The External Monitoring Interface may replace the older SNMP-based monitoring technology. The EMI is based on the JMX technology, providing MBeans for all concerned components of the AE system.
The External Monitoring Interface (EMI) is a tool which is used for monitoring the technical statusThis represents the condition of a task (such as active, blocked, generating). of the AE. The EMI is based on the JMX protocol. JMX is a Java technology that supplies tools for managing and monitoring applications, system objects, devices and service-oriented networks.
The main idea for this JMX based solution is its possible use as a standalone applicationAn application is a software which helps a user to fulfill specific tasks. In the context of ARA see also: Application entity. (monitoring can be done with each JMX based clientA closed environment within an Automation Engine system where you can create and run objects. A client name consists of a 4-digit number that must be indicated when a user logs on to the Automation Engine system. Users and their rights are also defined in clients. A particular Automation Engine object type., for example with Java Mission Control - the free JMX console) or integration into existing monitoring environments, that support JMX (for example HP-OpenView or IBM Tivoli).
Automic strongly recommends using this JMX-based monitoring solution instead of the older SNMP-based monitoring. JMX represents stateThe state a package or a task currently is in.-of-the-art technology, enabling easy integration with existent monitoring solutions. In addition the following advantages may be observed:
JMX: The Java Management Extension, a set of specifications for application and network management in the Java development and application environmentAn Environment consists of Deployment Targets which represent your endpoints. Different environments are used for different phases in the software delivery cycle, for example Development, QA, Staging, Production. An environment is typically set up once and used by several applications..
MBean: JMX facilitates the centralized management of managed objects (called MBeans), which acts as Java wrappers for applications, services, components and devices in a distributed network.
MBean Server: The spine of the JMX architectural frame, allowing server components to plug in and discover all manageable objects.
The EMI solution stores the specific information and makes it available for JMX clients as Java Beans. The content (the MBeans) are write protected and may only be changed from inside the AE system. The EMI solution provides two types of monitoring - active and proactive:
The EMI solution connects to an AE and supervises the defined areas.
Its monitoring capability is restricted to one system/client at a time.
The monitoring possible with the EMI solution reflects the components visible in the AE's System OverviewThe UserInterface window that contains information about the Automation Engine system.. Basically the same components may be monitored, regarding activitiesDeployment-related activities, messages, errors and warnings (for example, agents, databaseA database is an organized collection of data including relevant data structures., cache, licenses, MQ, users, etc.)
The additional MBeans for control are those dedicated to the status of the EMI itself or the MessageBox (send notifications only), where MessageBox represents the Message WindowA window that appears on the user interface and contains information, warning, and error messages. in the UserInterfaceThis is the Automation Engine's graphical user interface. [Formerly called the "Rich Client", "RichGUI" and "Dialog Client."] of the AE.
This image shows the MBean content displayed in Java Mission Control:
On the left you see the tree containing all MBeans available, on the right the attributes, type and description of the selected MBean are shown.
When selecting the "Notification" tab on the right hand-side, you will also find a 'Subscribe' checkbox there. Any userIn the Automation Engine, a user is an instance of a User object, and generally the user is a specific person who works with Automic products. The User object is assigned a user ID and then a set of access rights to various parts of the Automation Engine system and product suite. These access rights come in the form of Automation Engine authorizations and privileges, Decision user roles and EventBase rights and ARA web application object rights. You can manage all these centrally in the ECC user management functions. See also, Unified user management. of the EMI may activate it, which will result in the display of Notification information for that particular MBean.
The MessageBox represents the Message Window of the AE's UserInterface, where the system's messages are displayed.
Each Notification represents one message sent from the AE and additionally shows the time stamp, severity, type and internal message representation.
The internal message representation is defined in the MSL file and in the MBean's attribute User Data. The Message record in the Notification consists of the combination of User Data values and the internal message representation .
The :SEND_MSG command generates messages in the AE, which will be broadcast to the MessageBox MBean as Notification. Thus the messages can be monitored via the EMI as well.
The EMI solution makes use of the AE's communication processA communication process is part of the component Automation Engine. It is responsible for connecting the components. (CP) listShows entities in a grid view functionality, where automatic retries to connect to different communication processes are implemented as default.
The EMI solution is delivered with the following files you need for installation and configuration:
File name | Description |
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emi.jar | Binary file with the EMI solution |
uc4.jar | Communication interface for the AE |
emi.ini | INI file |
uc.msl | Translation file |
You will find these files in the directory: IMAGE:MONITORING
AgentBean - represents the Agent objectAutomation Engine controlled activities and processes are structured in the form of objects. See also: Task on the system
CacheBean - represents the statisticsThis is a list of a task's previous runs. information for a single system cache instance
ClientBean - represents the monitored client ( With one instance of the EMI one AE client can be monitored at a time)
CollectionBean - describes several MBeans registeredThis is the status of a task that runs within a group and is waiting for its start. as one groupAn Automation Engine object type that integrates tasks so that they can be processed together. on the MBeanServer. For example, Users represents a collection of UserBeans.
EMIBean - describes the status of the EMI solution, provides information about the connection and the connection status and displays this information in its Notification tab.
DatabaseBean - represents the DB information used in an AE system. The Mbean instance will have the same name as the DB on the DB system.
LicenceBean - represents the instance of a single license in the System Overview
MQEntryBean - represents a single message queueA particular Automation Engine (AE) object type. In AE, a queue determines the maximum number of concurrent tasks, their priorities and the order in which tasks should be executed. In ARA, queues are containers for workflow executions that should be executed at a certain time one after another. table used by the AE for message flow. The attributes of this Mbean can be used for the basic KPI of the AE.
QueueBean - represents the Queue object
ServerBean - represents an AE Server instance, equivalent to the Automation EngineThis component drives an Automation Engine system and consists of different types of server processes. entry in the System Overview
WorkloadBean - describes one row in the System Workload Table
UserBean - represents an instance of one user present in the AE system
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Installation of files |
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Starting the EMI Solution |
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java -jar emi.jar [path/to/ini/file/emi.ini]
See also:
External Monitoring Interface Configuration
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