Sentinel features

The following list contains some features which may be installed manually:

Feature Required Description

sentinel-core

true

Base feature, installing all required bundles such as opennms:health-check and service requirements for other bundles, e.g. sentinel-persistence.

sentinel-jms

false

Provides connectivity to the Meridian ActiveMQ Broker.

sentinel-kafka

false

Provides connectivity to Kafka.

sentinel-flows

false

Feature which starts all dependencies to start processing flows.

sentinel-newts

false

Provides functionality to persist measurement data to Newts.

sentinel-telemetry-nxos

false

Lets you use NxosGpbAdapter

sentinel-telemetry-jti

false

Lets you use the JtiGpbAdapter

sentinel-telemetry-bmp

false

Lets you use the BmpTelemetryAdapter

Auto install

In some cases it is desired to automatically configure the Sentinel instance and also start required features/bundles. As Sentinel is based on Apache Karaf - which supports auto deployment by simply copying any kind of data to the deploy folder, Sentinel can make use of that mechanism to enable auto or hot deployment.

In order to do so, in most cases it is sufficient to copy a features.xml file to ${SENTINEL_HOME}/deploy. This can be done even if the container is running.

The chapter Configure Flow Processing contains an example on how to automatically start them with Sentinel

Auto Start

In some cases it might not be sufficient to auto-deploy/configure the container with a features.xml file. If more flexibility is required it is suggested to modify/copy .cfg and .properties files directly to the ${SENTINEL_HOME}/etc directory. To automatically start features with the container, the file ${SENTINEL_HOME}/etc/org.apache.karaf.features.cfg must be updated:

# ...
featuresBoot = \
      (aries-blueprint, \
      deployer), \
      instance/4.2.2, \
      package/4.2.2, \
      log/4.2.2, \
      scv/28.0.0-SNAPSHOT, \
      ssh/4.2.2, \
      framework/4.2.2, \
      system/4.2.2, \
      eventadmin/4.2.2, \
      feature/4.2.2, \
      shell/4.2.2, \
      management/4.2.2, \
      service/4.2.2, \
      system/4.2.2, \
      eventadmin/4.2.2, \
      feature/4.2.2, \
      shell/4.2.2, \
      management/4.2.2, \
      service/4.2.2, \
      jaas/4.2.2, \
      shell-compat/4.2.2, \
      diagnostic/4.2.2, \
      wrap, \
      bundle/4.2.2, \
      config/4.2.2, \
      kar/4.2.2, \
      sentinel-jms, \ (1)
      sentinel-flows (2)

# ....
1 Install and Start JMS communication feature
2 Install and Start Sentinel Flows feature

Auto configure flow processing for Sentinel

The following examples illustrate a features.xml which configures the Sentinel instance and automatically starts all required features to either consume messages via JMS (ActiveMQ) or Kafka.

Simply copy it to ${SENTINEL_HOME}/deploy/.

JMS
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<features
        name="opennms-${project.version}"
        xmlns="http://karaf.apache.org/xmlns/features/v1.4.0"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://karaf.apache.org/xmlns/features/v1.4.0 http://karaf.apache.org/xmlns/features/v1.4.0"
>
    <!-- Bootstrap feature to start all flow related features automatically -->
    <feature name="autostart-sentinel-flows" version="${project.version}" start-level="100" install="auto">
        <!-- Configure the controller itself -->
        <config name="org.opennms.sentinel.controller">
            location = SENTINEL
            id = 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000ddba11
            http-url = http://127.0.0.1:8980/opennms
            broker-url = failover:tcp://127.0.0.1:61616
        </config>

