Hitachi

JP1 Version 12 JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager Overview and System Design Guide


4.2.7 Common exclusion-conditions

Common exclusion-conditions form part of an event acquisition filter and consist of a group of conditions for filtering out JP1 events or excluding JP1 events from automated-action execution. You can apply or disable each group. In maintenance mode, for example, you can set a common exclusion-condition group to temporarily prevent JP1 events from being collected or exclude them from automated-action execution when the events are issued by the host you are working on, without having to change the pass conditions or exclusion-conditions in the event acquisition filter. If you have defined multiple event acquisition filters, and switch among them as required, the common exclusion-conditions you set apply to whichever filter is in force.

Of the conditions defined in an event acquisition filter, common exclusion-conditions take precedence over exclusion-conditions, which take precedence over pass conditions. The following figure shows the relationships among the common exclusion-conditions, exclusion-conditions, and pass conditions in event acquisition filters.

Figure 4‒13: Relationships among the filter conditions in event acquisition filters

[Figure]

There are two types of operation modes for common exclusion-conditions: basic mode and extended mode. You can execute the jcochcefmode command to switch between basic mode and extended mode. In extended mode, you can filter events by Registered time, Arrived time, Start time, End time, Event source host name, and other items. You can also filter the event conditions by specifying the date and time, or execute the jcochfilter command to switch whether to enable or disable each group of conditions. However, for regular expressions, you can use only the extended regular expressions. After you switch to extended mode, you can return to basic mode. For details about basic mode and extended mode, see 4.2.7(1) Difference between basic mode and extended mode of common exclusion-conditions. This manual describes information common to basic mode and extended mode if not otherwise specified.

For details about how to define common exclusion-conditions and how to switch the operation modes, see 5.2.4(3) Setting common exclusion-conditions in the JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager Configuration Guide.

You can specify an appropriate target on a common exclusion-condition, depending on whether to prevent JP1 events from being collected or exclude JP1 events from automated-action execution. For details, see 4.2.7(2) Exclusion target of a common exclusion-condition.

You can also use additional common exclusion-conditions. You can define additional common exclusion-conditions by using monitored JP1 events while the system is operating. You can use additional common exclusion-conditions only when common exclusion-conditions are in extended mode. For details about additional common exclusion-conditions, see 4.2.7(3) Additional common exclusion-conditions.

The following shows the difference between common exclusion-conditions and additional common exclusion-conditions:

For smoother operations, you can use common exclusion-conditions and additional common exclusion-conditions as follows as the situation demands:

Organization of this subsection

(1) Difference between basic mode and extended mode of common exclusion-conditions

The following table compares what you can do when common exclusion-conditions are switched into extended mode with what you can do when common exclusion-conditions are in basic mode. Common exclusion-conditions operate in basic mode by default and after JP1/IM - Manager is installed.

Table 4‒4: Comparison between what you can do with basic mode and extended mode of common exclusion-conditions

What you can do with common exclusion-conditions

Basic mode

Extended mode

Filter events by Registered time and Arrived time

N

Y

Filter events by Start time and End time

N

Y

Filter events by Event source host name

N

Y

Filter events by Extended attribute

Y

Y

Compare events by using JP1-specific regular expressions or basic regular expressions

Y

N

Compare events by using extended regular expressions

Y

Y

Define a group of conditions for each agent host

N

Y

Set whether to activate or deactivate common exclusion-conditions for each group of common exclusion-conditions

Y

Y

Add a group of common exclusion-conditions you want to activate or deactivate

N

Y

Specify a period of time for which a group of conditions is applied

N

Y

Write comments

N

Y

Set additional common exclusion-conditions based on the JP1 events occurring while the system is operating

N

Y

Exclude a JP1 event that satisfies a condition

Y

Y

In the JP1 events that was collected, exclude a JP1 event that satisfies a condition from automated-action execution

N

Y

Legend:

Y: Available

N: Not available

The following table describes the difference between basic mode and extended mode of common exclusion-conditions.

