BeforeDo MonitorCloser: The Complete Setup Guide
Overview
BeforeDo MonitorCloser is a monitoring tool designed to track system performance, user activity, and application health. This guide walks you through a complete setup—from prerequisites to advanced configuration—so you can deploy MonitorCloser reliably and securely.
Prerequisites
- Supported OS: Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+), Windows Server 2019+, or macOS 11+.
- Hardware: 2 CPU cores, 4 GB RAM, 10 GB free disk space (per agent).
- Network: Agents need outbound HTTPS (port 443) to the MonitorCloser server or cloud endpoint.
- Accounts: Admin access on target machines and an active MonitorCloser license or trial account.
- Dependencies: Python 3.8+ (for some integrations), Docker (optional), and an SMTP server for alerts.
1. Choose a Deployment Model
- Cloud-hosted: Easiest; account creation gives you a SaaS endpoint. Ideal for small teams.
- Self-hosted: Use this for on-premises compliance. Requires a server (Linux recommended), Docker Compose, and a reverse proxy (Nginx) with TLS.
2. Install the Server (Self-hosted)
- Provision a Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04 recommended).
- Install Docker and Docker Compose:
Code
sudo apt update sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose sudo systemctl enable –now docker - Create a docker-compose.yml (example minimal stack):
Code
version: ‘3.8’ services:monitorcloser:image: beforedo/monitorcloser:latest ports: - "443:443" volumes: - ./data:/var/lib/monitorcloser environment: - [email protected] - MC_LICENSE_KEY=your_license_key - Start services:
Code
docker-compose up -d - Configure Nginx as reverse proxy with TLS (use Certbot for Let’s Encrypt).
3. Create Admin Account & License Activation
- Visit your server URL (https://your-monitorcloser.example) and complete the web setup wizard.
- Enter the license key and create an admin user. Save recovery keys and backup the config.
4. Install Agents on Target Machines
- From the server UI, generate agent tokens per host or group.
- Linux agent install (deb/apt):
Code
curl -fsSL https://your-monitorcloser.example/install.sh | sudo bash -s – –token YOUR_AGENTTOKEN - Windows agent install:
- Download MSI from server UI.
- Run installer as Administrator and enter the agent token when prompted.
- macOS agent:
Code
sudo installer -pkg MonitorCloser.pkg -target / /usr/local/bin/monitorcloser-agent register –token YOUR_AGENT_TOKEN
5. Configure Monitoring Checks
- System metrics: CPU, memory, disk, network — enable default templates per host group.
- Process checks: Add monitored processes and set restart rules.
- Application checks: Configure HTTP, database (Postgres, MySQL), and custom script checks.
- Log monitoring: Ship logs using the built-in log shipper or integrate with Filebeat.
6. Set Up Alerting & Notification Channels
- Configure alerting rules in the UI (thresholds, duration, severity).
- Add notification channels:
- Email (SMTP) — verify with test email.
- Slack — create a webhook and paste into MonitorCloser.
- PagerDuty, Opsgenie — enter integration keys.
- Create escalation policies and on-call schedules.
7. Tags, Groups, and Dashboards
- Use tags to organize hosts by environment, role, or team.
- Create host groups to apply templates and policies at scale.
- Build dashboards with widgets for critical metrics; save shared dashboards for teams.
8. Security Best Practices
- Enforce MFA for admin accounts.
- Use least-privilege service accounts for integrations.
- Enable TLS for all connections; rotate certificates regularly.
- Restrict agent tokens and rotate them if compromised.
- Keep MonitorCloser and agents updated.
9. Backups & High Availability
- Schedule regular backups of the MonitorCloser database and config files.
- For HA, run multiple MonitorCloser instances behind a load balancer and configure shared storage for persistence.
10. Troubleshooting Common Issues
- Agent not connecting: verify outbound HTTPS, check agent logs at /var/log/monitorcloser-agent.log.
- High disk usage: enable log retention and rotate logs.
- False alerts: adjust thresholds and add maintenance windows.
11. Advanced Integrations
- Connect with SIEMs via syslog or webhook.
- Export metrics to Prometheus or Grafana using the MonitorCloser exporter.
- Automate incident response with webhooks triggering orchestration tools.
12. Maintenance Checklist (weekly/monthly)
- Weekly: check agent connectivity, review alerts, apply critical updates.
- Monthly: test backups, review access logs, rotate keys.
- Quarterly: perform disaster recovery drill.
Conclusion
Follow this guide to deploy and configure BeforeDo MonitorCloser for reliable monitoring across your infrastructure. Start with a small pilot group, validate alerts and dashboards, then scale configuration to all hosts.
Leave a Reply