The common event console is a Tivoli Enterprise Portal view that provides a single, integrated display of events from multiple event systems. In one table, the
common event console presents events from the event systems, and users can sort, filter, and perform actions on these events. The following event systems are supported:
v IBM Tivoli Monitoring
v IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console v IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus
A common event connector (frequently called a connector) is software that enables the integrated display of events from multiple event systems in the common event console. A connector retrieves event data from an event system and sends user-initiated actions to be run in that event system. For example, if you perform an action on a Tivoli Enterprise Console or Netcool/OMNIbus event in the
common event console, the associated common event console connector sends that action to the originating event system (Tivoli Enterprise Console or
Netcool/OMNIbus) for execution. To have the events from a specific event system displayed in the common event console, you must configure a connector for that event system and set a variable in the Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server environment file.
Common Event Console Configuration window
Use the Common Event Console Configuration window to configure a common event console connector for each of your event system instances. Because the connector for the IBM Tivoli Monitoring product is pre-configured when you install the product, the common event console includes situation events by default.
However, to have IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console or IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus events included in the common event console, you must configure a connector for each of these event systems after you install the IBM Tivoli Monitoring product.
This configuration includes specifying which event systems are used to obtain events for display in the common event console. You might also want to change some of the configuration values for the IBM Tivoli Monitoring connector.
About this task
To configure connectors, open the Common Event Console Configuration window by performing the following steps on the computer where the Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server is installed:
1. Select Start → Programs → IBM Tivoli Monitoring → Manage Tivoli Monitoring Services.
2. In the Manage Tivoli Monitoring Services window, right-click Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server.
3. In the menu, click Reconfigure.
4. In the first TEP Server Configuration window, click OK.
5. In the second TEP Server Configuration window, click OK.
6. Click No in answer to the question “Do you want to reconfigure the warehouse connection information for the Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server?”
or
1. At the command prompt, change directory (cd) to Install_dir/bin and enter ./itmcmd manage.
2. In the Manage Tivoli Monitoring Services window, right-click Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server.
3. In the pop-up menu, click Configure.
The portal server stops and, after a moment, the Common Event Console Configuration window opens with the following tabs:
v ITM Connector v TEC Connector v OMNIbus Connector v Names of Extra Columns
ITM Connector tab
Click the ITM Connector tab to view or change the information for the IBM Tivoli Monitoring connector. Because the Tivoli Monitoring event system has a single hub Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server, you configure only one IBM Tivoli Monitoring connector.
The following information defines the IBM Tivoli Monitoring connector:
Enable this connector
You can choose Yes or No. A value of Yes means that IBM Tivoli Monitoring events are available in the common event console.
Connector name
The name that is to be displayed in the common event console for this connector.
Maximum number of events for this connector
The maximum number of events that are to be available in the common event console for this connector.
View closed events
You can choose Yes or No. A value of Yes means that closed events for this connector are available in the common event console.
TEC Connector tab
Click the TEC Connector tab to view or change the information for an IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console connector. To have the events from a Tivoli Enterprise Console server displayed in the common event console, you must configure an IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console connector.
To configure a connector, click New. The resulting TEC Connector page contains the following information that defines an IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console connector:
Connector name
The name that is to be displayed in the common event console for this connector.
Maximum number of events for this connector
The maximum number of events that are to be available in the common event console for this connector.
Computer name of event system
The computer name of the event system that is associated with this connector.
Port number of event system
The object dispatcher (oserv) port number, typically 94. This is the port that the connector uses to retrieve events from the Tivoli Enterprise Console event system.
This is not the port used to connect to the Tivoli Enterprise Console event server (5529 by default).
User name for accessing event system
The user name that is used when accessing the event system that is associated with this connector.
Password
The password that is associated with the user name.
Event group that defines events for common event console
The Tivoli Enterprise Console event group that defines which events are available in the common event console.
If you do not specify an event group, all Tivoli Enterprise Console events are available in the common event console.
If you want to restrict events further, you can also define a clause in the SQL WHERE clause that restricts events for common event consolefield.
