Navigating the Administration Console

Via the Administration Console, the Product Administrator can:

• Install the application properly (using the product key) and set overall application parameters.
• Configure users and groups; maintain and edit user/group definitions (including assigning users and groups to projects, as described in Managing-users-and-groups.
• Create projects to facilitate the users' administration of key middleware assets (connections in TrueSight Middleware Administrator). Project configuration includes defining the project, configuring connections for IBM WebSphere MQ queue managers or TIBCO EMS servers, and adding connections, users and groups. The final step is to assign permissions to users/groups that let the user act on connections. See the Managing-projects section for more information.
  Administering a configured project includes assigning filters to project connections, adding custom links, setting event rules for active events, and so on.

• Establish a solid security environment. The five security models available to the Product Administrator affect these functions. Add to this general security administration that includes filtering connections and accessing object summary views.

Login is performed via a unique URL which is included in the installation package (see also Accessing-TrueSight-Middleware-Administrator-after-installation).

Entry to TrueSight Middleware Administrator is via the browser-based user interface which is divided into two consoles: the first is the Administration Console, and is reserved solely for the Product Administrator. The second is the User Console, meant for the middleware administrator managing IBM WebSphere MQ queue managers or TIBCO EMS.

A quick overview of the Administration Console shows:

• The Global Action Bar just below branding areas, with generic options available no matter your current location in TrueSight Middleware Administrator.
• A Navigation Panel with product administrative objects displayed.
• The main workspace, which initially displays the BMC splash image.
• A Status Panel beneath the workspace to display results of the last user action.

The physical division of console components is consistent no matter your current location in the Console. Refer to the following sections for further information about each of the main components of the Administration Console.

The Global Actions Bar

The Global Actions Bar is the options menu located just beneath the top branding area. This bar includes a set of important generic tools that an Administrator can use at any point when working in the Administration Console.

The Global Actions Bar options:

• user console: Accesses the User Console.
• logout: Logs you out of TrueSight Middleware Administrator.
• share: Generates a URL which enables the application page or workspace to be shared with other authenticated users or applications (such as an embedded object in a dashboard).
• audit log: Displays Audit Events, a log of user-configurable object events in the workspace.
• events: Shows active events that are produced when rule type definitions result in configured thresholds being surpassed by a specified number of occurrences. This is added by the IBM WebSphere MQ infrastructure and will not appear if it is not installed.
• options:
  • Manage Layouts: Enables the user to create and edit WMQ layouts.
  • Display last error: Shows the last system error.
  • Change Password: Lets you change the current password.
• help: Provides access to the TrueSight Middleware Administrator user documentation.
  • About: Displays the current version installed.
• search (text box): Enables you to search for objects in the TrueSight Middleware Administrator environment. Searchable objects are those for which indexing has been enabled.
• advanced: Displays options for advanced searching, including compound and free form queries. Searches can also be stored and reused. Refer to the Searching-for-IBM-WebSphere-WMQ-and-or-TIBCO-EMS-objects section for further information.

The Workspace

The Workspace is the heart of the Administrator Console and is a flexible container whose contents change according to the last user selection.

Selecting options within an object's Summary View (the view displayed in the workspace) can also cause the workspace contents to vary. An example is selecting the View operation for a list member within a summary view.

The Properties Editors are the editing space for the Administrator to work with individual object instances. You access the Properties Editors by clicking on the object name in the workspace. In the above example, clicking on a Connection Name displays the Properties Editor for the relevant connection. 

Some Properties Editors' contents fill more than a single viewable page. To view all relevant properties and fields, use the scroll bar at the edge of the workspace.  

Navigation Panel 

The Navigational Panel (shown below) is the grey-bounded white rectangle in the left of the Administration Console. This is the primary navigation tool in TrueSight Middleware Administrator. Objects within the Navigational Panel are linked to specific viewable and/or editable page content that fills the workspace upon selection.

As with any UI component, the Navigational Panel is divided into various parts. The first user-relevant area is the text entry filter box, the white box beneath 'Admin.'

