1. Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview
Venkat M. Surath
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

2. Agenda What is Netcool/OMNIbus Basic Architecture/Components
Object Server
Probs
Gateways
Administrator GUI Tool
Event List (Desktop)
Web GUI
Basic Failover
SQL Interface
Import/Export Utility
Process Agent (PA)
Server Editor
Proxy Server
Deployment Steps
Supported Platforms
Basic Failover
Multi-tiered Architecture
OMNIbus Automations
Triggers
Procedures
ObjectServer SQL
Troubleshooting
OMNIbus Probe Architecture
OMNIbus Gateways Architecture
Additional Information/References
Questions
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

3. Product Overview - What is Netcool/OMNIbus
It is a SLM system that collects enterprise-wide event information from a wide variety of IT and network resources in real time.
Presents a consolidated view of this information to operators and administrators for monitoring and management.
Tracks alerts/events in a high-performance, in-memory database, and presents information of interest to specific users via filters and views.
Provides automation functions that can perform intelligent processing of alerts.
Alerts (Events) information can then be:
Assigned to operators
Passed to helpdesk systems
Logged in a database
Replicated to remote OMNIbus system for consolidation/failover/HA
Used to trigger automatic responses to certain events
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

4. Netcool/OMNIbus - Basic Architecture
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

5. Netcool/OMNIbus - Components
ObjectServer
Probes
Gateways
Desktop – Event List
Administration tools
The Web GUI Server
Gateway Target(s)
RDBMS
HelpDesk/CRM/Etc.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

6. Netcool/OMNIbus – Object Server
Provides the in-memory database which is the core
Event information is forwarded to the ObjectServer from
Probes, Gateways, etc.
Event information is stored and managed in database tables
Events are displayed in Desktop Event Lists
or Active Event List (AEL) in the Web GUI
Provides Automations
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

7. Netcool/OMNIbus – Probes
Probes connect to an event source and
Detects/Acquires event data
Forwards the data to ObjectServer as events/alerts
Probes use the logic specified in a rules file
to map event elements to OS fields/columns of alerts.status
Each probe is uniquely designed
to acquire event data from a specific source
Probes can acquire data from
Sources like Network Devices, Databases, Log Files
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

8. Netcool/OMNIbus - Gateways
Gateways enable exchange of events between ObjectServer to
Applications, Databases, Helpdesk, etc.
ObjectServer Gateways to replicate events with
backup ObjectServer for failover
Application gateways integrate business functions.
Eg. Reporting/Archiving, Auto Trouble Ticketing, etc.
Transfer of events once configured is transparent to operators
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

9. Netcool/OMNIbus – Administrator GUI Tool
OMNIbus Administrator is a graphical tool
OMNIbus Administrator can be used to
Configure and Manage ObjectServers
Configure process control (PAs)
Started via
$OMNIHOME/bin/nco_config
Netcool Suite > Administrator
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

10. Netcool/OMNIbus - Administrator GUI Tool …
Use Administrator to configure the following ObjectServer objects:
Users, groups, roles, and restriction filters
Event list menus, Tools and prompts
Trigger groups/triggers/Procedures
User-defined signals
Event list alert severity colors
Conversions, Classes, Column Visuals
ObjectServer DB, Files, and properties
Channels for AEN
Note most of the functions are available via CLI or SQL interface
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

11. Netcool/OMNIbus – Event List (Desktop)
The desktop is an integrated suite of graphical tools used to
View and manage events
Configure how event information is presented
Event information is delivered in a format that you can use to
Quickly determine the availability of IT resources/Services
Most of the features of the desktop are also available in the Web GUI component
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

12. Netcool/OMNIbus – Event List (Desktop) …
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

13. Netcool/OMNIbus – Web GUI
The Web GUI is a Web-based application that
Processes network events from one or more data sources
Presents the event data to users in various graphical formats
The Web GUI contains most features of the /OMNIbus native desktop environment.
The Web GUI uses a client-server architecture.
The Web GUI server runs inside Tivoli Integrated Portal (TIP)
Clients connect to TIP to access the Web GUI.
The Web GUI can be configured for integrations with other Tivoli products.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

14. Netcool/OMNIbus – Web GUI …
Web GUI main components:
Active Event List (AEL)
A Java™ applet functionally similar to native desktop
Lightweight Event List (LEL)
A dynamic HTML event list that provides the data filtering, data sorting, and information drill-down capabilities of the AEL without the event management tools
Table View
A static HTML event list in the form of a table showing a defined set of alerts.
Event Dashboard
Presents the alert information as a series of monitor boxes, from which you can open AELs.
Maps
Administrators can use maps to design visual representations of a network and to create interactive graphical views network performance.
Chart rendering component
Administrators can create charts that present high-level information to users in a number of graphical formats including bar charts and pie charts.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

15. Netcool/OMNIbus – Web GUI …
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

16. Netcool/OMNIbus – SQL Interface
SQL interactive interface
Connect to an ObjectServer, and use you to
SQL cmds. for defining and manipulating database objects.
SQL cmds. to interact with, and control, the objectServer
Enables tasks such as creating a new database table or stopping the ObjectServer
Available via Admin. GUI or CLI
Use nco_sql on UNIX, isql on Windows or ‘nco_config’
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

17. Netcool/OMNIbus – Import/Export Utility
Utility or Tool (nco_confpack):
Export and Import configurations to deploy duplicate systems
Extract a subset of configuration items from ObjectServers and import them into other ObjectServers
Save ObjectServer configuration data for backup/restore purposes
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

18. Netcool/OMNIbus – Process Agent (PA)
PA performs two primary tasks:
It runs external procedures that are specified in automations.
It manages local and remote processes.
PA is used to configure remote processes in order to simplify the management of OMNIbus components
ObjectServers, probes, and gateways.
The process control system consists of:
Process agents installed on each host for managing processes
A set of command-line utilities that provide an interface to process management
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

19. Netcool/OMNIbus – Server Editor
Server Editor used to maintain communication information for the OMINbus components
Interfaces files
The desktop client and client components connects to the ObjectServer using the port defined by the interfaces file for communications.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

20. Netcool/OMNIbus – Server Editor …
Use the Server Editor to
Create and modify communication details (interfaces file)
Test server activity (nco_ping)
Configure virtual server for failover pair (primary/backkup)
To start the Server Editor
On Windows Click Start → Programs → Netcool Suite → System Utilities → Servers Editor
$NCHOME/omnibus/bin/nco_xigen at Unix cmd. prompt
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

21. Netcool/OMNIbus – Proxy Server
Usually alerts are forwarded directly to the ObjectServer.
When a large number of probes and desktops connects directly to the ObjectServer, there can be a negative impact on performance.
Proxy server can reduce the number of probe connections
Multiple probe connections made to the proxy server are multiplexed and forwarded through a single connection to the ObjectServer.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

22. Netcool/OMNIbus - Deployment Steps
Step 1: Access software and Product documentation
From Passport Advantage, XL, etc.
Step 2: Evaluate H/W and S/W system required
See Planning information
Step 3: Review the base architecture
Step 4: Install the non-Web components of Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus
Step 5: Create an ObjectServer database for use
Step 6: Install the probe and gateway components
Download and install the required probe and gateway components
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

23. Netcool/OMNIbus - Deployment Steps …
Step 7: Set up the connections between server components
Define and generate the interface file using the Server Editor
Step 8: Install and configure the Web GUI component (optoinal)
Before installing the Web GUI component, start the ObjectServer.
Step 9: Configure process agents (optional) to manage processes
Step 10: Install additional desktop clients (optional)
On additional user workstations, if required.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

24. Netcool/OMNIbus – Supported Platforms
Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus is supported on various versions of UNIX, Linux, and Windows.
aix5 - AIX® systems
hpux11 - HP-UX PA-RISC-based systems
hpux11hpia - HP-UX Integrity-based systems
linux2x86 - Red Hat Linux® and SUSE systems
linux2s390 - Linux for System z®
solaris2 - Solaris systems
win32 - Windows systems
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

