The Hunger Site

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Sending notification after an event has remained open for a specified period

Enterprise Manager (EM) 12c allows you to create an incident rule to send a notification and/or create an incident after an event has been open for a specified period. Such an incident rule will help prevent premature alerts on issues that may correct themselves within a certain amount of time.
For example, there are some agents in an unstable network area, and often there are communication failures between the agents and the OMS lasting three, four minutes at a time. In this scenario, you may only want to receive alerts after an agent in that area has been in the Agent Unreachable status for at least five minutes.
Note: Many non-target availability metrics allow users to specify the “number of occurrences” or the number of consecutive times metric values reach thresholds before a notification is sent. It is best to use the feature for such metrics.

This article provides a step-by-step guide for creating an incident rule set to cater for the above scenario, that is, to create an incident and send a notification after the Agent Unreachable event has remained open for a five-minute duration.

Steps to create the incident rule
1.     Log on to the console and navigate to Setup -> Incidents -> Incident Rules.
Note: A non-super user requires the Create Enterprise Rule Set privilege, which is a resource privilege, to create an incident rule.

The Incident Rules - All Enterprise Rules page displays.

2.     Click Create Rule Set …
The Create Rule Set page displays.

3.     Enter a name for the rule set (e.g. Rule set for agents in flaky network areas), optionally enter a description, and leave everything else at default values, and click + Add.
The Search and Select: Targets page pops up.

Note:  While you can create a rule set for individual targets, it is a best practice to use a group for this purpose.


4.     Select an appropriate group, e.g. the AgentsInFlakyNework group. The Select button becomes enabled, click the button.
The Create Rule Set page displays.

5.     Leave everything at default values, and click the Rules tab.
The Create Rule Set page displays.

6.     Click Create…
The Select Type of Rule to Create page pops up.

7.     Leave the Incoming events and updates to events option selected, and click Continue.
The Create New Rule : Select Events page displays.

8.     Select Target Availability from the Type drop-down list.
The page shows more options for Target Availability.

9.     Select the Specific events of type Target Availability option, and click + Add.
The Select Target Availability events page pops up.

10.   Select Agent from the Target Type dropdown list.
The page expands.

11.   Click the Agent unreachable checkbox, and click OK.

Note: If you want to also receive a notification when the event is cleared, click the Agent unreachable end checkbox as well before clicking OK.

The Create New Rule : Select Events page displays.

12.   Click Next.
The Create New Rule : Add Actions page displays.

13.   Click + Add.
The Add Actions page displays.

14.   Do the following:
a.     Select the Only execute the actions if specified conditions match option (You don’t want the action to trigger always).
The following options appear in the Conditions for Actions section.
b.     Select the Event has been open for specified duration option.
The Conditions for actions section expands.
c.     Change the values of Event has been open for to 5 Minutes as shown below.
d.     In the Create Incident or Update Incident section, click the Create Incident checkbox as following:
e.     In the Notifications section, enter an appropriate EM user or email address in the E-mail To field.
f.     Click Continue (in the top right hand corner).
The Create New Rule : Add Actions page displays.

15.   Click Next.
The Create New Rule : Specify name and Description page displays.

16.   Enter a rule name, and click Next.
The Create New Rule : Review page appears.

17.   Click Continue, and proceed to save the rule set.
The incident rule set creation completes.
After one of the agents in the group specified in the rule set is stopped for over 5 minutes, EM will send a mail notification and create an incident as shown in the following screenshot.

In conclusion, you have seen the steps to create an example incident rule set that only creates an incident and triggers a notification after an event has been open for a specified period. Such an incident rule can help prevent unnecessary incidents and alert notifications leaving EM administrators time to more important tasks.
- Loc Nhan 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Getting Agent software in Offline mode

A customer wanted to install the EM Agent on a different platform (the EM OS was Linux, the target OS was IBM AIX) and his OMS was in offline mode. The following was my reply to him. This would be useful to others, so posting it here.

