Foglight 5.9.2 - Installing Foglight on a UNIX System with an External MySQL Database

Running the Management Server FAQ

On UNIX®, Foglight uses the Quest Common Process Runner to run processes such as the embedded database, the embedded Agent Manager, and command actions.

Newer Linux® distributions have enabled new kernel security extensions from the SELinux project at the NSA (National Security Agency). SELinux is an NSA project to improve the security of Linux through Mandatory Access Control (MAC). These extensions allow finer-grained control over system security. However, SELinux also changes some default system behaviors, such as shared library loading, which can be problematic to third-party programs.

If you see the error message “cannot restore segment prot after reloc: Permission denied” when you start the Management Server, your SELinux configuration is preventing IDL (the Interface Definition Language) from launching.

To rectify this issue, you can perform one of the following workarounds:

For more information about SELinux, consult your Linux® distribution vendor.

If you encounter this problem, the cause might be that the MySQL database file my.cnf has been made world-writable.

Do not make the MySQL database file my.cnf world-writable, for example by issuing the command chmod a+w <foglight_home>/mysql/my.cnf. Foglight and the database cannot start if there is world access to the configuration file my.cnf.

If Management Servers that are not part of a particular HA partition are configured to multicast using the same port on the same subnet as the Management Servers within the HA partition, errors like the following appear in the logs for the Management Servers that are configured in this way:

ERROR [UDP mcast receiver] org.jgroups.protocols.UDP - message does not have a UDP header

or

ERROR [UDP mcast receiver] org.jgroups.protocols.UDP - discarded message from different group

If you see this type of message, change the cluster multi-cast port of the servers that are reporting the error. In addition, if you plan to have multiple High Availability (HA) partitions on the same sub-net, configure a different cluster multicast port for each HA partition. See Configuring the cluster multicast port used in High Availability mode for instructions.

IMPORTANT: In both cases described here (resolving errors and planning to have multiple HA partitions on the same subnet), the primary server and secondary servers within each HA partition must be configured to use the same cluster multicast port.

It is recommended that you do not use this method to stop the Management Server. However, if you do use this method, follow the following workaround.

The Foglight browser interface requires JavaScript. You may need to modify the security settings in your web browser to enable this functionality. Depending on your browser, this setting may be labeled either “Enable JavaScript” (for example, in Firefox®), or “Enable Active Scripting” (for example, in Internet Explorer®).

The default link to the login page points to http://localhost:8080. In some instances, this link may not correspond to the URL of your Foglight server, resulting in the link not working. This issue can also occur when Foglight is not able to identify your local host. Add your host/IP information to the etc/hosts files to correct this issue.

Configuring the Management Server with a link-local IPv6 address is not supported because many web browsers do not support link-local IPv6 addresses. To correct this issue, update your host/IP information in the etc/hosts file.

Installing and Upgrading Cartridges

Using the Foglight Administration Module, you can install cartridges on the machine hosting the Management Server, enable and manage cartridges, and download agent installers.

The Cartridge Inventory dashboard contains controls for installing, enabling, disabling, and uninstalling cartridges, and for viewing information about the installed cartridges.

Installation is the first step in adding a cartridge to the Management Server. A cartridge file has the extension .car. Installing the .car file causes the Management Server to be aware of all cartridges in the .car file.

A cartridge must also be enabled before it is added to the Management Server. You can choose to enable a cartridge during installation, or afterward. See the Administration and Configuration Help for instructions on enabling and disabling cartridges after installation.

If the installation is successful, the message “Cartridge has been installed successfully” appears in the Install Cartridge area and the cartridge is listed in the Cartridge Inventory.

If Enable on install was not selected (see Step 4), a disabled symbol () appears in the row for that cartridge in the Installed Cartridges table on the Cartridge Inventory dashboard.

For more information about cartridge installation and configuration, see the Administration and Configuration Guide.

NOTE: Warning messages similar to the following appear in the Management Server log when you install a cartridge: WARN — Module system:<name> was converted to the newest version during loading These warnings are expected and do not affect functionality.

To obtain a full list of the cartridges installed on the Management Server, open the Cartridge Inventory dashboard (Administration > Cartridges > Cartridge Inventory), and select Cartridge Inventory Report from the Reports menu.

For complete cartridge upgrade instructions, see the Upgrade Guide.

Installing Agents

A cartridge may include one or more executable Foglight agent installers. The agent installers included in a cartridge are listed on the Components for Download dashboard (on the navigation panel, select Administration > Cartridges > Components for Download).

Agents must be installed on all the machines you want to monitor. For agents that are installed on the monitored host, you must install and configure the Agent Manager.

NOTE: Foglight 4-converted agents create two processes for themselves when activated by the Agent Manager.

For more details, see these topics:

Agent installers

Agents that depend on the Agent Manager are installed using the remote installation procedure. See Remote agent installation and the Administration and Configuration Guide.

Some cartridges Foglight include one or more executable agent installers. The agent installers that are available for download are listed on the Components for Download dashboard. You can use the controls on this dashboard to download agent installers from the Management Server to a remote machine.

NOTE: For agents that are installed individually, run the agent installer executable and set up the agent on each machine you want to monitor with that type of agent. The Agent Manager defines agents with their Agent Package name. When displayed in the Create Agent dialog, the agent names are prepended with the cartridge name.

Depending on the type of agent that you installed, you may need to edit its properties to configure it for the part of your environment that you want to monitor. For information about agent properties, see the Administration and Configuration Guide and the User Guide for the cartridge with which the agent was included.