VMware vSphere Foundation

Overview

This document provides a detailed guide to integrating VMware vSphere Foundation with Callgoose SQIBS for real-time Incident Management, Incident Auto Remediation, Event-Driven Automation, and other Automation purposes. The integration enables automatic creation, updating, and resolution of incidents in Callgoose SQIBS based on alarms triggered in VMware vSphere Foundation.

The guide includes steps for setting up alarms in VMware vSphere Foundation, configuring webhook notifications, creating API filters in Callgoose SQIBS, and troubleshooting.

Prerequisites

• VMware vSphere Foundation Account: Access to VMware vSphere Foundation for creating alerts and managing notifications.
• Callgoose SQIBS Account: With valid privileges to set up API filters and receive notifications.
• Webhook/API Endpoint: Available in Callgoose SQIBS to receive alerts from VMware vSphere Foundation.

1. Obtain API Token and Endpoint Details

To integrate with Callgoose SQIBS, you first need to obtain an API token and find the API endpoint details.

Generate an API Token:

• Follow the guide on How to Create API Token in Callgoose SQIBS.

Find the API Endpoint:

• Refer to the Callgoose SQIBS API Endpoint Documentation to get the endpoint details where the JSON payloads from VMware vSphere Foundation will be sent.

2. Debugging and Troubleshooting

You can enable debugging in the API tokens used with VMware vSphere Foundation notifications for troubleshooting purposes.

• Enable Debugging:

• You can update the debug value when adding or updating an API token.
• When API tracking is enabled, logs are stored in the API log section for your review. The debugging option will automatically disable after 48 hours.
• When API tracking is turned off, no logs are saved in the API log.

• Using API Log for Troubleshooting:

• The API log provides detailed information on all API calls made to Callgoose SQIBS.
• You can check the JSON values in each API log entry for troubleshooting purposes.
• Use the information in the API log to create or refine API filters to ensure incidents are created correctly based on the API payloads received.
• Callgoose SQIBS creates incidents according to your API filter configuration, giving you full control over how alerts from different services trigger incidents and alerts for your support team or automation processes.

3. Configuring VMware vSphere Foundation to Send JSON Payloads

To configure VMware vSphere Foundation to generate the JSON payloads similar to the examples provided, follow the steps outlined below.

These steps will guide you through setting up the necessary alerts and webhook notifications within VMware vSphere Foundation to ensure that the JSON payloads match those expected by Callgoose SQIBS.

3.1 Setting Up Alarms in VMware vSphere Foundation

To generate the required JSON payloads, you first need to set up alarms within VMware vSphere Foundation.

1. Log in to the VMware vSphere Foundation Console:

• Access the VMware vSphere Foundation platform using your account credentials.

2. Navigate to the Alarms Section:

• Go to the Alarms section in the VMware vSphere Foundation console.

3. Create a New Alarm:

• Click on the option to create a new alarm.
• Choose a Metric: Select the metric you want to monitor (e.g., CPU Usage, Memory Utilization).
• Define Thresholds: Set thresholds that will trigger the alarm (e.g., CPU usage > 80%, Memory usage > 90%)

4. Configure Alarm Details:

• Set Alarm Conditions: Specify conditions under which the alarm should be triggered, such as specific thresholds, evaluation periods, and other conditions.
• Set Severity Levels: Define the severity of the alarm (e.g., Critical, Warning) based on the conditions met.

5. Add Notification Actions:

• Webhook Action: Add a webhook action to send the alarm data to an external endpoint (e.g., Callgoose SQIBS).
• Configure the Webhook: Enter the webhook URL provided by Callgoose SQIBS where the JSON payload should be sent.

3.2 Configuring the Webhook Notification

To ensure that the JSON payload sent matches the examples provided, follow these steps when configuring the webhook:

1. Add Webhook URL:

• In the Webhook URL field, enter the endpoint provided by Callgoose SQIBS.
• Ensure the protocol is HTTPS for secure data transmission.

