Installing agents

Installing agents for Linux Version 3.1.0 (Latest)

Prerequisites

  • For prerequisite checks for agent installation, see Prerequisite checks for agent installation.
  • OS: Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, CentOS.
  • SixthSense Infra Agent. See Installing the Agent.
  • URL/IP of the Sixthsense collector (your tenant URL provided by Customer Support)
  • Access token provided by Customer Support.
  • PACKAGE_TOKEN - Access Token required for downloading SixthSense Package provided by Customer Support.
  • PACKAGE_TOKEN_USERNAME - Username for Access Token provided by Customer Support.
  • TOKEN - Access Token from the SixthSense portal Settings page.
  • For supported agent versions and framework, see VM agents.

Downloading the agent

  1. Download latest ss_infra_agent-x.x.x.linux-amd64.tar.gz release binary provided by Customer Support.
export PACKAGE_TOKEN="token"
export AGENT_VERSION="3.1.0"
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN:<TOKEN>" --output ss_infra_agent_3.1.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz "https://artifacts-observability.sixthsense.rakuten.com/api/v4/projects/15/packages/generic/sixthsense-infra-agent/3.1.1/ss_infra_agent_3.1.1-linux-amd64.tar.gz"
  1. Unzip release binary and go to the agent directory.
tar -xvzf ss_infra_agent-${AGENT_VERSION}.linux-amd64.tar.gz
cd ss_infra_agent-${AGENT_VERSION}.linux-amd64
  1. Copy the agent binary and config.yaml to the following directory /usr/local/bin

Configuring and starting the agent

Update ss_infra_agent_config.yaml as per the instructions mentioned in the configuration file.

# sixthsense-infra-agent can be configured via yaml or environment variables
#
# Note: Environment Variables are given higher priority over yaml file
#
# Following are the environment variables that can be set:
# ENV VARIABLE CORRESPONDS TO
# SS_SERVICE_NAME service_name
# SS_AUTHENTICATION authentication
# SS_BACKEND sixthsense_backend
# SS_LOGGING logging
# SS_SECURE secure
# SS_TOPNPROCESS topN_processes
sixthsense:
service_name: CentOS_VM
# Login to Sixthsense UI Go to Settings on Side Navbar Copy Access Token
authentication: ${SIXTHSENSE_TOKEN}
# debug|error|info
logging: info
sixthsense_backend: grpc-collector-observability.sixthsense.rakuten.com:443
secure: true
# note that the limit for capturing the processes is 15.
topN_processes: 5

  1. Give permission to the binary for all users chmod u+x /usr/local/bin/ss_infra_agent

  2. Create a service file in /etc/systemd/system directory using the following command.

  • cd /etc/systemd/system
  • sudo vi ss_infra_agent.service
  1. Add the following contents to the file:
[Unit]
Description=Sixthsense Infra Agent
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/ss_infra_agent --collector.processes
Restart=always
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/bin
RestartSec=10
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save and close the file.

  • If your service requires network connectivity, remove the After=network.target line.
  • Set Type=simple if your command doesn't fork into background or set Type=forking if it forks.
  • Set Restart=always to make sure the service is restarted automatically if it fails or stops.
  • Set RestartSec to specify the time between restart attempts.
  1. Reload the systemd daemon to read the new service file.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

  1. Start the agent as systemctl service

sudo systemctl start ss_infra_agent.service

  1. Check the service status to ensure that it is running.

sudo systemctl status ss_infra_agent.service

  1. Enable the service to start automatically on boot.

sudo systemctl enable ss_infra_agent.service

  1. Check the logs.

journalctl -u processname -n 100

On booting, the VM Agnet will start automatically and will be restarted if it crashes or stops for some reason.

Starting the agent directly

To start the agent, use the following command.

nohup ./ss_infra_agent_service --collector.processes &

In case of network restrictions, pass proxy to the meter-agent process to enable connection to sixthsense-backend.

HTTPS_PROXY=proxy-server:port ./ss_infra_agent_service --collector.processes &
  • --collector.processes – to send process level data
  • nohup - to start with logs, logs will be stored in nohup.out file
  • "&" - to start as background process

Installing agents for Windows Version 3.0.0 (latest)

Prerequisites

  • OS: Windows Server versions 2008R2 and later, and desktop Windows version 7 and later
  • SixthSense Windows VM Agent. For more information, see Installing the Agent.
  • URL/IP of the Sixthsense backend collector (the tenant URL provided by Customer Support)
  • Access token provided by Customer Support.
  • PACKAGE_TOKEN - Access Token required for downloading SixthSense Package provided by Customer Support.
  • PACKAGE_TOKEN_USERNAME - Username for Access Token provided by Customer Support.
  • TOKEN - Access Token from the SixthSense portal Settings page.
  • For supported agent versions and framework, see VM agents.

Downloading the agent

  1. Download latest ss_windows_infra_agent-<version_no>.zip release folder provided by Customer Support.
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN:<TOKEN>" --output ss_windows_infra_agent.zip "https://artifacts-observability.sixthsense.rakuten.com/api/v4/projects/15/packages/generic/sixthsense-infra-agent/3.1.0/ss_windows_infra_agent.zip"
  1. Unzip the release zip folder and place it in the agent directory.

Installing the agent

You can install the VM agent for Windows either through the UI or through the silent installation. Use any of the following procedures.

UI installation

  1. Update ss_windows_infra_agent_config.yaml as in the instructions mentioned in the config file.
# sixthsense-infra-agent can be configured via yaml or environment variables
#
# Note: Environment Variables are given higher priority over yaml file
#
# Following are the environment variables that can be set:
# ENV VARIABLE CORRESPONDS TO
# SS_SERVICE_NAME service_name
# SS_AUTHENTICATION authentication
# SS_BACKEND sixthsense_backend
# SS_LOGGING logging
# SS_SECURE secure
# SS_DEFAULTCOLLECTOR default_collectors
# SS_DEFAULTCOLLECTOR_PLACEHOLDER default_collectors_placeholdersixthsense
service_name: <custom_service_name>
# Login to the SixthSense portal > Go to **Settings** on left navigation bar > Copy Access Token
authentication: <service_auth_token>
# debug|error|info
logging: info
sixthsense_backend: <sixthsense_backend_collector>
# For connectivity to backend using onecloud private network: 100.99.116.221:80
# For connectivity to backend using intra public network: 133.237.176.44:80
# SSL connection with backend true|false
secure: true
# For OneCloud Platform use secure: false
#cpu,cs,logical_disk,net,os,service,system,textfile
default_collectors: "cpu,cs,logical_disk,net,os,memory,system,iis,process,cpu_info"
default_collectors_placeholder: "[defaults]"
enabled: cpu,cs,net,service`

a. Open command prompt with run as Administrator and enter the following command:

nssm.exe install “Service_Name” In the NSSM service installer screen, the Application tab is selected by default.

b. Enter the following details:

Path: windows_exporter.exe full path Startup directory: folder path

c. Click the Details tab.

d. Enter the following details:

Display name: service display name Description: service description Setup type: select type for setup such as automatic.

e. Click the Log on tab.

f. Select Local System account radio button.

g. Select Allow service to interact with desktop check box.

h. Click Install service.

  1. After configuring the connection details, start the Agent service from services. The metrics will be available on the dashboard.

Silent installation

  1. Go to the nssm.exe path in cmd with Administrator permission.
  2. Execute the following command.
nssm.exe install "service_name" "windows_exporter_exe_full_path" && net start service_name