Central Monitoring Using the ALE CCMS Monitor 

Use

The CCMS Alert Monitor enables you to monitor several R/3 Systems in an ALE integrated system.

The alert monitor gives you an overview of the following SAP System performance attributes which are important for ALE:

·        IDoc change pointers

·        Processing of outbound IDocs

·        tRFC queue

·        Processing of inbound IDocs

You can monitor any number of SAP systems from one system. The number of systems that can be monitored is, however, restricted by technical factors, such as the speed of the network and the level of traffic in the network. From our experience such restrictions only present a problem in very large integrated systems.

Integration

The ALE monitor sets up a connection to the CCMS monitoring. Data suppliers provide the CCMS identification numbers. These data suppliers are integrated in the CCMS (by Customizing).

ALE monitoring objects are defined in the ALE Customizing.

Prerequisites

You have defined ALE monitoring objects in the IMG (transaction SALE ® Set-Up System Monitoring ® Central Monitoring of all Systems ® ALE Monitor Objects (BDMO)).

For analysis purposes, ALE monitoring objects form a group of associated selection options based on IDoc attributes.

Individual objects are assigned values based on the current system status and the assignment of selection options from IDoc attributes.

When the status of the current system is determined, one of the following cases applies:

·        The monitoring object is located in the same client A function module is called locally In this case no further Customizing settings are required

·        The monitoring object is located in the same physical system but in a different logical system (client):
In this case you have to assign an RFC destination with a dialog user to the message type SYNCH in the current client for the client to be monitored.

·        The monitoring object is located in a different physical system.
The RFC destination defined in the configuration for the alert monitor is called internally through CCMS. (CCMS, Configuration ® Alert Monitor, Technical Infrastructure ® Create Entry for Remote Monitoring).

If the client started there is the same as the client to be monitored, a function module of the appropriate detail monitor is called locally. 

-          If a different client in this physical system is involved, an outbound partner profile for the other client with the appropriate RFC destination and dialog user for the message type SYNCH must be available in the current client.

Activities

Check the current status and the open alerts of your SAP system:

In ALE Administration choose: Monitoring ® IDoc Display ® Monitor in CCMS (BDMONIC3). 

You can identify the current status by the performance values and status messages recently forwarded to the alert monitor. Older alerts that are still open (not yet processed) are not included in the color coding.

Follow these steps:

...

       1.      Check the color coding in the monitoring tree.

The color of nodes or MTEs (monitoring tree elements) mean:

Green: The component is running normally. All is OK.

Yellow: A warning message has been issued - a “yellow alert”.

Red: A problem or critical status message has been issued - a “red alert”.

Gray: No data available for this node. (Check in the CCMS in the Self-monitoring monitor why the Collection tool is not available for this node).

Note: To display the legend of colors and symbols used in the alert monitor, choose Extras ® Legend.

The alert monitor passes the highest alert level in the monitoring tree to the highest node. For example, if the node with the name of your SAP System is green, this means that all the components in the monitoring tree of this system have a “green” status. All is OK.

To start the analysis method, select a node. The analysis method displays details of the current status of the node.

You can select the display option, automatic refresh. Choose Extras ® Display options. Select the General register. In the group box, Refresh display, select the option Yes and enter an updating interval. Recommended value: 300 seconds or longer

If the automatic refresh is switched off, the alert monitor displays the data available when it was started.

       2.      Check what has been going on in your system.

In the standard toolbar select Open alerts.

Instead of the current system status, the color marking shows where there are open alerts in the system. Open alerts are alerts that have not yet been analyzed and set to Completed.

When you start your work in the morning or return to your workplace after the lunch break, you can check in the Open Alerts view, whether any problems occurred in the system during your absence. The monitor records all alerts, even if the status of the alert has been corrected in the meantime.

       3.      Respond to an alert.

In the monitoring tree, yellow entries mean warnings and red entries mean errors:

To deal with them:

a)       Select Open alerts to switch to the alert display, provided it is still active.

The monitor now displays the number of alerts for each monitoring tree element (MTE). The most important alert messages that still need to be resolved are also displayed.

b)       Select a yellow or red monitoring tree element and select Display alerts.

The system opens the alert browser and displays the open alerts. The browser contains all the alerts in the tree node you selected. Move the cursor further up the monitoring tree to display a wider range of alerts. Select an MTE on the lowest level of the display to display only those alerts that affect this MTE.

c)  Analyze an alert.

Each line in the alert browser displays an alert message (far right) as well as details of the alert.

The browser provides two further sources of information. Select an alert checkbox and the functions (using icons) below:

·         Start analysis method
This starts the problem analysis transaction or similar tool associated with the alert.

·         Display details
The system shows details of the monitoring tree element. This includes the latest values or status messages, alert threshold values and performance data for the last entry time (only for performance monitoring tree elements). You can display the data graphically by selecting the relevant line and selecting Display performance values graphically.

4)      When you have dealt with the alert, you can change its processing status.

Once you have analyzed the problem and either corrected it or are sure that it is safe to ignore it, select the alert and select Alerts completed.
The alert monitor deletes the alert from the list of open alerts.

Further Functions

The topics below describe how you can configure the alert monitor to your requirements and how you can use more of its functions:

·        Monitoring: Monitoring: How-To Instructions:
Instructions for tasks you may have to carry out in the alert monitor.

·        Creating Your Own Monitors:
Instead of working with a predefined monitor, you can create your own special monitors. You can include only those monitoring tree elements that you really have to display.

·        Customizing the Alert Monitor:
All monitoring tree elements have approved standard threshold values for deleting alerts and standard assignments for analysis methods.
You can change the threshold values and the assigned analyze methods, if required.