Default Parameters for OraAlertTest

This test periodically tracks the errors newly added to the Oracle alert log.

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

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

• By default, the ALERTFILE is set to none, indicating that the eG agent autodiscovers the path to the Oracle alert log file to be monitored. If required, you can manually specify the full path to the alert log file to be monitored. For e.g., /user/john/alert_egurkha.log

• In order to monitor an Oracle database server, a special database user account has to be created in every Oracle database instance that requires monitoring. A Click here hyperlink is available in the test configuration page, using which a new oracle database user can be created. Alternatively, you can manually create the special database user. When doing so, ensure that this user is vested with the select_catalog_role and create session privileges. The sample script we recommend for user creation for eG monitoring is:
  
  create user oraeg identified by oraeg
  create role oratest;
  grant create session to oratest;
  grant select_catalog_role to oratest;
  grant oratest to oraeg; The sample script we recommend for user creation (in Oracle database server 12c) for eG monitoring is:

  alter session set container=<Oracle_service_name>;
  create user <user_name> identified by <user_password> container=current default
  tablespace <name_of_default_tablespace> temporary tablespace <name_of_temporary_tablespace>;
  Grant create, session to <user_name>;
  Grant select_catalog_role to <user_name>;

  The name of this user has to be specified in the USER text box.

• The password of the specified database user has to be entered in the PASSWORD text box.

  This login information is required to query Oracle's internal dynamic views, so as to fetch the current status / health of the various database components.

• Confirm the password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• Enter the specific patterns of alerts to be monitored in the SEARCHPATTERN text box. The pattern should be in the following format: <PatternName>:<Pattern>, where <PatternName> is the pattern name that will be displayed in the monitor interface and <Pattern> is an expression of the form - *expr* or expr or *expr or expr*, etc. A leading ‘*’ signifies any number of leading characters, while a trailing ‘*’ signifies any number of trailing characters.

  For example, say you specify ORA:ORA-* in the SEARCHPATTERN text box. This indicates that “ORA” is the pattern name to be displayed in the monitor interface. “ORA-*” indicates that the test will monitor only those lines in the alert log which start with the term “ORA-”. Similarly, if your pattern specification reads: offline:*offline, then it means that the pattern name is offline and that the test will monitor those lines in the alert log which end with the term offline. Multiple search patterns can be specified as a comma-separated list. For example: ORA:ORA-*,offline:*offline*,online:*online. Specify all if all Oracle alerts are to be monitored.

• In the LINES text box, specify two numbers in the format x:y. This means that when a line in the alert file matches a particular pattern, then x lines before the matched line and y lines after the matched line will be reported in the detail diagnosis output (in addition to the matched line). The default value here is 0:0. Multiple entries can be provided as a comma-separated list.

  If you give 1:1 as the value for LINES, then this value will be applied to all the patterns specified in the SEARCHPATTERN field. If you give 0:0,1:1,2:1 as the value for LINES and if the corresponding value in the SEARCHPATTERN filed is like ORA:ORA-*,offline:*offline*,online:*online then:

  0:0 will be applied to ORA:ORA-* pattern

  1:1 will be applied to offline:*offline* pattern

  2:1 will be applied to online:*online pattern

• Provide a comma-separated list of message patterns to be excluded from monitoring in the EXCLUDE PATTERN text box. For instance, if you want to monitor all alert messages that begin with “ORA-”, except the messages that begin with “ORA--” and “ORA-info”, you can configure ORA-* as the searchpattern and configure ORA--,ORA-info as the EXCLUDE PATTERN.

• If the ISPASSIVE parameter is set to YES, then it means that, by default, all Oracle servers being monitored by the eG system are the passive servers of an Oracle cluster. No alerts will be generated if the servers are not running. Measures will be reported as “Not applicable” by the agent if the servers are not up.

• Once the necessary values have been provided, clicking on the UPDATE button will 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.