Synthetic Transaction Module Overview

Synthetic Transaction modules can monitor and measure the availability of services remotely. The modules use synthetic (dummy) transactions to simulate use of the service. These modules send service requests to the services periodically, according to defined settings, and simulate usage to monitor the service. Examples of response times that can be reported are connect time and total transaction time. All response times are reported in milliseconds. You can set alarm thresholds on response times. All Synthetic Transaction modules are multi-instance modules.

The following ten Synthetic Transaction modules are available:

• HTTP – Determines the service availability of web servers and the retrieval time for web pages using the HTTP protocol.

• FTP – Determines the FTP service availability. It also measures the ability to transfer files to and from the FTP servers. FtpGet gets a file that you define from the FTP server. FtpPut puts a file on the server.

• Telnet – Determines the availability of the Telnet service.

• DNS – Determines the availability of the DNS Service and the ability of the DNS daemon to resolve a host name.

• NIS – Determines the NIS service availability. It also determines the ability of the NIS daemon to resolve a name in a NIS domain. The supported name resolution types are user name, host name, group name, and mail alias.

• LDAP – Determines the LDAP service availability and the ability of the LDAP daemon to resolve a name.

• SMTP – Measures the availability of the SMTP mail service and its performance when sending mail. You must create at least one dummy email account on the target server for sending the test email. Remember to periodically delete the test email to ensure that the mailbox does not fill up.

• POP3 – Measures the availability of POP3 mail service and its performance of retrieving mail.

• IMAP4 – Measures the availability of IMAP4 mail service and its performance when retrieving mail.

• Calendar – Measures the availability of the Solaris calendar service and ability to retrieve calendar appointments from it.

Using Synthetic Transaction Modules

The IMAP and POP3 modules require a dummy user name and password. The password is passed in clear text during the synthetic transactions. The password is therefore not secure. Be certain that the test user has no privileges.

Prior to loading a module, certain configuration parameters must be specified. For example, the service host name might be requested. For more information about the configuration parameters, see Appendix A, Configuration and Module Parameters Reference.

Once a module is loaded, the state of the service is confirmed in the Server Details table. A service status is indicated in the Server Details table as one of three possible states:

• Available (up) – The service is running.

• Unavailable (down) – The service is unavailable. The reason for this result varies, depending on the circumstances. For example, the host name might not be resolved, the destination might be unreachable, or the service might not be running. A critical alarm is generated.

• Degraded – The service is running but the performance is not as expected. The module is able to run test transactions but the response times of the transactions exceeds the alarm thresholds specified. When the availability is degraded, an alarm is generated. The alarm severity is the highest severity of all alarms that is set on the response times of the transaction.

To Load a Synthetic Transaction Module

1. Load the module.

   For detailed information on loading modules, see “To Load a Module” in Sun Management Center 3.5 User's Guide.

2. Provide the required configuration parameters in the Module Loader dialog box for each module loaded.

   For a complete list of the Synthetic Transaction modules available, see Synthetic Transaction Module Overview.

   Each module requires that specific parameter requirements be defined. Once the parameters are completed, the module is loaded in Sun Management Center under the Remote Systems category. For more information about the parameters, see Appendix A, Configuration and Module Parameters Reference.

To Access the Synthetic Transaction Modules

The Synthetic Transaction module must be loaded before accessing it.

1. Click the Browser tab in the Sun Management Center 3.5 console window.

2. Double-click the Remote Systems category to expand it.

   The Synthetic Transaction icons are displayed.

3. Double-click the Synthetic Transaction icon.

   Service Manager displays the applicable folders in the right panel.

4. Double-click the applicable folder.

   Service Manager can display the following tables as they relate to the module:

   • Server Details Table: Provides the details about the services monitored on the server.

   • Service Measurement Table: Provides the details about the synthetic transactions.

To Activate a Synthetic Transaction

1. In the Service Measurement Table, click mouse button 3 on a table row.

   A pop-up menu appears.

2. Choose New Row.

   The New Row dialog box appears.

3. Provide the applicable parameters to add the row.

   For additional information about parameter requirements, see Appendix A, Configuration and Module Parameters Reference.

4. Click OK.

To Delete or Edit a Synthetic Transaction

1. In the Service Measurement Table, click mouse button 3 on the desired row.

   A pop-up menu appears.

2. Select the Delete Row or the Edit Row option, as appropriate.

3. Complete the edits, as appropriate.

4. Click OK.

To Edit the Server Details Table

1. Edit the applicable parameters in the Server Details table using the Edit Module feature of Sun Management Center 3.5.

   • To access the Server Details table, see To Access the Synthetic Transaction Modules.

   • See “Working With Modules” in Sun Management Center 3.5 User's Guide for detailed information about the Edit Module feature.