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iTERA Alert Version 6.0 Installation and User Guide

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iTERA Alert Version 6.0Instal lat ion and User Guide

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April, 2009

iTERA Alert Version 6.0 Installation and User Guide

Copyright Vision Solutions®, Inc. 2003–2009

All rights reserved.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and is furnished under a license agreement. This document is proprietary to Vision Solutions, Inc., and may be used only as authorized in our license agreement. No portion of this manual may be copied or otherwise reproduced without the express written consent of Vision Solutions, Inc.

Vision Solutions provides no expressed or implied warranty with this manual.

The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective organizations or companies:

• Vision Solutions is a registered trademark and ORION Solutions, Integrator, Director, Data Manager, Vision Suite, ECS/400, OMS/400, ODS/400, SAM/400, Replicate1, EchoCluster, EchoStream, RecoverNow and iTERA HA are trademarks of Vision Solutions, Inc.

• DB2, IBM, i5/OS, iSeries, System i, System i5, AIX5L, Informix, System p, System x, and System z, and WebSphere—International Business Machines Corporation.

• Adobe and Acrobat Reader—Adobe Systems, Inc.

• Double-Take, GeoCluster, and NSI—NSI Software, Inc.

• HP-UX—Hewlett-Packard Company.

• Teradata—Teradata Corporation.

• Intel—Intel Corporation.

• Java, all Java-based trademarks, and Solaris—Sun Microsystems, Inc.

• Linux—Linus Torvalds.

• Microsoft and Windows—Microsoft Corporation.

• Mozilla and Firefox—Mozilla Foundation.

• Netscape—Netscape Communications Corporation.

• Oracle—Oracle Corporation.

• Red Hat—Red Hat, Inc.

• Sybase—Sybase, Inc.

• Symantec and NetBackup—Symantec Corporation.

• UNIX and UNIXWare—the Open Group.

All other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

If you need assistance, please contact Vision Solutions’ SCP Certified CustomerCare team at:

CustomerCareVision Solutions, Inc.Telephone: 1.800.337.8214 or 1.949.724.5465Email: [email protected] Site: www.visionsolutions.com/Support/Contact-CustomerCare.aspx

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iTERA Alert Version 6.0 Installation and User Guide iii

Chapter 1—Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1How to Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

iTERA Alert Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2—Installation and Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Pre-Installation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Installing iTERA Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Applying PTFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Activate iTERA Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Configuring iTERA Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Two Ways to Respond To An Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter 3—Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17iTERA Alert Main Menu (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Respond to an Alert (7.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Set Notification Preferences (7.2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Alert Manager (7.11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Alert Detail (7.11, Option 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Respond to Alert (7.11, Option 6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Alert Log Detail (7.11, Option 8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Alert Log Detail (7.11, Option 8, Option 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Alert Manager – Escalation View (7.11, F7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Alert Manager – Response View (7.11, F7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Alert Manager – Message Text view (7.11, F7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Alert Schedules (7.12). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Alert Schedules (7.12, F6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Work with Alert Schedules (7.12, Option 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Change Alert Schedules (7.12, Option 5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Notification Group (7.13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Work with Escalation (7.13, Option 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Contents

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Contents

iv iTERA Alert Version 6.0 Installation and User Guide

Change Description (7.13, Option 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Add Notification Groups (7.13, F6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Responder User Information (14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Change Responder Information (7.14, Option 2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Create User (7.14, F6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Monitored Message Queue (7.15). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Change Attributes (7.15, Option 2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Add Monitored Message Queue (7.15, F6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Message ID Configuration (7.16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Configure iTERA Alert (7.17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

iTERA Alert Subsystem (7.21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Start iTERA Alert Jobs (7.22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Restart iTERA Alert Jobs (7.23). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Appendix A—Download and Install iTERA Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Appendix B—Uninstalling iTERA Alert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

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iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide 1

Introduction 1

How to Use This GuideThis guide provides instruction on iTERA Alert installation, configuration, operation, and reference information.

Most standard IBM function keys and menu options will not be described, unless needed to clarify their relevance or unique use in iTERA Alert. All field descriptions are defined in the Glossary, except where clarification of a field is needed.

The numbers in parentheses in the chapter headings in the reference section of this guide and menu options referenced throughout this guide correspond to the iTERA HA menu options used to access that menu in iTERA Alert. If accessing iTERA Alert independently of iTERA HA, the first number of the reference (7) is not applicable.

On the iTERA Alert main menu, each menu option lists a corresponding command, which can be added to any of your user’s menus (provided the libraries ITALERT and ITXP have been added to the library list).

iTERA Alert OverviewiTERA Alert is a simple-to-use application that monitors selected System i message queues then sends alert messages via e-mail, text message, message queue, or all three, to one or more defined users (called responders).

iTERA Alert can be accessed from within iTERA HA by selecting menu option 7 from within the main iTERA HA menu (after it has been activated in the Replication Components [30.23] screen) or as an independent application by entering the command E2AMENU from a command line.

The first step in setting up iTERA Alert is to configure or define the SMTP IP address and the return e-mail address that will be used to send e-mail and text messages, see the Configure iTERA Alert (7.17) menu. The message queues to be monitored are selected in the Monitored Message Queue (7.15) menu.

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2 iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide

Responders are the individual users who will receive alert messages. They are defined in the Responder User Information (14) menu. Once responders have been defined in the system, they are grouped together by Notification Group (7.13) and escalation strategies are defined in Work with Escalation (7.13, Option 2). The notification groups are then assigned to Alert Schedules (7.12), and should be designed to provide 24/7 coverage.

Each alert schedule must have one or more notification groups assigned to it before it can be used.

To start the message monitoring process, you simply start the iTERA Alert Subsystem (7.21). As messages are generated in monitored message queues, users will start receiving alert messages via e-mail, text message, message queue, or via all three channels simultaneously.

To respond to an alert message, users can either access the message in the Alert Manager (7.11) or from Respond to an Alert (7.1) then manually enter the Alert Message ID.

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iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide 3

Installation and Configuration 2

Pre-Installation RequirementsIn order to use iTERA Alert, the following are required.

