by Jonas Lenntun, on 03-Mar-2023 12:23:30
Introduction
Since the release of OpenSSL 3 and the adoption of the technology in recent Linux kernels, a growing demand for support in System Center Operations Manager and its cross-platform agents has emerged.
Together with our clients, we have been waiting and hoping for a newer release to help them monitor these newer distributions in SCOM. And now it finally looks like the wait is over.
Microsoft has now published a new version (v1.7.0-0) of the Cross-Platform Agent for SCOM that supports OpenSSL 3, including support for Ubuntu 22 and RHEL 9 in their GitHub Repository.
But please be aware that Microsoft first needs to announce their support before we encourage you to use it in your production environment.
What is OpenSSL 3
OpenSSL 3 is the updated version of the renowned OpenSSL cryptographic library that now supports the latest Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol version -
TLS 1.3. This means that OpenSSL 3 can provide improved security and performance when establishing secure connections over the internet.
What is the Cross Platform Agent (SCX)
SCXCore is a GitHub project that provides an open-source implementation of the System Center Cross Platform Agent (SCX), which is used to manage Linux and UNIX systems using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager.
The SCXCore project includes a set of tools and libraries for monitoring system health, collecting performance data, and executing management tasks on Linux and UNIX servers.
OpenSSL 3 and the Cross-Platform Agent
Since previous versions only supported older versions of OpenSSL, newer distributions like Ubuntu 22 and Red Hat were left out in the cold.
But as more and more organizations started to implement newer distributions, we saw an increased demand to be able to monitor these devices.
From OpsLogix side, we are thrilled with this support as we see an increased demand for monitoring cross-platform devices, often utilized in container workloads and Kubernetes Orchestration, which of course, can be monitored using OpsLogix Kubernetes Management Pack.
Conclusion
The release of OpenSSL 3 and its adoption in recent Linux kernels has led to a growing demand for its support in System Center Operations Manager and its cross-platform agents.
With the recent announcement by Microsoft of a new version of the Cross-Platform Agent for SCOM that supports OpenSSL 3, including support for Ubuntu 22 and RHEL 9, organizations can now monitor newer distributions with improved security and performance.
However, it is important to wait for Microsoft's official announcement before using it in production environments.
This development is particularly exciting for OpsLogix, as we see an increased demand for monitoring cross-platform devices used in container workloads and Kubernetes orchestration through our Kubernetes Management Pack.