Downloading and installing Linux connectors

Install the Linux connector to collect logs from Linux-based applications. 

Use this connector for the following integrations:

  • Collect logs from files
  • Amazon Web Services

Before you begin

  • Ensure that the host computer on which you plan to install the connector has a 2-core CPU and 16 GB RAM.
  • Ensure that you are downloading and installing the connector on the RHEL 8.x operating systems.
  • Ensure that you have the root permissions to install the connector.
  • Ensure that the 24444 port is available on the Linux server from where logs will be collected.

To download and install a Linux connector

  1. On the Integrations page, click the Available Integrations tab. 
  2. On the Connector Download and Install page, perform the following steps:
    1. From the Select the Connector Type list, select Linux Connector to collect logs from Linux-based applications.

    2. Click the Download link.
      The connector is downloaded as a .tar.gz file with the name tdc-connector-linux-<build_number>.tar.gz.

      Important

      Install only one connector for a Linux server to avoid port conflicts.

    3. To download the install script (.sh file), in the Create Connector field, enter the name of the connector and click Create and Download.
      The format of the install script file name is install-connector-<connector name>.sh. For example, you entered the connector name as my-bmc, the install script filename is install-connector-my-bmc.sh.
  3. Copy the install script and .tar.gz files to the /opt directory on the Linux server from where you want to collect the logs.

  4. Go to the /opt directory (cd /opt) and extract the .tar.gz file by running the following command:
    tar -xvf tdc-connector-linux-<build_id>-<version>.tar.gz
    The file is exrtracted in the bmc-devtools directory.
    {note

    Important

    If you extract the .tar.gz file to any directory other than /opt, the install script will fail to install the connector.

  5. Grant the execute permission to the downloaded installtion script, and then run the script:
    ./install-connector-<connector-name>.sh

    Important

    Ensure that you do not copy the script on any public domains.

To communicate with the connector through a proxy

  1. Open the /etc/systemd/system/td-agent.service file.
  2. Search for the following line: LimitNOFILE=65536.
  3. After this line, add the following:
    Environment=HTTP_PROXY=http://<PROXY_HOST_OR_IP>:<PROXY_PORT>
  4. Save the file.

To verify connector installation

To verify the installation, run the following command:

systemctl status td-agent.service

If the output of the command contains Active: active (running), the service is active and running.

To start and stop a connector

  • To start a connector, run the following command:
    systemctl start td-agent.service
  • To stop a connector, run the following command:
    systemctl stop td-agent.service

To uninstall a connector

  1. Run the following commands (in the order that follows):
    systemctl stop td-agent.service
    systemctl disable td-agent.service
    rm -rf /etc/systemd/system/td-agent.service
    systemctl daemon-reload
    systemctl reset-failed
  2. Remove the td-agent directory by running the following command:
    rm -rf /opt/td-agent

Where to go from here

Collecting-logs-for-BMC-Helix-Log-Analytics

 

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