25. Netcool/OMNIbus – Starting/Stopping ObjectServer
To start an ObjectServer as a process, enter the following command:
nco_pa_start -process ObjectServer
Use the nco_objserv command to start the ObjectServer manually.
$NCHOME/omnibus/bin/nco_objserv [ -name servername ]
To stop an ObjectServer as a process, enter the following command:
nco_pa_stop -process ObjectServer
Use the SQL interactive interface connects to ObjectServer. When the SQL prompt is displayed, enter the following commands:
1> alter system shutdown;
2> go
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

26. Netcool/OMNIbus – Basic Failover
The virtual ObjectServer is configured using
Primary/Backup failover pair
Desktops, gateways, and probes are connected to the failover pair
If the primary object server fails,
Clients switch to the backup automatically
When the primary object server is available again,
Clients reconnect automatically to it (Fallback)
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

27. Netcool/OMNIbus – Multi-tiered Architecture
The standard multitiered architecture ( 3-Tire )
Collection
Aggregation
Display
ObjectServers and associated ObjectServer Gateways
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

28. Netcool/OMNIbus - Automations
Processes alerts without requiring an operator to take action
For example,
Generic_Clear Trigger
Deduplication Trigger
Netcool/OMNIbus includes a number of standard automations
Include Triggers, Signals, and External Procedures
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

29. Netcool/OMNIbus - Automations …
Triggers automatically perform a trigger action or fire
when the ObjectServer detects an incident (DB change) associated with a trigger
Triggers can can run in response to changes
SQL commands
Call procedures
Signals are also part of the automation subsystem
Signals can have triggers attached
ObjectServer can automatically respond to signals are raised
Procedures are executable programs that are created to perform common operations
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

30. Netcool/OMNIbus Automations - Triggers
Trigger Types
Database triggers
Pre/Post database action
Delete/Insert/Reinsert/Update
Signal triggers
Signal triggers fire when a system or user-defined signal is raised
Temporal triggers
Temporal triggers fire based on a specified frequency
For example, delete_clear
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

31. Netcool/OMNIbus Automations - Procedures
A procedure is an executable object that can be called to perform common operations.
The types of procedures are as follows:
SQL procedures, which manipulate data in an ObjectServer database
For example, SQL procedure that generates a report on the total number of alerts received (and deduplicated) for a given node
External procedures, which run an executable file on a local or remote system
For example, external procedure calls a program called nco_mail, which sends about unacknowledged critical alerts.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

32. Netcool/OMNIbus - ObjectServer SQL
ObjectServer SQL commands include:
DDL cmds. to create, alter, and drop DB objects
DML cmds. to query and manipulate data in existing database objects
System cmds. to alter the configuration of an ObjectServer
SQL interactive interface to connects to an ObjectServer and run SQL commands.
UNIX nco_sql -server servername -user username; Windows isql -S servername -U username
nco_sql -server OS1 -username myuser -password mypass
1> select * from alerts.status;
2> go
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

33. Netcool/OMNIbus - ObjectServer Troubleshooting
Check Environment variables
$NCHOME, and $OMNIHOME
Check nco process
PA, ps –eaf | grep nco
Check Port Usage
netstat -na | grep 4100
Check the interface file
Servers Editor (nco_xigen)
Check DEBUG logs
MessageLevel DEBUG
Check DB Size (number of events)
select count(*) from alerts.status;
Check ObjectServer profile
Enable Profiling
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

34. Additional Information/References
IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus documentation
IBM Redbooks
Certification Guide Series: IBM Tivoli Netcool/Webtop V2.0 Implementation
Best Practices for IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console to Netcool/OMNIbus Upgrade
Integration Guide for IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus, IBM Tivoli Network Manager, and IBM Tivoli Netcool Configuration Manager
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

35. Netcool/OMNIbus - Probe Architecture
The function of a probe is to acquire information from an event source and forward it to the ObjectServer.
Probes use tokens and elements, and apply rules, to transform event source data into a format that the ObjectServer can recognize.
Event data is generated by the probe target.
The probe acquires the event data and processes it based on a rules file. The probe then forwards the processed data to the ObjectServer as an alert.
The ObjectServer stores and manages alerts, which can be displayed in the event list, and optionally forwarded to one or more gateways.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

