Usagemeter Deployment

Deployment of Usage Meter using the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager #

The deployment of Usage Meter is part of the deployment of VMware Cloud Director on VMware Cloud Foundation using the GUI of VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager. For information on the VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager design, refer to the Detailed design of Usage Meter section.

Prerequisites #

Verify that your environment is configured according to  Before You Apply This Guidance and the  Planning and Preparation of Usage Meter section.

Procedure #

Deployment of Usage Meter using VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager APIs

Usage Meter can also be deployed through the GUI of VMware Cloud provider Lifecycle Manager. See the following information.

Usage Meter Configuration #

After Usage Meter is deployed with VMware Cloud Provider Lifecycle Manager, you need to configure it. To do so, first make sure your Usage Meter virtual appliance is turned on in vSphere. Then, log in to the Usage Meter web application with the usagementer account. The Usage Meter web application URL consitutes the IP address that you have set for the appliance https://usage-meter-ip-address.

On your first login to the web application , you will see the Usage Meter Initalization wizard. There, you need to configure the following:

  1. Read and agree with the Usage Meter terms and conditions.
  2. Choose how Usage Meter will send the usage data:
  • Through direct connection to vCloud Usage Insight part of Cloud Partner Navigator
  • Through indirect connection to vCloud Usage Insight by using a proxy server
  • Not connecting to vCloud Usage Insight, which means that the Usage Meter appliance will store locally the collected usage data in raw format and won’t send it outside the data center. This mode of operation is called “offline”.
  1. Use the vCloud Usage Meter unique ID identifier (UUID) to register it in the VMware Commerce Portal with a VCPP contract.

Setting up a Direct Connection to vCloud Usage Insight #

Here are the steps to configure Usage Meter to connect directly to vCloud Usage Insight:

  1. Log in to the vCloud Usage Meter web application as usagemeter.
  2. In the Usage Meter Initialization Wizard, read and agree with the Usage Meter license agreement.
  3. On the Network Connectivity page, select Direct.
  4. On the Summary page, register the vCloud Usage Meter appliance for an automatic reporting of product consumption data. See the below section Registering Usage Meter in the VMware Commerce Portal for reference. If the registration is successful, you receive a success message.
  5. Click Finish.

Using a Proxy Server for the vCloud Usage Meter Connection to vCloud Usage Insight #

Here are the steps to set up the connection between vCloud Usage Meter and vCloud Usage Insight with a proxy server:

  1. Log in to vCloud Usage Meter web application as usagemeter.
  2. Under Profile, click VAMI.
  3. Log in to vCloud Usage Meter Appliance Management as root.
  4. In the left navigation pane, click Networking.
  5. Next to Proxy Settings, click Edit.
  6. Enter the proxy server information, and click Save.

Setting up Usage Meter in Offline Mode #

The offline Usage Meter mode is suitable for air-gapped environments that have no connection to the Internet.

In case providers don’t want to send usage data to vCloud Usage Insight automatically , they need to download the data from their Usage Meter in offline mode and upload it to Cloud Partner Navigator.

To set up your Usage Meter in offline mode, you need to do the following:

  1. Log in to the Usage Meter web application as usagemeter.
  2. On the Welcome page of the Usage Meter Intialization wizard, read and accept the Usage Meter terms and conditions.
  3. Click Next.
  4. On the Network Connectivity page, select Manual Upload.
  5. Copy the vCloud Usage Meter UUID and register it in the VMware Commerce Portal. Read the below section Registering Usage Meter in the VMware Commerce Portal.
  6. In the Token field, enter the Usage Meter offline token. You can obtain the token from your aggregator or VMware sales representative after registering the vCloud Usage Meter instance in the VMware Commerce Portal.
  7. Click Next.
  8. On the Summary page, click Finish.

Registering Usage Meter in the VMware Commerce Portal #

The last step of the Usage Meter configuration is to register it with the VMware Commerce Portal. In this step, you need to associate your Usage Meter with a VCPP contract that you have with VMware and create a record for it. This way, all the data associated with the Usage Meters that you have, will be aggregated and presented in an MBO at the end of the month in your account.

To register Usage Meter in the VMware Commerce Portal, do the following:

  1. Log in to VMware Commerce Portal.
  2. Click Profile in the drop-down menu under your username.
  3. In your profile, do the following:
  • Check if you have the following role assigned: Auto Reports Operations. This role helps you manage Usage Meters, manage tickets, update the site, read contracts and update a partner profile.
  • Next to Auto Reporting for Rental, click Opt In if you haven’t done it yet. This option enables automatic reporting of the collected usage data.
  • Next to Flex Pricing Model for Rental, click Opt In if you haven’t done it yet. This option helps you switch to the VMware Flex Pricing Model. 5
  1. Under Contracts, in the VMware Commerce Portal, select a contract with which you will associate your Usage Meter.
  2. In the selected contract, click the Usage Meter Instances tab.
  3. Click Register New to register your vCloud Usage Meter.
  4. In the Usage Meter registration form, do the following:
  • Enter a name for this appliance.
  • Paste the vCloud Usage Meter UUID.
  • Select the site for which the appliance will report data.
  • Select the version of the appliance to be 4.X.
  • Select the mode in which the appliance will operate.

Note: The Test mode is used for evaluation, while the Production mode is used for actual metering and reporting. Once you select the Production mode, you cannot change it to Test for this appliance later. A workaround is to delete the registered Usage Meter in VMware Commerce Portal and then register it again in Test mode.

  1. Click OK to register the appliance.

Adding VCPP Products for Metering #

The following information guides you through the process of adding your VMware Cloud Provider Program products for metering.