What Does the Adapter Setup Wizard Create? :: SAS(R) IT Resource Management 3.7: Administrator's Guide

What are the Types of Jobs That the Adapter Setup Wizard Creates?

Based on your specifications, the Adapter Setup wizard creates a set of ETL jobs and all the metadata that is necessary for those jobs to execute. These jobs and the associated metadata are stored in the <adapter><number> folder and other subfolders of the IT data mart that you are working with.

Note: The default name of each job contains the name that matches the subfolder where the job is located in addition to the domain category that you specify with the Adapter Setup wizard.

The Adapter Setup wizard creates the following types of jobs:

one staging job that contains only the part of the ETL flow that relates to the staging transformation and the target staged tables.

Note: The Adapter Setup wizard creates two staging jobs for the VMware vCenter adapter: VMware Data Acquisition and VMware vCenter.
zero or more aggregation jobs that each contain one Aggregation transformation with target summary tables. The number of aggregation jobs that are created varies based on the domain categories (and their respective subcategories), time periods, and reporting selections that you specified. For more information about the aggregations that the Adapter Setup wizard creates and how you can use these aggregations to analyze and report on your IT data, see Aggregation Jobs and Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard .
zero or more information map jobs that each contain one Information Map transformation per aggregation table. The number of information map jobs that are created varies based on the domain categories (and their respective subcategories), time periods, and reporting selections that you specified.

For more information about the information map jobs that the Adapter Setup wizard creates and how you can use them to report on your IT data, see Information Map Jobs and Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard.
zero or more reporting jobs that each contain one or more Performance Report transformations per information map. The number of reporting jobs that are created varies based on the domain categories (and their respective subcategories), time periods, and reporting selections that you made when specifying the adapter.
zero or more exception jobs for staged tables that each contain one or more Exception transformations. The number of exception jobs that are created depends on the number of staged tables for the adapter for which exception definitions are supplied.

If you do not select the option to have the Adapter Setup wizard automatically deploy the jobs that it creates, then you must deploy the resulting jobs if you want to run them in batch mode. You can right-click a job to open a menu that provides various options such as deployment and scheduling tasks. For information about deploying and scheduling the jobs that the Adapter Setup wizard creates, see Deploy and Run Jobs That the Adapter Setup Wizard and Add Domain Category Wizard Create.

Here is an example of the subfolders and jobs that the Adapter Setup wizard created for a second instance of the SAR adapter. The domain categories of Disk and System were selected. Two exception jobs were generated.

Subfolders and Jobs Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

The domain categories for some adapters include a very large amount of data and associated tables. In these cases, the domain categories are divided into domain subcategories. A separate aggregation table, information map job, aggregation job, reporting job, and exception job is created for each domain subcategory based on the time periods and other reporting selections that you made when specifying the adapter. For example, the IBM SMF adapter includes a domain category called DB2 Global. The DB2 Global domain category is divided into four domain subcategories (AttachConName, ConType, JobAttach, Plan, and Subsystem).

Here is an example of the objects that the Adapter Setup wizard created for a second instance of the IBM SMF adapter. The DB2 Global domain category and the Day time period were selected. (No exception jobs were generated because the DB2 Global domain does not have any exception definitions.)

Subfolders and Jobs Created for Domain Subcategories

Where Does the Adapter Setup Wizard Store the Objects That It Generates?

The Adapter Setup wizard stores the objects that it generates in predetermined locations within the IT data mart that you select. These objects can be stored in any location to which you have Write access. However, the Adapter Setup wizard uses the following folder organization to simplify the management and maintenance of the various objects that are interrelated. For best results, if you choose to create or edit IT data mart folders, subfolders, jobs, transformations, or tables, then use the same naming conventions and folder structure that the Adapter Setup wizard uses for consistency and efficiency.

The wizard creates an <adapter><number> folder in the IT data mart that you are working with. Within this folder, the wizard creates the following two subfolders for the objects that it creates:

The Staging subfolder, which contains the staging job, staged tables, and the library for those tables.

Within the Staging subfolder, the wizard creates the Exception subfolder if exception definitions were set up for this adapter and domain category.

The following display shows the metadata that is created in the Staging subfolder for a second instance of the SAR adapter within the IT data mart. The Staging subfolder contains the SAR 2 System Exceptions job, the Exception_System target exception table, and the Exception 2902 library that contains the exception table. The Staging subfolder also contains the SAR Staging job, the SARDEV staged table, and the library (SAR Staging 2763) for that table.

Default Location of Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard for Staging the Raw Data
The Domain Categories subfolder contains additional subfolders that are named by domain category. Each of these subfolders for domain categories contain the libraries, aggregation tables, and jobs (aggregation, information map, and reporting) that are associated with the respective domain category.

For example, the following display shows the metadata that is created in the Domain Categories subfolder for the following scenario:
- SAR adapter is selected, and it is the second time the wizard is run for this adapter in the IT data mart.
- Two domain categories (Disk and System) are selected.
- One time period (Day) is selected.
In this example, the Domain Categories subfolder contains two subfolders of domain objects: Disk and System. Each domain subfolder contains three aggregated tables, the library associated with those tables, the aggregation job, the information map job, and the reporting job.

Default Location of Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard for Aggregating, Creating Information Maps, and Reporting on the Staged Data

Staging Jobs, Exception Jobs, and Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

About Staging Jobs, Exception Jobs, and Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

For most adapters, the Adapter Setup wizard creates one staging library and one staging job for each execution of the wizard. The staging library is named <adapter> Staging <unique number>. The staging job is named <adapter> Staging and it contains the following objects for a given adapter:

one staging transformation
one or more target staged tables

A staging job creates the code that populates the associated staged tables. The staged tables are created by the Adapter Setup wizard based on template tables that are supplied as part of SAS IT Resource Management. These tables are predetermined to include the data that is most relevant and appropriate for analysis and reporting based on the domain category and time periods that you selected in the wizard. A staged table in the staging job is given the same name as the template table on which it is modeled. For more information about the specific staged tables that each domain category supports, see Overview of the SAS IT Resource Management Data Model .

If an exception definition was set up for this adapter and domain category, an Exception subfolder is created under the Staging subfolder. The wizard creates one exception library and one or more exception jobs for each execution of the wizard. The exception library is named <adapter> Exception <unique number>. The exception job is named <adapter> <domain category> Exceptions and it contains the following objects for a given adapter:

one Exception transformation
one target exception table

Note: An exception condition table can be added to the Exception transformation. For more information, see How to Specify an Exception Table.

Note: For the VMware vCenter adapter, the Adapter Setup wizard creates two staging jobs (VMware Data Acquisition and VMware vCenter) with one staging transformation and one staging library for each.

How to Determine Whether the Adapter Setup Wizard Will Create Exception Jobs for Your Selections

SAS IT Resource Management supplies predefined exception definitions for the staged tables of several adapter and domain category combinations. These exception definitions include information such as the name of the exception definition, the expression of the exception, and other attributes. The Adapter Setup wizard uses these prepackaged exception definitions in the exception jobs that it creates for the adapter and domain categories that you select.

If you select an adapter domain category for which SAS IT Resource Management supplies exception definitions, then the Adapter Setup wizard creates the appropriate exception jobs. To determine whether the Adapter Setup wizard is going to create exception jobs for the adapter and domain category that you selected, view the Summary page of the wizard before you select Finish. (For information about jobs that the wizard creates, see Jobs That the Adapter Setup and the Add Domain Category Wizards Create.)

The Summary page lists the exception jobs that the Adapter Setup wizard will create and the exception definitions that the exception jobs use. As shown in the following display, one exception job is created. It will run two exception definitions.

Example of a Summary Page Listing Exception Jobs

List of Exception Jobs in the Adapter Setup Wizard Summary page

Aggregation Jobs and Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

Overview

The Adapter Setup wizard creates zero or more aggregation jobs for a supported adapter. Each of these aggregation jobs contain one staged table as the source table, one Aggregation transformation, and one or more target summary aggregation tables. The aggregation tables are named using the convention <time period> (such as Day, WeekShift, MonthShiftHour, KeyMetrics, Detail, and so on) <domain subcategory > (such as cache, memory, server, and so on). For example, an aggregation table name might be MonthShiftHourDisk.

