Install the ConfigSentry Collector on FreeBSD

1. What This Installs

The collector runs from the folder where you extract this ZIP file.

On first run, the script downloads the collector runtime, imports the collector config JSON, and opens the collector menu. From there you can enter local appliance settings and enable the background collector watchdog.

2. Before You Start

Install the required packages first:

pkg install -y php83 php83-zip curl unzip

You need:

• PHP CLI already installed.
• Either curl or wget.
• Either unzip or bsdtar.
• The downloaded ZIP bundle, including configsentry_collector_install.json.

3. Download the Collector Bundle

Sign in to your ConfigSentry account, open your collector, and click Download - FreeBSD.

The filename will look similar to configsentry_collector_bundle_<collector_id>_v<version>.zip.

4. Extract the Bundle

unzip configsentry_collector_bundle_<collector_id>_v<version>.zip -d configsentry_collector
cd configsentry_collector

This creates a folder called configsentry_collector and extracts the installer files into it.

5. Run the Collector Script

chmod +x ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh
./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh

Important:

• Run the script from the extracted bundle folder.
• Leave configsentry_collector_install.json in the same folder as the script.

6. Enter Local Appliance Settings

In the menu, choose 5. Edit locally configured settings.

Enter the appliance Host/IP, Username, and Password if requested. These values stay on the collector host and are not shown back in the website.

7. Enable the Background Collector

In the menu, choose 2. Enable collector service.

On FreeBSD this enables the crontab watchdog that keeps the collector running in the background.

8. Check Status

In the menu, choose 1. Show collector status.

Healthy output should normally include:

• Crontab watchdog: Enabled
• Collector service: Running
• Base heartbeat: Fresh
• Worker heartbeat: Fresh
• Syslog service: Running, if syslog is enabled.
• Local settings: Complete

9. Updating

• Option 6 installs collector runtime updates.
• Option 7 refreshes config from the website.

10. Troubleshooting

• php: not found - install PHP first with pkg install -y php83 php83-zip.
• curl or wget is required - install one of them, for example pkg install -y curl.
• Unable to extract ZIP - install unzip with pkg install -y unzip.
• Local settings required - run the script again and choose option 5.
• Collector service is not running - run the script and choose option 2.
• Wrong OS script - use configsentry-collector-bsd.sh on FreeBSD only.

11. Firewall (Syslog)

If you enable syslog-triggered collection, ensure the host firewall, such as pf or ipfw, allows inbound UDP traffic on the configured listener port.

12. Useful Commands

• ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh - open the interactive menu.
• ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh --status - print collector status.
• ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh --install-config - install config updates from the website.
• ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh --install-updates - install runtime updates.
• ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh --schedule-enable - enable or repair the cron watchdog and background service.
• ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh --schedule-disable - disable the cron watchdog and background service.

13. Uninstalling

Before deleting the collector folder, reopen the collector and choose Disable collector service, or run ./configsentry-collector-bsd.sh --schedule-disable.

After that, remove the cron entry if it still exists and delete the collector directory. No system-wide packages are installed by the collector itself.