Setting Up Log Central

 

The following sections outline the basic steps for installing, configuring, and starting Log Central:

• Installing Log Central

• Configuring Log Central

• Starting Log Central

 

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Installing Log Central

To install Log Central:

1. Install Log Central on the central host and managed nodes as described in the BEA Log Central Installation Guide.

2. Install the Log Central relational database.

   • For a list of supported databases, see the BEA Log Central Release Notes. You can install the database on the central host or on another machine in your network. To install the database, see the database vendor's documentation.

   • The database must have a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver. To install the JDBC driver, see the database vendor's JDBC documentation. When you run lc_config to configure the central host, Log Central copies the JDBC driver to the install_dir/bin directory, where install_dir is the directory where you installed Log Central.

 

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Configuring Log Central

To configure Log Central:

1. Create the Log Central database user.

   • Log Central uses this database user to access the Log Central database. This user needs to have privileges to create and delete tables and modify their contents.

   • Allocate a minimum of 10 MB of disk space for the database user.

   • To create the user, see the database vendor's documentation. You can also use the lc_user_create command, which is described in Commands.

2. Configure the central host. See Configuring the Central Host.

3. If necessary, configure multiple instances of Log Central. See Configuring Multiple Instances of Log Central.

4. Configure the Log Central database.

   1. Run lc_create_schema on the central host to create a database schema.

      For the lc_create_schema syntax, see Commands. If an error occurs or if lc_create_schema aborts, run lc_drop_schema to clean up files that may have been created, try to correct the problem, and re-create the schema.

   2. If desired, run subsystem_create to create additional subsystem entries in the database.

      The Log Central database is partitioned into different categories for the different types of applications and software components that Log Central monitors. Each category represents a resource that generates messages. These resources are called subsystems. The subsystem is one of the unique attributes in a log message.

      Log Central automatically creates subsystems for the following types of messages:

   • BEA Tuxedo logs

   • BEA WebLogic Enterprise logs

   • Oracle alert logs

   • Windows NT event logs

     If you are using Log Central to monitor additional types of applications or software components, call subsystem_create to create a subsystem for each additional type of log message. For the subsystem_create syntax, see Commands.

5. Create log mappings. See Creating Log Mappings.

6. Create message definitions. See Creating Message Definitions.

7. If desired, integrate Log Central with SNMP. See Integrating SNMP.

8. If desired, set environment variables on the central host and managed nodes.

   You need to set environment variables if you want to run Log Central without accepting all its defaults, such as with multiple instances of Log Central or for debugging purposes. Environment variables are described in Environment Variables.

9. If desired, create filters. See Creating Filters.

 

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Starting Log Central

To start Log Central:

1. Start Log Central:

   1. Start the database server.

   2. Run start_messaging for each Central Collector.

      The Central Collectors provide the Data Collection Agents with configuration information. Therefore, you must start the Central Collectors before you start the Data Collection Agents. For information about the start_messaging command, see Commands.

   3. Run start_messaging for each Data Collection Agent.

      If you included LOG_MONITOR statements in the MANAGED_NODE entry in the messaging configuration file, then start_messaging automatically starts the Log Monitors. For information about the messaging configuration file, see Configuration Files. For information about the start_messaging command, see Commands.

   4. If necessary, run log_monitor for each managed resource.

      If you did not set the messaging configuration file to automatically start the Log Monitors in the previous step, you must start each Log Monitor manually. For information about the log_monitor command, see Commands.

2. Configure and start the Log Central Console.

   1. Modify PATH to include the directory that contains a Web browser. By default, the Log Central Console uses Netscape Navigator to display the online help. To use a non-default browser, set the -b option when you start the Log Central Console.

   2. Run start_messaging on the central host.

   3. Wait approximately one minute. This wait time allows the Log Central processes to start.

   4. Run lc_launch on the central host.

      For information about the start_messaging and lc_launch commands, see Commands. For information about the Log Central Console, see the Log Central Online Help.

3. To stop Log Central, run stop_messaging for each Central Collector and each Data Collection Agent.

   For information about the stop_messaging command, see Commands.