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titleOS Agent for AIX & Linux preparation

AIX and Linux are the first BVQ platforms where data is not pulled from the systems by the BVQ scanner. Instead, data is sent (pushed) from the OS on the LPARs to the BVQ Server by an BVQ OS Agent using SCP/SFTP. This means, an ssh-server on the BVQ Server is receiving data from the OS instances. Once an AIX or Linux BVQ Scanner is configured, the ssh-server is being started automatically and is listening on port 2222.

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titleImportant

Please ensure that port 2222 is not blocked by a firewall!

BVQ Scanner configuration

To configure an AIX or Linux BVQ scanner the following information is required:

  • NAME - Name of the AIX or Linux scanner
  • INSTANCE GROUP NAME - Select a name which is used to group all AIX or Linux Instances (=partitions) together that are running the BVQ OS Agent for AIX or Linux. The number of instances per instance group should not exceed 50.
  • USERNAME - This user authorizes the SCP/SFTP transfer from the AIX or Linux Instances to the BVQ Server. It will be configured during the installation process
  • SSH PUBLIC KEY - Optional. Leave empty if you want to use the default ssh key-pair included in bvq_agent.tar.gz. If you want to use a different ssh key-pair type, then enter the content of the public ssh key file here and adjust bvq_config.sh on the OS agent accordingly.
    Supported key types are:
    • ssh-rsa (default)
    • ecdsa-sha2
    • rsa-sha2-256
    • ssh-ed25519

OS Agent installation

The BVQ Agent for AIX or Linux RPM installation package is automatically generated once a new BVQ AIX or Linux scanner configuration is being created in the BVQ WebUI. After the "Save"-button is pressed, the RPM package is automatically generated and can be downloaded directly. Further installation instructions can be found in the scanner configuration page or the readme included in the RPM download package.

OS User requirements

OSusergroupRestrictions
AIXrootsystemnone
AIXothersystemNo stats for FC adapters
AIXotherstaffNo stats for FC adapters and LV, VG objects
Linuxrootrootnone (other uid / gid not supported)

Alternatively, the BVQ AIX agent can be rolled out automatically to many systems using an AIX NIM server. The download package for AIX includes a script that helps configuring the NIM server.

Note
titleImportant!

It is essential that BVQ Server and AIX/Linux clocks are in sync. Please ensure that NTP is configured and active on all monitored systems and the BVQ Server!

The OS Agent cannot be installed or upgraded as long as NTP is not configured!



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titleVMware vSphere preparation

A user is required for the operation of the BVQ VMware Scanner, who should at least have read-only access to the VMware vCenter system. The read-only permission for the user must be defined at the vCenter level. Permissions in a lower level (e.g. Datacenter, Cluster, ...) will lead to scan errors.

(warning) Please create this user before configuring the BVQ Scanner. We recommend to name the user: bvq

Create or select the right user role

  • Go to user roles

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  • Duplicate (1) the read-only role and store it as BVQ-Read-only (2) and add the following privileges (3)
    Datastore - browse datastore
    Profile driven storage - view
    Storage views - view

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Create the BVQ User for the vCenter

  • Create the bvq user with the role "BVQ-read-only"
    create it as vsphere.local or as AD user - please remember to add it correctly into the scanner dialog later

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  • Add the user to the vCenter
    Add the  user to the vCenter (4) and do not forget to define it for all children

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Add the right vCenter Statistics

  • Interval duration has to be 5 minutes

  • Level 2 is sufficient for standard VMware
    Level 3 should be used for VSANs

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Note
titleHigh vCenter CPU usage during BVQ Performance scan

During the BVQ performance scan of a vCenter server the CPU usage of the vCenter server will increase. Please monitor the vCenter server utilization depending on the workload to avoid performance degradation.


Gather information for BVQ Scanner configuration

BVQ scanners need the following information to be configured for each vCenter system:

  • vCenter IP address or hostname
  • vCenter user domain
  • vCenter ID and password of the bvq user


Preparation for the BVQ Server

For BVQ Servers which are gathering information from NetApps and vCenters, the correct DNS configuration is important.
Make sure that the BVQ Server, NetApp systems and vCenters are in the same domain and have the same DNS server configured. 

This is required to match the DNS-Name of the NFS Datastores to the corresponding IP Adresses of the NFS file shares on NetApp systems.

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