Table 4‒5: Difference between basic mode and extended mode of common exclusion-conditions

Item

Basic mode

Extended mode

Attributes of event conditions

Basic attributes:

  • Event ID (B.ID)

  • Source host (B.SOURCESERVER)

  • Message (B.MESSAGE)

Basic attributes:

  • Event ID (B.ID)

  • Registered reason (B.REASON)

  • Source process ID (B.PROCESSID)

  • Registered time (B.TIME)

  • Arrived time (B.ARRIVEDTIME)

  • Source user ID(B.USERID)

  • Source group (B.GROUPID)

  • Source user name (B.USERNAME)

  • Source group name (B.GROUPNAME)

  • Source host (B.SOURCESERVER)

  • Source IP address (B.SOURCEIPADDR)

  • Message (B.MESSAGE)

Common extended attributes:

  • Event level (E.SEVERITY)

  • User name (E.USER_NAME)

  • Product name (E.PRODUCT_NAME)

  • Object type (E.OBJECT_TYPE)

  • Object name (E.OBJECT_NAME)

  • Root object type (E.ROOT_OBJECT_TYPE)

  • Root object name (E.ROOT_OBJECT_NAME)

  • Occurrence (E.OCCURRENCE)

Common extended attributes:

  • Event level (E.SEVERITY)

  • User name (E.USER_NAME)

  • Product name (E.PRODUCT_NAME)

  • Object type (E.OBJECT_TYPE)

  • Object name (E.OBJECT_NAME)

  • Root object type (E.ROOT_OBJECT_TYPE)

  • Root object name (E.ROOT_OBJECT_NAME)

  • Object ID (E.OBJECT_ID)

  • Occurrence (E.OCCURRENCE)

  • Start time (E.START_TIME)

  • End time (E.END_TIME)

  • Result code (E.RESULT_CODE)

  • Event source host name (E.JP1_SOURCEHOST)

Extended attribute

Can be defined.

Extended attribute

Can be defined.

Comparison types of event conditions#

  • Match

  • Does not match

  • First characters

  • Is contained

  • Is not contained

  • Regular expression

  • Match

  • Does not match

  • First characters

  • Is contained

  • Is not contained

  • Regular expression

  • Time

Regular expressions

  • JP1-specific regular expressions

  • Basic regular expressions

  • Extended regular expressions

Extended regular expressions

Maximum number of common exclusion-conditions groups that can be defined

30 groups (filter length: 64 kilobytes or shorter)

2,500 groups (Filter length: 15 megabytes or shorter)

Contents of definition

  • Common exclusion-conditions group ID

  • Common exclusion-conditions group name

  • Event conditions

  • Common exclusion-conditions group ID

  • Common exclusion-conditions group name

  • Event conditions

  • Comment

  • Conditions Apply Period

  • Target for exclusion

Method of activating or deactivating common exclusion-conditions

  • System Environment Settings window

  • -e option in the jcochfilter command

  • System Environment Settings window

  • -e, -on, and -off options in the jcochfilter command

Applicable period

--

On the Conditions Apply Period page in the Common Exclusion-Condition Settings (Extended) window, you can set the applicable period.

Setting method

Common Exclusion-Conditions Settings window

  • Common Exclusion-Condition-Settings (Extended) window

  • Common exclusion-conditions extended definition file and the -ef option in the jcochfilter command

Legend:

--: Not applicable.

#: Comparison types of event conditions differ depending on the selected attribute. For details, see the following:

  • For basic mode:

    3.15 Common Exclusion-Conditions Settings window in the manual JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager GUI Reference.

  • For extended mode:

    3.16 Common Exclusion-Condition Settings (Extended) window in the manual JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager GUI Reference.

(2) Exclusion target of a common exclusion-condition

You can select an exclusion target of a common exclusion-condition from the following two options:

The following figure shows an overview of common exclusion-conditions.

Figure 4‒14: Overview of common exclusion-conditions

[Figure]

JP1 events issued from HostA undergoing maintenance are excluded from monitoring by a common exclusion-condition that prevents the events from being collected. JP1 events issued from Application 2 undergoing maintenance are excluded from automated-action execution by a common exclusion-condition that prevents the events from being included in automated-action execution.

The following figure shows service components for common exclusion-conditions.

Figure 4‒15: Service components for common exclusion-conditions

[Figure]

An event that satisfies a common exclusion-condition that prevents JP1 events from being included in automated-action execution is called an action-excluded event.

The event conditions of common exclusion-condition that prevents JP1 events from being included in automated-action execution are defined independently from the execution conditions of automated action definitions. That is, you can use a single common exclusion-condition to collectively exclude multiple JP1 events from automated-action execution even when the events match different automated action definitions.

Common exclusion-condition that prevents JP1 events from being included in automated-action execution take precedence over whether automated action definitions are enabled or disabled.

