Configuration and Discovery

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The following sections describe how to configure and discover Alibaba Aliyun services and component devices for monitoring by SL1 using the Alibaba Cloud: Aliyun PowerPack:

Prerequisites

To configure the SL1 system to monitor Aliyun using the Alibaba Cloud: Aliyun PowerPack, you must have the account access key ID and password for the Aliyun service you want to monitor.

To properly discover and model your Aliyun service in SL1, the account must have at least Read-Only access to the Aliyun service you want to monitor.

Creating a SOAP/XML Credential for Aliyun

To configure SL1 to monitor Aliyun, you must first create a SOAP/XML credential. This credential allows SL1 (specifically, the Dynamic Applications in the Alibaba Cloud: Aliyun PowerPack) to connect with the Aliyun service. An example SOAP/XML credential that you can edit for your own use is included in the PowerPack.

To configure a SOAP/XML credential to access Aliyun:

  1. Go to the Credential Management page (System > Manage > Credentials).

  1. Locate the sample credential included in the Alibaba Cloud: Aliyun PowerPack, called Alibaba Cloud: Aliyun Credential, then click its wrench icon ().

  1. Enter values in the following fields:

  • Profile Name. Enter a new name for the Aliyun credential.

  • Content Encoding. Select text/xml.
  • Method. Select POST.
  • HTTP Version. Select HTTP/1.1.
  • URL. Keep the default value.

The Aliyun service does not require a specific URL to access the service, but SL1 does require a URL value when creating SOAP/XML credentials. Therefore, the URL field must have an entry but the value itself does not matter.

  • HTTP Auth User. Enter the account access key ID for the Aliyun service.
  • HTTP Auth Password. Enter the account access key password for the Aliyun service.
  1. Click Save As.
  2. In the confirmation message, click OK.

Creating an Aliyun Virtual Device

Because the Aliyun service does not have a static IP address, you cannot discover an Aliyun device using discovery. Instead, you must create a virtual device that represents the Aliyun service. A virtual device is a user-defined container that represents a device or service that cannot be discovered by SL1. You can use the virtual device to store information gathered by policies or Dynamic Applications.

If you have multiple Aliyun subscriptions you want to monitor, you should create a separate credential and virtual root device for each.

To create a virtual device that represents your Aliyun service:

  1. Go to the Device Manager page (Registry > Devices > Device Manager).

  1. Click Actions and select Create Virtual Device from the menu. The Virtual Device modal page appears.

  1. Enter values in the following fields:

  • Device Name. Enter a name for the device. For example, you could enter "Alibaba Cloud" in this field.

  • Organization. Select the organization for this device. The organization you associate with the device limits the users that will be able to view and edit the device. Typically, only members of the organization will be able to view and edit the device.
  • Device Class. Select Alibaba | Aliyun Account.
  • Collector. Select the collector group that will monitor the device.
  1. Click Add to create the virtual device.

Discovering Aliyun Component Devices

To discover all of the components of your Aliyun service, you must manually align the "Aliyun Account Configuration" and "Aliyun Region Discovery" Dynamic Applications with the Aliyun virtual device.

To discover your Aliyun service, perform the following steps:

  1. Go to the Devices page and click on the Aliyun virtual device to open the Device Investigator.
  2. Click the Collections tab.
  3. Click Edit and then click Align Dynamic App. The Align Dynamic Application window appears.
  4. Click Choose Dynamic Application. The Choose Dynamic Application window appears:

  1. Select the "Aliyun Account Configuration" Dynamic Application and click Select. The name of the selected Dynamic Application appears in the Align Dynamic Application window.
  2. If a default credential is listed below the Dynamic Application and it is the credential you created for your Aliyun service, skip ahead to step 7. Otherwise, uncheck the box next to the credential name.
  3. Click Choose Credential. The Choose Credential window appears.
  4. Select the credential you created for your Aliyun service for the Dynamic Application and click the Select button. The name of the selected credential appears in the Align Dynamic Application window.
  5. Click the Align Dynamic App button. When the Dynamic Application is successfully aligned, it is added to the Collections tab, and a confirmation message appears at the bottom of the tab.
  6. Repeat these steps to align the "Aliyun Region Discovery" Dynamic Application with the Aliyun virtual device.

