Zenoss Cloud agent on Windows

You can install and configure the Zenoss Cloud agent agent to collect data from your Windows hosts and stream it directly to Zenoss Cloud. You can use the non-interactive installation method so you can easily automate its distribution to hosts throughout your environment.

After installation, you can configure and manage the Zenoss Cloud agent and collect metrics for your Windows hosts.

Installation process

During the non-interactive installation of the data monitor agent, the installer is supplied with a text file containing variables and parameter values that provide answers to the installer prompts, including the license agreement.

The non-interactive installation process includes the following tasks:

Review hardware and software requirements as well as permissions.
Download the distribution file.
Set Zenoss API variables and optional parameter variables.
Review and accept the license agreement.
Start installation.

Before you begin

Before you begin installing the Zenoss Cloud agent on Windows, be sure that you meet the following requirements.

To install and manage the Zenoss Cloud agent, you will need to meet the following hardware requirements:

1 CPU core (64-bit)
30 MiB main memory
A network interface that supports TCP/IP and provides a minimum of 5 Mbps (megabits per second) upload capacity

To install and manage the Zenoss Cloud agent on Windows, you will need to meet the following software requirements:

Windows Server 2016 or later
A Windows login account with Administrator privileges
Internet access with outbound TCP traffic through port 443
DNS support, so you can reach your Zenoss API endpoint

To support Zenoss tools, you will need to meet the following requirements:

Permission to download files at delivery.zenoss.io. You can contact the Zenoss Support site to request this permission.
A Zenoss API authentication key.

Download the distribution file

Perform the following steps to download the distribution file for the data monitor agent.

In a web browser, go to delivery.zenoss.io and log in to the Zenoss Support Portal.
In Zenoss Delivery, locate Collector 2.0 and click View/Hide to view the available files for download.
Download the latest file for Windows systems. For example, download the zendatamon-agent_1.0.0_build113.msi file. Note that the version number or build number might be different.
If necessary, copy the file to the Zenoss Cloud agent host.

Install the Zenoss Cloud agent on Windows

Non-interactive installation

Perform the following steps to install (non-interactively) the data monitor agent.

Info

This procedure assumes you are using a PowerShell window ($VAR="value"). Adjust as needed for Command Prompt windows (set VAR="value").

Log in to the Windows host as a user with Administrator privileges.
Run PowerShell as Administrator, and then change directory to the directory where you saved the zendatamon.msi file.
Set a temporary variable for your Zenoss API endpoint and port, which is always 443.

Replace <YOUR_API_ENDPOINT> with your endpoint:
```
$myEndpoint="<YOUR_API_ENDPOINT>:443"
```
Set a temporary variable for a Zenoss API authentication key.

Replace <YOUR_API_KEY> with an API key:
```
$myApiKey="<YOUR_API_KEY>"
```
(Optional) Set a temporary variable for a source name for this service.

The default value is {hostname}.windows-agent, where {hostname} is replaced with the host's name. You can specify {ipaddr} in the source name to get the host's IP address. As a best practice, append .windows-agent to the source name.

Replace <YOUR_SOURCE_NAME> with a source name for this service:
```
$mySource="<YOUR_SOURCE_NAME>"
```
(Optional) Set a temporary variable for an alternate installation directory.

The default directory is C:\Program Files (x86)\Zenoss. Replace <YOUR_INSTALL_DIR> with an absolute path:
```
$myInstall="<YOUR_INSTALL_DIR>"
```
Review the license agreement for the Zenoss Cloud Agent Software.

Start the installation using one of the following commands, depending on your optional variables.

No optionsSource name optionInstall directory optionBoth options

.\zendatamon.msi ZENOSS_LICENSE_AGREEMENT="yes" ZENOSS_API_ENDPOINT="$myEndpoint" ZENOSS_API_KEY="$myApiKey"

.\zendatamon.msi ZENOSS_LICENSE_AGREEMENT="yes" ZENOSS_API_ENDPOINT="$myEndpoint" ZENOSS_API_KEY="$myApiKey" ZENOSS_SOURCE="$mySource"

.\zendatamon.msi ZENOSS_LICENSE_AGREEMENT="yes" ZENOSS_API_ENDPOINT="$myEndpoint" ZENOSS_API_KEY="$myApiKey" ZENOSS_INSTALL_DIR="$myInstall"

.\zendatamon.msi ZENOSS_LICENSE_AGREEMENT="yes" ZENOSS_API_ENDPOINT="$myEndpoint" ZENOSS_API_KEY="$myApiKey" ZENOSS_SOURCE="$mySource" ZENOSS_INSTALL_DIR="$myInstall"

Managing the Zenoss Cloud agent on Windows

The Zenoss Cloud agent service has separate configuration files for itself and for the metrics and events it collects.

Manage the Zenoss Cloud agent service on Windows

Use Windows Services Manager to stop, pause, and restart the Zenoss Cloud agent service.

All of the user configuration properties in the configuration file for the Zenoss Cloud agent service are set when you install the service. The default path of the service configuration file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Zenoss\ZenDatamon\configs\agent.yaml. The Zenoss Cloud agent service loads changes in the configuration file immediately.

