Upgrading Applications Manager's AS400 monitor- Take Part in our Survey
we are happy to announce, that our AS400 monitor is about to get a makeover!!
We’re already working on a few enhancements to the AS400 monitor. Here is a sneak peek into what you can expect from the new AS400 monitor:
• Specific Job(s) Monitoring : This feature intends to allow the user to monitor specific job(s) which are more important to them, by choosing the option “Add Job(s) to Monitor" . The user can configure the alerts based on the status of job, number of threads used by job, etc. Job log can also be viewed for any job.
• Monitoring of messages that need reply : Do you feel you are bombarded with a lot of messages in your AS400 server? You don’t have to be bothered anymore. We will now leave it to your choice. You can stop data collection by disabling messages. However, you can opt for “Messages that need reply” which will be displayed by default. User can also configure alarms depending upon the content of the message.
• Specific Subsystem(s) Monitoring : You can configure the alerts based on the status, number of jobs running in the subsystem. This feature will also allow the users to monitor specific subsystem(s) which are more important to them, by choosing the option “Add Subsystem(s) to Monitor".
We have tried to customize the various available options for you to have better control over the monitoring, specifically data collection.
The user can disable/enable data collection for particular module like job/messages/spool as per your requirement. Nevertheless any parameter (jobs, spool, subsystem,etc) which are in critical or warning status across all the AS400 monitors will be monitored and displayed by default in the web client.
If you have been using ManageEngine Applications Manager to monitor your AS400 servers, we invite you to share your thoughts on the above mentioned enhancements. Also feel free to suggest any other enhancements which you feel is necessary, by taking part in this survey .
If you haven’t tried Applications Manager yet, we invite you to do so. You can get an insight into our AS400 monitoring capabilities here .
Looking forward to your valuable comments and suggestions.
New in Applications Manager: VMware vFabric RabbitMQ Monitoring and more
We recently released version 10.3 of Applications Manager. Here I take you through the gist of what had gone into this release.
Support for monitoring VMware vFabric RabbitMQ
Applications Manager has included, VMware vFabric RabbitMQ, an enterprise messaging middleware from the vFabric family, to its list of supported monitors.
With support for monitoring vFabric RabbitMQ server, an
ideal and increasingly popular messaging solution for cloud computing, we will now
be able to ensure your RabbitMQ system is sending and receiving messages
without any problems. It will aid you in tracking the performance of components
like queues, messages, channels, connections and exchanges.
Now, with the support for monitoring vFabric tc Server and vFabric RabbitMQ, we are providing our customers have a common tool to monitor the SpringSource based applications.
Ability to use LDAP Server for User authentication
User administration in Applications Manager has become easier. You can now import users from Active Directory using Active Directory (AD) authentication module. Users imported from the Active Directory can log in to Applications Manager using their Active Directory credentials.
Support for embedding different world map views
World Map Business View in Applications Manager now enables network administrators to have a visual representation of their distributed network across the globe. It provides them a geographical view of their business services.
Additional enhancements in this release include, the option to customize logo in reports, web client GUI enhancements and support for monitoring SSLv3 enabled websites in URL monitoring.
Here is a screenshot tour of our latest features. You can also check out the new version, by upgrading to the latest version of Applications Manager.
Try it out and post your comments on the new version.Effective Java Application Management just got simpler - a video overview
If you have worked with business-critical IT services, you already know how powerful Java Enterprise Applications can be. Java technology is widely used as the middleware on which the business logic of multi-tier infrastructures resides.
Enterprises have a variety of application components running on standard Java application servers like Oracle WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, Glassfish, Apache Tomcat and JBoss, to name a few. Its clear that Java Application performance management has never been more difficult or more crucial; what with Java Apps running some of the most critical business application workloads.
All Java applications, whether client-server or web-based, run on the Java Virtual Machine. A single run-away thread in the JVM could use up substantial CPU resources, slowing down performance. A deadlock between two major threads can bring services to a grinding halt! How do you identify the thread that caused the potential deadlock without killing the session? JVM monitoring can provide key insights into application performance issues- issues could have a significant impact on the business services that the application supports.
Think its
time to monitor and troubleshoot your business applications? Want
up-to-date alerts and reports on performance and availability?
Watch
this 5-minute video to know how Applications Manager offers ideal
solutions for managing your Java platform, thread statistics, memory
allocation, run-time optimization and garbage collection time. And what's more, you can also
automate corrective actions.
Still skeptical ? Try our Java Application Performance Monitoring Tool and see for yourself. Happy monitoring !
Integrate Applications Manager alerts into IBM Tivoli Console
To meet the growing complexity of their infrastructures, organizations today use numerous monitoring tools to track the health of their business environments. These monitoring tools generate alerts of statistics, errors, notifications or any other information that may be crucial to the enterprise. How does the operations team of any organization keep track of alerts from so many different tools generated on different systems?
We have received a fair number of queries from users whose enterprises use IBM Tivoli as their main Network Management System (NMS) console. They would like a direct method to display critical Applications Manager alerts in Tivoli's console. This blog should help you incorporate Applications Manager's alerts into IBM Tivoli.How does it work?
IBM Tivoli's probe for Microsoft Windows Event Log monitors event log files on any specified Windows machines.When third-part monitoring tools like Applications Manager generate Windows Event Logs in case of a critical alarm, the probe will pick up the alarms from the event logs and display it in the Events Console. You can use the IBM Tivoli Probe for Windows Event Logs already installed in any windows machine or install the probe in the Applications Manager machine.
Applications Manager provides flexibility in fault management by triggering actions. One such action type is executing a program on the occurrence of an alarm. You can use "Execute program" action to execute a batch file to generate an alert to be escalated to Tivoli's Console. When an alert is generated it adds an event to the Windows Event log which is in turn picked up and displayed by Tivoli's console.
How do you set it up in ManageEngine's Applications Manager?Step 1: Create a batch file with the command given below :
eventcreate /S <hostname> /U <username> /P <password> /t <SUCCESS / ERROR / WARNING / INFORMATION> /id <id> /SO AppManager /L <Application / Security / System> /D "some description here"
You can download a sample batch file here.
Step 2: Click on the Actions tab to display a drop-down list.
Step 3: Click on Execute Program from the drop-down list.
Step 4: Enter Display name and select the script location.
Step 5: In the 'Program To Execute' field, enter the name of the batch file that you created. You can use replaceable tags to enter the required alarm configuration parameters.
CreateWindowsEvent.bat "app-xp2 $MONITORNAME Response Time is $RCAMESSAGE"
Note:
Replaceable tags are supported in the 'Program to Execute' field. You can use the tags mentioned in the help card on the Execute Program page within double quotes to handle any spaces present inside tag value.To know more about replaceable tags, click here.
Step 6: Enter the path where the script is placed in the "Directory to execute Program" field.
Step 7: When the Program action is executed, an event of the type is created.
This
event action thus created should be associated for each of the
monitors that you wish to add. Now you can view alerts
from Applications Manager in Tivoli's centralized alarms console.
This "one-stop shop" should significantly simplify
any operations team's work of monitoring critical alarms.
Track Your Website’s SSL Certificate Expiry Date Using Applications Manager
After all the key to any business, is the trust you win out of your customer, and thus increasing customer loyalty.
For those of you, who are into e-business; dependent totally on online transactions, security and trust in your website can be the main factor that differentiates a standard visitor from a paying customer. Your customer needs reassurance that your business effectively protects their sensitive info from impingement and trespass.
To assure all the above, organizations today rely on SSL certificates. SSL- Secure Sockets Layer, are critical to keep sensitive information sent across the internet, secured.
SSL certificates are small data files installed on a web server, which allows secure connections from a web server to a browser. Extensively used in e-commerce; to secure credit card transactions, data transfer, account logins and so on, an SSL certificate encrypts the data flowing to and from the website of the certificate holder and holds information like domain name, company name, location and the validity period of the certificate.
There are certain visual cues which assures the user of a site being secured with an SSL Certificate: https in the website address, the padlock symbol in the web browser or a clickable seal containing the SSL certificate information.
All SSL certificates contain an expiration date which most applications will check before using the contents of the certificate and so monitoring SSL Certificate’s expiry date is no less crucial than using an SSL Certificate. ManageEngine Applications Manager monitors the expiration date of SSL certificates and notifies you before they expire.
Expired SSL certificates can tamper your customers trust. Web browsers usually show a warning message indicating that the certificate has expired. Some applications terminate connections abruptly when they encounter expired certificates, while others will prompt the user with a dialog box requesting their approval to proceed.
These warnings can be confusing for the end user and he might end up doubting the credibility of the website itself.
Using Applications Manager, you can set a threshold based on the number of days prior to expiry, and you will be notified via email when Applications Manager finds a certificate within the threshold range.
Automate the job of managing SSL certificate expiration date and avoid application downtime due to certificate expiration!!
