Architecture

Diagram

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Overall Architecture

  • Initial Configuration: Configure browsermon.conf to set watchdogip and port parameters for the Watchdog server.

  • Launch Watchdog Server: Start Watchdog server to manage licenses and configurations for Browsermon instances.

  • Launch Browsermon Service: Initiate Browsermon service to check its license from Watchdog, fetching configuration into browsermon-watchdog.conf.

  • Configuration Precedence and Service Start: Check configuration files for settings, then start Browsermon service to begin data readers.

  • Data Handling with Kafka Mode: If kafka_mode is true, route data via Kafka to MongoDB.

  • Monitor Data with Grafana: Visualize and analyze MongoDB-stored browser history data using Grafana.

What is Watchdog

Watchdog provides centralized monitoring and management for enterprise deployment. Watchdog Features includes:

  • Active GUIDs Retrieval: Watchdog offers a comprehensive feature for retrieving active GUIDs. This functionality provides valuable insights into the current roster of registered controllers, contributing to effective monitoring and management.

  • License Verification: Watchdog boasts a robust API dedicated to validating the authenticity of controllers’ licenses. This ensures a secure and authenticated gateway to access essential services.

  • Mapping and Sending Config to Controller: The server reads the configuration and mapping files. It uses the details from the controller to find the best matching department based on criteria like label, IP address, hostname, MAC address, and operating system.

Once the right department is identified, the corresponding settings from the browsermon-watchdog.conf file are selected. The new config from browsermon-watchdog.conf is sent to the controller along with the valid license message.

  • Key Expiry Feature: The key expiry feature allows administrators to set an expiry date for the keys used by controllers. This ensures controllers must periodically check in with the watchdog server to renew their keys, enhancing security and control over access. It also logs the the remaing days left to key expiry.