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November 1, 2019
Announcing VMware Skyline Historical Findings & Recommendations
November 4, 2019
Meeting Our Customers Where They Are
VMware unifies its proactive support technology into a portfolio of complementary services, surfacing the information you need, where and when you need it. Joining forces under the VMware Skyline brand, VMware Skyline Health for vSphere and vSAN are available in the vSphere Client, enabling a native, in-product experience with consistent proactive analytics for all customers. Skyline Health includes self-service findings for vSphere and vSAN 6.7 and up. Skyline Advisor and Collector are available to all Production and Premier Support customers. Skyline proactively supports versions from 5.5 and up, multiple locations, products and solutions, Log Assist for faster time to resolution with Global Support Services, advanced reporting and cloud organization identity and access management.
By unifying these offerings, we will ensure that the findings and recommendations displayed are consistent, whether you’re working within the vSphere Client, or Skyline Advisor. This way, customers see the same finding and recommendation no matter where you are. Furthermore, the unification of these proactive support offerings allows for Basic Support entitlement customers to consume Skyline services in vSphere and vSAN.
We continue to strive to meet our customers where they are. For most administrators, they spend their day within the vSphere Client. Today, customers utilize vSphere Health, and vSAN Health, available within the vSphere Client, to check the health of their environment. If a health check fails, all potentially affected objects are displayed, along with a recommendation to return the object(s) to a healthy state.
Skyline Health will be available with vSphere 6.7P01 (or vSAN 6.7 U3a) and above.
Skyline Health for vSphere
Today, vSphere Health provides findings based on telemetry data collected from your vSphere environment. This data is analyzed, and then provided to customers within the vSphere Client. Discovered findings can be related to stability as well as incorrect configurations in vSphere.
You can view vSphere Health for vSphere by clicking on the Monitor tab for a chosen object, such as a vCenter Server or ESXi hypervisor, and then choosing Health. If Health is not available for you within the vSphere Client, then you may need to enable vSphere Health by joining the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).
Tech Preview – VMware Skyline Health for vSphere and vSAN
In order for vSphere Heatlh to function correctly, you must join CEIP. Additionally, your vCenter Server must have internet connectivity. If either of those conditions are not true, Skyline Health will not function correctly.
Skyline Health for vSAN
Today, vSAN Health provides findings based on data from thousands of vSAN deployments. vSAN Health includes findings based on KB articles as well as best practices. Furthermore, vSAN Health can discover mis-configurations, as well as the general health and well-being of hosts that make-up a vSAN Cluster.
Similar to vSphere Health, to view vSAN Health information, click on the Monitor tab for a vSAN Cluster or vSAN Enabled ESXi host, and then choose Health.
Regarding requirements, vSAN Health is a little different than vSphere. vSAN Health includes in-product health checks which do not require you to join CEIP, nor does your vCenter Server require internet connectivity. vSAN Online Health provides additional health checks which requires you to join CEIP and vCenter Server must have internet connectivity.
To learn more about vSAN Online Health, read this blog article.
Get the most out of VMware Skyline
We recommended leveraging all of the VMware Skyline services available to ensure your digital infrastructure is safe, reliable and productive. Using Skyline Health with Skyline is the best way to avoid issues before they occur, enhance security and receive the best support experience with Global Support Services.
Skyline is available to customers with an active Production Support, or Premier Support entitlement. Skyline automatically and securely collects, aggregates and analyzes product usage data to proactively identify potential issues and improve time-to-resolution across multiple environments. Furthermore, it identifies potential issues across vSphere, NSX-V, vSAN, Horizon 7 and vRealize Operations based on KB articles, VMware Security Advisories, configuration best practices and upgrade recommendations.
Skyline Log Assist available in Advisor reduces the customer-effort needed to upload support log bundles to VMware, usually needed to help troubleshoot an issue that has already occurred. Furthermore, Skyline Advisor can identify integrated solutions within your environments, such as VMware Cloud Foundation and Dell EMC VxRail. At VMworld US we also announced integration with Dell EMC SupportAssist Enterprise. For more info read this blog article.
Stay tuned to the Support Insider blog or follow VMware Skyline on Twitter @VMwareSkyline for up-to-date information related to VMware proactive support services.
Disclaimer: This blog article contains product features or functionality that are currently under development. Features are subject to change, and must not be included in contracts, purchase orders, or sales agreements of any kind.
Next Steps
- To learn more about Skyline or to Get Started today, visit https://cloud.vmware.com/skyline
- To learn more about vSphere Health, read this blog article
- To learn more about vSAN Online Health Checks, read this blog article
- To learn more about how health checks deliver a more intelligent vSphere and vSAN, read this blog article
