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Function documentationAlerting Framework

 

The Alerting Framework is part of the Extractor Framework which supplies data to the E2E Monitoring and Alerting Infrastructure (MAI). Use the Alerting Framework to monitor and manage the MAI extractors.

The Extractor Framework (EFWK) is the central SAP Solution Manager data collection and distribution infrastructure, and is also used for the End-to-End Monitoring and Alerting Infrastructure (MAI). The Resource Manager job, which is called every minute, gets the data. The Resource Manager calls main extractors, which call extractors.

An extractor is a function module which the main extractor calls by RFC. It can run in the SAP Solution Manager system or the managed systems. The extractor determines which metrics are to be measured, and calls their providers. A collector specifies the data collection for one or more metrics.

MAI uses a special set of extractors and providers, the Data Provider Connector (DPC).

The SAP Solution Manager Administration work center contains two tools to monitor the EFWK function:

  • Extractor Framework to monitor extractors which do not belong to the DPC

  • Alerting Framework to monitor extractors which belong to the DPC

The DPC uses mainly the following two main extractors:

  • DPC PULL CORE (technical name E2E_DPC_PULL_CORE)

  • DPC PUSH CORE (technical name E2E_DPC_PUSH_CORE)

In E2E_DPC_PULL_CORE the extractor framework queries the values of the extractors, actively, regularly. In E2E_DPC_PUSH_CORE agents pass the data to the SAP Solution Manager system, and this main extractor is not called by the resource manager. The extractors belong to the following extractor classes:

Main extractor

Extractor class

Call frequency

Meaning

E2E_DPC_PULL_CORE

ST_PI

5 minutes

These extractors get metrics from the managed systems; depending on how up-to-date the metric must be, it is collected by exactly one of the extractors.

ST_PI_15

15 minutes

ST_PI_60

60 minutes

ST_PI_CLNT<xxx>

5 minutes

These extractors collect metrics of the corresponding client.

ST

5 minutes

These extractors collect metrics from the SAP Solution Manager system. They are SAP Solution Manager functions or measurement values. Depending on how up-to-date the metric must be, it is collected by exactly one of the extractors.

ST_15

15 minutes

ST_60

60 minutes

ST_BW

5 minutes

These extractors collect aggregate and mean values of Monitoring and Alerting Infrastructure metrics from the BW system; depending on how up-to-date the metric must be, it is collected by exactly one of the extractors.

ST_BW_15

15 minutes

ST__BW_60

60 minutes

ST_DBMS<System-ID>

5 minutes

These extractors collect database metrics.

E2E_DPC_PUSH_CORE

<Hostname>

The data is returned by a diagnostics agent

IS_<Hostname>

The data is returned by an Introscope agent

Note Note

The extractor class corresponds closely to the column in the Extractor Overview with the heading Extended Context. For extractors of the class ST_DBMS<System-ID> only the <System-ID> is displayed in the extended context.

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Features

The Alerting Framework provides the following functions, in four tabs:

Extractor Management

The Status tab displays the DPC extractors, with their current status and configuration settings. The Active Status and Last Status are distinguished.

The Active Status is the (run-independent) status of the extractor; the Last Status is the status of the latest run of the extractor. The Active Status of an extractor can, for example, be Active, even if the latest run (Last Status) failed.

The possible Active Status values are:

  • Locked:

    An extractor is automatically deactivated if it repeatedly times out or does not work correctly. The extractor is locked either temporarily or permanently, depending on its behavior. In the latter case, it must be reactivated manually before being used again.

    Note Note

    As the DPC has its own locking mechanism at a fine level of granularity (see the Locked Providers) section below, wird extractors will only rarely have to be locked in the Alerting Framework.

    .

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  • Inconsistent:

    The configuration of the extractor does not match the configuration data in SAP Solution Manager. This can happen, for example, when you upgrade the managed system.

  • Inactive:

    The extractor has been deactivated manually, in the extractor management.

  • Active:

    The extractor is active, and runs regularly. This is the normal case.

The possible Last Status values are:

  • Error

  • Warning

  • Sucessful

  • Unknown

Note Note

You can filter the Extractor Overview by status, by selecting a status in the Extractor Summary.

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Using this status, you can determine which extractors are not working correctly, and select them in the Extractor Overview. The errors which occurred during the last extraction by the selected extractor, are output in the Extractor Log. If you select one extraction in this list, its detailed log is output in the Extractor Phases table.

For further information about possible errors, see Identify Extractor Errors.

Note Note

The above link to identify possible causes of error was for the Extractor Framework, but the procedure is the same for the Alerting Framework.

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Configuring http load distribution for DPC push

On the Configuration tab page, you can set the value of two configuration parameters that monitor the HTTP resources and, if necessary, restrict the number of work processes available for this. In this way, you ensure that the processing of HTTP requests works correctly, without causing bottlenecks when processing other requests. This is especially important with regard to receiving data from diagnostics agents. For more information, see Activating and Deactivating a Restriction of Parallel HTTP Requests.

Display application log messages

In the Exceptions tab, you can access a graphical interface to the application log (transaction SLG1). To show error messages, select the problem.

Note Note

In transaction SLG1, you can also display the error long text.

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Managing locked providers

Several different providers are usually called in DPC for data collection by an extractor. The extractor is usually responsible for a managed object, such as a technical system, and a provider gets the values of one or more related metrics. As problems with run-time or error messages usually occur at provider level, DPC has a lock function for individual providers. A provider can be locked, temporarily or permanently, depending on the seriousness of the problems which occur.

These providers are displayed in the Locked Providers tab with the status Temporarily Locked (yellow) or Permanently Locked (red). The associated extractor, and, if available, the managed object and the metric, are displayed. You can use this information to determine the cause of the error, for example using the Data Provider Check for PULL_RFC Metrics.

If you have resolved the error, or are sure that it was only temporary, you can reactivate the locked providerr, by selecting its row, and choosing Release.