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Chapter 20

Web Interface Attribute Editor



Note - This feature may or may not be available on your system, depending on your licensing agreement.

This chapter explains the following topics:

Module Data Properties

The module data properties provide additional information about the modules. The Attribute Editor enables you to customize the monitoring criteria for these properties. You can use the Web Interface Attribute Editor to set:

The Web Interface Attribute Editor has a series of tabs that enable you to switch between different pages. Each Attribute Editor displays one or more of these tabs, depending on the type of object selected. For example, the tabs for the data properties Attribute Editor for the System Load Statistics module are:


 

To Display the Attribute Editor

  1. Click the Host Details Browser tab.
  The Host Details Browser page is displayed.
  2. Click the expansion/compression icon next to the Operating System icon in the hierarchy tree view.
  The Operating System modules are displayed.
  3. Click the expansion/compression icon next to the Kernel Reader icon.
  The Kernel Reader modules are displayed.

FIGURE  20-1 Host Details Browser Kernel Modules

  4. Double-click on the System Load Statistics icon.
  The System Load Statistics module properties table is displayed in the contents view.

FIGURE  20-2 Kernel Reader System Load Statistics Module Properties Table

  5. Select one of the Load Averages in the Value column and click with your left mouse button.
  The Attribute Editor Info page is displayed.

Info Tab

The Attribute Editor Info page (FIGURE 20-3) provides additional information about the selected object.

FIGURE  20-3 Attribute Editor Info page for a Monitored Data Property (System Load Statistics)


Alarms Tab

The Attribute Editor Alarms page (FIGURE 20-4) enables you to set alarm thresholds (TABLE 20-1) for simple alarms only.

The alarms software offers you the following flexibility in setting your alarms:

Note - To set an alarm threshold you must have the appropriate security permission. For more information, see Chapter 14.

Simple alarms are based on thresholds. A monitored data property is greater than, less than, not equal to, or equal to a single threshold value. By contrast, complex alarms are based on a set of conditions being true. For more information on alarm rules, see Appendix E.

FIGURE  20-4 Attribute Editor Alarms Page for a Monitored Property

TABLE 20-1 lists common simple alarm limits for monitored properties. The alarm limits are also displayed in the Parameter Description field (FIGURE 20-4). You can set thresholds for one or more of these alarm limits for selected data properties.

TABLE  20-1   Common Simple Alarm Limits in Sun Management Center Software
Alarm Limit
Description

Critical Threshold (>)  

Critical (red) alarm occurs if value exceeds limit entered in this field.  

Alert Threshold (>)  

Alert (yellow) alarm occurs if value exceeds limit entered in this field.  

Caution Threshold (>)  

Caution (blue) alarm occurs if value exceeds limit entered in this field.  

Critical Threshold (<)  

Critical (red) alarm occurs if value is below the limit entered in this field.  

Alert Threshold (<)  

Alert (yellow) alarm occurs if value is below the limit entered in this field.  

Caution Threshold (<)  

Caution (blue) alarm occurs if value is below the limit entered in this field.  

Alarm Window  

Alarm occurs only during a specified time period. For example, if you type day_of_week=fri, an alarm occurs only if the alarm condition exists on a Friday. If an alarm condition exists on Tuesday, no alarm is registered.  


 

To Create an Alarm

The following example procedure shows how to create a simple alarm. This example creates an alarm threshold in the Kernel Reader module.

  1. Select a data property (System Load Statistics) (FIGURE 20-3) from the Host Details Browser page.
  2. Click on the Alarms tab.
  The Alarms page (FIGURE 20-4) is displayed.
  3. In the Critical Threshold (>) field, type a value that is less than the current value.
  Entering this value creates a critical alarm.
  4. Complete one of the following actions on the Alarms tab page:

In a few moments, the Load Average Over the Last One Minute data field in the System Load Statistics data properties table turns red. In addition, red alarm icons are displayed on the following folders and icons: Operating System, Kernel Reader, and System Load Statistics (unless your system has an open, unacknowledged severity one (1) black alarm).

  5. Click the Host Details Alarms tab.
  The alarm you created is reflected in the alarms table when it is refreshed. For more information on this subject, see Chapter 19.
  6. Acknowledge this alarm.
  7. Create additional alarm thresholds and familiarize yourself with their operation.
  Once you have created these alarms, you can set up security permissions so that another Sun Management Center software user cannot change your alarm thresholds. For more information on security, see Chapter 14.
Note - You do not need to fill in alarm information for all alarm thresholds. For example, you can choose to create only a critical alarm threshold.

The preceding example procedure creates an alarm is that is registered if a value exceeds the specified alarm limit. TABLE 20-1 lists other common alarm limits.


Actions Tab

The Attribute Editor Actions page (FIGURE 20-5) enables you to instruct the software to perform a predetermined action if an alarm occurs.

Note - Acceptable actions include scripts that are stored in the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/bin directory. These scripts execute with root permissions.

For example, you can enter the name of a script in the critical action field so that an email is sent to a system administrator whenever a critical alarm is generated for the Load Average Over the Last Five Minutes data property.

Separate actions can be set for different alarm conditions or one action can be set for any alarm condition (action occurs on any change) using the Action button next to each Action field on the Actions page. These buttons enable you to display the Alarm Action Modification dialog (FIGURE 20-6).

FIGURE  20-5 Attribute Editor Actions Page for a Monitored Property (System Load Statistics)

Note - The check boxes shown to the right of the Action buttons enable you to specify automatic or manual execution of a specific alarm action. By default, all actions are set for manual execution. Only manual actions can be modified.

FIGURE  20-6 Alarm Action Modification Dialog

The Alarm Action Modification dialog enables you to modify the registered alarm actions. Two buttons in the dialog (Email and Generic) allow you to choose one of two options for an alarm action.



