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sidebar_label: "vCenter Server Appliance"
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# vCenter Server Appliance


<img src="https://netdata.cloud/img/vmware.svg" width="150"/>


Plugin: go.d.plugin
Module: vcsa

<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/maintained%20by-Netdata-%2300ab44" />

## Overview

This collector monitors [health statistics](https://developer.vmware.com/apis/vsphere-automation/latest/appliance/health/) of vCenter Server Appliance servers.




This collector is supported on all platforms.

This collector supports collecting metrics from multiple instances of this integration, including remote instances.


### Default Behavior

#### Auto-Detection

This integration doesn't support auto-detection.

#### Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

#### Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.

## Setup


You can configure the **vcsa** collector in two ways:

| Method                | Best for                                                                                 | How to                                                                                                                                 |
|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [**UI**](#via-ui)     | Fast setup without editing files                                                         | Go to **Nodes → Configure this node → Collectors → Jobs**, search for **vcsa**, then click **+** to add a job. |
| [**File**](#via-file) | If you prefer configuring via file, or need to automate deployments (e.g., with Ansible) | Edit `go.d/vcsa.conf` and add a job.                                                                        |

:::important

UI configuration requires paid Netdata Cloud plan.

:::


### Prerequisites

No action required.

### Configuration

#### Options

The following options can be defined globally: update_every, autodetection_retry.


<details open><summary>Config options</summary>



| Group | Option | Description | Default | Required |
|:------|:-----|:------------|:--------|:---------:|
| **Collection** | update_every | Data collection interval (seconds). | 5 | no |
|  | autodetection_retry | Autodetection retry interval (seconds). Set 0 to disable. | 0 | no |
| **Target** | url | Target endpoint URL. |  | yes |
|  | timeout | HTTP request timeout (seconds). | 5 | no |
| **HTTP Auth** | username | Username for Basic HTTP authentication. |  | yes |
|  | password | Password for Basic HTTP authentication. |  | yes |
|  | bearer_token_file | Path to a file containing a bearer token (used for `Authorization: Bearer`). |  | no |
| **TLS** | tls_skip_verify | Skip TLS certificate and hostname verification (insecure). | no | no |
|  | tls_ca | Path to CA bundle used to validate the server certificate. |  | no |
|  | tls_cert | Path to client TLS certificate (for mTLS). |  | no |
|  | tls_key | Path to client TLS private key (for mTLS). |  | no |
| **Proxy** | proxy_url | HTTP proxy URL. |  | no |
|  | proxy_username | Username for proxy Basic HTTP authentication. |  | no |
|  | proxy_password | Password for proxy Basic HTTP authentication. |  | no |
| **Request** | method | HTTP method to use. | GET | no |
|  | body | Request body (e.g., for POST/PUT). |  | no |
|  | headers | Additional HTTP headers (one per line as key: value). |  | no |
|  | not_follow_redirects | Do not follow HTTP redirects. | no | no |
|  | force_http2 | Force HTTP/2 (including h2c over TCP). | no | no |
| **Virtual Node** | vnode | Associates this data collection job with a [Virtual Node](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/netdata-agent/configuration/organize-systems-metrics-and-alerts#virtual-nodes). |  | no |


</details>


#### via UI

Configure the **vcsa** collector from the Netdata web interface:

1. Go to **Nodes**.
2. Select the node **where you want the vcsa data-collection job to run** and click the :gear: (**Configure this node**). That node will run the data collection.
3. The **Collectors → Jobs** view opens by default.
4. In the Search box, type _vcsa_ (or scroll the list) to locate the **vcsa** collector.
5. Click the **+** next to the **vcsa** collector to add a new job.
6. Fill in the job fields, then click **Test** to verify the configuration and **Submit** to save.
    - **Test** runs the job with the provided settings and shows whether data can be collected.
    - If it fails, an error message appears with details (for example, connection refused, timeout, or command execution errors), so you can adjust and retest.


