Application Discovery 7.2 User Guide Abstract This document describes how to use Application Discovery to monitor applications in a virtual server environment. This document is for administrators and operators who are responsible for configuring and/or monitoring application health and availability. Some understanding of system administration is assumed.
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Contents 1 Introduction...............................................................................................7 Features of Application Discovery...............................................................................................7 2 Components and concepts..........................................................................9 Application Discovery components..............................................................................................9 Refining Application Discovery..
Setting data polling interval................................................................................................22 Setting event attributes.............................................................................................................22 Introduction to event settings in Application Discovery.............................................................22 Setting event severity..........................................................................................................
Typographic conventions.....................................................................................................53 6 Documentation feedback ..........................................................................55 A Commands for controlling Application Discovery agent and certificates...........57 amgrd...................................................................................................................................58 agent_config .............................................
1 Introduction This document describes how to use Application Discovery to monitor applications in a virtual server environment. This document is for administrators and operators who are responsible for configuring and/or monitoring application health and availability. Some understanding of system administration is assumed.
Visibility of systems and applications depends on the permissions a user has for each managed system and application. Users can see only those systems and applications in Application Discovery tables that they already have permission to access or view.
2 Components and concepts Application Discovery components Application Discovery contains these components: • The Application Discovery agent, which discovers the presence of applications and processes on a managed system, collects information about the managed system and its applications, and communicates that information to the Application Discovery server on the central management server. ◦ An agent is fully autonomous.
Refining Application Discovery Refining discovery is the process of optimizing agent and template configurations to enrich data display in Application Discovery. How discovery works Application Discovery includes a set of application templates that cover a spectrum of typical application types expected to be found on systems operating within a network or data center. A template is a set of rules that defines the matching criteria for the processes that constitute an application.
Warm-up ratio The warm-up ratio indicates the degree to which the Application Discovery agent has completed an initial survey of packages on a managed host. Processes that are eventually associated with a package are listed as unmatched processes until the packages are completely catalogued. A warm-up ratio of 100% indicates that an initial survey of packages has been completed since the last startup of the Application Discovery agent on the managed host.
can be copied and edited to quickly create a new, similar templates, or you can create a completely new template that contains no predetermined settings. Application template storage Template attributes are stored in the System Insight Manager database on the CMS.
On the AD Server tab screen, you can see a graphic display of Application Discovery memory consumption plotted against discovery data for processes and packages.
3 Procedures and examples With Application Discovery, you can perform the following tasks: • Check the progress of discovery. • Define an application for discovery. • Modify the behavior of agents running on managed systems. • Set attributes that determine what events to display, where to display them, and the priority they should have. Starting Application Discovery 1. 2. 3. Enter your user name and ID into the Systems Insight Manager interface.
Stop a running agent You can stop the agent from the top menu bar or from the command line. Using System Insight Manager to stop the AD agent 1. 2. 3. 4. Initiate this task by selecting Configure →Matrix OE Agents→Stop AD Agents from the top menu bar. Using the system list, select the HP-UX systems where you want to stop an agent. Click Apply. Verify the system selection and click Next. A description of the action about to take place is displayed.
Explanation of agent states Table 1 Possible values for agent state Value Meaning Unknown Nothing is known about this host/agent No Contact Contact with agent lost also happens when the Agent is turned off Database Fault Database exception seen Connected Ideal State See the appropriate Matrix Operating Environment installation and update guide for instructions on how to install an Application Discovery agent.
That said, for those applications for which you have permission to view, you can further alter application visibility by changing this configuration. Use the “Application visibility” drop-down to affect visibility of applications across your network. • Use Don't show hidden apps when you want to enable the hide functionality for individual applications. This is the default setting.
Figure 7 Sort indicator Changing the sort column. To change which column is driving the sort order for the table, click on or near the title of the column containing the criteria by which you want to sort. The background color of the newly selected column heading changes from medium grey to dark grey, revealing the sort arrow indicator. Changing the sort order. Click the arrow in the selected column to toggle between ascending and descending order. Filter data in view tables The default filter.
Expand a table. Within a collapsed table, right-click anywhere in the table title bar and select Expand table to expose the data for that table. NOTE: On screens with multiple tables, the tables have an expand/collapse icon ( or left corner of the table title bar. Click the icon to expand or collapse the table. ) in the upper Navigate between views Application Discovery provides two navigation aids to help you move from data view to data view.
NOTE: When creating a workload in Matrix OE visualization, you have the option of checking 'Show All Running Applications'. In essence, this check box allows you to reveal all running applications that have been previously marked as hidden in Application Discovery by a user or by default. See “Add selection by application” in HP Matrix OE Visualization with Logical Servers Help for usage instructions.
