Integrating with Micro Focus NNMi to collect events and topology

Micro Focus NNMi provides the ability to monitor the physical and virtual networks. By using NNMi, view the network fault, availability, and performance in your network infrastructure.

Configure an integration with Micro Focus NNMi, to view the event and topology data and derive actionable insights.

Related topics

Editing-and-deleting-integrations

Monitoring BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations

 

You can view the collected data in various BMC Helix applications and derive the following benefits:

BMC Helix application

Type of data collected or viewed

Benefits

BMC Helix Operations Management

Events 

Use a centralized event view to monitor and manage events, perform event operations, and filter events. Identify actionable events from a large volume of event data by processing events.

For more information, see Monitoring events and reducing event noise.

BMC Helix Discovery

Topology

Collect all CIs from Micro Focus NNMiin BMC Helix Discovery. 

Collect services from Micro Focus NNMiin BMC Helix Discovery in a format that can be consumed by BMC Helix AIOps.   

For more information, see Managing your IT infrastructure.

BMC Helix AIOps

Situations (created from events)

Improve the mean time to resolve (MTTR) based on the situation-driven workflow.

Lower the mean time to detect or discover (MTTD) and the time required for investigating tickets.

For more information, see Monitoring situations.

BMC Helix AIOps

Services (created from topology)

Monitor the overall health of a service.  When the service gets impacted by any factor, view the events generated because of the impact, analyze the causes of the impact, and quickly remediate those events to restore the health of the impacted service.

For more information, see Monitoring services.

As a tenant administrator, perform the following steps to configure a connection with Micro Focus NNMi, verify the connection, and view the collected data in various BMC Helix applications.

ConnectorSteps.png

Supported versions

BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations supports version 2022 of Micro Focus NNMi for data collection.

Task 1: To plan for the connection

Review the following prerequisites to help you plan and configure a connection with  Micro Focus NNMi.

Micro Focus NNMi prerequisites

The Micro Focus NNMi REST API user account that you plan to use for connecting to Micro Focus NNMi must be mapped
to the NNMi Web Service Clients user group.

BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations prerequisites

  • Depending on the location of the third-party product (SaaS, on-premises), choose one or more BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations deployment modes and review the corresponding port requirements. For information about various deployment modes and port requirements, see Deployment scenarios.
  • Based on the deployment mode, use the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations SaaS deployment or the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway or both. For more information about the gateway, see Deploying the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway.
  • The on-premises gateway must be able to reach the third-party product on the required port (default is 80).

In the preceding list, third-party product refers to  Micro Focus NNMi.

Task 2: To configure the connection with Micro Focus NNMi

  1. Depending on the deployment mode, perform one of the following steps to access BMC Helix Intelligent
    Integrations:
    • BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations SaaS – Log on to BMC Helix Portal, and click Launch on BMC Helix
      Intelligent Integrations.
    • BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway – Use the following URL to access BMC Helix
      Intelligent Integrations: https://<hostName>:<portNumber>/swpui
  2. On the CONNECTORS tab, click add_icon.pngin the SOURCES panel .
  3. Click the Micro Focus NNMi Events tile.
  4. Specify the following details for the source connection:

    1. Specify a unique instance name.

      Best practice
      We recommend that you specify the instance name in the following format:

      <sourceType>_<sourceControllerServerName>_<InstanceQualifier>

      The instance qualifier helps you to distinguish the multiple instances configured from the same source server. For example, you can name your instances as NNMi_Host_PROD, NNMi_Host_TEST, and so on.

    2. Specify the Micro Focus NNMi host name.
    3. Specify the Micro Focus NNMi HTTP or HTTPS port number depending on the connection protocol ( default value is 80).
    4. Select the HTTPS option to use an https connection to the Micro Focus NNMih ost.
    5. Specify the number of maximum concurrent REST API requests that should be executed during a collection schedule (d efault value is 5).
    6. Specify the user name and password. Ensure that the specified user can access the Micro Focus NNMi REST API.
    7. Click Proxy and specify whether you want to configure a proxy server.
      If yes, specify the host name and port number (default value is 8888).
  5. Click VALIDATE AND CREATE.
    The specified connection details are validated and the corresponding source connection is created in the Source Connection list.

  6. Select the source connection that you created from the list if it is not selected already.

  7. Ensure that the options for the datatypes for which you want to collect data are selected.

  8. Click a data type and specify the configuration parameters in the Collectors section as described in the following table:​​​​​​

    Parameter Name

    Description

    Data Type

    NNMi
    Events    		NNMi
    Topology

    Collection Schedule

    Select one of the following options to specify the data collection frequency:

    • Duration: When you select this option, data collection happens constantly. Specify the schedule in minutes, hours, or days.
      Default: 5 minutes
      Example: Collection Schedule is set to 5 mins. Current time is 00:30.
      If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is collected every 5 mins, first at 00:30 and next at 00:35, and so on.
    • Cron schedule: When you select this option, data collection happens periodically. Specify the schedule by using a cron expression.
      A cron expression is a string consisting of five subexpressions (fields) that describe individual details of the schedule. These fields, separated by blank spaces, can contain any of the allowed values with various combinations of the allowed characters for that field.
      Default: */5 * * * * (evaluates to 5 minutes)
      Format: Minutes Hours (24-hour format)
      Day of Month Month Day of Week
      Example: If you specify 10 15 3 7 * , data is collected at 15:10 hours every third day in the month of July.

    For more information about how this parameter
    affects data collection, see Data collection
    schedule    .

    ✅️

    		✅️
    Data Collection WindowSpecify the historical time period (in minutes)
    from the current time for which the data should
    be collected.
    Default: 5 minutes
    Example: Collection Schedule is set to 5 mins.
    Data Collection Window is set to 5 mins.
    Current time is 00:30.
    If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is
    collected first at 00:30 for the interval 00:25 -
    00:30, and next at 00:35 for the interval 00:30 -
    00:35, and so on.

    For more information about how this parameter
    affects data collection, see Data collection
    window    .

    ✅️

    		❌
    Data LatencySpecify the time (in minutes) by which the data
    time window should be shifted back on the
    timeline.
    This parameter is useful in delayed data
    availability situations.

    Default: 0 minutes

    Example: Collection Schedule is set to 5 mins.
    Data Collection Window is set to 10 mins.
    Data Latency is set to 2 mins.
    Current time is 00:30.
    If you run the collector just after 00:30, data is
    collected first at 00:30 for the interval 00:18 to
    00:28 and next at 00:35 for the interval 0:23 to
    00:33, and so on.

    For more information about how this parameter
    affects data collection, see Data latency.

    ✅️

    		❌
    NatureSelect all or a subset of natures from the list.

    This list of nature is updated automatically from
    Micro Focus NNMi.

    ✅️

    		❌
    SourceSelect all or a subset of sources from the list.

    This list of source is updated automatically from
    Micro Focus NNMi.

    ✅️

    		❌

    Severity

    Select all or a subset of severities from the list.
    This list of severities is updated automatically
    from      Micro Focus NNMi.

    ✅️

    		❌
    Max Items ReturnedSpecify the value for the maximum number of
    items returned per data type.

    BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations Micro Focus
    NNMi connector collects the metrics data for
    four different data types, for example, Devices,
    Interfaces, IPAddresses, and L2Connections.

    Default value: 1000.    		✅️✅️
    Excluded Security GroupsSelect all or a subset of groups for which you
    don't want to collect events.

    This list of security groups is updated
    automatically from Micro Focus NNMi.    		✅️❌
    Source Node Name AllowlistSpecify the source node name allowlist.
    This list of node groups is updated
    automatically from Micro Focus NNMi.    		✅️❌
    Node GroupsSpecify the node groups to collect topology
    data for the nodes, interfaces, and IP addresses
    kind of resources that belong to the specified
    groups.

    Each node group is a collection of multiple
    nodes and their associated interfaces and IP
    addresses. This list of node groups is updated
    automatically from  Micro Focus NNMi.    		✅️❌
    Filter by statusSelect this option to collect the topology data
    for the nodes, interfaces, L2Connections that
    belong to any status, except NOSTATUS.    		✅️❌
    L2Connection name match
    pattern    		Specify the pattern to collect the topology data
    for L2Connections whose names match the
    pattern.

    L2Connection names are formed based on the
    nodes and interfaces that are situated at both
    ends of the connection, in the format
    <nodeName>[interfaceName],<nodeName>[in
    terfaceName    ]    .

    For example, NYC-Aironet-C1600-
    AP-2[Gi0],NYC-Cisco-NEXUS9000-
    Switch[Ethernet1/3]     is the L2Connection name,
    where, NYC-Aironet-C1600-AP-2 and Gi0 are
    the node and interface at one end of a
    L2Connection and NYC-Cisco-NEXUS9000-
    Switch and Ethernet1/3 are the node and
    interface at the other end of that connection.

    So, to collect the topology data for all
    L2Connections with names having with text
    NEXUS9000, specify the pattern as
    %NEXUS9000%.    		✅️❌
    Max Batch SizeSpecify the maximum size of each batch to split
    up the queries for collecting topology data.

    It is applicable for devices, interfaces, IP
    addresses, and L2Connections. For example, to
    collect topology data from 5000 devices, if you
    specify the maximum batch size as 100, then
    the query splits up into 50 batches, where each
    batch collects topology data from a set of 100
    devices.    		✅️❌
  9. Click CREATE COLLECTORS to create the required collector streams for the selected data type.
  10. Click a data type and specify the configuration parameters in the Distributors section as described in the following table:

    Parameter name

    Description

    Max Batching Size

    Specify the maximum number of data items to send in a single POST request to the destination API.
    The batch size     depends on the destination’s ability to buffer the incoming data.
    Default: 250

    Max Batching Delay

    Specify the maximum time (in seconds) to wait before building and processing a batch.
    Default: 3 seconds 

    Base Retry Delay

    Specify the initial time (in seconds) for which to wait before retrying to build and process a batch.
    The waiting time increases in the following sequence: n1, n2, n3, and so on, where n indicates the number of seconds.
    Default: 2 seconds
    Example: Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retry is performed after 2, 4, 8, 16, ... seconds.

    Max Intra-Retry Delay

    Specify the maximum limit for the base retry delay. 
    Default: 60 seconds
    Example:     Max Intra-Retry Delay is set to 60 seconds.
    Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.Retries are performed 2, 4, 8, 16, 32,... seconds later.

    Max Retry Duration

    Specify the total time for retrying a delivery. For REST destinations, a delivery is a batch of data items in one POST request. 
    Default: 5 minutes
    Example: Max Retry Duration is set to 8 hours. Base Retry Delay is set to 2 seconds.
    Requests are sent for 2+4+8+16+32+64+132... until 8 hours in total duration is reached. After that, no subsequent attempts are made to retry the delivery. The assumption here is that if there is an outage or other issue with the destination tool, recovery should take less than the value of the Max Retry Duration parameter to be completed.

    Attributes To Be Dropped When Updating Events

    Specify the event attributes that you do not want to be updated in BMC Helix Operations Management when events are updated.

    For example, if you do not want an event's severity, source address, source category, and subcategory to be updated in BMC Helix Operations Management, you need to specify those attributes in a comma-separated format: severity,source_address,source_category, source_subcategory.
    Important: You can obtain the event attribute names in BMC Helix Operations Management, by exporting any event data in JSON, BAROC, XML, or CSV format. The exported file contains all attributes of the event data, and from there you can identify the attributes to be dropped. 

  11. Click CREATE DISTRIBUTORS to create the required distributor streams for the selected data type.

  12. Click one of the following buttons:

    • SAVE STREAM: Click this button if you want to edit the integration details before creating the instance. After you save the stream, the connector that you just created is listed in the SOURCES panel. Move the slider to the right to start the data stream.
    • SAVE AND START STREAM: Click this button if you want to save the integration details and start receiving data immediately.

      Important
      For a data stream, the Run Latency (max/avg), Items (Avg per Run), and Last Run Status columns on the Streams page might show the status as No Runs during the data collection process. After completion of the process, these columns are updated with an appropriate status.

      For more information about data streams, see Starting-or-stopping-data-streams. 

Task 3: To verify the integration

In BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations , on the SOURCES panel, confirm that the data streams for the integration you created are running. Data streaming is indicated by moving colored arrows.
NNMi_Events_Topology_Streams.png

  • A moving red arrow (EventsStream_Icon.png) indicates that the event  stream is running. Event data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.
  • A moving light blue arrow (TopologyStream_Icon.png)  indicates that the topology stream is running. Topology data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.

To view data in BMC Helix applications

View data collected from MicroFocus NNMi in multiple BMC Helix applications.

To view events in BMC Helix Operations Management

  1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, select Monitoring > Events.
  2. Filter the events by the MFNnmiEvent class.
    Incoming events from Micro Focus NNMi are processed in BMC Helix Operations Management through a set of deduplication rules to determine whether the incoming event is a duplicate event or a new event. For more information, see Event-deduplication-suppression-and-closure-for-reducing-event-noise.

For more information about events, see Monitoring and managing events

To view the topology data in BMC Helix Discovery

In BMC Helix Discovery, select Explore > Data, and click <count> Import Records in the Miscellaneous section. The Import Record List page shows the CI records received from Micro Focus NNMi. For information about records, see Managing your IT infrastructure.

To view services and situations in BMC Helix AIOps

Before you view services and situations in , create a Business Service model in BMC Helix Discovery. For information about creating models, see Managing models.

In , on the Overview page to view the services and situations for the event and topology data received from Micro Focus NNMi. For information about situations, see Monitoring and investigating situations.

 

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