Setting a common exclusion-condition that prevents JP1 events from being included in automated-action execution does not affect existing action definitions. When a common exclusion-condition is set and, as a result, no action in an action definition will not be executed, the status (enabled or disabled) of the action definition remains the same. That is, an action with AND-joined conditions and the status of the automated action function are as follows:

When the integrated monitoring database is used, the event attributes (program-specific extended attributes) listed below are added to an action-excluded event. The attributes can be used as program-specific extended attributes in functions except for the event-source-host mapping function.

(3) Additional common exclusion-conditions

The additional common exclusion-conditions are used by defining the monitored JP1 events during system operations. Selecting a JP1 event in the Event Console window or Related Events window sets an additional common exclusion-condition.

To use the additional common exclusion-conditions, you must have the JP1_Console_Admin permission. Also, you must switch the common exclusion-conditions into extended mode. You can define the additional common exclusion-conditions for the following JP1 events:

You can set the additional common exclusion-conditions in the Common Exclusion-Condition Settings (Extended) window, which can be displayed as follows:

The attribute name and value of the selected JP1 event are displayed and are automatically input as event conditions. The common exclusion-conditions group name and comments are also input and automatically displayed. For details about this window, see 3.16 Common Exclusion-Condition Settings (Extended) window in the manual JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager GUI Reference. For details about the event attribute names that can be specified for event conditions, see Common-exclusion-conditions display item definition file (common_exclude_filter_attr_list.conf) in Chapter 2. Definition Files in the manual JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager Command, Definition File and API Reference.

The defined additional common exclusion-conditions can be edited, deleted, or changed into common exclusion-conditions in the Event Acquisition Conditions List window.

For details about this window, see 3.14 Event Acquisition Conditions List window in the manual JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager GUI Reference.

For details about how to set additional common exclusion-conditions, see 6.5.4 Setting an additional common exclusion-condition to exclude a JP1 event from the monitoring target or action execution in the JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager Administration Guide.

(4) Applicable period of a common exclusion-condition

By changing the mode of common exclusion-conditions of the event acquisition filter to extended mode, you can specify an applicable period of a condition for preventing JP1 events from being collected or excluding them from automated-action execution. During the applicable period, the common exclusion-condition in extended mode can prevent JP1 events from being collected or exclude them from automated-action execution only when the events occur during the applicable period.

For example, when the maintenance time for a monitored host is fixed to a certain time, you can specify the applicable period to prevent JP1 events that would occur on the host during the maintenance conducted at certain date and time or at a certain day of the week from being collected or exclude such events from automated-action execution, or to disable conditions groups by restricting the period.

The following example applies common exclusion-conditions in extended mode from 9:00 on Sunday to 9:00 on the next Monday during July 8 in 2011 to September 10 in 2011, according to the maintenance schedule for the monitored host. Note that the applicable period includes the start time, but not the end time. In this example, the applicable period is every week from 09:00:00 on Sunday to 08:59:59 on the following Monday.

Figure 4‒16: Applicable period of a common exclusion-condition

[Figure]

The time is set according to the time zone designed for the machine on which JP1/IM - Manager is running.

Thus, specifying the applicable period might enable JP1 event filtering without the need of changing conditions groups, or activating or deactivating the common exclusion-conditions. JP1 events that occurred during the applicable period is determined by comparing the Arrived time (B.ARRIVEDTIME) of the JP1 event. Note that you can specify the applicable period for each conditions group. To use the applicable period, common exclusion-conditions groups must be enabled.

You can specify the applicable period on the Conditions Apply Period page in the Common Exclusion-Condition Settings (Extended) window. For details about the Common Exclusion-Condition Settings (Extended) window, see 3.16 Common Exclusion-Condition Settings (Extended) window in the manual JP1/Integrated Management 2 - Manager GUI Reference.

(5) Information included in a common exclusion history file

JP1/IM - Manager logs the history of the following processes into a common exclusion history file:

A common exclusion history file is named as follows:

comexcluden#.log

# n is an integer from 1 to 5.

Common exclusion history files are stored in the following locations:

In Windows:
Physical hosts:

console-path\operation\comexclude

Logical hosts:

shared-folder\operation\comexclude

In UNIX:
Physical hosts:

/var/opt/jp1cons/operation/comexclude

Logical hosts:

shared-directory/operation/comexclude

A common exclusion history file is created if it does not exist in the location at any of the times listed below. This is based on the assumption that the operation mode of common exclusion-conditions is set to extended mode.

A log entry in a common exclusion history file is generated in the following format:

serial-number process-time process-description

The serial-number is a serial number in the common exclusion history. The serial number can be from 00000001 to 99999999. When the number reaches 99999999, it is reset to 00000001. The serial number is also reset to 00000001 when JP1/IM - Manager restarts. The process-time is written in the following format: YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss.SSS (where YYYY is the year, MM month, DD day, hh hour, mm minute, and ss.SSS second).

