I have a 3 host environment and all three are connected to a SAN. Looking at the three hosts, they all seem to read different values from the datastore.

Aside from not being able to rely on the sensor, one is showing a low disk space error when where is plenty of space. They are reporting the following:

Host 1 : Datastore1 : 3.337% Host 2 : Datastore1 : 12.615% Host 3 : Datastore1 : 12.617%

While not in alarm, other stores are not consistant:

Host 1 : mssql_0 : 21.661% Host 2 : mssql_0 : 21.661% Host 3 : mssql_0 : 24.885%

Any ideas why I would be getting inconsistent values?

Article Comments

Hi John,

Please open the settings page of the sensor in PRTG and enable the option Write sensor result to disk (Filename: "Result of Sensor [ID].txt"). The results will be written into the log file directory of the probe, where the sensor is configured:

  • "C:\ProgramData\Paessler\PRTG Network Monitor\Logs (Sensors)"

Please zip and forward the files to our ticket system support@paessler.com for further investigation. The ID of the sensor is part of the web browser URL and is also displayed on the sensor's overview page.

Best regards, Felix


Apr, 2017 - Permalink

Hi Felix,

Here is the output from the sensor (The free space should be 12.614% instead of 3.337%):

0:10:44:27.0659488:
starting
######
0:10:44:27.0659488:
loading serviceContent from session-pool
######
0:10:44:27.0815477:
<RetrieveServiceContentResponse><returnval><rootFolder type="Folder">ha-folder-root</rootFolder><propertyCollector type="PropertyCollector">ha-property-collector</propertyCollector><viewManager type="ViewManager">ViewManager</viewManager><about><name>VMware ESXi</name><fullName>VMware ESXi 6.0.0 build-3029758</fullName><vendor>VMware, Inc.</vendor><version>6.0.0</version><build>3029758</build><localeVersion>INTL</localeVersion><localeBuild>000</localeBuild><osType>vmnix-x86</osType><productLineId>embeddedEsx</productLineId><apiType>HostAgent</apiType><apiVersion>6.0</apiVersion><licenseProductName>VMware ESX Server</licenseProductName><licenseProductVersion>6.0</licenseProductVersion></about><setting type="OptionManager">HostAgentSettings</setting><userDirectory type="UserDirectory">ha-user-directory</userDirectory><sessionManager type="SessionManager">ha-sessionmgr</sessionManager><authorizationManager type="AuthorizationManager">ha-authmgr</authorizationManager><serviceManager type="ServiceManager">ha-servicemanager</serviceManager><perfManager type="PerformanceManager">ha-perfmgr</perfManager><eventManager type="EventManager">ha-eventmgr</eventManager><taskManager type="TaskManager">ha-taskmgr</taskManager><accountManager type="HostLocalAccountManager">ha-localacctmgr</accountManager><diagnosticManager type="DiagnosticManager">ha-diagnosticmgr</diagnosticManager><licenseManager type="LicenseManager">ha-license-manager</licenseManager><searchIndex type="SearchIndex">ha-searchindex</searchIndex><fileManager type="FileManager">ha-nfc-file-manager</fileManager><datastoreNamespaceManager type="DatastoreNamespaceManager">ha-datastore-namespace-manager</datastoreNamespaceManager><virtualDiskManager type="VirtualDiskManager">ha-vdiskmanager</virtualDiskManager><ovfManager type="OvfManager">ha-ovf-manager</ovfManager><dvSwitchManager type="DistributedVirtualSwitchManager">ha-dvsmanager</dvSwitchManager><localizationManager type="LocalizationManager">ha-l10n-manager</localizationManager><storageResourceManager type="StorageResourceManager">ha-storage-resource-manager</storageResourceManager><guestOperationsManager type="GuestOperationsManager">ha-guest-operations-manager</guestOperationsManager></returnval></RetrieveServiceContentResponse>
######
Starting WebServiceCall with parameters:

soapBody: <RetrieveProperties xmlns="urn:vim25"><_this type="PropertyCollector">ha-property-collector</_this><specSet><propSet><type>Datastore</type><pathSet>summary</pathSet></propSet><objectSet><obj type="Datastore">560fec8f-02892f26-fd47-5897bdc09960</obj></objectSet></specSet></RetrieveProperties>