For the Agent install, see the offline instructions below. I have gathered these instructions for you from the manuals. The important points are in boldface. I suggest you try this agent install on a development or test server first.

As you can see, the offline mode has a number of manual steps, so would recommend a MOS  connection to the OMS for future convenience for your team.

Procuring Oracle Management Agent Software
Oracle Management Agent (Management Agent) is one of the core components of Enterprise Manager Cloud Control, and therefore, its software is part of the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control software. When you install Enterprise Manager Cloud Control, the installation wizard automatically installs a Management Agent.

You can install additional Management Agents using the Add Host Targets Wizard built into the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control console (Cloud Control console). The wizard uses the Management Agent software that is already present in the OMS home.

However, note that the Management Agent software present in the OMS home is always for the version and platform on which that OMS is running. For example, if the OMS is Oracle Management Service 12c and it is running on Linux platform, then the Management Agent software available there is also for Linux platform.

If you want to install a Management Agent for a platform that is different from the one on which the OMS is running, then ensure that you download that software using the Self Update Console, which is built into the Cloud Control console.

Acquiring Management Agent Software in Offline Mode

If Enterprise Manager is not connected to My Oracle Support via the Internet, it is said to run in Offline Mode.

To download and apply the Management Agent software using Self Update when Enterprise Manager is running in Offline Mode, follow these steps:
1.     Ensure that you have set up Self Update.
For setting up Self Update, follow instructions in http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E24628_01/doc.121/e24473/self_update.htm#BEJJEHDJ   
2.     From the Setup menu, select Extensibility, then select Self Update.

3.     On the Self Update home page, click Check Updates. A message is displayed that contains the URL to be accessed to download a catalog of all updates.

4.     From an Internet-enabled computer, download the catalog file using the aforementioned URL.
Note: Do not unzip the file.
5.     Copy the downloaded file to either of the following:
o   To any host that has a Management Agent and EM CLI installed
o   To the Oracle Management Service (OMS) host (EM CLI is configured out of box on the OMS host machine, so no setup is required)

6.     Navigate to and log in to EM CLI, running the command as the install user, for example:
./emcli login -username=sysman
7.     Synchronize EM CLI:
./emcli sync
8.     Run the emcli import_update_catalog command to import the archive into the Oracle Management Service instance or the Management Agent you want to update. For example:
./emcli import_update_catalog -omslocal  -file=zip file absolute path
Before running this command, ensure that you have set up Software Library in Cloud Control. For information on how to do this, see Oracle Enterprise Manager Lifecycle Management Administrator's Guide.
9.     Return to the Self Update home page and do a refresh to see a count of new updates in the Available Updates column.
10.  For Type, select Agent Software, then select Open from the Actions menu. The Agent Software Updates page appears to show the Management Agent software available for different platforms.
11.  Select an update from the list of available updates. All entries other than the one that matches the platform of the OMS host should show their status as Available.
12.  Click Download. A message displays with a URL and instructions.

13.  From an Internet-enabled computer, download the file from the URL displayed in Step 12. Do one of the following:
o   Copy the file to a Management Agent host and follow the instructions displayed in Step 12.
o   Copy the file to Oracle Management Service host and follow the instructions displayed in Step 12.
At this stage, the update will show up in a downloaded state in the Self Update home page.
14.  Once the download is complete, select the Management Agent, then click Apply. This step will stage the Management Agent software in Software Library and make it available to the Add Host Targets wizard, which you will use to install Management Agents on hosts.

Installation Procedure

This section describes the actions involved in installing Management Agents. It consists of the following:
·        Installing Management Agents Using Add Host Targets Wizard  ===> Follow these instructions


Regards,


Porus.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

My Enterprise Manager book in Oracle Open World 2013

Dear Readers,

The publisher (PACKT) of my latest book, "Managing Data Center Chaos using Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c" has sent me a few photos of the bookstore at Oracle Open World and my book being sold there. I am sharing these photos for your viewing pleasure.

