Oracle Enterprise Manager Concepts Guide

Contents Index Home Previous Next

CHAPTER 5. Event Management

The Event Management System (EMS) allows you to monitor specific event conditions that occur in your network environment. You choose predefined events on nodes, databases, or listeners, then select the threshold parameters for which you want to be notified. You can notify specific system administrators when an event condition occurs. For some events, you can also choose to execute a "fixit" job that automatically corrects the problem.

The following topics are discussed in this chapter:

Event Management Process

The Event Management System allows you to efficiently monitor a large system. Using EMS and intelligent agents, you can effectively monitor a large number of databases 24 hours a day, and be alerted when a problem is detected. You can also pinpoint only those services you wish to monitor.

EMS can be extended to include other tools and applications that detect events independent of the intelligent agents. These tools and applications can be integrated into EMS and communicate directly with the intelligent agents.

In the Event Management System, event settings are stored based on the administrator registering the event. This allows administrators of large systems to customize their event systems to their preferences and tasks. Administrators receive only those messages related to the events that they have submitted.

The Event Management System includes the following processes:

Determining Administrators

With EMS, you first set up the notification services and the administrators that need to be notified for the events. If you plan to notify administrators other than the current Console operator, you need to determine:

Using Event Sets

Next, you need to create event sets, which are simply a group of events that you want to monitor. Oracle Enterprise Manager includes a variety of predefined events that you can use when creating event sets. The events are grouped by the following services:

Note: Only the UpDown events are included with Oracle Enterprise Manager. Additional events are available with the optional Performance Pack. For more information on events and their parameters, see "Predefined Events" [*].

Some events have parameters with suggested default threshold values that you can customize for your system. You can also create your own custom events. EMS events are implemented as Tcl scripts. For more information on writing custom event scripts, see the Oracle Enterprise Manager Application Developer's Guide.

You can also use several predefined event sets that have been installed with Enterprise Manager. See "Predefined Event Sets" [*].

Event sets are applied, or registered, to specific destinations, such as nodes, listeners, or databases. The status of an applied event set can be viewed in the Status page of the Modify Registration property sheet. This property sheet is displayed with the Modify Registration option of the Event menu.

The event scripts are stored, registered, and executed on a node with the permissions of the agent. Event scripts can save a state, such as values of global variables, between executions of an event script. This allows the agent to remember if it has already detected a certain event and eliminates redundant event messages to the Console.

The Event Management system uses the Console's daemon process to register event set information with the appropriate intelligent agents on nodes in the network. You determine the frequency that an agent checks an event. See "Frequency" [*] for details on setting the frequency interval for an event.

Detecting Events

The agents are responsible for detecting when a specific event condition has occurred and, when specified, running a job to fix the problem.

Note: You need to create fixit jobs with the Job system before you can associate them with an event.

The events return color values depending on the severity of the event. The colors are displayed on the event severity icon that is located:

The colors of the event severity icon are:

Note: Some events, such as UpDown, Probe, and User Blocks events, do not return a warning value because the warning threshold parameter is not used. The event has either occurred or not occurred.

Notifying Administrators

When an event condition occurs, the agent is responsible for alerting the Console and administrators. The administrators can be notified in various ways, such as electronic mail or paging. Notification occurs as follows:

Each event is logged in the repository and can be viewed and acknowledged in the Event window of the Console. See Figure 5 - 1 [*] for an illustration of the Event window.

Note: Refer to the appropriate documentation for information on how to correct event conditions. For example, if an Oracle database problem occurs, refer to the Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

Predefined Events

The database, listener, and node, predefined events are grouped into categories:

Note: Only the UpDown events are included with Oracle Enterprise Manager. Additional events are available with the optional Performance Pack. For more information on events and their parameters, see "Predefined Events" [*].

Fault Management Events

This category of events monitors for catastrophic conditions on the system, such as a database, node, or listener is down. Immediate action needs to be taken by the administrator. Examples of events available in this category include:

Most of these events do not require any threshold values because the event checks whether the service is up or down.

Space Management Events

This category of events tracks possible space problems, such as running out of space on a disk or archive device. Examples of space management events in this category include:

To check for space management events, set a threshold on the free space left. For example, set an alert if the free space on a disk falls below a specific number of bytes.

