Viewing a topology

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Once you have rendered a topology, you can refine and manipulate the view.

Before you begin

To refine a topology from a seed resource, see Rendering (visualizing) a topology.
Note: You can change a topology if and as required while viewing or refining an existing topology.

About this task

You can zoom in and out of the specific areas of the topology, and pan across it in various ways. You can also auto-fit the topology into the available display window, draw a mini map, view and compare historical data, pause or change the refresh rate, or redraw the topology.
Tip: While viewing a topology, you can click View legend to open a Help panel that describes the visual elements used in the display of the topology. Alternatively, you can click Tabular view to display the topology of a service or resource group in table format instead.

Procedure

View a topology

  1. From the Visualization toolbar below the Navigation toolbar, you can manipulate the topology using a number of visualization tools.
    View legend
    Toggle View Legend to open a Help panel that describes the visual elements used in the topology to display, for example, added or removed resources, their status, and types.
    Timeline
    Use this to open or close the History timeline, which shows how a topology has changed over time.
    The timeline is closed by default.
    Delta
    Use this to shows how a topology has changed between two specific moments in time.
    Delta is off by default.
    Select tool submenu
    When you hover over the Select tool icon, a submenu is displayed from which you can choose the Select, Pan or Zoom Select tool.
    Select tool
    Use this icon to select individual resources using a mouse click, or to select groups of resources by creating a selection area (using click-and-drag).
    Pan tool
    Use this icon to pan across the topology using click-and-drag on a blank area of the visualization panel.
    Zoom select tool
    Use this icon to zoom in on an area of the topology using click-and-drag.
    Zoom in
    Use this icon to zoom in on the displayed topology.
    Zoom out
    Use this icon to zoom out of the displayed topology.
    Zoom fit
    Use this icon to fit the entire topology in the current view panel.
    Overview (mini map)
    Use this toggle to create the overview mini map in the bottom right corner.
    The mini map provides an overview of the entire topology while you zoom in or out of the main topology. The mini map displays a red rectangle to represent the current topology view.
    Note: In some browsers the use of the mini map may cause performance issues when displaying large topologies.
    Layout
    Use this icon to recalculate, and then render the topology layout again.
    You can choose from a number of layout types and orientations.
    Layout 1
    A layout that simply displays all resources in a topology without applying a specific layout structure.
    Layout 2
    A circular layout that is useful when you want to arrange a number of entities by type in a circular pattern.
    Layout 3
    A grouped layout is useful when you have many linked entities, as it helps you visualize the entities to which a number of other entities are linked. This layout helps to identify groups of interconnected entities and the relationships between them.
    Layout 4
    A hierarchical layout that is useful for topologies that contain hierarchical structures, as it shows how key vertices relate to others with peers in the topology being aligned.
    Layout 5
    A peacock layout is useful when you have many interlinked vertices, which group the other linked vertices.
    Layout 6
    A planar rank layout is useful when you want to view how the topology relates to a given vertex in terms of its rank, and also how vertices are layered relative to one another.
    Layout 7
    A rank layout is useful when you want to see how a selected vertex and the vertices immediately related to it rank relative to the remainder of the topology (up to the specified amount of hops). The root selection is automatic.
    For example, vertices with high degrees of connectivity outrank lower degrees of connectivity. This layout ranks the topology automatically around the specified seed vertex.
    Layout 8
    A root rank layout similar to layout 7, except that it treats the selected vertex as the root. This layout is useful when you want to treat a selected vertex as the root of the tree, with others being ranked below it.
    Ranks the topology using the selected vertex as the root (root selection: Selection)
    Layout orientation
    For layouts 4, 6, 7 and 8, you can set the following layout orientations:
    • Top to bottom
    • Bottom to top
    • Left to right
    • Right to left
    Tabular view
    If you click Tabular view to display a topology in table format, it lists the name, type, resource alerts, tags and business criticality for each resource.
    If you have used the Timeline to select a date in the past for a specific resource before opening the Tabular view, that date is displayed above the table. You can click the date in order to set a new date, or return to the current date.
    • If you return to the current time, the data is refreshed.
    • If you choose to set a new date, the Choose a historical time dialog opens, which lets you select a new moment in time up to the data retention limit set for your system (the default is thirty days in the past); if you then switch back from a tabular to a topology view, the time pin has moved accordingly.
    Filter
    Dynamically filter the table by typing names, types or tags into the Search field.
    Note: Elements that are not displayed when viewing service resources in tabular format, such as relationship types, are not available for filtering.
    Share
    You can share a link to the service in tabular format with another user.
    Additional functionality
    You can perform a number of activities from the overflow menu of each displayed item in the table, such as viewing related incidents, comments or more details, showing the item in a map, assigning business criticality, opening it in the topology viewer, or building a template.
    Remember: If you are displaying a tabular view at a historical point in time, any resource details you access will be from that moment.

Use the Update Manager

  1. If auto-updates have been turned off, the Update Manager informs you if new resources have been detected. It allows you to continue working with your current topology until you are ready to integrate the new resources into the view.
    The Update Manager is displayed in the bottom right of the screen.
    Show details
    Displays additional resource information.
    Render
    Integrates the new resources into the topology.
    Choosing this option will recalculate the topology layout based on your current display settings, and may therefore adjust the displayed topology significantly.
    Cogwheel icon
    When clicked, provides you with quick access to change your user preferences:
    • Enable auto-refresh: Switches auto-refresh back on, and disables the Update Manager.
    • Remove deleted resources: Removes the deleted resources from your topology view when the next topology update occurs.
    Hide
    Reduces the Update Manager to a small purple icon that does not obstruct your current topology view.
    When you are ready to deal with the new resources, click on the icon to display the Update Manager again.

Modify a topology

  1. The displayed topology consists of resource nodes and the relationship links connecting the resources. You can interact with these nodes and links using the mouse functionality.
    Dragging a node
    Click and drag a node to move it.
    Selecting a node
    Selection of a node highlights the node, and emphasizes its first-order connections by fading all other resources.
    Context menu (right-click)
    You open the context menu using the right-click function. The context menu provides access to the resource-specific actions you can perform.
    For resource entities, you can perform the following:
    Resource details
    Note: The details dashboard is accessed either from the topology context menu or the Resource management dashboard. Some items may be unavailable.
    If opened from the Resource management dashboard, the resource name is an active link that opens a topology view of the resource in context. If a map has been defined, the Map link next to the resource name opens the Resource map view.
    When selected while viewing a topology history with delta mode On, the Resource details window displays the properties of the resource at both the reference time and at the delta time.
    'Related services' and 'Related resource groups' are only displayed when not in historical mode.
    Properties tab: Displays all the current stored properties for the specified resource in tabular and JSON format. If a property has been excluded from view by an administrator, it is only visible in JSON format.

    Toggle the Show JSON switch On or Off to display the properties in JSON format.
    Data origin tab: Displays the point of origin of the resource data, such as a specific observer job.
    If you have the appropriate user permission, such as the administrator role, the observer job name is an active link, which opens the observer job page from where you can re-run the job, view its history, or edit the job.
    Related services tab: Displays all related services as active links, which open the service topologies in new windows.
    Also lists the group type, number of groups, status, and tags.
    Related resource groups tab: Displays all related resource groups as active links, which open the resource group topologies in new windows.
    Also lists the resource type, number of resources, status, and tags.
    Location tab: Opens a map in which the resource is geo-located. Zoom functions are enabled, though the map is limited to the More details dialog. To open the full map, use the Map link next to the resource name.
    Structure view tab: The structure view displays all resources that are part of a host or parent resource (such as a device), which are linked together in a relationship via the 'partOf' edge regardless of their position; that is, it displays linked resources even if they are several hops removed from one another or from the host (parent) resource.
    The Structure view tab displays all the current stored properties for a selected resource on the right in tabular and JSON format (as for the properties tab), with an additional breadcrumb above the details showing its distance from its parent resource.
    On the left, a resource tree is shown, expanded to the resource from which the structure view was opened, with the parent resource at the highest level. The highest severity resource status is shown next to the name, although if a status is shown in parenthesis, the status applies to a resource nested at a lower level.
    You can click on a resource name to open a topology view of the resource and its parent resource. When you display a parent resource, all resource linked to it via the partOf edge are also depicted. If you activate the Problem view toggle, all resources with no reported issues are filtered out.
    Status tab: Displays a dialog that shows the time-stamped statuses related to the specified resource in table format.
    The Severity and Time columns can be sorted, and the moment (that is, the historical time point) that Resource status was selected is also time-stamped.
    You can use the Show active only toggle to remove inactive statuses.
    In addition, if any status tools have been defined, the status tool selector (three dots) is displayed next to the resource's statuses. Click the status tool selector to display a list of any status tools that have been defined, and then click the specific tool to run it. Status tools are only displayed for the states that were specified when the tools were defined.
    The severity of a status ranges from 'clear' (white tick on a green square) to 'critical' (white cross on a red circle).
    Table 1. Severity levels
    Icon Severity
    clear icon clear
    indeterminate icon indeterminate
    information icon information
    warning icon warning
    minor icon minor
    major icon major
    critical icon critical
    Tip: If statuses related to a specific resource are available, the resource will be marked with an icon depicting the status severity level, and the Resource status tab will appear on the Resource details window, accessible via the resource context menu.
    Resource group details
    Note: Only accessed from the Resource management dashboard.
    Properties tab: Displays all the current stored properties for the specified Resource group in tabular and JSON format. If a property has been excluded from view by an administrator, it is only visible in JSON format.
    Related resources tab: Displays all related resources as active links, which open the resource topologies in new windows.
    Also lists the type, status, tags, and business criticality (if defined).
    Related services tab: Displays all related services as active links, which open the service topologies in new windows.
    Also lists the number of resources, status, and tags, and business criticality (if defined).
    Service details
    Note: Only accessed from the Resource management dashboard.
    Properties tab: Displays all the current stored properties for the specified service in tabular and JSON format. If a property has been excluded from view by an administrator, it is only visible in JSON format.
    Related resources tab: Displays all related resources as active links, which open the resource topologies in new windows.
    Also lists the type, status, tags, and business criticality (if defined).
    Related resource groups tab: Displays all related resource groups as active links, which open the resource group topologies in new windows.
    Also lists the resource type, number of resources, status, and tags, and business criticality (if defined).
    Comments
    When selected, this displays any comments recorded against the resource.
    By default, resource comments are displayed by date in ascending order. You can sort them in the following way:
    • Oldest first
    • Newest first
    • User Id (A to Z)
    • User Id (Z to A)
    Users with the inasm_operator role can view comments, but not add any. Users with inasm_editor or inasm_admin roles can also add new comments. See the Configuring DASH user roles topic for more information on assigning user roles.
    To add a new comment, enter text into the New comment field, and then click Add comment to save.
    Compare resources
    You can select two resources and their properties for side-by-side comparison in a table, with different values highlighted.
    Assign criticality
    Business criticality sets the priority level for a resource (or service, or resource group).
    To assign a priority, select a definition from the Business criticality drop-down, then click Save.
    To remove a business criticality, select Unassigned.
    Remember: Business criticality definitions must be created by an administrator user before you can assign them to a resource, as described in Defining business criticality.
    Build a template
    Opens the Create a new template dialog, from where you can create a new resource group template.
    Get Neighbors
    When selected, opens a menu that displays the resource types of all the neighboring resources. Each resource type lists the number of resources of that type, as well as the maximum severity associated with each type.
    You can choose to get All neighbors of the selected resource, or choose a specific resource to add to the topology using the Choose neighbor option. This lets you expand the topology in controlled, incremental steps.
    Selecting Get neighbors overrides any existing filters.
    You can Undo the last neighbor request made.
    Follow relationship
    When selected, opens a menu that displays all adjacent relationship types.
    Each relationship type lists the number of relationships of that type, as well as the maximum severity associated with each type.
    You can choose to follow all relationships, or only the neighbors of a specific type.
    Show last change in timeline
    When selected, will display the history timeline depicting the most recent change made to the resource.
    Show first change in timeline
    When selected, will display the history timeline depicting the first change made to the resource.
    Find path
    When selected, opens the Path tool dialog, from where you can define the criteria for the system to find the shortest path between two resources in your topology. For more information, see Using the Path tool.
    Recenter view
    When selected, this updates the displayed topology with the specified resource as seed.

Filter the topology

  1. Open the Resource Filter toolbar using the Filter toggle in the Topology Visualization toolbar. From here, you can apply filters to the topology in order to refine the types of resources, relationships or status displayed.
    The Filter toolbar is displayed as a panel on the right-hand side of the page, and consists of a Simple and an Advanced tab. If selected, each tab provides you with access to the following expandable lists of filters:
    • Resource types
    • Relationship types
    • Resource severity
    Any resource or relationship types that have been excluded from view in order to optimize performance when rendering topologies are listed here. The seed resource of a topology can not be blocked, and neither can resource groups.
    Note: You can override the exclusion using the context menu functionality.
    • If you are filtering a topology before rendering it: All types are displayed, except those that have been excluded. After rendering the topology, you can toggle the Show all types switch so that only types relevant to your topology are displayed.
    • If you are filtering a topology already displayed in the viewer: Only types relevant to your topology are displayed, for example host, ipaddress, or operatingsystem. You can toggle the Show all types switch so that all types are listed (apart from the excluded types).
    Simple tab
    When you use the Simple tab, all specified types are removed from view, including the seed resource.
    It only removes the resources matching that type, leaving the resources below, or further out from that type, based on topology traversals.
    By default, all types are On. Use the Off toggle to remove specific types from your view.
    Advanced tab
    The Advanced tab performs a server-side topology-based filter action.
    If you change the topology, you can set filters before you render the topology to prevent a potentially large, resource-intensive topology from being loaded in full.
    It can exclude or include types:
    • Exclude removes the resources matching that type, as well as all resources below that type. However, the seed resource is not removed from view, even if it is of a type selected for removal.
    • Include displays the selected types in the topology.
    Tips
    Reset or invert all filters: Click Reset to switch all types back on, or click Invert to invert your selection of types filtered.
    Hover to highlight: When a topology is displayed, hover over one of the filtering type options to highlight them in the topology.