Prerequisites for Adding Data Collectors
• 64-bit OS. See the APTARE StorageConsole Certified Configurations Guide for supported operating systems.
• Support Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.7.
• Reside in the same time zone as the subsystem from which data will be collected.
• If the backup servers belong to a cluster, StorageConsole communicates with the cluster for data collection.
• For performance reasons, APTARE recommends that you do not install Data Collectors on the same server as the StorageConsole Portal. However, if you must have both on the same server, verify that the Portal and Data Collector software do not reside in the same directory.
• Install only one Data Collector on a server (or OS instance).
Capacity Manager: Collection of Array Capacity Data
• The Data Collector communicates with the storage array’s system service processor (SSP) and hosts to gather storage capacity data.
• A single Data Collector can include all supported storage types—Dell, EMC, Hitachi, HP, IBM, and NetApp. In fact, this single Data Collector can be used for other enterprise objects, such as backup jobs.
• For Capacity Manager, in some cases—such as EMC Symmetrix arrays—the Data Collector must reside on the system that is running the SAN management software. Refer to the APTARE StorageConsole Certified Configurations Guide for requirements.
Host Data Collection
• Host Resources do not require a dedicated Data Collector. If you have a Data Collector configured, the Host Resources collector is inherently part of that Data Collector. However, if for some reason, you do not have a Storage Array Data Collector, you can install a Host Resources Data Collector independently.
• Host probes can be configured to gather data and statistics—Memory, Network, Processes, Processor, System, Capacity, Capacity-HBA, Capacity-ISCSI, Capacity-Volume Manager, Capacity-Multi-Pathing, Oracle, Oracle ASM, Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, File Analytics.
File Analytics: Profiling Files in Your Enterprise
Data Collection can be configured in three ways, depending on the location of the files you want to profile, to collect data for:
• CIFS Shares - Create a File Analytics Data Collector policy to configure a file shares probe.
• NetApp Systems - Enable File Analytics via a NetApp Data Collector policy.
• Host-attached storage - Configure a host probe for Windows and SSH collection.
Virtualization Manager: Collection of VMware Data
• This Data Collector policy can be incorporated with an existing Data Collector Policy. A Data Collector can collect data from Virtual Center (vCenter) or from specific ESX servers that are not managed by vCenter.
• The VMware Data Collector is multi-threaded enabling it to poll up to five vCenters in one polling cycle. Therefore, multiple vCenter collections can be configured in one Data Collector policy.
Fabric Manager: Collection of SAN Switch Data
• A single Data Collector can include all supported switches—Brocade, Cisco, McData. In fact, this single Data Collector can be used for other enterprise objects, such as backup products and storage arrays.
• The Data Collector accesses the SMI agent server to retrieve data, so the user ID and password for that server is required.
Backup Manager: Collection of Backup and Restore Data
For Backup Manager, where you install the Data Collector depends on the backup solution.
• For CommVault Simpana, the Data Collector should be installed on the same machine as the WMI proxy server.
• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) must have its own Data Collector.
• For all other backup solutions, the Data Collector can run on any server running a supported operating system. Refer to the APTARE StorageConsole Certified Configurations Guide for supported systems.
• One Data Collector can be used to include all of these backup products: CommVault Simpana, EMC Avamar, EMC NetWorker, EMC Data Domain, Symantec Backup Exec, Symantec NetBackup, HP Data Protector, and Generic Backup products. And, you also can include other enterprise objects, such as storage arrays, in this Data Collector.
Data Collection by Backup Product
The following collection mechanisms are used for the particular backup products:
• CommVault Simpana - The Data Collector uses JDBC as a read-only user (including executing some read-only functions) to collect point-in-time data from the CommVault Simpana CommServe database. The Data Collector also uses a CommVault Simpana command-line tool (sendLogFiles.exe - executed using WMI on the CommServe server) to collect log files from client machines managed by the CommServe server.
• EMC Avamar - The Data Collector uses JDBC as a read-only user to collect point-in-time data from the Avamar Management Console Server (MCS) database.
• EMC Data Domain - A Data Collector policy can be configured to use the command-line interface (CLI) to gather the details. Note that more details can be obtained via the CLI than with SNMP.
• EMC NetWorker - The Data Collector uses the Networker administration command-line utilities, such as mminfo, nsradmin, and nsrinfo.
• Generic Backup Data - APTARE StorageConsole Backup Manager can report on data from backup products that are not native to StorageConsole—such as PureDisk, BakBone, and BrightStor. Using the backup vendor’s export feature, create a comma-separated values (CSV) file. The StorageConsole Data Collection process will import the data into the Portal database.
• HP Data Protector - The Data Collector communicates with the Cell Manager—the server that runs session managers and core software to manage the backup details in the HP Data Protector internal database (IDB).
• IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) - The Data Collector interfaces with TSM using the TSM utility, dsmadmc, collecting data from the underlying TSM databases, including TSM Archives for LAN-free backups.
• Symantec Backup Exec - The Data Collector uses database commands to obtain information from each Backup Exec server.
• Symantec NetBackup - A single, centralized Data Collector can collect from multiple NetBackup Master Servers. A variety of probes can be selected to gather details such as tape inventory and storage lifecycle policies (SLP).
Replication Manager: Collection of NetApp Replication Data
• Similar to Capacity Manager, the Data Collector communicates with the storage array’s system service processor (SSP) to gather storage replication data.
• This Data Collector policy is configured as part of the NetApp storage Data Collector.
Adding/Editing Data Collectors
To enable the Data Collector server to pass data to the Portal server, a corresponding Data Collector must be created in the Portal, along with Data Collector Policies for each of the vendor-specific enterprise objects. Data Collector Policies are specific to the type of data that is being collected; however, multiple types of policies often can be combined within one Data Collector.
The first step is to create a Data Collector. Once created, you can add enterprise object policies to it. Often one Portal Data Collector is sufficient for adding Data Collector policies for a variety of enterprise objects such as backup servers, arrays, and switches. Only Backup Manager TSM collection requires its own Data Collector.
For information about upgrading data collectors, refer to the Installation and Upgrade Guides for Windows or Linux.
To Add a Portal Data Collector
1. Select Admin > Data Collection > Collectors.
The list of currently configured Portal Data Collectors is displayed. If a Data Collector has already been created, rather than creating a new Data Collector, you may want to add your collection policies to an existing Data Collector.
To Edit a Portal Data Collector
1. Select Admin > Data Collection > Collectors.
The list of currently configured Portal Data Collectors is displayed.
2. Select a Data Collector from the list.
3. Click Edit.
4. Enter or modify fields as necessary.
Field | Description | Sample Values |
Collector Name* | Click Change to edit the unique name assigned to this Data Collector. The Data Collector will use this value for authentication purposes. Changing the Collector ID or passcode requires manual changes to the corresponding Data Collector server. Collection will break if these corresponding changes are not made. See User ID and Passcode on the Data Collector Server. | BUEdc1 TSMdc1 HRdc1 |
Passcode* | Click Change to edit the passcode assigned to this Data Collector. It can be any character sequence. Unlike other StorageConsole passwords (which are encrypted and then saved) this Data Collector passcode is not encrypted prior to saving in the StorageConsole database and may appear as clear case in certain files. It simply is intended as a “handshake” identification between the data collector and the policy. Changing the Collector ID or passcode requires manual changes to the corresponding Data Collector server. Collection will break if these corresponding changes are not made. See User ID and Passcode on the Data Collector Server. | Password1 |
Short Notes | Descriptive notes associated with this Data Collector. | |
Enable SSL | Both secure (SSL) and non-secure Data Collectors can send data to the same Portal. Check this box to select the secure communication protocol (https) that the Data Collector will use. This check box will not appear in the dialog box if SSL is not enabled in your environment. The Portal data receiver must be listening for https traffic; for example:
https://agent.mycollector.com | |
Auto-upgrade aptare.jar | Indicate if you want this configuration file upgraded automatically. This part of the Data Collector is responsible for event and metadata processing threads. The .jar file contains the processing and parsing logic for data collection. The latest versions can be downloaded automatically and applied to the collector during upgrades. It is recommended that this setting be set to Yes. | Yes |
Auto-upgrade Upgrade Manager | Indicate if you want this configuration bundle upgraded automatically. This data collector component is responsible for managing Data Collector upgrades. The latest versions can be downloaded automatically and applied to the collector during upgrades. It is recommended that this setting be set to Yes. | Yes |
User ID and Passcode on the Data Collector Server
Warning: Any Portal changes to the Data Collector Policy User ID and Passcode require manual modifications on the Data Collector server. Corresponding changes must be made to files on the Data Collector server so that it can continue to communicate with the Portal.
To change the User ID and Password on the Data Collector Server
1. Find and update the User ID and Password in each of the OS-specific files listed below. These entries are typically in the last line of a long string of configuration settings.
Windows:
\<HOME>\mbs\bin\updateconfig.bat
\<HOME>\mbs\conf\wrapper.conf
Example:
\opt\aptare\mbs\bin\updateconfig.bat
\opt\aptare\mbs\conf\wrapper.conf
Linux:
/<HOME>/mbs/bin/updateconfig.sh
/<HOME>/mbs/conf/startup.sh
Example:
/opt/aptare/mbs/bin/updateconfig.sh
/opt/aptare/mbs/conf/startup.sh
Note: Restart the Data Collector to trigger the updates.