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Note: This write-up is based in IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console User's Guide/ Event console

An event console is  Java application that can be viewed in any Web browser (as applet) or used as an installable desktop application. In the latter case you need to install it on the desktop.

Those two versions are incorrectly called a Java version and a Web version, but they both are Java-based.  Only installable version (Java version) permits to perform configuration tasks. Administrators or operators must also use the Java version to start Tivoli NetView functions and to run local automated tasks. Either Java version or the Web version can be used to manage events.

Even console is very  primitive and provides for only very basic viewing and responding to events. It is so  unsophisticated that lacks even basic capabilities typical for mail viewers. For example capability of  copying event into buffer to paste it into some opther application is absent. you can copy it only slot by slot. In short it sucks.

A couple of more or less advanced features provided are views ( Event Groups) and response scripts.

An event console displays a window for monitoring event groups, which operators can use to monitor and respond to incoming events. An event group is a set of events that meet certain filter criteria. An administrator defines the event groups and assigns them to event consoles for each operator. Operators can have independent or shared views of events. The UI server prevents multiple event consoles from updating the same event and updates event status on all event consoles. Therefore, only one operator responds to and works on solving a problem. For more information about the UI server, see User interface server.

For more information about event consoles, see Managing events.

Event groups

An event group is a configured logical area of responsibility that is used to notify users that an event matching a specified set of criteria has occurred. An administrator configures event groups using the Java version of the event console.

For example, if your network contains a group of computers that are used for critical work, you might want to create an event group that receives events for these critical computers. This logical grouping of events is an event group.

For more information about event groups and attributes, see Managing events.

To define an event group, you must specify the selection criteria for the events in the group. This data constitutes an event group filter. An event group filter can include any event attribute except for extended or customer-defined attributes. The following table lists some of the more commonly used attributes for event group filtering.

Table 2. Common attributes for event group filtering
Attribute Name Description
event class Specifies the class of the event, as assigned by the event source that forwards the event. The documentation for the event adapter lists the possible values for event classes for adapters. Other Tivoli applications, such as Distributed Monitoring, Software Distribution, and Tivoli NetView, can also forward events to the Tivoli Enterprise Console product.
origin Identifies the protocol address or host name of a host from which you want to receive events. If you want to monitor an entire subdomain, enter the protocol address or host name of the subdomain.
severity Specifies the severity of the event. The Tivoli Enterprise Console product uses the following classifications, listed in order of increasing severity, to indicate the severity of an incoming event:
  • UNKNOWN
  • HARMLESS
  • WARNING
  • MINOR
  • CRITICAL
  • FATAL

A system administrator can also add custom severities.
source Specifies the type of application that created the event. Sources are defined in the event adapter or the documentation for your application. Possible values include, but are not limited to, LOGFILE, NT, HPOV, and SNMP.
status Specifies the status of the event as follows:
Acknowledged
An operator or rule acknowledged receipt of the event.
Closed
An operator or rule reported that the problem that resulted from the event is resolved. The sending of a closed event by an event adapter indicates that a previously received event of the specified class should be closed as a duplicate.
Open
The event server received the event, but an operator or rule has not acknowledged receipt of the event.
organization_supplied_status
The STATUS enumeration that is shipped with the Tivoli Enterprise Console product includes this placeholder status that a system administrator can customize and define for an organization.
Response
A rule has automatically responded to the event. This status is assigned by a rule language predicate.

You can use SQL wildcard characters for any of the attributes to simplify event group filtering options. Entering specific values for each attribute narrows the types of events reported in an event group. Using wildcard characters expands the types and number of events reported in an event group.

Event group filters enable you to include specific, and possibly very different, events in an event group. Event group filters also help reduce the number of event groups that an operator must manage. For example, an administrator can create an event group composed of three filters to monitor the events on hosts 9.27.136.1, 9.27.136.2, and 9.27.136.4, but not 9.27.136.3. Without using event group filters, you would need three event groups to manage events from these hosts.

Required Tivoli authorization roles

The Tivoli Enterprise Console product requires both Tivoli authorization roles and Tivoli Enterprise Console event group roles. Tivoli authorization roles are roles defined for the tasks that Tivoli Enterprise Console administrators and operators perform in a Tivoli management environment and are set in the Tivoli Management Framework product. For information about assigning Tivoli authorization roles, refer to the Tivoli Management Framework User's Guide.

