Alarmpoint For BMC Impact Manager: Confidential & Proprietary

AlarmPoint for
BMC Impact Manager
Copyright xMatters, inc. 1994-2010

Confidential & Proprietary
Validation Date
December 3, 2010
Version 2.1.1
Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Benefits of the AlarmPoint BMC Impact Manager Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
KEY FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
INTEGRATION COMPONENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
User Synchronization Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
AlarmPoint Notification command files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
AlarmPoint Action Script Set for BMC IM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
AlarmPoint Voice Recordings for BMC IM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
AlarmPoint Java Client Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Preliminary Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Component Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Operating System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
CONVENTIONS & TERMINOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ALARMPOINT SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Installing the AlarmPoint Java Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Installing AlarmPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Installing the AlarmPoint Developer IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
BMC IMPACT MANAGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
INTEGRATION FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
BAROC and Rule Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3. Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CONFIGURING ALARMPOINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Importing the AlarmPoint script package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Modify the default callout scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Installing Voice Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Defining an Event Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Setting up a two-way Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Installing the Subscription File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Configuring the Subscription Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CONFIGURING ALARMPOINT JAVA CLIENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Deploy AlarmPoint Java Client Integration Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Configure the APAgent.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Set the BMC IM Environment Variables for the APAgent in Unix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
CONFIGURING BMC IMPACT MANAGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Deploying AlarmPoint Integration files in BMC IM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Configuring Notifications in BMC Impact Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4. Software Component Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
INTEGRATION FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Automatic Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Manual Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Stop Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Contents
Standard Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Responses for FYI Notifications on Voice-capable Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
AlarmPoint Data & the User Synchonization Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
TYPES OF NOTIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Email notification (includes HTML email and BES) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Pager Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Text Phone Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Phone Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5. Testing the Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
CREATE A NOTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
RESPONDING TO A NOTIFICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
VERIFYING THE RESPONSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
TESTING THE SUBSCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6. Optimizing and Extending the Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ADDING DATA ELEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
ADDING ANNOTATION MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
CHANGING RESPONSE CHOICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
FILTERING AND SUPPRESSION OF EVENT DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
ALTERING THE DURATION OF EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
FYI NOTIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Generating FYI notifications for Subscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
CONSTRUCTING BES AND HTML EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
KNOWN ISSUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
UNINSTALLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
7. Configuration Variable Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
LOCAL CONFIGURATION VARIABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
FYI and Subscription Notification Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Fail-safe Configuration Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Alert Configuration Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
GLOBAL CONFIGURATION VARIABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8. Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
IF THERE ARE ERRORS DURING INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
IF AN EVENT IS NOT PROPAGATED TO ALARMPOINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
IF A WEB SERVICE AXIS FAULT OCCURS DURING USER SYNCHRONIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
9. Contact Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
10. Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
| ii
AlarmPoint for BMC Impact Manager
1. Introduction
This document defines software requirements, installation, configuration, running select applications, and integration
demonstrations for using BMC® Impact Manager with the AlarmPoint® software suite. These integration notes are intended
for administrators and other technical readers.
1.1 Summary
With persistent buffering, you can send events from BMC IM to AlarmPoint and receive notification status from AlarmPoint
to BMC IM without losing any information in the transfer process. The time taken to process messages in the buffer, depends
on the number of messages to be processed.
BMC IM processes the events it receives, and sends them to the AlarmPoint Java Client. The AlarmPoint Java Client
forwards the events to AlarmPoint, which notifies the user on the specified notification device. When the user responds to
the notification using a two-way device, AlarmPoint Java Client processes the response and sends it to BMC IM, which
updates the status of the event based on the user response.
1.1.1 Benefits of the AlarmPoint BMC Impact Manager Integration

Event Management and Service Impact Management has typically been handled by Operation staff monitoring the Impact
Explorer console or receiving basic email notifications. With the AlarmPoint integration, the appropriate technician can be
notified directly via voice, email, pager, or other device. Information about the failure will be presented to the event resolver
and decisions can be made in real-time such as acknowledging, assigning, closing the event, running remote diagnostics and
retrieving event details. If an email device is being used, the user can also add additional notes to the event by typing free-
form text in the email response. Once an action is selected on their remote device, AlarmPoint will interact with Impact
Manager to execute that action for them in real-time.
The benefit is that this process is immediate – significantly faster than the time required for Operations staff to notice the
failures or malfunctions, determine who is on call, and manually notify the right person. In addition, the ability to take
simple actions on the event from any device gives the event resolver a quick way to deal with many issues and communicate
to other team members the current status of the event. During the process, every notification, response, and action is logged
in AlarmPoint. In addition, by using the integration to BMC IM, AlarmPoint can automatically update an incident ticket
throughout the process. The AlarmPoint product features a self-service web user interface to allow accurate assignment of
responsible personnel for each job.
1.1.2 Architecture
The following diagram provides a high-level overview of the major components for this integration:
Summary | 1
Figure 1-1. AlarmPoint for BMC IM Architecture
1.1.3 Overview
AlarmPoint Adapter for BMC Impact Manager (AlarmPoint for BMC IM) integrates BMC Impact Manager (BMC IM) and
AlarmPoint and enables bi-directional flow of information between them.
You can use AlarmPoint for BMC IM to synchronize events and notification status between BMC IM and AlarmPoint. BMC
IM provides the core functionality for event management and service impact management. AlarmPoint routes notifications
to the appropriate users on any device.
AlarmPoint for BMC IM provides the ability to notify AlarmPoint users on any device if an event in BMC IM meets the
notification criteria. AlarmPoint for BMC IM also enables AlarmPoint users to interact remotely with BMC IM through two-
way devices to update an event status or fix problems.
On a single machine, AlarmPoint for BMC IM assumes that there is only one cell to be integrated with AlarmPoint. Even if
there is more than one cell running on a machine, only one cell is used for integration with AlarmPoint. If more than one cell
has to be integrated with AlarmPoint, then the other cells must propagate events through the integrated cell.
Example:
Assume that a machine has the following cells:
• cell_a
• cell_b Propogation Rule
• cell_c
Integration is installed only for cell_a. If you need to notify AlarmPoint about the events in cell_b and cell_c, then the events
from cell_b and cell_c should be propagated through cell_a.
Note: Events can be sent to AlarmPoint only from the cell where AlarmPoint for BMC IM is installed.
1.2 Key Features

The following list identifies the key features of AlarmPoint for BMC IM:
• Sending automatic notifications to AlarmPoint Users or Groups based on the notification criteria.
Key Features | 2
• Defining notification criteria independent of the notification method, which includes wired phones, mobile phones,
SMS devices, email, pagers, and BlackBerry® devices.
• Providing standard actions such as Acknowledge, Assign, Close, Ignore and Annotate on two-way devices. The two-
way devices comprise phone, two-way pager, and email.
• Notifying AlarmPoint to stop the notification process when certain user-defined events occur in BMC IM.
• Buffering event messages sent to AlarmPoint Java Client and BMC IM to prevent data loss in case of a temporary loss
of connectivity.
• Custom actions in Impact Explorer for manual notifications or stopping existing notifications.
• Custom Collectors for displaying events that generated AlarmPoint notifications.
1.3 Integration Components

Each of the executable and tar files for AlarmPoint for BMC IM contains the following components:
• BAROC and Rule files (kb files)
• AlarmPoint Notification command files
• AlarmPoint Action Script set for BMC IM
• AlarmPoint Voice Recordings for BMC IM
• AlarmPoint Java Client components (executable and configuration files) and XML integration files
• User Synchronization Module
1.3.1 User Synchronization Module

The User Synchronization module synchronizes and updates the number of Users or Groups in BMC IM and AlarmPoint.
For example, if a User or Group is added to or deleted from BMC IM, the module adds or deletes the corresponding User or
Group in AlarmPoint.
Note that this functionality is one-way: if a User or Group is added to or deleted from AlarmPoint, the module does not add
or delete a corresponding User or Group in BMC IM.
This module uses the UserSync.sh file for cells running the UNIX operating system and the UserSync.bat file for those
cells running the Windows operating system. It also uses a set of log files for the synchronization of BMC IM and
AlarmPoint.
1.3.2 AlarmPoint Notification command files

AlarmPoint for BMC IM includes three command files which contain the command line interface that calls
bmc_apclient.bin and APClient.bin. These calls supply the parameters required to inject events into the AlarmPoint
Java Client Agent and AlarmPoint, or to stop notifications.
1.3.2.1 Windows command line interface files

For Windows systems, the following files should be copied into the \kb\bin\w4 directory of the integrated cell:
• AlarmPoint.bat
• AlarmPoint_FYI.bat
• StopNotification.bat
The syntax for AlarmPoint.bat is:
C:\APAgent\bmc_apclient.bin --submit-mapping-file C:\APAgent\BMCxAP.txt %1
Integration Components | 3
AlarmPoint_FYI.bat has a similar syntax but takes another file as an argument (C:\APAgent\BMCxAP_FYI.txt),
which is used to generate one-way notifications. Use the notification service set up with this command if you want to
implement a “one-way” only integration with AlarmPoint:
C:\APAgent\bmc_apclient.bin --submit-mapping-file C:\APAgent\BMCxAP_FYI.txt %1
StopNotification.bat contains the command required to delete previously created events and stop all associated
notifications. The syntax for StopNotification.bat is:
C:\APAgent\APClient.bin --map-data del %event_handle%
1.3.2.2 Unix/Linux command line interface files

On Unix/Linux systems, the following files should be copied into the /kb/bin/A directory of the integrated cell:
• AlarmPoint
• AlarmPoint_FYI
• StopNotification
The syntax for the AlarmPoint file is:
/opt/alarmpointsystems/APAgent/bmc_apclient.bin --submit-mapping-file /opt/
alarmpointsystems/APAgent/BMCxAP.txt $1
AlarmPoint_FYI has a similar syntax but takes another file as an argument (opt/alarmpointsystems/APAgent/
BMCxAP_FYI.txt), which is used to generate one-way notifications. Use the notification service set up with this command
if you want to implement a “one-way” only integration with AlarmPoint:
/opt/alarmpointsystems/APAgent/bmc_apclient.bin --submit-mapping-file opt/
alarmpointsystems/APAgent/BMCxAP_FYI.txt $1
StopNotification contains the command required to delete previously created events and stop all associated
notifications. The syntax for StopNotification is:
/opt/alarmpointsystems/APAgent/APClient.bin --map-data del ${event_handle}
1.3.2.3 Text files

