check_vmware_esx.pl vs. check_vmware_api.pl (check_esx3.pl)

[srcadmin]

Hi there!

I'm quite a newbie for nagios and I just wonder - what do you suggest to use to monitor vmware hosts: check_vmware_esx.pl or check_vmware_api.pl?

Support advised me to use check_vmware_api.pl instead of check_esx3.pl. But even this one is quite old. check_vmware_esx.pl is the latest, but in some details it has a different approach.

What do you suggest, use?

Regards,
Peter

[tmcdonald]

If I may offer a third solution?

http://exchange.nagios.org/directory/Pl ... re/details

@Box293 (Troy Lea) has been on the forums for a while now and recently started working for Nagios! He not only wrote a passive agent for monitoring VMWare, but he also wrote 53 pages worth of documentation on the plugin. I would highly suggest giving it a read and seeing if you still want to go with either of the other two solutions.

[Box293]

Thanks Trevor

Hi Peter,
The main difference with the box293_check_vmware plugin is that it's designed to be offloaded to a vMA appliance. Which means the resource intensive VMware SDK is taken off the Nagios box and does not cause the Nagios host to experience high loads (this happens as you scale up your VMware Monitoring).

I also believe my plugin is easier to use and understand, compared to others. Like Trevor said, there's 53 pages of documentation and it's aimed at making things clear and easy to understand.

Let us know if you have any questions about this plugin.

[srcadmin]

OK, thanks for your reply. I came across this script and I'll take a look at it.
I'm just disappointed that nagios announces that it is able to monitor vmware infrastructure, but as it seams they didn't provide us with accurate answer. But newer-mind.

One question about box293_check_vmware plugin:
We have a problem, that nagios is filling logs on vcenter side intensively. I understand that every service check is logged in vmware side.
Can your design of plugin solve this issue anyhow? I mean.. initialize one session and leave it open for further checks?

[Box293]

The box293_check_vmware plugin will generate the same logging behavior as the others, as they all use the same VMware SDK.