Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide - e IBM Tivoli Composite ...

frontmatter.fm July 1, 2004 11:38 am 

Netcool®/WebtopTM Version 1.3.1 

Administration Guide

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Document Version Number:1.0

WebtopTOC.fm July 1, 2004 11:38 am 

Contents 

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

Audience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

About the Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Associated Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Netcool®/OMNIbus Installation and Deployment Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Netcool®/OMNIbus User Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Netcool®/OMNIbus Administration Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Netcool®/OMNIbus Probe and Gateway Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Typographical Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 

Note, Tip, and Warning Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 

Syntax and Example Subheadings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Operating System Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 

Contents 

Chapter 1: Introduction to Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

What is Netcool/Webtop? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

Netcool/Webtop Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Active Event List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Map Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 

Lightweight Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

Tableview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Chapter 2: Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide i

Contents 

Prerequisites for Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

Supported Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

Netcool/OMNIbus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

Netcool Common Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 

Java 2 Runtime Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 

Java VM Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 

Web Browser Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 

Disk Space and Memory Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 

Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Migrating from Earlier Versions of Netcool/Webtop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Decompressing the Netcool/Webtop Archive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Mounting the Netcool/Webtop CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Starting the Installation Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 

Setting the Environment Variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 

Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 

Installing a License Server on UNIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 

Using an Existing License Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 

Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 

Migrating from Netcool/Webtop 1.2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 

Starting the Installation Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 

Modifying an Existing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 

Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 

Installing a License Server on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 

Using an Existing License Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 

Chapter 3: Configuring Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 

ii Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide

Datasource Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 

XML Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 

Configuration File Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 

Single Datasource Without Failover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 

Single Datasource With Failover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 

Multiple Datasources With Failover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 

Dual-Server Desktop Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 

Example DSD Configuration Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 

Initialization File Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 

server.init . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 

editor.init. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 

Licensing Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 

HTTP Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 

Multiple Netcool/Webtop Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 

The Configuration Script (UNIX Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 

Datasource Configuration File Data Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 

DTD Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 

Element Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 

Contents 

Attribute Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 

Chapter 4: Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 

Server Startup, Connection, and Shutdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 

Starting the Netcool/Webtop Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 

Connecting to the Netcool/Webtop Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 

Logging on to Netcool/Webtop as a Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 

Netcool/Webtop Login Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 

Administration Page Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 

Demonstration Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 

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Chapter 5: Users and Access Control Lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 

User Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 

User Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 

User Importer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 

Restricting Administrative Access to the Netcool/Webtop Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 

Network Information Service Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 

Access Control List Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 

Access Control List Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 

Chapter 6: Using Entities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 

Filters and Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 

Entity Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 

Entity Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 

Entity Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 

Entity View Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 

Chapter 7: Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 

Map Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 

Map Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 

Resource Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 

Map Object Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 

Color Picker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 

Map SmartPage Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 

Map SmartPage Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 

Map Editor Command Line Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 

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Chapter 8: The Active Event List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 

AEL Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 

AEL Window Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 

File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 

Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 

View Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 

Alerts Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 

Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 

Smart Matching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 

Applying Filters to the AEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 

Filter Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 

Applying Views to the AEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 

View Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 

Tool and Menu Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 

CGI and URL Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 

SQL Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 

Command Line Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 

Menus Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 

Setting AEL Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 

Monitor Boxes Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 

Refresh Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 

Notifications Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 

Flashing Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 

Miscellaneous Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 

LEL Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 

LEL Window Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 

Tableview Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 

Chapter 9: Page Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 

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The Page Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 

Directories Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 

Files Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 

Chapter 10: Netcool/Webtop Utilities and the User Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 

SQL Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 

Sending SQL Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 

Entity Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 

Configuring Entity Generation Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 

Configuring Map Generation Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 

System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 

User Monitor and Usage Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 

User Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 

Current Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 

Usage Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 

Chapter 11: Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 

How Charts are Generated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 

XML Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 

Presenting Chart Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 

Chart Definition Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 

Chart Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 

Chart Configuration Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 



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Chapter 12: Webtop Administration API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 

XML Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 

Document Type Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 

Sending WAAPI Instructions to Netcool/Webtop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 

The WAAPI Command File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 

The WAAPI Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 

WAAPI Data Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 

DTD Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 



methodName Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 

Appendix A: HTML Map Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 

HTML Map Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 

HTML Map Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 

Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 

SmartPage Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 

SmartPage Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide vii

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SmartPage Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 

Enabling SmartPage Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 

Validating Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 

Inserting an AEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 

Inserting an AEL Map View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 

Inserting a Map Applet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 

Inserting a Filter Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 

Inserting a Maplist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 

Inserting a Tableview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 

Inserting a Username . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 

Inserting the Home URL of the Current User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 

Inserting User Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 

Inserting a Timezone Drop-Down Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 

Creating and Customizing HTML Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 

Template Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 

Appendix C: Creating a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 

SSL Server Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 

Java Secure Socket Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 

Keytool and Keystore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 

Validating a Certificate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 

Modifying the server.xml Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 

Connecting to the Secure Netcool/Webtop Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 

Appendix D: Localization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 and Unicode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 

Properties Files and UTF-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 

viii Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide

Contents 

Configuring Localization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 

Country and Language Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 

Setting the Default Language Locale on UNIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 

Setting the Default Language Locale on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 

Modifying the Login Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 

Example Localization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 

Client Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 

Localization Property Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 

Language and Country Code Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 

Contact Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide ix

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x Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide

preface.fm July 1, 2004 11:39 am 

Preface 

This guide describes how to install, administer, and use Netcool/Webtop. The following chapters and 

appendices describe each functional area, and task-oriented examples are provided to assist users and 

administrators in configuring and using the application. 

This preface contains the following sections: 

• Audience on page 2 

About the Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide on page 3 

Associated Publications on page 5 

Typographical Notation on page 6 

Operating System Considerations on page 9 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide 1

Preface 

Audience 

This guide is intended for both users and administrators, and provides detailed cross-platform information 

about tools, functions, and capabilities. In addition, it is designed to be used as a reference guide to assist 

you in designing and configuring your environment. Much of the information contained in this document 

is also provided on-line within the help system. 

Netcool/Webtop works in conjunction with Netcool ® /OMNIbus and it is assumed that you understand 

how Netcool/OMNIbus works. For more information on Netcool/OMNIbus, refer to the publications 

described in Associated Publications on page 5. 

2 Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide

About the Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide 

About the Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide 

This book is organized as follows: 

Chapter 1: Introduction to Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 on page 11 provides an introduction to 

Netcool/Webtop and how it communicates with Netcool/OMNIbus. 

Chapter 2: Deployment on page 23 describes how to install, license, and configure Netcool/Webtop. 

Chapter 3: Configuring Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 on page 65 describes how to establish or modify 

communications with one or more Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer datasources, and how to 

configure Netcool/Webtop session and environmental properties. 

Chapter 4: Getting Started on page 103 describes how to connect to Netcool/Webtop, and provides 

an overview of the Administration pages and common administrative tasks. 

Chapter 5: Users and Access Control Lists on page 115 describes how to add and configure user 

accounts on Netcool/Webtop, and how to associate users with access control lists. 

Chapter 6: Using Entities on page 129 describes how to create filter and view combinations called 

entities, and apply them to the active event list. 

Chapter 7: Maps on page 143 describes how to use the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor component to 

create map applets for use in web pages. 

Chapter 8: The Active Event List on page 167 describes how to configure the active event list using the 

tools in the Administration page, and how to manage alerts received from Netcool/OMNIbus. 

Chapter 9: Page Management on page 235 describes how to upload information to the 

Netcool/Webtop server, and how to create access control lists. 

Chapter 10: Netcool/Webtop Utilities and the User Monitor on page 241 describes the advanced 

administrative utilities provided on the Administration page. 

Chapter 11: Charts on page 253 describes how to create and configure the data charting features, and 

configure a web page to display chart images. 

Chapter 12: Webtop Administration API on page 287 describes how to use the Netcool/Webtop 

Administration API (WAAPI) utility, and the procedure for sending XML configuration instructions 

to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Appendix A: HTML Map Reference on page 335 provides a reference for the HTML map command 

language, and describes how to use the HTML Map Editor component. 

Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates on page 343 describes how to use SmartPage tags in web 

pages to dynamically generate Netcool/Webtop page components. 


Preface 

Appendix C: Creating a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server on page 357 describes how to create a secure 

Netcool/Webtop server that communicates with clients using the SSL protocol. 

Appendix D: Localization on page 367 describes how to modify the Netcool/Webtop language 

settings, and configure the application for non-English speaking audiences. 


Associated Publications 

Associated Publications 

To efficiently administer Netcool/Webtop, you must understand Netcool/OMNIbus technology. This 

section provides a description of the documentation that accompanies Netcool/OMNIbus. 

Netcool®/OMNIbus Installation and Deployment Guide 

This book is intended for Netcool administrators who need to install and deploy Netcool/OMNIbus. It 

includes installation, upgrade, and licensing procedures. In addition, it contains information about 

configuring security and component communications. It also includes examples of Netcool/OMNIbus 

architectures and how to implement them. 

Netcool®/OMNIbus User Guide 

This book is intended for anyone who needs to use Netcool/OMNIbus desktop tools on UNIX or Windows 

platforms. It provides an overview of Netcool/OMNIbus components, as well as a description of the 

operator tasks related to event management using the desktop tools. 

Netcool®/OMNIbus Administration Guide 

This book is intended for system administrators who need to manage Netcool/OMNIbus. It describes how 

to perform administrative tasks using the Netcool/OMNIbus Administrator GUI, command line tools, and 

process control. It also contains descriptions and examples of ObjectServer SQL syntax and automations. 

Netcool®/OMNIbus Probe and Gateway Guide 

Online Help 

This guide contains introductory and reference information about probes and gateways, including probe 

rules file syntax and gateway commands. For more information about specific probes and gateways, refer to 

the documentation available for each probe and gateway on the Micromuse Support Site. 

Netcool/OMNIbus GUIs contain context-sensitive online help with index and search capabilities. 


Preface 

Typographical Notation 

Table 1 shows the typographical notation and conventions used to describe commands, SQL syntax, and 

graphical user interface (GUI) features. This notation is used throughout this book and other Netcool ® 

publications. 

Table 1: Typographical Notation and Conventions (1 of 2) 

Example Description 

Monospace The following are described in a monospace font: 

Commands and command line options 

Screen representations 

Source code 

Object names 

Program names 

SQL syntax elements 

File, path, and directory names 

Italicized monospace text indicates a variable that the user must populate. For example, -password 

password. 

Bold The following application characteristics are described in a bold font style: 

Buttons 

Frames 

Text fields 

Menu entries 

A bold arrow symbol indicates a menu entry selection. For example, File→Save. 

Italic The following are described in an italic font style: 

An application window name; for example, the Login window 

Information that the user must enter 

The introduction of a new term or definition 

Emphasized text 

[1] Code or command examples are occasionally prefixed with a line number in square brackets. For 

example: 

[1] First command... 

[2] Second command... 

[3] Third command... 


Table 1: Typographical Notation and Conventions (2 of 2) 

Example Description 

Typographical Notation 

{ a | b } In SQL syntax notation, curly brackets enclose two or more required alternative choices, separated by 

vertical bars. 

[ ] In SQL syntax notation, square brackets indicate an optional element or clause. Multiple elements or 

clauses are separated by vertical bars. 

| In SQL syntax notation, vertical bars separate two or more alternative syntax elements. 

... In SQL syntax notation, ellipses indicate that the preceding element can be repeated. The repetition is 

unlimited unless otherwise indicated. 

,... In SQL syntax notation, ellipses preceded by a comma indicate that the preceding element can be 

repeated, with each repeated element separated from the last by a comma. The repetition is unlimited 

unless otherwise indicated. 

a In SQL syntax notation, an underlined element indicates a default option. 

( ) In SQL syntax notation, parentheses appearing within the statement syntax are part of the syntax and 

should be typed as shown unless otherwise indicated. 

Many Netcool commands have one or more command line options that can be specified following a hyphen 

(-). 

Command line options can be string, integer, or BOOLEAN types: 

A string can contain alphanumeric characters. If the string has spaces in it, enclose it in quotation 

(") marks. 

An integer must contain a positive whole number or zero (0). 

A BOOLEAN must be set to TRUE or FALSE. 

SQL keywords are not case-sensitive, and may appear in uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case. Names of 

ObjectServer objects and identifiers are case-sensitive. 

Note, Tip, and Warning Information 

The following types of information boxes are used in the documentation: 

Note: Note is used for extra information about the feature or operation that is being described. Essentially, 

this is for extra data that is important but not vital to the user. 


Preface 

! 

Tip: Tip is used for additional information that might be useful for the user. For example, when describing 

an installation process, there might be a shortcut that could be used instead of following the standard 

installation instructions. 

Warning: Warning is used for highlighting vital instructions, cautions, or critical information. Pay close 

attention to warnings, as they contain information that is vital to the successful use of our products. 

Syntax and Example Subheadings 

The following types of constrained subheading are used in the documentation: 

Syntax 

Syntax subheadings contain examples of ObjectServer SQL syntax commands and their usage. For example: 

CREATE DATABASE database_name; 

Example 

Example subheadings describe typical or generic scenarios, or samples of code. For example: 

[1] 

[2] 

[6] 


Operating System Considerations 

Operating System Considerations 

All command line formats and examples are for the standard UNIX shell. UNIX is case-sensitive. You must 

type commands in the case shown in the book. 

Unless otherwise specified, command files are located in the $WEBTOP_HOME/bin directory, where 

$WEBTOP_HOME is the UNIX environment variable that contains the path to the Netcool/Webtop home 

directory. 

On Microsoft Windows platforms, replace $WEBTOP_HOME with %WEBTOP_HOME% and the forward 

slash (/) with a backward slash (\). 


Preface 


introduction.fm July 1, 2004 11:39 am 

Chapter 1: Introduction to Netcool/Webtop 

1.3.1 

Welcome to Netcool/Webtop version 1.3.1. This chapter introduces the application, describes its features 

and functionality, and illustrates how the Netcool/Webtop server communicates with Netcool/OMNIbus. 

Diagrams are included to show the Netcool/Webtop architecture and provide examples of the product 

components. 

This chapter contains the following sections: 

What is Netcool/Webtop? on page 12 

Netcool/Webtop Components on page 13 


Chapter 1: Introduction to Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 

1.1 What is Netcool/Webtop? 

Netcool/Webtop is a web server application that processes network alert information and presents the data 

output to users so that they can monitor events in their Netcool environment. The server publishes alert data 

from one or more Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer datasources in real-time so that operatives can view 

pages that display this information in a web browser. 

Users are categorized as Desktop clients or Read-Only clients depending on their license type. When they 

connect to Netcool/Webtop they are presented with pages, defined by an administrator, that allow them to 

view alert data in a number of ways. The main event display components are described below: 

The Java-based active event list (AEL) allows clients to execute sophisticated native desktop actions 

such as acknowledging alerts, viewing alert journals, taking ownership of alerts, running tools, and so 

forth. 

The dynamic HTML lightweight event list (LEL) provides clients with the data filtering, data sorting, 

and information drill-down capabilities of the AEL. 

The HTML tableview component provides clients with a static event list in the form of an table 

showing a defined set of alerts. The non-interactive tableview provides an immediate snapshot of alert 

status within a monitored system. 

Many features of the Netcool/OMNIbus native desktop environment have been incorporated into the 

product design. Netcool/Webtop extends the event visualization and management capabilities of 

Netcool/OMNIbus by being both highly configurable and remotely accessible through the internet. 

Netcool/Webtop can simultaneously connect to more than one ObjectServer, and centralize this 

information in one page view. This enables end users to view all relevant alerts (for example, high severity 

alerts) by examining the different AELs, LELs, and tableviews associated with each datasource. 

In addition to alert management functions, Netcool/Webtop allows administrators to design graphical views 

with the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor—a Java-based tool used for creating and editing visual 

representations of network layout and performance. The chart data rendering component provided with 

Netcool/Webtop presents network alert information to users in a number of graphical formats including bar 

charts and pie charts. 

The Netcool/Webtop application architecture is based on Tomcat, an open source industry-standard web 

server developed by the Apache Software Foundation. Because Netcool/Webtop is a fully implemented web 

server it can be used as a network analysis and presentation environment for Netcool data, and technologies 

such as CGI and JavaScript can be used to enhance the presented data. 


1.2 Netcool/Webtop Components 

Netcool/Webtop Components 

The manner in which alert data is processed and presented to users is controlled by the parameters defined 

within the Netcool/Webtop Administration page, and by commands, known as SmartPage commands, 

contained inside tags embedded within the web pages viewed by the client. SmartPage commands are single 

line HTML instructions used to validate user access and allow Netcool/Webtop components such as applets 

to be added to a web page. 

Netcool/Webtop provides administrators with a web page that allows them to create and configure the 

appearance and behavior of particular SmartPage components and define the processing criteria for alert 

data. In addition, from within the Administration page you can create the user accounts and access control 

lists (ACLs) that control individual user access to web pages, AELs, LELs, maps, charts, and tableviews. 

Example pages containing SmartPage components are provided with Netcool/Webtop, and you can use 

these pages as the basis for creating your own event data presentations. For more information about the 

example pages, refer to Demonstration Web Site on page 112. 

An example SmartPage tag is shown below: 

 

When Netcool/Webtop receives a request for web page containing this tag, a tableview is inserted into the 

page presented to the client. In this example, the attributes within the square brackets control the access 

rights and data content of the tableview, and an example tableview is shown in Table 6 on page 20. For more 

information about SmartPage tags, refer to Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates on page 343. 

Figure 1 shows an example Netcool/Webtop deployment. A number of different clients are connected to 

the server, and the actions that they can conduct once logged in are dependent on their client type and 

license. A detailed explanation of the standard client types and the user roles typically associated with them 

is located in User Administration on page 117. 



. 

Failover O/S ObjectServer 

Netcool Common Licensing 

Probe 

Probe 

Display 

Server 

Failover O/S ObjectServer 

Datasource Communications Layer (JDBC) 

Figure 1: Example Netcool/Webtop Network Architecture 

Admin Page 

Map Editor 

Filter Builder 

View Builder 

WAAPI Client 

Administrative Client 

Desktop Client 

Read-Only Client 

14 Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide 

AELs 

Tableviews 

LELs 

Web Pages 

HTTP/HTTPS Web Server Communications (TCP/IP) 

Administrative Areas 

Desktop Client Areas 

Read/Only Client Areas


After a non-administrative user logs in, they are presented with a home page created by the administrator. 

The home page can contain a variety of SmartPage components that provide information about the status 

of a network. An example is shown in Figure 2. 

Figure 2: Example Home Page 

The information contained within connected Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServers can be processed to a very 

high degree of refinement by using individual incidences—or aggregations—of SQL instructions called 

entities. 

In the above example, the user is presented with page containing a number of embedded monitor box applets 

(the formats are described in Lavalamp Format on page 18 and Histogram Format on page 18). Each monitor 

box is governed by a different entity. By clicking a monitor boxes, the user can access the AEL that is 

constrained by the SQL filter and column view associated with that entity. For example, the Critical 

monitor box in Figure 2 constrains the data in the AEL to display only alert information of a critical severity. 

Active Event List 

The active event list (AEL) is an Java applet that allows users to view the alert data stored in an ObjectServer. 

It provides an interactive view of alert data in a network and can be directly manipulated to solve problems 

relating to those alerts. 

In order to assist users in their network management activities, the AEL provides SQL tools that allow them 

to modify ancillary alert information, or execute actions based on alert data. When you use these tools, the 

AEL packages instructions and sends them to the Netcool/Webtop server, which in turn passes them back 

to the ObjectServer. 



The AEL also provides users with CGI-based tools, and command line tools that can use the data contained 

within an alert field as the basis for its action. An example AEL is shown in Figure 3. 

Figure 3: Example Active Event List 

You can view an AEL either by accessing a web page containing an AEL applet, or by launching the AEL 

from an active object—such as a monitor box object—in a map. A map is an interactive graphical view that 

provides users with contextual information about network status. 

Maps are often constructed in the form of a background graphic that represents some form of network 

topology or geography, and contain objects such as buttons, lines, and monitor boxes. The Map Editor 

component is used to create maps, and is described in the next section. 


Map Editor 


The Map Editor is a Java utility that allows administrators to create and modify SmartPage maps. Maps are 

interactive web applets that can provide users with an dynamic view of component status, or represent the 

topology or geography of a network. The Map Editor is started from within the Netcool/Webtop 

Administration page, or as a standalone application. An example map project is shown in Figure 4. 

Figure 4: Example Map Editor Project 

The map view presents users with a view of alert data in a network displayed in a graphical format. Maps 

can contain objects that indicate severity levels of alerts in an ObjectServer datasource. Once a map has been 

created and stored in Netcool/Webtop, it can be added to a web page in the form of a SmartPage tag. 

A map consists of a background color or image, and map objects, such as buttons, lines, icons, text, and 

monitor boxes. The background can be any color or can display a graphic image, such as a GIF or JPEG file. 

Objects have a fixed position on the map and have a place in a hierarchy that determines how far forward 

they are displayed. The highest item in the hierarchy is displayed at the front. 

An active map object can open an AEL, LEL, tableview, or link to a URL. In addition, active objects can be 

linked to a datasource and can derive their color from the highest severity status of an associated entity. For 

example, red for Critical or green for Clear. Non-active map objects can be linked to the URL of 

another web page. 



Monitor boxes are used in map pages to display the distribution of alerts for a particular entity, where an 

entity is composed of a SQL filter string and a predefined view. The most adaptable monitor box features 

are the severity distribution indicators, that show summary information about a set of filtered alerts. 

Monitor boxes can be configured to provide statistical information about alerts, such as the number of alerts 

that match the filter, the alert with the highest and lowest severity, or the name of the entity and a metric 

measure. 

Severity status is indicated in the monitor boxes as a range of colors from the lowest severity level to the 

highest. Users can choose the format used for displaying the distribution of alerts. The formats are described 

below in Lavalamp Format, and in Histogram Format on page 18. 

In addition to showing severity status as a histogram or lavalamp, severity can be displayed as a border 

surrounding the outside of the monitor box, or as a background color behind the highest (or lowest) alert 

entry. The border around the box is used to show the color of the alert with the highest severity status. 

Monitor boxes have labels that, by default, show the entity name. However, these labels can be changed to 

something more meaningful, if required. For example, if a monitor box represents a network site located in 

a particular city, it can be displayed above the relevant country map background and anchored to the exact 

map reference point. The label name can then be changed to the name of the city. 

Lavalamp Format 

A lavalamp-format monitor box displays severity levels as separate bands of color that fill the central area of 

the monitor box. Above this, in the top of the box, the total count for the distribution is displayed. 

In contrast to the histogram where a scale is provided, the total number of alerts for a particular severity is 

estimated by comparing the width of its colored band with the other severity bands, and with the total for 

the distribution. 

Lavalamps provide a quick method of estimating the size of each severity relative to its neighbor, and its 

percentage of the total distribution. 

Histogram Format 

A histogram-format monitor box displays the distribution of alerts as a bar chart, with each severity level 

represented by different colored bars of the same width. 

The height of each bar varies according to the number of alerts for a particular severity level. In the top of 

the box, the total count for the distribution is displayed. 


Lightweight Event List 


The lightweight event list (LEL) is an intermediary visualization component between the tableview and the 

AEL. The LEL is a JavaScript implementation of the AEL that allows users to view the alerts within a 

datasource, examine associated alert details such as journal entries, filter alerts according to severity, and sort 

individual fields in ascending or descending order. 

You can specify the maximum number of alerts that are displayed in the LEL page, and then use the page 

slider to move forward or backward through the pages containing alert information. An example LEL is 

shown in Figure 5. 

Figure 5: Example Lightweight Event List 

You can view an LEL either by accessing a web page containing an LEL, or by launching the LEL from an 

active object—such as a monitor box object—in a map. 



Tableview 

Charts 

The tableview is a way of viewing filtered alert data from an ObjectServer in an HTML table on a web page. 

The table can be viewed directly in a page or can be activated by clicking an active object in a map page. 

This type of view allows users to assess the information displayed about alerts. Unlike the AEL and LEL 

however, no further user interaction with the data is possible. An example tableview is shown in Figure 6. 

Figure 6: Example Table View 

Tableviews can be updated by refreshing the HTML page in the web browser. As with maps and AELs, 

tableviews can be included on a page with a SmartPage tag and the columns and rows are constrained by an 

associated entity. 

Netcool/Webtop contains a chart-rendering component that allows users to visualize ObjectServer field data 

in a graphical format. An example chart is shown in Figure 7. 

Figure 7: Example Chart 



Chart data can be presented in a number of following formats (bar, stacked-bar, line, pie) and can provide 

a high-level view of the alerts within a datasource and allow very large amounts of information to be 

succinctly expressed in a relatively small space—either between scalar axes or as subdivisions of a set. In 

addition, stacked-bar charts are subdivided so that you can see different subcategories within each field alert 

category. 

Charts are highly configurable and Netcool/Webtop supports a multitude of data processing criteria. The 

display and data processing properties are controlled by administrator-defined configuration files in XML 

format. To refine the appearance of the charts or constrain the breadth of data returned, SQL aggregate 

functions and comparison operators can be included in the data retrieval criteria. 




deployment.fm July 1, 2004 11:39 am 

Chapter 2: Deployment 

This chapter describes how to install, license, configure, and upgrade Netcool/Webtop on your system. The 

Introduction section on page 24 contains an overview of the deployment procedure, and considers the 

different scenarios you may encounter during this operation. 


Introduction on page 24 

Prerequisites for Installation on page 28 

Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX on page 32 

Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX on page 39 

Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows on page 50 

Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows on page 54 



2.1 Introduction 

Installation 

Licensing 

Using the planning techniques described in this section expedites a trouble-free deployment of 

Netcool/Webtop. An understanding of the prerequisites of this task and the actions required to accomplish 

it can save time and effort. This section provides an overview of the deployment process by examining the 

key stages. 

A successful Netcool/Webtop installation is dependent on the criteria described in Prerequisites for 

Installation on page 28. Read this section carefully before you continue—you cannot install the application 

if your environment does not meet these requirements. In addition: 

Consider the scale of the load the target system is likely to encounter once available, and its position 

within the topology of your network. If the system resides behind a firewall, consider how external 

clients could establish a connection. 

Many organizations use proxy servers to administrate firewall, filtering, connection sharing, and 

caching activities—if the Netcool/Webtop server needs to communicate with other systems via a 

proxy server, it may be necessary to add the appropriate data transaction privileges to the intermediary 

system. In addition, the Netcool/Webtop server must be able to communicate with one or more 

Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServers. 

The Netcool/Webtop server system may require a large amount of storage space to accommodate the 

home page requirements of large numbers of users. Ensure that the server has adequate disk capacity, 

and that the data it holds can be backed up regularly. 

In order to operate, all Netcool applications must be licensed. Licenses are drawn from a license server on a 

per-user basis, and administrators and users can only connect to the Netcool/Webtop server if a license is 

available for their client type. 


! 

Introduction 

Netcool/Webtop uses Netcool Common Licensing as its license server, and this component is provided as 

part of the product installation. At this stage, consider the following scenarios: 

If a license server is already present within your network environment it is recommended that you use 

this server rather than installing another. License management is often easier when license data is 

centralized. 

Warning: If you decide to install an additional license server, it must be placed on a separate system 

to the existing license server as you can only have one installation per system. 

Before you start the Netcool/Webtop installation procedure, ensure that the license server is running 

and make a note of the host name or IP address. It will be necessary to inform your license server 

administrator that you require additional Netcool product licenses to be added. 

If a license server is not already present within your network environment, you must install one. The 

license server can be installed on the same system as Netcool/Webtop, or on a separate system within 

your network. If you decide to use a separate system, ensure that is accessible on the network and 

make a note of its host name or IP address. 

Host Codes 

A host code for the license server is required before you can obtain licenses for Netcool/Webtop. The host 

code for your system is displayed: 

During installation after you install the license server component. 

When you run a host code identification tool provided with the license server. This tool is described 

in detail later in this section. 

The host code is system specific, and the license file you receive is only valid for the system on which the 

host code is generated. Because of this, you must give some thought to which system you want to use to host 

your license server. It may not be possible to migrate the server later. 

Once the host code is created, you can obtain licenses by contacting the Micromuse License Generation 

Team and providing them with the host code for your license server. The License Generation Team contact 

details are provided in Contact Information on page 409. 



License Types 

Both the Netcool/Webtop server installation itself, and the connection to each primary ObjectServer with 

which it communicates must be licensed. In addition, there are a number of different clients that can 

connect to Netcool/Webtop and each type of client has an associated license category. Table 2 describes the 

different client types. 

Table 2: Netcool/Webtop Client Types 

Client Type User Role 

Read-Only Read-Only clients are presented with a non-interactive view of the network status. They can view static 

and lightweight event lists, map views, and charts, but cannot view the AEL or execute management 

instructions against alerts. 

These clients are often third-party users (for example, customers) who want to observe the alerts taking 

place on their network and obtain a high-level view of system performance. 

Desktop Desktop clients have the same capabilities as Read-Only users, but are also capable of accessing and 

modifying the AEL, using AEL tools, and creating and modifying AEL filters and views. 

Before contacting the License Generation Team, assess your ObjectServer requirements and determine the 

maximum number of users of each client type that require simultaneous connection to Netcool/Webtop. 

Licensing Configurations 

A single license server, accessible by all Netcool components, is the simplest method of licensing a Netcool 

installation. This configuration is recommended for smaller installations; for example, those with one 

ObjectServer datasource. 

Quorum licensing uses three license servers on three different systems to provide greater resilience. Quorum 

license servers continue to dispense licenses while a quorum is available. In a three server configuration, a 

quorum is two servers. Therefore, this type of configuration can operate after any one server has failed or 

become unavailable. 

Each of the three license servers holds a copy of the licenses available to the Netcool/Webtop, and must be 

able to resolve each others’ host names to ensure that the correct number of licenses are dispensed. 

Communication between the servers is determined by information contained in the license file you receive 

from the License Generation Team. 

When the three license servers start, they select a master server. This is determined by the order in which the 

license servers are listed in the quorum license file. It is the master server that dispenses licenses to all 

applications that request them. Each license server sends periodic heartbeat messages to the other two. 


Introduction 

If the master cannot be contacted, the remaining two servers select a master between them. Again, this is 

determined by the order in which the license servers are listed in the quorum license file. Any new license 

requests are served from the new master. If a second license server fails, the remaining server is unable to 

dispense further licenses. 

When setting up a quorum licensing configuration, you must ensure that the three license server systems 

have good communication links and, if possible, reside on the same subnet. You must also ensure that the 

license server systems are not frequently rebooted or taken offline. 



2.2 Prerequisites for Installation 

This section describes the software and hardware requirements for a Netcool/Webtop installation. You 

cannot successfully install Netcool/Webtop if your system does not meet the requirements specified in this 

section. 

Supported Platforms 

The supported UNIX platforms are shown in Table 3. The supported Windows platforms are shown in 

Table 4. 

Table 3: Supported UNIX Platforms 1 

Vendor Platform Version(s) Server Client / Browser 

Sun Microsystems Solaris 7, 8, 9 Yes Yes / Netscape 7 

Red Hat Linux 2.1 Yes Yes / Netscape 7 

IBM AIX 5L Yes No 

Hewlett-Packard HP-UX 11, 11i Yes No 

1. Netcool/Webtop runs as a 32-bit application on UNIX platforms. 

Table 4: Supported Windows Platforms 

Vendor Platform Version(s) Server Client / Browser 

Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition Yes Yes / Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.x; Netscape 7 

Netcool/OMNIbus 

2000 Advanced Server Yes 

2003 Server Yes 

XP Professional Yes Yes / Internet Explorer 6.x; Netscape 7 

Netcool/Webtop works in conjunction with Netcool/OMNIbus versions 3.5, 3.6, and v7. To administer 

the Netcool/Webtop server, you require administrative user access to the default Netcool/OMNIbus 

ObjectServer datasource. 

Tip: Micromuse recommends that, in order to avoid using the root login, you create a new administrative 

user and password on the Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer(s) for Netcool/Webtop server connections. 


Netcool Common Licensing 

! 

Prerequisites for Installation 

Netcool/Webtop uses Netcool Common Licensing as its license server, and this component is provided as 

part of the product installation. This licensing system and accompanying tools are based upon the FLEXlm 

license manager by Macrovision Corporation. 

A Netcool Common Licensing license server must be installed at least once in your network environment 

on a system that can be accessed by Netcool/Webtop. The license server can be installed on any platform 

supported by Netcool Common Licensing. 

For more information about Netcool Common Licensing and to obtain software updates, visit the 

Micromuse Support web site at: 

http://support.micromuse.com/downloads/commonlicensing.html 

Warning: Netcool/Webtop is compatible with the release of Netcool Common Licensing that uses version 

9.2 of the FLEXlm software. If you want to use an existing Netcool Common Licensing installation, it must 

be based upon this version or higher. 

Java 2 Runtime Environment 

The Java 2 Runtime Environment (J2RE) 1.4.2, a subset of the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 

SDK, is installed during product deployment. The J2RE consists of the Java virtual machine (JVM), the Java 

core classes, and supporting files. 

To run a secure server with full Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate authentication, Netcool/Webtop 

requires the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE). This technology is also a component of the J2SE SDK, 

and is automatically provided during the Netcool/Webtop installation as part of the J2RE. 

Java VM Plug-in 

To view the AEL or run the Map Editor, Filter Builder, and View Builder applications, client browsers 

connecting to Netcool/Webtop must have the correct version of the Java VM Plug-in installed. Table 5 

describes the supported combinations of browser and Java VM Plug-in for each client system platform. 

Table 5: Java VM Plug-in Compatibility Matrix (1 of 2) 

Browser Platform Supported Java VM Plug-in Version(s) 

Internet Explorer 6.x Windows XP 1.4.1 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Administration Guide 29 

1.4.2


Table 5: Java VM Plug-in Compatibility Matrix (2 of 2) 

Browser Platform Supported Java VM Plug-in Version(s) 

Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.x Windows 2000 Advanced Server 1.4.1 

On Solaris, Linux, and Windows the Java VM Plug-in version 1.4.2 is supplied with Netcool/Webtop, and 

is located in the JRE directory (refer to Setting the Environment Variables on page 37 for information about 

this location on UNIX platforms). Alternatively, you can obtain it from Sun Microsystems: 

http://java.com/en/index.jsp 

Web Browser Requirements 

Pages served by Netcool/Webtop can be viewed on the following browsers: 

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0 (Windows) 

Netscape Navigator 7 (UNIX, Windows) 


1.4.2 

Windows 2000 Professional Edition 1.4.1 

1.4.2 

Windows 2003 Server 1.4.1 

1.4.2 

Netscape 7 Solaris (All Versions) Browser Default 

1.4.2 

Linux 1.4.1 

1.4.2 

Windows XP 1.4.1 

1.4.2 

Windows 2000 Advanced Server 1.4.1 

1.4.2 

Windows 2000 Professional Edition Browser Default 

1.4.2 

Windows 2003 Server 1.4.1 

1.4.2

A minimum of 256 Mbytes of system memory is required on the client system. 

Cookies 

Client web browsers must be configured to accept all cookies. 

Disk Space and Memory Requirements 

Prerequisites for Installation 

A full installation of Netcool/Webtop requires 150Mb of disk space, and 256 Mbytes or higher of system 

memory. In addition, ensure that you have adequate swap space available on the Netcool/Webtop server. 

The swap space must be at least double the size of physical memory. 



2.3 Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX 

This section describes the procedure for installing or upgrading Netcool/Webtop components on UNIX 

platforms. Read each of the subsequent sections in sequence unless otherwise directed. 

Migrating from Earlier Versions of Netcool/Webtop 

Earlier versions of Netcool/Webtop required moderate user interaction as part of the upgrade procedure. 

The upgrade path from Netcool/Webtop 1.2 to 1.3.1 removes this requirement, and all existing 

configurations are migrated automatically by the installer. The datasource entries in the existing 

server.init initialization file are read and moved to a new location, and all tools, maps, user 

configurations, filters, views, entities, and so forth are migrated transparently. Datasource Configuration on 

page 67 describes the new location of the datasource configuration properties. 

To upgrade to Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 from a version earlier than 1.2, you must follow the upgrade path for 

each version. For example, to migrate from version 1.1 you must first upgrade to version 1.2 before 

upgrading to version 1.3. Consult the relevant documentation for each version of Netcool/Webtop to find 

out more about each procedure. 

Decompressing the Netcool/Webtop Archive 

If you obtained Netcool/Webtop as a downloaded archive, you must decompress and extract the installation 

files. This step requires gzip (or a similar decompression utility) to be present on your system. From the 

command line, extract the Webtop files from the downloaded archive by entering: 

[1] gzip -d ncw_1.3.13.0.tar.gz 

[2] tar -xvf ncw_1.3.13.0.tar 

The files are extracted from the archive and are placed in a local folder called unix. 

Mounting the Netcool/Webtop CD-ROM 

If you obtained Netcool/Webtop on CD-ROM, you must insert and mount the media before you can run 

the installation. If you cannot mount the CD-ROM as /cdrom, use an alternative and replace /cdrom 

with the alternate directory name in the instructions throughout this section. 

All Supported Versions of Solaris 

If the Solaris Volume Daemon (vold) is running, the CD-ROM is mounted automatically as 

/cdrom/webtop. If vold is not running, enter the following command to mount the CD-ROM: 

mount -o ro -F hsfs /dev/dsk/device /cdrom 

In this command, /dev/dsk/device is the CD-ROM drive device entry. 


Red Hat Linux 

To mount the CD-ROM, enter: 

mount -o ro -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom 

In this command, /dev/cdrom is the CD-ROM drive device entry. 

All Supported Versions of HP-UX 

Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX 

Before you mount the CD-ROM, enter the following commands to start the Portable File System (PFS) 

daemons: 

nohup pfs_mountd & 

nohup pfsd & 


pfs_mount -o xlat=unix /dev/dsk/device /cdrom 

In this command, /dev/dsk/device is the CD-ROM drive device entry. 

AIX 5L 


mount -rv cdrfs /dev/cd0 /cdrom 

In this command, /dev/cd0 is the CD-ROM drive device entry. 

Starting the Installation Program 

To start a Netcool/Webtop installation on your system: 

1. If you obtained Netcool/Webtop as a downloaded archive, unzip and untar the archive and change 

directory to unix. 

If you obtained Netcool/Webtop on CD-ROM, mount the media, and change directory to 

/cdrom/webtop. 

2. Run the install program by entering the following from the command line: 

./install_webtop 

The Netcool/Webtop installation program starts and you are presented with the installation program 

main menu, as shown below: 

######################################### 

### Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Installation ### 

######################################### 



Netcool/Webtop V1.3.1 

Copyright (c) 2004, Micromuse, Inc. 

1. Webtop Server 

2. WAAPI Client 

3. Licensing 

S. Select Recommended Components 

A. Select All 

U. Unselect All 

I. Install Selected Components 

W. Specify the Webtop/WAAPI install directory: /opt/netcool/webtop 

R. Remove Extracted Files 

H. Help 

Q. Quit the Install 

Option 

3. Choose the Netcool/Webtop components you want to install by entering one of the following: 

– 1, 2 or 3 to activate or deactivate the corresponding component. 

– S to select only the recommended components (Netcool/Webtop binaries, program files, and 

the WAAPI client components). 

– A to select all the components. 

Note: You must install the Licensing component if a license server is not already present on your 

network. You must be logged in as root to install this component. 

4. Enter W to specify the Netcool/Webtop installation directory. This step is optional. It is 

recommended that you use the default path /opt/netcool/webtop. 

5. When you have selected the components you want to install, enter I to begin the installation. 

If the Netcool/Webtop installer detects an existing installation of Netcool/Webtop, you are presented 

with the following message: 

The installation directory, /opt/netcool/webtop, already exists. 

Do you want to overwrite it? [yes] 

If the existing installation is an earlier version of Netcool/Webtop, you are asked: 

An existing version of Netcool/Webtop has been detected. 

The Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 installer needs to replace the existing Netcool/Webtop 

configuration files. 

This may affect customised Netcool/Webtop configurations. 

The installer can make a backup copy of your existing Netcool/Webtop configuration. 


! 


This will be located in /opt/netcool/webtop/original_webtop_config 

Do you want to backup the existing Netcool/Webtop configuration [yes] 

Enter y to back up the existing installation, or press n to discard any previous configuration settings. 

If you back up the existing installation, any configuration files used by the earlier installation are 

placed in the original_webtop_config directory. If for any reason the migration process 

fails, your original configurations can be retrieved from this directory. 

Warning: You must back up if you want to retain the pages and configuration settings from an 

existing version of Netcool/Webtop. 

6. The installer starts to copy files onto your system. As soon as this stage is complete you are shown the 

Sun Microsystems Binary Code License Agreement for the Java 2 Runtime Environment (J2RE). 

Read the agreement and then enter y to continue. The J2RE files are then installed. 

7. If you chose to install the licensing component, the following message is displayed: 

Invoking common license installer... 

The licensing component installer starts, and you are asked to enter a location for the license server 

files. It is recommended you accept the default. It is recommended that you use the default path 

/opt/netcool/common/license. 

Note: If the directory already exists, you are warned and asked if you want to overwrite the contents 

of the directory. If you choose not to either overwrite the contents or install Netcool the licensing to 

an alternate location, the Netcool/Webtop installer proceeds to the WAAPI component installation 

stage (if this component was selected) or exits. 

8. The license installation script then asks whether you want to add a startup script and symbolic links 

to your system startup directory. This enables the system to start and stop any Netcool licensing 

processes when the host system is started or shut down. 

After adding the startup script, you are given an opportunity to read and (if required) edit the 

parameters. The license installation script then creates symbolic links to the startup script. 

9. The license installation script runs a utility to provide the host code of the system. An example host 

code is shown below: 

nco_hostcode v1.04 (15-OCT-2002 11:20:01) 

---OUTPUT-BEGIN--- 

Version: v1.04 

Time: 1058441273 

cksum: 0024dcf3 

3b25306b35266925050112110401056820544f55783721100d0e1b07043c 

5054575746504c50426b2b0616055d1b6d2a505d534c4357594c41554844 



535363240b0c14160407166b2517194f02101545040704110e091411174f 

020d1f6b362636253e42320f1516004f44516b2a4a52564452580d596d26 

090904524851515241030745525a5a0a504f505d534c4357594c41554844 

5353455c52564f5654575c53555a5c516c360d51594234595551514e015b 

0e0c5f0d0f1b06471d541413001602144b4d075801110707001d5064240d 

5b564d31485554525e125c1a0d46050709064d105b110200130104584a13 

5918190f1500175d6b2944556b243b2f6c 

---OUTPUT-END--- 

Tip: Copy the host code to a text file—this information is required by the Micromuse License 

Generation Team to create the license file for your license server. 

10. You are given the opportunity to configure the Netcool/Webtop server by providing further 

information about your environment. Alternatively, you can choose to exit the installation program. 

Note: If you decide to exit you can set this information at a later point, as discussed in 

Chapter 3: Configuring Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 on page 65. 

If you choose to configure the Netcool/Webtop server, you are presented with the following 

information: 

Configure webtop settings ...... 

Webtop Configuration 

-------------------- 

Please enter the following information 

Default values shown can be used by typing 

At each prompt, enter the following information: 

– The host name of the system running the ObjectServer. 

– The port number of the selected ObjectServer. 

– The name of the Netcool/OMNIbus administrative user that Netcool/Webtop uses when it logs 

in to the selected ObjectServer. 

– The password for the administrative user of the selected ObjectServer. 

Tip: If you are uncertain of the configuration parameters you can accept the defaults and modify the 

application at a later point by running the Netcool/Webtop configuration script. For more 

information about the configuration script, refer to The Configuration Script (UNIX Only) on page 93. 



11. You are prompted to provide details about a license server. If a license server is already present on 

your network, this property can be set in any of the following ways: 

– port@host. For example, 27500@hostname1. 

– @host. For example, @hostname1. If no port is specified, 27000 is used by default. 

– A comma-separated list describing a quorum server configuration. For example, 

@hostname1,@hostname2,@hostname3. 

– Multiple license sources can be concatenated with an ampersand (&) character in the string. For 

example, @hostname1&@hostname2&@hostname3. 

If you have not yet configured a license server—or intend to run one locally—accept the defaults. 

License server installation is discussed in Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX on page 39. 

12. Enter an HTTP port number for Netcool/Webtop server-client communications, or accept the 

default. 

13. If you chose to install the WAAPI client, you are presented with the opportunity to configure this 

component. At each prompt, enter the following information: 

– The host name of the system running the Netcool/Webtop server. 

– The HTTP port number of the selected Netcool/Webtop server. 

– The administrator (root user) of the selected Netcool/Webtop server. 

– The password for the administrator of the selected Netcool/Webtop server. 

Configuration of the Netcool/Webtop server is now complete, and the installation program exits. You can 

now proceed to the next section. 

Setting the Environment Variables 

The WEBTOP_HOME environment variable must be set to ensure the correct operation of the 

Netcool/Webtop server. The JAVA_HOME environment variable must be set for Netcool/Webtop to locate 

the J2RE. 

This procedure assumes that you installed Netcool/Webtop to the default path recommended by the 

installation program—if you installed to a different location, change the path accordingly. Do the following: 

Add the following lines to the $HOME/.login file for each csh user: 

[1] setenv WEBTOP_HOME /opt/netcool/webtop 

[2] setenv JAVA_HOME $WEBTOP_HOME/jre/1.4.2 



Add the following lines to the $HOME/.profile file for each ksh and sh user: 

[1] WEBTOP_HOME=/opt/netcool/webtop;export WEBTOP_HOME 

[2] JAVA_HOME=$WEBTOP_HOME/jre/1.4.2;export JAVA_HOME 


2.4 Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX 

Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX 

The following procedures describe how to configure and start a new license server on UNIX systems. If you 

want to run your license server on a Windows system, refer to Installing a License Server on Windows on 

page 54. 

Netcool/Webtop uses Netcool Common Licensing as its license server. Netcool Common Licensing is 

supplied as part of the Netcool/Webtop installation. It is only necessary to install the license server and 

associated utilities if you do not already have a license server running on your network: 

If you do not have a license server installed on your network and want to install one, continue reading 

this section. 

If a license server is already installed at a local or remote location within your network, ensure that it 

is running and proceed to Using an Existing License Server on page 45. 

Installing a License Server on UNIX 

If you have not already done so, install the Netcool/Webtop license component on your license server 

system, as described in Installing a License Server on UNIX on page 39. 

The license server can be installed on any system, but it must be installed at least once on your network on 

a system that can be accessed by all installations of Netcool/Webtop. The license server can be installed on 

any platform supported by Netcool Common Licensing. 

Setting the Licensing Environment Variables 

A number of environment variables must be set to ensure the correct operation of the license server. This 

procedure assumes that you installed Netcool Common Licensing to the default path recommended by the 

installation program—if you installed to a different location, change the path accordingly. Do the following: 

Add the following lines to the $HOME/.login file for each csh user: 

setenv NCLICENSE /opt/netcool/common/license 

setenv PATH $NCLICENSE/bin:$PATH 

Add the following lines to the $HOME/.profile file for each ksh and sh user: 

NCLICENSE=/opt/netcool/common/license;export NCLICENSE 

PATH=$PATH:$NCLICENSE/bin;export PATH 



Displaying the Host Code 

To obtain licenses for your Netcool/Webtop installation, you must have the FLEXlm host code of the 

system on which you installed the license server. When the license component is selected, the host code is 

displayed at the end of the Netcool/Webtop installation procedure. To redisplay the host code, enter: 

$NCLICENSE/bin/nc_hostid 

An example nc_hostid output is shown below: 




Time: 1046691321 


3b25306b35266925050112110401056820544f55783721100d0e1b07043c 

5054575746504c50426b2b0616055d1b6d2a505d534c4357594c41554844 

535363240b0c14160407166b2517194f02101545040704110e091411174f 

020d1f6b362636253e42320f1516004f44516b2a4a52564452580d596d26 

090904524851515241030745525a5a0a504f505d534c4357594c41554844 

5353455c52564f5654575c53555a5c516c360d51594234595551514e015b 

0e0c5f0d0f1b06471d541413001602144b4d075801110707001d5064240d 

5b564d31485554525e125c1a0d46050709064d105b110200130104584a13 

5918190f1500175d6b2944556b243b2f6c 


Note: For quorum configurations you must have the host code for each license server in the configuration. 

Obtaining the License File 

Contact the Micromuse License Generation Team to obtain the license file. The team will ask you to send 

them the host code for your system. After verification they will supply you with a license file. Examples of a 

single-server license file and the first few lines of a quorum-server license file are shown below. License file 

properties are described in Table 6 on page 41. 

Example License File 

SERVER hostname 006097b4fc20 

USE_SERVER 

VENDOR netcool 

FEATURE cro_webtop netcool 20040430.0 27-may-2004 1 SIGN="0036 E71D \ 

9696 EEF5 15AF 6E59 224D 9200 71C5 B5E1 E15C 1000 93EA 41E1 \ 

D356" SIGN2="000C 32CA 1BCB 51A6 3834 A5EE 8E9D D200 49B3 2DB2 \ 

D947 34DF 896F CCDD 5A0C" 

FEATURE cro_webtop_ro netcool 20040430.0 27-may-2004 1 SIGN="0062 \ 

2861 C2BB F359 E740 C557 585B 2400 B022 4B89 8B50 06B6 A67F \ 

4EB1 0F20" SIGN2="0060 2FD6 3424 F53E E89C 5AEF A414 6700 387D \ 

F014 3412 5894 96BF 2005 3818" 


FEATURE cro_webtop_dt netcool 20040430.0 27-may-2004 1 SIGN="0023 \ 

8890 767E 06D8 A53F DDD2 7FB0 3A00 A147 887B BB1E 30A4 61A3 \ 

4343 3D1F" SIGN2="0003 D60A 9CCD 0836 A77D E8BB E785 FE00 DEE2 \ 

5126 6082 892E C299 F7C8 931A" 

FEATURE cro_ncw_os_con netcool 20040430.0 27-may-2004 1 SIGN="002F \ 

F0F3 A013 0B0C 56E0 18FF DCC6 2D00 71FB 501B 3A33 4CCD 243E \ 

017C 61F8" SIGN2="0052 73E0 B39A 4CAD B4D1 1696 04E5 C700 DF2F \ 

AA99 A2A1 C5F1 8C31 B133 69EB" 

Example Quorum License File 

SERVER hostname1 006097b4fc20 

SERVER hostname2 0000397e972e 

SERVER hostname3 00022d13188d 

USE_SERVER 


... 

Table 6: License File Properties 

Property Description 


SERVER Specifies the host name of the license server system and its associated host ID. Modify hostname to 

reflect the domain name or IP address of your license server. If you are using quorum licensing then this 

property contains a hostname entry for each license server. 

VENDOR Specifies the name of the license vendor daemon, which for Netcool/Webtop is netcool. 

FEATURE Specifies the name of the component that is licensed, the license type, its version number, expiry date, and 

how many licenses are available. The license types are: 

cro_webtop refers to Netcool/Webtop server licenses. 

cro_webtop_ro refers to Read-Only client licenses. 

cro_webtop_dt refers to Desktop client licenses. 

cro_ncw_os_con refers to ObjectServer datasource connection licenses. 

Additional FEATURE lines can be added for each licensed component. 



Preparing the License File 

Micromuse recommends you perform a number of tasks on the data to ensure that extraneous characters are 

removed. For example, if the license file has been downloaded using a Windows e-mail client, additional 

carriage return characters may have been introduced. Perform the following tasks: 

1. Delete all lines before the first line beginning with the word SERVER. 

2. Delete all lines after the last line beginning with the word FEATURE. 

3. Run the UNIX dos2unix command on the license file. 

Configuring the License File 

To configure the license file for use on your license server you must do the following: 

1. Ensure that the host ID of license server hostname in the first line of the license file exactly matches 

the license server host ID. The host ID of your license server can be displayed in the following ways: 

– On Solaris, Linux, and AIX you can display the host ID from the command line by entering 

hostid. 

– On HP-UX and all other platforms you can the use the lmhostid tool provided as part of the 

Netcool Common Licensing installation. This utility is located in: 

$NCLICENSE/platform/platform/bin/lmhostid 

Note: For a quorum license file, ensure that the three host IDs of the license servers hostname1, 

hostname2, and hostname3 in the first three lines of the license file exactly match each license 

server systems host ID. 

2. Save the license file as filename.lic in the $NCLICENSE/etc directory of the system 

running the license server. Use a unique filename. 

Note: For quorum licensing, save a copy of the file to the $NCLICENSE/etc directory of each 

system running a license server in the quorum. Copying the file to each license server ensures that the 

servers are listed in the same order on each machine. The license servers then recognize the same 

priority. 


Configuring the Netcool/Webtop License File Property 


Netcool/Webtop must be able to locate the license server. You are given the opportunity to provide the 

location of the license server during product installation. If at that point you did not know the location of 

the license server, you must now modify the license.file property in the server.init 

initialization file to point at the license server. Initialization file configuration is described in Initialization 

File Configuration on page 83. 

Using a Non-Default Port Number 

By default, the license server listens for incoming license requests on the first available port between 27000 

and 27009. If none of these ports are available, you must specify an alternative port number for the license 

server to listen on. To do this, enter the port number on the SERVER line of the license file. An example is 

shown below: 

Example License File with Port Number 

SERVER hostname1 000703a65d71 27500 

USE_SERVER 


... 

For a quorum license file, enter the port numbers on all three SERVER lines. An example is shown below: 

Example Quorum License File with Port Number 


SERVER hostname2 000703f2827d 28000 

SERVER hostname3 00070316275c 27500 

USE_SERVER 


... 

To specify a non-default port number for clients, you must set the license.file property in the 

server.init initialization file. Enter the license server port number before the license server hostname. 

For example, in a single license server system: 

license.file:27500@hostname1 

For a quorum license configuration, enter the port numbers for all three license servers: 

license.file:27500@hostname1,28000@hostname2,27500@hostname3 



Starting the License Server 

To start the license server, enter: 

$NCLICENSE/bin/nc_start_license & 

When the license server is started, it reads the filename.lic license file in $NCLICENSE/etc and 

then waits for incoming license requests. 

Tip: You can check for the license server process using the UNIX command ps. The license server daemon 

is identified as lmgrd. 

Quorum License Server Startup Order 

In a quorum licensing configuration, you must start the license servers in the order in which they are listed 

in the quorum license file. For example, the license servers shown in Example Quorum License File on page 41 

must be started in the following order: 

[1] hostname1 

[2] hostname2 

[3] hostname3 

Refreshing the License Server 

If you add new licences to the license file, the license server must be refreshed before it can dispense these 

new licenses. The refresh procedure makes the license server aware of new licenses added to the license file 

in $NCLICENSE/etc. 

To refresh the license server, enter: 

$NCLICENSE/bin/nc_read_license 

Tip: You can also refresh the license server by shutting it down and restarting it. 

Determining License Usage 

You can determine which processes are using licenses dispensed from the license server by using nc_ 

print_license. To do this, enter: 

$NCLICENSE/bin/nc_print_license 

This lists all of the processes that are currently being served licenses. 


Stopping the License Server 

To shut down the license server, enter: 

$NCLICENSE/bin/nc_stop_license 


When the license server is shut down, it cannot dispense any licenses. Netcool components cannot start 

without receiving a license from a license server. 

Using an Existing License Server 

You can configure a Netcool/Webtop installation to use an existing license server if one is already present 

on your network. 

The license server may not have sufficient (or any) licenses for your Netcool/Webtop installation. If this is 

the case, you must obtain additional licenses from the Micromuse License Generation Team, and then add 

them to the license server, as described in this section. 

If sufficient Netcool/Webtop licenses are available on the license server, you can proceed to 






$NCLICENSE/bin/nc_hostid 

An example nc_hostid output is shown below: 




Time: 1046691321 


3b25306b35266925050112110401056820544f55783721100d0e1b07043c 

5054575746504c50426b2b0616055d1b6d2a505d534c4357594c41554844 

535363240b0c14160407166b2517194f02101545040704110e091411174f 

020d1f6b362636253e42320f1516004f44516b2a4a52564452580d596d26 

090904524851515241030745525a5a0a504f505d534c4357594c41554844 

5353455c52564f5654575c53555a5c516c360d51594234595551514e015b 

0e0c5f0d0f1b06471d541413001602144b4d075801110707001d5064240d 

5b564d31485554525e125c1a0d46050709064d105b110200130104584a13 

5918190f1500175d6b2944556b243b2f6c 


For quorum configurations you must have the host code for each license server in the configuration. 










USE_SERVER 





D947 34DF 896F CCDD 5A0C" 




F014 3412 5894 96BF 2005 3818" 




5126 6082 892E C299 F7C8 931A" 




AA99 A2A1 C5F1 8C31 B133 69EB" 





USE_SERVER 


... 

Table 7: License File Properties (1 of 2) 









Preparing the License File 









Micromuse recommends you perform a number of tasks on the data to ensure that extraneous characters are 

removed. For example, if the license file has been downloaded using a Windows e-mail client, additional 

carriage return characters may have been introduced. Perform the following tasks: 

1. Delete all lines before the first line beginning with the word SERVER. 

2. Delete all lines after the last line beginning with the word FEATURE. 

3. Run the UNIX dos2unix command on the license file. 




the license server host ID. The host ID of your license server can be displayed in the following ways: 

– On Solaris, Linux, and AIX you can display the host ID from the command line by entering 

hostid. 

– On HP-UX and all other platforms you can the use the lmhostid tool provided as part of the 

Netcool Common Licensing installation. This utility is located in: 

$NCLICENSE/platform/platform/bin/lmhostid 






2. Save the license file as filename.lic in the $NCLICENSE/etc directory of the system 


Note: For quorum licensing, save a copy of the file to the $NCLICENSE/etc directory of each 



priority. 


Netcool/Webtop must be able to locate the license server, and you are given the opportunity to provide this 

information during the product installation. If at that point you did not know the location of the license 

server, you must now modify the license.file property in the server.init initialization file to 

point at the license server. This is described in Initialization File Configuration on page 83. 





shown below: 



USE_SERVER 


... 






USE_SERVER 


... 










The local or remote license server must be refreshed before it can dispense new licenses. The refresh 

procedure makes the license server aware of new feature entries in an existing license data file, or additional 

license files added to the license server. 

The license server can be refreshed either by being shut down and restarted, or by using the Netcool 

Common Licensing license server refresh utility, as described in Refreshing the License Server on page 44. 

Contact your license server administrator for more information about either procedure. 



2.5 Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows 

This section describes the procedure for installing, upgrading, or modifying Netcool/Webtop components 

on Windows platforms. Read each of the subsequent sections in this chapter in order unless otherwise 

directed. 

Migrating from Netcool/Webtop 1.2 

Earlier versions of Netcool/Webtop required moderate user interaction as part of the upgrade procedure. 

The upgrade path from Netcool/Webtop 1.2 to 1.3.1 removes this requirement, and all existing 

configurations are migrated automatically by the installer. 

The datasource entries in the existing server.init initialization file are read and moved to a new 

location, and all tools, maps, user configurations, filters, views, entities, and so forth are migrated 

transparently. Datasource Configuration on page 67 describes the new location of the datasource 

configuration properties. 

Starting the Installation Program 

To install Netcool/Webtop: 

1. If you obtained Netcool/Webtop as a downloaded archive, you must decompress the contents of 

ncw_1.3.13.0.zip. 

If you obtained Netcool/Webtop on CD-ROM, insert the Netcool/Webtop media into the 

CD-ROM drive. 

2. Run the file NCWSetup.exe: 

– If an existing installation of Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 is detected on your system you are presented 

with the Program Maintenance window. Proceed to step 2 of Modifying an Existing 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Installation on page 52. 

– If Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 is not found you are presented with the InstallShield Wizard window. 

Click Next to proceed. 

3. You are presented with the Netcool/Webtop License Agreement window. Read the license agreement. 

If you agree to be bound by the terms of the license, select the appropriate radio button and click 

Next to proceed, otherwise click Cancel to exit. 

4. The Destination Folder window is displayed. Click Next to accept the default location, or Change... 

to select an alternate destination for the installation. Micromuse recommends you accept the default 

path. 


! 

Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows 

5. If an earlier version of Netcool/Webtop is detected on your system, you are presented with the 

Configuration Migration window. From the Configuration Migration window you can either: 

– Migrate the configurations, maps, and user data from an earlier version of Netcool/Webtop for 

use with Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1. The previous configuration directory is backed up to 

%WEBTOP_HOME%\config.old. If for any reason the migration process fails, your original 

configurations can be retrieved from this directory. 

– Overwrite an earlier version of Netcool/Webtop with the new default settings contained within 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1. 

Warning: If you overwrite an existing Netcool/Webtop installation, all existing configurations 

such as maps, entities, and home pages are permanently deleted. 

Select either the Migrate or Overwrite radio button, and click Next. 

6. The Licence Server window is displayed, and you are offered the following choices: 

If a license server is already present on your network, or is to be installed at a later point, click the 

Remote radio button. The license server location field is highlighted. This property can be set in any 

of the following ways: 

– port@host. For example, 27500@hostname1. 

– @host. For example, @hostname1. If no port is specified, 27000 is used by default. 

– A comma-separated list describing a quorum server configuration. For example, 


– Multiple license sources can be concatenated with an ampersand (&) character in the string. For 

example, @hostname1&@hostname2&@hostname3. 

Note: If you are not sure of the location of the license server you can enter these details later, as 

described in Licensing Configuration on page 90. 

If a license server is not present on your network and you want to install and run one locally, select 

the Local radio button. 


7. You are presented with the ObjectServer Configuration window. Enter the following ObjectServer 

details in the fields provided: 

– The name of the default ObjectServer. 

– The host name of the system running the selected ObjectServer. 



– The port number of the selected ObjectServer. 

– The name of the Netcool/OMNIbus administrative user that Netcool/Webtop uses when it logs 

in to the selected ObjectServer. 

– The password for the administrative user of the selected ObjectServer. 

Tip: You can reconfigure the Netcool/Webtop server details at a later stage by editing the parameters 

in the server.init configuration file. For more information about this, refer to 


8. The Setup Type window is displayed. Select one of the following radio buttons and click Next: 

– Complete: all components including Netcool/Webtop binaries, program files, the WAAPI 

client and licensing components are installed. 

– Custom: you are presented with the Custom Setup window. Click each drive icon to select or 

deselect the corresponding component. By default, all components are selected. Click the 

Change... button to provide alternate destinations for the highlighted component. 

Tip: When a component is selected, the disk-space required for a successful installation of that 

component is displayed in the right-hand panel. Click the Space button to find out the overall 

Netcool/Webtop disk space requirements, and how much free space is available on each attached drive. 


9. You are shown the Ready to Install window. If you are satisfied that the initial installation 

configuration parameters are correct click Install, otherwise click Back to modify the setup details. 

10. The installer copies the application files to the destination system. You are notified once the 

installation is complete. Click Finish to exit the installer. 

To install a license, or configure a license server, go to Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows on 

page 54. Otherwise, proceed to Chapter 3: Configuring Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 on page 65. 

Modifying an Existing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 Installation 

You can use the Netcool/Webtop setup program to repair, remove, or add further components to an existing 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 installation. The installer detects the existing installation. In addition, you can 

change the system configuration as you would during an initial installation. 


To modify an existing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 installation, do the following: 

Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows 

1. If you obtained Netcool/Webtop as a downloaded archive, you must decompress the installation files. 

If you obtained Netcool/Webtop on CD-ROM, insert the Netcool/Webtop media into the 

CD-ROM drive. 

2. Run the file NCWSetup.exe. 

3. You are presented with the Program Maintenance window. Select one of the following tasks: 

– If you want to repair a damaged installation, select the Repair radio button. 

– If you want to completely remove Netcool/Webtop from your system, select the Remove radio 

button. 

– If you want to modify which features are present in the installation, select the Modify radio 

button. 


4. If you chose to repair or remove the existing Netcool/Webtop installation, you are presented with a 

window describing the selected action, and you are prompted to start the procedure by clicking the 

appropriate button. 

If you chose to modify the existing Netcool/Webtop installation, you are presented with the Custom 

Setup window. Make any modifications you require, in accordance with steps described in Installing 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows on page 50. 



2.6 Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows 

The following procedures describe how to configure and start a new license server on Windows systems. If 

you want to run your license server on a UNIX system, refer to Installing a License Server on UNIX on 

page 39. 

Netcool/Webtop uses Netcool Common Licensing as its license server. Netcool Common Licensing is 

supplied as part of the Netcool/Webtop installation. It is only necessary to install the license server and 

associated utilities if you do not already have a license server running on your network: 

If you do not have a license server installed on your network and want to install and configure one, 

proceed to the next section. 

If a license server is already installed at a local or remote location within your network, ensure that it 

is running and proceed to Using an Existing License Server on page 60. 

Installing a License Server on Windows 

If you have not already done so, install the licensing component of Netcool/Webtop on your desired license 

server system, as described in Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows on page 50. 

The license server can be installed on any system, but it must be installed at least once on your network on 

a system that can be accessed by all installations of Netcool/Webtop. The license server can be installed on 

any platform supported by Netcool Common Licensing. 

The following sections describe how to configure and start a new license server. 





$NCLICENSE$\bin\lmutil.exe lmhostid 

This displays the host code as follows: 

lmutil - Copyright (c) 1989-2003 by Macrovision Corporation. All rights reserved. 

The FLEXlm host ID of this machine is "hostcode" 

Note: For quorum configurations you must have the host code for each license server in the configuration. 



Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows 







USE_SERVER 





D947 34DF 896F CCDD 5A0C" 




F014 3412 5894 96BF 2005 3818" 




5126 6082 892E C299 F7C8 931A" 




AA99 A2A1 C5F1 8C31 B133 69EB" 





USE_SERVER 


... 





















the license server host code. 




2. Save the license file as filename.lic in the %NCLICENSE%\etc directory of the system 


Note: For quorum licensing, save a copy of the file to the %NCLICENSE%\etc directory of each 



priority. 













shown below: 



USE_SERVER 


... 






USE_SERVER 


... 









LMTOOLS 

LMTOOLS is a Windows application that is provided as part of the licensing system installation. It allows 

you to start, stop, and configure license servers; obtain system information (settings, host IDs, server status, 

and so forth); and diagnose errors in the license file. The LMTOOLS application is shown in Figure 8. 

Figure 8: LMTOOLS License Manager for Windows 

To start LMTOOLS, click Start→Programs→Netcool→Flex License→lmTools. The following sections 

contain instructions for using LMTOOLS to perform licensing tasks. 

Starting a License Service 

The Windows license server runs as a service. To create a license server service, start LMTOOLS and do the 

following: 

1. Click the Service/License File tab. 

2. Select the Configuration using Services option. 

3. Click the Config Services tab. 

4. If you want to rename the license server service, enter a new name for the license service in the Service 

Name field. 



5. Enter the locations of following files or click Browse to select the locations. The LMTOOLS 

locations are listed in Table 9. 

Table 9: LMTOOLS File Locations 

File Default Location 

lmgrd.exe %NCLICENSE%\lmgrd.exe 

license file %NCLICENSE%\etc\filename.lic 

log file %NCLICENSE%\log\license.log 

6. Ensure that the Use Services check box is selected. 

7. If you want the license server service to start each time your system starts, select the Start Server at 

Power Up check box. 

8. When you have finished, click Save Service. 

9. Exit LMTOOLS. 

10. Restart Windows. After restarting, the license server runs as a service. 

Starting and Stopping a License Server 

To manually start or stop the license server service: 

1. Click Start→Programs→Netcool→Flex License→lmTools. 

2. Click the Start/Stop/Reread tab. 

3. Click the Start Server or Stop Server button. 





To make the license server re-read the license files: 



3. Click the ReRead License File button. The license server re-reads the new license files, and any new 

licenses are made available. 



Viewing the License Server Status 

The license server status includes information such as whether the license server is running, the number of 

licenses available for a component, and the number of licenses that are in-use for a component. 

To view the license server status: 


2. Click the Server Status tab. 

3. Click the Perform Status Enquiry button. Information about the features in the current license files 

is displayed. 

The Options fields display specific status information. For example, you can view information about a single 

feature only. 

Removing the License Server Service 

To remove the license server service from Windows: 



3. Click the Stop Server button. 

4. Click the Config Services tab. 

5. In the Service Name field, make sure the correct service is selected. 

6. Click the Remove Service button. The Windows service is removed. 

Using an Existing License Server 

You can configure Netcool/Webtop to use an existing license server if one is already present on your 

network, and you did not already do so during installation. To do this, you must configure Netcool/Webtop 

to detect this license server as described in the following sections. 

The license server you are using may not have sufficient (or any) licenses for your Netcool/Webtop 

installation. If this is the case, you must obtain additional licenses from the Micromuse License Generation 

Team, and then add them to the license data file on the existing server, as described in the following section. 

If sufficient Netcool/Webtop licenses are available on the license server, proceed to Licensing Configuration 

on page 90. 










USE_SERVER 





D947 34DF 896F CCDD 5A0C" 




F014 3412 5894 96BF 2005 3818" 




5126 6082 892E C299 F7C8 931A" 




AA99 A2A1 C5F1 8C31 B133 69EB" 





USE_SERVER 


... 





















the license server host code. 




2. Save the license file as filename.lic in the %NCLICENSE%\etc directory of the system 


Note: For quorum licensing, save a copy of the file to the %NCLICENSE%\etc directory of each 



priority. 

If you receive additional license files from the License Generation Team you can save them in the same 

directory as the existing license file. 













shown below: 



USE_SERVER 


... 






USE_SERVER 


... 











The license server can be refreshed either by being shut down and restarted, or by using the appropriate 

license management utilities. Refer to Refreshing the License Server on page 59 or contact your license server 

administrator for more information about either procedure. 




configuration.fm July 1, 2004 11:39 am 

Chapter 3: Configuring Netcool/Webtop 


After Netcool/Webtop has been installed, the Netcool/Webtop server configuration parameters can be 

defined. 

This chapter describes how to define these parameters and contains the following sections: 


Datasource Configuration on page 67 

Dual-Server Desktop Configuration on page 77 

Initialization File Configuration on page 83 

Licensing Configuration on page 90 

HTTP Configuration on page 91 

The Configuration Script (UNIX Only) on page 93 

Datasource Configuration File Data Reference on page 94 


Chapter 3: Configuring Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 


You must configure the Netcool/Webtop server to connect to at least one ObjectServer datasource, to obtain 

licenses from a local or remote license server, and to listen for client web connections. Required 

communication information is usually entered during the installation phase described in the previous 

section. 

At the time of installation you may have been unaware of some of the connection or licensing properties. 

Alternatively, you may now want to alter communication information or further modify the default 

appearance and behavior of the Netcool/Webtop server. This section describes the Netcool/Webtop 

licensing, communication, and configuration properties and shows you how to set or reset them. 

Netcool/Webtop can read from, and write to, one or more individual ObjectServer datasources. The 

parameters controlling datasource location, connection, failover, cache cleanup and so forth are stored in an 

XML-format datasource configuration file that can be structurally modified. 

Netcool/OMNIbus 3.5 or later provides a tiered event processing architecture that is supported by Netcool/ 

Webtop 1.3.1. The dual-server desktop (DSD) system allows Netcool/Webtop to read from, and write to, 

one or more load-managing display servers, and write directly to each associated master ObjectServer. DSD 

configuration parameters are stored in the datasource configuration file. 

Environmental and server session properties are stored in an ASCII initialization file that is read on server 

startup. These properties can be edited in order to accommodate your user requirements. Because the 

Netcool/Webtop Map Editor component can run as a standalone Java application as well as from within 

Netcool/Webtop, this utility also has an accompanying initialization file. 

Netcool/Webtop allows you to change the language used by the labels, messages, and icons displayed in the 

Administration page, AEL, LEL, and Map Editor so that these components can be understood by different 

global audiences. The practical administrative aspect of configuring an application for use in a particular 

locale is known as localization (l10n). For more information about this, refer to Appendix D: Localization 

on page 367. 

If you are certain that all the required Netcool/Webtop connection and environmental parameters are 

correctly defined, you can proceed to Chapter 4: Getting Started on page 103. 


3.2 Datasource Configuration 

Datasource Configuration 

In order to communicate with its datasources, Netcool/Webtop requires information that describes their 

location and type. In earlier versions of Netcool/Webtop this information was stored in an initialization file, 

server.init, that also held environmental and server session properties. Datasource communication 

parameters now reside within an XML file that can be modified by the administrator. 

Note: The initialization file that contains environmental and server session properties is described in more 

detail in server.init on page 83. 

XML Overview 

The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is a standard, self-describing set of rules for structuring data so 

that it can be processed and exchanged across a variety of hardware types, operating systems, and 

applications. 

XML offers a straightforward way of representing data in a format that can be processed with minimal 

human or system involvement. As such, it is an ideal language for controlling Netcool/Webtop datasource 

configurations because it can be easily created by administrators or software applications. 

A detailed description of XML is beyond the scope of this manual, and a reasonable degree of knowledge on 

the part of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. 

To write your own datasource configuration files you must understand: 

The rules, logic, and components used by XML. 

The concepts of elements, attributes, tags, and markup. 

How to create documents that are well-formed, and valid against an XML document type definition 

(DTD). 

For more detailed information about the Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration DTD, its elements, 

attributes, and logic, refer to Datasource Configuration File Data Reference on page 94. 



Configuration File Overview 

Datasource configuration information is stored in the following location: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/config/datasources/ncwDataSourceDefinitions.xml 

If you installed Netcool/Webtop for the first time, by default this file contains the information you 

provided during installation. 

If you upgraded from an earlier version of Netcool/Webtop, this file contains entries derived from 

any datasource properties discovered in $WEBTOP_HOME/config/server.init. 

An example of a datasource configuration file for a single failover pair is shown below. Following the 

example is a line-by-line description of how it works. 

Example Datasource Configuration File 

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Line 1 

This line opens the top-level ncwDataSourceDefinitions tag and initiates the file. 

Lines 2-4 

The ncwDefaultDataSourceList tag contains a list of one or more ncwDataSource 

Entry tags. The first tag in the list provides Netcool/Webtop server with a definitive point of configuration 

and display information when multiple datasources are used. 



Note: The configuration file must contain at least one ncwDataSourceEntry tag, and the datasource 

named in this tag must correspond to one defined by a ncwDataSourceDefinition tag elsewhere in 

the configuration file. 

The application looks to the datasource cited in this tag for the following information: 

The default datasource for administrator login. 

The default ObjectServer entry in Administration page drop-down menus. 

The default datasource for chart data. 

The default datasource for SmartPage commands. 

If communications with the default datasource cannot be established, Netcool/Webtop uses the next 

ncwDataSourceEntry tag entry in the list—if one is present—as the default datasource for server 

activities. Be aware that server-validated user and administrator passwords can differ between datasources. 

Line 5 

The ncwDataSourceDefinition tag encapsulates all the configuration and communication 

parameters for an individual datasource. 

Note: The configuration file must contain at least one ncwDataSourceDefinition tag. 

The name attribute specifies a user-defined label. When different ObjectServers have similar or identical 

names, this label allows Netcool/Webtop administrators and users to distinguish between them. The label 

is also referred to by the ncwDataSourceEntry tag. 

Note: The name attribute must be a unique alphanumeric string that does not contain any spaces or special 

characters. 

The type attribute specifies whether you want this datasource to be a single ObjectServer and optional 

backup server, or an ObjectServer with one or more display servers and optional backup server. Display 

servers are discussed in Dual-Server Desktop Configuration on page 77. 

Lines 6-7 

The ncwResultsCacheParameters tag specifies if datasource data caching is enabled or disabled in 

Netcool/Webtop. If caching is enabled, the maxAge attribute specifies the cache expiry time limit, in 

seconds. 



! 

The cleanerSleepTime attribute specifies the time interval, in seconds, at which the Netcool/Webtop 

server checks for how long each active client session has been inactive. When this check takes place, cache 

data that exceeds the time imposed by the maxAge attribute is removed. 

Note: This tag is ignored when you configure Netcool/Webtop for use with display servers as data caching 

is not supported in dual-server desktop configurations. Refer to Dual-Server Desktop Configuration on 

page 77 for more information. 

Lines 8-11 

The ncwDataSourcePollingParameters tag contains the tags that control failover and 

datasource heartbeat polling. 

The basePollingTime attribute of the ncwFailOverPollingParameters tag on line 9 

specifies the time interval at which Netcool/Webtop polls the datasource in the event of a failover. The 

backOffMultiplier attribute contains the multiplier for the algorithm used by Netcool/Webtop to 

calculate the polling backoff time during a failover. This example is not configured for failover (as shown in 

lines 14-18) so this property is ignored. 

The basePollingTime attribute of the ncwHeartBeatParameters tag on line 10 specifies the 

time interval for Netcool/Webtop to poll an active datasource. 

Line 12 

The resyncTime attribute of the ncwConfigCacheParameters tag specifies the time interval, in 

seconds, during which the Netcool/Webtop server attempts to resynchronize with its datasources. 

Line 13 

The ncwDataSourceCredentials tag holds the login information required by Netcool/Webtop to 

access the datasource. If the encrypted attribute is set to true, a password encrypted using the Netcool/ 

OMNIbus nco_crypt encrypt utility can be used. 

Warning: The username and password entries are not encrypted in the configuration file by default. 

For security, it is recommended that you set the file permissions for 

ncwDataSourceDefinitions.xml to reflect those of the users responsible for administrating the 

Netcool/Webtop server. 

Lines 14-18 

The ncwFailOverPairDefinition contains a ncwPrimaryServer tag and (optionally) a 

ncwBackUpServer tag. These tags respectively provide Netcool/Webtop with the IP address or 

hostname, and port number of the primary datasource and failover server. 



Line 19 

This line contains the tag that closes the ncwDataSourceDefinition tag. If you want to add 

additional datasources, then you must open a new ncwDataSourceDefinition tag after this entry. 

Line 20 

This line closes the ncwDataSourceDefinitions tag and concludes the file. 

The following sections how to configure Netcool/Webtop to address different datasource communication 

scenarios. 

Single Datasource Without Failover 

Figure 9 represents a single Netcool/Webtop server communicating via a bidirectional Java Database 

Connectivity (JDBC) connection to a single ObjectServer datasource. 

Netcool/ 

Webtop 

192.168.0.2:4040 

NCOMS 

Figure 9: Netcool/Webtop Connected to a Single Datasource Without Failover 

The following example Netcool/Webtop XML file represents the parameters required to create the 

configuration shown in Figure 9. 

Example XML for Single Datasource Without Failover 

Bidirectional Connection 

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Single Datasource With Failover 

! 

The configuration file can be modified to provide the location of a failover server for each specified 

datasource. Figure 10 represents a single Netcool/Webtop server communicating via a bidirectional JDBC 

connection to a single ObjectServer datasource. In the event of a primary ObjectServer failure, the Netcool/ 

Webtop server is configured to failover to a backup ObjectServer. 

Note: Netcool/OMNIbus failover configurations typically contain intermediary gateway servers to ensure 

data harmonization between primary and backup ObjectServers. For the purposes of simplicity, these 

gateways have been excluded from this and subsequent diagrams. 

When a failover event takes place, Netcool/Webtop becomes aware that it is connected to the backup 

ObjectServer in a failover pair. The application automatically checks for the recovery of the primary 

ObjectServer in the failover pair and switches back once it has recovered. 

Warning: The fields contained within the alerts.status table and the authenticated users of the 

failover ObjectServer must exactly match those held on the primary ObjectServer. If the fields do not 

correspond, failover cannot take place. If the users do not correspond, users may not be able to log in. Prior 

to designating a failover server, ensure that the users and field names are identical, and that an equal number 

of ObjectServer fields are present. 



Netcool/Webtop regularly communicates with the backup ObjectServer so that in the event of failover it 

can immediately switch connections. This constant polling is known as a hot-standby connection. 



The following example XML source shows the parameters required to create the configuration shown in 

Figure 10. 

Example XML for Single Datasource With Failover 

192.168.0.2:4141 

NCOMS 

NCOMS 

192.168.0.3:4141 

Figure 10: Netcool/Webtop Connected to a Single Datasource With Failover 


Failover Connection 

Hot-Standby Connection 

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Line 9 contains the ncwFailOverPollingParameters tag that governs how often the Netcool/ 

Webtop server polls the primary ObjectServer in the event of a failover. Line 14 initiates the 

ncwFailOverPairDefinition tag that contains the tags specifying the IP address and port number 

of the primary datasource and failover server. 

Lines 18-20 contain the backup ObjectServer location information for this configuration. The 

ncwBackUpServer tag has a child element ncwOSConnection that specifies the host name and port 

number of the failover server. 

Multiple Datasources With Failover 

Figure 11 represents a single Netcool/Webtop server communicating via a bidirectional JDBC connection 

to multiple ObjectServer datasources. In the event of a datasource failure, the Netcool/Webtop server is 

configured to failover to a backup ObjectServer for each datasource. 

192.168.0.4:4242 

GALENA 

GALENA 

192.168.0.5:4343 




Figure 11: Netcool/Webtop Connected to a Multiple Datasources With Failover 

Failover Connection Hot-Standby Connection 

192.168.0.2:4040 

NCOMS 

NCOMS 

192.168.0.3:4141 


Figure 11. 


Example XML for Multiple Datasources With Failover 


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Lines 3-5 contain the list of all the datasources associated with this configuration. The name attributes 

contained in each ncwDataSourceEntry tag establish the default list of datasources for the Netcool/ 

WebtopEntry server. 



Lines 6-23 and 24-41 contain the communication and failover parameters for both of the datasources 

defined in lines 3-4. 


3.3 Dual-Server Desktop Configuration 

Dual-Server Desktop Configuration 

In order to increase the performance of an ObjectServer that frequently experiences heavy loads, Netcool/ 

Webtop supports the dual-server desktop (DSD) architecture. Increased loads can occur when: 

Many regional ObjectServers send alerts to a central ObjectServer through unidirectional gateways. 

Many users connect directly to the central ObjectServer either through Netcool/Webtop or the native 

Netcool/OMNIbus desktop. 

To counter this, a DSD ObjectServer configuration reduces the workload of the central ObjectServer by 

deferring the load to specialized display ObjectServers. This: 

Improves desktop responsiveness—that is, the time between a user action and its reflection in the 

event list. 

Improves the end-to-end latency times in heavily-loaded, standard ObjectServer configurations. 

Reduces occurrences of event list freezing. 

The DSD architecture uses a master ObjectServer and one or more display ObjectServers to share the duties 

normally performed by a single ObjectServer. When pages containing tableviews or maps are served from a 

Netcool/Webtop server connected to a cluster of display servers, the data connection switches cyclically 

between display servers in order to ensure a balanced load across the system. However, this is not true of 

LELs and AELs; the display server for this component is static and selected when the user logs in. 

Note: Absolute data harmonization between display servers is not possible. The greater the granularity and 

scale of load upon the display servers, the greater the potential for event disparity during the load-balancing 

cycle. However, this is highly unlikely to be observed. This does not apply to AELs ad LELs, as only a single 

display server is used during an AEL or LEL session. 

From the perspective of a Netcool/Webtop client, there is no difference between being connected directly 

to the master ObjectServer or to a display ObjectServer. For more information about the installation and 

configuration of display ObjectServers, refer to the Netcool/OMNIbus Administration Guide. 

Netcool/Webtop installations configured to use DSD write to one or more display servers and to a single 

master ObjectServer, but only read alert data from the display ObjectServers. Figure 12 on page 78 shows 

an example Netcool/Webtop DSD configuration. 

In this example, each Netcool/Webtop server connects simultaneously to a dedicated display ObjectServer 

and a master ObjectServer. Any user actions (for example, AEL tools or journal actions) performed by 

Netcool/Webtop are sent directly to the master ObjectServer through a one-way JDBC connection, and are 

sent to the display ObjectServer through a standard two-way JDBC connection. 

This configuration ensures rapid desktop responsiveness by updating the display ObjectServers, while 

maintaining high data integrity and consistency by simultaneously updating the master ObjectServer. 



Alerts in the master ObjectServer are sent to Netcool/Webtop via the display ObjectServer. This is achieved 

using a unidirectional gateway from the master ObjectServer to the display ObjectServer and a bidirectional 

connection from the display ObjectServer to Netcool/Webtop. Unidirectional gateways are used to replicate 

alerts and mst be configured by the Netcool/OMNIbus administrator. A thorough description of the 

installation, configuration, and purpose of gateways is provided in the Netcool/OMNIbus Probes and 

Gateways Guide. 


Webtop A 

Display 

ObjectServer A 

Master 

ObjectServer 

Figure 12: Example DSD Netcool/Webtop Configuration 

Example DSD Configuration Scenario 

1 

1 

Display 

ObjectServer B 


Webtop B 

Unidirectional 

Connection 

Bidirectional 

Connection 

1 

Unidirectional Gateway 

Figure 13 shows an elaborate configuration scenario. A single Netcool/Webtop server is connected via 

unidirectional and bidirectional JDBC connections to multiple datasources, some with accompanying 

display servers. In addition, some of the datasources have been configured for failover. 



The diagram also displays a number of display servers and master ObjectServers that are clustered in 

communication groups—or silos—illustrating how Netcool/Webtop can transact with more than display 

servers. 

192.168.0.8:4646 

AMETHYST 

AMETHYST 

192.168.0.7:4545 

GALENA 

192.168.0.5:4343 

192.168.0.9:4747 

Display 

Server 

Figure 13: DSD Netcool/Webtop and Multiple Datasources with Failover 


Figure 13. 

Example XML for DSD Netcool/Webtop and Multiple Datasources with Failover 

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1 

1 

1 

1 

Display 

Server 

192.168.0.4:4444 

192.168.0.10:4848 

Display 

Server 



192.168.0.11:4949 

Display 

Server 

Desktop 

Client 

Unidirectional 

Connection 

Bidirectional 

Connection 

Failover Connection 

Hot Standby Connection 

1 

Unidirectional Gateway 

Display Server Silo 

Failover Pair 

NCOMS NCOMS 

192.168.0.2:4040 192.168.0.3:4141 



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As in previous examples, the ncwDefaultDataSourceList tag (lines 2-6) contains the 

ncwDefaultDataSourceEntry definitions for every datasource in the configuration. The 

datasources are described in Table 11. 

Table 11: DSD Netcool/Webtop Datasource Description 

ObjectServer Datasource Description Defined in Lines... 

NCOMS The ObjectServer is configured for failover, and communicates via a 

direct JDBC connection with the Netcool/Webtop server. 

GALENA The datasource is composed of a master ObjectServer in a DSD array 

and one display server. The master ObjectServer is not configured for 

failover. The Netcool/Webtop server reads via a bidirectional 

connection from the display server, and writes via a bidirectional 

connection to the display server and via a unidirectional connection to 

the master ObjectServer. 

AMETHYST The datasource is composed of a master ObjectServer in a DSD array 

and three display servers. The master ObjectServer is configured for 

failover. The Netcool/Webtop server reads via a bidirectional 

connection from the display server, and writes via a bidirectional 

connection to the display server and via a unidirectional connection to 

the master ObjectServer. 

The NCOMS datasource configuration is the most straightforward arrangement and constitutes a primary 

and secondary ObjectServer failover pair. This type of configuration was previously described in Single 

Datasource With Failover on page 72. 

The GALENA datasource is a DSD configuration, and has a master and display server as specified by the 

multipleServerOSDataSource attribute line 25. The datasource is not configured for failover so 

there is no ncwBackUpServer definition inside the ncwFailOverPairDefinition tag on lines 

33-37. 


7-24 

25-42 

42-63


Lines 38-40 contain the ncwReadCloudDefinition tag that holds the addresses of the display servers. 

One ncwReadCloudDefinition tag is permitted per datasource—you cannot have multiple display 

server clouds communicating with a single master ObjectServer. 

The AMETHYST datasource is configured for failover (lines 54-56) and communicates with a cloud of three 

display servers 58-62. Neither GALENA nor AMETHYST use the ncwResultsCacheParameters 

tag, as results caching is not permitted in DSD configurations. 

Note: Caching is designed to reduce the load on the Netcool/Webtop server, but in a DSD configuration 

this responsibility is deferred to the display servers. 


3.4 Initialization File Configuration 

server.init 

Initialization File Configuration 

The session and environmental properties of the Netcool/Webtop server and Map Editor are stored in 

initialization files, which can be edited directly. 

The Netcool/Webtop server initialization properties are located in: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/config/server.init 

The Map Editor initialization properties are located in: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/editor/editor.init 

The properties contained within server.init file are described in Table 12. 

Table 12: Default Netcool/Webtop Server Initialization File Settings (1 of 6) 

Property Default Description 

license.file @localhost Refer to Licensing Configuration on page 90 for 

more information about this property. 

license.retrys 2 The number of times Netcool/Webtop 

attempts to reconnect to the license server 

before backing off for the period specified by 

the license.retryInterval parameter. 

license.hbInterval 180 The time, in seconds, that the Netcool/Webtop 

server waits before polling the license server. 

timeoutsecs 600 The time, in seconds, after which users are 

logged out if no user activity is detected by the 

server. 

removesecs 1800 The time, in seconds, after which a timed-out 

session is removed from the Netcool/Webtop 

server. 

When a session is removed, the user must wait 

for the time specified in this property before 

reconnecting to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

cleantime 30 The time, in seconds, that the Netcool/Webtop 

server waits before checking how long each 

session has been inactive. 





license.retryInterval 180 The time, in seconds, that the Netcool/Webtop 

server waits before attempting to reconnect to 

a license server after heartbeat failure. 

root.license.preferred dt The type of license that the root user tries to 

obtain. If the server is unable to supply root 

with this type of license, then the server will 

attempt to obtain an alternate license, before 

failure is reported. 

newuser.homepage /demo/index.html The default page that new users are presented 

with when they log in to Netcool/Webtop. 

admin.showreturntoadmin 

button 

This property is deprecated in Netcool/Webtop 

1.3.1, and has been moved to WEBTOP_HOME/ 

config/userdefaults.props and 

renamed homepage. 

false Hides the Return to Administration Menu 

button and prevents recursive frames in the 

Netcool/Webtop Administration page. 

pluginpage /plugin/index.html The address of the page containing the 

download information for the Java 2 plugin. 

adminip.file %%/config/adminip.prp The location of the adminip.prp file. See 

Restricting Administrative Access to the Netcool/ 

Webtop Server on page 124. 

ee.entitydir %%/config/entities/ System file locations—do not modify. 

maps.directory %%/config/maps/ 

views.directory %%/config/views/ 

file.base %%/www/webapps/ROOT 

resources.directory %%/config/resources/ 

logfile %%/log/webtop.log 

serverlogfile %%/log/jetty.log 

passwd.file %%/config/users/ 

passwds 

browser.prp %%/config/browsers.prp 





utility.debug 0 Sets the debug level, in increasing detail from 0 

(critical messages only) to 9 (all messages). 

utility.debug.destinati 

on 

log Sets the destination for debug messages. The 

options are: 

stdout - the standard output. 

stderr - the standard error output. 

log - the log file specified by the logfile 

option in the server.init file 

utility.monitor 0 Sets the user monitoring level, in increasing 

detail from 0 (critical messages only) to 9 (all 

messages). 

utility.monitor.destina 

tion 

log Sets the destination for monitor messages. The 

options are: 



log - the log file specified by the 

logfile option in server.init. 

entity.defaultstore storeingroup Stores entities in their group files. 

tableviewparams border="0" 

cellpadding="1" 

cellspacing="1" 

width="100%" 

Optional parameters that are passed to table 

views and govern table rendering. 

maxtablesize 200 The maximum number of rows allowed in a 

table. 

internationalisation.en 

abled 

internationalisation.ca 

che.enabled 

false Specifies whether the login page contains the 

Language drop-down menu. For more 

information, refer to Appendix D: Localization 

on page 367. 

true Specifies whether the Netcool/Webtop server 

caches language resources in memory. When 

set to false, this prevents caching of 

localization data, and forces the server to 

regularly re-read the configuration files for the 

selected locale. 





public_directory public Requests to the Netcool/Webtop server for 

resources contained in this directory are not 

subject to validation against Webtop's security 

model. Any user can make a request to this 

location without having their session checked 

against a list of Netcool/Webtop users. 

aelview.queries.enabled false When set to true, the user can make 

advanced queries against the AELView servlet 

by adding configuration criteria to the URL 

containing the AEL address. 

plugin.classid clsid:8AD9C840-044E-11 

D1-B3E9-00805F499D93 

plugin.type application/ 

x-java-applet;version= 


Specifies the version of the Java plugin used by 

AEL applets via the classid attribute of the 

OBJECT tag, and allows you to enforce which 

plugin is used. 

If the maplet.plugin.classic property is 

set to false, and the user has an older version 

of the plugin than shown in the classid 

attribute of the OBJECT tag, the user is 

prompted to download the newer version. 

If the user has the same or a newer version, that 

version is used. 

Specifies the version of the Java plugin used by 

the AEL via the type attribute of the EMBED 

tag, and allows you to enforce which plugin is 

used. 

If the maplet.plugin.classic property is 

set to false, and the user has a lower version 

than specified in this property, then they are 

prompted to download the newer version. 

If the user has the same or a higher version, that 

version is used. 

lel.pagesize.default 500 Specifies the number of rows returned per 

page in the LEL. 





maplet.plugin.classic false Specifies HTML markup for embedding maps 

objects: 

If true, the map is embedded with the 

tag, and the default Netscape 

or Internet Explorer JVM is used. 

If false, the map is embedded with the 

tags. 

maplet.refresh 10 Specifies the time interval, in seconds, between 

map object refreshes. 

ael.top-n.value 0 Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 supports the TOP 

keyword in ObjectServer SQL syntax. The 

ael.top-n.value property allows Netcool/ 

Webtop administrators to impose a limit on the 

number of alerts returned to the AEL. 

If this property is set to a value greater than 0, 

AEL queries are modified to include a TOP 

condition. For example, if an AEL filter matches 

8000 rows in the ObjectServer, and the 

ael.top-n.value value is set to 4000, only 

the top 4000 alerts are displayed. 

The AEL status bar displays the total count of 

alerts for each severity level, and the total count 

of alerts displayed. A Top Set to message is 

also shown above the distribution status bar in 

the AEL indicating that a TOP condition is 

being applied. 

The ael.top-n.value property can be 

considered for systems: 

That regularly contain a high volume of 

events. 

Where AEL filters match more than 6000 

alerts. 

Where the number of concurrent AEL users 

is adversely affecting system performance. 

The TOP keyword is only supported by 

Netcool/OMNIbus 3.6 and higher. The 

ael.top-n.value property is ignored if the 

AEL obtains its data from an earlier version of 

Netcool/OMNIbus. 



editor.init 



ael.refresh.mode 0 | 1 Specifies the processing mechanism used by 

the Netcool/Webtop server when refreshing 

the AEL: 

Setting ael.refresh.mode to 0 directs 

the server to send processed entity data 

directly to the client AEL. 

Setting ael.refresh.mode to 1 directs 

the server to defer the processing of entity 

data to the client AEL. 

Deferral reduces the processing load on the 

Netcool/Webtop server when servicing AEL 

update requests, but increases the processing 

load on the client system. The volume of data 

transferred between the server and client is 

approximately the same in either case. 

To use the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor as a standalone component, the editor initialization file must be 

configured to specify the system running the Netcool/Webtop server. The properties contained within 

editor.init file are described in Table 13. 

Table 13: Default Netcool/Webtop Map Editor Initialization File Settings (1 of 2) 

Name Default Value Description 

webtop.editor.host localhost The host name of the system running the Netcool/Webtop 

server. 

webtop.editor.port 8080 The HTTP port number of the selected Netcool/Webtop server. 

webtop.editor.user root The username used to log in to the Netcool/Webtop server. The 

username specified must have administrator privileges on the 


Default is root. 

webtop.editor.password None The password used to log in to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

utility.debug 0 Sets the debug level, in increasing detail from 0 (critical 

messages only) to 9 (all messages). 


Table 13: Default Netcool/Webtop Map Editor Initialization File Settings (2 of 2) 

Name Default Value Description 


utility.debug.destination log Sets the destination for debug messages. The options are: 



log - the log file specified by the logfile option in the 

server.init file. 

webtop.editor.secure off Specifies whether the Netcool/Webtop server uses the HTTPS 

protocol or not. The options are: 

off - HTTP protocol only. 

on - HTTP and HTTPS protocols. 

only - HTTPS protocol only. 

webtop.editor.secureport 4433 The HTTPS port number of the Netcool/Webtop server if 

Netcool/Webtop is running in secure mode. 

Note: The values for user and password are optional, and specify the default user that is used to log 

in to the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor. If you do not specify any login details in editor.init and start 

the Map Editor from the command line, you are presented with a login prompt. 



3.5 Licensing Configuration 

In order for Netcool/Webtop to obtain the appropriate licenses from the license server, the 

license.file property must be set in the server.init file. This property, which is shown in 

Table 14, determines which license server Netcool/Webtop connects to. Additional licensing properties 

specify the polling and reconnection attempt criteria for maintaining license server communications. 

Tip: If you are confident that you provided the correct license server information during the product 

installation, and do not want to modify the default polling and reconnection parameters, you can proceed 

the next section. 

If you do not yet have a license server present in your environment, refer to Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 

for UNIX on page 39 or Licensing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for Windows on page 54 for information on how to 

install one. 

Table 14: Licensing Properties in server.init 


license.file @localhost The host name of the license server. This property can be set in any 

of the following ways: 

port@host. For example, 27500@hostname1. 

@host. For example, @hostname1. If no port is specified, 

27000 is used by default. 

A comma-separated list describing a quorum server 

configuration. For example, 


Multiple license sources can be concatenated with an 

ampersand (&) character in the string. For example, 

@hostname1&@hostname2&@hostname3. 

license.retrys 2 The number of times Netcool/Webtop attempts to reconnect to the 

license server before backing off for the period specified by the 

license.retryInterval parameter. 

license.hbInterval 180 The time, in seconds, that the Netcool/Webtop server waits before 

polling the license server. 

license.retryInterval 180 The time, in seconds, that the Netcool/Webtop server waits before 

attempting to reconnect to a license server after heartbeat failure. 


3.6 HTTP Configuration 

HTTP Configuration 

The Netcool/Webtop application architecture is based on Tomcat, an open source web server developed by 

the Apache Software Foundation. Server configuration parameters that are not specific to the Netcool/ 

Webtop application are contained within the server.xml configuration file located in the $WEBTOP_ 

HOME/www/conf/ directory. 

Tip: Comprehensive reference material for Tomcat server specific configuration is available at: http:// 

jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.1-doc/config/index.html 

The server.xml file includes the default HTTP and HTTPS port parameters required for client 

connectivity. To change the HTTP port specified during installation, locate the following data entry in 

server.xml and change the port attribute value, shown in the example below on line 3 (the default is 

8080). 

Example server.xml HTTP Definition 

[1] 

HTTPS port configuration for Windows and UNIX is described in Appendix C: Creating a Secure Netcool/ 

Webtop Server on page 357. 

Tip: On UNIX systems, you can also change the HTTP port criteria by running config.sh, as described 

in The Configuration Script (UNIX Only) on page 93. 

Multiple Netcool/Webtop Installations 

If you install more than one Netcool/Webtop server on the same system, you must configure each 

installation to avoid device conflicts. In order to prevent HTTP or HTTPS ports becoming confused, the 

communication information must be set differently between systems. 



On every additional system, modify the following server.xml entries: 

The Server element, located at the top of the file. An example is shown below: 

 

If you are using HTTP you must configure the HTTP Connector element, as described above. 

If you are using HTTPS, you must configure the HTTPS Connector element, as described in 

Modifying the server.xml Configuration File on page 363. 


3.7 The Configuration Script (UNIX Only) 

The Configuration Script (UNIX Only) 

On UNIX systems, if you have single datasource with no failover and want to change any of the default 

connection or licensing properties entered during installation, you can run a configuration script to 

reconfigure the Netcool/Webtop server. 

To change the parameters using the configuration script: 

1. Enter the following command from the command line: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/bin/config.sh 

2. Enter the name of the host on which the ObjectServer runs. The default is the local host. Your 

response sets the value of the default datasource in the datasource initialization file. 

3. Enter the name of the port through which the Netcool/Webtop server connects to the default 

ObjectServer datasource. The default is 4100. 

4. Enter a username. If you press Enter the default username root is used. 

5. Enter the password. If you press Enter the field is left blank (no password). 

6. Enter the host name of the license server used by Netcool/Webtop. The default is the name of the 

local host. 

7. Enter the port number of the license server used by Netcool/Webtop. The default is 27000. 

8. Enter the HTTP port number on which web browsers connect to the Netcool/Webtop server. The 

default is 8080. 



3.8 Datasource Configuration File Data Reference 

Netcool/Webtop communication configuration files must conform in structure to the content described by 

a DTD. The following subsections describe the configuration file DTD that accompanies Netcool/Webtop. 

DTD Reference 

! 

The XML elements and attributes defined within the Netcool/Webtop configuration DTD are shown in 

Table 16 on page 94. Table 15 describes the datatypes and legends that accompany the information in 

Table 16. 

XML is hierarchical in structure and the DTD specifies whether each element permits other elements to 

reside under it within the hierarchy. If an element is allowed to appear under another, it is described as a 

child element. 

Warning: XML is case-sensitive. Elements, attributes, and attribute values used within an XML command 

file must appear exactly as they are shown within the DTD. 

Table 15: Netcool/Webtop Configuration DTD Statement and Annotation Descriptions 

Datatype / Legend Description 

NM This statement indicates that the attribute types are names consisting of XML NMTOKEN character 

(letters, periods, numbers, underscores, dashes, and colons). NM often also indicates that the 

attribute contains a list of predefined choices. 

CDATA This statement indicates that the attribute contains un-parsed character data. 

IMP This statement indicates that the presence of the attribute is implied (optional). 

REQ This statement indicates that the presence of the attribute is required (mandatory). 

+ A plus sign after a child element indicates that the child element must appear at least once. 

* An asterisk after a child element indicates that the child element can appear any number of times. 

? A question mark after a child element indicates that the child element can appear at most once. 

| A list of child elements are separated by a pipe (|) indicates that the items are divided into a 

choice group of alternatives. 

Table 16: Netcool/Webtop Configuration DTD Elements and Attributes (1 of 2) 

Element Attributes (Type, Presence) Child Elements 

ncwBackUpServer None ncwOSConnection 


Table 16: Netcool/Webtop Configuration DTD Elements and Attributes (2 of 2) 


ncwConfigCache 

Parameters 

ncwDataSource 

Credentials 

ncwDataSource 

Definition 

ncwDataSource 

Entry 

ncwDataSource 

PollingParameters 

ncwDefaultData 

SourceList 

ncwFailOverPair 

Definition 

ncwFailOver 

PollingParameters 

ncwHeartBeat 

Parameters 

resyncTime (CDATA, IMP) None 

userName (CDATA, IMP) 

password (CDATA, IMP) 

encrypted (NM, IMP) 

type (NM, IMP) 

name (CDATA, REQ) 

Datasource Configuration File Data Reference 


None 

name (CDATA, IMP) None 

ncwResultsCacheParameters? 

ncwDataSourcePollingParameters 

ncwConfigCacheParameters 

ncwDataSourceCredentials 

ncwFailOverPairDefinition 

ncwReadCloudDefinition? 

None ncwFailOverPollingParameters 

None ncwDataSourceEntry+ 

None ncwPrimaryServer 

ncwBackUpServer? 

backOffMultiplier (CDATA, IMP) 

basePollingTime (CDATA, IMP) 

ncwOSConnection host (CDATA, REQ) 

port (CDATA, IMP) 

basePollingTime (CDATA, IMP) None 

ncwHeartBeatParameters 

None 

ncwPrimaryServer None ncwOSConnection 

ncwReadCloud 

Definition 

ncwResultsCache 

Parameters 

None ncwOSConnection+ 

maxAge (CDATA, IMP) 

enabled (NM, IMP) 

cleanerSleepTime (CDATA, IMP) 

None


Element Reference 

Table 17 describes each element defined within the Netcool/Webtop configuration DTD. Elements often 

have one or more associated attribute, for which a value may be required. A list of all attribute types and 

values is shown in Table 18 Configuration DTD Attribute Definitions on page 100. 

Table 17: Configuration DTD Element Reference (1 of 4) 

Element Description 

ncwBackUpServer The ncwBackUpServer element is child element of 

ncwFailOverPairDefinition and contains the 

ncwOSConnection element specifying host and port of the failover 

ObjectServer. For example: 

 

 

 

ncwConfigCacheParameters The ncwConfigCacheParameters element is a child element of 

ncwDataSourceDefinition and specifies the time interval, in 

seconds, that the Netcool/Webtop server attempts to resynchronize with 

its datasources. For example: 

 

ncwDataSourceCredentials The ncwDataSourceCredentials element is a child element of 

ncwDataSourceDefinition and holds the login information 

required by Netcool/Webtop to access the datasource. 

If the encrypted attribute is set to true, a password encrypted using the 

Netcool/OMNIbus nco_crypt encrypt utility can be used. For example: 

 

ncwDataSourceDefinition The ncwDataSourceDefinition element is a child element of 

ncwDataSourceDefinitions and contains the tags that define 

configuration and communication parameters for an individual 

datasource. 





ncwDataSourceEntry The ncwDataSourceEntry element is a child element of 

ncwDefaultDataSourceList and contains the names of the default 

datasources that communicate with Netcool/Webtop. These entries are 

subsequently defined in the configuration file by corresponding 

ncwDataSourceDefinition tags. 

The first entry in the list is the default datasource used by Netcool/ 

Webtop for client authentication. If this datasource is not present, the 

next entry in the list is used as a default. For example: 

 

 

 

 

ncwDataSourcePollingParameters The ncwDataSourcePollingParameters element is a child 

element of ncwDataSourceDefinition and contains the tags that 

control failover and datasource heartbeat polling. 

ncwDefaultDataSourceList See ncwDataSourceEntry. 

ncwFailOverPairDefinition The ncwFailOverPairDefinition element is a child element of 

ncwDataSourceDefinition and contains the tags that specify the 

primary and backup ObjectServers. The inclusion of a backup 

ObjectServer is optional, but only one is permitted per datasource. For 

example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





ncwFailOverPollingParameters The ncwFailOverPollingParameters element specifies the time 

interval at which Netcool/Webtop polls the datasource in the event of a 

failover. For example: 

 

This element is only used when there is a failover server available, as 

defined by ncwBackUpServer. 

ncwHeartBeatParameters The ncwHeartBeatParameters element is a child element of 

ncwDataSourcePollingParameters and specifies the time 

interval, in seconds, for Netcool/Webtop to poll an active datasource. For 

example: 

 

ncwOSConnection The ncwOSConnection element is a child element of both 

ncwPrimaryServer and ncwBackUpServer and specifies the 

communication criteria for a primary or failover datasource. For example: 

 

ncwPrimaryServer The ncwPrimaryServer element is child element of 

ncwFailOverPairDefinition and contains the 

ncwOSConnection element specifying host and port of the primary 

ObjectServer. For example: 

 

 

 





ncwReadCloudDefinition The ncwReadCloudDefinition element is a child element 

ncwDataSourceDefinition and holds the addresses of all the 

display servers you want to use with this master ObjectServer. For 

example: 

 

 

 

 

 

One ncwReadCloudDefinition tag is permitted per datasource— 

you cannot have multiple display server clouds communicating with a 

single master ObjectServer. 

ncwResultsCacheParameters The ncwResultsCacheParameters element is a child element of 

ncwDataSourceDefinition and specifies if datasource data 

caching is enabled or disabled in Netcool/Webtop. If caching is enabled, 

the maxAge attribute specifies the cache expiry time limit in seconds. For 

example: 

 

This tag is not permitted in ncwDataSourceDefinition tags that 

contain DSD configurations. 



Attribute Reference 

Table 18 describes each attribute defined within the Netcool/Webtop configuration DTD. Some attributes 

are enumerated and the values of these attributes are constrained to a list of predefined text strings. When 

enumerated attributes are used within the XML command file, they must use one of the values shown in the 

list. Default values (if any) are provided in the description. 

Table 18: Configuration DTD Attribute Definitions (1 of 2) 

Attribute Constrained Values Description 

backOffMultiplier None The multiplier for the backoff algorithm used by 

Netcool/Webtop to calculate the polling backoff 

time during a failover. 

basePollingTime None The seed time for the algorithm used by Netcool/ 

Webtop to calculate the polling backoff time 

during a failover. 

cleanerSleepTime None The time interval, in seconds, the Netcool/ 

Webtop server waits before checking for how 

long each user session has been inactive. 

When this check takes place, cache data that 

exceeds the time imposed by the maxAge 

attribute is removed. 

Default is 120. 

enabled true | false Specifies if page caching is turned on or off. 

encrypted true | false Specifies if the user password is encrypted or not. 

You can encrypt passwords using the Netcool/ 

OMNIbus nco_crypt encryption utility. Valid 

values for this property are true or false. 

If this property is set to true, the nco_crypt 

encrypted password is entered in the password 

field. The default is false, which specifies no 

password encryption. 

host None The hostname or IP address of a specified 

datasource. 

Default is localhost. 

maxAge None Cache expiry time limit in seconds. 



Table 18: Configuration DTD Attribute Definitions (2 of 2) 



name None The name given to an ObjectServer datasource 

displayed within Netcool/Webtop during 

administrative activities. 

This value also links each datasource definition 

listed at the start of the configuration file to its 

subsequent definition. 

Default is NCOMS. 

password None The password used to log in to the ObjectServer. 

Default is no password. 

port None The port number of a specified datasource. 


resyncTime None The time interval, in seconds, that the Netcool/ 

Webtop server waits before attempting to 

resynchronize with its datasources. When set to 

0 resynchronization is disabled. 

type singleServerOSDataSource | 

multipleServerOSDataSource 


The type of datasource configuration required 

for the specified datasource. 

For a single primary, or primary and backup 

datasource configuration, use 

singleServerOSDataSource. 

For a dual-server desktop configuration, use 

multipleServerOSDataSource— 

however, be aware that you must not use the 

ncwResultsCacheParameters tag in the 

definition for that datasource. 

Default is singleServerOSDataSource. 

userName None The username of the user connecting to the 

ObjectServer. The user must have root privileges 

on the ObjectServer. 





gettingstarted.fm July 1, 2004 11:40 am 

Chapter 4: Getting Started 

This chapter describes how to start and log in to the Netcool/Webtop server, and provides an overview of 

the administrative features provided by the application. It introduces each functional area and offers a 

generic methodology for initiating your own Netcool/Webtop project. 



Server Startup, Connection, and Shutdown on page 105 

Logging on to Netcool/Webtop as a Client on page 107 

Administration Page Overview on page 109 

Demonstration Web Site on page 112 




As an administrator, it is your responsibility to create web pages that present the appropriate alert 

information in a logical and accessible manner to a variety of different clients. Netcool/Webtop is a fully 

implemented web server environment capable of supporting a number of different web technologies such as 

JSP and Java, and you must consider how you intend to use these technologies (if at all) when creating your 

web site. 

Note: This guide does not offer information on web technologies or interaction design, but offers 

task-oriented documentation for all the server-side components offered by the Netcool/Webtop application 

for use in your pages. 

The first task in any new Netcool/Webtop administrative activity is to log in and start creating and 

configuring a client environment for your users. It is likely that you have a number of users that already exist 

within Netcool/OMNIbus, and Netcool/Webtop provides you with an importer component to assist you 

in the migration procedure. Once your existing users are imported, you may want to create new users 

specifically authorized and managed from within Netcool/Webtop itself. Again, the application provides 

you with tools to do this. 

Tip: The next chapter, Users and Access Control Lists on page 115, describes the user management 

components in detail, and also provides an overview of client types. A user’s client type depends on the license 

they are permitted to use, and that in itself may depend on their role within your organization. It is advisable 

that you give consideration to the different client types when designing the pages served by 

Netcool/Webtop. 

The following sections describes how to start and stop the Netcool/Webtop server itself, how to log in, and 

provides an overview of the Administration page—the location from which virtually all administrative 

exercises are conducted. To assist you in creating your own web pages, a section describing the 

demonstration web site is included, with an overview of various features and how they are created. 


4.2 Server Startup, Connection, and Shutdown 

Server Startup, Connection, and Shutdown 

This section describes how to start, stop, and connect to Netcool/Webtop as a client. If you want the data 

communication between the Netcool/Webtop server and its clients to be encrypted, you must start the 

server in secure mode. To do this you must first carry out the procedures described in Appendix C: Creating 

a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server on page 357. 

Starting the Netcool/Webtop Server 

The Netcool/Webtop server can be started from either the command line (UNIX), or from the Start menu 

or as an application service (Windows). The respective procedures are described in the following sections. 

How to Start or Stop the Netcool/Webtop Server on UNIX 

To start the Netcool/Webtop server on a UNIX system, enter the following command: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/bin/server 

To stop the Netcool/Webtop server, press Control+C or enter the following from the command prompt: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/bin/webtop_shutdown 

How to Start or Stop the Netcool/Webtop Server on Windows 

To start the Netcool/Webtop server on a Windows system, select 

Start→Programs→Netcool→Webtop→Start Webtop Server. To stop the Netcool/Webtop server select 

Stop Webtop Server from the same location. 

On Windows systems, Netcool/Webtop runs in the background as a service. By default, the service is started 

subsequent to installation. To start or stop the Netcool/Webtop server service on a Windows system, do the 

following: 

1. From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel. The Control Panel window is displayed. 

Note: On Windows XP, double-click the Administrative Tools icon. You are presented with the 

Administrative Tools window. 

2. Double-click the Services icon. The Services console is displayed—from here you can start, restart, or 

stop services running on Windows. 

3. Right-click the NCW_Webtop entry. Select Start or Stop from the context menu. 



Connecting to the Netcool/Webtop Server 

Once the Netcool/Webtop server is running you can connect to it from any Java-enabled web browser listed 

in Web Browser Requirements on page 30. After connecting to the Netcool/Webtop server, the Login page is 

displayed. You can then log in as described in Logging on to Netcool/Webtop as a Client on page 107. 

How to Connect to the Netcool/Webtop Server 

To connect to the server, start a supported browser and enter the following URL: 

protocol://server:port 

In the above URL, protocol is the name of the connection protocol (HTTP or HTTPS), server is the 

host name of the Netcool/Webtop server, and port is the port number defined in the server initialization 

file. The default port number is 8080 and refers to the Netcool/Webtop server port and not the 

ObjectServer port. 

Note: When referring to the URL of the Netcool/Webtop server, the above convention is used throughout 

this guide. 


4.3 Logging on to Netcool/Webtop as a Client 

Logging on to Netcool/Webtop as a Client 

When your Netcool/Webtop server has been installed and configured, you can to connect to the default 

home page, as described in this section. 

Logging in does not provide ordinary users with automatic access to all of Netcool/Webtop. For example, 

map pages have an associated access control list (ACL). To access a map, the name of the user currently 

logged in must be included in the relevant access control list for the map. By default, the ACL is set to *, 

which indicates that all users have access. For further information on ACLs, see Chapter 5: Users and Access 

Control Lists on page 115. 

User access is also determined through the use of licensing. If a user is configured to use a Read-Only license 

they cannot access AELs. For further information about controlling user access to components of 

Netcool/Webtop through licensing, see User Administration on page 117. 

Netcool/Webtop Login Page 

! 

Before you can connect to your home page you must first log in by entering your username and password 

in the Login page, shown in Figure 14. 

Figure 14: The Netcool/Webtop Login Page 

Warning: Server validated users can only log in if the corresponding ObjectServer or failover ObjectServer 

is available. 

Once you have logged in, your home page is displayed and you can start your session on the 

Netcool/Webtop server. The Login page is redisplayed if the user session expires, or if the Netcool/Webtop 

server is restarted. 



Using the Browser URL to Login 

You can also log in to Netcool/Webtop by using the URL field of the web browser. To do this, enter the 

following information: 

protocol://server:port/Login?user=username&password=password&locale=locale 

In the above URL, username and password are the login credentials of the user. 

Note: For Netcool/Webtop servers with localization support, an additional parameter, locale, can be 

used. A locale is a two-letter country code that corresponds to language, followed by a two-letter code that 

corresponds to a country. For example, the default setting en-US corresponds to US English. For more 

information about this refer to Appendix D: Localization on page 367. 


4.4 Administration Page Overview 

Administration Page Overview 

After log in, administrators are presented with the Netcool/Webtop Administration page, and ordinary users 

are directed to the home page specified within their user profile. By default, this location is the 

demonstration site home page at the following address: 

protocol://server:port/demo/index.html 

Note: The Administration page is only available to ObjectServer validated administrative users. 

From the Administration page you can access all administration and configuration components provided by 

the application, and monitor the connected client, license, and server status. The Administration page is 

shown in Figure 15. An overview of each feature is provided in Table 19. 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 

8 

Figure 15: The Administration Page 



Table 19: Administration Page Overview 

Item Feature Description 

1 Navigation Pane The navigation pane contains the menus corresponding to the various administrative 

areas of Netcool/Webtop. The contents of the pane depend on which tab is presently 

selected. 

2 Content Tab Click this tab to display the following menu entries: 

Maps - this entry contains links to the Map Editor and Resource Manager. These 

components are described in described in Chapter 7: Maps on page 143. 

Entities - this entry contains links to the Entities, Entity Views, and Entity 

Generator. These components are described in Chapter 6: Using Entities on 

page 129, and Entity Generator on page 245. 

Filters & Views - this entry contains link to the Filter Builder, View Builder, and the 

My Filters page. These components are described in Chapter 8: The Active Event 

List on page 167. 

Menus & Tools - this entry contains links to the Menu Editor, Tool Editor, and CGI 

Registration utility. These components are described in Chapter 8: The Active 

Event List on page 167. 

Help & Information - this entry contains links to the SmartPage command 

reference page, system information pages, and online help system. SmartPage 

commands are described in Chapter 9: Page Management on page 235. 

3 Access & Utilities Tab Click this tab to display the following menu entries: 

Users & ACLs - this entry contains links to the User Editor, User Importer, and 

Access Control List Editor components described in Chapter 5: Users and Access 

Control Lists on page 115. 

Utilities, described in Chapter 10: Netcool/Webtop Utilities and the User Monitor on 

page 241. 

Help & Information - this entry contains links to the SmartPage command 

reference pages, system information pages, and online help system. SmartPage 

commands are described in Chapter 9: Page Management on page 235. 

4 Navigation Tab Click this tab to show or hide the navigation pane. 

5 Display Area Components selected from the navigation pane are displayed in this area. 

6 Current User Indicates the user currently logged in. 

7 Logout Button Click this button to log out of Netcool/Webtop. 

8 User Monitor Link Click this link to view the User Monitor page. This component is described in 

Chapter 10: Netcool/Webtop Utilities and the User Monitor on page 241. 


Administration Page Overview 

You can now start to create an online environment for client activities. The following procedure provides a 

generic methodology that you can use as a guideline for your project: 

1. Familiarize yourself with the different types of SmartPage tags used by Netcool/Webtop to create 

embedded components such as map applets and AEL applets. The procedure for creating SmartPage 

tags and the associated parameter reference is provided in Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates on 

page 343. 

2. Create new users, or import existing server-validated users from an ObjectServer previously defined in 

the Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration file. From within the user management pages, users 

can be configured and allocated the appropriate access rights and license type for their role as a client. 

These procedures are described in Chapter 5: Users and Access Control Lists on page 115. 

3. Create the data filtering entities used by Netcool/Webtop SmartPage components to constrain the 

data presented to clients by AELs, LELs, tableviews and maps. This procedure is described in 

Chapter 6: Using Entities on page 129. For comprehensive information about ObjectServer SQL, 

refer to the Netcool/OMNIbus Administration Guide. 

4. Use the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor to create the map applets you want to place within a web page. 

This procedure is described in Chapter 7: Maps on page 143. 

5. Create the tools, filters and views used by desktop clients in the AEL. These procedures are described 

in Chapter 8: The Active Event List on page 167. 

6. Modify the XML configuration files used by the Netcool/Webtop charting functionality to display 

datasource chart images on a web page. This procedure is described in Chapter 11: Charts on 

page 253. 

7. Design the HTML pages served by the site, and imbed the appropriate SmartPage and chart image 

tags. Once finished, upload the pages using the Page Manager component. How files are uploaded 

using the Page Manager is described in Chapter 9: Page Management on page 235. 

It is recommended that you use a dedicated web-authoring tool for designing and testing web pages 

prior to deployment on Netcool/Webtop. Attempt to ensure that the content on the site is relevant, 

and accurate. Give thought to the layout of user home pages as they relate to the role of the client. 

Note: Netcool/Webtop does not offer provision for creating web pages—only the components 

generated by SmartPage tags and chart image tags. A detailed description of HTML is beyond the 

scope of this manual, and a reasonable degree of knowledge on the part of the Netcool/Webtop 

administrator is assumed. 



4.5 Demonstration Web Site 

A demonstration web site is provided with Netcool/Webtop to assist you in developing a web-based network 

management environment for your clients. The home page is located at the following address on the 

Netcool/Webtop server: 

protocol://server:port/demo/index.html 

Examining the source code of the files contained within the web site, and understanding how they are 

constructed and linked to one another may prove useful when you develop your own pages. Alternatively, 

you may want to modify these pages to reflect your own business environment. An example demonstration 

web site page is shown in Figure 16. 

Figure 16: Example Web Page 

The page example in Figure 16 is divided into frames. The left-hand frame contains a navigable tree with 

hyperlinked branches to other pages containing different examples of product functionality. 

When a link in the tree is clicked, the JavaScript instructs Netcool/Webtop to display the appropriate page 

in the main frame of the browser display. 

Note: The structure of URLs for component pages can vary, and is discussed in detail throughout this 

guide. 


Demonstration Web Site 

The source code of the displayed page is shown below, with each line number displayed in brackets: 

[1] 

[2] 

[3] 

[4] Netcool®/Webtop 

[5] 

[6] 

[8] 

[10] 

[11] 

[12] 

[13] 

[14] 

[15] 

[16] 

[17] 

[18] 

[19] 

[20] These are the filters currently defined for your user. 

[21] Use the filter builder tool from the above tool bar to 

[22] to customize these. 

[23] 

[24] 

[25] 

[26] 

[27] 

[28] 

[29] 

[30] 

[31] 

[32] 

[33] 

[34] 

[35] 

[40] 

[41] 

[42] 

[43] 

[44] 

[45] 



Line 1 instructs the Netcool/Webtop server that the page contains SmartPage tag information. You must 

include this tag as the first line of any page that you intend to use to display Netcool/Webtop SmartPage 

data, or on any page whose usage is controlled by an access control list. 

Lines 14-42 create a table that is used to contain and format the information held within the page. Within 

the table, lines 33-37 contain the SmartPage tag information that instructs Netcool/Webtop to include a 

page component—in this example, a filterpage applet, which is a map that displays monitor boxes 

corresponding to all the filters associated with the user who is logged in. 

Above the frame containing the filterpage map is a frame containing a number of buttons that link to various 

other pages in the web site. The buttons are shown in Figure 17. 

Figure 17: Example Web Toolbar 

The two buttons furthest to the right link to the Filter Builder and View Builder components, respectively. 

These components are typically accessed from the AEL, but it is not necessary to start the AEL applet to 

access them as you can create direct links in the web page instead. How pages can be linked to these 

components is discussed later in this guide. 


users.fm July 1, 2004 11:40 am 

Chapter 5: Users and Access Control Lists 

This chapter describes how to create and configure user accounts, use licences to allocate roles, and how to 

further control user privileges through the use of access control lists (ACLs). 



User Administration on page 117 

Access Control List Administration on page 126 




One of the first tasks in setting up and configuring Netcool/Webtop is to define which users can access the 

server. 

The Netcool/Webtop administration page contains editor components that allow you to decide which users 

can connect to the Netcool/Webtop server as clients. From within these pages you can create user accounts, 

and configure such properties as: 

Account status 

Access control list membership 

AEL configuration 

Default home page 

Login validation type 

License type and status 

User account credentials can either be locally defined—with the password (if any) stored on the 

Netcool/Webtop server, or imported directly from and validated against an ObjectServer. 

The session activities of all users (including administrators) are constrained by access control lists (ACLs). 

An ACL is a table that tells the Netcool/Webtop server which users have access to a web page or a particular 

system object (such as a map or tool) within a web page. Each object has a security attribute that identifies 

its ACL, and each ACL has an entry for each user with access rights. 

This chapter describes how to use the User Editor and ACL Editor components to create and configure user 

accounts and privileges, and discusses the different roles—or client types—associated with Netcool/Webtop 

users. 


5.2 User Administration 

User Administration 

The Administration page allows you to create and configure administrator and user accounts in 

Netcool/Webtop. You can also control how many times individual users are permitted to simultaneously 

connect under the same username by modifying the license checkout parameters within the user profile. 

In the context of account administration, the term user refers to any individual who can legitimately access 

and interact with Netcool/Webtop, whereas client refers to the role of the user—for example, a Read-Only 

client. 

The different types of client that communicate with Netcool/Webtop are shown in Table 20. You can use 

these descriptions as a guideline for creating your own user accounts. 

Table 20: Netcool/Webtop Client Types (1 of 2) 

Client Type License Type User Role 

Read-Only cro_webtop_ro Read-Only clients are presented with a non-interactive view of the network 

status. They can view tableviews, LELs, map , and charts, but cannot view the 

AEL or execute management instructions against alerts. 

These clients are often third-party users (for example, customers) who want to 

observe the events taking place on their network and obtain a high-level view of 

system performance. 

Desktop cro_webtop_dt Desktop clients are usually ObjectServer validated network operation centre 

(NOC) personnel who are responsible for monitoring the status of a network. 

They have access to AEL pages, where they can use administrative tools to 

execute alert management instructions against field entries, and are capable of 

creating and modifying filters and views for use in the AEL. 

The entities and tools presented to this type of user are created by the 

Netcool/Webtop administrator. 



User Editor 

Table 20: Netcool/Webtop Client Types (2 of 2) 

Client Type License Type User Role 

Administrator Administrators are ObjectServer validated superusers responsible for 

addressing the requirements of non-administrative Netcool/Webtop users. This 

includes creating: 

Filters 

Views 

Tools 

Maps 

Entities and entity views 

Charts 

Administrators also establish the high-level alert processing criteria for each 

user, and configure the HTML pages on the server to display Netcool data in the 

appropriate manner. 

WAAPI The Netcool/Webtop Administration API (WAAPI) is a utility for remotely 

configuring Netcool/Webtop. The application is used to send configuration 

instructions in XML to a Netcool/Webtop server. 

The WAAPI is used by administrators who want to rapidly deploy predefined 

configurations to target systems. This system can be considered a 

command-line alternative to using the web-based Administration page. WAAPI 

users must have root access privileges. 

WAAPI users are not configured using the User Editor, and do not require a 

license to connect to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Except in the case of the WAAPI users, the client type is determined by the type of Netcool/Webtop license 

associated with the user account. Before you create new user accounts, you must ensure you have a sufficient 

number of corresponding licenses available on the license server. 

Tip: Contact the Micromuse License Generation Team for more information about the license bands 

available for Netcool/Webtop. 

From the User Editor you can manage new accounts. Subsequent to installation, the only default 

Netcool/Webtop user is the ObjectServer validated root user account specified during the server 

configuration stage. 



Additional users can either be imported directly from an existing ObjectServer user table as described in User 

Importer on page 122, or they can be created and configured directly from within Netcool/Webtop. 

The link to the User Editor page is provided under the Users and ACLs menu in the Access & Utilities tab 

of the Administration page. 

Creating a User Account 

To create a new user account: 

1. Select the User Editor link. You are presented with the User Editor page. Click the Add User button. 

The User Editor - Add User page is displayed. The new user profile section of this page is shown in 

Figure 18. 

Figure 18: User Editor - Add User Page 

2. Enter a new user name in the text field provided and select the user type from the Authentication 

drop-down menu. The available user types are: 

– No Password, where the user can log in without entering a password. This is usually an 

appropriate setting for Read-Only clients with no interactive privileges. 

– Local Password, where the password required for the user to log in is stored locally on the 

Netcool/Webtop server. If this user type is selected, enter and confirm the local password in the 

text fields provided. 

– Server Validated, where the user already exists in the Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer and can 

access Netcool/Webtop by entering their ObjectServer login credentials. If you select this user 

type, ensure that the user exists on the selected ObjectServer. 

The Netcool/Webtop Administration page is only available to server validated superusers. In 

addition, only server validated users can view and execute SQL tools in the AEL. 



Note: If multiple ObjectServer communications are enabled, each additional ObjectServer 

name is shown in the list as a suffix to a Server Validated entry. 

3. Click the ACLs... button to open the Access Control List for the User window. Select which access 

controls you want applied to this user by selecting or deselecting the check boxes. Click OK to apply 

your changes. For more information about ACLs, refer to Access Control List Administration on 

page 126. 

4. This step is optional. In the User Filter field you can enter ObjectServer SQL commands to filter 

alert data from the ObjectServer for the individual user. This filter is the highest level of data filtering 

applied to a user session. For example: 

Tally > 100 AND Severity >=4 

prevents a user from seeing alerts if they occur more than 100 times and have a severity greater than 

or equal to 4. For information on ObjectServer SQL commands, refer to the Netcool/OMNIbus 

Administration Guide. 

5. In the User’s Home-Page field, enter the path of the web page that the user is presented with when 

they log in to Netcool/Webtop. The default is the demonstration page, as described in Demonstration 

Web Site on page 112. 

6. From the License Band drop-down menu, select the type of client license that is available to this user. 

The available license types are: 

– Read-Only 

– Desktop 

7. In the Number of Licenses field you can select the number of licenses available to the user. The 

options are: 

– Any Available, where the user is able to draw on any free licenses that are available when they 

connect to the Netcool/Webtop. 

– Specified Number, where you can enter the number of licenses you want made available to the 

user. This license setting establishes the limit for how many times individual users are permitted 

to simultaneously connect to Netcool/Webtop under the same username. 

– Account Suspended, where the account is frozen and the user is prevented from connecting to 

the Netcool/Webtop. 

If the license type selected is Specified Number, enter the maximum number of licenses available to 

the user account in the text field provided. 



8. The Event List Configuration section of the User Editor page only applies to clients configured to use 

Desktop licenses. Desktop clients can access and interact with the active event list (AEL) component 

of a Netcool/Webtop web page, and can use the Filter Builder and View Builder components of the 

AEL. 

For further information about the AEL, refer to Chapter 8: The Active Event List on page 167. The 

Event List Configuration section is shown in Figure 19. 

Figure 19: User Editor - Event List Configuration Page 

9. If you want the user to be able to use the Filter Builder component of the AEL, select Allow Filter 

Builder Access (Desktop License). 

10. If you want the user to be able to use the View Builder component of the AEL, select Allow View 

Builder Access (Desktop License). 

11. If you want the user to be able to change user preferences in the AEL, select the Allow preference 

configuration check box. 

If you do not select this check box the Preferences option is not displayed to the user in the Edit menu 

of the AEL. For more information on AEL preferences, see Setting AEL Preferences on page 215. 

12. If you want the user to be able to set the refresh rate of the AEL, select the Allow refresh rate 

configuration check box. The user must have access to the Preferences window to be able to do this. 

You can also set the default and minimum refresh rate for the AEL in the text fields provided. 

13. If you want the user to be able to select alerts in the AEL, select the Allow event selection check box. 

For further information on AEL event selection, see AEL Administration on page 169. 



14. If you want the user to have access to the Information window in the Alerts menu of the AEL, select 

the Show basic event information check box. 

15. You can provide full access to the Information window, or limit what the user can see in this window 

by selecting or deselecting the following check boxes: 

– Show event details 

– Show journals 

16. Click OK. The user appears as an entry in the tool list of the Users Editor page and is now an active 

account on the Netcool/Webtop server. To change or remove an entry, select the name and click the 

Modify User button or the Delete User button. 

User Importer 

The User Importer allows you to import any ObjectServer users who are not currently set up to use 

Netcool/Webtop. If there are a large number to be added, this can be a time saving alternative to entering 

them individually using the User Editor. The User Importer page is shown in Figure 20. 

Figure 20: The User Importer 

Once a user is added, if you need to make any amendments to individual details, you can use the links 

provided to link directly to the User Editor and ACL Editor. In addition, as part of the import process, you 

can set configuration criteria such as the default home page for the user and the default ACL to which they 

belong. 

By default, users are imported as Desktop clients, and use the cro_webtop_dt license. The default 

properties for users are located in $WEBTOP_HOME/config/system/userdefaults.props 

and this file can be modified to control the default properties for imported users. 



For example, if you want the default profile of all imported users to state that they can access the Filter 

Builder and View Builder components by default, the following properties in 

userdefaults.properties must be set to true: 

[1] ael_user_properties_allow_filter_builder_access 

[2] ael_user_properties_allow_view_builder_access 

Tip: In addition to attributes relating to other functional areas of Netcool/Webtop, Table 53 WAAPI DTD 

Attribute Definitions on page 318 contains a list of all of the ael_user_properties type entries and 

also their default values (if any). 

The link to the User Importer page is provided under the Users & ACLs menu in the Access & Utilities tab 


Importing a User 

To import ObjectServer users into Netcool/Webtop: 

1. Select a datasource from the Select ObjectServer drop-down menu. The user list refreshes to display 

the validated users available on the selected ObjectServer. 

2. Identify the users you want to import into Netcool/Webtop from the User Importer page, and select 

them as follows: 

– To select a single user, click the user name in the list. 

– To select multiple users, press Ctrl and click the user names in the list. 

– To select all users, click the Select All button. 

When the User Importer page is displayed, any ObjectServer users who are listed in the page are 

highlighted by default and ready for import into Netcool/Webtop. 

3. From the Add to ACL drop-down menu, select the ACL to which the users are added. 

4. In Users Home page text field enter the path to the home page for this user. The default home page 

is /demo/index.html. 

5. Click Import Users. The User Importer page is refreshed and under Completed Tasks lists the names 

of users who have been successfully imported into Netcool/Webtop. 

6. Click User Editor if you want to amend any details for a particular user. For further information 

about the User Editor, see User Editor on page 118. 

7. Click ACL Editor if you want to include or exclude a particular user from an ACL. For more 

information about access control lists, refer to Access Control List Administration on page 126. 



Restricting Administrative Access to the Netcool/Webtop Server 

By default, connections to the Netcool/Webtop server are unrestricted. When access restrictions are applied, 

administrative users connecting from an invalid IP address are presented with the usual Login page but any 

attempt to log in results in an error message. No indication is given that this is a result of the user IP address 

being invalid. 

Note: Access is restricted primarily to prevent unauthorized access to the server Administration page. 

Non-administrative users are unaffected. 

Configuring Restricted Access 

Restricted access is controlled by the adminip.prp file. By modifying this file you can specify which IP 

addresses are valid and which are invalid. The location of the adminip.prp file is specified by the 

adminip.file property in the server.init file. 

All IP addresses specified in the adminip.prp file must be entered using the standard ‘dotted decimal’ 

notation (for example 192.131.25.108) and can include wildcard characters, such as * (indicating one 

or more characters) and ? (indicating a single character). 

Each line that specifies an IP address to include must start with an ADMIN_IP_INCLUDE: statement. For 

example: 

ADMIN_IP_INCLUDE: 192.131.25.108 

Each line that specifies an IP address to exclude must start with an ADMIN_IP_EXCLUDE: statement. For 

example: 

ADMIN_IP_EXCLUDE: 192.70.181.* 

You can specify multiple IP addresses on separate lines by starting each line with an ADMIN_IP_ 

INCLUDE: or ADMIN_IP_EXCLUDE: statement. For example: 

ADMIN_IP_INCLUDE: 192.168.42.75 

ADMIN_IP_EXCLUDE: 192.169.* 

ADMIN_IP_EXCLUDE: 192.21.201.1? 



Multiple IP addresses can also be specified on a single line by separating each address with a comma. For 

example: 

ADMIN_IP_EXCLUDE: 192.168.42.75, 192.169.*, 192.21.201.1? 

Table 21 describes the rules that apply when using INCLUDE and EXCLUDE statements. 

Table 21: INCLUDE and EXCLUDE Statement Rules 

Description of State Rule(s) 

No INCLUDE or EXCLUDE statements. Access is allowed to all addresses. 

One or more EXCLUDE statements, no INCLUDE 

statements. 

One or more INCLUDE Statements, no EXCLUDE 

statements. 

Network Information Service Validation 

Access is allowed to all except excluded addresses. 

Access is allowed to included addresses only. 

Both INCLUDE and EXCLUDE statements. Access is not allowed to excluded addresses, and is 

allowed to included addresses. Included addresses 

override excluded addresses. For example: 

ADMIN_IP_INCLUDE: 192.168.* 

ADMIN_IP_EXCLUDE: 192.* 

This does not allow access to the address 

192.167.98.203, but does allow access to the address 

192.168.98.203. In addition, access is allowed to all 

addresses not excluded by the combined include and 

exclude statements. 

Previous versions of Netcool/Webtop allowed you to authenticate ObjectServer validated users against a 

network information service (NIS). Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 now defers this responsibility directly to 

Netcool/OMNIbus. For more information about configuring ObjectServer users for NIS validation, refer 

to the Netcool/OMNIbus Administration Guide. 



5.3 Access Control List Administration 

Access Control Lists (ACLs) allow you to specify which users are authorized to access Netcool/Webtop 

resources. Some resource components such as maps and AELs contain modifiable attributes that can be 

formally associated with an ACL. Other components such as HTML pages exert access control after reading 

the ACL parameters contained within an embedded SmartPage tag. 

Tip: For more information about SmartPage ACL restrictions, refer to Validating Users on page 346. 

This section describes how to use the Access Control List Editor to create, delete, add users to, or remove 

users from an ACL. 

Access Control List Editor 

From the Access Control List Editor you can manage new ACLs. Subsequent to installation, the only default 

Netcool/Webtop ACLs are: 

example 

restricted 

Both of these ACLs contain the root user account created when Netcool/Webtop is installed. The following 

procedure describes how to add users to an existing ACL, or create new ACLs for use with Netcool/Webtop. 

The link to the Access Control List Editor is provided under the Users & ACLs heading link in the Access 

& Utilities tab of the Administration page. The Access Control List Editor page is shown in Figure 21. 

Figure 21: Access Control List Editor 


Creating an ACL 

To create a new ACL: 

Access Control List Administration 

1. Click Create ACL and enter the name of the new ACL in the text field provided. Click Create new 

ACL. The Modify ACL Details page is displayed, as shown in Figure 22. 

Figure 22: Access Control List Editor - Modify ACL Details 

The page contains the following lists: 

– All Users 

– ACL Users 

From this page you can add any validated user from the All Users list into the ACL Users list. 

2. Select a username from the All Users list and click Add >>. The user is added to the ACL Users list. 

To remove a user from the ACL, select the username from the list on the right and click


Deleting an ACL 

To delete an ACL: 

1. Select an ACL from the list provided on the Access Control List Editor page and click Delete ACL. The 

Delete ACL page is displayed—this page displays all the maps and views associated with the ACL. 

Note: The selected ACL can only be deleted if it is not associated with any maps or views, however 

you can delete an ACL even if it contains one or more users. 

2. Click Delete this ACL. 

Deleting a User from All ACLs 

To delete a user from all ACLs: 

1. Click Delete a User from All Lists to open the Select User to remove from all ACLs page. This page 

lists all of the users in all ACLs. 

2. Select a user in this list and click Delete this User. The Delete User from all ACLs page is displayed, 

and lists all of the access control lists to which this user currently belongs. 

3. Select Confirm to remove the user. 


entities.fm July 1, 2004 11:40 am 

Chapter 6: Using Entities 

Filters and views are created by Netcool/Webtop administrators to refine the appearance and content of the 

data presented to the user. They are combined to form entities, which can be used to set the default filter 

and view applied to an event list, assigned to a map object so that it displays the maximum severity status of 

a datasource, or used in SmartPage commands. 



Entity Administration on page 131 

Entity Views on page 137 




In order to rapidly isolate and resolve problems, network operations center personnel need to be able to 

narrow the data contained within their view of an event list to an acceptable level, and one within their area 

of involvement. For example, an alert of critical severity that has been unacknowledged for five minutes 

might be considered less of a management priority than an alert of major severity that has been 

unacknowledged for an hour. In addition, many of the fields contained within the ObjectServer are of little 

or no relevance to the personnel directly involved in network event management and do not need to be 

displayed. 

Netcool/Webtop allows you to constrain the breadth and format of data received from the ObjectServer, so 

that the information presented in event lists and on maps is of more value to clients. This is achieved through 

the use of entities. 

Filters and Views 

Filters constrain the rows returned by an ObjectServer to an AEL, LEL, or tableview by applying SQL 

correlation conditions to the field data in the ObjectServer. For example: 

Node like '^[a-zA-Z].*' and Severity > 3 

The above statement matches all alerts where the Node starts with a character and the Severity of this 

data is greater than minor (that is, major or critical). When used in a filter applied to an event list, 

only the alerts that meet these criteria are displayed. 

The initial filter for an event list is usually derived from a predefined filter/view combination known as an 

entity. LELs and table views can only be viewed using the initial filter. From within the AEL, a Desktop 

client can use the online Filter Builder component to override the initial filter criteria conferred by an entity. 

For more information about the Filter Builder, refer to Applying Filters to the AEL on page 184. 

Note: Top-level filters, known as user filters, can be added to a user profile and these constrain all 

ObjectServer data presented to a user during a Netcool/Webtop session. This filter cannot be overridden by 

the user. See Creating a User Account on page 119 for more information about assigning this type of filter to 

user. 

Views constrain the fields—and therefore the columns—displayed by an AEL, LEL, or tableview. As with 

filters, the initial view for each type of event list is derived from an entity. In the case of the AEL, the view 

criteria conferred by an entity can be overridden by a Desktop client using the online View Builder 

component. For more information about the View Builder, defer to Applying Views to the AEL on page 195. 

This chapter concentrates on how filters and views are created and applied to event lists through the use of 

entities. 


6.2 Entity Administration 

! 

Entity Administration 

An entity is an aggregate of a filter and a view, and is typically used by active objects in maps to establish the 

initial display criteria of a linked component. For example, when a user clicks a monitor box in a map that 

opens an AEL, the entity assigned to the monitor box applies the initial filter and view to that AEL. 

Entities are also used to display the alert status of a datasource. The map object uses the entity associated 

with it to derive the highest alert severity of the assigned datasource. This severity can then be identified by 

the color of the object. 

Entities can only be created from the Administration page using the Entity Editor component or the Entity 

Generator component. The Entity Generator allows you to dynamically create entities and maps based upon 

them, and is described in Entity Generator on page 245. For more information about maps and active 

objects, refer to Chapter 7: Maps on page 143. 

To constrain data returned to the user, Netcool/Webtop uses filtered, dependent, or transient entities. Filtered 

entities contain a single SQL instruction and can be used to derive a status for the entity. The status is the 

highest value of the severity field in the alerts.status table after the filter is applied. When an 

active map object (such as a line or button) is associated with an entity, the object changes color to reflect 

the highest severity status alerts in the connected datasource. When a filtered entity is applied to an event 

list, only the rows that meet the criteria set by the filter SQL are displayed. 

Dependent entities are combinations of other filtered or dependent entities. The status of a dependent entity 

is derived from the combined status of the entities they contain. To derive the status, the dependent entity 

interrogates the severity of all of its dependents and uses the highest severity calculated. When a dependent 

entity is applied to an event list, the rows in the table are formed from the combined output of every filtered 

entity after all duplications are removed. 

You can apply a dependent or filtered entity directly to an AEL through the browser address bar by entering 

a URL containing a query-string of the following format: 

protocol://server:port/AELView?entity=entityname&datasource=datasourcename 

In the above URL, entityname is a predefined entity created within the Administration page as described 

in this chapter, and datasourcename is an ObjectServer datasource defined in the Netcool/Webtop 

datasource configuration file. If you do not add a datasource entry to the query-string, the default 

datasource is used. 

Warning: For this method to work you must ensure that the aelview.queries.enabled property 

in server.init is set to true. 

Transient entities allow you to apply filters and views to an AEL launched from a web page without having 

to formally define an entity in Netcool/Webtop—the entity data is contained within the SmartPage tag for 

the AEL applet, or within the browser URL. 



! 

Entity Editor 

A transient entity is composed of a parameter the defines an SQL filter, and a parameter that selects a view 

created by the Entity Views Editor in the Administration page. Entities of this type can be used instead of 

the SmartPage entity parameter. A comparison of the two SmartPage entity types is shown in Table 22. 

Table 22: Ordinary and Transient Entities 

Entity Type SmartPage Tag Example 

Ordinary 

Transient 

Tip: For more information about SmartPage tags and their parameters, refer to Appendix A: SmartPages on 

page 273. 

You can apply a transient entity directly to an AEL through the browser address bar by entering a URL 

containing a query-string of the following format: 

protocol://server:port/AELView?filter=filter&view=viewname&datasource=datasourcename 

In the above URL, filter is a SQL filter string, viewname is a predefined entity view created within 

the Administration page, and datasourcename is an ObjectServer datasource defined in the 

Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration file. If you do not add a datasource 

entry to the query-string, the default datasource is used. 

Warning: For this method to work you must ensure that the aelview.queries.enabled property 

in server.init is set to true. 

Filtered and dependent entities are created within the Administration page, using the Entity Editor. The 

following sections describe how to use the Entity Editor to create entities for use in maps and SmartPages. 

From the Entity Editor you can create and manage new entities. Entities are stored within entity groups, 

and these are accessed from the Select Entity Group drop-down menu. Subsequent to installation, 

Netcool/Webtop provides you with the following entity groups: 

which displays all entities from all other groups in a single list. 

which contains some useful generic entities. 

demo which contains the entities used by the maps within the Netcool/Webtop demonstration web 

site. 



The link to the Entity Editor is provided under the Entities heading link in the Content tab of the 

Administration page. The Entity Editor page is shown in Figure 23. 

Figure 23: Entity Editor 

Adding an Entity 

To add an entity: 

1. Click Add Entity. The Entity Editor - Add Entity page is displayed, as shown in Figure 24. 

Figure 24: Entity Editor - Add Entity 

2. Enter the new entity name, and select an entity type of Filtered or Dependent from the Type 

drop-down menu. 

3. Complete the Group field, as follows: 

– If you want the entity to belong to the default group, select from the drop-down 

menu. 

– If you want to create a new group for the entity, select Add New Group from the drop-down 

menu and enter a name for the group in the text field to the right. 



4. Select an entity view from the drop-down menu. Two sample views called Basic and Extended have 

been configured. For information about entity views and how to create them, refer to Entity Views on 

page 137. 

5. The Complete Metric section is a three part field in which you: 

– Enter a label name (optional). 

– Select a metric measurement type. 

– Apply the selected measurement type to a field in the alerts.status table. 

For example: Sum of Tally. 

6. Click Add This Entity: 

– If the entity type Filtered is selected, the Modify Entity page for a filtered entity is displayed. 

– If the entity type Dependent is selected, the Modify Entity page for a dependent entity is 

displayed. 

The following sections describe how to modify filtered or dependent entities. 

Modifying a Filtered Entity 

To modify a filtered entity: 

1. Select the entity to be modified and click Modify Entity. The Modify Entity page is displayed with the 

entity options. Select a new entity view from the drop-down menu. 

2. Enter or edit the entity filter. 

3. Change the metric measurement and its associated field from the alerts.status table. 

4. Click Modify This Entity to accept the changes. 


Modifying a Dependent Entity 

To modify a dependent entity: 


1. Select the entity to be modified and click Modify Entity. The Modify Entity page is displayed, as 


Figure 25: Entity Editor - Modify Entity Details 

2. If required, select a new entity view from the drop-down menu. 

Note: All views associated with the constituents of a dependent entity are overridden by this view. 

3. Add an entity as a dependency by selecting the entity name in the Available Entities column and 

clicking Add>> to add it to the Current Dependencies column. 

Remove an entity from the dependency list by selecting the entity name in the Current 

Dependencies column and clicking


4. Change the metric measurement and its associated field (from the alerts.status table). 

5. Click Modify This Entity to accept the changes. 

Deleting an Entity 

To delete an entity: 

1. Select the entity to delete and click Delete Entity. The Delete Entity page is displayed. 

2. The Delete Entity page shows the associations for the selected entity indicating: 

– Each map that uses the selected entity. 

– Each dependent entity that requires the selected entity. 

3. Click Delete This Entity. 

Note: The Delete This Entity button is only available when there are no associations to maps or 

dependent entities. 


6.3 Entity Views 

Entity Views 

When you create an entity using the Entity Editor, as described in Entity Editor on page 132, you must also 

specify the accompanying view. Entity views are created within the Administration page, using the Entity 

View Editor. The following sections describe how to use the Entity View Editor to create the views used by 

entities. 

Entity View Editor 

From the Entity View Editor you can create and manage the views used in entities. The Entity View Editor 

is shown in Figure 26. 

Figure 26: The Entity View Editor 

Consider the following when you create views for use in entities: 

In the Entity Editor, an entity view is always associated with an ObjectServer, and the fields available 

correspond to those contained in that datasource. If you attempt to use an entity containing an entity 

view against a different datasource, only the fields common to both ObjectServers are shown in the 

LEL and tableview—the AEL shows them as blank columns. 

The view assigned to a dependent entity overrules any views associated with its constituent entities, 

including other dependent entities. 

The link to the Entity Editor page is provided under the Entities menu in the Content tab of the 

Administration page. 



Creating a View 

To create a new view: 

1. Click Create View. The Create View page is displayed, as shown in Figure 27. 

Figure 27: Create View Page 

2. Enter the new view name in the text field provided. 

3. From the ObjectServer Name drop-down menu, select the datasource from which you want to select 

the columns. 

Note: The -- DEFAULT OS -- entry corresponds to the default datasource specified in the 

Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration file. 

4. Select an ACL from the drop-down menu. The * ACL grants access to all users including any new 

users you create. 

5. Click OK to open the Modify View page. The details of the view can now be entered in the Modify 

View page, as described in the next section. 


Modifying a View 

Entity Views 

To modify a view, select a view from the list and click Modify View. The Modify View page is displayed, as 


Figure 28: The Modify View Page 

The Event List View list contains fields that appear as columns in an event view. The name of the view is 

shown at the top of the page. You can perform the following operations in the Modify View page: 

Change the access control list (ACL) associated with the view. 

Add a new column to the view. 

Remove a column from the view. 

Change the order of columns in the view. 

Change the sort order of fields. 



Change the direction of sorting within a field. 

Change a column title. 

These operations are described in the following sections. If you want to return to the View Editor page when 

you have applied all your changes, click Back. 

Changing the ACL for the View 

To change the ACL associated with the view, select the new ACL name from the ACL drop-down menu. 

Click Apply save the changes and return to the View Editor page. 

Adding or Removing a Column 

To add a new column to, or remove a column from, the view: 

1. In the Available Fields list, select the field you want to appear as a new column. 

2. Click the Add >> button (located to the right of the Available Fields list). The selected field is added 

to the Event List View list. 

Click the Remove >> button (located to the right of the Available Fields list). The selected field is 

returned to the Available Fields list. 

3. Click Apply save the changes and return to the View Editor page. 

Configuring a Column 

To configure a column used in the view: 

1. In the Event List View list, select a field. The Column Title field updates with the corresponding 

column title for the selected field. 

2. In the Column Title field, enter a new title for the column or keep the default. 

3. To change the justification of the field title at the top of the column, select an entry from the Justify 

drop-down menu to the right of the Field Name field. 

To change the justification of the row data within the column, select an entry from the Justify 

drop-down menu to the right of the Column Title field. 

The column justification parameters are: 

– Left 

– Center 

– Justify 


Entity Views 

4. To change the width of a column, enter a width in the Column Width field. The width is in text 

characters. 


Note: When a field is moved between the Available Fields list and the Event View list, it retains any 

configurations you apply. 

Changing the Order of Columns 

To change the order of columns within the view: 

1. Select an entry from the Event List View list. 

2. Click a direction button (located to the right of the Event List View list): 

– Click the Top button to move the field to the top of the list. The field appears as the column 

furthest to the left in the view. 

– Click the Up button to move the selected field up one position in the list. The field appears in 

the view as the column to the left of the one listed below it in the Event List View list. 

– Click the Down button to move the selected field down one position in the list. The field 

appears in the view as the column to the right of the one listed above it in the Event List View 

list. 

– Click the Bottom button to move the selected field to the bottom of the list. The field appears 

as the column furthest to the right in the view. 


Changing the Sorting Precedence 

The field at the top of the Sorted By list has the highest precedence when sorting. If you add a second field 

to the list, and the first field is identical for a number of entries, the second field is used to sort items within 

those entries. 

To change the sort order of columns in the view: 

1. In the Available Sort Fields list, select a field. 

2. Click the Add >> button (located to the right of the Available Sort Fields list). The selected field is 

added to the Sorted By list. 

Selecting an entry in the Sorted By list and clicking


! 

3. With an entry in the Sorted By list highlighted, click one of the direction buttons (located to the 

right of the Sorted By list): 

– Click the Top button to move the field to the top of the list. 

– Click the Up button to move the selected field up one position. 

– Click the Down button to move the selected field down one position. 

– Click the Bottom button to move the selected field to the bottom of the list. 


Changing the Direction of Data Sorting Within a Field 

In the Sorted By list, a suffix is placed next to each entry to indicate the sort order of data within that field. 

By default, this entry is [asc], so the field is sorted in ascending alphabetical or alphanumerical order. The 

suffix [desc] indicates that the field is sorted in descending alphabetical or alphanumerical order. 

To change the direction of sorting within a field: 

1. In the Sorted By list, select a field. 

2. Set the sort direction by selecting Ascending or Descending from the Sort drop-down menu. 


Deleting a View 

To delete a view: 

1. Select a view and click Delete View. The Delete View page is displayed. 

Warning: The Delete View page displays the entities associated with the view. A view can only be 

deleted when there are no entities associated with it. 

2. Click OK to delete the view. 


mapeditor.fm July 1, 2004 11:40 am 

Chapter 7: Maps 

This chapter introduces the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor component, and describes how maps are created 

and used within web pages to graphically represent the status of a network. 



Map Administration on page 147 

Map SmartPage Administration on page 165 

Map Editor Command Line Options on page 166 




A map is an interactive graphical view that provides users with contextual information about network status. 

Maps are often constructed in the form of a background graphic that represents some form of network 

topology or geography, and contain objects such as buttons, lines, and monitor boxes. An example map is 


Figure 29: Example Network Map 

If an object is active, it can display alert severity information and contain link associations with either an 

AEL, LEL, tableview, or another HTML page. Map objects such as monitor boxes are connected to 

individual ObjectServer datasources, and can display more detailed alert severity information. 

In addition to providing Netcool/Webtop users with a high-level view of network behavior, map objects 

allow users to access more detailed information in order to refine their understanding of a network problem. 

In Figure 29, a number of network nodes are displayed over a map background image. Each node is 

represented by a monitor box that shows the alert distribution in lavalamp format and whose border color 

exhibits the highest level of alert severity. The links between the nodes are active line objects whose alert 

color is derived from the combined datasource severity information provided by each endpoint. 

Map objects can be linked to other pages or (in the case of active objects) alert management components 

such as event lists. Once presented with the AEL, the user can initiate fault-management activities, as 

described in The Active Event List on page 167. 


Introduction 

In the map example in Figure 29, if the user clicks on the Chicago monitor box, a separate map page 

containing a quantitative breakdown of alerts for the selected node is displayed, as shown in Figure 30. 

Figure 30: Example Local Node Information 

If a user clicks the line object connecting the Chicago and New York monitor boxes, they are presented with 

a map that contains alert information specific to that network component, as shown in Figure 31. 

Figure 31: Example Local Link Information 

While not maps as such, the pages in Figure 30 and Figure 31 contain objects such as icons, text, monitor 

boxes, and buttons that display the highest severity of alert, and hyperlinks to alert table views for each 

component. Throughout this chapter, image aggregates such as these are referred to as maps. 

The monitor boxes in Figure 30 and button objects in Figure 31 are filtered—that is, they have properties 

associated with them that constrain the data they display. Filter information is derived from an entity 

associated with the object, and this information is defined within the map object properties. 

In the map example in Figure 29, dependent entities that combine the filtered entities associated with the 

monitor boxes at each endpoint are associated with each line object. The color of each line is derived from 

this dependent entity. 

When an AEL is launched from a monitor box, the entity constraints are applied to the initial table data. 

For more information about entities, refer to Chapter 6: Using Entities on page 129. 



The following sections describe how to create and configure maps using the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor 

component, and how to include maps on a web page. 


7.2 Map Administration 

Map Editor 

Map Administration 

A map is an applet contained within an HTML page that has a defined size, color, and background image. 

Buttons, monitor boxes, lines, icons, and text can be created and positioned on top of the background image. 

The images available to a map, and objects used within it are defined from within the Netcool/Webtop 

Resource Manager and Map Editor components. These components are described in Resource Manager on 

page 155 and Map Editor on page 147. 

The maps presented to clients are constrained by ACL rules, and users must be given the appropriate 

privileges in order to view particular pages. The ACL associations for each map are established from within 

the Map Editor. ACLs are described in Access Control List Editor on page 126. 

The links to the Map Editor and Resource Manager pages are provided under the Maps menu in the Content 

tab of the Administration page. 

The Netcool/Webtop Administration page provides components for managing the maps referenced by 

SmartPage commands in your web pages. Maps can be created and configured within Netcool/Webtop in 

the following ways: 

From the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor browser applet, a Java application that runs within the client 

browser. 

From the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor, a Java application that runs on the server. 

From the Map Editor – Modify Map page. This component is referred to as the HTML Map Editor 

and is described in detail in Appendix A: HTML Map Reference on page 335. 

The link to the Map Editor or HTML Map Editor is provided on the Map Editor page. When the Map 

Editor page is displayed for the first time, the Java Runtime Environment (if it is present on your system) 

initiates and you are presented with a security certificate requesting that you authorize a local Java Virtual 

Machine process. If you are satisfied with the credentials described within the certificate, click Yes. 

Note: The Map Editor page contains a Java radio button and an HTML radio button. To start the Map 

Editor, the Java radio button must be selected. 



This section concentrates on the usage of the Map Editor applet component, shown in Figure 32. An 

overview of each feature is provided in Table 23 on page 149. 

1 2 3 

5 6 

7 8 9 

Figure 32: The Map Editor Applet 

4 


Table 23: Map Editor Applet Components (1 of 4) 


1 Menu Bar The Menu bar contains the following menus: 


File - from this menu you can open, save, close, or create a new map. You can also use 

this menu to close the Map Editor. 

Edit - from this menu you can copy, paste, delete, or change the stacking order of any 

objects selected in the display area. In addition, you can use this menu to access the 

Properties window of a selected object. The Properties window is described in Map Object 

Configuration on page 156. 

View - from this menu you can display and configure the map grid size and behavior, as 

described in Configuring the Map Grid on page 154. 

Server - from this menu you can select Resync to resynchronize the Map Editor with the 

Netcool/Webtop server. You must manually resynchronize whenever you conduct any 

administrative activities that affect maps. These include adding, removing, or changing: 

– ACLs 

– Entities 

– Resources 

Maps must be saved before they are resynchronized. If a map has not been saved, a 

message is displayed prompting you to save the map first. 

Help - provides you with contextual and general links to the online help system. 

2 File Buttons From left to right, the file buttons are Create a new map, Open an existing map, and Save 

the current map. 

3 Map Controls The map controls panel on the left-hand side of the Map Editor contains layout, object, and 

access control information. From this panel you can define the size, and background color or 

image of the map display area. 

4 Layer Buttons From left to right, the layer buttons are Up, Down, Bring to Front, and Send to Back. These 

buttons are used to organize the layers of objects on a map. When you add an object to the 

map area, the Map Editor places it in front of all other objects on the page. You can control 

how objects overlap by putting them in front of, or behind, other objects: 

To put an object in front of another object, select the map object and click the Up button. 

To put an object behind another object, select the map object and click the Down 

button. 

To put an object in front of all other objects, select the map object and click Bring to 

Front button. 

To put an object behind all other objects, select the map object and click Send to Back 

button. 

The hierarchy of all the objects on the map is reflected in the Items list in the maps Items list. 





5 Padlock A padlock symbol in the bottom left of the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor window indicates 

whether you are connected to a secure Netcool/Webtop server or not. 

A closed padlock indicates that you are connected to a secure Netcool/Webtop server 

(using the HTTPS protocol). 

An open padlock indicates that you are connected to an non-secure Netcool/Webtop 

server using the HTTP protocol. 

6 Items List The items list displays all the objects presently being used in the map display area. The list is 

hierarchical—item entries at the top of the list are placed in front of those below them in the 

map. To rearrange the stacking order or map objects, select an item from this list and use the 

layer buttons in the toolbar. 

When an object obscures another in a map, it may be easier to select it from this list than from 

the display area. When you select an item entry, the map object highlights and you can 

manipulate it using the cursor keys and select its properties from the Edit menu. 

7 Select Button The select button is used to select or move map objects in the display area. 





8 Object Buttons The object buttons in the Map Editor allow you to add active or inactive items to a map. Each 

of the buttons, and the objects associated with them, are described below. 

Icon Object Type Overview 

Inactive Button Inactive buttons are used within a map to provide links to other 

pages. You can modify the shape of the inactive button, and 

also legend text. 

To create an inactive button, click the Inactive Button icon and 

click in the display area. You can select the shape of the button 

by clicking on the right arrow on the button and selecting from 

a rectangle, a rounded rectangle, or an ellipse. 

Active Button Active buttons are used to link to AELs, LELs, table views, or 

other pages. They can be linked to any available datasource to 

display the severity of the highest level of ObjectServer alert. 

You can use entities with active buttons to filter the data 

displayed in any linked event list. 

To create an active button, click the Active Button icon and 

click in the display area. You can select the shape of the button 

by clicking on the right arrow on the button and selecting from 

a rectangle, a rounded rectangle, or an ellipse. 

Monitor Box Monitor boxes displays a graphical summary of alert distribution 

for a specified datasource. They can also display metric and 

quantitative data about the datasource. They can be linked to 

any available datasource to display the severity of the highest 

level of ObjectServer alert. You can use entities with monitor 

boxes to filter the data displayed in any linked event list. 

To create a monitor box, click the Monitor Box icon and click in 

the display area. By default, the monitor box is in lavalamp 

format. To create a monitor box in histogram format, click and 

hold the mouse button on the icon. The display options for the 

icon are displayed. Click the Histogram entry to create the 

monitor box in this format. 

Inactive Icon This button allows you to add an inactive image icon to the 

map. The image used is added as a map resource beforehand, 

and is then chosen from the inactive icon object properties. 

Inactive icons cannot be linked in any way, and often are used in 

maps to provide additional information to the background 

image, or act as a background to active objects. 

To create an inactive icon, click the Inactive Icon icon and click 

in the display area. 





8 Object Buttons Active Icon This button allows you to add an active image icon to the map. 

The image used is added as a map resource beforehand, and is 

then chosen from the active icon object properties. 

Using the Map Editor with a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server 

If you want to use the Map Editor with a secure Netcool/Webtop server, you must enable the following lines 

in editor.init by removing the # character: 

webtop.editor.secure:on 

webtop.editor.secureport:8443 

Active icons are used to link to AELs, LELs, table views, or other 

pages. They can be linked to any available datasource to display 

the severity of the highest level of ObjectServer alert. You can 

use entities with active icons to filter the data displayed in any 

linked event list. 

To create an active icon, click the Active Icon icon and click in 

the display area. 

Inactive Line Inactive lines cannot be linked in any way, and often are used in 

maps to provide additional information to the background 

image, or represent links between active objects. 

To create an inactive line, click the Inactive Line icon and click 

in the display area. 

Active Line Active lines are used to link to AELs, LELs, table views, or other 

pages. They can be linked to any available datasource to display 

the severity of the highest level of ObjectServer alert. You can 

use entities with active icons to filter the data displayed in any 

linked event view. 

To create an active line, click the Active Line icon and click in 

the display area. 

Text Text objects are used to provide information about the contents 

of the map. You can set the font, style, and size of the text object 

from the Properties window. Text objects cannot be linked to 

other components or pages. 

To create a text entry, click the Text icon and click in the display 

area. 

9 Display Area The Map Editor display area is a point-and-click canvas to which you can add, move, and 

configure map objects. You can set the size and background of the display area from within 

the items list. 



For more information on secure servers, see Appendix C: Creating a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server on 

page 357. 

Creating a New Map 

To create a map using the Map Editor, ensure that the Java radio button is selected and click Create Map. 

The Map Editor applet is displayed, and you are prompted to enter a name for your map in the Input 

window. 

Note: The map name must be alphanumeric and cannot contain spaces. 

Starting the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor from the Command Line 

In addition to starting the Map Editor from within the Netcool/Webtop Administration page, you can also 

start the application locally on the server from the command line. 

To start the Netcool/Webtop server on a UNIX system, enter the following command: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/bin/editor 

To start the Netcool/Webtop server on a Windows system, enter the following command: 

%WEBTOP_HOME%\bin\editor.cmd 

Tip: On Windows systems you can also start the Netcool/Webtop Editor by selecting 

Start→Programs→Netcool→Webtop→Editor. 

For information about the command line options available for use with the Map Editor, refer to Map Editor 

Command Line Options on page 166. 

Setting a Map Background Image 

To add a new image to the current map, the image must be saved as a resource, as described in Resource 

Manager on page 155. After adding a new resource, the Map Editor window must be updated to include the 

new resource by selecting Server→Resync, as described in Table 23 on page 149. 

To set a map background image, select an image from the Background drop-down menu. The image 

overlays the background color. Images that have been saved as resources for the current map appears in this 

list, and a number of generic images are provided by default. 



Configuring the Map Grid 

Map items can be moved within the map by using either the mouse or the cursor keys. To assist you in 

positioning and aligning these items, a grid feature is provided. To turn on the grid feature: 

1. Click View and select the Show Grid check box. Alternatively, you can use Ctrl+G to switch on (and 

off) the map grid. 

2. If it is not already selected, click the Snap to Grid check box in the View menu. 

3. Resize the cell spacing of the map grid by selecting Grid Size from the View menu, and entering the 

desired cell space (in pixels). 

The placement of map items is now controlled by their proximity to the adjacent top and left-side grid lines. 

All objects on the map can be organized automatically by selecting the Autolayout option from the View 

menu. Once selected, this feature causes all items on the map to snap to the nearest adjacent top and left-side 

grid lines. 

Adding Map Objects 

The following types of object can be added to a map: 

Inactive objects that can be linked to a URL. 

Active objects that can display alert status color and can be linked to a URL, AEL, LEL, or tableview. 

Monitor Box objects that can be linked to a URL, AEL, LEL, or tableview. 

Text objects that display descriptive text, and can be linked to a URL, AEL, LEL, or tableview. 

To add a map object: 

1. Select the appropriate object from the object bar at the bottom of the Map Editor display. 

2. Position the mouse pointer where you want to add the object on the map and left-click. The new 

object is placed on the map. 

You can now edit the map, object, image, and color properties, as described in the next section. 


Resource Manager 


To use images in the Map Editor, you must upload the background and icon images you intend to use in 

your map. All images used in maps must be defined as resources in the Resource Manager page—where you 

can also delete, or preview resources. Resources are placed in the following directory on the server: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/config/resources/__common 

The link to the Resource Manager page is provided under the Maps menu in the Content tab of the 


Adding or Removing a Map Resource 

To add a resource to a map: 

1. Select the Resource Manager link. You are presented with the Resource Manager page.Select the 

destination map for the image and click Add Map Resource. You are presented with the Resource 

Manager - Add to page. 

2. Enter the file name and path for the new image in the text field. If the image name or location is not 

known, click Browse to open a file window where you can select the image file. 

Note: Images must be in either GIF or JPEG format, and are uploaded from the client system. 

3. Click Add Resource. The file is added to the map as a resource and appears as an entry in the resource 

list of the Resource Manager page. The image is now available for use by the Netcool/Webtop Map 

Editor. 

To remove a resource, select the name and click Remove Map Resource. 

Previewing a Resource 

To preview resources for a map: 

1. Select the map and then click Preview Resources. The Preview for page is displayed and contains a list 

of all image resources available to the selected map. 

2. Click View next to the image you want to preview, to open it in the web browser window. Images are 

listed by file name and file size. 

3. Click the Back button on your browser to return to the Preview for page. 

4. When you have finished, click Resource Manager to return you to the Resource Manager page. 



Map Object Configuration 

Once you have placed an object onto the map, you can configure the way it appears and behaves. The object 

Properties window is a tabular dialog that governs object configuration. 

Although the size and position of all map objects can be refined using this window, other configuration areas 

vary between object type. Using the Properties window you can: 

Establish links between certain object types and other pages or event views. 

Connect active objects to datasources and entities. 

Modify the data presentation criteria of active objects such as monitor boxes. 

Configure the colors and fonts associated with objects. 

You can access the Properties window by selecting a map object and clicking Edit→Properties, or by 

right-clicking on an object and selecting Properties from the context menu. 

Configuring Map Object Properties 

To configure the properties of a map object: 

1. Double-click the object on the map, or select the map object and click Edit→Properties. You are 

presented with the Properties window. Ensure that the Properties tab is selected. 

2. Enter the name of the object in the Name field. The name must be unique. 

3. Enter a label in the Label field. This label appears in the status bar of the web browser when the 

mouse pointer is over the object. 


4. If the object is a button: 


– Select the shape of the button by clicking one of the Type icons. Available types are rectangle, 

rounded rectangle, and ellipse. For rounded rectangle and ellipses, you can specify the corner 

radius of the button by entering a number in the Arc Diameter field (on the Size & Position 

tab). 

– From the Legend drop-down menu, select the text or value that you want displayed on the 

button. The available choices are shown in Table 24. 

Table 24: Button Legend Options 

Legend Description 

None No text or value is displayed on the button. 

Label Displays the text entered in the Label field. 

Count Displays the total number of alerts for the entity and filter (active buttons only). 

Metric Displays the metric measurement (active buttons only). 

If the object is a monitor box: 

– Select which type of monitor box you want by selecting either the Lavalamp or Histogram icon. 

– To display details about the alert distribution on the monitor box, select the appropriate check 

boxes. The available check box options are shown in Table 25. 

Table 25: Monitor Box Alert Distribution Options 

Check Box Description 

Show Label Displays the label of monitor box, as entered in the Label field. 

Show Total Displays the total number of alerts in the distribution. 

Show Highest Displays the highest severity recorded for the alert distribution. 

Show Lowest Displays the lowest severity recorded for the alert distribution. 

Show Metric Displays the metric measurement. 

Show Severity 

Border 

Displays a color border around the monitor box border showing the highest alert 

severity. This can be very useful if the alert distribution is large and the total number 

of alerts at the highest severity level is too small to appear in the histogram or 

lavalamp display. 



If you choose to have this extra information displayed on an monitor box, you must make sure 

that the dimensions of the monitor box are large enough. If the dimensions are too small none 

of these details can be displayed and the monitor box may resemble a button on the map. 

If the object is an icon: 

– From the Legend drop-down menu, select the text or value that you want displayed on the icon 

(active icons only). The available choices are shown in Table 26. 

Table 26: Icon Legend Options 

Check Box Description 

None No text or value is displayed on the button. 

Count Displays the total number of alerts for the entity and filter. 

Metric Displays the metric measurement. 

– Select an image from the Image drop-down menu. To add a new image it must be available as a 

resource, as described in Resource Manager on page 155. After adding a new resource, the Map 

Editor window must be updated to include the new resource by selecting Server→Resync, as 

described in Table 23 Map Editor Applet Components on page 149. 

Configuring Map Object Associations 

The following procedure does not apply to inactive icons and inactive lines. To configure the associations 

of a map object: 

1. Double-click the object on the map, or select the object and choose Properties from the Edit menu. 

You are presented with the Properties window. Ensure that the Associations tab is selected. 

2. If the map object is active, from the Action field drop-down menu select either: 

– Open URL to link to a URL. 

– Active Event List (AEL) to link to an embedded active event list in a web page. 



– Lightweight Event List (LEL) to link to an embedded lightweight event list in a web page. 

– Event Table to link to a tableview. 

For example, if the Action field for an active object is set to Open URL and an entity is selected, the 

button color shown in the web browser matches the status color of the entity, and the object links to 

the URL specified in the URL text field. 

Alternatively, if the Action field for an active button is set to Event Table and an entity is selected, the 

button color shown in the web browser matches the status color of the entity, and the button opens a 

tableview. 

Note: Active buttons and lines must have an entity associated with them to appear correctly in the 

map page. Active buttons that have not been assigned an entity appear yellow in the Netcool/Webtop 

Map Editor display area and are not displayed in the map. When an entity has been specified, the color 

changes to blue in the Map Editor and the object is displayed in the map. 

3. If required, enter the destination URL for a link in the URL field. 



Tip: When linking to a URL, enter the text $(SERVER) instead of the location 

protocol://server:port. This allows maps to be transported to other web servers. For 

example, the URL for the Netcool/Webtop home page is $(SERVER)/index.html. 

– Alternatively, click the URL Build Tool button to the right of the URL field. The URL Build 

Tool window is displayed. This utility is provided to assist you in the creation of URLs that 

access existing HTML page templates. 

Tip: For further information about creating HTML templates, refer to Creating and Customizing 

HTML Templates on page 353. 

Select a template type from the drop-down menu, and enter values for any variables contained 

in the template SmartPage tag source code. For example, in the table.html template 

described in Template Overview on page 353 you must provide a map name that corresponds to 

the Map_Name variable, and an entity name that corresponds to the Entity_Name variable. 

The Build Tool window for the table entry that corresponds to table.html is shown in 

Figure 33. 

Figure 33: URL Build Tool 

Click OK when you have finished. The template address and SmartPage tag variable details are 

displayed as a query string in the URL field. For example: 

$(SERVER)/Template/table.html?Map_Name=Summary&Entity_Name=AllEvents 

4. The Target field is used to specify the destination HTML frame where a URL or tableview is 

displayed. It also has an associated drop-down menu with the following default values: 

– _self indicates the full browser window. 

– _blank indicates a new web browser window. 

– _parent indicates the parent frame set containing the source link. 

– _top indicates the frame containing the source link. 

In addition to the above target frames, you can also specify your own target frames for use during a 

session. The drop-down menu retains this information within the entry history. 



5. If required, select an entity from the drop-down menu (active objects only). An active button or line 

must have an entity associated with it to appear correctly in the map page. 

Note: Active buttons that have not been assigned an entity appear yellow in the Map Editor. When 

an entity has been specified, the color changes to blue. 

For information on entities, refer to Chapter 6: Using Entities on page 129. 

6. Select an ObjectServer from the Datasource drop-down menu. The default corresponds to the 

default datasource specified in the Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration file. For more 

information about datasources, see Datasource Configuration on page 67. 

7. If the map object is an active icon, from the Feedback field drop-down menu, select either Fill 

Background or Highlight Bar to determine how event feedback is displayed by the icon. 

Note: If you select Fill Background, the icon must have transparent areas for the feedback color to be 

visible in the map. 

Configuring Map Object Sizes and Positions 

To configure the size and position of a map object: 


You are presented with the Properties window. Ensure that the Size & Position tab is selected. 

2. Enter the distance in pixels from the left of the object to the left of the page in the X field. If the 

object is a line, enter a line-end coordinate in the X2 field. 

3. Enter the distance in pixels from the top of the object to the top of the page in the Y field. If the 

object is a line, enter a line-end coordinate in the Y2 field. 

4. Enter the width of the object in pixels in the Width field (buttons, monitor boxes, and active icons 

only). 

5. Enter the height of the object in pixels in the Height field (buttons, monitor boxes, and active icons 

only). 

6. If the map object is a Rounded Rectangle button or icon, you can change the arc of the corners by 

entering the diameter, in pixels, in the Arc Diameter field. 



Tip: If Feedback is set to Fill Background in the Associations tab of an active icon, and the shape 

setting on the Properties tab is set to Rounded rectangle, you can modify the shape of the background 

color swatch by entering the diameter in the Arc Diameter field. 

7. If the map object is a line, enter the thickness of the line in pixels in the Thickness field. The default 

thickness is 1. 

Configuring Map Object Colors and Fonts 

The following procedure does not apply to inactive icons and active lines. To configure the color and font 

of a map object: 


You are presented with the Properties window. Ensure that the Colors & Font tab is selected. 

2. Enter the colors to be used in the Color field (inactive buttons only) or Foreground and Background 

color fields (monitor boxes only). You can enter any of the following colors: 

– black 

– blue 

– cyan 

– green 

– magenta 

– orange 

– pink 

– red 

– white 

– yellow 

– lightGray 

– darkGray 

Alternatively, you can enter the RGB hexadecimal value of the color (for example #FFFFCC), or you 

can click the Open a color picker button to the right of the Background field. The Open a color 

picker button is described in Using the Color Picker on page 163. 

3. Select the Transparent check box if you want the object to be transparent (inactive buttons only). If 

you create a transparent button that is the full size of the map and then place objects on top of it, the 

background behind the objects becomes clickable. 


Color Picker 


Tip: You can make part of a GIF file clickable, by drawing a transparent rectangle button over the 

required part of the GIF. 

4. You can specify the appearance of the legend or any text associated with the object by configuring the 

Font, Size, Font Color, and Style details using the drop-down menus, text fields, and icons provided 

(buttons, active icons, or monitor boxes only). 

The color picker is used to select the color of the map background, of inactive buttons or lines, or text. When 

used to change the map background color, the Color Picker button is located to the right of the Background 

drop-down menu. The button displays the current background color. 

When used to change the color of inactive buttons, lines, or text, the Color Picker button is located on the 

Color & Font tab within the Properties window for the selected map object. The button displays the current 

color of the button, line, or text object. Map object color properties are described in Configuring Map Object 

Colors and Fonts on page 162. 

Using the Color Picker 

When you click the Color Picker button the Select a Color window is displayed, as shown in Figure 34. 

Figure 34: Select a Color Window 



The Select a Color window contains the following tabs: 

The Swatches tab shows a selection of pre-defined colors. Click a color to select it. The selected color 

appears in the sample color box. Click OK to apply the color to the background or to an item on the 

map. 

From the HSB tab you can choose the hue, saturation, and brightness of the color. Select the color 

from the chart, or enter the numerical values for hue, saturation, and brightness. The selected color 

appears in the sample color box. Click OK to apply the color to the background or to an item on the 

map. 

From the RGB tab you can specify the red, green, and blue color scales either by using the slider 

controls or by entering the numerical values. The selected color appears in the sample color box. 

Click OK to apply the color to the background or to an item on the map. 

The Severity tab shows the colors used for severity in the event list. The available options are: 

– Clear (green) 

– Indeterminate (purple) 

– Warning (light blue) 

– Minor (yellow) 

– Major (orange) 

– Critical (red) 

Click a color to select it. The selected color appears in the sample color box. Click OK to apply the 

color to the background or to an item on the map. 

From the Gray Scale tab you can select any shade of gray from black to white by moving the slider 

control. The selected color appears in the sample color box. Click OK to apply the color to the 

background or to an item on the map. 


7.3 Map SmartPage Administration 

Map SmartPage Administration 

SmartPage commands are special extensions to the HTML language that control user validation, and allow 

the placement of generated components in Netcool/Webtop web pages. SmartPage commands are expressed 

in HTML as comment tags and are described in Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates on page 343. 

To display a map you must create or edit an existing HTML file, add an insert:MAPLET SmartPage tag 

to the content, and upload the HTML file to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

The procedure for uploading pages is described in Chapter 9: Page Management on page 235. A detailed 

description of HTML is beyond the scope of this manual, and a reasonable degree of knowledge on the part 

of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. 

Map SmartPage Example 

The following example shows the contents of a simple HTML file, with each line number displayed in 

square brackets: 

[1] 

[2] 

[3] 

[4] Demonstration Map 

[5] 

[7] 

[8] 

[9] 

[10] 

[11] 

Line 1 instructs the Netcool/Webtop server that this page is enabled for SmartPage commands. 

Note: This must be the first line of text in any HTML page that contains a SmartPage tag. 

Lines 2 - 8 contain generic HTML heading information and the body tag that indicates the start of the 

body of the web page. 

Line 9 contains the insert:MAPLET SmartPage tag that instructs Netcool/Webtop to place a map applet 

on the web page. The name of the map you want to display—mapname in this example—is enclosed within 

the square brackets in the tag. 

The insert:MAPLET is valid anywhere within the body of an HTML document. For more information 

about the insert:MAPLET properties, refer to Inserting a Map Applet on page 349. 

Lines 10 - 11 contain the tags which close the body, and html element tags and conclude the file. 



7.4 Map Editor Command Line Options 

Table 27 describes the command line options that can be used when starting the Netcool/Webtop Map 

Editor. 

Table 27: Netcool/Webtop Map Editor Command Line Options 

Option Default Description 

debug numeric 0 Sets the user monitoring level, in increasing detail from 0 

(critical errors only) to 9 (all errors). 

debugout string log Sets the destination for debug messages. The options are: 

stdout - the standard output 

stderr - the standard error output 

log - the log file specified by the logfile option in the 

server.init file 

help None Displays help on Map Editor command line options and then 

exits. 

host string omnihost The host name of the ObjectServer system. 

laf string metal The look and feel of the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor interface. 

The options are: 

metal - Java 

motif - Motif 

window - Windows 

password string None The password to login to the ObjectServer. 

port numeric 8080 The port number of the ObjectServer. 

props string UNIX: $WEBTOP_ 

HOME/editor/editor. 

init 

Windows: %WEBTOP_ 

HOME%\editor\editor. 

init 

The file name and path to the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor 

initialization file. 

user string root The username to log in to the ObjectServer. 

version None Displays version information about the Netcool/Webtop Map 

Editor and then exits. 


eventlist.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Chapter 8: The Active Event List 

This chapter introduces the active event list, an interactive table view that displays the alerts contained 

within an ObjectServer. It describes how the active event list can be configured using the tools in the 

Administration page, and used to manage Netcool/OMNIbus alerts. 

It also provides descriptions of the lightweight event list, and the tableview. 



AEL Administration on page 169 

Applying Filters to the AEL on page 184 

Applying Views to the AEL on page 195 

Tool and Menu Administration on page 202 

Setting AEL Preferences on page 215 

LEL Administration on page 226 

Tableview Administration on page 233 




The active event list (AEL) is a Java utility that provides an interactive table view of network alert data, and 

is used by Netcool/Webtop operators to address problems relating to faults. 

An alert is created when the ObjectServer receives an event, alarm, message, or data item. By default, a single 

alert comprises 26 fields of information held within a row of an ObjectServer database table. 

Note: Netcool/OMNIbus version 3.6 and higher contains more than 26 fields of alert data. 

The manner in which alert data is displayed in the AEL is controlled by predefined filters, views, and entities. 

Filters enable you to choose which rows from the ObjectServer alerts.status table to display, whereas 

views enable you to choose which fields within a row to display. Entities allow you to group these 

configurations together. 

Desktop clients have access to Filter Builder and View Builder components. These tools can be used to 

override entities, and apply user-defined filters and views to the AEL. In addition, administrators can provide 

all Desktop clients with publicly accessible filter and view libraries for them to use if they require. 

After alert information is presented within the AEL display area, you can conduct various administrative 

actions on the table entries. Network event information can be examined, and alerts acknowledged and 

assigned to the appropriate network management personnel. In addition, journals attached to alerts can be 

modified to record these actions, and administrative tools within AEL can be executed based on alert data. 

The menus and tools available to users are created within the Administration page. 

The AEL is comparable in design and behavior to the Netcool/OMNIbus event list and can be started either 

by clicking a linked active object in a map, clicking a SmartPage applet embedded in a page, or accessing a 

page containing an embedded AEL applet. 

This chapter describes how to configure and use AEL features and tools to manage alerts, and it provides 

information on how to configure the display characteristics of the AEL using the Preferences window. 


8.2 AEL Administration 

AEL Administration 

Interactive alert management is characterized by two-way communication with the ObjectServer. Alerts are 

viewed by operators, and are then addressed. When connected to Netcool/Webtop, all interactive alert 

management activities take place from within the AEL window. From here you can monitor, prioritize, and 

address network alerts. 

This section offers an introduction to alert management by describing how to use the tools and features 

contained within the AEL. The appearance and configuration of the columns and rows within the AEL 

display area are controlled by the Netcool/Webtop administrator. By constraining the ObjectServer fields 

and filtering incoming alert data, administrators can determine what information is initially presented to 

users. This is useful as network events typically create many alerts that are not of immediate importance to 

the personnel monitoring the system. 

Note: Only Desktop clients can view the AEL. In addition, to use SQL tools in an AEL, the user must be 

server validated with appropriate privileges on the corresponding ObjectServer. For more information about 

user access rights, refer to Users and Access Control Lists on page 115. 

To access an AEL: 

View a web page containing an AEL applet. The procedure and reference information for creating 

pages with an embedded AEL applet using SmartPage tags is described in Appendix B: SmartPages 

and Templates on page 343. 

Launch the AEL from a linked active object in a map. The procedure for creating maps and 

configuring active object link associations is described in Chapter 7: Maps on page 143. 

Click a hyperlink containing a properly constructed AEL query-string. You can apply an entity 

directly to an AEL through the browser address bar by entering a URL containing a query-string of 

the following format: 

protocol://server:port/AELView?entity=entityname&datasource=datasourcename 

In the above URL, entityname is a predefined entity created within the Administration page as 

described in this chapter, and datasourcename is an ObjectServer datasource defined in the 

Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration file. If you do not add a 

datasource entry to the query-string, the default datasource is used. 

You can also apply transient entities directly to an AEL using the URL. For more information about 

this, refer to Entity Administration on page 131. 



AEL Window Overview 

An example AEL window is shown in Figure 35. An overview of each AEL feature is provided in Table 28 

on page 171. 

1 2 3 

4 

Figure 35: Example Active Event List 

5 6 7 8 


Table 28: Active Event List Overview (1 of 5) 


1 Menu bar The menu bar contains the following menus: 


File - when a standalone AEL is started from a map or monitor box, you can use 

this menu to close the AEL window. 

For more information on the File menu, refer to File Menu on page 175. 

Edit - in this menu you can select or deselect all entries in the AEL display area, or 

open the AEL Preferences window. 

For more information on the Edit menu, refer to Edit Menu on page 175. 

View - in this menu you can freeze the contents of some (or all) of the AELs 

displayed, refresh the AEL display, or conduct searches on expressions contained 

within the AEL data fields. 

For more information on the View menu, refer to View Menu on page 175. 

Alerts - in addition to providing information about selected alerts, this menu 

contains the components for creating journal entries, and the SQL tools used to 

modify alert data. Information on how to add SQL tool entries to this menu is 

provided in Tool and Menu Administration on page 202. This menu is only 

available to server validated users. 

For more information on the Alerts menu, refer to Alerts Menu on page 177. 

Tools - contains the CGI or local tools created by a Netcool/Webtop administrator 

for use in alert management. Information on how to add tool entries to this menu 

is provided in Tool and Menu Administration on page 202. 

For more information on the Tools menu, refer to Tools Menu on page 183. 

Help - provides you with contextual and general links to the online help system. 





2 Tool bar The tool bar contains shortcut buttons for routine actions, and drop-down menus for 

filters and views. From left to right in the AEL, these are described below: 

Button Name Overview 

Refresh event data Manually refreshes the AEL display 

area. 

Freeze updates to this 

window 

The AEL is refreshed automatically at 

predefined intervals to show all 

incoming alerts from the ObjectServer. 

Freezes the contents of the AEL 

display area so no further updates take 

place. 

Select/deselect all rows Selects or deselects all rows in the AEL 

display area. 

Find in event list Displays the Find window, which is 

used to search the text displayed in 

the AEL display area. 





2 Tool bar Filter Builder Displays the AEL Filter Builder window, 

in which you can create and store the 

filters applied to the AEL from the 

Filter Menu. 

This feature can only be used by 

Netcool/Webtop administrators and 

Desktop clients. 

Filter menu Displays the menu containing all local 

filters associated with the user. You 

can apply a filter to the AEL data in the 

display area by selecting an entry from 

this menu. 




View Builder Displays the AEL Filter Builder window, 

in which you can create and store the 

filters applied to the AEL from the 

Filter Menu. 




View menu Displays the menu containing all local 

views associated with the user. You 

can apply a view to the AEL data in the 

display area by selecting an entry from 

this menu. 




Display Help Displays the online help system 

associated with the AEL. 

3 Column headings The column headings displayed in the AEL represent fields from the 

alerts.status table in the ObjectServer, and their default display names are 

configured using the Entity View Editor in the Netcool/Webtop Administration page. 





4 Top Condition bar When ael.top-n.value in server.init is set to a value greater than 0, this bar 

displays the data constraints applied to the AEL. Refer to server.init on page 83 for 

more information about the ael.top-n.value property. 

5 Display area The display area is composed of rows and columns of alert data. AEL rows contain 

alerts that match any filter applied to the alert data. 

To manage alerts, users select the alert entries in the display area. The different ways 

in which alerts are selected are described below. 

Single Selection To select a single alert, click the row 

you require. 

Multiple Selection To make a random selection, click in 

the first row you require, then hold 

down the Control key and click the 

other rows in any order. Continue to 

hold down the Control key, if you have 

to scroll through the AEL to find the 

rows that you want. 

Multiple Consecutive Selection To select a number of consecutive 

rows, click in the first row you require, 

then hold down the Shift key and click 

the last row in the selection. Continue 

to hold down the Shift key if you have 

to scroll to the next row that you want. 

In UNIX you can also select a number 

of rows in the AEL consecutively, by 

dragging the mouse down from the 

first to the last required row. 

Select or Deselect All Alerts To select all alerts, click Edit→Select 

All, or press Control-S. 

If you want to deselect all alerts, click 

Edit→Deselect All, or press Control-E. 

6 Distribution status bar The distribution status bar contains color-coded severity indicator boxes. Clicking a 

severity box filters the row data in the display area to only display alerts of the 

corresponding severity. You can remove this filter by clicking the All button. 

7 Status bar The status bar displays AEL information such as how many alerts match the current 

filter condition or were processed by an operation. The current Netcool/Webtop user 

and server names are also displayed. 


File Menu 

Edit Menu 

View Menu 




8 All Events button This button removes any quick filters applied to the data, and resets the display area 

to show all ObjectServer alerts read by Netcool/Webtop by the ObjectServer. For 

more information about quick filtering, see Using the Quick Filter on page 182. 

The File menu only contains the item Close. This item is only available when an AEL is launched from a 

map or monitor box applet, and is displayed in its own window. The Close option is not available if the AEL 

applet is generated by a SmartPage tag and is embedded in a web page. 

The Edit menu contains the following items: 

Select All selects all row entries in the AEL. 

De-select All deselects all selected row entries in the AEL window. 

Filters displays the Filter Builder. This component is only available to Desktop clients and is 

described in Applying Filters to the AEL on page 184. 

Views displays the View Builder. This component is only available to Desktop clients and is described 

in Applying Views to the AEL on page 195. This component is only available to Desktop clients. 

Preferences displays the AEL Preferences window. This component is described in Setting AEL 

Preferences on page 215. 

For a non-administrative user to have access to the Edit menu and its entries, certain permissions must be 

granted within their user profile. In addition, only Desktop clients can access the Filter Builder and View 

Builder. For further information about user privileges in the AEL, refer to User Administration on page 117. 

The items contained in the View menu are shown below: 

Refresh 

Freeze 

Freeze All 

Find 

The features conferred by these items are described in the following sections. 



Refreshing the AEL 

You can use the Refresh menu option to refresh the AEL. The AEL is refreshed automatically at predefined 

intervals to show all incoming alerts from the ObjectServer. If the refresh interval is too long you can modify 

the refresh rate. For a non-administrative user to do this they must have the necessary permissions granted 

in their user profile. For more information on changing the refresh rate, see Refresh Tab on page 217. 

To refresh the AEL manually between automatic refresh updates, select View→Refresh, or press Control-R. 

Freezing the AEL 

You can use the Freeze menu item to freeze the contents of the AEL. Freezing the alerts enables you to take 

a snapshot of the alert status before it is changed by further updates from the ObjectServer. Although alert 

freezing does not prevent you from making changes using the tools in the Alerts menu, the updates 

conferred are not displayed until the display is unfrozen. 

To freeze the contents of the AEL list, select View→Freeze, or press Control-Z. A check is displayed against 

the Freeze menu item to indicate that the option has been selected. 

Freezing Multiple AELs 

You can use the Freeze All menu item to freeze more than one AEL at a time, and take snapshots of any 

AELs you have open on your browser. Alert freezing does not prevent you from making changes using the 

tools in the Alerts menu. 

To freeze the contents of AELs open in your browser, select View→Freeze All, or press Control-F. A check 

is displayed against the Freeze All menu item to indicate that the option has been selected. 


Alerts Menu 

Using the Find Window 


You can use the Find window to search the text displayed in the AEL. To open the Find window select 

Edit→Find, or press Control+Shift-F. The Find window is shown in Figure 36. 

Figure 36: The Find Window 

To search the AEL: 

1. In the Column section, select the column name that contains the value that you are interested in. 

2. Enter a text or number in the Value field. 

3. Select the type of search by clicking one of the following radio buttons: 

– Exact Match searches for the exact value you have entered in the Value field. 

– Regular Expression searches using a wildcard. For example, use oubl* to find oubliette. 

– Sub String searches for the value as part of a longer string. 

4. Click Find. The first alert that matches the search criteria you entered in the Find window is selected 

in the AEL. 

5. Click Next to find the next matching alert. 

The Alerts menu contains a number of tools that enable you to interact with and manipulate alert data. The 

tools provided by default are: 

Acknowledged 

Deacknowledged 



Prioritize 

Take Ownership 

Assign 

Group Assign 

Delete 

Information 

Journal 

Quick Filter 

The Alerts menu is a configurable menu and you can add your own tools to it if required. To do this you 

must use the Tools Editor to create the tool you want to add, and then add it to the Alerts menu using the 

Menus Editor. For further information see the Tool and Menu Administration on page 202. 

The following section describes the default tools, and how to use them. 

Acknowledging an Alert 

Use the Acknowledge menu item to acknowledge one or more alerts. To acknowledge an alert, click the row 

in the AEL to select the alert you want to acknowledge and select Alerts→Acknowledged. 

Deacknowledging an Alert 

Use the Deacknowledge menu item to deacknowledge alerts that have previously been acknowledged. 

To deacknowledge an alert, click the row in the AEL for an alert that has already been acknowledged and 

select Alerts→Deacknowledged. 

Prioritizing an Alert 

Use the Prioritize menu option to prioritize an alert based on its severity. Each severity has its own color, 

making it easy to distinguish it from another severity displayed in the AEL. The following severity states are 

used to categorize alerts: 

Critical 

Major 

Minor 

Warning 

Intermediate 

Clear 



To change the priority of an alert, click the row in the AEL for the alert that you want to prioritize, select 

Alerts→Prioritize and select an alert priority from Prioritize sub-menu. 

Taking Ownership of an Alert 

Use the Take Ownership item to take ownership of an alert. You take ownership of an alert when it has been 

assigned to you for action, or if you are in a position to resolve it. To take ownership of an alert, click the 

row in the AEL and select Alerts→Take Ownership. 

Assigning an Alert to an Individual 

Use the Assign item to assign an alert to a particular person. If there are a large number of names to choose 

from, the menu structure may include sub-menus that contain names within alphabetical ranges (for 

example, A.....G, H.....M, and so forth). An example of this menu option is shown in Figure 37. 

Figure 37: Alerts Assign Menu 

To assign an alert, click the row in the AEL and select Alerts→Assign. If the name you want is grouped in 

a sub-menu below the Assign item (for example, A.....G), open the sub-menu, then select the user’s name. 

Assigning an Alert to a Group 

Use the Group Assign item to assign an alert to a group of people. To assign an alert to a group, click the 

row in the AEL for the alert that you want to assign, select Alerts→Group Assign, then select the name of 

the group. For example Network Support. 

Deleting an Alert 

Use the Delete menu item to delete an alert from the AEL window. To delete an alert from a group, click 

the row in the AEL for the alert that you want to delete, and select Alerts→Delete. 

Note: By default, usage of the Delete menu item is controlled by its associated ACL, and only members of 

the restricted ACL group can use it. For more information about tool ACLs, refer to 8.5 Tool and 

Menu Administration on page 202. 



Viewing Information in the Alert Status Window 

The Alert Status window is used to view details about the alert data in the AEL.To open the window, select 

Alerts→Information. Alternatively, press Control-I. 

For a non-administrative user to be able to access the information in this window, the permissions for Show 

basic event information must be selected in their user profile. For further information see User Editor on 

page 118. 

The Alert Status window contains the following tabs: 

Fields 

Detail 

Journal 

The Fields tab is displayed by default in the Alert Status window. Access to the Alert Status window is 

determined on an individual user basis. 

The Fields Tab 

The Fields tab allows you to view information recorded about a selected alert in the alerts.status 

table.The Alerts Status window is shown in Figure 38. 

Figure 38: Alert Status - Fields 



The Detail Tab 

The Detail tab allows you to view information held about a selected alert in the alerts.details table. 

The Detail tab is displayed as shown in Figure 39. 

Figure 39: Alert Status - Detail 

Access to the Detail tab is determined on an individual user basis. For a non-administrative user to be able 

to view the Detail tab, the permissions for both the Show basic event information and Show event details 

must be selected in their user profile. For further information, refer to User Editor on page 118. 



The Journal Tab 

The Journal tab allows you to view and add information about an alert in the form of a journal. Journal 

entries are stored in the alerts.journal table in the ObjectServer, in date and time order. You can 

also add your own journal entries in the Journal tab. The Journal tab is shown in Figure 40. 

Figure 40: Alert Status - Journal 

Access to the Journal tab is determined on an individual user basis. For a non-administrative user to be able 

to view the Journal tab, the permissions for both the Show basic event information and Show journals must 

be selected in their user profile. For further information, refer to User Administration on page 117. 

To add your own journal entry to the alerts.journal table: 

1. In the Journal tab click the Add to Journal button. The Journal Information window is displayed. 

This is an editable window, into which you can enter your own comments. 

2. Enter the journal details you want, then click Apply to save the entries you have made. 

3. Click Close to exit the Journal Information window and return to the Journal tab. 

Using the Quick Filter 

Use the Quick Filter menu option to apply a quick filter to a specific cell in the AEL. 


Tools Menu 


To use the quick filter, click a particular cell that you want to apply the filter to and select Alerts→Quick 

Filter. Select from one of the following sub-menus: 

Equals shows all rows with the same field value as the selected cell. 

Not Equals shows all rows with a different field value from the selected cell. 

Greater Than shows all rows with a greater field value than selected cell. 

Greater Than or Equals shows all rows with a field value greater than or equal to the selected cell. 

Less Than shows all rows with a lesser field value than selected cell. 

Less Than or Equals shows all rows with a field value less than or equal to the selected cell. 

Like shows all rows that contains the same string as the selected cell. 

Not Like shows all rows that do not contain the same string as the selected cell. 

Off cancels the filter. 

The filter you have chosen is applied to alerts in the AEL. If you select Alerts→Quick Filter→Off, the filter 

is removed. 

The Tools menu is a configurable menu to which you can add your own tools and sub-menus. For further 

information about this menu, refer to Tool and Menu Administration on page 202. 

Smart Matching 

Smart Matching is an additional feature that can be used for filtering when you are working with the AEL. 

To select all alerts that match a particular field value press the Shift key (Control+Alt on Windows) and click 

the left mouse button over the field you want to match. 



8.3 Applying Filters to the AEL 

The AEL contains a Filter Builder component that allows administrators and Desktop clients to apply local 

filters to the AEL. By default, the data displayed in the AEL is governed by the entity defined in either the 

SmartPage tag or map object that corresponds to the AEL. For more information about entities and default 

filters see Chapter 6: Using Entities on page 129. By using the Filter Builder, administrators and Desktop 

clients can override the filter properties conferred by an entity. This section describes how to create, copy, 

modify, and store filters for use in the AEL. 


The Filter Builder is an HTML utility used to construct filters that are dynamically applied to AEL data. 

The Filter Builder page (basic mode) is shown in Figure 41. 

Figure 41: The Filter Builder 


Applying Filters to the AEL 

The Available Filters column on the left-hand side of the Filter Builder page displays a drop-down menu 

listing all of the filter groups, and the filters they contain. When you select a group from the menu, the filter 

list below updates accordingly. 

The contents of the Available Filters drop-down menu is dependent on client type. If you are logged into 

Netcool/Webtop as a Desktop client, the default group in the menu is My Filters. You can add a new filter 

to this group either by creating a new filter, or by copying a filter from the Global Filters group—a public 

group containing various generic filters provided by an administrator. 

If you are logged into Netcool/Webtop as an administrator, you can add or copy filters from any group to 

any group. For example, you can copy filters to: 

The Global Filters group—whereupon the filter is made visible to all Desktop clients. 

The My Filters group—whereupon the filter is stored in your user profile. 

Filter groups belonging to individual Desktop clients—whereupon the filter is made available to that 

client, and remains stored in their user profile. 

Filters can be created in the Filter Builder by using the basic mode, where you specify filter conditions in 

constrained drop-down menus and text fields; or by using the advanced mode, where you enter all the 

ObjectServer SQL syntax into a text field. An overview of each method is provided in Table 29. 

Table 29: Filter Builder - Construction Options 

Mode Description 

Basic Provides you with a page containing components that allow you to construct your filter automatically. If 

you use basic mode to construct your filter, you can view the resulting SQL in the text field in the advanced 

mode display area. 

Advanced Provides you with a text field into which you can enter raw ObjectServer SQL. Filters created within the 

advanced mode display area cannot be expressed by the fields contained in the basic display. 

Note: Once you have saved a filter created in advanced mode, the Basic tab is removed from the 

configuration pane for that filter. 

Filters can be deleted by selecting them from the Available Filters list and clicking the Delete Filter button 

(X) in the tool bar. Administrators can delete global and any Desktop client filters. Desktop clients can only 

delete their own filters. 

The Filter Builder is started from the AEL by clicking the Filter Builder button on the AEL tool bar. 

Administrative users can also access the Filter Builder from the link provided under the Filters & Views 

menu in the Content tab of the Administration page. 



Tip: To add a hyperlink to the Filter Builder from a web page, use the following address: 

protocol://server:port/startFB.do 

Creating a Filter in Basic Mode 

To create a filter using the basic mode features: 

1. If it is not already selected, choose My Filters from the Available Filters drop-down menu and click 

the New Filter button on the tool bar. The page updates and you are presented with the filter 

configuration pane. 

2. In the Filter Name field, enter a name for the filter. In the adjacent datasource drop-down menu, 

select the datasource on which you want to base this filter. 

Note: The datasource chosen specifies the fields available. The default datasource corresponds to the 

default ObjectServer specified in the Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration 

file. For more information about default datasources, see Datasource Configuration on page 67. 

3. Enter a brief description of the filter in the Description text field. This step is optional. 

4. Click the Basic tab. By default, the basic display contains one row of drop-down menus under the 

Field and Comparator headings, and a text field under the Value heading. In combination, these 

components form a filter-row, shown in Figure 42. 

Figure 42: Filter Builder - Filter Row 

The filter-row components are described below: 

– The Field drop-down menu contains all the fields available within the specified datasource. 

– The Comparator drop-down menu contains a list of SQL comparison operators. You can use 

these operators to compare numeric and string values for equality and inequality. In the Filter 

Builder these operators compare field data against the numeric or text values entered in the 

Value field. The operators are described in Table 30. 

Table 30: Filter Builder Comparison Operators (1 of 2) 

Operator Description 

= Tests for equality. 


Table 30: Filter Builder Comparison Operators (2 of 2) 

Operator Description 

 

!= 

< 

> 

= 

Tests for inequality. 


Tests for greater than (>), less than (=) or less than or equal 

to (


Table 31: Pattern-Matching Metacharacters (2 of 3) 

Pattern-Matching 

Metacharacter 

+ Matches one or more 

instances of the preceding 

character or character 

pattern. 

? Matches zero or one 

instance of the preceding 

character or character 

pattern. 

$ Matches the end of the 

string. 

^ Matches the beginning of 

the string. 

. Matches any single 

character. 

Description Example 

[abcd] Matches any characters in 

the square brackets or in 

the range of characters 

separated by a hyphen (-), 

such as [0-9]. 

[^abcd] Matches any character 

except those in the square 

brackets or in the range of 

characters separated by a 

hyphen (-), such as 

[0-9]. 

() Indicates that the 

characters in the 

parenthesis should be 

treated as a character 

pattern. 

| Matches one of the 

characters or character 

patterns on either side of 

the vertical bar. 

The pattern goo+ matches my goodness and my 

gooodness, but not my godness. 

The pattern goo? matches my godness and my 

goodness, but not my gooodness or my 

gdness. 

The pattern end$ matches the end, but not the 

ending. 

The pattern ^severity matches severity 

level 5, but not The severity is 5. 

The pattern b.at matches baat, bBat, and b4at, 

but not bat or bB4at. 

^[A-Za-z]+$ matches any string that contains 

only upper or lower case letter characters. 

[^0-9] matches any string that does not contain 

any numeric characters. 

A(boo)+Z matches AbooZ, AboobooZ, and 

AbooboobooZ, but not AboZ or AboooZ. 

A(B|C)D matches ABD and ACD, but not AD, ABCD, 

ABBD, or ACCD. 


Table 31: Pattern-Matching Metacharacters (3 of 3) 

Pattern-Matching 

Metacharacter 

\ The backslash escape 

character indicates that the 

metacharacter following 

should be treated as a 

regular character. The 

metacharacters in this 

table require a backslash 

before them if they appear 

in a regular expression. 


5. Use the filter-row components to specify the selection criteria you want this filter to apply to the 

datasource. For example, to create a filter that displays all alerts with a Node field name of node1: 

– In the Field drop-down select Node. 

– In the Comparator drop-down select =. 

– In the Value text field, enter node1. 

To match an opening square bracket, followed by 

any digits or spaces, followed by a closed bracket, 

use the regular expression: 

\[[0-9 ]*\]. 

6. Once you have populated each filter-row, you can add additional rows either by selecting the Value 

text field and pressing Enter, or by clicking the Add Field button. 

To remove a filter-row, click the Remove (X) button to the left of the Add Field button. An example 

of multiple filter-rows is shown in Figure 43. 

Figure 43: Filter Builder - Multiple Filter Rows 

Description Example 



7. The Match radio buttons located above the filter-rows determine how the select criteria within each 

filter-row combine in aggregate. You can combine filter-rows by selecting either the And or Or radio 

button. 

An and expression is true only if all of its inputs are true. An or expression is true if any of its inputs 

are true. For example: 

– When the And radio button is selected, the filter-rows shown in Figure 43 create the following 

SQL statement: 

SELECT * from alerts.status where Node = ’node1’ and Severity > 4 and Summary 

like ’alert on .*’ 

– When the Or radio button is selected, the filter-rows shown in Figure 43 create the following 

SQL statement: 

SELECT * from alerts.status where Node = ’node1’ or Severity > 4 or Summary 

like ’alert on .*’ 

Once you have created a filter in basic mode, you can preview the literal SQL where clause output 

by clicking the Advanced tab. 

Note: For brevity, the SELECT * from alerts.status where statement is omitted from 

the advanced display—all filters are automatically prefixed with this instruction. 

8. Click the Metric tab. The metric configuration pane is displayed. If the AEL is connected to a 

monitor box map object, you can specify the metric information the applet displays by modifying the 

drop-down menus on this page. For more information about this procedure, refer to Setting the Filter 

Metric Value on page 191. 

9. Click Save to save the filter, or click OK to save the filter and close the Filter Builder. 


Creating a Filter in Advanced Mode 

To create a filter using the advanced mode features of the Filter Builder: 


1. If it is not already selected, choose My Filters from the Available Filters drop-down menu and click 

the New Filter button on the tool bar. The page updates and you are presented with the filter 


2. In the Filter Name field, enter a name for the filter. In the adjacent datasource drop-down menu, 

select the datasource on which you want to base this filter. 

Note: The default datasource corresponds to the default ObjectServer specified in the 

Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration file. For more information about 

default datasources, see Datasource Configuration on page 67. 

3. Enter a brief description of the filter in the Description text field. This step is optional. 

4. Click the Advanced tab. The advanced display contains the SQL Where clause text field. You can 

enter any valid ObjectServer SQL where clause in this field. 

Note: For brevity, the SELECT * from alerts.status where statement is omitted from 

the advanced display—all filters are automatically prefixed with this instruction. 

Table 30 on page 186, and Table 31 on page 187 provide details of the comparison operators and 

pattern-matching metacharacters permitted in this text field. The Netcool/OMNIbus Administration 

Guide provides a complete reference for ObjectServer SQL syntax. 

5. Click the Metric tab. The metric configuration pane is displayed. If the filter is viewed in a monitor 

box on a map, you can specify the metric information the applet displays by modifying the 

drop-down menus on this page. For more information about this procedure, refer to Setting the Filter 

Metric Value on page 191. 

6. Click Save to save the filter, or click OK to save the filter and close the Filter Builder. 

Setting the Filter Metric Value 

A metric is an aggregate statistic that can be derived from the alerts that match a filter to display a useful 

figure. For example, a metric could be an average, count, or sum of all field values. 

If a filter is displayed using a monitor box linked to an AEL, the metric information obtained from the set 

of alerts that match this filter is used for this display. 



In the Filter Builder configuration pane, click the Metric tab. The metric configuration components are 


Figure 44: Filter Builder - Metric Components 

The text field on the left contains the title for the metric entry on the monitor box. The drop-down menus 

to the right of this field contain the aggregate functions, and all the fields available within the specified 

datasource. The metric measurements are shown in Table 32. 

Table 32: Filter Builder - Metric Measurements 

Option Type of Measurement 

Average Returns the average value of the selected field for all records that match the filter. 

Count Returns a count of all the records that match the filter. The selected field is not used for this calculation. 

Sum Returns the sum of the selected field for all records that match the filter. 

Minimum Returns the lowest value of the selected field in records that match the filter. 

Maximum Returns the highest value of the selected field in records that match the filter. 

Populate the text fields and drop-down menus with the desired metric criteria, and click Save. Click OK to 

close the Filter Builder. 

Applying a Filter to the AEL 

Once a filter has been created in the Filter Builder, you can apply it to the AEL by selecting it from the AEL 

Filter menu drop-down menu—this list contains all the filters held in the My Filters group. Once selected, 

the AEL rows update accordingly. 

Copying a Filter from Another Filter Group 

Desktop clients can copy filters from the Global filter group to the My Filters group. To copy a filter: 

1. If it is not already selected, choose Global Filters from the Available Filters drop-down menu. 

2. From the filter list, select the filter you want to copy and click the Copy Filter button. The page 

updates and a copy of the selected filter is displayed. 

3. Make any modifications necessary to the filter configuration, and click Save. The filter is saved to the 

My Filters group, and is now available for use in the Filter drop-down menu in the AEL. 



Administrators can use the Filter Builder to copy filters from any location to any destination. They can 

deploy filters directly to individual Desktop clients, or copy filters to and from the public Global Filters 

group, or the My Filters group. In addition, filters can be allocated to members of specific ACLs. 

For example, to copy a filter from the administrator’s personal filter group to the public group: 

1. If it is not already selected, choose My Filters from the Available Filters drop-down menu. 

2. From the filter list, select the filter you want to copy and click the Copy Filter button. The page 

updates and you are presented with the Filter Builder - Copy to page. 

3. The Filter Builder - Copy to page contains a grouped list all of the possible filter recipients available in 

Netcool/Webtop. An example recipient list is shown in Figure 45. 

Figure 45: Filter Builder - Recipient List Example 

The above example contains a number of different recipient categories: 

– Public - contains one group, global. If the corresponding check box is selected, all 

Netcool/Webtop users are able to view and copy the selected filter from this group. 

– Users - lists all the user accounts present on Netcool/Webtop, including the root user. If the 

check box corresponding to a user is selected, the selected filter is copied directly to their 

personal My Filters group. 

– ACLs - lists all the access control lists present on Netcool/Webtop. If the check box 

corresponding to an ACL is selected, the selected filter is copied to the personal My Filters 

group of all users who are a member of that ACL. 

Select the global check box and click OK. The page updates and you are presented with a copy of the 

chosen filter. 

4. Make any modifications necessary to the filter configuration, and click Save. The filter is saved to the 

global group. Users can now copy the filter from this group to their personal My Filters group. 



Viewing Your Filters 

Administrators can view the filters associated with their user profile by clicking on the Display My Filters 

link provided under the Filters & Views menu in the Content tab of the Administration page. You are 

presented with a map page that contains a grid of monitor box objects corresponding to all of the filters 

contained in your My Filters filter group. An example is shown in Figure 46. 

Figure 46: Example Filter Page 

You can create a page like this for your users by adding the insert:FILTERPAGE SmartPage tag to a 

web page. For more information about filter pages, refer to Inserting a Filter Page on page 350. 


8.4 Applying Views to the AEL 

View Builder 

Applying Views to the AEL 

The AEL contains a View Builder component that allows administrators and Desktop clients to apply local 

views to the AEL. By default, the data displayed in the AEL is governed by the entity defined in either the 

SmartPage tag or map object that corresponds to the AEL. For more information about entities and default 

views see Chapter 6: Using Entities on page 129. By using the View Builder, administrators and Desktop 

clients can override the view properties conferred by an entity. This section describes how to create or copy, 

and store your own view for use in the AEL. 

The View Builder is an HTML utility used to construct views that are dynamically applied to AEL data. The 

View Builder page is shown in Figure 47. 

Figure 47: The View Builder 



The Available Views column on the left-hand side of the View Builder page displays a drop-down menu 

comprising all of the view groups, and the views they contain. When you select a group from the menu, the 

view list below updates accordingly. 

The contents of the Available Views drop-down menu is dependent on client type. If you are logged into 

Netcool/Webtop as a Desktop client, the default group in the menu is My Views. You can add a new view 

to this group either by creating a new view, or by copying a view from the Global Views group—a public 

group containing various generic views provided by an administrator. 

If you are logged into Netcool/Webtop as an administrator, you can add or copy views from any group to 

any group. For example, you can copy filters to: 

The Global Views group—whereupon the view is made visible to all Desktop clients. 

The My Views group—whereupon the view is stored in your user profile. 

View groups belonging to individual Desktop clients—whereupon the view is made available to that 

client, and remains stored in their user profile. 

The View Builder is started from the AEL by clicking the View Builder button on the AEL tool bar. 

Administrative users can also access the View Builder from the link provided under the Filters & Views 

menu in the Content tab of the Administration page. 

Tip: To add a hyperlink to the View Builder from a web page, use the following address: 

protocol://server:port/startVB.do 

Creating a View 

To create a view using the View Builder: 

1. If it is not already selected, choose My Views from the Available Views drop-down menu and click 

the New View button on the tool bar. The page updates and you are presented with the view 


2. In the View Name field, enter a name for the view. In the adjacent datasource drop-down menu, 

select the datasource on which you want to base this view. If you subsequently change the selected 

datasource, the view is reset. 

Note: The datasource chosen specifies the fields available, and the default datasource corresponds to 

the default ObjectServer specified in the Netcool/Webtop datasource 

configuration file. For more information about datasources, refer to Datasource 


The following sections describe how to configure the view. 


Adding or Removing Column 

To add a new column to, or remove a column, from the view: 

1. In the Available Fields list, select the field you want to appear as a new column. 


2. Click the Add >> button (located to the right of the Available Fields list). The selected field is added 

to the Event List View list. To add all the available fields, click the Add All >> button. 

3. To remove a column from a view, select a field in the Event List View list and click the Remove >> 

button (located to the right of the Available Fields list). The selected field is returned to the Available 

Fields list. To remove all the available fields, click the


Changing the Order of Columns 

To change the order of columns within the view: 

1. Select an entry from the Event List View list. 

2. Click a direction button (located to the right of the Event List View list). The buttons are described 

in Table 33. 

Table 33: View Editor - Column Order Buttons 

Button Action 

Click the Top button to move the field to the top of the list. The field is displayed as the column furthest 

to the left in the view. 

Click the Up button to move the selected field up one position in the list. The field is displayed in the 

view as the column to the left of the one listed below it in the Event List View list. 

Click the Down button to move the selected field down one position in the list. The field is displayed in 

the view as the column to the right of the one listed above it in the Event List View list. 

Click the Bottom button to move the selected field to the bottom of the list. The field is displayed as the 

column furthest to the right in the view. 

3. Click Save to save the view, or click OK to save the view and close the View Builder. 

Changing the Sorting Precedence 

The field at the top of the Sorted By list has the highest precedence when sorting. If you add a second field 

to the list, and the first field contains a number of identical entries, the second field is used to sort within 

those entries. 


To change the sort order of columns in the view: 

1. In the Available Sort Fields list, select a field. 


2. Click the Add >> button (located to the right of the Available Sort Fields list). The selected field is 

added to the Sorted By list. 

Selecting an entry in the Sorted By list and clicking


To change the direction of sorting within a field: 

1. In the Sorted By list, select a field. 

2. Set the sort direction by selecting Ascending or Descending from the Sort drop-down menu. 

3. Click Save to save the view, or click OK to save the view and close the View Builder. 

Applying a View to the AEL 

Once a view has been created in the Filter Builder, you can apply it to the AEL by selecting it from the AEL 

View menu drop-down menu—this list contains all the views held in the My Groups group. Once selected, 

the AEL rows update accordingly. 

Copying a View from Another View Group 

Desktop clients can copy views from the Global view list to the My Views group. To copy a view: 

1. If it is not already selected, choose Global Views from the Available Views drop-down menu. 

2. From the view list, select the view you want to copy and click the Copy View button. The page 

updates and you are presented with a copy of the chosen view. 

3. Make any modifications necessary to the view configuration, and click Save. The view is saved to the 

My Views group, and is now available for use in the View drop-down menu in the AEL. 

Administrators can use the View Builder to move views from any location to any destination. They can 

deploy views directly to individual Desktop clients, or copy views to the public Global Views group. In 

addition, views can be allocated to members of specific ACLs. 

For example, to copy a view from the administrator’s personal view group to the public group: 

1. If it is not already selected, choose My Views from the Available Views drop-down menu. 

2. From the view list, select the view you want to copy and click the Copy View button. The page 

updates and you are presented with the View Builder - Copy to page. 



3. The View Builder - Copy to page contains all of the possible view recipient groups available in 

Netcool/Webtop. An example recipient list is shown in Figure 48. 

Figure 48: View Builder - Recipient List Example 

The above example contains a number of different recipient categories: 

– Public - contains one group, global. If the corresponding check box is selected, all 

Netcool/Webtop users are able to view and copy the selected view from this group. 

– Users - lists all the user accounts present on Netcool/Webtop, including the root user. If the 

check box corresponding to a user is selected, the selected view is copied directly to their 

personal My Views group. 

– ACLs - lists all the access control lists present on Netcool/Webtop. If the check box 

corresponding to an ACL is selected, the selected view is copied to the personal My Views group 

of all users who are a member of that ACL. 

Select the global check box and click OK. The page updates and you are presented with a copy of the 

chosen view. 

4. Make any modifications necessary to the view configuration, and click Save. The view is saved to the 

global group. Users can now copy the view from this group to their personal My Views group. 



8.5 Tool and Menu Administration 

The Administration page contains editor components that allow you to create and configure the tools and 

tool menus used by clients connected to the AEL. 

Tools can be either predefined common gateway interface (CGI) tools which are executed as scripts on the 

Netcool/Webtop server, SQL tools that configure or manipulate alert data, or command line tools which 

invoke applications that reside locally on the client system. 

Each of these tools are executed from user-defined menus in the AEL, and their operation is described in 

Table 35. 

Table 35: AEL Tools 

Tool Operation 

CGI/URL Executes common gateway interface (CGI) scripts stored on the Netcool/Webtop server against 

selected alerts. In addition, URL actions can also be invoked. For example, the tool can act as a 

hyperlink or post data to a web page. CGI scripts are stored locally in the cgi-bin directory of the 


The procedure for creating this type of tool is described in CGI and URL Tools on page 203. 

SQL Executes SQL instructions that modify the data stored in the alerts.status and 

alerts.journal tables. They are commonly used by operators to designate the ownership or 

severity status of selected alerts. 

Because SQL tools can be configured to modify an ObjectServer table, only Desktop clients can 

execute them. In addition, SQL tools can only be executed against datasources to which you have 

access—being server validated against one datasource does not entitle you to conduct actions 

against another. 

The procedure for creating this type of tool is described in SQL Tools on page 206. 

Command Line Executes within a shell on the local client system. Because command line tools activate applications 

that are remote to the Netcool/Webtop server, they operate under the assumption that the target 

applications are stored in a standard location. 

The procedure for creating this type of tool is described in Command Line Tools on page 208. 

The tools presented to clients are constrained by ACL rules, and users must be given the appropriate 

privileges to use particular utilities. These privileges are established from within the Tools Editor pages. ACLs 

are described in Access Control List Editor on page 126. 

The links to the Tools Editor and Menus Editor pages are provided under the Menus & Tools heading in the 

Content tab of the Administration page. 

The following sections describe how to create and configure new alert management tools. For information 

on how to add tools to a tool menu in the AEL, refer to Menus Editor on page 210. 


CGI and URL Tools 

Tool and Menu Administration 

A CGI is a server-resident program that provides a standard way of adding dynamic content to a web site by 

allowing external gateway programs to interface with information servers such as web servers. In the context 

of Netcool/Webtop, CGI scripts are typically used by clients to process ObjectServer field information and 

return useful information about the data to the client browser. 

For example, the CGI script nco_ping provided with Netcool/Webtop sends specially-marked packets 

from the local computer to a remote device. In addition to determining whether the remote computer is 

currently available, nco_ping also provides indicators of the general speed or reliability of the network 

connection. The script uses the IP address contained in the Node field of the selected alert (or alerts) as its 

target. The source file for nco_ping resides in the cgi-bin directory of the Netcool/Webtop server. 

A detailed description of CGI programming is beyond the scope of this manual, and a reasonable degree of 

knowledge on the part of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. The general process whereby the 

data is submitted and returned is described below: 

1. The CGI script is placed on the Netcool/Webtop server and registered with the application. This 

procedure is described in Registering a CGI Script with Netcool/Webtop on page 204. 

2. A tool that uses the CGI script is created using the Netcool/Webtop Tools Editor. This is where you 

specify the location of the script, and the method in which the data is submitted (GET or POST). The 

Tools Editor also allows you to select which ObjectServer fields (if any) are used during its execution. 

This procedure is described in Creating a CGI Tool on page 205. 

3. A menu entry for the tool is created within the Tools menu of the AEL. This procedure is described 

in Menus Editor on page 210. 

4. When the script is executed against an alert in the AEL, a URL containing the path to the script is 

opened, and the selected fields are passed to the script in the form of a query string. A query string is 

an argument composed of a name-value pair of the type selected_rows.field=field 

name, and can be observed as the information which follows the ? in the URL that references the 

script. An example is shown below: 

protocol://server:port/cgi-bin/nco_ping.cgi?%24selected_rows.Node=zen1& 

In the above example, for an alert that is generated from a host with the node name zen1, the query 

string is selected_rows.Node=zen1. This data is passed to the CGI script. 

5. The CGI script processes the submitted data and returns output to the client, either to a named 

destination in the existing window or to a new window. 



Note: CGI tools do not have to execute CGI scripts—they can also be used to open a local or remote web 

page. Be aware that a remote script or page that contains SmartPage commands can not be presented 

correctly within Netcool/Webtop. Pages that contain SmartPage commands must be served from the local 


To create and administer a CGI tool, read the following sections in sequence unless otherwise directed. 

Registering a CGI Script with Netcool/Webtop 

CGI scripts are usually invoked using items in the Tools menu of the AEL, but can also be executed directly 

from a client browser address bar. For security purposes, once you have installed the script on the server it 

must be registered within the Netcool/Webtop Administration page. 

The registration process authorizes execution, ensures that any SmartPage tag present in the source are 

processed correctly, and attaches an ACL to the script in order to minimize the possibility of misuse. 

The link to the CGI Registration page is provided under the Menus & Tools heading in the Content tab of 

the Administration page. 

To register a CGI script: 

1. Place the CGI script (in this example nco_ping) in the $WEBTOP_HOME/config/cgi-bin/ 

directory. 

2. Select the CGI Registration link. You are presented with the Register CGI page. 

3. Click Register. The Register CGI page is displayed, as shown in Figure 49. In the CGI Name field, 

enter a name for the CGI script (this does not have to be the same as the filename). 

Figure 49: Register CGI Page 

4. If the output of the CGI script is HTML data that contains Netcool/Webtop SmartPage commands, 

select the Use Smart Commands check box. 

5. Enter the filename of the script in the File Name text field. It is not necessary to include the path. 


! 


6. If you want to apply access control to the CGI script, click the ACLs... and select the appropriate 

control group(s). The default ACL group is *, where all users have access. 

7. Click Register. The CGI script is now registered for use with Netcool/Webtop, and appears as an 

entry in the registration list of the Register CGI page. To change or remove an entry, select the name 

and click the Modify button or the Unregister button. 

Creating a CGI Tool 

Once you have registered a CGI script for use with Netcool/Webtop, you can create a tool so that users can 

invoke it from the AEL. 

To create a CGI tool: 

1. Select the Tools Editor link. You are presented with the Tools Editor page. Click the Create Tool 

button. The Create New Tool page is displayed. 

2. Enter a name for the tool in the text field provided, and select the Execute CGI/URL radio button. 

Click OK. You are presented with the Create New CGI Tool page, shown in Figure 50. 

Figure 50: Create New CGI Tool Page 

3. Click the ACLs button and select the appropriate control group(s) to apply access control to the tool. 

Warning: The tool ACL must not include any group that was excluded by the CGI registration ACL. 

4. The URL field specifies the location of the CGI script and, by default, contains the correct path for 

cgi-bin on the local Netcool/Webtop server. Append the path with the filename of the script to 

associate with the tool. 

Tip: If you want to pass field data to a script on a remote server, replace $(SERVER) with an external 

URL address. For example http://www.micromuse.com. 



SQL Tools 

5. Select the Execute for each selected row check box if you want the tool to execute against all selected 

rows within the AEL. Deselect the check box if you want the tool to execute against only the first row 

in the selection. 

6. If you want the tool to execute against ObjectServer field data, click the Fields button. Using the 

check boxes provided, select the fields that you want to pass as arguments to the tool. 

The Method drop-down menu specifies how selected field data is passed to the script. There 

following submission types are supported: 

– GET which has been deprecated in HTML 4.0 onwards. This method appends the name-value 

pairs to the URL, and is therefore useful if you want to bookmark the page containing the 

output. 

– POST which encodes the name-value pairs inside the body of the HTTP request. Note that 

firewalls can be configured to intercept and destroy this data stream, causing the form to be 

interpreted as empty. 

Note: Whichever method you select, the CGI script receives the data via a QUERY_STRING 

environment variable. 

7. From the Open In drop-down menu, select: 

– New Window to display the output of the tool in a new browser window. 

– Specific Window to open the tool output in a window of your own choice. Enter a name for the 

window in the text field to the right of the drop-down menu. 

8. Click OK. The tool appears as an entry in the tool list of the Tools Editor page and is now available for 

use by the Netcool/Webtop AEL. To change or remove an entry, select the name and click the 

Modify Tool button or the Delete Tool button. 

You can now proceed to Menus Editor on page 210 which describes how to create an AEL menu entry for 

your tool. 

SQL tools provide a predefined way for server validated users to execute ObjectServer SQL instructions on 

the alerts.status and alerts.journal data tables from within the AEL. A number of SQL tools 

are already provided with Netcool/Webtop, and they can be viewed within the Alerts menu of the AEL. 

An example of an SQL tool is acknowledge, which contains the following data: 

[1] update alerts.status set Acknowledged=1 where Serial in ($selected_rows.Serial); 

[2] Alert acknowledged by %username 



These instructions acknowledge any selected alert, and do so in the name of the user who executed the tool. 

The first line applies to the data held in the alerts.status table, the second line to the 

alerts.journal table. 

Note: SQL tools used in a DSD environment simultaneously execute upon the master ObjectServer and 

all display servers. However, journal actions only execute against the master ObjectServer and must be 

transferred to the display servers via a unidirectional gateway. 

A detailed description of ObjectServer SQL is beyond the scope of this manual, and a reasonable degree of 

knowledge on the part of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. The Netcool/OMNIbus 

Administration Guide provides a complete reference for ObjectServer SQL syntax. 

Note: Netcool/OMNIbus native desktop prompts—such as string or password prompts—are not 

supported by Netcool/Webtop. 

Creating an SQL Tool 

To create a SQL Tool: 



2. Enter a name for the tool in the text field provided, and select the Execute SQL radio button. Click 

OK. You are presented with the Create New Tool - SQL page, as shown in Figure 51. 

Figure 51: Create New SQL Tool Page 




4. The page contains the following text fields: 

– The SQL text field is where you can add the syntax used to update the alerts.status 

table in the ObjectServer. For example: 

update alerts.status set OwnerGID=$prompt.groupassign where Serial in 

($selected_rows.Serial); 

The above instruction updates alerts.status by setting the OwnerGID of the the 

selected rows to the value chosen from the $prompt menu (a system managed sub-menu of 

the groupassign tool that contains all the user groups). 

– The Journal text field is where you can add the syntax used to update the alerts.journal 

table in the ObjectServer. For example: 

Alert assigned to group CONVERSION($prompt.groupassign) by %username. 

Populate the text fields with the appropriate data required for the SQL action(s) you want the tool to 

execute on the ObjectServer data tables. 

5. Select the Execute for each selected row check boxes if you want the tool to execute against all 

selected rows (and modify all corresponding journal entries) within the AEL. Deselect the check 

boxes if you want the tool to execute against only the first row (and modify the corresponding journal 

entry) in the selection. 

Note: You do not have to select this checkbox if the SQL instructions explicitly state that the 

command must execute against all select rows. For example, ($selected_rows.Serial). 




You can now proceed to Menus Editor on page 210 which describes how to create an AEL menu entry for 

your tool. 

Command Line Tools 

Command line tools are predefined command strings that execute a command line action on a client system. 

When invoked from the AEL the instruction typically instructs the client system to open a command 

prompt and pass field data to an application. 

This type of tool is particularly useful when all members of a particular user group are known to have specific 

(usually generic) applications on their systems. Because command line tools are started client-side rather 

than server-side, the load on the Netcool/Webtop server is reduced. 


! 


When a command line tool is started by a client, Netcool/Webtop determines the client platform type and 

sends the appropriate command line instruction if one is available for that platform. An example of a 

command line tool instruction is shown below: 

start cmd /k C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\PING.EXE {@Node} 

In this example, if the client is a Windows system the instruction opens a command line and starts the 

Windows ping utility against the Node field of the selected alert. The data is then returned to the 

command line window on the client system. 

Warning: Micromuse cannot guarantee that command line tools will not adversely affect a user's local 

system. Micromuse strongly recommend thorough testing of all command line tools prior to deployment in 

a production environment. Micromuse does not accept responsibility for the consequences of any actions 

performed through the execution of a command line tool. 

Creating a Command Line Tool 

To create a command line tool: 



2. Enter a name for the tool in the text field provided, and select the Run Command Line radio button. 

Click OK. You are presented with the Create New Tool - Command Line page, as shown in Figure 52. 

Figure 52: Create New Command Line Tool Page 


4. Select or deselect the platform check boxes to specify which client platform types can access this tool 

from the AEL. 



Menus Editor 

5. For each selected platform, populate the corresponding text field with the information about the 

target application. Generic command line prompt launch instructions are provided by default, and 

can be modified or deleted as required. In the following instruction, generic commands are shown as 

underlined text: 

/xterm -e /bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/ping -s {@Node} ; read a' 

In the above example, represents the full path to the target application 

on the client platform. All applications constituents, for example ping, in the command string must 

have full path information. The AEL field you want to use the tool against is contained in curly 

brackets after the execution instruction. 

Tip: Instructions that return data (rather than start an application) require additional command 

strings for the window to remain open after the command has been run. On UNIX systems, add the 

; read a’ parameter at the end of the string. On Windows systems, use the /k switch after the 

cmd command prompt instruction. 

6. If the tool to executes against ObjectServer field data, you must click the Fields button and select 

check boxes that correspond to the data entered in the text fields. 

7. Select the Execute for each selected row check box if you want the tool to execute against all selected 

rows within the AEL. Deselect the check box if you want the tool to execute against only the first row 

in the selection. 




You can now proceed to the next section which describes how to create an AEL menu entry for your tool. 

The Menus Editor component enables you to create or modify the tool menus used in the AEL. The default 

content of the AEL menu bar cannot be changed, however you can use the Menus Editor to add tool entries 

and sub-menus to either the Alerts menu or the Tools menu (also referred to as top-level menus). 

Menus do not have ACLs, so to assert access control you must ensure that ACLs are correctly applied to 

individual tools. 

The following sections describe how to add tool entries to menus, and create sub-menus within either 

top-level menus or other sub-menus. 



Tip: Although you can put any type of tool in any menu, it is recommended that you place SQL tools under 

Alerts, and CGI or command line tools under Tools. The Alerts menu is viewable as a context menu when 

you right-click on an alert in the AEL. 

Adding an Entry to a Menu 

This section describes how to add tool entries to an existing menu. For information on how to add a 

sub-menu entry to a top-level menu or sub-menu, see Creating a Sub-Menu on page 212. 

To add tool entries to a menu: 

1. Select the Menus Editor link under the Active Event List heading in the left-hand frame of the 

administration pages. You are presented with the Menus Editor page. Select a top-level entry, for 

example tools, and click the Modify Menu button. The Modify Menu page is displayed, as shown 

in Figure 53. 

Figure 53: Menus Editor - Modify Menu Page 

2. If you want users to be able to display this menu in the AEL using a keyboard shortcut, select a key 

entry from the Mnemonic drop-down menu. 



3. In the Add Item pane on the right-hand side of the page, select tool from the drop-down menu above 

the item list. You are shown a list of available tools. 

Note: The Add Item item list populates according to the item type chosen from the drop down menu. 

4. Select a tool from the item list and click the

To create a nested menu within either a top-level menu or a sub-menu: 


1. Select the Menus Editor link under the Active Event List heading in the left-hand frame of the 

administration pages. You are presented with the Menus Editor page. Click the Create Menu button. 

The Create Menu page is displayed, shown in Figure 54. 

Figure 54: Menus Editor - Add Menu Page 

2. In the Name text field, enter a name for the new sub-menu. In the Label text field, enter a label for 

the sub-menu—this is the text that appears in the AEL. 

3. If you want users to be able to display this menu in the AEL using a keyboard shortcut, select a key 

entry from the Mnemonic drop-down menu. 

4. In the Add Item pane on the right-hand side of the page, select an item type from the drop-down 

menu above the item list. The item list populates according to the item type chosen, and there are 

three options: 

– tool - which displays the tools you can add to the sub-menu 

– - which allows you to add a separator bar to the sub-menu 

– menu - which displays the list of existing menus you can add to the sub-menu 



5. Select an item from the item list, and click the

8.6 Setting AEL Preferences 

Setting AEL Preferences 

The AEL Preferences window, shown in Figure 55, is where users can configure the appearance and behavior 

of the AEL window and any monitor boxes associated with it. For example, you can specify the manner in 

which you are notified of changes in alert status, list refresh time, window layout, and so forth. 

To view the Preferences window, the Allow preference configuration permission must be selected in your 

user profile from within the Netcool/Webtop Administration page by an administrator. In addition, changes 

made in this window are session specific and are only applied to future sessions if you save them. 

To open the Preferences window in the AEL, select Edit→Preferences from the toolbar or press Shift-P. 

Figure 55: AEL Preferences WIndow 

When you have finished making changes to the Preferences window, click Apply to use the preferences you 

have chosen for the current session, or if you want to use these preference settings again, click Save. 

Click Close to exit the Preferences window, or click one of the other tabs to make more changes. 

Monitor Boxes Tab 

From the Monitor Boxes tab, shown in Figure 55, you can configure the content and appearance of the 

monitor box map object that corresponds to the AEL. 

Note: This tab is only present in the Preferences window if the AEL was started from a monitor box map 

applet. 



In this panel you can specify what alert data summary information is displayed, the font type, and the 

distribution meter format. After making any changes, click Apply to use the preferences you have chosen for 

the current session. If you want to use these preference settings in future sessions, click Save. 

Configuring the Data Summary Features 

Under Summary, select a check box next to each data summary feature that you want the monitor box to 

display. Figure 56 shows a monitor box with the various data summary features highlighted. 

4 

5 

1 

2 3 

Figure 56: Monitor Box Data Summary Features 

Table 36 provides a description of each feature. 

Table 36: Monitor Box Data Summary Descriptions 


6 

1 Show Number of Alerts Displays the total number of alerts in the distribution. 

2 Show Highest Color When Show Highest Severity option is selected, displays the highest severity level 

as a background color. 

3 Show Lowest Color When Show Lowest Severity option is selected, displays the lowest severity level as 

a background color. 

4 Show Highest Severity Displays the highest severity level recorded for the alert distribution. 

5 Show Lowest Severity Displays the lowest severity level recorded for the alert distribution. 

6 Show Metric Displays the metric measurement for the alert distribution. A metric is a 

measurement that can be applied to the alerts to display a useful figure. For 

example, a metric could be an average, count, or sum of all the alerts. 


Refresh Tab 

Setting the Font 


Under Font, click the Font Name drop-down menu to select a font type. Click the Font Size drop-down 

menu to select a font size. 

Specifying the Distribution Meter 

Under Distribution Meter, select one of the following radio buttons to specify the monitor box display 

format: 

Show Histogram 

Show Lavalamp 

From the Refresh tab, shown in Figure 57, you can specify a time period, in seconds, after which the AEL 

is refreshed by the Netcool/Webtop server. After making any changes, click Apply to use the preferences you 

have chosen for the current session. If you want to use these preference settings in future sessions, click Save. 

Note: For a user to be able to view the Refresh tab and change the refresh rate, the permission for Allow 

refresh rate configuration must be selected in their user profile. 

Figure 57: AEL Preferences - Refresh Tab 

Specifying the AEL Refresh Rate 

In the Time (secs) text field, enter the elapsed time period between each AEL refresh. 



Notifications Tab 

From the Notifications tab, shown in Figure 58, you can specify the user notification criteria for alert status 

changes in the AEL. 

In this tab you can specify the conditions which must be met before you receive a notification. After making 

any changes, click Apply to use the preferences you have chosen for the current session. If you want to use 

these preference settings in future sessions, click Save. 

Figure 58: AEL Preferences - Notifications Tab 

Specifying the Notification Criteria 

Under Notification, select the Enabled check box to activate the notification feature. Choose the 

notification criteria from one of the following radio buttons: 

When Iconized - if an AEL has been opened and iconized, a change in alert status reopens the AEL 

window. No action takes place if you select this type of notification and the AEL is closed. 

Always - displays an AEL to inform you of a change in alert status, whether the AEL list is already 

open and iconized or closed. 


Specifying Which Alerts Cause a Notification 


Under When, select one (or more) of the following check boxes to specify the type of alert event that triggers 

a notification: 

New - you are notified when a new alert is passed to the ObjectServer. 

Change - you are notified when an existing alert entry is changed in the ObjectServer. 

Delete - you are notified when an existing alert entry is deleted from the ObjectServer. 

Specifying the Notification Type 

Under How, select one of the following radio buttons to specify how you are notified of a change in alert 

status: 

Alert Icon - an iconized or minimized AEL flashes when an alert event takes places. 

Open Window - opens the AEL on the screen when an alert event takes place. If you use a window 

manager with interactive placement, the AEL opens as the active window. 

Note: The Open Window notification only applies to an AEL that would otherwise be opened from 

a monitor box. AELs that are already displayed on a page are ‘open’ and therefore cannot be opened 

again. 

Additional notification actions can be specified by selecting one (or more) of the following check boxes: 

Play Sound - a sound is played when an alert event takes place. 

In the Play Sound field, enter the name of the URL that you want to use as the source of the sound 

for the notification. Click the Play button to test the sound you have chosen. 

Open URL - opens a URL when an alert event takes place. In the URL field, enter the name of the 

URL that you want to open. 

In the URL Target field, specify the destination for where the URL appears. For example, _blank 

opens a new web browser window, and _self opens the URL in the current window or frame. 

Where frames have been named in an HTML page, you can specify the target as the name of the 

frame. For example UpperFrame or LowerFrame. 

Tip: Enter the text $(server) at the beginning of a URL address to use the server that you are currently 

connected to. 



Flashing Tab 

From the Flashing tab, shown in Table 59, you can specify flashing in the AEL for alerts where the Flash 

field in the alerts.status table has been set to 1 (or converted to Yes). 

In this tab you can specify the interval between each flash, and the brightness of the flash in the window. 

After making any changes, click Apply to use the preferences you have chosen for the current session. If you 

want to use these preference settings in future sessions, click Save. 

Figure 59: AEL Preferences - Flashing Tab 

Setting the Flash Speed and Brightness 

Select the Enable Flashing check box to enable this feature. Under the respective headings, use the slider 

controls to set the speed and brightness of alert flashing. 

Miscellaneous Tab 

From the Misc tab, shown in Figure 60,you can change additional properties that affect the appearance and 

layout of the AEL. 



In this tab you can specify the color and toolbar preferences, font type, and date format. After making any 

changes, click Apply to use the preferences you have chosen for the current session. If you want to use these 

preference settings in future sessions, click Save. 

Figure 60: AEL Preferences - Misc Tab 

Modifying the AEL Window Settings 

Under Event Window: 

Click the Show Colors check box to display the AEL in color, instead of monochrome. 

Click the Show Distribution Summary Bar check box if you want to see a color display across the 

bottom of the screen showing the breakdown of severities. Each severity is represented by a box 

containing the color for that severity. The box also displays the number of alerts in the event list for 

that severity. 

Click the Show Toolbar check box if you want the toolbar to be displayed in the AEL. 

Modifying the AEL Font 

Under Event List Font: 

Click the Font Name drop-down menu to select a font type. 

Click the Font Size drop-down menu to choose the text size for the display. 



Modifying the AEL Time Format 

You can choose a Date/Time format from one of the following radio buttons: 

Short - the default setting, and is of the format m/d/yy h:mm:ss a. For example: 

12/11/00 2:15:55 PM 

Long - is of the format MMMM d, yyyy h:mm:ss a. For example: 

December 11, 2000 2:15:55 PM 

Customize - allows you to create your own format based on available date and time formats. 

Permitted date and time formats are shown in Table 37. 

Table 37: Date Formats (1 of 2) 

Symbol Description Presentation Example 

G era designator Textual AD 

y year Numeric 1996 

M month in the year Text and Numeric July and 07 

d day in the month Numeric 10 

h hour in am/pm (1 - 12) Numeric 12 

H hour in the day (0 - 23) Numeric 0 

m minute in hour Numeric 30 

s second in minute Numeric 55 

S millisecond Numeric 978 

E day in week Textual Tuesday 

D day in year Numeric 189 

F day of week in month Numeric 2 (2nd Wed in July) 

w week in year Numeric 27 

W week in month Numeric 2 

a am/pm marker Textual PM 

k hour in day (1 - 24) Numeric 24 


Table 37: Date Formats (2 of 2) 

Symbol Description Presentation Example 

K hour in am/pm (0 - 11) Numeric 0 

z time zone Textual Pacific Standard Time 

’ escape for text Delimiter 

’ single quote Literal ’ 


The following sections describe the format of the presentation types, and provide additional information on 

specific data formats. The total letters or numbers determine the display presentation when using 

Customized date format. 

Textual 

In a textual presentation with four or more pattern symbols, the full form is used. In a textual presentation 

with less than four symbols, the short or abbreviated form is used (if one exists). 

For example, if you want the date to start with the day of the week, you use the symbol E (Day in week). If 

you enter E less than four times, the day is abbreviated. If you enter E four or more times, the day is presented 

in the full form. Both examples are shown below: 

EEE is displayed as Mon 

EEEE is displayed as Monday 

Numeric 

In a numeric presentation, the minimum number of digits is used. Shorter numbers are zero-padded to this 

amount. 

The Y (year) symbol is a special case. If the count of y is two, the value for the year is truncated to two digits. 

If the count of y is four, the year is shown in four digits. For example: 

yy is displayed as 03 

yyyy is displayed as 2003 

Textual and Numeric 

In a textual and numeric presentation, where three or more pattern letters are used, the textual form is used. 

Otherwise, a numeric form is used. 



For example, if you use the symbol M (month in year) the presentation of month is determined by how many 

times you enter M. For example, for the month of February: 

M is displayed as 2 

MM is displayed as 02 

MMM is displayed as Feb 

MMMM is displayed as February 

Additional Information 

Other points to note about letters and numbers in date formats: 

You must contain any text you want to include within quotes. For example, if you enter HH:mm a 

’Greenwich Mean Time’, this is displayed as 15:48 PM Greenwich Mean Time. 

You can use non-alphabetic characters in date formats such as colons, commas, periods, hash and @ 

without having to contain them in quotes. 

If you include HH:mm a (using a colon to separate hours and minutes) the colon is displayed. For 

example, 15:48 PM. 

A pattern containing any invalid symbol results in an error during formatting or parsing. 

Locale Date and Time 

Each country has its own locale date and time format. Table 38 shows examples of date and time in the US 

Locale format: 

Table 38: US Locale Date Format 

Format Pattern Result 

yyyy.MM.dd G ‘at’ hh:mm:ss z 1996.07.10 AD at 15:08:56 PDT 

EEE, MMM d, ‘’yy Wed, July 10, ‘96 

h:mm a 12:08 PM 

hh ‘o’ ‘clock’ a,zzzz 12 o’clock PM, Pacific Daylight Time 

K:mm a, z 0:00 PM, PST 

yyyyy.MMMMM.dd GGG hh:mm aa 1996.July.10 AD 12:08 PM 



Time zone 

You can specify the operator timezone by selecting an entry from the GMT drop-down menu. Each entry 

represents the number of hours before (-), or after (+) Greenwich Mean Time. 

This setting overrides any timezone setting specified in the Change User Profile page. For more information 

about this, refer to User Administration on page 117. 



8.7 LEL Administration 

The JavaScript lightweight event list (LEL) provides users with the advanced data filtering, data sorting, and 

information drill-down capabilities of the AEL. Although the LEL shares these features with the AEL, there 

is no SmartPage tag for embedding an LEL in a web page. To access an LEL: 

Launch the LEL from a linked active object in a map. The procedure for creating maps and 


Click a hyperlink containing a properly constructed LEL query-string. You can apply an entity 

directly to an LEL through the browser address bar by entering a URL containing a query-string of 

the following format: 

protocol://server:port/lwsel/lwsel.jsp?entityname=entityname&datasource= 

datasourcename 

In the above URL, entityname is a predefined entity created within the Administration page as 

described in this chapter, and datasourcename is an ObjectServer datasource defined in the 

Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration file. If you do not add a 

datasource entry to the query-string, the default datasource is used. 


LEL Window Overview 

LEL Administration 

An example LEL window is shown in Figure 61. An overview of each AEL feature is provided in Table 39 

on page 228. 

1 2 3 

4 5 6 

7 

Figure 61: Example Lightweight Event List 



Table 39: Lightweight Event List Overview (1 of 3) 


1 Tool bar The tool bar contains shortcut buttons for routine actions, and drop-down menus for 

filters and views. From left to right in the LEL, these are described below: 


Refresh event data Manually refreshes the LEL display 

area. 

The LEL is refreshed automatically at 

predefined intervals to show all 

incoming alerts from the 

ObjectServer. 

Freeze updates to this window Freezes the contents of the LEL display 

area so no further updates take place. 

Select/deselect all rows Selects or deselects all rows in the LEL 

display area. 

Display Help Displays the online help system 

associated with the LEL. 

2 Column headings The column headings displayed in the LEL represent fields from the 

alerts.status table in the ObjectServer, and their default display names are 

configured using the Entity View Editor in the Netcool/Webtop Administration page. 

Click a column heading to set the field data in that column to be sorted in ascending 

order. 





3 Page Slider Buttons The page slider allows you to move forward or backward through the pages 

containing alert information. The number of alert rows in each page is determined by 

the lel.pagesize.defaultproperty in server.init (the default is 500). 

From left to right in the LEL, these are described below: 


Skip to the start Click this button to move to the page 

containing the first alert in the table. 

Step backward Click this button to move backwards 

through the table pages. 

Page number Click this button to move to a specific 

page displaying a block of alerts. Note 

that the screen page range is 

constrained to blocks of five. 

Step forward Click this button to move forwards 

through the table pages. 

Skip to the end Click this button to move to the page 

containing the last alert in the table. 

4 Display area The display area is composed of rows and columns of alert data. LEL rows contain 

alerts that match any filter applied to the alert data. To select an alert, click the row 

you require. To view the event details associated with a row, double-click the row you 

require. 

5 Distribution status bar The distribution status bar contains color-coded severity indicator boxes. Clicking a 

severity box filters the row data in the display area to only display alerts of the 

corresponding severity. You can remove this filter by clicking the All button. 

6 Status bar The status bar displays AEL information such as how many alerts match the current 

filter condition or were processed by an operation. The current Netcool/Webtop user 

and server names are also displayed. 





7 All button This button removes any quick filters applied to the data, and resets the display area 

to show all ObjectServer alerts read by Netcool/Webtop by the ObjectServer. 

Viewing Information in the Event Details Window 

The Event Details window is used to view details about the alert data in the LEL. To open the window, 

double-click a row in the display area. You are presented with the Event Details window, which contains the 

following tabs: 

Alert Fields 

Alert Details 

Journal 

The Alert Fields tab is displayed by default in the Event Details window. 


The Alert Fields 

The Alert Fields tab allows you to view information recorded about a selected alert in the 

alerts.status table. The Alert Fields tab is shown in Figure 62. 

Figure 62: Event Details - Alert Fields 


The Alert Details Tab 

The Alert Details tab allows you to view information held about a selected alert in the alerts.details 

table. 

The Journal Tab 

The Journal tab allows you to view information about an alert in the form of a journal. Journal entries are 

stored in the alerts.journal table in the ObjectServer, in date and time order. The Journal tab is 




Figure 63: Event Details - Journal 


8.8 Tableview Administration 

Tableview Administration 

The HTML tableview provides users with the ability to immediately assess the status of a datasource by 

viewing alert data presented in a tabular format. 

Like the AEL, the tableview is embedded in a web page using a SmartPage tag. The procedure and reference 

information for creating pages with an embedded tableview using SmartPage tags is described in 

Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates on page 343. 

To access a tableview: 

Launch the tableview from a linked active object in a map. The procedure for creating maps and 


View page containing a tableview SmartPage tag. The entity and datasource parameters for the 

tableview are contained within this tag. In addition, the top number of rows presented by the 

tableview can be optionally controlled using the maxrows tag attribute. The tableview SmartPage 

tag is described in Inserting a Tableview on page 351. 

Click a hyperlink containing a properly constructed tableview query-string. You can apply an entity 

directly to a tableview through the browser address bar by entering a URL containing a query-string 

of the following format: 

protocol://server:port/TableView/?map=mapname&entity=entityname&maxrows=n 

In this line, map is the name of a map, entity is the name of the entity, datasource is the 

name of the associated datasource. The optional maxrows property allows you to specify the 

number of rows (n) returned in the view. 

Note: The entity defines the filter and view for the tableview. Although the map provides the access 

required to display the tableview, the map image itself is not displayed. 



An example LEL window is shown in Figure 64. 

Figure 64: Example Tableview 


pagemanager.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Chapter 9: Page Management 

This chapter describes the Page Manager component which allows administrative clients to upload the files 

and create the folders held on the Netcool/Webtop server. 



The Page Manager on page 237 




The Page Manager component of the Netcool/Webtop administration pages allows you to conduct the 

following file management activities on the Netcool/Webtop server: 

Uploading files. 

Deleting files. 

Creating sub-directories. 

Deleting sub-directories. 

Browsing files and folders. 

Previewing images and file source code. 

The Page Manager is particularly useful in when you are administering Netcool/Webtop remotely via a 

connected client. In addition, it provides an easier mechanism than FTP for uploading data to the 


The default directory—referred to as the parent directory—is where all of the administrator-defined files and 

folders are stored, and the Page Manager interface displays this directory by default. In addition to the 

HTML source itself, any components used in web pages viewed by clients (for example, images) must be 

stored in or under this directory. 

Note: This does not apply to CGI scripts, which must be stored in $WEBTOP_ 

HOME/config/cgi-bin/. 

The following sections describe how to upload, delete, and view the files and folders contained in the parent 

directory of the Netcool/Webtop server. 


9.2 The Page Manager 

Netcool/Webtop serves web pages to connected clients from a parent directory, in which all 

administrator-defined pages are stored. The path to the parent directory is: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/www/webapps/ROOT/ 

The Page Manager 

Note: All of the references made by web pages stored on the Netcool/Webtop server are defined relative to 

this path. For example, to include an image stored in $WEBTOP_ 

HOME/www/webapps/ROOT/images you are only required to add the path /images. 

The Page Manager page displays the contents of the parent directory, and is divided into the following panes: 

Directories, which displays all sub-directories present in a selected directory. 

Files, which displays all files present in a selected directory. 

You can use the View Dir button in the Directories pane to descend into any sub-directories stored under 

the parent directory. To return to the parent directory, click the Parent Directory button to ascend the 

directory tree. When navigating around the directory tree, the following page features are updated: 

The directory location at the top of the Page Manager page 

The sub-directory list in the Directories pane 

The files list in the Files pane 

Note: The Page Manager only displays the contents of the ROOT and any sub-directories of the parent 

directory. You cannot use the Page Manager to view any other directory area of the Netcool/Webtop server. 

The link to the Page Manager page is provided under the Utilities menu in the Access & Utilities tab on the 


The following sections describe how to use the features in the Directories Pane and Files Pane of the Page 

Manager to install files onto the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Directories Pane 

The Directories pane contains the following features: 

A Create Sub Directory text field and button 

A View Dir button 



A Remove Dir button 

A list of all sub-directories in the current directory 

The Directories pane of the Page Manager page is shown in Figure 65. 

Figure 65: Page Manager - Directories Pane 

Creating a Sub-Directory 

To create a sub-directory, enter the name in the field at the foot of the Directories pane and click the Create 

Sub Directory button. The sub-directory is added to the list. 

Viewing a Directory 

To view the files in a sub-directory, select it from the list and click View Dir. The files are displayed in the 

Files section. The directory location is updated and the list displays any sub-directories in this location. 

Removing a Sub-Directory 

To remove an empty sub-directory, select it from the list and click Remove Dir. The subdirectory is 

removed from the directory list. 

If the directory is not empty, a page opens showing the contents of the directory and asking you to confirm 

the remove command. 


Files Pane 

The Files pane contains the following features: 

An Add file to Dir button 

A View File button 

A Delete File button 

A Browse button 

A list of all files in the current directory 

The Files pane of the Page Manager page is shown in Figure 66. 

Figure 66: Page Manager Window - Files Pane 

Adding a File 

To add a file to the displayed directory on the Netcool/Webtop server, do the following: 

The Page Manager 

1. Enter the file name and path, if known. If the file name or path is not known, click Browse to open a 

window from which you can select the file. 

Note: The layout of the Browse window depends on the web browser and platform of the connected 

client. 

2. When you select the file, it is displayed in the field to the left of the Browse button. 

3. Click Add file to Dir. The file appears in the Files list. The file is displayed in the file list. 



Viewing a File 

To view a file, select it from the list and click View File. If the selected file is an HTML file, the source code 

is displayed. If the selected file is an image file, the image is displayed. 

Tip: If the file viewed is an HTML file, you can preview the page it creates by clicking the link to file link. 

Deleting a File 

To delete a file, select the file from the list and click Delete File. The file is deleted and the entry is removed 

from the list. 


advutils.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Chapter 10: Netcool/Webtop Utilities and 

the User Monitor 

This chapter describes the advanced administrative utilities supplied with Netcool/Webtop. These utilities 

are provided to assist you conducting complex procedures against the ObjectServer, expedite repetitive 

procedures such as entity creation, and view system information. 



SQL Workbench on page 243 

Entity Generator on page 245 

System Information on page 249 

User Monitor and Usage Statistics on page 250 


Chapter 10: Netcool/Webtop Utilities and the User Monitor 


The following utilities are provided with Netcool/Webtop in order to assist you in creating components, 

and conducting administrative activities on the Netcool/Webtop server and any connected ObjectServer: 

The SQL Workbench utility enables you to execute the full range of ObjectServer SQL commands 

and perform queries against ObjectServer data. Refer to the Netcool/OMNIbus Administration 

Guide for more information about ObjectServer SQL. 

The Entity Generator is used to rapidly generate entities based on a field in the alerts.status 

table in the ObjectServer. In addition, you can use the Entity Generator to automatically generate 

maps containing active buttons or monitor boxes that correspond to fields in an entity-filtered 

datasource. 

The System Information utility provides detailed information about the Netcool/Webtop server, 

including version numbers, system information, license information, and so forth. 

The User Monitor page provides you with a summary overview of all clients currently connected to 

the Netcool/Webtop server, and their associated license usage. You can use the User Monitor to assess 

user activity, and remove user sessions. 

This chapter describes how to access and use these utilities. 


10.2 SQL Workbench 

SQL Workbench 

The SQL Workbench utility allows you to execute the full range of ObjectServer SQL commands and 

perform queries against ObjectServer data. The SQL Workbench is shown in Figure 67. 

Figure 67: The SQL Workbench 

The SQL Workbench is analogous in behavior to the SQL Interactive Interface in Netcool/OMNIbus, and 

can be used to perform tasks such as creating a new database table or stopping the ObjectServer. The utility 

allows you to connect to ObjectServers and use SQL commands to interact with and control the 

ObjectServer. 

Note: To use this component you must be an administrative user, and the Allow ISQL check box in the 

Netcool/OMNIbus ObjectServer configuration must be selected for your user name. If you attempt to view 

the SQL Workbench page without the necessary ObjectServer SQL access, the message This form can only 

be used by users with ISQL access is displayed. 



! 

A detailed description of ObjectServer SQL is beyond the scope of this manual, and a reasonable degree of 

knowledge on the part of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. The Netcool/OMNIbus 

Administration Guide provides a complete reference for ObjectServer SQL syntax. 

Warning: Use this utility with care. Any command entered is run against the ObjectServer. Incorrect use 

of SQL commands may result in the irreparable corruption of your database. 

The link to the SQL Workbench page is provided under the Utilities menu in the Access & Utilities tab of 


The following section provides an overview of the SQL Workbench page, and how it is used to send 

instructions to the ObjectServer. 

Sending SQL Instructions 

To send SQL instruction to the ObjectServer: 

1. Select a datasource from the Select ObjectServer drop-down menu. 

2. Enter an SQL query in the pane provided and click Submit SQL. The result of an SQL command is 

displayed below the SQL Workbench. 

The example displayed in Figure 68 shows an excerpt of the data returned after submitting the following 

query: 

select * from alerts.status where Severity = 4; 

Figure 68: SQL Workbench Data Output Table 


10.3 Entity Generator 

Entity Generator 

The Entity Generator utility uses a field selected from the alerts.status table in the ObjectServer to 

automatically generate entities for use in maps. If you are unfamiliar with the purpose or function of 

Netcool/Webtop entities, it is recommended that you refer to Chapter 6: Using Entities on page 129 before 

proceeding with this section. 

In addition to generating entities, you can dynamically create entity maps based on the generated entities by 

configuring the Map Options panel on the Entity Generator page. You can add a title to the map and specify 

the layout and format of the button objects. An example map is shown in Figure 69. 

Figure 69: Example Generated Entity Map 

The map example shown in Figure 69 contains a grid of active button objects that illustrate the information 

returned by the ObjectServer for the Node field. Maps containing monitor box objects can also be created. 

In addition, you can choose to automatically create links from each button object to web pages containing 

an associated table or AEL. 

The link to the Entity Generator page is provided under the Utilities menu in the Access & Utilities tab of 


The following sections provide and overview of the Entity Generator page, and describes how they are used 

to create entities and entity maps. 



Configuring Entity Generation Parameters 

To configure entity generation parameters: 

1. Select a datasource from the ObjectServer drop-down menu. 

2. Select a field from the Field drop-down menu. The list contains fields taken from the 

alerts.status table in the selected ObjectServer. 

3. Enter clause data into the Where text field (optional). The Where clause specifies the criteria 

expression, or a filter condition that records must meet to be included in the query results. To add a 

filter to the data, select the Add Where clause to entity filter check box. 

4. Choose a view for the entity from the View drop-down menu. For example: 

– default 

– basic 

– extended 

For further information about views, see the View Editor on page 98. 

5. In the Entity Group text field, enter a name for the new or existing group (for example Nodes) to 

which the entities can belong. 

6. Metric is a two-part field in which you can select a metric measurement type, and then apply it to a 

field in the alerts.status table. For example, Sum of Tally. Modify the metric settings by: 

– Entering a prefix label in the Metric text field (optional). 

– Selecting a metric measurement type. 

– Selecting a field from the alerts.status table to which the metric is to be applied. 

7. To add a name prefix to the entity you are creating, enter a name in the Name Prefix text field. 

Configuring Map Generation Parameters 

To generate a map showing the entities you have generated: 

1. In the Map Options section, select the Create Map check box to enable map creation. 

2. In the Map Name field, enter a name for your map. For example, Nodes Map. 

Note: If the map name consists of more than one word, each word must be linked to the next by an 

underscore character. 


3. In the Map Title field, enter a title for the map. This appears as the map title in the web page 

containing the entity map. 

Note: For this field you are not required to link words in the title with an underscore. 

Entity Generator 

4. Select the number of columns to appear in the map from the Number of Columns drop-down menu. 

The default is 10. This determines how the entity elements are arranged in the generated map. 

For example, if 10 entities are generated and you have selected 1 column, the map displays the 

entities as 1 column with 10 rows. If you select 2 columns, the map displays 2 columns with 5 rows. 

5. In the Element Width field, enter the required width of an entity element as you want it to appear on 

the map. The default is 100 pixels. 

6. In the Element Height field, enter the required height of an entity element as you want it to appear 

on the map. The default is 25 pixels. 

7. In the Element Type drop-down menu, select how you want the entities to be displayed in the map. 

The choice is either button or monitor box. 

Tip: If the Element Type you choose is a monitor box, the default height of 25 pixels is not 

enough to display the monitor box correctly. You must choose a height of at least 110 pixels in the 

Element Height field. 

8. Select an Action Type from the drop-down menu. The options are: 

– none 

– table 

– ael 

If you select the table or ael action type, when you click a button or monitor box in the map it 

launches either a table or an AEL, respectively. 

9. Select a Legend from the drop-down menu. The options are: 

– 

– Label 

– Count 

Note: The Legend drop-down menu only applies when you have selected a button element type. 



10. Click Generate Entities. The Entity Generator page is refreshed, and a completed tasks panel is 

displayed that lists the entities that have been successfully generated. 

If you have chosen to display the entities in a map and have completed Map Options, a link is 

provided under Completed Tasks which allows you to preview the map in a web page. 

11. If you want to amend details of a particular entity, click Entity Editor. For further information about 

the Entity Editor, see Entity Editor on page 132. This step is optional. 

12. If you want to change any map details, click Map Editor. You can also open the map in the 

Netcool/Webtop Map Editor and make the changes you want. For further information about the 

Map Editor, see Chapter 7: Maps on page 143. This step is optional. 

13. Click Back to return to the main Entity Generator page. The Entity Generator page is refreshed and 

you can specify new entities that you want to generate. 


10.4 System Information 

System Information 

The System Information utility provides detailed information about the Netcool/Webtop server. This 

information can be used for the purposes of troubleshooting, or to quickly determine the status of the server 

(and client information) at any given time. 

The following information is returned by the utility: 

Netcool/Webtop Server Version 

Java Runtime Environment 

Memory Usage 

Platform Information 

Netcool/Webtop User Data 

Current Users Data 

Netcool/Webtop User Licence Data 

Netcool/Webtop Server Properties 

Flex Licence Server 

Default ObjectServer 

Last Resync with ObjectServers 

Portal Prefix 

System Properties 

The link to the System Information page is provided under the Utilities menu in the Access & Utilities tab 




10.5 User Monitor and Usage Statistics 

The User Monitor page provides both a summary of the total users connected to the Netcool/Webtop server 

and more detailed information on individual users who are connected. You can use this page to view all 

active and timed out Netcool/Webtop sessions, and remove users from the Netcool/Webtop server. 

User Monitor 

The User Monitor page is divided into two sections. The User summary section provides a summary of users 

connected to the Netcool/Webtop server and the licenses that are available. The headings in the User 

summary table are described in Table 40. 

Table 40: User Summary Table Headings 

Current Users 

Heading Description 

Desktop Licenses Total/Free The total number of Desktop licenses, and the number still available. The number in 

use is the difference between the two. 

Read-Only Licenses Total/Free The total number of Read-Only licenses, and the number still available. The number 

in use is the difference between the two. 

Active User Sessions The number of active sessions connected to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Sessions Timed Out The number of inactive sessions connected to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Total User Sessions The total number of sessions connected to the Netcool/Webtop server, whether 

active or inactive. 

The Current users section lists all users currently connected to the Netcool/Webtop server and provides 

information on the status of the connection and the resources that are being used. At the top of the table is 

a drop-down menu where you can select the following user types: 

All 

Desktop 

Read-Only 

Active 

TimedOut 

Removed 


User Monitor and Usage Statistics 

You can view the status of all users or a particular user group by selecting the user type from the drop-down 

menu and clicking Refresh. The Current users section now shows current the information about the user 

type selected. The headings in the Current users table are described in Table 41. 

Table 41: Current Users Table Headings 

Heading Description 

Remove Provides a selectable check box which can be used for removing a specified user. 

Username The username associated with the current session. 

Session Status Shows the status of a client session. The valid status levels are: 

Removing a User 

Ok - the session is active 

Timed out - the session has timed out 

Removed - the session has been removed 

Host The host name of the connected client. The IP address of the system is shown in brackets. Note 

that the host is the name of the system accessing the Netcool/Webtop server. Where a proxy 

server or firewall is used, the name of the host may not accurately reflect the name of the system 

used by the user. 

Last Access The HTML page or graphic that was last accessed by the client. 

Time of Last Access The date and time the HTML page or graphic was last accessed by the user. 

Comment Where this is set to current session, this indicates the current user of the server administration 

pages. Also indicates Read-Only or Desktop status. 

To remove a user session from the Netcool/Webtop server, select the check box in the Remove column next 

to the user(s) whose session you want to remove. A check is displayed in the box. 

Click Remove Selected User(s). The user session is removed from the Netcool/Webtop server and the 

Session Status entry for the selected user(s) changes to Removed. The web browser of the removed 

client(s) displays the Session Removed page. 

The removed user(s) are now unable to log in to Netcool/Webtop until their session is reactivated. The 

length of time for which the session is removed is displayed in seconds on the page. This value is updated 

when the page is reloaded. 

When the session is reactivated, the user can click the reconnect link and—provided there is an appropriate 

license available—reload the last page viewed. Alternatively, the user can click the Return to 

Netcool/Webtop Home page link to return to the home page. 



Usage Statistics 

Information about system drawn from the User Monitor page is displayed in the Netcool/Webtop 

Administration page under the Usage Statistics heading. This information gives an immediate indication of 

the number of users currently running sessions in Netcool/Webtop. System usage is summarized as follows: 

Total Licenses - the total number of Desktop and Read-Only licenses provided by Netcool/Webtop. 

Unused Licenses - the total number of unused Desktop and Read-Only licenses. 

Active User Sessions - the total number of active Desktop and Read-Only client sessions. 

You can refresh this information at any time by clicking on Refresh in the User Monitor page. 

The Usage Statistics information table can be found at the bottom of the left frame of the Netcool/Webtop 

Administration page, as shown in Figure 70. 

Figure 70: Usage Statistics Table 


charts.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Chapter 11: Charts 

This chapter introduces the data charting feature, and describes how charts are created and used within web 

pages to graphically represent alert data. 



Presenting Chart Data on page 258 

Chart Configuration Reference on page 266 




The AEL, LEL, maps, and tableview components provide Netcool/Webtop users with detailed interactive 

representations of alert status within a network. However, in environments where many thousands of alerts 

are received every minute it can be difficult to obtain a high-level view of comparative data representations. 

To assist you in visualizing and comparing large amounts alert information, Netcool/Webtop provides alert 

charting functionality. 

Netcool/Webtop charts represent information graphically in different forms, and with scales that are added 

to indicate the values of the displayed data. The following types of chart are supported by Netcool/Webtop: 

Bar charts, which consist of a set of elongated rectangles—the length of which indicate the number 

(or frequency) of a measured variable. An example bar chart is shown in Figure 71. 

Figure 71: Example Bar Chart 

Stacked-bar charts, where the bar is subdivided so that you can see different subcategories within each 

category of a measured variable. An example stacked-bar chart is shown in Figure 72. 

Figure 72: Example Stacked Bar Chart 


Introduction 

Line charts, which use connected lines to represent data, with each point on the line representing a 

value in the data range for a measured variable. An example line chart is shown in Figure 73. 

Figure 73: Example Line Chart 

Pie charts, used to represent quantities in proportion to other quantities. For example, to show 

percentages of a whole. An example pie chart is shown in Figure 74. 

Figure 74: Example Pie Chart 

The data displayed by these charts is drawn directly from a single ObjectServer table, and is unfiltered. To 

refine the appearance of the charts or constrain the breadth of data returned, SQL aggregate functions and 

comparison operators can be included in the data retrieval criteria. 

How Charts are Generated 

Chart configuration and layout instructions are contained within a properly constructed XML-based 

definition file, and are processed by Netcool/Webtop when a page containing a chart image tag is accessed. 

Note: For performance purposes, Netcool/Webtop reads the chart definition file and stores configuration 

data in memory. During a page refresh, the server examines the chart configuration file timestamp. If the 

definition file is newer than the information stored in memory, the data is reloaded and the chart is 

re-rendered. 



Once the configuration data has been read, a bitmap image of the chart is rendered and placed on the page. 

An example scenario is shown in Figure 75, with each of the stages described in Table 42. 

Client Netcool/ 


8 

7 

1 2 

Chart Page Chart Page HTML 

Page compiled and returned to client 

Figure 75: Example Chart Rendering Scenario 

Table 42: Chart Rendering Stages (1 of 2) 

Stage Description 

6 

 

 

 

Chart Demo 

 

 

Bar Chart 

 

 

 

 

 

Chart Image 

Renderer Component 

 

 

. 

. 

 

 


5 

XML Configuration File 

1 A client connected to Netcool/Webtop requests a page containing one or more chart images. 

3 

4

Table 42: Chart Rendering Stages (2 of 2) 

Stage Description 

Introduction 

This chapter describes how to create charts by configuring charting layout and display features, and create 

web pages that display chart output. 

XML Overview 

2 The Netcool/Webtop server locates the requested chart page HTML file, and initiates the processing 

instructions contained within the chart tag(s). 

3 The tag contains a query string that provides details of the chart configuration XML file, image output 

format, image size and so forth. This information is sent to the Netcool/Webtop chart renderer component. 

4 The renderer component draws the data retrieval and presentation instructions from the specified XML file, and 

obtains the appropriate field information from the specified ObjectServer. 

5 A chart image is rendered. 

6 The chart image is returned to the Netcool/Webtop server for insertion into the web page. 

7 The chart page is compiled, and replaces the tag with the rendered image data. 

8 The compiled page is returned to the client. 



applications. 

XML offers a straightforward way of representing data in a format that can be processed with minimal 

human or system involvement. As such, it is an ideal language for configuring Netcool/Webtop charts 

because it can be easily created by administrators or software applications. 


the part of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. 

To write your own chart configuration files you must understand: 


The concepts of elements, attributes, tags, and markup. 

How to create documents that are well-formed, and valid against an XML document schema. 



11.2 Presenting Chart Data 

This section describes how to create chart configuration instructions and install them on the 

Netcool/Webtop server. To create a web page that presents chart data: 

Create an XML chart definition file, and install the file on the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Create or edit an existing an HTML page to include a chart image HTML tag, and install the HTML 

file on the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Chart Definition Files 

The chart definition file contains all the configuration instructions that control how a chart obtains 

ObjectServer data, and how that data is presented in a graphical format. 

A variety of generic chart templates are provided with Netcool/Webtop, and are located in $WEBTOP_ 

HOME/config/charts/definitions. These are: 

BAR_eventsbylocation.xml (example bar chart) 

LINE_eventsbylocation.xml (example line chart) 

PIE_eventsbyseverity.xml (example pie chart) 

SBAR_eventsbyseverity.xml (example stacked bar chart) 

Note: To ensure that the charts you create are valid, it is strongly recommended that you use these template 

files as the basis for creating new charts. The procedures in this chapter use SBAR_ 

eventsbylocationseverity.xml as the basis for all examples. 

Each chart schema begins with an element called chartdata that holds one child-element called 

ncchart. The ncchart element contains all the high-level chart component elements. High-level 

component elements are those that govern the display or ObjectServer data-retrieval criteria for the chart. 

For example, the header element determines the content of the header above the chart display area, 

background controls the appearance of the chart background, and so forth. 


Presenting Chart Data 

The elements that correspond to high-level components, and their associated chart features (where 

applicable) are shown in Figure 76. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

Figure 76: Top-Level Elements 

Tip: The order of the high-level elements under ncchart is not strictly enforced. If you want you can 

reorder the element structure when configuring your chart file. 

With the exception of chartelement, all of the elements shown in Figure 76 relate in some way to how 

the chart is rendered and how the data is displayed. Each of these elements and their child-elements are 

described in Table 45 Chart Element Definitions on page 266. Their associated attributes (if any), and the 

attributes of their child-elements (if any) are described in Table 46 Chart Attribute Definitions on page 275. 

Creating a Schema File 

9 1 

5 

7 6 

2 8 4 

Once you have configured a chart schema file, you must upload it to the $WEBTOP_ 

HOME/config/charts/definitions directory on the Netcool/Webtop server. 


3


Note: Pie charts do not use any of the top-level components that relate specifically to cartesian chart layout. 

These are: projectorreversed, chartarea, xaxis, yaxis, xscale, yscale, xgrid, and 

ygrid. These elements—and their child-elements—are ignored by Netcool/Webtop if they are included 

in a pie chart schema, and may be excluded from the configuration file. 

Configuring 

The chartelement element determines what ObjectServer field data is retrieved when a chart is 

compiled, and the type of chart and legend to be displayed. It is important to configure this element and 

associated child-elements correctly or your chart may not display properly (or at all). This section provides 

an overview of the chartelement element tag, and how it is configured. 

A code fragment containing the default contents of the chartelement element tag in the SBAR_ 

eventsbyseverity.xml chart schema file is shown below, with each line number displayed in 

brackets: 

Example Chart Schema 

[1] 

[2] 

[3] 

[5] 

[6] 

[7] 

[8] 

[9] 

[11] 

[13] 

[15] 

[16] 

[19] 

[22] 

[23] 

[26] 

[29]


[30] (total: " showEnd=")" 

[31] /> 

[32] 

[35] 

[38] 

[41] 

[44] 

[45] 

[46] 

Note: The line numbers in the code fragment do not directly correspond to the lines in the SBAR_ 

eventsbyseverity.xml file. 

The following subsections contain a line-by-line description of the element tags in the example XML code 

fragment. 

Lines 1-2 

Line 1 opens the chartelement section of the chart configuration file. Line 2 contains the charttype 

element tag. The charttype element determines the type of chart created by the chart renderer. It has 

the attribute basetype which can be either Pie or Cartesian. 

Note: Cartesian charts can have different data configuration requirements than pie charts—where 

applicable these differences will be pointed out. 

Lines 3-5 

This line contains the chartrenderer element which establishes the image rendering mechanism 

employed and the type of chart created. If the basetype attribute in line 1 is set to Cartesian, then 

the type attribute for this element must be either LineChart or BarChart. If the basetype 

attribute is set to Pie, then the type attribute must be PieChart. 

The chartrenderer element has an additional attribute called mode. If you decide to create a cartesian 

bar chart, you can specify whether you want it to contain stacked data or not. Leave this attribute blank if 

you want to create an unstacked chart. In this example the bar chart is stacked, and mode is set to 

BarChartStacked. 



! 

Line 6 

This line closes the charttype element tag. 

Line 7 

This line contains the dataconfig element tag, which represents the start of the XML statements that 

control how data is obtained from the ObjectServer. 

Line 8 

This line contains the query element tag. The type attribute for this element must be either 

StackedSQL or StackedSQLGrouped for stacked cartesian charts, or BasicSQL or 

BasicSQLGrouped for all other types of chart. 

A query element containing the BasicSQLGrouped or StackedSQLGrouped statement uses the 

ObjectServer SQL GROUP BY clause when selecting data. This selection method enables Netcool/Webtop 

to instruct the ObjectServer to group into a single row all rows that have identical values in a specified 

column or combination of columns. 

Used with aggregate functions, Netcool/Webtop can find the aggregate value for each group of column 

values. Because the data aggregation is taking place within the ObjectServer, fewer queries are sent by 

Netcool/Webtop and performance is enhanced. 

Warning: The GROUP BY clause is only supported by Netcool/OMNIbus 3.6 and higher. Do not attempt 

to use either the BasicSQLGrouped or the StackedSQLGrouped query type against any earlier 

version of Netcool/OMNIbus. However, if you are using Netcool/OMNIbus 3.6 or higher it is strongly 

recommended that you use these query types. 

The datatype attribute contains the name of the ObjectServer datasource, for example NCOMS. 

Lines 9-20 

These lines contain query_element element tags, which are child-elements of query. If your chart is 

an unstacked cartesian chart or a pie chart, you require two query_element entries under query. If 

the chart is a stacked cartesian chart, you require three (or more) entries. 

The query_element tag contains a number of SQL compliant attributes that perform data 

interrogation functions. The action attribute is used within the query_element element to 

determine the ObjectServer SQL action exerted on a specified dataset. For example, enter select to select 

the data located in the field specified by the subsequent fieldName attribute. 

Note: In addition to select, the action attribute can contain ObjectServer SQL aggregate functions 

such as count, max, min, avg, sum, and dist. For more information on ObjectServer SQL, refer to 

the Netcool/OMNIbus Administration Guide. 



The orderBy attribute determines how selected data is ordered on the chart axis. The options are Asc 

(ascending) or Desc (descending), prefixed with a fieldname against which the ordering index is 

established. 

Note: The orderBy attribute only applies to values on the x-axis. 

All query_element attributes are described in Attribute Reference on page 275, and the query_ 

element tag positions and their corresponding behaviors are described in Table 43. 

Table 43: The query_element Element Tag 

Position Description 

First The first query_element entry selects a field from the ObjectServer. In this example, the selected field 

is Location. 

In cartesian charts this entry is used to populate the x-axis. In pie charts, this entry represents the whole 

dataset (or the pie itself). 

Lines 11-14 contain range constraint criteria. The constraint child-element is optional, but allows you 

to control how much data is returned from the selected field. This is useful as very large selection results 

often cannot be displayed in the available width of the chart. You can create a range of different chart 

configuration files where the only difference is the data constraint range. 

Last The last query_element entry measures the incidences of another ObjectServer field for each value 

returned by the first query_element. In this example, the field name is Severity and the data is 

counted against the Location field. 

In cartesian charts this entry is used to populate the y-axis. In pie charts, this entry represents subsets of 

the whole dataset (or slices of the pie). 

Intervening Intervening query_element entries are only used by stacked cartesian charts. Their purpose is to 

further break down the data obtained by the first query_element into smaller groups, which are then 

displayed as stacks within the major group. 

In this example, the subset selected is the Severity field. The different levels of alert severity present 

within the major group—in this case, Location—are displayed as colored stacks within the chart. 

Line 22 

This line concludes the query element section of chartelement. 

Lines 23-43 

These lines contain the element tag datasetlegend. This element and its associated attributes establish 

the legend label conversion criteria for information received from a datasource. For example, the if value 5 

is matched in data returned from the ObjectServer, in this example the display attribute specifies a legend 

label conversion of Critical. 



Chart Pages 

The showValue, showStart, and showEnd attributes provide the information that accompanies the 

label in the legend. The showStart and showEnd attributes act as a prefix ((total: ) and suffix ( 

)) to the value returned by showValue. In the above example, the literal output is: 

Critical (total: number of critical alerts ) 

Lines 44-46 

These lines contain the tags that close the datasource, dataconfig, and chartelement element 

tags. 

Once you have created the chart definition file, you must create an HTML file to display the chart. This file 

is then uploaded to any convenient location on the Netcool/Webtop server using the Page Manager, as 

described in Chapter 9: Page Management on page 235. The HTML page contains an tag that 

possesses the appropriate chart rendering attributes. 

A detailed description of HTML is beyond the scope of this manual, and a reasonable degree of knowledge 

on the part of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. 

Inserting a Chart Image Tag 

An example of a chart tag within a small HTML file is shown below, and a description of each 

attribute is provided in Table 44. 

Example Chart HTML 

 

 

Demonstration Chart 

 

 

 

 


 

Table 44: Image Tag Attributes 

Attribute Description 


template This attribute specifies which XML configuration file is used by the chart renderer. In this example, the file 

is called barchart. Do not include the file suffix (if any) when you set this attribute. 

format This attribute specifies the image type created by the chart renderer component. In this, example, the 

image type is a portable network graphic (PNG). Do not modify this attribute. 

request System attribute—do not modify. 

width The first width attribute (within the double-quotes) determines the width of the image produced by the 

chart renderer component. The second width attribute determines how the rendered image is resized 

(if at all) on the page. It is recommended that both attributes are set to the same value. 

height The first height attribute (within the double-quotes) determines the height of the image produced by 

the chart renderer component. The second height attribute determines how the rendered image is 

resized (if at all) on the page. It is recommended that both attributes are set to the same value. 

alt This attribute allows you to enter a text equivalent for a graph image. This text is displayed when the 

cursor is placed above the image in the client browser. 



11.3 Chart Configuration Reference 

This section contains information to help you learn about the data contained within Netcool/Webtop chart 

schema. It provides a comprehensive reference for the elements, attributes, and attribute values defined 

within the schema. 


Table 45 describes each element defined within the chart schema. Elements often have one or more 

associated attributes, for which a value may be required. A list of all attribute types and values is shown in 

Table 46 Chart Attribute Definitions on page 275. 

Table 45: Chart Element Definitions (1 of 9) 

Element Description Attribute(s) Child Element(s) 

annotation This element controls the text 

displayed for annotation values on 

the x-axis or the y-axis. If this 

element is not defined, the axes 

annotations are derived from field 

data. 

To specify a new annotation you 

must replace an existing field data 

annotation. For example, to replace 

host1 with New York, the 

annotation element is defined as: 

 

To select integer indices, use the 

value attribute instead of the 

match attribute. 

annotations This element contains the elements 

that control the text and display 

characteristics of the labels on the 

x-axis or the y-axis. 

antialias This element smoothens the line 

rendering within the chart. 

antialiastext This element smoothens the text 

rendering within the chart. 

text 

value 

match 


None 

None labelrenderer 

value None 

value None 

annotation


background This element determines the 

background color of the whole 

chart area. 

border This element contains the 

child-elements that control the 

appearance of the border (if any) 

around the legend area. 

chartarea This element controls the color or 

color gradient (if any), and margin 

positions of the area behind the 

chart itself. 

value None 

None title 

Chart Configuration Reference 


chartdata The chartdata element is the 

root element. The root element is 

the top-level element in the XML 

document hierarchy, and contains 

all other elements in your XML file. 

Each document can have only one 

root element, and all other elements 

must be nested within it. 

chartelement The chartelement element 

contains the all elements that 

govern chart rendering (that is, the 

type of chart created) and data 

presentation criteria (using SQL 

selection syntax). For more 

information about this, refer to 

Configuring on 

page 260. 

chartrenderer The chartrenderer element 

governs the appearance and 

behavior of each type of chart. It 

contains the style element which 

determines how colors are 

associated with chart data. In 

addition, this element controls 

which types of cartesian chart are 

displayed (bar or line) and whether 

cartesian charts are stacked. 

None plotareabackground 

margin 

None ncchart 

datasetlegend 

None charttype 

useAlertColors 

dataconfig 


type 

mode 

style




charttype The charttype element 

determines the category of chart 

produced by the chart renderer. It 

has the attribute basetype that 

establishes which type of chart is 

created (Pie or Cartesian). 

In addition, this element contains 

the chartrenderer element that 

can further refine the appearance of 

the chart. 

color This element provides the values 

used to create a solid swatch of 

color (one element entry) or a color 

gradient (more than one element 

entry) behind the chart. 

constraint This element and contains 

attributes that can be used to 

restrict the range of data displayed 

on the x-axis or the y-axis. This 

element is optional. 

dataconfig This element contains a cluster of 

child-elements that are used to 

retrieve ObjectServer field data, and 

to create and populate the legend 

area of the chart. 

basetype chartrenderer 

value None 


type 

operator 

operand 

None 

None query 

datasetlegend 

datasource


datasetlegend This element is used to associate an 

appropriate legend label to 

matched information returned from 

the ObjectServer. 

For example: 

 

The above element tag matches 

returned severity data with the 

value 5 with the label Critical in 

the legend area of the chart. 

match 

display 

showValue 

showStart 

showEnd 



font This element contains the 

child-elements that govern font size 

and appearance. 

footer This element contains the elements 

that determine the content of the 

footer below the chart display area. 

The footer typically displays 

additional useful information about 

the chart. 

foreground This element is used by the header, 

footer, and legend border chart 

components to determine the color 

of text entries. 

gridline This element determines whether 

major or minor gridlines on the 

x-axis or the y-axis of the chart are 

visible. In addition, gridline also 

contains the elements that 

determine line color. 

fontStyle 

fontName 

fontSize 


None 

None 

None text 

foreground 

background 

font 

value None 

type 

visible 

paint




header This element contains the elements 

that determine the content of the 

header above the chart display area. 

The header typically displays the 

title of the chart. 

label This element governs the 

appearance of the label (if any) 

displayed on the x-axis or y-axis of a 

cartesian chart. 

labelrenderer This element governs the 

appearance of the text, background, 

and orientation of annotations on 

the x-axis or y-axis of a cartesian 

chart. 

legend This element is used to determine 

the appearance and position of the 

legend area of a chart. 

The legend area contains 

interpretative information (for 

example, a color key) and 

quantitative information (for 

example, an event total) that further 

explains the contents of a pie chart 

or bar chart. 

margin This element is used to determine 

the space (in pixels) around the 

chart data area. This margin area 

must be wide enough to 

accommodate axis data labels in 

cartesian charts. 

None text 

color 

offset 

rotation 

visible 

color 

background 

rotation 

visible 

position 

background 

foreground 

foreground 

background 


top 

bottom 

left 

right 

font 

font 

font 

border 

symbol 

font 

antialiastext 

antialias 

None


ncchart This is the second-level element in 

the schema, and encapsulates all of 

the different component areas of 

the chart. 

Each ncchart child element is 

described in more detail elsewhere 

within this table. 

name header 



paint This element defines the type of 

system used to present gridlines. 

plotareabackground This element is used to create the 

background color or color gradient 

behind the chart data area. 

projectorreversed This element determines whether 

the chart data projection is 

reversed. When the associated 

value attribute is set to true, the 

datasets for the x-axis and y-axis are 

swapped. Note that the background 

also rotates. 

query This element contains the attributes 

and child-elements that determine 

what SQL data is obtained from 

which ObjectServer, and the 

manner in which it is retrieved. 

footer 

background 

antialiastext 

antialias 

legend 

projectorreversed 

chartarea 

xaxis 

yaxis 

xscale 

yscale 

xgrid 

ygrid 

type None 

orientation color 

value None 

chartelement 


type 

datasource 

query_element




query_element The query_element tag contains 

a number of SQL-compliant 

attributes that perform data 

interrogation functions. 

style This element contains the child 

elements that define the border 

color and fill color of the pie or bar 

segments on a chart. 

symbol This element specifies the size and 

position (relative to adjacent text) of 

the color symbols used in the 

legend area of the chart. 

text This element is used by many other 

elements to determine the textual 

content of headers, footers, and so 

forth. 

title This element is used to control the 

position of the title in the legend 

area of the chart. It also contains the 

elements that control the text 

content and color. 

action 

fieldName 

fieldType 

tableName 

where 

strokepaint 

fillpaint 

match 

height 

width 

textSpacing 

constraint 


None 

None 

value None 

position text 

foreground 

font 

xaxis See xaxiselement. None xaxiselement 

xaxiselement This element controls how data is 

displayed on the x-axis, and covers 

presentation aspects such as axis 

orientation and data range 

parameters. 

reversed 

autoDataMin 

autoDataMax 

autoDataRange 

dataMin 

dataMax 

visibleMin 

visibleMax 

None


xgrid This element contains the 

xgridelement element that 

controls how gridlines appear on 

the x-axis of the chart. 



xgridelement This element determines the color 

of the gridlines on the x-axis, and 

contains the xgridelement 

element that controls what type of 

gridlines appear on the x-axis of the 

chart. 

None xgridelement 

None gridline 

xscale See xscaleelement. None xscaleelement 

xscaleelement This element allows you to control 

how chart components are 

arranged. This covers such features 

as the color of the foreground, the 

point at which the x-axis intersects 

with the y-axis, whether the data is 

logarithmically transformed, the 

axis title position, and so forth. 

axisVisible 

crossingValue 

foreground 

logarithmic 

majorTickSize 

minorTickSize 

title 

titleRotation 

titlePlacement 

visible 

annotations 

yaxis See yaxiselement. None yaxiselement 

yaxiselement This element controls how data is 

displayed on the y-axis, and covers 

presentation aspects such as axis 

orientation and axis data range 

parameters. 

reversed 

autoDataMin 

autoDataMax 

autoDataRange 

dataMin 

dataMax 

visibleMin 

visibleMax 


None




ygrid This element contains the 

ygridelement element that 

controls how gridlines appear on 

the y-axis of the chart. 

ygridelement This element determines the color 

of the gridlines on the y-axis, and 

contains the ygridelement 

element that controls what type of 

gridlines appear on the y-axis of the 

chart. 

None ygridelement 

None gridline 

yscale See yscaleelement. None yscaleelement 

yscaleelement This element allows you to control 

how chart components are 

arranged. This covers such features 

as the color of the foreground, the 

point at which the y-axis intersects 

with the x-axis, whether the data is 

logarithmically transformed, the 

axis title position, and so forth. 

axisVisible 

crossingValue 

foreground 

logarithmic 

majorTickSize 

minorTickSize 

title 

titleRotation 

titlePlacement 

visible 

annotations 

label 




Table 46 describes each attribute defined within the Netcool/Webtop chart schema. Some attributes are 

enumerated and the values of these attributes are constrained to a list of predefined text strings. When 

enumerated attributes are used within the XML command file, they must be set to one of the values shown 

in the list. Default values (if any) are provided in the description. 

Table 46: Chart Attribute Definitions (1 of 11) 


action select | count| min | 

max 

The attribute is used within the query_element 

element to specify the ObjectServer SQL action exerted 

on a dataset. For example, select to select the data 

located in the field specified by the subsequent 

fieldName attribute. 

A value must be provided for this attribute. 

autoDataMax true | false This attribute is used by the xaxiselement and 

yaxiselement elements to specify whether you want 

the highest value in a dataset displayed as the highest 

value on the x-axis or y-axis of a graph. 

If you do not provide a value for this attribute, the 

default is false. 

autoDataMin true | false This attribute is used by the xaxiselement and 

yaxiselement elements to specify whether you want 

to the lowest value in a dataset displayed as the lowest 

value on the x-axis or y-axis of a graph. 



autoDataRange true | false This attribute is used by the xaxis and yaxis 

elements, and specifies whether or not the data ranges 

on the axes are created automatically. 

If you set autoDataRange to false you can specify 

your own data ranges by populating the dataMin and 

dataMax attributes. 



axisVisible true | false This attribute is used by the xscaleelement element 

and yscaleelement element to specify if the x-axis or 

y-axis lines and labels are displayed. 







background None This attribute is used to specify the color for the 

background of a chart component. The attribute value is 

a base 16 hexadecimal color code and must be prefixed 

with a # symbol. 

If you do not provide a value for this attribute, a system 

default is used. 

basetype Cartesian | Pie This attribute specifies the basic type of chart style. Note 

that bar charts, stacked-bar charts, and line charts are all 

Cartesian. 


bottom None This attribute is used within the margin element to 

specify the margin space at the bottom of the chart. The 

unit of measurement is in pixels. 

If you do not provide a value for this attribute, a system 

default is used. 

color None This attribute is used within the label and 

labelrenderer elements to specify the color of label 

or annotative text on a chart. The attribute value is a 

base 16 hexadecimal color code and must be prefixed 

with a # symbol. 

crossingValue -9218868437227405311→ 

+9218868437227405311 

IEE754 Standard for Double 

Precision for Floating-Point 

Numbers. Values beyond these 

ranges incur rounding. 

dataMax -9218868437227405311→ 

+9218868437227405311 






This attribute is used by the xaxiselement and 

yaxiselement elements to determine where one 

chart axis crosses the other. 

If you do not provide a value for this attribute, the x-axis 

and y-axis intersect at 0. 


yaxiselement elements to specify the highest value 

on the x-axis or y-axis of a graph. This attribute is ignored 

when autoDataMax is set to true. 




dataMin -9218868437227405311→ 

+9218868437227405311 







yaxiselement elements to specify the lowest value 

on the x-axis or y-axis of a graph. This attribute is ignored 

when autoDataMin is set to true. 

datasource None This attribute is used by the query element and 

specifies the ObjectServer datasource used to create the 

chart. 

defaultGridColor None This attribute is used by the xgridelement and 

ygridelement elements to specify the color of the 

chart grid (if any). The attribute value is a base 16 

hexadecimal color code and must be prefixed with a # 

symbol. 

display None This attribute is used by the datasetlegend element 

to specify the text in the legend panel that accompanies 

the values returned by the match attribute. The 

attribute entry is a string. For more information, see 

Configuring on page 260. 

fieldName None This attribute is used by the datasetlegend element 

to specify an ObjectServer field. For example, 

Severity. 

fieldType string | integer This attribute is used by the datasetlegend element 

to describe the ObjectServer field-data characteristics. 

fillpaint #000000→#FFFFFF This attribute defines the fill color of the pie or bar 

segments on a chart. The attribute value is a base 16 


symbol. 


fontName None This attribute is used by the font element and specifies 

the name of the font used in a text entry. The attribute 

entry is a string, and must correspond to a font located 

on the Netcool/Webtop server. 






fontSize None This attribute is used by the font element and specifies 

the size of the font used in a text entry. The attribute 

entry is in points, rounded to the integer. 


fontStyle plain | bold This attribute is used by the font element and specifies 

the style of the font used in a text entry. The attribute 

entry is a string, and must be supported by the font 

specified in the corresponding fontName attribute. 


foreground #000000 → #FFFFFF This attribute is used to specify the color for the 

foreground of a chart component and often refers to the 

text entry. The attribute value is a base 16 hexadecimal 

color code and must be prefixed with a # symbol. 


height 0→2 31 -1 This attribute is used by the symbol component to 

specify the height of the symbol or symbols used in the 

legend panel. The attribute entry is in points, rounded to 

the integer. 

The default value corresponds to a system-calculated 

best fit. 

left 0→2 31 -1 This attribute is used by the margin element to specify 

the margin space at the left of the chart. The unit of 

measurement is in pixels and is an integer. 


best fit. 

logarithmic true | false This attribute is used by the xscaleelement and 

yscaleelement elements and specifies whether the 

scale data is logarithmically transformed. 



majorTickSize None This attribute is used by the xscalelement and 

yscaleelement elements and controls the size of the 

large ticks on the x-axis or the y-axis. The unit of 






match (annotation) None This attribute is used by the annotation element to 

establish the string election criteria for annotations 

displayed on the x-axis or the y-axis. To select an integer, 

use the value attribute instead. 

match 

(datasetlegend) 

None This attribute is used by the datasetlegend element 

to establish the selection criteria for the information 

displayed in the legend panel. This attribute works in 

combination with the display attribute. For more 

information, see Configuring on 

page 260. 

minorTickSize 0→2 31 -1 This attribute is used by the xscalelement and 

yscaleelement and controls the size of the small 

ticks on the x-axis or the y-axis. The unit of measurement 

is in pixels and is an integer. 


best fit. 

mode BarChartStacked This attribute is used by the chartrenderer element 

to specify if a barchart is stacked. The corresponding 

type attribute must be set to BarChart for this 

attribute to be enabled. 

name Must exactly correspond to the 

chart filename. 

Do not including the .xml file 

extension. 

If you do not provide a value for this attribute, no value is 

used and the renderer uses its default mode. 

This attribute provides a name for the chart. 

For example, if the schema is called mychart.xml, the 

name attribute must be set to mychart. 

operand This attribute is used by the constraint element to 

provide an upper or lower limit (as determined by the 

accompanying type attribute) on the x-axis data 

returned by a query_element selection. 

operator System attribute—do not modify. 





orderBy fieldname Asc | 

fieldname Desc 

This attribute determines how selected data is ordered 

on the chart axis. The options are Asc (ascending) or 

Desc (descending), prefixed with a fieldname against 

which the ordering index is established. For example: 

 

In this example, the Location field data is arranged in 

ascending order. 

orientation xaxis | yaxis This attribute is used by the plotareabackground 

element to specify the orientation of any chart 

background color gradient. 

position (legend) NorthBottom | NorthEast 

| SouthTop 

position (title) AboveBottom | AboveTop 

| BelowBottom | 

BelowTop | Bottom | 

Center | Leading | Left 

| Right | Trailing | 

Top 


default is xaxis. 

This attribute is used by the legend element to specify 

where the chart legend area is displayed on the chart. 

The anchor positions are defined relative to the chart. 


default is NorthBottom. 

This attribute is used by the title element to specify 

where the title is displayed in the legend. The anchor 

positions are defined relative to the chart. 


default is Top. 

reversed true | false This attribute is used by the xaxiselement and 

yaxiselement elements to specify the orientation 

order of the axis. For example, when set to true for the 

xaxiselement element, the x-axis appears to the 

left-hand side of the origin of the y-axis. 







right 0→2 31 -1 This attribute is used by the margin element to specify 

the margin space at the right of the chart. The unit of 



best fit. 

rotation 0→360 This attribute is used by the label and 

labelrenderer elements to specify the clockwise 

rotation angle for labels and annotations. The angle 

value is expressed in degrees and is an integer. 


default is 0. 

showEnd None This attribute is used by the datasetlegend element 

to specify a suffix to any count data displayed in the 

legend. 

showStart None This attribute is used by the datasetlegend element 

to specify a prefix to any count data displayed in the 

legend. 

showValue true | false This attribute is used by the datasetlegend element 

to specify whether count data is displayed in the legend. 



strokepaint #000000→#FFFFFF This attribute defines the border color of the pie or bar 

segments on a chart. The attribute value is a base 16 


symbol. 


tableName None This attribute is used by query_element to specify 

which ObjectServer data table is used. For example, 

alerts.status. 

text None This attribute is typically used to provide textual 

information within the chart configuration file. 





textSpacing 0→2 31 -1 This attribute is used by the symbol element to specify 

the distance between symbols used in the legend area 

and their associated text. The unit of measurement is in 

pixels and is an integer. 


best fit. 

title None This attribute is used by the xcscaleelement and 

yscaleelement elements to specify the title (if any) 

associated with the x-axis or y-axis. 

titlePlacement 0→100 This attribute is used by the xcscaleelement and 

yscaleelement elements to determine the 

placement of an axis title. The measurement is a 

percentage of the entire width of the chart. For example, 

a value of 50 centers the title under the x-axis. 


default is 50. 

titleRotation 0→360 This attribute is used to specify the clockwise rotation 

angle for the title (if any) displayed on the x-axis or the 

y-axis. The angle value is expressed in degrees and is an 

integer. 


default is 0. 

top 0→2 31 -1 This attribute is used by the margin element to specify 

the margin space at the top of the chart. The unit of 


type 

(chartrenderer) 

LineChart | PieChart | 

BarChart 


best fit. 

This attribute is used by the chartrenderer element 

to specify the type of chart to graphically render. Note 

that if you enter LineChart or BarChart, the 

basetype attribute of the charttype element must 

be set to Cartesian. If you enter PieChart, the 

basetype attribute of the charttype element must 

be set to Pie. 




type (constraint) dataSetBeginCount | 

dataSetEndCount 


This attribute is used by the constraint element to 

restrict the range of data returned from a selected field. 

These attributes work in combination with the 

operator and operand attributes to specify a data 

startpoint and endpoint. 

For the dataSetBeginCount the operand indicates 

the start point. For the dataSetEndCount the 

operand indicates the end point. Consider the following 

example query_element: 




type (query) BasicSQL | 

BasicSQLGrouped | 

StackedSQL | 

StackedSQLGrouped 

This attribute is used by the query element to specify 

the type of SQL query to use. If you create a stacked chart 

you must use StackedSQL or StackedSQLGrouped, 

otherwise use BasicSQL or BasicSQLGrouped. 

The BasicSQLGrouped and StackedSQLGrouped 

query types can only be used against Netcool/OMNIbus 

version 3.6 and higher. 

useAlertColors true | false This attribute allows you to use the alert status colors 

provided by the alerts.colors table in the 

ObjectServer. 



value Various This attribute is typically used to populate or define text, 

color, or boolean information within the chart 

configuration file. 

visible true | false This attribute is used to specify whether an associated 

chart feature is displayed. 

visibleMax -9218868437227405311→ 

+9218868437227405311 





visibleMin -9218868437227405311→ 

+9218868437227405311 





For example, the legend element uses visible to 

specify whether a legend displaying information about 

the drawn data is associated with a chart. When enabled, 

all the graphical representations displayed within the 

chart have a corresponding legend item. 

This attribute is used by the xaxis element and the 

yaxis element to impose a visible constraint on the 

data range presented in a chart. The visibleMax 

attribute specifies the highest figure displayed. 


default is the highest data entry on the chart. 

This attribute is used by the xaxis element and the 

yaxis element to impose a visible constraint on the 

data range presented in a chart. The visibleMin 

attribute specifies the lowest figure displayed. 


default is the lowest data entry on the chart. 

where None This attribute is used by the query_element query to 

specify any SQL search constraints you want applied to 

the selected data source. 





width 0→2 31 -1 This attribute is used by the symbol component to 

specify the width of the symbol or symbols used in the 

legend panel. The attribute entry is in points, rounded to 

the integer. 




waapi.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Chapter 12: Webtop Administration API 

This chapter describes the Webtop Administration Application Program Interface (WAAPI) client utility, 

and the procedure for sending XML configuration instructions to the Netcool/Webtop server. 



Sending WAAPI Instructions to Netcool/Webtop on page 290 

WAAPI Data Reference on page 300 




The Webtop Administration API (WAAPI) client is a Java-based utility that allows you to remotely 

configure Netcool/Webtop. The WAAPI client can be used to expedite complex configuration procedures, 

and allow predefined configurations to be instantly deployed to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Configuration instructions are written in XML and are stored in an ASCII command file. The WAAPI 

client sends the command file directly to the Netcool/Webtop server which, after client authentication, 

updates accordingly. 

The WAAPI utility can be installed either with the Netcool/Webtop server or as a standalone utility, and 

can be executed from anywhere within your network. An example scenario is shown in Figure 77. 

User 

WAAPI 

Client 

XML 

Database 

Figure 77: Example WAAPI Configuration Scenario 

You can use the WAAPI client to select the appropriate Netcool/Webtop datasource and configure any of 

the following features: 

Access control lists (ACLs) 

Entities and entity views 

File management (HTML pages, graphics, and so forth) 

Maps 

ObjectServer1 

ObjectServer2 


Authentication 



Server

Menus 

Resources 

Tools 

User information and privileges 

Introduction 

If the WAAPI client is not installed on your system, run the Netcool/Webtop installation program, as 

described in Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for UNIX on page 32 or Installing Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 for 

Windows on page 50, and select the WAAPI component from the installation menu. 

It is not necessary to obtain client licenses for the WAAPI component, or to install any other 

Netcool/Webtop component if you only want to use the WAAPI client to configure an existing 


XML Overview 



applications. 

XML offers a straightforward way of representing data in a format that can be processed without much 

human or system involvement. As such, it is an ideal language for remotely configuring Netcool/Webtop 

activities because it can be easily created by administrators or software applications. 


the part of the Netcool/Webtop administrator is assumed. In brief, to write your own XML command 

instructions you must understand: 


The concept of elements, attributes, tags, and markup. 

How to create documents that are well-formed, and valid against an XML document type definition 

(DTD). 

Document Type Definition 

The Document Type Definition (DTD) is a set of syntax rules for tags. It defines the tags you can use in 

your XML documents, in what order they must appear, which tags can appear inside other ones, which tags 

have attributes, and so forth. 

A DTD for use with Netcool/Webtop is provided with the WAAPI client. WAAPI Data Reference on 

page 300 represents the contents of the DTD by describing each element, attribute, and attribute value, and 

provides some information about the context of element usage. It is necessary to understand the values and 

hierarchy of these components before you start creating your own XML instructions. 



12.2 Sending WAAPI Instructions to Netcool/Webtop 

This section describes how to create and send Netcool/Webtop configuration instructions. XML 

instructions are contained within a properly constructed XML command file and are passed to the 

Netcool/Webtop server using the WAAPI client. The Netcool/Webtop server requires no additional 

configuration to receive WAAPI instructions and it is not necessary to restart the server once the commands 

have been issued. 

The WAAPI Command File 

The WAAPI command file contains the XML instructions used to communicate with the Netcool/Webtop 

server and is used to dynamically configure the application. The file must be well-formed, and validated 

against the DTD read by the WAAPI client. 

Nearly all components that you can modify from the Netcool/Webtop Administration page have an 

equivalent XML configuration instruction defined in the DTD. The example shown in Table 47 describes 

the comparative procedures for modifying a field view in an AEL. 

Table 47: Netcool/Webtop Modification Example 

Administration Page Procedure WAAPI Procedure 

The following procedure describes the steps required to 

configure Netcool/Webtop using the administration 

pages: 

1. Log into the Netcool/Webtop administration pages 

and select View Editor. 

2. You are shown the View Editor page. Select the view 

you want to modify and click OK. In this example, the 

view is called testing. 

3. You are presented with the View Editor - Modify View 

page. In the Event List View text field, select the field 

you want to modify. In this example the field is called 

Serial. 

4. Change the justification values of Field Name and 

Column Title to Left. 

5. Set the column width to 12. 

6. Click Apply. 

The following procedure describes the steps required to 

configure Netcool/Webtop using the WAAPI client: 

1. Create an XML command file in accordance with the 

rules of the WAAPI DTD. The appropriate data for this 

example is shown below: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Start the WAAPI client and send the command file to 

the Netcool/Webtop server. 


Sending WAAPI Instructions to Netcool/Webtop 

The hierarchy of another example WAAPI command file is represented graphically in Figure 78. 

Figure 78: Example Command File Tag Hierarchy 

In this example, when the XML data is sent to the Netcool/Webtop server using the WAAPI client, a new 

user and password are created. The data also specifies session settings for the new user such as their password 

and license band. User configurations can also contain many AEL session parameters; for brevity these 

attributes have been omitted from the example. 

The contents of the corresponding command file are shown below, with each line number displayed in 

brackets. 

Example WAAPI Command File 

[1] 

[2] 

[3]


! 

Note: Some XML authoring applications strictly enforce the inclusion of an XML declaration as the first 

line. The XML declaration is a processor instruction that usually indicates the version of XML used in the 

document, for example . The WAAPI client is tolerant of XML 

declarations. 

Line 2 contains the method element tag. This element has the required attribute methodName, which 

describes the action to be passed to the Netcool/Webtop server. The attribute value is of the format 

.. In this example the administrative area is user (the 

User Editor), and the action type is addUser (to add a new user). 

The contents of line 3 are dependent on the value of the methodName attribute specified in line 2. The 

. attribute in line 2 is user.addUser, so line 3 

must contain the user element tag which governs user profile data. Table 54 WAAPI DTD methodName 

Attribute Values and Permitted Child Element on page 332 describes each methodName administrative area 

and shows which elements are controlled by which attribute values. 

Warning: If you attempt to use the methodName attribute value to exert control over an inappropriate 

area of Netcool/Webtop, an error is returned by the WAAPI client at run-time. 

The user element has the required attribute name, and a number of optional attributes that relate to the 

session and license criteria for the new user (lines 4 - 11). Some attributes are enumerated—their values are 

constrained to a list of predefined text strings or integers. In this example the enumerated attribute 

license_band requires an entry of 0 or 1, which indicates if the user has a Read-Only or Desktop 

license. 

If no value is entered for an optional attribute, then the default value (if any) is used. Detailed descriptions 

of all the WAAPI attributes are provided in Table 53 WAAPI DTD Attribute Definitions on page 318. 

Lines 12 - 13 contain the tags which close the user, method element tags. The 

element tag on line 14 concludes the file. 



The WAAPI DTD is generally order-tolerant. Providing the command files are well-formed, it allows you 

to parse the majority of child elements in any order. An example of an order tolerant element is 

supermenu, shown in Figure 79 on page 293. The supermenu element can contain three types of child 

element: tool, separator, and menu, which can appear in any order within the supermenu tag 

hierarchy. The order the elements are placed in is reflected in the appearance of the AEL tool menu created 

by these instructions. 

Figure 79: Example Supermenu Element Hierarchy 



In the previous example, all combinations of the child elements of supermenu are permitted. This is not 

true for the tools, view, and method elements. An example of the view element hierarchy is shown 

in Figure 80 on page 294. 

Figure 80: Example View Element Hierarchy 

In this example, the columns and sorting child elements tags must appear in order within the view 

tag hierarchy. If you reorder the instruction so that sorting appears before columns, the command file 

is invalid. 

The child element order for tools, view, and method are shown in Table 48. 

Table 48: Child Element Order (1 of 2) 

Element Child Element Order 

method user, acl, view, map, resources, supermenu, tools, entityview, entitygroup, file, 

session 


Table 48: Child Element Order (2 of 2) 

Element Child Element Order 

tools execute, command, sql, journal, prompt 

view columns, sorting 

Creating a WAAPI Command File 


The DTD reference material in the latter part of this chapter contains a complete description of the WAAPI 

document type definition and you can use this information to create your own command files. The DTD 

contains a lot of information so it is recommended that you carry out the following general procedure when 

you create a new command file: 

1. Create an ASCII text file with an .xml suffix that contains the initial methodCall and method 

element structure. 

2. Determine which area of Netcool/Webtop you want to configure by referring to Table 54 WAAPI 

DTD methodName Attribute Values and Permitted Child Element on page 332. This table describes all 

the methodName attribute values you can use with the method element, and their associated 

action areas in the Netcool/Webtop application. Set the value of the methodName attribute to the 

desired action area. 

3. Add a child element under method that is permitted by the methodName value. The permitted 

child elements for each methodName value are shown in Table 54 on page 332. 

4. The element you added in the previous step is likely to have child elements and attributes of its own. 

For more information about this and successive elements refer to Table 51 WAAPI DTD Elements 

and Attributes on page 301. In addition: 

– A detailed description of each element, with an accompanying example, is provided in 

Table 52 WAAPI DTD Element Reference on page 308. 

– A detailed description of each element attribute is provided in Table 53 WAAPI DTD Attribute 

Definitions on page 318. 

5. Once you have finished adding child elements under method you can either conclude the file, or 

add a sibling method element—that is, another method element with a different methodName 

value that configures a different area of Netcool/Webtop. 

Example command files for typical administrative activities are provided with the WAAPI client and are 

located in: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/samples/ on UNIX systems. 

%WEBTOP_HOME%\samples\ on Windows systems. 



If you have installed the WAAPI component on a system that does not have a Netcool/Webtop server 

installation, the sample files are located in $WAAPI_HOME/samples/ or %WAAPI_ 

HOME%\samples\. See the below for more information about this. 

Tip: You can use the data contained in the example files as the basis for creating your own configurations. 

The WAAPI Client 

Once you have created the command file, you use the WAAPI client software to send the XML data to the 

Netcool/Webtop server. The client software is started from the command line on both UNIX and Windows 

systems, and the respective startup procedures are described in the sections below. The command line 

options for the WAAPI client are shown in Table 49 on page 298. Before starting the WAAPI client you 

must ensure that: 

The URL of the target Netcool/Webtop server is correct. 

The WAAPI client is authenticated—the username and password are valid. 

The command file is correctly structured, and contains valid data. 

A network connection exists between the client and the Netcool/Webtop server. 


Starting the WAAPI Client on UNIX 


If you have installed the WAAPI client on a system that already contains a Netcool/Webtop installation, 

start the WAAPI client by enter the following instruction from the command line: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/bin/runwaapi 

If you have installed the WAAPI client as a standalone utility on a UNIX system that does not contain 

Netcool/Webtop, start the WAAPI client by doing the following: 

1. Set the WAAPI_HOME environment variable to reflect the location of the WAAPI directory on your 

system. 

– If you installed the WAAPI component in the /opt/usr directory, C shell users must enter: 

setenv WAAPI_HOME /opt/usr/waapi 

– If you installed the WAAPI component in the /opt/usr directory, Bourne shell users must 

enter: 

export WAAPI_HOME=/opt/usr/waapi 

2. Change directory to $WAAPI_HOME/bin and enter the following: 

chmod +x runwaapi 

Note: It is only necessary to carry out this step the first time you conduct this procedure. 

3. Enter the following instruction from the command line: 

$WAAPI_HOME/bin/runwaapi 

Starting the WAAPI Client on Windows 

If you have installed the WAAPI client on a system that already contains a Netcool/Webtop installation, 

start the WAAPI client by entering the following instruction from the command line: 

%WEBTOP_HOME%\bin\runwaapi.cmd 

Using the WAAPI Client With a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server 

The WAAPI client supports the HTTPS protocol, which provides a secure means of data transmission over 

the Internet. You can initiate a secure session by using the -secure on argument when you start the client. 



Secure WAAPI connections require that either a self-signed or Certificate Authority authenticated certificate 

resides on your Netcool/Webtop server. Refer to Appendix C: Creating a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server on 

page 357 for further details about this. 

WAAPI Properties and Command Line Options 

The properties file for the WAAPI client is located in $WEBTOP_HOME/config/waapi.init. The 

default properties and corresponding command line options for the WAAPI client are shown below in 

Table 49. 

Table 49: WAAPI Properties and Command Line Options (1 of 2) 

Property Command Line Option Description 

N/A -help Displays associated help text. 

N/A -outfile string The output path and filename for a file containing the response 

from the Netcool/Webtop server. 

N/A -props string Specifies a properties file. 

Default is waapi.init. 

waapi.file -file string The path and filename of the XML command file. 

waapi.host -host string The host name of the Netcool/Webtop server to be administered. 

Default is localhost. 

waapi.password -password string Password of the Netcool/Webtop administrator. 

waapi.port -port integer The port number of the Netcool/Webtop server. 


waapi.secure -secure [off|on] Enables or disables the secure HTTPS feature. 

Default is off. 

waapi.secureport -port integer The port number of the secure Netcool/Webtop server. 


waapi.timeoutsecs -timeout integer The timeout period, in seconds. If the Netcool/Webtop server 

fails to respond within this period, the command does not 

execute. 



Table 49: WAAPI Properties and Command Line Options (2 of 2) 

Property Command Line Option Description 


waapi.user -user string Username of the Netcool/Webtop administrator. 




12.3 WAAPI Data Reference 

This section contains information to help you learn about the data contained within the Netcool/Webtop 

WAAPI Document Type Definition (DTD). It provides a comprehensive reference for the elements, 

attributes, and attribute values defined within the schema. 

DTD Reference 

! 

The XML elements and attributes defined within the WAAPI DTD are shown in Table 51 WAAPI DTD 

Elements and Attributes on page 301. Table 50 describes the datatypes and legends that accompany the 

information in Table 51. 

XML is hierarchical in structure and the DTD specifies whether each element permits other elements to 

reside under it within the hierarchy. If an element is allowed to appear under another, it is described as a 

child element. 

Warning: XML is case-sensitive. Elements, attributes, and attribute values used within an XML command 

file must appear exactly as they are shown within the DTD. 

Table 50: WAAPI DTD Statement and Annotation Descriptions 

Datatype / Legend Description 

#PCDATA This statement indicates that the current element can contain character data. 

NM This statement indicates that the attribute types are names consisting of XML NMTOKEN character 

(letters, periods, numbers, underscores, dashes, and colons). NM often also indicates that the 

attribute contains a list of predefined choices. 

CDATA This statement indicates that the attribute contains un-parsed character data. 

IMP This statement indicates that the presence of the attribute is implied (optional). 

REQ This statement indicates that the presence of the attribute is required (mandatory). 

+ A plus sign after a child element indicates that the child element must appear at least once. 

* An asterisk after a child element indicates that the child element can appear any number of times. 

? A question mark after a child element indicates that the child element can appear at most once. 

| A list of child elements are separated by a pipe (|) indicates that the items are divided into a 

choice group of alternatives. 


Table 51: WAAPI DTD Elements and Attributes (1 of 7) 

WAAPI Data Reference 


acl name (NM, IMP) member* 

button name (NM, REQ) 

label (CDATA, IMP) 

datasource (CDATA, IMP) 

x (CDATA, IMP) 

y (CDATA, IMP) 

action (CDATA, IMP) 

url (CDATA, IMP) 

target (CDATA, IMP) 

w (CDATA, IMP) 

h (CDATA, IMP) 

color (CDATA, IMP) 

entity (CDATA, IMP) 

type (CDATA, IMP) 

arc_diameter (CDATA, IMP) 

transparent (NM, IMP) 

legend (CDATA, IMP) 

font (CDATA, IMP) 

size (CDATA, IMP) 

font_color (CDATA, IMP) 

style (CDATA, IMP) 

cgi name (CDATA, REQ) 

acl (CDATA, IMP) 

useSmartPageCommands (NM, IMP) 

fileName (CDATA, IMP) 

columns None visualEntry* 

command foreach (NM, IMP) 

enabled (NM, IMP) 

path (CDATA, IMP) 

platform (NM, REQ) 

text (CDATA, IMP) 


entity name (NM, REQ) 

filter (CDATA, IMP) 

view (CDATA, IMP) 

metriclabel (CDATA, IMP) 

metricshow (NM, IMP) 

metricof (CDATA, IMP) 

entitygroup name (NM, IMP) entity* 


None 

None 

None 

None 

entitylist*




entitylist name (NM, REQ) 

list (CDATA, IMP) 

view (CDATA, IMP) 

metriclabel (CDATA, IMP) 

metricshow (NM, IMP) 

metricof (CDATA, IMP) 


None 

entityview name (NM, REQ) None 

execute foreach (NM, IMP) 

windowforeach (NM, IMP) 



text (CDATA, IMP) 

file fileName (CDATA, IMP) 

dirName (CDATA, IMP) 

toDir (CDATA, IMP) 

fromDir (CDATA, IMP) 

icon name (NM, REQ) 












arc_diameter (CDATA, IMP) 

legend (CDATA, IMP) 



font_color (CDATA, IMP) 

image (CDATA, REQ) 

entity_status_indicator (CDATA, IMP) 


journal foreach (NM, IMP) 


text (CDATA, REQ) 

None 

None 

None 

None


line name (NM, REQ) 









thickness (CDATA, IMP) 

x2 (CDATA, IMP) 

y2 (CDATA, IMP) 




map name (NM, REQ) 


bgImage (CDATA, IMP) 

bgColor (CDATA, IMP) 




None 

text* 

button* 

monitor* 

line* 

icon* 

member name (NM, REQ) None 

menu name (CDATA, REQ) 

label (CDATA, REQ) 

mnemonic (CDATA, IMP) 

None




method methodName (NM, REQ) user* 


acl* 

view* 

map* 

resources* 

supermenu* 

tools* 

cgi* 

entityview* 

entitygroup* 

file* 

session* 

methodCall None method+ 

monitor name (NM, REQ) 












show_label (NM, IMP) 

show_total (NM, IMP) 

show_highest (NM, IMP) 

show_lowest (NM, IMP) 

show_metric (NM, IMP) 

foreground_color (CDATA, IMP) 

background_color (CDATA, IMP) 




show_highest_severity_as_border (NM, IMP) 

None


prompt type (CDATA, REQ) 

name (CDATA, REQ) 




sql* 

resource name (CDATA, REQ) None 

resources mapName (NM, REQ) resource+ 

separator None None 

session user (NM, REQ) None 

sortColumn fieldName (NM, REQ) 

order (NM, REQ) 

sorting None sortColumn* 

sql foreach (NM, IMP) 



text (CDATA, REQ) 

supermenu name (CDATA, REQ) 



text name (NM, REQ) 

label CDATA, IMP) 






justify (NM, IMP) 







tool name (CDATA, REQ) 

label (CDATA, REQ) 


shortcut (CDATA, IMP) 

None 

None 

(separator | 

menu | 

tool)* 

None 

None




tools name (CDATA, REQ) 


showdocument (NM, IMP) 

target (NM, IMP) 

method (NM, IMP) 

user name NMTOKEN (NM, IMP) 



passwd (CDATA, IMP) 

timezone (CDATA, IMP) 

filter (CDATA, IMP) 

licenses (CDATA, IMP) 

license_band (NM, IMP) 

homepage (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_allow_select (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_allow_custom_refresh (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_refresh_time (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_minimum_refresh_time (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_show_colors (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_show_info (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_show_journal (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_show_details (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_show_preferences (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_show_number (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_show_highest (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_show_highest_color (NM, 

IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_show_lowest (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_show_lowest_color (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_show_metric (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_distribution_meter (CDATA, 

IMP) 

ael_user_properties_flash_time (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_flash_brightness (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_flash_enabled (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_show_summarybar (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_show_toolbar (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_font_name (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_font_size (CDATA, IMP) 

(execute? | 

command* | 

(sql, 

journal?, 

prompt?)?) 


None


User (Cont) ael_user_properties_timeformat (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_eventlist_font_name(CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_eventlist_font_size(CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_eventlist_width(CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_eventlist_height (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_enabled (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_when_iconized (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_always (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_insert (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_delete (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_update (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_play_sound (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_sound_url (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_flash_icon (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_open_window (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_open_url (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_url (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_notify_url_target (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_monitor_num_cols (CDATA, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_allow_journal_edit (NM, IMP) 

ael_user_properties_allow_filter_builder_access (NM, 

IMP) 

ael_user_properties_allow_view_builder_access (NM, IMP) 

map_editor_user_properties_show_grid (NM, IMP) 

map_editor_user_properties_snap_to_grid (NM, IMP) 

map_editor_user_properties_grid_size (CDATA, IMP) 

map_editor_user_properties_editor_width (CDATA, IMP) 

map_editor_user_properties_editor_height (CDATA, IMP) 



view viewName (NM, REQ) 



visualEntry fieldName (NM, REQ) 

fieldTitle (CDATA, REQ) 

dataJustify (NM, IMP) 

titleJustify (NM, IMP) 

columnWidth (CDATA, REQ) 

#PCDATA 

columns? 

sorting? 


None



Table 52 describes each element defined within the WAAPI DTD. Elements often have one or more 

associated attribute, for which a value may be required. A list of all attribute types and values is shown in 

Table 53 WAAPI DTD Attribute Definitions on page 318. A detailed description of methodName 

attribute values associated with the method element is provided in Table 54 WAAPI DTD methodName 

Attribute Values and Permitted Child Element on page 332. 

Table 52: WAAPI DTD Element Reference (1 of 10) 


acl The acl element is a child element of method, and is used to add, modify, or delete an access 

control list. In addition, the member child element can be used to add or remove users from existing 

access control lists. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

button The button element is a child element of map, and is used to define how buttons are displayed on 

the Map View page. For example: 

 

 

 

cgi The cgi element is a child element of method, and is used to register, modify, or unregister 

common gateway interface (CGI) programs that are held on the Netcool/Webtop server. For 

example: 

 

 

 

 

Note that unregistering a CGI does not remove the CGI file from the server. 





columns The columns element is a child element of view, and is used to define the appearance of column 

entries within the AEL. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

command The command element is a child element of tools, and is used to issue configuration instructions to 

a command tool. For example: 

 

 

 

entity The entity element is a child element of entitygroup, and is used to select filtered entity 

entries listed within the Entity Editor window. See entitygroup. 

entitygroup The entitygroup element is a child element of method, and is used to add, remove, or configure 

entities within Netcool/Webtop. This element specifies the group that contains the target entity. The 

entity child element specifies the name of the entity. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

entitylist The entitylist element is a child element of entitygroup, and is used to select dependent 

entity entries listed within the Entity Editor window. See entitygroup. 

entityview The entityview element is a child element of method, and specifies the default view associated 

with the an entity. For example: 

 

 

 

 





execute The execute element is a child element of tools, and specifies the execution criteria of the tool 

specified by the tools element. For example: 

 

 

 

file The file element is a child element of method, and is used to add, remove, or recursively remove 

files and directories. It can also be used to move files from one location to another. For example: 

 

 

 

 

icon The icon element is a child element of map, and is used to define how icons are displayed on the Map 

View page. For example: 

 

 

 





journal The journal element is a child element of tools, and is used to modify journal entries for alerts. 

Journal entries can be set to automatically update according to specified conditions. 

In the example below, when the mygroupassign tool is used to assign alerts to a group. The 

journal for every affected event is updated to reflect this action and to indicate the user responsible: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

line The line element is a child element of map, and is used to define how lines are drawn on the Map 


 

 

 





map The map element is a child element of method, and is used to add, remove, or configure maps within 

Netcool/Webtop. This element has a number of child elements that define the appearance and 

behavior of map features— lines, monitor boxes, and so forth. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

member The member element is a child element of acl, and is used to add or remove users from access 

control lists. See acl. 

menu The menu element is a child element of supermenu, and is used to define menu entries within the 

AEL. See supermenu. 





method The method element is the only child element of methodCall, and contains the group of child 

elements that govern all the administrative areas of the Netcool/Webtop application. The actions 

applied to these areas are specified by the methodName attribute values shown in Table 54 WAAPI 

DTD methodName Attribute Values and Permitted Child Element on page 332. 

methodCall The methodCall element is the root element. The root element is the top-level element in the XML 

document hierarchy, and contains all other elements in your XML file. Each document can have only 

one root element, and all other elements must be nested within it. The methodCall element must 

contain at least one method tag. 

monitor The monitor element is a child element of map, and is used to define the appearance and behavior 

of a monitor box on the Map View page. For example: 

 




prompt The prompt element is a child element of tools, and is used to specify the options presented to 

the user (in the form of a menu prompt) when an SQL tool is selected in the AEL. The name attribute 

uses a predefined SQL variable to parse the execution options. The type attribute indicates the type 

of prompt used to display the execution options—the default value for type is dynamicchoice, 

which dynamically presents the data in a drop-down menu. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

resource The resource element is a child element of resources, and is used to select the background 

image used in a map view. For example: 

 

 

 

resources The resources element is a child element of method. See resource. 

separator The separator element is a child element of supermenu, and inserts a separator line into a menu. 

See supermenu. 

session The session element is a child element of method, and is used to remove a named user from the 

Netcool/Webtop server. For example: 

 

 

 

 





sortColumn The sortColumn element is a child element of sorting, and is used to create a view configuration 

within Netcool/Webtop. Use this element to add entries to the Sorted By field in the Modify View 

section of the View Editor page, and to determine the order in which the entries are displayed. For 

example: 

 

 

 

sorting The sorting element is a child element of view. See sortColumn. 

sql The sql element is a child element of tools and prompt. Use this element to specify the location 

and execution criteria of the SQL tools used by Netcool/Webtop. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





supermenu The supermenu element is a child element of method, and is used to add, remove, or configure 

top-level menus within Netcool/Webtop. The supermenu element can contain lower-level menus 

entries, which are defined by the menu element. In addition, the supermenu element can also 

contain the tool element. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See also, tool. 

text The text element is a child element of map, and is used to define how text is displayed on the Map 


 

 

 

tool The tool element is a child element of supermenu, and is used to add tool entries to the tools 

menu in the AEL. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





tools The tools element is a child element of method, and is used to add, remove, or configure tools used 

within the AEL. For example: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Table 53 describes each attribute defined within the WAAPI DTD. Some attributes are enumerated and the 

values of these attributes are constrained to a list of predefined text strings. When enumerated attributes are 

used within the XML command file, they must use one of the values shown in the list. Default values (if 

any) are provided in the description. 

Table 53: WAAPI DTD Attribute Definitions (1 of 15) 


acl None This attribute specifies an access control list. 

action None This attribute specifies the action that takes place 

when a map component is selected. 

ael_user true | false This attribute specifies whether the user can 

access the AEL. 

ael_user_properties_ 

allow_custom_refresh 


allow_filter_builder_ 

access 


allow_journal_edit 


allow_select 


allow_view_builder_ 

access 


eventlist_font_name 

true | false This attribute specifies whether the user is 

permitted to refresh the AEL. 

Default value is false. 

true | false This attribute specifies whether the user can 

access the Filter Builder. 

Default value is true. 

true | false This attribute specifies whether the user can edit 

the journals associated with AEL alerts. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether ordinary users can 

configure their own preferences. 



access the View Builder. 


None This attribute specifies which font is used in the 

user’s AEL. 

Default value is Dialog. 





eventlist_font_size 


eventlist_height 


eventlist_width 


flash_brightness 


flash_enabled 


flash_time 


minimum_refresh_time 


monitor_distribution_ 

meter 


None This attribute specifies the size of the font used in 

the user’s AEL. 

Default value is 12. 

None This attribute specifies the height of the user’s 

AEL. 


None This attribute specifies the width of the user’s AEL. 


None This attribute specifies the flash brightness of 

alerts within the user’s AEL. 

This attribute does not work if ael_user_ 

properties_flash_enabled is set to 

false. 


true | false This attribute specifies if unacknowledged alerts 

flash within the user’s AEL. 


None This attribute specifies the flash time for alerts 

within the user’s AEL, and does not work if ael_ 

user_properties_flash_enabled is set to 

false. 


None This attribute is the minimum AEL refresh time, in 

seconds, for the selected user, and cannot be 

overridden by the ael_user_properties_ 

refresh _time attribute. 


lavalamp | histogram This attribute specifies which distribution meter is 

used to represent the alerts on the user’s AEL 

monitor boxes. 

Default value is histogram. 






monitor_font_name 


monitor_font_size 


monitor_num_cols 


monitor_show_highest 


monitor_show_highest_ 

color 


monitor_show_lowest 


monitor_show_lowest_ 

color 


monitor_show_metric 


monitor_show_number 

None This attribute specifies which font is used by 

monitor boxes in the user’s AEL. 

Default value is Dialog. 

None This attribute specifies the size of the font used by 

monitor boxes in the user’s AEL. 


None This property specifies the number of columns of 

monitor box applets displayed on the user’s filter 

page. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the highest 

severity level is shown on the monitor boxes in the 

user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the highest 

severity level color is shown on the monitor boxes 

in the user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the lowest 

severity level is shown on the monitor boxes in the 

user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the lowest 

severity level color is shown on the monitor boxes 

in the user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the metric is 

shown on the monitor boxes in the user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the total number 

of alerts are shown on the monitor boxes in the 

user’s AEL. 






notify_always 


notify_delete 


notify_enabled 


notify_flash_icon 


notify_insert 


notify_open_url 


notify_open_window 


notify_play_sound 


notify_sound_url 


true | false This attribute specifies if the user is notified on the 

arrival of an alert in all cases—that is, when the 

user’s AEL is open, open and iconized, or closed. 


true | false This attribute specifies that the condition of 

notification is that an event has been deleted in 



true | false This attribute specifies if notifications (for 

example, sounds) are used when alerts are added 

or updated in the user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies if the user’s AEL icons flash 

as part of the notification. 



notification is that an event has been inserted in 



true | false This attribute specifies if a URL is opened as part of 

the notification in the user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies if a window is opened as 

part of the notification in the user’s AEL. 


true | false This attribute specifies if sounds are played as part 

of the notification in the user’s AEL. 


None This attribute specifies the URL of the sound file 

played in the user’s AEL. 






notify_update 


notify_url 


notify_url_target 


notify_when_iconized 


refresh_time 


show_colors 


show_details 


show_info 


notification is that an event has been updated in 



None This attribute specifies the notification URL 

displayed the user’s AEL. 

None This attribute specifies the destination where the 

user’s AEL notification URL appears. 

For example, _blank opens a new web browser 

window, and _self opens in the current window 

or frame. 

Where frames have been defined in the HTML 

page you can specify the target as the name of the 

frame, for example UpperFrame or 

LowerFrame. 

Default value is _blank. 

true | false This attribute specifies if the user’s iconized AEL is 

redisplayed on the arrival of an alert. 


None This attribute is the user’s default AEL refresh time, 

in seconds, for the selected user. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether colors are used in 



true | false This attribute specifies whether the Details tab is 

displayed in the alert Information window for the 

selected user. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the Information 

window menu option is displayed in the Alerts 

menu of the user’s AEL. 






show_journal 


show_preferences 


show_summarybar 


show_toolbar 


timeformat 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the Journal tab is 





access the Preferences window from the AEL Edit 

menu. 


true | false This attribute specifies whether the Details tab is 




true | false This attribute specifies if the icon toolbar at the 

top of the user’s AEL is shown. 


None This attribute specifies the display format of date 

and time in the user’s AEL. 

Default value is short. 

arc_diameter None This attribute specifies the arc diameter of a 

button on a map. 

background_color None This attribute specifies the background color of a 

monitor box on a map. 

bgColor None This attribute specifies the background color of a 

map. 

bgImage None This attribute specifies the background image of a 

map. 

color None The attribute specifies the color of map 

components (text, lines, buttons, and so forth). 

columnWidth None This attribute specifies the width of a column of a 

field in the AEL. 

dataJustify centre | left | right This attribute specifies the justification of the field 

data within a column in the AEL. 





datasource None This attribute specifies the datasource used by a 

map object or monitor box applet. 

The datasource name corresponds to one defined 

in the Netcool/Webtop datasource configuration 

file. For more information, refer to Datasource 


If no datasource is specified, the default is used. 

dirName None This attribute specifies the name of a directory. 

enabled true | false This attribute is used in combination with the 

platform attribute to determine whether a 

command line tool is enabled or disabled for a 

specific platform. Default value is false. 

entity None This attribute specifies the entity (if any) 

associated with a monitor box on a map. 

entity_status_ 

indicator 

None This attribute specifies the feedback properties for 

an icon on the map. 

Accepted values for this attribute are: 

Highlight Bar, and Fill Background. 

fieldName None This attribute specifies an entry from the Available 

Fields list on the View Editor page. 

fieldTitle None This attribute specifies the column title for a field 

selected from the Available Fields list on the View 

Editor page. 

fileName None This attribute specifies the name of a file. 

filter None This attribute specifies the ObjectServer SQL 

command required to apply a restriction filter to 

the user or to filter an entity. 

font None This attribute specifies the font used by text in 

map components. 

font_color None This attribute specifies the color of text in map 

components. 





foreach true | false This attribute specifies if a tool action takes place 

for each selected row. 


foreground_color None This attribute specifies the foreground color of a 

monitor box. 

fromDir None This attribute specifies the source directory when 

moving a file. 

h None This attribute specifies the height of a map, icon, 

button, or monitor. 

homepage None This attribute specifies the URL of the user’s home 

page. 

Default value is /index.html. 

image None This attribute specifies the name of the image file 

used as an icon. 

justify centre | left | right This attribute specifies the justification of text 

used on a map. 

label None This attribute specifies the text displayed on a 

map button. 

legend None This attribute specifies the legend text displayed 

on a map button. 

license_band 0 | 1 This attribute specifies the license band for the 

user: 

0 for a Read-Only license. 

1 for a Desktop license. 


licenses None This attribute specifies the license status of the 

user. The license attribute value can be either a 

specified number or: 

any available 

account suspended 





list None This attribute specifies the entity entries 

associated with a dependent entity. 

map_editor_user_ 

properties_editor_ 

height 


properties_editor_ 

width 


properties_grid_size 


properties_show_grid 


properties_snap_to_ 

grid 

None This attribute specifies the height of the Map 

Editor display area. 


None This attribute specifies the width of the Map Editor 

display area. 


None This attribute specifies the size of the map grid 

used in the Map Editor. 


true | false This attribute specifies if the map grid is shown in 

the Map Editor. 


true | false This attribute specifies if objects snap to the grid 

in the Map Editor. 


mapName None This attribute specifies the filename of a map 

image resource. 

method GET | POST This attribute specifies the method a tool uses to 

send data to the server. 

methodName See Table 54 WAAPI DTD methodName Attribute Values and Permitted Child 

Element on page 332. 

metriclabel None This attribute specifies the prefix text for the 

metric value displayed on a monitor box. 

Default value is metric. 

metricof None This attribute specifies which field is used to 

calculate the metric value displayed on a monitor 

box. 

Default value is Severity. 




metricshow Average | Count | Sum 

| Minimum | Maximum 


This attribute specifies the calculation criteria for 

the metric value displayed on a monitor box. 

Default value is Average. 

mnemonic None This attribute specifies the mnemonic associated 

with a menu entry. 

name None This attribute is an identifier for many elements. 

Statements relating to the following WAAPI 

components require this value to be set before an 

action is defined: 


maps 

resources 

tools 

prompts 

users 

ACLs 

entities 

menus 

order asc | desc This attribute specifies the sort order of fields 

within a column. 

passwd None This attribute specifies the password the user 

enters to access Netcool/Webtop, and can be any 

value except *, -, or %. 

path None This attribute specifies the path and execution 

criteria for an application used by the command 

line tool. For example: 

platform Windows | Solaris | 

Linux | HPUX | AIX 

start cmd /k C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\ 

PING.EXE {@Node} 

This attribute is used in combination with the 

enabled attribute to determine whether a 

command line tool is made available to a specific 

platform. 

shortcut None This attribute specifies the keyboard shortcut for a 

tool menu entry.




show_highest true | false This attribute specifies if the highest severity level 

is shown on a monitor box. 

show_label true | false This attribute specifies if the label is shown on a 

monitor box. 

show_lowest true | false This attribute specifies if the lowest severity level 


show_metric true | false This attribute specifies if a metric value is shown 

on a monitor box. 

show_total true | false This attribute specifies if the total number of alerts 


size None This attribute specifies the font size of text 

displayed by map components. 

style None This attribute specifies the style of text used in 

map components. 

target None This attribute is used by both the Map Editor and 

the Tool Editor to specify the target window for 

selected map objects, or tools that are linked to a 

URL: 

When used in the context of the tools 

element, the permitted values are New_ 

Window or Specific_Window. 

If target is set to Specific_Window, the 

target attribute must be included in the 

subsequent execute element, and must 

contain the name of the specific window as its 

value. 

Note that this only applies to CGI tools. An 

example is shown in the tools element 

description in Table 52 WAAPI DTD Element 

Reference on page 308. 

When used in the context of a Map Editor 

object, the target attribute specifies the data 

output window for objects (such as monitor 

boxes) that have been selected on a map. 

When the value is omitted, the URL replaces 

the map in the current web browser window. 

The default value in this context is _blank. 





text None This attribute specifies the text string used for 

executable actions. This value is usually an SQL 

instruction. 

thickness None This attribute specifies the thickness of a line used 

on map. 





timezone None This attribute specifies the timezone for the user, 

and can be any of the following: 

GMT-12:00 

GMT-11:00 

GMT-10:00 

GMT-09:00 

GMT-08:00 

GMT-07:00 

GMT-06:00 

GMT-05:00 

GMT-04:00 

GMT-03:00 

GMT-02:00 

GMT-01:00 

GMT+00:00 

GMT+01:00 

GMT+02:00 

GMT+03:00 

GMT+04:00 

GMT+05:00 

GMT+06:00 

GMT+07:00 

GMT+08:00 

GMT+09:00 

GMT+10:00 

GMT+11:00 

GMT+12:00 

Default value is GMT+00:00. 

titleJustify centre | left | right This attribute specifies the justification of text 

used in the title of a column. 





toDir None This attribute specifies the destination directory 

when moving a file. 

transparent true | false This attribute specifies the transparency state of a 

map button. 

type None The role of this attribute depends on the context 

of usage: 

When used in association with the elements 

relating to the Map Editor, the type value 

specifies the shape or appearance of a map 

object. For example, monitor could have a 

type value of histogram, whereas 

button could have a type value of 

rectangle. 

When used in association with the user 

element, the type attribute specifies the type 

of password used to log in to the server. This 

can be: 

– no password 

– server validated 

– local password 

When used in association with the prompt 

element, the type attribute indicates the 

type of prompt used to display the execution 

options for an SQL tool. 

url None This attribute specifies a uniform resource locator 

address. The value of this attribute defines the 

action target for map components and tools. 

Default value is $(SERVER)cgi-bin/. 

user None This attribute specifies which user is removed 

from a session. 

view None This attribute specifies the view associated with an 

filtered or dependent entity. 

viewName None This attribute specifies a view from those listed in 

the View Editor page. 





w None This attribute specifies the width of a map, icon, 

button, or monitor. 

windowforeach true | false This attribute specifies whether an output window 

is displayed for each row when a CGI/URL tool is 

executed against the AEL. 

x None This attribute specifies the first x-coordinate of a 

line on a map. 

x2 None This attribute specifies the second x-coordinate of 

a line on a map. 

y None This attribute specifies the first y-coordinate of a 

line on a map. 

y2 None This attribute specifies the second y-coordinate of 

a line on a map. 

methodName Reference 

The methodName attribute of the method element specifies which administrative area of 

Netcool/Webtop you want to configure. Each methodName value is of the format ., and is described below in Table 54. 

Table 54: WAAPI DTD methodName Attribute Values and Permitted Child Element (1 of 3) 

Value Action Type Permitted Child Element 

acl.addUserToACL Add a user to an existing access control list. acl 

acl.createACL Create a new access control list. acl 

acl.deleteACL Delete an existing access control list. acl 

acl.getList Return a list of the access control lists available on 

the server. The ACL user(s) details are also shown. 

acl.removeUserFromACL Remove a user from an existing access control list. acl 

acl.removeUserFromAllACLs Remove a specified user from all access control 

lists. 

cgi.registerCGI Register common gateway interface (CGI) 

program with the Netcool/Webtop server. 


acl 

acl 

cgi


cgi.modifyCGI Modify details about a CGI program held on the 




cgi.unregisterCGI Unregister a CGI program held on the 

Netcool/Webtop server. This action does not 

remove the program from the server. 

entity.addEntity Create a new entity. entity 

entity.deleteEntity Delete an existing entity. entity 

entity.modifyEntity Modify an existing entity. entity 

entity.setDefaultGroup Set the default group. entity 

entity.setDefaultView Set the default view. entityview 

file.addDir Add a new directory. file 

file.addFile Add a new file. file 

file.deleteFile Delete an existing file. file 

file.recurseRemove Recursively delete a directory and its contents. file 

file.removeDir Delete a directory. file 

map.addMapVisual Modify an icon on a map. map 

map.createMap Create a new map. map 

map.deleteMap Delete an existing map. map 

map.deleteMapVisual Delete a new icon on a map. map 

map.getList Return a list of the maps available on the server. map 

map.modifyMap Modify an existing map. map 

map.modifyMapVisual Modify an icon on a map. map 

menu.createMenu Create a new menu. supermenu 

menu.deleteMenu Delete an existing menu. supermenu 

menu.modifyMenu Modify an existing menu. supermenu 


cgi 

cgi




osresync.refreshOSCache Resynchronize the ObjectServer, and refresh the 

Netcool/Webtop event cache. 

resource.addResource Add a resource. resources 

resource.getList Return a list of the image resources currently used 

by maps on the server. 


N/A 

resources 

resource.removeResource Remove a resource. resources 

server.shutdown Shut down the Netcool/Webtop server. resources 

session.removeNamedUser Remove an existing user from a Netcool/Webtop 

session. 

session 

tool.createTool Create a new tool. tools 

tool.deleteTool Delete an existing tool. tools 

tool.getList Return a list of the tools available on the server. tools 

tool.modifyTool Modify an existing tool. tools 

user.addAllOSUsers Add all ObjectServer validated users to the user 

list. 

user 

user.addUser Add a new user. user 

user.changePassword Change the user password. user 

user.deleteUser Delete a user. user 

user.getList Return a list of the users recognized by the server. user 

user.modifyUser Modify a user. user 

view.createView Create a new view. view 

view.deleteView Delete an existing view. view 

view.getList Return a list of the views available on the server. view 

view.modifyView Modify an existing view. view 

webtopprobe.generateReport Initiate the Netcool/Webtop probe, and generate a 

server report. 

N/A

htmlmaps-app.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Appendix A: HTML Map Reference 

This appendix describes how to use the HTML Map Editor and the map editing command language. 

This appendix contains the following section: 

HTML Map Administration on page 336 



A.1 HTML Map Administration 

The recommended method for editing maps is to use the Netcool/Webtop Map Editor, as described in 

Chapter 7: Maps on page 143. However, if you want to create or edit a map without using the Java interface, 

you can use the Map Editor - Modify Map page. This section concentrates on the usage of the HTML Map 

Editor. 

The links to the Map Editor - Modify Map and Resource Manager pages are provided under the Maps menu 

in the Content tab of the Administration page. 

HTML Map Editor 

The link to the HTML Map Editor is provided on the Map Editor page. When you display the Map Editor 

page for the first time, the Java Runtime Environment (if it is present) on your system initiates, and you are 

presented with a security certificate requesting that you authorize a local Java Virtual Machine process. If 

you are satisfied with the credentials described within the certificate, click Yes. 

Note: The Map Editor page contains a Java radio button and an HTML radio button. To start the HTML 

Map Editor, the HTML radio button must be selected. 

Creating a Map 

Use the following procedure to create a map: 

1. Click Create Map to display the Map Editor - Create Map page. Enter the new map name. 

2. Select an ACL from the list. The * ACL grants access to all users including any new users you create. 

3. Enter the name of a background image, for example background.gif. 

Note: The image must be in either GIF or JPEG format and must be entered as a resource on the 

map, as described in Resource Manager on page 155. 

4. Select a background color from the drop-down menu. 

5. Enter the height and width of the page in pixels. 

6. Click Create This Map. The Modify Map page is displayed. Enter the details of the new map in this 

page, as described in the next section. 


Configuring a Map 

HTML Map Administration 

A map is designed over a background image. You can then add any of the following items over this image: 

Monitor boxes 

Buttons 

Icons 

Lines 

Text 

You can also transfer maps from one web server to another, as described in Linking Maps on page 342. 

The following sections describe the data you must enter in the map display text field to create or configure 

new map objects. 

Adding Buttons to a Map 

Two types of buttons can be added to a map: 

Inactive buttons 

Active buttons 

Inactive buttons can only be used to link to a URL. Active buttons, however, can also be used to show status 

color, and to open a table view. Each button has the following common properties: 

A name, which must be unique. 

A label, which appears in the status bar of the web browser when the mouse pointer is over it. 

A position, which is defined by the coordinates of the top left corner of the button relative to the top 

left corner of the page. 

A button size, which is defined by the height and width. 

All button instructions start using the format: 

button (name="button",label="example",x=12,y=34,w=56,h=78 

In this example, button is the unique name of the button, example is the label for the button, and the 

numeric values for x, y, w and h are in pixels. 

The variable 

Note: The variable BSI (button start instruction) is used in the following sections to represent this initial 

part of the instruction. 



Adding an Inactive Button 

To link to a URL only, the button instruction is: 

BSI,action="go",url="$(SERVER)/newpage") 

Where BSI is the first part of the button instruction and newpage is the destination HTML page. 

The button appears gray. 

Linking to a URL and Displaying Status 

To link to a URL and display the status as the button color, the instruction is: 

BSI,entity="example",action="go",url="$(SERVER)/newpage.html") 

In this example, BSI is the first part of the button instruction, example is the name of an entity, and 

newpage is the destination HTML page. 

The entity contains a filter for the alerts.status table. The color of the event with the highest severity, 

after applying the filter, is used as the color of the button. 

Opening a Tableview and Displaying Status 

To open a tableview and display the status as the button color, the instruction is: 

BSI,entity="example",action="table") 

In this example, BSI is the first part of the button instruction and example is the name of an entity. 

The entity contains a filter for the alerts.status table. The button is displayed in the color of the 

event with the highest severity. 

The view associated with the entity defines the columns in the tableview that are displayed. 

Adding Icons to a Map 

The following types of icon can be added to a map: 

Inactive icons 

Active icons 

An inactive icon has no function on the map. An active icon, however, can link to a URL. 

Each icon has the following common properties: 


A label, which appears in the status bar of the web browser when the mouse pointer is over the icon. 



A position, which is defined by the coordinates of the top left corner of the icon relative to the top left 

corner of the page. 

An icon size, which is defined by the height and width. 

All icons must be in either GIF or JPEG format, and must be entered as resources on the map. 

All icon instructions start using the format: 

icon(name="icon",label="example",x=12,y=34,image="image" 

In this example, icon is the unique name of the icon, example is the label for the icon, the numeric 

values for x and y are in pixels, and image is the image file name. The variable ISI (icon start instruction) 

is used in the following sections to represent this initial part of the instruction. 

Adding an Inactive Icon 

Complete the icon instruction by adding a close parenthesis: 

ISI) 

In this example, ISI is the first part of the icon instruction. 

Adding an Active Icon 

To link an icon to a URL, the instruction is: 

ISI,action="go",url="$(SERVER)/newpage") 

In this example, ISI is the first part of the icon instruction, and newpage is the destination HTML page. 

Adding Lines to a Map 

Two types of lines can be added to a map: 

Inactive lines 

Active lines 

An inactive line can only be used to link to a URL. An active line, however, can also be used to show status 

color, and to open a tableview. 

Each line has the following common properties: 


A label, which appears in the status bar of the web browser when the mouse pointer is over the line. 



A position for each end of the line, which is defined by the coordinates relative to the top left corner 

of the page. 

A thickness can also be applied to the line. The default line thickness is 1 pixel. 

All line instructions start using the format: 

line(name="line",label="example",x=12,y=34,x2=56,y2=78,thickness=9 

In this example, line is the unique name of the line, example is the label for the line, the numeric values 

for x, y, x2, y2, and thickness are in pixels. 

The variable LSI (line start instruction) is used in the following sections to represent this initial part of the 

instruction. 

Adding an Inactive Line 

To complete the line instruction and add a color, the instruction is as follows: 

LSI,color=black) 

In this example, LSI is the first part of the line instruction. The value of color can be the name of a system 

color (for example, black) or its hexadecimal equivalent (for example, #Ff1dC4). 

Linking to a URL 

To link to a URL only, the line instruction is: 

LSI,action="go",url="$(SERVER)/newpage") 

In this example, LSI is the first part of the line instruction and newpage is the destination HTML page. 

The line appears gray. 

Opening a Tableview and Displaying Status 

To open a tableview and display the status as the line color, the instruction is: 

LSI,entity="example",action="table") 

In this example, LSI is the first part of the button instruction and example is the name of an entity. 

The entity contains a filter for the alerts.status table. The line is displayed in the color of the event 

with the highest severity. 

The view associated with the entity defines the columns in the tableview that are displayed. 

Adding Text to a Map 

Text can be added to the map background image. 


The text has the following properties: 


A label, which appears as the required text. 

A position, which is defined relative to the top left corner of the page. 

A font (default helvetica). 

A size (default 10 point). 

A style (default plain). 

The text is unable to perform any special function, such as link to a URL. 

All text instructions use the format: 


text(name="text",label="example ",x=12,y=34,font="font",size=12, style="style", 

color="color") 

In this example, text is the unique name for the text, example is the text you want to enter, the numeric 

values for x and y are in pixels, font is the new font, the numeric value for size is in points, style can 

be plain, bold or italic, and the value of color can be either the name of the color (such as 

black), or the RGB numeric value of the color (for example #ffffcc). 

Specifying a Target 

For all map entries that have a link to a URL, you can also specify the target. When the target is omitted, 

the URL replaces the map in the current web browser window. 

The target option is in the format: 

target="string" 

In this example, string is the destination where the URL appears. 

Where frames have been defined in the HTML page, you can specify the target as the name of the frame. 

For example UpperFrame or LowerFrame. 

Specifying an Alternate Home Page 

The home page is loaded in the web browser when the user first connects to the Netcool/Webtop server, 

which allows the user to access example map pages, online help, and the product home page. 



The home page can be bypassed by entering a URL to an alternative starting page. For example: 

protocol://server:port/altpage/ 

In this example, hostname is the host name of the Netcool/Webtop server, portnumber is the port 

number of the server, and altpage is the destination HTML page. 

Alternatively, the user’s default home page (/Webtop1.3.1_demo/index.html) can be edited by 

an experienced web designer. 

On UNIX systems, the home page is located in the directory: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/config/docs/ 

On Windows systems, the home page is located in the directory: 

%WEBTOP_HOME%\config\docs\ 

A frame set must be defined on this page if it is to be divided into frames. Once frames have been defined, 

the target option can be used to specify the destination frame for a URL. 

Linking Maps 

To link from one map page to another you must enter a URL, for example: 

protocol://server:port/mappage 

In this example, hostname is the host name of the Netcool/Webtop server, portnumber is the port 

number of the Netcool/Webtop server, and mappage is the destination HTML page. 

However, when the host name and port number are included, the maps cannot be exported to a web server 

on another system without editing every URL on every map. 

To overcome this problem, use $(SERVER) in place of protocol://server:port in all map 

URLs. The example shown above is entered as: 

$(SERVER)/mappage 

Deleting a Map 

To delete a map, select a map and click Delete Map to open the Delete Map page. The Delete Map page 

shows the name of the selected map. To confirm the deletion, click Delete This Map. 

Previewing a Map 

To preview a map select a map and click Preview Map. You are presented with a page displaying the map 

you have selected. 


smartpage-app.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates 

This appendix describes how to use SmartPage tags to populate web pages, and contains a full reference of 

all the tags you can use in web pages served by Netcool/Webtop. In addition, this appendix contains an 

overview of how to use variables in SmartPage tags to dynamically populate predefined template files. 

This appendix contains the following sections: 

SmartPage Overview on page 344 

SmartPage Reference on page 346 

Creating and Customizing HTML Templates on page 353 



B.1 SmartPage Overview 

SmartPage commands are single line HTML instructions that can be used to validate user access, and allow 

Netcool/Webtop components such as applets to be added to a web page. When you create a web page you 

can include SmartPage tags to dynamically furnish a page with the data display components generated by 

Netcool/Webtop. 

SmartPage Commands 

Using SmartPage commands in your web pages, you can do any of the following: 

Enable a web page for SmartPage tag processing. 

Validate user access to a web page against an ACL. 

Insert an AEL applet. 

Insert an AEL applet for each entity in a map. 

Insert a map applet. 

Insert a map applet containing a grid of filters associated with a user. 

Insert a hyperlinked list of accessible maps associated with a user. 

Insert a tableview. 

Insert the user name of the logged in user. 

Insert the home URL associated with a user. 

Insert user statistics. 

Insert a timezone preference drop-down menu to a page. 

SmartPage Code Example 

An example of the source code of a web page containing SmartPage commands is show below, with the 

literal browser output displayed in Figure B1. 

 

 

 

 

SmartPage FilterPage Command 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Figure B1: Example SmartPage Output 

SmartPage Overview 

You can view interactive examples and additional information about SmartPage commands by clicking on 

the link to the SmartPage Commands page provided under the Help & Information menu in the Content 

tab of the Administration page. 



B.2 SmartPage Reference 

The following sections describe each of the SmartPage tags available in Netcool/Webtop and, where 

applicable, provide tag attribute information. 

Enabling SmartPage Commands 

The enable:Smartpage command instructs the Netcool/Webtop server to use smart page commands: 

 

Note: This command must be entered as the first line in the HTML source file of any page that uses other 

SmartPage commands. 

Validating Users 

The Validate command opens a login window before displaying the requested page. The user name is 

checked against the ACL associated with the map in the page: 

 

In this line, acl is the name of the ACL to check against, and where.html is the alternative page to 

display if the user does not have permission to open the current page. 

Note: This command must be entered as the second line in the HTML source file. 

Inserting an AEL 

The insert:AEL command inserts an AEL applet into a web page: 

 

 

 


SmartPage Reference 

The properties used in this command are described in Table B1. A compatability matrix indicating whether 

or not the parameters can be used in combination is shown in Table B2. 

Table B1: SmartPage Insert AEL Command Properties (1 of 2) 


cols The number of columns to use in the table when displaying multiple applets. 

The default value is 4. 

debuglevel Shows debug information in the Java plugin console. 

The level can be set from 0 - 9. 

entity | entities The entity property specifies name of the entity associated with the AEL. A single AEL 

applet is created for this entity. No special layout is provided. 

The entities property specifies an entity list. An applet is created for each entity and 

presented in a table. 

Omit either property if your are using the filter and view properties. 

filter The SQL syntax used to create a filter. When the filter string is applied to an AEL, only the 

rows that meet the criteria set by the filter are displayed. Omit this entry if your are using the 

entity entry. 

filtername The name of the filter defined within the Filter Builder to apply to the AEL. 

height The height of the applet(s). 

For more information about the Filter Builder, refer to Applying Filters to the AEL on page 184. 


metric The metric value for a transient entity. This can be any of Average, Count, Sum, Minimum 

or Maximum. 

metricof Metric value for a transient entity. This is a field type, for example Tally. 

showinframe If true, a monitor box is displayed and the AEL window is launched. If false, the AEL 

applet is embedded in a web page. 

The default is true. 

transientname The transient entity name. Requires the filter and view properties. This is the name of 

the transient entity and is used as the title for the associated AEL monitor box. 

view The view applied to the AEL, as defined in the Entity Views Editor. When a view is applied to 

an AEL, only the columns that are contained within the view are displayed. 

For more information about entity views, refer to Entity Views on page 137. 

Omit this property if your are using the entity or entities properties. 



Table B1: SmartPage Insert AEL Command Properties (2 of 2) 


viewname The name of the view defined within the View Builder to apply to the AEL. 

width The width of the applet(s). 

For more information about the View Builder, refer to Applying Views to the AEL on page 195. 


Table B2: AEL Parameter Compatibility Matrix 

cols 

datasource 

entities 

entity 

filter 


filtername 

cols ✔ ✔ — — — ✔ — — ✔ ✔ — — ✔ 

datasource ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

entities ✔ ✔ — — — ✔ — — ✔ ✔ — — ✔ 

entity — ✔ — — — ✔ — — ✔ ✔ — — ✔ 

filter — ✔ — — — ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

filtername — ✔ — — — ✔ — — ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

height ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

metric — ✔ — — ✔ — ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

metricof — ✔ — — ✔ — ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

monitortitle ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

showinframe ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

view — ✔ — — ✔ ✔ ✔ — — ✔ ✔ — ✔ 

viewname — ✔ — — ✔ ✔ ✔ — — ✔ ✔ — ✔ 

width ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 

height 

metric 

metricof 

monitortitle 

showinframe 

view 

viewname 

width

Inserting an AEL Map View 


The insert:AELMAPVIEW command inserts an AEL applet for each entity in a map, into a web page. 

 

The properties used in this command are described in Table B3. 

Table B3: SmartPage Insert AEL Map View Command Properties 


cols The number of columns to use in the table when displaying multiple applets. The default value is 4. 

debuglevel Shows debug information in the plugin console. 

Inserting a Map Applet 

The level can be set from 0 - 9. 

height The height of the applet(s). 


map The map name. 

showinframe If true, a monitor box is displayed and the active event list window is launched. If false, the AEL is 

embedded in a web page. 

The default is true. 

width The width of the applet(s). 


The insert:MAPLET command inserts a map into a web page. The following command can be entered 

in the HTML source file: 

 

In this line, example is the name of the map to be displayed. An optional parameter soundurl is 

provided, and this property specifies the URL of an audio .au file that is played when the maximum 

severity of the entities on a map increase. The optional refresh parameter specifies the refresh rate, in 

seconds, for the map. 



Inserting a Filter Page 

The insert:FILTERPAGE command inserts a map applet into a web page, that displays either: 

All filters associated with a Desktop client. 

Specific filters for a Desktop client, as specified by a comma-separated list in the filters attribute 

of the SmartPage tag. 

Parameters are optional. All user filters are displayed by default. The map arranges rows of monitor boxes, 

using user preferences where appropriate. The following command can be entered in the HTML source file: 

 

The properties used in this command are described in Table B4. 

Table B4: SmartPage Insert AEL Map View Command Properties (1 of 2) 

Properties Description 

action Specifies the hyperlink action that takes place when a monitor box is clicked. 

Use any of the following statements to define the action: 

go to link to a URL. 

ael to link to an embedded AEL in a web page. 

lel to link to an embedded LEL in a web page. 

table to link to a tableview. 

bgcolor Sets the background color of the map. 

bgimage Sets the background image of the map. The background image is uploaded using the Resource 

Manager and is stored as a resource in: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/config/resources/__common 

filters Constrains the map to a set of predefined filters. If this property is omitted, all filters associated 

with the Desktop client is displayed. 

monitorheight Sets the height of the monitor box applets on the map. 

monitorwidth Sets the width of the monitor box applets on the map. 

soundurl Specifies the URL of an audio .au file that is played when the maximum severity of the entities in 

a filter page increase. 


Table B4: SmartPage Insert AEL Map View Command Properties (2 of 2) 

Properties Description 

Inserting a Maplist 


target Specifies where in the browser window a linked target page is displayed when a monitor box is 

clicked. For example: 

The insert:USERMAPLIST command inserts a hyperlinked map list for a specific user into a web page. 

The map list displays all the maps on the server that the user presently logged in is permitted to access. 

The name of each map can be inserted as a hypertext link which can be clicked to show the map. The list of 

maps is validated against the ACLs to which the user belongs. The following command can be entered in 

the HTML source file: 

 

In this line, type is the type of list—which can be unordered or displayed in a table—and target is the 

target frame. 

Inserting a Tableview 

_self indicates the full browser window. 

_blank indicates a new web browser window. 

_parent indicates the parent frame set containing the source link. 

_top indicates the frame containing the source link. 

url The destination URL if you specified go as in the action property. 

The insert:TABLEVIEW command inserts a tableview into a web page. Tableviews have no associated 

ACL so the command requires a map page to be specified in order to allow the user to be validated against 

the ACL for that map: 

 

In this line, map is the name of a map, entity is the name of the entity, datasource is the name of 

the associated datasource. The optional maxrows property allows you to specify the number of rows (n) 

returned in the view. 

Note: The entity defines the filter and view for the tableview. Although the map provides the access 

required to display the tableview, the map image itself is not displayed. 



Inserting a Username 

The insert:USERNAME command inserts the name of the user that is logged in to Netcool/Webtop, 

into a web page: 

 

In this line, example is the name of the user logged in. 

Inserting the Home URL of the Current User 

The insert:USERSHOMEURL instruction inserts the Netcool/Webtop home page URL for the user 

currently logged in, into a web page. This command can be used to create a link to the user home page: 

 

Inserting User Statistics 

The insert:USERSTATISTICS command inserts a summary of the user monitor data into a web page. 

This is only available to administrators. The data is output in the form of two table rows that must be 

embedded in an HTML table: 

 

Inserting a Timezone Drop-Down Menu 

The insert:USERSTIMEZONE command inserts a pre-populated timezone drop-down menu into a 

web page: 

 


B.3 Creating and Customizing HTML Templates 

Creating and Customizing HTML Templates 

Netcool/Webtop provides support for dynamically processed generic web pages called templates. Templates 

contain SmartPage tag instances composed of attribute variables rather than hard-coded attribute data 

entries. When a template page is displayed, information in the query string of the URL is passed to a 

corresponding variable placeholder that dynamically populates the SmartPage attribute. 

By using templates, you can avoid creating new web pages or source code entries to accommodate 

functionally similar page components. Instead, you can create generic pages where the SmartPage 

component attributes are governed by information stored in a hyperlink to the page URL. 

Basic templates are supplied with Netcool/Webtop, which you can customize for your own use. The default 

templates are located in the following directory: 

WEBTOP_HOME/config/templates 

This section describes how to create or customize HTML templates. 

Template Overview 

The following template, called table.html, is an example of a default template supplied with 

Netcool/Webtop. Each line is number displayed in brackets: 

[1] 

[2] 

[3] 

[4] 

[5] 

[6] 

[7] 

[8] 

[15] 

[16] 



In this example, the template file contains a SmartPage tag for displaying a tableview. The 

insert:TABLEVIEW tag has two attributes: mapname (line 10) and entity (line 11). Instead of a 

static data entry for each attribute value, the source contains an tag, the attributes of which are 

described in Table B5. 

Table B5: NCO_V Tag Attributes 


type="type" This entry specifies the type of variable data the tag can receive from the 

URL. The data types are described below: 

In the case of insert:TABLEVIEW, the attributes are names, and therefore strings—the expected 

variable data for both instances is set to "str". No default attributes are provided, so both 

default entries are empty. 

The text between the opening and closing tags establishes the variable name that the URL uses 

to establish a name-value pair. When you specify a variable name, the text must be alphanumeric and 

multiple words must be separated by an underscore. For example, Map_Name. The % character (line 11) is 

used to separate variable entries. 

The URL of template pages containing variable data must be in the following format: 

$(SERVER)/template/file.html?variable1=variabledata1&variable2=variabledata2 

Where variable is the variable enclosed within the tag, and variabledata is the string, 

boolean, or numeric entry you want to populate the variable. For example: 

$(SERVER)/template/table.html?Map_Name=example&Entity_Name=example_all 

Creating a SmartPage Template 

To create your own template based on a template in the default directory: 

1. Locate and open the default directory. 

str - a text string that can include any text except double quotes. 

BOOLEAN - allowable values are true or false. Used for attribute entries such as 

showinframe in the insert:AEL SmartPage tag. 

number - any whole integer. Used for attribute entries such as monitorwidth in 

the insert:FILTERPAGE tag. 

default="default value" This entry specifies the default variable value used if one is not provided by the URL. 

2. Copy and paste one of the templates provided. For example table.html. 

3. Rename the copy, ensuring you retain the .html file extension. 


4. Customize the HTML template heading as required. 

Creating and Customizing HTML Templates 

5. Define the variables you require by inserting them between the and tag 

containers. 

6. Save the changes. 

Using Your Own Templates with Netcool/Webtop 

Consider the following guidelines when you create a new web page to be used as a template: 

You must include a tag at the top of the template page. 

You must ensure that the template page is valid and opens correctly in a web browser. 

Choose sections of the page that you want to make variable and replace the HTML syntax with 

and container tags defining the variable you want. 

You can use any valid SmartPage command in a template. For further information about SmartPage 

commands see Appendix B: SmartPages and Templates on page 343. 




secureserver-app.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Appendix C: Creating a Secure 

Netcool/Webtop Server 

This appendix provides information about configuring a Netcool/Webtop server to use the secure sockets 

layer (SSL) protocol as the preferred method of communication. 



SSL Server Certificates on page 359 

Connecting to the Secure Netcool/Webtop Server on page 365 


Appendix C: Creating a Secure Netcool/Webtop Server 

C.1 Introduction 

By default, the Netcool/Webtop server uses the HTTP data transmission protocol and does not provide any 

message encryption. Netcool/Webtop also supports the HTTPS protocol, which provides a secure means of 

communication using encrypted data streams over the Internet. 

A secure Netcool/Webtop server communicates using the secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol. This encrypts 

all communications between the Netcool/Webtop server and its client systems. The public encryption key 

used by the client system to encrypt the data it sends to Netcool/Webtop is provided by the Netcool/Webtop 

server in the form of an SSL certificate in the RSA PKCS #12 format. The relationship is illustrated in 

Figure C1. 

Event List 

2. Netcool/Webtop Certificate Accepted 

and Client Public Key Sent to Server 

1. Netcool/Webtop Server Certificate and Public Key Sent to Client 



3. Secure Connection Established Between Netcool/Webtop and Client 

Figure C1: Example SSL Authentication Process 

The following sections describe how to obtain a valid certificate for your installation, and how to initiate a 

secure Netcool/Webtop session. 


C.2 SSL Server Certificates 

SSL Server Certificates 

A certificate is a cryptographically sealed data object that contains the identity of a server, public and private 

keys, and the digital signature of the certificate issuer. Certificates serve two major purposes: 

They can provide authenticated proof to a client that the web site they visit is owned by the company 

or individual who has installed the certificate. 

They contain the public key that the client uses to establish an encrypted connection to a web server. 

For example, in Netcool/Webtop when a Java event such as the Map Editor applet is initiated on a client 

system, the user is presented with the Micromuse certificate. By reading the certificate the user can decide if 

Micromuse is a trusted source, and then accept (or reject) the Java process. The Micromuse certificate is 

signed by a Certificate Authority (CA)—a trusted third party who guarantees the identity of the certificate 

and its creator. 

Note: This is just an example of how certificates can be used. The Micromuse certificate is embedded within 

Netcool/Webtop, and requires no administrator configuration. 

To obtain a certificate for your site do one of the following: 

Create a self-signed certificate for your system using the tools provided by the Java Secure Socket 

Extension (JSSE). The JSSE is described in more detail in Java Secure Socket Extension on page 360. 

Self-signed certificates are user generated certificates that have not been officially registered with any 

trusted CA, and are therefore not guaranteed to be authentic. 

Create a certificate and then send a certificate signing request (CSR) that contains your certificate 

details to a CA. After conducting some checks on the company or individual making the application, 

the CA signs the request and encrypts it with their private key. The valid certificate is returned and is 

then inserted into a keystore on the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Clients connecting to a secure Netcool/Webtop server are presented with your certificate. If the certificate 

is self-signed but accepted by the user, or signed by a CA that is trusted by the client browser, the client uses 

the public key contained within the certificate to encrypt the data it sends to the Netcool/Webtop server. 

Typically, the certificate for the CA itself is embedded in the browser or is located in a trusted database that 

is accessible by the client. 

Once a certificate has been accepted, the client browser responds by sending its own public key so that the 

Netcool/Webtop server can encrypt the data it transmits to the client. In this way, a secure connection 

between the client and the Netcool/Webtop server is established. 



Java Secure Socket Extension 

The Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) is a set of Java packages and libraries that enable secure Internet 

communications in Netcool/Webtop. It implements a Java version of the SSL protocol and includes 

functionality for data encryption, server authentication, message integrity, and optional client 

authentication. 

The JSSE is provided as part of the J2RE and this is placed on your system during the Netcool/Webtop 

installation. To download the latest version of the J2RE for all supported platforms, go to the Sun 

Microsystems dedicated Java web site: 

http://java.sun.com/j2se/downloads.html 

Once the J2RE is installed, ensure that the JAVA_HOME environment variable is correctly set on your 

system. JAVA_HOME must correspond to the J2RE home directory, as described in Setting the Environment 

Variables on page 37. 

Keytool and Keystore 

The keytool utility is a key and certificate management program provided as part of the JSSE. It enables 

you to create and administer public and private key pairs and associated certificates for use in 

self-authentication or data integrity and CA authentication services, using digital signatures. The keytool 

utility is used to create a keystore, a file that contains the certificate data for your site used by Netcool/Webtop 

during secure sessions. 

The following sections describe how to use keytool to generate a keystore containing a self-signed 

certificate, and additionally how to use the utility to create a CSR and import a CA-authenticated certificate 

into the keystore. 

Creating a Certificate 

To create a self-signed SSL certificate for use on the Netcool/Webtop server: 

1. Open a command prompt and change directory to $JAVA_HOME/bin (UNIX) or %JAVA_ 

HOME%\bin (Windows) and enter the following: 

./keytool -genkey -alias webtop -keyalg RSA 

This command creates a new file named .keystore. By default, the file is stored in your user 

home directory. To specify a different location or filename, add the -keystore parameter followed 

by the complete path to the keystore file. 


! 

! 


2. You are prompted to enter a password for the keystore. The password must be at least six characters in 

length. 

Warning: Do not forget your password—if you do you cannot regain access to the keystore. In 

addition, any signed certificates will be invalid and you will have to obtain a new certificate from the 

Certificate Authority. 

3. You are now prompted to enter data about yourself and your organization. When you are prompted 

to enter your first and last name, enter the hostname of the Netcool/Webtop server. 

4. Enter your department, organization, location, state, and country. The latter must be in the form of a 

two-letter code (for a complete list of country codes, refer to Table D5 ISO 3166 Two-Letter Country 

Codes on page 389). 

5. You are shown a summary of the data you have entered and are asked if you want to proceed. Enter 

yes if you are satisfied that the details are correct. 

6. You are prompted for a key password, which is the password specifically for this certificate (as 

opposed to any other certificates stored in the same keystore file). 

Warning: You must use the same password for your key as was previously used for the keystore. 

Press Enter. The keystore file now contains a self-signed certificate that can be used by the 


If you want your certificate to be signed by a trusted third-party, proceed to the next section, otherwise 

proceed to Modifying the server.xml Configuration File on page 363. 

Validating a Certificate 

Self-signed certificates, while perfectly adequate for data encryption between server and client, do not 

provide any reliable information about the location of the Netcool/Webtop server or the corporate entity 

responsible for its administration. Where it is important for your clients to be able to determine the origin 

and integrity of the data they receive, it is recommended that you obtain a CA-authenticated certificate for 

your site, as described in the following sections. 



Obtaining a Certificate Authority Certificate 

In order to obtain a certificate from the Certificate Authority, you must create and submit a Certificate 

Signing Request (CSR). The CSR is used by the Certificate Authority to create a certificate that identifies 

your web site as secure. To create a CSR: 

1. Open a command prompt and enter the following: 

$JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool -certreq -keyalg RSA -alias webtop -file certreq.csr 

-keystore 

A CSR file called certreq.csr is created. 

2. The CSR file must be sent to a Certificate Authority (CA) in accordance with their enrollment 

process. As part of this process, you may need to provide proof of identity, proof of domain 

ownership, and so forth. Some typical CAs are: 

– Thawte - http://www.thawte.com 

– VeriSign - http://www.verisign.com 

– GlobalSign - http://www.globalsign.net 

The CA authenticates the CSR, and returns a certificate reply (CR) file. 

Note: The response from the CA could take from several days to several weeks. 

3. Open the CR file sent to you by the CA and copy and paste the certificate data (including the prefix 

and suffix) into a text file. Save the text file in the $WEBTOP_HOME directory, or some other 

convenient location. 

The response from the CA may also contain the CA root certificate. This must be saved to a text file 

as well. If the CA response does not contain this certificate, it can be obtained from the CA web site. 

4. From a command prompt, enter the following to import the CA root certificate into the keystore: 

$JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool -import -alias webtop -keystore 

-trustcacerts -file 

5. Enter the following to import the signed certificate into the keystore: 

$JAVA_HOME/bin/keytool -import -alias webtop -keystore 

-trustcacerts -file 

The CA authenticated certificate is now present in your keystore and ready to be used by Netcool/Webtop. 

You can proceed to the next section which describes how to configure Netcool/Webtop to locate and use 

your certificate. 


Modifying the server.xml Configuration File 

! 


To process SSL communications, Netcool/Webtop uses a connector which represents the endpoint at which 

HTTPS requests are received and responses are returned. To create an SSL port on the Netcool/Webtop 

server and identify the location of your SSL certificate you must enable and configure the Connector 

element entry in the $WEBTOP_HOME/www/conf/server.xml file. Example XML connector 

information (based on the default server.xml data) is shown below: 

 

 

By default, the data is commented out. Remove the preceding comment tags to 

activate the code segment. If the keystoreFile and keystorePass entries are not present by default 

you can add them to the file. 

The keystoreFile attribute in the Factory element must be set to the location and name of the 

keystore file you created in Creating a Certificate on page 360. The keystorePass attribute must be set 

to the password of the keystore. 

The port attribute is the TCP/IP port number on which Netcool/Webtop listens for secure connections. 

SSL-protected HTTP transfers commonly use port number 443. This port is privileged, and users other 

than root cannot start the Netcool/Webtop server if this, or any port below 1024, is selected. For this 

reason the Netcool/Webtop SSL port is set to 8443 by default. 

Warning: If you change the port number, you must also change the value specified for the 

redirectPort attribute on the non-SSL connector elsewhere in server.xml. This allows 

Netcool/Webtop to automatically redirect users who attempt to access a page with a security constraint 

specifying that SSL is required. 



! 

Within the Connector element is a nested element called Factory. This is where the socket factory used 

by Netcool/Webtop, is configured. A socket factory specifies a socket on a corresponding port. You may 

need to add or change the Factory attributes values, depending on how you configured your keystore. 

The attributes are described in Table C1. 

Table C1: Factory Element Attributes 


className The fully qualified class name of the Java class that implements this socket factory. Do not change 

the default value. 

clientAuth Set this value to true if you want Netcool/Webtop to require all SSL clients to present a client 

certificate in order to use this socket. Default is false. 

keystoreFile Specifies the location of the keystore file. You can provide an absolute pathname, or a relative path 

that is resolved using the $WEBTOP_HOME environment variable. 

keystorePass Specifies the password for the keystore. 

protocol The encryption/decryption protocol to be used on this socket. Do not change the default value. 

Modify the Factory attributes as required and save the server.xml file. 

Warning: The keystore password is displayed in plain text and is viewable by anyone with user access to 

the Netcool/Webtop server. It is recommended that the file permissions for server.xml reflect those of 

the users responsible for administrating the Netcool/Webtop server. 


Connecting to the Secure Netcool/Webtop Server 

C.3 Connecting to the Secure Netcool/Webtop Server 

Clients connecting to Netcool/Webtop must now use HTTPS in the address if they want to establish a 

secure session. In addition, the port number must reflect the value specified by the port attribute of the 

SSL Connector element specified in server.xml—the default is 8443. An example is shown below: 

https://server:8443 

A padlock symbol (usually in the bottom of the web browser window) indicates to a client whether they are 

connected to a secure Netcool/Webtop server. A closed padlock indicates that they are connected to a secure 

Netcool/Webtop server using the HTTPS protocol. An open padlock indicates that they are connected to a 

Netcool/Webtop server using the HTTP protocol. 

Note: The padlock images vary depending on the type of web browser used by the client. 




localization-app.fm July 1, 2004 11:48 am 

Appendix D: Localization 

Netcool/Webtop can be configured to display text and graphics in different languages. This appendix 

describes how to modify the Netcool/Webtop language settings, and configure the application for 

non-English speaking audiences. 



Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 and Unicode on page 369 

Configuring Localization on page 371 

Localization Property Reference on page 376 

Language and Country Code Reference on page 383 



D.1 Introduction 

Netcool/Webtop allows you to change the language used by the labels, messages, and icons displayed in the 

Administration page, AEL, LEL, and Map Editor so that these components can be understood by different 

global audiences. The practical administrative aspect of configuring an application for use in a particular 

locale is known as localization (l10n). 

Localization is performed by adding locale-specific elements (such as translated text and graphics) to the 

application. With the addition of localization data, the same page components can be viewed worldwide. 

Culturally dependent data, such as dates and currencies, can appear in formats that conform to the end user's 

region and language, and text configuration can extend to the use of multi-byte character sets. 

Textual elements (such as status messages and GUI component labels) are not hard-coded in the application. 

Instead they are stored in properties files outside the source code. The locations of graphical elements (such 

as buttons) are also referenced within properties files and this information can be modified so that localized 

images are retrieved from alternate locations. 

Tip: Internationalization (i18n) is the term used to describe the software-development process of separating 

language dependent resources from the executable code so that they can be configured to display text and 

graphics in different languages. 

When Netcool/Webtop is configured for localization, as described in Modifying the Login Page on page 372, 

the Login page contains a drop-down menu of language choices, as shown in Figure D1. 

Figure D1: Internationalized Login Page 

After the user selects a language and logs in, the corresponding properties files for the specified language 

locale are read, and the localized elements are retrieved. These elements are then displayed to the client 

during the session. 


D.2 Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 and Unicode 

Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 and Unicode 

On most computer environments that support writing systems such as Roman or Cyrillic, user input is 

converted into character codes that are stored in memory. These codes are then converted into glyphs of a 

particular font before being passed to the application for display and printing. In order to accommodate the 

language requirements of multiple audiences, many of whom will not be using Western character sets, 

Netcool/Webtop does not use a single geographically-specific character set. Instead, it uses a character 

encoding system called UTF-8. This character encoding adheres to a global standard called Unicode. 

Unicode is a character encoding system that contains virtually all alphabetic, ideographic, and symbolic 

characters used on modern computer systems. The purpose of Unicode is to specify a reference for each 

character required by every written human language to a single unique integer number, called a code-point. 

Each locale has one or more codesets associated with it—a codeset includes the coded representation of 

characters used in a particular language. Codesets may span one byte (for alphabetic languages) or two or 

more bytes (for ideographic languages, such as the Kanji character set). Each codeset assigns its own 

code-point values to each character, without any inherent relationship to other codesets. That is, a 

code-point value that represents the letter a in a Roman character set will represent another character entirely 

in the Cyrillic or Arabic system, and may not represent anything in an ideographic system. 

In Unicode, every character, symbol, and ideograph has its own unique character code. Consequently, there 

is no overlap between the code-point values of different codesets. In addition, there is no need to define 

multiple codesets because each character code used in each writing system can be located in the Unicode 

scheme. Unicode includes not only characters of the world's languages, but also includes characters such as 

publishing characters, mathematical and technical symbols, and punctuation characters. 

The 8-bit Unicode Transition Format (UTF-8) character set is a variable-length character encoding system 

that uses 1 to 4 bytes per character, depending on the Unicode symbol being displayed. The next section 

describes how UTF-8 applies to the properties files used by Netcool/Webtop. 

Properties Files and UTF-8 

Translations for each functional area of Netcool/Webtop are held in ASCII properties files. The country 

directory, described in Country and Language Directories on page 371, contains the localization property files 

for that region, and each properties file contains a list of name-value pairs. The name-value pairs for the text 

elements in each properties files are used to specify the displayed element for each label or message. 



Clients connecting to Netcool/Webtop who, for example, select Spanish are presented with web pages that 

use translations appropriate for that locale, as contained within a properties file. The columnheadings. 

properties file for a Spanish-speaking locale could contain the following entry: 

Summary=Veraniego 

When this file is read, the Summary column heading in AEL, LEL, and tableview appears as its Spanish 

equivalent. Netcool/Webtop represents these characters using the Unicode code points appropriate for that 

locale. 

You create localization files for your locale by using the files provided in the United States country directory 

as a template. Once modified, the properties files must be stored in UTF-8 format. This is accomplished 

either by using a text editor that saves files in UTF-8, or by using a conversion utility such as 

native2ascii, a tool supplied with the Java SDK from Sun Microsystems. The documentation for this 

utility is provided here: 

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/tooldocs/win32/native2ascii.html 

The procedure for creating properties files is described in Example Localization on page 373. High-level 

descriptions of all the localization property files are provided in Table D3 on page 376. 

Note: If translation properties files are not provided for any functional area of Netcool/Webtop, the default 

language in the application (US English) is used. 

The properties files provided for Netcool/Webtop 1.3.1 are a superset of the AEL localization properties files 

provided with earlier versions of Netcool/Webtop. 


D.3 Configuring Localization 

Configuring Localization 

In order to add support for additional languages to Netcool/Webtop, the following entry must be set in the 

server.init file: 

internationalisation.enabled:true 

Country and Language Directories 

The directories that store the language data for each locale are located in: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/www/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/classes/locales 

Note: For brevity, throughout this appendix the above path is truncated to locales. 

The directories must follow a standard naming convention so the application can locate and load the correct 

properties files at run time. For example, if you want to include localization support for Italian, the directory 

structure must appear as: 

locales/it/it 

The first directory specifies the language, and the second specifies the country. Some countries share a 

language; for example, in the case of the United Kingdom the structure is: 

locales/en/gb 

For the United States the structure is: 

locales/en/us 

Note: The two-letter directory names for the language and country must be lowercase. 

The naming conventions for these directories conform to ISO 639 and ISO 3166 standards. The full list of 

two-letter language codes is provided in Table D4 on page 383, and the full list of two-letter country codes 

is provided in Table D5 on page 389. Both tables are accurate at the time of publication. For an up-to-date 

list of codes, refer to: 

http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm 

http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html 



Setting the Default Language Locale on UNIX 

Netcool/Webtop uses American English as its default language locale. To change the default language locale, 

you must modify the Netcool/Webtop server startup script. The $WEBTOP_HOME/bin/server file 

contains the following entry: 

LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 

The LC_CTYPE variable sets the primary character locale for your operating environment. By default this 

variable is set to en_US.UTF-8, an American English-based locale with multiscript processing support for 

characters of many different languages. If required, you can open the server file in a text editor and 

change the language code en, and the country code US to that of your Netcool/Webtop server location to 

ensure that this entry correctly reflects your locale. 

Setting the Default Language Locale on Windows 

There are no system specific requirements for setting the default language locale on Windows systems. 

Modifying the Login Page 

You can add additional languages to the Language drop-down menu on the Login page if they are not 

present amongst the default entries. To do this, you must edit a number of HTML pages on the 

Netcool/Webtop server. The pages that require modification are: 

$WEBTOP_HOME/www/webapps/ROOT/public/login_maini18n.html 

$WEBTOP_HOME/www/webapps/ROOT/public/login_againi18n.html 

$WEBTOP_HOME/www/webapps/ROOT/public/timedout_login_maini18n.html 

The HTML of each of these files contains the following entry: 

 

This HTML comment indicates the beginning of the list of localization entries that appear in the Language 

drop-down menu. An HTML option tag must to be added for each additional language. By default, the 

list entries are: 

[1] Chinese (simplified) 

[2] Chinese (traditional) 

[3] Deutsch 

[4] English (GB) 

[5] English (US) 

[6] Español 

[7] Français 

[8] L'italiano 

[9] Japanese 

[10] Swedish 

[11] Russian 



The default selection in the Language drop-down is indicated by the selected statement in the 

corresponding option tag in line 5. 

Example Localization 

The following example procedure describes how to add the Austrian German language to the list of available 

languages in Netcool/Webtop: 

1. Consult the language and country tables on page 383 and page 389. The language code for Austria is 

de (German) and the country code is at. 

2. In the locales directory create a directory called de that contains a directory called at. 

3. Create localization files for Austrian in the at directory by copying the files provided in 

locales/en/us to this location and using them as a template. 

Note: Ensure that the properties files are stored in UTF-8 format. 

4. Open the login_maini18n.html, login_againi18n.html, and timedout_login_ 

maini18n.html files in a text editor. In each file, locate the supported languages comment and 

enter the following into the list: 

German (Austria) 

Note: In the HTML, the language code—de in this example—must be lowercase. The country 

code—AT in this example—must be uppercase. 

5. Save the HTML files and start, or restart the server to ensure that the changes are applied. 

Tip: Alternatively, open server.init and change the internationalisation.cache. 

enabled entry to false. This prevents caching of localization data, and forces the server to 

regularly re-read the configuration files for the selected locale. 

6. Once the Netcool/Webtop server is started (or restarted) the Language drop-down menu is displayed 

on the Netcool/Webtop Login page, as shown in Figure D1 on page 368. 

Client Considerations 

The regional and language options for client systems and browsers in each supported locale are probably set 

correctly by default. However, in order to test a configuration it may be necessary to simulate a different 

locale on your local system. 



This section shows you the procedures for configuring your system and browser so that you may view 

localized data for each locale supported by Netcool/Webtop. It can also act as a troubleshooting reference if 

client systems in other locales fail to display localized data correctly. 

Table D1 describes the configuration procedure for Windows systems and browsers, and Table D2 on 

page 375 describes the configuration procedure for UNIX browsers. 

Table D1: Locale Configuration Procedure for Windows (1 of 2) 

Task Procedure 

System Configuration From the Windows Control Panel: 

1. Double-click Regional and Language Options. You are presented with the Regional and 

Language Options window. 

2. Select the Regional Options tab and set the drop-down menus in the Standards and 

formats and Location sections to reflect your locale. 

3. Select the Languages tab and click the Details... button. You are presented with the Text 

Services and Input Languages window. 

4. In the Default input language section, set the drop-down menus to reflect your locale. 

5. In the Installed services section, click the Add button. You are presented with the Text 

Services and Input Languages window. 

6. From the drop-down menus, select the input language and keyboard layout appropriate 

for your locale. Click OK. 

7. Click OK. You are returned to the Regional and Language Options window which can now 

be closed. 

Browser Configuration From the Internet Explorer tool bar: 

1. Select View→Encoding. Ensure that Unicode (UTF-8) is selected. 

2. Select Tools→Internet Options. You are presented with the Internet Properties window. 

3. Select the General tab and click the Languages button. You are presented with the 

Language Preference window. 

4. Click the Add button. You are presented with the Add Language window. 

5. From the list provided, add the language entry that corresponds to the desired locale. In 

the example shown Example Localization on page 373, this would be German (Austria) 

[de-at]. Click OK. 

6. Click OK. You are returned to the Internet Properties window. Select the Advanced tab. 

7. Ensure that the Always send URLs as UTF-8 box is selected. Click OK and close the 

Internet Properties window. 


Table D1: Locale Configuration Procedure for Windows (2 of 2) 



You must ensure that your system has the correct character sets installed for the locale you want to view. Typically, when 

Netcool/Webtop clients attempt to view a web page that contains characters that are not present on their system they 

are prompted to install a language pack that supports the characters on that web page. 

You can download multiple or individual language packs from Microsoft: 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0db2e8f9-79c4-4625-a07a-0cc1b341be7c 

Table D2: Locale Configuration Procedure for UNIX 


System Configuration Open $WEBTOP_HOME/bin/server in a text editor and change the language code en and 

country code US in the following entry to reflect the locale of the Netcool/Webtop server: 

LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 

Browser Configuration From the Netscape tool bar: 

1. Select Edit→ Preferences→ Navigator Languages. You are presented with the 

Languages window. 

2. Click the Add button. You are presented with the Add Languages window. 

3. From the list provided, add the language entry that corresponds to the desired locale. In 

the example shown in Example Localization on page 373, this would be German (Austria) 

[de-at]. 

4. Click OK. You are returned to the Add Languages window. 

5. In the Character Coding section, set the Default Character Coding drop-down menu to 

Unicode (UTF-8). 



D.4 Localization Property Reference 

Table D3 describes the files that contain the localization properties for Netcool/Webtop. Within the default 

locales/en/us directory there are the following sub-directories: 

ael - contains properties relating specifically to the active event list (AEL) component. 

editor - contains properties relating specifically to the Map Editor component. 

lwsel - contains properties relating specifically to the lightweight event list (LEL) component. 

Note: Properties files marked Reserved are reserved for future use. 

Table D3: Localization Property Files (1 of 7) 

Path / Filename Description 

acldialog.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the web page 

titlebar of the ACL window. For example, Access Control 

List. 

acldialogbottom.properties Contains the conversions for the Ok and Cancel buttons at 

the foot of the ACL window. 

acldialogmiddle.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the main 

display area of the ACL window. For example [default], the 

name of the default ACL. 

acldialogtop.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title of the 

ACL window. For example, Please select ACLs for this 

user. 

acls.properties Contains the conversions for the messages displayed by 

the ACL Editor component. 

adminaddcgi.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title of the 

Register CGI pages. For example CGI Registration - 

Register CGI. 

adminaddmenus.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title of the 

Menus Editor page pages. For example CGI Registration - 

Register CGI. 

adminaddtool.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Create New Tool page. For 

example, Execute CGI/URL. 




Localization Property Reference 

admincgi.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the CGI Registration page. For 

example, CGI Registration. 

adminchangecgi.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Modify CGI page. For example, 

CGI Registration - Modify. 

adminchangemenus.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Modify Menu page. For 

example, Menus Editor - Modify Menu. 

adminchangemenusconfirm.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Save Menu Changes 

confirmation page. This is the page you are presented with 

in the Menu Editor if you add a new menu to an existing 

menu. 

adminchangetool.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Create New Tool and Modify 

Tool pages. For example, Execute for each selected row. 

adminchangetoolmenuitemdialog.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Rename Menu Item page. This 

is the page you are presented with if you add a new item to 

a menu and then attempt to rename it. 

admindeletecgi.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Unregister CGI page. For 

example, CGI Registration - Confirm Unregister CGI. 

admindeletemenus.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Unregister CGI page. For 

example, CGI Registration - Confirm Unregister CGI. 

admindeletetool.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Delete Menu page. For 

example, Are you sure you really want to delete the 

menu?. 

adminfieldsdialog.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title of the 

Fields window associated with the Tools Editor. For 

example, Tools Editor - Please select fields for this tool. 





adminfieldsdialogbottom.properties Contains the conversions for the Ok and Cancel buttons at 

the foot of the Fields window associated with the Tools 

Editor. 

adminfieldsdialogmiddle.properties Reserved 

adminfieldsdialogtop.properties Contains the conversions used in the title of the Fields 

window associated with the Tools Editor. For example, 

Tools Editor - Please select fields for this tool. 

adminmenu.properties Reserved 

adminmenus.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Menu Editor page. For 

example, Create Menu. 

adminmodifycgi.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title of 

the Modify CGI window associated with the Tools Editor. 

For example, CGI Registration - Confirm Unregister CGI. 

adminmodifymenus.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the titlebar of 

the Modify Menu window associated with the Menus 

Editor. For example, Menus Editor - Modify Menus. 

adminmodifytool.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Tool Editor - Modify Tool page. 

For example, SQL. 

adminservlets.properties Contains the conversions for confirmation, error, and 

success messages displayed by Netcool/Webtop during 

administrative activities. 

admintool.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Tools Editor page. For example, 

Modify Tool. 

ael/help.properties Contains the conversions for AEL help file identities. If 

localized filenames are used for the AEL help system, you 

must update the corresponding values in this file. 

ael/messages/debugmessages.properties Contains the conversions for AEL debug message output. 

ael/messages/errormessages.properties Contains the conversions for AEL error message output. 

ael/messages/fatalmessages.properties Contains the conversions for AEL fatal error message 

output. 





ael/messages/infomessages.properties Contains the conversions for AEL information message 

output. 

ael/messages/warningmessages.properties Contains the conversions for AEL warning message output. 

ael/uiresources.properties Contains the conversions for AEL user interface text, such 

as menu titles and entries. 

aelutils.properties Contains the conversions used for web page errors 

generated by problems associated with the AEL applet. For 

example, The Java 2 plug-in is required to run this 

Active Event List applet. 

aelview.properties Contains the conversions used for AEL errors generated 

when using a query string in the URL. These errors are 

displayed if the entity is not correctly specified, or if 

aelview.queries.enabled is set to false in 

server.init. 

cgiservlet.properties Contains the conversion for the web page error generated 

when a CGI tool fails to execute. 

changeuserprofile.properties Contains the conversions for the web page errors 

generated when a user has no authority to change their 

profile. 

colors.properties Contains the conversion for the color names used in the 

AEL. 

columnheadings.properties Contains the conversions for view column headings. These 

are represented as a field name title in the view definition 

and are used on AEL, LEL, and tableview column headings. 

common.properties Contains the conversions for generic severity level 

definitions displayed in pages served by Netcool/Webtop. 

For example, Major. 

cookie.properties Contains the conversions for the web page errors 

generated when a user has no authority to change their 

profile. 

dynamicmap.properties Contains the conversions for the web page errors 

generated when a map page has been removed. 





dynamicmenus.properties Contains the conversions for AEL menus that have been 

defined by the user. For example, entries in the tools 

menu. 

editor/uiresources.properties Contains the conversions for the Java Map Editor. This 

includes menu names, messages, buttons, errors, and so 

forth. 

entities.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the pages associated with the 

Entity Editor. For example, Modify Entity Details. 

entitygenerator.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 


Entity Generator. For example, Add Where clause to 

entity filter:. 

filterbuilder.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 


Filter Builder and View Builder. For example, Welcome to 

Netcool/Webtop Filter Builder. 

filterpage.properties Contains the conversions for the messages associated with 

the Filter Page. The Filter Page is described in Inserting a 

Filter Page on page 350. 

inserter.properties Contains the conversion for web page error messages 

associated with SmartPage commands, and also the text 

associated with the USERSTATISTICS SmartPage 

output. For example, Total Licenses. 

inserterparserule.properties Contains the conversion for web page error messages 

associated with SmartPage command, specifically for 

when the insert: statement is improperly constructed. 

login.properties Reserved 

logout.properties 

lwsel/uiresources.properties Contains the conversions for the LEL. This includes menu 

names, messages, buttons, errors, and so forth. 

map.properties Contains the conversions for the labels displayed on 

monitor box applets. For example, Total. 





maps.properties Contains the conversions for the HTML Map Editor. This 

includes menu names, messages, buttons, errors, and so 

forth. 

mapstate.properties Contains the conversion for the error message displayed 

when a map cannot be displayed. 

mapviewhandler.properties Contains the conversions used for web page errors 

generated by problems associated with the map applet. 

For example, Java enabled browser required to view 

this applet. 

ncoadminservlet.properties Contains the conversions for the text displayed to a 

non-administrative user when they attempt to access the 

Netcool/Webtop Administration page. 

ncoservlet.properties Contains the conversion for miscellaneous error messages 

displayed in a session. 

pagemanager.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Page Manager page. For 

example, Current Directory. 

report.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title of the 

System Information page. 

resources.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Resource Manager page. For 

example, Add Map Resource. 

sqlbench.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the SQL Workbench page. For 

example, This form should only be used by advanced 

users. 

tableview.properties Contains the conversions for the tableview. This includes 

messages, errors, and so forth. 

templateservlet.properties Contains the conversions for error messages generated 

when template pages fail to display. 

userimporter.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the User Importer page. For 

example, Import Users. 





userproperties.properties Reserved 

userremoved.properties 

users.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the User Editor page. For example, 

Modify User Profile. 

userstatus.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the User Monitor page. For 

example, Active User Sessions. 

viewbuilder.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Entity View Editor - Modify View 

page. For example, Add Map Resource. 

views.properties Contains the conversions for the text used in the title, 

content, and buttons of the Entity View Editor page. For 

example, Create View. 


D.5 Language and Country Code Reference 

Language and Country Code Reference 

The following two tables contain the ISO standard input locale codes for languages and countries. 

Table D4: ISO 639 Two-Letter Language Codes (1 of 7) 

Language Code 

Abkhazian ab 

Afar aa 

Afrikaans af 

Albanian sq 

Amharic am 

Arabic ar 

Armenian hy 

Assamese as 

Aymara ay 

Azerbaijani az 

Bashkir ba 

Basque eu 

Bengali / Bangla bn 

Bhutani dz 

Bihari bh 

Bislama bi 

Breton br 

Bulgarian bg 

Burmese my 

Byelorussian be 

Cambodian km 




Language Code 

Catalan ca 

Chinese zh 

Corsican co 

Croatian hr 

Czech cs 

Danish da 

Dutch nl 

English en 

Esperanto eo 

Estonian et 

Faroese fo 

Fiji fj 

Finnish fi 

French fr 

Frisian fy 

Galician gl 

Georgian ka 

German de 

Greek el 

Greenlandic kl 

Guarani gn 

Gujarati gu 

Hausa ha 



Language Code 

Hebrew (Formerly Iw) he 

Hindi hi 

Hungarian hu 

Icelandic is 

Indonesian (Formerly In) id 

Interlingua ia 

Interlingue ie 

Inuktitut iu 

Inupiak ik 

Irish ga 

Italian it 

Japanese ja 

Javanese jw 

Kannada kn 

Kashmiri ks 

Kazakh kk 

Kinyarwanda rw 

Kirghiz ky 

Kirundi rn 

Korean ko 

Kurdish ku 

Laothian lo 

Latin la 





Language Code 

Latvian / Lettish lv 

Lingala ln 

Lithuanian lt 

Macedonian mk 

Malagasy mg 

Malay ms 

Malayalam ml 

Maltese mt 

Maori mi 

Marathi mr 

Moldavian mo 

Mongolian mn 

Nauru na 

Nepali ne 

Norwegian no 

Occitan oc 

Oriya or 

Oromo (Afan) om 

Pashto, Pushto ps 

Persian fa 

Polish pl 

Portuguese pt 

Punjabi pa 



Language Code 

Quechua qu 

Rhaeto-romance rm 

Romanian ro 

Russian ru 

Samoan sm 

Sangho sg 

Sanskrit sa 

Scots Gaelic gd 

Serbian sr 

Serbo-croatian sh 

Sesotho st 

Setswana tn 

Shona sn 

Sindhi sd 

Sinhalese si 

Siswati ss 

Slovak sk 

Slovenian sl 

Somali so 

Spanish es 

Sundanese su 

Swahili sw 

Swedish sv 





Language Code 

Tagalog tl 

Tajik tg 

Tamil ta 

Tatar tt 

Telugu te 

Thai th 

Tibetan bo 

Tigrinya ti 

Tonga to 

Tsonga ts 

Turkish tr 

Turkmen tk 

Twi tw 

Uighur ug 

Ukrainian uk 

Urdu ur 

Uzbek uz 

Vietnamese vi 

Volapuk vo 

Welsh cy 

Wolof wo 

Xhosa xh 

Yiddish (Formerly Ji) yi 



Language Code 

Yoruba yo 

Zhuang za 

Zulu zu 

Table D5: ISO 3166 Two-Letter Country Codes (1 of 11) 

Country Code 

Afghanistanco af 

Albania al 

Algeria dz 

American Samoa as 

Andorra ad 

Angola ao 

Anguilla ai 

Antarctica aq 

Antigua and Barbuda ag 

Argentina ar 

Armenia am 

Aruba aw 

Australia au 

Austria at 

Azerbaijan az 

Bahamas bs 

Bahrain bh 

Bangladesh bd 





Country Code 

Barbados bb 

Belarus by 

Belgium be 

Belize bz 

Benin bj 

Bermuda bm 

Bhutan bt 

Bolivia bo 

Bosnia and Herzegovina ba 

Botswana bw 

Bouvet Island bv 

Brazil br 

British Indian Ocean Territory io 

Brunei Darussalam bn 

Bulgaria bg 

Burkina Faso bf 

Burundi bi 

Cambodia kh 

Cameroon cm 

Canada ca 

Cape Verde cv 

Cayman Islands ky 

Central African Republic cf 



Country Code 

Chad td 

Chile cl 

China cn 

Christmas Island cx 

Cocos (Keeling) Islands cc 

Colombia co 

Comoros km 

Congo cg 

Congo, The Democratic Republic Of cd 

Cook Islands ck 

Costa Rica cr 

Côte d'Ivoire ci 

Croatia hr 

Cuba cu 

Cyprus cy 

Czech Republic cz 

Denmark dk 

Djibouti dj 

Dominica dm 

Dominican Republic do 

East Timor tp 

Ecuador ec 

Egypt eg 





Country Code 

El Salvador sv 

Equatorial Guinea gq 

Eritrea er 

Estonia ee 

Ethiopia et 

Falkland Islands (Malvinas) fk 

Faroe Islands fo 

Fiji fj 

Finland fi 

France fr 

French Guiana gf 

French Polynesia pf 

French Southern Territories tf 

Gabon ga 

Gambia gm 

Georgia ge 

Germany de 

Ghana gh 

Gibraltar gi 

Greece gr 

Greenland gl 

Grenada gd 

Guadeloupe gp 



Country Code 

Guam gu 

Guatemala gt 

Guinea gn 

Guinea-bissau gw 

Guyana gy 

Haiti ht 

Heard Island And Mcdonald Islands hm 

Holy See (Vatican City State) va 

Honduras hn 

Hong Kong hk 

Hungary hu 

Iceland is 

India in 

Indonesia id 

Iran, Islamic Republic of ir 

Iraq iq 

Ireland ie 

Israel il 

Italy it 

Jamaica jm 

Japan jp 

Jordan jo 

Kazakstan kz 





Country Code 

Kenya ke 

Kiribati ki 

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of kp 

Korea, Republic of kr 

Kuwait kw 

Kyrgyzstan kg 

Lao People's Democratic Republic la 

Latvia lv 

Lebanon lb 

Lesotho ls 

Liberia lr 

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ly 

Liechtenstein li 

Lithuania lt 

Luxembourg lu 

Macau mo 

Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of mk 

Madagascar mg 

Malawi mw 

Malaysia my 

Maldives mv 

Mali ml 

Malta mt 



Country Code 

Marshall Islands mh 

Martinique mq 

Mauritania mr 

Mauritius mu 

Mayotte yt 

Mexico mx 

Micronesia, Federated States of fm 

Moldova, Republic of md 

Monaco mc 

Mongolia mn 

Montserrat ms 

Morocco ma 

Mozambique mz 

Myanmar mm 

Namibia na 

Nauru nr 

Nepal np 

Netherlands nl 

Netherlands Antilles an 

New Caledonia nc 

New Zealand nz 

Nicaragua ni 

Niger ne 





Country Code 

Nigeria ng 

Niue nu 

Norfolk Island nf 

Northern Mariana Islands mp 

Norway no 

Oman om 

Pakistan pk 

Palau pw 

Palestinian Territory, occupied ps 

Panama pa 

Papua New Guinea pg 

Paraguay py 

Peru pe 

Philippines ph 

Pitcairn pn 

Poland pl 

Portugal pt 

Puerto Rico pr 

Qatar qa 

Réunion re 

Romania ro 

Russian Federation ru 

Rwanda rw 



Country Code 

Saint Helena sh 

Saint Kitts And Nevis kn 

Saint Lucia lc 

Saint Pierre and Miquelon pm 

Saint Vincent and The Grenadines vc 

Samoa ws 

San Marino sm 

Sao Tome and Principe st 

Saudi Arabia sa 

Senegal sn 

Seychelles sc 

Sierra Leone sl 

Singapore sg 

Slovakia sk 

Slovenia si 

Solomon Islands sb 

Somalia so 

South Africa za 

South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands gs 

Spain es 

Sri Lanka lk 

Sudan sd 

Suriname sr 





Country Code 

Svalbard and Jan Mayen sj 

Swaziland sz 

Sweden se 

Switzerland ch 

Syrian Arab Republic sy 

Taiwan, Province of China tw 

Tajikistan tj 

Tanzania, United Republic of tz 

Thailand th 

Togo tg 

Tokelau tk 

Tonga to 

Trinidad and Tobago tt 

Tunisia tn 

Turkey tr 

Turkmenistan tm 

Turks and Caicos Islands tc 

Tuvalu tv 

Uganda ug 

Ukraine ua 

United Arab Emirates ae 

United Kingdom gb 

United States us 



Country Code 

United States Minor Outlying Islands um 

Uruguay uy 

Uzbekistan uz 

Vanuatu vu 

Vatican City State, See Holy See 

Venezuela ve 

Vietnam vn 

Virgin Islands, British vg 

Virgin Islands, U.S. vi 

Wallis And Futuna wf 

Western Sahara eh 

Yemen ye 

Yugoslavia yu 

Zaire, see Congo 

Zambia zm 

Zimbabwe zw 





WebtopIX.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Index 

A 

acknowledging an alert 178 

ACL 

administration 126 

changing for an entity view 140 

creating 127 

deleting 128 

a user from all ACLs 128 

admin.showreturntoadminbutton property 84 

adminip.file property 84 

administration page 

overview 109 

advanced utilities 

current users 250 

AEL 


alert details tab 231 

alert fields 231 

alert notification 219 

alert status window 180 

applying 

filters 184, 192 

views 195, 200 

changing 

column order 198 

field internal sort order 199 

field sorting precedence 198 

column configuration 197 

configuring 

AEL refresh rate 217 

alert brightness 220 

alert flash 220 

data summary 216 

distribution meter 217 

notification criteria 218 

notification type 219 

copying 

filters from another group 192 

views from another group 200 

creating 

CGI tools 205 

command line tools 209 

filter a in advanced mode 191 

filter a in basic mode 186 

sub-menus 212 

views 196 

date setting 224 

detail tab 181 

event details window 230 

fields tab 180 

filter metric 191 

find window 177 

flashing tab 220 

freezing 176 

multiple AELs 176 

journal tab 182, 231 

locale setting 224 

menu entry 211 

miscellaneous tab 220 

modifying 

font 217, 221 

time format 222 

window settings 221 

monitor boxes tab 215 

notifications tab 218 

overview 170 

preferences 215 

quick filter 182 

refresh tab 217 

refreshing 176 

time setting 224 

viewing 

filters 194 


Index

Index 

AEL SmartPage tag 346 

ael.refresh.mode property 88 

ael.top-n.value property 87 

aelview.queries.enabled property 86 

AIX 5 33 

applying to the AEL 192 

assigning an alert 

to a group 179 

to an individual 179 

attributes 

datasource 100 

B 

backOffMultiplier 100 

basePollingTime 100 

browser.prp property 84 

C 

certificate authority 362 

certificates 360 

obtaining a CA certificate 362 

validating 361 

charts 

attribute reference 275 

chartelement configuration 260 

configuration 266 

definition files 258 

element reference 266 

generation 255 

image Tag 264 

pages 264 

presenting data 258 

reference 266 

XML 257 

cleanerSleepTime 100 

cleantime property 83 

codes 

country 383 

language 383 

configuration 

datasources 67 

dual-server 77 

file 68 

initialization file 83 

license server 54 

script 93 

country 

directory 369, 371 

country codes 383 

Creating a Certificate 360 


D 

datasource 



configuration file 68, 94 

configuration scenarios 78 

DTD reference 94 


multiple with failover 74 

single with failover 72 

single without failover 71 

deleting an alert 179 

display ObjectServer 

architecture overview 77 

example architecture 77 

DSD 77 

DTD 

datasource 94 

WAAPI 300 

dual-server desktop 77 

E 

editor.init 88 

ee.entitydir property 84 

elements 

datasource 96

enabled attribute 100 

encrypted attribute 100 

entities 

removing a column 140 

entity 

ACL for a view in 140 

adding a column 140 

adding an 133 


changing the column order 141 

changing the field sorting precedence in 141 

changing the sort order within a field in 142 

column configuration 140 

creating 

views 138 

deleting 136 

views 142 

generation parameters 246 

map generation 246 

modifying a View 139 

modifying dependent 135 

modifying filtered 134 

views property 137 

Entity Generator 245 

entity.defaultstore 85 

environment variables 

setting 37 

F 

file.base property 84 


advanced mode 191 

basic mode 186 

copying filters 192 

metric 191 

viewing filters 194 

filters 130, 192 

FLEXlm 

displaying the host ID 40, 45, 54 


H 

host attribute 100 

host ID 

displaying 40, 45, 54 

displaying for UNIX licensing 40, 45, 54 

HP-UX 33 

HTML maps 

adding 

active icons 339 

buttons 337 

cons 338 

inactive button 338 

inactive icons 339 

inactive line 340 

lines 339 

text 340 


alternate home page 341 

configuring 337 

linking 342 

linking to a URL 340 

linking to a URL and Displaying Status 338 

opening a tableview 338, 340 

previewing 342 

target 341 

HTTP port configuration 91 

HTTPS port configuration 91 

I 

i18n 

see localization 

installation 24 

license server 39 

starting the 33, 50 

internationalisation.cache.enabled 85 

internationalisation.enabled 85 

internationalization 


Index

Index 

J 

Java Secure Socket Extension 360 

JAVA_HOME 

setting 37 

JSSE 360 

K 

keystore 360 

keytool 360 

L 

l10n 


language 

directory 371 

language codes 383 

LEL 


overview 227 

lel.pagesize.default property 86 

license server 

refreshing 44, 49, 59, 63 

removing the license service 60 

setting environment variables 39 

starting 44, 58, 59 

status 60 

stopping 45, 59 

using an existing 45, 60 

license.file property 83, 90 

license.hbInterval property 83, 90 

license.retryInterval property 84, 90 

license.retrys property 83, 90 

licenses 

displaying the FLEXlm Host Code 40, 45, 54 

obtaining 40, 46, 55, 61 

preparing 42, 47 

usage 44 

licensing 24 


LMTOOLS 58 

using a single license server 26 

using quorum 26 

LMTOOLS 58 

locale 

default 372 

localization 367 

cached data 373 

client considerations 373 

default locale 372 

directories 371 

example 373 

properties files 369 

UTF-8 369, 370, 372, 373, 374, 375 

logfile 84 

logging on 

as a Client 107 

using the browser URL 108 


M 

Map Editor 

command line options 166 

starting from the Command Line 153 

maplet.plugin.classic property 87 

maplet.refresh property 87 

maps 

adding a resource 155 

adding objects 154 


background image 153 

color picker 163 

configuring 

map grid 154 

object properties 156 

object sizes 161 

creating 336 

new map 153 

schema file 259 

deleting 342

object 

color 162 

font 162 

object associations 158 

object configuration 156 

removing a resource 155 

resource preview 155 

SmartPage 165 

SmartPage tag 349 

SmartPages 165 

maps.directory property 84 

maxAge attribute 100 

maxtablesize attribute 85 

menu 


menus 

adding entries 211 

migrating from Netcool/Webtop 1.2 32, 50 

modifying an existing installation 52 

Modifying the server.xml Configuration File 363 

mounting the CD-ROM 32 

N 

name attribute 101 

ncwBackupServer 94, 96 

ncwConfigCacheParameters 95, 96 

ncwDataSourceCredentials 95, 96 

ncwDataSourceDefinition 95, 96 

ncwDataSourceEntry 95, 97 

ncwDataSourcePollingParameters 95, 97 

ncwDefaultDataSourceList 95, 97 

ncwFailOverPairDefinition 95, 97 

ncwFailOverPollingParameters 95, 98 

ncwHeartBeatParameters 95, 98 

ncwOSConnection 95, 98 

ncwPrimaryServer 95, 98 

ncwReadCloudDefinition 95, 99 

ncwResultsCacheParameters 95, 99 

network information service validation 

See NIS 

newuser.homepage property 84 

NIS 125 


O 

ObjectServer 

display ObjectServer architecture 77 

Obtaining a Certificate Authority Certificate 362 

P 

Page Manager 237 

adding a file 239 

directories pane 237 

sub-directory 

creating 238 

removing 238 

viewing 

a directory 238 

a file 240 

passwd.file property 84 

password attribute 101 

plugin.classid property 86 

plugin.type property 86 

pluginpage property 84 

port attribute 101 

prioritizing an alerts 178 

public_directory 86 

Q 

quorum licensing 

using 26 

R 

Red Hat Linux 33 

removesecs 83 

resources.directory property 84 

Index

Index 

resyncTime attribute 101 

root.license.preferred property 84 

S 

secure server 365 

server 

connecting to 106 

connection 105 

deleting a file from 240 

logging on 107 

restricting administrative access to 124 

secure 365 

using the Map Editor with 152 

server.xml file 363 

shutdown 105 

starting the 105 

startup 105 

stopping on UNIX 105 

stopping on Windows 105 

uploading to the 239 

server.init 83 

localization and 371 

serverlogfile property 84 

single license server 26 

smart matching 183 

SmartPage 

commands 346 

example 344 

overview 344 

template 353 

reference 346 

tags 344 

AEL 346 

AEL Map View 349 

filter page 350 

home URL 352 

map applet 349 

maplist 351 

tableview 351 

timezone drop-down menu 352 

user statistics 352 

username 352 

templates 353, 354, 355 

Solaris 32 

SQL 

sending instructions 244 

tools 206 

SQL Workbench 243 

SSL Server Certificates 359 

system information 249 


T 

tableview 


SmartPage tag 351 

tableviewparams 85 

taking ownership of an alert 179 

time zone 225 

timeoutsecs property 83 

tools 


CGI 203, 205 

registering 204 

command line 208, 209 

SQL 207 

sub-menus 212 

URL 203 

type attribute 101 

U 

Unicode 369, 372 

UNIX licensing 

displaying the FLEXlm host ID 40, 45, 54 

usage statistics 252 

user 

accounts property 119 

administration property 117 

current users 250

importing property 123 

monitor 250 

removing property 251 

restricting access of 124 

usage statistics 250 

validation property 346 

User Monitor 250 

userName attribute 101 

users 

including and exclude statements 125 

UTF-8 369, 370, 372, 373, 374, 375 

utility.debug 85, 88 

utility.debug.destination 85, 89 

utility.monitor 85 

utility.monitor.destination 85 

V 

Validating a Certificate 361 

View Builder 

changing the column order 198 

changing the sort order within a field 199 

changing the sorting precedence 198 

copying views 200 

creating a view 196 

views 130 

adding a column 197 

applying to the AEL 200 

removing a column 197 

views.directory 84 

W 

WAAPI 


client 296 

starting 297 

command file 290 

command line options 298 

data reference 300 

DTD reference 300 


methodName reference 332 

properties 298 

sending instructions to 290 

XML 289 

webtop.editor.host 88 

webtop.editor.password 88 

webtop.editor.port 88 

webtop.editor.secure 89 

webtop.editor.secureport 89 

webtop.editor.user 88 

WEBTOP_HOME 

setting 37 


X 

XML overview 67 

Index

Index 


ackmatter.fm July 1, 2004 11:41 am 

Contact Information 

Technical Support Details 

Address Telephone Fax World Wide Web / E-Mail 

USA Micromuse Inc. 

Customer Support Services 

139 Townsend Street 

San Francisco 

California 94107 

USA 

EUROPE Micromuse Ltd. 

Customer Support Services 

Disraeli House 

90 Putney Bridge Road 

London SW18 1DA 

United Kingdom 

Corporate Details 

1-800-Netcool (800 638 2665) 

+1 415 538 9090 

+1 415 538 9091 http://support.micromuse.com 

support@micromuse.com 

+44 (0) 20 8877 0073 +44 (0)20 875 0991 http://support.micromuse.com 

support@micromuse.com 

Address Telephone Fax World Wide Web / E-Mail 

USA Micromuse Inc. (HQ) 

139 Townsend Street 

San Francisco 

CA 94107 

USA 

EUROPE Micromuse Ltd. 

Disraeli House 

90 Putney Bridge Road 

London SW18 1DA 

United Kingdom 

License Generation Team Details 

E-Mail World Wide Web 

Temporary Licenses: temp.licensing@micromuse.com 

Permanent Licenses: perm.licensing@micromuse.com 

+1 415 538 9090 +1 415 538 9091 http://www.micromuse.com 

mynetcool@micromuse.com 

+44 (0)20 8875 9500 +44 (0)20 8875 9995 http://www.micromuse.co.uk 

mynetcool@micromuse.com 

http://support.micromuse.com/helpdesk/licenses 


Contact Information

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