Sun Management Center 3.6.1 User's Guide

Chapter 10 Monitoring Data Property Attributes

This chapter describes the following topics:

Overview of Attribute Editor

The module data properties provide additional information about Sun Management Center modules. The Attribute Editor enables you to customize the following monitoring criteria for these properties:

Set alarm thresholds for defined alarms
Specify actions to take when alarm conditions occur
Change the interval at which data updates on the screen
Define schedules for creating log files of historical data points

The Attribute Editor has one or more tabs at the top of the window that enable you to switch between different panels. These tabs differ depending on the selected object. The following tabs are available and are described in the identified sections:

Info – Info Tab in the Attribute Editor
Alarms – Alarms Tab in the Attribute Editor
Actions – Actions Tab in the Attribute Editor
Refresh – Refresh Tab in the Attribute Editor
History – History Tab in the Attribute Editor

Info Tab in the Attribute Editor

The Info panel shows additional information about the selected object. The specific information differs depending on the selected object.

Alarms Tab in the Attribute Editor

The Alarms tab enables you to set alarms thresholds only for those data properties that have associated simple alarms. Simple alarms use the rCompare rule, which is described in Appendix D, Sun Management Center Software Rules. For information about simple alarms, see Table 10–1.

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 occur when a set of conditions becomes true. For more information about defining, acknowledging, and working with alarms in Sun Management Center, see Chapter 12, Managing Alarms.

Note –

You need the appropriate security permission to set an alarm threshold. See Chapter 18, Sun Management Center Security for more information.

The following table shows common simple alarm limits for monitored properties. The alarm limits are also displayed in the Parameter Description field. You can set thresholds for one or more of these alarm limits for selected data properties.

Table 10–1 Common Simple Alarm Limits in Sun Management Center Software


Alarm Limit	Description
Critical Threshold (>)	Critical (red) alarm occurs if a value exceeds the limit in this field.
Alert Threshold (>)	Alert (yellow) alarm occurs if a value exceeds the limit in this field.
Caution Threshold (>)	Caution (blue) alarm occurs if a value exceeds the limit in this field.
Critical Threshold (<)	Critical (red) alarm occurs if a value is below the limit in this field.
Alert Threshold (<)	Alert (yellow) alarm occurs if a value is below the limit in this field.
Caution Threshold (<)	Caution (blue) alarm occurs if a value is below the limit in this field.
Alarm Window	Alarm occurs only during this 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.

Actions Tab in the Attribute Editor

The Actions tab appears only if you can define alarm actions for the current data property. The Actions panel enables you to instruct the software to perform a predetermined action if an alarm occurs.

Note –

Acceptable actions include sending an email or executing scripts that are stored in the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/bin directory. These scripts execute with root permissions.

For example, you might define an action 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.

As illustrated in Figure 10–1, you can define specific actions to occur in any of the following instances:

When a particular alarm severity (critical, alert, caution, or intermediate) occurs
When an alarm closes
When any change in alarm condition happens

Note –

The check boxes 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 automatic execution.

Figure 10–1 Attribute Editor Actions Panel for a Monitored Property

Attribute Editor with Actions tab selected shows an action in
the Critical Action field to send email.

When you click the Actions button, the Action Dialog Selection window appears. This window enables you to create or modify the registered alarm actions. You can perform one of the following actions:

Send an email
Execute a script
Clear the alarm

For more information about defining an alarm action, see To Register an Alarm Action.

Refresh Tab in the Attribute Editor

The Refresh panel enables you to set the refresh interval for the selected object. The refresh interval is the interval between the times when the Sun Management Center agent samples the monitored property.

Note –

Only some data properties enable you to modify the refresh interval.

For information about setting the refresh interval, see To Set a Refresh Interval.

History Tab in the Attribute Editor

The History panel enables you to save older data for a monitored property. For example, a history of data points could be recorded every 120 seconds, as specified in the Sample Interval field. You can store this information in one of two places:

Disk file

There are two types of disk files: circular and text. These files are located in the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log directory.
Memory cache

If you store information in the memory cache, you must also indicate how many data points should be saved in the Max Size (sample) field.

