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The Dashboard tab provides an overview of Precise components. It displays information that allows the Precise administrator to determine (at a single glance) the health of his installations. This tab analyzes and reports on your system’s current Precise status.
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- Data is not loaded to the PMDB
- Agents are failing
- FocalPoints are failing
- License Limitation Metrics which have been exceeded
- Licenses have expired or are near expiration
- Licenses that are installed
- Actions Items which are critical
- Agents are stopped
- Instances configured to experience downtime during the selected time frame
How the Dashboard tab is structured
The Dashboard tab is divided into two areas: the Category Details table (left pane) and the Main area (right pane). Each area can include different control elements, such as tabs and view controls, and displays information in various formats, such as tables.
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The Main area provides information regarding the category selected in the Category Details area. Once a certain component is selected in the Category Details table, the upper portion of the Main area displays details (a list of the entities) for the selected category. Once a particular entity is selected in the upper portion of the Main area, the lower portion of the Main area displays additional relevant details for the entity. This information will help the user pinpoint a problem.
About the view controls
In the Dashboard tab, above the Category Details area, is the view controls bar. This bar includes:
- Last Refreshed display. This displays the date and time that the information was last refreshed.
- Auto Refresh is off / Auto Refresh is on button. This button enables you to control whether the information is refreshed automatically.
- Node view control. By default information is displayed for all Nodes.
- To display the overview status of all Precise components in a specific node, select the node from the drop-down menu.
- Application view control. By default information is displayed for all Applications.
- To display the overview status of all Precise components in a specific application, select the application from the drop-down menu.
About the Category Details table
The Category Details table displays all the components monitored by the Precise main FocalPoint, grouped into categories. The categories are displayed in the table by their error severity level, which is defined by the component in each category with the highest error severity level.
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| Header | Description |
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| Status | Indicates the highest severity error (if any) encountered by one of the category’s components, as follows:
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| Category | Indicates a group per technology, such as:
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| Total components | Indicates the total number of components in the selected category. |
| Errors | The color-coded stacked bar indicates the number of underlying components that have an error. Only red (high) and orange (medium) severity errors are shown. Click on the icon on the header to switch between the following display methods:
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About the Main area in the Dashboard tab
The Main area displays different information depending upon which category is selected in the Category Details table. Clicking on the hyperlink for specific data items launches, in-context, the tab from which the data was derived.
About the Detailed Description
The fish-eye displays text for the purpose of helping the user to understand and focus onto problems.
After selecting a category (Agents, FocalPoints, Warehouse processes, Licenses, Action items, or Acknowledged Items) in the Category Details table, the Detailed Description fish-eye displays text relevant to the selected category. For example: if Agents or Focalpoints are selected in the Category Details table, the Detailed Description fish-eye displays a detailed description of the current status for the selected Agents or FocalPoints. Recommendations to resolve the problem are also given.
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Handling a problematic component and solving its underlying issues might take time, and continue over into additional time frames. By default, problematic components continue to produce error reports until the underlying issue is resolved. To avoid excess error reports stemming from the same problematic component, you can acknowledge the component as problematic and currently being handled. Components can be defined as acknowledged for a defined period of time or until specified differently.
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- In the fish-eye text describing the component’s error, click Cancel.
About the FocalPoints category and the Agents category related table
Either the FocalPoints category or the Agents category may be displayed. The FocalPoints category lists all of the Precise FocalPoints and the Agents category lists all of the Agents and the status for each, in the selected category. Agents whose status is stopped will be reported as problematic. (This option can be controlled from the Admin Dashboard settings).
You can control the way data is displayed in the table. See Managing agents.
The following table shows the information displayed in the FocalPoints or Agents table.
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| Header | Description |
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| Status | Indicates the highest severity error (if any) encountered by the component, as follows:
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| Node | Name of the node. |
| Server | Name of the server on which the FocalPoint or Agent is running. |
| Agent | Name of the FocalPoint or Agent. |
| Description | A short description of the current status for the selected FocalPoint or Agent. |
| Criticality | Displays the related instance(s) criticality setting. |
About the Events table
The Events table lists all the Precise events for the selected FocalPoint or Agent. Each row corresponds to an event. You can control the way data is displayed in the table. See “About sorting data” on page 184.
