Red Hat Network 4.1.0: Reference Guide
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6.9. Monitoring —

If you click the Monitoring tab on the top navigation bar, the Monitoring category and links appear. These pages, which require Monitoring entitlements, enable you to view the results of probes you have set to run against Monitoring-entitled systems and manage the configuration of your monitoring infrastructure.

Initiate monitoring of a system through the Probes tab of the System Details page. Refer to Section 6.4.2.8 System Details for a description of the tab. See Appendix C Probes for the complete list of available probes.

6.9.1. Probe Status —

As shown in Figure 6-21, the Probe Status page is shown by default when you click Monitoring in the top navigation bar.

Figure 6-21. Probe Status

The Probe Status page displays the summary count of probes in the various states and provides a simple interface to find problematic probes quickly. Please note that the probe totals in the tabs at the top of the page may not match the numbers of probes displayed in the tables below. The counts at the top include probes for all systems in your organization, while the tables display probes on only those systems to which you have access through the System Group Administrator role. Also, the probe counts displayed here may be out of sync by as much as one minute.

The following list describes each state and identifies the icons associated with them:

— Critical - The probe has crossed a CRITICAL threshold.
— Warning - The probe has crossed a WARNING threshold.
— Unknown - The probe is not able to accurately report metric or state data.
— Pending - The probe has been scheduled but has not yet run or is unable to run.
— OK - The probe is running successfully.

The Probe Status page contains tabs for each of the possible states, as well as one that lists all probes. Each table contains columns indicating probe state, the monitored system, the probes used, and the date and time the status was last updated.

In these tables, clicking the name of the system takes you to the Probes tab of the System Details page. Clicking the name of the probe takes you to its Current State page. From there, you may edit the probe, delete it, and generate reports based upon its results.

Monitoring data and probe status information that was previously availble only through the web interface of the Satellite can now be exported as a CSV file. Click on the Download CSV links throughout the Monitoring pages to download CSV files of relevent information. The exported data may include, but is not limited to:

Probe status
All probes in a given state (OK, WARN, UNKNOWN, CRITICAL, PENDING)
A Probe Event history

6.9.1.1. Probe Status ⇒ Critical —

The probes that have crossed their CRITICAL thresholds or reached a critical status by some other means. For instance, some probes become critical (rather than unknown) when exceeding their timeout period.

6.9.1.2. Probe Status ⇒ Warning —

The probes that have crossed their WARNING thresholds.

6.9.1.3. Probe Status ⇒ Unknown —

The probes that cannot collect the metrics needed to determine probe state. Most but not all probes enter an unknown state when exceeding their timeout period. This may mean that the timeout period should be increased, or the connection cannot be established to the monitored system.

It is also possible the probes' configuration parameters are not correct and their data cannot be found. Finally, this state may indicate that a software error has occurred.

6.9.1.4. Probe Status ⇒ Pending —

The probes whose data have not been received by RHN. This state is expected for a probe that has just been scheduled but has not yet run. If all probes go into a pending state, your monitoring infrastructure may be failing.

6.9.1.5. Probe Status ⇒ OK —

The probes that have run successfully without exception. This is the state desired for all probes.

6.9.1.6. Probe Status ⇒ All —

All probes scheduled on systems in your account, listed in alphabetical order by the name of system.

6.9.1.7. Current State —

Identifies the selected probe's status and when it last ran, while providing the ability to generate a report on the probe. Although this page is integral to monitoring, it is found under the Probes tab within the System Details page since its configuration is specific to the system being monitored.

To view a report of the probe's results, choose a relevant duration using the date fields and decide whether you would like to see metric data, the state change history or both. To obtain metric data, select the metric(s) on which you wish to see a report, and decide (using the checkboxes) whether the results should be shown in a graph, an event log, or both. Then click Generate report at the bottom of the page. If no data exist for the probe's metrics, you are presented with the following message: NO DATA SELECTED TIME PERIOD AND METRIC.

