Configuring and managing Synthetic Blackouts

Supported with version 11.3.02 and later

This ability to configure and manage Synthetic Blackout outside of Execution Plan settings is available from version 11.3.02 and later. If you are using version 11.3.01 to configure Blackouts, see Editing an application's synthetic settings.

Blackout is the time period during which the script execution is stopped or suspended intentionally. Typically, a Blackout is defined for periods of regular system maintenance so that the system monitoring processes exclude the anticipated system irregularities.

For example, when bringing down targets for upgrade or patching, you may not want that downtime included as part of the collected metric data or have it affect a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Note for TM ART users

Blackout defined in this section is known as exclusion period in TM ART.

Time Frame is part of Blackout configurations and determine the time periods during which the Execution Plan is stopped from running and collecting data. 

A Blackout must have at least one Time Frame associated with it and can be configured for All applications, specific applications or specific execution plans. You can configure and manage the synthetic Blackouts and Times Frames using the following information: 

Roles and access matrix

Use the following table to understand the roles and permissions required to access Synthetic Blackouts page:

 Role 

Operations

Permissions

Objects

Out-of-the-box user role - Application Administrator

All operations on Synthetic Blackouts:

  • View, Create, Edit, Clone, Delete, Activate and Deactivate, Blackouts
  • View, Create, Edit, Clone, and Delete Time Frames


  • View Synthetic Blackouts
  • Add and Edit Synthetic Blackouts

Access to all Applications

Out-of-the-box user role - Application Operator

  • View Synthetic Blackouts
  • View Synthetic Time Frames

View Synthetic Blackouts

Access to all Applications or selected Applications

In case of selected applications, the user is authorized to view:

  • All Time Frames
  • Blackouts that are associated to the user applications only


Custom user role - View

  • View Synthetic Blackouts
  • View Synthetic Time Frames


  • View Synthetic Blackouts
  • View Application Configuration List
  • View Application Configuration or Edit Application Configuration

Access to all Applications or selected Applications

In case of selected applications, the user is authorized to view:

  • All Time Frames
  • Blackouts that are associated to the user applications only
Custom user role - Edit

All operations on Synthetic Blackouts:

    • View, Create, Edit, Clone, Delete, Activate and Deactivate, Blackouts
    • View, Create, Edit, Clone, and Delete Time Frames
  • View Synthetic Blackouts
  • Add and Edit Synthetic Blackouts
  • View Application Configuration List
  • View Application Configuration or Edit Application Configuration

Access to all Applications or selected Applications

In case of selected applications, the user is authorized to only view and not create, edit, or delete the Blackouts and Time Frames.

Configure and manage the Synthetic Blackouts and Time Frames

You can perform the following actions to manage the Blackouts and Time Frames:

To create or edit Synthetic Time Frame

Note

BMC recommends that you create the Time Frames before creating a Blackout.

Use the following procedure to create or edit a Time Frame to be included in synthetic Blackout:

  1. From the TrueSight console navigation pane, select Configuration > Synthetic Blackouts.
  2. From the Synthetic Blackouts page, do one of the following :
    1. To create a new Time Frame do one of the following:
      • From the Synthetic Blackouts page action menu , click Create Time Frame.
      • From the Synthetic Blackouts > Time Frame tab, click Create Time Frame.
      • From the Create Synthetic Blackouts or Edit Synthetic Blackouts, view Time Frame section, and click Create Time Frame.
      The Create Synthetic Time Frame page is displayed.
    2. To edit an existing Time Frame, click the action menu for the Time Frame you want to edit and click Edit.
      The Edit Synthetic Time Frame page is displayed.
  3. Under the General Settings section, enter a unique and meaningful name and description for the Time Frame.

  4. Under the Recurrence Frequency section, select one of the following options and complete the settings:

    TypeDescriptionActionValue
    WeeklyStop the Execution Plan from running and collecting data on the specified days of the week.
    1. Enable or disable the weekly days using the check boxes.
    2. Specify the Start Time and End Time range.
    3. Select an End Time option, and specify the actual end time entries. 
    MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday, and Sunday. By default, Sunday is selected.

    Start Time in Hours (HH) and Minutes (MM).

    End Time options are: Time, End-of-day, and Duration.

    Notes:

    - End-of-day is fixed at (00:00).

    - The maximum Duration is 24 Hours.

    Always ActiveStop the Execution Plan from running and collecting data forever.

    Select Start Immediately if you want to immediately stop the Execution Plan from running and collecting data.

    Start Immediately
    1. Select Start From and use the date picker to select a specific date.
    2. Specify the Start Time

    Start From (Date)

    Start Time in Hours (HH) and Minutes (MM).

    OnceStop the Execution Plan from running and collecting data only one time.
    1. Select a date. Use the date picker.
    2. Specify the Start Time and End Time range.
    3. Select an End Time option, and specify the actual end time entries. 

    Date

    Start Time in Hours (HH) and Minutes (MM).

    End Time options are: Time, End-of-day, and Duration.

