Editing probe packages (configuration files and templates: .cfg and .cfx) in UIM

Products

DX Unified Infrastructure Management (Nimsoft / UIM) Unified Infrastructure Management for Mainframe CA Unified Infrastructure Management SaaS (Nimsoft / UIM)

Issue/Introduction

What are the differences and important roles of .cfx and .cfg files?
This document covers information on probe template directives such as default, overwrite, clear etc. and how to edit packages / superpackages using the package editor.

Environment

Release: 8.x or higher

Cause

- Bulk reconfiguration of hubs, robots, probes, etc.

Resolution

The <probe>.cfx is the template for the 'default' configuration whereas the <probe>.cfg is the actual current 'running' configuration.

Example:
Create a CFX file and distribute this to all robots with CDM:

How can you make a generic (massive, global) change in a configuration parameter on a probe installed on many robots?

For example, you want to change the disk alarm threshold on all disks on all machines to 10%. Or you want to deactivate processor queue alarms on all cdm probes on all machines.

You can extract the configuration file by pulling the probe into the archive (check 'configuration only'). Rename the probe template so that it does not replace the original probe package.

The configuration file will be part of the new package, but should be taken out and replaced by a file with the same name but with the .cfx extension:

Before removing the file from the package, use 'View file contents' and select/copy the file contents. Create the file with the .cfx extension in a temporary directory and paste the contents of the original file in here. Make your changes according to the .cfx file syntax (see below) and then add the file to the package.

You now have a package with configuration file changes which you can distribute to all your robots of the same OS type.

If you want to be able to distribute to all computer types, you can either change the OS type and OS parameters to reflect this or create one section for each computer type.

Note that the changes are applied to existing probes only, so that if the probe is not installed, no action will be performed.

The configuration file (.cfx)

The configuration files in the package have the same configuration file format as installed configuration files except for added formatting commands. These formatting commands determine the way the distributed files are merged with existing ones.

The layout of a configuration file looks like this:

<section1>
key1 = value1
<section2>
key2 = value2
</section2>
</section1>
<section3>
key3 = value3
</section3>

Directives to determine merging behavior are added to the beginning of a section. The following directives are supported:

‘ ‘ - No directive: Add keys from this section if they are not already present in the target configuration file.

‘overwrite’ - Add keys from this section overwriting existing keys in the target configuration file.

‘edit’ - Add or change keys from this section overwriting existing keys. The section position is not changed when using this option.

‘delete’ - Remove keys mentioned.

‘clear’ - Remove the whole section. If the section contains any keys then re-create the section adding these keys.

Note that the same section may appear several times, for example:

<a> delete
key1 =
</a>
<a>
key2 =
</a>

This removes key1 from section a and adds key2 to section a.

Directives are not inherited by sub-sections but must be specified explicitly for each. The ‘clear’ directive is an exception to this since it will affect subsections.

Examples of use:

Add a key if it does not already exist:

<setup>
loglevel = 0
</setup>

Set a key regardless of its earlier setting:

<setup> overwrite
loglevel = 0
</setup>

Remove a section:

<setup> clear
</setup>

Remove all keys from a section and add one:

<setup> clear
loglevel = 0
</setup>

Remove one key from a section and add another:

<setup> delete
logfile =
</setup>

<setup> overwrite
datafile = config.dat
</setup>

<overwrite>
modify the default settings. This is achieved with the 'overwrite' option on the relevant section of the .cfx file.

<fixed_default> clear
This will tell the probe to clear out all settings in that section and replace with what you have in the cfx file. This will remove any prior settings in that section with the new.

IMPORTANT:
Note that the resultant configuration file you edit or create, must be named with a .cfx extension for whatever changes you want to make, to be merged within the configuration, e.g., logmon.cfx.