The main part of the Navigation Panel contains the following objects, which appear each time you access the Administration Console:

• Users: Displays all current users.
• Groups: Displays all currently administered groups.
• Projects: Displays all current projects.
• Filters: Displays configured filters (per object).
• Product Administrators: Displays all Product Administrators. The default administrator user is 'admin', however the Administrator can create additional Administrators at will. Note that a user must be in this group in order to see admin console in the Global Actions Bar. If the user is in this group they will see user console in the Global Actions Bar when they are in the Admin Console and admin console when they are in the User Console, allowing the user to switch screens at will.
• Settings: Displays miscellaneous important settings for monitoring (polling) objects, to archive files and to set e-mail parameters for event notification.
• Message Formats: Enables you to create and manage message format scripts and rules so users can easily format and read messages where the content is formatted in a specific way. 
• Security: Displays the Security Models view in which you can review current security model settings or change the selected model.
• Product Key: Displays the product license attributes. Used to update the product key in the event that:
  • the product key was not entered correctly upon first accessing the application.
  • if you have obtained an additional key to extend the number of licensed IBM WebSphere MQ or EMS connections.
  • to extend product use with a new product key when the original key has expired.
• MQSC Console Administrators: Enables you to define an MQSC Operator from your list of existing users so that user can run MQSC commands through the MQSC Console.
• WMQ Connections: Displays all configured IBM WebSphere MQ connections. These objects will only appear if the install included them (if IBM WebSphere MQ is not installed, you will not see WMQ Connections).
• EMS Connections: Displays all configured TIBCO EMS connections. These objects will only appear if the install included them (if TIBCO EMS is not installed, you will not see EMS Connections).

The arrows to the right of each object open a list of all object instances. For instance, select the arrow to the right of the Projects object and all project names are displayed within the Navigation Panel. 

Summary Views

When you select an object from the Navigation Panel, you open a Summary View (or similar top-level view). In the image below, the Groups view is displayed.

Summary Views have these characteristics and features:

• Summary Views are intended to be primarily read-only in nature. You can use the options associated with each one, but you need to select an instance to edit its properties.
• The Summary View shows the full set of object instances, and typically includes operations that you can perform on an individual instance (i.e, clear a queue).
• The set of operations varies depending on the object type.
• The contents of each view are tied to purpose and function.

As an example, the Groups operations menu contains operations for each group, these are:

• Copy: Produces the new group editor so you can rename the existing group, thus duplicating it.
• Delete: Deletes the group.
• Audit: Opens the group's audit records for display.

Typical Summary View elements include:

• <Title of view reflecting the selected object> (here: Groups)
• Add: Click the  icon to create a new object. 
• CSV Export: Click to generate a CSV file of the workspace contents. You are then prompted to open or save the file.
• Auto-refresh: This option indicates that the current view is updated. The rate of refresh is set in the Timer option (see below).
• Timer: This Dashboard refresh timer is by default set to 'off' but can be configured to run according to your requirements by clicking the arrow icon and selecting 5, 10 or 30 minutes. Note that this option re-fetches the data that is currently available in a snapshot so the view may not appear different if the actual snapshot routine is on a different schedule.
• Refresh: Resets and updates the view immediately.
• Share: Select to share page contents.
• Wildcard: Click to apply filters to object instances in the Summary View. A drop-down with four options, wildcard, regexp, system and !system, adjacent to the filter definition text box can be used to switch between regular expressions as filtering options.
• Operations menu (in the far left column for each object instance): Each row has an identical set of operations to apply to the selected object. In this Summary view, click on the arrow to select one of the available options.

Certain objects have unique contents, reflecting specific purposes within TrueSight Middleware Administrator. These objects include Product Administrators, Settings, Security and Product Key, which display a Save icon instead of the options listed above, and which is used to save settings or security model changes, depending on the object and action taken. 

Properties Editors 

The Properties Editors are second-level views, from the physical/user interface design point of view. Their purpose is to enable viewing and editing of an object instance (for example, a connection or project).

Display the Properties Editor, as shown below, by clicking on the object name in the Summary View, or by selecting the object name from the Navigation Panel.

Note the following:

• The contents of each vary according to object function.
• Some include collapsed properties groups. Open each by selecting the triangle adjacent to the group name.
• Some properties are disabled; those that are enabled can be edited.
• Certain editable property groups have a New  icon associated with them. When selected, it displays an editable 'create' workspace view for defining the new object's properties.

Navigation principles

Navigation in TrueSight Middleware Administrator is logical and straightforward. Select the same menu option and it yields the identical result each time.

Two basic types of navigation exist – horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal navigation is the result of selecting objects at the same interface level; for instance, selecting different top-level objects from the Navigation Panel.

Vertical navigation is in-page navigation. This is sometimes referred to as drilling down or drilling up. For example, selecting Copy from the Operations drop-down menu adjacent to any filter in the Filters list opens the Properties Editor.