# VMware Monitor

> Read-only VMware vCenter/ESXi monitoring — code-level enforced safety, zero destructive operations

- **Type:** MCP server
- **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-vmware-skills-vmware-monitor`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [vmware-skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/vmware-skills)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Integrations](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/integrations)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [vmware-skills](https://github.com/vmware-skills)
- **Source:** https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor

## Install

```sh
agentstack add mcp-vmware-skills-vmware-monitor
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# VMware Monitor

> **Author**: Wei Zhou, VMware by Broadcom — wei-wz.zhou@broadcom.com
> This is a community-driven project by a VMware engineer, not an official VMware product.
> For official VMware developer tools see [developer.broadcom.com](https://developer.broadcom.com).

English | [中文](README-CN.md)

**Read-only** VMware vCenter/ESXi monitoring — 27 tools, code-level safety. No destructive operations exist in this codebase.

> **Why a separate repository?** VMware Monitor is fully independent from [VMware-AIops](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AIops). Safety is enforced at the **code level**: no power off, delete, create, reconfigure, snapshot-create/revert/delete, clone, or migrate functions exist in this codebase. Not just prompt constraints — zero destructive code paths.

[](https://clawhub.ai/skills/vmware-monitor)
[](https://skills.sh/vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor)
[](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor)
[](LICENSE)

### Companion Skills

| Skill | Scope | Tools | Install |
|-------|-------|:-----:|---------|
| **[vmware-aiops](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AIops)** ⭐ entry point | VM lifecycle, deployment, guest ops, clusters | 49 | `uv tool install vmware-aiops` |
| **[vmware-storage](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Storage)** | Datastores, iSCSI, vSAN | 11 | `uv tool install vmware-storage` |
| **[vmware-vks](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-VKS)** | Tanzu Namespaces, TKC cluster lifecycle | 20 | `uv tool install vmware-vks` |
| **[vmware-nsx](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-NSX)** | NSX networking: segments, gateways, NAT, IPAM | 33 | `uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt` |
| **[vmware-nsx-security](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-NSX-Security)** | DFW microsegmentation, security groups, Traceflow | 21 | `uv tool install vmware-nsx-security` |
| **[vmware-aria](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Aria)** | Aria Ops metrics, alerts, capacity planning | 28 | `uv tool install vmware-aria` |
| **[vmware-avi](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AVI)** | AVI (NSX ALB) load balancing, AKO on Kubernetes | 28 | `uv tool install vmware-avi` |
| **[vmware-harden](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Harden)** | Compliance baselines, drift detection (read-only) | 6 | `uv tool install vmware-harden` |
| **[vmware-log-insight](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Log-Insight)** | Centralized syslog search, aggregation, alerts | 7 | `uv tool install vmware-log-insight` |
| **[vmware-debug](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Debug)** | Incident timeline correlation, root cause | 2 | `uv tool install vmware-debug` |
| **[vmware-pilot](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Pilot)** | Multi-step workflow orchestration, approval gates | 13 | `uv tool install vmware-pilot` |

## ⚡ Quick Investigation Reports

Five opinionated, read-only reports that answer an operator's real questions — each **aggregates and correlates server-side** and hands back a high-signal result (never raw inventory). Every report also renders a **self-contained offline HTML snapshot** with `--html` (no external assets, nothing leaves the machine; drill-down detail collapses in native `` sections, zero JavaScript).

| Question | Command | What it correlates |
|----------|---------|--------------------|
| **"Is anything on fire?"** across all clusters | `vmware-monitor summary` | Every cluster's hosts + VM power + live CPU/mem + alarms → ranked top-N issues + per-cluster status |
| **"What needs attention now?"** across all vCenters | `vmware-monitor attention` | Every configured vCenter merged into one globally-ranked issue list; unreachable targets degrade gracefully |
| **"What's happening around this VM?"** | `vmware-monitor investigate vm ` | VM state + host it runs on + cluster + backing datastores + snapshots + alarms + performance + a merged event timeline |
| **"What's happening around this host?"** | `vmware-monitor investigate host ` | Host state + cluster + the VMs it runs + mounted datastores + alarms + performance + correlated timeline |
| **"What's happening around this datastore?"** | `vmware-monitor investigate datastore ` | Capacity/free + mounting hosts + VMs it backs + alarms + correlated timeline |

