Using meta tags to group cloud resources



Supported with 11.3.03 and later

The meta tags are supported only with:

  • TrueSight Presentation Server version 11.3.03 and later
  • TrueSight Infrastructure Management server version 11.3.03 and later
  • PATROL for Microsoft Azure version 2.1.10 and later
  • PATROL for Amazon Web Services version 2.1.10 and later

In a large cloud infrastructure environment where you must manage many resources, it is crucial to classify cloud resources to find and manage them efficiently. You can group the resources according to their purpose, geographical associations, names, types, and so on. You can also create rule-based groups according to their city, department, type, and so on.

You can make this grouping more granular by using meta tags, which enable you to search or filter cloud resources in TrueSight Operations Management. 

A meta tag is a label in the form of key-value pair that is assigned to the resources such as servers, databases, services in your cloud infrastructure. Some examples of meta tags are location, region, environment, business unit, etc. You can use meta tags while creating rule-based groups to search or filter cloud resources in the TrueSight Operations Management.

The following section explains how to use meta tags in the TrueSight console:


Example 1: To filter the production environment resources

Sam, an IT administrator, needs to manage around ten thousand resources. To filter resources based on their environment and cost centers is a tedious task. During an audit, Sam is asked to provide a list of production environment resources that belong to any of the research cost centers. Sam is wondering if he can quickly filter these resources and display it in the TrueSight console. Sam learned that he can achieve this by creating a rule-based group using a meta tag in the device selection criteria. 

Follow the steps to create a rule-based group using the meta tags in the device selection criteria:

  1. On the Configuration > Groups page, from the action menu next to Group Configuration, click Create Rule-Based Group.
  2. Specify the following properties: 
    1. Enter a name and description. The group name must be within 60 characters. 

    2. Select the parent group and child groups. For information about how to create rule-based groups, see Creating, editing, and deleting rule-based groups.

    3. Click  to add one or more rules to select devices. Set the meta tag condition to search the resources that belong to the production environment and are associated with the Research and Development cost center as shown in the following example, and click Save

    4. Device selection criteria

  3. To save the rule-based group and return to the Configuration > Groups page, click Save.

Example 2: To filter the Azure storage account resources

Gill is an application specialist operator in a cloud-based organization. He needs to monitor cloud services across the globe. Gill is asked to filter these resources based on the requirement. Gill is wondering if he can quickly filter these resources and display it in the TrueSight console. Gill learned that he can achieve this by creating a rule-based group using the meta tags. The following examples explain different scenarios and ways in which these resources can be filtered.

The first scenario is to filter Azure storage account resources that belong to the Quality department and are in the East region. 

Follow the steps to create a rule-based group using the meta tags in the monitor selection criteria:

  1. On the Configuration > Groups page, from the action menu next to Group Configuration, click Create Rule-Based Group.
  2. Specify the following properties: 
    1. Enter a name and description. The group name must be within 60 characters. 

    2. Select the parent group and child groups. For information about how to create rule-based groups, see Creating, editing, and deleting rule-based groups.

    3. Click  to add one or more rules to select monitor instances. Set the conditions to filter the resources as shown in the following example, and click Save
      Monitor instance selection criteria


  3. To save the rule-based group and return to the Configuration > Groups page, click Save.

Example 3: To filter all the resources except Azure SQL Server that belong to the DSO department

The second scenario is to filter all the resources except Azure SQL Server that belong to any of the DSO departments or sub-departments, and are in the West region. 

Follow the steps to create a rule-based group using the meta tags in the monitor selection criteria:

  1. On the Configuration > Groups page, from the action menu next to Group Configuration, click Create Rule-Based Group.
  2. Specify the following properties: 
    1. Enter a name and description. The group name must be within 60 characters. 

    2. Select the parent group and child groups. For details, see Creating, editing, and deleting rule-based groups.

    3. Click  to add one or more rules to select monitor instances. Set the conditions to filter the resources as shown in the following example, and click Save
      Monitor instance selection criteria

  3. To save the rule-based group and return to the Configuration > Groups page, click Save.

Best practices for meta tags

The monitor selection criteria that is created using meta tags displays all the parent and child instances of a matched monitor instance. BMC recommends you to create conditions using meta tags with additional filters so that intended and unique instances are filtered. 

For example, consider the scenario where you have the following monitor instances having the Location meta tag:

  • (Parent instance) testSystem1.xyz.com (Meta tag:Location=Houston, Monitor type=Azure App)
    • (Child instance) testSystem1a.xyz.com (Meta tag:Location=Dallas, Monitor type=Azure App Service Plan)
    • (Child instance) testSystem1b.xyz.com (Meta tag:Location=Texas, Monitor type=Azure App Service Plan)

  • (Parent instance) testSystem2.xyz.com (Meta tag:Location=Houston, Monitor type=Azure App)
    • (Child instance) testSystem2a.xyz.com (Meta tag:Location=Dallas, Monitor type=Azure App Service Plan)
    • (Child instance) testSystem2b.xyz.com (Meta tag:Location=Texas, Monitor type=Azure App Service Plan)

If you want to filter the monitor instances that are not associated with the Texas location, the monitor selection criteria would be:

Filtering condition


Filtered results

  • testSystem1.xyz.com
  • testSystem1a.xyz.com
  • testSystem2.xyz.com
  • testSystem2a.xyz.com
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