BA Management

Business Views (BV)

Definition

The BVs allow several BAs to be pooled together in a single group. They are the equivalent of Centreon “host groups” and are used for the different software screens.

Each BV is linked to one or more BAs.

The visualisation restrictions for BA are only carried out at BV level and allow one or more groups to share access created within Centreon.

A BV is not an indicator as such for which the data can be archived. The information displayed is dependent on its content at the point at which it is requested. There is no BA component monitoring for a BV.

BV List

BV configuration is made using Configuration > Business Activity > Business Views menu.

Colonne	Description
Name	BA name
Description	Brief description of the BA
Displayed	The BV is either displayed or not displayed on the Centreon BAM screens
Actions	List of actions that can be performed on the BV (modification/display)

The “More actions” menu allows an action to be applied on several BVs at once:

• Make BVs visible (“Displayed” field set to “Yes”)

• Make BVs invisible (“Displayed” field set to “No”)

• Delete the BVs

• Duplicate the BVs (duplication number can be changed in “Actions” column”)

Making a BV invisible hides its BA tree structure in the pages :

• Monitoring > Business Activity > Management > Performances

Deleting a BV does not delete the BAs that are linked to it.

Deleting a BV is permanent.

Creating a BV

Column	Description
Name	BV name
Description	Brief description of the BV
Displayed in Overview	The BV is either displayed or not displayed on the Centreon BAM software screens
Linked Business Activity	The BA(s) linked to the BV
Authorized Access Groups	The access group(s) that can consult the BV and its BA

Business Activities (BA)

Definition

BAs are the core of the Centreon BAM module. They form aggregated indicators that are monitored by the software in real time. Based on the calculated value, the system is able to notify users if the threshold is exceeded, revealing a malfunction.

This value, which is indexed between 0 and 100 and calculated in % is often related to a service quality measurement.

A BA is linked to indicators (KPIs) monitored by Centreon & Centreon-Engine . It is the real-time aggregation of KPI conditions that will provide the BA with a value.

List

The BA configuration is made using Configuration > Business Activity > Business Activity menu.

Column	Description
Name	BA name
Description	Brief description of the BA
Warning	« Warning » threshold: refers to the warning condition of the BA. A notification can thus be sent.
Critical	« Critical » threshold: refers to the critical condition of the BA. A notification can thus be sent.
Actions	Actions can be carried out (modification, activation/deactivation, display etc.)

The « More actions » menu allows an action to be applied on several BAs at once:

• Activate the BAs

• Deactivate the BAs

• Delete the BAs

• Duplicate the BAs

Warning

Deleting a BA permanently deletes the BA along with all the data linked to it. Duplicate a BA, duplicate also linked KPI.

Creating a BA

The creation and the modification of BAs is carried out using a data entry form. To add a new business activity, click on the Add button above or below the BA list.

There is no template design for managing BAs.

Column	Description
Name	BA name
Description	Brief description of the BA
Warning Threshold	« Warning » threshold: refers to the warning condition of the BA. A notification can thus be sent.
Critical Threshold	« Critical » threshold: refers to the critical condition of the BA. A notification can thus be sent.
Default reporting time periods used by Centreon BAM and Centreon MBI	Reporting stats will be based on this time period by default
Contact Groups	Grousp that will be notified when business activity goes into a Warning/Critical state
Notification Time Period	Time period during which notification can take place
Notification Interval	Notification interval length
Notification Options	States for which notifications will be sent out
Enable notification	Whether or not notification is enabled
Automatically inherit KPI downtimes ?	Whether or not the business activity has to inherit planned downtimes from its KPI. Only works with Centreon Broker >= 3 **
Activate	Whether or not business activity is enabled

The creation of a new BA is broken down into several stages:

• General configuration of the BA

• Configuration of the escalations & dependencies

• Relationship to a BV

• Extended information

Warning

For the new BA to be calculated and monitored like a regular service, Monitoring Engine configuration files have to be generated and it must be restarted.

** KPI downtime inheritance : how does it work ?

• A BA inherit planned downtime from its KPIs when its status is not OK

• When a BA is in planned downtime due to KPI downtime inheritance, when the BA status switch to OK, then the planned downtime is stopped

• When a BA is in planned downtime due to KPI downtime inheritance, if one of the impact comes from a KPIs that has NO planned downtime, then the downtime is stopped

BA Global Configuration

The general configuration is similar to the traditional configuration page of a service on Centreon . However, there are three fields that are specific to the module.

Warning Threshold

Refers to a warning condition of the BA. It must be higher or equal to the “Critical” threshold. The definition of this threshold allows for the following:

• Notification of a “Warning” condition sent to user groups

• Display of a yellow visual component in the BA monitoring, showing where the calculated condition is compared to this warning condition

Critical Threshold

Corresponds to a critical condition of the BA. It must be lower or equal to the “Warning” threshold. The definition of this threshold allows for the following:

• Notification of a “Critical” condition sent to user groups

• Display of a red visual component in the BA monitoring, showing where the calculated condition is compared to this critical condition

Dependencies and escalations

The escalation and dependencies systems are the same as on Centreon objects. However, a BA can only be dependent on another BA.

Escalations are configured on the second tab of the configuration form.

For more details relating to the functionality of escalations and dependencies, please see the Centreon documentation.

BV Association

A BA can be related to one or more BVs. This relationship can be formed both in the BV configuration level and the BA configuration level.

