Dashboard gadgets
The Dashboards screen is the entry point to the BMC Defender Server dashboard facility, that permits the user to display real-time data about various elements of the system, such as message rates, top devices, top users, and many other data items.
Each dashboard consists of various window panels. Each window panel can contain a user specified gadget. The particular gadgets are specified and configured using the Edit Layout at the bottom of the screen, or by clicking the Edit Gadget icon at the upper right of each window panel.
The user can create, modify, and delete dashboard configurations. The operator can make this the default login screen, and select a default dashboard, using the User Preferences screen of the system.
Specific gadgets are as follows:
Analyze-Aux-File-Gadget | The Analyze-Aux-File-Gadget allows the operator to see the Devices, Users, Facilities or Severities or both associated with an Aux Filter File during a user selected time interval. The gadget operates in a fashion similar to the Analyze screen available on the Messages > Aux screen. This gadget might be better suited to a scrolling type window, but can work in any dashboard panel. (See the Analyze-Device-Gadget and Analyze-Thread-Gadget for related functions.) |
Analyze-Device-Gadget | The Analyze-Device-Gadget allows the operator to see the Users, Facilities, or Severities or both associated with a selected device during a user selected time interval. The gadget operates in a fashion similar to the Analyze screen available on the Catalog > Devices screen. This gadget might be better suited to a scrolling type window, but can work in any dashboard panel. (See the Analyze-Aux-File-Gadget and Analyze-Thread-Gadget for related functions.) |
Analyze-Thread-Gadget | The Analyze-Thread-Gadget allows the operator to see the Devices, Users, Facilities or Severities or all associated with a selected thread during a user selected time interval. The gadget operates in a fashion similar to the Analyze screen available on Catalog screens. This gadget might be better suited to a scrolling type window, but can work in any dashboard panel. (See the Analyze-Aux-File-Gadget and Analyze-Device-Gadget for related functions.) |
Custom-Accounting-Gadget | The Custom-Accounting-Gadget allows the user to select certain counters (for instance, All Messages, All Tickets, or thread counters) and provide a label for these counters, useful for accounting and audit purposes. The gadget also permits operators to specify their own custom style sheets, header file, and footer file. This gadget is often used in multi-tenant mode, so that a tenant of the system can account for the messages pertaining to their particular area of interest. |
Custom-Alerting-Gadget | The Custom-Alerting-Gadget allows the user to select certain alerts (using match expressions applied to the alert text message. The gadget then shows the status of these alerts rolled up to a single item. The gadget requires a match pattern that matches the alert text for Counter, Pattern, Device, Custom and other alerts. Once configured, user can drill down into gadget to see the various matched alerts on the system and their status. Additionally, the gadget permits the user to custom style sheets, header file, and footer files, useful for advanced customization of the gadget. |
Device-Rate-Gadget | The Device Rate Gadget allows the operator to see a list of recent devices, along with the rate of change (either positive or negative) in the message rate for the device during a span interval of time ranging from 1 to 15 minutes. The gadget is useful for seeing which devices are no longer sending messages or have experienced a recent surge or drop in message rates. |
External-URL Gadget | The External-URL Gadget allows the operator to specify an arbitrary web page segment to be displayed in a dashboard panel. The operator specifies the URL, including a required http:// prefix, as a gadget parameter using the gadget editor screen. When the dashboard is displayed, the panel shows the contents of the specified URL, clipped at the corners of the panel. This provides a method of easily extending the dashboard facility to include external information, pictures, forms, and other components at an external URL. |
Forwarding-Gadget | The Forwarding Gadget allows the operator to inspect the state of a single BMC Defender Server forwarder by Message Source (Msg01 and Aux01) as a method of determining the current state of the forwarding operation. The gadget depicts the forwarding parameters and current counts for successful forwards, forwarding errors, and messages bypassed for the forwarder due to a non-match of the configured match facility and severity. The operator can configure this dashboard gadget for each forwarder of interest. The actual Forwarding operation is configured on the Message > Config > Forwarding screen. |
Gauge-Alert-Gadget | The Gauge-Alert-Gadget monitors a correlation alert on the system. Any alert defined in the Alerts > Counters facility can be specified. The gadget creates a gauge indicating the alert threshold, alert state and current value of the alert. This permits the operator to easily inspect the state of any alert on the system, and whether the alert is near to exceeding, or has exceeded its configured threshold. |
