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Oracle® Enterprise Manager Configuration for Oracle Collaboration Suite
10g Release 2 (10.2)

Part Number B16224-02
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5 Configuring Email

This chapter describes how to set up Grid Control to monitor Oracle Email components for Oracle Collaboration Suite Release 2.


Note:

See Chapter 1, "Introduction to Managing Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g Release 1" for information on configuring Grid Control to manage Oracle Mail components for Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g Release 1.

An Oracle Email installation may be spread over dozens of machines. Grid Control makes it easier to manage Oracle Email and provides a convenient grouping and dashboard summarization of Oracle Email status and performance.

The following instructions assume that Oracle Email is already installed and that the Grid Control and Oracle Management Agent are already installed. Furthermore, the following instructions assume that you have detailed knowledge of how Oracle Email is configured and where the different protocol servers are running.

In this section you will create targets that represent components of your Email deployment. In addition, an Oracle Email group target will be created. The group target will include all the component Email targets.

This chapter contains the following sections:

5.1 Preparing to Configure Grid Control to Manage Email

Before you begin creating the Oracle Email targets, use the following sections to understand the types of targets you must create and some guidelines for creating those targets:

5.1.1 Overview of Oracle Email Target Types

Oracle Email has several protocols and there are distinct services and servers for each type of protocol:

  • IMAP

  • SMTP Inbound

  • SMTP Outbound

  • POP

  • Webmail

An Oracle Email server refers to a specific process running on a specific host. As a result, the up or down metric for a server indicates whether or not the process is running. An Oracle Email service refers to the service provided by a collection of processes. For a service, the up or down metric indicates whether or not a user can make use of that service.

These Oracle Email services and servers are often spread over hosts and databases. You create the targets as follows:

  • One service target for each logical service

  • One server target for each instance of a server running on a host

  • One mail store target for each repository

As a result, Grid Control provides the following target types to help you manage your Email installations:

  • IMAP Server

  • SMTP IN Server

  • SMTP OUT Server

  • POP Server

  • IMAP Service

  • SMTP IN Service

  • SMTP OUT Service

  • POP Service

  • Web Application for WebMail Service

  • Mailstore

  • OID Client

5.1.2 Checklist Before Configuring Grid Control for Oracle Email Monitoring

Based on the target types described above, it is critical to have knowledge of the details of your Email configuration before attempting to setup the email targets and group target. Here is a checklist of information that must be gathered before the following setup is done:

  • Location of all mail stores

  • Names for email services

  • Test users for each email service

  • Location of each protocol server

  • Locations where beacons for Webmail must be established

  • LDAP info for the OID Client target setup

5.1.3 Enabling Oracle Email Monitoring

Oracle Email monitoring is enabled by default when you first install and configure Oracle Collaboration Suite. When Email monitoring is enabled, monitoring data is collected in the es_perf schema.

See also "Mail Statistics Schema" in the chapter "Charting and Monitoring" of Oracle Email Administrator's Guide for Oracle Collaboration Suite Release 2 at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/collab.html

Email monitoring must be enabled before you add or configure the Oracle Email targets. You can confirm that Oracle Email monitoring is enabled, or you can disable Oracle Email monitoring by setting the Statistics Collection Interval. When the interval is set to zero (0), monitoring is disabled.

You can set the Statistics Collection Interval once for all service targets, or you can set a different interval for each Oracle Email service type.

The following sections describe two ways to set the Statistics Collection Interval:

5.1.3.1 Using Enterprise Manager Web Site to Set the Statistics Collection Interval

To use Enterprise Manager Web site to set the Statistics Collection Interval for all service types:

  1. Log in to the Enterprise Manager Web site for the Oracle Collaboration Suite installation.

    The URL for the Enterprise Manager Web site is in following format:

    http://<ocs_midtier_hostname>.<domain>:<port>
    
    

    The port for the Enterprise Manager Web site is usually set to 1810. For example, if you have installed the Oracle Collaboration Suite middle-tier software on a host called emailhost1 in the acme.com domain, the URL would be:

    http://emailhost1.acme.com:1810
    
    
  2. If necessary, navigate to the Application Server home page for the Oracle Collaboration Suite middle tier.

  3. In the System Components table, click Unified Messaging.

    Enterprise Manager displays the Unified Messaging home page.

  4. Click Statistics Collection.

    Enterprise Manager displays the Statistics Collection page. If the value in the Statistics Collection Interval (seconds) field is any number other than zero, Oracle Email monitoring is enabled for this middle-tier instance.

5.1.3.2 Using Oracle Internet Directory Commands to Set the Statistics Collection Interval

If you use Oracle Internet Directory commands to set the Statistics Collection Interval, you can set the interval individually for each Oracle Email service type. The commands for controlling the interval, as well as recommended values for the collection intervals for each component are available in the Oracle Email documentation.

See also the "Charting and Monitoring" chapter of the Oracle Email Administrator's Guide for Oracle Collaboration Suite Release 2 at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/collab.html

5.1.4 Saving Oracle Email Monitoring Data in a Common Data Store

By default, each Oracle Collaboration Suite middle-tier installation saves its monitoring data in its own mail store database. However, if you are managing mulitple Oracle Collaboration Suite installations, you may want to save all your Oracle Email monitoring data in a common database so all the monitoring statistics will be available from one location. Consolidating the data in one location will reduce the amount of work required to maintain, purge, and analyze the data.

To configure each Oracle Collaboration Suite middle-tier component to point to the same location for its monitoring data, use the Oracle Internet Directory commands to modify the orclMailAdminStoreDN parameter of the mailProcessConfig object in the directory.

As a result, each middle-tier instance should point to a common information store under the following directory hierarchy:

'cn=MailStores,cn=um_system,cn=EmailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext'

See also "Mail Statistics Schema" in the "Charting and Monitoring" chapter of Oracle Email Administrator's Guide for Oracle Collaboration Suite Release 2 at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/collab.html

5.1.5 Identifying Oracle Email Hosts and Databases

Before you begin creating the Oracle Email targets, you should have a complete list of the hosts and the databases where your Oracle Email components reside. For example, you should know the system identifier (SID) and password for each database.

The following sections describe how you can obtain this information using the Oracle Internet Directory for your Oracle Collaboration Suite installations:

5.1.5.1 Identifying the Oracle Email Component Hosts

You can identify the Oracle Email hosts by changing your default directory to the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory, then using the following ldapsearch command for your Oracle Internet Directory:

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -h<oid_host> -p<oid_port> -Dcn=orcladmin -wwelcome1 
-b 'cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailProcessConf' orclmailinstanceid

For example:

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmin -wx9djiks189
-b 'cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailProcessConf' orclmailinstanceid

Example 5-1 provides an example of the output you should expect from the ldapsearch command when you are searching for Oracle Email hosts.

Note that each result that includes an orclmailinstanceid value other than zero identifies an instance of a valid Oracle Email component.

Example 5-1 Sample Search for Oracle Email Hosts

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmin -wwelcome1 
-b 'cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailProcessConf'
orclmailinstanceid

cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=EMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
 
cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_in,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=0
 
cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_out,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=0
.
.
.
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:imap:107341703136712833,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:imap,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341703136712833
 
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:smtp_in:107341704879993654,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_in,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341704879993654
 
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:smtp_out:107341706569741957,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_out,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341706569741957
 
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:gc:107341708222696477,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:gc,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341708222696477
.
.
.
$PROMPT> 

5.1.5.2 Identifying the Oracle Email Mail Stores

To identify the hosts and the names of the databases where your mail stores are located, you can use the following ldapsearch command for your Oracle Internet Directory:

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -h<oid_host> -p<oid_port> -Dcn=orcladmin -w<orcladmin_pwd> 
-b 'cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailStores'

For example:

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -hmgthost42.acme.com -p3060 -Dcn=orcladmin -wx9djiksl89
-b 'cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext'
'objectclass=orclMailStores'

Example 5-2 provides an example of the output you should expect when you are searching for Oracle Email mail stores in Oracle Internet Directory. In this example, only one mail store is found in Oracle Internet Directory. The SID of the mail store database is v2store.

