Managing CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools

CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools are used on individual computer systems to enhance CloudAdvisor intelligence gathering. The CloudAdvisor Discovery Service enables CloudAdvisor to provide information about file-level access inside NTFS volumes for the following storage types:

• Microsoft Windows VMs hosted on an NFS Datastore
• Microsoft Windows VMs hosted on an iSCSI datastore

Supported Windows Platforms

Supported Operating System	32-Bit	64-Bit	Caveats
Windows 7			Requires SHA-256 patch to be installed
Windows 8.0
Windows 8.1
Windows 10
Windows 2008 R2			Requires SHA-256 patch to be installed
Windows 2012
Windows 2012 R2
Windows 2016

With the CloudAdvisor Discovery Service installed on an NTFS file system, CloudAdvisor is able to report all changes made to all files on that file system (for example, when they are created, deleted, renamed, moved, and modified). Activities are almost always associated with the user who performed them. However, if CloudAdvisor cannot associate an activity with an individual user, it instead associates that activity with the Windows service that performed the operation. The service records more detailed activity information than is available by merely viewing the contents of the disk at the time a DiscoveryPoint is created. In particular, it enables you to capture:

• Read operations
• User IDs associated to those who issued read or write operations
• Multiple operations from different users within the same DiscoveryPoint

The following activities are ignored by CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools:

• I/O to its own log files
• I/O to NTFS metadata files ($MFT, $LogFile, $Secure, etc)
• I/O from the LocalSystem, LocalService or NetworkService accounts instead of a user account
• Read I/O to the system directory (C:\Windows)
• I/O to pagefile.sys

CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools are packaged inside the CloudAdvisor appliance and can be installed onto Windows VMs that are being analyzed. When installing CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools on a VM keep the following in mind:

• The windows VM must be powered on.
• VMware guest tools must be installed and enabled on the Windows VM.
• You must use either a domain user which has administrative privileges on the Windows VM, or the local administrator.
• SSL must be allowed through the Windows firewall in order to enable real time activities between the Windows virtual machine and CloudAdvisor.
• The installation will fail if there are any pending reboots on the VM. To successfully install CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools, you must reboot the VM and then attempt to install them again.

Installing CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools from the Manage VMs Tab

1. Select (check) the check box next to one or more VMs for which you want to install or update CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools.

   You can install or update CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools for up to six VMs at a time.

2. Select Actions > Manage CloudAdvisor Tools.

3. Specify the following properties:

   Field Name	Description
   CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools Version	This field is automatically updated to show if CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is installed and up to date. If CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is installed on the VM, the version number is displayed. The warning icon indicates there is an upgrade available or CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is not installed on the VM. Click the version number to upgrade or click Install Now to install the latest version of CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools.
   Activity Status	This field is automatically updated to show whether activities are evaluated in real time or at the time of DiscoveryPoints. If CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is not installed, the status displays as "Not Available".
   Activity Mode	Allows you to specify how activities are evaluated. Options include Real Time Activities or Activities at DiscoveryPoints.

4. Click Install Now.
5. Enter the User Name and Password to log into the VM.

6. Click Continue.

   CloudAdvisor begins the installation and configuration process. The status of the installation displays in the VM Details tile.

Installing CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools from a VM Tab

1. Select Actions > Manage CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools.

2. Specify the following properties:

   Field Name	Description
   CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools Version	This field is automatically updated to show if CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is installed and up to date. If CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is installed on the VM, the version number is displayed. The warning icon indicates there is an upgrade available or CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is not installed on the VM.
   Activity Status	This field is automatically updated to show whether activities are evaluated in real time or at the time of DiscoveryPoints. If CloudAdvisor Discovery Tools is not installed, the status displays as "Not Available".
   Activity Mode	Allows you to specify how activities are evaluated. Options include Real Time Activities or Activities at DiscoveryPoints.

3. Click Install Now.
4. Enter the User Name and Password to log into the VM.

5. Click Continue.

   CloudAdvisor begins the installation and configuration process. The status of the installation displays in the VM Details tile.