Tivoli Enterprise Console event group roles are the roles defined for managing events in an event console. For information about event group roles, see Planning for event group roles.

The following table lists the Tivoli authorization roles required for the Tivoli Enterprise Console product.

Table 3. Required Tivoli authorization roles
Activity Context Tivoli Authorization Role
Assigning administrative roles for the event server Event server senior
Configuring super
Starting and stopping senior
Assigning an operator to an event console Event console senior
Configuring your own event viewer preferences user
Assigning event group roles Event groups senior
Creating, modifying, or deleting event groups senior
Assigning event groups senior
Deleting events Events senior
Acknowledging and closing events admin, RIM_view, and RIM_update
Viewing events user and RIM_view
Sending events user, if using the wpostemsg command, otherwise none
Creating, modifying, or loading rule bases Rule base senior
Installing the Tivoli Enterprise Console product Tivoli region super
Notes:
  1. Each operator must be defined as a Tivoli administrator with the appropriate authorization roles to manage events before you can assign the operator to an event console.
  2. If you add an authorization role to a Tivoli administrator after the operator starts the event console, the authorization role does not take affect until the event console is restarted.
  3. Tivoli administrators that existed before the installation of Version 3.9 are automatically given the authorization roles of RIM_view and RIM_update during the installation of the event server. You must manually assign the authorization roles of user, RIM_view, and RIM_update to Tivoli administrators that have been created after the installation of the event server.

Starting the event console from the command line in a bash shell

To start the event console from the command line in a bash shell, follow these steps:

  1. Enter the following command from the bash shell:
  2. From the Tivoli Management Environment dialog, type the following information in the text fields:
  3. Click OK.

The environment variable DISPLAY is of particular importance in X windows because it tells the computer on which machine the graphics is to be displayed. You should look at the current setting of DISPLAY  while you are logged in:

echo $DISPLAY
:0.0

This means that your machine is displaying on its own screen. The command will respond with the address of the machine on which da is displaying the graphics, in this case localhost. The string 0.0 identifies a server number and an optional screen number. In all cases of interest, both of these are zero.

If you have problems the first thing to do is to see the value of the variable $DISPLAY. If it is not set at all or is radically different try to reset it using:

export DISPLAY=:0.0

There are just two main reasons why you cannot display on an X server:

1) Cannot resolve hostname (or some other network related issue)
2) no connect permission to the server (server corresponds to the machine were you export display).

To resolve try to use  "xhost +"  as a TEST mode, set DISPLAY and try again.

NOTE:  xhost +   allows anyone to connect to this Xserver, and is not recommended for security reasons...notice I said "TEST mode ".

Running local commands

You can run a user-defined local command on selected events by running a user-defined script. The attributes of the event are passed to the script as environment variables. The name of the attribute environment variables can be referenced by using the non-formatted attribute name. The full list of non-formatted attribute names is contained in the SLOTS environment variable, which is passed to the script.

To run a local command, follow these steps:

  1. From the event viewer, select the appropriate event in the Working Queue.
  2. From the Selected menu, click Local Command.
  3. From the Run dialog box, browse to the location of the script that you want to run.
  4. Click OK.

Starting the Tivoli NetView component

You can start a Tivoli NetView console from the event viewer in the context of an event and drill down with Tivoli NetView tools to troubleshoot a network problem. You can open the Tivoli NetView Submap Explorer, Object Properties, or Diagnosis windows to view information about a problem node and take action if necessary.

To successfully use Tivoli NetView functions from the event viewer, certain prerequisite Tivoli NetView software must be installed and configured. For more information, refer to the IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console Installation Guide.

