GenericDBd

The Unified Assurance Event Generic DB Aggregator is a generic integration that connects to a database and runs a query to collect rows of data. The results are then parsed with customizable rules and de-duplicated events are created within Unified Assurance.

You can run this application as a service using the Services UI.

Generic DB Aggregator Setup

  1. Review the query in the SelectSQLFile file referenced in the configuration to see the data that will be selected for processing. Update the query as needed.

  2. Review the logic in the rules files referenced in the configuration to see the processing that will be done on the events that are selected:

    • LoadRules will be run during application startup to load data that might be needed during processing.

    • IncludeRules will be read during application startup to load additional files that might be called during processing.

    • BaseRules will be run for each event that is selected from the query.

    Update the logic as needed.

  3. Enable the default Service, unless a specific configuration option is needed:

    Configuration -> Broker Control -> Services

Default Service

The following table shows the settings for the default service. Actual values are in bold, descriptions of values are in plaintext.

Field Value
Package coreCollection-app
Name Event Database Aggregator
Program bin/core/collection/GenericDBd
Arguments This field is blank. There is no default value.
Description Database Aggregator that reads event lines from results of a sql query
Failover Type Standalone (Supported: Standalone, Primary, Redundant/Backup)
Status Disabled
Privileged This option is selected.

See Services in Unified Assurance User's Guide for general information about the settings for services.

See Using Application Primary/Backup Failover for more information about the different failover types.

Default Configuration

The following table shows the default configurations for the application. Actual values are in bold, descriptions of values are in plaintext.

Name Default Value Possible Values Notes
BaseRules collection/event/db/base.rules Text, 255 characters The relative path to the application Base Rules file.
BranchDir core/default Text, 255 characters The relative path to the rules directory.
IncludeRules collection/event/db/base.includes Text, 255 characters The relative path to the application Include Rules file.
LoadRules collection/event/db/base.load Text, 255 characters The relative path to the application Load Rules file.
LogFile logs/EventDatabase.log Text, 255 characters The relative path to the log file.
LogLevel ERROR OFF, FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG The logging level for the application.
PollTime 60 An integer How often aggregator will poll the database in seconds.
SelectSQLFile collection/event/db/lookup.sql Text, 255 characters The path to SQL file containing database query, relative to $BranchDir.
ShardID 1 An integer Database shard to be used.
SourceSchemaName This field is blank. There is no default value. Text, 255 characters Database Schema name matching an entry in the Databases configuration; Connects and supports failover as per that configuration. Cannot be used in conjunction with DatabaseID.
Threads 3 An integer Number of process threads created. The aggregator takes a third of this value (rounded up) for database threads unless overridden by the DBThreads application configuration.
Capture Disabled Enabled or Disabled (Optional) If enabled, saves the raw message in the Log.
DatabaseID This field is blank. There is no default value. Text, 255 characters (Optional) Specific Database entry in the Databases configuration. Connects but does not support failover. Cannot be used in conjunction with SourceSchemaName.
DBThreads This field is blank. There is no default value. An integer (Optional) Number of database threads to be created. If not specified, defaults to a third (rounded up) of Threads application configuration.
DSN This field is blank. There is no default value. Text, 255 characters (Optional) (DEPRECATED: Use SourceSchemaName or DatabaseID) The database connection information and driver.
FieldSetFile This field is blank. There is no default value. Text, 255 characters (Optional) Path to csv file containing custom list of fields that will be used when inserting data. (Requires InsertSQLFile.)
InsertSQLFile This field is blank. There is no default value. Text, 255 characters (Optional) Path to file containing custom SQL Insert statement for handling of event inserts. (Requires FieldSetFile.)
Password This field is blank. There is no default value. Text, 255 characters (Optional) (DEPRECATED: This is not encrypted. Use the Database configuration password instead.) The database login password.
Username This field is blank. There is no default value. Text, 255 characters (Optional) (DEPRECATED: Use the Database configuration username) The database login username.

Best Practices

The following list shows you the best practices for working with this application:

Rules

This collector uses the Unified Assurance standard rules architecture in Perl syntax. For information about creating rules, see the following in Unified Assurance Developer's Guide:

Tokens

The aggregator exposes the following tokens for rules processing.

