Managing process metrics
Process metrics data is generated by schedules and through the execution of workflow processes. You can collect this data from processes running on a grid by configuring the connection to the database appropriately.
For successful collection of process metrics data, the following requirements must be met:
- The grid must have a configured connection to the database. For information about configuring the grid connection to the database, see Configuring the metrics and audit records database.
- At least one peer on that grid must be designated as a synchronization point (sync point). Peers that have been designated as sync points upload the process metrics data to the database. For instructions on designating a peer as a sync point, see Editing peers.
The first time that process metrics data is uploaded to the database, the system verifies that tables exist to contain the data. If the tables do not exist, the system creates them automatically.
Note
The database user ID used in metric configuration must have authority to create tables, indexes, and sequences, and to populate data into the created tables on an ongoing basis.
The process metrics tables might become large over time as workflows execute. (For schema information for the process metrics tables, see Process metrics table information). You must resize these tables appropriately for your environment and execution load, and decide if and when to archive and purge the data.
Recommendation
BMC recommends that you contact your company's reporting, data warehouse, or database administrator for assistance with exporting and purging metric table data.
Grid Manager does not display any collected process metrics. To view process metrics, you must use the tools available for the database program that you are using to collect the data. You can configure the Value Dashboard to view metrics information in reports (see Value reports overview).
This topic includes the following sections:
Process metrics table information
The process metrics data is contained in the metric and metric_detail tables within the database. There is no master table. The tables are created after process metrics data collection is configured. The metric_detail table has a foreign key relationship to the metric table.
The following tables offer details about the fields in each process metrics table.
Fields in the metric table
Field | Description |
|---|---|
ID | Unique record identifier of the metric and primary key |
GRID_NAME | Name of the grid on which the process occurred for which the metric is recorded |
PEER_NAME | Name of the peer where the process occurred for which the metric is recorded |
START_TIME | Start time of the process or action whose information is recorded as a metric |
CATEGORY | Type of metric being recorded |
DESCRIPTION | Description of the process or action whose information is recorded as a metric |
DURATION | Length of time the process or action took to finish |
STATUS | Status of the process or action |
ENTITY_ID | Unique identifier of the process or action |
USER_ID | User name of the person or system who invoked the process or the action |
Fields in the metric_detail table
Field | Description and sample values |
|---|---|
ID | Unique record identifier and primary key |
NAME | Metric for which the VALUE is captured |
VALUE | Metric value that corresponds to the NAME attribute or item |
METRIC_ID | Cross-referenced value for the ID in the metric table |
SEQUENCE_NUM | Sequence number of the metric detail records of a metric record (internal use only) |
Video demonstration
The following BMC Communities video series demonstrates how to collect process metrics data generated through the execution of workflow processes.
Part one (5:42) shows how to set up an external database, configure the process metrics database in Grid Manager, and designate a peer as a sync point.
The video mentions the graphing server, which is not supported in 7.8.02 and later releases. You can use the Value Dashboard to view metrics information in reports.
Part two (8:11) demonstrates how to restart the peer service, so that it reads the database driver file and creates the relevant metrics tables in the external database and how to verify that the tables are in the database. It shows how to set up a workflow to capture process metrics, export the export the process, activate it on the grid, set up appropriate permissions for the workflow, set up a process schedule that runs the workflow, turn on metrics collection, and verify that the metrics were collected.
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