Using System Monitor
System Monitor is a tool that allows you to monitor the
IBM WebSphere Business Integration Server Express system from the
Web. It allows you to configure how you view the data and also allows
you to view historical data and current data. System Monitor uses monitors,
definitions of the information you want to access when monitoring
the system, and views, definitions of the
monitors that you want displayed in your Web browser. Monitors and
views allow you to customize how you monitor the system. You determine
the monitors you use before you begin using System Monitor (see Setting up System Monitor). You determine the views
you want to use when you are monitoring the system (see Setting up views to monitor
the system).
System Monitor also allows you to start, stop, and pause components.
For instructions on starting, stopping, and pausing components,
see Administering components
of the system.
After logging onto the System Monitor interface, you can also
access Failed Events Manager. Failed Events Manager shows up in
the left hand frame along with the System Monitor views and settings.
For more information about Failed Events Manager, see Using Failed Event Manager.
This section describes the various components involved in configuring
and using System Monitor, and covers the following topics:
Setting up System Monitor
Steps
for logging on to System Monitor
Overview
of the System Monitor interface
Setting up views to monitor
the system
Customizing
data
Using persistent
monitoring
Setting up System Monitor
Before you begin using System Monitor, you must have the
required web servers, client browsers, and other software installed
on your system.
You also must decide whether you want to use the default monitors
provided with System Monitor or if you want to create additional
monitors using the Monitor Definition wizard. For example, you might
want a monitor called System Overview, which displays status and
start time of all system components. You create this monitor using
the Monitor Definition Wizard, a tool opened from System Manager.
Requirements for System Monitor
System Monitor requires the following software.
Supported Web Servers
A Web application server must support JSP versions 1.1
or later, and servlets versions 2.2 or later, such as:
- IBM WebSphere Application Server Express versions 5.1 or 6.0
- IBM WebSphere Application Server versions 5.1 (version 5.1 only
for use with Linux) or 6.0
- Tomcat versions 4.1.24 or 4.1.27 (using IBM JDK 1.3.1) -- for
Windows and Linux systems only
Required software on the Web server
- If you are using DB2 for the repository database, the DB2 client
is required (DB2 is included as part of OS/400 and i5/OS).
Supported browsers
System Monitor can be accessed through a supported browser on
Windows platforms only. The supported browsers are:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, with JavaScript enabled.
Steps for reviewing default
monitors
Perform the following step to gain a better understanding
of what information is included in each monitor:
Table 1. Default monitors
Default monitor |
Definition |
Display options |
Available operations when viewing monitor |
System Overview |
Overview of the current status of all major components
of the system: collaborations, connectors, maps, and relationships |
Table tree (a table with expandable nodes in
the first column that display more rows) |
- Start, stop, pause, and shut down a collaboration
- Start, stop, pause, and shut down a connector
- Restart a connector agent
- Start and stop a map
- Start and stop a relationship
|
Collaboration Statistics |
Current status and statistics of all collaborations
in the system:
- Status
- Start time
- Total flows
- Successful flows
- Failed flows
- Events in process
- Queued events
- Max concurrent events
|
Table |
- Start, stop, pause, and shut down
|
Connector Statistics |
Current status and statistics of all connectors:
- Status
- Start time
- Total up time
- Business objects received
- Business objects sent
- Agent status
|
Table |
- Start, stop, pause, and shut down
- Restart connector agent
|
Map Status |
Status of all maps |
Table |
Start and stop |
Relationship Status |
Status of all relationships |
Table |
Start and stop |
Server Statistics |
Current statistics of the server: the number
of failed and successful calls, events, and flows |
Stacked bar |
None |
Database Connections |
Current status of database connections:
- Number of free connections
- Number of active connections
- Maximum number of connections
- Peak number of connections
|
Table |
None |
Message Queues |
Current status of message queues:
- Current depth
- Maximum depth configured
|
Table |
None |
Business Objects |
Current statistics of the business objects for
a particular connector: business objects sent and business objects
received |
Table |
None |
Business Rules |
Current statistics for the business object rules
associated with a business object |
Table |
None |
Connector Subscriptions |
Current statistics of the subscriptions for a
particular connector:
- Collaboration object
- Initiator
|
Table |
None |
Collaboration Events |
Current statistics of collaboration events, which
includes the following information:
- Events in process
- Queued events
|
Bar |
None |
Historical Server Statistics |
Server statistics for a specific period of time.
Statistical information:
- Successful calls
- Failed calls
- Total calls
- Successful events
- Failed events
- Total events
- Successful flows
- Failed flows
- Total flows
Time intervals:
|
Bar |
None |
Historical Server Flows |
Flow statistics of the server for a specific
period of time at certain time intervals. Statistical information:
- Successful flows
- Failed flows
- Total flows
Time intervals:
- 15 min., 30 min., hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly
- Start date
- End date
|
|
None |
Historical Collaboration Flows Stack |
Flow statistics of a particular collaboration
for a specific period of time at certain time intervals. Statistics
information:
- Successful flows
- Failed flows
- Total flows
Time intervals:
- 15 min., 30 min., hourly, 4 hours, 12 hours, daily, weekly,
or monthly
- Start date
- End date
|
Stacked bar |
None |
Historical Collaboration Flows Line |
Flow statistics of a particular collaboration
for a specific period of time at certain time intervals. Statistics
information:
- Successful flows
- Failed flows
- Total flows
Time intervals:
- 15 min., 30 min., hourly, 4 hours, 12 hours, daily, weekly,
or monthly
- Start date
- End date
|
Line |
None |
Event Rate |
Current number of processed events per minute |
Meter |
None |
Flow Control |
Current state of collaboration objects and connectors
under Flow Control:
- Buffered events
- Max event capacity
- Blocked status (does not apply to non-blocking collaboration)
- Events pending in database (applies only to non-blocking collaborations)
- Saturated status
|
Table |
None |
State Change Log |
Current persisted state changes on a component
for a specified time period. State change information:
Time intervals:
|
Table |
None |
Steps for creating additional monitors
Before you begin: Review the existing default monitors
in Table 1, to see if the monitor
you want to create already exists.
Perform the following steps to create a monitor:
- Open System Manager.
- In the InterChange Server Component Management view, right-click
the server instance to which you want to connect, then click Connect.
The Server User ID and Password dialog box appears.
- Type the User ID and password for that server, then click OK.
The status of the server changes from unknown or disconnected to connected.
Note:
If the status does not change to connected,
make sure the selected InterChange Server Express instance is running.
- Right-click the server instance, then click Monitor Definition Wizard.
The Monitor Definition Wizard appears. See Figure 1..
Figure 1. Monitor Definition Wizard, page for selecting information type and display option
- Select the type of information you want in the monitor from
the Information Types list, and select how you
want the information displayed under Displayed Option(s).
Each information type has one or more available display options,
and each display option has configurable properties. When you select
an information type, only the display options for that information
type are available under Displayed Option(s).
For a description of the configurable properties of each display
option, see Steps for using monitor display options, and for examples
of how the display options appear in System Monitor, see Examples
of display options.
Note:
If business object probes exist, they appear in
the Information Types list. For instructions
on adding business object probes, refer to the Collaboration Development Guide.
- Click Next. The Specify Monitor Properties
page appears (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Monitor Definition Wizard, Specify Monitor Properties page
- Add the following information on the Specify Monitor Properties
page:
- Type a name for the new monitor in the Title field.
To make sure you do not use an existing monitor name, click Existing Monitors to
view a list of existing monitors.
- (Optional) Type a description in the Description field.
- Configure any additional properties available for the display
option. These choices depend on the information type and display
option that you chose on the previous page. For example, in Figure 2, you can type the number of
rows to appear, select which attributes to include, and place the
chosen attributes in a particular order. These options are available
for both Table and Table Tree display options.
- Do one of the following:
- If, the attributes you chose can contain thresholds, the Next button
is available. Click the Next button to configure
the thresholds. The Specify Attribute Thresholds screen appears.
For an example of a Specify Attribute Thresholds screen, see Figure
9 on page 24. In the Specify Attribute Thresholds screen, you can
optionally type a numeric value in the threshold field for each
attribute. When running the monitor, if the value of an attribute
exceeds the value of the threshold set for that attribute, the cell
that contains the attribute value appears highlighted in the table.
- If the attributes don't contain thresholds, the Finish button
is available. Click Finish. The following message
appears: "The monitor was created successfully. Do you
want to create another monitor?" Click Yes or No.
Figure 3. Monitor Definition Wizard, Specify Attribute Thresholds screen
Steps for using monitor display options
Perform this step to use display options for monitors
you are creating with the Monitor Definition Wizard (see Steps for creating additional monitors) or using monitors in System Monitor (see Steps
for setting display properties for monitors:
Refer to Table 2 to determine
ways you can configure display options when creating monitors in
Monitor Definition Wizard, or when you are using the monitors in
System Monitor. (For examples of the display options, see Examples
of display options.)
Table 2. Configurable display options for monitors
Display option |
Properties you can configure when building monitors
in Monitor Definition Wizard |
Properties you can configure when using monitors
in System Monitor |
|
- Columns to display
- Order of columns
- Number of rows to display
|
- Font and color settings of the labels and data
- Number of rows to display
|
|
None |
- Font and color settings of the labels and data
- Show or hide values
|
Meter |
Meter threshold |
Font and color settings of the labels and data |
Examples
of display options
The following exemplify the display options you can select
when creating monitors in the Monitor Definition Wizard and how
they appear in System Monitor:
- Table
- Table tree
- Line
- Bar
- Stacked bar
- Meter
Note:
The data in the examples is not indicative of
actual data in an InterChange Server Express system.
Figure 4. Table display option
Figure 5. Table tree display option
Figure 6. Line display option
Figure 7. Bar display option
Figure 8. Stacked bar display option
Figure 9. Meter display option
Steps
for logging on to System Monitor
After you have either created new monitors or decided
to use the default monitors, you are ready to log on to System Monitor
to monitor the system.
Before you begin:
- Start InterChange Server Express on the machine being monitored.
- Make sure System Monitor and the application server are installed.
For installation instructions, see the WebSphere Business Integration
Server Express installation guide for Windows, for Linux, or for
OS/400 and i5/OS.
- Perform the following steps to start the application server:
- At a DOS prompt, enter C:\<install path for application server>\bin, for example, C:\IBM\WebSphere\Express 60\bin.
- At the prompt, enter startServer ICSMonitor.
- Obtain the user name and password necessary for logging on to
System Monitor. The user name and password are the same as those
used when logging on to InterChange Server Express.
Perform the following steps to log on to System Monitor:
- In a Web browser on Windows, navigate to the URL for System
Monitor. The URL you use for System Monitor depends on whether you
are using WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Application Server
Express, or Tomcat.
Refer to the WebSphere Business Integration Server Express
installation guide for Windows, for Linux, or for OS/400 and i5/OS,
for additional information about setting up System Monitor to work
with WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Application Server
Express, or Tomcat. OS/400 and i5/OS does not support Tomcat.
- If System Monitor is installed as part of WebSphere Application
Server Express installation, the URL is:
http://HostName:7089/ICSMonitor
where HostName is the host name of the Web
server machine
- If System Monitor is installed on an OS/400 and i5/OS system:
http://HostName:nnnn/ICSMonitor
where HostName is the host name of the OS/400
and i5/OS Web server machine and nnnn is
the HTTP port provided when the product was installed.
- (Windows and Linux only) If you used the installation script
with a "y" in the 5th parameter (HTTP server installed
or not), the URL is:
http://HostName/ICSMonitor
where HostName is the host name of the Web
server machine.
- (Windows and Linux only) If you used the installation script
with a "n" in the 5th parameter (HTTP server installed
or not) and a port number in the 6th parameter, the URL is:
http://HostName:nnnn/ICSMonitor
where HostName is the host name of the Web
server machine and nnnn is the port number.
- (Windows and Linux only) If you are using Tomcat and did not
change the port number, the URL is:
http://HostName:8080/ICSMonitor
where HostName is the host name of the Web
server machine.
The WebSphere InterChange Server Express System Monitor login
window appears (see Figure 10).
Figure 10. System Monitor, Login window
- Type the server name, user name, and password for the InterChange
Server Express instance that you want to monitor, then click Login.
System Monitor appears.
Note:
If role-based access control is enabled, the user
will not be allowed to log in to System Monitor unless they are
assigned to a role that is granted permission to monitor the server.
For more information on role-based access control, see
Administering role-based access control (RBAC).
Overview
of the System Monitor interface
System Monitor contains the following items:
Setting up views to monitor
the system
You can either begin monitoring the system using the default
views, or you can add, change, or delete views before monitoring
the system. The following sections describe how to use existing
views or create and configure views from System Monitor. Views can
contains one or more monitors. Several default views are included
in the installation of System Monitor. You may use these default
views or create new views. Before you can create and configure views,
you must log on to System Monitor. For instructions on logging on
to System Monitor, see Steps
for logging on to System Monitor.
This section covers the following topics:
Steps for using default views
Steps for creating your own
views
Steps for configuring
views
Steps for deleting views
Steps for using default views
Perform the following step to use default views:
- Open System Monitor.
- In the left frame, select one of the views listed in Table 3 from the Views list.
The table describes which monitor or monitors are contained in
the view, and which display option is used. For descriptions of
default monitors used in the views, see Steps for reviewing default
monitors.
Table 3. Default views
Default view |
Monitor(s) and display options |
System Overview |
System Overview monitor displayed in a table
tree |
Collaboration Overview |
Collaboration Statistics monitor displayed in
a table |
Collaboration |
- Collaboration Events monitor displayed in bar chart, and
- Event Rate monitor displayed in a meter
|
Collaboration History |
- Historical Collaboration Flows monitor displayed in a stacked
bar chart
- Historical Collaboration Flows monitor displayed in a line chart
|
Connector Overview |
Connector Statistics monitor displayed in a table |
Connector |
- Business Objects monitor displayed in a table
- Connector Subscriptions monitor displayed in a table
|
Business Rules |
Rule Status monitor displayed in a table |
Maps and Relationships |
- Map Status monitor displayed in a table
- Relationship Status monitor displayed in a table
|
Server Statistics |
- Server Statistics displayed in a stacked bar chart
- Database Connections displayed in a table
- Message Queues displayed in a table
|
Server History |
- Historical Server Statistics displayed in a bar chart
- Historical Server Flows displayed in a line chart
|
Flow Control |
Flow Control monitor displayed in a table |
State Change Log |
State Change Log monitor displayed in a table |
The table or chart for that view opens in the System Monitor
main window. For examples, see Examples
of display options.
Steps for creating your own
views
Perform the following steps to create a view:
- Click Create and Configure Views in the
left frame of System Monitor. The Create and Configure Views dialog
box appears (see Figure 11).
Figure 11. System Monitor, Create and Configure Views dialog box
- Click the Create New View button. The
View Name dialog box appears.
- Type a name for the view in the View Name field,
then click OK. The new view name appears in
the View field of the Create and Configure
Views dialog box.
- Select one or more monitors in the Select Monitor(s) list,
or select Select all to select all the monitors listed.
Your selections appear in the Order Monitors list.
- Use the up and down arrows to the right of the Order Monitors list
to put the monitors in the order you want to view them, from top
to bottom.
- Click Preview if you want to see a preview
of the new view.
- Click Save View. A "View was
saved successfully" message appears. The new view appears immediately
under Views in the left frame of System Monitor.
Steps for configuring
views
Perform the following steps to change an existing view:
- Click Create and Configure Views in the
left frame of System Monitor. The Create and Configure Views dialog
box appears (see Figure 11).
- Select the view you want to change from the View list.
- Add monitors to or remove monitors from the view in the Select Monitors list.
The revised monitors for the view appear in the Order Monitors list.
- Use the up and down arrows to the right of the Order Monitors list
to put the monitors in the order you want to view them.
- Click Preview if you want to see a preview
of the new view.
- Click Save View. A "View was
saved successfully" message appears.
Steps for deleting views
Perform the following steps to delete a view:
- Click Create and Configure Views in the
left frame of System Monitor. The Create and Configure Views dialog
box appears (see Figure 11).
- Select the view you want to delete from the View list.
- Click Delete View. A message appears,
asking if you are sure you want to delete the view.
- Click OK. The view is removed from the
Views list in the left frame of System Monitor.
Steps for resetting views
You may reset all views back to the original system defaults.
All new or modified views will be lost when resetting back to the
original defaults. Perform the following steps to reset default
views:
- Click Create and Configure Views in the
left frame of System Monitor. The Create and Configure Views dialog
box appears (see Figure 11).
- Click the Reset All Views button. The
Reset All Views pop-up window appears, displaying a listing of the
number of views that will be deleted, reintroduced or modified.
- Click View Details to view additional
information on the changes that will occur if you proceed. When you
have completed viewing details, click Yes.
The views are set to the original system defaults. The navigation
pane automatically updates the view listing.
Customizing
data
You can make adjustments to many of the elements of System
Monitor, fine-tuning the level of system data you can monitor. These
adjustments are described in the following sections:
Steps for setting a default
view
Steps
for setting display properties for monitors
Steps
for setting the refresh rate for run-time values
Steps
for setting the frequency for historical data capture
Steps for resetting
run-time statistic values
Steps for capturing state
changes
Steps
for deleting the state change log
Steps
for deleting historical statistics
Steps for
deleting the business object probe data file
Steps for setting a default
view
The default view is the view you first see when you log
on to System Monitor.
Perform the following steps to change the default view:
- Click Create and Configure Views from
the left frame of System Monitor. The Create and Configure Views
dialog box appears (see Figure 11).
- Select the view that you want to be the default view from the View list.
- Select the Default View check box.
- Click Save View. A "View was
saved successfully" message appears. The next time you
log on to System Monitor, the view you selected as the default view
is displayed.
Steps
for setting display properties for monitors
The display options of monitors can be customized by changing
the preferences of the display options.
Perform the following steps to change the appearance of a monitor:
- When viewing a monitor, click the chart icon in the upper right
corner. The Preferences dialog box appears for that particular display
option in that monitor. Figure 12 is
an example of the Table Preferences dialog box.
Figure 12. System Monitor, Table Preferences dialog box
- In the Preferences dialog box, select the appearance options
that you want to change. For a list of appearance options are available
with each display option, see Steps for using monitor display optionsand Table 2..
- Click Preview to see a preview of the
changes you made.
- Click OK. The changes appear in the monitor.
Changes to the preferences of a display option appear in all monitors
that use that particular display option.
Note:
If you want to return the monitor to its original
appearance, open the Preferences dialog box, select Default,
then click OK.
Steps
for setting the refresh rate for run-time values
Some monitors display run-time values of a component.
For these monitors, you can specify how often you want statistics
to be refreshed. The refresh rate you set is for the system as a
whole, not for individual components.
Perform the following steps to set the refresh rate for monitored
run-time values:
- Click Set Options from the left frame
of System Monitor. The Set Options dialog box appears (see Figure 13).
Figure 13. System Monitor, Set Options dialog box
- Type a number in the Refresh Rate field
to specify the number of seconds you want to set for the refresh rate,
then click the Refresh Rate Submit button.
Note:
If you specify a refresh rate of zero (0) seconds,
no automatic refresh will occur.
Steps
for setting the frequency for historical data capture
Perform the following steps to set the rate at which historical
data is captured:
- Click Set Options in the left frame of
System Monitor. The Set Options dialog box appears (see Figure 13).
- In the How frequently should historical data be captured? section,
click the Review all interval settings link.
The Historical Statistics Interval Rates dialog box appears (see Figure 14).
Figure 14. System Monitor, Historical Statistics Interval Rates dialog box
- Set the interval rates for the server, for each collaboration
object, and for each connector by selecting one of the following:
- NONE
- 15 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 1 hour
- 4 hours
- 12 hours
- 24 hours
- Click Submit Changes to submit all of
the interval rates for all of the components.
Note:
Alternatively, you can set the interval rate for
a single component in the Set Options dialog box by selecting the
component from the Component Type list and
the interval rate from the Frequency list, then
clicking the Submit button.
Steps for resetting
run-time statistic values
The run-time statistics are kept in memory from the time
the server is started. If the server is running for several days
or weeks, these values can become very large.
Perform the following steps to reset the value of a component's
run-time statistics to "0":
- Click Set Options in the left frame of
System Monitor. The Set Options dialog box appears (see Figure 13).
- In the Do you want to reset component statistics? section,
select the component from the Component Type list.
- If you select Server, then run-time statistics
for all components are reset.
- If you select Collaboration or Connector,
then select the component from the Component list.
Only statistics for that component are reset.
- Click Submit.
Steps for capturing state
changes
Perform the following steps to configure how state changes
for each component are captured and sent to a log file:
- Click Set Options in the left frame of
System Monitor. The Set Options dialog box appears (see Figure 13).
- Under the Do you want to capture state changes of a particular component? section,
select the component from the Component Type list.
Note:
If you selected Collaboration or Connector as
the component type, you are prompted to select a particular collaboration
object or connector.
- Select the Capture State Changes check
box, then click the Submit button.
Steps
for deleting the state change log
As the state change log grows, you may need to delete
old data.
Perform the following steps to delete the log for a particular
time:
- Click Set Options in the left frame of
System Monitor. The Set Options dialog box appears (see Figure 13).
- Under the Do you want to delete the state change log for all components? section,
do the following:
- Click the calendar icons to enter the start date and end date
for the data to be deleted.
- Click the Delete button.
Steps
for deleting historical statistics
As the historical data grows, you may need to delete old
data.
Perform the following steps to delete historical data for a particular
time period:
- Click Set Options in the left frame of
System Monitor. The Set Options dialog box appears (see Figure 13).
- Under the Do you want to delete the historical statistics for all components? section,
do the following:
- Click the calendar icons to enter the start date and end date
for the data to be deleted.
- Click the Delete button.
Steps for
deleting the business object probe data file
As the business object probe data grows in size, you may
need to delete old data.
Perform the following steps to delete the data for a particular
time period:
- Click Set Options in the left frame of
System Monitor. The Set Options dialog box appears (see Figure 13).
- Under the Do you want to delete the data for a business object probe? section,
do the following:
- Select the business object probe from the Business Object Probe list.
- Click the calendar icons to enter the start date and end date
for the data to be deleted.
- click Delete.
Using persistent
monitoring
Persistent monitoring is a subsystem
of InterChange Server Express that monitors and stores historical
state and statistical information of collaboration objects, connectors
and the system as a whole. You can use persistent monitoring with
system components or with the entire system.
You configure the various levels of persistent monitoring for
system components from the Set Options dialog box in System Monitor.
Those procedures are included in the previous section, Customizing
data:
To configure system-wide persistent monitoring, you use the Edit
Configuration tool in System Manager. This section describes how
to configure system-wide persistent monitoring with the Edit Configuration
tool and how to access the results of system-wide persistent monitoring
from System Monitor.
Note:
You must consider the database volume requirements
and a data deletion strategy when planning the number of components
being monitored and the frequency at which they are monitored. For
more information about implementing database volume requirements,
see the System Implementation Guide.
Steps for configuring system-wide
parameters for persistent monitoring
Perform the following steps to configure system-wide parameters
of persistent monitoring.
- Open the Edit Configuration tool by doing the following:
- Open System Manager.
- Right-click the server under Server Instances in
the InterChange Server Component Management view, and click Edit Configuration.
The Server configuration editor displays. Use this editor to
update the InterchangeServer.cfg file.
- Click the Advanced tab (see Figure 15).
Figure 15. Edit Configuration tool, Advanced tab
- Under Persistent Monitoring, do the following:
- If you want InterChange Server Express to continue running in
the event of errors experienced by the persistent monitoring system,
select Continue in the Action on error list.
- If you want InterChange Server Express to shut down in response
to errors with the subsystem, select Shutdown in
the Action on error list.
- To specify the tracing level for the subsystem, select the desired
tracing level in the Persistent monitoring service list.
Steps for accessing the results from
persistent monitoring
Perform the following steps to access the results of persistent
monitoring:
- Open System Monitor.
- Select one of the following views in the Views column
to display historical state and statistical information:
- Collaboration History
- Server History
For more information on using default views, see Steps for using default views. Alternatively, you can create your own views that
can contain historical data. For more information on creating views,
see Steps for creating your own
views.
