Glossary

action	Tells Solstice SyMON what to do when a condition is true, if the condition changes, or if the system shuts down. Use actions to notify users of a situation that may require attention. For example, an action might be to create an event, to send a record of the event to the Event Log; to generate an email message about the event; to use a modem to dial a beeper, or to execute a program. You can define new actions as needed.
agent	A daemon that collects data from the server.
alarm	A predefined procedure for event rules that makes an event active; opens a log entry in the Event Log for the event; optionally posts a message to the Event Viewer; and highlights the affected node in the appropriate console.
attributes	Elements of an event rule. Attributes include the rule number, condition, actions, level, priority, and severity.
closed event	When the condition that generated the event no longer exists, the Event Manager closes the event and the event is referred to as a closed event. The event log file records closing events
complex rule	An event rule in which a single rule can generate multiple events and log entries by searching a range of parameters. The MULTI parameter in a rule designates it as a complex rule. Complex rules make the Event Manager evaluate the condition for multiple node variables. For example, complex rules can be used to make the Event Manager check the condition for each board on a system.
condition	A Tcl string that defines when a rule is active. This is the only mandatory part of a rule. A condition does not have a tag. Examples of conditions include a failed board or a DNLC (directory name lookup cache) long name ratio greater than 25 percent.
end_alarm	A predefined procedure for event rules that closes the log entry in the Event Log for the event, deletes the event from the Event Viewer, and removes any console.

event	An action that is used to notify other applications of a condition, typically hardware or operating system conditions that may require the attention of the system administrator.
Event Generator	Collects information from the Config Reader, Kernel Reader, and Log Scanner and evaluates the data against its rules. It also maintains data about itself and the state of the server agents. This enables rules to be written against the status of agents (including itself) as well as data from the server.
Event Log	A log in which the Event Generator records events.
Event Manager	A subsystem of Solstice SyMON that reports events based on a set of rules. The Event Manager collects data from server agents and evaluates them for conditions defined within its rules. When a condition is true, an event occurs and the Event Manager implements any specified action(s) in the rule. When the condition that generated the event no longer exists, the Event Manager may run a special action such as closing the event.
Event Viewer	Displays the Event Log information, which includes ID, LVL, OPEN, CLOSED, DURATION, MESSAGE LOCATION, PRI, SEVERITY, ACKED, ACKED BY, RULE NUMBER.
Kernel Data Catalog	Displays a hierarchical schematic view of the Solaris performance parameters that Solstice SyMON monitors.
Launcher	The main window of Solstice SyMON. Each icon on the console launches one of the seven consoles: Event Viewer, Log Viewer, Physical View, Logical View, Kernel Data Catalog, Process Viewer, and the On-Line Diagnostics screen. It also reports status of the server and the Solstice SyMON agents.
Log Viewer	Displays matching entries in a selected log file.
Logical View	Displays a hierarchical schematic view of the configuration and state.
MULTI	A special event rule attribute used to permit the rule to check a list of node variables for multiple events off a single rule. For example, the MULTI string can be used to make the Event Generator check a condition of a rule for each board in the system.
ON_OPEN	An event rule attribute that is interpreted when a condition for a rule becomes true.
ON_CLOSE	An event rule attribute that is interpreted when a rule is no longer true.
ON_CONTINUE	An event rule attribute that is interpreted when a rule continues to be true two or more times in a row.
ON_SHUTDOWN	An event rule attribute that is interpreted when the system shuts down.
Physical View	Displays graphical images of the server, which are updated dynamically as the server changes configuration or state.
point event	An event that is generated due to log messages.

PRIORITY	A rule attribute. A priority for the rule for the user to interpret that is used in conjunction with SEVERITY.
procedures file	Defines procedures used by rules. The file must exist but can be empty. The file is located in /etc/opt/SUNWsymon/event_gen.servername.tcl. Note that servername is the name of the server.
Process Viewer	Displays information on processes running on the server. Information includes the time the process was started and by whom; total CPU that the process has used; and its current status.
rule	A set of conditions and actions associated with that condition. Rules are always in the RULES Tcl variable, which is located in the file /etc/opt/SUNWsymon/ rules.tcl.
rules functions	A rules function is a predefined procedure such as ON_OPEN or ON_CLOSE; it is used within an event rule, such as alarm and end_alarm.
Rules variable	A list of event rules specified in the file /etc/opt/SUNWsymon/rules.tcl. This variable is case sensitive.
SEVERITY	An event rule attribute that indicates the severity of the rule for the user to interpret. Used in conjunction with PRIORITY.
simple rule	An event rule that has a one-to-one correspondence between the rule and an event. Because a simple rule does not check a wildcard list of variables, it can only generate a single event.
strip string	The strip string is any subpath that is on the full path. Enclosing an item in the strip string deletes that item from the expanded path. If the strip string is null, you must use double quotes. If the strip string is not null, enclosing the strip string in double quotes is not required, but allowable.
System Meter	A GUI window within the Kernel Data Catalog that displays graphs of monitored performance parameters.
Tcl	A scripting language used to define rules.