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TEC RIM Layer

RIM is an abbreviation of "database Interface module" and like many IBM acronyms actually it neither necessary or have much of the value for structuring the TEC internals space; this is just a database connector but still for some reason it is stressed in TEC documentation.  

Whenever some TEC component connects to a database, the RIM starts the RIM agent process. A RIM agent process uses the database client libraries to communicate with the database and issue SQL statements.

A RIM object is also referred to a Tivoli environment object that contains essential information about a specific database, such as the database name, database user ID.  A term "RIM host" is a meaningless term that is equivalent to the event server for all practical purposes; more specifically this is a place were  the database client libraries are installed.

The installation wizard creates a RIM object named tec, which contains database information for connecting to the event database.  The following table list the database information needed for configuring the TEC event database. This information is also stored in the RIM object. When installing the event server component from the Install Options dialog, enter the following database values:

The following items should be considered for Oracle before beginning your event database configuration:

• You must source your database environment to use any of the following options offered by the installation wizard:
  • The Simple option
  • The Custom-Generate and execute option.
  • The Custom-Execute only option
  For more information, see Sourcing the database environment for the installation wizard.

Working with the RIM object

During installation, the installation wizard creates a RIM object named tec. However, if you need to change that RIM object, here are the procedures.

When a Tivoli Management Framework product uses a RIM object, you can perform several actions with the RIM object. These actions are as follows:

• Obtain information about the RIM object
• Modify the RIM object
• Delete the RIM object
• Test RIM connectivity

Obtaining information about RIM objects

To list all RIM objects in your Tivoli environment, enter the following command on the command line:

wlookup -ar RIM

To display configuration information for a specific RIM object, enter the following command on the command line:

wgetrim RIM_object_name

Modifying RIM objects

You can use the wsetrim command to modify attributes for a RIM object. With this command, you cannot change the following:

• The database vendor associated with the RIM object
• The computer hosting the RIM object
• The RIM password

To change the database vendor or the computer hosting the RIM object, you must delete and re-create the RIM object using the wdel command and the wcrtrim command, respectively. To change the RIM password, you must use the wsetrimpw command.

For details about the wsetrim, wdel, wcrtrim, and wsetrimpw commands, refer to the Tivoli Management Framework Reference Manual.

Deleting a RIM object

When you need to delete a RIM object, use the wdel command. The basic syntax for this command is as follows:

wdel @RIM:RIM_object_name

For details about using the wdel command, refer to the Tivoli Management Framework Reference Manual.

Creating a RIM object

When you need to create a RIM object, use the wcrtrim command.

For details about using the wcrtrim command, refer to the Tivoli Management Framework Reference Manual.

Testing RIM connectivity

The RIM object relies on the underlying database client to connect to the database server. The database client must be able to connect to the database server for the RIM object to communicate properly.

After the event repository is created for your database, perform the following procedure to verify RIM connectivity:

1. Test connectivity with the database server using the native database client. When you test client connectivity, you should use the same name and password that the RIM object uses. For information about obtaining the RIM configuration information, refer to Obtaining information about RIM objects.

   The following table summarizes the native database clients for each supported database.

   Table 44. Supported native database clients

   Database	Database Interactive SQL Access
   DB2	db2
   Informix	dbaccess
   Microsoft SQL Server	isql
   Oracle	sqlplus
   Sybase	isql

2. Test connectivity through the RIM object using the following wrimtest command:

   wrimtest -l RIM_object_name

3. If you see a Session opened Enter option message, you have successfully connected to the database server. Enter x to select the exit option and exit.

For additional information about the wrimtest command, refer to the IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console Command and Task Reference. (RIM tracing is not helpful for connection problems because a connection to the database server must exist for RIM to show tracing.)

Problems with the RIM database

The following commands are useful tools for troubleshooting problems with the RIM database.

For additional information about the RIM commands, refer to the Tivoli Management Framework Reference Manual.

wrimtest

Verifies the connectivity and functionality of a RIM object as follows:

wrimtest -l tec

# wrimtest -l tec
Resource Type : RIM
Resource Label : tec
Host Name : server
User Name : tec
Vendor : Oracle
Database : tec
Database Home : /oracle/app/oracle/product/9.2.0
Server ID : TIVOLI_DEVL
Instance Home :
Instance Name :
Opening Regular Session...Session Opened
RIM : Enter Option >x
Releasing session

Use the wrimtest command to connect to a specified database and run RIM methods.
 

wlookup RIM

Displays a list of available RIM objects as follows:

wlookup -ar RIM

wrimtrace

Enables or disables tracing for RIM objects.

The contents of the Inter-Object Message (IOM) packets are passed between the RIM object and client program. RDBMS errors are then printed to the RIM log file.

Note:

The RIM tracing function is intended for debugging purposes. If enabled for extended periods of time, tracing can decrease performance and considerably slow the processing of RIM calls.

For additional information about RIM Troubleshooting, refer to the Tivoli Management Framework User's Guide and the Tivoli Management Framework Maintenance and Troubleshooting Guide.

Additional information about troubleshooting RIM problems and RIM tuning can be found in the Using Databases with Tivoli Applications and RIM redbook.

Last modified: March 15, 2008