The text files used as arguments (BMCxAP.txt and BMCxAP_FYI.txt) contain the parameter list used for creating tokens
for the AlarmPoint events. For example, BMCxAP.txt has the following content:
apagent_method="Add"
apagent_subclass="Event"
agent_client_id="bmcimxap"
domain="bmcimxap"
person_or_group_id=#3#
severity=%severity%
incident_id=%event_handle%
sim_cell=%CELL_NAME%
host_address=%mc_host_address%
client_address=%mc_client_address%
mc_host=%mc_host%
mc_object=%mc_object%
mc_object_class=%mc_object_class%
mc_parameter=%mc_parameter%
mc_tool=%mc_tool%
mc_tool_class=%mc_tool_class%
Integration Components | 4
causes=%mc_smc_causes%
effects=%mc_smc_effects%
message=%msg%
priority=%mc_priority%
status=%status%
event_class=%class%
There are three types of parameters:

• strings: value contained within double quotes: “value”
• environment variables: variable name contained within % characters: %variable_name%
• command line parameters: parameter position contained within # characters: #n# (for the nth parameter). Note that
the first parameter after the .txt file is parameter #3
The parameters within % characters represent event slots in Impact Manager. The list can be extended, in which case the
AlarmPoint scripts for the BMC Impact Manager integration need to be modified as well. For custom modifications of the
scripts, refer to the AlarmPoint Developer’s Guide & Scripting Reference or contact AlarmPoint Professional Services.
1.3.3 AlarmPoint Action Script Set for BMC IM

AlarmPoint for BMC IM comprises the BMC-Impact-Manager-2.0.aps file, which is the Action Script package that has
to be imported into AlarmPoint. This file includes a set of scripts for managing the notification process and creating
notifications to devices such as e-mail, instant messaging, pager, and phone. When users respond to the notification, the
scripts perform a corresponding action such as Acknowledge, Assign, Ignore, Note or Close.
Importing the script set into AlarmPoint requires the AlarmPoint Developer IDE. For more information about working with
scripts in AlarmPoint, refer to the AlarmPoint Developer’s Guide & Scripting Reference.
1.3.4 AlarmPoint Voice Recordings for BMC IM

If you are planning to use the integration for notifying voice phones, you must copy the content of the \vox directory to the
appropriate location on the AlarmPoint Node. This directory contains the voice prompts used by the AlarmPoint Integration
for BMC IM.
1.3.5 AlarmPoint Java Client Integration

AlarmPoint Java Client Integration contains an executable, bmc_apclient.bin.exe, and two configuration files,
BMCxAP.txt and BMCxAP_FYI.txt.
AlarmPoint for BMC IM also includes the BMC-Impact-Manager.xml file, which is the integration configuration for the
AlarmPoint Java Client.
When an AlarmPoint User responds to a notification, the response action script contained in BMC-Impact-Manager.xml
executes the response and updates the corresponding event in BMC IM.
1.4 System Requirements

This section provides information about the requirements and computing environment conditions that you should consider as
you plan to install AlarmPoint for BMC IM. In addition to the detailed information, this section includes a set of questions
that you can use to help plan the installation at your site.
1.4.1 Preliminary Requirements

BMC IM, AlarmPoint Java Client, BMC Impact Web Services Server, and AlarmPoint for BMC IM must be installed on the
same machine. The AlarmPoint Primary or AlarmPoint Failover can be on a different machine.
System Requirements | 5
In Windows, AlarmPoint Java Client must be installed as a service and not as an executable.
1.4.2 Component Requirements

The following components must be installed prior to installing the integration:
• BMC Impact Manager version 4.x, 5.x, or 7.x
• BMC Impact Web Services Server 2.2 or later
• AlarmPoint Java Client version 4.0 or later
• AlarmPoint version 4.0 or later, with a valid Extended Web Services license
• Perl version 5.8.0 or later
1.4.3 Operating System Requirements

The following platforms are supported:
• Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition
• Windows 2000 Server Service Pack 3
• HP-UX 11.11 (PA_RISC)
• Solaris 10
• AIX 5.3
• Linux
1.4.4 Planning
Use the questions in this section to record information that you will need to provide during the installation and configuration
process.
• What is the name of the BMC IM Cell that will be used for AlarmPoint for BMC IM?
• What is the path of the AlarmPoint Java Client installation?
• What is the IP address or host name of the primary AlarmPoint server?
• What is the IP address or host name of the failover AlarmPoint server?
• Which AlarmPoint recipients (Users or Groups) should AlarmPoint for BMC IM notify?
1.5 Conventions & Terminology

This section describes how styles are used in the document, and provides a list of definitions.
1.5.1 Conventions
Some instructions appear in the following format: MENU > OPTION; for example, File > Open means click the File menu,
and then click the Open menu option.
Words in bold typically reference text that appears on the screen.
Words in monospace font represent the following:
• text that must be typed into the computer.
• directory and file names.
Conventions & Terminology | 6

Note: Except where explicitly stated, the directory paths in this document are listed in Unix format. Windows users must
substitute the given paths with the Windows equivalents. For example, on Unix systems, the AlarmPoint Java Client
is typically installed in /opt/alarmpointsystems/APAgent. On Windows systems, it is typically installed in the
default directory, C:\APAgent.
1.5.2 Terminology
With respect to the AlarmPoint System, the following definitions apply:
Term Meaning
AlarmPoint Admin Administrative tool to control AlarmPoint Agent.
AlarmPoint Agent Communication layer between third-party applications (e.g., BMC Patrol Enterprise
Manager) and AlarmPoint.
AlarmPoint Client The Management System uses this to communicate with the AlarmPoint Agent.
AlarmPoint Application The core AlarmPoint application, consisting of various components that process events
Server Node and perform notifications.
AlarmPoint Java Client Umbrella term for the AlarmPoint Admin, AlarmPoint Agent, AlarmPoint Bridge, and
the AlarmPoint Client (both Java and native versions)
AlarmPoint Notification Delivers notifications to a person in a variety of ways (pager, phone, e-mail, etc.).
Server Node
AlarmPoint System Umbrella term for all AlarmPoint software components.
AlarmPoint Web User Browser-accessible interface for controlling AlarmPoint components and information.
Interface
Management System A generic term for BMC IM.
Alert Item of interest that typically generates a notification for a User or Group.
Device Medium through which a User is contacted (e-mail, phone, pager, etc.).
Conventions & Terminology | 7

2. Installation
This chapter provides information about the installation and uninstallation of AlarmPoint for BMC IM on cells running the
Windows or UNIX operating systems.
2.1 AlarmPoint System

This integration requires the following AlarmPoint applications to be installed:
• AlarmPoint Java Client
• AlarmPoint
• AlarmPoint Developer IDE
2.1.1 Installing the AlarmPoint Java Client

The AlarmPoint Java Client is the communications bridge between the BMC IM applications and the rest of the AlarmPoint
System. It allows BMC IM to inform the AlarmPoint System when a problem occurs. It must be installed on the BMC IM
machine and on each BMC IM computer.
For installation instructions, refer to the AlarmPoint Java Client Guide.
2.1.2 Installing AlarmPoint

For installation instructions, refer to the AlarmPoint Installation and Administration Guide.
2.1.3 Installing the AlarmPoint Developer IDE

For installation instructions, refer to the AlarmPoint Developer's Guide & Scripting Reference.
2.2 BMC Impact Manager

Consult the appropriate BMC Impact Manager guides for instructions on how to install and configure.
2.3 Integration Files

Before you begin the installation, ensure that the cell on which you want to install AlarmPoint for BMC IM and the
AlarmPoint Java Client is started. For information about operating system requirements and software that needs to be
installed before installing AlarmPoint for BMC IM, see “System Requirements” on page 5.
To install the integration files:

Extract the AP-BMC-IM archive to access the integration files. The significant files and directories of the archive are as
follows:
.
|-- components
| |-- alarmpoint
| | |-- scripts
| | | ‘-- AP-BMC-IM.aps
| | |-- sub_panel
| | | ‘--BMCIMSubscriptionForm.jsp
| | '-- vox
AlarmPoint System | 8
| | ‘-- english
| |-- alarmpoint-java-client
| | |-- AIX
| | |-- HP-UX-RISC
| | |-- Linux
| | |-- SUN-SOLARIS
| | |-- windows
| | |-- BMC-Impact-Manager.xml
| | |-- BMCxAP.txt
| | ‘-- BMCxAP_FYI.txt
| |-- bmc-impact-manager
| | |-- AP Command Files
| | |-- APII
| | ‘-- kb
|-- documentation
| ‘-- AP-BMC-IM.pdf
‘-- release-notes.txt
Note: If you want to upgrade an existing version of AlarmPoint for BMC IM, you must first remove all the components of
the existing installation, and then reinstall the upgraded version.
2.3.1 BAROC and Rule Files

AlarmPoint for BMC IM contains seven files to be deployed in the BMC IM Knowledge Base:
• ap_classes.baroc: contains the AP_EVENT event class and the slot definitions that are used in adapting event
information obtained from AlarmPoint into the format that a cell can understand and process.
• ap_data.baroc: defines ALARMPOINT_USERS and ALARMPOINT_GROUPS data classes (required for user
synchronization).
• ap_notification_service.baroc: defines the data tables containing notification services for AlarmPoint.
• ap_notification_policy.baroc: defines the notification policy templates to be used as a starting point for AlarmPoint
notification policies.
• ap_collector.mrl: a rule file for creating the AlarmPoint collector. It is required for displaying the BMC IM events
that are sent to AlarmPoint.
• ap.mrl: a rule file for updating the status of BMC IM events that are sent to AlarmPoint. When an AlarmPoint user
responds to a notification, this file updates the status of the corresponding event in BMC IM.
• ap_associate.mrl: a rule file for stopping notifications in AlarmPoint. It associates an existing event in BMC IM and
sends information to AlarmPoint for deleting the action record.
• ap_actions.mrl: creates menu commands in the Remote Actions submenu in BMC Impact Explorer for sending
manual notifications and manual stop notifications to AlarmPoint.
Note: All files with a .baroc extension contain event class and slot definitions for each class. These files also reside in the
Knowledge Base.
Integration Files | 9
3. Configuration
This chapter explains how to configure AlarmPoint for BMC IM. After you have installed AlarmPoint for BMC IM, you
must complete the following tasks in the order listed:
1. Configure AlarmPoint
2. Configure AlarmPoint Java Client
3. Configure BMC Impact Manager
4. Configure Notifications in BMC IM
Ensure that you have completed all of the tasks before you start using AlarmPoint for BMC IM.
3.1 Configuring AlarmPoint

