Creating CA User Activity Reporting Module Servers Using Virtual Machines

Implementation Guide › CA User Activity Reporting Module and Virtualization › Creating CA User Activity Reporting Module Servers Using Virtual Machines

Creating CA User Activity Reporting Module Servers Using Virtual Machines

You can create virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module servers for your event log collection environment using the following scenarios:

Adding virtual servers to an existing CA User Activity Reporting Module environment - creating a mixed environment
Creating a virtual log collection environment
Cloning and deploying virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module servers for rapid scalability
Creating CA User Activity Reporting Module servers using virtual appliances

More information

Adding Virtual Servers to Your Environment

Deploying Virtual Servers Rapidly

Creating a Completely Virtual Environment

Adding Virtual Servers to Your Environment

If you already have an existing CA User Activity Reporting Module implementation, you can add virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module collection servers to handle an increased event volume in your network. This scenario assumes that you have already installed a CA User Activity Reporting Module management server and one or more CA User Activity Reporting Module servers for collection and reporting.

Note: To achieve the best performance, install CA User Activity Reporting Module on virtual servers to handle collection and reporting tasks only.

The process to add virtual collection servers to your environment includes the following procedures:

Create a new virtual machine.
Add virtual disk drives.
Install CA User Activity Reporting Module in the virtual machine.
Configure the CA User Activity Reporting Module server as described in the installation section.

After you install the virtual collection server, you can add it to your federation for querying and reporting.

Create a New Virtual Machine

Use this procedure to create a new virtual machine using the VMware Infrastructure Client. Use four processors for each virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server to achieve acceptable performance.

To create a virtual machine

Access the VMware Infrastructure Client.
Right-click the ESX host in the left pane and select New Virtual Machine to invoke the new virtual machine wizard. This action displays a configuration type dialog.
Select Custom configuration and click Next. A name and location dialog appears.
Enter a name for the CA User Activity Reporting Module server you will install on this virtual machine and click Next.
Specify the storage settings for your virtual machine and then click Next.
Verify that your storage settings are large enough for your CA User Activity Reporting Module server. We recommend a minimum of 500 GB.

Note: You will set up additional virtual disk drives to store collected event logs in another procedure.
Select Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32 bit) as your Guest Operating System and click Next.
Select 4 as the number of virtual processors from the drop-down list, Number of virtual processors.
Your physical host server must be able to devote four, physical CPUs exclusively to this CA User Activity Reporting Module instance. Click Next.
Configure the virtual machine memory size and then click Next. The minimum acceptable memory size for CA User Activity Reporting Module is 8 GB or 8192 MB.
Configure your network interface connection (NIC).CA User Activity Reporting Module requires at least one network connection. Select NIC x from the available NIC list, and set the Adapter value to Flexible.
Note: You do not have to configure a separate NIC for each CA User Activity Reporting Module server hosted on this physical server. However, you do have to allocate and assign a static IP address for each one.
Select the option, Connect at Power On, and then click Next. The I/O Adapter Types dialog appears.
Select LSI Logic for the I/O Adapter and then click Next. The Select a Disk dialog appears.
Select the option, Create a new virtual disk, and then click Next. A disk capacity and location dialog appears.
Specify your Disk Capacity and Location and then click Next. An advanced options dialog appears.
You can either store this disk with your virtual machine or you can specify another location. We recommend a minimum of 500 GB.
Accept the default values for the Advanced Options and click Next.
Confirm your settings and click Finish to create the new virtual machine.

Add Virtual Disk Drives

Use this procedure to add virtual disk drives for event log storage. Use these same settings regardless of the role a specific CA User Activity Reporting Module server plays in your network.

To edit the settings

Right-click your virtual machine in the VMware Infrastructure Client and select Edit Settings.
The Virtual Machine Properties dialog appears.
Highlight the CD/DVD Drive 1 properties.
Click the Host Device option button, and select your DVD-ROM drive from the drop-down list.
Select the Device Status option, Connect at power on.
Click Add to launch the Add Hardware Wizard and add a second hard disk.
Highlight Hard Disk in the device list and click Next. The Select a Disk dialog appears.
Select the option, Create a new virtual disk, and click Next.
Specify the size of your new disk and select the option, Specify a datastore to set its location.
CA User Activity Reporting Module detects this additional drive during installation and assigns it to data storage. We recommend maximizing the amount of storage that you can make available to CA User Activity Reporting Module.

Note: The default Block Size setting in VMware ESX Server is 1 MB, which limits the maximum disk space that you can create to 256 GB. If you need more space, up to 512 GB, increase the Block Size setting to 2 MB using this command:
```
Vmkfstools --createfs vmfs3 --blocksize 2M vmhba0:0:0:3
```
Restart the ESX Server for the new setting to take effect.

Click Next to display the Specify Advanced Options dialog.
Accept the default values for the Advanced Options and click Next. The Ready to Complete dialog appears.
Click Finish to store your changes to this virtual machine. This action returns you to the VMware Infrastructure Client dialog.

Install CA User Activity Reporting Module on the Virtual Machine

Use this procedure to install CA User Activity Reporting Module on a virtual machine that you created previously.

You can configure a virtual or dedicated CA User Activity Reporting Module server after installation to serve in one of several functional roles such as management, collection, or reporting. If you install a CA User Activity Reporting Module management server, do not use it to receive event logs or to run queries and reports. Install separate virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module servers to act as reporting and collection servers for the best performance.

Review the normal installation instructions before installing CA User Activity Reporting Module in a virtual environment. The installation worksheet helps you to gather the information you need.

To install CA User Activity Reporting Module on a virtual machine

Load your CA User Activity Reporting Module OS Install disk in the physical DVD-ROM drive, or locate the directory where you copied the installation image.
Highlight your virtual machine in the virtual machine inventory list, right-click on it, and select Power On.
Proceed with the normal CA User Activity Reporting Module installation.
Configure the installed CA User Activity Reporting Module server for the functional role you intend, using the information in the section on installing a CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

More information

Install CA User Activity Reporting Module

Creating a Completely Virtual Environment

If you do not yet have a CA User Activity Reporting Module environment implemented, you can create an all-virtual log collection environment. This scenario assumes that have a sufficient number of physical servers available, each with a group of at least four processors, to install each of the intended CA User Activity Reporting Module servers.

Install one CA User Activity Reporting Module server to act as a management server. During configuration, do not send event logs to this server or use this server to generate reports. Configuring your environment in this way maintains the event log collection throughput required for enterprise-level production.

Generally, you install two, four-processor CA User Activity Reporting Module servers in place of each of the appliance-class servers you would typically install when using certified hardware. (Appliance-class servers have a minimum of eight processors.)

The process you follow to create a virtual environment includes the following procedures.

Create a new virtual machine for each of the CA User Activity Reporting Module servers you intend to install.
Add virtual disk drives.
Install a virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server for management functions on one of the virtual machine hosts.
Install two or more CA User Activity Reporting Module servers for collection and reporting.
Configure the CA User Activity Reporting Module servers as described in the section on installing a CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

Create a New Virtual Machine

To create a virtual machine

Access the VMware Infrastructure Client.
Right-click the ESX host in the left pane and select New Virtual Machine to invoke the new virtual machine wizard. This action displays a configuration type dialog.
Select Custom configuration and click Next. A name and location dialog appears.
Enter a name for the CA User Activity Reporting Module server you will install on this virtual machine and click Next.
Specify the storage settings for your virtual machine and then click Next.
Verify that your storage settings are large enough for your CA User Activity Reporting Module server. We recommend a minimum of 500 GB.

Note: You will set up additional virtual disk drives to store collected event logs in another procedure.
Select Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32 bit) as your Guest Operating System and click Next.
Select 4 as the number of virtual processors from the drop-down list, Number of virtual processors.
Your physical host server must be able to devote four, physical CPUs exclusively to this CA User Activity Reporting Module instance. Click Next.
Configure the virtual machine memory size and then click Next. The minimum acceptable memory size for CA User Activity Reporting Module is 8 GB or 8192 MB.
Configure your network interface connection (NIC).CA User Activity Reporting Module requires at least one network connection. Select NIC x from the available NIC list, and set the Adapter value to Flexible.
Note: You do not have to configure a separate NIC for each CA User Activity Reporting Module server hosted on this physical server. However, you do have to allocate and assign a static IP address for each one.
Select the option, Connect at Power On, and then click Next. The I/O Adapter Types dialog appears.
Select LSI Logic for the I/O Adapter and then click Next. The Select a Disk dialog appears.
Select the option, Create a new virtual disk, and then click Next. A disk capacity and location dialog appears.
Specify your Disk Capacity and Location and then click Next. An advanced options dialog appears.
You can either store this disk with your virtual machine or you can specify another location. We recommend a minimum of 500 GB.
Accept the default values for the Advanced Options and click Next.
Confirm your settings and click Finish to create the new virtual machine.

Add Virtual Disk Drives

Use this procedure to add virtual disk drives for event log storage. Use these same settings regardless of the role a specific CA User Activity Reporting Module server plays in your network.

