Parameters

This topic provides information about the types of parameters available and the naming conventions of a parameter.

Parameter overview

A parameter is the monitoring component of PATROL that is run by the PATROL Agent. Parameters use data collection commands to obtain data on a monitored system resource and then parse and process that data. Parameter data values are collected, summarized, and stored on the computer where the PATROL Agent resides.

You can change the parameter properties and default values by using a PATROL Developer Console and in the PATROL Configuration Manager.   

Navigation to the parameters differs depending on which platform you are using. For navigation instructions, see Accessing a parameter.

BMC PATROL for Microsoft WIndows Servers uses the following types of parameters:

• Collector parameters: A PATROL collector parameter executes commands and gathers data for a consumer parameter to display, often collecting many values. It does not display any values itself. As such, it does not have alarms or run any recovery actions. Collector parameters are defined in the collector's application class rather than in the applications for which they collect data. This avoids the situation in which a separate collector would execute for each application instance and negate the efficiency of the collector or consumer parameter. 
• Consumer parameters: A consumer parameter only displays a value that is collected by a collector parameter. A consumer parameter never issues commands; it is not scheduled for execution, but it has alarms and can run recovery actions. A consumer parameter cannot be updated directly by selecting an option on its display. To update a consumer parameter, you must execute the collector that gathers its data.
• Standard parameters: Standard parameters issue commands to collect data and display the data collected. They contain alarm definitions and can run alarm and warning actions.

Parameter naming conventions

Adding two prefixes to the root parameter name forms a KM for Windows parameter name. The first prefix identifies the application monitored by the parameter. The second prefix indicates which collector parameter gathers the data for the selected parameter.

A KM application parameter has the following form:
application_prefix collector_prefix parameter_name

For example, the parameter FilesSent in the FTP application is named FTPftpFilesSent. The capital "FTP" represents the NT_FTP application. The lowercase "ftp" represents the collector parameter, and "FTPFtpColl" associated with the FilesSent parameter.