To configure AlarmPoint, complete the following steps:
1. Import the AlarmPoint script package.
2. Install the voice files.
3. Define an Event Domain.
4. Set up a User with a two-way Device.
3.1.1 Importing the AlarmPoint script package

This step requires the AlarmPoint Developer IDE. For installation instructions, refer to the AlarmPoint Developer’s Guide &
Scripting Reference.
To import the AlarmPoint Script Package:

1. Launch the Developer IDE, and configure the database connection (refer to the AlarmPoint Developer IDE Help or
the AlarmPoint Developer’s Guide & Scripting Reference for details).
2. Click Workspace > Import.
3. Select the AP-BMC-IM.aps file extracted from the integration zip file into the following folder:
• AP-BMC-IM\components\alarmpoint\scripts\
4. In the File dialog box, click OK, and then click OK again.
5. Right-click the BMC Impact Manager (Business) folder.
6. In the Validation dialog box, select Validate, and then click Close.
7. Right-click the BMC Impact Manager (Business) folder, and then click Check In.
8. In the Check In dialog box, click Create.
9. In the Script Package dialog box, click Close.
10. Close the IDE.
3.1.2 Modify the default callout scripts

The default callout scripts are not configured to annotate the ticket, and must be updated to for BMC IM.
Configuring AlarmPoint | 10
To annotate a BMC IM incident from the Callout scripts:

1. Open the AlarmPoint Developer IDE.
2. Check out the Production Callout Script Package.
3. Open the callout CONTACT script and the authenticate INTERACTION script.
4. Add the following lines of at the end of both scripts:
SendAnnotationMessage:
IF( $initiatingEvent.agent_client_id == "bmcimxap" )
@session::respondToNotification( $notId, "callout_annotate " & $message_note )
ENDIF
RETURN
Note: If the SendAnnotationMessage is already in the callout scripts due to another integration, update it with logic to
handle when the agent_client_id equals “bmcimxap”.
5. Locate the code section that sends an ExternalServiceMessage.

6. Add the following lines after the message is added to the ServiceMessage object, and after the send method is
executed on the object:
$message_note = $connectionEventMessage.message
GOSUB SendAnnotationMessage
7. Repeat the previous two steps for each section that sends an ExternalServiceMessage.
Note: There should be a total of 10 code segments that require updatin: eight in the callout script, and two in the
authenticate script.
Example:
The following is an example of an enhanced segment of code:
$connectionEventMessage.message = "Callout to " & $targetName & " successful (" &
$result & ")."
@connectionEventMessage::send()
$message_note = $connectionEventMessage.message
GOSUB SendAnnotationMessage
3.1.3 Installing Voice Files

These files must be installed into an AlarmPoint deployment running a Voice Device Engine. For more information, refer to
the AlarmPoint Installation and Administration Guide.
To install the voice files:

1. Copy all of the files in the AP-BMC-IM\components\alarmpoint\vox\english folder from the extracted
integration zip file to the following node installs folder:
AlarmPoint\node\phone-engine\Datastore\domains\common\recordings\english\phrases
Note: This integration provides only English voice files.
3.1.4 Defining an Event Domain

The AlarmPoint Webserver must be running to perform this portion of the integration.
To define an Event Domain:

1. Log in to AlarmPoint as a Company Administrator, and click the Developer tab.
2. On the Event Domains page, click Add New.
3. Enter the following information into the form:
• Name: bmcimxap
• Description: BMC Impact Manager Integration
• Script Package: BMC Impact Manager
4. Click Save.
5. Log out of AlarmPoint.
Note: It is strongly recommended that you use the Event Domain Name specified above. For the integration to be
successful, the Event Domain name must match the Client ID of the AlarmPoint Java Client. The Event Domain
name is case sensitive and must be lower case.
3.1.5 Setting up a two-way Device

By default, this integration is configured to use a default demonstration User named “Bob Smith” as a target for notifications
from AlarmPoint for BMC IM. Follow the steps below to ensure that this User exists and has a two-way Virtual Text Phone
Device:
Note: To perform this portion of the integration, the AlarmPoint webserver must be running.
To set up a two-way Device:

1. Log in to AlarmPoint as a Company Administrator, and click the Users tab.
2. On the Find Users page, click S.
3. In the list of returned Users, click Smith, Bob.
4. On the Details for Bob Smith page, in the Common Tasks pane, click User Devices.
5. Verify that a virtual text phone Device exists.
6. Click Reorder, and set the virtual phone to be the first Device in the list.
7. Click Save.
8. Log out of AlarmPoint.
Note: If this User is missing, create a User with a User ID of “bsmith” and add a Virtual Text Phone Device for the User.
For more information and instructions on how to perform these tasks, refer to the AlarmPoint User Guide.
3.1.6 Installing the Subscription File

To use the custom Subscription Panel, you must copy the JSP file into the AlarmPoint installation folder. If you have
installed more than one web server, repeat the following steps for each one.
To install the JSP file:

1. On the AlarmPoint server, locate the web server installation folder:
\webserver\webapps\cocoon\alarmpoint\jsp\subscription
2. Create a subfolder named bmc\impactManager.

3. Copy BMCIMSubscriptionForm.jsp from /components/alarmpoint/sub_panel in the extracted integration
archive into the new bmc\impactManager directory.
4. Restart the AlarmPoint Webserver.
Note: For the Subscription Panel to dynamically load Event Domain predicates, BMC Impact Integration Web Services
Server version 2.2 or newer must be running on the same machine as the integrated cell (for installation details,
refer to the BMC® Impact Integration Developer’s Kit Web Services Server Developer Guide).
3.1.7 Configuring the Subscription Panel

To allow Users to subscribe to specific criteria on injected Events, you must configure the Subscription panel. Configuring
the Subscription Panel requires the following steps:
• Define the Event Domain predicates
• Define a Subscription Domain
• Create a Subscription
• Create a fail-safe Group
Note: Before you can configure the custom Subscription Panel, the BMCIMSubscriptionForm.jsp file must be installed as
described in “Installing the Subscription File” on page 13.
3.1.7.1 Defining Event Domain predicates

For the Default custom Subscription Panel provided with the integration, the following Event Domain predicates must be
defined (case sensitive):
• event_class
• Severity
• Priority
• Status
• mc_object
• mc_object_class
• mc_parameter
• message
• mc_host
• mc_host_address
Note: You can also use the following steps to add other predicates that you consider important and which you plan to add
to the integration as explained in “Adding data elements” on page 46.
To define the Event Domain predicates:

1. In AlarmPoint, click the Developer tab.
2. On the Event Domains page, click bmcimxap.
3. On the Event Domain Details page, click Add New.
4. Add the following predicates to the Event Domain
Predicate Type Important Values Description
event_class List Yes Dynamically List predicate containing the event classes defined for
loaded the cell that is the point of integration. This list is loaded
from the BMC Impact Manager by a web service call.
Severity List Yes Manually List predicate containing some or all of the following
entered values: Critical, Information, Major, Minor, Unknown,
Warning. The items listed for Severity should be
specifically chosen to match the severity of the Events
forwarded from BMC IM. Exclude any severities that
will not be submitted for notification.
Priority List Yes Manually List predicate containing some or all of the following
entered values: High, Highest, Moderate, Low, Lowest. The
items listed for Priority should be specifically chosen to
match the severity of the Events forwarded from BMC
IM. Exclude any priorities that will not be submitted for
notification.
Status List Yes Manually List predicate containing some or all of the following
entered values: Closed, Open, Acknowledged, Assign, Blackout.
The items listed for Status should be specifically chosen
to match the status of the Events forwarded from BMC
IM. Exclude any statuses that will not be submitted for
notification.
mc_object Text Yes Manually Text predicate that corresponds to the object being
entered monitored and the source of this event.
mc_object_class Text Yes Manually Text predicate that corresponds to the class name of the
entered source object for this event.
mc_parameter Text Yes Manually Text predicate that corresponds to the parameter passed
entered in with this event.
mc_host Text Yes Manually Text predicate that corresponds to the host name of the
entered cell that generated this event.
mc_host_address Text Yes Manually Text predicate that corresponds to the IP address of the
entered host cell that generated this event.
Predicate Type Important Values Description
message Text Yes Manually Text predicate that describes the event being injected.
entered
3.1.7.2 Defining a Subscription Domain

The Subscription Domain is the reference point to the custom panel and provides a means to control certain aspects of the
panel. You must create a Subscription Domain before you can create subscriptions with the new panel.
To create a Subscription Domain:

1. On the Developer tab, in the Developer menu, click Add Subscription Domain.
2. In the Event Domain drop-down list, select bmcimxap, and then click Continue.
3. On the Subscription Domain details page, in the Name field, type BMC IM.
4. In the Custom Page URL field, enter the following path:
jsp/subscription/bmc/impactManager/BMCIMSubscriptionForm.jsp
5. Click Continue.
6. On the Select Appropriate Response Choices page, specify the available responses for this Subscription, and then click
Continue.
Note: By default, the scripts support two response choices: "Acknowledge" and "Ignore". To enable two-way
communications for Subscriptions, define both response choices on the Select Appropriate Response Choices page.
If you require only one-way, informational notifications, do not specify any response choices.
7. On the Select Appropriate Predicates page, add all of the predicates to the Applied Predicates list, and then click
Continue.
8. On the Select Roles page, specify the Roles you want to be able to create Subscriptions on the Domain, and then click
Save.
For more information about working with Event and Subscription Domains, see the AlarmPoint Installation and
Administration Guide.
3.1.7.3 Configuring the Subscription JSP

The Subscription panel reads Event Class values from BMC Impact Manager through web services. This feature allows
Administrators to change the source of the content supplied for these lists from web service calls to pre-defined predicate
value lists.
If you want to populate the predicate values lists from BMC Impact Manager through web service calls rather than using the
pre-defined predicate list values, you must configure the connection properties within the JSP file.
To configure the Subscription JSP to automatically populate predicate lists:

1. Open the BMCIMSubscriptionForm.jsp found in /webservers/webapps/cocoon/alarmpoint/jsp/
subscription/bmc/impactManager folder in the AlarmPoint Webserver installation.
2. Within the Subscription JSP, find the following section:
final String MC_HOST_NAME = "localhost";
final String MC_CELL_NAME = "mcell";
final String WS_PORT = "6070";
3. Replace the value within quotes for each parameter as described in the following table:
Parameter Value
MC_HOST_NAME The hostname or IP address for the BMC IM web services server.
MC_CELL_NAME The cell name of interest on the MC_HOST_NAME server.
WS_PORT The BMC IM web services server port number.
4. Save and close the JSP.

To configure the Subscription panel in a demo mode, using pre-defined predicate list values, you must modify the
Subscription JSP.
To manually populate the predicate lists:

1. Open the SCSubscriptionForm.jsp found in the /webservers/webapps/cocoon/alarmpoint/jsp
/subscription/bmc/impactManager folder on the AlarmPoint Webserver install.
2. Locate the QUERY_PREDICATE_VALUES variable, and set the value to false.

3. Save and close the BMCIMSubscriptionForm.jsp file.
4. In AlarmPoint, click the Developer tab.
5. On the Event Domains page, click bmcimxap.
6. On the Event Domain Details page, click event_class in the Predicates list.
7. Add to the predicate list values.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for Severity, Priority and Status in the Predicates list.
The event_class, Severity, Priority, and Status lists on the Subscription will now be populated with the predefined list values
instead of the web service call results.
Note: Changing Subscriptions by adding or removing Event Domain predicates may cause existing Subscriptions to fail.
For more information about working with Event and Subscription Domains, see the AlarmPoint Installation and
Administration Guide.
3.1.7.4 Creating a Subscription

You can now use the Custom Subscription Panel to subscribe to BMC IM Events of specific Severity, or that match any other
criteria.
To create a Subscription:
1. Click the Alerts tab, and then click My Subscribed Alerts.
2. Click the Add New link above the Self-made Subscriptions table.
3. On the Select a Subscription Domain page, in the Subscription type drop-down list, select BMCIM, and then click
Continue.
4. On the Subscription Details page, specify the Subscription criteria using the Event Details and Preferences tabs.
• The Event Details tab (Ctrl-click to select more than one value):
Figure 3-1. Subscription Details – Event Information tab

• The Preferences tab (defines the Timeframe and Overrides applied to events for Subscription notifications):
Figure 3-2. Subscription Details – Preferences tab

5. When you are satisfied with the criteria, click Save to create the Subscription.
• You can review the Subscription details at any time on the Summary tab:
Figure 3-3. Subscription Details – Summary tab
3.1.7.5 Creating a Fail-Safe Group

If a notification is submitted to AlarmPoint when the fail-safe functionality is enabled, and if it matches the necessary
circumstances, AlarmPoint sends the notification to the fail-safe recipient. The fail-safe recipient is typically a Group, but
can be configured as a User.
To create a fail-safe Group:

1. In AlarmPoint, click the Groups tab.
2. Create a new Group named BMCIM Failsafe, with at least one User as a Team member to receive notifications.
For more information about creating Groups and Teams, see the AlarmPoint User Guide.
Note: If you want to use a pre-existing group or a different group name, modify the value for the $fail_safe_group
variable defined in the initial process script in the AlarmPoint Action Scripts. You can also eliminate notifying any
failsafe group by setting $fail_safe to disabled.
3.1.7.6 Excluding Subscriptions

If you do not want to use the Subscription functionality, you can remove it from the action scripts by setting the
$enable_subs variable to false in the configuration block of the initial script.
3.2 Configuring AlarmPoint Java Client

Once the AlarmPoint Java Client is installed, several steps must be taken to configure it for the integration:
• Deploying the AlarmPoint Java Client Integration Files
• Configure APAgent.xml
• Set the BMC IM Environment Variables for the APAgent in Unix
Configuring AlarmPoint Java Client | 18

3.2.1 Deploy AlarmPoint Java Client Integration Files

To deploy the AlarmPoint Java Client files:
1. Copy the BMC-Impact-Manager.xml file from AP-BMC-IM\components\alarmpoint-java-client in the
extracted integration archive to \APAgent\etc\integrations.
2. Copy the BMCxAP.txt, and BMCxAP_FYI.txt files from the AP-BMC-IM\components\alarmpoint-java-
client\ folder in the extracted integration archive to \APAgent.
3. Do one of the following:

• Windows: Copy bmc_apclient.bin.exe from AP-BMC-IM\components\alarmpoint-java-
client\windows to \APAgent.
• Unix: Copy bmc_apclient.bin from AP-BMC-IM/components/alarmpoint-java-client/<OS>

subfolder to /APAgent., where <OS> is the operating system on which BMC IM is installed.
4. Restart the Java Client Service.
3.2.2 Configure the APAgent.xml

The BMC IM domain mapping must be added to the APAgent configurations file, APAgent.xml.
Note: Before making any changes, it is strongly recommended that you create a backup copy of the APAgent.xml file and
store it in a safe location.
To add the domain mapping:

1. Open the APAgent.xml file located in \APAgent\etc.
2. Add the following line to the mapping section:
<alarmpoint-agent-client id="bmcimxap" filename="integrations/BMC-Impact-
Manager.xml" />
3. Restart the AlarmPoint Java Client.
3.2.2.1 Configuring the APAgent.xml for High Availability

For integrations with High Availability BMC Impact Manager servers, locate, uncomment, and modify the “HA server
value” buffer.append lines in the \APAgent\etc\integrations\BMC-Impact-Manager.xml file to append the
appropriate server value to the MCELL path:
/*For HA servers uncomment and modify the following to append
the corresponding values (#1 and #2) of your BMC IM servers.*/
//buffer.append("#1"); //Primary HA server value
//buffer.append("#2"); //Secondary HA server value
Note: There are three instances of the code to be uncommented and modified.
Configuring AlarmPoint Java Client | 19

3.2.3 Set the BMC IM Environment Variables for the APAgent in Unix
Note: The following instructions apply only to Unix installations.
For the BMC IM integration, two environment variables, MCELL_HOME and PATH, are required to execute certain cell
actions, such as msend.
To set the environment variables in APAgent:

1. Open the file APAgent in the APAgent/ directory for editing.
2. Add the following lines after the declaration of the "JAVAEXEC" variable (where the <value> of MCELL_HOME is
/opt/mcell for version 7.0.01, and /opt/bmc/Impact/server for version 7.1.00):
MCELL_HOME = <value>
export MCELL_HOME
PATH=${PATH}:${MCELL_HOME}\bin
export PATH
3. Save the APAgent file and restart the Client:

./APAgent
or
./alarmpoint-java-client restart
4. Restart the AlarmPoint Java Client.
Note: If BMC IM is installed into a directory other than /opt/mcell, set the MCELL_HOME variable to the actual path.
3.3 Configuring BMC Impact Manager

3.3.1 Deploying AlarmPoint Integration files in BMC IM
The following variables refer to specific paths used within this section’s examples:
• $CELL refers to the integrated cell name.
• $AP_CMD refers to AP-BMC-IM\components\bmc-impact-manager\AP Command Files
• $AP_KB refers to AP-BMC-IM\components\bmc-impact-manager\kb
• $KB refers to the following folder depending on your configuration of BMC Impact Manager:
Windows:
• Version 7.0.01: C:\Program Files\BMC Software\MasterCell\server\etc\$CELL\kb\
• Version 7.1.00: C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Impact\server\etc\$CELL\kb\
Unix:
• Version 7.0.01: /opt/mcell/etc/$CELL/kb/
• Version 7.1.00: /opt/bmc/Impact/server/etc/$CELL/kb
Configuring BMC Impact Manager | 20

Note: For Unix installations, commands should be executed in the /opt/mcell/bin directory, unless this path has been
added to the $PATH variable.
3.3.1.1 Deploying Command files

1. In the extracted integration archive folder, locate the command files for your operating system:
• Windows: AlarmPoint.bat, AlarmPoint_FYI.bat, and StopNotification.bat
• Unix: AlarmPoint, AlarmPoint_FYI, and StopNotification
By default, they are located in the $AP_CMD directory.
2. Open each file in a text editor and ensure the path of the AlarmPoint Java Client is correct.
• For Windows, the default path is C:\APAgent\
• For Unix, the default path is /opt/alarmpointsystems/APAgent/
• Copy all three files to the $KB\bin\$OS folder containing the command files on the integrated cell, where $OS is
specific to the platform, as identified in the following table:
Operating System Directory
Windows w4
Unix A
Linux 12
AIX p4
Solaris s5
HP-UX h1
Note: The account under which the cell is running must have permission to execute the command files.
3.3.1.2 Deploying the User Synchronization Module

For the following steps, $MCELL_HOME equals the indicated folder:
• Windows:
• Version 7.0.01: C:\Program Files\BMC Software\MasterCell\server\
• Version 7.1.00: C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Impact\server\
• Unix:
• Version 7.0.01: /opt/mcell
• Version 7.1.00: /opt/bmc/Impact/server
To deploy the User Synchronization Module:

1. Copy the components\bmc-impact-manager\APII folder from the extracted integration archive folder to
$MCELL_HOME.
2. Do one of the following:

• If installing on Windows, remove the $MCELL_HOME\APII\Unix directory.

