Vero Monitor Service

The VMS agent collector (Vero Metric Collector) is installed at the customer host or site to collect metrics, checks, and logs, then securely push them to the central VMS Master over HTTPS.

Cross-Platform Support: VMS Agent natively runs on Linux as a systemd service and on Windows as a Windows Service, as well as containerized options (Docker / Kubernetes).

Agent Deployment Overview

Below is the connection and reporting structure of the VMS Agent deployed on both Linux and Windows environments:

Prerequisites (Agent)

Prerequisite	Description
OS	Linux (systemd) or Windows (Windows Service)
Connection	Outbound HTTPS connectivity to the VMS Master `INGRESS_URL`. No inbound ports are required
API Key	A valid agent auth key generated from VMS Master
TLS Mode	Trusted SSL Certificate or path to the custom CA file

Deployment Flow on Linux (systemd)

These installation steps follow the Step (Action) - Check (Verification) - Result (Expected Outcome) structure:

1. Download and Install Agent Binary

Step: Download the installation script from your customer domain to pull down the binary:

curl -fsSL https://CUSTOMER_DOMAIN/agent/install/linux.sh | sudo bash -s -- --ingress-url https://ingest.CUSTOMER_DOMAIN --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

Check: Verify that the binary runs and displays version information:
```
vms-monitor-agent version
```
Result: Version, build date, and git commit of the agent are successfully printed.

2. Configure Environment and TLS certs

Step: Configure /etc/vms-monitor-agent/agent.env with variables and specify the CA cert path if self-signed:

VMS_METRICS_INGRESS_URL="https://ingest.CUSTOMER_DOMAIN"
VMS_METRICS_INGRESS_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
VMS_TLS_CA_FILE="/etc/vms-monitor-agent/ca.crt"

Check: Read the file to ensure variables are set:
```
cat /etc/vms-monitor-agent/agent.env
```
Result: The environment file is generated containing all required connection keys.

3. Launch systemd Service

Step: Reload systemd configurations, enable and start the agent daemon:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now vms-monitor-agent

Check: Query the systemd service status:

sudo systemctl status vms-monitor-agent --no-pager

Result: The service status displays active (running).

4. Verify Connection Logs

Step: Monitor live logs to confirm successful metric ingest:

sudo journalctl -u vms-monitor-agent -n 50 -f --no-pager

Check: Inspect logs for transmission status indicators.
Result: Logs report INFO [Ingress] Reporting probe results to vms-ingress... without auth or handshake errors.

Deployment Flow on Windows (Windows Service)

Windows installation steps structured as Step (Action) - Check (Verification) - Result (Expected Outcome):

1. Download Installer Script

Step: Open an elevated PowerShell session (Admin) and download the install utility script:
```
iwr https://CUSTOMER_DOMAIN/agent/install/windows.ps1 -OutFile install.ps1
```
Check: Test that the script file was successfully saved:
```
Test-Path .\install.ps1
```
Result: Output evaluates to True.

2. Execute Installation Script

Step: Run the helper script specifying the ingest URL and your key:

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1 -IngressUrl "https://ingest.CUSTOMER_DOMAIN" -ApiKey "YOUR_API_KEY"

Check: Verify the installation target contains the executable:
```
.\vms-monitor-agent.exe version
```
Result: Executable executes and prints version info.

3. Start Windows Service

Step: Start the service via Service Controller:
```
Start-Service -Name "vms-monitor-agent"
```
Check: Verify the service status:
```
Get-Service -Name "vms-monitor-agent"
```
Result: The status returns Running.

4. Verify via Event Viewer Logs

Step: Retrieve the latest system logs created by the agent source:

Get-EventLog -LogName Application -Source vms-monitor-agent -Newest 10

Check: Read messages to verify heartbeat status.
Result: Event log contains startup messages indicating successful authentication and metric delivery.

Generic Probe Configuration Structure

All monitoring configs are structured into a wrapper block containing metadata and a custom config block.

{
  "code": "core-host-resource",
  "name": "Core host resource",
  "type": "host_resource",
  "intervalSeconds": 30,
  "timeoutMs": 5000,
  "retryCount": 1,
  "enabled": true,
  "targetId": "core-host-01",
  "labels": { "system": "Core", "owner": "core-ops" },
  "config": { "collectCpu": true, "collectMemory": true }
}

Field	Required	Meaning
`code`	Yes	Unique probe identifier
`name`	No	Display name on dashboards
`type`	Yes	Probe type, for example `host_resource`, `http_check`
`intervalSeconds`	No	Probe run interval
`timeoutMs`	No	Per-run timeout
`retryCount`	No	Retry count when a check fails
`enabled`	No	Enable/disable this probe
`targetId`	No	Related host/service ID
`labels`	No	Extra labels such as system, env, owner
`config`	Yes	Probe-specific config

Supported Probes

See individual probe pages in the left menu for detailed config. Summary:

Probe type	Group	Description
`host_resource`	Core	Collect CPU, memory, disk, disk IO, network
`check_port`	Core	Check TCP port open/closed
`ping`	Core	Check host reachability (ICMP / TCP fallback)
`http_check`	Core	Check HTTP/HTTPS endpoint
`dns_check`	Core	Check DNS record resolution
`tls_cert`	Core	Monitor TLS certificate expiry
`process_mon`	Core	Monitor running processes
`service_mon`	Core	Check systemd / Windows service state
`connection`	Core	Check connection count by filter
`connection_mon`	Core	Monitor TCP connection between process and service (bidirectional)
`file_check`	Core	Check file existence, size, age
`log_mon`	Core	Count log lines matching pattern
`log_get`	Core	Ship log lines with redaction
`auto_discovery`	Core	Discover connection inventory and topology
`custom_check`	Opt-in (`vms_custom_check`)	Run approved executable
`container_mon`	Heavy (`vms_heavy`)	Monitor Docker / Swarm containers
`k8s_mon`	Heavy (`vms_heavy`)	Monitor Kubernetes workloads/pods/nodes
`snmp_check`	Heavy (`vms_heavy`)	Poll SNMP OIDs
`wmi_perf`	Heavy (`vms_heavy`)	WMI queries on Windows

Troubleshooting

Symptoms	Likely Cause	Resolution
Agent fails to start immediately	Missing ingest URL or API key	Check environment variables or configuration file
`401` Authentication blocked	Invalid or rotated API key	Fetch a new key from VMS Master and restart agent
`x509 unknown authority`	Ingress using self-signed cert	Set `VMS_TLS_CA_FILE` environment variable to CA certificate
Ping transitions to TCP fallback	Lack of ICMP socket privileges	Assign `CAP_NET_RAW` or allow fallback
Connection/Process logs missing names	Lack of system process reading access	Execute as privileged user or grant `CAP_SYS_PTRACE`

​Agent Deployment Overview

​Prerequisites (Agent)

​Deployment Flow on Linux (systemd)

​Deployment Flow on Windows (Windows Service)

​Generic Probe Configuration Structure

​Supported Probes

​Troubleshooting

Agent Deployment Overview

Prerequisites (Agent)

Deployment Flow on Linux (systemd)

Deployment Flow on Windows (Windows Service)

Generic Probe Configuration Structure

Supported Probes

Troubleshooting