Configure Aspects

Administration > Monitoring > Management Templates & Aspects

Alternatively, click Management Templates & Aspects.

In some cases, you may want to create an aspect that extends existing aspects. In these cases, you can nest one or more aspects within another aspect.

For example, you may want to create two reusable aspects that define monitoring configurations for servers:

• Basic server monitoring

  An aspect that contains policy templates for monitoring ten server performance metrics.

• Detailed server monitoring

  An aspect that provides the same monitoring configuration as the basic server monitoring aspect, plus additional policy templates for monitoring a further twenty server performance metrics.

In the above example, you could first configure the basic server monitoring aspect, and then nest it within the detailed server monitoring aspect. By nesting one aspect within another, you can avoid duplication and make aspects easier to maintain.

When you create an aspect, you must select one or more CI types to which the aspect can be assigned. Nested aspects must be configured to be assignable to either the same or more generic types of CI. An aspect for the CI type Computer, for example, may contain nested aspects for the CI type Computer or the more generic CI type Node.

Aspects use parameters, which correspond to variables in policy templates, to control how CIs of a certain type are monitored. The value of the parameter is set by an operator for the CI type the aspect is assigned to. The corresponding variable is set and passed to the CI according to the definition in the policy template.

A parameter decouples a value from its physical definition in a policy template. This has the following advantages:

• A value can be set at deployment time in the application, rather than having to change hard-coded variables in a policy template.

• A parameter can be deployed conditionally so the value it represents can be used in multiple situations, but needs to be set only once.

• Parameter values can be set at various levels, allowing defaults to be used on the lower levels. This can greatly reduce the number of values to be set by an operator.

• It is possible to override any configured values by tuning assignments when the monitoring process is started.

• Parameters can be combined to reuse a value occurring multiple times, removing the need to specify values repetitively. A typical example is a password parameter that is used by several policy templates in an aspect to log on to the same service.

Conditional Deployment

You can use the following criteria for the conditional deployment of a parameter contained in a policy template or an aspect:

• CI type

  Policy templates must be deployed to specific CI types. Conditional deployment allows you to create aspects monitoring CIs governed by the same parameters, but having CI type-specific policy templates, enabling OMi to automatically select the correct policy template for the CI type of a CI when the aspect is assigned to it.

• OS type

  You can configure a policy template to be deployed for specific operating systems. Conditional deployment of several policy templates in a single aspect allows for creating platform-neutral aspects.

  As an example, consider the MySQL DBMS, which can run on several platforms. An aspect monitoring process health is configured with conditionally deployed policy templates for Windows, Linux and Solaris. When the aspect is assigned to a MySQL CI that is hosted on a Linux node, OMi automatically deploys the Linux variant of the policy template.

• CI attribute

  You can configure a policy template to be deployed only when a CI attribute has a specific value, enabling OMi to automatically change the policy template for a CI when an attribute reaches a certain value.

Specifying a Default Value

Parameter values are set in the monitoring agents when a policy template is deployed. Parameter values can be defined and changed in the following places:

• The policy template contains a default value for the parameter.

• You can override any policy template defaults at aspect level in the aspect's policy template configuration.

• You can override any aspect-level values at management template level in the management template's aspect configuration.

• You can override any management template- or aspect-level value when deploying a management template or aspect, unless the parameter is configured as hidden or read-only.

Combining Parameters

You can combine several parameters to create a single combined parameter. The value of a combined parameter is passed to all its constituent parameters, enabling using a single value definition for multiple CIs, making it easier to assign and maintain the management template or aspect using it.

For details, see task Combining Parameters and the UI Reference section for the Edit/Combine Parameters dialog.

1. In the Configuration Folders pane, select the configuration folder to create a new aspect in, or create a new folder. For details about creating and managing configuration folders, see Configuration folders.

2. To create a new aspect, click New in the Management Templates & Aspects pane and select Create Aspect. The Add New Aspect wizard opens on the General tab.

   Note Do not use New to create a new version of an existing aspect. To create a new version of an existing aspect, use Edit Item, specify a new version number in the General tab, make any required changes, and click OK.

3. In step General you enter general information about the aspect.

   Note: Required fields are marked with a red asterisk *; the Next button is inactive until all the required fields are filled in.

   1. Enter a unique Name for the aspect.

   2. Optional. Enter a Description for the aspect.

   3. If required, set the major and minor version numbers for the aspect. By default, the major version number of the latest version is selected for new aspects.

   4. Optional. Enter your motivation for creating the new aspect in the Change Log field.

   Click Next to accept the values, generate an ID and go to CI Type.