To run Tivoli NetView functions, select NetView from the Selected menu in the event viewer. For information about using the Tivoli NetView functions, refer to the online help in the event console. For information about using the Tivoli NetView network management console, refer to the Tivoli NetView documentation at the following Web site:

http://www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/library/

Customizing the event viewer

This section describes the following topics related to customizing the event viewer:

Changing general preferences

The preferences control how events are shown in the event viewer. To change the general preferences, from the Edit menu in the event viewer, click Preferences. You can change one or more of the following general preferences:

Refresh Time
Specifies the rate (in seconds, minutes, or hours) at which events are automatically refreshed in the event viewer.
Maximum Age of Closed Event to Display
Specifies the maximum age (in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years) of closed events to display in the event viewer.
Note:
When setting event time limits on the event consoles, be aware that event consoles compare local system time with the date of the events to determine which event should be displayed on the event console. For example, if the time on the node is 9:00 and the time on the event server is 10:30, all new events appear to be 90 minutes old to the event consoles.
Maximum Number of Events
Specifies the maximum number of events to display in the event viewer.

For more information about changing general preferences, refer to the online help.

The following table lists the context and authorization role required to perform this task.

Activity Context Required Role
Change general preferences Java version of the event console user

Because the general user preferences, the name of the last managed node you logged in to, and your user ID are stored locally in the $HOME/.tmeconsole directory, your preferences are maintained between sessions. Similarly, the preferences you set are used when you log on to the Java version of the event console on another computer.

Changing severity colors

You can change the severity colors only if your administrator has made this option available to you. Each event is color-coded to indicate the severity level for that event. The following table lists each default severity level and the corresponding default color.

Table 7. How event severity is indicated in the Java version of the event console
Severity Color
FATAL Black
CRITICAL Red
MINOR Orange
WARNING Yellow
HARMLESS Green
UNKNOWN Blue

To change the severity colors, follow these steps:

  1. From the Edit menu in the event viewer, select Preferences. The Preferences window is displayed.
  2. From the Preferences window, expand Event Viewer and then click Severity Colors.
  3. Change the settings in the Severity Colors window, referring to the online help for additional information.

The following table lists the context and authorization role required to perform this task.

Activity Context Required Role
Change severity colors Java version of the event console user

Sorting events

You can sort all events or only events in the Working Queue based on any event field in the event viewer. Initially events are sorted based on event severity. If multiple events have the same severity, the events are sorted based on the event date. Events with the highest severity are displayed at the bottom, and events with the lowest severity are displayed at the top.

To sort events, follow these steps:

  1. From the Edit menu in the event viewer, select Preferences. The Preferences window is displayed.
  2. From the Preferences window, expand Event Viewer and then click either All Events to sort all events or Working Queue to sort events in the Working Queue.
  3. Set the sort criteria you want in the Sort window, referring to the online help for additional information.

The following table lists the context and authorization role required to perform this task.

Activity Context Required Role
Sort events Java version of the event console user

Filtering events

You can filter the events in the Working Queue based on severity, status, and operator ownership to help you focus on important events. When you filter events for one event group, other event groups are not affected. To filter events, follow these steps:

  1. From the Options menu in the event viewer, select Filter Events.
  2. Select the checkboxes for the types of events you want to display in the event viewer. Clear the checkboxes for the types of events you do not want to display in the event viewer.

The following table lists the context and authorization role required to perform this task.

Activity Context Required Role
Filter events by severity and status Java version of the event console user

For information about using a command to list events based on severity and status to standard output, refer to the wlsemsg command in the IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console Command and Task Reference.

Running tasks

To run a task, choose one of these methods:

The task wizard guides you through the steps required to run the task. For more information about running a task, refer to the online help in the event console.

The task results are shown in a new window of your Web browser. Use the print option of your Web browser controls to print the task results.

You can also run most tasks from the command line using the wruntask command. For more information about the wruntask command, refer to the Tivoli Management Framework Reference Manual.

For information about tasks in the T/EC Tasks library, refer to the Tivoli Enterprise Console Reference.

Customizing the event viewer

This section describes the following topics related to customizing the event viewer:

Changing preferences

The preferences control how events are shown in the event viewer. The changes you make, except for changes to the maximum number of events to show in the each event viewer, are reflected immediately in all open event viewers.

Because changes to the preferences are stored in cookies, ensure that the privacy settings for your Web browser are set to allow cookies if you want the changes to be persistent. If cookies are not allowed, changes to the preferences affect only the current session. The preferences you set do not affect a Web console on a different computer.

