Configuring Structured Input Data Forwarding

To forward structured input data, that is, data gathered by a policy before the policy rules are applied, configure the structured input forwarding rules.

Structured input data rules define what a Data Forwarding policy should do in response to specific structured input data. Each rule consists of a condition and of settings for the data generated by the policy. The settings enable you to configure what data Operations Connector forwards to which target.

To access

In the Operations Connector user interface, click in the toolbar. Then click Forwarding > Data Forwarding.

Alternatively, double-click an existing policy to edit it.

Click Structured Input to open the policy Structured Input page.

Learn More

Rule types

The rule types are:

• Forward on matched

  If matched, Operations Connector forwards the structured input data to the specified targets.

• Discard on matched

  If matched, Operations Connector discards the structured input data.

• Discard on unmatched

  If not matched, Operations Connector discards the structured input data.

Unlike with rules for other policies where processing stops when a rule is matched, all rules are processed for every data type. Operations Connector then compares the lists of targets to which the data should be sent to with the list of targets where data should be discarded. The final result is a unified list of targets where the data record should be sent to. As a result, discarding rules have a higher precedence than forwarding rules.

Conditions

Every rule can have a list of conditions evaluated when processing input data. The condition list is evaluated using the logical and operator.

Each condition consists of a left and right hand operand which are compared using an operator. The left hand operand is a reference to the data evaluated. A data reference is addressed using its key. The available keys are shown by Operations Connector. The meta data is derived directly from the input data:

• For data from structured logfiles, database queries, and Perl script sources, this is the name of the structured field:

  • Structured log files: static field names, recurring field names, and OM pattern variable names
  • Databases: result column names of column aliases
  • Perl sources: result data key names

• For hierarchical data from REST web service or XML file policies, the field names are given in a path like notation relative to the configured XML denominating tag. For example:

  /data/name
  /data/description
  /data/metric@time
  /here/metric@state
  

Tasks

How to configure data forwarding

1. In the Data Forwarding Rules list, click above the Description column to add a new rule. Select the rule type.

2. In the Properties tab, enter a description for the rule.

3. In the Condition tab, click to add new conditions.

   1. In the Property field, enter the name of the property or drag it from the Meta Data tab.

   2. Select the pattern operator.

      For a list of available operators, see Condition Tab.

   3. In the Operand field, type the value or pattern that you want the policy to compare with the property.

4. In the Targets tab, select one or more targets from the list of available targets. If the rule should affect all targets, you can select the option Affect all targets.

   Optionally, you can override the target configuration for individual or all targets by selecting the option Override Target Configuration. If you select this option, you can change the Wire Format and change the setting of Use Guaranteed Delivery.

UI Descriptions

Structured Input Data Forwarding Rules

UI Element	Description
	Adds a new data forwarding rule to the list of rules.
	Deletes the selected data forwarding rule.
Description	A short description of the data forwarding rule.
Rule Type	Displays the type of the rule selected for this target.
Data Forwarding Target	Displays the URL of the target.

Properties Tab

UI Element	Description
Description	Describes the purpose of the rule.
Rule type	Defines the rule type. The following types are available: Forward on matched If matched, the agent forwards the structured input data to the specified targets. Discard on matched If matched, the agent discards the structured input data. Discard on unmatched If not matched, the agent discards the structured input data.

Condition Tab

UI Element	Description
Property	Input data property. You can drag and drop a value from the Meta Data tab.
Operator	The following operators are available: equals not equals less than greater than less or equal greater or equal matches
Operand	A numeric value between 0 and 65536.

Meta Data tab

UI Element	Description
<list of available keys>	Displays the available keys either from the Operations Connector Metric Meta Model (when forwarding metric data) or keys derived directly from the input data (when forwarding structured input data). You can drag and drop the keys in to the Property field.

Targets Tab

UI Element	Description
Affect all targets	If selected, the rule affects all configured targets.
<list of targets>	Lists all targets that are configured on the Targets page. Click on a target to enable it.
Override Target Configuration	Overrides the target configuration for selected targets.
Wire format	Selects the wire format - XML or JSON.
Use Guaranteed Delivery	If selected, guaranteed delivery is used.