SiteScope User's Guide

Remedy AR System Monitor

The Remedy AR System Monitor watches for "Interesting Tickets" received by SiteScope from Remedy Action Request System version 5. HelpDesk cases are consider to be "Interesting" if they do not have a status of "Resolved" or "Closed". Use this monitor to get the number of "Interesting Tickets" in the Remedy system by querying the Remedy Server at set intervals, or by having the Remedy Server send any change in a HelpDesk ticket directly to SiteScope.

This section describes:

• About Remedy System Terminology
• Usage Guidelines
  • Remedy HelpDesk Integration Options for SiteScope
  • Configuring Remedy to Send Ticket Information to SiteScope
  • Forwarding Ticket Content Information to Topaz Applications
• Completing the Remedy AR System Monitor Form
• Troubleshooting

About Remedy System Terminology

Remedy AR System

Remedy Action Request (AR) System is Remedy's application platform and development environment for delivering Service Management solutions. AR System is a request-centric development and delivery platform used to create applications for entering, tracking, and resolving service requests. The SiteScope Monitor supports Remedy Server version 5 and up.

Remedy Help Desk

Remedy Help Desk leverages Remedy's Action Request System. It automates support processes including the ability to submit, monitor, and manage help desk cases, change requests, and asset inventory records.

"Interesting Tickets"

HelpDesk cases that consider to be User-Interesting because they do not have a "Resolved" or "Closed" status. By default, the interesting tickets are those which are "opened" for the Remedy operator.

Usage Guidelines

The Remedy AR System Monitor is useful for automatically collecting "Interesting Tickets" from Remedy Action Request System. With SiteScope doing this for you automatically, you can eliminate the need to check for the open tickets manually. In addition, you can be notified of any change in the existing HelpDesk tickets that you might have otherwise been unaware of until you have been choose to check using Remedy client UI. Each time that it runs this monitor, SiteScope checks which are the Open Tickets that currently at the Remedy AR system.

Note: The Remedy AR System Monitor currently only supports standard Remedy Server implementations.

Note: The Remedy AR System Monitor currently only supports Microsoft Windows platforms.

Remedy HelpDesk Integration Options for SiteScope

There are two options that can be used for SiteScope to get the status regarding the tickets from the Remedy HelpDesk System. They are:

1. Configure SiteScope to query the Remedy host at regular intervals for Remedy tickets. You use the Remedy AR System Monitor for this option. Complete the applicable settings in the Add Remedy AR System Monitor form as described below.

2. Configure the Remedy Server to send any HelpDesk ticket changes directly to SiteScope. This option requires that you make configuration changes and install a ticket notification module on the Remedy server. See the section Configuring Remedy to Send Ticket Information to SiteScope below for more information on this option.

You can also configure SiteScope to forward ticket content information to Topaz Business Availability and to Topaz Alert Log applications. The section Forwarding Ticket Content Information to Topaz Applications below describes an overview of how to configure the Remedy AR System Monitor for this option.

Configuring Remedy to Send Ticket Information to SiteScope

You can configure the Remedy AR System server to send ticket change information directly to SiteScope. To enable this option, you must edit a configuration file and install a notification module on the Remedy server. Use the following steps to enable this option.

To configure the Remedy AR Server to send HelpDesk Ticket changes to the SiteScope machine

• Unpack the installation zip file
  1. Unpack the RemedyServer zip file TpRemedyAddon.zip (located in <SiteScope_Install>/SiteScope/ems/RemedyARs/addon directory) to a temporary directory.
• Configure the remedy_topaz_notify Remedy Server Object
  1. Open the file remedy_topaz_notify.def with a text editor
  2. Replace the parameters in the line starting with the string command with values applicable to your installation environment. Parameters will appear between < > bracket delimiters.

     Replace the following parameters with the values that describe your installation environment as follows:

     • <Remedy Installation Dir> - Replace this with the full path location to where the Remedy AR Server in installed in the machine where Remedy is installed. For example, C:\Program Files\Remedy.
     • <SiteScopeAgentMachineName> - Replace this with the name of the machine where SiteScope Topaz Agent Software is installed. This string can be the machine name, or the IP Address.
     • <SiteScopeAgentPort=8888> - Replace this with the port number that SiteScope uses to listen for Remedy notifications. By default it is configured to listen on port 8888, but you still must supply this value as the parameter.

     Note: Do not edit other parameters in the file. All others parameters should remain as originally defined

  3. Save the changes to the file
• Install the notify package

  Note: You must have a Remedy administrator privileges in order to install the notify package in the Remedy Server environment. Contact your Remedy System or network administrator, if necessary, to access the correct privileges.

