Index


Overview

Statseeker is available for a cloud-based deployment via a public, or private, OpenStack service. This document provides an overview to the process required to, and highlights the key considerations for, creating an OpenStack Statseeker deployment.

Note: The screen-shots presented and processes described were accurate at the time of writing this document, but may become out-of-date due to changes made to the OpenStack platform.

The Statseeker specific requirements, and considerations, presented here will always be accurate.

To deploy Statseeker to an OpenStack cloud we will use a Statseeker *.qcow2 image file to build an OpenStack image and create an instance from that OpenStack image.

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Requirements

This process requires that you have:

  • A Statseeker installation *.qcow2 file, available from Customer Services
  • License details for your Statseeker Installation, contact your Regional Sales Manager for details
  • Access to an installed, and configured, OpenStack cloud environment

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Create an OpenStack Image

To create your Statseeker OpenStack image:

  • Log in to your OpenStack environment
  • Select Images

This will display the images screen.

  • Click Create Image

The image configuration screen will be displayed.

  • Assign a Name for the image
  • Under File, click Browse and locate your previously downloaded Statseeker installation *.qcow2 file, this will upload your selected image file to the OpenStack server
  • Set Format to QCOW2
  • Set Image Sharing: Visibility/Protection as needed for your environment and click Create Image

The newly created image configuration will be saved.


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Create an OpenStack Instance

Once you have created a Statseeker OpenStack deployment image:

  • Select Images in the side-menu to display the currently available images
  • Click the Launch button associated with the Statseeker image that you previously created

This will display the Instance configuration screen.

  • Name your instance
  • Assign a zone as required by your environment and click Next

  • Set Boot Source to Image
  • Set Create New Volume to No
  • Under Source, click the + button to allocate your Statseeker image
  • Click Next

  • Select the server size most suitable to your network size, see Hardware Requirements for details
  • Click Next

  • Click the + button to allocate public/private network configurations as required by your needs

This completes the minimum requirements to get a Statseeker OpenStack deployment up and running. From this point, you can optionally continue to configure the instance to assign additional ports, security groups, ssl keys, etc., as required by your needs. Once done:

  • Click Launch Instance

The instance will be launched, the progress through this process is displayed.

Once the build process is complete (Status is Active, Task is None):

  • Click the instance name to view the overview for that instance

The server instance is built and Statseeker is currently being installed.

  • Select the Console tab to view the current progress of the Statseeker installation

The installation will only take a few minutes. Once you see the process switch to the Statseeker user (su: statseeker to statseeker)

You now have the option to:

  • Conduct required server administration tasks via the ssadmin command line tool, and then license your server via the web interface
  • License your server via the web interface, and then conduct required server administration tasks via the web interface

See Statseeker Server Configuration and Licensing for details on this and the credentials required to access the functionality.

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Statseeker Server Configuration and Licensing

Your Statseeker server has been configured with the required administration user accounts, these are:

  • admin – the web user administrator account
  • statseeker – the system user account used by the Statseeker application
  • root – the superuser account in the backend operating system

The default password for each of these accounts is statseeker.

Server Administration Tasks

The following server administration tasks should be performed:

  • Update account passwords
  • Configure NTP, web, and mail servers
Note: DO NOT edit the existing network configuration of an OpenStack deployment from within Statseeker (either web UI or ssadmin), all networking configuration for the you OpenStack deployment should be managed through your OpenStack server.

These tasks can be performed from the command line via the ssadmin tool, or from the web interface.

To access ssadmin:

To configure your server from the web interface you will need to first, license your server (see Statseeker Licensing for details), then use the Administration Tool to configure your server as needed:

Note: Statseeker maintains a document library providing up-to-date documentation on all functionality and processes relating to Statseeker configuration and use, see Statseeker Documentation.

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Statseeker Licensing

Once Statseeker is installed you can access the web interface at the IP address displayed against the OpenStack instance:

You will then be prompted with a login screen.

  • User Name = admin
  • Password = if you have not updated the admin account password, you can use the default password of statseeker

Once logged in to the web interface, you will be prompted with the Statseeker License configuration screen.

  • Enter your Server ID and select Download a new Key
Note: to obtain a Server ID, email: keys@statseeker.com

It may take a minute to obtain your license key.

  • Select the checkbox to accept the Statseeker license
  • Select Save to activate the license key

The screen will update to display the license details.

  • Click Next

You will now be presented with the Server Summary screen, containing a range of details pertinent to your Statseeker installation.

Edit Server Date/Time

To edit the server date/time settings:

  • Click the associated Edit link on the Server Summary page
  • Use the calendar control to edit the date and/or time
  • Use the drop-downs to modify the timezone for the server
  • Click Save when done

Note: adjusting the server date or time will require a server restart to apply the changes. On clicking the Save button you will be prompted to confirm your action. Clicking Yes in the confirmation modal will restart your Statseeker server.

The configuration changes will be saved and the server will be restarted to apply those changes.


Once the changes have been applied you will be returned to the Date/Time/NTP Configuration screen (in Display mode) to confirm that the changes have been applied correctly.


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Edit NTP Configuration

To edit the NTP server settings:

  • Click the associated Edit link on the Server Summary page
  • Enter the address of the NTP server to use
  • Click the associated Delete button to remove unwanted NTP server entries
  • Click Save when done

When you click Save Statseeker will attempt to contact the specified NTP servers and:

  • Inform you if it is unable to receive a response from the NTP server, no changes have been applied at this point
  • If it receives a valid response from the NTP server, apply the changes and return the Date/Time/NTP Configuration screen (in Display mode) and enable a Test button that can be used to confirm the validity of the current configuration.


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Configure an HTTP Proxy Connection

To add or edit the HTTP proxy configuration:

  • Click the Network > Edit link on the Server Summary page
  • Enter the required proxy server details
  • Click Save to apply the configuration


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Edit the Network Configuration

DO NOT edit the existing network configuration of an OpenStack deployment from within Statseeker (either web UI or ssadmin), all networking configuration for the you OpenStack deployment should be managed through your OpenStack server.

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Run Network Discovery

Statseeker's automated network discovery process will use the supplied configuration to contact all IP addresses in the defined ranges and retrieve configuration data on the associated devices at those addresses.

Note: for more information on community strings, discovery ranges and the discovery process, see SNMP Discovery
  • Click Network Discovery

  • Click Start Discovery

  • Enter the SNMP Community Strings for the devices that you want Statseeker to discover. Multiple community strings may be specified, one per line.
  • Define the Network Discovery Ranges that you wish Statseeker to query

Once the discovery process is active and running, you will be presented with an in-product video highlighting the discovery process. There is a progress wheel in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen that will indicate when the discovery process is complete.

Note: The Discovery Process can take some time to complete, this being dependent upon factors such as the size, speed and responsiveness of the network and devices.
  • Once the discovery process has completed, click Finish Setup

A default Statseeker Dashboard will be displayed providing a high-level view of the network and presenting key performance metrics and trends as well as highlighting any potential hotspots within the network.