Tutorial ManagerClientDatabase
(For version 1.000)
This tutorial describes the basic configuration of the AlertR Manager Client Database. It can be used as foundation to develop an own AlertR system setup. This tutorial assumes you have set up the AlertR Server according to the provided Server Tutorial.
The client is described as the following by the installation:
sqall@towel:~$ ./alertRinstaller.py -l
[...]
AlertR Manager Client Database
------------------------------
Instance:
managerClientDatabase
Type:
manager
Version:
0.901-0
Dependencies:
1: requests (pip packet: requests) (lowest version: 2.20.0)
2: MySQLdb (pip packet: mysqlclient) (lowest version: 1.4.6)
Description:
This client stores the state of the AlertR system in a database for external usage. It uses a MySQL database to store all information about the AlertR system. External components, such as a website, can use the information in the database for their purposes. In the case of a website, it can process the data and show a visualization to the user. In order to let external components interact with the AlertR system, the manager client can set up a local UNIX socket server.
[...]
In order to install the AlertR Manager Client Database, we first have to fulfill all prerequisites. On a Debian/Ubuntu Linux you can install everything with the following commands:
root@towel:/home/sqall# apt-get install python3-pip default-libmysqlclient-dev
root@towel:/home/sqall# pip3 install mysqlclient requests
IMPORTANT NOTE: On older Debian like machines the package default-libmysqlclient-dev replaces libmysqlclient-dev. If you cannot install the former one, just install the latter.
It is always a good idea to have an own user for a daemon. Therefore, we create a user that runs the AlertR Manager Client Database called alertr:
root@towel:/home/sqall# adduser --disabled-password alertr
Adding user `alertr' ...
Adding new group `alertr' (1002) ...
Adding new user `alertr' (1002) with group `alertr' ...
Creating home directory `/home/alertr' ...
Copying files from `/etc/skel' ...
Changing the user information for alertr
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
Full Name []:
Room Number []:
Work Phone []:
Home Phone []:
Other []:
Is the information correct? [Y/n] y
To switch into this user in the terminal you can use the following command:
root@towel:/home/sqall# su alertr
Please note that this is only possible as root user. If you are trying this command as another user you will get a password prompt for the user alertr, which does not have a password.
Afterwards, you can use the installation script provided by AlertR to install the client.
alertr@towel:~$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sqall01/alertR/master/alertRinstaller.py
alertr@towel:~$ mkdir managerClientDatabase
alertr@towel:~$ chmod 755 alertRinstaller.py
alertr@towel:~$ ./alertRinstaller.py -i managerClientDatabase -t ./managerClientDatabase/
The AlertR Manager Client Database uses a MySQL server to store its data. This data can be used by other applications, such as a website, to show the current state of the AlertR system. In order to get the AlertR client to work, we have to install and set up a MySQL server first. In this tutorial, we install the MySQL server on the same host as the AlertR client. With the following command we can install the database on a Debian-like system.
root@towel:/home/sqall# apt-get install mysql-server
The installation asks to set a password for the database "root" user. In this tutorial, we assume you have set the password to "root_password".
Next we set up an own database user and database for the AlertR client:
root@towel:/home/sqall# mysql -u root -proot_password
mysql> CREATE DATABASE alertr_db_mgr DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 DEFAULT COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
mysql> CREATE USER 'alertr_db_mgr'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret_password';
mysql> GRANT ALL ON alertr_db_mgr.* TO 'alertr_db_mgr'@'localhost';
This sets up the database user "alertr_db_mgr" with the password "secret_password" and grants it full access to the newly created database "alertr_db_mgr". Please make sure that only this AlertR instance uses the created database "alertr_db_mgr" on this MySQL server. Otherwise the instances will corrupt each others data.
The following describes the configuration of the AlertR Manager Client Database. It shows a basic configuration that can be used as a template for own installations.
For security reasons, it is strongly recommended to use a TLS connection for your AlertR system. Hence, all tutorials will use TLS. However, for testing purposes AlertR gives you the option to disable TLS. If you do so, you have to disable it for the complete AlertR system.
During the installation of the AlertR server, you created a certificate file with the name alertr_server.crt. This file is needed by the client in order to verify the connection. Please copy it to the host you are installing this client on. This tutorial assumes that you have stored the certificate file in the following location: /home/alertr/managerClientDatabase/config/alertr_server.crt.
