Configuring and managing Optimizer rules

Use the Rules page to view and manage all the Optimizer rules that are configured in your system. 

To access the Rules page, click Administration > OPTIMIZER > Rules.

The Optimizer rules page is displayed that lists all the configured rules and the following details:

• Id - A unique rule ID that is automatically assigned to a rule when it is created 
• Name and Description - Name and short description as specified during rule creation
• Status - Displays Active if the rule is enabled, else Inactive 
• Creation date - Date when the rule was created

About Optimizer rules

Every alert or recommendation is generated based on the conditions and configurations that are defined in an Optimizer rule. For example, you can define a rule for VMware vSphere virtual machines (VM) that generates an alert when a VM has been idle for over 45 days, or has snapshots that are older than 60 days. An Optimizer rule is primarily composed of the following items:

• A set of conditions on one or more resources. For example, identify a VM that has been inactive for more than 45 days as idle VM.
• A set of actions that are run if at least one condition is met. For example, send an email when a VM is detected to be idle.

Optimizer rules are defined per system type. You can specify the entities to which the rule applies and define its scope. For example, you can define a rule that applies to all entities of a specific domain or to specific entities only. A rule can contain multiple conditions. Each condition corresponds to an alert or a recommendation. You can modify the configurations in a rule to exclude certain entities or modify the parameters in a condition. 

The Optimizer task, a backend system task, evaluates the conditions in the Optimizer rule and threshold violations on the collected data and enables automatic alerting. Each condition is evaluated separately from other conditions of the same rule. The Optimizer task can be scheduled to run to re-evaluate alerts and recommendations. Each time the task runs, the rules are processed and the generated results overwrite the previous recommendation results. 

If you reconfigured a rule or modified a metric threshold that is used in the rule, and want to generate recommendations immediately, you can manually run the rule. Also, if you modified an indicator parameter or threshold that impacts multiple Optimizer rules, you can manually run the Optimizer task that is associated with these rules. On running the task, all the associated rules are triggered to run. For more information about configuring an Optimizer task, see Configuring the Optimizer task.

The Diagnostic - Self monitoring optimizer rule and rules for some technologies and environments are available out-of-the-box. These are based on predefined templates. The out-of-the-box rules for the following environments are available only when you install the associated view package:

• Virtualization technologies
  • AIX
  • Hyper-V
  • Solaris
  • VMware
• Cloud technologies
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • GCP
• Systems for future saturation alerts
  
• OpenStack
• Kubernetes

You can modify the out-of-the-box rules or create new ones by using these templates. For example, for vSphere VMs that are hosting business-critical applications, you can define one rule that runs daily and sends you an alert email when the VM is detected to have resources that will soon saturate. For vSphere VMs that are hosting not-so-critical applications, you can define another rule that sends you a similar alert but runs on a weekly basis.  

The templates have preconfigured conditions based on the specific environment that they are defined for. For example, the AWS - Virtual Machines template includes a condition to generate recommendations for EC2 instances (or VMs) that are idle in your AWS environment. 

To add, modify, enable or disable, and run an Optimizer rule, ensure that the role assigned to your user group has the Optimizer - Edit activity associated with it.

Adding an Optimizer rule

1. In Administration, click OPTIMIZER > Rules.
2. In the Optimizer rules page, click Add new rule.

3. In the New rule page, enter values and make appropriate selections for the following properties:

   Advanced properties are marked with . To switch (toggle) to Advanced mode, click Advanced on the page

   Property	Description
   General
   Name	Specify a name for the rule.
   (Optional) Description	Specify a short description for the rule. For example, VMware Datastore over-saturation rule.
   Generation schedule	Select an Optimizer task that defines the schedule of the Optimizer rule. All the configured Optimizer rules are available for selection. For example: Optimizer - daily, Optimizer - weekly.
   Template group and Template	Depending on the environment for which you want to add a rule, select one of the following template groups and the appropriate template. Cloud: AWS - Virtual Machines: Generates alerts and recommendations for AWS virtual machines. Azure - Virtual Machines: Generates alerts and recommendations for Azure virtual machines. AWS Reserved Instances: Generates recommendations for AWS reserved instances to be purchased in a region. GCP - Virtual Machines: Generates alerts and recommendations for GCP virtual machines. Hyper-V Virtualization: Hyper-V Virtualization - Virtual Machines: Generates alerts and recommendations for Hyper-V virtual machines. Kubernetes Recommendation: Kubernetes Clusters: Generates alerts and recommendations for Kubernetes clusters. Kubernetes Containers: Generates alerts and recommendations for Kubernetes containers. Kubernetes Namespaces: Generates alerts and recommendations for Kubernetes namespaces. Kubernetes Nodes: Generates alerts and recommendations for Kubernetes nodes. System: Generic - Future Saturation: Generates future saturation alerts for systems VMware Virtualization: vSphere Virtualization – Clusters: Generates alerts and recommendations for VMware Clusters vSphere Virtualization – Datastore Clusters: Generates alerts and recommendations for VMware Datastore Clusters vSphere Virtualization – Datastores: Generates alerts and recommendations for VMware Datastores vSphere Virtualization – Hosts: Generates alerts and recommendations for VMware Hosts vSphere Virtualization – Virtual Machines: Generates alerts and recommendations for VMware Virtual Machines
   Template description	Describes the selected template. The description changes as per the selection in Template.
   Conditions	Displays the conditions that are associated or supported with the selected template. You can choose to define a rule with one or all the conditions by selecting or clearing the check box for that condition. For example, you can define a rule with template AWS - Virtual Machines to generate recommendations for Idle VMs only, and not for VMs with overallocated resources. The configurable parameters of the conditions contain the default values. You can modify these default values and redefine the rule. Recommendations are generated based on these conditions.
   Filters
   Period type and Condition period	Specify the period for which the condition applies. Select one of the following values: Use time filter: Select a period from the predefined list. Manually specified: If none of the predefined periods meets your requirements, specify the period manually. You can select the resolution (hours, days, weeks, or months) and specify the number. You can also select whether you want to include the current hour/day/week/month in the period based on the resolution. Click Apply after selecting the check box.
   Entity selection method	Select the method to choose the entities to which the rule applies. You can select specific entities, those based on a filter, or entities in one or many domains and subdomains. Select one of the following methods: Entity filter: Select a filter from the Select entity filter list as defined in the Workspace. For more information, see Managing entity filters. All entities All entities of a domain: Select one or more domains from the Domain list. All entities of a domain and its subdomains: Select a domain or subdomain. Specified entities: Select specific systems or business drivers from the Specified systems or business drivers list.
   Specified system types	Add specified system types to the rule: Click Edit. Select a system type from the Available items list and click >> to add it to the Selected items list. Use Shift+click to select multiple system types at once. The list of system types is based on the selected template. Click Apply.
   Specified business driver types	Add specified business driver types to the rule: Click Edit. Select a business driver type from the Available items list and click >> to add it to the Selected items list. Use Shift+click to select multiple business driver types at once. Click Apply.
   Exclude systems or business drivers	Select specific entities (systems or business drivers) that you want to exclude from the rule definition.
   Actions
   Actions to perform	Specify the action to be taken when the rule generates an alert or a recommendation. Select one or all of the following actions: Send an alert mail: Type the email addresses for recipients of alert notifications, separated by a semicolon (;) in the Send an email to field. To send a copy of the email to the product administrators, in the Admin copy section, select Send to all Continuous Optimization Admins. You can configure the administrator email in Global configuration. To attach a specific report with the email that is sent out, in the Mail attachment section, select Attach a report and choose a report from the list. By default, Nothing is selected. You can define a report that can help to determine the cause of the alert or recommendation. This report can be attached to the alert email. Change the status of alerted systems/business drivers and domains based on Risk conditions: To change the status of a report. Select a report from the list in the Change status of the following reports section.

4. Click Save.
   The rule is saved and enabled by default. The rule is listed in the Optimizer rules table. The rule is triggered to run based on the Optimizer task that is associated with the rule.

Modifying an Optimizer rule

1. Access the Rules page.
2. Click the name of the rule that you want to modify.
3. In the <Rule name> page, click Edit. See Adding an Optimizer rule for configuration options. 
   When the associated Optimizer task runs, the reconfigured Optimizer rule is used to generate recommendations.
   

Deleting an Optimizer rule

1. Access the Rules page.
2. Click the name of the rule that you want to delete.
3. In the <Rule name> page, click Delete.

Enabling or disabling an Optimizer rule

1. Access the Rules page.
2. Click the name of the rule that you want to enable or disable.
3. Click Enable or Disable depending on the current status of the rule.
   

Running an Optimizer rule manually

1. Access the Rules page.
2. Click the name of the rule that you want to run.
3. In the <Rule name> page, click Run. The Optimizer rule is initiated to run immediately. It generates recommendations that override the existing recommendations.

Viewing results of an Optimizer rule

1. Access the Rules page.
2. Click the name of the rule that you want to view details for.
3. In the <Rule name> page, click the Generated alerts/recommendations link. The Generated alerts/recommendations table lists all the recommendations that the rule generated in the last run. For each recommendation, you can see the entity for which it was generated, a short description, the recommendation type, and the recommended actions.
   You can click the entity name in the table to view the entity details in the Workspace.