2. Customize Payload Format:

• Ensure that the payload includes key fields like "eventType", "state", "context", "resource", "metric", and others as shown in the example payloads.

• Example Payload Setup:

json

{
  "eventType": "Alarm",
  "state": "{{state}}",
  "context": {
    "alarmId": "{{alarm_id}}",
    "metricName": "{{metric_name}}",
    "severity": "{{severity}}",
    "details": "{{details}}",
    "resource": {
      "resourceType": "{{resource_type}}",
      "resourceId": "{{resource_id}}",
      "resourceName": "{{resource_name}}"
    },
    "value": "{{value}}",
    "threshold": "{{threshold}}",
    "unit": "{{unit}}",
    "timestamp": "{{timestamp}}"
  }
}

• Placeholder Explanation:

• "{{state}}": Replaces with the current state of the alarm (e.g., ALERT, OK).
• "{{alarm_id}}": Replaces with the unique identifier of the alarm.
• "{{metric_name}}": Replaces with the name of the metric that triggered the alarm.
• "{{severity}}": Replaces with the severity level of the alarm.
• "{{details}}": Replaces with specific details of the alarm.
• "{{resource_type}}", "{{resource_id}}", "{{resource_name}}": Replace with the type, ID, and name of the resource that triggered the alarm.
• "{{value}}", "{{threshold}}": Replaces with the actual value that triggered the alarm and the threshold set for the alarm.
• "{{timestamp}}": Replaces with the time when the alarm was triggered.

1. Test the Webhook Configuration:

• Before activating the webhook, perform a test to ensure that the JSON payload is correctly formatted and is being sent to the Callgoose SQIBS API endpoint as expected.
• Review the payload in Callgoose SQIBS to confirm that it matches the expected structure.

3.3 Finalizing and Testing

1. Save and Activate the Alarm:

• Once the alarm and webhook are correctly configured, save the alarm configuration and activate it.

2. Validate the Integration:

• Trigger the alarm condition manually if possible to verify that the correct JSON payload is sent to Callgoose SQIBS.
• Resolve the alarm to ensure the resolved state payload is also correctly sent and processed.

3.4 Additional Considerations

• Permissions: Ensure that the webhook has the necessary permissions to send alerts to the Callgoose SQIBS API endpoint.
• Security: Implement security measures such as HTTPS and API tokens to protect the data being transmitted between VMware vSphere Foundation and Callgoose SQIBS.
• Logging and Debugging: Use the debugging and logging features in Callgoose SQIBS to monitor incoming payloads and troubleshoot any issues with the integration.

4. Configuring Callgoose SQIBS

4.1 Create API Filters in Callgoose SQIBS

To correctly map incidents from the VMware vSphere Foundation alarms, you need to create API filters based on the JSON payloads received.

4.1.1 Example JSON Payloads from VMware vSphere Foundation

Alarm Triggered (state: "ALARM")

json

{
  "eventType": "Alarm",
  "state": "ALARM",
  "context": {
    "alarmId": "1234567890abcdef",
    "metricName": "cpu.utilization",
    "severity": "Critical",
    "details": "CPU Usage has exceeded 80% on host esxi-01",
    "resource": {
      "resourceType": "Host",
      "resourceId": "esxi-01",
      "resourceName": "esxi-01"
    },
    "value": 85.0,
    "threshold": 80.0,
    "unit": "percent",
    "timestamp": "2024-08-05T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Alarm Resolved (state: "OK")

json

{
  "eventType": "Alarm",
  "state": "OK",
  "context": {
    "alarmId": "1234567890abcdef",
    "metricName": "cpu.utilization",
    "severity": "Info",
    "details": "CPU Usage is back to normal on host esxi-01",
    "resource": {
      "resourceType": "Host",
      "resourceId": "esxi-01",
      "resourceName": "esxi-01"
    },
    "value": 70.0,
    "threshold": 80.0,
    "unit": "percent",
    "timestamp": "2024-08-05T12:30:00.000Z"
  }
}

4.2 Configuring API Filters

4.2.1 Integration Templates

If you see a VMware vSphere Foundation integration template in the "Select Integration Template" dropdown in the API filter settings, you can use it to automatically add the necessary Trigger and Resolve filters along with other values. The values added by the template can be modified to customize the integration according to your requirements.

4.2.2 Manually Add/Edit the Filter

There are two filters that you can manually edit: Trigger and Resolve.

• Trigger Filter (For Creating Incidents):
• Payload JSON Key: "state"
• Key Value Contains: [ALARM]
• Map Incident With: "context"."resource"."resourceId"
• This corresponds to the unique resourceId from the VMware vSphere Foundation payload.
• Incident Title From: "context"."metricName"
• This will use the metric name as the title for the incident in Callgoose SQIBS.
• Incident Description From: Leave this empty unless you want to use a specific key-value from the JSON payload. If a key is entered, only the value for that key will be used as the Incident Description instead of the full JSON. By default, the Incident Description will include the full JSON values.
• Example: If you use the "context"."details" key in the Incident Description From field, the incident description will be the value of the "context"."details" key. In the example JSON payload provided earlier, this would result in a description like "CPU Usage has exceeded 80% on host esxi-01.".
• Resolve Filter (For Resolving Incidents):
• Payload JSON Key: "state"
• Key Value Contains: [OK]
• Incident Mapped With: "context"."resource"."resourceId"
• This ensures the incident tied to the specific resourceId is resolved when the alarm state returns to OK.

Refer to the API Filter Instructions and FAQ for more details.

4.3 Finalizing Setup

1. Save the API Filters:

• Ensure that the filters are correctly configured and saved in Callgoose SQIBS.

2. Test the Integration:

• Manually trigger a VMware vSphere Foundation alarm to test if incidents are created in Callgoose SQIBS.
• Resolve the alarm in VMware vSphere Foundation and verify that the corresponding incident in Callgoose SQIBS is resolved.

5. Testing and Validation

5.1 Triggering Alarms

1. Simulate High CPU Usage:

• Increase the CPU load on a host or application monitored by VMware vSphere Foundation to trigger the alarm.
• Verify that an incident is created in Callgoose SQIBS with the correct title and urgency.

5.2 Resolving Alarms

1. Reduce CPU Usage:

• Bring the CPU usage back below the threshold to resolve the alarm in VMware vSphere Foundation.
• Verify that the incident in Callgoose SQIBS is marked as resolved.

6. Security Considerations

• API Security: Ensure that the Callgoose SQIBS API endpoint is correct and that you are using the correct API token.
• VMware vSphere Foundation Permissions: Restrict access to your VMware vSphere Foundation alarms and notifications with appropriate roles and permissions to ensure that only authorized actions can be performed.

7. Troubleshooting

• No Incident Created: Verify that the VMware vSphere Foundation webhook is correctly set up and that the JSON payload structure matches the API filters configured in Callgoose SQIBS.

• Incident Not Resolved: Ensure the resolve filter is correctly configured and that the payloads from VMware vSphere Foundation are being received and processed by Callgoose SQIBS.

8. Conclusion

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how to integrate VMware vSphere Foundation with Callgoose SQIBS for effective incident management. By following the steps outlined, you can ensure that alarms from VMware vSphere Foundation are automatically reflected as incidents in Callgoose SQIBS, with proper resolution tracking when the issues are resolved.

For further customization or advanced use cases, refer to the official documentation for both VMware vSphere Foundation and Callgoose SQIBS:

• VMware vSphere Foundation Documentation
• Callgoose SQIBS API Token Documentation
• Callgoose SQIBS API Endpoint Documentation
• API Filter Instructions and FAQ
• How to Send API

This documentation will guide you through the integration process, ensuring that your incidents are managed effectively within Callgoose SQIBS based on real-time alarms from VMware vSphere Foundation.