Agents Administration - Tests
 

Default Parameters for AlibabaSQLTest

For each SQL server instance that is configured using ApsaraDB for RDS, this test reports the rate at which queries and transactions are processed by that instance, thus shedding light on real/potential bottlenecks in query/transaction processing. If query processing is slow, then the administrator can use the buffer usage metric reported by the test to determine if poor buffer cache usage is the reason for query performance to suffer. Using the test, administrator can also check if each instance is keeping full table scans at a minimum. To reveal how resilient a SQL server instance is to power failures, the test also measures the speed with which checkpoints are written to disk by every instance; if the writes are performed slowly, the likelihood of data loss at the time of a power failure becomes high. The test also monitors the locking activity on each instance, and alerts administrators to frequent deadlock conditions and lock waits. Additionally, the test monitors the space usage at the instance level, and points administrators to those instances that are running out of space.

This page depicts the default parameters that need to be configured for the AlibabaSQLTest test.

  • The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed.

  • This test makes REST API requests to the Alibaba cloud to pull the metrics. For this purpose, the test needs to be configured with an ACCESSKEY PAIR. An ACCESSKEY PAIR is typically used to call an operation of an Alibaba Cloud service. It is also used to initiate an API request or use a cloud service SDK to manager cloud resources. An ACCESSKEY PAIR is characterized by an ACCESSKEY ID and an ACCESSKEY SECRET. The AccessKey ID is used to identify a user/cloud account. The AccessKey Secret is used to verify a user/cloud account.

    The first step to configuring the eG agent with an ACCESSKEY PAIR is to create an ACCESSKEY PAIR for the target cloud acount. To achieve this, follow the steps below:

    1. Log on to the RAM console by using an Alibaba Cloud account.

    2. In the left-side navigation pane, click USERS under IDENTITIES.

    3. On the USERS page, click the username of the RAM user for which you want to create an AccessKey pair in the USER LOGON NAME/DISPLAY NAME column.

    4. On the page that appears, click Create AccessKey in the User AccessKeys section.

      5. Note:

      You must enter a verification code if you create an AccessKey pair for the first time.

    5. Click Close.

      6. Note:

      • The AccessKey secret is displayed only when you create an AccessKey pair.

      • If the AccessKey pair is leaked or lost, you must create a new one. You can create a maximum of two AccessKey pairs.

    6. Make note of the AccessKey ID and AccessKey secret, once they are displayed.

    7. Then, configure the ALIBABA ACCESS KEY parameter of the test with the ACCESSKEY ID, and the ALIBABA SECRET KEY parameter with the ACCESSKEY SECRET you made note of.

    If you failed to make note of the ACCESSKEY ID and ACCESSKEY SECRET at the time of creating the ACCESSKEY PAIR, then you can obtain the same at a later point in time. Similarly, if an ACCESSKEY PAIR pre-exists for the target cloud account, then you do not have to create another one. Instead, you can obtain the ACCESSKEY ID and ACCESSKEY SECRET of the existing ACCESSKEY PAIR and configure the eG agent with the same. For this, follow the steps below:

    1. Use an Alibaba Cloud account to log on to the Alibaba Cloud Management console.

    2. Move the pointer over the profile picture in the upper-right corner, and click AccessKey.

    3. In the Security Tips message that appears, click Continue to manage AccessKey. AccessKey ID and AccessKey Secret are displayed.

    4. Make note of the displayed ID and secret.

    5. Then, configure the ALIBABA ACCESS KEY parameter of the test with the ACCESSKEY ID, and the ALIBABA SECRET KEY parameter with the ACCESSKEY SECRET you made note of.

  • To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the DETAILED DIAGNOSIS capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

    The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

    • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability.

    • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

  • Once the above value is provided, click on the UPDATE button to register the changes made.

When changing default configurations of tests, the values with “$” indicate variables that will be replaced by the eG system according to the specific server being managed - for instance, $hostName is the host/nickname of the target host, $port is the port number of the server being monitored. E.g., for a server xyz:80, $hostName will be changed automatically by the eG manager to “xyz*” and $port will be changed to “80” when configuring a test.