Monitoring Applications with Monitoring Studio X · 2019-04-30 · Modern Web UI Monitoring templates deployment in TrueSight limited to 3 simple steps. Mass Deployment Monitoring

Monitoring Applications with

Monitoring Studio X

1Copyright 2019 Sentry Software

Copyright 2019 Sentry Software 2

Course Overview

Objectives

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

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DESCRIBE

Monitoring Studio X application usage

• Installation prerequisites

CONFIGURE

Basic Monitors

Monitors with content

Content parsing Monitors

• Dynamic objects

USE

• The Studio X Console

• The Events page

• The PATROL REST API

• The troubleshooting tools



Getting Started

About Monitoring Studio X

Top Features

Basic Concepts

Monitors Available

A Configurable Module to Fill Monitoring Gaps

• TrueSight Operations Management

• Pre-built Knowledge Modules for:

• Servers: Windows, UNIX, Linux

• Virtual Servers: VMware, Citrix, Amazon Web Services, etc.

• Databases, Middleware: Oracle, Sybase, WebSphere, JBoss, etc.

• Standard Applications: Exchange, SAP, etc.

• Monitoring Studio X

• A configurable module to cover the rest (REST, CLI, WMI, SSH, SQL, SNMP, etc.)

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Hardware

Operating system

Middleware

Monitored with pre-built modules

Application

100 %

Monitored with Monitoring Studio


The 5 Top Features of Monitoring Studio X

Developed with the most popular front-end and back-end technologies.

Modern Web UI

Monitoring templates deployment in TrueSight limited to 3 simple steps.

Mass Deployment

Monitoring Studio X still offers all the powerful monitoring capabilities of previous versions.

Monitoring Capabilities

Interact in real-time with the PATROL Agent and its main components through a REST API.

Live Interactions

Configure the monitoring of business applications and PATROL Agent settings in one place.

Unified Configuration

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General Concepts

Hosts: Provide information about the target server where the

technology to be monitored is running. They are created independently

and can use none, one, or several templates

Templates: Technology to be monitored. Attached to one or several

hosts, templates contain the list of monitors and additional credentials

Monitors: Define a monitoring action in a Template. Monitors are

therefore directly attached to Templates in the configuration.

Credentials: Credentials are declared at the Template level and set at

the Host level. 7

Templates on GitHub: https://github.com/sentrysoftware/studioX-templates

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Monitors Available

3 types of Monitors

1. Basic Monitors (File System, Process,

Windows Events, etc.)

2. Monitors with Content (Command Line, File,

Folder, HTTP Request, etc.)

3. Parsing Content Monitors (String Search,

Numeric Value Extraction, Value Map,

Dynamic Objects)

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Setting up Monitoring Studio X

Configuring Monitoring Studio X

to monitor applications

Setting up Monitoring Studio X

1. Install Monitoring Studio X and the

PATROL Agent on a TEST system

2. Configure your monitoring template on

the TEST environment

3. Export the template and import it into a

CMA policy in TrueSight

4. Deploy Monitoring Studio X and the

policy to the relevant production systems

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1. Install Monitoring Studio X on your PATROL agents just

like any standard KM either through :

• the BMC Installation Utility

• or BMC TrueSight

2. Enter this URL in your Web browser to access the Web

Interface :

https://<patrol-agent>:<patrol-agent-port+262>/

Installing Monitoring Studio X



Configuring Your

Monitoring Templates

General Procedure

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Define the host(s) Create your monitoring

templates

Apply yourmonitoring templates to

the relevant host(s).


Defining Hosts

Info required by Monitoring Studio X:

• System Type (Windows, UNIX/Linux, or Other)

• List of Hostnames or IP addresses of the hosts to be monitored

Optional Settings:

• System Credentials

• SNMP settings

• Availability check

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Creating Monitoring Templates

Option 1: Import in Monitoring Studio X the free Templates

available on

Option 2: Create your own Template and provide the required

information :

• Host system type to which the template will apply

• The required credentials

• The Monitors to be used.

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Free templates on GitHub: https://github.com/sentrysoftware/studioX-templates


Applying Templates to Hosts

• Templates are applied at the Host level.

• The Templates available for hosts depend on both the host type

and the template type:

• Templates for All Systems apply to any host type

• Templates for Windows Systems apply to Windows hosts only

• Templates for Linux/UNIX apply to Linux/UNIX hosts only.

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Configuring

Basic Monitors

File System, Process, SNMP Trap, Windows

Events, Windows Performance Counters, and

Windows Service

File System Monitor

• Purpose: Monitor a file system critical for the monitored system/

application

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: The file system path

• Parameters: Available capacity, percentage of available Inodes,

consumed capacity growth

• Typical use case: Be informed when the disk space available is low

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Process Monitor

• Purpose: Monitor one or several processes

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: The process name, its

command line, or its user ID.

• Parameters: Number of matching processes, total processor time

utilization, total memory consumption, etc.