• IBM Developer Kit for Java™ 1.4 (or higher) must be installed. If the program is not present, install it from your OS installation CDs. Verify it is loaded on your systems by doing one of the following:

– Type the following on a command line, then press Enter:

WRKLNK ‘/QIBM/ProdData/Java400/*’

Look for jdk14 or higher.

– Type the command GOLICPGM on a command line and then press Enter. Select option 10 (Display installed licensed programs). Look for the following:

• Licensed Program: 5722JV1

• Installed Status: *COMPATIBLE

• Description: Java Developer Kit 1.4

• The SMTP server name or IP address is required in order to send e-mail messages to identified responders within the network. Consult with your Network Administrator to get this information.

• The SMTP server must be configured on the System i hosting iTERA Alert to relay messages (text or e-mail) outside of the network without requiring authentication. Consult with your Network Administrator.

Installing iTERA AlertFor users of iTERA HA, iTERA Alert is already installed on your systems. Continue with the following sections:

• “Applying PTFs” on page 4

• “Activate iTERA Alert” on page 4

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• “Configuring iTERA Alert” on page 6

For all other systems, follow the installation instructions in “Download and Install iTERA Alert” on page 39, then continue with the “Applying PTFs” (below), step 10 and step 11 of the “Activate iTERA Alert” section, and the “Configuring iTERA Alert” section.

Applying PTFsIn order to ensure correct functioning of the product, download and apply all PTFs for iTERA Alert by entering the following command:

ITINSTPTF PRDID(7PA2K25) RELEASE(V6R0M0) GET(*YES)

DSP(*YES) GETSAVF(*YES) APY(*YES)

IMPORTANT

If needed, detailed instructions on the PTF retrieval and application process are available in the document How to Get and Apply iTERA HA PTFs, available for download from the Extranet or from the Knowledgebase. However, when using those instructions, substitute Product ID 7PA2K25, and Version Release V6R0M0.

Activate iTERA Alert

IMPORTANT

If the system is not running iTERA HA v6.0, then skip step 1 through step 9 in this section and continue with step 10 and step 11. All iTERA HA users should execute all steps in this section.

1. Within iTERA HA, select the Configuration Components menu (30.23). The Replication Options screen is displayed.

2. For *ITALERT, select option 6=Enable Global, press Enter (toggles the Global State to ‘On’), then press F3 twice to exit to the iTERA HA main menu.

3. End the iTERA HA subsystems (Primary first, then Target – E2ENDSBS).

4. Sign off all nodes.

5. Sign on to the Primary system with the HA user profile.

6. Check the library list to ensure ITALERT has been added. If not, check to see if it is in the E2JOBD. If not, add ITALERT to the bottom of the

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Activate iTERA Alert

iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide 5

library list of E2JOBD. Sign off then sign on with the HA user profile. Check the library list again to verify ITALERT exists.

7. Start the iTERA HA subsystems (Backup first, then Primary – E2STRSBS).

8. Clear the E2MSGLOG (1.1, F11, F16 – all nodes), the E2MSGQ (CLRMSGQ E2MSGQ), and any other message queues you will be monitoring.

IMPORTANT

If this step is not done, then when starting the iTERA Alert subsystem, the job which monitors E2MSGQ and other monitored message queues will immediately generate several alerts (depending on the message severity levels defined in the message queue configuration screen). These alerts, of course, will be old messages but will need to be responded to and deleted in the Alert Manager to bring iTERA Alert to a current state. If you have any questions in relation to the implications of clearing E2MSGQ contact CustomerCare.

9. From the iTERA HA main menu, select iTERA Alert (option 7) or enter the command E2AMENU. The iTERA Alert main menu is displayed:

10. If not running iTERA HA, execute the command E2AMENU. The initial screen is slightly different than the main iTERA Alert screen displayed from within iTERA HA.

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11. Select option 22 to start the iTERA Alert subsystem, (or use the command E2ASTRSBS) then select option 21 to view it (or E2ASBS). After a few moments of processing jobs, the following jobs should be active:

Configuring iTERA Alert1. Select option 17 from the iTERA Alert menu. Enter the appropriate data

into the fields specified below.

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• ALERT PROFILE/ALERT PASSWORD - Enter E2ALERT in both the Alert Profile and Alert Password fields. (This provides access to the profile that has been automatically set up.)

NOTE

The default password is E2ALERT, but may be changed using the CHGUSRPRF command. If the password is changed for the profile, it must be changed here (and vice versa).

• END EMAIL SERVER - Enter N in the End Email Server field.

• EMAIL GATEWAY SMTP - Enter the IP address or DNS host entry for the SMTP server that will send alerts via email or text. In order for iTERA Alert to send messages to an email address outside of your domain, the System i needs permission to relay messages (send) to an outside email address (e.g., [email protected]). The System i must be able to relay messages through your mail server without prior authentication. This may require setting up an exclusion rule on your mail server. Consult with your Network Administrator.

• ALERT SENDER EMAIL - The email address entered in this field does not have to be a valid email address. The text entered here will be what is displayed as the sender’s address on email alerts generated by iTERA Alert. It is a good idea to specify text that will help identify the system on which the alert is generated. For example, you could enter Primary@[yourcompany].com for your Primary system and Backup@[yourcompany].com for your Backup (replacing [yourcompany] with your company’s domain name, of course).

• RESPOND TO EMAIL & RESPOND TO USERNAME AND PASSWORD - While the functionality that will use the Respond To Email and Respond to Username &Password fields is not yet in use, enter at least one character in each field for now. A future enhancement of iTERA Alert will include the capability to respond to alerts by replying to the text message or email alert that was received. These fields will indicate the email and user access data for doing so.

• ITERA ALERT CODE - Leave blank; not required at this time.

• The rest of the fields on this screen are self-explanatory.

2. Select option 15. The Monitored Message Queues screen is displayed:

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3. Select option 2 for the iTERA HA message queue listed.

• The Message Queue, Library, and the IT Alert Group Code fields are populated as they should be.

• Specify ‘A’ in the Monitor Status field to actively monitor the message queue.

• The Min Message Severity value indicates that only those messages generated in the queue with a severity level equal to or greater than the value designated will generate alerts. The lower the number, the more alerts will be generated. Adjust the level as needed.

• The Remove Messages field indicates that the message will be removed from the queue once the alert has been responded to. This feature is a future enhancement, so enter “No” for now.

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After the indicated fields are populated as desired, press Enter. The display is returned to the Monitored Message Queues screen.

If there are other message queues to be monitored by iTERA Alert, press F6=Add MsgQ and enter the information for that queue. Exit the screen when finished.

4. From the iTERA Alert main menu, select option 14. The iTERA Alert Responder Entry screen is displayed. Type the required information for a new user then press Enter.

• The Responder Code should correlate with the user’s system User ID. The Responder Name should be the user’s first and last name.

• For Preferred Alert, enter one of the letters indicated in the screen example. This will be the default channel on which an alert is sent to this user. The user can receive alerts on the other channels, as long as they are defined in the subsequent fields. If you specify E as the Preferred Alert but do not enter the user’s email address in the Email Address field, a message indicating the error will display at the bottom of the screen when communications are tested (F10).

• Auto Respond is a future enhancement, so set the field to N for now.

After entering the user information, press Enter, then press F10 to test communications to the channel(s) designated in the Preferred Alert field. Repeat this step until all users have been defined.

5. From the iTERA Alert main menu, select option 13. The iTERA Alert Notification Groups screen is displayed. Notification groups provide an organized method for assigning responders to alert schedules, so a logical approach to defining notification groups is to align them with the alert schedules by using similar naming conventions. For example, groups labeled DAYSHIFT, SWINGSHIFT, GRAVEYARD, WEEKEND1 and

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WEEKEND2 could align with corresponding alert schedules. The flexibility of separating notification groups from alert schedules is apparent when multiple groups are required in order to ensure equitable shift coverage.

6. Press F6=Create Group. Enter a name and description for the group then press Enter. Press F3 to exit. Create additional groups where needed.

A sample list of possible notification groups:

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NOTE

All schedules in the above example are inactive. They are activated when they are assigned to an alert schedule in a later step.

7. Select option 2=Work with Escalation for a defined notification group from the iTERA Alert Notification Groups screen.

a. Enter the number of minutes that may elapse before the first alert message should be initiated in the Delay Minutes field.

b. Enter one of the users in the notification group (use F9 to display users in the group) in the Notify User field.

c. Specify the channel on which the alert should be sent: E=Email, T=Text Msg, Q=MsgQ, P=Preferred, A=All.

d. Repeat step a through step d to add additional escalation procedures for this Escalation Group, then Press Enter.

e. Upon pressing Enter, if any invalid information has been entered, the invalid field will be highlighted and/or an informational message will display at the bottom of the screen indicating the problem. The Esc Lvl and Notification Alert Method columns are blank prior to pressing Enter.

f. Exit the screen when finished adding the escalations. Remember to add an escalation procedure for each Escalation Group created.

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8. From the iTERA Alert main menu, select option 12. The Alert Schedule Information screen is displayed. Press F6=Create Schedule and enter a name and description for the first schedule (base additional schedules on the notification groups you created earlier (e.g. DAYSHIFT, SWINGSHIFT, etc.). The status should typically remain Active. Press Enter. Press F6 to add additional Alert Schedules.

A sample list of possible alert schedules may look similar to the following:

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NOTE

The status for the Holidays schedule in the above example is inactive and should remain so until a designated holiday occurs. At that point any other active alert schedules should be set to inactive and the holiday schedule activated.

In the example above, there are fewer alert schedules than notification groups (three rotating holiday notification groups were created, but only one corresponding alert schedule has been created). You’ll see how the notification groups are assigned to the schedules in the next step.

9. When one or more schedules have been created, select option 2=Work With for one of the alert schedules to display the Work with Alert Schedules screen.

– The sample below indicates assigned coverage for a day shift schedule. The days of the week display along the left of the grid while hours of the day are displayed along the top. Define the hours of coverage by entering asterisks in the grid sections for the desired hours and days of the week.

– All notification groups are displayed in the lower section of the screen. Enter 1 in the field next to the appropriate notification group to activate the alert schedule for that group. The Status field will toggle from Inactive to Active. If **No Escl is displayed, it means that no responders are included in the notification group.

– The F7=Add Unscheduled Hours key will populate an alert schedule with asterisks in any fields that are not covered by any other alert schedule. This makes it easy to, by process of elimination, ensure that

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every hour of every day is covered within one of the defined alert schedules. Upon pressing F7, an “O” will be inserted into each hour field that is not covered in another alert schedule. These may be cleared from the fields if you do not want particular hours scheduled for this Alert Schedule, or you may press Enter to accept them. All fields that had “O” in them will now display “X” and option 1 can now be used to activate the schedule for a Notification Group.

10. iTERA Alert is now fully configured and users should begin to receive alert messages on their designated channel, according to the escalation strategies in place.

NOTE

If too many unnecessary alerts are being generated, adjust the Min Message Severity level using 7.15, opt 2.

Two Ways to Respond To An AlertUsers can respond to an alert in the Respond to an Alert screen (7.1) or in the Alert Manager screen (7.11).

• To respond to an alert via the Respond to an Alert screen, select 7.1. The following screen is displayed:

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Two Ways to Respond To An Alert

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Enter the Alert ID, adjust the Alert Status and Responder Name fields as needed, enter Responder Notes, then press Enter.

• To respond to an alert via the Alert Manager screen, select 7.11. The following screen is displayed:

Select option 6 to respond. The alert message is displayed:

Adjust the status, if needed. The ID of the user signed on is automatically entered into the Responder field. Enter any helpful notes for future reference. Press Enter.

The alert is removed from view. Use the Status filter displayed in yellow text to sort by other message statuses.

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The default view for the Alert Manager is Message Info. Press F11 to change how the alert messages are displayed.

For additional detail on navigation through the Alert Manager screens. See “Alert Manager (7.11)” on page 19. in the Reference section of this guide.

