Integrating with SAP HANA


As a tenant administrator, it's important that you can monitor the connected systems and quickly identify and resolve any issues. The BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations SAP HANA connector collects alerts data from SAP HANA.

You can view the collected data in various BMC Helix applications and derive the following benefits:

BMC Helix application

Type of data collected or viewed

Benefits

BMC Helix Operations Management

Events (alerts received as events)

Use a centralized event view to monitor, filter, and manage events, and perform event operations in one place. 

Process events to help identify actionable events quickly from a large volume of event data.

For more information, see Monitoring events and reducing event noise.

BMC Helix AIOps

Situations (created from events)

Improve the mean time to resolve (MTTR) based on the situation-driven workflow.

Lower the mean time to detect or discover (MTTD) and the time required for investigating tickets.

For more information, see Monitoring situations.

BMC Helix Dashboards

Events

Create dashboards to get a consolidated view of data collected from third-party products across your environment. 

For more information, see Creating custom dashboards

As a tenant administrator, perform the following steps to configure a connection with SAP HANA, verify the connection, and view the collected data in various BMC Helix applications.

ConnectorSteps.png


    • The [confluence_layout-cell] macro is a standalone macro and it cannot be used inline. Click on this message for details.
  1. On the CONNECTORS  tab, click add_icon.png in the SOURCES panel.
  2. Click the 

    SAP HANA

     tile.

  3. Specify the following details for the source connection:
    1. Specify a unique instance name.

      Best practice
      We recommend that you specify the instance name in the following format: 

      <sourceType>_<sourceControllerServerName>_<InstanceQualifier>

      The instance qualifier helps you to distinguish the multiple instances configured from the same source server. For example, you can name your instances as SAP_Host_PROD, SAP_Host_TEST, and so on.


        1. Specify the SAP HANA database host name and the port number. The default port number is 30015.
        2. Enter the database user name and password for the SAP HANA database host.
        3. Specify the schema name.
        4. (Optional) Select the TLS Encryption option and specify the following details if the SAP HANA instance supports Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol:
          • Specify a host name to verify the identity of the server, instead of the host name, if the connection is established from a client on the same host as the server. In a single-host system, a mismatch might arise between the host named in the certificate (actual host name) and the host used to establish the connection (localhost).
          • Select the Validate Certificate option to specify that the server’s certificate is validated.
          • Specify the path to the Trust Store file that contains server’s public certificates with the file format and the password to access the Trust Store file.
          • Specify the the location of the Java Key Store (JKS) with file format and the password to access the private key from the key store file.
            For more information about TLS protocol related parameters, see client-side TLS/SSL connection properties (JDBC) in the SAP HANA documentation.

        5. Specify the time, in seconds, after which no attempt should be made to establish the connection (d efault value is 30 seconds) .
        6. Specify the maximum amount of time allowed for a collection task to be completed.
      1. Click VALIDATE AND CREATE.
        The specified connection details are validated and the corresponding source connection is created in the Source Connection list.
      2. Select the source connection that you created from the list if it is not selected already.

        Important

        The destination host connection is created and configured automatically for each tenant when the source connection is created.

      3. Ensure that the options for the datatypes for which you want to collect data are selected.
      4. Configure the collectors for the selected data types by clicking the respective data type in the Collectors section. Specify the parameters for the selected data type, as explained in the following table:

        Parameter name

        Description

        Collection Schedule

        Select one of the following options to specify the data collection frequency:

        • Duration: When you select this option, data collection happens constantly. Specify the schedule in minutes, hours, or day. 
          Default: 5 minutes
          Example:
          Collection Schedule
          is set to 5 mins.
          Current time is 00:30.

          If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is collected every 5 mins, first at 00:30 and next at 00:35, and so on.  
        • Cron schedule: When you select this option, data collection happens periodically. Specify the schedule by using a cron expression.
          A cron expression is a string consisting of five subexpressions (fields) that describe individual details of the schedule.  
          These fields, separated by blank spaces, can contain any of the allowed values with various combinations of the allowed characters for that field.
          Default: */5 * * * * (evaluates to 5 minutes)

          Format:
          Minutes Hours (24-hour format) Day of Month Month Day of Week

          Example:
          If you specify 10 15 3 7 * , data is collected at 15:10 hours every third day in the month of July.

