Probe Guide for NT Event Log
Monitoring
v4.0 series
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Contents 5
Contents
Chapter 1: ntevl 4.0
7
ntevl Overview ... 7
Chapter 2: ntevl Probe Deployment
11
Supported Platforms ... 11System Requirements ... 11
Software Requirements ... 11
Probe Deployment Information ... 12
Installation Notes ... 12
Chapter 3: Upgrades and Migrations
13
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration
15
Probe Configuration Interface Installation for ntevl ... 15Probe Defaults ... 16
Probe Configuration ... 16
Setup Tab ... 17
Status Tab ... 36
Parameters in a Posted Message ... 37
Chapter 5: Edit Probe Configuration
39
View Event Details... 42Regular Expression Construct Rules ... 44
Chapter 6: Operation and Use
47
Chapter 7: ntevl QoS Metrics
49
Chapter 8: Known Issues
51
Chapter 1: ntevl 4.0 7
Chapter 1: ntevl 4.0
This description applies to ntevl probe version 4.0.
This section contains the following topics:
ntevl Overview (see page 7)
Documentation Changes (see page 8)
ntevl Overview
An event is a significant activity on a system or application which requires user
attention. Microsoft Windows logs all such events and make them available to the user through the Event Viewer tool. This process helps the user to identify and troubleshoot the hardware or software issues on the system.
As a system administrator, you can use the NT Event Log Monitoring probe for viewing the event logs. The probe lets you create a monitoring profile for filtering the events that you want to monitor and generate alarms for unexpected events. The probe also generates QoS for storing historical event data and generates trends over time for analyzing the system and application performance.
Note: The NT Event Log Monitoring probe monitors the event logs of the host system
only where the probe is deployed. The probe does not have any option for adding a network system for monitoring the events.
The NT Event Log Monitoring probe now supports the following non-English locales:
■ B-Portuguese
■ Chinese (traditional and simplified)
ntevl Overview
8 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Documentation Changes
This table describes the version history for this document.
Version Date What's New?
4.0 September
2014 ■ Updated the Properties Tab and Status Tab topics.
■ Added the Language String Configuration Tab and Subsystems Configuration Tab topics.
■ Removed the Configure Locale Specific Severity
String topic.
3.9 June 2014 ■ Updated the Software Requirements topic. 3.9 December 2013 ■ Updated the Event Selection Tab section.
■ Updated the Alarm/Post Tab section.
■ Added the View Event Details section.
■ Added the Configuring Locale Specific Severity
String section.
■ Updated the Operator filed description of the
Variables Tab section.
3.8 December 2012 ■ Added functionality to monitor Operational and Admin event logs (introduced from
Vista/Windows 2008 onwards).
■ Added support to monitor other windows event apart from Application, Security, and System only.
■ Added Probe Defaults.
■ The Source field is renamed to Source/Publisher
Name.
3.7 October 2012 ■ Added support for converting event description to a localized form.
■ Added a check box - Run command on match, containing two fields, Command executable and
Command arguments.
ntevl Overview
Documentation Changes 9 Related Documentation
Documentation for other versions of the ntevl probe The Release Notes for the ntevl probe
Monitor Metrics Reference Information for CA Unified Infrastructure Management Probes
Chapter 2: ntevl Probe Deployment 11
Chapter 2: ntevl Probe Deployment
This section contains prerequisites, system requirements, and deployment information for the ntevl probe.
This section contains the following topics:
Supported Platforms (see page 11)
System Requirements (see page 11)
Software Requirements (see page 11)
Probe Deployment Information (see page 12)
Installation Notes (see page 12)
Supported Platforms
Refer to the Compatibility Support Matrix for the latest information about supported platforms. See also the Support Matrix for Probes for more specific information about the probe.