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| Header | Description |
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| Level | Indicates severity:
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| Date | Displays the date and time the event occurred. |
| Message | A short description of the current status. |
| ID | The ID (identification number) for the specific event. |
About the Warehouse processes category related table
The Warehouse processes table lists all warehouse processes in the selected category and the status for each. Warehouse Load processes that have stopped loading data will be reported as problematic (This option can be controlled from the Admin Dashboard settings).
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| Header | Description |
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| Status | Indicates the highest severity error (if any) encountered by the component, as follows:
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| Node | Name of the node. |
| Instance | Name of the instance. |
| Server | Name of the server on which the instance is installed. |
| Product | Name of the product. |
| Process | Name of the process. |
| Last Run | The date of the last run for this process. |
| Criticality | Displays the related instance(s) criticality setting. |
About the Licenses category related table
The Licenses table lists all licenses installed and the status for each. You can control the way data is displayed in the table. See “About sorting data” on page 184.
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- Go to AdminPoint > Dashboard.
- In the All Categories table, select Licenses.
- In any of the License descriptions in the Main area, click Apply another license.
- In the Apply License dialog box, specify the location of the license file, or click browse to find and select the location.
- Click OK.
About the License Limitation Metrics category related table
The License Limitation Metrics category related table list all License Limitation Metrics installed and the status for each. You can control the way data is displayed in the table. See “About sorting data” on page 184.
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| Label | Description |
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| status | Indicates the License Limitation Metrics status for the installed technology/CPUs. |
| Technology | Technology to which the License Limitation Metrics applies. |
| Amount Installed | The number of instances of the relevant technology/CPUs that are installed. |
| Amount of Applied Licenses | The limitation of the number of instances of the relevant technology/CPUs. |
About the Action Items category related table
The Action Items table lists all action items in the selected category and the status for each. You can control the way data is displayed in the table. See “About sorting data” on page 184. See About the Action items view.
The following table shows the information displayed in the Action Items table.
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| Header | Description |
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| Icon | The icons display the criticality of the Action Item related instance, whether high, medium, or low. |
| Status | Indicates the status of an Action Item. |
| ID | The Action Item ID number. |
| Node | Name of the node. |
| Instance | Name of the instance. |
| Server | Name of the server on which the FocalPoint or Agent is running. |
| Origin | the origin of an Action Item. |
| Status | Indicates the status of an action item, whether done, failed, pending, blocking, or executable. |
| Update time | The date of the last run for this process. |
| Criticality | Displays the criticality of the Action Item related instance, whether high, medium, or low. |
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You can view information on and manage Precise agents by using the Agents tab. In this tab, the table includes the following columns:
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| Icon | Description | ||
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 | The agent is starting up. | ||
 | The agent is running. | ||
 | The agent is stopped. | ||
 | The agent is running but has encountered a problem. See the agent log files for details, verify the agent (using the Verify button), or contact Precise Technical Support. | ||
 | The agent is in failed status. This occurs in case the agent has problems. For example, in case it has crashed at least three times in an hour. See the agent log files for details, verify the agent (using the Verify button), or contact Precise Technical Support.
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 | Precise FocalPoint cannot retrieve the current agent status. See the Precise FocalPoint logs and the agent log files for details. See Viewing a log file from the Agents tab. |
You can control the way data is displayed in the table. See “About sorting data” on page 184.
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| Select | Action |
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| An individual agent | Click a specific row in the table. |
| An arbitrary set of agents | Click the first agent row, hold down the <Ctrl> key, and then click all other required agent rows. |
| A consecutive group of agents | Click the first agent row, hold down the <Shift> key, and then click the last agent row. |
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Agent command buttons appear at the bottom of the Agents tab.
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Installation Verification Procedure process findings are also reflected in the AdminPoint Dashboard tab.
About log files
Log files record information, warning, and error messages. They may be helpful to understand the scope of a problem and provide directions to solve it.
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In AdminPoint you can view a log file from the Agents tab.
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- In the Display Agents table, select an agent and click Log.
- In the Select Log File dialog box, select a log file and click View. The log file opens in a separate dialog box.
Saving a log file
In AdminPoint you can save the log file using the log file dialog box.
