Best practices task list

The Best Practices Task List is an aid that outlines the high-level steps necessary to implement IBM® Sterling Control Center Monitor. It describes planning that needs to be done for each task and the documentation references you can access for more information.

Some of these steps may have already been completed by someone in your organization. For example, someone may have already analyzed the environment and installed the hardware and software. You may be tasked with configuring IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor, so you would start with planning steps that identify your organization's IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor objectives. The task list will help you identify the high-level tasks that need to be performed to implement IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor.

Important: Depending on the server IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor is monitoring, you can have functionality limitations in IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor with that server. See the Release Notes to see what functionality is available with your server.
# Task Planning Information and Best Practice Notes Documentation Resources
1 Planning Your Implementation    
1a Identify your business objectives Identify your IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor business objectives.

Part of this process involves analyzing your environment to determine what you have, what you need, and what you want to do with those resources. This process is vital to an effective IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor implementation.

Locate network diagrams, documents that state IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor objectives (which may have been identified when your organization purchased IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor), and other documents, that might help you identify your IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor business objectives.
1b Analyze your environment
Important: If you are running at 80 percent or more CPU capacity with IBM Control Center Monitor V6.0, then in V6.1 you need to add more CPU. Adding more CPUs is necessary to properly scale an IBM Control Center Monitor environment with multiple EPs.
Determine your hardware and software needs and system requirements for engine(s), consoles (GUIs), databases, reports.
  • CAUTION:
    Under the current IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor architecture, data visibility group (DVG) usage has limitations. One limitation is slow page load times, which are specific to customers with a high volume of events in their database. If you have more than 10 million events in your database, consider withholding use of DVGs. If you decide to continue with using DVGs, there can be slow response times on the page display. On occasion, a page can fail to load causing a timeout error.
1c Identify if you want a high availability or non-high availability environment for IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor  
1d Gather information for the building blocks that will define IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor system-level objects: servers, users, email lists, calendars, etc. You will use this information later when you are creating these building blocks.  
  Gather server information

Because you must have a valid user ID and password to access each server, you may want to setup a generic user ID and password to access servers more easily. You do not need a user ID and password for dynamically discovered servers or servers that send data to IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor through SNMP traps.

For Sterling Connect:Direct® servers, you can add one server and then use the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor Guided Node Discovery feature to get a list of the nodes that server communicates with based on netmap entries and statistics logs. See Performing guided node discovery.
  Decide if you will rename system server groups You must rename system server groups before you start IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor for the first time.

Do not name any server groups All server type Servers to avoid naming conflicts with system-defined server groups.
  Decide how you will group servers Decide how you will group servers in a way that makes sense for your environment, for example, geographic location or service line.
Tip: If you want to restrict a user to all the activities from one or more servers, you can use the server group restriction. With the server group option, you create a server group with one or more servers and associate that group to a user role.
  Decide if you will use data visibility groups (DVGs) Decide if you will use data visibility groups to limit the data users can monitor. If so, determine a way to segment access to data that makes sense for your environment, for example, by functional department such as accounting or payroll.
Tip: If you want to restrict a user to all the activities from one or more servers, you can use the server group restriction. With the server group option, you create a server group with one or more servers and associate that group to a user role.
  Decide how you will implement user roles and permissions Develop a role hierarchy to capture the user roles and permissions needed in your environment using the superuser and user roles as a basis.
  Determine if you need to implement a password policy for your organization If your organization enforces a password policy, get a copy of it. To implement your password policy, edit the passwordPolicy.xml file when you configure user access to IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor in a later task. To open the passwordPolicy.xml file, in the web console, click Menu Button () > System Settings > Properties > passwordPolicy.xml. Assign a unique user ID to each user and reset the default password for the administrator.
  Decide which users need permission to create rules, SLCs, and their supporting objects for future monitoring of transactions using the Monitor This option  
  Decide whether you will use external authentication to validate user credentials To use external authentication, you must configure IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor and Sterling External Authentication Server.
  Decide what type(s) of notifications you will use to handle alerts Gather information you will use to define SMTP email settings and SNMP settings for host computers where SNMP traps are sent.

The specific elements a trap contains are dictated by the contents of the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor configuration file named SnmpAdaptorWrapper.xml. The Management Information Block (MIB) that defines the Object Identifiers (OIDs) contained in the trap is shipped with IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor. It is named SterlingMIB.mib and is located in the \esm installation directory folder.
1e Identify the building blocks needed to meet your monitoring objectives For the objectives you identified, plan how you will use the building blocks to define the work IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor will perform.