        For more information about how this parameter affects data collection, see Data collection schedule.

        Data Collection Window

        Specify the historical time period (in minutes) from the current time for which the data should be collected.

        Default: 5 minutes

        Example:

        Collection Schedule is set to 5 mins.
         Data Collection Window is set to 5 mins.
         Current time is 00:30.

        If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is collected first at 00:30 for the interval 00:25 - 00:30, and next at 00:35 for the interval 00:30 - 00:35, and so on.

        For more information about how this parameter affects data collection, see Data collection window.

        Data Latency

        Specify the time (in minutes) by which the data time window should be shifted back on the timeline.

        This parameter is useful in delayed data availability situations.

        Default: 0 minutes

        Example:

        Collection Schedule is set to 5 mins.
         Data Collection Window is set to 10 mins.
        Data Latency is set to 2 mins.
         Current time is 00:30.

        If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is collected first at 00:30 for the interval 00:18 to 00:28 and next at 00:35 for the interval 0:23 to 00:33, and so on.

        For more information about how this parameter affects data collection, see Data latency.

        Status

        Select one event status from the list.

        Categories

        Select all or subset of categories installed on the host to collect the events:

        • None                  
        • Availability          
        • Memory                
        • Disk                  
        • CPU                   
        • Configuration         
        • Sessions/Transactions 
        • Backup                
        • Diagnosis Files       
        • Security

        Severities

        Select all or a subset of severities from the following list:

        • Error
        • High
        • Information
        • Low
        • Medium
      5. Click CREATE COLLECTORS to create the required collector streams for the selected data types.
      6. Configure the distributors for the selected data types by clicking the respective data type in the Distributors section and specify the parameters for the selected data type, as explained in the following table:
        Parameter name
        Description
        Max Batching Size
        Specify the maximum number of data items to send in a single POST request to the destination API.
        The batch size 
        depends on the destination’s ability to buffer the incoming data.Default: 250
        Max Batching Delay
        Specify the maximum time (in seconds) to wait before building and processing a batch.Default: 3 seconds 
        Base Retry Delay
        Specify the initial time (in seconds) for which to wait before retrying to build and process a batch.
        The waiting time increases in the following sequence: n1, n2, n3, and so on, where n indicates the number of seconds.Default: 2 secondsExample:Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retry is performed after 2, 4, 8, 16, ... seconds.
        Max Intra-Retry Delay
        Specify the maximum limit for the base retry delay. Default: 60 secondsExample:Max Intra-Retry Delay is set to 60 seconds.
        Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retries are performed 2, 4, 8, 16, 32,... seconds later.
        Max Retry Duration
        Specify the total time for retrying a delivery. For REST destinations, a delivery is a batch of data items in one POST request. Default: 5 minutesExample:Max Retry Duration is set to 8 hours.
        Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Requests are sent for 2+4+8+16+32+64+132... until 8 hours in total duration is reached. After that, no subsequent attempts are made to retry the delivery.The assumption here is that if there is an outage or other issue with the destination tool, recovery should take less than the value of the Max Retry Duration parameter to be completed.
        Attributes To Be Dropped When Updating Events
        Specify the event attributes that you do not want to be updated in BMC Helix Operations Managementwhen events are updated. For example, if you do not want an event's severity, source address, source category, and subcategory to be updated in BMC Helix Operations Management , you need to specify those attributes in a comma-separated format: severity,source_address,source_category,source_subcategory .Important:You can obtain the event attribute names in BMC Helix Operations Management, by exporting any event data in JSON, BAROC, XML, or CSV format . The exported file contains all attributes of the event data, and from there you can identify the attributes to be dropped. 

        Parameter name

        Description

        Max Batching Size

        Specify the maximum number of data items to send in a single POST request to the destination API.
        The batch size 
        depends on the destination’s ability to buffer the incoming data.Default: 250

        Max Batching Delay

        Specify the maximum time (in seconds) to wait before building and processing a batch.Default: 3 seconds 

        Base Retry Delay

        Specify the initial time (in seconds) for which to wait before retrying to build and process a batch.
        The waiting time increases in the following sequence: n1, n2, n3, and so on, where n indicates the number of seconds.Default: 2 secondsExample:Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retry is performed after 2, 4, 8, 16, ... seconds.

