Systems Management - SupportConnect

CA GREEN BOOKS
Systems Management
AN INTEGRATED SOLUTION FOR MANAGING THE PERFORMANCE
AND AVAILABILITY OF SERVERS
• Overview of challenges in managing complex
server infrastructures
• Best practices for setting up CA’s integrated
solution for systems management

LEGAL NOTICE
Copyright © 2006 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks, trade names, service marks and
logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. This document is for your
informational purposes only. To the extent permitted by applicable law, CA provides this
document “As Is” without warranty of any kind, including, without limitation, any implied
warranties of merchantability of fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. In no
event will CA be liable for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, from the use of this
document including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, goodwill or lost
data, even if CA expressly advised of such damages.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Principal Authors
Don LeClair
Daniel Blanco
Roger Craig
Andrew Haigh
Lutz Holzbecher
Mark Hounslow
John Kane
Mark Maligres
Bill Merrow
Joe Mohacsi
Sal Pilo
Keith Puzey
Kishan Silva
Peter Skotny
James Tam
DJ Towne
The principal authors and CA would like to thank the following contributors:
Ajei Gopal
Tricia Bancroft
Paula Daley
Joshua Freed
Diane Hodes
Tanvir Hussain
Kevin Meehan
Joe Pennachio
Farzin Shahidi
Cheryl Stauffer
Jerry Yu
Jason Warfield
2: CA Green Book, Systems Management

CA Product References
This document references the following CA components and products:
• BrightStor® Backup for Unicenter NSM
• BrightStor® SAN Manager
• Business Process View Management
• CA SPECTRUM® Solution
• Distributed Intelligence Architecture (DIA)
• Dynamic Environments Managed Node Configuration Utility
• eHealth® Suite
• eTrust® Access Control
• eTrust® Security Command Center (eTrust SCC)
• Smart Business Process View (SmartBPV)
• Unicenter® Advanced Systems Management (Unicenter ASM)
• Unicenter® CA-7® Job Management (Unicenter CA-7)
• Unicenter® CA-Jobtrac® Job Management (Unicenter CA-Jobtrac)
• Unicenter® CA-Scheduler® Job Management (Unicenter CA-Scheduler)
• Unicenter® Management Portal (Unicenter MP)
• Unicenter® Network and Systems Management (Unicenter NSM)
• Unicenter® NSM Job Management Option (Unicenter NSM JM Option)
• Unicenter® Remote Control
• Unicenter® Remote Monitoring
• Unicenter® Service Desk (Unicenter SD)
• Unicenter® Service Desk Knowledge Tools (Unicenter SDKT)
• Unicenter® Software Delivery
• Unicenter® WorldView
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Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................... 11
About this Book............................................................................................................ 11
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 12
Evolving Requirements for Systems Management .......................................................... 12
CA’s Solution for Systems Management........................................................................ 12
Chapter 2: Challenges of Systems Management ................................................................. 15
Multiple Challenges of Management ................................................................................ 15
Challenges in Managing Complex Infrastructures........................................................... 15
Improving Systems Management through Automation.................................................... 16
Recognizing Automation Drivers .................................................................................. 17
Responding to Unplanned Events through Self-Management ........................................... 18
Chapter 3: CA’s Systems Management Solution................................................................... 19
EITM: CA’s Vision ......................................................................................................... 19
Enterprise Systems Management.................................................................................... 20
The Systems Management Solution from CA .................................................................... 21
Solution Description................................................................................................... 21
Integration Capabilities .............................................................................................. 24
Systems Management Professional Service Offerings ..................................................... 24
CA’s Systems Management Solution Summary ................................................................. 28
Chapter 4: Deployment Architecture for Systems Management.............................................. 29
Components of the Solution ........................................................................................... 29
Management Components .......................................................................................... 29
Web Reporting Server ................................................................................................ 33
System Performance Manager..................................................................................... 34
Management Portal.................................................................................................... 34
Solution Configuration................................................................................................... 35
Medium Enterprise Deployment................................................................................... 35
Server Requirements .................................................................................................... 38
Solution Sizing ............................................................................................................. 42
Planning Considerations for Agent Technology............................................................... 43
Distributed Intelligence Architecture ............................................................................... 47
How DIA Works......................................................................................................... 47
WorldView Registration Server .................................................................................... 48
Knowledge Base architecture ...................................................................................... 48
DIA Zones ................................................................................................................ 49
DIA Zone and DNA Registration................................................................................... 49
DIA Consumers ......................................................................................................... 52
High Availability Server Architecture ............................................................................... 53
Unicenter Repository Bridge........................................................................................... 54
Capacity Considerations for Agent Technology.................................................................. 55
Best Practices for MDB Capacity .................................................................................. 55
Best Practices for DSM Capacity .................................................................................. 56
Managing DSM Workload to Optimize Capacity .............................................................. 63
Deployment Checklist.................................................................................................... 65
Chapter 5: Best Practices for Deploying Unicenter NSM ........................................................ 67
Deployment Planning .................................................................................................... 67
Installation Methods to consider .................................................................................. 67
Preinstallation Tasks .................................................................................................. 71
Verifying your Unicenter Remote Monitoring Installation................................................. 72
Deploying the product ................................................................................................... 74
Registering Unicenter NSM with the BSO Desktop and Server Management Solutions......... 74
Configuring Your Setup ................................................................................................. 75
Reghost, Reinstall, Unplug Unicenter NSM Components.................................................. 76
Access Unicenter NSM Web Applications ....................................................................... 76
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Managing Agent Configurations with Unicenter Configuration Manager ................................ 77
Starting Unicenter Configuration Manager..................................................................... 78
Using Unicenter Configuration Management and Adaptive Configuration ........................... 78
Creating and Delivering a System Agent Configuration ................................................... 81
View Agent Configuration ........................................................................................... 85
Allow the Agent Configuration to Automatically Adapt .................................................... 86
Creating and Delivering an Adaptive Agent Configuration ............................................... 87
Creating and Delivering a Differential Profile ................................................................. 89
Scheduling Delivery of Profiles .................................................................................... 95
Creating and Delivering a Log Agent Configuration ........................................................ 98
Configuring Event Management .................................................................................... 102
Event Management Setup......................................................................................... 103
Event Management Configuration: Customize the MCC Console Logs ............................. 103
Define Event Policy: Message Records and Actions....................................................... 105
Define Trap Translation with the Trap Manager ........................................................... 108
Event Management Best Practices ............................................................................. 110
Extending Event Management Functionality with Advanced Event Correlation..................... 111
AEC Preparation ...................................................................................................... 111
AEC Configuration: Create a Duplicate Event Suppression Rule ..................................... 114
Deploy AEC Policy to an Event Agent System .............................................................. 116
Test the AEC Policy .................................................................................................. 116
AEC configuration: Guidelines ................................................................................... 116
Configuring Alert Management System.......................................................................... 117
AMS Setup.............................................................................................................. 117
AMS Queue, Class and Alert Creation ......................................................................... 118
Configure Alerts to Close Automatically ...................................................................... 121
AMS Guidelines ....................................................................................................... 123
Configuring and Managing Distributed State Machine Environments .................................. 124
Understanding DSM Configuration ............................................................................. 124
Accessing the DSM Configuration Plug-in .................................................................... 125
Overview of DSM Configuration Options ..................................................................... 125
Modifying the DSM Configuration Options using MCC.................................................... 127
Modifying the DSM Configuration Options using DSM Wizard ............................................ 133
Publishing Reports with Web Reporting Server ............................................................... 134
Getting started with WRS ......................................................................................... 134
Initial Configuration of Unicenter NSM Web Reporting Server ........................................ 135
Understanding WRS Reports ..................................................................................... 136
Scoreboards and Dashboards .................................................................................... 137
Integrating the Management Portal into Web Reporting Server...................................... 138
Integration of WRS into the Management Command Center.......................................... 139
Integration of System Performance and Web Reporting Server...................................... 140
Unicenter Adaptive Dashboard Server ........................................................................ 141
Accessing Dashboards.............................................................................................. 142
Create a Dashboard ................................................................................................. 143
Configure Agents in Dashboard ................................................................................. 144
Utilizing Notification Services ....................................................................................... 145
Unicenter Notification Services in detail ...................................................................... 145
Best Practices Configuring Notification Services for Email Notification............................. 147
Best practice for Integrating with Active Directory ....................................................... 150
Best Practice for Sending a Two-way Notification by Email............................................ 152
Create a Notification Strategy ................................................................................... 153
Securing Unicenter NSM .............................................................................................. 154
User Permissions ..................................................................................................... 154
Securing Management Command Center and Classic 2D Map ........................................ 158
Securing Enterprise Management Components ............................................................ 163
Securing Unicenter Management Portal ...................................................................... 168
Securing the Communication Layer............................................................................ 169
Securing Agent Technology....................................................................................... 170
Network Security: Working in a Firewall Environment .................................................. 172
Discovering Your Enterprise ......................................................................................... 176
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The Challenge of Discovering Network Devices............................................................ 176
Detailed Discovery Strategy...................................................................................... 177
Discovery Overview ................................................................................................. 178
Examples of Discovery Configurations ........................................................................ 179
Using Discovery in the Real World ............................................................................. 181
About Classic Discovery............................................................................................ 184
Best practices for Classic Discovery ........................................................................... 185
Running Advanced Classic Discovery.......................................................................... 190
Running Classic Discovery from Command Line ........................................................... 196
Running Classic Discovery through Management Command Center ................................ 200
Modify or Write Classification Rules............................................................................ 201
Management Command Center Provides Dynamic Multi-Viewer ........................................ 201
Best practices and debugging.................................................................................... 201
Launching MCC ....................................................................................................... 202
Configuring Unicenter Management Command Center .................................................. 202
Navigation in the Management Command Center – Adding Views .................................. 209
Relating Managed Objects with Business Process Views ................................................... 217
Administering Business Process Views........................................................................ 217
Weighted Severity Analysis and Importance Properties................................................. 218
Best Practices Using Business Process Views in MCC .................................................... 219
Monitoring Events through Console Logs........................................................................ 219
Best Practices for Using Console Logs ........................................................................ 220
Running Discovery and Configuring the DSM through the MCC ......................................... 221
Launching Agent View, Node View, and Object View from the MCC ................................ 222
Best Practices in the use of Agent View, Node View, and Object View............................. 223
Chapter 6: Best Practices for Deploying System Performance.............................................. 225
About System Performance.......................................................................................... 225
Best Practices for Configuring System Performance......................................................... 225
Resources to Monitor ............................................................................................... 225
Time Intervals to Gather Data................................................................................... 226
Processing Of Performance Cubes.............................................................................. 226
Deletion Policy ........................................................................................................ 226
System Performance Architecture ................................................................................. 226
Performance Domain Server ..................................................................................... 227
Performance Distribution Server................................................................................ 227
Performance Agents................................................................................................. 227
Preparations for Deployment........................................................................................ 228
Deployment Verification .............................................................................................. 228
Configuration of System Performance ........................................................................... 230
Creating Performance Agent Profiles .......................................................................... 230
Modify Collected Performance Resources .................................................................... 231
Deploying Performance Agent Profiles ........................................................................ 232
Gather Performance Metrics from Remote SNMP Devices.............................................. 233
Viewing Real-Time Performance Data......................................................................... 236
Creating WRS Performance Reports ........................................................................... 236
Creating IT Service System Performance Reports in WRS ............................................. 238
Extend the Performance Agent’s Monitoring Using the Simple Sponsor Interface ............. 240
Set Up Backup and Redundancy in the Performance Data Grid ...................................... 240
Upload Performance Data into the MDB ...................................................................... 242
Create Custom (Derived) Metrics............................................................................... 242
Chapter 7: Best Practices for Deploying Management Portal................................................ 245
Getting Started with the Management Portal .................................................................. 246
Initial Configuration of Unicenter Management Portal ...................................................... 246
Understanding Management Portal Portlets .................................................................... 248
Viewing Out-of-the-Box Scoreboards in the Management Portal........................................ 248
Creating WorldView and DSM Scoreboards in the Portal................................................... 249
Creating a WorldView Business Process View Scoreboard.............................................. 249
Creating a WorldView Agent Status Scoreboard........................................................... 252
Create a WorldView System Status Scoreboard ........................................................... 254
Create a DSM Agent Map Scoreboard ......................................................................... 256
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Create a DSM Host Map Scoreboard........................................................................... 258
Viewing the Event Management Console with Management Portal..................................... 260
Creating Event Management Consoles ........................................................................... 261
Creating Event Management Scoreboards ...................................................................... 264
Establishing Connections to Web Reporting Servers ........................................................ 266
Publishing a Document to the Management Portal........................................................... 267
Create a Folder in Unicenter MP................................................................................. 267
Publish a File to Unicenter Management Portal ............................................................ 268
Adding Links to Web Applications.................................................................................. 268
Navigating the Knowledge Library................................................................................. 269
Creating a Workplace .................................................................................................. 271
Predefined Workplace Templates ............................................................................... 271
Create a Workplace from an Empty (New) Template .................................................... 272
Creating a New User in the Management Portal .............................................................. 273
Creating a New Workgroup in the Management Portal ..................................................... 274
Customizing Portal Appearance Using Templates ............................................................ 275
Chapter 8: Best Practices for Deploying and Implementing Remote Monitoring ...................... 277
About Unicenter Remote Monitoring .............................................................................. 277
Unicenter Remote Monitoring Architecture ..................................................................... 278
Remote Monitoring Agent ......................................................................................... 278
Administrative Interface ........................................................................................... 279
Data Store.............................................................................................................. 279
How Remote Monitoring Monitors Network Resources...................................................... 279
When to Use Remote Monitoring................................................................................... 280
Advantages of Using Remote Monitoring..................................................................... 280
Disadvantages of Using Remote Monitoring................................................................. 280
Comparing Remote Monitoring to Agent Technology........................................................ 280
Scalability Vs Ease of Deployment Consideration ......................................................... 280
Monitored Information ............................................................................................. 281
Unicenter Remote Monitoring Capabilities ...................................................................... 285
Resource Types You Can Monitor ............................................................................... 285
Windows Resource Data You Can Monitor ...................................................................... 286
Event Logs Monitoring (Windows Resources)............................................................... 287
System Metric Monitoring (Windows Resources) .......................................................... 288
Detailed Metrics Monitoring (Windows Resources)........................................................ 291
Registry Keys Monitoring (Windows Resources)........................................................... 291
Services Monitoring (Windows Resources) .................................................................. 292
Snapshot Monitoring (Windows Resources) ................................................................. 293
UNIX/Linux Resource Data You Can Monitor................................................................... 294
System Metric Monitoring (UNIX/Linux Resources)....................................................... 295
Detailed Metrics Monitoring (UNIX/Linux Resources) .................................................... 296
Mac OS X Resource Data You Can Monitor ..................................................................... 298
System Metric Monitoring (Mac OS X Resources) ......................................................... 298
Detailed Metric Monitoring (MAC OS X Resources) ....................................................... 299
IP Resource Data You Can Monitor................................................................................ 300
Resource Templates................................................................................................. 301
Adding Resources to Monitor ........................................................................................ 302
How You Discover Network Resources ........................................................................ 302
Adding a Windows Resource to Monitor ...................................................................... 302
Discover Windows Resources Automatically ................................................................ 304
Edit the Windows Resource Template ......................................................................... 304
Modifying Your Windows Resource Data Metrics .......................................................... 305
Adding UNIX/Linux Resources to Monitor.................................................................... 306
Add MAC OS X Resources ......................................................................................... 307
Add IP Resources Manually ....................................................................................... 308
Adding IP Resources Automatically ............................................................................ 308
Managing Resources ................................................................................................... 309
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Best Practices for Remote Monitoring ............................................................................ 310
Administering Multiple Remote Monitoring Agents........................................................ 310
Configuring Unicenter Remote Monitoring in a Secure Environment................................ 311
Tips ....................................................................................................................... 311
Scalability............................................................................................................... 311
Limitations ............................................................................................................. 311
Chapter 9: Customized Deployment Options ..................................................................... 313
Architectural Considerations......................................................................................... 313
Component Placement ............................................................................................. 313
How Many MDBs are Required? ................................................................................. 314
Web Reporting with System Performance ................................................................... 314
Ports......................................................................................................................... 315
Architectural Scenarios................................................................................................ 315
Scenario One: Consolidation of Managers ................................................................... 315
Scenario Two: Regional / Autonomous Management .................................................... 316
Scenario Three: Central Management ........................................................................ 318
Scenario Four: Outsourced Environment..................................................................... 319
Sample Customer Architectures.................................................................................... 321
Customer Architecture - Central Management ............................................................. 321
Customer Architecture - Central Retail Model .............................................................. 325
Resilient Full-Duplex Model ....................................................................................... 327
INDEX .......................................................................................................................... 331
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Chapter 1: Introduction
About this Book
CA’s Green Book for Systems Management has been created to identify our solution for
managing challenges involved in maintaining the performance and availability of complex
server infrastructures. The CA solution provides proactive management of servers, as part
of an overall effort to improve service levels, and minimize the costs of managing the
computing infrastructure through increased automation.
The information contained in this Green Book is designed for operations, engineering, and
technical staff charged with managing a distributed heterogeneous server infrastructure.
While the CA Systems Management solution can scale to support far greater numbers of
servers, the deployment examples highlighted in this book are targeted at a typical
enterprise infrastructure with between three and fifteen (300-1500) hundred servers to
manage.
This Green Book provides an explanation of capabilities that you can deploy today to
manage your servers. The opening sections provide a strategic view of evolving
requirements for systems management, and then follow with best practices for deploying
and managing this integrated solution for managing your server infrastructure.
This Green Book contains only information about systems management. This is one of a
series of Green Books designed to help define the capabilities of key solutions from CA and
provide best practices on how to manage and secure them. Other CA Green Books will
present solutions across a wide range of IT management topics including virtual platform
management, database management, workload automation, and network and voice
management.
The Systems Management Green Book covers the following topics:
• Challenges in managing server infrastructures and the need for automation
• Ways in which CA’s integrated solution meets business and IT needs
• Descriptions of the components that make up the recommended solution
• Best practices for deploying and configuring the components of the solution
• Discovering and managing the server infrastructure
• Best practices for managing system performance
• How to deploy and configure role-based systems management
The structure of this Green Book is as follows:
• Chapters 1-3 Provides CIOs and Systems Managers with an understanding of the
challenges related to management of complex server infrastructures and the definition
and value of CA’s solution. This solution provides integrated server performance and
event management with automation capabilities to maximize investments in server
infrastructures.
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• Chapters 4-10 Delivers to Systems Managers, Architects, and other technical personnel
sample deployments for CA’s systems management products. Valuable best practices for
planning, deploying and configuring this solution are provided to speed the time to value
for server management investments.
Executive Summary
Evolving Requirements for Systems Management
Today’s IT organization must ensure the availability and performance of the underlying IT
elements that are the foundation of critical business processes. The cost of downtime
continues to increase and initiatives to control these costs have many organizations working
to achieve high service availability through increased automation and policy based
management to help resolve problems faster. The need to support flexible Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) that reflect the relative priority of different business applications is
driving the need for new service-centric systems management capabilities to prioritize
administration on the most critical business processes.
Compliance with internal and external policies is a critical requirement that is also a driver
for increased automation. It has become clear that manual monitoring and management of
systems is not sufficient, and automation of system management is taking on increasing
importance as a way to save time and money, and to minimize risk.
IT organizations need automated, self-healing and policy-driven management in order to
meet four key business needs:
• Leverage Existing Investments IT must integrate the management of all solution
components for an enterprise view of the IT environment, regardless of platform.
• Manage Service Levels To manage the delivery of service, IT components must be
aligned with and managed as part of the business service.
• Improve Service while Holding Down Costs IT is being asked to improve service
levels while maintaining or reducing costs, so policy and automation are key
requirements to improve IT productivity.
• Manage Proactively and Self-Heal IT needs powerful management solutions to
monitor status and events, understand business relationships, and quickly determine root
cause of problems so they can be corrected before they impact the business.
CA’s Solution for Systems Management
CA’s solution for systems management enables organizations to deploy and optimize a
complex, secure and reliable infrastructure that supports business objectives. This solution
is a key part of Enterprise IT Management (EITM), which is CA’s vision for how to
dynamically manage and secure IT environments, enabling organizations to realize the full
potential of IT.
Unicenter Network and Systems Management (Unicenter NSM), as a cornerstone of CA’s
EITM vision, makes it possible for customers to:
• Minimize Risk through operational efficiency provided by self-managing and self-healing
capabilities and role-based access to systems and management information.
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• Simplify Management and Reduce Cost with simplified platform-agnostic server
management, advanced event correlation, and performance information to plan
upgrades, capacity enhancement, and reallocation.
• Improve Service through unified monitoring and performance management, and the
ability to prioritize events from the perspective of the applications they impact.
The Unicenter NSM product ensures the health, availability and performance of the infrastructure
and manages the underlying infrastructure, prioritizing issues based on their
impact to the business. Some of the key capabilities of the systems management solution
are:
• Centralized management of your entire IT infrastructure from a single, standard user
interface, simplifying management of complex and heterogeneous environments
• Shared asset-centric management database so that collective knowledge can be
mined and acted upon by various management specialties
• Improved operational efficiency and reduced risk with self-managing and self-healing
capabilities. Unicenter NSM is continually focused on building intelligent self-management
into operational disciplines so customers get more out of what they have, automatically
• Centralized catalog of IT assets that can be updated through continuous discovery
Unicenter NSM provides a centralized and unified management platform to manage
heterogeneous IT environments, greatly reducing the cost and complexity associated with
managing the infrastructure, while preserving current and future investments.
To help ensure successful implementations, the CA Technology Services organization
provides service offerings to complement Unicenter NSM and provide IT Information Library
(ITIL) and industry-based best practices for systems management assessments and health
checks, architecture and IT workflow process designs, integrations, implementations,
customizations and migrations. They take a lifecycle approach to implementation of a total
systems management solution which includes the following:
• Assessment Understanding the Gaps
Comprehensive assessments such as the Event to Resolution Readiness Assessment
validate your current level of systems performance and availability management maturity
and efficiency.
• Design Building the Right Solution
CA Architects design successful service availability solutions for customers that range in
size from a single location medium sized business to global IT operations demanding
24x7 availability for internal and external IT-enabled business services.
• Implementation The Bottom Line of Solution Success
CA Consultants prepare the environment; install, configure, and customize
Unicenter NSM; verify and document Unicenter NSM solutions on test, QA, and production
systems; and provide knowledge transfer to your staff.
• Optimization Anticipating Change
Optimization services evaluate ways in which your existing systems management
solutions can be further utilized or fine-tuned. Health check services can include tuning
and reconfiguration, upgrades, migrations, as well as training and certifications.
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With CA’s integrated systems management solution, the IT organization becomes more
proactive in their approach to managing systems. The systems administration teams have
the tools to quickly determine the cause of problems and correct them. The IT planning or
engineering group can quickly find underutilized or near capacity resources. CA’s solution
unifies and simplifies server management.
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Chapter 2: Challenges of
Systems Management
Multiple Challenges of Management
IT organizations are faced with many challenges — the need to control costs, the ability to
manage growing IT complexity and the increasing demand to achieve service-level
objectives to support business needs. To meet these challenges, IT must ensure the
availability and performance of the underlying IT elements that are the foundation of critical
business processes.
According to recent independent research, downtime costs 3.6% of annual revenue for the
average large enterprise, and this statistic is likely to continue increasing. For a $100
million company, that is a cost of $3.6 million per year due to lost revenue and reduced
productivity. To achieve high service availability organizations are looking for increased
automation based on user-defined policy, to help resolve problems faster because relying
on manual detection and intervention to research and correct problems is no longer
sufficient.
Increased business dependence on IT has led to the need to improve service, increase
service availability and meet committed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). While rolling out
critical applications, it is no longer acceptable to manage to a uniform SLA. Enterprises
must be able to differentiate among the myriad business applications and optimize
application management to give those most critical business processes the highest priority.
Finally, manual monitoring and management of systems is costly, due to lack of time,
resources, and the mistakes that can be introduced by manual processes. Thus, the
automation of systems management is taking on increasing importance as a way to save
time and money, and to minimize risk.
Challenges in Managing Complex Infrastructures
The mounting pressure to do more with less and to simplify the management of complex
systems has increased the need for more automated, self-healing and policy-driven
management in order to comply with service level agreements and to ensure business
continuity.
• Leverage Existing Investments. IT is being asked to do more with less so it must
leverage existing investments in management software. Today’s IT infrastructure is
complex — often consisting of both legacy and leading-edge technologies — all of which
must operate efficiently to deliver an integrated business application. Currently, many
organizations struggle with disparate management tools that offer visibility into only a
small portion of the IT infrastructure and that require specific skill sets and significant
investments in training. Organizations need a solution that permits the IT staff to manage
the IT infrastructure through a centralized console. This requires the integration of all
solution components for an enterprise view of the IT environment usually through a
common event management framework. Different systems often require different levels
of monitoring and management as well. By unifying and simplifying infrastructure
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management, organizations save time and money and minimize the need for specialized
skill sets that might drive up the costs of staffing. At the same time, the investment in
existing tools is preserved.
• Manage Service Levels. IT is being asked to manage business services and to track
service levels relative to SLAs. Business processes and services today are delivered by a
number of IT components such as applications, databases, virtual platforms and
middleware, devices such as printers, storage devices and servers, networks consisting of
hubs, routers and switches, as well as associated end-users. Understanding how a
malfunction in one IT component affects other components is extremely difficult — but
necessary if service levels are to be managed effectively. IT professionals that are
managing with platform-specific, point-product tools are limited in their ability to manage
the entire service. A change is needed — standalone islands of automation no longer
create sufficient value. To manage the delivery of service, IT components must be aligned
with and managed as part of the business service.
• Improve Service While Holding Down Costs. IT is being asked to improve service
levels while maintaining or reducing costs. As the IT staff faces today’s technological
challenges and opportunities, business executives are required to maintain or reduce
current spending while improving service levels and expanding support for new business
services that are critical to the bottom line of the business.
• Manage Proactively and Self-Heal. Improving availability and performance requires
rapid assessment and response to changing conditions to determine the best course of
action. The heightened demand for around-the-clock services and instantaneous response
times requires a shift from reactive to proactive management and from manual processes
to automatic and adaptive management. IT demands powerful management solutions
that not only monitor status and events but also understand business relationships,
quickly determine root cause of problems and self-manage and self-heal system issues
before they impact the business.
Improving Systems Management through Automation
In today’s competitive market, it is imperative that IT perform faster, better and more
efficiently, with fewer resources. Every IT resource must prove its value and support the
business. Furthermore, pressure from regulatory compliance entities (such as Sarbanes-
Oxley, the Clinger Cohen Act and FIPS) requires that all this must be done within specific
guidelines. Lastly, with the increasing number of IT resources, tools, people and
expectations, complexity is ever increasing. To win in this market, your organization must
expand its automation and self-management capabilities to simplify the management of IT.
These investments will enable you to report problems in real time and, in many cases, fix
the problem without human intervention, helping to improve mean-time-to-repair. The
result: dramatic reduction in cost, increase in customer satisfaction and protection of your
revenue stream.
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Equally important, IT departments must be able to demonstrate the value that they provide
to the business. With 80% of IT spending devoted to maintenance and operations, IT
departments must figure out how to reduce costs. Savings in maintenance and operations
can be applied to new technology that can enhance the value of IT to the business. “77% of
business users reported that IT was extremely important to improving workforce
productivity, but only 39% were satisfied with IT’s support in making it happen” 1 . To
ensure the value of IT is understood, current costs must be understood so that IT
enhancements can be quantified. Fortunately, IT managers have models for best practices,
such as IT Information Library (ITIL) to help direct their efforts on how to quantify and
understand their actual IT costs and to improve their IT processes most effectively.
Forrester Research coined the term “Organic IT” that captures the essence of the kind of
responsive and adaptive infrastructure that will keep organizations at the top of their
business. “IT executives must deploy technology for virtualization, automation, and selfmanagement,
while implementing infrastructure best practices of standardization,
abstraction and integration.” 2
Recognizing Automation Drivers
A 2006 IDC survey concludes that “the two biggest drivers for automating IT processes are
lowering costs and reducing the risks of human error that cause downtime.” 3 If your
business is typical, you have a heterogeneous infrastructure with many software and
hardware elements. Frequent updates to the infrastructure occur, requiring an ongoing
effort to keep track of it all. The reality of human error and the size of staff required to keep
the infrastructure up-to-date can become overwhelming. Automation is a necessity for
managing IT effectively and efficiently as a 2006 IDC survey of 100 North American IT
decision makers shows.
1 “The Three Archetypes of IT.” Laurie M. Orlov, Forrester Research, March 2006
2 “Grid Groups Will Merge Efforts To Ease Confusion.” Frank E. Gillett, Forrester
Research, January 20, 2006
3 IDC, "IT Organizations Speak: Datacenter Automation Is an Increasing Focus and
Reality in 2006, Doc #201402, May 2006
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Responding to Unplanned Events through Self-Management
If automation speeds up routine tasks then self-management ensures an immediate
response to unplanned events by adapting to changing conditions. Both automation and
self-management help maintain high availability and performance by assessing events and
taking corrective actions before issues have a negative impact on the business or by
alerting and escalating issues quickly, to the right people. High performance and availability
are at the heart of good service and operational efficiency, and both contribute to the
health of your business.
Effective self-management requires a well managed infrastructure before it can begin to
work its magic. The environment must provide real-time monitoring and automatic
baselining so that abnormal situations are quickly and accurately identified. Notification
must be immediate, whether the problem can be self-managed or whether it will require
intervention. In either case, immediate notification reduces mean-time-to-repair (MTTR).
Self-management also requires a well understood infrastructure, with all elements identified
and mapped to the business processes they support.
Some examples of self-managed tasks include:
• A process fails in a server. The agent technology detects the failure and restarts that
particular process based on an established rule.
• Your company has just acquired another company and you are now responsible for
monitoring their new Windows Application Servers but it is unclear what metrics to
monitor or what thresholds to monitor against. This problem should be solved by having
an agent scan the server, develop a list of resources to monitor and start monitoring
within minutes. Over time the systems should adjust itself for accuracy and automatically
establishes standard consumption baselines for the resources being monitored.
• A server is having a problem and a helpdesk ticket is automatically generated, reducing
the time it takes for a human to recognize the problem and generate the trouble ticket.
As we’ve seen, most IT organizations face very similar challenges. In the next chapter we
start digging into the details of how CA helps organizations achieve their business goals by
allowing their systems infrastructure to deliver computing power while reducing
administrative and operational overhead through its systems management solution.
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Chapter 3: CA’s Systems
Management Solution
EITM: CA’s Vision
Enterprise IT Management (EITM) is CA’s vision for how to dynamically manage and secure
IT environments, enabling organizations to realize the full potential of IT as a source of
business value. EITM provides a common foundation for the integration and sharing of
services and data that allows for the orchestration of all IT assets and resources in unison
(infrastructure, applications and business processes). This business-oriented approach also
makes it possible to integrate the management of networks, systems, storage, databases,
applications and security as well as to provide a way to measure, optimize and demonstrate
the impact of IT on the organizations goals like never before.
CA is the worldwide leader in management software solutions. We have been in the
management software business for nearly three decades, and we have been focused on
providing solutions for all areas of infrastructure management. We are committed to
helping organizations achieve their goals by reducing IT costs to optimize capital and
operating expenses, mitigating risk, achieving compliance and helping to ensure that the
infrastructure is always available and performing optimally and on-demand.
The core of CA’s approach is to deliver management solutions that provide a unified view of
all assets and operations of the organization as they relate to business activities and needs.
This view enables organizations to align IT with business, enabling them to make better,
more informed business decisions about how to direct business activities and utilize assets.
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Enterprise Systems Management
As organizations expand their businesses to reach a broader audience and maintain a more
competitive edge, a new generation of network and systems management solutions has
evolved to assist them in taking a more proactive and service-oriented approach to
optimizing business process availability and performance. These solutions help enable risk
reduction or mitigation while increasing operational efficiencies, business continuity and
adherence to regulatory compliance. The end result is cost-efficient IT aligned with the
business.
When it comes to running the business of IT, Enterprise Systems Management solutions are
flexible and powerful enough to deliver IT services that are business aware and business
appropriate. The management solutions must make it possible — even transparent — to
map IT resources to business requirements based on business impact. Automation that
responds along policy-determined paths is at the heart of CA’s enterprise systems
management solutions.
The first business of IT is to run a good operation, with services up and running at an
appropriately high level of availability and performance. To support these goals, CA’s
enterprise systems management solutions help ensure that:
• Systems and networks are properly managed for availability and performance
• Jobs and events are automated for optimization
• Applications and databases are managed for performance
• Desktops and servers are provisioned and configured
CA recognizes that enterprise management does not exist in isolation. It is part of an
overall IT infrastructure that covers many disciplines. Servers are only useful to the extent
that they are reliably working over predictably high-performing networks. Likewise,
applications are only as secure as the systems that control their access. And nothing works
well without storage systems that serve business needs.
CA’s vision is that disciplines that are traditionally considered distinct — networks and
systems, storage, security, and service management — should be integrated tightly to
optimize the performance, reliability and efficiency of enterprise IT environments. CA has
designed products that interact with each other leveraging common services software
components that perform reusable functions across multiple applications. By developing a
central management database to provide a unified view of all aspects of the enterprise in
relation to business activities and needs, CA has created the foundation for a businesscentric
IT organization.
With comprehensive, cross-disciplinary information at their fingertips, IT organizations can
fully understand how all IT resources are being used across their organizations. Armed with
this knowledge, IT organizations can offer services tailored specifically to meet the needs of
individual departments and provide executives with feedback about exactly how IT
resources are being used and how costs are being incurred. The result is the empowerment
of decision makers who are fully equipped to make informed choices about how to direct
business activities.
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The Systems Management Solution from CA
Unicenter NSM r11 is an integral part of CA’s EITM vision. Unicenter NSM enables
organizations to deploy and optimize a complex, secure and reliable infrastructure that
supports business objectives. In addition, it helps ensure the continuous health and
performance of the critical infrastructure through innovative and intelligent techniques that
enable organizations to control costs while maintaining or increasing responsiveness to
changing business priorities.
The power of Unicenter NSM comes from its extremely flexible approach to systems
management, enhanced through broad integration with other products in the CA portfolio,
as well as with third party applications, to create solutions that share information through a
common event framework and common interface portal. This provides powerful validation
for CA’s EITM vision.
MINIMIZE RISK
• Improve operational efficiency and reduce risk with self-managing and self-healing
capabilities
• Enable role-based access to systems to ensure compliance
• Maintain high availability for full fail-over capabilities
SIMPLIFY MANAGEMENT AND REDUCE COST
• Deploy, configure and manage server resources quickly and with consistent results
• Assess and plan for server upgrades, migrations and consolidation
• Simplify server management with server modeling and service-metric analysis
• Use advanced event correlation and root cause analysis to reduce MTTR
IMPROVE SERVICE
• Detect degradation before large-scale problems or outages
• Consolidate disparate monitoring and performance management systems into a unified
solution
• Diagnose and isolate recurring issues with historical and real-time performance data
• View elements from an application perspective to align the network and systems
infrastructure with business priorities.
• Benefit from rich analytics and reporting for optimization and capacity planning
• Prioritize events and incidents based on business impact
Solution Description
Unicenter NSM ensures the health, availability and performance of the infrastructure. It
continuously assesses and provides self-managing capabilities for servers. It supports
critical business processes by managing the underlying infrastructure and prioritizing issues
based on their impact to the business. With Unicenter NSM problem resolution is
accelerated and service levels are improved — all while reducing support costs.
Unicenter NSM also provides a centralized and unified management platform to manage
heterogeneous IT infrastructures, greatly reducing the cost and complexity associated with
managing the infrastructure while preserving current investments.
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KEY BENEFITS
• Centralizes management of your entire IT infrastructure from a single, standard user
interface, simplifying management of complex and heterogeneous environments
• Uses a shared asset-centric management database so that collective knowledge can be
mined and acted upon by various management specialties
• Improves operational efficiency and reduces risk with self-managing and self-healing
capabilities. Unicenter NSM is continually focused on building intelligent self-management
into operational disciplines so customers get more out of what they have, automatically
• Maintains a catalog of IT assets with continuous discovery
PRODUCT CAPABILITIES
Unicenter NSM provides an integrated environment for systems management. Key
capabilities include:
• Broad Platform Support, where management information can be gathered from a wide
variety of platforms, enabling Unicenter NSM to provide a single point of control for an
enterprise’s entire operation.
• Management Command Center (MCC) which is the consolidation point for all
operational activity. This interface has been designed to reduce complexity and training
while facilitating efficient problem resolution. The MCC delivers a single user
administrative interface for access to Unicenter components, greatly simplifying problem
identification and resolution, as well as accelerating mean-time-to-repair (MTTR).
Individual windows can be customized to create an effective and personalized working
space.
• Advanced Historical and Real-Time Performance Reporting provides powerful,
audience specific performance reports on systems within the IT infrastructure. Employs
an intuitive, web based reporting interface to augment the real-time operational
perspective with historical system performance trends.
• Unicenter Notification Services provides many out-of-the-box notification options and
notification policies including Instant Messenger (SameTime), pager (SNPP), text
messaging (SMS using HTTP), phone based (TAP), email (SMTP/POP3) and wireless
(WCTP) that are delivered by commands, GUI or by SDK for full programmatic control.
Unicenter Notification Services ensures that the right information gets to the right people
quickly and efficiently.
• Full escalation enables alerts to be automatically processed and escalated according to
user policy. This allows key alerts that are not being responded to in a timely fashion to
be brought to someone else’s attention for resolution. Automatically escalating alerts
helps reduce MTTR and improve service levels for critical business processes.
• Management by Exception enables customizable views which highlight only those
issues that require human intervention. This dramatically reduces the number of false
alerts so that IT operations can focus on those events that impact the business.
• Adaptive Dashboard Server creates personalized management views of Unicenter
components through a web-based interface. It provides detailed views of real-time status
information and includes exception mode views that display only what is broken and may
require human intervention. Adaptive Dashboard Server also enables IT administrators to
drill down into more specific views to further diagnose problems, and includes
preconfigured dashboards for Unicenter NSM agents and the ability to share the rolebased
views within the Unicenter Management Portal.
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More self-management capabilities ensure the optimization of a dynamic and responsive
computing environment. These features provide rapid assessment and response to
changing conditions in order to determine the best course of action:
• Adaptive Configuration assesses which elements are most critical to monitor on a
particular server and then determines a roving baseline for these elements. Through
ongoing measurement and analysis, a dynamic policy is established which takes into
account normal working conditions and only issues warnings for truly abnormal
circumstances.
• Configuration Management is a web-based management tool for Unicenter
administration, which configures Advanced Event Correlation (AEC) and agent policies
including policy distribution based on customizable filters. This simplifies and accelerates
configuration deployment to new systems or to create and enforce global changes to
existing configurations based on policies.
There are also significant system performance capabilities within Unicenter NSM.
Performance data is stored in a sophisticated performance data grid in a distributed manner
that reduces storage and system resource requirements while creating an extremely fast
analysis capability. The out-of-the-box, web-based performance reporting is graphical and
tabular, and easy to understand and manipulate. Unicenter NSM provides the means to
track current performance issues within the system infrastructure, as well as assist in long
term capacity planning initiatives.
• Out-of-the-box Web-based reporting uses the Web Reporting Services of
Unicenter NSM, which provides standard reports for many aspects of system performance
analysis. Simple to complex reports can be built quickly using point and click
methodologies. A drill-down capability is provided, from summary to detailed, for
outstanding root cause analysis.
• Historical data stored in the MDB allows true, relational access to the performance
metrics. Performance information can easily be extracted for a variety of uses, such as
trend analysis and capacity planning.
• Performance scoping provide an easy to understand format to help diagnose problems
with “instance” based resources such as processes, disks, threads, etc. Scoping can
automatically identify a component causing a resource problem in another resource.
Variables can be compared or contrasted so that powerful analysis can be achieved and
presented.
• Performance trend enhancements enable effective capacity analysis due to significant
updates to diagnostics and reporting. For example, Performance Trend batch reports are
published into the common reporting service and many reports are provided out-of-thebox.
Customers have the ability to scale by metric and to select the start and stop times
for reporting analysis.
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Integration Capabilities
Unicenter NSM provides a central management console in the Management Command
Center (MCC) and integrates the view with other CA solutions and third party products.
With a consolidated view across all managed components, administrators can have
immediate and consistent access to the status of mission-critical services so they can fix
problems quickly.
• Unicenter NSM provides out-of-the-box integration between Unicenter NSM and CA
products, such as Unicenter ServiceDesk, eHealth, and SPECTRUM, as well as third party
solutions, such as OPNET, Fluke and Splunk.
• Unicenter NSM provides out-of-the-box integration with third party management
products, such as Microsoft Operations Manager and Cisco Works, as well as ca smart SM
certified partner solutions.
• The Trap Editor capability makes it easy to put SNMP traps into the Unicenter NSM
knowledgebase or revise cryptic SNMP messages into something more meaningful —
further integrating and centralizing events across the enterprise.
• Service Aware is a Unicenter Service Desk, web-based technology that permits
Unicenter NSM and other applications to embed management capabilities for proactive
and automated interaction with the service desk. With the inclusion of this capability
within MCC, operations personnel using MCC have instant access to a knowledgebase of
information they can use to better respond to IT issues. By automating the trouble ticket
process and providing detailed information, the MTTR can be drastically reduced as
operations staff can get to the root of problems more quickly. Call volume and research
time is also significantly reduced and fewer tickets are opened.
• High Availability provides for full failover capabilities within Unicenter NSM in a clustered
environment. This improves reliability and reduces the risks associated with down-time
because it ensures that the operational management station is functional as soon as
possible after a catastrophic error so end user service monitoring isn’t disrupted.
This Green Book is focused on helping customers manage environments with 300-1500
servers. Unicenter NSM provides extensive capabilities for supporting even larger and more
complicated environments and supports integration across a wide variety of management
solutions, each of which are important topics to many clients, and will be covered in depth
in future Green Book supplements. Customers can get further information about large scale
environments from the Unicenter NSM Implementation Guide for r11 on
http://supportconnect.ca.com.
Unicenter NSM provides a centralized and unified management platform to manage
heterogeneous IT environments, greatly reducing the cost and complexity associated with
managing the infrastructure, while preserving current and future investments.
Systems Management Professional Service Offerings
CA Technology Services has specialists in Unicenter NSM to help organizations assess,
design, implement and optimize enterprise systems performance and availability solutions
across the enterprise. From financial services companies to telecommunications service
providers to government organizations and beyond, CA experts help you establish bestpractices
workflows, combine disparate IT management tools, and integrate your enterprise
systems performance and availability solutions with your service desk for a consolidated
enterprise-wide event management system.
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The focus of CA systems performance and availability experts is to help you:
• Reduce risk by defining and implementing automatic repair responses that avoid the
possibility of human error and guarantee problem repair consistency.
• Reduce cost by consolidating enterprise event management to a central point of control
which decreases staffing demands.
• Improve business alignment by mapping the IT infrastructure to critical IT services
that support the business and insuring that your IT operations team is focused on
delivering the organization’s most important services.
• Increase business planning capabilities by delivering full visibility across the IT
infrastructure through consolidated consoles, reports, and metrics analysis.
• Leverage value from existing IT management systems by integrating and building
upon your prevailing tools and workflows.
• Optimizing IT service delivery by applying ISO and COBIT standards, ITIL best
practices and proven patent-pending Event to Resolution workflows to management
processes.
LIFECYCLE APPROACH FOR SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY SOLUTIONS
Unicenter NSM is deployed and optimized to the particular needs of your organization
through a lifecycle of best practices services offerings.
ASSESSMENT – UNDERSTANDING THE GAPS
Comprehensive assessments such as the Event to Resolution Readiness Assessment
validate your current level of event management maturity and efficiency. CA experts
conduct a comprehensive analysis of your management capabilities including
• Event management goals, objectives and strategies.
• IT operations organization structure, personnel roles and responsibilities.
• Systems monitoring tools, configuration and integration software.
• Event, object and policy management processes.
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• Event and object reporting.
• Aligning your event management processes with your business needs.
• Boosting event management maturity in terms of people, processes and technology.
• Increasing your ability to adapt to changing business requirements and make sound
business decisions in a constantly changing environment.
• Improving business planning with a blueprint for maturing your event management
framework.
Your current management capabilities are compared to the CA Event to Resolution maturity
models for people, processes and technology. A solution blueprint is developed, based on
CA Reference Architectures, which plots the way to progressively higher levels of maturity
and ROI improvements.
The assessment results in a Solution Architecture Overview (SAO) — a blueprint that
defines achievable solution phases to maximize problem determination and response
workflows, apply automation, and integrate service desk operations. CA Consultants and
Architects also research and map IT components to IT services, propose recommendations
and furnish business justifications to help you secure funding.
CA EVENT TO RESOLUTION MATURITY MODEL
The Event to Resolution Maturity Model helps you identify your current level of enterprise
event management capability. The maturity approach is a starting point towards the
creation of a solution blueprint that directs you to a higher state of availability and
performance effectiveness to deliver IT service levels and support business service capacity.
DESIGN – BUILDING THE RIGHT SOLUTION
CA Architects design successful systems management solutions for customers that range in
size from a single location business to global IT operations demanding 24x7 availability and
high speed performance. Additional value is delivered through the integration of the service
desk with Unicenter NSM.
Architects work with customers to review the assessment or document the “as is”
environment, conduct interviews to ensure that business and IT management goals are
addressed, correlate the features and functions of Unicenter NSM to your business and IT
26: CA Green Book, Systems Management

equirements, and identify hardware and customization requirements. As part of this
process, the Architect develops a comprehensive design and implementation plan or
Solution Architecture Specification (SAS). Where appropriate, the design builds upon the CA
library of Event to Resolution reference architectures to ensure the right technical
configuration. In addition, Architects utilize the CA Integrated IT Flows (IIFs) to secure
operational efficiencies. These repeatable IT processes provide time-tested quality and a
platform for growth.
CA Architects must be certified to create a design. The Architect qualification process is an
intensive two-year program that requires several industry certifications, IT management
technology and CA product trainings, and CA Architect governance board approval. We
require our architects to recertify at least every two years.
Customers who have in-house architects and are managing their own design planning but
may require supplemental assistance can take advantage of the Enterprise Systems
Management Solution Expert Package which provides customized short-term design
guidance or review within a specifically defined scope.
IMPLEMENTATION – THE BOTTOM LINE OF SOLUTION SUCCESS
Using the SAS as a guide, CA Consultants prepare the environment; install, configure, and
customize Unicenter NSM; verify and document Unicenter NSM on test, QA, and production
systems; and provide knowledge transfer to your staff. Implementation services also
include the development and deployment of integration components between
Unicenter NSM, your other IT management applications and your service desk.
To ensure that implementation efforts are tightly managed, PMP-certified project managers
track and report on progress, questions, issues and roadblocks. CA Technology Services
uses PMP-certified Project Managers and highly trained Architects, Consultants, and
Partners. On an annual basis, CA Technology Services invests 50% more in training our
professionals than the industry average.
Customers who have in-house skills and are managing their own deployments but may
require supplemental assistance can take advantage of the Enterprise Systems
Management Solution Deployment Package which provides customized short-term help
within a specifically defined scope.
OPTIMIZATION – ANTICIPATING CHANGE
Optimization services evaluate ways in which your existing systems management solution
can be further utilized or fine tuned. Healthcheck services can include tuning and
reconfiguration, upgrades, and migrations. Other services include training and certifications
that focus on increasing staff efficiency. Past experience has found that staff training results
in more efficient operations. These services are offered as onsite or offsite instructor-led,
self-paced, or web-based. Instructors or course developers are also certified experts and
dedicated to Unicenter NSM and other CA systems management solutions.
WHY TRUST YOUR SERVICE AVAILABILITY TO CA?
• Experience: CA has 30 years of enterprise systems management services experience.
• Proven Process: A dedicated assessments team plans, designs, and business-justifies IT
service and business process management recommendations for best practices into every
client blueprint.
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• Expertise: A vibrant community of worldwide professionals focused on systems
performance and availability shares their solutions knowledge and continually contributes
proven best practice workflows and solution models.
• Focus: CA Technology Services has a team of Solution Managers and dedicated Architects
who are devoted exclusively to the assessment, design, delivery, and workflow
methodologies offered around Unicenter NSM services and solutions.
CA’s Systems Management Solution Summary
Unicenter NSM has over 4500 licensed customers worldwide in just about every industry
including: Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Retail, Manufacturing, Education, State,
Local and Federal Government and Service Providers.
Unicenter NSM simplifies systems management, and ensures availability and performance
of critical IT resources with a centralized, adaptive and secure management environment
that is platform agnostic and highly adaptable.
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Chapter 4: Deployment
Architecture for Systems
Management
This chapter provides information to help you prepare for the installation and configuration
of CA’s Systems Management solution. It provides an overview of the key components of
the Unicenter NSM product and how they work together. The following key topics are
presented:
• Components of the Solution
• Solution Configuration
• Server Requirements
• Solution Sizing
• Distributed Intelligence Architecture
• High Availability Server Architecture
• Unicenter Repository Bridge
• Capacity Considerations for Agent Technology
• Deployment Checklist
Components of the Solution
This section provides an overview of the recommended components of CA’s Systems
Management solution and the capabilities they provide. The main components are as
follows:
• Management Components
• Performance Manager
• Management Portal
Management Components
The management components provided by Unicenter NSM deliver the primary systems
management capabilities to manage systems with agents or without (remotely), view the
status of the environment, respond to events, and perform advanced event correlation and
manage system performance.
DISTRIBUTED STATE MACHINE
The Distributed State Machine (DSM) is the manager of agents and provides the first level
of fault correlation in Unicenter NSM and controls the discovery of agents and the resources
they monitor. The DSM (process name aws_dsm) creates the managed object list for each
resource in the DSM Store and keeps the state information current, based on information
received from the agents.
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The DSM evaluates information received from managed nodes collected by agents (trap
data, poll responses, and user actions), converts the data by applying policy-driven logic to
each managed object to determine current object states, and then it makes that
information available to the Unicenter manager running on Windows and UNIX/Linux
platforms.
When the DSM determines that a state change has occurred for a managed object, it
reflects that change to the Unicenter WorldView components, and also notifies Event
Management of the state change, resulting in a corresponding alert, or Event Console
message.
The DSM stores managed objects and their current state in memory. When the DSM is
stopped and restarted, it obtains the last reported state for each previously monitored
object and the instance-level properties for those objects. A recommended best practice is
to deploy more than one DSM to provide for hot standby failover. The DSM components
provide critical functionality and we recommend that the loss of enterprise monitoring be
considered a critical service failure and accordingly the deployment plan should include a
second DSM that is able to be pressed into rapid service as part of a failover.
For details on the components of the DSM, see Inside Systems Management, in the section
entitled The Managing Layer.
AGENT TECHNOLOGY
The monitoring layer, or the agent layer, collects data about your enterprise and makes
information available regarding monitored resources using various interfaces, including the
MIB Browser, Agent View browser, dashboard, and Management Command Center.
The components in the monitoring layer run as processes that can be started and stopped
individually or as a group by the Service Control Manager (awservices).
This layer includes the following components (with each process in parentheses):
• Distributed Services Bus (aws_orb)
• Agents (agentname)
• Service Control Manager (awservices)
• SNMP / DIA Administrator (aws_sadmin and aws_agtgate)
WORLDVIEW MANAGER
The WorldView Manager monitors for changes in managed objects, propagates severity,
and populates Dynamic Business Process Views. The WorldView Manager also exposes
WorldView data to the Unicenter MCC and provides data to reports, dashboards, and
Unicenter Management Portal. As a best practice, it is recommended that the WorldView
Manager component reside on the same server as the Management Database (MDB).
Note: The WorldView Manager component cannot be installed on a Windows Domain
Controller.
EVENT MANAGEMENT
The Event Management system is the focal point for managing enterprise events from a
variety of sources throughout your network. Through the Event Manager, you can monitor
event activity and immediately respond to events as they occur. By filtering messages that
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appear on each console, you can retrieve specific information about a particular node, user,
or workstation.
• Scoping Views
Using event console log views, you can restrict message access to authorized users and
user groups and by further defining console view objects, you can filter messages from
the console log, thereby segmenting access to sensitive messages to only those
personnel who need that access.
• Applying temporal logic
Through the use of easily understood calendar profiles, you can establish date and time
controls for automated event processing that in turn can be used to automatically
determine the appropriate course of action to take based on when an event occurs,
which is a potentially critical element in ensuring proper handling.
• Policy-Based Event Handling
Using message record and action profiles, you can define policies which identify events
that are important to automate their handling and then define the special processing
that Unicenter NSM performs when encountering them. These easy to use, yet
powerful, capabilities can be further enhanced by using Advanced Event Correlation
(AEC) to identify a set of events that you want to monitor and correlate, and decide
what actions should be performed if correlation exists or does not exist.
NOTIFICATION SERVICES
Unicenter Notification Services provides facilities which can be used to send wired and
wireless messages using various protocols and services to the personnel who need to be
engaged (typically operators or administrators) to resolve a situation.
To be clear, Unicenter Notification Services is provided in addition to the Wireless
Messaging capabilities of Event Management. Specifically, where Wireless Messaging
included facilities that could be used to send email and pager-based notifications, Unicenter
Notification Services, includes the following additional notification services support:
• Email (SMTP, POP3)
• Wireless – WCTP
• Page – SNPP, TAP
• Short messages – SMS
• Instant Message – Sametime
• Voice – TAPI
• Script
MANAGEMENT COMMAND CENTER
The Unicenter Management Command Center (Unicenter MCC) user interface integrates all
Unicenter enterprise and network monitoring functionality into a single console. The
Management Command Center provides dynamic multi-viewer content, providing a
workplace that integrates relevant plug-ins, such as Alert Management System alerts,
Event Management System events, Agent events, Dashboards, and Web Reporting
Services, for the node you select.
Note: For specific information about using Unicenter MCC, see the Unicenter MCC online
help.
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ALERT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The Unicenter Alert Management System, a tool for organizing and tracking the most
important events in an enterprise or logical segment of an enterprise, provides tools for
defining alert policies and multiple panes in the Unicenter MCC for viewing alerts so that
your staff can focus on and manage the highest severity IT events.
To use AMS, you must first define policies that control how alerts are displayed and indicate
which event messages are alerts. You do this by defining alert profiles, creating message
record actions for alerts, and defining AEC correlation rules for alerts. The alert policies
define configuration settings for all alerts, group alerts for viewing in the Unicenter MCC,
and more. The message record actions and correlation rules indicate which serious
situations lead to alert creation.
After defining alert policies, you can view and manage alerts in the Management Command
Center with filters available so that a user of the MCC can view all alerts, alerts of a specific
type, and alerts associated with a managed object.
AMS also lets you link to Unicenter Service Desk which is a customer support and helpdesk
application that manages calls and IT assets, tracks problem resolutions, and shares
corporate knowledge. Interaction with the Service Desk reduces the workload of your
internal support staff by automating what would otherwise be manual tasks. For example,
in response to a problem condition being detected, one might need to open a service desk
ticket – but using the facilities inherent to AMS, you can open, update, and close Service
Desk requests automatically when an AMS alert is created, escalated, or closed.
CONFIGURATION MANAGER
You can manage agent configurations centrally and automatically using the Unicenter NSM
Configuration Manager. Unicenter NSM Configuration Manager is a utility that can be used
to automatically distribute or audit configuration settings for Unicenter product
components.
ADVANCED EVENT CORRELATION
Unicenter Advanced Event Correlation (AEC) integrates seamlessly with Unicenter Event
Management to provide powerful Event Correlation, Root Cause, and Impact Analysis
capabilities. When used in combination with other Unicenter capabilities, AEC can be used
to rapidly identify the root cause of problems being reported to the event console,
increasing the quality of the events brought to the attention of the personnel managing
your operations and reducing the quantity of the data that they would otherwise have to
process. Event reformatting and suppression capabilities also help to ensure that existing
management procedures implemented through Message Records and Actions are only
invoked when applicable, significantly reducing the number of false alarms encountered.
Using AEC, you can do the following:
• Distinguish between failure messages (which are the cause, and which are the symptoms
of the cause)
• Determine the root cause of failure
• Provide an impact analysis of a failure
• Diagnose and filter unwanted messages
• Respond to dynamically changing environments
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AGENTS
The following agents are available with Unicenter NSM r11:
• Windows System Agent
• Log Agent
• Active Directory Agent
• WMI Agent
• AS/400 System Agent
Customers can get further information about certified available agents from the
SupportConnect site:
http://supportconnectw.ca.com/premium/unicenter30/migration/nsm-migrationsite.asp
REMOTE (AGENTLESS) MONITORING
Unicenter Remote Monitoring is a component of Unicenter Network and Systems
Management (Unicenter NSM) that provides you the ability to remotely monitor the health
and availability of your network resources, including production servers and workstations.
The key distinguishing feature of Remote Monitoring is that it works by using non-intrusive
technology enabling you to monitor network resources without installing an agent on the
monitored device. Remote Monitoring accomplishes this by installing a Remote Monitoring
Agent on a single remote machine that will in turn probe the monitored resources for data,
status, and other information used to assess the health and availability of that resource.
This type of monitoring is particularly useful in the following situations:
• Requirement to deploy a resource monitoring solution quickly or temporarily.
• Requirement to monitor resources such as a Development or Quality Assurance (QA)
laboratory where agents on the actual machines could interfere with code testing or
operation.
• Requirement to monitor resources at a remote location through the WAN.
Unicenter Remote Monitoring can monitor the following resource types:
• Windows
• UNIX/Linux
• Mac OS X
• Any device with an IP address
Web Reporting Server
The Web Reporting Server (WRS) provides access to the Web-based reporting mechanisms
that are distributed with the product and includes services to register an application,
manage data sources, and to manage and process the report.
WRS is driven by report profiles that include information such as data source definition,
query definition and report styling information. For data that lends itself to presentations
using charts and tables; WRS includes support for charts, tables, or combinations of same
and further supports a summary version of reports suitable for inclusion in Portal
workplaces. The multiple types of chart presentations supported in WRS includes (but is not
limited to) line, area, bar, pie, stack area, and stack bar. WRS also includes facilities that
33: CA Green Book, Systems Management

can be used to configure a report, schedule the report for execution, and publish a new
report definition or report result.
WRS provides an explorer-style GUI that lets you browse the reports and perform certain
administrative tasks, such as managing the data source, configuring, scheduling and
publishing a report.
System Performance Manager
The System Performance Manager provides a flexible and extensible architecture that
simplifies the performance monitoring of the numerous systems and devices that make up
today's complex infrastructures. Its facilities for collecting, analyzing, and reporting
performance information simplify performance and capacity trend analysis, and increase IT
responsiveness to unexpected problems, ensuring higher service levels. Prepackaged
management policies and secure, centralized configuration further simplify administration.
PERFORMANCE DOMAIN SERVER
The Performance Domain Server holds all the performance configuration information for an
entire domain including multiple concurrent client support enabling multiple clients to
simultaneously connect to the Performance Domain Server and engage in configuration
operations.
The performance management components may be used to perform configuration
operations from any machine on which the Performance Configuration application is
installed. These same facilities make it possible for a single machine to administer multiple
domains but note that a client cannot connect to more than one Performance Domain
Server at a time.
PERFORMANCE DISTRIBUTION SERVER
Performance Distribution Servers request configuration data from the Performance Domain
Server and deliver it to the Performance Agents. As this data is centralized at the Domain
Server level, Distribution Servers operate without the need for any local persistent
information. Therefore, you can install or reinstall them without the need to backup and
restore the configuration data.
A key function of a Distribution Server is to manage performance data for the machines for
which it is responsible and maintain this data in its local cube store. Each Distribution
Server communicates with the others and is aware of the contents of their cube stores. In
fact, to operate efficiently, each Distribution Server must have knowledge of:
• All the performance cubes to which it has access in its local cube store.
• All the monitored machines for which other Distribution Servers have data.
• The identity of Distribution Server that is the primary source of data for each monitored
machine.
Management Portal
The Unicenter Management Portal (Unicenter MP) provides a personalized secure web
interface for Unicenter solutions, addressing customers’ needs for role-based management,
management by exception, simplicity of use, and helping to deliver IT as a service. Using
Unicenter MP, you can provide consolidated status information from multiple sources in a
single view, visual correlation between infrastructure management applications, filtered
34: CA Green Book, Systems Management

event notifications tailored to roles and responsibilities, dynamic web reporting, and highlevel
report summary and graphs suited to non-IT users.
Unicenter MP is an important part of the Unicenter family of IT infrastructure management
solutions. These comprehensive, value-added products ensure the health and optimal
performance of every aspect of your IT environment.
Unicenter MP provides a framework for accessing enterprise management data, but not the
generation of data itself. It relies on other Unicenter products to provide the enterprise
management information. Unicenter MP complements MCC by providing a web-based
management interface as well as a flexible integration point for other applications.
Solution Configuration
Now that we know which components to use, the question becomes how should they be
deployed?
Medium Enterprise Deployment
For an enterprise with 300-1500 machines the best practice is to distribute the major
components across several servers. This implementation is intended to provide a balanced
distribution of the management burden across several servers to ensure reliability, and
optimum performance.
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As shown in the following diagram, the distribution of Unicenter NSM components provides
diversity and failover capability, while maximizing system performance. Also shown are the
communications protocols operating between components.
The basic architecture for this size deployment is shown in the following figure:
36: CA Green Book, Systems Management