If you would like a copy of the book and are living out of India, you can buy it from http://www.packtpub.com/oracle-enterprise-manager-12c-cloud-control/book or if you are in India, please purchase the Indian edition at http://www.shroffpublishers.com/detail.aspx?cat=427&title=5575

Thanks for making it so popular.

Regards,

Porus.






Tuesday, October 29, 2013

EM CLI, diving in and beyond!


Doing more in less time… Isn’t that what we all strive to do?
With this in mind, I put together two screen watches on Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c command line interface, or EM CLI as it is also known.
There is a wealth of information on any topic that you choose to read about, from manual pages to coding documents…might I even say blog posts? In our busy lives it is so nice to just sit back with a short video, watch and learn enough to dive in.
Doing more in less time, is the essence of EM CLI. It enables you to script fundamental and complex administrative tasks in an elegant way, thanks to the Jython scripting language. Repetitive tasks can be scripted and reused again and again. Sure, a Graphical User Interface provides a more intuitive step by step approach to tasks, and it provides a way of quickly becoming familiar with a product and its many features, and it is definitely the way to go when viewing performance data and historical trending…but for repetitive and complex tasks, scripting is the way to go!
Lets us take the everyday task of creating an administrator.
Using EM CLI in interactive mode the command could look like this..
emcli>create_user(name='jan.doe', type='EXTERNAL_USER')
This command creates an administrator called jan.doe which is an externally authenticated user, possibly LDAP or SSO, defined by the EXTERNAL_USER tag. The create_user procedure takes many arguments; see the documentation for more information.
Now, where EM CLI really shines and shows power is in creating multiple users. Regardless of the number, tens or thousands, the effort is the same. With the use of a standard programming construct, a loop, you can place your create_user() procedure within it. Using a loop allows you to iterate through a previously created list, creating new users until the list is complete.
Using EM CLI in Script mode, your Jython loop would look something like this…
for user in list_of_users:
      create_user(name=user, expire=’true’, password=’welcome123’) 
This Jython code snippet iterates through a previously defined list of names, list_of_users, and iterates through the list, taking each name, user in this case, and creates an administrator sets the password to welcome123, but forces the user to reset it when they first login.
This is only one of over four hundred procedures created to expose Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c functionality in a powerful and programmatic way.
It is a few months since we released EM CLI with scripting option. We are seeing many users adapt to this fun and powerful way of using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c.
What are the first steps?
Watch these screen watches, and dive in.
The first screen watch steps you through where and how to download and install and how to run your first few commands.

The Second screen watch steps you through a few scripts.
Next time, I am going to show you the basic building blocks to writing a Jython script to perform Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c administrative tasks.
Join this growing group of EM CLI users…. Dive in!

Network Ports Used in Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c

By Courtney Llamas



When planning and configuring your Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c implementation, you will have many infrastructure considerations. One of the most often discussed pieces is the network ports that are used and how to configure load balancers, firewalls and ACLs for communication.

This blog post will help identify the typical default port and range for each component, how to identify it and how to modify the port usage.

To modify most ports during installation, select the Advanced Installation and set the appropriate ports on the Port Configuration Details screen.



Once the system is installed, you can use the following EMCTL or OMSVFY commands to validate components and port assignment:
$emctl status oms -details
$omsvfy show opmn
$omsvfy show ports

To verify if a port is free, run the following command:

On Unix:
$netstat -an | grep
On Microsoft Windows:
>netstat -an|findstr

For more information on OMSVFY (part of the EMDIAG toolkit) see MOS Note 421053.1: EMDIAG Troubleshooting Kits Master Index

External Ports

These ports will be used in every Enterprise Manager 12c installation and will require firewall and/or ACL modifications if your network is restricted.  These are also the components that will be added to your load balancer configuration.

