6.3 Planning GroupWise Monitor

Before installing GroupWise Monitor, you should complete the planning tasks listed below. The planning tasks help you gather information you need as you install and set up GroupWise Monitor. You can use Section 6.6, GroupWise Monitor Installation Worksheet to record your installation and setup information.

To help with the above tasks, you can also review the GroupWise Wiki, which includes a Best Practices section.

IMPORTANT:If you plan to install GroupWise Monitor in a clustered server environment, refer to the GroupWise 7 Interoperability Guide as you plan your Monitor installation.

6.3.1 Deciding Where to Install the GroupWise Monitor Components

After reviewing Section 6.1, GroupWise Monitor Overview and the system requirements listed in Section 6.2, Monitor System Requirements, plan where you want to install the Monitor components in your system.

Monitor Server

The Monitor Agent runs on Linux and Windows.

If you want to install the Monitor Agent and the Monitor Application on the same server, you can install them at the same time. If you want to install them on different servers, you must run the Monitor Installation program twice, once for each server. For example, you might want to install the Monitor Application on NetWare for use with a NetWare Web server, but you must always install the Monitor Agent on Linux or Windows.

The installation directory for the Monitor Agent depends on the platform:

Linux:

The Linux Monitor Agent is automatically installed to /opt/novell/groupwise/agents.

Windows:

The default installation directory is c:\gwmon.

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Item 1: Platform, mark the platform (Linux or Windows) where you plan to install the Monitor Agent.

Under Item 2: Components to Install, select whether you want to install the Monitor Agent, the Monitor Application, or both.

Under Item 3: Monitor Agent Installation Path, specify the directory on the Linux or Windows server where you want to install the Monitor Agent software.

Web Server

The Monitor Application integrates with your Web server to pass agent status information gathered by the Monitor Agent to your Web browser for display in the Monitor Web console. The location of the Monitor Application files that are installed depends on the Web server that it is being integrated with. For a list of supported Web servers, see Section 2.1, GroupWise Administration Requirements.

The Web server uses a servlet engine in order to incorporate product-specific components, such as the Monitor Application, into its functioning.

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Item 8: Web Server, select the Web server you want to use with Monitor.

Under Item 9: Web Server Path, specify the directory path to the Web server root directory.

Under Item 11: Java Servlet Engine, mark whether you want to use the Tomcat Servlet Container or another Java servlet engine. Also specify the directory path to where the servlet engine is installed.

6.3.2 Determining the Monitor Agent’s Configuration

As you install the Monitor Agent, you are prompted to supply the configuration information described in the following sections:

Systems to Monitor

The Monitor Agent can monitor both GroupWise agents and Messenger agents. In addition, the Monitor Agent works in conjunction with the GroupWise High Availability service on Linux to automatically restart GroupWise and Messenger agents that go down unexpectedly

It is not necessary to have an entire GroupWise system installed in order for the Monitor Agent to monitor Messenger agents. For more information, see Setting up the High Availability Service in Installing a Novell Messenger System in the Messenger 2 Installation Guide.

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Item 5: System Options, mark whether you want to monitor a GroupWise system, a Messenger system, or both.

Monitor Agent Network Address

The Monitor Agent communicates with the Monitor Application and with monitored agents by way of TCP/IP.

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Item 4: Monitor Agent Network Address, record the IP address or DNS hostname of the Linux or Windows server where you plan to install the Monitor Agent software. Use the default port number of 8200 unless that number is already in use on that server.

Domain Directory Path

The Monitor Agent can gather information about the locations of GroupWise agents to monitor by reading from a domain database. Using the gathered information, the Monitor Agent can display a list of monitored agents when you start it for the first time.

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Item 6: Domain Directory, specify the directory path to a domain where a GroupWise 6.x or later MTA is running.

Windows Installation Option: Default Monitor Agent Language

GroupWise Monitor is automatically installed in all available languages. During installation, you can select a default language for the Monitor Agent server console interface, which is available only on Windows.

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Item 7: Default Language, specify a default language.

NOTE:On Linux, you use the Monitor Web consoles exclusively.

For more information, see Multilingual GroupWise Systems in the GroupWise 7 Administration Guide.

Linux Installation Option: LDAP Information

If you are installing the Linux Monitor Agent and Monitor Application, the Installation program needs to access eDirectory™ through LDAP. eDirectory access is required in order to create the Monitor Application objects. To obtain access, the Installation program needs the IP address and port number of an LDAP server, along with an eDirectory username and password to log in with. The user must have sufficient rights to create GroupWise objects in eDirectory. Because the Linux Installation program uses LDAP to access eDirectory, you must provide the username in LDAP format. For example:

cn=admin,ou=users,o=corporate

If you want to secure the connection to eDirectory with SSL, you can specify a certificate file. For background information about SSL, see Encryption and Certificates in Security Administration in the GroupWise 7 Administration Guide.

IMPORTANT:If you do not want to use SSL, the LDAP server must be configured to accept clear text passwords. This is configured on the server’s LDAP Group object in ConsoleOne® by deselecting Require TLS for Simple Binds with Password.

WORKSHEET

Under Item 14: LDAP Authentication, specify the IP address and port number of an LDAP server, a username in LDAP format, the password for the username, and if necessary, the full path to your SSL certificate file.

6.3.3 Determining the Monitor Application’s Configuration

As you install the Monitor Application to a Web server, you are prompted to supply the configuration information described in the following sections:

eDirectory Objects and Configuration File

Monitor Application configuration information is stored in two places:

  • In Novell eDirectory

  • In a configuration file (gwmonitor.cfg).

You can easily modify the configuration information in ConsoleOne by editing the properties of the GroupWise Monitor Application object (named GroupWiseMonitor). However, the configuration file is required if you need to install the Monitor Application to a Web server that is outside your firewall, where access to eDirectory is not available. The default location of the Monitor Application configuration file depends on the platform:

Linux:

/opt/novell/groupwise/agents/gwmonitor/gwmonitor.cfg

Windows:

The gwmonitor subdirectory of the Monitor installation directory

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

If you are installing the Windows Monitor, under Item 10: Novell Root Directory, specify the directory on the Web server where you want to create the Monitor Application configuration file. On Linux, the Monitor software is automatically installed in subdirectories under /opt/novell/groupwise/agents.

Under Item 13: Monitor Object Configuration, specify the tree and context where you want the Monitor Installation program to create the GroupWise Monitor Application object (named GroupWiseMonitor) and the accompanying Monitor Provider object (named GroupWiseProvider).

eDirectory is considered the master location for the Monitor Application configuration information. Any changes made directly to the Monitor Application configuration file are overwritten the next time the information in eDirectory is modified and saved.

The default configuration information is sufficient for an initial Monitor installation. For more information about configuring Monitor, see Monitor in the GroupWise 7 Administration Guide.

Default Monitor Web Console Language

GroupWise Monitor is automatically installed in all available languages. If necessary, you can select a different default language for the Monitor Web console interface than you selected for the Monitor Agent server console interface.

NOTE:The Monitor Agent server console interface is available only on Windows.

GROUPWISE MONITOR INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Item 12: Default Monitor Web Console Language, specify a default language.

For more information, see Multilingual GroupWise Systems in the GroupWise 7 Administration Guide.