The RTView DataCollector for IBM collects Solution Package data via connections that you define in the RTView Configuration Application and sends the collected data to the RTView DataServer for IBM, which collects this data and any additional data that the RTView DataServer for IBM is collecting. This collected data is then pulled into RTView Cloud via an RTView Data Server connection created in RTView Cloud. Note that the RTView Data Collector does not generate alerts or store history data.

This document describes how to download and install the RTView DataCollector for IBM for use with RTView DataServer for IBM and RTView Cloud, how to configure the data collector including defining the connection information for each solution package (IBM MQ, IBM WebSphere, and so on), how to connect to the RTView DataServer for IBM, and how to verify that your setup is working properly in the RTView DataServer for IBM. This document assumes that you have already downloaded and installed the RTView DataServer for IBM. See RTView DataServer for IBM Quick Start Guide for more information.

Note: If you are interested in setting up High Availability (failover) for your DataCollector, review Configuring High Availability for DataCollector Deliverables prior to starting this flow.

Note: In addition to using the RTView Configuration Application for configuring your connections, you can use the Property Editor REST API to import initial connections or automate connection updates. See Property Editor REST API for more information.

Before You Get Started

You must have Java installed and you should know the installation directory path.
You should know the correct full path to the directory containing the jar files for each of your solution packages.
You should know the connection settings for your solution packages:

IBM DB2 connections: Path/URL to the IBM DB2 jar files, Connection name, URL for the database connection, and password (if defined).

IBM WebSphere connections: Connection Name, path/URL to the JMX connection of the IBM WebSphere Server to which you want to connect, username/password (if defined), com.ibm.SSL.ConfigURL, com.ibm.SOAP.ConfigURL, java.com.ibm.CORBA.ConfigURL, java.naming.factory.initial, and the Name and Value of any additional properties you want to use for monitoring your IBM WebSphere Servers.

IBM WebSphere MQ connections: Connection Name, name or IP address of the host computer, port number of the connection, client channel to use for the connection, named model queue of the connection, the user-defined handler class name you want to use for the connection, wait interval (in seconds) between attempts to create a connection, minimum interval (in seconds) between connection retry attempts, maximum number of subsequent connection retry attempts, and the time (in seconds) in which the attempt to connect to the data source will expire.

You should perform the following steps in your private organization in RTView Cloud.
If you are upgrading to a new version of the DataCollector, review the General Upgrade Steps document to see if there are any additional steps required.

Downloading the RTView DataCollector for IBM

Log in to your RTView Cloud account at http(s)://rtviewcloud.sl.com.
If you do not have an RTView Cloud account, go to http(s)://rtviewcloud.sl.com/register and follow the instructions to create your account.

Note: If you log in using https, you must use https for your data server links as well. If you log in using http, you can use http or https for your data server links.

Once you have logged in, RTView Cloud displays.

Click the ? icon in the upper right corner.

The RTView Cloud Support Home page displays.

Click the Downloads button.

The RTView DataServer Downloads page displays.

Scroll down to the RTView DataCollector for IBM region and click the Terms and Conditions link to view the SL Corporation - End User License Agreement, click the I agree to the Terms and Conditions check box, and then click the Download RTView DataCollector for IBM button.

The compressed file is saved to your machine.

Registration

When you install the DataCollector, a temporary license key is included. SL Corporation will send you a permanent key that you will need to add to your RTView license key file so that you can extend the operation of your monitoring system.

This is a universal key that will enable you to run RTView on different machines and platforms. It is your responsibility to ensure you use RTView within the terms of your End User License Agreement (EULA).

To update your RTView system with your new license key, open a command window and:

Navigate to RTViewDataCollectorIBM/rtvapm/rtview/lib.
Edit the KEYS file using a text editor.
Copy/paste the new replacement key to the file.
Save the KEYS file.

Installing and Starting the RTView DataCollector for IBM

Note: If using UNIX, do not include spaces in your installation directory path. The start_server.sh and stop_server.sh scripts will not function properly if spaces are included in the installation directory path.

Extract All (Windows)/unzip (UNIX/Linux) the file to the directory of your choice. For UNIX/Linux, use unzip -a to unzip the file.

Open a command window and set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to point to your Java Installation. For example:

export JAVA_HOME=/opt/Java/jdk1.7.0 (UNIX/Linux)

set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_201 (Windows)

Or, in Windows, you can set JAVA_HOME as an environment variable (in Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings), where it will then be used by all command windows and when you double-click on a .bat file.

In the command window, navigate to the RTViewDataCollectorIBM directory and type:

start_collector.bat (Windows)

./start_collector.sh (UNIX/Linux)

Or, in Windows, you can double-click on the start_collector.bat file in the RTViewDataCollectorIBM directory.

Note: This script starts the Data Server on port 3278 with HTML Server (Eclipse Jetty, by default) on port 3270. If these ports conflict with other processes running on your system, you can change the first two digits of the ports by using -portprefix: and specifying the first two digits you want to use for the ports in the command line. For example: start_collector.bat -portprefix:44 (which would change the ports to 4478 for the Data Server and 4470 for HTML Server). If you want to save your port prefix, you can change the port prefix in the RTView Configuration Application (see the next section), or you can use -saveportprefix: command line argument (for example: start_collector.bat -portprefix:44 -saveportprefix).

Configuring the Data Collector

Next, you need to specify the directory path to your .jar files and you need to create your connections for the each of your solution packages using the RTView Configuration Application.

Open a browser and type:

http(s)://localhost:3270/rtvadmin (for a local installation using Eclipse Jetty)

http(s)://<IP address>:3270/rtvadmin (for a remote installation using Eclipse Jetty)

Note: If you specified a different port at startup (due to a port conflict), you must use the port you specified in the command line. For example, if you specified 44 as your port prefix in the command line at startup, then you would use:

http(s)://<IP address>:4470/rtvadmin

The Authentication required dialog displays.

Log in using rtvadmin/rtvadmin as the username/password.

The RTView Configuration Application displays.

Click RTView DataServer for IBM.

The RTView Configuration Application displays with the General tab open.

As previously mentioned, if you modified the port at startup, you should modify the port prefix so that you do not need to specify the port on the command line every time you run the startup script. To do so, navigate to Server Configuration > General > General Tab > Ports > Port Prefix and define a new port prefix. If you change the Port Prefix to 44 then, after saving your changes and restarting your data server, you would access the RTView Configuration Application for the RTView DataCollector for IBM using the following URL: http(s)://localhost:4470/rtvadmin (instead of the default http(s)://localhost:3270/rtvadmin URL)

Under Solution Package Configuration, select the desired solution package you want to configure and click the link below to view the steps required to set up the configuration for the solution package:

Data Cache: No configurations necessary.

IBM DB2

IBM WebSphere

IBM WebSphere MQ

Connecting to the RTView DataServer for IBM

Next, you need to connect the RTView DataCollector for IBM to the RTView DataServer for IBM. To connect the two servers:

Navigate to Server Configuration > Data Server > Collector tab.

The Collector tab displays with a default target1 already created. This target is configured to send all solution package data to localhost:3272, which only works if your data collector and data server are on the same machine. If your data server is on a different machine, you will need to edit this target.

To edit the existing target, click the "pencil" icon associated with the target.

The Edit Target window displays.

Define the target server information and click SAVE where:

ID: The name you want to give to the target server.

URL: The complete URL for the target server connection.

Targets: Select one of the options:

All solution packages: (default) Sends all solution package data to the target (receiver) data server.

Select solution packages: Opens the Solution Packages dialog that allows you to select the solution packages for which you want data sent to the target (receiver) data server.

Enabled: Enables/disables the target connection.

Saving Your Changes and Restarting the Data Collector

Once you have created all of your connections, click the SAVE button in the RTView Configuration Application.

For your changes to go into effect, you must stop and restart the data server by either:
- clicking the button (in the upper right-hand corner of the window)...

- or by typing the following in your installation directory in the command window:

stop_collector.bat (Windows)

./stop_collector.sh (UNIX/Linux)

start_collector.bat (Windows)

./start_collector.sh (UNIX/Linux)

Verifying Your Setup

To verify your setup:

First, you should verify that your collector is collecting data in your caches by opening a browser and accessing the following URL:

http(s)://<IP address>:<port>/common

For our example, we changed the port to have a prefix using 44 and we have a local installation, so our URL is:

http://localhost:4470/common

The RTView Cache Viewer application displays, which allows you to view the details for the caches that are collecting data.

Next, after you have started and configured your RTView DataServer for IBM, open a browser and access the following URL: