In my 7+ Years working for VMware and doing vROPS for almost every industry out there, I get tons of vROPS questions and a lot of the questions obviously gets repeated. In this post I will answer some of the most common questions, but to keep things short and simple, I will list some of the top references I use myself to find these answers.
Architecture and vROPS Design Questions
What is the difference between data, master, master replica, remote collectors?
Here is the official Architecture guides for vROPS that explains everything and more
Reference Architecture for 8.0
https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Operations-Manager/8.0/vrealize-operations-manager-80-reference-architecture-guide.pdf
Reference Architecture for 7.0
https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Operations-Manager/7.0/vrealize-operations-manager-70-reference-architecture-guide.pdf
Can I have an active DR scenario for vROPS?
Starting with vROPS 8.0 you can now have two default domains. Below is a great blog post on this
https://vnuggets.com/2019/10/17/vrealize-operations-deployment-architecture-changes-in-8-0/
What is the minimal collection user privileges for using a service account for vROPS?
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/53164
How do I backup my vROPS Data?
Use your typical full VM backup software. In addition it is always recommended to backup all your customized work monthly. Use this guide I wrote.
http://www.vmignite.com/2020/12/vrops-8-2-three-ways-to-backup-vrops-content/
Am I sizing my vROPS Correctly?
Use the vROPS Sizing Tool to calculate this.mar
https://vropssizer.vmware.com/
Where can I go to check for security vulnerabilities?
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories.html
Where can I go to check if vROPS is compatible with my current version of vCenter, third party apps, etc?
https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php
What are the Ports and Protocols for vROPS?
https://ports.vmware.com/home/vRealize-Operations-Manager
Where can I go to download additional management packs?
https://marketplace.cloud.vmware.com/
Where can I get information about licensing and features each license type offers (Standard, Advance, Enterprise)?
Self-Driving Operations by VMware vRealize Operations Datasheet – vmware-vrealize-operations-datasheet.pdf
Can I pull metrics/properites from vROPs using API?
Can I monitor Physical Servers?
Metrics and Capacity questions
Is there documentation that explains the metrics and properties?
Yes here it is for vROPS 8.0
https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Operations-Manager/8.0/com.vmware.vcom.metrics.doc/GUID-1322F5A4-DA1D-481F-BBEA-99B228E96AF2.html
Here it is in PDF form for 7.5
https://docs.vmware.com/en/vRealize-Operations-Manager/7.5/vrealize-operations-manager-75-reference-guide.pdf
How do I find out which metrics are important and what are the recommended thresholds to look for?
To see what vROPS Recommends, go to Alerts > Symptom Definitions as it list out all the recommended thresholds for all Objects
Also download my vSphere Health Checker dashboard for metrics and properties I have collected through the years
http://www.vmignite.com/2021/02/vrops-vsphere-health-checker-dashboard-2-0/
How are the Capacity stats calculated?
This blog post explains capacity recommendations in greater detail
https://blogs.vmware.com/management/2020/01/rightsizing-vms-with-vrealize-operations.html
How are memory stats calculated?
Read the following blog post that explains Memory Metric enhancements from different versions of vROPS
https://blogs.vmware.com/management/2019/01/enhancements-to-virtual-machine-memory-metrics-in-vrealize-operations.html
Can I pull metrics/properites from vROPs using API?
Training, Help, News, and updates for vROPS
Where can I get my questions answered for vROPS?
Post your questions on the official Vmware forum for vROPS. Vmware employees and other users might have an answer for you
https://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vrealize/vrops/content
Where can I go for latest vROPS news and updates?
https://blogs.vmware.com/management/tag/vrops
Where can I go for vROPS Training, Tips, and Tricks?
Besides my site and other blogs out there. I recommend you start with these following two links first.
https://pathfinder.vmware.com/v3/explore/vrealize_operations_filter_page
http://labs.hol.vmware.com/HOL/catalogs/
Where can I go to download Custom vROPS stuff (Dashboards, supermetrics, etc)?
http://www.vmignite.com/category/downloads/
