Does Virima Support VMware vCenter and ESXi Discovery?
Enterprise IT teams are under more pressure than ever to maintain accurate, real-time visibility into their VMware infrastructure. According to VMware’s Private Cloud Outlook 2025, mature private cloud adopters are 3x more likely to achieve their cloud goals, and a significant part of that maturity comes down to how accurately they track and relate their virtualized assets. For organizations running VMware ESXi and vCenter, that foundation starts with a CMDB that actually reflects what’s running, where it’s running, and how it’s connected. That’s exactly what Virima 6.1.1 delivers.
Virima 6.1.1 delivers complete VMware and ESXi discovery for enterprise CMDBs. This FAQ answers the most common questions about what Virima captures from VMware environments, how it maps virtualization relationships, and what CI types it creates.
Does Virima Discover VMware vCenter?
Yes. Virima 6.1.1 connects to the VMware vCenter API to discover the full vCenter-managed inventory. This includes all registered ESXi hosts, vSphere clusters, resource pools, and all virtual machines managed by that vCenter instance. A single vCenter IT discovery scan enumerates the complete managed estate under that vCenter server.
Can Virima Discover Standalone ESXi Hosts?
Yes. Virima 6.1.1 supports standalone ESXi host discovery — ESXi hosts that are not managed by any vCenter instance. Discovery connects directly to the ESXi management API on the host, capturing the ESXi Host CI and all VMs running on it, with proper “Runs On” relationships between each VM and the ESXi host. This covers lab environments, edge sites, and remote office deployments where a full vCenter deployment is not present.
What VM Data Does Virima Capture in CMDB (Serial, MAC, CPU, RAM)?
For each virtual machine, Virima 6.1.1 captures: VM name and UUID, guest OS type and version, power state (powered on, powered off, suspended), vCPU count, RAM allocation, BIOS UUID (used as the stable CI identifier across vMotion events), MAC addresses for all virtual network adapters, and IP addresses for all network interfaces. Hardware attributes, including serial number (BIOS UUID) and MAC addresses are stored as structured CI attributes.
How Does Virima Map VM-to-ESXi Relationships in CMDB?
Virima creates a “Runs On” relationship between each Virtual Machine CI and the ESXi Host CI it currently runs on. For vCenter-managed hosts, the ESXi Host CI is further linked to the vSphere Cluster CI via a “Hosted By” relationship. If a VM migrates via vMotion and discovery runs again, the “Runs On” relationship is updated to reflect the new host, keeping the CMDB current with the actual runtime topology.
Does Virima Support Hyper-V Discovery?
Virima’s current VMware discovery covers VMware ESXi and vCenter environments specifically. For Hyper-V environments, contact Virima directly to discuss current support and roadmap coverage in your version context.
Does Virima Capture VM IP Addresses for All Network Interfaces?
Yes. Virima 6.1.1 captures IP addresses for all virtual network adapters on each VM, not just the primary management interface. This data is sourced from the vCenter API (via VMware Tools in the guest). For VMs with multiple network adapters, management, backup, storage, or heartbeat networks, all MAC/IP pairs are captured and stored as VM CI attributes.
How Does Virima Handle vCenter-Based vs. Standalone ESXi Discovery?
The two paths use different APIs but produce the same CI types and relationships. vCenter-based discovery connects to the vCenter Server API endpoint and retrieves the full managed inventory in a single scan. Standalone ESXi discovery network connects directly to each ESXi host’s API and retrieves only the VMs and configuration local to that host. Both paths create ESXi Host CIs, Virtual Machine CIs, and “Runs On” relationships — the difference is the credential type and the scope of each scan.
What VMware CI Types Does Virima Create in CMDB?
| CI Type | Description |
|---|---|
| ESXi Host CI | The VMware hypervisor — physical host running ESXi, with serial number, MAC addresses, CPU, and RAM |
| vSphere Cluster CI | A group of ESXi hosts configured for HA and DRS |
| Virtual Machine CI | Each guest VM with BIOS UUID, vCPU, RAM, MAC/IP for all adapters, and guest OS data |
| vCenter Server CI | The vCenter management server instance |
All CI types include relationship data: ESXi Host “Hosted By” Cluster, VM “Runs On” ESXi Host, ESXi Host “Managed By” vCenter.
Next Steps
Virima 6.1.1 delivers complete VMware CMDB coverage for both vCenter-managed and standalone ESXi environments, creating properly related CI hierarchies that feed change impact analysis, blast radius reporting, and ViVID service maps.
Schedule a demo at Virima.com to see how Virima 6.1.1 maps your full VMware estate into your CMDB.