Gauge-Disk-Space-Gadget | The Gauge-Disk-Space-Gadget can be used to monitor the percentage of disk space in use on the system. The user specifies the particular disk to monitor (either Log, Archive, or Catalog), and the gadget depicts a gauge showing the current disk space used for the selected disk. |
Gauge-Loading-Gadget | The Gauge-Loading-Gadget can be used to monitor the system loading to assess performance and assist with system tuning. The gadget monitors several different types of performance, selected by the operator, as follows:
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Gauge-Ticket-Gadget | The Gauge-Ticket-Gadget monitors a ticket user on the system, as defined in the Tickets facility. Any ticket user can be specified as an argument to the gadget, including the All user. The user specifies the ticket user name, a threshold, and a time interval. This permits the user to easily inspect the number of open tickets assigned to various users on the system, as an indication of current system activity. |
Graph-Message-Rate-Gadget | The Graph-Message-Rate-Gadget displays the rate of received messages on the system during the last five minutes, the last sixty minutes, the last five hours, or the last ten days. The operator can select either a vertical bar graph, or a line chart (where the line chart permits higher resolution, but requires Flash or Java). This gadget allows the user to easily inspect short-term or long-term message rates on the system as a method of determining message activity. |
Graph-Parse-Value-Gadget | The Graph-Parse-Value-Gadget displays a numeric value parsed from the messages of a correlation thread on the system. The graph is useful for performance monitoring, or other applications where a numeric value contained in a particular field of a message represents a metric at a particular moment in time. |
Graph-Thread-Rate-Gadget | The Graph-Thread-Rate-Gadget displays the rate of received messages for a particular correlation thread on the system during the last five minutes, the last sixty minutes, the last five hours, or the last ten days. This gadget is similar to the Graph-Message-Rate-Gadget described previously, but allows the operator to monitor the activity of a single thread (as opposed to all messages). The operator must select a valid thread as part of the gadget configuration. Any thread defined in the Correlation > Threads facility can be specified. |
Graph-Search-Key-Gadget | The Graph-Search-Key-Gadget displays the rate of received messages for a particular single keyword on the system spanning a time of one or more days. This gadget is different from the Graph-Message-Rate-Gadget described previously, creating a bar chart that the operator can click down into to view certain data associated with a specific keyword. The gadget works best when seldom occurring keywords are selected. The gadget can fit into a standard dashboard pane or a double width pane (and has Small, Medium, and Large size settings). |
Keyword-Gadget | The Keyword-Gadget lists keywords (that optionally match a user match pattern) and furnishes access to the keyword counter. The user can sort keywords, list keyword by filter, and click down to run searches related to keywords. This provides a simple method of determining what keywords are most active within the aggregated log database. |
Last-Message-Gadget | The Last-Message-Gadget allows the operator to specify up to eight different correlation threads. For each thread, the gadget depicts the last message logged by the thread since midnight. (If no message exists for the thread, no value is displayed.) This gadget permits the operator to view recently received messages, especially useful for viewing message that occur only occasionally (such as messages that reflect anomalies and exceptions). This type of gadget is especially useful for Scroll or Map type layout files. |
Map-Ticket-Gadget | The Map-Ticket-Gadget allows the user to create a visual representation of processes, devices, or applications by specifying an image file and then locating ticket groups on the image. The operator specifies a URL to an image file, and then specifies the name and XY coordinates (on the map file) of up to eight different ticket groups. If any ticket is opened for one of the ticket groups (during the current day), the icon color for the group appears red, otherwise the icon color appears green. Options to assist in the design and configuration of the gadget appear at the bottom of the Edit screen. |
Map-USA-Gadget | The Map-USA-Gadget furnishes a picture of the United States and places icons representing external IP addresses, parsed from a user specified thread. The specified thread should contain one or more external IP address references. The Small mode size setting is appropriate for the Map-3 and Map-5 layout files, whereas the Large mode size setting is appropriate only for the Map-1 layout file. This gadget assists with visualizing the Geo-locations of external computers whose addresses are appearing on the local network, such as when monitoring HTTP servers, Firewalls, Routers, and other perimeter devices. (See also the Map-World-Gadget, described in the following.) |
