Configuration Browser

Use the Configuration Browser to view configuration data in the context of a single managed entity. Configuration data can include:

• Configuration items and properties

• System configuration data as well as all system members and their configuration data

• System and target relationships (immediate, member of, uses, used by, and so forth)

• Configuration extension collection data

The browser window consists of left and right panes. The left pane is a tree hierarchy. The right pane consists of tabs that display information in tables. As you navigate in the tree, your selection dictates the contents in the right pane. Depending on the selection, tabs appear containing data such as properties and values, relationships, a hierarchical structure of a system and its members, and file contents in both a parsed and raw text format.

You can take any of several actions as you view a configuration in the browser. These actions are available from the Actions menu above the tabs. The tree hierarchy in the left pane also has context menus available.

This section covers the following topics:

• Viewing Configuration Data

• Working with Saved Configurations

• Working with Inventory and Usage Details

Viewing Configuration Data

The Configuration Browser enables you to view a target's latest or saved configuration data. While viewing configuration data, you can access configuration features such as compare and history.

1. From the Targets menu, select All Targets.
2. In the table of returned targets, right-click in the row of the desired target.
3. In the popup menu, select Configuration, then select Last Collected or Saved. In the case of saved configurations, select in the table of saved configurations the one you want to browse, then click View. The browser opens to display the (latest or saved) configuration data for the selected target.

   Note that these same selections (Last Collected and Saved) are available in the Configuration menu on a target's home page that appears in the top-left corner and typically takes the name of the target type, for example, Host or Web Cache.

4. The browser display differs depending on the target type

   • For standard targets, the tree hierarchy on the left shows the target node at the top, beneath which appear configuration item categories and nested configuration items. Select the target node and the tabs on the right show target properties and various relationships (immediate, member of, uses, used by). Immediate relationships indicate direction: source and destination. Thus, for example, a source target type of database has an immediate relationship (hosted by) with a destination target type of host.

     As you traverse the tree on the left, the tab on the right becomes the tree selection and displays the properties and values for the selection in table rows. So, for example, if the target type is host and you select Hardware in the tree on the left, the tab on the right becomes Hardware, and the table row displays values for Host Name, Domain, Vendor Name, and so forth. As the table view changes, look to the lower-right corner to see the number of rows the table contains. For multirow tables, use the search filter to drill down to specific properties and values. Add additional search filters as needed.

   • When target type is a system, the tree hierarchy on the left shows the following:

     • The root target at the top level

     • A nested node one level down for each configuration item associated with the root target

     • A folder at the same level as the nested node for each member type

     • A node for each member within the member type beneath the member folder

     Select the root target and the tabs on the right show target properties, a system topology table, and various relationships (immediate, member of, uses, used by). Select a configuration item in the tree on the left, and the tab on the right displays the item's properties and values. Note that this applies only to configuration items associated with the root target. Select a member target on the left and the tab on the right displays the member target properties. Note, however, that configuration data for the target does not display.

     To see the member target's configuration data, you have to right click on the member, and then select Latest Configuration.The browser display then becomes the same as for a standard target. There is a bread crumb above the tree hierarchy on the left that enables you to return to the system view. If you subsequently save the member configuration, the link to the configuration data changes to Saved Configuration.

   • Select a configuration extension file in the tree on the left; separate tabs for a parsed view and a raw text view of the file appear in the tables on the right.

5. To view the configuration details of all the members of the target, click Configuration Report. This exports all the configuration details into a zip file which gets downloaded. Extract the XLS file to view all the configuration details of the members.
6. (Optional) If you want to save this configuration snapshot, select Save Latest in the Actions drop-down menu above the tabs. In the dialog that opens, enter a description by which to distinguish the configuration, then click Submit Job. Click OK to exit the dialog. The save action is also available on the right-click menu while selecting a target tree node. Saving a configuration saves all the configuration and relationship data for the selected target. It also saves the relationship and configuration data for all member targets.
7. Other options in the Actions menu include:

   • Go to Homepage–returns to selected target home page.

   • Export–opens a dialog where you can browse to a file location and save the configuration as a CSV file.

   • Topology–opens the Configuration Topology Viewer showing the viewed target's relationships.

   • Compare–displays the comparison workflow page, where the viewed target's configuration is preselected as the one against which to compare other configurations.

   • Search–displays the configuration search page where the viewed target is the search object.

   • History–displays the history page for the viewed target's configuration.

   • Refresh–triggers a collection of the viewed target's configuration data and subsequent refresh of the browser's tree hierarchy. Applicable only when viewing a latest configuration (last collected). Note that a manual refresh on a composite target applies only to the target itself, not to its members.

Working with Saved Configurations

Saved configurations are snapshots in time of collected data preserved for future reference. You may simply want to view the saved data, or you may want to use it as the basis of a comparison.

You can save standard as well as composite configurations. Saving a configuration saves all configuration item and relationship data for the selected target and for all member targets.

Note that there are various ways to save a configuration:

• While viewing a table of all targets, right-click a target and select Configuration, then select Save.

• While viewing a target's last collected configuration in the Configuration Browser, select Save Latest from the Actions drop-down menu.

A save, particularly one that involves systems or groups, can take several minutes. So, for performance reasons, a save action submits a job that occurs asynchronously. To check job status, do the following:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Job, then select Activity.

2. Click Advanced Search and set the following criteria:

   • Set Job Type to ECM Save (or Save Latest).

   • Set Target Type to Targetless.

3. Click Go.

4. Drill down in the search results for save details.

To compare a saved configuration:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select Saved.

2. In the table of saved configurations, select the configuration you want to browse, then click View.

3. Navigate the tree hierarchy to expose the following categories of data:

   • Managed entities, configuration items, their properties, and relationships

   • System structures

   • Configuration extension collections

You can also view a saved configuration in the Configuration Browser: right-click a target tree node and select Configuration, then select Saved.

To compare a saved configuration:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select Saved.

2. In the table of saved configurations, select the configuration you want to compare against, then click Compare.

3. The selected configuration becomes the first configuration in the comparison workflow. Continue the process of setting up the comparison.

To export a configuration:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select Saved.
2. Click Export and follow the instructions in the export dialog to save the results in a ZIP file. For a single target, the export dialog will determine the target's configuration items and immediate relationship details and will package the data into a zip file.

Or if the configuration already exists:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select Saved.
2. Select the configuration, then click View.
3. Select Configuration Report and click Export.

To import a previously exported configuration:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select Saved.
2. Click the Import button.
3. In the dialog that opens, browse to the location of the exported configuration data and click Import.

   Upon refreshing, the imported configuration appears in the table of saved configurations.

Working with Inventory and Usage Details

In the Inventory and Usage Details page, you can:

• View inventory summaries for deployments such as hosts, database installations, and fusion middleware installations on an enterprise basis or for specific targets.

• View inventory summary information in the context of different dimensions. For example, for host inventory summary, you can view by platform, vendor, or OS version.

• Drill down multiple levels of inventory details.

• See trends in inventory counts charted across a time line. Chart bars are color-coded to match the view selection.

• Switch to a pie chart to break down the inventory data for the rollup option by color-coded percentages.

• For Hosts (OS Patches) and Databases (Patches Applied), click a patch indicator to link to patch details.

• Repeatedly revise selections to refresh chart and details based on new selections.

• Export deployment and details tables to CSV files.

To view inventory and usage details:

1. From the Enterprise menu, select Configuration, then select Inventory and Usage Details.

   Alternatively, you can click See Details in the Inventory and Usage region of the Grid Summary page.

2. Select the entity you want to examine and choose a rollup option. For example, show all deployed hosts rolled up by platform. Note that the page refreshes automatically upon selection.
3. For patch updates, click Yes to view patch details.
4. Select the radio button to specify how to display the inventory chart.

   • The trend chart shows inventory counts across a time line. Use the magnifier icon to zoom the view. You can adjust the date range by sliding the horizontal scroll bar under the chart.

   • The pie chart breaks down the inventory data for the selected rollup option by percentages in an appealing color-coded visual.

5. Click Table View to convert the trend chart to table format. Close the table to return to the chart view.
6. Select one or more rows in the deployments table and click the View Details button to refresh the chart and details table based on the selected rows.
7. In any given row in the top table there is a count bar next to the count that represents a percentage of the maximum count. For example, if the maximum number of hosts by platform is four, the bar for hosts represented on two platforms would be half as long. Click the bar to refresh the details table and chart for the row.

Note that you can export either the master (deployments) table or the details table. In either case, click the Export button to open a dialog where you can browse to a file location and save the table as a CSV file.

Note:

In a shared Oracle Home deployment the inventory location is /scratch/myCentralInventory. This inventory location inside the Oracle Home is used by all the other hosts to execute the attachHome script.

The oraInst.loc file inside the Oracle Home points to this inventory location. Ensure that this inventory location is locally available in all destination hosts. Else, this location is created if required. This way there is coherence as all the hosts using the same Oracle Home also use the same inventory location.