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Cloud Pak for AIOps 4 tips: install Netcool/OMNIbus and Netcool/Impact in an hour

By Zane Bray posted 17 days ago

  
A shortcut to this blog post is: https://ibm.biz/install_netcool
Most deployments of Cloud Pak for AIOps (AIOps) will necessarily include the deployment of both Netcool/OMNIbus 8.1 for event collection and Netcool/Impact 7.1 for custom integration and automation capabilities. For example, you might have event sources that include traps or syslog messages, so you will likely need the SNMP and Syslogd Probes respectively. If you have any custom integration requirements, for example, a database or third-party API that contains event enrichment data, then you will likely need Netcool/Impact.
If you are using any Netcool Probes, then you will need to deploy Netcool/OMNIbus. If you deploy any Probes as part of a wider AIOps deployment, then it is recommended to connect all your Probes to an on-premise Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer, then use the AIOps Netcool Connector to connect to the ObjectServer layer.
This blog provides a set of quick steps for how to deploy both Netcool/OMNIbus and Netcool/Impact onto a single VM.
The whole process should take one to two hours to complete.
PROVISION A VM
Most deployments of Netcool/OMNIbus and Netcool/Impact will be done on a Linux VM. A suggested configuration would be a RHEL 9 VM with 16 cores, 32GB RAM, and 300GB disk. Other supported Linux operating systems are listed here.
UPDATE THE OPERATING SYSTEM
After provisioning, you will need to both update the system, and ensure unzip is installed:
yum update -y
yum install -y unzip
A list of other required packages for RHEL 9 can be found here. Other operating system required package listings are also available on the same page.
For convenience, here is the list of commands to prepare a RHEL 9 system with the required packages:
Core component packages:
yum install -y audit-libs
yum install -y expat
yum install -y libidn
yum install -y libuuid
yum install -y zlib
yum install -y glibc
yum install -y libgcc
yum install -y libstdc++
yum install -y libxcrypt-compat
For 32-bit probes or gateways
yum install -y libstdc++.i686
yum install -y glibc.i686
yum install -y libgcc.i686
yum install -y libstdc++.i686
Netcool/OMNIbus Desktop GUI components:
yum install -y fontconfig
yum install -y freetype
yum install -y libICE
yum install -y libSM
yum install -y libjpeg-turbo
yum install -y libpng
yum install -y libxcb
yum install -y motif
yum install -y libX11
yum install -y libXau
yum install -y libXext
yum install -y libXft
yum install -y libXmu
yum install -y libXp
yum install -y libXpm
yum install -y libXrender
yum install -y libXt
Netcool/OMNIbus Administrator packages:
yum install -y libXcursor
yum install -y libXfixes
yum install -y libXi
yum install -y libXtst
Probe and Gateway support packages (64-bit):
yum install -y glibc
yum install -y libgcc
yum install -y libstdc++
Netcool MIB Manager packages:
yum install -y gtk2
Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer:
yum install -y pam
Netcool/OMNIbus Process agent:
yum install -y nss-softokn-freebl
After performing all of these updates, restart the VM, and then reconnect for the next steps:
shutdown -r now
CREATE USER AND SET PERMISSIONS ON INSTALL DIRECTORY
Netcool software should be installed as a non-root user who is a member of a group called ncoadmin.
Run the following as the root user to create the required user and group:
groupadd ncoadmin
useradd netcool
passwd netcool (set password)
usermod -g ncoadmin netcool
chown -R netcool:ncoadmin /opt
NOTE: this assumes nothing else is installed on this box, particularly in the /opt directory.
SET UP ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES FOR THE NETCOOL USER
Add the following environment variables to the bottom of the newly created netcool user's .bashrc file:
vi /home/netcool/.bashrc
export NCHOME=/opt/IBM/tivoli/netcool
export OMNIHOME=/opt/IBM/tivoli/netcool/omnibus
export IMPACT_HOME=/opt/IBM/tivoli/impact
ACQUIRE AND COPY THE INSTALLATION MEDIA TO THE VM
The required installation media set referenced in this blog includes: IBM Installation Manager, Netcool/OMNIbus, and Netcool/Impact. The specific ones used in the examples are as follows:
agent.installer.linux.gtk.x86_64_1.8.6001.20170428_1156.zip
TNIV7.1.0.26__LNX_ML.zip
TVL_NTCL_OMN_V8.1.0.28_CORE_LNX.zip
In this example, I will copy all the installation media to the /opt/software directory and unpack them, ready for installation:
mkdir /opt/software
mkdir /opt/software/im
mkdir /opt/software/omnibus
mkdir /opt/software/impact
cd /opt/software/im
mv /tmp/agent.installer.linux.gtk.x86_64_1.8.6001.20170428_1156.zip .
unzip agent.installer.linux.gtk.x86_64_1.8.6001.20170428_1156.zip
cd /opt/software/omnibus
mv /tmp/TVL_NTCL_OMN_V8.1.0.28_CORE_LNX.zip .
unzip TVL_NTCL_OMN_V8.1.0.28_CORE_LNX.zip
unzip com.ibm.tivoli.omnibus.core.linux.x86_64.zip
cd /opt/software/impact
mv /tmp/TNIV7.1.0.26__LNX_ML.zip impact/.
unzip TNIV7.1.0.26__LNX_ML.zip
unzip M06HVML.zip
chown -R netcool:ncoadmin /opt/software
INSTALL IBM INSTALLATION MANAGER
The installation of the three products should be done as the netcool user and all the following steps should be done as this user:
su - netcool
First install the IBM Installation Manager:
cd /opt/software/im
./groupinstc -dataLocation /opt/IBM/IM/var -installationDirectory /home/netcool/IBM/IM/InstallationManager \
    -configuration /home/netcool/IBM/IM/etc -acceptLicense
RUN IBM INSTALLATION MANAGER
In most cases, the installation VM will not have direct console access, hence installing Netcool/OMNIbus and Netcool/Impact via the command line is recommended:
su - netcool
cd ~/IBM/IM/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools
./imcl -c
Navigate through the menu options to add the following software repositories (option P, then option 1, then option D to add):
/opt/software/omnibus/OMNIbusRepository/repository.xml
/opt/software/impact/ImpactRepository/disk1/diskTag.inf
INSTALL NETCOOL/OMNIBUS
Navigate through the IBM Installation Manager menus to install Netcool/OMNIbus first (option 1: "Install software packages"). Accept all the default settings for each installation step. Once installation is complete, exit IBM Installation Manager.
CONFIGURE AND START AN OBJECTSERVER
Edit the Netcool/OMNIbus interfaces file and add an entry for your ObjectServer:
vi $NCHOME/etc/omni.dat
[AGG_P]
{
    Primary: netcool-server.ibm.com 4100
}
NOTE: The interfaces file can take either a host name or an IP address, followed by a port number (4100 is the recommended default). if your VM is multi-homed, ensure the correct externally accessible IP address is entered here so that the ObjectServer runs on the correct interface, otherwise external clients, such as the AIOps Netcool Connector, may not be able to connect to your Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer.
Run the following commands to regenerate the interfaces file, create the ObjectServer instance, and start the ObjectServer instance:
$NCHOME/bin/nco_igen
$OMNIHOME/bin/nco_dbinit -server AGG_P -customconfigfile $OMNIHOME/extensions/multitier/objectserver/aggregation.sql
$OMNIHOME/bin/nco_objserv -name AGG_P &
LOG IN TO THE OBJECTSERVER AND CONFIGURE USERS
This step involves setting the initial password of the ObjectServer super user (root) and creating a user which will be used by Netcool/Impact. The latter needs to be created before attempting to install Netcool/Impact:
$OMNIHOME/bin/nco_sql -server AGG_P -user root -password ZZ

ALTER user 'root' set password 'netcool';
go
CREATE USER 'impactadmin' FULL NAME 'Impact Administrator' PASSWORD 'netcool';
go
ALTER GROUP 'System' ASSIGN MEMBERS 'impactadmin';
go
quit
NOTE: This example sets the password for both the root and impactadmin ObjectServer users to: "netcool".
START A SIMNET PROBE
Netcool/OMNIbus comes with a test Probe called the Simnet Probe. It simulates network events, hence its name. It is useful to start up this Probe in a new test system when you come to setting up the Netcool Connectors, so that you can see some sample events coming through. You can run a Simnet Probe via the following command:
$OMNIHOME/probes/nco_p_simnet -server AGG_P &
INSTALL NETCOOL/IMPACT
Navigate through the IBM Installation Manager menus to install Netcool/Impact first (option 1: "Install software packages"). Accept all the default settings for each installation step. As part of the installation, it will ask you about connection to the ObjectServer. Use the connection details previously configured to set these installation parameters. Ensure you install both the Impact server and the Impact GUI server. Once installation is complete, exit IBM Installation Manager.
After installation of Netcool/Impact, the Impact server and the Impact GUI server should both be running:
ps -ef | grep -i impact
netcool     1030       1 99 03:12 ?        00:00:28 /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/sdk/jre/bin/java 
      -javaagent:/opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/wlp/bin/tools/ws-javaagent.jar -Djava.awt.headless=true 
      -Djdk.attach.allowAttachSelf=true -Xms512M -Xmx2400M -Dclient.encoding.override=UTF-8 
      -Dhttps.protocols=SSL_TLSv2 -Dcom.ibm.jsse2.renegotiate=DISABLED -XX:+ExitOnOutOfMemoryError 
      -Djava.rmi.server.hostname=kea1.fyre.ibm.com -Dorg.apache.camel.jmx.disabled=true 
      -jar /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/wlp/bin/tools/ws-server.jar ImpactUI
netcool     1033       1 99 03:12 ?        00:00:22 /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/sdk/jre/bin/java 
      -javaagent:/opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/wlp/bin/tools/ws-javaagent.jar -Djava.awt.headless=true 
      -Djdk.attach.allowAttachSelf=true -Xms512M -Xmx2400M -Dclient.encoding.override=UTF-8 
      -Dhttps.protocols=SSL_TLSv2 -Dcom.ibm.jsse2.renegotiate=DISABLED -XX:+ExitOnOutOfMemoryError 
      -Djava.rmi.server.hostname=kea1.fyre.ibm.com -Dcom.ibm.jsse2.overrideDefaultTLS=true 
      -jar /opt/IBM/tivoli/impact/wlp/bin/tools/ws-server.jar NCI
SUMMARY NOTES
Congratulations! You have now installed both Netcool/OMNIbus 8.1 and Netcool/Impact 7.1, and can now start working with them.
  • You may wish to download and install the latest patches for Netcool/OMNIbus and Netcool/Impact from IBM Fix Central. These are installed using the IBM Installation Manager in the same manner as outlined above. After downloading each patch, you will unpack it, add it to your software repository list, then choose option 2 to update existing products.
  • You may wish to download and install other Netcool Probes, depending on your event sources. These are installed using the IBM Installation Manager in the same manner as outlined above. After downloading each Probe, you will unpack it, add it to your software repository list, then choose option 1 to install each one. Popular Probes include the Message Bus Probe, the SNMP Probe, and the Syslogd Probe.
  • You may optionally set up Netcool/OMNIbus in a resilient manner, with a backup Aggregation ObjectServer and optional Collection layer. Documentation on how to set this up can be found here.
  • You may optionally configure OMNIbus and Impact to automatically start when the machine boots. Instructions on how to set this up can be found here.
  • Best Practices guides for both Netcool/OMNIbus 8.1 and Netcool/Impact 7.1 can be downloaded from the IBM Documentation site.
  • Tips for setting up the AIOps Netcool Connectors can be found in this blog.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thanks to Francesco Rinaldi, whose excellent Netcool deployment PDF was the basis of much of this content.

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