Token Description
$Event Reference to the hash that is used to create and insert the Event data into the database. Keys map to the fields within the table used and values assigned are inserted in the database to that field. (e.g. $Event->{'IPAddress'} = '192.0.2.1' to assign the event IP address to '192.0.2.1') At least the 'Node' and 'Summary' fields must be set, or no event is inserted.
$EventData Resulting data from query. Use $EventData->{'FieldName'} to access the FieldName data.
$discard_flag Flag for discard (0 = No, 1 = Yes)
$AppConfig Hash reference to the application configuration name-value pairs that were configured. (i.e. use $AppConfig->{'Host'} to retrieve the set value for 'Host'.)
$CustomHash Custom key, value cache available across all rules. Contents commonly defined in Load Rules then used in Base or other rules. NOTE: This variable is a shared object and any additional sub hashes or arrays must be shared before use or it will cause the error: Invalid value for shared scalar. Instantiate the sub hash/array using '&share({})' e.g. 
$CustomHash->{SubObject} = &share({});
$StorageHash Internal cache used as the StorageHash option when calling rules functions such as FindDeviceID(). NOTE: The structure of this cache is subject to change! Not recommended for custom global storage or manual manipulation; use $CustomHash.

Example Integration

In this example, the aggregator will connect to a MS SQL Server on a VMWare VCenter Server.

  1. Go to the Databases UI:

    Configuration -> Databases -> Databases

  2. Create a new entry with the following options set:

    • Database Name => VMWare VCenter

    • Database Type => MS SQL Server/Sybase

    • The rest of the settings should be set as needed in the environment.

    • Click Submit.

  3. Go to the Rules UI:

    Configuration -> Rules

  4. Expand the folder path: core -> default -> collection -> event

  5. Select the event folder, then click on the Add -> Add Folder button. Enter the folder name vcenter, then click Submit. Enter a commit message, then click OK.

  6. Click on the vcenter folder, then click Add -> Add File. Enter the following:

    • File Name => vcenter.sql

    • Logic

          SELECT T.DESCRIPTIONID  AS Description, 
           DATEDIFF(s, '1970-01-01 00:00:00', T.QUEUE_TIME) AS EventTime, 
           T.USERNAME       AS UserName, 
           VM.IP_ADDRESS    AS IP, 
           VM.DNS_NAME      AS DNS
      FROM [VIM_VCDB].[dbo].[VPX_TASK] AS T
 LEFT JOIN [VIM_VCDB].[dbo].[VPX_VM]   AS VM 
        ON T.ENTITY_ID = VM.ID
     WHERE TOOLS_STATUS != 0

    • Click Submit, then enter a commit message, then click OK.

  7. Click on the vcenter folder, then click Add -> Add File. Enter the following:

    • File Name => vcenter.rules

    • Logic

      $Log->Message('ALWAYS', "Running Rules");

$Severity = 1;

if( $EventData->{Description} =~ "shutdown" ){
    $EventType = "VMState - Down";
    $Severity  = 5;
}
elsif( $EventData->{Description} =~ "PowerOn" ){
    $EventType = "VMState - Up";
    $Severity  = 0;
}
$Event->{'EventType'}     = $EventType;
$Event->{'FirstReported'} = $EventData->{EventTime};
$Event->{'IPAddress'}     = $EventData->{IP};
$Event->{'Node'}          = $EventData->{DNS};
$Event->{'OwnerName'}     = $EventData->{UserName};
$Event->{'Severity'}      = $Severity;
$Event->{'SubMethod'}     = "VCenter Events";
$Event->{'Summary'}       = $EventData->{Description};
$Event->{'EventKey'}      = $Event->{'SubMethod'} . $Event->{'Node'} . $Event->{'EventType'} . $Event->{'Summary'};

    • Click Submit, then enter a commit message, then click OK.

  8. Click on the vcenter folder, then click Add -> Add File. Enter the following:

    • File Name => vcenter.includes

    • Logic

      # this file is intentionally being left blank.

    • Click Submit, then enter a commit message, then click OK.

  9. Click on the vcenter folder, then click Add -> Add File. Enter the following:

    • File Name => vcenter.load

    • Logic

      # this file is intentionally being left blank.

    • Click Submit, then enter a commit message, then click OK.

  10. Go to the Services UI:

    Configuration -> Broker Control -> Services

  11. Select the Event Database Aggregator, then click the Clone button. Set the following:

    • Service Name => VCenter Event Database Aggregator

    • Status => Enabled

    • BaseRules => collection/event/vcenter/vcenter.rules

    • IncludeRules => collection/event/vcenter/vcenter.includes

    • LoadRules => collection/event/vcenter/vcenter.load

    • SourceSchemaName => VMWare VCenter

    • Click Submit.

  12. Verify the service starts and events are received.

Administration Details

The following list shows the technical details you will need for advanced administration of the application: