Configuration and Discovery

The following sections describe how to configure and discover Aruba Central virtual controllers for monitoring by SL1 using the Aruba Central PowerPack.

Prerequisites for Monitoring Aruba Central

Before you can monitor Aruba Central virtual controllers and their component devices using the Aruba Central PowerPack, you must first have the following information:

To authenticate using the Oauth Grant Mechanism:

Aruba Central username and password
Aruba Central customer ID
Aruba Central client ID
Aruba Central client secret key

To authenticate using the Offline Token Mechanism:

Aruba Central client ID
Aruba Central client secret key
Aruba Central refresh token

You can request these items by registering with Aruba Technical Support.

Configuring Aruba Central Credentials

To use the Dynamic Applications in the Aruba Central PowerPack, you must configure a SOAP/XML credential for the Aruba Central web service.

SL1 includes an Aruba Central credential type that you can use to connect with the Aruba Central web service during guided discovery. This credential type uses field names and terminology that are specific to Aruba Central.

The PowerPack includes two example SOAP/XML credential examples (Aruba Central Example) and Aruba Central SSO Example) that you can edit for your own use.

If you use "MSP Mode" for Aruba Central , you should still use individual API keys for each tenant/customer. Using the MSP level API key to discover all tenants at once is not supported by this PowerPack.

Configuring Aruba Central Credential using Oauth Grant Mechanism

To configure a SOAP/XML credential:

Go to the Credentials page (Manage > Credentials).
Locate the Aruba Central Example sample credential, then click its Actions icon () and select Duplicate. A copy of the credential, called Aruba Central Example copy appears.
Supply values in the following fields:

Name. Type a new name for your Aruba Central credential.
All Organizations. Toggle on (blue) to align the credential to all organizations, or toggle off (gray) and then select one or more specific organizations from the Select the organizations the credential belongs to* drop-down field to align the credential with those specific organizations.
Timeout (ms). Type a timeout value of at least 2000.
Content Encoding. Keep the default value.
Method. Keep the default value.
HTTP Version. Keep the default value.
URL. Type your Aruba Central URL.
HTTP Auth User. Type your Aruba Central username email address.
HTTP Auth Password. Type your Aruba Central password.
Embedded Password [%P]. Type your Aruba Central client secret key.
Embed Value [%1]. Type "AuthOauth2".
Embed Value [%2]. Type your Aruba Central customer ID.
Embed Value [%3]. Type your Aruba Central client ID.
Embed Value [%4]. Type the page size for pagination between 1 and 1000. ScienceLogic recommends setting the Embed Value [%4] field to a value close to 1,000 for large Aruba Central systems and only lowering this value if you see SIGTERMs. You cannot set the page size to 0 in this field. Aruba Central deployments of more than 5,000 devices need a dedicated collector.
CURL Options. Ensure that SSLVERIFYPEER is selected and set to 0. There should be no other CURL Options configured.

Proxy Settings

You must complete the Proxy Settings fields only if you connect to Aruba Central through a third-party proxy server. If you do not use a proxy to connect to Aruba Central, then you can leave these fields blank.

Proxy Hostname/IP. Type the server's hostname or IP address.
Proxy Port.Type the port on the proxy server to which you will connect.
Proxy User. Type the username used to access the proxy server.
Proxy Password. Type the password used to access the proxy server.

HTTP Headers

Add a header. Click Add a header to connect a proxy server using http or https.
- proxy_url_protocol:http.Enter this schema if the proxy server does not have https configured.
- proxy_url_protocol:https. Enter this schema if the proxy server has https configured.

Click Save & Close.

The SOAP/XML credential tester is not supported by the Aruba Central PowerPack.

Configuring Aruba Central Credentials using Oauth Grant Mechanism for SL1 in the Classic User Interface

To configure SL1 to monitor Aruba Central devices, you must first create a SOAP/XML credential. This credential allows the Dynamic Applications in the Aruba Central PowerPack to use your Aruba Central user account to retrieve information from the Aruba Central virtual controller and component devices.