6.9.2. Notification —

Identifies the contact methods that have been established for your organization. These methods contain email or pager addresses designated to receive alerts from probes.

The various notification methods available to your organization are listed here on the default Notification screen. The methods are listed according to the user to which they apply.

To create a new notification method, click on the name of the user to whom the notification will apply. The user's User Details ⇒ Notification Methods page appears. Refer to Section 6.8.1.1.7 User List ⇒ Active ⇒ User Details ⇒ Notification Methods — for further information. Click on the title of the notification method to edit the properties of the method.

6.9.2.1. Notification ⇒ Filters

Notification filters allow you to create long-term rules that suspend, redirect, or automatically acknowledge standard notifications or send supplemental notifications. This can be helpful in managing verbose or frequent probe communication.

6.9.2.1.1. Notification ⇒ Notification Filters ⇒ Active Filters

This is the default screen for the Notification Filters tab. It lists all active filters available for your organization. Click the name of the filter to edit the properties of the filter.

To create a notification filter, click the create new notification filter link in the upper right of the screen. Configure each option listed below and click the Save Filter button to create the filter.

Description: Enter a value that allows you to distinguish this filter from others.
Type: Determine what action the filter should take: redirect, acknowledge, suspend, or supplement the incoming notification.
Send to: The Redirect Notification and Supplemental Notification options in step two require an email address to which to send the notifications. The remaining options require no email address.
Scope: Determine which monitoring components are subject to the filter.
Organization/Scout/Probe: This option allows you to select the organization, scout(s), or probe(s) to which this filter applies. To select multiple items from the list, hold the [Ctrl] key while clicking the names of the items. To select a range of items, hold the [Shift] key while clicking on the first and last items in the range.
Probes in State: Select which probe state(s) relate to the filter. For example, you may choose to create a supplemental notification for critical probes only. Un-check the box to the left of any state you want the filter to ignore.
Notifications sent to: This is the method to which the notification would be sent if no filter were in place. You may, for example, redirect notifications that would normally go to a user should that individual go on vacation, leaving all other notifications from the probe unchanged.
Match Output: Select precise notification results by entering a regular expression here. If the "Message:" portion of the notification does not match the regular expression, the filter is not applied.
Recurring: Select whether a filter runs continuously or on a recurring basis. A recurring filter runs multiple times for a period of time smaller than the duration of the filter. For example, a recurring filter could run for 10 minutes of every hour between the start and end times of the filter. A non-recurring filter runs continuously between the start and end times of the filter.
Beginning: Enter a date and time for the filter to begin operation.
Ending: Enter an end date and time for the filter.
Recurring Duration: How long a recurring filter instance is active. This field, applicable to recurring filters only, begins at the Beginning time specified above. Any notification generated outside of the specified duration is not filtered.
Recurring Frequency: How often the filter activates.

Notification filters cannot be deleted. However, a filter may be canceled by setting the end date to some time in the past. (Note that the end date must be equal to or later than the start date, or the change fails.) Another method is to select a set of filters from the Active page and click the Expire Notification Filters button in the lower right. These filters are then canceled and appears in the Expired Filters tab.

6.9.2.1.2. Notification ⇒ Notification Filters ⇒ Expired Filters

This tab lists all notification filters whose end date has passed. Expired filters are stored indefinitely; this allows an organization to recycle useful filters as needed and provides a historical record for troubleshooting.

6.9.3. Probe Suites

Probe Suites allow you to configure and apply one or more probes to a system or systems. Probe Suites may be configured once and then applied to any number of systems in a batch. This results in time savings and consistency for Monitoring customers.

To create and apply a Probe Suite, first create an empty Probe Suite, then configure member probes, and finally apply the Suite to selected systems.

From the Monitoring ⇒ Probe Suites page, select the create probe suite link. Enter an easily distinguishable name for the Probe Suite. You may also choose to add a brief description of the Suite. Click the Create Probe Suite button to continue.
Add and configure the probes that comprise the Suite. Click the create new probe link in the upper right.

