Working With Alarms in the Web Console Attribute Editor

The procedures in this section explain how to create and respond to alarms using the web console attribute editor.

To Define an Alarm Condition

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, for example, System Load Statistics, from the Host Details Browser page.

2. Click the Alarms tab.

   The Alarms page is displayed.

3. In the Critical Threshold (>) field, type a value that is less than the current value.

   Providing this value creates a critical alarm.

4. Click OK to apply your changes and close the Alarms page.

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

   • Operating System

   • Kernel Reader

   • System Load Statistics

5. Click the Host Details Alarms tab.

   The alarm that you created is reflected in the alarms table when the table is refreshed. For more information about this subject, see Chapter 16, Managing Alarms Using the Web Console.

6. Click the acknowledge button, which looks like a check mark, to acknowledge this alarm.

7. Create additional alarm thresholds. Then, 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 about security, see Chapter 18, Sun Management Center Security.

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   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.

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To Define a Response for an Alarm

The following procedure describes how to define an action to take when an alarm occurs.

1. Select a data property, for example, System Load Statistics, from the Host Details Browser page.

2. Select an appropriate item in the Value column, for example, the value associated with Load Average Over Last Five Minutes .

   The Attribute Editor Info page is displayed.

3. Click the Actions tab.

   The Actions page is displayed.

4. Click the Action button for the alarm level for which you want to define the action.

   A window appears on which you choose the type of action and provide appropriate information.

   • To notify users through an email, click the Email radio button. Type a comma-separated list of email addresses and a message.

   • To run a script, click the Other radio button. Choose a script from the list of available scripts. Then, supply appropriate arguments as needed. See To Define and Use an Alarm Action Script.

   • To clear the alarm, click the Clear radio button.

5. Click OK to apply your changes and close this page.

   If you choose to send an email, a message is sent to the specified users whenever the specified alarm occurs. This message might be similar to the following message.

   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 and Use 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:

   %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/

4. Click the Host Details Browser tab.

5. Set the alarm threshold.

   For more information, see To Define an Alarm Condition.

6. Click the System Load Statistics icon.

   The properties table for System Load Statistics is displayed in the contents view of the Host Details Browser page.

7. Select the Value column for Load Average Over Last Five Minutes.

   The Attribute Editor Info page is displayed.

8. Click the Attribute Editor Actions tab.

   The Actions page appears.

9. Click the Action button for the Critical Actions field.

   The Alarm Action Modification dialog box appears.

10. Click the Other button.

11. Select custom-alarm-script from the Available Scripts menu.

12. Type the following string in the Arguments field:

    %statusstringfmt

13. Click OK to apply your changes and close this page.

    The script file name is displayed in the Critical Action field on the Actions page.

To Modify Alarm Actions

1. Click the Action button for the alarm action that you want to modify.

   The Alarm Actions modification dialog box is displayed.

2. Select the type of alarm action that you want to modify (Email or Other).

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.