Manual Chapter : Prepare the Data Collection Device Cluster for Data Restoration

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 5.2.0, 5.1.0, 5.0.0
Manual Chapter

Define external storage snapshots location

Before you can configure the external snapshot storage location, you need the following information for the machine you will use to store your data collection device (DCD) snapshots:
  • Storage-machine-IP-address
  • Storage-file-path
  • User name, password, and (optionally) the domain for the user account configured on the external storage device
  • Read/Write permissions for the storage file path

You need snapshots to perform software upgrades and to restore your old data.

When you create DCD snapshots, they need to be stored on a machine other than the DCD. You define the location for the snapshot using the BIG-IQ® Centralized Management device.

  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, expand BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION and then select BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices.
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices screen opens to display the currently defined data collection device cluster.
  3. Click the Settings button.
    The Settings screen opens to display the current state of the DCD cluster defined for this BIG-IQ device.
  4. For External Storage, click Configure.
    The External Storage popup screen opens.
  5. In the User name and Password fields, type the user name and password for the user account configured on the external storage device.
  6. For the Domain, type in the domain name for the user account configured on the external storage device.
  7. For the Storage Path, type the path to the external storage location.
    You can specify the device using the IP address or the host name. Additionally, you need to specify the path to the folder on the external storage device. For example:
    //<storage machine ip-address>/<storage-file-path>
    Note: Remember, the folder you specify must have full read, write, and execute permissions.
  8. To test the settings just specified, click Test.
    A message displays to tell you whether the test completes successfully. If it does not, correct the settings and permissions until it completes successfully.
  9. When the external storage is specified successfully, click Save.
The storage location should now be accessible to the all of the devices in the DCD cluster.

Restart data collection device cluster

If too much time elapses between the time you upgrade the data collection devices in your cluster, the cluster communication between data collection devices can fail. If the communication fails, some of the devices can fail to re-join the cluster. If one of the devices does not re-join the cluster, the cluster will not operate. To prevent this scenario, you need to restart the cluster before proceeding.

Note: You must perform this task on each device in the cluster (that is, each data collection device, the BIG-IQ® Centralized Management device, and the BIG-IQ HA peer).
  1. Use SSH to log in to a device in the cluster.
    You must log in as root to perform this procedure.
  2. Run the following command to restart the cluster on this device:
    bigstart restart elasticsearch
  3. Run the following command to confirm that the cluster restarted on this device:
    bigstart status elasticsearch
  4. Repeat the previous three steps for each device in the cluster.
Once you have restarted the cluster for each device, you can proceed to the next task.

Check data collection device health

You can use the Logging Configuration screen to review the overall health and status of the data collection devices you've configured. You can use the data displayed on this screen both before and after an upgrade to verify that your data collection device cluster configuration is as you expect it to be.
  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, expand BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION and then select BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices.
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices screen opens to display the currently defined data collection device cluster.
  3. Click the Settings button.
    The Settings screen opens to display the current state of the DCD cluster defined for this BIG-IQ device.
  4. Check the cluster health status. If there are any cluster health issues, resolve those issues and then repeat the process until the cluster is operating normally.

Restore data collection device snapshots

You can use the BIG-IQ® user interface to restore data collection device (DCD) snapshots.

Please note:

  • The restore operation requires a down time during which no BIG-IQ or DCD work is performed.
  • During the restore operation, no data sent to the DCD is retained.
  • The restore operation restores only the data from the time before the chosen snapshot was created. Data from the time that the chosen snapshot was created to the current time is not restored.
  • Before initiating a snapshot restore, make sure that sufficient disk space is allocated to the /var folder on the device to which you are restoring the snapshot.
  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, expand BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION and then select BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices.
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices screen opens to display the currently defined data collection device cluster.
  3. Click the Settings button.
    The Settings screen opens to display the current state of the DCD cluster defined for this BIG-IQ device.
  4. You have two options for choosing a snapshot and starting the restore, using the settings in the External Storage & Snapshot area near the bottom of the screen.
    Option Description
    To restore from the most recent snapshot: Next to Last Snapshot/Time, click Restore Latest.
    To select the snapshot that you want to restore:
    1. Click the View History button.
    2. Choose the snapshot you wish to restore, and click Restore.

Activate data collection devices services

To upgrade your data collection devices, you deactivated all data collection device services. Once the upgraded software is installed, you must activate the services before you can resume normal operation.
Note: Perform this action on the BIG-IQ® Centralized Management device; not the data collection device (DCD).
  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, expand BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION and then select BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices.
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices screen opens to display the currently defined data collection device cluster.
  3. Click a DCD name.
    The Properties screen for the selected device opens.
  4. On the left, click Services.
  5. For each service that you use, click Activate.
  6. Click Close.
  7. Repeat the steps for each DCD in the cluster.
This restarts the services on your DCDs.

Recheck data collection device health

You can use the Settings screen to review the overall health and status of the data collection devices you've configured. You can use the data displayed on this screen both before and after an upgrade to verify that your data collection device cluster configuration is as you expect.
  1. At the top of the screen, click System.
  2. On the left, expand BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION and then select BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices.
    The BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices screen opens to display the currently defined data collection device cluster.
  3. Click the Settings button.
    The Settings screen opens to display the current state of the DCD cluster defined for this BIG-IQ device.
  4. Analyze the data collection device cluster details listed in the Summary area, and make sure that the values after upgrade match the values from the health check you did before the upgrade.
    • Devices in Cluster
    • Total Document Count
    • Total Document Size
    This information provides a fairly detailed overview that describes the data collection device cluster you have created to store alerts and event log data.
  5. Check the cluster health status. If there are any cluster health issues, resolve those issues and then repeat the process until the cluster health is as you expect it to be.

Recover from an unsuccessful upgrade

To recover from an unsuccessful upgrade, you need to know the volume names for the volumes into which the pre- and post- upgrade versions were installed.
If you complete the upgrade process and the cluster configuration is not the same as before the upgrade, the upgrade was unsuccessful. You need a way to repeat the process.
  1. Use SSH to log in to the BIG-IQ Centralized Management device.
    You must log in as root to perform this process.
  2. Reboot the BIG-IQ device into the volume that you used for the previous version BIG-IQ.
    From the command prompt type: tmsh reboot volume <pre-upgrade volume name>
    The device reboots. The device goes offline. When it comes back online, you can proceed.
  3. When the device reboot is complete, restart the upgrade process from the beginning. Take particular care to follow the work flow precisely. If you did not use the command line method the first time, we highly recommend using it to increase the likelihood of success.