PATROL® Central -Web Edition

The PATROL Web Console

Contents

Overview..........................................................................................................................1Traditional Consoles and Customer Requirements ....................................................1The Solution ................................................................................................................2

PATROL Central Architectural Overview .....................................................................3PATROL Central .........................................................................................................3PATROL Console Server ............................................................................................3The Common Object System (COS)...........................................................................4Management Profiles ..................................................................................................5The PATROL Security Model......................................................................................5PATROL Central - Web Edition Architecture ..............................................................6

PATROL Central - Web Edition Console Modules.......................................................7PATROL Central Operator – Web Edition Console Module........................................7PATROL Central Administration – Web Edition Console Module .............................12PATROL Central Alerts – Web Edition Console Module...........................................12

Conclusion....................................................................................................................13Helping you maintain advantage...............................................................................14

Page 1

Overview

This section provides an overview of the development history of PATROL Central – Web

Edition, including customer requirements and basic features of the solution.

Traditional Consoles and Customer Requirements

Traditionally, BMC has offered PATROL users a choice of two consoles:

• PATROL Classic Console for Unix, a Motif-based console

• PATROL Classic Console for Microsoft Windows, an MFC-based (Microsoft Founda-

tion Classes) console

Each console provides a different look and feel, which is attributed to the platform imple-

mentation, but they share common underlying concepts.

Over the past several years, our customer base has communicated resounding console plat-

form requirements for

• A native Microsoft Windows console for pure Microsoft Windows environments

• A native Web console for heterogeneous environment

• A foundation for other client modules to leverage standard console infrastructures

To satisfy the native Microsoft Windows requirement, BMC Software now offers PATROL

Central – Microsoft Windows Edition, a native Windows console infrastructure.

The requirement for a platform-independent console could be met in a variety of ways.

However, with the emergence and popularity of Web interfaces, our customers requested a

Web-based solution. Previously, BMC Software pioneered Web solutions by providing

PATROLWATCHTM and the PATROL Web Viewer, but neither of these was a fully func-

tional console.

Our customer base is evolving. More of our customers provide services to customers of

their own and internally to their own corporations. This evolution spawned a whole new

set of requirements; customers now want to

• Manage remotely by operating PATROL from a location outside the company

• Show the user a subset of management information that applies only to that user

• Segregate user environments from one another

• Use components with a common look-and-feel to reduce the need for customer training

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The Solution

The requirement for a Web-based, platform-independent console motivated BMC Soft-

ware to create the PATROL Central - Web Edition console — a true PATROL console with

features that include

• The ability to create consoles and console components

• PATROL Operator console functionality

• Basic event management

• Customizable Web pages that incorporate real-time data

• PATROL security administration

• User profile administration

• A common look-and-feel across components to enhance ease of use and shorten the

end-user learning curve

BMC Software provides console modules — software components that add features and

functionality to the PATROL Central - Web Edition. These console modules can be

shipped and installed as part of the PATROL Central - Web Edition installation or can be

purchased separately and installed later.

The PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module provides most of the tradi-

tional PATROL Operator Console features. It contains a Web interface and basic tools for

building and integrating console modules into a cohesive interface that maintains a com-

mon look-and-feel. Through this interface, you can

• Chart Knowledge ModuleTM parameters

• Issue Knowledge Module menu commands

• Issue managed system commands

• Perform managed system queries

The PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module also has the ability to create

a custom view. With this feature, you can design your own Web pages that contain real-

time parameter charts and HTML content.

The PATROL Central Alerts - Web Edition console module provides

• Basic event management capability based on the event filtering techniques of PATROL

Operations Manager (PATROL OM)

• Full enterprise management based on the technology of PATROL Enterprise Manager

(PATROL EM)

• Integration with the PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module

The functionality for the initial offering of PATROL Central - Web Edition includes

PATROL Central Alerts console modules which are installed separately.

Page 3

PATROL Central Architectural Overview

Both PATROL Central Operator– Microsoft Windows Edition and PATROL Central Oper-

ator - Web Edition are standard components of the new PATROL architecture. Both con-

soles implement similar functionality and leverage PATROL common services, which pro-

vide for shared communications and centralized administration. The following diagram

depicts the major PATROL components and their interaction.

