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Separate Agent and Server Deployment

By default, Chronicle runs both a server (data storage) and an agent (product data collection) on each host that runs a Posit product. Each host writes data to the configured storage location, either a locally accessible file system or AWS S3.

In some environments, the file access and permission management that this approach requires is too burdensome. In these environments, you can instead run the Chronicle server on a single host and run only the Chronicle agent on your remaining Connect, Workbench, and Package Manager hosts. Each agent sends its data to the server over the network, and only the server host needs access to the storage location.

flowchart TD
    subgraph n1 [Host 1]
    wb1(Posit Workbench)
    a1(Chronicle agent)
    s1(Chronicle server)
    wb1 -.->|Raw metrics| a1
    a1 --> s1
    end
    subgraph n2 [Host 2]
    wb2(Posit Workbench)
    a2(Chronicle agent)
    wb2 -.->|Raw metrics| a2
    end
    subgraph n3 [Host 3]
    c1(Posit Connect)
    a3(Chronicle agent)
    c1 -.->|Raw metrics| a3
    end
    disk[(File storage<br>local and/or S3)]
    a2 -->|HTTP/HTTPS| s1
    a3 -->|HTTP/HTTPS| s1
    s1 --> disk

    disk --> rep{{Chronicle Reports}}

Configure the Chronicle server host

Choose one Connect, Package Manager, or Workbench host to run the Chronicle server. This host must be reachable from every host running a Chronicle agent. The Chronicle agent on this host continues to run and reports to the local server.

Enable Chronicle on this host by following the instructions in your product’s documentation. Then configure the server to listen for connections from other hosts by creating a local configuration file. Set a listen address in either the HTTP or the HTTPS section, but not both.

To listen for HTTP connections on port 5252:

chronicle-local.gcfg
[HTTP]
Listen = :5252

To listen for HTTPS connections on port 5252:

chronicle-local.gcfg
[HTTPS]
Listen = :5252
Key = "/path/to/key"
Certificate = "/path/to/cert"

Configure the storage location, such as AWS S3, on this host only.

Configure the Chronicle agent hosts

On each remaining Connect, Workbench, or Package Manager host, enable Chronicle by following the product’s documentation. Then create a local configuration file that disables the Chronicle server on that host and points the agent at your Chronicle server:

chronicle-local.gcfg
[Server]
Enabled = false
Address = "http://posit-workbench.example.com:5252"

Set Address to the host name of the server where Chronicle is enabled and include port on which the Chronicle server is listening. Use an https:// address if the server is configured for HTTPS.

By default, the agent does not verify the server’s TLS certificate. When connecting over HTTPS, install a trusted certificate on the server and set SkipTLSVerify = false so that the agent verifies the server’s identity:

chronicle-local.gcfg
[Server]
Enabled = false
Address = "https://posit-workbench.example.com:5252"
SkipTLSVerify = false

The chronicle-local.gcfg file must be in the same directory as the main Chronicle configuration file. See Advanced Chronicle Configuration for details.

After saving the file, restart the product so the new configuration takes effect.

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