Communication between monitoring components

In a typical topology, monitoring agents communicate with remote monitoring servers, and remote monitoring servers communicate with a single, central hub monitoring server.

Typical topology

The following diagram shows a simple example.

Figure 1. Typical topology of runtime environments in a sysplex
Diagram of a simple example of a typical topology of runtime environments in a sysplex

The number of monitoring agents in a runtime environment and the number of LPARs depends on your site.

In a typical topology, monitoring agents communicate with the remote monitoring server that is in the same runtime environment as the agents. Remote monitoring servers are described as remote to distinguish them from the hub monitoring server. Remote monitoring servers are typically local to the monitoring agents with which they communicate, in the sense that they are in the same runtime environment and, hence, the same LPAR.

The default communication protocol for all components is Transport Control Protocol over Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4). The hub monitoring server listens on a port for messages from remote monitoring servers. Remote monitoring servers listen on a port for messages from monitoring agents.

Required parameters

Communication between components involves several parameters. However, for most of these parameters you can use default values.

To configure communication between a remote monitoring server and a hub server, you only need to specify the following parameters:

  • In the runtime environment that contains the hub monitoring server (in the previous figure, RTE A):
    KDS_TEMS_TYPE
    HUB, rather than the default REMOTE.
    RTE_TCP_PORT_NUM
    The port on which the hub listens for messages from remote monitoring servers.
  • In a runtime environment that contains a remote monitoring server (such as RTE D):
    KDS_HUB_TEMS_NAME_NODEID
    Must match the RTE_TEMS_NAME_NODEID parameter of the hub. The default value of RTE_TEMS_NAME_NODEID is rte_name:CMS.
    KDS_TCP_PORT_NUM
    Must match the RTE_TCP_PORT_NUM parameter of the hub.
    KDS_HUB_TCP_HOST
    Must match the host name or IP address of the LPAR that contains the hub.

You don't need to specify any parameters to configure communication between monitoring agents and a remote monitoring server in the same runtime environment.

The following diagram shows the required parameters in each runtime environment and their relationships:

Figure 2. Parameters required to configure a typical topology
Diagram of monitoring agents, a remote monitoring server, a hub monitoring server, and the parameters required to configure communication between them

Other parameters

The following diagram shows a more comprehensive overview of the parameters to configure communication between components, including the default values of parameters omitted from the previous diagram.

For a typical topology, you do not need to be aware of these other parameters. This diagram is provided as a reference for configuring different topologies.

Figure 3. Parameters to configure communication between components, including significant default values
Diagram of monitoring agents, a remote monitoring server, a hub monitoring server, and the parameters to configure communication between them

Communication between a remote monitoring server and the hub monitoring server

For a remote monitoring server to communicate with the hub monitoring server, the following parameters must match:

 n 
figure label		 This parameter in the RTE of the
remote monitoring server		 ...must match this parameter in the RTE of the
hub
 1  KDS_HUB_TEMS_NAME_NODEID

The remote monitoring server must refer to the node ID of the hub.

 RTE_TEMS_NAME_NODEID
 2  KDS_HUB_TCP_HOST

The remote monitoring server must refer to the host name of the hub.

 KDS_TEMS_TCP_HOST
 3  KDS_TEMS_COMM_PROTOCOLn

The remote monitoring server and hub must have at least one communication protocol in common.

 KDS_TEMS_COMM_PROTOCOLn
 4  KDS_HUB_TCP_PIPE_PORT_NUM

The remote monitoring server must refer to the port on which the hub is listening.

 KDS_TEMS_TCP_PIPE_PORT_NUM

Communication between monitoring agents and a remote monitoring server

For monitoring agents to communicate with a remote monitoring server, the following parameters must match:

 n 
figure label		 This parameter for the monitoring agent... ...must match this parameter for the remote monitoring server
 5  Kpp_TEMS_TCP_HOST KDS_TEMS_TCP_HOST
 6  Kpp_TEMS_TCP_PIPE_PORT_NUM KDS_TEMS_TCP_PIPE_PORT_NUM
 7  Kpp_AGT_COMM_PROTOCOLn KDS_TEMS_COMM_PROTOCOLn

If monitoring agents communicate with the remote monitoring server that is in the same runtime environment, as specified by the default parameter value Kpp_TEMS_LOCAL_CONNECT_FLAG Y, then all of these parameters match by default.

Choice of communication protocols

You can specify up to seven communication protocols for each monitoring agent and server. When attempting to communicate, a monitoring agent or server tries its protocols in order. If the first choice fails, it tries the second choice, and so on. You can either set the communication protocol choices individually for the monitoring server and each agent in a runtime environment, or you can use the RTE_COMM_PROTOCOLn parameters to set them all together.