• If installing on Unix, remove the $MCELL_HOME/APII/Windows directory.
3. Create a new folder: $MCELL_HOME\APII\log\$CELL.
4. Move the three files from $MCELL_HOME\APII\log into the new folder.
The following table describes the configuration parameters defined in the default_values.properties file found in
APII/assets/config/:
Parameter Description Default Value
webServiceUserLogon Web service User’s name. wsUser
webServiceUserPassword Web service User’s password wsPassword
webServiceIP IPaddress of the AlarmPoint Webserver.
webservicePort Default web service port (typically 8888). 8888
userRole User Role used when synchronizing Users with Standard User
AlarmPoint.
supervisor Supervisor assigned to the Users being synchronized with superadmin

AlarmPoint.
emailUserServiceProvider Email Service Provider used for the synchronized User’s SMTP Email
Email Device.
voiceUserServiceProvider Voice Service Provider used for the synchronized User’s Phone Engine
Voice Device.
timezone The synchronized User’s time zone. US/Pacific
site The Site to which the synchronized User should be Default Site
assigned.
Note: If you are using AlarmPoint Express, you must change the default value for userRole to either “Support User” or
“No Access User”.
To set up a Web Service User:

1. In AlarmPoint, click the Users tab.
2. Click Add Web Service User.
3. Type a User ID.
4. Type a Password and then Verify Password.
5. Click Save.
Note: Before continuing, ensure that Java 1.5 is installed.

3.3.1.3 Deploying Baroc and Rule files

The next step is to deploy the .baroc and .mrl integration files into the $KB directory of the integrated cell. Load the
following files into their appropriate directories on the integrated cell.
Note: The .load files to be modified are read-only; their file properties must be changed before you can edit them.
ap_actions.mrl (located in $AP_KB\bin)

1. Copy this file to $KB\bin.
2. Add a line containing “ap_actions” to the .load file located in $KB\bin.
ap_classes.baroc and ap_data.baroc (located in the $AP_KB\classes)
1. Copy these files to $KB\classes.
2. Add a line containing “ap_classes” and a line containing “ap_data” to the .load file located in $KB\classes.
ap_collector.mrl (located in $AP_KB\collectors)
1. Copy this file to $KB\collectors.
2. Add a line containing “ap_collector” to the .load file located in $KB\collectors.
ap.mrl and ap_associate.mrl (located in $AP_KB\rules)
1. Copy these files to $KB\rules.
2. Add two lines, one containing “ap” and one containing “ap_associate” to the .load file located in $KB\rules.
Re-compile the files added to the $KB directory of the integrated cell in the command prompt by executing the following
command:
mccomp -n $CELL
If the command executed properly, the last line should state:

“Compilation ended successfully”
ap_notification_policy.baroc and ap_notification_service.baroc (located in $AP_KB\data)

1. Copy these files to $KB\data.
2. To load the contents of these files into the BMC IM database, execute the following commands:
mposter -n $CELL -d $KB\data\ap_notification_policy.baroc
This command creates inactive Notification Policies which can be used as templates for new Notification Policies.
mposter -n $CELL -d $KB\data\ap_notification_service.baroc

This command creates Notifications Services that will be used by your new Notification Policies.
Successful execution of these commands should result in the following output:
Figure 3-4. Successful execution of ap_notification_policy.baroc and ap_notification_service.baroc on Windows.

After you run the command line utilities, restart the cell service or daemon named mcell_$CELL.
To review the Notification Services and Policies:

1. Login to BMC Impact Explorer. The default user for BMC Impact Explorer is “user”, with a password of “user”.
2. Under the Administration tab on the Dynamic Data Editor menu, display the Notification Services found under
$CELL > Data > Cell Data > Notification Service on your production server, as illustrated in the following figure:
Figure 3-5. Dynamic Data Editor – Extended Details

• The integration should have loaded the AlarmPoint and AlarmPoint_FYI Notification Services.
3. Under the Administration tab on the Event Management Policies menu, display the Notification Policies found under
$CELL > By Policy Type > Notification Policy > AlarmPoint on your production server:

Figure 3-6. Event Management Policies

• The integration should have loaded two Selector Templates in the AlarmPoint folder:
AlarmPoint.Selector_AlarmPoint_Template and AlarmPoint.Selector_AlarmPoint_FYI_Template.
3.3.1.4 Updating BMC Portal Web Service to support the CELL

AlarmPoint must be granted permission to retrieve information for automatically populating the event_class predicate in the
Subscription Panel using BMC Web Services.
To update the BMC Portal Web Service:

1. In the BMC installation folder, locate and open the mcell.dir file.
2. Add the following line to the end of the file:
cell $CELL mc <addressOfBMCMcellServer>:1828
3. Save and close the file, and then restart the web service or daemon named iiws_$CELL .
The Subscription Panel will now be able to populate the event_class predicate list with values from BMC Impact Manager.
3.3.2 Configuring Notifications in BMC Impact Manager

After deploying the AlarmPoint for BMC IM integration files, you must create your own Notification Policies for
AlarmPoint in BMC IM. You can use the event selector and event policy mechanism available in BMC IM to configure

AlarmPoint notifications. Selectors act as a mechanism to select the event, while policies specify the selector, notification
method, and users to be notified.
Using the Event Management Policies Editor in BMC IM, you can define how an event should be processed by the cell after
it is received.
Note: For more information on the Event Management Policies Editor, see BMC® Impact Explorer User Guide, BMC®
Impact Web Console User Guide, or BMC® Event Management Administrator Guide.
Based on the default Notification Policies deployed by the integration, create a Notification Policy based on your
Notification Criteria.

4. Software Component Integration

4.1 Integration Features
4.1.1 Overview
The following are the important features of AlarmPoint for BMC IM:
• Automatic Notifications
• Manual Notifications
• Stop Notifications
• Standard Actions
• History
• User Synchronization Module
4.1.2 Automatic Notifications

AlarmPoint for BMC IM enables you to send Automatic Notifications from BMC IM to AlarmPoint. The event selection
criteria determine which events cause notifications to be sent to AlarmPoint. In AlarmPoint for BMC IM, you can also send
FYI Notifications.
To enable Automatic Notifications and FYI Notifications, you must have the following:
• Notification Services
• Selectors
• Notification Policies
AlarmPoint for BMC IM provides templates for Notification Services, Selectors, and Notification Policies. You can create
your own Notification Services, Selectors, and Notification Policies by referring to these templates. The following figure
illustrates the creation of a Notification Policy using a template in BMC Impact Explorer version 7.0.0.1:
Integration Features | 27
Figure 4-1. Using a Notification Template to Create a Notification Policy
4.1.2.1 Notification Services

Loading the ap_notification_service.baroc file creates the AlarmPoint and AlarmPoint_FYI notification services.
4.1.2.2 Selectors
The selection criteria determine which events cause a notification to be sent to AlarmPoint. Selectors are used to set the
selection criteria. For example, if the selection criteria specify CRITICAL events, then only CRITICAL events will cause a
notification to be sent to AlarmPoint, as illustrated in the following figure:
Figure 4-2. Selector Details

The integration also deploys event collectors, which display the events that triggered AlarmPoint notifications (two-way or
FYI), and the events replied from AlarmPoint. The following figure illustrates the Collector displaying the events to which
AlarmPoint has replied:
Figure 4-3. Collector History
4.1.2.3 Notification Policy

In AlarmPoint for BMC IM, Events cause notifications to be sent to AlarmPoint depending on the Notification Policy.
Selectors are used by the Notification Policy to select events. The Notification Policy determines which users will receive
notifications, and uses the Notification Service to send them.
Note: While creating the Notification Policy, use the AlarmPoint and AlarmPoint_FYI services which are automatically
created. For more information on Notification Policies, refer to the BMC Event Management Administrator Guide.
4.1.3 Manual Notifications

AlarmPoint for BMC IM enables you to send manual notifications from BMC IM to AlarmPoint.
To send a manual notification:

1. Log in to Impact Explorer.
2. On the Events tab, highlight the Event for which you want to send a manual notification.
3. Right-click the Event and select Actions > Remote Actions > Notify via AlarmPoint.
• For FYI notifications select Actions > Remote Actions > FYI Notification via AlarmPoint.
4. In the Execute Remote Action dialog box, enter the ID of the AlarmPoint recipient you want to notify, and then click
Execute:
Figure 4-4. Execute Remote Action dialog box
4.1.4 Stop Notifications

AlarmPoint for BMC IM enables you to manually stop notifications previously sent from BMC IM to AlarmPoint.
To stop notifications:
2. On the Events tab, highlight the event for which you want to stop AlarmPoint notifications.
3. Right-click the event and select Actions > Remote Actions > Stop Notification in AlarmPoint.
The Stop Notification command will send a del event to externally terminate the corresponding AlarmPoint event, which
will result in all notifications being stopped.
4.1.5 Standard Actions

When you receive a notification on a Device, you can send a standard action to AlarmPoint for BMC IM. AlarmPoint for
BMC IM updates the status in BMC IM, depending on the type of standard action you send.
There are five types of standard actions in AlarmPoint for BMC IM:
• Acknowledge
• Close
• Assign
• Ignore
• Annotate
4.1.5.1 Acknowledge
When you use a Device to reply to a notification with “Acknowledge”, AlarmPoint for BMC IM updates the status of the
event in BMC IM to “ACK”, logs an entry in the Operations log for the event, and stops all other Device notifications to the
User who acknowledged the event.
4.1.5.2 Close
When you use a Device to reply to a notification with “Close”, AlarmPoint for BMC IM updates the status of the event in
BMC IM to “CLOSE”, logs an entry in the Operations Log for the event, and delinks all Users associated with the event in
AlarmPoint.
4.1.5.3 Assign
When you use a Device to reply to a notification with “Assign”, AlarmPoint for BMC IM changes the ownership of the
event in BMC IM. You are updated as the owner of the event, and the status of the event is updated to “Assigned”.
AlarmPoint for BMC IM also logs an entry in the Operations Log for the event, and delinks all Users associated with the
event in AlarmPoint.
4.1.5.4 Ignore
When you reply with Ignore to a notification using a Device, AlarmPoint for BMC IM leaves the status of the event
unchanged, logs an entry in the Operations Log for the event, and delinks the User who ignored the event in AlarmPoint.
4.1.5.5 Annotate
The Annotate reply is available only for email Devices. When replying with “Note”, followed by additional text on the same
line, the note is added to the Notes section of the Event Details, all notifications are stopped for the responder, and an entry is
logged in the Operations Log.
4.1.6 Responses for FYI Notifications on Voice-capable Devices

