VMware Aria Automation 8.x Metering and Reporting

VMware Aria Automation 8.x Metering and Reporting #

The VMware Aria Automation 8.x is automatically registered as part of VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager registration in Usage Meter 4.6.

Pre-requisites #

To meter successfully VMware Aria Automation 8.X, ensure the following prerequisites have been met. • Verify that the VMware Aria Automation 8.x is imported or deployed in a VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager environment. • Verify that the VMware Aria Automation 8.x certificate is FIPS compliant. • You must be able to log in to the browser-based administration interface hosted by the VMware Aria Automation 8.x appliance. • You must have a VMware vCenter Server or Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.) account endpoint added to your VMware Aria Automation 8.x.

Product Detection #

To meter the usage of VMware Aria Automation 8.x, you must add the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager managing the VMware Aria Automation 8.x instance to vCloud Usage Meter.

After an instance is automatically discovered, you need to accept the VMware Aria Automation 8.x product certificate (if needed) and then provide the administrator credentials. The credentials of VMware Aria Automation 8.X can be added either to the VMware Aria Automation 8.X or the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager product page in the Usage Meter web application.

Metering #

For VMware Aria Automation 8.X, vCloud Usage Meter 4.6 collects all VM workloads managed by VMware Aria Automation on-prem, including Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure VMs. In addition, it collects vRAM consumption for all VMs running in a vCenter Server (cloud type is vSphere). These VMs are managed. VMs that are running in GCP, Azure, and AWS are unmanaged. The VMware Aria Automation collector will collect both managed and unmanaged VMs and send them to Cloud Partner Navigator for reporting. Also, data about the VMware Aria Automation product version and license(s) will be collected.

The VMware Aria Automation collector will collect vRAM for virtual machines running on vCenter managed by Usage Meter regardless of the billing metric selection (users can switch the billing metric in the middle of the month).

The VMware Aria Automation collector collects usage on an hourly basis. It will send VM details along with cloud type [aws,vcenter,gcs].

Reporting #

VMware Aria Automation 8.x usage is reported as either the average number of managed VMs or the average used vRAM by the VRA-managed VMs per license edition. Usage Meter administrators can choose between both metrics throughout the month. For reporting purposes, the latest selected metric will be used for billing.

As both VMware Aria Automation and VMware Aria Operations are part of the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager, the chosen metric will be applied to both products. This means if you wish VMware Aria Automation 8.X usage to be reported as an average capped billed vRAM for the month, then the same metric will be used for VMware Aria Operations. The metric can be changed from the Usage page in Cloud Partner Navigator when you click Edit on your Usage Meter instance.

Note: If you have more than one VMware Aria Automation 8.x installed, the Usage Meter will report the highest license edition.

The VMware Aria Automation managed and unmanaged VMs are both reported. Managed VMs are VMs that are vCenter VMs that are managed by VMware Aria Automation and the vCenter Server is also registered with Usage Meter. Unmanaged are all VMs that are any vCenter or other VMs (Google Cloud, Azure, AWS) that are not registered with Usage Meter but are managed by VMware Aria Automation. The VMware Aria Automation 8.x usage is reported either as standalone (average number of VMs) or as Add-on (GBvRAM) depending on the provider’s preference. The metric can be changed throughout the month, as the latest applied will be used for billing. The VMware Aria Automation 8.X license editions that are reported are:

  • VMware Aria Automation Advanced
  • VMware Aria Automation Enterprise

Note: If you also use VMware Aria Operations as part of the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager, then its usage will be reported separately.

Note: If you use VMware Aria Automation and VCF, then the managed VMs by VRA which are also managed by VCF will not be reported separately. This applies to the following VCF editions:

  • VCF Advanced
  • VCF Advanced w/o vSAN
  • VCF Enterprise w/o vSAN

When VMware Aria Automation 8.X and VCF for SDDC Manager license are used, then VMware Aria Automation 8.x usage will be reported separately.

Sample Monthly Usage Report #

Only VMware Aria Automation 8.x #

If you only use VMware Aria Automation 8.x without any other product like VMware Aria Operations or VMware Cloud Foundation, then its usage will be reported in Cloud Partner Navigator separately. Here is an example:

Product Hostname Version VC UUId Unit of Measure Units to be Reported
VMware VMware Aria Automation Advanced Add-On Avg Capped Billed vRAM (GB 14
VMware VMware Aria Automation Advanced (unmanaged) Avg Number of VM 22

This example report shows that only VMware Aria Automation has been used for the reporting month and the product is used as an add-on (GBvRAM). The product is also detected to manage VMs that are not registered with Usage Meter for that month, like vCenter Server VMs, Google Cloud, Azure, or AWS. The highest detected license edition for the month is detected to be VMware Aria Automation Advanced.

VMware Aria Automation and VMware Aria Operations with different licenses #

If you use VMware Aria Automation and VMware Aria Operations as part of VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager, then their usage will be reported separately in the report. Here is an example monthly usage report:

Product Hostname Version VC UUId Unit of Measure Units to be Reported
VMware VMware Aria Automation Advanced Add-On Avg Capped Billed vRAM (GB 14
VMware VMware Aria Automation Advanced (unmanaged) Avg Number of VM 22
VMware VMware Aria Operations Enterprise Add-on Avg Capped Billed vRAM (GB) 38

This report shows that both VMware Aria Automation and VMware Aria Operations are used, but both products are detected to have different licenses. The VMware Aria Automation product is chosen to be reported as an Add-on and manages VMs that are not registered with Usage Meter ( vCenter Server VMs, Google Cloud, Azure, or AWS). The VMware Aria Operations is also reported as an add-on.

VMware Aria Automation 8.X and VCF #

If you use VMware Aria Automation 8.x and VCF with the same license types, e.g., Advanced or Enterprise, then the following rules apply for the reporting:

  • If VMware Aria Automation 8.x is reported as a standalone product and the VMs it manages are registered with Usage Meter (managed VMs), and VCF has also been used with the same license type (Advanced or Enterprise), then there won’t be a separate line item for VMware Aria Automation (managed) in the monthly usage report. This rule applies to the following VCF editions:
  • VCF Advanced
  • VCF Enterprise
  • VCF Advanced w/o vSAN
  • VCF Enterprise w/o vSAN

Here is a sample monthly usage report.

Product Hostname Version VC UUId Unit of Measure Units to be Reported
VMware Cloud Foundation for Cloud Providers Advanced Avg Number of Cores 37
For VCF for SDDC Manager, the VMware Aria Automation 8.x usage will be reported separately. Here is an example:
Product Hostname Version VC UUId Unit of Measure Units to be Reported
VMware VMware Aria Automation Enterprise (managed) Avg Number of VMs 105
VMware VMware Aria Automation Enterprise (unmanaged) Avg Number of VMs 240
VMware Cloud Foundation for SDDC Manager Avg Capped Billed vRAM (GB) 56