Install Monsvr v2.x
Content
Initial Installation of the Smartmon Monitoring Server (Monsvr)
For Monsvr Version 2.x
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Page 1
Acceptance and Release Notice
This is a managed document. All copies of this document preceding this release are obsolete and shall be destroyed.
Version Status:
Release Number 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Author(s) Date 19/05/2008 2/06/2008 6/03/2009 6/05/2009 6/06/2009 Reason for Version First Draft Revision Revision Revision Revision
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Page 2
Table of Contents
1 Overview....................................................................................................... 4 1.1 VMware ...................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Virtual Appliance ......................................................................................... 4 2 Prerequisites................................................................................................. 5 2.1 IP Communications ...................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Highly desirable IP Access ................................................................. 5
2.2 CPU/RAM/Disk Resources ............................................................................. 5 2.3 VMware Server Version ................................................................................ 5 3 Installing VMware Server.............................................................................. 7 3.1 Selecting the Appropriate Host Environment ................................................... 7 4 Installing the Virtual Appliance..................................................................... 8 4.1 Virtual Machine Files .................................................................................... 8 4.2 Installing the Virtual Machine ........................................................................ 8 4.2.1 Detailed Instructions ......................................................................... 8
4.3 Configuring the Virtual Machine ....................................................................13 5 Using the Virtual Appliance ......................................................................... 15 5.1 Demonstration Mode ...................................................................................17 5.2 Activating the Monsvr .................................................................................19
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1 Overview
1.1 VMware
The Monitoring Server (Monsvr) is a virtual appliance, that is, it runs as a virtual machine under VMware. It has been specifically developed using VMware Server, although the virtual machine format could be converted to run under VMware ESX Server. It could also be converted, although not ideal in a server-based production environment, to run under VMware’s desktop virtualisation products such as VMware Workstation or VMware Player.
1.2
Virtual Appliance
Once you have the VMware virtualisation product installed you need to point to the virtual machine folder and start the virtual machine. When the virtual machine starts it will initially come up in demo mode. In this mode, you can access the monitoring interface to gain a feel for it. When you are ready you can request that the demo appliance be converted to a fully operational and start monitoring your own network.
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Page 4
2 Prerequisites
2.1 IP Communications
Once the Monsvr is installed, for proper operation, it needs to communicate via the Internet to the Master Monsvr. Whilst it is possible to use a proxy server, the ideal configuration provides direct Internet access to the Master Monsvr via TCP port 443 (SSL) for outbound traffic only. It is possible to fall back to using HTTP over port 80 (not recommened), if required. Ideally, the monitoring environment relies on as little other infrastructure as possible, since if the other infrastructure fails, the monitoring server may also fail. Hence, we recommend that for production environments, you do not use a proxy server but provide direct Internet access for the Monsvr with as few hops as possible. 2.1.1 Highly desirable IP Access This section describes network access that is highly desirable. Although, not strictly required for operation, without it the operation will most likely be degraded. The use of NTP (Network Time Protocol) is strongly recommended. Without it, the clock may drift and the timestamps of any alerts and logging will be meaningless. Since the virtual machine is shipped configured to synchronise its clock to its host, the use of NTP on the host machine is also highly desirable. NTP requires UDP port 123 for correct operation. By default, if you do not set configure any NTP servers, the Monsvr will attempt to use some Internet based servers and hence will require you to open UDP port 123 on your external firewall for outbound traffic only. If you have an internal NTP server then you can configure this into the Monsvr and no external NTP access will be required. The Monsvr needs to be able to send email for problem notifications, ideally to an internal SMTP server. For this purpose it requires outgoing TCP port 25 with access to the SMTP server (if one has been configured as recommended). The Monsvr needs to be able to receive email for problem acknowledgements. For this purpose it requires incoming TCP port 25.
2.2
CPU/RAM/Disk Resources
The Monsvr is configured to use 256MB of host RAM, although in practice it may use less than this. If you have a large monitored environment it may be a good idea to increase the amount of RAM assigned to the virtual machine. To increase the RAM assigned to the virtual machine use the VMware Server Console while the Monsvr is shutdown. There is no need to do this immediately. The Monsvr Virtual Machine is configured with an 8GB disk image. Although it uses much less than this, this size has been chosen to allow for growth. In practice, it will use more than 8GB as Vmware requires some working space for each virtual machinel. The CPU requirements of the Monsvr will depend on the monitored environment. They will not be large, but will place additional load on the host that the virtual machine is running on.
