Discovering Runtime Data

Runtime Event Manager enables you to discover runtime data from your event brokers and upload the collected data into Event Portal. You can then use the runtime data to compare your runtime event brokers with a modeled event mesh and add or update objects in Designer that represent the applications and events in your event flows. For more information, see Auditing and Importing Runtime Data.

The following diagram illustrates the components involved in discovering runtime data:

Component	Description
Event Broker (runtime)	An event broker mediates the communication of event messages between producers and consumers in an event mesh. When an application publishes an event, the message is sent to an event broker, which then routes it on to subscribing clients. An event broker can be a hardware appliance, software, or software-as-a-service (SaaS). To discover runtime data from an event broker, you create a model event broker that represents the runtime event broker in a modeled event mesh and install an Event Management Agent to create a connection between the runtime event broker and model event broker in Event Portal. Third-party event-driven architecture products may use other terms such at broker, message broker, or messaging service.
Schema Registry (runtime)	A schema registry is a centralized repository for managing and validating schemas for Kafka topic producers and consumers. You can connect a Confluent Schema registry to an Event Management Agent to discover and import Kafka subjects into Event Portal.
Event Management Agent	The Event Management Agent is a tool that enables both runtime configuration from Event Portal and discovering runtime data from your event brokers. You install Event Management Agents when your event brokers don't support connecting to Event Portal using a PubSub+ Cloud connection. You connect the Event Management Agent to runtime event brokers and to the corresponding model event brokers in Runtime Event Manager. The Event Management Agent can then run discovery scans on runtime event brokers and upload the collected data to Event Portal. For Kafka event flows, an Event Management Agent can also connect to a Confluent Schema Registry to discover subjects related to Kafka topics.
Model Event Broker	In Event Portal, a model event broker represents an actual event broker in an event mesh or the gateway node in an event broker cluster. You can add multiple model event brokers to a Solace modeled event mesh to represent the actual event brokers that are part of your event mesh. A Kafka modeled event mesh must include one model event broker to represent the Kafka cluster in an event flow. When you associate an application in Designer with a model event broker in Runtime Event Manager, event flows for the application represent topic subscriptions and queues or consumer groups on the runtime event broker or cluster. When you set up an Event Management Agent to connect a model event broker to the runtime event broker that it represents, you can collect runtime data and audit the data against the model and then update the runtime or the model to keep them in sync.
Modeled Event Mesh	A modeled event mesh represents an actual event mesh with multiple event brokers or a Kafka event flow with a single event broker or cluster. You create modeled event meshes to help you define and visualize event flows between publishing and subscribing applications within your event mesh.
Runtime Event Manager	Runtime Event Manager is the tool in Event Portal where you build modeled event meshes, collect runtime data discovered by Event Management Agents, and audit the runtime data against modeled event meshes.

This section includes the following tasks:

• Setting Up Runtime Data Discovery
• Setting Up a Connection to Event Portal
• Running Discovery Scans
• Viewing the Collected Data
• Viewing the Collection Logs
• Deleting Discovery Scan Data

For information about auditing the collected data and importing objects into Designer, see Auditing and Importing Runtime Data.

Setting Up Runtime Data Discovery

You must be an Administrator or an Event Portal Manager to set up runtime data discovery. Before you can discover runtime data from an operational event broker, you need to complete several tasks. These tasks include:

1. Create a modeled event mesh in Runtime Event Manager. For more information, see Creating a Modeled Event Mesh.

2. Add a model event broker that represents the operational event broker in your modeled event mesh. For Solace modeled event meshes, you can add more than one event broker. For more information, see Adding an Event Broker to a Modeled Event Mesh.

3. Set up a connection to Event Portal. Depending on your event brokers and your security requirements, you can either:

   • Connect your event brokers to Event Portal with a PubSub+ Cloud connection.

   • Install one or more Event Management Agents.

   For more information, see Setting Up a Connection to Event Portal.

Setting Up a Connection to Event Portal

You require a connection between operational event brokers and Event Portal to enable both runtime configuration from Event Portal and discovering runtime data from your event brokers.

