This was a question that was recently asked in an internal thread regarding the list of available advanced settings in vCenter Server. You can find these settings under the "Advanced Settings" section of all places 😉 and this is available both in the vSphere Web/C# Client.
I wrote a script awhile back that allows you to modify these advanced settings and with a slight modification to the existing script, I was able to produce the complete list of available settings (available via the vSphere API) that are user configurable, as not all settings are configurable. Below, is a table of all vCenter Server 5.5 advanced settings and I also have a table for newly added advanced settings for vCenter Server 6.0.
Disclaimer: Most of these settings should be left at their default and if you do need to make a change, make it is through a recommendation by either VMware's documentation or from GSS Support as modifying some of these changes can negatively impact your environment.
vCenter Server 5.5
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| ads.checkInterval | User validation interval |
| ads.checkIntervalEnabled | Enable user validation |
| ads.maxFetch | Maximum users to retrieve |
| ads.maxFetchEnabled | Enable user retrieve limits |
| ads.timeout | User retrieve timeout |
| AgentUpgrade.autoUpgradeAgents | vCenter Agent Upgrade |
| AgentUpgrade.checkPeriodSeconds | Host upgrade check frequency |
| alarms.upgraded | Default alarms have been created |
| alarms.version | Default alarm upgrade version |
| client.timeout.long | Long operation client timeout |
| client.timeout.normal | Client timeout |
| DBProc.Log.Buffer | DB procedures log buffer |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Stats.Purge1 | Log level for daily stats purge |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Stats.Purge2 | Log level for weekly stats purge |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Stats.Purge3 | Log level for monthly and yearly stats purge |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Stats.Rollup1 | Log level for daily stats rollup |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Stats.Rollup2 | Log level for weekly stats rollup |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Stats.Rollup3 | Log level for monthly stats rollup |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Calc1 | Log level for topn rank of daily stats |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Calc2 | Log level for topn rank of weekly stats |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Calc3 | Log level for topn rank of monthly stats |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Calc4 | Log level for topn rank of yearly stats |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Purge1 | Log level for purge of daily topns |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Purge2 | Log level for purge of weekly topns |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Purge3 | Log level for purge of monthly topns |
| DBProc.Log.Level.Topn.Purge4 | Log level for purge of yearly topns |
| event.maxAge | Maximum event age |
| event.maxAgeEnabled | Enable event cleanup |
| instance.id | Instance ID |
| LicenseServer.matchHostToVirtualCenter | Match host license server to vCenter |
| log.level | Logging level |
| mail.sender | Mail sender |
| mail.smtp.port | SMTP server port |
| mail.smtp.server | SMTP server |
| Perf.Stats.MaxCollectionThreads | Maximum statistics collection threads |
| snmp.receiver.1.community | First SNMP receiver community |
| snmp.receiver.1.enabled | Enable first SNMP receiver |
| snmp.receiver.1.name | First SNMP receiver name |
| snmp.receiver.1.port | First SNMP receiver port |
| snmp.receiver.2.community | Second SNMP receiver community |
| snmp.receiver.2.enabled | Enable second SNMP receiver |
| snmp.receiver.2.name | Second SNMP receiver name |
| snmp.receiver.2.port | Second SNMP receiver port |
| snmp.receiver.3.community | Third SNMP receiver community |
| snmp.receiver.3.enabled | Enable third SNMP receiver |
| snmp.receiver.3.name | Third SNMP receiver name |
| snmp.receiver.3.port | Third SNMP receiver port |
| snmp.receiver.4.community | Fourth SNMP receiver community |
| snmp.receiver.4.enabled | Enable fourth SNMP receiver |
| snmp.receiver.4.name | Fourth SNMP receiver name |
| snmp.receiver.4.port | Fourth SNMP receiver port |
| SSL.Version | SSL version |
| task.maxAge | Maximum task age |
| task.maxAgeEnabled | Enable event cleanup |
| TOPN_LOGING_MODE | TopN calculations log level |
| TOPN_LOG_BUFFER | TopN calculations max log rows |
| TOPN_STATS_DELAY_MINS_1 | TopN calculations daily delay |
| TOPN_STATS_DELAY_MINS_2 | TopN calculations weekly delay |
| TOPN_STATS_DELAY_MINS_3 | TopN calculations monthly delay |
| TOPN_STATS_DELAY_MINS_4 | TopN calculations yearly delay |
| VirtualCenter.CacheSize | Cache size |
| VirtualCenter.DataCollector.Enabled | Enable customer experience improvement program data collection |
| VirtualCenter.DataCollector.Schedule | Customer experience improvement program data collection schedule |
| VirtualCenter.DBPassword | Database password |
| VirtualCenter.FQDN | vCenter FQDN |
| VirtualCenter.InstanceName | Instance name |
| VirtualCenter.LDAPAdminPrincipal | LDAP administrator principal |
| VirtualCenter.ManagedIP | vCenter management IP address |
| VirtualCenter.MaxDBConnection | Maximum database connections |
| VirtualCenter.VimApiUrl | VIM API URL |
| VirtualCenter.VimPasswordExpirationInDays | Password expiration |
| VirtualCenter.VimWebServicesUrl | Web services URL |
| vpxd.httpClientIdleTimeout | Http Client Pool Idle Timeout |
| vpxd.license.ForceDownloadDLF | Force Download DLF |
| vpxd.locale | Server locale |
| vpxd.npivWwnGeneration.portWwnNumber | Generation port WWN number |
| vpxd.npivWwnGeneration.singleNodeWwn | Generation single node WWN |
| vpxd.usageStats.duration | Usage statistics duration |
| vpxd.usageStats.level | Usage statistics level |
| vpxd.usageStats.persist | Save usage statistics to the database |
| vpxd.vod.persist | Save usage statistics to a file |
| WebService.Ports.http | HTTP port number |
| WebService.Ports.https | HTTPS port number |
| wwn.instance.id | WWN instance |
vCenter Server 6.0
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| etc.issue | /etc/issue |
| etc.motd | /etc/motd |
| event.batchsize | |
| mail.smtp.password | |
| mail.smtp.username | |
| task.batchsize | |
| vpxd.cert.threshold | Certificate Management Threshold (in days) |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.cn.country | Country Name for the ESXi Host Certificates |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.cn.email | Email address for the ESXi Host Certificates |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.cn.localityName | Locality Name for ESXi Host Certificates |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.cn.organizationalUnitName | Organizational Unit Name for ESXi Host Certificates |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.cn.organizationName | Organization Name for ESXi Host Certificates |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.cn.state | State Name for ESXi Host Certificates |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.daysValid | ESXi Certificate Validity Period (in days) |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.hardThreshold | ESXi Certificate Management Hard Threshold (in days) |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.pollIntervalDays | ESXi Certificate Validity Check Interval (in days) |
| vpxd.certmgmt.certs.softThreshold | ESXi Certificate Management Soft Threshold (in days) |
| vpxd.certmgmt.mode | ESXi Certificate Management Mode |
Hi William,
do you know a way to get the parameters which are set, but not visible in the vCenter, f.e. the cost parameters for vMotion. Using PowerCLI to get the advanced parameters results in als visible values in the vCenter not more.
Bertram
William, do you have any references to setting the database connections to something higher than 50 on large vCenter environments?