To change the preferences, click Change User Preferences in the portfolio. You can change one or more of the following user preferences:

Refresh rate
Specifies the rate at which you want events automatically refreshed in the event viewer and in the summary of events.
Maximum number of events to show on each page
Specifies the maximum number of events you want to show on each page in the event viewer.
Severity counts
Specifies whether or not to show the number of events in each severity on the event filter icons in the event viewer.
Maximum number of events to show in each event viewer
Specifies the maximum number of events you want to show in the event viewer. The value for this preference is determined in combination with the preference setting for the maximum number of events in the Java version of the event console. If the value specified in the Web version of the event console differs from the value specified in the Java version of the event console, the maximum number of events is set to the lower of the two values.

Changes to the maximum number of events to show in each event viewer are reflected the next you time open an event viewer.

Banner
Specifies whether or not to show the banner in the event viewer.
Show the event severity as
Specifies how to show the event severity in the event viewer.

The event console uses color and icons to indicate the severity level for an event. The following table describes the color and icon that corresponds to each event severity.

Table 9. How event severity is indicated in the Web version of the event console
Severity Color Icon
Fatal Black
Icon for Fatal severity level
Critical Red
Icon for Critical severity level
Minor Orange
Icon for Minor severity level
Warning Yellow
Icon for Warning severity level
Harmless Green
Icon for Harmless severity level
Unknown Blue
Icon for Unknown severity level

Sorting events

By default, events are sorted in the event viewer by the date received field. You can sort events based on up to three event fields. To do this, click the Edit Sort icon on the tool bar in the event viewer.

Filtering events

You can filter events in the event viewer by event severity, event status, and event owner. Filtering events in this manner helps you focus on the events of interest. To filter events, use the event filter icons on the tool bar in the event viewer.

 

 

 

Old News

IBM ITM 6.1 Tivoli Enterprise Console event viewer

If your environment includes the Tivoli Enterprise Console product, you can add the Tivoli Enterprise Console event viewer to any workspace in the Tivoli Enterprise Portal to provide an integrated view of events.

For comprehensive event management, you can also configure one or more monitoring servers to forward situation events to the event server, and install the event synchronization component on the event server so that operator actions and updates based on Tivoli Enterprise Console rules are sent back to the monitoring server. The updated status of the events is reflected in both the situation event views and in the Tivoli Enterprise Console event viewer.

Here is a picture of the Tivoli Enterprise Console event viewer with Tivoli Enterprise Console events and situation events that were forwarded from the monitoring server. The columns in this view correspond to the base attributes of Tivoli Enterprise Console events and those of situation events.

Figure 14. Tivoli Enterprise Console event viewer
Tivoli Enterprise Console

With event synchronization configured, you can add the Tivoli Enterprise Console event viewer to a workspace and perform the same operator tasks, such as acknowledging an event and closing an event, as you can in the event console of the Tivoli Enterprise Console product. However, you must use the Java version of the event console in the Tivoli Enterprise Console product to perform configuration tasks, such as creating an event group or creating an event group filter. Also, you can run IBM Tivoli Monitoring actions on an event in the situation event views, and you can only run Tivoli Enterprise Console tasks on an event in the Tivoli Enterprise Console event viewer.

See the IBM Tivoli Monitoring Installation and Setup Guide to install and configure event synchronization.

See the IBM Tivoli Monitoring Administrator's Guide to define the characteristics and behavior of events and situation events sent to the Tivoli Enterprise Console.

 

IBM - Setting The Tivoli Enterprise Console Event Viewer Information button

Abstract This Tivoli Support Technical Exchange web seminar will cover how to set up the Tivoli Enterprise Console (TEC) Java Console Information button

Presented by:
Ted Douglas, Staff Software Engineer
Date:
August 21, 2007     Content This is the ppt presentation that will displayed on the webconference.

Information_Button.ppt

Approximately 24 hours after the event a .avi recording will be available at the location below:
To access this recording the password
tiv0li must be used.

https://asp22.centra.com:443/GP/main/000000acbd3a000001140b21e9367f0c
 

If you are unable to access email ricks3@us.ibm.com for assistance.

 

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Last modified: June 02, 2008