The client has to authenticate itself before it can work with the server. Therefore, we need to set up user credentials on the AlertR server for this client. We execute the following command with the manageUsers.py script of the server which is located in the installation directory of the server (see Users Management for further information):
alertr@towel:/home/alertr/server# ./manageUsers.py -a -u user_database -p password_database -t manager -i managerClientDatabase
Please make sure that the AlertR Server is not running while adding a user.
Otherwise it can lead to an inconsistent state and a corrupted database.
Are you sure to continue?
(y/n): y
Every AlertR installation has a template configuration file with detailed comments that describe the functionality of each option. To use it as a draft, you can just copy the template file and modify your new configuration file.
alertr@towel:~/managerClientDatabase/config$ cp config.xml.template config.xml
alertr@towel:~/managerClientDatabase/config$ chmod 700 config.xml
The configuration file itself is split into the following parts:
- General
- SMTP
- Update
- Manager
In this tutorial, we are going through each of these parts separately and describe why we configured it like that.
The general section is used for options such as certificate file location. In our tutorial configuration, the section looks like this:
<general>
<log
file="./logfile.log"
level="INFO" />
<server
host="localhost"
port="44556" />
<ssl
enabled="True">
<server
caFile="./config/alertr_server.crt" />
<client
certificateRequired="False"
certFile="/path/to/client.crt"
keyFile="/path/to/client.key" />
</ssl>
<credentials
username="user_database"
password="password_database" />
<connection
persistent="True" />
</general>
Section log is used to configure the log file setup. The file attribute sets the location for the log file. Make sure it exists and is writable by the user that starts the AlertR client. Otherwise the client will not start. For example, the directory /var/log is usually only writable by the "root" user and users of the group "syslog". If you want the client log file in this directory, please create a sub-directory for the AlertR client log file and set the correct permissions on it. The level attribute sets the log level. Possible values are DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL.
Section server is used to configure the server connection setup. The host and port attribute sets the address and port of the AlertR server. The port was previously configured in the server configuration file. The address can either be a name that can be resolved by the DNS system or an IP address.
Section ssl is used to configure the TLS/SSL setup. The enabled attributes gives you the option to disable or enable it. This setting has to be the same for your complete AlertR setup. It is strongly recommended to enable TLS/SSL and only disable it in a testing environment. In this tutorial, we enable TLS/SSL. The caFile attribute in the server section sets the location of the certificate file that is used to authenticate the server (see Certificate). Section client is used to configure the client connection setup. The certificateRequired attribute determines if the client needs a certificate to connect to the server or not. The certFile and keyFile are used to determine the client certificate and key file. Since this tutorial is not using client certificates, we do not have to set sane values here.
Section credentials is used to configure the login credentials of this client. The credentials were configured in a previous step of this Tutorial and must be the same as in this configuration file.
Section connection is used to configure the connection to the server. The persistent attribute is used to configure if the connection to the server has to be persistent. This means that if the client disconnects, a Sensor Alert is created by the server.
The smtp section is used for options that configure the used SMTP server. In our tutorial configuration, the section looks like this:
<smtp>
<general
activated="True"
fromAddr="managerClientDatabase@alertr.de"
toAddr="myalarmaddress@example.org" />
<server
host="127.0.0.1"
port="25" />
</smtp>
Section general is used to configure the basic options of the eMail notification. The eMail notification is used if problems on the AlertR client occur that can not be solved (like connection problems). The activated attribute determines if the eMail notification is activated or not. If it is deactivated, the rest of the options in the whole smtp section are ignored. The fromAddr attribute sets the used eMail address from which the eMail notification is sent. The toAddr attribute determines the eMail address the notification is sent to.
Section server is used to configure the SMTP server that is used to send the eMail notification. The host attribute sets the address and the port attribute sets the port of the used SMTP server. At the moment, only "127.0.0.1" is allowed as address and port 25. This means you have to set up a local SMTP server in order to send eMail notifications. Personally, I would suggest to set up a local Postfix SMTP server that can forward eMails like in this Tutorial. Please note that the local SMTP server has to accept eMails from localhost without any authentication since it is not supported by AlertR yet.
The update section is used to give the online repository for updates. In our tutorial configuration, the section looks like this:
<update>
<server
url="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sqall01/alertR/master/" />
</update>
Section server is used to configure the remote update repository. Normally, the default configuration can be used here (which is this repository). The url attribute gives the remote server location of the repository. Only the https protocol is allowed here if you want to change it.
The manager section configures special options of this client. In our tutorial configuration, the section looks like this:
<manager>
<general
description="Towel Database Manager" />
<storage
method="mysql"
server="127.0.0.1"
port="3306"
database="alertr_db_mgr"
username="alertr_db_mgr"
password="secret_password" />
<server
activated="True"
unixSocketFile="./config/localsocket" />
<options
sensorAlertLifeSpan="10" />
</manager>
The context has four main sections: general, storage, server and options. The following describes the settings of each section.