PATROL Central

PATROL Central – Microsoft Windows Edition and PATROL Central -Web Edition are the

BMC Software native Windows and Web consoles. The new console infrastructure pro-

vides centralized console management and user profile administration. New console mod-

ules hosted by PATROL Central communicate directly with the PATROL Console Server

or with other distributed PATROL servers. For example, the PATROL Central Alerts –

Web Edition console module communicates with the PATROL Enterprise Management

Server.

PATROL Console Server

PATROL Central – Microsoft Windows Edition and PATROL Central - Web Edition both

communicate with the managed systems (agents) through the PATROL Console Server.

Acting as a middle tier component, the PATROL Console Server

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• Passes all user requests to the appropriate managed systems

• Delivers all events and data from the managed systems to the consoles

• Presents a unified view of the PATROL environment to all consoles; this is achieved

through the concept of a management profile

• Maintains user customizations stored in the management profile

• Functions as a central security and authentication server for all consoles

The Common Object System (COS)

BMC Software’s proprietary communication technology, COS, is an object-oriented com-

munication protocol. It provides the basic communication model for the new PATROL

architecture. All objects in the PATROL hierarchy are presented as COS objects in a tree-

like structure, which is commonly referred to as a namespace. Typically, levels in a

PATROL namespace hierarchy include the

• Managed system name (usually a computer on which an agent is installed)

• Knowledge Module name

• Application class name

• Application instance name

• Parameter name

Each object is identified according to its place in the hierarchy. Clients can set the value of

an object or subscribe to events being published by the object.

The following diagram depicts a sample of a partial namespace.

In this example, the name of the managed system is host1.bmc.com, and the system has

two Knowledge Modules. The Unix OS KM has the Disk application class, which has

two application instances: CD0 and CD1. The CD1 disk instance has two parameters:

Capacity and Free. The full object name for the Capacity parameter is /host1.bmc.com/

UnixOSKM/disk/CD1/Capacity. Clients will use the full name to find the value of this

parameter. In this manner, every object in the PATROL namespace has a unique name.

COS provides

• A consistent communication protocol across the entire PATROL product line

• An object model that does not need to change when new components are added

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• Built-in SSL data encryption

• Built-in object-level authentication and access control

Management Profiles

Management profiles are maintained and stored by the PATROL Console Server. A man-

agement profile contains information about your current view of the PATROL environ-

ment and is similar to the traditional PATROL Console session file. Information stored in a

management profile includes

• The managed systems and Knowledge Modules that you are currently managing

• Console layout information for PATROL Central - Windows Edition

• Your Custom Views information

• Event Filters, Managed System Queries, State Change Actions

The PATROL Security Model

The PATROL Console Server acts as the security broker in the new PATROL architecture.

Both PATROL Central consoles use the PATROL Console Server for all security-related

services. PATROL security leverages existing operating system users and groups for

authentication and authorization.

Authentication

All PATROL applications use the PATROL Console Server to authenticate users.

Impersonation

An administrator can define aliases for a user to login across multiple security domains.

For example, you may be logged on to a PATROL Console Server as user Jones even if

user Jones is not known to the managed system. The managed system only has a user

account named PATROL. In this case, user Jones would impersonate PATROL when

accessing the agent. The impersonation table contains the alias accounts and their pass-

words so that Jones is automatically logged into the managed system as PATROL. The

impersonation table is configured using PATROL Central - Administration console mod-

ule.

Privileges

PATROL defines certain privileges that can be assigned to specific users or groups. For

example, you may allow all users to view data but allow only a specific group of users to

set alarm ranges.

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Rights

An administrator can specify the users that have access to specific PATROL objects. For

example, in an Application Service Provider (ASP) environment, you may want one cus-

tomer’s managed systems to be inaccessible to another customer. Or you may want to

grant a certain group of users the right to issue menu commands for a specific Knowledge

Module but prevent all others from issuing that command.

