This free utility runs on your desktop and displays the status of your
VM's. Furthermore, using the dashboard you can restart a hung
virtual machine with 3 clicks of the mouse. The download is free,
and install straightforward.
Evaluation of Solarwinds VMware Virtual Machine Console
This is a free tool to check your VMware empire and shutdown or
restart troublesome virtual machines easily. The secret of this
utility's popularity is its simplicity, just observe the status with a
glance at the red or green dots. Then to cure a VM problem
with a simple restart you don't need vCenter™ or vSphere™.
If necessary, this virtual machine monitor can take a snapshot of a
VM, thus enabling you to troubleshoot or evaluate a potential fix.
By using vSphere or vCenter credentials, you can connect to multiple
vCenters and examine the hierarchy from vCenter through ESX hosts to VM
guests; see screenshot to the right.
I found the hardest part of installing this gismo was remembering
where I downloaded the zip file! From there it was all downhill. I extracted
the .msi file called SolarWindsVmConsole, and then clicked on the
licence agreement, and let the install wizard do the rest.
After the install completes the VM Console launches and you are ready to
begin. Should you need find the VM Console later look on the
start menu, or if all else fails navigate to:
C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\VmConsole
Should you need to uninstall, then go to the Control Panel, Programs,
scroll down to 'S' for SolarWinds VM Console. It's a sign of a good
freeware program that it uninstalls easily and completely. See
more on
Thwack forum.
Installation is straightforward, the only trick is to remember to
connect to the VSphere or your ESX
servers, and not to the actual VM. To add an ESX host click on the
gear icon at the top of the tool, and enter the hostname (or IP
Addresses) in the dialog box, provide the VMware username and password as
required.
Once the utility starts monitoring you can right-click a note and Take a
snapshot, Shutdown the guest or Restart the guest.
More Virtual Machine Monitors
If you need more detailed Virtual Machine Management then try
SolarWinds Virtualization Manager. It
is ideal if you need capacity planning, VM sprawl control, performance
monitoring, configuration management, and chargeback automation.
Troubleshooting VM Console
For visibility problems edit the .config file, for example: Set
"StartMinimized" to False, or "Opacity" to 80%; once you have saved the
config file restart the tool and you should now see it. Get more
help about the
VM Console on the Thwack forum.
As with most of SolarWinds free products, the VM Monitor does not
monitor multiple ESX servers, however, again as with most SolarWinds
tools, they supply a 'Big Brother' in the Orion
product series.
There is a trick to launching multiple versions of the monitor, just
create a copy of the original executable, e.g. VMMonitor2.exe. For
this tip I recommend you copy the whole folder under C:\Program
Files\SolarWinds, then rename VMMonitor.exe to VMMonitor3.exe.
Creating multiple VM is great way of making the best use of physical
computer hardware. With virtual machines you save on energy and
other running costs. However, there comes a time when you need to
monitor these VM and often all that's needed is a way of seeing whether
the machines are running and if necessary, restarting a hung guest
machine without disturbing the other VMs on that server.
Summary: Review of VMware Virtual Machine Console
This free SolarWinds utility runs from your desktop and connects to
the host computer and allows you to keep an eye on your virtual guest
machines.
Additional Free and Trial SolarWinds Network Software
These are programs which I have enjoyed evaluating on my
network. Some are completely free, while other downloads are trial
versions of the full product. I think SolarWinds have a great
strategy, namely, supplying a free gadget, which may be all a small
company need, yet providing a big-brother suite of programs for
larger organizations.
Guy Recommends:
SolarWinds' NPM - Network Performance Monitor
SolarWinds' performance monitor is designed for detecting network outages,
making it easy to see what's working, and what needs your attention.
This utility guides you through creating network maps; it also helps
identifying whether the
root cause is faulty equipment, or resource overload. Give NPM a try.
