Applies to: DataLink 4.0+ 

 

Apptio Uplifted Content This document was contributed by Apptio expert and Product Management Analyst @Jas Banwait.

In this article:

About RVTools

You can import VMware data (Learn more) using RVTools to allocate infrastructure costs within the Apptio Cost Transparency (CT) application. RVTools is a Windows .NET 4.0 application that uses the VI (VMware Infrastructure) API to display information about your virtual environments.

Accessing VMware data

You can access VMware data by installing RVTools and then logging in to the vCenter or ESX Server. RVTools supports logging in using a username/password or Windows credentials. You can download RVTools from https://www.robware.net/rvtools/.

NOTE  While this document describes how to use data from RVTools in Cost Transparency, it is not intended to be an endorsement of this third-party utility. Work with your VMware administrator to ensure that it is approved and used properly.

Type of VMware data

The types of VMware data you can access and import into the Apptio Cost Transparency application are:

• Physical servers
• Hypervisors
• Logical servers
• Storage

Data sources supported

Versions supported

This guide was created for and tested with RVTools version 3.9. It might work with earlier or later versions of RVTools, however, it has not been tested against them.

RVTools supports the following:

• VirtualCenter 2.5
• ESX Server 3.5
• ESX Server 3i
• ESX Server 4i
• VirtualCenter 4.x
• ESX Server 4.x
• VirtualCenter 5.x
• VirtualCenter Appliance
• ESX Server 5.x
• VirtualCenter 6.0
• ESX Server 6.0
• VirtualCenter 6.5
• ESX Server 6.5

TIP  Navigate to the RVTools download page ( https://www.robware.net/rvtools/) to check for the latest list of supported VMware Software.

Use RVTools to export VMware data

RVTools allows for the manual export to a .CSV file of each of the datasets it collects. For Apptio Cost Transparency, the following datasets must be exported: vInfo, vPartition, vHost, and vDatastore.

1. Log in to RVTools using one of the methods listed below:
   -  Local VMware Credentials
   -  Active Directory(AD) Windows Credentials
   
   
   (Click to enlarge)
   
   Follow steps 2 and 3 for each of the following data tabs:
    -  vInfo
    -  vPartition
    -  vHost
    -  vDatastore
2. Click File > Export.
   
   
   
3. Change the Save as type to Comma Separated Value (.csv), and then click Save.
   
   

Map VMware Data to Apptio

After importing the VMware data into the Apptio Cost Transparency application, you must map the data to their respective data sets.

Reports described above return hardware asset data sets. The data sets include a mapping guide for appending the data into their respective Master Data sets. Install the following components within the Cost Transparency project to map the data in Apptio:

• CT Apps – Servers
• CT Apps – Storage

NOTE  Usage Data within Physical Server Master Data: Within the vHost table, RVTools records current Memory and CPU usage percentage, however, we do not recommend that they be mapped within Apptio. Usage data that is collected represent the utilization of the server at the point in time when RVTools data was refreshed.

Prerequisites to Mapping

Convert RVTools Data Units MB to GB

Because the units are measured in MB within RVTools, you must convert these MB units into GB units before you append them into their master data sets.

• Within the table vInfo create a new column “Memory Capacity GB”
  Formula:  =(Memory)/1024
• Within the table vInfo create a new column “Storage Capacity GB”
  Formula:  =(Provisioned MB)/1024
• Within the table vHost create a new column “Total Memory GB”
  Formula:  =({# Memory})/1024
• Within the table vPartition create a new column “Total Space GB”
  Formula:  =(Capacity MB)/1024
• Within the table vPartition create a new column “Used Space GB”
  Formula:  =(Consumed MB)/1024
• Within the table vDataStore create a new column “Total Space GB”
  Formula:  =(Capacity MB)/1024

• Within the table vDataStore create a new column “Usable Capacity GB”
  Formula: = (In Use MB + Free MB)/1024

• Within the table vDataStore create a new column “Used Space GB”
  Formula: = (Provisioned MB)/1024
   

Relate the Storage Device Master Data to the Storage Master Data

You have to manually derive the relationship between the Storage Device Master and Storage Master data sets:

• Within the table vPartition, create a new column “Storage Device ID”.
  Formula:  =Split((Lookup(VM UUID,vInfo,VM UUID,Path)),1,"[""]")
  
  

Hypervisor Master Data

Physical Server Master Data

Server Master Data

Storage Master Data

Storage Device Master Data

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