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Elastic Cloud

The following instructions explain how to Install the Pulse Agent for Elastic Cloud clusters.

For a smooth and efficient setup, we recommended using the Integration Wizard available in the Pulse platform. It will lead you step by step, making it easy to get up and running quickly.

If you'd like to explore Deployment options or dive deeper into installation details, continue with the detailed guide below.

Authentication methods​

For optimal security and functionality, it is highly recommended to provide the Pulse Agent with credentials for a dedicated user with only the required permissions. You can create the user via the Kibana Dev Tools or the API. The syntax provided here is for the Kibana Dev Tools.

You may also not use any authentication method and skip to deployment.

Note: Operating clusters without authentication is strongly discouraged. Pulse is not held responsible for the possible consequences of doing so.

Username and Password​

The guide below shows a step-by-step authentication setup via the API for the username and password method.

1. Create a role​

PUT _security/role/pulse-additional-priviliges
{
  "cluster" : [
    "monitor_snapshot"
  ],
  "applications": [
    {
      "application": "kibana-.kibana",
      "privileges": [
        "feature_stackAlerts.read"
      ],
      "resources": [
        "*"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

2. Create the user​

PUT _security/user/pulse-monitoring-collector
{
  "password" : "PASSWORD",
  "roles" : [ "remote_monitoring_collector","pulse-additional-priviliges"],
  "full_name" : "Cluster metrics collector for Pulse",
  "email" : "support@pulse.support"
}

Replace the following as needed:

  • pulse-monitoring-collector – The name of the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • PASSWORD – The password for the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step

Deployment Options​

Deploying the Pulse Agent for Elastic Cloud clusters is simple and quick. You can choose from various deployment configurations.

Click on the deployment environment option to learn more:

Kubernetes​

To deploy the Pulse Agent on Kubernetes, create the deployment spec in a file called pulse-deployment.yaml. 

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: pulse-config
type: Opaque
stringData:
  PULSE_TOKEN: PULSE_TOKEN
  ELASTICSEARCH_USER: pulse-monitoring-collector
  ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD: PASSWORD
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  labels:
    app: pulse-agent
  name: pulse-agent
  namespace: default
spec:
  replicas: 1
  revisionHistoryLimit: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: pulse-agent
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: pulse-agent
    spec:
      automountServiceAccountToken: false
      containers:
        - image: r.bigdataboutique.com/pulse-agent
          imagePullPolicy: Always
          name: pulse-agent
          env:
            - name: PULSE_AGENT_HEAP_SIZE
              value: 4G
            - name: PULSE_TOKEN
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: pulse-config
                  key: PULSE_TOKEN
            - name: ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID
              value: ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID
            - name: ELASTICSEARCH_USER
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: pulse-config
                  key: ELASTICSEARCH_USER
            - name: ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: pulse-config
                  key: ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: "1"
              memory: 16Gi
            requests:
              cpu: 100m
              memory: 4Gi
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /healthz
              port: 8080
            initialDelaySeconds: 30
            periodSeconds: 10
            timeoutSeconds: 1
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /healthz
              port: 8080
            initialDelaySeconds: 10
            periodSeconds: 10
            timeoutSeconds: 1
      dnsPolicy: ClusterFirst
      restartPolicy: Always

Next, replace the following values with:

  • PULSE_TOKEN – The Pulse token for your organization (you can find it in the Account Settings of the Pulse Platform)
  • pulse-monitoring-collector – The name of the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • PASSWORD – The password for the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • default – The namespace in Kubernetes for the deployment
  • ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID – Your Cloud ID

Finally, apply the spec:

kubectl apply -f pulse-deployment.yaml

After successfully running the deployment command, the new cluster should appear on your Pulse homepage within a few minutes. You will receive an email notification once the cluster is available.

If the cluster doesn’t appear on the Pulse homepage or you encounter an error, please contact our support team via the Pulse system. Make sure to include your logs (including the error message) and deployment configuration.

Kubernetes via Helm​

Create a values.yaml file using the command below:

image:
  repository: r.bigdataboutique.com/pulse-agent
  pullPolicy: Always
  tag: latest

env:
- name: PULSE_AGENT_HEAP_SIZE
  value: 4G
- name: ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID
  value: ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID

secretEnv:
  PULSE_TOKEN: PULSE_TOKEN
  ELASTICSEARCH_USER: pulse-monitoring-collector
  ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD: PASSWORD

Replace the following as needed:

  • ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID – Your Cloud ID
  • PULSE_TOKEN – The Pulse token for your organization (you can find it in the Account Settings of the Pulse Platform)
  • pulse-monitoring-collector – The name of the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • PASSWORD – The password for the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step

Finally, apply the spec:

helm upgrade -i pulse-agent oci://europe-west1-docker.pkg.dev/bdbq-pulse/pulse-helm/pulse-agent --create-namespace
        --namespace YOUR_NAMESPACE -f values.yaml

For a full list of values, run the following command:

helm show values oci://europe-west1-docker.pkg.dev/bdbq-pulse/pulse-helm/pulse-agent

After successfully running the deployment command, the new cluster should appear on your Pulse homepage within a few minutes. You will receive an email notification once the cluster is available.

