Solaris WBEM Developer's Guide

Chapter 1 Overview of Solaris Web-Based Enterprise Management

This chapter provides an overview of Solaris Web-Based Enterprise Management, and includes the following topics:

Note –

This chapter provides a general overview of Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and the Common Information Model (CIM). For more in-depth information about WBEM and CIM, refer to the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) Web site at http://www.dmtf.org.

About Web-Based Enterprise Management

Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) is a set of management and Internet technologies. WBEM unifies the management of enterprise computing environments. With WBEM, you can deliver an integrated set of standardized management tools that leverage emerging web technologies. By developing management applications according to WBEM principles, you can create compatible products at a low development cost.

The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) is an industry group that represents corporations in the computer and telecommunications industries. The DMTF is leading the effort to develop and disseminate standards for the management of desktop environments, enterprise-wide systems, and the Internet. The goal of the DMTF is to develop an integrated approach to managing computers and networks across platforms and protocols. The approach is intended to result in cost-effective products that interoperate as flawlessly as possible.

About the Common Information Model

The Common Information Model (CIM), developed by the DMTF, is an industry standard used to manage systems and networks. This standard provides a common conceptual framework that classifies and defines the parts of a networked environment, and depicts how these various parts interact. The CIM captures notions that are applicable to all areas of management, independent of technology implementation.

CIM consists of the following components:

CIM Specification – Defines the language and methodology for integration with other management models.
CIM Schema – Provides the actual model descriptions for systems, applications, local area networks, and devices. The CIM schema consists of the following models:
- Core Model – Provides the underlying, general assumptions of the managed environment. This model comprises a small set of classes and associations that provide a basic vocabulary for analyzing and describing managed systems.
- Common Model – Captures notions that are common to particular management areas, but which are independent of a particular technology or a particular implementation. Provides a basis for the development of management applications.
Extension schema – Represents technology and platform-specific extensions to the Common Model. These schemas are specific to environments such as operating systems. For example, the Solaris schema is an extension schema. Vendors extend the model for their products by creating subclasses of objects. Applications can then transverse object instances in the standard model to manage different products in a heterogeneous environment.

About Solaris WBEM Services

The Solaris WBEM Services software is the Solaris platform implementation of WBEM and CIM standards. The following components are included with Solaris WBEM Services:

Solaris WBEM Services software provides WBEM services in the Solaris OS, including secure access and manipulation of management data. The software includes a Solaris platform provider that enables management applications to access information about managed resources such as devices and software in the Solaris OS.

The CIMOM accepts connections from management applications that use either the Remote Method Invocation (RMI) protocol or the XML over HTTP protocol. The CIMOM provides the following services to connected clients:

Management services – These services are in the form of a CIMOM. The CIMOM checks the semantics and syntax of CIM data. The CIMOM also distributes data between applications, the CIM Object Manager Repository, and managed resources.
Security services – Specify these services for WBEM through the Solaris Management Console User tool. These services are described in System Administration Guide: Security Services.
Sun WBEM User Manager – Use this tool to establish an access control list (ACL) for a specific name space on the WBEM server. ACL-based security is uniquely provided by Solaris WBEM Services. Sun WBEM User Manager performs the following tasks:
- Enables you to add and delete authorized users
- Set access privileges for authorized users
- Manage user authentication and access to CIM objects on a WBEM-enabled system
Logging services – Consist of classes that developers can use to create applications that dynamically record and retrieve event data. Administrators use this data to track and determine the cause of events. Logging services are described in more detail in Chapter 9, Troubleshooting.
XML services – Convert XML data into CIM classes, enabling XML/HTTP-based WBEM clients to communicate with the CIM Object Manager.

Once connected to a WBEM-enabled system, WBEM clients can request WBEM operations to:

Create, view, and delete CIM classes and instances
Query for properties that have a specified value
Enumerate instances or classes in a specified class hierarchy

Software Components

Solaris WBEM Services software consists of three software components: Application, Management, and Provider. These components interact with the operating system and with hardware. The following figure shows the software components and how these components interact.

Figure 1–1 Solaris WBEM Services Architecture

Diagram shows the interaction between components of the Application,
Management, and Provider layers of the WBEM services architecture.

