Use > Service Automation Visualizer > Compare snapshots

Compare snapshots

When you click Refresh Snapshot on the SAV toolbar and then click Save, SAV captures and saves all information related to your Business Application. A snapshot including all servers and processes associated with the business application, the current state of all running processes, and all values and signature definitions you have created in the Tiers tree.

Each time you refresh a snapshot and then save the Business Application, snapshot results are saved within the currently loaded Business Application. You can also schedule snapshots to occur at later time on a one time or recurring schedule.

Each saved snapshot can be used in a one to one comparison between the currently loaded snapshot and a saved one. You can take snapshots from the currently loaded Business Application or from another Business Application to help you determine if any changes have occurred between the current state of the business application and its state as captured in a previously saved snapshot.

When you compare scan results, SAV evaluates certain key objects and their attributes on a one to one basis, and displays any differences in value between those objects. The results of the comparison are displayed in the Differences pane in the SAV window.

Creating a snapshot

Create a snapshot in SAV any time you want to capture the current state of your business application. Because a data center and all the devices and elements within it are constantly changing, it is a good idea to capture the current state so you can compare the current state of a business application with one you captured in the past.

To create a snapshot:

  1. Click Refresh Snapshot on the SAV toolbar.
  2. From the File menu, select Save. (Or, click Save on the SAV toolbar) A new snapshot has been created.
  3. To see the snapshot and give it a name, from the Application menu, select ShowSnapshots.
  4. In the Snapshots window displays all saved snapshots. To rename a snapshot, click the name cell of the list and type a name.

Opening a snapshot

To view a previous state of a business application, you can load and view a saved snapshot.

To open a saved snapshot:

  1. From the Application menu, select ShowSnapshots.
  2. In the Snapshots window, select a saved snapshot and click Open.
  3. The business application snapshot opens inside of the SAV application window. To delete a snapshot, select it and click Delete.

Scheduling a snapshot

You can automate snapshot creation by scheduling a snapshot at a future point in time, or you can schedule a recurring snapshot to regularly capture the state of your business application.

You can only schedule snapshots for those Business Applications that have been saved to the SA Client Library

To schedule a snapshot:

  1. From the Application menu, select Scheduled Snapshots.
  2. In the Scheduled Snapshots window, click New Schedule.
  3. Type a name for the snapshot schedule in the Name field.
  4. In the Scheduled Frequency section, select one of the following snapshot frequency options:
    • Daily: Choose to run the snapshot on a daily basis.
    • Weekly: Choose a day of the week to run the snapshot.
    • Monthly: Choose the months to run the snapshot specification job.
    • Custom: In the Custom Crontab string field, enter a string the indicates a time schedule. The crontab string can include serial (1,2,3,4) and range (1-5) values. For example, the following crontab string will create the snapshot at midnight every weekday:
    • 0 0 * * 1-5
    • An asterisk (*) in any of these fields represent all days of the month, all months of the year, all days of the week, and so on. For more information about crontab entry formats, consult the UNIX man pages.
  5. In the Time and Duration section, select a start and end time and day of the month.
  6. When you are finished filling out the schedule, click Close.

“Source” and “Comparison” snapshot

The currently loaded snapshot in SAV is referred to as the source snapshot, while the set of scan results you are comparing against the currently loaded snapshot is called the comparison snapshot. When you compare snapshots, you are always comparing the currently loaded scan result (source) with another saved snapshot result (comparison). (Remember that to create a new snapshot, you need to click Refresh Snapshot on the SAV toolbar and then click Save.)

Comparison types

SAV displays comparison results.

Comparing snapshots

In order to compare two snapshots, you must have at least one saved snapshot. If you select Save from the File menu, this saves the currently loaded snapshot. If you click Refresh Snapshot on the SAV toolbar, and then save again, this creates and save a new snapshot.

To compare snapshots in SAV:

  1. From the View menu, select Compare. (Or, click Compare on the SAV toolbar). The Compare pane appears.
  2. Click Select. The Select Comparison Snapshot window opens.
  3. Select a snapshot you want to compare against the currently loaded snapshot.
  4. Next, select if you want to show either ANY or ALL of the selected objects (plus their attributes) that are different to show when you compare snapshots.
  5. From the drop-down list, select an object category to compare and create a comparison rule. You can select any of the object categories, such as file systems, or select All Categories.
  6. To select another comparison rule, click Add to add another criteria selector. To remove a comparison rule, click Remove .

    As you create comparison rules, SAV automatically displays any or all differences in the Differences pane.

    To view differences in other maps, you can select a map, and all objects that are found to exist will appear normally. All objects that are listed as missing appears grayed out. You can also select other criteria in the Difference pane drop-down list to filter the results of the comparison in more granular detail.

  7. To close the Compare pane, from the View menu, select Compare again. (Or, click Compare on the SAV toolbar.)