The table below defines how the CA Systems Management solution components are used:
Component
Central
Management
Server
UNIMDB
Management
Portal Server
UNIUMP
System
Performance
Server
UNISYSPERF
Intermediate
Manager
Servers
UNIDSMEM
Remote
Monitoring
Server
UNIURM
Managed
Devices
Description
This server is the central repository of information about servers within the
environment and houses the CA Management Database (MDB).
This system runs the Microsoft SQL database management system.
This server also houses the monitoring management functions of
Unicenter NSM r11.1. This includes centralized discovery of remote
servers, event management and event correlation.
This server also provides support for the Unicenter Configuration Manager.
This system collects server states and records them in the CA Management
Database, which can in turn be viewed from Unicenter NSM r11 Web
Reporting component.
It monitors all subordinate Intermediate Managers and can take over
monitoring for these servers in the event of an outage.
All subordinate Intermediate Managers forward events and state changes
to this server for event correlation.
This system houses the Management Portal. This server also provides
support for the Unicenter Configuration Manager.
The purpose of this server is to configure remote performance agents and
provide a repository of all detailed server performance data collected
within the environment.
Summarized performance data is stored within the MDB for summary
reporting.
The Unicenter NSM r11 Web Reporting component is installed on this
machine for both performance and server state reporting purposes.
The Unicenter NSM r11 Portal is installed on this server to provide Portal
services and role-based access to performance reports.
These components house the main server monitoring component and are
located in the remote locations.
This server polls servers electronically close to the management
component and receives transmissions from agents installed on remote
servers.
This system houses the Remote Monitoring server.
These machines are managed by the appropriate Intermediate Managing
Server. Agents would be configured to forward alerts and state changes to
the Intermediate Managing Servers.
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Server Requirements
For each of these machines the components to be installed are as follows, starting with a
basic Unicenter r11 foundation and adding System Performance and the Management Portal
to build a more comprehensive architecture.
The table that follows the diagram shown below describes the function of the
Unicenter NSM r11 components required for the basic architecture:
38: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Server
Function Component Platform Hardware
Disk
Space
UNIMDB Unicenter NSM r11.1 Server class machine
Unicenter NSM
r11.1
CA-MDB Server
Management
Database which
serves as
repository of all
managed
elements
WorldView Manager,
Administrative Client,
WorldView Provider
Agent Common Services,
DSM, Agent Views, DSM
Provider
Event Manager,
Administrative Client, Event
Provider, Alert Management
Management Command
Center
Windows 2000
Server or
above
Windows 2003
Standard or
above
SNMP Installed
& running
Static IP
Address
4 GB RAM
Dual
Pentium
IV 3.06
GHz
1 GB
Network
Card
40 GB
Alert Notification Service
Configuration Manager
Web Reports and
Dashboards
Windows System & Log
Agent, Performance Agent
Global Catalog
Event Server
DIA – UKB
UNIDSMEM Unicenter NSM r11.1 Server class machine – see UNIMDB
description above
Intermediate
Server
Agent Common Services,
DSM, Agent Views, DSM
Provider
Event Manager,
Administrative Client, Event
Provider, Alert Management
Microsoft SQL Client
UNIURM Unicenter NSM r11.1 Server class machine – see UNIMDB
description above
Remote
Monitoring
WorldView Administrative
Client
Event Agent
Unicenter Remote
Monitoring
Microsoft SQL Client
39: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Server
Function
Component Platform Hardware
Disk
Space
Managed
Resources
Unicenter NSM r11.1
Managed machine
Agent Common Services
System, Log, Performance
Agents
Minimum of:
Microsoft
Windows 2000
(Professional)
Microsoft
Windows XP
(Professional)
Microsoft
Windows 2003
(Standard)
Intel
Pentium
III 550
MHz, or
AMD
Athlon 600
512 MB
RAM
500 MB
Available
disk or
higher
The table that follows the diagram describes the function of the additional Unicenter NSM
r11 components required for a basic architecture now including System Performance:
40: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Server
Function Component Platform Hardware
Disk
Space
UNISYSPERF Unicenter NSM r11.1 Server class machine – see UNIMDB
description above
System
Performance
Server and
Portal Server
System Performance Domain
Server
Agent Common Services
Unicenter NSM r11 System,
Log, Event, Performance Agent
Microsoft SQL Client
+
160 GB disk to store performance data
Notice that additional System Performance elements have been deployed to existing
machine configurations. These additions include the deployment of the System Performance
Agents and Distribution Servers to balance the load of the System Performance duties.
The table that follows the diagram shown below describes the function of the additional
Unicenter NSM r11 components required for a basic architecture including System
Performance, with the final addition of the Management Portal:
41: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Server
Function Component Platform Hardware
Disk
Space
UNIUMP Unicenter NSM r11.1 Server class machine – see UNIMDB
description above
Management
Portal Server
Agent Common Services,
System Performance Agent
Configuration Manager
Unicenter Management Portal
Microsoft SQL Client
Next we will review key considerations in determining the sizing of the implementation.
Solution Sizing
The previous section provides an example of a standard deployment architecture for
Unicenter NSM to manage between 300 and 1500 servers. Before proceeding with the
deployment, you should review the proposed deployment architecture to ensure it meets
your specific needs. Some suggestions on questions to consider when performing that
review:
• Business Requirements what and why. What questions do you want Unicenter NSM to
be able to provide answers to? Do you want to know that business critical processes are
running? Do you want to know that communications with remote sites are performing
correctly? Are there Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and other monitoring
requirements, which can help identify the deployment focus? Are there security
requirements such as firewalls or DMZs that will affect monitoring traffic? What do you
want Unicenter NSM to do? Identifying and answering these sorts of questions are an
important part of the process to identify and address what might otherwise become
substantial obstacles to success.
• Who is going to use the information? The information gathered and presented must
fit the requirements of those who need it. Executives looking to satisfy their SLAs require
a different perspective than operations personnel. Care must be taken that your
deployment is able to support gathering of the information appropriate to meet the needs
of these very different constituents.
• Where do these people exist? Are the people who will be using these components in
headquarters? Or does the information need to be accessible in or from regional
operations centers? Do remote office managers need access to status information?
• Deployment Environment This includes the existing infrastructure – network
configuration, machine performance and distribution, and existing software and
procedures. Take into consideration any past technical issues and plans for future
changes to the environment. For example, has a particular network connection been
troublesome in the past? If so, your deployment plans should include consideration of
being able to provide some measure of autonomous operational monitoring and
management should that network path fail. Are there plans to upgrade or relocate the
servers or network paths to address those problems? If so, consider those matters in
your deployment planning as well.
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• Unicenter NSM Architecture This includes both the primary components and their
dependencies and communication requirements. For example, the Distributed State
Machine (DSM) monitors objects by polling and receiving traps messages through either
SNMP or DIA (to be discussed later). SNMP and DIA use different ports and have different
levels of reliability (SNMP being UDP based, DIA being TCP based) and the number of
objects that an individual DSM can reasonably monitor, as well as the timeliness of the
status changes it reports, is directly related to the quality of the network connection
between the DSM and its managed objects.
Capacity planning requires a careful review of all these elements in order to determine what
ratio and placement of components will deliver optimum product performance and delivery.
Although there are many other Unicenter NSM components, the section that follows focuses
on capacity planning for Agent Technology (AT). It identifies factors known to impact AT
capacity and provides guidelines based on performance testing. Note that these guidelines
are not a substitute for conducting careful predeployment testing in your own lab, based on
your particular environment and business requirements.
Note: It is recommended that you also review the Implementation Guide provided on the
Unicenter NSM installation media for additional information before performing your actual
deployment.
Planning Considerations for Agent Technology
Agent Technology is comprised of two primary components – the Distributed State Machine
(DSM) and Agents. These components provide valuable insight into the status of the
environment, but their effectiveness can be diminished significantly if not deployed and
tuned correctly for your environment and needs. The importance cannot be overstated of
proper placement of components and tuning of the resultant deployment to ensure
performance and capability consistent with operational requirements, infrastructure
capacity and business objectives.
BEST PRACTICES FOR DEPLOYING THE DISTRIBUTED STATE MACHINE
Agent Technology monitors network infrastructure, application servers, applications and
other components in order to detect and repair bottlenecks or outages as early as possible,
thereby reducing costly down time. The DSM monitors objects through polling or receives
trap messages (using SNMP or DIA), which in turn are used to compare an object’s current
condition with its previously detected condition to determine whether a change of state has
occurred that might affect availability.
The value provided by DSM is greatest when the information it is being provided is timely,
and accurate – which in turn makes it possible for DSM to provide you the timely and
accurate information you require to most effectively manage and monitor your
environment. For these reasons, you should keep the following guidelines in mind when
determining the appropriate number and distribution of DSMs for your environment:
• DSM placement should be relevant to achieve business goals and client specific
objectives
When selecting which machines to monitor, you should consider their relevance in
regards to achieving business goals and objectives. For example, while business critical
servers and infrastructure should be included in the complement of monitored
machines, other devices, such as desktop and laptop computers or printers, while
important, may not necessarily have to be monitored 24x7.
43: CA Green Book, Systems Management

• DSMs should be placed as electronically close as possible to the objects they are
monitoring (generally within 3 network hops)
When a DSM monitors distant objects, particularly objects separated by a WAN, timeouts,
lost traps and other gaps in information availability may occur, leading to
incomplete and potentially inaccurate views of status that can raise false alerts.
While using DIA (TCP-based messaging) is vastly superior to SNMP (UDP) in this regard
and accordingly is a viable option to ensure improved reliability of the monitoring,
monitoring large numbers of remote objects by TCP may introduce additional overhead
on your network segments that you would prefer to avoid. Installing a DSM regionally
may for some deployments provide the best alternative. That approach, however,
should also be applied judiciously because deploying a DSM in a remote location to
monitor only one or two machines would be a discouraged practice.
The point is that the network bandwidth and workload must be carefully analyzed and
considered in the context of operational requirements, infrastructure capacity, and
business objectives when determining how remote objects should be monitored. This
can be done using an iterative approach, and adjustments can be made to the
deployment quickly and easily should the need to do so become apparent. This
guidance about the number and placement of DSM components is offered only to
emphasize the importance of considering alternatives regarding where and how to
install components.
• A DSM’s anticipated workload should not exceed the capacity of the machine on
which it resides
The footprint of a DSM is largely dependent on the number of objects it monitors and
the stability of the environment. The DSM process (aws_dsm) is most CPU-intensive
during start up, but, once initialized, CPU lowers to have a minimum impact on the
server. The Distributed Services Bus (aws_orb), SNMP Gateway (aws_snmp), and DIA
(aws_agtgate) are all main processes of the DSM and will typically consume only
minimal amounts of resources. For those DSM deployments where a large number of
objects are being monitored, the DSM startup will be understandably longer than that
observed on machines where DSM is monitoring a smaller number of objects and
additional amounts of memory and processor resources will be similarly consumed.
For more rapid startup of DSM components, consider using the DSM “warm start”
option which can reduce the initial resource consumption and accelerate DSM
initialization. Please see Initialization Files in the Unicenter NSM Inside Systems
Management for more information on DSM warm start.
• DSM Polling Interval affects DSM capacity
The DSM’s main impact on the network is from polling. In lab tests with a 100 MB
network, DSMs can poll reliably up to approximately 500 polls per second. Gigabit
networks can reliably support about 1000 polls per second.
To be clear however, while a DSM can poll its agents and other objects at very short
intervals and therefore at high polling rates, this is a discouraged practice because it is
generally not necessary and accordingly would represent a significant additional load on
the network without benefit. Rather, we would suggest that polling be used to
supplement SNMP or DIA trap messages that agents issue at the time of a detected
state change. The trap mechanism has the benefit of being immediate, and eliminates
the latency that would otherwise exist when using polling. For example, there exists a
window between polling intervals when a state change might occur that would not be
detected using polling alone, until the next polling interval is reached.
44: CA Green Book, Systems Management

It is therefore preferable to use polling judiciously, using traps to indicate state change
and using polling primarily as the mechanism through which object (machine,
application, etc.) down conditions can be detected and to determine that the agent
itself and the path from the DSM to the agent are operational.
Using polling more extensively is, of course, fully supported but it is important to
emphasize that short polling intervals also affect the number of objects DSM can
monitor.
MAXPOLLRATE
Excessive polling consumes the MAXPOLLRATE. Consider, for example, a DSM
managing 30,000 objects where each managed object is polled once every 5 minutes.
That equates to more than 100 polls per second. Increasing the poll interval to 10
minutes reduces the network load to 50 polls per second.
In general, MAXPOLLRATE should be configured to minimize the impact of polling traffic
on the network while still enabling DSM to properly manage the objects for which it is
responsible. Projected polling should not exceed 50% of MAXPOLLRATE. For more
details on MAXPOLLRATE, see Unicenter NSM Inside Systems Management.
INDUCED LATENCY
Excessive polling due to polling intervals that are too short can also induce polling
latency which further reduces DSM capacity. When the number of polled objects grows
and the polling interval is too short, a condition can occur where a given polling cycle
cannot complete before the next polling cycle begins. This phenomenon causes a selfperpetuating
bottleneck that will cause DSM to be unable to manage the workload.
Increasing the poll interval resolves the situation.
• DSM should have fast reliable access to the CA Management Database
Ideally, a DSM should also have fast reliable access to its MDB, particularly during
startup when information must be transferred about the full inventory of objects the
DSM will be monitoring and during processing status updates. While reliable and swift
access from the DSM to its MDB is important, it is generally MORE important that a
DSM be located closer to the objects it is managing, rather than to the MDB.
Further, while special proximity typically does improve performance, it is not
recommended that DSMs used for primary monitoring be located on the MDB server
itself because the rate at which objects are transferred to the DSM during startup may
impact the performance of the other applications running on the MDB server machine.
Best practice is to always install a DSM on the MDB server, but that specific DSM
should not be configured to manage a large number of objects.
Facilities are provided that can be used to tune the transfer rate to reduce DSM startup
impact, although this may affect DSM startup performance. For information about this,
see “WorldView Gateway initialization configuration section” in Inside Systems
Management.
Note: Further discussion of DSM placement in relation to the MDB is provided later in this
document.
AGENTS
Although Unicenter agents provide a rich spectrum of data on many aspects of the
infrastructure, you should exercise care in determining which agents to install and on which
45: CA Green Book, Systems Management

systems. The OS System Agent can be reasonably installed on most server machines and is
often the most widely deployed agent.
Whether you are using Adaptive Configuration or classic configuration files to define agent
configuration, you should give careful consideration to ensure that the metrics collected are
pertinent to the health and well being of the host, the applications it supports and the
enterprise. The default configuration for the Windows OS system agent (caiWinA3), for
instance, can generate over 50 managed DSM objects. Multiply that by several hundred
Windows hosts and the DSM population can grow rapidly to critical levels. While
Unicenter NSM can handle this level of monitoring, it is important to focus on those metrics
that are most important.
MDB CONSIDERATIONS
MDB placement is of strategic importance in planning Agent Technology architecture. The
MDB must be accessible by the DSMs it serves, but it must also be accessible to the end
users that consume the data maintained in the MDB. Where it is not practical for a DSM to
access a remote MDB due to network constraints or business or organizational
requirements, then additional MDBs may also be placed in these locations.
Consideration should also be given to the location of the end users of MDB data. If, for
instance, there are regional operations centers that will be accessing the MDB, then
consideration should be given to locating additional MDBs in those regional operation
centers so that those systems can have local access to the data they require. In these
cases, critical alerts should be identified at the regional level and forwarded to the central
management locations using Bridge Services to provide a consolidated display of overall
system status.
Additional information regarding the MDB placement can be found in the “Local or Remote
MDB” document.
INGRES OR MICROSOFT SQL SERVER
Best practices recommend that Microsoft SQL Server (2000 or 2005) be the underlying
DBMS used for MDB except in the following cases, where an Ingres database is
recommended:
• The client requires that the MDB reside on a non-Windows server machine. Discussion of
the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution falls outside the scope of this
document.
• Small implementation where the additional cost of a separately licensed Microsoft SQL
Server instance is a critical factor.
In general, the guidelines that should be used to decide on system architecture are not
specific to a DBMS type. However, it may be a crucial piece of information when, after
considering all non-dependent factors, the outcome is not definitive. We will consider MDB
sizing later in this chapter.
DATA ISOLATION
When there are multiple DSMs monitoring objects in a single management database, it is
essential that they be segregated so that only a single DSM monitors each object. This can
be done in several ways – the most direct of which is through IP Address scoping. Using the
DSM Wizard or MCC Tools, IP address scoping can be implemented to restrict which IP
addresses a particular DSM monitors. The DSM will automatically update the MDB and DSM
objects once the new configuration is activated.
46: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Note: This does not apply to secondary DSMs which are deployed for fault tolerance or
failover purposes.
Distributed Intelligence Architecture
The Distributed Intelligence Architecture (DIA) allows a central location to manage all
components and aspects of a network. DIA makes data requests and retrievals standard
across otherwise different Unicenter components by providing a generic mechanism that
permits the dynamic deployment of necessary files to facilitate the correct monitoring of
any given system. DIA further allows for high speed, secure communications to transport
data while providing remote node management and inherent failover capabilities.
DIA consists of knowledge bases that are installed with management components such as
WorldView and the DSM. The knowledge bases are formed into a virtual grid and can be
further sub-divided by configuring DIA zones. The DNA components are installed with agent
installations and are registered to the DIA grid. The knowledge base is the main entry point
for any DIA consumers which want to drive or collect information from the DNA hosts.
DNA, the smallest subcomponent needed to hook into the DIA system, cultures the growth
of knowledge for Unicenter components by seeding the system. It gives the host system all
the necessary components for users to make intelligent system management decisions
based on the available information. The two main tasks of DNA are recognition and gene
management. They provide management capabilities and perform tasks to the system
which allow for data collection and communication.
How DIA Works
An understanding of how the DIA process works will help explain how it can be used to
enable your network to be managed from one central location. The DIA process entails the
initial configuration and subsequent processing of information across the IT infrastructure
as follows:
1. The knowledge base detects DNA through a registration process and creates the
required genes to support the current local installation; DNA recognition is automatic
and configurable.
2. The DNA recognizes software components and operating system attributes that
Unicenter may be interested in monitoring.
3. The following inventories are created:
a. Knowledge interfaces in a knowledge base
b. Software and services in each DNA environment
4. As requests come into the Unicenter knowledge base from consumers, they are sent to
the appropriate nodes for data collection. The Unicenter knowledge base collects
information from multiple sources like Event Management, WorldView, Agent
Management, and Unicenter agents.
47: CA Green Book, Systems Management

5. The Unicenter knowledge base takes all information obtained during detection and
deployment and populates the grid. If a knowledge base goes down, all managed nodes
are adopted by another knowledge base. Information is instantly replicated across all
knowledge bases.
6. Consumers such as Unicenter Management Portal issues requests to the Unicenter
knowledge base and the knowledge base submits those requests to the systems that it
knows about, based on information gathered when the computer was enabled.
More information on DIA can be found in the Unicenter NSM r11 Implementation Guide
WorldView Registration Server
Within each DIA Zone the first WorldView manager to be installed will be defined as the
WorldView Registration server, the WV Registration server maintains the WorldView objects
for the deployed objects such as WRS / Dashboard server / AMS / Portal /Event
Management. An example of an application that uses the WV registration server objects is
the MCC; when a server or agent class object is selected within the MCC a right pane plugin
for the dashboard server is available. The MCC uses the WV registration server to locate
the available dashboard servers within the DIA zone.
To confirm that the WV registration server is correctly configured, run the following
command on the World View server:
\Program Files\CA\SharedComponents\CCS\WVEM\BIN\switchwvregsrvr.bat
Example: Current Registration Server is: server01-nsmr111
The Registration Server will now be switched to: server01-nsmr111
You will be prompted to supply the userID and password in order to clean up the deployed
objects from the repository of the previous Registration Server.
Continue? [y/n] (default: n):
This is the output from the switchwvregsrvr command and the first line will show the name
of the Current Registration Server. You are prompted if you wish to switch the registration
server to the WV server where the command was run from. If no registration server is
defined the registration server will be defined as the WV server running the command. If a
registration has already been defined and you wish to change it you will be prompted for
the database credentials for the original registration server and then the credentials for the
new registration server, the utility will move the deployed objects from the existing
registration server to the new registration server before changing the registration server
location.
Knowledge Base architecture
A Knowledge Base (UKB) will automatically be installed with Unicenter NSM management
components such as WV / MDB / DSM. The UKB will initially attempt to communicate with
the master UKB. The master UKB is defined by either a setting in a DNS SRV record
(_grid._tcp.domainname.com) or by the masterkb setting in dna.cfg. Refer to DNA
registration section for more details. The master UKB is defined as the primary source for
DIA grid information. The master UKB holds the master grid table for all UKB’s and DNA
information. UKB’s and DNA components can be split into zones to segment DIA
components.
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DIA Zones
DIA Zones are a group of Knowledge Bases grouped together based on a rule file that is
deployed on the Master UKB. DIA Zoning allows for the segmentation of DIA components,
DIA components cannot communicate across zones, so a Unicenter Configuration Manager
server in Zone A cannot deliver to an agent machine on Zone B. The Master UKB contains
the master zone information for all of its zones; and a UKB running within a zone only
contains the subset of the Master KB tables relating to its particular zone. Updates to the
UKB are replicated to the master UKB, which then synchronizes the zone information to the
other UKB’s within the same zone.
Note: The MCC is the only application that is capable of communicating across zones.
DIA Zone and DNA Registration
AUTOMATIC DNA REGISTRATION PROCESS:
1. DNA will query the local DNA.cfg and check if the override MasterKB has been set. If
the flag is set the MasterKB name will be read from the dna.cfg file. Proceed to step 4.
2. If the override flag has not been set in the dna.cfg file the DNA component queries DNS
for SRV record _grid._tcp.dnsname.com
3. DNS returns name / port / priority of Master UKB server
4. DNA sends a request to Mater UKB for zone / UKB server registration details. Mater
UKB queries ukbrule.XML file for zone information.
5. Master KB will send back the name of the UKB to register to and the zone
6. DNA makes a registration request to the UKB server
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DNA REGISTRATION
DNA components within the environment need to be registered to the DIA grid before the
consuming applications can access the component data. When DNA is initially started it will
detect that it is not registered to a Knowledge Base (KB) and will start the registration
process as follows:
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DNA REGISTRATION BY DNS LOOKUP
DNA uses Domain Name Services (DNS) to locate / detect knowledge bases. Before
deploying r11 to the environment a DNS SRV record needs to be created and details for this
can be found in the Unicenter NSM Implementation Guide. When DNA components are
deployed this record will be used to locate the master Knowledge Base (UKB) and provide
zone information to the DNA component. The master Knowledge base should reside on a
resilient platform and we would recommend placing it either on the MDB or the primary
Unicenter NSM server. A secondary Master UKB can be specified by creating a second SRV
record with a priority of 2. In the event the Primary Master UKB is unavailable, the request
will be sent to the secondary.
DNA REGISTRATION BY CONFIGURATION FILE
DNA registration can also be controlled by setting the overrideSRV value within the dna.cfg
file on each DNA machine. The settings are used to configure the DNA registration process
and allows the option to override the SRV record in favor of a predefined UKB. A master
dna.cfg file can be incorporated into the Unicenter NSM master image when the master
image includes the support fix QO79200 for Unicenter NMS r11.0 or you are using
Unicenter NSM r11.1. This same procedure can be used to deploy default versions of
ukb.cfg and mykey at install time.
Further information on DIA configuration and enabling DIA encryption can be found in the
Implementation Guide, under DIA Reference.
51: CA Green Book, Systems Management

DIA Consumers
The following Unicenter r11.x applications utilize DIA technology:
• Unicenter Management Portal uses DIA to communicate with the following components.
› Worldview
› Event Management
› Alert Management
› Agent Technology
• Unicenter Configuration Manager utilizes DIA for the collection and delivery of agent
configuration and the delivery of file packages.
› Agent Technology Profile Delivery
› File Transfer – communication / C Gene
• Management Command Center utilizes DIA for the visualization of alert servers or queues
and Console Logs.
› Alert Management
› Console Logs
• Unicenter Remote Monitoring utilizes DIA for communication between the Admin UI and
URM Agent.
› Manager to agent communication / C Gene
• Unicenter Web Reporting Server (WRS) utilizes DIA for gathering data from WorldView /
Agent Technologies and Event Management.
› WorldView
› Agent Technology
• Unicenter Adaptive Dashboards (ADS) utilizes DIA for communication with agent
technology DSM and agents.
› Agent Technologies – DSM and agents
• Unicenter Agent Technologies can use DIA in place of SNMP for communication between
DSM and agents.
› DSM to Agent communication / C Gene
• Unicenter Advanced System management utilizes DIA as a communication layer for:
› Dynamic Resource Brokering
52: CA Green Book, Systems Management

High Availability Server Architecture
High Availability Server (HAS) includes a set of extensions to Unicenter NSM that provide
fault-tolerant functionality when running Unicenter NSM in a cluster environment. When a
Unicenter NSM component is installed, the installation checks for the existence of the HAS
service on Windows, or the HAS daemon on UNIX/Linux. If this service or daemon exists,
the Unicenter NSM component registers with HAS and installs what it needs to be highly
available. The HAS service or daemon, which runs on all cluster nodes, acts as the
middleman between the cluster and the Unicenter NSM components. The HAS service or
daemon monitors the cluster, and provides notifications when resource groups change
state.
The Cluster Service Layer (CSL) insulates Unicenter NSM from cluster complexities and
thus, makes Unicenter NSM components independent of any specific vendor clusters.
Unicenter NSM components communicate to HAS using the CSL.
For additional information, review the Unicenter NSM r11.x Administrator Guide, Appendix
A: Making Components Cluster Aware and Highly Available.
53: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Unicenter Repository Bridge
When architecting Unicenter NSM there will be occasions when the worldview objects and
status will be required in multiple repositories (MDB), this may be for scalability reasons or
to allow for a segmented view of the data. When new objects are created in the destination
repository the registration API will be called to update the common asset tables. This will
allow for the creation of an enterprise level MDB.
These are some examples of when the Repository Bridge is used:
• Restricted Operator/Regional Views
› Enhance Security Model
› Scaling…filtering...information reduction
Destination
A
Destination
B
Destination
C
Bridge
Bridge
Bridge
Source
A
• Facilities Management
DSM
› Global Network Operations Center (GNOC)
› Central Summary View of Regions
› Call Center
› Bridge Key objects showing problems
Destination
A
Bridge
Bridge
Bridge
Source
A
Source
B
Source
C
DSM
DSM
DSM
The Bridge repository service relies on access to the severity propagation service for
information on status changes. For this reason the bridge service should be installed on the
source repository when bridging between r11 repositories.
54: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Capacity Considerations for Agent Technology
The term “capacity,” when used in the context of planning a solution, should be understood
to mean not simply the maximum load that can be applied but also the ability to deliver the
results required in compliance with a specified service level under a given load. Significant
improvements in performance for Unicenter NSM r11 components make it possible, in
general, to reduce the number of DSMs deployed when compared to previous versions.
Reducing the number of DSMs can reduce both hardware and administrative costs driving
down the total cost of ownership while still keeping DSMs electronically close to its agents.
Although capacity discussion for AT centers around the DSM, you should first be aware of
how AT scaling decisions impact MDB capacity.
Best Practices for MDB Capacity
MDB utilization is based on the number of managed objects it holds and other factors, such
as agent activity and network alerts. Utilization will also be impacted if other Unicenter
applications will use the MDB or if the host system will support other applications or
databases.
Consider the following graph:
Objects
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
Supported MDB Objects
Based on Utilization Percent
0
0 25 50 75
Anticipated MDB Activity %
100
The capacity of the MDB is a linear scale varying from 75,000 to 25,000 managed objects
based on the percent of MDB utilization anticipated where the lower numbers are due to
higher anticipated activity.
Note: MDB managed objects should not be confused with DSM objects. MDB managed
objects represent objects that are displayed in the MCC, WorldView 2D Map and other
WorldView entities. These objects include things like hosts, agents, network devices,
network links, hierarchal inclusions, and so forth. Although DSM objects are associated with
managed objects, they reflect what is found by the DSM 2nd level discover (which is driven
by policy). There is no direct relationship between the two object types and no simple rule
55: CA Green Book, Systems Management

for converting the number of managed objects into the number of DSM objects. DSM object
counts, however, are generally much larger than managed object counts.
Database servers hosting MDBs with low utilization should typically have at least the
following minimum specifications (for more information on server configuration, see
“Unicenter NSM Infrastructure Sizing Tool”):
• CPU Count = 1
• CPU Speed = 2800 MHz
• RAM = 2048 MB
Note: All recommended hardware configurations provided in this paper are best practice
guidelines not requirements. Local conditions and configurations should be carefully
considered in determining optimal hardware configuration.
Database servers hosting MDBs with medium to high utilization should typically have at
least the following minimum specifications:
• CPU Count = 2
• CPU Speed = 2800 MHz
• RAM = 4096 MB
When considering enhancements to these hardware specifications, priority should be given
to including additional memory and upgrading disk systems (for example, 1 or more RAID
10 arrays).
Best Practices for DSM Capacity
DSM capacity estimates are based on the number of objects a DSM may monitor adjusted
for other factors such as agent and network alert activity. Consideration should also be
given to available network capacity between the DSM and both the objects it will monitor
and the MDB.
DSM activity has a profound effect on the DSM capacity. The chart below shows DSM
capacity as a linear scale, varying from 50,000 to 30,000 objects, based on the percent of
DSM activity anticipated - where a DSM in an extremely stable environment could manage
up to 50,000 objects but a DSM in an extremely unstable environment might only handle
30,000 objects.
Note: These are not hard limits.
56: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Supported DSM Objects
Based on Utilization Percent
60000
50000
40000
Objects
30000
20000
10000
0
0 25 50 75
Anticipated DSM Activity %
100
Three factors that most impact DSM capacity are:
• Location in regards to MDB (local or remote)
• Host machine capacity
• Network capacity
MDB LOCATION AND COLD STARTUP
DSM startup is one of the busiest times for the MDB during a DSM run cycle. It is also a
critical time as the environment is not properly or completely monitored until startup is
completed and therefore startup must be done as quickly as possible. Initial DSM Discovery
or Cold Start on a large DSM can take thirty to sixty minutes or more. The DSM Warm Start
option may reduce startup time by preloading DSM with the previous object inventory and
state. During warm start, DSM executes its normal second level discovery process but only
posts notifications of object states that differ from the previous state reducing workload and
time.
Second level discovery occurs during DSM start up and is made up of four important
operations. First, DSM must receive its inventory of hosts to manage from the MDB and
determine their existence. Then it discovers any agents active on the hosts. Next agent
instantiation occurs wherein configured monitored metrics are discovered. And finally DSM
updates the MDB with the new status.
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The charts below demonstrate the impact on a cold startup of a local versus a remote MDB.
In the first chart below, a workload of simulated devices is evenly divided between two
DSMs, one local and one remote. The chart shows that the remote DSM completed its
startup in about 30 minutes while the local DSM started well but took nearly twice as long
to finish due in part to heavy MDB processing.
Local & Remote DSM Startup
Local DSM Remote DSM Combined
90000
80000
70000
60000
Objects
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
:00 :05 :10 :15 :20 :25 :30 :35 :40 :45 :50 :55 :60
Elapsed Time
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In the chart below, the same workload was split between two DSMs using a common
remote MDB. Here the startup performance was almost parallel and, in fact, it was a little
faster than the remote DSM performance above. Note that while remote, these DSMs and
the MDB were located on the same high performance subnet.
2 Remote DSMs Startup
Remote DSM 1 Remote DSM 2 Combined
90000
80000
70000
60000
Objects
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
:00 :05 :10 :15 :20 :25 :30 :35 :40 :45 :50 :55 :60
Elapsed Time
As mentioned earlier, the DSM should also be as electronically close to the MDB as possible
but it remains more important that the DSM be close to its monitored objects.
Generally, the DSM and MDB may be co-located in smaller installations as startup
implications are smaller. In fact, best practice is to always install a DSM on the MDB server
for at least two reasons. First, it becomes the default DSM for newly discovered machines
so that they will be monitored even before they have been moved to their desired DSM.
Second, this DSM should not be used to monitor a large number of objects; it is a good
option for monitoring the other DSMs in the environment.
HOST MACHINE CAPACITY
Naturally, the most prominent constraint is the capability of the host on which the DSM
runs. All host performance management comes down to 3 constraints – memory, CPU and
I/O – and DSM is no different. DSM consumes a lot of memory depending on its workload –
not just for the aws_dsm.exe process but for its other components, such as aws_snmp, as
well. When DSM shares the machine with a DBMS server or other applications, it is
important to make certain there is enough available RAM to handle all memory requests
without excessive paging.
The next critical element is the CPU(s). By itself, Aws_dsm does not take advantage of a
multiprocessor system. However, various DSM processes can be run on different processors
so that a multiprocessor system can be used to good advantage. Aws_dsm.exe is extremely
CPU intensive during startup and during periods of high status volatility. Aws_snmp and
aws_orb are always quite active as they handle all of the message traffic to and from the
DSM. Therefore, multiple CPUs are desirable in an active large environment.
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The following are guidelines for general server hardware based on DSM utilization as
previously defined. (Refer to “Unicenter NSM Infrastructure Sizing Formulas” for more
specific guidelines.)
Lightly loaded DSM servers:
• CPU Count = 1
• CPU Speed = 1600 MHz
• RAM = 1024 MB
Moderately loaded DSM servers:
• CPU Count = 2
• CPU Speed = 2800 MHz
• RAM = 2048 MB
Heavily loaded DSM servers:
• CPU Count = 2
• CPU Speed = 2800 MHz
• RAM = 4096 MB
When enhancing DSM server hardware configuration, priority should first be placed on
memory and increased CPU speed.
Best practice is to have a DSM as the primary user of a server. However, when the
workload is very light, such as in a small remote office, then the DSM (and MDB if need be)
can be co-located with other applications on a server.
Configuration 1: Assume a headquarters building or campus environment where
Unicenter NSM is to manage 100 to 300 machines and network gear. All monitoring is
considered local with no WAN links. An environment such as this may produce 20 to 25,000
DSM objects based on each server having an OS agent, some of the servers having a log
agent, and some of the servers having some other agent. Depending on ratios, this number
could vary considerably but assume that each OS agent generates about 50 to 60 objects,
while the log and other agents generate 20 objects each. The object per agent number is
critical as it can quickly explode the DSM population. Where do these objects per agent
numbers come from?
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Examine the default Windows OS System Agent for an example.
The Node View depicted above is of a Windows 2003 Server with only a Windows OS agent
installed using the default configuration. Each object in the figure represents a DSM object.
Here, 36 DSM objects are shown as follows:
Object Class
DSM Objects
Host 1
AWsadmin 1
IP_Interface 2
Windows System Agent 32
This configuration does not include any services, processes, files, and so forth. There could
easily be 20 additional metrics are monitored per agent. Some agents produce a very large
number of managed objects; an Active Directory agent, for instance may represent 120 or
more DSM managed objects. So, it is not only the type of agent but the metrics monitored
that must be considered when sizing the environment.
NETWORK CONSIDERATIONS
While a DSM may handle 30,000 objects or more, the constraining factor is as likely to be
the network architecture as server hardware or other factors. Deciding whether to monitor
a group of machines locally or remotely is governed by a combination of a DSM’s utilization
and network configuration. (Refer to “Unicenter NSM Infrastructure Sizing Formulas” for
more specific guidelines.) For example, if a DSM’s workload would be 34,000 objects (or
80% utilization in the previous chart) or more and the network connection to the target
subnet is 10Mbps or less, then an additional DSM monitoring the subnet would be
recommended. However, a local DSM is not recommended where the network is 100 Mbps
61: CA Green Book, Systems Management

