Discovery identifies and classifies information about VMware vCenter servers.

vCenter table schema

The vCenter table schema is illustrated in the following diagram:

Figure 1. vCenter table schema
vCenter table schema
Several tables are cloud-agnostic tables, meaning that they can be populated for any cloud resource, not just vCenter resources. Look in the sub tables that extend the cloud-agnostic tables to find discovered CIs.
Cloud-agnostic tableLook in this vCenter-specific table
Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance] VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance]
Operating System Template [cmdb_ci_os_template] VMware Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template]
Logical Datacenter [cmdb_ci_logical_datacenter] VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
Cloud Networks [cmdb_ci_network] VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network]
Datastore [cmdb_ci_datastore] VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore]
Host Cluster [cmdb_ci_host_cluster] VMware vCenter Cluster [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster]

vCenter data

Discovery uses multiple vCenter probes to collect this data from vCenter. The data is saved in tables extend from the Configuration item [cmdb_ci] table.

Table 1. VMware vCenter Instance [cmdb_ci_vcenter]
Field labelColumn name
Name name
Full name fullname
Instance UUID instance_uuid
URL url
Effective CPU effectivecpu
The combination of the vCenter instance in the cmdb_ci_vcenter table and the object ID in the cmdb_ci_vm_object table identifies a specific vCenter.

The tables extend from the Virtual Machine Objects [cmdb_ci_vm_object] table, which holds object IDs for all cloud-based resources, except virtualization servers.

Table 2. DRS VM Config [cmdb_ci_drs_vm_config]
Field labelColumn name
Cluster cluster
DRS behavior drs_behavior
DRS enabled drs_enabled
Virtual machine virtual_machine
This table stores DRS behavior for the VMs that override the cluster behavior. For more information on DRS, see VMware's documentation on Distributed Resource Scheduler.
Table 3. VMware vCenter VM Group [cmdb_ci_vcenter_vm_group]
Field label Column name
Cluster cluster

The VMware vCenter VM group [cmdb_ci_vcenter_vm_group] table has Contains::Contained by relationship with cmdb_ci_vmware_instance. This group has a set of VMs.

Table 4. VMware vCenter Host Group [cmdb_ci_vcenter_host_group]
Field label Column name
Cluster cluster

The VMware vCenter Host Group [cmdb_ci_vcenter_host_group] table has Contains::Contained by relationship with cmdb_ci_vmware_instance. This group has a set of hosts.

Table 5. VMware vCenter Cluster DRS Rule [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster_drs_rule]
Field label Column name
Rule UUID rule_uuid
Active active
Cluster cluster
Table 6. VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance]
Field labelColumn name
Name name
Template template
CPUs cpus
Disks disks
Disks size (GB) disks_size
Memory (MB) memory
Network adapters nics
Image path image_path
State state
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Base name base_name
BIOS UUID bios_uuid
VM Instance UUID vm_instance_uuid
IP address ip_address
Table 7. VMware Distributed Virtual Port Groups [cmdb_ci_vcenter_dv_port_group]
Field Label Column name
Name name
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
Distributed Virtual Switch Reference dvs_ref
Table 8. VMware Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template]
Field labelColumn name
Name The template name from VMWare.
CPUs cpus
Disks size (GB) disks_size
Guest ID guest_id
Memory (MB) memory
Image path image_path
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Network adapters nics
Base name base_name
VM namer vm_namer
BIOS UUID bios_uuid
VM Instance UUID vm_instance_uuid
Table 9. VMware vCenter Object [cmdb_ci_vcenter_object]
Field label Column name
Managed object reference ID morid
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Table 10. VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]*
Field labelColumn name
Region region
Managed object reference ID morid
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Top level folder for VMs folder_moreid
Top level folder for hosts host_morid
*The VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] table is extended from the [cmdb_ci_logical_datacenter] table.
Table 11. VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network]*
Field labelColumn name
Managed object reference ID morid
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Network accessible by either hosts or virtual machines accessible
*The VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network] table is extended from the [cmdb_ci_network] table.
Table 12. VMware Distributed Virtual Switch [cmdb_ci_vcenter_dvs]
Field label Column name
VMCount vm_count
Host count host_count
Table 13. VMware vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter_folder]
Field labelColumn name
Managed object reference ID morid
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Full path fullpath
Table 14. ESX Resource Pool [cmdb_ci_esx_resource_pool]
Field labelColumn name
Managed object reference ID morid
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Owner owner
Owner Managed Object Reference ID owner_morid
CPU expandable cpu_expandable
CPU limit (MHz) cpu_limit_mhz
CPU reserved (MHz) cpu_reserved_mhz
CPU shares cpu_shares
Full path fullpath
Memory expandable mem_expandable
Memory limit (MB) mem_limit_mb
Memory reserved (MB) mem_reserved_mb
Memory shares mem_shares
Table 15. VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore]
Field labelColumn name
Managed object reference ID morid
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
Accessible accessible
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Type type
Capacity (GB) capacity
Free space (GB) freespace
URL url
Clustered clustered
The VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore] table is extended from the [cmdb_ci_datastore] table.
Table 16. VMware vCenter Cluster [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster]*
Field labelColumn name
Managed object reference ID morid
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
Effective hosts effectivehosts
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Effective CPU effectivecpu
Effective memory effectivememory
Number of effective hosts effectivehosts
Number of hosts numhosts
Total CPU totalcpu
Total memory totalmemory
Number of CPU cores numcpucores
Number of CPU threads numcputhreads
DRS Behavior drs_behavior
DRS Enabled drs_enabled
DRS VMotion Rate drs_vmotion_rate
*The VMware vCenter Cluster [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster] table is extended from the [cmdb_ci_host_cluster] table.
Table 17. Cluster VM Host Rule Info [cmdb_ci_cluster_vm_host_rule]
Field labelColumn name
VM Group vm_group
Host Group host_group
Mandatory mandatory
Affinity affinity
Table 18. Cluster VM Affinity Rule Info [cmdb_ci_cluster_vm_affinity_rule]
Field label Column name
Affinity affinity