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- In the log file dialog box, click Save. The log file opens as HTML text in a new browser window.
- Use your browser menu to save the file on your computer.
- Close the browser window; then click Cancel to close the log file dialog box.
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Through the Setup tab, you can view and manage various setup functions:
- Adding a new application
- Editing an existing application
- Customizing custom columns in the application
- About the Nodes view
- About the Applications view
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On the Installation tab, you can add a new application to the Precise system.
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- On the Installation view, click Add.
- In the Add Application dialog box, enter the application name and select a node from the list.
- Click OK to apply your settings, or click Cancel to close without saving the settings.
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You can edit existing application via the Edit dialog box. In the Edit dialog box, you can perform any of the following editing options:
- To edit an existing application, in the Applications list, select the application you want to edit, and then click Edit.
- To rename an existing application, in the Applications Installer dialog box, click Rename the Application Name, and then click Finish to save the new name or click Cancel to close without saving.
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You can customize the application's column headers and their contents as displayed on the application's table in both AdminPoint and StartPoint.
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- Click AdminPoint > Intallation tab.
- Select the application, and then click Customize Columns.
- Click OK to save the customized columns settings, or click Cancel to close the dialog box without saving.
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Through the Management tab, you can view and manage various functions:
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Known in previous versions as the Patch view, the Updates view in version 9.0 displays available updates and manages their application process. Using the Updates view, you can check which updates were applied to your servers, view the update properties, and launch the update application process. For more information about applying updates, see Applying an update.
To view and manage updates
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You can control the way data is displayed in the table. See “About sorting data” and "About filtering data" on page 184.
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To apply an update
- Go to https://precise.secure.force.com and locate the desired update.
- Download the update to a local directory on the computer from which you run the Precise GUI.
- Go to AdminPoint > Management > Updates.
- In the Updates view, click Apply updates. The Update Installation wizard appears.
In the “Select Updates” screen, locate the desired update in the Available Updates table. If the update does not appear, click Add Update and enter the file path from the folder you downloaded the update to. Alternatively, click the browse button, select the path, and click OK. The update now appears in the Available Updates table.
Info For more information regarding a specific update, see the Description area at the bottom of the screen. To view all information for the update, scroll down or click the expand icon at the top right of the area to open a new window with the information.
Selecting an update to appear in the Available Updates table does not apply the update. The update application process begins only after the servers have been selected.
Select the desired update in the Available Updates table and move it to the Updates to Install table using the arrows between the two tables.
Info If there is a newer update that contains the update you selected, the newer update will be selected and appear in the Available Updates table.
Click Next. The Select Servers screen appears, displaying all servers and their update status.
By default, all the servers will be selected to be updated. You can choose to exclude servers from the application process at this time by removing the selection mark next to them.Info In some cases, applying the update to one server will only be allowed if another server is updated at the same time. In these cases, you will be prompted to include the relevant servers in the selection to be updated.
- Click Next. The update application “preparing” phase begins. If there are pre-action items to be executed, they will appear on the screen and must be completed to continue to the update application “applying update” process. Perform these action items.
- Once all pre-action items are completed, the update application process will resume. If there were no pre-action items, the update application process will automatically continue.
- The “Applying Updates” screen appears, displaying an update application process progress bar for each server.
After the update application is complete, post-action items will appear on screen. Perform these action items. You can decide to perform these action items at a later stage.
Info If there are no pre- or post-action items, the wizard will automatically move from through the “Preparing”, “Pre Action Items”, “Apply update”, and “Post Action Items” screens.
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The action items management mechanism tracks and automates manual action items required for installations and updates. You can manage action items by displaying which action items have been performed and which have not.
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Some action items support automatic execution. For such action items the "execute" button is enabled. You can instruct Precise to automatically perform the action item for you by selecting the action item and clicking "Execute". You can select several action items and click execute or mark as done.