The following table describes what information is included in the process-description.

Table 4‒6: Processes to be logged in the common exclusion history file

No.

Common exclusion process to be logged

Information included in the process description

1

Exclusion is made according to common exclusion-conditions.

The ID and name of the common exclusion-conditions group that caused the exclusion, and the information of the excluded event are logged.

  • When an event is excluded from the target to be collected:

    Exclude the event from acquiring. (event[SEQNO= event-database-serial-number-of-the-excluded-JP1-event ID= event-ID SOURCESERVER= event-source-server-name ARRIVEDTIME= arrival-time SEVERITY= severity] common exclusion-conditions[ID= common-exclusion-conditions-group-ID NAME= common-exclusion-conditions-group-name]) (line break)

  • When a collected event is excluded from action execution:

    Exclude the acquired event from action-executing. (event[SEQNO= event-database-serial-number-of-the-excluded-JP1-event ID= event-ID SOURCESERVER= event-source-server-name ARRIVEDTIME= arrival-time SEVERITY= severity] common exclusion-conditions[ID= common-exclusion-conditions-group-ID NAME= common-exclusion-conditions-group-name]) (line break)

The placeholders indicate the following:

event-database-serial-number-of-the-excluded-JP1-event

Indicates the event database serial numbers.

Format: 0 to 2,147,483,647

event-ID

Indicates the event ID (B.ID or B.IDBASE).

Format: basic-information[:extended-information]

event-source-server-name

Indicates the source server of the event (B.SOURCESERVER)

arrival-time

Indicates the arrival time (B.ARRIVEDTIME).

Format: yyyy/MM/dd_hh:mm:ss

severity

Indicates the severity (E.SEVERITY).

common-exclusion-conditions-group-ID

Indicates the ID of the common exclusion conditions group that caused the exclusion.

For common exclusion-condition: 0 to 2499

For additional common exclusion-condition: A0 to A2499

common-exclusion-conditions-group-name

Indicates the condition name of the common exclusion conditions group that caused the exclusion.

2

A common exclusion-conditions definition is updated.#

A message is logged indicating that a common exclusion-conditions definition is updated.

The common exclusion-conditions extended definition was updated. (line break)

The additional common exclusion-conditions definition was updated. (line break)

#: An update is triggered by the following actions:

  • Start JP1/IM - Manager.

  • Update by using the Exclude by Common Exclusion-Conditions menu in the System Environment Settings window in JP1/IM - View.

  • Update by using the jcochfilter -ef command.

  • Enable a common exclusion-condition (with the -e or -on option of the jcochfilter command)

  • Disable a common exclusion-condition (with the -e or -off option of the jcochfilter command)

The details of an update are logged in the common exclusion-conditions definition history file.

The following is an example of a common exclusion history file:

00000001 2017/04/01 12:30:25.131 The common exclusion-conditions extended definition was updated.
00000002 2017/04/01 12:30:25.229 The additional common exclusion-conditions definition was updated.
00000003 2017/04/01 12:35:04.100 Exclude the event from acquiring. (event[SEQNO=10001 ID=4704 SOURCESERVER=hostA ARRIVEDTIME=2017/04/01_12:35:05 SEVERITY=Emergency] common exclusion-conditions[ID=1 NAME= hostA maintenance])
00000004 2017/04/01 12:35:35.342 Exclude the acquired event from action-executing. (event[SEQNO=10005 ID=4201 SOURCESERVER=hostB ARRIVEDTIME=2017/04/01_12:35:36 SEVERITY=Alert] common exclusion-conditions[ID=A2 NAME= hostB maintenance])

(6) Information included in a common exclusion-conditions definition history file

JP1/IM - Manager logs the definition history of common exclusion-conditions into a common exclusion-conditions definition history file. This file helps you check the detailed definition of a certain common exclusion-conditions group, for example, whose ID or name is found in a common exclusion history file containing the history of exclusion processes.

A common exclusion-conditions definition history file is named as follows:

comexcludeDefn#.log

#: n is an integer 1 or 5.

Common exclusion-conditions definition history files are stored in the following locations:

In Windows:
Physical hosts:

console-path\operation\comexclude

Logical hosts:

shared-folder\operation\comexclude

In UNIX:
Physical hosts:

/var/opt/jp1cons/operation/comexclude

Logical host:

shared-directory/operation/comexclude

A common exclusion-conditions definition history file is created if it does not exist in the location at any of the times listed below. This is based on the assumption that the operation mode of common exclusion-conditions is set to extended mode.