```bash
# Triage the estate, then drill into whatever it flags:
vmware-monitor attention                         # what needs attention now, all vCenters
vmware-monitor summary --top 5                   # is anything on fire, one vCenter
vmware-monitor investigate vm web-01 --hours 72  # everything around a VM, 72h event window
vmware-monitor investigate vm web-01 --html      # → offline snapshot in ~/vmware-health/
```

Unknown object names return a **teaching error** naming exactly how to list objects. Via MCP these are the tools `cluster_health_summary`, `cross_vcenter_attention`, `vm_investigation_bundle`, `host_investigation_bundle`, `datastore_investigation_bundle` — the model calls them and explains the aggregated result in operational language. Full flags: [`references/cli-reference.md`](skills/vmware-monitor/references/cli-reference.md).

### Quick Install (Recommended)

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, Trae, and 30+ AI agents:

```bash
# Via Skills.sh
npx skills add vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor

# Via ClawHub
clawhub install vmware-monitor
```

### PyPI Install (No GitHub Access Required)

```bash
# Install via uv (recommended)
uv tool install vmware-monitor

# Or via pip
pip install vmware-monitor

# China mainland mirror (faster)
pip install vmware-monitor -i https://pypi.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/simple
```

### Offline / Air-Gapped Install (from source)

This project uses the modern PEP 517 build system (hatchling), so there is **no
`setup.py`** by design — that is expected, not a missing file. If you cloned the
source and hit `ERROR: File "setup.py" or "setup.cfg" not found ... editable mode
currently requires a setuptools-based build`, your `pip` is older than 21.3 and
cannot do an *editable* (`-e`) install with a non-setuptools backend. Editable
mode is a developer convenience, not needed to run the tool — do one of:

```bash
# From the source tree — a normal (non-editable) install builds a wheel:
pip install .              # NOT  pip install -e .

# ...or upgrade pip first, and editable works too:
pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -e .
```

For a **truly air-gapped host**, build the wheels on a connected machine and copy
them over — the target then needs no network:

```bash
# On a connected machine, collect this package + its dependencies as wheels:
pip wheel . -w dist        # → dist/*.whl   (or: uv build, for just this package)

# Copy dist/ to the air-gapped host, then install offline:
pip install --no-index --find-links dist vmware-monitor
```

---

## Capabilities (Read-Only)

### Architecture

