How does the Probe Extension Package operate?

Netcool/OMNIbus is a Service Level Management (SLM) system that presents a consistent and consolidated view of the current state of all the Netcool/OMNIbus managed systems to specific users. The Probe Extension Package improves the capability of Netcool/OMNIbus in providing more valuable information.

Probes, rules files, and the Probe Extension Package

The probes used by Netcool/OMNIbus collect and interpret information from disparate managed objects in a network. A probe parses the collected information, and sends the parsed data to the ObjectServer in a format described by the rules file and is compatible with the ObjectServer fields.

The default rules file necessary for the execution of a probe only performs generic grouping of data. Using a rules file enhanced to accommodate events from a specific device provides sharpened event enrichment and causal analysis. The Probe Extension Package is a collection of such rules files, fine tuned to specific managed objects that send events, for example, the enhanced Tivoli EIF rules file.

When the device sends the events, the probe uses the device specific rules file in the Probe Extension Package specified by the RulesFile property.

Note: If you do not specify the device specific rules file of the Probe Extension Package, the probe will use its default rules file.

ObjectServer and the Probe Extension Package

The IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer currently uses two types of automation to help reduce the number of events that require operator intervention. Generic Clear automations are designed to correlate and delete any matching pair of problem and resolution alerts, whereas deduplication automation eliminates duplicate alerts while maintaining an 'occurrence' count.

The Probe Extension Package increases the ability of Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer automations to correlate alarms and identify root causes by mapping alarms and events to the relevant ObjectServer fields.