There are three types of aggregations that the Adapter Setup wizard might include in an aggregation job.

regular aggregations by time period

transformations that specify one or more ways to classify, summarize, and age an input table based on a specified time period. For more information about aggregations that are created by time period, see Aggregations by Time Period.

key metrics aggregations

aggregations that include only key metrics and any relevant classification and ID columns that are associated with these key metrics to provide vital data for the longer term forecast and capacity planning reporting.about key metrics aggregations, see Key Metrics Aggregations.

detail aggregations

simple aggregation tables that contain detail data as it was read by the staging transformation. For more information about the detail aggregations that the Adapter Setup wizard creates, see Detail Aggregated Tables.

The number and type of aggregations that are provided for a supported adapter varies based on the type of data that the adapter collects and the specifications that you select in the Adapter Setup wizard.

For more information about working with aggregations in SAS IT Resource Management, see Working with Aggregation Transformations. For more information about the aggregation metrics that are provided by SAS IT Resource Management adapters, see the documentation at http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/itsv/metrics.html.

Aggregations by Time Period

The Adapter Setup wizard creates a set of aggregations based on the domain categories and time periods (Day, Week, Month, Shift) that you select. These aggregations, stored in separate folders for each domain category that you selected, classify, summarize, and age an input table based on the selected time periods. For example, the WeekDisk aggregation includes weekly data about server disk performance. In turn, the weekly reporting job uses the information from this aggregation table and its corresponding information map to generate a report that shows the weekly performance data for the server disk.

The following table shows the aggregations that the Adapter Setup wizard creates based on selected time periods.

Aggregations Created by Time Period Selection
Selected Time Period	Generated Aggregations
Day	Detail Day DayHour
Day + Shift	Detail Day DayShift DayHour DayShiftHour
Week	Week WeekHour
Week + Shift	Week WeekShift WeekHour WeekShiftHour
Month	Month MonthHour
Month + Shift	Month MonthShift MonthHour MonthShiftHour

Key Metrics Aggregations

The Adapter Setup wizard creates key metrics aggregations if you select the Key metrics option in the wizard. These aggregations are named with the prefix “KeyMetrics” and are stored with the other aggregation tables for a given domain category.

Key metrics aggregations are tables that have only a few columns that are deemed highly important for the domain category. These aggregations serve as the source for capacity planning and forecasting. These aggregations include only key metrics and any relevant classification and ID columns that are associated with these key metrics to provide vital supporting data for the selected metrics.

Key metrics are a subset of the available metrics that are provided by adapters for a given performance area such as resource utilization. You can use key metrics aggregation tables to quickly view the most critical data for a performance area.

The following image shows a key metrics aggregation, circled in red, in a process flow diagram.

Key Metrics Aggregation in a Process Flow Diagram

For more information about key metrics, see What Are Key Metrics?.

Detail Aggregated Tables

For some adapters, the Adapter Setup wizard creates simple aggregation tables that consist of the raw data from the staged table that is appended to the simple aggregated table. These aggregated tables are named with the prefix “Detail” and are stored with the other aggregation tables for a given domain category.

Detail aggregated tables provide a granularity that enables you to view and report on the raw data as it is retrieved from the source. These simple aggregated tables can support join columns, computed columns, and aging, but they do not include statistics or other intelligence from SAS IT Resource Management.

The following image shows a detail aggregation, circled in red, in a process flow diagram.

Detail Aggregation in a Process Flow Diagram

Information Map Jobs and Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

The Adapter Setup wizard creates one information map job (named <domain category> Information Map) for each domain category that you select. These information map jobs include an Information Map transformation for each aggregation table that the wizard creates for the domain category. Each Information Map transformation is named the same as its corresponding aggregation table <level> (such as Day, WeekShift, MonthShiftHour, and so on) <domain subcategory> (such as cache, memory, server, and so on).

Note: When the Adapter Setup wizard creates Information Map transformations, it populates the Information map path field on the Information Map Parameters tab and checks the Use default path of the job box. (When this box is checked, the Information map path is grayed out, and cannot be changed.) The Information Map transformation stores the information maps in the current folder where the information map job resides. This enables you to move or rename elements of the folder structure easily without having to modify each of the Information Map transformations that are affected. If you want to change the location where the information maps are stored, uncheck the Use default path of the job box and enter the changed path. You can click Browse to navigate to the location where you want to store your information maps.

When the information map jobs run, the Information Map transformations create information maps for the corresponding aggregation tables and the information maps are stored in the same <domain category> folder as the information map job, aggregation tables, and aggregation job. In the case of objects created by the Adapter Setup wizard, an Information Map transformation assigns the same name to the information map that it creates. As a result, the aggregation table, Information Map transformation, and resulting information map have the same name. This helps identify and associate each object easily.

Note: You might make changes to the tables that are input to those Information Map transformations that alter the structure of the table (for example, by adding or deleting columns). If so, you must rerun the corresponding information map jobs so that the information maps are regenerated.

The Adapter Setup wizard provides filters for the Information Map transformations that it creates. The wizard automatically provides one filter for each ranked column and one or more filters for the ranked columns of dates. These filters are specified in the Information Map transformations and propagated to the information maps that are created when the job is run. For more information about working with Information Map transformations, information maps, and information map filters, see About Information Maps.

Reporting Jobs and Objects Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

About Reporting Jobs Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

The Adapter Setup wizard programmatically creates reporting jobs for the domain categories and time periods that you might select. These reporting jobs are named using the convention <domain subcategory> <time period> (such as Daily, Weekly, and Monthly)> Reporting, and they are stored in the same domain category folder as the aggregation and information map jobs.

Reporting jobs include Performance Report transformations that use report definitions, information maps, and aggregation tables to generate readable reports on the IT resource data. When a reporting job executes, it creates the necessary report packages and reports based on the information maps that are in the same domain category folder. The reports are then saved as tabular or graphic files (such as HTML or PNG files) in the SAS Content Server that you selected in the Adapter Setup wizard. For more information about the reporting jobs that the Adapter Setup wizard creates for specific domain categories and time periods, see How to Determine Whether the Adapter Setup Wizard Will Create Reporting Jobs for Your Selections.

Note: The metadata server and SAS Content Server must be running when reporting jobs execute or the jobs will fail to generate output.

After a reporting job is deployed, scheduled, and executed, the resulting report output is available for viewing with ITRM Report Center. The ITRM Report Center enables you to access, filter, and manage your report content from a web browser. For more information about reporting jobs and using ITRM Report Center, see the SAS IT Resource Management 3.7: Reporting Guide.

How to Determine Whether the Adapter Setup Wizard Will Create Reporting Jobs for Your Selections

SAS IT Resource Management supplies predefined report definitions for several domain categories and time periods. These report definitions include information such as the table and level, the names of the variables, the report style, and other attributes that are used to build graphical reports from your IT resource data. The Adapter Setup wizard uses these prepackaged report definitions in the reporting jobs that it creates for the domain categories and time periods that you select.

If you select a domain category and time period for which SAS IT Resource Management supplies report definitions, then the Adapter Setup wizard creates the appropriate reporting jobs. To determine whether the Adapter Setup wizard is going to create reporting jobs for the domain category and time periods that you selected, view the Summary page of the wizard before you select Finish. (For information about jobs that the wizard creates, see Jobs That the Adapter Setup and the Add Domain Category Wizards Create.)

The Summary page lists the report jobs that the Adapter Setup wizard will create and the report definitions that the report jobs use, as shown in the following image:

Example of a Summary Page Listing Report Jobs

List of Report Jobs in the Adapter Setup Wizard Summary page

Note: The Summary page also includes a note if no reporting jobs will be created.

You can also determine whether the Adapter Setup wizard is going to create reporting jobs based on your selections by viewing the list of supplied report definitions for a given domain category and time period. If SAS IT Resource Management supplies report definitions for a given adapter, domain category, and time period, then the Adapter Setup wizard creates a reporting job for those selections. If there are no supplied report definitions for a given adapter, domain category, and time period, then the Adapter Setup wizard does not create reporting jobs for those selections.