If the cluster doesn’t appear on the Pulse homepage or you encounter an error, please contact our support team via the Pulse system. Make sure to include your logs (including the error message) and deployment configuration.

Docker​

Use the following command to deploy the Pulse Agent on Docker:

docker run -d --name pulse-agent \
    --restart=always \
    --net=host \
    --env PULSE_AGENT_HEAP_SIZE='4G' \
    --env PULSE_TOKEN='PULSE_TOKEN' \
    --env ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID='ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID' \
    --env ELASTICSEARCH_USER='pulse-monitoring-collector' \
    --env ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD='PASSWORD' \
    r.bigdataboutique.com/pulse-agent

Replace the following as needed:

  • PULSE_TOKEN – The Pulse token for your organization (you can find it in the Account Settings of the Pulse Platform) ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID – Your Cloud ID
  • pulse-monitoring-collector – The name of the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • PASSWORD – The password for the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step

Confirm that the Agent is running and no errors are logged in the Agent.

After successfully running the deployment command, the new cluster should appear on your Pulse homepage within a few minutes. You will receive an email notification once the cluster is available.

If the cluster doesn’t appear on the Pulse homepage or you encounter an error, please contact our support team via the Pulse system. Make sure to include your logs (including the error message) and deployment configuration.

Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS)​

To deploy the Pulse Agent on ECS, you must first register the task definition and then create a service in your lastic Cloud cluster.

Register the task definition​

Before deploying the Pulse Agent on ECS, make sure that the task specification is registered with your AWS account. Note that this is not specific to a single ECS cluster.

To create the task definition, create a file called pulse-agent.json:

{
  "family": "pulse-agent",
  "containerDefinitions": [
    {
      "name": "pulse-agent",
      "image": "r.bigdataboutique.com/pulse-agent",
      "cpu": 1024,
      "memory": 5120,
      "portMappings": [],
      "essential": true,
      "environment": [
        {
          "name": "PULSE_AGENT_HEAP_SIZE",
          "value": "4G"
        },
        {
          "name": "PULSE_TOKEN",
          "value": "PULSE_TOKEN"
        },
        {
          "name": "ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID",
          "value": "ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID"
        },
        {
          "name": "ELASTICSEARCH_USER",
          "value": "pulse-monitoring-collector"
        },
        {
          "name": "ELASTICSEARCH_PASSWORD",
          "value": "PASSWORD"
        }
      ],
      "environmentFiles": []
    }
  ],
  "networkMode": "awsvpc",
  "requiresCompatibilities": [
    "FARGATE"
  ],
  "cpu": "1024",
  "memory": "5120",
  "runtimePlatform": {
    "cpuArchitecture": "X86_64",
    "operatingSystemFamily": "LINUX"
  }
}

Replace the following as needed:

  • PULSE_TOKEN – The Pulse token for your organization (you can find it in the Account Settings of the Pulse Platform) ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID – Your Cloud ID
  • pulse-monitoring-collector – The name of the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • PASSWORD – The password for the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step

Next, register the task definition using this command:

aws ecs register-task-definition --cli-input-json file://pulse-agent.json

Create a service​

After registering the task definition, create a service in the desired cluster. The Pulse Agent needs to be able to connect to both the monitored services and to https://incoming.pulse.support.

Make sure to select a subnet and security group that meets these requirements.

Use the following command to create a service:

aws ecs create-service --cluster ECS_CLUSTER_NAME \
    --service-name pulse-agent \
    --task-definition pulse-agent \
    --desired-count 1 \
    --launch-type "FARGATE" \
    --network-configuration "awsvpcConfiguration={subnets=[subnet-abcd1234],securityGroups=[sg-abcd1234]}"

Replace the following as needed:

  • ECS_CLUSTER_NAME – The name of the ECS cluster to run the task on
  • subnet-abcd1234 – Subnets to use for the task
  • sg-abcd1234 – Security groups to use for the task

After successfully running the deployment command, the new cluster should appear on your Pulse homepage within a few minutes. You will receive an email notification once the cluster is available.

If the cluster doesn’t appear on the Pulse homepage or you encounter an error, please contact our support team via the Pulse system. Make sure to include your logs (including the error message) and deployment configuration.

