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Exploring new VCSA VAMI API w/PowerCLI: Part 9

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In Part 9, we were initially going to cover the new backup and restore capability that was introduced in vSphere 6.5 for the VCSA. However, it looks like Brian Graf has already created an awesome PowerCLI module (Backup-VCSA.psm1) that can be used to backup the VCSA, which you can find more details here.

While going through the VAMI APIs for the backup feature, I did notice there was one interesting backup VAMI API that Brian may not have looked at, at least I did not see a function consuming this API. Prior to initiating a backup for either a VCSA or PSC, you can query the expected size of the backup. This information can be pretty helpful beyond just for backups, but understanding the size of your system at any point in time.

VAMI UI Area of Focus

The backup and restore feature for the VCSA is located in the VAMI UI, but there is not a UI for retrieving the current expected backup size.

VAMI APIs Used

  • GET /appliance/recovery/backup/parts

PowerCLI Function

Sample Output

The output is pretty straight forward, it provides the total expected backup size (MB) as well as the breakdown of the total size into "configuration" data and the "Stats, Events, Alarms and Tasks" (SEAT) data.


With this new API, you can now easily see how large your vCenter Server Database is and take appropriate action such as truncating the data or reducing the retention period which can especially help with the performance of vCenter Server as well as the time it takes during upgrades.

What logs do I get when I enable syslog in VCSA 6.5?

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The native remote syslog functionality in the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) for vSphere 6.5 introduces several new changes from vSphere 6.0. With some of the questions that I have been receiving on this topic, I figure it would be useful to take a closer look at some of the different behaviors and configuration differences. Hopefully by the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of the syslog capabilities in VCSA 6.5

Remote Syslog Configuration

In VCSA 6.0, to configure the remote syslog configuration, you needed to use the vSphere Web Client. Although this may have felt like a convenience, it also added an unnecessary dependency on both vCenter Single-Sign On (SSO) and the vSphere Web Client UI. In VCSA 6.5, the remote syslog configurations is now part of the VAMI UI (https://[VCSA]:5480) which is an out-of-band interface that can still function if either SSO or vCenter Server is down. Once you have saved your changes, the syslog client will automatically be restarted for the changes to go into effect. If you wish to disable the remote syslog functionality, simply click on the reset button.


Note: If you decide to use port 1514, I have found that you must use the TLS protocol rather than TCP or else it will not work.

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vCenter Server Database retention purge schedule

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The size of your vCenter Server Database is largely based on the amount events/tasks and performance statistics that you retain for your vSphere environment. You can view and edit these settings by going to the vCenter Server "General" settings as shown in the screenshot below (documentation here and here):

vcenter-server-data-retention
A common misconception when changing any one of these retention policies, especially when decreasing the amount of data to be retained, is that the existing data would be purged immediately to comply with the new settings. This is actually not the case and for data that is applicable for removal, there are a set of purge jobs that run on a specific schedule to perform the clean up. Below is the schedule in which these database jobs run for each of the data types:

Performance Statistics:

  • Daily Level - Once every 30 minutes starting at 00:00 (e.g. 00:00, 00:30, 01:00, etc.)
  • Weekly Level - Once every 2 hours starting at 01:45 (e.g. 01:45, 03:45, 05:45, etc. )
  • Monthly & Yearly Level - Once a day at 02:15

Events and Tasks:

  • Once a day at 00:15

For customers that are looking for immediate results and reclaim storage from within their VCDB, you can take a look at the following VMware KB 1025914 which outlines the specific instructions. This can especially be useful if you are looking to perform a Windows vCenter Server to vCenter Server Appliance Migration and wish to reduce the overall amount of data that is being copied over from your existing environment.