Section general is used to configure the basic manager settings. The description attribute gives the description of this manager client.
Section storage sets the database settings. The method attribute sets the database that is used. Currently, only mysql is allowed. The server and port attributes set the address and the port used by the MySQL server. The database attribute sets the database that should be used by the AlertR client. The username and password attributes set the credentials that are used to connect to the MySQL server. The database and credentials are configured in the Setup Part of this tutorial.
Section server sets up a local socket server that can be used by external applications to talk back to the AlertR system. The activated attribute sets if the server is activated or not. The unixSocketFile attribute sets the location of the local socket file.
Section options configures some settings that are used for the behavior of the client. The sensorAlertLifeSpan attribute sets the number of days a Sensor Alert is kept in the database before it is removed.
If you want the AlertR client to start automatically after a reboot of the host, you have to set it up. In this tutorial, I will give two examples on how to set up the autostart of the AlertR client depending on your system using systemd or just init.d.
An init.d script is provided by the AlertR installation. The only thing you have to do is to copy and configure it correctly. The following command copies it to the correct location, sets the permissions correctly and installs it:
root@towel:/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase/init.d_example# cp alertRmanagerDatabase.sh /etc/init.d/
root@towel:/etc/init.d# chown root:root alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
root@towel:/etc/init.d# chmod 755 alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
root@towel:/etc/init.d# update-rc.d alertRmanagerDatabase.sh defaults
Adding system startup for /etc/init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh ...
/etc/rc0.d/K20alertRmanagerDatabase.sh -> ../init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
/etc/rc1.d/K20alertRmanagerDatabase.sh -> ../init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
/etc/rc6.d/K20alertRmanagerDatabase.sh -> ../init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
/etc/rc2.d/S20alertRmanagerDatabase.sh -> ../init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
/etc/rc3.d/S20alertRmanagerDatabase.sh -> ../init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
/etc/rc4.d/S20alertRmanagerDatabase.sh -> ../init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
/etc/rc5.d/S20alertRmanagerDatabase.sh -> ../init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
Next we have to configure the init.d script correctly. The following changes have to be made to the script:
[...]
# change USER to the user which runs the alertRclient
USER=alertr
# change DAEMON to the path to run the alertRclient
DAEMON=/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase/alertRclient.py
[...]
In order to work correctly, the AlertR client has to be executable. With the following, we change the permissions of the AlertR client:
alertr@towel:~/managerClientDatabase$ chmod 755 alertRclient.py
To start the client as daemon, we can now execute:
root@towel:/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase# /etc/init.d/alertRmanagerDatabase.sh start
The log file of the client (it is created in the directory you have configured in the General Section) should now show the following:
[...]
08/12/2016 22:23:38 INFO: [alertRclient.py]: Starting local unix socket server instance.
If your system uses systemd for its autostart, you have to configure the AlertR client a bit different. Copying the template and setting permissions is still the same:
root@towel:/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase/init.d_example# cp alertRmanagerDatabase.sh /etc/init.d/
root@towel:/etc/init.d# chown root:root alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
root@towel:/etc/init.d# chmod 755 alertRmanagerDatabase.sh
Configuring the init.d script correctly is also the same:
[...]
# change USER to the user which runs the alertRclient
USER=alertr
# change DAEMON to the path to run the alertRclient
DAEMON=/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase/alertRclient.py
[...]
Now, systemd has to be configured. For this we copy the template service file to the correct location and install the service:
root@towel:/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase/init.d_example# cp alertRmanagerDatabase.service /etc/systemd/system/
root@towel:/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase# systemctl enable alertRmanagerDatabase.service
The AlertR client can be started with the following command:
root@towel:/home/alertr/managerClientDatabase# service alertRmanagerDatabase.sh status
The log file of the client (it is created in the directory you have configured in the General Section) should now show the following:
[...]
08/12/2016 22:23:38 INFO: [alertRclient.py]: Starting local unix socket server instance.
If you experience problems, please check the log file first. If it is not helpful, change the log level to DEBUG and check again. If no error can be seen, please start the AlertR client manually and check if an error occurs that is not printed into the log file. This can be done by just executing the AlertR client as the user that it normally runs with.
alertr@towel:~/managerClientDatabase$ ./alertRclient.py
If you still have problems and do not know how to solve them, you can ask on the community page on reddit or you can use the Github Issues.