FYI notifications do not have any response choices available, except for those sent to voice-capable Devices. Voice FYI
notifications offer the following response choices so that Users can navigate between multiple notifications. (This navigation
is not required on other Devices.)
• Delete Removes the notification from the User’s list. This option is most likely to be selected.
• Save: Saves the notification and stops attempting to deliver it to the User’s other Devices. Users may select this option
to delay listening to the notification when it is delivered, and access the details via the AlarmPoint Web User Interface
at a later time.
• Repeat: Repeats the notification.
4.1.7 History
In BMC IM, when a User is notified about a problem through AlarmPoint, the status of the notification is updated in the
event's Notification Log section, as illustrated in the following figure:
4.1.8 AlarmPoint Data & the User Synchonization Module

The following sections describe how to add AlarmPoint user data (Users and Groups) in BMC IM. They also describe how
to work with the User Synchronization module to synchronizes and update the number of Users or Groups in BMC IM and
AlarmPoint (for a general overview, see “User Synchronization Module” on page 3).
After installing BMC II for AlarmPoint, you must create AlarmPoint Groups and Users in BMC IM. You cannot edit the data
for existing Groups and Users. If you need to modify the data, you must delete the relevant Group or User and then recreate
them. Groups and Users must be synchronized in AlarmPoint on a regular basis.
4.1.8.1 Adding Groups

If the provided User IDs are not valid IDs , they will not be added to the Group. Consult the AlarmPointII.log for
information about any failures.
To add an AlarmPoint Group in BMC IM:

1. Click Start > Programs > BMC Impact > BMC Impact Explorer.
2. Enter the login details.
3. Click the Administration tab, and then click the Dynamic Data Editor tab.
4. In the tree structure, navigate to the cell where BMC II for AlarmPoint is installed, and then select
ALARMPOINT_GROUPS.
• For example, MyGroup > Cell > DATA > ALARMPOINT > ALARMPOINT_GROUPS.
5. Enter a Name for the group.
6. Enter the group members as a comma-delimited list of User IDs.
• The field update members determines if the list of members will be overwritten in AlarmPoint or not. It is
suggested, while set to true to manage the group's users through BMCIM, and while set to false to use AlarmPoint.
7. Click OK.
4.1.8.2 Adding Users

If email or phone number fields are not entered as valid values then they will not be added to the user during this
synchronization. Consult the AlarmPointII.log for information about any failures.
To add an AlarmPoint User in BMC IM:

1. Click Start > Programs > BMC Impact > BMC Impact Explorer.
2. Enter the login details.
3. Click the Administration tab, and then click the Dynamic Data Editor tab.
4. In the tree structure, navigate to the cell where BMC II for AlarmPoint is installed and select
ALARMPOINT_USERS.
• For example, MyGroup > Cell > DATA > ALARMPOINT > ALARMPOINT_USERS.
5. To add a new data instance, click the Add data instance button.
6. Enter the User ID and click. The User ID is used to identify users in BMC II for AlarmPoint
• Here you may specify an email address and/or phone number as a user's device. Additional devices may be added
later in AlarmPoint.
Note: All devices defined here are configured with a default Service Provider defined in APII/assets/config/
default_values.properties. For more information, see “Deploying the User Synchronization Module” on
page 21.
4.1.8.3 Running User Synchronization

The UserSync.bat and UserSync.sh files execute the APII.java application on Windows and Unix respectively, and
synchronize AlarmPoint Users defined in BMC IM with AlarmPoint through web service calls.
To run the User Synchronization on Windows:

At the command prompt, navigate to /APII/Windows, and run the following command:
UserSync.bat <cellName>
To run the User Synchronization on UNIX:

At the command prompt, navigate to /APII/Unix, and run the following command:
UserSync.sh <cellName>
APII calculates the number of users or groups to be added or deleted by comparing the following files with the results from
a query to BMC IM.
available_targets_ALARMPOINT_USERS_lastrun
available_targets_ALARMPOINT_GROUPS_lastrun
APII then updates those files with the new list of users and groups and creates an
im_notification_service_data.baroc file.
APII then uses mposter and the newly created im_notification_service_data.baroc to update the following
services with the list of available AlarmPoint users:
ALARMPOINT
ALARMPOINT_FYI
Note: Information regarding the User Synchronization module's last run is stored in these files. These files are used in the
current run also. These files are very important and should NOT be deleted.
4.1.8.4 Scheduling User Synchronization
To schedule User Synchronization in Windows:

1. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.
2. Double-click Scheduled Tasks.
3. In the Scheduled Tasks window, double-click Add Scheduled Task.
4. In the Welcome dialog box, click Next.
5. Click Browse.
6. Select the UserSync.bat file and click Open.
7. Select when you want to perform the task and click Next.
8. Set the Start Time.
9. Select the frequency of performing the task.
10. Set the Start Date and click Next.
11. Enter the user name.
12. Enter the password.
13. Confirm the password and click Next.

14. To complete the procedure and schedule the task, click Finish.
To schedule User Synchronization in UNIX:

1. Add a cron job using the following command:
crontab -e
2. Add the details for scheduling User Synchronization.

3. Save the crontab file and exit using the following command:
:wq
4.2 Types of notifications

Notifications are sent to the Users depending on the Notification Policy in BMC IM. There are four different types of
notifications:
• Email (includes HTML email and BES)
• Pager
• Text Phone
• Phone
Note: The responses listed in the sections below do not apply to FYI notifications.
4.2.1 Email notification (includes HTML email and BES)

The email notification includes a description of the event that caused the notification and a list of the following BMC IM
Event Slots:
• Message (Situation)
• MC Host
• Event Type
• Event Time
• Object
• Object Class
• Tool
• Tool Class
• Parameter
Before you send a reply to an email notification, you must add one of the following responses after the word RESPONSE in
the subject line or in the first line of the email message:
• ACKNOWLEDGE
• CLOSE
• ASSIGN
• IGNORE
Types of notifications | 36
• ANNOTATE
Note: There should not be a space between the last word of the existing subject line and the word “RESPONSE”, but
there should be a space between the word “RESPONSE” and the next word.
The text of the original email should be included in the reply and should not be changed. The following is an example of an
email notification sent for a CRITICAL event.
Example:
BMC Impact Manager Incident : 2962
Situation : The AlarmPoint Java Client service was successfully
sent a start control.
on MC Host : matterhorn
Event Type : INFO
Event Time : Monday, April 9, 2007 5:29:18 PM PDT
Object : adapter
Object Class : UNDEFINED
Tool : System
Tool Class : EventLog
Parameter : UNDEFINED
If you would like to reply to this e-mail, simply reply with the word "RESPONSE"
followed by your choice in the subject line. Your response choices are
"Acknowledge", "Close", "Assign", "Ignore", "Note"
Please make sure to include the original message in your reply. The following is
used by the server to identify the email 200452.
4.2.2 Pager Notification

The pager notification includes a description of the event that has caused the notification and a list of the following BMC IM
Event Slots on the first screen:
• Sev
• Host
• Msg
The next screen of the pager gives you the option to Reply or Delete. If you choose to reply, then you must send one of the
following responses:
• Ack
• Clo
• Ass
• Ign
Note: The reply should not include any text other than these responses.
4.2.3 Text Phone Notification

The text phone notification includes a description of the event that has caused the notification and a list of the following
BMC IM Event Slots on the first screen:
• Sev
• Host
• Msg
If you choose to reply, then you must send one of the following responses:
• Ack
• Clo
• Ass
• Ign
Note: The reply should include the notification key that uniquely identifies the message.
4.2.4 Phone Notification

The phone notification includes a description of the event that has caused the notification and a list of the following BMC IM
Event Slots:
• Message (Situation)
• MC Host
• Sim Cell
• Event Type
• Event Time
• Object
• Object Class
• Tool
• Tool Class
• Parameter
Once this information is related, you are given menu options for the following responses:
• ACKNOWLEDGE
• CLOSE
• ASSIGN
• IGNORE
• EVENT DETAILS
You can choose a specific response by pressing a specific digit button on your phone. For example, press “1” to respond with
ACKNOWLEDGE, press “2” to respond with CLOSE, etc.
Note: By default, only two-way notifications are delivered to Voice Phone Devices. If you want to enable FYI notifications
for voice phones, remove or comment out the following line from the Initial script of the integration:
@alert::setDeviceFilter("VOICE", FALSE)
5. Testing the Integration

This section explains how you can test the AlarmPoint for BMC IM integration once you have completed the steps outlined
in the Configuration and Integration chapters.
5.1 Create a Notification

The first step in testing the integration is to create a Notification to send to the sample User.
To test the integration:

1. In AlarmPoint, confirm that you have a sample User with a User ID of “bsmith” and an active virtual text phone
Device.
3. Select Administration > Notification Policy > AlarmPoint > Selector_AlarmPoint_Template.
4. Modify the selector criteria so the event severity is smaller than or equal to CRITICAL, as illustrated by the
following figure:
Figure 5-1. Selector Criteria
Create a Notification | 39
5. To create a Notification Policy using the AlarmPoint Service that notifies bsmith on all Open events, select the default
user and then click Modify. Type bsmith, and then click Modify again:
Figure 5-2. AlarmPoint Notification Policy

6. Select any existing event not in “Open” state and change its status to Open:
• Click on the Events tab for the integrated cell.
• Right-click an event not in “Open” state, and select Event Operations > Reopen Event.
• In the Reopen Event Confirmation dialog box, click Yes.
Note: You can also generate a new event instead of re-opening a prior event.
7. In the Events tab, open the Notified Events > AlarmPoint collector and locate the event you just re-opened.
8. Double-click the event to open the Event Details, and then click the History tab.
9. Ensure that there is an entry in the Operations Log stating that a NOTIFICATION_REQUEST was submitted to
AlarmPoint.
Figure 5-3. Operations Log

10. In Impact Explorer, ensure that there is an entry in the Notification Log confirming SUCCESSFUL_DELIVERY to
AlarmPoint, as illustrated in the following figure:
Figure 5-4. Notes tab – Notification Log
5.2 Responding to a Notification

1. When a call arrives for the default User, the virtual phone appears and indicates the number of calls that have been
received:
Responding to a Notification | 42
2. To see the first call, click Select:
3. Scroll down using the arrow buttons to view the call details and the list of possible replies:
4. Click Reply, and then type RES Acknowledge:
5. Click Send, and AlarmPoint will send the acknowledgement to BMC IM.
5.3 Verifying the response

After responding to the Notification using the virtual text phone, you can verify that the response was received by BMC IM.
To verify the response”

