Introduction

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The classic SL1 Global Manager is no longer supported as of SL1 version 11.1. To use the classic SL1 Global Manager, you must be running version SL1 10.2 or below.

This section describes how to use a classic Global Manager system to aggregate data from multiple SL1 systems.

This section applies only to the classic SL1 Global Manager. The classic Global Manager has different configuration requirements and capabilities than the current version of Global Manager. For more information about how these two versions compare, see the section Comparing the Current and Classic Global Manager Versions. For more information about the current version of Global Manager, see the section on Global Manager.

Use the following menu options to navigate the SL1 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 ().

What is Global Manager?

A Global Manager system is an All-In-One Appliance that is configured to aggregate data from multiple SL1 systems. A Global Manager system can aggregate data from either All-In-One Appliances, distributed systems, or both. A SL1 system from which data is aggregated by a Global Manager is referred to as a stack.

For example, suppose your enterprise includes four data centers. Suppose you have installed an All-In-One Appliance in each data center. Each All-In-One Appliance would monitor the devices in its data center and provide a user interface for SL1. You could then install a Global Manager system that aggregates data across all four of your data centers.

A Global Manager system provides the following functions:

  • Dashboard widgets that display data aggregated from multiple SL1 Systems.
  • From the available dashboard widgets, drill-down access to the user interface of the applicable SL1 system. The user interface is proxied by the Global Manager. This proxy allows the end user to view the SL1 system without requiring direct network access to that SL1 system.
  • A global Event Console page for viewing and responding to events from multiple SL1 Systems.
  • An interface for managing the installation of PowerPacks on multiple SL1 Systems.
  • An interface for load-balancing for Global Manager systems that manage large numbers of SL1 systems
  • An instance of the ScienceLogic API that responds with aggregated data from multiple SL1 Systems. This API instance provides read-only access to the same resources in the same structure as the API instance on a standard Administration Portal, Database Server, or All-In-One Appliance.

All data aggregation functions of a Global Manager are performed on-demand; a Global Manager system does not store aggregated data.

Comparing the Current and Classic Global Manager Versions

The current version of Global Manager is similar in many ways to the classic version of Global Manager, but there are also some configuration and functionality differences between the two versions.

The classic SL1 Global Manager is no longer supported as of SL1 version 11.1. To use the classic SL1 Global Manager, you must be running version SL1 10.2 or below.

For more information about the current version of Global Manager, see the section on Global Manager.

The following table compares the configuration requirements and capabilities of the two versions:

Configuration Requirements and Functionality Global Manager Classic Global Manager
Supported in SL1 versions 11.1.0 and later Yes No
Supported in SL1 version 10.2.x Yes Yes
Supported in SL1 versions 10.1.x and earlier No Yes
Requires installation of the ScienceLogic Global Manager PowerPack Yes (v3.0.1 or later) Yes
Can use an All-In-One Appliance as a stack entry point Yes Yes
Can use a Database Server as a stack entry point Yes Yes
Can use an Administration Portal as a stack entry point No Yes
Can be used in the current SL1 user interface ("ap2") Yes No
Can be used in the classic SL1 user interface No Yes
Requires access to TCP port 443 and UDP port 161 Yes Yes
Requires the user’s username and password to be the same on both the Global Manager system and its stacks Yes Yes (In addition, must also have the same user ID.)
Requires the Global Manager system and its stacks to all be on the same SL1 version/patch Yes Yes
Requires a wildcard DNS entry that can be resolved by users' browsers for SNMP discovery No Yes (see next row for caveat)
Allows users to define a stack-specific hostname for Global Manager proxies if wildcard domains cannot be used No Yes
Enables you to use run book actions for automatic stack discovery Yes Yes
Enables you to use SNMP and manual Dynamic Application alignment for stack discovery Yes Yes
Includes a button for manually adding stacks to the Global Manager system No Yes
Includes a page that lists all of the stacks in your Global Manager system Yes Yes
Enables you to "drill down" to individual stacks from the Stacks page No Yes
Enables you to view devices from all of the stacks in your Global Manager system and "drill down" to manage devices on their native stacks Yes (To manage a device, click Manage on the Device Investigator.) Yes (To manage a device, click the graph icon () or wrench icon () from the Device Manager page.)
Enables you to view and create dashboards that display data aggregated from all of the stacks in your Global Manager system Yes Yes
Enables you to view and respond to events from all of the stacks in your Global Manager system Yes Yes

