Chapter 5. System tags and groups

Procedure

1. In the database you wish to assess, create a login for SQL Server assessments using SQL Authentication. The following Transact-SQL creates a login. Replace <*PASSWORD*> with a strong password:

   USE [master]
   GO
   CREATE LOGIN [assessmentLogin] with PASSWORD= N'<*PASSWORD*>’
   ALTER SERVER ROLE [sysadmin] ADD MEMBER [assessmentLogin]
   GO

2. Store the credentials for login on the system as follows, again replacing <*PASSWORD*> with the password you used in step 1.

   # echo "assessmentLogin" > /var/opt/mssql/secrets/assessment
   # echo "<*PASSWORD*>" >> /var/opt/mssql/secrets/assessment

3. Secure the credentials used by the assessment tool by ensuring that only the mssql user can access the credentials.

   # chmod 0600 /var/opt/mssql/secrets/assessment
   # chown mssql:mssql /var/opt/mssql/secrets/assessment

4. Download PowerShell from the microsoft-tools repository. This is the same repository you configured when you installed the mssql-tools and mssqlodbc17 packages as part of SQL Server installation.

   # yum -y  install powershell

5. Install the SQLServer module for PowerShell. This module includes the assessment API.

   # su mssql -c "/usr/bin/pwsh -Command Install-Module SqlServer"

6. Download the runassessment script from the Microsoft examples GitHub repository. Ensure it is owned and executable by mssql.

   # /bin/curl -LJ0 -o /opt/mssql/bin/runassessment.ps1 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/sql-server-samples/master/samples/manage/sql-assessment-api/RHEL/runassessment.ps1
   # chown mssql:mssql /opt/mssql/bin/runassessment.ps1
   # chmod 0700 /opt/mssql/bin/runassessment.ps1

7. Create the directory that will store the log file used by Red Hat Insights. Again, make sure it is owned and executable by mssql.

   # mkdir /var/opt/mssql/log/assessments/
   # chown mssql:mssql /var/opt/mssql/log/assessments/
   # chmod 0700 /var/opt/mssql/log/assessments/

8. You can now create your first assessment, but be sure to do so as the user mssql so that subsequent assessments can be run automatically via cron or systemd more securely as the mssql user.

   # su mssql -c "pwsh -File /opt/mssql/bin/runassessment.ps1"

9. Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux will automatically include the assessment next time it runs, or you can initiate Insights client by running this command:

   # insights-client

Procedure to create new group

1. Run the following command as root, adding your custom group name after --group=:

   [root@server ~]# insights-client --group=<name-you-choose>

Procedure to verify your custom group was created

1. Navigate to Red Hat Insights > RHEL > Inventory and log in if necessary.
2. Click the Filter results dropdown menu.
3. Scroll through the list or use the search function to locate the tag.
4. Click the tag to filter by it.
5. Verify that your system is among the results on the advisor systems list.

Procedure to verify that the system is tagged

1. Navigate to Red Hat Insights > RHEL > Inventory and log in if necessary.
2. Activate the Name filter and begin typing the system name until you see your system, then select it.
3. Verify that, next to the system name, the tag symbol is darkened and shows a number representing the correct number of tags applied.

Procedure

1. Using the command line, open the tag configuration file for editing.

   [root@server ~]# vi /etc/insights-client/tags.yaml

2. Edit content or add additional values as needed. The following example shows how you can organize tags.yaml when adding multiple tags to a system.

   # tags
   ---
   group: eastern-sap
   location: Boston
   description:
   - RHEL8
   - SAP
   key 4: value

   Note

   Add as many key=value pairs as you need. Use a mix of capitalization, letters, numbers, symbols, and whitespace.

3. Save your changes and close the editor.

4. Optionally, generate an upload to Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

   # insights-client

Procedure

1. Using the command line, and your preferred editor, open /etc/insights-client/tags.yaml. (The following example uses Vim.)

   [root@server ~]# vi /etc/insights-client/tags.yaml

2. Edit the /etc/insights-client/tags.yaml file to add the predefined key=value pair for the tags. This example shows how to add security: strict and network_performance: latency tags.

   # cat /etc/insights-client/tags.yaml
   group: redhat
   location: Brisbane/Australia
   description:
   - RHEL8
   - SAP
   security: strict
   network_performance: latency

3. Save your changes.
4. Close the editor.

5. Optional: Run the insights-client command to generate an upload to Red Hat Insights for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or wait until the next scheduled Red Hat Insights upload.

   [root@server ~]# insights-client