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iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide 17

Reference 3

This section includes details on each menu option within iTERA Alert. In order to alleviate redundancy in this guide, several field names, options, and iTERA Alert terminology in general have been defined in the Glossary.

iTERA Alert Main Menu (7)The main menu in iTERA Alert is accessed from within iTERA HA via menu option 7 or the command E2AMAIN.

NOTE

If option 7 is not available from the iTERA HA main menu, activate *iTERA Alert in the Replication Components screen (30.23) using option G to toggle the Global State to On.

Non-iTERA HA implementations access iTERA Alert using the command E2AMENU only. Although a different version of the main iTERA Alert screen is displayed, all menu options and commands are the same as for the iTERA HA version.

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Respond to an Alert (7.1)This option has been designed to allow you to respond to alerts quickly and easily. After selecting this option, simply enter the Alert ID, change the status (if desired; the default is *CLOSE); If needed, change the Responder Code (default is *USRPRF, which will assign the current logged in user as the responder) and any notes, then press enter.

NOTE

You can open a closed alert message from this screen by entering the Alert ID, then changing the Alert Status to *OPEN.

Set Notification Preferences (7.2)Selecting menu option 7.2, Set Notification Preferences, displays the Change Alert Status window. From this screen you can quickly change the responder’s preferred method of notification. For example, if your usual notification method is e-mail but you are going to lunch and will be away from your computer, you can quickly change the notification method to text message. Once you return, you can select 7.2 again to change the notification preference back to e-mail.

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Alert Manager (7.11)

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Responders can be notified using e-mail, text message, message queue or all three. You can also change another user’s message notification method.

Also, you may choose to have messages e-mailed to you during the day then sent to you via text message at night. This is done by assigning a responder to different notification groups, then assigning the notification groups to various alert schedules. This process described later in this manual.

Alert Manager (7.11)This option allows you to view the Alert Manager, which will allow you to perform almost all possible functions within the iTERA Alert system.

From this hub you can view the details of the alert (option 1), remove an alert (option 4), and respond to an alert (option 6). You can also view the job that created the alert as well as the entire Notification Log (option 9).

The function keys’ capabilities enable you to access the iTERA Alert schedules (F9) or clear all alerts (F15). With F11, you have five inquiry screens to choose from, explained below.

The default view for the Alert Manager is open alerts (the Status field indicates OPN). To view closed or held alerts, type CLO or HLD, respectively, in the Status field, then press Enter. Alternatively, set the filter to ALL to view all alerts.

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Options

• 1 = Details – See “Alert Detail (7.11, Option 1)” on page 20.

• 4 = Remove Alert – Remove the alert. The alert must have been responded to (closed) before it can be removed.

• 6 = Respond – See “Respond to Alert (7.11, Option 6)” on page 21.

• 7 = Display Job – Displays the IBM Display Job screen. Many messages will require research in order to resolve problems with jobs. To help you determine what is causing the problem, direct access to job information has been provided. Press F1 for information on this screen.

• 8 = Notification Log – See “Alert Log Detail (7.11, Option 8, Option 1)” on page 22.

Function Keys

• F9 = Work with Schedules – See “Alert Schedules (7.12)” on page 25.

• F11 = Change view – Enables you to toggle between four other views. See

– “Alert Manager – Escalation View (7.11, F7)” on page 23,

– “Alert Manager – Response View (7.11, F7)” on page 23,

– “Alert Manager – Response Notes View (7.11, F7)” on page 24.

– “Alert Manager – Message Text view (7.11, F7)” on page 24.

• F15 = Clear Alerts – Removes the closed alert messages from the display.

Alert Detail (7.11, Option 1)This option will allow you to view the alert message detail.

Most of the time you really don’t need or care about details behind an alert, you are more interested it answering it and moving on. But when you need the details you can access them quickly.

You can see where the message came from (message queue), the message text source (Message file), the actual text message (Message Text), when it was generated (Alert Timestamp) and much more.

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Alert Manager (7.11)

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Function Keys

• F6 = See “Respond to Alert (7.11, Option 6)” on page 21.

• F7 = Display Job – Displays the IBM Display Job screen. Many messages will require research in order to resolve problems with jobs. To help you determine what is causing the problem, direct access to job information has been provided. Press F1 for information on this screen.

• 8 = Notification Log – See “Alert Log Detail (7.11, Option 8, Option 1)” on page 22.

Respond to Alert (7.11, Option 6)This options gives users another way to respond to an alert.

To respond to an alert, select option 6 for the alert. Select the appropriate status, then enter a note, if desired. The Responder field set to *USRPRF will use the user profile currently signed on.

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Function Keys

• F21 = Omit MsgID – See “Message ID Configuration (7.16)” on page 35.

Alert Log Detail (7.11, Option 8)With iTERA Alert, you have the ability to send messages to a number of Users using e-mail, text message, or by message queue. The Alert Log Detail screen shows a detailed history of alerts that have been sent for an alert message.

NOTE

The terms alert and alert messages are used interchangeably in this document. The alert message is the actual message and does not change. An alert message is sent to one or more responders using alerts.

Options

• 1 = See “Alert Log Detail (7.11, Option 8, Option 1)” on page 22.

Alert Log Detail (7.11, Option 8, Option 1)The Alert Log Detail screen provides information about alerts.

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Alert Manager (7.11)

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Alert Manager – Escalation View (7.11, F7)F7 allows you to toggle between five different views in the Alert Manager. The Alert Manager includes all the basic message management functions, described below. All menu options and displayed fields are the same in all five views. This section will detail the Escalation View.

The Escalation View sorts data in the Alert Manager by Escalation level and Alert ID. All other details of this screen are the same as those displayed in the other views.

Alert Manager – Response View (7.11, F7)F7 allows you to toggle between five different views in the Alert Manager. The Alert Manager includes all the basic message management functions. The menu options and function keys are the same in all five views.

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The Response View sorts the data by responder. All other details of this screen are the same as those in the other toggle views.

Alert Manager – Response Notes View (7.11, F7)

This view of the Alert Manager displays the Response Notes, as entered by the user at the time when an alert is responded to (7.1). Typically, open alerts won’t have Response Notes, so change the Status field to CLO or HLD to view closed or held alerts, respectively.

