Understanding the VM Managers panel

Before you start adding VM Managers, see the details of the VM Managers panel to understand the available options and columns.

To open the VM Managers panel, click Management > VM Managers. The panel lists both VM managers that are managed in the central mode and those from the distributed mode. You can add, edit, delete, and test connections for VM managers regardless of whether they are managed centrally or through a distributed VM Manager tool installation.

The number of VM managers that are shown on the panel depends on your computer group assignment. You can see only VM managers from which data is collected by the VM Manager tool that belongs to the computer group to which you are assigned.


VM Managers panel
1 New
Click this button to add a VM manager. You can add both central and distributed VM managers. When you add a VM manager, you must select the VM Manager tool installation where the connection configuration will be stored and from which the configuration will be sent to the VM manager. For more information about the distributed approach, see: Advanced VM management (distributed).
Important: The button is disabled when the computer where the main instance of the VM Manager tool is installed does not belong to the computer group to which you are assigned.
Restriction: A VM Manager tool installation that is in the Uninstallation: Successful state cannot be selected when adding a VM manager.
2 Delete
Click this button to delete the selected VM manager. You can delete both central and distributed VM managers from this panel.
Note: After a VM Manager tool is deleted from the VM Manager Tools panel, its associated VM managers are hidden from the VM Managers report.
3 Test Connection
Click this button to test the connection to the selected VM manager. The option is applicable to both central and distributed VM managers. The status of the connection test is shown in the Connection Test Status column.
4 9.2.12 Resume
Click this button to resume a connection to a VM manager that is in the Invalid credentials - suspended status. The option is applicable to both central and distributed VM managers. When the number of failed login attempts is exceeded, connection to the VM manager is suspended to prevent the account from locking. After you correct the underlying issue, you can resume the connection.
Restriction: VM managers that are linked to a VM Manager tool that is uninstalled but not fully removed cannot have their configuration edited.
5 More information
A link to a documentation topic that describes how to manage VM managers.
6 Operation Status
The status of the VM manager that reflects its condition. The status changes when connection or configuration problems occur. For more information, see: VM manager statuses.
7 Connection Test Status
The status of the connection test. The initial value is Not Tested and it changes to Testing, Successful, or Failed after you click Test Connection. The latter two statuses are always followed by a time stamp. For more information, see: Connection test statuses.
8 Type
Type of the VM manager.
9 URL
Web address of the VM manager. Each virtualization type uses a different address format. The template is always provided when you add VM managers. For more information, see: Supported virtualization types.
10 Data Import Time
Date and time when the capacity data was imported from the BigFix server to BigFix Inventory.

Column is hidden by default.

11 Data Collection Time
Date and time when the capacity data was collected from the VM manager by VM Manager tool. The time that is shown in this column might differ from the time in the Data Import Time column because the collected data might still need to be uploaded to the BigFix server and then imported to BigFix Inventory.

The ‘Data Collection Time’ column has been extended with an icon showing issues with VM Manager tool results transfer.

Possible indicators:
Case Example Values Meaning
Data Collection Time and Data Import Time are equal with minute precision. 2021-09-24 03:06:12.427 v.s. 2021-09-24 03:06:00.000 No icon. Desired state.
Data Collection Time is before Data Import Time. 2021-02-17 04:49:05.810 2021-09-06 00:01:00.000 Warning: Data has been received too late, and its value will be used in calculations starting from Data Import Time.
Data Collection Time if after Data Import Time​. 2021-02-17 04:49:05.810 2021-01-06 00:12:00.000​ Error: Issue with processing the VM Manager Tool result. Check Data Import logs.
12 VM Manager ID
Unique identifier of the VM manager connection. The ID is automatically assigned when the VM manager is created.
13 9.2.4 Data Source Computer ID
Identifier of the computer on which the VM Manager tool that collects data from the particular VM manager is installed. Click the link to display the details of the computer, for example its IP address. For distributed VM managers, this column shows which VM Manager tool installation the connection is associated with.
Deprecated: User Name
In earlier versions, this columns shows the user name that is used to connect to the VM manager.