Monitoring OpenLDAP

You can monitor OpenLDAP server by using the Instana OpenLDAP sensor. The Instana OpenLDAP sensor is automatically deployed and installed after you install the Instana agent. You can view metrics that are related to the OpenLDAP server in the Instana UI.

Support information

To make sure that the OpenLDAP sensor is compatible with your current setup, check the following support information sections:

Supported versions and support policy

The OpenLDAP sensor now supports the OpenLDAP versions: 2.4.x, 2.5.x and 2.6.x

The following table shows the latest supported version and support policy:

Table 1. Latest supported version and support policy
Technology Support policy Latest version Latest supported version
OpenLDAP 45 days 2.6.9 2.6.9

For more information about the support policy, see Support strategy for sensors.

Configuration

It is a prerequisite that the OpenLDAP monitoring module is enabled and configured.

OpenLDAP configuration

To enable and configure the OpenLDAP monitoring module, complete the following steps:

  1. Check whether your monitoring module is enabled on your OpenLDAP installation:

    ldapsearch -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -b "cn=module{0},cn=config"

    If olcModuleLoad: {1}back_monitor is included in the response, the monitoring module is enabled. You can skip to step 3.

  2. To enable the monitoring module, create a module_monitoring.ldif file and run the command:

    dn: cn=module{0},cn=config
changetype: modify
add: olcModuleLoad
olcModuleLoad: {1}back_monitor

    ldapmodify -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f module_monitor.ldif

  3. Create an encrypted password for the monitoring user:

    slappasswd -s <MONITOR_USER_PASSWORD>

  4. Create a cn_monitor.ldif file and run the following command to add the monitoring user:

    dn: <NEW_MONITORING_USER_DISTINGUISHED_NAME>
objectClass: simpleSecurityObject
objectClass: organizationalRole
cn: <COMMON_NAME_OF_THE_NEW_MONITORING_USER>
description: LDAP monitor
userPassword: <ENCRYPTED_PASSWORD>

    ldapadd -x -D <ADMIN_DISTINGUISHED_NAME> -w <ADMIN_PASSWORD> -f cn_monitor.ldif

  5. Create a database_monitor.ldif file and run the following command to configure the monitoring database:

    dn: olcDatabase={2}Monitor,cn=config
objectClass: olcDatabaseConfig
objectClass: olcMonitorConfig
olcDatabase: {2}Monitor
olcAccess: {0}to dn.subtree="cn=Monitor" by dn.base="<NEW_MONITORING_USER_DISTINGUISHED_NAME>" read by * none

    ldapadd -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f database_monitor.ldif

  6. To test the monitoring module, run the following command:

    ldapsearch -x -D <NEW_MONITORING_USER_DISTINGUISHED_NAME> -w <MONITOR_USER_PASSWORD> -b cn=Uptime,cn=Time,cn=Monitor -s base '(objectClass=*)' '*' '+'

Agent configuration

To enable in-depth metric monitoring, the agent requires the credentials of the monitoring user to access monitoring information.

You can configure it in the agent here: <agent_install_dir>/etc/instana/configuration.yaml:

com.instana.plugin.openldap:
  user: '' # distinguished name of monitoring user, like 'cn=Monitor,dc=example,dc=com'
  password: '' # password for monitoring user
  port: 10389 # default is 389
  schemaPath: '/opt/GC/data/slapd.d/' # schema files location

Metrics collection

To view the metrics, select Infrastructure in the sidebar of the Instana User interface, click a specific monitored host, and then you can see a host dashboard with all the collected metrics and monitored processes.

Configuration data

The following table outlines the configuration data that the sensor collects from the OpenLDAP server:

OpenLDAP server details Description
Version Version of OpenLDAP
Started At Time when OpenLDAP server started
DN Configured Distinguished Name
CN Configured Common Name
Object Class Configured ObjectClass (collection of attributes)
Args file Command line args with which OpenLDAP was started
PID file Current PID of running OpenLDAP
Log Level Log level of running OpenLDAP
Tool Threads The maximum number of threads to use in tool mode

Performance metrics

The following table outlines the performance metrics that the sensor collects from the OpenLDAP server:

OpenLDAP server metrics Description
Operations Count of all operations Completed/Initiated over db
Connections Count of all connections Total/Current
Bytes Traffic in bytes
Entries Number of entries
Pdus Number of Protocol Data Units
Referrals Number of referrals
Waiters Read The number of threads that are blocked waiting to read data from a client
Waiters Write The number of threads that are blocked waiting to write data to a client
Threads Active Threads (operations) currently active in slapd
Threads Pending Threads (operations) currently pending in slapd