Configuring performance monitoring API keys

To support enhanced security requirements and IBM Storage Scale in container-based deployment models, the performance monitoring tool requires the usage of API keys in order to access the performance data.

In such cases, a system defined API key scale_default is used by the following.
  • CLI commands like mmperfmon query, mmhealth thresholds, gpfs.snap and mmdumpperfdata
  • Backend processes like mmsysmon and call home
  • GUI
    Note: Other than scale_default, GUI also has another system-defined key called scale_gui.

The API keys are stored in a secured file _perfmon.keys in the Clustered Configuration Repository (CCR). Additional API keys can be generated as required. For example, the IBM Storage Scale performance monitoring bridge for Grafana uses API keys to access the performance data.

The system-defined API key scale_default is automatically generated by the mmsysmon health monitoring daemon if it does not exist. The mmperfmon config update --apikey command can be used to change the key if desired. However you cannot delete the system-defined API key scale_default. For more information on maintaining API keys, see mmperfmon command.