• Typical use case: Ensure that the monitored application is

functioning properly by checking that processes are running. If

they are not, restart them using Alert Actions.

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SNMP Trap Monitor

• Purpose: Listen for SNMP traps and enable rapid recovery actions

depending on the traps received

• Requirement: Enable the SNMP Agent to send the traps to the

PATROL Agent where Monitoring Studio X is installed

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Enterprise OID, Varbind

OIDs and values

• Parameters: Matching trap count, matching trap rate

• Typical use case: Be informed when an SNMP trap is sent and

trigger recovery actions.

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Windows Event Monitor

• Purpose: Monitor events posted to the Windows Event Log.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: The Windows Event Log to

be monitored, the Event Source (provider name) and when alerts

should be triggered

• Parameters: Number of matching events and rate at which they

are found

• Typical use case: Track events posted to the Windows Event Log

and generate an alert when a specific event is found.

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Windows Performance Counter Monitor

• Purpose: Monitor Windows Performance Counters.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X:

• Name of the Windows performance object that contains the

counter to be monitored

• Name of the instance to be monitored.

• Parameters: Value of the Windows Performance Counter.

• Typical use case: Monitor Windows Performance Counters to

know how applications affect the server’s performance.

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Windows Service Monitor

• Purpose: Monitor the state of a Windows service and interpret

the state to determine its status

• Requirement: Both the PATROL Agent and the monitored host

must be running on Windows

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Short name of the Windows

service

• Parameters: Service details and status

• Typical use case: Monitor Windows services and generate an alert

when their status is Suspicious or Failed.

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Configuring

Monitors with Content

Monitors that generate content that can

later be analyzed by Content Parsing

Monitors

Command Line Monitor

• Purpose: Run commands or in-house scripts and analyze their

result on a regular basic.


• Command line (shell command, shell script, or executable file with

arguments) to be executed

• Credentials required to run the command

• Parameters: Execution time, exit code, result, and status.

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The result can later be analyzed with Content Parsing Monitors.


Database Query (SQL) Monitor

• Purpose: Execute an SQL statement against a database server to:

• check the availability of the database

• check the result of a specific query

• extract data of interest for monitoring


• The type of database (set at the Template level)

• The SQL query to run

• The database-specific information (set in the Host page when

applying the Template)

• Parameters: Execution time, result, and status.

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The most popular database servers are supported out-of-the-box (Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle and PostgreSQL), but any JDBC-enabled database can be supported as well.

A Template can only connect to and monitor one single database.


File Monitor

• Purpose: Check the presence of a log or flat file, monitor its size,

growth percentage and speed. Know when it was last modified.

Parse its content.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: File path

• Parameters: Presence, growth percentage and speed, size,

elapsed time since file was last modified.

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Folder Monitor

• Purpose: Monitor the directories used by your applications to

ensure that the application is not overloaded and measure the

applications activity.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Folder path.

• Parameters: Presence, folder size, number of files, growth

percentage and speed, several rates, etc.

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HTTP Request Monitor

• Purpose: Perform an HTTP request and analyze the response of the HTTP server to:

• monitor the availability of a Web page,

• extract useful information from a Web-based administration user interface,

• extract data from a Web service,

• extract data from a REST API.


• The URL containing the hostname of the HTTP server.

• (Optional] Authentication method to be used, HTTP request

headers and body, and HTTP status codes.

• Parameters: Status, execution time, and HTTP status code

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Nagios Plugin Monitor

• Purpose: Execute any Nagios plugin and monitor the results in

TrueSight without requiring a native Nagios environment.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Command to run the Nagios

plugin.

• Parameters: Execution time and status.

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Parameter Combination Monitor

• Purpose: Combine any Monitor parameter of the Template with a

mathematical formula or a PSL statement.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Variables to be processed

and the formula to apply. Predefined PSL functions are

supported.

• Parameters: Result and value.

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PSL Script Monitor

• Purpose: Run PSL commands on the local PATROL Agent system

to check the PATROL Agent health.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: PSL command or script to

be executed.


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SNMP Polling Monitor

• Purpose: Poll the SNMP agent and retrieve the value of a given

OID or the values of an SNMP table.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Info required will vary

whether Monitoring Studio X polls a single OID or an SNMP

table.

• Parameters: Execution time, result, status, and value.

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WBEM Query Monitor

• Purpose: Query a WBEM provider.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: The WBEM namespace and

a WQL query.


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WMI Query Monitor (For Windows Hosts Only)

• Purpose: Execute a WQL query against a Windows host and

analyze its result.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: WMI query to be run and

WMI namespace.


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Configuring Content Parsing Monitors

Monitors to parse the content generated by

the Monitors with Content

Text Pre-Processing Monitor

• Purpose: Transform a multi-line, XML, JSON, or HTML content

into a simpler format (single line, CSV, flat map, etc.) to be parsed

by the Content Parsing Monitors.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Transformation to be

applied.