To add or change a Response Note, select option 6.

Alert Manager – Message Text view (7.11, F7)This view of the Alert Manager displays the text of the message, as it appears in the message queue.

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Alert Schedules (7.12)

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Alert Schedules (7.12)Alert schedules are used to assign notification groups to ensure coverage during specific day(s) of the week and times of the day.

This screen displays all the alert schedules you have defined. You can add, change or delete schedules directly from this screen.

Function Keys

• F6 = See “Alert Schedules (7.12, F6)” on page 26.

Options

• 2 = “Work with Alert Schedules (7.12, Option 2)” on page 26

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• 4 = Delete Schedule

• 5 = “Change Alert Schedules (7.12, Option 5)” on page 27

• 8 = Toggle Status – Toggles the status between Active and Inactive.

Alert Schedules (7.12, F6)Creating new Schedules is easily accomplished in just a few steps. Just select F6 and assign a name and description to the schedule, set the status, then press enter.

This will set up a new schedule, but you will need to assign the days of the week and the time of day that this schedule will be active.

Work with Alert Schedules (7.12, Option 2)Notifications are determined by a combination of responders, notification groups, and alert schedules. The Work with Alert Schedules screen allows you to assign various notification groups to specified periods of time. The notification group includes the responders that may be notified depending on the escalation strategy developed for the group.

Several schedules can be created, each with different coverage times and assigned notification groups.

Define the hours of coverage by entering asterisks in the grid sections for the desired hours and days of the week.

To clear an assigned slot, simply clear the asterisk from the cell.

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Alert Schedules (7.12)

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To easily locate unallocated time slots not covered by any alert schedule, press F23. Each time slot unallocated will display an “O”. You can then either replace the O with an asterisk or clear the cell.

To assign a notification group to the alert schedule, enter A to activate. The Status field at the top of the screen will toggle Inactive, Active or **No Escl (meaning no responders are included in the notification group).

Function Keys

• F4 = List all schedules

• F9 = List all Notification Groups

• F23 = Add unscheduled Hours. Places a ‘0’ in every hour and day of the week slot that is not covered by any other notification group.

Options

• 1 – Activate a notification group on this schedule.

• 4 – Inactivate a notification group on this schedule.

Change Alert Schedules (7.12, Option 5)This screen allows you to change the status of a defined alert schedule by activating or inactivating it.

An alert schedule may be defined but remain inactive by using the Inactive status. This may be used, for example, if a user will be on vacation and you wish to prevent notifications from being sent during that period but intend to restore the alert schedule upon their return. Selecting option 5 will display the alert schedule Information screen where the selected schedule can be activated (option 1) or inactivated (option 4).

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Notification Group (7.13)Notification groups provide an organized method for assigning responders to various escalation levels.

This screen allows you to add, change, or delete notification groups. You can even work with the responders and escalation levels from this screen.

The example below shows two notification groups per shift and four to cover the weekend. Remember that a responder can be included in more than one notification group.

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Notification Group (7.13)

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NOTE

You cannot delete a notification group if it is being used in an alert schedule.

Function Keys

• F6 = Create Group – See “Add Notification Groups (7.13, F6)” on page 30.

Options

• 2 = “Work with Escalation (7.13, Option 2)” on page 29

• 4 = Delete Group

• 5 = See “Change Description (7.13, Option 5)” on page 30

Work with Escalation (7.13, Option 2)In Work with Escalation, you can change the responders who are assigned to a notification group, work with their escalation level, and set the number of minutes to delay notification alerts.

The Alert Type can be overridden here by typing Q (Message Queue), E (Email), T (Text Message), A (All methods), or P (Preferred [will use the method specified as preferred in the Responder User Information screen]).

In the example below, QARESPOND1 is the user, the Alert Type is set to E (email) and the Notification Alert Method indicates the email address to which messages will be delivered. If an alert is not responded to within ten minutes, an email would be sent to QARESPOND1. If QARESPOND1 doesn’t respond within thirty minutes, a text message will be sent to QARESPOND2.

The Delay Minutes are calculated from when the alert was generated.

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Function Keys

• F4 = List Notification Groups

• F9 = List Notification Users

Change Description (7.13, Option 5)Change the description of an existing notification group.

Add Notification Groups (7.13, F6)This screen allows users to change the description of an existing notification group.

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Responder User Information (14)

iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide 31

NOTE

You cannot use a notification group until you have defined at least one responder to it.

Responder User Information (14) In iTERA Alert, each user is referred to as a responder. This option allows you to add, change, or delete responders. You cannot delete a responder if they are a member of a notification group or alert schedule.

Options

• 2 - “Change Responder Information (7.14, Option 2) ” on page 31

• 4 - Delete User

Function Keys

• F6 = Create User. See “Create User (7.14, F6)” on page 32

Change Responder Information (7.14, Option 2) This screen allows users to change the responder information. The Responder Code should remain the user’s System i User ID. After entering a user’s information, press F10 to test the alert method for that user. Users are allowed to change their own notification method.

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Create User (7.14, F6)Selecting F6 from the Responder Information menu displays the iTERA Alert Responder screen.

This screen allows you to enter new responders and define notification information.

The Responder Code should be the user’s System i User ID.

The Preferred Alert field is the channel on which alerts will be sent to the user.

The Auto Respond field is a future enhancement, so enter N for now. When set to Y, alert messages will be automatically responded to instead of requiring a responder to manually reply.

After entering a user’s information, press F10 to test the preferred alert method to ensure it is set up correctly.

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Monitored Message Queue (7.15)

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Monitored Message Queue (7.15)This option displays the monitored message queues and allows you to define or modify the iTERA Alert attributes and behavior.

The status field indicates the monitoring status of a defined message queue. Message queues with a status of Active will allow alert messages to be sent. Message queues with a status of *Inactive will not generate alert messages.

Alerts will be generated for all messages in the message queue with a message severity level equal to or greater than the value specified in the Sev field (labeled Min Severity Level in the Monitor Message Queue Maintenance screen [option 2 or F6]).

Since it may not be feasible to change the message severity level for a given message, you can configure iTERA Alert’s sensitivity at the message queue level on this screen or exclude individual messages in the omit list (7.16, F7).

Function Keys

• F6 = Add MsgQ. Allows a new message queue to be added to the monitored list. See “Add Monitored Message Queue (7.15, F6)” on page 34.

• F7 = Job Subsystem – See “iTERA Alert Subsystem (7.21)” on page 37.

Options

• 2 =Change Attributes. See “Change Attributes (7.15, Option 2)” on page 34

• 4 = Remove MsgQ – Removes a message queue that was being monitored by iTERA Alert.

• 6 = Restart Monitor Job

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Change Attributes (7.15, Option 2)This screen allows you to change the iTERA Alert attributes and behavior for the selected message queue.

Add Monitored Message Queue (7.15, F6)From this screen, select a message queue to monitor, specify the Alert Group, the message severity level, etc.

Enter the message queue to be monitored and the library in which it resides.

The iTERA Alert Group Code is a user-definable field that refers to the application generating messages in the message queue. If the message queue refers to iTERA HA for CRG “A1”, then the code could be “A1”. If the message queue is for an accounts receivable application, then the code could be “AR”.

Specify ‘A’ in the Monitor Status to actively monitor the message queue. To temporarily suspend active monitoring of the message queue, specify ‘I’ to inactivate.

The Min Message Severity value indicates that only those messages generated in the queue with a severity level equal to or greater than the value designated will generate alerts.

The Remove Messages field indicates that the message will be removed from the queue once the alert has been responded to. However, this is a future enhancement.

The Last Alert ID is a number issued to the message queue. This number incremented by one when a new message is created.

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Message ID Configuration (7.16)

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Message ID Configuration (7.16)This feature is a future enhancement.

Configure iTERA Alert (7.17) This screen allows you to define basic contact information for your site. There is only one configuration profile per site.

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Field Descriptions

• ALERT PROFILE and ALERT PASSWORD – These fields provide access to connect to the iTERA Alert profile (which is automatically created for you). Enter iTERA Alert (all caps) on both lines. The iTERA Alert profile runs the iTERA Alert subsystem jobs. The default password is iTERA Alert.

• END EMAIL SERVER – Always enter N.

• EMAIL GATEWAY SMTP – In order for iTERA Alert to send messages to an email address outside of your domain, the System i needs permission to relay messages (send) to an outside email address (e.g., [email protected]). The System i must be able to relay messages through your mail server without prior authentication. This may require setting up an exclusion rule on your mail server.

• ALERT SENDER EMAIL – When emails are generated from iTERA Alert, the contents of this field will display as the “From” line of an email. The email address does not have to actually exist. It can serve as an identifier for the system from which the email is generated. We recommend that you enter something such as [email protected] for the Primary node and [email protected] on the Target.

• RESPOND TO EMAIL and RESPOND TO USERNAME & PASSWORD – While these fields are not yet functional, enter at least one character in each field for now. The future enhancement of iTERA Alert will include the capability to respond to alerts by replying to the text message or email alert that was received.

• ALERT INFORMATION FOR ITERA – Use the following fields to provide information about your company and the primary person responsible for your System i. Future enhancement functionality will

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iTERA Alert Subsystem (7.21)

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include the ability to notify Vision Solutions (or other third party monitoring entity) about critical alerts that go unanswered for a period of time.

• ITERA ALERT CODE – This field is not currently used.

• COMPANY NAME – Enter your company’s name.

• ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP – Provide this information to identify the physical location of the System i on which iTERA Alert resides. If more than one system or partition hosts iTERA Alert, provide differentiating data that will assist in correctly identifying the system generating the alerts.

• CONTACT NAME/TELEPHONE – Provide the name and telephone number for the person Vision Solutions or other software service provider would attempt to contact in the event that your response escalation strategy fails and critically flagged alerts generated by the software are unanswered.

• ALTERNATE TELEPHONE – Provide an alternate telephone contact for the contact name indicated above.

• ADDITIONAL INFO – Indicate identifying information about the contact, such as job title or position, department, etc.

iTERA Alert Subsystem (7.21)This option executes the WRKACTJOB command on the subsystem iTERA Alert.

This screen displays the iTERA Alert subsystem and all jobs contained within it. The subsystem should have the following jobs running:

• E2A_EMAIL – Calls the Java mail server, JVM-JMServer. Runs in connection the job QJVACMDSRV to process the emails sent from iTERA Alert.

• E2A_MQW_xx – This job monitors the message queue for new messages. There is one job for each message queue being monitored. The MSGW status for this job is normal. xx is the two-digit alert code specified for the message queue being monitored.

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• E2A_NOTIFY – Processes the messages that have been retrieved from the message queues. Escalates messages that have not been responded to.

• E2A_RECV – Calls the Java mail receiver, JVM-JMReceiver (QJVACMDSRV). (Future enhancement)

• QJVACMDSRV – Java command server. The Java server is used to handle email. The JVM-JMServer job must be active in order to send email. JVAW or TIMW are usual statuses for these jobs.

Start iTERA Alert Jobs (7.22)This option starts the iTERA Alert subsystem and jobs. The subsystem name is E2ALERT. No confirmation or notice is displayed when this option is selected.

To display the subsystem iTERA Alert, select option 21 (see “iTERA Alert Subsystem (7.21)” on page 37).

Restart iTERA Alert Jobs (7.23)This option restarts the iTERA Alert subsystem and jobs. The subsystem name is E2ALERT. No confirmation or notice is displayed when you select this option.

To display the subsystem E2ALERT, select option 21 (see “iTERA Alert Subsystem (7.21)” on page 37).

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iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide 39

Download and Install iTERA Alert A

iTERA Alert is automatically installed when iTERA HA is installed. These instructions should be used for non-iTERA HA installations.

1. Sign on to the System i with a profile that has sufficient authority to load programs.

2. Create a virtual optical device by entering the command:

CRTDEVOPT DEVD(OPTVRT01) RSRCNAME(*VRT)

3. Vary on the virtual optical device by entering the command:

VRYCFG CFGOBJ(OPTVRT01) CFGTYPE(*DEV) STATUS(*ON)

4. Create the directory by entering the following command:

CRTDIR DIR('/home/optvrt01')

5. Create an image catalogue by entering the command:

CRTIMGCLG IMGCLG(OPTVRT01) DIR('/home/OPTVRT01')

6. Download the iTERA Alert CD ISO image to the System i:

a. Type the following command, then press Enter.

FTP ‘166.70.109.194’

b. Log in as public with the password supplied by your Vision Solutions Installation Technician.

c. Type the following commands. Press Enter after each line.

na 1

bin

lcd /home/optvrt01

cd public/it60

get italert60_cd.iso (case-sensitive)

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7. When it has finished downloading, type quit, then press Enter.

8. Add an image catalog entry for the ISO image file. Type the following command:

ADDIMGCLGE IMGCLG(OPTVRT01)

FROMFILE('/home/OPTVRT01/italert60_cd.iso)

TOFILE(*FROMFILE)

9. Load the image catalog. This associates the virtual optical device with the image catalog entry. You may have to vary on the device with (wrkcfgsts *dev opt*) Enter the following command:

LODIMGCLG IMGCLG(OPTVRT01) DEV(OPTVRT01)

10. Check that the proper ISO image file is loaded correctly for the install. Type the command WRKIMGCLG then option 12 (Work with Entries) to see if the ISO image file is “mounted” for OPTVRT01. If not, use option 6 to mount it.

11. Type the command LODRUN optvrt01. This will load the product to the System i. At the end of the lodrun the iTERA Alert configuration screen will be displayed. The instructions for configuration of this screen are located in the “Configuring iTERA Alert” on page 6 of this guide.

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iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide 41

Uninstalling iTERA Alert B

iTERA Alert can be removed by doing the following:

1. Delete the following from the ITALERT library:

• E2AJOBQ.JOBQ

• E2AOUTQ.OUTQ

2. Call DLTLICPGM Delete the iTERA Alert user profile

3. Delete the following if they still exist:

• /ITALERT directory

• ITALERT library

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42 iTERA Alert v6.0 Installation and User Guide

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Alert or Alert Message A message sent to a responder indicating that a monitored message queue has received a message that qualifies for (and triggers) an alert message. The alert is sent via e-mail, text message, message queue, or all three.

Alert Code – See iTERA Alert Group Code

This is a two-digit code that is used to represent message queue or queues. The code allows you to group like message queues together and can represent the application associated with the message queue.

Active Groups The number of notification groups that have been assigned to the alert schedule.

Active Schedules The number of alert schedules to which a notification group has been assigned.

Alert ID Every alert message is assigned a ten digit tracking number. The first two digits of the Alert ID are the originating message queue’s Alert Code, the last eight are a sequence number.

Alert Levels The number of escalation levels the notification group uses.

Alert Message Text The text of an alert message.

Alert Notification Method Alerts can be sent using e-mail, text message, message queue, or all three. The information may include the address used to send the message.

Alert Schedule Assign and maintain the desired level of alert notification coverage. An alert schedule indicates the hours and days of the week to which notification groups (consisting of one or more responders) are assigned. notification groups can be assigned to more than one alert schedule. Alert schedules are maintained in 7. 12.

Alert Schedule Status Indicates whether a defined schedule is Active or Inactive. alert schedules that have an alert schedule Status of Inactive will not be sent new alert messages. The status **No ESCL indicates that no alert messages will be sent because there are no notification groups assigned. The **NO ESCL overrides every other status code.

Alert Sender Email The return email address used when iTERA Alert sends an alert via email. It does not have to be an actual email address. Most common configurations will enter a pseudo email that indicates which system running iTERA Alert generated the alert. For example, [email protected] for your Primary system and [email protected] for your Backup (replacing ‘xyzcompany’ with your company’s domain name, of course).

Glossary

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Alert Status Indicates the disposition of an alert message. When the alert message is generated, the status is set to *OPEN. When an alert has been responded to, the status is set to *CLOSE. The status *HOLD stops the escalation of the messages, but keeps the message open.

Alert Timestamp Date and time the alert message was generated.

Alert Type The method that will be used to send alerts (email, text message, message queue, or all three).

Auto Respond Allows the messages being sent to a monitored message queue to be responded to automatically instead of forcing a responder to manually reply. This is a future enhancement.

CRG Group – iTERA HA Cluster Resource Group

See iTERA HA Training Guide for information.

Delay Minutes The number of minutes that will elapse before an alert will be sent (after the message is created in the originating message queue).

iTERA Alert Group Code A user-definable field that refers to the application generating messages in the message queue. If the message queue refers to iTERA HA for CRG “A1”, then the Group Code could be “A1”. If the message queue refers to an Accounts Receivable application, then the Group Code could be “AR”.

iTERA Alert Profile A user profile (iTERA Alert) that runs the iTERA Alert subsystem and all jobs within the subsystem. The password for the profile is iTERA Alert, but may be changed using the CHGUSRPRF command. If changed, it must also be changed in the configuration screen (7.17).

Resource Group/iTERA HA Resource Group

The name CRG of the associated Resource Group. A Resource Group is defined at the time iTERA HA is configured, and defines which nodes are replicated and the backup node for each. This field is not applicable for systems on which iTERA HA is not installed.

Email Gateway SMTP Also, Gateway SMTP IP address. It must be configured to relay messages without requiring authentication. Consult with your Network Administrator.

End Email server This option on the Configuration screen (menu 17) allows you to end the email server job with an Y. The normal setting is N so that the email server is actively able to send and receive email messages.

Escalation Group Identifies a group of responders who are assigned to respond to an alert. Another name for notification group.

Escalation Level iTERA Alert has a built in Escalation system. As the alert message ages, notifications can be scheduled to be sent to additional responders. The escalation level refers to the number of responders who have been notified. In some cases, escalation level will refer to the order in which responders will receive alerts.

Group See Notification Group

Group ID The ID for a notification group, which consists of one or more responders who are assigned to respond to an alert.

HH:MM The hour and minute that the alert message was generated. The Alert Timestamp contains the date and time (same as the Alert HH:MM) the alert message was generated.