0:10:44:27.0971509:
ResponseFilter: soapenv:Body
######
0:10:44:27.0971509:
Initializing WebRequest
######
0:10:44:27.1127513:
Initializing WebResponse
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Reading Cookie
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Reading Response into Stream-reader
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
read to end
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Filter Payload
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
WebServiceResponse: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenc="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"
 xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
 xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<soapenv:Body>
<RetrievePropertiesResponse><returnval><obj type="Datastore">560fec8f-02892f26-fd47-5897bdc09960</obj><propSet><name>summary</name><val type="DatastoreSummary"><datastore type="Datastore">560fec8f-02892f26-fd47-5897bdc09960</datastore><name>ds_general_01</name><url>/vmfs/volumes/560fec8f-02892f26-fd47-5897bdc09960</url><capacity>2147215212544</capacity><freeSpace>71643955200</freeSpace><uncommitted>0</uncommitted><accessible>true</accessible><type>VMFS</type></val></propSet></returnval></RetrievePropertiesResponse>
</soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Loaded var into xmlDoc
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Translated for channel Free Space: units from perc to percent, value from 3.337 to 3.337
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Translated for channel Free Bytes: units from BytesFile to BytesFile, value from 71643955200 to 71643955200
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Translated for channel Total Provisioned: units from perc to percent, value from 96.663 to 96.663
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Translated for channel Uncommitted Bytes: units from BytesFile to BytesFile, value from 0 to 0
######
0:10:44:27.5340286:
Translated for channel Available Capacity: units from BytesFile to BytesFile, value from 2147215212544 to 2147215212544
######
0:10:44:27.5495828:
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' ?>
<prtg>
  <result>
    <channel>Free Space</channel>
    <unit>percent</unit>
    <float>1</float>
    <value>3.337</value>
  </result>
  <result>
    <channel>Free Bytes</channel>
    <unit>BytesFile</unit>
    <VolumeSize>Byte</VolumeSize>
    <float>0</float>
    <value>71643955200</value>
  </result>
  <result>
    <channel>Total Provisioned</channel>
    <unit>percent</unit>
    <float>1</float>
    <value>96.663</value>
  </result>
  <result>
    <channel>Uncommitted Bytes</channel>
    <unit>BytesFile</unit>
    <VolumeSize>Byte</VolumeSize>
    <float>0</float>
    <value>0</value>
  </result>
  <result>
    <channel>Available Capacity</channel>
    <unit>BytesFile</unit>
    <VolumeSize>Byte</VolumeSize>
    <float>0</float>
    <value>2147215212544</value>
  </result>
  <result>
    <channel>Accessible</channel>
    <unit>Custom</unit>
    <value>1</value>
    <ValueLookup>prtg.standardlookups.yesno.stateyesok</ValueLookup>
  </result>
  <text>
    OK
  </text>
</prtg>

######
0:10:44:27.5495828:
Duration: 0.514806
######
Parameters:

user: root

password: *****

server: 192.168.102.21

option: -m

moid: 560fec8f-02892f26-fd47-5897bdc09960

verbose: False

check: False

health: False

list: False

logFolder: C:\ProgramData\Paessler\PRTG Network Monitor\Logs (Sensors)\ 

logFile: C:\ProgramData\Paessler\PRTG Network Monitor\Logs (Sensors)\ \Result of Sensor 2271.txt

debugname: Result of Sensor 2271.txt

cleanUpLog: False

exePath: C:\Program Files (x86)\PRTG Network Monitor\Sensor System

xmlns: urn:vim25

apiVersion: 6.0

interval: 600

exeName: C:\Program Files (x86)\PRTG Network Monitor\Sensor System\VMwareSensor

NetVersion: v4.0.30319

0:10:44:27.5651829:
Operating System Details

OS Version: 6.2.9200.0

OS Platform: Win32NT

OS SP: 

OS Version String: Microsoft Windows NT 6.2.9200.0

Apr, 2017 - Permalink

Hi John,

We encountered similar issues with customers who used VMware hosts with different patch levels. We could observe wrong values returned by the API, even if the values are properly displayed on the vSphere interface. This is also reflected in the results of your sensor:

  <result>
    <channel>Free Space</channel>
    <unit>percent</unit>
    <float>1</float>
    <value>3.337</value>
  </result>

According to VMware, this is a known issue and there is a patch available, which addresses this issue. This is described in this knowledge base article of VMware.

This should fix the wrong values provided by the API.

Best regards, Felix


Apr, 2017 - Permalink