The Cluster VM Affinity Rule Info [cmdb_ci_cluster_vm_affinity_rule] table has Contains::Contained by relationship with cmdb_ci_vmware_instance. This group has a set of VMs for which this affinity will be applied.

Table 19. VMWare Distributed Virtual Switch [cmdb_ci_vcenter_dvs]
Field label Column name
Name name
VMCount vm_count
Host count host_count
Discovery also maps the relationships to VMs and to distributed virtual port groups.
Table 20. VMware Distributed Virtual Port Group [cmdb_ci_vcenter_dv_port_group]
Field label Column name
Name name
vCenter Instance UUID vcenter_uuid
Distributed Virtual Switch Reference dvs_ref
Discovery also maps the relationship to the distributed virtual switch.
You can add these related lists to view additional discovered data:
  • Storage Volumes
    The virtual disks for this virtual machine. This data is saved in the Storage Volume [cmdb_ci_storage_volume] table with the value type=v Disk.
    Table 21. Storage Volume [cmdb_ci_storage_volume]
    Field label Column name
    Name name
    Size size
  • Network Adapters
    The virtual network adapters for the virtual disks. This data is saved in the Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter] table.
    Table 22. Network Adapter [cmdb_ci_network_adapter]
    Field labelColumn name
    Name name
    IP Address ip_address
    MAC address mac_address
    Netmask netmask

vCenter discovery with Software Asset Management

If Software Asset Management is active, Discovery populates these vCenter tables using the VMWare - vCenter ESX Hosts License probe.

Table 23. VMWare License Key [samp_vmware_license_key]
Field labelColumn name
vCenter Reference vcenter_ref
Cost Unit cost_unit
Edition edition
Features features
License Key license_key
Product Name product_name
Product Version product_version
Rights Owned rights_owned
Rights Used rights_used
Table 24. VMWare License Key Usage [samp_vmware_license_key_usage]
Field labelColumn name
Rights Used rights_used
Expiration Date expiration_date
Used Features used_features
License Key license_key
Software Install software_install
Used By used_by

vCenter relationships

Discovery automatically creates relationships for vCenter components using data from a key class. Subsequent discoveries use the same key class to automatically validate and remove relationships that are no longer valid.

vCenter CIs can be members of folders or clusters, which affect how Discovery creates their relationships.

