Unified Assurance Event TCP Server Aggregator

Overview

The Unified Assurance Event TCP Server Aggregator is a generic integration that listens for connections from a device via a TCP socket on a specific port, reads the message sent, parses the results with customizable rules and creates de-duplicated events within Unified Assurance.

The Topology TCP Server Stitcher service has been setup to process received messages to build a dynamic logical layout.

TCP Server Aggregator Setup

  1. Review the logic in the rules files referenced in the configuration to see the processing that will be done when messages are received:

    • "LoadRules" will be executed during application startup to load data that might be needed during processing.

    • "IncludeRules" will be read during application startup to load additional files that might be called during processing.

    • "BaseRules" will be executed for each device that is selected based on the configuration.

    Update the logic as needed.

  2. Create a clone of the default service, making changes to the configuration as needed.

  3. Enable the Service.

    Configuration -> Broker Control -> Services

Default Service

Field Value
Package Name coreCollection-app
Service Name Event TCP Server Aggregator
Service Program bin/core/collection/TCPServerd
Service Arguments
Service Description TCP Server Aggregator that collects event messages from connecting clients
Failover Type Standalone (Supported: Standalone, Primary/Backup)
Status Disabled
Privileged (Checked)

Default Configuration

Name Value Possible Values Notes
BaseRules collection/event/tcpserver/base.rules Text, 255 characters Relative path to Base Rules.
BranchDir core/default Text, 255 characters relative path to Rules dir.
Host Text, 255 characters DNS name or IP Address for the TCP server. Can associate to a particular interface. - NO RELOAD CONFIG SUPPORT
IncludeRules collection/event/tcpserver/base.includes Text, 255 characters Relative path to Include Rules.
LoadRules collection/event/tcpserver/base.load Text, 255 characters Relative path to Load Rules.
LogFile logs/EventTCPServer.log Text, 255 characters Relative path to Log File.
LogLevel ERROR OFF, FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG Logging level used by application.
Port Integer Port for message collection. - NO RELOAD CONFIG SUPPORT
ShardID 1 Integer Database shard to be used.
Threads 3 Integer Number of process threads created. The aggregator takes a third of this value (rounded up) for database threads unless overridden by the "DBThreads" application configuration.
Capture Disabled Enabled/Disabled Optional - If enabled, saves the raw message in the Log.
DBThreads Integer Optional - Number of database threads to be created. If not specified, defaults to a third (rounded up) of "Threads" application configuration.
DelimiterFile Text, 255 characters Optional - Path to file that contains the additional delimiters used to delineate records. If not specified, delimiter is newline (\n). Relative to $A1BASEDIR
DisableDNS Disabled Enabled/Disabled Optional - If enabled, uses IP address instead of hostname for the event Node.
FailoverBufferLimit 0 Integer Optional - Enables Failover Standby buffer that keeps N-seconds worth of syslogs and replays this buffer when becoming Failover Active. (0=off N=seconds to keep) See Tokens: $buffer and $received
FieldSetFile Text, 255 characters Optional - Path to csv file containing custom list of fields that will be used when inserting data. (Requires InsertSQLFile.)
InsertSQLFile Text, 255 characters Optional - Path to file containing custom SQL Insert statement for handling of event inserts. (Requires FieldSetFile.)

Best Practices

The following list shows the best practices for working with this application:

Rules

This aggregator uses the Unified Assurance standard rules architecture, which are 100% Perl syntax. Refer to the following articles to assist in rules creation:

Tokens

The aggregator exposes the following tokens for rules processing.

Token Description
$Event Reference to the hash that is used to create and insert the Event data into the database. Keys map to the fields within the table used and values assigned are inserted in the database to that field. (e.g. $Event->{'IPAddress'} = '192.168.1.1' to assign the event IP address to '192.168.1.1') At least the 'Node' and 'Summary' fields must be set, or no event is inserted.
$Packet TCP Socket Message (hash reference)
$Packet->{Received} Epoch time packet was received by the aggregator
$Packet->{Buffer} Flag for if was buffered during standby and was replayed (0 = No, 1 = Yes)
$Packet->{Message} Message Received
$Packet->{Host} DNS of remote client.
$Packet->{IP} IP Address of remote client
$discard_flag Flag for discard (0=No, 1=Yes)
$count Message Counter
$AppConfig Hash reference to the application configuration name-value pairs that were configured. (i.e. use $AppConfig->{'Host'} to retrieve the set value for 'Host'.)
$CustomHash Custom key, value cache available across all rules. Contents commonly defined in Load Rules then used in Base or other rules. NOTE: This variable is a shared object and any additional sub hashes or arrays must be shared before use or it will cause the error: "Invalid value for shared scalar". Instantiate the sub hash/array using '&share({})' e.g. 
$CustomHash->{SubObject} = &share({});
$StorageHash Internal cache used as the StorageHash option when calling rules functions such as FindDeviceID(). NOTE: The structure of this cache is subject to change! Not recommended for custom global storage or manual manipulation; use $CustomHash.

Example Integrations

Creating Custom Rules Files

The TCP Server Aggregator will split each message using the defined Delimiter, by default newline (\n). Thus if the message is:

This Device is Down\n
This Device is Up\n

That will create two events in Unified Assurance.

These two events will be used as an example of how the messages could be parsed in the rules file.

Steps

  1. Go to the Rules UI:

    Configuration -> Rules

  2. Expand the folder path: core -> default -> collection -> event -> tcpserver

  3. Select the "tcpserver" folder, then click "Add -> Add File". Enter the following:

    • File Name => newbase.rules

    • Logic

      $Log->Message('DEBUG', "Ran Base Rules");
$Log->Message('DEBUG', [
    '#===============================================',
    '# Received New TCP Server Message',
    '# DNS     = ' . $Packet->{'Host'},
    '# IP      = ' . $Packet->{'IP'},
    '# Message = ' . $Packet->{'Message'},
    '#==============================================='
]);

$Event->{'Node'}       = $Packet->{'Host'};
$Event->{'IPAddress'}  = $Packet->{'IP'};
$Event->{'Summary'}    = $Packet->{'Message'};
$Event->{'Severity'}   = 0;
$Event->{'AlarmGroup'} = 'Unknown';
$Event->{'AlarmKey'}   = 'GenericTCP-->' . $Event->{'Node'} . ':' . $Event->{'Summary'};

if ($Packet->{'Message'} eq '') {
    $Log->Message('ERROR', "Blank message in packet");
    $Event->{'SubMethod'} = "Error";
    $discard_flag         = 1;
}
elsif ($Packet->{'Message'} =~ "Down") {
    $Event->{'AlarmGroup'} = "Down";
    $Event->{'Severity'}   = 5;
}
elsif ($Packet->{'Message'} =~ "Up") {
    $Event->{'AlarmGroup'} = "Up";
    $Event->{'Severity'}   = 0;
}
else {
    # NO Rules
    $Event->{'SubMethod'} = "Generic TCP";
    $Log->Message('ERROR', "!ERROR! No Rules Defined for TCP");
    $Log->Message('DEBUG', "No Rules for TCP Message [" . $Packet->{Message} . "]");
}

      When the event message is parsed, if the message contains Down, a Down Event is created with "Severity" set to 5 (Critical).

      If the message contains Up, an event is passed in which clears the previous alarm by parsing the message and setting "Severity to 0 (Normal).

    • Click "Submit", then enter a commit message, then click "OK".

  4. Create a clone of the default service, making changes to the configuration as needed for connectivity, and change the "BaseRules" configuration to use the "newbase.rules".

  5. Verify the aggregator is processing the events correctly.

Administration Details

The following list shows the technical details need for advanced administration of the application: