Enterprise Edition - Managed Server


Enterprise Edition allows you to configure independent Applications Manager installations to monitor various resources and then collectively view the data from all these independent Applications Manager installations known as Managed Servers, from a single master server known as Admin Server.

During installation, you need to select 'Enterprise Edition'. Next select the installation type as 'Managed Server'. Consequently, you need to enter the HostName, SSL & webserver port of the Admin Server, to which the Managed Server is going to be connected. Managed Server's function is similar to that of a standalone Applications Manager, with the user configuring the various monitors, thresholds and alarms. HTTPS mode of communication is used for the communication with the Admin Server.

Using the Jump To link in the Admin Server (just above the toolbar) you can view the Managed Server web console.

Note:
  • To change a Professional Edition to Managed Server, go to Global Settings, select 'Convert standalone server into Managed Server'. This option is available only if you have installed the full build and not for upgrades through PPM.
  • You need to make the following changes in the Product_Home/conf/AMServer.properties file and restart the server to convert to the Managed Server.
    am.ssl.enabled=true
    am.server.type=MAS
    am.adminserver.host=Admin Server Host Name
    am.adminserver.port=Admin Server SSL Port
  • Visit Enterprise Edition FAQ for details on when to, how to set up Enterprise Edition.

Managed Server Configuration

The Managed Server automatically gets registered with the Admin Server when it starts up. In case you want to edit the configuration, go to Settings tab. Click on Managed Servers link. This will take you to the Managed Server page from where you can configure the Managed Servers. Alternatively, this can be done by clicking on the Managed Servers link just below the main tabs.

Steps to Add a Managed Server

  • Click on the Add New link, it opens up the Add New Managed Server form
  • Enter the Host Name of the Managed Server
  • Enter the Web Server Port number, the port at which the web client is to be connected
  • Enter the SSL port number, the port at which secure communication is to be made between the Admin and Managed Server.
  • Enter the Server ID, the ID present under Installation Information table under Settings tab -> Tools -> Support of the Managed Server
  • Enter the Admin Password for the Managed Server.(Note: This password should be same as that of Admin role password of that managed server. If user changes that password in the Managed server, then the user has to manually update the same in admin server)
  • Click on Add Managed Server and the Managed Server gets added. It is displayed under Managed Servers link along with the details of the number of monitors, status, load factor, etc.,

The following managed sever details are displayed in the table:

  • Server ID - The id of the managed server.
  • Display Name - The display name of the managed server.
  • Managed Server Group - The managed server group to which the server belongs.
  • Monitors Status - The health status of the monitor
  • Load Factor - The Load Factor of the server.
  • Last Polled at - The time last polled at.
  • Synching - The syncing status of the managed server (completed or in progress)
  • Download - The status of the Service pack download.
  • Upgrade - The upgrade status of the Service Pack.

You can select one or more Managed Servers and click the Download Now link at the bottom of the table to download the Service Pack and the Upgrade Now link to upgrade the Service Pack.

Note: In order to find if a particular Applications Manager installation is heavily loaded you can use the Load Factor, which is provided in the 'Support' tab under the 'Applications Manager Installation Information' category. The load factor follows the format x.y, where 'x' represents load on Applications Manager Server, while 'y' represents the load on the Database used by Applications Manager. A value of zero represents least loaded, while a value of nine represents most loaded. Hence Load Factor can take values from 0.0 to 9.9 (heavily loaded). The Load Factor of each of the Managed Servers is also displayed in the Admin server under the "Managed Servers" option and you can use the same to distribute load evenly among the Managed Servers.

Note:
The Load Factor can be denoted by x.y where x represents Managed server polling load factor and y represents Managed server data base load factor
The Maximum value of x,y can be configured in AMServer.properties file of Admin server:
x - am.mas.polling.max.loadfactor - default value 5
y - am.mas.database.max.loadfactor - default value 5

Managed Server Actions

Fetch Data: There is an option to fetch the data from the managed servers at the given instant, instead of waiting for the poll to happen.

Edit: You can edit the managed server details using this option.

Enable/Disable Sync: You can enable/disable data collection in the Managed Server. Note that when you disable, data collection will still take place, you only stop syncing with the managed server.

Push Auth Key: Allows you to push the auth key to selected Managed server(s), which is used to authenticate the sync between the Admin server and selected Managed server(s).

Admin Email Settings: An EMail can be configured to be sent once a Managed Server goes down and also once every 24 hrs till the Managed Server is up again. The EMail setting is available in the Admin EMail Settings" option under the Settings tab. The option to enable/disable this EMail, is available in the "Edit" option of the respective Managed Server.

Proxy Managed Server request through Admin Server: When you login to the Admin console, Graphs and images displayed for a monitor are retrieved directly from the corresponding Managed Server itself and are displayed in the Admin console. These graphs/images cannot be retrieved, if the Admin Server is accessible from a particular machine/over the Internet and the Managed Server is not accessible.

In this case, select the "Proxy Managed Server request through Admin Server" request option. This will result in the images/graphs being fetched to the Admin Server from the Managed Server first and then the image from the Admin Server is viewable in the Web Browser.

E.g., Admin Server is running as part of IDC and accessible via the Internet (From a machine say "ClientMachine") but the Managed Servers are not accessible (from "ClientMachine") this option should be enabled.

Note: In case of a proxy server configured in the network, make sure to configure the proxy server for both Admin and Managed servers.

User Management: In the Enterprise setup, the User Management module functions independently in the Admin Server and Managed Server. Hence, a user-based view assigned in the Managed Server will not reflect in the Admin Server and vice-versa. Since, you will be viewing the data collectively from the Admin Server, you need to assign owners to the various Monitor Groups of the Managed Server in the Admin Server. Of course, if it is assigned in the Managed Server it will function independently. Also, in the Manager Console (SLA Management console), you can assign SLAs and associate actions to be invoked for SLA violation to the Monitor Groups in the Admin Server.

Managed Server Access

Click on the Jump To link in the Admin Server just above the toolbar, which brings down a list of the Managed Servers. Clicking on any of the Managed Server names in the list will take you to the web console of the respective Managed Server in a separate browser Window.

Note: ENTERPRISEADMIN role is used for logging into the Managed Server from Admin Server for data synchronising. The username for this role is systemadmin_enterprise and the password is the regular ADMIN role password. This role is not exposed in the UI, it will be used internally.

Important: Visit Enterprise Edition FAQ for details on when and how to set up the Enterprise Edition.

FAQ - How is the Managed server selected by APM using load factor?

The following two things are used to select the managed server automatically.

Load Factor (x.y) where,
x represents Managed server polling load factor
y represents Managed server data base load factor
Max. value of x,y can be configured in AMServer.properties file of Admin server
x - am.mas.polling.max.loadfactor - default value 5
y - am.mas.database.max.loadfactor - default value 5

Maximum monitor allowed per Managed server
The value can be configurable in AMServer.properties. The key is am.max.monitorcount.mas and default value is 500.
The Condition for choosing managed server is,
x < maxAllowedValueOfPollingLoad (and)
y < maxAllowedValueOfDatabaseLoad (and)
n < maxMonitorAllowed

If the condition is not matched then we show the "No Managed server is available" message to the user.