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Table of Contents

What happens if one of the nodes dies or needs to be replaced or removed

A: The config script has an option to remove a node from the cluster, but not for the primary node:

  ./config-sematext-apps.py remove --id <node_id>

The ID of the node can be found by running the status command:

  ./config-sematext-apps.py status
 

What happens if the primary node dies or needs to be replaced

The cluster will not work without a primary node. To get the cluster up and running some manual steps will have to be executed. We plan to automate this in the very near future to to make things easy in these rare cases.

Can I change the Elasticsearch cluster name or use an existing cluster

At the moment, the cluster name is hardcoded to sematext-es.

What server is used for sending emails

For sending emails, a local SMTP server is used. To use a different server changes need to be done in /opt/sematext/web/config/common.properties:

  email.host=email_server_addr
email.port=email_server_port
email.user=email_username
email.password=email_passowrd
email.from=Some Name <some_email@some_domain>
email.smtp.auth=true / false
email.smtp.starttls.enable=true / false
email.smtp.ssl.enable=true / false
email.smtp.socketFactory.class=javax.net.ssl.SSLSocketFactory / javax.net.SocketFactory

Can I enable HTTPS and SSL certificates

We recommend to use a load balancer that can also handle the HTTPS and SSL offloading.

I’m running out of disk space because of Elasticsearch, what do I do

When running out of space because of Elasticsearch, please add more Data nodes. Data will be distributed between all nodes. Please keep in mind that this does not happen immediately and plan in advance.  Do not add more than one node at the same time. Depending how busy the cluster is, it can take some time to stabilize. You can use SPM to check when the cluster has stabilized. Check that cluster state is Green before and after adding new nodes.

I’m running out of disk space because of Kafka, what do I do

When running out of space because of Kafka, please add more Master nodes. Data will be distributed between all nodes. Please keep in mind that this does not happen immediately and plan in advance. Do not add more than one node at the same time. Depending how busy the cluster is, it can take some time to stabilize. You can use SPM to check when the cluster has stabilized. There is also a setting that controls how long logs are kept before being discarded in /opt/sematext/kafka/config. The default value is:

  log.retention.hours=24

Can I use localhost instead of 127.0.0.1

When using “http”://localhost” instead of http://127.0.0.1, you might bump into a Google Chrome bug regarding cookies for “localhost”.

How can I optimize the VM when using SSD storage

The I/O scheduler should be set to NOOP at runtime:

  echo noop | sudo tee /sys/block/xvdh/queue/scheduler (xvdh is the SSD drive)

persistent: add elevator=noop to the "kernel" like of /etc/grub.conf

How do I change the retention time for metrics and logs

The default retention time is 1 year, but can be adjusted. Please ssh to the primary master and run the following command (adjust the number of hours as required):

  mysql -u root sematext_users_db -e "UPDATE Plan SET dataRetentionHours=<HOURS>"

Logsene data retention can be adjusted on an app-by-app basis from the UI.
SPM data retention can be adjusted by updating data in the DB.

How many VMs or disk space do I need

The volume of per-server metrics or logs, and log event sizes can vary a lot, so it is nearly impossible to give good estimates. However, SPM monitors itself to help with capacity planning.  Disk usage tell you how much disk is being used and how much is left.  CPU usage tells you whether CPU is being maxed out or not. To expand, you can either add more VMs/nodes, or give the existing VMs more CPU or disk.

How do I get a new license

The SematextApps VM has an initial trial license that will expire in 30 days.  When the trial license or the real license expires, you will not be able log into the Web UI.  To get a new license, please contact Sematext: http:Documentation moved to https://sematext.com/about/contact.html.

Where do I put a new license file

The license file location is /opt/sematext/license.jar on any of your SUA servers.

License files are automatically loaded as soon as you copy them to said location.

License expiry

All Sematext on-premises licenses are limited by their expiry date. As expiry date approaches (and passes), license holders and owner of default on-premises account will be notified by email.

After the license expires, you will be able to continue using applications only for a few more days, so contact Sematext early about the new license to avoid any service interruptions.

How do SPM license limits work

SPM licenses have additional limit on concurrent number of "server-apps". This "server-apps" is a combination of SPM App token and server where SPM monitor client is installed. For example, if you have 4 servers, and on each of them you've installed 3 SPM App tokens, that is counted as 12 server-apps (regardless of whether those servers use same or different SPM App tokens).

If during the day your number of server-apps goes over the limit defined by license, you will be notified by email and by Notification displayed at the top of SPM UI. You will have until the end of the day (counted by UTC timezone) to reduce the number of server-apps below the license limit. If reduction doesn't happen until the end of the day, that day will be counted as "over the limit" incident.

You are allowed to have a maximum of 4 such incidents over the trailing 30 days window. Once you have 5 or more such incidents over the last 30 days (check is done each day at 02:00 AM UTC), read-access to data will be blocked. This means that performance metrics will continue to be collected by SPM, but until the number of "over the limit" incidents falls back below 5 or you get a fresh license with higher limits, you will be unable to view data in charts.

How do Logsene license limits work

Logsene licenses have additional limit on the amount of log data per day. The limit is expressed in MB, GB, TB... per day, and is compared with the total amount of log data used by all your Logsene Apps combined.

If during the day your amount of data goes over the license limit, you will be notified by email and by Notification displayed at the top of Logsene UI. You will have time until the end of the day (counted by UTC timezone) to reduce the amount of logs below the limit (e.g. by deleting some data manually). If reduction doesn't happen until the end of the day, that day will be counted as "over the limit" incident.

You are allowed to have a maximum of 4 such incidents over the trailing 30 days window. Once you hit 5 or more such incidents over the last 30 days (check is done each day at 02:00 AM UTC), read-access to data will be blocked. This means that logs data will continue to be accepted by Logsene, but until the number of "over the limit" incidents falls back below 5 or you get a fresh license with higher limits, you will be unable to view data in charts.

Where are Kibana indices backed up

Kibana indices are backed up daily in the /opt/sematext/data/kibana/<DATE> dir.
To restore these indices, just run the following command.

Code Block
languagebash
/opt/sematext/script/es-index.py --location /opt/sematext/data/kibana/<DATE> restore

How do I create the diagnostics package

 In case you are having issues with SematextApps, you can create diagnostics package on affected nodes by running:

Code Block
languagebash
sudo /opt/sematext/script/diag.sh

The resulting package will contain all relevant info needed for our investigation.docs/sematext-enterprise/faq/