SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

This page describes the steps for installing and upgrading NXLog Agent on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

Installing NXLog Agent

First, download the appropriate NXLog Agent install file from the NXLog website.

  1. Log in to your account, then click My account at the top of the page.

  2. Under the Downloads > NXLog Agent files tab, download the correct archive for your system.

    Table 1. Available SLES NXLog Agent files
    Platform Archive

    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12

    nxlog-6.2.9212_sles12_x86_64.tar.bz2

    SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15

    nxlog-6.2.9212_sles15_x86_64.tar.bz2

  3. Use SFTP or a similar secure method to transfer the archive to the target server.

  4. Log in to the target server and extract the contents of the archive.

    # tar xjf nxlog-6.2.9212_sles15_x86_64.tar.bz2
    Table 2. NXLog Agent packages in a SLES archive
    Package Description

    nxlog-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    The main NXLog Agent package

    nxlog-checkpoint-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_checkpoint module

    nxlog-dbi-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_dbi and om_dbi modules

    nxlog-java-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the xm_java, im_java, and om_java modules

    nxlog-kafka-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_kafka and om_kafka modules

    nxlog-odbc-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_odbc and om_odbc modules

    nxlog-pcap-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_pcap module

    nxlog-perl-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the xm_perl, im_perl, and om_perl modules

    nxlog-python-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the xm_python, im_python, and om_python modules

    nxlog-ruby-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the xm_ruby, im_ruby, and om_ruby modules

    nxlog-systemd-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_systemd module

    nxlog-wseventing-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_wseventing module

    nxlog-zmq-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm

    Provides the im_zmq and om_zmq modules

  5. Optional: To change the NXLog Agent user and group for the installation, set the NXLOG_USER and NXLOG_GROUP environment variables. During installation, a new user and group will be created from these environment variables. They will be used for the User and Group directives in nxlog.conf, and to set ownership of the /opt/nxlog directory. Specifying an already existing user or group is not supported. The created user and group will be deleted when you uninstall NXLog Agent.

    # export NXLOG_USER=nxlog2
    # export NXLOG_GROUP=nxlog2
  6. Download the public key file from the NXLog’s public contrib repository and import it to the RPM database.

    # rpm --import nxlog-pubkey.asc
    See Verify the signature of the RPM package for further details.
  7. Install the required NXLog Agent packages and their dependencies. This example installs the main NXLog Agent package only.

    # zypper install nxlog-6.2.9212_sles15.x86_64.rpm
  8. Configure NXLog Agent by editing /opt/nxlog/etc/nxlog.conf. See Log collection in the NXLog Platform User Guide for more information and configuration examples.

  9. Verify the configuration file syntax.

    # /opt/nxlog/bin/nxlog -v
    2020-10-17 08:05:06 INFO configuration OK
  10. Start the service using the service command:

    # systemctl start nxlog.service
  11. Check that the NXLog Agent service is running with the systemctl command.

    # systemctl | grep nxlog
    nxlog.service
    loaded active running  NXLog daemon

Upgrading NXLog Agent

To update an NXLog Agent installation to the latest release, use zypper as described in the installation instructions above. We recommend making a backup of the configuration files before starting this process.

# zypper install nxlog-6.2.9212_sles12.x86_64.rpm

To replace a trial installation of NXLog Agent with a licensed copy of the same version, follow the installation instructions.

The same user and group will be used for the upgrade as was used for the original installation. See installation user and group above. Changing to a different user and group during an upgrade is not supported.

Uninstalling NXLog Agent

Use zypper remove to uninstall NXLog Agent. To remove any packages that were dependencies of NXLog Agent but are not required by any other packages, use the --clean-deps option. Verify the operation before going ahead!

# zypper remove 'nxlog*'
This procedure may not remove all files that were created while configuring NXLog Agent. Likewise, any files created as a result of NXLog Agent’s operations will not be removed. To find these files, examine the NXLog Agent configuration files and check the NXLog Agent installation directory (/opt/nxlog).