1-5
Exercise: Change Template and Publish Changes............................................................... 8-28
Using Diagnostic Tools
Diagnostic Tools.................................................................................................................... 9-2
Types of Diagnostic Tools..................................................................................................... 9-3
Examples of Diagnostic Tools............................................................................................... 9-4
Using the DNS Lookup Tool................................................................................................. 9-5
Using the Event Log Tool...................................................................................................... 9-6
Using the FTP Server Tool .................................................................................................... 9-7
Using the LDAP Authentication Tool ................................................................................... 9-8
Using the Network Tool ........................................................................................................ 9-9
Monitor-Specific Tool Selection ......................................................................................... 9-10
Summary.............................................................................................................................. 9-12
Review Questions ................................................................................................................9-13
Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool................................................................................ 9-14
Exercise: Running the Ping Tool......................................................................................... 9-16
Exercise: Running the Services Tool................................................................................... 9-18
Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool............................................................................. 9-20
Generating Reports
Reports Specific to User ...................................................................................................... 10-2
Types of Reports.................................................................................................................. 10-3
Working with Management Reports.................................................................................... 10-5
Viewing Management Reports ............................................................................................ 10-6
Editing Management Reports .............................................................................................. 10-7
Generating Reports .............................................................................................................. 10-8
Viewing Reports .................................................................................................................. 10-9
Viewing Previous Reports ................................................................................................. 10-10
Working with Alert, Monitor and Quick Reports.............................................................. 10-11
Viewing Alert Reports....................................................................................................... 10-12
Viewing Quick Reports ..................................................................................................... 10-13
Viewing Monitor Summary Reports.................................................................................. 10-14
Summary............................................................................................................................ 10-15
Review Questions .............................................................................................................. 10-16
Exercise: Running SiteScope Reports ............................................................................... 10-17
Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor........... 10-19
Maintaining SiteScope
Important Files and Directories ........................................................................................... 11-2
Patches and Service Packs ................................................................................................... 11-3
1-6
Health Page.......................................................................................................................... 11-4
Health Page Metrics............................................................................................................. 11-5
Alert and Error Log Files..................................................................................................... 11-7
Run Monitor, BAC, and Operator Logs .............................................................................. 11-8
Failover Overview ............................................................................................................... 11-9
SiteScope Failover Internals .............................................................................................. 11-10
Security Overview ............................................................................................................. 11-12
User Accounts.................................................................................................................... 11-13
SSL Basics ......................................................................................................................... 11-14
Keytool.exe........................................................................................................................ 11-15
Configuring SiteScope for SSL ......................................................................................... 11-16
SSH Basics......................................................................................................................... 11-17
SSH Usage ......................................................................................................................... 11-18
Managing the SiteScope License....................................................................................... 11-19
Summary............................................................................................................................ 11-20
Review Questions .............................................................................................................. 11-21
Class Evaluation Form........................................................................................................E-1
Course Overview
1-1
1
Course Overview
Purpose
This course is designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills required to work
with SiteScope. After completing this course, you will be able to identify critical
business systems and components of your infrastructure and design a proactive
application monitoring solution implementing a scalable set of monitoring agents. You
will also learn how to configure SiteScope to proactively notify and send alerts about
critical conditions and breach of SLAs. This course also demonstrates how to optimize
and fine-tune the monitoring system, perform analysis and trend reporting on incidents,
and apply best practices for the use and management of SiteScope.
Course Objectives1-2
Course Overview
Course Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
•Install SiteScope.
Design a scalable and easy to manage monitoring strategy.
Implement a monitoring system leveraging best practices for grouping and alerting.
Efficiently configure individual monitoring entities.
Use templates to speed up the deployment of monitors.
Design an efficient alerting mechanism.
Respond to generated alerts to resolve errors in the IT environment.
Design enterprise-level reports.
Perform maintenance and troubleshooting of the monitoring solution.
Course Overview
Topic Outline - First Day 1-3
Topic Outline - First Day
Introducing SiteScope
This chapter introduces the basic features of SiteScope.
Installing SiteScope
This chapter explains the installation process for SiteScope.
Getting Familiar with SiteScope Interface
This chapter describes the SiteScope interface.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
This chapter explains the top-level grouping model in SiteScope, the best practices for developing a grouping
model, and considerations for deploying SiteScope.
Managing Groups and Monitors
This chapter explains how to create and configure groups and monitors in SiteScope.
Topic Outline - Second Day1-4
Course Overview
Topic Outline - Second Day
Configuring Alerts
This chapter describes how to configure alerts in SiteScope.
Using Templates
This chapter explains the concepts of reusability and repeatability of monitor, group, and alert creation through
the use of templates.
Introducing Diagnostic Tools
This chapter explains the diagnostic tools available in SiteScope.
Generating Reports
This chapter explains the SiteScope reports and how to generate them.
Maintaining SiteScope
This chapter explains the common administrative and maintenance tasks associated with maintaining
SiteScope.
Introducing SiteScope
2-1
2
Introducing SiteScope
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Identify the key product features.
Describe the architecture and flow of monitoring.
Identify SiteScope monitoring objects.
Identify the monitoring levels.
Use the SiteScope help.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter introduces the basics of SiteScope. It explains the key product features, architecture and flow of monitoring,
monitoring objects, and monitoring levels in SiteScope.
Key Features of SiteScope2-2
Introducing SiteScope
Key Features of SiteScope
SiteScope is a web-based infrastructure monitoring solution designed to ensure the
availability and performance of distributed IT infrastructure components, such as
servers, operating systems, network devices, network services, applications, and so on.
It is lightweight, highly customizable, and does not require data collection agents to be
installed in the environments being monitored.
SiteScope has the following features:
Agentless monitoring
SiteScope monitors without the deployment of agent software on the servers to be
monitored. This feature makes deployment and maintenance of SiteScope relatively
simple compared to other performance monitoring solutions.
Enterprise-ready architecture
SiteScope provides failover capabilities, simultaneous monitoring of large number
of systems, and support for secure connections.
Simple installation and deployment
SiteScope is installed on a single server running as a service or a process. This
results in quick installation and easy monitoring configuration.
Infrastructure performance and availability monitoring
SiteScope has over 100 types of monitors. SiteScope can monitor utilization,
response time, usage, and resource availability of a variety of host types and
application platforms.
Proactive alerting
SiteScope can be configured to alert whenever it detects a problem in the IT
infrastructure. There are several types of alert actions, such as sending e-mail
messages, paging, sending Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps,
or executing a script.
Self-monitoring
SiteScope monitors key aspects of its own operability and identifies monitor
configuration problems and critical server load. It also monitors its own integration
and data events when configured to report to HP Business Availability Center.
Introducing SiteScope
Key Features of SiteScope 2-3
Customization capabilities
SiteScope allows for display of customizations of groups and monitors via custom
data fields and HTML-sensitive description tags. In addition, SiteScope allows for
the customization of alert text and report configurations via templates and user-
defined variables.
Intuitive administration
SiteScope reduces the time spent managing a monitoring environment by providing
a user friendly browser-based interface for viewing and administering of the
monitoring platform.
An Enterprise Management Application2-4
Introducing SiteScope
An Enterprise Management Application
SiteScope uses a multi-tiered monitoring approach for effective enterprise system
management. The monitoring process includes the following phases:
Verification:
–SiteScope monitors ensure that infrastructure components are functioning with
expected results and at the expected level of performance and availability.
Diagnosis:
–SiteScope Viewing and Dashboard capabilities enable for a quick and accurate
identification of the underlying cause as problems occur.
Recovery:
–SiteScope notification system and advanced monitors provide automated
corrective action and dispatch of timely alerts.
Prevention:
–SiteScope communicates performance data through management and trend
reports.
The above process milestones help ensure the availability and uninterrupted operation of
systems and services.
Introducing SiteScope
Agentless Monitoring 2-5
Agentless Monitoring
Figure 2-1 Agentless Solution
SiteScope uses an agentless monitoring model that does not need the deployment of
agent software on the servers being monitored. The model uses the following
mechanisms:
Standard protocols: This category includes monitoring through Hyper Text Transfer
Protocol (HTTP), Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), File Transfer
Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
Platform-specific network services and commands: Windows environments are
commonly monitored over NETBIOS while Unix/Linux machines are monitored
using telnet, rlogin, ssh, and so on.
Figure 2-1 shows an overview of agentless monitoring with SiteScope.
The advantages of the agentless model are the following:
Ease of initial deployment and setup.
Reduction of ongoing support and maintenance time.
SiteScope Architecture2-6
Introducing SiteScope
SiteScope Architecture
Figure 2-2 SiteScope Architecture
SiteScope's web-enabled architecture allows for the creation and ongoing administration
of a scalable monitoring environment.
Introducing SiteScope
SiteScope Architectural Components 2-7
SiteScope Architectural Components
It consists of the following components:
Browser-based interface: Manages end-user status information requests,
configuration change requests, and access control.
Monitors: Collect performance and availability information about the system being
monitored.
Alerts: Notifications of exceptions, failures, and status change events in the system
being monitored.
Reports: A historical representation of monitored data for trending and analysis
purposes.
Log Files: SiteScope stores performance data in log files, which are aggregated and
analyzed when generating reports.
Scheduler: Coordinates the running of monitors, alert creation, and report
generation.
Protocols for Monitoring2-8
Introducing SiteScope
Protocols for Monitoring
Figure 2-3 Protocols for Monitoring
SiteScope uses standard protocols and utilities to request and capture information about
the performance of applications, servers, and all critical systems. For example, Web
services are monitored with HTTP and HTTPS. Windows metric statistics are gathered
via NETBIOS, and sometimes with the Windows Registry or WMI.
Introducing SiteScope
Communication Ports for Monitors 2-9
Communication Ports for Monitors
Table 2-1. Ports Associated with Monitors and Alerts
Successful monitor configuration requires that a certain number of ports be open and
available. This table lists just some of the ports commonly used by SiteScope for
monitoring and alerting in a typical monitoring environment.
As a rule, SiteScope monitors use default ports and protocols. For example, the FTP
monitor uses the default FTP port 21 and the URL monitor uses the standard HTTP port
80.
Ports associated with UNIX monitors include 22 for Secure Shell (SSH), 23 for
TELNET, and 513 for Remote Login (RLOGIN). Remote NT is monitored on port 139
which is where NetBIOS (TCP) as well as File and Printer sharing run on Windows.
A complete list of common port numbers is available at
http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers
Monitor/Alert Port
URL Monitor 80, 443
SNMP Monitor 161 (UDP)
FTP Monitor 21
M
AIL Monitor 25 (SMTP), 110 Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3),
143 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
N
EWS Monitor 119
E-
MAIL Alert 25
P
OST Alert 80, 443
SNMP T
RAP Alert 162 (UDP)
SiteScope Monitoring Model2-10
Introducing SiteScope
SiteScope Monitoring Model
A well-designed monitoring model enables effective and efficient management of an IT
infrastructure.
The following key components are included in the SiteScope monitoring model:
Groups: A group is a container for monitoring assets. Groups may contain
subgroups and are used to organize monitors. Groups are created prior to monitors.
Monitors: A monitor checks the status of server components, key application
processes, log files, or network devices, to name a few. It collects data based on
selected metrics and displays a status of good, warning, or error with respect to the
configured thresholds.
Alerts: An alert is an action triggered by a change in the status of a monitored asset.
Alerts notify appropriate users when negative events or failures occur. An alert can
be sent to a variety of media including e-mail, pager, Short Message Service (SMS)
messages, or an SNMP trap.
Reports: A report is a historical representation of monitored data. SiteScope offers a
variety of reports from quick monitor reports to detailed management reports.
Reports enable you to track trends and operational performance and to troubleshoot
problems.
Conceptual Levels of Monitoring2-14
Introducing SiteScope
Conceptual Levels of Monitoring
We can categorize SiteScope monitoring into three conceptual levels of monitoring:
Server Resources. This conceptual level of monitoring measures attributes of the
servers and operating systems.
Network Services. This conceptual level of monitoring tests availability and
performance of network services.
Application and Business Services. This conceptual level of monitoring monitors
applications and business services, such as Web servers, application servers,
middleware, and ERP/CRM applications.
Introducing SiteScope
Server versus Server System 2-15
Server versus Server System
Figure 2-7 Server Process and Server System
The word “server” represents a process, and does not necessarily mean “machine”.
Servers may run on one or more machines, or server systems. Conversely, more than
one server can also be run on one system.
Server Resources Level Monitoring2-16
Introducing SiteScope
Server Resources Level Monitoring
Figure 2-8 Server Resources
Server resource level monitoring refers to monitors that retrieve basic system
management statistics. These are further categorized into operating system-centric
metrics that displays hardware and operating system statistics, and server-centric
metrics that displays server and process-based statistics.
Examples of operating system-centric monitors include CPU and M
EMORY monitors,
I
NTELLIGENT PLATFORM MANAGEMENT INTERFACE (IPMI) monitors that record values
of hardware parameters, and F
ILE and DIRECTORY monitors that record basic metrics
related to a file system or directory.
Examples of server-centric monitors include database monitors that verify database
queries, D
YNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION PROTOCOL (DHCP) monitors that verify
whether it is possible to obtain an Internet Protocol (IP) address, L
IGHTWEIGHT
D
IRECTORY ACCESS PROTOCOL (LDAP) monitors that verify the server is authenticating
as expected, and S
ERVICE monitors that verify whether a specific service is running.
C
OMPOSITE and SCRIPT monitors are also considered as server level monitors. A
C
OMPOSITE monitor enables several monitors to be grouped into a single monitor for the
purpose of generating alerts. A S
CRIPT monitor verifies the execution of a script against
the monitored system. It is often used for recovery operations.
Introducing SiteScope
Network Services Level Monitoring 2-17
Network Services Level Monitoring
Figure 2-9 Network Services
Network service monitors test commonly used network applications and services by
simulating end user actions, such as e-mail, file downloads, and performing database
queries. This subcategory also includes monitors for checking lower level network
statistics and connectivity. For instance, SiteScope provides the N
ETWORK and
N
ETWORK BANDWIDTH monitor types.
Application and Business Services Level Monitoring2-18
Introducing SiteScope
Application and Business Services Level
Monitoring
Figure 2-10 Application Services Level Monitoring
SiteScope application monitors measure application parameters and retrieve
performance statistics from web servers, application servers, database servers, and
ERP/CRM applications. In addition, the URL S
EQUENCE and E-BUSINESS TRANSACTION
monitors enable SiteScope to monitor and report on a chain of actions representing
business process.
Introducing SiteScope
SiteScope Monitors and Categories 2-19
SiteScope Monitors and Categories
SiteScope has over 100 built-in types of monitors that are used to collect metric data
about different aspects of an IT infrastructure. These include monitors for server
hardware, network services, operating systems, applications, and application
components, to name a few.
You can create instances of these monitor types and configure them to "point" to a
specific physical element in the IT infrastructure. For instance, to monitor the CPU
utilization on a server, select the CPU type monitor and set its "Server" attribute to
address of the server. Some monitors are unlocked by the optional license.
There are several general purpose monitor categories in SiteScope, which are as follows:
Network Monitors: Monitors that test commonly used network applications and
services by simulating end user actions. These include accessing Web content, e-
mail, file downloads, and performing database queries. This subcategory also
includes monitors for checking lower level network function and connectivity. For
example, DNS, FTP, and Mail.
Server Monitors: Monitors that measure server availability, resource usage, and
other operating system attributes. These can be used to monitor remote servers
running Windows or UNIX-based operating systems. For example, Memory, Disk
Space, and CPU.
Application Monitors: Monitors designed to check the availability and report on
performance statistics of specific network applications and servers. Most monitors
in this category allow you to set monitor status thresholds on more than one
measurement per monitor instance.
Database Monitors: Monitors in this category monitor different types of database
applications. There are monitors that access data from specific database
applications and generic monitors that can be configured to monitor any database
application.
Generic Monitors: Monitors in this category monitor various types of
environments. These monitors can monitor networks, applications, and databases
depending on how they are configured.
Stream Monitors: Monitors in this category monitor applications that play media
files and stream data.
Web Transaction Monitors: Monitors in this category monitor web-based
applications.
Using Help in SiteScope2-20
Introducing SiteScope
Using Help in SiteScope
The SiteScope Help library provides information on deploying, administering,
customizing, and usage of SiteScope platform and applications. There are the following
options:
Help link: This link leads to the user guide in Hyper Text Markup Language
(HTML) form, which opens in a separate pop-up window.
Context help: To view information about the currently displayed page, from the
H
ELP menu, select H ELP ON THIS PAGE.
Help is also viewed by clicking the Question Mark button next to the object for
which you want information.
Printer-friendly help: To view printer-friendly help, on the S ITESCOPE HELP pop-up
window, click the PDF
S tab.
Introducing SiteScope
Help Options 2-21
Help Options
Figure 2-11 Help Portal
In SiteScope, the help menu is located on the left-hand corner. Clicking the help menu
displays the following options:
H
ELP ON THIS PAGE: Selecting this option displays the page in SiteScope Help
depending on the currently selected view and object.
S
ITESCOPE HELP: Selecting this option displays the online SiteScope Help for the
product.
T
ROUBLESHOOTING & KNOWLEDGE BASE: Selecting this option displays the
Troublshooting website of HP Software Support Online.
HP S
OFTWARE SUPPORT: Selecting this option displays the HP Software Support
Online website.
HP S
OFTWARE WEB SITE: Selecting this option displays the HP Software home page.
W
HAT'S NEW: Selecting this option displays the SiteScope product release notes.
A
BOUT SITESCOPE: Selecting this option displays the version and release information
for the installed SiteScope product.
Help Tooltips2-22
Introducing SiteScope
Help Tooltips
Figure 2-12 Help Tooltips
From SiteScope Properties and Contents screens, click the help tooltip icon to display
the tooltip information for the fields on the screen. Figure 2-12 shows a screen where the
tooltip icon was selected.
Tooltip Icon:
Introducing SiteScope
Support Options 2-23
Support Options
SiteScope support is available through the following channels:
Online support database (Knowledge Base) and Discussion Forum
–Visit HTTP://WWW.HP.COM/GO/HPSOFTWARESUPPORT
Phone support
–For customers with a valid SiteScope license.
Summary2-24
Introducing SiteScope
Summary
In this chapter, we have demostrated the following:
SiteScope is an easy-to-use, versatile IT infrastructure performance and availability
monitoring solution.
SiteScope provides a comprehensive monitoring solution for the IT infrastructure.
SiteScope provides over 100 types of monitors that are used to monitor different
aspects of an IT infrastructure.
SiteScope uses groups, monitors, alerts, and reports to keep the IT infrastructure
functioning efficiently.
SiteScope monitoring can be categorized into 3 conceptual levels: server resources,
network services, and applications and business services.
SiteScope provides a Help link that links to a user guide, a Context help that
displays information about the current page, and a printer-friendly help that
displays the printer friendly documents.
Installing SiteScope
3-1
3
Installing SiteScope
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
Identify key input requirements when installing SiteScope.
Download and install an evaluation copy of SiteScope.
Use the configuration tool.
Perform post-installation tasks.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter provides the system requirements and the steps for installation.
System Requirements3-2
Installing SiteScope
System Requirements
SiteScope is supported on the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server with SP4, Microsoft Windows
2003 Standard/Enterprise with SP1, SP2 and Microsoft Windows 2003 R2 with
SP1.
Solaris 2.9, and 2.10
RedHat Linux ES/AS 3.0 or 4.0.
Note: The exact installation requirements for memory and free hard disk depend on the
frequency of monitoring, types of monitors deployed, and the number of monitors.
Note: Minimum requirements are listed in the installation guide for SiteScope. For
typical implementations, 2gb memory and 10gb free hard disk space are recommended.
Note: SiteScope can be installed as a 32-Bit application over 64-Bit environments for
the supported operating systems listed above.
Installing SiteScope
Installation Prerequisites 3-3
Installation Prerequisites
Before installing SiteScope, make sure you perform the prerequistes installation
procedures.
For Windows operating systems, perform the following prerequisite installation
procedures before installing SiteScope:
Activate the Remote Registry Service for the remote computers you plan to
monitor.
Install Service Pack 3 or later on all Windows 2000 servers you plan to monitor.
