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Relay Installation Guide v3.2.1

Nimsoft Monitor SaaS

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Contents 5

Contents

Chapter 1: Use a Remote Login to the Nimsoft Monitor Server 7

Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server (Direct Connect).......................................... 8

Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server via Tunnel ............................................... 9

Chapter 2: Install the Nimsoft Monitor Relay 11

Launching the Installer ............................................................................ 12

Installing the Relay ............................................................................... 13

Chapter 3: Install the Robots 15

Microsoft Windows Robot Installation ............................................................... 17

Robot Installation on UNIX®-based Systems .......................................................... 18

Chapter 4: Deploy Probes using the Infrastructure Manager 21

Installing Probes from the Nimsoft Server Archive ..................................................... 21

Downloading Probes from the Internet Archive ....................................................... 22

Chapter 5: View Additional Information 23


Chapter 1: Use a Remote Login to the Nimsoft Monitor Server

You will need to log directly into your Nimsoft Monitor server instance (a Windows server) to perform certain activities. For instance, after you have installed the Relay on your local server, you can use the Infrastructure Manager client to verify your Relay installation. You will also access the remote instance to deploy and configure OS and application monitoring probes to various systems within your network. In order to perform these tasks, you must access your instance directly using remote desktop protocol (RDP).

You can establish the remote connection in one of two ways – using a direct connect or via a secure tunnel. Both methods deliver the same user functionality and user access experience.

The Microsoft Windows Nimsoft Monitor Relay installation process (covered later in this Guide) provides a Start menu option you can use for remote logins.

Important Note: The instructions in this section describe only the Windows RDP procedures. The Nimsoft Monitor Relay installation does not provide a built-in RDP from UNIX platforms to Windows servers. Instead, you should choose and download a suitable UNIX RDP client. Numerous open-source RDP clients, such as rdesktop (www.rdesktop.org), are available on the Internet. You can research the choices and then adopt the remote client that you feel is most suitable for your environment.

This section contains the following topics:

Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server (Direct Connect) (see page 8) Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server via Tunnel (see page 9)

Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server (Direct Connect)

8 Relay Installation Guide

Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server (Direct Connect)

This method uses a normal Windows remote desktop protocol (RDP) connection; it requires your network and system to have RDP outbound protocol enabled (TCP Port 3389). If this method does not work, use the tunnel connection described in the next section.

To log into a direct remote connection

1. Double-click the Remote Desktop to Nimsoft Server icon on your local desktop. The Windows Security remote login dialog is displayed.

2. Type your Nimsoft userid and password. Do not type the domain name (@<company.com>) when you enter the user name here.

For example, if your userid is [email protected], type only the username, demo, in this login window. Otherwise, you will get a login error and Windows will not be able to establish the connection. You will, however, be given an opportunity log in again.

3. Click OK. Windows opens a remote terminal session that is connected to your Nimsoft server instance in the cloud.

4. Select the desktop or Start menu option or that lets you perform the desired tasks in your server instance.

5. Click Log Off on the Start menu to end your remote session when you have completed your remote activities.

Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server via Tunnel


Remote Desktop Connection to Nimsoft Server via Tunnel

This method also establishes a remote desktop (RDP) connection, but it uses a secure special purpose tunnel for communicating to the Nimsoft server. It should be used by administrators that are not able to use RDP to connect to computers outside of your network – typically because TCP port 3389 is blocked.

Instead of using the desktop RDP icon in such cases, access the tunnel from your local Windows Start menu. This method will connect the RDP session over the SSL tunnel that was established when you installed your Relay – over TCP port 443 (default).

To access the secure tunnel from the Windows Start menu

1. Select the Nimsoft Monitoring entry on your local Start menu. A list of Nimsoft program options is displayed.

2. Select the Remote Desktop to Nimsoft Server over tunnel Start menu option.

The Windows Security remote login dialog is displayed.

3. Type your Nimsoft userid and password, as described for the Direct Connect method.

Remember to omit the domain name (@<company.com>) when you enter the user name here. For example, if your email userid is [email protected], type only the username, demo, in the login window.

The remaining steps are the same as for the Direct Connect method, and you have the identical functionality and user access experience from this point on.


Chapter 2: Install the Nimsoft Monitor Relay

The Nimsoft Monitor Relay provides the secure connection between your network and your Nimsoft Monitor service in the cloud. The installation procedure stores software components on your local Windows machine to enable the connection to the cloud

The Nimsoft Monitor Relay, running on your local server, collects monitoring data and alarms on your Local Area Network (LAN) and securely relays them to your Nimsoft Monitor server instance in the cloud.

Here are the minimum system requirements for the Nimsoft Monitor Relay:

Relay Installer Software Requirements (Java)

■ Java 1.6.0.14 or later. You can obtain this from www.java.com (not affiliated with Nimsoft).

Relay Software Requirements (Microsoft Windows)

■ Microsoft Windows 2000 SP4

■ Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP3



■ Microsoft Windows 7

Relay Minimum Hardware Requirements

■ 1 CPU

■ 3+ GHz

■ 2 GB RAM

■ 100 GB Available Disk

You run the Relay installation process by clicking the link for your platform in the Nimsoft Monitor home page Download Center. The following sections give detailed instructions for installing the Relay.


Launching the Installer (see page 12) Installing the Relay (see page 13)

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Launching the Installer


Launching the Installer

There are two ways to launch the installer.

■ If you use a desktop environment such as Windows or Gnome, use the file manager to locate the installer for your system. Then double-click the icon.

■ Linux

installRelay_linux_32.bin

■ Solaris

installRelay_solaris_32.bin

■ Windows

installRelay_32.exe

■ If you use a command-line environment, locate the directory that contains the installer. Then use the appropriate command to launch it.

■ Linux

installRelay_linux_32.bin -i console

■ Solaris

installRelay_solaris_32.bin -i console

■ Windows

installRelay32.exe -i console

Installing the Relay



After launching the installer, follow these steps to download and install the Relay software.

Note: The Relay installation procedure uses the InstallAnywhere dialog, and the steps are the same for the Microsoft Windows, Solaris, and Linux platforms.

1. Click the Relay Installer link in the Download Center to begin the download process.

The Relay Installer can display runtime prompts in several languages. If you wish to conduct the installation in a language other than English, select the language from the drop-down list displayed on this opening screen.

2. Click OK to proceed to the next screen.

3. Click Run to install the Relay from the executable, or click Save to store the downloaded program executable on your local workstation.

If you choose the Save option, start the executable from your computer after the download completes.

4. Follow the instructions presented by the dialog to install the executable.

5. When the dialog displays the Installation Type screen, choose Express Install unless you have been instructed to do otherwise.

6. If a dialog displays the Proxy Information screen:

a. Choose Manual proxy configuration if you need to use a Web proxy server..

b. Choose Manual proxy configuration with authentication if you need to specify credentials for your proxy server.

7. Click Next to continue the installation process.

8. The dialog asks you to review the settings on your local Relay machine and then begins copying files.

9. Click Install to copy the files and complete the installation process.

10. Click Done.


Chapter 3: Install the Robots

A Nimsoft Robot (or agent) is a small software program that runs within an operating system to provide local monitoring functionality. By having a robot “onboard” a server/operating system, Nimsoft is able to continuously monitor desired OS and application metrics, log files, processes and services – even in the event that the server goes offline or loses connectivity to the management server for any reason.

During such an outage, the robot spools the monitoring data locally on the server and then transmits the messages upon restoration of connectivity to the management server (commonly referred to as “store and forward”).

Because a robot is installed locally on the OS, system administrators do not need to perform repetitive, time consuming tasks such as conducting system surveillance (that is, checking Windows Events Logs, monitoring disk space, reviewing custom application logs for errors, and so on).

Nimsoft provides probes (agents) for various software components like application servers, databases, virtualization, servers and devices – systems from traditional data centers to clouds.. These monitoring probes run on the secure monitoring vehicle called a robot. Once installed, these robots communicate back to the local Relay, which in turn communicates to the Nimsoft Server in the cloud, all without dropping even a single metric data or Alarm.

Here are some additional benefits of using a Nimsoft robot to monitor your servers:

■ Extremely reliable system and application level monitoring.

With the right probes running on them, the Nimsoft robots always collect monitoring data at the local OS level. Conversely, agentless monitoring can monitor your servers only when there is a network connection available between the monitoring system and the target servers.

This makes robot-based monitoring extremely popular and reliable for organizations that need to track and measure SLA agreements (losing critical monitoring data because of a network issue is not acceptable in service focused organizations).



■ Out of the box remediation with many Nimsoft probes.

For example, the Nimsoft “processes” probe will allow you to automatically stop/start a process in the event that they are not in the desired state. A similar probe exists for automatically stopping/starting Windows Services. Advanced functionality is also available that will allow you to run custom scripts based on a series of desired alarms occurring.

■ Flexible and automated integration with Private Cloud and users of virtualization technology.

By embedding the Nimsoft robot onto your standard server images – it is possible to automate the monitoring of your servers as they dynamically enter and leave your application workloads.


Microsoft Windows Robot Installation (see page 17) Robot Installation on UNIX®-based Systems (see page 18)

Microsoft Windows Robot Installation


Microsoft Windows Robot Installation

To download and install the Robots on a Windows system:

1. Click the Windows Robot Installer link to begin the download process.

The download dialog window is displayed.

2. Click Save in the download dialog to store the downloaded program executable on your PC, or click Run to install from the server executable.

3. Double-click the executable after the download completes. The Robot Setup dialog is displayed.

4. Follow the instructions presented by the wizard to install the executable.

Several windows are displayed, in which you are asked to enter information. The upcoming steps describe these windows.

5. When the wizard displays the Setup Type window, choose whether you want to perform a Cloud or a Normal installation.

Typically you will accept the default, Normal installation, on this screen.

The Cloud installation choice is provided for administrators who want to install a Nimsoft robot onto a master image of their virtual machine (VM) for provisioning purposes. By using this option, the administrator can monitor new VMs as they are deployed with a Nimsoft robot pre-installed on the new VMs.

6. Click Next to continue the robot installation process.

7. When the wizard displays the Nimsoft Domain window, choose the method for accessing this robot.

8. When the wizard displays the Local IP address window, click Next to accept the default (Automatic). This choice installs your Windows robot at the IP address from which you are running the installation procedure.

If you have multiple network interfaces and do not want to select the default, check the one you want to use for this Windows robot.

9. When the wizard displays the Options window, click Next, leaving the Probe Port and Passive Mode fields blank.

10. Click Next to continue the installation process.

The wizard asks you to review the settings and begins copying files to your local PC.

11. Click Next to copy the files and complete the installation process.

12. You can verify that your robot has been installed by doing a remote (RDP) login to verify that the Infrastructure Manager can see the robot.

Robot Installation on UNIX®-based Systems



The Download Center has a link for the Robot Installation process for UNIX®-based systems. However, the procedures you follow are quite different from those used for installing Windows robots.

You can install the UNIX® robots on any machine running the Solaris, HP-UX, or IBM AIX operating system. Nimsoft supports any Linux flavor that supports GLIB C 2.1 or higher (Red Hat, SUSE, Debian, etc.). For convenience in this section of the Guide, we will refer to all of these operating systems as UNIX®.

The following procedure illustrates a simple method for installing the UNIX® robots remotely from a Windows Relay machine.

Note: If you have browser access to your Unified Management Portal home page from the UNIX® system, you can download the binaries directly in that manner. The steps described in this section are useful in the event that you only have command-line access from the target UNIX® system.

To install a robot on UNIX®

1. Right-click the UNIX®/LINUX Robot Installer link in the Nimsoft Monitor home page Download Center.

2. Choose the Copy Shortcut menu option from the resulting pop-up menu.

3. Paste the result of the copy into the browser address line.

This operation gives you the URL of the nimldr-3_51.tar.Z file, which contains all the UNIX robot installation packages.

4. On the UNIX machine, use the wget command to download, directly from the Internet, the tar file you have identified. For example:

wget http://nmscdn.nimsoft.com/server50GA/nimldr-3_51.tar.Z

5. Decompress the zipped tar file by entering the following command after the download has completed:

gzip –d nimldr-3_51.tar.Z

6. Extract the installation files by entering the following command:

tar –xvf nimldr-3_51.tar

The files are extracted. Use the ls command if you want to see a list of all the robot installation packages that reside on your server instance.

Note: In order to choose the correct installation package, you must know the target environment. For example, you will choose different packages for 32-bit or a 64-bit Linux platforms. This may seem obvious, but it is one of those basic bits of information that is easy to overlook.

7. Change to the appropriate directory, then run the following command:

./nimldr



You must be logged in as root in order to run this script. The installation script starts running, displaying instructions along the way.

8. Answer the questions posed by the installation script. For most questions, you can take the default. For others, you may need to enter a value.

a. Choose whether you want to perform a Cloud or a Normal installation.

Typically you will accept the default, Normal installation, on this screen.

The Cloud installation choice is provided for administrators who want to install a Nimsoft robot onto a master image of their virtual machine (VM) for provisioning purposes. By using this option, the administrator can monitor new VMs as they are deployed with a Nimsoft robot pre-installed on the new VMs.

b. The installation file is on the Relay machine, so type no in answer to the next question (“Do we have the installation file locally?”).

c. Type the IP address of the Relay machine when the script asks for the installation file location.

