Formulate Rules

With requirements defined and translated into TIBCO Hawk equivalents, you can encapsulate monitoring logic in TIBCO Hawk rulebases.

Build and Test Rules

In TIBCO Hawk WebConsole, create a new rulebase and then build each rule with a data source, tests and actions. If overlap exists between your requirements and default TIBCO Hawk rulebases, try copying and modifying an existing rulebase.

Consider simulating the situation in a test, such as starting several copies of a process and observing a TIBCO Hawk agent terminate all but one process. Use this technique to verify that the rule performs as planned.

Another way to test rules is to use network query and action and invoke methods that imitate the action of the rule.

Refine Rules

After rulebases are built and performing roughly as designed, you can fine-tune them as follows:

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Increase rule efficiency by considering ways to faster and better respond to monitored conditions. Advanced testing and action options might be more efficient. Consider using different metrics, or changing thresholds.

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Maximize the information content of messages by using variable substitution to add information from a data source to your alerts and notifications.

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Consider other monitoring options such as building your own scripts, or instrumenting an application with an AMI interface.

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Increase the automation of your monitoring effort as you see possibilities to automate tasks you now do yourself. For example, using escalation to automate a scaled response to a continuing problem can eliminate the need for intervention. Adding a true test counter to a test can reduce the number of false alarms.

Use Alternate Methods

You might already have developed scripts or executable programs that monitor critical functions. You can incorporate these programs into your TIBCO Hawk environment using the execute, executeForNumber() and executeForString() methods of the Custom microagent.

Examine your current monitoring solution to identify tasks that can be fully automated using TIBCO Hawk software. Some monitoring tasks performed by scripts may be easier to perform using TIBCO Hawk agents and rulebases. For example, if you use a script that checks for process existence on a UNIX system, the script probably executes the ps command every so often. Using the Process microagent is a more efficient way to do this because it does not have to start a new process each time the process table is checked.