There is a known issue with Windows 2000 Service Pack 2. The Remote Registry Service has a memory leak
that often causes SiteScope monitors for a remote Windows 2000 server with Service Pack 2 to work
intermittently.
For UNIX and Linux operating systems, perform the following prerequisite installation
procedures before installing SiteScope:
Set the shell of the login account on the remote UNIX server to Bourne or tsch.
SiteScope can run successfully under most popular UNIX shells. However,
SiteScope communicates best with a remote UNIX server with the Bourne shell or
tsch shell.
Resolve command permissions settings to monitor remote UNIX servers, if
necessary.
Note: It is recommended not to run SiteScope from the root account and not to configure
SiteScope to use the root account to access remote servers.
HP Downloads Web Site3-4
Installing SiteScope
HP Downloads Web Site
Download a trial version of SiteScope from the following URL:
www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport
From the HP Support web site, navigate to P
RODUCTS -> HP SITESCOPE SOFTWARE.
To log in, enter your HP Passport user ID and password or register with the HP Software
Downloads Center.
Note: Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign
in. Many also require an active support contract. To find more information about support
access levels, go to the following URL:
http://www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport/new_access_levels
To register for an HP Passport ID, go to the following URL:
http://www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport/passport-registration
Installing SiteScope
Downloading SiteScope 3-5
Downloading SiteScope
From the Technical Resources section, select HP S ITESCOPE 9.5 EVALUATION
Figure 3-1 SiteScope Evaluation Software Download Page
Installing SiteScope3-6
Installing SiteScope
Installing SiteScope
SiteScope for Windows is available as a single, self-extracting executable file from the
HP software download web site. It is installed on a single server, and runs as a Windows
process or service.
To install SiteScope for Windows:
1. Click the SiteScope setup.exe program to start installation. The InstallShield
Wizard for SiteScope appears. Click N
EXT to begin the installation. The license
agreement screen appears. Read the SiteScope License Agreement.
2. Select I A
CCEPT to accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click N EXT
to continue. The installation directory screen appears.
3. Accept the default directory location or click B
ROWSE to select another directory.
The installation path must end with a folder named SiteScope. Do not enter any
spaces in the installation path. After entering the new directory name, click N
EXT to
continue. The setup type screen appears.
4. Select the type that is suitable for your site. Click N
EXT to continue. The port and e-
mail definition screen appears.
5. Type the port number you want or accept the default port 8080. You can change the
port later when you run the Configuration Utility. Type a different port if you get an
error message after entering the port.
6. Type the e-mail address to send e-mail alerts to the SiteScope administrator. Click
N
EXT to continue. A screen for license number appears.
7. Type the license number for SiteScope. If you have an optional license, type that
number in the second text box. It is not necessary to enter license information
during the free evaluation period. Click N
EXT to continue. A screen of summary
information appears.
8. Check that the information is correct. Click N
EXT to continue or B ACK to return to
previous screens to change your selections. The SiteScope installation process starts
and an installation progress screen appears.
9. Click F
INISH when the installation process is complete and a message about the
successful installation is displayed.
You are now ready to use SiteScope.
Note that SiteScope for Solaris and Linux is available as a single, compressed archive
file on the HP Software download web site.
Installing SiteScope
Installing SiteScope 3-7
SiteScope is installed on Solaris or Linux operating systems using the multi-platform
InstallShield wizard, a command line mode, or console mode. Use the option for
installing using command line mode when you are installing SiteScope on a remote
server or do not have Xwindows or similar interface available.
A 10-day demo license is used for this course. For additional licensing information, refer the students to the support
Web site to request a license or to sales.
Deployment Considerations3-8
Installing SiteScope
Deployment Considerations
Follow these guidelines for performance and security reasons:
Install SiteScope within the same domain as the system elements to be monitored.
This is because SiteScope needs to frequently log on to various servers in the infrastructure.
Install SiteScope in the same subnet as the applicable network authentication
service, such as Active Directory or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
(LDAP).
Do not install SiteScope in a location where a significant amount of the monitoring
activity requires communication across a Wide Area Network (WAN).
Do not use SiteScope to monitor servers through a firewall.
SiteScope licensing is not server-based, and you will need separate SiteScope
installations for both sides of a firewall. Two or more separate SiteScope
installations can be accessed simultaneously from a single workstation by using
HTTP or HTTPS.
More information on location considerations is provided in the advanced course.
Installing SiteScope
Opening SiteScope 3-9
Opening SiteScope
Figure 3-2 SiteScope Launch Page
After completing the installation, select the O
PEN HP SITESCOPE link from the
Windows start menu to view the SiteScope Administrative interface.
From the O
PEN SITESCOPE Web page, you have access to the SiteScope interface, links
to tools for moving monitor configurations from previous SiteScope installations, and
links to additional SiteScope resources.
Launching the SiteScope Interface3-10
Installing SiteScope
Launching the SiteScope Interface
Figure 3-3 SiteScope Interface
You can launch SiteScope from the SiteScope launch page or directly from a URL. The
SiteScope interface is available at http://localhost:8080/SiteScope, where localhost is
the IP address of your computer or the address of the machine on which SiteScope is
installed.
Installing SiteScope
Copying Monitor Configurations 3-11
Copying Monitor Configurations
Figure 3-4 Copy Monitor
SiteScope monitors are custom configured instances of monitor templates that
automatically connect to and collect measurements from different systems and
application components. You can copy an existing monitor and paste the copy into any
monitor group in the SiteScope tree. Copying a monitor duplicates the monitor instance
and all its configuration settings.
To copy a monitor, perform the following steps:
1. On the left menu, select the monitor you want to copy.
2. Right-click the container in the left menu to display the container action menu and
select C
OPY.
3. Select the monitor group node where you want the copy of the monitor to be
created.
4. Right-click the container in the left menu to display the container action menu and
select P
ASTE. SiteScope adds a copy of the monitor to the selected monitor group.
Using the SiteScope Setup Page to Copy Data3-12
Installing SiteScope
Using the SiteScope Setup Page to Copy Data
Figure 3-5 SiteScope Setup Page
From the SiteScope launch page, you can update your license information, modify the
administrative email address, and launch the Copy Monitor Configuration utility by
clicking Copy at the bottom of the page.
The Copy Monitor Configuration utility helps to transfer monitor configuration data in
bulk from one SiteScope installation to another. It is used when upgrading or simply
migrating and moving away from a currently running instance of SiteScope to a new
instance often in a different physical environment.
You can copy configuration files manually to the new installation from an existing SiteScope implementation. Before
copying files, stop the SiteScope processes.
To use the Copy Monitor Configuration utility, perform the following steps:
Installing SiteScope
Using the SiteScope Setup Page to Copy Data 3-13
1. Open the SiteScope setup page at
http://localhost:8080/SiteScope/cgi/go.exe/SiteScope?page=setup, where localhost
is the IP address of your computer.
2. On the setup page as shown in Figure 3-5, click C
OPY at the bottom portion of the
page to display the C
OPY MONITOR CONFIGURATIONS FROM ANOTHER SITESCOPE
page.
Installing SiteScope
Copy Monitor Configuration Utility 3-15
From the COPY MONITOR CONFIGURATIONS FROM ANOTHER SITESCOPE page, specify
the SiteScope settings:
1. Enter the host name or address of the server where the source instance of SiteScope
is running in the R
EMOTE SITESCOPE SERVER ADDRESS AND PORT field. Include
the port number that the source SiteScope is listening on.
2. Enter the administrator user name and password for source instance of SiteScope in
the S
ITESCOPE ADMINISTRATOR USER NAME and SITESCOPE ADMINISTRATOR
P
ASSWORD fields. These fields are the user name and password configured in USER
P
REFERENCES on the remote SiteScope and not the user name and password to login
to the remote server through the file system. If there is no administrator user defined
for the source SiteScope, leave these fields blank.
3. Check the U
SE HTTPS check box, if you want to use the HTTPS secure protocol
for data transfer.
4. Type the applicable connection information in the P
ROXY SERVER, PROXY SERVER
U
SER NAME, and PROXY SERVER PASSWORD fields, if you want to use a proxy
server to communicate with the source SiteScope.
5. Check the I
NTERNATIONAL VERSION check box, if this check box is checked in the
source SiteScope.
See the GENERAL PREFERENCES page for the status of the INTERNATIONAL VERSION check
box.
6. Click C OPY to display the COPY CONFIGURATION DATA FROM ANOTHER
S
ITESCOPE INSTALLATION page.
Confirming Copy3-16
Installing SiteScope
Confirming Copy
Figure 3-7 Copy Confirmation
In the C
OPY CONFIGURATION DATA FROM ANOTHER SITESCOPE INSTALLATION page,
click C
OPY to start the copy operation. A progress display screen appears. The new
SiteScope installation restarts and processes the copied configurations after successful
copying.
The monitor configuration data is transferred from one SiteScope installation to another.
Installing SiteScope
Configuration Tool 3-17
Configuration Tool
Figure 3-8 Configuration Tool
Beginning with SiteScope 8.5 there is a standalone configuration utility. You can run it
as part of the installation process or independently. The configuration tool has the
following capabilities:
Basic Configuration: The default port number can be modified. You may want to
modify the default port setting for security reasons or to avoid conflict with existing
applications.
Sizing: Sizing is used to optimize the performance of SiteScope by making the
following changes in Windows Registry keys:
–Java Virtual Machine (JVM) heap size: The value is changed from 256mb to
768mb.
–Desktop heap size: The value is changed from 512mb to 2048mb.
–Popup warnings: These messages are turned off.
Configuration Tool3-18
Installing SiteScope
Export-Import: This function helps you during an upgrade. It is used to import and
export SiteScope data, such as templates, logs, and so on.
To access the configuration tool:
1. On the SiteScope server, select S
TART > PROGRAMS > HP SITESCOPE >
C
ONFIGURATION TOOL. The InstallShield Wizard appears.
2. Click N
EXT to start the wizard. The three options are displayed on the screen.
3. Select the required option and make changes. The final dialog box appears with the
status.
4. Click F
INISH to complete the operation.
Installing SiteScope
Post-Installation Configuration 3-19
Post-Installation Configuration
The following are some post-installation configuration steps:
Enter the license information.
Specify the administrator's e-mail address, e-Mail Server, backup e-Mail server and
the notification preferences.
Specify backup and logging preferences.
Add a login name and a password to the Administrator account.
Create user accounts or import the accounts from LDAP.
Performing Post-Installation Tasks3-20
Installing SiteScope
Performing Post-Installation Tasks
Figure 3-9 Preferences
After installing SiteScope, perform the following tasks to change the default information
provided during installation:
1. In the G
ENERAL PREFERENCES section, type your SiteScope license information.
2. In the M
AIL PREFERENCES section, type the e-mail address for the administrator and
SMTP mail server for SiteScope to use when sending alerts.
3. In the U
SERS PREFERENCES section, create a name and a password for the SiteScope
Administrator account.
This Administrator account is active when the product is installed. This account has
full privileges to manage SiteScope and is used by all SiteScope users unless it is
password protected.
You can also create and configure multiple user accounts and specify their
permissions and access privileges.
Installing SiteScope
Summary 3-21
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
SiteScope is supported on Windows, Solaris, and Linux platforms.
Resource requirements depend on the monitoring activity of the SiteScope server.
SiteScope installation file is available from
WWW.HP.COM/GO/HPSOFTWARESUPPORT .
SiteScope cumulative patches are available from the HP Software support site.
Copy Monitor option duplicates the configuration settings for the monitor.
Copy Monitor Configuration utility copies monitor configurations to a new
SiteScope installation.
The configuration tool is used to change the default server port, optimize the
performance by tuning the JVM, and export and import SiteScope data.
Post-installation tasks include specifying the license, administrator e-mail address,
and a user name and password.
Review Questions3-22
Installing SiteScope
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. How much free hard disk space is recommended for SiteScope?
10GB of free hard disk space is recommended for SiteScope.______________
2. What operating systems can run SiteScope?
SiteScope runs on Windows 2000/2003 server, Solaris 2.9, 2.10 and Redhat ES/AS
Linux 3 or 4._____________________________________________________
3. From where can you download SiteScope?
To download SiteScope, go to www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport. Download and
install the installation file. After installing the file, download the latest cumulative
patches from the HP Software support site._____________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. How long does the unregistered software last?
The unregistered software lasts for 10 days.
____________________________
5. What are the capabilities of the Configuration tool?
The Configuration tool can be used to change the port number, optimize the
performance of SiteScope, and export and import user data.________________
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the chapter, or save the questions from several chapters to be conducted at the
end of the day, or beginning of the next day.
The answers to the questions below will only be printed in the instructor book; the student book will only show blank lines after
each question.
Installing SiteScope
Exercise: Downloading and Installing SiteScope 3-23
Exercise: Downloading and Installing SiteScope
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to install SiteScope.
Download the HP SiteScope evaluation software from
www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport.
Install the HP SiteScope evaluation software using the default values.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with steps to install SiteScope.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students will be able to do the following to install SiteScope:
- Download and install SiteScope.
Exercise: Downloading and Installing SiteScope3-24
Installing SiteScope
Part 1: Download and Install the SiteScope Installation File
1. Go to step 5 if the SiteScope installation files are located on the desktop.
2. Open the URL: www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport
3. Download the S
ITESCOPE 9.5 free 10-day trial software.
4. Click S
AVE to save the file on the desktop.
5. Double-click the SiteScope setup.exe program saved on the desktop.
6. Select the default values as the installer progresses.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
4-1
4
Getting Familiar with the
SiteScope Interface
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Access SiteScope user interface.
Explore the various tabs on the interface.
Explore the PREFERENCES interface.
Identify the purpose of the SiteScope Health monitors.
Identify the purpose of the SiteScope diagnostics tools.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter describes the SiteScope interface. It discusses the tabs available on the SiteScope interface, the SiteScope health
monitors, and the tools used for troubleshooting in SiteScope.
Introduction to the SiteScope Interface4-2
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Introduction to the SiteScope Interface
Figure 4-1 SiteScope Interface
The SiteScope interface has a design similar to HP Business Availability Center (BAC).
This interface similarity makes cross-product navigation easier.
The SiteScope interface has an explorer-style tree on the left representing a hierarchical
view of configured groups, subgroups, and monitors. Contents and properties of the
selected node are explored by navigating the respective tabs.
The interface on the left has the M
ONITORS, VIEWS, and CATEGORIES tabs. The interface
on the right has the D
ASHBOARD, PROPERTIES, CONTENTS, and LOG FILES tabs.
Note: When SiteScope is first installed, you are logged in as an administrator with no
password defined. Use the USERS PREFERENCES node to configure additional
security if required.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Exploring the Dashboard Tab 4-3
Exploring the Dashboard Tab
Figure 4-2 Dashboard Tab
The D
ASHBOARD tab displays a higher-level view of deployed monitors and their status.
Depending on the node selection in the explorer tree you can view the monitors
deployed globally, focus on a particular group, or look in details at a specific monitor.
The status of each monitor is displayed through indicator lights. You can also view
historical information about the status of a monitor in addition to being able to view the
current status.
Viewing Group Status4-4
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Viewing Group Status
Figure 4-3 Current Groups and Monitors
The D
ASHBOARD tab enables you to view the STATUS of monitors and groups of
monitors. In the S
TATUS column, the color of the indicator lights indicate the current
status of the monitor groups, as follows:
Red: Indicates error status.
Yellow: Indicates warning status.
Green: Indicates OK status.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Viewing Metric Level Status 4-5
Viewing Metric Level Status
Figure 4-4 Metric Level Status
Metric-level status is the status of an individual monitor counter. For instance the
metric-level status of the "% packets that have reached their destination" counter of the
P
ING monitor shown in Figure 4-4 is green, meaning that no packets have been lost.
In the D
ASHBOARD tab, access the monitor by clicking its name to view the latest data
reading and status information. If a group or a monitor is in error, explore the sub-tree of
individual monitors and counters to detect the counter whose status indicates a problem
and is propagating to the parent group or monitor.
Dashboard Navigation4-6
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Dashboard Navigation
Figure 4-5 Dashboard Navigation
Groups may contain subgroups and individual monitors. The D
ASHBOARD tab enables
you to view group details and information about the status and data reading of each
monitor in the group.
It is possible to organize groups and monitors in a hierarchical manner since groups act
as organizational units for monitors and other groups. The design of the hierarchy
should be a logical representation of the actual hierarchy of the monitored IT
environment.
Right-click any entity in the left panel to add subgroups, monitors, alerts, and reports.
The right-click menu consists of options for configuring, running, creating, and deleting
items.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Creating Favorite Views 4-7
Creating Favorite Views
Figure 4-6 Favorite Views
Favorite views are created for quick navigation. For example, use the sort and filter
features to view only those monitors for which you are responsible. Then save this view
as a favorite for quick retrieval at any later time. Figure 4-6 shows the A
DD FAVORITE
and D
ELETE FAVORITE buttons. Use these buttons to create favorite views of the
information presented in the interface.
Figure 4-6 also shows the different buttons that enable you to see the detailed view, icon
view, child groups and monitors, or all descendant monitors. Use these buttons to
customize the appearance of groups, subgroups, and monitors in the right pane of the
SiteScope interface.
Availability Status4-8
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Availability Status
Figure 4-7 Monitor Availability
Figure 4-7 illustrates the active monitor availability icons. Monitor availability is
represented by the up and down arrows next to the monitor status icons.
The availability status exists so that more information can be provided about a monitor
that has reported a "no data" or "Unknown" status. Availability is defined as the ability
of the monitor to connect to the remote systems and retrieve information. The following
is a list of possible availability statuses:
GOOD: Indicates that a remote system is responding.
ERROR: SiteScope was unable to connect to the remote system.
WARNING: SiteScope has detected a possible connectivity problem with the system.
UNKNOWN: SiteScope was unable to determine the state of the connection.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Exploring the Contents and Properties Tabs 4-9
Exploring the Contents and Properties Tabs
The CONTENTS tab is used to define the containers and monitoring objects in SiteScope.
Use the C
ONTENTS tab to add and edit groups, monitors, alerts, and reports.
The P
ROPERTIES tab is used to configure properties of containers and monitoring
objects. Use the P
ROPERTIES tab to perform the following tasks:
View configuration information for specific objects.
Edit the configuration information for groups, monitors, alerts, and reports.
Viewing the Contents Tab4-10
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Viewing the Contents Tab
Figure 4-8 The Contents Tab
The C
ONTENTS tab includes groups, monitors, alerts, and report information. Use this
tab to view and edit existing object information or add new objects and configure them.
Figure 4-8 illustrates the W
INDOWS SERVERS group contents.
The GROUPS section shows the existing monitors and sub-groups of this group.
The ALERTS section shows the list of alerts configured for this group.
The REPORTS section shows the list of reports configured for this group.
The MONITORS section shows the list of monitors configured for this group.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Viewing the Properties Tab 4-11
Viewing the Properties Tab
Figure 4-9 Properties Tab
Use the P
ROPERTIES tab for a selected group to view its properties, such as the group
name and any dependencies set for it. To edit the sections in the P
ROPERTIES tab, click
E
DIT. Use the EDIT interface to modify existing dependencies or create a new one.
Using the D
EPENDS ON option, you can make the running of the monitor dependent on
the status of another monitor or monitor group. This can be used to prevent redundant
alerting from multiple monitors that are monitoring different aspects of a single system.
The C
ATEGORY SETTINGS section at the bottom of the page on the PROPERTIES tab
contains category assignments helpful when sorting and filtering. Assigning a monitor
or a group to a category provides the ability to group and view monitoring assets by their
category. For instance, you can group your applications into the following categories:
Development, Staging, and Production.
Viewing Monitor Settings4-12
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Viewing Monitor Settings
Figure 4-10 Monitor Settings
Use the P
ROPERTIES tab for a selected monitor to display monitor details and settings,
including the status, alerts, and threshold settings associated with a monitor.
The ENABLE/DISABLE MONITOR option enables or disables a monitor immediately.
Disabling monitors prevents alerts from being generated. The disable feature is
useful when you know a monitor target will be in error, such as a scheduled outage.
The ENABLE/DISABLE ALERTS option is useful when server maintenance or other
activities are being performed that would logically result in errors for some
monitors and cause unnecessary alerts to be generated.
