Preparing for BMC Helix logging

You can deploy BMC Helix Platform Logging to collect logs. BMC Helix Platform Logging uses ElasticSearch, Fluentd, and Kibana (EFK).

Fluentd needs the following privileges:

• Kubernetes cluster
  • PodSecurityPolicy - The installer creates the PodSecurityPolicy administrator with the host path enabled and the root runAsUser and runAsGroup settings as shown in the psp_fluentd.yamlfile.
  • ClusterRole and ClusterRoleBinding - The installer creates the ClusterRole and ClusterRoleBinding objects with the rules that are mentioned in the clusterole_rolebinding_fluentd.yaml file.
• OpenShift cluster
  • Role and RoleBinding - The installer creates a role with the security context content as privileged and the rolebinding object with the rules that are mentioned in the fluentd_role.yamlfile. 

The ElasticSearch and Kibana services use the following ports:

Perform the following tasks before deploying BMC Helix IT Operations Management:

1. Create a namespace called bmc-helix-logging by using the following command:

   kubectl create ns bmc-helix-logging

   The Elasticsearch, FluentD, and Kibana services are installed in this namespace. These services are required to access logs from the pods that are running on BMC Helix Platform.

2. In the helix-on-prem-deployment-manager-<release_version>/configs/deployment.config file, change the value of the BMC_HELIX_LOGGING parameter to yes as shown below:
   BMC_HELIX_LOGGING=yes

   Important

   If the value of the BMC_HELIX_LOGGING parameter is no, the BMC Helix IT Operations Management supportability is limited, and the root cause analysis of an issue may not be possible.

3. In the files shown in the following table, edit the default values of the ESLOG_MASTER_STORAGE_SIZE and ESLOG_DATA_STORAGE_SIZE parameters according to your deployment size:

   For example, in the internal PSR, 180 GB of space was consumed in 24 hours for a single namespace. You can change these values based on the namespaces and applications in the cluster.

   Tip

   EFK collects logs from all namespaces in the cluster. If you are using separate namespaces for other applications in your cluster, the log file size increases.

4. (Optional) Change the log retention period from the default 07 days.
   1. Open the configs/bmc-helix-logging.config file.

   2. Set the value in days for the ESLOG_RETENTION_PERIOD parameter.
      For example, to set the log retention for 30 days, set the ESLOG_RETENTION_PERIOD parameter as shown below:
      ESLOG_RETENTION_PERIOD=30

      Tip

      You can disable log retention. To do this, perform the following steps:

      1. Open the configs/bmc-helix-logging.config file.
      2. Mark the log retention feature as false.
5. (Optional) View logs on the Kibana user interface. 
   1. From the config/infra.config file, obtain the load balancer URL and run it with the KIBANA_LB_HOST variable added before the URL. 
      For example: https://kibana.apexglobal.bmc.com
   2. In the Kibana login screen, enter elastic as the default user name.
   3. Enter the Kibana password that is added in the commons/certs/secrets.txt file and click Log In.
      You can see the Kibana logs on the Home page.