SQL WHERE clause that restricts events for common event console
This clause can be applied only to the part of an event that is built from the Tivoli Enterprise Console base attribute table. For example, status <>
30causes all events with a status that is not equal to 30 to be available in the common event console.
If you do not define a clause, all Tivoli Enterprise Console events are available in the common event console, unless they are excluded by an event group that you specified in the Event group that defines events for common event consolefield.
View closed events
You can choose Yes or No. A value of Yes means that closed events for this connector are available in the common event console.
Time interval (in minutes) for polling event system
The number of minutes between each poll of the event system for new or changed events.
Time interval (in minutes) for synchronizing events
The number of minutes between each poll of the event system to determine which events have been deleted.
Time interval (in seconds) between reconnection attempts
The number of seconds of delay between reconnection attempts when the connector loses its connection to the event system.
Number of reconnection attempts
The maximum number of consecutive reconnection attempts to make if the connector loses its connection to the event system.
If this value is set to -1 and the connector loses its connection, the connector attempts to reconnect indefinitely.
Information for extra table columns
The common event console includes five extra table columns that you can customize. In the remaining fields on this TEC Connector page, you can define the Tivoli Enterprise Console attribute type and attribute name that identify the attribute that is to be mapped to each of these customizable columns.
For the attribute type, you can choose one of the following values:
v Base, which means that the attribute is from the Tivoli Enterprise Console base attribute table.
v Extended, which means that the attribute is from the Tivoli Enterprise Console extended attribute table.
OMNIbus Connector tab
Click the OMNIbus Connector tab to view or change the information for an IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus connector. To have the events from a Tivoli
Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer displayed in the common event console, you must configure an IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus connector.
To configure a connector, click New. The resulting OMNIbus Connector page contains the following information that defines an IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus connector:
Connector name
The name that is to be displayed in the common event console for this connector.
Maximum number of events for this connector
The maximum number of events that are to be available in the common event console for this connector.
Computer name of event system
The computer name of the event system that is associated with this connector.
Port number of event system
The ObjectServer port number (usually 4100), which this connector uses to retrieve events from the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus event system.
User name for accessing event system
The user name that is used when accessing the event system that is associated with this connector.
Password
The password that is associated with the user name.
SQL WHERE clause that restricts events for common event console
This clause can be applied only to the part of an event that is built from the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus alerts.status table. For example, Severity
<> 0causes all events with a severity that is not equal to 0 to be available in the common event console.
If you do not define a clause, all Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus events are available in the common event console.
View cleared events
You can choose Yes or No. A value of Yes means that cleared events for this connector are available in the common event console.
Time interval (in minutes) for polling event system
The number of minutes between each poll of the event system for new or changed events.
The Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer automatically sends new or changed events to the common event console as they become available.
Therefore, the primary purpose of this checking is to ensure that the server and the connection to the server are functioning properly.
Time interval (in seconds) between reconnection attempts
The number of seconds of delay between reconnection attempts when the connector loses its connection to the event system.
Number of reconnection attempts
The maximum number of consecutive reconnection attempts to make if the connector loses its connection to the event system.
If this value is set to 0 and the connector loses its connection, the connector remains inoperable indefinitely.
If this value is set to -1 and the connector loses its connection, the connector attempts to reconnect indefinitely.
Information for extra table columns
The common event console includes five extra table columns that you can customize. In the remaining fields on this page, you can define the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus field type and field name that identify the field that is to be mapped to each of these customizable columns.
For the field type, you can choose one of the following values:
v alerts.status, which means that the field contains data from the alerts.status table in the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer.
v alerts.details, which means that the field contains data from the alerts.detailstable in the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer.
v Extended, which means that the field contains extended attributes from a Tivoli Enterprise Console event that has been forwarded to the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus event system.
Names of Extra Columns tab
The common event console includes five extra table columns that you can customize. By default, the following names are used for these columns:
v Extra Column 1 v Extra Column 2 v Extra Column 3 v Extra Column 4 v Extra Column 5
Click the Names of Extra Columns tab to view or change the names of these columns.
When you define a Tivoli Enterprise Console or Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus connector, you can define the information that is to be mapped to each of these customizable columns.
Purpose of extra table columns
The common event console displays only a basic set of information from the Tivoli Enterprise Console base attribute table and the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus
alerts.status and alerts.details tables.
