The VMware vRealize Log Insight administration user interface exposes common configuration options. Additional advanced configuration options exist which affect the behavior of various components. This article provides steps to review and set new advanced configuration options.

VMware recommends that you set these configuration options under the direction of VMware Technical Support or a VMware Knowledge base article.

Caution: Option values modified using one of these methods are not checked for validity. Confirm all changes before applying them. Some configuration options take effect immediately, whereas others require a reboot before taking effect. The impact of changing specific options is outside the scope of this article.

Advanced configuration settings can be reviewed and modified on a VMware vRealize Log Insight cluster using a web browser or on individual nodes via the console, depending on the version.

Configuration is stored in XML form. Options are usually documented using a minimal representation of the required XML elements.

Setting advanced configuration options using a web browser in Log Insight 3.0 and higher

In VMware vRealize Log Insight 3.0 and higher, modify configuration options across a cluster from the administration web interface. This is the supported method for changing configuration options.

To modify configuration in the Log Insight cluster:

1. Using a web browser, authenticate to the Log Insight cluster virtual IP (VIP) or master node.
2. Open the URL https://LogInsight_Hostname_Or_IpAddress/internal/config. An XML representation of the non-default options is displayed.
3. Optional: To display default and non-default configuration options, check the Show all settings box.
4. Locate the desired section within the <config> tag. For example, documentation may cite:
   
   <config>
<section>
<option value="false">
</option></section>
</config>
    
5. Add or change the desired sections or tags. For example, documentation may cite:
   
   <config>
<section>
<option value="true">
</option></section>
<newsection>
<extraoption value="true"/>
</newsection>
</config>
    
6. Click Save.
7. If documentation states that the configuration option requires a restart to take effect:
   1. Select the Cluster tab.
   2. For each node listed, select its hostname or IP address to open the details panel and click Restart Log Insight.
8. Click Restart. Wait 2 minutes for each node to complete restart and run startup checks before proceeding with the next node.

Setting advanced configuration options using the console in Log Insight 2.5 and earlier

You can modify configuration options on a single Log Insight cluster node from the console. Since each node in the cluster should have the same configuration, an identical change must be performed on each node individually.

Note: Do not use this method in Log Insight 3.0 and later.

To stop the Log Insight service and modify the configuration file on each Log Insight cluster node:

1. Open a console or SSH connection to the Log Insight appliance and login as root.
2. Stop the Log Insight service by running this command :
   
   service loginsight stop
   
   Note: LogInsight service is located under /usr/lib/loginsight/application/bin.
    
3. Change to the Log Insight configuration directory by running this command:
   
   cd /storage/core/loginsight/config
    
4. Find the configuration file with the highest version number. For example:
   
   ls -1v log*
loginsight-config.xml#10
loginsight-config.xml#11
loginsight-config.xml#12
    
5. Make a temporary copy of the latest configuration file. For example:
   
   cp loginsight-config.xml#12 temporary.xml
    
6. Open the temporary copy of the configuration file using a text editor.
7. Locate the desired section within the <config> tag. For example, documentation may cite:
   
   <config>
<section>
<option value="false">
</option></section>
</config>
    
8. Add or change the desired section or option. For example, documentation may cite:
   
   <config>
<section>
<option value="<b>true</b>">
</option></section>
<newsection>
<newoption value="true"/>
</newsection>
</config>
    
9. Save the configuration file.
10. Move the temporary configuration file, naming it the next highest sequence number.
    
    For example:
    
    mv temporary.xml loginsight-config.xml#13
     
11. Start the Log Insight service by running this command:
    
    service loginsight start
    
    Note: LogInsight service is located under /usr/lib/loginsight/application/bin.