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© C o p y r i g h t 2 0 0 8 H e w l e t t - P a c k a r d D e v e l o p m e n t C o m p a n y , L . P . T h e i n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a i n e d h e r e i n i s s u b j e c t t o c h a n g e w i t h o u t n o t i c e . T h e o n l y w a r r a n t i e s f o r H P p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s a r e s e t f o r t h i n t h e e x p r e s s w a r r a n t y s t a t e m e n t s a c c o m p a n y i n g s u c h p r o d u c t s a n d s e r v i c e s . N o t h i n g h e r e i n s h o u l d b e c o n s t r u e d a s c o n s t i t u t i n g a n a d d i - t i o n a l w a r r a n t y . H P s h a l l n o t b e l i a b l e f o r t e c h n i c a l o r e d i t o r i a l e r r o r s o r o m i s s i o n s c o n t a i n e d h e r e i n . T h i s i s a n H P c o p y r i g h t e d w o r k t h a t m a y n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d w i t h o u t t h e w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n o f H P . Y o u m a y n o t u s e t h e s e m a t e r i a l s t o d e l i v e r t r a i n i n g t o a n y p e r s o n o u t s i d e o f y o u r o r g a n i z a t i o n w i t h o u t t h e w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n o f H P . P r i n t e d i n U n i t e d S t a t e s o f A m e r i c a U s i n g S i t e S c o p e I n s t r u c t o r g u i d e J u l y 2 0 0 8 Using SiteScope July 2008 SS95USING-I-01

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© Copyright 2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an addi-tional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

This is an HP copyrighted work that may not be reproduced without the written permission of HP. You may not use these materials to deliver training to any person outside of your organization without the written permission of HP.

Printed in United States of America

Using SiteScopeInstructor guideJuly 2008

Using SiteScope

July 2008

SS95USING-I-01

Using SiteScope

Version 9.50

July 2008

Use of this material to deliver training without prior written permission from HP is prohibited.

© Copyright 2008 by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

This is an HP copyrighted work that may not be reproduced without the written permission of HP. You may not use these materilas to deliver training to any person outside of your organization without the written permission of HP.

Printed in USAUsing SiteScope 9.50

Instructor GuideJuly 2008

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this document, please send them viahttp://www.merc-training.com/feedback

Course OverviewCourse Objectives .................................................................................................................. 1-2Topic Outline - First Day....................................................................................................... 1-3Topic Outline - Second Day .................................................................................................. 1-4

Introducing SiteScopeKey Features of SiteScope..................................................................................................... 2-2An Enterprise Management Application ............................................................................... 2-4Agentless Monitoring ............................................................................................................ 2-5SiteScope Architecture .......................................................................................................... 2-6SiteScope Architectural Components .................................................................................... 2-7Protocols for Monitoring ....................................................................................................... 2-8Communication Ports for Monitors ....................................................................................... 2-9SiteScope Monitoring Model............................................................................................... 2-10Monitors............................................................................................................................... 2-11Alerts.................................................................................................................................... 2-12Reports ................................................................................................................................. 2-13Conceptual Levels of Monitoring ........................................................................................ 2-14Server versus Server System................................................................................................ 2-15Server Resources Level Monitoring .................................................................................... 2-16Network Services Level Monitoring.................................................................................... 2-17Application and Business Services Level Monitoring......................................................... 2-18SiteScope Monitors and Categories ..................................................................................... 2-19Using Help in SiteScope ...................................................................................................... 2-20Help Options ........................................................................................................................ 2-21Help Tooltips ....................................................................................................................... 2-22Support Options ................................................................................................................... 2-23Summary.............................................................................................................................. 2-24

Installing SiteScopeSystem Requirements ............................................................................................................ 3-2Installation Prerequisites........................................................................................................ 3-3HP Downloads Web Site ....................................................................................................... 3-4Downloading SiteScope......................................................................................................... 3-5Installing SiteScope ............................................................................................................... 3-6Deployment Considerations................................................................................................... 3-8Opening SiteScope................................................................................................................. 3-9Launching the SiteScope Interface ...................................................................................... 3-10Copying Monitor Configurations......................................................................................... 3-11Using the SiteScope Setup Page to Copy Data.................................................................... 3-12

1-1

Copy Monitor Configuration Utility.................................................................................... 3-14Confirming Copy ................................................................................................................. 3-16Configuration Tool .............................................................................................................. 3-17Post-Installation Configuration............................................................................................ 3-19Performing Post-Installation Tasks...................................................................................... 3-20Summary.............................................................................................................................. 3-21Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 3-22Exercise: Downloading and Installing SiteScope ................................................................ 3-23

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope InterfaceIntroduction to the SiteScope Interface ................................................................................. 4-2Exploring the Dashboard Tab ................................................................................................ 4-3Viewing Group Status............................................................................................................ 4-4Viewing Metric Level Status ................................................................................................. 4-5Dashboard Navigation ........................................................................................................... 4-6Creating Favorite Views ........................................................................................................ 4-7Availability Status.................................................................................................................. 4-8Exploring the Contents and Properties Tabs.......................................................................... 4-9Viewing the Contents Tab ................................................................................................... 4-10Viewing the Properties Tab ................................................................................................. 4-11Viewing Monitor Settings.................................................................................................... 4-12Global Replace..................................................................................................................... 4-13Performing Replace Operation ............................................................................................ 4-14Exploring the Preferences Interface..................................................................................... 4-15General Preferences ............................................................................................................. 4-16Configuring Historical Data Tracking ................................................................................. 4-17Infrastructure Settings Preferences ...................................................................................... 4-18Windows and UNIX Remote Preferences ........................................................................... 4-19Connection to a Remote Windows Server ........................................................................... 4-20Log Preferences ................................................................................................................... 4-21Mail Preferences .................................................................................................................. 4-22Users Preferences................................................................................................................. 4-23Credential Preferences ......................................................................................................... 4-24Summary of Preferences Settings ........................................................................................ 4-25Match Preferences with Descriptions .................................................................................. 4-26Understanding Health Monitors........................................................................................... 4-27Health Monitors Overview .................................................................................................. 4-28Diagnostic Tools .................................................................................................................. 4-30Summary.............................................................................................................................. 4-31Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 4-32Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences in SiteScope............................................ 4-34Exercise: Setting Mail Preferences in SiteScope ................................................................. 4-37

1-2

SiteScope Monitoring StrategyMonitoring Methodology....................................................................................................... 5-2Introduction to the Grouping Model ...................................................................................... 5-4Heartbeats and Dependencies ................................................................................................ 5-5Top-Level Grouping Model Example.................................................................................... 5-6Top-Level Grouping Model Advantages ............................................................................... 5-7Grouping Guidelines.............................................................................................................. 5-8Planning the Monitoring Strategy.......................................................................................... 5-9SiteScope Server Sizing....................................................................................................... 5-11Monitored Infrastructure Assessment .................................................................................. 5-12Summary.............................................................................................................................. 5-13Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 5-14

Managing Groups and MonitorsDashboard Views and Nodes ................................................................................................. 6-2Building Groups..................................................................................................................... 6-3Creating a Group.................................................................................................................... 6-4Configuring Group Contents ................................................................................................. 6-5Creating a Monitor................................................................................................................. 6-6Monitor Types........................................................................................................................ 6-8Modifying Monitor Settings .................................................................................................. 6-9Modifying Main Settings ..................................................................................................... 6-10Modifying Advanced Settings ............................................................................................. 6-11Editing Monitor Dependencies ............................................................................................ 6-12Enabling or Disabling a Monitor ......................................................................................... 6-14Enabling or Disabling Alerts ............................................................................................... 6-15Understanding Threshold Settings....................................................................................... 6-16Using Baselines to Set Thresholds....................................................................................... 6-17Baseline Settings.................................................................................................................. 6-18Reviewing the Baseline Data ............................................................................................... 6-19Baseline Status ..................................................................................................................... 6-21Modifying Baseline Thresholds........................................................................................... 6-22Acknowledging an Error in Monitoring .............................................................................. 6-23Modifying an Acknowledgement ........................................................................................ 6-25Filter Icon............................................................................................................................. 6-26Filtering Views in SiteScope ............................................................................................... 6-27Moving Objects.................................................................................................................... 6-28Summary.............................................................................................................................. 6-29Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 6-30Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor................................................................... 6-31

1-3

Configuring AlertsDefining an Alert ................................................................................................................... 7-2Types of Alerts....................................................................................................................... 7-3Preventing Alert Floods ......................................................................................................... 7-4Configuring Alerts ................................................................................................................. 7-5The Alert Icon ........................................................................................................................ 7-6Adding New Alerts ................................................................................................................ 7-7Alert Action Wizard: Step 1 .................................................................................................. 7-8Alert Action Wizard: Step 2 .................................................................................................. 7-9Alert Action Wizard: Step 3 ................................................................................................ 7-10Alert Action Wizard: Step 4 ................................................................................................ 7-11Adding Multiple Actions to an Alert ................................................................................... 7-12Setting Filters ....................................................................................................................... 7-13Viewing Alert Logs ............................................................................................................. 7-14Summary.............................................................................................................................. 7-15Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 7-16Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert ..................................................................... 7-17Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down........................................................................ 7-21Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood .................................................................................... 7-27

Using TemplatesUsing Templates to Deploy Monitoring ................................................................................ 8-2Template Attributes ............................................................................................................... 8-3User-Defined Templates ........................................................................................................ 8-4User-Defined Templates Concepts ........................................................................................ 8-5Templates Planning................................................................................................................ 8-6User-Defined Template Containers ....................................................................................... 8-7Adding Templates to Containers ........................................................................................... 8-8Shortcut to Creating Templates ............................................................................................. 8-9Deploying Templates ........................................................................................................... 8-10Publish Template Changes Wizard...................................................................................... 8-11Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 1.......................................................................... 8-12Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 2.......................................................................... 8-13Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 3.......................................................................... 8-14Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 4.......................................................................... 8-15Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 5.......................................................................... 8-16Publish Template Changes Summary Report ...................................................................... 8-17Overview of Solution Templates ......................................................................................... 8-18Summary.............................................................................................................................. 8-19Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 8-20Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template ...................................................................... 8-21

1-4

Exercise: Change Template and Publish Changes............................................................... 8-28

Using Diagnostic ToolsDiagnostic Tools .................................................................................................................... 9-2Types of Diagnostic Tools ..................................................................................................... 9-3Examples of Diagnostic Tools ............................................................................................... 9-4Using the DNS Lookup Tool ................................................................................................. 9-5Using the Event Log Tool...................................................................................................... 9-6Using the FTP Server Tool .................................................................................................... 9-7Using the LDAP Authentication Tool ................................................................................... 9-8Using the Network Tool ........................................................................................................ 9-9Monitor-Specific Tool Selection ......................................................................................... 9-10Summary.............................................................................................................................. 9-12Review Questions ................................................................................................................ 9-13Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool................................................................................ 9-14Exercise: Running the Ping Tool ......................................................................................... 9-16Exercise: Running the Services Tool................................................................................... 9-18Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool............................................................................. 9-20

Generating ReportsReports Specific to User ...................................................................................................... 10-2Types of Reports .................................................................................................................. 10-3Working with Management Reports.................................................................................... 10-5Viewing Management Reports ............................................................................................ 10-6Editing Management Reports .............................................................................................. 10-7Generating Reports .............................................................................................................. 10-8Viewing Reports .................................................................................................................. 10-9Viewing Previous Reports ................................................................................................. 10-10Working with Alert, Monitor and Quick Reports.............................................................. 10-11Viewing Alert Reports ....................................................................................................... 10-12Viewing Quick Reports ..................................................................................................... 10-13Viewing Monitor Summary Reports.................................................................................. 10-14Summary............................................................................................................................ 10-15Review Questions .............................................................................................................. 10-16Exercise: Running SiteScope Reports ............................................................................... 10-17Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor........... 10-19

Maintaining SiteScopeImportant Files and Directories ........................................................................................... 11-2Patches and Service Packs ................................................................................................... 11-3

1-5

Health Page .......................................................................................................................... 11-4Health Page Metrics............................................................................................................. 11-5Alert and Error Log Files..................................................................................................... 11-7Run Monitor, BAC, and Operator Logs .............................................................................. 11-8Failover Overview ............................................................................................................... 11-9SiteScope Failover Internals .............................................................................................. 11-10Security Overview ............................................................................................................. 11-12User Accounts.................................................................................................................... 11-13SSL Basics ......................................................................................................................... 11-14Keytool.exe ........................................................................................................................ 11-15Configuring SiteScope for SSL ......................................................................................... 11-16SSH Basics......................................................................................................................... 11-17SSH Usage ......................................................................................................................... 11-18Managing the SiteScope License ....................................................................................... 11-19Summary............................................................................................................................ 11-20Review Questions .............................................................................................................. 11-21

Class Evaluation Form ........................................................................................................E-1

1-6

Course Overview

1Course 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.

1-1

Course Overview

Course ObjectivesAfter 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 Objectives1-2

Course Overview

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 - First Day 1-3

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.

Topic Outline - Second Day1-4

Introducing SiteScope

2Introducing 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

PurposeThis chapter introduces the basics of SiteScope. It explains the key product features, architecture and flow of monitoring, monitoring objects, and monitoring levels in SiteScope.

2-1

Introducing SiteScope

Key Features of SiteScopeSiteScope 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.

Key Features of SiteScope2-2

Introducing SiteScope

• 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.

Key Features of SiteScope 2-3

Introducing SiteScope

An Enterprise Management ApplicationSiteScope 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.

An Enterprise Management Application2-4

Introducing SiteScope

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.

Agentless Monitoring 2-5

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.

SiteScope Architecture2-6

Introducing SiteScope

SiteScope Architectural ComponentsIt 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.

SiteScope Architectural Components 2-7

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.

Protocols for Monitoring2-8

Introducing SiteScope

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

MAIL Monitor 25 (SMTP), 110 Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), 143 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

NEWS Monitor 119

E-MAIL Alert 25

POST Alert 80, 443

SNMP TRAP Alert 162 (UDP)

Communication Ports for Monitors 2-9

Introducing SiteScope

SiteScope Monitoring ModelA 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.

SiteScope Monitoring Model2-10

Introducing SiteScope

Monitors

Figure 2-4 Monitors

Monitors 2-11

Introducing SiteScope

Alerts

Figure 2-5 Alerts

Alerts2-12

Introducing SiteScope

Reports

Figure 2-6 Sample Management Report

Reports 2-13

Introducing SiteScope

Conceptual Levels of MonitoringWe 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.

Conceptual Levels of Monitoring2-14

Introducing SiteScope

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 versus Server System 2-15

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 MEMORY monitors, INTELLIGENT PLATFORM MANAGEMENT INTERFACE (IPMI) monitors that record values of hardware parameters, and FILE 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, DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION PROTOCOL (DHCP) monitors that verify whether it is possible to obtain an Internet Protocol (IP) address, LIGHTWEIGHT DIRECTORY ACCESS PROTOCOL (LDAP) monitors that verify the server is authenticating as expected, and SERVICE monitors that verify whether a specific service is running.

COMPOSITE and SCRIPT monitors are also considered as server level monitors. A COMPOSITE monitor enables several monitors to be grouped into a single monitor for the purpose of generating alerts. A SCRIPT monitor verifies the execution of a script against the monitored system. It is often used for recovery operations.

Server Resources Level Monitoring2-16

Introducing SiteScope

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 NETWORK and NETWORK BANDWIDTH monitor types.

Network Services Level Monitoring 2-17

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 SEQUENCE and E-BUSINESS TRANSACTION monitors enable SiteScope to monitor and report on a chain of actions representing business process.

Application and Business Services Level Monitoring2-18

Introducing SiteScope

SiteScope Monitors and CategoriesSiteScope 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.

SiteScope Monitors and Categories 2-19

Introducing SiteScope

Using Help in SiteScopeThe 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 HELP menu, select HELP 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 SITESCOPE HELP pop-up window, click the PDFS tab.

Using Help in SiteScope2-20

Introducing SiteScope

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:

HELP ON THIS PAGE: Selecting this option displays the page in SiteScope Help depending on the currently selected view and object.

SITESCOPE HELP: Selecting this option displays the online SiteScope Help for the product.

TROUBLESHOOTING & KNOWLEDGE BASE: Selecting this option displays the Troublshooting website of HP Software Support Online.

HP SOFTWARE SUPPORT: Selecting this option displays the HP Software Support Online website.

HP SOFTWARE WEB SITE: Selecting this option displays the HP Software home page.

WHAT'S NEW: Selecting this option displays the SiteScope product release notes.

ABOUT SITESCOPE: Selecting this option displays the version and release information for the installed SiteScope product.

Help Options 2-21

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:

Help Tooltips2-22

Introducing SiteScope

Support OptionsSiteScope 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.

Support Options 2-23

Introducing SiteScope

SummaryIn 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.

Summary2-24

Installing SiteScope

3Installing 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

PurposeThis chapter provides the system requirements and the steps for installation.

3-1

Installing SiteScope

System RequirementsSiteScope 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.

System Requirements3-2

Installing SiteScope

Installation PrerequisitesBefore 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.

Installation Prerequisites 3-3

Installing SiteScope

HP Downloads Web SiteDownload a trial version of SiteScope from the following URL:

www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport

From the HP Support web site, navigate to PRODUCTS -> 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

HP Downloads Web Site3-4

Installing SiteScope

Downloading SiteScopeFrom the Technical Resources section, select HP SITESCOPE 9.5 EVALUATION

Figure 3-1 SiteScope Evaluation Software Download Page

Downloading SiteScope 3-5

Installing SiteScope

Installing SiteScopeSiteScope 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 NEXT to begin the installation. The license agreement screen appears. Read the SiteScope License Agreement.

2. Select I ACCEPT to accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click NEXT to continue. The installation directory screen appears.

3. Accept the default directory location or click BROWSE 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 NEXT to continue. The setup type screen appears.

4. Select the type that is suitable for your site. Click NEXT 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 NEXT 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 NEXT to continue. A screen of summary information appears.

8. Check that the information is correct. Click NEXT to continue or BACK to return to previous screens to change your selections. The SiteScope installation process starts and an installation progress screen appears.

9. Click FINISH 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 SiteScope3-6

Installing SiteScope

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.

Installing SiteScope 3-7

Installing SiteScope

Deployment ConsiderationsFollow 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.

Deployment Considerations3-8

Installing SiteScope

Opening SiteScope

Figure 3-2 SiteScope Launch Page

After completing the installation, select the OPEN HP SITESCOPE link from the Windows start menu to view the SiteScope Administrative interface.

From the OPEN 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.

Opening SiteScope 3-9

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.

Launching the SiteScope Interface3-10

Installing SiteScope

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 COPY.

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 PASTE. SiteScope adds a copy of the monitor to the selected monitor group.

Copying Monitor Configurations 3-11

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:

Using the SiteScope Setup Page to Copy Data3-12

Installing SiteScope

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 COPY at the bottom portion of the page to display the COPY MONITOR CONFIGURATIONS FROM ANOTHER SITESCOPE page.

Using the SiteScope Setup Page to Copy Data 3-13

Installing SiteScope

Copy Monitor Configuration Utility

Figure 3-6 SiteScope Settings

Copy Monitor Configuration Utility3-14

Installing SiteScope

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 REMOTE 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 SITESCOPE ADMINISTRATOR USER NAME and SITESCOPE ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD fields. These fields are the user name and password configured in USER PREFERENCES 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 USE HTTPS check box, if you want to use the HTTPS secure protocol for data transfer.

4. Type the applicable connection information in the PROXY SERVER, PROXY SERVER USER NAME, and PROXY SERVER PASSWORD fields, if you want to use a proxy server to communicate with the source SiteScope.

5. Check the INTERNATIONAL 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 COPY to display the COPY CONFIGURATION DATA FROM ANOTHER SITESCOPE INSTALLATION page.

Copy Monitor Configuration Utility 3-15

Installing SiteScope

Confirming Copy

Figure 3-7 Copy Confirmation

In the COPY CONFIGURATION DATA FROM ANOTHER SITESCOPE INSTALLATION page, click COPY 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.

Confirming Copy3-16

Installing SiteScope

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 Tool 3-17

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 START > PROGRAMS > HP SITESCOPE > CONFIGURATION TOOL. The InstallShield Wizard appears.

2. Click NEXT 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 FINISH to complete the operation.

Configuration Tool3-18

Installing SiteScope

Post-Installation ConfigurationThe 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.

Post-Installation Configuration 3-19

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 GENERAL PREFERENCES section, type your SiteScope license information.

2. In the MAIL PREFERENCES section, type the e-mail address for the administrator and SMTP mail server for SiteScope to use when sending alerts.

3. In the USERS 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.

Performing Post-Installation Tasks3-20

Installing SiteScope

SummaryIn 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.

Summary 3-21

Installing SiteScope

Review QuestionsAnswer 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.

Review Questions3-22

Installing SiteScope

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 exerciseFamiliarize yourself with steps to install SiteScope.

Specific ObjectivesAt the end of this exercise, students will be able to do the following to install SiteScope:- Download and install SiteScope.

Exercise: Downloading and Installing SiteScope 3-23

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 SITESCOPE 9.5 free 10-day trial software.

4. Click SAVE 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.

Exercise: Downloading and Installing SiteScope3-24

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

4Getting 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

PurposeThis 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.

4-1

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 MONITORS, VIEWS, and CATEGORIES tabs. The interface on the right has the DASHBOARD, 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.

Introduction to the SiteScope Interface4-2

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Exploring the Dashboard Tab

Figure 4-2 Dashboard Tab

The DASHBOARD 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.

Exploring the Dashboard Tab 4-3

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Viewing Group Status

Figure 4-3 Current Groups and Monitors

The DASHBOARD tab enables you to view the STATUS of monitors and groups of monitors. In the STATUS 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.

Viewing Group Status4-4

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

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 PING monitor shown in Figure 4-4 is green, meaning that no packets have been lost.

In the DASHBOARD 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.

Viewing Metric Level Status 4-5

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Dashboard Navigation

Figure 4-5 Dashboard Navigation

Groups may contain subgroups and individual monitors. The DASHBOARD 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.

Dashboard Navigation4-6

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

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 ADD FAVORITE and DELETE 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.

Creating Favorite Views 4-7

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.

Availability Status4-8

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Exploring the Contents and Properties TabsThe CONTENTS tab is used to define the containers and monitoring objects in SiteScope. Use the CONTENTS tab to add and edit groups, monitors, alerts, and reports.

The PROPERTIES tab is used to configure properties of containers and monitoring objects. Use the PROPERTIES tab to perform the following tasks:

• View configuration information for specific objects.

• Edit the configuration information for groups, monitors, alerts, and reports.

Exploring the Contents and Properties Tabs 4-9

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Viewing the Contents Tab

Figure 4-8 The Contents Tab

The CONTENTS 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 WINDOWS 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.

Viewing the Contents Tab4-10

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Viewing the Properties Tab

Figure 4-9 Properties Tab

Use the PROPERTIES 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 PROPERTIES tab, click EDIT. Use the EDIT interface to modify existing dependencies or create a new one.

Using the DEPENDS 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 CATEGORY 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 the Properties Tab 4-11

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Viewing Monitor Settings

Figure 4-10 Monitor Settings

Use the PROPERTIES 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: ERROR IF, WARNING IF, and GOOD IF.

Viewing Monitor Settings4-12

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Global Replace

Figure 4-11 Global Replace Tab

The GLOBAL 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.

Global Replace 4-13

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Performing Replace OperationTo perform a global replace operation:

1. Access the GLOBAL 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 GLOBAL REPLACE from the menu.

OR

– In the CONTENTS tab, click the GLOBAL REPLACE button for the object to which you want to perform a global replace. The SELECT 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 SELECT 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 NEXT. 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 SELECT SUB TYPE page appears. Select the object subtypes for the global replace operation. Click NEXT. The REPLACE MODE page appears.

4. Select the REPLACE option and click NEXT. 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 NEXT. The wizard displays the AFFECTED OBJECT page. The AFFECTED OBJECTS tree includes all objects matching the selection criteria.

6. Review the tree of the selected object. Click NEXT. The REVIEW SUMMARY page appears. The REVIEW SUMMARY list describes the objects selected to undergo global replace.

7. Verify that all changes in the REVIEW SUMMARY list are correct. Click FINISH. The global replace operation is performed, and the CHANGE RESULTS page appears.

8. The SUMMARY page reports the changes that were implemented successfully and those in which errors occurred. Click OK to close the wizard.

Performing Replace Operation4-14

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Exploring the Preferences Interface

Figure 4-12 The Preferences Container

The PREFERENCES 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.

Exploring the Preferences Interface 4-15

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

General Preferences

Figure 4-13 General Preferences

The GENERAL 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.

General Preferences4-16

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Configuring Historical Data Tracking

Figure 4-14 Dashboard Monitor History View Option

The DASHBOARD 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 DASHBOARD MONITOR HISTORY VIEW option is configurable in the GENERAL PREFERENCES container in order to change the default behavior.

Configuring Historical Data Tracking 4-17

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Infrastructure Settings Preferences

Figure 4-15 Infrastructure Settings Preferences

The INFRASTRUCTURE 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)

Infrastructure Settings Preferences4-18

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Windows and UNIX Remote Preferences

Figure 4-16 Windows and UNIX Remote Preferences

The WINDOWS 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.

Windows and UNIX Remote Preferences 4-19

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Connection to a Remote Windows ServerTo establish a connection to a remote Windows server system:

1. Expand the PREFERENCES node and select the WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES node.

2. Click NEW WINDOWS SERVER. A configuration interface appears.

3. In the HOST 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 CREDENTIALS.

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 ADVANCED SETTINGS section, type secure connection information.

6. Click OK. The new connection icon appears on the left.

Note: Select the UNIX REMOTE 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 TEST.

A pop-up message displays the message whether the test connection succeeded or not.

Connection to a Remote Windows Server4-20

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Log Preferences

Figure 4-17 Log Preferences

The LOG 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

Log Preferences 4-21

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Mail Preferences

Figure 4-18 Mail Preferences

The MAIL PREFERENCES option is used to define e-mail server settings and profiles for SiteScope e-mail alerts and status reports.

The MAIL 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.

Mail Preferences4-22

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Users Preferences

Figure 4-19 Users Preferences

The USERS 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.

Users Preferences 4-23

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Credential Preferences

Figure 4-20 Credential Preferences

The CREDENTIAL 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

Credential Preferences4-24

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Summary of Preferences SettingsThe 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.

Summary of Preferences Settings 4-25

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.

Match Preferences with Descriptions4-26

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Understanding Health MonitorsSiteScope 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 HEALTH monitoring data and let you create reports on SiteScope HEALTH performance.

Use the HEALTH page to monitor the operability of SiteScope in real time.

Understanding Health Monitors 4-27

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Health Monitors Overview

Figure 4-22 Health Monitors

The HEALTH monitor group is displayed as a special health icon within the top-level SITESCOPE node. Click the HEALTH node to view the contents of the HEALTH monitor group.

Expand the HEALTH node to view the types of HEALTH monitors. For each HEALTH monitor, click the PROPERTIES tab to view the items to add or remove. The following HEALTH 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.

Health Monitors Overview4-28

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

• MONITOR LOAD CHECKER: This monitor checks the number of monitors being run and waiting to run.

Health Monitors Overview 4-29

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.

Diagnostic Tools4-30

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

SummaryIn 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.

Summary 4-31

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Review QuestionsAnswer 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 GLOBAL 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.

Review Questions4-32

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

_______________________________________________________________

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.

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Review Questions 4-33

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 exerciseBecome familiar with the steps to set up remote preferences for Windows in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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.

Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences in SiteScope4-34

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Part 1: Add a Windows Server

1. Open the SiteScope interface.

2. Under the PREFERENCES container, click MICROSOFT WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES.

3. In the CONTENTS tab on the MICROSOFT WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES page, click NEW MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER. The NEW MICROSOFT WINDOWS SERVER page appears in the right panel.

4. In the MAIN 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 LOGIN field, type the login name for the user account identified by the instructor.

6. In the PASSWORD field, type the password for the user account identified by the instructor.

7. In the NAME field, type the name TRAININGSVR.

8. In the METHOD list, select the method used to connect to the training server. The default value is NETBIOS.�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 CP1252.

10. Click OK.

Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences in SiteScope 4-35

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Part 2: Test the Windows Server

1. Expand the MICROSOFT WINDOWS REMOTE PREFERENCES container.

2. Right-click the TRAININGSVR node and then select TEST. A TEST PREFERENCE dialog box should appear with the message CONNECTION SUCCESSFUL.

3. Click CLOSE.

Exercise: Setting Windows Remote Preferences in SiteScope4-36

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

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 exerciseBecome familiar with the steps to set up mail preferences in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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 SiteScope 4-37

Getting Familiar with the SiteScope Interface

Part 1: Add an Additional E-Mail Setting

1. Open the SiteScope interface.

2. Under the PREFERENCES container, click MAIL PREFERENCES.

3. In the CONTENTS tab on the MAIL PREFERENCES page, click NEW E-MAIL RECIPIENT. The NEW E-MAIL RECIPIENT page appears in the right panel.

4. In the MAIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, type your name as the e-mail recipient.

5. In the E-MAIL 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 SCHEDULE list, select the schedule to specify when you want these e-mail settings to be enabled.

3. Click OK.

Exercise: Setting Mail Preferences in SiteScope4-38

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

5SiteScope 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

PurposeThis chapter explains the best practices for developing a grouping model, planning the monitoring strategy, and SiteScope deployment.

5-1

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.

Monitoring Methodology5-2

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

• Identify the reporting requirements.

• Set up SiteScope reports.

• Review the SiteScope effectiveness periodically and make changes to the environment as needed.

Monitoring Methodology 5-3

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Introduction to the Grouping ModelWithin 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

Introduction to the Grouping Model5-4

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Heartbeats and DependenciesHeartbeat 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.

Heartbeats and Dependencies 5-5

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.

Top-Level Grouping Model Example5-6

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Top-Level Grouping Model AdvantagesThe 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.

Top-Level Grouping Model Advantages 5-7

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Grouping GuidelinesWhile 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.

Grouping Guidelines5-8

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Planning the Monitoring StrategyWhen 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 Strategy 5-9

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.

Planning the Monitoring Strategy5-10

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

SiteScope Server SizingAn 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.

SiteScope Server Sizing 5-11

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Monitored Infrastructure AssessmentA 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.

Monitored Infrastructure Assessment5-12

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

SummaryIn 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.

Summary 5-13

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Review QuestionsAnswer 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.

Review Questions5-14

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

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. _______

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Review Questions 5-15

SiteScope Monitoring Strategy

Review Questions5-16

Managing Groups and Monitors

6Managing 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

PurposeThis 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.

6-1

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 DASHBOARD contains the latest available group and monitor status and data readings. At the highest level, the SiteScope node, the DASHBOARD 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 DASHBOARD 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.

Dashboard Views and Nodes6-2

Managing Groups and Monitors

Building GroupsGroups 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 SITESCOPE 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.

Building Groups 6-3

Managing Groups and Monitors

Creating a Group

Figure 6-2 New Group

To create a group, right-click the SITESCOPE node, and then select NEW GROUP.

When you select NEW GROUP, a NEW SITESCOPE GROUP window appears. To specify details for a new group, do the following:

1. In the MAIN SETTINGS section, in the GROUP NAME field, type a name for the group.

2. In the ADVANCED SETTINGS section:

a) In the GROUP DESCRIPTION field, provide a description for the group.

b) Create a dependency for the group.

3. Click OK.

Creating a Group6-4

Managing Groups and Monitors

Configuring Group Contents

Figure 6-3 Group Configurations

Figure 6-3 shows the CONTENTS 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 NEW MONITOR.

To add a subgroup, click NEW GROUP.

To create an alert to be triggered if there is an error, click NEW 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 NEW REPORT. �You will learn about creating reports in Chapter 9: Generating Reports.

Configuring Group Contents 6-5

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 NEW MONITOR. The NEW SITESCOPE MONITOR window appears.

– Highlight the SiteScope group into which you want to add a monitor. On the CONTENTS tab, click NEW 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 ADD MONITOR window appears.

Creating a Monitor6-6

Managing Groups and Monitors

4. Type the configuration settings for the monitor. The MAIN, ADVANCED, and THRESHOLD 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 LOGGING:

– 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 CATEGORY SETTINGS section, assign a category to the monitor. This is optional and is done only if there are any categories defined.

9. Click ADD. The monitor is added to the monitor tree.

The monitors are ready to monitor other monitors in the network.

Creating a Monitor 6-7

Managing Groups and Monitors

Monitor Types

Figure 6-5 Monitor Types

When you click NEW MONITOR or select NEW 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.

Monitor Types6-8

Managing Groups and Monitors

Modifying Monitor SettingsTo modify the settings for a monitor, select the monitor in the left tree and click the PROPERTIES tab in the right panel. The available sections in the PROPERTIES tab are:

• MAIN SETTINGS

• ADVANCED SETTINGS

• ENABLE/DISABLE MONITOR

• ENABLE/DISABLE ALERTS

• THRESHOLD SETTINGS

• CUSTOM PROPERTIES

• HP BAC LOGGING

• CATEGORY SETTINGS

Modifying Monitor Settings 6-9

Managing Groups and Monitors

Modifying Main Settings

Figure 6-6 Main Settings

To modify a monitor’s configuration, click EDIT in the PROPERTIES tab for the monitor.

Figure 6-6 shows the MAIN SETTINGS section of an example monitor of the PING monitor type. In the MAIN 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.

Modifying Main Settings6-10

Managing Groups and Monitors

Modifying Advanced SettingsThe 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.

Modifying Advanced Settings 6-11

Managing Groups and Monitors

Editing Monitor Dependencies

Figure 6-7 Monitor Dependencies

The ADVANCED 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 DEPENDS 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 DEPENDS 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.

Editing Monitor Dependencies6-12

Managing Groups and Monitors

• 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.

Editing Monitor Dependencies 6-13

Managing Groups and Monitors

Enabling or Disabling a Monitor

Figure 6-8 Enable or Disable a Monitor

The ENABLE/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.

Enabling or Disabling a Monitor6-14

Managing Groups and Monitors

Enabling or Disabling Alerts

Figure 6-9 Alert Enable or Disable

The ENABLE/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 SITESCOPE node and the group node along with the alert nodes for those elements.

Enabling or Disabling Alerts 6-15

Managing Groups and Monitors

Understanding Threshold Settings

Figure 6-10 Threshold Settings

You use the THRESHOLD 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 THRESHOLD SETTINGS section is used to customize the requirements for the GOOD, WARNING, 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).

Understanding Threshold Settings6-16

Managing Groups and Monitors

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 BASELINING > 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.

Using Baselines to Set Thresholds 6-17

Managing Groups and Monitors

Baseline Settings

Figure 6-12 Baseline Settings

You can view and define the values of global SiteScope baseline settings in INFRASTRUCTURE 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 BASELINE SETTINGS.

Baseline Settings6-18

Managing Groups and Monitors

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 BASELINING > REVIEW & ACTIVATE.

The REVIEW & ACTIVATE dialog box, as shown in Figure 6-13, includes the SiteScope monitor name and the date on which the baseline was calculated. The ERROR STATUS REDUCTION 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 Data 6-19

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 ERROR STATUS REDUCTION would be 3.

The VIEW 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 ACTIVATE.

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.

Reviewing the Baseline Data6-20

Managing Groups and Monitors

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 BASELINING > STATUS REPORT.

You can also track the baseline status for a monitor in the monitor's Main Settings. See Figure 6-16.

Baseline Status 6-21

Managing Groups and Monitors

Modifying Baseline Thresholds

Figure 6-16 Modifying Baseline Thresholds

In the THRESHOLD 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 ERROR 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

Modifying Baseline Thresholds6-22

Managing Groups and Monitors

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 DASHBOARD and indicate that an action has been taken to investigate and resolve the problem.

The DASHBOARD view for a monitor contains a small downward arrow (drop down menu) next to the monitor name. To acknowledge the error, select ADD ACKNOWLEDGEMENT from the drop down menu. An ACKNOWLEDGE dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 6-18.

The ACKNOWLEDGE dialog box is used to:

• Add a comment for the acknowledgement.

• Disable alerts for a specified time period.

Acknowledging an Error in Monitoring 6-23

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

Acknowledging an Error in Monitoring6-24

Managing Groups and Monitors

Modifying an Acknowledgement

Figure 6-19 Acknowledgement Modification

When you click ACKNOWLEDGE, the ACKNOWLEDGE WINDOW closes and the DASHBOARD 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.

Modifying an Acknowledgement 6-25

Managing Groups and Monitors

Filter Icon

Figure 6-20 Filter Icon

DASHBOARD filters enable you to customize the content of the information displayed in the DASHBOARD. 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 FILTER icon on the far right of the DASHBOARD view.

Filter Icon6-26

Managing Groups and Monitors

Filtering Views in SiteScope

Figure 6-21 Filter Selection

Filters are used to specify the criteria to display monitors in the DASHBOARD view to generate a list of monitors meeting certain search condition. To display the DASHBOARD FILTER view, as shown in Figure 6-21, click the FILTER 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.

Filtering Views in SiteScope 6-27

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 COPY.

To paste an object, right-click the target group and select PASTE.

To delete an object, right-click the original object and select DELETE. A confirmation window appears. Click OK to delete the object.

Moving Objects6-28

Managing Groups and Monitors

SummaryIn 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.

Summary 6-29

Managing Groups and Monitors

Review QuestionsAnswer 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 FILTER 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.

Review Questions6-30

Managing Groups and Monitors

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 exerciseFamiliarize yourself with the steps to create and test a new simple monitor.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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.

ConsiderationsIn 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 Monitor 6-31

Managing Groups and Monitors

Part 1: Create a New Group

1. Right-click the SITESCOPE node container.

2. Select NEW GROUP.

3. In the GROUP NAME field, type a name for the group and click OK.

Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor6-32

Managing Groups and Monitors

Part 2: Create a New Service Monitor

Note: Go to the CONTROL PANEL ->ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS directory on your test system. Locate the services that are running on the system (whose status is STARTED). Choose a service to monitor, such as MESSENGER, DHCP, or HTTP. For the purpose of this lab, the MESSENGER service is used.

1. Right-click the new group that you created and select NEW MONITOR.

2. In the NEW SITESCOPE MONITOR section, click SERVICE.

3. In the MAIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, type a name for the monitor.

4. In the FREQUENCY field, set the frequency to 30 seconds.

5. From the SYSTEM SERVICES list, select MESSENGER.

6. Click OK. The RUN dialog box appears.

7. Click CLOSE to close the dialog box.

Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor 6-33

Managing Groups and Monitors

Part 3: Test the Service Monitor

1. Right-click the new monitor and click RUN. The RUN dialog box appears, showing the STATUS as GOOD.

2. From ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS > SERVICES in CONTROL PANEL, stop the service temporarily.

3. Repeat step 1. The RUN dialog box appears, showing the STATUS as ERROR.

4. Restart the service from ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS > SERVICES.

5. Repeat step 1. The RUN dialog box appears, showing the STATUS as GOOD.

Exercise: Creating and Testing a New Monitor6-34

Configuring Alerts

7Configuring 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 FILES tab, and recovery scripts.

7-1

Configuring Alerts

Defining an AlertSiteScope 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 DASHBOARD 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 GOOD to ERROR if the monitored component experiences a failure or returns a data reading which is classified as ERROR according to the thresholds being setup. For instance, the CPU monitor's status may change to ERROR 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 SCRIPT alert can respond to problems and automatically initiate recovery scripts. You can configure the SCRIPT 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.

Defining an Alert7-2

Configuring Alerts

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.

Types of Alerts 7-3

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.

Preventing Alert Floods7-4

Configuring Alerts

Configuring AlertsAlerts 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.

Configuring Alerts 7-5

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.

The Alert Icon7-6

Configuring Alerts

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 NEW ALERT menu option or, alternatively, display the CONTENTS tab from the right panel view menu.

or

If you are inside the CONTENTS tab, at the top of the CONTENTS view or at the bottom of the ALERTS 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 NEW 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 ADD ACTION to open the Alert Action Wizard to create actions for the alert.

Adding New Alerts 7-7

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.

Alert Action Wizard: Step 17-8

Configuring Alerts

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 2 7-9

Configuring Alerts

Alert Action Wizard: Step 3

Figure 7-5 Alert Action Wizard: Step 3

TRIGGER - 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.

Alert Action Wizard: Step 37-10

Configuring Alerts

Alert Action Wizard: Step 4

Figure 7-6 Alert Action Wizard: Step 4

TRIGGER 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 ONCE, AFTER CONDITION OCCURS EXACTLY 1 TIMES. The TRIGGER SETTINGS 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

Alert Action Wizard: Step 4 7-11

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.

Adding Multiple Actions to an Alert7-12

Configuring Alerts

Setting Filters

Figure 7-8 Filter Settings

Alert filters define the scope of the alert target.

The FILTER 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 NAME MATCH and STATUS MATCH fields accept REGULAR EXPRESSIONS.

Figure 7-8 shows the FILTERING SETTINGS options, where you select a monitor type alert filter to limit the alert action.

In the CATEGORY SETTINGS section, you can use the CATEGORY attribute to assign an alert to an already defined category.

The ADVANCED 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.

Setting Filters 7-13

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 LOG FILES tab. The LOG FILES tab is available only on the SITESCOPE 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.

Viewing Alert Logs7-14

Configuring Alerts

SummaryIn this chapter, you learned:

• SiteScope supports the following types of alerts:

– E-MAIL, PAGER, DATABASE, DISABLE OR ENABLE MONITORS, LOG EVENT, POST, 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.

Summary 7-15

Configuring Alerts

Review QuestionsAnswer 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 MONITORS, 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.

Review Questions7-16

Configuring Alerts

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. __________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

Review Questions 7-17

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 exerciseBecome familiar with the steps to create and test a sound alert in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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.

Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert7-18

Configuring Alerts

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 ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS -> SERVICES in CONTROL PANEL to ensure that the MESSENGER 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 Alert 7-19

Configuring Alerts

Part 2: Add a Sound Alert for the Monitor

1. Right-click the monitor that you created and select NEW ALERT. The NEW ALERT screen appears.

2. In the MAIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, type a name for the alert.

3. Click ADD ACTION. The Action Alert Wizard opens.

4. From the ACTION TYPE screen , in the ACTION NAME field, type a name for the action, select SOUND, and then click NEXT.

5. From the ACTION TYPE SETTINGS screen, select the type of sound file to be played, and then click NEXT.

6. From the TRIGGER screen, select ERROR, and then click NEXT.

7. From the TRIGGER SETTINGS screen, select the desired frequency of the sound alert when an error occurs.

8. Click FINISH.

9. In the NEW ALERT screen, verify the information in the ALERT ACTIONS and then click OK.

Exercise: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert7-20

Configuring Alerts

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: Creating and Testing a Sound Alert 7-21

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 exerciseBecome familiar with the steps to restart a service that is down in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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.

Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down7-22

Configuring Alerts

Part 1: Create a New Group Named Spooler

1. Create a new group named SPOOLER.

Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the SITESCOPE HELP.

Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down 7-23

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 ENTER.

3. Type NET START SPOOLER and press ENTER.

4. Hold down CTRL and press Z.

5. Press ENTER.

6. Close the command prompt window.

Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down7-24

Configuring Alerts

Part 3: Create a Service Monitor for the Print Spooler Service

Note: View ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS -> SERVICES in CONTROL PANEL to ensure that the PRINT 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 SITESCOPE HELP.

Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down 7-25

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 NEW ALERT section, click SCRIPT.

3. In the SCRIPT list, select STARTSPOOLER.BAT.

Note: If you need details on how to complete this step, refer to previous exercises or the SITESCOPE HELP.

Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down7-26

Configuring Alerts

Part 5: Test the Script Alert

Note:

1. Stop the PRINT SPOOLER service.

2. The PRINT 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 SPOOLER service.

Exercise: Restarting a Service that is Down 7-27

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 exerciseBecome familiar with the steps to prevent an alert flood in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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.

Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood7-28

Configuring Alerts

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 SITESCOPE HELP.

Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood 7-29

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 SITESCOPE HELP.

Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood7-30

Configuring Alerts

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 SITESCOPE HELP.

2. Stop the SERVER service on your computer.

3. Click the SERVER STATS group in the explorer tree and view the status of the monitors in the DASHBOARD 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 Flood 7-31

Configuring Alerts

Part 4: Make the Server Stats Group Dependent on the Service Monitor

1. In the explorer tree, click the SERVER STATS group.

2. Click the PROPERTIES tab and click EDIT.

3. Expand the ADVANCED SETTINGS section.

4. In the DEPENDS ON tree, expand HEARTBEAT and check the SERVICE monitor check box.

5. Click OK to make the SERVER STATS group dependent on the SERVICE monitor.

6. Stop the SERVER service on your computer.

7. In the explorer tree, click the SITESCOPE node container and view the STATUS of the groups in the DASHBOARD tab. The SERVER STATS group has no data and only the HEARTBEAT group is in error.

Exercise: Preventing an Alert Flood7-32

Using Templates

8Using 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

PurposeThis 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.

8-1

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 to Deploy Monitoring8-2

Using Templates

Template AttributesTemplates 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.

Template Attributes 8-3

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.

User-Defined Templates8-4

Using Templates

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.

User-Defined Templates Concepts 8-5

Using Templates

Templates PlanningWhen 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?

Templates Planning8-6

Using Templates

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 SITESCOPE node. The SiteScope action menu appears.

2. Select NEW TEMPLATE CONTAINER. The NEW TEMPLATE CONTAINER window appears in the content area.

3. In the NAME 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 CATEGORY SETTINGS section. You can assign a description to the template container under the ADVANCED SETTINGS section.

5. Click OK to create the template container.

User-Defined Template Containers 8-7

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 NEW 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: $$SERVER_LIST$$, $$SERVER_NAME$$, $$SERVER_NAME_BARE$$, $$DATE$$, $$TIME$$

Adding Templates to Containers8-8

Using Templates

Shortcut to Creating TemplatesThe 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 COPY.

2. Select the template to modify. Right-click, and then select PASTE. 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 NEW 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$$

Shortcut to Creating Templates 8-9

Using Templates

Deploying TemplatesAfter 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.

Deploying Templates8-10

Using Templates

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 PUBLISH CHANGES.

Note: The wizard opens only if there are deployments associated with the selected template.

The PUBLISH 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 8-11

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 ENABLE DELETE ON UPDATE option to delete SiteScope objects from the deployed groups that are not in the source template.

Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 18-12

Using Templates

Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 2

Figure 8-8 Review Compliancy

To view content differences in the template objects, click the VIEW DIFFERENCES link to open the CONTENT CHANGES dialog box. This link only appears if there is a content difference.

Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 2 8-13

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.

Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 38-14

Using Templates

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 4 8-15

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).

Publish Template Changes Wizard: Step 58-16

Using Templates

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.

Publish Template Changes Summary Report 8-17

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.

Overview of Solution Templates8-18

Using Templates

SummaryIn 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.

Summary 8-19

Using Templates

Review QuestionsAnswer 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.

Review Questions8-20

Using Templates

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 exerciseBecome familiar with the steps to create a user-defined template in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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 Template 8-21

Using Templates

Part 1: Create a Container For Your User-defined Template

1. Right-click the SITESCOPE node container.

2. Click NEW TEMPLATE CONTAINER.

3. In the NAME field, type a name for the template container.

4. Click OK.

Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template8-22

Using Templates

Part 2: Create a New User-defined Template

1. Right-click the template container you created.

2. Click NEW TEMPLATE.

3. In the NAME field, type a name for the new template.

4. Click OK.

Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template 8-23

Using Templates

Part 3: Create Template Variables

Create template variables.

1. Right-click your template.

2. Click NEW VARIABLE.

3. In the NAME 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 DISPLAY NAME, DESCRIPTION, and DEFAULT VALUE as needed.

5. Click OK.

Create the following variables in your template.

• ServerInstead of defining a user variable for SERVER, you can use the system variable SERVER_NAME_BARE to define the target server being monitored.

• Frequency

• Host

• URLFor 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.

Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template8-24

Using Templates

Part 4: Add Monitors to the Template

Create a template group.

1. Right-click your template in the monitor tree.

2. Click NEW GROUP.

3. In the GROUP 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 Template 8-25

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.

Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template8-26

Using Templates

Part 6: Deploy the Template in a Designated Group

When done, create a new group, and deploy the template inside that group.

Exercise: Creating a User-Defined Template 8-27

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 SITESCOPE 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 SITESCOPE HELP.

Instructor Notes

Purpose of this exerciseBecome familiar with the steps to update a user-defined template in SiteScope and publish the changes to all objects deployed by the template.

Specific ObjectivesAt 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.

Exercise: Change Template and Publish Changes8-28

Using Diagnostic Tools

9Using 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

PurposeThis chapter provides an overview of diagnostics tools in SiteScope and their usage.

9-1

Using Diagnostic Tools

Diagnostic ToolsSiteScope 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.

Diagnostic Tools9-2

Using Diagnostic Tools

Types of Diagnostic Tools

The diagnostic tools in SiteScope are grouped into the following categories:

• Application tools

Examples of application diagnostic tools include DNS LOOKUP, DATABASE CONNECTION, and FTP SERVER.

• Server tools

Examples of server diagnostic tools include NETWORK, PROCESSES, and SERVICES.

• Advanced tools

Examples of advanced diagnostic tools include EVENT LOG, LDAP AUTHENTICATION, and NEWS SERVER.

Types of Diagnostic Tools 9-3

Using Diagnostic Tools

Examples of Diagnostic ToolsSiteScope 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

Examples of Diagnostic Tools9-4

Using Diagnostic Tools

Using the DNS Lookup Tool

Figure 9-1 DNS Lookup Tool

The DNS LOOKUP 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 LOOKUP 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 LOOKUP tool:

1. Expand the TOOLS node in the explorer tree and click DNS LOOKUP.

2. On the DNS LOOKUP TOOL page, in the DNS ADDRESS field, type the IP address of a DNS Server.

3. In the HOST NAME field, type a domain name.

4. Click DNS LOOKUP.

Using the DNS Lookup Tool 9-5

Using Diagnostic Tools

Using the Event Log Tool

Figure 9-2 Event Log Tool

The EVENT LOG tool displays event log entries on a server. To run the EVENT LOG tool:

1. On the EVENT 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 SHOW EVENT LOG ENTRIES.

Using the Event Log Tool9-6

Using Diagnostic Tools

Using the FTP Server Tool

Figure 9-3 FTP Server Tool

The FTP SERVER 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 SERVER tool to investigate the error.

To run the FTP SERVER tool:

1. On the FTP SERVER TOOL page, in the FTP SERVER field, type the name of the FTP server.

2. In the FILE NAME field, type the name of the file to retrieve.

3. In the USER 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 USE PASSIVE check box to enable passive FTP access.

5. Click CHECK FTP SERVER.

Using the FTP Server Tool 9-7

Using Diagnostic Tools

Using the LDAP Authentication Tool

Figure 9-4 LDAP Authentication Tool

The LDAP AUTHENTICATION tool tests an LDAP server by requesting a user authentication. To run the LDAP AUTHENTICATION tool:

1. On the LDAP AUTHENTICATION TOOL page, in the SECURITY PRINCIPAL field, type the name of the principal for authenticating the caller to the service.

2. In the SECURITY CREDENTIAL field, specify the appropriate credential based on the authentication scheme.

3. In the URL PROVIDER ADDRESS field, type the constant that holds the configuration information for the service provider to use.

4. In the LDAP QUERY field, specify an object query to search for an LDAP object.

5. In the SEARCH FILTER field, specify a search filter to perform a search using a filter.

6. Click AUTHENTICATE USER.

Using the LDAP Authentication Tool9-8

Using Diagnostic Tools

Using the Network Tool

Figure 9-5 Network Tool

Figure 9-5 shows the NETWORK tool. This tool uses the netstat command to determine the network interface statistics and the number of active connections. The NETWORK 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 NETWORK tool, on the NETWORK TOOL page, click RUN NETWORK.

Using the Network Tool 9-9

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.

Monitor-Specific Tool Selection9-10

Using Diagnostic Tools

Figure 9-7 NT Performance Counter Test

Monitor-Specific Tool Selection 9-11

Using Diagnostic Tools

SummaryIn 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.

Summary9-12

Using Diagnostic Tools

Review QuestionsAnswer 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 LOOKUP 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.

Review Questions 9-13

Using Diagnostic Tools

Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool

This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the EVENT LOG tool in SiteScope.

Part 1: Run the EVENT LOG tool in SiteScope.

Instructor Notes

Purpose of this exercise

Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the EVENT LOG tool in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectiveAt the end of this exercise, students should be able to:

- Run the EVENT LOG tool in SiteScope.

Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool9-14

Using Diagnostic Tools

Part 1: Run the Event Log Tool in SiteScope

1. Open the SiteScope interface.

2. In the explorer tree, expand the TOOLS node.

3. Click EVENT LOG.

4. In the SERVER NAME field, type the name of the Training Server.

5. From the EVENT LOG list, select APPLICATION.

6. Click SHOW EVENT LOG ENTRIES to view the results.

Exercise: Running the Event Log Tool 9-15

Using Diagnostic Tools

Exercise: Running the Ping Tool

This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the PING tool in SiteScope.

Part 1: Run the PING tool in SiteScope.

Instructor Notes

Purpose of this exercise

Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the PING tool in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectiveAt the end of this exercise, students should be able to:

- Run the PING tool in SiteScope.

Exercise: Running the Ping Tool9-16

Using Diagnostic Tools

Part 1: Run the Ping Tool in SiteScope

1. Expand the TOOLS container.

1. Click PING.

2. In the DOMAIN NAME OR IP ADDRESS field, type the computer name or IP address of the Training Server.

3. Click PING to view the results.

Exercise: Running the Ping Tool 9-17

Using Diagnostic Tools

Exercise: Running the Services Tool

This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the SERVICES tool in SiteScope.

Part 1: Run the SERVICES tool in SiteScope.

Instructor Notes

Purpose of this exercise

Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the SERVICES tool in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectiveAt the end of this exercise, students should be able to:

- Run the SERVICES tool in SiteScope.

Exercise: Running the Services Tool9-18

Using Diagnostic Tools

Part 1: Run the Services Tool in SiteScope

1. Expand the TOOLS container.

2. Click SERVICES.

3. Click SHOW SERVICES to view a list of the services running on your computer.

Exercise: Running the Services Tool 9-19

Using Diagnostic Tools

Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool

This exercise familiarizes you with the steps to run the TRACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.

Part 1: Run the TRACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.

Instructor Notes

Purpose of this exercise

Familiarize yourself with the steps to run the TRACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectiveAt the end of this exercise, students should be able to:

- Run the TRACE ROUTE tool in SiteScope.

Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool9-20

Using Diagnostic Tools

Part 1: Run the Trace Route Tool in SiteScope

1. Click TRACE ROUTE.

2. In the DOMAIN NAME OR IP ADDRESS field, type the computer name or IP address of the Training Server.

3. Click TRACE ROUTE to view the results.

Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool 9-21

Using Diagnostic Tools

Exercise: Running the Trace Route Tool9-22

Generating Reports

10Generating 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

PurposeThis chapter lists the types of reports in SiteScope and explains the method to generate these reports.

10-1

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.

Reports Specific to User10-2

Generating Reports

Types of Reports

Figure 10-2 Types of Reports

You can generate the following types of reports in SiteScope:

• Alert Reports

ALERT 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

MANAGEMENT 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.

MANAGEMENT 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 Reports 10-3

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 SEND REPORT BY E-MAIL field in the MAIN SETTINGS section for the report.

• Monitor Reports

MONITOR reports enable you to review configuration properties and settings for existing monitors. You can export a MONITOR report in one of three text formats: comma-delimited (CSV), tab-delimited (TXT), and HTML.

Unlike a MANAGEMENT report, which is generated based on a schedule that you specify, you generate a MONITOR report on an ad hoc basis. In addition, the settings for a MONITOR report are not saved to the SiteScope configuration data for later use.

• Quick Reports

QUICK reports enable you to view monitor data for specific monitors or groups of monitors for specific time periods. Currently, you cannot export QUICK reports data to a third-party application.

Unlike a MANAGEMENT report that is generated based on a schedule that you specify, you generate a QUICK report on an ad hoc basis. In addition, the settings for a QUICK 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 SEND REPORT TO E-MAIL ADDRESS field in the MAIN SETTINGS section for the report.

Types of Reports10-4

Generating Reports

Working with Management Reports

Figure 10-3 New Management Report

MANAGEMENT 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

Working with Management Reports 10-5

Generating Reports

Viewing Management Reports

Figure 10-4 Management Report View

To view a MANAGEMENT report, select the management report in the explorer tree. Select the VIEW REPORT tab.

Although you can create as many MANAGEMENT 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.

Viewing Management Reports10-6

Generating Reports

Editing Management Reports

Figure 10-5 Edit a Management Report

To edit an existing MANAGEMENT report definition:

1. Click the node with which the report is associated.

2. Click the CONTENTS tab.

3. Expand the REPORTS 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 CONTENTS tab, where you can edit a MANAGEMENT report definition.

