VKernel SearchMyVM appliance delivers VI3 information in a browser search

Portsmouth, N.H.-based VKernel has released a beta of the SearchMyVM appliance to allow administrators to make queries of their VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 (VI3) virtual environment through a browser search-style interface. The SearchMyVM appliance keeps VKernel’s tradition of delivering very quick and easy-to-use solutions for managing virtual environments.

I had a chance to download the beta and within two minutes of completing the download I was able to see data being collected. Once the SearchMyVM appliance was connected, making queries was a snap. These queries can be a quick list of the canned queries or you can use the built-in query builder to get specific information for your environment. For example, let’s take one of my most frustrating configuration issues with VMotion, the connected optical (CD-ROM) device. Within SearchMyVM, you can determine which VMs have a connected optical drive within the hardware inventory by a simple query. The query below will return the list of VMs in the entire environment that have a connected optical drive:

vm.cdroms.object.cdroms.connected=true

When the query is run, the result is a list of VMs that have a connected media. This VKernel appliance does this one better in that it also returns to you the path in terms of clusters and resource pools. Finding the VM becomes quite easy with the query results. The screen shot below shows this query:

This can save incredible amounts of time in looking for specific log entries, configuration parameters, determining which VMs have snapshots and endless other possibilities. Needless to say, this is a very simple appliance to stand up and can save time in the ongoing administration of a VMware virtualization environment.

This beta release of the SearchMyVM appliance and the upcoming release of the Modeler product at VMworld later this month build a strong portfolio of products for VKernel. The SearchMyVM beta appliance is available for download from the VKernel website.