Example 5-2 Sample Search for Mail Store Hosts and Databases

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmin
-wwelcome1 -b 'cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext'
'objectclass=orclMailStores'

cn=v2store.acme.com,cn=mailstores,cn=UM_SYSTEM,cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext
cn=v2store.acme.com
objectclass=orclMailStores
objectclass=top
orcldbdistinguishedname=cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext
orclmailstoreport=1521
orclmailstoresid=v2store
orclmailstoreusername=es_mail
orclpasswordattribute=welcome1
x121address=db04.acme.com
$PROMPT>

5.1.5.3 Identifying the Connection String for an Oracle Email Mail Store

To find the connection string for a mail store, so you can connect to the mail store or provide the host, port, SID, username, or password properties for the mail store:

  1. Obtain the value of the orclDBDistinguishedName attribute for the mail store.

    You can obtain this value by searching for the mail store host and database properties, as described in Identifying the Oracle Email Mail Stores.

    For example, in Example 5-2, the value of the orclDBDistinguishedName is:

    cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext
    
    
  2. Use the ldapsearch command to find the orclnetdescrstring attribute of the mail store:

    $PROMPT> ldapsearch -h<oid_host> -p<oid_port> -Dcn=orcladmin -w<orcladmin_pwd> 
    -b '<value_of_orclDBDistinguishedName>' -s base 'objectclass=*'
    
    

    For example:

    $PROMPT> ldapsearch -hmgthost42.acme.com -p3060 -Dcn=orcladmin -wx9djiksl89
    -b 'cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext' -s base 'objectclass=*'
    
    

    Example 5-3 provides an example of the output you should expect when you search for the connection string in Oracle Internet Directory. The bolded item in the sample output represents the connection string for the mail store.

Example 5-3 Sample Output When Searching for the Mail Store Connection String

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmi
n -wwelcome1 -b 'cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext' -s base 'objectclass=*'

cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext
cn=v2store
objectclass=top
objectclass=orclService
objectclass=orclDBServer
objectclass=orclDBServer_92
objectclass=orclapplicationentity
orclaci=access to entry by group="cn=OracleDBAdmins,cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext"(browse, add, delete) 
orclaci=access to attr=(*) by group="cn=OracleDBAdmins,cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext" (compare, search, read, selfwrite, write) 
orcldbglobalname=v2store.acme.com
orclentrylevelaci=access to entry by group="cn=OracleNetAdmins,cn=OracleContext" (add) 
orclnetdescname=000:cn=DESCRIPTION_0
orclnetdescstring=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)
(HOST=db04.acme.com)(PORT=1521)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=v2store.acme.com)))
orcloraclehome=/private/oracle/ocsv2recut/v2store
orclservicetype=DB
orclsid=v2store
orclsystemname=db04.us.oracle
orclversion=92000
$PROMPT> 

5.2 Creating the Oracle Email Server Targets

This section contains the following topics:

5.2.1 Summary of the Oracle Email Server Target Types

To monitor your Oracle Email server targets, you must create one server target for each host where a protocol server runs. For example, create one SMTP IN Server target for each host where the SMTP IN Server runs.

Grid Control provides the following Oracle Email server target types:

  • SMTP_IN

  • SMTP_OUT

  • IMAP

  • POP

You should configure one target for each server instance.

5.2.2 Using the Grid Control to Create the Oracle Email Server Targets

To create the Email server targets:

  1. In Grid Control, navigate to the home page for the Oracle Management Agent that was installed on the Email server host. Use these steps to navigate to the appropriate Agent home page:

    1. Click Setup at the top of any Grid Control page.

    2. Click Agents in the Overview of Setup page subtab.

    3. In the Agents table on the Agents page, click the link for the Management Agent for the Email server host.

  2. In the Monitored Targets section of the page, select one of the Email server target types from the Add box, then click Go.

    The available Email server target types include:

    • E-Mail IMAP Server

    • E-Mail SMTP Inbound Server

    • E-Mail SMTP Outbound Server

    • E-Mail POP Server

    Grid Control displays the property page for the selected server target type. Provide the required information, described in Table 5-1, Table 5-2, Table 5-3, and Table 5-4.

  3. Click OK to create the target.


See Also:

"Adding Targets to be Monitored and Administered by Enterprise Manager" in the Grid Control online help

5.2.3 Summary of the IMAP Server Target Properties

Table 5-1 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an IMAP Server target.

