+ Getting Started +
++ Getting Started with the i-scream Central Monitoring System +
++ 1. Installing the corba services (pre-requisite for the + server) +
++ The server requires a CORBA Naming Service to run. It may + be that you already have such a system running, in which + case you can use that. Simply edit the jacorb.properties + file to point to your Naming service. If you don't have a + naming service running you could just set up your own + manually, but if like us you want the easy approach, + install our corba services program. +
++ This program runs the naming service and provides a builtin + webserver to serve requests to the server application. The + documentation details how to get this running. It should + simply be a case of extracting and running. +
++ 1. Installing the server +
++ The first stage is to download and install the server + application. The latest versions of all i-scream + applications can be found at the following URL: +
++ + http://www.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.i-scream.org/pub/i-scream/cms/ +
++ Once downloaded, the archive should be extracted to a + directory of your choice. The server will run on most Java + enabled platforms (including Windows, Linux and FreeBSD). +
++ The archive consists of only a few files and directories. + The main file is the iscream-server.jar archive which + contains all the binary code for the server. The lib + directory contains other JAR archives which the server + requires to run. The etc directory contains (or will + contain) configuration for most of the i-scream central + monitoring system. The next step is to configure the server + to suit your requirements. +
++ 2. Configuring the server +
++ The configuration is split into two main files. The first, + default.properties can be considered a bootstrap + configuration. This means that it provides basic + configuration to get the server started, after which point + the main configuration system takes over. This file should + be checked through, and is pretty well explained by + comments. +
++ The rest of the server configuration is based on + system.conf. This can hold the entire system configuration, + including hosts. It may also specify other configuration + files to be included in the main configuration. This file + is also commented extensively. +
++ This step may well take some time to get right, and you can + come back to it at any point. Lots of the configuration can + be changed "on the fly" as well. +
++ For fuller and complete details of the configuration + system, and the server in general, please see the Server + User Guide in the documentation section of the website. +
++ 2a. Setting up the database +
++ The i-scream central monitoring system can make use of a + database for generating historical reports. The + documentation explains how you would configure the system + to do this. You will need to create a single basic table + yourself, this is also explained in the documentation. +
++ 3. Starting the server +
++ Starting up the server is a trivial task. Usually you can + just get away with running the run script provided. This + will boot the server up displaying some basic information + to the console. If something goes wrong, the error message + should point to the cause. +
++ 4. Setting up hosts +
++ Hosts can be run on either Unix (tested with Solaris, + FreeBSD and some Linux distributions) or Windows. Both are + equally easy to setup. +
++ Firstly, the Unix host is called "ihost". This can be + downloaded from the i-scream website. Once extracted it + just needs to be started up. You need two pieces of + information to do this: the filtermanager (part of the + server) host and port number. If you haven't changed much + in terms of configuration this will be the machine the + server is running on, and port 4567. To start ihost you + simply type: +
++ihost.pl server.domain.com port ++
+ ihost will then contact the server to obtain it's + configuration and start sending information. +
++ The windows host, winhost, is very similar. All you need to + do is install it using the provided installer in the + download, and then edit the ini file to provide the two + bits of information above. Running the application starts + up communication with the server and data sending + commences. +
++ Full details of both of these hosts can be found in the + relevant documentation on the website. +
++ 5. Using Conient +
++ Conient allows you to view, in real time, the data being + sent by the hosts. This is a perfect way to test that all + the above steps have successfully been completed. +
++ At present Conient is simply another archive which can be + extracted and run. However, in the near future we hope to + have an installer to make life easier. Conient is a Java + application and will run on most Java enabled platforms. +
++ After extracting, the run script can be used to start + Conient, or in some cases the JAR file can be executed + manually. The GUI will then load. The configuration section + requires you to enter a host and port for the server. By + default this will be the machine on which the server is + running and port 4510. Conient will then connect upon + request and start displaying information. +
++ Assuming data is displayed you have successfully setup the + i-scream central monitoring system. Well done! +
++ This is explained in much more detail in the Conient + documentation. +
++ 6. Setting up DBReporter +
++ If you are making use of a database you can setup the + DBReporter to generate web-based reports of the information + collected. This is just a case of extracting the archive to + a suitable location, configuring it, and setting it to run + on a regular basis (we suggest daily). DBReporter will also + ensure the database is kept relatively clean. +
++ Full instructions are available in the DBReporter + documentation. +
++ 7. Setting up the Web Interface +
++ The Web interface allows you to view various aspects of the + i-scream central monitoring system's output. These include + realtime viewing of data (much like Conient), links to the + DBReporter above, and full displaying of the alerts that + can be generated by the server. +
++ The archive contains a series of PHP scripts which should + be placed on your PHP enabled web server. The configuration + files allow you to tailor the setup to suit your needs. +
++ Full instructions are available in the relevant + documentation. +
++ 8. Further +
++ You may decide to expand your setup to cover a larger + network. For example, a distributed filter arrangement + could cut down on the amount of traffic being sent around + the network. The server itself can be distributed to suit + your needs. You may wish to run the database section of the + server on the same machine as the database, while running + the rest on another machine. +
++ Some discussion about this is available in the server + documentation. +
++ If you have any questions about any of the above, please + don't hesitate to contact us at + dev@i-scream.org. + If you find we've missed something out, again, please let + us know. +
++ Finally, we'd like to thank you for trying this i-scream + product. We realise that it's still at an early stage, and + we therefore appreciate you taking the time to try it out. +
++ The i-scream team. +
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