Network Management

ESXi host showing 100% memory in the SolarWinds Platform

This article describes the issue with ESXi Host when it displays 100% memory utilization.

First published date

11/1/2018 8:20 PM

Last published date

4/8/2025 10:58 PM

Overview

This article describes the issue with ESXi Host when it displays 100% memory utilization. 

Product section

Network Performance Monitor

Cause

This issue occurs when the information provided by the device via SNMP is incorrect. 

For example:

Total Memory is from this OID: 1.3.6.1.4.1.6876.3.2.1.0

Used Memory From Each Process is from: 1.3.6.1.2.1.25.5.1.1.2.<index>

Total Used Memory is the sum of all the results for .index 1.3.6.1.2.1.25.5.1.1.2

% Utilization = Total Used Memory / Total Memory * 100

In this instance, Total Used Memory is approximately equal to Total Memory making the result of 100% in Orion is correct. The issue is that the values from the device are incorrect

Resolution

This is a device issue. The device is responding with the incorrect data via SNMP. The solution is to poll the ESXi host via the VMware API rather than via SNMP.

The polling method can be changed by doing the following:

  1. From the web console, navigate to Settings -> Manage Nodes
  2. Select the required node(s)
  3. Change polling method from "Most Devices: SNMP and ICMP" to "Status Only: ICMP"
  4. Scroll down and select "Poll for VMware"
  5. Enter the appropriate credentials and click "Submit"

If the device is already configured as above and not polled via SNMP then you can reference the KB below to verify what Orion displays for that host.

Check the VMware ESX/i host hardware/CPU/Memory/Storage status manually to validate data displayed in Orion