Application layer – WBEM clients process and display data from managed resources. Solaris WBEM Services include the following applications.
- Sun WBEM User Manager and Solaris Management Console User tool – Applications that enable system administrators to add and delete authorized users and to set these users' access privileges to managed resources.
- Solaris Management Console Log Viewer – An application that displays log files. A user can view details of a log record, including the name of the user who issued a logged command and the client computer on which a logged event occurred.
- Managed Object Format (MOF) compiler – A program that parses a file containing MOF statements, converts the classes and instances defined in the file to Java classes, and then adds the Java classes to the CIM Object Manager Repository, a central storage area for management data.
  
  MOF is a language for defining CIM classes and instances. MOF files are ASCII text files that use the MOF language to describe CIM objects. A CIM object is a representation, or model, of a managed resource, such as a printer, disk drive, or CPU. MOF files are located in /usr/sadm/mof.
  
  Many sites store information about managed resources in MOF files. Because MOF can be converted to Java, applications that can run on any system with a Java virtual machine can interpret and exchange this information. You can also use the mofcomp command to compile MOF files at any time after installation. MOF is described on the DMTF web page at http://www.dmtf.org.
Management layer – Components at this layer provide services to connected WBEM clients.
- Common Information Model (CIM) Object Manager – Software that manages CIM objects on a WBEM system. CIM objects are stored internally as Java classes. The CIM Object Manager transfers information between WBEM clients, the CIM Object Manager Repository, and managed resources.
- CIM Object Manager Repository – Central storage area for CIM class and instance definitions.
- Client and CIM application programming interfaces (APIs) – WBEM client applications use these Java interfaces to request operations from the CIM Object Manager. Such operations include creating or viewing classes or instances of managed resources.
- Provider interfaces – Providers use these interfaces to transfer information about managed resources to the CIM Object Manager. The CIM Object Manager uses the provider interfaces to transfer information to locally installed providers.
Provider layer – Providers act as intermediaries between the CIM Object Manager and one or more managed resources. When the CIMOM receives a request from a WBEM client for data that is not available from the CIM Object Manager Repository, the CIMOM forwards the request to the appropriate provider.
- Solaris providers – Provide the CIM Object Manager with instances of managed resources in the Solaris OS. Providers get and set information on managed devices. A native provider is a machine-specific program that is written to run on a managed device. For example, a provider that accesses data on a system running the Solaris OS probably includes C functions to query that system. The Java Native Interface is part of the JDK^TM software. By writing programs using the Java Native Interface, you ensure that your code is portable across all platforms. The Java Native Interface enables Java code that runs within a Java virtual machine to operate with applications and libraries that are written in other languages, such as C, C++, and assembly.
- Solaris platform schema – A collection of classes that describes managed objects in the Solaris OS. The CIM schema and Solaris platform schema classes are stored in the CIM Object Manager Repository. The CIM schema is a collection of class definitions used to represent managed objects that occur in every management environment.
  
  The Solaris platform schema is a collection of class definitions that extend the CIM schema to represent managed objects in a typical Solaris OS. Users can also use the MOF compiler (mofcomp) to add CIM schema, Solaris platform schema, or other classes to the CIM Object Manager Repository.
Operating system layer – The Solaris platform providers enable management applications to access information about managed resources such as devices and software, in the Solaris OS.
Hardware layer – A management client can access management data on any supported Solaris platform.

CIM Object Manager

The CIM Object Manager manages CIM objects on a WBEM-enabled system. When a WBEM client application accesses information about a CIM object, the CIMOM contacts either the appropriate provider for that object, or the CIMOM Repository. When a client application requests data that is not available from the Repository, the CIMOM forwards the request to the provider for that managed resource. The provider dynamically retrieves the information.

WBEM client applications contact the CIM Object Manager to establish a connection. This connection is used to perform WBEM operations, such as creating a CIM class or updating a CIM instance. When a WBEM client application connects to the CIM Object Manager, the WBEM client gets a reference to the CIM Object Manager. The client can use that reference to request services and perform operations.

Managed Object Format Compiler

You use the Managed Object Format (MOF) language to specify CIM schema. You define classes and instances using ASCII text, and place those classes in a file that you submit to the MOF compiler, mofcomp(1M). The MOF compiler parses the file to add the classes and instances defined in the file to the CIM Object Manager repository. See Chapter 7, Creating JavaBeans Components Using the MOF Compiler for information on how to use the MOF compiler to automatically generate JavaBeans^TM components from MOF files.