A log entry in a common exclusion-conditions definition history file is generated in the following format:

{+ | -}serial-number process-time process-description

The serial-number is a serial number in the common exclusion-conditions definition history. The serial number can be from 00000001 to 99999999. When the number reaches 99999999, it is reset to 00000001. The serial number is also reset to 00000001 when JP1/IM - Manager restarts. The process-time is written in the following format: YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss.SSS (where YYYY is the year, MM month, DD day, hh hour, mm minute, and ss.SSS second).

Generally, a log entry of a process is written in one line and a plus sign (+) is appended to the top of the line. When a log entry of a process spans multiple lines, a plus sign (+) is appended to the top of the line indicating the start of the process and a minus sign (-) is appended to the top of each subsequent line.

The following table describes what information is included in the process description.

Table 4‒7: Processes to be logged in the common exclusion-conditions definition history file

No.

Common exclusion process to be logged

Information included in the process description

1

A common exclusion-conditions definition is updated (by using the System Environment Settings window in JP1/IM - View, or the jcochfilter -ef command).

The contents of the applied common exclusion-conditions definition (dump of the definition file) are logged.

Line 1: The common exclusion-conditions extended definition was updated. (line break)

Line 2 and later: contents-of-the-updated-system-common-exclusion-conditions-extended-definition-file

When the updated definition has an additional common exclusion-conditions extended definition, the information above is followed by the contents of the additional common exclusion-conditions extended definition file.

Line 1: The additional common exclusion-conditions definition was updated. (line break)

Line 2 and later: contents-of-the-updated-additional-common-exclusion-conditions-extended-definition-file

2

An additional common exclusion-conditions definition is added (by using Exclude by Common Exclusion-Conditions in JP1/IM - View).

The contents of the registered additional common exclusion-conditions definition are logged.

Line 1: The additional common exclusion-conditions definition was registered. (line break)

Line 2 and later: contents-of-the-registered-additional-common-exclusion-conditions-definition

3

A common exclusion-condition is enabled (by using the jcochfilter -e/-on command).

The ID of the enabled common exclusion-condition is logged.

  • When an ID is specified:

    The common exclusion condition became enabled. (common exclusion condition group IDs = common-exclusion-conditions-group-ID[,common-exclusion-conditions-group-ID])(line break)

  • When ALL is specified:

    All common exclusion conditions became enabled.

4

A common exclusion-condition is disabled (by using the jcochfilter -e/-off command).

The ID of the disabled common exclusion-condition is logged.

  • When an ID is specified:

    The common exclusion condition became disabled. (common exclusion condition group IDs = common-exclusion-conditions-group-ID[,common-exclusion-conditions-group-ID])(line break)

  • When an ID is not specified:

    All common exclusion conditions became disabled.(line break)

The following is an example of a common exclusion-conditions definition history file:

+00000001 2017/04/01 12:30:25.131 The common exclusion-conditions extended definition was updated.
-DESC_VERSION=1
-
-def hostA maintenance
-    cmt limit:2017/04/31
-    id 1
-    valid true
-    date 20170401-20170431
-    week 1,2,3,4,5,6
-    rtime 1000-1200
-    cnd
-        B.ID IN 00000001
-        E.SEVERITY IN Emergency Alert
-        B.SOURCESERVER IN hostA
-    end-cnd
-end-def
-The additional common exclusion-conditions definition was updated.
-DESC_VERSION=2
-
-def hostB maintenance
-    cmt limit:2017/04/31
-    id A2
-    valid true
-    ex-target action
-    date 20170401-20170431
-    week 1,2,3,4,5,6
-    rtime 1000-1200
-    cnd
-        B.ID IN 00000002
-        E.SEVERITY IN Emergency Alert
-        B.SOURCESERVER IN hostB
-    end-cnd
-end-def
+00000002 2017/04/01 12:40:51.849 The additional common exclusion-conditions definition was registered.
-def hostC maintenance
-    cmt limit:2017/04/31
-    id A3
-    valid true
-    ex-target action
-    date 20170401-20170431
-    week 1,2,3,4,5,6
-    rtime 1000-1200
-    cnd
-        B.ID IN 00000001
-        E.SEVERITY IN Emergency Alert
-        B.SOURCESERVER IN hostC
-    end-cnd
-end-def
00000003 2017/04/01 12:45:41.009 The common exclusion condition became enabled.

(7) Notes on common exclusion-conditions