Introduction
Our customers are notified by mail about each new BVQ version, this includes a download link to the newest BVQ.
BVQ updates and first-time installations follow the same workflow.
The all-new core-installer is a .exe file which should be placed on either the host which is currently running BVQ or on the host which is supposed to run BVQ.
Information about the requirements are placed here and before installing BVQ for the first time we strongly recommend to read also the preparations article out of the Getting Started Guide.
The core-installer bundles the installers for each individual BVQ module into one installation package.
Common configuration parameters, such as DB access data, user and directories have default values which are recommended.
Our suggestion is to use a local Windows user, to set up the services with.
Please note that changes to your existing BVQ configuration can only be made, using an update installation. This works even with the same installation file used in your current BVQ installation.
You have a running BVQ and want to change the java heap size of your BVQ Server?
Reinstall BVQ and change the specific value during the install wizard, you will keep your data, but have a different heap size value.
Procedure
The initial setup can be divided into 7 subsequent stages:
- Create users on your systems, with which BVQ is able to collect data
- Installation wizard which guides you through the setup
- Maintenance page where BVQ is checking the environment and its own files
- Initial Configuration helps you to create your first scanner and therefore enables BVQ to receive the first data
- Quick Tour explains the features of the BVQ webpage
- Grafana data sources must be adjusted after each port change or implementation of a new HTTPS certificate
- BVQ GUI is an extensive tool, with which you are able to have direct access to your data
After placing the core-installer on the specific host you are ready to start the installation.
Open the core-installer.
Welcome to the BVQ installer, the installation is about to begin shortly.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
Our BVQ readme
-Read all the information carefully and click 'Next' to advance to the next page
For installations and updates it is necessary to choose all of the BVQ components.
Only if you want to run multiple BVQ installations or would like to run each component on a different host, the deselection of components is required.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
Select the directories in which you would like to install BVQ, the directories cannot be changed afterwards.
As the default values suggest, the data and log folders are not to be placed in the same directory.
You may choose to use a second drive to place the data and log folders, as the amount of data placed in these folders will increase in time.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
The "Database server access" values are used by BVQ for the internal communication between the database and the BVQ Server, hence these values are recommended.
The Database name will be the name of the internal database, residing on the MongoDB-server.
For the User authentication fields, it is important to understand that these credentials will be your BVQ-credentials,
which you will use to access your BVQ, as well as the credentials, BVQ uses to connect to the database.
If you need to define different passwords for the internal database and your specific BVQ access, this task must be performed separately after installation,
please keep in mind that you are still able to create different BVQ users with different passwords, when the installation is completed.
If you choose to change these values, saving the credentials in a password safe will be self-evident.
However, the default values which are pictured below will be used to log in to your Grafana, here
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
The port number under which BVQ will be accessible varies according to the selected transfer protocol option.
The default port for a server which will be accessible via HTTP is 80, the default port for the activated HTTPS option is 443.
For example, if you change the port number to 8080 and choose "enable HTTPS" afterwards, the port number will be changed to the default value 443.
Also please be aware that for every BVQ port change, you have to adjust the Grafana datasource.
Report TTL: The reports you run in the future are available as a default, for 30 days.
Grafana configuration is the Grafana port, which will be used by the BVQ installed Grafana.
The heap sizes are configured for both the BVQ Server which will run as a Webserver and the scanner service which will collect the data of the systems you will be scanning.
If the number of scanners will increase considerably in the future, the specific values can be adjusted accordingly.
BVQ Server max heap size = 4096 MB is recommended (depending on the environment).
BVQ Scanner max heap size = 1024MB is recommended (depending on the environment).
Select HTTPS to be enabled if you choose to.
By enabling HTTPS and the use of a self-signed certificate, BVQ will create a certificate for you.
The Keystore password has a default value, which can be adjusted,
any of the following values must be set to continue.
The "Domain name" field has to be the IP address of the server, for a local bvq installation using the default values, the IP would be 127.0.0.1
Also, the Windows user must have read access rights for the certificates.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
By enabling HTTPS and the use of an own-certificate, you must "browse" the location of your private and public key.
If it is encrypted, enter the specific password for the key.
The Keystore password has a default value, which can be adjusted,
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
To create and start the BVQ services an authorized Windows user is required.
In case of possible vm reboots in the future, a local user is recommended to be used.
For the use of a local user, the domain field must be empty.
The given credentials will only be used, for the execution of Windows Services, as well as scheduled tasks in Windows..
-Click 'Install' to advance to installation
The installation starts and the current processes are displayed from top to bottom
When the installation of BVQ is completed, you can find the installation log here:
C:\Program Files\SVA\BVQ\bvq-core\.install4j\installation.log or C:\Programme\SVA\BVQ\bvq-core\.install4j\installation.log
When you encounter issues during the installation, please be aware,
that the complete log of the installation is only visible, as long as the installation wizard is active
and the log can be found in the AppData directory, the name of the log file will be:
i4j_log_bvq-core_<hash-code>.log
And it will be placed here:
C:\Users\<windows_user>\AppData\Local\Temp
The installation has been successful.