Requirements

Each stack from which data is being aggregated must include at least one entry point. An entry point is an Administration Portal, Database Server, or All-In-One Appliance that meets the following requirements:

  • The Global Manager system must be able to communicate with the entry point over TCP port 443 (secure HTTP) and UDP port 161 (SNMP).
  • The ScienceLogic API must be enabled on the entry point. Administration Portals, Database Servers, and All-In-One Appliances built using the 7.2.1 or earlier ISO did not have the API enabled by default.

The following are the recommended entry points for each architecture:

Architecture Recommended Entry Point
Single All-In-One Appliance All-In-One Appliance
All-In-One Appliances with Disaster Recovery Primary All-In-One Appliance*
Two Database Servers configured for High Availability without an Administration Portal Primary Database Server via the Virtual IP address
Two Database Servers configured for Disaster Recovery without an Administration Portal Primary Database Server*
Three Database Servers configured for High Availability and Disaster Recovery without an Administration Portal

Primary Database Server via the Virtual IP address*

Distributed Architecture with at least one Administration Portal Administration Portal

If an SL1 system is configured for high availability or disaster recovery, only one of the Database Servers or All-In-One Appliances can be used as an entry point.

If disaster recovery failover occurs on a system, the devices monitored by that system will not be included in aggregated data on the Global Manager system until you update the discovered entry point to specify the disaster recovery appliance.

For more information about systems configured for high availability or disaster recovery, see the section on High Availability & Disaster Recovery Configuration.

For entry points with an asterisk (*), if Disaster Recovery failover occurs, the discovered entry point in the Global Manager system must be updated to specify the Disaster Recovery appliance.

To use a Global Manager system, your environment must meet the following requirements:

  • The Global Manager system requires a wildcard DNS entry that can be resolved by the browser for each user who will access the Global Manager user interface. The section on Configuring Global Manager describes how to define this DNS entry.
  • The Global Manager system and all the SL1 Systems being aggregated must be running the same patch version.
  • Users accessing the Global Manager system must have a user account with the same password on each SL1 system being aggregated. ScienceLogic recommends using LDAP or Active Directory authentication to ensure that user accounts are consistent across all the systems in your environment.

A standalone Global Manager system running on an All-In-One Appliance configuration can support approximately 20 stacks. You can enable this functionality with a tier of worker nodes. Any ScienceLogic appliance of type Administration Portal, All-In-One Appliance, or Database Server can be a worker node. Each worker node must include a ScienceLogic user interface. A stack that is monitored by the Global Manager system can also be a worker node.

The recommended sizing for worker nodes includes the following:

  • The ratio of stacks to worker nodes should be approximately 10:1. For example, 30 stacks require three worker nodes.
  • Each worker node should have four cores and 12 GB of RAM dedicated to Global Manager system functionality. Add these resources if the worker node is already in use for another purpose.

For more information about worker nodes, see the section on Configuring Load Balancing for Global Manager.

Features in Classic Global Manager

Only those features described as Global Manager enabled are available in a Global Manager sytstem. Not all features of SL1 and the ScienceLogic API are available for use in a Global Manager system.

Caveats

The following limitations apply to the Global Manager software:

  • The Global Manager system discovers entry points only if the entry points are assigned either the Database Server or All-In-One Appliance device class. If you are using an Administration Portal as an entry point, you must manually assign one of those two device classes after discovering the Administration Portal.

  • Only one entry point can be user per SL1 system. If a SL1 system is configured for high availability or disaster recovery, only one of the Database Servers or All-In-One Appliances can be used as an entry point. If failover occurs on a system, the devices monitored by that system will not be included in aggregated data until the entry point in that system is the primary appliance. Do not use SNMP-based discovery to discover more than one entry point per system.
  • All themes must have the same ID number on the Global Manager system and all the SL1 Systems being aggregated and all users must be assigned the same theme in all systems.