Copying the collection engine file to a location accessible to the target host system

The Host storage sensor uses an executable program, the collection engine file to discover storage data. By default, the Host storage sensor copies the collection engine file, to a location on the target host system. After the discovery is complete, the collection engine file is deleted from the host. Root privileges are required to run the collection engine program. Copying an application to a host system that requires root privileges can introduce a security risk. To avoid this risk, the sensor supports a configuration that allows the collection engine to be deployed to, and accessed from, a secure location.

To run the collection engine from a secure location, copy the collection engine file to a location that is accessible to the target host system.

To copy and configure the collection engine file, complete the following steps:
  1. From the asm_home/dist/osgi/plugins/com.ibm.cdb.discover.sensor.dev.hoststorage_7.2.0/bin/collection-engine directory on the Agile Service Manager server, copy the file to a location that is accessible to the target host system.
  2. Restrict ownership and access to the directory to user root.
  3. Specify the location of the collection engine file. The location must be accessible from the target host system. To specify the location of the collection engine file, use one of the following options:
    • For Windows systems, edit the System PATH environment variable on the host system, and type the location of the collection engine directory.
    • For all other systems, edit the com.collation.discover.agent.path in the collation.properties file on the Agile Service Manager server, and type the location of the collection engine directory. Specify the location of the collection engine directory for the appropriate target operating system.
    • Modify the discovery profile for the Host storage sensor on the Agile Service Manager server. Type the path to the collection engine directory in the CollectionEnginePath or the CollectionEngineWindowsPath attribute or both, if required.
  4. Modify the discovery profile for the Host storage sensor on the Agile Service Manager server. Set the deployCollectionEngine attribute value to false.
  5. Verify that correct user permissions are granted.

    The commands that are used by the Host storage sensor carrying out the discovery can require privilege escalation. Typically, this escalation is done by setting the file access permissions using the setuid (set-user-ID mode bit) term or by using the sudo command. For Windows operating systems, the discovery user must be a member of the Administrators group.