    Notes:

    - End-of-day is fixed at (00:00).

    - The maximum Duration is 999.

    MonthlyStop the Execution Plan from running and collecting data only on the specified days of the month.
    1. Specify a day, (comma separated) multiple days, or (hyphenated) range of days.
    2. Specify the Start Time and End Time range.
    3. Select an End Time option, and specify the actual end time entries. 

      Notes:
      - You cannot mix different formats. For example, 3, 5-15 or 3,5, 10-15 are not allowed.
      - The specified days can be between 1 and 31.

    Single day example: 3 (3rd day of the month)

    Multiple days example: 2, 5, 30 (2nd, 5th, and last day of the month).

    Range of days example: 5-15 (From 5th to 15th of the month)

    Start Time in Hours (HH) and Minutes (MM).

    End Time options are: Time, End-of-day, and Duration.

    Notes:

    - End-of-day is fixed at (00:00).

    - The maximum Duration is 24 Hours.


  5. Save the Time Frame settings using one of the following options:

    • Save - Saves and exit the page. The Time Frame is displayed under the Time Frame tab.
    • Save and Clone - Saves the Time frame and reopens the page pre-populated with the same values as the Time Frame you just created with the exception of the Name field. The name contains Clone of prefixed to it. You can edit only the required configurations and save the changes. 
    • Save and New - Saves and opens a new Create Synthetic Time Frame page with default values so that you can create another Time Frame.

To clone a Synthetic Time Frame

You can save your time and effort by cloning an existing Time Frame and update only to the required details. Use the following steps to clone a Time Frame:

  1. Click on the action menu for any Time Frame and click Clone.

    The Create Synthetic Time Frame page is displayed with the same configurations. The Time Frame name prefixed with the phrase "Clone of".

  2. Update the required configurations and save.

To delete Synthetic Time Frames

You can delete single or multiple Time Frames as described in the following table:

Options
Procedure

Delete multiple Time Frames

  1. Select the Time Frames that you want to delete
  2. Click the action menu on the table header.
  3. Click Delete Selected.
    A confirmation dialog is displayed.
  4. Click Yes to delete.

Delete a single Time Frame

  1. Click on the action menu from any Time Frame
  2. Click Delete.
    A confirmation dialog is displayed.
  3. Click Yes to delete.

To create or edit Synthetic Blackouts

Use the following procedure to create or edit a synthetic Blackout:

  1. From the TrueSight console navigation pane, select Configuration > Synthetic Blackouts.
  2. Do one of the following:
    1. To create a new Blackout do one of the following:
      • From the Synthetic Blackouts action menu , click Create Blackout.
      • From the Synthetic Blackouts tab, click Create Blackout.
      The Create Synthetic Blackout page is displayed.
    2. To edit an existing Blackout, click the action menu for the Blackout you want to edit and click Edit.
      The Edit Synthetic Blackout page is displayed.
  3. Under the General Settings section, enter a unique and meaningful name and description for the Blackout definition. 
    By default, the Status is Active and is selected. 
  4. Under the Time Frame section, you can select from the available Time Frames or create new Time Frames and select that. 
    If you want to create new Time Frames, see To create or edit Time Frames.
  5. Under the Application and Execution Plan section, select either All Applications or Specific Applications option. 

    Note

    Synthetic Blackout can be applied only on those applications that have the synthetic monitoring enabled.

    • If you select a single application, you have an option to select All Execution Plans or Specific Execution Plans
    • If you select multiple applications, the configuration is applicable for all Execution Plans in the selected Applications.
    Perform the following if you select the Specific Applications option:
    1. Select one or more applications from the list.
    2. Click OK to save.
  6. Under the Time Zone section, select one of the following: 
    • UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) - Selecting this option applies the Blackout on all targets across the geographies at the same time.  .
    • Agent Local - Select this option applies the Blackout on the target's agent local time.
  7. Save the Blackout definition using one of the following options:
    • Save - Saves and exit the page. The Blackout is displayed on the Synthetic Blackouts page.
    • Save and Clone - Saves the Blackout and reopens the page pre-populated with the same values as the Blackout you just created with the exception of the Name field. The name contains Clone of prefixed to it.  You can edit only the required configurations and save the changes. 
    • Save and New - Saves and opens a new Create Synthetic Blackout page with default values so that you can create another Blackout. 

To activate or deactivate Synthetic Blackouts

You can activate or deactivate the Blackouts. By default, it is created in Active state. See the following table for different options to activate and deactivate Blackouts:

Action
Procedure
Activate or Deactivate multiple Blackouts


  1. Select only the Blackouts that you want to activate or deactivate or select all Blackouts. 

  2. Click the action menu on the table header

  3. Click Activate Selected or Deactivate Selected.
    The status of all the selected Blackouts are activated or deactivated based on the option.

Activating a single Blackout

  1. Select a Blackout that you want to activate.

  2. Click the action menu for an Inactive Blackout.

  3. Click Activate.
    The status of the Blackout changes to Active.

Deactivating a single Blackout

  1. Select a Blackout that you want to deactivate.

  2. Click the action menu to deactivate the Blackout.
  3. Click Deactivate.
    The status of the Blackout changes to Inactive.