36. Netcool/OMNIbus - Probe Architecture …
The probe breaks the raw event data into tokens.
The probe then parses these tokens into elements and processes the elements according to the rules in the rules file.
Elements are identified in the rules file by the $ symbol. For example, $Node.
Elements are used to assign values to ObjectServer fields.
Elements are indicated by symbol.
Fields make up the alerts that are forwarded to the ObjectServer, and are stored/managed in the alerts.status table.
The Identifier field is derived or generated by the rules file and is used for deduplication.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

37. Netcool/OMNIbus - Probes
Universal Probes, for example,
SNMP probe - nco_p_mttrapd
Log File Probe - nco_p_glf
ODBC Probe - nco_p_odbc
Specific Probes, fore example,
Tivoli EIF Probe nco_p_tivoli_eif
Cisco PIX Probe - nco_p_pix
Microsoft SCOM Probe -nco-p-scom2007
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

38. Netcool/OMNIbus - Probe Types
Probes can be categorized based on how they acquire events. The types of probes are:
Device
Log file
Database
API
CORBA
Miscellaneous
The probe type is determined by the method in which the probe detects events. For example,
Probe for Agile ATM Switch Management detects events produced by a device, but it gets events from a log file, not directly from the switch. So, it is considered as a log file probe and not a device probe.
Probe for Oracle obtains event data from a database table, and is a database probe.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

39. Netcool/OMNIbus – Probe Components
Netcool/OMNIbus probe usually consists of the following primary components:
an executable file, a properties file,
a rules file, and Optional additional probe specific components.
The executable file is the core of a probe. It connects to the event source, processes events, and forwards the events to the ObjectServer as alerts.
The executable file for the Simnet Probe that runs on Linux is: $OMNIHOME/probes/linux2x86/nco_p_simnet
To start Simnet Probe on UNIX, run the wrapper script :
$OMNIHOME/probes/nco_p_simnet
When the probe starts, it gets the configuration information from event definition, properties, and rules file
simnet.def, simnet.props, simnet.rules
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

40. Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

41. Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways …
The preceding figure illustrates how to use gateways for a variety of purposes:
Probes send alerts to the local ObjectServer.
The ObjectServer Gateway replicates alerts between ObjectServers in a failover configuration.
The Helpdesk gateway integrates the Network Operations Center (NOC) and the helpdesk by converting trouble tickets to alerts, and alerts to trouble tickets.
The RDBMS gateway stores critical alerts in a relational database management system (RDBMS) so that you can analyze network performance.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

42. Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways …
Gateways can send alerts to a variety of targets:
Another ObjectServer (Uni & Bi Gateway)
A database (ODBC Gateway)
A helpdesk application (Remedy Gateway)
Other applications or devices (Flat File Gateway)
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

43. Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways …
A unidirectional ObjectServer Gateway
allows alerts to flow from a source ObjectServer to a destination ObjectServer
A bidirectional ObjectServer Gateway
allows alerts to flow from both source/destination ObjectServer
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

44. Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways …
Gateways have reader and writer components.
Readers extract alerts from the ObjectServer.
Writers forward alerts to another ObjectServer or to other applications.
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

45. Netcool/OMNIbus – Gateways …
Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus gateways
Gateway for Clarify
Flat File Writer Gateway
Gateway for HP ServiceCenter
ObjectServer Gateway Guide for V7.3.0
ObjectServer Gateway Guide for V7.2.1
ObjectServer Gateway Guide for V7.2
ODBC Gateway
Gateway for Oracle
Gateway for Remedy ARS
Gateway for Siebel
SNMP Writer Gateway
Socket Writer Gateway
TCP Echo Utility Gateway
Gateway for Tivoli EIF
Gateway for TSRM
Message Bus Integration
Integration with TSRM
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview

46. Questions
Netcool/OMNIBus Core Overview