Forwarding events from BMC Helix Operations Management to third-party applications

As an automation engineer, you create an automation policy to collect events from BMC Helix Operations Management and forward them to a target third-party application. Unlike other automation policies, when you create a policy to forward events, you use a schedule to run it at predefined intervals, which runs automatically. You cannot specify any other action as part of the policy. 

After the policy is created, you can view how many events are forwarded by viewing the policy status and details on the History page.

Related topics

Creating-automation-policies

Viewing-automation-policy-runs-history

Consider the following scenario to understand how this capability helps.

Scenario

Susan is an automation engineer at Apex Global. Apex Global uses BMC Helix applications for its IT Operations Management requirements and uses multiple monitoring tools to track issues. Out of all events generated in BMC Helix Operations Management, Susan wants to send Critical events to the in-house application so that they can be monitored, acted on, and resolved while maintaining a record in the in-house application. 

Susan uses BMC Helix Intelligent Automation to connect to BMC Helix Operations Management. She creates a scheduled automation policy, which runs every 2 minutes, and all Critical events are forwarded to the in-house application. She can also verify the policy status on the History page to see how many events have been forwarded after the policy was published. This helps Susan manage the events based on her organization's policies seamlessly.  

Before you begin

Before creating a policy, make sure that the BMC Helix Operations Management on-premises connector is configured and the status is Connected. For more information, see Configuring-the-BMC-Helix-Operations-Management-on-premises-connector. 

Event forwarding best practices and recommendations

We recommend that you review and implement the following best practices when forwarding events:

  • High-availability deployment: Set up the connector in a high-availability deployment mode. Event forwarding does not stop even if one of the connector instances fails.
  • Separate automation policies: Create separate automation policies based on the kind of events that you want to forward. Separate policies for specific requirements distribute the processing load and allow more finer control over different types of events. For example, create a policy to forward all critical events every 2 minutes, and a separate policy to forward all major events every 5 minutes.
  • Default query and event types: While adding an action, the default query skips all blackout, information, and situation events. Update the query only if you want to forward these specific event types.
  • Batch size and polling interval: By default, the batch size is 1000 events, and the polling interval is scheduled every 2 minutes. Increasing the batch size and decreasing the polling interval significantly (for example, 100000 events every 30 seconds) might increase the processing time.
  • Updating queries: To update the query, you must unpublish and modify the policy. During this period, no events are forwarded. Plan the update during a low-activity period to minimize the impact on operations.

To create an automation policy

  1. On the BMC Helix Intelligent Automation console, click Policies and then click Create Automation Policy.
  2. Provide the name and an optional description.
  3. Select the execution mode as Automatic.
    The Schedule option is displayed. 
  4. Specify the start date and time, end date and time, or no end date if you want this policy to run with no end date. 
    By default, the policy runs every 2 minutes. Update the frequency based on your requirements.
    Create automation policy to forward events
  5. Click Select Action and perform the following steps:

    1. Select the BMC Helix Operations Management connector.

      I have multiple connectors configured, why do I not see any other connector here?

      You can only schedule a policy for forwarding events from BMC Helix Operations Management to a target third-party application, hence, when you select the Schedule option, only the BMC Helix Operations Management connector is displayed. When you select the connector, the actions appropriate for the connector are displayed. 

    2. Select the Get Events action.
      The Get Events action consists of two actions. First, you retrieve events in JSON format based on the specified parameters, and then you add a linked action that forwards these events to the external application.  
    3. In the Request Body field, update the JSON query based on your requirement.
      BHOM Query_251.png
    4. Click Add Linked Action.
      The Generic REST action is displayed. 
      Add linked action_251.png

    5. Specify the following parameters: 

      Field

      Description

      Action Name

      Specify the name of the action.

      By default, Generic REST Action.

      HTTP Method

      Select POST.

      API Path

      Specify the API path

      Example: /api/v1/events

      Query Params

      Specify any additional parameters you might want to use.

    6. Specify the parameters and click Done.
      The Get Events action is displayed with a label for the composite action. You can edit or delete this action, but you cannot add any more actions. Create Policy_CompositeAction_251.png

  6. (Optional) Specify tags in a key-value format.  

    Important

    The Change Management, Notifications, and Test Policy fields are not applicable when you schedule a policy and are disabled. 

  7. Select Publish Policy and click Save.
    The automation policy is saved, and its status is displayed as Published. On the History page, the policy status is displayed as Running, however, events are forwarded based on the specified schedule.    ​​​​ ​​​​​
  8. Continue with the next step to verify whether events are forwarded to the target application. 
Important

Events are forwarded based on a schedule defined in the policy, which runs after the policy is published. Events that are generated before the policy is published are not forwarded, even if the scheduled date and time start before the policy is published. 

 

To verify whether events are forwarded

  1. Log in to the BMC Helix Intelligent Automation console and click History.
  2. Search for the policy that you created for forwarding events.
  3. Click to open the policy details. 
    When the policy is in a running state, the Output tab displays the following details:
    FieldDescription
    Total events forwardedTotal number of events forwarded to the application after the policy was published. 
    Last execution responseResponse from the third-party application.
    Count events forwarded last

    Number of events forwarded in the latest batch depending on the specified interval. ​​​​

    Last success execution timeDate and time when the last policy run was successful. 

    Events forwarding output on the History page

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*