4. Each aspect enables you to monitor one specific characteristic of one or more types of configuration items having the same characteristic. In the CI Types step, select the Available CI Type(s) to which you need to be able to assign the aspect, and click Add Right. The selected CI types are added to the list of assigned CI types. You can select multiple items by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key while selecting them. If you need the aspect to be assignable to a node independent of its CI type, check Node Compatible.

   After adding a CI type to the list and selecting it, you can specify a deployment condition for the aspect based on the value of an attribute of the CI instance to which the aspect is assigned. The system will only assign the aspect if the condition is enabled and evaluates to true at deployment time. To specify a deployment condition, click Edit Condition and use the Edit CI Type Condition dialog to select an attribute and specify a value for the condition.

   Click Next to accept the values and go to Instrumentation.

5. In the Instrumentation step, click Add Instrumentation to add instrumentation to the aspect. The Add Instrumentation dialog opens, which enables you to select the instrumentation that you want to add.

   Instrumentation includes scripts and executables executed by the HPE Operations Agent as defined in policies for managed nodes that have the agent installed on them.

   Instrumentations are unavailable if they are grayed out and their names end with "(Placeholder)". Upload them using the Content Manager.

   Click Next to accept the values and go to the Aspects step.

6. Optional. The Aspects step allows you to include existing aspects as nested aspects.

   To include an aspect, click Add Aspect. The Add Existing Aspect dialog opens. To add an aspect as a nested aspect:

   1. Select the aspect(s) you want to nest within this aspect from the list. You can select multiple aspects by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key while selecting them.

      Note To include a new aspect from scratch, you must create it first. To do this:

      1. Click Cancel to close the Add Existing Aspect dialog.
      2. Click Finish to save the aspect you are working on.
      3. Click New > Create Aspect in the Management Templates & Aspects pane and create the new aspect to be nested.
      4. Select the aspect to contain the new aspect again, and click Edit > Aspects > Add Existing Aspect. The new aspect is now available for nesting.

   2. Click OK to accept the aspects and close the Add Existing Aspect dialog.

   Click Next to accept the values and go to Policy Templates.

7. In step Policy Templates you can assign policy templates defining the parameters and instrumentation needed to monitor the configured CI types.

   To assign one or more policy templates to an aspect, do one of the following:

   • Click Add Policy Templates From List. The Add Policy Templates From List dialog opens, listing all policy templates available on the system.

     • To include policy templates created earlier, select all policy templates you want to assign to the aspect. You can select multiple policy templates by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key while selecting them. Click OK to accept the values and return to the Policy Templates tab.

     • When adding policy templates from a list, you also have the option of creating a new policy template from scratch. Click Add New Policy Template to create a new policy template using a wizard, or Add New Policy Template (Raw) to create a new policy template in raw mode. The Create New Policy Template wizard opens. Create a new policy template as described in Policy Templates. After clicking Finish at the end of the process, the Create New Policy Template wizard closes and the new policy template is added to the aspect.

   • Click Add Policy Templates From Policy Template Groups. The Add Policy Templates From Policy Template Groups dialog opens, listing all user-defined template groups as well as the policy templates included in the groups. Policies that are not included in any group are not listed.

     To include policy templates, expand the template groups and select all policy templates you want to assign to the aspect. You can select multiple policy templates by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key while selecting them. Click OK to accept the values and return to the Policy Templates tab.

   Click Next to accept the values and go to Parameters.

8. In step Parameters you can override the default value of the parameters defined in the policy templates you added in the Add Policy Templates tab.

   Sometimes it is useful to change parameter behavior:

   • You can set the value of a parameter at aspect level.

   • You can combine parameters (see task How to Combine Parameters).

   • You can undo changes or split combined parameters.

   For details, see the UI Reference section on the Edit/Combine Parameters dialog and the Learn More section on Aspect Parameterization.

9. Click Finish to save the values in all screens and close the wizard. The new aspect is shown in the Management Templates & Aspects pane.

You can edit parameters in several places, typically a parameter-related tab of a wizard or dialog. This task describes in detail what options can be used and in which situation they are useful.

Editing a Parameter

To edit a parameter, select a single parameter to be edited and click Edit. The Edit/Combine Parameters dialog box opens, allowing you to specify the following information for the existing or combined parameter.

Combining Parameters

To combine parameters:

1. Click the first parameter to be combined. The following happens:

   1. The parameter is selected.

   2. All parameters that cannot be combined with the selected parameter are dimmed. Only parameters of a compatible type remain selectable.

   3. Combine remains inactive.

   To access the full list of parameters again, click Refresh.

2. Holding down the Ctrl or Shift key, select one or more parameters to be combined with the first. Combine is activated.

   Note You can combine parameters only if they meet the following criteria:

   • Parameters to be combined must be of the same type.

   • Parameters to be combined must not have conditional values.

   • The range of allowed values of numeric parameters to be combined must overlap.

