A
Agent Configuration Files

This appendix discusses the configuration files that are generated by the intelligent agent and parameters that can be set to optimize agent operation for different system setups. The following topics are discussed:

• Configuration Files
• User-configurable Parameters
• Intelligent Agent Log Files

Configuration Files

The following files control the operation of the Intelligent Agent.

snmp_ro.ora

The snmp_ro.ora file is located in $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin or a directory specified by the TNS_ADMIN environment variable. Do NOT update this read-only file.

snmp_rw.ora

The snmp_rw.ora is located in the Agent's $ORACLE_HOME\network\admin. You can modify this read-write file, but this should be done carefully.

services.ora

The services.ora file is created when the Agent starts and is located in $ORACLE_HOME\network\agent on the Windows NT platform and $ORACLE_HOME/network/agent on UNIX. This file contains a list of the services, such as Oracle databases and listeners, on the node where the agent resides. Beginning with Agent version 9.0, this file also contains version and platform information about the operating system of the environment in which the Agent is running. This file is retrieved from the agent by Oracle Enterprise Manager through the Navigator Discovery menu options.

User-configurable Parameters

These parameters are used in the snmp_rw.ora configuration file for the Intelligent Agent release.

agentctl.trace_level = off | user | admin | nn

Turns on tracing at the specified level for the AGENTCTL executable. Oracle recommends that you set the trace level to 13. Level 16 produces a deluge of information, which is only useful if a bug is being investigated. With a level of 16, you can see actual TCP/IP packet contents. With a level of 15, you can see that packets are being passed. This parameter is optional.

agentctl.trace_directory = directory

Directory where trace file is written. The setting is only relevant in conjunction with DBSNMP.TRACE_LEVEL. If omitted, trace files are written to $ORACLE_HOME\network\trace. This parameter is optional.

agentctl.trace_file = filename

Filename of the trace file. This parameter is optional.

agentctl.trace_timestamp = true/false

When set to TRUE, inserts a timestamp after each line of trace in the trace files.

snmp.index.service_name.world = index_number

The unique index number of the service that the agent is monitoring. The index number can be any number. The only limitation is that if you have more than one index line, the index numbers must be unique. For example:

snmp.index.<service_name1>=10
snmp.index.<service_name2>=20

snmp.connect.<service_name>.user = user_name

The username that the subagent uses to connect to the database. The default is dbsnmp. This parameter is optional. The catsnmp.sql script should be edited and reexecuted if this parameter is not the default setting.

The "subagent" refers to the Intelligent Agent. Sometimes, the Intelligent Agent is called a subagent to the master SNMP agent when configuring SNMP on a server. However, SNMP does not have to be configured on the server before the Intelligent Agent will work (except for the Netware platform). For security reasons, the customers sometimes do not want to use the default Intelligent Agent database account/password of dbsnmp/dbsnmp. The example listed should only be used if they want to change the Intelligent Agent's database logon account.

snmp.connect.<service_name>.password = password

The password for the username that is used by the subagent to connect to the database. The default is dbsnmp. This parameter is optional. The catsnmp.sql script should be edited and re-executed if this parameter is not the default setting.

The "subagent" refers to the Intelligent Agent. Sometimes, the Intelligent Agent is called a subagent to the master SNMP agent when configuring SNMP on a server. However, SNMP does not have to be configured on the server before the Intelligent Agent will work (except for the Netware platform). For security reasons, the customers sometimes do not want to use the default Intelligent Agent database account/password of dbsnmp/dbsnmp. The example listed should only be used if they want to change the Intelligent Agent's database logon account.

When the dbsnmp password is changed it is automatically encrypted. The password parameter entry in the snmp_rw.ora file will appear in a non-readable format. For example:

snmp.connect.<service>.encryptedpassword="f1d03f5c7912faa3"

After the new password is accepted and encrypted, the Agent's dbsnmp.log file will contain "NMS-00056: Agent's db-account password for database '<service>' was encrypted"

snmp.contact.<service_name> ="contact_info"

A string containing contact information, such as name, phone number, and email, of the administrator responsible for the service. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmp.addnl_db_conns = nn

Increases the size of the Agent session pool. The default size of the Agent session pool is based on the number of ORACLE_DATABASE targets that the Agent manages. The connection limit is the default value plus the value specified for DBSNMP.ADDNL_DB_CONNS.

dbsnmp.no_job_skipped_notifications = <false/true>

When this parameter is true, skipped notifications are not sent. Skipped notifications are sent if this parameter is set to false (default value).

dbsnmp.notificationtimeout = <nn>

If the Agent fails to deliver a notification to the Oracle Management Server within this time, the Agent will be automatically re-started. The default value is 6 minutes. <nn> is number of milli-seconds.

dbsnmp.polltime = nn

The time interval (seconds) that the agent polls the database to check whether it is down. If the database has gone down or was never connected, this is the interval between retries. The default is 30 seconds.

dbsnmp.noheuristic = {true/false}

The value of this parameter determines whether the Intelligent Agent will use a connection heuristic to ascertain the state of a monitored database (whether the database is up or down). By default, this value is set to FALSE (Agent uses the heuristic).

dbsnmp.notificationtimeout = <nn>

If the Agent fails to deliver a notification to the Oracle Management Server within the specified time (nn is number of milliseconds), the Agent is automatically re-started. The default value is 6 minutes.

dbsnmp.trace_level = off | user | admin | nn

Turns on tracing at the specified level for the Intelligent Agent process (dbsnmp). Oracle recommends that you set the trace level to 13. Level 16 produces a deluge of information, which is only useful if a bug is being investigated. With a level of 16, you can see actual TCP/IP packet contents. With a level of 15, you can only see that packets are being passed. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmp.trace_directory = directory