The PowerPack includes an example SOAP/XML credential (Aruba Central Example) that you can edit for your own use.

To configure a SOAP/XML credential to access Aruba Central:

Go to the Credential Management page (System > Manage > Credentials).
Locate the Aruba Central Example credential, and then click its wrench icon (). The Edit SOAP/XML Credential modal appears.
Complete the following fields:

Basic Settings

Profile Name. Type a new name for the Aruba Central credential.

URL. Type your Aruba Central URL.

HTTP Auth User. Type your Aruba Central username email address.
HTTP Auth Password. Type your Aruba Central password.
Timeout. Type a value of at least 2.

SOAP Options

Embedded Password [%P]. Type your Aruba Central client secret key.
Embed Value [%1]. Type "AuthOauth2".
Embed Value [%2]. Type your Aruba Central customer ID.
Embed Value [%3]. Type your Aruba Central client ID.
Embed Value [%4]. Type the page size for pagination between 1 and 1000.

ScienceLogic recommends setting the Embed Value [%4] field to a value close to 1,000 for large Aruba Central systems and only lowering this value if you see SIGTERMs. You cannot set the page size to 0 in the Embed Value [%4] field. Aruba Central deployments of more than 5,000 devices need a dedicated collector.

CURL Options. Ensure that SSLVERIFYPEER is selected and set to 0. There should be no other CURL Options configured.

Proxy Settings

Hostname/IP. Type the server's hostname or IP address.
Port.Type the port on the proxy server to which you will connect.
User. Type the username used to access the proxy server.
Password. Type the password used to access the proxy server.

HTTP Headers

Add a header. Click Add a header to connect a proxy server using http or https.
- proxy_url_protocol:http.Enter this schema if the proxy server does not have https configured.
- proxy_url_protocol:https. Enter this schema if the proxy server has https configured.

For the remaining fields, use the default values.
Click the Save As button.

Configuring Aruba Central Credentials Using Offline Token Mechanism

Aruba Central Power Pack supports SSO (Single Sign-On) using the Offline Token mechanism. This method generates a Refresh Token that's required when creating a SOAP/XML credential. The token file contains both an access token and a refresh token. Access tokens can be renewed with refresh tokens once expired.

To generate a token:

Navigate to the Aruba Central API Gateway User Interface.
Go to the Rest API page (Organization > Platform Integration > Rest API).
Click the System Apps & Tokens tab, and then click View Tokens.
Click the Download Token button to open the token file, and locate the series of characters next to the field refresh_token.

For more information about generating a refresh token, including the domain URLs that can be used for API gateway access, see the Aruba Central documentation.

To configure a SOAP/XML credential to access Aruba Central:

Go to the Credentials page (Manage > Credentials).
Locate the Aruba Central SSO Example credential, then click its Actions icon () and select Duplicate. A copy of the credential, called Aruba Central SSO Example copy appears.

Complete the following fields:

Name. Type a new name for the Aruba Central credential.
All Organizations. Toggle on (blue) to align the credential to all organizations, or toggle off (gray) and then select one or more specific organizations from the Select the organizations the credential belongs to* drop-down field to align the credential with those specific organizations.
Timeout (ms). Type a timeout value of at least 2000.
Content Encoding. Keep the default value.
Method. Keep the default value.
HTTP Version. Keep the default value.
URL. Type your Aruba Central URL.
Embedded Password [%P]. Type your Aruba Central client secret key.
Embed Value [%1]. Type "OfflineToken" in the field.
Embed Value [%2]. Type your Refresh Token.
Embed Value [%3]. Type your Aruba Central client ID.
Embed Value [%4]. Type the page size for pagination between 1 and 1000. ScienceLogic recommends setting the Embed Value [%4] field to a value close to 1,000 for large Aruba Central systems and only lowering this value if you see SIGTERMs. You cannot set the page size to 0 in the Embed Value [%4] field. Aruba Central deployments of more than 5,000 devices need a dedicated collector.
CURL Options. Ensure that SSLVERIFYPEER is selected and set to 0. There should be no other CURL Options configured.

