Integrating NerveCenter with a Network Management Platform - Integrating NerveCenter with HP OpenView IT/Operations - Using IT/Operations as a node source - Identifying Parent-Child Relationships -
Using IT/Operations as a node source      Specifying the Destination of NerveCenter Inform Packets sent to HP OpenView IT/Operations

Identifying Parent-Child Relationships

In order to use NerveCenter's Downstream Alarm Suppression behavior model, it is necessary to establish the parent-child relationship between nodes. You can let OVPA extract relationship information from HP OpenView IT/Operations and either store it in the NerveCenter database or in a text file. You can also create the text file manually.

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   By default, OVPA does not get information about a node's parents from IT/Operations. You must configure OVPA to collect that information by doing the following steps.

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  To identify parent-child relationships using OVPA:

1. Make sure HP OpenView IT/Operations is running. Also make sure the NerveCenter Server is running.
2. Make sure that IT/Operations is set up as your node source in the NerveCenter Administrator. See for more details.
3. If OVPA is running, stop it by typing ovstop ovpa at the command line.
4. Start OVPA in parenting mode from the command line by typing one of the following commands:
   • ovpa -pc

     OVPA runs and computes parenting information, resychronizing the information periodically. The how often OVPA resychronizes information is configurable through the Node Source tab in the NerveCenter Administrator. The default resync parent rate is 600 seconds.

   • ovpa -pc -writeParentsToFile hostname

     hostname is the name of the machine on which the NerveCenter Server runs. OVPA computes the parenting information, writes it to a file named hostname_PC.dat, and then stops.

 
  To change the resync parent rate:

1. Open NerveCenter Administrator and connect to the appropriate NerveCenter Server.

   For further instructions, see Managing NerveCenter.

2. Select the Node Source tab.

   NerveCenter displays the Node Source tab.

   

3. In the Resync Parent Rate field, type the number of seconds you want between each resync attempt.

   If left blank, the default resync parent rate is 600.

4. Select Save.

 
  To identify parent-child relationships manually:

1. Open a new text file.
2. Include a line for each node that has parents. Use the following syntax:
       child parent

   where child is the name of the node and parent is the name of each node on which the child is dependent. If you have more than one parent, separate parents by typing a space between each one.

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      If NerveCenter uses a full domain name for the node, use the full name in this file to refer to that node.

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   For example, if nodeA is dependent on nodeB.domain.com and nodeC, and nodeB.domain.com is dependent on nodeD, then the contents of the text file would look like this:

   
      nodeA nodeB.domain.com nodeC
   nodeB.domain.com nodeD
3. Save and close the file.

For more information see the White Paper Open NerveCenter: Downstream Alarm Suppression.