Purging Tivoli Problem Management Solutions


Overview

Tasks

Included with

Tivoli Problem Management

Overview

Solution Purge utility

To maintain high performance, you should periodically purge unnecessary data from large tables in the database. The SOLUTIONS table grows quickly. It includes Common Problems, Error Messages, Hot News, HyperTrees solution nodes, and solution records. Solutions remain in the database until the Solution Purge utility is run.

Caution: Purged solutions cannot be retrieved.

Note: The Solution Purge utility does not delete any active solutions. The diagnostic administrator must designate solutions as inactive before they can be purged. It also does not delete any solutions from the Knowledge-Paks. For information on designating solutions as active or inactive, see Editing Solutions records.

TSD Solution Purge Utility window

The TSD Solution Purge Utility window enables you to configure and run the Solution Purge utility, and also to estimate the number of solutions that will be purged by the utility.

To access the Solution Purge Utility window:

  1. Use this table to determine your first action.

  2. If you are using... then...
    Windows 95 or Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0
    1. From the Taskbar, choose Start.
    2. Point to Programs, point to Tivoli Service Desk 6.0, choose Service Desk, then choose Solution Purge Utility.
    OS/2
    1. Choose the Tivoli Service Desk folder.
    2. Choose the Solution Purge Utility icon.
    UNIX
    1. Change to the directory where the Profile Editor program resides.
    2. At the command line, do one of the following:
      • Type kml solpurge and press Enter.
      • Type solpurge and press Enter.


  3. In the TSD Log On dialog box, type your user ID.
  4. In the Password box, type your password if one is required.
    Note: Depending on the configuration of your database, the User ID and Password boxes may be case-sensitive. If so, you must type your logon ID and password exactly as you created them.
  5. Choose OK.
    One of two things happens:
    • If you typed a valid logon ID and password, the Solution Purge Utility window appears.
    • If you did not type a valid logon ID and password, an Error message appears. Choose OK and go back to step 2.

Solutions Purge Configuration dialog box

Use this dialog box to configure parameters for the Solution Purge utility. See Configuring the Solution Purge utility.

Tasks

Configuring the Solution Purge utility

Configure the Solution Purge utility before you run it for the first time or any time you want to change the configuration parameters.

To configure the Solution Purge utility:

  1. In the TSD Solution Purge Utility window, from the Configure menu, choose Options.
  2. In the Solutions Purge Configuration dialog box, from the Age To Purge list, select how old inactive solutions should be before they are purged from the database.
  3. In the Usage Count Threshold box, type the maximum number of times inactive solutions could be used and still be purged from the database.
    Note: Frequently-used solutions should not be deleted. For example, if you want to purge inactive solutions that have been used three times or less, type 3 in the Usage Count Threshold box.
  4. In the Database Commit Point box, type the number of inactive solutions that can be processed for deletion at one time.
    Note: A log record is created each time a solution record is deleted. Your database administrator should help you determine this commit point based on the available log space in your system.
  5. Select the Ignore ADL check box if you want Adaptive Learning solutions to be included in the purge.
  6. Choose OK.
    Result: The values in the Solution Purge Configuration dialog box are written to the softart.ini file.

Purging solutions

You can run the Solution Purge utility at any time, using the following procedure.
  1. In the TSD Solution Purge Utility window, from the Configure menu, choose Options and check your configuration options before you begin. See Configuring the Solution Purge utility.
  2. In the Solutions Purge Configuration dialog box, choose Estimate to determine how many solutions will be purged from the database using the current parameters.
  3. In the Processing Warning dialog box, do one of the following:
    • To continue with the estimate, choose Yes.
      Result: The Solution Purge utility estimates how many solutions will be purged and displays the number next to Processing Estimate in the Solutions Purge Configuration dialog box.
    • To cancel the estimate, choose No.
  4. In the Solutions Purge Configuration dialog box, choose OK.
    Result: The values in the Solution Purge Configuration dialog box are written to the softart.ini file.
  5. In the TSD Solution Purge Utility window, from the File menu, choose Purge Solutions.
    Result: The purge process begins and purge information messages appear. See Solution Purge utility messages.

Solution Purge utility messages

While the Solution Purge utility is running, you see messages similar to this:

Purge beginning
Now purging solutions from 49002 to 50001. Result = -100.
Now purging solutions from 50002 to 51001. Result = -100.
Now purging solutions from 51002 to 52001. Result = -100.
Now purging solutions from 52002 to 53001. Result = 1.
Now purging solutions from 53002 to 54001. Result = 1.
Purge complete

Typical result codes are shown in this table.

Result Code Description
-100 No solutions were found matching the purge parameters.
1 Solutions were found matching the purge parameters.

Note: Any other negative number you see is an error. If a database SQL error code is displayed, see your database documentation for more information.

Running the Solution Purge utility unattended

You may prefer to run the Solution Purge utility at night, unattended. You can run this utility from a batch file, but first you must set the configuration options and save them to the softart.ini file.

Run the batch file, as needed, to run the Solution Purge utility. Based on available system resources, your database administrator can determine when the Solution Purge utility is needed.

Note: The Solution Purge utility uses the configuration settings stored in the softart.ini file. Once you have recorded these settings, and added a line of code to a batch file, you do not need to repeat the following procedure.

To set up the Solution Purge utility to run unattended:

  1. Configure the Solution Purge utility. See Configuring the Solution Purge utility.
  2. Add the following line of code to a batch file:
    KML solpurge /R: /U:user_ID /P:password
  3. Set up the batch file to run automatically.
    Note
    : The batch file could be the same one you use to perform a backup procedure. The line of code executes the solution purge process. The parameters shown permit the solution purge process to run unattended. After the Solution Purge utility finishes, purge information messages appear in the TSD Solution Purge Utility window and remain there until you close the window.