
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
powered-off No false No true, false Toggles evaluation of powered off VMs in addition to powered on VMs. Evaluation of powered off VMs is disabled by default.
check_vmware_hs2ds2vms
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
ignore-ds No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) datastore names Specifies a comma-separated list of Datastore names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
powered-off No false No true, false Toggles evaluation of powered off VMs in addition to powered on VMs. Evaluation of powered off VMs is disabled by default.
ca-name Maybe No valid Custom Attribute name Custom Attribute name for host ESXi systems and datastores. Optional if specifying resource-specific custom attribute names.
ca-prefix-sep Maybe No valid Custom Attribute prefix separator character Custom Attribute prefix separator for host ESXi systems and datastores. Skip if using Custom Attribute values as-is for comparison, otherwise optional if specifying resource-specific custom attribute prefix separator, or using the default separator.
ignore-missing-ca No false No true, false Toggles how missing specified Custom Attributes will be handled. By default, ESXi hosts and datastores missing the Custom Attribute are treated as an error condition.
host-ca-name Maybe No valid Custom Attribute name Custom Attribute name specific to host ESXi systems. Optional if specifying shared custom attribute flag.
host-ca-prefix-sep Maybe No valid Custom Attribute prefix separator character Custom Attribute prefix separator specific to host ESXi systems. Skip if using Custom Attribute values as-is for comparison, otherwise optional if specifying shared custom attribute prefix separator, or using the default separator.
ds-ca-name Maybe No valid Custom Attribute name Custom Attribute name specific to datastores. Optional if specifying shared custom attribute flag.
ds-ca-prefix-sep Maybe No valid Custom Attribute prefix separator character Custom Attribute prefix separator specific to datastores. Skip if using Custom Attribute values as-is for comparison, otherwise optional if specifying shared custom attribute prefix separator, or using the default separator.
check_vmware_datastore
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
dc-name No No valid vSphere datacenter name Specifies the name of a vSphere Datacenter. If not specified, applicable plugins will attempt to use the default datacenter found in the vSphere environment. Not applicable to standalone ESXi hosts.
ds-name Yes No valid datastore name Datastore name as it is found within the vSphere inventory.
dsuc, ds-usage-critical No 95 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of a datastore's storage usage (as a whole number) when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
dsuw, ds-usage-warning No 90 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of a datastore's storage usage (as a whole number) when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_snapshots_age
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
ac, age-critical No 2 No age in days as positive whole number Specifies the age of a snapshot in days when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
aw, age-warning No 1 No age in days as positive whole number Specifies the age of a snapshot in days when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_snapshots_count
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
cc, count-critical No 4 No count as positive whole number Specifies the number of snapshots per VM when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
cw, count-warning No 25 No count as positive whole number Specifies the number of snapshots per VM when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_snapshots_size
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
sc, size-critical No 40 No size in GB as positive whole number Specifies the cumulative size in GB of all snapshots for a Virtual Machine when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
sw, size-warning No 20 No size in GB as positive whole number Specifies the cumulative size in GB of all snapshots for a Virtual Machine when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_rps_memory
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
mma, memory-max-allowed Yes 0 No positive whole number of vCPUs Specifies the maximum amount of memory that we are allowed to consume in GB (as a whole number) in the target VMware environment across all specified Resource Pools. VMs that are running outside of resource pools are not considered in these calculations.
