geneos start overrides a netprobe instance's collection-agent.yml

[rcanillas-itrs]

I am trying to deploy a statsd plugin for the Collection Agent. The netprobe is run through the geneos start command. If I follow the docs and add the statsd plugin configuration to /path/to/netprobe/instance/collection-agent.yml, starting the netprobe overrides the file back to the default state.

Here is the .yml file:

[geneosuser@cen7gen01 np-6.1.1-cordial]$ cat collection-agent.yml

plugin-directory: ${env:CA_PLUGIN_DIR}

monitoring:
  reporting-interval: 10000
  health-probe:
    enabled: true
    listen-port: ${env:HEALTH_CHECK_PORT}
  self-metrics:
    enabled: true
    dimensions:
      app: collection-agent


reporters:
  - type: tcp
    name: tcp
    hostname: localhost
    port: ${env:TCP_REPORTER_PORT}

workflow:
  store-directory: .
  metrics:
    reporter: tcp
    processors:
    - type: plugin
      name: geneos-workflow
      class-name: GeneosProcessor
  attributes:
    reporter: tcp
  events:
    reporter: tcp
  logs:
    reporter: tcp
  traces:
    enabled: false


#### statsd plugin for collection agent
# From https://docs.itrsgroup.com/docs/geneos/6.1.0/data-collection/statsd.htm#Configure_Geneos_to_deploy_StatsD

collectors:
  - name: statsd
    type: plugin
    class-name: StatsdServer

    # Transport protocol.  Can be udp (default) or tcp.
    transport-protocol: udp

    # Number of milliseconds between reporting intervals.  All metrics are aggregated and windowed per interval.
    # Defaults to 10 seconds.
    reporting-interval: 10000

    # Listen port.  Defaults to 8125.
    listen-port: 8125

    # Size (in bytes) of the listening socket's receive buffer.  If configured, an attempt will be made to re-size the
    # buffer, but it is not guaranteed to take the configured size.
    # Defaults to 5MB.
    receive-buffer-size: 5242880

    # Maximum supported message size (in bytes).  Messages over this size are dropped.
    # Should be configured in correlation with the statsd client max message size.
    # Defaults to 1432 for UDP and 4096 for TCP.
    max-message-size: 1432

    # Number of milliseconds after which a metric will be purged if no updates have been received.
    # Defaults to 24 hours.
    stale-metrics-threshold: 86400000


    # Optional settings for metric derived from collected metrics.
    derived-metrics:
      timers:
       # Defaults to false.
        enabled: false

        # Optional custom percentiles to publish. Default values shown.
        percentiles:
          - 99
          - 95
          - 90
          - 75
          - 50

I start all my instances (netprobe marked by ***):

[geneosuser@cen7gen01 np-6.1.1-cordial]$ geneos start
gateway "gw-6.1.1-cordial" started with PID 5439
licd "licd-6.1.0-cordial" started with PID 5440
netprobe "np-6.1.1-cordial" started with PID 5441               ***
webserver "ws-6.1.1-cordial" started with PID 5442

Double-check that netprobe is running:

[geneosuser@cen7gen01 np-6.1.1-cordial]$ geneos ps np-6.1.1-cordial
Type      Name              Host       PID   Ports        User        Group       Starttime                  Version            Home
netprobe  np-6.1.1-cordial  localhost  5441  [7036 9137]  geneosuser  geneosuser  2023-01-17T16:10:52+08:00  active_prod:6.1.1  /home/geneosuser/geneos/netprobe/netprobes/np-6.1.1-cordial

Double-check the collection-agent.yml:

[geneosuser@cen7gen01 np-6.1.1-cordial]$ cat collection-agent.yml

plugin-directory: ${env:CA_PLUGIN_DIR}

monitoring:
  reporting-interval: 10000
  health-probe:
    enabled: true
    listen-port: ${env:HEALTH_CHECK_PORT}
  self-metrics:
    enabled: true
    dimensions:
      app: collection-agent


reporters:
  - type: tcp
    name: tcp
    hostname: localhost
    port: ${env:TCP_REPORTER_PORT}

workflow:
  store-directory: .
  metrics:
    reporter: tcp
    processors:
    - type: plugin
      name: geneos-workflow
      class-name: GeneosProcessor
  attributes:
    reporter: tcp
  events:
    reporter: tcp
  logs:
    reporter: tcp
  traces:
    enabled: false

I am unsure if I am configuring the statsd plugin on the wrong configuration file, or if geneos start rewrites the instance's collection-agent.yml file every time.

[rcanillas-itrs]

I should probably add the version:

[geneosuser@cen7gen01 plugins]$ geneos --version
geneos version v1.4.2

[pgalbavy-itrs]

Thanks for the report. Collection Agent is not supported yet as it was only with the release of GA6.x that it could be run in a "read only" package location. It's on the TODO list and I will use the report you have provided to ensure it works the way you would want.

It's most likely going to be February before I have time to do much as I am travelling and then on holiday next week :-)

[pgalbavy-itrs]

Some progress has been made and I should be able to commit changes soon, after some more testing. There is a new ca3 component based n the netprobe install (like san is based on the same) but at the moment there is no support planned for collection agent to be "unmanaged" under an existing netprobe instance.

[pgalbavy-itrs]

There is now a ca3 component type for unmanaged collection agents.

In terms of managed agents and Netprobe overwrites - that is a Netprobe issue, I guess it's down to if you are using the built-in or custom YAML settings. Needs more investigation.