The THRESHOLD SETTINGS option sets the conditions that determine the reported
status of each monitor instance. The status result is based on the results or
measurements returned by the monitor action on the target system. Status threshold
criteria for monitor instances are set to one of three status conditions: E
RROR IF,
W
ARNING IF, and GOOD IF.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Global Replace 4-13
Global Replace
Figure 4-11 Global Replace Tab
The G
LOBAL REPLACE functionality enables you to change and update configurations
and definitions across the entire set of deployed groups and monitors.
Launch the Global Search and Replace Wizard to perform a global replace operation.
Performing Replace Operation4-14
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Performing Replace Operation
To perform a global replace operation:
1. Access the G
LOBAL REPLACE wizard using one of the following options:
–Right-click the group, preferences, or monitor in the monitor tree to which you
want to perform a global replace, and select G
LOBAL REPLACE from the
menu.
OR
–In the CONTENTS tab, click the G LOBAL REPLACE button for the object to
which you want to perform a global replace. The S
ELECT TYPE page appears.
All of the steps of the wizard are visible in the left-hand pane.
2. Select one of the options listed in the S
ELECT TYPE page. The wizard displays only
those types of objects available for the selected node. Select only one object type
for each global replace operation.
3. Click N
EXT. The wizard analyzes the selection and displays the next page, as
follows:
–If you selected ALERT, GROUP or REPORT, the REPLACE MODE page appears.
–If you selected ALERT ACTION, MONITOR, or PREFERENCES as the object type,
the S
ELECT SUB TYPE page appears. Select the object subtypes for the global
replace operation. Click N
EXT. The REPLACE MODE page appears.
4. Select the R
EPLACE option and click N EXT. The CHOOSE CHANGES page appears.
The wizard displays only the settings and properties that may be changed for the
object type selected. Select the needed settings in the drop-down lists.
5. Click N
EXT. The wizard displays the AFFECTED OBJECT page. The AFFECTED
O
BJECTS tree includes all objects matching the selection criteria.
6. Review the tree of the selected object. Click N
EXT. The REVIEW SUMMARY page
appears. The R
EVIEW SUMMARY list describes the objects selected to undergo
global replace.
7. Verify that all changes in the R
EVIEW SUMMARY list are correct. Click F INISH. The
global replace operation is performed, and the C
HANGE RESULTS page appears.
8. The S
UMMARY page reports the changes that were implemented successfully and
those in which errors occurred. Click OK to close the wizard.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Exploring the Preferences Interface 4-15
Exploring the Preferences Interface
Figure 4-12 The Preferences Container
The P
REFERENCES container enables you to configure specific properties and settings
related to functional areas of SiteScope. This includes defining profiles for connecting to
other servers in the network, settings for connecting to e-mail, pager, and SNMP
systems, schedule profiles, and user profiles.
General Preferences4-16
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
General Preferences
Figure 4-13 General Preferences
The G
ENERAL PREFERENCES option is used to perform various post-configuration tasks.
Some of the more common ones are:
Enter standard SiteScope license keys.
Enter keys for optional monitor features.
Control display features.
Set security options.
International Version setting needs to be enabled from the beginning of the implementation. This setting is required
for double-byte characters.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Configuring Historical Data Tracking 4-17
Configuring Historical Data Tracking
Figure 4-14 Dashboard Monitor History View Option
The D
ASHBOARD MONITOR HISTORY VIEW area displays historical information about
monitors, monitor groups, and alerts over the previous 24 hours. This information is
useful when you need to refer to previous data to isolate the source of a problem. By
default there is no historical data tracking enabled. The D
ASHBOARD MONITOR HISTORY
V
IEW option is configurable in the GENERAL PREFERENCES container in order to change
the default behavior.
Infrastructure Settings Preferences4-18
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Infrastructure Settings Preferences
Figure 4-15 Infrastructure Settings Preferences
The I
NFRASTRUCTURE SETTINGS PREFERENCES option is used to define the values of
global settings that determine how SiteScope runs. Included are:
General Settings
Server Settings
Monitor Settings
Alert Settings
Persistency Settings
Classic UI Settings
Report Settings
Baseline Settings
New in 9.5 to improve the usability of editing infrastructure setting preferences (master.config file)
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Windows and UNIX Remote Preferences 4-19
Windows and UNIX Remote Preferences
Figure 4-16 Windows and UNIX Remote Preferences
The W
INDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES and UNIX REMOTE PREFERENCES options are
used to setup the connection properties, such as credentials and protocols, so that
SiteScope can monitor systems and services running in remote environments.
To enable SiteScope to monitor systems and services running on remote Windows and
UNIX server systems you need to create a remote server entry:
Define an individual remote server connection profile for each server.
Set appropriate access privileges to permit SiteScope to access remote servers.
Test the connection to validate credentials and connectivity.
Emphasize to students that server monitoring requires the use of appropriate credentials for connectivity and for
retrieving metrics. SiS 9.5 introduces centralized credential management.
Connection to a Remote Windows Server4-20
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Connection to a Remote Windows Server
To establish a connection to a remote Windows server system:
1. Expand the P
REFERENCES node and select the W INDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES
node.
2. Click N
EW WINDOWS SERVER. A configuration interface appears.
3. In the H
OST field, type the host computer name or the host IP.
4. Configure the access to the remote server by entering one of the following options:
–In the LOGIN and PASSWORD fields, type a login name and a password,
respectively.
OR
–Select a credential profile from the list of C REDENTIALS.
Note: If you select or enter a credential profile, you do not need to enter a login
and password. A credential profile takes priority over login and password entries.
5. In the A
DVANCED SETTINGS section, type secure connection information.
6. Click OK. The new connection icon appears on the left.
Note: Select the UNIX R
EMOTE PREFERENCES node to establish connection to a
remote UNIX server.
You can test the remote server configuration that you just created. To test a remote
server configuration:
1. Right-click the new connection icon.
2. Select T
EST.
A pop-up message displays the message whether the test connection succeeded or not.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Log Preferences 4-21
Log Preferences
Figure 4-17 Log Preferences
The L
OG PREFERENCES option is used to perform the following tasks:
Specify a retention period for log files. The default duration is 40 days.
Configure connectivity settings to export monitor data to an external database.
–Database connection URL
–Database user name and password
–Backup database connection URL
Mail Preferences4-22
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Mail Preferences
Figure 4-18 Mail Preferences
The M
AIL PREFERENCES option is used to define e-mail server settings and profiles for
SiteScope e-mail alerts and status reports.
The M
AIL PREFERENCES node lets you specify the following for an e-mail recipient:
The name and e-mail address.
An optional template with which to create e-mails.
An optional schedule to specify the e-mail receipt timings.
An optional description.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Users Preferences 4-23
Users Preferences
Figure 4-19 Users Preferences
The U
SERS PREFERENCES option lets you define and manage one or more user login
profiles that control how others access SiteScope. To create a new user, you need to
specify the following:
The login name and password for the user.
The LDAP server to which SiteScope connects if LDAP is used for authentication
and the LDAP security principle.
The optional title for the user, which acts as a description.
Optional groups to restrict user access.
Note: You cannot disable or delete the SiteScope administrator account. However, you
can modify the administrator account to include a password.
Credential Preferences4-24
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Credential Preferences
Figure 4-20 Credential Preferences
The C
REDENTIAL PREFERENCES option lets you define and configure centralized
credential management for SiteScope resources. To create a new credential, you need to
specify the following:
A unique display name for the credential.
The login name and password to connect to remote/account.
Optional domain name.
A description for the credential can be entered under ADVANCED SETTINGS.
New in 9.5
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Summary of Preferences Settings 4-25
Summary of Preferences Settings
The options available on the PREFERENCES node are:
GENERAL PREFERENCES - Used to enter standard SiteScope license keys, license
keys for optional monitor features, control SiteScope display options and features,
and set SiteScope security options.
INFRASTRUCTURE SETTINGS PREFERENCES - Used to define global SiteScope
settings
INTEGRATION PREFERENCES - Used to define preferences for HP Business
Availability Center integration.
MICROSOFT WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES - Used to define and configure
connectivity profiles for connecting to and monitoring remote Windows servers.
UNIX REMOTE PREFERENCES - Used to define and configure connectivity profiles
for connecting to and monitoring remote UNIX/Linux servers.
LOG PREFERENCES - Used to select the period to maintain monitor data locally or
configure connectivity settings for exporting monitor data to an external database.
MAIL PREFERENCES - Used to define e-mail settings for use with SiteScope e-mail
alerts.
PAGER PREFERENCES are used to define pager profiles for SiteScope pager alerts.
SNMP TRAP PREFERENCES -Used to configure the communication with an external
SNMP host or management console.
ABSOLUTE SCHEDULE PREFERENCES are used to define custom schedules to run
monitors at specific times of the week.
RANGE SCHEDULE PREFERENCES are used to define custom schedules to disable
monitors and alerts during a specific time period.
USERS PREFERENCES - Used to define and manage user login profiles.
CREDENTIAL PREFERENCES - Used to define and configure centralized credential
management for SiteScope resources.
Match Preferences with Descriptions4-26
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Match Preferences with Descriptions
Figure 4-21 Which Preference Would You Use?
Match each of the listed descriptions with the appropriate preference.
Answers: 1. C, 2. F, 3. A, 4. I, 5. B, 6. G, 7. D, 8. E, 9. J, 10. H
Instructor Notes
The slide for this page is an animated slide for discussion purpose. Use this slide as an opportunity to elicit student understanding
(including misunderstandings) and support peer-teaching.
Each mouse click will reveal the suggested answer.
Answer:
1. C,
LOG PREFERENCES are used to modify the retention period for monitoring data.
2. F,
SNMP PREFERENCES are used to define settings and profiles SiteScope can use to send SNMP Trap alerts.
3. A,
GENERAL PREFERENCES are used to set security options.
4. I,
RANGE SCHEDULE PREFERENCES are used to define custom schedules to disable monitors and alerts during a
specific time period.
5. B,
WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES or UNIX REMOTE PREFERENCES are used to establish connection
for a remote server.
6. G,
DYNAMIC UPDATE PREFERENCES are used to configure SiteScope to query an external data source and create
monitors for multiple hosts.
7. D,
MAIL PREFERENCES are used to define e-mail server settings and profiles for SiteScope e-mail alerts and status
reports.
8. E,
PAGER PREFERENCES are used to define pager profiles for SiteScope pager alerts.
9. J,
USERS PREFERENCES are used to define multiple user logon profiles.
10. H,
ABSOLUTE SCHEDULE PREFERENCES are used to define custom schedules to run monitors at specific times of
the week.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Understanding Health Monitors 4-27
Understanding Health Monitors
SiteScope HEALTH is a special group of monitors that display information about the
performance and availability of SiteScope itself. This information includes:
Monitoring server resource usage
Key processes
Monitor load
Integrity of key configuration files
By default, the daily monitor logs record the SiteScope H
EALTH monitoring data and let
you create reports on SiteScope H
EALTH performance.
Use the H
EALTH page to monitor the operability of SiteScope in real time.
Health Monitors Overview4-28
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Health Monitors Overview
Figure 4-22 Health Monitors
The H
EALTH monitor group is displayed as a special health icon within the top-level
S
ITESCOPE node. Click the H EALTH node to view the contents of the HEALTH monitor
group.
Expand the H
EALTH node to view the types of HEALTH monitors. For each HEALTH
monitor, click the P
ROPERTIES tab to view the items to add or remove. The following
H
EALTH monitor types are available under the HEALTH node:
BAC INTEGRATION STATISTICS. This monitor checks the system health of Business
Availability Center (BAC).
HEALTH OF SITESCOPE SERVER. This monitor checks internal SiteScope processes
and resources.
LOG EVENT CHECKER. This monitor checks for errors and warnings in the
SiteScope error log.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Health Monitors Overview 4-29
MONITOR LOAD CHECKER: This monitor checks the number of monitors being run
and waiting to run.
Diagnostic Tools4-30
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Diagnostic Tools
Figure 4-23 Diagnostics Tools
SiteScope provides a number of utilities for building and testing monitors and exploring
reported problems in the monitored environment. You can use these tools to preview the
system response when configuring a particular monitor. Examples of "testable" monitor
activities include validating network connectivity or verifying login authentication when
accessing an external database or service.
The categories of tools in SiteScope are:
Application diagnostic tools, such as DNS lookup, Database Connection, and FTP
server.
Server diagnostics tools, such as Server Diagnostic tool, Network, Processes, and
Services.
Advanced diagnostics tools, such as New Server, Event Log, and Performance
Counter Test.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Summary 4-31
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
Favorite views save a particular combination of content and presentation in the
interface.
The CONTENTS tab enables adding and managing subgroups, monitors, alerts, and
reports to a group.
The PROPERTIES tab enables you to highlight an existing group node and view its
properties such as the group name and any dependencies set for it.
The GLOBAL REPLACE tab enables you to update configurations across the entire
monitoring infrastructure.
The PREFERENCES container enables you to set preferences and options so that
SiteScope integrates with your network environment.
SiteScope health monitors display information about the performance and
availability of SiteScope.
SiteScope provides diagnostic tools to diagnose issues and facilitate monitor
configuration.
Review Questions4-32
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. What URL would you type in the address bar of a browser to open the new
SiteScope interface?
HTTP://LOCALHOST:8080/SITESCOPE__________________________________
2. Which tabs are available on the target interface on the right?
The target interface on the right has the
DASHBOARD, CONTENTS, PROPERTIES, and
LOG FILES tabs.___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. What are the different colors of the indicator lights on the Dashboard tab and what
do they signify?
The indicator lights can be red, yellow, or green. Red indicates an error status when
any monitor within a group is in error. Yellow indicates a warning status. Green
indicates an OK status._____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. How do you identify the active monitor availability icons?
The monitor availability icons are represented by the up and down arrows next to
the monitor status icons.____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5. What does the G
LOBAL REPLACE functionality enable you to do?
The
GLOBAL REPLACE functionality enables you to change thresholds, logins and
passwords, monitor name, and many other values across your entire set of groups
and monitors within a SiteScope installation.___________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the chapter, or save the questions from several chapters to be conducted at the
end of the day.
The answers to the questions below will be printed in the instructor book; the student book will show blank lines after each
question.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Review Questions 4-33
_______________________________________________________________
6. What is the purpose of health monitors?
SiteScope HEALTH is a specially designed group of monitors that is used to monitor
several key aspects of its own environment to help uncover monitor configuration
problems as well as SiteScope server load.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
7. What is the purpose of diagnostic tools?
The SiteScope diagnostic tools are used to test the monitoring environment. This
may include simply testing network connectivity or verifying login authentication
for accessing an external database or service.
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences in SiteScope4-34
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences
in SiteScope
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to set up remote preferences for Windows
in SiteScope.
Part 1: Add a Windows server.
Part 2: Test the Windows server.
At the beginning of this exercise, create a test user account on the Training Server and provide the computer name,
IP address, test user name, and password to the students.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Become familiar with the steps to set up remote preferences for Windows in SiteScope.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to set up remote preferences for Windows in SiteScope. To achieve this,
students must:
- Add a Windows server.
- Test the Windows server.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences in SiteScope 4-35
Part 1: Add a Windows Server
1. Open the SiteScope interface.
2. Under the P
REFERENCES container, click M ICROSOFT WINDOWS REMOTE
P
REFERENCES.
3. In the C
ONTENTS tab on the MICROSOFT WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES page,
click N
EW MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER. The NEW MICROSOFT WINDOWS
S
ERVER page appears in the right panel.
4. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, in the HOST field, type the computer name or IP
address of the training server. If you do not know the details for the training server,
please ask the instructor.
5. In the L
OGIN field, type the login name for the user account identified by the
instructor.
6. In the P
ASSWORD field, type the password for the user account identified by the
instructor.
7. In the N
AME field, type the name T RAININGSVR.
8. In the M
ETHOD list, select the method used to connect to the training server. The
default value is N
ETBIOS.
The applicable services must be enabled on the remote server.
9. In the REMOTE MACHINE ENCODING field, type the appropriate encoding. The
default value is C
P1252.
10. Click OK.
Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences in SiteScope4-36
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Part 2: Test the Windows Server
1. Expand the MICROSOFT WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES container.
2. Right-click the T
RAININGSVR node and then select T EST. A TEST PREFERENCE
dialog box should appear with the message C
ONNECTION SUCCESSFUL.
3. Click C
LOSE.
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Exercise: Setting Mail Preferences in SiteScope 4-37
Exercise: Setting Mail Preferences in SiteScope
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to set up mail preferences in SiteScope.
Part 1: Add an additional e-mail setting.
Part 2: Add template and schedule.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Become familiar with the steps to set up mail preferences in SiteScope.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to set up mail preferences in SiteScope. To achieve this, students must:
- Add an additional e-mail setting.
- Add template and schedule.
Exercise: Setting Mail Preferences in SiteScope4-38
Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface
Part 1: Add an Additional E-Mail Setting
1. Open the SiteScope interface.
2. Under the P
REFERENCES container, click M AIL PREFERENCES.
3. In the C
ONTENTS tab on the MAIL PREFERENCES page, click N EW E-MAIL
R
ECIPIENT. The NEW E-MAIL RECIPIENT page appears in the right panel.
4. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, type your name as the e-mail
recipient.
5. In the E-M
AIL TO field, type your e-mail address as the recipient for messages and
alerts.
Part 2: Add Template and Schedule
1. In the ADVANCED SETTINGS section, from the TEMPLATE list, select the template
you want to use while sending the e-mail alerts.
2. From the S
CHEDULE list, select the schedule to specify when you want these e-mail
settings to be enabled.
3. Click OK.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
5-1
5
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Describe the best practice methodology for SiteScope monitoring.
Configure heartbeats and dependencies.
Use a best practice approach for developing a grouping model.
Use a best practice approach for planning a SiteScope deployment and when
planning to monitor an IT environment.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter explains the best practices for developing a grouping model, planning the monitoring strategy, and SiteScope
deployment.
Monitoring Methodology5-2
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Monitoring Methodology
Figure 5-1 Monitoring Methodology
Effective SiteScope deployments rely on a process-oriented approach with well defined
milestones. Figure 5-1 shows the recommended sequence of steps to set up a monitoring
environment with SiteScope.
Walk through the SiteScope methodology. Tell a story or use a real-world example. Emphasize the iterative nature of
some of the configuration activities, such as the alerting strategy.
Here are the steps of the process:
Review the business environment and identify the critical elements that will be
monitored.
Identify and configure the remote servers to be monitored.
Decide on a grouping strategy and create a high-level grouping model.
Decide on the alerting strategy and set up SiteScope alerts.
Refine the number and types of monitors and counters and populate the groups.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Monitoring Methodology 5-3
Identify the reporting requirements.
Set up SiteScope reports.
Review the SiteScope effectiveness periodically and make changes to the
environment as needed.
Introduction to the Grouping Model5-4
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Introduction to the Grouping Model
Within SiteScope, you can create any number of groups and subgroups of monitors. A
well-designed grouping model maximizes coverage with effective alerting and
informative reporting while minimizing maintenance.
A poorly designed or ad hoc grouping strategy results in a disorganized and
unmanageable grouping structure. It can cause problem events to go unnoticed. It can
also generate an extreme number of alerts making it difficult to identify problems. As
the number of monitored systems increases, the lack of a planning and strategy may
cause the need for excessive maintenance and even result in ineffective reporting.
To avoid these pitfalls, consider the following methods:
Implement heartbeats and dependencies
Practice a top-level grouping model
Leverage guidelines for creating an effective grouping model
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Heartbeats and Dependencies 5-5
Heartbeats and Dependencies
Heartbeat elements are key monitors that verify the availability of a business system or a
resource. A heartbeat is a lightweight monitor that acts as an indicator of availability.
For example, a ping monitor can indicate whether a server is up. Common candidates for
heartbeat monitors are PORT and PING monitors.
A dependency refers to the ability to control the execution of a monitor or a group of
monitors based on the state of another monitor or a group of monitors. The purpose of a
dependency is to execute a group of monitors or a single monitor only when the business
system or resource they target is available thereby limiting the amount of work
SiteScope performs. In this way dependencies help prevent a flood of monitor errors and
alerts.
To further explain dependencies consider the following example. A user wants to
monitor CPU, disk space, and memory for a server. If these monitors execute against the
server when it is not available and each triggers an alert, three alerts would be generated.
To avoid this behavior, place the CPU, DISK SPACE, and MEMORY monitors in a
group dependent on a ping monitor and make sure that the group executes only if the
ping monitor returns an OK status. Thus, if the server is unavailable, the ping monitor
will run, return a error, and generate only a single alert. The dependent group containing
CPU, Disk Space, and Memory will not run and additional redundant alerts will not be
generated.
Top-Level Grouping Model Example5-6
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Top-Level Grouping Model Example
Figure 5-2 Example of Top-Level Grouping Model
Figure 5-2 shows an example of a grouping model with three top-level groups:
Application Monitors, Server Monitors, and Heartbeat Monitors. The Server Monitors
group contains four subgroups for different types of servers. These subgroups contain
individual monitors for the server and a child group for shared services. The child group
contains the applicable monitors.
The three top-level groups represent a logical organization of monitors implemented in
the given SiteScope installation. These groups are organized as follows:
Application Monitors: Contains monitors and groups targeting the high-level
business applications and services of the organization.
Server Monitors: Groups specific types of server resource monitors organized by
platform or vendor.
Heartbeat Monitors: Contains key processes and services that indicate the
availability and health of a larger set of systems and services.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Top-Level Grouping Model Advantages 5-7
Top-Level Grouping Model Advantages
The top-level grouping model accomplishes the following:
Alerts are sent to the right system and business owners.
The SiteScope Dashboard is well organized and easy to navigate
Few top-level groups
Pyramid-like structure
Problem areas and root causes are identified more easily.
Easier incremental addition of groups and monitors.
Grouping Guidelines5-8
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Grouping Guidelines
While creating a grouping model, adhere to the following principles:
The model is extensible in the sense that it easily accommodates the addition of new
groups and monitors.
The model represents logical parent-child relationships between the monitored
assets.
The model implements a well-defined naming convention for groups, subgroups,
monitors, and any other monitoring objects.
The complexity of the grouping hierarchy decreases when moving from the top
level to lower levels.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Planning the Monitoring Strategy 5-9
Planning the Monitoring Strategy
When planning the monitoring strategy for your IT infrastructure, consider the
following:
What to monitor?
–Monitor individual server components such as the CPU, the Memory, or the
Disks.
–Monitor individual software elements, such as all the applications running on a
particular platform.
–Monitor key services and processes such as the TNS Listener of an Oracle
Database or the availability of a Network Interface.
–Monitor transactions and business processes such as the ability of users to
login to the Corporate Web Site of a company.
Determine the acceptable thresholds and what threshold represents a change in
status?
–The threshold is based on the nature of the system or business process you are
monitoring. For instance, if you are monitoring a CPU, acceptable thresholds
are 60%-90% meaning that a utilization of under 60% results in a "Good"
status, anything above 60% but lower than 90% results in a "Warning" status
and whenever the CPU get to above or over 90%, set its status to "Error".
How often must the system be checked?
–Ensure the availability of mission critical information systems by checking
regularly.
Avoid too high a frequency that overloads the system. For instance, there
is no need to frequently check the size of disks of a system with low I/O
activity. Set the frequency of the Disk Monitor to once every couple of
hours.
Avoid too low a frequency that delays detection of problems. For instance,
frequently check the responsiveness of your e-commerce web site since it
is most likely critical to the profitability of the business you are
monitoring.
What actions to take when an event is detected?
Planning the Monitoring Strategy5-10
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
–Use SiteScope e-mail or pager alerts to send notification when an event
threshold is triggered. This is the easiest and most common way of leveraging
SiteScope alerts.
–Use script alerts to take corrective actions. For instance, you can have a
"Service Restart" batch script execute whenever you detect that the service
being monitored is unresponsive or down.
–Use SNMP traps to provide integration with external systems. This method can
be used in order to provide an integration with other HP Software products or
3rd party systems such as Tivoli.
The supported minimum frequency is 45 seconds. The exact frequency is dependent on the type of monitor.
However, most monitors can be configured with a frequency of 5 to 15 minutes.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
SiteScope Server Sizing 5-11
SiteScope Server Sizing
An important element of successful SiteScope monitoring is the sizing of the server on
which SiteScope is deployed.
To size a SiteScope server deployment determine the following:
Number of monitor instances that will execute simultaneously.
Average run frequency for each monitor.
Types of protocols and applications to be monitored.
Amount of monitor data to retain on the server for reporting.
More information on sizing considerations is provided in the advanced course.
Refer students to support and articles in the knowledge base for more information on sizing. Sizing is considered
here for completeness and to introduce the trade-off between the number of monitors on a box versus frequency.
A four-way with 2 to 4gb of RAM can support approximately 4000 monitors that are a mix of lightweight and heavy
monitors. This is an approximate and is dependent on the frequency with which monitors run.
If necessary, free-up resources by lengthening the frequency between the monitor runs. This allows more points per
box running less frequently.
Monitored Infrastructure Assessment5-12
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Monitored Infrastructure Assessment
A business system infrastructure assessment is recommended to identify the scope,
deliverables, and constraints around which the monitor model needs to be developed.
Follow these guidelines for performing business system infrastructure assessment:
Gather technical and business requirements.
–Identify the business applications to be monitored.
–Identify the servers and network devices that support the business applications.
–Identify the heartbeat elements to be monitored.
Identify stakeholders and key deliverables for the monitoring activity.
–Identify the reports to be generated.
–Identify the alert actions to be taken.
–Identify the receivers of alerts.
–Identify the SiteScope users.
–Identify stakeholders and the SiteScope elements they can access.
Identify constraints for the monitoring system.
–Restrictions on protocols.
Protocol restrictions impact the types of monitors available to the model. Network traffic restrictions
impact the number of monitors and the frequency of monitoring.
–User authentication requirements.
–Network traffic restrictions.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Summary 5-13
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
SiteScope deployment should be implemented as a well-defined sequence of
planned milestones.
Heartbeat elements are key monitors that indicate the availability of a particular
business system or resource.
Dependencies help prevent a flood of errors and redundant alerts.
A well-designed grouping model helps create new groups, facilitates navigation,
and represents logical parent-child relationships.
When planning a monitoring strategy, identify the monitoring elements, the
frequency of monitoring, and the action to be taken when an event is detected.
Review Questions5-14
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. Give an example of a heartbeat monitor.
A PING monitor can be a heartbeat monitor.____________________________
2. What is the advantage of making other monitors dependent on a heartbeat monitor?
Making other monitors dependent on a heartbeat monitor prevents monitor error
floods and alert floods._____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. What is a dependency?
A dependency refers to the ability to control the execution of a monitor or a group
of monitors based on the state of another monitor or a group of monitors. ____
_______________________________________________________________
4. Which are the three top-level groups in SiteScope’s grouping model?
Application Monitors, Server Monitors, and Heartbeat Monitors____________
_______________________________________________________________
5. List the guidelines for developing a grouping model.
While creating a grouping model, ensure that the model is extensible to
accommodate groups and monitors in the future, represents logical parent-child
relationships, follows a single naming convention for both groups and subgroups,
and the complexity of the grouping hierarchy decreases when moving from the top
level to lower levels._______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the chapter, or save the questions from several chapters to be conducted at the
end of the day.
The answers to the questions below will be printed in the instructor book; the student book will show blank lines after each
question.
SiteScope Monitoring Strategy
Review Questions 5-15
6. List the steps for planning a monitoring strategy.
When a planning a monitoring strategy, identify the monitoring elements, the
threshold that represents a change in status, the frequency of monitoring, and the
action to be taken when an event is detected.____________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
7. What are the key considerations for deploying SiteScope?
The key considerations for deploying SiteScope are assessing the business system
infrastructure, sizing the SiteScope server deployment, determining the network
location and environment, and fine-tuning the Windows environment._______
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Managing Groups and Monitors
6-1
6
Managing Groups and Monitors
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Navigate the SiteScope interface using the DASHBOARD tab.
Create and configure groups and monitors.
Acknowledge Monitor errors.
Use threshold settings and baselining.
Use filters.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter explains how to create and configure groups and monitors, configure SiteScope with Business Availability Center
(BAC), and use filters and Solution Templates in SiteScope.
Dashboard Views and Nodes6-2
Managing Groups and Monitors
Dashboard Views and Nodes
Figure 6-1 Views and Nodes
SiteScope collects real-time performance and availability metric data from infrastructure
components being monitored such as servers, applications, processes, services, SNMP-
enabled devices, etc.
The SiteScope D
ASHBOARD contains the latest available group and monitor status and
data readings. At the highest level, the SiteScope node, the D
ASHBOARD contains a list
of groups, the status of each group, the time the status was last updated and an indicator
of triggered alerts for the particular group.
The data displayed in the D
ASHBOARD tab represents the context selected in the tree - the
global SiteScope view, an individual group view, or a specific monitor.
Figure 6-1 shows the SiteScope (global view) and the monitor nodes along with their
Dashboard views.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Building Groups 6-3
Building Groups
Groups are analogous to folders. They act as containers for monitors and other groups.
By creating hierarchies of groups and sub groups the user can organize related monitors
so that the layout represents logical relationships existing in the monitored
infrastructure.
Groups are first added to the top-level S
ITESCOPE node and optionally within other
groups to form a hierarchy. Working with Groups involves the following tasks:
Create a group.
Provide a name (Main Settings), and optionally, a description, a dependency and a
dependency condition (Advanced Settings).
Configure the CONTENTS tab for the group.
Add monitors to the group and configure alerts.
Creating a Group6-4
Managing Groups and Monitors
Creating a Group
Figure 6-2 New Group
To create a group, right-click the S
ITESCOPE node, and then select N EW GROUP.
When you select N
EW GROUP, a NEW SITESCOPE GROUP window appears. To specify
details for a new group, do the following:
1. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, in the GROUP NAME field, type a name for the
group.
2. In the
ADVANCED SETTINGS section:
a) In the G
ROUP DESCRIPTION field, provide a description for the group.
b) Create a dependency for the group.
3. Click OK.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Configuring Group Contents 6-5
Configuring Group Contents
Figure 6-3 Group Configurations
Figure 6-3 shows the C
ONTENTS tab of the group that you just created. The buttons in
the right panel are used to add monitors and make modifications to the group.
Alternatively, you can right-click the group in the tree to make changes to the group.
To add a new monitor to the group, click N EW MONITOR.
To add a subgroup, click N
EW GROUP.
To create an alert to be triggered if there is an error, click N
EW ALERT.
You will learn about creating alerts in Chapter 7: Configuring Alerts.
To set an automated management report or quick report to be e-mailed according to the
mail settings, click N
EW REPORT.
You will learn about creating reports in Chapter 9: Generating Reports.
Creating a Monitor6-6
Managing Groups and Monitors
Creating a Monitor
Figure 6-4 New Monitor
To add a new monitor to a SiteScope group, perform the following steps:
1. Select from the following options:
–In the monitor tree, right-click the SiteScope group into which you want to add
a monitor. From the menu, select N
EW MONITOR. The NEW SITESCOPE
M
ONITOR window appears.
–Highlight the SiteScope group into which you want to add a monitor. On the
C
ONTENTS tab, click N EW MONITOR. The NEW SITESCOPE MONITOR window
appears.
2. From the alphabetical list, select the desired monitor. You can also choose to view
only the monitors of a certain category type by selecting the desired monitor
category from the Category list.
3. Select the type of monitor you want to add. The applicable A
DD MONITOR window
appears.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Creating a Monitor 6-7
4. Type the configuration settings for the monitor. The MAIN, ADVANCED, and
T
HRESHOLD SETTINGS vary from one monitor type to another.
5. Enable or disable the monitor as required.
6. Enable or disable the alerts associated with this monitor as required.
7. Select from the following options in HP BAC L
OGGING:
–DO NOT REPORT TO HP BUSINESS AVAILABILITY CENTER
–REPORT EVERYTHING (ALL MONITORS AND ALL MEASUREMENTS ): This
option sends all monitor data to HP Business Availability Center each time that
the monitor runs.
–REPORT MONITOR LEVEL DATA (NO MEASUREMENTS ). This option sends
only monitor category, status string, and other basic data each time that the
monitor runs.
–REPORT MONITOR LEVEL DATA AND MEASUREMENTS WITH THRESHOLDS.
This option sends monitor category, status string, as well as performance
counter data for any counters that have been set with thresholds (for example,
Error If, Warning If). The data is sent each time the monitor runs.
–REPORT STATUS CHANGES (NO MEASUREMENTS ). This option sends only
monitor category, status string, and other basic data only when the monitor
reports a change in status.
8. In the C
ATEGORY SETTINGS section, assign a category to the monitor. This is
optional and is done only if there are any categories defined.
9. Click A
DD. The monitor is added to the monitor tree.
The monitors are ready to monitor other monitors in the network.
Monitor Types6-8
Managing Groups and Monitors
Monitor Types
Figure 6-5 Monitor Types
When you click N
EW MONITOR or select N EW MONITOR from the right-click menu, an
alphabetized list of monitor types appears in the right panel, as shown in Figure 6-5.
You can also view monitors listed by category. To do this, use the drop down menu on the Category list box to filter
the list by a specific category.
SiteScope has over 100 built-in types of monitors that are used to collect metric data
about different aspects of an IT infrastructure. These include monitors for server
hardware, network services, operating systems, applications, and application
components, to name a few. You can create instances of these monitor types and
configure them to "point" to a specific physical element in the IT infrastructure. For
instance, to monitor the CPU utilization on a server, select the CPU type monitor and set
its "Server" attribute to address of the server. Some monitors are unlocked by the
optional license.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Modifying Monitor Settings 6-9
Modifying Monitor Settings
To modify the settings for a monitor, select the monitor in the left tree and click the
P
ROPERTIES tab in the right panel. The available sections in the P ROPERTIES tab are:
MAIN SETTINGS
ADVANCED SETTINGS
ENABLE/DISABLE MONITOR
ENABLE/DISABLE ALERTS
THRESHOLD SETTINGS
CUSTOM PROPERTIES
HP BAC LOGGING
CATEGORY SETTINGS
Modifying Main Settings6-10
Managing Groups and Monitors
Modifying Main Settings
Figure 6-6 Main Settings
To modify a monitor’s configuration, click E
DIT in the PROPERTIES tab for the monitor.
Figure 6-6 shows the M
AIN SETTINGS section of an example monitor of the PING
monitor type. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, in the EDIT SERVICE panel, you can edit the
following settings: Name, Frequency of monitoring, Specific server to monitor, and, in
the case of a "Service"-type monitor, the name of the service to be monitored.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Modifying Advanced Settings 6-11
Modifying Advanced Settings
The ADVANCED SETTINGS section enables you to provide detailed specifications for the
monitor. The following are key fields in this section:
SHOW RUN RESULTS ON UPDATE check box: Use this check box to run the monitor
automatically whenever changes are made.
VERIFY ERROR check box: Use this check box to make the monitor rerun
immediately if it returns an error status. This feature provides an accurate
assessment for incidental errors by minimizing false positives. However, enabling
this property adds a significant load to the SiteScope server. Enable this property
only for troubleshooting or for the most critical monitors.
ERROR FREQUENCY field: Use this field to enable a monitor to run more frequently
or less frequently if the monitor detects an error. The monitor reverts to its standard
run interval when it returns to the OK state.
MONITOR SCHEDULE field: Use this field to select a schedule if you want the
monitor to run only on certain days or on a fixed schedule.
DEPENDS ON field: Use this field to make the running of this monitor dependent on
the status of another monitor.
Editing Monitor Dependencies6-12
Managing Groups and Monitors
Editing Monitor Dependencies
Figure 6-7 Monitor Dependencies
The A
DVANCED SETTINGS section enables you to set monitor dependencies. It is used to
specify the following dependency settings:
DEPENDS ON tree: Enables you to make the running of the monitor being
configured dependent on the status of another monitor or group. For instance, you
can instruct SiteScope that the TNS Listener (key Oracle service) monitor is
dependent on the port monitor checking the status of port "1521" (standard Oracle
database port).
DEPENDS CONDITION list: Enables you to select the status category or condition of
the D
EPENDS ON monitor that ensures that the monitor, which is being configured,
run normally. The monitor being configured runs normally as long as the monitor
selected in the D
EPENDS ON field reports the condition selected in this field. For
instance, you can instruct SiteScope to run the TNS Listener monitor only if the
port monitor checking port 1521 returns an OK status.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Editing Monitor Dependencies 6-13
MONITOR DESCRIPTION field: Enables you to provide a monitor description. You
can add HTML tags to the description for format and style. These descriptions help
customized the look and feel of the application and act as in-line documentation
describing the purpose and effect of the monitors being configured.
REPORT DESCRIPTION field: Enables you to clarify the role of a monitor by
specifying descriptions such as Network Traffic or Main Server Response Time.
This description is displayed on each bar chart and graph in management reports.
Enabling or Disabling a Monitor6-14
Managing Groups and Monitors
Enabling or Disabling a Monitor
Figure 6-8 Enable or Disable a Monitor
The E
NABLE/DISABLE MONITOR section shown in Figure 6-8 is used to enable or disable
a monitor temporarily or indefinitely. You can choose to disable the monitor
immediately or for a time interval in the future. Although the monitor schedule remains
in place, the monitor does not run for the duration that it is disabled. You can choose to
temporarily disable a monitor if the monitor it depends on is in error. For instance, there
would be no point in checking the availability of port 80 on the web server if the web
server itself is down.
Disabling a monitor indefinitely seriously impacts the effectiveness of system availability monitoring in complex
environments. The disabled monitors are forgotten if buried in an infrequently viewed subgroup. It is recommended that
you disable monitors for only a limited time.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Enabling or Disabling Alerts 6-15
Enabling or Disabling Alerts
Figure 6-9 Alert Enable or Disable
The E
NABLE/DISABLE ALERTS section shown in Figure 6-9, is used to enable and
disable alert actions triggered by individual monitors or by groups. If one or more alerts
are defined for a monitor, an expandable tree fragment is displayed. This tree lists all
alerts of the monitor, which are relative to the hierarchy element to which the alert is
assigned. For example, if a single alert is assigned to a monitor, the tree displays only
the monitor and the alert. If a global alert and an alert for the monitor group are defined,
the tree displays the S
ITESCOPE node and the group node along with the alert nodes for
those elements.
Understanding Threshold Settings6-16
Managing Groups and Monitors
Understanding Threshold Settings
Figure 6-10 Threshold Settings
You use the T
HRESHOLD SETTINGS section to set logical conditions that determine the
reported status of each monitor instance. The status is determined after comparing the
monitor result to the threshold settings. For instance, if the CPU monitor status is
configured as "Good" when the CPU utilization reads at 80% or lower, and the CPU
monitor returns 30% utilization, then the monitor will report a “Good” status.
The T
HRESHOLD SETTINGS section is used to customize the requirements for the GOOD,
W
ARNING, and ERROR status definitions. Shown in Figure 6-10, we have the default
status for the Ping Windows 2003 Server Monitor set to "Good." The status will turn to
"Error" if the service does not respond to ping (no packets are returned from a ping
request) and back to "Good" when the service is running (all packets are returned).
Managing Groups and Monitors
Using Baselines to Set Thresholds 6-17
Using Baselines to Set Thresholds
Figure 6-11 Baselining
Instead of setting logic conditions manually in the
THRESHOLD SETTINGS for each
monitor instance, you can have SiteScope calculate thresholds for one or more monitor
instances using a baseline. Baseline data is gathered from monitor performance metrics
over a period of time and is used to provide a comparison for establishing acceptable or
expected threshold ranges. Baselines enable you to understand how your applications
typically perform and determine whether a performance problem is an isolated incident
or a sign of a significant downward performance trend.
To enable SiteScope to begin calculating baselines, right-click the SiteScope node
container, a group, or a monitor, and select B
ASELINING > CALCULATE.
You can select the schedule ranges used for collecting baseline threshold data. This
enables you to restrict to certain days or hours of the week the periods during which
SiteScope collects data for the baseline calculation. For example, you may want the
monitor status to be based on results gathered during peak business hours only.
The baseline engine calculates the baseline for each schedule using measurements
collected from the monitors during the data collection period.
Baseline Settings6-18
Managing Groups and Monitors
Baseline Settings
Figure 6-12 Baseline Settings
You can view and define the values of global SiteScope baseline settings in
I
NFRASTRUCTURE SETTINGS PREFERENCES. This includes calculation and activation
priority settings, the number of days of historical data to include in baseline calculations,
the minimum number of days and samples required to calculate the baseline, and the
offset for calculating the error boundary.
Note: Before the baseline is calculated, the monitor should be enabled and allowed to
run for a period long enough for SiteScope to accumulate sufficient data to calculate the
baseline. This period depends on the B
ASELINE SETTINGS.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Reviewing the Baseline Data 6-19
Reviewing the Baseline Data
Figure 6-13 Review and Activate the Baselines
Once the baseline calculations have been completed, you can review the summary of
calculated monitors and baseline data by right-clicking the SiteScope node, a group, or a
monitor and select B
ASELINING > REVIEW & ACTIVATE.
The R
EVIEW & ACTIVATE dialog box, as shown in Figure 6-13, includes the SiteScope
monitor name and the date on which the baseline was calculated. The E
RROR STATUS
R
EDUCTION and WARNING STATUS REDUCTION columns display the reduction in the
number of error or warning statuses for a monitor if the baseline threshold were applied.
For example, suppose you manually configure the threshold status for CPU Utilization
to Error if >= 65% and there are 5 error statuses for the CPU monitor (of which 3 errors
Reviewing the Baseline Data6-20
Managing Groups and Monitors
are for data samples between 65%-70%, and 2 errors for above 70%). If you have
SiteScope calculate the threshold using a baseline and the threshold is set to Error if >=
70%, the E
RROR STATUS REDUCTION would be 3.
The V
IEW GRAPHS link displays a graphical representation of baseline data for all the
measurements of the monitor, as shown in Figure 6-14
Figure 6-14 Threshold Graph
The graph shows:
The current warning and error thresholds.
The baseline warning and error thresholds.
Historic data of all baseline-related monitor measurements over a 24-hour time
period (from 00:00-23:59).
Activate the Baseline Settings
To activate the baseline settings, select the monitors for which you want to set
thresholds using the calculated baseline and click A
CTIVATE.
Note: If you want to revert to the current monitor configuration, select the option to save
the current monitor configuration before activating the baseline configuration.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Baseline Status 6-21
Baseline Status
Figure 6-15 Baseline Status
To create a report showing information about each monitor in the selected context,
including each monitor's baseline status and baseline status description, right-click the
SiteScope node, a group, or a monitor and select B
ASELINING > STATUS REPORT.
You can also track the baseline status for a monitor in the monitor's Main Settings. See
Figure 6-16.
Modifying Baseline Thresholds6-22
Managing Groups and Monitors
Modifying Baseline Thresholds
Figure 6-16 Modifying Baseline Thresholds
In the T
HRESHOLD SETTINGS, you can view the baseline thresholds and manually fine-
tune the thresholds by changing the percentile value from which the threshold value is
derived.
As shown in Figure 6-16, the E
RROR IF PERCENT USED (%) threshold value is 73.22
(non-editable) and the percentile value is 98. To change the threshold value, you must
change the percentile value from which the threshold value is derived. To help you
understand what the new threshold value will be after you change the percentile value,
click the Percentiles Table icon to open the percentile table that shows the threshold
value mapped to each percentile range.
Percentiles Table icon
Managing Groups and Monitors
Acknowledging an Error in Monitoring 6-23
Acknowledging an Error in Monitoring
Figure 6-17 Error Acknowledgement
If a monitor displays an error status, the administrator can acknowledge the error to clear
the red status from the D
ASHBOARD and indicate that an action has been taken to
investigate and resolve the problem.
The D
ASHBOARD view for a monitor contains a small downward arrow (drop down
menu) next to the monitor name. To acknowledge the error, select A
DD
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENT from the drop down menu. An ACKNOWLEDGE dialog box
appears, as shown in Figure 6-18.
The A
CKNOWLEDGE dialog box is used to:
Add a comment for the acknowledgement.
Disable alerts for a specified time period.
Acknowledging an Error in Monitoring6-24
Managing Groups and Monitors
Disable alerts based on a one-time schedule.
Undo a one-time schedule.
Add a description for a disabled alert and view the acknowledgement log.
Figure 6-18 Acknowledge Window
Managing Groups and Monitors
Modifying an Acknowledgement 6-25
Modifying an Acknowledgement
Figure 6-19 Acknowledgement Modification
When you click A
CKNOWLEDGE , the ACKNOWLEDGE WINDOW closes and the
D
ASHBOARD view appears, as shown in Figure 6-19. Move the mouse pointer over the
check mark in the Acknowledged column to check the acknowledgement status for a
monitor. A tool tip is displayed that indicates the acknowledgement status. Click the
drop down menu adjacent to the monitor name to edit or delete the acknowledgement.
SiteScope keeps a record of when the problem was acknowledged, what actions have
been taken, and by which user. In the figure, the check box shows that the monitor was
acknowledged by the Administrator.
Filter Icon6-26
Managing Groups and Monitors
Filter Icon
Figure 6-20 Filter Icon
D
ASHBOARD filters enable you to customize the content of the information displayed in
the D
ASHBOARD. Filters are very useful in complex group and monitor implementations
when searching for particular monitor types or statuses. For example, you may want to
view only the monitors that are in a Warning state or only those that are in Error.
Figure 6-20 shows the F
ILTER icon on the far right of the DASHBOARD view.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Filtering Views in SiteScope 6-27
Filtering Views in SiteScope
Figure 6-21 Filter Selection
Filters are used to specify the criteria to display monitors in the D
ASHBOARD view to
generate a list of monitors meeting certain search condition. To display the D
ASHBOARD
F
ILTER view, as shown in Figure 6-21, click the F ILTER icon in the DASHBOARD view.
This interface lets you define filtering settings.
The most common filters types are the following:
MONITOR TYPE lets you filter monitors using monitor type.
STATUS lets you select the status for the filter.
ACKNOWLEDGED lets you filter based on whether the alerts have been
acknowledged.
Moving Objects6-28
Managing Groups and Monitors
Moving Objects
Figure 6-22 Object Copy
When working with SiteScope you can move objects such as groups, monitors, alerts,
and reports in the explorer tree.
To move an object in the explorer tree, you need to:
Copy the object.
Paste the object.
Delete the original object.
To copy an object, right-click the object and select C
OPY.
To paste an object, right-click the target group and select P
ASTE.
To delete an object, right-click the original object and select D
ELETE. A confirmation
window appears. Click OK to delete the object.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Summary 6-29
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
The acknowledgement feature in the SiteScope DASHBOARD view enables you to
acknowledge monitor errors.
The CONTENTS tab enables you to create new groups, monitors, alerts, and reports.
The PROPERTIES tab enables you to modify monitor, alert, and report
configurations.
Threshold settings can set logical conditions for a monitor and baselining can be
used to set dynamic thresholds.
Review Questions6-30
Managing Groups and Monitors
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. Where can you change the frequency of a monitor?
The frequency of a monitor can be changed in the MAIN SETTINGS section in the
PROPERTIES tab of the monitor.______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. Which tab enables you to add a new monitor to a group?
A new monitor can be added to a group in the CONTENTS tab.______________
3. How can you temporarily disable a monitor?
A monitor can be temporarily disabled in the ENABLE/DISABLE MONITOR section in
the PROPERTIES tab._______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. How can you move a monitor in the left tree of the SiteScope interface?
To move a monitor, use the right-click menu to copy the monitor, paste it to a new
location, and delete the original monitor._______________________________
_______________________________________________________________
5. What is the F
ILTER icon used for?
The
FILTER icon enables customization of the display information. For example,
you may use the FILTER icon to see only those monitors that are in warning state.
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the chapter, or save the questions from several chapters to be conducted at the
end of the day.
The answers to the questions below will be printed in the instructor book; the student book will show blank lines after each
question.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor 6-31
Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to create and test a new monitor.
Part 1: Create a new group.
Part 2: Create a new SERVICE monitor.
Part 3: Test the SERVICE monitor.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with the steps to create and test a new simple monitor.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to do the following to create and test a new simple monitor:
- Create a new group.
- Create a new
SERVICE monitor.
- Test the monitor.
Considerations
In this exercise, students are requested to stop the Messenger service. Ensure that classroom computers have the Messenger
service. If not, investigate the services on the student training computers to find one or two services common to all classroom
machines that do not disable the computer if stopped. Windows Time, Themes, Task Scheduler are possible candidates.
Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor6-32
Managing Groups and Monitors
Part 1: Create a New Group
1. Right-click the SITESCOPE node container.
2. Select N
EW GROUP.
3. In the G
ROUP NAME field, type a name for the group and click OK.
Managing Groups and Monitors
Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor 6-33
Part 2: Create a New Service Monitor
Note: Go to the C ONTROL PANEL ->ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS directory on your test
system. Locate the services that are running on the system (whose status is S
TARTED).
Choose a service to monitor, such as M
ESSENGER, DHCP, or HTTP. For the purpose of
this lab, the M
ESSENGER service is used.
1. Right-click the new group that you created and select N
EW MONITOR.
2. In the N
EW SITESCOPE MONITOR section, click S ERVICE.
3. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, type a name for the monitor.
4. In the F
REQUENCY field, set the frequency to 30 seconds.
5. From the S
YSTEM SERVICES list, select M ESSENGER.
6. Click OK. The R
UN dialog box appears.
7. Click C
LOSE to close the dialog box.
Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor6-34
Managing Groups and Monitors
Part 3: Test the Service Monitor
1. Right-click the new monitor and click R UN. The RUN dialog box appears, showing
the S
TATUS as GOOD.
2. From A
DMINISTRATIVE TOOLS > SERVICES in CONTROL PANEL, stop the service
temporarily.
3. Repeat step 1. The R
UN dialog box appears, showing the STATUS as ERROR.
4. Restart the service from A
DMINISTRATIVE TOOLS > SERVICES.
5. Repeat step 1. The R
UN dialog box appears, showing the STATUS as GOOD.
Configuring Alerts
7-1
7
Configuring Alerts
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Define and configure alerts.
Identify the purpose of alert filters.
View alert logs.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter describes how to configure alerts in SiteScope. It discusses identification of alerting strategies, how to use the LOG
F
ILES tab, and recovery scripts.
Defining an Alert7-2
Configuring Alerts
Defining an Alert
SiteScope alerts are notification actions triggered when there is a change in the monitor
status. SiteScope alerts are configured for individual monitors or group of monitors.
The SiteScope D
ASHBOARD indicates the existence of configured alerts with a small red
triangle icon to the right of each group or monitor. The icon signifies that one or more
alerts have been configured for that particular group or monitor.
A SiteScope monitor status may change from G
OOD to ERROR if the monitored
component experiences a failure or returns a data reading which is classified as E
RROR
according to the thresholds being setup. For instance, the CPU monitor's status may
change to E
RROR if the CPU utilization climbs to 80% or higher.
In addition to email and pager alerts there are also advanced alerts. A special case of
alert is the Script Alert. The S
CRIPT alert can respond to problems and automatically
initiate recovery scripts. You can configure the S
CRIPT alert to execute a command to
restart a server or a service which appears to be "hung".
SCRIPT alert is covered later in the chapter.
Configuring Alerts
Types of Alerts 7-3
Types of Alerts
Database alerts can forward system fault data and other status information to any
SQL-compliant database.
Disable or Enable Monitors alerts can turn on or turn off the triggering of alerts
for monitors. This is useful for times when server maintenance or other activities
are being performed that would logically result in errors for some monitors and
cause unnecessary alerts to be generated.
Email alerts forward event notifications from SiteScope to a designated e-mail
address.
Log Event alerts can be used to extend the types of events that are logged to a
Windows Application Event Log. This provides a way to forward event data to log
query systems that may not normally be logged by the Windows operating system.
Pager alerts forward event notifications from SiteScope to designated electronic
pagers.
Post alerts use the Common Gateway Interface protocol to forward POST data to a
CGI enabled program. This can be used to forward event data to CGI script on
another server that is a front-end for a trouble ticket system or reporting database.
This alert type also provides a way of sending alert information through a firewall
using HTTP or HTTPS without having to make other security changes.
Script alerts can automatically initiate recovery scripts. You can configure a Script
alert to execute a command to restart a server or a service.
SMS alerts are designed to transmit the name of the SiteScope monitor that has
reported an event condition and the status of that monitor only in the content of the
message.
SNMP Trap alerts forward event data from any type of SiteScope monitor to an
SNMP enabled host or management system. This means that SiteScope can be used
to monitor and report events for applications and systems that do not have their own
SNMP agent. For example, this can be used to send measurement data from a
SiteScope Windows Performance Counter based monitor type or a URL monitor in
the form of an SNMP trap.
Sound alerts play a specific audio file when an alert is generated.
Preventing Alert Floods7-4
Configuring Alerts
Preventing Alert Floods
Figure 7-1 Alert Floods
Heartbeat elements are services that indicate the availability of a particular business
system or resource. They are used to set dependencies in the IT infrastructure. A good
monitoring and alerting strategy minimizes monitor error floods and alert floods.
For example, consider the model in Figure 7-1. In this model, a Heartbeat monitor pings
the Oracle server. Also, a group of Oracle stats are dependent on the Oracle server ping
monitor, which is the Heartbeat monitor. You can set up a dependency relationship such
that the Oracle stats group runs only if the ping monitor returns an OK status. Therefore,
if there are 50 alerts associated with various Oracle stats, and one alert associated with
the Oracle Heartbeat, in the event of an error, you receive only one alert, which is for the
Heartbeat monitor.
Configuring Alerts
Configuring Alerts 7-5
Configuring Alerts
Alerts can be configured for an individual monitor or a group of monitors.
By default, whenever a new monitor is created, no alerts are configured. To configure
alerts, you need to go through the process of creating alerts using the Alert Actions
Wizard. After alerts are created, the alerts can be edited and refined further through the
addition of filters.
To view the alerts configured for a particular group or monitor, access the alert icon.
The Alert Icon7-6
Configuring Alerts
The Alert Icon
Figure 7-2 The Alert Icon
To view the alerts that are configured for a monitor, highlight the monitor. The absence
of an alert icon indicates that there are no alerts for that monitor.
Figure 7-2 shows that an alert exists under the monitor entry on the left. The right-click
options let you edit, copy, delete, and test the alert.
Configuring Alerts
Adding New Alerts 7-7
Adding New Alerts
To create a new alert, do the following:
1. In the explorer tree, select the SiteScope group or monitor with which you want to
associate the alert definition. Right-click to select the N
EW ALERT menu option or,
alternatively, display the C
ONTENTS tab from the right panel view menu.
or
If you are inside the C
ONTENTS tab, at the top of the CONTENTS view or at the
bottom of the A
LERTS section of the CONTENTS area, click the NEW ALERT button.
Alternately, you can right-click the container in the left menu to display the
container action menu and select N
EW ALERT. The ADD ALERT selection page is
displayed in the content panel.
2. The New Alert window displays. From the New Alert window, enter a name for the
alert that you want to create.
3. Click A
DD ACTION to open the Alert Action Wizard to create actions for the alert.
Alert Action Wizard: Step 17-8
Configuring Alerts
Alert Action Wizard: Step 1
Figure 7-3 Alert Action Wizard: Step 1
Select the type of alert action that you want to create from the list of possible alert types.
For a description of alert types, see “Types of Alerts” on page 7-3.
Configuring Alerts
Alert Action Wizard: Step 2 7-9
Alert Action Wizard: Step 2
Figure 7-4 Alert Action Wizard: Step 2
Step 2 of the Alert Action Wizard requires you to define the actions that should be taken
when an alert is generated.
For example, in Figure 7-4, the email alert action type requires you to enter the names
and email adresses associated with the people who should receive the email alert when a
monitor or group’s status changes.
Select the Mark this action to close alert option to close the alert. When the status
changes and the alert trigger condition is no longer true, this action closes the alert and
sends a close notification by adding the word Close to the message sent.
Alert Action Wizard: Step 37-10
Configuring Alerts
Alert Action Wizard: Step 3
Figure 7-5 Alert Action Wizard: Step 3
T
RIGGER - This category is used to select the monitor status category that should be used
to trigger the alert action. Alerts are triggered when the monitor status changes from one
state to another. The options are:
Error. Alerts are triggered if the monitor was previously reporting a status of Good.
Good. Alerts are triggered if the monitor was previously reporting a status of Error.
Unavailable. Alerts are triggered if the monitored machine was previously
available and is no longer.
Warning. Alerts are triggered if the monitor was previously reporting a status of
Good.
Configuring Alerts
Alert Action Wizard: Step 4 7-11
Alert Action Wizard: Step 4
Figure 7-6 Alert Action Wizard: Step 4
T
RIGGER SETTINGS – This option is used to select the number of times the applicable
monitor status condition should be met before action is dispatched. The default is to
trigger the alert O
NCE, AFTER CONDITION OCCURS EXACTLY 1 TIMES. The TRIGGER
S
ETTINGS options are as follows, depending on the ALERT CATEGORY selected:
–ESCALATE, AFTER ACTION OCCURRED EXACTLY N TIMES
–ALWAYS, AFTER THE CONDITION HAS OCCURRED AT LEAST N TIMES
–ONCE, AFTER THE CONDITION OCCURS EXACTLY N TIMES
–INITIALLY AFTER X TIMES, AND REPEAT EVERY Y TIMES AFTERWARDS
–ONCE, AFTER X GROUP ERRORS
–ONCE, AFTER ALL MONITORS IN THIS GROUP ARE IN ERROR
Adding Multiple Actions to an Alert7-12
Configuring Alerts
Adding Multiple Actions to an Alert
Figure 7-7 Multiple Alert Actions
You can create multiple alert actions for an alert scheme. For example, you can create an
alert action to send a sound alert and another alert action to send an e-mail alert. Both are
sent when the alert is triggered. You can also set different schedules for the different
actions within the same alert definition. For example, you can schedule an e-mail alert
action to be sent during regular working hours and an SMS alert action for evening and
night hours. Both are triggered by the same change in condition but are sent at different
times, depending on when the alert is triggered.
You can also make one alert action dependent on another alert action. This enables you
to instruct SiteScope to send one type of alert when the trigger condition is first met and
send another type of alert only when the first type of alert has been sent a number of
times.
Creating alert actions for an alert enables you to copy those alert actions into other
monitors or groups for use by other alerts. To use alert actions for other alerts, you must
copy the alert and paste it into another monitor or group. All the alert actions for the alert
are copied into the new alert. You can then edit the alert to be triggered for the new
target monitor or group.
Configuring Alerts
Setting Filters 7-13
Setting Filters
Figure 7-8 Filter Settings
Alert filters define the scope of the alert target.
The F
ILTER SETTINGS section provides the following filtering options:
NAME MATCH - Only alert for monitors with a name matching the specified value.
STATUS MATCH - Only alert for monitors with a status matching the specified
value.
MONITOR TYPE MATCH - Only alert for monitors of the specified type.
Note that the N
AME MATCH and STATUS MATCH fields accept REGULAR EXPRESSIONS.
Figure 7-8 shows the F
ILTERING SETTINGS options, where you select a monitor type
alert filter to limit the alert action.
In the C
ATEGORY SETTINGS section, you can use the CATEGORY attribute to assign an
alert to an already defined category.
The A
DVANCED SETTINGS section enables you to provide a thorough description of the
alert. This description is available only while you edit an alert or view alert properties.
Viewing Alert Logs7-14
Configuring Alerts
Viewing Alert Logs
Figure 7-9 Alert Logs
SiteScope maintains log files that are useful for:
Understanding performance issues
Troubleshooting monitor and alert problems
Reviewing SiteScope management actions
You can access the SiteScope log files in the L
OG FILES tab. The LOG FILES tab is
available only on the S
ITESCOPE root node and the HEALTH node in the monitor tree.
Click the log type to view the log.
Alert logs record alert information whenever SiteScope generates an alert. This can be
used to troubleshoot alert actions and to confirm that alerts were sent.
Configuring Alerts
Summary 7-15
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
SiteScope supports the following types of alerts:
–E-MAIL, PAGER, DATABASE, DISABLE OR ENABLE MONITORS, LOG EVENT,
P
OST, SMS, SNMP TRAP, SCRIPT, and SOUND
SiteScope alerts are notification actions triggered when there is a change in the
status of a monitor.
You can set detailed alert parameters, such as the number of times it should be
triggered and when it should be stopped.
Alert logs record alert information whenever SiteScope generates an alert. This can
be used to troubleshoot alert actions and to confirm that alerts were sent.
Review Questions7-16
Configuring Alerts
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. What are SiteScope alerts?
SiteScope alerts are notification actions triggered when monitored conditions match
the alert definition. Alerts send notification of events or changes in status of an
element or a system in the infrastructure._______________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. List the types of alerts provided by SiteScope.
SiteScope provides the following types of alerts: DATABASE, DISABLE OR ENABLE
M
ONITORS,
E-MAIL, LOG EVENT, PAGER, POST, SMS, SNMP TRAP, SCRIPT, and
SOUND._________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. What does a red triangle to the right of each entry on the screen imply?
The red triangle indicates that one or more alerts have been configured for that
entry.___________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. What is the purpose of the FILTER SETTINGS option?
The FILTER SETTINGS option is used to define an alert and apply filters to it so that
only certain monitors within the selected list trigger the alert. ______________
_______________________________________________________________
5. What are the steps to view ALERT LOG in SiteScope?
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the chapter, or save the questions from several chapters to be conducted at the
end of the day.
Configuring Alerts
Review Questions 7-17
Click the LOG FILES tab to access the log files. The LOG FILES tab is available only
on the SITESCOPE root node and the HEALTH node in the monitor tree. Click ALERT
LOG to view the alert logs.__________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert7-18
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert
This exercise familiarizes you with steps to create a sound alert in SiteScope.
Part 1: Use the SERVICE monitor for the MESSENGER service (or another service)
that was created in the exercise from the previous chapter.
Part 2: Add a SOUND alert for the monitor.
Part 3: Test the SOUND alert.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Become familiar with the steps to create and test a sound alert in SiteScope.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to do the following to create and test a sound alert in SiteScope:
- Use the
SERVICE monitor for the MESSENGER service that was created in the previous chapter exercise.
- Add a
SOUND alert for the monitor.
- Test the
SOUND alert.
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert 7-19
Part 1: Use a Service Monitor for a Started Service
Use the Service Monitor that you you created in the exercise from the previous chapter.
Note: View A
DMINISTRATIVE TOOLS -> SERVICES in CONTROL PANEL to ensure that the
M
ESSENGER service (or other service that you choose to monitor) is running on your
system. Be sure to choose a service that can be stopped without causing problems on the
system.
Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert7-20
Configuring Alerts
Part 2: Add a Sound Alert for the Monitor
1. Right-click the monitor that you created and select N EW ALERT. The NEW ALERT
screen appears.
2. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, type a name for the alert.
3. Click A
DD ACTION. The Action Alert Wizard opens.
4. From the A
CTION TYPE screen , in the ACTION NAME field, type a name for the
action, select S
OUND, and then click N EXT.
5. From the A
CTION TYPE SETTINGS screen, select the type of sound file to be played,
and then click N
EXT.
6. From the T
RIGGER screen, select E RROR, and then click N EXT.
7. From the T
RIGGER SETTINGS screen, select the desired frequency of the sound alert
when an error occurs.
8. Click F
INISH.
9. In the N
EW ALERT screen, verify the information in the ALERT ACTIONS and then
click OK.
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert 7-21
Part 3: Test the Sound Alert
1. Stop the MESSENGER service (or other service that is being monitored).
2. View the status of the alert. It shows an error. You should hear the sound alert that
you had set above.
3. Restart the service and view the status again. The service displays OK status and
plays the sound alert.
Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down7-22
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to restart a service that is down in
SiteScope.
Part 1: Create a new group named SPOOLER.
Part 2: Create a script to start the PRINT SPOOLER service.
Part 3: Create a SERVICE monitor for the PRINT SPOOLER service.
Part 4: Add a SCRIPT alert to the SERVICE monitor.
Part 5: Test the SCRIPT alert.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Become familiar with the steps to restart a service that is down in SiteScope.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to do the following to restart a service that is down in SiteScope:
- Create a group.
- Create a script to start the
PRINT SPOOLER service.
- Create a
SERVICE monitor for the PRINT SPOOLER service.
- Add a
SCRIPT alert to the SERVICE monitor.
- Test the
SCRIPT alert.
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down 7-23
Part 1: Create a New Group Named Spooler
1. Create a new group named S POOLER.
Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the
S
ITESCOPE HELP.
Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down7-24
Configuring Alerts
Part 2: Create a Script to Start the Print Spooler Service
1. Open the command prompt window and navigate to the C:\SITESCOPE\SCRIPTS
directory.
2. Type
COPY CON STARTSPOOLER.BAT and press E NTER.
3. Type
NET START SPOOLER and press E NTER.
4. Hold down C
TRL and press Z.
5. Press E
NTER.
6. Close the command prompt window.
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down 7-25
Part 3: Create a Service Monitor for the Print Spooler Service
Note: View A DMINISTRATIVE TOOLS -> SERVICES in CONTROL PANEL to ensure that the
P
RINT SPOOLER service is running.
1. Create a service monitor for the
PRINT SPOOLER service with a frequncy of 20
seconds.
Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the
S
ITESCOPE HELP.
Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down7-26
Configuring Alerts
Part 4: Add a Script Alert to the Service Monitor
1. Add a SCRIPT alert to the PRINT SPOOLER SERVICE monitor you created.
2. In the N
EW ALERT section, click S CRIPT.
3. In the S
CRIPT list, select STARTSPOOLER.BAT.
Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the
S
ITESCOPE HELP.
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down 7-27
Part 5: Test the Script Alert
Note:
1. Stop the P
RINT SPOOLER service.
2. The P
RINT SPOOLER service restarts in 20 seconds.
When you stop the PRINT SPOOLER service, the SERVICE monitor for the PRINT SPOOLER service
generates an error in its next run. This error causes the
SCRIPT alert to run. The script restarts the PRINT
S
POOLER service.
Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood7-28
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to prevent an alert flood.
Part 1: Create new groups named HEARTBEAT and SERVER STATS.
Part 2: Create a SERVICE monitor in HEARTBEAT for the SERVER service.
Part 3: Create CPU, DISK SPACE, and MEMORY monitors in SERVER STATS.
Part 4: Make the SERVER STATS group dependent on the SERVICE monitor.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Become familiar with the steps to prevent an alert flood in SiteScope.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to do the following to prevent an alert flood in SiteScope:
- Create new groups named
HEARTBEAT and SERVER STATS.
- Create a SERVICE monitor in HEARTBEAT for the SERVER service.
- Create
CPU, DISK SPACE, and MEMORY monitors in SERVER STATS.
- Make the SERVER STATS group dependent on the SERVICE monitor.
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood 7-29
Part 1: Create New Groups Named Heartbeat and Server Stats
1. Create 2 new groups.
–HEARTBEAT
–SERVER STATS
Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the
S
ITESCOPE HELP.
Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood7-30
Configuring Alerts
Part 2: Create a Service Monitor in Heartbeat for the Server
Service
1. In the HEARTBEAT group, create a service monitor for the SERVER service with a
frequncy of 20 seconds.
Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the
S
ITESCOPE HELP.
Configuring Alerts
Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood 7-31
Part 3: Create CPU, Disk Space, and Memory Monitors in
Server Stats
1. Create the following monitors in the SERVER STATS group:
–CPU, frequency = 20 seconds
–DISK SPACE, frequency = 20 seconds
–MEMORY, frequency = 20 seconds
Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the
S
ITESCOPE HELP.
2. Stop the S
ERVER service on your computer.
3. Click the S
ERVER STATS group in the explorer tree and view the status of the
monitors in the D
ASHBOARD tab. All the monitors are in error.
This shows an alert flood. All the monitors show error status because the SERVER service was stopped.
4. Restart the SERVER service on your computer.
Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood7-32
Configuring Alerts
Part 4: Make the Server Stats Group Dependent on the Service
Monitor
1. In the explorer tree, click the S ERVER STATS group.
2. Click the P
ROPERTIES tab and click E DIT.
3. Expand the A
DVANCED SETTINGS section.
4. In the D
EPENDS ON tree, expand H EARTBEAT and check the SERVICE monitor
check box.
5. Click OK to make the S
ERVER STATS group dependent on the SERVICE monitor.
6. Stop the S
ERVER service on your computer.
7. In the explorer tree, click the S
ITESCOPE node container and view the STATUS of
the groups in the D
ASHBOARD tab. The SERVER STATS group has no data and only
the H
EARTBEAT group is in error.
Using Templates
8-1
8
Using Templates
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Identify the role of templates.
Create user-defined templates.
Modify templates by applying user-defined and system variables.
Deploy user-defined and solution templates.
Use the Publish Template Changes wizard.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter explains the concepts of reusability and repeatability of monitor, group, and alert creation through the use of
templates. This chapter discusses the following types of templates: user-defined, monitor set, solution, and dynamic update.
Using Templates to Deploy Monitoring8-2
Using Templates
Using Templates to Deploy Monitoring
Figure 8-1 Using Templates
Templates are objects you use to reproduce servers, monitors, and alerts according to a
predefined pattern and configuration. Templates include group, server, monitor, and
alert template objects as placeholders representing the type and configuration of
corresponding items that you want to deploy in your monitoring environment.
SiteScope provides 2 types of templates to speed the deployment of monitors across the
enterprise through standardization of group structures, monitor types and configuration
settings: User-Defined and Solution Templates.
SiteScope also provides template examples for monitoring in Windows and UNIX
environments. You can use the template examples to help you become familiar with
using SiteScope templates.
Using Templates
Template Attributes 8-3
Template Attributes
Templates in SiteScope are used to standardize a set of monitor types and configurations
into a single structure. This structure can then be repeatedly deployed as a group of
monitors targeting multiple elements of the monitored infrastructure.
A template defines the hierarchy and a structure of groups, monitors, alerts, and
dependencies. After a template is created, it becomes readily available and is easily
deployed in a preconfigured state. This encourages consistency and enforces
conventions.
Template building blocks include:
Hierarchy of monitors
–Each template defines a grouping structure and monitors inside the groups.
Monitor-level alerts
–Each template may also define alerts for individual monitors.
Group-level alerts
–Each template may define alerts applicable to specific or all groups inside the
template.
Template variables
–Template variables provide a way to tailor specific template properties to the
targets being monitored.
User variables
–Much like variables but created and named by the user creating the template,
not provided by SiteScope.
System variables
–Out of the box variables holding system information.
Dependencies
–A dependency refers to the ability to control the execution of a monitor or a
group of monitors based on the state of another monitor or a group of monitors.
User-Defined Templates8-4
Using Templates
User-Defined Templates
Figure 8-2 User-defined Templates
User-Defined Templates provide the following benefits and key features:
Templates are portable. They can be imported and exported for use across other
SiteScope installations.
Templates are stored in binary format in SiteScope with no associated text file thus
eliminating the need for manual file editing.
Templates can make use of powerful system and user-defined variables which
facilitates their creation and eliminates the requirement for knowledge of monitor
classes, internal parameters, or syntax.
Working with templates can be accomplished with by simple "point and click"
mouse operations enabling fast creation of structure, hierarchy, and dependencies.
Due to GUI limitations user-defined templates are not visible in the classic SiteScope. They can however co-exist
with legacy msets created and imported from prior versions.
Using Templates
User-Defined Templates Concepts 8-5
User-Defined Templates Concepts
Figure 8-3 User-Defined Templates
Template: A template is an aggregation of objects used for speedy and repeatable
deployment of identical assets to multiple SiteScope instances or within branches of the
monitoring hierarchy inside the same SiteScope instance.
An individual template consists of variable definitions, SiteScope object such as groups,
monitors, alerts, and specific configurations and relationships between the objects such
as a hierarchy, dependencies, and so on.
A template can only be added to a template container node.
Template Container: A template container is used for storing and managing one or
more templates.
Template containers group and organize multiple templates in ways that describe their
purpose or classification. They are added only to the SiteScope node.
Template Variable: A template variable is used to prompt for user input during
template deployment. Template variables are added as children of the template container
in which they are referenced.
Templates Planning8-6
Using Templates
Templates Planning
When you plan to deploy templates, consider the following questions:
Which monitor types do you want to replicate using templates?
Which monitor configuration properties will need to vary from one template
deployment to another?
What common properties will be the same from one template deployment to
another?
What group structure will be used to organize the monitors?
Will alerts be deployed as part of the template?
What action will be associated with the alerts?
Using Templates
User-Defined Template Containers 8-7
User-Defined Template Containers
Figure 8-4 Creating Templates
To create a user-defined template, perform the following steps:
1. In the tree, right-click the S
ITESCOPE node. The SiteScope action menu appears.
2. Select N
EW TEMPLATE CONTAINER. The NEW TEMPLATE CONTAINER window
appears in the content area.
3. In the N
AME text box, type a name for the template container. The maximum length
of the name is 250 characters.
4. Optionally, if there are any categories defined in this enterprise, you can assign a
category to the template container under the C
ATEGORY SETTINGS section. You can
assign a description to the template container under the A
DVANCED SETTINGS
section.
5. Click OK to create the template container.
Adding Templates to Containers8-8
Using Templates
Adding Templates to Containers
Figure 8-5 New Template Menu Selection
After you create a template container object, perform the following steps to add a
template object to the container:
The template is the object into which you add or create monitor and group configuration objects.
1. From the template container, select N EW TEMPLATE.
2. Add groups, subgroups, monitors, dependencies, and alerts as desired.
–These can be copied from other groups in SiteScope.
3. Parameterize numeric and other property values through the use of built-in (system)
and user-defined variables.
–User Variable Syntax: %%error_classifier%%
–System Variables: $$SERVER_LIST$$, $$SERVER_NAME$$,
$$SERVER_NAME_BARE$$, $$DATE$$, $$TIME$$
Using Templates
Shortcut to Creating Templates 8-9
Shortcut to Creating Templates
The easiest way to get started creating templates is to use an existing group, monitor, or
alert as a basis for the template.
To create a template using an existing group, monitor, or alert, do the following:
1. Select the group, monitor, or alert to copy. Right-click, and then select C
OPY.
2. Select the template to modify. Right-click, and then select P
ASTE. The contents of
the group, monitor, or alert are now copied into the template.
3. Review the contents of the template and decide which components of the template
will change when the template is deployed to another group, monitor, or alert. For
example, is there an IP address, URL address, email address, server name, and so
on that will vary depending on the deployment.
4. Create variables for each of the components of the monitors that will change when
the template is deployed.
a) Right-click on the template, and select N
EW VARIABLE.
b) Enter a variable name and description for each variable created.
5. After variables are created, replace existing text in the template with the appropriate
variable names.
a) Use %% around user-defined variables in the template; for example,
%%DNS_SERVER%%
b) Use $$ for system-defined variables; for example, $$SERVER_LIST$$
Deploying Templates8-10
Using Templates
Deploying Templates
After the template is created, it can be deployed for use by copying and pasting it into a
group.
When the template is deployed, SiteScope prompts you to input values for the all system
and user-defined variables created.
The values are mapped to the variables and used to replace these variables everywhere
they appear in the template.
If you subsequently want to make changes to the source template, you can automatically
publish the changes to SiteScope objects deployed by the template using the Publish
Template Changes Wizard.
Using Templates
Publish Template Changes Wizard 8-11
Publish Template Changes Wizard
Figure 8-6 Run the Publish Template Changes Wizard
To open the Publish Template Changes Wizard, perfom the following:
1. In the monitor tree, right-click a template and click P
UBLISH CHANGES.
Note: The wizard opens only if there are deployments associated with the selected
template.
The P
UBLISH TEMPLATE CHANGES WIZARD contains:
Select Deployed Groups Page
Review Compliancy Page
Content Changes Dialog Box
Modify Variables Page
Publish Results Summary Page
Publish Template Changes Summary Report
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 18-12
Using Templates
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 1
Figure 8-7 Select Deployed Groups
Select the related template groups that you want to update.
You can also select the E
NABLE DELETE ON UPDATE option to delete SiteScope objects
from the deployed groups that are not in the source template.
Using Templates
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 2 8-13
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 2
Figure 8-8 Review Compliancy
To view content differences in the template objects, click the V
IEW DIFFERENCES link
to open the C
ONTENT CHANGES dialog box. This link only appears if there is a content
difference.
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 38-14
Using Templates
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 3
Figure 8-9 Viewing Content Changes
Review the details of the content changes to be performed on the object’s properties.
Using Templates
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 4 8-15
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 4
Figure 8-10 Modify Variables
Add values for any new variables in the template.
Variable values that are mandatory are indicated by a red asterisk (*).
You can also edit values of existing variables.
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 58-16
Using Templates
Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 5
Figure 8-11 Publish Results Summary
Review the results of the publish template changes and, if necessary, retry publishing the
changes to the deployed groups that failed to update.
Optionally, you can export the publish changes results to a summary report (.pdf file).
Using Templates
Publish Template Changes Summary Report 8-17
Publish Template Changes Summary Report
Figure 8-12 Publish Results Summary Report
The Publish Template Changes Summary Report displays information about the
template changes published to the deployed groups. It also displays information for
group objects that failed to update.
Overview of Solution Templates8-18
Using Templates
Overview of Solution Templates
Figure 8-13 Solution Templates
Solution Templates enable rapid deployment, because they contain a built-in enterprise
application set of monitors.
Solution templates are licensed SiteScope extensions. They provide support for AIX,
Linux, Solaris, and Windows Hosts, Active Directory, Exchange, Microsoft IIS,
Microsoft SQL, Oracle, SAP, Siebel, WebSphere, WebLogic, and many other enterprise
applications.
Solution templates are system templates and therefore not editable.
Using Templates
Summary 8-19
Summary
In this lesson, you learned:
Templates are used to speed up the deployment of multiple monitors across your IT
environment.
The types of templates are:
–User-defined templates
–Solution templates
Use existing group, monitor, or alert definitions as a basis for creating templates by
using COPY and PASTE.
Use user-defined and system variables to create templates that can be repeatedly
deployed.
Use the Publish Template Changes wizard to publish the changes to SiteScope
objects deployed by templates.
Review Questions8-20
Using Templates
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. What is the purpose of templates?
Templates in SiteScope are used to standardize a set of monitor types and
configurations into a structure that is deployed as a group of monitors repeatedly
across multiple elements in the infrastructure. __________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. What is the use of a template container?
A template container is used to store and manage one or more templates._____
3. What is the purpose of solution templates?
Solution templates enable rapid deployment of a standard enterprise application set
of monitors. _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the chapter, or save the questions from several chapters to be conducted at the
end of the day.
Using Templates
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template 8-21
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template
In this exercise you will create a user-defined template which contains four monitors:
Part 1: Create a container for your user-defined template.
Part 2: Create a new user-defined template.
Part 3: Create template variables.
Part 4: Add monitors to the template.
Part 5: Edit monitors to replace hard-coded values with variables.
Part 6: Deploy the template in a designated group.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Become familiar with the steps to create a user-defined template in SiteScope.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students must be able to do the following to create a user-defined template in SiteScope:
- Create a container for the template.
- Create a new template.
- Create template variables.
- Add monitors to the template.
- Edit the monitors to replace hard-coded values with variables.
- Deploy the template in a designated group.
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template8-22
Using Templates
Part 1: Create a Container For Your User-defined Template
1. Right-click the SITESCOPE node container.
2. Click N
EW TEMPLATE CONTAINER.
3. In the N
AME field, type a name for the template container.
4. Click OK.
Using Templates
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template 8-23
Part 2: Create a New User-defined Template
1. Right-click the template container you created.
2. Click N
EW TEMPLATE.
3. In the N
AME field, type a name for the new template.
4. Click OK.
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template8-24
Using Templates
Part 3: Create Template Variables
Create template variables.
1. Right-click your template.
2. Click N
EW VARIABLE.
3. In the N
AME field, type a name for the new template.
This is the name that must be used when referring to the variable in other template
objects.
4. Enter D
ISPLAY NAME, DESCRIPTION, and DEFAULT VALUE as needed.
5. Click OK.
Create the following variables in your template.
Server
Instead of defining a user variable for S
ERVER, you can use the system variable
SERVER_NAME_BARE to define the target server being monitored.
Frequency
Host
URL
For the URL variable, provide a default value that may be changed when deploying
the template.
Some hints:
The FREQUENCY variable is the monitor’s frequency.
Refer to the TEMPLATE EXAMPLES.
Using Templates
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template 8-25
Part 4: Add Monitors to the Template
Create a template group.
1. Right-click your template in the monitor tree.
2. Click N
EW GROUP.
3. In the G
ROUP NAME field, type a name for the template group.
4. Click OK.
Create monitors in your template group for the following:
CPU
Disk
Memory
URL
Some hints:
You can take a shortcut to developing the template by copy and paste already
created monitors into the template you are creating, and then edit the templates.
Each monitor name should reference the target server, such as ‘Memory on
%%server%%’ or ‘Memory on $$SERVER_NAME_BARE$$’ if you chose to use
the system variable for the target server.
Remember to refer to the variables using the appropriate syntax: %%server%% and
%%url%% when using them in the monitor definitions.
For the URL monitor, use the %%host%% variable as a part of the target URL to
monitor.
Refer to the TEMPLATE EXAMPLES.
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template8-26
Using Templates
Part 5: Edit Monitors to Replace Hard-coded Values With
Variables
For any monitors that you copied into your template, replaced the hard-coded values
with the appropriate template variables.
Using Templates
Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template 8-27
Part 6: Deploy the Template in a Designated Group
When done, create a new group, and deploy the template inside that group.
Exercise: Change Template and Publish Changes8-28
Using Templates
Exercise: Change Template and Publish
Changes
In this exercise, you will modify the user-defined template from the previous exercise,
and publish the changes using the Publish Template Changes Wizard.
Part 1: Add a ‘Ping’ monitor to your user-defined template.
Part 2: Add the ‘Ping’ monitor as a dependency for the CPU, Memory and Disk
monitors.
Note: If you need details on how to complete these steps, refer to previous exercises or
the S
ITESCOPE HELP.
Part 3: Change the ‘Warning’ threshold for the CPU monitor to 80%.
Part 4: Launch the Publish Template Changes Wizard.
Part 5: Verify the Content Changes
Part 6: Create a PDF of the Summary Report.
Note: If you need details on how to complete these steps, refer to the S
ITESCOPE HELP.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Become familiar with the steps to update a user-defined template in SiteScope and publish the changes to all objects deployed by
the template.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students must be able to do the following to update a user-defined template in SiteScope and publish
the changes using the Publish Template Changes Wizard:
- Select the template created in the previous exercise.
- Add a ‘Ping’ monitor and make the CPU, Memory and Disk monitors depend on the Ping monitor.
- Change the ‘Warning’ threshold to 80% for the CPU monitor.
- Publish the template changes.
- Create a PDF of the Publish Template Changes Summary Report.
Using Diagnostic Tools
9-1
9
Using Diagnostic Tools
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
Become familiar with the available diagnostic tools in SiteScope.
Build monitors using the appropriate diagnostic tools.
Use the diagnostic tools to solve problems and troubleshoot monitoring issues.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter provides an overview of diagnostics tools in SiteScope and their usage.
Diagnostic Tools9-2
Using Diagnostic Tools
Diagnostic Tools
SiteScope provides a variety of diagnostic tools and utilities. Diagnostic tools can be
used to troubleshoot a faulty monitor, fine tune a monitor configuration, or examine
more closely the data returned by a monitor in an attempt to troubleshoot problems
reported by a particular monitor.
Diagnostic tools are configurable utilities that make a one-time data request and send
queries to a specific system. They also capture the returned data and make it available
for viewing inside the SiteScope interface.
For example, you can use the PING diagnostics tool to test network connectivity after
having provided the IP address of the server to be pinged. Or, to verify database
connectivity and logon authentication, you can trigger the DATABASE tool after
providing specific database connectivity parameters.
Diagnostics tools should be leveraged when creating and testing complex monitor
functionality. For instance, you can use the REGULAR EXPRESSIONS tool to test the
validity of a particular regular expression before the associated monitor is actually
created.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Types of Diagnostic Tools 9-3
Types of Diagnostic Tools
The diagnostic tools in SiteScope are grouped into the following categories:
Application tools
Examples of application diagnostic tools include DNS L
OOKUP, DATABASE
C
ONNECTION, and FTP SERVER.
Server tools
Examples of server diagnostic tools include N
ETWORK, PROCESSES, and SERVICES.
Advanced tools
Examples of advanced diagnostic tools include E
VENT LOG, LDAP
A
UTHENTICATION, and NEWS SERVER.
Examples of Diagnostic Tools9-4
Using Diagnostic Tools
Examples of Diagnostic Tools
SiteScope diagnostic tools help troubleshoot different aspects of a monitored system or
simply confirm the availability and responsiveness of specific system components and
services. In this chapter, you will learn more about the following diagnostic tools:
DNS LOOKUP
EVENT LOG
FTP SERVER
LDAP AUTHENTICATION
NETWORK
Using Diagnostic Tools
Using the DNS Lookup Tool 9-5
Using the DNS Lookup Tool
Figure 9-1 DNS Lookup Tool
The DNS L
OOKUP tool looks up names from a Domain Name Server (DNS). The tool
displays the IP address for a domain name and information about the server names for
the domain.
If there is a problem in the network, the DNS server does not provide the correct IP
address for the servers. You can use the DNS L
OOKUP tool to verify that the DNS server
returns the correct address for your servers. This tool is also used to verify that the DNS
server can look up the addresses for external domains.
To run the DNS L
OOKUP tool:
1. Expand the T
OOLS node in the explorer tree and click DNS L OOKUP.
2. On the DNS L
OOKUP TOOL page, in the DNS ADDRESS field, type the IP address of
a DNS Server.
3. In the H
OST NAME field, type a domain name.
4. Click DNS L
OOKUP.
Using the Event Log Tool9-6
Using Diagnostic Tools
Using the Event Log Tool
Figure 9-2 Event Log Tool
The E
VENT LOG tool displays event log entries on a server. To run the EVENT LOG tool:
1. On the E
VENT LOG TOOL page, in the SERVER NAME field, type the name of the
server for which you want to view the log.
By default, this tool displays the log for the SiteScope server.
2. From the EVENT LOG list, select the type of event log you want displayed.
By default, SYSTEM is selected.
3. In the ENTRIES TO SHOW field, type the number of entries to list for the event log.
The default value is 10.
4. Click S HOW EVENT LOG ENTRIES.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Using the FTP Server Tool 9-7
Using the FTP Server Tool
Figure 9-3 FTP Server Tool
The FTP S
ERVER tool tests the connection to an FTP server. For example, if you receive
an alert from SiteScope indicating that an FTP server is not working properly, you can
use the FTP S
ERVER tool to investigate the error.
To run the FTP S
ERVER tool:
1. On the FTP S
ERVER TOOL page, in the FTP SERVER field, type the name of the FTP
server.
2. In the F
ILE NAME field, type the name of the file to retrieve.
3. In the U
SER NAME and PASSWORD fields, type the correct user name and password
information, respectively.
4. If you are accessing the FTP server through a firewall, check the U
SE PASSIVE
check box to enable passive FTP access.
5. Click C
HECK FTP SERVER.
Using the LDAP Authentication Tool9-8
Using Diagnostic Tools
Using the LDAP Authentication Tool
Figure 9-4 LDAP Authentication Tool
The LDAP A
UTHENTICATION tool tests an LDAP server by requesting a user
authentication. To run the LDAP A
UTHENTICATION tool:
1. On the LDAP A
UTHENTICATION TOOL page, in the SECURITY PRINCIPAL field, type
the name of the principal for authenticating the caller to the service.
2. In the S
ECURITY CREDENTIAL field, specify the appropriate credential based on the
authentication scheme.
3. In the URL P
ROVIDER ADDRESS field, type the constant that holds the configuration
information for the service provider to use.
4. In the LDAP Q
UERY field, specify an object query to search for an LDAP object.
5. In the S
EARCH FILTER field, specify a search filter to perform a search using a filter.
6. Click A
UTHENTICATE USER.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Using the Network Tool 9-9
Using the Network Tool
Figure 9-5 Network Tool
Figure 9-5 shows the N
ETWORK tool. This tool uses the netstat command to determine
the network interface statistics and the number of active connections. The N
ETWORK
tool enables you to determine whether your network interface is saturated or in an
erroneous state. The tool also shows the number of connections. To run the N
ETWORK
tool, on the N
ETWORK TOOL page, click R UN NETWORK.
Monitor-Specific Tool Selection9-10
Using Diagnostic Tools
Monitor-Specific Tool Selection
Figure 9-6 Monitor-Specific Tool Selection
The monitor-specific tools are accessed from the Dashboard. When accessed in this
way, SiteScope selects the tool, pre-populates the fields, and runs the test. This is useful
in diagnosing monitor errors.
In this example, SiteScope chose to run the NT Performance Test, as shown in
Figure 9-7.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Monitor-Specific Tool Selection 9-11
Figure 9-7 NT Performance Counter Test
Summary9-12
Using Diagnostic Tools
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
SiteScope provides a variety of diagnostic tools useful when troubleshooting
monitoring problems and developing and testing monitors.
Diagnostic tools can be categorized into application, server, and advanced
diagnostics tools.
The DNS LOOKUP tool looks up names from a DNS server.
The EVENT LOG tool displays event log entries on a server.
The FTP SERVER tool tests an FTP Server.
The LDAP AUTHENTICATION tool tests an LDAP server by requesting a user
authentication.
The NETWORK tool checks whether the network interface is saturated or in error.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Review Questions 9-13
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. Name the three categories of diagnostic tools.
The three types of SiteScope diagnostic tools are APPLICATION, SERVER, and
ADVANCED DIAGNOSTIC tools._______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
2. How does DNS L
OOKUP tool work?
The
DNS LOOKUP tool looks up names from a Domain Name Server. The tool
displays the IP address for a domain name and information about the name servers
for the domain.___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. What does the EVENT LOG tool display?
The EVENT LOG tool displays event log entries on a server.________________
4. Which command does the NETWORK tool use to determine the network interface
statistics and the number of active connections?
The NETWORK tool uses the netstat command to determine the network interface
statistics and the number of active connections._________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the module, or save the questions from several modules to be conducted at the
end of the day.
The answers to the questions below will be printed in the instructor book; the student book will show blank lines after each
question.
Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool9-14
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the E VENT LOG tool in SiteScope.
Part 1: Run the E
VENT LOG tool in SiteScope.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the EVENT LOG tool in SiteScope.
Specific Objective
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to:
- Run the
EVENT LOG tool in SiteScope.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool 9-15
Part 1: Run the Event Log Tool in SiteScope
1. Open the SiteScope interface.
2. In the explorer tree, expand the T
OOLS node.
3. Click E
VENT LOG.
4. In the S
ERVER NAME field, type the name of the Training Server.
5. From the E
VENT LOG list, select A PPLICATION.
6. Click S
HOW EVENT LOG ENTRIES to view the results.
Exercise: Running the Ping Tool9-16
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Ping Tool
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the P ING tool in SiteScope.
Part 1: Run the P
ING tool in SiteScope.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the PING tool in SiteScope.
Specific Objective
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to:
- Run the
PING tool in SiteScope.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Ping Tool 9-17
Part 1: Run the Ping Tool in SiteScope
1. Expand the T OOLS container.
1. Click P
ING.
2. In the D
OMAIN NAME OR IP ADDRESS field, type the computer name or IP address
of the Training Server.
3. Click P
ING to view the results.
Exercise: Running the Services Tool9-18
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Services Tool
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the S ERVICES tool in SiteScope.
Part 1: Run the S
ERVICES tool in SiteScope.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the SERVICES tool in SiteScope.
Specific Objective
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to:
- Run the
SERVICES tool in SiteScope.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Services Tool 9-19
Part 1: Run the Services Tool in SiteScope
1. Expand the T OOLS container.
2. Click S
ERVICES.
3. Click S
HOW SERVICES to view a list of the services running on your computer.
Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool9-20
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the T RACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.
Part 1: Run the T
RACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the TRACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.
Specific Objective
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to:
- Run the
TRACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.
Using Diagnostic Tools
Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool 9-21
Part 1: Run the Trace Route Tool in SiteScope
1. Click T RACE ROUTE.
2. In the D
OMAIN NAME OR IP ADDRESS field, type the computer name or IP address
of the Training Server.
3. Click T
RACE ROUTE to view the results.
Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool9-22
Using Diagnostic Tools
Generating Reports
10-1
10
Generating Reports
Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
Understand the business purposes of reports.
Identify the different types of reports in SiteScope.
Generate reports based on business requirements.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter lists the types of reports in SiteScope and explains the method to generate these reports.
Reports Specific to User10-2
Generating Reports
Reports Specific to User
Figure 10-1 User-Specific Reporting
SiteScope reports hold information about how the servers and applications you are
monitoring have performed over time. SiteScope reports are important tools in
monitoring and troubleshooting operational performance and availability and reviewing
the monitored environment.
You can generate a report for a single monitor, several monitors, or even several monitor
groups. Report definitions include several report content options including tables of
specific monitor measurements, summaries of results, and graphs.
SiteScope reports can be valuable to many people in your organization, including
management personnel in Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, and Operations.
SiteScope User accounts can be created to allow these users restricted access to the
SiteScope service to view reports, as shown in Figure 10-1.
Generating Reports
Types of Reports 10-3
Types of Reports
Figure 10-2 Types of Reports
You can generate the following types of reports in SiteScope:
Alert Reports
A
LERT reports are ad hoc or custom reports used to display SiteScope alerts sent
over specific time periods. Alert reports do not support exporting data. The settings
for an Alert report are not saved to the SiteScope configuration data for later use.
Management Reports
M
ANAGEMENT reports provide a summary of infrastructure availability and
performance data for a given time period. You can use these reports to detect
emerging trends and correct potential problems before they escalate into a crisis.
M
ANAGEMENT reports are generated automatically based on their preset schedule
from data collected by SiteScope monitors. According to the preset schedule,
SiteScope reads the applicable log files and generates the report based on the
Types of Reports10-4
Generating Reports
monitor metrics for the time interval specified. You can save the report data in a file
suitable for exporting to third-party applications, such as Microsoft Excel.
You can also specify an e-mail address to which a summary of the report is sent
whenever the report is generated. The email address is specified in the S
END
R
EPORT BY E-MAIL field in the MAIN SETTINGS section for the report.
Monitor Reports
M
ONITOR reports enable you to review configuration properties and settings for
existing monitors. You can export a M
ONITOR report in one of three text formats:
comma-delimited (CSV), tab-delimited (TXT), and HTML.
Unlike a M
ANAGEMENT report, which is generated based on a schedule that you
specify, you generate a M
ONITOR report on an ad hoc basis. In addition, the settings
for a M
ONITOR report are not saved to the SiteScope configuration data for later use.
Quick Reports
Q
UICK reports enable you to view monitor data for specific monitors or groups of
monitors for specific time periods. Currently, you cannot export Q
UICK reports data
to a third-party application.
Unlike a M
ANAGEMENT report that is generated based on a schedule that you
specify, you generate a Q
UICK report on an ad hoc basis. In addition, the settings for
a Q
UICK report are not saved to the SiteScope configuration data for later use.
You can also specify an e-mail address to which a summary of the report is sent
whenever the report is generated. The email address is specified in the S
END
R
EPORT TO E-MAIL ADDRESS field in the MAIN SETTINGS section for the report.
Generating Reports
Working with Management Reports 10-5
Working with Management Reports
Figure 10-3 New Management Report
M
ANAGEMENT reports are generated based on the schedule specified in their definition
in the explorer tree. You can:
View MANAGEMENT reports
Edit MANAGEMENT reports
Delete MANAGEMENT reports
Generate current reports
View current reports
View previous reports
Viewing Management Reports10-6
Generating Reports
Viewing Management Reports
Figure 10-4 Management Report View
To view a M
ANAGEMENT report, select the management report in the explorer tree.
Select the V
IEW REPORT tab.
Although you can create as many M
ANAGEMENT report definitions as you want, it is
recommended that you plan and consolidate reports to minimize redundancy. For
example, while generating reports on system resources for 20 different remote servers,
you can generate a consolidated report for CPU and disk space and another report on the
availability of all services and processes.
Generating Reports
Editing Management Reports 10-7
Editing Management Reports
Figure 10-5 Edit a Management Report
To edit an existing M
ANAGEMENT report definition:
1. Click the node with which the report is associated.
2. Click the C
ONTENTS tab.
3. Expand the R
EPORTS section.
4. Click the pencil icon for the report you want to edit.
You can also right-click the report definition in the explorer tree and select EDIT to modify report configurations.
Figure 10-5 shows the C ONTENTS tab, where you can edit a MANAGEMENT report
definition.
Generating Reports10-8
Generating Reports
Generating Reports
Figure 10-6 Generate Current Report
To generate a M
ANAGEMENT report:
1. Click the report in the explorer tree.
2. Click the V
IEW REPORT tab.
3. Click G
ENERATE.
Generating Reports
Viewing Reports 10-9
Viewing Reports
Figure 10-7 View Reports
When you click G
ENERATE, the report appears, as shown in Figure 10-7.
Viewing Previous Reports10-10
Generating Reports
Viewing Previous Reports
Figure 10-8 Previous Report
To view a previous report, click M
OST RECENT REPORT, as shown in Figure 10-8.
Generating Reports
Working with Alert, Monitor and Quick Reports 10-11
Working with Alert, Monitor and Quick Reports
SiteScope does not save ALERT, MONITOR and QUICK reports for later use.
When working with A
LERT, MONITOR and QUICK reports, you will be able to:
Generate reports.
View reports.
Viewing Alert Reports10-12
Generating Reports
Viewing Alert Reports
Figure 10-9 New Alert Reports
Alert reports are generated only on demand. Alert Reports are ad hoc reports and their
definitions are not stored for future use. No report element is added to the monitoring
tree for this report type.
When you choose to generate an Alert Report, SiteScope reads the applicable log files
and generates the report based on the applicable alert triggering information and the time
interval you specify.
To generate a report:
1. Right-click the container or monitor element to display the container action menu
and select N
EW REPORT.
2. Select the Alert link. The New SiteScope Report page is displayed.
3. Complete the items in the Main Settings.
4. When the required settings are defined, click A
PPLY to create the report. The report
output is displayed in a new browser window.
Generating Reports
Viewing Quick Reports 10-13
Viewing Quick Reports
Figure 10-10 Quick Reports
To generate a Q
UICK report:
1. Right-click the node from where you want to generate the report.
2. Select N
EW REPORT.
3. In the N
EW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click Q UICK.
4. In the M
AIN SETTINGS and ADVANCED SETTINGS sections, specify the definition
parameters that you want to include in the report.
5. Click A
PPLY to generate the report.
To generate a M
ONITOR report rapidly, in the NEW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click
M
ONITOR.
Viewing Monitor Summary Reports10-14
Generating Reports
Viewing Monitor Summary Reports
Figure 10-11 New Monitor Reports
Use the Monitor Summary Report to view setup information on monitors as well as the
organization and makeup of groups of monitors. For example, you can use the report to
check for monitor dependencies that can impact alerting.
Monitor Summary Reports are ad hoc reports and their definitions are not stored for
future use. No report element is added to the monitoring tree for this report type.
To generate a M
ONITOR SUMMARY report:
1. Right-click the node from where you want to generate the report.
2. Select N
EW REPORT.
3. In the N
EW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click M ONITOR.
4. In the M
AIN SETTINGS and ADVANCED SETTINGS sections, specify the definition
parameters that you want to include in the report.
You can use the file export option in the Advanced Settings to export the monitor
configuration data to a third-party application, such as a spreadsheet or text editor.
5. Click A
PPLY to generate the report.
Generating Reports
Summary 10-15
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
The following types of reports are available in SiteScope: A LERT, MANAGEMENT,
M
ONITOR, and QUICK reports.
MANAGEMENT reports provide a summary of infrastructure availability and
performance data for a specified period.
MANAGEMENT reports are generated automatically according to their preset
schedule.
MONITOR reports enable you to review configuration properties and settings for
existing monitors.
ALERT reports enable you to view alert data for a specified time period.
QUICK reports enable you to look at specific periods and monitors.
ALERT, MONITOR, and QUICK reports are generated manually.
To generate a report, right-click the S ITESCOPE node or any group in the explorer
tree, and then select N
EW REPORT.
Review Questions10-16
Generating Reports
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. Name the three types of reports in SiteScope.
The three types of reports in SiteScope are MANAGEMENT, MONITOR, and QUICK.
2. Where can you access monitor data log files?
You can access monitor data log files in the LOG FILES tab for the SITESCOPE node.
_______________________________________________________________
3. Where can you edit the retention period for the monitor data log files?
You can edit the retention period for the monitor data log files in the LOG
P
REFERENCES link under the
PREFERENCES node.________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the module, or save questions from several modules to be conducted at the
end of the day.
The answers to the questions below will be printed in the instructor book; the student book will show blank lines after each
question.
Generating Reports
Exercise: Running SiteScope Reports 10-17
Exercise: Running SiteScope Reports
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run reports in SiteScope.
Part 1: Generate and view reports in SiteScope.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with the reports in SiteScope.
Specific Objective
At the end of this exercise, students must be able to do the following to run reports in SiteScope:
- Generate and view SiteScope reports.
Exercise: Running SiteScope Reports10-18
Generating Reports
Part 1: Generate and View Reports in SiteScope
1. In the explorer tree, right-click a group and select N EW REPORT.
2. In the N
EW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click M ONITOR.
3. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, specify the parameters for the report.
4. Click A
PPLY to generate the report.
5. View the generated report.
6. Repeat steps 1 to 5 for a Q
UICK report.
7. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for a M
ANAGEMENT report.
8. Click OK to save the report definition.
9. Click the report saved in the explorer tree and click the V
IEW REPORT tab.
10. Click G
ENERATE to generate the report.
11. View the generated M
ANAGEMENT report.
Generating Reports
Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor 10-19
Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date
Management Report for a Single Monitor
This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to generate a month-to-date M ANAGEMENT
report for a single monitor.
Part 1: Save a M
ANAGEMENT report definition.
Part 2: Generate the report.
Instructor Notes
Purpose of this exercise
Familiarize yourself with the steps to generate a month-to-date MANAGEMENT report for a single monitor.
Specific Objectives
At the end of this exercise, students must be able to do the following to generate a month-to-date MANAGEMENT report for a
single monitor:
- Save a
MANAGEMENT report definition.
- Generate the report.
Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor10-20
Generating Reports
Part 1: Save a Management Report Definition
1. Right-click the S ITESCOPE node in the explorer tree and select N EW REPORT.
2. In the N
EW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click M ANAGEMENT.
3. In the M
AIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, specify a name for the report.
4. In the M
ONITOR AND GROUPS TO REPORT ON tree, uncheck the S ITESCOPE check
box. Check the check box for the monitor for which you would like to generate the
report.
The nodes in the MONITOR AND GROUPS TO REPORT ON tree represent SiteScope groups as
present in the explorer tree. Expand the node(s) to reach the monitor for which you want to generate the report.
5. From the TIME PERIOD FOR REPORT list, select MONTH-TO-DATE.
6. You can retain other parameters, such as U
PTIME AND READINGS, which are
selected by default or you can specify your own parameters, such as T
HRESHOLDS.
7. Click OK to save the report definition.
Generating Reports
Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor 10-21
Part 2: Generate the Report
1. In the explorer tree, click the newly created report definition.
2. Click the V
IEW REPORT tab.
3. Click G
ENERATE to show the month-to-date MANAGEMENT report for the monitor
that you specified.
4. Scroll to view the complete report.
Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor10-22
Generating Reports
Maintaining SiteScope
11-1
11
Maintaining SiteScope
Objectives
After successfully completing this chapter, you will be able to:
Identify the SiteScope directories and files that require regular backup.
Become familiar with the SiteScope upgrade path.
Identify the patch download location.
Use self-monitoring features and log files.
Understand the SiteScope failover model.
Become familiar with SiteScope security considerations.
Understand the SiteScope licensing model.
Instructor Notes
Purpose
This chapter explains the common administrative and maintenance tasks associated with the maintenance of the SiteScope
implementation. The chapter can be used as a high-level guideline to the responsibilities of the SiteScope administrator.
Important Files and Directories11-2
Maintaining SiteScope
Important Files and Directories
As with any production application, SiteScope should be backed up on a nightly basis.
But what to backup? This is a frequently asked question, especially in the absence of a
failover environment. The files here represent a comprehensive list of directories and
files that require backup.
Configuration
–SiteScope/groups
–SiteScope/persistency
Custom Scripts and Modified Objects
–SiteScope/scripts
–SiteScope/script.remotes
–SiteScope/templates.
Data
–SiteScope/logs
–SiteScope/htdocs
Custom Drivers and APIs
Security Setup
SiteScope\groups contains the master.config file, which stores all the global
configuration information for SiteScope. It gets updated when users define alerts, create
reports, add remotes, create additional users, and create schedules. Additionally, it
updates the global changes made in the P
REFERENCES section of the Web console.
The rest of the files in the SiteScope/templates.os, SiteScope/templates.mail,
SiteScope/templates.mib, SiteScope/scripts, and SiteScope/scripts.remote get updated
by manual changes from the user interface or by a User who manually edits the files.
Daily logs in the Sitescope/logs directory are written during each run of the monitor
until the end of the day, when SiteScope rolls over to a new log file for the next day.
Students can be referred to the following KB # 38633 – How to backup SiteScope.
Maintaining SiteScope
Patches and Service Packs 11-3
Patches and Service Packs
Figure 11-1 Patches
The latest service packs and patches are available at
HTTP://SUPPORT.OPENVIEW.HP.COM/SELFSOLVE/PATCHES.
Health Page11-4
Maintaining SiteScope
Health Page
Figure 11-2 Health Page
SiteScope H
EALTH monitors are a built-in group of monitors that display information
about SiteScope's own health. H
EALTH monitors retrieve data about SiteScope's resource
usage, key processes, monitor load server parameters, and the integrity of key
configuration files use. SiteScope H
EALTH monitoring data is recorded by default in the
daily monitor logs. Administrators can use the H
EALTH monitors to create reports on
SiteScope's performance and operational health.
Similar to regular monitors, H
EALTH monitors can be edited in order to reconfigure their
frequency and thresholds. Administrators can enhance the H
EALTH group by adding new
monitors targeting additional servers and environments.
Maintaining SiteScope
Health Page Metrics 11-5
Health Page Metrics
Figure 11-3 SiteScope Health
SiteScope captures information relevant to its performance and level of operability. The
collected metrics are grouped in the following areas:
Monitor Load - Information about configure monitors useful in determining
whether the volume of running monitors impacts the overall server performance.
The MONITOR LOAD CHECKER displays the following:
–CURRENT MONITORS RUN PER MINUTE, CURRENT MONITORS RUNNING,
C
URRENT MONITORS WAITING
–MAXIMUM MONITORS RUN PER MINUTE, MAXIMUM MONITORS RUNNING,
M
AXIMUM MONITORS WAITING
Health of SiteScope Server - General information about SiteScope resource usage,
useful in determining whether the server is sized correctly.
Health Page Metrics11-6
Maintaining SiteScope
SiteScope HEALTH checks the disk space usage, available memory, disk blocks
statistics, physical memory free, process memory, thread count, handle count, load,
free swap space, average CPU, page statistics, swaps, context switches per second,
and packets statistics.
LOG MONITOR: Information about exceptional events indicating poor performance
or internal error.
LOG EVENT CHECKER: Logs important events from the error log related to skips,
restarts, and BAC integration.
Maintaining SiteScope
Alert and Error Log Files 11-7
Alert and Error Log Files
Figure 11-4 Alert and Error Log File
The A
LERT LOG file records alert creation and dispatching information whenever
SiteScope generates an alert.
The E
RROR LOG file contains a variety of messages related to the internal workings of
SiteScope such as:
Errors related to monitor actions
Communication errors
SiteScope Stop and Start messages
Monitor Skips
Run Monitor, BAC, and Operator Logs11-8
Maintaining SiteScope
Run Monitor, BAC, and Operator Logs
Figure 11-5 Run Monitor, BAC, Operator
The following log files contain key information about monitor execution, integrations,
and management activities.
Run Monitor Log - Records information on specific monitor runs and certain
actions related to monitor management.
HP Business Availability Center (BAC) Log - Contains information about
connectivity and monitor data transfer when SiteScope is configured to report to
BAC.
Operator Log - Records SiteScope operator actions. This log is created when an
acknowledgement is added to one or more monitors.
Maintaining SiteScope
Failover Overview 11-9
Failover Overview
When configured SiteScope Failover enables the following functions:
Automatic synchronization
Data redundancy
High availability
SiteScope Failover is a special edition of SiteScope designed to mirror a primary
SiteScope configuration to a failover machine. The SiteScope Failover configuration
requires two separate installations of SiteScope:
Primary
Secondary, running a special Failover build with a Failover license
SiteScope Failover Internals11-10
Maintaining SiteScope
SiteScope Failover Internals
Figure 11-6 SiteScope Failover Features
This diagram represents a SiteScope failover implementation. The primary and failover
SiteScope get installed on separate boxes. They run the same version of the SiteScope
software; the standard build and the failover build. Ideally, SiteScope is installed on the
same drive in the same directory on both primary and failover servers.
The SiteScope failover instance periodically copies all configuration files from the
primary instance to stay current with any changes to the primary monitoring
configurations. The failover instance periodically requests the P
ROGRESS REPORT page
from the primary instance as an indicator that primary is still functioning.
If SiteScope failover is unable to get to the P
ROGRESS REPORT page, it becomes the
primary SiteScope server and starts running all replicated monitors. SiteScope failover
Maintaining SiteScope
SiteScope Failover Internals 11-11
continues running as primary until it can obtain the P ROGRESS REPORT page from
primary SiteScope, indicating that the primary is available again.
Note: There a SiteScope Failover Guide with detailed information on the topic.
Failover Implementation Considerations
Additional considerations when planning the Failover implementation include:
How to manage unsupported monitors.
What to do about preserving data and log integrity while monitoring from the
failover system.
What is the impact of configuration changes to the failover system.
How to handle the continuity of reporting to BAC (or another EMS).
What impact do monitor frequency changes have on the failover group.
While using SiteScope failover, switching to the backup system will impact log
integrity. To ensure continuity of report data across the failover period, you have to
merge the data from the failover system to your primary after recovery.
Do not make configuration or monitor changes on the failover SiteScope server. While
the failover system is in control, configuration and monitor changes are not supported.
Any such actions could cause unpredictable results. In the event of such changes, data is
lost when the primary SiteScope server regains control.
Security Overview11-12
Maintaining SiteScope
Security Overview
Security in SiteScope is implemented through the following methods:
Access control
–User accounts and permissions
Enabling SiteScope to run securely
–Restricting the access from ports and IP addresses
–Enabling SiteScope to run over Secure Sockets
Retrieving monitor data through secure channels
–Using SSH connections
Maintaining SiteScope
User Accounts 11-13
User Accounts
The SiteScope administrator can create custom user profiles with a very granular set of
permissions. The configured permissions define the allowed activities a user can carry
out on groups, monitors, reports, and alerts. The user profiles should be designed during
the planning phase and should map to real-life roles. Another option for automatically
creating user accounts is to integrate with LDAP. LDAP is a supported integration well
documented in the SiteScope documentation library.
Please be aware that by default (out of the box) anybody can access SiteScope using the
no-password Administrator account.
SSL Basics11-14
Maintaining SiteScope
SSL Basics
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is implemented in Sun's JSSE (Java Secure Socket
Extension) package and included with all major J2EE application servers. Any SSL
implementation requires importing a digital certificate to a key store file. As a result the
SSL-enabled web site only responds to HTTPS requests funneled through port 443
(default secure port alternative to port 80).
This secure behavior can be configured in SiteScope as well. The configuration
procedure however needs to be applied to both the SiteScope classic web server and the
JBoss web server.
Please note that starting with version 8.0, there are two web servers in SiteScope - one
supporting the new SiteScope JBoss interface and the other one supporting the classic
user interface. To limit all access to SiteScope, the SiteScope Administrator must apply
the applicable settings to both web servers.
Maintaining SiteScope
Keytool.exe 11-15
Keytool.exe
Figure 11-7 Keytool.exe
The keytool.exe is a key and certificate management utility that lets you perform the
following:
Administer your own public-private key pairs and associated certificates for
authentication using digital signatures.
Cache the public keys of other persons and organizations with whom they
communicate.
The keytool is included in SiteScope, and is installed in SiteScope/java/bin directory.
Configuring SiteScope for SSL11-16
Maintaining SiteScope
Configuring SiteScope for SSL
The steps to configure SiteScope with SSL are as follows:
Obtain a security certificate.
–Request from a certificate authority.
–Use a self-signed certificate.
Configure the new SiteScope server for SSL use.
–SSL is natively supported in Tomcat.
–Requires small changes to the server startup parameters.
Configure the classic SiteScope server for SSL use.
–Controlled via property settings in master.config: _httpPort,
_httpSecurePort,_httpSecureKeyPassword,_httpSecureKeystorePassword.
Restart the service and use the new URL.
Please note that once SSL is enabled, the default SiteScope HTTPS URLs are:
https://yoursitescopeserver:8443/sitescope for the new SiteScope GUI
https://server_IP_address:8899 for the classic SiteScope GUI
There is an exercise in the lab to walk the students through the exact steps. For more information, refer students to
KB # 15924 - How to restrict access to SiteScope using SSL and HTTPS.
Maintaining SiteScope
SSH Basics 11-17
SSH Basics
Figure 11-8 SSH
Secure Shell (SSH) is a UNIX-based command interface and protocol used for secure
access to a remote computer. Both ends of the client/server connection are authenticated
using a digital certificate, and passwords are protected by encryption.
The SiteScope machine needs to be configured with an SSH client or a full SSH server
installation. This is a prerequisite so that SiteScope can be configured to use SSH for
monitoring of remote machine. The remote machines being monitored need to also run
the SSH daemon or the full-blown server.
SiteScope now includes an SSH client written in Java and native to the SiteScope
application code. This client facilitates the setup of SSH connections and uses fewer
system resources than external SSH clients.
SiteScope for Windows also ships with a copy of the PuTTY SSH client and utilities.
The PuTTY SSH client, plink.exe, was used to enable SSH connectivity for SiteScope
for Windows prior to the 7.8.1.1 release.
SiteScope for Solaris and Redhat Linux use the SSH utilities that are normally bundled
with those operating systems, or are available for download.
SSH Usage11-18
Maintaining SiteScope
SSH Usage
Consider the following recommendations and reminders when planning to monitor via
SSH:
Use of Native Java Libraries vs. Plink is recommended.
Be aware that the two protocol versions, SSH1 and SSH2, are not compatible.
SSH Client Connection Options:
–Integrated Java SSH client
–External SSH client
SSH Server Configuration Options:
–Cygwin OpenSSH
–OpenSSH for Windows
–SSH host daemon (SSHD)
Maintaining SiteScope
Managing the SiteScope License 11-19
Managing the SiteScope License
The following are some key characteristics of license management in SiteScope:
License Types
–General
Evaluation, Permanent, Failover
–Option - based
EMS integrations, Solution Template addition
License consumption factors:
–Total number of monitor points available
–Types of SiteScope monitors in use
Monitor points requirements vary with monitor type:
–System monitors consume 1 point per instance
–Application monitors consume 1 point per instance per metric
–URL/Sequence monitors consume 1 point per step.
Summary11-20
Maintaining SiteScope
Summary
In this chapter, you learned:
Routine administrative duties include:
–Maintaining data integrity.
–Keeping current product and service pack versions.
–Monitoring SitesScope Health.
–Implementing secure communications.
–Understanding and managing licenses.
Maintaining SiteScope
Review Questions 11-21
Review Questions
Answer the review questions in your book.
1. List the configuration and data directories that require backup.
SiteScope/groups, SiteScope/persistency, SiteScope/htdocs, and SiteScope/logs.
2. What is the purpose of the SiteScope failover option?
SiteScope failover option enables automatic backups, data redundancy, and high
availability mechanisms. It is a special SiteScope designed to mirror a primary
SiteScope configuration to a failover machine. __________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
3. What is the purpose of the file Keytool.exe?
The keytool.exe is a key and certificate management utility. It enables users to
administer their own public-private key pairs and associated certificates for
authentication using digital signatures and cache the public keys of other persons
and organizations with whom they communicate.________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
4. What are the types of licenses?
There are three types of licenses; evaluation, permanent, and failover. There is also
an option-based license.____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Instructor Notes
Conduct these review questions immediately after the chapter, or save the questions from several chapters to be conducted at the
end of the day, or beginning of the next day.
The answers to the questions below will only be printed in the instructor book; the student book will only show blank lines after
each question.
Review Questions11-22
Maintaining SiteScope
Class Evaluation Form E-1
Class Evaluation Form
(http://www.merc-training.com/survey/publictraining)
Class: _____________________________Class Start Date: _________________
Location: ___________________________Instructor: ______________________
1. How did you register for this class? (check one)
2. How much do you agree with the following statements regarding the registration process
and facility? (Please circle only one rating for each category):
3. How could the registration process or facilities be improved?
4. If there was CBT, WBT or online pre-work that was to be completed before class, did you
complete it?
On-line
Through a Resource Coordinator
Someone else registered me
Table 11-1.
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
N/A
My registration was handled efficiently. 5 4 3 2 1 -
The classroom/facilities were clean and
well maintained.
543 2 1on-site
The classroom equipment worked properly
and effectively supported the class.
543 2 1on-site
There was no pre-work for this class
Yes - I completed it before class
No - I didn't understand that it was required
No - I didn't get the assignment in time
Table 11-2.
Class Evaluation FormE-2
5. If you completed pre-work for this class, how helpful was it in preparing you for this class?
6. How would you rate your technical ability going into the class?
7. How would you rate your familiarity with the product going into the class?
8. How much do you agree with the following statements regarding the course content and
No - I didn't have time to do it
No - Skipped it, already familiar with the content
No - Couldn't figure out the WBT site
No - I started, but the content didn't seem useful
Very helpful Somewhat helpful I’m not sure Not very helpful Not helpful at all
54321
5 - Highly technical
4 - Above average
3 - Average
2 - Below average
1 - Not at all technical
Table 11-3.
5 - I consider myself a product expert
4 - I have above average knowledge of the
product
3 - I'm comfortable with common product
functions
2 - I've used the product a little
1 - I've never used the product
Table 11-4.
Table 11-2.
Class Evaluation Form E-3
materials?
9. How could the course materials be improved?
10. How much do you agree with the following statements regarding the class instructor?
11. What suggestions do you have for the instructor?
12. How would you rate your overall experience with this class?
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
The objectives laid out in the course description were
met.
54321
The course materials were clearly written and easy to
follow.
54321
There was an appropriate amount of content - not too
packed or too lean.
54321
The lab exercises were well constructed and relevant.54321
The graphics in the course materials were clear and
effective.
54321
I would recommend this course to others. 54321
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
The instructor had a thorough knowledge of the
course content.
54321
The instructor encouraged participation from stu-
dents.
54321
The instructor was an effective communicator. 5 4 3 2 1
The instructor conducted the class at an appropriate
pace.
54321
The instructor made the course relevant by using real-
world examples.
54321
I would recommend this instructor to others. 5 4 3 2 1
Excellent Good OK Needs Improvement Poor
54 321
Class Evaluation FormE-4
13. What is your level of confidence after completing the class?
14. What recommendations do you have to improve the overall effectiveness of this course?
15. What other courses would you like to see offered by HP Software Global Training?
16. If you have any other comments, please enter them below. If you would like to be contacted
regarding your comments, please include your name and contact information.
I understood the
course concepts,
and can apply most
of them without
assistance
I understood the
course concepts,
can apply some
without assistance,
but will need help
with others
I understood the
course concepts,
but will need help
applying them
I understood some
of the course con-
cepts
I had a very hard
time with this course
54321