About the action items table
Using the Status combo at the top of the view you can select to view only pending action items, failed action items, or completed action items:
| Header | Description |
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| ID | The action items resource identification number; this ID number may be used more than once. For example, there may be several messages with the same Action ID for different instances. |
| Server | The name of the server where the action item was produced. |
| Technology | The technology type of the monitored instance. Exists only for action items which have a value in the instance column. |
| Instance | Name of the specific instance that is being monitored (if relevant). |
| Action Item | The title of the action item. After clicking an action item, the action item's full text is displayed lower on the screen. You can also view the action item's full text in the tooltip of this column. |
| Order | The order of Precise installation action items should be performed as specified - in ascending order. The specified order is necessary because of dependencies between action items. |
| Status | This is an icon which indicates the status of Precise installation action items. The action item status can be one of the following: completed, failed, or pending. In the case of a failed status, the tooltip describes the reason for failure. |
| Blocking | The icon indicates whether the start of the related agent is being blocked, until the action item has completed. |
| Origin | This the source of the action item. The source can be any of the following: install, uninstall, update, or verification. |
| Executable | A check mark indicates the action item is executable. An executable action item can be handled automatically by selecting the action items and clicking Execute. To execute the action item, additional user input (such as: user and password) may be required. |
| Node | Name of Framework node. |
| Update Time | Date and time when the action items were produced or last updated due to failure, execution or marked as done. |
| Required Fields | This column displays the name of fields requiring user input before automatic execution of the action item. |
About icons for action items
The legend for the action items table is:
| Icon | Description |
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 | The action item was completed successfully. |
 | Invocation of the action item failed. See this icon’s tooltip for the failure reason. |
 | The action item was not yet performed. |
 | The action item's related agent cannot be started until the action item is performed. |
 | The action item can be automatically executed by Precise. Click execute to instruct Precise to execute it for you. |
Displaying Dependencies on/off
On the Action Items view, the Dependencies On/Dependencies Off button will filter selected instances by displaying or not displaying their dependencies. By default, all instances and their action items are displayed as “Dependencies On”.
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- Select the instance from the Action Items table and click Dependencies On near the top of the screen.
Advanced Settings
On the Action Items view, the Advanced button lets you set the way you want to execute the action items.
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- If you have many action items, click Advanced.
- On the Settings dialog box, mark the Expert mode status check box.
- Click OK to save the setting, or Cancel to close the dialog box without saving.
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Through the Nodes view, you can add new Framework nodes, or edit properties, or remove an existing Framework node.
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- Node Name. Framework node name.
- Proxy Server. Server name or IP address of the node's Precise FocalPoint server.
- Proxy Port. Communication listener port number of the node's Precise FocalPoint server.
- Primary Node. Indicates the primary node.
- URL. URL used to access the node’s GUI.
- Proxy Relay to FocalPoint. Indicates communication from the node's Precise FocalPoint to the main Precise FocalPoint is blocked, and that only the main Precise FocalPoint will access the node's Precise FocalPoint.
- Proxy Relay to Servers. Indicates that communication from the main Precise FocalPoint to the node's servers is blocked, and the main Precise FocalPoint will send requests through the node's Precise FocalPoint to the node's servers.
Managing Framework nodes
Using the Nodes command buttons, you can perform the following actions on one or more nodes in the Display Nodes table:
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- Enable the proxy relay to the FocalPoint. Unchecked by default. Use only when, for security reasons, the node's Precise FocalPoint cannot directly access the Precise Main FocalPoint. Note: Its use slows down system performance.
Enable the proxy relay to the servers. Unchecked by default. Use only when, for security reasons, the Precise Main FocalPoint cannot directly access the node’s production servers. Marking this check box causes the Precise Main FocalPoint to access the node’s production servers through the node's Precise FocalPoint.
Info Its use slows down system performance.
Generating an inventory report
The Inventory Report creates an excel file that lists details regarding installed servers, instances, License Limitation Metrics, and the PMDB. A generated report provides information for all nodes.
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- Click Inventory Report. The excel file will be downloaded to your computer, and can be saved locally.
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A Precise application is a collection of instances that are organized to work together. An application includes one or more application tiers (AppTiers), and each AppTier can consist of one or more instances of the same technology.
