What is ThousandEyes?
ThousandEyes is a powerful SaaS platform that provides a comprehensive view of enterprise infrastructure through test views, alerts, dashboards, and various other components.
What is an Enterprise Agent?
An Enterprise Agent (EA) is a key component of the ThousandEyes platform, functioning as a vantage point that executes tests to monitor network performance and availability. Specifically, it is software that runs on a Linux-based system and is deployed and managed by the customer for their exclusive use. This contrasts with Cloud Agents, which are managed by ThousandEyes and shared among users. Enterprise Agents can be deployed in various environments, including on-premises networks, data centers, and cloud infrastructures. They require modest hardware resources, making them versatile for deployment in different settings such as virtual machines, Docker containers, or physical devices like Raspberry Pi. One installation option is the Virtual Appliance (VA), which provides a pre-installed image along with a web-based management console for easy configuration of network and proxy settings. For more comprehensive details about Enterprise Agents, please refer to our official documentation. In this article, we will specifically focus on deploying an Enterprise Agent on Raspberry Pi hardware.
Let’s follow these steps to successfully deploy and configure your Enterprise Agent on Raspberry PI:
Step 1 - Deployment Phase:
- Cover the basics: Ensure your Raspberry Pi meets the necessary hardware specifications.
- Download the Image: Obtain the latest Enterprise Agent image from the ThousandEyes website.
- Write the Image to a microSD Card: Use a tool like balenaEtcher or Raspberry Pi Imager to write the downloaded image to a microSD card.
Step 2 - Tuning Phase:
- Cover the basics: Setup the Enterprise Agent and verify connectivity with ThousandEyes
- Configure Name, Password, and Token: Set up a unique name for your Enterprise Agent, along with a secure password and your ThousandEyes account token.
- Check ThousandEyes Portal: Log in to the ThousandEyes portal to verify that your Enterprise Agent is online and functioning correctly.
Deployment Phase Step 1: Cover the basics.
Let’s quickly review the requirements for deploying an Enterprise Agent on a Raspberry Pi:
- Model: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (with either 4GB or 8GB of RAM).
- Storage: A microSD card with a minimum capacity of 32GB.
Deployment Phase Step 2: Download the Image.
To download the image, navigate to Cloud & Enterprise Agent -> Enterprise Agent -> Add New:
and download Pi IMG file:
Deployment Phase Step 3: Write the Image to a microSD Card
Now, let’s install the image on a microSD card. You can use a tool of your choice; for example, balenaEtcher is a popular option. It is a free and open-source utility designed to flash operating system images onto storage media like SD cards and USB drives, simplifying the process significantly. To use balenaEtcher:
- Download and install balenaEtcher from the official website.
- Open the application and select the image file you downloaded.
- Choose the target microSD card.
- Click “Flash” to begin the writing process.
This tool provides a straightforward interface and ensures that the flashing process is both quick and reliable.
This screen shows the progress:
Once the image is written, the Raspberry Pi is ready to start. Simply connect the power supply, and it will automatically boot up. You should see the status LED light up, indicating that the device is powering on. If connected to a display, the boot screen will appear shortly after.
Tuning Phase Step 1: Cover the basics.
To access the device, simply open a web browser and enter the URL: https://tepi.local (for Raspberry Pi 4). If your computer is on the same local network as the Raspberry Pi, this URL will direct you to the Enterprise Agent interface:
It’s worth mentioning how the browser identifies which device to access. The image comes with a predefined hostname for the new device, tepi.local (where "tepi" stands for ThousandEyes Pi). If you’re using your default gateway DNS (in our example 192.168.100.1), your router knows which IP address has been assigned to the device named "tepi". This allows you to easily access the Raspberry Pi by entering the URL in your web browser, provided your computer is on the same local network:
The browser accesses the device using its IP address. Once you accept the self-signed certificate, you will see the ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent (TEPI) web page:
To log in to the device for the first time, please use the credentials admin/welcome.
Tuning Phase Step 2: Configure Name, Password, and Token.
Once logged in, it’s important to check three things:
- Change the admin password from the default "welcome" to a more secure password:
- Name the device according to how you want it to display within the ThousandEyes UI:
- Add the Account Group Token:
Tuning Phase Step 3: Check ThousandEyes Portal.
In a few minutes, the newly added Enterprise Agent will appear under ThousandEyes. Which you are able to verify:
That’s it! As you can see, the process took a maximum of 10 minutes.
If you are an existing customer (or use a trial license of ThousandEyes), you can always request support from our expert engineers and get almost instant support using ThousandEyes chat.
Other useful ThousandEyes & knowledge resources:
- Main web page: thousandeyes.com
- Installing TEPI: ThousandEyes Docs
- ThousandEyes Application page