2.3
VMware Server Version
Use the version of VMware Server that came with the Monsvr Virtual Appliance.
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Page 5
The virtual appliance was developed using a specific version of VMware Server. It is ideal to use this specific version to ensure correct operation the VMware Tools service that runs inside the virtual machine. VMware Tools assists with memory management, controlling the power status (on/off/reboot) and time synchronisation of the virtual machine. An incorrect version of VMware Server may mean that VMware Tools does not run correct and hence the virtual machine may not perform optimally. Running under VMware ESX or another product may require a totally different version of VMware Tools.
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Page 6
3 Installing VMware Server
The first stage of installation is to install and run a VMware virtualisation product. Accompanying this document you will find the “VMware Server Administration Guide”. There are two components that you need to install: 1. VMware Server 2. VMware Management Interface (VMware Server Console) The installation instructions for installing VMware Server onto a Windows server start on page 26 of the guide. The instructions for installing VMware Server Console start on page 48 of the guide. Follow these instructions to install VMware Server. Depending on where your VMware Server package came from, you may find that the server and the console are part of the same installation.
3.1
Selecting the Appropriate Host Environment
As VMware Server is a hosted product, that is, it runs on top of another Operating System, you need to select a host and Operating System combination that is as stable as possible. The selection of a production server with redundant hardware and a proven history of stability is a good choice. Additionally, you need to consider that the virtual machine will consume CPU, RAM and disk resources and that this may grow over time depending on the monitored environment.
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4 Installing the Virtual Appliance
4.1 Virtual Machine Files
Copy the virtual machine files to a suitable location on your server. The folder contents should look similar to this:
4.2
Installing the Virtual Machine
This process simply involves adding the virtual machine to the VMware Server inventory by opening the virtual machine files and starting the virtual machine. Detailed, step-bystep instructions follow. 4.2.1 Detailed Instructions Start the VMware Server Console. Connect to the Local host as below.
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From the File menu, select Open. This presents you with the following:
Select the Browse button, and navigate to the folder where you placed the virtual machine files. Select the VMX file as shown below.
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Press the Open button. The virtual machine is now included in VMware Server’s inventory.
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Page 10
Before starting the virtual machine, we need to ensure that it will startup automatically when the host Operating System does. Click the “Edit Virtual Machine Settings” link.
On the Options Tab, select the Startup/Shutdown option. On the right hand side change
• •
“On host startup” to “Power on Virtual Machine”, and “On host shutdown” to “Power off Virtual Machine”.
Click the OK button
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Start the virtual machine by selecting the “Start this virtual machine” link.
When prompted to Create a new identifier, select Create and press the OK button
The virtual machine should now start and proceed to boot. After a minute or so, the boot process will complete and the virtual machine will sit at its login prompt. The monsvr may reboot a couple of times to correctly configure itself.
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Page 12
4.3
Configuring the Virtual Machine
Once the virtual machine is running you can configure its network settings. By default it comes shipped to use DHCP and if your network has a DHCP server, it will already have a DHCP assigned IP Address. Once in production, the ideal IP configuration is to statically assign an IP Address, Default Gateway/Router, Hostname, DNS Servers, and NTP Servers. However, during the demo process a DHCP configured address will suffice. To change the IP configuration you need to login to the virtual machine. To do this, click into the console window and login as the user: config, with the password: config. You will be presented with a menu where you can provide the IP configuration to suit your network.
This same menu also allows you to test the settings to ensure proper communications can be established. You must have already saved the settings in order to test them. If you change DHCP settings on your DHCP server and need the Monsvr to pickup the changes, there are 2 options. 1) wait until the lease expires – you control this period of time from the DHCP server 2) reboot the monsvr. You can do this simply by clicking the Reboot button. The Reboot button has a red and green arrow pair and sits on the VMware Server console next to the Power On/Off and Suspend buttons:
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Page 13
Once you click into the virtual machine window, your mouse cursor will disappear. To return your mouse cursor to Windows, press CTRL-ALT.
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Page 14
5 Using the Virtual Appliance
Once the virtual machine has an IP Address, it will be visible on your network. You can test this by pinging it. The primary access to the Monsvr is via a web browser. On the VMware Server console, you can see the hostname and IP Address that are currently configured into the virtual machine, either via DHCP or statically assigned. In the example below the hostname is “localhost” and the IP Address is 192.168.9.13 In this example, the hostname “localhost” probably indicates that no hostname has been assigned via DHCP. In this case, you may need to reconfigure your DHCP server, statically assign a hostname (login in as config/config), make local DNS changes or even reboot the Monsvr. If no valid hostname can be obtained by the Monsvr, you may need to access it by using the IP Address. You can access the Monsvr using the following URL: http://HOSTNAME or http://IPADDRESS (this is called the Monsvr Main Page) where HOSTNAME is the hostname assigned to the Monsvr and IPADDRESS is the IP Address assigned to the Monsvr.
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Page 15
The very first time you access the Monsvr Main Page you will need to set the Monsvr Timezone.
Select the appropriate Timezone and press the “Set” button. Then you can go to the Monsvr Main Page.
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Page 16
5.1
Demonstration Mode
When you initially connect to the Monsvr using your browser, you are presented with the the publicly available read-only monitoring interface. From here it is possible to see the status of the monitored network. You will also see that the Monsvr is running in “demo” mode.
Demo mode allows you to browse around the interface, even accessing the “Nagios Interface” (where most of your day-to-day operations would occur). The demonstration user name is: demo1, password: demo1. The demonstration mode is monitoring a demonstration network with the following architecture:
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Page 17
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5.2
Activating the Monsvr
When you are ready to activate your Monsvr and convert it to an active monitoring server to monitor your network simply, click on one of the following links on the main web page:
New Smartmon users will need to complete the form details and we will be in touch with you to help configure your monitoring setup and activate the Monsvr. Existing users are able to add the Monsvr themselves using the Smartmon Portal at https://www.smartmon.com.au/portal
Commercial in Confidence
Page 19
For Monsvr Version 2.x
Commercial in Confidence
Page 1
Acceptance and Release Notice
This is a managed document. All copies of this document preceding this release are obsolete and shall be destroyed.
Version Status:
Release Number 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Author(s) Date 19/05/2008 2/06/2008 6/03/2009 6/05/2009 6/06/2009 Reason for Version First Draft Revision Revision Revision Revision
Commercial in Confidence
Page 2
Table of Contents
1 Overview....................................................................................................... 4 1.1 VMware ...................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Virtual Appliance ......................................................................................... 4 2 Prerequisites................................................................................................. 5 2.1 IP Communications ...................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Highly desirable IP Access ................................................................. 5
2.2 CPU/RAM/Disk Resources ............................................................................. 5 2.3 VMware Server Version ................................................................................ 5 3 Installing VMware Server.............................................................................. 7 3.1 Selecting the Appropriate Host Environment ................................................... 7 4 Installing the Virtual Appliance..................................................................... 8 4.1 Virtual Machine Files .................................................................................... 8 4.2 Installing the Virtual Machine ........................................................................ 8 4.2.1 Detailed Instructions ......................................................................... 8
4.3 Configuring the Virtual Machine ....................................................................13 5 Using the Virtual Appliance ......................................................................... 15 5.1 Demonstration Mode ...................................................................................17 5.2 Activating the Monsvr .................................................................................19
Commercial in Confidence
Page 3
1 Overview
1.1 VMware
The Monitoring Server (Monsvr) is a virtual appliance, that is, it runs as a virtual machine under VMware. It has been specifically developed using VMware Server, although the virtual machine format could be converted to run under VMware ESX Server. It could also be converted, although not ideal in a server-based production environment, to run under VMware’s desktop virtualisation products such as VMware Workstation or VMware Player.
1.2
Virtual Appliance
Once you have the VMware virtualisation product installed you need to point to the virtual machine folder and start the virtual machine. When the virtual machine starts it will initially come up in demo mode. In this mode, you can access the monitoring interface to gain a feel for it. When you are ready you can request that the demo appliance be converted to a fully operational and start monitoring your own network.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 4
2 Prerequisites
2.1 IP Communications
Once the Monsvr is installed, for proper operation, it needs to communicate via the Internet to the Master Monsvr. Whilst it is possible to use a proxy server, the ideal configuration provides direct Internet access to the Master Monsvr via TCP port 443 (SSL) for outbound traffic only. It is possible to fall back to using HTTP over port 80 (not recommened), if required. Ideally, the monitoring environment relies on as little other infrastructure as possible, since if the other infrastructure fails, the monitoring server may also fail. Hence, we recommend that for production environments, you do not use a proxy server but provide direct Internet access for the Monsvr with as few hops as possible. 2.1.1 Highly desirable IP Access This section describes network access that is highly desirable. Although, not strictly required for operation, without it the operation will most likely be degraded. The use of NTP (Network Time Protocol) is strongly recommended. Without it, the clock may drift and the timestamps of any alerts and logging will be meaningless. Since the virtual machine is shipped configured to synchronise its clock to its host, the use of NTP on the host machine is also highly desirable. NTP requires UDP port 123 for correct operation. By default, if you do not set configure any NTP servers, the Monsvr will attempt to use some Internet based servers and hence will require you to open UDP port 123 on your external firewall for outbound traffic only. If you have an internal NTP server then you can configure this into the Monsvr and no external NTP access will be required. The Monsvr needs to be able to send email for problem notifications, ideally to an internal SMTP server. For this purpose it requires outgoing TCP port 25 with access to the SMTP server (if one has been configured as recommended). The Monsvr needs to be able to receive email for problem acknowledgements. For this purpose it requires incoming TCP port 25.
2.2
CPU/RAM/Disk Resources
The Monsvr is configured to use 256MB of host RAM, although in practice it may use less than this. If you have a large monitored environment it may be a good idea to increase the amount of RAM assigned to the virtual machine. To increase the RAM assigned to the virtual machine use the VMware Server Console while the Monsvr is shutdown. There is no need to do this immediately. The Monsvr Virtual Machine is configured with an 8GB disk image. Although it uses much less than this, this size has been chosen to allow for growth. In practice, it will use more than 8GB as Vmware requires some working space for each virtual machinel. The CPU requirements of the Monsvr will depend on the monitored environment. They will not be large, but will place additional load on the host that the virtual machine is running on.
2.3
VMware Server Version
Use the version of VMware Server that came with the Monsvr Virtual Appliance.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 5
The virtual appliance was developed using a specific version of VMware Server. It is ideal to use this specific version to ensure correct operation the VMware Tools service that runs inside the virtual machine. VMware Tools assists with memory management, controlling the power status (on/off/reboot) and time synchronisation of the virtual machine. An incorrect version of VMware Server may mean that VMware Tools does not run correct and hence the virtual machine may not perform optimally. Running under VMware ESX or another product may require a totally different version of VMware Tools.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 6
3 Installing VMware Server
The first stage of installation is to install and run a VMware virtualisation product. Accompanying this document you will find the “VMware Server Administration Guide”. There are two components that you need to install: 1. VMware Server 2. VMware Management Interface (VMware Server Console) The installation instructions for installing VMware Server onto a Windows server start on page 26 of the guide. The instructions for installing VMware Server Console start on page 48 of the guide. Follow these instructions to install VMware Server. Depending on where your VMware Server package came from, you may find that the server and the console are part of the same installation.
3.1
Selecting the Appropriate Host Environment
As VMware Server is a hosted product, that is, it runs on top of another Operating System, you need to select a host and Operating System combination that is as stable as possible. The selection of a production server with redundant hardware and a proven history of stability is a good choice. Additionally, you need to consider that the virtual machine will consume CPU, RAM and disk resources and that this may grow over time depending on the monitored environment.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 7
4 Installing the Virtual Appliance
4.1 Virtual Machine Files
Copy the virtual machine files to a suitable location on your server. The folder contents should look similar to this:
4.2
Installing the Virtual Machine
This process simply involves adding the virtual machine to the VMware Server inventory by opening the virtual machine files and starting the virtual machine. Detailed, step-bystep instructions follow. 4.2.1 Detailed Instructions Start the VMware Server Console. Connect to the Local host as below.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 8
From the File menu, select Open. This presents you with the following:
Select the Browse button, and navigate to the folder where you placed the virtual machine files. Select the VMX file as shown below.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 9
Press the Open button. The virtual machine is now included in VMware Server’s inventory.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 10
Before starting the virtual machine, we need to ensure that it will startup automatically when the host Operating System does. Click the “Edit Virtual Machine Settings” link.
On the Options Tab, select the Startup/Shutdown option. On the right hand side change
• •
“On host startup” to “Power on Virtual Machine”, and “On host shutdown” to “Power off Virtual Machine”.
Click the OK button
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Page 11
Start the virtual machine by selecting the “Start this virtual machine” link.
When prompted to Create a new identifier, select Create and press the OK button
The virtual machine should now start and proceed to boot. After a minute or so, the boot process will complete and the virtual machine will sit at its login prompt. The monsvr may reboot a couple of times to correctly configure itself.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 12
4.3
Configuring the Virtual Machine
Once the virtual machine is running you can configure its network settings. By default it comes shipped to use DHCP and if your network has a DHCP server, it will already have a DHCP assigned IP Address. Once in production, the ideal IP configuration is to statically assign an IP Address, Default Gateway/Router, Hostname, DNS Servers, and NTP Servers. However, during the demo process a DHCP configured address will suffice. To change the IP configuration you need to login to the virtual machine. To do this, click into the console window and login as the user: config, with the password: config. You will be presented with a menu where you can provide the IP configuration to suit your network.
This same menu also allows you to test the settings to ensure proper communications can be established. You must have already saved the settings in order to test them. If you change DHCP settings on your DHCP server and need the Monsvr to pickup the changes, there are 2 options. 1) wait until the lease expires – you control this period of time from the DHCP server 2) reboot the monsvr. You can do this simply by clicking the Reboot button. The Reboot button has a red and green arrow pair and sits on the VMware Server console next to the Power On/Off and Suspend buttons:
Commercial in Confidence
Page 13
Once you click into the virtual machine window, your mouse cursor will disappear. To return your mouse cursor to Windows, press CTRL-ALT.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 14
5 Using the Virtual Appliance
Once the virtual machine has an IP Address, it will be visible on your network. You can test this by pinging it. The primary access to the Monsvr is via a web browser. On the VMware Server console, you can see the hostname and IP Address that are currently configured into the virtual machine, either via DHCP or statically assigned. In the example below the hostname is “localhost” and the IP Address is 192.168.9.13 In this example, the hostname “localhost” probably indicates that no hostname has been assigned via DHCP. In this case, you may need to reconfigure your DHCP server, statically assign a hostname (login in as config/config), make local DNS changes or even reboot the Monsvr. If no valid hostname can be obtained by the Monsvr, you may need to access it by using the IP Address. You can access the Monsvr using the following URL: http://HOSTNAME or http://IPADDRESS (this is called the Monsvr Main Page) where HOSTNAME is the hostname assigned to the Monsvr and IPADDRESS is the IP Address assigned to the Monsvr.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 15
The very first time you access the Monsvr Main Page you will need to set the Monsvr Timezone.
Select the appropriate Timezone and press the “Set” button. Then you can go to the Monsvr Main Page.
Commercial in Confidence
Page 16
5.1
Demonstration Mode
When you initially connect to the Monsvr using your browser, you are presented with the the publicly available read-only monitoring interface. From here it is possible to see the status of the monitored network. You will also see that the Monsvr is running in “demo” mode.
Demo mode allows you to browse around the interface, even accessing the “Nagios Interface” (where most of your day-to-day operations would occur). The demonstration user name is: demo1, password: demo1. The demonstration mode is monitoring a demonstration network with the following architecture:
Commercial in Confidence
Page 17
Commercial in Confidence
Page 18
5.2
Activating the Monsvr
When you are ready to activate your Monsvr and convert it to an active monitoring server to monitor your network simply, click on one of the following links on the main web page:
New Smartmon users will need to complete the form details and we will be in touch with you to help configure your monitoring setup and activate the Monsvr. Existing users are able to add the Monsvr themselves using the Smartmon Portal at https://www.smartmon.com.au/portal
Commercial in Confidence
Page 19
