Staging VMware Data Using Local Time :: SAS(R) IT Resource Management 3.7: Administrator's Guide

About Staging VMware Data Using Local Time

All datetime stamps are stored in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) or Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in the VMware vCenter database. However, you can convert the datetime-related values in your staged tables (and thus in your IT data mart) to use local time instead of UTC or GMT.

Note: The following procedures apply only to the data processed by the VMware vCenter adapter.

To change the datetime-related values in your IT data mart from UTC to local time, perform the following steps:

Change the formula expression for the IT Formula VMwareDatetime.
Change the expressions for other datetime-related computed columns in your staged tables. To do so, change the computed column expression from <datetime-related variableName> + 0 to <datetime-related variableName> + GMT offset.

Change the Formula Expression for the IT Formula VMwareDatetime

You can change the values for the DATETIME column in your VMware staged tables from UTC to local time. To do so, modify the expression for the IT Formula, VMwareDatetime, by adding the GMT offset to the formula expression.

By changing the expression for the VMwareDatetime IT Formula, the datetime value adjustments are made during staging for the DATETIME column in all VMware staged tables. For example, to adjust the DATETIME variable from UTC to Eastern Daylight Time in your staged tables, change the expression for the VMwareDatetime IT Formula from DATETIME + 0; to DATETIME - 14400.

Note: In SAS statements, expressions that contain a subtraction function should not end with a semicolon.

Change the Expressions for Other Datetime-related Computed Columns in Your Staged Tables

To change the other datetime-related values in your staged tables from UTC to local time, change the expressions for those datetime-related computed columns in your staged tables. To do so, change the computed column expression from

<datetime-related variableName>
                     + 0

to

<datetime-related variableName>
                     + GMT offset

. For example, to adjust the CREATETIME variable in the Events staged table from UTC to Eastern Daylight Time during staging, change the computed column expression from

CREATETIME
                     + 0;

to CREATETIME - 14400.

Note: In SAS statements, expressions that contain a subtraction function should not end with a semicolon.

Note: If you modify any one of the datetime-related columns to be adjusted with a GMT offset, then all of the datetime-related columns in your staged tables should be adjusted with the same GMT offset.

The following list shows the datetime-related values that can be changed for each type of VMware staged table:

All VMware staged tables - DATETIME variable
EVENTS staged table - CREATETIME
TASKS staged table - QUEUETIME, STARTTIME, COMPLETETIME