Saturday, September 27, 2008

Prerequisites for the Installation of CCMS agents

Below is the list of agents with the suitability for the systems.

SAPCCMSR - Components with no SAP instance and J2EE Engines with SAP Web AS 6.20; Central monitoring system as of SAP Basis 4.6B
SAPCCMSR with the option –j2ee - Java instances as of SAP NetWeaver 04; Central monitoring system as of SAP NetWeaver 04
SAPCCM4X - ABAP instances as of SAP Basis 4.X; Central monitoring system as of SAP Basis 4.6C
SAPCM3X - SAP systems with SAP Basis 3.X

􀁸 When installing a CCMS agent under Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 2000, you require administrator rights on the relevant host.
􀁸 Install SAPCCM4X and SAPCM3X using the user adm (UNIX) or SAPService (Microsoft Windows) of the monitored system to ensure that the agent can access the shared memory.
􀁸 If multiple SAP R/3 3.X systems are running on one host, note the following points:
a) Install only one SAPCM3X agent for each host.
b) If you specify a profile, the agent monitors only one system; therefore, do not specify a profile (with pf=) when starting the agent.
c) So that the agent can read the shared memory segments of all of the systems, install the agent with the root user.
􀁸 For SAPCCM4X and SAPCCMSR with Option j2ee, you have to register one agent per monitored instance.

CCMS Monitoring agents - SAPCM3X

This agent allows the monitoring of SAP instances with SAP Basis 3.X through the CCMS
monitoring architecture. These systems do not have their own CCMS monitoring architecture
runtime environment. SAPCM3X therefore works always works with a monitoring segment that
it creates in its main memory (for more information, see SAP Note 308061).

CCMS Monitoring agents - SAPCCM4X




This agent improves the monitoring of ABAP instances with SAP Basis 4.X or higher. The central monitoring system must have a release status of at least SAP Basis 4.6C. This agent provides an alternative connection route to the monitoring information in the shared memory of an ABAP instance. As this alternative connection method does not require a free work process, the access method is independent of error states of the SAP instance and is therefore more robust.


Systems as of SAP Basis 4.0 have their own CCMS monitoring architecture runtime environment. This means that they have their own monitoring segment in the shared memory area of the running system. After its installation, the SAPCCM4X agent attempts to attach itself to and to work with this monitoring segment in shared memory when it is started.


If this segment does not exist (that is, if the monitored system is not running), the agent does not create it, to avoid interfering with the shared memory management in the restarting system. In this case, the SAPCCM4X agent works with the monitoring segment that it creates in its process memory and the contents of which it synchronizes with the monitored system. SAPCCM4X constantly checks whether the monitored system is active again, and when it is, works with the monitoring segment in the shared memory again, after synchronization.


The central monitoring system automatically first attempts to read data from the monitored
system through the RFC destination of the CCMS agent. If the agent is not active, the system
reads the monitoring data from the monitored SAP instance using the standard RFC, as previously (for more information, see SAP Note 322075).


Note that even if you are using the SAPCCM4X agent, you still continue to need the standard RFC connection anyway.

CCMS Monitoring Agents - SAPCCMSR (with Option j2ee)


SAPCCMSR agent monitors components on which there is no active SAP instance (such as log files, TREX, stand-alone databases, or operating system components). SAPCCMSR is closely connected with the monitoring central monitoring system.
After its installation, the CCMS agent SAPCCMSR attempts to attach itself to a monitoring
segment in shared memory when it is started. If this segment does not yet exist, the agent creates it. SAPCCMSR always works in a shared memory segment that is independent of running SAP systems. The central monitoring system must have a release status of at least SAP Basis 4.6B.


