Form Rules

Form rules allow you to define rules for common situations without having to write RDL2 code. To create a rule, click on the Add FORM button on the Rules tab in the MVCA server configuration.

Rule Name

Enter a descriptive unique rule name into the Name field.

Trigger

The Trigger section enables you to define when Actions for the Rule will be executed. The selector field enables you to change the trigger options group based on the session type.

Note

The default session is the Console Messages session.

Each trigger group is composed of several steps. Each step allows you to enable the trigger and specify parameters for each trigger.

When multiple triggers steps are defined, it operates as a logical AND between the groups. For example, if a trigger is defined with Color selected with the WHITE sub-option, and Message ID is selected with 'IEE136I' entered, BOTH of these must be true for the actions to be executed.

Every group of trigger contains an Ignore Interval setting. If this is set, once a form rule is triggered, it will not trigger again until the ignore interval expires. This setting is in minutes.

At least one trigger step must be enabled in a form rule.

Console Messages

When Console Messages is selected, the following triggers are available:

Color— You can select the mainframe message color you want displayed.
Message ID— You can enter message IDs in this field. Multiple message IDs are entered using a comma.
Contains— You can enter text into the search. If the text is found within the message, it will be displayed.
IS WTOR— You can evaluate messages which contain WTOR. These messages require an operator response.

HMC LPAR and CPC Status Change

This trigger group applies to HMC sessions. LPAR and CPC status changes going from 'operating' to 'not-operating' can be caught.

CPC/LPAR Name— Enter the name of the CPC or LPAR.
Old Status— Check the checkbox and click on the field to select the desired values.
New Status— Check the checkbox and click on the field to select the desired values.

SNMP

This group applies to SNMP sessions. SNMP V1 and V2 traps can be handled using this trigger group.

Trap/Query Name— The name of the SNMP trap handler (if defined) or SNMP query.
Agent Address— The IP address or hostname of the SNMP device being monitored. Multiple addresses may be entered by separating them with a comma.
Enterprise OID— Enterprise OID. Applies to V1 traps only.
Generic Trap— Generic trap number. Applies to V1 traps only.
Specific Trap— Specific trap number. Applies to V1 traps only.

Syslog

This group applies to Syslog messages originating from UNIX, Linux and similar systems.

Hosts— The IP addresses or hostnames of the systems sending the Syslog message. Multiple addresses may be entered by separating them with a comma.
Severity, Severity, Facility— Evaluates to true when the received message has one of the selected values.
Contains— You can enter the text to search for. If the text is found anywhere within the message text, this will evaluate to true.

Actions

You must have at least one action selected for the FORM Rule to run. When all of the selected trigger steps evaluate as true, the actions are executed.

Parameters for all actions use the properties for the current message. To use a message property, surround the expression with percent signs ('%'). For example, '%message.MSGID%' will extract the message ID for a console session. To see all the message properties, right-click on a message in the MVCA Viewer and select Message Properties from the context menu. A dialog will be displayed showing all the properties for the message.

Action	Description
Mark as priory and monitor	Marks the message as a priory message and monitors. This action applies only to console sessions. When the message changes color on the screen, or rolls off the screen, the message is removed from the priority message.
Send alert to viewers	Sends an alert to all viewers with the given text.
Send commands	Sends a command to the session. Multiple commands may be sent by specifying one per line in the text field. Example Specify a trigger condition with the message ID of 'ITT006A' and select 'Is WTOR,' you can send a command like: reply %message.REPLYNUM%,end Note You can automatically respond to the WTOR
Email	Sends and email for the current message. Host— The SMTP (mail server) host name or IP address. Port— The SMTP port (usually 25). Use SSL— Enables an SSL connection to the mail server. SMTP User— The user name if authentication is required to send email. SMTP Password— The password if authentication is required to send email. From— The user name of the sender. To— A comma separated list of email recipients. Subject— The subject of the email. Body— The text of the email.
Send BAROC event	Sends a BAROC event to a cell. The cell must be defined on the main BAROC page. Cell— The name of the cell. Event Text— The text of the event. Severity, Priority— Select the severity and priority of the BAROC event.
Create Remedy Incident	Creates a Remedy incident. Connection Name— The name of the Remedy connection Submitter first and last name— The first name and last name to be used in the incident Summary— Summary text for the incident. Impact type, Urgency— Select the impact type and urgency for the incident.
Run and RDL2 function	Calls an RDL2 function. Parameters may also be specified.
Run a program	Runs a program on the server. Enter the program name and parameters in the field.
Stop processing rules	When checked, rules after this rule are not processed.
Discard	When checked, the message is discarded and not sent to viewers.