Data Servers and Brinqa Agent

This article details data servers, the Brinqa Agent, and how to create, edit, or delete data servers.

What is a data server?

A data server is a record you create in the Brinqa Platform to denote a server associated with your on-premises resources. Your Brinqa Platform comes with one pre-configured data server, named local server, to collect data from your cloud resources. But to transfer data securely from your on-premises servers to the Brinqa Platform, you must install a Brinqa Agent on each of your servers. Then you must create a data server in your Brinqa Platform to represent the agent and select that data server when configuring your data integration.

Navigate to Integrations > Data servers to see a list of the current data servers along with their relevant details, including their state, the Brinqa Agent version, and the date of the agent's last connection to the Brinqa Platform. You can also create new data servers on this page.

System Requirements for Brinqa Agent

The system requirements for running Brinqa Agent depend on the data sources you have configured on the system. Most small servers and desktops can handle the Brinqa Agent effectively. Here are some guidelines:

Supported Operating Systems:

• Linux Ubuntu 14+
• Linux Redhat/CentOS 6+
• Windows 2012R2+

JVM (Java Virtual Machine) Requirements:

• Java 11 LTS (long-term support)
• A minimum of 8GB of RAM, with 16GB recommended
• At least 20GB of disk space, or as required by your data
• Recommended JDK vendors:
  • https://www.azul.com/downloads/#zulu
  • https://adoptopenjdk.net/releases.html

Headless Java support

The Brinqa Agent supports running in environments using headless Java versions. This means that it can operate without graphical user interface (GUI) components. Running in headless mode is ideal for command-line tools and automated systems where GUI functionality is not required.

note

While the Brinqa Agent is designed to function in headless mode, ensure that all Java dependencies and configurations are correctly set up to avoid issues, especially when integrating with other tools or libraries that may require graphical components.

Install Brinqa Agent

A Brinqa Agent is a secure and high-performance gateway to the Brinqa Platform. If you want to sync data from your on-premises servers to the Brinqa Platform, you must first install a Brinqa Agent on each of your servers.

To install Brinqa Agent, follow these steps:

1. Download the latest version of Brinqa Agent from https://connectors.brinqa.io/#/downloads.

2. Install the Brinqa Agent on your server by unzipping the downloaded file to any directory on the server. The package contains the following directories and files:

   • bin: Scripts and other executables

   • bundles: Connector bundles

   • conf: Agent configuration files

   • lib: Libraries

   • logs: Agent log files

   • README.txt: Details about system requirements, memory defaults, permissions, troubleshooting tips, and more.

You can run Brinqa Agent as a service, and the installation process varies depending on your operating system. For specific instructions on setting up Brinqa Agent as a service, refer to the README for details.

Windows Installation

The install_agent_service.bat script attempts to create the service based on the JAVA_HOME and AGENT_HOME environment variables. If those variables are not defined, the script then tries to detect them based on the relative path of itself and the Java executable on the PATH variable.

Linux Installation

Ensure that Java is included in the PATH variable or defined in the {agent-directory}/bin/agent.service file as JAVA_HOME.

Create a New Data Server

After installing Brinqa Agent, you must create a data server in your Brinqa Platform to generate a configuration file. Place this file on your server to associate it with your Brinqa Platform. Upon establishing a connection to the Brinqa Platform, a secure tunnel facilitates two-way data transfer.

To create a new data server, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Brinqa Platform, and navigate to Integrations > Data servers.

2. Click Create.

3. Fill in the data server properties:

   • Title: Title of the data server.

   • Name: Referenced name of the data server for queries and scripts.

   • Description: Description of the data server.

   • Max. Connections: Maximum number of simultaneous connections to the server. The default setting is 10 connections.

   • Skip SSL Verification: When selected, this option skips Secure Socket Layer (SSL) verification between the data server and the Brinqa Platform. This option can be useful if you are using self-signed certificates for your HTTP/SSL connection. However, it is recommended to leave this unchecked if you are using certificates from a trusted certificate authority (CA) to ensure secure communication.

