NetcoolOMNIBus Core Overview Venkat M Surath vsurathus ibm

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Agenda § What is Netcool/OMNIbus § Basic Architecture/Components – Object Server – Probs – Gateways – Administrator GUI Tool – Event List (Desktop) – Web GUI – Basic Failover – SQL Interface – Import/Export Utility – Process Agent (PA) – Server Editor – Proxy Server 2 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview § Deployment Steps § Supported Platforms § Basic Failover § Multi-tiered Architecture § OMNIbus Automations – Triggers – Procedures § Object. Server SQL § Troubleshooting § OMNIbus Probe Architecture § OMNIbus Gateways Architecture § Additional Information/References § Questions © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Product Overview - What is Netcool/OMNIbus § It is a SLM system that collects enterprise-wide event information from a wide variety of IT and network resources in real time. § Presents a consolidated view of this information to operators and administrators for monitoring and management. § Tracks alerts/events in a high-performance, in-memory database, and presents information of interest to specific users via filters and views. § Provides automation functions that can perform intelligent processing of alerts. § Alerts (Events) information can then be: – – – 3 Assigned to operators Passed to helpdesk systems Logged in a database Replicated to remote OMNIbus system for consolidation/failover/HA Used to trigger automatic responses to certain events Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Basic Architecture 4 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Components § Object. Server § Probes § Gateways § Desktop – Event List § Administration tools § The Web GUI Server § Gateway Target(s) – RDBMS – Help. Desk/CRM/Etc. 5 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Object Server § Provides the in-memory database which is the core § Event information is forwarded to the Object. Server from – Probes, Gateways, etc. § Event information is stored and managed in database tables § Events are displayed in Desktop Event Lists – or Active Event List (AEL) in the Web GUI § Provides Automations 6 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Probes § Probes connect to an event source and – Detects/Acquires event data – Forwards the data to Object. Server as events/alerts § Probes use the logic specified in a rules file – to map event elements to OS fields/columns of alerts. status § Each probe is uniquely designed – to acquire event data from a specific source § Probes can acquire data from – Sources like Network Devices, Databases, Log Files 7 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Gateways § Gateways enable exchange of events between Object. Server to – Applications, Databases, Helpdesk, etc. § Object. Server Gateways to replicate events with – backup Object. Server for failover § Application gateways integrate business functions. – Eg. Reporting/Archiving, Auto Trouble Ticketing, etc. § Transfer of events once configured is transparent to operators 8 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Administrator GUI Tool § OMNIbus Administrator is a graphical tool § OMNIbus Administrator can be used to – Configure and Manage Object. Servers – Configure process control (PAs) § Started via – $OMNIHOME/bin/nco_config – Netcool Suite > Administrator 9 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Administrator GUI Tool … § Use Administrator to configure the following Object. Server objects: – – – – Users, groups, roles, and restriction filters Event list menus, Tools and prompts Trigger groups/triggers/Procedures User-defined signals Event list alert severity colors Conversions, Classes, Column Visuals Object. Server DB, Files, and properties Channels for AEN § Note most of the functions are available via CLI or SQL interface 10 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Event List (Desktop) § The desktop is an integrated suite of graphical tools used to – View and manage events – Configure how event information is presented § Event information is delivered in a format that you can use to – Quickly determine the availability of IT resources/Services § Most of the features of the desktop are also available in the Web GUI component 11 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Event List (Desktop) … 12 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview ©

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Web GUI § The Web GUI is a Web-based application that – Processes network events from one or more data sources – Presents the event data to users in various graphical formats § The Web GUI contains most features of the /OMNIbus native desktop environment. § The Web GUI uses a client-server architecture. § The Web GUI server runs inside Tivoli Integrated Portal (TIP) § Clients connect to TIP to access the Web GUI. § The Web GUI can be configured for integrations with other Tivoli products. 13 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Web GUI … § Web GUI main components: – Active Event List (AEL) • A Java™ applet functionally similar to native desktop – Lightweight Event List (LEL) • A dynamic HTML event list that provides the data filtering, data sorting, and information drilldown capabilities of the AEL without the event management tools – Table View • A static HTML event list in the form of a table showing a defined set of alerts. – Event Dashboard • Presents the alert information as a series of monitor boxes, from which you can open AELs. – Maps • Administrators can use maps to design visual representations of a network and to create interactive graphical views network performance. – Chart rendering component • Administrators can create charts that present high-level information to users in a number of graphical formats including bar charts and pie charts. 14 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Web GUI … 15 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – SQL Interface § SQL interactive interface – Connect to an Object. Server, and use you to – SQL cmds. for defining and manipulating database objects. – SQL cmds. to interact with, and control, the object. Server – Enables tasks such as creating a new database table or stopping the Object. Server § Available via Admin. GUI or CLI – Use nco_sql on UNIX, isql on Windows or ‘nco_config’ 16 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Import/Export Utility § Utility or Tool (nco_confpack): – Export and Import configurations to deploy duplicate systems – Extract a subset of configuration items from Object. Servers and import them into other Object. Servers – Save Object. Server configuration data for backup/restore purposes 17 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Process Agent (PA) § PA performs two primary tasks: – It runs external procedures that are specified in automations. – It manages local and remote processes. § PA is used to configure remote processes in order to simplify the management of OMNIbus components – Object. Servers, probes, and gateways. § The process control system consists of: – Process agents installed on each host for managing processes – A set of command-line utilities that provide an interface to process management 18 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Server Editor § Server Editor used to maintain communication information for the OMINbus components – Interfaces files § The desktop client and client components connects to the Object. Server using the port defined by the interfaces file for communications. 19 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Server Editor … § Use the Server Editor to – Create and modify communication details (interfaces file) – Test server activity (nco_ping) – Configure virtual server for failover pair (primary/backkup) § To start the Server Editor – On Windows Click Start → Programs → Netcool Suite → System Utilities → Servers Editor – $NCHOME/omnibus/bin/nco_xig en at Unix cmd. prompt 20 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Proxy Server § Usually alerts are forwarded directly to the Object. Server. § When a large number of probes and desktops connects directly to the Object. Server, there can be a negative impact on performance. – Proxy server can reduce the number of probe connections – Multiple probe connections made to the proxy server are multiplexed and forwarded through a single connection to the Object. Server. 21 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Deployment Steps § Step 1: Access software and Product documentation – From Passport Advantage, XL, etc. § Step 2: Evaluate H/W and S/W system required – See Planning information § Step 3: Review the base architecture § Step 4: Install the non-Web components of Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus § Step 5: Create an Object. Server database for use § Step 6: Install the probe and gateway components – Download and install the required probe and gateway components 22 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Deployment Steps … § Step 7: Set up the connections between server components – Define and generate the interface file using the Server Editor § Step 8: Install and configure the Web GUI component (optoinal) – Before installing the Web GUI component, start the Object. Server. § Step 9: Configure process agents (optional) to manage processes § Step 10: Install additional desktop clients (optional) – On additional user workstations, if required. 23 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Supported Platforms § Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus is supported on various versions of UNIX, Linux, and Windows. – aix 5 - AIX® systems – hpux 11 - HP-UX PA-RISC-based systems – hpux 11 hpia - HP-UX Integritybased systems – linux 2 x 86 - Red Hat Linux® and SUSE systems – linux 2 s 390 - Linux for System z® – solaris 2 - Solaris systems – win 32 - Windows systems 24 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Starting/Stopping Object. Server § To start an Object. Server as a process, enter the following command: – nco_pa_start -process Object. Server § Use the nco_objserv command to start the Object. Server manually. – $NCHOME/omnibus/bin/nco_objserv [ -name servername ] § To stop an Object. Server as a process, enter the following command: – nco_pa_stop -process Object. Server § Use the SQL interactive interface connects to Object. Server. When the SQL prompt is displayed, enter the following commands: – 1> alter system shutdown; – 2> go 25 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Basic Failover § The virtual Object. Server is configured using – Primary/Backup failover pair § Desktops, gateways, and probes are connected to the failover pair § If the primary object server fails, – Clients switch to the backup automatically § When the primary object server is available again, – Clients reconnect automatically to it (Fallback) 26 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Multi-tiered Architecture § The standard multitiered architecture ( 3 -Tire ) – Collection – Aggregation – Display § Object. Servers and associated Object. Server Gateways 27 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Automations § Processes alerts without requiring an operator to take action § For example, – Generic_Clear Trigger – Deduplication Trigger § Netcool/OMNIbus includes a number of standard automations § Include Triggers, Signals, and External Procedures 28 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Automations … § Triggers automatically perform a trigger action or fire – when the Object. Server detects an incident (DB change) associated with a trigger § Triggers can run in response to changes – SQL commands – Call procedures § Signals are also part of the automation subsystem – Signals can have triggers attached – Object. Server can automatically respond to signals are raised § Procedures are executable programs that are created to perform common operations 29 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus Automations - Triggers § Trigger Types – Database triggers • Pre/Post database action • Delete/Insert/Reinsert/Update – Signal triggers • Signal triggers fire when a system or user-defined signal is raised – Temporal triggers • Temporal triggers fire based on a specified frequency • For example, delete_clear 30 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus Automations - Procedures § A procedure is an executable object that can be called to perform common operations. § The types of procedures are as follows: – SQL procedures, which manipulate data in an Object. Server database • For example, SQL procedure that generates a report on the total number of alerts received (and deduplicated) for a given node – External procedures, which run an executable file on a local or remote system • For example, external procedure calls a program called nco_mail, which sends e -mail about unacknowledged critical alerts. 31 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Object. Server SQL § Object. Server SQL commands include: – DDL cmds. to create, alter, and drop DB objects – DML cmds. to query and manipulate data in existing database objects – System cmds. to alter the configuration of an Object. Server § SQL interactive interface to connects to an Object. Server and run SQL commands. – UNIX nco_sql -servername username; Windows isql -S servername -U username – nco_sql -server OS 1 -username myuser -password mypass • 1> select * from alerts. status; • 2> go 32 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Object. Server Troubleshooting § Check Environment variables – $NCHOME, and $OMNIHOME § Check nco process – PA, ps –eaf | grep nco § Check Port Usage – netstat -na | grep 4100 § Check the interface file – Servers Editor (nco_xigen) § Check DEBUG logs – Message. Level DEBUG § Check DB Size (number of events) – select count(*) from alerts. status; § Check Object. Server profile – Enable Profiling 33 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Additional Information/References § IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus documentation – http: //publib. boulder. ibm. com/infocent er/tivihelp/v 8 r 1/index. jsp § IBM Redbooks – Certification Guide Series: IBM Tivoli Netcool/Webtop V 2. 0 Implementation – Best Practices for IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console to Netcool/OMNIbus Upgrade – Integration Guide for IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus, IBM Tivoli Network Manager, and IBM Tivoli Netcool Configuration Manager 34 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Probe Architecture 35 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview § The function of a probe is to acquire information from an event source and forward it to the Object. Server. § Probes use tokens and elements, and apply rules, to transform event source data into a format the Object. Server can recognize. 1. Event data is generated by the probe target. 2. The probe acquires the event data and processes it based on a rules file. The probe then forwards the processed data to the Object. Server as an alert. 3. The Object. Server stores and manages alerts, which can be displayed in the event list, and optionally forwarded to one or more gateways. © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Probe Architecture … 1. The probe breaks the raw event data into tokens. 2. The probe then parses these tokens into elements and processes the elements according to the rules in the rules file. § Elements are identified in the rules file by the $ symbol. For example, $Node. 3. Elements are used to assign values to Object. Server fields. § Elements are indicated by the @ symbol. 4. Fields make up the alerts that are forwarded to the Object. Server, and are stored/managed in the alerts. status table. 5. The Identifier field is derived or generated by the rules file and is used for deduplication. 36 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Probes § Universal Probes, for example, – SNMP probe - nco_p_mttrapd – Log File Probe - nco_p_glf – ODBC Probe - nco_p_odbc § Specific Probes, fore example, – Tivoli EIF Probe nco_p_tivoli_eif – Cisco PIX Probe - nco_p_pix – Microsoft SCOM Probe -nco-p-scom 2007 37 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus - Probe Types § Probes can be categorized based on how they acquire events. The types of probes are: – – – Device Log file Database API CORBA Miscellaneous § The probe type is determined by the method in which the probe detects events. For example, § Probe for Agile ATM Switch Management detects events produced by a device, but it gets events from a log file, not directly from the switch. So, it is considered as a log file probe and not a device probe. § Probe for Oracle obtains event data from a database table, and is a database probe. 38 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Probe Components § Netcool/OMNIbus probe usually consists of the following primary components: – – an executable file, a properties file, a rules file, and Optional additional probe specific components. § The executable file is the core of a probe. It connects to the event source, processes events, and forwards the events to the Object. Server as alerts. – The executable file for the Simnet Probe that runs on Linux is: $OMNIHOME/probes/linux 2 x 86/nco_p_simnet § To start Simnet Probe on UNIX, run the wrapper script : – $OMNIHOME/probes/nco_p_simnet § When the probe starts, it gets the configuration information from event definition, properties, and rules file – 39 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview simnet. def, simnet. props, simnet. rules © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways 40 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways … § The preceding figure illustrates how to use gateways for a variety of purposes: 1. Probes send alerts to the local Object. Server. 2. The Object. Server Gateway replicates alerts between Object. Servers in a failover configuration. 3. The Helpdesk gateway integrates the Network Operations Center (NOC) and the helpdesk by converting trouble tickets to alerts, and alerts to trouble tickets. 4. The RDBMS gateway stores critical alerts in a relational database management system (RDBMS) so that you can analyze network performance. 41 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways … § Gateways can send alerts to a variety of targets: – Another Object. Server (Uni & Bi Gateway) – A database (ODBC Gateway) – A helpdesk application (Remedy Gateway) – Other applications or devices (Flat File Gateway) 42 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways … § A unidirectional Object. Server Gateway – allows alerts to flow from a source Object. Server to a destination Object. Server § A bidirectional Object. Server Gateway – allows alerts to flow from both source/destination Object. Server 43 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways … § Gateways have reader and writer components. § Readers extract alerts from the Object. Server. § Writers forward alerts to another Object. Server or to other applications. 44 Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation

Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways … § § § § § 45 Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus gateways Gateway for Clarify Flat File Writer Gateway for HP Service. Center Object. Server Gateway Guide for V 7. 3. 0 Object. Server Gateway Guide for V 7. 2. 1 Object. Server Gateway Guide for V 7. 2 ODBC Gateway for Oracle Gateway for Remedy ARS Gateway for Siebel SNMP Writer Gateway Socket Writer Gateway TCP Echo Utility Gateway for Tivoli EIF Gateway for TSRM Message Bus Integration with TSRM Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview © 2009 IBM Corporation