Extended information

• Icon : Icon that represents the business activity

• Comment : Comments regarding the business activity

You can also comment the BA.

The following options are also available but only relevant if you have Centreon MBI , linked to Centreon :

• Extra reporting time periods used in Centreon BI reports : additionnal time period for statistics aggregation.

• SLA thresholds : thresholds that are used in Centreon MBI reports & widgets to manage meteo icon display and colored cells.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Definition

A KPI is a check point in the monitoring system that is linked to a BA. There are four types of KPI:

• “Service” indicator

• “Meta service” indicator

• “Boolean” indicator

• “BA” indicator

A BA can be composed of one or more KPIs.

The KPI has an influence on the value of the BA thanks to a correlation between its condition formed from real-time monitoring and a digital value of between 0 and 100, expressed in %. An operational condition is worth 100% for example, a warning condition 50% and a critical condition 0%. This parameterisation selection is at the user’s discretion.

Every minute, based on the real-time conditions generated from monitoring, Centreon BAM will deduct the impact weights of the different KPIs from an initial value of 100% for the BA. A BA can never have a negative value even if all the impact weights add up to a value above 100.

KPI List

The KPI can be configure with Configuration > Business Activity > Management > Indicators menu

Column	Description
Key Performance Indicator	Name of the KPI based on the object used
Type	KPI category (service, meta service, BA, boolean rule)
Warning Impact	Impact weight in the event of a “Warning” condition , in real-time monitoring Ignored if KPI is a boolean rule
Critical Impact	Impact weight in the event of a “Critical” condition , in real-time monitoring
Unknown Impact	Impact weight in the event of an “Unknown” condition , in real-time monitoring Ignored if KPI is a boolean rule
Actions	Actions can be carried out (modification, activation/deactivation)

The “More actions” menu allows an action to be applied on several KPIs at once:

• Activate the KPIs within their BA

• Deactivate the KPIs within their BA

• Delete the KPIs

Warning

Deleting a KPI does not delete the object to which it relates in the Centreon objects. It also does not delete logs & previous availability statistics are not rebuild.

Creating a KPI

There are several ways to create KPI:

Add a KPI

To add a non boolean KPI, click on the Add a KPI link which takes you to a data entry form.

Regular Mode:

Advanced mode:

Column	Description
Configuration Mode	Configuration mode : regular or advanced
KPI Type	KPI type (service, meta service, boolean rule or a BA)
Key Performance Indicator	Choice of KPI based on the objects in Centreon
Warning Business Impact	Impact weight in the event of a “Warning” condition , in real-time monitoring
Critical Business Impact	Impact weight in the event of a “Critical” condition , in real-time monitoring
Unknown Business Impact	Impact weight in the event of an “Unknown” condition , in real-time monitoring
Linked Business Activity	BA to which the KPI relates

To add a boolean rule : first create the boolean rule ( see below ) then add the KPI

Boolean Rules

To create a boolean rule, go to : “Configuration > Business Activity > Boolean Rules”

Column	Description
KPI name	Name for identifying KPI
Configuration Mode	Configuration mode : regular or advanced
Expression	Logical expression Field for editing the logical expression Toolbox Services that compose the logical expression Button for evaluating the expression with real time monitored statuses Boolean state after evaluation (whether it is real time or simulated) Enter simulation mode, thus allowing user to simulate statuses of the defined services
Impact is applied when expression returns	State of logical expression that triggers the impact
Comments	Comments regarding the boolean KPI
Status	Enabled or Disabled

Add multiple KPI

In order to add multiple KPI at a time, click on « Add multiple KPI » link which takes you to a data entry form.

Colonne	Description
Configuration Mode	COnfiguration mode standard or Advanced
Object Type	Type of object from which the KPI will be loaded
Hosts, Host Groups, Service Groups	Depending on the selected object type, a list of objects will be automatically loaded
Linked Business Activity	BA to which the KPI relates

Clicking on the Retrieve KPI button, a list of KPI will be displayed :

Column	Description
Host	Host of the Service KPI
Service	Service KPI
Warning Impact	Impact weight in the event of a “Warning” condition , in real-time monitoring
Critical Impact	Impact weight in the event of a “Critical” condition , in real-time monitoring
Unknown Impact	Impact weight in the event of an “Unknown” condition , in real-time monitoring

Load .SSV file

To add several KPIs loading a ssv file, click on Load .ssv file

Column	Description
.ssv File	Opens a file browser
KPI Type	Type of KPI to load
Format	Formats of the SSV file depending on the chosen KPI type
Manual Filling	Possibility to fill the field instead of loading a file

Warning

The KPIs have an impact on the BA if the object is in a “HARD” condition, in the real-time Centreon monitoring. It is not necessary to restart the Monitoring Engine when the KPI list is modified. Only with the addition, deletion or modification of a BA is it necessary to restart Monitoring Engine. The “BA” type KPIs cannot be cyclical. A “Service” type KPI, for which the host is in a “Down” condition, will be linked to a critical impact.

Rebuild BA events

This part is interesting if Centreon MBI is used along with Centreon BAM and reporting data needs to be rebuilt for any reason.

In order to rebuild events, run the following script::

# cd /usr/share/centreon/www/modules/centreon-bam-server/engine
# ./centreon-bam-rebuild-events --all

It is also possible to rebuild a specific Business Activity::

# ./centreon-bam-rebuild-events --ba=<id of ba>

For more information regarding this script, run the following command::

# ./centreon-bam-rebuild-events --help