You can choose to start the BVQ WebUI after finishing the wizard, which is enabled by default.
Displayed is also the BVQ Web address as well as the Grafana address.
The next steps will be to access the BVQ WebUI to complete the maintenance which is active after every update or installation
and if you have chosen a HTTPS installation, the Grafana-Datasource has yet to be adjusted.
After using the 'Finish' -Button, the wizard will be closed and your default browser will open, directing you to the localhost webpage
Please keep in mind, that the start of the BVQ services could take a minute
Thank you for using a supported browser, such as:
"Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge"
The localhost webpage has opened up,
if you created your own certificate during the installation of BVQ, an exception is necessary, to continue to the BVQ webpage.
Open a supported browser and use the following (HTTP or HTTPS):
http://localhost/#/ui/login for the BVQ Maintenance Mode
or
http://localhost/ui/login for the BVQ Web Server
On any other client in the network, you can use a browser and type: http://<BVQ-ServernameOrIP>
To Access the BVQ-Maintenance-Page please use the credentials, created during the installation, here
We do also provide a selection of the supported browsers as well as the specific links.
The BVQ maintenance page that you will be redirected to after each update and installation, is the last step for BVQ to check and confirm specific configurations.
Only checks that require values or actions will be displayed.
When you have completed the last step, of your maintenance, you will be shown a "Maintenance completed successfully" window, the services of BVQ will be restarted and your are directed to the BVQ webpage.
BVQ checks the installed Java version of your system, if the current version is suitable to run BVQ.
Our aim is to give our customers the best possible BVQ experience, we want to understand how we can serve you better.
We would recommend you to help us, by sending the statistics.
BVQ will check the BVQ folders on your filesystem, to confirm that the placed files are in order.
If you are updating a running BVQ, its going to take more time, the bigger the database.
The database server used by BVQ is a MongoDB, this check confirms that the used version is corresponding.
BVQ database structures do change by version, so that the running database schema may have to be adjusted.
If your database schema has to be adjusted, BVQ will ask you to "Start DB schema adjustments".
The duration of this task varies according to the size of your database, most adjustments take less than 15 minutes.
With the correct firewall configuration, you are able to reach your BVQ webserver from all over your network.
BVQ is able to send notifications to users and machines, to clearly state from which host these notifications are coming from we need you to add the host address.
During an initial installation or when your license is no longer valid, you have to choose to activate a trial license or upload a valid license.
The trial license is for a period of six weeks, after which the BVQ will no longer collect data.
Due to the fact that every necessary action has been performed, you have completed the maintenance and are redirected to the BVQ webpage shortly.
Open a supported browser and use the following (HTTP or HTTPS):
http://localhost/ui/login for the BVQ Web Server
On any other client in the network, you can use a browser and type: http://<BVQ-ServernameOrIP>
Access the BVQ webpage using the credentials, created during the installation, here
We do also provide a selection of the supported browsers as well as the specific links.
The BVQ GUI is an application, which connects to your BVQ database and gives you the freedom to browse through your collected data.
You can download the BVQ GUI installer on every client, that can reach the BVQ Web Server.
Please be aware that the BVQ GUI installer is for Windows only.
The downloadable file is located in your target installation folder.
With this wizard, you will be able to use your BVQ as quickly and easily as possible.
This wizard will guide you through the first steps which are necessary to make use of your BVQ.
You can also skip the wizard at any time and move directly to the BVQ WebUI.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
Choose a system you would like to scan, from the dropdown menu, using the "Add scanner" button.
Once one of the systems is chosen, a new configuration menu becomes available.
The configuration menu consists of three tabs, Config, Scanner options and Data expiration.
For the purpose of the wizard, it is only necessary to work through the config tab.
Config
You must create a name for the scanner, it is helpful to choose a name which is similar to the system name.
Fill in the IP or the name of the system as well as the correct protocol.
The username and password are for the read-user on your specific system, which BVQ will use to collect data.
Learn how to create a read-user beforehand on your system, here
-Click 'Save' to save the scanner configuration
In this example we see a NetApp specific configuration window.
The Scanner will be running on the local host.
A topology scan interval of one hour is recommended.
In this example you can also activate the NetApp quota scan which again is system specific.
The performance scan interval default value is five minutes for the NetApp scanner, which means BVQ is collecting every five minutes performance data for every single minute.
The log level default for all scanners is Info, only for debug purposes the second option should be used.
We also do not recommend changing the log size limit.
You can also adjust the data expiration for every single scanner.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
You have successfully created you very first scanner,
you can either add more scanners or
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
The BVQ scanner is trying to connect to the specific system, to collect data.
BVQ is awaiting data and is able to check your system by using alert rules.
Please use the "Enable all" button to activate the alerting and watch the short video.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
The initial Configuration is completed, by clicking 'Done' you will be directed to you BVQ web page.
Please take your time and read the through the guide.
This tour quickly guides you through the main features and abilities of this powerful tool and helps with the initial configuration!