Event lists are pruned periodically to the number set in “Max Events”. The new setting is applied the next time the list is pruned. Setting data polling interval You can set the frequency at which the Application Discovery agent sends fresh data to the Application Discovery server. You can set polling for processes and for packages separately. Prerequisite: You must have “Matrix OE All tools” authorization to set visibility attributes.
A list of event types that can be managed, Drop-down lists that allow you to set the level of severity for each event type. Each severity has an iconic indicator associated with it that can be seen in Application Discovery (by clicking the Events tab) or in System Insight Manager (by looking at the uncleared events lists). Lists that allow you to specify where event notifications shall post for viewing. Setting event severity 1. 2. 3. Click the drop-down arrow to reveal the choices.
TIP: Another way to get to a template for editing is to click on the associated application name in an application table listing. When the information for the application is displayed, you can see a link to the template for that application in the Application Summary box. Change application template values To edit the selected application template, do the following: 1. 2. 3. Click the Edit button to reveal the fields that can be edited.
NOTE: My application does not appear in the “Applications effected...” table. Why? There are several possible explanations for this to occur: • It takes some time for template matching to complete. Action: Wait a couple of minutes to see whether or not matching occurs.
Once you apply the application template, a short time passes while Application Discovery attempts to match the newly edited application to discovered processes currently running in the network. As matching completes, applications matching this template description appear in the table called “Applications effected by this template” (below the template summary boxes). See related note.
NOTE: Application Discovery (AD) interprets executable path strings differently than Global Workload Manager (gWLM). Application Discovery looks at a process from the perspective of how it is named when it is running. Therefore, to successfully construct an application that Application Discovery recognizes, you must provide attributes (data strings) that describe the running process.
Field Description OSver Operating system version to which the template applies. If this field is left blank, Application Discovery tries to match the template against all operating system versions for which it has information. Architecture Architecture to which the template applies. If this field is left blank, Application Discovery tries to match the template against all architectures for which it has information.
Field Description User scope How many users' processes can be associated with one instance of this application: • one – one user's processes per application. Effect: A separate instance of this application will be shown for each different user who runs this application. This effect is similar to that obtained by setting pid scope=session. • any – any number of different users per application. Effect: Number of users has no specific limiting effect on defining the application described by this template.
Aggregation rule fields and their descriptions Field Description Rule Rules can be simple or complex, and are based on types that can be added to or deleted from the rule. Possible type values used to construct a rule include: • Or Can contain a list of one or more And, Or, User, Group, Path or Cmdline values. Effect: Any one of the rules within this statement can be true to match a process to the application. • And Can contain a list of one or more And, Or, User, Group, Path or Cmdline values.
1. To start, select a radio button for the first type field that you want to add and click the Add Rule button. In the example below, the first type added is an And operator. 2. To add a type within the And statement braces, select a type, and click the Add Rule button aligned with the dot (.) within the And statement. In the example below, a User type is added when the button is clicked. The result when the Add Rule button is clicked is as follows: 3.
4. Continue in this way until you have added all the types that you want in the rule. 5. Fill in the empty values to complete the rule description for this template, and click Submit. (You might need to scroll to the right to see the Submit and Cancel buttons.) For guidance on the values that work in each field, see Key to Application Template Values and Check unmatched processes to find application candidates.
The following figure shows an aggregation of multiple processes by specified executable path into one application. Figure 12 Example of a template aggregation rule that collects multiple processes The following figure shows an aggregation of multiple processes specified using regular expressions. Figure 13 Example of a template aggregation rule that uses regular expressions It is possible to define all processes as one application in one template using regular expressions or by defining an empty template.
Figure 14 Example of an empty, nested template How to remove types from the aggregation rule You might want to remove types from a rule to correct it or refine it. To remove a type, click the Del Rule button to the right of the type field that you want to remove. To delete And or Or statements, click the Del AND or the Del OR button to the right of the closing brace for that statement. When an And or an Or rule is deleted, all the rules that it encloses are deleted also.
Figure 16 Example “unmatched processes” table You can sort or filter this table to find processes with which you want to define an application. TIP: One way to reduce the amount of “noise” cluttering your tables is to create a template that collects “uninteresting” processes into an application that can be hidden.
Figure 19 Finding data to enter into Aggregation Rule fields For more details about this part of an application template, see “Aggregation rule fields and their descriptions” (page 30) and “Create a process aggregation rule” (page 30).