Note –

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

Using the Attribute Editor

The Attribute Editor provides features that support various activities. Some of these activities use other features in addition to the Attribute Editor. Information about performing simple Attribute Editor-only functions, such as defining intervals for history logs and screen refreshes, is provided here. Detailed information about alarm-related functions is provided in Chapter 12, Managing Alarms.

To Open the Attribute Editor for a Specific Data Property

You can open the Attribute Editor for a specific data property value. For some data properties, you can also access the Attribute Editor for a column of values. For more information, see To Open the Attribute Editor for a Data Property Column.

Navigate through the topology or hierarchy view until you have accessed a data property table.

Place your cursor in the value section of the table and use either of the following methods:
- Press mouse button 1 and choose Attribute Editor from the pop-up menu.
- Click the Attributes icon.
The Attribute Editor window shows specific information about the selected data property. The displayed tabs depend on the specific data property that you selected.

For information about defining alarm thresholds for the selected data property, see Managing and Controlling Alarms and Alarm Management Examples.

To Open the Attribute Editor for a Data Property Column

Choosing a data property column, rather than a specific data property value, enables you to define attributes for all values in that column. For example, consider the CPU Utilization Table. If you open the Attribute Editor for the column % CPU User Time, you could define alarm thresholds and actions for all CPUs. If you open the Attribute Editor for a specific % CPU User Time value, such as the value that applies to CPU 1, any alarm threshold or action that you defined would apply only to that specific CPU.

Navigate through the topology or hierarchy view until you have accessed a data property table.

Click the column heading for the column in which you are interested.

To access the Attribute Editor, use one of the following mechanisms:
- Press mouse button 1 and choose Attribute Editor from the pop-up menu.
- Click the Attributes icon.
The Attribute Editor window shows specific information about the selected data column. For information about defining alarm thresholds for the selected data column, see Managing and Controlling Alarms and Alarm Management Examples.

To Set a Refresh Interval

The refresh interval indicates, in seconds, how frequently an agent acquires data. The following example illustrates how to set a refresh interval for a property in the System Load Statistics module.

Click the Module Browser tab in the Details window.

Click the expansion icon next to the Operating System icon in the hierarchy tree view.

The Operating System modules are displayed.

Click the expansion icon next to the Kernel Reader icon.

The Kernel Reader properties are displayed.

Double-click the System Load Statistics icon.

The System Load Statistics properties table is displayed.

Select the table cell for Load Averages Over the Last 5 Minutes.

Click the Attributes button.

The Attribute Editor window is displayed.

Click the Refresh tab button.

The refresh panel is displayed.

Type a value in seconds in the Refresh Interval field or click the Advanced button.

For example, 300 seconds equates to five minutes.

To apply the refresh interval and close the Attribute Editor window, click the OK button.

Data for System Load Statistics are acquired every five minutes.

Note –
The agent uses less CPU cycles if you provide a larger refresh interval.

To Set a History Interval

Open the Attribute Editor for the data property on which you want to set the history information.

For example, follow these steps to access the Attribute Editor for Load Averages Over the Last 5 Minutes:
1. Click the Module Browser tab in the Details window.
2. Click the expansion icon next to the Operating System icon in the hierarchy tree view.
3. Click the expansion icon next to the Kernel Reader icon.
4. Double-click the System Load Statistics icon.
5. Select the table cell for Load Averages Over the Last 5 Minutes.
6. Click the Attributes button.

Click the History tab.

The history panel is displayed.

Type a value in seconds in the Sample Interval field or click the Advanced button.

For example, to collect a history data point every two minutes, type 120 in the Sample Interval field.

Select Save History as Disk File or Save History in Memory Cache.

To save history as a disk file:
1. Determine the file type, either circular or text.
  - A circular file has a predefined length of 1000 lines. If the amount of data that is written to the file exceeds that length, then the file rewrites from the beginning.
  - A flat text file has no predefined length. Information is appended to the flat file until you stop the process or until the disk space is exceeded. Use this feature if you need to keep history files for data warehousing purposes.
2. For a text file, type the file name in the Text File Name field.
  
  If you do not choose a file name for your text file, data are saved automatically in the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log/agent_default.history file.
  
  The file name cannot contain special characters, such as / or #.

To save history in a memory cache, type the number of history data points in the Max Size (sample) field.

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

To apply your history file changes and close the History panel, click the OK button.