Stackpacks

SUSE Observability Self-hosted v5.1.x

Overview

StackPacks extend SUSE Observability functionality and offer automated integration with external systems. They can be easily installed and uninstalled from the StackPacks page in SUSE Observability.

There are two types of StackPack - Add-ons and Integrations. The available StackPack add-ons and integrations can be found on the StackPacks page in the SUSE Observability UI.

Install or uninstall a StackPack

StackPacks can be installed and uninstalled from the StackPacks page in SUSE Observability. Full instructions to install and uninstall the StackPack are provided.

Note that:

• A StackPack may require manual installation steps or configuration of the external system. Please read the instructions provided carefully.

• When a StackPack or StackPack instance is uninstalled, all data received via the StackPack (instance) will be removed from SUSE Observability.

• Any (manual) configuration or installation of StackPack components in an external system may need to be uninstalled separately.

StackPack instances

Some StackPacks allow you to connect to multiple accounts on an external system. Each account is configured in a separate instance of the StackPack.

For example, the AWS StackPack can connect to multiple AWS accounts and combine information from all accounts in SUSE Observability. For each account, a separate SUSE Observability instance is configured with the information required to receive data from that AWS account.

Upgrade a StackPack

When a StackPack is upgraded, any changes made to configuration items from that StackPack will be overwritten. For details, see locked configuration items.

If a new StackPack version is available, an alert will be displayed on the SUSE Observability UI StackPack page and you will have the option to view the upgrade details and read the release notes. If the new release is a minor upgrade from the currently installed version, you can also upgrade the StackPack from here.

New minor StackPack version

To upgrade to a new minor version of a StackPack, click UPGRADE NOW on the StackPack page in the SUSE Observability UI.

Note that all StackPack configuration items will be overwritten when you upgrade. To continue using any changes made to these, choose to KEEP the existing configuration when you upgrade the StackPack. For details, see locked configuration items.

New major StackPack version

When a StackPack is upgraded, any changes made to configuration items from that StackPack will be overwritten. For details, see locked configuration items.

To upgrade to a new major version of a StackPack, uninstall and reinstall the StackPack.

Continue using changes made to customized StackPack configuration items after upgrade:

1. Before you upgrade, export each customized item:

   • Go to the Settings page in the SUSE Observability UI.

   • Click Export in the ... menu for each customized item.

2. Upgrade the StackPack (uninstall and reinstall).

3. Change the name and identifier for each exported item:

   • Open the export file in a text editor.

   • Edit the top-level name and identifier fields.

   • Save the export.

4. Import the updated export file(s).

5. The customized configuration items will now be available in SUSE Observability and can be copied to the newly installed StackPack configuration items.

Locked configuration items

StackPacks contain configuration information for SUSE Observability that's installed when the StackPack (instance) is installed. Amongst other things, this could be component templates, functions, component actions and views. When a StackPack is upgraded, the configuration items installed by the previous version of the StackPack will be overwritten by those from the newer StackPack. This means that any manual change made to these configuration items will be overwritten when the StackPack is upgraded.

To prevent a user from making changes to configuration items installed by a StackPack that will be overwritten on upgrade, these configuration items are locked by default. This means that they're protected from being changed by the user and must explicitly be unlocked before they can be changed.

You can make a back-up of configuration items. Note that the lock status of configuration items won't be exported as part of a configuration backup.