   • Enumeration parameters to be combined must have at least one common value.

   You can manipulate the set of selected parameters as follows:

   1. Click an already selected parameter to remove all other parameters from the selection. Only the clicked parameter remains selected and Combine is deactivated.

   2. Click an unselected parameter that is not dimmed while holding down the Ctrl key to add it to the selection.

   3. Click an already selected parameter while holding down the Ctrl key to remove it from the selection.

   4. Click a parameter while holding down the Shift key to select the range of parameters between the clicked parameter and the parameters last clicked before. Any selected parameters outside the range are deselected.

   5. To clear the entire selection and activate the full list of parameters again, click Refresh.

3. Click Combine. The Edit/Combine Parameters dialog opens.

4. Specify the parameter settings for the new parameter to represent the combination of the selected parameters.

Using the Edit/Combine Parameters Dialog

In the Edit/Combine Parameters dialog you can specify the following information:

1. If necessary, type a Name for the parameter.

2. Optional. Specify a Description.

3. Optional. Specify a Default Value. You can set the default value in one of the following ways:

   • Specify a conditional value by checking Conditional value and clicking New to open the Edit Conditional Value dialog box and specify a conditional value.

   • Set a specific value by selecting Constant Value and selecting a value from the list.

   • Obtain a value corresponding to a CI attribute by selecting From CI Attribute and then browse for a CI attribute. When you specify a CI attribute, OMi sets the parameter value automatically during deployment of the policy templates, using the actual value of this attribute from the aspect's CI. You can also set conditional parameter values here.

   If you specify a conditional value but none of the defined conditions apply the constant value or the value from the CI attribute (whichever is selected) is used.

4. Optional. Set the Read Only, Expert Setting, and Hidden options as appropriate.

   • Checking Read Only prevents changes to the parameter value when the aspect is assigned to a configuration item.

   • Checking Hidden also prevents changes, but additionally makes the parameter invisible.

   • Checking Expert Settings enables the expert settings when assigning the parameter. For more information, see task How to Deploy Aspects below.

5. Click OK to apply the changes and close the Edit/Combine Parameters dialog box.

To start monitoring an application or service you can assign an aspect directly to a CI. If you have a Monitoring Automation for Composite Applications add-on license, however, HPE recommends to deploy the management template containing the aspect instead. For details about deploying management templates, see Configure Management Templates, task How to Deploy Management Templates.

Users who have not installed the add-on license and developers may choose to deploy aspects anyway. The Assign and Deploy Wizard is described in Configure Management Templates, UI Reference section Assign and Deploy Dialog, but omitted from the UI reference section in this topic. You can also deploy aspects as described in Assignments and Tuning.

To create a report:

1. Select the aspect you want to create the report for.

2. Click Generate Assignment Report in the Management Templates &Aspects (middle) pane. A new browser window listing all management templates and aspects opens.

3. Select the assignment for which you want to create the report. The preconfigured report providing assignment details and listing all CIs assigned to a selected management template or aspect is displayed.

   • Use Collapse All CIs and Expand All CIs to collapse or expand the list of assigned CIs.

   • Click Show All Values to switch between all values and only customized values being displayed.

If you make changes to policy templates or aspects (for example when updating a Management Pack or customizing a policy template or aspect), the policy templates and aspects it contains are added to the database as new versions. Management templates and aspects reference specific versions of aspects, so Management Pack updates require all management templates and aspects referencing the updated aspects and policy templates to be updated as well.

The Update to Latest wizard helps you update your management templates and aspects automatically. The Update to Latest wizard supports several different ways of versioning the updated items. Your use case determines which way works best in a particular situation.

To update all items in a management template or aspect to the latest version in the database:

1. Browse to the appropriate configuration folder and select the management template or aspect to be updated in the Management Templates & Aspects pane. Select a single management template or aspect; updates can only be done on single management templates or aspects.

2. Click Update to Latest. The Update to Latest wizard opens.

3. Set the following options to suit your use case:

   1. Versioning alternatives:

      1. Update to the latest major and minor version causes both major and minor versions to reflect the latest version.

      2. Update to the Latest Minor Version, Keeping All Major Versions limits changes to the minor version number only. If the latest version of an item has a higher major number than the current item, the new version will have the lowest available minor number for the same major number as the current version.

      For example, if the current version is 1.5 and there are two newer versions with version numbers 1.6 and 2.1:

      1. Update to the latest major and minor version will update the version number to 2.1.

      2. Update to the Latest Minor Version, Keeping All Major Versions will update the version number to 1.6.

   2. Scope of update:

      1. Only Update This Object, Not the Contained Object causes only the selected object to be updated to the latest version. Any objects further down in the tree structure are left as the current version.

      2. Update this object and all containing objects causes all objects in the entire tree represented by the management template or aspect to be updated to the latest version.

4. Click Next. A preview of the update is shown as an expanded tree view of the management template or aspect, where items that will be updated are labeled "(old version > new version)", and items that will not be updated are labeled "(current version)".

   If you want to keep certain items from being updated you can exclude them as follows:

   1. Select the item you want to exclude from the update.

   2. Click Exclude From Update . Although the versioning label for the item is not changed, the selected item is now excluded from the update as indicated by the label being followed by the exclude from update icon .

      Note Exclude From Update is only activated for items to be updated, as indicated by the label "(old version > new version)".

   3. Click Reload Preview to apply the manual exclusions. The list is refreshed.

   To include a manually excluded item again, select it, and click Include in Update followed by Reload Preview.

5. Click Finish to apply the update as shown in the preview.

1. Go to the Automatic Assignment Rules screen:

   Administration > Monitoring > Automatic Assignment Rules

   Alternatively, click Automatic Assignment Rules.

   The screen consists of the Auto-Assignment Rules pane at the top, and a parameter list at the bottom.

2. Click New Assignment in the toolbar of the Auto-Assignment Rules pane. Select Assign Management Template to create an automatic assignment rule for a management template or Assign Aspect to create an automatic assignment rule for an aspect.

   The Create Auto-Assignment Rule wizard opens at Select Target View.

3. Select a view containing the CIs for which you want to create an automatic assignment, and click Next to go to Select Item to Assign.

4. In step Select Item to Assign, click the management template or aspect that you want to automatically assign to all CIs with a CI type appearing in the selected view.

   The list shows only the management templates that have a root CI type that appears in the view that you selected or, in case an aspect is auto-assigned, compatible aspects.

   The latest version of the management template or aspect that you want to assign is selected by default. If required, select a different version in column Version.

   Click Next to go to Required Parameters.

   Note If there are no mandatory parameters that require editing for this assignment, you are automatically taken to the Parameter Summary screen.

5. Step Required Parameters lists all mandatory parameters in the management template that do not yet have a value. As they are mandatory, however, all listed parameters must be given a value before the management template can be deployed.

   If all required values are specified, you can choose one of the following actions:

   • Click Finish to assign the configuration object to the selected CI and close the wizard or dialog.
   • Click Next to go to Parameter Summary, where you can override the default value of any parameter, including those that are not required.

   Note To access step Configure Options, click Next in this step, and Next again in step Parameter Summary. Not applicable when updating assignments.

   To change a parameter, double-click it, or select it in the list and click Edit.

   • For standard parameters, the Edit Parameter dialog opens.

     To set a specific default parameter value, specify Value in the range that is valid for this parameter. This value overrides any default values defined in the configuration object.

     To use the default value from the configuration object, select Use Default Value.

   • For instance parameters, the Edit Instance Parameter dialog opens.

     Add instance values and specify dependent parameter values for each instance value.

     Click OK.

6. Optional. In step Parameter Summary, specify a value for each parameter that needs to be monitored against a different value than the default value. See the previous step for the information on how to change a parameter.

   Click Next to go to the Configure Options, or Finish to save the assignment and close the wizard.

7. Optional. In step Configure Options, clear the Activate Auto-Assignment Rule check box if you do not want to activate the automatic assignment rule immediately. You can activate automatic assignment rules at a later time using the Automatic Assignment Rules screen at Administration > Monitoring > Automatic Assignment Rules.

8. Click Finish to save the changes and close the wizard. The assignment rule is added to the list of auto-assignment rules.

As soon as the automatic assignment rule evaluates to true for a newly discovered CI, OMi creates an actual assignment for the CI, and starts the deployment jobs required to transfer the monitoring configuration to the nodes. After a policy template has been deployed, the OMi server specified in the Default Virtual Gateway Server for Data Collectors URL infrastructure setting becomes the owner of the policy on the node.

An assignment may trigger an event to be sent to OMi if one of the following situations applies:

• A deployment job fails.
• An auto-assignment fails.
• An auto-assignment succeeds. This behavior can be configured in the Infrastructure Settings.

You can check if the automatic assignment rule successfully created the expected assignments as follows:

1. Go Assignments and Tuning.

2. In the Views browser, select the view you identified when creating your automatic assignment rule.

3. Expand the view, and select a node that corresponds to the root CI type of the assigned item. Assignments created as a result of Automatic Assignment Rules are shown in the list of assignments at the top of the right pane, and have the value AutoAssignment in the column Assigned By.

You can consider the following options for tuning the assignment:

• Use the Automatic Assignment Rules screen to tune the parameter values for all assignments triggered by the automatic assignment rule.
• Use the Assignments and Tuning screen to tune, redeploy, delete, enable, disable, or update individual assignments.