CA Nimsoft Monitor. Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring. url_response v4.1 series

Transcription

1 CA Nimsoft Monitor Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring url_response v4.1 series

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5 Contents Chapter 1: Overview 7 About This Guide... 7 Related Documentation... 7 Supported Platforms... 8 Chapter 2: Configuration Details 9 url_response Node... 9 Profile-<Profile Name> Node Configure a Node Configure Dynamic Alarm Thresholds Manage Profiles Delete Profile Chapter 3: QoS Threshold Metrics 19 url_response QoS Metrics url_response Alert Metrics Default Settings Contents 5

6 Documentation Changes This table describes the version history for this document. Version Date What's New? 4.1 September 2013 Initial web-based GUI version of this probe. (Previous versions of this probe are configured using Infrastructure Manager). 6 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring

7 Chapter 1: Overview The Monitor URL Response Time probe monitors the time duration for downloading the web page. The probe can also perform the comparison checks on the page contents. The probe supports proxies and user authentication for accessing the requested web URL. The probe generates the quality of service (QoS) messages, which are used for the analysis purpose. This section contains the following topics: About This Guide (see page 7) Related Documentation (see page 7) About This Guide This guide is for the CA Nimsoft Monitor Administrator to help understand the configuration of the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. This guide contains the following information: An overview of the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. The related documentation for previous probe versions, release notes, and so on. The configuration details of the probe including information for the fields that are required to configure the probe. The common procedures that can be used in the probe configuration. Field information for the fields with their default values. Important! The field description for intuitive terms in the GUI has not been included in the document. Related Documentation For related information that may be of interest, see the following material: Related Documentation Documentation for other versions of the url_response probe The Release Notes for the url_response probe User documentation for the Admin Console Monitor Metrics Reference Information for CA Nimsoft Probes ( Chapter 1: Overview 7

8 Related Documentation This section contains the preconfiguration requirements for the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. Supported Platforms Refer to the Nimsoft Compatibility Support Matrix for the latest information about supported platforms. See also the Support Matrix for Nimsoft Probes for more specific information about the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. 8 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring

9 Chapter 2: Configuration Details The URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe is configured for monitoring URLs, detect problems while accessing the URLs, and generate the response time QoS messages. You can create monitoring profiles, which define the URL and the threshold values, for generating alarms and QoS when the threshold condition is breached. This section contains the following topics: url_response Node (see page 9) Configure a Node (see page 16) Configure Dynamic Alarm Thresholds (see page 17) Manage Profiles (see page 18) Delete Profile (see page 18) url_response Node The url_response node is used to configure the general elements of the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe, which are applicable to all monitoring profiles. Navigation: url_response Set or modify the following values that are based on your requirement: url_response > Probe Information This section provides information about the probe name, probe version, start time of the probe, and the vendor who created the probe. url_response > General Configuration This section allows you to configure the log properties of the probe. You can also configure the server monitoring properties of the probe. Log Level: Specifies the level of details that are written to the log file. Default: 0 - Fatal Logfile Size (KB): Defines the maximum size (in KB) of the log file. The probe clears the content once the log file size reaches this limit. Default: 100 Send Alarm on Each Sample: Generates an alarm for each sample. Default: Selected User Agent: Specifies a user-agent string, which identifies your browser and provides certain system details to the server. Default: NimBUS/2.0 Chapter 2: Configuration Details 9

10 url_response Node url_response > Messages The Messages section displays a list of currently configured alarm messages for the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. These messages can be used in more than one monitoring profiles of the probe. Profile-<Profile Name> Node URL Node <Profile Name> Node The Profile-profile name node is used to configure the URL of the monitoring profile. This node is displayed as a child node under the group name node. Note: This node is named as Profile-profile name throughout this document as the profile name is user-configurable. The group name node also represents the user-configurable group name. Navigation: url_response > Profile-profile name Set or modify the following values that are based on your requirement: Profile-profile name > Profile Name This section is used to view and update URL of the monitoring profile. This node represents the URL of the profile that is used to monitor the time duration for downloading the web page. Note: This node is user-configurable and depends on the URL of the profile. Hence, this node is referred as the url throughout this document. The profile name node represents a user-configurable profile name, which is used to configure the monitoring properties of the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. You can specify various conditions to generate the QoS and alarms. Each monitoring profile is displayed as a child node of the url node within the Profile-profile name node. Note: This node is named profile name throughout this document as it is user-configurable. Navigation: url_response > Profile-profile name > url > profile name Set or modify the following values that are based on your requirement: profile name > General Properties This section is used to configure the basic properties of the monitoring profile, such as the profile name and URL. 10 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring

11 url_response Node URL: Defines the URL of the web page you want to monitor. Virtual Hostname: Defines the virtual host name for specifying the system IP address. Check Interval: Defines the time interval between each request of accessing the URL. Timeout (Seconds): Defines the time interval for which the probe waits to load the complete web page. Retries Before Failure: Defines the number of attempts for accessing the URL. If URL is not accessible in these attempts, the probe declares a failure to access the URL. Ignore Connection Time: Excludes the connection time for calculating the total response time of the URL. Source Override: Defines the new source for QoS and alarms that the profile generates. If the field is left blank, the probe uses the hostname as the source. Average Over: Allows you to calculate average value for comparing it with the threshold value. Default: Not Selected Sample Value: Defines the number of samples for calculating the average. profile name > SSL Settings This section allows you to enable the SSL certificate verification and provides the certification bundle path. Use SSL: Enables or disables the SSL certificate verification. Default: Not selected Peer Verification: Enables or disables the peer verification for validating the SSL connection. Certificate Authority Bundle Path: Defines the certification bundle path for the SSL verification. You can use the Browse option for locating the path. Host Verification: Enables or disables the host verification for validating the SSL connection. profile name > User Authentication This section allows you to configure the user name and password of a particular user. These user details are used when the web server (hosting the URL) requires the respective user to log in. Chapter 2: Configuration Details 11

12 url_response Node profile name > Authentication This section allows you to select the authentication type for the user for logging on to the server. Windows NT Authentication: Allows you to enable the Windows Integrated Authentication. The proxy settings are then fetched from the registry, as saved by Internet Explorer. Note: When the probe is hosted on the Linux environment, you can select the Authentication type from the drop-down list. Proxy Properties: Allows you to define the proxy properties explicitly for the probe. profile name > SSL Certificate This section allows you to configure the SSL certificates. These details allow handling of the SSL errors and raising alarms. The alarms are related to the expiration dates of server certificates of the URL. Ignore SSL errors: Allows you to ignore the SSL errors, which occur while accessing the URL. Default: Not selected Server Certificate within: Raises an alarm if the server certificate is due to expire within the specified number of days. Selecting this option enables the Days of expiration field. Default: Not selected Days of Expiration: Defines the number of days within which the alarm is raised. Certificate Expired: Raises an alarm when the SSL certificate is already expired at the time of accessing the URL. Default: Not selected Configure SSL Certificate: Allows you to configure the SSL certificate in the system. Default: Not selected Client Certificate: Defines the path of the client certificate. You can use the Browse option for locating the path. Client Private Key: Defines the path of the client private key file. You can the Browse option for locating the path. Certificate Password: Defines the password of the certificate. 12 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring

13 url_response Node Metric Node The Metric node contains sections for configuring the QoS and alarms messages that the profile can generate. You can also change the default messages of the alarms. Navigation: url_response > Profile-profile name > url > profile name > Metric Set or modify the following values that are based on your requirement: Metric > Page Load Time This section is used to monitor the loading time of the web page for generating alarms and QoS. Max Page Load Time (Milliseconds): Defines the maximum load time in milliseconds for raising an alarm when actual load time exceeds the limit. Page Load Exceeds Time Limit Message: Specifies the alarm message to be issued when the page load time exceeds the specified maximum time limit. Default: BelowTimeLimit Minimum Page Load Time (Milliseconds): Specifies the minimum load time of the web page in milliseconds. Page Load below Minimum Time Limit Message: Specifies the alarm message to be issued when the page load time is less than the specified minimum time limit. Default: BelowTimeLimit Page load failed Message: Specifies the alarm message to be sent when the page is not loaded. Metric > Time to First Byte This section is used to monitor the loading time of the first byte of the web page for generating alarms and QoS. Time to First Byte (Milliseconds): Specifies the time limit for loading the first byte of the web page. First byte fetch Time Limit Message: Specifies an alarm message to be issued when the page fails to load the first byte within the specified time limit. Metric > Time to Last Byte This section is used to monitor the loading time of the last byte of the web page for generating alarms and QoS. Time to Last Byte (Milliseconds): Defines the time limit for loading the last byte of the web page. Last byte fetch Time limit Message: Specifies an alarm message to be issued when the page fails to load the last byte within the specified time limit. Chapter 2: Configuration Details 13

