vSTREAM Agent on Windows

 

Introduction

This is a simplified installation procedure that has been thoroughly tested by our engineers on virtual as well as physical host.

A complete and detailed installation guide is available on MyNetscout.

 

Solution

 

 

 

Before you install

Some considerations before we start:

• We don't want to use NetScout's default communication ports as they are reltively common and could be in use on the host, now or in the future.
• We prefer using the hostname to identify the vSTREAM Agent (VSTA) in Device Configuration.
• We know the IP address of the nGeniusONE Server (NGS).
• You are familiar with nGeniusONE
• You are familiar with Linux CLI

 

Firewall

These communication are required.  Make sure they are allowed by every firewall in the path between the host running VSTA and NGS:

From NGS to VSTA (basic communication = required):

• tcp/7080
• tcp/7443
• tcp/7501

From VSTA to NGS (NetScout Discovery Protocol = recommended):

• udp/395 

From VSTA to any Next Generation InfiniStream (NGIS)  (packet forwarding = recommended)

• GRE (IP protocol number 47) or udp/50100

 

Pre-configuration considerations

• vSTREAM Agent offers the posibility to store detailed records (XDR) and data packets on the host.  The amount of disk space used for this purpose is limited.  It must be at least 1GB/10GB respectively.  Any value configured below this value will effecitvely disable that functionality.  We recommend to start with 1GB and 10GB for the XDR store and packet store respectivily.  
• vSTREAM Agent can monitor more than one interface and those interfaces can be different from the interface used to communicate with NGS and NGIS.

In th example below, VSTA will be configured with a 1GB XDR store and a 10GB packet store and is instructed to use the first detected inteface for both management and monitor interface.  Please add an additional CPU and 1GB RAM for each additional interface to be monitored.

 

Create storage path

The path where to store XDR records and packets must be created upfront.  In our example, we decided to use F:\nsagentstore for that matter.

 

Create configuration files

Create the file %temp%/.nsprobeid with the following content. Replace HOSTNAME with the actual hostname or any string value you need to proper identify this vSTREAM Enbedden in nGeniusONE. The name can be up to 127 characters long.  It can only contain alphanumerical characters, period (.) and hyphen (-). NO SPACES, NO UNDERSCORE (_), NO SPECIAL CHARACTERS:

<hostname>

 

Installation

Copy the most recent version of the rpm to the /temp directory on the host. It is recommended to keep the original file name for future reference.

Run the following command to install the agent:

C:\temp\is-6210-xxx-vSTREAM_agent-x64.exe /s /v/qn /v"INSTALLDIR=C:\NETSCOUT NSHTTP_PORT=7080 NSHTTPS_PORT=7443 NSCOMM_PORT=395 NSCONSOLE_PORT=7501 NSCONFIG_SERVER_IP=<IP_NGS> MON_INF=1 MGMT_INF=1 NUM_CPUS=1 MEM_SIZE=2048 STORAGE_PATH=F:\nsagentstore XDRSTORE_SIZE=1000 PKTSTORE_SIZE=10000 NUM_FWD_CPUS=1"

 

Test

Open Taskmanager to see if the required processes are running.

The installation log is located under %temp%\vSTREAM.log

 

Clean-up

We recommend removing all the temporary configuration files from the /tmp direcotory after verification.  These files cannot be used to reconfigure the agent.

 

Modifying the configuration

To modify the configuration, edit this file and restart the agent:

<tbv>

 

Uninstall

If for any reason the agent needs to be uninstalled, open Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a program. This is the preferred way for removing the agent.

Use the following command to perform a silent uninstallation of vSTREAM Agent:

C:\is-6210-xxx-vSTREAM_agent-x64.exe /s /x /v/qn