Using in PATROL Configuration Manager

This section provides information about how to change the properties of parameters by using PATROL Configuration Manager.

Managing parameters by using PATROL Configuration Manager

A parameter is a command that periodically obtains data on a monitored system resource. Parameter data values are collected, summarized, and stored on the computer where the PATROL Agent resides. The collected parameter information is available for review by a PATROL console. The PATROL for Amazon EC2 organizes parameters into application classes by function or by the objects that they monitor. Several types of parameters are used and parameter history data is stored in a file.

You can use the attributes of a parameter to monitor and manage the parameter. An attribute is a characteristic that is assigned to a parameter. Parameters can have attributes such as scheduling, command type, and thresholds. An attribute can be defined globally for all instances of a class or locally for a particular computer or application instance. An instance inherits attributes from a class. However, an attribute defined at the instance level overrides inherited attributes.

You can use either the PATROL console or PATROL Configuration Manager to manage parameters.

Changing parameter polling cycles

Collector and standard parameters use queries to obtain data from a monitored account. The poll time assigned to a collector or standard parameter sets the interval between executions of the query used by the parameter. The default out-of-the-box poll times that are set for collector and standard parameters are calculated to collect sufficient data to correctly monitor most systems.

If your system requires longer or shorter poll times, you can change the poll times, but keep the following in mind:

Increasing poll times could cause you to receive late notification of problems.
Decreasing poll times increases the resources used by the KMs, which could lead to performance problems.
Poll times must exceed the amount of time it takes to execute the query and allow time for the parameter to parse and distribute the data obtained before it can resend the query. To avoid problems, use Debug to find the Query Execution Time before decreasing a poll time.
Note
If you change the poll time for a standard or collector parameter to an amount of time that is shorter than the amount of time it takes to complete the execution of the query used by that parameter, you might cause the parameter to go into an infinite loop, or other serious problems.

To change parameter polling cycle

In PATROL Configuration Manager, right-click the agent for whose parameters you want to schedule polling times.
Select Event Management > Parameter Settings.
Select the Polltimes tab.
Click Add Objects.
In the Object Selection dialog box, select the Get Objects From Agent option.
From the Hosts field, select the default host (/).
The Application Classes field is populated with the application classes.
In the Application Classes field, select the application class for which you want to modify the parameters.
In the Instances field, select the instance for which you want to modify the parameters.
The Parameters field is populated with the collector parameters.
Select the collector parameter, and click Add.
Click Close.
In the Event Management Parameter Settings dialog box, select the collector parameter from the Selected Objects List.
In the Set Polltime field, set the polling cycle as required.
Click Apply.

Changing parameter thresholds

You can use PATROL Configuration Manager to change the thresholds of KM parameters. PATROL for Amazon EC2 ships with the parameters set at thresholds that are effective for those parameters in the average environment. You might need to change these thresholds. If so, make changes to the thresholds in one account and then test the results in that account before exporting those changes throughout your environment.

To change threshold for a parameter

In PATROL Configuration Manager, right-click the agent for whose parameters you want to change threshold.
Select Event Management > Parameter Settings.
On the Thresholds tab click Add Objects.
In the Object Selection dialog box, select the Get Objects From Agent option.
From the Hosts field, select the default host (/).
The Application Classes field is populated with the application classes.
In the Application Classes field, select the application class for which you want to modify the parameters.
In the Instances field, select the Amazon Web Service instance for which you want to modify the parameters.
The Parameters field is populated with the parameters.
Select the parameter, and click Add.
Click Close.
In the Event Management Parameter Settings dialog box, select the parameter from the Selected Objects List.
Change the thresholds on the Border Range, Alarm Range 1, or Alarm Range 2 tabs as required.
Click Apply.

Deactivating parameters

To reduce the impact on your system resources and enhance performance, you can deactivate parameters that are not commonly needed, but keep the following in mind:

The icon for the consumer parameter disappears and no data is collected or stored.
The collector parameter that sets the deactivated consumer parameter notates the System Output Window with an error each time that collector attempts to send information to the deactivated consumer parameter.
Some collector parameters might also set off recovery actions if they cannot find a deactivated consumer parameters.

Instead of disabling consumer parameters, consider one of the following options:

Disable only the alarms for a consumer parameter.
The collector parameter continues to send data to the consumer parameter, and the consumer parameter continues to provide a view and history for that data. No alarms or warnings are displayed and no recovery actions are triggered for that consumer parameter.
Deactivate a collector parameter.
The collector parameter stops collecting data for the consumer parameters it sets.
Deactivate monitoring of an application class.
No parameters are displayed for an application class that is not set up for monitoring.

To activate or deactivate a parameter

In PATROL Configuration Manager, right-click the agent for whose parameters you want to schedule polling times.
Select Event Management > Parameter Settings.
On the Thresholds tab, click Add Objects.
In the Object Selection dialog box, select the Get Objects From Agent option.
From the Hosts field, select the default host (/).
The Application Classes field is populated with the application classes.
In the Application Classes field, select the application class for which you want to modify the parameters.
In the Instances field, select the Amazon Web Service instance for which you want to modify the parameters.
The Parameters field is populated with the parameters.
Select the parameter, and click Add.
Click Close.
In the Event Management Parameter Settings dialog box, select the parameter from the Selected Objects List.
Select or clear the Active option as required.
Click Apply.