Use the helper script to monitor applications and operating systems on a Linux platform using open source Telegraf.

The helper script is tested only on the following operating systems:
  • CentOS 7.x and CentOS 8.x
  • RHEL 7.x and RHEL 8.x
  • SUSE 12.x and SUSE 15.x
  • OEL7.x and OEL 8.x
  • Ubuntu 16.x, Ubuntu 18.x, Ubuntu 20.x, and Ubuntu 22.x
  • VMware Photon Linux

Prerequisites

  • Verify that cloud proxy is installed and online.
  • Install the jq package. For more information, see the official documentation for jq from https://stedolan.github.io/jq/download/.
  • Ensure that VMTools version >=10.2 if a vCenter Server VM is monitored by vRealize Operations Cloud. vmware-toolbox-cmd is necessary only for vCenter Server VMs.
  • Ensure that you have permissions to run the following commands and use the following packages:
    • Commands: /bin/bash, awk, sed, vmware-toolbox-cmd, jq, curl
    • Packages: coreutils (chmod, chown, cat), net-tools (ip, /dev/tcp, curl, wget)
  • Ensure that Internet is activated.
  • Ensure that cloud proxy is up and online in vRealize Operations Cloud. In the case of collector groups, ensure that at least one cloud proxy in the application monitoring high availability activated collector group is up and online in vRealize Operations Cloud.
  • Ensure that cloud proxy or the virtual IP of the application monitoring high availability activated collector group is reachable from vCenter Server VMs, AWS EC2 instances, Azure VMs, or the physical server.
  • The uuidgen package must exist on the vCenter Server VMs, AWS EC2 instances, Azure VMs, or the physical server.

Procedure

  1. Install open source Telegraf on the end point. If you have an instance installed, you can skip this step. To download and install a new instance of Telegraf, see the official documentation and search for the corresponding OS version from https://www.influxdata.com/time-series-platform/telegraf/ and https://portal.influxdata.com/downloads/.
  2. Download the helper script from cloud proxy located at https://<CloudProxy-IP>/downloads/salt/open_source_telegraf_monitor.sh.
    Note: Use the relevant cloud proxy IP address/FQDN for <CloudProxy-IP> in the preceding commands and location specified. For application monitoring high availability activated collector groups, provide the virtual IP.
  3. Navigate to the directory where the script is downloaded.
  4. Activate execution permission of the script for Linux VM. 
    chmod +x open_source_telegraf_monitor.sh
  5. Run the helper script to update Telegraf configurations. 
    open_source_telegraf_monitor.sh  -t <SAAS_REFRESH_TOKEN> -d <TELEGRAF_CONFIG_DIR>  -c <CP_IP_OR_COLLECTOR_GROUP> -e <TELEGRAF_BIN_PATH> [ -g <GATEWAY_URL> -a <CSP_AUTH_URL> ]

Description of arguments:
SAAS_REFRESH_TOKEN - CSP Refresh Token of the user/account. For getting new token, follow - "User/Organization Settings >> My Account >> API Tokens >> Generate a New API Token". It's a mandatory parameter.
Example: gi7lwabjnvdfiawt4watzksuol8sywrjvg8kabh31mx9x1guepgyhycyx61dqrpq
TELEGRAF_CONFIG_DIR: Telegraf configuration directory. i.e value of --config-directory argument mentioned in telegraf service. ex: /etc/telegraf/telegraf.d
TELEGRAF_BIN_PATH - Path of telegraf binary ex: /usr/bin/telegraf
CP_IP_OR_COLLECTOR_GROUP - Mention the cloud proxy FQDN/IP address or the name of the application monitoring high availability activated collector group.
GATEWAY_URL - Optional argument to override default vROps SaaS gateway URL
CSP_AUTH_URL - Optional argument to override default CSP authentication URL

    Example:
./open_source_telegraf_monitor.sh -v 10.192.0.1 -t UO2HafB0JMYiMmnppZIo2Zn5jCdDf1YeIXa0E7JXUPoUXF5HN6SK29kdJUibcJMg -c 10.192.0.100 -d /etc/telegraf/telegraf.d  -e /usr/bin/telegraf
    Note: After you run the helper script, ensure that the respective configurations are set correctly in the given config directory ( -d option) path with the name cloudproxy-http.conf. See Sample Configurations for more details. For managed vCenter Server VMs, AWS EC2 instances, or Azure VMs, you might see unmanaged configurations, because of one of the following reasons:
    • vCenter Server VMs, AWS EC2 instances, or Azure VMs details are not available in vRealize Operations Cloud by the vCenter Server, AWS, or Azure adapters correspondingly. Wait for a minimum of one to two collection cycles after configuring the vRealize Operations Cloud vCenter Server cloud accounts.
    • An incorrect SAAS_REFRESH_TOKEN.
    Note: -d <TELEGRAF_CONFIG_DIR>: The Telegraf executable has the command line option --config-directory. You must provide the value set for the option -d, when you run the script. In Linux, the value can be found in the service file /usr/lib/systemd/system/telegraf.service.
    Note: By default, the InfluxDB output plugin is active in the telegraf.conf file and data is sent to the influxdb server so that you do not get multiple warning messages in the logs about the lack of configured influxdb server comment, the "[[outputs.influxdb]]" line should be commented. The following warning message is displayed: W! [outputs.influxdb] When writing to [http://localhost:8086]: database "telegraf" creation failed: Post "http://localhost:8086/query": dial tcp [::1]:8086: connect: connection refused

    Example: #[[outputs.influxdb]]

    Note: Ensure that the input plugins in the telegraf.conf file are related to the corresponding operating system. See Telegraf Configuration Details for Operating Systems.
  6. If an application service that is supported by vRealize Operations Cloud is running on the end point and you want to monitor it, update the Telegraf configuration file or directory with necessary inputs for Telegraf.
    For a list of supported application services, see Introduction.
    For the list of configurations, see Telegraf Configuration Details for Supported Application Services.
    For unsupported application services, update the Telegraf configuration file or directory with the necessary inputs for Telegraf. For more information, see https://docs.influxdata.com/telegraf/latest/plugins/inputs/.
  7. Restart the Telegraf service. 
    systemctl restart telegraf 
or
/usr/bin/telegraf -config /etc/telegraf/telegraf.conf -config-directory /etc/telegraf/telegraf.d

What to do next

Managed VM object hierarchy:
  • If a vCenter Server VM is monitored by vRealize Operations Cloud, then the operating system and application objects fall under the respective VM > OS object > 'application service' instance.
  • If an Azure VM is monitored by vRealize Operations Cloud, then the operating system and application objects fall under the respective Azure VM > OS object > 'application service' instance.
  • If an AWS EC2 instance is monitored by vRealize Operations Cloud, then the operating system and application objects fall under the respective AWS EC2 instance > OS object > 'application service' instance.

Unmanaged VM object hierarchy: If a vCenter Server VM, an AWS EC2 instance, or an Azure VM is not monitored by vRealize Operations Cloud, then the operating system and application objects fall under Environment > Operating System World > OS object > 'application service' instance.