  1. Copy the file TpRemedyAddon.exe that is part of the TpRemedyAddon.zip package to the Remedy installation directory. For example, copy the file to: C:\Program Files\Remedy.
  2. Verify that the Action Request Service is running and login to the Remedy Administrator.
  3. Select the Remedy Server from the Servers tree, and choose to import definitions from a definition file (Tools > Import Definitions > From Definition File).
  4. Select the file remedy_topaz_notify.def that you modified and saved in section b above.
  5. From the Import Definitions Dialog, click Add All, and then click Import.
     Note: This operation may take several minutes.

  6. When the import operation is complete close the Dialog Box
  7. In the Servers tree, double-click to open the server's list of objects and verify that on the Filters object exist in the list a filter named: Topaz_notify. Use the right-pane of the Filters objects navigate to find the object by this name.
  8. Exit from the Remedy Administrator.

Forwarding Ticket Content Information to Topaz Applications

In addition to collecting how many "Interesting Tickets" exist and the number of warning conditions, SiteScope can be used to deliver the actual ticket data to Topaz Business Availability and other Topaz applications. You use the settings in the Advanced Options section Remedy AR System Monitor Form to enable or disable this option.

When forwarding the "Interesting Tickets", SiteScope can analyze the information within the Ticket and process it for Topaz Business Availability application or other Topaz applications. The processing can be configured using the applicable EMS Configuration file. You can specify the path to the EMS Configuration file using EMS Configuration File Path field in the Advanced Options section. Refer to the EMS Generic Alert Probe Monitor Configuration section for more information on working with EMS probe configuration files.

Completing the Remedy AR System Monitor Form

To display the Remedy AR System Monitor Form, either click the Edit link for an existing Remedy AR System Monitor in a monitor table, or click the Add a new Monitor to this Group link on a group's detail page and click the Add Remedy AR System Monitor link.

Complete the items on the Remedy AR System Monitor form as follows. When the required items are complete, click the Add Monitor button.

Remedy AR Server Name

Enter the name or the IP of the Remedy AR server host to connect to. The Remedy Server should be at least of version 5.

Remedy AR User Name

Enter a valid user name that will be used to connect to the above Remedy Server.

NOTE: The user have to be a valid user name in the Remedy Server application with "read" permission at least for retrieving the tickets details from the HelpDesk schema.

Remedy AR Password

Enter the password of the above user name for a valid connection to the server.

Remedy Config File for Interesting Tickets

Insert the path for the file that described what are the ticket fields that should be gathered by SiteScope. By default the installation supplies the file: InterestingTicket.config located under <SiteScope Install>\ems\RemedyARs directory.

You can edit this file to add/remove the list of fields, and specify values to refine the search for "Interesting Tickets" in Remedy. Each of the fields can get one single value to be equal to. Some of the fields are enumerated at Remedy and thus can have the following values:

Valid values for enumerated field from Remedy:

• Status - New, Assigned, Work In Progress, Pending, Resolved, Closed
• Priority - Low, Medium, High, Urgent
• Request Urgency - Low, Medium, High, Urgent

Note: the field name must be identical (including case sensitivity) to the field name as appeared in the Remedy AR system. Any fields that do not exist will cause the query for Interesting Tickets to fail. Please note that the field values are also case sensitive.

Update every

Select how often the Remedy Server should be monitored for ticket status. The default interval is to run or update the monitor once every 10 minutes. Use the drop-down list to the right of the text box to specify another update interval in increments of seconds, minutes, hours, or days. The update interval must be 15 seconds or longer.

Title

Enter a title text for this monitor. This text is displayed in the group detail page, in report titles, and other places in the SiteScope interface. If you do not enter a title text, SiteScope will create a title based on the host, server, or URL being monitored.

Advanced Options

The Advanced Options section presents a number of ways to customize monitor behavior and display. Use this section to customize error and warning thresholds, disable the monitor, set monitor-to-monitor dependencies, customize display options, and enter other monitor specific settings required for special infrastructure environments. The options for this monitor type are described below. Complete the entries as needed and click the Add or Update button to save the settings.

EMS configuration file path

Enter the full path to the alternative EMS configuration file. If you do not set the path, SiteScope will use default path for the configuration file. The default location is: <SiteScope Install>\ems\RemedyARs\main.config.

