Install Zenoss with Debian or Ubuntu

The BigPanda agent is a low-footprint utility installed on the master host of your monitoring tool. It consumes alerts from the tool in real-time and then transmits them to BigPanda via TLS-encrypted HTTP calls.

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Python Compatibility

To use the Open Integration Manager for Agent-based integrations, Python version>= 3.8.0 and an Agent version >= 10.2 are required.

Prerequisites

python >= 3.8 and python-pip3 should be installed prior to installing the bigpanda-agent package.

1. Ensure python3 is installed with the following command:

   $ sudo apt install -y python3
   

2. Verify the install with the following commands:

   $ python3 --version
   $ pip3 --version
   

Note: If pip3 was not installed as a dependency, it can be installed with sudo apt install -y python3-pip.

Note: Access to JFrog, pypi, and yum repositories are required to install all dependencies.

Install the BigPanda Agent on Debian or Ubuntu

Connect to a host that can access the API endpoints of Zenoss, and install the BigPanda agent package.

1. Ensure packages are installed prior to downloading the BigPanda agent package:

   $ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y gnupg2 curl lsb-release
   

2. Add the BigPanda repository and download the OpenPGP key:

   $ echo deb https://bigpandaio.jfrog.io/artifactory/int-deb `lsb_release -c -s` main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bigpanda.list
   $ curl -sL https://bigpandaio.jfrog.io/artifactory/api/security/keypair/bigpanda/public | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/bigpanda.gpg > /dev/null
   

   • The --dearmor option is for unpacking input from an OpenPGP ASCII armored key.
   • Since apt-key is marked to be deprecated on future releases of Debian or Ubuntu, it is preferred to manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead.
   • Note: apt-key can still be used in place of OpenPGP, but it is less secure.

     $ curl -sL https://bigpandaio.jfrog.io/artifactory/api/security/keypair/bigpanda/public | sudo apt-key add -
     

3. Update the repo list and install the BigPanda agent package.

   $ sudo apt update
   $ sudo apt install -y bigpanda-agent
   

   Note: For the OIM, bigpanda-agent v10.0.0+ is required.

Troubleshooting:

Error:

E: The method driver /usr/lib/apt/methods/https could not be found.
N: Is the package apt-transport-https installed?

Solution:

$ sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/apt/methods/http /usr/lib/apt/methods/https
$ sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https
$ sudo apt update

Configure the BigPanda Agent

Generate the agent's configuration file:

$ sudo bigpanda-config --init --token <Your Org Bearer Token>

And add the Zenoss plugin with the application key you created in step 1:

$ sudo bigpanda-config --add  --app-key <Your App Key>

When prompted, enter the base URL of the Zenoss.core web interface and a valid username and password.

Note: You may want to create a dedicated user for BigPanda, the required role is ZenUser.

Set Zenoss timezone

Zenoss uses the timezone that has been set in the system that it is installed on. Connect to the server Zenoss is installed on, check the timezone, and select it below.

Start the BigPanda Agent

$ sudo service bigpanda start

Success

You should be able to see all your active Zenoss alerts in the Incidents tab.