Observer reference

Before observers can load data, you must first define and then run observer jobs. This section describes how to manually configure, schedule and run observers.

Remember: It is recommended that you use the Observer Configuration UI to create and run observer jobs, instead of editing job configuration files manually, as described here. However, to schedule jobs and configure trust stores and certificates, you can use the information in this section.

All prerequisites are deployed during the Agile Service Manager core installation. This includes the docker containers for the observers, which should be installed and running, as well as the required scripts to manage jobs.

You can verify that the observer docker containers are running using the following command:

/opt/ibm/netcool/asm/bin/asm_status.sh

The system will return text showing all running containers in a state of Up.

Observer jobs are configured and run from the Observer Configuration UI, and can be long-running or transient. For example, the Network Manager Observer topology 'load' job is a one-off, transient job, while the Network Manager and Event Observer 'listen' jobs are long-running, which run until explicitly stopped, or until the Observer is stopped.

In addition to being configurable from the Observer Configuration UI, all on-prem observer jobs also have scripts to start and stop all available jobs, to list the status of a current job, and to set its logging levels. Scripts can be run with -h or --help to display help information, and with -v or --verbose to print out the details of the actions performed by the script, including the full cURL command. For the on-prem version of Agile Service Manager, observer scripts are configured for specific jobs by editing the script configuration files.

Defining ALM Observer jobs
Using the Agile Lifecycle Manager Observer, you can define jobs that dynamically load data associated with intent from the Agile Lifecycle Manager for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining AWS Observer jobs
Using the AWS Observer, you can define jobs that read services data from the Amazon Web Services (AWS) through AWS SDK and generate a topology. It is installed as part of the core installation procedure.
Defining BigFix Inventory Observer jobs
The Bigfix Inventory Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the Bigfix Inventory Observer, you can define jobs that dynamically load Bigfix inventory data for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining Ciena Blue Planet Observer jobs
Using the Ciena Blue Planet Observer, you can define jobs that will gather and read all topology data from the Blue Planet MCP instance by REST API and generate a topology.
Defining Cisco ACI Observer jobs
The Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. You use the Cisco ACI Observer when you have a Cisco ACI environment with Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) in your environment. The Observer interfaces with Cisco APIC and makes active REST calls to Cisco APIC in the Cisco ACI environment. Using the Cisco ACI Observer, you can define jobs that dynamically load Cisco ACI data for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining Contrail Observer jobs
The Contrail observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the Contrail Observer, you can retrieve topology data from Juniper Network Contrail Release 4.1 via REST APIs exposed by the Contrail API server. This observer is developed against Juniper Network Contrail that integrates with OpenStack orchestration platform (Ubuntu 16.04 + Contrail Cloud - Ocata).
Defining DNS Observer jobs
The DNS Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the DNS Observer, you can query internal DNS server performance, and use the returned information on response times and service addresses to create topologies within the topology service. The DNS Observer supports forward and reverse lookup calls, with recurse or no recurse options.
Defining Docker Observer jobs
Using the Docker Observer functionality, you can discover Docker network resources, including Docker Swarm clusters, and then visualize this data as a topology view in the Agile Service Manager UI. In addition, it also discovers Docker clusters managed by Docker UCP.
Defining Dynatrace Observer jobs
The Dynatrace Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the Dynatrace Observer, you can define jobs that dynamically load Dynatrace data for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining Event Observer jobs
You use the Event Observer to get events from Netcool/OMNIbus, via the XML Gateway, into the Netcool Agile Service Manager topology service. Netcool/OMNIbus events can also be generated from Agile Service Manager status via the Netcool/OMNIbus Message Bus probe. The Event Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure.
Defining File Observer jobs
Using the File Observer functionality, you can write bespoke data to a file in a specific format, upload this data to the topology service, and then visualize this data as a topology view in the Agile Service Manager UI. The File Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure.
Defining IBM Cloud Observer jobs
The IBM Cloud Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Use the IBM Cloud Observer when you have IBM Cloud installed in your environment to define jobs that perform REST calls to the IBM Cloud REST API. These jobs retrieve Cloud Foundry Apps information and services, and then dynamically load the retrieved data for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining Kubernetes Observer jobs
The Kubernetes Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using this observer, you can define jobs that discover the services you run on Kubernetes, and display Kubernetes containers and the relationships between them.
Defining Network Manager Observer jobs
The ITNM Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the ITNM Observer, you can define jobs that dynamically load data discovered by IBM Tivoli Network Manager for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining New Relic Observer jobs
The New Relic Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Use New Relic Observer when you have a New Relic account with a New Relic Infrastructure subscription. Using New Relic Observer, you can define jobs that dynamically load New Relic Infrastructure resource data via New Relic for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining OpenStack Observer jobs
The OpenStack Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the OpenStack Observer, you can define jobs that dynamically load OpenStack data for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining REST Observer jobs
The REST (or RESTful) Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Use the REST Observer for obtaining topology data via REST endpoints. This observer is a counterpart to the File Observer.
Defining ServiceNow Observer jobs
The ServiceNow Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the ServiceNow Observer, you can retrieve the configuration management database (CMDB) data from ServiceNow via REST API. Currently, the observer only supports load job. The load job queries the configuration items (CI) from CMDB via ServiceNow REST API using basic authentication credentials.
Defining TADDM Observer jobs
The TADDM Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Using the TADDM Observer, you can retrieve network topology data from the TADDM database and use this data to create topologies within the topology service.
Defining VMware NSX Observer jobs
The VMware NSX Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Use the VMware NSX Observer when you have VMware NSX installed in your environment to define jobs that dynamically load VMware NSX data for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining VMware vCenter Observer jobs
The VMware vCenter Observer is installed as part of the core installation procedure. Use the VMware vCenter Observer when you have VMware vCenter installed in your environment to define jobs that dynamically load VMware vCenter data for analysis by Netcool Agile Service Manager.
Defining Zabbix Observer jobs
Using the Zabbix Observer functionality, you can load monitored servers and their associated network resources, and then visualize this data as a topology view in the Agile Service Manager UI. It is installed as part of the core installation procedure.

Parent topic: Running Observer jobs