System Requirements
The ntevl probe must be installed on systems with the following minimum resources:
■ Memory: 2-4 GB of RAM. The OOB configuration of the probe requires 256 MB of RAM
■ CPU: 3-GHz dual-core processor 32, or 64 bit
Software Requirements
The ntevl probe requires the following software environment:
■ Nimsoft Monitor Server 7.1 to 7.6 or CA Unified Infrastructure Management 8.0 or
later
■ Robot 7.1 or later
■ Probe Provisioning Manager (PPM) probe version 2.38 or later (for Admin Console GUI only)
■ Java Virtual Machine 1.6 or later
Probe Deployment Information
12 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Probe Deployment Information
There are three ways to distribute archive packages. You can distribute the package within the web-based Admin Console (for supported probes), from within Infrastructure Manager, or use the standalone Distribution application. See Probe Deployment for more information on deploying probes.
Installation Notes
The NT Event Log Monitoring probe monitors the event logs for new messages and generates alarm messages according to your setup. You can configure the probe for triggering each time a new message is added to the event log or you can check the event log for new messages at a fixed interval, which will reduce the system load generated by the probe. Consider the following points while installing the NT Event Log Monitoring:
■ Restart the probe when the time zone is changed or when "Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes" is selected or cleared.
■ The Windows event log watcher probe version 3.0x uses WMI to retrieve the event
Chapter 3: Upgrades and Migrations 13
Chapter 3: Upgrades and Migrations
At time upgrading the probe from any previous version to 4.00, delete the
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 15
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration
The ntevl probe is configured by defining one or more profiles, identifying a set of criteria for event log message selection and how these messages should be treated. This allows you to define different actions for different event log messages.
This probe is configured to generate alerts based on messages from the Windows event logs.
This section contains the following topics:
Probe Configuration Interface Installation for ntevl (see page 15)
Probe Defaults (see page 16)
Probe Configuration (see page 16)
Probe Configuration Interface Installation for ntevl
Probe Defaults
16 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Probe Defaults
At the time of deploying a probe for the first time on robot, some default configuration will get deployed automatically. These probe defaults could be Alarms, QoS, Profiles and so on which save time to configure the default settings. These probe defaults are available on a fresh install, that is no instance of that probe is already available on that robot in activated or deactivated state.
The NT Event Log Monitoring probe has following default properties:
Setup > Properties
■ Poll Interval: 30 Seconds
■ Alarm Timeout: 10 Seconds
■ Log File: ntevl.log
■ Log File Size: 100 KB
■ Maximum Events to Fetch: 1000
■ Fetch Alarms on Configurator Startup: Selected
■ WMI Query Timeout: 1
■ WMI Timeout Interval Unit: Seconds
■ Alarm List Size: 1000
■ Log Files to be Monitored: System, Application, and Security
Setup > Profiles
■ allevents: Monitors all events of the log file, which are selected for monitoring.
■ allerrors: Monitors all events where the event severity is Error.
■ MSEchange event: Monitors all events where the event source or publisher contains the MSExchange text and the event severity is Error.
Probe Configuration
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 17
Setup Tab
When you double-click the probe name in Infrastructure Manager, the GUI for ntevl probe is displayed with Setup tab (Profiles sub tab) opened, by default.
This tab contains the below listed sub tabs:
■ Properties ■ Profiles
■ Exclude
■ Language String Configuration ■ Subsystems Configuration
Probe Configuration
18 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Properties Tab
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 19
The Properties tab contains the following fields:
Probe Active
If selected, activates the probe. To deactivate it, clear the check box.
Description Delimiter
Adds any ASCII character including special characters to replace with new line character of the event log message. For example, the event log message consists of three lines and the description delimiter is #; then the probe returns Line 1 Text #
Line 2 Text # Line 3 Text in the alarm message. Remove Recurring Delimiter
If selected, removes a repetition of delimiter. For example, there is an empty line in the event log message then only one delimiter is used.
Run Type
Allows you to select Event to trigger the probe every time Windows NT puts a new message into the event log. Select Poll and specify a Poll Interval and Alarm
Timeout to check at regular intervals.