or better and DSM capacity is available. In considering these decisions, be certain to allow
for unexpected DSM workload as well as network congestion and reliability by applying
these parameters conservatively.
Configuration 1: Assume the architecture has network connections of 10 Mbps or better
within the headquarters and to the regional offices with 256 Kbps to the local offices. In this
case, the environment could be monitored with servers monitoring an average of about 20-
25,000 objects each. The recommended configuration of the DSM servers in this case is
dual CPUs of about 2.8 GHz or better and 2 GB of memory.
Configuration 2: Assume 2 Mbps or slower network connections from headquarters to the
regional offices and 1 Mbps to the local offices. Here, the network performance and capacity
constrains DSM traffic with the regional offices and the recommended architecture places
DSMs at each of the regional offices instead. The headquarters and local offices could be
monitored from headquarters by servers with dual CPUs of 2.8 GHz or better and 2 GB of
memory with 4 of those used for the local offices. Each regional office will have a DSM
server of the same configuration. So, the slower network to the regional offices requires
one additional DSM server to manage the environment when compared to configuration 1.
Configuration 3: Assume 2 Mbps or slower network connections from headquarters to the
regional offices and 128 Kbps or slower connections to the local offices. Here, the network
performance and capacity constrains DSM traffic with the local offices so that it is no longer
practical to manage them from headquarters or the regional offices. In this case, a DSM
installed on a single CPU machine of about 1.6 GHz and 1 GB of memory should be installed
in each local office or since DSM is expected to be lightly loaded co-locating it on a server
handling other applications might be considered.
These examples, while valid, are somewhat simplistic in that they do not consider other
factors that require consideration when designing architecture. Consider the following
configuration:
Configuration 4: Assume the same configuration as in Configuration 2 but the
organization has decentralized systems operations to the regional offices which maintain
their own network operations staff. It may, therefore, be considered more consistent with
business practices and management structure to install a second DSM server in each
regional office to share the load of monitoring the regional office and its subordinate local
offices. Consideration may also be given to implementing an MDB in each regional center to
provide better access to network management data to the local staff. The machine
configuration would be in the range of dual 2.8 GHz or better CPUs with 2 GB of memory.
Depending on network architecture, this arrangement may provide more reliable monitoring
of the local offices because the connections are more direct.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
Many enterprises do not fit neatly into a single architectural type but rather are a hybrid of
one sort or another. Perhaps there is a large headquarters operation but also local offices
and perhaps a subsidiary within the corporate structure. Or perhaps there are several peer
level locations with redundancy to support disaster recovery operations. Of course, there
are many others.
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Configuration 1: Assume a headquarters campus with a remote subsidiary operation that
is monitored and controlled from headquarters. Assume headquarters has 200 Windows
servers and 50 UNIX servers all of which have OS agents generating 50 DSM objects each
and 10% have log agents generating 10 DSM objects each. This would generate about
22,000 DSM objects.
Assume the subsidiary location has 50 Windows servers each with OS agents generating
about 50 DSM objects each and 10% have log agents generating 10 DSM objects each.
Assume the network connection to the subsidiary is 2 Mbps. The subsidiary would generate
about 4,500 DSM objects.
Since the headquarters staff is responsible for monitoring the subsidiary, the recommended
configuration would be to place the MDB and DSMs at headquarters. It would be
recommended that the MDB be installed on its own machine. This machine would require
WorldView Manager to be installed and best practice would be to install a DSM, Event
Management and providers here as well. As described above, this DSM would be to catch
unassigned objects and monitor the other DSMs. This machine could be a single CPU
processor of about 2.8 GHz or better and 2 GB of RAM.
Two DSM machines would be recommended and these should be 2x2.8 GHz or better and 2
GB of RAM.
Configuration 2: Assume an organization similar to the one in Configuration 1 above but
where service level agreements (SLA) or business priorities require near zero down time.
Unicenter NSM provides a solution through its High Availability Service (HAS) feature. The
Unicenter NSM installation recognizes when a Microsoft MSCS or certain other cluster
environments are available and automatically installs HAS. (Refer to Appendix A: Making
Components Cluster Aware and Highly Available in the Unicenter NSM Administrators Guide
for more information.) Depending on the cluster configuration, this can enable users to
achieve near zero down time.
Configuration 3: Again, assume the same organization, but where there is a security
requirement to maintain protection from the outside world through implementation of a
DMZ protected by a firewall. There are several architectural solutions to this situation but
depending on the activities and monitoring requirements, it is likely that an additional DSM
installation will be required in the DMZ and whether it must be a standalone machine or
collocated on another machine depends on its projected workload as discussed in the
discussions regarding remote offices above. (Please refer to the Unicenter NSM
Implementation Guide for more information.)
Managing DSM Workload to Optimize Capacity
There are several tools available to manage the DSM workload and, therefore, to optimize
the DSM’s capacity.
• IP Address Scoping
• Class Scoping
• Polling
IP ADDRESS SCOPING
IP Address Scoping is the most obvious choice for managing DSM workload. Using either
the DSM Wizard or the MCC DSM Configuration tool the scope of IP addresses managed by
DSM can be controlled thereby limiting the number of hosts DSM manages. One can
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assume that each managed host discovered by DSM will result in about 50-75 managed
objects. A couple of subnets of managed servers can quickly become a significant number
of managed objects and exhaust DSM resources.
Note: This is a very loose estimate. Consider that several agents, including system and log
agents, could have dozens of watchers each.
CLASS SCOPING
By default, DSM will manage every class of object defined to the MDB. This could be
desirable or it could be wasteful. For instance, perhaps there are agent classes that do not
exist in the site’s inventory. DSM will still interrogate each object of a host class that could
potentially be a parent of the agent class during startup delaying DSM settling. For
instance, policy for both the caiW2kOs and caiWinA3 agent classes declare their parents as
the same group of machines. This means that every machine of the 5 classes comprising
the group will be interrogated for both agent classes. If caiW2kOs is not active in the
environment, remove it from the scope.
Parent classes can also be reduced by editing the gwclass.dat and gwclassii.dat files. For
instance, if monitoring Workstation class machines is not required, removing the
Workstation entry in these files prevents aws_wvgate from retrieving them from the MDB.
Also, all subclasses of the classes listed in the policy files will be retrieved which could
exacerbate the condition.
POLLING
Polling is another important factor affecting DSM performance and the number of objects it
can manage. The first thing to understand is that polling whether using DIA or SNMP is
actually controlled by the aws_snmp gateway. DSM passes polling requests to aws_snmp
gateway and it issues as many poll requests as required up to the value defined in
MaxPollRate in the atservices.ini file each second. By default MaxPollRate is 300 polls per
second in Unicenter NSM r11.x.
The second thing to consider is the polling interval required by your site. CA Best Practices
state that polling intervals should normally be 10 to 20 minutes as polling is considered a
backup for traps. In those environments where more intense polling is required the number
of objects managed by a DSM may need to be reduced.
Consider the following when calculating projected polling rates:
• Network infrastructure
• You should target no more than 50% and no less than 20% of the MaxPollRate utilization
• Required polling interval
• Suppose you determine to limit polling to 200 per second. For a 5 minute polling interval
(300 seconds) do not attempt more than 30,000 polls during the interval (300 polls X .5
X 200 polls/second = 30,000 polls every 5 minutes)
• Assuming 50 monitored objects per host, the DSM in the example above should monitor
no more than 600 hosts
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Deployment Checklist
CHECKLIST
• Shut down all applications on the machines being configured, including CA applications
• If an existing MDB will be shared by Unicenter NSM and other applications, see –
Installation Guide, under Database Configuration Considerations
• Setup the database server/client and test connections. Ensure that no reserved roles or
groups are already in use – see Installation Guide
• Warning messages and system restarts may be required, prepare by reviewing the
Installation Guide
• System Performance requires that Microsoft Excel be installed
• System Performance requires “log on as a service”.
› Start > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy
› Add the user to ‘Log on as a service’
• How and when to configure the DNS for the SRV? – Implementation Guide, Appendix A
• Potential conflicts when using SNMPv3 – see guide Agent Technology Support for SNMPv3
• Check for port conflicts – see Administrator Guide – Appendix F
• Firewall usage – check for ports that are open for discovery
• Unicenter Notification Services may have a problem with some firewall or antivirus
software – see Administrator Guide
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Chapter 5: Best Practices for
Deploying Unicenter NSM
This chapter discusses how to install and configure the components that comprise CA’s
Systems Management solution. It also outlines best practices for configuring the
components to monitor for events, performance, and how to secure the solution.
The following key topics are presented:
• Deployment Planning
• Deploying the Product
• Configuring Your Setup
• Managing Agent Configurations with Unicenter Configuration Manager
• How to Configure Event Manager
• Extending Event Management Functionality with Advanced Event Correlation
• How to Configure Alert Management System
• How to Configure and Manage Distributed State Machine Environments
• Modifying DSM Configuration Options using DSM Wizard
• Publishing Reports with Web Reporting Server
• Utilizing Notification Services
• Securing Unicenter NSM
• Discovering Your Enterprise
• Management Command Center Provides Dynamic Multi-Viewer
• Relating Managed Objects with Business Process Views
• Monitoring Events Through Console Logs
• Running Discovery and Configuring the DSM through the MCC
Deployment Planning
Before you start your deployment of Unicenter NSM, it is important to plan the overall
deployment and installation including review of preinstallation tasks. Doing this up front
work can dramatically simplify and streamline the overall deployment process.
Installation Methods to consider
You can install Unicenter NSM using any of the following methods:
• Unicenter Product Explorer
• Unattended Installation
• Deploying agents using the Reduced Install Media
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• Desktop and Server Management
• Upgrade and Migration
INSTALL USING UNICENTER NSM PRODUCT EXPLORER
The Unicenter NSM Product Explorer starts automatically when the Unicenter Network and
Systems Management Installation DVD is mounted on a Windows platform. Using the
Unicenter Product Explorer you can easily:
• Determine the version of Windows the Product Explorer is executing on and automatically
make selectable the appropriate options.
• Search (using the search feature or F3) to find specific components for installation by title
or keyword.
• Get access to detailed product information using the Product Information button, which
provides access to reference materials and the readme file.
• Get access to detailed systems requirements information using the System Requirements
button, which when clicked, provides the hardware and software requirements specific to
whatever component is selected.
UNATTENDED INSTALLATION
Unattended installation is available for Windows platforms, and lets you use a response file
to answer installation questions. You can create the response file by selecting the “Build
Unicenter NSM response file for unattended install” option in the Windows setup.
Working from the initial Product Explorer dialog, you can choose to register response files
to define custom installation procedures for Unicenter NSM deployment. To register custom
installation procedures of Unicenter NSM, the setup walks you through creating a response
file that lets you request the installation of one or more individually selected components,
common agent configurations, or all Unicenter NSM components.
The response file generated is a text file that you can further edit or customize and use to
respond to all configuration prompts that might occur during installation. This file is ideal
for use when deploying products to remote desktops and servers because this eliminates
any prompts that might otherwise appear during the installation and provides for an
unattended install.
For detailed information about response files see the installation chapter of the
Unicenter NSM Implementation Guide.
DEPLOYING AGENTS USING THE REDUCED INSTALL MEDIA
When deploying Unicenter NSM from the shipped media the entire contents of the DVD
must be made available to the installer. This involves either mapping the DVD onto a
network share or packaging the entire DVD into your software distribution application. Due
to the size of the installation package this can cause issues because of the time it takes to
download.
A downloadable option called Reduced Size Install Image (RSII) has been made available to
CA customers that can be used to create a new master image significantly smaller than the
shipped media. The RSII master image can be used for agent installations and migrations.
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The agents available for deployment by RSII are as follows:
Windows System Agent
caiWinA3
Unix / Linux Agent
CaiuXs02
System Performance Agent
hpaagent
Active Directory Agent
caiAdsA2
Log Agent
CaiLogA2
WMI Agent
CaWmiAgent
The master image created by RSII can be used for either unattended deployments or
through the RSII product explorer. The table below has been created to show the space
reduction achieved by utilizing RSII technology.
Version /
Platform
Current Image
Size
RSII Image
Size
Space
Reduction
11.1 / Windows 1640 MB 198 MB 1442 MB
11.0 / Linux 1120 MB 150 MB 970 MB
11.0 / Solaris 140 MB 140 MB 0 MB
11.0 / HP-UX 220 MB 220 MB 0 MB
11.0 / AIX 150 MB 150 MB 0 MB
TOTAL 3270 MB 858 MB 2412 MB
A client can follow these steps to download the Reduced Size Install Image utility from the
CA SupportConnect web site:
1. Open a browser, go to supportconnect.ca.com, and log in.
2. Click Published Solutions in the Downloads area on the left side of the window.
The Published Solutions - Search pane opens.
3. Search for the following published technical fixes, and download the files.
Note: For Linux or UNIX you will download two fixes, one to update Unicenter NSM r11
for your platform and the other to create the reduced-size install image. For Windows
you will download one fix that contains both RSII and updates to Unicenter NSM r11.1.
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Linux or UNIX
› QO81301 - RSII
› QO81302 - Linux
› QO81303 - Solaris SPARC
› QO81304 - HP-UX
› QO81305 - AIX
Windows
› QO81306 - RSII and updates
4. Click Toolbox and download the latest version of Applyptf.
All the files you need are now available to upgrade Unicenter NSM and create the
agent-only install image.
Full instructions on creating a reduced-size install image can be found in the guide
NSM_ReducedInstall_ENU.pdf, which is contained within the download.
INSTALL USING DESKTOP AND SERVER MANAGEMENT
Unicenter NSM additionally provides facilities that may be used to register Desktop and
Server Management packages, so that you can easily automate the delivery, installation,
and configuration of Unicenter NSM components across your network using CA Business
Services Optimization (BSO) products like Software Delivery.
Working from the initial Product Explorer dialog, you can choose to register response files
that contain custom installation procedures for Unicenter NSM deployment. Once created,
the complete Unicenter NSM installation image — including the response file, is registered
to the BSO Desktop and Server Management as a single package. This capability is quite
robust and includes support for creation of multiple response files that can be used with
Desktop and Server Management to support different types of installations using the same
Desktop and Server Management package.
The BSO Desktop and Server Management solutions support a multi-tiered architecture that
lets you stage product installation images across the enterprise and invoke the installation
from a local software store.
Note: To use this installation method you must install the BSO Desktop and Server
Management Enterprise, Local, or Workgroup Server, or an Admin Console. It is important
to note that the BSO solutions are sold and licensed separately. These solutions must be
previously installed and configured if they are to be used to install Unicenter NSM
components.
For detailed instructions about this installation method see Register Unicenter NSM with
Desktop and Server Management in the Installation chapter of the Unicenter NSM
Implementation Guide.
UPGRADING AND MIGRATING
When upgrading or reinstalling, log on as the same operating system user that performed
the first installation (on Windows this is typically Administrator, on UNIX this is typically
root). Some aspects of the product, such as the Start Menu folder, are intentionally tailored
just to the user who installed the product and users may have further customized Start
Menu items for themselves or other users using utilities such as CAUTCFG.EXE.
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It is important to be aware of this because if you install a prior release as User A and
upgrade to a newer release as User B, only the Start Menu icons that User B originally had
(if any) will be upgraded for the new product. When performing installations en masse
using Desktop and Server Management, this becomes especially important as the Desktop
and Server Management installations can run either as SYSTEM or as a particular user.
Upgrading a product that was installed under User A through Desktop and Server
Management that is running under User B (which may be user SYSTEM) will result in Start
Menu items not being upgraded in a fashion consistent with what you might otherwise be
expecting.
For information about upgrading and migrating an existing version of this product, see the
Unicenter NSM Migration Guide. For the latest version of the guide, visit
http://ca.com/support. After you have logged in, in the left panel under the Downloads
topic, select Documentation. You are directed to an area where you can search for the
guide.
Preinstallation Tasks
This section includes any preinstallation tasks specific to supported platforms and
components. You must perform the preinstallation tasks to ensure a successful
implementation. The following supported platforms and components require preinstallation
tasks.
SHUT DOWN PROTECTION SOFTWARE
Any protection software, such as eTrust Access Control, must be shut down prior to a clean
installation or an upgrade of Unicenter NSM. eTrust Access Control protects against
unauthorized adds, deletes, or updates to users and usergroups. Unicenter NSM creates
users during the installation, such as the nsmadmin and cautil users. Any of these
operations can either fail or result in a disabled user. Restart the security software when
the installation or upgrade is complete.
See the eTrust Access Control documentation for the commands and instructions to stop
and start the software.
CONFIGURE DIA
The Distributed Intelligence Architecture components provide a secure communications
conduit between several of the Unicenter NSM components. Before installing Unicenter NSM
r11, there are several tasks you need to perform to ensure that the Distributed Intelligence
Architecture (DIA) is configured to operate in your environment. You must complete these
configuration tasks before you begin the installation.
PREPARE THE DISTRIBUTED STATE MACHINE (DSM)
We recommend that you plan to install each DSM physically close to the resources it will
manage. This is partially based on the fact that DSMs have a capacity that is based on
polling cycles and if the DSM has to poll across multiple routers, the round-trip time to
complete each poll increases, which in turn can limit the number of machines that a DSM
will have the capacity to manage. If the round-trip time is excessive, consider decreasing
the DSM capacity.
If the round-trip time exceeds 5 to 10 seconds, this may impact a DSM’s ability to complete
its polling cycle leading to excessive latency. In this case, you should consider decreasing
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the DSM capacity, increasing polling intervals, or adding an additional DSM closer to the
monitored objects.
The number of objects that a DSM can monitor varies with your hardware specifications. A
commonly used (and successful) rule of thumb for sizing a DSM is as follows:
• Windows-based server (Intel architecture using Pentium III (700 MHz))
• 512 MB of RAM
• 4 GB or more of disk space.
• Can managed up to 20,000 managed objects
Further tuning, by adjusting polling intervals at the object and class levels, can allow DSMs
to run up to 50,000 objects for polling over a local area, but DSMs handling this many
objects should be supported by faster processors and additional RAM (more than 1GHz CPU
with 1GB RAM or more).
If you are polling objects at remote locations over slow connections, we suggest a
maximum of 10,000 managed objects; the effective maximum may be less.
If you are monitoring more than 100,000 objects with a single DSM, that DSM should be
installed on a dedicated server.
Note: The number of objects a DSM can monitor will depend on several different factors
including poll interval, the amount of memory on the machine, the number of processes
running, the hard drive speed, the network connection speeds, the efficiency of the pollsets,
and the type of policy running (ATP or DAT/CNF).
Use the following guidelines for DSM planning:
• Always monitor the DSM as a critical device (plan to use dsmMonitor to monitor remote
DSMs from a central DSM).
• Provide sufficient resources for DSMs (50 MB main memory minimum plus more for
additional objects).
• Consider multiple DSMs when monitoring more than 200 hosts (a given host typically
contains many managed objects).
• Ensure that polling frequency is reasonable.
The DSM polling frequency should always (except for extraordinary circumstances) be
kept to a minimum, since the DSM should rely on traps for status changes.
• Locate DSMs as close as possible to their monitored devices to avoid unnecessary
network load.
Verifying your Unicenter Remote Monitoring Installation
The Unicenter Remote Monitoring agent will interact with remote systems that you instruct
it to monitor. Typically, the Remote Monitoring agent is called upon to monitor many
different machines, and accordingly the CPU processing power consumed by the agent can
be substantial because this agent will be gathering and analyzing data for each of
potentially many monitored resources.
Before installing the Remote Monitoring agent, review the following to ensure that the
system upon which Remote Monitoring is being installed has sufficient available resources
and is properly configured to host the Remote Monitoring agent.
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• The WorldView Manager or Client is installed (this is essential as the Remote Monitoring
agent requires access to the WorldView components)
• If a client machine, the WorldView Manager is installed on another machine in the
environment.
• To verify that either the WorldView Manager or Admin Client is installed, do the following:
› To check for the presence of the WorldView Manager, look in the services.msc to
see if the “CA WorldView Severity Propagation Service” exists in the list of
services.
› To check if the WorldView Admin Client is installed, look under the Start Menu by
checking if: Start, Programs, Computer Associates, Unicenter, NSM, WorldView
entry is present. This entry gets created under the specific user who installed the
Admin Client so be sure to check this if you don’t see this entry present.
• If installing the Remote Monitoring AI Client, then the requirements for that machine are
the WorldView Admin Client and the Event Management Admin Client components. To
verify that these components are installed, do one of the following:
› Check the start menu for the existence of the Enterprise Management and
WorldView entries under: Start > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter
> NSM.
› Check the services.msc if the following services exist in the list of services:
• CA Connection Broker
• CA DIA 1.2 DNA
• CA Message Queuing Server
• CA-AutoDiscovery
• CA-Unicenter (Remote)
Ensure that proper permissions are available that the Remote Monitoring agent will be
operating under:
• Install the Unicenter Remote Monitoring agent using an administrator account and
password. When configuring a Windows resource for monitoring, you can use the service
administrator account or you can provide the agent with specific credentials to use.
• Linux, UNIX, and Mac OS X resources are monitored using remote shell (rsh) or secure
shell (ssh). The Unicenter Remote Monitoring agent includes a secure shell client for
accessing your remote Linux, UNIX, and Mac OS X computers, but its counterpart (the
secure shell daemon) must be already installed and active on each of the target
computers.
• A non-privileged user account must be available for use by the Unicenter Remote
Monitoring agent. That account will be used to connect to remote Linux, UNIX, and Mac
OS X systems. That account must have write access to its home directory on the target
machine being monitored by Remote Monitoring.
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Deploying the product
Registering Unicenter NSM with the BSO Desktop and Server
Management Solutions
Registering Unicenter NSM with Desktop and Server Management lets you register once and
deploy many times. When you register Unicenter NSM, the entire contents of the
Unicenter NSM product media are copied to the Desktop and Server Management database.
This represents a substantial amount of data that should be registered only once.
With that said, it is also clear that the many computers to which you want to deploy
Unicenter NSM will almost certainly have different usage requirements of Unicenter NSM. To
address those different usage requirements, you might quite reasonably need to install
different agents and management components on different computers and further specify
different installation or configuration parameters for these different computers.
The difficulty, of course, is that your installation requirements are not uniform, so how then
can all of those different installation requirements be addressed with a single registered
package?
The solution is actually quite simple: register Unicenter NSM as one Desktop and Server
Management package supported by many different procedures, each of which installs a
different selection of components from the single registered package and further provides
the specific set of installation or configuration values required.
PREPARE FOR REGISTRATION
The first thing you must do is plan. Make a list of all the varieties of installations you want
to support. Each item on the list will have a corresponding set of components to install, as
well as installation parameters such as installation drive and path, database server name,
and so on.
For each of these, response files are created to be used during installation. These response
files are largely generated for you using the installation wizards (when you run the wizard,
select the option Build Unicenter NSM response file for unattended install) but for some
values, (for example, Host name) the response file may need to be manually reviewed and
edited.
When prompted by the wizard one of the important pieces of information you provide to the
wizard is the name to give the response file and where to store that file. Later, when you
perform Desktop and Server Management registration, the name of the response file
becomes the name of the Desktop and Server Management procedure that installs
Unicenter NSM with that response file.
Note: If you are making more than one response file, make each name descriptive of the
kind of installation it will perform.
To prepare to register a Unicenter NSM install package with Desktop and Server
Management
1. Create a directory to contain your custom response files.
This directory may be given any name, for example, ResponseFiles.
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2. Run the install wizard to create custom response files.
The first page of the install wizard appears.
3. Select Build a Windows response file for unattended install and enter the full path name
for the response file, specifying the directory you created in Step 1.
Note: Give the response file a meaningful name, as this name will become the name of
the Desktop and Server Management procedure that will eventually be used to run the
unattended install. The name appears in the Desktop and Server Management catalog
and you need to recognize it.
4. Click Next and select the components you want to install, answering the install
questions with appropriate values.
You can create as many custom response files as you want with this procedure.
RUN REGISTRATION
After you have created all required response files and placed them in a single directory, run
the Desktop and Server Management registration tool.
Note: You must run the registration tool using the steps provided here. You cannot run the
executable (SDRegister.exe) directly from the product media.
To run the Desktop and Server Management registration tool
1. From the Unicenter NSM Product Explorer, locate
Unicenter Products/Unicenter for Windows
select Register packages to Unicenter SD for Windows
click Install.
The registration tool dialog appears.
2. Specify the directory that contains your response files and the location of the
Unicenter NSM product media.
Note: UNC notation may NOT be used to identify the Root Directory or the Response
Files fields. If these files are located on remote servers, map them to a local drive and
use that drive letter.
3. Click Register.
The task is complete.
DEPLOY UNICENTER NSM TO HOSTS
To deploy Unicenter NSM to a host on your network, specify to Desktop and Server
Management both the host to which components are to be installed and the procedure to be
used to guide that installation. The Desktop and Server Management components will then
initiate the Unicenter NSM installation which will run in unattended mode on the designated
host — the resultant configuration being based on the contents of the response file you
associated with the procedure.
Configuring Your Setup
A successful initial installation or deployment is naturally followed by configuring and
customizing the management infrastructure to meet specific business requirements that
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were the reason for licensing the software. Proper configuration ensures business
requirements will be met, while improper configuration will dramatically reduce the
solution’s effectiveness.
The topics discussed in the following sections help guide you through proper configuration
of the components.
Reghost, Reinstall, Unplug Unicenter NSM Components
If during the configuration of Unicenter NSM components you need to reghost, reinstall,
unplug, or in any way shut down or make inaccessible a particular computer in your
deployment, make certain to implement appropriate precautions for any other computers
that depend on the computer. One such precaution can be to temporarily pause their
services.
Product reinstallations and upgrades are inherently disruptive and this needs to be
recognized as you plan your deployment. For example, if you are upgrading a management
server, it would be typical for some of the components to be shut down or otherwise
become temporarily unavailable while they are being upgraded.
In some cases, that server being upgraded might need to be rebooted completely and, of
course, any services that machine was providing would be unavailable while that machine is
being rebooted and any remote applications that might otherwise be connecting to the
services offered on that machine will be unable to access those services.
If properly planned for and scheduled, the disruption of service will be minimized and any
negative effect to the services provided to your internal constituency would be kept to the
bare minimum. If not properly planned, however, the resultant negative effects to the
services you provide could be substantial.
Access Unicenter NSM Web Applications
Unicenter NSM web applications such as the Web Reporting Server, Adaptive Dashboard
Services, Unicenter Configuration Manager, and Advanced Event Correlation Web User
Interface run over a Tomcat Webserver included with the product. You access the web
applications through the welcome page that is available as part of the CA Web Server.
To launch the welcome page
1. Open your web browser and enter the following URL:
http://host_name:port_number
Where: host_name specifies the name of the server where the CA Web Server is
running
Where: port_number specifies the port number where the CA Web Server is running
(default: 9090)
2. On the Windows server that has Web Server installed, launch the welcome page by
selecting Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> CA Web Server.
The welcome page lists the names of the applications installed by CA and available
from the web server.
3. Access the application by clicking on the application name
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4. As an alternative to accessing an application through the welcome page, Unicenter NSM
web applications can be accessed directly by specifying the complete URL to the
application as follows:
Application
Adaptive Dashboard Services
URL
http://host:port/ads
Advanced Event Correlation Web
User Interface
http://host:port/aecwebUI
Unicenter Configuration Manager
http://host:port/wiser
Web Reporting Server
http://host:port/wrs
5. When prompted for a user ID and password, respond accordingly. The default user ID
defined by Unicenter NSM for the Tomcat user is admin. The password for the admin
user is specified during the Unicenter NSM installation. That same password is used for
the Apache Tomcat administrator.
Managing Agent Configurations with Unicenter Configuration
Manager
Unicenter Configuration Manager simplifies delivery and management of agent
configurations. Using Unicenter Configuration Manager you can build unique monitoring
templates based on role, function, location or any other criteria you define and once built
the templates can be globally applied.
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Starting Unicenter Configuration Manager
When starting Unicenter Configuration Manager for the first time only, you will need to
provide certain information.
To start Unicenter Configuration Manager for the first time:
Enter the following information to access the MDB:
• The type of the DBMS – currently either Ingres or SQL Server
• The hostname where the MDB resides
• A valid local user ID and password with the appropriate MDB access levels in Microsoft
SQL Server
• JDBC Port — default value is provided when you select the DBMS Type
Using Unicenter Configuration Management and Adaptive
Configuration
Unicenter NSM r11.1 offers a few different methods through which configuration sets can be
maintained on managed nodes. It is important to have knowledge of the options that are
available, as well as an understanding of how they impact each other.
There are two distinguished methods of configuration for agents:
• Static (Agent Profiles): contains a set of configuration data for managed resources. There
are two types of Agent Profiles, which are delivered to agents or groups of agents
through Unicenter Configuration Management:
a. Base Profile: typically contains configuration data that is common to a number of
managed hosts
b. Differential Profile: modifies a base profile by overriding (adding, deleting,
updating) configuration data. Differential profiles are applied to an existing base
profile.
• Dynamic (Adaptive Configurations Policy): represents the settings for the Adaptive
Configuration Service that define the initial configuration of an agent and/or the ongoing
refinement and adjustment of an existing agent configuration. It also monitors an agent’s
availability and ensures that it is running. Adaptive Configurations Policies are stored in
profiles (xml files). To take advantage of Adaptive Configuration, Adaptive Configuration
Support MUST be selected at installation time. Also, be aware that it comes with a
predefined configuration out-of-box, so if edits to the policy need to be made, they need
to be done before the aws_baseline service within Agent Technologies is started.
From a central point of management, Unicenter Configuration Management allows you to
maintain and deliver configuration sets (profiles) to remote agents across your IT
infrastructure. Configuration sets may be scheduled for delivery or delivered on-demand
through the Unicenter Configuration Manager interface or command line utility. Upon
receiving a configuration set, the agent will immediately load it and begin monitoring based
on its content. While Unicenter Configuration Management delivers new configuration
profiles to remote agents, Adaptive Configuration (AC) runs as part of the Agent
Technology service on the agent servers themselves. Adaptive Configuration monitors the
host’s resources over time to fine tune existing agent thresholds and monitored resources.
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At the end of each learning cycle, Adaptive Configuration will load up a new configuration
set.
RUN UNICENTER CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT OR ADAPTIVE CONFIGURATION
When choosing the method by which you want to manage your agent configuration sets,
using both Unicenter Configuration Management and Adaptive Configuration together may
produce undesired results. While there are special circumstances in which you may use
both, it is a best practice to choose one or the other for the following reasons:
• Delivery of a configuration set (Static Agent Profile) by Unicenter Configuration Manager
will overwrite a configuration set that Adaptive Configuration has created based on
learning periods.
• By default, Adaptive Configuration policy is set to load its newly created configuration set
at the end of two-week learning periods. If you have deployed a static configuration set
using Unicenter Configuration Manager, that configuration set will be overwritten when
Adaptive Configuration loads its own.
• Confusion is created due to the fact that you do not know which configuration set is
loaded
During installation of agents that support Adaptive Configuration, you have the opportunity
to select whether Adaptive Configuration will be activated. You may want complete control
over the configuration sets that the agents use, or you may choose to allow Adaptive
Configuration to create the configuration sets. You may also want to start your agents with
a configuration set that you have defined, and then allow Adaptive Configuration to fine
tune that configuration set over time. It is important to decide how you want to manage
your agent configurations before deployment.
Adaptive Configuration can run in a few different modes. The mode may be selected within
the Service Settings of AC policy (which is configured through Unicenter Configuration
Manager):
• None: Disables the AC service.
• Loadconfigsetonce: Loads the configuration set default.cfg when the agent is started
for the first time directly after registration.
• Loadconfigset: Loads configuration set every time the agent starts
• Selfconfiguration: Rapid and automatic configuration of an agent when it is first
started. Within a few minutes, the host is assessed and based on the results, a
configuration set is created with watchers and default threshold values applied.
• Selfadaptation: Ongoing refinement and adjustment of an agent’s existing
configuration. In this mode of operation, Adaptive Configuration modifies the
configuration set during ongoing learning periods. At the end of a learning period, based
on the samples collected, the existing configuration set is modified based on findings.
• All: Runs both of the self-adaptation and self-configuration mode.
The default mode is All. This means that immediately following installation, if Agent
Technology Services are set to start automatically, the agent will enter into the Self-
Configuration mode for a few minutes and then the Self-Adaptation mode. Once in Self-
Adaptation mode it is not recommended that the agent receive static configuration set
profiles from Unicenter Configuration Manager because this will overwrite the AC
configuration set that is currently running and disrupt the learning process. In addition,
sending a Base (and Differential) Profile goes against the basic purpose of Adaptive
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Configuration, which is to allow for self-configuration. During the installation, when
Adaptive Configuration was selected and Agent Technology Services were chosen to start
automatically, a decision was made to allow the Agent to configure itself. With that said,
the most important rule to abide by is to not use Unicenter Configuration Manager to send
an agent profile to an agent running Adaptive Configuration in self-adaptation mode.
Because the All mode is the default and the one most commonly used, typically you should
choose between Unicenter Configuration Management or Adaptive Configuration to manage
your agent configurations. That decision should be based on how you want to manage your
agents and what role you want to play in maintaining their configurations. Ask yourself a
couple of questions:
• Do I want to have complete control over the configuration set of my agent?
• Do I want to allow the agent to configure itself?
If the answer is yes to question 1, use Unicenter Configuration Manager to deploy agent
profiles. If the answer is yes to question 2, allow Adaptive Configuration to manage agent
configurations. If an agent is running in Self-Adaptation mode and you deliver a static
profile (base profile or Differential Profile) from Unicenter Configuration Manager, this is not
recommended.
CONFIGURATION BEST PRACTICES
The following are supported configurations when considering Unicenter Configuration
Manager and Adaptive Configuration. If you choose to use any of the options that involve
modifying the default AC policy, you MUST make sure that you do not start Agent
Technology services immediately after install. The AC policy file on the agent needs to be
modified with the proper changes before the agent is started:
• AC disabled & Delivery of Base/Differential Profiles
Choosing this method assumes that you are taking responsibility for configuring agents
through profile deliveries using Unicenter Configuration Manager. It means that
Adaptive Configuration will not be used to configure the agent; instead agent
configuration profiles will be delivered by Unicenter Configuration Manager. Do not
select Adaptive Configuration during installation.
• AC enabled & NO delivery of Base/Differential Profiles
Choosing this method assumes that you would like the agent to configure itself over
time through baselining. This requires that Adaptive Configuration be selected during
installation. The agent will enter into Self-Configuration mode immediately after
installation, followed by ongoing Self-Adaptation learning periods. Do not use Unicenter
Configuration Manager to deliver profiles to the agent.
• Initial delivery of Base Profile using Unicenter Configuration Manager & AC in selfadaptation
Baseline Mode
Choosing this method allows you to start the agent with a configuration set that you’ve
defined, and then allow Adaptive Configuration to fine tune that configuration set over
time. An initial configuration set may be delivered as a Unicenter Configuration
Management agent base profile, but then you can allow Adaptive Configuration to enter
into Self-Adaptation mode. Once in Self-Adaptation mode, do not deliver any more
agent profiles using Unicenter Configuration Manager.
It is important to remember that during installation, do not set Agent Technologies to
start automatically. The Adaptive Configuration profile must be modified first. Through
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Unicenter Configuration Manager, you may create an Adaptive Configuration profile for
the agent, selecting self-adaptation as the Baseline mode. Deliver that Adaptive
Configuration profile along with your chosen initial base profile to the agent.
• Delivery of Base/Differential Profiles & AC enabled in either report or configuration Self-
Adaptation Mode.
A nice feature of Adaptive Configuration is that AC policy may be modified so that after
the baselining or learning period, a configuration set is created but NOT loaded. You
may also choose to have a report created. This allows you to review what Adaptive
Configuration discovered during its learning period and see how it determined the agent
should monitor. While you will continue to deploy your configuration sets through
Unicenter Configuration Manager Profiles, you have the option of referring to what was
generated as a result of Adaptive Configuration baselining. This may be a good
reference when initially trying to figure out how you should set up your configuration
sets. You may even review the configuration set that Adaptive Configuration generated,
and then take it and deploy it as a base profile.
It is important to remember that during installation, do not set Agent Technologies to
start automatically. The Adaptive Configuration profile must be modified first. Through
Unicenter Configuration Manager, you may create an Adaptive Configuration profile for
the agent, selecting report or configuration as the Self-Adaptation mode. Deliver that
Adaptive Configuration profile to the target server.
Creating and Delivering a System Agent Configuration
The process for building agent configurations and delivering them to multiple systems is as
follows:
1. Create a Group containing the systems that need identical monitoring characteristics.
(See below for more details on how to create a group.)
2. Build a Profile containing information about the resources, thresholds and attributes
that will be monitored for the targeted systems. There are several types of profiles
including Base, Adaptive, and Differential Configurations. (See below for more details
on how to create such a profile.)
3. Build a Configuration Bundle that delivers profiles and file packages to specified
systems defined in a group in a predefined schedule. (See below for more details on
how to create such a configuration bundle.)
This set of tasks demonstrates how to build a customized Windows System Agent
configuration and then deliver it to multiple systems in the environment.
To create a group:
1. Access Unicenter Configuration Manager through a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser
by using the appropriate URL (http://hostname:9090/wiser).
2. Log on to Unicenter Configuration Manager with the appropriate user and password.
3. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and the Monitored Resources Model in the
drop-down list.
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4. Select New Group and complete the following information on the New Group window:
a. Enter a Group Name to group similar systems. Use meaningful names such as:
Win2K_Servers, Win2K_Database_Servers, Win3K_Servers etc
b. Use the Add Hosts section to identify potential systems and select the specific
systems to include in the group:
› In the Filter Criteria section, accept the Host Label and Like filter options, and
enter the prefix of potential systems in the filter field. Click GO.
› Select the systems to include in the group by moving the appropriate systems
from the Available Hosts window to the Selected Hosts window by using the
single right arrow selector. If all systems in the Available Hosts window are to be
included in the group, use the double right arrow buttons to move all systems
simultaneously.
5. Select Save As Child.
Note: If you expand the Monitored Resources Model on the left pane you should see
the new group and systems contained in the group.
To create a base profile:
1. Select the Profiles tab in the navigation bar and click the New Profile in the right pane.
2. Enter an appropriate name for the new Base Profile. Use a logical naming standard that
will help to simplify management of the profiles as the Unicenter NSM implementation
grows. For example, profiles supporting databases running in the environment may
have names such as: Win2K_Database_Oracle_Profile, Win2K_Database_SQL_Profile
and Win2K_Database_Ingres_Profile.
3. Ensure the Profile Type is set to Base and Get Configuration From Host is checked.
Using an existing configuration can save time and effort by providing default values and
reducing the number of modifications necessary before distributing the agent
configuration.
4. Select the appropriate Resource Class for the type of profile being built. The Windows
Agent Resource Class is caiWinA3, and click Next.
5. Use the Filter Criteria to identify a host with the appropriate monitoring attributes.
Accept the Host Label and Like filter options and type in the prefix of system in the
filter field.
6. If more than one system shows up in the Available Hosts window, select the host with
the appropriate agent configuration.
7. Click Finish to create the Base Profile and import the system agent configuration.
8. Adjust profile attributes by expanding the profile on the left pane and selecting the
appropriate group attribute.
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To adjust profile attributes: update CPU thresholds on the base profile
There are two methods for updating a Base Profile
1. For the first method a prior review of the Windows System Agent MIB attributes found
in the NSM_MIBReference_ENU.pdf document located on the Unicenter NSM r11.1 DVD
may be useful and is accordingly recommended:
a. In the Profiles window of Unicenter Configuration Manager, drill down to the
appropriate Group Data by expanding the Base Profile on the left pane.
b. Select winA3StatusCPUGroup to expose the parameters and values in the right
pane.
c. Change the default CPU utilization warning threshold to 60 percent by updating the
winA3StatusCPUTotalLoadWarnMAX parameter to 60.
d. Change the default CPU utilization critical threshold to 80 percent by updating the
winA3StatusCPUTotalLoadCritMAX parameter to 80.
e. Select Save to save the profile updates.
2. In the second method we utilize the Profile Dashboard
a. In the Profiles Window, drill into the hierarchy tree to select the specific Base
Profile to edit.
b. In the right pane, select the Profile Dashboard in the upper-right corner
c. This opens another window from which you can select the specific Group to edit.
Select the Drilldown icon associated with CPU.
d. The next window will display the Agent Dashboard for CPU. Select the edit button
in the upper-left.
e. Change the default CPU utilization warning threshold to 60 percent and the critical
threshold to 80 percent.
f. Select OK when all changes have been made and the following window displays the
success or failure of the configuration update.
g. From this window you can select OK again to return to the Agent Dashboard to
confirm the thresholds were changed, or you can select DONE to finish editing the
Base Profile.
Note: If you wish to return to the main Dashboard Window to make further
changes, select the drop-down on the back button for the browser window and
then select Dynamic Dashboard (profile=). From this point you can
start from step 2c above.
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To update memory polling interval and polling method on the base profile
As with updating the CPU thresholds, this task can be accomplished using the same two
methods.
1. The first method again may require a prior review of the NSM_MIBReference_ENU.pdf
document located on the Unicenter NSM r11.1 DVD to become familiar with the
Windows System Agent MIB attributes
a. In the Profiles window, drill down to the appropriate Group Data by expanding the
Base Profile on the left pane.
b. Select winA3ConfigMEMGroup.
c. Change the default polling interval (60) to 30 seconds by updating the
winA3ConfigMemPollInterval parameter to 30.
d. Change the default polling method to poll-interval-and-query by selecting the
appropriate value in the drop-down list.
e. Select Save to save the profile updates.
2. In the second method we will again utilize the Profile Dashboard.
a. In the Profiles Window, drill into the hierarchy tree to select the specific Base
Profile to edit.
b. In the right pane, select the Profile Dashboard in the upper-right corner.
c. This opens another window from which you can select the specific Group to edit.
Select the Drilldown icon associated with Memory.
d. The next window displays the Agent Dashboard for Memory. Select Config Poll in
the upper-right.
e. Change the default polling interval from 60 seconds to 30 seconds.
f. Change the default polling method to poll-interval-and-query by selecting the
appropriate value in the drop-down list.
g. Select OK when all changes have been made and the following window displays the
success or failure of the configuration update.
h. From this window, select OK again to return to the Agent Dashboard or select
DONE to finish editing the Base Profile.
Note: If you wish to return to the main Dashboard Window to make further
changes, click the drop-down list on the back button of the browser window and
then select Dynamic Dashboard profile=). From this point you can
start from step 2c above.
To build a Configuration Bundle
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the group just created..
2. Select New Configuration Bundle in the right pane.
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3. Select the appropriate Resource Class (for the Windows System Agent, select
caiWinA3)
4. Select Next, Skip Add File Packages; select Next.
5. On the Select Base Profile screen, accept the Like filter option and enter the Base
Profile name just created.
6. Skip the Add Differential Profiles section; select Finish.
7. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the group just created to view
the Configuration Bundle.
8. Select Deliver All Now to complete delivery of the new Agent Configuration to the
systems defined in the group.
9. Verify that the delivery was successful by viewing the new agent values using either
the Management Command Center or Unicenter Configuration Manager Dashboard.
View Agent Configuration
The Unicenter Configuration Manager Monitoring Dashboard provides insight into the
current resource consumption of a system and your system agent configuration settings.
To access the Monitoring Dashboard
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and the Monitored Resources Model in the
drop-down list.
2. Drill down to the group that was just created.
3. Drill down to a system in the group and select the Windows System Agent. The
Monitoring Dashboard button on the right pane becomes available.
4. Select Monitoring Dashboard.
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5. Select CPU Total Drilldown to view the current load and thresholds. Notice the
Maximum thresholds for warning and critical are now 60 and 80.
Allow the Agent Configuration to Automatically Adapt
Adaptive Configuration is a powerful new tool that lets Unicenter NSM automatically
implement a monitoring policy based on a system’s usage and performance characteristics.
This reduces the challenge of building the right monitoring configuration for each system in
your environment. Adaptive Configuration lets you perform these tasks:
1. Monitor systems for some length of time based on user input
2. Determine appropriate resources to monitor and the associated monitoring thresholds
3. Apply and continually fine-tune the monitoring policy based on the information
collected
Adaptive configuration has two modes of operation: self-configuration and self-adaptation:
• Self-configuration runs when an agent is initially installed and started. It automatically
examines the system resources and builds default values for the initial agent
configuration.
• Self-adaptation monitors the system over time and is used to periodically adjust the
agent configuration. Running in this mode, the Adaptive Configuration process monitors
system usage compared to the agent configuration and fine tunes the monitoring policy
for a number of weeks or months.
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Creating and Delivering an Adaptive Agent Configuration
This section reviews how to build, configure and deliver an adaptive configuration profile to
a group of systems.
To build an adaptive agent configuration and deliver it to a set of systems
1. Create a group
2. Create an adaptive configuration profile
3. Create a file package
4. Build and deliver a configuration bundle
CREATE A GROUP
Create a group by following the same steps in creating a group within Creating and
Delivering a System Agent Configuration.
CREATE AN ADAPTIVE CONFIGURATION PROFILE
This sample scenario provides additional insight into how the Adaptive Configuration can be
customized to the particular environment.
To create an adaptive configuration profile
1. Select the Profiles tab in the navigation bar and New Adaptive Profile in the right pane
2. Enter a name for the Adaptive Profile.
3. Select Resource Class for the type of profile being built. The Windows Agent Resource
Class is caiWinA3.
4. Select Ok to create the new Adaptive Profile.
5. View the new profile by expanding the Monitored Resources Model and Adaptive
Configurations in the left pane.
6. Expand the new Adaptive Configuration to reveal Service Settings and Agent Settings.
Use these two branches to further configure how the adaptive configuration process
manages and configures the system agent. Information about each parameter can be
found in the Unicenter Configuration Manager online help.
Note: The name and save location of the new Adaptive Profile is based on the information
in the Profile location URI. This information is used as the source location during the File
Package creation process. To determine the exact path and xml file name, expand the
Adaptive Configurations navigation tree and select the Adaptive Configuration just built.
Example: Customize Adaptive Configuration
The following example will help demonstrate how the Adaptive Configuration can be
customized to suit specific needs.
A customer just acquired a small company and needed to quickly implement a monitoring
configuration of 100 new systems. Since the configuration and performance of these
systems were mostly unknown, the systems administrators decided to run self-
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configuration to automatically establish some basic default configurations. They decided to
run self-adaptation to capture information but not implement any further configurations
until they had a chance to review the information gathered so they better understand the
normal operation of these systems as expressed using these metrics. The administrators
also wanted to exclude quota monitoring in the self-adaptation process.
To run Self-Adaptation and generate only a report
1. Expand the new Adaptive Configuration just built.
2. Select Service Settings.
3. Change the Self-Adaptation Mode to report, and click Save.
To disable quota monitoring from the Self-Adaptation process
1. Expand the new Adaptive Configuration.
2. Expand Agent Settings\Resources\Quota\Policies.
3. Select Policy Parameters.
4. Change resourceOn to no, and click Save.
CREATE A FILE PACKAGE
Use the File Package to define the characteristics of an Adaptive Configuration. It identifies
where the Adaptive Configuration source is stored, the directory the profile is delivered to
on the target systems, and the target system’s default owner and permissions.
To create a file package in Unicenter Configuration Manager
1. Select the File Packages navigation bar and click File packages in the left pane..
2. Select New File Package in the right pane.
3. Provide a name for the File Package.
4. Select the appropriate Resource Class for the type of profile being built. For example,
the Windows Agent Resource Class is caiWinA3.
5. Define the location on the target systems where the Adaptive Configuration will be
stored by entering the directory name in the Destination Location. (For example:
%AGENTWORKS_DIR%\AdaptiveConfigurations) Select Next.
6. Enter the Adaptive Configuration profile previously created. The profile must have a
fully qualified path and file name. Select Finish.
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BUILD A CONFIGURATION BUNDLE
A configuration bundle is used to schedule and distribute Base Profiles, Differential Profiles
and File Packages to systems defined in a group. This section demonstrates building a
Configuration Bundle to distribute an Adaptive Configuration through a File Package.
To build a configuration bundle
1. If a previous example for building a configuration bundle was followed, and that bundle
still exits, either:
a. Delete that bundle and create a new one following the same steps as previously
defined for building a configuration bundle (see page 76). But instead of skipping
the Add File Packages screen, accept the Like filter option and enter the File
Package name just created.
OR
b. Edit the existing bundle. Use the Like filter option and enter the File Package name
just created.
› To Edit an existing configuration bundle, go to the level at which the current
configuration bundle has been applied.
› Select the configuration bundle from the right pane and select Edit from the
“Select and” field. Now you should be able to edit that configuration bundle.
Failure to do either of these options may result in this message being displayed:
2. Select Finish and follow the same steps as previously defined to highlight the group and
identify the configuration bundle to be delivered to the systems defined in the group
(see Build a Configuration Bundle).
3. Verify successful delivery by reviewing the Destination Location on the target system
and ensure the new Adaptive Configuration xml file is present.
4. After delivery is complete verify that the MCC also updated itself with the new Adaptive
Configuration group and systems contained within the group. To do this, drill-down on
WorldView\Master Catalog\Unicenter NSM Configuration Modules\Monitored Resources
Model\ to view the group and systems that were just delivered.
Creating and Delivering a Differential Profile
Differential Profiles provide additional flexibility when managing large numbers of agents.
Differential Profiles are used to modify (insert, update and delete) a base profile’s
configuration data for a subset of hosts in a group. This reduces the number of Base
Profiles by supporting minor modifications of a Base Profile without having to recreate all
the information in the Base Profile
The following example demonstrates the power and flexibility of Differential Profiles:
A customer has fifty servers with the same hardware characteristics and has
developed a base profile that included an appropriate resource monitoring
configuration for those machines. After monitoring the systems for some length of
time, it was noticed that ten of the systems were constantly generating alarms due
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to high CPU and physical memory levels. Upon review, however, it was concluded
that the high CPU and memory levels for those particular systems were in fact
normal because those systems hosted a unique application that had significant CPU
and memory resource requirements.
Clearly, the monitoring configuration threshold settings on those machines that
have this special application need to be adjusted, so instead of recreating a new
Base Profile for these machines, a simple Differential Profile was developed and
applied to those ten systems to increase the CPU monitoring threshold and
eliminate monitoring the physical memory utilization.
DEVELOP A DIFFERENTIAL PROFILE
Differential Profiles modify a Base Profile and cannot be applied to a group without a Base
Profile partner. This first task demonstrates how to develop a new Differential Profile. The
instructions in this section assume that you have access to Unicenter Configuration
Manager and have previously created a Base Profile.
To build a Differential Profile
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and the Monitored Resources Model in the
drop-down list.
2. Select the Profiles tab in the navigation bar and the New Profile button in the right pane
3. Enter a unique name for the new Differential Profile.
Note: Use a logical naming standard that will help to simplify management of the
profiles as the Unicenter NSM implementation grows. For example, a Differential Profile
supporting CPU, Disk or Memory threshold changes could have a name such as:
Win2K_CriticalSystem_Resources_Mod_Profile.
4. Ensure the Profile Type is set to Differential.
5. Select the appropriate Resource Class for the type of profile being built. The Windows
Agent Resource Class is caiWinA3.
6. Select Finish to complete the building of the skeleton Differential Profile.
7. Expand the Monitored Resources Model in the left pane and drill down in the Differential
Profiles tree to view the new profile.
BUILD A DIFFERENTIAL PROFILE CONFIGURATION
Use Differential Profiles to modify and override Base Profile configurations through updates,
inserts and deletes. This section demonstrates how to edit a Differential Profile
Configuration to change an existing CPU threshold, disable monitoring physical memory,
add a Logical Volume, and delete a Logical Volume to be monitored. A Differential Profile
update is necessary since the Base Profile already includes an attribute to monitor CPU.
However, when adding and deleting the Logical Volumes, an insert and delete will be
required. The update, insert, and delete actions are used to override the current definitions
in the Base Profile. To assist with understanding the MIB attributes for the Windows system
agent, see the NSM_MIBReference_ENU.pdf document located on the Unicenter NSM r11.1
DVD.
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To build a Differential Profile Configuration to modify the CPU threshold
1. In the Profiles tab, expand the Differential Profile that was previously created.
The expansion reveals Group and Table updates, inserts and deletes.
2. Click on Group Update and select New Group in the right pane.
3. Use the Select Group drop-down list to select the appropriate group to modify. In this
case, select winA3StatusCPUGroup.
4. Change the winA3StatusCPUTotalLoadCritMax to 95.
This will reset the critical threshold for CPU utilization to 95 percent.
5. Change the winA3StatusCPUTotalLoadWarnMax to 85.
This will reset the warning threshold for CPU utilization to 85 percent.
6. Change the winA3StatusCPUTotalLoadMonitor to Maximum-only.
Changing this setting will instruct the system agent to monitor only for maximum
threshold values.
7. Click Ok to complete the update record.
Expanding the Group Updates tree in the left pane reveals the new profile update
record that can be applied to a Base Profile.
DISABLE PHYSICAL MEMORY MONITORING
In this situation a Differential Update is necessary since the Base Profile already includes an
attribute to monitor physical memory. The update is used to override the current memory
definition.
To disable physical memory monitoring
1. Click on Group Update and select New Group in the right pane.
2. Use the Select Group drop-down list to select the appropriate group to modify. In this
case, select winA3StatuseMemGroup.
3. Change the winA3StatusMemPhysMonitor to do-not-monitor.
This will disable monitoring physical memory.
4. Ensure the winA3StatusMemVirtMonitor and winA3StatusMemPageMonitor are set to
“both”.
This ensures the current monitoring for virtual and paging memory will continue to be
monitored at the current thresholds
5. Click Ok to complete the update record.
Expanding the Group Updates tree in the left side reveals the new profile update record
that will be applied to a Base Profile.
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ADD A LOGICAL VOLUME WATCHER IN A DIFFERENTIAL PROFILE CONFIGURATION
To add a Logical Volume Watcher in a Differential Profile Configuration
1. In the Profiles tab, expand the Differential Profile that was previously created.
The expansion reveals Group and Table updates, inserts and deletes.
2. Select Table Inserts, then select New Table in the right pane.
3. From the Select Table drop-down select winA3StatusLVolTable.
4. In the space provide beneath the label winA3StatusLVolName, provide the name of the
Logical Volume you want to add, that is, C:, and select Ok in the upper-right.
5. Drill down in the left pane under Table Inserts to see that the winA3StatusLVolTable
was added.
Note: If you want to add this Logical Volume for monitoring with the default values
then you do not have to proceed any further. However, if you want to deviate from the
default values drill down and select the Logical Volume you want to add.
6. A list of MIB attributes displays and should be completed to properly change the values
from the default values used by the watcher. The following are examples of values that
can be entered to the required MIB attributes:
› winA3StatusLVolDescription – Host D Drive (Description of the Logical Volume)
› winA3StatusLVolAggLag – 2 (Specifies the consecutive number of times at which
any status is not in the ok state before the aggregate status changes.)
› winA3StatusLVolSizeWarn – 85% (Configured Warning Threshold for space
utilized, can be left blank if accepting the defaults, but if changing be sure to add
the percent sign otherwise it will be used as an absolute value).
› winA3StatusLVolSizeCrit – 95% (Configured Critical Threshold for space utilized,
can be left blank if accepting the defaults, but if changing be sure to add the
percent sign otherwise it will be used as an absolute value).
› winA3StatusLVolSizeMonitor – both (Determines which if any of the Thresholds
will be used for monitoring).
› winA3StatusLVolSizeDWarn – 3% (Configured Warning Threshold for the Delta
value of space utilized, can be left blank if accepting the defaults, but if changing
be sure to add the percent sign otherwise it will be used as an absolute value).
› winA3StatusLVolSizeDCrit – 5% (Configured Critical Threshold for the Delta value
of space utilized, can be left blank if accepting the defaults, but if changing be
sure to add the percent sign otherwise it will be used as an absolute value).
› winA3StatusLVolSizeDMonitor – both (Determines which if any of the Delta
Thresholds will be used for monitoring).
› winA3StatusLVolMiscMode – throughput (Determines whether throughput or
queue-length are calculated).
› winA3StatusLVolMiscWarn – 4 (Configured Warning Threshold for the metric
calculated can be left blank if accepting the defaults).
› winA3StatusLVolMiscCrit – 6 (Configured Critical Threshold for the metric
calculated can be left blank if accepting the defaults).
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› winA3StatusLVolMiscMonitor – both (Determines which if any Thresholds are
used for monitoring).
› winA3StatusLVolFragmtMode – file-fragmentation (Determines which mode of
fragmentation, file or total, should be calculated).
› winA3StatusLVolFragmtInterval – 8 (Time, in hours, between collections of
fragmentation information, can be left blank if accepting the defaults).
› winA3StatusLVolFragmtWarn – 35 (Warning threshold, in percent, for the
fragmentation monitoring, can be left blank if accepting the defaults).
› winA3StatusLVolFragmtCrit – 45 (Critical threshold, in percent, for the
fragmentation monitoring, can be left blank if accepting the defaults).
› winA3StatusLVolFragmtMonitor – do-not-monitor (Determines which if any
Thresholds are used for monitoring).
› winA3StatusLVolLossAction – down-critical (Specifies the reflected status if the
Logical Volume is removed from the Windows System).
DELETE A LOGICAL VOLUME WATCHER USING THE DIFFERENTIAL PROFILE
CONFIGURATION
To delete a logical volume watcher using the Differential Profile Configuration
1. In the Profiles tab, expand the Differential Profile that was previously created.
The expansion reveals Group and Table updates, inserts and deletes.
2. Select Table Deletes followed by selecting New Table in the right pane.
3. From the Select Table drop-down select winA3StatusLVolTable.
4. In the space provided under the label winA3StatusLVolName, provide the name of the
Logical Volume you want to remove from being monitored, such as C: and select Ok in
the upper-right.
5. Next drill down in the left pane under Table Deletes to see that the
winA3StatusLVolTable was added.
CREATE A GROUP TO APPLY THE DIFFERENTIAL PROFILE CONFIGURATION
A differential profile can be applied to a single system or a group of systems. If the
Differential Profile will be applied to multiple systems you can build a new group to simplify
management.
To create a group
1. Select the Main Group
2. Create a group by following the same steps when creating a group within Create and
Deliver a System Agent Configuration, with one exception:
After entering a Group Name used to group like systems, provide a description of the
subgroup and the parameters that are being modified in the differential profile applied
to this group.
Including this information simplifies management as the implementation grows.
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Note: Expanding the Monitored Resources Model on the left pane shows that the new
subgroup is contained within the main group.
BUILD A CONFIGURATION BUNDLE
The final task is to build a new configuration bundle that includes both the Base and
Differential Profiles.
To build a configuration bundle for Base and Differential Profiles
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the new subgroup that was
just created.
2. Select New Configuration Bundle in the right pane.
3. If a previous example for building a configuration bundle was followed (see page 76)
then that bundle still exists. Do either a-d or e:
a. Delete that bundle and create a new one following the same steps as previously
defined for building a configuration bundle in this document.
b. Skip Add File Packages by selecting Next.
c. On the Select Base Profile screen, accept the Like filter option and enter the Base
Profile name. Click next.
d. On the Add Differential Profile screen, accept the Like filter option and enter the
Differential Profile name that will be applied to the base profile.
Or
e. Edit the existing bundle. Skip to Edit Differentials, Use the Like filter option and
enter the Differential Profile name just created.
Failure to do either of these options may result in this message being displayed:
4. On the Add Differential Profile screen, Click Finish.
5. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the subgroup just created.
6. Select the radio button for the configuration bundle (under Applied Configuration
Bundles) and click Deliver Now to complete delivery of the new Agent Configuration to
the systems defined in the group.
7. Verify that the delivery was successful by viewing the new agent values using either
the Management Command Center or Unicenter Configuration Manager Monitoring
Dashboard.
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VIEW THE AGENT CONFIGURATION
The Unicenter Configuration Manager Monitoring Dashboard provides insight into the
current resource consumption of a system and the system’s agent configuration settings.
This section demonstrates how to access the Monitoring Dashboard.
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and the Monitored Resources Model in the
drop-down box.
2. Drill down in the subgroup that was just created.
3. Drill down on a system in the group and select the Windows System Agent.
The Monitoring Dashboard button on the right pane becomes available.
4. Select the Monitoring Dashboard button.
5. Select CPU Drilldown to view the current load and thresholds.
The maximum thresholds for warning and critical are now 85 and 95.
6. Select Back to navigate.
7. Select Memory Drilldown to view the current memory details.
The physical memory monitor status is now set to Do Not Monitor.
Scheduling Delivery of Profiles
By automating the scheduled delivery of defined profiles you can simplify agent
management and ensure agent configurations are accurately and effectively maintained.
Use Unicenter Configuration Manager’s robust scheduling and reporting utility to schedule
jobs, track previously run jobs, review delivery forecasts and audit changes to the delivery
schedule.
This section demonstrates how to build a delivery schedule based on the following scenario.
Managers at the company want to maintain uniformity across the system agent
monitoring configurations for 50 servers that support their ATM environment.
Updates to these business critical systems can only be done during the scheduled
fifteen (15) minute maintenance window each Sunday night at Twenty-Two
Hundred Hours (22:00) or Ten (10) PM.
To automate this process, the systems administrator develops a customized
schedule to support weekly agent configuration updates.
CREATE AND ASSIGN A DELIVERY SCHEDULE
This set of tasks uses the client scenario described immediately above to demonstrate how
to build and assign a customized schedule to a group of systems.
To create a custom Delivery Schedule
1. Log in to Unicenter Configuration Manager with the appropriate user and password.
2. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and the Monitored Resources Model in the
drop-down list.
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3. Select the Delivery Schedules tab
4. Select New Schedule in the right pane and complete the following:
a. Enter ATM_Sunday_10PM_Schedule as the Schedule Name.
Note: Using a logical name that identifies the Delivery Schedule characteristics will
help when building new configuration bundles in the future.
The name can be based on the delivery schedule frequency/time such as
Weekly_7PM_Schedule or Daily_Midnight_Schedule. The schedule name could also
be based on the name of the group that the schedule was developed to support
such as Win2K_Servers_Monthly_Schedule.
b. Enter a description about the groups that use this Delivery Schedule to help
identify the groups that would be affected if changes to this schedule are applied at
a future date.
c. Select Calendar as the definition type.
d. Click the calendar icon next to the Calendar Start Date.
› Use the current date
› Leave Hour and Minute at the 00 default
› Click Ok.
e. Leave Calendar End Date blank since this is a recurring scheduled delivery.
f. Enter 22:00 for Execution Start Time.
g. Enter 22:15 for Execution End Time to ensure the delivery takes place within the
ATM system maintenance window.
h. Ensure that only Sunday is selected in the Calendar Days.
i. Select Once for Calendar Frequency. If a more frequent delivery schedule was
needed you would use a combination of Execution Frequency Multiple, Interval, and
Interval Units.
j. Click Ok to create the schedule.
Note: Expanding the Delivery Schedules on the left pane shows the new Delivery
Schedule.
BUILD A CONFIGURATION BUNDLE
Use a configuration bundle to schedule and distribute Base Profiles, Differential Profiles, and
File Packages to systems defined in a group. This section assumes the group ATM_Group
and the Base Profile ATM_Base_Profile have already been created for the targeted ATM
systems. This section focuses on creating a Configuration Bundle that includes the new
delivery schedule for the ATM group.
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the ATM_Group.
2. Select New Configuration Bundle in the right pane.
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3. Select the appropriate Resource Class. For the Windows System Agent, select
caiWinA3.
4. Select the new delivery schedule ATM_Sunday_10PM_Schedule from the drop-down
list.
5. Select Next.
6. Skip Add File Packages by selecting Next.
7. On the Select Base Profile screen, accept the Like filter option and enter the Base
Profile name ATM_Base_Profile.
8. Select Finish.
9. Again select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the ATM_Group.
10. Verify that the new configuration bundle includes the new Delivery Schedule
ATM_Sunday_10PM_Schedule.
VIEW SCHEDULES USING UNICENTER CONFIGURATION MANAGER REPORTS
Included with Unicenter Configuration Manager are a series of reports that can be used to
maintain an audit trail of the changes that occur with Groups, Profiles and Schedules. With
the Reports section you have quick access to delivery forecasts that enable a better
understanding of the jobs that will be executed within a defined timeframe.
To view delivery schedules using audit reports
1. Select the Reports tab in the navigation bar.
2. Expand Reports in the left pane.
3. Expand Configured Reports and select Delivery Forecast Report.
4. Select Configure in the right pane.
5. Change Next: to 7 Days and click Execute. The resulting report provides a summary of
all the jobs that will be run over the next 7 days.
6. Ensure the ATM_Group is displayed and includes the ATM_Sunday_10PM_Schedule
7. Select Delivery Schedules Audit Report. The report should display the
ATM_Sunday_10PM_Schedule as an insert, signifying a newly created Delivery
Schedule. Further changes to the ATM_Sunday_10PM_Schedule results in additional
audit Update or Delete records.
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Creating and Delivering a Log Agent Configuration
This set of tasks demonstrates how to build and deliver a customized Log Agent
configuration to multiple systems in the environment.
CREATE A GROUP
The first thing to do is to create a group to which the log agent configurations will be
applied.
To create a group
1. Access Unicenter Configuration Manager through a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser
by using the appropriate URL (http://hostname:9090/wiser).
2. Log in with the appropriate user and password.
3. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and the Monitored Resources Model in the
drop-down list.
4. Select New Group and complete the following information on the New Group window:
a. Enter a Group Name that will be used to group like systems. Use meaningful names
such as: Win2K_Servers, Win2K_Database_Servers, Win3K_Servers so forth.
b. Use the Add Hosts section to identify potential systems and select the specific
systems to include in the group:
› In the Filter Criteria section, accept the Host Label and like filter options and type
in the prefix of potential systems in the filter field. Click GO.
› Select the systems to include in the group by moving the appropriate systems
from the Available Hosts to the Selected Hosts window using the single right
arrow selector.
5. Select Save As Child
Note: Expanding the Monitored Resources Model on the left pane will now show the
new group and systems contained in the group.
CREATE A BASE PROFILE
There are several types of profiles including Base, Differential and Adaptive Configurations.
Additional information about profiles can be found in the help section in Unicenter
Configuration Manager. Use this information to build a Base Profile that changes poll
intervals at the group level, and changes attributes of existing watchers at the table level.
Before creating a base profile, make sure that you have configured the log agent from
which you will create the profile. Because you are creating a profile that will be deployed to
other log agents, it should be configured to monitor those logs files that you need
monitored. You may check the current configuration of the log agent or modify it through
the Agent View interface (see Chapter 5: Launching Agent View, Node View, and Object
View from the MCC) or the Agent Dashboard interface (see Configure Agents in
Dashboard).
To create a base profile
1. Select the Profiles tab in the navigation bar and the New Profile in the right pane.
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2. Enter an appropriate name for the new Base Profile.
Note: Use a logical naming standard that will help to simplify management of the
profiles as the Unicenter NSM implementation grows. For example, profiles supporting
databases running in the environment may have names such as
Win2K_Database_Oracle_loga2_Base_Profile,
Win2K_Database_SQL_loga2_Base_Profile and
Win2K_Database_Ingres_loga2_Base_Profile.
3. Ensure the Profile Type is set to Base and ‘Get Configuration From Host’ is checked. We
will get the existing configuration from the host to save time and effort and use the
data fetched from the existing configuration as default values, thereby reducing the
number of modifications necessary before distributing the log agent configuration.
4. Select the appropriate Resource Class for the type of profile being built. The Windows
Agent Resource Class is caiLogA2. Click Next.
Note: The Resource Class is simply the shortened agent’s name as used by Agent
Technology. Running the “awservices list” command from an MS-DOS prompt on an
agent server will show the name of the agents on that server as they are referred to in
the Resource Class pull-down menu.
5. Use the Filter Criteria to identify a host with the appropriate monitoring attributes.
Accept the Host Label and Like filter options and type in the prefix of system in the
filter field.
6. If more than one system shows in the Available Hosts window, select the host with the
appropriate agent configuration.
7. Select Finish to create the Base Profile and to import the log agent configuration.
8. Adjust profile attributes by expanding the profile on the left pane and selecting the
appropriate group attribute.
UPDATE LOG AND FILE POLLING ON THE BASE PROFILE
A common activity for a Log Agent is to modify the attributes for log and file watcher
polling.
To modify attributes of the log agent
1. In the Profiles window, drill down to the Group Data of the log agent profile just
created.
2. Select logA2ConfigLogGroup to expose the parameters and values in the right pane.
3. Change the default polling interval (120) to 30 seconds by updating the
logA2ConfigLogPollInterval parameter to 30.
4. Select logA2ConfigFileGroup to expose the parameters and values in the right pane.
5. Change the default polling interval (120) to 30 seconds by updating the
logA2ConfigFilePollInterval parameter to 30.
6. Click Save to save the profile updates.
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UPDATE FILE WATCHER ATTRIBUTES ON THE BASE PROFILE
Another common activity for a Log Agent is to modify the attributes for log and file watcher
attributes.
To modify log and file watcher attributes of the log agent
1. In the Profiles window, drill down to the appropriate Table Data by expanding the Base
Profile of the log agent profile on the left pane.
2. Under logA2StatusLogTable, select the watcher you want to change.
3. Change the logA2StatusLogStatusPolicy based on recommended best practices
a. Poll (the default) – Recommended for monitored files that are not large because
the log agent will read from the beginning. If a pattern is found, the watcher will go
critical for that poll interval, but will return back to normal on the next poll.
b. Historical – Recommended if you want the watcher to remain down for all
subsequent poll intervals once it finds the pattern. This will read from the beginning
so this is not recommended for large files. It will read from the beginning again if
the agent is recycled.
c. Start from Previous Read – Same as Historical, except if the agent is recycled, it
will read the file where it left off.
d. Toggled – Recommended if you do not want the status to return back to normal
unless a toggled pattern is found. When set, this will cause the agent to re-read the
log file from the beginning so this should be used judiciously, and to be clear, this
is not recommended for use against large files.
Note: If the Log Agent is recycled it will resume reading where it left off when it is
restarted.
e. First Line Only – Only recommended if you want to monitor the first line of the
monitored log file and the watcher will be reset to normal every poll interval.
f. Poll EOF – Recommended for large files as the agent will begin monitoring from the
end of the file. It is otherwise the same as the Poll policy.
g. Start from Previous Read EOF – Recommended for large files as the agent will
begin monitoring from the end of the file. It is otherwise the same as the Start
from Previous Read policy.
h. Toggled EOF – Recommended for large files as the agent will begin monitoring from
the end of the file. It is otherwise the same as the Toggled policy.
i. Rescan – Only recommended for monitored files smaller than 20KB and the agent
will only monitor the file if it was modified since the last poll.
4. Select Save to save the profile updates.
5. Under logA2StatusFileTable, select the watcher you want to change.
6. You can now change attributes such as logA2StatusFileExist if desired.
7. Click Save to save the profile updates.
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CREATE A DIFFERENTIAL PROFILE
This section focuses on building a Differential Profile that contains information about how to
add a log watcher that is currently not in the base profile.
To create a differential profile to modify a log agent configuration
1. Select the Profiles tab in the navigation bar and the New Profile in the right pane
2. Enter an appropriate name for the new Differential Profile. Use a logical naming
standard that will help to simplify management of the profiles as the Unicenter NSM
implementation grows. For example, profiles supporting databases running in the
environment may have names such as: Win2K_Database_Oracle_loga2_diff_Profile,
Win2K_Database_SQL_ loga2_diff_Profile and
Win2K_Database_Ingres_loga2_diff_Profile.
3. Ensure the Profile Type is set to Differential.
4. Select the appropriate Resource Class for the type of profile being built. The Log Agent
Resource Class is caiLogA2.
5. Select Finish.
6. On the left pane go to your newly created profile under Differential Profiles.
7. Expand your new profile and select Table Inserts.
8. On the right pane select New Table, select logA2StatusLogTable, from the Select Table
drop-down list and, add a watcher name to the logA2StatusLogWatcherName section,
and select OK.
9. On the left pane expand Table Inserts and highlight the watcher you just created under
logA2StatusLogTable, fill in the attribute values on the right side and click OK when
done.
BUILD A CONFIGURATION BUNDLE
Use a configuration bundle to schedule and distribute Base Profiles, Differential Profiles and
File Packages to systems defined in a group.
To build a configuration bundle for the log agent differential profile
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the group just created.
2. Select New Configuration Bundle in the right pane.
3. Select the appropriate Resource Class: For the Log Agent V2, select caiLogA2.
4. Select Next.
5. Skip Add File Packages by selecting Next.
6. On the Select Base Profile screen, accept the Like filter option and enter the Base
Profile name just created. Click Next.
7. On the Add Differential Profiles screen, accept the Like filter option and enter the
Differential Profile name just created. Click Finish.
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8. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and highlight the group just created to view
the Configuration Bundle.
9. Select Deliver All Now to complete delivery of the new Agent Configuration to the
systems defined in the group.
10. Verify that the delivery was successful by viewing the new agent values using either
the Management Command Center or Unicenter Configuration Monitor Monitoring
Dashboard. You can also verify the profile Delivery Status, in the Reports tab, under
Configured Reports\Deliver Status Report.
VIEW AGENT CONFIGURATION
The Unicenter Configuration Manager Monitoring Dashboard provides a view for the current
Log Agent configuration settings.
To access the Monitoring Dashboard for the log agent
1. Select the Groups tab in the navigation bar and the Monitored Resources Model in the
drop-down list.
2. Drill down in the group that was just created.
3. Drill down on a system in the group and select the Log Agent V2.
4. The Monitoring Dashboard button on the right pane becomes available.
5. Select Monitoring Dashboard.
6. Select the Log Watchers Drilldown to view the current settings for the log watcher.
Notice the status policy should now be whatever you changed it to before delivering the
profile above.
Configuring Event Management
The Event Management (EM) system collects events from various sources and provides a
complete view of the ongoing processing in your enterprise. Based on policies you specify,
it determines which messages are important, and automatically responds to them. It can
automate many otherwise manual problem resolution tasks, filter and consolidate multiple
events, and significantly reduce the need for human intervention.
In this context an event is a message that an operating system, device or application issues
to alert the user or other software components of something having happened. In addition
to the message text, additional information, such as date, time, node of origin, user, and so
forth are associated with the event. Event sources include system logs, messages from
other Unicenter components, agent messages, SNMP trap messages and others.
An Event Management environment consists of at least one Event Manager, one or more
Event Agents, and graphical user interfaces (GUIs), with the Event Manager having
responsibility for the collection and storage of events that it receives from the local system
or remote Event Agents. Events can be viewed and configured from the native Win32 GUI
and the Management Command Center (MCC). An event viewer is also provided by the
Unicenter Management Portal (Unicenter MP).
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Please see Unicenter NSM Inside Event Management and Alert Management for more
details.
Event Management Setup
The Event Management components are installed using the Unicenter NSM Installation
Wizard. The Management Command Center is a separate installation option that includes
the necessary EM related plug-ins and viewers.
No initial configuration is required to get started with Event Management. Once installed, it
starts working, but many clients elect to customize the Event Management configurations
extensively. The following section describes popular configurations like customization of the
Console Log viewer in the MCC, activation of agent policy packs and how to define an event
policy.
These examples require installation of Event Manager, Event Management Provider and
MCC. Another example illustrates the use of the Trap Manager.
Event Management Configuration: Customize the MCC Console
Logs
In this example, the MCC Console Logs view will be the primary GUI used for viewing event
log messages. The view can be customized, for instance the columns and event types that
are displayed.
To launch the MCC and view current event log messages
1. To open the MCC. use Start Menu > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter >
NSM > Management Command Center, or from command line execute the command:
tndbrowser
2. Select Console Logs from the left pane header
3. Locate your Event Management server (typically under the Default zone)
4. Select last 24 hours
The Console Log (last 24 hours) view will open in the right pane.
ADJUST EVENT COLUMNS TO YOUR NEEDS
To adapt the column display to your needs
1. Right-click the view header and select Columns; the Column Selector window opens. By
default all columns are visible.
2. Select the column you want to hide and click the left-arrow.
Changes are applied right away and are persistent for the given user.
Note: You can also change the column sequence in this window with the up and down
arrows.
3. When finished, close the Column Selector window.
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CREATE A BOOKMARK AND A FAVORITE
Bookmarks and favorites help you to switch directly to an MCC view.
To create bookmarks for the current Console Logs view
1. Select from the MCC menu Edit > Bookmark to create the bookmarkcreate
2. Select Bookmarks from the MCC left pane header
3. Select the entry Console Log (last 24 hours)
4. In the right pane set the field Add to favorites bar to Yes
5. You can also change the name of the bookmark, for example, Logs
This creates the favorite Logs in the MCC upper-right just above the right pane.
6. Click this favorite to bring you directly to the console log view.
DEFINE EVENT FILTERS
The events displayed in the Console Log view can be controlled by filters. For example, you
would like to focus on the messages from the Windows System Agent (caiWinA3).
To define the filter
1. Select Filters from the left pane header.
2. Right-click Console Logs and select New > Filter, which creates NewFilter_0.
3. In the left pane, click the name so it becomes editable and change the name to
caiWinA3.
4. Select caiWinA3 and the Filter Editor view opens in the right pane.
5. Click Add Expression
6. From the Choose Property drop-down list, select Message.
7. In the value field enter * caiWinA3 *.
8. When you move the mouse to the "=" operator, a drop-down list appears. Select the
operator matching DOS wildcard expression.
9. Click the diskette symbol in the upper-right view to save and complete the filter
definition.
When you navigate back to the Console Logs, you can right-click anywhere in the right
pane event table and select from the menu Apply Filter > caiWinA3. The view will be
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updated and only the event messages that meet the filter condition will be displayed.
ACTIVATE POLICY PACK FOR WINDOWS SYSTEM AGENT
Policy packs enhance the visualization of Unicenter NSM agent event messages, and you’ll
likely find that the imported Message Record definitions (imported from the policy pack)
provide useful examples and may help you identify a specific agent message type you
would want to further tailor the processing of.
To activate policy pack for Windows system agent
1. Locate the Unicenter NSM install media (DVD or hard disk).
2. Open a command window and change the directory to \Windows\NT\PolicyPacks
where you will find the files specific to an agent.
3. For the Windows system agent, from the command line, execute the command:
cautil -f caiWinA3_msgrec.cautil
Note: Loading the policy packs can take several minutes.
4. From the command line, execute the command to activate the definitions.
oprcmd opreload
The policy definitions imported by the policy pack are now in effect. You’ll notice now that
Windows system agent messages are color-coded, with the color based on the status field
from the event message, with the severity flag automatically set appropriately, and
descriptive annotations added to the event message.
Define Event Policy: Message Records and Actions
Automated actions and reformatting of event messages are controlled by Message Records
and Actions (MRA). There are predefined sets of MRAs included with the product when it
ships and additional MRAs are provided by Policy Packs (see previous section), 3rd party
integrations, and of course any customizations made on site by services personnel or client
personnel.
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The following example defines an event policy for SNMP trap messages by a MRA to make
the trap message easier to read. The process for defining an event policy for SNMP trap
messages by MRA is as follows:
1. Open MCC Event Management
2. Create new Message Record
3. Create Message Actions
4. Activate new MRA
5. Test the policy
OPEN EVENT MANAGEMENT IN MANAGEMENT COMMAND CENTER
To open Event Management in MCC
1. In MCC, select Enterprise Management from the left pane header
2. Expand the entry with your EM server name.
On the first time MCC prompts you for a username and password. Enter the operating
system credentials you used when you installed Unicenter NSM.
3. Expand Event Management, then select Messages and the right pane displays
predefined message records.
CREATE NEW MESSAGE RECORD
To create new Message Record
1. Click the leftmost white-sheet icon in the message view header.
2. Enter the following data in the Message Record Detail window:
Message ID: %CATD_I_060, SNMPTRAP: -c * 149 * * 6 1 *
Description: Example: MyDevice reformat trap
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3. Click the diskette button (second from left) to save the settings.
This record is going to match enterprise specific SNMP trap messages with the
enterprise OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.149 and trap subtype 1 from any device.
CREATE MESSAGE ACTIONS
Create Message Actions
1. Select the Actions tab,
An empty table appears.
2. Click the leftmost white-sheet icon to create a new message record action.
The Message Record Action Detail window opens.
3. Enter the following data in the new window:
sequence number: 100
Action:
select DISCARD from the drop-down
4. Click OK (first from left).
This message action discards the original event message. The next action will create a
new message.
5. Create another action with the following data:
sequence number: 200
Text: MyDevice: device &7 new status: &16
Action:
select SENDOPER from the drop-down
Attribute:
REVERSE
Color:
RED
6. Click ok.
SENDOPER creates a new event message by using the given text argument. The
variables &7 and &16 refer to the 7th and 16th word separated by blanks in the original
message which represent the name and the first variable binding. Other actions can be
added, for example, by using the COMMAND action to run any other executable.
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ACTIVATE NEW MESSAGE RECORDS AND ACTIONS
The new or updated MRAs have to be activated by a command that can be executed from
the MCC.
To activate new or updated Message Records and Actions
1. Select from MCC Menu My Actions > Execute an Action
2. Enter the following data into the form:
Command:
Execute using opera:
opreload
Y
3. Click Execute, then close window.
TEST THE POLICY
You can simulate the device trap by using the catrap command on your EM manager
machine:
catrap %COMPUTERNAME% 1.3.6.1.4.1.149 %COMPUTERNAME% 6 1 1 1.3.6.1.4.1.149.1
octetstring Critical
The Console Logs view will display the trap message as follows:
MyDevice: device %COMPUTERNAME% new status: Critical
Note: This is one method to reformat traps, which is especially useful when additional
commands should be executed automatically or extended filtering is required. The
Unicenter NSM Trap Manager provides an alternate method for trap translations.
Define Trap Translation with the Trap Manager
The Trap Manager allows the definition of trap translations and filters for Event
Management. For more information about the Trap Manager, see the Unicenter NSM
Administrator Guide, Appendix A.
The Trap Manager is a separate install option and should be installed on your Event
Management server.
INSTALL TRAP MANAGER
To Install Trap Manager
1. From the Unicenter Product Explorer, expand Post Installation Utilities, select Trap
Manager and click Install.
2. The installer will ask you for the following information:
destination directory (use default or change it)
reformat traps
load predefined traps
Y
Y
Launch Trap Manager
3. Once installed, launch the Trap Manager GUI from Start Menu > Programs > Computer
Associates > Unicenter > NSM > Trap Manager > Trap Manager.
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4. When prompted for a username and password to access the MDB, specify the
nsmadmin user and its password.
The Unicenter NSM TrapManager GUI will open.
DEFINE A SINGLE TRAP TRANSLATION
To define a trap translation for a single device trap with the characteristics
enterprise OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.149
trap type 6
trap subtype 1
varbind
text field
1. From the TrapManager menu, select View > MIBs > All.
2. At first, a vendor has to be created: File > Add > Vendor. Enter TEST in the name field.
3. A MIB entry has to be created, so right-click TEST in the left pane and select Add MIB
File. Enter in the name field: TEST(TEST)
4. Create a trap definition: right-click TEST(TEST) and select Add Trap.
5. Enter the following values in the trap view in the right pane:
Trap Name
TEST1
Generic ID 6
Specific ID 1
OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.149.1
Trap severity
Fail
Argument sequence 1, 0
Message Format MyDevice: device %s new status: %s
The format text defines the constant text to be displayed with placeholders for the
variable binding.
6. Click Save
7. From the menu select Trap Daemon > Refresh Cache.
This makes the new definition available for use.
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TEST THE TRAP TRANSLATION
To test the trap translation you can simulate the device trap by using the catrap command
on your EM manager machine, such as the following:
catrap %COMPUTERNAME% 1.3.6.1.4.1.149.1 %COMPUTERNAME% 6 1 1
1.3.6.1.4.1.149.1 octetstring Critical
The Console Logs view will now display the trap message as follows:
%CATD_I_066, TEST1: MyDevice: device new status: Critical
You can also import trap definitions from a MIB file. Please see the Trap Manager GUI online
help for additional information.
Event Management Best Practices
Event Management is typically a core element to any Unicenter NSM implementation and
accordingly careful attention should be paid to designing its architecture and configuration.
• Event Manager Placement: at least one Event Manager exists in every implementation. It
can be and is typically installed on a shared central management server but, depending
on the size of the environment and expected event message processing loads, a
dedicated server may be required.
• Several Event Managers: depending on the expected volume of messages or
organizational requirements, several Event Managers can be used to collectively process
the event load. They can be organized in parallel or in a hierarchy; for example, a
company could have a central event manager and remote managers in their subsidiaries
to manage the local events and only forward specific events to the central manager.
• Use of Event Agents: Event Agents are used to collect, filter, process and then forward
events to a manager. Event Agents are also often found in tandem with other
Unicenter NSM components as well, for example, Distributed State Machines (DSMs)
typically have an Event Agent installed as well.
• Reduce event volume: unnecessary event messages should be suppressed as close to the
source as possible. Consuming network bandwidth to forward an event to a remote event
manager, just to have that event discarded would not be a prudent use of network
resources. Letting the event agent handle that suppression locally, through the use of
local event policy, is fully supported and is a method commonly used. For more advanced
requirements, the Advanced Event Correlation (AEC) can help by eliminating duplicate or
redundant events (see next topic).
• Event log retention: the time interval event logs are retained is configurable. To save disk
space, only keep them online storage as required (such as 1 week) and archive the
outdated log files.
• Focus on important events: the Alert Management System (AMS) helps to organize and
track important events. Please see the related chapter in this document.
• Managing event policies: the more policies are defined the more the need to get a better
control. A message key (like MYMRA0001) concatenated to the event text (or the other
fields like category or source) could help identifying which message record action
modified an event. A concise message record description is always helpful.
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Extending Event Management Functionality with Advanced Event
Correlation
Advanced Event Correlation (AEC) extends the functionality of Event Management (EM) to
provide a powerful event correlation, root cause and impact analysis capability. When used
with existing Unicenter NSM features, AEC can increase the quality and reduce the quantity
of the information reported on the Event Console which is used to automate certain
operational tasks. This applies to all kinds of event messages including messages from
Unicenter NSM components, SNMP traps, or other applications.
In simple terms, event correlation is a way to group associated events together for the
purpose of further processing. Grouping events this way lets you do simple but powerful
forms of processing, such as event suppression, reformatting, aggregation or consolidation,
for example:
• Suppress events according to source, duplication, transient states (for example, a
flapping link), frequency, thresholds associated with field values, and so on.
• Combine (aggregate) information spanning multiple events into one event.
• Extract data from events that may be difficult to extract using existing tools, making it
available for further processing through automation.
• Reformat events for easier processing or to be more readable for operators.
• Detect the absence of scheduled events, such as a Backup Complete. Event correlation
can also facilitate more powerful contextual forms of processing, such as root cause
analysis and impact analysis.
For detailed information about AEC, see the Unicenter NSM Inside Event Management and
Alert Management Guide.
AEC Preparation
AEC is an integral part of Unicenter Event Management (EM) and is available for use on
each platform where EM is installed. A good start with AEC is by using examples and a
simple rule. Both, as well as some general guidelines are described in the following
sections.
AEC CONFIGURATION: DOWNLOAD AND USE EXAMPLE RULE
Sample rules are provided with a brief description on the SupportConnect website under
http://supportconnectw.ca.com/premium/impcd/r11/sample_policy/Sample_Policy_Frame.h
tm
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Many predefined AEC Policies are available for download; examples of these policies are
listed in the following table:
Extracting Embedded Data
DuplicateEventSuppression
Extract data from the event message
and use it in another event field
Suppression of events that match a pattern
Global Constant
Correlate event message with a static global
constant. The value of the constant must
match a part of the input event
AggregateTraps
Aggregate four different traps from a special
device to one message.
RollingWindow
Identify whenever 3 critical event messages
appear within a 3 minute time interval and
create a correlation message
Picklist Integration
The event picker of the Template String
Editor in the IDE can be configured to add
the regular expression syntax for any other
event type
Missing Event
Generate a correlation message when an
expected event does not arrive in time.
Ping Failure
Determination of the root cause and
generation of a correlation message.
Down for Maintenance
Determination of the root cause and
suppression of symptomatic events that
follow a “Down for maintenance” message.
Transient Event
Eliminate undesired “down” alarms when a
device fails and recovers back shortly.
Memory Shortage
Generate a correlation message when both
the virtual and the physical memory is in
unexpected status.
Host Agent Failure
Determination of the root cause, generation
of correlation and impact messages and
suppression of symptomatic events.
Correlating VPN Host Failures
Correlation of router messages with device
failure messages through event message
token.
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Extracting Embedded Data
Time Based Correlation
Extract data from the event message
and use it in another event field
Correlate ping broken/up messages over
time. Different correlation messages are
generated depending on the time between
the broken and the up message.
ERPDomainProcesses
Correlate process failure messages to
differentiate the following situations for an
ERP system:
- the ERP system is in maintenance
- the ERP domain fails
- single ERP domain processes fail
UPSSwitchServerCorrelation
Correlate failure messages from a UPS, two
switches and several servers to identify
system maintenance or the root cause of
failures.
Business Process View Integration
Integration with WorldView Business View:
messages from hosts and devices that
belong to a specific business view should be
highlighted.
FaultTree
Implementation of a sample event fault tree
that represents a complex logical expression
SPY_Heartbeat
Monitoring of regular heartbeat messages
for interruptions
To use the Host Agent Failure predefined AEC policy
1. Customers can download a zip archive file that contains all examples from
http://supportconnectw.ca.com/premium/impcd/r11/sample_policy/downloads/AECExa
mples.zip
2. Extract all files to a local directory of your Unicenter NSM manager with Event
Management installed, for example: C:\home\AEC, and open a command window for
that directory
3. Run import_rules.cmd to load the rules into the MDB
4. Run load_engine.cmd to load the rules into the local AEC engine
5. Run HostAgentFailure.bat.
This script sends to Unicenter EM events that simulate host and agent related events. The
results can be viewed in Event Console.
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Example: host/ agent failure description
This example demonstrates the determination of the root cause, generation of correlation
and impact messages, and suppression of symptomatic events. Two types of events are
processed:
• IP_Interface related broken messages that indicate a connection-to-host-lost condition
(host failure)
• Agent-related down messages that could be received due to a host failure or due to an
isolated agent failure.
First, the HostAgentFailure.bat script creates host and agent failure events. The host failure
with the broken message is identified as the root cause and displayed in the correlation
message. An impact message is created which contains the list of agents with a down
message.
Second, only an isolated agent down message is sent. In this case it is identified as root
cause and a correlation message is displayed but no impact message.
Customers can also see the readme.htm for more information about how to review, manage
and run the examples.
http://supportconnect.ca.com/sc/documentation/brpresults.jsp?brand=7&productId=13063
9&language=ENU&release=&submit=Go
AEC Configuration: Create a Duplicate Event Suppression Rule
Consider the following scenario: a few devices in your environment send similar messages
to your console from time to time, such as:
OtherDevices:MyDevice XS1237NY is up
OtherDevices:MyDevice XS1237NY is up
OtherDevices:MyDevice XS4136EM is up
OtherDevices:MyDevice XS4136EM is up
OtherDevices:MyDevice XS4136EM is up
(first)
(first)
To suppress the duplicate messages and display only the first occurrence per
device
Your approach is to define an AEC policy using the Integrated Development Environment
(IDE).
1. Launch the IDE from the AEC Policies Summary window. You can access it from
Start Menu > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM > Enterprise
Management > EM Classic > Windows > Event > AEC Policies, or by executing the
following command from the command line:
caugui aecobj
When you select from the menu AEC Policies > New, the Select Rule Type window
opens and displays a list of predefined rule types.
2. Select Suppression of Duplicates, click OK.
The IDE opens. It shows a tutor pane with explanations on the left, the navigation tree
in the middle and the data pane on the right.
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3. Expand Correlation Rules in the middle pane, and then select the Duplicate Suppression
Rule.
This template rule with one pipeline item is already predefined.
4. In the right pane, double-click the Reset parameter and change the Reset Seconds
parameter to 60.
This setting means that duplicate messages that arrive within a 1 minute interval will
be suppressed.
5. Expand Duplicates Suppression Rule in the tree pane and then Pipeline. Right-click
Event A under Pipeline, select Wizard.
The Pipeline Item Configuration Wizard opens. The first screen defines general settings
and is left unchanged.
6. Click Next, the MATCH EVENT view opens. Overwrite the Message Template field with
the following text: ^OtherDevices:MyDevice &(DEVICE) is Up
This message template consists of constant text and the token &(DEVICE) that is used
to identify and distinguish such a message depending on the name of the device.
7. Click Next 4 times, until the LOCAL CORRELATION EVENT view opens
It defines the event message that is sent when the first message matches the MATCH
EVENT. You can keep the predefined settings.
8. Click Next 3 times, until the LOCAL RESET EVENT view opens.
It defines the event message that is sent when the rule is terminated (reset). This is
going to happen 60s (= reset seconds) after the first match.
9. Enter the following settings:
Message Template: RULE RESET: DupDevEvSupp
Attributes:
Reverse
Colour:
Green
Click OK to finish the wizard.
10. Save the policy in the IDE to the database from the menu File > Save.
The Select Destination window opens, click OK.
11. The Select Policy window opens, enter
policy name:
description:
DupDevEvSupp
duplicate device event suppression
click OK
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Deploy AEC Policy to an Event Agent System
Finally, deploy the AEC policy to an event agent system from the menu File > Deploy Policy
to Event Agents. The Deploy Policy window opens; it lists the event management systems
and the policies stored in the database. Wait for the policies to load; this may take some
time as it depends on the size of the enterprise.
To deploy AEC policy to an Event Agent system:
1. In this window, select your system in the Event Agents list
2. Select DupDevEvSupp in the Available Policy list, Click Add
3. Click Deploy and when the Select Event Agents window opens, select your system and
click Apply.
The policy is now activated.
4. Exit the Select Event Agents window and exit the Deploy Policy window.
Test the AEC Policy
To test the policy you can simulate the device messages by sending messages to Event
Management with the cawto utility.
1. Open a command window and execute the following commands:
cawto OtherDevices:MyDevice XS1237NY is Up
cawto OtherDevices:MyDevice XS837NY is Up
cawto OtherDevices:MyDevice XS1237NY is Up
cawto OtherDevices:MyDevice XS4136EM is Up
cawto OtherDevices:MyDevice XS837NY is Up
cawto OtherDevices:MyDevice XS1237NY is Up
2. Open the Event Console to review the generated messages.
If all messages were sent within a 60 second interval you should see three red
correlation messages, the suppressed messages marked as invisible, and three green
reset messages.
For more examples, see the Unicenter NSM Implementation Guide, which has another
procedure to define an AEC policy that uses Boolean operators.
AEC configuration: Guidelines
To efficiently develop and use the AEC policies follow these helpful guidelines:
• Identify root cause and correlation opportunities for proactive management
• Have a good understanding of the event messages and the related systems
• Identify the best matching rule type
• Make use of the examples to understand key AEC techniques and use them as templates
• AEC should not be used for simple tasks like event message reformatting that can also be
achieved by Event Message Records and Actions.
• Use the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for implementation
• Use scripts or the AEC Log Player for testing
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• Use descriptive text in generated messages to allow the rule identification from the Event
Console message.
• At least during the development phase define a reset event for your rules. So you can
identify in the sequence of event messages when the rule terminates.
Configuring Alert Management System
The Alert Management System (AMS) is a tool for organizing and tracking the most
important events in an enterprise or a logical segment of an enterprise. It lets you focus on
and manage the highest severity IT events.
An alert is created by an Event Management or AEC policy based on an alert class that
defines characteristics like alert properties, display attributes, context menu, escalation
policy and a default alert queue. Alert queues are defined according to the business needs
like managed services (such as entry order processing) or organizational aspects (such as
Windows Servers). Alerts are being viewed and managed in the Management Command
Center (MCC) and can be viewed from the Unicenter Management Portal (Unicenter MP).
Please see the Unicenter NSM Inside Event Management and Alert Management, Chapter 4,
for more detailed information.
AMS Setup
Alert Management is a separate install option in the Unicenter NSM Installation Wizard
under Enterprise Management. It typically gets installed on a central Event Manager. The
Management Command Center is also a separate install option. It already includes the
necessary AMS related plug-ins and viewers.
First the MDB connection must defined to permit alert view in context of WorldView objects.
DEFINE MDB CONNECTION
To define the MDB connection
1. Open the MCC from Start Menu > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM
> Management Command Center, or from the command line, execute the following
command:
tndbrowser
2. Select Enterprise Management from the left pane header; expand the tree under your
server and then Alert Management.
3. Select Alert Global Definitions, then click the Launch Alert Global Definitions item in the
right pane
The detail window displays several parameters.
4. Under WorldView Repositories, click the white-sheet icon and enter the MDB hostname,
username (such as nsmadmin) and password.
5. Click OK to save and close the window.
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6. Click the green ok-icon also visible in the Alert Global Definitions window.
AMS Queue, Class and Alert Creation
This is an example how to define an alert queue and class and how to create alerts for the
following scenario:
Certain critical events detected by the Windows System Agent, such as problems with
logical volumes, should be assigned to a alert group that is handled by the Windows system
operators.
Accordingly, we’ll define an alert queue for Windows Systems that contains a class of
events related to logical volumes (we’ll call the class WindowsLV) and an EM policy for alert
creation, by working through the following tasks.
How you define an alert queue and class, and create alerts
1. Open MCC Alert Management
2. Define Alert Queue
3. Define Alert Class
4. Activate new policy
5. Monitor Alerts
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OPEN MCC ALERT MANAGEMENT
Open the MCC and navigate in the left pane to Enterprise Management and then further
down to Alert Management.
To Define an Alert Queue
1. Select Alert Queues and the alert queue view displays in the right pane.System:define
2. Select the white-sheet icon to create a new queue and enter the following in the detail
window:
Alert queue name:
Description:
Windows Systems
Windows Systems
3. Click OK to save and close the window.
To define an Alert Class
1. Select Alert Classes in the left pane, the alert class view will display in the right pane.
System:define
2. Select the white-sheet icon to create a new class.
The detail window opens.
3. In the Main tab, enter the following:
Class ID:
Class name:
Description:
Initial queue:
WindowsLV
Windows Logical Volumes
Windows Logical Volumes
select Windows Systems
4. Under the tab Appearance enter the following:
Display attributes: select Warning
5. Click the diskette icon to save the current settings.
6. Select the Message Policies tab to define the alert creation condition:
7. Click the white-sheet icon
The New Event Alert Policy window opens.
8. Enter the following data:
Matching text: * * caiWinA3 Trap WinA3_LVolInst * Critical *
Alert text: &5 &7 &8 &10
This defines a Message Record and Action for Windows System Agent logical volume
resource instances to create an alert of this class whenever the status changes to
Critical.
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9. Click OK to save and close the window.
To activate new message policy
The new MRA must be activated by a command that can be executed from the MCC:
1. Select from MCC Menu My Actions > Execute an Action
2. Enter the following data into the form:
Command:
Execute using opera:
opreload
Y
3. Click Execute, then close window.
To Monitor Alerts
You can now monitor the alerts from the MCC. System:
1. Select Alerts from the left pane header and navigate to your server
A Default queue and the newly defined Windows Systems queue should be displayed.
2. Force a critical condition for a logical volume by lowering the critical threshold in the
Windows System Agent configuration)
An alert entry is created.
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3. According to the event policy, the alert text should read something like the following;
WinA3_LVolInst Critical C: Size.
Context menus, automated actions or specific display attributes can be defined and
assigned to the alert class for further customization. Please see the Unicenter NSM Inside
Event Management and Alert Management for additional information.
Configure Alerts to Close Automatically
In certain cases there might be the need to close an alert automatically, for example, when
a back to normal condition can be identified. To implement such functionality, use the utility
caamscmd together with an event policy. In addition to the previous example, when the
Windows System Agent logical volume instance changes its status back from Critical to
Normal or Warning, its original alert could be closed. System:close
To configure alerts to close automatically:
1. Download caamscmd
2. Define Message Record and Action
3. Add user to Event Management
To download caamsmd
The utility caamscmd can be downloaded from
http://supportconnectw.ca.com/premium/impcd/r11/FieldDevUtilities/tools/fielddev_tools_c
aamscmd.htm.
Please follow the instructions on that page to complete the download and the installation of
the caamsmd utility.
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To define a Message Record and Action
1. Define a Message Record with the following settings: (see the Event Management
section earlier in this chapter for more details regarding how to accomplish these steps)
Enter into the Message ID field:
* * caiWinA3 Trap WinA3_LVolInst Critical *
Enter into the Description field:
Example: auto-close alert
This record matches the status change away from Critical.
2. Define the related Message Action using the following data:
Enter into sequence number field: 100
Enter into the Text field:
caamscmd –c WindowsLV –n &NODEID –u “&5 Critical &8 &10” –f active –v N
Setting for the Action field:
select COMMAND from the drop-down list
This action calls caamscmd to set the alert specified by class, nodename and alert text
to inactive (=closed).
To add user to Event Management
1. Define the system user to the Event Manager so that the command will execute
automatically
2. From a command window, execute the following command:
caugui settings
3. On the bottom tabs, select Event Management.
4. Scroll down the list to find the row with the description Users Authorized to Issue
Commands
5. Double-click the Setting field to make it editable and append it with the following text:
,NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Note: This setting is different for non-English operating systems. Pick up the required
user name from an agent status change message in the Console Log view, in the User
column.
6. Close the EM Settings window and execute the following in the command window to
restart the event management process:
unicntrl stop opr
unicntrl start opr
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Now in the MCC Alerts you can monitor view how alerts appear and disappear depending on
the status of the logical volumes. The execution of the caamscmd utility is tracked in the
event console.
AMS Guidelines
For taking best advantages with Alert Management the following guidelines should be
considered:
• AMS Manager placement: the AMS Manager should reside on a central Event Manager.
Every other Event Manager or Agent in the environment is AMS enabled and capable of
creating an alert that would then be process by AMS.
• Focus on real critical conditions: alerts should comprise a very small subset of the
events that occur and should typically represent events that require human intervention.
The intent is to provide the operations staff focused alert information so that important
events are not lost in the noise and your operations staff can easily spot and focus on
what is important. The volume of messages that can reasonably qualify as deserving
“alert” status should be limited in order to ensure that the operations staff is able to
respond to them.
• AMS queues: define the alert queues to reflect business services, organizational or
operational aspects. Examples are:
› Queues based on WorldView Business Views,
› Different queues for Network, Windows Systems, or Unix Systems
› Different queues for low impact or high impact alerts.
• AMS customization: AMS can be extensively customized including options to customize
prioritization of alerts, display attributes, automated and manual actions and escalation of
alerts. All of this customization is available to tailor AMS to better meet the needs of the
operations staff.
• AMS latency: AMS is a near real-time system and you should expect some latency in the
alert views in MCC (there will be some delay in the alert being raised or responded to and
that action being reflected in the MCC).
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• AMS cleanup: alerts are updated to indicate that their status is closed; alerts are not
removed from the MDB when they are closed. To periodically prune alert records from the
MDB, use of the caamsarchive command is required. The caamsarchive command
removes closed alerts from the MDB after their retention period has been reached,
archiving those alerts to flat files that are external to the MDB which can subsequently be
backed up for perpetual storage. For more information, see the Unicenter NSM Inside
Event Management and Alert Management guide.
Configuring and Managing Distributed State Machine
Environments
DSM Configuration is a tool that allows you to configure the properties and monitoring
scope of your Agent Technology Distributed State Machines (DSMs).
Monitoring your key systems is an essential part of keeping those systems running as
smoothly as possible with the least number of problems. The DSM components can be used
to provide that monitoring and there are easy to use ways to configure the DSM
components to tell them what each of them will be monitoring and how often the DSM
should be checking those devices that it is configured to monitor. With the latest releases of
Unicenter NSM, settings that were previously only maintainable using text editors and
stored in flat files can now be administered using easy to use interactive interfaces
accessible from the Management Command Center (MCC) under Tools — DSM Configuration
and the DSM Wizard.
Understanding DSM Configuration
The DSMs can do a surprising amount of work quite efficiently but the key to achieving that
efficiency is proper configuration. There are two simple things that can be done to
dramatically improve the operation of the DSM components in your environment.
• When telling the DSM what to monitor and manager, specify only the classes and IP
address ranges that you know reside within your enterprise. Telling the DSM components
to interact with components that are not installed anywhere (on IP address ranges that
are not part of your network) waste a great deal of resource as attempts to interrogate or
otherwise access those non-existent objects time out, and that waste can be easily
avoided.
• Tune the pollset values so that the DSM component is not actively interrogating devices
too frequently, and restrict the managed objects that appear in the 2D Map to that set
that is relevant to supporting your business services (more information on this topic was
provided in Chapter 4).
By tuning these DSM settings, you can decrease the time it takes for a DSM to discover all
the resources it should monitor and to reload policy when restarted.
DSM Configuration utilities are provided that can be used to set the scope of your DSMs at
install time and to modify, delete, or add new entries while managing your environment.
DSM Configuration tools can be accessed through the Management Command Center (MCC)
by selecting Tools in the left pane, or alternatively through the DSM Wizard, which will be
covered in the next section.
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Accessing the DSM Configuration Plug-in
To access the DSM Configuration Plug-in from within the MCC
1. From the drop-down list in the left pane Plug-in Menu, choose Tools.
2. Then expand the left pane tree and select the DSM Configuration entry in the tree.
Overview of DSM Configuration Options
You have the following options to configure your DSM:
• DSM Agent Class Scoping
DSM Agent Class Scoping displays the names of all the agent classes that the DSM
manages. This list displays the set of all agent classes that any DSM in the environment
is responsible for monitoring. Basically this list tells the DSM which agent classes to
look for and which policy sets to load and process.
Simply stated, you can dramatically improve the efficiency of the DSMs by altering this
list to contain only the agent classes that you know reside in your environment and that
you want the DSM to monitor.
Note: When you introduce a new policy, you must add the agent class name to the list
of known agent classes.
Configure the agent classes by performing any one of the following tasks:
› Add a new agent class for the DSM to monitor.
› Modify any existing agent class settings.
› Delete an existing agent class from being monitored.
• Discovery Community Strings
The DSM Discovery Community Strings pane identifies community strings and port
numbers that your DSM uses to discover agents and devices. The community string
tells the device whether the DSM has read or write permission for any SNMP get and
set requests. If the discovery components have success using a given community
string, that string will be used subsequently whenever interrogating the subject device
(unless modified manually).
The list of discovery community strings and port numbers tells you what strings and
ports the DSM components will use when communicating with classes of nodes and
agents.
Since community strings are the authentication notification with which the devices and
DSM communicate, facilities are included to enable you to modify these access strings,
depending on your security requirements.
SNMP community definitions specify the access level that management applications
running on specific hosts have to the agent MIB. An SNMP community definition maps a
unique combination of a community name and a host to one of the following access
levels:
› Read
Permits the agent to respond to get and get-next requests from the SNMP
management application.
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› Write
Permits the agent to respond to set, get, and get-next requests from the
SNMP management application. Write access implies read access.
The actual access that any SNMP management application has to a specific MIB
attribute is the stricter of the following:
› The management application community definition, as retrieved by the SNMP
Administrator
› The attribute access definition in the MIB definition file
Example: If a MIB attribute access is read-only, an SNMP management application with
write access to the MIB cannot set its value. Similarly, management applications with
read access to the MIB cannot set the values of attributes whose access is defined as
read-write.
• Discovery Pollset Values
The DSM Discovery Pollset Values pane displays the poll intervals, the timeouts, and
the number of retries that DSM uses to discover agents and devices. Once discovered,
the devices are assigned these poll values for use in future communications.
After looking at this list, you can quickly see what intervals, timeouts, and retries your
DSM uses, or if certain DSMs use different intervals, timeouts, and retries to
communicate with certain node classes or agent classes. For example, maybe your
printers are pinged less frequently than your nodes, which are pinged less frequently
than the routers.
You can customize the intervals that the DSM uses to check all the devices, based on
the type of resource or type of server being monitored. Why is it beneficial to modify
this list of poll intervals? Simply stated, if a DSM queries all devices too often, the DSM
is consuming CPU and network resource without benefit, and if a DSM doesn't query
the devices often enough, you may not become aware of a problematic situation in a
timely manner. Adjusting the intervals helps you establish the right balance.
• DSM IP Address Scoping
Each DSM has a list of nodes that it manages; this is referred to as the DSM domain. In
prior releases Unicenter NSM controlled the DSM domain at the DSM layer using a
manually edited configuration file called gwipflt.dat.
The interface now included with the product lets you change the range of subnets or
hosts that report to a particular DSM, and this in turn controls how many nodes and
devices are monitored by each DSM.
Using the interface, you can perform the following actions:
› Set up an entire subnet to report to a DSM by using wildcards, such as *.*.*.*.
› Specify a range of addresses within a subnet
› Exclude specific IP addresses or address ranges from being monitored.
By assigning your DSMs to manage specific IP addresses, you can spread the load of
monitoring your enterprise among the number of DSMs you deploy and further ensure
that each DSM manages only those nodes that are within relatively close network
proximity to reduce the amount of network traffic consumed by routing to access the
monitored device.
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How the DSM IP Scope table works:
The DSM IP Scope table contains the information which identifies to each DSM which
nodes it will be managing. When the aws_wvgate service starts, it checks the DSM IP
Scope table and makes corresponding DSM_Server\DSM Address updates before
selecting the monitored objects. In this way the DSM component when starting does
not waste time and rosurce interrogating devices that it will not be charged with
managing. In addition, the aws_wvgate service is continuously listening for updates
from the WorldView components and will automatically update DSM_Server\DSM
Address properties for all new objects of managed classes.
Finally, aws_wvgate dynamically updates MDB objects to reflect any DSM IP Scope
changes detected through the DSM Wizard or any DSM configuration scoping change
made through the Management Command Center interface.
Collectively, this ensures that the DSM components are automatically aware of changes
in their domain of influence.
• DSM Managed Object Scoping
The DSM Managed Object Scoping Table lets you control what specific instances of a
class actually get created in the MDB and are visible in the 2D Map. The Managed
Object Scoping table contains a list of managed object instances that will be created
and visible as icons in the WorldView classic 2DMap and the Management Command
Center.
To be clear, Agent Class Scoping is different from DSM Managed Object Scoping in that
while Agent class scoping limits the scope of the DSM, Managed Object Scoping limits
the scope of DSM objects in WorldView.
Under normal circumstances, whenever a managed object in the DSM has a matching
class definition in WorldView, an object is created in the database and in turn becomes
visible from WorldView. Through DSM Managed Object Scoping the display can be
limited to just the objects of interest by defining which classes on which nodes should
be made visible in WorldView. You may want to customize this list so that only those
resources you are most interested in are created in WorldView.
As you gain additional experience with Agent Technology, you’ll be able to readily
determine which of the objects are more important to your business and configure
WorldView to maintain only the more important objects.
Note: When entering names for DSM Class, you can use anything from the name of an
agent all the way down to an instance class name. Managed Object Name is the short
name of the object as shown in DSM View.
Modifying the DSM Configuration Options using MCC
To modify your DSM configuration, select the entry you wish to modify in the DSM
Configuration tree. Your selected DSM configuration options are then shown in the right
pane.
MODIFYING THE DSM AGENT CLASS SCOPING
DSM Agent Class Scoping is used to select which agent classes a given DSM should discover
and monitor. This window also lets you select additional agent classes or clear an agent
class name from the list of classes to be monitored by a DSM Server.
You can decrease the work of your DSMs, and therefore make them more efficient by
ensuring that your Agent Class includes only the agent classes that exist in your
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environment. Any agent classes not managed by your DSM should not be selected from the
Agent Class list.
To modify the DSM Agent Class Scoping
1. Select DSM Agent Class Scoping from within the Tools Plug-in in the MCC.
In the right pane a list of agent classes is displayed that your DSM can manage.
2. If you do not want to manage an agent class, uncheck the checkbox in the Managed
Status column. If you want to manage that class then leave the checkbox checked.
3. If you have multiple DSMs, choose which agent classes you want a particular DSM to
manage. To specify a DSM, enter the name of that DSM machine in the DSM Server
column on the row next to the agent class you want that DSM to manage. By default it
is set to ANY.
4. You can add or remove new entries by using Insert and Delete at the top of the page.
To do so, select the row and press the correct button.
5. When you are done with modifications, click Save.
The changes are saved in the MDB.
6. Click Notify DSM for the changes to take effect immediately.
DSM is then notified of the change.
MODIFYING THE DSM DISCOVERY COMMUNITY STRINGS
The DSM Discovery Community Strings pane displays community strings and port numbers
that your DSM uses to discover agents and devices. You can add an entry, or modify and
delete an existing entry from the table.
You can change the community strings and ports that a DSM uses to communicate with
specific node classes and agent classes.
To modify the DSM Discovery Community Strings
1. From the Management Command Center, open DSM Configuration.
The DSM Configuration displays its available tools.
2. Select DSM Discovery Community Strings in the left pane.
The DSM Discovery Community Strings list appears in the right pane.
3. Select the row that should be changed and double-click the appropriate field. The field
makes itself available for change.
4. Enter the relevant community name or port; then click elsewhere.
The change is displayed in the list.
5. You can add or remove new entries by using Insert and Delete at the top of the page.
To do so, select the row and click the correct button.
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6. When you are done with modifications, click Save.
The changes are saved in the MDB.
7. Click Notify DSM for the changes to take effect immediately.
DSM is notified of the change.
It is important to understand that any new changes made to DSM Community Strings will
only be applied to newly-discovered objects. Objects already discovered will not have the
changes applied. To use new community strings against already discovered objects you will
need to delete and rediscover those managed objects. To delete managed objects so that
the new DSM community strings take effect, you can choose between two methods:
To change the community string against a discovered object
1. Delete the entire node and rediscover it.
a. To delete an object, right-click on the object in the MCC and click Delete.
b. In the Confirm Delete window check the Delete Child Objects check box and click
Yes.
c. To rediscover a node, please refer to the discovery section in this document.
2. Delete the Unispace object under the node and then rediscover the managed objects.
Note: If WorldView is customized with servers in multiple locations (other than TCP/IP),
such as Business Process Views, we recommend the second method so that you will not
have to repopulate the Business Process Views by copying the rediscovered nodes.
If, on the other hand, you need to change the community string to many devices, such as a
subnet, you can use another method to make the change and activate it within DSM.
To change the community string for many already-discovered objects
1. Change useWvObject property in atmanager.ini from “yes” to “no”.
2. You can find the file atmanager.ini at
Install_Path\SharedComponents\CCS\AT\Services\Config
3. Recycle the DSM
After this change there is no need to update or delete WV objects.
Note: For instructions on how to recycle a DSM, see the section in this document “To
recycle a DSM using commands.”
MODIFYING THE DSM DISCOVERY POLLSET VALUES
The DSM Discovery Pollset Values view displays and lets you to edit the DSM Polling
Parameters, which control how the DSM will poll agents and devices. You can add a poll
entry, or modify and delete an existing entry from the table.
You can customize the intervals that the DSM uses to check all the devices, based on the
type of resource or type of server being monitored.
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To modify the DSM Pollset values
1. From the Management Command Center, open DSM Configuration.
The DSM Configuration displays its available tools.
2. Select DSM Discovery Pollset Values in the left pane.
The DSM Discovery Pollset Values list appears in the right pane.
3. Select the row that should be changed and double-click the appropriate field.
The field makes itself available for changes.
4. Enter the changes you want to make.
The table displays the changes within the list of DSM Discovery Pollset Values.
5. You can add or remove new entries by using Insert and Delete at the top of the page.
To do so, select the row and click the appropriate button.
6. When you are done with modifications, click Save.
The changes are saved in the MDB.
7. Click Notify DSM for the changes to take effect immediately.
DSM is notified of the change.
Note: Any new changes made to DSM Pollset Values will only be applied to newly
discovered objects. Objects already discovered will not have the changes applied.
There are two ways that new pollset information can be applied to existing managed
objects. The first method involves finding the objects, then deleting and rediscovering
them. The second method involves changing a value in a file and recycling DSM
To apply new pollset values to existing managed objects using the GUI
1. Launch the MCC and select Topology from the left drop-down menu.
The Topology view is best if there are only a few objects you wish to delete.
2. If a large number of objects need to be rediscovered, then select Class Specification
from the left drop-down menu.
3. Navigate to the Host and agents you need to delete.
4. Under the Class Specification view, you can select some or all object instances by class.
The objects should be deleted and then rediscovered.
5. If hosts need to be rediscovered, open a command prompt and execute the following
command:
Dscvrbe
6. To rediscover agent level objects, click the globe in the Node View GUI toolbar.
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To apply new pollset values to existing managed objects using a file
1. Edit the file: \CA\SharedComponents\CCS\AT\SERVICES\CONFIG\
atmanager.ini.
2. Change the value for UseWvObject to “no” and save the file. (By default this value is
set to “yes”.)
3. Open a command prompt and execute the command:
resetdsm
The DSM will now rediscover objects and apply all pollset information.
Note: Keep in mind that with this method, DSM discovery of new objects will be a little
slower until UseWvObject is set back to yes and the command resetdsm is run once
again.
MODIFYING THE DSM IP ADDRESS SCOPING
This window lets you assign subnets and hosts to a DSM Server. You can control how many
nodes and devices report to each DSM by modifying the list of IP addresses. The window
contains the same information that in previous releases of Unicenter NSM formerly resided
in the gwipfltii.dat file.
To modify the DSM IP Address Scoping Values
1. From the Management Command Center, open DSM Configuration. If needed, see Open
DSM Configuration.
The DSM Configuration displays its available tools.
2. Select DSM IP Address Scoping in the left pane.
The DSM IP Address Scoping list appears in the right pane.
3. To modify the IP Range for a DSM Server, double-click the appropriate field to be
changed.
The field makes itself available for changes.
4. Enter the IP mask range.
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In the following example we have a DSM running on machine DSMBOX1 configured to
manage all nodes in the 172.28 subnets:
(first line set to 172.28.*.*)
except for the 172.28.192 subnet:
(second line set to -172.28.192.*)
but include a small range of nodes on the 172.28.192 subnet
(from 172.28.192.2 to 172.28.192.8):
(third line set to +172.28.192.2-8)
and all nodes in the 172.31.4 subnet:
(fourth line set to 172.31.4.*)
5. You can add or remove new entries by using Insert and Delete at the top of the page.
To do so select the row and click the appropriate button.
6. When you are done with modifications, click Save.
The changes are saved in the MDB.
7. Click Notify DSM for the changes to take effect immediately.
DSM is notified of the change.
The changes are now enabled for future polling.
MODIFYING THE DSM MANAGED OBJECT SCOPING
DSM Managed Object Scoping view lets you define what agent instances should be
displayed in the WorldView classic 2D MapBy scoping which managed objects are displayed,
you help to make the 2D Map easier to navigate and more efficient to load.
You can limit the WorldView display to only the objects of interest by defining which classes
on which nodes should be made visible in WorldView.
To modify the DSM Managed Object Scoping
1. From the Management Command Center, open DSM Configuration.
2. The DSM Configuration displays its available tools.
3. Select DSM Managed Object Scoping in the left pane. The DSM Managed Object
Scoping list appears in the right pane.
4. Select the row that should be changed and double-click the appropriate field. The field
makes itself available for change.
5. Enter either the changes or clear the check box if you do not want those managed
objects to appear in 2D Map. The entries are reflected in the DSM Managed Object
Scoping list.
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6. Follow the same steps to save your data as explained in the previous section for DSM
Discovery Community Strings.
Note: Any change to DSM Managed Object Scoping requires that the DSM be recycled.
To recycle a DSM using commands
1. Access the DSM Server that must be recycled, either locally or remotely, and log in as
Administrator.
2. Bring up a command prompt: Start > Run > enter CMD
3. Enter the following command to stop any dependent processes:
awservices stop
4. Check status with the following command and see that awservices has stopped.
awservices list
5. Restart awservices with the following command:
awservices start
See response: awservices is starting.
6. Check status with the following command:
awservices list
7. Observe that the aws_dsm process is displayed as RUNNING.
Modifying the DSM Configuration Options using DSM Wizard
The DSM Wizard provides a simple and centralized method to manage DSM Scope objects.
This tool is typically used to manage and configure DSM scopes at install time but can also
be used (as can the DSM Configuration tool in the Management Command Center discussed
in the preceding section) to modify, delete, or add new entries while maintaining your
environment.
Note: Although the DSM Wizard can be executed from any host where a DSM is installed,
we recommend that you designate one DSM computer from which to execute the DSM
Wizard. Experience has shown that by implementing such a usage policy you can restrict
access to the DSM Wizard and reduce the risk that someone will incorrectly modify the
managed object scope or the IP address scope and consequently change what resources
are being monitored.
When working within any DSM Wizard page, you can select from a list of known DSM
servers to apply the entries. Leave the word ANY displayed in the Select DSM field if the
entries should apply to all DSMs you may deploy. To insert the name of a new DSM that is
not on your list, click New DSM and provide the name of their DSM server.
Before you exit the DSM Wizard, you will be prompted whether to Enable New
Configuration. By checking this box and clicking Finish, the assigned DSMs will immediately
manage their updated agent classes and will update their managed hosts.
Note: The mechanisms used by the DSM Wizard in Unicenter NSM r11 cannot be used to
administer older versions of Unicenter components. (It works with Unicenter NSM r11.0 and
later versions, but does not work with Unicenter 3.0 and older components.)
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To invoke the DSM Wizard
• Start menu: Start > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM > Agent
Technology > DSM Wizard
• Start menu: Start > Run > enter dsmwiz
The DSM Wizard is a five-step, win32-based wizard that prompts you to configure your
DSM options and automatically registers the MCC’s DSM Configuration GUI plug-ins for you.
If you need more help with the DSM Wizard, see the Unicenter NSM product DVD, and
locate NSM_InsideSystemsManagement_ENU.pdf, Understanding the DSM Wizard.
Publishing Reports with Web Reporting Server
Unicenter Web Reporting Server (WRS) component provides reporting capabilities for
various enterprise management applications and includes services to register an
application, manage data sources, manage and process reports. Configure reports,
schedule them for execution, and publish a new report definition or report result.
WRS provides an explorer-style GUI that lets you browse reports and perform certain
administrative tasks, such as managing data source, configuring, scheduling and publishing
a report.
WRS uses constructs referred to as report profiles that include information such as data
source definition, query definition and report styling information and includes facilities that
can present the report data as a chart, a table, or as a chart and table combination.
Multiple types of chart presentations supported in WRS include line, area, bar, pie, stack
area, stack bar, and of course, WRS also supports a summary version of reports typical for
inclusion in Portal workplaces.
Getting started with WRS
To get started working with WRS
1. Open your Web browser and in the address bar enter your WRS server’s host name
followed by :9090/wrs.
Example:
http://wrshostname:9090/wrs/
Note: Port 9090 is the default port that the Web Reporting Server uses. Your
administrator can change this port number.
The WRS login dialog appears.
2. Enter your user name and password (set during installation) and then click Log In.
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The user and password was set during installation. After logging in, the main Web
Reporting window appears.
This window is split into two panes. The left pane is an Explorer-like tree view with
which you can navigate through the reports and administration options, while the right
pane shows the contents of the item that you selected at the left.
Initial Configuration of Unicenter NSM Web Reporting Server
The first time you start Unicenter NSM Web Reporting Server, you will be required to
establish connections to the Unicenter NSM managers using the Manage Components page.
To access the Manage Components page
1. Log in to WRS and then expand the Administration tree node on the left pane to view
the Manage Components tree node.
2. Select Manage Components.
3. Click Discover to discover the Unicenter NSM managers available in your environment.
4. Select the components that you want to be accessible for reporting, choose the default
connection for each component type, provide user ID and passwords as required, and
save the connections.
5. If certain components are not discovered then you should manually add them.
a. Click Connection… and then New.
b. Enter the Server name and user/password if required and click OK.
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When everything is properly setup you will see the following:
Understanding WRS Reports
Web Reports let you view all of your historical performance data through an Internet
browser, in a way that is meaningful to you.
There are three different facilities available to you through which you can view Web Reports
from one of three sources:
• WRS
• Unicenter Management Portal
• Unicenter MCC
From any of the preceding facilities you can access any of the following types of reports:
• Configured Reports
• Report Templates
• Published Reports
CONFIGURED REPORTS
Configured Reports are out-of-the-box report templates that while ready to use, have not
yet been executed and accordingly contain no user data. Configured reports can be used
immediately (as is, out of the box). You can create and save configured reports using the
provided templates, or use the other reports included with the product. Configured Reports
are listed in the tree according to product-specific classification.
REPORT TEMPLATES
Report Templates provide a blank slate of fields in which you can fill in the criteria that
identifies the information you want to view in your report. The templates provide an easyto-use
way of creating custom reports through the use of option fields to fill in the criteria
that you want to use to generate your report. Once you fill in a template, you can either
publish the template information into the tree as a published report, or add it to the list of
configured reports in the tree.
Web Reports provide several Report Templates and Configured Reports across a variety of
products and after only a short time using the Report Template and Configured Report
facilities, you’ll quickly see that they provide the facilities you need to enable you to see the
data you need to see, the way you need to see it.
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Report templates are listed in the tree according to product-specific classification. To get
you started Unicenter WRS ships with several predefined report templates and the Canned
Report Configuration page provided with WRS can be used to edit these canned reports to
suit your needs.
PUBLISHED REPORTS
Published Reports are the static contents of the results of executing reports in Unicenter
WRS. After you publish a report, you must reload the left pane tree for the report link to
become available. Publishing reports can be deleted from the right tree by simply selecting
a report, right-clicking on it, and selecting delete.
VIEWING WRS REPORTS
To View WRS Reports
All WRS reports are accessed in the same manner.
1. After you are logged into the WRS server, expand the Unicenter Reports branch entry
2. Choose a category you want to view a report from. If you want to view a Topology
Report expand World View > Configured Reports > and select: Topology Report.
The report displays in the right pane.
Scoreboards and Dashboards
Unicenter Web Reporting Server provides two additional types of views: scoreboards and
dashboards. Both views are designed to display a high-level, summarized view of your
systems, but they differ in the type of data they gather and the way they present it. The
following descriptions describe these differences.
SCOREBOARD
A scoreboard is a summarized view that displays statistics for the objects stored in the
Management Database, WorldView, or DSM. A scoreboard can include counts for a number
of objects in a particular state or a number of events that have occurred during a particular
interval. You can access the scoreboard to drill down into an agent and view DSM-managed
objects.
DASHBOARD
A dashboard displays real-time information from Unicenter NSM agents. A dashboard lets
you combine (on one screen) multiple metrics from one or many agents and one or many
hosts. Each metric is presented in an individual tile. Dashboards poll the data from the
agents and show the metrics "as is."
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Integrating the Management Portal into Web Reporting Server
In addition to being available through Web Reporting Server, WRS reports can also be
made available to users of the Unicenter Management Portal.
This is accomplished by publishing the WRS reports as content that can be served up by the
management portal server.
To manually configure the portal integration
1. Click Administration > Configure Portal Integration in the left tree.
2. Enter the information in the required fields and click Connect.
It connects to the remote Clever Path Portal (CPP) based on the Admin login credential.
After connecting to the remote Clever Path Portal (CPP) successfully, WRS retrieves the
predefined workgroup list so that you can configure the permission (view and modify)
on which it is based, if a workgroup is involved.
3. Select a row by clicking the box in the On/Off column.
A check mark appears in the box.
Note: On means the component will be integrated into Clever Path portal (CPP). Off
means the component will not be integrated into portal. If it has been integrated
before, it will be removed.
4. Enter the path in the relative path in the Portal Knowledge Tree column.
The path appears in the field.
5. Select the permissions from the Permissions column drop-down box.
The permissions appear in the field.
Note: The permission is a combined permission for view and modification separated
by "|". For example, it is like Public|Workgroup; Public means a viewing permission and
Workgroup means that only the specific workgroup has the permission to modify the
properties of the component.
6. Select the workgroup from the Workgroup column drop-down box.
The workgroup appears in the field.
Note: If you did not choose Workgroup as a permission (in view or modification), then
the workgroup choice is ignored.
7. Click the Save and Synchronize button.
The CPP integration configuration information is saved on the WRS server as an xml file
and the WRS system synchronizes the data and places it under Library/Enterprise
Management/Reports/WRS//Enterprise Management in the
Knowledge Library Tree on the remote Clever Path Portal.
Note: is the WRS host name for the sake of differentiating reports
from different boxes.
Considerations and Restrictions: This is a destructive process; specifically, if the
process has been previously performed any reports that might have previously resided
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at the location are removed and replaced with the new set of published reports. Any
saved references to the prior reports (reference by key, for example) cannot be relied
upon to work because the key to reference the report will no longer be valid.
In a given portal workspace you may have several different portlet panes. If you put
one report into a given work space, after the second process finishes, the work space
cannot show the report again.
Integration of WRS into the Management Command Center
The Report Viewer plug-in is a reporting feature of the Management Command Center that
displays the reports for the following types of information:
• Administration
• Documentation
• Agent Technology
• WorldView
• Unicenter Scoreboards
The Reports are viewed as HTML in the right pane using a web browser window.
Note: A connection dialog may appear the first time you try to open a report. When the
connection dialog appears, you must specify the user name and password to use when
connecting to the report server.
After entering the credentials the MCC will display all of the WRS reporting capabilities.
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Integration of System Performance and Web Reporting Server
System Performance Reporting allows you to view charts and tables of historical
performance data through an Internet browser, in a way that is meaningful to you.
When System Performance is installed in your environment the reports that System
Performance provides integrate easily with the Web Reporting Server. To integrate the
Performance Reporting with WRS, install the System Performance Reporting component on
the WRS machine.
As a best practice we recommend that the System Performance Distribution Server
component be installed on the WRS machine as it acts as an entry point to the performance
data grid.
ACCESS THE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE REPORTS
To access System Performance reports through the Web Reporting Server
1. In the left pane of the Web Reporting window, click the plus sign (+) next to Unicenter
Reports.
2. Click the plus sign next to System Performance to access all of the System Performance
reports.
To view performance data
Depending on the category selected, you may view preconfigured reports of performance
data, or configure your own reports using Report Templates:
• Applications
Here you can view performance data for a particular application. After configuring
performance metrics for an application, reports of all systems that have the selected
application metrics will be shown.
• Business Process Views
These reports integrate with your MDB Repository finding all the Business Process
Views defined. From here Performance data for the objects in a Business Process View
will be shown.
• Databases
Here you can view performance data for a particular database. After selecting a
database, all systems that have the selected database metrics will be shown.
• Executive Reports
These reports show multiple high-level views of performance data for the best and
worst performing servers based on critical resources.
• Servers and Devices
Here you can select individual servers and devices based on their system type, and
then select performance metrics to report on.
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Unicenter Adaptive Dashboard Server
Dashboards are user-customized, graphical, high-level, web-based presentations that
combine real-time data from the enterprise resources managed by Unicenter NSM (or a
non-Unicenter NSM) agent.
Dashboards provide the following:
• Real-time, high-level, general health view of the monitored resources
• Diagnostic view of exceptions that occur in the monitored resources
• User interface to modify the configuration of monitored resources
Dashboards display real-time information from Unicenter NSM agents and can be used to
combine on one screen multiple metrics from one or many agents and one or many hosts.
Dashboards poll the data from the agents and show the metrics "as is" with each metric
represented as an individual tile.
There are two types of dashboards:
• Agent dashboards display information about a single agent, which consists of a number of
chart tiles each of which reflects the state of a particular variable/group monitored by the
agent on a host.
• Server dashboards display summary information about all agents on a server you select.
So information from multiple agents can appear on a server dashboard.
The DSM polls the agents to get the status-related information and then determines if a
particular resource group is in normal, warning, or critical status. The dashboards in turn
get their status information from the DSM.
For more detailed information on metrics, including such things as threshold values, the
dashboard will interface directly with the agent, and similarly when used to configure the
agent, goes directly to the agent rather than going through the DSM as a middleman.
DASHBOARD MODES
Based on the two views (Agent View and Server View dashboards), the following modes are
provided for viewing the dashboards:
• NORMAL MODE AGENT VIEW DASHBOARDS
Provides a high-level view of the agents by displaying all the tiles for the agents. For a
given agent, the agent dashboards display one tile for each monitored group. By
clicking on the link within the tile, you can drill down into a specific monitored group to
get more information.
• EXCEPTION MODE AGENT VIEW DASHBOARDS
Provides the diagnostic view of the agent by displaying only the tiles that have a
specific abnormal status. For a given agent, you can specify the exception level (of
warning, critical, or both), and only the tiles with that status or worse will display.
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Accessing Dashboards
To access dashboards, a Unicenter NSM Web Reports and Dashboards server must be
installed and running on a host.
To access the Dashboard
1. Open your Web browser and in the address bar enter your WRS server’s host name
followed by :9090/ads.
Example: http://wrshostname:9090/ads/
Note: Port 9090 is the default port that the Web Reporting Server uses. Your
administrator can change this port number.
The ADS login dialog appears.
2. Enter your user name and password, and then click Log In.
After logging in, the main Adaptive Dashboard window appears.
The first time you request a dashboard a connection dialog appears, which allows you to
select the dashboard server you want to use. The connection dialog also contains user
name and password fields for specifying the credentials to use when the server is accessed.
The information you enter is saved and used for subsequent access to the same server for
the remainder of your session.
To confirm the Knowledge Base Host
1. Select Administration.
2. Select Manage Configuration.
3. Confirm the Current Knowledge Base is the host you will be using.
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Create a Dashboard
You should customize your dashboard to work efficiently within this interface. After logging
in to create a new Dashboard, follow these steps:
To create a dashboard
1. Expand the Dashboards entry in the tree and then select Create Dashboard.
2. Customize your Dashboard even more by editing the predefined metrics included to
display for a particular agent. To do this use either New or Edit.
a. Click New to create a new Tile definition for that agent.
b. Click Edit icon to edit the selected Tile definition for that agent.
This lets you select which metrics you want displayed in that Dashboard for that
particular agent.
c. When you are done click Save and Next.
3. Select the DSM Server machine you want to use in this Dashboard.
4. Select the Exception Level you want this Dashboard to show, such as all agents with a
severity that matches that level or higher.
5. Select the Agents you want to include in your query from the list; then click Next.
On the Next page it will display all machines that are managed by that DSM matching
the query you specified in the previous page.
6. Select the machines from the list you want to include in the Dashboard
7. Click Publish or Execute
› Execute will run the Dashboard you just created so you can see what the results
will be.
› Publish lets you publish this Dashboard so an entry in the tree gets created so
you can quickly access this Dashboard by selecting it from the tree. On the final
Publish page you can specify the name of the Dashboard, its description, as well
as where in the tree you want this Dashboard located.
8. When finished, click Publish to publish your Dashboard.
The Next page will inform you that the Dashboard has been publish and display the
location of where this Dashboard is located in the tree.
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The following is an example of a Windows System Agent Dashboard:
You’ll notice that some metric tiles have a magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner.
Click on the magnifying glass to drill-down into that metric for more details.
In addition to monitoring, ADS lets you configure agent metrics through the Dashboard,
provided, of course, that the agent in question supports remote configuration of a metric.
Using the dashboard detail window you can modify settings such as the Polling Value, or
Lag settings, as well as the threshold values for that agent’s metric.
Configure Agents in Dashboard
You can also use the dashboards to change thresholds for resources, for example, perhaps
thresholds are set too low for certain metrics and are accordingly generating alerts too
often.
In the following example, we assume that a given server is sending frequent alerts saying
that its CPU and memory utilization are running higher than current thresholds settings, but
upon further examination you have determined that the applications running on that
machine will naturally consume high amounts of CPU and memory in spurts, and this is
normal. It would not be appropriate to raise alerts to monitoring staff for behavior that is
normal; therefore, you want to make some adjustments to the thresholds.
To alleviate unnecessary alerts
1. Access the managed DSM server through a dashboard
1. Drill down to the CPU and memory tiles
2. Reset their Warning or Critical thresholds to higher values or increase the lag setting so
that only more serious events generate an alert.
Note: After you are satisfied with a certain configuration, you may want to use it as a
template, or profile, for other servers running the same agents. Unicenter Configuration
Manager can access this agent configuration in XML format and use it as a base profile.
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Utilizing Notification Services
Unicenter Notification Services extends the reach of Unicenter NSM to enable notificationsending
directly to key individuals within the organization by utilizing various notification
methods that include telephony, email, and pagers, and depending on the capabilities of
the transport vector, the support provided can also include bidirectional notification (where
recipient can reply back).
In this section we will be discussing the architecture of Unicenter Notification Services and
do a walk-through of some configuration details and provide examples of how Unicenter
Notification Services can be used within your environment
Unicenter Notification Services in detail
Unicenter Notification Services employs a client server architecture, which allows a user on
remote admin consoles (RAC) to utilize the functionality of Notification Services. From a
client machine messages are directed to the Notification Services server, which in turn
transmits the notification using one or more of the following mechanisms:
Email
Wireless
Page
SMS
Instant
Message
Voice
Script
One and Two way notifications using SMTP and POP3
One and Two way notifications using the Wireless Communication
Transport Protocol (WCTP) over HTTP
One and Two way notifications using Simple Network Paging Protocol
(SNPP) over TCP / IP or One way paging using the Telocator
Alphanumeric Protocol (TAP) over a modem connection
Short Message Service (SMS) is used to send one way text messages
over HTTP
One and Two way notifications using IBM Lotus Instant Messaging
(SameTime)
One way notifications using Telephone Application Programming
Interface (TAPI) which utilizes the Microsoft Speech technology to
speak the message over a telephone line
Scripts can be used to instrument existing notification methods for
integration into Unicenter Notification Services
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The use of a centralized server by Unicenter Notification Services allows a single point of
auditing and rationalization of any special hardware required, such as modems and voice
cards, or additional hardware required by the notification conduit.
After the Unicenter Notification Services infrastructure is in place, the next step is to define
users and groups along with connection details for the various delivery providers. (We will
be covering these tasks in more detail in the following sections.)
Notifications can be sent from the following sources:
• Unicenter Notification Service User Interface
• Command Line or script – frequently used to invoke Notification Services from 3 rd party
applications
• Event Console by right-clicking on an event and selecting Notify
• Event Management – by using a message action type of Notify action to automatically
send a notification and optionally wait for a reply that in turn will be routed back to Event
Management.
• Notification Services SDK
When deciding on your notification strategy you should consider the notification methods
available to you since that will affect how Notification Services can be deployed in your
environment.
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Default providers are supplied for various Telco providers but if the provider you want to
use does not have a predefined provider; it may be possible to add a new provider
definition based on the type of remote connection made available by your particular Telco.
Note: The list of predefined providers is stored in the file uns_provider.ini located at
\CA\Unicenter NSM\UNS\config\uns_provider.ini. In order to use any of the service
providers, you must complete their configuration by supplying connection parameters (see
the section Defining a Recipient User).
Best Practices Configuring Notification Services for Email
Notification
After installing Notification Services the following steps are recommended to configure the
Notification Server to include bi-directional email notification:
• Modern email systems must send emails from a valid sender email address or run the risk
of being blocked by spam filters. Therefore, we recommend that you configure the
Notification Server with a valid email address to be used as the return address for any
two-way mail notifications. To configure the Notification Server with the sender email
address:
› Open the file \CA\Unicenter NSM\UNS\config\UNSDaemon.ini
› In the MAIL01 section add the email address directly after From=
› For example: From=Nsm.Server@email.com
Note: Microsoft Outlook Junk email filters can require that the sender email
address contain more than one word. Therefore, we recommend that the sender
email address have two words before the @ sign.
• Notification Services uses SMTP to send email and POP3 when receiving email replies to
notifications. To configure the POP3 server edit the file
\CA\Unicenter NSM\UNS\config\UNSDaemon.ini and in the MAIL01 section make the
following changes:
› Uncomment ResponseName=POP3 to enable POP3 protocol.
› Uncomment ResponsePath=uns_smtp to enable POP3 protocol.
› Uncomment ResponseConnectionInfo= to enable POP3 protocol.and Replace
servername.company.com:110:user:password with the POP3 mail server and
credentials.
› Example:
• ResponseName=POP3
• ResponsePath=uns_smtp
• ResponseConnectionInfo=POP3server.mycompany.com:110:ValidPOP3us
ername: ValidPOP3username password
› Restart the Notification services to apply the change: either restart the Service
CA Notification Services or at the command line utility execute the commands:
unscntrl stop
unscntl start
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CONFIGURING AN EMAIL SERVER PROVICER
Before defining users or groups, the email provider needs to be configured with the details
of the SMTP server.
To define an email server provider
1. To launch the Notification Server group of icons, click on the EM Classic icon from the
Start button: All Programs >Computer Associates >Unicenter >NSM >Enterprise
Management >EM Classic.
This will launch the EM Classic GUI window.
2. Drill-down to Windows > NSM Server > Notification > Service Provider
The GUI displayed can be used to configure all of the default providers; for the purpose
of this example, however, we will be configuring the Email provider.
Note: You can also use the command line to take you directly to the provider GUI,
execute the command:
caugui notifyprov
Note: The notification GUI can also be launched from the Event Management Console
by right-clicking on a message and selecting Notify; the event message is automatically
added to the text field of the message.
3. Double-click EMAIL and the following screen is displayed.
4. Change the connection information to reflect the name of your company smtpserver
and the smtp port number (default 25) such as mailserver1:25. Also ensure that the
Active flag is checked to enable the provider. Click OK.
The Email provider is now configured and you can proceed to create a recipient.
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DEFINING A RECIPIENT USER
Notification Groups and users can be defined from the user interface, command line, or with
integration to a user registry such as Active Directory.
To define a recipient user
1. To define a recipient, double-click the recipient icon in the Notification GUI, or execute
from a command line:
caugui notifyrecip.
2. To add a new user, click the icon which will launch the following screen:
3. Enter the Recipient name, click New to enter the Recipients email address, and ensure
the Active flag has been checked to enable it.
4. You can define Multiple Contact details per recipient such as for email, telephone
number, pager number.
The recipient has now been defined and can be incorporated into recipient groups to
test the newly create recipient.
Launch the notification window by double-clicking the Notification icon in the
Notification GUI, or from the command line execute the command:
caugui notify
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5. To select the new recipient click the Binoculars and double-click the recipient from the
list; click OK.
This will populate the Recipient field.
6. Enter the text message in the Message field that you want to send and click Submit.
The message will be submitted to the Notification Server for transmission.
7. Verify the status of the message by clicking Status.
The following window displays the current status of the message.
Best practice for Integrating with Active Directory
In the previous section we defined a recipient user using the Notification interface, but in an
organization that has already invested in a Directory infrastructure such as:
› CA eTrust Directory,
› Sun Java directory
› IBM Domino LDAP
› Novell eDirectory
› MS Active Directory on Windows 2003
We would expect to find that users are already defined with attributes such as email, phone
number, and so forth. Rather than requiring you to re-enter this information, the
Notification Server can be configured to leverage the information that already resides in the
directory so that all that will be required to send a notification would be to specify an alias
name defined in the Directory. Sample configurations for each of these directories are
supplied but before they are used they need to be configured to match your environment.
For this section we are going to discuss how this integration can be achieved using
Microsoft Active Directory (the sample configuration files for the other directory types
contain comments on the updates required).
To integrate with Notification Services using Microsoft Active Directory
1. Open the file Unicenter NSM\UNS\config\uns_source.ini
2. Update the Active flag from a 0 to a 1
› [rcp_ldap_MSAD]
› description=MS Active Directory Server (Sample)
› active_flag=1
3. Customize the Active Directory configuration file:
\Unicenter NSM\UNS\config\uns_rcp_ldap_msad.ini
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The highlighted sections in the file need to be updated as follows:
[CONNECTION]
hostname= // default localhost i.e ADController1
port=389 // default port=389. MSAD global catalog server = 3268
format=2 // default version 2. e-Trust Directory is 3.
qualifier=(objectClass=person)
base=CN=Users,DC=,,DC=
// to identify the entry is a person
// search base DN.
## MS Active Directory Server requires authentication to get user's attribute
Authentication=TLS_________//SIMPLE (default), NEGOTIATE, TLS
user=@.__________.// Domain user account
password=
[EMAIL]
;search=sAMAccountName
search;
search=cn
search;
address_key=mail
// The attribute of login id to set the recipient alias for
// The attribute of user name to set the recipient alias for
// The attribute holds the recipient address;
4. The Hostname must be the name or IP address of an Active Directory Domain
Controller within your enterprise and the user and password need to be updated with a
domain user account that will be used for authentication purposes.
5. It is important to ensure that the Search Base DN and port settings are configured to
match your Active Directory environment. The AD credentials used to authenticate to
the Active Directory server are sent in clear text when authentication is set to SIMPLE,
so it is recommend that the authentication type is changed to TLS to ensure the
credentials are encrypted.
The following is a sample configured file:
[CONNECTION]
hostname=ADController
port=389
format=2
qualifier=(objectClass=person)
base=CN=Users,DC=CA,DC=COM
## MS Active Directory Server requires authentication to get user's attribute
authentication=TLS
user=ADUserAccount@CA.COM
password=ADUserPassword
[EMAIL]
;search=sAMAccountName
search=cn
address_key=mail
Note: Since we are embedding a Domain username and password in this configuration
file, we recommend that the location where this file is stored is secured. In addition,
you might consider encrypting this configuration file.
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To encrypt the file, execute the following command from a command prompt:
\CA\Unicenter NSM\UNS\BIN>unsconfig
"D:\CA\Unicenter NSM\UNS\config\uns_rcp_ldap_msad.ini" -e
"D:\CA\Unicenter NSM\UNS\config\uns_rcp_ldap_msad.ini":
Note 1: Before encrypting the file we recommend you make a copy of the original .ini
file.
Note 2: The file can be decrypted by using the –d command.
6. After having completed making updates to the file, restart the Notification services to
apply the change: either restart the Service CA Notification Services or at the command
line utility execute the following commands:
unscntrl stop
unscntl start
Best Practice for Sending a Two-way Notification by Email
To send a two way email notification using the Notification
1. Select the option Reply Needed before submitting the notification.
The notification server sends the email and automatically monitors the POP3 server for
a reply, based on the Notification tracking ID.
2. Check for any replies to the message by selecting the status screen.
They will appear in the reply section of the message.
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Create a Notification Strategy
When creating a notification strategy you may wish to automate the creation of the
notification, in other words, let the system detect automatically when it is necessary to
notify someone. This can be done most easily by using Unicenter Event Management
components.
In the following example, we’ll create notification rules that will:
• Detect a message posted to the Unicenter Event console that requires automatic
notification handling.
• In response to this being detected automatically, sends an email message to the
appropriate recipient and await a reply.
• Upon receipt of the reply, forward it to the event console where it can be subject to
additional automated processing.
Create the message records within event management. This can be done by saving the
sample script below to a text file and replacing the name nsmuser with a recipient you have
already defined within Notification Services.
1. Run the following command on the Unicenter NSM server to import the Message
Records:
cautil –f Filenameofscriptfile.txt
define msgrec msgid="UNSReply Example*" type="MSG" evalnode="*" desc="UNS Reply
Example" cont='N' msgact='Y' wcsingle='?' wcmany='*' case="y" regexp="n"
define msgact name=(*,10) action="NOTIFY" attrib="DEFAULT" synch='N'
color="DEFAULT" condop=" " condrc=0 evaluate='Y' quiet='N' status="ACTIVE" sim='N'
text="-t nsmuser -2 -m ""This is an alert from NSM - This is the message text - &text“"
define msgact name=(*,20) action="NOTIFYQ" attrib="DEFAULT" synch='N'
color="DEFAULT" condop=" " condrc=0 evaluate='Y' quiet='N' status="ACTIVE" sim='N'
text="-i &reqid -r y -w 300"
define msgact name=(*,30) action="SENDOPER" attrib="DEFAULT" synch='N'
color="DEFAULT" condop=" " condrc=0 evaluate='Y' quiet='N' status="ACTIVE" sim='N'
text="Reply goes here: &rplytext"
This script will create a message record action that will match on any event message
starting with the string “UNSReply Example” and the message will be forwarded to the
user account that was specified in the script.
2. After the script has imported the message, run the following command to enable the
update:
oprcmd opreload
3. Simulate an event message; this can be done by running the following command:
cawto UNSReply Example Any text you would like to appear in the email.
This will send the message to the event console.
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4. The event console can be viewed by running the following command:
caugui conlog
You can see your message appear on the console and the email will have been sent to
the defined user.
5. After you receive the email message, click Reply, enter the reply message, and Send.
The reply message will be collected by the Notification Server and sent back to the
Event Management console as displayed below.
The preceding example made extensive use of the Unicenter Event Management system,
and additional information about the capabilities of the Unicenter Event Management
system can be found in the Inside Event Management and Alert Management
Securing Unicenter NSM
This section will review the capabilities and best practices for securing the Unicenter NSM
environment. The key security topics covered here are:
• User Permissions
• Securing MCC and Classic 2D Map
• Securing Enterprise Management Components
• Securing WRS, ADS and Unicenter CM
• Securing Unicenter Management Portal
• Securing the Communication Layer
• Securing Agent Technology
User Permissions
This section describes the different user accounts that are used for Unicenter NSM
components.
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USER ACCOUNTS CREATED DURING INSTALLATION
A set of user accounts are created by Unicenter NSM during installation which includes
nsmadmin, OS administrator, and caunint. The accounts and their permissions are listed in
the following table:
User name – Groups
OS Groups
SQL Account
SQL Roles
Ingres Groups
Logon as a Batch Job
Logon as a service
Deny logon locally
Replace a process level token
Act as part of the operating system
Description
Caunint (user)
EM
Administrators
X
X
Used by the
Unicenter
Enterprise
Management
Service
Nsmadmin
r11.0
WV
Administrators
TNDusers
Regadmin
uniadmin
X
X
Nsmadmin
r11.1
Severity
Propagation (user)
WV
X
WV
Administrators
Uniadmin
wvadmin
Public
db_owner
regadmin
uniadmin
Account for
the severity
propagation
COM object
for CA-
Unicenter NS
M
TNDUsers
(Group)
caWmiUser
AT
WV
TNDusers
X
X
X
Account to
access WMI
(Windows
only)
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USER PERMISSIONS FOR UNICENTER REMOTE MONITORING
Unicenter Remote Monitoring lets you manage and monitor resources without the need to
install any software on those resources locally. By default, the Unicenter Remote Monitoring
agent will be using the same user credential that starts up the Unicenter Remote Monitoring
services on the local machine on which it is running to access the remote resources.
Experience has demonstrated that the best practice is to avoid setting up the same user
account on all remote servers and workstations; instead, use a domain user account that
has access to all servers and workstations and let that user be used when starting the
Unicenter Remote Monitoring service on the agent server.
In cases that a domain account cannot be used, user accounts can be set up for each
remote server and workstation that Remote Monitoring will be monitoring. Specifying the
user account is a mandatory part of the Unicenter Remote Monitoring agent configuration.
The following steps demonstrate how to specify a user account in Unicenter Remote
Monitoring to access remote servers or workstations for data.
1. Launch the Administrative Interface as an admin user.
2. Open the Unicenter Remote Monitoring watcher for a remote server or workstation.
3. Under the ‘Monitor via’ option, select ‘Use this account’.
4. Enter a user account and password. Click OK to finish.
The user account will need a valid user account with the following privileges on the remote
resource in order to access the data:
• Logon on as a Service (for Windows).
• Logon using either telnet or ssh (UNIX/Linux).
USER PERMISSIONS FOR UNICENTER NSM/SPO/UNICENTER MP INSTALLATION
User with sufficient privileges will be needed for Unicenter NSM installation. The following
table lists the requirement for Unicenter NSM to install on different platforms:
Components
(Platforms) User Requirements Other Comments
Any Unicenter NSM
component (Windows)
User must be part of the local
administrator group
Unicenter
Management Portal
install (Windows)
User must be part of the local
administrator group
Documented in the
Unicenter MP Getting Start
Guide P.25
Unicenter NSM
manager components
(Linux)
User must be part of the root
group
The install uses RPM which
requires the root user
Unicenter NSM agent
installs (Unix/Linux)
User must be part of the root
group
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USER PERMISSIONS TO RUN UNICENTER NSM
The following table lists the requirements for Unicenter NSM to run:
Components
(Platforms) User Requirements Other Comments
Unicenter NSM agents
(Windows)
Can be run as “Local System
Account”
Require the default security
settings that Local System
Account has
SPO agents
(Windows)
Can be run as “Local System
Account”
Require the default security
settings that Local System
Account has
Unicenter NSM agents
(Unix/Linux)
Any user account on the
system
Ownership of agent is
specified during installation.
It is required that it has
setuid permission.
SPO agents
(Unix/Linux)
User which is part of the root
group
In order for the collection to
work the exe files have to
be owned by root. It is also
required that some of them
have setuid permissions.
This is taken care of by the
installer.
Unicenter NSM event
agents (Unix/Linux)
Any user account on the
system
There is a separate menu
item for ‘non-root Event
Agent’
Unicenter NSM
Enterprise
Management Services
(‘CA-Unicenter’
service) (Windows)
User which is part of the
administrative group
Permission needed to access
system event logs, etc.
Unicenter NSM
Enterprise
Management daemons
(Linux)
User which is part of the root
group
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Components
(Platforms) User Requirements Other Comments
MCC Topology /
namespace ”WV”
For full access: user which is
part of the local administrator
group - must also be part of
TNDUsers group
Other OS groups can be
defined to restrict access for
other users (see the next
chapter)
MCC Enterprise
Management /
namespace “EM”
For full access: the
administrator user that
performed the installation
Please see the Unicenter
Unicenter NSM
Administrator Guide, (page
52) and Inside Event
Management (page 73) for
more details.
BEST PRACTICE FOR FIRST SIGN ON TO MANAGEMENT COMMAND CENTER TOPOLOGY
Administrative users should sign on using their OS account, which is part of the local
administrator group. Before signing on to MCC, this account must be added to the OS group
TNDUsers. This provides full access to the MDB and the permission to use the Datascope
Rule Editor for enhanced WorldView security profile definitions (see below).
Securing Management Command Center and Classic 2D Map
Management Command Center (MCC) is the central user interface for Unicenter monitoring
and administration. Using MCC you can check status of resources and perform various
system administrative tasks. By default, any users that have access to MCC will be able to
view all and perform all tasks. Several methods can be deployed if access control needs to
be implemented:
1. Creating user accounts that has view only permission in MCC
2. Securing MCC by classes using WorldView Scoping
3. Securing MCC by instances using WorldView Scoping
Detail planning is required to determine which group of user will have view-only privilege
(Method 1) and which group of user will have access to part of the infrastructure (Method 2
and 3).
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A checklist (with 3 examples) such as the following can help with the design:
User Group /
Function Area Asset Rights
Other
Comments
User: Operators All objects View-only,
Need to send
notification from MCC
Group: UnixSys Only Unix Servers Permit all access
rights apart from
delete
User: SystemAdmin
Windows 2003 Server, AIX
instance: ‘AIX_Server2’
Deny access to these
objects
Note: By applying security to Management Command Center, the Classic 2D Map interface
will be affected in the same way, subject to the rules at the same time. Therefore, the
following sections describe same steps for securing the Classic 2D Map.
CREATE VIEW-ONLY USER ACCOUNTS FOR MANAGEMENT COMMAND CENTER
The following set of tasks demonstrates how to create an OS user and setup MSSQL Server
to setup a view-only user account for MCC:
To create an OS user and assign privileges
1. Open Computer Management on the server where the MDB was installed. Create a local
OS group named ‘TndReadOnly’.
2. Create a local OS user named ‘operator’ and assign it to the TndReadOnly user group
(the steps for domain users are exactly the same).
3. Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy and give this group
the privileges Logon as Batch job and Replace a process token.
To set up Microsoft SQL Server
1. Open MSSQL Enterprise Management (or MSSQL Studio for SQL2005).
2. Right-click Logins under the Security folder and select New Login…
3. Specify ‘TndReadOnly’ as the name of the account under the General tab.
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4. Under the Database Access tab, check the entry for the Database ‘mdb’ and assign the
uniuser role for the TndReadOnly group. (see sample below)
5. Click OK
To set up Ingres Server (Windows)
1. Open Computer Management on the server where the MDB was installed. Add the user
‘operator’ to group ‘TNDUsers’..
2. Open Ingres Visual DBA (Windows), navigate to ‘Users’ section of the Ingres MDB.
3. In the middle pane right-click Users, and select Create.
4. Specify ‘operator’ as the name of the new user.
5. From list in Default Group select ‘uniuser’ (already predefined).
6. Click OK
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To test the read-only user account
1. Open a terminal session and log in as user ‘operator’.
2. Launch MCC and specify ‘operator’ when it prompts for user name and password.
3. Any attempts to update or delete objects should result in getting a failure message
such as “Error occurred when performing deleting operations. You don’t have access
right to create, update or delete objects”.
ACTIVATING MANAGEMENT COMMAND CENTER SECURITY (WORLDVIEW SCOPING)
In order to set up additional security with MCC, WorldView Scoping needs to be enabled.
Once enabled, an MCC administrator will be able to specify which classes or which specific
object instances an individual user can access. MCC will display only the objects the user is
allowed to access by WorldView Scoping. Different levels of access can also be defined for
users that include rights to Create, Read, Delete, and Update.
To activate WorldView Scoping
1. Open a command prompt and execute the following command:
wvscpini
This command will launch a WorldView Scoping window
2. From the drop-down list, select the MDB where WorldView Scoping should be activated
on. Click OK.
3. If the activation was successful, a pop-up message should appear: Datascoping
successfully installed.
4. Recycle RMI after activating WorldView Scoping:
a. Close down any MCC sessions and open a command prompt.
b. Execute the following command:
rmi_monitor –k LOCALHOST
c. Restart the CA WorldView Severity Propagation Service in the Service Control
Panel.
SECURING MANAGEMENT COMMAND CENTER BY CLASSES USING WORLDVIEW
SCOPING
Once WorldView Scoping has been enabled, rules can be created to control access to
objects in the MCC. A class rule can be created so it will control objects or inherit objects of
that class. Different level of rights can be granted so that some users are set up for readonly
permission versus others who are permitted to update and delete.
The following steps demonstrate how to set up WorldView Scoping rule in MCC. As an
example, the user SystemAdmin has been created. A rule will be defined to deny this user
any access to a Solaris server under MCC.
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To define a WorldView Scoping rule in MCC
1. Setup the OS user and group:
a. Create an OS user SystemAdmin.
b. Assign this user to the TndUser group.
2. Create the WorldView scoping rule:
a. Launch MCC and go to the Class Specification page.
b. Expand under WV classes and expand to the Solaris class.
c. Right-click the icon and select ‘New-> Rule’ from the pop-up menu.
d. Select ‘deny’ rule for ‘All’ Mode in the Access tab.
e. Select local user SystemAdmin in the Group/Users tab.
3. Verify the WorldView scoping rule:
a. Launch a terminal session and log in as user SystemAdmin.
b. Launch MCC and enter account/password for SystemAdmin.
c. Expand on topology, all the Solaris Server objects have been hidden from this user.
SECURING MCC BY INSTANCES USING WORLDVIEW SCOPING
The previous section describes the steps for setting up rules to control access by object
classes. This section describes the steps for setting up rules to control access by specific
instances to enforce security at a more granular level.
The class rules support the use of filters so that a given rule can apply to objects that are
both under this class as well as matching this filter. Filters can be used against several of
the object properties including name, IP address, and others.
The following steps demonstrate how to setup a WorldView Scoping instance rule in MCC.
As an example, there is an environment where there are two AIX Servers, AIX_Server and
AIX_Server2. User SystemAdmin is setup so that it has access to AIX_Server in MCC but
not AIX_Server2.
To set up a WorldView Scoping instance rule in MCC
1. Setup the OS user and group:
a. Create an OS user SystemAdmin if does not already exist.
b. Assign this user to the TndUser group.
2. Create WorldView scoping rule:
a. Launch MCC and go to the ‘Class Specification’ page.
b. Expand under WV classes until the AIX class.
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c. Right-click the icon and select ‘New-> Rule’ from the pop-up menu.
d. Select ‘deny’ rule for ‘All’ Mode in the ‘Access’ tab.
e. Select local user SystemAdmin in the ‘Group/Users’ tab.
f. Create the following filter “Label = AIX_Server2” under the ‘object filter’ tab.
3. Verify the WorldView scoping rule:
a. Launch a terminal session and log in as user SystemAdmin.
b. Launch MCC and enter account/password for SystemAdmin.
c. Expand on topology, only the AIX_Server instance should be displayed.
DEACTIVATING WORLDVIEW SCOPING
An authorized user can choose to disable WorldView Scoping at any point. Once disabled,
the rules that have been created will no longer have any control on the objects in MCC. The
following steps demonstrate how to deactivate WorldView Scoping:
1. Open a command prompt and execute the command:
wvscpdel
2. Click OK to confirm the deactivation.
3. If successfully, the following message should appear: “Datascoping successfully
removed”.
Securing Enterprise Management Components
Security at the product level helps keep unauthorized users from accessing (and potentially
causing problems with) key infrastructure components. Component level security focuses
on improving the following two aspects of security:
• Unintentional problems caused by users having more access or authority than required to
do their jobs
• Efficiencies that can be gained by having users presented only with the information
required to do their jobs properly
There is an extensive set of sample policies included with the product. Specifically, the
Unicenter NSM security rules provided include approximately 100 rules, 9 roles (also known
as user groups), and 100 asset types. Unicenter NSM provides embedded security, which is
a DENY mode security engine that is active by default. (A DENY Mode security engine is one
that assumes a given access attempt is to be denied UNLESS policies indicate that this
access type is specifically allowed.)
The following components use Unicenter NSM embedded security: (Additional details can be
found in the Unicenter NSM Administrator Guide.)
• Calendar Management
• Embedded Security
• Job Management Option
• Alert Management
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• Notification Services
• Agent dashboards
• Web Reporting Service
• Unicenter Configuration Manager
• Event Management
• Management interfaces, MCC, UBI, Unicenter MP
Out-of-the-box User groups with different access level are included. For example, full
access as been granted to the SYSADMIN group and view only for the User group.
Detail planning is required to create accurate and efficient security measures for the
Enterprise Management components. The following table can help you collect user
specifications and requirements before configuration takes place.
User Group Components Role
Other
Comments
User: Operators
Event
Management
View Only
Group: DBA
Alert Classes
Database
Permit all rights but deleting
class configuration
Once this information has been collected, configuration can begin.
During the testing phase with the new configuration, the security mode can be set to WARN
mode so instead of blocking unauthorized access, warning messages will be generated and
routed to the event console indicating that an unauthorized access was performed. This
approach allows administrative actions required to support the business to proceed while
you adjust your security policies.
Once the rules have been tested sufficiently, the security can switched to FAIL mode so it
will block access to components according to the rules. By default, Unicenter Security is in
FAIL mode. User can change the mode through EM settings.
ACTIVATE UNICENTER SECURITY
To Install Unicenter Security (it is not installed by default) you may not use the Express
install option. (The Express install option has to be unchecked.)
If Unicenter NSM has already been installed and you have determined that Unicenter
Security is required, you can add Unicenter Security to the system by launching the install
wizard and following these instructions:
1. Install Unicenter security components from installation:
a. Launch the Unicenter NSM installer and choose to install Unicenter Network and
System Management and accept license agreement.
b. Uncheck the option for Express Install.
c. Click Next.
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d. Check the option Install security for components that support it.
e. After the installation completes, open a command prompt and execute the
command:
caugui settings
Under the Options > Security Options tab, there will be several entries if Unicenter
Security has been installed. The System Violation Mode setting can be found here.
2. Start Unicenter security:
a. Open a command prompt and execute the command:
unifstat
b. Check the status for the SECMAIN and SECAUDIT process
c. If they are not in an ACTIVE state, execute the command:
unicntrl start sec
CONFIGURING UNICENTER SECURITY RULES
Unicenter Security is based on user access control. Rules can be setup for individual users
or for groups. Apart from OS user groups, Unicenter Security user groups can be setup to
group users sharing similar job functions. Then by applying a rule to such grouping, it will
be activated for all the users belonging to this group.
When creating a rule, the asset-type must be determined. For example, to create a rule to
control access to the Event Console, the asset type CA-CONLOG must be specified. For a
full list of asset-types and their descriptions, refer to the online help.
The following steps demonstrate how to setup a Unicenter Security rule. As an example, we
will create an OS user, SYSTEMADMIN, and assign it to the Unicenter User Group,
TESTGROUP. A rule will be created for this group that they do not have access to the Event
Console.
1. Create the user:
a. Open MCC and go to the page for Enterprise Management. Expand Security
Management on the left pane. Select Authorization Groups.
b. Click New to create a new Unicenter User Group and enter TESTGROUP for the
GROUP ID field. Click the diskette icon to save this setting.
c. Once it is saved, the option to assign users to this group is available. Click New
under the Member tab.
d. Check the User option and enter SYSTEMADMIN in the User id field (it is assumed
that such an OS user already exists). Click the green check mark to save and exit.
2. Create the rules:
a. Change to the Assets tab and click New.
b. Select CA-CONLOG from the Asset Type drop-down list.
c. Enter ‘*’ for Asset id so that it will apply to all instances.
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d. Select ‘Deny’ for Access Type.
e. Click Ok to save and exit this window.
f. Click Ok to save and exit the Authorization Groups Detail window.
3. Commit the new changes:
a. Open a command prompt and execute the command:
secadmin /c ALL
b. If you are using the WIN32 interface, this commit can also be launched from the
file menu.
c. Check the status of this commit from the event console. A message displays such
as: Command successfully completed.
4. Verify the rules:
a. Open a terminal services session and log in as SystemAdmin.
b. Open a command prompt and execute the command:
caugui conlog
c. An error should appear to notify you that SYSTEMADMIN does not have the right to
access the event console.
d. An event will be generated in the event console so the security admin could be
notified about this access violation.
SECURING WRS, ADS AND UNICENTER CONFIGURATION MANAGER
Unicenter NSM r11.1 offers new components that are accessible from a web browser
session. You can log on to these web components using accounts setup by Tomcat, the web
server.
Once activated, Unicenter Security can be enabled to control access to Unicenter NSM web
components. Unicenter Security will enforce users to access the application using a valid
registered local OS user or domain user account.
The following steps demonstrate how to enable Unicenter Security for Unicenter NSM web
components. In the description that follows Unicenter Configuration Manager is used as the
sample subject but the steps are identical for WRS and ADS.
1. Open a web browser and access the Unicenter Configuration Manager login page. If
Configuration Manager is installed locally, the URL would be http://localhost:9090/wiser
2. Log in using an existing tomcat admin user account such as ‘admin’.
3. After logging in, click the Administration option.
4. Check the Enable Unicenter NSM Security option and click Done. You must recycle the
CA Web Server 1.0 services from Windows Services Control Panel after this change.
5. Users can now use their local account name or domain name for logging into Unicenter
Configuration Manager.
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ADDITIONAL SECURITY WITH UNICENTER CONFIGURATION MANAGER
Unicenter Security has additional security control for Unicenter Configuration Manager and
an example is included to set up a user that has the privilege only to configure agent
profiles but does not have the privilege to deploy them to agents or perform any other
tasks.
By default, Unicenter Security disables all create, delete or update capability to all
Unicenter Configuration Manager components. In other words, all users are view-only by
default. For this reason when security is activated you will find that most of the options in
Unicenter Configuration Manager have been grayed out.
CREATING A USER TO WORK WITH PROFILES ONLY
The following steps demonstrate how to set up security rules for Unicenter Configuration
Manager. These are similar steps as other Enterprise Management component
configuration. As an example, a user will be created that has privilege only to configure
agent profiles but no privilege to deploy them to agents or any other tasks.
1. Create an Authorization group TESTGROUP in MCC (Enterprise Management/Security
Management). This group of users will have privileges to work with the profiles but
nothing else within Unicenter Configuration Manager.
2. Under the member pane, assign user SystemAdmin to this group and click Save.
3. Under the Assets tab, create three Permit rules for the following Asset type: A-UCM-
ADAPTIVEPROFILE, CA-UCM-BASEPROFILE and CA-UCM-DIFFERENTIALPROF. Assign ‘*’
as Asset ID for each of them. Click OK.
4. Commit this change by recycling secadmin (‘secadmin /c ALL’) first and CA Web Server
afterwards.
5. Launch the Unicenter Configuration Manager startup page and log in as user
SystemAdmin.
6. User should notice under the Group tab, all the options are still grayed out.
7. Switch to the Profile tab; the options for creating profiles should all now be available.
CREATE AN ACCOUNT FOR BUILDING AND DEPLOYING CONFIGURATION BUNDLES
The previous example demonstrates that a user can be created for setting up agent
configuration profiles only. Similarly restricted accounts can be created for other tasks. The
following steps demonstrate how to create a user that can only build and deploy Unicenter
Configuration Manager configuration bundles.
1. Open MCC. Go to the Enterprise Management page and select Security Management.
2. Click the New button to create a new User Group, call it TESTGOUP2 and click Save.
3. Assign an OS user to this group under the Member tab.
4. Click on New under the Asset tab. Create permit rules for the following two assets: CA-
UCM-CONFIGBUNDLE and CA-UCM-DELIVERY. Assign ‘I’ as Asset ID for each of them.
Click OK.
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5. Commit this change by recycling secadmin (‘secadmin /c ALL’) first and CA Web Server
afterwards.
6. Log in as the user specified in step 4.
7. User will have the option to create/update/delete as well as deploy the configuration
bundles from Unicenter Configuration Manager. The options for other tasks, such as
create base profile, are grayed out.
Securing Unicenter Management Portal
Unicenter Management Portal provides web-based presentation to the Unicenter NSM
environment. Once installed, users will automatically have access to the portal using the
predefined accounts (such as admin) and that same admin user will have the capability to
create other portal account from the Portal Administration page. Please refer to the
Unicenter Management Portal Getting Started for details.
If Management Portal is installed on a server with Unicenter Security, it can be further
secured by Unicenter Security in a similar way as the other Unicenter NSM Web
components discussed previously (such as WRS, ADS and Unicenter Configuration
Manager). Once this integration has been enabled, administrators can then use Unicenter
security to set up credentials to access Unicenter Management Portal and, of course, the
users created under Portal Administration will continue to work as well.
Note: The integration is at the authentication level only; all of the authorization checking
(access control checks) is still done through the standard Management Portal security
method.
ACTIVATING SECURITY FOR UNICENTER MANAGEMENT PORTAL
The following steps demonstrate how to enable security for Unicenter Management Portal.
Please note that Unicenter Security has to be installed and enabled on the same server as
Unicenter Management Portal for this integration to function.
1. Launch a web browser and access the Management Portal log in page (if it is installed
locally and it uses the default port, the URL will be http://localhost:8090).
2. Log in using a Management Portal admin account.
3. Go to the Management Portal Administration page and click Task 7. Manage Unicenter
Management Portal Properties.
4. Check the option for Enable Unicenter NSM Security and click Save.
5. Restart the CA CleverPath Portal service and access the Management Portal login page.
6. Log in using an account defined to Unicenter Security. The login should be granted.
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CONFIGURING SECURITY FOR UNICENTER MANAGEMENT PORTAL
Once Unicenter Security integration has been enabled, users can log in using OS accounts.
By default, users will not be assigned to any portal groups (with the exception for an
account such as ‘administrator’ which will be automatically be added to the Portal admin
group). At a result users will not have the right to perform actions with Alerts and Events in
Portal. The following steps will demonstrate how to configure these accounts to gain
permissions to perform actions with alerts and events.
1. Log in to Unicenter Management Portal using an OS account, for example, testuser.
Close the session. (Management Portal requires lower-case letters for user names;
lower-case letter user names can be mapped to capital letter OS user names).
2. Open another Management Portal session and log in using a Portal admin account, such
as ‘admin’.
3. Access the Portal Administration and click Manage User. The account for testuser
should already be listed since it was used to log in previously in step 1.
4. Add this user to the admin group.
5. Log in to Management Portal using the same account, testuser.
The actions are also available for selection for the alert management console and the
event console.
Once the Unicenter Security integration has been enabled, all users with an OS account will
be able to log in to Unicenter Management Portal. If this should be a concern with the Portal
administration, these accounts can be denied under Portal Administration.
Securing the Communication Layer
A number of protocols are used for communication between different Unicenter NSM
components. These protocols offer different levels of encryption and support user-specified
encryption keys as well. Information on the protocol encryption levels and how to modify
the encryption method is discussed in detail in the Unicenter Administrator Guide under the
topic Communication Protocol Security.
The key topics in the Unicenter Administrator Guide related to this subject that discuss this
subject in further detail include:
• Encryption levels
• Agent to Manager Communication Security (includes DIA and SNMP V3, see next section)
• Common Communication Interface (CAICCI)
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Securing Agent Technology
Unicenter Agent Technology supports two primary layers of security. Layer one can be
applied to each agent machine so access to the agent component data can be restricted.
Layer two of security can be used to secure agent communications through the use of
encryption. For more information on the topic of security Agent Technology, please see the
guide Inside System Management, under Securing a Managed Environment.
SECURING ACCESS TO AGENT COMPONENTS
Through tailoring of the configuration file access.cfg, an administrator can control which
machines can access agent information through the Agent Technologies Object Request
Broker (ORB) and can also control access to execution of the following utilities on that
machine:
• Servicectrl.exe
• Agentctrl.exe
• Awservices.exe
• DSM utilities (such as DSM View, Event Browser, DSM Monitor, Node View, etc.)
• ORB Utilities (awm_catch and awm_config)
• Unicenter Configuration Manager
By using these mechanisms you can ensure that only appropriately authorized users can
access the agent components, and further ensure that access only originates from an
appropriately authorized location.
A sample file for access.cfg is included with the product and in the comment section of that
file you will find several sample scenarios and their respective settings. Several additional
examples can be found listed in the guide Inside System Management under Securing a
Managed Environment.
The access.cfg file can be found in the following location:
• Windows: Install-path\SharedComponents\CCS\AT\SERVICES\CONFIG\AWS_ORB
• UNIX/Linux: Install-path\SharedComponents\ccs\atech\services\config\aws_orb
SECURING AGENT MANAGER COMMUNICATION
Unicenter NSM supports SNMP-based and SNMP-less (DIA) communication between the
Unicenter NSM Manager and agents. Both protocols support data encryption. SNMPv3 also
improves SNMP authentication to access SNMP agent information. It is recommended to use
DIA for communication of Unicenter NSM r11 Manager and Agents because it is required for
support of other Unicenter NSM features such as Unicenter Configuration Manager or
Adaptive Dashboard Server. To secure communication from non-CA agents to
Unicenter NSM r11 SNMPv3 is a supported option.
For more information about the use of DIA, see Unicenter NSM Administrator Guide and the
Implementation Guide. For more information about SNMPv3 see the Unicenter NSM guide
Agent Technology Support for SNMPv3.
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WORKING WITH UNIX/LINUX AGENTS WITH NON-ROOT ACCOUNTS
Some clients have standing security policies regarding the use of root accounts and in some
cases the persons charged with the responsibility for managing and monitoring a given
UNIX/LINUX machine may not have access to the root account.
This section describes how to administer Unicenter Agent Technology agents on
UNIX/LINUX when access to the root account is restricted.
1. Define a non-root admin account that CAN be used. This can be accomplished by
running the following command:
$CASHCOMP/bin/unisrvcntr useradd –name=causer CA-atech
2. In the example above, we create a user named ‘causer’ and grant them access
privileges they can use to start up Agent Technology (and all the requisite supporting
technologies that support that agent on that machine). To give this user control over all
CA components, use the following command:
$CASHCOMP/bin/unisrvcntr useradd –name=causer all
These commands must be run by the root user. Once this configuration has been done, all
unisrvcntr functions can be run using the non-root account (with the exception of useradd
and userdel).
Note: Any components which need to run as root will be executed as root through very
selective use of setuid.
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Network Security: Working in a Firewall Environment
BASIC MODEL – MANAGED NODE OUTSIDE FIREWALL MANAGER INSIDE FIREWALL
The following example is of a single managed node being managed through a firewall. DNA
components can be configured to only require outbound connections and the DIA
Knowledge base is used as a proxy node. The knowledge base needs to be configured as a
proxy KB before the DN components is registered.
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SIMPLE MODEL – MANAGED NODE OUTSIDE FIREWALL MANAGER INSIDE FIREWALL
USING DIA
For the managed node to be discovered automatically the SNMP port will need to be opened
in the firewall while the discovery process is running. As discussed earlier in this guide, the
managed node object can be alternatively created within the WorldView repository
manually.
For DNA to automatically register information about nodes it is communicating
with/between, DIA would need to be configured to provide bidirectional communication
across the firewall. Alternatively, DNA can be registered manually with the Unicenter
Knowledge Base (UKB) using the diatool utility.
Notes:
› DIA outbound connection support requires that the UKB proxy flag ‘unidirectional’
be enabled prior to DNA registration.
› To configure DIA in a NAT environment, ensure that NAT is configured to forward
packets from one network to another network using the same node name.
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SYSTEM PERFORMANCE FIREWALL EXAMPLE – MANAGED NODE OUTSIDE FIREWALL,
MANAGER INSIDE FIREWALL, USING A CAM BRIDGEHEAD SERVER
System Performance uses CA Messaging (CAM) for its communication protocol and this
scenario is an example of how CAM can be used to act as a proxy / bridgehead server.
In this example, a node on either side of the firewall is nominated as the bridgehead and
CAM is configured to route requests between the LAN and DMZ segments.
In this scenario:
• The four machines on the left are on the inside of the firewall (LAN), and those on the
right are outside it (DMZ).
• NodeA and NodeB are the managers used for configuring and monitoring System
Performance.
• NodeC and NodeD act as proxies / bridgehead servers for all the messages that pass
through the firewall between the LAN and DMZ. Given that a high amount of network
traffic will be passing through these proxy/bridgehead server machines, you should
ensure that they have high-speed network cards and have sufficiently available CPU and
RAM resources to properly handle the high volume.
• The MDB and the Performance Domain Server are installed on NodeC. You may also
install the Performance Distribution Server on this machine if you have installed any
Performance Agents on the machines on the LAN side of the firewall.
• NodeD is the DMZ routing machine. It holds the Performance Distribution Server, the
WorldView Auto Discovery utilities, and optionally the Distributed State Machine (DSM)
component. This machine handles all the Performance Agents on the DMZ side of the
firewall.
• The Real-Time and Historical Performance Agents, and optionally the System Agents, are
installed on NodeE, NodeF, and NodeG.
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• NodeX is an ordinary Performance Agent machine that is not affected by the firewall,
because it is on the same side as the managers and so does not communicate through
the firewall.
• A complete explanation of this solution can be found in Appendix A of Unicenter NSM
Inside Systems Performance.
SYSTEM PERFORMANCE FIREWALL EXAMPLE – MANAGED NODE OUTSIDE FIREWALL,
MANAGER INSIDE FIREWALL, USING ONE TO ONE NAT
System Performance uses CA Messaging (CAM) for its communication protocol and this
scenario is an example of how CAM can be used in an environment where 1 to 1 Network
Address Translating (‘Natting’) is used. The nodes on the outside of the firewall are in the
DMZ and communicate with the nodes inside the firewall by using the Natted address of the
LAN servers. CAM on the servers in the DMZ are configured to use TCP by updating the
cam.cfg file, the host file has been updated on the DMZ servers to reference the servers
inside the firewall through the servers NAT address. When the servers inside the firewall
receive the CAM message the destination IP address will be the NAT address so the cam.cfg
file on each server has been updated to forward inbound CAM requests destined for the NAT
address to the localhost (127.0.0.1).
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ADVANCED MODEL – MANAGER OUTSIDE FIREWALL USING DIA
The most effective way to manage nodes outside a firewall or within a DMZ is to place a
manager outside of the firewall. The firewall can then be configured to allow access
between the top and middle tier managers.
Placing a discovery agent on the outside of the firewall will allow the discovery process to
monitor the external network using the CA Messaging (CAM) protocol. The distribution
server will gather the performance data from the managed nodes outside the firewall; a
secondary distribution server can be placed within the firewall and can be configured to act
as a backup Performance Data Grid (PDG) node. This configuration allows the performance
data from the external nodes to be available to the PDG without the need for the external
distribution server being directly accessible from the internal network.
The external knowledge base running on the external manager node will act as a proxy for
Unicenter Configuration Manager or DIA requests destined for the managed nodes. The
sample above depicts remote Ingres DB access. Remote access to a Microsoft SQL server
can also be used.
Discovering Your Enterprise
The Challenge of Discovering Network Devices
There are various challenges in the discovery of network devices, which is made
increasingly more challenging by the proliferation of departmental and “personal” firewalls,
which while being deployed for very good reasons significantly hamper the ability to do
fine-granularity remote discovery, while also complicating your monitoring of the
environment.
Regardless of the challenges, however, network discovery and classification are essential
elements to properly managing your environment.
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A clear example of this, which also has clear implications regarding security, involves
wireless access points. Wireless access points can be purchased very inexpensively and
then be installed easily by even the most novice user and can unintentionally or otherwise
expose the network to external attack if not configured correctly. Given how easily these
devices can be introduced to the network without any prior review or approval, the need for
automated discovery becomes especially apparent. Consequently tools must be used to
monitor the network efficiently and raise an alert when circumstances are detected such as
non-standard devices being added to the network.
Detailed Discovery Strategy
The Continuous Discovery component employs a multi-tiered discovery architecture that
can monitor an environment and automatically discover and classify new network entities.
The discovery of new network entities uses three types of discovery mechanism:
• Network traffic analysis utilizes a passive discovery mechanism that listens for network
attached devices.
• Network probing technology is an active method that utilizes ping, Telnet, HTTP along
with SNMP, Port Scan and ARPcache discovery to identify devices.
• DHCP listening technology to listen for DHCP requests
Once a device is located, the discovery infrastructure will consult information contained
within its configuration rules and attempt to further classify utilizing various techniques
including SNMP, Port scanning, and MAC address matching.
An example of a classification rule would be: Connect to port 80 (http) and look for a string
IIS. If this is found, the device would then be recognized as a windows device due to the
high probability that when has been detected on port 80 is an Internet Information Server
(IIS) and is only available on Windows. The configuration rules supplied are prioritized and
classification automatically processes the list of rules to arrive at the best classification
possible.
The methods and classification rules are supplied in an XML file that can be modified to
incorporate new rules or the customization of the supplied rules to tailor them to your
specific environment’s needs.
A hierarchy of classes is used when classifying devices. This approach is used to address
the common problem when a device is initially discovered and there is insufficient
information available to ascertain the actual operating system version and other attributes.
Using a hierarchy of classes significantly improves the thoroughness of the classification
and in the event that the device has no network profile and only the MAC address is
available for classification, using this approach will still enable some measure of accurate
classification as the system can identify the type of device based on MAC address (can
review the MAC values against industry-reserved MAC ranges, such as those for
Dell_device, for example.
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Parent
Class
Windows
UNIX
Linux
Child Class
WindowsNT, Windows9x, WindowsNT_Server, Windows2000,
Windows2000_Server, WindowsXP, Windows_NetServerPocketPC
AIXSolaris, DG_UXLinux, HPUnix, NCRUnix, UnixWare, SCOUnix, Silicon,
SiemenUX, FUJIUxp, Sequent_Server, OpenVMSICLUnix
RedHatLinux, SuSELinux, TurboLinux
Discovered devices once classified are added to the Management database (MDB) through
the Common Object Repository API (CORa), which in turn enables information made
available from different CA products to be combined and reconciled to provide a single,
well-defined object within the MDB that is referenced and populated by the discovering and
consuming applications.
Discovery Overview
Continuous Discovery uses manager/agent architecture to disperse collectors that can be
deployed across the enterprise to reduce network traffic passing over Wide Area Networks
(WANs). The discovery agents are deployed to remote locations generally installed with a
local Distributed State Machine (DSM) as well. That DSM would, of course, require network
connectivity to the nodes they will be monitoring, managing, and discovering.
Note: The discovery agent is installed automatically when a discovery manager is installed.
When deploying a remote discovery agent, manually assign the agent to a discovery
manager by editing the following registry key on the agent machine and restarting the
agent: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ComputerAssociates\Discovery\Shared
Components\AgentEngine\AgentManager with the name of the manager node.
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DISCOVERY CONFIGURATION DETAILS
Configuration of the discovery components is accomplished by updating the properties of
the manager and agents objects within the MCC. This can be achieved by launching the
Management Command Center and navigating from the topology view in the left pane to
the TCP/IP network object and drilling down through the subnet layer to the subnet
segment containing the server running the discovery manager and agent. Drilling down
from the server you will find a Unispace object, and below the Unispace object will be two
icons that represent the discovery manager and agent.
Select one of these objects and in the right-pane change the plug-in to “Properties” and a
series of tabs appears. These tabs are used to configure the relevant components; the
example shown is of the Discovery agent Runtime tab, which is used to define the subnets
to be managed.
See the following example of the Discovery Agent configuration within the Management
Command Center:
= Manager Object = Agent Object
Further information on Continuous Discovery can be found in Chapter 3 of the
Unicenter NSM r11.x Administrator Guide.
Examples of Discovery Configurations
Different networks require different discovery mechanisms. There are a lot of factors that
can contribute to a network environment.
Examples of such factors contributing to the necessity of different configurations are:
Network
Considerations Limitations Solution
DHCP servers
Location
Configuration (different
configuration options)
Configure Routers to forward DHCP
request to discovery agent
Switched
networks
Switch locations
Accessibility of network traffic