Solace recommends connecting event broker services with Event Portal using a PubSub+ Cloud connection, if you meet the following requirements:

• You want to connect to event broker services managed in the same PubSub+ Cloud account.

• You want to connect to event broker services in Dedicated Regions or Customer-Controlled Regions.

• You want to connect to event broker services that are version 10.5 or later.

If you want to connect Event Portal to Kafka event brokers and Confluent schema registries, or Solace event brokers that don't meet these requirements, or if your security requirements don't allow a direct connection between your event brokers and Event Portal, you can alternatively install one or more Event Management Agents to connect your event brokers to Event Portal.

After you've completed the connection setup, you can begin discovering and auditing runtime data. For Solace event brokers, if the environment has runtime configuration enabled, you can also send application and queue data to the operational event brokers connected to your model event mesh. For more information, see Configuring Event Brokers in Event Portal.

For more information about connecting event brokers to Event Portal, see:

• Connecting Event Broker Services to Event Portal With a PubSub+ Cloud Connection

• Setting Up an External Event Broker with Event Portal Connection

Running Discovery Scans

After you've set up an Event Management Agent, it can run discovery scans on all of the runtime event brokers that it has a connection to. The Event Management Agent collects the following data:

• Queue and subscription configuration data for Solace event brokers

• Topic and consumer group configuration data for Kafka clusters

• Subject data if the Event Management Agent is configured to connect to a Confluent Schema Registry

You can view the raw data and collection logs for each discovery scan and view the audit results comparing the data from a runtime event broker with the corresponding model event broker. You can also use the Event Portal v2 REST API to get configuration and configuration type details from the collected data.

You can run a new discovery scan to collect the most recent data at any time. New scans are not incremental. Each scan collects the full set of data from the event broker.

If your Event Management Agent uses Upload Scan File mode, see Running and Uploading a Discovery Scan for instructions to run discovery scans and upload the data to Event Portal.

To run a discovery scan from Runtime Event Manager using Scan from Event Portal mode, perform these steps:

1. On the navigation bar, select Runtime Event Manager .
2. At the top-left, select the environment containing the modeled event mesh that you want to collect runtime data for.
3. Click the name of the modeled event mesh.
4. Select the Event Broker Connections tab.
5. Select the event broker that you want to collect runtime data for.

6. Click Run Discovery Scan.

   For Solace event brokers, the scan starts.

7. For Kafka event brokers perform the following actions:
   1. To scan both the event broker and the schema registry, select Scan All to start the scan.
   2. To scan only one of the event broker or schema registry, select Custom Scan.
   3. Select Broker or Confluent Schema Registry.
   4. Click Collect Data.

Viewing the Collected Data

You can view the raw data collected data from a discovery scan in Runtime Event Manager.

To view the raw data:

1. On the navigation bar, select Runtime Event Manager .
2. At the top-left, select the environment containing the modeled event mesh that you want to view the runtime data for.
3. Click the name of the modeled event mesh.
4. Select the Event Broker Connections tab.
5. Click More Actionsfor the discovery scan that you want to view the data for and select View Collected Data.

Viewing the Collection Logs

You can view the data collection logs in Runtime Event Manager to help troubleshoot connection issues.

To view the collection logs:

1. On the navigation bar, select Runtime Event Manager .
2. At the top-left, select the environment containing the modeled event mesh that you want to view the collection logs for.
3. Click the name of the modeled event mesh.
4. Select the Event Broker Connections tab.
5. Click More Actionsfor the discovery scan that you want to view the logs for and select View Logs.

Deleting Discovery Scan Data

You can delete older discovery scan data from Runtime Event Manager when it is no longer useful.

To delete discovery scan data:

1. On the navigation bar, select Runtime Event Manager .
2. At the top-left, select the environment containing the modeled event mesh that you want delete discovery scan data for.
3. Click the name of the modeled event mesh.
4. Select the Event Broker Connections tab.
5. Click More Actionsfor the discovery scan that you no longer need the data for and select Delete.
6. Click Delete.