Monitor script output over SSH

You can create a data collector for monitoring data that is generated as a result of running a script by using an SSH connection.

To collect output received by executing a script over an SSH connection

1. Navigate to Administration > Data Collectors > Add Data Collector.
2. In the Name box, provide a unique name to identify this data collector.
3. From the Type list, select Monitor script output over SSH.

4. Provide the following information, as appropriate:

    

   Field	Description
   Target/Collection Host
   Target Host	Failed to execute the [excerpt-include] macro.
   Collection Host (Agent)	Failed to execute the [excerpt-include] macro. Note: For this type of data collector, the target host and collection host are expected to have different values.
   Collector Inputs
   Server Name	The host name of the server on which the data is generated as a result of running the script. Note: If you selected a target host earlier, this field is automatically populated.
   Credentials	(Optional) Select one of the following options: Apply security credential to automatically populate the user name and password fields. Then select the appropriate credential (profile) from the Available Credential list that you already configured under Administration > Credentials. Provide Credential to manually add user name and password credentials. Then enter the credentials in the User Name and Password fields. You can also create a credential that uses the manually entered details by clicking Add Credential  next to the Password field.
   User Name	Provide the user name for connecting with the server from which you want to retrieve the data. Note: This field is disabled if you applied a security profile earlier. The product supports only password-based authentication for connecting with the SSH server.
   Password	Provide the password for connecting with the server from which you want to retrieve the data. Click Add Credential , provide a credential name, and click OK to create a new credential (profile) from the credentials that you provided in the user name and password fields. Once this credential is created, it is displayed under Administration > Credentials. Note: This field is disabled if you applied a security credential earlier.
   Script Path	Provide the complete path to the script that you want to execute on the remote computer for retrieving data. You can also pass parameters dynamically while executing the script. For example, you can execute the following script that takes the input parameter as your name and prints "Hello."   Script example #!/bin/bash echo "Hello $1" In this case, you must enter script.sh MyName in this field. where: script.sh is the name of the file in which you saved the preceding script. MyName refers to the name that you want to pass as the input parameter. Note: If there is a space character in one of the directory names in your script path, then you must enclose the directory name with double quotes (").
   Time Zone	Excerpt named time zone was not found in document xwiki:IT-Operations-Management.Operations-Management.BMC-TrueSight-IT-Data-Analytics.itda21.Administering.Managing-data-collectors.Creating-data-collectors.Upload-file.WebHome.
   Data Pattern
   Pattern	Excerpt named pattern was not found in document xwiki:IT-Operations-Management.Operations-Management.BMC-TrueSight-IT-Data-Analytics.itda21.Administering.Managing-data-collectors.Creating-data-collectors.Upload-file.WebHome.
   Date Format	When you select a data pattern, the matching date format is automatically updated. However, you can specifically find date formats matching the timestamp in your data file. Use one of the following methods to specify a date format: Filter the relevant data formats: Click Auto-Detect to find automatically find a list of matching data patterns and date formats. If no matching data patterns are found, a list of matching date formats is displayed. You can click each of the date formats displayed on the left, to see a preview of the sample records. Note: Before filtering the relevant date formats by clicking Auto-Detect, under the Advanced Options section, ensure that the correct file encoding is set. Manually select a date format: Manually scan through the list available, and select one of the date formats available. Click Preview to see the sample records parsed. Alternatively, from the Pattern list, select Free Text with Timestamp and click Preview to find the relevant data formats that match the file. Create a new date format: If you are not satisfied with the results arising out of the date formats available, you can create a new date format. To do this, select the Create new Date Format option and manually enter the date format depending on the timestamp that you want to capture. For example, if your data file contains the timestamp, "28 Apr 2014 10:58:28", then your date format must be dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss. Notes: If you select both – a pattern and a date format, then the date format specified takes precedence over the date format from the pattern that you selected. So the timestamp is indexed as per the specified date format, and the rest of the data is indexed as per the pattern. If you select only a date format, then the date format is used for indexing the timestamp, while the rest of the data is displayed in a raw format in your search results.
   Date Locale	You can use this setting to enable reading the date and time string based on the language selected. Note that this setting only applies to those portions of the date and time string that consist letters (digits are not considered). By default, this value is set to English. You can manually select a language to override the default locale. For a list of languages supported, see Language-information.
   Script Time Out (mins)	Specify the time duration (in minutes) after which the script must time out. By default, this value is set to 10.
   Poll Interval (mins)	Specify the interval (in minutes) after which the script must be executed and the script output data must be collected. By default, this value is set to 1. The value of this field is passed as the last argument to the script.
   Start/Stop Collection	(Optional) Select this check box if you want to start the data collection immediately.

   The [expand] macro is a standalone macro and it cannot be used inline.
   

   Tags

   Inherit Host Level Tags From Target Host

   (Optional) Select this check box to inherit your tag selections associated with the target host that you selected earlier. This option is not applicable if you did not select a target host. Note: After selecting this check box, you can further manually select additional user groups. When you manually select additional user groups, both the inherited permissions as well as the manually assigned permissions are applied. To remove the inherited permissions, clear this check box.

   Select Tag name and corresponding value

   (Optional) Select a tag name and specify the corresponding value by which you want to categorize the data collected. Later while searching data, you can use these tags to narrow down your search results.Example: If your are collecting data from hosts located at Houston, you can select a tag name for "Location" and in the value specify "Houston". While searching the data, you can use the tag, Location="Houston" to filter data and see results associated with the Houston location.To be able to see tag names, you need to first add them by navigating to Administration > System Settings.To specify tag names and corresponding values, in the left box select a tag name and then type the corresponding tag value in the right box. While you type the value, you might see type-ahead suggestions based on values specified in the past. If you want to use one of the suggestions, click the suggestion. Click Add to add the tag name and corresponding value to the list of added tags that follow. Click Remove Tag to remove a tag.The tags saved while creating the data collector are displayed on the Search tab, under the Filters panel, and in the Tags section.Note: At a time, you can specify only one value for a tag name. To specify multiple values for the same tag name, each time you need to select the tag name, specify the corresponding value, and click Add.For more information about tags, see Understanding-fields.

   Group Access

   Inherit Host Level Access Groups From Target Host

   (Optional) Select this check box to inherit your group access configurations associated with the target host that you selected earlier. This option is not applicable if you did not select a target host. Note: After selecting this check box, you can further manually select additional user groups. When you manually select additional user groups, both the inherited permissions as well as the manually assigned permissions are applied. To remove the inherited permissions, clear this check box.

   Select All Groups

   (Optional) Select this option if you want to select all user groups. You can also manually select multiple user groups. Notes: You can access data retrieved by this data collector based on the following conditions. If user groups are not selected and data access control is enabled: Only the creator of the data collector can access data retrieved by this data collector. If user groups are not selected and if data access control is not enabled: All users can access data retrieved by this data collector. You can restrict access permissions by selecting the relevant user groups that must be given access permissions. To enable data access control, navigate to Administration > System Settings. For more information, see Managing-user-groups-in-IT-Data-Analytics.

5. Click Create to save your changes.

What to do if an error occurs

To understand the troubleshooting scenarios related to this data collector, see Troubleshooting-common-issues with the Category filter set to Data collection.