Editing Management Reports 10-7

Generating Reports

Generating Reports

Figure 10-6 Generate Current Report

To generate a MANAGEMENT report:

1. Click the report in the explorer tree.

2. Click the VIEW REPORT tab.

3. Click GENERATE.

Generating Reports10-8

Generating Reports

Viewing Reports

Figure 10-7 View Reports

When you click GENERATE, the report appears, as shown in Figure 10-7.

Viewing Reports 10-9

Generating Reports

Viewing Previous Reports

Figure 10-8 Previous Report

To view a previous report, click MOST RECENT REPORT, as shown in Figure 10-8.

Viewing Previous Reports10-10

Generating Reports

Working with Alert, Monitor and Quick ReportsSiteScope does not save ALERT, MONITOR and QUICK reports for later use.

When working with ALERT, MONITOR and QUICK reports, you will be able to:

• Generate reports.

• View reports.

Working with Alert, Monitor and Quick Reports 10-11

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 NEW 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 APPLY to create the report. The report output is displayed in a new browser window.

Viewing Alert Reports10-12

Generating Reports

Viewing Quick Reports

Figure 10-10 Quick Reports

To generate a QUICK report:

1. Right-click the node from where you want to generate the report.

2. Select NEW REPORT.

3. In the NEW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click QUICK.

4. In the MAIN SETTINGS and ADVANCED SETTINGS sections, specify the definition parameters that you want to include in the report.

5. Click APPLY to generate the report.

To generate a MONITOR report rapidly, in the NEW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click MONITOR.

Viewing Quick Reports 10-13

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 MONITOR SUMMARY report:

1. Right-click the node from where you want to generate the report.

2. Select NEW REPORT.

3. In the NEW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click MONITOR.

4. In the MAIN 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 APPLY to generate the report.

Viewing Monitor Summary Reports10-14

Generating Reports

SummaryIn this chapter, you learned:

• The following types of reports are available in SiteScope: ALERT, MANAGEMENT, MONITOR, 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 SITESCOPE node or any group in the explorer tree, and then select NEW REPORT.

Summary 10-15

Generating Reports

Review QuestionsAnswer 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 PREFERENCES 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.

Review Questions10-16

Generating Reports

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 exerciseFamiliarize yourself with the reports in SiteScope.

Specific ObjectiveAt 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 Reports 10-17

Generating Reports

Part 1: Generate and View Reports in SiteScope

1. In the explorer tree, right-click a group and select NEW REPORT.

2. In the NEW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click MONITOR.

3. In the MAIN SETTINGS section, specify the parameters for the report.

4. Click APPLY to generate the report.

5. View the generated report.

6. Repeat steps 1 to 5 for a QUICK report.

7. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for a MANAGEMENT report.

8. Click OK to save the report definition.

9. Click the report saved in the explorer tree and click the VIEW REPORT tab.

10. Click GENERATE to generate the report.

11. View the generated MANAGEMENT report.

Exercise: Running SiteScope Reports10-18

Generating Reports

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 MANAGEMENT report for a single monitor.

Part 1: Save a MANAGEMENT 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 Monitor 10-19

Generating Reports

Part 1: Save a Management Report Definition

1. Right-click the SITESCOPE node in the explorer tree and select NEW REPORT.

2. In the NEW SITESCOPE REPORT interface, click MANAGEMENT.

3. In the MAIN SETTINGS section, in the NAME field, specify a name for the report.

4. In the MONITOR AND GROUPS TO REPORT ON tree, uncheck the SITESCOPE 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 UPTIME AND READINGS, which are selected by default or you can specify your own parameters, such as THRESHOLDS.

7. Click OK to save the report definition.

Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor10-20

Generating Reports

Part 2: Generate the Report

1. In the explorer tree, click the newly created report definition.

2. Click the VIEW REPORT tab.

3. Click GENERATE 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 Monitor 10-21

Generating Reports

Exercise: Generating a Month-to-Date Management Report for a Single Monitor10-22

Maintaining SiteScope

11Maintaining 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

PurposeThis 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.

11-1

Maintaining SiteScope

Important Files and DirectoriesAs 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 PREFERENCES 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.

Important Files and Directories11-2

Maintaining SiteScope

Patches and Service Packs

Figure 11-1 Patches

The latest service packs and patches are available at HTTP://SUPPORT.OPENVIEW.HP.COM/SELFSOLVE/PATCHES.

Patches and Service Packs 11-3

Maintaining SiteScope

Health Page

Figure 11-2 Health Page

SiteScope HEALTH monitors are a built-in group of monitors that display information about SiteScope's own health. HEALTH monitors retrieve data about SiteScope's resource usage, key processes, monitor load server parameters, and the integrity of key configuration files use. SiteScope HEALTH monitoring data is recorded by default in the daily monitor logs. Administrators can use the HEALTH monitors to create reports on SiteScope's performance and operational health.

Similar to regular monitors, HEALTH monitors can be edited in order to reconfigure their frequency and thresholds. Administrators can enhance the HEALTH group by adding new monitors targeting additional servers and environments.

Health Page11-4

Maintaining SiteScope

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, CURRENT MONITORS WAITING

– MAXIMUM MONITORS RUN PER MINUTE, MAXIMUM MONITORS RUNNING, MAXIMUM MONITORS WAITING

• Health of SiteScope Server - General information about SiteScope resource usage, useful in determining whether the server is sized correctly.

Health Page Metrics 11-5

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.

Health Page Metrics11-6

Maintaining SiteScope

Alert and Error Log Files

Figure 11-4 Alert and Error Log File

The ALERT LOG file records alert creation and dispatching information whenever SiteScope generates an alert.

The ERROR 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

Alert and Error Log Files 11-7

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.

Run Monitor, BAC, and Operator Logs11-8

Maintaining SiteScope

Failover OverviewWhen 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

Failover Overview 11-9

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 PROGRESS REPORT page from the primary instance as an indicator that primary is still functioning.

If SiteScope failover is unable to get to the PROGRESS REPORT page, it becomes the primary SiteScope server and starts running all replicated monitors. SiteScope failover

SiteScope Failover Internals11-10

Maintaining SiteScope

continues running as primary until it can obtain the PROGRESS 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.

SiteScope Failover Internals 11-11

Maintaining SiteScope

Security OverviewSecurity 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

Security Overview11-12

Maintaining SiteScope

User AccountsThe 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.

User Accounts 11-13

Maintaining SiteScope

SSL BasicsSecure 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.

SSL Basics11-14

Maintaining SiteScope

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.

Keytool.exe 11-15

Maintaining SiteScope

Configuring SiteScope for SSLThe 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.

Configuring SiteScope for SSL11-16

Maintaining SiteScope

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 Basics 11-17

Maintaining SiteScope

SSH UsageConsider 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)

SSH Usage11-18

Maintaining SiteScope

Managing the SiteScope LicenseThe 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.

Managing the SiteScope License 11-19

Maintaining SiteScope

SummaryIn 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.

Summary11-20

Maintaining SiteScope

Review QuestionsAnswer 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 Questions 11-21

Maintaining SiteScope

Review Questions11-22

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 DisagreeStrongly Disagree

N/A

My registration was handled efficiently. 5 4 3 2 1 -The classroom/facilities were clean and well maintained.

5 4 3 2 1 on-site

The classroom equipment worked properly and effectively supported the class.

5 4 3 2 1 on-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 Form E-1

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

5 4 3 2 1

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 FormE-2

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 DisagreeStrongly Disagree

The objectives laid out in the course description were met.

5 4 3 2 1

The course materials were clearly written and easy to follow.

5 4 3 2 1

There was an appropriate amount of content - not too packed or too lean.

5 4 3 2 1

The lab exercises were well constructed and relevant. 5 4 3 2 1The graphics in the course materials were clear and effective.

5 4 3 2 1

I would recommend this course to others. 5 4 3 2 1

Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral DisagreeStrongly Disagree

The instructor had a thorough knowledge of the course content.

5 4 3 2 1

The instructor encouraged participation from stu-dents.

5 4 3 2 1

The instructor was an effective communicator. 5 4 3 2 1The instructor conducted the class at an appropriate pace.

5 4 3 2 1

The instructor made the course relevant by using real-world examples.

5 4 3 2 1

I would recommend this instructor to others. 5 4 3 2 1

Excellent Good OK Needs Improvement Poor

5 4 3 2 1

Class Evaluation Form E-3

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

5 4 3 2 1

Class Evaluation FormE-4

SS95USING-01

Class Evaluation Form E-5

Class Evaluation FormE-6