#### via File

The configuration file name for this integration is `go.d/vcsa.conf`.

The file format is YAML. Generally, the structure is:

```yaml
update_every: 1
autodetection_retry: 0
jobs:
  - name: some_name1
  - name: some_name2
```
You can edit the configuration file using the [`edit-config`](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/netdata-agent/configuration/README.md#edit-configuration-files) script from the
Netdata [config directory](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/netdata-agent/configuration/README.md#locate-your-config-directory).

```bash
cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config go.d/vcsa.conf
```

##### Examples

###### Basic

An example configuration.

<details open><summary>Config</summary>

```yaml
jobs:
  - name: vcsa1
    url: https://203.0.113.1
    username: admin@vsphere.local
    password: password

```
</details>

###### Multi-instance

> **Note**: When you define multiple jobs, their names must be unique.

Two instances.


<details open><summary>Config</summary>

```yaml
jobs:
  - name: vcsa1
    url: https://203.0.113.1
    username: admin@vsphere.local
    password: password

  - name: vcsa2
    url: https://203.0.113.10
    username: admin@vsphere.local
    password: password

```
</details>



## Alerts


The following alerts are available:

| Alert name  | On metric | Description |
|:------------|:----------|:------------|
| [ vcsa_system_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.system_health_status | VCSA overall system status is orange. One or more components are degraded. |
| [ vcsa_system_health_crit ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.system_health_status | VCSA overall system status is red. One or more components are unavailable or will stop functioning soon. |
| [ vcsa_applmgmt_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.applmgmt_health_status | VCSA ApplMgmt component status is orange. It is degraded, and may have serious problems. |
| [ vcsa_applmgmt_health_crit ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.applmgmt_health_status | VCSA ApplMgmt component status is red. It is unavailable, or will stop functioning soon. |
| [ vcsa_load_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.load_health_status | VCSA Load component status is orange. It is degraded, and may have serious problems. |
| [ vcsa_load_health_crit ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.load_health_status | VCSA Load component status is red. It is unavailable, or will stop functioning soon. |
| [ vcsa_mem_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.mem_health_status | VCSA Memory component status is orange. It is degraded, and may have serious problems. |
| [ vcsa_mem_health_crit ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.mem_health_status | VCSA Memory component status is red. It is unavailable, or will stop functioning soon. |
| [ vcsa_swap_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.swap_health_status | VCSA Swap component status is orange. It is degraded, and may have serious problems. |
| [ vcsa_swap_health_crit ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.swap_health_status | VCSA Swap component status is red. It is unavailable, or will stop functioning soon. |
| [ vcsa_database_storage_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.database_storage_health_status | VCSA Database Storage component status is orange. It is degraded, and may have serious problems. |
| [ vcsa_database_storage_health_crit ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.database_storage_health_status | VCSA Database Storage component status is red. It is unavailable, or will stop functioning soon. |
| [ vcsa_storage_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.storage_health_status | VCSA Storage component status is orange. It is degraded, and may have serious problems. |
| [ vcsa_storage_health_crit ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.storage_health_status | VCSA Storage component status is red. It is unavailable, or will stop functioning soon. |
| [ vcsa_software_packages_health_warn ](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/health/health.d/vcsa.conf) | vcsa.software_packages_health_status | VCSA software packages security updates are available. |



## Metrics

Metrics grouped by *scope*.

The scope defines the instance that the metric belongs to. An instance is uniquely identified by a set of labels.




### Per vCenter Server Appliance instance

These metrics refer to the entire monitored application.
<details>
<summary>See health statuses</summary>
Overall System Health:

| Status  | Description                                                                                                              |
|:-------:|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  green  | All components in the appliance are healthy.                                                                             |
| yellow  | One or more components in the appliance might become overloaded soon.                                                    |
| orange  | One or more components in the appliance might be degraded.                                                               |
|   red   | One or more components in the appliance might be in an unusable status and the appliance might become unresponsive soon. |
|  gray   | No health data is available.                                                                                             |
| unknown | Collector failed to decode status.                                                                                       |

Components Health:

| Status  | Description                                                  |
|:-------:|:-------------------------------------------------------------|
|  green  | The component is healthy.                                    |
| yellow  | The component is healthy, but may have some problems.        |
| orange  | The component is degraded, and may have serious problems.    |
|   red   | The component is unavailable, or will stop functioning soon. |
|  gray   | No health data is available.                                 |
| unknown | Collector failed to decode status.                           |

Software Updates Health:

| Status  | Description                                          |
|:-------:|:-----------------------------------------------------|
|  green  | No updates available.                                |
| orange  | Non-security patches might be available.             |
|   red   | Security patches might be available.                 |
|  gray   | An error retrieving information on software updates. |
| unknown | Collector failed to decode status.                   |

</details>


This scope has no labels.

Metrics:

| Metric | Description | Dimensions | Unit |
|:------|:------------|:----------|:----|
| vcsa.system_health_status | VCSA Overall System health status | green, red, yellow, orange, gray, unknown | status |
| vcsa.applmgmt_health_status | VCSA ApplMgmt health status | green, red, yellow, orange, gray, unknown | status |
| vcsa.load_health_status | VCSA Load health status | green, red, yellow, orange, gray, unknown | status |
| vcsa.mem_health_status | VCSA Memory health status | green, red, yellow, orange, gray, unknown | status |
| vcsa.swap_health_status | VCSA Swap health status | green, red, yellow, orange, gray, unknown | status |
| vcsa.database_storage_health_status | VCSA Database Storage health status | green, red, yellow, orange, gray, unknown | status |
| vcsa.storage_health_status | VCSA Storage health status | green, red, yellow, orange, gray, unknown | status |
| vcsa.software_packages_health_status | VCSA Software Updates health status | green, red, orange, gray, unknown | status |



## Troubleshooting

### Debug Mode

**Important**: Debug mode is not supported for data collection jobs created via the UI using the Dyncfg feature.

To troubleshoot issues with the `vcsa` collector, run the `go.d.plugin` with the debug option enabled. The output
should give you clues as to why the collector isn't working.

- Navigate to the `plugins.d` directory, usually at `/usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/`. If that's not the case on
  your system, open `netdata.conf` and look for the `plugins` setting under `[directories]`.

  ```bash
  cd /usr/libexec/netdata/plugins.d/
  ```

- Switch to the `netdata` user.

  ```bash
  sudo -u netdata -s
  ```

- Run the `go.d.plugin` to debug the collector:

  ```bash
  ./go.d.plugin -d -m vcsa
  ```

  To debug a specific job:

  ```bash
  ./go.d.plugin -d -m vcsa -j jobName
  ```

### Getting Logs

If you're encountering problems with the `vcsa` collector, follow these steps to retrieve logs and identify potential issues:

- **Run the command** specific to your system (systemd, non-systemd, or Docker container).
- **Examine the output** for any warnings or error messages that might indicate issues.  These messages should provide clues about the root cause of the problem.

#### System with systemd

Use the following command to view logs generated since the last Netdata service restart:

```bash
journalctl _SYSTEMD_INVOCATION_ID="$(systemctl show --value --property=InvocationID netdata)" --namespace=netdata --grep vcsa
```

#### System without systemd

Locate the collector log file, typically at `/var/log/netdata/collector.log`, and use `grep` to filter for collector's name:

```bash
grep vcsa /var/log/netdata/collector.log
```

**Note**: This method shows logs from all restarts. Focus on the **latest entries** for troubleshooting current issues.

#### Docker Container

If your Netdata runs in a Docker container named "netdata" (replace if different), use this command:

```bash
docker logs netdata 2>&1 | grep vcsa
```
