Install the BigPanda Agent for 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.

Available Configuration Options

The generic BigPanda agent is available for configuration on the below systems:

• RedHat / CentOS
• Debian / Ubuntu
• Docker

Integrations that Require the BigPanda Agent

The following integrations leverage the BigPanda Agent:

• Icinga
• Nagios
• Nagios XI
• Opsview
• SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
• Tivoli EIF
• Zenoss

See the specific integration instructions for details on installation and configuration.

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.

Create an App Key

Create an app key in BigPanda.

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Integration specific

You'll need a separate app key for each integrated system.

Install the BigPanda Agent on Debian or Ubuntu

Connect to the host where your Agent Tool server is installed, 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>
$ sudo bigpanda-config --add listener --app-key <Your App Key>

When prompted, specify the locations of <agent tool>.log, status.dat, and objects.cache files.

The script output should look like this:

Log File Path: /var/log/<agent tool>/<agent tool>.log
Status Dat Path: /var/cache/<agent tool>/status.dat
Objects Cache Path: /var/cache/<agent tool>/objects.cache

Of course, the actual paths will depend on your installation.

Update Permissions

Give the agent read permissions to the objects.cache, status.dat and log files. A possible way to do it:

$ sudo usermod -a -G "<GROUP OF OBJECT CACHE FILE>,<GROUP OF LOG FILE>,<GROUP OF STATUS DAT FILE>" bigpanda

Start the BigPanda Agent

$ sudo service bigpanda start

Next Steps

Find details about the BigPanda Agent Advanced Configuration

Learn to Configure the BigPanda Agent Log

Learn how to Integrate with BigPanda