In the following example file, the values that start with _ZDM_SEC_ are defined in the alternate.xml text file in the same directory.

agent.yaml

apiVersion: v1
agent:
  name: win.svc.zdmagent
  source: _ZDM_SEC_<ALT_SOURCE>
  defaultInterval: 60s
datasinks:
  - name: zenoss-stream
    type: zenoss
    conf:
      address: _ZDM_SEC_<ALT_ADDRESS>
      apiKey: _ZDM_SEC_<ALT_APIKEY>
      logOnly: false
configurationSource:
  local:
    - name: localds
      directory: configs/datasources
secretlookup:
  type: alternate

Manage the Zenoss Cloud agent metrics on Windows

The configuration file for the Windows datasource controls which metrics are collected. The default path of the file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Zenoss\ZenDatamon\configs\datasources\localhost.yaml.

The following is an example file:

localhost.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: datasource
name: localhost
spec:
  type: localhost
  datasource:
    #disableSys: true
    #disableNet: true
    #disableMem: true
    #disableCPU: true
    #disableDisk: true
    #disableDiskIO: true
  filters:
    # All metrics
    metricPass:
      - "*"

To deactivate collection for a group of metrics, you can remove the comment character (#) in the metric group. By default, all metrics are collected. In the following table, you can view the properties in the localhost.yaml file paired with specific metrics:

Property	Metrics
(@spec.datasource.disableSys)	System
(@spec.datasource.disableNet)	Network
(@spec.datasource.disableMem)	Memory
(@spec.datasource.disableCPU)	CPU
(@spec.datasource.disableDisk)	Disk
(@spec.datasource.disableDiskIO)	Disk I/O

Manage the Zenoss Cloud agent events on Windows

The Zenoss Cloud agent gathers events from the Windows Event log using the settings in its events configuration file. The default path of the file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Zenoss\ZenDatamon\configs\datasources\winevents.yaml. The Zenoss Cloud agent service loads changes in the configuration file immediately.

Windows metrics

View the metrics for Windows in the following tables. Windows metrics include system, CPU, memory, disk, disk I/O, and network.

System metrics

Name	Units	Description
sys.boot_time	cycles	The collective time the system used during boot
sys.cpu_count	count	A count of CPU cores
sys.load1	processes	The load average over the past 1 min on the system
sys.load5	processes	The load average over the past 5 mins on the system
sys.load15	processes	The load average over the past 15 mins on the system
sys.process_count	count	The count of running processes
sys.user_count	count	The count of current users
sys.uptime	time	A monotonically incrementing metric for system up time

CPU metrics

Name	Units	Description
cpu.time_active	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU activity
cpu.time_idle	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU idleness
cpu.time_guest	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU guest activity
cpu.time_guest_nice	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU guest nice activity
cpu.time_iowait	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU IO Waiting activity
cpu.time_irq	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU IRQ activity
cpu.time_nice	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU Nice activity
cpu.time_softirq	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU Soft IRQ activity
cpu.time_steal	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU Steal activity
cpu.time_system	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU System activity
cpu.time_user	cycles	A monotonically incrementing metric for CPU User activity
cpu.usage_active	percent	Percent of CPU used for activity
cpu.usage_idle	percent	Percent of CPU used for idleness
cpu.usage_guest	percent	Percent of CPU used for guest activity
cpu.usage_guest_nice	percent	Percent of CPU used for guest nice activity
cpu.usage_iowait	percent	Percent of CPU used for IO Waiting activity
cpu.usage_irq	percent	Percent of CPU used for IRQ activity
cpu.usage_nice	percent	Percent of CPU used for Nice activity
cpu.usage_softirq	percent	Percent of CPU used for Soft IRQ activity
cpu.usage_steal	percent	Percent of CPU used for Steal activity
cpu.usage_system	percent	Percent of CPU used for System activity
cpu.usage_user^†	percent	Percent of CPU used for User activity
^† Some releases of Windows do not collect this metric, so the value may be empty.

Memory metrics

Name	Units	Description
mem.total	GB	The total amount of memory for the system
mem.free	GB	The amount of free memory for the system
mem.used	GB	The amount of used memory
mem.utilization	percent	The percent of memory used
mem.available	GB	The amount of available memory
mem.available_percent	percent	The percent of memory available

Disk metrics

Name	Units	Description
disk.total	GB	Total capacity of the disk
disk.used	GB	Used space on the disk
disk.used_percent	percent	Percent of the disk used
disk.free	GB	Free space on the disk
disk.free_percent^†	percent	Percent of the disk free
disk.inodes_total	count	Total INodes on the disk
disk.inodes_used	count	Used INodes on the disk
disk.inodes_free	count	Free INodes on the disk
^† Some releases of Windows do not collect this metric, so the value may be empty.

Disk I/O metrics

Name	Units	Description
diskio.io_time	time	The time used for disk io operations
diskio.weighted_io_time	time	The time used for disk io operations weighed over a period
diskio.iops_in_progress	count	The number of IO operations in progress
diskio.merged_reads	count	The number of merged read operations
diskio.merged_writes	count	The number of merged write operations
diskio.read_bytes	bytes	The number of bytes read
diskio.read_time	time	The total time used for read operations
diskio.write_bytes	bytes	The number of bytes written
diskio.write_time	time	The total time used for write operations
diskio.reads	count	The total number of read operations
diskio.writes	count	The total number of write operations

Network metrics

Name	Units	Description
net.data_sent	kbps	The rate of bytes being sent
net.data_recv	kbps	The rate of bytes being received
net.packets_sent	count	A monotonically incrementing metric for sent packets
net.packets_recv	count	A monotonically incrementing metric for received packets
net.drop_in	count	Count of lost inbound packets
net.drop_out	count	Count of lost outbound packets
net.err_in	count	Count of inbound packet errors
net.err_out	count	Count of outbound packet errors