Table 5-1 IMAP Server Target Properties

Property Description

IMAP Hostname

The hostname of the machine where the IMAP server is running.

IMAP Port

The port where the IMAP server is running.

You can obtain this value by reviewing the contents of the following network administration configuration file:

OCS_HOME/network/admin/listener.ora

For example, the listener.ora file should contain an entry similar to the following:

@ (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP) (HOST = imaphost1.acme.com) (PORT = 143)) (PRESENTATION = IMAP))

Typically, the IMAP Port is 143.

DB Host

The host name of the machine that has the database with the es_perf schema and data

DB Port

The port of the database with the es_perf schema and data

DB SID

The SID of the database with the es_perf schema and data

Administration Store Connect Descriptor

The connect information for the administration store for this server. If the administration store is running in RAC mode, a RAC connect descriptor can be supplied.

The default value is usually in the following format:

(DESCRIPTION=(FAILOVER=ON)(LOAD_BALANCE=ON) (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=<host-name>)(PORT=<port>)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=<service-name>)))

Edit the descriptor when the administration store is changed or connect information changes.

Administration Store User

The database user name for the E-mail administration store.

The default value is es_mail. Do not change this value.

Administration Store Password

The database password for the administration store user specified above. This will be stored in encrypted form.

Change this value when the database password is changed.

Oracle Home

The Oracle Home in which this component is installed.

Target

The target name for this server.

This value is in this format:

<hostname>:um_system:<email-process-type>

For example:

foo.acme.com:um_system:imap

Do not change this value.

OPMN IAS Component

The OPMN component for this process. The default value is email.

OPMN Process Type

The OPMN process type for this process.

This value is in this format:

email_<opmn-process-type>

For example:

email_imap

Do not change this value.

OPMN Restart Flag

The value of this property shows whether or not the restart for this server is a warm restart (the configuration file is refreshed and updated without stopping the process) or a hard restart (shutdown and start).

The default value is emailRefresh.

Do not change this value.


5.2.4 Summary of the SMTP IN Server Target Properties

Table 5-2 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an SMTP IN Server target.

Table 5-2 SMTP IN Server Target Properties

Property Description

DB Host

The host name of the machine that has the database with the es_perf schema and data.

DB Port

The port of the database with the es_perf schema and data

DB SID

The SID of the database with the es_perf schema and data

Administration Store Connect Descriptor

The connect information for the administration store for this server. If the administration store is running in RAC mode, a RAC connect descriptor can be supplied.

The default value is usually in the following format:

(DESCRIPTION=(FAILOVER=ON)(LOAD_BALANCE=ON) (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=<host-name>)(PORT=<port>)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=<service-name>)))

Edit the descriptor when the administration store is changed or connect information changes.

Administration Store User

The database user name for the E-mail administration store.

The default value is es_mail. Do not change this value.

Administration Store Password

The database password for the administration store user specified above. This will be stored in encrypted form.

Change this value when the database password is changed.

SMTP Hostname

The host name of the machine on which the SMTP IN server is installed.

Oracle Home

The Oracle Home in which this component is installed.

Target

The target name for this server.

This value is in this format:

<hostname>:um_system:<email-process-type>

For example:

foo.acme.com:um_system:smtp_in

Do not change this value.

OPMN IAS Component

The OPMN component for this process. The default value is email.

OPMN Process Type

The OPMN process type for this process.

This value is in this format:

email_<opmn-process-type>

For example:

email_smtp_in

Do not change this value.

OPMN Restart Flag

The value of this property shows whether or not the restart for this server is a warm restart (the configuration file is refreshed and updated without stopping the process) or a hard restart (shutdown and start).

The default value is emailRefresh.

Do not change this value.


5.2.5 Summary of the SMTP OUT Server Target Properties

Table 5-3 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an SMTP OUT Server target.

Table 5-3 SMTP OUT Server Target Properties

Property Description

DB Host

The host name of the machine that has the database with the es_perf schema and data

DB Port

The port of the database with the es_perf schema and data

DB SID

The SID of the database with the es_perf schema and data

Administration Store Connect Descriptor

The connect information for the administration store for this server. If the administration store is running in RAC mode, a RAC connect descriptor can be supplied.