If, for example, you want to see an additional attribute named “origin” from a Tivoli Enterprise Console event, you can perform the following steps:
1. In the Attribute type for extra column 1 field on the TEC Connector page, choose the attribute type, for example, base.
2. In the Attribute name for extra column 1 field on the TEC Connector page, enter the attribute name, for example, origin.
3. In the Name of extra column 1 field on the Names of Extra Columns page, enter the name that you want to use for the column that you have customized.
For example, you might enter Origin.
In the “Origin” column for each row that is a Tivoli Enterprise Console event, the common event console displays the value of the origin attribute.
TEC Connector tab: defining information for extra table columns
In the following fields on the TEC Connector page, you define the information that is to be mapped to the customizable columns:
v Attribute type for extra column 1 v Attribute name for extra column 1 v Attribute type for extra column 2 v Attribute name for extra column 2 v Attribute type for extra column 3 v Attribute name for extra column 3 v Attribute type for extra column 4 v Attribute name for extra column 4 v Attribute type for extra column 5 v Attribute name for extra column 5
OMNIbus Connector tab: defining information for extra table columns
In the following fields on the OMNIbus Connector page, you define the information that is to be mapped to the customizable columns:
v Field type for extra column 1 v Field name for extra column 1 v Field type for extra column 2 v Field name for extra column 2 v Field type for extra column 3 v Field name for extra column 3 v Field type for extra column 4 v Field name for extra column 4 v Field type for extra column 5 v Field name for extra column 5
Best practices when event synchronization is used
In your environment, if Tivoli Monitoring events are forwarded to the Tivoli Enterprise Console or Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus event system for the purpose of event synchronization, you should configure the common event connectors to retrieve only one copy of the same event to avoid having duplicate event information in the common event console.
The following steps outline a way to restrict the common event console to include only the Tivoli Enterprise Console or Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus events that do not originate as Tivoli Monitoring events:
When Tivoli Monitoring events are forwarded to Tivoli Enterprise Console event system
1. On the Tivoli Enterprise Console server, create an event group that defines only the Tivoli Enterprise Console events that do not originate as Tivoli Monitoring events and is named, for example, All_but_ITM.
2. When you configure a TEC Connector, type All_but_ITM in the Event group that defines events for common event consolefield.
3. When you configure the ITM Connector, click Yes in the Enable this connectorfield.
When Tivoli Monitoring events are forwarded to Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus event system
1. When you configure an OMNIbus Connector, type ITMStatus = '' in the SQL WHERE clause that restricts events for common event consolefield, where '' is two single quotes with no space between them. This clause restricts the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus events in the common event console to only those that do not originate as Tivoli Monitoring events.
2. When you configure the ITM Connector, click Yes in the Enable this connectorfield.
The resulting configuration causes the common event console to retrieve Tivoli Monitoring events directly from the Tivoli Monitoring event system rather than the Tivoli Enterprise Console or Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus event system, which
prevents you from having duplicate event information in the common event console.
Troubleshooting problems with connection to Tivoli Enterprise Console server on Linux systems
The following information may be used to troubleshoot problems with connection to Tivoli Enterprise Console server on a Linux system.
Problem
The Tivoli Enterprise Console connector cannot connect to the Tivoli Enterprise Console server. Therefore, Tivoli Enterprise Console events are not available in the common event console.
Explanation
The /etc/hosts file on the computer where the Tivoli Enterprise Portal server is installed must include the local host with the correct IP address.
The following line shows approximately what the default Linux configuration is:
127.0.0.1 my_hostname localhost
The default Linux configuration causes the connection request to be sent to the Tivoli Enterprise Console server with the 127.0.0.1 address, which is not the correct IP address of the computer where the Tivoli Enterprise Portal server is installed. For the Tivoli Enterprise Portal server to connect, it must be able to do a reverse lookup.
Solution
Ensure that the /etc/hosts file includes the local host with the correct IP address. The following two lines show approximately what the correct Linux configuration is, where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address of the computer where the Tivoli Enterprise Portal server is installed:
127.0.0.1 localhost
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx my_hostname