Note: The recommendation is to use the Event mode for processing events in real
time. In Poll mode, there is additional overhead in creating query each time. You might experience momentary increase in CPU usage if number of events
Probe Configuration
20 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring Logging
Allows you to specify the file (Log File) to which the probe logs information about its internal activity and the level of details written to the log file (Log Level). Log as little as possible during normal operation (to minimize disk consumption), and increase the amount of detail when debugging. You can also configure maximum size (Log Size) of the log file in KB. The probe takes the back-up of the log file, clears the log content, and write new logs to the file when log file size reaches the limit.
Post Event Log Message Setup Default Post Subject
Defines the default event log post message subject. A subject, which is used internally in CA UIM for alarm messages, cannot be used in this field:
■ alarm ■ alarm_new ■ alarm_update ■ alarm_close ■ alarm_assign ■ alarm_stats ■ QOS_MESSAGE ■ QOS_DEFINITION
In case, any of the given subject is used then the probe uses the evl_ as the message subject. If the field is left blank, probe uses ntevl as the default post message subject.
Note: This field only defines the default post message subject, select the Post Message option in the Profiles > Alarm/Post tab for sending the message. You
can even override the message subject at profile level.
Column Prefix
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 21 Fetch Event Setup
Maximum Events to Fetch
Specifies the maximum number of events that are fetched from the event log in the Status tab. The default value is 1000, if no value is provided in this field. The limit is defined to avoid timeout situations when fetching events from the probe.
Fetch Alarms on Configurator Startup
Fetches all alarms at configuration start-up (select the Status tab to see the alarm list). By default, this option is enabled.
If the option is not checked, this list will be empty at configurator start-up, and you have to click the Refresh button the Status tab to fetch the alarms.
Output Encoding
Specifies the character encoding for generating alarms and QoS messages when the probe is deployed in a non-English locale. The recommendation is to use same encoding as the monitored system, unless necessary.
System Encoding
Specifies the system encoding where the probe is installed.
Note: The probe auto-detects the system and output encoding when these field
values are blank. However, the recommendation is to specify the appropriate encoding in the fields. You can use UTF-8, UTF-16BE, UTF-16LE, UTF-32BE, UTF-32LE, Shift_JIS, ISO-2022-JP, ISO-2022-CN, ISO-2022-KR, GB18030, GB2312, Big5, EUC-JP, EUC-KR, ISO-8859-1, ISO-8859-2, windows-1250, and windows-1252 encodings.
Alarm List Size
Defines the buffer size for storing the event details that match the monitoring profile criteria. This field is useful when a profile generates an alarm after receiving some matching events. For example, a monitor profile generates an alarm when the matching events count reaches 50. If the event count is up to 49; the probe keeps the events detail in the buffer.
Note: This field value must be greater than or equal to number of monitoring
profiles.
WMI Query Timeout
Defines the time-out interval of WMI query for fetching the monitoring data. The probe uses WMI queries for fetching event log details when hosted on earlier than Windows Server 2008 operating systems.
Note: The WMI service must be enabled on the host system for this option to work. WMI Timeout Interval Unit
Probe Configuration
22 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring Available Log Files
Provides a list of available Log files, which you can select for monitoring. Select any of the log files and click the >> button to start monitoring. This option is available only for Vista and later version of Windows operating systems (OS).
Log Files to be Monitored
Displays a list of log files being monitored by the probe. The log files Application, Security and System are added by default and cannot be removed. However, you can add/remove other log files from the Available Log Files list view. This option is available for Vista and later version of Windows OS only.
Note: The ntevl probe does not monitor the Debug and Analytic logs.
Profiles Tab
When you select the Profiles tab, the GUI is displayed which contains the list of profiles in the left pane and some sub tabs in the right pane. These sub tabs are used to configure the selected profile.
The Profiles tab contains the following fields:
<List>
Displays all the defined setup profiles. The check box to the left of the profile name must be checked to enable the profile. Select a profile to display/modify its parameters.
The first profile in the list is processed first and then the next one. Right-clicking in the list allows you to create, copy, delete profile, move up, and move down a profile.