To edit the settings

Right-click your virtual machine in the VMware Infrastructure Client and select Edit Settings.
The Virtual Machine Properties dialog appears.
Highlight the CD/DVD Drive 1 properties.
Click the Host Device option button, and select your DVD-ROM drive from the drop-down list.
Select the Device Status option, Connect at power on.
Click Add to launch the Add Hardware Wizard and add a second hard disk.
Highlight Hard Disk in the device list and click Next. The Select a Disk dialog appears.
Select the option, Create a new virtual disk, and click Next.
Specify the size of your new disk and select the option, Specify a datastore to set its location.
CA User Activity Reporting Module detects this additional drive during installation and assigns it to data storage. We recommend maximizing the amount of storage that you can make available to CA User Activity Reporting Module.

Note: The default Block Size setting in VMware ESX Server is 1 MB, which limits the maximum disk space that you can create to 256 GB. If you need more space, up to 512 GB, increase the Block Size setting to 2 MB using this command:
```
Vmkfstools --createfs vmfs3 --blocksize 2M vmhba0:0:0:3
```
Restart the ESX Server for the new setting to take effect.

Click Next to display the Specify Advanced Options dialog.
Accept the default values for the Advanced Options and click Next. The Ready to Complete dialog appears.
Click Finish to store your changes to this virtual machine. This action returns you to the VMware Infrastructure Client dialog.

Install CA User Activity Reporting Module on the Virtual Machine

Use this procedure to install CA User Activity Reporting Module on a virtual machine that you created previously.

Review the normal installation instructions before installing CA User Activity Reporting Module in a virtual environment. The installation worksheet helps you to gather the information you need.

To install CA User Activity Reporting Module on a virtual machine

Load your CA User Activity Reporting Module OS Install disk in the physical DVD-ROM drive, or locate the directory where you copied the installation image.
Highlight your virtual machine in the virtual machine inventory list, right-click on it, and select Power On.
Proceed with the normal CA User Activity Reporting Module installation.
Configure the installed CA User Activity Reporting Module server for the functional role you intend, using the information in the section on installing a CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

More information

Install CA User Activity Reporting Module

Deploying Virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module Servers Rapidly

You can clone a virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server to create a deployable image for rapid scalability of your log collection environment.

Note: To achieve the best performance, we recommend that you install CA User Activity Reporting Module on virtual servers to handle only collection tasks. Do not clone a virtual machine that contains a management CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

Before you start with this scenario, verify that you have an existing environment, or install a CA User Activity Reporting Module server to perform management functions on either a dedicated or virtual server. You must also have the correct version of VMware software to support the cloning function.

The process you follow to create and clone a virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server for collection includes the following procedures:

Create a new virtual machine.
Add virtual disk drives.
Install a CA User Activity Reporting Module server in the virtual machine.
Clone the virtual machine that contains your new CA User Activity Reporting Module server, using the vendor-supplied instructions.
Note: Create only a full clone image. Do not use linked clones with CA User Activity Reporting Module.
Import the cloned virtual machine to a physical target server.
Update the cloned virtual machine before connecting it to the network.
Configure the CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

Create a New Virtual Machine

To create a virtual machine

Access the VMware Infrastructure Client.
Right-click the ESX host in the left pane and select New Virtual Machine to invoke the new virtual machine wizard. This action displays a configuration type dialog.
Select Custom configuration and click Next. A name and location dialog appears.
Enter a name for the CA User Activity Reporting Module server you will install on this virtual machine and click Next.
Specify the storage settings for your virtual machine and then click Next.
Verify that your storage settings are large enough for your CA User Activity Reporting Module server. We recommend a minimum of 500 GB.

Note: You will set up additional virtual disk drives to store collected event logs in another procedure.
Select Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32 bit) as your Guest Operating System and click Next.
Select 4 as the number of virtual processors from the drop-down list, Number of virtual processors.
Your physical host server must be able to devote four, physical CPUs exclusively to this CA User Activity Reporting Module instance. Click Next.
Configure the virtual machine memory size and then click Next. The minimum acceptable memory size for CA User Activity Reporting Module is 8 GB or 8192 MB.
Configure your network interface connection (NIC).CA User Activity Reporting Module requires at least one network connection. Select NIC x from the available NIC list, and set the Adapter value to Flexible.
Note: You do not have to configure a separate NIC for each CA User Activity Reporting Module server hosted on this physical server. However, you do have to allocate and assign a static IP address for each one.
Select the option, Connect at Power On, and then click Next. The I/O Adapter Types dialog appears.
Select LSI Logic for the I/O Adapter and then click Next. The Select a Disk dialog appears.
Select the option, Create a new virtual disk, and then click Next. A disk capacity and location dialog appears.
Specify your Disk Capacity and Location and then click Next. An advanced options dialog appears.
You can either store this disk with your virtual machine or you can specify another location. We recommend a minimum of 500 GB.
Accept the default values for the Advanced Options and click Next.
Confirm your settings and click Finish to create the new virtual machine.

