Context

Tool mentors explain how a tool can perform tasks, which are part of ITUP processes and activities. The tasks are listed as Related Elements in the Relationships section.

You can see the details of how processes and activities are supported by this tool mentor, by clicking the links next to the icons:

•   Event Management
  •   Detect and Log Event

Details

The IBM® Tivoli® Enterprise Console® event server processes input from monitoring sources and updates the event database and consoles. The event server creates an entry in the event database for each incoming event and then evaluates these events against a set of rules to determine if the event server should automatically perform any predefined tasks or modify the event. If human intervention is required, the event server notifies the appropriate operator.

Logging incoming events

When reception logging is enabled, the event server validates and logs incoming events to the event database. The event server assigns a unique identifier and time stamp to each event and, if the event is valid, stores the event in the event database. When the event server receives a valid event, the event server sends the event to the rule engine for further processing. If the rule engine is busy, incoming events are stored in a buffer until the rule engine can process the events. When the rule engine completes the processing of any buffered events, the event server stores the event in the event database. The Tivoli Enterprise Console product uses an external relational database management system (RDBMS) to store the large amount of event data that is received. Storing information in an external database enables an application to take advantage of the power of relational database technology, such as SQL queries, to store and retrieve information.

Applying rules

The IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console product uses a system of prolog rules to correlate discrete monitoring data into concrete events. When the event server receives an event or when an event is modified, the event server determines if any existing rules apply to that event. A rule consists of a set of expressions used to determine if an event meets the rule conditions. A rule also includes a set of actions that are taken when an event meets the specified rule conditions. Rules help reduce the amount of interpretation and the number of responses that are required by operators. For example, a particular event might be known to trigger one or more instances of another event. In such a case, a rule can be used to automatically downgrade the severity of the event or close events that are known to be caused by the triggering event.

Tivoli Enterprise Consoles

Tivoli Enterprise Console has an event console that provides a GUI that operators can use to view and respond to events. In addition to logging the event information into the event database, the console is also updated to reflect the status of the event. The Tivoli Enterprise Console product provides two versions of the event console, a Java™ version and a Web version. Administrators must use the Java version to perform configuration tasks. Administrators or operators must use the Java version to start Tivoli NetView® functions and to run local automated tasks. Administrators and operators can use the Java version or the Web version, or both, to manage events stored in the Tivoli Enterprise Console database. 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 user interface 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

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