        <!-- Configure datasource connection -->
        <config name="org.opennms.netmgt.distributed.datasource">
            datasource.url = jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/opennms
            datasource.username = postgres
            datasource.password = postgres
            datasource.databaseName = opennms
        </config>
        <!--
            Starts the Netflow5Adapter to process Netflow5 Messages.
            Be aware, that this requires a Listener with name "Netflow-5" on the Minion-side to have messages
            processed properly.
        -->
        <config name="org.opennms.features.telemetry.adapters-netflow5">
            name = Netflow-5
            class-name = org.opennms.netmgt.telemetry.adapters.netflow.v5.Netflow5Adapter
        </config>
        <!-- Point sentinel to the correct elastic endpoint -->
        <config name="org.opennms.features.flows.persistence.elastic">
            elasticUrl = http://elasticsearch:9200
        </config>
        <!-- Install JMS related features -->
        <feature>sentinel-jms</feature>
        <!-- Install Flow related features -->
        <feature>sentinel-flows</feature>
    </feature>
</features>
Kafka
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<features
        name="opennms-${project.version}"
        xmlns="http://karaf.apache.org/xmlns/features/v1.4.0"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://karaf.apache.org/xmlns/features/v1.4.0 http://karaf.apache.org/xmlns/features/v1.4.0"
>
    <!-- Bootstrap bootstrap feature to start all flow related features automatically -->
    <feature name="autostart-sentinel-telemetry-flows" version="${project.version}" start-level="200" install="auto">
        <!-- Configure the controller itself -->
        <config name="org.opennms.sentinel.controller">
            location = SENTINEL
            id = 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000ddba11
            http-url = http://127.0.0.1:8980/opennms
            broker-url = failover:tcp://127.0.0.1:61616
        </config>

        <!-- Configure datasource connection -->
        <config name="org.opennms.netmgt.distributed.datasource">
            datasource.url = jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/opennms
            datasource.username = postgres
            datasource.password = postgres
            datasource.databaseName = opennms
        </config>
        <!--
            Starts the Netflow5Adapter to process Netflow5 Messages.
            Be aware, that this requires a Listener with name "Netflow-5" on the Minion-side to have messages
            processed properly.
        -->
        <config name="org.opennms.features.telemetry.adapters-netflow5">
            name = Netflow-5
            class-name = org.opennms.netmgt.telemetry.adapters.netflow.v5.Netflow5Adapter
        </config>
        <!-- Point sentinel to the correct elastic endpoint -->
        <config name="org.opennms.features.flows.persistence.elastic">
            elasticUrl = http://elasticsearch:9200
        </config>
        <!--
            Configure as Kafka Consumer.
            All properties described at https://kafka.apache.org/0100/documentation.html#newconsumerconfigs are supported.
        -->
        <config name="org.opennms.core.ipc.sink.kafka.consumer">
            group.id = OpenNMS
            bootstrap.servers = localhost:9092
        </config>
        <!--
            Configure as Kafka Producer for sending Events from Sentinel.
            All properties described at https://kafka.apache.org/0100/documentation.html#producerconfigs are supported.
        -->
        <config name="org.opennms.core.ipc.sink.kafka">
            bootstrap.servers = localhost:9092
        </config>
        <!-- Install Kafka related features -->
        <feature>sentinel-kafka</feature>
        <!-- Install flow related features -->
        <feature>sentinel-flows</feature>
    </feature>
</features>

Kafka Configuration

Each Minion works as a producer and must be configured beforehand. Please refer to section Minion Kafka Producer Configuration on how to configure Minion as a Kafka Producer.

Each Sentinel works as a Consumer and can be configured in the file ${SENTINEL_HOME}/etc/org.opennms.core.ipc.sink.kafka.consumer.cfg. Either manually or via the config:edit org.opennms.core.ipc.sink.kafka.consumer statement. For supported properties, see here

By default each Kafka Consumer starts consuming messages immediately after the feature has been started. It is possible to set a property org.opennms.core.ipc.sink.initialSleepTime to define an initial sleep time in ms before any messages are consumed. In order to set this up, please add an entry to the end of the file ${SENTINEL_HOME}/etc/system.properties:

# Initial delay of 5 seconds before consuming of messages is started in milliseconds
org.opennms.core.ipc.sink.initialSleepTime=5000

Persisting Collection Sets to Newts

In the previous chapter it is described on how to setup Meridian, Minion and Sentinel in order to distribute the processing of flows. However, it only covered flow processing adapters, but there are more, e.g. the NxosGpbAdapter, which can also be run on a Sentinel.

The configuration of Newts for Sentinel uses the same properties as for Meridian. The only difference is, that the properties for Sentinel are stored in /opt/sentinel/etc/org.opennms.newts.config.cfg instead of *.properties files. The name of each property is the same as for Meridian without the org.opennms.newts.config prefix. The following example shows a custom Newts configuration using the Sentinel's Karaf Shell.

$ ssh -p 8301 admin@localhost
admin@sentinel> config:edit org.opennms.newts.config
admin@sentinel> config:property-set hostname localhost
admin@sentinel> config:property-set port 9042
admin@sentinel> config:property-set cache.strategy org.opennms.netmgt.newts.support.GuavaSearchableResourceMetadataCache
admin@sentinel> config:update

Adapters

This chapter describes the various adapters which may contain sample data which may be stored to a Persistence Storage and can also run on a Sentinel. At the moment only Newts is supported as a Persistence Storage. See chapter [ga-sentinel-configure-newts] on how to configure Newts.

In order to get it to work properly, please note, that an appropriate listener on the Minion must also be configured. The name of the listener should share the same name on Sentinel.

SFlowTelemetryAdapter

In order to use this adapter, the feature sentinel-flows and sentinel-newts must be installed. In addition either sentinel-jms or sentinel-kafka should be installed and configured properly. See the previous Flow Processing chapter for more details.

If only sample data should be persisted, the following commands can be run on the Sentinel's Karaf Shell

$ ssh -p 8301 admin@localhost
admin@sentinel> config:edit --alias sflow --factory org.opennms.features.telemetry.adapters
admin@sentinel> config:property-set name SFlow-Telemetry
admin@sentinel> config:property-set class-name org.opennms.netmgt.telemetry.adapters.netflow.sflow.SFlowTelemetryAdapter
admin@sentinel> config:property-set parameters.script  /opt/sentinel/etc/sflow-host.groovy
admin@sentinel> config:update

If SFlow flows and the sample data should be processed, multiple adapters can be configured:

config:edit --alias sflow-telemetry --factory org.opennms.features.telemetry.adapters
config:property-set name SFlow
config:property-set adapters.1.name SFlow-Adapter
config:property-set adapters.1.class-name org.opennms.netmgt.telemetry.adapters.netflow.sflow.SFlowAdapter
config:property-set adapters.2.name SFlow-Telemetry
config:property-set adapters.2.class-name org.opennms.netmgt.telemetry.adapters.netflow.sflow.SFlowTelemetryAdapter
config:property-set adapters.2.parameters.script /opt/sentinel/etc/sflow-host.groovy
config:update

Please note, that in both cases the file /opt/sentinel/etc/sflow-host.groovy must be provided manually, e.g. by manually copying it over from Meridian.

NxosGpbAdapter

In order to use this adapter, the feature sentinel-telemetry-nxos and sentinel-newts must be installed. In addition either sentinel-jms or sentinel-kafka should be installed and configured properly. See the previous Flow Processing chapter for more details.

Besides this, configuration files from Meridian must be copied to Sentinel to /opt/sentinel/etc. The following files and directories are required:

  • ${OPENNMS_HOME}/etc/datacollection

  • ${OPENNMS_HOME}/etc/datacollection-config.xml

  • ${OPENNMS_HOME}/etc/resource-types.d

Afterwards the adapter can be set up:

$ ssh -p 8301 admin@localhost
admin@sentinel> config:edit --alias nxos --factory org.opennms.features.telemetry.adapters
admin@sentinel> config:property-set name NXOS
admin@sentinel> config:property-set class-name org.opennms.netmgt.telemetry.protocols.nxos.adapter.NxosGpbAdapter
admin@sentinel> config:property-set parameters.script /opt/sentinel/etc/cisco-nxos-telemetry-interface.groovy
admin@sentinel> config:update

Please note, that the file /opt/sentinel/etc/cisco-nxos-telemetry-interface.groovy must also be provided manually, e.g. by manually copying it over from Meridian.

JtiGpbAdapter

In order to use this adapter, the feature sentinel-telemetry-jti and sentinel-newts must be installed. In addition either sentinel-jms or sentinel-kafka should be installed and be configured properly. See the previous Flow Processing chapter for more details.

Besides this, configuration files from Meridian must be copied to Sentinel to /opt/sentinel/etc. The following files and directories are required:

  • ${OPENNMS_HOME}/etc/datacollection

  • ${OPENNMS_HOME}/etc/datacollection-config.xml

  • ${OPENNMS_HOME}/etc/resource-types.d

Afterwards the adapter can be set up:

$ ssh -p 8301 admin@localhost
admin@sentinel> config:edit --alias jti --factory org.opennms.features.telemetry.adapters
admin@sentinel> config:property-set name JTI
admin@sentinel> config:property-set class-name org.opennms.netmgt.telemetry.protocols.jti.adapter.JtiGpbAdapter
admin@sentinel> config:property-set parameters.script /opt/sentinel/etc/junos-telemetry-interface.groovy
admin@sentinel> config:update

Please note, that the file /opt/sentinel/etc/junos-telemetry-interface.groovy must also be provided manually, e.g. by manually copying it over from Meridian.