Configuring the Dell AIM actor adapter

You configure an adapter in BMC Atrium Orchestrator Grid Manager. The configuration provides information about how the adapter interacts with the Dell Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM) application. Although each adapter must have a unique name, you can create multiple adapters with the same adapter type to allow for different configuration properties.

The form view provides an easy-to-use interface for configuring adapters. The form view prevents human errors that might occur as a result of copying the configuration XML from the adapter documentation to the UI when configuring an adapter. You can switch to the XML view to configure those elements and attributes that are not available as fields or to configure all the elements and attributes by using XML only. However, after you switch to the XML view, and save the configuration in XML from that view, you cannot thereafter use the form view to modify that configuration.

To configure the actor adapter

1. Log on to BMC Atrium Orchestrator Grid Manager.
2. To access the adapters page, click the Manage tab, and then click the Adapters tab.
3. In the Adapters in Repository list, select the bmc-adapter-dell-aim-actor check box.
4. To include the adapter in the Adapters on Grid list, click Add to Grid.
5. Click Configure corresponding to the newly added adapter.
6. On the Add an Adapter Configuration page, perform the following steps to configure the adapter by using the form view, or skip to step 7 to configure the adapter by using the XML view:

   1. Enter a name for the adapter.

      Note

      The default name for the actor adapter is DellAIMActor.

   2. Enter a description for the adapter.
   3. Under Properties, enter or select values for the configuration elements.
      
      Include all required elements, which are indicated with an asterisk (*).
   4. Click OK.
      
      The newly configured adapter is now listed in the Adapters on Grid list.

7. (optional) Configure the adapter in the XML view by performing the following steps:

   Note

   If you switch to the XML view, you cannot thereafter use the form view to modify the configuration.

   1. Enter a name and a description for the adapter.
   2. Click Switch to XML View.
   3. On the warning message that appears, click Switch View.

   4. In the Properties text box, use XML format to enter the configuration elements and attributes, and then click OK.

      Note

      If the default value for an optional element is acceptable, omit the element. Do not include empty elements.

   5. On the warning message that appears, click Save.
      
      The adapter configuration with settings is saved in the XML view permanently. The newly configured adapter is now listed in the Adapters on Grid list.

The following table describes the configuration elements for the actor adapter. You cannot use the form view to configure elements and attributes that do not have an entry in the UI label column.

Node elements required for configuring the actor adapter

The following figure shows an XML sample for an empty actor adapter configuration:

XML sample for an empty actor adapter configuration

<config>
</config>

The following figure shows an XML sample for configuring the actor adapter:

XML sample for configuring the actor adapter

<config>
    <target>scalent-controller</target>
    <user-name>username</user-name>
    <password encryption-type="Base64">cGFzc3dvcmQ=</password>
    <protocol>https</protocol>
    <port>443</port>
    <use-ssl-certificate>true</use-ssl-certificate>
    <allow-unsigned-certificate>true</allow-unsigned-certificate>
    <install-certificate>true</install-certificate>
    <passphrase>changeit</passphrase>
</config>

The Dell Advanced Infrastructure Manager adapter can connect to multiple Dell AIM servers. For this, you must define a single adapter configuration having multiple configuration nodes. Each <config> element defines a configuration node that specifies the connection information for a specific Dell AIM server. The <config> element has a name attribute that can be referenced from an adapter request. By referencing a specific configuration node name from an adapter request, you can execute the request on a specific Dell AIM server.

The following figure illustrates a sample adapter configuration with multiple configuration nodes:

XML sample for adapter configuration with multiple configuration nodes

<configs>
  <config name="config1">
    <target>scalent-controller</target>
    <user-name>username</user-name>
    <password encryption-type="Base64">cGFzc3dvcmQ=</password>
    <protocol>http</protocol>
    <port>80</port>
  </config>
  <config name="config2">
    <target>scalent-controller</target>
    <user-name>username</user-name>
    <password encryption-type="Base64">cGFzc3dvcmQ=</password>
    <protocol>https</protocol>
    <port>443</port>
    <use-ssl-certificate>true</use-ssl-certificate>
    <allow-unsigned-certificate>true</allow-unsigned-certificate>
    <install-certificate>true</install-certificate>
    <passphrase>changeit</passphrase>
  </config>
</configs>

Enabling custom logging

To enable custom logging for the adapter, you must specify a log file name. You can also provide additional parameters for logging.

• Log File Name: Provide a name for the log file.
  This file will be stored in the AO_HOME/tomcat/logs directory. If Log File Max Backup Index value is greater than 0, the log file name is suffixed with the backup index. For example, if the parameter value is a.log, backup log files will have names, such as a.log.1, a.log.2.
• Log File Size: Specify a size limit for the log file. 
  If the value specified for Log File Max Backup Index is greater than 0, when the specified size is reached, the current file is renamed with the suffix .1. Otherwise, the log file will be reset and over-written. The default value is 10MB. The available units are KiloBytes (KB), MegaBytes (MB) or GigaBytes (GB).
• Log File Max Backup Index: Enter the maximum number of backup files allowed. The default value is 10.
• Log File Append: Select this option to append new log information to the existing information in the file. If unselected, the file will be overwritten with new log information.

• Log Level: Enter the logging level using one of the following choices:

  Logging level	Description
  DEBUG	The most detailed logging level; logs low-level messages, normal execution, recoverable erroneous conditions, and unrecoverable erroneous conditions
  INFO (default)	Logs normal execution, recoverable erroneous conditions, and unrecoverable erroneous conditions
  WARN	Logs recoverable erroneous conditions and unrecoverable erroneous conditions
  ERROR	The least detailed logging level; logs only error conditions that are not usually recoverable