Map-World-Gadget | The Map-World-Gadget furnishes a picture of the world and places icons representing external IP addresses, parsed from a user specified thread. The specified thread should contain one or more external IP address references. The Small mode size setting is appropriate for the Map-3 and Map-5 layout files, whereas the Large mode size setting is appropriate only for the Map-1 layout file. This gadget assists with visualizing the Geo-locations of external computers whose addresses are appearing on the local network, such as when monitoring HTTP servers, firewalls, routers, and other perimeter devices. (See also the Map-USA-Gadget, described in the following.) |
Notepad-Gadget | The Notepad-Gadget furnishes general utility in permitting a user to add arbitrary notes to the dashboard, such as to annotate a meeting or action list or status. The administrator can edit the gadget to provide arbitrary text and a title, to a maximum of a few thousand characters. |
Parse-Aux-File-Gadget | The Parse-Aux-File-Gadget is similar to the Parse-Thread-Gadget, but operates on one of the the Aux (Filter) files of the system. The user selects an Aux File identifier, an optional match expression, and a parse specification. The gadget then parses the aux file and tabulates counts of each unique field. Parse specifications are the same as used in other BMC Defender locations, such as the Query and Excel report functions. This gadget might be used in any window pane, but might be particularly well suited for a Scroll type layout file. |
Parse-Field-Gadget | The Parse-Field-Gadget parses recent messages, filling out user selected fields with parsed values. A maximum of Max Non-Indexed messages are scanned. (Also, only log data collected today is scanned.) The user can specify up to twelve different parse specifications and field label. This gadget is useful for displaying the performance counts associated with messages that have performance values issued periodically, such as Queue Statistics for the BMC AMI Defender for z/OS agent program (and other BMC Defender Agent). |
Parse-Perf-Gadget | The Parse-Perf-Gadget furnishes special utility in displaying performance counter fields parsed from a thread for a class of messages, and then displaying the current value and change from that value. This gadget can be used to display a range of performance counts from a class of messages over a selected time interval. |
Parse-Thread-Gadget | The Parse-Thread-Gadget is similar to the Analyze-Thread-Gadget, but allows the operator to specify a parse function to display the unique counts of a certain field parsed from each message within a thread (as opposed to the device names or user names contained within the thread). The operator selects an existing Thread identifier, an optional match, and the parse specification. The dashboard then parses the field from the message thread and tabulates counts of each unique field. Parse specifications are the same as used in other BMC Defender Server locations, such as the Query and PDF report functions. This gadget can be used in any windowpane, but is particularly well suited for a Scroll type layout file. |
Score-Card-Gadget | The Score-Card-Gadget displays a graphical depiction of a score card configured in the Reports > Audit > Score Cards section of the program. The gadget shows each enumerated requirement of a selected score card, and displays a block whose color represents the current status of that requirement: Red indicates an issue with the requirement; Yellow indicates the requirement is below average (by a user configurable) amount; Green indicates the current message count for the day exceeds some percentage of the daily average, and is within expected tolerances. This gadget works best with the Map-1 or Map-3 gadgets. |
Severities-Gadget | The Severities-Gadget displays a breakdown of the severities of all messages on the system since BMC Defender Server program startup. The operator can specify the severity list as a pie chart, a stack chart, or a table of fields. This permits the operator to easily inspect the severity of recent messages received on the system. |
Text-HTML-Gadget | The Text-HTML-Gadget provides general utility in allowing an operator or administrator to configure a window panel with arbitrary text or HTML, such as to add annotations, user supplied images, or hyperlinks to the display. The operator can enter arbitrary HTML and text to a maximum of 400 characters. If the text does not fit in the window panel, it is automatically clipped at the window pane edges. |
Top-Alerts-Gadget | The Top-Alerts-Gadget depicts the state of the top five alerts on the system, indicating whether the alert is more or less its threshold, as well as the current alert value, and time interval for the alert. First, any alerts that are currently set (red) are listed, followed by alerts that are clear (green). To limit the list of alerts to a specific range, the operator can specify a match keyword or expression as part of the gadget configuration, such as Facilities, Devices, or some logical combination of keywords. This provides a method of limiting the display to a range of system alerts, or five specific alerts. |
Top-Devices-Gadget | The Top-Devices-Gadget depicts the state of the top five devices on the system. These top devices can be the most recently updated devices, or the devices that have received the most messages since BMC Defender Server system startup. The operator can limit the list of devices to a specific Device Group (configured in the Correlation > Config > Address Groups screen). This provides a method of limiting the display to a range of devices, or five specific devices on the system. The operator can select the display to be a horizontal bar chart, a pie chart, a stack chart, or a table of fields. |
