Nimsoft Monitor

nsdgtw Guide
v1.2 series

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Contents
Chapter 1: nsdgtw 1.2

nsdgtw Overview .......................................................................................................................................................... 7

Chapter 2: nsdgtw Probe Deployment

Prerequisites ................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Supported Platforms .................................................................................................................................................... 9
System Requirements .................................................................................................................................................. 9
Software Requirements ............................................................................................................................................. 10
Probe Deployment Information ................................................................................................................................. 10
Nimsoft Service Desk Integration ............................................................................................................................... 10
Create a Nimsoft User Account ........................................................................................................................... 10
Create a Web Services Account .......................................................................................................................... 12
Create Requester Organization ........................................................................................................................... 15

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration

17

Probe Configuration Interface Installation for nsdgtw .............................................................................................. 17

Probe Configuration ................................................................................................................................................... 18
Field Mapping ..................................................................................................................................................... 21
Alarm Filters ........................................................................................................................................................ 23
Alarm Severity and SLA ....................................................................................................................................... 24
Worklog Configuration ........................................................................................................................................ 25
Advanced Configuration Settings ........................................................................................................................ 26
View Incidents in Nimsoft Service Desk .............................................................................................................. 28

Chapter 4: nsdgtw QoS Metrics

31

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting and FAQs

33

Contents 5

Chapter 1: nsdgtw 1.2

This description applies to nsdgtw probe version 1.2x.
This section contains the following topics:
nsdgtw Overview (see page 7)
Documentation Changes (see page 8)

nsdgtw Overview
The Nimsoft Service Desk Gateway probe is a gateway between NMS and CA Nimsoft
Service Desk. The probe works by subscribing to alarm assignments. If an alarm is
assigned to the user specified in the probe setup, the alarm is entered as a Service Desk
Call Request.

Chapter 1: nsdgtw 1.2 7

nsdgtw Overview

Documentation Changes
This table describes the version history for this document.
Version

Date

What's New?

1.2

January 2013

Updated Alarm Severity values to include Ticket

Severity values or Ticket Priority values.

1.1

June 2012

Modified the probe to ensure that the severity for

incidents is updated correctly based on the severity
mappings configured for the probe. Also corrected
the logic to save the last incident check timestamp to
ensure that all alarms are successfully
cleared/acknowledged and none are skipped or
missed during processing.

1.1

October 2011

Added multi-tenancy support

1.0

April 2011

Gateway between NMS and Nimsoft Service Desk.

Related Documentation
Documentation for other versions of the nsdgtw probe
The Release Notes for the nsdgtw probe
Monitor Metrics Reference Information for CA Unified Infrastructure Management
Probes
(http://docs.nimsoft.com/prodhelp/en_US/Probes/ProbeReference/index.htm)

8 nsdgtw Guide

Chapter 2: nsdgtw Probe Deployment

This section contains the prerequisites, system requirements and deployment
information for the nsdgtw probe.
This section contains the following topics:
Prerequisites (see page 9)
Supported Platforms (see page 9)
System Requirements (see page 9)
Software Requirements (see page 10)
Probe Deployment Information (see page 10)
Nimsoft Service Desk Integration (see page 10)

Prerequisites
The nsdgtw probe requires:

Nimsoft Service Desk web service user account access.

Nimsoft user account access within Infrastructure Manager.

Supported Platforms
Refer to the Compatibility Support Matrix for the latest information about supported
platforms. See also the Support Matrix for Probes for more specific information about
the probe.

System Requirements
The nsdgtw probe should be installed on systems with the following minimum
resources:

Memory: 2-4GB of RAM. Probe's OOB configuration requires 256MB of RAM'

CPU: 3GHz dual-core processor, 32-bit or 64-bit

Chapter 2: nsdgtw Probe Deployment 9

Software Requirements

Software Requirements
The nsdgtw probe requires the following software environment:

Nimsoft Monitor Server 5.1.1 or later

Nimsoft Robot 5.23 or later

Java Virtual Machine 1.6 or later (typically installed with NMS 5.0 and above)

Probe Deployment Information

There are three ways to distribute archive packages. You can distribute the package
within the web-based Admin Console (for supported probes), from within Infrastructure
Manager, or use the standalone Distribution application. See Probe Deployment for
more information on deploying probes.

Nimsoft Service Desk Integration

You must create two user accounts to integrate the nsdgtw probe with the Nimsoft
Service Desk application.

Nimsoft user account (within Infrastructure Manager) (see page 10)

Nimsoft Service Desk web services user account (see page 12)

Create a Nimsoft User Account

The nsdgtw probe requires a Nimsoft user account in order to assign alarms generated
through Infrastructure Manager.
Follow these steps:
1.

10 nsdgtw Guide

Open the Infrastructure Manager and Click Security > User Administration.