Connect agent to mirrored / spanned
switch port
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Network
Considerations Limitations Solution
Firewalls
Blocked out protocols (ICMP,
SNMP, UDP, …)
Fixed ports with special
permissions
Install discovery agent outside of
firewall and configure a single port
between the agent and manager
through the firewall utilizing the CAM
protocol
SNMP
installations
Is it company policy to enable
/ disable SNMP for their
computers?
Is SNMP traffic blocked
An extensible method of
classification is carried out by the
discovery agent allowing
classification without the need for
SNMP
Router
configurations
Blocked traffic
Agents can be dispersed around the
network to manage remote network
segments.
Different environments will have different configuration requirements. Accordingly, there is
no single configuration approach that will work for every environment, but using the
facilities inherent to Continuous Discovery, these components can be configured to address
the particular requirements of even the most complicated environments.
The default settings included with the product were developed based on the experiences
gained from supporting key client deployments for several years and they represent the
combination of settings most commonly required. As shipped, these settings assume that
they will be deployed in an environment like the following:
• Switched networks with DHCP support with SNMP and ICMP traffic enabled.
• Default installation setup was used, with a local discovery agent and the manager on the
same machine.
• The manager has DHCP monitoring enabled.
• The agent has the CTA (Common Traffic Analyzer) component enabled and will monitor
the local network traffic by default.
• The agent is configured to monitor the local subnet (the default). To expand the subnets
that are monitored, you need to update the SubnetsToBeManaged property of the agent
object with the subnets that are required for discovery. The discovery manager has an
option called Workload Balancer (WLB), which by default is enabled, and this functionality
will ensure that when a device is discovered on a new subnet, continuous discovery will
automatically manage the entire subnet. If this feature is not required, the Workload
Balancer option should be disabled.
The default configuration has the following limitations:
• Only the local subnet and devices under DHCP control will have full MAC address
discovery. If there are machines on the network that are not under DHCP control (for
example lab machines with fixed IP addresses) MAC address discovery will depend on
SNMP (which might not be enabled on every machine). Another issue would be that the
MAC address classification rules would not work. This could possibly result in a device not
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eing classified at all. Please see documentation about the Discovery Classification
Engine.
• In a large environment the number of devices could exceed the maximum supported
devices per agent. For better performance the discovery load should be distributed over
several agents.
There are possible limitations that could limit the devices Continuous Discovery can find.
The following is a list of these conditions and how to address these through the Continuous
Discovery configuration:
FIREWALLS
In an environment where traffic is blocked by a firewall, Continuous Discovery can still be
used to monitor devices behind firewalls by placing an agent behind a firewall, with the CAM
port enabled. (See more detailed description of how to do this earlier in this section.)
FIXED IP ADDRESSES
In those environments where servers have been assigned fixed IP addresses and SNMP is
not consistently deployed, there are three additional configuration options that can be used
to achieve more comprehensive discovery results than would otherwise be possible in those
environments:
• ARPcache monitoring of routers
The Continuous Discovery Agent can be configured to monitor the ARPcache of a router
through SNMP (this is automatically enabled for the local gateway).
• CTA Enabled
Run the agent of a router’s network tab with CTA enabled and fully configured for all
subnets. The advantage of this option is that only one agent needs to be deployed to
cover all of the subnets that are covered by the router to get greater coverage.
• Agent per Subnet
Deploy an agent into every subnet. his would require having access to at least one
machine per subnet.
Using Discovery in the Real World
AUTOMATING DISCOVERY EVENTS
To automate tasks when new objects are discovered we recommend the use of the
Unicenter Event Management components, which can be used to automate the handling of
discovery events sent by the discovery manager to Unicenter Event Management.
Messages are sent to the Event Manager by the discovery components for the following
events:
• Address Change — A discovered device changes its IP address
• Discovery Event — All Discovery events enabled or disabled
• Handshake Event — Communication events between the manager and agent
• New Device Events — New Device discovered event
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• New Subnet Events — New Subnet discovered event
The processing of these event messages can be automated through the use of Event
Management Message Record Actions (MRA), including the ability to invoke CA’s Desktop
Server Management products to automatically deliver software (including CA agents) to a
new platform when it is discovered.
AUDITING DISCOVERED DEVICES
Discovery maintains a "last seen on the network" timestamp for each device in your
network.
This timestamp can help you determine if a device should not be monitored anymore and if
it can be removed from the system. For example, you may conclude that a device that has
not been seen by the Discovery process in more than 45 days has likely been removed from
the network, is accordingly no longer a valid object to monitor. Auditing of this type of
information is made simple because this information is stored in the MDB and queries
against that data can be run to generate inventory reports that provide this important
visibility.
The "last seen on the network" timestamp updates a property that contains the length of
time that has elapsed since a device was last seen by the Common Discovery process. This
timestamp was updated when the device was last successfully accessed or when network
traffic was last seen from the device.
The “last seen on the network” information is automatically updated whenever Discovery
runs a ping sweep and successfully addresses an object. The Classic Discovery process will,
in that case, update the MDB immediately. Using a different but still timely mechanism, the
Continuous Discovery process holds this last-accessed information in the Discovery agent
cache until the Discovery Manager requests this information. Best practice is accordingly to
configure the Discovery Manager to poll the agents for this information on a regular basis.
In addition to being able to view “last seen time” in reports, a real-time view of the “last
seen time” is available through the Management Command Center. This view can be used
to sort the discovered objects within a segment, based on the “last seen time”.
To achieve this:
• Launch the Management Command Center and select the subnet segment to be queried.
• From the right pane change to the Explorer view.
The window displays all the objects within the subnet.
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• To switch the view to a report style, click View and select Report.
• The “last seen time” is not a visible column, so right-click the grey column title bar in the
right pane and select “Columns”.
• A new window gets launched and in the left pane you see all of the available columns.
Select the “Last seen time” column and click the single arrow pointing to the right to
move the column to the visible columns.
• You can now use the Up and Down arrows on the right side to move the column to a
convenient position.
• Click on any of the column titles to sort the column.
To generate a report based on the “last seen time” the Web Reporting Server (WRS) can be
used:
• Launch the Web reporting Server http://WRSservername:9090/wrs
• Log in using a valid WRS user account.
• Drill down through the left tree structure Unicenter Reports > Worldview > Report
Templates > Inventory Configuration
• Select the columns required for the report from the available columns windows, an
example would be:
› Name
› Last Seen Time
› Status
› Class Name
• Change the title to the report name required.
• Click on the “Resource Selection” tab to choose the discovered classes required in the
report
• Choose the class of objects to be included in the report and use the Right hand arrow to
add the classes to the selected class windows, for my example I am going to choose all
windows servers:
› Windows2000_server
› Windows_NetServer
› WindowsNT_Server
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• The final step is to either publish, schedule or execute the report.
› The report can be sorted by clicking on the column title bar; the drilldown icon
can be used to drill into the report data on individual machines.
› The report can be exported in a CSV or Adobe PDF format by clicking on the CSV
or PDF buttons.
RESTRICTING THE TYPE OF DEVICES TO BE DISCOVERED
The Continuous Discovery components are capable of discovering all types of devices but in
some cases you may want to restrict the discovery to just certain types of devices. For
example, perhaps you need to focus your implementation on managing just servers and
you would not be interested in discovering workstations and network devices. Alternatively,
perhaps your requirements are to detect only certain network devices, such as wireless
access points.
The discovery components include the flexibility to let you configure its operation to discard
certain classes of objects and will only add the classes specified into the management
database. More details on configuring discovery this way can be found in the Administrator
Guide r11.x in the section Exclude Classes from Discovery.
About Classic Discovery
Classic Discovery is the Discovery process that you can set up and run on demand to find
and classify network devices and then automatically register their existence in the MDB as
managed objects. Classic Discovery lets you discover and classify devices on IP and IPX
networks.
Classic Discovery lets you decide which subnets you want to discover and when. You can
start a Classic Discovery from the Discovery GUI, the Management Command Center, or the
command line (dscvrbe).
Note: Classic Discovery is typically needed only in those cases where you did not install the
Discovery agents and the Discovery Manager that continuously discover your network. If
you are using the Continuous Discovery method, you do not need to run a Classic
Discovery.
The IP Discovery process consists of the following main functions:
• Ping — IP Discovery identifies whether a network device exists and is able to
communicate. The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) uses the ping utility to send
requests to the designated computer at periodic intervals and waits for a response.
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• Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) — After receiving a response and
confirmation that a network device is valid, IP Discovery issues an SNMP request to the
network device. This request asks for specific Management Information Base (MIB)
information, which is used to classify and gather information about the network device
Object descriptions and relationships based on the information in the device’s SNMP
Management Information Base (MIB) is then used by IP Discovery to create a managed
object for this network device in the MDB. SNMP MIB agents typically are resident in
network device firmware and are provided by each device’s vendor.
Discovery also determines if a device provides Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM)
data, and if so, creates a WBEM object in the device’s Unispace. The Agent Technology
WorldView Gateway service locates agents running on the network objects.
Note: Before you can run Discovery to discover your network devices and populate the
MDB, an MDB must first have been installed and be available.
Once defined, you can view, monitor, and manage these objects and their Management
Information Base (MIB) through the 2D Map, ObjectView, and the Topology Browser and
manage the entities they represent using Event Management, Manager/Agent Technology,
and third-party manager applications.
Best practices for Classic Discovery
We recommend that you run a combination of Classic and Continuous Discovery when you
want to discover subnets. However, Classic and Continuous Discovery work differently
depending on what options you select for both methods. Being aware of the different
capabilities and mechanisms can help you make an informed decision about how to best
utilize these components.
COMBINE RUNNING CLASSIC AND CONTINUOUS DISCOVERY
• Classic Discovery and Continuous Discovery have access to different levels of the object
(device) being discovered and accordingly may assign different names to the discovered
device:
› Classic Discovery supports naming a device using its sysname (the MIB-II value
for a device that supports SNMP), which is the default if no DNS name is
available.
› Sysnames, conversely, are not supported by Continuous Discovery. Continuous
Discovery names devices based on their DNS names (except for routers that do
not have valid DNS names for their IP interface cards).
› To avoid the problem where the same device is discovered and registered using
different names (when using a combination of classic discovery and continuous
discovering), set the command dscvrbe -j option to IP to use the IP address if
the DNS name cannot be found. Using IP addresses to name discovered devices
ensures that objects are named using the same method and that no duplicates
result. Set this option only if DNS is not enabled in your environment.
› Notes:
• If you are using the Discovery Classic GUI to run Discovery, select Use
IP address instead of Sysname.
• When you run a full subnet discovery using Classic Discovery, stop the
Continuous Discovery services.
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• Continuous Discovery discovers only subnets on which a managed agent is known to exist
based on that agent being registered in the MDB. To use Continuous Discovery to monitor
subnets where managed agents are not installed, run the Classic Discovery dscvrbe
command to discover a router and all of the subnets it supports, or alternatively write a
script using the dscvrbe -7 option to discover all of the gateways on the desired subnets.
TIMEOUT VALUES
The values you specify for SNMP timeout and Ping timeout greatly affects how successful
and how long Discovery takes to run. If you set higher timeout values, Discovery takes
longer to run, but has sufficient time to communicate with the devices and obtain the
needed information. If you use lower timeout values, Discovery runs faster, but devices
may not be classified correctly, or even discovered at all.
If you are discovering routers, we recommend that you use higher SNMP timeout values.
You can specify the timeout value in any of the following places, depending on how you are
running Discovery:
• Using the command line by specifying the -W parameter on the dscvrbe command
• Using the Management Command Center Discovery or Advanced Discovery Wizard
Timeouts page
• Using the Discovery Classic GUI Timeouts box on the Discovery page of the Discovery
Setup dialog.
SUBNET FILTERING
Using a subnet filter on large networks with multiple large subnets is advantageous because
you can limit your search to certain subnets within the network, which can mean a shorter
Discovery process.
Use a subnet filter to do the following tasks:
• Limit the scope of Discovery by confining it to a certain range of subnets and devices. For
example, if you use the subnet filter 172.24.*.*, for example, only the subnets from
172.24.1.0 to 172.224.255.0 are searched. If there is a subnet called 172.119.1.0, that
subnet is not searched because it does not fall in the range specified by the subnet filter.
• Enter a range of as many as ten filters. The filter statement uses a comma separated
format of a1.b1.c1.d1,a2.b2.c2.d2,…a10.b10.c10.d10. Only those subnets passing
through filter1 (a1.b1.c1.d1) or filter2 (a2.b2.c2.d2) or filtern (up to 10) will be searched
and created as TNG/IP_Subnet.
• Use the default subnet filter of *.*.*.*, which does not limit the scope of the Discovery
process. After the selected subnets are searched by Discovery, they are placed on a list in
the right pane of the Discovery Subnet Management dialog.
DISCOVERY METHODS
You can use any of the following Classic Discovery methods to discover your network:
• ARP Cache
Starts at the gateway address (the address of the nearest router to the computer
running Discovery) for the current subnet and uses the ARP (Address Resolution
Protocol) Cache of that device to determine information about the devices. The ARP
Cache contains the IP-to-MAC (physical network) address mappings.
Discovery retrieves the gateway address from the computer on which it is running and
gets the IP list from the ARP Cache on that router. It then discovers the subnets
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nearest that router and for each subnet it discovers, queries its gateway, doing the
same thing over and over again.
For each device found in the ARP Cache, an SNMP request is initiated. If the device
does not respond, it is assumed to be a non-SNMP device, just the IP address is
retrieved, and the object is created as an Unclassified_TCP object.
• Ping Sweep
Pings all of the devices on the network based on the subnet mask, finds IP devices, and
then retrieves SNMP information. If no SNMP information is retrieved, just the IP
address is retrieved, and the object is created as an Unclassified_TCP device. This is
the slowest but most thorough method.
• Fast ARP
Similar to ARP Cache, Fast ARP saves time by checking only the ARP Cache of routers.
Fast ARP is the best method for updating the MDB when you do not want to use the
more intensive searches provided by Ping Sweep and ARP Cache. This is the fastest
way to discover your network.
• DNS Search
Limits the discovery of devices to those that are defined in the domain name server
(DNS). The IP address of each of these devices is combined with the defined subnet
mask to determine whether or not to discover the device. (In contrast, the Ping Sweep
option tries to discover all active devices numerically, without regard to their definition
in the DNS).
Each Discovery method has advantages and disadvantages. The Ping Sweep method
provides more comprehensive quantitative information — in the form of the number of
devices — because each and every potential IP address on the network is pinged. Even
devices not recognized by the router, which may not be discovered through the ARP Cache
method, can be discovered using Ping Sweep.
On the other hand, ARP Cache provides the MAC and IP address information on all the
devices that are found in the ARP Cache of the router. Ping Sweep, however, generates
additional network traffic and is thus more time consuming than ARP Cache and Fast ARP.
Sometimes, to discover every device in the network, a combination of Ping Sweep and ARP
Cache is required.
We recommend that when you first install your product that you run a Ping Sweep
Discovery so that a comprehensive search of your network is done. Then, periodically, run
an ARP Cache Discovery to check your network for devices added after the initial Discovery
was done.
NUMBER OF DISCOVERY PROCESSES TO RUN DISCOVERY
In the Discovery Setup > Service page you can specify the number of Instances (processes)
discovery can use when doing a discovery. You can alter this number to be higher or lower
with the following affects:
• Having a low number of processes (1 or 2), the discovery process will consume less
memory, take more time for discovery and less network bandwidth will be used
• Having a high number of processes, the discovery process will consume more memory,
the time taken for discovery will be shorter and more network bandwidth will be used
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Note: The number of Threads in the Discovery Setup > Discovery page also plays a part in
how long discovery takes and network bandwidth used.
PREPARATION FOR DISCOVERY
Before running Discovery, use this checklist to ensure these prerequisites have been met:
• The computer from which you are running Discovery must be connected to the network
and have a valid IP and gateway address. You can ping the gateway address to ensure
TCP/IP connectivity.
• The computer that contains the MDB is running and you can connect to it.
• You have the correct SNMP community names for all of your devices in the MDB. The
community name is case-sensitive. The default community name is public.
• You have the correct SNMP GET community names of the routers.
• The Host IP Address and the Gateway Address are displayed in the Discovery Setup
dialog on the Discovery tab.
If you do not see these addresses, check your Network setup in the Control Panel.
• The subnet filter, subnet mask, and subnet count are set on the Discovery Setup dialog.
• You selected the Enable the Trace Console checkbox if you want to monitor the progress
of the Discovery process.
CONFIGURATION OF CLASSIC DISCOVERY
To run classic discovery (Discovery wizard)
1. On the Windows Start menu, select Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter >
NSM > Discovery.
2. Click Auto Discovery.
The Distributed Services window appears.
The Distributed Service container lists the database servers on which Discovery may run,
the name of the MDB on each server machine, and the current status and startup method
for Discovery.
The Service’s Host Selection buttons allow you to add database servers to the container list,
as well as update the status of the list displayed. The Service Action buttons allow you to
start and stop Discovery and display the Discovery Setup dialog to set Discovery service
parameters, as well as the Add Server Machine dialog to add new remote servers to the
existing list.
1. Select CA-AutoDiscovery and click Setup.
The Unicenter NSM Discovery Greetings Window appears.
2. Click Next.
The Unicenter NSM window appears.
3. Select the correct MDB and click OK.
The Unicenter NSM Repository Selection page appears and the repository you selected
is displayed in the Repository Selection box.
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4. Click Next.
The Unicenter NSM Discovery Scope page appears.
5. Choose one of the following and click Next:
› Discover the entire network
› Discover a subset of the network
6. If you selected Discover a subset of the network, the Unicenter NSM Subnet
Management page appears.
Add the Subnet Starting IP address, Gateway IP Address and Community Names for
the subnets you want to discover in the environment.
7. Once complete, click Next.
8. In the Unicenter NSM Discovery Methodology, select one of the following and click
Next:
› Faster Discovery
› Detailed Discovery
9. In the Unicenter NSM Discovery DHCP Configuration page, enable the DHCP setting for
discovery if it is required and specify the range in DHCP to run discovery on.
10. When these settings are configured as required, click Next.
11. In the Unicenter NSM Discovery Multiple Instances page, select Normal Discovery or
Attempt Faster Discovery from the Multiple Discovery Processes.
Note: Selecting Attempt Faster Discovery will increase the number of threads that will
be used to run discovery and will increase the memory consumed by the discovery
process.
12. Specify the SNMP/ICMP Timeout value.
13. When configured as required, click Finish.
The discovery wizard closes.
14. In the Distributed Services window select CA-AutoDiscovery and click Start.
The Unicenter Discovery Monitor comes up showing the status of the discovery, uptime
for the discovery and the number of objects that have been discovered, processed and
added to the MDB.
When discovery is complete, the status of on the Unicenter Discovery Services window
show Stopped with a red icon and shows the number of objects in the Added column.
You can close these windows now and view these objects in WorldView.
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Running Advanced Classic Discovery
To run advanced classic discovery (discovery wizard)
1. From the Windows Start menu, go to Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter >
NSM > Discovery > Auto Discovery.
The Distributed Services window appears.
The Distributed Service container lists the database servers on which Discovery may
run, the name of the MDB on each server machine, and the current status and startup
method for Discovery.
The Service’s Host Selection buttons let you add database servers to the container list,
as well as update the status of the list displayed. The Service Action buttons let you
start and stop Discovery and display the Discovery Setup dialog to set Discovery
service parameters, and add the Add Server Machine dialog to add new remote servers
to the existing list.
2. Select CA-AutoDiscovery and click Setup.
The Unicenter NSM Discovery Greetings Window appears.
3. Click Advanced.
The Discovery Setup window appears.
Use this dialog to configure when and how the Discovery service runs, and to access
the Discovery Subnet Management dialog to set which subnets are searched and the
Enter New Community Name dialog to add a community name to the MDB. Review the
history of the Discovery processes that ran. The Discovery Setup dialog is divided into
seven tabbed pages: Discovery, Repository, Included Classes, Services, DHCP, SAN
Discovery, and Profiles.
4. In the Discovery page configure the options as required. The following fields are
available:
Current TCP/IP Configuration box:
Host IP
Address
Gateway
Address
IP address of the machine from which Discovery is started. This is
provided for information purposes only.
Gateway address of the machine that Discovery is started from.
This is provided for information purposes only.
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New Subnet Criteria box:
Subnet Filter
Subnet Mask
Subnet
Management
button
Subnet
Count option
button
The Subnet Filter controls which subnets are searched, thus
controlling the devices stored in the MDB. It is advantageous to
use Subnet Filter on large networks with multiple large subnets
because you can limit your search to certain subnets within the
network.
The Subnet Mask is used when the MDB is empty in order to
identify the subnet mask of your machine. A subnet mask is a 32-
bit value that is used to extract the network ID and host ID from
the IP address. This value affects the organization of devices
displayed in the 2D Map.
Opens the Discovery Subnet Management dialog which allows you
to select and deselect specific subnets to search, as well as add
new subnets to the Discovery process that have not yet been
searched.
When selected, specifies the number of "undiscovered" subnets to
search using the text box to the right of this option button. If
Subnet Count is set to 20, for example, Discovery will run on the
first 20 subnets it encounters regardless of the subnet mask and
subnet filter settings. This parameter can be set from 0 to 9999.
Note: The Subnet Count does not include the subnets listed in
the Subnets to Run Discovery container of the Subnet
Management dialog. Discovery is run on the subnets listed in the
Subnet Management dialog in addition to those undiscovered
subnets specified by the number in the Subnet Count.
All option
button
Causes Discovery to search all subnets.
Method box: refer to DISCOVERY METHOD under Best Practices for Classic Discovery
for details.
Threads: This field specifies how many parallel threads will generate SNMP queries on
the network for discovery. This field works with the Run Multiple Instances field in the
Service tab. Please refer to the Number of Discovery Processes to Run Discovery
section under Best Practices for Classic Discovery for details.
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Discovery Level Options box:
Rediscover
Previous
Subnets
check box
Moves subnets from the Subnets Not To Discover list to the
Subnets To Discover list of the Discovery Subnet Management
dialog so that Discovery will be run on those subnets, as well as
new subnets (subnets on which Discovery has not previously run).
Note: A subnet will not be moved from the Subnets Not To Run
Discovery list if it has been placed there manually.
Check
Additional
Ports
When selected and the device is non-SNMP, causes Discovery to
check the device's registry, FTP port, and Telnet port in order to
match the device with an existing class stored in the MDB. These
checks are run only if the SNMP check fails. When not selected,
these additional checks (registry, FTP port, Telnet port) are not
performed.
If all checks fail, the device is classified as an Unclassified_TCP
object in the MDB.
Discover
SNMP
Devices
Only check
box
Delete Old
IP Interfaces
check box
When selected, Discovery will create objects based on Simple
Network Management Protocol (SNMP) devices using more
comprehensive information on these devices. Non-SNMP device
information is limited to address only. When not selected,
Discovery treats all devices alike. The default setting is not
selected.
Controls whether Discovery creates new router and interface
objects in the MDB when the same router and its interface(s) are
discovered during a subsequent run of Discovery.
Initially, Discovery creates router and interface objects when
routers and interface(s) are discovered in the network. When a
subsequent run of Discovery finds the same router and its
interface(s), the default is not to create the objects again and
overwrite the existing router/interface objects in the MDB. When
selected, Discovery will overwrite the existing router and interface
objects. Consequently, the new network topology can be displayed
in the map.
Discover
SAN devices
only check
box
Controls whether the discovery that runs on the subnets you
specify in Subnet Management is limited to SAN objects. A typical
IP discovery executes, but only SAN devices are added to the
MDB.
When the device discovery is complete, SAN links are determined
and SAN Discovery will use the newly discovered SAN objects and
those already existing in the MDB to determine the SAN
configurations in the subnets.
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Retries box:
ICMP Query
Retry
Determines the number of pings, up to 5, sent to each device
during Discovery. This parameter is used for the Ping Sweep
method only. ICMP Maximum Retry is typically set to 1 for small
networks and 5 for very large networks. The higher setting for
larger, more active networks allows for high network activity. The
default setting is 2.
SNMP Query
Retry
Determines the number of SNMP queries, up to 5, sent to each
device during Discovery. This parameter is used for the Ping
Sweep method only. SNMP Maximum Retry is typically set to 1
for small networks and 5 for very large networks. The higher
setting for larger, more active networks allows for high network
activity. The default setting is 2.
Timeouts box:
ICMP Timeout
This is the ICMP timeout value when pinging a device and waiting
for a response. The range of Timeout values is 10 to 30000
milliseconds. The default Timeout value is 2000 milliseconds.
SNMP
Timeout
This is the SNMP timeout value when pinging an SNMP device and
waiting for a response. The range of Timeout values is 10 to
30000 milliseconds. The default Timeout value is 2000
milliseconds.
Object Naming Options box:
Use Domain
Name Server
check box
Specifies whether a Domain Name Server (DNS) should be used.
Use this option to avoid redundant names, which are not allowed,
in the MDB. The default is selected.
Use IP
Address
Instead of
sysName
check box
Retrieves IP addresses and computer names (used for Discovery)
from each DNS.
Label
Interfaces
with DNS
Name check
box
Changes interface (router) labels to DNS name. For example:
usgpko4F:999.999.999.99
is changed to
jpnmachn:999.999.999.99
where:
usgpko4F is the router name associated with the IP address
999.999.999.99 is the IP address of the machine
jpnmachn is the DNS name, which is determined by the IP
address
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Remove
Suffix check
box
This option allows you to truncate the name of objects based
upon a list of suffixes. For example, if you want to remove the
domain name suffix “acme.com” from your device names, select
‘Remove Suffix’ and then specify “acme.com” in the entry field.
During discovery, when devices are identified as
device1.acme.com, the name saved to the MDB is device.1
5. After you have configured how you want the discovery process to run and what subnets
you want to discover, click the Repository tab.
6. The Repository tab lets you set MDB criteria, and the SNMP Community Name.
Add the SNMP community names used in your environment to this list by clicking New.
You can also choose an update frequency for the MDB.
› High option button: Allows updating of the MDB without any delay after
discovering devices. This option depends on the machine that is contains the
MDB.
› Medium option button: Allows throttle time for updating MDB to be set to two
seconds. This is helpful when multiple instances of Discovery or multiple
applications are accessing the MDB concurrently. This option depends on the
machine that contains the MDB.
› Low option button: Allows throttle time for updating the MDB to be set to four
seconds or more. This can be done when multiple instances of Discovery or
multiple applications are accessing the MDB concurrently. This option depends on
the machine that contains the MDB.
7. After the attributes in Repository tab are set, select the Included Classes tab.
In the Included Classes page, include or exclude classes you want to discover. For
example, unselect Workstation from the tree list if you do not want to discover
Workstations.
8. After the classes have been included and excluded as required, go to the Service tab.
The Service page lets you specify a Startup Type and Execution Options.
9. Select from the following Startup Types:
› Automatic
› Manual
› Disable
The Discovery service starts every time the system starts without using
the Distributed Services dialog Start button. You can also start and stop
Discovery using the Start and Stop buttons on the Distributed Services
dialog.
Allows you to start and stop Discovery using the Start and Stop buttons on
the Distributed Services dialog.
When Disable is selected, Discovery will not run.
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10. The following Execution Options are available:
› Run Multiple Instances
When checked, allows more than one Discovery service to access the MDB.
You can then specify in the edit control text box the number of Discoveries
to run. Nine is the limit. If this number is left blank, Discovery runs as if
this option was not chosen.
› Show Trace Console check box
When selected, provides a DOS window that monitors Discovery activity.
The information is different than that of the message log. It is useful as a
debugging tool.
› Message Log Level
When selected, sets the level of detail of error messages written to the log
file. The higher the number entered in the text box to the right of this
option button, the more detail. The log file can be found in the Install
directory of WorldView under the subdirectory Log.
11. When finished configuring the Service tab, click OK.
The configuration is saved for discovery and the Discovery Setup page closes.
12. In the Distributed Services window select CA-AutoDiscovery and click Start.
The Unicenter Discovery Monitor shows the status of the discovery, uptime for the
discovery, and the number of objects that have been discovered, processed and added
to the MDB.
If the Show Trace Console option was selected in the Service tab, a DOS console
window appears when the discovery starts showing the trace of the discovery process.
When discovery is complete, the status of the Unicenter Discovery Services window
shows Stopped with a red icon and displays the number of objects in the Added
column. You can close these windows and view these objects in WorldView.
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Running Classic Discovery from Command Line
You can run discovery from a command line, and this command is the dscvrbe command.
The dscvrbe command line utility supports the following flags (defaults are within square
brackets):
Standard Flags:
Flag
Description
-M [*.*.*.*] Subnet filter. This filters the subnets defined in the
discovery ipsubnet table.
-N subnet mask |
[255.255.255.0]
Subnet mask
-8 filename Discover subnets defined in a file. This is a text file
defining subnets, ranges, and exclusions. The subnet
mask must be defined for entries.
-S all | number | [0] New subnet counter
Sets how many new subnets to discover.
-S 0 Will discover only the subnets defined in discovery
ipsubnet
-S all Will try to discover everything it can, including new
subnets added after discovery starts
-L [0] - 9 Level of Logging. The higher the logging level number,
the more detail in the log file
-V [Yes] | 1 – 9 Log level of console messages
Turns trace console on.
-5 Yes | [No] Rediscover subnets previously discovered according to
discovery ipsubnet table
-U Yes | [No] Port scan for unclassified devices (telnet, ftp, http,
smtp)
-21 0 – 65 [64] Number of Threads for Discovery (higher thread level
will result in more speedy discovery)
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Object labeling convention flags:
Flag
Description
-3 suffix Suffix to be removed from device name
Example : -3 .ca.com means myserver.ca.com becomes
myserver
-4 Yes | [No] Use DNS name for interface
DNS names for router and multi-home interfaces are not
retrieved unless this option is on. If -4 Yes, name for
interface would be dnsname.ip and label would be
dnsname. If -4 No, Name and label for interface would
default to parentname.ip
-F [Yes] | No Use DNS name or not
DNS name is now default name for all regular objects.
Only the label will be affected by this switch. If –F No,
the label will be either the sysName or IP according to –
J option
-J [sysName] | IP If no DNS, use sysName or IP
If no DNS, this option will determine the name of the
object. If –J sysName and no snmp and no dns, ip will
be used. If –F No, this option also determines the label
Router Flags:
Flag
Description
6 [Yes] | No | NoObj Loopback for router or no objects
Use Loopback address for router address. If -6 No, the
ip of the interface first accessed will be the router ip
address
Example : challenger.ca.com
Loopback = 172.24.0.4
Interface = 172.24.4.1
Interface = 141.202.243.249
If dscvrbe is discovering the object by subnet
141.202.243.0, IP of router would be 141.202.243.249
without this option; with this option on, IP of router
becomes loopback address, 172.24.0.4
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Flag
Description
-9 Yes | [No] Refresh routers and the interfaces
This option affects the update and creation of the router
and its interfaces in the repository. If -9 Yes, the router
will be updated and the interfaces will be dropped and
recreated. If -9 No, the router will be updated, but the
interfaces will not; new interfaces will be added.
-12 [Yes] | No Perform crosschecks in Routing table. This option sets
whether the Interfaces should be retrieved for a router.
Behavioral flags:
Flag
Description
-A Yes | [No] Repeatedly discover the subnets
-B Yes | [No] Do not insert class B network
-Q [Yes] | No Stop discovery when finished
-O Yes | [No] Create SNMP device only
-W millisecond |
[800]
SNMP query timeout value
-G [1] | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
| 6 | 7 | 8
Number of SNMP query retries
-E millisecond |
[400]
ICMP Ping query timeout value
-P 1 | 2 | [3] | 4 | 5 Number of ICMP pings per object
-T second | [0] Database update throttle time
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DHCP environment flags:
Flag
Description
-K Yes | [No] Delete old unclassified DHCP objects
If an existing object is unclassified, the old object will be
deleted to make way for a classified object based on ip
address.
-X Yes | [No] Running in DHCP environment
If this is set, Fillsql will check the tng_dhcp_scope table
to identify DHCP ranges
-Z Yes | [No] Update old classified DHCP object. If set, Fillsql will
update the class of an existing DHCP object.
Miscellaneous flags:
Flag
Description
-1 string Unique string identifying current run. This is the
discovery id timestamp. It is used when starting the
fillsql process
-13 Filename Preferred discovery log filename
Use this option to change the name of the log file
(discover.log) to something unique
-I unique number Instance Number. This is the instance number used to
control multiple instances of discovery.
-19 Profilename Discovery Profiles
The Profile, created by tngsrvcs, is a configuration file for
running discovery. This option is used by wvschdsv.exe
for scheduled discovery
-Y mm/dd/yyyy |
[current day]
Date to start (also needs -H)
-H hh:mm |
[current time]
Time to start (also needs -Y)
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See the following examples of using the dscvrbe command:
• Discover a single node
dscvrbe –R mdb_hostname -7 hostname_to_be_discovered –v 9
• Discover multiple subnets using a file
dscvrbe –R mdb_hostname -8 discover.txt -v 9 -S ALL -D PINGSWEEP
Where the discover.txt should look similar to the following:
141.202.236.0,141.202.236.1,255.255.255.0
141.202.237.0,141.202.237.1,255.255.255.0
141.202.114.0,141.202.114.1,255.255.255.0
• Discover without suffix
dscvrbe –R mdb_hostname -7 hostname_to_be_discovered -3 suffix_to_be_removed –
v 9
Running Classic Discovery through Management Command Center
1. On the Windows Start menu, go to Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter >
NSM > Management Command Center.
The Management Command Center window appears.
2. From the left pane drop-down list, select Tools.
3. In the Tools expand Tools > (machine name).
The following entries should be available for discovery:
› The Advanced Discovery tool lets you set options for the Discovery process at
a detailed technical level, such as specific entries that determine limits for your
Discovery process. The Advanced Discovery is similar to the Running Classic
Discovery (ADVANCED) section. Please refer to this section for field descriptions
and setup (step 19 – 24).
› The Discovery Monitor provides a visual display that lets you track the
progress of your Discovery.
› The Discovery Wizard walks you through a series of configurations screens that
let you specify information about how you want to execute the Discovery
process. The Discovery Wizard is similar to the Running Classic Discovery
(DISCOVERY WIZARD) section. Please refer to this section for information.
4. Select either the Advanced Discovery tool to configure discovery or the Discovery
Wizard tool. If you used the Advanced Discovery tool to configure discovery, after
configuration is complete click the blue arrow button to start the discovery process.
The Discovery Monitor appears when you start a Discovery by clicking the Discover
button from the Discovery Wizard or from the Advanced Discovery tool.
The Discovery Monitor provides a visual display that lets you track the progress of your
Discovery. The Discovery Monitor is refreshed every five seconds to insure an accurate
representation of the progress of the Discovery process.
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Modify or Write Classification Rules
After Discovery discovers devices on your network, the classification engine then classifies
these devices according to how you have configured the classification engine. The
classification engine configuration files let you customize the discovery rules to your
environment.
Classification means that a class and subclass is defined for each discovered object, it is
added to the MDB, and you can manage the object using Unicenter NSM.
You can modify the classification rules in the classify rule.xml file provided with the
Unicenter NSM, or you can write additional Discovery classification rules to refine the
classification of your network devices.
To write Discovery classification rules
1. Modify existing rules or add new rules to the classifyrule.xml file in the
discovery_install\config directory.
2. For Classic Discovery, run ruletodbconverter.exe on the classifyrul.xml file in the
discovery_install\config directory on the computer where the MDB resides.
3. Then run Discovery.
For detailed steps on how to modify or write classification rules, and for examples, please
refer to Discovery Object Creation Rules in the Unicenter NSM Administrator Guide.
Management Command Center Provides Dynamic Multi-Viewer
The Management Command Center (Unicenter MCC) provides a graphical tree structure,
both familiar and intuitive, for navigation of role-based administrative tasks. The Unicenter
MCC is the center for visualization, configuration, and monitoring in Unicenter NSM. You use
it to navigate the WorldView 2D Map and topology tree view, monitor Event messages, look
into details of Agent Technology, start network and system discovery, create reports, and
much more. Integration with WorldView (through icons and Business Process Views) is also
crucial for interaction between Unicenter NSM and other applications.
Unicenter MCC uses DIA for the correct and timely updates of status and other information
that needs to be used and displayed.
Best practices and debugging
Best practices for each type of management that Unicenter MCC is available for will be
described in each appropriate area throughout this doc.
If DIA errors occur during the operation of Unicenter MCC, refer to either the DIA section in
the Unicenter NSM Implementation Guide.
Prerequisites: DIA and the Unicenter knowledge base must be installed and running either
locally or on a remote computer that can be queried for information. In addition, the DIA
cells: amscell, mdbcell and the event cell must be registered and active to collect the
information from and send it to the Unicenter MCC. These cells are installed with their
parent components.
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Authentication: The first time that you use the Unicenter MCC you may encounter a
dialog with a title ‘Root/WV ()’. This dialog requires a username and password
so that it can authenticate your usage.
Potential Problems: The Unicenter MCC has various views. The views that are dependent
on DIA could have trouble displaying the correct information when the DNA or the
knowledge base services are not running properly. You must ensure that all the required
cells are functioning properly.
Launching MCC
You can launch Unicenter MCC a few different ways: through the Start Menu, through the
command line, or through the use of a special utility to open a predefined viewer.
USING START MENU
The most popular way to launch Unicenter MCC is to use the desktop START menu and click
Start > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM > Management Command
Center.
USING COMMAND LINE
An alternative approach lets you launch Unicenter MCC from a command line interface:
This file, on Microsoft Windows is located in:
\CA\SharedComponents\CCS\WVEM\BIN\Tndbrowser.bat.
USING SPECIAL UTILITIES
You can launch Unicenter MCC so that it opens to a specific viewer.
Execute the batch file with arguments to show its usage:
Showinmcc –r -c {-n | -u
} -v
Configuring Unicenter Management Command Center
CONNECT TO OTHER UNICENTER NSM CATALOGS
It is possible to get access to global catalogs other than the currently defined master
catalog. For instance, if other catalogs have been installed in your environment that you
wish to view from the same MCC GUI, it is possible to include them in a single tree view.
From the Unicenter MCC toolbar, under the File selection, if you choose Connect, a dialog
lets you fill in the node where the new global catalog resides. The contents of the Unicenter
MCC trees include published namespaces in the new Global Catalog in addition to the
published namespaces in your current master catalog. You can also use this dialog to set a
new Global Catalog as your master catalog.
CREATING AND CHANGING PERSPECTIVES
The Unicenter MCC provides a feature that lets you quickly switch between different multiviewer
content in the right pane that displays data for a selected object. Perspectives
consist of a set of viewers that are to be displayed, when applicable, in the content pane of
Unicenter MCC and a set of predefined perspectives is provided. The perspective you select
updates the right pane with viewers that are valid for the node you selected in the left
pane. When you select additional viewers, the perspective is dynamically updated to include
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these additional viewers. You can change the predefined perspectives as well as create and
modify new perspectives.
To create a new perspective
1. Choose View, Perspectives, Save As.
The Save Current Perspective dialog appears.
2. In the Perspective Name field, enter a name for the new perspective.
The name appears in the Perspective Name field.
3. Click Show all viewers.
A list of all available viewers appears.
4. Select viewers to include in the new perspective, and click OK.
The perspective is saved and appears as an option in the View, Perspectives menu, and
as an option under the Perspective toolbar button.
ADD USER ACTIONS TO RUN COMMANDS QUICKLY
By customizing the context menu, you can run commands quickly without having to open a
command prompt. Action menus are custom submenus that list any commands that you
defined as user actions.
Note: If you did not define user actions, you do not need action menus.
The context menu on the Unicenter MCC can have up to three custom submenus:
• Global submenu, which you specify as part of the alert global definition. The global
submenu appears first on the context menu, and is present for all alerts.
• Class submenu, which you specify as part of an alert class profile. The class submenu
appears after the global submenu, but only when you right-click alerts in that class.
• Queue submenu, which you specify as part of an alert queue profile. The queue submenu
appears after the class submenu, but only when you right-click alerts in that queue.
For complete instructions about creating Alert Management System menus, see the
Unicenter NSM Inside Event Management and Alert Management Guide.
You can also define commands for the context menu by using the My Actions menu in the
Unicenter MCC. Those commands appear at the bottom of the context menu and they are
unique to each Unicenter MCC client installation.
To create My Actions from the toolbar
1. Select My Actions from the toolbar and select Define Actions.
2. Click New.
3. Specify the data type as one of the following:
a. Alert – the wizard allows you to specify the target node of your AMS manager
where the command will be executed. It also gives you selectable alert properties
to insert as parameters to your command.
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. Console Message – the wizard allows you to specify the target node of your Event
Manager where the command will be executed. It also gives you selectable Event
Management properties to insert as parameters to your command.
c. WorldView – the wizard allows you to specify the target node of your MDB where
the command will be executed. It also gives you selectable WorldView properties to
insert as parameters to your command.
d. Generic – the wizard allows you to specify the target node where the command will
be executed. It also gives you selectable WorldView properties to insert as
parameters to your command.
Note: The data type categories such as Alert or WorldView give associated
properties for these classes so that when you right-click an object, those in-context
properties are filled in as parameters and executed with your command.
4. Specify the target node.
5. Specify the caption – the string in the menu you want to identify.
6. Enter a meaningful description field.
7. Specify the command – use the complete path to the executable or script you wish to
execute. Select any parameters to the right and click the arrow to select.
8. Select the Client Settings tab at the top for more options:
a. Select the Mode – you can either have the command execute automatically or allow
for edit before execution.
b. Shortcut key – you can specify this
c. Click OK and now the menu is ready to be used
The menu is ready to be used and it is now available from the MyActions MCC
Toolbar selection
EXAMPLES OF USING MY ACTIONS
Actions are menu items that can be used in a wide variety of ways from launching
applications, GUIs, and 3rd party management tools to executing jobs, and starting or
restarting services.
Case 1. A client wants the ability to launch all management applications from one console
location. All of these applications are web-based. The client would perform the following
steps:
To launch all management applications from one console location
1. Select My Actions from the MCC toolbar and click Define Actions…
2. Click New to define a new action and assign the following values:
a. Data Type – Generic
b. Target Machine – Drop-down this list and select the server name where you want
to execute the command.
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c. Caption – The menu item name by which you will recognize this action
d. Description – Enter a meaningful good description
e. Command – "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" "canet.ca.com"
(the second parameter is the website which can take arguments)
f. Click the client settings tab at the top
g. Mode – Execute automatically
h. Keyboard shortcut – can be left blank
i. “Use OPR to execute the command” and “Show the console session” can be left
unchecked.
j. Click OK at the bottom and close Define Actions dialog.
Your action definition should now be usable.
k. Verify: Go back to My Actions drop-down from the MCC toolbar, locate your action
in the list, and click it.
Case 2. A client wishes to integrate their homegrown diagnostic and analysis tools with a
certain class of switch. The tools are executables that can take parameters and then display
results.
To integrate your homegrown diagnostic and analysis tools
1. Select My Actions from the MCC toolbar and click Define Actions.
2. Click New to define a new action and assign the following values:
a. Data Type – World View
b. Target Class – Qlogic_Switch
c. Target Machine – Click this box and select the server where you want to execute
the command.
d. Caption – The menu item name by which you will recognize this action.
e. Description – Enter a meaningful description.
f. Command – enter the path to the executable.
g. Enter the executable information above, plus one s.pace. Now go to the drop-down
list to the right and select a property, such as name. Use the space bar and
continue to select properties, such as weight and severity. These object properties
will be passed as parameters to the executable.
h. Click the client settings tab at the top
i. Mode – Execute automatically
j. Keyboard shortcut – can be left blank
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k. “Use OPR to execute the command” and “Show the console session” can be left
unchecked.
l. Click OK at the bottom and close Define Actions dialog.
Your action definition should now be usable.
m. Navigate to a switch object by clicking the left pane menu in the MCC and selecting
Topology. Expand the IP icons, subnets, and LAN segments until you get to the
switch object.
n. Right-click on the object, and select My Actions menu item.
o. Click the action you created. The properties of that object will be used as
parameters for your executable.
SPECIFY UNICENTER SERVICE DESK CONNECTIONS
Connecting to Unicenter Service Desk involves entering information on two windows, User
Options and Alert Global Definitions.
Note: The release number of Unicenter NSM and Unicenter Service Desk need not be the
same, as long as the two products do not share a database. If they do not share a
database, any combination of product releases will work.
To enable the connection between Unicenter NSM and Unicenter Service Desk
1. Choose View, Options from the main menu in the Management Command Center. The
User Options window appears with the General page open.
2. Click the Connections tab. The Connections page appears.
3. Enter the Service Desk release number and the URL to access the Service Desk web
server, for example, http://servername/CAisd/pdmweb.exe.
Note: For release 6.0, also enter the URL for the Knowledge Tools, for example,
http://servername/causp/kt/KTMain.asp.
4. Enter any other options, and close the window. Options are saved and take effect
immediately.
Note: Most information on the User Options window is saved immediately. The only
exception is information on the Status Color Schemes tab, which has an icon for saving.
5. Choose Enterprise Management from the drop-down list above the left pane of the
Unicenter MCC. Open a server, and expand Alert Management. The left pane displays a
list of the AMS profiles you can define.
6. Double-click Alert Global Definitions.
The Alert Global Definition - Detail window opens.
7. Enter the URL of the web service on your primary Service Desk server. The default for
service Desk 6.0 is http://server[:port]/usd_ws/usd_ws.asmx. The default for Service
Desk r11.x is http://servername[:port]/axis/services/USD_WebServiceSoap.
a. Enter a user ID and password.
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. Click Save.
The connection to Service Desk is established.
BEST PRACTICES FOR CREATING AND USING CUSTOM VIEWS
Custom views are particularly useful when you want to add extra information to objects in
2D Maps. The kind of information that you can save as bitmaps are:
• Textual information details or procedures
Insert them as background annotations of information. Objects are then manually
moved into place. When you save the custom view, 2D Map positional information is
retained as well as the backgrounds.
• Specialized diagrams
Use them as 2D Map backgrounds to show physical or geographical locations of objects.
• Business Process Views
You can develop each with its own background of objects. These objects can be the
same objects in each Business Process View so that when a user starts the MCC they
can have their own custom view of the same set of objects.
CREATING AND USING CUSTOM VIEWS
Custom Views implement functionality that lets you display 2D Maps with custom rendering
such as colors, link tariff information, link bends, and so forth. A Custom View allows for the
MDI-style layout of multiple maps or plug-ins across multiple Unicenter MCC frames.
Custom Views provide the following features:
• Text boxes
• Multiple bitmaps
• Shapes, such as Circle, Diamond (Variable), Diamond (Fixed), Ellipse, Hexagon, Pentagon
(Right), Rectangle, Rhombus, Square, Trapezoid, (Up), Trapezoid (Right), Triangle (Up),
Triangle (Left), and None
• Lines
• Polygons
• Bendable links
• Layering
Note: To convert existing .gbf files into custom views, open the .gbf file in the WorldView
Classic 2D Map and resave it. The .gbf is converted and appears in the Custom View left
pane of the Unicenter MCC under the private node. The custom view is a named,
publishable object that contains custom rendering and layout.
You create your custom objects in the 2D Map using the Toolbox after first activating
Custom Views in the Unicenter MCC view toolbar drop-down menu option.
To create the Custom View Object
1. Select Custom Views in the left pane drop-down menu.
A list of views appears.
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2. Right-click the Private View group and select Create View from the context menu.
A new custom view called NewView_0 will appear in the tree. The name can be
changed by selecting it and over-writing it. This named custom view now needs to be
activated and developed.
3. To activate the new custom view, right-click it and select Activate View. Notice that a
green check has been placed on the activated view.
Now you are ready to add content to this view.
To develop the custom view using the 2D Map Toolbox
1. Ensure the MCC is opened to view Topology in the left pane.
2. Navigate to a high-level container such as a Business Process View, or a managed
object container that you want to customize. In this example, a Business Process View
will be the top container.
3. Select the Business Process View in the left pane tree.
4. Click the padlock in the upper-right corner when the right pane view appears to lock
the view (in case you need to navigate elsewhere).
5. Set that right pane view to 2D Map.
6. Click the Tool Palette (the briefcase icon) in the right pane’s Toolbar
7. You can start by placing any object into the container, but the best way to build the
view is to do the following in this order:
a. Place the Backgrounds.
b. Add container objects.
c. Size the container objects.
d. Add managed objects inside the container objects.
e. Size the managed objects uniformly.
f. Add links between managed objects and container objects.
Your tool palette should be opened.
g. Navigate in the tree to Drawing Tools > Image.
8. At this point decide if you want to use geographical maps or bitmaps as backgrounds.
The .bmp files can contain company logos, notes, useful reference information or
anything else. If you want to use your own .bmp files, place them in one of these
directories:
For background images:
C:\Program Files\CA\SharedComponents\CCS\WVEM\IMAGES\BackgroundBitMap
For geographical maps:
C:\Program Files\CA\SharedComponents\CCS\WVEM\IMAGES\GeoMap
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9. Click the image or map you want.
10. Now drag that object onto the 2D Map container
Note: If you did not create a new custom view in the left pane, you will be given the
option to create a custom view or to choose an existing one to change.
11. Return to the Tool Palette tree and expand ManagedObject.
12. Select objects and place them into the Business Process View container. To ensure that
you can move the objects, right-click anywhere on the Toolbar of the main Business
Process View container, select Set Layout and then Manual.
13. Because the 2D Map plug-in uses relative sizing, it is best to first place all the objects in
the container, size them all by using the same number of clicks on the scale-down
button and then move them into position.
NOTE: Save the custom view often by returning to the Custom View left pane dropdown
menu, right-clicking on the custom view, and then clicking Save View.
14. To use the Custom view, click View selection on the main MCC Toolbar, click Activate
Custom View, and select the custom view you want.
Navigation in the Management Command Center – Adding Views
The Management Command Center (MCC) is the main interface that lets you visualize
multiple views of the same or different objects. These viewers can be added to the right
pane in the MCC by right-clicking on objects in the left pane tree and select Add Viewer. A
list of appropriate viewers for the object type will be presented. If selected, that viewer will
be added.
CONFIGURE MANAGEMENT COMMAND CENTER TO VIEW AGENT LOG RECORDS
It is often useful to have an independent view of all the event log records that were sent
from specific host or workstation.
To setup individual views in the right pane of the MCC
1. Select Topology View from the left pane drop-down menu.
2. Expand the network tree to expose the hosts.
3. Select any host or workstation from the left pane whose events you would like to see,
and right-click.
4. Select Add Viewer > Log Records to display the new view in the right pane.
5. Save the Console Log view; otherwise the next node selected in the left pane will
change the view: Click the padlock on the upper-right corner of the view just created.
You can continue to add as many views as you are able to see. Each view will be
pertinent to the object selected in the left pane.
VIEW DEVICES BEING MONITORED BY THE DSM
DSM View displays the managed objects for an individual DSM. It also lets you find objects
instantiated from the main managed object class. These categorizations of objects by DSM
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domain or by class type may be preferred especially if you want to navigate the hierarchy
of nodes that all belong to the same class or managed by the same DSM.
1. From the MCC, select DSM View from the left pane drop-down menu.
2. Expand the DSM icon in the left pane tree to reveal the DSM domains.
3. Expand any of the classes to see objects that have been discovered and created from
those classes.
These objects are also being monitored by the DSM servers from which the list was
expanded.
ADD DASHBOARD VIEWS
Dashboards are user-customizable, graphical, high-level, web-based presentations that
combine real-time data from the enterprise resources that are managed by a
Unicenter NSM (or a non-Unicenter NSM) agent. Agent View and Server View dashboards
are two types that provide a personalized, consolidated view of the Unicenter agents
through this secure, web-based interface.
Agent View and Server View dashboards look similar, yet have a different purpose:
• Agent dashboards display information about a single agent. The information appears on a
number of tiles, each of which reflects the state of a particular resource type or group
monitored on a host.
• Server dashboards display summary information about all agents on a server you select;
information from multiple agents can appear on a server dashboard.
Dashboards are used to monitor either agents on a Host or just one agent at a time. You
can see at a glance whether there are any conditions that require attention. You can also
modify the thresholds that generate warning and critical alerts when limits are exceeded.
To add a Server View or Agent View dashboard viewer
1. Navigate to Host or agent by descending through the hierarchy in either the left pane
Topology or through the DSM View hierarchy.
2. Right-click Add Viewer.
3. Select Dashboard.
4. If this is the first time you are using dashboards, you will get a prompt to log onto the
dashboard service. Add the user (default user is admin) and password (specified during
the install).
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Note: The MCC has the capability to let you view published dashboards or to alter the
configuration of metrics already set up for existing published agent or server dashboards.
To create new dashboards, you must launch the Adaptive Dashboard Service web-based
interface.
ADD CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT VIEWS
Unicenter Configuration Manager is a web browser based tool that uses a Tomcat server to
manage agent configuration and event management profiles. All data is saved in MDB.
The Unicenter Configuration Manager lets you do the following:
1. Identify host members and categorize them into logical groups, based on your criteria.
2. Define which resources are to be monitored and at what limits alerts should be
generated.
3. Define when changes to thresholds or resource lists should be applied.
4. Define files such as event mgt or AEC policies, if any need to be distributed to a group
of hosts.
5. Bundle together the configuration profiles and file bundles that need to be delivered to
the groups.
6. Create a delivery schedule and assign it to your configuration bundles.
7. Generate reports to evaluate the process.
To add a Configuration Management Viewer
1. Navigate to Host by descending through the hierarchy in either the left pane Topology
or through the DSM View hierarchy.
2. Right-click Add Viewer.
3. Select Configuration Manager.
4. If this is the first time you are using the Unicenter Configuration Manager, you will get
a prompt to log onto the Unicenter Configuration Manager service. Add the user
(default user is admin) and password (specified during the install).
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Note that all the functions of the Unicenter Configuration Manager are available through the
right pane of the MCC.
BEST PRACTICES FOR USING CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT IN THE MCC
You will note that although it is possible to use the Unicenter Configuration Manger inside
the MCC, you will have more room if you were to launch the Unicenter Configuration
Manager using your web browser. (http://:/wiser). The groups created
through the Unicenter Configuration Manager are also available through the MCC by
selecting the Business Process View left pane drop-down and navigating to the Business
Process View with the name of the Unicenter Configuration Manager group you assigned, or
by drilling down through the Business Process View called Monitored Resources Model.
VIEW AND MODIFY SYSTEM PERFORMANCE GATHERING
The MCC offers a wide variety of management features extended through the right-click
menu items from each hierarchical object in the left pane. One of these functions lets you
view and alter system performance gathering metrics and properties. There are two menu
items (one for viewing and the other for editing or altering) available to do this that you can
launch from Host and Workstation level objects. These menus are available if you select the
Topology left pane drop-down menu and navigate to your Host or Workstation of interest.
The View menu displays properties such as:
• Configuration status such as ‘configured to collect data’
• Details of when data was collected last, frequency of the collection, and when the
configuration was last modified
• Resources that are involved (CPU, Memory, etc.)
• Delivery – these are additional machines that data can be sent to. If no additional
machines are specified, then note that the primary machine will not appear here but this
field can be manually updated.
Using the Modify menu you can:
1. Create And Apply A New Profile.
It opens the Performance Configuration Wizard, which guides you through the steps
required to configure the performance agent on the selected machine. You can also
choose to collect performance data from other devices using SNMP, using the selected
machine as a proxy.
2. Modify The Current Profile.
It opens the Data Collection Properties dialog, which lets you view and modify the
performance configuration profile on the selected machine or device.
3. Select And Apply A PreDefined Profile.
It opens the Performance Configuration Profile Selection dialog so that you can apply
an existing profile to the selected machine or device.
4. Disable/Re-Enable Performance Data Gathering.
It stops or restarts the gathering of performance data on the selected machine or
device.
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Note: If you are prompted to specify an SNMP proxy machine while configuring a
machine on which you have installed a performance agent, the agent has not been
registered in the performance domain. To do this, use the Locate Managed Node facility
in the Performance Configuration application, or run the command cfgutil –x.
USE ALERTS IN THE MCC
The purpose of the Alert Management Service (AMS) is to provide a facility to handle alerts
that get categorized in alert queues that require notification, acknowledgement or some
other form of action to take place. The AMS is a management layer that takes inputs from
the Event Management component, and the Advanced Event Correlation Engine. It can
launch or execute any action or set of actions including notifying recipients.
Event Management can consolidate event messages from the entire IT environment. The
EM component forms the alert message which gets placed into a predefined alert queue.
Alarm conditions and event messages can be forwarded to the Event Manager (EM) console
from CA agents, 3rd party hardware devices, software products, or SNMP traps. Alerts can
be derived by correlating various event messages with one another. The correlation
function is provided by AEC. A set of out-of-the-box policy packs will soon become available
so that commonly used event processing policies used with agents and product integrations
can be uploaded in client environments.
In order to use alerts in the MCC, you will first need to create alert support objects such as
classes, queues, and menus. These objects can be created through the MCC if you click the
drop-down list from the left pane menu and choose Enterprise Management. By expanding
your management server and the Alert Management icon, you can see all the containers to
create alert management policies. For more information on the AMS, see please the
Unicenter NSM Implementation Guide.
When an alert comes through the Event Management component, it is placed into the
queue or queues defined by the policy created for it. The MCC displays these alerts and
allows you to react to them, to send them to other queues, to escalate them over time, or
any other type of action.
Alerts can be visualized in the MCC in two places. The first place is located by selecting
Alerts in the left pane drop-down list > Alert Management zone > your management server.
Here you will see a list of all alerts as well as alerts categorized by queue or by a filter. If a
filter has been created, then you will see your filter container in this list as well. A filter is
useful if you want to display all alerts categorized according to a particular alert property
such as class, or priority, and so forth.
The second place you can see alerts is when you add them to the left pane as viewers from
an object under the Topology hierarchy.
To add an alert viewer
1. Click left pane menu and select Topology.
2. Right-click a Host object and select Add Viewer.
3. Select Alerts.
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BEST PRACTICE FOR CONFIGURING MCC TO ADD VIEWERS
The MCC is designed to let you see different types of information of the same object or
resource. For instance, you may want to diagnose a problem with a server and want to see:
• All the event messages pertinent to that server only
• The status of some system agent resource watchers
• A history of when the statuses changed and in what order
Based on requirements such as these, you can select the appropriate log record, alert, and
other viewers to add them to the right pane of the MCC so that as you change the focus on
the left pane topological nodes, you instantly see the properties, events, alerts, etc., in
context information through right pane views.
Review the case examples below to understand how MCC can be configured to match client
requirements for displaying and managing their environment.
CASE 1: The client environment is one where the key issues are event messaging and alert
handling and they take precedence over topological hierarchical graphical views. So the
client requires the following:
A. Alerts to be raised given a complex set of criteria.
These alerts need to be visual and easily seen and navigated within the MCC because
many administrators may be viewing a common alert queue. The alerts need to be
acknowledged manually or need to be transferred to other queues after the user is
through with them so that they can be processed further by other staff.
B. Events and event messages specific to a server leading up to the most critical alerts
must be easily found.
It is not enough to merely raise a single alert.
C. Clearly visible Business Process Views
The user can drill down through Business Process Views, traverse the hierarchy,
perform diagnostics, and do other research.
In this case, the following viewers need to be implemented in the MCC:
• Alert queues
• console logs pertinent to a server
• explorer view
To achieve the requirements
1. Click the left pane menu and select Alerts.
2. Right-click the appropriate alert queue.
3. Select Add Viewer and click Alert Queue Records.
4. After it becomes visible in the right pane, save it by clicking the padlock in the upperright
corner of the view.
5. Continue adding another alert queue in the same way.
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6. Click the left pane menu and select Topology.
7. Traverse the hierarchical tree and locate the server whose log or console records you
wish to view.
8. Right-click the server, Select Add Viewer, and select Log Records.
9. After that viewer appears in the right pane, save it using the padlock found in the
upper-right corner of the view.
10. Click the left pane menu and select Business Process Views.
11. Click the desired Business View.
It appears in the right pane using the explorer view by default. This view can also be
changed by clicking the title of the view in the upper-left corner and selecting explorer
view.
12. Save it by clicking the padlock found in the upper-right corner of the view.
CASE 2. The client environment is one where graphical views of servers and workstations
in their relationship to the rest of the IT infrastructure is very important and takes
precedence over displayed event messages. The requirements can be summarized as the
following:
• Alerting is important in that automatic action should accompany each alerted situation.
• Logical hierarchical connections and link relationship graphics are preferred for portraying
server statuses.
• The severity needs to be displayed of monitored resources indicating dials where metric
thresholds can be easily and quickly changed to accommodate dynamic business
requirements.
In this case, you would implement the following viewers in the MCC:
• Alert queues
• Agent or server dashboards
• Association browser
To achieve the requirements
1. Click the left pane menu and select Alerts.
2. Navigate through the Available Zones, to the machine hosting the alert queue to be
viewed.
3. Right-click the appropriate alert queue.
4. Select Add Viewer and click Alert Queue Records.
5. After it becomes visible in the right pane, save it by clicking the padlock in the upperright
corner of the view.
6. Click the left pane drop-down menu and select Topology.
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7. Traverse the hierarchical tree and locate the server whose monitored resources you
wish to view.
8. Right-click the server, select Add Viewer, and select Association Browser.
9. Right-click anywhere in that view and select all the check boxes.
This ensures that both links and parent-child relationships can be seen between the
objects within the Business Process View.
10. Save it: click the padlock in the upper-right corner of the view.
11. Navigate to the server you wish to monitor using the Dashboard.
12. Right-click the server, select Add Viewer, and select Dashboard.
13. Once it becomes visible in the right pane, save it by clicking the padlock in the upperright
corner of the view.
You may have to log into the Dashboard Server if this is your first time since the server
was started. Provide the proper credentials as mentioned earlier.
CASE 3. The client environment is one where graphical views of servers and workstations
in their relationship to the rest of the IT infrastructure is just as important as displayed
event messages and alerts. The requirements can be summarized as the following:
• Alert displaying and handling is important
• Graphical representation of performance metrics in the form of dials need to be
displayed. The System Performance Manager needs to be installed and configured to start
taking performance data.
To achieve the requirements
1. Click the left pane menu and select Alerts.
2. Right-click the appropriate alert queue.
3. Select Add Viewer and click Alert Queue Records.
4. After it becomes visible in the right pane, save it by clicking the padlock in the upperright
corner of the view.
5. Click the left pane drop-down menu and select Topology.
6. Drill into the System Performance Domain Business Process View and locate the server
whose performance monitored resources you wish to view.
7. Right-click the server, select Add Viewer, and select Dashboard.
8. After it becomes visible in the right pane, save it by clicking the padlock in the upperright
corner of the view.
9. You may have to log into the Dashboard Server if this is your first time since the server
was started. Provide the proper credentials as mentioned earlier.
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10. Click the Normal button located inside the upper-right corner of the view just created.
Note: In each of these cases the four views stacked within the right pane of the MCC
should be the maximum number so each view can be seen easily.
Relating Managed Objects with Business Process Views
A Unicenter Business Process View is a logical group of managed objects you create based
on any criteria you determine, such as geographic location, business process, security, and
so on. The Business Process View acts as a filter that displays only objects relevant to the
management of resources for a specific business requirement.
A Business Process View helps you monitor and manage designated segments of your
enterprise. The Business Process View is the means by which you can logically group the
constituent resources that perform some business critical process; for example, accounting
or personnel. The Business Process View is an effective way to alert you that a key link in a
chain of resources is encountering some problem that may impact the business.
The contents of a Business Process View can represent whatever you decide is important to
your process execution. You can group these views by geographical locations,
organizational structures and roles within the organization, applications, resource features,
or any other requirements.
The Business Process Views you create are visually represented as separate Business
Process View containers in the MCC. A Business Process View is itself a managed object that
is stored in the MDB; it is accessible to any user of the MCC. The same procedure of adding
and modifying all objects also apply to the Business Process Views.
To monitor the condition and status of objects you can set triggers and thresholds using the
Business Process View Manager, which is located separately from the MCC under Start >
Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM > WorldView > Business Process View
Management. If this is your first time, select Init File Path before using the configuration
wizard.
Administering Business Process Views
Business Process Views are containers of those objects that make up a business process
you want to monitor. Many management components within Unicenter NSM create their
own Business Process Views. As demonstrated below, the MCC is just one interface to use
when creating Business Process Views.
1. The straight-forward approach is to manually create a new Business Process View
object and drag and drop objects into that container. You can also use the copy and
paste right-click menu items on objects.
a. Select the Business Process View from the left pane drop-down list.
b. Right-click a Unicenter NSM Server under the WorldView icon in the left pane tree
that you wish to add the Business Process View for, select New, then Business
Process View to add a new Business Process View.
c. Now find the new Business Process View in the left pane tree and rename it from
New Business Process View to a name you like. To do this, single-click the name
and enter the new name.
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d. Click anywhere in the MCC and the name will be saved automatically.
e. Right-click the newly created Business Process View object, select Add Viewer and
then Explorer
f. Click the padlock icon in the upper-right corner of the new right pane view for the
Business Process View.
g. Click the right pane drop-down menu and select Topology.
h. Expand the IP and subnet icons and navigate to the objects you wish to add to the
Business Process View.
Note: Host level objects are traditionally added to these views although you can
add any type of object.
2. Dynamic Containment Service (DCS) maintains the contents of any designated
Dynamic Business Process View Container object in the MDB according to a set of
configurable rule-based inclusion policy. The DCS has its own configuration wizard to
create the rules necessary to automatically create objects or delete them within a
Dynamic Business Process View container.
You can find DCS in Start > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM >
WorldView > Dynamic Containment Service. If this is your first time in this menu,
select Init File Path before using the configuration wizard.
3. Business Process View Management has its own configuration wizard to create the rules
necessary to generate events on conditions within the container you may be interested
in.
You can find Business Process View Management at Start > Programs > Computer
Associates > Unicenter > NSM > WorldView > Business Process View Management. If
this is your first time in this menu, select Init File Path before using the configuration
wizard.
Weighted Severity Analysis and Importance Properties
You can define the value of an object in your network infrastructure by assigning a numeric
value from 1 to 100 that specifies a degree of value for an object in your network. The
higher the weight, the more value an object has in your network. Each class of managed
object has a default weight assigned to it, and when your network is discovered, each
object that is derived from that class inherits the default weight for the class. For example,
the default weight of a router is higher than the default weight of a workstation because,
typically, a router has more significance in a network than an individual workstation.
Using a sophisticated algorithm, WorldView determines the importance of each managed
object in your network. Viewing the importance of each managed object in your network
helps you analyze your network by giving you a better view of the health of your IT
infrastructure. For example, importance properties let you quickly and easily distinguish
between a printer that has a critical severity because it is out of toner and a critical payroll
server that has run out of checks.
Importance is calculated using the weight and severity levels of child and parent objects in
your network. The importance of an object increases when the propagated weighted
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severity of one of its child objects increases. You can set the weight of each object in your
network, or you can use the default weight that is preset for each managed object class.
After WorldView calculates the importance of an object, certain numeric thresholds
determine what color is used to display the object. You can change the default importance
thresholds according to your enterprise requirements.
To view the weighted severity or the importance property of objects
1. In the MCC, select Topology from the left pane drop-down menu.
2. Navigate to the object for which you would like to view these properties.
3. Right-click the objects, select Add Viewer and then Properties.
4. After the view appears in the right pane, select the Status tab.
5. Scroll to the Importance property.
Note that you can view this calculated value but you cannot change it.
6. Scroll to the Weighted Severity property.
Note that you can change this property. Be careful when changing this property
because importance and other object property values are based on it.
Best Practices Using Business Process Views in MCC
Business Process Views are most effective when you create them to monitor key business
processes within the environment. Using the Business Process View Management to create
alert conditions and the DCS to dynamically add or remove objects within these containers
enhances the usefulness of Business Process Views.
Business Process Views are often the first or top level objects that indicate visually that
some part of the environment needs attention. You can drill down into the Business Process
Views to examine its child object to perform analysis and research on problems. You can
also to solve routine problems automatically by using automated actions set up through the
event management and alert management components.
Monitoring Events through Console Logs
Event console logs contain logged event messages from agents, SNMP traps, 3rd party
application software and hardware. These logs are associated with the Event Management
component which can be installed on several machines throughout your environment. There
are a number of places within the MCC from which these events are viewable.
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To Access the Event Console Log
1. From the left pane drop-down menu, select Console Logs and expand the Default DIA
zone.
You can view event consoles from all of the remote Event Managers from one MCC
interface. You can also manage events, message records, and message actions from
one central location using the MCC.
a. Expand your Event Management server.
Note that the event messages are categorized according to time and months, which
makes it easier to navigate through them chronologically.
b. Click on any particular day to get the events in the right pane for that day. The
right pane view that appears is the event console with all the features to manage
event messages
c. You can also click other Event Management nodes to see the events that were
collected from them.
2. From outside of the MCC:
a. From the left pane drop-down menu, select and expand Enterprise Management.
b. Click Console Logs.
A right pane view lets you Launch Console Logs outside of the MCC. This could be
useful if you want to run the console full screen without the normal MCC toolbar
and borders.
3. From the command line, execute the command:
caugui conlog
Console event log message contain a number of properties such as the event message,
date, time, and origin. Use the content within these messages as triggers to generate
automated actions.
Best Practices for Using Console Logs
Console log records, also known as event logs or event messages, can be used in a number
of ways. Their main use is to trigger automated actions to occur, such as notifying
recipients or running executables or batch scripts. These records can also be used for
manual research and analysis of problems. A third use of these records would be for audit
processing for compliance with standards of business process practices. There is a full set of
APIs that allow the user to take advantage of specialized processing of these messages or
as input to homegrown applications.
Event records are used as input by the Advanced Event Correlation engine, and the alert
management. Unicenter NSM agents and management components all send their messages
to the event console where they can be viewed.
Console records are best used in conjunction with other views in the right pane of the MCC
or wherever messages need to be viewed.
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Running Discovery and Configuring the DSM through the MCC
There are a number of discovery components that can be configured through the MCC.
When you select Tools in the left pane drop-down menu, you see objects with which you
can configure discovery.
RUN DISCOVERY USING THE ADVANCED DISCOVERY TOOL
You can tailor the discovery process using the Advanced Discovery setup tool. You may
want to set up advanced discovery options if you are already familiar with network
discovery concepts and want to interact with the discovery process at a detailed technical
level.
To run an Advanced Discovery
1. Select Tools from the left pane drop-down menu, expand Tools, expand the computer
on which you want to run Discovery, and click Advanced Discovery.
The Advanced Discovery tool appears with the Scope page open.
2. On the Scope page, click an option for the scope of Discovery you want to run. For
more information about Discovery Scope fields, see Discovery Wizard/Advanced
Discovery - Scope Page.
The Discovery scope is set.
3. To create a list of subnets to be discovered, click the Subnets tab and perform any of
the following actions: Enter a subnet address, gateway address, and subnet mask, and
then click Add.
The subnet is added to the list of subnets to be discovered.
For more information about these fields, see Discovery Wizard/Advanced Discovery -
Subnets Page.
4. Select a subnet address in the container list and click Delete.
The subnet is deleted from the container list of subnets.
5. Select a subnet with a red light next to it (indicating that the subnet has already been
discovered) and click Include.
The red light turns green and the subnet is included in the list of subnets to be
discovered.
6. Select a subnet with a green light next to it and click Exclude.
The green light turns red and the subnet is excluded from the list of subnets to be
discovered.
7. Click Select All and then click Delete, Exclude, or Include.
All subnets are selected in the container list, and then deleted, excluded (all lights turn
red), or included (all lights turn green).
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8. To create a list of community names for the subnets to be discovered, click the SNMP
tab and perform any of the following actions:
a. Enter a community name and network mask, and click Add. For more information
about these fields, see Discovery Wizard/Advanced Discovery - SNMP Page.
The community name is added to the list of community names.
b. Select a community name in the container list and click Delete.
The community name is deleted from the container list of subnets.
9. To set the Discovery mode, click the Mode tab and select the mode. For more
information about these fields, see Discovery Wizard/Advanced Discovery - Mode Page.
The Discovery mode is set.
10. To use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, click the DHCP tab and perform the
following actions:
Click the DHCP Range Set check box. You can now set the DHCP ranges.
a. Enter a starting IP address, an ending IP address, and click Add. For more
information about these fields, see Discovery Wizard/Advanced Discovery - DHCP
Page.
The range is added to the list of DHCP ranges
b. To delete a range, select the desired range in the list and click Delete.
The range is deleted form the list of ranges.
Note: Setting these ranges does not limit Discovery.
11. To set SAN Discovery options, click the SAN tab. For more information about these
fields, see Discovery Wizard/Advanced Discovery - SAN Page.
SAN Discovery options are set and used for Discovery.
12. Click the Options tab to set more detailed Discovery options. For more information
about these fields, see Advanced Discovery Tool - Options Page.
Detailed Discovery options are set.
13. Click the Timeouts tab to enter SNMP and ping timeouts. For more information about
these fields, see Discovery Wizard/Advanced Discovery - Timeouts Page.
Timeout values are set and used for Discovery.
14. Click Discover.
The Discovery process starts and the Discovery Monitor appears in the right pane. All IP
objects and SAN devices are discovered and created in the TCP/IP network.
Launching Agent View, Node View, and Object View from the MCC
Agent View lets you manually change agent configurations one agent at a time that include
selecting resources such as CPU, memory, disk, quotas, etc. to monitor, setting thresholds,
and poll rates. The information available through these interfaces is also available through
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Adaptive Dashboard Service (ADS). However, there are differences and they will be
explained in the best practices section.
NODE VIEW
Node View lets you visualize the environment from the node level on down to ‘leaf objects’
or monitored resources and instances of those resources. Node View also provides the
functionality to acknowledge alerts, set resources to an unmanaged state, and to view state
change events on a resource by resource basis.
Note: All of these functions are also available through the MCC GUI.
To launch Agent View, Node View and Object View from the MCC
1. Open the MCC and select Topology View from the left pane drop-down menu.
2. Open a managed node down through Unispace to the agent objects.
3. Right-click either an agent or a monitored resource under the agent.
4. Select Actions and then select View Agent.
Best Practices in the use of Agent View, Node View, and Object
View
These interfaces are all stand alone applications, are not web-based, and do not launch in
the right pane of the MCC. They can be used by an operator to drill down to a problem in
the environment once it has been surfaced by one of the MCC Business Process Views.
These GUIs continue to be provided and supported primarily in deference to those users
who have been using these interfaces historically, have grown accustomed to using them,
and have woven their use into their daily operations.
To be clear, the newer web-based user interfaces are recommended over the legacy user
interfaces.
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Chapter 6: Best Practices for
Deploying System Performance
This chapter includes the following topics:
• About System Performance
• Best Practices for Configuring System Performance
• System Performance Architecture
• Preparations for Deployment
• Deployment Verification
• Configuration of System Performance
About System Performance
System Performance manages the performance of the servers that are used to deliver
business-critical IT services using consistent, fact-based management policies that help
reduce complexity and costs by applying platform-independent management policies and
techniques across heterogeneous server infrastructures. This reduces the need for
specialized administrators to manage server performance.
With comprehensive systems platform coverage and support for industry standards, System
Performance provides a flexible and extensible architecture that simplifies the management
of the numerous systems and devices that make up today's complex infrastructures. Its
facilities for collecting, analyzing, and reporting performance information simplify
performance and capacity trend analysis, and increase IT responsiveness to unexpected
problems, ensuring higher service levels.
Best Practices for Configuring System Performance
Resources to Monitor
Before you create a performance agent profile it is important to understand what
performance metrics you need to most effectively manage the environment, which in turn
will indicate the metrics data to be collected. The simplest approach would, of course, be to
collect the full set of performance metrics available from a machine, but this kind of
performance gathering would understandably be more resource intensive then it needs to
be and in practice has shown to consume significantly more disk space than would
otherwise be necessary if the metrics selected judiciously. Consuming resources without
any measurable return on that consumption is to be avoided, of course, and knowing what
performance metrics are important to collect data on will allow you to minimize the amount
of overhead consumed by the monitoring system itself.
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Time Intervals to Gather Data
Performance data is collected on a machine at time intervals specified by a user. There are
two things to consider when deciding on a time interval:
• Shorter time intervals will give you more performance data to analyze
• Shorter time intervals will consume more resources to gather and store the data
Experience has shown that as the deployment proceeds and you gain more experience with
the system you will make adjustments to the time intervals and sets of metrics collected to
achieve the balance necessary to address your performance management and monitoring
requirements, while keeping resources consumed by the performance monitoring and
management application itself to an acceptable minimum.
Processing Of Performance Cubes
Performance data is stored in performance cubes and these cubes are automatically
transferred up to distribution servers from each of the machines running a performance
agent. There are two settings available for when these updates/transfers take place:
1. Transfer cubes to the distribution server after each data collection
2. Transfer cubes to the distribution server after the last collection of data takes place for
the day.
Experience has shown that in those environments where high frequency transport of
performance data would impact production network availability, or in those environments
where performance data collection does not have to be near real-time, the best practice is
configure the system to send these updates to the distribution server at an off-peak time
(typically at the end of the major production time period each day, rather than doing so as
part of each data collection interval.
Deletion Policy
The deletion policy defines how long performance data is kept before being deleted. The
default setting is the deletion policy is 40 days. The deletion policy retention setting is one
of the configuration values typically adjusted as the deployment proceeds and you gain
more experience with the components. One of the important considerations to keep in mind
with regard to the retention period defined in the Deletion Policy is that retaining
performance data for a longer period of time will have an related increase in disk space
resource needed to store that data.
System Performance Architecture
The following components make up System Performance:
• Performance Domain Server
• Performance Distribution Server
• Performance Agents
• Performance Configuration UI
• Performance Trend
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• Performance Scope
• Performance Reporting
Each component plays an important role to provide users with accurate performance data
on monitored machines. Below is a brief description of what each component accomplishes.
Performance Domain Server
The Performance Domain Server holds all the performance configuration information for an
entire domain. Multiple clients can simultaneously connect to the Performance Domain
Server and engage in configuration operations.
Performance Distribution Server
Performance Distribution Servers request configuration data from the Performance Domain
Server and delivers it to the Performance Agents.
A key function of a Distribution Server is to manage performance data for the machines for
which it is responsible and maintain this data in its local cube store.
We recommend that a Distribution server be installed on the WRS server to act as an entry
point to the performance data grid for faster data access for performance reporting.
Performance Agents
There re two types of System Performance agents that are used together to monitor and
collect data from a wide range of system, application, database, and network (SNMP)
resources. These agents are:
• Real-Time Performance Agent (prfAgent) This agent is responsible for the real-time,
transient collection of performance data, which is in turn supplied to client applications
such as Performance Scope.
• Historical Performance Agent (hpaAgent) This agent provides facilities for collecting,
storing, and managing historical, time-banded data. Where necessary, it can act as a
proxy to enable the monitoring of resources from SNMP-enabled hosts or other devices
that cannot support installation of a Performance Agent directly on them (for example, a
network router).
PERFORMANCE CONFIGURATION USER INTERFACE
The Performance Configuration application is used to define and maintain profiles
(configuration policies) that will be used to control the operation of performance agents,
then apply (distribute) those profile settings across the enterprise.
PERFORMANCE SCOPE
The Performance Scope application provides a view of the real-time and historical
performance data that has been collected.
PERFORMANCE TREND
The Performance Trend application facilitates capacity management by providing historical
performance and usage information as a spreadsheet application leveraging the power of
that application to enable easy display and analysis.
PERFORMANCE REPORTING
The Performance Reporting application is used to view charts and tables of historical
performance data through a standard Web browser. Best practice is for the performance
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eporting piece to be installed on the same server where WRS is installed (see prior chapter
for information on WRS) It is further recommended that a Distribution server be installed
on the WRS server.
Preparations for Deployment
To ensure best results before installing the System Performance components it is important
to have an understanding of the architectural elements of these components and their
reliance on other Unicenter NSM components. Specifically, in order to properly function,
System Performance requires that the following Unicenter NSM components be present and
operating:
1. MDB
2. WorldView
3. DSM
4. Event Manager
5. WRS
6. Microsoft Excel
Before proceeding with the actual installation of the System Performance components,
spend a few moments and gather the following information which you will be asked to
provide during the installation of System Performance:
• MDB server name – required for domain server and performance reporting
• nsmadmin password – required for domain server and performance reporting
• Directory location for installation of files
• Distribution server name – required for performance agents
• Domain server name – required for distribution servers and performance reports
• WRS server name – required for Performance reports
Deployment Verification
Upon completion of System Performance component installation, there are a few steps we
recommend you complete to verify that the installation was successful.
To verify that the performance agents are up and running
1. In a command prompt window enter: awservices list
2. The output should show that the hpaagent and prfagent in a RUNNING state.
To bring up Performance Configuration and ensure you can connect to the MDB
and the Performance Domain server
1. Click on Start > Program > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM > System
Performance > Performance Configuration
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2. The next window should prompt you for the name of the machine where the MDB
resides that these components should connect to (MDB connection). Enter the correct
MDB host (typically the correct name will already be visible as the default). Click OK.
3. Select the correct Performance Domain Server (by default the performance domain
server that is installed will be selected), and click OK.
The Performance Configuration application should start up with no errors.
To verify that performance agents are discovered and are in a normal status
1. From the Performance Configuration application, expand Machines and Devices and drill
down and select a machine that has a performance agent.
2. Under the host name there should be System Performance Object and the status
should show Normal.
To verify performance cubes are being delivered to the manager machine
1. On your system performance distribution server, from a DOS command prompt, change
directory to %CASP_DATA%\performance_cubes.
2. Under that directory you should find directories for each machine that you are
collecting performance data from and within those directories, pcm files can be found.
Note: As discussed previously, performance data is delivered to the manager machine
based upon on a user specified schedule. You may find that some of the directories for
machines that you intend to monitor using Performance Management may not be
present yet. In almost all cases, this is simply because those machines have yet to
report back to the system performance distribution server. When those machines first
report, their directories will be created automatically.
To verify you can view data through Performance Scope
1. Click on Start > Program > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM > System
Performance > Performance Scope.
2. Connect to the MDB and the Performance Domain server.
3. The Performance Scope application should start up with no errors.
4. Expand Machine and Devices and drill down to a machine that has the performance
agents running.
5. Expand the machine and expand a resource you would like to view the real-time status
of (for example, Memory).
6. Select a subresource and from the right pane right-click an instance. Select Add
Selection to View > Add to new Chart View.
7. If there are subtypes, make a further selection and press OK.
8. The new Chart View window appears.
9. The new Chart View window that comes up should show you real-time data for the
resource instance you selected.
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To check WRS to ensure the branch for system performance reports is available
1. Open a web browser and enter the URL:
http://:9090/wrs
(substitute for :9090 as appropriate)
2. Log in using the correct admin username and password.
3. Expand Unicenter Reports and verify that the System Performance entry is present.
Configuration of System Performance
Creating Performance Agent Profiles
Performance agent profiles specify what performance metrics will be gathered from a
machine and maintaining these profiles I done using the Performance Configuration Profile
Editor that includes facilities you can use to view, create, and modify configuration profiles
for the Performance Agent.
To start the Performance Configuration Profile Editor
1. On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM
> Systems Performance > Performance Configuration.
2. When the application prompts you to do so, select an MDB and Performance Domain
Server.
The main Performance Configuration window appears.
3. Navigate to Profiles > System performance.
4. Right-click System Performance and select Create Profile.
The New Performance Profile Wizard window appears.
5. For the first step of the wizard specify a profile name and click Next.
6. In the next step select a profile to base the new profile on and click Finish.
The Performance Configuration Profile Editor window appears.
In the Performance Configuration Profile Editor the areas of configuration are as
follows:
• Data Gathering - The Data Gathering area lets you define when the Performance
Agent collects data and which system resources to monitor. Data Gathering is an
area that a user should configure.
• Data Management - The Data Management properties let you to define rules
governing the creation, content, distribution and aging of Performance Cubes.
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• Thresholding and Alarms - Use this area to view and define thresholds: the points at
which selected resources that the Performance Agent is monitoring reach warning or
critical states.
• Summarized Data - Use this area to configure the rules by which the Performance
Agent collects resource usage data — data on how users are employing system
resources.
7. In the Performance Configuration Profile Editor select Data Gathering and click Modify
on the right pane.
The Data Gathering window appears.
8. Specify the frequency, data collection times, data collection days and resources that
you want to collect performance data on. After configuration is complete, click OK.
Please refer to section Modify Collected Performance Resources for details on how to
add resources to a performance profile.
9. Configure settings for End of Day Processing.
a. In the Performance Configuration Profile Editor select Data Management > General
Management Policies.
b. On the right pane click Modify.
The General Management Policies window appears.
c. In the End of Day Processing tab choose the method with which system
performance processes the data (end of the day or at a given time of the day).
d. After configuration is complete click OK.
The profile should be created with the name you provided and it should appear in the
Performance Configuration application under Profiles > System Performance.
10. When you are satisfied with the configuration for the profile, exit out of the
Performance Configuration Profile Editor.
Modify Collected Performance Resources
This section will go through the steps to modify the collected performance resources that
the performance agent will gather.
1. On the Windows Start menu, click Programs> Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM
> Systems Performance > Performance Configuration.
2. When the application prompts you to do so, select an MDB and Performance Domain
Server.
The main Performance Configuration window appears.
3. Navigate to Profiles > System performance.
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4. Right-click a profile on the right pane that you want to modify and select Properties.
The Performance Configuration Profile Editor window appears.
5. Select Data Gathering and click Modify, on the right pane.
The Data Gathering window appears.
6. Select the Resources tab and click Add
The Custom Resource Set Wizard window appears.
a. For step 1, specify a name and select a resource set.
b. For step 2, select the resources you want to gather performance data on and click
Add.
Resources from the left should move to the right.
7. After the required resources are selected and added, click Finish.
You are back on the Data Gathering window.
8. Click OK.
9. In the Performance Configuration Profile Editor Select Data Gathering > Collected
Resources.
The resources you selected should only appear.
10. Exit the Performance Configuration Profile Editor
You have now modified the resources that the profile will gather performance data on. You
can now deploy this profile to machines running the performance agent.
Deploying Performance Agent Profiles
The following steps describe how to easily deploy a performance agent profile to a machine
running the system performance agent.
1. On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM
> Systems Performance > Performance Configuration.
2. When the application prompts you to do so, select an MDB and Performance Domain
Server.
The main Performance Configuration window appears.
3. Navigate through Machines and Devices > TCP IP Network > and select on of the
machines upon which the Performance Agent is running that you want to deploy a
profile to.
4. Leave this tree open.
5. Navigate to Profiles > System performance.
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6. From the list of profiles, on the right pane, select a profile you want to deploy on a
machine or device running the system performance agent.
7. With that object selected, drag and drop it onto the appropriate machine or device in
the tree view you left open (see steps 3 and 4).
The Unicenter Performance Configuration window appears with a message stating that
a delivery of a profile has been requested to a machine or device.
8. Click OK
The selected node color will turn yellow, indicating that a profile has been delivered but
not yet applied. Shortly thereafter the color of the selected node should automatically
change to green, indicating that the agent has successfully reconfigured itself using the
applied profile.
Note: When deploying a profile to a machine or device, make sure that the profile
specifies resources that can actually be collected on that node. If misconfigured, the
status of the selected node will turn red indicating that the agent has been instructed to
do something that cannot be done.
If the node changes color to red, drill down to find System Performance and select it.
The right pane will display the profile that was deployed and the status will describe the
problem.
To modify resources on a performance profile, please refer to Modify Collected Performance
Resources.
Gather Performance Metrics from Remote SNMP Devices
System performance allows you to gather performance metrics from remote SNMP devices.
It is a very straightforward process to enable this capability and basically involves your
telling the Performance Management components which MIB to associate with a given class
of device. This association provides the performance management components all the
information it requires to interface to, and decipher the information returned by that
device:
Specifically, there are two main steps to enable gathering of performance metrics from
SNMP devices:
• Associate the MIB of the SNMP device you want to gather data from System Performance
• Create a profile with the associated MIB and deploy that profile on the discovered devices
Note: There is a rich set of MIB associations predefined and available to the systems
performance products as shipped. For those MIBS that come predefined and available
there is no need to perform a separate association task.
The Associate MIB wizard guides you through the process of associating a MIB definition
with all objects of a given class. Simply stated, you can enable Remote SNMP monitoring on
any device that supports a given MIB type by simply selecting the appropriate profile and
dragging and dropping that profile onto the WorldView class that you want that profile
applied to.
The wizard will automatically parse the MIB, creating for you an easy to understand list of
resources that can be monitored, which includes operator-friendly names and icons. In
addition, using the wizard you can also specify the community string required to access the
resource and specify calculation algorithms to use for each monitored resource.
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ASSOCIATING A MIB
To associate a MIB
1. On the Windows Start menu > Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM>
Systems Performance > Performance Configuration.
2. When the application prompts you to do so, select an MDB and Performance Domain
Server.
The main Performance Configuration window appears.
3. Select Machines and Devices.
4. Right-click and select Associate MIB.
The Associate MIB Wizard window appears on step 1.
5. Click Next to go to step 2.
6. Step 2 of the Associate MIB wizard lets you select the class of device with which to
associate the MIB definition.
Select a WorldView class to associate the MIB with and click Next to go to step 3.
7. In step 3 of the Associate MIB wizard, select a MIB to associate with the WorldView
class you chose in step 2 from the provided list.
If the required MIB file is not in the list, click Other to browse for it.
Specify the SNMP version and fill out the required data.
8. Click Next to go to step 4.
9. Step 4 of the Associate MIB wizard lets you select the display string metrics that you
want to include. Select at least one metric, keeping in mind that only metrics that hold
numeric values are suitable for collection.
After the selections have been made click Next to go to step 5.
10. Step 5 of the Associate MIB wizard lets you change the name and icon for each
resource that can be monitored.
After you have changed the names and icons of the metrics as required, click Next to
go to step 6.
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11. Step 6 of the Associate MIB wizard lets you set the sampling algorithm and community
string for each resource.
Select a resource at the left, set the required values in the Resource Settings box, and
then click Apply.
The sampling algorithm specifies how the Performance Agent calculates the value of a
resource that it is monitoring. There are three options:
a. None (Canonical Form). No processing is performed.
b. Delta (Difference). The agent calculates the value by subtracting the previous raw
data value from the current raw data value.
c. Rate per Second . The agent calculates the value by subtracting the previous raw
data value from the current raw data value, and then dividing the result by the
number of seconds that passed between the two values. For example, if a data
sample S1 is taken at time T1, and then another sample S2 is taken at T2, the rate
per second is (S2 - S1) / (T2 - T1).
After the sampling algorithm and community strings are specified for the metrics,
click Next to go to step 7.
12. Step 7 of the Associate MIB wizard lets you choose the resource sets in which you want
each MIB resource to appear.
All resources are automatically included in the Full resource set, but you can choose to
include some or all of the resources in the Extended, Standard, or Minimal sets.
Click the Ext, Std, and Min columns to include or exclude the corresponding resource.
When the selections are complete, click Next to go to Step 8.
13. Step 8 of the Associate MIB wizard confirms that you have completed the preceding
steps successfully.
Click Finish to save the changes to the resource sets.
14. A confirmation window comes up stating that the new resources have been added
successfully.
You have now successfully associated a MIB with System Performance.
CREATE AND DEPLOY A PROFILE WITH THE SNMP RESOURCES
The next step is to create a new profile or modify an existing profile and add the new SNMP
resources MIB into the profile. Please refer to the preceding discussion for information on
creating Performance Agent Profiles and modifying Collected Performance Resources.
After you have a profile with the new SNMP resources metrics added to it, the next step is
to deploy the profile to a device of that class. Please refer to the Deploying Performance
Agent Profiles discussion earlier in this chapter for information on how to deploy a profile to
a machine or a device.
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Following those same instructions you’ll notice that the only difference you observe when
dropping a profile on an SNMP device is that you will be prompted to specify an SNMP Proxy
Machine.
Use the dialog provided to view the machines that are available to serve as a proxy for data
gathering by SNMP and select one.
Finally, select a Performance Agent and click OK to configure the agent to serve as a proxy
for data gathering from that SNMP device.
Viewing Real-Time Performance Data
This section shows you how to view real-time performance data on a machine running the
system performance agent through the Performance Scope application.
1. On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Computer Associates > Unicenter > NSM
> Systems Performance > Performance Scope.
2. When the application prompts you to do so, select an MDB and Performance Domain
Server.
The Performance Scope window appears with the Resource View window open.
3. In the Resource View window drill down to a machine that has the system performance
agent running. To get to an agent expand Machine and Devices > TCP/IP Network >
Subnet > IP Address > Machine Class > Machine.
4. Expand the machine name and you will now see all the resource types that are
available for viewing real-time data on.
5. Select a resource type and expand it (for example Memory).
6. Select a resource subtype and right-click an instance from the right pane.
7. Select Add Selection to View > Add to new Chart View
The new Chart View window appears.
On the right side of the window you should see Real-Time Performance Data being
displayed and updated every two seconds. On the left side of the Chart Window you’ll find
the Historical Performance Data.
Creating WRS Performance Reports
The following section goes over how to create/view performance reports using the web
reporting service. Executive Reports show multiple high-level views of performance data for
the best and worst performing servers based on critical resources.
1. Open a web browser and enter the following URL:
http://:9090/wrs
(substituting for :9090 as appropriate)
2. Log in using the admin username and specifying the correct password.
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3. Expand Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Executive Reports.
A rich set of preconfigured executive reports will now be available to you.
4. Select a report in the Executive Reports section.
On the right pane you should see graphs and performance data metrics.
5. Click on the Table Drilldown icon (arrow icon) under the ID field for a machine.
This should bring up a new window showing more detailed performance data for that
server.
In addition to the executive reports, other preconfigured reports are also included with the
product and can be found at these locations:
• Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Applications > CA Configured Reports
• Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Executive Reports
• Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Servers and Devices > CA Configured
Reports
To create your own performance reports
1. Open a web browser and enter the following URL:
http://:9090/wrs
(substituting for :9090 as appropriate)
2. Log in using the admin username and specifying the correct password.
3. Expand Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Servers and Devices > Report
Templates.
4. Select Standard Reports.
On the right pane the Standard Report Configuration Wizard appears on the Machine
Selection step.
5. Specify a Select By and Select Group under the Group Selection section.
When you have selected these two the Add Machines/ Devices button should be
clickable.
6. Click Add Machines/Devices.
The Machine Selection page appears.
7. Select the machines you want to create a performance report for by checking the check
boxes and click Done.
The Standard Report Configuration Wizard appears on the Machine Selection step
listing the machines that were selected.
8. Click Next to go to the Metric Selection part of the wizard.
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9. Specify a Metric Selection Mode and click Add Metrics.
The Metric Selection page appears.
10. Select the metrics to add to the performance report and click Done.
The Standard Report Configuration Wizard appears on the Metric Selection step listing
the metrics that were selected.
11. In the Period Selection area, specify the start and end dates of the time period on
which to report (Absolute Time), or specify the period relative to the current time or
rounded by the selected number of time units (Relative Time).
12. Click Next to go to the Presentation part of the wizard.
13. In the Presentation page, specify the way you want the performance data to be
presented.
14. After the Presentation attributes are configured, click Execute, Schedule, or Publish.
› Execute: Lets you generate the report instantly
› Schedule: Lets you schedule the report on a user specified schedule so that the
report gets published to the WRS tree at the specified schedule
› Publish: Lets you publish the report to the WRS tree
15. If you choose Schedule, the Schedule page appears.
a. Specify the Schedule (required), Time of Execution (required) and Range of
Schedule Recurrence (optional).
b. After these attributes are specified click Publish.
c. In the Publish page, specify the required attributes and click Finish.
The report is scheduled for publishing and according to the specified schedule rules; the
report is available for viewing.
If you choose to Publish, the Publish page appears.
1. Specify the required attributes and click Finish. Note the section on the tree that the
report will get published to.
2. Go to Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Servers and Devices.
There should be a new entry under Servers and Devices where the published reports are
available for viewing.
Creating IT Service System Performance Reports in WRS
Service-Oriented performance reports (also known as Business Process View) provide
visibility into the collective performance characteristics of all the machines that are
supporting a given business service (such as a Business Process).
These reports automatically adjust to expand or contract the set of machines that are
included within the scope of the Service-Oriented Business Process View Reports. The scope
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of these performance reports do not need to be modified when the set of machines
supporting a given business process change – the reports will automatically detect that
changes have been made and adjust accordingly.
For more information on Business Process Views, please refer to the Unicenter NSM
Administrator Guide.
To create one of these reports
1. Go to the following URL:
http://:9090/wrs
(substituting for :9090 as appropriate)
2. Log in using the admin username. and specifying the correct password.
3. Expand Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Business Process Views > Report
Templates.
4. Select Standard Reports.
On the right pane the Standard Report Configuration Wizard appears on the Business
Process View Selection step.
5. Select a Business Process View that you want to generate a performance report.
The page refreshes and the machines under that Business Process View should be listed
under the Machines in Business Process View section.
6. Click Next.
The Metric Selection page will appear.
7. Specify a Metric Selection Mode and click Add Metrics.
The Metric Selection page appears.
8. Select the metrics to add to the performance report and click Done.
The Standard Report Configuration Wizard appears on the Metric Selection step listing
the metrics that were selected.
9. In the Period Selection area, specify the start and end dates of the time period on
which to report (Absolute Time), or specify the period relative to the current time or
rounded by the selected number of time units (Relative Time).
10. Click on Next to go to the Presentation part of the wizard.
11. In the Presentation page, specify the way you want the performance data to be
presented.
12. After the Presentation attributes are configured, click the Execute, Schedule, or Publish.
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13. If you choose Schedule, the Schedule page appears.
a. Specify the Schedule (required), Time of Execution (required) and Range of
Schedule Recurrence (optional).
b. After these attributes are specified click Publish.
c. In the Publish page, specify the required attributes and click Finish.
The report is now scheduled for publishing and according to the specified schedule;
the report will be available for viewing.
14. If you choose to Publish, the Publish page appears. Specify the required attributes and
click Finish.
Make note of the section on the tree to which the report gets published.
15. Go to Unicenter Reports > System Performance > Business Process Views.
There should be a new entry under Business Process Views where the published reports
are available for viewing.
Extend the Performance Agent’s Monitoring Using the Simple
Sponsor Interface
You can extend the data collection capabilities of the standard Unicenter NSM Performance
Agents by creating additional sponsors to collect performance metrics for specific
requirements. You can then install these additional sponsors alongside the agents. The
agents will detect the presence of these sponsors and invoke them at the appropriate time
to collect the data.
The Unicenter NSM Performance Agents are designed to collect data representing the
average value for a monitored metric over the requested collection period. This is known as
time-banded data. This is important to understand because it is expected that the sponsor,
when run at the end of each collection period will return an average value for a given metric
for that period. The expectation is that the average value will be returned by a sponsor, not
the current value which might be significantly higher or lower than the average period.
Please refer to Inside System Performance for detailed information on how to create
effective performance sponsors.
Set Up Backup and Redundancy in the Performance Data Grid
You can configure a Distribution Server to serve as a backup for another distribution server,
thereby providing a degree of redundancy that can be called upon in the event of system
failure. Information to identify whether a backup server is available is provided through a
configuration file local to the Distribution Server. Every Distribution Server can have one
backup server. Additionally, you can further tailor the level of redundancy in the
Performance Data Grid (PDG), from no redundancy at all, to all data being stored on all
Distribution Servers by configuring the agents to deliver to multiple Distribution Servers.
For information about the Performance Data Grid please refer to Performance Architecture
section on the Unicenter NSM Inside System Performance guide.
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The command that is used to accomplish this is:
cfgutil -P server -b backup
Note: The cfgutil command is available only on the Performance Domain Server machine
and accordingly can be executed on that machine only.
The backup mechanism allows one Performance Distribution server (PDE) to serve as
backup for one other PDE. This means that for any machines managed by this server the
collected data cubes will be mirrored to the backup. Cubes will be automatically delivered
(without configuring it) to both server and backup by the agent, and both server and
backup will pull over any missing cubes from other nodes in the Grid to ensure that they
have the superset of cubes.
In the event of a server failure, any queries for machines that the failed server was
managing will be routed to the backup server instead. If both the primary and backup
servers fail and there are other nodes in the Grid, the queries will be routed to any other
PDE that has cubes for the machines being queried and if multiple alternative PDE’s are
available that meet this criteria, the one with the most cubes is picked to step in for the
failed servers.
This approach provides additional redundancy over the more traditional backup server
approach and can be enabled by configuring agents to deliver to more PDEs in the Grid.
To see which PDE nodes have many cubes for which machines, use the pdectl command as
follows:
pdectl mt
Note: When using the command cfgutil to specify backup machines, make certain that
machine names are specified correctly. The command cfgutil will not confirm that the name
specified is valid and that the requisite performance management components are installed
on that machine.
Hint: Before running the cfgutil command run the following command on the machine that
you want to specify as a backup server:
camstat –n
This command will display information that describes the machine name and display other
useful information as well.
To check if the PDE correctly received and processed the backup imperative that was sent
to it by the backup command (cfgutil –P server –b backup):
1. Run the command:
pdectl –h status
or the following command if you are entering the command directly on the backup
machine
pdectl status
2. Look for the “Backup for” line.
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SAMPLE OUTPUT:
D:\>pdectl status
PDE Host : PDE-server
Address : 130.119.30.122
UID : 3911088002-1153253514
Sys Type : wns502i
Locale : ENU
Domain : PDE-server (130.119.30.122)
Last connected to domain : Mon Aug 21 12:50:08 2006
Started : Mon Aug 21 12:50:08 2006
Local time : Tue Nov 14 15:57:15 2006
Uptime : 85 days, 4 hours, 7 mins
Backup for : Nobody
Gateway : False
Last scan : Tue Nov 14 15:54:45 2006
If the ‘Backup for’ attribute says Nobody, as in the example above, ten this machine is not
aware that it will be serving as a backup (the cfgutil command entered did not work). Retry
the command making certain that the correct name for the machine is specified.
Upload Performance Data into the MDB
The Performance Domain Server automatically publishes to the MDB historical performance
data that it has obtained from the Performance Data Grid. The data is published to the MDB
automatically, with the appropriate level of content and granularity as configured. In
addition, the Performance Domain Server enables the publishing of asset and configuration
information to the MDB.
Hint: Other useful utility commands are the pdtodb_m and pdtodb_u commands, which can
be used to retrieve performance data from either the Performance Data Grid (PDG) or from
one or more cubes and publish the data to the MDB.
For more details on how to publish data to the database, please refer to Appendix D of
Unicenter NSM Inside System Performance.
Create Custom (Derived) Metrics
Derived metrics provide the means to extend the existing, base set of metrics that the
Performance Agents record. You can use derived metrics to do the following:
• Rename existing metrics
• Produce platform-independent metrics. For example, you can chart the same metric for
multiple machines without regard to their operating system
• Aggregate values for multiple instances
• Create new metrics with new meanings
You can combine any of these to create platform-independent metrics. Unlike base metrics,
which are stored in cubes, derived metrics are not actually stored anywhere; as they are
calculated or derived from other data as required.
The definitions of the derived metrics you want created are stored in the rules file,
DMrules.dat, which is in the directory %CASP_PATH%\appdata\domainserver.
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The Performance Domain Server automatically distributes this file to all the Performance
Distribution Servers in the Performance Data Grid.
Note: If the DMrules.dat file is modified, you must restart the Performance Domain Server
service to distribute the updated version to the Distribution Servers.
For detailed steps on how to create derived metrics, and for examples, please refer to
Appendix E of Unicenter NSM Inside System Performance.
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Chapter 7: Best Practices for
Deploying Management Portal
Unicenter Management Portal (Unicenter MP) provides a personalized secure web interface
for Unicenter solutions, addressing customers’ needs for role-based management,
management by exception, simplicity of use, and helping to deliver IT as a service. Using
Unicenter MP, you can provide consolidated status information from multiple sources in a
single view, visual correlation between infrastructure management applications, filtered
event notifications tailored to roles and responsibilities, dynamic web reporting, and highlevel
report summary and graphs suited to non-IT users.
Unicenter MP is an important part of the Unicenter family of IT infrastructure management
solutions. These comprehensive, value-added products ensure the health and optimal
performance of every aspect of your IT environment.
Unicenter MP provides a framework for accessing enterprise management data, but not the
generation of data itself. It relies on other Unicenter products to provide the enterprise
management information.
The following key topics are presented:
• Getting Started with the Management Portal
• Initial Configuration of the Management Portal
• Understanding Management Portal Portlets
• Viewing Out-of-the-Box Scoreboards in the Management Portal
• Creating WorldView and DSM Scoreboards in the Portal
• Viewing the Event Management Console with Management Portal
• Creating Event Management Consoles
• Creating Event Management Scoreboards
• Establishing Connections to Web Reporting Servers
• Publishing a Document to the Management Portal
• Adding Links to Web Applications
• Navigating the Knowledge Library
• Creating a Workplace
• Creating a New User in the Management Portal
• Creating a New Workgroup in the Management Portal
• Customizing the Portal Appearance using Templates
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Getting Started with the Management Portal
To launch Unicenter MP
1. Open your Web browser and in the address bar enter your Unicenter MP server’s host
name followed by :8090.
Ex: http://UMPhostname:8090
Note: Port 8090 is the default port that the Unicenter MP uses. You may modify this at
the time of install.
2. The login dialog appears. Enter your user name and password, and then click Log In.
Use the user and password was specified during installation.
After logging in, the main Unicenter Management Portal window appears.
The initial workplace you are presented with lists some of the most commonly
performed Unicenter Management Portal tasks. Clicking on any one of the tasks will
bring you to the interface needed to accomplish it. Task 1 should be performed first as
it allows connections to be made from Unicenter Management Portal to other CA
components.
Initial Configuration of Unicenter Management Portal
Before Unicenter Management Portal can gather and display your data, it has to know
where to look for that data and how to connect to it successfully. That is why setting up and
managing connections to your components is the first administrative task you must perform
after installation.
To access the Manage Components page
1. Log in to Unicenter Management Portal, which brings you to the Administration Wizard,
and then click Task 1. Manage Components.
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2. You are presented with those Unicenter NSM Management components and other CA
products to which you may make connections. After connections are established, create
portlets within Unicenter Management Portal that allow for data from these components
to be visualized.
Click Discover to identify those Unicenter NSM Managers that are currently installed in
your environment.
3. The Discover Data Source page appears, listing those Unicenter NSM components found
in your infrastructure. The list is generated based on what is maintained within the DIA
Knowledge Base grid. This list contains those servers that are running the following
types of managers:
a. Unicenter WorldView Manager
b. Event Manager
c. Alert Manager
d. Agent Manager (DSM)
Select those Unicenter NSM Managers from which you would like to view data by
clicking on the checkbox next to their names. In addition, for each manager you may
also specify one server that will act as the default. When out-of-the-box Unicenter
Management Portal reports are generated, the component servers that are specified as
defaults will be used.
Making a connection to a WorldView Manager requires that you provide database
authentication information. Enter the nsmadmin password that you specified during
your WorldView MDB installation.
After all desired data sources are selected, click Save.
4. Returning to the Unicenter NSM Management components screen, you should see a
green check icon next to those components that you have just chosen to connect. This
indicates that a successful connection has been established to the default data source
for each chosen component.
5. For those components that are not discovered, you may manually add them. For each
of the following listed components, click Connection, and then click New to create the
connection. After entering information for each (as specified below), click OK.
a. eHealth Enter the eHealth Configuration Manager server name and port.
b. Unicenter Configuration Management Enter the Unicenter Configuration
Manager server name and the admin password that you supplied during Unicenter
Configuration Management installation (tomcat admin password).
c. Unicenter Service Desk Management Specify the Unicenter Service Desk
Version, the Service Desk Server, the Port, and the Service Desk URL.
d. Unicenter Service Metric Analysis / Unicenter Service Level Management –
Specify the SMA or SLM server name. The default port is filled in, which is 6668.
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You may also manually enter connection information for those management components
that are found during Discovery in Step3. Simply enter the server name for each, along
with the username and password if it is a WorldView manager.
Understanding Management Portal Portlets
Unicenter Management Portal (Unicenter MP) provides numerous methods through which to
view your enterprise. Each portlet, or view, is designed to display a high-level, summarized
view of your systems, but they differ in the type of data they gather and the way they
present it. The following describes these differences.
• Scoreboard. A scoreboard is a summarized view that displays statistics and data
supplied by the Managed Components (WorldView, DSM, Event Management, Alert
Management, eHealth, SLM). A scoreboard can include counts for a number of objects in
a particular state or a number of events based on defined filters that have occurred
during a particular interval. Depending on the type of scoreboard, you can access the
Portal Explorer, Dashboard, or Event Console Log to allow for drill down into detailed
information.
• Dashboard. A dashboard displays real-time information from Unicenter NSM agents,
allowing you to combine (on one screen) multiple metrics from one or many agents and
one or many hosts. Dashboards poll data from the agent, retrieving data from all
monitored resources, and then it displays that data real-time in a tile-based view.
Viewing Out-of-the-Box Scoreboards in the Management Portal
Unicenter Management Portal contains many out-of-the-box scoreboards that are
immediately available for viewing after connections to managers are established. These
predefined scoreboards can be used to populate customized workplaces, which present endusers
with data that is specific to their needs.
To view predefined Unicenter MP scoreboards
1. Click on the Knowledge tab at the top of Unicenter MP, and then click the Library tab.
All published Unicenter MP data is maintained within the Knowledge Library.
2. Navigate down the Knowledge Library tree by expanding Enterprise Management >
Unicenter Scoreboards (you will see a Configured Scoreboards folder once these have
been created). Notice that the scoreboards are logically organized into meaningful
categories.
3. Expand one of the categories for which you have systems and/or agents in your
environment. As an example, expand Systems. A number of scoreboards will appear.
Typically, all preconfigured scoreboards are derived from five main templates and differ
based on host class and agent class that were selected at the time of their creation.
a. WV-System Status by Host Type scoreboards — Displays a view that provides
a breakdown of the number of hosts at each severity level for a selected host
class(es).
b. WV-Agent Status by Agent Type scoreboards — Displays a view that provides
a breakdown of the number of agents at each severity level for a selected agent
class(es).
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c. DSM-Host Map Scoreboard Displays a summary status view of all agents
running on a specific type of host. Each row of the scoreboard presents the status
of all agents running on a single server that is of a specified class.
d. DSM-Agent Map Scoreboard Displays a summary status view of all resources
being monitored by selected agent.
e. EM Summary Status Breakdown Shows the total number of Event Management
messages from an agent or group of agents.
4. Click on any of the scoreboards to view them in the right pane.
Become familiar with the predefined scoreboards that are available. They will be used when
creating workplaces. You also have the opportunity to create your own custom scoreboard.
Creating WorldView and DSM Scoreboards in the Portal
The Manage Unicenter MP Portlets interface in Unicenter MP lets you create and publish
high-level, summarized views of your systems. Each type of scoreboard, dashboard, or
portlet that can be created is listed below:
• WV-Business Process Views Scoreboard
• WV-Agent Status Scoreboard
• WV-System Status Scoreboard
• DSM-Agent Map Scoreboard
• DSM-Host Map Scoreboard
• DSM-Agent View Dashboard
• DSM-Server View Dashboard
• Alert Scoreboard
• Alert Console
• Event Scoreboard
• Event Console
• Unicenter Service Desk Portlets
• eHealth Portlets
• Unicenter SLA Scoreboard
Note: While you may manually create your own scoreboard/dashboards/portlets, there are
many that are preconfigured and immediately available for viewing within the Knowledge
Library.
Creating a WorldView Business Process View Scoreboard
WV-Business Process View scoreboards provide a summarized status view of Business
Process Views and their contents. The information can be obtained from one or multiple
WorldView servers. With this type of scoreboard, you can quickly monitor the status of all
Business Process Views in your infrastructure. The view can display all Business Process
Views or a subset, and includes the amount of objects in each along with a breakdown by
severity. In addition, the option of drilling-down to determine what devices are within each
Business Process View and the cause of their severity is available.
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To create a WorldView Business Process View Scoreboard
1. Log in to Unicenter MP, which brings you to the Unicenter MP Administration Wizard,
and then click Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
If you are already logged into Unicenter MP, but at a different page, click the Workplace
tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP Administration link right
below it. Click on Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
2. The first component listed is WV-Business Process Views Scoreboard; click the New icon
to launch the Publish BPV Scoreboard screen.
3. The Publish BPV Scoreboard screen appears. Enter the following information:
a. From the pull-down menu, select the WorldView server from which you want to
include Business Process Views within this scoreboard.
In the Available BPVs column, a list appears that is populated with all Business
Process Views that exist within the chosen WorldView server.
b. Select one or multiple Business Process Views and then click the single arrow to
send them to the Selected BPVs column. If you click the double arrow, all Business
Process Views will be sent.
Business Process Views in the Selected BPVs column will be made up of those
Business Process Views that are represented in your created BPV scoreboard.
c. Select the Properties that you would like to include in your scoreboard:
› Include Status Breakdown Checking this will display a status breakdown of
the Business Process Views. A bar graph appears that shows the number of
objects at various statuses within the Business Process Views. If this field is not
selected, the Business Process View scoreboard shows only the Business Process
View name and status icon.
› Portal Explorer Checking this will include a button that allows a launch into
Portal Explorer for the selected Business Process Views. Portal Explorer shows
the Business Process View topology and detailed views for selected objects in the
topology.
› Include Direct Contained Objects Checking this will cause the status
breakdown to consider only those objects that are directly contained in the
selected Business Process Views (direct children).
› Severity Browser Checking this will include a button that allows a launch into
the Severity Browser for the selected Business Process Views. The Severity
Browser provides a tabular view of object within the Business Process View along
with their WorldView Status and Severity levels.
› Severity Level Use this pull-down menu to specify the starting severity level
from which to include objects in the Business Process View scoreboard. The
objects in the selected status level and higher are counted in the status
breakdown. For example, if you select warning, then Unicenter MP counts in the
breakdown all objects that are in warning, minor, major, or critical status. The
default severity level is Warning.
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d. Click Next to go to the Publish Information page.
4. The Publish Information page appears. Within this page, provide the following:
a. View Name Enter a name for the published Business Process View scoreboard.
b. Publish-In This field is not editable, but specifies where the Business Process
View will be published within the Knowledge Library.
c. Description (Optional) Field in which you may write a description of your
scoreboard.
d. View Allows you to specify what users may view this Business Process View
scoreboard.
› Select Public to allow view access to all users.
› Select Workgroup to allow view access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow view access only to the user who creates this scoreboard.
e. Modify Allows you to specify what users may modify this Business Process View
scoreboard. Select Public to allow modify access to all users. Select Workgroup to
allow modify access to users within selected workgroups. Select Owner to allow
modify access only to that user that creates this scoreboard.
f. Workgroup Specify the workgroups that will be referenced if Workgroup was
chosen in the View/Modify sections.
g. Time of Expiration (MM-DD-YYYY) Select Never so that the published
scoreboard permanently remains in the portal library. Select On to show the time
controls so you can set-up the time for the scoreboard to expire. Once expired, the
scoreboard is removed from the portal library.
h. Select a Channel (Optional) In addition to the location where the Business
Process View scoreboard will be published, as specified in the Publish-In section,
you may also publish it to a channel. The Knowledge Library contains all published
scoreboards, but you can add scoreboards to Channels, which you may create to
store a list of only the scoreboards you access the most. This allows you to create
subsets from the contents of the Knowledge Library in containers that may be used
to represent users, groups, locations, etc. Select the channel(s) to which you would
like to add the scoreboard and then click the arrow to populate the Assigned
Channels area.
5. Click Publish to publish the scoreboard. The Execute button will display only the
scoreboard for now but will not persist it for adding the view into your workplace when
you later perform that step.
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6. Click Done to confirm the publishing action.
7. Verify the scoreboard has been successfully published. Click on the Knowledge tab and
then expand the Library tree, Library -> Enterprise Management -> Business
Processes. Click on the Business Process View scoreboard that you have just created
and you will see your scoreboard in the right pane. The scoreboard will look something
like the following graphic:
Creating a WorldView Agent Status Scoreboard
WV-Agent Status scoreboards provide a visual representation of the current state of all
agents, grouped by agent type. With this scoreboard, you can monitor the status of agents
that are relevant to your job function, quickly identifying problem areas that might impact
job processes.
For each group of agents, a Status Breakdown bar appears, showing the states that are
currently found for these agents, with counts for each status. Each row in the scoreboard
represents a single type, or class, and its agents, and each row has a pop-up menu link to
open additional detail displays for the agents, such as Portal Explorer.
To create a WV-Agent Status Scoreboard
1. Log in to Unicenter MP, which brings you to the Unicenter MP Administration Wizard,
and then click Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
If you are already logged into Unicenter MP, but at a different page, click the Workplace
tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP Administration link right
below it. Click on Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
2. The second component listed is WV-Agent Status Scoreboard, click the New icon to
launch the Configure screen.
3. The Configure screen appears with the Presentation tab selected. Within this page,
provide the following data:
a. Severity Use this pull-down menu to specify the starting severity level from which
to include agents in the WV-Agent Status scoreboard. The objects in the selected
status level and higher are counted in the status breakdown. The default severity
level is Warning.
b. Display Choose the number of rows to show in the scoreboard. If there are more
rows than the display row, the navigation buttons (Next and Previous) appear in
the scoreboard.
c. Title Enter a name for your published scoreboard. It is a best practice to make the
title meaningful, such that you know what agents are included in the scoreboard.
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d. Refresh Choose the refresh interval for the published scoreboard. This is the
interval at which checks are made back to the WorldView repository for updates.
e. Select Agents Within the Available Agents column is a list of all agent classes
that are available. Choose the agents(s) that you would like to include in your
scoreboard and then click the arrow to move it into the Agents column.
4. Click on the Data Source tab.
5. With the Data Source tab selected, you may choose a WorldView repository to connect
to. If you have multiple WorldView connections established, as you configured in
Managed Components, select the one that you would like to create the scoreboard
from.
6. Click Publish.
7. The Publish screen appears. Fill in the required fields:
a. Name As Review the name that you gave your scoreboard during the previous
step.
b. Time of Expiration Select Never so that the published scoreboard permanently
remains in the portal library. You may also choose the On button to show the time
controls so you can set-up the time for the scoreboard to expire. Once expired, the
scoreboard is removed from the portal library.
c. View Permissions Allows you to specify what users may view this scoreboard.
› Select Public to allow view access to all users.
› Select Workgroup to allow view access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow view access only to the user who creates this scoreboard.
d. Allow Configuring Select Yes to show the Configure button in the scoreboard,
which allows configuration after it has been published.
e. Allow Publishing Select Yes to show the Publish button in the scoreboard
configuration page so that you can create and publish a new scoreboard based on
this scoreboard.
8. Click Finish to publish the scoreboard.
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9. Verify the scoreboard has been successfully published. Click on the Knowledge tab and
then expand the Library tree, Library > Enterprise Management > Unicenter
Scoreboards > User Defined Scoreboards. Click on the scoreboard that you have just
created and you will see your scoreboard in the right pane. The scoreboard will look
something like the following graphic:
Create a WorldView System Status Scoreboard
System Status scoreboards provide a visual representation of the current state of selected
Unicenter systems, grouped by system type. Each row in the scoreboard represents one
system type, which can include multiple hosts. For each system type, a Status Breakdown
bar appears, showing the propagated states that are currently found for the selected
systems, with counts for each status. Each row can have a pop-up menu link to open
additional detail displays for the agents, such as Portal Explorer.
To create a WV-System Status Scoreboard
1. Log in to Unicenter MP, which brings you to the Unicenter MP Administration Wizard,
and then click Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
2. If you are already logged into Unicenter MP, but at a different page, click the Workplace
tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP Administration link right
below it. Click on Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
The third component listed is WV-System Status Scoreboard, click the New icon to
launch the Configure screen.
3. The Configure screen appears with the Presentation tab selected. Within this page,
provide the following:
a. Severity Use this pull-down menu to specify the starting severity level from which
to include systems in the WV-System Status scoreboard. The objects in the
selected status level and higher are counted in the status breakdown. The default
severity level is Warning.
b. Display Choose the number of rows to show in the scoreboard. If there are more
rows than the display row, the navigation buttons (Next and Previous) appear in
the scoreboard.
c. Title Enter a name for your published scoreboard. It is a best practice to make the
title meaningful, such that you know what systems are included in the scoreboard.
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d. Refresh Choose the refresh interval for the published scoreboard. This is the
interval at which checks are made back to the WorldView repository for updates.
e. Select Systems Within the Available Systems column is a list of all system
classes that are available. Choose the system(s) that you would like to include in
your scoreboard and then click the arrow to move it into the Selected Systems
column.
Click on the Data Source tab.
4. With the Data Source tab selected, you may choose a WorldView repository to connect
to. If you have multiple WorldView connections established, as you configured in
Managed Components, choose the one that you would like to create the scoreboard
from.
Click Publish.
5. The Publish screen appears. Fill in the required fields:
a. Name As Review the name that you gave your scoreboard during the previous
step.
b. Time of Expiration You may select the Never button so that the published
scoreboard permanently remains in the portal library. You may also choose the On
button to show the time controls so you can set-up the time for the scoreboard to
expire. Once expired, the scoreboard is removed from the portal library
c. View Permissions Allows you to specify what users may view this scoreboard.
Select Public to allow view access to all users. Select Workgroup to allow view
access to users within selected workgroups. Select Owner to allow view access only
to that user that creates this scoreboard.
d. Allow Configuring Select Yes to show the Configure button in the scoreboard,
which allows configuration after it has been published.
e. Allow Publishing Select Yes to show the Publish button in the scoreboard
configuration page so that you can create and publish a new scoreboard based on
this scoreboard.
Click Finish to publish the scoreboard.
6. Verify the scoreboard has been successfully published.
a. Click on the Knowledge tab and expand the Library tree, Library > Enterprise
Management > Unicenter Scoreboards > User Defined Scoreboards.
b. Click on the scoreboard that you just created and see your scoreboard in the right
pane.
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The scoreboard will look something like the following graphic:
Create a DSM Agent Map Scoreboard
Agent Map scoreboards provide a visual representation of the current state of an agent and
its monitored resources. The color-coded map shows the state of each agent and the state
of the agent’s metrics, providing a quick breakdown of the areas that the agent monitors.
For example, if the system agent is configured to monitor CPU and memory, the map will
display the status of the system agent and the status of the CPU and memory resources.
Using the Portal Explorer and Dashboards, you may then drill-down further into the agent
to view detailed information, including current monitored resource values and thresholds.
To create a DSM-Agent Map Scoreboard
1. Log in to Unicenter MP, which brings you to the Unicenter MP Administration Wizard,
and then click Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
2. If you are already logged into Unicenter MP, but at a different page, click the Workplace
tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP Administration link below
it. Click on Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
The fourth component listed is DSM-Agent Map Scoreboard, click the New icon to
launch the Configure screen.
3. The Configure screen appears with the Presentation tab selected. Within this page,
provide the following data:
a. Severity Use this pull-down menu to specify the starting severity level from which
to include agents in the DSM-Agent Map scoreboard. The objects in the selected
status level and higher are counted in the status breakdown. The default severity
level is Warning.
b. Agent Type If you would like to include MIBMuxed agents, you may specify that
here.
Note: MIBMux refers to an agent that can be started multiple times on the same
machine, with each instance of the agent monitoring a different instance of a
specified resource. MIBMuxed agents usually monitor database resources. For
example, two instances of a database agent can monitor two instances of a
database server running on the same machine.
c. Display Choose the number of rows to show in the scoreboard. If there are more
rows than the display row, the navigation buttons (Next and Previous) appear in
the scoreboard.
d. Title Enter a name for your published scoreboard. It is a best practice to make the
title meaningful, such that you know what agents are included in the scoreboard.
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e. Refresh Choose the refresh interval for the published scoreboard. This is the
interval at which checks are made back to the DSM for updates.
f. Select Classes Within the Available Classes column is a list of all agent classes
that are available. Choose the agent classes that you would like to include in your
scoreboard and then click the arrow to move it into the Selected Classes column.
Click on the Data Source tab.
4. With the Data Source tab selected, you may choose a DSM to connect to. You may also
select the Additional Sources button to choose more DSMs, which will include agents
from multiple DSMs in your scoreboard. To select a subset of hosts within a DSM, click
the Select Hosts from Primary Source, and you can choose those hosts.
Click Publish.
5. The Publish screen appears. Fill in the required fields:
a. Name As Review the name that you gave your scoreboard during the previous
step.
b. Time of Expiration You may select the Never button so that the published
scoreboard permanently remains in the portal library. You may also choose the On
button to show the time controls so you can set-up the time for the scoreboard to
expire. Once expired, the scoreboard is removed from the portal library
c. View Permissions Allows you to specify what users may view this scoreboard.
Select Public to allow view access to all users. Select Workgroup to allow view
access to users within selected workgroups. Select Owner to allow view access only
to that user that creates this scoreboard.
d. Allow Configuring Select Yes to show the Configure button in the scoreboard,
which allows configuration after it has been published.
e. Allow Publishing Select Yes to show the Publish button in the scoreboard
configuration page so that you can create and publish a new scoreboard based on
this scoreboard.
Click Finish to publish the scoreboard.
6. Verify the scoreboard has been successfully published.
a. Click on the Knowledge tab and expand the Library tree, Library > Enterprise
Management > Unicenter Scoreboards > User Defined Scoreboards.
b. Click on the scoreboard that you just created and see your scoreboard in the right
pane.
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The scoreboard will look something like the following graphic:
Note: Tiles may be missing from some servers because there is no agent detected running
on them. Tiles may be missing for those monitored resources that don’t have watchers
configured for them.
Create a DSM Host Map Scoreboard
Host Map scoreboards provide a simple visual representation of the current status of all
agents running on a host, grouped by host. Each row in the scoreboard represents the
status of a single host and the status of its agents. In addition, the pop-up menu link allows
for additional detail displays for the agents, such as Portal Explorer and Dashboards.
To create a DSM-Host Map Scoreboard
1. Log in to Unicenter MP, which brings you to the Unicenter MP Administration Wizard,
and then click Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
2. If you are already logged into Unicenter MP, but at a different page, click the Workplace
tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP Administration link right
below it. Click on Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
The fifth component listed is DSM-Host Map Scoreboard, click the New icon to launch
the Configure screen.
3. The Configure screen appears with the Presentation tab selected. Within this page,
provide the following:
a. Severity Use this pull-down menu to specify the starting severity level from which
to include hosts in the DSM-Host Map scoreboard. The objects in the selected
status level and higher are counted in the status breakdown. The default severity
level is Warning.
b. Display Choose the number of rows to show in the scoreboard. If there are more
rows than the display row, the navigation buttons (Next and Previous) appear in
the scoreboard.
c. Title Enter a name for your published scoreboard. It is a best practice to make the
title meaningful, such that you know what agents are included in the scoreboard.
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d. Refresh Choose the refresh interval for the published scoreboard. This is the
interval at which checks are made back to the DSM for updates.
e. Select Hosts Within the Available Hosts column is a list of all host classes that are
available. Choose the host(s) that you would like to include in your scoreboard and
then click the arrow to move it into the Selected Hosts column.
Click on the Data Source tab.
4. With the Data Source tab selected, you may choose a DSM to connect to. You may also
select the Additional Sources button to choose more DSMs, which will include agents
from multiple DSMs in your scoreboard. To select a subset of hosts within a DSM, click
the Select Hosts from Primary Source, and choose from those hosts.
5. The Publish screen appears. Fill in the required fields:
a. Name As Review the name you gave your scoreboard during the previous step.
b. Time of Expiration Select Never so that the published scoreboard permanently
remains in the portal library. You may also choose On to show the time controls so
you can set-up the time for the scoreboard to expire. Once expired, the scoreboard
is removed from the portal library
c. View Permissions Lets you specify what users may view from this scoreboard.
• Select Public to allow view access to all users.
• Select Workgroup to allow view access to users within selected
workgroups.
• Select Owner to allow view access only to the user who creates this
scoreboard.
d. Allow Configuring Select Yes to show the Configure button in the scoreboard,
which allows configuration after it has been published.
e. Allow Publishing Select Yes to show the Publish button in the scoreboard
configuration page so that you can create and publish a new scoreboard based on
this scoreboard.
Click Finish to publish the scoreboard.
6. Verify the scoreboard has been successfully published.
a. Click on the Knowledge tab and then expand the Library tree, Library > Enterprise
Management > Unicenter Scoreboards > User Defined Scoreboards.
b. Click on the scoreboard that you have just created and you will see your
scoreboard in the right pane.
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The scoreboard will look something like the following graphic.
Viewing the Event Management Console with Management Portal
A predefined Event Console, called All Events, is published at Library>Enterprise
Management>Unicenter Event Management. Clicking on this will launch a full Event Console
in the right pane. This allows you to view your entire Event Console from Unicenter MP, in
addition to performing filters, acknowledgements. You may also view details and
annotations for all messages.
To view the Event Console
1. Click on the Knowledge tab at the top of Unicenter MP, and then click the Library tab.
2. Navigate down the Knowledge Library tree by expanding Enterprise Management-
>Unicenter Event Management.
3. Click Event Console.
4. The Event Console appears in the right-hand pane. You may view the Held Messages
and Log Messages.
Actions that may be performed on event messages include View Details, View
Annotations, Reply, and Acknowledge. Click on the radio button next to the message
and then use the ‘Select and:’ pull-down menu to choose the action. After selecting the
action, click Go:
a. View Details The Event Details window appears that has detailed information
grouped into three categories – Message, General, Attributes
b. View Annotations View annotations made to the selected event. In addition you
may add new annotations and modify or delete existing annotations
c. Reply Allows you to type a reply to a WTOR message
d. Acknowledge You may acknowledge those messages in the held message area.
After clicking performing the acknowledge action the event will be removed from
the held area to indicate that it has been resolved
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Note: To authorize a portal user to acknowledge held messages or reply to WTOR
messages in the event console, do the following:
If Unicenter NSM security is not started and activated with the Unicenter NSM event
manager, add portaluser@portalserver into the "Users authorized to issue commands"
setting for the event manager. For instance, if user ‘admin’ needs to be granted
authorization, then the entry in Settings would be admin@portalserver.
If Unicenter NSM security is started and activated with the Unicenter NSM event
manager, add the authorized portal user to a security user group that is allowed access
to the CA-CONSOLE-COMMAND. For example, predefined user group SYSADMIN is
granted for the CA-CONSOLE-COMMAND.
5. You may filter the Event Console by Severity, by Node or by Message.
Creating Event Management Consoles
In addition to viewing the predefined Event Console view that is delivered with Unicenter
MP, you may create your own custom Event Console views. The advantage that comes with
creating your own custom event console is that you may define your own custom filters, as
well as specify what columns will be included in your view.
To create your own Event Console
1. Click on the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP
Administration link below it.
2. Click on Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
Next to the Event Consoles, click the New icon to launch the Event Console
Configuration screen.
3. Choose the Event Manager from the pull-down menu from which you want to retrieve a
log.
4. Select the Event Log date from the pull-down menu.
5. Choose the Page Message Number, which defines the amount of messages that shows
on each page.
6. The Filter and Filter Groups button let you choose from many predefined filters that can
be applied to your Event Console view. These filters let you filter the entire Event
Console for messages from a specific agent or host type. The Filter Groups, which is
selected by default, provides a list of filter selections that include more than one filter
in each group and they are a good way to filter on common IT components. Click Filter
to show predefined individual filters in the Available window.
Click Manage Filters to edit current filters and create new ones.
With the Filter Groups selected, click Manage Filters. All filter groups will be listed.
Choose one, such as CA-System Agents, and click Edit. See all of the individual filters
that make up the Filter Group. To view the criteria that makes up each filter, click a
filter such as Windows System Agent and click Edit. Here you may see the filter criteria,
an you can add additional criteria.
Click Back twice to return to the Select Filter Group page.
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Creating your own filter is a great way to provide different views into the Console Log.
Creating filters lets you create Console Log views that filter messages that come from
particular device types, application, users, hosts, and so forth. You can create different
Event Console views for different groups of users that help them to focus on those
events that are most critical to their job.
To create your own filter
a. From the Select Filter Group page, click Create Group.
b. Type a name in the Name field, then click Save.
c. Click Add Filter when the Filter window appears.
d. Type in a name for your filter. The Description field is optional, click Save.
e. Click Add OR Criteria to add the filter criteria.
The Add Criteria window appears.
f. Specify the Event Message property on which you want to filter and criteria that it
must meet. Click OK when you have made your selections.
You may add additional criteria, and specify whether it will be AND or OR criteria by
clicking on the Add OR Criteria or Add AND Criteria button. Your choice will
determine if all or a subset of the filter criteria needs to be met. Close the window
to return to the Event Console view creation.
7. Choose the filters or filter groups that you want to apply to your view by selecting them
from the Available list. Click on the arrow to bring them over to the Selected list.
You may choose to leave the selected list blank, in which case the whole Event Console
Log will be displayed.
8. In the Select Displayable Properties columns, select those columns that you would like
included in your view. Move them from the Available to Selected list.
The most commonly used columns are already within the Selected List.
9. Click Publish. If there is another window that is displayed, then click Close.
10. The Publishing Wizard appears; provide the following data:
a. View Name Enter a name for the published Event Console view.
b. Publish-In This field is not editable, but specifies where the Event Console view
will be published within the Knowledge Library (Library\Enterprise
Management\Unicenter Event Management\)
c. Description (Optional) Enter a meaningful description of the view.
d. View Lets you specify what users may see this view.
› Select Public to allow view access to all users.
› Select Workgroup to allow view access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow view access only to that user that creates this scoreboard.
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e. Modify Allows you to specify what users may modify this view.
› Select Public to allow modify access to all users.
› Select Workgroup to allow modify access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow modify access only to that user that creates this
scoreboard.
f. Workgroup Specify the workgroups that will be referenced if Workgroup was
chosen in the View/Modify sections.
g. Time of Expiration (MM-DD-YYYY) Select Never so that the published view
permanently remains in the portal library. Select On to show the time controls so
you can set-up the time for the view to expire. Once expired, the view is removed
from the portal library.
h. Select a Channel (Optional) In addition to the location where the view will be
published, as specified in the Publish-In section, you may also publish it to a
channel. The Knowledge Library contains all published information, but you can
also add Event Console views to Channels, which you may create to store a list of
published information that is accessed most.
This allows you to create subsets from the contents of the Knowledge Library in
containers that may be used to represent users, groups, locations, and so forth.
i. Select the channel to which you would like to add the scoreboard and then click the
arrow to populate the Assigned Channels area.
11. Verify the Event Console view has been successfully published.
a. Click on the Knowledge tab and then expand the Library tree, Library > Enterprise
Management > Unicenter Event Management.
b. Click on the Event Console view that you just created and see it created in the right
pane.
The scoreboard will look something like the following graphic.
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Creating Event Management Scoreboards
Within the Knowledge Library, there are many predefined Event scoreboards that provide
breakdowns of the number of events that match predefined filters (For example, System
Events, Mail Server Events, and so forth). You may also create your own event
scoreboards, choosing from different templates:
• Summary scoreboards Provides the total number of messages for each filter selected.
• Status Breakdown scoreboards Provides a status bar for all messages matching a
filter and separate counts for each status type found.
• Last N Provides the last N numbers of messages that match the scoreboard filter
criteria.
• Dynamic chart Provides a dynamic chart of the message severity breakdown. The chart
is updated periodically.
The Event Console shows the detail of the messages. You can launch the Event console
from event scoreboards.
To create an Events scoreboard
1. Click on the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP
Administration link right below it.
2. Click on Task 2. Create or Modify Unicenter MP Portlets.
Next to Events Scoreboard, click the New icon to launch the Configure screen.
3. Choose a data source using the Data Source pull-down menu. This will be the Event
Manager that will be queried to create the scoreboard.
4. Give your scoreboard a title in the Title textbox. It is a best practice to make the title
something meaningful, such as including the type of events that will be contained
within the scoreboard.
5. Select the type of scoreboard you would like to create from the Type pull-down menu
(review the descriptions listed above).
a. For the Summary and Status Breakdown scoreboards, which shows the total
number of messages matching a selected filter and the status breakdown of all
messages matching a selected filter respectively, they share the same selection
choices:
› Display Choose All counts to include those all filters, including those that don’t
have any matches. Choose Non-zero counts to exclude those filters that don’t
have any matches.
› Refresh Specify the interval at which the scoreboard is refreshed with data
from the Event Manager.
› Display Rows Specify how many rows to display in the scoreboard
b. Select by Filters or by Group Choose the filters that you would like displayed
within your scoreboard. If you choose by Group, all individual filters within that
group will be displayed with an event count or breakdown their own row. You will
see the Select Group From list otherwise you will see the Select Filter(s) From list.
Choose the group or filter you wish to see events for The Last N scoreboard shows
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the last N number of events received by the Event Console Log that match a
criteria specified by severity and the filters. The following selections must be made:
1. Severity - Select the severity level of messages that you want included in your
scoreboard.
2. Display Messages Select the number of messages that will be displayed from
the current time. The messages must match the given criteria. This value is
the N value in the Last N title of this scoreboard.
3. Display Choose to include All Messages or Held only messages.
4. Refresh Specify the interval at which the scoreboard is refreshed with data
from the Event Manager.
5. Select All or by Filter or by Group Select All to display the last N events
received by the Event Console. You may also apply group or individual filters to
display the last N events that meet the filter criteria. See the Select Group
From list, otherwise you will see the Select Filter(s) From list. Choose the
group or filter you wish to see events for.
c. The Dynamic Chart scoreboard shows a real-time chart of the total number of
events or deltas after a selected filter has been applied.
1. Severity Select the severity level of messages that you want included in your
scoreboard.
2. Display Choose if you would like to graph by the total number of messages
matched within the Event Console, or by delta values.
3. Refresh Specify the interval at which the scoreboard is refreshed with data
from the Event Manager.
4. Select by Filter You may choose individual filters to apply to the Event
Console that will make the scoreboard only take those matched events into
consideration when charting totals or deltas.
6. Click Publish.
7. The Publish screen appears. Fill in the required fields:
a. Name As Review the name that you gave your scoreboard during the previous
step.
b. Time of Expiration Select Never so that the published scoreboard permanently
remains in the portal library. Select On to show the time controls to set-up the time
for the scoreboard to expire. Once expired, the scoreboard is removed from the
portal library.
c. View Permissions Allows you to specify what users may view this scoreboard.
› Select Public to allow view access to all users.
› Select Workgroup to allow view access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow view access only to that user that creates this scoreboard.
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d. Allow Configuring Select Yes to show the Configure button in the scoreboard,
which allows configuration after it has been published.
e. Allow Publishing Select Yes to show the Publish button in the scoreboard
configuration page so that you can create and publish a new scoreboard based on
this scoreboard.
Click Finish to publish the scoreboard.
8. Verify the Events Scoreboard has been successfully published.
a. Click on the Knowledge tab and then expand the Library tree, Library > Enterprise
Management > Unicenter Event Management.
b. Click on the Events Scoreboard that you just created to see it created in the right
pane.
The scoreboard will look something like the following graphic.
Establishing Connections to Web Reporting Servers
Unicenter NSM r11.1 Web Reporting Server (WRS) offers many Unicenter Reports in
addition to Unicenter Configuration Manager reports and System Performance reports. WRS
is another web-based reporting solution that is installed with Unicenter NSM r11.1/r11. You
may integrate WRS into Unicenter MP where it will be added as a tree in the Knowledge
Library. An incentive to integrating with WRS is if you want to view System Performance
and Unicenter Configuration Management reports.
To integrate WRS into the Unicenter Management Portal
1. Click on the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP
Administration link right below it.
2. Click Task 10. Manage Web Reporting Servers.
3. The Manage WRS screen appears. Click New link.
4. Enter the name of the remote WRS server to which you want to connect in the WRS
Host Name field. Enter the port number in the WRS Port field, which is 9090 by default.
5. The WRS Catalog window appears. Click Select and then click the Synchronize Tree
link.
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6. The Synchronize Knowledge Tree and Handle Triggers window appears allowing you to
review the server and port. Click Synchronize Tree.
7. A Confirmation appears signifying that synchronization is complete. Click OK.
8. Click on the Knowledge tab and then the Library tab. Within the Library tree, you will
see the remote WRS server has been added.
9. If you have System Performance reports integrated with WRS, you can view them by
expanding REMOTE WRS (Server) > Unicenter Reports > Systems Performance.
Publishing a Document to the Management Portal
In addition to the predefined scoreboards and views that come packaged with Unicenter MP,
you may publish your own files. The method of doing this first begins with choosing a
location within the Knowledge Library to publish your file. This must be a folder item in the
tree (one that contains children). You may also create your own folder within the tree to
publish your content to.
Create a Folder in Unicenter MP
To create a folder in Unicenter MP
1. Click on the Knowledge tab at the top of Unicenter MP, and then click the Library tab.
2. Click on Enterprise Management within the Knowledge Library tree. As an example, we
will create a folder at the top level, but you may create a folder at any level within the
Knowledge Library.
3. Click on the Create Folder link located in the upper-right corner.
4. The Create Folder screen appears. With the General tab selected, fill in the following
information:
a. Title - Give a title to your folder by entering it in this textbox. This should be
something meaningful, indicating the type of data contained within the folder.
b. View Allows you to specify what users may see this view.
› Select Public to allow view access to all users.
› Select Workgroup to allow view access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow view access only to the user who creates this scoreboard.
c. Modify Allows you to specify what users may modify this view. Select Public to
allow modify access to all users. Select Workgroup to allow modify access to users
within selected workgroups. Select Owner to allow modify access only to that user
that creates this scoreboard.
d. Workgroup Specify the workgroups that will be referenced if Workgroup was
chosen in the View/Modify sections.
5. Click OK.
6. Verify that your folder appears within the Knowledge Library beneath Enterprise
Management.
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Publish a File to Unicenter Management Portal
To publish a file to Unicenter MP
1. Click the Knowledge tab at the top of Unicenter MP, and then click the Library tab.
2. Click Enterprise Management within the Knowledge Library tree and expand it, and
then click the folder that you just created within Enterprise Management. You may click
a different folder if you choose.
3. Click the Publish File link located in the upper-right corner.
4. The Publish File screen appears.
5. Click Browse to browse to the file that you want to publish and select it.
The Content field will be populated.
6. Give your published file a name by filling in the Title textbox. You may also specify
permissions the same way that you did when creating the folder.
7. Click OK.
8. Verify that your document has been successfully published by expanding the folder to
which you saved it, and then clicking on the published file.
The contents will appear in the right pane.
Adding Links to Web Applications
You may also publish links to web applications outside of Unicenter MP. This allows for quick
and easy access to other web-based management applications. Similar to the way in which
we published a file to Unicenter MP, we will publish web links using the same method.
To publish a web link
1. Click on the Knowledge tab at the top of Unicenter MP, and then click the Library tab.
2. Click on Enterprise Management within the Knowledge Library tree and expand it, and
then click a folder that you have created within Enterprise Management. You may click
any folder within the tree. A best practice is to create a folder specifically for your web
links using the method described in the previous section.
3. Click on the Publish File link located in the upper-right corner.
4. The Publish File screen appears. With the General Information tab selected, enter the
following information:
a. Content - Enter the URL to the web-based application or site that you want to
access.
b. Title - Give a title to your published URL by entering it in this textbox.
c. View Allows you to specify what users may see this view.
› Select Public to allow view access to all users.
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› Select Workgroup to allow view access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow view access only to the user who creates this scoreboard.
d. Modify Allows you to specify what users may modify this view.
› Select Public to allow modify access to all users.
› Select Workgroup to allow modify access to users within selected workgroups.
› Select Owner to allow modify access only to that user that creates this
scoreboard.
e. Workgroup Specify the workgroups that will be referenced if Workgroup was
chosen in the View/Modify sections.
5. Click the Advanced tab to allow an option that is particularly useful when publishing
links to other web-based application.
The Display Area offers two choices, the ability to view the web page within the Portal
frame or to launch a new browser window to display it.
6. It is a best practice to choose New Browser Window so the web page is not crowded
into a portlet frame.
7. When adding the web links to a workplace, it is a best practice to publish the folder that
contains those links. This way you can view the links in a list format and have the
option of clicking on any one them.
A new Internet Explorer window will open with the content.
Navigating the Knowledge Library
The Knowledge Library contains access to all data and information within the portal. This
includes published scoreboards, dashboards, reports, views, portlets, documents, and so
forth. When creating workplaces for Unicenter MP end-users, it is very important to know
the layout of the Knowledge Library so you can quickly and easily populate those
workplaces.
The Knowledge Library is a tree structure that contains content that may be published and
viewed. In addition, administrative tasks and documentation may be accessed through the
Knowledge Library.
To access the Knowledge Library
1. Click on the Knowledge tab at the top of Unicenter MP, and then click the Library tab.
2. Expand Enterprise Management. The following is an overview of what is contained
within each Knowledge Library Branch:
› Administration Expanding Administration contains links to the Administration
Wizard. It also provides access to the Scheduled Task Viewer, which displays a
complete list of scheduled reports. In addition, you can access the Managed
Components page to add/edit/delete component connections. Finally, you may
view the status of DIA, which is one of the primary connection protocols within
Unicenter MP.
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› Business Processes This is where all Business Process View scoreboards that
you create are published. Additionally, two predefined Business Process View
scoreboards are available for use.
• The All Business Process Views (WV) scoreboard provides a summary
view of all Business Process Views from your default WorldView
Manager.
• The All Dynamic Business Process Views (WV) scoreboard provides a
summary view of all Dynamic Business Process Views from your default
WorldView Manager. You may also create new Business Process View
scoreboards from here.
› Documentation All Unicenter MP Documentation is stored here.
› eHealth Performance Preconfigured eHealth Service Console reports and
eHealth WorldView/EM scoreboards are available within.
› My Unicenter You can access the tools to create Workplaces from prebuilt
templates, or design your own. You may also modify Unicenter MP Preferences
and launch the Scheduled Task Viewer. My Unicenter is also a Workplace that
comes prebuilt when Unicenter MP is installed.
› Notifications This allows users to view notifications sent to them or to the
workgroup to which they belong. Notifications are sent from an Event Manager.
› Service Level Management This allows you to create Service Level
Management reports from the SLM or SMA products. You may connect to an
SLM/SMA server and specify a group from which you would like to view reports,
and then publish those HTML reports to Unicenter MP. The SLM/SMA reports will
be published to this location.
› Unicenter Alert Management The Unicenter Alert Management (AMS)
scoreboards are maintained here. Out-of-the-box, an All alerts priority
breakdown by queue scoreboard provides a graphical view of all AMS queues, the
amount of alerts in each, and the severity of those alerts. You may drill into
these queues for detailed information on the alerts. Similarly, an All eHealth
alerts breakdown scoreboard is provided. The Alert Console view provides a
tabular view of all alerts within the AMS server. User-defined Alert Console
views, with applied filtering and customized properties, are also stored here. You
may also configure Alert filters by clicking on the Manage Alert Filters view. The
method of creating and maintaining alert filters is exactly the same as that of
creating event filters.
› Unicenter Event Management You may access the predefined Event Console
portlet for viewing and publishing. All user-defined Event Console views are
stored here as well. In addition, there is a link for managing event filters.
› Unicenter Reports Predefined Agent Technology and Enterprise Management
reports are stored here. You may create your own custom Agent Technology and
WorldView reports, which are stored here as well.
› Unicenter Scoreboards A lot of the content that is used to build Workplaces
comes from within this tree. Organized in a logical layout, here you may view
many predefined WorldView, DSM, and Event Management scoreboards. In
addition, custom scoreboards are stored within User Defined Scoreboards. You
may also view and define Agent and Host Dashboards.
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Creating a Workplace
Unicenter MP can consolidate and deliver information from many different sources and
display it in easy to view scoreboards and reports. With the wide array of data that is
available within Unicenter MP, many different views can be created, and in turn those views
can be associated with many different audiences (such as database administrators, system
administrators, or mail server administrators). Unicenter MP lets you choose those
scoreboards, reports, and views that are of most importance to you and include them in a
single view that is organized based on your tastes; this view is called a Workplace.
Workplaces can be designed for different users that require different types of information.
You may create workplaces in one of two ways. You may create a workplace from a
workplace template that is already populated with content specific to the end-user role; this
simply involves choosing a meaningful name. You may also create a completely new
workplace, which involves choosing the content and layout of your workplace.
Predefined Workplace Templates
Workplaces are designed to present the end-user with data specific to their needs. The UM
Portal provides predefined workplace templates based on common IT user roles. The
following workplace templates are available:
• Application Servers Workplace - Includes only application server data, like the
Application Agents Status or Application Events Summary scoreboards.
• Database Servers Workplace - Includes only database server data, like the Database
Agents Status or Database Events Summary scoreboards.
• Mail Servers Workplace - Includes only mail servers data, like the Mail Agents Status
Breakdown or Mail Events Summary scoreboards.
• Messaging and Transaction Workplace - Includes only messaging and transaction
server data, like the WorldView Transaction/Messaging scoreboard.
• Network Workplace - Includes only network data, like the Network Agents Status
Breakdown or Network Events Summary scoreboards.
• Systems Workplace - Includes only systems data, like the System Agents Status
Breakdown or System Events Summary scoreboards.
• UNIX Systems Workplace - Includes only Unix systems data, like the Unix System
Agents Status Breakdown or Unix System Events Summary scoreboards.
• Web Servers Workplace - Includes only web server data, like the Web Agents Status
Breakdown or Web Server Events Summary scoreboards.
• Windows Systems Workplace - Includes only Windows systems data, like the Windows
System Agents Status Breakdown or Windows Agent Events Summary scoreboards.
To Create a Workplace from a Template
1. Click the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the My Unicenter link
beneath it.
2. In the left pane, you will see a list of New Workplaces.
3. Click the workplace that best fits your role or type of information that you would like to
view.
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4. The Manage Workplaces screen appears, and you may enter a title for your workplace.
Click Finish.
5. The Workplace Confirmation screen appears verifying that your workplace has been
successfully created. Click Done.
6. Launch your newly defined workplace by clicking the Workplace tab at the top of the
Unicenter MP screen. Then click the link to your workplace which is within a blue line
beneath the tabs, or you may use the All Workplaces pull-down menu to select it.
Based on the template that you selected, the content may different, but the workplace
should look something like the following graphic.
In this example, you are provided with three open scoreboards and a list of configured
scoreboards that are available for launching to a separate window. The scoreboards
presented to you are all preconfigured scoreboards that are delivered out-of-the-box with
Unicenter MP. Having used the Systems template in this example, the workplace presents
the status of all systems within WorldView. The status of all system agents and a numerical
breakdown of events from each system agent are also displayed.
You may drill into the Status Breakdown scoreboards by clicking on the Show Menu button,
which lets you launch the Portal Explorer. You may also click directly on the numbers in the
status bars to see detailed information on the hosts that constitute the numbers in each
bar. Click the icons in the Events Summary scoreboard to view the events from each filter.
Create a Workplace from an Empty (New) Template
In addition to the Workplace templates, you may create a completely custom workplace
with the layouts and content of your choice. The selection of content is made from the
Knowledge Library and Channels. Also, placement of the portlets on your workplace,
including how many columns you would like, is part of the workplace creation.
To Create a Workplace from an Empty Template
1. Click the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal and select My Unicenter at the top.
2. Click the Edit Workplaces link located in the upper-right corner.
3. The Edit Workplaces window appears. Type a name for your workplace in the Name
textbox.
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The name should be meaningful, describing the type of data that will be presented in
the workplace.
4. Click Add.
The workplace name that you chose appears in the Workplaces window.
5. Click OK, then click the Add Content link located in the upper-right corner.
6. In the Displayed Content window, select the Number of Columns that you want to use
in your workplace. Also, select the width for each column by using the Width pull-down
menu on the top of each column.
Some scoreboards or views may require a greater width than others, you may resize
columns directly on the workplace after it is created.
7. In the Available Content window, expand the Library >Enterprise Management tree
down to the content that you would like to add, and click the checkbox next to the
chosen content. Between the Available Content and Displayed Content windows are
numbered buttons that represent the columns. Select the column to which you want to
add the content. Continue to select those portlets that you want to include in your
workplace and add them to the columns.
8. When you have finishe, click OK.
Your newly created scoreboard appears.
9. After the workplace is published, you may modify the widths of the columns by clicking
between them and dragging the cursor. You may also drag the portlets to different
columns within the workplace.
Creating a New User in the Management Portal
Often, the existence of many different managing roles within an IT infrastructure requires
that different users have access to different information. The ability to create users for
individuals, groups, or roles within Unicenter MP and providing access to data and
workplaces customized to their requirements is a powerful advantage. With Unicenter MP,
you may define new users and create workplaces for them. When they log in to Unicenter
MP, the will be presented with the workplace that provides them with the information suited
for their needs. Unicenter MP also allows all for a very granular level of security based on
users and the workgroups to which they belong.
To create a new user in the Management Portal
1. Click the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP
Administration link below it.
2. Click on Task 5. Manage Users.
3. Click Add to add a new user.
4. The Manage Users page lets you define the properties of the user that you are creating,
so enter the Username and Password for the user you are creating.
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5. In the Create/Edit/Delete Permissions, you may edit the following:
a. Guest Mode Choose Yes if you don’t want the user to have the ability to modify
the workplace after it has been created for him/her.
b. Description This is an optional field.
c. Account Status Specify if this account is active.
6. In the Groups window, select workgroups to which this user will belong.
The workgroups are the basis by which security is applied to every item in the
Knowledge Library. When items in the Knowledge Library have View/Modify permissions
based on Workgroup, the group to which the user belongs is a factor to the information
that is available to them.
The predefined workgroups already have predefined Unicenter Scoreboards and
Knowledge Library content associated with them. The predefined workgroups are based
on IT roles, similar to the Unicenter Scoreboards categories and the Workgroup
templates. All are tied together to make Unicenter MP easy to configure out-of-the-box
for many different users.
7. In the Role in Group pull-down, select the user’s role within the workgroup selected.
Note: The Group Admin user may manage the workgroup in which they belong (create
subworkgroups, modify workgroup name, and so forth). The User Admin may edit
existing users within the workgroup and add new users to the workgroup.
Creating a New Workgroup in the Management Portal
Unicenter MP lets you define, edit, or remove user workgroups. Workgroups help organize
users into logical business groups, such as systems administrators, business users, and
mail administrators. As members of a workgroup, users inherit permissions assigned to the
entire group. Content within the Knowledge Library may have security permissions that are
based on Workgroup.
To create a new Workgroup
1. Click the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP
Administration link below it.
2. Click on Task 6. Manage Workgroups.
3. The Manage Workgroups window appears. The Manage Workgroup page consists of the
following sections:
a. Adding New Workgroup Section
1. Workgroup Name - Lets you enter a name for the new workgroup.
2. Description - Lets you describe your new workgroup.
3. Parent Group - Displays the parent group (if any exist) for the new
workgroup.
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. Workgroup Profile Section
1. Template - Lets you select a Portal template from a drop-down box. These
templates provide the background, the look and feel, of the entire Portal for
users.
2. Assign Users Group Template on Save - Click this check-box to change the
template for all users in this workgroup from the template previously assigned
to the user during the user account creation.
c. SubGroups Section
4. Click Save.
This section contains the subgroups. To move a workgroup from the Available to
the Selected columns, click your selection and click the appropriate direction arrow.
Customizing Portal Appearance Using Templates
Portal templates may be applied to Unicenter MP to modify the appearance of Unicenter MP.
Different templates may be applied based on user tastes and the look that they prefer. A
default template is selected out-of-the-box, but you may choose from a list of packaged
templates.
To modify a portal template
1. Log in to Unicenter MP as the admin user.
2. Click on the Workplace tab at the top of the Portal, and then click the Unicenter MP
Administration link right below it.
3. Click on Task 5. Manage Users.
4. Choose the user whose template you wish to modify and click Edit.
5. In the User/Personal Profile pull-down, select a new template.
6. Click Save. Your Portal template has changed.
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Chapter 8: Best Practices for
Deploying and Implementing
Remote Monitoring
A key decision to make is when to use Agent Technology or Remote Monitoring for the
systems you want to manage. The following key topics for Remote Monitoring are presented
in this chapter:
• About Unicenter Remote Monitoring
• Unicenter Remote Monitoring Architecture
• How Remote Monitoring Monitors Network Resources
• When to use Remote Monitoring
• Comparing Remote Monitoring to Agent Technology
• Unicenter Remote Monitoring Capabilities
• Windows Resource Data You Can Monitor
• UNIX/Linux Resource Data You Can Monitor
• Mac OS XZ Resource Data You Can Monitor
• IP Resource Data You Can Monitor
• Adding Resources to Monitor
• Managing Resources
• Best Practices for Remote Monitoring
About Unicenter Remote Monitoring
Unicenter Remote Monitoring is a component of Unicenter Network and Systems
Management (Unicenter NSM) that gives you with the ability to remotely monitor the health
and availability of your network resources, including production servers and workstations.
The key distinguishing feature of Remote Monitoring is that it works by using non-intrusive
technology. This technology lets you monitor network resources without installing an agent
on each monitored device. Instead, the Remote Monitoring Agent is installed on a single
remote machine that probes the monitored resources for data, status, and other
information used to assess the health and availability of that resource. This type of
monitoring is particularly useful in these situations:
• You need to deploy a resource monitoring solution quickly or temporarilys
• You must monitor resources such as a Development or Quality Assurance (QA) laboratory
where agents on the actual machines could interfere with code testing or operations
• You need to monitor resources at a remote location through the WANs
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Unicenter Remote Monitoring can monitor the following resource types:
• Windows
• UNIX/Linux
• Mac OS X
• IP
Unicenter Remote Monitoring remotely monitors your Windows servers, Windows
workstations, UNIX, Linux, and Mac OS X resources, and IP resources without installing any
software on the monitored resources. From a single instance of the Unicenter Remote
Monitoring agent, you can remotely monitor your distributed servers and workstations. If
scalability or load balancing is a concern, simply add another instance of the agent.
Unicenter Remote Monitoring uses protocols native to each operating system to gather its
data. For IP resources, it uses the network protocol, ICMP. For Windows resources, it uses
the native RPC commands to pass into a remote Windows resource and gather data. It
accomplishes its monitoring using a domain administrative account that you can validate
against the remote Windows resource. For UNIX, Linux, and Mac OS X resources,
monitoring is accomplished using remote shell (rsh) or secure shell (ssh).
Using Unicenter Remote Monitoring, you can deploy a management server with a Unicenter
Remote Monitoring agent to monitor the resources at the remote location and perform its
responsibilities without having to load dedicated agents on each resource. A Unicenter NSM
Manager upstream knows about the Unicenter Remote Monitoring manager and processes
all alerts and exceptions with less traffic through the wide area network (WAN)
infrastructure. The deployment produces less traffic through the WAN and a simpler, faster
product deployment.
Unicenter Remote Monitoring provides you with a deployment solution that lets you monitor
the computers in your environment. It is adaptive, quick to install, and easy to configure. It
manages your resources by exception notification, is scalable, and provides reporting
functionality.
Unicenter Remote Monitoring Architecture
The Unicenter Remote Monitoring architecture consists of the following three major
components:
Remote Monitoring Agent
The Remote Monitoring Agent is responsible for polling all monitored resources and
determining if an error has occurred. The agent can broadcast monitored resource status to
a Unicenter Event Management Console, WorldView repository, and to any number of
Remote Monitoring Administrative Interfaces.
The agent runs on Windows computers only. Although it can reside on the same computer
as the Administrative Interface, you can also install it on a separate Windows computer and
access it from a remote Administrative Interface.
Note: You must have the appropriate privileges to discover resources. Before you start the
discovery process, ensure that the agent computer has the appropriate administrator
privileges to gain access to your network resources or that an administrative account is
associated with each node to be monitored.
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Administrative Interface
The Administrative Interface is the client application used to discover resources, configure
resources, view status updates, and manage the metrics used to monitor each resource.
This component runs on Windows computers only.
Note: Although the Administrative Interface provides the graphical user interface (GUI)
used to discover resources, the Remote Monitoring Agent actually does the work to probe
the network and discover resources. Therefore, the Administrative Interface is not required
to have administrator privileges to access the monitored resources.
Data Store
The data store contains all configuration information used to determine the current status
of a resource. Data gathered from the most current poll is compared to the values stored in
the data store, and any changes to a resource's state are communicated back to the agent.
The data store is installed on the same computer as the agent.
How Remote Monitoring Monitors Network Resources
To effectively implement Remote Monitoring, you must first understand how the
components work together to gather data from your monitored network resources. By
understanding this process, you can choose how best to implement the Remote Monitoring
components in your enterprise, choosing the machines with appropriate resources and
network accessibility. Remote Monitoring performs the following actions:
• The Remote Monitoring Agent uses the data fetchers to poll all monitored resources at
regular intervals. To gather the data, the data-fetchers use protocols native to each
operating system.
Note: To gain access to your monitored resources and gather the metrics data, the
proper security access must be configured for each resource.
• Each monitored resource responds to the poll, if possible, sending the requested data
back to the agent. If a machine does not respond within a specified number of polls, this
non-response is noted, as well.
• The agent compares the latest values gathered to the configuration values specified for
the various states (such as normal, warning, or critical) to determine if a resource's state
has changed.
Note: Configuration values are specified in the Administrative Interface and saved to
the XML data store.
• The agent communicates the latest resource state to the Administrative Interface and
Unicenter NSM WorldView. The agent also sends any messages generated by a state
change to the Unicenter NSM Event Manager.
• The resource state is reflected in each of these interfaces by a change in color, icon, or
other textual changes.
• The entire process repeats at each polling interval.
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When to Use Remote Monitoring
You need to understand both the advantages and disadvantages of this non-intrusive
monitoring technology to determine when and how to use Remote Monitoring effectively.
Advantages of Using Remote Monitoring
Faster deployment time — Because the agent does not have to be installed on each
monitored resource, you can quickly get it up and running. For example if you had to
monitor 200 machines, instead of installing agents on all 200 machines, you can install one
instance of the Remote Monitoring agent to monitor all 200 machines, or install a second
Remote Monitoring agent on a second machine to distribute the task.
Quick return on investment — The faster deployment means you can quickly see results of
your investment.
Reduced support and management costs — Because a single agent machine can monitor
hundreds of network resources, maintaining and supporting your monitoring environment
requires less time and uses fewer human or hardware resources.
No performance interference — The agent is on a separate machine and, therefore, will not
disturb your production environment.
Disadvantages of Using Remote Monitoring
Increased network traffic — Remote agents must pull all data back to the agent machine for
processing, causing more network traffic than traditional agent technology.
Slightly less diverse data — The remote agent is unable to gather some of the data
gathered by a traditional agent, because it does not reside on the monitored resource.
Depending on the type of information you need to monitor, this may mean you need to use
the traditional agent technology instead.
Comparing Remote Monitoring to Agent Technology
CA provides two methods for monitoring your network resources: agent technology (AT)
and remote monitoring (RM). Determining which type you need depends on several factors,
including the information you must monitor to ensure the health and availability of your
network resources.
Scalability Vs Ease of Deployment Consideration
The size and growth potential of the IT environment is an important factor. The AT
monitoring uses a decentralized monitoring approach that requires to deploy agents and in
turn scales in larger environments because the monitoring load is decentralized and
network bandwidth is not consumed to do monitoring.
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Monitored Information
The following tables compare the type of data you can monitor using each of the two
monitoring methods, Agent Technology (AT) or Remote Monitoring (RM).
General Agent Information AT RM
Remote monitoring configuration (resources on remote machine) * Y
Discovery ** Y Y
Scalable in larger environments Y N
Easy deployment N Y
IP devices (any machines on the network), ICMP (ping) only N Y
Novell Netware Y N
Windows NT / 2000 / XP / 2003 Y Y
Tier 1 UNIX (AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris). For RM, Tru64 Y Y
Programmable Watchers — monitor result of any user defined metric
combination
Hardware monitoring (for example, CPU temperature, fan speed, UPS
State and so on)
Y
Y
N
Y
* Only certain resources such as files, directories, and printers can be monitored remotely.
** Automatic discovery of objects can be monitored by using Adaptive Configuration or
“AutoWatchers.”
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Windows System Monitoring Features AT RM
Processors — load or loss Y Y
Memory — physical, virtual, paging file Y Y
Logical volumes — throughput, fragmentation, free space, used space Y Y
Mounts — change, loss Y N
Distributed files systems (Win 2000) — loss, available replicas Y N
Quotas (Win 2000) — space per user Y N
Directories — number, size, timestamp Y N
Files — number, size, delta, timestamp Y N
Processes — number, threads, children, memory, CPU usage Y Y
Services — activity, existence, optional restart Y Y
Jobs (Win 2000) — existence, number of processes, CPU usage Y Y
Sessions (Win 2000) — number, memory, CPU usage, activity Y Y
Printers — events, queue length, loss Y Y
Network interfaces — send/receive packets+bytes, error rates, total
values
Y
Y
Registry entries — existence, value, change in subtree Y Y
ASCII file content monitoring — user-defined, created files Y N
Event log content monitoring — native system logs Y Y
Linux and UNIX Monitoring Features
System — release, version, details, node name,
system name, boot time
AT
Y
Remote Monitoring:
AIX/HP/Linux/Sun/T6
N / N / N / N / N
CPU — total, user, system, wait, idle CPU usage,
context switches (for AT, includes overall and per
CPU; for RM, includes overall only)
Y
Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Load — average load over 1, 5, 15 minutes Y Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Real memory — used, total Y N / N / N / N / N
System — release, version, details, node name,
system name, boot time
Y
N / N / N / N / N
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Remote Monitoring:
Linux and UNIX Monitoring Features AT AIX/HP/Linux/Sun/T6
CPU — total, user, system, wait, idle CPU usage,
context switches (for AT, includes overall/per CPU;
for RM, includes overall only)
Y
Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Load — average load over 1, 5, 15 minutes Y Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Real memory — used, total Y N / N / N / N / N
Physical memory: Y Y
- Scan Rate Y N / N / N / N / N
- Free memory (KB) Y Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
- Pages paged in/out N Y / Y / N/ N / N
- Total amount changed Y N / N / N / N / N
- Size free list N Y / Y / N / N / N
- Active free pages N Y / Y / N / N / N
Swap space — used, total, per swap file used, per
swap total
File systems — KBytes used, total, free
(no inodes for Remote Monitoring)
Y
Y
N / N / Y / Y / Y
Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Mounts — loss, total, free, KBytes Y N / N / N / N/ N
Physical disk throughput — blocks in/out Y Y / Y / N / Y / Y
Files — existence, file size (KB), file size delta,
modified date
Processes — number of instances, children, CPU,
size
Y
Y
N / N / N / N / N
Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
Printer queues — number of jobs, status of queue Y N / N / N / N / N
Network — in packets, out packets, collisions,
interface name
IPC — total resources, message queues, shared
memory, semaphores
Y
Y
Y / Y / Y / Y / Y
N / N / N / N / N
IP Monitoring Features AT RM
IP response times/availability N Y
Port availability (IP services) Y Y
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Agent Monitoring Features AT RM
Multiple poll methods — disable, poll only, poll and query, query only Y Y *
Configurable thresholds for severity level Y Y
Delta warning and critical statuses for monitoring changes in analog values Y Y
Overloaded thresholds Y N
Call backs to rectify problems automatically on the monitored machine Y N
Detailed event information sent to Unicenter Event Management Console Y Y
Ability to monitor the removal of a resource (Loss Monitoring) Y Y
Ability to avoid state change in data that spikes by using lags/breaches Y Y
Available resource lists to aid with configuration of the agent Y Y
Monitoring of cluster resources ** Y N
Automatic Adaptation of Monitoring Thresholds *** Y N
Policy based creation of Monitoring Objects **** Y Y
* Disable and poll are valid for Remote Monitoring
** Allows you to discern between a failover and a loss of shared resource
*** By means of Adaptive Configuration
**** By means of Auto Watchers or Adaptive Configuration
Collection of Historic Data AT RM
Data collected by agent stored into Performance Cubes for historical
analysis
Y
N
Data collected by agent passed to Performance Scope for real-time analysis Y N
Event history (history of state changes) stored in agent Y Y
Event Message Handling AT RM
Status events sent to Unicenter Event Management Console Y Y
Integration with Unicenter Service Desk Y Y
Place agent into maintenance mode to stop event propagation Y Y *
Provisioning of Unicenter NSM Event Definitions Y Y
* Even if the monitoring of a single resource is stopped, agent continues to monitor all
other resources.
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Visualization AT RM
Visualized in 2D Map Y Y
Visualized in Management Command Center Y Y
Visualized in Unicenter Management Portal Y Y
Unicenter Remote Monitoring Capabilities
Resource Types You Can Monitor
Remote Monitoring allows you to monitor multiple platforms and resource types throughout
your network. The following table lists all operating systems, the versions currently
supported, and the type of information you can monitor for each:
Operating
System
Windows
Versions
NT4 with service pack 6A
2000 (DC, Adv Server, Server,
Professional)
2003 (DC, ES, Standard Server, SBS,
Itanium 64-bit, and AMD 64-bit)
XP Professional
Information Types
Monitored
Event logs
Services
System Metrics
Detailed Metrics
Registry Keys
AIX 4.3.3
5.2
5.3
HP-UX 11
11.11 (11i)
11.23 Itanium
Linux Red Hat 2.1
Red Hat 3.0
SLES 8
SLES 9
z/OS
Mac OS X 10.2
10.3
Solaris 2.7
2.8
2.9
System Metrics
Detailed Metrics
System Metrics
Detailed Metrics
System Metrics
Detailed Metrics
System Metrics
Detailed Metrics
System Metrics
Detailed Metrics
Tru64 5.1 System Metrics
Detailed Metrics
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In addition to monitoring these platforms, Remote Monitoring provides IP resource
monitoring. This type of monitoring allows you to gather the following information:
• State — responding or not responding.
• Response time — determines if the time taken to respond is reasonable.
• State of selected ports — issues an alarm based on a state change, such as a port that is
responding when it should be off.
Windows Resource Data You Can Monitor
Remote Monitoring allows you to monitor multiple platforms throughout your network,
including Windows resources. The functionality that can be monitored on the supported
Windows platforms includes the following:
• Event Logs
The event logs you can monitor include Application, System, Security, Active Directory,
DNS, File Replication, and any additional custom event logs that are viewable through the
Event Log Viewer.
• System Metric
System metric monitoring lets you monitor selected performance statistics for your
Windows resources. You configure the thresholds for these metrics, and Remote Monitoring
issues warnings and alarms if a resource exceeds these thresholds.
• Detailed Metric
Detailed metric monitoring lets you monitor instance-specific metrics from categories, such
as running processes and logical disks. You configure the thresholds for these metrics, and
Remote Monitoring issues warnings and alarms if a selected instance exceeds these
thresholds.
• Registry Keys
You can specify registry keys and monitor them for existence, change in value, or
disappearance.
• Services Monitoring
Services monitoring can notify you if there is a change in state for any installed services
you want to monitor. For example, an alarm can be issued if a service that is not running is
suddenly started, or vice versa.
• Snapshot Monitoring
Snapshot monitoring, like services monitoring, monitors your installed services. However,
this type of monitoring takes a snapshot of your services environment and then compares
that baseline snapshot with data gathered at regular intervals. An alarm is issued if a new
service is discovered, removed, or the service's start type is changed or disabled.
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Event Logs Monitoring (Windows Resources)
Event log monitoring consists of watching an event log for new messages of selected
message types. Monitoring the messages and changes to selected event logs can reveal
unwanted changes in your computing environment that affect the health of your network.
• The event logs you can monitor include the following:
› Application
› System
› Security
› Active Directory
› DNS
› File Replication
› Any custom event logs
• Microsoft categorizes event log errors into the following six classifications:
› Audit Success
› Audit Failure
› Success
› Warning
› Error
› Information
When you first set up event log monitoring, you select which of these classifications you
want to monitor for each event log. For example, you want to receive only event log
messages that indicate an error. Therefore, you choose to monitor the Warning, Audit
Failure, and Error classifications. However, you will not monitor the Audit Success, Success,
and Information classifications, because these event logs do not contain error messages
that will alert you to a problem.
All events reported for the selected classifications are reported to Remote Monitoring,
regardless of their severity. Although these events are related to errors, some of the event
messages may not be critical and require your attention — these messages may clutter the
Unicenter NSM Event Console. Therefore, Remote Monitoring includes the ability to filter the
monitored event logs to help you avoid cluttering your Event Console and to ensure that
you only receive the error messages that require attention.
Event log filters are defined for a specific event log, the application (source) reporting the
error, and the error message itself — you can select specific message types to monitor,
discarding those that you do not need. Filters can apply to all Windows servers or to a
specific server. Filtering your message notifications ensures that you only receive alarms for
the information that is important to you.
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If a selected message appears in a monitored event log, Remote Monitoring changes the
resource's state and sends this information to the Administrative Interface and the Event
Console. All event logs have their own severity classification for messages. Remote
Monitoring lets you customize those classifications to match your common severity levels.
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates > Unicenter> NSM > Remote Monitoring
> Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select Windows, New or click New Windows in the toolbar.
The New Windows Resource dialog opens. The fields are initially populated with values
from the default Windows template.
3. Enter the Node name of the resource you want to monitor.
4. Specify the credentials to connect to the resource you want to monitor in the Monitor
via text box. This can either be the Remote Monitoring Agent Service credentials or a
specific account by the Use this account text boxes.
5. Press Discover to test and obtain the values of the metrics on that node.
6. Click the Event Logs Tab and make changes to the fields for either Application or
System rows. For example, uncheck the Error box for the System row.
7. After the selected changes have been made, click OK.
System Metric Monitoring (Windows Resources)
System metric monitoring lets you monitor selected performance statistics for your
Windows resources. Monitoring the performance data of your network systems can reveal
unwanted changes in your computing environment that affect the health of your network.
The metrics you can monitor are grouped into categories. The following table lists these
categories and the data you can monitor for each category:
Category
Data Available to Monitor
Jobs
Processor mode
User mode
Kernel mode
Page fault rate
Total processes
Active processes
Processes terminated due to limit violation
Logical Disks
Number of disks
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Category
Memory
Network Interfaces
Printers
Processes
Processors
Data Available to Monitor
Page faults rate (per second)
Available memory
Committed memory
Commit limit
Write copy rate (per second)
Transition faults rate (per second)
Cache faults rate (per second)
Demand zero faults rate (per second)
Page rate (per second)
Rate pages in (per second)
Page read rate (per second)
Pages output rate (per second)
Page writes (per second)
Pool page size
Non-pool page size
Page write rate
Paged pool allocation calls
Non-paged pool allocation calls
Free system page table entries
Cache memory
Paged pool resident memory size
Number of network interfaces
Packet rate received
Packet rate sent
Errors received
Errors sent
Total network traffic (bytes)
Total network traffic (kbytes)
Total network traffic (mbytes)
Number of printers
Printer job queue length
Out of paper errors
Printer job errors
Printer not ready errors
CPU usage
Memory usage
Thread count
Number of processors
Processor load
User time
Privileged time
Interrupt time
Total threads
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Category
Server/Workstation
Terminal Services
Data Available to Monitor
Total network traffic
Received network traffic
Transmitted network traffic
Sessions closed due to timed out
Sessions closed due to errors
Sessions logged off normally
Sessions forced to log off
Failed log on attempts
Access failure due to permissions
Times successfully opened files previously
Detected internal server errors
Blocking requests rejected
Work item shortages
Total files opened for clients
Files currently open in server
Files opened for clients
Server sessions
Searches for files currently active in server
Logon total since last reboot
Processor time
Page fault rate
User time
Privileged time
Page file size
Thread count
You determine which of these metrics to monitor and then configure the threshold values
for two states: warning and alarm. You also specify the number of breaches that must
occur before changing a resource's state. To help you configure thresholds, the current
values are provided.
If resources exceed the warning threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state
to the user-configured severity level and sends this information to the Administrative
Interface, Unicenter NSM WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console. If resources
exceed the alarm threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state to the userconfigured
severity level and again sends this information to the Administrative Interface,
WorldView, and the Event Console.
Note: For some metrics, the warning level is unavailable. For example, a printer's
availability can be only one of two states: available or not. Therefore, this type of
monitoring only allows you to configure the alarm level.
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Detailed Metrics Monitoring (Windows Resources)
Detailed metrics monitoring lets you monitor instance-specific metrics from three
categories: running processes, processors (CPUs), and logical disks. Monitoring these
detailed metrics can reveal unwanted changes in your computing environment that affect
the health of your network.
The following table lists the three categories and the corresponding data that you can
monitor:
Category
Processes
Processors (CPUs)
Logical Disks
Data Available to Monitor
For each process, you can monitor these items:
Instance count
CPU usage (%)
Memory usage (%)
Thread count
For each processor, you can monitor these items:
Processor load (%)
User time (%)
Privileged time (%)
Interrupt time (%)
For each logical disk, you can monitor these items:
Free space (MBytes)
Free space (%)
Time busy (%)
You determine which of these metrics to monitor and then configure the threshold values
for two states: warning and alarm. You also specify the number of breaches that must
occur before changing a resource's state. To help you configure thresholds, the current
values are provided.
If resources exceed the warning threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state
to the user-configured severity level and sends this information to the Administrative
Interface, Unicenter NSM WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console. If resources
exceed the alarm threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state to the userconfigured
severity level and again sends this information to the Administrative Interface,
WorldView, and the Event Console.
Registry Keys Monitoring (Windows Resources)
Registry key monitoring lets you watch for the existence, change in value, or disappearance
of a registry key. Monitoring this information can reveal unwanted changes in your
computing environment that affect the health of your network. For example, the existence
of a specific registry key may indicate a virus.
The monitoring options available depend on the type of registry key. For example,
numerical range rules are only available if the registry key contains a number and the type
is specified as either a DWORD or QWORD.
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The following table lists the type of registry keys and the monitoring options available for
each key:
Type of Registry Key
Binary Key
Monitoring Option
Key does not exist
Key changes value
DWORD (Integer)
Key does not exist
Key changes value
Mathematical rules (=, , , = )
QWORD
Key does not exist
Key changes value
Mathematical rules (=, , , = )
Link
Key does not exist
Key changes value
Resource List
Key does not exist
Key changes value
MULTI_SZ (Multiple Strings)
Key does not exist
Key changes value
String
Key does not exist
Key changes value
Key equals
Key does not equal
EXPAND_SZ (Expandable string)
Key does not exist
Key changes value
Key equals
Key does not equal
Regardless of the type of string, if a specified registry key does not exist, the default and
the only rule that is available for monitoring is to trigger an alarm.
If a monitored change occurs to a registry key, Remote Monitoring changes the monitored
resource's state and sends this information to the Administrative Interface, Unicenter NSM
WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console.
Note: If the contents of a registry key value are greater than 64K, you can monitor the
registry key for existence only.
Services Monitoring (Windows Resources)
Services monitoring lets you select specific services and compare them to their expected
states. For example, an alarm can be issued if a service that should not be running is
292: CA Green Book, Systems Management

suddenly started, or vice versa. Monitoring this information can reveal unwanted changes in
your computing environment that affect the health of your network.
Any deviation from a monitored service's expected state triggers an alarm and an optional
action. Actions include restart, shutdown, disable, or to do nothing. If the corrective action
fails, an additional alarm is generated.
If an alarm is triggered, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state and sends this
information to the Administrative Interface, Unicenter NSM WorldView, and the
Unicenter NSM Event Console.
To help you determine which services to monitor, Remote Monitoring lets you discover all of
the available services installed on a machine or discover only auto-starting services. You
also have the ability to filter out on-demand services. The ability to filter out on-demand
services is important, because it can potentially eliminate many unnecessary notifications.
For example, the clipboard is an on-demand service that automatically starts when users
copy content to the clipboard. The clipboard service is used quite frequently and, therefore,
could potentially trigger thousands of needless notifications. Therefore, in determining the
health of a resource, the clipboard service is not very important, and monitoring this
service would only burden support with alarms when this on-demand service is not running.
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates > Unicenter> NSM > Remote Monitoring
> Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
Select Windows, New or click New Windows in the toolbar.
2. The New Windows Resource dialog opens. The fields are initially populated with values
from the default Windows template.
3. Enter the Node name of the resource you want to monitor.
4. Specify the set of credentials needed to connect to the resource you want to monitor in
the Monitor via text box. This can either be the remote Monitoring Agent Service
credentials or a specific account using the ‘Use this account’ text boxes.
5. Press Discover to test and obtain the values of the metrics on that node.
6. Click the Services Tab and make some changes. For example, click the All Services
button and place a check mark in the Monitor? column for any listed service
7. Once the changes have been made, click OK.
Snapshot Monitoring (Windows Resources)
Snapshot monitoring, like services monitoring, monitors your installed services. However,
this type of monitoring takes a snapshot of your services environment and then compares
that baseline snapshot with data gathered at regular intervals. An alarm is issued if any of
these situations:
• New service is added
Issues a major alarm, telling you the name of the new service.
• Service is deleted
Issues a major alarm, telling you the name of the removed service.
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• Service's start type is changed or disabled
Issues a major alarm.
Note: The alarm severity is configurable. To change the default for all new monitored
resources, change the severity level on the corresponding template.
Monitoring this information can reveal unwanted changes in your computing environment
that affect the health of your network resources.
If a configuration change is detected, Remote Monitoring changes the monitored resource's
state and sends the alarm message to the Administrative Interface, Unicenter NSM
WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console.
If you must install or remove services from a monitored resource, disable monitoring for
that resource until all changes are complete. Then, you should take a new snapshot to
avoid triggering any unnecessary alarms.
Note: Snapshot monitoring watches for configuration changes only. To monitor a service's
state changes, use the Services monitoring feature.
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates > Unicenter> NSM > Remote Monitoring
> Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
Select Windows, New or click New Windows in the toolbar.
2. The New Windows Resource dialog opens. The fields are initially populated with values
from the default Windows template.
3. Enter the Node name of the resource you want to monitor.
4. Specify the set of credentials needed to connect to the resource you want to monitor in
the Monitor via text box. This can either be the remote Monitoring Agent Service
credentials or a specific account using the ‘Use this account’ text boxes.
5. Press Discover to test and obtain the values of the metrics on that node.
6. Click the Services Tab and make some changes. For example, click the All Services
button and place a check mark in the Monitor? column for any listed service.
7. Once the changes have been made, click OK.
UNIX/Linux Resource Data You Can Monitor
Remote Monitoring allows you to monitor resources running on multiple platforms
throughout your network, including UNIX/Linux resources. The functionality that can be
monitored on the supported UNIX/Linux platforms includes the following:
• System Metrics
System metrics monitoring lets you monitor selected performance statistics for your
network resources. You configure the thresholds for these metrics, and Remote Monitoring
issues warnings and alarms if a resource exceeds these thresholds.
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• Detailed Metrics
Detailed metrics monitoring lets you monitor instance-specific metrics from four categories,
including Disk, File System, Network Interfaces, and Processes. You configure the
thresholds for these metrics, and Remote Monitoring issues warnings and alarms if a
selected instance exceeds these thresholds.
Although you can monitor both system and detailed metrics for all UNIX/Linux resources,
the specific functionality you can monitor will vary, depending on the UNIX/Linux platform
on each monitored resource.
System Metric Monitoring (UNIX/Linux Resources)
System metric monitoring lets you monitor selected performance statistics for your
UNIX/Linux resources. Monitoring the performance data of your network systems can reveal
unwanted changes in your computing environment that adversely affect the health of your
network resources.
The metrics you can monitor are grouped into three categories: General, Memory, and
Processor. Although you can monitor system metrics for all UNIX/Linux resources, the
specific functionality you can monitor will vary, depending on the UNIX/Linux platform on
each monitored resource.
The following table lists these categories and the corresponding metrics you can monitor for
each UNIX/Linux platform:
Category Metrics AIX HP-UX Linux Solaris Tru64
General
Number of Users Logged on
System
Y Y Y Y Y
Interrupt Rate (Interrupts/Sec) Y Y Y Y Y
System Call Rate (Calls/Sec) Y Y N Y Y
Number of Processes Y Y Y Y Y
Memory Free Memory (KB) N N Y Y Y
Free Swap Space (KB) N N Y Y N
Pages Paged In (KB/Sec) Y Y Y Y Y
Pages Paged Out (KB/Sec) Y Y Y Y Y
Pages Freed (KB/Sec) Y Y N Y N
Active free pages Y Y N N N
Size of free list Y Y N N N
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Category Metrics AIX HP-UX Linux Solaris Tru64
Processor CPU Usage In User Mode (%) Y Y Y Y Y
CPU Usage in System Mode (%) Y Y Y Y Y
CPU Usage in Idle Mode (%) Y Y Y Y Y
Load Average Over Last 1 Minute
(%)
Y Y Y Y Y
Load Average Over Last 5
Minutes (%)
Y Y Y Y Y
Load Average Over Last 15
Minutes (%)
Y Y Y Y Y
CPU Context Switches Rate
(Switches/Sec)
Y Y Y Y Y
CPU usage in wait mode Y N N N N
You determine which of these metrics to monitor and then configure the threshold values
for two states: warning and alarm. You also specify the number of breaches that must
occur before changing a resource's state. To help you configure thresholds, the current
values are provided.
If resources exceed the warning threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state
to the user-configured severity level and sends this information to the Administrative
Interface, Unicenter NSM WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console. If resources
exceed the alarm threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state to the userconfigured
severity level and again sends this information to the Administrative Interface,
WorldView, and the Event Console.
Note: For some metrics, the warning level is unavailable. For example, a printer's
availability can be only one of two states: available or not. Therefore, this type of
monitoring only allows you to configure the alarm level.
Detailed Metrics Monitoring (UNIX/Linux Resources)
Detailed metrics monitoring lets you monitor instance-specific metrics in four categories:
Disk, File System, Network Interfaces, and Processes. Monitoring these detailed metrics can
reveal unwanted changes in your computing environment that affect the health of your
network resources.
Although you can monitor detailed metrics for all UNIX/Linux resources, the specific
functionality you can monitor will vary, depending on the UNIX/Linux platform on each
monitored resource.
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The following table lists the four categories and the corresponding metrics you can monitor
for each UNIX/Linux platform:
Category Metrics AIX HP-UX Linux Solaris Tru64
Disk Read Rate (Reads/Sec) N N N Y N
Write Rate (Writes/Sec) N N N Y N
KB Read Per Second (KB/Sec) N N N Y N
KB Written Per Second
(KB/Sec)
Percent Time Transactions
Waiting For Service (%)
N N N Y N
N N N Y N
Percent Time Disk Is Busy Y N N Y N
KB transferred (read/write)
per second
Y Y N N Y
Seeks per second N Y N N N
Transfers per second Y N N N Y
File
System
Free Storage (KB)
Y Y Y Y Y
Total Storage Capacity (KB) Y Y Y Y Y
Used Storage (%) Y Y Y Y Y
Used Storage (KB) Y Y Y Y Y
Network
Devices
(NICs)
Input Packet Rate
(packets/Sec) Y Y Y Y Y
Input Packet Error Rate
(Errors/Sec)
Output Packet Rate
(Packets/Sec)
Output Packet Error Rate
(Errors/Sec)
Y N Y Y Y
Y Y Y Y Y
Y N Y Y Y
Collision Rate (Collisions/Sec) Y N N Y Y
Processes
Percent Recent CPU Utilization
(%)
Percent Memory Usage (RSS)
to Physical Memory (%)
Y Y Y Y Y
N N Y Y Y
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Category Metrics AIX HP-UX Linux Solaris Tru64
Size of Virtual Memory by
Process (KB)
Y Y Y Y Y
Number of Instances Y Y Y Y Y
Number of threads Y N N N N
You determine which of these metrics to monitor and then configure the threshold values
for two states: warning and alarm. You also specify the number of breaches that must
occur before changing a resource's state. To help you configure thresholds, the current
values are provided.
If resources exceed the warning threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state
to the user-configured severity level and sends this information to the Administrative
Interface, Unicenter NSM WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console. If resources
exceed the alarm threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state to the userconfigured
severity level and again sends this information to the Administrative Interface,
WorldView, and the Event Console.
Mac OS X Resource Data You Can Monitor
Remote Monitoring lets you monitor multiple platforms in your network, including Mac OS X
resources. The functionality that can be monitored on the supported Mac OS X platform
includes the following:
• System Metrics
System metrics monitoring lets you monitor selected performance statistics for your
network resources. You configure the thresholds for these metrics, and Remote
Monitoring issues warnings and alarms if a resource exceeds these thresholds.
• Detailed Metrics
Detailed metrics monitoring lets you monitor instance-specific metrics from four
categories, including disk, file system, network interfaces, and processes. You configure
the thresholds for these metrics, and Remote Monitoring issues warnings and alarms if
a selected instance exceeds these thresholds.
System Metric Monitoring (Mac OS X Resources)
System metric monitoring lets you monitor selected performance statistics for your Mac OS
X resources. The metrics you can monitor are grouped into three categories: General,
Memory, and Processor. Monitoring the performance data of your network systems can
reveal unwanted changes in your computing environment that affect the health of your
network resources.
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The following table lists the three categories and the corresponding metrics you can monitor
for each:
Category
General
Metrics
Number of Users Logged on System
Number of Processes
Memory
Free Memory (KB)
Pages Paged In (KB/Sec)
Pages Paged Out (KB/Sec)
Processor CPU Usage in User Mode (%)
CPU Usage in System Mode (%)
CPU Usage in Idle Mode (%)
Load Average Over Last 1 Minute (%)
Load Average Over Last 5 Minutes (%)
Load Average Over Last 15 Minutes (%)
You determine which of these metrics to monitor and then configure the threshold values
for two states: warning and alarm. You also specify the number of breaches that must
occur before changing a resource's state. To help you configure thresholds, the current
values are provided.
If resources exceed the warning threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state
to the user-configured severity level and sends this information to the Administrative
Interface, Unicenter NSM WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console. If resources
exceed the alarm threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state to the userconfigured
severity level and again sends this information to the Administrative Interface,
WorldView, and the Event Console.
Note: For some metrics, the warning level is unavailable. For example, a printer's
availability can be only one of two states: available or not. Therefore, this type of
monitoring only allows you to configure the alarm level.
Detailed Metric Monitoring (MAC OS X Resources)
Detailed metric monitoring lets you monitor instance-specific metrics in four categories:
Disk, File System, Network Interfaces, and Processes. Monitoring these detailed metrics can
reveal unwanted changes in your computing environment that affect the health of your
network resources.
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The following table lists the four categories and the corresponding metrics you can monitor
for your Mac OS X resources:
Category
Disk
Metrics
KB Transfer (Read or Write) Rate (KB/Sec)
Transfer Rate (Transfers/Sec)
File System
Free Storage (KB)
Total Storage Capacity (KB)
Used Storage (%)
Used Storage (KB)
Network Devices
(NICs)
Input Packet Rate (Packets/Sec)
Input Packet Error Rate (Errors/Sec)
Output Packet Rate (Packets/Sec)
Output Packet Error Rate (Errors/Sec)
Collision Rate (Collisions/Sec)
Processes Percent Recent CPU Utilization (%)
Percent Memory Usage (RSS) to Physical Memory (%)
Size of Virtual Memory Used by Process (KB)
Number of Instances
You determine which of these metrics to monitor and then configure the threshold values
for two states: warning and alarm. You also specify the number of breaches that must
occur before changing a resource's state. To help you configure thresholds, the current
values are provided.
If resources exceed the warning threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state
to the user-configured severity level and sends this information to the Administrative
Interface, Unicenter NSM WorldView, and the Unicenter NSM Event Console. If resources
exceed the alarm threshold, Remote Monitoring changes the resource's state to the userconfigured
severity level and again sends this information to the Administrative Interface,
WorldView, and the Event Console.
IP Resource Data You Can Monitor
Remote Monitoring allows you to monitor resources from multiple platforms throughout
your network, including Windows, UNIX/Linux, and Mac OS X. Although you can monitor
data unique to each of these platforms, all of these resources are eligible for Internet
Protocol (IP) monitoring.
Note: Windows resources, UNIX/Linux resources, and Mac OS X resources are generically
referred to as IP resources in reference to IP monitoring.
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Monitoring an IP resource consists of the following two monitoring methods:
• Response Time
Measures the time it takes a resource to respond to an IP address ping. If the time
violates your warning or alarm threshold values, an alarm is triggered.
• Port State
Probes the port to check the state. If the state is different than the expected state, an
alarm is triggered.
When monitoring ports on the agent machine, you can scan only a limited the number of
ports at a time, due to the need to force the packets across the network. It is
recommended that you minimize the number of ports on the agent machine, but no such
restrictions apply to non-Remote Monitoring Agent machines.
Note: The alarm severity is configurable. To change the default for all new monitored
resources, change the severity level on the corresponding template.
Resource Templates
For every resource type you can monitor, Remote Monitoring provides a configuration
template. This template is applied to all new resources and serves as the basis for how that
resource will be monitored.
For example, you may run an automatic discovery to find all of the Windows resources you
can monitor. As you add these resources to the list of Windows machines to monitor, the
Windows template initially populates the monitoring configuration for each resource.
Note: Although resources are initially populated with values from the template, each
resource's monitoring profile can be customized, as needed.
Remote Monitoring provides templates for the following resource types:
• Windows
• UNIX (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, Tru64)/Linux
• Mac OS X
• IP
As a best practice, you should configure the specific platform template accordingly before
adding a large number of the resources. This will save you time by not having to configure
each machine individually afterwards.
For example, if you intend to monitor a collection of Exchange Servers and all these servers
have similar configurations, set the resources, metrics and services you intend to monitor
on each machine by defining them in the default windows template. After adding the
machines you can then add or remove unwanted metrics accordingly.
All resources you add will have the most current template configuration.
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Adding Resources to Monitor
How You Discover Network Resources
To effectively create and manage your network resource profiles, you must understand the
process you will follow to discover and add resources for monitoring. By understanding this
process, you can plan best how to approach the discovery process in your organization. To
discover and add your network resources, you will perform these actions:
1. Modify the default templates — For each resource type, there is a corresponding
template. By default, the templates are preconfigured, but you will want to customize
the template settings for the machines in your organization. When you customize the
template, you will discover a common resource to use as the basis. For example, if you
want to discover and add your Solaris server machines, you can populate the Solaris
template with actual data from a typical server on your network.
2. Discover or browse to find the resources to add — Discover and browse for only
the resources that match the typical resource you used to customize the template. For
example, you will search for Windows server machines on your network to add.
Note: All discoveries are performed by the Remote Monitoring Agent. If you are using
the Remote Monitoring Agent Service credentials to gain access to your network
resources, be sure the Agent machine has the proper administrator privileges.
3. Add the resources — Adding a resource for monitoring means you are creating a
profile for that resource. The profile includes information about security access to the
resource, which metric values to monitor, and which alarms to generate if metric value
thresholds are breached. The initial settings in your profile are based upon the
template.
4. Customize any resources as needed — Although most of the template settings may
apply, you may need to adjust some settings for individual resources.
5. Modify the template with a new resource and repeat the process — Now that all
of those resources have been added for monitoring, you can select a new resource type
to add. For example, you can edit the Windows template again, but use a Windows
workstation machine as your basis. Then, repeat the process here to locate and add
Windows workstation machines for monitoring.
Adding a Windows Resource to Monitor
Before you can monitor any resources, you must add the resource to your list of monitored
resources. You can add Windows resources using two methods: automatically discover the
resources in your network or manually add the resource's profile information. If you have
only a few resources to add, you may find it faster to add them manually.
After launching the Remote Monitoring Administrative Interface (AI) and connecting to a
Remote Monitoring agent, to add a Windows resource manually, follow these steps:
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
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2. Select Windows, New or click New Windows in the toolbar.
The New Windows Resource dialog opens. The fields are initially populated with values
from the default Windows template.
3. Enter the Node name of the resource you want to monitor.
4. Specify the credentials to connect to the resource you want to monitor in the Monitor
by text box. This can either be the Remote Monitoring Agent Service credentials or a
specific account using the Use this account text boxes
5. Press Discover to test and obtain the values of the metrics on that node.
6. Next browse through the available Windows Resource Data tabs and select the metrics
you want to monitor. Check off the metrics you want and configure the thresholds
accordingly.
7. For example if you want to monitor if the CPU usage with thresholds at Warning 60%,
Critical 80%:
a. Click the System Metrics Tab.
b. In the ‘Select the metric category to configure’ drop-down list, select processes
(Windows).
c. Check off the checkbox in the CPU Usage (%) row in the Monitor column.
d. If you want to change the Warning/Critical thresholds then double click on that
entry and change accordingly.
Additionally, if you also want to monitor Memory Usage, check the Memory Usage
(%) check box. An example of this follows:
8. Once you are done selecting the set of metrics you want to collect click OK to close the
dialog.
9. The new Windows resource is added to your list of monitored Windows resources.
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Discover Windows Resources Automatically
Instead of manually adding every resource, you can use the Discovery feature to browse
the network and find resources to monitor. The discovery process uses information
available from the Windows operating system, in a way similar to Network Neighborhood.
To automatically discover Windows resources after launching the Remote Monitoring AI,
follow these steps:
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select Windows, Discover.
The Discover New Windows Resources dialog opens.
3. Select a node to browse in the Browse node list box.
The Windows resources discovered on the selected node appear in the Select Windows
resources to monitor list box.
4. Select the resources you want to monitor and click OK.
Profiles for the selected resources are created, based on the Windows Template.
Note: If you want to add resources from another node, you can repeat steps 2-3. When
you select a new node, you are prompted to add your selected resources before continuing.
Edit the Windows Resource Template
The Windows resource template determines the initial monitoring configuration when you
add new Windows resources. A preconfigured template is provided, but you can edit the
template to suit your needs before adding resources.
To edit the Windows resource template
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select Windows, Template.
The Windows Template dialog opens.
3. Enter a Windows machine name in the Node field and click Discover.
The dialog is populated with metric values from the selected machine.
4. Modify the settings, as needed. Be sure to configure the settings on each tab, and click
OK.
Your new monitoring settings are saved to the template, and the Windows Template dialog
closes.
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Modifying Your Windows Resource Data Metrics
You can modify your collected windows resource data afterwards by right-clicking on the
Node and select properties. This can be a tedious task if you need to modify many
machines at once. To modify many machines at the same time the Remote Monitoring AI
has two tools built-in to do this:
• The Windows Group Configuration Editor
• The Windows Profiles Editor
EDIT A GROUP OF WINDOWS RESOURCES
You can edit the metrics settings for a group of Windows resources at the same time.
Note: Group editing removes any custom configuration information you previously applied
to your selected resources. If you do not want to lose custom configuration information, use
the Profile editing feature.
To edit metric values for a group of Windows resources
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select Windows, Group.
The Windows Group Configuration dialog opens.
3. Select the Windows resources you want to edit in the Windows Resources group box.
4. Modify the settings in the Resource Configuration group box, as needed, and click OK.
Your new settings are applied to the selected Windows resources, and the Windows
Group Configuration dialog closes.
Note: Use the Windows Configuration Group editor when you want all the selected
machines to have the same exact configuration profile applied. The settings you apply here
discard the previous profile applied to the selected nodes and apply the one according to
the metrics chosen in the active configuration window.
EDIT METRICS FOR MULTIPLE WINDOWS RESOURCES USING PROFILES
Resources are added using the same resource template. However, you can choose multiple
resources and change a subset of their monitoring attributes while leaving the other
attributes unchanged.
To assign new metric values to multiple Windows resources
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select Windows, Profiles.
The Windows Profiles dialog opens.
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3. Select the resources you want to modify in the Select Resources group box, and modify
the metric values in the Select and configure a resource attribute group box. When all
changes are complete, click OK.
Your changes to the metric values are added to the selected resources, and the dialog
closes.
Note: Use the Profile Editor when you want to tweak one or more machines you are
monitoring. The Profile Editor allows you to add, remove, or update specific metrics
accordingly without affecting the rest of the applied profile on that resource.
Adding UNIX/Linux Resources to Monitor
To monitor a UNIX/Linux resource, you must add the resource to your list of monitored
resources. Each UNIX/Linux resource must be added manually.
To add a new UNIX/Linux resource manually
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select UNIX, New. The UNIX/Linux Variant Selection dialog opens.
3. Select the variant of UNIX/Linux resource you want to add and click OK.
The New Resource dialog opens, where
matches the variant selected in the UNIX/Linux Variant Selection dialog. For example, if
you select Solaris, the New Solaris Resource dialog opens. All fields are initially
populated with values from the corresponding UNIX/Linux variant template.
4. In the specific UNIX/Linux Configuration dialog window enter all the details such as
node name, title, the user & password that the Remote Monitoring agent will use to
connect to this machine in the Access Via… (rsh/ssh) section, polling rate specific to
that resource.
5. Then configure the monitoring attributes accordingly and select the metrics you want to
monitor on that resource. You can click on the Discover button to test the connection
and to get the current values of those metrics at that moment.
6. For example if you wanted to monitor the System Memory usage then in the
configuration dialog you would select the System Metrics tab and then from the dropdown
list choose Memory.
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7. Next you will be given the memory metrics to choose form. Check off Free Memory and
Free Swap Space check boxes. See the following example:
8. When you are done click OK. The new resource is then added to your list of monitored
resources, and the dialog closes.
Add MAC OS X Resources
To monitor a MAC OS X resource, you must add the resource to your list of monitored
resources. Each Mac OS X resource must be added manually.
To add a Mac OS X resource, after launching the Remote Monitoring AI
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select Mac OS X, New.
The New Mac OS X Resource dialog opens. The fields are initially populated with values
from the Mac OS X template.
3. Enter details about the resource, configure the monitoring attributes, and click OK
when complete.
The new resource is added to your list of monitored resources, and the dialog closes.
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Add IP Resources Manually
To monitor an IP resource, you must add the resource to your list of monitored resources.
You can add IP resources using two methods: automatically discover the resources on your
network or manually add the resource's IP information. If you have only a few resources to
add, you may find it faster to add them manually.
To add an IP resource manually, from within the Remote Monitoring AI follow these steps:
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select IP, New. The New IP Resource dialog opens. The fields are initially populated
with values from the IP template.
3. Enter details about the resource such as node name, title, polling interval, and the
threshold levels accordingly.
4. If you want to monitor ports then check off the “Monitor Ports ?” check box. Configure
the ports section accordingly and check off the port numbers you are interested in.
5. Click OK when complete. The new IP resource is then added to your list of monitored IP
resources, and the dialog closes.
Adding IP Resources Automatically
Instead of manually adding every resource, you can use the Discovery feature to locate
new IP resources to monitor.
To automatically discover IP resources, from within the Remote Monitoring AI
1. Click Start> Programs> Computer Associates> Unicenter> NSM> Remote Monitoring >
Unicenter Remote Monitoring AI.
2. Select IP, Discover. The Discover New IP Resources dialog opens.
3. Enter the IP subnet to sweep in the Starting IP address field and click Discover.
Note: You can choose to resolve the IP host name using DNS, but this option
significantly increases the time it takes to complete the sweep.
The discovered IP resources appear in the list box.
4. Select the resources you want to monitor and click OK.
Profiles for the selected resources are created, based on the IP Template.
Note: If you want to add resources from another subnet, you can repeat steps 2-3.
When you click Discover, you are prompted to add your previously selected resources
before continuing.
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Managing Resources
After discovering and adding your resources for monitoring, you may occasionally need to
evaluate and change the monitor settings for these resources. Managing your resources
helps ensure that you are continuously monitoring these resources efficiently and
effectively.
Managing your resources may involve the following procedures:
1. Customize the resource configuration
When you add a resource, the initial monitoring configuration settings are based on the
corresponding template for the resource type you add. For example, when adding a
Solaris resource configuration, the resource's initial configuration is based on the
Solaris template. Although this allows you to add resources with settings customized
for your organization, you may need to tweak the settings for individual machines to
maximize your ability to monitor those machines. To do this, you have the following
three options:
› Modify settings for an individual resource
› Modify settings for multiple resources using the Groups feature
› Modify settings for multiple resources using the Profiles feature
2. Add, delete, or discontinue monitoring resources
As the configuration of your network changes, you will need to make changes to the list
of machines you monitor. This may mean you need to add or delete resource
configurations. You also have the option to keep a resource configuration but turn off
monitoring for that resource. For example, you may need to take a machine off of the
network for maintenance. If you do this while monitoring as an IP resource, removing
the machine will generate multiple errors. In this case, turn off monitoring for the
machine until the maintenance is complete.
3. Set up event log filters
If you plan to monitor the Windows event logs, you can set up event log filters. Filters
help to ensure that only the event log errors that matter to you are actually reported as
errors and send messages to the Unicenter Event Console.
4. Review reports and graphs
One way to help manage your resources is to check the various reports and graphs you
can generate. The reports and graphs include the following:
› Alarm history
Displays a history of the alarms generated by your monitored resources.
› Configuration reports
Displays information about the monitoring configuration of a resource, including
which metrics are being monitored, threshold values, and other monitoring
details.
› Real-time graphs
Graphs the same system metric for the multiple monitored resources you select.
5. Check resource status
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The final step in managing your resources is to check the status reported for each.
Errors are reported by changing the color or the severity alarms, letting you know that
a resource may require attention. You can check the status of resources in
Unicenter NSM using the WorldView component or by reviewing error messages in the
Event Management Console. You can also review the status of resources using the
following components of the Remote Monitoring Administrative Interface:
› Status panes
Status panes exist for each node in the tree view. Viewing the status pane for a
specific resource provides the detail's current status and related details.
› Alarm details
The Alarm History window lists the recent alarms generated by your resources.
The list provides details about the devices that generated the alarms, the alarm
messages, and the severity level assigned to each resource.
For more details on managing your resources, see the Managing Resources section in the
Remote Monitoring Administrative Interface online help > Contents.
Best Practices for Remote Monitoring
Administering Multiple Remote Monitoring Agents
In large scale environments multiple Remote Monitoring Agents are necessary to deploy
throughout your environment in order to handle many different resources. The biggest
limiting factors in scalability are network conditions and responsiveness of the servers being
monitored. It costs very little in CPU and memory on the Remote Monitoring agent to
initiate the gathering of metrics from a resource. Most of the delay is due to waiting for a
response from the remote resource. As such, it is recommended that Remote Monitoring
agents be deployed as near as possible to the resources being monitored. Additionally, if
the server being monitored is under heavy load, it may not respond quickly enough,
resulting in delays and possible missed polling cycles.
In order to administer multiple Remote Monitoring agents in your environment you can use
the AI to connect to different Remote Monitoring agents. From the FILE menu choose OPEN
and then click NEW to enter the name of the machine where the other Remote Monitoring
agent is running. You can connect to this agent and configure it accordingly with its own set
of resources to monitor.
If you are running multiple Remote Monitoring gents you can have multiple Remote
Monitoring AI’s open at the same time in order to connect to different Remote Monitoring
agents. You can create multiple shortcuts to the Administrative Interface and configure
each to connect to a different agent. By connecting each to a unique agent, you can run
several instances of the Administrative Interface at the same time, monitoring several
agents at once without having to manually switch from agent to agent.
To create a shortcut that defines which agent to connect to, follow these steps:
1. Copy the start menu shortcut to the Remote Monitoring AI from within the Start Menu
and paste it to the Desktop.
2. Right-click the shortcut icon and select Properties.
The Properties dialog opens.
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3. In the Target field, enter the following after the saGUI.exe:
/A agentmachine
where: agentmachine is the name of the machine where the Remote Monitoring Agent
is located.
4. Click OK.
The shortcut icon is now configured to open the specified Remote Monitoring Agent in the
Administrative Interface when you double-click the icon.
Configuring Unicenter Remote Monitoring in a Secure Environment
In today’s network infrastructures there are usually multiple different Administrator
accounts needed to administer the network. The Remote Monitoring Agent has the ability to
specify different account credentials to use when monitoring each resource. In the
properties of the monitored resource you can specify a different account to connect with in
the “Monitor via” text box.
Tips
When installing Remote Monitoring, make sure the account specified to run the Remote
Monitoring Agent has the “LogonAsService” right. Alternatively use a local system account.
To do this, go to the Control Panel Administrative Tools Services, double click the CA
Remote Monitoring service. Select the “Log On” tab, select “Local Account”, and click OK.
Scalability
Unicenter Remote Monitoring scalability is a function of: CPU, network traffic, polling
intervals, and # number of metrics monitored per resource. The OS of the resource is also
a factor: UNIX/Linux are the most expensive, then Windows, then IP with ports, then IP
without ports. A good rule of thumb is 200-250 resources with a good mix of IP, Windows,
and UNIX/Linux.
The agent does not consume much memory (