Top-Facilities-Gadget | The Top-Facilities-Gadget depicts the state of the top five syslog facilities on the system. These top facilities can be the most recently used facilities, or the facilities used most often since BMC Defender Server system startup. Facilities might be the standard syslog facilities, or user defined facilities configured in the Messages > Config > Overrides > Facilities screen. The operator can depict facilities as a horizontal bar chart, a pie chart, a stack chart, or a table of fields. |
Top-ODBC-Gadget | The Top-ODBC-Gadget can be used to query values directly from an ODBC capable database. The user composes an arbitrary SQL query that returns at least two columns, where the first column contains labels, and the second column contains values. If the second column is numeric, the user can graphically depict the top five results as a horizontal bar chart, a pie chart, or a stack chart. If the second column is not numeric, the fields display mode can depict arbitrary data. |
Top-Threads-Gadget | The Top-Devices-Gadget depicts the state of the top five correlation threads on the system. These top threads can be the most recently updated threads, or the threads that have received the most messages since BMC Defender Server system startup. The operator can limit the list of threads to a specific set of threads using a keyword or expression qualifier that matches the thread title. This provides a method of limiting the display to a range of threads, or five specific threads on the system. The operator can select the display to be a horizontal bar chart, a pie chart, a stack chart, or a table of fields. |
Top-Ticket-Users-Gadget | The Top-Ticket-Users-Gadget depicts the state of the top ticket users on the system, based upon the number of open tickets for each user, the number of closed tickets, or all tickets. This provides an easy way to view ticket activity on the system in terms of who is being assigned (or has been assigned) tickets. The operator can limit the list of ticket users to a specific set using a keyword or expression qualifier. This provides a method of limiting the display to a range of ticket users, or five specific users on the system. |
Top-Users-Gadget | The Top-Users-Gadget displays the top user references on the system. These top users can be the users that have most recently sent messages, or the users that have generated the most messages since BMC Defender Server system startup. This provides an easy way to view user activity on the system in terms of who is generating messages. The operator can select the display to be a horizontal bar chart, a pie chart, a stack chart, or a table of fields. |
Watch-Device-Gadget | The Watch-Device-Gadget displays the message status of a single system device, showing a depiction similar to the Messages > Devices screen. The operator specifies the Idle Time Threshold. If no messages are received from the specified device after that time, the background fields of the gadget turn red, furnishing an easy way to view message activity for a device. The operator can configure multiple Watch Devices on a single dashboard to watch activity from critical system devices. |
Additional notes on gadgets
- Gadgets are stand-alone programs that reside in the s-cgi/gadgets folder. This folder is usually protected using an htaccess.txt file (requiring logins to access gadget information).
- Gadgets can be externally accessed (depending on web server permissions) by a static URL available using the View External URL link available on the editor for a gadget. This permits an administrator to display a gadget on a web page outside of BMC Defender Server.
- Most gadgets have additional options that allow the administrator to suppress drill down into the gadget, and allow the administrator to customize the error message (if any) associated with the gadget. This is available using the Additional Options link toward the bottom of the editor for a gadget.
- Dashboard layout files can be customized, and new dashboard layouts created by modifying the contents of the dash/layouts directory of the system.
- Dashboard configurations can be programmatically created or externally modified by modifying the contents of the dash/config directory of the system.
- Installation defaults, useful for restoring dashboard configurations, are contained in the dash/install directory of the system.
- The latest help on gadget (that might be different herein, depending upon whether a service pack is installed at the BMC Defender Server) is generally available using the Gadget Help link, accessed on the dashboard editor screen. The online help usually reflects the latest gadgets and their functions, especially for intermediate versions of the system.
BMC Defender Server is pleased to accept and discuss enhancement requests that pertain to new functionality, or any existing functionality of its dashboard system. The dashboard facility is intended to be driven by customer requirements, and is often updated to reflect the current needs and ergonomic considerations of the BMC Defender Server user database. Feel free to contact BMC Defender Server support to begin a discussion.