In order to properly choose the threshold value, you need to know the characteristics of the tablespaces. For example, you would want to know whether the tablespaces contain online transaction processing (OLTP) tables or decision support tables. The former usually has a very fast growth rate, while the latter almost never grows.

Resource Management Events

This category of events tracks possible resource problems, such as exceeding datafile or lock limits. Examples of resource management events in this category include:

To check for resource management events, set a threshold on the percentage of a resource used. For example, you can set an alert if the percentage of the datafile resource used is greater than a specified value.

Performance Management Events

This category of event monitors the system for performance problems, such as excessive CPU load or library cache miss rate. Examples of events in this category include:

To check for performance management events, set a threshold on a system value. For example, you can set an alert if the library cache miss rate is greater than a specific value. The set of threshold values is system specific, depending on the hardware platform, number of users, and other factors.

Event Window

The Event Management window contains the following pages:

You can switch between the pages by clicking on the tab of each page. The rows in both pages can be sorted on any column by clicking on the column heading. See Figure 5 - 1 for an illustration of the Event window.

The Event window can be hidden or shown by selecting Show Event Pane in the Console View menu. You can also hide or show the window by clicking on the square clock icon in the Console toolbar.

Figure 5 - 1. Event Management Menu and Window

Outstanding Events Page

The Outstanding Events page displays event sets that have been applied and have occurred.

Severity Severity of the event: alert, warning, and clear. These are represented by red, yellow, and green circles.
Event Name of the event.
Node Node where the event was monitored.
Type Type of service that the event monitors, such as Database, Listener, or Node.
Destination The service that is being monitored.
Date Date of the event.
Event Message Message associated with the event, such as "Database went down" or "Tablespace SYSTEM reached 90% capacity."
Ack. Text The comment entered when the event was acknowledged.

Acknowledging Events

To acknowledge an event that has occurred, double-click on the event to display the Acknowledge Event property sheet. You can also select an event and choose the Acknowledge option in the Event menu. When you acknowledge an event, you can enter notes on the nature and progress of the event condition. See "Acknowledging an Event" [*].

Event History Page

The Event History page displays a history of events that have occurred and have been acknowledged by an administrator or cleared by an agent. The Event History Page contains the same columns as the Outstanding Events page, plus the following:

Cleared By Name of user that cleared the event.
Ack. Date Date that the event was acknowledged.

Viewing Acknowledgements

To view any comments made by the administrator that acknowledged the event, double-click on the event to display the Acknowledge Event dialog box.

Saving Event History

You can save the events from the Event History page to a text file and clear the events from the Event History window. This prevents the Event History page from being overloaded with obsolete events that occurred in previous days.

Registrations Page

The Registrations page displays the event sets that have been applied and registered to monitor events on any network objects. The Registrations page contains the following information:

Type Type of event set, such as Database, Node, or Listener is signified by an icon.
Destination The service that event is monitoring.
Set Name Name of the event set that is registered.
Event Status The number of the pending, and successful, and failed events in the event set.

Modify Registrations Property Sheet

Double-click on a registered event set to display the property sheet for the event set. The property sheet allows you to view and modify registration information. The status page has a detailed view of the status of each event.

Event Set Library Page

The Event Set Library page displays the event sets that have been created. The Event Set Library page contains the following information:

Type Type of event set, such as Database, Node, or Listener is signified by an icon.
Set Name Name of the event set.
Description Description of the event set.
# of Events Number of events in the set.

Event Set Property Sheet

Double-click on an event set to display the property sheet for the event set. The property sheet allows you to view and modify the event sets.

Predefined Event Sets

Several predefined event sets have been installed with Enterprise Manager. These appear in the Event Set Library page of the Event window. You can apply these event sets to destinations on your network. The predefined event sets include:

Note: Listener events are not available with this release.

Note: Only the UpDown event sets are included with Oracle Enterprise Manager. Additional event sets are available with the optional Performance Pack.

To view the specific events assigned to these event sets, double-click on the event set in the Event Set Library page and view the Event page of the Event Set Management property sheet. For more information on predefined events and their parameters, see "Predefined Events" [*].

Event Menu

The Event menu allows you to set up event set and administrator information. This menu also provides options to register, track, and view specific events. Menu options are enabled depending on the items selected in the Event window. See Figure 5 - 1 [*] for an illustration of the Event menu.

Note: When you register or remove an event, there is usually a slight delay while the agent processes the request.

Acknowledge Event Acknowledges the selected event in the Outstanding Events page.
Enter any optional comments on the nature or progress of the event condition in the General page of the Acknowledge Event property sheet, then click on the Move to History button to move the event to the Event History page or click on the Keep button to leave the event in the Outstanding Events page. See "Acknowledging Events" [*].
Register Event Set Registers, or applies, the selected event set to a destination. This action monitors the destination, or network object. See "Registering an Event Set" [*].
Modify Registration Modifies the selected registered event set. See "Registering an Event Set" [*].
Remove Registration Removes the selected registered event set. If you experience problems removing an event, see the Delete option of the "Daemon Manager Menu" [*].
Create Event Set Displays the Event Set Management property sheet and allows you to create the definition of a new event set. See "Creating or Modifying an Event Set" [*].
Modify Event Set Modifies the definition of an existing event set. See "Creating or Modifying an Event Set" [*].
Remove Event Set Removes the selected event set from the Event window.
Save History Saves the contents of the Event History page to a file.
Print History Prints the contents of the Event History page to a file.
Clear History Clears the contents of the Event History page to a file.
Administrator List Displays a list of administrators in the Administrators dialog box. Each row in the list contains the Administrator's Name, Paging Service, Email Service, and Email ID.
You can add, delete, and modify administrator information in the Administrators dialog box. When add or modify an administrator, the Administrator property sheet appears. The property sheet contains the General, Systems, and Availability pages. See "Managing Administrators" [*].
Configure Services Displays the Services Configuration menu. You can configure Mail, Paging, or Modem information.
To configure mail services, see "Configuring Mail Services" [*].
To configure paging services, see "Configuring Paging Services" [*].
To configure modem settings, dialing information, and trace log, see "Configuring the Modem" [*].

Context-Sensitive Menus

If you select an item in the Event window with the right mouse button, the context-sensitive menu for that item appears. This menu is a subset of the Event menu.

Creating or Modifying an Event Set

Event sets include the service type and the event information that you want to monitor. Event sets can consist of multiple events. To create or modify an event set:

Note: The property sheet for creating a new event set is the same as the property sheet for modifying an event set, except that the event set name field is read-only.

See Figure 5 - 2 [*] for an illustration of the Event Set Management property sheet.

Note: You can use several predefined event sets that have been installed with Oracle Enterprise Manager. See "Predefined Event Sets" [*].

Event Set Management General Page

On the General page, you determine the event set name, description, and service type.

Name: Enter an event set name.
Service Type: Select a service type from the pull-down list. The types include Database, Node, or Listener.
Note: Listener events are not available with this release.

Description: Enter a description for the event set.
Accept third party events Check this box to allow the Event system to accept event sets that have been created by third-party vendors.
Figure 5 - 2. Event Set Property Sheet

Example

In the following example, a new event set for monitoring database space management is created and the General page is completed. Additional steps for completing the Events and Parameters Page are described in following sections.

Event Set Management Events Page

On the Events page, you determine the events that you want to monitor.

Available Events: Select the events in the list you want to monitor in this event set, then click on the << (Add) button to move the events to the Selected Events list.
Note: For more information on predefined events, see "Predefined Events" [*].

Selected Events: Select the events in the list you want to remove from this event set, then click on the >> (Remove) button.

Example

In the following example, the Events page is completed for a new event set. Additional steps for completing the Parameters Page are described in following section. The steps in this example are a continuation of an example on creating a new event set.

Event Set Management Parameters Page

The fixit job, frequency, and parameter settings are entered in the Event Information section of the Parameters page of the Event Set Management property sheet. The settings and types of parameters vary according to the event selected. Some events do not have parameters.

Choose Fixit Job

Select an existing fixit job from the pull-down list. These are jobs that have been created with the Job system and have been designated as fixit jobs. The jobs must be submitted and running on the same destination that the event is set on.

For example, you may want the agent to run a job to restart a database when the database instance has shut down unexpectedly.

Select <None> to stop a fixit job from executing.

For more information, see "Job Scheduling" [*].

Frequency

Determine the frequency that you want the event to monitor the selected destinations. The frequency determines how often the event condition is checked. For example, if the frequency is set to 30 seconds, the event condition is checked every 30 seconds. To ensure timely notification, set the frequency to the smallest interval possible. To set the frequency:

See "Handling Events" [*] for details on the notification frequency.

