Managing Execution Plans

An Execution Plan provides the interface for a script and its execution. Through an Execution Plan, you specify configuration values for the script, indicate on which Agent Groups the script runs, define the run schedule, and set the blackout periods.

BMC Synthetic Transaction Execution Adapter (TEA) Agents can process up to 120 Execution Plans.

This topic contains the following procedures:

Before you begin

Define Business Services before defining Execution Plans. Every new Execution Plan inherits the following settings from the associated Business Service:
- Execution Plan run frequency
- Execution Plan timeout period
- Agent Groups
- Blackout settings
- Active or inactive status
You can modify these settings for individual Execution Plans.
Upload custom scripts.

To view the list of defined Execution Plans

On the BMC Application Performance Management Console, click the Synthetic tab.
On the navigation menu, click Execution Plans.
A list of defined Execution Plans is displayed.
To sort the list based on a specific column, click the relevant column heading. To sort in reverse order, click the column heading again.
To filter the list, start typing a value in any of the boxes under the column headings, or select an option from the Status list.
To see the factor or factors creating an inactive status, hover over the status.
The following factors can cause an Execution Plan to be inactive:
- User-induced inactive status of a Business Service
- User-induced inactive status of an Execution Plan
- Blackout period of a Business Service
- Blackout period of an Execution Plan

To define an Execution Plan

Modifications to an Execution Plan modify and override the inherited settings from the associated Business Service.

On the BMC Application Performance Management Console, click the Synthetic tab.
On the navigation menu, click Execution Plans.
Perform one of the following actions:
- To define a new Execution Plan, on the Execution Plans Action menu, click Add Execution Plan.
- To edit a previously defined Execution Plan, from the shortcut menu of the specific Execution Plan, select Edit Execution Plan.
In the General Execution Plan Settings panel, configure the following settings:
- To change the the Execution Plan Status, select Activate or Deactivate.
  The status of the Execution Plan determines whether the script runs. The Execution Plan is also affected by the status of the Business Service.
- Enter a unique name for the Execution Plan and (optionally) a description for the Execution Plan.
- Select the Business Service with which to associate the Execution Plan.
  Default values, inherited from the Business Service, are populated for Execution Settings and Blackout Settings.
For a new Execution Plan: In the Execution Plan Script panel, select the script file that this Execution Plan controls.
You cannot change the script association when you edit an Execution Plan.
Set values for the script attributes that require user input, such as URLs, host names, and passwords.
Note
The system does not validate script values. For information about provided scripts, see Managing-scripts.
In the Execution Settings panel, the following parameters are set by the Business Service. You can override the settings:
- Run Frequency. Enter how often the Execution Plans runs the script. The default frequency is every 5 minutes.
- Timeout Period. Enter how long to wait for a script to finish running before timing out. The default timeout period is 15 minutes.
  If the script times out, the event is recorded in the TEA Agent log. The script runs again at the next scheduled interval.
- Agent Groups. Select the Agent Groups on which to run the Execution Plan's script.
In the Blackout Settings panel, the parameters are set by the Business Service. You can modify the settings to extend blackout periods:
- To set a weekly blackout period
  1. Select Repeat on and select one or more days.
  2. Click the Start Time box and set the time of day the blackout begins.
    Click Current Browser Time to set the time of the system running the browser.
  3. In the Duration box, set how long the blackout lasts, in minutes or hours.(Version 2.5.01) After you set the duration, the system displays the end time of the blackout period.
    For information about system behavior during changes in daylight saving time, see Daylight-saving-time-and-blackout-periods.
  NoteThe times and dates begin and end according to the local time set on the BMC Application Performance Management Console.
- To set a single blackout occurrence
  1. Select Occur once.
  2. Click the Start Time box and set the date and time for the blackout to take place. Click Current Browser Time to set the date and time of the system running the browser.
  3. In the Duration box, set how long the blackout lasts, in minutes or hours.(Version 2.5.01) After you set the duration, the system displays the end date and time of the blackout period.
    For information about system behavior during changes in daylight saving time, see Daylight-saving-time-and-blackout-periods.
  NoteThe times and dates begin and end according to the local time set on the BMC Application Performance Management Console.
During a blackout period, the TEA Agent stops executing the Execution Plans, therefore, monitoring and notifications are disabled.
The relationship between a Business Service blackout period and an Execution Plan blackout period is a logical OR, meaning that the Execution Plan is in a blackout period if either the applicable Business Service, or the Execution Plan, or both are in blackout.
Click Save.

Initial configuration operations might take several minutes, depending on the heartbeat interval of the BMC TEA Agent (30 seconds, by default) and the amount of time to download the scripts to the Agent computer.

To delete a defined Execution Plan

On the BMC Application Performance Management Console, click the Synthetic tab.
On the navigation menu, click Execution Plans.
From the shortcut menu of the specific Execution Plan, select Delete Execution Plan.
Click OK in the confirmation message.