Nimsoft Service Desk Integration

2.

Right click inside the User Administration screen and select the New User option.

The New User dialog appears.

3.

Enter the User name.

Chapter 2: nsdgtw Probe Deployment 11

Nimsoft Service Desk Integration

4.

Click the Set Password button to create a password for the user.
The Set Password dialog opens.

5.

Enter the password, retype it and click the OK button.

6.

Click OK to quit the New User dialog box, and the user is created.

Note: Nimsoft Service Desk username/password is used to connect the probe internally
to Nimsoft Service Desk.

Create a Web Services Account

To use Web Services to access Nimsoft Service Desk, a Web Services user account must
be configured in Service Desk. The Web Services client account must be configured as a
contact record in Service Desk.
Note: To configure and use the Web Services user account, you must have the required
Web Services license.

12 nsdgtw Guide

Nimsoft Service Desk Integration

Follow these steps:

1.

Click the Application Setup > Manage Contacts link in the Service Desk Navigation
Panel.
The Manage Contact form is displayed.

2.

Enter information in the First Name and Last Name fields.

This will be the Requester Name for the client. Both fields are required.

3.

Enter additional information if desired, or leave the rest of the contact record form
blank.

4.

Click Apply Changes.

The new contact record is created.
The Contact Details, Location, Open Items, and other tabs are now displayed on
the form. The Enable Login check box, Out of Office check box, and other related
fields are enabled.

5.

Select the Enable Login check box in the contact record section.
This allows the Web Services User access to the application.

Chapter 2: nsdgtw Probe Deployment 13

Nimsoft Service Desk Integration

6.

Select the Location tab of the contact record and click Add Locations.

7.

Relate the user to an organization and relationship as desired and click Apply
Changes.
This will be the primary organization of the user. You can relate multiple
organizations but only one organization can be marked as primary.

8.

9.

In the Application tab of the contact record:

a.

Assign System User ID for the Web Services User

b.

Assign License type as Web Services

c.

Select the Disable Service Feedback check box as this contact is not needed to
participate in the Service Feedback process.

d.

Timezone must match the nsdgtw probe timezone.

e.

Add Administration as Support Group using Add Role/Group button.

Click Apply Changes.

Your changes to the Web Services user account are saved.

14 nsdgtw Guide

Nimsoft Service Desk Integration

Create Requester Organization

To use Web Services to access Nimsoft Service Desk, the Web Services user account
must belong to a requester organization.
Follow these steps:
1.

Select Application Setup > Manage Organization in the Service Desk Navigation
Panel.
The Manage Organization form is displayed.

2.

Enter information in the Name field.

This will be the Requester Organization for the client.

3.

Enter additional information if desired, or leave the rest of the contact record form
blank.

4.

Click Apply Changes.

The new Requester Organization is created.

Chapter 2: nsdgtw Probe Deployment 15

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration

The Nimsoft Service Desk Gateway enables customers to automatically or manually
create incidents from Nimsoft Monitor Alarms. It enables bi-directional synchronization
of alarms/incidents.
When alarms are assigned to the Nimsoft user or are automatically assigned, the nsdgtw
probe creates a new incident in the Nimsoft Service Desk. Once these incidents are
closed in Nimsoft Service Desk then the nsdgtw probe automatically acknowledges the
alarms from which these incidents were created in Infrastructure Manager.
Important: Please note that when using NAS AO rules or Auto assignment feature in
nsdgtw probe, to auto-assign alarms to the Service Desk user for the purpose of creating
tickets in the Service Desk system this must be thoroughly tested before put into
production. Erroneous assignment rules can easily result in too many or even duplicate
tickets being created.
This section contains the following topics:
Probe Configuration Interface Installation for nsdgtw (see page 17)
Probe Configuration (see page 18)

Probe Configuration Interface Installation for nsdgtw

The probe configuration interface is automatically downloaded and installed by the
Infrastructure Manager when the probe is deployed on a robot.

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration 17

Probe Configuration

Probe Configuration
This section describes the configuration concepts and procedures for setting up the
nsdgtw probe.
The nsdgtw probe is configured by double-clicking the line representing the gateway in
Infrastructure Manager.

Note: You must click the Apply button to activate any changes made in the probe
configuration.