14 url_response Node Metric > TCP Connect Time This section is used to monitor the TCP connect time of the web page for generating alarms and QoS. TCP Connect Time (Milliseconds): Specifies the time that is required to establish a TCP connection. TCP Connect Time Limit MEssage: Specifies an alarm message to be issued when the TCP connection is not established within the specified time limit. Metric > SubString Found This section is used to find a string in the web page content for generating alarms and QoS. You can also configure the regular expressions for filtering the web page content. Look for Substring in Page Content: Defines a string for searching in the web page content, once it is loaded. Use regexp content matching: Defines a regular expression while matching instead of a definite substring. Dump File Content on File Content Alarm Condition: Dumps the contents of the page to a file, which the profile is monitoring. Alarm Properties: Specifies the condition when to generate the alarm. Retry page fetch on Alarm condition: Configures the retry attempts for loading the web page, when an error occurs. No. of Retries: Specifies the number of times the probe tries to load the page before issuing an alarm. Retry Timeout (Seconds): Specifies the time limit for loading the web page in a retry attempt. Page does not contain expected text message: Specifies the alarm message to be issued when the web page does not contain the specified text. Page contains text which should not be there Message: Specifies an alarm message to be issued when the web page contains the specified text. Page load failed Message: Specifies the alarm message to be issued when the web page does not load. Profile Execution Delay Message: Specifies an alarm message to be issued when there is a delay in the profile execution. Metric > Fetched Bytes Per Sec This section is used to monitor the bytes fetched by the probe for loading the web page and generate the QoS message. 14 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring

15 url_response Node Metric > DNS Resolution Time This section is used to monitor the time for resolving the DNS where the web page is hosted for generating the alarms and QoS messages. DNS Resolution Time (Milliseconds): Defines the threshold time for the DNS resolution. DNS Resolution time Limit Message: Specifies the alarm message to be issued when the DNS resolution time exceeds the threshold limit. Metric > Download Time This section is used to monitor the download time of the URL for generating the alarms and QoS messages. Download time (Milliseconds): Defines the threshold time for web content downloading. Download Time limit Message: Specifies the alarm message to be issued when the download time exceeds the threshold limit. Metric > Redirect Time This section is used to monitor the redirect time to another linked URL for generating the alarms and QoS messages. Redirect Time (Milliseconds): Defines the threshold time for the web page redirection. Redirect time limit Message: Specifies the alarm message to be issued when the web page redirection time exceeds the threshold limit. Metric > Fetch Bytes This section is used to monitor the number of bytes fetched per second by the probe for generating the alarms and QoS messages. Threshold Fetch: Allows you to configure the threshold for the number of bytes fetched per second. Default: Not selected Threshold Fetch Bytes: Defines a threshold for the number of bytes fetched per second. Fetched Bytes Below Threshold Message: Specifies an alarm message to be issued when the number of bytes fetched is less than the specified value. Metric > HTTP Error This section is used to generate alarm when an HTTP error occurs while accessing the URL. Metric > Config Error This section is used to generate alarm when a configuration error occurs while accessing the URL. Chapter 2: Configuration Details 15

16 Configure a Node Metric > Delayed This section is used to generate alarm when the response time of the URL is delayed. Metric > Certificate Expired This section is used to generate alarm when the SSL certificate of the URL is expired. Metric > Certificate due to Expire This section is used to generate alarm when the SSL certificate of the URL is about to expire within the specified days. Metric > Alarm Overrides This section is used to override the default alarm messages that are configured in the previous sections. For example, the Certificate Expired message, Configuration Error message and HTTP Error message. Configure a Node This procedure provides the information to configure a particular section within a node. Each section within the node allows you to configure the properties of the probe for monitoring the time duration for loading a web page. Follow these steps: 1. Select the appropriate navigation path. 2. Update the field information and click Save. The specified section of the probe is configured. The probe is now ready to monitor the time that is required by the URL to load a web page. 16 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring

17 Configure Dynamic Alarm Thresholds Configure Dynamic Alarm Thresholds Dynamic thresholds are configured at the QoS metric level in each probe that publishes an alarm for a QoS metric. Important! In order to create dynamic alarm thresholds, you must have the baseline_engine probe version 2.0 installed on the robot and configured. Follow these steps for each QoS metric where you want to configure dynamic thresholds: 1. Select a node in the tree to view any associated monitors and QoS metrics. 2. Select the monitor you want to modify in the table. 3. Select the Publish Data and Compute Baseline options to enable the Dynamic Alarm Thresholds section of the configuration. 4. Choose a threshold algorithm. There are three algorithms allowed for dynamic alarm thresholds: Note: You must indicate the direction for each algorithm, either increasing or decreasing. Scalar: Each threshold is a specific value from the computed baseline. Percent: Each threshold is a specific percentage of the computed baseline. Standard Deviation: Each threshold is a measure of the variation from the computed baseline. A large standard deviation indicates that the data points are far from the computed baseline and a small standard deviation indicates that they are clustered closely around the computed baseline. Important! To change the subsystem ID, you must have the baseline_engine probe version 2.1 installed on the robot and configured. 5. (Optional) If the Subsystem ID listed in the Subsystem (default) field is not correct for your configuration, enter the correct ID in the Subsystem (override) field. 6. Save your settings. Chapter 2: Configuration Details 17

18 Manage Profiles Manage Profiles A profile is created to define the web URL, which you want the probe to monitor. The monitoring profile defines the conditions and threshold values for generating QoS and alarms. You can also edit the monitoring parameters for catering the changes in monitoring requirements. Follow these steps: 1. Click the Options icon next to the Profiles node in the navigation pane. 2. Click the New Profile option. 3. Enter the field information in the New Profile dialog and click Submit. The profile is saved and you can configure the profile properties for monitoring the time that is taken by the URl to load a web page. Delete Profile You can delete the monitoring profile that is no longer in use. You can deactivate your monitoring profile, so that whenever a requirement comes again, you are not required to configure all the parameters again. Follow these steps: 1. Click the Options icon next to the Profile-profile name node in the navigation pane. 2. Click the Delete Profile option. 3. Click Save. The selected profile is removed from the url_response node. 18 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring

19 Chapter 3: QoS Threshold Metrics Many Nimsoft Monitor probes ships with the default QoS threshold values set. The default threshold values provide an idea of the type of values to be entered in the fields. These default values are not necessarily recommended best practice values. To aid in tuning thresholds and reducing false-positive alarms, this section describes the QoS metrics and provides the default QoS thresholds. This section contains the following topics: url_response QoS Metrics (see page 19) url_response Alert Metrics Default Settings (see page 20) url_response QoS Metrics This table contains the QoS metric default settings for the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. Monitor Name Units Description QOS_URL_BYTES Bytes URL Bytes fetched QOS_URL_BYTES_SEC Bytes/second URL Bytes Per second QOS_URL_DNSRESOLVE_TIME Milliseconds Time required for resolving the DNS QOS_URL_DOWNLOAD_TIME Milliseconds Time to download the contents QOS_URL_FIRSTBYTE_TIME Milliseconds Time to first byte QOS_URL_LASTBYTE_TIME Milliseconds Time to last byte QOS_URL_REDIRECT_TIME Milliseconds Time for redirection QOS_URL_RESPONSE Milliseconds URL response QOS_URL_STRINGFOUND State Found string QOS_URL_TCPCONNECT_TIME Milliseconds TCP connect time Chapter 3: QoS Threshold Metrics 19

20 url_response Alert Metrics Default Settings url_response Alert Metrics Default Settings The following table describes the Alert metrics that can be configured using the URL Endpoint Response Monitoring probe. QoS Metric Error Threshold Error Severity Description Time Limit (ms) Below Time Limit (ms) Minor Profile exceeds the threshold specified in max 8Page load time Minor Profile running below the threshold specified in min Page load time. TCP Connect Time - Major TCP connect time of profile breached the threshold. Time to first byte - Major First byte fetch time for profile greater than threshold. Time to last byte - Major Last byte fetch time for profile greater than threshold. Time for redirection ContainsUnexpect ed Time to download the contents DNS resolution time - Major Redirect time of profile greater than threshold. - Major URL content of profile contains lesser number of bytes than threshold. - Major Download time for profile greater than threshold. - Major DNS resolve time for profile greater than threshold. Does not contain - Major Does not contain the expected text Contains unexpected - Major Contains the unexpected text. Certificate Expired - Major Certificate Expired for profile Config Error - Major Illegal URL defined in profile. Certificate due to Expire - Major Certificate to expire in specified days for profile. Delayed - Minor Profile delayed. Failed - Major URL response for Profile failed. 20 Probe Guide for URL Endpoint Response Monitoring