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| Column name | Description |
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| Application | Name of the application. In the Agents table, AdminPoint displays all of the applications that an instance belongs to, according to the AppTiers it is part of. |
| Node | Name of the node. |
| AppTiers | Name of the AppTiers. |
| Technologies | Name of the technologies within the application. |
| SmartLink Application | If available, the name of the SmartLink application. |
| Product | See Customizing custom columns in the environment. |
| Type | See Customizing custom columns in the environment. |
| Location | See Customizing custom columns in the environment. |
| Tag | See Customizing custom columns in the environment. |
| Comment | See Customizing custom columns in the environment. |
Managing applications
Using the applications command buttons, you can perform the following actions on one or more applications in the Display applications table:
- Click Add to add a new application.
- Click Edit to change the members of an existing application.
- Click Remove to delete the selected application from the Display applications table.
- Click Customize Columns to customize the display of columns on the table.
Adding a new application
On the applications view, you can add a new application to the Precise system.
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- On the applications view, click Add.
- In the Add application dialog box, enter the application name and select a node from the list.
- Click OK to apply your settings, or Cancel to close and not save the settings.
Editing an existing application
Existing Environments can be edited via the Edit Environment dialog box. In the Edit Environment dialog box, you can perform any of the following editing options:
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- In the Edit Environment dialog box, select the AppTier to be moved in the AppTiers table.
- Click the appropriate up/down arrow to change where the selected AppTier appears in the table.
Click OK to save the changes, or Cancel to close and not save the change(s).
Info Any AppTier change performed on an instance which is part of a cluster, is automatically applied to all instances of that cluster.
Changing the data flow between AppTiers
The Environment map displays the data flow between AppTiers and displays the front-end AppTier.
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- On the Environment map, click an AppTier to select it.
- To define a new data flow, drag the plus sign (from the previously selected AppTier) to another AppTier.
Marking a Front-end AppTier for an environment
It is important that you indicate which AppTier is to the front-end. On the Environment map, a Front-end AppTier is marked with an arrow. You can change the Front-end AppTier whenever needed by unmarking a current Front-end AppTier and marking another AppTier as Front-end.
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- In the Edit Environment dialog box, right-click an AppTier on the Environment map.
- To remove a Front-end indication, right-click on the AppTier and click UnMark as Front-end AppTier.
- To assign an AppTier as Front-end, right-click on the AppTier and click Mark as Front-end AppTier.
Configuring an AppTier's application
An AppTier's application can be configured via the Environments view. This enables related application associations in the related Precise product tab.
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- On the Setup tab menu, click Environments.
- In the relevant environment, click the AppTier.
- Click Edit and set the application to required application
About configuring Insight SmartLink correlation
Insight SmartLink correlates end-to-end activities across multiple tiers, and provides information on the environment’s performance, from the user’s perspective by tracking individual transactions. To use Insight SmartLink, you need to specify the SmartLink mode (application) to be applied to the selected environment.
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For more information on Insight SmartLink, see the Precise Insight User’s Guide.
Configuring Insight SmartLink correlation
You can configure the Insight SmartLink correlation via the Edit Environment dialog box.
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- On the Setup tab menu, click Environments.
- In the Edit Environment dialog box, click SmartLink.
- Select a mode: PeopleSoft or Web, MS .NET and J2EE application.
- PeopleSoft configuration
- The PeopleSoft configuration dialog contains a table with all AppTiers to correlate data from. The Web, J2EE and Tuxedo AppTiers are mandatory; the Oracle AppTier is optional.
Once configuration is finished, you must restart: Insight, Web, J2EE, Oracle FocalPoints and agents.
Info Only one SmartLink for PeopleSoft environment can be configured per specific PeopleSoft application.
- Web, MS .NET and J2EE configuration
- In Web, MS .NET and J2EE mode, there is no need to select specific AppTiers. The SmartLink correlation engine correlates data from all Web, MS .NET and J2EE AppTiers in the environment.
- Once configuration is finished, and if configuration was changed from PeopleSoft to Web, MS .NET and J2EE mode, you must restart the FocalPoints and agents.
- PeopleSoft configuration
- Click OK to save, or Cancel to not save this configuration.
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You can customize the environment’s column headers and their contents as displayed on the environment's table in both AdminPoint and StartPoint.
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- Click AdminPoint>Environments view.
- Select one or more environments and click Customize Columns.
- Click OK to save the customized columns setting, or Cancel to close the dialog box without saving.
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Through the Warehouse tab, you can view and manage PMDB statuses and processes. See “About the PMDB” on page 68.
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