2.4 Configuring the NetIQ Control Center Adapter

After creating adapters for NetIQ AppManager implementations, the next step is to establish connections with NetIQ AppManager Control Center to import element hierarchy structures and data. This is accomplished by configuring a special NetIQ AppManager Control Center adapter in Operations Center. The NetIQ AppManager Control Center adapter is for use only with the NetIQ AppManager Operations Portal integration and cannot be configured as a stand-alone adapter.

To configure the NetIQ AppManager Control Center adapter:

  1. From the Explorer pane, expand Administration > Adapters.

  2. Right-click NetIQ AppManager Control Center, and select Properties.

    The Properties dialog opens.

  3. Select Adapter in the left panel.

    NetIQ AppManager Control Center Properties dialog box
  4. Specify the following important adapter properties as required for connectivity:

    • Control Center Version: The version of NetIQ AppManager Control Center that is installed. If connecting to NetIQ AppManager Control Center version 7, enter 7; for NetIQ AppManager Control Center version 8, enter 8; for NetIQ AppManager Control Center version 8.2, enter 8.2

    • Database: The name of the AppManager Control Center data repository. Note that the AppManager Control Center database must be case insensitive. The default is NQCCDB;loginTimeout=60;socketTimeout=300

      The following jTDS properties for the database connection, in which

      • loginTimeout specifies a timeout, in seconds, for establishing the database connection.

      • socketTimeout specifies a timeout, in seconds, for database communications. If there is a faulty network connection, the database communications timeouts after this period.

        If database queries are running longer before results are returned, it is best to set a high enough socket timeout to alleviate the risk of the timeout being triggered while results are still being gathered on the database server. However, we recommend that you don’t set the socket timeout value too high because if the connection is unexpectedly dropped, the next query might not be executed until the connection is re-established and the timeout value is reached.

      For more information about jTDS properties, go to The jTDS Project Web Site

      If the AppManager Control Center database is located on a named instance of a database, declare the instance name after the database name, and separated by a semi-colon:

      NQCCDB;instance=instance_name

      For example, NQCCDB;instance=SQL208R2

    • Database Type: The database type for the NetIQ AppManager Control Center data repository. Default is mssql.

    • Hostname: The name of the host on which the NetIQ AppManager Control Center data repository resides.

    • Password: The password for the database repository named in the Database field. This is a case-sensitive value.

    • Port: The port on which the NetIQ AppManager Control Center data repository server listens. The default is 1433 which is the standard SQL Server port configuration.

    • User Name: The user name used to access the NetIQ AppManager Control Center repository.

  5. Specify the following important adapter properties as required for scheduling and data retrieval:

    • SCM Job Delay: The number of seconds to wait after the core element structure is built before running the SCM job process. This process also updates element condition information.

    • Service Map Query Schedule: Specifies how often to run the query to update element drawing and layouts from the NetIQ AppManager Control Center data repository. Defaults to onstart & every 5 minutes between 00:00 and 23:59 on MON,TUE,WED,THU,FRI,SAT,SUN.

      As this is the most expensive query to run, it is recommended to schedule this less frequently or during non-peak hours.

    • State Query Schedule: Specifies how often to run the query to update element state information from the NetIQ AppManager Control Center data repository. Defaults to onstart & every 30 seconds between 00:00 and 23:59 on MON,TUE,WED,THU,FRI,SAT,SUN.

    • Structure Query Schedule: Specifies how often to run the query to update element structures from the NetIQ AppManager Control Center data repository. Defaults to onstart & every 5 minutes between 00:00 and 23:59 on MON,TUE,WED,THU,FRI,SAT,SUN.

  6. Specify other adapter properties as required. The majority of these adapter properties are standard options among all Operations Center adapters.

    • Alarm Columns: A comma-separated list that determines which alarm columns display and the order in which the alarm items display (date/time, rule, etc.) in the Alarms view. Available alarm columns include: Description.

    • Hierarchy File: A file in the /OperationsCenter_install_path/database directory that contains an XML description of the element hierarchy to build below the adapter element. The default is NetIQ(r) AppManager Control CenterHierarchy.xml. Do NOT change this value unless instructed by Technical Support.

    • Max Runtime Info Alarms: Configuration for alarms used by the adapter for internal processing. The default is 200. Do NOT change this value unless instructed by Technical Support.

    • Script.onError: A script that executes if the adapter fails for any reason. For example, the script can print the reason for the failure as msg using log.info(msg).

    • Script.onInitialized: A script that executes when the adapter initializes. All of the Script.* properties are optional.

    • Script.onStarted: A script that executes when the adapter starts, either manually or automatically when the Operations Center server starts. Defaults to @templates/ControlCenter/OnDIStart.fs. Do NOT change this default value unless instructed by Technical Support.

    • Script.onStopped: A script that executes after manually stopping the adapter.

  7. To automatically start the adapter after starting the Operations Center server, select the Start adapter automatically check box, then clear the check box to start the adapter manually after starting the Operations Center server.

  8. Click Apply.

  9. If the adapter has not been configured to start automatically in Step 7, manually start the adapter.

    1. Right-click the adapter object, and select Start Adapter.

  10. Verify that the adapter starts and the adapter and service model hierarchies build successfully, by doing the following:

    • Monitor the NetIQ AppManager Control Center adapter’s status.

      If successful, condition will be OK (green) with a Connection established message.

    • Check under Enterprise > Elements to confirm the adapter’s structure built successfully.

    • Check under Enterprise > Service Models to confirm the NetIQ AppManager Control Center structure is completely built.

      It might take 5-10 minutes for the Service Model hierarchy to build after the BSCM job runs.

  11. Continue to Section 2.5, Configuring the Dashboard Integration.