FAQ¶
Important
For additional questions or concerns, contact Plixer Technical Support.
Q) Can we use additional Plixer Replicators as failsafes against downtime and other issues?
A) Yes. For instructions on how to configure a secondary or backup Plixer Replicator see the section on fault tolerant deployments.
Q) Why is our Plixer Replicator still not receiving packets from our router even though I’ve configured it to send data to the correct IP address?
A) A firewall or access control list may be blocking traffic to the Plixer Replicator. To verify that it can see traffic from a device, use the Interactive Mode command: REPLICATOR> snoop [network_device_ip].
Q) Can I create additional admin and/or user accounts for other users in our organization?
A) Each Plixer Replicator currently only supports a single adminstrator account for the web interface. However, future updates to the product will add support for multiple local user accounts and roles.
Q) How long should it take for Collectors to start receiving packets after I’ve configured an Exporter to send flows to the Plixer Replicator?
A) When a new Exporter starts sending UDP packets to the Plixer Replicator, it may take up to two minutes for the packets to be forwarded to Collectors.
Q) How do I find out if there are Exporters not assigned to any profiles sending packets to the Plixer Replicator?
A) To view all currently unassigned Exporters, select Exporters Not in a Profile in the View dropdown menu in the Exporters tab of the web interface. To get a list of unassigned Exporters in Interactive Mode, use: REPLICATOR> exporters noprofile.
Q) Why is the Plixer Replicator dropping packets instead of replicating them on our closed network with no gateway?
A) The default behavior for the Plixer Replicator is to drop all packets that come into an interface that the host has no route to. To change this, find the net.ipv4.all.rp_filter setting in the /etc/sysctl.conf file and change its value to 0.
Q) How do I configure a Profile to distribute Exporter flows across a distributed Plixer Scrutinizer cluster?
A) If you are using Plixer Scrutinizer’s distributed architecture to handle an extremely large number of flows and/or Exporters, you can enable the autoreplication feature to have it manage Plixer Replicator Profiles for its Collectors and automatically map Exporters to them as they’re added. Additional information and instructions on how to set up Plixer Replicator integration can be found in the Plixer Scrutinizer documentation here.
Q) Does the Plixer Replicator support IPFIX?
A) By default, the Plixer Replicator replicates syslogs received from Exporters and forwards them to all assigned Collectors in the same format. To have syslogs automatically converted to IPFIX before being forwarded, use the Interactive Mode command: REPLICATOR> setting enable convertSyslog.
Q) How do I send the syslog notifications and/or IPFIX metrics generated by the Plixer Replicator to multiple Collectors?
A) To send syslog notifications and/or IPFIX metrics from the Plixer Replicator to multiple Collectors, first configure the appliance to send them back to itself. After that, create a Profile with the appliance as the Exporter and assign Collectors as normal.
Note
Since there are separate settings for syslogs notifications and IPFIX metrics, they will require separate Profiles.
Q) Why am I receiving an error about a loop being created when I try to add a new Exporter or Collector?
A) A loop is created when a device is set to be both the Exporter and a Collector, which results in a repeating cycle where packets are received from and sent back to the same device. This can happen when a Profile is configured with the same In (listening) and Out (sending) Ports.
Q) Can a Profile have the same listening (In Port) and sending (Out Port) port?
A) Yes. The Plixer Replicator automatically will automatically verify updated Profile settings to ensure that no loops are created when adding new Exporters and/or Collectors.
Q) How do I change the root password on the Plixer Replicator?
A) To change the root password on the Plixer Replicator, log in as the root user and issue the passwd command.
Q) How do I change the admin password on the Plixer Replicator?
A) To change the web interface admin password on the Plixer Replicator, log in as the root user and use the Interactive Mode command: REPLICATOR> password webui.
Q) How do I change the hostname and IP address of the Plixer Replicator?
A) To change the hostname and IP address of the Plixer Replicator, log in as the root user and run the /home/replicator/conf/sethostname.sh script. Alternatively, you can use the Interactive Mode command: REPLICATOR> system change.
Q) In traditional configuration for a secondary Plixer Replicator, how many seconds occur between poll checks?
A) Between 30 to 60 seconds. The Update Interval on the Settings page is the number of seconds between poll checks.
Q) How often does the secondary Plixer Replicator sync the database from the primary Plixer Replicator?
A) The secondary Plixer Replicator checks the primary Plixer Replicator for changes every 5 minutes. If changes are detected, the secondary Plixer Replicator’s configuration is updated.