Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) VM Inventory

IT Asset Management allows for the identification and collection of VM-Host and Host-Cluster relationships hosted on Nutanix servers managed by Nutanix. Each Nutanix server operates on the Acropolis Hypervisor platform and can host multiple virtual machines, each with its own set of software installations. Once the inventory is collected within IT Asset Management, a license compliance position can be generated for VM-Host and Host-Cluster relationships managed by Nutanix. For software inventory collection, the ndtrack component is used, and either needs to be installed locally or run remotely from the appropriate inventory beacon. To ensure an accurate license compliance position, IT Asset Management collects both the Nutanix VM infrastructure inventory (clusters, pools, hosts) and the software inventory.

To collect Nutanix inventory, IT Asset Management uses the following different components and processes::

Standard Components and Processes to Nutanix Prism & Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) VM Inventory

Inventory Type

Component Used

Process used

Purpose

Device inventory

ndtrack, either installed locally or executed remotely from the appropriate inventory beacon, is used to collect both hardware and software inventory data from devices, specifically, virtual machines (VMs). This inventory is essential for mapping the relationships between clusters, hosts, VMs, and the software installed on them.

However, to accurately perform this mapping, particularly from a licensing perspective involving physical and virtual cores, additional data from both the Nutanix Prism Central REST API and the agent is required. This includes information about the VM’s location, whether vMotion is enabled, and whether any affinity rules are applied.

The inventory collection component collects the software and hardware inventory of all Nutanix virtual machines within the targeted subnet. This includes the relevant CPU affinity applicable to any of the virtual machines. For this, you need to create a discovery and inventory rule with the following settings:

• Include the subnet containing the virtual machines in the target definition
• Select the Nutanix Discovery and Inventory option in the action definition.

For more information, see the topics under Creating an Action.

The inventory device records are visible on the Virtual Devices and Clusters (you can filter by VM type = Nutanix), and other views under the Inventory menu.

The hardware and software inventory used for normal license compliance calculations.

Nutanix VM Infrastructure inventory

Inventory beacon

The inventory beacon connects to the Nutanix server and gets the complete hierarchy of clusters, pools, hosts, and virtual machines. The hierarchy is displayed on the Virtual Devices and Clusters page. You need the following settings:

• Select the following options in the action definition:
• Discover Nutanix VM infrastructure 
• Gather Nutanix VM infrastructure inventory 
• Configure the Password Store on the appropriate inventory beacon. See Using Password Manager When Collecting Specialized Inventory.

The cluster hierarchy information is useful in calculating the license position for applications from some specific software vendors. For example, a publisher may require you to buy an application license for the whole cluster if the application is installed on a virtual machine that is dynamically moved between the hosts of a cluster.