AlienVault USM Appliance uses the Message Center to centralize all in-system errors, warnings, and messages. The Message Center also includes external messages sent by AlienVault about product releases and feed updates. You can only access the Message Center through the web UI.

The Remote Support feature in USM Appliance opens a secure, encrypted connection to the AlienVault Support Server through the web UI or the AlienVault Console. This allows the AlienVault Support staff to access, diagnose, and resolve any problems occurring in a USM Appliance component. Remote Support allows the AlienVault Support staff to work on solving the issues independently, after you have connected your USM Appliance components to the Support Server. All data exchanged with AlienVault Support is encrypted for security. The information exchanged is only available to AlienVault Support or the Engineering teams.

You should delete USM Appliance system logs and/or old event logs on a regular basis, otherwise the appliance may run out of space. Starting from version 5.2.1, USM Appliance adds a pre-check to its update script so that the update fails if the machine does not have enough disk space.

You may need to replace a power supply or hard disk drive on an AlienVault USM Appliance hardware should either one fail. These two components represent the most common cause of hardware failures, and can be replaced if necessary.

For more details, see the following topics.