1. On the Event Details screen in Impact Explorer, click the Summary tab and ensure that the event status has changed
to “Acknowledged”.
2. Click the History tab and ensure the Operation Log includes a new entry containing “Message Acknowledged”:
Figure 5-5. Operations Log – Message Acknowledged
5.4 Testing the Subscription

To test your subscription, create an event in BMC Impact Manager that matches the criteria that you defined, and use the
manual notification described in “Manual Notifications” on page 30.
Verifying the response | 45

6. Optimizing and Extending the Integration

This section describes some of the available methods you can use to optimize or extend the AlarmPoint for BMC Impact
Manager Integration.
6.1 Adding data elements

Additional data elements can be forwarded to AlarmPoint by adding them to the command line for a particular alert, as
described in . Any changes to the parameters passed with the execution of the Command for Automatic Action must be
considered in the AlarmPoint Java Client parameter mapping and the Alarmpoint Action Scripts.
Note: If you add parameters to the end of the list, the FYI parameter is no longer optional and must always be specified as
“yes” or “no”.
For each new parameter to be passed from BMCIM to AlarmPoint, add a new line to the BMCxAP.txt and
BMCxap_FYI.txt mapping files similar to the following:
custom_parameter = %custom_parameter%
The new parameter may then be used within the AlarmPoint Action Scripts. A possible use for the variable would be to
incorporate it in the notification content of a Device by adding the $custom_parameter to the presentation script within the
Device's content creation block:
$content.message = $content.message & "Custom Field : " & $event.custom_parameter
6.2 Adding Annotation Messages

Two-way email Device notifications (not FYI) can add extra annotations which will be added to the BMC IM Event as a
correlated Event message. To add an extra annotation, respond to an email notification with the following format in the
subject line:
RESPONSE <Choice> <Message>
<Choice> can be either of the response choices listed in the table above, and <Message> can be any content you want to add
as the annotation.
6.3 Changing response choices

Changes to the response choices and behavior can be changed in the response business script in the Action Script set. Any
new behavior will also need to be reflected in the Response Action Script (BMC-Impact-Manager.xml) to accommodate
the communication with BMCIM. Actions available through the Msend program include acknowledging an alert and
correlating one alert with another.
Any other response functionality for the integration must be configured within the Response Action Script with BMCIM-
provided applications and APIs.
As an example, the following code illustrates adding a response choice of "Be there in 10 minutes" to the integration:
AlarmPoint Action Scripts:

• Presentation script:
$content.choices::add( "be there in ten minutes" )
Adding data elements | 46

• Response script:
# Handle responses
$reply = $response.reply
$reply::toLowerCase()
$ten_minutes= $reply::startsWith( "be there in ten minutes" )
…
IF ( $ten_minutes )
# Perform any changes to the AlarmPoint event and notifications here
@event::delinkAll() # Consider the incident handled
$main.continue = true
…
# Indicate the person will be on site in ten minutes on the BMC IM incident
$response.request_text = "APBMCIMTenMinutes"
$response.message_note = "Will be on-site in 10 minutes"
call sendMessage
Note: This is only a brief overview of the required components, For more information about AlarmPoint responses
andscripting, refer to the AlarmPoint Action Scripts and the AlarmPoint Developer's Guide & Scripting Reference.
The ExternalServiceMessage injects the tenMinutesRequest to the Response Action Script of the BMC-Impact-
Manager.xml script. The following defines how the AlarmPoint Java Client reacts to that service message:
// Deal with a response of "be there in ten minutes"
IF ( APDT_request_text.equalsIgnoreCase( "APBMCIMTenMinutes" ) ) {
IF ( APDT_message_text != void ) {
result = constructSendCommand(result, "AP_NOTE", APDT_message_text);
}
}
Note: For more information about working with the Response Action Script, refer to the AlarmPoint Java Client Guide.
6.4 Filtering and suppression of Event data

If a subset of Event Data from the BMCIM policies needs to be filtered or suppressed, you can construct a rule similar to the
following:
“Suppress all messages from Sources that match *DEV* for a period from 17:00 to 08:00 M-F and 24h on Sat & Sun.”
For more information about filtering and suppression, see the AlarmPoint Java Client Guide.
6.5 Altering the duration of Events

You can modify the amount of time AlarmPoint will send out notifications for a particular event before it times out by
changing the $main.timeout variable in the initial script. This variable stores the number of seconds the notifications will be
allowed to continue before timing out. The default value is 86400, which is the number of seconds in a 24-hour period. You
can change the delay to a 2 hour timeout by changing the line to:
$main.timeout = 7200
Filtering and suppression of Event data | 47

6.6 FYI notifications

You can make all notifications informational only, meaning that the user is not offered any response choices. Setting the
$force_fyi flag to “on” makes all normal and Subscription notifications one-way. In the Initial Process script in the
AlarmPoint Action Scripts, locate the following line:
$force_fyi = disable
Change the line to:

$force_fyi = on
6.6.1 Generating FYI notifications for Subscriptions

When using subscriptions to inform Users about service outages, you may want to remove responses from notifications
generated for subscriptions. To accomplish this, ensure that the configuration block of the initial script has:
$subscription_fyi = true
The $enable_subs variable must also be set to true. See the section on configuration variables in the initial script for details.
Note: For more information about the variables in this section, see “Configuration Variable Reference” on page 50.
6.7 Constructing BES and HTML email notifications

You can configure AlarmPoint to create BES and HTML email notifications. This feature requires the AlarmPoint
Developer IDE. For installation instructions, refer to the AlarmPoint Developer's Guide & Scripting Reference.
To enable BES and HTML email, the BMC Impact Manager (Business) script package set must be checked into the
Developer IDE Database. If the script package has not been checked in already, see the instructions in “Importing the
AlarmPoint script package” on page 10.
Note: Some email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook 2007, may not display HTML elements correctly. It is recommended
that you test the HTML compatibility of your email client before implementing the HTML email feature.
To enable BES and/or HTML email:

1. Launch the Developer IDE.
2. Check out the BMC Impact Manager (Business) Production script package.
3. In the initial script, do the following:
• Change the $main.enable_HTML_Email variable to true.
• Set $main.use_logo to true or false depending on whether you want your HTML email to show a logo.
• Set $AlarmPointURL to the base URL of your AlarmPoint web server.
4. Optionally, you can also do any of the following
• Change $main.HTML_form_url to point to a JSP page that you want to process any responses from the HTML
email. (The default setting should work out-of-the-box.)
• Change $main.logo to a URL that holds the image you want to display at the top of HTML emails. By default, it
points to the AlarmPoint logo.
FYI notifications | 48
• Set $main.logo_alt_text to the text you wish to display when the logo can not be fetched. This can be displayed if
the email client is configured not to show images, or it could be displayed because the email client cannot access
the AlarmPoint web server directly and thus cannot respond by using the links in the HTML.
• If you are using BES and have access to a BES server, you can set the URL to the BES server in the
$main.bes_pushurl variable.
5. Save and validate the script, update the version number, and check in the script package.
Note: For more information about these and other configuration variables, see “Configuration Variable Reference” on
page 50.
6.8 Known Issues

AlarmPoint Systems plans to resolve the following known issues in a future release:
• Acknowledgement from within Network Node Manager i-series does not prevent further notification deliveries.
• Subsequent responses using BES or HTML Email on Events previously responded to, but not closed, cause a stack
trace (this issue is addressed in AlarmPoint 3.2.1 patch 001).
6.9 Uninstalling
For instructions on removing an AlarmPoint deployment, refer to the AlarmPoint Installation and Administration Guide.
Known Issues | 49
7. Configuration Variable Reference

This section outlines and describes the configuration variables available in the initial Action Script.
7.1 Local Configuration Variables

These variables are available only in this script, and control how the script runs. For more information about the initial
process script, consult the AlarmPoint Developer's Guide & Scripting Reference
7.1.1 FYI and Subscription Notification Variables

The following variables configure the behavior of informational-only, or FYI, notifications. The value assigned to each
variable is the default value within the script
Note: For more information on the behavior associated with informational-only notifications, see .
Variable Description
$force_fyi = “disable” Forces notifications to be informational only rather than requiring responses.
Possible values are:
• disable: nothing is forced.
• on: notifications are forced to be FYI.
• off: notifications are forced not to be FYI.
$use_email_for_fyi = true Configure Device filters for informational-only (FYI) notifications. Setting
these flags to false prevents that Device type from being notified with FYI
$use_phone_for_fyi = false
messages.
$use_im_for_fyi = true
$use_text_phone_for_fyi = true
$use_text_pager_for_fyi = true
$use_numeric_pager_for_fyi = true
$use_bes_for_fyi = true
$use_generic_for_fyi = true
$enable_subs = true Enables Subscription functionality. If set to true, Users subscribed to criteria
matching the event will be notified. If set to false, no subscribed Users will be
notified even if they match the criteria of the event.
7.1.2 Fail-safe Configuration Variables

The following variables configure the fail-safe functionality, and specify when notifications will be sent to the fail-safe
recipient. The value assigned to each variable is its default value within the script.
Note: For instructions on how to set up a fail-safe recipient, see "Creating a Fail-Safe Group" on page 13.
Local Configuration Variables | 50

7.1.3 Alert Configuration Variables

The following variables configure Alert behavior. The value assigned to each variable is its default value within the script.
$subscription_fyi = true Forces Subscription notifications to be informational only; recipients of a

Subscription notification will not be able to respond to the event.
If the $use_phone_for_fyi flag is set to true, a User can respond with
“delete”, which removes the notification from the phone queue, “save”,
which moves to the next notification without deleting, or “repeat”, which
replays the notification.
The $force_fyi flag also forces subscriptions to be informational only. If
both the $force_fyi flag and the $subscription_fyi flag are set to false,
AlarmPoint will use the FYI flag submitted with the event from the
Management System.
$fail_safe = "enabled" Controls whether the fail-safe recipient is notified, and under which
circumstances. Possible values are:
• enabled: notify the fail-safe Group if no Subscriptions match and
there are no notifiable recipients.
• for-subscriptions: notify if the Subscription functionality is enabled
and no Subscriptions match.
• for-recipients: notify if there are no notifiable recipients.
• disabled: disable the fail-safe functionality; no notifications will be
sent to the fail-safe recipient.
$fail_safe_group = "BMCIM FailSafe" Identifies the fail-safe recipient, which is typically a Group, but may be a
User.
$override_timeframes = false Overrides any Device Timeframes that have been configured for a User for
this notification.
$use_emergency_devices = false Forces the use of emergency Devices as part of the Device resolution
processing.
7.2 Global Configuration Variables