• Parameter: Result.

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String Search Monitor

• Purpose: Search for a specific string in the information sources

previously configured (flat or log files, output of a Web request or

a database query, OID content, etc.)

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: String(s) to be searched,

where the string(s) should be found, and how alerts should be

acknowledged

• Parameters: Last matching lines, matching line count, and

matching line rate.

• Typical usage: Search for the Failure or Error string in a log file to

be informed as soon as a problem occurs and to have Monitoring

Studio X acknowledge the alert when the Success string is found.

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Numeric Value Extraction Monitor

• Purpose: Extract a number from the information sources

previously configured.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Information source, location

and position of the numeric value in the searched lines, and the

value to be considered.

• Parameters: Presence and value.

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Value Map Monitor

• Purpose: Extract values from result outputs generated by other

Monitors and map up to 25 of these values to user-defined

statuses.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: The source from which the

values will be extracted, where the values can be found and how

to map them.

• Parameters: Status and status information.

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Dynamic Object Monitor

• Purpose: Dynamically create Monitor objects based on the Result

generated by a parent Monitor with Content and create an

instance for each line found in the Result parameter.

• Info required by Monitoring Studio X: Instance ID, object name,

column separator.

• Parameters: Presence and result.

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Only available for the File, Command Line, HTTP Request, WMI Query, WBEM Query, Database Query, SNMP Polling, PSL Script, and Nagios Plugin Monitor Pages.



Configuring Alerts

Alerts and Alert Messages

Configuring Alerts

Purpose: Configure any numeric parameter to trigger alerts, send

notifications and take specific actions when certain conditions are

met.

Possible alarms:

• Alarm #1 and #2 to define the range of values that trigger

warnings and alarms.

• Out-of-range to be informed when values are outside the norm.

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Configuring Alert Messages

Purpose: Define how you will be notified when alert conditions are

detected.

Possible Alert Messages:

• Annotation

• PATROL Event

• Command Line

• PSL Script

• Email

• Write to a Log File

• Send an SNMP Trap

Default message content can be customized with macros.

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Deploying in TrueSight

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Deploying in TrueSight

Create the templateExport the template

Import the template

Configure the hosts that will use

this template

Monitoring Studio X Web Interface TrueSight - CMA

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Additional Features

Embedded Files

• Purpose: Helps ensure that files are distributed along with the

Template configuration.

• Embedded files are:

• text files saved in the Template configuration itself.

• referred to from the Command Line or Nagios Plugin Monitors

with the %{FILE:<filename>} macro

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The Dry Run Feature

• Purpose: Challenge your monitoring settings before implementing

them by conducting dry runs (live testing)

• Available for all Monitors with Content

• Procedure:

1. Configure a Monitor with Content

2. Select the Host on which the technology to be monitored is

installed

3. Click the Dry Run button.

4. Check the preview on the right pane. If problems are detected,

make the needed adjustments.

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The PATROL REST API

Purpose: Interact with the PATROL Agent and its main

components:

• authentication

• agent, platform info, troubleshooting (get)

• agent configuration (get, set, download)

• namespace (get)

• events (get)

• console (get, history)

• studio (get, set, download)

All functions are fully documented: https://www.sentrysoftware.com/library/swagger-ui/?url=/openapi.yaml

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The Console Page

• Purpose: Visualize in one page:

• the KMs loaded on the PATROL Agent

• the components in alarm

• additional information about the issue.

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The Events Page

• Purpose: Visualize in one page all the events triggered by the

PATROL Agent.

• From the Events page you can:

• Download the events as a CSV file

• Filter events by description, origin, class, or type

• Acknowledge, close, or delete events.

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The PATROL Agent Settings Page

• Purpose: Manage the main properties of the PATROL Agent

directly from the Monitoring Studio X Web Interface.

• Settings Available:

• Default user account

• User access rights

• KMs preload

• Data retention periods

• TrueSight integration

• Advanced settings

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The Java Settings Page

• Purpose: Because Monitoring Studio X relies on Java to serve its

Web interface, you can finetune several java settings like:

• the JRE to be used

• the JVM heap size.

You can also restart the JVM directly from the Web Interface.

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The HTTP Server Page

• Purpose: Configure the HTTP Server directly from the Web

interface.

• Settings Available:

• Enable/Disable HTTP server

• Authentication

• HTTPS port

• Session timeout,

• Etc.

You can also restart the JVM directly from the Web Interface.

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The Troubleshooting Tools

• Purpose: Get in one page all the necessary features to facilitate

backups, troubleshooting, and advanced configuration operations.

• Tools available:

• Debug

• Configuration Backup and Restore

• Configuration Hacker

• Encryption Tool

• PSL Process List

• KM List

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Documents

Monitoring Applications with Monitoring Studio X · 2019-04-30 · Modern Web UI Monitoring templates deployment in TrueSight limited to 3 simple steps. Mass Deployment Monitoring