Note: If you don’t know the Relay IP address, you can refer to the Infrastructure Manager Relay node or the Nimsoft Monitor Account Status window (accessed via the URL my.nimsoft.com) to find it.

9. Take the defaults for the next three questions – identifying the Nimsoft Domain (Nimsoft), the hub (your Relay node name), and the robot installation file name (which you have already identified).

10. Log in when asked, using the credentials supplied in your “Welcome” email. The script downloads the specified robot installation package.

11. When the download is complete, the script begins the actual robot installation.

Again, you must supply the appropriate responses to the questions that appear as the installation script runs:

a. Type 1 to indicate that you are installing a robot (rather than the Infrastructure).

b. Take the default for the installation location (for example, /opt/nimsoft).

c. Type no in answer to the “automatically-unregister Robot” question. The yes option is typically used for cloud installations, so that the robot would remain registered if the cloud instance were to shut down – either unexpectedly or through an administrator action.

d. Take the defaults when specifying the Relay hub name and IP address. These equate to the name and location of your Relay, which you specified in step 8.

When you see the Finished Robot installation message, you can verify that your robot has in fact been installed by doing a remote (RDP) login to verify that the Infrastructure Manager can see your robot. It will appear as an entry in hierarchy that corresponds to your Relay node.

Chapter 4: Deploy Probes using the Infrastructure Manager 21

Chapter 4: Deploy Probes using the Infrastructure Manager

A probe is a small software program that collects availability and performance data and sends the data in the form of messages to the primary Nimsoft application server.

When you install the Relay, a built-in robot in the Relay is already equipped with several probes. You can view a list of these probes in the Infrastructure Manager on the robot node of the Relay (which has the same name as the Relay).


Installing Probes from the Nimsoft Server Archive (see page 21) Downloading Probes from the Internet Archive (see page 22)

Installing Probes from the Nimsoft Server Archive

You can install more probes using the Infrastructure Manager, which you access via a remote (RDP) login. Each Relay you have installed has a built-in robot, whose name matches the Relay name. That robot, in turn, has several probes already installed and running on it, by default.

Additional probes are available in the Nimsoft Server folder under the Archive and can be deployed by simply dragging them from the NMS-Server Archive folder to any robot connected and visible under the Domains in the Infrastructure Manager.

To deploy a probe to a robot running on any physical or virtual machine, you can simply select and drag the probe name from the Archive to the Robot node. Or, you can right-click the probe name to open a dialog that lets you add multiple probes in a single operation.

Downloading Probes from the Internet Archive


Downloading Probes from the Internet Archive

Some probes do not reside permanently on the Nimsoft Archive; rather, you must download them directly from the Internet. To accomplish this, log into http://support.nimsoft.com (using the credentials supplied in your “Welcome” email) and select Archive.

Then, you can download the probe(s) you need by clicking the Save tool at the far right of each row. The selected probe is then downloaded to the Nimsoft Server Archive, and you can deploy it to the desired destination using the drag-and-drop procedure we have just described.

To run any probe on a machine, you must first have a robot running on that machine. That is, the probe depends on a robot to manage its activities.

There are remote probes (for example, network device monitoring probes) that run on a robot machine, which in turn can monitor remote devices. Once the probe is deployed to the robot machine, it can be configured according to the specific tasks that the probe can perform.

For example, with the interface traffic probe, you need to type the host names or IP addresses, as well as the SNMP community strings, for the devices you wish to monitor. Once the probe has been properly configured, the remote devices can be monitored via SNMP (using agentless monitoring).

Refer to the Nimsoft Server Installation and User Guide for more information about probes. You can also find additional information among the video tutorials, which we discuss in the section View Additional Information (see page 23).

Chapter 5: View Additional Information 23

Chapter 5: View Additional Information

You can view video tutorials supplied by Nimsoft to learn more about the Nimsoft Monitoring Solution.

For example, selecting Nimsoft Videos from the Community tab in the Nimsoft Monitor Unified Monitoring Portal displays a screen from which you can choose from a number of tutorials that describe some of the probes supplied with Nimsoft Monitor, as well as general product and procedural information.

Select a link on this screen to view the video of your choice.

A more direct way to view the Nimsoft Monitor videos is to select one of the specific tutorial links in the Download Center. You can play these video tutorials any time you need to review the procedures listed on the screen.

Documents

Nimsoft Monitor SaaSnodcdn.nimsoft.com/Nimsoft_Monitor_SaaS_Relay_Installation_Guid… · Type your Nimsoft userid and password, as described for the Direct Connect method. Remember