Netify Agent v4 on Ubuntu

This guide is intended for evaluating Netify Agent v4 on Ubuntu. While Ubuntu is commonly used for servers and gateways, it is also a great choice for development environments and proof-of-concept (PoC) testing. You can quickly install Netify Agent on a desktop or personal device to explore its network analytics and monitoring features.


Requirements

More often, Ubuntu is used on baremetal hardware or inside a virtual machine (VM). In this role, the system will need at least 2 network interfaces:

  • Network Interface #1: used to access the operating system and Netify
  • Network Interface #2: used to ingest port mirror traffic from LAN segment 1
  • Network Interface #N: used to ingest port mirror traffic from LAN segment N (optional)

You will also need to know which version of Ubuntu you are running in order to add the correct repository. If you are not sure, use the lsb_release command:

Terminal - Netify
×
$ sudo apt update; sudo apt -y install lsb-release
$ lsb_release -a
Distributor ID:  Ubuntu
Description:     Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS
Release:         24.04
Codename:        noble

Installation

Netify Agent is distributed through the same packaging workflow as Netify plugins, allowing for a consistent installation experience using standard package manager syntax. Pre-compiled binaries are available for x86_64 architectures via our public mirrors. For ARM, MIPS, and other specialized architectures, please contact us.

Step 1 - Select your installation target:

Step 2 - Add Netify's package signing key and repository:

Terminal - Netify
×
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install curl gnupg2
sudo curl https://download.netify.ai/4/ubuntu/netify-archive-keyring.gpg -o /usr/share/keyrings/netify-archive-keyring.gpg
echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/netify-archive-keyring.gpg] http://download.netify.ai/4/ubuntu/jammy/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netify.list

Step 3 - Install the Netify Agent:

Terminal - Netify
×
sudo apt update
sudo apt install netifyd

Step 2 - Add Netify's package signing key and repository:

Terminal - Netify
×
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install curl gnupg2
curl -fsSL https://download.netify.ai/4/ubuntu/apt-gpg-key-netify.asc | sudo apt-key add -
echo 'deb http://download.netify.ai/4/ubuntu/focal/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/netify.list

Step 3 - Install the Netify Agent:

Terminal - Netify
×
sudo apt update
sudo apt install netifyd

Post Installation

After installing the agent, verify the installation and some path information using the -s (status) argument.

Terminal - Netify
×
$ netifyd -s
Netify Agent/4.2.5 (debian; x86_64; conntrack; netlink; plugins; tcmalloc; inotify; regex)
- agent is not running.
- persistent state path: /etc/netify.d
- volatile state path: /var/run/netifyd
- agent run-time status could not be determined.
- sink URL: https://sink.netify.ai/provision/
- sink services are disabled.
  To enable sink services, run the following command:
  # netifyd --enable-sink
- sink uploads are disabled.
  To enable sink uploads, ensure your Agent has been provisioned.
- sink agent UUID is not set.
  To generate a new one, run the following command:
  # netifyd --provision
- sink site UUID is not set.
  A new site UUID will be automatically set after this agent has been provisioned by the sink server.

The Netify agent is not configured to start post install. Language pertaining to the agent not running should be expected.

Informatics Provisioning

Netify Informatics is an optional, cloud-based, SaaS service. The solution provides web-based insights into what's happening on the network. To enable, tollow the installation instructions.