To clone a Synthetic Blackout

You can save your time and effort by cloning an existing Blackout and update only the required details. Use the following steps to clone a Blackout:

  1. Click the action menu for a Blackout and click Clone.



    The Create Synthetic Blackout page is displayed with the same configurations. The Blackout name is prefixed with the phrase "Clone of".

  2. Update the required configurations and save.

To delete Synthetic Blackouts

You can delete single or multiple Blackouts as described in the following table:

Options
Procedure

Delete multiple Blackouts

  1. Select the Blackouts that you want to delete
  2. Click the action menu on the table header
  3. Click Delete Selected.
    A confirmation dialog is displayed.
  4. Click Yes to delete.



Delete a single Blackout

  1. Click on the action menu from an Active or Inactive Blackout
  2. Click Delete.
    A confirmation dialog is displayed.
  3. Click Yes to delete.

Viewing, filtering, and sorting Synthetic Blackouts and Synthetic Time Frames

From the TrueSight console when you navigate to Configuration > Synthetic Blackouts, you will observe the following default behavior:

  • The logged in tenant is displayed. 

    Note

    The Tenant drop down is available only for the admin or * realm (tenant).

  • The Blackout tab is selected and the list of Blackouts are displayed. 
  • Both the Active and Inactive filters are selected and displays the count.

  • To view the list of Time Frames, select the Time Frame tab. By default, all the Recurrence Frequency Type filters are selected and displays the count.

  • To view Blackouts: Synthetic Blackouts > Blackouts

    To view Time Frames: Synthetic Blackouts > Time Frames

For filtering and sorting, you have the following options:

TabField/Filter
Description
Blackout





Active and Inactive filters


By default, both these top-level filters are selected. The filters display the count of each type of Blackouts.

You can enabled or disable a filter to narrow down the type of Blackouts to display.

Status

Indicates the status of the individual Blackout. Active or Inactive.

The column is sort-enabled.

Name


Displays Blackout Name and description.

The column is sort-enabled.

A search option is available in this column. Type the complete or partial Blackout name to search.

Time Frame


Displays the Time Frame included in the Blackout configuration.

For multiple Time Frames associated to a single Blackout, it is displayed as Multiple(N). N is the number of Time Frames associated with the Blackout. You can click on Multiple(N) to view the Time Frames.

The column is sort-enabled.

A search option is available in this column. Type the complete or partial Time Frame name to search.

Application


Displays the Applications selected in the Blackout configuration.

For multiple applications (not All) associated to a single Blackout, it is displayed as Multiple(N). N is the number of Applications associated with the Blackouts. You can click on Multiple(N) to view the Applications.

For All applications option, All is displayed in the field.

The column is sort-enabled.

A search option is available in this column. Type the complete or partial application name to search.

Execution Plan

Displays the Execution Plans associated with the selected Application in the Blackout configuration.

For multiple Execution Plans (not All) associated to a single Blackout, it is displayed as Multiple(N). N is the number of Execution Plans associated with the Blackouts. You can click on Multiple(N) to view the Execution Plans.

The column is sort-enabled.

A search option is available in this column. Type the complete or partial Execution Plan name to search.

Time Zone

Displays the Time Zone configured with the Blackout and is a pre-populated drop-down list. The values are: All, UTC, and Agent Local. By default, All is selected.

Select an entry from the drop down to list only one particular type of time zone entries.





Time Frame




Recurrence Frequency Filters

By default, all these top-level filters are selected. The filters display the count of each type of Time Frames.

You can enabled or disable a filter to narrow down the type of Time Frame to display.

The values are: Always Active, Once, Weekly, and Monthly.

Name

Displays Time Frame name and description.

The column is sort-enabled.

A search option is available in this column. Type the complete or partial Time Frame name to search.

Recurrence Frequency

Displays Recurrence Frequency details associated with the Time Frame.

A search option is available in this column. Type the complete or partial Recurrence Frequency name to search.

The Recurrence Frequency is based on your selection. For example,

·       Once (date)

·       Always Active (date)

·       Always Active (Start Immediately)

·       Weekly (Days of the week)

·       Monthly (Day or Range of days of the month)

Start Time


Displays the Start Time.

A search option is available in this column. Type a valid time entry to search.

End Time/Duration


Displays the End Time or Duration.

A search option is available in this column. Type a valid time entry or duration to search.

The End Time is based on your selection.

End Time/Duration is displayed in this format: HH:MMEnd of day HH Hours MM minutes, or N/A. 

Associated Blackout


Displays the Blackout name associated with the Time Frame.

For multiple Blackouts associated with the Time Frame, the name is displayed as Multiple(N). N is the number of Blackouts associated with the Time Frame. You can click on Multiple(N) to view the Blackouts.

The column is sort-enabled.

A search option is available in this column. Type the complete or partial Blackout name to search.





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