The default value is usually in the following format:

(DESCRIPTION=(FAILOVER=ON)(LOAD_BALANCE=ON) (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=<host-name>)(PORT=<port>)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=<service-name>)))

Edit the descriptor when the administration store is changed or connect information changes.

Administration Store User

The database user name for the E-mail administration store.

The default value is es_mail. Do not change this value.

Administration Store Password

The database password for the administration store user specified above. This will be stored in encrypted form.

Change this value when the database password is changed.

SMTP Hostname

The host name of the machine on which the SMTP OUT server is installed.

Oracle Home

The Oracle Home in which this component is installed.

Target

The target name for this server.

This value is in this format:

<hostname>:um_system:<email-process-type>

For example:

foo.acme.com:um_system:smtp_out

Do not change this value.

OPMN IAS Component

The OPMN component for this process. The default value is email.

OPMN Process Type

The OPMN process type for this process.

This value is in this format:

email_<opmn-process-type>

For example:

email_smtp_out

Do not change this value.

OPMN Restart Flag

The value of this property shows whether or not the restart for this server is a warm restart (the configuration file is refreshed and updated without stopping the process) or a hard restart (shutdown and start).

The default value is emailRefresh.

Do not change this value.


5.2.6 Summary of the POP Server Target Properties

Table 5-4 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an POP Server target.

Table 5-4 POP Server Target Properties

Property Description

DB Host

The host name of the machine that has the database with the es_perf schema and data

DB Port

The port of the database with the es_perf schema and data

DB SID

The SID of the database with the es_perf schema and data

Administration Store Connect Descriptor

The connect information for the administration store for this server. If the administration store is running in RAC mode, a RAC connect descriptor can be supplied.

The default value is usually in the following format:

(DESCRIPTION=(FAILOVER=ON)(LOAD_BALANCE=ON) (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=<host-name>)(PORT=<port>)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=<service-name>)))

Edit the descriptor when the administration store is changed or connect information changes.

Administration Store User

The database user name for the E-mail administration store.

The default value is es_mail. Do not change this value.

Administration Store Password

The database password for the administration store user specified above. This will be stored in encrypted form.

Change this value when the database password is changed.

POP Hostname

The host name of the machine on which the POP server is installed.

Oracle Home

The Oracle Home in which this component is installed.

Target

The target name for this server.

This value is in this format:

<hostname>:um_system:<email-process-type>

For example:

foo.acme.com:um_system:pop

Do not change this value.

OPMN IAS Component

The OPMN component for this process. The default value is email.

OPMN Process Type

The OPMN process type for this process.

This value is in this format:

email_<opmn-process-type>

For example:

email_pop

Do not change this value.

OPMN Restart Flag

The value of this property shows whether or not the restart for this server is a warm restart (the configuration file is refreshed and updated without stopping the process) or a hard restart (shutdown and start).

The default value is emailRefresh.

Do not change this value.


5.3 Creating the Oracle Email Service Targets

This section contains the following topics:

5.3.1 About the Oracle Email Service Targets

The service targets monitor the Email services and simulate an end-user accessing the services. Thus, it is most beneficial to locate these targets close to where the user community using the services resides. It is also possible to create multiple targets for each service in order to measure responsiveness from multiple geographical locations.

One Service target must be created for each service type. For example, an SMTP IN Service is implemented over four hosts; however, only one target is needed to monitor the overall service.

Regarding the WebMail Service, the same guidelines apply. However, for WebMail, we will use Enterprise Manager's Application Service Level Management capabilities to monitor WebMail.

Grid Control includes the following Email service types: SMTP_IN, SMTP_OUT, IMAP, POP. To configure service monitoring you should configure targets at points in the network close to the user communities accessing Email. Thus, having an SMTP_IN service monitoring target type in a few key geographical locations is necessary to get an overall perspective on the SMTP_IN monitoring. The naming convention suggested is to use: SMTP_IN_SERVICE_<mailstore>_<Location of observation>, for example SMTP_IN_SERVICE_EMEA_LONDONFor WebMail monitoring, you need to create a Web Application target and record an availability transaction for WebMail. This transaction must be run from beacons in key geographical locations that represent user communities.