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Chapter 9: Customized
Deployment Options
In previous chapters we have described the best practice deployment for 300-1500 servers.
Customers with larger number of servers, or widely dispersed systems may want to
evaluate alternative deployment architectures. This chapter provides additional information
that is useful for designing customized deployments of Unicenter NSM.
The following key topics are presented:
• Architectural Considerations
• Ports
• Architectural Scenarios
• Sample Customer Architectures
Architectural Considerations
When architecting a solution with Unicenter NSM a broad range of decisions need to be
made in order that the correct architecture is designed. This chapter contains examples of
different architectural scenarios and explanations of how the architecture was designed.
Before designing the architecture a full plan should be created that includes the following:
Wide Area Network (WAN) diagram
• Number of managed nodes broken down into regional areas based on WAN locations
• Existing Unicenter components with platforms and version information
• Management requirements, such as centralized / regional consoles
• Unicenter components to be included within the architecture
Component Placement
All Unicenter NSM architectures will consist of a central database server containing the
MDB, The MDB can be installed on a standalone server (WV manager and provider
components must be installed on the MDB server) or be part of the management server.
Since Unicenter is a multi-tiered management architecture it allows the middle tier
management elements to be dispersed to remote locations. The middle tier management
elements generally comprise of a DSM which has two key activities, the first is to poll SNMP
devices and Unicenter agents and the second is to receive traps from managed nodes. The
DSM uses this information to update the central manager with managed node status. The
middle tier manager will also be configured as an event management manager allowing
event messages to be filtered and passed on to central event management servers.
The Performance distribution servers also fit into the middle tier, but before deciding if the
DSM and performance distribution server should co-exist, consideration should be made
into how the performance distribution server will be used. Requests coming from
performance applications that utilize the Performance Data Grid will make requests to the
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distribution servers. To ensure fast response to requests the server should have sufficient
cycles to handle the maximum number of expected Queries.
In a multi region environment, the middle tier managers should be placed electronically
close to the managed nodes, this is to cut down on traps / polls passing across wide are
links. In a customer environment that contains multiple large regional locations the middle
tier manager will normally be placed in regional centers and will manage the location and
satellite locations.
How Many MDBs are Required?
The question surrounding how many MDBs are required within an environment has many
variables; consideration should be made into which MDB applications are to be deployed
and how the information will be used. Each application can impact the database in different
ways; an application that generates reports will interact with the database differently than a
more interactive application. It may be prudent to have a separate MDB if the application
will require a large amount of database updates or queries.
Separate MDBs can be used to segment the management information, this can be useful if
autonomous regional locations are required, at the regional level operations staff have full
control of there environment but the repository bridge can be used to replicate status
information to an enterprise layer. When looking at building an enterprise MDB you should
consider the relevant replication mechanism supplied by the application. The repository
bridge should be used when replicating WorldView objects.
An example of a multiple MDB environment would be a centralized MDB being used by
Service Desk and the desktop management products. The desktop management product set
can be configured with an enterprise layer, in this instance regional MDBs can be used to
build a multi tiered desktop management environment. If in this environment a multi region
Unicenter NSM infrastructure is required the desktop regional MDBs can be used by
Unicenter NSM. The repository bridge will then be used to replicate objects to the enterprise
MDB.
Number of managed objects should also be considered when deciding on the number of
MDBs required. More information on sizing can be found in the Unicenter NSM
Implementation Guide that can be found on the Unicenter NSM r11.x DVD additional
information is available on the implementation CD that can be accessed through the CA
support connect web site Integration CD on Support Connect.
Web Reporting with System Performance
When creating system performance web reports through WRS, the server will interact with
the Performance Data Grid (PDG) to gather the performance data. This connection utilizes
the PDG API, and a CAM connection will be made to the domain / distribution server(s)
within the performance domain. The distribution server within the PDG that holds the data
required will then be contacted to supply the information. At this point the distribution
server will compile the information and supply it to WRS. If the intention is to run ad hoc
system performance reports during the day the distribution servers require sufficient CPU
cycles to facilitate the request. If the majority of the reporting is to be scheduled for out of
hours the impact on the distribution servers during business hours should be minimal.
We recommend that a Distribution server should be installed on the WRS server to act as
an entry point to the performance data grid, this server should only be used to store
performance cubes in small environments.
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Ports
A list of ports that will be used for Unicenter NSM component communications is listed on
the Support Connect website at:
http://supportconnectw.ca.com/premium/ca_common_docs/uni30-1012e.asp.
Architectural Scenarios
This section provides five different scenarios, and provides an overview of the deployment
architectures for each of them. The specific scenarios covered are:
1. Consolidation of managers into a single manager system
2. Regional managers that are autonomous
3. Distributed locations with a central manager
4. Outsourced environments
The following scenarios are all based on the use of agent technology. For information
related to agentless monitoring, please refer to Chapter 8, Implementing Remote
Monitoring.
Scenario One: Consolidation of Managers
A common requirement is the consolidation of system management information into a
single manager. Multiple system management tools may be in use through out an
organization leading to silo’s of information. In order to get a true picture of the
environment the information from these disparate systems needs to be combined, allowing
for centralized event consolidation and reporting. A typical example would be integration
with a tool such as HP Insight Manager, when integrated the Unicenter NSM WorldView
contains objects to represent the insight manager agent on each machine. From one
console the health of the operating system and the underlying hardware platform can be
monitored, as shown in the following diagram.
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When Unicenter NSM is to be used as a manager of managers, information from the third
party products will be processed either by event management or the DSM or both. This
information can then be visualized and consolidated, to update the WorldView or for
creation of trouble tickets or Unicenter alerts.
Integrations kits are available from either the third party vendor or directly from CA.
Computer Associates run a certification process for integrations and a complete list can be
found on the ca smart website http://ca.com/casmart. In addition custom integration can
be created using the supplied SDK.
Scenario Two: Regional / Autonomous Management
A large corporation has multiple locations around the world; these locations have been split
into regional centers to facilitate local management of the environment. The regional
operations team have total autonomy to manager there environment, but an enterprise
level is required to allow for a centralized helpdesk system and a single view of the entire
enterprise. This lets the various dispersed operations teams supply a follow the sun
operation, as shown in the following diagram.
Regional MDBs have been created ensuring that each region can maintain its own
environment, the repository bridge is utilized to replicate failing objects to the enterprise
repository. System performance has been architected as a single domain with distribution
servers located in the regional locations, the web reporting tool allows for reporting across
the entire enterprise and Reports can be published to the Management portal.
ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW
Within this architecture the two regional centers have autonomy over the regional
Unicenter NSM infrastructure and each have their own MDB instance, Discovery is used to
populate the WorldView with the managed nodes for each region and regional instances of
MCC, Unicenter Configuration Manager and WRS are used to administrator the regional
environment. Each regional server contains a performance distribution server that reports
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to a domain server which is located at the Enterprise layer. Performance data collected
from managed nodes within the region is held on the regional managers. The performance
distribution servers report to the performance domain server and the performance data is
available through the Performance Data Grid (PDG). More information on the PDG can be
found in Chapter one.
A single global catalog has been created at the enterprise layer and all of the management
servers are registered to the global catalog. The MCC uses the global catalog to identify key
components such as WV and DSMs so with a central global catalog all of the WorldViews
will be available through a single MCC (subject to security). Events are forwarded from the
regional managers to the enterprise manager where AEC is used to consolidate the events
into alerts (AMS) and through AMS escalation rules are applied to the alerts and service
desk tickets can be created dynamically. A central AMS server is being used allowing a
single view of the whole enterprise; AMS managers could be deployed to each manager if
required.
The DSM installed on the Enterprise Manager server is configured to manage the regional
managers (DSMs) to ensure the monitoring infrastructure is functioning. The DSM installed
on the regional manager is designated as the manager for the agents on the regional
managed nodes.
The Enterprise Manager is defined as the master UKB for DIA configuration. No zones have
been configured in this architecture ensuring that all DIA components are available to the
infrastructure.
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Scenario Three: Central Management
A large corporation has multiple locations around the world but has a centralized operations
center. The central operations team has full responsibility for the infrastructure and there is
no Regional systems management. This architecture tends to be found with small to
medium size enterprises. The diagram of the approach is shown below.
ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW
Within this architecture a central management location is administrating remote locations
with no local management console. Discovery is used to populate WorldView with the
managed nodes for the enterprise. The remote management servers contain a performance
distribution server reporting to a domain server which is located at the Enterprise layer.
Performance data collected from managed nodes within the region is held on the regional
manager. The performance distribution servers report to the performance domain server
the performance data is available through the Performance Data Grid (PDG) more
information on the PDG can be found in Chapter One.
The Regional management server is running Distributed State Machines (DSMs) which are
configured to manage nodes within the remote location or satellite locations.
A single global catalog has been created at the enterprise layer and all of the management
servers are registered to the global catalog. The MCC uses the global catalog to identify key
components such as WV and DSMs. Events are forwarded from the regional managers to
the enterprise manager where AEC is used to consolidate the events into alerts (AMS) and
through AMS escalation rules are applied to the alerts and service desk tickets can be
created dynamically. A central AMS server is being used allowing a single view of the whole
enterprise; AMS managers could be deployed to each manager if required.
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The Enterprise Manager is defined as the master UKB for DIA configuration. No zones have
been configured in this architecture ensuring that all DIA components are available to the
infrastructure.
Scenario Four: Outsourced Environment
Outsourcers will generally have multiple data centers located around the world to support
there customer networks, to keep an overall view of all customers a multi tiered
architecture will generally be deployed. The enterprise layer is a consolidated
representation of all data centers. Each datacenter contains a view of the customer
networks that it manages. A mixture of Unicenter Bridge for WorldView objects and
enterprise management will be used to forward events. This is diagrammed below.
In this example the DSM infrastructure within the data center is utilized to monitor the
Unicenter implementations within the customer networks. DIA is configured with a multiple
master UKBs to segment DIA communication traffic the impact of this DIA configuration on
the architecture will dictate that the MCC users at the data center / Enterprise layer will be
unable to communicate with alert managers within the customer network. If alerts from the
customer network are required at the data center / enterprise layer event management /
AEC should be used to consolidate and forwarded to the alert manager at the enterprise.
Performance management is configured with each customer having a performance domain
(PDG) this allows for reporting at the customer level, if performance data is required at the
enterprise / Data Center layer performance cubes can be copied from the customer
environment to the enterprise.
319: CA Green Book, Systems Management