Important! Do not use slash (/) in the profile name, else the probe trims the profile
name from the slash (/) character and discards the profile properties. For example, if the profile name is My/Profile then the probe only saves My as the profile name. Description
A text string identifying the watcher.
The four sub tabs in the Profiles tab are listed below:
■ Event selection (see page 23)
■ Alarm / Post (see page 25)
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 23
Event Selection Tab
Probe Configuration
24 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
The Event Selection tab contains the following fields:
Event Selection Criteria
Defines the event selection criteria for filtering the event list and identifying the event for monitoring. An asterisk (*) in one of these fields means that the profile processes all log messages regardless of the contents in the field.
No Propagation of Events
Excludes an event matching the selection criteria of one monitoring profile with other profiles. This option is helpful to avoid multiple alarms for same event that matches with multiple profiles.
Note: The probe processes each monitoring profile in their creation order.
Right-click the profile and move it up or down for changing their processing order.
Log
Specifies the log file from where the probe monitors the event. The event log files, which are selected in the Properties tab (see page 18) are displayed here.
Computer
Defines the computer name on which the event has occurred.
Note: You can use localhost in the Computer field to get only local messages.
You can also use both ranges and commas in the same entry, such as 1-5 and 9-20.
Source/Publisher Name
Defines the source or the publisher from where the event has logged.
Severity
Specifies the event severity.
Note: The audit success and audit failure severity options are applicable only
for Windows earlier than Vista and 2007. Microsoft has moved these options to the keyword field from Windows Vista and 2007 onwards. The severity level of these events is shown as Informational in the event viewer. The current implementation of the ntevl probe does not support monitoring on basis of the
keyword field. User
Defines the Windows user account for which the event is generated.
Category
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 25 Event ID
Defines the event ID you are monitoring. Use * for monitoring all events of the selected log file.
Note: The Event ID field does not support regular expressions. Message String
Defines the alarm message text when the event selection criteria matches an event.
Run Command on Match
Allows you to run the command when an event matches the selected criteria.
Command Executable
Specifies the command to execute when an event matches the profile. You can use the Browse button to configure a batch file path. For example, you can execute a script for sending an email to the support executive for resolving the issue.
Command Arguments
Defines the parameters which are required for executing the command or the batch file. For example, define the email ID of the support executive for sending an email. This field is optional.
Probe Configuration
26 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
The Alarm / Post tab contains the following tabs:
Send Alarm
If selected, sends a alarm message on recognition of an event log message.
Alarm Message
Creates/edits an alarm message for the selected profile, and you are allowed to use variables in the messages:
■ $profile: Name of the Profile for which alarm/QoS is generated.
■ $description: User-defined description.
■ $variable: User-defined variable.
■ $source: The source from where the event is logged, for example, [Service Control Manager].
■ $event_id: The ID of the particular event.
■ $category: Category name of the particular event, for example, [Management] and [Disk].
■ $log: The event log name, for example, [System] and [Application].
■ $severity: The event Severity level of the event.
■ $severity_str: The severity code name, for example, [error] and [information].
■ $user: Username of the event.
■ $computer: Host name of the system on which the event is generated.
■ $time_stamp: Date Timestamp when the event is generated.
■ $message: Message description available in the event logger.
■ $record_id: The record number which is assigned to the event when the event is logged.
■ $evlData: The variable $evlData can be used to get the data associated with the event. If no data is present, None is added to the message.
Level
Specifies the severity level of the generated alarms. You can select from
eventlog for using the same severity level as the eventlog message.
Note: The critical level is supported at Windows Server 2008 only and for an error type event probe generates a Minor severity alarm.
Subsystem
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 27
However, using any custom subsystem ID is not recommended as it can give an unexpected view of the QoS data on USM.
Set Suppression Key, Optional key
Activates the message suppression feature, which avoids the multiple instances of the same alarm-event (variables can be used). By default, the alarm
description is used for suppressing alarms and probe sends only one alarm with the same description in one interval. You can also define the custom
suppression key for suppressing the alarms.
If you want to receive separate alarms, clear this check box.
Time Frame
Defines the time interval during which the probe monitors the events and keeps the matching events in buffer. This field is different from Poll Interval which is configured in the Properties tab.
Event Count Operator
Defines the operator for thresholding the event count, which matches the profile during a given time frame.
Event Count
Defines the event count for comparing with the actual event count in buffer and generate alarm when the threshold breaches.
For example, the Time Frame is 5 min, Event Count Operator is > (greater than) and Event Count is 4. Now, the probe scans the event log messages in a slot of 5 min and whenever the matching events count is more than 4; the probe generates an alarm.
Post Message
Select this option if you want the event log message data to be posted as an alarm with the given subject.
Post Subject
Defines the custom Message Subject for the selected profile. This subject overrides the default subject, which is ntevl or as defined in the Default Post
Subject field of the Properties tab.
You can use variables in the messages.
Probe Configuration
28 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
QoS Tab
The fields in the above dialog are explained below:
Number of Events Found in Time Interval
Sends QoS messages on number of events detected within the specified time interval.
Time Interval
The time interval (in seconds) for event detection used by the QoS option described above. The default time frame value is 3600 seconds.
Variables Tab
The Variables tab is used for defining the variables with a set of conditions for each profile. These conditions populate the variable value on real time from the selected event log message. These variables are then used for generating the alarm messages.
Note: You can define multiple variables for each profile where each variable name is
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 29
The Variables tab contains the following fields:
Variable List
Lets you view the existing variables list and select any variable for editing the variable definition.
Field Separator
Defines a field separator character for the event message text. This field is useful for segregating the event message text in multiple columns and then use those column numbers in the Variable Settings dialog. For example, if your event message text is ABCD:EFGH:IJKL:MNOP and the separator is : (colon) then probe segregates the message text in four different columns (1-4). You can use these column numbers for fetching the appropriate text to the variable.
Note: The non-English characters are not supported as a field separator. Follow these steps to create a variable:
1. Select the profile check box on the left hand pane to activate it.
Probe Configuration
30 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
The fields in the above dialog are explained below:
Name
Defines the name for the variable. Duplicate variable names are not allowed. By default, var is displayed.
Source Line
The source line of the variable where the threshold alarm needs to be defined. Select the FROM and TO positions.
Source FROM position
■ Extracting from a source file: Define from which position in the source line defined to extract the variable, either a column or a character.
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 31 Source TO position
■ Extracting from a source file: Define to which position in the source line defined to extract the variable, either a column or a character.
■ Extracting from a match expression:
Ignore 'to' is automatically selected (as the only valid option). Threshold alarm definition
Operator
Select a comparison operator from the drop-down list. You can also select the RE option for using the regular expressions.
Note: The >, <, >=, and <= operators support only integer and float type
values. These operators do not work with string values. The = operator only works with string values.
Threshold
Set the threshold value for the variable.
Example: If the threshold does not match with the message description of an event,
then the probe generates an alarm.
3. Enter and select the required fields and click OK.
The newly created variable is displayed in the Variables grid.
Notes:
■ To edit a variable, right-click on it and select Edit option from the context menu.
■ To delete a variable, right-click on it and select Delete option from the context
Probe Configuration
32 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Exclude Tab
The Exclude tab enables you to specify the profiles that should be excluded by the ntevl probe.
Follow these steps to create an entry:
1. Right-click in the left-hand section and select New from the context menu.
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 33
2. Enter a name for the entry and click OK.
The entry gets added at the left-hand pane. Also, the fields in the right-hand pane get enabled.
The Exclude tab contains the following fields:
<List>
Shows all the defined exclude profiles. Select a profile to display/modify its parameters.
Event selection criteria
Specify regular expressions identifying the eventlog messages you are looking for. An asterisk (*) in one of these fields means all log messages regardless of the contents in the field.
Note: You can also use, both, ranges and commas in the same entry, such as
1-5, 9-20.
