Configuring your environment to use TrueSight Orchestration dashboards

To use the dashboards, you must complete the following tasks:

• • Verify the Cassandra database is up and running
  • Configure metrics collection and the metrics database
  • Start the dashboard server
  • Configure the dashboard property files
  • Restart the dashboard server
  • Ensure that users have the correct permissions to access the dashboards
  • Where to go from here

Verify the Cassandra database is up and running

To view jobs data in the Job View and Job List tabs, Cassandra database is required. Cassandra database is installed out-of-the-box with the CDP or HA-CDP. To view the latest jobs on the Health Dashboard, ensure that the Cassandra database is up and running. For more information, see Working-with-the-Apache-Cassandra-database.

Configure metrics collection and the metrics database

To use the Value Dashboard and have access to historical data in the Health Dashboard, ensure that the following requirements are met:

• Install a database and set up 

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  access to the JDBC driver for the database that you are configuring. If you have not already done this, follow the configuration instructions in Configuring-the-metrics-and-audit-records-database. 
• Turn on metrics collection and configure the connection to the external database if you have not already done this (see To turn on metrics and audit records collection and configure the connection to the database).
  For more information about grid metrics collection, see Managing-grid-performance-records. 
• Ensure that your metrics collection settings work with your Value report settings. For example, if users will view Value reports using daily report periods, the grid metric Collection option should be set to minutes or hours. See Value-Dashboard for details about viewing Value reports.

For complete information on setting up metrics collection in

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Start the dashboard server

During the installation, a Tomcat server was installed for use with the dashboards. Start the dashboard server now (see Starting-and-stopping-product-components-and-services for instructions).

Configure the dashboard property files

Configure the following property files for use with the dashboards:

• gridmap.properties — The dashboards use the grid name and host server specified in this file to make the dashboard connection. This file is required for dashboard use.
• gridhosts.properties — The dashboards use the grid configuration to validate the specified setup and alert you if there are mismatches between the specified setup and the actual setup. This file is optional.
• hdb.properties — This file contains dashboard and report default values that can be modified. For instructions, see Changing-dashboard-and-report-default-settings.

If you had the earlier version of the Health Dashboard and you made a backup of these files that were already configured, you can replace the new files with your backup copies.

In these instructions, AO_HOME represents the dashboard installation location.

To configure the dashboard property files

1. Navigate to the AO_HOME/tomcat/webapps/baodashboard/WEB-INF/classes directory.

2. Edit the gridmap.properties file and provide the following information:
   <logicalName.gridName>=<hostName>

   Important

    Ensure that you use the logical name in the format as shown here:

    <logicalName.gridName>=<hostName>

   • <logicalName.gridName> represents the logical host name and the name of the grid.
   • <hostname> represents the fully qualified server host name.
     
     For example:
     TestGrid1.MyGrid=apple.bmc.com
     
     If you have a high-availability configuration distribution peer (HA-CDP), include that peer in gridmap.properties, so that it is available in the Grid Selection menu (at login) when your configuration distribution peer (CDP) is down. The HA-CDP only will be listed in the Grid Selection menu if you entered it in gridmap.properties. For example:
     TestGridHacdp.MyGrid=grape.bmc.com
     You can include an unlimited number of grids. 
3. Save your changes to the file. 

4. Edit the gridhosts.properties file and provide the following information:
   <logicalName.gridName.peerName>=<hostName>
   

   Important

    Ensure that you use the logical name in the format as shown here:

    <logicalName.gridName>=<hostName>

   • <logicalName.gridName.peerName> represents the logical host name, the name of the grid, and the name of the peer such as AP, LAP, CDP, or HA-CDP.
     For example, CompanyGrid.MyGrid.CDP=orange.bmc.com

   • <hostName> represents the fully qualified server host name.
     
     For example:
     TestGrid1.MyGrid.CDP=orange.bmc.com
     TestGridHacdp.MyGrid.HACDP=grape.bmc.com
     
     Provide all of the peers in your grid.
     
     This information is used by the dashboard as benchmarks and for alerts. The dashboards will detect peers that do not match the provided information if they are running. Peers that are not listed in this file and not running are not included in the dashboards.

     Do not change peer host names after the installation. If they are changed after the installation, the peer will appear as not running in the dashboards.

5. Save your changes to the file.

Restart the dashboard server

See Starting-and-stopping-product-components-and-services for instructions.

Ensure that users have the correct permissions to access the dashboards

Only administrators can access the Health Dashboard. Only administrators can create Value reports and add them to the Value Dashboard page.

To view Value reports, users must have Grid Management permission (see Assigning-grid-permissions for more information).

Where to go from here

Accessing-the-dashboards.

If you are an administrator, you can create Value reports and configure the Value Dashboard Home page (see Setting-up-the-Value-Dashboard-and-reports for required settings and how to create reports).