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This section contains the following topics:

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AboutRoleManagementInAlerts AboutRoleManagementInAlerts

About role management in Alerts

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• Settings
• Activities
• Copy Metrics Settings

About editing metric properties

You can edit the properties of each metric that is available in your Precise environment, including Cross-AppTiers metrics, such as: FocalPoints, Agents, Processes, and Licenses. See Editing metric properties.

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See About metric properties for Action settings.

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AboutMetricPropsforActionSettings AboutMetricPropsforActionSettings

About metric properties for Action settings

An environment that is monitored by Alerts may generate alerts at any time. Sitting in front of the screen waiting for a metric to go critical may be strenuous and time consuming. Instead, you can set Alerts to inform you about any alert, or to run your repair utility to fix certain problems.

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The two tables below indicate how rules are applied when issuing alerts (both Near-Critical and Critical) for different alert transitions (applies to the following actions: email, message, and program):

Table 16-1 Near-Critical

Table 16-2 Critical

The table below indicates how rules are applied when issuing alerts for different alert transitions (applies to the following actions: SNMP or MOM):

Table 16-3 SNMP or MOM

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EmailActionProperties EmailActionProperties

Email action properties

Use the Email Action Type to set the email address of the recipient and the message text that will be sent when an alert is raised by the specified metric.

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1. From the Actions tab on the Metric Properties dialog, select the email option on the Action Type list box.
2. Select the email action you want to edit.
3. Click Delete.

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MessageActionProperties MessageActionProperties

Message action properties

Use the Message Action Type to set the text message that will be displayed on every screen with an open Alerts user interface, when an alert is raised by the specified metric. The message text can also include dynamic parameters.

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1. From the Actions tab on the Metric Properties dialog, select the message option on the Action Type list box.
2. Select the message action you want to edit.
3. Click Delete.

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ProgramActionProperties ProgramActionProperties

Program action properties

Use the Program Action Type to set your program to be ran as an action when an alert is raised by the specified metric.

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1. From the Actions tab on the Metric Properties dialog, select the program option on the Action Type list box.
2. Select the program action you want to edit.
3. Click Delete.

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SNMPActionProperties SNMPActionProperties

SNMP action properties

Use the SNMP Action Type to set alerts to be reported to an SNMP based management tool that you may have, such as CA Unicenter® and HP OpenView.

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1. From the Actions tab, select the SNMP option on the Action Type list box.
2. To apply SNMP traps, check Send an SNMP trap whenever the metric alert level changes.
3. To test your definitions, click Test.
4. To save your definitions, choose whether to save them either for the selected instance, or for all the environments’ instances. Then click Save and Close.

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MOMActionProperties MOMActionProperties

MOM action properties

Use the MOM Action Type to set alerts to be reported to the MOM server whenever the metric alert level changes.

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Table 16-4 Dynamic parameters

An example for using dynamic parameters in Email or Message actions can be found in the Message text box in the Email tab (default message).

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To enable this option, first create a Management Information Bases (MIB) file. The MIB file maps the Alerts database entities, such as the various environments, various instances, and the metrics relevant for each of the instances. Because different sites have different environments, instances, and so on, you must adjust the Alerts MIB file to each site.

Creating an MIB file

Alerts FocalPoint creates the MIB file and displays its status (success or failure) on the standard output. The newly created MIB file name is InformForAlertsMib.mib and is stored in the following directory:

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On a Linux or UNIX server. <i3_root>/products/pulse/pulsefocal/bin/ createalertsmib.sh

Enabling the Get operation

To use your MIB browser to open the MIB file that you have created and browse the different metrics, you must set the Get parameters on both your SNMP manager and Alerts. The examples provided along with the following instructions relate to the CA Unicenter MIB browser, which is an SNMP management application.

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• Technology representation
• Identifying environments and instances in the MIB
• Identifying metrics in the MIB
• Identifying property fields in the MIB
• MIB structure

Technology representation

The MIB tree shows the technologies of the Precise environment as the numbers 1 - 15. The table below shows how each number in a MIB tree is mapped to a technology.

Table 16-5 MIB tree mapping

Identifying environments and instances in the MIB

Alerts displays environments and instances by their names (environment_name, instance_name), while the MIB presents them by their identifiers (environment_id, instance_id).