When you align the "Aliyun Account Configuration" Dynamic Application with the Aliyun virtual device, the Dynamic Application creates a component device representing the Aliyun account.

When you align the "Aliyun Region Discovery" Dynamic Application to the account component device, the Dynamic Application determines the regions used by the Aliyun account and creates a component device for each region.

Under each region, SL1 then discovers the following component device categories:

  • Availability Zones
    • CloudDisk services
      • CloudDisk instances
    • Elastic Compute Service (ECS) services
      • ECS instances

To unalign a Dynamic Application from a device, click the Actions button () for that Dynamic Application and select Unalign Dynamic App. However, be advised that when you unalign a Dynamic Application, you also delete the data it has collected.

Discovering Aliyun Component Devices in the SL1 Classic User Interface

To discover all of the components of your Aliyun service, you must manually align the "Aliyun Account Configuration" and "Aliyun Region Discovery" Dynamic Applications with the Aliyun virtual device.

To discover your Aliyun service, perform the following steps:

  1. Go to the Device Manager page (Registry > Devices > Device Manager).

  1. Click the wrench icon () for your Aliyun virtual device.
  2. In the Device Administration panel, click the Collections tab. The Dynamic Application Collections page appears.
  3. Click Actions and select Add Dynamic Application from the menu.

  1. In the Dynamic Application Alignment modal page:

  1. Click Save to align the Dynamic Application with the Aliyun virtual device.
  2. Repeat steps 4-6 to align the "Aliyun Region Discovery" Dynamic Application with the Aliyun virtual device.

When you align the "Aliyun Account Configuration" Dynamic Application with the Aliyun virtual device, the Dynamic Application creates a component device representing the Aliyun account.

When you align the "Aliyun Region Discovery" Dynamic Application to the account component device, the Dynamic Application determines the regions used by the Aliyun account and creates a component device for each region.

Under each region, SL1 then discovers the following component device categories:

  • Availability Zones
    • CloudDisk services
      • CloudDisk instances
    • Elastic Compute Service (ECS) services
      • ECS instances

Viewing Aliyun Component Devices

In addition to the Devices page, you can view the Aliyun service and all associated component devices in the following places in the user interface:

  • The Device Investigator Map page (click Map in the Device Investigator page) displays a map of a particular device and all of the devices with which it has parent-child relationships. Double-clicking any of the listed devices reloads the page to make the selected device the primary device.
  • The Device Components page (Devices > Device Components) displays a list of all root devices and component devices discovered by SL1. The Device Components page displays all root devices and component devices in an indented view, so you can easily view the hierarchy and relationships between child devices, parent devices, and root devices. To view the component devices associated with an Aliyun service, find the Aliyun virtual device and click its plus icon (+).
  • The Component Map page (Classic Maps > Device Maps > Components) allows you to view devices by root node and view the relationships between root nodes, parent components, and child components in a map. This makes it easy to visualize and manage root nodes and their components. SL1 automatically updates the Component Map as new component devices are discovered. The platform also updates each map with the latest status and event information. To view the map for an Aliyun service, go to the Component Map page and select the map from the list in the left NavBar. To learn more about the Component Map page, see the section on Views.

Viewing Aliyun Component Devices in the SL1 Classic User Interface

In addition to the Device Manager page (Registry > Devices > Device Manager), you can view the Aliyun service and all associated component devices in the following places in the user interface:

  • The Device View modal page (Registry > Devices > Device Manager > graph icon > Topology) displays a map of a particular device and all of the devices with which it has parent-child relationships. Double-clicking any of the devices listed reloads the page with the selected device as the primary device:

  • The Device Components page (Registry > Devices > Device Components) displays a list of all root devices and component devices discovered by SL1 in an indented view, so you can easily view the hierarchy and relationships between child devices, parent devices, and root devices. To view the component devices associated with the Aliyun service, find the Aliyun virtual device and click its plus icon (+):

  • The Component Map page (Classic Maps > Device Maps > Components) allows you to view devices by root node and view a map of the relationships between root nodes, parent components, and child components. This makes it easy to visualize and manage root nodes and their components. SL1 automatically updates the Component Map as new component devices are discovered. The platform also updates each map with the latest status and event information. To view the map for the Aliyun service, go to the Component Map page and select the map from the list in the left NavBar. To learn more about the Component Map page, see the section on Views.