PATROL Central - Web Edition Architecture

PATROL Central - Web Edition is composed of a core console and a set of console mod-

ules that add end-user functionality and business logic to the core. The core console pro-

vides the basic services that are used by all components. These include common page

templates, online Help interface and a database repository.

The PATROL Central - Web Edition architecture is shown in the diagram below.

The presentation layer includes the PATROL Central - Web Edition core infrastructure and

is composed of libraries, styles, templates and applets that maintain a common look-and-

feel throughout the application. The console module components are implemented on top

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of the core infrastructure. Console modules share a common look and feel, user interaction

model, and are interoperable with other PATROL components. Console modules are usu-

ally displayed as top-level. They can also operate with other console modules to display

functionality in other areas of the interface.

The business logic layer provides servlets, JAVA beans, and tag libraries that console mod-

ule developers can leverage when creating their own product. This layer accesses the con-

sole server interface, which provides all the features and benefits of COS. This interface

maintains connection-related information with the console server and presents the console

server object model to the PATROL Central - Web Edition components. It serves as an

interface to the data to manage PATROL objects (managed systems, Knowledge Modules,

parameters) rather than interfacing directly with COS.

User profile information and Web site metadata are stored in a small database repository

which is shipped with the product.

PATROL Central - Web Edition Console Modules

A Console Module is designed, developed, tested and delivered to the customer as a sepa-

rate product that adds value and functionality to the PATROL Central - Web Edition. A

Console Module is deployed within the PATROL Central - Web Edition and integrates

with the core infrastructure.

Console Modules are registered with the core console at Console Module installation time.

They use the PATROL Central - Web Edition look and feel and extend the core navigation

with their own specific navigation, which starts from the Console Module console home

page. Console Modules may also leverage authentication (log on, log off), access control

(privileges, rights), look-and-feel (stylesheets, reusable UI components), user preferences

(stored for each user in the common repository), navigation (tabs, subtabs), communica-

tion mechanisms with the clients (remote invocation servlet, status icons), and the Help

system.

PATROL Central Operator – Web Edition Console Module

The Operator Console Module provides traditional PATROL Operator console functional-

ity. The following sections illustrate some of the highlights of the PATROL Central Opera-

tor - Web Edition console module.

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Managed Systems Interface

The figure below shows an interface for viewing and manipulating the managed systems.

This interface includes functionality that allows you to

• Use the tabs near the top of the page to select the console module

• Use the left pane tree view to select a managed system, instance or parameter

• Drill down to the Knowledge Module level by clicking on a system name link in the

table

• Click in the footer to view connection information, username and system messages

• Use the Page Help button to view context-sensitive Help

• Navigate to any object via the interactive tree with functional menu commands

• Scan object status from the tree view or in the results area

• Click on links in the results pane to navigate to other areas in the application

Main Tabs

Sub Tabs

Tree View

PATROL Console Modules Username Main Help

Page Navigation

Refresh

Page Help

Results Pane

Console Server/Profile Information RT Server/Username Information

System Messages

Page 9

The figure below shows an example of the page that is displayed when you drill down into

a managed system.

The displayed page for the parameters includes functionality that allows you to

• View the Infobox for the selected object

• Execute KM menu commands for the selected object

• Change alarm ranges, collection frequencies, and other settings

• Launch the system commands page to interact directly with the managed system using

the System Output option

• Click on the parameter name to view the selected parameter

The figure below shows a sample parameter chart.

The tree view provides• Viewing object status• Viewing Infoboxes• Executing KM Menu

Commands• Creating new folders

and charts• Customizing parameter

properties, such as setting Alarm Ranges

Tree View

Link to Parameter Sort by column headings

Page 10

Managed System Query

As an alternative to opening successive levels of objects in the managed systems interface,

you can go directly to the objects of interest by using the managed system query interface.

With the query interface, you can create, save, and execute application-specific queries.

For example, you can specify that a query locate only managed systems that have Oracle

parameters in the alarm state. Or you could locate the CPU parameter across several sys-

tems when its utilization is between 90% and 100%.