Nomad​

Deploying Pulse Agent on a Nomad cluster is simple. Here’s a sample job spec that will deploy just the Pulse Agent:

job "pulse_agent" {
  datacenters = ["dc1"]
  type = "service"
  priority = 50

  update {
    canary = 1
    auto_promote = true
  }

  group "main" {
    network {
      port "agent_healthz" {
        to = 8080
      }
    }

    task "agent" {
      driver = "docker"
      config {
        image = "r.bigdataboutique.com/pulse-agent"
        ports = ["agent_healthz"]

        volumes = [
          "secrets/config.yml:/etc/pulse-agent/config.yml",
        ]
      }

      template {
        destination = "secrets/config.yml"
        data = <<-EOF

          pulseToken: <PULSE_TOKEN_VALUE>

          clusters:
            - type: elastic-cloud
              cloud_id: <ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID>
              username: pulse-monitoring-collector
              password: <PASSWORD>
          EOF
      }

      resources {
        cpu = 100
        memory = 16384
      }

      service {
        name = "pulse-agent"
        port = "agent_healthz"
        provider = "nomad"

        check {
          type     = "http"
          path     = "/healthz"
          interval = "30s"
          timeout  = "2s"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace the following as needed:

  • <PULSE_TOKEN_VALUE> – The Pulse token for your organization (you can find it in the Account Settings of the Pulse Platform)
  • pulse-monitoring-collector – The name of the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • <PASSWORD> – The password for the dedicated monitoring user set up in the previous step
  • <ELASTIC_CLOUD_ID> – Your Cloud ID

Note: You can also place the task in your existing cluster job.

Assuming you use this job spec and save it as pulse_agent.nomad, upload the job spec to your Nomad cluster using this command:

nomad job run pulse_agent.nomad

After successfully running the deployment command, the new cluster should appear on your Pulse homepage within a few minutes. You will receive an email notification once the cluster is available.

If the cluster doesn’t appear on the Pulse homepage or you encounter an error, please contact our support team via the Pulse system. Make sure to include your logs (including the error message) and deployment configuration.

Cloud Run​

Before deploying the Pulse Agent on Cloud Run, please refer to Direct VPC Access Limitations to see if Cloud Run works for you.

Create a file named cloudrun.yaml with the following content and replace the values <YOUR_REGION>, <YOUR_NETWORK>, <YOUR_SUBNET> and <PULSE_TOKEN> as explained below.

apiVersion: serving.knative.dev/v1
    kind: Service
    metadata:
      name: pulse-agent
      annotations:
        run.googleapis.com/launch-stage: BETA
      labels:
        cloud.googleapis.com/location: <YOUR_REGION>
    spec:
      template:
        metadata:
          annotations:
            run.googleapis.com/network-interfaces: '[{"network":<YOUR_NETWORK>,"subnetwork":<YOUR_SUBNET>}]'
            run.googleapis.com/vpc-access-egress: "private-ranges-only"
        spec:
          serviceAccountName: "cloudrun-pulse-agent"
          containers:
            - image: "r.bigdataboutique.com/pulse-agent:latest"
              env:
                - name: PULSE_AGENT_HEAP_SIZE
                  value: 4G
                - name: PULSE_TOKEN
                  value: <PULSE_TOKEN_VALUE>
              resources:
                limits:
                  cpu: "1"
                  memory: 4Gi
                requests:
                  cpu: 100m
                  memory: 4Gi
              livenessProbe:
                httpGet:
                  path: /healthz
                  port: 8080
                initialDelaySeconds: 30
                periodSeconds: 10
                timeoutSeconds: 1
              readinessProbe:
                httpGet:
                  path: /healthz
                  port: 8080
                initialDelaySeconds: 10
                periodSeconds: 10
                timeoutSeconds: 1

Replace the following as needed:

  • <YOUR_REGION> – Your Cloud Run region
  • <YOUR_NETWORK> – Your Cloud Run network
  • <YOUR_SUBNET> – Your Cloud Run subnet, make sure that it’s within YOUR_REGION.
  • <PULSE_TOKEN_VALUE> – The Pulse token for your organization (you can find it in the Account Settings of the Pulse Platform)

Run this command to deploy:

gcloud run services replace cloudrun.yaml --region <YOUR_REGION>

Replace the following as needed:

  • <YOUR_REGION> – Your Cloud Run region

After successfully running the deployment command, the new cluster should appear on your Pulse homepage within a few minutes. You will receive an email notification once the cluster is available.

If the cluster doesn’t appear on the Pulse homepage or you encounter an error, please contact our support team via the Pulse system. Make sure to include your logs (including the error message) and deployment configuration.