Manually installing IBM Storage Scale bridge for Grafana with the RPM

You can install the IBM Storage Scale bridge for Grafana feature by using a uniquely named set of RPM packages.

On a GPFS cluster, the Grafana bridge should be installed on a pmcollector node whenever possible. Installing it on a non-gpfs pmcollector node outside the cluster is possible, but it requires additional configuration and might lead to performance issues, such as slower system response times. For security, the Grafana bridge uses HTTPS connections by default.

1. Download the Grafana bridge package with the format: gpfs.grafana-bridge-version_release.arch.file_format
   For example:

   • gpfs.grafana-bridge-9.0.1-1.noarch.rpm

   • gpfs.grafana-bridge_9.0.1-1_all.deb

2. Install the package using any of these commands:
   • To install Grafana bridge on Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® 9.x x86_64 node, use the following command:

     rpm -ivh gpfs.grafana-bridge-x.x.x-x.noarch.rpm

   • To install Grafana bridge on Ubuntu amd64 node, use the following command:

     dpkg -i gpfs.grafana-bridge_x.x.x-x_all.deb

3. Add the following API keys to enable authenticated communication with the internal IBM Storage Scale performance monitoring system:

   • mmperfmon config add --apiKey scale_grafana

   • mmperfmon config show --apiKey scale_grafana

4. Update the /etc/grafanbridge/config.ini file by adding the following section for the API key:

   ##################### GPFS Server ###############################################
   [server]
   # The host name or ip address of the pmcollector node
   server = localhost
    
   # The https port to use
   serverPort = 9980
    
   # The sleep time in seconds before attempting to get metaData from the server again.
   # This most likely the case if the query was sent to server before it did finish the
   # initial startup (maximum 3 attempts)
   retryDelay = 60
    
   # The name of REST HTTPS API key name
   apiKeyName = scale_grafana
    
   # The REST HTTPS API key value, f.e:
   apiKeyValue = e40960c9-de0a-4c75-bc71-0bcae6db23b2
   

5. Reload the systemd configuration and enable the Grafana bridge service:

   • systemctl daemon-reload

   • systemctl enable gpfs.grafana-bridge.service

6. Start the Grafana bridge service:

   systemctl start gpfs.grafana-bridge.service

7. Verify the Grafana bridge service status:

   systemctl status gpfs.grafana-bridge.service

   A sample output is as follows:

        gpfs.grafana-bridge.service - IBM Storage Scale bridge for Grafana
        Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/gpfs.grafana-bridge.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
        Active: active (running) since Mon 2026-03-09 11:57:56 CET; 15s ago
      Main PID: 2701837 (python3.12)
         Tasks: 15 (limit: 74669)
        Memory: 42.8M
           CPU: 2.211s
        CGroup: /system.slice/gpfs.grafana-bridge.service
                └─2701837 /usr/bin/python3.12 /opt/IBM/grafanabridge/zimonGrafanaIntf.py --configFile /etc/grafanabridge/config.ini
   
   Mar 09 11:57:56 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: Using mmpython
   Mar 09 11:57:57 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: All dependencies from /opt/IBM/grafanabridge/requirements.in are installed for interpreter /usr/lpp/mmfs/bin/mmpython
   Mar 09 11:57:57 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: TLS certs already present at /etc/grafanabridge/ssl/certs
   Mar 09 11:57:58 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: 2026-03-09 11:57 - MainThread                               - INFO     -  *** IBM Storage Scale bridge for Grafana - Version: 9.0.1 ***
   Mar 09 11:57:58 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: 2026-03-09 11:57 - MainThread                               - INFO     - Successfully retrieved MetaData
   Mar 09 11:57:58 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: 2026-03-09 11:57 - MainThread                               - INFO     - Received sensors:CPU, CTDBDBStats, CTDBStats, DiskFree, GPFSBufMgr, GPFSEXPELNODE, GPFSFilesystem, GPFSFilesystemAPI, GPFSNSDDisk, GPFSNSDFS, GPFSNSDPool, GPFSNode, GPFSNodeAPI, GPFSRPCS, GPFSTSCOM, GPFSVFSX, GPFSWaiters, GPFSmmhealth, Load, Memory, Netstat, Network, SMBGlobalStats, SMBStats, TopProc, IPFIX, GPFSDiskCap, GPFSEXPEL, GPFSFileset, GPFSInodeCap, GPFSPool, GPFSPoolCap
   Mar 09 11:57:58 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: 2026-03-09 11:57 - MainThread                               - INFO     - Initial cherryPy server engine start have been invoked. Python version: 3.12.5 (main, Aug 23 2024, 00:00:00) [GCC 11.5.0 20240719 (Red Hat 11.5.0-2)], cherryPy version: 18.10.0.
   Mar 09 11:57:58 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: 2026-03-09 11:57 - MainThread                               - INFO     - Registered applications:
   Mar 09 11:57:58 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]:  OpenTSDB Api listening on Grafana queries
   Mar 09 11:57:58 scale-12 grafana-bridge[2701837]: 2026-03-09 11:57 - MainThread                               - INFO     - server started

   If the Grafana bridge does not start using systemd (systemctl), you can try starting it manually by using one of the following methods:

   • Run the Python command:

     /usr/bin/python3.12 /opt/IBM/grafanabridge/zimonGrafanaIntf.py --configFile /etc/grafanabridge/config.ini

   • Run the startup script:

     /opt/IBM/grafanabridge/bridge_startup.sh

8. Optional: To activate the Prometheus Exporter, change the settings in the Prometheus Exporter API Connection Defaults section:

   ##################### Prometheus Exporter API Connection Defaults #############
   [prometheues_exporter_plugin]
   # Port number the bridge listening on for Prometheus server requests;
   prometheus = 9250

9. To remove the Grafana bridge package, run one of the following commands:

   • yum remove gpfs.grafana-bridge

   • rpm -e gpfs.grafana-bridge

/opt/IBM/grafanabridge/bridge_startup.sh