Monitor file over Windows share
You can create a data collector for a Windows share connection to collect data from shared network drives. To use this capability, you must ensure that you have access to the appropriate network drives.
To configure a Windows share connection as a data collector
- Navigate to Administration > Data Collectors > Add Data Collector
. - In the Name box, provide a unique name to identify this data collector.
- From the Type list, select Monitor over Windows Share.
Provide the following information, as appropriate:
Field
Description
Target/Collection Host
Target 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 different values.
Collector Inputs
Server Name
Credentials
(Optional) Select Apply security credential to provide user name and password credentials automatically and not having to enter it manually and then select the appropriate credential profile from the Available Credential list, that must have already configured under Administration > Credentials.
OR
Select Provide Credential to manually add then manually enter the credentials in the following User Name, Password, Domain fields. You can create a credential profile using the manually entered details by clicking Add Credential
next to the Domain 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.
Password
Provide the password for connecting with the server from which you want to retrieve the data.
Domain
Provide the domain of the Windows user with which you want to connect to retrieve the data files.
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, password, and domain fields. Once this profile is created, it is displayed under Administration > Credentials.Directory Path
Provide the Windows share path in the format \\serverName\shareName\directoryLocationPath.
To retrieve data files from subdirectories, provide the path up to the parent directory.
Note: When creating a data collector template as a part of the collection profile, provide the path in the following format:
\shareName\directoryLocationPath
The host name is added as a prefix to the preceding path when the collection profile is applied to a host.
Include sub-directories
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
Poll Interval (mins)
Enter a number to specify the poll interval (in minutes) for the data collection (0 indicates that this is a one-time data collection).
By default, this value is set to 1.
Time Zone
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
. The list of added tags is displayed in the Tags pane on the Search tab.
Click Remove Tag
to 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.
- Click Check to ensure that all mandatory fields are filled in and to ensure that no errors are detected.
- Click Create to save your changes.