Take our survey on Storage Area Network (SAN) monitoring
We have been working on enhancing our storage monitoring capabilities (SAN & NAS) as part of our efforts to provide better real-time visibility into application performance. We’re planning to roll out built-in support for major storage vendors like EMC, IBM, NetApp, Dell, HP and Hitachi in Applications Manager. That would mean keeping tabs on the performance of applications as well as storage devices from a single management console.
A connector to ManageEngine OpStor was our first step towards this goal. Now we want to take the next big leap forward, but we will need your assistance.
Please take our 2-minute survey to let us know a bit about the storage devices in your environment and your SAN monitoring requirements:
New in Applications Manager: Oracle JRockit JVM Monitoring and more
We recently rolled out Applications Manager version 10.2. Here, we brief you through the features and enhancements which has gone into this release:
Support for monitoring Oracle JRockit JVM and IBM JVM in Java Runtime Monitor: Applications Manager has added few more vendors into its list of supported JVMs.With support for JRockit and IBM JVM, we now support all major JVMs on the market. Applications Manager already supports IBM WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere MQ and IBM JVM is popular among users of IBM software. Similarly, Applications Manager supports Oracle WebLogic Server, and Oracle JRockit server is a high-performance combination. By supporting JRockit and IBM JVMs, we are ensuring our customers can monitor the whole stack. For more info on the major parameters monitored of the different JVM vendors, click here.
Memory Usage by JRockit JVM
Thread Statistics by IBM JVM
Ability to play sound for critical alarms: Troubleshooting in Applications
Manager is now augmented by the ability to play sound for critical alarms. You will be alerted by sound alarms during a threshold breach.
Scaling Options Enabled: We have enhanced the Performance Metric Widget to show graphs for additional metrics with scaling option. With this you can now customize the range in which you want all the performance metrics value to be displayed in the graph.
Here is a screenshot tour of our latest features. You can also check out the new version, by upgrading to the latest version of Applications Manager.
Try it out and post your comments on the new version.
Upcoming Webinar: New and improved Java Transaction Monitoring - A sneak peek
First look into Applications Manager's RabbitMQ monitoring
RabbitMQ is different from traditional messaging systems that it is free to use and comes with an optional commercial support . It is a multi-protocol, portable messaging system which could well be the game changer in next generation's enterprise applications. Its integration capabilities with Spring framework makes it more alluring for the developer community as they migrate their existing applications to private and public cloud. Here are some of the aspects of RabbitMQ which makes it unique amidst other messaging systems,
- Market leader in AMQP
- RabbitMQ, with its hundreds of production deployments and its
increasing penetration into the Linux market along with widespread
adoption in the cloud (Amazon,Engineyard et al) has clearly emerged as a
market leader in AMQP. RabbitMQ with its .Net edition is the most
deployed AMQP broker in Windows.
- Clustering and High Availability -
RabbitMQ supports both active\passive and active\active (from version
2.6.0) modes of operation making it more reliable and fault tolerant as
an enterprise messaging system. Clustering RabbitMQ is very simple which
doesn't warrant any load balancer or any software component whereas one
of the nodes manages the master queue and distribute the messages
across the slaves.
- Lower cost of management and maintenance - With
just 12k lines of code and the core engine being written in Erlang/OTP
which is known for its use in highly scalable telcos, RabbitMQ is
capable of lowering the cost of management and maintenance drastically.
- Support across multiple platforms - RabbitMQ supports multiple platforms .This helps a lot of developers as most often their development and deployment are in different platforms.They also support wide range of protocols like HTTP,STOMP,SMTP and more.
Some
good news from us!!. As a part of VMware vFabric family, RabbitMQ
will now be supported by ManageEngine Applications Manager in a forthcoming release. The coalesce of RabbitMQ monitoring with VMware vFabric tc server monitoring will offer a deeper insight into performance of the applications. And for those who are curious, here is a sneak peek into what's cooking in Applications Manager pertaining to RabbitMQ monitoring .
Queued Messages And Message Rates
Nodes
If the socket descriptors utilization is high , it may lead to performance bottleneck and it is also possible that some of the subsequent connections may get timed out.
Message rates of Queues
The performance of the messaging queues can be improved with the aid of the historical reports generated .
Channels
Exchanges
Connections
If there is a network congestion, it is possible to zero-in on the connection which is choking the bandwidth .
We believe the support for RabbitMQ along with VMware vFabric tc Server will further augment our monitoring capabilities for VMware virtualization infrastructure. If you are already using RabbitMQ and have any suggestions or feedback for this feature, please drop in a mail to appmanager-support@manageengine.com
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