3.3 Event Database Configuration and Event Notification Add-Ons

Basic EDB settings

The Event Database basic configuration (e.g. if the EDB should be started on a MNC system) is defined in /home/satnms/vlc.properties. Please refer to the chapter vlc.properties for details.

EDB settings in the SYSTEM device

There are also settings regarding the Event Database (e.g. IP address of the EventDB Server) which needs to be configured in the SYSTEM device

EDB.properties

Event Database properties are definesin the /home/satnms/edb/EDB.properties file. Page EDB.properties describes this feature in detail.

Event Notification Add-Ons

There are two add-ons which may be configured with the M&C software to notify operators if new event messages have been issued by the system. Notification may be through a RS232 serial interface of the M&C server or by E-mail. Event notification add-ons are available for sat-nms M&C systems only, not for the NMS server.

Event To Serial Notification

The event to serial notification add-on sends event messages through a serial RS232 interface. This interface may be connected to a separate unit which sends SMS messages or teletype messages from this information. Page Event To Serial Notification describes this feature in detail.

Event To Mail Notification

The event to mail notification add-on sends event messages as e-mail notifications to one or more recipients. Page Event To Mail Notification describes this feature in detail.

Add-On Configuration

A notification add-on is activated by setting the key "server.addon" in the file "vlc.properties" either to "EventToSerial", "EventToMail" or to "EventToScript". All particular settings for the selected notification add-on are defined in a separate configuration file. A file called "rules" has to be created with the filter rules which messages are to be forwarded and which not.

The "rules" File

All event notification add-ons provide a filter function for the event messages to forward. Using filter rules defined in the file "rules", the software forwards only messages which match one of the rules specified in the "rules" file.

This file is a plain text file containing one rule per line. Empty lines and comment lines (starting with a '#'-character) are ignored. Each rule has the format <device-name>:<text-pattern>, where both parts may be replaced by "*" as a general wildcard. A rule matches, if the event source matches the given device name and if the message text contains the given text pattern.

Here some example rules:

   HPA-1:FAULT              matches messages from HPA-1 containing
                            "FAULT" in the event message text.
   
   HPA-2:*                  matches all messages from device HPA-2

   *:Lock                   matches messages from all devices which
                            contain "Lock" in the message text
   
   *:*                      matches all messages.

If the "rules" file is missing or empty, the software assumes a "*:*" rule. You may have to create a new "rules" file on your, system, there is no default file installed.