     SSL verification typically involves two steps:

     1. Checking that the hostname matches the one specified in the SSL certificate.

     2. Verifying whether the SSL certificate has expired.

     Skipping SSL verification bypasses both steps, which is generally unnecessary for most users since Brinqa uses a wildcard certificate to secure multiple subdomains (e.g., *.example.com) under a single domain.

4. Click Create. The page reloads and you should see your data server listed.

5. Hold your pointer over the data server entry and click Download config to download the configuration file.

6. Place the configuration file in the /conf folder of your Brinqa Agent installation.

7. Make sure that both the bin/agent and bin/pm.sh files are executable:

   • $ chmod +x bin/agent bin/pm.sh

8. Start the Brinqa Agent:

   • $ ./bin/agent start

9. Check the /logs directory to see if there are any errors.

Refer to the README.txt file from your Brinqa Agent installation for additional details regarding system requirements, memory defaults, permissions, troubleshooting tips, and more.

Connect a single Brinqa Agent to multiple Brinqa environments

A single Brinqa Agent can be configured to point to multiple Brinqa environments, such as development and production environments. To achieve this, you must create a distinct data server in each environment. Additionally, ensure that each agent configuration file is uniquely named.

To use a single Brinqa Agent for multiple Brinqa environments, follow these steps:

1. Ensure that you have installed the Brinqa Agent on your server following the installation instructions.

2. Verify that you have created a data server in each Brinqa Platform environment. For example, create a "Production Agent" data server in your production environment and a "Development Agent" data server in your development environment.

3. Each data server comes with a configuration file. Place each configuration file in the /conf folder of your Brinqa Agent installation. Ensure that each file has a unique name, such as agent-prod.yaml for production and agent-dev.yaml for development.

4. Make sure that both the bin/agent and bin/pm.sh files are executable:

   • $ chmod +x bin/agent bin/pm.sh

5. Start the Brinqa Agent for each configuration file:

   • ./bin/agent start --config conf/agent-prod.yaml
   • ./bin/agent start --config conf/agent-dev.yaml

6. Verify connections by checking the /logs directory for any errors and ensure that the Brinqa Agent is connecting to both Brinqa environments as expected.

caution

If you configure a single Brinqa Agent to point to multiple Brinqa environments, avoid running syncs to both environments simultaneously. Also, ensure that the orchestration time on the two Brinqa environments are staggered to prevent potential conflicts.

Edit or delete a data server

You can edit or delete existing data servers. Hold the pointer over the data server until you see a few options appear on the right-hand side. These options are Download config, Restart, Edit, and a kebab (three vertical dots) menu. The kebab menu contains the Delete option and the Clear working data option.

The Clear working data option deletes the data generated by Brinqa Agent during a sync. This option can be useful for the following reasons:

• If the stored data is incorrect or outdated, you want to clear it and sync new data.

• If the stored data is no longer needed, you want to remove it to free up disk space.

Download the Brinqa Agent log files

If you encounter any issues with the Brinqa Agent, troubleshooting often involves examining the log files. To access the log file, you have two options:

• In the /logs directory within your Brinqa Agent installation, you can find the log files and review their contents directly.

• Alternatively, users with the System Administrator role can download the log files from the data server list page. This page provides a convenient option to retrieve the log files, allowing you to analyze them at your convenience.

To download the Brinqa Agent log files from the data server list page, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Integrations > Data servers.

2. Click the row of your data server and a pane slides out from the right-hand side. In this pane, you can view essential information about your data server, including its IP address, hostname, operating system, memory, and available disk space.

3. If your Brinqa Agent is online and connected, the Collect logs button turns green. Click the button to start collecting logs.

4. Click Download logs to download the log files.

By studying the log files, you can gain valuable insights into any potential problems or errors occurring with the Brinqa Agent, aiding in the troubleshooting process.