Interesting Tickets Query

Enter the Remedy user query that will be used as the filter to match the "Interesting Tickets". If you do not set this - SiteScope will use the default query string: 'Status'<"Resolved".

NOTE:
The syntax to write such a query is the same syntax as appeared in the Remedy Advanced Search dialog at the Remedy Support client tool. Please consult Remedy's User Guide help for any assistance in creating such queries.

Please note that it is not required to fill this box - since the Interesting Tickets fields to query Remedy HelpDesk schemas are written in the Remedy Config File (see the Remedy Config File for Interesting Tickets section). Use the edit box if you wish to add one of Remedy HelpDesk fields that doesn't appear at the configuration file fields with a value to filter the interesting tickets. Please note that the "Interesting Tickets Query" will be "AND"ed with the list of values that exist in the Remedy Config File for Interesting Tickets.

If you leave this box empty " then by default the query for getting any of the "Opened" tickets in Remedy will be considered (‘Status’<"Resolved").

Send all Interesting Tickets to Topaz

Check this option to have all Interesting Tickets forwarded to Topaz in every cycle. If this option is not checked, only difference tickets will be sent to Topaz each cycle.

Disable

Check this box to temporarily disable this monitor and any associated alerts. To enable the monitor again, clear the box.

Verify Error

Check this box if you want SiteScope to automatically run this monitor again if it detects an error. When an error is detected, the monitor will immediately be scheduled to run again once.

Note: In order to change the run frequency of this monitor when an error is detected, use the Update every (on errors) option below.

Note: The status returned by the Verify Error run of the monitor will replace the status of the originally scheduled run that detected an error. This may cause the loss of important performance data if the data from the verify run is different than the initial error status.

Warning: Use of this option across many monitor instances may result in significant monitoring delays in the case that multiple monitors are rescheduled to verify errors at the same time.

Update Every (on error)

You use this option to set a new monitoring interval for monitors that have registered an error condition. For example, you may want SiteScope to monitor this item every 10 minutes normally, but as often as every 2 minutes if an error has been detected. Note that this increased scheduling will also affect the number of alerts generated by this monitor.

Schedule

By default, SiteScope monitors are enabled every day of the week. You may, however, schedule your monitors to run only on certain days or on a fixed schedule. Click the Edit schedule link to create or edit a monitor schedule. For more information about working with monitor schedules, see the section on Schedule Preferences for Monitoring.

Monitor Description

Enter additional information about this monitor. The Monitor Description can include HTML tags such as the <BR> <HR>, and <B> tags to control display format and style. The description will appear on the Monitor Detail page.

Report Description

Enter an optional description for this monitor that will make it easier to understand what the monitor does. For example, network traffic or main server response time. This description will be displayed on with each bar chart and graph in Management Reports and appended to the tool-tip displayed when you pass the mouse cursor over the status icon for this monitor on the monitor detail page.

Depends On

To make the running of this monitor dependent on the status of another monitor or monitor group, use the drop-down list to select the monitor on which this monitor is dependent. Select None to remove any dependency.

Depends Condition

If you choose to make the running of this monitor dependent on the status of another monitor, select the status condition that the other monitor or monitor group should have in order for the current monitor to run normally. The current monitor will be run normally as long as the monitor on which it depends reports the condition selected in this option.

List Order

By default, new monitors are listed last on the Monitor Detail page. You may use this drop-down list to choose a different placement for this monitor.

Error if

Set the conditions under which the Remedy AR System Monitor should report an error status. Use the drop-down list to select a criteria based on the content of the results or a performance value. Next select the logic operator(s) for the error criteria. Then enter the value to be used as the threshold or trigger for this condition.

The possible comparison values are:

• Number of Tickets in Remedy AR System - the number of "Interesting"" (opened) tickets found.

The default is generating an error if:

1. no information from the Remedy Server is available (numOfTickets == n/a).
2. Number of "Interesting Tickets" opened in the server exceeds 15 (numOfTickets > 15).

Warning if

Set the Warning threshold for this monitor. The symbols in the comparison value drop-down list are the same as those for Error if. The default is to generate a warning if Number of "Interesting Tickets" opened in the server exceeds 7 (numOfTickets > 7).

Good if

Set the conditions under which the Remedy AR System Monitor should report a good (OK) status. The default is to mark the monitor as good if none of the above conditions were met.

Troubleshooting

The following table summarizes common problems in working with the Remedy AR System Monitor and describes suggested solutions.

Copyright © 2004 Mercury Interactive Corporation.
All rights reserved.

Documentation comments or suggestions?
Please send feedback to documentation@merc-int.com