Develop > Develop content > Integrate content > Integrate topology data

Integrate topology data

Topology data is contained in a Run-time Service Model (RTSM). The RTSM contains definitions of configuration item types (CI types), and how those CI types can potentially be related to other CI types. Configuration items (CIs) are instances of CI types.

To integrate a new application into an Operations Manager i monitoring solution, and create a topology view of the new application, it may be necessary to:

  • Create new CI types for the new application.
  • Identify the key attribute values for the new CI types.
  • Establish the relationships (for example, membership, dependency, and composition relationships) for the new application.
  • Create CIs and CI relationships in the RTSM.

The effort required to integrate the topology data for a new application depends on what data already exists. For example, integrating an application where you can re-use existing RTSM objects will require less effort than integrating one where you must start at the beginning, and define all the RTSM CI types and their relations.

The following sections show how to integrate a new application, and create a topology view of the new environment, using an example application environment called “ACME”.

Learn more

ClosedIntegrate new applications

To integrate a new application into an OMi monitoring solution and create a topology view of the new application, it is necessary to:

ClosedCreate New CI Types for the New Application

The first step in integrating your new application is to create new CI types for the application.

The following graphic shows the topology model of the “ACME” environment.

In this example ACME environment, an ACME system contains various ACME application servers. These application servers employ ACME work processes to execute user requests.

The ACME environment uses an Oracle database to store all information. The graphic shows four new CI types, depicted in blue:

  • ACME System

  • ACME Application Server

  • ACME Work Process

  • ACME Resource

These new CI types are child elements of CI types that already exist in the RTSM (shown in green).

Comprehensive details about how to create new CI types and how to work with the concepts of the RTSM are described in the RTSM - Modeling section.

To create a new CI type, do the following:

  1. Navigate to the CI Type Manager:

    RTSM Administration > Modeling > CI Type Manager

  2. In the CI Types pane, activate the CI Types tree by selecting CI Types from the drop-down menu.

  3. In the CI Types tree, navigate to the folder where you want to add your new application, for example:

    Configuration Item > Infrastructure Element > Application System

  4. Right-click, and click the New () button. The Create Configuration Item Type dialog box opens.

  5. In the Name field, enter the name of the CI type to be created: acme_system.

    In the Display Name field, enter the display name of the CI type: ACME System.

    Optional. In the Description field, enter a description of the CI type you are creating.

    Click Next to proceed to the next page of the Create Configuration Item Type dialog, where you set the key attributes for the new CI you created, as described in Set Key Attribute Values for New CI Types below.

ClosedSet Key Attribute Values for New CI Types

It is essential to identify the new CI types with unique key attributes. By setting unique key attributes, you can make sure there are no duplicate CIs created, for instance, by different discovery sources.

The following table shows a list of potential key attributes for an ACME environment.

List of CI Type Attributes for the ACME Environment

CI Type Display Name

Attribute

Description

Value

ACME System

name

Name of an ACME system

System ID

ACME Application Server

name

A unique name that identifies an ACME server within an ACME System landscape

ACME server name

root_container

The container host

CI reference (CI ID) of the host

ACME Work Process

name

A logical single-instance representation of a certain type of work process

Work process category; batch, dialog or spool

  1. In the Create Configuration Item Type-Attributes dialog, set the key attributes for the CI type, for example, ACME System.

    To identify your new CI type with an existing attribute, click in the column marked Key on the same row as the attribute you want to set as a key attribute. A small key icon then appears. (Click again if you do not wish to set that attribute.)

  2. In addition to setting key attributes for the new CI type, you may want to create your own attributes used solely for that CI type.

    To create a new attribute:

    1. In the Create Configuration Item Type-Attributes dialog, click the Add () button. The Add Attribute dialog box opens.

    2. In the Attribute Name field, enter the name of the new attribute: acme_instance_number

      In the Display Name field, enter the display name of the new attribute: ACME Instance Number

      In the Scope field, choose the scope: BDM

      Optional. In the Description field, enter a description for the new attribute.

    3. Set the attribute type, and if applicable, fill out the Value Size and Default Value fields.

    4. Click OK.

  3. Set the newly created attribute as a key attribute for the ACME System CI type, as described in step 1.

  4. Click Finish.

ClosedEstablish Relationships for the New Application

The next step in integrating the new application is to establish the relationships for the new application.

In the out-of-the-box RTSM model, there is a membership relationship between the ACME system and the ACME application server. Our example ACME system depends on an Oracle database. This dependency relationship, however, does not exist in the out-of-the-box RTSM model. You must create this relationship using the CI Type Manager:

RTSM Administration > Modeling. CI Type Manager

To create the dependency relationship between the ACME system and the Oracle database, do the following:

  1. In the CI Type Manager, select ACME System and Oracle.

  2. Right-click, and select Add/Remove Relationship.

  3. In the Add/Remove Relationship dialog, check the box for Dependency in the ACME System > Oracle column, to establish the relationship that our ACME system depends on an Oracle database.

