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Configuring VMware vCenter Server to send alarms when virtual machines are running from snapshots (1018029)

Purpose

This article provides information on configuring VMware vCenter Server to send alerts when virtual machines are running from snapshots.

Resolution

Prerequisites

Determine the level of the inventory you want to configure the alarm for.
- The object hierarchy is vCenter > datacenter > cluster > host > datastore > folder > resource pool > virtual machine.
- Alarms on an object are inherited by all child objects.
- When it is configured you can see its settings from the underlying/child objects but it is only configurable only from the object where it was created.
To create alarms, the vSphere Client must be connected to a vCenter Server with the appropriate user permissions on all relevant objects. After an alarm is created, it is enabled even if the user who created it no longer has permissions.

To open the Alarm Settings dialog, perform any one of these operations:

Click File > Prerequisites > Alarm.
Click Inventory > object_type > Alarm > Add Alarm.
Right-click the object and select Alarm > Add Alarm.
In the Alarms tab, click the Definitions tab, right-click in the pane, and click New > Alarm.
Click on the object in the inventory and press Ctrl+A.

Alarm Settings – General tab

To create a new alarm:

Enter an alarm name and description.
Define the type of alarm:
1. In the Monitor list, click Virtual Machines.
2. Select Monitor for specific conditions or state.
Select Enable this alarm.

Alarm Settings – Triggers tab

State triggers are set off as soon as a state threshold or condition is achieved. You cannot define condition lengths for state alarms.

Note: You cannot use a virtual machine's Total Size on Disk or VM Snapshot Size triggers in combination with any other triggers.

To add a new alarm trigger:

Click Add.
In the Trigger Type dropdown, click VM Snapshot Size (GB).
In the On Condition dropdown, click Is above.
Double-click the Warning and Alert fields, and enter the desired values.

Define tolerance ranges and trigger frequencies for condition or state triggers.

Alarm Settings – Actions tab

To define an action:

Fill in the Configuration tab with the details required for the configured Action.
Select if you want the action to be executed with a specific frequency, or just when there is a status change from normal to warning, warning to alert, alert to warning, and warning to normal.
Click OK and the alarm is ready.

Additional Information

For more information on diagnosing why Virtual Center is not sending email alerts, see Diagnosing why vCenter Server is not sending email alerts (1004070).

For more information about the settings related to alarms, see Working with Alarms in:

Note: The Delete all snapshots process is improved with these ESX patches:

For translated versions of this article, see:

Update History

10/04/2012 - Added VMware vCenter 5.1 Server under product category 10/14/2012 - Added note regarding 5.1

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