To view the supplied report definitions, perform the following steps:

In the Folders tree, select Shared DataSAS IT Resource Management3.7 IT Report Definitions.
Select an <adapter> folder.
Select a <domain category> folder.
Select Supplied.
Select a <time period> folder.

Supplied Report Definitions for DT Perf Sentry, Server Disk, Day Data

You can also create your own report definitions, Performance Report transformations, and reporting jobs to supplement the reporting jobs that the Adapter Setup wizard creates. You can also add reporting jobs to the domain categories and time periods for which the Adapter Setup wizard does not create reporting jobs. Report definitions that you create can be stored in the User-Defined folder within the domain category folder. If you decide to create your own reporting objects and jobs, use the same naming conventions and folder structure that the Adapter Setup wizard uses for consistency and efficiency. Consider using the reporting objects that are supplied by SAS IT Resource Management as templates for those objects that you create. For more information about creating your own report definitions, Performance Report transformations, and reporting jobs, see the SAS IT Resource Management 3.7: Reporting Guide.

CAUTION:

For best results, maintain copies of any supplied report definitions and any supplied report definitions that you might have modified so that your collection of reports is preserved.

The Adapter Setup wizard looks in the Supplied folder for the report definitions to use in the reporting jobs that it creates. If you modify or remove these supplied report definitions, then you will lose or overwrite the intelligence that SAS IT Resource Management has incorporated into these definitions to ensure proper creation of the reports. Likewise, subsequent updates to SAS IT Resource Management software will overwrite any modifications that you have made to those report definitions that were supplied by the solution.

Libraries Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

The Adapter Setup wizard creates libraries that are required to hold the various tables that are used by the jobs that the wizard creates. The wizard creates the necessary libraries based on the adapter and domain categories that you select. For example, only a few adapters such as IBM SMF and ASG TMON2CIC require a spin library for spin data. The Adapter Setup wizard creates a spin library only for those adapters that require one.

Staged library and libref names must be unique within the application server. The Adapter Setup wizard creates the following libraries and stores them in the same folder as their corresponding jobs and tables in the IT data mart:

library for staged tables

holds the staged tables that the Adapter Setup wizard creates. The Adapter Setup wizard creates one staged library for each staging job that it creates with every execution of the wizard. This library is named <adapter> Staging <unique number>. The corresponding libref name is STG <the same unique number as the library>.

libraries for aggregation tables

hold the aggregation tables that the Adapter Setup wizard creates. The Adapter Setup wizard creates an aggregation library for each aggregation transformation that it creates. These libraries are named <domain subcategory> <unique number>. The corresponding libref name is AGG <the same unique number as the library>.

spin library

holds the spin metadata for adapters that use spin data. These libraries are named <adapter name> Spin <unique number>. The corresponding libref name is SPIN.

exception library

holds the exception tables that the Adapter Setup wizard creates. The Adapter Setup wizard creates an exception table. If specified, it also creates an exception condition table. These libraries are named Exception <unique number>.

Log File Created by the Adapter Setup Wizard

The Adapter Setup wizard creates a log file after each execution of the wizard and stores the text file on your machine. The last item on the Summary page of the Adapter Setup wizard provides the location where the log file is stored. On the client, these log files are located in a directory that is determined based on the APPDATA environment variable. On Windows 7, this location is typically C:\Users\userid\AppData\Roaming\SAS\SASITResourceManagement\3.7.

The name of the log file is based on the adapter that you selected and the date and time that the Adapter Setup wizard was executed (ASWlogYYMMDDHHMMSS-<adapter name> <number>). For example, the Adapter Setup wizard might create the following log file if executed for the fourth instance of the DT Perf Sentry adapter on May 23, 2014, at 2:30:44 p.m.:

ASWlog1405231433044-DT Perf Sentry
                     1.txt.

The Adapter Setup wizard log includes all of the information that is detailed on the Summary page of the Adapter Setup wizard. It also includes the processing time for each process and the total processing time for the wizard to execute. The following image shows a sample log file from an execution of the Adapter Setup wizard.

Sample Log File from the Adapter Setup Wizard