Events matching all the criteria in an exclude profile will be excluded from monitoring by the defined profiles.
The Event ID field does not support regular expressions. Use format as shown in the examples below:
Probe Configuration
34 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Language String Configuration Tab
The NT Event Log Monitoring probe displays all event severity as Information, when deployed in a non-English locale. When the probe is installed on Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 R2 or a later version, Windows returns event severity string in their specific locales and the probe is not able to compare these values with an equivalent English string.
The Language String Configuration tab lets you configure the locale-specific severity strings when the probe is deployed in a non-English locale. This tab contains the following fields:
Critical
Defines an appropriate string for identifying the event severity as Critical. For example, define critique for the French locale.
Information
Defines an appropriate string for identifying the event severity as Information. For example, define informations for the French locale.
Warning
Defines an appropriate string for identifying the event severity as Warning. For example, define avertissement for the French locale.
Verbose
Defines an appropriate string for identifying the event severity as Verbose. For example, define verbeux for the French locale.
Error
Defines an appropriate string for identifying the event severity as Error. For example, define erreur for the French locale.
Audit Success
Defines an appropriate string for identifying the event severity as Audit Success. For example, define Échec de l'audit for the French locale.
Audit Failure
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 35
Subsystems Configuration Tab
The Subsystems Configuration tab lists the existing alarm subsystem ID for each monitored log file. You can also define a new subsystem ID for any custom log file, which is selected for monitoring. The default configuration of the probe monitors Security, Application, and System log files, with the following subsystem IDs:
■ 1.1.11.1.1
■ 1.1.11.1.2 ■ 1.1.11.1.3
Important! Do not delete or modify any of the default subsystem IDs.
You can right click the subsystem ID list and select New for adding a subsystem ID.
Subsystem Key
Defines a subsystem key for the appropriate log file. This key must be identical to the corresponding log file name and contain only small characters. For example, use
microsoft-iis-configuration/administrative for the Microsoft-IIS-Configuration/Administrative log file. Subsystem Value
Defines a different alarm subsystem ID for each monitored log file. The
recommendation is to use the default subsystem ID pattern (1.1.11.1.X) for other log files too. This pattern is mandatory to view the metric details under the Event
Log node of the Unified Management Portal (UMP).
Note: You can also define an appropriate name of newly defined subsystem value in
Probe Configuration
36 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Status Tab
The Status tab lets you view the events of the log files which are selected for monitoring in the Setup > Properties tab. This tab displays latest event logs when the total event count is greater than the Maximum Events to Fetch field value. In case, the alarm list remains empty at start-up, click the Refresh button to fetch the event list. You can control the default behavior for fetching event by configuring the Fetch Alarms on
Configurator Startup option in the Setup > Properties tab.
Important! The probe throws the Failed to get events error while fetching the event list
when the event count is higher, for example, 1000 or more. The actual event count varies due to your system configuration and performance. In such case, reduce the value of Maximum Events to Fetch field in the Properties tab.
The following right-click menu selections are available:
■ Refresh: Fetch the event log messages again.
■ New profile: Create a monitoring profile using values from the current event. ■ Exclude from monitoring: Create an exclude profile using values from the current
event.
Probe Configuration
Chapter 4: ntevl Configuration 37
Parameters in a Posted Message
The messages are posted to a table called EventLogMessages containing the following fields:
Parameter Type Value
column prefixwatcher Text The name of the profile finding the event log message column prefixlog Text The event log containing the event
column prefixseverity Text The event type column prefixseverity_str Text Event severity
column prefixsource Text Identification of the application generating the event column prefixcategory Text The event category
column prefixevent_id Number A numeric event identifier
column prefixuser Text The user running the application that generated the event column prefixcomputer Text The computer name on which the event was generated column prefixdescription Text Expanded event description
column prefixdata Text None column
prefixtime_stamp_epoc
Number The time the event was generated column prefixtime_stamp Date/Time The time the event was generated column prefixvariable Text Value of the variable created in the profile
Note: Depending on the number of variables created in the profile the parameters gets
displayed.
