Creating a blackout period for KM event generation

PATROL KM for Log Management allows you to configure the KM to temporarily stop generating events for the purpose of backing up the file or some other action that might cause the PATROL KM for Log Management to alarm temporarily. There are two methods that you can use to do this.

To programmatically suspend event generation for a file, you can direct a process to write the label for that file into a flag file. When the file's label is written to the flag file, the KM stops generating events for that file. To start generating events for those files when the process is complete, direct the process to remove the labels from the flag file.

You must manually create a default flag file named PMGSuspend or you can write the label for that file in /PMG/CONFIG/PMGSuspend. The PMGSuspend file should be located in $PATROL_HOME on UNIX or %PATROL_HOME% on Windows. If you move the PMGSuspend flag file to another directory or create a new flag file, you must redirect the PATROL KM for Log Management to the new flag file or flag file location as described in To direct the KM to a new flag file or flag file location.

To suspend event generation for a period of time, use the PATROL KM for Log Management interface as described in  To suspend KM event generation for a specified time period

For example, if you are monitoring a backup application for tape write errors and you know that these errors usually occur in large amounts as the drive retries, then you can use this feature to prevent generating events during the time the drive is retrying unless the number of errors exceeds a defined limit. 

To suspend KM event generation for a specified time period

  1. Access the LOGT application menu for the instance as described in Accessing Menu Commands, InfoBoxes, and Online Help.
  2. Select Advanced Features > Configure Log Monitoring Blackout.
  3. In the Configure Log Monitoring Blackout dialog box, enter the number of minutes that you want to temporarily stop monitoring the selected file.
  4. (Optional) If you want the Product Short to go into alarm if a certain number of events occur during the blackout period, select the Override if errors exceed count check box and enter the maximum number of events that can occur during the blackout period before the KM goes into alarm.
  5. Click OK.

The PATROL KM for Log Management immediately suspends generating events for the file until the specified number of minutes has passed or the specified number of errors has occurred.

You can manually add the /PMG/CONFIG/suspendAll configuration variable to suspend all the instances configured under the PATROL KM for Log Management.

You can enter the following values for this variable:

  • 1 - suspends all the instances
  • any value other than 1 - removes suspension from all the instances

When using the KM interface, the suspendAll variable and the PMGSuspend flag file take precedence over the Suspend KM event generation for a specified time period option.

To direct the KM to a new flag file or flag file location:

  1. Access the LOG application menu as described in Accessing Menu Commands, InfoBoxes, and Online Help.
  2. Select Identify Flag Directory.
  3. In the Identify Flag Directory dialog box, enter the full path to the directory where the flag file is located. The flag file directory must meet the following requirements:
    • The directory must exist on the system.
    • The PATROL default account must have read permissions on the directory.
    • On UNIX, do not use the /tmp directory as the log file directory. Many UNIX systems clear the /tmp directory upon system reboot.
  4. Click Apply.