# How to add a VMware vCenter/ESX host?

[![Add a VMware vCenter/ESX host in OpManager: Discover vCenter option under Virtualization Discovery](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/vmware-vmcenter.PNG)](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/images/vmware-vmcenter.PNG)

1. Go to **Settings → Discovery → Add credential**
2. Click on **Add credential → VMware**
3. Enter the username and password which are used to access VMware/vSphere client and save the credential.
4. Enable / disable **Auto VM discovery** option  
   - If enabled, Auto VM discovery automatically updates any changes in the vCenter environment (such as addition of new VMs to a vCenter) to OpManager.
5. Now go to **Discovery → add VMware**
6. Choose **Discover vCenter** (for vCenter-based discovery) / **Discover ESX** (for ESX host-based discovery) and enter the IP address/DNS name.
7. Select the VMware credentials.
8. Along with VMware, you can choose **SNMP / WMI (Windows) / CLI** of the server where vCenter or host is hosted for in-depth monitoring of the metrics based on the selected protocol. Click **Next**.
9. This will fetch all the virtual machine details list from the vCenter/ESX. By default, all the hosts will be added to OpManager.
10. Select the VMs to be monitored. Choose the **SNMP, WMI (Windows), or CLI (Linux)** credentials for VMs to monitor extra metrics of the selected protocol (if needed).
11. You can also sync your entity name as the display name in OpManager by enabling the **"Sync entity name to display name"** option.
12. Once you're done choosing the necessary options, click **Discover**.

[![Add a VMware vCenter/ESX host in OpManager: vmware ip mapping](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/images/vmcredential.png)](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/images/vmcredential.png)