Parameters

The parameters for an event are displayed when the event is selected in the Selected Events list. The parameters vary according to the event selected. Some events do not have parameters.

You can accept the default values or change the values for the parameters. To enter parameter values for an event:

Note: For information on the parameters for each event, see "Predefined Events" [*].

Example

In the following example, the Parameters page is completed for a new event set. The steps in this example are a continuation of an example on creating a new event set.

Registering, Modifying, or Viewing an Event Set

You need to register, or apply, an event set to monitor events on specific destinations in the network environment. To register an event set:

Note: There is usually a slight delay between the registering the event set and the notification by the agent.

To modify or view an event set:

The Register Event Set and Modify Registration property sheets are very similar. The property sheets contain:

Registrations General Page

On the General page, you identify the event set and destinations that you want the event set to monitor.

Warning: Do not register an UpDown event against the database or node where the repository table is stored. Note that the UpDown event is included the Oracle DB Fault predefined event set.

The communication between the agent and communication daemon can cause problems with the repository database connection. If the database or node is down, the event cannot notify the Console because the repository is not available.

Service Type: Select a service type from the pull-down list. The types include Database, Node, or Listener.
Set Name: Select an existing event set name from the pull-down list.
Description: Displays the description of the event set.
The Available destinations vary according to the service type and event set selected.

Available Destinations: Select the destinations in the list you want to monitor in this event set, then click on the << (Add) button.
Note: Only network objects that have an agent running are included in the list of available destinations.

Selected Destinations: Select the events in the list you want to remove from this event set, then click on the >> (Remove) button.

Registrations Notification Page

On the Notification page, you determine who is notified and how they are notified for each destination.

Note: You need to set up administrators and notification methods before you complete this page. See "Managing Administrators" [*].

Destination Select a destination from the pull-down list.
Notify Operator on Duty Check this option to notify the operator that is on duty when the event occurs.
Cause SNMP Trap At Agent Check this box to trap the notification at the destination where the agent is located. ????
Operators Select an operator in the list, then select the notification method for this operator.
Notification Method Choose the method for notifying the operator selected in the Operators list.

Example

In the following example, an event set for monitoring database space management is registered to a group of databases.

When threshold values are exceeded for the events, a notification is sent to Console window. This notification will change the color of the circle in the Severity column for the event in the Outstanding Events page. If the destination database icon is displayed in the Map window, the flag on the icon changes color. The colors and their meaning are:

Registrations Status Page

On the Status page, you can view the status and output messages (if any) of each event at every destination where the event has been registered. The page contains the following:

Destination Select an event destination from the pull-down list. The events registered at this destination display in the Status of Registered Event list.
Status of Registered Event at Destination Select an event in the list to view the error messages (if any) for the selected event.
Error Message for Event Scroll through the list of messages (if any) to view the output of the event. The specific output of each event is described in "Predefined Events" [*].

Example

To view the status and output messages of an event:

Acknowledging an Event

Acknowledging events allows you to add comments to an event and move the event from the Outstanding Events to the Event History page.

To acknowledge an event that has occurred, double-click on the event in the Outstanding Events page to display the Acknowledge Event property sheet. You can also select an event and choose the Acknowledge option in the Event menu.

The Acknowledge Event property sheet contains the General and Notification pages. After you have viewed the information on the pages and entered any optional comments in the Comments field of the General page, you can:

Acknowledge Event General Page

The General page contains the following fields. Only the Comments field can be updated.

Event Name of the event.
Date Date that the event occurred.
System System where the event occurred.
Node Destination node.
Event Message A message describing the event that took place.
Comments Enter an optional comment for this event. Comments are a useful for explaining how the problem was corrected.

Acknowledge Event Notification Page

The Notification page contains the Notification Status field. This field is for display only and cannot be updated.

Managing Administrators

EMS allows you to set up the administrators that are notified when an event occurs. You can then select specific administrators to be notified when applying an event set. When using a paging service or mail notification, each administrator can be assigned responsibility for specific systems at specific days and times.

Each administrator can be associated with both an email ID and a pager number. The administrator's schedule can be set up for any hours on any days of the week by system. For example, an administrator can be scheduled from 7:00 AM through 12:00 PM from Monday to Friday, 10:00AM through 2:00 PM on Saturday, and not available on Sunday.

Note: If you plan to use an mail or paging service for notification, you need to configure the mail, paging, and modem settings for your system before you set up administrators. See "Configuring Mail Services" [*], "Configuring Paging Services" [*], and "Configuring the Modem" [*].

To manage administrators, choose Administrator List in the Event menu to display the Administrator List dialog box. From the dialog box, you can add, modify, and delete administrators.

Adding Administrators

To add a new administrator definition:

Modifying Administrators

To modify an administrator definition:

Deleting Administrators

To delete an administrator definition:

Administrator General Page

The General page contains the Administrator's Name, Comments, Paging Information, and EMailing Information. Complete this page to set up the paging service and email address for the administrator.

Name: Enter the name of the administrator.
Comments: Enter any comments.
Paging Information:

Carrier: Select the the name of the paging carrier service from the pull-down list. The carriers are set up with the Configure Paging Services option in the Event menu.
Pin: Enter the paging Pin.
Test Click the Test buttons to check the accuracy of the Paging information. Enter a message and click on the Send button to test the paging service for the selected administrator.
EMailing Information:

MAPI Mail ID: Enter the MAPI mail address of the administrator.
SMTP Mail ID: Enter the SMTP mail address of the administrator.
Test Click the Test buttons to check the accuracy of the mail information. Enter a message and click on the Send button to test the email address for the administrator.

Administrator Systems Page

The Systems page defines the systems that the administrator is responsible for.

Available Systems: Select the names of the systems that the administrator is responsible for, then click the << (Add) button.
Systems responsible for: Select the names of the systems that the administrator is no longer responsible for, then click the >> (Remove) button.

Administrator Availability Page

The Availability page defines the Notification method and the Availability of the administrator for each system that the administrator is responsible for.

Notification: Select the notification method, All, Email, or Paging, from the pull-down list.
Paging is recommended for urgent events or critical systems.
Systems responsible for: Select the name of the system in the tree list that the administrator is responsible for.
Availability Select the hours and days of the week in the table when the administrator is available for the system selected in the list.

Configuring Mail Services

The Mail Configuration dialog box allows you to determine the mail service information for your system. You must set up this information correctly to notify administrators by mail.

To configure mail services, choose the Configure Services - Mail option from the Event menu to display the Mail Configuration dialog box. Define the information in the following fields:

You should set up the mail engine to match the mail engine of your system.

Current Mail Engine Select the mail engine from the following options in the pull-down list:

MAPI Setup

Send Mail As Enter the method for sending the mail.
Password Enter the password.
SMTP Setup

Send Mail As Enter the method for sending the mail.
SMTP Server: Enter the SMTP server.

Configuring Paging Services

You configure the paging service names, access numbers, and communication settings with the Paging Services Configuration dialog box. These paging services can be assigned to the administrators you define in the Administrator List dialog box.

To configure paging services, choose Configure Services - Paging option in the Event menu to display the Paging Services Configuration dialog box. From this dialog box, you can add, modify, or delete paging services.

Adding Paging Services

To add a new paging service:

Modifying Paging Services

To modify a paging service:

Deleting Paging Services

To delete a paging service:

Communication Settings

These settings define how the system communicates with the paging service. Contact the paging service for the correct settings.

Baud Rate: Select the baud rate from the pull-down list.
Data Bits: Select the data bits from the pull-down list.
Stop Bits: Select the stop bits from the pull-down list.
Parity: Select the parity from the pull-down list.
Flow Control: Select the flow control from the pull-down list.

Configuring the Modem

You determine the system modem information, outside line dialing information, and trace log option with the Modem Settings dialog box. This information must be set up correctly to dial a paging service.

To configure the modem settings:

Modem Settings

Complete the fields in the Modem Settings dialog box to set up the system modem.

Serial Port Select the serial port number of the modem connection from the pull-down list.
Modem Type Select the modem type from the pull-down list. If your modem is not listed, choose Other.
Init Command Enter the initialization string for the modem or accept the default command. Refer to your modem documentation for additional information.
Dialing Information Check the box if you need to enter a prefix to access an outside line. Enter the prefix to access an outside line in the adjacent field.
Trace Log Check the box to create a trace log. Enter the pathname of the log file in the adjacent field.

Contents Index Home Previous Next

<Oracle Enterprise Manager Concepts GuideOracle Enterprise Manager Concepts Guide