Agent Client Collector release notes

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 5 minutes to read
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    Summary of Agent Client Collector release notes

    The ServiceNow Agent Client Collector (ACC) application allows you to monitor service availability, performance, and infrastructure of your systems. The Xanadu release introduces enhancements that improve security, functionality, and integration capabilities, helping you gain deeper insights into your Linux, Windows, and Kubernetes environments while simplifying management and upgrades.

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    Key Features

    • Secure Agent Connections: Introduce self-signed certificates to secure agent connections by verifying authenticity through the operating system’s truststore.
    • Expanded Linux and Windows Checks: Enhanced checks provide more detailed data on Linux and Windows servers, including a new Windows event check for filtered event logs and a network port check to assess port availability.
    • Dynamic Configuration: Configure agent log levels and Informer extensibility settings directly from the ServiceNow instance, avoiding manual file edits.
    • Informer Upgrades and Control: Upgrade Cloud Native Operations for Visibility Informer pods remotely in Kubernetes clusters and override execution parameters from the instance for easier administration.
    • Azure Integration: Store ServiceNow instance credentials in Microsoft Azure Vault when using Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Informers, enhancing security and credential management.
    • OAuth2.0 Support: Enable OAuth2.0 authorization for Informers to securely connect to the ServiceNow instance.
    • Multi-Architecture Docker Support: Docker images now support both arm64 and amd64 architectures, enabling more flexible deployment options.
    • Enhanced MID Server Capability: Improved processing for Network Interface Controllers (NICs) during keepalive operations increases stability.
    • Agent Error Consolidation: View consolidated error messages for all agents or drill down to individual agent errors on a dedicated Agent Error Messages page.
    • Linux Permission Enhancements: Securely enable Linux commands that grant additional system capabilities beyond standard permission levels.
    • Manual Upgrade on macOS: Support for manual consolidated upgrades of ACC on macOS systems.
    • Dynatrace Connector Configuration: Event Management integration supports raw metric data collection via the Dynatrace metric connector.

    Changes and Activation

    • The Windows event check was renamed and enhanced for better data collection.
    • The Service Error Management plugin now depends on the ACC-F scoped app, which installs automatically from the ServiceNow Store.
    • A new allow list parameter (allowshell) was introduced for checks running in shell execution mode to enhance security.
    • ACC is activated by enabling the Agent Client Collector Framework and Monitoring plugins on instances with Event Management installed.

    Integration with ServiceNow Ecosystem

    Agent Client Collector works alongside Event Management to monitor infrastructure components, sharing connectors that collect metric data and events. It also complements Health Log Analytics by providing foundational infrastructure monitoring data that supports predictive IT issue detection and faster resolution.

    The ServiceNow® Agent Client Collector application enables you to monitor the service availability, performance, and infrastructure of your system. Agent Client Collector was enhanced and updated in the Xanadu release.

    Agent Client Collector highlights for the Xanadu release

    • Ensure secure agent connections by adding a self-signed certificate.
    • Enhance check functionality by using expanded Linux and Windows checks, enabling you to gather additional information on your Linux and Windows servers.
    • Upgrade the Cloud Native Operations for Visibility Informer from the ServiceNow instance.
    • Store Instance credentials in the Microsoft Azure Vault when Informer uses Azure Kubernetes Engine (AKS).
    • Enjoy multi-architecture support for docker image.

    See Agent Client Collector for more information.

    Important:
    Agent Client Collector is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.