mc, memory-use-critical No 95 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of memory use (as a whole number) across all specified Resource Pools when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
mw, memory-use-warning No 100 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of memory use (as a whole number) across all specified Resource Pools when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_host_memory
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
dc-name No No valid vSphere datacenter name Specifies the name of a vSphere Datacenter. If not specified, applicable plugins will attempt to use the default datacenter found in the vSphere environment. Not applicable to standalone ESXi hosts.
host-name Yes No valid ESXi host name ESXi host/server name as it is found within the vSphere inventory.
mc, memory-usage-critical No 95 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of memory use (as a whole number) when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
mw, memory-usage-warning No 80 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of memory use (as a whole number) when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_host_cpu
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
dc-name No No valid vSphere datacenter name Specifies the name of a vSphere Datacenter. If not specified, applicable plugins will attempt to use the default datacenter found in the vSphere environment. Not applicable to standalone ESXi hosts.
host-name Yes No valid ESXi host name ESXi host/server name as it is found within the vSphere inventory.
cc, cpu-usage-critical No 95 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of CPU use (as a whole number) when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
cw, cpu-usage-warning No 80 No percentage as positive whole number Specifies the percentage of CPU use (as a whole number) when a WARNING threshold is reached.
check_vmware_vm_power_uptime
Flag Required Default Repeat Possible Description
branding No false No branding Toggles emission of branding details with plugin status details. This output is disabled by default.
h, help No false No h, help Show Help text along with the list of supported flags.
v, version No false No v, version Whether to display application version and then immediately exit application.
ll, log-level No info No disabled, panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace Log message priority filter. Log messages with a lower level are ignored.
p, port No 443 No positive whole number between 1-65535, inclusive TCP port of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance. This is usually 443 (HTTPS).
t, timeout No 10 No positive whole number of seconds Timeout value in seconds allowed before a plugin execution attempt is abandoned and an error returned.
s, server Yes No fully-qualified domain name or IP Address The fully-qualified domain name or IP Address of the remote ESXi host or vCenter instance.
u, username Yes No valid username Username with permission to access specified ESXi host or vCenter instance.
pw, password Yes No valid password Password used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
domain No No valid user domain (Optional) domain for user account used to login to ESXi host or vCenter instance.
trust-cert No false No true, false Whether the certificate should be trusted as-is without validation. WARNING: TLS is susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks if enabling this option.
include-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be exclusively used when evaluating VMs. Specifying this option will also exclude any VMs from evaluation that are outside of a Resource Pool. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to ignore or exclude from evaluation.
exclude-rp No No comma-separated list of resource pool names Specifies a comma-separated list of Resource Pools that should be ignored when evaluating VMs. This option is incompatible with specifying a list of Resource Pools to include for evaluation.
ignore-vm No No comma-separated list of (vSphere) virtual machine names Specifies a comma-separated list of VM names that should be ignored or excluded from evaluation.
uc, uptime-critical No 90 No days as positive whole number Specifies the power cycle (off/on) uptime in days per VM when a CRITICAL threshold is reached.
uw, uptime-warning No 60 No days as positive whole number Specifies the power cycle (off/on) uptime in days per VM when a WARNING threshold is reached.
Configuration file