As you are going through this process, be sure to plan for reuse of building blocks where possible such as an action used in more than one rule or a calendar used in multiple SLCs. This will simplify the ongoing maintenance of these objects.
  Decide which rules you need to meet your business objectives for monitoring servers Your rules need to be based on the business objectives you identified earlier in the planning process. The rules you define will provide IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor with instructions that specify the event to listen for. View the built-in rules to decide if you need to enable or disable any of them. If you need to modify a built-in rule, make a copy of the rule, modify it, and then disable the built-in rule.
  Identify the service level criteria that will enable you to determine whether service level agreements have or have not been met  
2 Preparing the Environment    
2a Identify required patches, service packs, and releases for managed servers Download any product updates from IBM Sterling Customer Support.

System Requirements
2b Verify that the system hardware is in place and ready for the installation You can use a load balancer in a high availability environment to evenly distribute IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor web console sessions and events of a dynamically discovered server that are posted to the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor event repository.
2c Install the database software Record the following information from the database administrator for use later during the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor installation:
  • Database name
  • User ID and password for databases
  • Location of the JDBC driver for the database

Make sure you have the correct objects for the database you chose (for example, DB2 page size). For more information, consult the product documentation for the database you chose.

2d Create the production and reports databases for your database type If your database supports partitioning, you should take advantage of it.
2e Configure secure connections for use between IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor and a Sterling Connect:Direct or Sterling B2B Integrator server Before you configure the connections, obtain and import certificates into the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor truststore. Configuring secure connections
2f Configure IBM Global High Availability Mailbox to publish events to IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor The default connection is non-secure. You can configure Global Mailbox to create a secure connection with IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor.
2g If consoles will access the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor engine using a secure connection, configure the HTTPS connection   Determine HTTPS information for the engine and console connection
3 Installing IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor    
3a Install IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor
Important: If you do not enable the globalization parameter for the Microsoft SQL server during an IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor installation, then you cannot use multi-byte characters. When you use a multi-byte character without enabling this parameter, then IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor cannot run and you must manually remove the character from your database. If you choose to enable the globalization parameter later, you must reinstall IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor.
3b If you are installing IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor for a high availability environment, install your second event processor   Installing IBM Control Center in a high availability environment
3c After you install the engine, the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor console is available locally on the computer where IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor is installed. For remote computers, the console is available from the engine "launch" page The Console can be started by accessing the engine launch page from a browser after the engine is started. Setting up a console
3d If the console will access the engine using a secure connection, configure a secure connection between the engine and the console for either a high availability or non-high availability environment   Configuring secure connections
3e If you want to secure event posting to the event repository through a user name and password authentication, enable the authentication in configCC   Enabling authentication for posting events to the IBM Control Center event repository
3f Install the FTP agents (if you will manage FTP servers using IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor) One agent per FTP server must be installed (except for the z/OS FTP server). If you have a high availability environment, you must configure your WS_FTP and FTP for z/OS server to send traps the assigned event processor. Setting up IBM Control Center to monitor Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent
3g Set the self-defined user key if you want to encrypt passwords with your own key. You need to have the administrator authority of IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor to set the user key. Securing the IBM Control Center root passphrase with a user key
4 Starting and Accessing IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor    
4a Start IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor
Important: In a high availability environment, the first event processor (EP) running is the controller EP. Ensure that any Sterling Connect:Direct File Agent is configured to send traps to all EPs.
 Starting and stopping IBM Control Center
4b Directly invoke the console to gain access to IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor After you log into the console, be sure to change the admin password.

If you are unable to log into the console, you should check the engine log file for problems that may have caused the engine to not start.
4c Redirect to IBM Sterling Classic Console from IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor After you log into the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor, you can launch the IBM Sterling Classic Console from the Menu Settings.
5 Changing settings and tuning IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor To ensure optimal operation, you can change system settings to tune IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor. For example, if the engine time is different from the server time, adjustments need to be made in the time Preferences Settings.
Important: To change SMTP email settings, run the configCC utility.
5a Configure IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor to send traps Configure SNMP settings for host computers where SNMP traps are sent. About SNMP settings
5b Configure JMS message retention time Because IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor is a durable subscriber for messages, it receives all messages published on a topic, including those published while it is not running. Configure the message provider to retain messages longer than the longest amount of time IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor may be taken down. WebSphere MQ IBM Documentation
5c Change the default system server group names If you want to change the default names for the system server groups, do it before you start defining servers, server groups, or any other IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor objects. The engine must be restarted to put the changes into effect.
CAUTION:
After you define objects, such as rules and SLCs, that reference system server groups, do not change system server group names.
5d Configure load balancer in a high availability environment In a high availability environment, you can configure a load balancer to evenly distribute IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor web console sessions, or the events of a dynamically discovered server that are posted to the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor event repository. Load balancer configuration for IBM Control Center
6 Defining Servers    
6a Add servers