    New in the Xanadu release

    Load the allow list only from a configuration file
    Enhance system security by loading the allow list from the file specified in the allow-list parameter of the configuration file while ignoring the allow lists that are bundled with the plugins.
    Configure agent log level from the instance
    Configure the agent log level from the ServiceNow instance without having to access the acc.yml configuration file.
    Ensure secure agent connections
    Ensure that your agent connections are secure by adding a self-signed certificate to your operating system's truststore, which verifies that the certificate is authentic.
    Update existing assets
    Update your Agent Client Collector (ACC) plugins to the latest version by removing your existing plugins before reinstalling.
    Use expanded Linux and Windows checks
    Enable enhanced check functionality by using the expanded Linux and Windows checks provided with the system.
    Upgrade Agent Client Collector for Kubernetes – Visibility Informers remotely
    Starting in version 3.6.3, upgrade Informer pods in Kubernetes clusters remotely from the ServiceNow instance to avoid dependence on your Kubernetes admin.
    Override Informer parameters from the Instance
    Starting in version 3.6.3, control CNO for Visibility Informer execution parameters from the ServiceNow instance to avoid dependence on your Kubernetes admin.
    Store Instance credentials in Microsoft Azure Vault when Informer uses Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
    Starting in version 3.6.3, if your organization uses AKS, you can store the secret in the Microsoft Azure Vault. The Informer then pulls the ServiceNow credentials for accessing your instance from the Azure Vault.
    Enable Informer to connect to the instance using OAuth2.0 authorization
    Starting in version 3.6.3, the Informer can use OAuth2.0 authorization to connect to the ServiceNow instance for enhanced security.
    Enable expanded processing for the MID server on Network Interface Controllers (NICs) during keepalive operation
    Starting in version 3.6.3, benefit from enhanced stability when running a keepalive operation by using the enhanced MID Server capability to configure the number of Network Interface Controllers (NICs) that can be monitored by a keepalive operation.
    Upgrade Agent Client Collector manually on a macOS system
    Starting in version 3.6.3, run the consolidated upgrade procedure manually for the Agent Client Collector in a macOS environment.
    Configure the Dynatrace connector instance
    Starting in version 3.6.3, Event Management supports collecting raw metric data collection using the Dynatrace metric connector
    Consolidate agent errors
    Starting in version 4.1.0, view errors for all agents on the Agent Error Messages page. Additionally, you can view errors per individual agent by selecting the agent and selecting the ACC Error Messages tab .
    Use Linux commands to enable additional system capabilities beyond your permission level
    Starting in version 4.1.0, use Linux commands to grant enhanced permissions, which are enabled once the installation .exe file is executed. These enhanced capabilities are provided securely, ensuring that there is no security risk to your environment.
    Use the new Windows event check for enhanced event details
    Starting in version 3.12.0, use the new Windows event check to collect and filter Windows event logs.
    Use the network port check to determine port availability
    Starting in version 3.12.0, use the Network port check to create events for all ports of a specified host address, which indicates whether each port is available or in use.
    Enjoy multi-architecture support for docker image
    Starting in version 3.9.0 (Informer version 2.3.0), the docker image supports both arm64 and amd64 architectures. Upgrading from the previous image to the new one will not cause any disruptions. However, the new image requires more storage space in your image repository than the previous one.
    Change the Informer's extensibility settings from the instance
    Starting in version 3.9.0 (Informer version 2.3.0), update the Informer's extensibility configuration directly from the Instance using the Additional resources ConfigMap parameter. By providing a JSON map with keys such as resources, mappings, and mappings_oob, you can instruct Cloud Native Operations for Visibility to retrieve additional information. If one of these keys exists and the system finds a change, it patches the ConfigMap and restarts the Informer.
    View the OpenShift version in the Cluster version field on the Kubernetes Cluster CI
    Starting in version 3.9.0 (Informer version 2.3.0), see the OpenShift version and the Kubernetes Cluster version in one place. OpenShift operates on top of Kubernetes, so there's an OpenShift version and a Kubernetes Cluster version. By installing the Informer with the --set openShift=true flag, the system adds the OpenShift version number to the cluster_version field on the Kubernetes Cluster CI in addition to the Kubernetes Cluster version.

    Changed in this release

    Use the updated Windows event check
    Starting in version 3.12.0, the Windows event check os.windows.check-event-log has been renamed os.windows.check-event-log-count and has enhanced data gathering capabilities.
    Updated plugin dependency
    Starting in version 4.1.0, the Service Error Management plugin is dependent on the ACC-F scoped app. The plugin gets installed automatically when the customer installs the ACC-F scoped app from the ServiceNow store.
    New allow list parameter for checks running in shell execution mode
    Starting in version 4.1.0, when running a check in with execution mode (Exec Mode) set to shell, add the allow_shell parameter and set it to true for the allow list entry corresponding to the check.

    Activation information

    Agent Client Collector is available with activation of the Agent Client Collector Framework plugin (sn_agent) and the Agent Client Collector Monitoring plugin (sn_itmon) in an instance on which Event Management is installed.

    Related ServiceNow applications and features

    Event Management
    Agent Client Collector works within an instance on which Event Management is installed to monitor infrastructure components. Agent Client Collector and Event Management share some connectors that pull metric data and events from the same data sources.
    Health Log Analytics
    The Health Log Analytics application predicts IT issues before they impact users. The application helps you to solve issues faster by ingesting, analyzing, and correlating machine-generated log data in real time.