Not currently supported. This feature may be added later if there is sufficient interest.

Contrib

Example Nagios configuration files are provided in an effort to illustrate usage of plugins provided by this project. See the Contrib README and directory contents for details.

Examples

While entries in this section attempt to provide a brief overview of usage, it is recommended that you review the provided command definitions and other Nagios configuration files within the contrib directory for more complete examples.

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each.

check_vmware_tools Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_tools --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --exclude-rp "Desktops" --ignore-vm "test1.example.com,redmine.example.com,TESTING-AC,RHEL7-TEST" --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The resource pool named Desktops is excluded from evaluation.
    • this results in all other resource pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • this also results in all VMs outside of a Resource Pool visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
  • Multiple Virtual machines (vSphere inventory name, not OS hostname), are ignored, regardless of which Resource Pool they are part of.
    • test1.example.com
    • redmine.example.com
    • TESTING-AC
    • RHEL7-TEST
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-tools.cfg

# Look at all pools, all VMs, do not evaluate any VMs that are powered off.
# This variation of the command is most useful for environments where all VMs
# are monitored equally.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_tools
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_tools --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$'  --trust-cert  --log-level info
    }

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

check_vmware_vcpus Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_tools --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --exclude-rp "Desktops" --ignore-vm "test1.example.com,redmine.example.com,TESTING-AC,RHEL7-TEST" --vcpus-warning 97 --vcpus-critical 100  --vcpus-max-allowed 160 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The resource pool named Desktops is excluded from evaluation.
    • this results in all other resource pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • this also results in all VMs outside of a Resource Pool visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
  • Multiple Virtual machines (vSphere inventory name, not OS hostname), are ignored, regardless of which Resource Pool they are part of.
    • test1.example.com
    • redmine.example.com
    • TESTING-AC
    • RHEL7-TEST
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-vcpus.cfg

# Look at all pools, all VMs, do not evaluate any VMs that are powered off.
# This variation of the command is most useful for environments where all VMs
# are monitored equally.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_vcpus
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_vcpus --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --vcpus-warning '$ARG4$' --vcpus-critical '$ARG5$' --vcpus-max-allowed '$ARG6$' --trust-cert --log-level info
    }

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

check_vmware_vhw Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_vhw --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --exclude-rp "Desktops" --ignore-vm "test1.example.com,redmine.example.com,TESTING-AC,RHEL7-TEST" --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The resource pool named Desktops is excluded from evaluation.
    • this results in all other resource pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • this also results in all VMs outside of a Resource Pool visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
  • Multiple Virtual machines (vSphere inventory name, not OS hostname), are ignored, regardless of which Resource Pool they are part of.
    • test1.example.com
    • redmine.example.com
    • TESTING-AC
    • RHEL7-TEST
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-virtual-hardware.cfg

# Look at all pools, all VMs, do not evaluate any VMs that are powered off.
# This variation of the command is most useful for environments where all VMs
# are monitored equally.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_vhw
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_vhw --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --trust-cert --log-level info
    }

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

check_vmware_hs2ds2vms Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_vhw --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --exclude-rp "Desktops" --ignore-vm "test1.example.com,redmine.example.com,TESTING-AC,RHEL7-TEST" --ca-name "Location" --ca-prefix-sep "-" --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The resource pool named Desktops is excluded from evaluation.
    • this results in all other resource pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • this also results in all VMs outside of a Resource Pool visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
  • Multiple Virtual machines (vSphere inventory name, not OS hostname), are ignored, regardless of which Resource Pool they are part of.
    • test1.example.com
    • redmine.example.com
    • TESTING-AC
    • RHEL7-TEST
  • The Custom Attribute named Location is used to dynamically build pairs of Hosts and Datastores. Any Host or Datastore missing that Custom Attribute is reported as an error condition unless the appropriate CLI flag is provided. See the Configuration options section for the flag name and further details.
  • The Custom Attribute prefix separator - is provided in order to "split" the value found for the Custom Attribute named Location into pairs. The second value is thrown away, leaving the first to be used as the Location value for comparison. VMs running on a host with one value have their datastores checked for the same value. If a mismatch is found, this is assumed to be a CRITICAL level event and reported as such.
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-host-datastore-vms-pairings.cfg

# Look at all pools, all VMs, do not evaluate any VMs that are powered off.
# Use the same Custom Attribute for hosts and datastores. Use the same Custom
# Attribute prefix separator for hosts and datastores.
#
# This variation of the command is most useful for environments where all VMs
# are monitored equally.
define command{
    command_name   check_vmware_hs2ds2vms
    command_line   /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_hs2ds2vms --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --ca-name '$ARG4$' --ca-prefix-sep '$ARG5$' --trust-cert --log-level info
    }

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

check_vmware_datastore Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_datastore --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --ds-name "HUSVM-DC1-vol6" --ds-usage-warning 95 --ds-usage-critical 97 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-datastores.cfg

# Look at specific datastore and explicitly provide custom WARNING and
# CRITICAL threshold values.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_datastore
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_tools --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --ds-usage-warning '$ARG4$' --ds-usage-critical '$ARG5$' --ds-name '$ARG6$' --trust-cert  --log-level info
    }

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

check_vmware_snapshots_age Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_snapshots_age --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --age-warning 1 --age-critical 2 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • No Resource Pools are explicitly included or excluded
    • this results in all Resource Pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • this also results in all VMs outside of a Resource Pool visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-snapshots-age.cfg