For Sterling Connect:Direct servers, you can add one server and then use the Guided Node Discovery feature to get a list of the nodes the server communicates with based on netmap entries and statistics logs.

After adding a server of a specific type, you may use that definition as a template for other servers to be added if you use the duplicate capability from the Server List view.
6b Create server groups  
6c Set event processor assignment, failover, and monitoring policies for your high availability environment   Setting a server assignment, failover, and monitoring policy for an event processor
7 Defining User Access    
7a Define data visibility groups (DVGs)  
7b Define user roles  
7c Define a user password policy  
7d Add users  
8 Setting Up Calendars and Schedules When defining calendars and schedules, use a descriptive naming convention that allows users to know what they are by name. This will save users the time of looking at the object properties to determine their use and facilitate object reuse.  
8a Set up calendars  
8b Set up schedules  
9 Creating actions that will be invoked by a rule when an event occurs Will the default actions that are included in IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor work for you? If not, create actions that will meet your needs. These actions will be used when you are creating rules.

You can create actions while you are creating rules; however, a planned, methodical approach of creating them up front will help you create only the actions you absolutely need. You can then select these actions when creating rules. (One action might be used in many different rules.) This process will result in fewer actions to maintain.

Be sure to give any actions you create a descriptive naming convention that allows users to know what they are by name. This will save users the time of looking at the object properties to determine their use and facilitate object reuse.
10 Creating rules that specify an event that IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor will listen for Your rules need to be based on the business objectives you identified earlier in the planning process.

As you are creating rules and SLCs, you should approach this process in a slow-roll, phased approach where you define a rule or an SLC for a server. If you get the results you want, then add another rule or an SLC and test, and add another and test, and so on. This will allow you to troubleshoot rules and SLCs as you go before adding more complexity.
11 Creating the Service Level Criteria that will enable you to determine whether service level agreements have or have not been met As you are creating rules and SLCs, you should approach this process in a slow-roll, phased approach where you define a rule or an SLC for a server. If you get the results you want, then add another rule or an SLC and test, and add another and test, and so on. This will allow you to troubleshoot rules and SLCs as you go before adding more complexity.
Tip: It is best to set up a rule for IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor instances that have multiple EPs and use SLCs to watch for the event with message ID CSLC248E. You are alerted when IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor stops monitoring an in-progress SLC because the SLC monitoring window is expired before the controller event processor (EP) transition completes.
12 Ongoing Administration of IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor    
  Exporting and importing IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor configuration data You can either export your entire configuration data or individual configuration objects from one IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor instance and import the data into another IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor instance. Rules are the only configuration objects that you can export and import into another IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor instance individually.
  Changing IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor Settings In the ongoing administration of IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor, you might need to change system settings, such as the following:
  • Database settings
  • Email settings
  • SNMP host settings
  • Engine connection settings
  • Console settings
  • Console preferences
Important: To change SMTP email settings, run the configCC utility.
Important: If emails are sent in any rule actions, the email system setting must be configured first. Likewise, the SNMP host settings must be configured appropriately for traps generated due to rule actions to be sent to the correct locations. The system-wide administrator email address is configured in configCC. Any emails sent from the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor system are sent from the address. In addition, Monitor This request emails are sent to this email address.
 Configuring system settings
  Improving Performance You can perform general tuning to improve the performance of the IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor engine. Tuning IBM Control Center
s Managing Configuration Objects If you want to create, update, or delete multiple configuration objects such as actions, rules, schedules, email addresses, and SLCs without manually entering each one or using the duplicate function in the console, you can use the Batch Creation Utility), sample script, and sample templates provided with IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor.

You can also copy configuration objects between IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor configurations to prepare for disaster recovery or to copy a production instance to a test instance.
  Troubleshooting IBM Sterling Control Center Monitor