When you access the vRealize Log Insight web interface for the first time after the virtual appliance deployment or after removing a worker node from a cluster, you must finish the initial configuration steps.

All settings that you modify during the initial configuration are also available in the Configuration web user interface.

For information about the trace data that vRealize Log Insight might collect and send to VMware when you participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), see The Customer Experience Improvement Program.

Prerequisites

  • In the vSphere Client, note the IP address of the vRealize Log Insight virtual appliance. For information about locating the IP address, see Deploy the vRealize Log Insight Virtual Appliance.
  • Verify that you are using a supported browser. See Minimum Requirements.
  • Verify that you have a valid license key. You can request an evaluation or permanent license key through your account on My VMware™ at https://my.vmware.com/.
  • If you want to use local, vCenter Server, or Active Directory credentials to integrate vRealize Log Insight with vRealize Operations, verify that these users are imported in vRealize Operations Custom user interface. For instructions about configuring LDAP, see the vRealize Operations Manager documentation.

Procedure

  1. Use a supported browser to navigate to the web user interface of vRealize Log Insight.
    The URL format is https:// log_insight-host/, where log_insight-host is the IP address or host name of the vRealize Log Insight virtual appliance.
    The initial configuration wizard opens.
  2. Click Start New Deployment.
  3. Set the password for the administrator (user name admin) and click Save and Continue. Optionally, you can provide an email address for the administrator.
    The administrator is a user linked to the Super Admin role. For information about roles, see Create and Modify Roles in Administering vRealize Log Insight
  4. Enter the license key, click Add License Key, and click Save and Continue.
  5. On the General Configuration page, enter the email address to receive system notifications from vRealize Log Insight.
  6. If you are using webhooks to send notifications to vRealize Operations or a third-party application, enter a space-separated list of URLs in the Send HTTP Post System Notifications To text box.
  7. (Optional) To leave the CEIP, deselect the Join the VMware Customer Experience Program option. Click Save and Continue.
    Note: If you join the CEIP, vRealize Log Insight uses a third-party tool called Pendo to collect analytics cookies. Pendo collects data based on your interaction with the user interface by tracking where you click, to help VMware understand how vRealize Log Insight is used. This data is used to improve the VMware services and design them better. For more information, see the Privacy Notice.
  8. On the Time Configuration page, set how time is synchronized on the vRealize Log Insight virtual appliance and click Test.
    Option Description
    NTP server (recommended) By default, vRealize Log Insight is configured to synchronize time with public NTP servers. If an external NTP server is not accessible due to firewall settings, you can use the internal NTP server of your organization.

    Use commas to separate multiple NTP servers.

    ESX/ESXi host If no NTP servers are available, you can sync the time with the ESXi host where you deployed the vRealize Log Insight virtual appliance.
  9. Click Save and Continue.
  10. (Optional) To enable outgoing alert and system notification emails, specify the properties of an SMTP server.
    To verify that the SMTP configuration is correct, enter a valid email address and click Test. vRealize Log Insight sends a test email to the address that you provided.
  11. (Optional) To provide a custom SSL certificate, upload a certificate file to the cluster in a PEM format. You can also view the details of the existing certificate.

    The system adds the certificate to the truststores of all the nodes of the cluster and saves it for later use.

    For information about the prerequisites of the custom SSL certificate, see Install a Custom SSL Certificate.

  12. Click Save and Continue.

Results

After the vRealize Log Insight process restarts, you are redirected to the Dashboards page of vRealize Log Insight.

What to do next

  • Navigate to Integration > vSphere and configure vRealize Log Insight to pull tasks, events, and alerts from vCenter Server instances, and to configure ESXi hosts to send syslog feeds to vRealize Log Insight.
  • Assign a permanent license to vRealize Log Insight. See Assign a Permanent License to Log Insight in Administering vRealize Log Insight.
  • Configure the vRealize Log Insight adapter in vRealize Operations to enable launch in context. See Configuring vRealize Log Insight with vRealize Operations in the vRealize Operations Configuration Guide.
  • Install the vRealize Log Insight Windows Agent to collect events from Windows event channels, Windows directories, and flat text log files. See Installing Windows Agents in Working with vRealize Log Insight Agents.