Red Hat Insights Client Core Collection Description

Updated

What is core collection?

Traditionally, the Insights Client uses a list of files and commands prescribed by a JSON file (This content is not included.seen here). This file is retrieved and updated by the Insights Client on each run, so that the most recent set of commands and files can be used for best results.

This approach is, however, limited. In order to provide a more comprehensive result set, core collection was developed. Files and commands are both statically and dynamically defined via "specs," and smarter operations can be performed with additional arguments and Python processing not possible with simple shell commands.

How can I enable core collection?

For versions of the Insights Client RPM 3.1.0 and newer, core collection is enabled by default. For older versions, core collection can be enabled by updating the Insights Core Egg to 3.4.17 or newer. Remove "auto_update=False" from /etc/insights-client/insights-client.conf to ensure that the Insights Core Egg can be updated automatically.

Red Hat recommends that you always keep the Insights Core up-to-date to ensure that you could get the latest recommendations and bug fixes.

How does the user experience differ?

The difference is largely invisible, however there are some changes to how the denylist configuration is parsed.

In the classic JSON-style collection, the denylist is configured using specific files and commands as copied exactly from the JSON file. For core collection, the preferred method is to specify specs, or components by name. Content from insights-core.readthedocs.io is not included.The list of components is available here.

Components must be specified with a fully-qualified name, so when using components in the denylist, they must be prefixed with insights.specs.default.DefaultSpecs..

While configuration of the denylist via components is preferred, in order to provide backward-compatibility, the Insights Client will still attempt to match existing files and commands in a denylist to their matching component. Be advised that not all JSON files and commands will match to a Core component. Use insights-client --validate to double-check converted values.

From the Insights Client documentation files:

---
# Omit entire files and commands from the collection using parameters listed here.

# Using YAML syntax, create lists of "components", "commands", and "files" to omit.

# For a full list of files and commands run by insights-client,
#   refer to /etc/insights-client/.fallback.json
 	
#	This file is deprecated and provided for compatibility only.
#	It will be removed in a future version.

# Commands and files are provided here presently for compatibility only.
# 	The use of components is preferred over commands and files, and any commands
#	or files that match components will be converted to components during parsing.
#	These commands and files must match entries in the .fallback.json file.

# 	For a full list of Insights Core components, refer to the following:
# 	https://insights-core.readthedocs.io/en/latest/specs_catalog.html

# 	Components must be prefixed with "insights.specs.default.DefaultSpecs."

# An example configuration is provided below.

components:
  - insights.specs.default.DefaultSpecs.httpd_V
  - insights.specs.default.DefaultSpecs.mysql_log
  - insights.specs.default.DefaultSpecs.ifconfig
commands:
  - /bin/rpm -qa
  - /bin/ls
  - ethtool_i
files:
  - /etc/audit/auditd.conf
  - cluster_conf
SBR
Product(s)
Category
Components
Tags
Article Type