Monitor file on Collection Agent

You can create a data collector to collect logs from a particular host.

Note

This data collector does not work for mapped drives.

To create a data collector for collecting files from a host

Select the collection host depending on whether you want to use the Collection Station or the Collection Agent to perform data collection.

The collection host is the computer on which the Collection Station or the Collection Agent is located.

By default, the Collection Station is already selected. You can either retain the default selection or select the Collection Agent.

  1. Navigate to Administration > Data Collectors > Add Data Collector Plus icon.jpg.
  2. In the Name box, provide a unique name to identify this data collector.
  3. From the Type list, select Monitor File on Collection Agent.

  4. Provide the following information, as appropriate:

    Field

    Description

    Target/Collection Host

    Collection Host (Agent)

    Select the collection host depending on whether you want to use the Collection Station or the Collection Agent to perform data collection.

    The collection host is the computer on which the Collection Station or the Collection Agent is located.

    By default, the Collection Station is already selected. You can either retain the default selection or select the Collection Agent.

    Note: For this type of data collector, the target host and collection host are expected to have the same values.

    Collector Inputs

    Directory Path

    Provide the absolute path of the log file.

    To retrieve log files from subdirectories, do not provide the absolute path; instead, provide the path up to the parent directory.

    Include subdirectories

    (Optional) Select this check box if you want to retrieve log files from subdirectories of the file path specified.

    Filename/Rollover Pattern

    Specify the file name only, or specify the file name with a rollover pattern to identify subsequent logs.

    You can use the following wild card characters:

    • Period and asterisk (.*)—Use if you specify details to manually connect to the server containing your log files. The .* characters can be used to replace the changing text.
    • Asterisk (*)—Use if you select the target host and collection host. The * character can be used to replace the changing text.
    • Question mark (?)—Use if you select the target host and collection host. The ? symbol can be used to replace one changing character or number.

    This field is useful to monitor rolling log files where the log files are saved with the same name but differentiated with the time stamp or a number, for example.

    Examples:

    Scenario 1

    You have log files that are saved with succeeding numbers once they reach a certain size; for example:

    IAS0.log

    IAS1.log

    IAS2.log

    In the preceding scenario, you can specify the rollover pattern as IAS?.log.

    Scenario 2

    You have log files that roll over every hour and are saved with the same date but a different time stamp in the YYYY-MM-DD-HH format; for example:

    2013-10-01-11.log

    2013-10-01-12.log

    2013-10-01-13.log

    In the preceding scenario, you can specify the rollover pattern as 2013-10-01-*.log.

    Pattern

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    Poll Interval (mins)

    Enter a number to specify the poll interval (in minutes) for the log collection (0 indicates that this is a one-time log collection).

    By default, this value is set to 1.

    Time Zone

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    Start Collection

    (Optional) Select this check box if you want to start the data collection immediately.

    Tags (optional)

    Inherit Host Level Tags From Target Host

    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.

    Select Tag name

    You can manually add tags by selecting one of the tags in the list, specifying a corresponding value, and clicking Add Plus icon.jpg. The list of added tags is displayed in the Tags pane on the Search tab.
    Click Remove Tag Delete icon.jpgto remove a tag.

    Group Access (optional)

    Inherit Host Level Access Groups From Target Host

    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.

    Select All Groups

    Select this option if you want to select all user groups. You can also manually select multiple user groups.

    If you do not select any user groups and data access control is not enabled, then by default 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.

    If you do not select any user group and data access control is enabled, then only the creator of the data collector has access to data retrieved by this data collector.

    For more information, see Managing-user-groups.

  5. Click Check to ensure that all mandatory fields are filled in and to ensure that no errors are detected.
  6. Click Create to save your changes.

 

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