        Max Intra-Retry Delay

        Specify the maximum limit for the base retry delay. Default: 60 secondsExample:Max Intra-Retry Delay is set to 60 seconds.
        Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retries are performed 2, 4, 8, 16, 32,... seconds later.

        Max Retry Duration

        Specify the total time for retrying a delivery. For REST destinations, a delivery is a batch of data items in one POST request. Default: 5 minutesExample:Max Retry Duration is set to 8 hours.
        Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Requests are sent for 2+4+8+16+32+64+132... until 8 hours in total duration is reached. After that, no subsequent attempts are made to retry the delivery.The assumption here is that if there is an outage or other issue with the destination tool, recovery should take less than the value of the Max Retry Duration parameter to be completed.

        Attributes To Be Dropped When Updating Events

        Specify the event attributes that you do not want to be updated in 

        BMC Helix Operations Management

        when events are updated. For example, if you do not want an event's severity, source address, source category, and subcategory to be updated in 

        BMC Helix Operations Management

         , you need to specify those attributes in a comma-separated format: severity,source_address,source_category,source_subcategory .Important:You can obtain the event attribute names in 

        BMC Helix Operations Management

        , by exporting any event data in JSON, BAROC, XML, or CSV format . The exported file contains all attributes of the event data, and from there you can identify the attributes to be dropped. 

      7. Click CREATE DISTRIBUTORS to create the required distributor streams for the selected data types.
      8. Click one of the following buttons:

        • SAVE STREAM : Click this button if you want to edit the integration details before creating the instance. After you save the stream, the connector that you just created is listed in the SOURCES panel. Move the slider to the right to start the data stream.
        • SAVE AND START STREAM : Click this button if you want to save the integration details and start receiving data immediately.

        ImportantFor a data stream, the Run Latency (max/avg), Items (Avg per Run), and Last Run Status columns on the Streams page might show the status as No Runs during the data collection process. After completion of the process, these columns are updated with an appropriate status.

        ImportantFor a data stream, the Run Latency (max/avg), Items (Avg per Run), and Last Run Status columns on the Streams page might show the status as No Runs during the data collection process. After completion of the process, these columns are updated with an appropriate status.

        For more information about the data streams, see Starting-or-stopping-data-streams

 

Task 3: To verify the connection

From BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations , on the SOURCES panel, confirm that the data streams for the connection you created are running. Data streaming is indicated by different colored moving arrows.

sap_hana_23_1_02.png

A moving blue arrow (EventsStream_Icon.png ) indicates that the alert stream is running. Event data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.

To view data in BMC Helix applications

View data collected from SAP HANA in multiple BMC Helix applications.

To view events in BMC Helix Operations Management

  1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, select Monitoring > Events.
  2. Filter the alerts by the SAPHanaAlert class.
    SAPEvents_BHOM_232.png

Incoming alerts from SAP HANA are processed in BMC Helix Operations Management through a set of deduplication rules to determine whether the incoming alert is a duplicate alert or a new alert. For more information, see Event-deduplication-suppression-and-closure-for-reducing-event-noise.

For more information about events, see Monitoring and managing events.

Viewing Situations in BMC Helix AIOps

Before you view situations in BMC Helix AIOps, ensure that the following prerequisites are met: 

  1. CIs are present in BMC Helix Discovery or BMC Helix AIOps for the events that are being collected from SAP HANA .
  2. Create a Business Service model in one of the following applications:
  3. Perform one of the following tasks:

To view Situations

  1. In BMC Helix AIOps, go to the Situations page.
    This page shows the Situations created from the events that are ingested into BMC Helix Operations Management. 
  2. Click the required Situation to view the messages contained in the Situation and other details such as priority and severity of the message. 
    For information about Situations, see Monitoring situations.

     

Mapping between SAP HANA and BMC Helix Operations Management

The following table shows the mapping between SAP HANA and BMC Helix Operations Management:

Event attribute

SAP HANA

BMC Helix Operations Management

Event severity

Error

Critical

High

Major

Information

Information

Low

Warning

Medium

Minor

 

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