Proxy Settings

Proxy Hostname/IP. Type the server's hostname or IP address.
Proxy Port.Type the port on the proxy server to which you will connect.
Proxy User. Type the username used to access the proxy server.
Proxy Password. Type the password used to access the proxy server.

HTTP Headers

Add a header. Click Add a header to connect a proxy server using http or https.
- proxy_url_protocol:http.Enter this schema if the proxy server does not have https configured.
- proxy_url_protocol:https. Enter this schema if the proxy server has https configured.

For the remaining fields, use the default values.
Click the Save & Close button.

Configuring Aruba Central Credentials Using Offline Token Mechanism in the Classic User Interface

To configure a SOAP/XML credential to access Aruba Central:

Go to the Credential Management page (System > Manage > Credentials).
Locate the Aruba Central SSO Example credential and click its wrench icon (). The Edit SOAP/XML Credential modal appears:
Complete the following fields:

Basic Settings

Profile Name. Type a new name for the Aruba Central credential.
URL. Type your Aruba Central URL.
Timeout. Type a value of at least 2.

SOAP Options

Embedded Password [%P]. Type your Aruba Central client secret key.
Embed Value [%1]. Type "OfflineToken" in the field.
Embed Value [%2]. Type your Refresh Token.
Embed Value [%3]. Type your Aruba Central client ID.
Embed Value [%4]. Type the page size for pagination between 1 and 1000.

Proxy Settings

Hostname/IP. Type the server's hostname or IP address.
Port.Type the port on the proxy server to which you will connect.
User. Type the username used to access the proxy server.
Password. Type the password used to access the proxy server.

HTTP Headers

Add a header. Click Add a header to connect a proxy server using http or https.
- proxy_url_protocol:http.Enter this schema if the proxy server does not have https configured.
- proxy_url_protocol:https. Enter this schema if the proxy server has https configured.

CURL Options. Ensure that SSLVERIFYPEER is selected and set to 0. There should be no other CURL Options configured.

For the remaining fields, use the default values.
Click the Save As button.

Discovering Aruba Central Devices

To discover and monitor your Aruba Central virtual controller, you must do the following:

Create a virtual device representing the virtual controller
Configure the Aruba Central device template that is included in the Aruba Central PowerPack
Align the device template to the Aruba Central virtual device

Each of these steps is documented in the following sections.

Creating an Aruba Central Virtual Device

Because the Aruba Central virtual controller does not have a static IP address, you cannot discover an Aruba Central device by running a discovery session. Instead, you must create a virtual device that represents the Aruba Central virtual controller. 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.

To create a virtual device that represents your Aruba Central virtual controller:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Device Manager, or Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface in the SL1 classic user interface).
Click the Actions button and select Create Virtual Device from the menu. The Virtual Device modal page appears.
Complete the following fields:

Device Name. Type a name for the device.
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 HPE Aruba | Central Controller.
Collector. Select the collector group that will monitor the device.

Click Add to create the virtual device.

Configuring the Aruba Central Device Template

A device template allows you to save a device configuration and apply it to multiple devices. The Aruba Central PowerPack includes the "Aruba Central Template," which enables SL1 to align all of the necessary Dynamic Applications to the virtual controller root component device.

Before you can use the "Aruba Central Template", you must configure the template so that each Dynamic Application in the template aligns with the credential you created earlier.

To configure the Aruba Central device template:

Go to the Configuration Templates page (Devices > Templates, or Registry > Devices > Templates in the SL1 classic user interface).
Locate the "Aruba Central Template" and click its wrench icon (). The Device Template Editor modal page appears.
Click the Dyn Apps tab. The Editing Dynamic Application Subtemplates page appears:

Click on Credentials, and then select the credential that you created for Aruba Central from the drop-down list.
Click the next Dynamic Application listed in the Subtemplate Selection section on the left side of the page and then select the credential you created in the Credentials field.
Repeat step 5 until you have selected your Aruba Central credential in the Credentials field for all of the Dynamic Applications listed in the Subtemplate Selection section.
Click Save.

To maintain a "clean" version of the template, type a new name in the Template Name field and then click Save As instead of Save.

Aligning the Device Template to Your Aruba Central Virtual Device

After you have configured the Aruba Central device template so that each Dynamic Application in the template aligns with your Aruba Central credential, you can use that template to align the Dynamic Applications to the virtual device that you created to act as the root device for your Aruba Central virtual controller. When you do so, SL1 discovers and models all of the components in your Aruba Central virtual controller.

To align the Aruba Central device template to the Aruba Central virtual device:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Device Manager, or Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface in the classic user interface).
On the Device Manager page, select the checkbox for the Aruba Central virtual device.
In the Select Action field, in the lower right corner of the page, select the option MODIFY by Template and then click the Go button. The Device Template Editor page appears.
In the Template drop-down list, select your Aruba Central device template.
Click the Apply button, and then click Confirm to align the Dynamic Applications to the root component device.

After discovering your Aruba devices, ensure that Configuration and Performance Dynamic Applications for a device type run at the same interval or less often than the respective discovery Dynamic Application for that device. For example, if the "Aruba: Central AP Discovery" Dynamic Application runs every 15 minutes, then the "Aruba: Central AP Performance" Dynamic Application must run at 15 minutes or less.

Creating Log Policies for Dynamic Applications

Optionally, you can create dedicated log policies that enable deeper analysis of the Dynamic Applications in the Aruba Central PowerPack.

To do so:

Either go to the console of the Data Collector or use SSH to access the Data Collector.
At the shell prompt, enter the following command:

sudo -u s-em7-core /opt/em7/envs/186BDE253319BF2A2AD30E0C5C4932B9/bin/python -m silo.low_code.cli log-policy create --name=<name> --app_id=<app_id> --did=<device_id> --duration="<duration>"

You can insert the following durations:

#w. Week.
#d . Day.
#h . Hour.
#m. Minute.
#s. Second.

For more information, you can enter one of the following commands to access the help files:

sudo -u s-em7-core /opt/em7/envs/186BDE253319BF2A2AD30E0C5C4932B9/bin/python -m silo.low_code.cli log-policy --help

sudo -u s-em7-core /opt/em7/envs/186BDE253319BF2A2AD30E0C5C4932B9/bin/python -m silo.low_code.cli log-policy create --help

The system will create the log file in the directory /var/log/em7, using the name you define.

Viewing Aruba Central Component Devices

In addition to the Devices page, you can view your Aruba Central 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 Aruba Central device, find the device and click its plus icon (+).
The Component Map page (Maps>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 Aruba Central device, 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.

SL1 Scale Settings

If Aruba Central has more than 8,000 devices to collect information from, follow the steps outlined below to configure and apply the appropriate settings:

Recommended settings in SL1:

Go to the Process Editor page (System > Settings > Processes).
Search for "Data Collection: Dynamic App" and click its wrench icon ().
Set the Batch Factor (Jobs) field to [2], and then click [Save].
You will also need the set the Maximum Devices to 400 on the "Aruba: Central AP Configuration" and "Aruba: Central AP Performance" Dynamic Applications.

Recommended settings in the Collector Unit (CU):

Set the memory limit of the Data Collection: Dynamic App process to 4294967296 (4GB) by connecting the Collector Unit and adding the following lines to the file /etc/silo.conf:
The 11 represents the id of the Data Collection: Dynamic App process. This setting will be applied during execution, so you do not need to restart the collector.
The memory limit set is in bytes and can be increased. You may need to increase this limit if there is "MemoryError: Out Of Memory" exception or if there are SIGTERMS for a period of time.

Recommended Specs And Settings

Collection Unit (CU):

For more details on how to configure these settings, refer to the Recommended Settings in the Collector Unit section above.

Central Database (CDB) Specs:

CPU: 16 cores
Memory: 74 GB
Disk: 600 GB

ScienceLogic recommends checking disk space along with other specs in the CDB and increase them as needed based on the VM DataBase Specifications (above 1000 devices) table:

For more information, see the documentation at https://support.sciencelogic.com/s/system-requirements?tabset-e65a2=60f0a.