Translate Requirements

After monitoring requirements are defined, you can translate them into TIBCO Hawk terms. For each item, create a mapping table with a structure similar to the following table. To find TIBCO Hawk equivalents, refer to the TIBCO Hawk Methods Reference, and consult task and action tables in Chapter 3, Monitoring with Rulebases.

Table 3 Mapping Table
Column	Sample Contents
Information to gather	The microagent and method to invoke, the script or command to execute, a manual procedure, or the AMI method to call. Include any arguments the method requires and any return values. Include all means of solving the problem.
How often to gather the information	Every sixty seconds, or whenever a log file entry is made, or whenever a message is received from a managed application through AMI.
Conditions that define the question, problem, or situation	When the disk space falls below ten percent, when the server load is twice normal, when the AMI message contains the word "error". If multiple circumstances apply, include them all.
Actions for TIBCO Hawk to take	Raising an alert, calling a microagent method, executing a script that pages the system administrator, triggering an email action, modifying an application through its management interface. Include all actions you want to take.
When resolution occurs	When the value returns inside a reasonable range, when the error message no longer exists (for how long?), when the instrumented application returns an acceptable value.

Table 3 Mapping Table

Column

Sample Contents

Information to gather

The microagent and method to invoke, the script or command to execute, a manual procedure, or the AMI method to call. Include any arguments the method requires and any return values. Include all means of solving the problem.

How often to gather the information

Every sixty seconds, or whenever a log file entry is made, or whenever a message is received from a managed application through AMI.

Conditions that define the question, problem, or situation

When the disk space falls below ten percent, when the server load is twice normal, when the AMI message contains the word "error". If multiple circumstances apply, include them all.

Actions for TIBCO Hawk to take

Raising an alert, calling a microagent method, executing a script that pages the system administrator, triggering an email action, modifying an application through its management interface. Include all actions you want to take.

When resolution occurs

When the value returns inside a reasonable range, when the error message no longer exists (for how long?), when the instrumented application returns an acceptable value.

Transform the table entries into TIBCO Hawk rule elements using the following equivalents:

Use the default rulebases supplied with the TIBCO Hawk software as examples. You can also copy these rulebases to use as the basis for new rules.

A data source includes a microagent method, its arguments, and a data delivery interval (for synchronous methods). The data source is used for all tests and actions in the rule. Since the first field in your table corresponds to a microagent method and the second field corresponds to a data delivery interval, all items in the list with the same entries in the first and second columns can be grouped together in the same rule.

Some items in the list might become tests in a common rule. For example, items that depend on the same "under what circumstances" information could be separate actions in the same test.

Analyze your monitoring rules, tests and actions, then group them into sets based on function or location. For example, group together rules that:

Following these guidelines is particularly important for taking advantage of Rulebase View. For more information, refer TIBCO Hawk Programmer’s Guide.

Rules that remain after others are grouped into sets might belong to a base set for all agents. For identification purposes, rulebase names should reflect the functions they perform.