SAPCCMSR with Option j2ee
The functional principle of SAPCCMSR has been extended in case the SAPCCMSR CCMS agent is monitoring a J2EE Engine. In a case of this type, it must be possible that the monitoring segment of the SAPCCMSR agent does not belong to the central monitoring system. This is achieved by extending the system term to include Java components (such as J2EE Cluster). The
SAPCCMSR agent with the -j2ee option exists for this purpose.
Note :
To use SAPCCMSR with option j2ee, you need a central monitoring system as of SAP Web AS 6.40 Support Package 1.
The monitored J2EE Instance requires at least SAP Web AS 6.30 Support Package 4.


It is easier to understand the other steps if you use the following analogies:
ABAP - ABAP System , Application server , Work process
Java - J2EE Cluster , J2EE Engine , Virtual Machine (VM)

A system is no longer only a quantity of classical application servers with an ABAP runtime environment, but simply a number of associated components that have a common system name.
Combinations of ABAP instances and Java instances can also create a system, if all of these parts
are combined under one system ID.
You specify the system ID and the system number of the monitored Java instance during the registration of the agent using the instance's profile

When monitoring, it should be possible to display the data for the ABAP instances and the Java
instances of the same system in a central CCMS under the system ID of the monitored system. As far as possible, a Java instance should not be different from an ABAP instance; it should also be possible to monitor all instances with the same system ID locally as one system unit.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Important SAP Notes on CCMS Monitoring

042692 Test tool for RFC links: sapinfo
The RFC connection test provided in transaction SM59 is either not available or does not provide enough information. Use the test tool sapinfo described in this SAP Note for testing.

135503 CCMS Monitoring Architecture: Meaning of profile parameters
The profile parameters of the monitoring architecture are explained in this SAP Note. These are: alert/MONI_SEGM_SIZE, alert/MTTREE, alert/ALERTS, and alert/PERFHIST.

202591 CCMS Monitoring Kernel Patches (composite SAP Note)
This SAP Note describes the changes to the monitoring architecture through the various patch collections.

209834 CCMS agent technology (composite SAP Note)
This SAP Note contains, in addition to basic information about the CCMS agents, known problems that can occur in connection with the CCMS agents, and their solutions.


212876 The new archiving tool SAPCAR
This SAP Note explains the operation of the archiving tool SAPCAR, with which the SAP Service Marketplace files are compressed.

308061 CCMS monitoring architecture: monitor 3x systems
The CCMS monitoring architecture is available as of SAP Basis 4.0B. However, you can also monitor systems as of SAP Basis 3.0D using the monitoring architecture. This SAP Note explains the procedure required to do this.

322075 Installing the CCMS agent sapccm4x fails
This SAP Note shows how you can solve a possible problem (error during the interaction of the semaphores between the agent and the application server) during the installation of the CCMS agent SAPCCM4X on application servers up to SAP Basis 4.6C.

371023 OS07/ST06: Monitoring of operating system data
Operating system data of (any) server is to be collected with the operating system collector SAPOSCOL and reported in the CCMS monitoring architecture or displayed in transactions ST06/OS07. This SAP Note describes the prerequisites for this.

420213 Composite SAP Note: Central monitoring of mySAP.com components
This SAP Note provides current information about monitoring mySAP.com components that are not described in the standard documentation (see SAP Service Marketplace and SAP Library [page 109]).

429265 CCMS monitoring architecture: Central auto-reaction
As of SAP Web AS 6.10, you can define central auto-reaction methods in the monitoring architecture in the context of the central monitoring of mySAP.com components. The auto-reaction methods are not started in the system, in which the alert occurs, but rather in the central monitoring system. In this way, it is possible for reactions to events that occur in monitored components to be performed immediately in a central location. This SAP Note describes the prerequisites for this scenario.

498179 Enable Monitoring of InQMy/SAP J2EE Engine
You want to include the SAP J2EE Engine in the CCMS monitoring architecture. This SAP Note shows how you can do this with the SAPCCMSR agent.

502461 CRM: CCMS agent PlugIn for IPC
You want to include the IPC Server component in the CCMS monitoring architecture. This SAP Note shows how you can do this with the SAPCCMSR agent and the appropriate PlugIn.

