Installing data collectors on AIX or Linux

To gain insights in the capacity and performance of the storage systems in your data center, install data collectors. You also gain insights about your fabrics and switches, such as switch performance.

Before you begin

You can install the data collector on the following operating systems:

The Linux® data collector runs on 64-bit Linux operating systems on x86-64 and PPC64LE systems only.
- The supported Linux operating systems for x86-64 are Red Hat® Enterprise Linux 7 or later and CentOS 7 or later.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x on PPC64LE (POWER8® only)
  Restriction: The data collector on Linux PPC64LE has the additional limitation that you cannot monitor IBM FlashSystem A9000, XIV®, IBM Storage Accelerate, VMware, and non-IBM® devices.
The AIX® data collector runs on POWER6® or higher systems that use AIX 7.x or later. The AIX data collector can run on a physical AIX installation or a logical partition (LPAR).
Important: IBM support for AIX 7.1 on POWER6 systems ends in April 2023. At that time, IBM Storage Insights will no longer support deploying data collectors to those platforms. It's strongly recommended that you deploy your data collectors to supported versions of AIX and POWER® systems. For more information about end of support for AIX versions, see AIX support lifecycle information.
The supported Linux operating system for PPC64LE is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x on POWER8® and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.x. on POWER9™® and POWER10®.
- Run the commands
```
lslpp -l | grep -i xlC.rte
```
  and
```
lslpp -l | grep -i libc++
```
  on your AIX operating system to ensure both the xlC.rte and libc++.rte packages, version 16.1.0.1 or later are installed.
  If these packages are not installed, refer to the instructions provided in the Fix list for XL C/C++ Runtime for AIX to install them on your AIX operating system.

Keep in mind the following considerations before you install the data collector:

Install data collectors on servers or virtual machines that have access to the devices that you want to monitor and access to the internet to communicate with IBM Cloud®. You can also deploy data collectors in a LAN where routing is configured to allow access across different subnets and on a WAN where devices are located in different geographical locations.
On the server or virtual machine where you install the data collector, you must provide at least 1 GB of RAM and 3 GB of disk space.
You must have root authority on the server or virtual machine where you install the data collector.
Ensure that the operating system on the server or virtual machine where you install the data collector has general or extended support for maintenance and security fixes.
To connect to your instance of IBM Storage Insights from the server or virtual machine where you install the data collector, your firewall must be configured to allow outbound communication on the default HTTPS port 443 using the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is not supported.

Important:

Don't install a data collector on a laptop or personal workstation. Shutting down a laptop or personal workstation or putting it into sleep mode will interrupt data collection. The server or virtual machine where you install a data collector must be available 24X7.
Don't install the data collector to a file system that was mounted or mapped under a user login session. These file systems can be temporary and might not persist after the user logs out of the network. Note that you can install a data collector to a system-mounted or mapped file system because those file systems are typically more permanent.

Antivirus software considerations: Installing a data collector involves making use of your operating system in manners typical for installing new application software. If your antivirus software is set on the maximum mode, it might prevent some of your changes from being accepted.

To verify that your deployment completes correctly, enable your antivirus software product on the target server or virtual machine to allow new executable files to be created in the installation directory of the data collector. If your antivirus software prevents the monitoring of some of your devices, such as XIV, Hitachi VSP, Dell EMC, NetApp, or Pure storage, add the related executable files for those devices to your allowlist.

About this task

When you install a data collector, you must complete the following tasks:

Identify or create a directory on the server or virtual machine where the data collector will run.
Download the compressed file that contains the data collector.
Extract the contents of the compressed file.
Run the command or script that installs the data collector.

Procedure

For each data collector that you want to install, complete these steps:

On the target server or virtual machine where the data collector will run, identify or create an empty directory.
This directory acts as the permanent location from which the data collector service is run. Ensure that the directory name and the names of any directories in the directory path follow these naming conventions:
- Directory names must not include spaces or the following special characters:
```
% & ! ( ) { } [ ] ; , ' ` ^ = $ # ~ + @ \ / : * ? " < > |
```
- The total characters for the names in the directory path must not exceed 256 characters. Here is an example of a directory path: /opt/IBM/Storage_Insights
- Do not use system-reserved directory paths to install or extract data collectors. Here are some examples of directory paths that you must avoid:
  - /
  - /root
  - /bin
  - /usr
  - /usr/bin
  - /var
  - /lib
  - /lib64
  - /boot
  - /sbin
  - /sys
  - /opt
  - /etc
  - /sbin
  - /home
  - /tmp
  - /dev
Log in to IBM Storage Insights.
From the Configuration menu, click Data Collectors, and then click Deploy Data Collector.
Click a Linux OS or AIX.
Accept the license agreement.
Download the compressed (.tar) file that contains the data collector.

Note: If the download fails or you want to download the data collector for another operating system, click Download again.
Move the compressed file to the target server and directory that you identified in step 1.
Extract the contents of the compressed file.

To install the data collector, choose one of the following installation options. The script file for each option is located in the directory where you extracted the compressed file. You must have root authority to run these options.

Installation Options	Description
installDataCollectorService.sh	Run this script to install the data collector as a service. The data collector is automatically started and you are prompted whether to configure a connection to a proxy server.
`installDataCollectorService.sh nostart`	Run this command to install the data collector as a service, but not start it. Choose whether you want to configure a connection to a proxy server.
`installDataCollectorService.sh noconfigureproxy`	Run this command to install and start the data collector as a service without configuring a connection to a proxy server.

Optional: If you type yes to configure the connection to a proxy server, complete these steps:
1. Type the host name of the proxy server.
2. Type the port number of the proxy server.
Optional: If you type yes to authenticate the connection to the proxy server, complete these steps:
1. Type the user name.
2. Type the password.

Results

The data collector is installed as a service and is started unless you chose the installDataCollectorService.sh nostart command. After the data collector is started, it runs continuously unless you stop or uninstall the service. It is restarted automatically when the system boots up.

When the data collector is up and running, it attempts to establish a connection to IBM Storage Insights. When the connection is complete, you're ready to start adding your storage systems for monitoring!

Troubleshooting: If you encounter any problems during the installation process, you can open a support case for IBM Storage Insights to get help. For more information, see Getting support.