Directory where trace file is written. The setting is only relevant in conjunction with the DBSNMP.TRACE_LEVEL. If omitted, trace files are written to $ORACLE_HOME\network\trace. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmp.trace_file = filename

Filename of the trace file. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmp.trace_filecnt = nn

Maximum number of trace files generated by the Agent. This optional parameter should be used when full tracing is desired, but disk space on the Agent machine is limited. This parameter is available beginning with version 8.1.7 of the Intelligent Agent.

dbsnmp.trace_filesize = nn

Maximum size of the individual trace file (in Kilobytes) generated by the Agent. For example, a value of 1024=1 megabyte trace file. This parameter is used in conjunction with DBSNMP.TRACE_FILECNT when full tracing is desired, but disk space on the Agent machine is limited. This parameter is available beginning with version 8.1.7 of the Intelligent Agent.

dbsnmp.trace_unique = true/false

When set to TRUE, generates unique log files for each log entry.

dbsnmp.log_directory = directory

Directory where log file is written. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmp.log_file = filename

Filename of the log file. This parameter is optional. On Windows NT, the filename defaults to dbsnmp.

dbsnmp.log_unique = true/false

When set to TRUE, generates unique log files for each log entry.

dbsnmp.trace_timestamp = true/false

When set to TRUE, inserts a timestamp after each line of trace in the trace files.

dbsnmp.hostname = <hostname or ip address>

Overrides the hostname the Agent is known by. This parameter allows the Agent to bind to a particular network interface card on its machine when an IP address is specified. This parameter also allows the Agent to bind to all network interface cards on its machine when hostname is specified.

The string that is returned is the name of the machine and is used in crypto exchanges. DBSNMP.HOSTNAME will also override the default host that is used for RPC listens (dbsnmp.address and dbsnmp.spawnaddress).

dbsnmp.threshold_job_status

This sets the number of job notifications that can be queued by the Agent for the Oracle Management Server.

dbsnmp.threshold_evocc

Sets the number of event notifications that can be queued for the OMS.

dbsnmp.avg_occ_per_event

Sets the number of notifications stored per event prior to flushing the queue when there are too many notifications.

dbsnmpj.trace_level = off | user | admin | nn

Turns on tracing at the specified level for the dbsnmpj process. dbsnmpj is spawned whenever a job is submitted to the Intelligent Agent. Oracle recommends that you set the trace level to 13. Level 16 produces a deluge of information, which is only useful if a bug is being investigated. With a level of 16, you can see actual TCP/IP packet contents. With a level of 15, you can only see that packets are being passed. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmpj.trace_directory = directory

Directory where trace file is written. The setting is only relevant in conjunction with the DBSNMP.TRACE_LEVEL. If omitted, trace files are written to $ORACLE_HOME\network\trace. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmpj.trace_file = filename

Filename of the trace file. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmpj.trace_filecnt = nn

Maximum number of trace files generated by the Agent. This optional parameter should be used when full tracing is desired, but disk space on the Agent machine is limited. This parameter is available beginning with version 8.1.7 of the Intelligent Agent.

dbsnmpj.trace_filesize = nn

Maximum size of the individual trace file (in Kilobytes) generated by the Agent. For example, a value of 1024=1 megabyte trace file. This parameter is used in conjunction with DBSNMP.TRACE_FILECNT when full tracing is desired, but disk space on the Agent machine is limited. This parameter is available beginning with version 8.1.7 of the Intelligent Agent.

dbsnmpj.trace_unique = true/false

When set to TRUE, generates unique trace files for each line of trace.

dbsnmpj.log_directory = directory

Directory where log file is written. This parameter is optional.

dbsnmpj.log_file = filename

Filename of the log file. This parameter is optional. On Windows NT, the filename defaults to dbsnmpj.

dbsnmpj.log_unique = true/false

When set to TRUE, generates unique log files for each log entry.

dbsnmpj.trace_timestamp = true/false

When set to TRUE, inserts a timestamp after each line of trace in the trace files.

dbsnmp.address = (address=(protocol= <protocol>) (host=<host_name>)(port=<port_no>))

The TNS address that the agent uses to listen for incoming requests. There should be no space or return characters in the address. This parameter is the address that the Agent listens on for network connections.

TCP/IP must be installed on the server since it is required to automatically discover services with the agent.

The agent requires PORT=1748. The port address 1748 is a registered TCP port granted to Oracle by the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA). The port address is automatically set. Changing this port makes the agent undetectable by the Enterprise Manager Console and forces a manual configuration setup.

dbsnmp.spawnaddress = (address= (protocol=<protocol>) (host=<host_name>)(port=<spnport_no>))

The TNS address which the agent can use to accept RPC's. This address is used for file transfers. The spnport_no used in this parameter is different than port_no used in the DBSNMP.ADDRESS parameter.

The agent PORT=1754. The port address 1754 is a registered TCP port granted to Oracle by the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA). Changing this port makes the Agent undetectable by the Enterprise Manager Console and forces a manual configuration setup.

dbsnmp.cs_base_port = <port number>

Port number used to override the default port numbers utilized by the Agent's collection service. For example, specifying a port number of 1700 tells the Agent to use 1700 and 1701 as the designated port numbers.

Intelligent Agent Log Files

When the appropriate log file parameters are set, the following log files can be generated.

Table A-1 Intelligent Agent Log Files

Log File	Description
dbsnmp.log	Logs all Intelligent Agent processes
dbsnmpj.log	Logs all jobs processed by the Intelligent Agent
dbsnmp.nohup (UNIX) <agent service name>.log (Windows NT)	Logs automatic Intelligent Agent restart (dbsnmpwd)
agntsrvc.log (Windows NT)	Logs the "agentctl" functions. File also shows any errors that occur during Agent startup.
nmiconf.log	Logs discovery information and errors.