535199 CCMS agents: Monitoring log files
In the context of monitoring systems and system landscapes, you can use CCMS agents to monitor log files; that is, to search through certain files for one or more word patterns. If a search pattern is found, the monitoring architecture displays a message or an alert. This SAP Note explains the configuration required to do this.

516181 SAP Expert Monitor for EMC (SEME)
You want to monitor cached disk subsystems, such as EMC Disc Arrays (Symmetrix) with the monitoring architecture. This SAP Note shows how you can do this with the SAPCCMSR agent and the appropriate PlugIn.

522453 RZ20: Monitoring operating system data
This SAP Note describes how you can configure the collection of operating system data in the monitoring architecture.

584136 CCMS agents and kernels: Patches 2003 (composite SAP Note)
This SAP Note describes the changes to the monitoring architecture through the patch collections during 2003.

694057 CCMS agents and kernels: Patches 2004 (composite SAP Note)
This SAP Note describes the changes to the CCMS agents in the patch collections from 2004.

704349 Activating the CCMS monitoring for TREX
TREX can provide monitoring data for the CCMS using the agent technology. To do this, the CCMS agent SAPCCMSR and the operating system collector SAPOSCOL must be installed and configured on the TREX host. This SAP Note describes the steps on the TREX host.

730629 CCMS agents: Java interface for registration
You want to register the CCMS agent SAPCCMSR. The monitored object can be an instance of a J2EE Engine with a release status of SAP Web AS 6.20 or a host on which SAP standalone components/non-SAP components (such as a database) are running.
During the registration of the agent, you must enter a large amount of information about the CEN, the connection to it, and, if appropriate, the monitored J2EE instance. This SAP Note contains, as an attachment, a Java tool to simplify the registration.

734247 Registering CCMS agents for SAP Web AS Java as of 6.30
You want to register the CCMS agent SAPCCMSR, to centrally monitor an instance of a J2EE Engine as of SAP Web AS 6.30 using a central monitoring system (CEN) as of SAP Web AS 6.40 SP 1. During the registration of the agent, you must enter a large amount of data about the CEN, the connection to it, and the monitored J2EE instance. This SAP Note contains, as an attachment, a Java tool to simplify the registration.

809007 CCMS Agents and Kernel: Patches 2005
This SAP Note describes the changes to the monitoring architecture through the patch collections during 2005.

817714 Agent registration not possible with visual administrator
This SAP Note describes the manual installation of CCMS agents for a SAP NetWeaver J2EE instance or an ABAP+J2EE instance (double-stack) if it is not possible to perform the agent registration from the Visual Administrator.

902460 CCMS: Agent displays no J2EE data in RZ20
A SAPCCMSR CCMS agent has been installed for an SAP NetWeaver 2004s (7.00) J2EE instance and registered with a central monitoring system. The CCMS agent is displayed as ONLINE in transaction RZ21, and provides data for OS monitoring and log file monitoring. However, no monitoring data is displayed for the J2EE Engine.

914721 CCMS Agents and Kernel: Patches 2006
This SAP Note describes the changes to the monitoring architecture through the patch collections during 2006.

929635 “CCMS Agent Configuration” tab page is missing
Automatic registration of the CCMS agent from the Visual Administrator is not possible, since the CCMS Agent Configuration tab page in the Monitoring service of the dispatcher is not displayed. This problem can occur with the following release statuses:
􀂃 SAP NetWeaver 04 SP Stack 13 up to SP Stack 16
􀂃 SAP NetWeaver 2004s up to SP Stack 7

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Troubleshooting SAP CCMS Counter Selection

When trying to choose counters for the SAP CCMS monitor, SiteScope for Windows may display a blank screen or a Java exception message on the Choose Counters page. SiteScope will also make an entry in the /SiteScope/error.log.

