NSX Exporter is an open-source tool that allows users to collect metrics from VMware NSX-T Manager and export them to monitoring systems like Prometheus. NSX-T is VMware’s network virtualization and security platform for software-defined data centers and cloud environments. It provides networking and security services to applications running in virtualized or containerized environments.
In this blog, we will discuss the NSX Exporter tool, its architecture, how it works, and its features.
Architecture
The NSX Exporter tool is based on the Prometheus exporter model, which means that it exposes metrics in a format that Prometheus can scrape. It has a modular architecture, where each module collects metrics for a specific service or component of NSX-T. For example, there are modules for collecting metrics for logical switches, routers, firewalls, and load balancers.
The NSX Exporter tool is written in Go programming language and uses the NSX-T API to retrieve metrics data. The API provides the tool with a set of REST endpoints to retrieve metrics data for various NSX-T services.
How it works
The NSX Exporter tool works by collecting metrics from the NSX-T API and exporting them to a monitoring system like Prometheus. The tool runs as a daemon process and exposes an HTTP server on a specified port. The Prometheus server scrapes this endpoint to retrieve the metrics data.
The tool retrieves metrics data using the NSX-T API, which returns the data in a JSON format. The tool parses the JSON data and formats it into a Prometheus compatible format. The data is then exposed on the HTTP endpoint in a format that Prometheus can scrape.
Features
- The NSX Exporter tool has several features that make it a useful tool for monitoring NSX-T environments. Some of its features are:
- Modular architecture: The tool has a modular architecture that allows users to collect metrics for specific services or components of NSX-T.
- Customizable: The tool is customizable, and users can configure it to collect only the metrics they are interested in.
- Export to Prometheus: The tool exports metrics to Prometheus, a popular monitoring system used in many organizations.
- Easy to install and use: The tool is easy to install and use, and users can get started with it quickly.
- Open-source: The tool is open-source, which means that users can modify and distribute it according to their requirements.
Conclusion
NSX Exporter is a useful tool for monitoring NSX-T environments. It allows users to collect metrics data for specific services or components of NSX-T and export them to a monitoring system like Prometheus. The tool’s modular architecture, customizability, and ease of use make it a valuable addition to any NSX-T monitoring stack. Moreover, being open-source makes it highly flexible, allowing users to customize it to suit their unique monitoring needs.