You can operate on the query results in much the same way as you can from the managed

systems pages. In addition, you can copy or move the items listed in the results into a cus-

tom folder or add/create a multiple-line chart.

The following figure shows the managed system query interface.

The managed system query interface allows you to

• Select the object types for which the query will be built. You can select any or all com-

puters, KM packages, applications, instances, and parameters.

• Save the query for later use.

• Edit or delete existing user-defined queries.

• Customize the query results table.

• Move or copy items from a query result to a folder or chart.

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The figure below shows the results of a managed systems query.

Using this page, you can

• Edit, load, or create a new query.

• Customize the table by showing or hiding the columns.

• Select multiple objects using the checkboxes.

• Launch a managed system page in the context of the selected object by clicking

• on the type link

• Click on a column title to sort the list.

In addition to the columns in the figure, you can also display the

• Knowledge Module name

• Application name

• Instance name

• Parameter name

• Value

• Units

• Time of last update

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Custom Views Functionality

The Custom Views functionality is included with the Operator Console Module. Using

Custom Views, you can create Web pages that include real-time charts and custom URLs.

The following figure shows a sample custom view.

PATROL Central Administration – Web Edition Console Module

A PATROL administrator can configure user and group security settings through the

Administration Console Module. This CM provides privileges, rights and impersonation

functionality through subtabs in its interface. They provide the following functionality:

• Privileges — This feature manages the privileges for groups and users. It also allows

administrators to select the groups to which a user belongs.

• Rights — This feature controls user and group access to any object in the PATROL

namespace. For example, you may allow all users to view parameter data and allow only

operators and administrators to issue menu commands.

• Impersonation — This feature allows an administrator to associate aliases with user

accounts, allowing users to connect to agents in different security domains.

PATROL Central Alerts – Web Edition Console Module

The PATROL Central Alerts - Web Edition console module provides basic event manage-

ment capability. This is based on the event filtering techniques of PATROL Operations

Manager (PATROL OM). The PATROL Central Alerts - Web Edition console module also

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provides full enterprise management based on the technology of PATROL Enterprise Man-

ager (PATROL EM). In addition, this console modules provides integration with the

PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module.

The following figure shows a sample of the Business Views available in the The PATROL

Central Alerts - Web Edition console module.

Conclusion

PATROL Central - Web Edition provides an infrastructure for developing console compo-

nents. The PATROL Central Operator - Web Edition console module provides the major

PATROL operations and event management functionality in the initial release. PATROL

Central - Web Edition is based on a flexible architecture that supports easy expansion and

will support many console modules in the future.

By successfully leveraging the powerful PATROL 7.x architecture, the initial offering of

PATROL Central - Web Edition core and console modules represents a major step forward

in PATROL user interfaces. This platform-independent Web console provides the flexibil-

ity that our customers require for remote access to BMC Software solutions via a Web

browser.

Business Viewsprovide the abilityto drill-down fromthe highest levelview to the details of alerts.

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Helping you maintain advantage

BMC Software Professional Services helps your company maintain its competitive advan-

tage through a comprehensive suite of services that includes service level management

consulting, installation, implementation, configuration, and customization. Our profes-

sional services and education offerings are designed to ensure the ongoing availability of

critical business applications, maximize product potential, reduce project risk, deliver IT

value to your business, and improve your operations. For more information about BMC

Software Professional Services, visit http://www.bmc.com/profserv.

About BMC Software

BMC Software, Inc. [NYSE: BMC], is a leading provider of enterprise management solu-

tions. The company focuses on Assuring Business Availability® for its customers by help-

ing them proactively improve service, reduce costs and increase value to their business.

BMC Software solutions span enterprise systems, applications and databases. Founded in

1980, BMC Software has offices worldwide and is a member of the S&P 500, with fiscal

year 2002 revenues of approximately $1.3 billion. Visit http://www.bmc.com to learn more.

Page 15

For more information visit BMC Software on the Web at www.bmc.com

BMC Software, the BMC Software logos and all other BMC Software product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of BMC Soft-ware, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective companies.

Copyright 2002 BMC Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

November 1, 2002

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