Installation - Network Monitor
The purpose of this tutorial is to show you how to install Network Monitoron the Callbox. To install this tool, you need to have the product in your installation tarball. This may require the license for it. You may reach out to sales@amarisoft.com for the details.
Assuming that you have this product in your installation tarball and you have never installed this package before in your system, you are supposed to install this manually as per this tutorial. Once you have installed this, your './insall.sh --default' would install the monitor tool together with other tools. Of course, it is no harm to add '--monitor' option for every installation as shown in this tutorial.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Network Monitor is a specialized software tool designed for real-time observation and analysis of network activities within cellular infrastructure, such as the Amarisoft Callbox. Integrated as part of the Amarisoft suite, Network Monitor provides comprehensive insights into protocol messaging, traffic flow, and system health by capturing, decoding, and displaying a wide range of signaling and user plane data. Architecturally, it interfaces directly with the baseband and core network layers, leveraging packet capture and protocol decoding engines to generate actionable diagnostics for network engineers and developers. The installation process for Network Monitor requires that the tool is included in the product’s installation tarball, which may be subject to specific licensing terms. Once installed, Network Monitor can be seamlessly managed alongside other Callbox tools using the standard installation scripts, facilitating streamlined updates and maintenance. Its significance lies in its ability to empower operators and developers with deep visibility into the behavior of mobile networks, essential for troubleshooting, optimization, and compliance testing. As a crucial component of the broader Amarisoft ecosystem, Network Monitor supports efficient network development cycles and high-quality service assurance by enabling proactive monitoring and rapid issue resolution.
-
Context and Background
- Network Monitor is part of the Amarisoft Callbox suite, which emulates and tests mobile network elements in a controlled environment.
- The tool provides granular protocol-level monitoring, supporting standards such as LTE, NR (5G), and legacy technologies.
- It operates by interfacing with live data streams, decoding signaling information, and presenting it through interactive dashboards or logs.
- Installation requires the presence of the Network Monitor package in the official installation tarball, which may be distributed under commercial licensing.
-
Relevance and Importance
- Enables comprehensive visibility into network operations, critical for troubleshooting and performance optimization.
- Assists in protocol validation, standards compliance, and interoperability testing for mobile networks.
- Integrates with automated deployment workflows, supporting efficient system management and maintenance.
- Vital for research, development, and field testing activities in both lab and pre-deployment environments.
-
Tutorial Outcomes
- Understand the prerequisites for installing Network Monitor on the Amarisoft Callbox.
- Learn how to perform a manual installation of the Monitor tool, ensuring it is correctly integrated with the Callbox environment.
- Gain knowledge of post-installation configuration steps to enable future automated installations.
- Acquire best practices for maintaining and updating the Network Monitor as part of the Amarisoft suite.
-
Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills
- Familiarity with Linux command-line operations: Navigating directories, running shell scripts, and managing file permissions.
- Basic understanding of Amarisoft Callbox architecture: Awareness of its modular components and installation mechanisms.
- Licensing and package management: Knowledge of obtaining and validating required licenses for proprietary software.
- Root or sudo-level access: Required for performing system-level installations and modifications.
Summary of the Tutorial
This tutorial outlines the procedures to verify and install the ltemonitor module from an installation tarball, as well as post-installation checks for proper setup and configuration files.
-
Verification of Installation Tarball Contents
- Download the relevant installation package (tarball) for your system.
- Extract (untar) the tarball to a directory using appropriate commands.
- Navigate into the extracted directory and verify the presence of the ltemonitor tar file within the package contents.
-
Installation Procedure
- Initiate the installation process as you would for the regular callbox software.
- Include the --monitor option during installation to ensure the ltemonitor module is installed.
- Monitor the installation logs or output to confirm that the ltemonitor component is being installed.
-
Post-Installation Verification
- After installation, verify the creation of the monitor directory under the /root directory.
- Navigate to /root/monitor and confirm the presence of expected files and subdirectories.
- Further, go to /root/monitor/config directory and check for the following configuration files:
- monitor.cfg: Main configuration file used by the monitor program.
- alarm.tpl: Defines email templates for alarm notifications (usage depends on monitor.cfg settings).
- ssmtp.conf: Contains email server access configurations required for sending alarm notifications (may be required depending on monitor.cfg).
- Review the default contents in monitor.cfg; detailed configuration guidance and examples are provided in separate tutorials.
- Understand that alarm.tpl and ssmtp.conf are only needed if email notifications are configured in monitor.cfg.
The tutorial provides a systematic approach to ensure the ltemonitor module is included, properly installed, and configured, with emphasis on verifying all required directories and configuration files post-installation.
Check if Your Installation tar ball contains Monitor Installation file
The ltemonitor installation module does not comes by default and you have to make it sure that the installation tarball for lte monitor should be included in your installation tarball.
First the download the installation package, untar the tarball, go into the untarred directory and check if you have ltemonitor tar file as shown below. (
Install
Installation process is similar to regular callbox software installation except that you need to put an additional option '--monitor' as shown below.
You can confirm if the ltemonitor is being installed as shown below during the installation process.
Check out the installed files
Once the installation is done, you may check out if all the directories and basic configuration files are properly installed.
Check if you have monitor directory under \root as shown below.
Now to go monitor directory (/root/monitor) and see if you have files and directories as shown below.
Now go to config directory (/root/monitor/config) and check if you have following files. monitor.cfg is the main configuration file that are directly used by monitor program. alarm.tpl and ssmtp.conf are indirectly used in link with monitor.cfg file. alarm.tpl and ssmtp.conf may or may not used depending on the configurations in monitor.cfg
The default configurations in monitor.cfg is something as shown below. The details and specific examples will be covered by other tutorials.
alarm.tpl is the configuration defining the email format when you configure monitor to send you the email for a specific alarms. The details and examples will be covered by another tutorial.
ssmtp.conf is the configuration in which you should configure all the necessary information to get access your email server so that monitor can send you the email for the alarm.
