Configure Sensor Collector

To configure a Sensor Collector, follow these steps using the Provider Connectivity Assurance user interface:

1. Access Sensor Collector Creation by navigating to Sensors > Collectors > Sensor Collector.
2. Click the + button on the right to begin creating a new Sensor Collector.
3. Select Collector Type based on the type of time series data you intend to ingest:
   • Gateway Sensor Collectors are required for Telemetry Collector and Assurance Sensor software agent data sources
   • CSV Sensor Collectors are used for hardware Assurance Sensor data sources
4. Click the Configure Sensor Collector button to proceed.
   

Below are two distinct configuration procedures:

• Configuring a Gateway Sensor Collector.
• Configuring a CSV Sensor Collector.

Configure a Gateway Sensor Collector

This procedure is required for any data that is incoming from a Telemetry Collector or a software Assurance Sensor.

To configure a Gateway type Sensor Collector:

1. Assign a unique name to your Sensor Collector.
   Note: The name must not contain spaces and should be distinct from all other Sensor Collectors within your tenant.
   Best Practice Tip: Create a name that incorporates the incoming data type, the server's name where it will be deployed, and the Provider Connectivity tenant's name. For example, PM_mobility_<server_name>_<tenant_name> helps in easily locating the Sensor Collector in inventory, especially when managing many collectors.

2. Select the Metric Configuration from the Metric configuration field, corresponding to your data source (example: telemetry-collector or sensor-agent).
   Note: flex is no longer supported and is being removed.

3. Define the Availability Zone Value, this is a unique identifier that tells Provider Connectivity Assurance which configuration to push to the Sensor Collector.

   1. For Gateway and CSV Sensor Collectors, there is a one-to-one mapping of Availability Zone to Sensor Collector. It is not possible to push a single configuration to multiple Sensor Collectors.
   2. For Scraper mode Sensor Collectors, it is possible to push a single configuration to multiple Sensor Collectors to achieve High Availability (described here)

4. Populate the Availability Zone field with a unique value.
   Note: Both Gateway and CSV Sensor Collectors have a one-to-one mapping. The recommended best practice is to use the same value you assigned as the Sensor Collector name (e.g., if the name is "my-new-sensor-collector", set the zone to "my-new-sensor-collector").

5. Leverage the Session Filter feature (optional) to allow you to filter unwanted data out, before it reaches Provider Connectivity Assurance.
   Further documentation is available [here]).

6. Set up the metrics and management ports, as follows.

   1. Port fields: Can be left at their default values if you are deploying to docker environment, but need to be changed if you are deploying to Kubernetes because their values are outside the valid rang on most Kubernetes clusters.
   2. Metrics gateway port: The default port for data transfer is 55888. This default is not valid in Kubernetes environments, so if you intend to deploy to a Kubernetes environment, this port will have to be changed to a value that is valid (typically 30000-32767).
   3. Management Proxy Port: The default port for pushing configuration to the Sensor Agent/Telemetry Collector and receiving health/status updates is 55777. This default is not valid in Kubernetes environments, so if you intend to deploy to a Kubernetes environment, this port will have to be changed to a value that is valid (typically 30000-32767).

Important: The values configured for the Metrics Gateway port and Management Proxy port must precisely match the provisioning in your Sensor Agent or Telemetry Collector configuration. The management proxy port is set during the Docker Compose or Helm installation, while the Metrics Gateway port is defined in the Sensor Agent or Telemetry Collector configuration.

7. Save Configuration
   • Click the checkmark in the top right corner to save your settings.

Upon completion, your Sensor Collector will appear in the inventory list under Sensors > Collectors > Sensor Collector. You can proceed to deploy in either Kubernetes or docker environments.

Configure a CSV Sensor Collector

This is required for any data that is incoming from a hardware Assurance Sensor.

To configure a CSV type Sensor Collector:

1. Assign a unique name to your Sensor Collector.
   Note: This name must not contain spaces and must be distinct from all other Sensor Collectors within the tenant.
   Best Practice Tip: Include the incoming data type, the server's name, and the Provider Connectivity tenant's name in the format. For example, PM_hardware_<server_name>_<tenant_name>) to facilitate future identification.

2. Populate Availability Zone with a unique value.
   Note: It is recommended to use the same value as the Sensor Collector name for consistency.
   

3. Populate the CSV file path field with the full path to your CSV data file.

4. Save Configuration by clicking the checkmark in the top right corner to save your settings.
   The remaining fields in the pop-up window can be left as their default values.

Note: The Session Filter profile can be used to filter out unwanted data and prevent it from being delivered to Provider Connectivity Assurance. That feature is documented further [here].

Upon completion, your Sensor Collector will appear in the inventory list under Sensors > Collectors > Sensor Collector.

You can proceed to deploy in either Kubernetes or docker environments.