12. Click the link “Go back to Create Monitored Workload Definition” that appears under Application Discovery at the top of whatever screen you are on. The Create Monitored Workload Definition screen reopens. 13. 14. 15. 16. Check the table labeled Application Name and Version for your new application. Click the radio button to the left of your new application's name. Click Add to Definition. Optional: Select the check box to include all versions of the selected applications in this workload. 17. Click OK.
4 Troubleshooting This section is organized by symptom, each of which is followed by possible indicators or causes to investigate. To check logs containing Application Discovery messages, see the following locations: On HP-UX CMS • /var/opt/vse/logs/vseinitconfig.log (configuration log file of HP Matrix Operating Environment) • /var/opt/vse/logs/appdiscovery_initconfig.log • /var/opt/vse/logs/appdiscovery_server.log.0 • /var/opt/vse/logs/appdiscovery_ui.log.* On Microsoft Windows CMS • ...
OpenSSL : OpenSSL is required on managed systems so that the Application Discovery agent software can securely send application information to the CMS. To obtain the latest version of OpenSSL for HP-UX, go to the Security and Manageability page on HP Software Depot web site (http://software.hp.com/). Find OpenSSL and click the download link. On Linux systems, OpenSSL is usually installed by default, or it can be installed from the Linux distribution media.
Applications not visible in Application Discovery screens 1. 2. Confirm that your user login has the appropriate permissions on the host where the application resides, including appropriate user authorization on System Insight Manager. Check that the application is not hidden from view in the application table. Tables that list applications are preceded by the 'Application Visibility' drop-down that lets you toggle to Show hidden apps. Select this option and scan the table for your application.
See Table 3 (page 27) for a demonstration of the different results that you can expect when using the same executable and arguments in Application Discovery as compared to Global Workload Manager (gWLM). To check your application template data against the process data that Application Discovery has catalogued, you can consult the following: • “Processes unmatched by this template” table for a particular host. • “Processes unmatched by this template” table.
7. Check that SSH is configured correctly on the managed node. NOTE: This instruction applies only to 4.x agents; the 6.x and 7.x agents do not require SSH for secure communications with the Application Discovery server. In this case, you may need to repair the Systems Insight Manager agent on the managed system. Click the following menu selections: Configure, then Configure or Repair Agents. Make sure to check the box for 'configure SSH access' before running the repair agent.
Once this action is taken, check that Application Discovery is receiving messages from the host. (See #8 in this section.) 9. Check that Application Discovery is receiving messages from the host. a. b. Click the following tabs in Application Discovery: Admin/Config, then AD Agents. Find the column headings providing message data on the far right of the data table on this screen.
• “Error message indicates Application Discovery server is not available” (page 45) • “No “Applications” icon for system listed on HP Matrix OE visualization Visualization tab screen” (page 45) • “No 'by application' entry in HP Matrix OE visualization Workload Definition Criteria drop-down” (page 46) • “No indicators showing in HP Matrix OE visualization workload real-time utilization meters” (page 46) Error message indicates Application Discovery server is not available 1.
If you do not see this service, type cms_start from any directory in the Matrix Operating Environment installed drive. You must be logged in as Administrator on the CMS to initiate this command. 2. Check that the host is known to Application Discovery. a. b. Click the following tabs in Application Discovery: Admin/Config, then Discovery. Find the column heading “Host”. Hosts recognized by Application Discovery are listed here.
If you confirm that process maps are not being updated, you can try the following actions to get process maps working correctly. 3. Check that the workload is defined for this host. A workload receives process maps only for the host or hosts for or on which it is deployed. To check that a workload is defined for a host, click the Workloads tab in HP Matrix OE visualization. You may need to modify a workload to include this host or create a new workload for it.
To identify other configuration problems that might be affecting Application Discovery server, check the “Troubleshooting” notes in the Matrix Operating Environment help instructions, or use vseassist(1M). NOTE: Be aware that one possible cause for incorrect configuration is the case where installation and startup deviate from the documented process. In this situation, you might see the following error message: Application Discovery UI encountered an error: The UI and server are out of sync.
Keep in mind the following information: • The 4.1, 6.x and 7.x agents do not require Application Discovery certificate exchange in order to secure server-agent communication between the agent and the server. In these versions, Application Discovery relies on standard authorizations that do not require an additional certificate exchange. • The 4.0 agent does require Application Discovery certificate exchange. Therefore, certificate exchange must occur for the 6.x and 7.x server to communicate with a 4.
1. On the managed node(s), run the command: /opt/amgr/bin/make_agent_cert Then, from the CMS user interface, run Configure→Matrix OE Agents→Start AD Agents for the affected node(s). 2. Or, uninstall the previous version of AD agent from each Linux managed node using the following commands. rpm -qa |grep appdisc Then, run Configure→Matrix OE Agents →Start AD Agents for the affected node(s).
