HQ Quick Start

After HQ is installed, take it for a spin and see what it can do. This page will show you how to do the most fundamental HQ tasks:

1. Log in.
2. Import some initial resources (a platform) into your HQ inventory.
   Now you can manage your resources in HQ. You will:
3. View metrics.
4. Enable log/config tracking.
5. Configure an alert.
   

   These quick-start instructions assume a default HQ installation. If you changed anything during your installation (such as port numbers, username, or password), be sure to use those values instead of the defaults.

Step 1. Log in to HQ.

To log in to HQ:

1. In a web browser, navigate to port 7080 of the host HQ is installed on. Example. http://localhost:7080/ or http://hq.myhost.net:7080/.
   You are now at the HQ Login screen.
2. Enter the default HQ Administrator Login (hqadmin)and Password (hqadmin).
   You are now at the HQ Dashboard.

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Step 2. Import a new platform.

The Dashboard consists of several portlets that provide information about the HQ deployment. You can select which portlets are displayed where and how. The first portlet users use is the Auto-Discovery portlet. (HQ's Auto-Discovery discovers platforms, servers, and services on your system. The results of that discovery are displayed here.) In this case, the portlet will display several entries (platform and servers) for the newly registered HQ Agent on the local machine and for any other resource it has found on the host so far. These resources need to be "imported" (added to the HQ inventory) so that the Agent can start collecting default metrics for them. You will know that the platform has been successfully imported when you see its hostname in the Recently Added portlet (at the left).

To import the platform:

• On the Dashboard, select the radio button next to your host (and next to any other platform and server entries in this portlet) and click Add to Inventory.

Learn more about the Dashboard.

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Step 3. View platform metrics.

The default metric-collection intervals for platform metrics range between 1 and 10 minutes, depending on the metric. Therefore, because you just enabled the default metrics for collection by adding the platform to the inventory, you need to wait a few minutes before the first data points are collected.

After the first metrics have been collected, you can view them on the "Current Health" screen, which displays information on the health of the current resource (in this case, a platform) as well as information on resources related to this platform (any services or servers hosted by the platform and discovered by HQ).

Indicators Tab. The Indicators tab — displayed by default — graphically displays the indicator metrics for your platform. For every slice of time (x-axis), the charts mark the average with a diamond and indicate the range of measured values with a vertical bar. (The time range of data displayed in these charts is determined by Metric Display Range, at the bottom of the page, which users can modify.)

Metrics Tab. The adjacent Metric Data tab displays all available metrics and metric data for a resource and allows you to change which metrics are collected and how often.

To view metric data for your platform:

1. Click Browse Resources in the masthead menu.
2. On the "Browse Resources" screen, click the name of your platform (which you can most easily find by first clicking Platforms(#) at the top left, which filters the resource list to only platforms).
   This takes you to the "Current Health" screen.
   

   Where Are All The Metrics? By default, only the indicator metrics are configured to be collected. To enable more metrics for collection or change the collection interval of selected metrics: Click the Metric Data second-level tab. Click the arrow button next to Show All Metrics at the top of the Metric Data page. This lists all metrics available to collect for the resource type. Check the box next to the metrics you want to collect, enter the collection interval at the bottom of the page, and click the arrow button to the right of Collection Interval for Selected.

   Learn more about the "Current Health" screen.

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Step 4. Enable Log/Config Tracking.

Log/Config Tracking allows you to keep track of log events and changes to your platform's configuration. You need to turn on this feature for the platform (and any other resource you want to track).

To enable log/config tracking for your platform:

1. While on the Platform Current Health page where you just viewed metrics, click the Inventory tab (just to the right of the default Monitor tab).
2. In the Configuration Properties section at the bottom of the page, click Edit.
3. Check Enable Log Tracking and type /var/log/dmesg in Log Files.
4. Check Enable Config Tracking and type /etc/hosts in Configuration Files.
5. Click OK.
   

   Files Used in Tracking Multiple files may be specified in Configuration Files and Log Files. Separate multiple filenames with commas. The files must be readable by the HQ Agent, so make sure file permissions are set accordingly.

   Learn more about log tracking.

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Step 5. Configure an Alert.

Now you will configure an alert to notify you if your platform ever goes down.

To define an alert for your platform:

1. Still on the Platform Current Health page, click the Alert tab (just to the right of the Inventory tab).
2. Click New to create a new alert definition.
3. In the Alert Properties section, name the alert, assign it a high priority, and enable it:
   1. Type Platform Down! for the Name
   2. Select "!!! - High" for the Priority.
   3. (Optional) Type a Description.
   4. Leave Active set to "YES".
4. In the Condition Set section, specify that the alert should be triggered every time the platform becomes unavailable:
   1. Select "Availability" for Metric.
   2. Select "< (Less than)" and type 100% for (absolute value).
   3. Leave "Each time conditions are exceeded or met"selected for Enable Action(s) and click .
      This takes you to the Alert Notification screen.

Now that the alert is defined, you need to make sure that someone will receive an alert email if the alert is triggered (that is, if the platform goes down).

To define alert notification:

1. On the Alert Notification page, click the Notify HQ Users tab and click .
2. At the left, check your username (select "hqadmin" if that is the only user) and click to move the name to "Add HQ User Notification" at the right.
3. Click .

The email address associated with the selected user will now get an alert notification if this platform ever goes down.

Learn more about alerts.

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