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1. Retrieve a mapping table that maps the environment and instance names to their identifiers by running the following SQL statement in the Alerts schema:
   select
        INCE_ID INSTANCE_ID, INCE_NAME
        INSTANCE_NAME, INEN_ID
        ENVIRONMENT_ID, INEN_NAME
        ENVIRONMENT_NAME
   from
   PS_INCE_INSTANCE_INSTANCE, PS_INII_INSTANCE_APPTIER
   INSTANCE_APPTIER, PS_INAP_APP_TIER APPTIER,
   PS_INEN_ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT
   where
        INCE_ID = INII_INCE_ID AND
        INAP_ID = INII_INAP_ID AND
        INAP_INEN_ID = INEN_ID AND
        INCE_DELETED = ‘F’ AND
        INII_DELETED = ‘F’ AND
        INAP_DELETED = ‘F’ AND
        INEN_DELETED = ‘F’ AND

Identifying metrics in the MIB

Alerts displays metrics by their names (metric_name), while the MIB presents them by their identifiers (metric_id).

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• Retrieve a mapping table that maps between the metric names and their identifiers by running the following SQL statement in the Alerts schema:
  select indicator_id,indicator_name, from pulse_indicators order by indicator_name;

Available property fields in the MIB

The table below describes the available property fields for a metric.

Table 16-6 Available property fields in the MIB

MIB structure

The Alerts MIB structure complies with the Alerts SNMP Object Identifier (OID) structure. The OID of the Alerts Get requests for a specified metric is:

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Alerts supports both SNMP message versions, SNMPv1 and SNMPv2. Alerts sends traps when a change occurs in a metric severity level, that is, when the metric state is changed between the following states: Critical, Near-Critical, Normal, and Unsampled.

Alerts trap message

The following is an example of an Alerts'SNMP trap message:

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Table 16-7 SNMP trap structure

The trap can be parsed with a commercial trap catcher according to the position of the varbinds or their OID. The following apply only to the last varbind on the table (OID=0):

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• All items in the SNMP trap message keep their position, so you can access particular message items using built-in SNMP functions.
• You can set all metrics of an instance to trigger SNMP actions through the Instances tab of the Settings dialog box.

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• In case of parent metrics, Alerts sends an SNMP trap message only to the parent metric.

To cause the SNMP trap to act as in version 7.5, add the following parameter to the Alerts FocalPoint registry, and then restart the Alerts FocalPoint:

....\products\i3fp\registry\products\alerts\pulsefocal.xml

Pulsefocal\snmp\trap

<oldTrapStyle>YES</oldTrapStyle>

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AboutAlertsMOMConnectivity AboutAlertsMOMConnectivity

About Alerts MOM connectivity

This section describes how to go about setting up Alerts for MOM connectivity.

Activating MOM integration in Alerts

To activate and deactivate the Alerts integration with the MOM server, go to “Setting Setting a MOM server for actions on the MOM tab. See “Setting a MOM server for actions on the MOM tab” on page 62.

Setting anonymous access to a MOM server

Before integrating Alerts with the MOM server in AdminPoint, anonymous access to the MOM Web console must be set.

To set anonymous access to the MOM server1.    Open

1. Open the IIS Manager on the MOM server.

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1. Select to open the “Microsoft Operations Manager Web console” properties screen.

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1. Click the Directory Security tab.

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1. On the “Anonymous access and authentication control” panel, click Edit.

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1. Mark “Enable Anonymous access” and type in the username and password (to be used for MOM integration setup on the AdminPoint Alerts General Settings screen).

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1. Save the changes.

Issuing rules for MOM actions

If MOM action is defined for a metric, MOM integration is activated and a MOM action is issued every time a metric's alert changes.NOTE    For

Display of MOM alerts in the MOM server

The MOM alert can be displayed only when integration between Alerts and the MOM server is activated and the registration process is completed successfully. A MOM alert can be the result of either clicking the Test button or of a real action performed by the Alerts FocalPoint.

When you open the MOM Operator Console, select Alert Views in the Alert Views pane. The figure below displays the MOM Operator console user interface 

Figure 16-1    MOM 1 MOM Operator console

Alert Views pane

Alerts View Results

Alerts Details pane

Image Added

If you have successfully installed the Precise Management Pack (see Precise Installation Guide), you will see a Precise folder in the Alert Views tree. This folder displays on the Alerts View Results pane, all actions generated as MOM alerts.

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The table below shows the different MOM severities displayed in the MOM operator console according to the Alerts alert levels.

Table 16-8    Alert 8 Alert level names in the MOM operator console

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Default SQL Server and MS .NET metrics MOM actions definitions

Alerts is delivered with a set of predefined MOM alert actions for metrics monitored by Precise Microsoft technologies. 