5 Support and other resources Information to collect before contacting HP Be sure to have the following information available before you contact HP: • Software product name • Hardware product model number • Operating system type and version • Applicable error message • Third-party hardware or software • Technical support registration number (if applicable) How to contact HP Use the following methods to contact HP technical support: • In the United States, see the Customer Service / Contact HP U
The service also provides access to software updates and reference manuals, either in electronic form or on physical media, as they are made available from HP. Customers who purchase an electronic license are eligible for electronic updates only. With this service, Insight Management customers benefit from expedited problem resolution as well as proactive notification and delivery of software updates. For more information about this service, see the following website: http://www.hp.
Typographic conventions This document uses the following typographical conventions: Book title The title of a book. On the web, this can be a hyperlink to the book itself. Command A command name or command phrase, for example ls -a. Computer output Information displayed by the computer. Ctrl+x or Ctrl-—x A key sequence that indicates you must hold down the keyboard key labeled Ctrl while you press the letter x. ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE The name of an environment variable, for example, PATH.
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A Commands for controlling Application Discovery agent and certificates amgrd and agent_config can be run on HP-UX and Linux managed systems where the Application Discovery agent is deployed.
amgrd NAME amgrd -- Change Behavior of Application Discovery Agent on Managed System SYNOPSIS Path: /opt/amgr/bin/amgrd [options] amgrd [-start] [-noreload ] amgrd [-connectionstatus] amgrd [-enableRestart] amgrd [-enableRestart] [-start ] amgrd [-enableRestart] [-stop ] amgrd [-disableRestart] amgrd [-disableRestart] [-start ] amgrd [-disableRestart] [-stop ] amgrd [-procfreq interval{s|m|h}] amgrd [-packfreq interval{s|m|h}] amgrd [-ping] DESCRIPTION The amgrd command allows you to interact with an Appl
-[no]daemon -[no]debug -noreload -packfreq interval{s|m|h} -procfreq interval{s|m|h} -server s -start -stop -u -v -verbose v [Do not] run the agent as a daemon. -daemon is the default setting for amgrd. Use -nodaemon only for triage as the agent will die if the terminal session ends or the terminal is disconnected. [Do not] run the agent in debug mode. Do not read in persisted data (used when agent is started or restarted).
FILES /var/opt/amgr/logs/ amgrd.log* /var/opt/amgr/logs/ amgrd.log.1 /var/opt/amgr/logs/ amgrd.log.2 Has 2 MB limit; then rolls over to alternating backup logs First alternate backup log Second alternate backup log AUTHORS amgrd was developed by Hewlett-Packard Company. SEE ALSO Application Discovery help reference HP Application Discovery User Guide HP Matrix Operating Environment Getting Started Guide http://www.hp.
agent_config NAME agent_config -- Access Application Discovery Certificate on Managed System SYNOPSIS Path: /opt/amgr/bin/agent_config agent_config -a [-dir config_directory] agent_config -amx agent_config -c agent_config -printAgentTrust agent_config -r agent_config -start agent_config -stop DESCRIPTION The agent_config command allows you to interact with an Application Discovery agent to exchange or print its SSL certificate or to remove a counterpart CMS certificate, to check the status of the agent, a
EXAMPLES Check agent state. # /opt/amgr/bin/agent_config -c Agent not running Run the agent using amgrd. # /opt/amgr/bin/amgrd -start Check agent state again. # /opt/amgr/bin/agent_config -c Connected FILES /opt/amgr/bin/agent_config /opt/amgr/bin/amgrd /var/opt/amgr/ssl/ agent_cert.pem /var/opt/amgr/ssl/ agenttrust.pem /var/opt/amgr/ agent.
B Key to event attributes Event types Table 4 Description of event types used in Application Discovery Event type name Description Data center events Application installed An application has been installed on a host. Application started An application has been started on a host. Application stopped An application has been stopped on a host. Application template created A new template has been found on the CMS.
Event severity types Table 5 Event severity types used in Application Discovery Icon Meaning Critical Indicates a failure and signals the need for immediate attention. Warning In a state that might become a problem. Major Indicates an impending failure. Minor Indicates a condition that can escalate into a more serious problem. Normal Indicates that this object is behaving as expected. Info Requires no attention; provides useful information.
C Error messages Table 8 Error messages seen when trying to log in Message Remedy Login failed for user 'NT AUTHORITY/ANONYMOUS LOGON' For CMS on Microsoft Windows only. 1. Confirm that the Application Discovery service is running with 'Administrator' as owner. You are not authorized to view this screen. Please login with the right credentials.
D Completing certificate exchange Introduction NOTE: The information in this section applies only in the situation where Application Discovery Version 4.0 agents are running on managed nodes in the monitored network. Application Discovery 4.1, 6.x and 7.0 agents and servers do not require SSL certificate exchange for secure data transmission.
3. Once the login is accomplished, the CMS sends its SSL certificate to the agent on the managed host, and the agent supplies its SSL certificate to the CMS. Application Discovery agents can now transfer data securely to the CMS, and the CMS can authenticate the transmission.
E Configuring the WBEM provider password WBEM is a management information retrieval and command protocol. Application Discovery uses a WBEM provider to allow the central management server (CMS) to send commands to agents running on managed nodes. Sending a WBEM command to a managed node requires remote login from the CMS to a managed node. An authorized user name and matching password are used to log in.
Glossary agent A program with a well-defined task that runs in the background and that is used to capture information or do processing tasks. aggregate data views Screens in Application Discovery that display a collection of data about various objects, often including system, application, and event data for all known instances of each in one table, but with emphasis on one aspect of the data.
yet each virtual machine is a complete environment in itself and runs its own instance of an operating system (referred to as a guest OS). See also virtual machine, VM Host. logical server A feature provided by HP Matrix OE visualization, a logical server is a set of configuration and metadata that you create, activate, and assign to operate within a physical or virtual machine. An active logical server can be moved from one location to another, and its characteristics can be modified.
server 1. Physical server: Hardware that can run one or more operating systems, including a partitionable complex. Also, hardware that can run an instance of the vPars monitor. Server hardware includes one or more cabinets containing all the available processing cores, memory, I/O, and power and cooling components. HP Integrity servers include two types of server hardware: standalone servers and cell-based servers. 2. Virtual server: A software-based virtual environment that can run an operating system.
warmup The period of time during which Application Discovery is comparing discovered processes to the known installations of software and to template definitions of applications. WBEM Web-Based Enterprise Management. A set of web-based information services standards developed by the Distributed Management Task Force, Inc. A WBEM provider offers access to a resource. WBEM clients send requests to providers to get information about and access to the registered resources.
Index A AD agent checking state, 46 failure on installation, 39 AD Agents tab, 11, 20 AD server checking for running server process, 45, 46, 47, 48 not available, 45 starting, 45, 46, 47, 48 unable to connect to Application Discovery user interface, 47 AD Templates tab, 20, 23, 25 Admin/Config tab, 20 agent about, 9 event types, 63 finding current state, 11, 16 modifying behavior, 15 reconfiguring while running, 16 setting polling intervals, 22 starting, 15 starting from within Systems Insight Manager, 15 s
Clear filter menu pick, 19 Cmdline defining an application template rule, 30 CMS, 9 Collapse table menu pick, 19 color set theme for user interface, 18 components agent, 9 server, 9 SSL certificates, 9 templates, 9 user interface, 9 WBEM provider, 9 controls right-click on view screens, 19 D daemon agent status, 16 data filtering in view tables, 19 hide in view table, 19 refresh page, 19 reveal in view table, 19 sorting in view tables, 18 data interpretation differences between Application Discovery and HP
back up Application Discovery, 37 filter clear all, 41 data in view tables, 19 in or out, 19 Filter in menu pick, 19 Filter out menu pick, 19 firewall blocking port 22, 42 blocking port 5989, 42 frequency setting for package data collection, 16 setting for process data collection, 16 G graphic display modify , 21 Group option defining an application template rule, 30 H help documentation, 52 host event types, 63 hidden, 20, 42 not displayed in Application Discovery screens, 42 setting visibility for Appli
defining an application template rule, 30 Pid scope application template attribute, 28 polling interval setting for data refresh, 22 port error when blocked by firewall, 42 procedure changing application template values, 24 changing time span in Application Discovery server activity graph, 21 checking application visibility, 20 checking current agent state, 16 checking host visibility, 20 checking package visibility, 21 creating an aggregation rule for an application template, 30 creating an application wor
T tab AD Agents, 11, 20 AD Templates, 20, 23, 25, 30 Admin Event, 63 Admin/Config, 20 Admin/Config Event View, 22, 23 Applications, 20 Discovery, 10 Events, 20 Hosts, 20 navigation, 18, 20 Packages, 20 UI, 17 table collapse, 19 collapse icon, 20 expand, 19 expand icon, 20 navigation to views via links, 20 restricting number of rows, 18 unmatched processes, 34 tasks changing time span in Application Discovery server activity graph, 21 template, 10 about, 9 adding a type to a rule, 31 creating, 11 creating ne