These variables are available throughout the script package, and are parameters of the "main" object. The value assigned to
each variable is its default value within the script.
$track_delivery = true Configures the notification to run a response script when the delivery of a
notification is successful. As this can limit Node performance, you can set
this value to false if the custom behavior for successful delivery events is
unnecessary, but you will lose any information about whether a delivery
was successful.
$main.timeout = 86400 Amount of time (in seconds) the event is allowed to run before timing out.
(86400 seconds = 24 hours.)
Global Configuration Variables | 51

$main.debug = false Indicates whether to log informational messages for debugging purposes.
Disabling this variable may improve performance, but will provide less
information.
$main.use_logFile = false Specifies whether to use an alternate log file for debugging messages. This
variable is ignored unless $main.debug is also set to true.
$main.logFile = “../logs/ Defines the file used to log debugging information (only if
BMC_IM_Script.log” $main.use_logfile is set to true).
$main.maxInvalidResponses = 3 Specifies the maximum number of invalid responses allowed before the
notification will no longer be requeued. If a recipient sends an invalid
response and this number has not been exceeded, they will be renotified
with the same content, prefixed with a message indicating that their
response was invalid.
$main.annotate = true Enables submission of information back to the Management System.

Information is logged throughout the script progress; if this variable is set
to true, these logged messages will be annotated to the originating Event.
Setting this variable to false may improve performance, but will make
debugging difficult as some information may not be annotated to the
originating event.
$main.subscription_annotate = false Enables submission of Subscription information back to the Management

System. (As with $main.annotate, but specifically for Subscription
information.) Most Subscriptions are informational only; this variable can
be enabled, for debugging and informational purposes but may reduce
performance.
$main.enable_HTML_Email = true Enables HTML Email functionality for email clients able to support HTML
emails. If a client cannot support HTML than the plain text version will be
passed.
$AlarmPoint_URL = Identifies the AlarmPoint URL used for the HTML response form and
“http://localhost:8888” AlarmPoint logo. If the specified URL cannot be reached, the logo will not
appear, and the response links will not work.
$main.HTML_form_url = Specifies the URL of the AlarmPoint Web Server's Process Notification
$AlarmPoint_URL & “/jsp/ Response JSP form, used by HTML email and BES to inject responses
ProcessNotificationResponse.jsp” through the system.
$main.use_logo = true Specifies whether HMTL email notifications will display the AlarmPoint
(or custom) logo.
$main.logo = $AlarmPoint_URL & Specifies the path to the graphic displayed on HTML (email and BES)
“/static/ images/logos/alarmpoint/ notifications.
UNKNOWN.gif”
$main.logo_alt_text = “[If the logo does The alternate text to display if the HTML email logo is unavailable.
not appear you may be blocking images Note: If the logo does not display, it is unlikely that the HTML_form_url
or you may be outside a firewall. If the will work.
latter, the links will not work for
responding and you should respond by
replying to this email as described
below.]”

$main.numeric_pager_number = The phone number to display for calling in to retrieve event information.
"555-1212" This variable has a non-existent number as a default value; a real call-in
number must be supplied, or a message indicating that an AlarmPoint event
notification has occurred.
$main.bes_pushurl = Specifies the URL of the BES server. (Optional.)

"http://localhost:8888/static"
$main.enable_diagnostics = false Enables diagnostic response choices "Ping EventOrigin", "Ping

MCHostAddress", "TraceRoute EventOrigin", "TraceRoute
MCHostAddress" for email notifications, and also enables the Voice Phone
diagnostic menu with the same responses.

8. Troubleshooting
This section provides troubleshooting information regarding issues that you might encounter while installing, configuring,
and using AlarmPoint for BMC IM.
8.1 If there are Errors during Installation

• Ensure there is sufficient disk space available for installation.
• Check the BMC IM version; AlarmPoint for BMC IM supports version 4.x, 5.x, or 7.x.
• Check the AlarmPoint Java Client version; AlarmPoint for BMC IM supports version 4.0 or later.
• Check the AlarmPoint version; AlarmPoint for BMC IM supports version 4.0 or later.
• Check the Java version; AlarmPoint for BMC IM supports version 1.5.0.
• Ensure that the path environment variable is set correctly.
8.2 If an Event is not propagated to AlarmPoint

• Check the APAgent.xml file for the correct configuration of the AlarmPoint Primary Server and the AlarmPoint
Failover server. The AlarmPoint Failover Server will not get activated if this file is not configured properly.
• Ensure that:
• There are notification policies in BMC IM for escalation to AlarmPoint. For example, the notification policy and
the stop notification policy.
• The path for the bmc_apclient.bin.exe in the AlarmPoint.bat and AlarmPoint_FYI.bat files (or
AlarmPoint and AlarmPoint_FYI on Unix) is correct.
• The AlarmPoint Notification Services are present in the Cell Data section of the Dynamic Data Editor.
• All Users and Groups are enabled in AlarmPoint.
• The notification Devices for all Users are configured in AlarmPoint.
• The AlarmPoint Java Client is running.
• The AlarmPoint action scripts have been imported into AlarmPoint and are in Production mode.
• An Event Domain was created in AlarmPoint for the Impact Manager integration.
Note: The account under which the cell is running must have permission to execute the command files. Note that the
location for the command files on Unix is different than on Windows.
8.3 If a Web Service Axis Fault occurs during user

synchronization
• Ensure there is network connectivity with the AlarmPoint Webserver.
• Ensure the web server is running and that web services have been properly deployed.
• Remove any incomplete Users or Groups from AlarmPoint.
• Consult $MCELL_HOME\APII\log\AlarmPointII.log to determine whether Groups or Users were
synchronizing whe the Axis Fault occurred.
If there are Errors during Installation | 54

• Determine which Users or Groups were successfully and unsuccessfully synchronized with AlarmPoint.
• Log in to AlarmPoint as Company Administrator and remove those Users or Groups so that it will be synchronized
on the next synchronization.
• When you are certain that web services are running run the synchronization module again.
If a Web Service Axis Fault occurs during user synchronization | 55

9. Contact Us
You can access the AlarmPoint Systems Web Site at http://www.alarmpoint.com. From this site you can obtain information
about the Company, the Products, Support and other helpful information. You may also access the Customer Support Site
from the main web page. In this protected site you will find current product releases, helpful hints, patches, release notes,
and other tools provided by AlarmPoint Systems, Inc.
AlarmPoint Systems, Inc. BMC Software, Inc.

4457 Willow Road, Suite 220 1030 West Maude Avenue
Pleasanton, CA 94588 Sunnyvale, CA 94085-2810
Phone: 925-226-0300 Phone: 408-571-7000
Fax: 925-226-0310 Fax: 408-571-7001
E-mail: support@alarmpoint.com
Website: http://www.alarmpoint.com
| 56
10. Copyright
AlarmPoint Systems, Inc. produced this integration document to assist customers with joint BMC /AlarmPoint Systems
implementations. BMC and AlarmPoint Systems have made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this
document is accurate, but do not guarantee any accuracy now or in the future.
AlarmPoint Systems™ and AlarmPoint® are a trademark and registered trademark, respectively, of AlarmPoint Systems,
Inc. in the United States, United Kingdom and other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
©AlarmPoint Systems 2009. Rights to reproduce this document only by written permission of AlarmPoint Systems.
| 57

Alarmpoint For BMC Impact Manager: Confidential & Proprietary

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Copyright xMatters, inc. 1994-2010

1.1.1 Benefits of the AlarmPoint BMC Impact Manager Integration

Figure 1-1. AlarmPoint for BMC IM Architecture

1.2 Key Features

1.3 Integration Components

1.3.1 User Synchronization Module

1.3.2 AlarmPoint Notification command files

1.3.2.1 Windows command line interface files

1.3.2.2 Unix/Linux command line interface files

1.3.2.3 Text files

There are three types of parameters:

1.3.3 AlarmPoint Action Script Set for BMC IM

1.3.4 AlarmPoint Voice Recordings for BMC IM

1.3.5 AlarmPoint Java Client Integration

1.4 System Requirements

1.4.1 Preliminary Requirements

1.4.2 Component Requirements

1.4.3 Operating System Requirements

1.5 Conventions & Terminology

Conventions & Terminology | 6

AlarmPoint Admin Administrative tool to control AlarmPoint Agent.

AlarmPoint System Umbrella term for all AlarmPoint software components.

Management System A generic term for BMC IM.

Conventions & Terminology | 7

2.1 AlarmPoint System

2.1.1 Installing the AlarmPoint Java Client

2.1.2 Installing AlarmPoint

2.1.3 Installing the AlarmPoint Developer IDE

2.2 BMC Impact Manager

2.3 Integration Files

To install the integration files:

2.3.1 BAROC and Rule Files

3.1 Configuring AlarmPoint

3.1.1 Importing the AlarmPoint script package

To import the AlarmPoint Script Package:

3.1.2 Modify the default callout scripts

To annotate a BMC IM incident from the Callout scripts:

5. Locate the code section that sends an ExternalServiceMessage.

3.1.3 Installing Voice Files

To install the voice files:

Note: This integration provides only English voice files.

3.1.4 Defining an Event Domain

To define an Event Domain:

3.1.5 Setting up a two-way Device

To set up a two-way Device:

3.1.6 Installing the Subscription File

To install the JSP file:

2. Create a subfolder named bmc\impactManager.

3.1.7 Configuring the Subscription Panel

3.1.7.1 Defining Event Domain predicates

To define the Event Domain predicates:

Predicate Type Important Values Description

Predicate Type Important Values Description

3.1.7.2 Defining a Subscription Domain

To create a Subscription Domain:

3.1.7.3 Configuring the Subscription JSP

To configure the Subscription JSP to automatically populate predicate lists:

MC_CELL_NAME The cell name of interest on the MC_HOST_NAME server.

WS_PORT The BMC IM web services server port number.

4. Save and close the JSP.

To manually populate the predicate lists: