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Intro to Admin Essentials
- 01 Apr 2025
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Intro to Admin Essentials
- Updated on 01 Apr 2025
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The Admin Essentials application is used to view, configure and modify all admin level properties across the Itential platform. The various features in Admin Essentials are controlled by authorization settings. Therefore, some users will not have access to all the features referenced herein; however, an administrator can give user access to the features as necessary.
UI Overview
The main features of the Admin Essentials user interface are referenced in the table below.
Note: Different versions of Itential Platform may have minor variations in the Admin Essentials User interface.
Figure: Admin Essentials in Platform 6
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Icon Bar | Icons for completing quick actions from anywhere within Admin Essentials. These icons (from left to right) are: Create, Import, Home, Search, Current Operations, and Tags. |
| 2 | Collection Lists | Open the accordion menus in the sidebar to display a list of items in a corresponding collection. Users can search for items within a collection. The accordian menus that appear on the UI is based on user permissions. Note: Configuration and Status on the left is new to Platform 6. |
| 3 | Quick Start | Contains a series of links to important functions within Admin Essentials such as setting authorization levels and downloading Itential Platform Blueprints. |
| 4 | Server Information | Displays the current server ID, version information, and server uptime. The Build listed in the Server Information is Itential's internal build number, which differs from the product release version that's communicated to customers (Release version 6.0.0 will typically show 2025.X.Y here). |
| 5 | Usage Statistics | Displays the memory and CPU usage of Core and Itential Platform. Further information is available in the section below on Usage Statistics. |
| 6 | Manage Banner | Click this button to create a message banner that displays on specified pages within Itential Platform. You can read more about Custom Message Banners here. |
| 7 | Device Counts | Displays the number of devices (adapter endpoints) connected to the platform. Historical device count information is available through a downloadable CSV file. You can read more about Device Counts here. |
| 8 | Start Up Configuration | Displays the startup configuration of Workflow Engine, indicating whether the Task Worker and Job Worker will run at server startup based on local and central configurations. |
| 9 | Alerts | Alerts only display if a service is stopped or connectivity is down. If there are no alerts, this card does not show. |
Legacy Platform Version
Click here to view the Admin Essentials UI in earlier release versions
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Icon Bar | Icons for completing quick actions from anywhere within Admin Essentials. These icons (from left to right) are: Create, Import, Home, Search, Current Operations, Tags, and View Documentation. |
| 2 | Collection Lists | Open the accordion menus in the sidebar to display a list of items in a corresponding collection. Users can search for items within a collection. The accordian menu list that shows on the UI is based on user permissions. |
| 3 | Quick Start | Contains a series of links to important functions within Admin Essentials such as setting authorization levels and downloading Itential Platform Blueprints. |
| 4 | Server Information | Displays the current server ID, version information, and server uptime. |
| 5 | Operation Execution | Located beneath the Server Information. Displays the current status of the Job Worker and Task Worker. Toggle the switches to control whether new jobs will run or new tasks will run. Itential Platform 2023.1 & 2023.2 Only. |
| 6 | Usage Statistics | Displays the memory and CPU usage of Core and Itential Platform. Itential Platform 2023.1 & 2023.2 Only. |
| 7 | Start Up Configuration | Displays the startup configuration of Workflow Engine, indicating whether the Task Worker and Job Worker will run at server startup based on local and central configurations. Itential Platform 2023.1 & 2023.2 Only. |
| 8 | Alerts | Shows if a service is stopped or connectivity is down. |
Icon Bar Permissions
The following outlines the permissions that must be applied to a user account to gain access to the Icon Bar.
| Access to | User Permissions |
|---|---|
| Current Operations | WorkFlow Engine, activate WorkFlow Engine, deactivate |
| Tags | Tags, all |
Menu Permissions
The following outlines the permissions that must be applied to a user account to gain access to the Menus in the sidebar.
| Access to | User Permissions |
|---|---|
| Profiles | Profiles, getProfiles |
| Applications | Applications, getApplications |
| Adapters | Adapters, getAdapters |
| Integrations | Integrations, getIntegrations |
| Integration Models | IntegrationModels, getIntegrationModels |
| Pre-builts | Prebuilts, getPrebuilts |
Create Dialog Permissions
The Create icon will open a dialog with choices for creating a new item in a collection. The choices that appear are based on user permissions as defined in the table below.
Figure: Create Icon
| Access to | User Permissions |
|---|---|
| User User Groups |
Must be on Local AAA with no access to Pronghorn admin role. |
| Profile | Profiles, createProfile |
| Adapter | Adapters, createAdapter |
| Integration | Integrations, createIntegration |
| Integration Models | IntegrationModels, createIntegrationModel |
| Tags | Tags, createTag |
Import Permissions
The Import icon will open up a dialog with choices for uploading a new item to a collection. The Import dialog accepts a JSON file. The choices that appear are based on user permissions as defined in the table below.
Figure: Import Icon
| Access to | User Permissions |
|---|---|
| Profile | Profiles, createProfile |
| Adapter | Adapters, createAdapter |
| Tags | Tags, createTags |
| Pre-builts | Prebuilts, importPrebuilt |
Usage Statistics
Usage Statistics on the main Admin Essentials page are snapshot measurements of Itential Platform service-related items only.
