Rules

About JaxView Rules

In JaxView, a rule is an event notification logic that governs how alert notification gets triggered. These conditions are as simple as having a monitor in error multiple times in a row or as complicated as having a composite of monitors meet a certain condition. For example, if Monitor A is in error and Monitor B is good then trigger an event. The rule engine has a flexible API that allows you to create your own rules.

Rules are associated to Services via monitors. The following figure describes the relationship between alerts, rules and Web service operation monitors.

Working with the Rules Tab

The Rules tab is divided in to two main sections. On the left side is the Rules object tree that you use to add, edit and navigate to rule definitions . On the right is a display panel you use to edit rule definitions or view rule properties and associations. The following sections describe how you work with rules in JaxView.

Rules object tree

The Rules object tree is a hierarchy of rule objects defined in JaxView. Rule definitions that are in the Rules object tree can be assigned to monitor definitions in the Monitors tab. If any alert definitions have been assigned to the rule, these are included in the Rules object tree as child nodes to the applicable rule node. The following figure is an example of the Rules object tree showing several rule nodes with one node expanded to show the alert definition that is assigned to the rule.

The contents of the right side display panel of the Rules tab page is determined by the context selected in the left Rules object tree. Each object node in the left Rules object tree includes an action menu that you access by selecting the node and then use the right mouse click to display the node action menu. The following table describes the nodes in the tree and their associated actions:

Rules Node Actions

Rule Properties Tables

Selecting a rule node in the Rules object tree displays the Rule Properties table for the selected rule in the right panel. This table is a summary of the configuration settings and associations for the rule. The following figure is an example of a Rules Properties table displayed in the right side panel when a rule definition node is selected.

The Rule Properties tables include three sections described as follows:

Properties

This section gives a summary of the current configuration for the rule. It lists the rule properties and their current values. You use the node action menu in the Rules object tree to edit the property values.

Assigned Monitors

This section lists any monitors to which the selected rule definition is assigned. In the figure above, no monitors have been associated with the selected rule. You can collapse or expand the Assigned Monitors subpanel by clicking on the small arrow icon on the left end of the title bar.

Assigned Alerts

This section lists any alerts that have been associated to the selected rule definition. In the figure above, an Email Transaction alert type is associated with the selected rule. You can collapse or expand the Assigned Alerts subpanel by clicking on the small arrow icon on the left end of the title bar.

Rule Types

There are current two rule types available in JaxView: Always Rule and Once Rule. To use a rule, you must add an instance of the rule type as an object to the Rules object tree.

To add a rule definition to the Rules object tree

1. Select the Rule tab from the Main View navigation menu

2. Click on the Rules root node in the left side object tree menu

3. Right-click the mouse to display the action menu for the node and select Add New Rule. The Add Rule page is displayed in the right panel

4. Select the rule type you want to add from the Add Rule list by clicking on the Rule type name. The Add Rule configuration page for that rule type is displayed in the right panel

5. Complete the Add Rule form as indicated and click the Save button near the bottom of the form

6. After a short refresh cycle, the new rule definition is added to the Rules object tree

The following sections describe the rule types and their associated configuration properties.

Always Rule Properties

Title (required)

The title for this rule. This title will be displayed in the Rules object tree view as a reference to this alert

Description (optional)

A short description for this rule.

Rule Condition:

This sets the rule status trigger condition based on the status of the monitor to which this rule is assigned. Select Error to create a rule that will trigger an event when an associated monitor status is reported to be in Error for n consecutive times where n is a number you enter in the Always field for this rule (see description below).

Always:

Set this to the number of consecutive times a condition needs to happen before the rule is triggered. Always means that this rule will trigger this many times until the status has been changed.

For example. If the monitor detects a condition is an Error and the Always property is set to 2, if monitor A is in error 2 times in row (2 consecutive messages cause an error) then the rule will be triggered. If monitor A is in error 2 more times, then the rule will be triggered again and alert will be fired again. This keeps going until the status of the monitor changes from error to something else, then the rule count logic starts over again.

Trigger only if error: Check this box when you have a good condition selected and you only want to recieve your recovery (good) alert only if an error alert has already been triggered.

Once Rule Properties

Title (required)

The title for this rule. This title will be displayed in the Rules object tree view as a reference to this alert

Description (optional)

A short description for this rule.

Rule Condition:

This sets the rule status trigger condition based on the status of the monitor to which this rule is assigned. Select Error to create a rule that will trigger an event when an associated monitor status is reported to be in Error for n consecutive times where n is a number you enter in the Once field for this rule (see description below).

Once:

Set this to the number of consecutive times a condition needs to happen before the rule is triggered only once. Once means that this rule will trigger the alerts only once until the status changes.

For example. If the condition is Error and Always is 2, if monitor A is in error 2 times in row (2 consecutive messages cause an error) then the rule will be triggered once. If monitor A is in error 2 more times, then the rule will NOT be triggered again. No alerts will be fired from this rule until the status of the monitor changes from error to something else, then the rule count logic starts over again.

Trigger only if error: Check this box when you have a good condition selected and you only want to recieve your recovery (good) alert only if an error alert has already been triggered.

Mutiple Rule Properties

Title (required)

The title for this rule. This title will be displayed in the Rules object tree view as a reference to this alert

Description (optional)

A short description for this rule.

Rule Condition:

This sets the rule status trigger condition based on the status of the monitor to which this rule is assigned. Select Error to create a rule that will trigger an event when an associated monitor status is reported to be in Error for n consecutive times where n is a number you enter in the Once field for this rule (see description below).

Initialy after X times, repeat every Y times:

This type of rule will help if you want to trigger once after a certain number of condition met then trigger again afte Y times going forward until the condition is reset by seeing a different status