# Look at all pools, all VMs, do not evaluate any VMs that are powered off.
# This variation of the command is most useful for environments where all VMs
# are monitored equally.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_snapshots_age
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_snapshots_age --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --age-warning '$ARG4$' --age-critical '$ARG5$' --trust-cert --log-level info
    }
check_vmware_snapshots_count Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_snapshots_count --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --count-warning 4 --count-critical 25 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • No Resource Pools are explicitly included or excluded
    • this results in all Resource Pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • this also results in all VMs outside of a Resource Pool visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-snapshots-count.cfg

# Look at all pools, all VMs, do not evaluate any VMs that are powered off.
# This variation of the command is most useful for environments where all VMs
# are monitored equally.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_snapshots_count
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_snapshots_count --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --count-warning '$ARG4$' --count-critical '$ARG5$' --trust-cert --log-level info
    }
check_vmware_snapshots_size Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_snapshots_size --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --size-warning 20 --size-critical 40 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • No Resource Pools are explicitly included or excluded
    • this results in all Resource Pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • this also results in all VMs outside of a Resource Pool visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-snapshots-size.cfg

# Look at all pools, all VMs, do not evaluate any VMs that are powered off.
# This variation of the command is most useful for environments where all VMs
# are monitored equally.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_snapshots_size
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_snapshots_size --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --size-warning '$ARG4$' --size-critical '$ARG5$' --trust-cert --log-level info
    }

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

check_vmware_rps_memory Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_rps_memory --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --exclude-rp "Desktops" --memory-use-warning 80 --memory-use-critical 95  --memory-max-allowed 320 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The resource pool named Desktops is excluded from evaluation.
    • this results in all other resource pools visible to the specified user account being used for evaluation
    • VMs outside of a Resource Pool (visible to the specified user account or not) do not contribute to memory usage calculations
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition

NOTE: This is the inverse of the command-line example for this plugin; only specified Resource Pools are evaluated.

# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-resource-pools.cfg

# This variation of the command does not allow exclusions
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_resource_pools_include_pools
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_rps_memory --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --memory-use-warning '$ARG4$' --memory-use-critical '$ARG5$' --memory-max-allowed '$ARG6$' --include-rp '$ARG7$' --trust-cert  --log-level info
    }

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

check_vmware_host_memory Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_host_memory --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --host-name "esx1.example.com" --memory-usage-warning 80 --memory-usage-critical 95 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The host name is specified (via host-name flag) using the exact value shown in the vSphere inventory (e.g., esx1.example.com)
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-host-memory.cfg

# Look at a specific host and explicitly provide custom WARNING and CRITICAL
# threshold values.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_host_memory
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_host_memory --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --memory-usage-warning '$ARG4$' --memory-usage-critical '$ARG5$' --host-name '$ARG6$' --trust-cert  --log-level info
    }
check_vmware_host_cpu Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_host_cpu --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --host-name "esx1.example.com" --cpu-usage-warning 80 --cpu-usage-critical 95 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The host name is specified (via host-name flag) using the exact value shown in the vSphere inventory (e.g., esx1.example.com)
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-host-cpu.cfg

# Look at a specific host and explicitly provide custom WARNING and CRITICAL
# threshold values.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_host_cpu
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_host_cpu --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --cpu-usage-warning '$ARG4$' --cpu-usage-critical '$ARG5$' --host-name '$ARG6$' --trust-cert  --log-level info
    }
check_vmware_vm_power_uptime Nagios plugin
CLI invocation
/usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_vm_power_uptime --username SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME --password "SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PASSWORD" --server vc1.example.com --host-name "esx1.example.com" --uptime-warning 60 --uptime-critical 90 --trust-cert --log-level info

See the configuration options section for all command-line settings supported by this plugin along with descriptions of each. See the contrib section for information regarding example command definitions and Nagios configuration files.

