Install NetQ Agents

Verify NTP Is Installed and Configured

Verify that NTP is running on the switch as outlined in the steps below. The switch system clock must be synchronized with the NetQ appliance to enable useful statistical analysis. Alternatively, you can configure PTP for time synchronization.

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl status ntp
[sudo] password for cumulus:
● ntp.service - LSB: Start NTP daemon
        Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/ntp; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
        Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-06-01 13:49:11 EDT; 2 weeks 6 days ago
          Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
        CGroup: /system.slice/ntp.service
                └─2873 /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -g -c /var/lib/ntp/ntp.conf.dhcp -u 109:114

If NTP is not installed, install and configure it before continuing.

If NTP is not running:

• Verify the IP address or hostname of the NTP server in the /etc/ntp.conf file, and then
• Reenable and start the NTP service using the systemctl [enable|start] ntp commands

Obtain NetQ Agent Software Package

Cumulus Linux 4.4 and later includes the netq-agent package by default. To upgrade the NetQ Agent to the latest version:

1. Add the repository by uncommenting or adding the following line in /etc/apt/sources.list:

cumulus@switch:~$ sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
...
deb https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/repos/deb CumulusLinux-4 netq-latest
...

deb https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/repos/deb CumulusLinux-4 netq-4.9

2. Add the apps3.cumulusnetworks.com authentication key to Cumulus Linux:

cumulus@switch:~$ wget -qO - https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/setup/cumulus-apps-deb.pubkey | sudo apt-key add -

Verify NTP Is Installed and Configured

Verify that NTP is running on the switch as outlined in the steps below. The switch must be synchronized with the NetQ appliance to enable useful statistical analysis. Alternatively, you can configure PTP for time synchronization.

admin@switch:~$ sudo systemctl status ntp
● ntp.service - Network Time Service
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/ntp.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2021-06-08 14:56:16 UTC; 2min 18s ago
       Docs: man:ntpd(8)
    Process: 1444909 ExecStart=/usr/lib/ntp/ntp-systemd-wrapper (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 1444921 (ntpd)
      Tasks: 2 (limit: 9485)
     Memory: 1.9M
     CGroup: /system.slice/ntp.service
             └─1444921 /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -x -u 106:112

If NTP is not installed, install and configure it before continuing.

If NTP is not running:

• Verify the IP address or hostname of the NTP server in the /etc/sonic/config_db.json file, and then
• Reenable and start the NTP service using the sudo config reload -n command

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

admin@switch:~$ show ntp
MGMT_VRF_CONFIG is not present.
synchronised to NTP server (104.194.8.227) at stratum 3
   time correct to within 2014 ms
   polling server every 64 s
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
-144.172.118.20  139.78.97.128    2 u   26   64  377   47.023  -1798.1 120.803
+208.67.75.242   128.227.205.3    2 u   32   64  377   72.050  -1939.3  97.869
+216.229.4.66    69.89.207.99     2 u  160   64  374   41.223  -1965.9  83.585
*104.194.8.227   164.67.62.212    2 u   33   64  377    9.180  -1934.4  97.376

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 NVIDIA networking repository.

Note that NetQ and SONiC have separate repositories

To obtain the NetQ Agent package:

1. Install the wget utility so that you can install the GPG keys in step 3.

   admin@switch:~$ sudo apt-get update
   admin@switch:~$ sudo apt-get install wget -y
   

2. Edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file to add the SONiC repository:

   admin@switch:~$ sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list
   ...
   deb https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/repos/deb buster netq-latest
   ...
   

3. Add the SONiC repo key:

   admin@switch:~$ sudo wget -qO - https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/setup/cumulus-apps-deb.pubkey | sudo apt-key add -
   

Verify Service Package Versions

Before you install the NetQ Agent on an Ubuntu server, make sure you install and run at least the minimum versions of the following packages:

• iproute 1:4.3.0-1ubuntu3.16.04.1 all
• iproute2 4.3.0-1ubuntu3 amd64
• lldpd 0.7.19-1 amd64
• ntp 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.6 amd64

Verify the Server is Running lldpd

Make sure you are running lldpd, not lldpad. Ubuntu does not include lldpd by default; however, the installation requires it.

To install this package, run the following commands:

root@ubuntu:~# sudo apt-get update
root@ubuntu:~# sudo apt-get install lldpd
root@ubuntu:~# sudo systemctl enable lldpd.service
root@ubuntu:~# sudo systemctl start lldpd.service

Install and Configure Network Time Server

If NTP is not already installed and configured, follow the steps below. Alternatively, you can configure PTP for time synchronization.