Add Virtual Disk Drives

Use this procedure to add virtual disk drives for event log storage. Use these same settings regardless of the role a specific CA User Activity Reporting Module server plays in your network.

To edit the settings

Right-click your virtual machine in the VMware Infrastructure Client and select Edit Settings.
The Virtual Machine Properties dialog appears.
Highlight the CD/DVD Drive 1 properties.
Click the Host Device option button, and select your DVD-ROM drive from the drop-down list.
Select the Device Status option, Connect at power on.
Click Add to launch the Add Hardware Wizard and add a second hard disk.
Highlight Hard Disk in the device list and click Next. The Select a Disk dialog appears.
Select the option, Create a new virtual disk, and click Next.
Specify the size of your new disk and select the option, Specify a datastore to set its location.
CA User Activity Reporting Module detects this additional drive during installation and assigns it to data storage. We recommend maximizing the amount of storage that you can make available to CA User Activity Reporting Module.

Note: The default Block Size setting in VMware ESX Server is 1 MB, which limits the maximum disk space that you can create to 256 GB. If you need more space, up to 512 GB, increase the Block Size setting to 2 MB using this command:
```
Vmkfstools --createfs vmfs3 --blocksize 2M vmhba0:0:0:3
```
Restart the ESX Server for the new setting to take effect.

Click Next to display the Specify Advanced Options dialog.
Accept the default values for the Advanced Options and click Next. The Ready to Complete dialog appears.
Click Finish to store your changes to this virtual machine. This action returns you to the VMware Infrastructure Client dialog.

Install CA User Activity Reporting Module on the Virtual Machine

Use this procedure to install CA User Activity Reporting Module on a virtual machine that you created previously.

Review the normal installation instructions before installing CA User Activity Reporting Module in a virtual environment. The installation worksheet helps you to gather the information you need.

To install CA User Activity Reporting Module on a virtual machine

Load your CA User Activity Reporting Module OS Install disk in the physical DVD-ROM drive, or locate the directory where you copied the installation image.
Highlight your virtual machine in the virtual machine inventory list, right-click on it, and select Power On.
Proceed with the normal CA User Activity Reporting Module installation.
Configure the installed CA User Activity Reporting Module server for the functional role you intend, using the information in the section on installing a CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

More information

Install CA User Activity Reporting Module

Clone a Virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module Server

You can use this procedure to clone a virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server. This procedure assumes that you already created a new virtual machine, added disk drives to it, and installed CA User Activity Reporting Module.

To clone a virtual server

Access the VMware VirtualCenter and locate the virtual machine that contains CA User Activity Reporting Module.
Turn off the virtual machine, if it is running.
Select the Export option and designate a location for the exported virtual machine.
VMware ESX Server offers alternative methods for cloning virtual machines.

Import a Cloned Virtual Machine to a Target Server

Use this procedure to import a clone virtual machine to another server for activation.

To import a cloned VM

Verify that you have network access to the target host server.
Access the VMware VirtualCenter from the server that hosts VMware ESX.
Select the Import option and then locate target server, responding to additional prompts as required.
The Import action moves the cloned virtual machine to the target server.

Update a Cloned CA User Activity Reporting Module Server Before Deployment

Use this procedure to update a cloned, virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

A cloned, virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server retains the host name you gave it during installation. However, the host name for each, active CA User Activity Reporting Module server must be unique within your log collection implementation. So, before you can activate a cloned, virtual server, change the host name and IP address of the server with the Rename_ELM.sh script.

The update script performs actions including the following:

Automatically stops and restarts the default agent
Automatically stops and restarts the iGateway service
Prompts you to change the hostname, IP address, and DNS IP address
Automatically updates configuration files with encrypted passwords for the various certificates

To update a cloned virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server

Log in to the physical target server as root.
Access the Application ISO image or DVD and navigate to the directory, /CA/Linux_x86.
You can also find the script in the file system of an installed CA User Activity Reporting Module server. The script resides in the directory, opt/CA/LogManager.
Copy the script, Rename_ELM.sh, to the target server.
Change the information for virtual CA User Activity Reporting Module server with the following command:
```
./Rename_ELM.sh
```
Respond to the prompts.
Start the virtual machine that contains the updated virtual server.