Of note:

  • The host name is specified (via host-name flag) using the exact value shown in the vSphere inventory (e.g., esx1.example.com)
  • Certificate warnings are ignored.
    • not best practice, but many vCenter instances use self-signed certs per various freely available guides
  • Logging is enabled at the info level.
    • this output is sent to stderr by default, which Nagios ignores
    • this output is only seen (at least as of Nagios v3.x) when invoking the plugin directly via CLI (often for troubleshooting)
Command definition
# /etc/nagios-plugins/config/vmware-vm-power-uptime.cfg

# Look at a specific host and explicitly provide custom WARNING and CRITICAL
# threshold values.
define command{
    command_name    check_vmware_vm_power_uptime
    command_line    /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_vmware_vm_power_uptime --server '$HOSTNAME$' --domain '$ARG1$' --username '$ARG2$' --password '$ARG3$' --uptime-warning '$ARG4$' --uptime-critical '$ARG5$' --host-name '$ARG6$' --trust-cert  --log-level info
    }

License

From the LICENSE file:

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2021 Adam Chalkley

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

References

Documentation

Overview

Go-based tooling to monitor VMware environments; **NOT** affiliated with or endorsed by VMware, Inc.

PROJECT HOME

See our GitHub repo (https://github.com/atc0005/check-vmware) for the latest code, to file an issue or submit improvements for review and potential inclusion into the project.

PURPOSE

Monitor VMware environments

FEATURES

Nagios plugins for monitoring VMware vSphere environments (standalone ESXi hosts or vCenter instances) for select (or all) Resource Pools.

• VMware Tools

• Virtual CPU allocations

• Virtual hardware versions

• Host/Datastore/Virtual Machine pairings (using provided Custom Attribute)

• Datastore usage

• Snapshots age

• Snapshots count

• Snapshots size

• Resource Pools: Memory usage

• Host Memory usage

• Host CPU usage

• Virtual Machine (power cycle) uptime

USAGE

See our main README for supported settings and examples.

Source Files

View all Source files

Directories

Path Synopsis
cmd
check_vmware_datastore
Nagios plugin used to monitor datastore usage.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor datastore usage.
check_vmware_host_cpu
Nagios plugin used to monitor ESXi host CPU usage.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor ESXi host CPU usage.
check_vmware_host_memory
Nagios plugin used to monitor ESXi host memory.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor ESXi host memory.
check_vmware_hs2ds2vms
Nagios plugin used to monitor host/datastore/vm pairings.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor host/datastore/vm pairings.
check_vmware_rps_memory
Nagios plugin used to monitor memory usage across Resource Pools.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor memory usage across Resource Pools.
check_vmware_snapshots_age
Nagios plugin used to monitor the age of Virtual Machine snapshots.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor the age of Virtual Machine snapshots.
check_vmware_snapshots_count
Nagios plugin used to monitor the number of snapshots per Virtual Machine.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor the number of snapshots per Virtual Machine.
check_vmware_snapshots_size
Nagios plugin used to monitor the cumulative size of snapshots for each Virtual Machine.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor the cumulative size of snapshots for each Virtual Machine.
check_vmware_tools
Nagios plugin used to monitor VMware Tools installations.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor VMware Tools installations.
check_vmware_vcpus
Nagios plugin used to monitor allocation of virtual CPUs (vCPUs).
 Nagios plugin used to monitor allocation of virtual CPUs (vCPUs).
check_vmware_vhw
Nagios plugin used to monitor virtual hardware versions.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor virtual hardware versions.
check_vmware_vm_power_uptime
Nagios plugin used to monitor Virtual Machine (power cycle) uptime.
 Nagios plugin used to monitor Virtual Machine (power cycle) uptime.
internal
config
Package config provides types and functions to collect, validate and apply user-provided settings.
 Package config provides types and functions to collect, validate and apply user-provided settings.
textutils
Package textutils provides common helper functions for text manipulation or output used by applications in this module.
 Package textutils provides common helper functions for text manipulation or output used by applications in this module.
vsphere
Package vsphere provides various wrapper functions and types for interacting with and monitoring VMware vSphere environments.
 Package vsphere provides various wrapper functions and types for interacting with and monitoring VMware vSphere environments.

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