```
User (Natural Language)
  ↓
AI CLI Tool (Claude Code / Gemini / Codex / Aider / Continue / Trae / Kimi)
  ↓ Reads SKILL.md / AGENTS.md / rules
  ↓
vmware-monitor CLI (read-only)
  ↓ pyVmomi (vSphere SOAP API)
  ↓
vCenter Server ──→ ESXi Clusters ──→ VMs
    or
ESXi Standalone ──→ VMs
```

### Version Compatibility

| vSphere / VCF Version | Support | Notes |
|----------------|---------|-------|
| VCF 9.1 / vSphere 9.1 | ✅ Full | Released 2026-05-12. pyVmomi ` — VCF Python SDK (recommended for VCF 9+, bundles pyVmomi + vSAN SDK), vSphere Automation SDK for Python
- **REST APIs**:  — vSphere Automation API, VCF API
- **CLI Tools**:  — PowerCLI 9.1, ESXCLI, OVF Tool

### 1. Inventory

| Feature | vCenter | ESXi | Details |
|---------|:-------:|:----:|---------|
| List VMs | ✅ | ✅ | Name, power state, CPU, memory, guest OS, IP, `folder_path` (vCenter inventory folder, e.g. `/Datacenters/Production/Web Tier`); MCP `list_virtual_machines` supports `folder_filter` for case-insensitive folder-tree search |
| List Hosts | ✅ | ⚠️ Self only | CPU cores, memory, ESXi version, VM count, uptime |
| List Datastores | ✅ | ✅ | Capacity, free/used, type (VMFS/NFS), usage % |
| List Clusters | ✅ | ❌ | Host count, DRS/HA status |
| List Networks | ✅ | ✅ | Network name, associated VM count, accessibility — CLI `inventory networks`, MCP `list_all_networks` |

### 2. Health & Monitoring

| Feature | vCenter | ESXi | Details |
|---------|:-------:|:----:|---------|
| Active Alarms | ✅ | ✅ | Severity, alarm name, entity, timestamp |
| Event/Log Query | ✅ | ✅ | Filter by time range, severity; 50+ event types |
| Hardware Sensors | ✅ | ✅ | Per-sensor `type` (temperature/voltage/fan...), reading, unit, and health `status` (green/yellow/red) — CLI `health sensors`, MCP `get_host_sensors` |
| Host Services | ✅ | ✅ | hostd, vpxa running/stopped status — CLI `health services`, MCP `get_host_services` |

**Monitored Event Types:**

| Category | Events |
|----------|--------|
| VM Failures | `VmFailedToPowerOnEvent`, `VmDiskFailedEvent`, `VmFailoverFailed` |
| Host Issues | `HostConnectionLostEvent`, `HostShutdownEvent`, `HostIpChangedEvent` |
| Storage | `DatastoreCapacityIncreasedEvent`, SCSI high latency |
| HA/DRS | `DasHostFailedEvent`, `DrsVmMigratedEvent`, `DrsSoftRuleViolationEvent` |
| Auth | `UserLoginSessionEvent`, `BadUsernameSessionEvent` |

### 3. VM Info & Snapshot List (Read-Only)

| Feature | Details |
|---------|---------|
| VM Info | Name, power state, guest OS, CPU, memory, IP, VMware Tools, disks, NICs, `folder_path` |
| Snapshot List | List existing snapshots with name and creation time (no create/revert/delete) — CLI `vm snapshot-list`, MCP tool `vm_list_snapshots` |

### 4. Scheduled Scanning & Notifications

| Feature | Details |
|---------|---------|
| Daemon | APScheduler-based, configurable interval (default 15 min) |
| Multi-target Scan | Sequentially scan all configured vCenter/ESXi targets |
| Scan Content | Alarms + Events + Host logs (hostd, vmkernel, vpxd) |
| Log Analysis | Regex pattern matching: error, fail, critical, panic, timeout |
| Structured Log | JSONL output to `~/.vmware-monitor/scan.log` |
| Webhook | Slack, Discord, or any HTTP endpoint |
| Daemon Management | `daemon start/stop/status`, PID file, graceful shutdown |

### 5. Safety Features

| Feature | Details |
|---------|---------|
| **Code-Level Isolation** | Independent repository — zero destructive functions in codebase |
| **Audit Trail** | All queries logged to `~/.vmware-monitor/audit.log` (JSONL) |
| **Password Protection** | `.env` file loading with permission check (warn if not 600) |
| **SSL Self-signed Support** | `disableSslCertValidation` — only for ESXi with self-signed certs in isolated labs; production should use CA-signed certificates |
| **Prompt Injection Protection** | vSphere event messages and host logs are truncated, sanitized, and wrapped in boundary markers |
| **Webhook Data Scope** | Sends monitoring summaries to user-configured URLs only — no third-party services by default |
| **Production Recommended** | AI agents can misinterpret context and execute unintended destructive operations — real-world incidents have shown AI-driven tools deleting production databases and entire environments. VMware-Monitor eliminates this risk: no destructive code paths exist. Use [VMware-AIops](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AIops) only in dev/lab environments |

### What's NOT Included (By Design)

These operations **do not exist** in this repository:

- ❌ Power on/off, reset, suspend VMs
- ❌ Create, delete, reconfigure VMs
- ❌ Create, revert, delete snapshots
- ❌ Clone or migrate VMs
- ❌ `_double_confirm`, `_show_state_preview`, `_validate_vm_params`

For these operations, use the full [VMware-AIops](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AIops) repository.

---

