Component Identification (Source and Reporter)

Component Identification (Source and Reporter)

The component identification fields in the Common Base Event are used to indicate which component in the system is experiencing the condition described by the event (the sourceComponentId) and which component emitted the event (the reporterComponentId). Typically, these are the same component, in which case only the sourceComponentId is supplied. Some notes and scenarios on when these two elements in the Common Base Event should be used:

the sourceComponentId is always used to identify the component experiencing the condition described by the event.
the reporterComponentId is used to identify the component that actually produced and emitted the event. This element is typically only used within events emitted by a component that is monitoring another component and providing operational information regarding that component. The monitoring component (for example, a Tivoli agent or hardware device driver) is identified by the reporterComponentId and the component being monitored (for example, a monitored server or hardware device) is identified by the sourceComponentId.
A potential misuse of the reporterComponentId is to identify a component that provides event conversion or management services for a component, for example, identifying an adapter that transforms the events captured by a component into Common Base Event format. The event conversion function is considered an extension of the component and should NOT be identified separately.
The information used to identify a component in the system is the same, regardless of whether it is the source component or reporter component:

location locationType Component Location Identifies the location of the component.
component componentType Component Name Identifies the asset name of the component, as well as the type of component.
subcomponent Subcomponent Name Identifies a specific part (i.e. subcomponent) of a component, e.g. a software module or hardware part.
application Business Application Name Identifies the business application or process the component is a part of and provides services for.
instanceId Operational Instance Identifies the operational instance of a component, i.e. the actual running instance of the component.
processId threadId Operational Instance Identifies the operational instance of a component within the context of a software operating system, i.e. the operating system process and thread running when the event was produced.
executionEnvironment Operational Instance Component Location Provides additional information about the operational instance of a component or its location by identifying the name of the environment hosting the operational instance of the component (e.g. the operating system name for a software application, the application server name for a J2EE application, or the hardware server type for a hardware part).

The Common Base Event specification [CBE101] provides information on the required format of these fields and the Common Base Event Developer’s Guide [CBEBASE] provides general usage guidelines. This section will provide additional information about how to format and use some of these fields for problem determination events, which should be used to clarify and extend the information provided in the other documents.

Component

The component field in a problem determination event is used to identify the manageable asset associated with the event. A manageable asset is open for interpretation, but a good working definition is a manageable asset represents a hardware or software component that can be separately obtained or developed, deployed, managed and serviced. Examples of typical component names are:

IBM eServer xSeries model x330
IBM WebSphere Application Server#5.1 (5.1 is the version number)
Microsoft Windows 2000
The name of an internally developed software application for a component

subComponent

The subcomponent field in a problem determination event identifies the specific part of a component associated with the event. The subcomponent name is typically not a manageable asset, but provides internal diagnostic information when diagnosing an internal defect within a component, i.e. ‘What part failed?’. Examples of typical subcomponents and their names are:

Intel Pentium processor within a server system (“Intel Pentium IV Processor”)
the enterprise bean container within a web application server (“enterprise bean container”)
the task manager within an operating system (“Linux Kernel Task Manager”)
the name of a Java class and method (“myclass.mycompany.com” or “myclass.mycompany.com.methodname()”).
The format of a subcomponent name is determined by the component, but it is recommended that the convention shown above for naming a Java class or the combination of a Java class and method is followed. Subcomponent is a required field in the Common Base Event.

componentIdType

The componentIdType field is required by the base Common Base Event specification, but provides minimal value for problem determination events. The only recommendation regarding this field for problem determination events is to discourage the use of the “application” value. The componentIdType field identifies the type of component; the application is identified by the application field.

application

The application field is listed as an optional value within the Common Base Event specification, but it should be provided within problem determination events whenever it is available. The only reason this is not a required field for problem determination events is there are instances where the issuing component may not be aware of the overall business application.

instanceId

The instanceId field is listed as an optional value within the Common Base Event specification, but it should be provided within problem determination events whenever it is available.
The instanceID should always be provided when a software component is being identified and should identify the operational instance of the component (for example, which operation instance of an installed software image is actually associated with the event). This value should also be provided for hardware components, but not all hardware components support the concept of operational instances.
The format of the supplied value is defined by the component, but must be a value that can be used by an analysis system (either human or programmatic) to identify the specific running instance of the identified component. Examples include:

cell\node\server name for the IBM WebSphere Application Server
deployed EAR file name for a Java enterprise bean
serial number for a hardware processor

processId

The processId field is listed as an optional value within the Common Base Event specification, but it should be provided for problem determination events whenever it is available and applicable. It should always be provided for software-generated events, and should identify the operating system process associated with the component identified in the event. The format of the thread ID should match the format of the operating system (or other execution environment, such as a Java Virtual Machine). This field is typically not applicable or used for events emitted by hardware (for example, firmware).

threadId

The threadId field is listed as an optional value within the Common Base Event specification, but it should be provided for problem determination events whenever it is available and applicable. It should always be provided for software-generated events, and should identify the operating system thread that was active when the event was detected or issued. A notable exception to this recommendation is some operating systems or execution environments do not support threads. The format of the thread ID should match the format of the operating system (or other execution environment, such as a Java Virtual Machine). This field is typically not applicable or used for events emitted by hardware (for example, firmware).

executionEnvironment

The executionEnvironment field, when used, should identify the immediate execution environment used by the component being identified. Some examples are:

the operating system name when the component is a native software application.
the operating system/Java Virtual Machine name when the component is a Java J2SE application.
the web server name when the component is a servlet.
the portal server name when the component is a portlet.
the application server name when the component is an enterprise bean.
The Common Base Event specification [CBE101] provides information on the required format of these fields and the Common Base Event Developer’s Guide [CBEBASE] provides general usage guidelines.

location locationType	Component Location	Identifies the location of the component.
component componentType	Component Name	Identifies the asset name of the component, as well as the type of component.
subcomponent	Subcomponent Name	Identifies a specific part (i.e. subcomponent) of a component, e.g. a software module or hardware part.
application	Business Application Name	Identifies the business application or process the component is a part of and provides services for.
instanceId	Operational Instance	Identifies the operational instance of a component, i.e. the actual running instance of the component.
processId threadId	Operational Instance	Identifies the operational instance of a component within the context of a software operating system, i.e. the operating system process and thread running when the event was produced.
executionEnvironment	Operational Instance Component Location	Provides additional information about the operational instance of a component or its location by identifying the name of the environment hosting the operational instance of the component (e.g. the operating system name for a software application, the application server name for a J2EE application, or the hardware server type for a hardware part).