Default Port
Range
Component
Usage
Modify
4889
4889 – 4898
Enterprise Manager OHS Upload HTTP
Agent Communication to OMS (unsecure). Used in load balancer.
To modify after install follow notes 1381030.1 and 1385776.1. Requires changes on all Agents.
1159
1159, 4899 – 4908
Enterprise Manager OHS Upload HTTP SSL
Agent Communication to OMS (secure). Used in load balancer.
To modify after install follow notes 1381030.1 and 1385776.1. Requires changes on all Agents.
7788
7788 – 7798
Enterprise Manager OHS Central Console HTTP (Apache/UI)
Web browser connecting to Cloud Control Console (unsecure). Used in load balancer and for EM CLI.
To modify after install follow notes 1381030.1.
7799
7799 - 7809
Enterprise Manager OHS Central Console HTTP SSL (Apache/UI)
Web browser connecting to Cloud Control Console (secure). Used in load balancer and for EM CLI.
To modify after install follow note 1381030.1.
7101
7101 - 7200
EM Domain WebLogic Admin Server HTTP SSL Port
Cloud Control Admin Server.
To modify after install follow note 1109638.1.
3872
3872, 1830 – 1849
Cloud Control Agent
Only the OMS will connect to this port, to either report changes in the monitoring, submit jobs, or to request real-time statistics.
Port can be provided during Agent install.
If the agent port needs to be changed at a later date this can be done with the following command on the agent:
emctl setproperty agent -name EMD_URL -value https://hostname.domain:port/emd/main/

This will allow the agent to run on the new port, however the target does not get renamed so continues to show the original port.
1521*
Depends on Listener Configuration
Database Targets -  SQL*Net Listener
For Repository database, only the OMS will connect to store management data from
the agents. For all monitored target databases OMS will retrieve information requested by browser clients.
To modify this port for the repository database:
Change the listener.ora file for the EM repository. Restart the listener. Then for every OMS machine using that repository run the following:
emctl stop oms
emctl config oms -store_repos_details -repos_conndesc -repos_user sysman
emctl start oms
emctl config emrep -agent -conn_desc  

To modify this port for monitored targets, change the listener configuration on the target, then update Monitoring Configuration in EM.
7101
7101 - 7200
FMW Targets – Admin Console
Outgoing from OMS, used for managing FMW targets.
To modify after install follow note 1109638.1.
NA
NA
ICMP
Outgoing from OMS to host servers if the Agent is unreachable. Validates if server is up or down.
NA

Internal Ports

These ports are required for internal Enterprise Manager communication and typically do not require additional firewall/ACL configuration.
Default Port
Range
Component
Usage
Modify
7201
7201 – 7300
EM Domain WebLogic Managed Server HTTP Port
Used for Fusion Middleware communication.
Configured during installation
7301
7301 – 7400
EM Domain WebLogic Managed Server HTTP SSL Port
Used for Fusion Middleware communication.
Configured during installation
7401
7401 – 7500
Node Manager HTTP SSL Port
Used for Fusion Middleware communication.
Configured during installation
6702
6100 - 6199
Oracle Notification Server (OPMN) Local
Ports used by OPMN  can be verified from /gc_inst/WebTierIH1
/config /OPMN/opmn/opmn.xml:



Modify the opmn.xml to use free ports as below:
1. Stop OMS
2. Take a backup of the existing opmn.xml and ports.prop in the / gc_inst/WebTierIH1/ config /OPMN/opmn directory.
3. Edit the opmn.xml file, under the element, modify the local / remote port, as necessary to the free port available and save the file.
4. Edit the ports.prop file and modify the remote / local port parameters as necessary and save the file.
5. Start the OMS
6703
6200 - 6201
Oracle Notification Server (OPMN) Remote
Ports used by OPMN  can be verified from /gc_inst/WebTierIH1
/config/OPMN/opmn/opmn.xml:



Modify the opmn.xml to use free ports as below:
1. Stop OMS
2. Take a backup of the existing opmn.xml and ports.prop in the /gc_inst/WebTierIH1/ config/OPMN/opmn directory.
3. Edit the opmn.xml file, under the element, modify the local / remote port, as necessary to the free port available and save the file.
4. Edit the ports.prop file and modify the remote / local port parameters as necessary and save the file.
5. Start the OMS

Optional

These ports required only if certain components are to be used and firewall/ACL changes may be needed.

