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UNIX or Linux Process

 

Updated: May 13, 2016

Applies To: System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager, System Center 2012 - Operations Manager, System Center 2012 SP1 - Operations Manager

The UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring template lets you monitor that a particular process installed on an UNIX or Linux computer runs.

Scenarios

The UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring template is useful for monitoring any application as monitoring processes is typically critical to the health of the application.

Monitoring Performed by the UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring Template

The following table shows the monitoring activity that the UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring template performs.

Type

Description

When Enabled

Monitors

Process Count is Outside of Range

Always enabled.

Wizard Options

When you run the UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring template, you have to provide values for options in the following tables. Each table represents a single page in the wizard.

General Options

The following options are available on the General Options page of the wizard.

Option

Description

Name

The name used for the template. This is the name that is displayed in the Operations console.

Description

Optional description of the template.

Management Pack

Management pack to store the class and monitors that the template creates. If you create any additional monitors or rules that are using the process as a targeted process, you must store them in the same management pack.

For more information about management packs, see Selecting a Management Pack File.

Process Monitoring Details

The following options are available on the Process Monitoring Details page of the wizard.

Option

Description

Process name

The name of the process. You can use the Select a Process button to connect to a monitored UNIX/Linux computer and list current running processes in order to select a process by name. If you wish to target the monitor to only a single computer, you must use the Select a Process button to select a computer and process.

Computer Group

The name of the group of UNIX or Linux computers for the process to monitor. Click the Select a group button to select a group that is installed in your management group. If you have used the Select a Process button to select a running process from a computer, the monitor will be targeted to that computer. After using the Select a Process button to select a process, you can use the Select a Group button to target a group with the monitor for the selected process.

Alert Severity

The severity for the alert: Error, Warning, or Information.

Regular Expression to filter process arguments

An optional Regular expression to use in filtering processes by arguments. If this option is used, processes that match the provided process name will be additionally filtered by their arguments. Only processes with arguments that match the Regular expression will be evaluated by the monitor. This is useful to identify a process for a specific application when other applications on the system may use a process with the same name. The Regular expression is evaluated against a concatenated list of process arguments.

Expression Matching Results

If you use the Select a Process button to connect to a monitored computer and select a process by name, the list of all processes with the selected process name for that computer are shown in this field. When you provide a Regular expression to filter process arguments the processes listed in this field are filtered so that you can preview the filtering by argument.

Process Template Settings

The following options are available on the Process Template Settings page of the wizard.

Option

Description

Minimum number of instances

The minimum number of running instances of the monitored process. To alert if no instances of the process are running, check the box Generate an alert when the number of process instances is less than the specified value, and input a value of 1. The number of process instances is calculated after filtering by process name and the optional Regular expression to filter process arguments. If the number of running instances is less than the provided value, an alert will be generated.

Maximum number of instances

The maximum number of running instances of the monitored process. To alert if more than a specific number of instances of the process are running, check the box Generate an alert when the number of process instances is greater than the specified value, and input the maximum threshold value. The number of process instances is calculated after filtering by process name and the optional Regular expression to filter process arguments. If the number of running instances is greater than the provided value, an alert will be generated.

Additional Monitoring

In addition to performing the specified monitoring, the UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring template creates a target class that you can use for additional monitors and rules. Any monitor or rule that uses this class as a target runs on any agent where the process is installed.

Creating and Modifying UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring Templates

To create a UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring template

  1. If you want to monitor a process on a group of computers, determine the targeted group for the monitor by using the following logic:

    - If you want to discover the process on all UNIX and Linux computers in the management group, you do not have to create a group. You can use the existing group **UNIX/Linux Computer Group**.

- If you only want the process to be discovered on a certain group of computers, then either ensure that an appropriate group exists or create a one by using the procedure in [How to Create Groups in Operations Manager](hh298605\(v=sc.12\).md).

  2. Start the Add Monitoring wizard.

  3. On the Select Monitoring Type page, select UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring, and then click Next.

  4. On the General Properties page, in the Name and Description boxes, type a name and optional description for this new template.

  5. Select a management pack in which to save the monitor or click New to create a new management pack. For more information, see Selecting a Management Pack File.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Click the Select a Process button.

  8. Click the Browse button and select a computer that has the process installed, and then click OK.

  9. In the Processes box, select the process to monitor.

  10. Select an Alert Severity.

  11. Optionally, provide a Regular expression to filter the matched process list by process arguments, in the field Regular expression to filter process arguments.

  12. If you want to monitor the process on a group of computers, do the following:

    1. Click the Select a Group button.

    2. Select a group that contains the computers with the process, and then click OK.

  13. Click Next.

  14. Check the appropriate boxes for Generate an alert when the number of process instances is less than the specified value and Generate an alert when the number of process instances is greater than the specified value.

  15. Provide values for Minimum number of instances and Maximum number of instances, if appropriate.

  16. Click Next.

  17. Click Create.

To modify an existing UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring template

  1. Open the Operations console with a user account that has Author credentials.

  2. Open the Authoring workspace.

  3. In the Authoring navigation pane, expand Management Pack Templates, and then select UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring.

  4. In the UNIX/Linux Process Monitoring pane, locate the template to change.

  5. Right-click the template, and then select Properties.

  6. Enter the changes that you want, and then click OK.

Viewing UNIX/Linux Process Monitors and Collected Data

To view the state of each monitor

  1. Select the UNIX/Linux Computers view.

  2. In the UNIX/Linux Computers pane, right-click an object, select Open, and then click Health Explorer.

  3. Expand the Availability node, and then click the Application/Service Availability Rollup node to view the individual process monitor.