.. _arbitrator-agents:

Agent Configuration  
------------------------

.. _24.2|VOSS-1388:



Overview 
...........

Insights Arbitrator agents are Linux service testing bots that enable synthetic connectivity and performance 
testing of a range of UC and business applications for greater visibility of the user experience in your environment.

The agents test connectivity to UC resources, such as Teams and Zoom, and perform synthetic testing to validate that 
the infrastructure can reach the application resource or a specified URL. For example, you may want to monitor the route 
and connectivity across a WAN link for mission-critical applications to verify jitter and per hop latency. Alerts 
can be set up to notify you immediately when your systems experience connectivity or performance issues. This is especially 
important for systems where it's important that they're up and running at all times.

Each agent makes regular (5 minute interval) API calls to the Arbitrator for updates.

You can view and configure registered Insights agents and agent profiles via the **Agent Configuration** tab in 
Arbitrator's **System Configuration** interface. 

.. note:: 

   One profile is assigned per agent. 


.. image:: /src/images/arb-configuration-agent.png 


Install Insights Agent 
.........................

This procedure installs and registers an Insights agent with the Arbitrator. 

.. rubric:: System Requirements 

* Minimal Linux installation on your network that can install .deb files on any of: VM, (mini)computer, Raspberry PI
* Linux should have installed: jq, curl, sysstat, mtr-tiny, util-linux
* Minimal space required: .deb file size less than 17KB



1. Download the installation package via the Arbitrator GUI or directly via the Arbitrator IP address:

   ``https://[Arbitrator IP Address]/insights-agent/insights-agent-[release version]-all.deb`` 

   .. note:: 

      You can verify the file against the sha value, also available at the download location: ``insights-agent-[release version]-all.deb.sha256``

   .. image:: /src/images/agent-software-download-gui.png 


2. Install the software: ``$ sudo apt-get install ./insights-agent-24.2-all.deb``

3. Enter the IP address or FQDN of the Arbitrator where you're deploying the agent.  
4. Fill out credentials, user and password, and wait for authentication.

   .. note:: 
    
      Typically, these are the VOSS Agent API credentials - user can be the default, ``voss_agent_api_user``. You can 
      also use the admin, or your own user. 
      Once the credentials are set up 
      for the agent, they're not exposed again. The credentials are centrally managed on Arbitrator's 
      :ref:`arbitrator-credential-configuration` page, so that 
      you can share them between the profiles. Users and their passwords can be added and configured in 
      Arbitrator's :ref:`arbitrator-access-control` page.
 
5. Fill out the customer name. 
6. Fill out a name for the agent. 
7. The agent registers with the Arbitrator. A UUID is required to be able to register so that the 
   Arbitrator can identify the agent in its interactions.
   
   Confirm that the agent status is "registered".

8. At the prompt, restart services. 
9. Verify that the agent has been added: 

   * Log in to Arbitrator. 
   * Click the toolbar **Wrench** icon to open the **System Configuration** GUI. 
   * Click the **Agents** icon to open the **Agent Configuration** page. 
   * Select the **Agents** tab to view the agent you added.  

.. note:: 

   If you need to upgrade the agent for a new version of Arbitrator, you can re-run the Agent installation 
   package. 


View and Configure Agents and Profiles 
...........................................


Agents 
''''''''''

The **Agent Configuration** page provides a centralized management interface for 
agents and their profiles, where you can: 

* Add or delete agents and their profiles 

  .. note:: 

     It is expected that an organization will have just one agent per site (location).

* Add tests for the agent to run and specify test attributes (destination, ports, protocol) 

  .. note:: 

     Credentials for connecting to a destination can be configured via Arbitrator's :ref:`arbitrator-credential-configuration` 
     page.

* Manage the tests the agent runs, for example, to remove or disable existing tests 
* Manage the agent code, for example, to view agents and their description or purpose, their versions, 
  and their enabled tests, and to update one or more agents 
* Enable or disable agents 

  .. note:: 

     When disabling an agent on the Arbitrator, the agent still runs all its jobs (5 minute intervals), but it won't run 
     its tests or report to the Arbitrator until it's enabled again. 

* Select a profile for the agent, and update the agent or its profile - for example, you can change the customer name or the hostname, and enable or 
  disable collection 

  .. note:: 

     The system IP is a read-only value as it's assigned by the system.


.. rubric:: Assign a profile to an agent 

1. On the **Agents** group, click the green Pencil icon to edit the agent. 
2. In the **Profile** drop-down for the relevant agent, choose a profile. 
3. Save your changes.


Profiles 
''''''''''

You can add one or more profiles. An agent can only have one profile assigned to it. One profile may be 
assigned to one or more agents. 

.. rubric:: Add a custom profile 

Insights ships with a default profile, which is assigned to an agent on install. The default can be cloned 
and customized in Arbitrator. 

To clone a profile:  

1. On the **Profiles** group, select the checkbox at the profile name. 
2. Click the taskbar **Clone Profile** button (C)
3. Give the profile a new name and description. 
4. Add or remove tasks for the connectivity tests and/or the performance tests. You can also clone existing 
   tasks then customize the clone for your requirements - for example, change the task name, specify a 
   destination and port. Save your changes.  



.. rubric:: Configure profile 

Click the green **Edit** icon (Pencil) to edit a profile.

.. image:: /src/images/arb-configuration-agent-profiles-1.png 

You can edit the various connectivity and performance tests for the profile. Once the profile is updated, the next 
time the agent checks for changes, the new settings are retrieved from the Arbitrator and the agent runs the 
profile with these settings against the Arbitrator. 

.. image:: /src/images/arb-agent-configuration-edit-profile.png 





View Agent Data on the Dashboards 
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''


You can view the results of agent tests on the collection of Synthetic Transactions dashboards. 

When adding the agent, 
the system provides a unique ID (UID) to the agent, which remains associated to the agent if you uninstall and 
reinstall the agent. The UID comes from the Linux system, which has a unique ID. You can identify the agent 
data on the dashboard from the UID. 

1. Log in to Insights Dashboard. 
2. In the Dashboard folders, navigate to **Diagnostics > Synthetic Transactions**. 

   .. image:: /src/images/dash-synthetic-transactions-folder.png 

   .. note:: 

      See Synthetic Transactions Dashboards in the Dashboard Admin Guide. 

3. Select a dashboard to view and inspect agent data. 

.. rubric::  Related Topics 

* 
  .. raw:: latex

     Insights Reference Dashboards - Synthetic Transactions Dashboards in the Dashboard Admin Guide

  .. raw:: html
  
     <a href="../VAA-dashboard-reporting/insights-reference-dashboards.html#synthetic-transactions-dashboards">Insights Reference Dashboards - Synthetic Transactions Dashboards</a> 