As described in Section 6.4.2.8.5 System Details ⇒ Monitoring — , configure the probe and click the Create Probe button in the lower right. Repeat this process until all desired probes have been added.

	Note
	Sendmail must be configured correctly on your RHN Satellite Server and each client system to which the Probe Suite is applied must have the `rhnmd` daemon installed and running. Refer to the RHN Satellite Server 4.1.0 Installation Guide for additional information.

Add the systems to which the Probe Suite applies. Click the add systems to probe suite link in the upper right of the screen to continue.
The next page displays a list of all systems with Monitoring entitlements. Check the box to the left of the system(s) to which you wish to apply the Probe Suite, select the monitoring scout you wish to use, and click the Add systems to probe suite button to complete the creation of the Probe Suite.

You can either delete or detach probes from the suite. Detaching a probe disassociates the probes from the suite and converts them to system-specific probes for the specified system. This means that changes to the detached probes only effect that system. Deleting a probe removes it from the Suite for all systems.

To remove probes from the Probe Suite:

From the Monitoring ⇒ Probe Suites page, click on the title of the Probe Suite you wish to alter.
Select the Probes sub-tab.
Check the box next to the probe you wish to remove.
Click the Delete probes from Probe Suites button.

You may also remove a system from the Probe Suite. There are two ways to accomplish this. The first method is to detach the system from the Probe Suite. When you do so, the system still has the same probes assigned to it. However, you now have the ability to configure these probes individually without affecting any other systems. For more information about removing probes from an individual system, refer to Section 6.4.2.8.5 System Details ⇒ Monitoring — .

To detach a system from the suite:

From the Monitoring ⇒ Probe Suites page, click on the title of the Probe Suite you wish to alter.
Select the Systems sub-tab.
Check the box next to the system(s) you wish to remove from the Probe Suite.
Click the Detach System(s) from Probe Suite button

The second method is to remove the system from the suite. This removes the system from the suite and deletes all running probes from the system.

	Note
	This action deletes all of the Probe Suites' probes from the system as well as all of the historical Time Series and Event Log data. This action is irreversible.

To remove a system from the Probe Suite and delete all associated probes from the system:

From the Monitoring ⇒ Probe Suites page, click on the title of the Probe Suite you wish to alter.
Select the Systems sub-tab.
Check the box next to the system(s) you wish to remove from the Probe Suite.
Click the Remove System(s) from Probe Suite button.

Finally, as with single Probes, you may download a CSV file containing information about Probe Suites. Click the Download CSV link at the bottom of the Monitoring ⇒ Probe Suites page to download the file.

6.9.4. Scout Config Push —

Displays the status of your monitoring infrastructure. Anytime you make a change to your monitoring configuration, such as adding a probe to a system or editing a probe's thresholds, you must reconfigure your monitoring infrastructure. Do this by selecting the RHN Server's checkbox and clicking Push Scout Configs. The table on this page identifies the date and time of requested and completed pushes.

Clicking the name of the server opens its Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon SSH Public Key. This allows you to copy and paste the SSH key to the systems that are monitored by the scout. This is required in order for the Red Hat Network Monitoring Daemon to connect to the Satellite.

6.9.5. General Config —

Collects information that is universally applicable to your Monitoring infrastructure.Modifying anything on this page causes the Monitoring services on the RHN Satellite Server to reset. It also schedules restart events for the Monitoring services on all Monitoring-enabled RHN Proxy Servers that connect to this Satellite. This is done so that the Monitoring services on these servers immediately reload their configuration.

Typically, the defaults provided in other fields are acceptable, since they are derived from your Satellite installation. Nevertheless, you may use the fields on this page to alter your Monitoring configuration. For instance, you may change your mail exchange server here. This page also allows you to alter the destination of all administrative emails from the Satellite. When finished, click Update Config.