Configuration groups provide you the ability to have different parts of your business able to collect events using a single agent on the monitored server. Each configuration group includes the following computers:
A configuration group includes a single database server. The database server includes the AgentManager and AgentManagerCommon databases, depending on your configuration, in a Microsoft SQL Server repository. For more information about the database server, see Section 2.7, Planning to Install Your Database Server.
A configuration group includes one or more central computers. A central computer manages Sentinel Agent Manager components and the collected data. The central computer performs the following functions:
Installs, uninstalls, and configures Windows agents
Distributes rules to Windows agent computers
Receives data from Windows agents
Controls data flow between all agents and the database server
Hosts the Agent Manager Console
For more information about the central computer and its components, see Section 2.8, Planning to Install Your Central Computers.
Includes Windows agent computers that send events to the central computer. For more information about agents, see Section 2.9, Planning to Install Your Agents.
This section guides you through the planning process, helping you determine how many configuration groups you need and plan for each of the configuration group computers.
NOTE:
NetIQ recommends you install all central computers and database servers in a configuration group on computers using the same version of Microsoft Windows.
In addition to installing Sentinel Agent Manager on physical computers, you can install Sentinel Agent Manager components on one or more virtual machines (VMs) and use Sentinel Agent Manager to monitor VMs.
NetIQ recommends that you install Sentinel Agent Manager components on dedicated hardware - either on physical computers or on virtual machine hardware.
For performance reasons, NetIQ does not recommend installing Sentinel Agent Manager central computer components or the database server on a computer with a NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager or NetIQ Aegis core component already installed.
Sentinel Agent Manager supports Microsoft Windows and Microsoft SQL Server in English and Western European languages. The database server and central computers must all use the same language for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft SQL Server.
Each configuration group in an enterprise must have a unique name. Sentinel Agent Manager uses this name to distinguish one configuration group from another.
Once you name a configuration group, you cannot change the name without uninstalling, then reinstalling all Sentinel Agent Manager components, including all agents.
Select a unique name for your configuration group. Configuration group names cannot exceed 50 characters.
Multiple central computers in a configuration group share configuration data. The data resides in a central AgentManager database in a single configuration group. This information is encrypted. To enable computers to access the shared information, each central computer must have access to a shared encryption key.
During installation of the first central computer in a configuration group, the setup program prompts you to supply a configuration group password. When you install additional central computers in the configuration group, the setup program prompts you for a configuration group password. Provide the same password you supplied when installing the first central computer. If you provide a different password, the central computer is unable to access shared information. For more information about changing this password, see the Agent Manager User Guide.