  4. Click OK.

ClosedCreating CIs and CI Relationships in the RTSM

The next step in integrating the new application is to create CIs and CI relationships in the RTSM.

There are three methods to create CIs and CI relationships:

  • Create the CIs and CI relationships using discovery features of the RTSM and HPE Data Flow Management (DFM). See Creating CIs Using RTSM/HPE Data Flow Management Discovery.

  • Create the CIs and CI relationships using topology synchronization. Topology synchronization reuses the OM service model to create corresponding CIs and CI relationships. This, of course, requires that a suitable service model in OM has been created. See Creating CIs Using Topology Synchronization.

    For more details about topology synchronization, see Populate the RTSM.

  • Create CIs manually in the RTSM. This option is really only practical if you must create just a limited number of CIs, and that these CIs are stable in nature, and are not expected to change.

See also Considerations when Choosing a Discovery Method.

Creating CIs Using RTSM/HPE Data Flow Management Discovery

HPE Data Flow Management automatically discovers and maps logical application assets in Layers 2 to 7 of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model. The discovery technology is based on discovery patterns.

The Data Flow Management licensing structure is as follows:

  • UCMDB Foundation License. The Foundation license includes UCMDB as the backbone component for BTO products. This version enables data flow between multiple instances of UCMDB, and integration with BTO products to enable solution deployment.

  • UCMDB Integration License. The Integration license adds third party integrations on top of the UCMDB Foundation license.

  • UCMDB DDM Advanced License. The DDM Advanced license includes all discovery capabilities to discover the IT infrastructure elements and feed that information as CIs and Relationships to the RTSM. DDM Advanced license also allows users to extend the RTSM model and write their own discovery patterns.

Using Data Flow Management, it is also possible to query external data sources:

  • Comma Separated Value (CSV) Files
  • Properties Files
  • Databases

For more details, see the RTSM sections Data Flow Management and Developer Reference.

Creating CIs Using Topology Synchronization

Many OM customers use OM service views or the Service Navigator to visualize dependencies between IT resources and IT services to their operators.

If you take this route, then you would use either the service discovery features of the Operations Smart Plug-ins or your own discovery mechanisms to create the service tree.

If this is the case, then you can use the topology synchronization feature to create CIs and CI relationships, based on the OM service model and topology synchronization mapping rules. Out-of-the-box mapping rules are provided that are able to map service models created by the following Operations Smart Plug-ins, all of which are enabled to work with OMi:

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for Databases (Oracle and MS SQL Server only)

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for IBM WebSphere Application Server

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for BEA WebLogic Application Server

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for Microsoft Active Directory

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for Microsoft Exchange Server

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for Virtualization Infrastructure

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for Systems Infrastructure

  • Operations Smart Plug-in for Cluster Infrastructure

You may have invested significant effort in creating your own custom service model, together with a corresponding manual or automatic service model creation process. You can reuse that model to create corresponding RTSM configuration items automatically. All you need to do is to write corresponding topology synchronization mapping rules for your model.

For more details about topology synchronization, see Populate the RTSM.

Considerations when Choosing a Discovery Method

The following considerations are useful in helping you decide which discovery option to use to populate the RTSM.

  • When to Use Data Flow Management

    Use Data Flow Management if:

    • You already use Data Flow Management to populate the RTSM, or are planning to use it.

    • You do not already have a service model in OM. We recommend using Data Flow Management, as it is the preferred discovery method for populating the RTSM.

  • When to Use Topology Synchronization

    Use out-of-the-box topology synchronization rules provided in the synchronization packages if:

    • You are not using (and have no plans to use) Data Flow Management to populate the RTSM, and

    • You already have a service model in OM containing services corresponding to your ACME topology.

  • When to Create CIs Manually

    You can create CIs manually if the CIs you want to create are limited in number, and are stable in nature, so are unlikely to change.

ClosedCreate enrichment rules

The illustration shows the ACME model, where there is a cross-domain relation between an ACME system and an Oracle database. If there are insufficient key attributes for the ACME discovery to create the Oracle database CI, this dependency relation can be generated by an enrichment rule.

For more information on how to create and maintain enrichment rules, see the RTSM - Modeling section.

ClosedCreate a topology view

Use the RTSM Modeling Studio to create a view to display the ACME topology. The following screenshot shows the ACME topology view in the RTSM Modeling Studio.

ClosedCreate an impact relation

Impact modeling is performed using calculated relations. Impact relationships are important for KPI calculations. For a detailed description of impact modeling in the RTSM, including concepts, see the RTSM - Modeling section.

Note You can create a specific view to verify the impact propagation within your topology. Create a new view and choose impacted by as the relationship type between each CI type.

The following graphic shows a calculated relation (a triplet), which uses a propagation rule to create an impact relation between the ACME Application Server and the ACME Work Process.

Send Help Center feedback