Configuration of DiskSpaceTest

This test monitors the space usage every physical and logical partition on a host.

The default parameters associated with this test are as follows:

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

• In the HOST text box, the host name of the server for which the test is to be configured has to be specified.

• Set the DISCOVER NFS flag to Yes, if you want the test to automatically discover NFS drives on your system and report their status as well. By default, this flag is set to No. This flag is applicable for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 operating systems only.

• The DOMAIN, DOMAIN USER, and DOMAIN PASSWORD parameters are applicable to Windows systems only. When monitoring a Windows system, if the DISCOVER NFS flag of this test is set to Yes, then the test should be configured with the privileges of a valid domain user in order to auto-discover NFS drives and report their usage and status. In such a case therefore, specify a valid Windows domain name against DOMAIN, provide the name of a valid user in that domain against DOMAIN USER, and specify the password of that user against PASSWORD. Once the domain user credentials are provided, the test auto-discovers all those NFS drives on the target Windows system to which the configured domain user has access.

• Retype the PASSWORD of the configured domain user in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• Specify the maximum duration (in seconds) for which the test will wait for a response from the server in the TIMEOUT text box. The default timeout period is 30 seconds.

• The AUTOMATION and AUTOMATION CONFIGURATION RULES parameters are applicable to only Windows systems.

  These parameters will appear only after the eG agent reports information of the disks to the eG manager in the first measurement period.
  
  When an application is installed/launched or services are run from a drive, one or more temporary files/folders may be created in the system drive or in other drives from which the operations are performed. Such temporary files/folders occupy considerable amount of space until administrators delete those files manually. Besides, there may be a few files/folders that are accessed less frequently or are no longer required in that drive. If the temporary/unnecessary files/folders are not removed at regular intervals, administrators will not be able to allocate enough disk space for critical files and folders. Also, administrators may be forced to periodically identify temporary/unnecessary files/folders and painstakingly delete them manually. Moreover, alerts raised when such temporary/unnecessary files/folders occupy the entire disk may not be of much importance to the administrators. To avoid such false alerts and unproductive work of manually deleting the files/folders, eG Enterprise offers the Automation capability.
  
  To enable this capability, administrators have to reconfigure this test. By default, the AUTOMATION parameter is set to No. If this flag is set to Yes, the AUTOMATION CONFIGURATION RULES parameter will then appear. Using the AUTOMATION CONFIGURATION RULES parameter, administrators can define rules to automatically delete unwanted files/folders from one or more available disks. To define the configuration rules, click on the encircled plus icon provided against the AUTOMATION CONFIGURATION RULES parameter. For more details on configuring the rules, follow the instructions provided in Configuring Automation Clean-up Rules.

  Note:

  These parameters are applicable only for the test associated with the chosen component. These parameters will not be applied to other components even if the Apply to other components button is clicked in the Specific test Configuration page.

• Against the EXCLUDE parameter, you can provide a comma-separated list of disk partitions that you want to exclude from monitoring. For example, on Unix systems, you can use this parameter to exclude temporary partitions that the Unix system itself creates from monitoring.

• The USE SUDO parameter applies only to Linux and Solaris systems. By default, the USE SUDO parameter is set to No. This indicates that, by default, this test will report metrics by executing the df -Pk -l command on the Solaris host. However, in some highly secure environments, the eG agent install user may not have the permissions to execute this command directly. In such cases, do the following:

• Edit the SUDOERS file on the target host and append an entry of the following format to it:

  <eG_agent_install_user> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: <Command>

  For instance, if the eG agent install user is eguser, then the entry in the SUDOERS file should be:

  eguser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: df -Pk -l

• Finally, save the file.

• Then, when configuring the test using the eG admin interface, set the USE SUDO parameter to Yes. This will enable the eG agent to execute the sudo df -Pk -l command and retrieve the desired metrics.

• This parameter is relevant only when the USE SUDO parameter is set to ‘Yes’. By default, the SUDO PATH is set to none. This implies that the sudo command is in its default location - i.e., in the /usr/bin or /usr/sbin folder of the target Solaris host. In this case, the eG agent automatically runs the df -Pk -l command with sudo from its default location, once the USE SUDO flag is set to Yes. However, if the sudo command is available in a different location in your environment, you will have to explicitly specify the full path to the sudo command in the SUDO PATH text box to enable the eG agent to run the sudo command.

• The HIGH SECURITY parameter is applicable only for the Linux platforms that are being monitored in the agentless manner. In highly secure environments, eG Enterprise could not perform agentless monitoring on a Linux host using SSH. To enable monitoring of the Linux hosts in such environments, set the HIGH SECURITY flag to Yes. It indicates that eG Enteprise will connect to the target Linux host in a more secure way and collect performance metrics. By default, this flag is set to No.

• Set the SHOW ONLY FSTAB FS flag to Yes, if you want the test to automatically discover drives that are mounted on your system based on a set of rules configured in the fstab file and report their status as well. By default, this flag is set to No. This flag is applicable for Linux operating systems only.

• Set the REPORT LOCAL NFS NAME flag to Yes, if you want the test to report names of NFS drives that are mounted on your system. By default, this flag is set to No.

• The DD FREQUENCY refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD FREQUENCY.

• To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, eG 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, by default, for a particular server, choose the On option against DETAILED DIAGNOSIS. 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 bad and normal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

• If multiple components of the same component type are awaiting configuration, then an APPLY TO OTHER COMPONENTS check box will appear in this page. Clicking on this check box will allow you to apply the configuration to all/selected components of that type.

• Once the necessary values have been provided, clicking on the Update button will register the changes made.

When changing the configuration for specific servers, a “*” beside the text box corresponding to the parameter signifies that these values have to be manually configured by the user. The parameter values that require to be configured will typically be prefixed with a “$” or contain a series of “*”. A value of "none" in the parameter value indicates that the corresponding parameter value can be changed if required.