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Agent Installation

Info

This document has been created based on the SQL Server Monitoring V2. For the SQL Server monitoring V1 document, see the following.

The following guides you to the basic installation method for using the WhaTap database monitoring service.

To use the WhaTap monitoring service, after Sign in, create a project and install the agent to the target server. For more information about registration as a member, see the following.

See the following video guide.

Creating a project​

Create a project before installing the agent.

  1. Log in WhaTap monitoring service.

  2. To create a project, on the left of the screen, select All Projects > + Project.

  3. Select a product in Select product for installation.

  4. Configure the settings for Project name, Data server region, and Time zone.

    Create Project

  5. In Notification language setting, select the language for alert messages.

  6. After all settings are finished, select Creating a project.

Note

  • A Data server region refers to a region (a bundle of data centers installed to provide cloud services). Selecting a specific region stores your data in the datacenter that belongs to that region.

  • Time zone is the reference time for generating alerts and reports.

  • To group multiple projects for management, select a group from Project groups or add a group. For more information about grouping, see the following.

  • To add a project with an organization selected, Groups of organization must be set.

Checking the configuration diagram​

The DBX agent can be installed on a separate server or on the DB server. Select a method how to install the agent and check its configuration and firewall.

Install on a separate serverInstall on the DB server

Account creation​

Create an account with roles required for database monitoring. Log in with the root account and then create accounts.

create login DB_User with password='DB Password';
grant view server state to DB_User;
create user DB_User for login DB_User;
grant execute to DB_User;
EXEC sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1;
RECONFIGURE;
EXEC sp_configure 'Ole Automation Procedures', 1;
RECONFIGURE;

  • Additional roles when using the Kill session

    grant alter any connection to whatap;

  • Additional roles when using the Kill session in the Azure SQL Database environment

    grant kill database connection to whatap;

  • Roles required for use of Job Information and Backup/Recovery History menus

    Granting the role to access the msdb database

    USE msdb;
    CREATE USER DB_User FOR LOGIN DB_User;
    GRANT SELECT to DB_User;
Note

  • If you have an account with roles, skip this step and then proceed to Next Step.

  • In the example code, DB_User is the DB user account name. Change it to your account name.

  • Enter your password in DB_Password in the example code.

Checking the access key​

The access key is the unique ID to enable the WhaTap service.

In the installation guide section, select Getting the access key. After the access key has been issued automatically, proceed to the next step.

Note

After a project has been created, the Agent installation page appears automatically. If the Agent installation does not appear, select Management > Agent installation on the left of the screen.

Downloading the DBX agent​

Download the DBX agent file. Use the following two methods.

  • You can download it by using the 'wget' command.

    BASH
    wget -O whatap.agent.database.tar.gz "https://service.whatap.io/download/dbx_agent?type=mssql&format=tar.gz"

  • If you cannot download it with the command, select Download on the WhaTap monitoring service screen.

Download the DBX agent file and then unzip it.

BASH
tar -zxvf whatap.agent.database.tar.gz
Note

For users who cannot download tar files due to security settings, ZIP files are also provided. On the installation screen, select the .zip Download button.

DBX Agent Setting​

Follow the instructions on the agent installation screen to configure the agent. By entering the required items on the screen, the configuration and commands can be auto-completed.

whatap.conf configuration​

Go to the unzipped folder and then check the whatap.conf file. In whatap.conf, enter the project access key, WhaTap server data, and DB connection data.

whatap.conf
license=x6054vg8d8e5e-z16ovlmhlau3st-z2uj26egaj4mt4
whatap.server.host=13.124.11.223/13.209.172.35

dbms=mssql
db=master
db_ip=127.0.0.1
db_port=1433
Note

In case of occurrence of SSL authentication issues

If any SSL authentication issue occurs, set the following options in the whatap.conf file.

whatap.conf
connect_option=?useSSL=true&verifyServerCertificate=false

Downloading JDBC​

Download the JDBC driver that matches the operating system and version of the database server to the DBX agent path where you unzipped the file. /unzipped folder/jdbc

Info

MS SQL 2005 or later

Note

In /unzipped folder/jdbc/README.md, you can also see the JDBC driver installation paths for each database.

DB user file creation​

Generate an encrypted UID for database connection. Enter the username and password and then run the shell script (or batch file).

BASH
./uid.sh {DB_USER} {DB_PASSWORD}
Note

  • After setting it once, it collects data from the database server to be monitored through the encrypted UID.

  • To create a DB user file, enter the project access key in the whatap.conf file. Checking the access key

  • In the Azure database environment, enter DB_USER in the form of DB_USER@DB_name.

  • If special characters are included in DB_USER or DB_PASSWORD, enter the escape character (\) together before any special characters.

    Example
    ./uid.sh whatap whatap\!pwd

    # If there are multiple special characters, add the escape character(\) for each.
    ./uid.sh whatap whatap\!\@pwd

Starting the monitoring​

Execute a shell script (or batch file) from the path where you have installed the agent.

./start.sh

To use it like a daemon, execute the following command. However, it works only in the environment where nohup has been installed.

./startd.sh

Installing the additional agent (XOS) and applying other options​

To additionally monitor the resources of the database server, run a separate XOS agent process on the database server to collect data.

Note

  • It can be applied to only the OS environment running on the x86 architecture.

  • The additional agent installation process is optional.

  • For more information about the XOS agent configuration options, see the following.
  • To additionally collect and monitor monitoring metrics provided by cloud services on the dashboard of the database project, see the following.

Configuring the whatap.conf file​

Set the following options in the whatap.conf file in the path where the DBX agent has been installed.

whatap.conf
xos=1
xos_port=3002

Move the xos folder (/unzip folder/xos/) to the database server.

Configuring the xos.conf file​

Set the following options in the xos.conf file in the xos path moved to the database server.

xos.conf
dbx_ip={DB_Agent_IP}
dbx_port=3002 # default 3002
cpu_limit=0
mem_limit=10240
Tip

In Agent Installation, when you enter the DB data to DB Agent IP and DB Agent Port, the agent options are automatically generated.

Running the XOS agent​

  1. Grant the role to run the XOS agent.

    chmod +x ./whatap.agent.xos*

  2. Run the XOS agent.

    ./start.sh
Note

  • To transmit monitored data to the DBX agent, the port set to dbx_port (default 3002) must have been open. (UDP Outbound)

  • To run the XOS agent in the background, run the ./startd.sh file.

Next steps​

  • Checking the installation

    If you have created a project, installed an agent, and applied all agent options, see the checklist in the following.

  • Installation troubleshooting

    It provides various problems that may occur when installing the agent and specific instructions for resolving them. For more information, see the following.

  • Agent setting

    It provides various features for monitoring by applying some options to the agent configuration file (whatap.conf). For more information, see the following.

  • Cloud Settings

    To additionally collect and monitor monitoring metrics provided by cloud services on the dashboard of the database project, see the following.

  • Starting the monitoring

    After configuring all settings, the agent starts collecting metrics data from the database server. First, check whether the monitoring data has been collected in Instance List. For more information about Instance List, see the following.