We are excited to announce the release of the Skyline Collector 1.2. The Skyline Collector enables VMware Global Support Services (GSS) to deliver proactive support. With proactive support, GSS can notify you of potential issues and areas of risk within your vSphere and NSX environments. Most noteworthy, proactive support is available at no additional cost to customers with an active Production Support or Premier Services contract.
Please sign up for the Managed Access Program if interested in learning more about proactive support. Premier Services customers should contact their Support Account Manager/Support Account Engineer for information how they can begin receiving proactive support from VMware today.
GDPR Compliant
With the release of the Skyline Collector 1.2, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is no longer sent to VMware as part of the collected product usage data. We identified a few scenarios where usernames and email addresses were collected within the product usage data. Now, with the release of the Skyline Collector 1.2, usernames and passwords are no longer sent to VMware within the collected product usage data.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) no longer sent to VMware
Furthermore, once upgraded to the Skyline Collector 1.2, we have retroactively removed usernames and email addresses from previously collected product usage data. This completes the process of becoming GDPR compliant with regard to the product usage data collected by the Skyline Collector for the purpose of delivering proactive support.
You are required to upgrade to the Skyline Collector 1.2 to prevent PII from being sent to VMware. As an additional measure, any PII collected from previous versions of the Skyline Collector (1.1.x, 1.0) will be scrubbed from the system on a scheduled basis. For that reason, we recommend upgrading your Skyline Collector to 1.2 as soon as possible. We will be decommissioning earlier versions of the Skyline Collector in the future. Use the VAMI (Appliance Management UI) to check for and install Skyline Collector updates. You can access the VAMI by browsing to the IP address or FQDN of the Collector, port 5480 (i.e. IP address/FQDN:5480)
Check for and Install Updates to the Skyline Collector appliance within the VAMI.
NSX Manager
In the past, when configuring NSX for product usage data collection, credentials to both NSX Manager and the NSX Controllers were required. Skyline Collector 1.2 no longer requires direct access to NSX Controllers. For micro-segmentation and vShield endpoint customers, where NSX Controllers are not required, this further simplifies the Skyline Collector configuration process.
Add an NSX Manager wizard within the Skyline Collector 1.2.
The Skyline Collector requires a user with read-only permissions to NSX Manager. NSX Manager has a built-in, read-only role, named Auditor. We recommend creating a user with Auditor role permissions for adding an NSX Manager to the Skyline Collector for collecting product usage data.
Learn More About Skyline
You spoke, we listened. At VMworld 2017, during the Pat Gelsinger and Michael Dell QA session, the first question that was submitted by you, our customers, was regarding improving the overall quality of VMware support. VMware Skyline is just one of the ways we’re using a combination of technology and people to improve our customers’ support experience.
Watch and listen to Pat’s response during the QA session with Michael Dell during the Day 2 General Session at VMworld 2017.
Visit the VMware Skyline Overview page to learn more about proactive support delivered by VMware.