  • If a CI is in a folder, Discovery creates a relationship between that CI and the folder. If that CI is not in a folder, Discovery creates the relationship between the CI and the datacenter. These vCenter CIs can be in a folder:
    • VM Instance
    • VM Template
    • vCenter Network
    • Datastore
    • vCenter Folder
    • vCenter Cluster
  • If an ESX server is in a cluster, Discovery creates a relationship between the ESX server and the cluster. If an ESX server is not a member of a cluster, then Discovery creates a relationship to the datacenter.
  • If a resource pool is in a cluster, Discovery creates a relationship between the resource pool and the cluster. If the resource pool is not a member of a cluster, then Discovery creates a relationship to the ESX server.
This diagram illustrates vCenter relationships:
Figure 2. vCenter relationships
vCenter relationships
Parent classRelationship typeChild class
Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] Virtualized by::Virtualizes ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server]
Note: The relationship created from ESX Server and VM Instance to the Guest are created by business rule "Virtual Computer Check." The guest machine needs to be discovered after the VCenter is discovered to trigger the business rule and create such relationships.
Computer [cmdb_ci_computer] Instantiates::Instantiated by VM Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance]
Note: The relationship created from ESX Server and VM Instance to the Guest are created by business rule "Virtual Computer Check." The guest machine needs to be discovered after the VCenter is discovered to trigger the business rule and create such relationships.
VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance] Registered on::Has registered ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server]
VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance] Connected by::Connects VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network]
Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template] Connected by::Connects VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network]
VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network] Provided by::Provides ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server]
VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore] Provides storage for::Stored on VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance]
VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore] Used by::Uses ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server]
VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore] Provides storage for::Stored on Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template]
VMware vCenter Cluster [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster] Members::Member of ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server]
ESX Resource Pool [cmdb_ci_esx_resource_pool] Defines resources for::Get resources from VMware vCenter Cluster [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster]
ESX Resource Pool [cmdb_ci_esx_resource_pool] Defines resources for::Get resources from ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server]
VMware vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter_folder] Contains::Contained by VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore]
VMware vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter_folder] Contains::Contained by VMware vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter_folder]
VMware vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter_folder] Contains::Contained by Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template]
VMware vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter_folder] Contains::Contained by VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance]
VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Contains::Contained by VMware vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network]
VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Contains::Contained by VMware Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance]
VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Contains::Contained by ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server]
VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Contains::Contained by VMware vCenter Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore]
VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Contains::Contained by VMware vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter_folder]
VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Contains::Contained by VMware vCenter Cluster [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster]
VMware vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Contains::Contained by Virtual Machine Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template]

Cloud Management relationships

These additional relationships are created when Cloud Management (CMP) is active.

vCenter relationships for Cloud Management
Parent classRelationship typeChild class
ESX Server [cmdb_ci_esx_server] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
vCenter Folder [cmdb_ci_vcenter folder] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter] Hosted on::Hosts Cloud Service Account [cmdb_ci_cloud_service_account]
vCenter Cluster [cmdb_ci_vcenter_cluster] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
Resource Pools [cmdb_ci_esx_resource_pool] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
VM Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
VM Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
vCenter Network [cmdb_ci_vcenter_network] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
Distributed Virtual Switch [cmdb_ci_vcenter_dvs] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
Distributed Virtual Port Group [cmdb_ci_vcenter_dv_port_group] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
Datastore [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datastore] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
Virtual Disk [cmdb_ci_storage_volume] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
Virtual NIC [cmdb_ci_vmware_nic] Hosted on::Hosts vCenter Datacenter [cmdb_ci_vcenter_datacenter]
VM Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template] Use End Point To::Use End Point From Block Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_block]
VM Instance cmdb_ci_vmware_instance Use End Point To::Use End Point From Block Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_block]
Virtual Disk [cmdb_ci_storage_volume] Implement End Point To::Implement End Point From Block Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_block]
Virtual NIC [cmdb_ci_vmware_nic] Implement End Point To::Implement End Point From NIC Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_nic]
VM Template [cmdb_ci_vmware_template] Use End Point To::Use End Point From NIC Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_nic]
VM Instance [cmdb_ci_vmware_instance] Use End Point To::Use End Point From NIC Endpoint [cmdb_ci_endpoint_nic]

VMware tags

You can attach tags to vSphere objects, such as virtual machines, through the vSphere interface. The tags can then be grouped into categories. Objects with tags are sortable and searchable based on the parameters you give the tags and categories. The VMWare — vCenter VM Tags probe discovers these tags. You can view the discovered tags by opening the virtual machine record in cmdb_ci_vmware_instance. Then go to the Key Values tab.
Table 25. Key Values [cmdb_key_value]
Field label and nameDescription
Configuration item [configuration_item] Referenced VM with tag attached in vCenter.
Key [key] Category name of the tag applied to the resource in vCenter.
Tag [tag] Source in vCenter from which tags are fetched. In this case, the value is always Tags.
Value [value] Tag name that is applied to the resource in vCenter.