Use the < and > buttons to navigate through the tour. To disable the tour, press □. You can restart the tour in your user settings.
Haven't configured any systems to be monitored by BVQ yet? This is the place to do it!
The Scanner overview allows you to create, modify, delete, start or pause scanner instances. Select a scanner type and fill in the configuration dialogue.
The data collected by the scanners can be used to create reports. BVQ offers a set of predefined reports but - depending on the license - individual reports can be configured as well.
Go to Reports to get a list of all your reports, to download them or run them again.
Go to Templates to get a list of all predefined reports or to create individual ones. You can also run reports here or create a schedule for a regular and automated run. Manually created reports can be cloned or exported.
Go to Scheduling to see all reports that have a schedule defined. For each scheduled report, a URL is provided which links to the latest version.
Go to Datasources if you like to process data outside of BVQ. "All users"-favorites that were created and stored in the BVQ Expert GUI are available for further usage. No matter if table or charts are part of the favorite, they can be exported in XML or JSON format and imported in other applications like Excel or Splunk.
Note: Certain reporting features require an additional BVQ license!
In the Support section, the following information can be found:
Go to Server Information to see how the BVQ Server performs in terms of CPU load, cache and memory usage.
Go to Support Package if you have a problem with BVQ that requires help from the BVQ support team.
Go to Logs to view the BVQ server log file.
Go to Reference to find a list of all attributes for each object type within BVQ.
Go to Database Content to determine the time frame for which performance data was collected for a particular system.
For each installation and update where you have created a new HTTPS certificate, you must adjust the BVQ datasource within the Grafana.
Additionally for each installation and update where you have changed the port number for the BVQ server, you have also to adjust the BVQ datasource within the Grafana.
Open your Grafana with the Grafana button, a new tab will open up and login to Grafana using the default BVQ-Credentials, here
Open the Configuration menu and click on Data source,
the installed Data source plugins are listed,
click on BVQServer to move to the specific Data source.
The BVQ Data Source is shown and can be adjusted.
If you changed the protocol from HTTP to HTTPS during the BVQ installation, you need to adjust the address accordingly.
Click on "Safe & Test" to adjust the data source.
For adding the certificate,
you only need to activate "With CA Cert"
and paste the certificate text to "CA Cert", shown here
(You can also find the self-signed certificate by default here: C:\Program Files\SVA\BVQ\bvq-core\cert)
Click on "Safe & Test" to adjust the data source.
The BVQ GUI is an application, which connects to your BVQ database and gives you the freedom to browse through your collected data.
When you completed the installation, the BVQ GUI installer is by default located in the following directory:
C:\Program Files\SVA\BVQ\bvq-core\bvq-server\gui
You can download the BVQ GUI installer on every client, that can reach the BVQ Web Server.
Please be aware that the BVQ GUI installer is for Windows only.
The third option for downloading the install file is to move to your "Server information", which is located under the Support tab.
You will find 4 available tabs, the download button is located under "Database".
The BDPM-File is the prefilled connection profile which enables the BVQ GUI to connect to a specific BVQ database.
After opening the install file, your GUI Setup Wizard will start.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
Our BVQ readme
-Read all the information carefully and click 'Next' to advance to the next page
You have the option to create shortcuts in a Start Menu folder, as well as to create them for all users.
-Click 'Next' to advance to the next page
Choose the directory for the installation of your BVQ GUI.
You also have to select the heap size of the BVQ GUI, which has a default value of 4096MiB.
Memory usage limit (MiB)
Is equal to the maximum heap size of the Java environment.
Recommendation:
The default value should suffice, if you notice that the program slows down over a period of time,
increase this value to prevent poor performance and application failures.
A memory utilization gauge is available on the BVQ GUI main menu below "?".
-Click 'Install' to advance to installation
The installation starts and the current processes are displayed from top to bottom
The installation has been successful.
You can choose to start the BVQ GUI after finishing the wizard.
-Click 'Finish' to close the installer and start the BVQ GUI if selected.
Your BVQ GUI is starting now
Your BVQ GUI immediately connects to your database,
which is indicated by the connection bar below.
When successfully connected, not only a green check mark appears below,
the number of the systems is now visible.
You can select specific systems by clicking on system categories (SAN, Storage, etc.) or choose All or None,
It is prudent to choose only the systems you wish to check, to reduce the amount of data that will be transferred.
If your connection is not established, you may need to modify the connection profile, which is used to connect to the database.
You can edit your current profile with the correct values, you can also add a connection profile.
There is also the easy option to open a already downloaded profile (BDPM File).
With an established connection and selected systems, you are ready to to click "Start" to load data.
Depending on your connection and the amount of loaded data, the BVQ GUI will load for a few minutes.
Your BVQ GUI is ready for use and you can get started right away.
Create your own view by arranging a Path.
Followed by selecting specific objects, by using the Columns tab under the Tree table.
Each Master Grouping Object you choose to add, to the Path will unlock new objects selectable in the Columns.
Every object you select in the Columns will appear as a new column in your Main Window view.
Make use of our Favorites and customize them to your liking,
safe them in your User folder.
