Configuring Forwarders

Designate an Enterprise Agent

Before exporting network flow data, you need to install and/or designate a ThousandEyes Enterprise Agent as a forwarder within your network. Then, on the ThousandEyes platform, you need to configure the agent to recognize and pass along the exported flow data so it can be ingested into the platform.

Enabling Enterprise Agent steps

Installing a New Supported Agent

If you do not yet have a supported Enterprise Agent to use as a forwarder, you can install an Enterprise Agent directly from the ThousandEyes Platform.

For supported-agent information, see Forwarder Requirements. For installation instructions, see Enterprise Agent Installation.

Finding an Existing Supported Agent

If you already have Enterprise Agents installed, you can check whether any of them are on a supported device.

1. Go to Network & App Synthetics > Agent Settings.

2. Select the Enterprise Agents screen.

3. On the Agents tab, open the Add a filter dropdown.

4. Select Installation Type.

   

   Add a Filter dropdown menu
5. In the subsequent filter dropdown, select Virtual Appliance and/or Cisco Application Hosting.

   

   Installation Type filter selections

   • The list of agents automatically updates in line with the filters selected and the total appears to the right of the search field.

Though you may have Enterprise Agents on supported devices, you must still check that the supported devices meet all other compatibility requirements for Traffic Insights for forwarding to work.

For compatibility requirements, see Forwarder Requirements.

If no existing Enterprise Agents are on supported devices or don't meet other forwarder requirements, click Add New Enterprise Agent on the top right of the screen.

Find instructions for the Enterprise Agent you want to install at Enterprise Agent Installation.

Once you have identified or installed an Enterprise Agent on a supported device that meets Traffic Insights compatibility requirements, you can enable it for forwarding.

Enable Forwarding

Turning on the Enterprise Agent's forwarding capabilities is a necessary step to enable the agent to receive flow data from your traffic monitor and forward this data to ThousandEyes.

Enterprise Agent Settings screen

1. Go to Network & App Synthetics > Agent Settings.

2. Select the Enterprise Agents screen.

3. Select the agent you want to designate as a forwarder from the list to open the edit panel.

4. Select the Advanced Settings tab.

5. Scroll down to Agent Modules.

   • The Traffic Insights status of this agent shows as either enabled (toggled on) or disabled (toggled off).

6. If Traffic Insights is disabled, click the toggle to enable it.

7. Click Save Changes.

The forwarder toggle is grayed out for device types that are unsupported as forwarders. See [Forwarder Requirements](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/product-documentation/traffic-insights/traffic-insights-system-requirements/forwarder-requirements) for the list of supported devices.

After you enable the Traffic Insights module, use the Forwarders screen within Traffic Insights > Settings to review flow-record activity, listening ports, and unsupported flow records. See Managing Forwarders for more information.

To accept traffic flows from a forwarder to an external collector as well as to the ThousandEyes platform, see Forwarding to External Collectors.