Creating a new Impact Rule


Use the following procedure to create a Rule that sends data to BMC IM.

Before you begin

Creating Impact Rules begins on the Rules Detail Control panel. On this panel, you select the type of event for which you want to create an Impact Rule. Depending on the type of event you select, different versions of the Selection Criteria panel are displayed, providing you only with the applicable attributes for each event type.

To create a new Impact Rule

  1. From the Event Control panel of the Impact Rule Processor, select the Rule Set to which you want to add the new Rule:

    • To use a new Rule Set, enter the primary command Add RuleSetName and press Enter.

      Replace RuleSetName with a meaningful name, such as RULBIIZ1.

    • To use an existing Rule Set, select it at the bottom of the panel, ensure that its status is ENABLED, and press Enter.
    Warning

    Note

    By default, new Rule Sets have a status of ENABLED. If a Rule Set is disabled, you can enable it by entering the E (Enable) line command. If you select a disabled Rule Set to browse or edit, it becomes LOADED. A LOADED Rule Set is pulled into storage and will not send events to a BMC IM cell. If you do not save changes to the Rule Set, the changes disappear at the next IPL because they were not saved to DASD.

  2. On the Rule Set Overview panel, enter the primary command Add to add a new Rule.
  3. Complete the Rules Detail Control panel:
    1. In the Rule ID field, enter a meaningful identifier for the new Rule.
    2. In the Event Type field, specify the type of event that will be associated with the new Rule.

      Success

      Tip

      You can enter a question mark to see a list of valid event types.

      For example, assume that you are creating a new Rule for handling message number IEF450I. You could enter IEF4501 at Rule ID, and MSG at Event Type as shown in the following image..

      Rules Detail Control panel

      BMC Software --------- Rules Detail Control ------- Impact Integration for z/OS
      COMMAND ===>                                                 TGT  --- AT6I     
                                                                   TIME --- 14:13:01
        The following options are displayed in sequence, or may    DATE --- 06/01/25
        be selected by entering the two-character code                               
         S1 - Selection Criteria            BA - BiiZ Action                         
         SV - Variable Dependencies                                                  
      Rule ID       ===> IEF4501                                                     
      Event Type    ===> MSG      Type  of event ( ? for list)                       
      Initial Mode  ===> ENABLED  (ENABLED/DISABLED/TEST)                            
      Criteria match rate threshold:                                                 
      If matched    ===>          (Maximum # times matched within INTERVAL, 0-100)   
      in seconds    ===>          (Interval length, 1-99999 seconds)                 
      then status   ===>          (SUSPEND, DISABLE, NOACTION)                       
      Application information:                                                       
      Group  ===>          Func ===>          Code ===>                              
      Author ===> BCVAXT4  Desc ===>                                                 
      Last Modified by          on          at                                       
        Press ENTER to continue, END to apply changes, CANCEL to cancel changes
    3. Press Enter to continue.
  4. On the Selection Criteria panel, enter the criteria that you want to use (specific to the event type that you selected), and press Enter.The fields on this panel vary, depending on which event type you selected in the previous step. The following image shows an example for event type MSG. In this sample, the user entered IEF450I (the message ID of the WTO) at Text ID and JDB1ABND at Job Name before pressing Enter.

    Selection Criteria panel

    BMC Software  ----- Selection Criteria - MSG  ----- Impact Integration for z/OS
    COMMAND ===>                                                 TGT  --- AT6I     
           Rule-set === RULBIIZ1             Rule-id  === IEF450I                  
    Text Description:                                                              
    Text ID     ===> IEF450I                 Ignore leading plus ==>               
    Text String (Enter Below):                                                     
    Issuer Identification:                                                         
    Job name    ===> JDB1ABND                          Name of issuer              
    Type        ===>                                   (JOB, STC, or TSO)          
    Jobclass    ===>                                   Job class of issuer         
    Acct Info   ===>                                   Job accounting information  
    RACF User   ===>                                   RACF Userid                 
    RACF Group  ===>                                   RACF Group name             
    Route Codes ===>                                                               
    Desc Codes  ===>                                                               
    Console ID  ===>                                   Destination Console         
    Console Name ==>                                   Destination Console Name    
    MLWTO Minor ===> ALL                               All/Single                  
    Press ENTER to continue, END return to Detail Control, CANCEL to cancel changes
  5. On the Variable Dependencies panel, define the value of variables to be tested as part of the selection criteria for the event, and press Enter.You can use any SHARED or LOCAL variable on this panel. For example, continuing the MSG example, you could specify the variable WORDx, where x indicates the position of the word in the message. That is, WORD3 would represent the third word in the message. For multiline messages, you could use LINEx, or you could use LINEx_WORDx to specify a particular word in a particular line.

    In the example shown in the following image the variable LINE1_WORD5:8:10 represents the fifth word in the first line of the MLWTO message; this example also checks the value of the last ten characters, starting at position eight. Based on the entry in the Variable-Value field, if the variable resolves to characters 0C1, the Rule fires.

    Variable Dependencies panel

    BMC Software -------- Variable Dependencies - MSG  ------- screen
    COMMAND ===>
           Rule-set === RULBIIZ1          Rule-id  === IEF450I
                                                                               OR/
     Variable-name                    Op  Variable-Value                      AND
     LINE1_WORD5:8:10________________ EQ  0C1________________________________  ___
     ________________________________ __  ___________________________________  ___
     ________________________________ __  ___________________________________  ___
     ________________________________ __  ___________________________________  ___
     ________________________________ __  ___________________________________  ___
     ________________________________ __  ___________________________________  ___
    Press ENTER to continue, END return to Detail Control, CANCEL to cancel changes
    Warning

    Note

    You can code the variables with or without an ampersand (&), but the Variable-name field does not display ampersands.

    You can also use AND/OR logic when defining variables. The entries in the following image would resolve into one of the following statements:

    • [(QSMFID=SYSA) AND (IMFDAY=TUE) AND (WORD3=DUMP)]
    • [(QSMFID=SYSB) AND (IMFDAY=WED)]
    • (QSMFID=SYSC)

    Variable Dependencies panel with AND/OR logic

    BMC Software ---------- Variable Dependencies - MSG  -------- screen
    COMMAND ===>
           Rule-set === RULBIIZ1          Rule-id  === IEF450I
                                                                                OR/
     Variable-name                    Op  Variable-Value                      AND
     QSMFID__________________________ EQ  SYSA_______________________________  AND
     IMFDAY__________________________ EQ  TUE________________________________  AND
     WORD3___________________________ EQ  DUMP_______________________________  OR_
     QSMFID__________________________ EQ  SYSB_______________________________  AND
     IMFDAY__________________________ EQ  WED________________________________  OR_
     QSMFID__________________________ EQ  SYSC_______________________________  ___
     ________________________________ __  ___________________________________  ___
     ________________________________ __  ___________________________________  ___
    Press ENTER to continue, END return to Detail Control, CANCEL to cancel changes
  6. (optional) On the BMC EM/SIM Event Action panel, specify event data that you want the new Rule to send to a BMC Impact Manager cell, and press Enter.

    BMC EM/SIM Event Action panel

    BMC Software  --- BMC EM/SIM Event Action - MSG  -- Impact Integration for z/OS
    COMMAND ===>                                                 TGT  --- RB7I     
                                                                                  
           Rule-set === RULBIIZ1             Rule-id  === IEF4501                  
    Send Event        ===> Y         (Y|N)                                         
    Journal Details   ===> Y         (Y|N)                                         
    Target(s)         ===> IMPACT*                                                 
    Event Class       ===> Abend_Data                                              
    Severity          ===> MAJOR                                                   
                                     (UNKNOWN, OK, INFO, WARNING, MINOR, MAJOR,    
                                      CRITICAL) (Default=WARNING)                  
    Component Alias   ===>                                                         
    Event Slot                        Slot Value                                   
    _________________________________ ______________________________________       
    _________________________________ ______________________________________       
    _________________________________ ______________________________________       
    _________________________________ ______________________________________       
                                                                                  
    Press ENTER or END to continue, or CANCEL to cancel changes.
    Warning

    Note

    This panel does not automatically populate the fields. If you prefer not to send data to the BMC Impact Manager cell, simply press Enter on this panel.

    The following table provides a description of the fields:

    BMC EM/SIM Event Action panel fields

    Field name

    Enter

    Description

    Send Event

    Y

    Specifies that the slots containing all the event data should be sent to the BMC IM cell

    If you specify Send Event=Y then an event of the class specified in Event Class will be sent. If no Slot Names and Slot Values are specified then only the default slot names and slot values will be sent for the root class of this rule type (i.e. MSG) in this case the slots for MV_EVENT_MSG class.

    Journal Details

    Y

    Specifies that event details are written to the BBI Journal, including:

    • The Rule Set and Rule ID that created the event
    • The message text of the event
    • The severity and Component Alias of the event
    • The targets
    • The unique event identifications (UEIDs)

    The default setting is N (do not write the messages to the BBI Journal). If you specify BIIZJRNL=Y in BBPARM member AAOPRMIZ, messages for this event and all events will be written to the BBI Journal.

    In addition, if you specify BIIZJRNL=N in BBPARM member Premixed, but you specify Y in this field, messages for only this event will be written to the BBI Journal.

    Target(s)

    IMPACT*

    Specifies that the Rule will send events to BMC Impact Manager (SIEM) cells

    You can specify up to 6 target cell names; each name can be up to 16 characters long and can contain variables. If you do not specify any targets, the event is sent to all cells.

