1. Installing NEXThink V4 Engine

1.1. Installing Engine in Physical Server

If you are installing Engine in a physical server, you first need to enter the BIOS setup program and modify some settings:

1. Power on the server and enter BIOS setup. This is usually done by pressing down [F2] or [DEL] keys before the computer tries to boot the operating system. Check out the exact method to enter BIOS setup in your user manual.

2. In the system settings, set the date and time of the system to match the current UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Time precision is important to ensure consistency of data in Engine. In order to keep time precision, you may configure Engine to use NTP servers as described in Engine Network Parameters.

3. Insert your copy of the NEXThink V4 Installation DVD into your DVD Drive.
4. Go to boot sequence (or boot order) settings and select the CD/DVD Drive to be the first device in the list of bootable devices. In that way, the system will boot from the NEXThink Installation DVD next time.
5. Exit BIOS setup saving your changes.

1.2. Installing Engine in Virtual Server

If you are installing Engine in a virtual machine, the exact installation steps depend on your virtualization platform. Here, we assume that you are familiar with the creation and configuration of virtual machines on your virtualization platform. If this is not the case, please take your time to learn how to use it. Independently of the virtualization platform that you are using, you must perform the following operations:

1. Create a new virtual machine and select Linux 2.6 64-bit as the guest operating system.
2. Insert the NEXThink V4 Installation DVD into the DVD drive of the host machine or, alternatively, copy the ISO image of the NEXThink V4 Installation DVD to a file system accessible to the host machine.
3. Indicate your virtualization platform to use the DVD drive or the copied ISO image for booting the your newly created virtual machine for the first time.
4. Start the virtual machine.

Check out the user manual of your virtualization platform to find out how to synchronize the clock of the virtual machine to the clock of the host, if the host has precise timing. Alternatively, use NTP servers as described in Engine Network Parameters.

1.3. Finishing Installation

Once you are finished with the previous steps, the installation goes on similarly for both a physical or a virtual server. If everything went well, your system is now booting from the NEXThink V4 Installation DVD and you should see the following screen:

1. Press [ENTER] or let the 6 seconds timeout pass by.

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2. Right after the splash screen, you are warned that your hard disk will be erased during the installation procedure and that all data on it will be lost. Make sure that you do not have any valuable data on the hard disk and type Yes to proceed.

3. The installation program asks you if you want to configure your network. If you choose to configure the network, you will get a small dialog where you may change the default IP address, subnet mask and default gateway. If you choose not to configure your network, the Engine will take these default values. You can modify your network configuration later as explained in here.

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4. Next you are asked whether you want to install Engine, Portal or both. Select Engine.

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5. Select the type of keyboard that is attached to your computer. By default, US keyboard is highlighted.
6. Choose a secure password for the root user, write it down and keep it in a safe place or use any other means to make sure that you do not forget it.
7. The installation program is now formating your hard disk and installing all the necessary software packages.
   • CAUTION: This step actually removes all the data that you might have in your hard disk.
8. Once the installation is finished, you will see the notice below. Remove the NEXThink V4 Installation DVD from the DVD drive or tell your virtualization platform to detach the ISO image and reboot the system.

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2. Engine Configuration

After the installation is complete and the server has rebooted for the first time, Engine is fully accessible and configurable through a web application: NEXThink V4 Console. If you installed Engine in a virtual machine, check out the user manual of your virtualization platform to ensure the connectivity of the guest system (Engine) with the host system. Then you use a web browser in the host system to access Engine, instead of browsing with a separate client computer. Except for that difference, all configuration instructions below apply to both physical and virtual server scenarios.

2.1. Engine Network Parameters

1. The Engine server default IP address is 192.168.0.99 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0. To access its web-based configuration page, configure your computer to have the static IP address on the same subnet as the Engine default IP address, that is, 192.168.0.0/24. If you modified the network configuration of the server during the installation of Engine, use your modified configuration values instead of the defaults for this and the following steps.
2. With a cross-over cable, connect the first Ethernet port on the server to the Network Interface Port (NIC) on the client computer. Alternatively, if there is a switch between the client PC and the server, connect both devices to the switch with standard Ethernet cables.

3. Test network connectivity between the client computer and the server using ping command. Execute the ping test using the default IP address of the Engine: 192.168.0.99.

   • Note: If the ping test fails with the first Ethernet port, repeat the test by connecting to each available Ethernet port on the server. By default, the first Ethernet port is used for testing the network connections, but some servers behave differently.

4. Start a web browser and type the following URL in the address field, using the HTTPS protocol: https://192.168.0.99:99

   • Note: If you just type the IP address 192.168.0.99:99, your web browser will use HTTP by default and you will get a blank page. Make sure that you specify the HTTPS protocol before typing the address.

5. Accept the SSL certificate from NEXThink. Depending on your web browser, you may have a warning about the certificate. it anyway and you will enter the Console welcome screen:

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6. Enter the Login ID as admin and Password also as admin to connect to the Engine Web Console

7. Go to Network > General parameters to enter or modify the Hostname, Domain address, DNS servers (IP addresses), Default Gateway, Timezone and NTP time servers and then select Save.

8. Go to Network > Interfaces, click on Edit and configure IP address and Subnet mask as desired.

   • NOTE: DHCP type is NOT recommended

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9. Review the desired network settings before clicking on the Save button. Clicking on this button will save the settings, and the current connection will be lost. To reconnect to the web-console, use the Engine newly configured IP address (and make sure you have accordingly modified the client computer network parameters to match the Engine subnet).

2.2. Engine Parameters: Internal/External networks, LDAP

For correct data collection and processing, it is important to configure properly the Engine Internal Parameters.

1. Configuring general parameters:

   1. Go to Engine > Parameters.
      

   2. Enter the Engine name.
   3. If needed, change the default listening port numbers for both Collector and Finder from 999 to another value. If you change the Collector port, make sure that it matches the port configuration of the Collectors that you will deploy in your network.

   4. Adapt the Max stored events if needed. The more events Engine stores, the more resources Engine consumes. You should decrease the absolute maximum of 50 million stored events if your server has less than 4 GB of RAM available.

2. Configuring Internal/External network perimeter:

   1. Go to Engine > Parameters and set the Internal Network (Network and Mask) to match your internal network setup by clicking on the edit or add button.

3. Configuring information about the LDAP server

   1. Go to Engine > Active Directory and click on the add active directory button.

   2. See Active Directory.

2.3. Engine SMTP parameters for E-mail Alerts

You can configure Engine to send an e-mail alert whenever a particular condition in your data is met. In order to activate NEXThink V4 mail alerts, Engine needs to know the configuration of your SMTP server.

1. Go to Engine > SMTP, click on the icon to add a new SMTP server.

2. Complete the form with the relevant information.

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   • To check that the SMTP chain is working and that the supplied parameters are correct, we recommend to test them by clicking on Send test email.

3. Click on Save to store the SMTP data into the configuration file of Engine permanently.

2.4. Installing a Production License

2.4.1. Requesting a production license from NEXThink

1. Using a web browser, connect to Console

2. Go to System > Information, this will display on the right panel general info on the system.

3. Write down the Machine ID

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4. To request a license, please ask your NEXThink Certified Partner or your NEXThink Account Manager; alternatively, you can send an email to license@nexthink.com

   • Don't forget to communicate the following elements needed for the license creation:

   • Machine ID

   • Number of sources (i.e Endpoints on which the NEXThink Collector will be deployed)

   • License Expiration Date (or unlimited if not limitation).

   • Access to NEXThink Library (yes/no).

     • NOTE: For further details about Number of Sources, License Expiration Date and Library Access, refer to your NEXThink Certified Partner or NEXThink Account Manager.

2.4.2. Installing a Production License

Once you have received by email a valid license file from NEXThink, save the file on a local directory of your computer and proceed as follow:

1. Connect to Console.

2. Go to Engine > Licenses.

3. Browse and upload the license file, then click on Update.

4. If the license is valid and accepted, Engine will restart (only Engine, not the operating system).

2.5. Engine Options for Collector Update

Starting from NEXThink V4, Updater is the recommended solution to maintain your Collectors up-to-date. If you want to use Updater, you need to configure some settings in Engine first.

1. Connect to Console.

2. Go to Engine > Updater.

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3. Check the State box to activate Updater functionality.

4. Set the Engine listening port for Updater communication in Updater TCP port.

5. Check Force loading if you want Collector to be started right away after Updater has downloaded it. Otherwise, Collector will be started at the next machine reboot.

6. With Installation log, Engine receives log messages from Updaters in case of errors during Collector installation.

7. If you do not select Add/Remove program entry, Collector will not show up in the well-known Windows tool Add or Remove Programs after installation, so it may not be accidentally removed by end-users.

8. Check Control panel extension if you want to add a small program to Windows Control Panel that lets end-users manipulate the behavior of Collector.

9. Driver version, Service version and Updater Version display the version number of Collector, its associated service and Updater that Engine distributes to endpoints. By default, these fields show a not installed value when you

10. Collector selection lets you choose the version of Collector that Updater will install in the computers of your system. Collector is packed in the form of a zip file. You get this zip file from NEXThink support website with every upgrade. NEXThink v4 Installation DVD comes with a zip file by default that is assured to be compatible with the installed Engine. In case of problems with a new zip file, you can always switch back to your previous one.

11. Click on Save once you are satisfied with your settings. A message of confirmation should show up.

3. Engine Downloads

Although part of Console, this page is not used to configure Engine. The goal of the Downloads tab is to group all NEXThink V4 client software in a centralized place where you can have it at your fingertips. From this page, you can download the installation files for Collector, Updater and Finder, as well as the last backup of the Engine database.

1. Connect to Console.

2. Select Engine > Downloads

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3. Click on the software component of your choice and start the download.

4. Engine Upgrade

This section shows how to upgrade your Engine if you have already installed NEXThink V4 in your system. On the other hand, if you are upgrading from a NEXThink V3 Engine, you should read Upgrading From NEXThink V3. The Linux-based operating system inside NEXThink V4 is not compatible with that of NEXThink V3 because it is targeted to a different architecture. Please, go on reading only if you are upgrading an already installed NEXThink V4 solution.

Software upgrades are available in RPM package format. When upgrading any NEXThink software component to a new version, make sure to review its accompanying release notes.

4.1. Upgrading the Engine using a SSH Terminal

1. Using a web browser, connect to Console by HTTPS (and on port 99 if you have not changed the default web-console port)
2. Proceed to a database and configuration backup of the Engine.
3. Get from NEXThink the RPM package of the new version (both nxengine-xxxx.rpm and nxengine-xxxx.rpm.md5 files), upload the RPM file to Engine wih the SFTP client using the built-in NEXThink Support account.
4. Connect on the machine with SSH using the built-in NEXThink Support account
5. verify the RPM file's integrity by comparing the checksum, use this command:

   md5sum nxengine-xxxx.rpm

   • and compare the result with the file named nxengine-xxxx.rpm.md5
6. To install the new package, use the following command:

   sudo rpm -Uvh nxengine-xxxx.rpm

7. You will be prompted to enter the nexthink password to be allowed to use the privileged command.
   • NOTE: when an upgrade is performed, each new RPM proceeds first to make a backup of the current database (i.e. before the new version is applied). You will find this backup file under /var/nxengine/BACKUPS, with a name similar to "nxengine-backup_before-4.0.0.9.gz".