Create a “System” in the Configuration Tool for each IBM i LPAR to be monitored.
A separate Message and Command Service (“MCS”) will be created for each system. Each service receives the monitored event and performance data from its associated component on the IBM i LPAR.
Click the Systems tab at the top of the Configuration Tool (as shown in Figure 1), then click the
Create button to open a new System definition.
Figure 2: IBM i LPAR Configuration Parameters
Complete these fields for the new system:
Field Description
Name
Enter the name for the system definition. This will usually be the DNS name of the IBM i LPAR.
License Key(s)
Enter the license key(s) provided by Precisely for this IBM i system.
If the LPAR is part of a Live Partitioning infrastructure (LPM), then you will need multiple license keys.
Note: You can enter the multiple license keys separated by commas, for example, keyA, keyB, keyC.
See the Obtaining License Keys section in the Ironstream Integration Components Installation Guide.
Field Description
Address
Enter the fully qualified domain name or IP address of the IBM i LPAR to be monitored. The name must be able to be resolved through the existing name service (for example, DNS or an entry in a Windows system’s
\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts file).
You can change the FQDN field necessary to specify an IP address if the system being configured is not in DNS. It is recommended that the fully qualified DNS name be used for configuring new systems.
Agent port number
Enter the TCP/IP port number on the IBM i LPAR that the Proxy Server will connect to. The number must match the port number defined when the Ironstream Agent for IBM i library was created.
Valid values are between 1024 and 49151. The default port number is 9000.
Note: The port must be in a Listening status on the IBM i LPAR.
Local port number
Enter the port number on the Ironstream Proxy Server machine for the internal communications regarding this System.
Note: A unique port is required on the Proxy Server for each IBM i LPAR defined and it must be open for inbound and outbound traffic.
Command timeout (seconds)
Specify the time that the command entry process will wait for a command response from the Ironstream Agent for IBM i.
Log Level
Specify the granularity of the Ironstream Proxy Server log tracing. The valid levels are (in order of increasing detail): Error, Warning, Info, and Debug.
The default is Info.
Maximum log size (KB)
Specify the maximum size of the log file that is generated for the connecting service. When this maximum size is reached, the file is closed and renamed with an “.old” extension and a new file is started. The size is specified in kilobytes. The default is 30000 (30 megabytes).
Field Description
Maximum insight log size (KB)
Specify the maximum size of the log file that is generated for data delivery when sending data to Splunk.
Message Queue Event Destinations: Kafka|Splunk
Indicates the destinations where Message Queue events will be sent. Both destinations can be selected but there must be at least one destination selected. A destination that is selected cannot be cleared if it is the sole destination.
Monitor QHST
Indicates whether the Ironstream Agent for IBM i should monitor for messages that are sent to the IBM i QHST system history log.
QHST Destinations: Kafka|Splunk
Indicates the destinations for QHST events to be sent. Both destinations can be selected but there must be at least one destination selected. A destination that is selected cannot be cleared if it is the sole destination. If Monitor QHST is not selected, then the destinations will be disabled.
Monitor Journals
Indicates whether the Ironstream Agent for IBM i should start EVJRNPROC jobs to monitor any system or user journals on the IBM i LPAR.
Note: This checkbox option is currently ignored. If any journal monitors are defined and distributed (see Phase 4: Identify and Configure Journal Monitors section), then the associated EVJRNPROC jobs will be automatically activated by the agent initialization job. (To prevent the EVJRNPROC jobs from starting, delete the journal monitor members from the EVIEW/MONJRNLPRM file on the IBM i LPAR.)
Enable TLS encryption
Indicate if TLS encryption is to be implemented for the connection between the Ironstream Proxy Server and the Ironstream Agent for IBM i. To specify the use of TLS communication, follow the steps in the "Using TLS Encryption for the Server-to-Agent Connection" chapter.
Certificate authority file
Specify the location of the CA file created for the TLS connection. See the "Using TLS Encryption for the Server-to-Agent Connection" chapter.
Message tag key
Key name of the optional JSON field to be added to messages sent to the chosen destination.
Field Description
Message tag value
Value for the optional JSON field to be added to messages sent to the chosen destination.
Enable performance group 1 collection
Specifies whether the performance gathering function will be activated on the Ironstream Agent for IBM i to gather the data for performance group 1.
Performance group 1 collection interval (minutes)
Specifies the interval in minutes that the Ironstream Agent for IBM i will collect data for performance group 1.
Enable performance group 2 collection
Specifies whether the performance gathering function will be activated on the Ironstream Agent for IBM i to gather the data for performance group 2.
Performance group 2 collection interval (minutes)
Specifies the interval in minutes that the Ironstream Agent for IBM i will collect data for performance group 2.
Apply Time Zone
When checked, date-times within messages will be formatted to display the offset from UTC using the RFC3339 format. For example,
"2006-01-02T15:04:05+07:00" (or "2006-01-02T15:04:05Z" when UTC).
When unchecked, date-times will be displayed in the local time format: “2006-01-02T15:04:05.999999”.
Note: This option is currently ignored for System Summary Performance Data (*PERFDATA1 and
*PERFDATA2). These records are currently,
always transmitted in the local time format.
Agent Time Zone
Date-times within messages will display the offset from UTC of the selected location.
Daylight Saving Time is automatically applied to the offset when applicable.
If no location is provided, then the location of the proxy server will be used.
Click the Save button at the bottom of the page to save the parameters for this system. The parameters will be saved locally on the Windows/Linux system.
After a system is created, it will appear in the list of systems on the Systems tab.
Click the Start button to start the service associated with the system. When you start a service, a check will be carried out to ensure that there is a valid license for the system.
Note: The service will not start and an error will be written to the log, if:
All of the licenses have expired.
Multiple licenses are specified and the destinations differ between the licenses.
None of the licenses match the frame that the LPAR is on.
Note: If the selected destinations are unlicensed, then a warning will be written to the log and the data will not be sent to the destination.
Important : Before distributing these parameters to the system, follow the steps in the section Age Limit for Journal Monitoring below, to configure the Age Limit parameter which is required for journal monitoring and not yet configurable using the Configuration Tool.
Click the Distribute button to send the configuration parameters to the system. The EVSBS subsystem must be running on the system to receive the configuration parameters.
If you wish to stop the collection of data at any time, click the Stop button to stop the service associated with the system.