    Use the TGTNAME parameter in BBPARM member AAOGMEIZ to assign cell names. More than one cell can be assigned to the same target name. You can use wildcards in the target name:

    • An asterisk (*) indicates that the target name should match an unlimited number of characters.
    • A plus sign matches a single character. For example, the target name IMPACT* matches all cell names that begin with the name IMPACT.

    Event Class

    Abend_Data

    Specifies that these slots will contain data related to an abend

    This data is mixed case.

    Severity

    MAJOR

    Specifies that this event is assigned a severity of MAJOR

    Component Alias


    Specifies the value in slot mc_smc_alias, which is used to correlate events against objects in the Service Impact Model (SIM)

    If no value is specified for Component Alias, the mc_smc_alias slot will not be populated.

    Event Slot

    slotName

    Enables an override of the default slot values or to extend the event class with additional slot names and values

    Warning

    Example

    • Abend_Code – identifies the abend code.
    • Abend_Reason – identifies the abend reason code
    • Abend_Time – identifies the time of the abend
  7. (optional) On the BMC EM/SIM Event Action panel, add more Event Slots and Event Classes, and, modify the default Event Class.For example, you can specify additional slots and values, a severity level to associate with the event, or any existing slots that should be modified. Observe the following guidelines:

    • To add new Event Slots or Event Class, you must have defined a new class on the cell.
    • You must make this new class a subclass of the default class. For more information about Event Slots or Event Classes, see BAROC-events.
    Warning

    Example

    In the following image, the event class Abend_Data is a subclass of MV_EVENT_MSG.

    BMC EM/SIM Event Action panel with LOCAL variables and substringing

    BMC Software  --- BMC EM/SIM Event Action - MSG  -- Impact Integration for z/OS
    COMMAND ===>                                                 TGT  --- AT6I     
           Rule-set === RULBIIZ1             Rule-id  === IEF450I                  
    Send Event        ===> Y         (Y|N)                                         
    Severity          ===> MAJOR                                                   
                                     (UNKNOWN, OK, INFO, WARNING, MINOR, MAJOR,    
                                      CRITICAL) (Default=WARNING)                  
    Event Class       ===> Abend_Data                                              
    Component Alias   ===>                                                         
    Event Slot                        Slot Value                                   
    Abend_Code_______________________ &WORD4:7:4____________________________       
    Abend_Reason_____________________ &WORD6:8:8____________________________       
    Abend_Time_______________________ &WORD7:6:8____________________________       
    _________________________________ ______________________________________       
    _________________________________ ______________________________________       
    _________________________________ ______________________________________       
      Press ENTER to continue, END return to the Rules Detail Control panel or      
     CANCEL to cancel changes

    The data for the slots is obtained from the LOCAL variables WORD4, WORD6, and WORD7. Variable substringing is also used to call the values of certain word positions within the WTO. For more information about substringing, see Variable-modifiers.

  8. Press PF3 twice to return to the Rule Set Overview panel.The new Rule is now displayed at the bottom of the Rule Set Overview panel as displayed in the following image:

    Rule Set Overview panel with new Rule

    BMC Software  --------- Rule Set Overview --------- Impact Integration for z/OS
    COMMAND ===>                                                 TGT  --- AT6I     
    Rule Set ID: RULBIIZ1                                        DATE --- 06/01/25
    Primary commands: Add, Save, Sort, Unsort, Reset, Filter     TIME --- 14:21:41
    LC CMDS --- (S)elect, (E)nable, (D)isable, (T)est, (DE)lete, (I)nsert          
                (C)opy/(CC)opy, (M)ove/(MM)ove, (B)efore or (A)fter, (R)epeat      
    Sort Criterion:                                            Scroll right/left   
    LC  Rule-id Stat Text-id          Type   Fired Jobname     Changed      ID     
        ________ _   ________________ ____         ________ ________ _____ ________
    ___ EXTERN03 ENA                  EXT        4          06/01/25 12:30 BCVAXT4
    ___ IEA995XX ENA IEA995I          MSGa       0 BCVAXT*  06/01/25 13:26 BCVAXT4
    ___ IECABEND ENA IEC161I          MSGa      96          06/01/25 13:25 BCVAXT4
    ___ ALARM030 ENA *                ALRM       0          06/01/25 13:53 BCVAXT4
    ___ IEF450I  ENA IEF450I          MSG        0 JDB1ABND 06/01/25 14:21 BCVAXT4
             ************************* END OF DATA **************************
    Success

    Tip

    You can use PF/11 to scroll to the right and see the BMC II for z/OS action data that was created with this Rule.

 

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

BMC Impact Integration for z/OS 8.3 and 8.4