Install and configure the Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry

The Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF) provides the elements necessary for monitoring your Pivotal Cloud Foundry deployment, with data ingested using the Splunk Firehose Nozzle for PCF. The content pack includes several preconfigured glass tables, service trees, and services that you can configure to represent your PCF server group. For more information about this content pack, see About the Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry.

Perform the following high-level steps to configure the Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry:

1. Install the Splunk Firehose Nozzle for PCF.
2. Install the content pack on your search head.
3. Create the itsi_pcf_module_indexes search macro.
4. Tune KPI base searches and KPI threshold levels for your environment.

Prerequisites

Create a full backup of your ITSI environment in case you need to uninstall the content pack later. For more information, see Create a full backup of ITSI in the Administration Manual.

Install the Splunk Firehose Nozzle for PCF

Before installing this content pack, you must first install and configure the Splunk Firehose Nozzle for PCF to get your Pivotal Cloud Foundry data into Splunk. For installation and configuration instructions, see Installing and Configuring Splunk Firehose Nozzle for Pivotal Platform in the Pivotal Partner documentation.

Install the content pack

You have two options for installing and configuring the Content pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry:

• One option is to install the content pack from the Splunk App for Content Packs. The Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry is included in the Splunk App for Content Packs if you are using ITSI version 4.9.x higher.
• Another option is to install the content pack using backup and restore functionality provided by ITSI. You must choose this option if you are using ITSI version 4.8.x or lower.

Install the content pack from the Splunk App for Content Packs

To install the Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry, you have to install the Splunk App for Content Packs. To install the Splunk App for Content Packs in your environment, see the Splunk App for Content Pack installation instructions.

After you install the Splunk App for Content Packs, follow these steps to install the Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry:

1. From the ITSI main menu, click Configuration > Data Integrations.
2. Select Add content packs or Add structure to your data depending on your version of ITSI.
3. Select the Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry content pack.
4. Review what's included in the content pack and then click Proceed.
5. Configure the following settings:

   Setting	Description
   Choose which objects to install	For a first-time installation, select the items you want to install and deselect any you're not interested in. For an upgrade, the installer identifies which objects from the content pack are new and which ones already exist in your environment from a previous installation. You can selectively choose which objects to install from the new version, or install them all.
   Choose a conflict resolution rule for the objects you install	For upgrades or subsequent installs, decide what happens to duplicate objects introduced from the content pack. Choose from the following options: Install as new - Objects are installed and any existing identical objects in your environment remain intact. Replace existing - Existing identical objects are replaced with those from the new installation. Any changes you previously made to these objects are overwritten.
   Import as enabled	Select whether to install objects as enabled or to leave them in their original state. It's recommended that you import objects as disabled to ensure your environment doesn't break from the addition of new content. This setting only applies to services, correlation searches, and aggregation policies. All other objects such as KPI base searches and saved searches are installed in their original state regardless of which option you choose.
   Add a prefix to your new objects	Optionally, append a custom prefix to each object installed from the content pack. For example, you might prefix your objects with CP- to indicate they came from a content pack. This option can help you locate and manage the objects post-install.
   Backfill service KPIs	Optionally backfill your ITSI environment with the previous seven days of KPI data. Consider enabling backfill if you want to configure adaptive thresholding and Predictive Analytics for the new services. This setting only applies to KPIs and not service health scores.

6. When you're satisfied with your selections, click Install selected.
7. Click Install to confirm the installation. When the installation completes you can view all objects that were successfully installed in your environment. A green check mark in the main Content Library list indicates which content packs you've already installed.

Install the content pack using backup and restore functionality provided by ITSI

If you are using ITSI version 4.8.x or lower, follow these steps to install the Content Pack for Monitoring Pivotal Cloud Foundry.

1. Download the following ITSI backup file: BACKUP-CP-PCF-1.0.1.zip.
2. On your ITSI search head, create a restore job and upload the backup file. For instructions, see Restore from a backup zip file.
3. After the restore job completes, confirm that the objects included in the content pack are restored to your environment.

(Optional) Update the index search macro with custom index

To update the index search macro, you have to know the indexes your organization uses to send data from the Add-on to your Splunk platform deployment.

1. From Splunk Web, select Settings > Advanced Search > Search Macros .
2. Configure the custom index by revising macro definitions as shown in the table below..
3. Select Save.

Macro Name	Index Type	Default Macro Definition	Macro Definition with Custom Index
itsi-cp-pcf-vmware-perf-metrics-index	Metrics	index = vmware-perf-metrics	All of the indexes that you're using for data collection from add-ons combined with OR operators. For example: index = vmware-perf-metrics OR index=<index-name>

Create the itsi_pcf_module_indexes macro

Create a macro called itsi_pcf_module_indexes, because all the KPIs included in this content pack have the macro embedded in the search.

Prerequisite
You must have to admin role to create the index search macro.

Steps

1. From Splunk Web, click Settings > Advanced Search > Search macros.
2. Click New Search Macro.
3. Configure the following fields:

   Field	Value
   Destination app	itsi
   Name	itsi_pcf_module_indexes
   Definition	Add all of the indexes that you're using for data collection from add-ons combined with OR operators. For example: (index=pcf OR index=<index-name>)

4. Click Save.

For more information about search macros, see Define search macros in Settings in the Splunk Enterprise Knowledge Manager Manual.

Tune KPI base searches

The KPI aggregate threshold values are configured for general use to reflect the overall health of the server group. Review and tune all KPI thresholds for your specific environment, and adjust the search frequency to match your data collection interval.

Each KPI search runs every minute by default. They have a five minute calculation window and use only the latest value on a per-entity basis.

• The five minute calculation window ensures that you won't see N/A values for less frequent data.
• The combination of running every minute and using the latest value means that for data collected more frequently, the KPI status is updated as quickly as possible.

For more information on KPI thresholding, see Configure KPI thresholds in ITSI in the Service Insights manual.

Next steps

After you install the content pack and configure the services and KPIs, you're ready to start monitoring your Pivotal Cloud Foundry components. From here, you can set up alerts so you can be notified of issues in your environment. For more information, see Overview of Event Analytics in ITSI.