Configuring Metric Rules in Perl Policies

Rules define the action a policy should take in response to a specific type of incoming metric. Each rule consists of the following:

• A condition for the incoming data

  The condition is the part of a policy that describes the data source.

• Settings for the outgoing event

  The settings define the actual metric data that Operations Connector sends to OMi.

A policy must contain at least one rule. If the policy contains multiple rules, they are evaluated consecutively. After the condition is matched in one rule, rule evaluation stops.

For examples and end-to-end workflow information on collecting metrics data, see Collecting Metrics Data topic.

To access

In the Operations Connector user interface, click in the toolbar. Then click Metric > Perl Script.

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

Click Rules to open the policy Rules page.

Rule types

The rule types are:

• Store on matched rule. If matched, Operations Connector stores metrics in a buffer until a maximum number of records or a maximum amount of time is reached. These metrics are sent to OMi when they are requested, and they use the settings defined for the rule. If you do not configure these settings, the default settings are used.

• Suppress on matched rule. If matched, Operations Connector stops processing.

• Suppress on unmatched rule. If not matched, Operations Connector stops processing.

Metric attributes

Each time a metric policy runs, it extracts raw data from its defined data source and builds a metric structure.

A metric structure consists of these attributes:

• Basic attributes:

  • Data domain

    The namespace of the integrated performance records, used in the Operations Agent store to avoid clashes.

  • Metric class

    Defines the metric class under which the metric appears in the Operations Agent store and consumers.

  • Metric name

    Defines the metric name under which the metric appears in the Operations Agent store and consumers.

  • Related CI

    Used to identify an instance of a performance record and associates it with a concrete CI instance. For details on how to associate the Related CI with the values in the RTSM model, see Create a policy topic. For an example, see Example – Create a Metrics Policy topic.

  • Node

    Used to identify a node-like CI to which the performance records are associated to.

  • Value

    The actual performance value which is converted to 64-bit floating point number.

  • Time measured

    The time stamp when the value was determined in the third-party system.

• Advanced attributes:

  • Original metric name

    The name of the metric as used on the third-party system.

  • Unit

    The unit of the metric.

  • Integration id

    An id, used to identify the source of the integration.

Parameters for metrics policies

The reportMetricObject and reportMetricsArray methods send the following keys, which you can reference in a metrics integration policy as $key. For example, if you insert $MonitorName in the Monitor Name field, the policy replaces $MonitorName with the monitor name from the SOAP message before sending the metric to OMi.

Key from SOAP Message	Policy Parameter
monitorName	$MonitorName
monitorType	$MonitorType
targetName	$TargetName
timeStamp	$TimeStamp
quality	$Quality
monitorState	$MonitorState
measurementName	$MeasurementName
measurementValue	$Value
measurementCIHint	$MeasurementCIHint
measurementETI	$MeasurementETI

Tasks

How to configure rules for metrics in Perl script policies

This task describes how to configure policy rules.

1. In the Policy Rules section, click and select the type of rule to define what the policy should do in response to a specific string in the data gathered by the Perl script. Each policy must have at least one rule.

2. In the Rule Content section, use the Condition tab to specify the values that the policy searches for in the data the policy reads. If the policy finds a match, it may or may not generate a metric record, depending on the rule type.

   1. Click to create a new condition. New conditions by default use the equals operator.

   2. Click to expand the new condition.

   3. In the Property field, specify the attribute that the policy searches for.

      You can drag and drop the data key from the Data Keys name list to the Properties field.

   4. Select the pattern operator.

      If you select the matches operator, you can type a pattern in the Operand field.

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

3. Optional. If you are creating a rule of the type 'Store on matched rule', set the attributes (Basic and/or Advanced) for metrics that you want the rule to override. All metrics on the Basic tab are required. Advanced attributes are optional. If default attributes are specified in the Defaults tab, you can use the defaults or you can override them as described below.

4. Optional. Use the Data key names tab to drag data keys to the attribute boxes. Alternatively, you can type the name of the data key directly into the attribute box.

   Perl attribute key names use the following syntax:

   <$DATA:<AttributeName>>

   where <AttributeName> is the data key name in a Perl hash array.

   Operations Connector replaces the data key at runtime with the value of the specified data key.

   The Data key names tab is empty if no result data key names have been specified in the Source page of the Perl Script policy.

5. Optional. Use the Mappings tab to add mapping definitions to the attribute boxes.

   Mappings are custom variables that you define in the Mappings tab. The default name of the mapping variable is map<AttributeName>, for example mapSeverity.

   Alternatively, type the custom variable into the attribute box by using the following syntax:

   • Map Name list contains the map name of the variable: map<AttributeName>, for example mapSeverity.

   • Input Data Property list item: <$DATA:<AttributeName>>

     For example, the custom variable mapSeverity has the <$DATA:Severity> input data property, where Severity is the name of the hash key value.

6. Optional. Use the Pattern Matching Variables tab to add variables created with pattern matching.

   Pattern matching variables insert matched strings that have previously been assigned to variables. To insert a pattern matching variable, type the variable name enclosed in angle brackets (for example, <VariableName>) or drag and drop it from the Pattern Matching Variables list to the metric attribute.

7. Optional. Use the Operators tab to apply operators to the attribute values. Two functions are available:

   $MATCH(), to test a string or a variable against a pattern. The $MATCH function accepts three or four parameters:

   - the input string

   - the pattern definition

   - the output string if pattern matches on the input string

   - the output string if the pattern does not match (optional)

   Example: The data of the input field hostname start always with "TEST" (for example "TESTABC"). The $MATCH function to use the string after "TEST" is as follows:

   $MATCH(<$DATA:hostname>,TEST<*.prefix>,<prefix>)

   • <$DATETIME(FORMAT,VALUE)>, to convert the format of dates from the common format to the UNIX systems time (Epoch time) format.

     To apply operators to the attribute values, you can drag and drop them to a text field in the left pane of the same policy editor page. The appropriate tooltips are shown while performing this operation, which describe the role of the dragged operator.

8. Optional. Use the Indicators tab to add indicators to the source or target value fields. After loading the indicators from the connected OMi server, the Indicators tab shows a hierarchy of configuration item types.

9. Optional. In the Policy Variables tab, add policy variables to metric attributes. Operations Connector replaces the variables with the appropriate values in the generated metric.

   Use quotation marks to surround variables, for example "<$MSG_NODE>" or "<$MSG_GEN_NODE>", at least for those variables whose values can contain space characters.

Related tasks

• How to Collect Metrics Data by Using Perl Scripts

UI Descriptions

Related topics

Configuring the Data Source in Perl Policies

Configuring Metric Rules in Perl Policies