Configuring integration with Operations Analytics - Log Analysis

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This section describes how to configure the integration of the Netcool®/OMNIbus and Operations Analytics - Log Analysis products. Events are forwarded from Netcool/OMNIbus to Operations Analytics - Log Analysis by the Gateway for Message Bus.

Before you begin

  • Use a supported combination of product versions. For more information, see Required products and components. The best practice is to install the products in the following order:
    1. Netcool/OMNIbus 8.1.0.28 and the Web GUI
    2. Gateway for Message Bus. Install the gateway on the same host as the Netcool/OMNIbus product.
    3. Operations Analytics - Log Analysis, see one of the following links: https://ibm.biz/BdXeZkexternal link
    4. Netcool/OMNIbus Insight® Pack, see Installing the Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Insight Pack.
    Tip: The best practice is to install the Web GUI and Operations Analytics - Log Analysis on separate hosts.
    Restriction: Operations Analytics - Log Analysis does not support installation in Group mode of IBM® Installation Manager.
  • Ensure that the ObjectServer that forwards event data to Operations Analytics - Log Analysis has the NmosObjInst column in the alerts.status table. NmosObjInst is supplied by default and is required for this configuration. You can use ObjectServer SQL commands to check for the column and to add it if it is missing, as follows.
    • Use the DESCRIBE command to read the columns of the alerts.status table.
    • Use the ALTER COLUMN setting with the ALTER TABLE command to add NmosObjInst to the alerts.status table.
    For more information about the alerts.status table, including the NmosObjInst column, see https://ibm.biz/BdXcBFexternal link. For more information about ObjectServer SQL commands, see https://ibm.biz/BdXcBXexternal link.
  • Configure the Web GUI server.init file as follows:
    Note: The default values do not have to be changed on Web GUI 8.1.0.28 fix pack 5 or later.
    scala.app.keyword=OMNIbus_Keyword_Search
scala.app.static.dashboard=OMNIbus_Static_Dashboard
scala.datasource=omnibus
scala.url=protocol://host:port
scala.version=1.2.0.3
    Restart the server if you change any of these values. See https://ibm.biz/BdXcBcexternal link.
  • Select and plan a deployment scenario. See On-premises scenarios for Operations Management. If your deployment uses the Gateway for Message Bus for forwarding events via the IDUC channel, you can skip step 5. If you use the AEN client for forwarding events, complete all steps.
  • Start the Operations Analytics - Log Analysis product.
  • Familiarize yourself with the configuration of the Gateway for Message Bus. See https://ibm.biz/BdEQaDexternal link. Knowledge of the gateway is required for steps 1, 5, and 6 of this task.

Procedure

The term data source has a different meaning, depending on which product you configure. In the Web GUI, a data source is always an ObjectServer. In the Operations Analytics - Log Analysis product, a data source is a source of raw data, usually log files. In the context of the event search function, the Operations Analytics - Log Analysis data source is a set of Netcool/OMNIbus events.

  1. Configure the Gateway for Message Bus.
    At a high-level, this involves the following:
    • Creating a gateway server in the Netcool/OMNIbus interfaces file
    • Configuring the G_SCALA.props properties file, including specifying the .map mapping file.
    • Configuring the endpoint in the scalaTransformers.xml file
    • Configuring the SSL connection, if required
    • Configuring the transport properties in the scalaTransport.properties file
    For more information about configuring the gateway, see the Gateway for Message Bus documentation at https://ibm.biz/BdEQaDexternal link.
  2. If you are ingesting data that is billable, and do not want data ingested into the Netcool Operations Insight data source to be included in the usage statistics, you need to set the Netcool Operations Insight data source as non-billable. Add the path to your data source (default is NCOMS, see following step) to a seed file and restart Operations Analytics - Log Analysis as described in one of the following topics:
    Note: Ensure you follow this step before you configure an omnibus data source for Netcool/OMNIbus events.
  3. In Operations Analytics - Log Analysis, start the Add Data Source wizard and configure an omnibus data source for Netcool/OMNIbus events.
    Only a single data source is required. The event management tools in the Web GUI support a single data source only.
    1. In the Select Location panel, select Custom and type the Netcool/OMNIbus server hostname.
      Enter the same hostname that was used for the JsonMsgHostname transport property of the Gateway for Message Bus.
    2. In the Select Data panel, enter the following field values:
      Field Value
      File path NCOMS. This is the default value of the jsonMsgPath transport property of the Gateway for Message Bus. If you changed this value from the default, change the value of the File path field accordingly.
      Type This is the name of the data source type on which this data source is based.
      • To use the default data source type, specify OMNIbus1100.
      • To use a customized data source type, specify the name of the customized data source type; for example: customOMNIbus
      Collection OMNIbus1100-Collection
    3. In the Set Attributes panel, enter the following field values:
      Field Value
      Name omnibus. Ensure that the value that you type is the same as the value of the scala.datasource property in the Web GUI server.init file. If the Name field has a value other than omnibus, use the same value for the scala.datasource property.
      Group Leave this field blank.
      Description Type a description of your choice.
  4. Configure access to the data source you set up in the previous step. This involves the following steps in the administrative settings for Operations Analytics - Log Analysis:
    1. Create a role using the Roles tab, for example, noirole, and ensure you assign the role permission to access the data source.
    2. Add a user, for example, noiuser, and assign the role you created that has permissions to access the data source (in this example, noirole).
    For information about creating and modifying users and roles in Operations Analytics - Log Analysis, see one of the following links: .
    Note: The contents of the Netcool/OMNIbus Insight Pack dashboards are empty unless you log in with a user that has a role assigned with permissions to access the data source.
  5. Configure the Accelerated Event Notification (AEN) client:
    1. Configure AEN event forwarding in the Gateway for Message Bus.
    2. Configure the AEN channel and triggers in each ObjectServer by enabling the following postinsert triggers and trigger group:
      • scala_triggers
      • scala_insert
      • scala_reinsert
      These items are included in the default configuration of the ObjectServer, as well as the SQL commands to configure the AEN channel, but they are disabled by default. For more information about configuring the AEN client in an integration with the Operations Analytics - Log Analysis product, search for Configuring event forwarding using AEN in the Gateway for Message Bus documentation.
  6. Start the Gateway for Message Bus in SCA-LA mode.
    The gateway begins sending Netcool/OMNIbus events to Operations Analytics - Log Analysis.
  7. Install the Web GUI with the event search feature.

Results

After the configuration is complete, you can search for Netcool/OMNIbus events in Operations Analytics - Log Analysis. You can also use the Web GUI event management tools to launch into Operations Analytics - Log Analysis to display event data.

What to do next