Insights On-premises Virtual Appliance Based Installation - Version 8.1 and Above

The Insights On-premises (IOP) component captures, indexes, and correlates real-time data in a searchable repository from which you can view a variety of dashboards, graphs, reports, alerts, etc.

The following are prerequisites for an Insights server in the On-premises topology.

Insights On-premises v8.1 contains significant improvements in performance and user experience.
This version of Insights is available in 2 installation modes:

• Virtual Appliance - This option comes as an OVA that runs Photon OS Linux distribution.
  Currently, it only supports VMware ESXi 6.5 or higher.
  
• Linux OS Installation - This option allows you to install the IOP on various Linux distributions.

To read more about IOP 8.1 Virtual Appliance Based Installation, see here.

IOP 8.1 contains the IOP Forwarder. This component forwards the activity files from the monitor servers to the IOP servers.

Insights On-premises Prerequisites

You can install IOP 8.1 as a Single (Standalone) variation or as a Cluster for better performance in larger environments.

• Single (Standalone) - Recommended for companies with up to 5000 sessions, you need to prepare only one Linux server.
• Cluster - Recommended for companies with 5000 sessions and more, in this variation you will need to prepare several Linux servers, 1 for the Master role and 1 Data role for every 5000 sessions.
  In cluster mode, you need to repeat the next chapters one time for the Master server and for each Data server.
  Sizing examples:

  # of Session	# of Master nodes	# of Data nodes
  6000	1	2
  9000	1	2
  11000	1	3

Sizing Recommendations

Ports

Browser

• IOP fully supports Chrome browser and the New Edge (based on chromium).

OVA Deployment 

To install Insights, the files must be prepared in advance. If you don’t have the installation files, contact support@controlup.com to receive them.

To install the IOP OVA:

1. Login to your V-Sphere with your Admin account.
2. Right-click on one of your hosts, and choose Deploy OVF Template… and the Select an OVF template window appears.
   
3. Select the Local file and click Choose Files to choose the IOP OVA file.
4. Specify the virtual machine name and select the data center that the virtual machine will be under and select the host where the virtual machine will be deployed.
5. Click Next on the Review details page once you have ensured that the details are correct.
6. Select the Virtual Disk format and the virtual machine storage policy (both of the “thick” formats are recommended for better performance and flexibility) and the virtual machine storage policy.
7. .
8. In the Customize Template page, specify the following for each section:
   1. Host Name Details:
      • Required: Host name of the appliance. (i.e. iop_server)
      • Recommended: The DNS domain name of the appliance.
   2. Networking:
      • For DHCP - leave them all empty
        Note: If you are installing a clustered IOP, it is recommended to use static network configuration, instead of a DHCP.
        
        • IP Address: IP + CIDR for the machine. (Default: DHCP)
          Example: CIDR notation for a static IP - 10.10.10.10/24 
        • Default Gateway - The default gateway address for this virtual machine. (Default: DHCP)
        • DNS - The IP address of the DNS server of the organization. (Default: DHCP)
   3. Credentials:
      • Required: Password for the root user of the virtual machine.
        • Password details:
          • It is recommended to use a strong password.
          • This is an Admin password for the IOP.
          • This password is to be used in all future for upgrades.
   4. Appliance Settings:
      
      • Required:
        • Machine type. (Standalone/Master/Data)
        • If you choose 'Data' as your machine type - specify the DNS/IP of the master appliance.
9. Review the selected settings and click Finish and the virtual machine is ready for configuration, as describe in the following section.
   

Post Installation Configuration

Once virtual machine it is installed in must be configured before starting it.

The default disk capacity for IOP data volume is set to 150 GB.

Finalizing the Virtual Based Appliance Installation

Once all configurations have been set, you must launch the console and complete the installation to begin using it.

To finalize the installation:

1. Click on the green button to start the machine.
2. To see the console logs, go to the Summary section in your virtual machine page, and click the Launch Web Console option under the image square.
3. Choose the Web Console option and click OK. (The login to the virtual machine is “root”.)

When the installation is complete, you can connect to your Insights by going to https://<Server_IP>.

Once the installation is complete the IOP Forwarder must be installed in to receive activity files.

Insights On-premises Forwarder Installation

The Insights On-premises (IOP) Forwarder is a component that forwards the activity files from monitor servers to the IOP servers and requires a separate installation. It forwards the data from the ControlUp monitor to the Insights server and must be installed either on a server with a shared activity folder that the monitors can access or on every monitor server. 

During the ControlUp On-premises installation you must choose a location for the Activity Files.
If you choose a local folder, then you need to install the IOP Forwarder on each monitor. If you choose a shared location, you need to install only one IOP Forwarder.

To install the IOP Forwarder:

1. Login to your monitor windows machine.
2. Contact support@controlup.com to receive the iop_forwarder_stable.msi
3. Run the iop_forwarder_8.1.733.XX.msi file and click Next to begin the installation:
   
4. Use the Folder dropdown menu to select where on the monitor machine the installer should be installed, and click Next to continue.
   
5. Choose the type of installation (Standalone or Cluster) according to the type of Insights installation, and click Next to continue.
   
6. Select the Activity Files path folder location and then enter the IP of your IOP Server machine, and click Next to continue.
   
7. Click Install and the forwarder is installed. A confirmation popup appears once the prcess is complete.