The diagram below highlights what components are installed in the customer environment
and the outsourcers’ environment.
The following diagram provides a more detailed view of how the components are deployed.
320: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Sample Customer Architectures
This section provides some detailed information on actual customer implementations of the
architectures described previously. Sample implementations diagrams and summaries of
the deployment of systems management components are provided for the following:
• Central management model
• Central retail model
• Resilient Full Duplex model
Customer Architecture - Central Management
The following diagram shows a customer’s diagram for the central management approach.
321: CA Green Book, Systems Management

The following table describes the function of the Unicenter NSM components in the previous
deployment:
Component
Unicenter NSM
r11.0 CA-MDB
Server
Description
This server houses the CA Management Database and is the
central repository of information about servers within the
environment
This system runs CA’s Ingres database management system.
This server also houses the monitoring management functions of
Unicenter NSM r11. This includes centralized discovery of remote
servers, event management and event correlation.
This system collects server states and records them in the MDB.
These states can be presented by the Unicenter NSM r11 Portal
or by Unicenter NSM r11 Web Reporting component.
It monitors all subordinate Intermediate Managers and can take
over monitoring for these servers in the event of an outage.
All subordinate Intermediate Managers forward events and state
changes to this server for event correlation.
Unicenter NSM r11
System
Performance and
Portal Server
Intermediate
Manager Servers
Managed Resources
The purpose of this server is to configure remote performance
agents and provide a repository of all detailed server
performance data collected within the environment.
Summarized performance data is stored within the MDB for
summary reporting.
The Unicenter NSM r11 Web Reporting component is installed on
this machine for both performance and server state reporting.
The Unicenter NSM r11 Portal is installed on this server to
provide Portal services and role-based access to performance
reports.
These components house the main server monitoring component
and are located in the remote locations.
This server polls servers electronically close to the management
component and receives transmissions from agents installed on
remote servers.
These servers also house the current Desktop and Server
Management Staging Server and Asset Management Sector
server components.
These servers would be managed by the appropriate
Intermediate Monitoring Server. Agents would be configured to
forward alerts and state changes to the Intermediate Monitoring
Servers.
322: CA Green Book, Systems Management

