AlarmVM CIM Configuration

In order for AlarmVM to alarm on an ESX Host's hardware changes, some additional system configuration may be required.

AlarmVM creates a CIM subscription on every ESX Host that is being monitored. This subscription tells the ESX Host where to send any CIM events that may occur. These messages are sent to AlarmVM using the HTTP protocol. AlarmVM uses a lightweight HTTP server to listen on a specific port for any incoming CIM events. For each vSphere Server or ESX host that is being monitored, AlarmVM will have a HTTP server listening on a different port. In order to receive the CIM messages, it is important that these ports are not blocked by the AlarmVM server's firewall.

Determining Which Ports AlarmVM is Using

By default, AlarmVM will only attempt to use ports in the range of 5500 - 5999. These values can be overridden using the following system properties:

com.confio.vm.cimPortProvider.minPortNumber=5500
com.confio.vm.cimPortProvider.maxPortNumber=5999

To determine the exact ports that AlarmVM is using for CIM, you will need to register your server and then search the vmalarm.log file for all occurrences of the following string:

"listening for CIM indications on port"

For example, if you are monitoring 2 vSphere servers, you would see 2 lines that look like this:

INFO (2011-10-11 16:20:14,624) [VSphereCimCollectionServiceImpl-6-SUB] VSphereCimCollectionServiceImpl - Server id 6 is listening for CIM indications on port 5500

INFO (2011-10-11 16:20:15,241) [VSphereCimCollectionServiceImpl-21-SUB] VSphereCimCollectionServiceImpl - Server id 21 is listening for CIM indications on port 5501

Based on the log statements above, ports 5500 and 5501 would need to opened in the firewall.