18 nsdgtw Guide

Probe Configuration

The fields in the above dialog are explained below:

Log-level
Sets the level of details written to the log-file. Log as little as possible during normal
operation to minimize disk consumption, and increase the amount of detail when
debugging.
nas address
Defines the address of the Nimsoft Alarm Server in the format
/<Domain>/<Hub>/<Robot>/nas
Note: You must specify the local Nimsoft Alarm Server. In addition, the address is
case sensitive.
Server URL
Defines the URL of the web service for Nimsoft Service Desk server.
Username
User defined in the Nimsoft Service Desk.This user must be a web service user of
the Service Desk application. The username is case sensitive.
Password
Enter the password for the Nimsoft Service Desk user.
Test (button)
Allows the gateway to attempt to log in on the Nimsoft Service Desk server, using
the specified login credentials. If attempt is successful the icon turns green;
otherwise, the icon is red. A black icon indicates that the connection has not been
tested.
Assigned User
Defines the assigned user. This is the Nimsoft user created within Infrastructure
Manager.
Requester Name
The value for this key will be the name of the requester which was created in the
Nimsoft Service Desk Server > Application Setup > Manage Contacts. Typically this
is displayed in lastname, firstname format.
Requester Organization
The value for this key will be the name of the requester organization which was
created in the Nimsoft Service Desk Server > Application Setup > Manage
Organization.This field is used for multi-tenancy support.
Note: By using the variable $alarm.origin in this field, the origin of the alarm will
map to the corresponding organization in Nimsoft Service Desk. The origin(s)
configured in Nimsoft Monitor must be identical to the organizations in Nimsoft
Service Desk for this to work properly.

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration 19

Probe Configuration

Timezone
Specifies the timezone code (such as GMT, IST, PST, etc.) to be used to store the
time value. The probe must be configured to match the timezone to the user
organization's timezone, not the server timezone.
Note: By default, the timezone will be GMT.
Acknowledge on Following Ticket Status
Selects the status for clearing an alarm in NMS when the corresponding ticket in
NSD is set to one of the following: Closed, Resolved, or Either (Closed and
Resolved).
Closed Incidents Check Interval
Specifies the time interval, in minutes, between probe checks for closed incidents in
the Nimsoft Service Desk. When the operator in the Nimsoft Service Desk has
managed the incident and changed the status to closed, the nsdgtw will (based on
the nimid) clear the alarm.
Note: "MM /dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss a" is the default date format. However, you can
change the date format using the option provided in Raw Configure.
In Raw configure, you can set Key as date_format and Value as the desired format.
Check Now (button)
Checks immediately for closed incidents in Nimsoft Service Desk.
Incident ID Custom Field
Selects the custom field (custom1custom5) you want the Incident ID generated on
the server to be displayed.
On Cleared Alarm
Selects the status value for the NSD ticket when an alarm is cleared in NMS. Valid
options are: Closed, Resolved, or None.
Auto Assign Alarms
Enables the Alarm Filters option. Refer the Alarm Filters section for more
information.
Alarm Severity and SLA (button)
Opens the dialog to select the desired severity level or priority value for the
respective alarms from the drop down list.
The ticket severity level or priority value will be mapped to the alarm severity. Refer
the Alarm Severity and SLA (see page 24) section for more details.
Field Mapping (button)
Opens the dialog that is used to map the Nimsoft service desk fields with the
Nimsoft alarm fields or default values. Refer the Field Mapping (see page 21)
section for more details.

20 nsdgtw Guide

Probe Configuration

Worklog Entry (button)

Opens the dialog that is used to select the alarm field updates that will add a
worklog to a ticket in Nimsoft Service Desk. The worklog will contain the alarm field
updated and its new value.

Field Mapping
Click the Field Mapping button in the probe GUI to open the following dialog.

For editing the existing mapping, double-click the existing record, select the new Service
Desk Fields for mapping, and click the Update button. Your changes will be saved. The
Alarm Fields is disabled while editing.
The Service Desk Fields are displayed in following format:
Field name[field type][field data type]

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration 21

Probe Configuration

Following are the different field data types:

String: No default values will be pre-populated

Date Time: No default values will be pre-populated

Number: No default values will be pre-populated

List: If multiple values for defined Service desk field is available then the list is
pre-populated in Default Values field.

Important: Alarm ID field in Service Desk will always be mapped with ID field of
Alarm Fields.
Note: If the user wishes to change the date format for Custom Fields, you can set Key as
custom_field_date_format and Value as the desired format.
Add
Click to store the selected service desk field and corresponding alarm fields into the
cfg file.
The mapping type of service desk field with alarm fields are listed below:
Service Desk Field

Alarm Fields

String

String

Date Time

Date Time

Number

Number

List

Remove button
Select the mapping type field and remove from the cfg.

22 nsdgtw Guide

Probe Configuration

Alarm Filters
In the probe GUI, when you select the Auto Assign Alarms check box, the Alarm Filters
option is enabled. Click the Alarm Filters button to open the Alarm Filters dialog.

Select the Alarm filter criteria based on which alarms incident will be created
automatically in Nimsoft Service Desk.

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration 23

Probe Configuration

Alarm Severity and SLA

Click the Alarm Severity and SLA button in the probe GUI to open the following dialog.
This dialog sets the severity level or priority value that will be mapped to the Severity
field of Nimsoft Service Desk Ticket.

Select one of the following:

Ticket Severity

Ticket Priority (used for SLA)

None

You can map the values for the alarm severities with the ticket severity or ticket priority
(depending on the option selected).
The Clear option allows you to specify a value to be inserted into the ticket field
(severity or priority) when an alarm in NMS is cleared.
Note: If None is selected, the severity and priority options become read only and cannot
be changed.

24 nsdgtw Guide

Probe Configuration

Worklog Configuration
This dialog allows you to select the alarm field updates that will add a worklog to a ticket
in Nimsoft Service Desk.

The worklog type options are based on options from Nimsoft Service Desk.
You can make the worklog "client viewable" if needed. Worklogs are viewable from the
Activity tab of the ticket in Nimsoft Service Desk.

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration 25

Probe Configuration

Advanced Configuration Settings

The Offline Management mode allows user to take care of the alarms assigned by
nsdgtw while the Nimsoft Service Desk server is down.
The nsdgtw probe pings the Nimsoft Service Desk server at regular interval. When the
Nimsoft Service Desk server is down, nsdgtw is alerted. Once the server is up, nsdgtw is
notified and the probe restarts. On probe restart, the Offline Management mode
checks for the alarms assigned to Nimsoft user in nas when the Nimsoft Service Desk
server was down. The probe fetches the list of alarms assigned to the Nimsoft user from
nas and compares it with the list in the Configuration file. The probe creates incidents
for those alarm IDs that are found in the nas list but not in the configuration file list. The
incidents are in Service Desk, as assigned from nsdgtw probe.
You can disable or enable the Offline Management mode by using the Raw Configure
method:
1.

Hold the Shift key down and right-click the nsdgtw probe in the Infrastructure
Manager.

2.

Select the Raw Configure option.

The Raw Configure window appears.

3.

26 nsdgtw Guide

From the left panel, select the setup node.

Probe Configuration

4.

Select the disable_offline_managment key and click the Edit Key button.
The Edit Key dialog appears.

5.

To turn offline management off, set the key as 1. To turn the offline management
on, set the key as 0.
Note: By default, the key is set to 1.

6.

Modify the key value as required and click OK.

After configuring the settings, restart the nsdgtw probe to implement the changes.

Assign Values to Custom Fields

You can assign values to custom fields in the Infrastructure Manager.
Follow these steps:
1.

Right-click the selected alarm and select the Select Custom Field option.

2.

After hovering on Select Custom Field, five custom fields appear.

3.

Select the value to be assigned.

The Set Custom Field Value dialog appears.

4.

Enter the value and click OK.

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration 27

Probe Configuration

View Incidents in Nimsoft Service Desk

In the Nimsoft Service Desk, all the alarm attributes will be shown in the incidents
Symptom description and Symptom details fields.

Double-click the incident to view its details.

When the operator in the Nimsoft Service Desk has managed the incident and changed
the status to closed, the nsdgtw will (based on the nimid) acknowledge the alarm.
The gateway supports functionality for testing the network access to the Nimsoft
Service Desk, and for testing the login session on the Nimsoft Service Desk with
verification of the user name and password.

28 nsdgtw Guide

Probe Configuration

Notes of Caution:

If you assign an alarm to Service Desk user, then un-assign and assign it back, a
duplicate incident will be created.

If you have Auto Alarm Assignment turned on in nsdgtw with some filter, no alarms
will be assigned in NMS. However, an incident will be created in the Service Desk.
Now, if you try to assign the same auto alarm in NMS, a duplicate incident will be
created in Service Desk.

If you already have NAS auto-operator set for certain conditions, it is recommended
not to use Auto Alarm Assignment. In case both (NAS auto-operator and auto-alarm
assignment) catch similar filter criteria for an alarm, it will result in duplication of
incidents.

If Offline Management is turned off and user performs alarm assignment to Service
Desk user while probe is turned off, no incident will be created in Service Desk.

Chapter 3: nsdgtw Configuration 29

Chapter 4: nsdgtw QoS Metrics

The nsdgtw probe does not generate any QoS. Therefore, there are no probe checkpoint
metrics to be configured for this probe.

Chapter 4: nsdgtw QoS Metrics 31

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting and FAQs

Error Code 301: An unexpected error occurred during data-validation of the request
parameters passed during invocation of the web service: {0}.{1}.
This message indicates following possibilities:

Requester Name or Requester Organization is incorrect

Alarm Field and Service Desk field mapping is incorrect

To resolve the error make sure that following information is correctly provided

Ensure that correct Requester Name is provided.

Ensure that the value for variable $alarm.origin of Requester Organization is

correctly provided.

Ensure that the Alarm fields provide the value expected in Service Desk fields.

Chapter 5: Troubleshooting and FAQs 33