Rulebases and Rules
TIBCO Hawk Agent can use several rules that contain monitoring criteria. Multiple rules can be consolidated in a collection called rulebase. In other words, a rulebase is a collection of one or more rules, whereas a rule is a user defined monitoring policy. It specifies a data source in the form of a microagent method, one or more tests that check for conditions, and one or more actions to perform if the test condition evaluates to true. Rules can monitor parameters of an operating system, application or other managed object and perform tasks.
TIBCO Hawk installation provides several such default rulebases with specialized rules. You can create additional rulebases with specialized rules. Using these rulebases, you can perform general monitoring tasks and test for very specific conditions. Escalations can be applied to actions to allow for a staged response to a condition. An agent can be configured to initially take corrective actions itself, but if the condition still persists, then call for outside help from administrators. A rulebase can be deployed on a single Hawk Agent, on a group of Hawk Agents.
TIBCO Hawk Console provides an easy-to-use WYSIWYG rulebase editor that allows construction of simple and complex rules and rulebases. No scripting is required and an administrator does not need to learn special rule syntax. To simplify rule administration, rules in a rulebase should be related. Multiple rules in the same rulebase can monitor a particular application or system function. For example, an application rulebase could include one rule for raising a medium-level alert if disk space or CPU usage exceeds certain thresholds. Another rule could initiate a high-level alert and send a text or email message to the system administrator if the application process terminates.
Rulebases and associated objects have a hierarchical structure. Every rulebase contains rules which are made up of data sources, tests, and actions. The following diagram illustrates the relationships between objects in a rulebase.
Figure 10: Relationship Between Objects in a Rulebase
