Setting up Collection Agents

Depending on your environment, you can choose a data collection mechanism (Collection Station or Collection Agent) that is suitable to your data collection purposes. If you choose to use a Collection Agent as your data collection mechanism, then you need to install the BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics and configure Collection Agents on the BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics. While Collection Agents help you perform actual data collection, the BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics helps you monitor the health and performance of the Collection Agents configured.

For more information about installing the BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics, configuring Collection Agents, and monitoring Collection Agents, see the following topics in the BMC PATROL for IT Data Analytics documentation portal:

Where to go from here

• Start data collection in one of the following ways:
  • To actually start data collection, create data collector by setting the Collection Host (Agent) to Collection Station or Collection Agent. For more information, see Managing data collectors. OR
  • To automatically create particular kinds of data collectors, create collection profiles that define data collector templates. For more information, see Managing collection profiles.
• Create data patterns that define how data must be indexed. This information is necessary while creating data collectors. For more information, see Managing data patterns.
• (Optional) Create hosts to capture host credentials to subsequently use while creating data collectors. For more information, see Managing hosts.
• (Optional) Create credential profiles to capture system credentials to subsequently use while creating data collectors. For more information, see Managing credentials.