VMware VirtualCenter 1.0 Support Documentation

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Navigating in the VirtualCenter Client

This section describes common Windows practices that affect the VirtualCenter client. For detailed information on the windows and options in the VirtualCenter client, refer to Working with the VirtualCenter Client.

Briefly, the VirtualCenter client is divided into two areas.

A heading area with a main menu, navigation bar, and toolbar.
A data area which displays different information depending upon the option selected in the navigation bar.

The navigation bar options divide VirtualCenter's primary tasks into:

Inventory — Divided into two subpanels, the inventory panel and the information panel. This navigation bar option displays all the objects contained within VirtualCenter. Through selecting objects in either of the two subpanels, you perform and specify actions.

Tasks — Displays an information panel that lists all the tasks scheduled to occur.

Template — Displays an information panel that lists all the templates available for deploying. This list includes templates that are stored in the template upload directory, as well as templates that are stored on the same datastore as their source virtual machine.

Events — Displays an information panel that lists all the events that have occurred in the VirtualCenter.

The navigation topics are covered in the following sections:

Selecting Objects

VirtualCenter objects are farms, groups, hosts, and virtual machines. Selecting an object does the following:

Allows you to view the status of the object.
Enables the menus so you can select actions to take upon the object.

To select an object:

Select the appropriate navigation bar option. The options are Inventory, Tasks, Templates, and Events.
Drill through the hierarchy in the inventory panel until you see the icon for the object, then click it.

When you select an object is selected, the object label in the inventory panel backfills and the information panel updates its display to reflect the data for the selected object.

To view an object menu: Select the appropriate object and select the appropriate action from the Menu bar. Alternatively, right click on the object. A popup menu with the object's available actions appears.

For each type of object, such as farm, host, or virtual machine, in the inventory panel, a corresponding default tab appears in the information panel. For example, if you select a host in the inventory panel, the information panel displays Summary, Virtual Machines, Performance, Events, and Alarms tabs. If you select a farm, the information panel displays Summary, Virtual Machines, Hosts, Performance, Events, Alarms, and Permissions tabs.

Multiple selection has limited support in the information panel.

The inventory panel and information panel share a single selection list. Selecting an object in one panel deselects any other object in the other panel.

Menu actions, from either the menu bar or a popup menu, apply to the currently selected object. If no object is selected, the menu action is not available. A popup menu can appear only for a selected object. Refer to Popup Menus for additional information on the popup menu options.

To change the name of an object: Press F2 on a selected item, or click on the text of a selected item and type the new name.

Monitoring Objects

Monitoring a host or a virtual machine requires that it has been added to the VirtualCenter environment. Refer to Adding a Host to a Farm for information on adding objects to your VirtualCenter management server.

To check the status of an object:

Start the VirtualCenter client.
Refer to Starting or Stopping VMware VirtualCenter.
Select the Inventory option in the navigation bar. The options are Inventory, Tasks, Templates, and Events.
If you select the Tasks, Templates, or Events options, the information panel displays the scheduled tasks, available templates, and all events that have occurred on the VirtualCenter management server.
If you select the Inventory option, drill through the inventory panel lists to view individual objects such as hosts, farms, and virtual machines.
Click on the object to view it.

When you select an object is selected, the object label in the inventory panel appears in blue and the information panel updates its display to reflect the data for the selected object.
Click the appropriate tab in information panel.
The data corresponding to the object and tab selected appears. Click through the tabs to view the information about the object, as needed.

Performing Actions on Objects

This section describes only the basic process for performing tasks in the VirtualCenter client. This section does not describe specific settings and conditions. Refer to the chapter specific to the task you wish to perform for additional information.

To view an object, you must have a role of Read Only User or greater assigned to that object. To take action on an object, you must have Virtual Machine User, Virtual Machine Administrator, or VirtualCenter Administrator role assigned to you for that object. Refer to Setting Access and Permissions for additional information on permissions with VirtualCenter objects.

There are three methods for taking actions upon objects in VirtualCenter:

Selecting the action from the menu bar at the top of the VirtualCenter window.
Refer to Menu Bar for information on the menu bar options.
Scheduling the action through the Scheduled Tasks panel.
Refer to Creating a Scheduled Task to information on scheduling tasks.
Selecting the action from the object popup menu or button.
The following procedure describes how to select the action from the object menu or button.

To perform an action on a VirtualCenter object:

Start the VirtualCenter client
Connect to the appropriate VirtualCenter management server.
Select the object you want to view or upon which you want to perform an action.
Drill through the hierarchy in the inventory panel until you see the icon for the object, then click on it. An object can be selected in the inventory panel or the information panel.
If the object is not in the view:
Verify you are logged onto the correct VirtualCenter management server.
Add the host to VirtualCenter control. Refer to Working with Hosts for information.
Select the appropriate menu option:
Once an object is selected:
Select a menu option from the main menu.
Right-click on the object and select from the popup menu.
Follow the VirtualCenter prompts.
Depending upon the action you selected, either the view in the information panel changes or a wizard prompts for information to complete the transaction. The wizard includes the option to schedule the action for a later time.

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