The following table provides the hardware specification for this deployment:
Server
Function Description Platform Hardware
Unicenter NSM
Manager
(MDB)
Unicenter NSM r11
Global Catalog
WorldView, WorldView
Provider
DSM, DSM Watcher, DSM
Provider
Event Manager, Event
Provider
Windows 2003
SNMP Installed &
running
Static IP Address
4 GB RAM
Dual Pentium IV
3.06 GHz
Single NIC card
1 GB
40 GB disk
space
Advanced Event Correlation
Classic and Continuous
Discovery
Alert Management Service
Alert Notification Service
Windows System & Log
Agent
Performance Agent
DIA - UKB
Desktop and Server
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Asset
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Remote Control
6.0 Host
System
Performance
Server and
Portal Server
Unicenter NSM r11
System Performance
Domain Server
Web Reporting Server
Configuration Manager
DIA UKB
Unicenter NSM r11 Portal
Windows 2003
SNMP Installed &
running
Static IP address
4 GB RAM
Dual Pentium IV
3.06 GHz
1 GB Network
Card
160 GB RAID-5
disk
CleverPath PEK 4.7.1
Unicenter NSM r11 System,
Log, Event, Performance
Agent
Ingres 3.0 OpenSource
Client
Desktop and Server
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Asset
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Remote Control
6.0 Host
323: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Server
Function Description Platform Hardware
Intermediate
Manager
Unicenter NSM r11
Local Catalog
DSM, DSM Provider
Event Agent, Event Provider
Advanced Event Correlation
Windows 2000
TCP/IP & SNMP
DHCP
Single Intel 2.0
GHz
2 GB RAM
100 Megabyte
Ethernet
Connection
Continuous Discovery Agent
80 GB disk
System and Log Agent
Performance Agent
DIA UKB
Desktop and Server
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Asset
Management Sector and
Sector Service, Agent
Unicenter Remote Control
6.0 Host
Intermediate
Server
Unicenter NSM r11
System Agent
Event Agent
Log Agent
Performance Agent
DIA - DNA
Desktop and Server
Management 4.0 Agent
Microsoft Windows
2003 (Web
Edition)
Microsoft Windows
2000 (Advanced
Server, Server)
Microsoft Windows
2003 (Enterprise
Edition, Server
Edition)
Server Class
machine
256 MB RAM
Single NIC card
10/100 MB
250 MB avail
disk
Unicenter Asset
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Remote Control
6.0 Host
Unicenter
Administrator
Console
Unicenter NSM r11
Management Command
Center
Ingres 3.0 OpenSource
Client
Windows 2003
Windows 2000
SP3**
Internet Explorer
5.0
MS Virtual
Machine (latest
version – latest
SP)
Single 1 GHz or
faster CPU
1 GB of RAM
100 Megabit
Ethernet
Connection
500 MB free
disk space
TCP/IP
324: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Customer Architecture - Central Retail Model
The following diagram represents a customer retail deployment where the central
management model is used.
325: CA Green Book, Systems Management

The hardware environment for this deployment is shown below:
Server
Function Description Platform Hardware
Unicenter NSM
Manager
(MDB)
Unicenter NSM r11 –
Global Catalog
WorldView, WorldView
Provider
Windows 2003
SNMP Installed &
running
Static IP Address
4 GB RAM
Dual Pentium IV
3.06 GHz
Single NIC card 1 GB
DSM, DSM Watcher, DSM
Provider
40 GB disk space
Event Manager, Event
Provider
Advanced Event Correlation
Classic and Continuous
Discovery
Alert Management Service
Alert Notification Service
Windows System & Log
Agent
Performance Agent
DIA - UKB
Desktop and Server
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Asset
Management 4.0 Agent
Unicenter Remote Control
6.0 Host
Distribution
Center
Managers
DSM
Performance Distribution
Server
System and Performance
agents
Agents
Windows 2003 SP1
TCP/IP & SNMP
DHCP
Quad Intel 3.0 GHz
3 GB RAM
One 10/ 100 MB
One 1 Gb Ethernet
Connection
67 GB disk
Store Manager
DSM
Performance Distribution
Server
System and Performance
agents
Agents
Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 4.1
2.4 GHz Processor
512 MB RAM
One 10/ 100 MB
Ethernet Connection
67 GB disk
326: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Resilient Full-Duplex Model
The customer is using a Highly Resilient Full Duplex Monitoring Environment (located in two
separate operation centers), this allows for the monitoring function to be switched from the
primary to the secondary system in case of problems, as shown in the diagram below.
The Enterprise Servers (MDB, DSM, and Event Management) display incoming messages in
Alert Queues. These servers also initiate external actions (E-Mail, Fax, trouble ticket
generation, etc.) and monitor the Mid Level Manager servers.
The Mid Level Managers (DSM, Event Management) collect information about the Managed
Nodes (Objects). The Mid Level Manager servers are specialized for specific classes
(Windows, UNIX, and Network). All incoming messages are forwarded to the Log Store for
further analysis. Critical messages are forwarded to the Enterprise Servers (ES).
The Portal log Servers are used to keep the logs of all servers for further analysis. For Web-
Access to the Management System the Unicenter Management Portal is installed on these
servers.
The entire system is managed by Remote Admin Clients.
327: CA Green Book, Systems Management

ARCHITECTURE DETAIL
• Event Management The customer has an extensive event management system,
automating about 4,000 messages, many with considerable underlying logic. This is
viewed as the most critical application in use. To achieve guaranteed delivery of Traps
several Event Agents have been implemented on monitored servers.
• Workload Management The Customer has very few jobs defined. They are mainly
used for performing regular tasks inside the Unicenter NSM environment (Log Extracts,
System Analysis, etc.)
• Common Object Repository (MDB) The Repository contains about 25,000 managed
objects. The scheme has been customized to a moderate degree (custom pollsets,
menus, Business Process Views, classes, and so forth).
• DSM an individual policy (Advanced IP) has been implemented to support ICMP/SNMP
monitoring.
• Automation Point Option (APO) APO is used to inform Technical Staff by
SMS/Telephone.
The following table summarizes information about the managed objects and transaction
rates experienced with this deployment.
DSM: Hosts, Agents, Objects
EM: Events, Message
Records/Actions
Hosts
Agent
Classes Agents Objects
Events
/day MR MRA
EM Server 400,000 4,000 12,000
Unix DSM 178 5 178 4,471
Windows
DSM 681 8 351 5,209
Network
DSM 828 2 1,564 13,530
Summary 1,687 15 2,093 23,210 400,000 4,000 12,000
328: CA Green Book, Systems Management

The hardware specifications for the deployment are summarized in the following table.
Server Function Description Platform Quantity
Enterprise Server
(ES)
Unicenter NSM r11
CORE WV, MDB, WV
Windows 2003
P4-2.8 GHz
2
Provider
4 GB or higher
DSM, DSM Provider
20 GB disk
EM, EM Provider
space
SAN Disk
Mid-Level
Management Serer
Unicenter NSM r11 –
DSM, DSM Provider
Windows 2003
P4-2.8 GHz
6
EM, EM Provider
4 GB or higher
AEC,
20 GB disk space
Portal/Log Server Unicenter NSM r11 –
EM, EM Provider
Unicenter Management
Portal
Windows 2003
P4-2.8 GHz
4 GB or higher
20 GB disk
space
SAN Disk
2
329: CA Green Book, Systems Management

INDEX
2D Map, 56
discovered objects, 185
managed object scoping, 132
restrict managed objects, 124
security, 158
2
A
access Unicenter NSM web
applications, 76
Active Directory
integrating with Notification
Services, 150
Adaptive Configuration, 23
create agent, 87
customize example, 87
storing, 88
Adaptive Dashboard Server, 22, 141
Advanced Event Correlation, 32, 111
configuration guidelines, 116
deploy policy to an event agent
system, 116
duplicate event suppression rule,
114
host agent failure example, 113
Integrated Development
Environment, 114
policies, 112
preparation, 111
test policy, 116
Advanced Event Correlation
AEC. See Advanced Event Correlation
agent configurations
build and deliver, 81
create a customized, 81
managing with Unicenter
Configuration Manager, 77
to view, 85
Agent Technology, 30
capacity considerations, 55
planning, 43
securing, 170
agents
available, 33
configure with dashboards, 144
default Windows OS system, 61
policy pack for event messages,
105
profiles, 78
Alert Management System, 32
alerts to monitor, 120
close alerts automatically, 121
configure, 117
define alert class, 119
define alert queues, 119
guidelines, 123
link to Service Desk, 32
queue, 118
setup, 117
AMS. See Alert Management System
applyptf, 70
architectural considerations, 313
architectural scenarios, 315
architecture
autonomous management, 316
basic, 38
basic plus performance, 40
central management, 318
consolidation of managers, 315
customer implementations, 321
deployment, 29
High Availability Server, 53
knowledge base, 48
outsourced environment, 319
performance plus portal diagram,
41
Unicenter NSM, 43
assessment, 25
automation drivers, 17
aws_agtgate, 30
aws_dsm, 59
aws_orb, 30, 59
aws_sadmin, 30
aws_snmp, 59
awservices, 30, 99, 133

ackup
B
system performance, 240
base profile
create, 82
update, 83
basic architecture diagram, 38
Business Process Views, 217
administering, 217
dynamic containment service, 218
in MCC, 219
business requirements, 42
CA architects, 26
C
CA Technology Services. See
professional services
CA's solution, 12
class scoping, 64
classic discovery, 184
advanced, 190
best practices, 185
command line, 196
from MCC, 200
Communication Layer
securing, 169
component placement, 313
components
management, 29
reinstall, 76
solution, 29
configuration
adaptive, 86
configuration bundle
to build, 84, 89
with delivery schedule, 96
Configuration Manager, 32
create a base profile, 82
delivery of profiles, 95
differential profile, 89
file package, 88
update base profile, 83
configure
your setup, 76
console log, 219
best practices, 220
D
dashboard, 137, 141
accessing, 142
agent, 141
configure agents, 144
creating, 143
server, 141
database best practices, 46
delivery schedule, 95
deployment, 74
architecture, 29
best practices, 67
checklist, 65
component placement, 313
environment, 42
medium enterprise, 35
Unicenter NSM to hosts, 75
derived metrics
creating, 242
Desktop and Server Management
register Unicenter NSM, 74
DIA. See Distributed Intelligence
Architecture
differential profile, 89
add, 92
build a configuration bundle, 94
configuration, 91
create a group configuration, 93
delete configuration, 93
update, 91
discovery
auditing devices, 182
automating discovery events, 181
best practices, 185
by command line, 196
classic, 184
classic discovery wizard, 188
classification rules, 201
Common Traffic Analyzer, 180
configuration, 179
continuous, 181
firewalls, 181
fixed IP addresses, 181
IP discovery, 184
methods, 186, 191
332: CA Green Book, Systems Management

network devices, 176
overview, 178
preparation, 188
processes, 187
restricting discovered devices,
184
run it from MCC, 200
subnet filtering, 186
Distributed Intelligence Architecture
configure, 71
consumers, 52
how it works, 47
zones, 49
Distributed State Machine, 29
access to management database,
45
agent map scoreboard, 256
best practices for capacity, 56
configuration plug-in, 125
configure agent class scoping, 125
configure and manage, 124
configure community strings, 125
configure discovery pollset values,
126
configure IP address scoping, 126
configure managed object
scoping, 127
configure with DSM Wizard, 133
deploying, 43
Host Map Scoreboard, 258
launch DSM Wizard, 134
modify agent class scoping, 128
modify configurations in MCC, 127
modify Discovery Community
Strings, 128, 129
modify IP Address Scoping, 131
modify Managed Object Scoping,
132
modify Pollset, 130
polling interval, 44, 64
preparing, 71
process (aws_dsm), 44
recycle, 133
resetdsm command, 131
understanding configuration, 124
workload, 44
DNA registration
by configuration file, 51
diagram, 50
DNS lookup, 51
registration process, 49
DSM. See Distributed State Machine
E
EITM. See Enterprise IT Management
email notification, 152
Enterprise IT Management, 19
Enterprise Management
securing its components, 163
enterprise systems management, 20
Event Management, 31
activate policy pack, 105
add a user, 122
best practices, 110
configure, 102
Console filtering, 261
Console in Management Portal,
260
console log filters, 104
creating a Console, 261
creating Scoreboards, 264
customize MCC console logs, 103
setup, 103
executive summary, 12
F
failover capability, diagram, 36
file package, create, 88
firewalls, 172
H
host machine capacity, 59
IDE. See Advanced Event
Correlation, Integrated
Development Environment
Ingres server, set up user, 160
installation
methods to consider, 67
preinstallation tasks, 71
unattended installation, 68
upgrading and migrating, 70
using Desktop and Server
Management, 70
I
333: CA Green Book, Systems Management

using the reduced-install media,
68
using Unicenter NSM Product
Explorer, 68
integration kits, 316
intermediate manager
server, 37
IP address scoping, 46, 63
K
key capabilities, 22
knowledge base architecture, 48
L
lifecycle approach, 25
log agent
configuration, 98
differential profile, 101
M
managed devices, 37
Management Command Center, 22
adding Configuration Management
views, 211
adding dashboard views, 210
adding viewers, 214
adding views, 209
adjust event columns, 103
best practices, 201
Business Process Views, 217, 219
configuring, 202
console logs, 219
create console log bookmarks,
104
create view-only user accounts,
159
custom views, 207
define event filters in console
logs, 104
description, 31
discovery, 220
integration with Web Reporting,
139
launch console logs, 103
launching MCC, 202
launching Agent View, 223
launching Node View, 222
My Actions, 203
open Alert Management, 119
perspective, 203
secure by instances, 162
securing by classes, 161
security, 158
Security by WorldView Scoping,
161
Service Desk connection, 206
System Performance view, 212
test view-only user accounts, 161
using alerts, 213
Management Portal
activating security, 168
adding links to Web applications,
268
configuring, 246
create user, 273
create workgroup, 274
creating a WorldView agent status
scoreboard, 252
creating a WorldView Scoreboard,
249
customize appearance, 275
deploying, 245
description, 34
getting started, 246
integration with Web Reporting
Server, 138
Knowledge Library, 269
predefined Workplace templates,
271
publishing a file, 268
securing, 168
server, 37
understanding portlets, 248
viewing Event Management
Console, 260
viewing scoreboards, 248
Workplace, 271
maturity model, 26
MCC. See Management Command
Center
MDB
best practices for capacity, 55
capacity, 55
define connection, 117
location and cold startup, 57
multiple, 314
placement, 46
upload performance data, 242
334: CA Green Book, Systems Management

MDBs required, 314
Message Actions
activate, 108
create, 107
Message Records
activate, 108
create, 106
define policy, 106
MIB, associating, 234
MIBmuxed agent, 256
Microsoft SQL Server,set up user,
159
network
N
considerations, 61
security, 172
Notification Services, 22, 145
central server, 146
configure for email, 147
description, 31
integrating with Active Directory,
150
recipient user, 148
service provider, 148
strategy, 153
transmission mechanisms, 145
two-way emails, 152
O
organizational considerations, 62
PDG. See Performance Data Grid
performance
distribution server, 34
domain server, 34
performance cubes, 226
Performance Data Grid, 240, 314
performance trend, 23
ports, 315
preinstallation tasks, 71
professional services, 24
P
profile
base, 82
differential, 90
publish reports, 134
R
registration
prepare a Unicenter NSM install
package, 74
with Desktop and Server
Management, 74
Remote Monitoring, 277
add IP resource, 308
add Mac OS X resource, 307
add resources, 302
add UNIX/Linux resources, 306
administrative interface, 279
agent, 278
architecture, 278
compare to Agent Technology,
280
description, 33
detailed metrics (Windows), 291
IP resource data, 300
Mac OS X resources, 298
managing resources, 309
modify metrics, 305
multiple remote agents, 310
network resources, 279
resource types, 33, 285
securing, 311
server, 37
system metrics (Windows), 288
UNIX/Linux resources, 294
UNIX/Linux system metrics, 295
user permissions, 156
when to use, 280
reports, 134
Repository Bridge, 54
requirements
database servers, 56
DSM server, 60, 72
scoreboard, 137
DSM Agent Map, 256
DSM Host Map, 258
WorldView system status, 254
S
335: CA Green Book, Systems Management

securing
Agent Technology, 170
Communication Layer, 169
Enterprise Management
components, 163
Management Command Center,
158
Unicenter Management Portal,
168
Unicenter NSM, 154, 164
UNIX / Linux agents, 171
WRS, ADS, and Configuration
Manager, 166
securing the network, 174, 175
advanced model, 176
basic model, 172
simple model, 173
self-management, 18
server requirements, 38
Software Delivery, 70
solution
components, 29
configuration, 35
description, 21
sizing, 42
table, 37
subnet filtering, 186
subnet mask, 191
system performance, 225
access Reports, 140
agents, 227
architecture, 226
backup and redundancy, 240
configuring best practices, 225
create profile with SNMP
resources, 235
creating a report, 237
creating agent profiles, 230
creating custom metrics, 242
deletion policy, 226
deploying agent profiles, 232
deployment preparations, 228
deployment verification, 228
distribution server, 227, 241
domain server, 227
extend agent monitoring, 240
integration with Web Reporting,
140
metrics from remote SNMP
devices, 233
modifying collected performance
resources, 231
performance configuration profile
editor, 230
performance cubes, 229
performance scope, 229
reports in WRS, 238
server, 37
time interval, 226
upload data to MDB, 242
viewing real-time data, 236
view report data, 140
systems management
automation, 16
challenges, 15
T
Trap Manager
install, 108
trap translation, 108
U
Unicenter Configuration Manager, 23,
77
add delivery schedule to
configuration bundle, 96
additional security, 167
agent configurations, 81
and Adaptive Configuration, 78
audit reports, 97
base profile, 82
baselining, 81
configuration best practices, 80
configuration bundle, 84
create delivery schedule, 95
customize delivery schedule, 95
deliver profiles, 95
differential log agent profile, 101
differential profile, 89
file package, 88
log agent configuration, 98
Monitoring Dashboard, 102
running, 79
security demonstration, 167
self-adaptation mode, 80
starting, 78
update base profile, 83
update log agent attributes, 99
view agent configuration, 85
336: CA Green Book, Systems Management

Unicenter Repository Bridge, 54
Unicenter security
activate, 164
commit the changes, 166
configuring rules, 165
create the rules, 165
create the user, 165
start, 165
verify the rules, 166
user
Ingres server, 160
Microsoft SQL Server, 159
user accounts, 155
user permissions
Remote Monitoring, 156
Unicenter NSM, 155
user rights, 156
Unicenter NSM, 157
W
web applications, 76, 268
Web Reporting
configure WRS, 135
configured reports, 136
creating reports, 236
dashboards, 137
getting started, 134
integrating with Management
Portal, 266
integration with System
Performance, 140
published reports, 137
report templates, 136
scoreboards, 137
Server, 134
Server description, 33
understanding, 136
viewing reports, 137
with System Performance, 314
Workplace
new template, 272
WorldView
agent status scoreboard, 252
importance properties, 218
Manager, 30
registration server, 48
weighted severity, 218
WorldView Scoping
activate, 161
deactivate, 163
define rule in MCC, 161
set up instance rule in MCC, 162
verify instance rule, 163
verify rule, 162
WRS. See Web Reporting
Z
zones
Distributed Intelligence
Architecture, 49
337: CA Green Book, Systems Management