Configuring Subscription Billing

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This section describes how to configure subscription billing and view subscription data.

ScienceLogic uses the data collected for each device to assign a license to the device, and you are billed based on the number of device licenses you consume. The rules that govern how licenses are assigned are based on your subscription with ScienceLogic. Certain types of devices do not count against your device license usage in Skylar One. For more information, see the Non-billable Devices section.

Use the following menu options to navigate the Skylar One user interface:

  • To view a pop-out list of menu options, click the menu icon ().
  • To view a page containing all of the menu options, click the Advanced menu icon ().

Prerequisites

To configure a ScienceLogic Skylar One system to automatically report subscription data to ScienceLogic, you must perform the following general steps:

  1. Create a credential that the system will use to connect to the ScienceLogic billing server.
  2. Edit the silo.conf configuration file to use the credential.
  3. Enable the Subscription Usage process.

To complete these steps, you must have the following information:

  • The username and password for the ScienceLogic billing server that your system will communicate with to report usage data.
  • The time offset assigned to this system by ScienceLogic.

Creating a Credential for the ScienceLogic Billing Server

Defining a credential does not apply to secure users with systems that do not send data to the billing server daily. If you are not a secure user, you must define the credential that your Skylar One system will use to communicate with the ScienceLogic billing server.

To define a SOAP/XML credential that your Skylar One system will use to communicate with the ScienceLogic billing server:

  1. Go to the Credential Management page (System > Manage > Credentials).
  2. In the Credential Management page, click the Create menu. Select "SOAP/XML Host Credential".
  3. The Credential Editor modal appears. In this page, you can define the new SOAP/XML credential. To define the new credential, supply values in the following fields:

Basic Settings

  • Profile Name. Name of the credential. Can be any combination of alphanumeric characters, for example "ScienceLogic Billing".
  • Content Encoding. Select text/xml.
  • Method. Select POST.
  • HTTP Version. Select HTTP/1.1.
  • URL. Enter "https://billing.sciencelogic.com"
  • HTTP Auth User. Enter the username for the account (associated with your Skylar One System) on the ScienceLogic billing server.
  • HTTP Auth Password. Enter the password associated with the account on the ScienceLogic billing server.
  • Timeout (seconds). Enter "5".

Proxy Settings

If the Skylar One System requires a proxy server to connect to the ScienceLogic billing server via secure HTTP (https), you can specify a proxy server in the Proxy Settings pane. To configure a proxy, enter values in the following fields:

  • IP. Enter the IP address of the proxy server.
  • Port. Enter the port on the proxy server to which you will connect.
  • User. Enter the username to use to access the proxy server.
  • Password. Enter the Password to use to access the proxy server.
  1. Click the Save button to save the new SOAP/XML credential.
  2. Note the ID number for the new credential.

Editing Silo.conf for Subscription Billing

Every Skylar One appliance has a configuration file called silo.conf, which contains configuration information about the appliance itself, such as the IP address, licensing information, and directory locations. The default settings in silo.conf are configured automatically when the appliance is installed.

Secure users with systems that do not send data to the billing server daily do not need to configure the silo.conf file.

To edit the silo.conf file:

  1. Either go to the console of the Skylar One appliance or use SSH to access the server.

  2. Log in as user em7admin with the appropriate password.

    All settings in the silo.conf file are case-sensitive.

  3. Type the following at the command line to open the silo.conf file for the Primary active Database Server:

    sudo visilo

    If you are implementing the billing credential on other Database Server appliances in the cluster, such as High Availability passive and Disaster Recovery appliances, run the following command: sudo visilo --no-validation. Running this command ensures that the new primary node has the configuration and can continue to upload the billing data if there is a High Availability failover.

  4. Add the following two lines to the end of the file, inserting the ID of the credential you created where indicated:

    5. [SUBSCRIBER]

    cred_id = <ID of configured credential>

  5. Save your changes and exit the file (:wq).

Enabling the Subscription Usage Process

Enabling a specific process on the Process Manager page requires you to click the wrench icon () to access the Process Manager modal. Each of the fields in this modal are search-able in the filter-while-you-type fields at the top of the Process Manager page. For more information, see Viewing Information About ScienceLogic Processes.

To enable the subscription usage process, which will report billing data to the ScienceLogic billing system:

  1. Go to the Process Manager page (System > Settings > Admin Processes or System > Settings > Processes in the classic user interface).
  2. Click the wrench icon () for the "Enterprise Database: Subscription Usage Crunch" process. The Process Editor page appears.
  3. In the Operating State field, select Enabled.
  4. In the Runtime Offset (Mins.) field, select the time offset assigned to this system by ScienceLogic.
  5. Click Save.