Chapter 5: Edit Probe Configuration 39
Chapter 5: Edit Probe Configuration
Probe Configuration
40 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
The following dialog appears:
The fields in the above dialog are explained below:
Probe
The probe name. This field is non-editable.
Type
The type of execution. By default, timed option is selected.
You can deactivate the setting by de-selecting the Active check box.
Command
The process that will execute the reboot. By default, it is ntevl.exe.
Arguments
Optional arguments that can be passed to the probe. For the list of available arguments, see Arguments (see page 41) section.
Working Directory
The probe’s working directory path. By default, the path is \probes\system\reboot.
Configuration File
Probe Configuration
Chapter 5: Edit Probe Configuration 41 Data File
Specify the name if the probe data file, if required.
Time Specification
Specify the time range within which the probe activity should be carried out.
Execution
Specify the time interval at which the reboot should be executed. You can specify the start time or frequency (in minutes). Choose Ignore option to nullify this field.
Group
Specifies the probe grouping. By default, it is Systemgroup.
Description
A brief description of the probe activity. By default, the description text is Windows
NT Event Log watcher. Log File
Name of the log file for the probe. By default, it is ntevl.log. This section contains the following topics:
Arguments (see page 41)
Arguments
Parameter Description
-p < port> Communications port to use -d<log level> Set log level
-l <log file> Specify log file
-e <evl log file> File for logging internal messages -c <config file> File used for general and watcher setup -f <position file> File used for storing event log positions -V Print version information
-z Set current event log positions
-Z Set current event log positions and run the probe normally
Probe Configuration
42 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
View Event Details
The probe configuration lets you view the event details that you are monitoring. These event details are used for deciding the monitoring parameters of the event.
Follow these steps:
1. Click the Status tab.
2. Select the event log file from the Event log drop-down list.
Note: The Event log drop-down list displays only those log files, which are selected
in the Log Files to be monitored list.
The probe displays the list of events, which are available in the selected log file. 3. Double-click the appropriate event in the list.
Probe Configuration
Chapter 5: Edit Probe Configuration 43
The General tab of the Event Properties dialog displays the event description. 4. Click the Details tab for displaying the XML view of the event.
Note: The XML view is available with Windows Vista and Windows 2008 onwards
only. 5. Click Close.
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44 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
Regular Expression Construct Rules
Constructing regular expression and pattern matching requires meta characters. The probe supports Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) which are enclosed within forward slash (/). For example, the expression /[0-9A-C]/ matches any character in the range 0 to 9 in the target string.
You can also use simple text with wild card operators for matching the target string. For example, the *test* expression matches the text test in target string.
The following table lists various rules and constructs for creating regex and pattern matching.
S. No. Meta Charac ter
Description Examples for expression enclosed with "/"
Examples for expression enclosed without "/" 1. [ ] Square Bracke ts Matches one character within square brackets at once. ■ [12]: matches
first for 1 and if not found, matches for 2 in the target string. ■ [0123456789] : matches any character in the range 0 to 9 in the target string.
[12]: matches for 12 in the
target string.
2. - Dash Defines range for
the target string when used within square brackets. For example, [0123456789] can be written as [0-9]. [0-9A-C]: matches for 0 to 9 and A to C (but not a to c) in the target string.
[0-9A-C]: matches the
entire string [0-9A-C] with the target string.
3. ^ Circum flex or Caret Negates the expression when used within square brackets. ■ [^Ff]: matches for anything except upper or lower case of F. ■ [^a-z]: matches for anything except lower case a to z.
[^Ff]: matches the entire
Probe Configuration
Chapter 5: Edit Probe Configuration 45
4. ^ Circum flex or Caret
Matches the target string only at the beginning.
^Moz: matches
for string beginning with Moz (Mozilla).
^Moz: matches the entire
string with the target string.
5. $ Dollar
Matches the target string only at the end.
fox$: matches for
silver fox.
fox$: matches the entire
string with the target string. 6. . Period Matches any character(s) following the expression.
ton.: matches for
tons, tone, and tonneau but not wanton.
ton.: matches the entire
string with the target string.