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AboutCreatingCustomizedMetrics AboutCreatingCustomizedMetrics

About creating customized metrics

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To sample customized metrics, InformPoint must be installed on the sampled instance server. In the case of a remote SQL server instance, the InformPoint that samples the instance is the one installed on the remote SQL server collector.

Creating customized executable files

A customized metric can be associated with a host script that you create, so that Alerts operatively monitors a parameter specific to your environment.

Save the host script in the server machine where the sampled instance is running, in the directory:

<i3<i3_root>root>\products\pulse\userprograms.

Although the root directory of the running script is <i3<i3_root>root>, the program runs from the userprograms directory.

To simulate a run of customized metric, use a command line shell and type from the Precise root directory:For

Windows

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  .\products\pulse\userprograms\MYPROG.bat.

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UNIX or Linux

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 ./products/pulse/userprograms/MYPROG.sh.

You can create a customized metric that returns a single value or a list of values. A customized metric that returns a single value is created by apply the following guidelines:•    The

• The script must return a single value to the Standard Output (echo command). The type of the value must be numeric or float. Alerts compares this value to the customized metric thresholds to determine the metric alert status.

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• The script must output only the value. To avoid that commands be printed, Windows scripts must start with @echo off. UNIX scripts must start with the shell type, for example #!/bin/ksh.

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• You can use dynamic parameters for customized metrics in the command line.

See Using dynamic parameters in customized metrics.

A customized metric that returns a table with multiple values is created by apply the following guidelines:•    The

• The script must return a list of values to the Standard Output (echo command). Each line in the output must contain a name and a value separated by a tab (\t only, not a space). The value must be numeric or float. Alerts compares these values to the customized metric thresholds to determine the metric alert status.

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• The script must output only the value. To avoid that commands be printed, Windows scripts must start with @echo off. UNIX scripts must start with the shell type, for example  #!/bin/ksh.

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• In some operating systems, the tab character may be ignored when printing it using the echo command. In those cases, use the ' character around the text, as follows:  echo 'Alerts 80'.

You can use dynamic parameters for customized metrics in the command line.  See Using dynamic parameters in customized metrics.NOTE    It

Windows script examples

The examples for Windows scripts, whose file names end with _example, are listed in the following tables. These files can be found also in any server where InformPoint is installed, in the directory:

<i3<i3_root>root>\products\pulse\userprograms

The table below shows an example of customized metrics with a single value.

Table 16-9    Example 9 Example of customized metrics with a single value - Windows

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The table below shows an example of customized metrics with multiple values.

Table 16-10    Example 10 Example of customized metrics with multiple values (table type) — Windows

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UNIX/Linux shell script examples

The examples for UNIX/Linux shell scripts, which their file names end with _example, are listed in the following tables. These files can be found also in any server where InformPoint is installed, in the directory:

<i3<i3_root>root>/products/pulse/userprograms.

The table below shows an example of customized metrics with a single value for UNIX or Linux scripts.

Table 16-11    Examples 11 Examples of customized metrics with a single value (UNIX/Linux)

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The table below shows an example of customized metrics with multiple values (table type) for UNIX or Linux scripts.

Table 16-12    Example 12 Example of customized metrics with multiple values (table type) - UNIX/Linux

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Creating customized stored procedures

To monitor a parameter specific to Oracle or SQL Server AppTiers, you can create a stored procedure and connect it to a customized metric of Alerts. The type of your stored procedure, Oracle or MS-SQL, must be according to your PMDB type.

In addition, the stored procedure can be defined only in Oracle or SQL Server AppTier instances. To create Oracle stored procedure metrics, you must install the Precise for Oracle FocalPoint with at least one instance. To create MS-SQL stored procedure metrics, you must install the Precise for SQL Server FocalPoint with at least one instance.

Creating MS-SQL stored procedures

When creating a stored procedure in MS-SQL, apply the following guidelines:

To create MS-SQL stored procedures1.    Connect

1. Connect to the database as Precise for SQL Server user.

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1. Ensure that the name of the stored procedure includes the database name. For Oracle users, the procedure name must not end with a semicolon (;).

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1. The naming convention for the program in Alerts must be:  databaseName..

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1. Procedure().

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1. Verify that the return value of the execution is a single numeric value (integer).

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1. Info
   You can use any procedure and an unlimited number of parameters, including no parameters.

