Install and Configure the NetQ Agent on RHEL and CentOS Servers

After installing your Cumulus NetQ software, you should install the NetQ 2.4.1 Agents on each server you want to monitor. NetQ 2.4 Agents can be installed on servers running:

• Red Hat RHEL 7.1
• CentOS 7

Prepare for NetQ Agent Installation on a RHEL or CentOS Server

For servers running RHEL or CentOS, you need to:

• Verify the minimum package versions are installed
• Verify the server is running lldpd
• Install and configure NTP, if needed
• Obtain NetQ software packages

Verify Service Package Versions

For proper operation of the NetQ Agent on a Red Hat or CentOS server, make sure the following packages are installed and running these minimum versions:

• iproute-3.10.0-54.el7_2.1.x86_64
• lldpd-0.9.7-5.el7.x86_64
• ntp-4.2.6p5-25.el7.centos.2.x86_64
• ntpdate-4.2.6p5-25.el7.centos.2.x86_64

Verify the Server is Running lldpd and wget

Make sure you are running lldpd, not lldpad. CentOS does not include lldpd by default, nor does it include wget, which is required for the installation.

To install this package, run the following commands:

root@rhel7:~# sudo yum -y install epel-release
root@rhel7:~# sudo yum -y install lldpd
root@rhel7:~# sudo systemctl enable lldpd.service
root@rhel7:~# sudo systemctl start lldpd.service
root@rhel7:~# sudo yum install wget

Install and Configure NTP

If NTP is not already installed and configured, follow these steps:

1. Install NTP on the server. Servers must be in time synchronization with the NetQ Platform or NetQ Appliance to enable useful statistical analysis.

root@rhel7:~# sudo yum install ntp

2. Configure the NTP server.

   1. Open the /etc/ntp.conf file in your text editor of choice.

   2. Under the Server section, specify the NTP server IP address or hostname.

3. Enable and start the NTP service.

root@rhel7:~# sudo systemctl enable ntp
root@rhel7:~# sudo systemctl start ntp

4. Verify NTP is operating correctly. Look for an asterisk (*) or a plus sign (+) that indicates the clock is synchronized.

root@rhel7:~# ntpq -pn
remote           refid            st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
+173.255.206.154 132.163.96.3     2 u   86  128  377   41.354    2.834   0.602
+12.167.151.2    198.148.79.209   3 u  103  128  377   13.395   -4.025   0.198
2a00:7600::41    .STEP.          16 u    - 1024    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
\*129.250.35.250 249.224.99.213   2 u  101  128  377   14.588   -0.299   0.243

Obtain NetQ Agent Software Package

To install the NetQ Agent you need to install netq-agent on each switch or host. This is available from the Cumulus Networks repository.

To obtain the NetQ Agent package:

1. Reference and update the local yum repository.

root@rhel7:~# sudo rpm --import https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/setup/cumulus-apps-rpm.pubkey
root@rhel7:~# sudo wget -O- https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/setup/cumulus-apps-rpm-el7.repo > /etc/yum.repos.d/cumulus-host-el.repo

2. Edit /etc/yum.repos.d/cumulus-host-el.repo to set the enabled=1 flag for the two NetQ repositories.

root@rhel7:~# vi /etc/yum.repos.d/cumulus-host-el.repo
...
[cumulus-arch-netq-2.4]
name=Cumulus netq packages
baseurl=https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/repos/rpm/el/7/netq-2.4/$basearch
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
[cumulus-noarch-netq-2.4]
name=Cumulus netq architecture-independent packages
baseurl=https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/repos/rpm/el/7/netq-2.4/noarch
gpgcheck=1
enabled=1
...

Install NetQ Agent on a RHEL or CentOS Server

After completing the preparation steps, you can successfully install the agent software onto your server.

To install the NetQ Agent:

1. Install the Bash completion and NetQ packages on the server.

root@rhel7:~# sudo yum -y install bash-completion
root@rhel7:~# sudo yum install netq-agent

2. Verify you have the correct version of the Agent.

root@rhel7:~# rpm -q netq-agent

You should see version 2.4.1 and update 26 or later in the results. For example: 

netq-agent-**2.4.1**-rh7u**26**~1581350236.c5ec3e5.x86_64.rpm

3. Restart rsyslog so log files are sent to the correct destination.

root@rhel7:~# sudo systemctl restart rsyslog

4. Continue with NetQ Agent Configuration in the next section.

Configure the NetQ Agent on a RHEL or CentOS Server

After the NetQ Agents have been installed on the servers you want to monitor, the NetQ Agents must be configured to obtain useful and relevant data. Two methods are available for configuring a NetQ Agent:

• Edit the configuration file on the device, or
• Use the NetQ CLI.

Configure the NetQ Agents Using a Configuration File

You can configure the NetQ Agent in the netq.yml configuration file contained in the /etc/netq/ directory.

1. Open the netq.yml file using your text editor of choice. For example:

root@rhel7:~# sudo nano /etc/netq/netq.yml

2. Locate the netq-agent section, or add it.

3. Set the parameters for the agent as follows:

• port: 31980 (default) or one that you specify
• server: IP address of the NetQ server or appliance where the agent should send its collected data
• vrf: default (default) or one that you specify

Your configuration should be similar to this:

netq-agent:
  port: 31980
  server: 127.0.0.1
  vrf: default

Configure NetQ Agents Using the NetQ CLI

If the CLI is configured, you can use it to configure the NetQ Agent to send telemetry data to the NetQ Server or Appliance. If it is not configured, refer to Configure the NetQ CLI on a RHEL or CentOS Server and then return here.

Use the following command to configure the NetQ Agent:

netq config add agent server <text-opta-ip> [port <text-opta-port>] [vrf <text-vrf-name>]

This example uses an IP address of 192.168.1.254 and the default port and VRF for the NetQ hardware.

root@rhel7:~# sudo netq config add agent server 192.168.1.254
Updated agent server 192.168.1.254 vrf default. Please restart netq-agent (netq config restart agent).
root@rhel7:~# sudo netq config restart agent

Configure Advanced NetQ Agent Settings

A couple of additional options are available for configuring the NetQ Agent. If you are using VRF, you can configure the agent to communicate over a specific VRF. You can also configure the agent to use a particular port.

Configure the NetQ Agent to Use a VRF

While optional, Cumulus strongly recommends that you configure NetQ Agents to communicate with the NetQ Platform only via a VRF, including a management VRF. To do so, you need to specify the VRF name when configuring the NetQ Agent. For example, if the management VRF is configured and you want the agent to communicate with the NetQ Platform over it, configure the agent like this:

root@rhel7:~# sudo netq config add agent server 192.168.1.254 vrf mgmt
root@rhel7:~# sudo netq config restart agent

Configure the NetQ Agent to Communicate over a Specific Port

By default, NetQ uses port 31980 for communication between the NetQ Platform and NetQ Agents. If you want the NetQ Agent to communicate with the NetQ Platform via a different port, you need to specify the port number when configuring the NetQ Agent like this:

root@rhel7:~# sudo netq config add agent server 192.168.1.254 port 7379
root@rhel7:~# sudo netq config restart agent