7. ? Questi on
Matches the target string when the preceding character occurs for zero times or once. colou?r: matches for color (u is found 0 times) and colour (u is found 1 time).
colou?r: matches the entire
string with the target string.
8. * Asteris k
Matches the target string when the preceding character occurs for zero times or more.
tre*: matches for
tree (e is found 2
times), tread (e is found 1 time), and
trough (e is found
0 times).
tre*: matches the entire
string with the target string.
9. + Plus or Additio n
Matches the target string when the preceding character occurs for once or more.
tre+: matches for
tree (e is found 2
times), tread (e is found 1 time), but not trough (e is found 0 times).
tre+: matches the entire
string with the target string.
1 0 .
{n} Matches the target string when the preceding character occurs n times exactly. [0-9]{3}-[0-9]{4}: matches for 123-4567. [0-9]{3}-[0-9]{4}: matches
the entire string with the target string.
11. {n,m} Matches the target string when the preceding character occurs at least n times but not more than m times.
ba{2,3}b: matches
for baaband,
baaab but not bab or baaaab.
ba{2,3}b: matches the
entire string with the target string.
12. {n, } Matches the target string when the preceding character occurs at least n times.
ba{2,}b: matches
for baab, baaab, and baaaab but not bab.
ba{2,}b: matches the entire
Probe Configuration
46 Probe Guide for NT Event Log Monitoring
13. \\ Escape Seque nce Matches meta characters with literal. \\\\nimsoft: matches for \\nimsoft.
\\nimsoft: matches the
entire string with the target string. 14. / Forwar d Slash Matches meta characters with literal. //C/: matches for /C in target string /CATech.
/C: matches the entire
string with the target string. 15. "(" or ")" Matches meta characters with literal. \(s\): matches for (s) in the target string window(s).
(s): matches the entire
string with the target string.
Chapter 6: Operation and Use 47
Chapter 6: Operation and Use
This section describes how to monitor up and down status for multiple computers, using two profiles.
Create the two profiles UP status and DOWN status by selecting the Profiles tab, right-clicking in the Profile list and then selecting the New option. Select the Activate box for both profiles.
Follow these steps to configure the UP status profile:
1. Select the Event selection tab and specify the Event ID for the UP status (50002). 2. Select the Alarm/Post tab. Create an alarm message (e.g. $computer up) and select
severity level as Clear.
3. Set a suppression key (e.g. $computer) to avoid multiple instances of the same alarm message.
4. Now, configure the DOWN status profile. For this, select the Event selection tab and specify the Event ID for the DOWN status (50001).
5. Select the Alarm/Post tab create an alarm message (e.g. $computer down) and select severity level warning.
6. Set a suppression key (e.g. $computer) to avoid multiple instances of the same alarm message.
Chapter 7: ntevl QoS Metrics 49
Chapter 7: ntevl QoS Metrics
The following table describes the checkpoint metrics that can be configured using the ntevl probe:
Monitor Name Units Description
Chapter 8: Known Issues 51
Chapter 8: Known Issues
The NT Event Log Monitoring probe has the following limitations:
■ The Raw Configure GUI of the probe is not supported for non-English locales
because it can corrupt the probe configuration file. Use only standard probe GUI for any updates.
■ The probe GUI can throw an error while viewing event details on the Status tab when the Maximum Event to Fetch field value is more than 1000. Follow these steps to resolve the issue:
1. Open the IM probe GUI.
2. Update value of this field to 1000 or less (under the Setup > Properties tab). 3. Restart the probe.
■ If monitoring profile contains locale-specific characters, then that monitoring profile
cannot be viewed in any other locale from the IM probe GUI. You can use the Admin Console GUI to view the profile on a different locale.
■ The probe does not support forwarding events monitoring. ■ Localization is not supported on Windows IA64 platform.
■ Do not use same profile name for ntevl and adevl probes, when deployed on same
robot.