9.2. Configuring the Master

Your grid master will be the station on which all day-to-day operations happen. It is the station that will send out alerts, and it is the station that will store all historical data for every check running on the grid. Except for the initial satellite setup, all configuration of every monitored node in your grid will also be done via. the web interface on the grid master.

9.2.1. Installation and licensing

The grid master functionality is included in the standard SysOrb Server. Therefore, installing a grid master is simply the installation of a normal SysOrb Server, as described earlier in this manual.

The grid master functionality is enabled in the server with a special license file. Trial licenses are offered specially, and full licenses can be purchased just like the non-grid licenses. Please contact your sales representative or Evalesco A/S for details.

9.2.2. Configuring the master station

In the web interface, under "System Setup", enter the "This Station" page. Here you can specify a descriptive name for the station (the master), and you can enter the unique GID. Please use your allocated GID prefix, and pick the last number in the GID as you wish (as long as it is unique within your installation).

Once a descriptive name and the proper GID is entered, the station as such is configured to participate in your grid. The cryptographic keys on the configuration page will be blank initially, but once you have configured the station, the system will begin to generate a proper RSA key pair. After a few minutes (depending on the speed of the system), you should be able to see the signature and encryption keys listed in the web interface.

9.2.3. Adding a satellite to the master's configuration

The master must now be made aware of a satellite. We have not yet configured the satellite itself, but we can still let the master know that one is going to exist in the future.

Under "System Setup", please select the "Stations" page. This is for configuring all remote stations, as seen from this local station. Select "Add station" to add a satellite.

The "name" field cannot be filled out, as the name of the remote station will be fetched automatically once the master and the satellite establish their connection. The GID field, however, must be filled out. This field must contain the GID of the station you will be adding. Again, please make sure that you select a unique GID for your station, preferably using your allocated GID prefix.

9.2.4. Configuring the link between the master and the satellite

In order to facilitate communication between the master and the server, we must now let the master know how it can contact, or how it can be contacted by, the satellite. This is done under "System Configuration" and the "Links" page.

Select "Add Link" to define a link between the master and the satellite. You can enter a descriptive name for this link. You must now select whether the master may accept incoming connections from the remote station over this link, and whether the master may attempt to initiate connections to the remote station over the link.

For masters, it is most common to specify that they are allowed to accept incoming connections. Masters will often not be able to connect directly to the remote satellites, as these will often be NAT'ed away behind firewalls on remote networks. If, however, your master must attempt to establish the connection to the satellite, you must specify a destination IP address (and optionally a port number if your satellite deviates from the default configuration of using port 3241).

Now, that we have configured the master, made the master aware of the satellite, and configured the master's connectivity to the satellite, all of the grid specific communication is actually complete. We can now go ahead and actually configure the satellite station that we have just made the master aware of.

9.2.5. Exporting domains to the satellite

Information can be exported to the master, on a domain-tree basis. For each domain, one can specify a list of GIDs that are allowed to "mount" said domain. A common scenario is to create a domain for each remote satellite location, and specify the corresponding satellite GID in the allowed export list for the given domain.

Please create a domain for your remote satellite location (under "Configure", select "Add domain", and add a new domain as usual). For the rest of this example, let us assume the domain is called "remote" and that it is located right under the root domain. Please be sure to specify the GID of the satellite in the export list for the domain.

The satellite will now be allowed to retrieve all node and check configurations from the domain and from all domains under this domain. The satellite will still have to be configured to actually "pull" this information from the master, but specifying the GID of the satellite in the export list of the domain is a prerequisite to actually allowing the export of information to the given satellite.