1. Install NTP on the server, if not already installed. Servers must be synchronized with the NetQ appliance to enable useful statistical analysis.

   root@ubuntu:~# sudo apt-get install ntp
   

2. Configure the network time server.

root@ubuntu:~# sudo apt install chrony

root@ubuntu:~# sudo /usr/local/sbin/chronyd

root@ubuntu:~# chronyc activity
200 OK
8 sources online
0 sources offline
0 sources doing burst (return to online)
0 sources doing burst (return to offline)
0 sources with unknown address

root@ubuntu:~# chronyc sources
210 Number of sources = 8
MS Name/IP address         Stratum Poll Reach LastRx Last sample
===============================================================================
^+ golem.canonical.com           2   6   377    39  -1135us[-1135us] +/-   98ms
^* clock.xmission.com            2   6   377    41  -4641ns[ +144us] +/-   41ms
^+ ntp.ubuntu.net              2   7   377   106   -746us[ -573us] +/-   41ms
...

server golem.canonical.com iburst
server clock.xmission.com iburst
server ntp.ubuntu.com iburst
driftfile /var/lib/chrony/drift
makestep 1.0 3
rtcsync

pool pool.ntp.org iburst
driftfile /var/lib/chrony/drift
makestep 1.0 3
rtcsync

root@ubuntu:~# chronyc tracking
Reference ID    : 5BBD59C7 (golem.canonical.com)
Stratum         : 3
Ref time (UTC)  : Mon Feb 10 14:35:18 2020
System time     : 0.0000046340 seconds slow of NTP time
Last offset     : -0.000123459 seconds
RMS offset      : 0.007654410 seconds
Frequency       : 8.342 ppm slow
Residual freq   : -0.000 ppm
Skew            : 26.846 ppm
Root delay      : 0.031207654 seconds
Root dispersion : 0.001234590 seconds
Update interval : 115.2 seconds
Leap status     : Normal

Obtain NetQ Agent Software Package

To install the NetQ Agent you need to install netq-agent on each server. This is available from the NVIDIA networking repository.

To obtain the NetQ Agent package:

1. Reference and update the local apt repository.

root@ubuntu:~# sudo wget -O- https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/setup/cumulus-apps-deb.pubkey | apt-key add -

2. Add the Ubuntu repository:

root@ubuntu:~# vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cumulus-apps-deb-bionic.list
...
deb [arch=amd64] https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/repos/deb bionic netq-latest
...

root@ubuntu:~# vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/cumulus-apps-deb-focal.list
...
deb [arch=amd64] https://apps3.cumulusnetworks.com/repos/deb focal netq-latest
...

Cumulus Linux 4.4 and later includes the netq-agent package by default. To install the NetQ Agent on earlier versions of Cumulus Linux:

1. Update the local apt repository, then install the NetQ software on the switch.

   cumulus@switch:~$ sudo apt-get update
   cumulus@switch:~$ sudo apt-get install netq-agent
   

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

   cumulus@switch:~$ dpkg-query -W -f '${Package}\t${Version}\n' netq-agent
   

   You should see version 4.11.0 and update 48 in the results.
   

   • Cumulus Linux 5.9.0 or later: netq-agent_4.11.0-cld12u48~1722675256.0390e155f_amd64.deb
   • Cumulus Linux 5.8.0 or earlier, ARM platforms: netq-agent_4.11.0-cl4u48~1722676730.0390e155f_armel.deb
   • Cumulus Linux 5.8.0 or earlier, amd64 platforms: netq-agent_4.11.0-cl4u48~1722675371.0390e155f_amd64.deb

3. Restart rsyslog so it sends log files to the correct destination.

   cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl restart rsyslog.service
   

4. Configure the NetQ Agent, as described in the next section.

To install the NetQ Agent (the following example uses Cumulus Linux but the steps are the same for SONiC):

1. Update the local apt repository, then install the NetQ software on the switch.

   admin@switch:~$ sudo apt-get update
   admin@switch:~$ sudo apt-get install netq-agent
   

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

   admin@switch:~$ dpkg-query -W -f '${Package}\t${Version}\n' netq-agent
   

3. Restart rsyslog so it sends log files to the correct destination.

   admin@switch:~$ sudo systemctl restart rsyslog.service
   

4. Configure the NetQ Agent, as described in the next section.

To install the NetQ Agent:

1. Install the software packages on the server.

   root@ubuntu:~# sudo apt-get update
   root@ubuntu:~# sudo apt-get install netq-agent
   

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

   root@ubuntu:~# dpkg-query -W -f '${Package}\t${Version}\n' netq-agent
   

   You should see version 4.11.0 and update 48 in the results.
   

   • Ubuntu 20.04: netq-agent_4.11.0-ub20.04u48~1722675045.0390e155f_amd64.deb

3. Restart rsyslog so it sends log files to the correct destination.

root@ubuntu:~# sudo systemctl restart rsyslog.service

4. Configure the NetQ Agent, as described in the next section.