Splunk App for VMware component reference

Install components

This table describes where to install the individual components of Splunk App for VMWare in your distributed environment.

Component	Search head	Scheduler	Indexer	DCN	ESXi log Fwd	vCenter log Fwd
Splunk_TA_vmware	✔	✔	✔	✔
Splunk_TA_esxilogs	✔		✔		✔
Splunk_TA_vcenter	✔		✔			✔
SA-VMW-LogEventTask	✔
SA-VMW-Licensecheck †
SA-VMW-Performance	✔
SA-VMW-HierarchyInventory	✔
splunk_for_vmware	✔	✔
SA-Hydra	✔	✔	✔	✔
SA-Utils	✔	✔	✔	✔
SA-Threshold	✔

† Splunk App for VMware includes the SA-VMW-Licensecheck package. This is a known issue. Refer to the Installation Guide for instructions on how to remove this package to avoid benign licensing error messages.

†† Install SA-Utils and SA-Hydra on the Splunk indexers to stop modular input introspection from failing. This is a workaround to a known issue. These components do not affect the operation of your indexers.

Reference this table to see the Splunk App for VMware components that are installed and where the components get installed in the Splunk Enterprise and VMware infrastructure.

Component name	Description
Search head	If you have a dedicated search head, install all of the components on it. Be sure to install SA-Hydra and SA-utils as you can not schedule jobs without them.
Indexer	Install all TA components on a dedicated indexer.
Data Collection Node	The data collection node OVA ships with all components installed on it. To build your own data collection node, install Splunk_TA_vmware on the DCN.
Esxi host	Install the log forwarding technology on the ESXi host. If you use an intermediate heavy forwarder to forward logs, install Splunk_TA_esxi_logs on the forwarder.
vCenter server	Only install the log forwarding technology on the vCenter server. If you use a universal forwarder or light forwarder to forward vCenter logs, install TA_vcenter on it as it contains scripts that configure the inputs.conf.
License Master	Follow detailed instruction to set a VMware license to work with a remote license master.

Component locations

Component name	Description
Splunk app for VMware	This component contains the UI components and knowledge objects of the app. Install it on the indexers and search heads in your VMware environment. It contains the following components in etc/apps: SA-Utils SA-Hydra SA-Threshold SA-VMW-Performance SA-VMW-HierarchyInventory SA-VMW-Licensecheck SA-VMW-LogEventTask splunk_for_vmware Splunk_TA_esxilogs Splunk_TA_vmware Splunk_TA_vcenter etc/deployment-apps contains the following components: SA-Utils SA-Hydra Splunk_TA_vmware Splunk_TA_vcenter Splunk_TA_esxilogs
Splunk TA for VMware vCenter (Splunk_TA_vcenter)	This component collects vCenter log data and forwards it to the indexer(s) in your environment. Install it on the Splunk Forwarder (UF/HF) running on your vCenter machines. If you use a light forwarder, you do not need to use this component.
Splunk forwarder for VMware (Splunk_TA_vmware)	Use this component to create your own data collection node (DCN). It is shipped as part of the pre-configured OVA. When creating your own data collection node install it on a Splunk light forwarders or heavy forwarder on your data collection node. This app component makes API calls to vCenter to collect VMware API data and forwards that data to your Splunk indexer/search head. This data includes performance, inventory, hierarchy, and tasks and event data. The DCN collects API data directly from vCenter. The data collection node does not make API calls to ESXi hosts.
The data collection node OVA	This is the pre-configured virtual machine distributed as an OVA to collect API data from your environment. This image of a centOS virtual machine includes the following components: SA-Utils SA-Hydra Splunk_TA_vmware Splunk_TA_vcenter