Install and Configure Aria Operations for Logs Agent on vCenter Server for cfapi with SSL

Products

• VMware vRealize Log Insight 8.x
• VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)

Issue/Introduction

This article introduces how to install and configure Aria Operations for Logs Agent on vCenter Server for cfapi with SSL.

Environment

Aria Operations for Logs 8.x

vCenter 8.0ux

Resolution

Download/Install RPM package:

• Access "https://<Aria Operations for Logs IP or FQDN>/admin/agents", click "Download VMware Aria Operations for Logs Agent version 8.x" button then select "Linux RPM (32-bit/64-bit)" file to download;
• Upload the RPM file to vCenter Server;
• Login vCenter Server with SSH, input command "rpm -ivh <Aria Operations for Logs Agent RPM file>" to install Aria Operations for Logs agent on vCenter Server;

Download Certificate from Aria Operations for Logs on vCenter Server:

• Login vCenter Server with SSH;
• Input command below to save Aria Operations for Logs certificate to vCenter Server;
  
  openssl s_client -showcerts -servername <Aria Operations for Logs Address or Hostname> -connect <Aria Operations for Logs Address or Hostname>:9543 2>/dev/null </dev/null |  sed -ne '/-BEGIN CERTIFICATE-/,/-END CERTIFICATE-/p' > /etc/ssl/certs/aria-ops-logs.pem

Copy Agent Configuration for log forwarding:

• Access https://<Aria Operations for Logs IP or FQDN>/contentpack?contentPackId=com.vmware.vsphere
• Click "Agent Groups" menu and find the group name according to actual vCenter Server version, for exapmle: "vSphere 7.0 - vCenter (Linux)"
• Copy all content in "Configuration" to a file (e.g. AgentConfiguration.txt) for later use.

Configure Aria Operations for Logs Agent on vCenter Server (All commands in this chapter are executed on vCenter Server):

• Stop Aria Operations for Logs Agent:
  
  systemctl stop liagentd.service


• Backup/Edit Aria Operations for Logs Agent configuration file:
  
  cp /etc/liagent.ini /etc/liagent.ini.bak
vi /etc/liagent.ini
  
  
• In /etc/liagent.ini, make sure parameters are configured as below:
  
  hostname=<Aria Operations for Logs IP or Hostname>
proto=cfapi
port=9543
ssl=yes
ssl_ca_path=/etc/ssl/certs/aria-ops-logs.pem

Note: Make sure to place the parameters above under the [server] heading.
  
  
• Paste all content in "AgentConfiguration.txt" into /etc/liagent.ini under the [storage] section. You can also remove those part that doesn't need to be forwarded to Aria Operations for Logs
• Save then quit the file /etc/liagent.ini.
• Start Aria Operations for Logs Agent:
  
  systemctl start liagentd.service

With all configuration above done, vCenter Server can forward log to Aria Operations for Logs as the picture below with link "https://<Aria Operations for Logs>/admin/agents":