The error message will be similar to the following:
' ' is not a valid monitor set name
(function 'BAPI_SYSTEM_MON_GET_TREE')
com.sap.mw.jco.JCO$Exception: (104)
RFC_ERROR_SYSTEM_FAILURE: See RFC trace file
or SAP system log for more details

This may be caused by a compatabiliy issue with a dynamic link library that may be included with SiteScope.

Note: This library is only used on the Windows version of SiteScope.

To correct the Counter Selection error
1. Stop the SiteScope service
2. Look for the file librfc32.dll in the /SiteScope/bin directory. If this file is present delete it.
3. Restart the SiteScope service.
4. Open SiteScope and create a new SAP CCMS Monitor

Setting CCMS Monitor Status Thresholds

SiteScope Application Monitors allow you to set multiple threshold conditions to determine the status reported by each monitor. The individual conditions are combined as logical OR relationships so that when one or more of the conditions (for example any of the conditions for Error if) are met the monitor status is set to the applicable condition. If multiple conditions are met for more than one status condition (such as conditions for both error and for warning), the status for the monitor is set to the highest valued condition. Thus a match of an error condition and a warning condition would be reported as an error status, error being the highest value, warning the next highest and good the lowest value.


Error if
Use one or more of the selection boxes in this item to define one or more error conditions for this monitor. Use the drop-down lists in these items to change error threshold(s) relative to the counters have selected to check with this monitor. After choosing a counter or parameter, use the comparison operator drop-down list to specify an error threshold such as: >= (greater than or equal to), != (not equal to), or < (less than) and enter a comparison value in the box provided. Comparison values should be entered as whole numbers.


Warning if
Use one or more of the selection boxes in this item to define one or more warning conditions for this monitor. Use the drop-down lists in these items to change warning threshold(s) relative to the counters you have selected to check with this monitor. Set these values relative to those you set for the error threshold in the Error if item.


Good if
You can set this monitor to return a good status for certain conditions. You may define those conditions here. Complete this item as you would for the Error if and Warning if items.

Completing the SAP CCMS Monitor Form

To display the SAP CCMS Monitor Form, either click the Edit link for an existing SAP CCMS 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 SAP CCMS Monitor link.
Complete the items on the SAP CCMS Monitor form as follows. When the required items are complete, click the Add Monitor button.

Server
Select the server you want to monitor. Use the choose server link to enter a path name to a server. The server selection page is displayed. Complete this form as follows:
· Server: Enter the address of the SAP server you want to monitor.
· SAP Client: Enter the Client to use for connecting to SAP. A default client of 800 is typically used.
· System Number: Enter the System number for the SAP server. A default system number of 00 is typically used.
· Username: Enter the Username required to connect to the SAP server. This user must have authorization to access CCMS metrics; see authorizations for details.
· Password: Enter the Password required to connect to the SAP server.
· Router String (Optional): If your connection is being made through a router, enter a router address string. You can find the router address using the SAP Logon tool from the SAP Client software. Open the Logon console, select the server you want to monitor and then select Properties to view the router address. Leave it blank otherwise.

Counters
Choose the server performance parameters or counters you want to check with this monitor. Use the choose counters link to bring up the counters selection screen where an expandable browse tree will be displayed. This tree will more or less match the hierarchy of Monitoring Tree Elements displayed in the Monitoring Tree that is shown in the SAP GUI with transaction RZ20. However, our browse tree may show more or less information than RZ20 depending on the authorization level of the username you specified for this monitor.
Check or clear the check boxes on the choose counters screen to select counters to monitor on this server.
Note: Due to the large amount of metrics that are being retrieved when displaying the entire SAP metrics browse tree during monitor definition, there could be a noticeable delay going from the "choose server" page to the "choose counters" page (possibly 1 to 2 minutes). However, once a browse tree has been successfully retrieved it will be cached to file automatically, so that the next time you retrieve metrics from the same server/username the wait time will be greatly reduced.

Update every
Select how often the monitor should check the SAP server. 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.
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.
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.
Monitor Description
Enter additional information about this monitor. The Monitor Description can include HTML 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.