Running with local or small models? See [`skills/vmware-monitor/references/agent-guardrails.md`](skills/vmware-monitor/references/agent-guardrails.md).

---

## Common Workflows

### Daily Health Check

1. Check alarms: `vmware-monitor health alarms --target prod-vcenter`
2. Review recent events: `vmware-monitor health events --hours 24 --severity warning`
3. List hosts: `vmware-monitor inventory hosts` — check connection state and memory usage

### Investigate a Specific Object (drill-down)

One call correlates the object with its surrounding infrastructure and recent history — see [⚡ Quick Investigation Reports](#-quick-investigation-reports) above.

1. Start from triage: `vmware-monitor attention` (all vCenters) or `vmware-monitor summary` (one)
2. Drill into what it flags: `vmware-monitor investigate vm ` (or `host` / `datastore`)
3. Widen the event window with `--hours 72`; share it with `--html` (offline snapshot)
4. **If the name is unknown** → the teaching error names how to list objects (`inventory vms/hosts`, `list_all_datastores`)

### Set Up Continuous Monitoring

1. Configure webhook in `~/.vmware-monitor/config.yaml`
2. Start daemon: `vmware-monitor daemon start`
3. Daemon scans every 15 min, sends alerts to Slack/Discord

---

## Troubleshooting

### Alarms returns empty but vCenter shows alarms

The `get_alarms` tool queries triggered alarms at the root folder level. Some alarms are entity-specific — try checking events instead: `vmware-monitor health events --hours 1 --severity info`.

### "Connection refused" error

1. Run `vmware-monitor doctor` to diagnose
2. Verify target hostname/IP and port (443) in `config.yaml`
3. For self-signed certs: set `disableSslCertValidation: true`

### Events returns too many results

Use severity filter: `--severity warning` (default) filters out info-level events. Use `--hours 4` to narrow the time range.

### VM info shows "guest_os: unknown"

VMware Tools not installed or not running in the guest. Install/start VMware Tools for guest OS detection, IP address, and guest family info.

### Doctor passes but commands fail with timeout

vCenter may be under heavy load. Try targeting a specific ESXi host directly instead of vCenter, or increase connection timeout in `config.yaml`.

---

## Supported AI Platforms

| Platform | Status | Config File | AI Model |
|----------|--------|-------------|----------|
| **Claude Code** | ✅ Native Skill | `skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md` | Anthropic Claude |
| **Gemini CLI** | ✅ Context file + MCP | `skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md` | Google Gemini |
| **OpenAI Codex CLI** | ✅ Skill + AGENTS.md | `skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md` | OpenAI GPT |
| **Aider** | ✅ Conventions | `skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md` | Any (cloud + local) |
| **Continue CLI** | ✅ Rules | `skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md` | Any (cloud + local) |
| **Trae IDE** | ✅ Rules | `skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md` | Claude/DeepSeek/GPT-4o |
| **Kimi Code CLI** | ✅ Skill | `skills/vmware-monitor/SKILL.md` | Moonshot Kimi |
| **MCP Server** | ✅ MCP Protocol | `vmware_monitor/mcp_server/` | Any MCP client |
| **Python CLI** | ✅ Standalone | N/A | N/A |

### Platform Comparison

| Feature | Claude Code | Gemini CLI | Codex CLI | Aider | Continue | Trae IDE | Kimi CLI |
|---------|-------------|------------|-----------|-------|----------|----------|----------|
| Cloud AI | Anthropic | Google | OpenAI | Any | Any | Multi | Moonshot |
| Local models | — | — | — | Ollama | Ollama | — | — |
| Skill system | SKILL.md | Context file | SKILL.md | — | Rules | Rules | SKILL.md |
| MCP support | Native | Native | Via Skills | Third-party | Native | — | — |
| Free tier | — | 60 req/min | — | Self-hosted | Self-hosted | — | — |

### MCP Server Integrations

The vmware-monitor MCP server works with **any MCP-compatible agent or tool**. Ready-to-use configuration templates are in [`examples/mcp-configs/`](examples/mcp-configs/). All 27 tools are **read-only** — code-level enforced safety.

| Agent / Tool | Local Model Support | Config Template | Integration Guide |
|-------------|:-------------------:|-----------------|-------------------|
| **[Xiaoguai (小怪)](https://github.com/xiaoguai-agent/xiaoguai)** | ✅ Self-hosted, any LLM | [MCP setup](https://github.com/xiaoguai-agent/xiaoguai/blob/main/docs/book/src/api/mcp.md) | [G

…

## Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [vmware-skills](https://github.com/vmware-skills)
- **Source:** [vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor](https://github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-Monitor)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** yes
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-vmware-skills-vmware-monitor
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/vmware-skills
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.