Operating the Web Interface

Managing users

The user CLI tool allows you to create, list, and delete users that can access the Web Interface. It is accessible from the MetricsHub installation directory:

• Windows: C:\ProgramData\MetricsHub
• Linux: /opt/metricshub/lib/bin

Users are stored securely within the keystore metricshub-keystore.p12 on the local system.

On Windows, metricshub-keystore.p12 is located under C:\ProgramData\MetricsHub\security, which is typically accessible only to Administrator users.

On Linux, metricshub-keystore.p12 is located under /opt/metricshub/security, and access depends on the file system permissions.

./user create <username> --password <password> --role <role> 

./user create myuser --password mysecretpassword --role rw

./user list

./user delete <username>

Accessing the Web Interface

In your web browser, enter https://<machine-where-metricshub-is-running>:31888/ and sign in using the credentials you previously created.

Configuring resources monitoring

To configure resources monitoring from the Web Interface:

1. Connect to https://<machine-where-metricshub-is-running>:31888/ using your read-write credentials

2. Either click Import to load an existing configuration file, or create a new configuration from scratch

3. Edit the configuration in the right-hand panel, as explained in Monitoring Configuration ^[1]. The Web Interface will guide through the configuration, highlighting possible indentation issues or configuration mismatches.

   IMPORTANT: Configuration changes are not automatically backed up. It is strongly recommended to create a backup before making significant changes. Click Backup whenever needed.

Exploring collected metrics

To visualize the monitored resources and collected metrics, connect to the Web Interface and click the Explorer tab.

From there, you can:

• search for a specific resource or metric using the search engine
• display a resource's details and:
  • trigger a collect
  • pause or resume collect
  • visualize its attributes, collected metrics, and connectors used.

Interacting with M8B

M8B is a virtual assistant that helps with routine operations and supports system administrators in analysis and troubleshooting tasks. To be able to interact with M8B:

1. Specify your OpenAI key in the yaml configuration file (/opt/metricshub/config/metricshub.yaml for Linux or C:\ProgramData\MetricsHub\config\metricshub.yaml for Windows) as follows:

   web:
     ai.openai.api-key: "<Your-API-Key>"
   

2. Restart MetricsHub to apply the new configuration
3. Connect to https://<machine-where-metricshub-is-running>:31888/chat using your read-write credentials.

Updating the SSL Certificate

By default, MetricsHub uses a self-signed SSL certificate for its Web server. As a result, your browser will display security warnings because it cannot verify the server identity.

To remove these warnings, configure MetricsHub to use a trusted SSL certificate matching the server hostname (and domain).

1. Obtain a certificate and its private key

   Request or generate a certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA) (internal or external) and retrieve:

   • The certificate (commonly .crt, .cer, or .pem)
   • The private key (commonly .key)

2. Create a PKCS#12 keystore (.p12)

   MetricsHub expects a PKCS#12 keystore containing the certificate and its private key.

   Example exporting a certificate and its private key to a PKCS#12 keystore using OpenSSL:

   openssl pkcs12 -export \
     -inkey yourdomain.key \
     -in yourdomain.crt \
     -out keystore.p12 \
     -name "Certificate" \
     -password pass:p4ssw0rd
   

3. Store the generated keystore.p12 on the host where MetricsHub is running, typically in the security directory:

   • Linux: /opt/metricshub/security
   • Windows: C:\ProgramData\MetricsHub\security

4. Configure MetricsHub to use the created keystore

   Edit the metricshub.yaml configuration file:

   • Linux: /opt/metricshub/config/metricshub.yaml
   • Windows: C:\ProgramData\MetricsHub\config\metricshub.yaml

   Then set:

   web:
     tls.enabled: "true"
     tls.keystore.path: /opt/metricshub/security/keystore.p12 # "C:\\ProgramData\\MetricsHub\\security\\keystore.p12" on Windows
     tls.keystore.password: p4ssw0rd
   

   Where tls.keystore.path is the full path to the keystore file.

5. Restart MetricsHub to apply the new certificate

6. Then open the MetricsHub Web Interface and verify the certificate:

   • Your Web browser should no longer show warnings (if the certificate is trusted)
   • The certificate details should match the one you installed

   Refresh the MetricsHub Web Interface if needed.