CCMS Monitoring Authorizations

A SAP user requires certain privileges to read CCMS metrics. When defining a SAP CCMS monitor in SiteScope you must specify a user who has XMI autorization to be able to login to the CCMS server and retrieve metrics. Authorizations are collected in SAP profiles, and the following profiles include XMI authorization:
· S_A.SYSTEM
· PD_CHICAGO
· S_WF_RWTEST
· SAP_ALL

Again, when defining a SAP CCMS monitor in SiteScope you must specify a user who has one or more of these profiles assigned to it. One way to test if a user has such authorization is to try and issue transaction RZ20 in the SAP GUI and see if the CCMS monitor sets can be displayed.

CCMS Monitor - Software Requirements

About the SAP CCMS Monitor
The SAP CCMS Monitor allows you to monitor the performance data for various components of your SAP R/3 landscape. You can monitor multiple parameters or counters with a single monitor instance. This allows you to watch server loading for performance, availability, and capacity planning.
With SAP's Computer Center Management System a SAP administrator can monitor all servers, components and resources in the SAP R/3 landscape from one centralized server, greatly facilitating not only problem discovery but also problem diagnosis. Using SAP's new advanced CCMS interface BC-XAL 1.0, this new SiteScope monitor exposes hundreds of performance and availability metrics that the existing SiteScope SAP monitor did not have access to. The error and warning thresholds for the monitor can be set for up to ten of the nearly 120 SAP server performance statistics available.
This monitor only retrieves and displays numeric metrics (Performance attributes). That is, Status, Log and Information attributes are currently not supported. Also, presentation and management of SAP CCMS Alerts in SiteScope are not supported at this time.

About scheduling this monitor
The default run schedule for this monitor is every 10 minutes, but you can change it to run more or less often using the Update every setting. Note, however, that CCMS metrics are generally only updated once every 5 minutes.

Software Requirements
· The SAP CCMS Monitor requires that the SAP Java Connector (SAP JCo 2.0.10) component be downloaded from the SAP Service Marketplace Software Distribution Center, and installed on the same server where SiteScope is running (or at least be accessible on a shared or remote location).
· The BC-XAL 1.0 interface is supported on R/3 systems 4.5B and above only.
· Consult your SAP documentation to determine if your R/3 landscape components may need additional software installed to run or work with CCMS.

To integrate SiteScope with the SAP Java Connector
1. Using a Web browser, go to the online SAP Software Distribution Center at:
http://www.service.sap.com/connectors
Note: You will need a valid Service Marketplace login to access this site.
2. Click "SAP Java Connector", "Tools and Services".
3. Download and install the SAP Java Connector for the SiteScope platform you will use to monitor the SAP metrics. Follow the installation instructions included with the SAP JCo download to install the files on the server where SiteScope installed or where they are accessible to the SiteScope process.
4. Set environment or system variables on the server where SiteScope is installed to define the location of the SAP Java Connector libraries. Use the following steps based on the platform used to run SiteScope.
On Windows platforms, you add the SAP Java Connector installation location in the System Environment PATH variable rather than as a User variable. This change usually requires you to then reboot Windows in order for the system PATH to be updated.
On UNIX platforms, the best way to make the shared objects accessible to SiteScope is to edit the start-monitor file supplied with SiteScope. This file is found in the /SiteScope/classes/start-monitor directory.

To modify the start-monitor file on SiteScope for UNIX:
a. Open the start-monitor file with a text editor
b. Locate the following line with the load library variable: LD_LIBRARY_PATH= and add the location of the SAP JCO shared libs (*.so) to load library path as follows:
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
c. Save the changes to the file

5. After you have installed the SAP Java Connector download, find the file sapjco.jar in the location where you installed the download. Copy the sapjco.jar file to the /SiteScope/java/lib/ext directory on the SiteScope server:
6. Stop and restart the SiteScope service or process.