To create an MS-SQL stored procedure1.    Apply

1. Apply the following format:
   CREATE PROCEDURE user_def @@var1 type1, ...., @@var-n type-n
   AS
   - Custom query
   GO

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1. Use the following format within the call from the customized metric (the code should be entered in the Program box when adding a new Customized Metric):
   user_database..user_def val1, ...., val-n

Example of an MS-SQL stored procedure

The following stored procedure enables Alerts to send an email when the number of rows in a table called SALES.ITEMS reaches an amount that you set in the Thresholds tab.

To apply the MS-SQL stored procedure1.    Connect

1. Connect to the database schema of the Precise for SQL Server.

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1. Create the function user_def in the user_database as follows:
   CREATE PROCEDURE user_def @@sampling_rateint,@@sampling_period int
   AS
   SELECT count(*) FROM SALES..ITEMS
   GO

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1. When you create the customized metric under the MS-SQL instance, set the program name to:
   SALES..user_def @SAMPLING_RATE, @SAMPLING_PERIOD

Use dynamic parameters. See Using dynamic parameters in customized metrics.

To test the MS-SQL stored procedure1.    Connect

1. Connect to the database schema of the Precise for SQL Server.

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1. Run the function user_def in the user_database as follows:
   user_database..user_def sampling_rate , sampling_period

Creating Oracle stored procedures

When creating a stored procedure in Oracle, apply the following guidelines:

To create Oracle stored procedures1.    Connect

1. Connect to the database as Precise for Oracle user.

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1. Ensure that the name of the stored procedure includes the package name and ends without a semicolon (;).

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1. The naming convention for the program in Alerts must be:  PackageName.ProcedureName().

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1. Verify that the return value of the execution is a single numeric value (integer).

To create the Oracle stored procedure package•    Apply

• Apply the format as follows:
  Create or replace package user_defined_pack as
  function user_def(var1 type1, .... , var-n type-n)
  return return-type;
  pragma restrict_references(user_def,WNDS,WNPS);
  end user_defined_pack;
  /

To create the Oracle stored procedure package body and insert your custom code into the user defined functions1.    Apply

1. Apply the following format
   Create or replace package body user_defined_pack as
   function user_def(var1 type1, ...., var-n type-n) return
   return- type is
        begin
             -- Custom
        code end
        user_def;
   end user_defined_pack;

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1. Use the following format within the call the call from the customized metric (the code should be entered in the Program box when adding a new Customized Metric):
   user_database..user_def val1, ...., val-n

You can use any package or function name, and an unlimited number of parameters (including NONE).

Example of an Oracle stored procedure

The following stored procedure enables Alerts to send an email when the number of rows in a table called ITEMS, which belongs to a user called SALES, reaches an amount that you set in the Thresholds tab.

To apply the Oracle stored procedure1.    Connect

1. Connect to the database schema of the Precise for Oracle.

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1. Create the package  user_defined_pack as follows:
   Create or replace package user_defined_pack as
   function user_def(sampling_rate number, sampling_period
   number, warning_threshold number, critical_threshold number)
   return number; pragma
   restrict_references(user_def,WNDS,WNPS);
   end user_defined_pack;
   /

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1. Run the following script in the Precise for Oracle database schema to create the package body of package user_defined_pack:
   Create or replace package body user_defined_pack as
   function user_def(sampling_rate number, sampling_period
   number, warning_threshold number, critical_threshold number)
   return number is
   tbl_num_rows number; BEGIN
   select num_rows into tbl_num_rows from sys.dba_tables where
   table_name='ITEMS' and owner='SALES';
   return (tbl_num_rows);
   end user_def;
   end user_defined_pack;
   /

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1. When you create the customized metric under the Oracle instance, set the program name to:
   user_defined_pack.user_def ( @SAMPLING_RATE , @SAMPLING_PERIOD ,
   @NEAR_CRITICAL_THRESHOLD , @CRITICAL_THRESHOLD )

Use dynamic parameters. See Using dynamic parameters in customized metrics.

To test the Oracle stored procedure1.    Connect

1. Connect to the database schema of the Precise for Oracle.

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1. Run the function user_def in the user_database with your values as follows:
   select user_defined_pack.user_def(sampling_rate,
   sampling_period, warning_threshold,
   critical_threshold) as value from dual;

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UseDynamicParametersInCustomMetrics UseDynamicParametersInCustomMetrics

Using dynamic parameters in customized metrics

When you set a customized metric, you can use dynamic parameters in the Program command line.NOTE    The

The table below describes the dynamic parameters that you can use in customized metrics.

Table 16-13    Dynamic 13 Dynamic parameters

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