Creating Message Definitions

 

The following sections describe message definitions and explain how to create a message definition file:

Overview of Message Definitions

Creating a Message Definition File

 

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Overview of Message Definitions

A message definition provides static information about log messages, such as recommendations for responding to errors. The Central Collector appends a message definition to each log message based on the message ID and subsystem values in the message.

Log Central provides predefined message definitions for the following types of logs:

• BEA Tuxedo logs

• BEA WebLogic Enterprise logs

• Oracle alert logs

• Windows NT event logs

This chapter describes how to create a message definition file for additional types of logs. You can also use the Log Central Console to add, modify, and delete message definitions as described in the Log Central Online Help.

A message definition file contains fields for creating one or more message definitions. The first two fields, SUBYSTEM and MESSAGE_ID, are not part of the message definition. The Central Collector uses these two fields to match a message definition to a log message. The following table describes the fields in a message definition file. If a field is in a message definition but not in succeeding definitions, the value of that field is inherited by the succeeding message definitions. In a message definition file, a string must be on one line.

Table 6-1 Fields for Creating a Message Definition

Field	Description
SUBSYSTEM	See "Subsystem" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
MESSAGE_ID	See "Message ID" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
SUMMARY	See "Summary" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
SEVERITY	See "Severity" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
DESCRIPTION	See "Description" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
RECOMMENDATION	See "Recommendation" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
EXECUTE_ON_UPLOAD	See "Execute on Upload" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
TRAP_ID	See "Trap ID" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
TRAP_ENABLED	See "Trap Enabled" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."
AUTO_ACKNOWLEDGE	See "Auto Acknowledge" in Appendix A, "Log Central Message and Message Definition Formats."

The following code is an example of a message definition.

Listing 6-1 Example of Code for Creating a Message Definition

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{
        SUBSYSTEM         = Tuxedo
        MESSAGE_ID        = 1206
        SUMMARY           = Memory allocation failed for compression
        SEVERITY          = Critical
        DESCRIPTION       = An attempt dynamically to allocate memory from the\
operating system failed while compressing a message.
        RECOMMENDATION    = Make sure the operating system parameters are set\
correctly for the amount of memory on the machine and the amount of memory that\
can be used by a process. Reduce the memory usage on the machine or increase\
the amount of physical memory on the machine.
        EXECUTE_ON_UPLOAD = C:\bin\sendalert.exe
        TRAP_ID           = 47
        TRAP_ENABLED      = Yes
        AUTO_ACKNOWLEDGE  = Yes
}

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Creating a Message Definition File

To create and load a message definition file:

1. Create a message definition file.

   Log Central provides a template for a message definition file in install_dir/etc/msgdef.template, where install_dir is the directory where you installed Log Central.

2. Run msgdef_import to load the message definition file.

   For the command syntax, see Commands.