TABLE  20-2   Alarm Actions Modification Dialog Buttons
Tab
 Function

Email  

Allows you to specify an address, subject, and message to be sent as email.  

Generic  

Allows you to select generic shell scripts installed on the managed node.  

TABLE 20-2 lists these buttons and their functions.


 

To Modify Alarm Actions

  1. Click the Action button for the alarm action you want to modify.
  The Alarm Actions modification dialog is displayed.
  2. Select the type of alarm action you want to modify (Email or Generic).
  3. Make your changes in the fields of the selected action.
  4. Click OK to accept the changes and close the page.
  The change is displayed in the corresponding Action field of the Actions page.

 

To Send an Email for a Critical Alarm

The following example procedure describes how to send an email to a user when a critical alarm occurs.

  1. Select a data property (System Load Statistics) (FIGURE 20-3) from the Host Details Browser page.
  2. Select Load Averages Over the Last Five Minutes in the Value column and click with the left mouse button.
  The Attribute Editor Info page is displayed.
  3. Click the Actions tab.
  The Actions page is displayed (FIGURE 20-5).
  4. Type email username in the Critical Action field.
Note - You can also use the Alarm Actions Modification dialog (FIGURE 20-6) to enter the username.
  5. Complete this procedure with one of the following actions:
  The following email is sent to the user whenever an alert alarm occurs.

Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1999 15:25:39 -0800
From: root@MachineB (0000-Admin(0000))
Subject: Sun Management Center - Alert Alarm Action
Mime-Version: 1.0

Sun Management Center alarm action notification ... {Alert: 
machineB Kernel Reader Load Average Over The Last 5 Minutes > 
0.01Jobs}


 

To Define an Alarm Action Script

The following procedure describes how to customize an alarm action to automatically notify a user when an alarm condition occurs.

  1. Create the script using the following arguments:

TABLE  20-3   Arguments for Custom Alarm Action Script
Argument
 Definition

%statusfmt  

The alarm severity, such as Warning, Critical, and so on.  

%statusstringfmt  

The complete alarm string, including severity. (For example: Critical: Machine A Kernel Reader Number of User Sessions > 10)  

  2. At the command-line level, become superuser.

# su

  3. Install the script in the home Sun Management Center directory. The default is the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/bin/ directory. For example:

# cp custom_alarm_script /var/opt/SUNWsymon/bin/

Note - The script filename should not have a .sh extension.
  4. Click the Host Details Browser tab.
  5. Set the alarm threshold.
  For more information, see "To Create an Alarm".
  6. Click on the System Load Statistics icon.
  The System Load Statistics properties table is displayed in the contents view of the Host Details Browser page (FIGURE 20-2).
  7. Select Load Averages Over the Last Five Minutes in the Value column and click with the left mouse button.
  The Attribute Editor Info page is displayed.
  8. Click the Attribute Editor Actions tab.
  The Actions page is displayed (FIGURE 20-5).
  9. Click on Action button for the Critical Actions field to display the Alarm Action Modification dialog (FIGURE 20-6).
  10. Click the Generic Actions button.
  11. Type custom_alarm_script %statusstringfmt in the Available Scripts field.
  12. Complete this procedure with one of the following actions:

Refresh Tab

The Attribute Editor Refresh page (FIGURE 20-7) enables you to set the refresh interval for this object. The refresh interval is the interval between the times when the Sun Management Center agent samples the monitored property.

FIGURE  20-7 Attribute Editor Refresh Tab for a Monitored Property


 

To Set a Refresh Interval

The following example shows how to set a refresh interval in the System Load Statistics module.

  1. Select a data property (System Load Statistics) (FIGURE 20-1) on the Host Details Browser page.
  2. Select Load Averages Over the Last Five Minutes in the Value column and click with the left mouse button.
  The Attribute Editor Info page is displayed.
  3. Click the Refresh tab.
  The Refresh page is displayed.
  4. Type a value (in seconds) in the Refresh Interval field.
  In this example, 300 was typed in the entry field. The refresh interval is five minutes.
  5. Complete this procedure with one of the following actions:
  When the System Load Statistics properties table is displayed, the values in the table are refreshed every five minutes.
Note - By increasing the refresh interval to a larger interval, the agent uses less CPU cycles.

History Tab

The Attribute Editor History page enables you to save older data for a monitored property. In FIGURE 20-8, a history of data points is recorded every 120 seconds (sample interval). This information can be stored in a disk file or the memory cache.

FIGURE  20-8 Attribute Editor History Tab for a Monitored Property

The two types of disk files are: circular (maximum of 1000 lines) and text. These files are located in the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log directory in the file specified in the Text File Name field.

If you select memory cache, you must indicate in the Max Size (sample) field the number of data points to save.

A circular disk file is automatically saved under the name history.log. If you do not choose a file name for your text file, it is automatically saved under the name agent_default.history.

For example, if you set this field to 1000, only the most current 1000 data points are stored in the memory cache. Any older data points are discarded. These data points can be graphed. See "To Graph A Monitored Data Property" for more information.

Note - You can view this data in a graph by opening the graph for this monitored property. If you have selected memory cache, the graph is displayed with historical data.

 

To Set a History Interval

  1. Select a data property (System Load Statistics) (FIGURE 20-3) from the Host Details Browser page.
  The Attribute Editor Info page is displayed.
  2. Click the History tab.
  The History page is displayed.
  3. Type a value (in seconds) in the Sample Interval field.
  In this example, 120 was typed in the entry field. A history data point is collected every two minutes. For more information on the Advanced button, see "Using the Time Editor".
  4. Complete this procedure with one of the following actions:



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