Because you can convert MOF to Java, applications developed in MOF can run on any system or in any environment that supports the Java platform.

Note –

For more in-depth information about the MOF language, files, and syntax, see http://www.dmtf.org/education/cimtutorial/extend/spec.php.

Solaris Platform Schema

The Solaris platform schema is an extension schema of the Common Model. The Solaris platform schema specifically describes managed objects running in the Solaris OS.

When you install Solaris WBEM Services, the CIM schema and the Solaris platform schema MOF files populate the /usr/sadm/mof directory. These files are automatically compiled when the CIMOM starts. The CIM schema files, denoted by the CIM_ prefix, form standard CIM objects. The Solaris platform schema extends the standard CIM schema by describing Solaris platform objects. The MOF files that make up the Solaris platform schema have the Solaris_ prefix.

Note –

The CIM schema and Solaris platform schema are installed at file:/usr/sadm/lib/wbem/doc/mofhtml/index.html.

Solaris WBEM SDK

The Solaris WBEM SDK is a set of APIs that contain the components necessary to write management applications. These applications communicate with WBEM-enabled management devices by using XML and HTTP communication standards.

Solaris WBEM applications request information or services from the Common Information Model (CIM) Object Manager through the WBEM APIs. These APIs represent CIM objects as Java classes. You use the APIs to describe managed objects and to retrieve information about managed objects in a system environment. The advantage of modeling managed resources by using CIM is that those objects can be shared across any system that is CIM-compliant.

Note –

The Solaris WBEM application programming interface (API) documentation is in Javadoc format and is installed at file:/usr/sadm/lib/wbem/doc/index.html during a Solaris OS installation.

The Solaris WBEM APIs are described in the following table.

Table 1–1 Solaris WBEM APIs


API	Package Name	Description
CIM	`javax.wbem.cim`	Includes common classes and methods that represent the basic CIM elements. The CIM APIs create objects on the local system.
Client	`javax.wbem.client`	Applications use the `CIMClient` class to connect to the CIM Object Manager. Applications use the other classes and methods to transfer data to and from the CIM Object Manager. The Batching APIs, a subset of the Client APIs, enable clients to batch multiple requests in one remote call. This capability reduces the delay introduced by multiple remote message exchanges.
Provider	`javax.wbem.provider`	The CIM Object Manager uses these APIs to pass application requests for dynamic data to providers.
Query	`javax.wbem.query`	Contains classes and methods that you use to formulate and manipulate queries by using the WBEM Query Language (WQL).

Using CIM Workshop to Develop WBEM Applications

You can develop WBEM applications that use CIM Workshop, a GUI-based development tool included with the Solaris WBEM SDK. You use CIM Workshop to do the following:

View, add, delete, and search for classes
View, add, and delete name spaces
Add properties, qualifiers, and methods to new classes
Create instances
Modify instance values
Traverse associations
Subscribe to events
Execute methods

Note –

CIM guidelines prevent you from modifying the properties, methods, and qualifiers of CIM schema and Solaris platform schema classes. You also cannot change the values of inherited properties, methods, and qualifiers.

CIM Workshop Documentation

CIM Workshop has context-sensitive online help for every dialog box except for the main window. When you click the interface components, the appropriate help text displays in the Information pane on the left side of the dialog box.

Tip –

To close and reopen the Information pane, click the question mark button on the upper left corner of the dialog box.

Running CIM Workshop

The default behavior of CIM Workshop is to:

Connect to a CIMOM running on the local host
In the root\cimv2 default name space
Using the Remote Method Invocation (RMI) protocol

You can also point to a remote host that is running the CIM Object Manager.

How to Start CIM Workshop

Steps

At the system prompt, type:
% /usr/sadm/bin/cimworkshop
The CIM Workshop Login dialog box displays.

Follow the instructions in the context-sensitive help to fill in the fields in the Login dialog box. Then click OK.

The CIM Workshop main window displays.

How to Exit CIM Workshop

Step

From the CIM Workshop main window, choose Workshop->Exit.

CIM Workshop exits.

About the Main Window

The main window in CIM Workshop is divided into three panes:

Left pane – Displays the class inheritance tree of the current name space.
Right pane – Displays the Properties, Methods, and Events tabs. When you select a class in the left pane, click one of these tabs in the right pane to display more information on the properties, methods, or events of the selected class.
Bottom pane – Displays notification when events occur to which you are subscribed.