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iTERA Notified – (future enhancement)

This field visible in the Alert Details screen (7.11, option 1). For selected messages that occur on your system, if they are not responded to within a designated time interval, an alert will be e-mailed to [email protected]. Vision Solutions personnel will attempt to contact by telephone the main technical contact listed in our database.

Job Name Name of the message queue monitor job.

Job STS Status of the job monitoring the message queue.

Last Alert ID The last Alert ID number issued to this message queue. This number increments by one when a new message is created.

Last Rspd See Last Notified Responder.

Last Notified Responder A User defined to iTERA Alert who received the last alert for this message. A User may receive alerts if they are assigned to a notification group and the notification group is assigned to an alert schedule. Any responder may respond to any alert message.

Level See Escalation Level

Message Auto Respond Allows the alerts being sent to a message queue to be automatically responded to instead of requiring the responder to respond. This is a future enhancement.

Message File An object that contains message descriptions. The system-recognized identifier for the object type is *MSGF (IBM iSeries Information Center).

Message ID (Identifier) A seven-character code that identifies a predefined message. It is used to get the message description from a message file (IBM iSeries Information Center).

Message Occurrence The number of times the alert message has occurred as displayed in the Alert Manager. Until an alert is responded to (closed), an alert will be sent to the responders in the applicable escalation strategy ONLY on the first occurrence of the message into the queue. If the message occurs on the system again and the alert has not yet been responded to, the message occurrence field will increment accordingly.

Message Queue A list on which messages are placed when they are sent to a User ID or device. The system-recognized identifier for the object type is *MSGQ.

Message Queue Monitor Status

Indicates the status of a monitored message queue. Message queues with a status of Active will allow alert messages to be sent. Message queues with a status of Inactive will not generate alert messages.

Message Severity Level Also: Sev; Severity Level. The measurement of importance or significance of a message. The severity level ranges from 1 (lowest) to 99 (highest) and is assigned at the programming level. This field is displayed in the message for alerts displayed in the Alert Manager screens (7.11).

Message Text The text of the alert message that is sent to a notification group when an alert occurs.

Message Type There are two types of messages.

– *INQ – Indicates that you must answer a retrieved message.– *INFO – Indicates that the message is informational; they convey

information without requiring a reply.

Min Message Severity Only messages with severity equal or greater than this value generate an alert. The Minimum Message Severity level is set in the attributes for the monitored message queue (7.15, F6 or option 2).

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Monitor Job Name Name of the monitor job for this job queue.

Monitor Status The monitoring status of the message queue, A (Active) or I (Inactive).

Nfy Group See Notification Group

Notification Alert Method Indicates the method (email, text message, message queue, or all three) in which the alert will be sent.

Notification Group One or more responders that are grouped together in order to be assigned for coverage of one or more alert schedules. Escalation strategies can be established for the members of the notification groups.

Notify User The responder who will be notified according to the specified escalation level.

Notification Preference The alert message notification method for a selected user, which can be quickly changed in 7.2. Choices are: *EMAIL, *TXTM, *MSGQ, and *ALL. The default is set in the Preferred Alert field of the Responder Information screens (7.14, F6 and option 2). preferred notification method of alert messages for the User identified in the User Alert ID field.

Notify Group Entries Number of times the responder appears in notification groups.

Number of Occurrences The number of times the alert message has been generated been sent.

Open Duration The amount of time the alert message has been (or was) open.

Original Alert Timestamp Date, Hour, Minute, and second that the alert message was generated.

Predefined message A message whose description is created and stored in a message file before it is sent by the program (IBM iSeries Information Center).

Preferred Alert See also Notification Preference. The preferred notification channel for alerts. This preference is set in the Responder Information screens (7.14, F6 and option 2). Choices are: E (email), T (text message), Q (message queue), or A (all). The default can be quickly changed in the Set Notification Preferences screen (7.2).

Queue The list (queue) on which messages are placed when they are sent to a User ID or device. The system-recognized identifier for the object type is *MSGQ.

Rmv Msg Indicates whether an alert will be removed from a message queue when the alert is answered. YES = Remove the message; NO = Do not remove the message.

Respond To Email – (future enhancement)

An email account on the System i that can be checked for messages that have been responded to. The future enhancement will provide functionality that a user receiving an alert will be able to reply (text, email) to an alert and have the response automatically take the indicated action, such as marking the alert closed.

Respond To Username – (future enhancement)

See Respond To Email.

Responder A User defined in iTERA Alert. The responder may receive alerts if they are assigned to a notification group and the notification group is assigned to an alert schedule. A responder may respond to any alert message.

Responder Code The ID of the responder defined in iTERA Alert. The responder may receive alerts if they are assigned to a notification group and the group is assigned to an alert schedule. A responder may respond to any alert message.

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Responder Notes When responders respond to alert messages in the 7.1 screen (by marking them closed or on hold), a note must be entered in this field. This information is preserved in the Alert Log Detail screen (7.11, option 8, option 1).

Responding Responder User ID of the person who responded to the alert message.

Response Timestamp The date and time the alert message was responded to.

Schedule (Alert Schedules) Used to assign responders (via notification groups) to every alert message. The schedules indicate the day(s) and time(s) associated notification groups will be sent alert messages. One responder can be assigned to more than one notification group. notification groups can be assigned to more than one alert schedule.

Sev – or Severity Level See Message Severity Level

SMTP A TCP/IP mail delivery protocol that delivers mail over the Internet.

Status Indicates whether a defined schedule is active or inactive. Alert schedules that have an alert schedule status of inactive will not be sent new alert messages. The status ‘***No ESCL’ indicates that no alert messages will be sent because there are no notification groups assigned.

Subsystem The iTERA Alert subsystem runs jobs which monitor message queues and processes alerts.

Target MsgQ The designated message queue to which alerts will be sent for a responder (defined in 7.14, F6 or option 2).

Type See Message Type

User Alert ID This is also referred to as the Responder Code. The ID of the responder defined in iTERA Alert. The responder may receive alerts only if they are assigned to a notification group and the group is assigned to an alert schedule. A responder may respond to any alert message.

# of Occur See Number of Occurrences.

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