- Itential does NOT measure Redis, Rabbit, Mongo, Python, NSO, or other node server processes.
- Itential also does NOT measure load averages, i.e., the amount of traffic to your CPU over the past
1min,5min, and15min. - The measurement you see in Admin Essentials is a snapshot view, not real-time, and only Itential Platform/Pronghorn related.
| Measurement | Description |
|---|---|
| Core CPU / Memory | Refers to Pronghorn Core processes only. |
| Itential CPU / Memory | Refers to the OS and all applications and adapters running in Itential Platform. |
For insight into what is consuming CPU resources, navigate to the Applications or Adapters tab under Profiles to get a more granular snapshot view. Itential also recommends utilizing system level tools like top to give you more detailed analysis, as described in the next section.
Figure: Admin Essentials Usage Statistics: CPU [Example: Legacy Platform Version]
Using Top Command to Analyze Activity & Performance
To help identify processes that are consuming a lot of resources, use the top (table of processes) command to show running processes in the Platform, including CPU and memory usage.
Prerequisites
- A system running Linux.
- Access to a terminal window.
- Administrator
sudoprivileges.
- Type
topon the command line to get information on processes, running tasks, memory, and CPU. - Type
Oto enable filter mode. - Type
COMMAND=Pronghornto only display Itential Pronghorn processes. - Press
qto quit the terminal window.
As you can see, multiple processors spread across multiple processes (i.e., apps, adapters, etc) within the Itential system, can yield a percentage that equals or exceeds 100%, as shown in the example below. Hence, having too many processes or apps running at once can strain CPU resources.
Figure: Top Command Running Processes [Example: Legacy Platform Version]
Figure: Core CPU Usage [Example: Legacy Platform Version]
Figure: Itential Platform CPU Usage [Example: Legacy Platform Version]
Related Reading: Prometheus Metrics
Using the BTOP Command
For a more detailed view into system resources, and as an alternative to the standard top command, use btop to show usage for processor, memory, disks, network, and processes. From the btop interface, you can also sort and filter by different metrics, and send signals to processes (e.g., SIGTERM, SIGKILL, SIGINT).
- Open a terminal window.
- Type
btopon the command line and press Enter.- Note: Since
btopis not included with many of the standard RHEL builds, you may have to install it.
- Note: Since
- Use the up/down arrow keys to navigate through processes.
- Press Enter on a selected process to show detailed information.
- Type
fto filter and then typePronghornto only display Itential Platform/Pronghorn processes.
For further information on how to use btop, we suggest referring to the btop online documentation.
Figure: BTOP Command Processes [Example: Legacy Platform Version]
View Documentation (Legacy Platform Version)
The View Documentation icon in the Legacy Platform view (2023.2 and earlier versions) will open a dialog that provides links to the documentation pages, in addition to providing a view for the pronghorn-core changelogs.
Figure: View Documentation Icon (Legacy Platform Version)
Collection Items
The Collection dialog displays all of the items in a collection as cards with services information relevant to the collection item displayed within the card.
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collection Toggle | Allows the user to switch to a different collection view. |
| 2 | Icon Bar | Icons (from left to right) for completing quick actions: Refresh, Select All, Export, Delete. |
| 3 | Search and Filter | Use the search bar to search for items in the collection based on filter settings. Filter the results using the icon to the left of the search bar. |
| 4 | Sort and Sort By | Use the icon to sort the items in the collection based on the selected value in the dropdown. |
| 5 | Select | Click to select the item for deletion or export. |
| 6 | Delete | Icon to delete the selected item. |
| 7 | Paging | Used to show the total number of discrete pages and to page through a collection. Also used to set how many items to show if there are too many in a collection. |
Changing Application/Adapter Log Levels
A user with permissions for the generic updateAdapter and updateApplication methods can modify the log_level of an application or adapter in Itential Platform using the Advanced View switch located in the upper-right corner of the interface.
To access this feature, navigate to: Admin Essentials→ Adapters (or Applications) → adapter/application name → Logging (tab)→ Advanced View (switch).
For example, to change the log_level to debug:
- Replace the value of the
log_levelproperty by changinginfotodebug. - Click the SAVE button (lower-left corner).
Of note, the specific details logged at each level (i.e. what information is logged and what messages are returned) is determined by the application developer and defined within the adapter code.
Additional log level properties for Syslog are saved in the Log Settings view shown below. If the Syslog properties are not configured in the Advanced View of an application or adapter page, the user will be unable to change that property in the Logging tab.
Changing Log Levels in Profile Properties
A user can also modify the log_level in Itential Platform using the Admin Essentials interface by navigating to: Admin Essentials→ Profiles→ profile name→ Edit Profile Properties→ loggerProps. Previously, changing a profile's logging was done via code editor; it is now done using a form as shown in the image below.
Profiling Feature
To further help troubleshoot performance issues resulting in high CPU usage, Itential Automation Platform also includes a built-in profiler based on V8.dev profiling and simple-profiling. For more information on how to use this feature, see the Service Configuration for Profiling.
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