Default Port
Range
Component
Usage
Modify
443

Secure web connection (https - 443) to updates.oracle.com support.oracle.com
ccr.oracle.com
login.oracle.com
aru-akam.oracle.com
Outgoing from OMS used for online communication with Oracle for OCM, MOS, Patching, Self-Updates, ASR
Proxy settings defined via the UI (Setup -> Proxy Settings)
Do not use the OMS parameters!  
51099

Application Dependency and Performance RMI Registry Port
ADP
Configured during installation
55003

Application Dependency and Performance Java Provider Port
ADP
Configured during installation
55000

Application Dependency and Performance Remote Service Controller Port
ADP
Configured during installation
4210

Listen
ADP
Configured during installation
4211

SSL Listen Port
ADP
Configured during installation
3800

JVM Managed Server Listen
JVM
Configured during installation
3801

JVM Managed Server SSL Listen
JVM
Configured during installation
9701
9701-49152
BI Publisher HTTP
BI Publisher
During install can modify with configureBIP script.  Post-install can be modified per Note 1524248.1
9702
9701-49152
BI Publisher HTTP SSL Port
BI Publisher
During install can modify with configureBIP script.  Post-install can be modified per Note 1524248.1

Monday, October 7, 2013

Joy of Giving Week: Being Celebrated By Akshaya Patra Foundation To Feed The Children

As part of its social commitments to the broader community, the Enterprise Manager Blog is proud to carry the following message from one of it's favourite charities, Akshaya Patra, which feeds hungry little school children in India.


The Joy of Giving week  is celebrated between 2nd and 8th October to mark the happiness behind giving a little of what you already have. There’s no joy in this world equivalent to that of sharing with someone who is really in need. Millions of people in the world, especially children in India need our help to make their life worthwhile.  Hence, it is important to emphasise the Joy of Donating for a cause like this.


The great poet, Kahlil Gibran once said, “I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.” Although this statement was made in the two centuries ago, it holds good even in today’s situation. The added advantage is that people in this century need not visit a certain place to donate. They can experience the joy of giving online! It takes just a click of the mouse to donate for children. Making donations for children is the ultimate way to experience the true joy of giving. Moreover, it takes a very small sum of monetary support to make a child’s life.

In order to donate for children in India, one has to understand the grave importance of donations for children. According to reliable sources, 400 million children live in India, which is the highest recorded child population in the world. Of these, more than 200 million are malnourished. About 50 per cent of the children in the age group of 6 to 18, an approximate total of 8.1 million children in India don’t attend school since they are subjected to child labour since they come from families below poverty line. They go to sleep on an empty stomach every night. These are the children who need our constant support to give them the liberty to dream and to make sure they never give up on those dreams. Just one donation from each of this country’s citizens who are earning enough for a living, will help each of these children go to school, where they deserve to be.
There are a large number of charities that dedicatedly work for the joy of children. But these charities also depend on contributions made by responsible citizens who are leading a comfortable life. Be it monetary or in kind, it’s when you give that you experience the true joy of giving. The main purpose of a donation for children is to strengthen their base at a young age so as to motivate them to build a future for themselves in this society. After all, the country’s future depends on their future.


Hence, the need of the hour is to create awareness about the importance of donations for children as much as possible and increase the number of individual and corporate donors to make sure that these children get good education and nutrition.


Step forward,  donate for children and experience the joy of giving.

Indian Rupee donations are via https://www.akshayapatra.org/onlinedonations = only 750 Rs to  feed one child a school lunch for the whole year.

Foreign Currency donations are via https://www.foodforeducation.org/donate = only 15 USD to feed one child a school lunch for the whole year.

Disclaimer

Opinions expressed in this blog are entirely the opinions of the writers of this blog, and do not reflect the position of Oracle corporation. No responsiblity will be taken for any resulting effects if any of the instructions or notes in the blog are followed. It is at the reader's own risk and liability.

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