5.3.2 Using Grid Control to Create the Oracle Email Service Targets

You can use Grid Control to create a generic service for these Email services:

  • IMAP Service

  • SMTP Service

  • POP Service

  • NNTP Service

To create a generic service for each of these Email services:

  1. In Grid Control, click the Targets tab, then click the Services subtab.

  2. Choose Generic Service in the Add box, then click Go to display the generic service creation tool. Click Help on any page in the generic service creation tool for more information about the information to enter on the page.

  3. On the Create Generic Service: Availability page, choose Service Test for the Define availability based on field.

  4. On the Create Generic Service: Service Test page, choose the appropriate test type. In other words, choose IMAP for an IMAP Service, SMTP for an SMTP service, POP for a POP service, or NNTP for an NNTP Service. Specify the correct values for the test properties for that service type. Then continue through the rest of the pages in the generic service creation tool to create the service.

For more information about the test properties to specify when you create a generic service for the IMAP service, SMTP service, POP service, and NNTP service, see Table 5-5, Table 5-6, Table 5-7, and Table 5-8.

5.3.3 Summary of the IMAP Service Test Properties

Table 5-5 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for an IMAP service.

Table 5-5 IMAP Service Test Properties

Property Description

IMAP Host

The host name or the IP address of the Big-IP or the machine used for accessing the IMAP service

IMAP Port

The port where the IMAP service is running.

Test Email ID

The Email address of a test user account that will be used for determining the status and the service availability of the IMAP service.

Test Email Password

The Email account password of a test user account that will be used for determining the status and the service availability of the IMAP service.


5.3.4 Summary of the SMTP Service Test Properties

Table 5-6 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for an SMTP service.

Table 5-6 SMTP Service Test Properties

Property Description

SMTP Service Address

The host name or the IP address of the Big-IP or the machine used for accessing the SMTP IN service.

SMTP Send Email ID

The Email address of a test account used for sending an email message and for determining the status and the service availability of the SMTP IN service.

SMTP Receive Email ID

The Email address of a test account used for receiving an email message and for determining the status and the service availability of the SMTP IN service.


5.3.5 Summary of the POP Service Test Properties

Table 5-7 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for a POP service.

Table 5-7 POP Service Test Properties

Property Description

POP Host

The host name or the IP address of the Big-IP or the machine used for accessing the POP service.

Test Email ID

The Email address of a test user account used for connecting to a POP service and for determining the status and the service availability of the POP service.

Test Password

The password of a test user account used for connecting to a POP service and for determining the status and the service availability of the POP service.


5.3.6 Summary of the NNTP Service Test Properties

Table 5-8 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for an NNTP service.

Table 5-8 NNTP Service Test Properties

Property Description

NNTP Service Address

The host name or the IP address of the Big-IP or the machine used for accessing the NNTP service.

NNTP News Group

The name of the news group to which a message is posted.


5.4 Creating a WebMail Web Application

To monitor your WebMail instances, you create a Web Application target for each WebMail instance. Web Application targets can be monitored for availability and performance with Application Service Level Management transactions. You can also measure the response time of pages in your Web Applications using End-User Page Performance Monitoring.


See Also:

"About Application Performance Management" in the Grid Control online help

To create a Web Application target for your WebMail instance:

  1. In Grid Control, navigate to the Agent home page for the Oracle Management Agent that was installed on the WebMail host. Use these steps to navigate to the appropriate Agent home page:

    1. Click Setup at the top of any Grid Control page.

    2. Click Agents in the Overview of Setup page subtab.

    3. In the Agents table on the Agents page, click the link for the Management Agent for the WebMail host.

  2. In the Monitored Targets section of the page, select Web Application from the Add box, then click Go.

    Grid Control displays the Create Web Application wizard, which guides you through the process of creating the Web Application.

    When the wizard asks you for the Homepage URL, enter the URL for the WebMail instance. For example:

    http://host1.us.oracle.com:7778/um/traffic_cop
    
    

    Click Help if you need help using the Wizard.

  3. Click OK to create the target.

  4. Use the instructions in the online help to create some representative transactions to measure the availability and performance of the Web Application you just created.

    For example, create a transaction that logs in and reads an email message.


    See Also:

    "Creating Transactions" in the Grid Control online help

  5. Enable End-User Page Performance Monitoring for the Web Application using the procedures for earlier versions of the Oracle Application Server described in "Configuring End-User Performance Monitoring Using Earlier Versions of Oracle Application Server Web Cache" in Oracle Enterprise Manager Advanced Configuration for Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control 10g Release 2.


    Note:

    Before you enable End-User Page Performance Monitoring to monitor your Oracle Collaboration Suite Web Application target, you must apply patch number 3040716 to the Oracle Application Server middle-tier instance. You can download this patch from OracleMetaLink:

    http://metalink.oracle.com/


5.5 Creating the Collaboration Suite Database Target

One Collaboration Suite Database target must be created for each mail store created for Email. It is also possible to locate these targets on any host on the network capable of accessing the mail store database. The benefit of this approach is that the target deployment becomes non-intrusive to the Oracle Email mail stores.

Grid Control includes one Collaboration Suite Database target type. You must add and configure a Collaboration Suite Database target for each mail store in the network. These targets must be configured on each mail store that you want to monitor.

To create a Collaboration Suite Database target for a mail store:

  1. In Grid Control, navigate to the Agent home page for the Oracle Management Agent that was installed on the mail store host. Use these steps to navigate to the appropriate Agent home page:

    1. Click Setup at the top of any Grid Control page.

    2. Click Agents in the Overview of Setup page subtab.

    3. In the Agents table on the Agents page, click the link for the Management Agent for the mail store host.

  2. In the Monitored Targets section of the page, select Collaboration Suite Database from the Add box, then click Go.

    Grid Control displays the property page for the Collaboration Suite Database target type. Provide the required information, as described in Table 5-9.

  3. Click OK to create the target.


See Also:

"Adding Targets to be Monitored and Administered by Enterprise Manager"in the Grid Control online help

Table 5-9 Collaboration Suite Database Target Properties

Property Description

DB Host

The host name of the machine that has the database with the ES_MAIL schema and data

DB Port

The port of the database with the ES_MAIL schema and data

DB SID

The SID of the database with the ES_MAIL schema and data

Collaboration Suite Database Connect Descriptor

The connect information for the mail store for this server. If the mail store is running in RAC mode, a RAC connect descriptor can be supplied.

The default value is usually in the following format:

(DESCRIPTION=(FAILOVER=ON)(LOAD_BALANCE=ON) (ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=<host-name>)(PORT=<port>)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=<service-name>)))

Edit the descriptor when the mail store is changed or connect information changes.

Collaboration Suite Database User

The database user name on the database with the ES_MAIL schema and data

Collaboration Suite Database Password

The password of the database user on the database with the ES_MAIL schema and data

Oracle Home

The Oracle Home in which this component is installed.


5.6 Creating the OID Client Target

OID Client targets are useful to measure responsiveness of the OID (Oracle Internet Directory) for Email. Thus, one such target must be created on each host where an Email server runs. The collection of such targets will give a view of OID responsiveness across all Email hosts.

To create the OID Client target:

  1. In Grid Control, navigate to the Agent home page for the Oracle Management Agent that was installed on the OID Client host. Use these steps to navigate to the appropriate Agent home page:

    1. Click Setup at the top of any Grid Control page.

    2. Click Agents in the Overview of Setup page subtab.

    3. In the Agents table on the Agents page, click the link for the Management Agent for the OID Client host.

  2. In the Monitored Targets section of the page, select OID Client from the Add box, then click Go.

    Grid Control displays the property page for the OID Client target type. Provide the required information, as described in Table 5-10.

  3. Click OK to create the target.


See Also:

"Adding Targets to be Monitored and Administered by Enterprise Manager" in the Grid Control online help.

Table 5-10 OID Client Target Properties

Property Description

LDAP Client Oracle Home Path

The path of the Oracle home of the LDAP client machine. This will be used to invoke the ldapsearch and ldapcompare utility for the computation of the various OID Client metrics.

As a result, the ldapsearch or ldapcompare utility should exist in the following directory:

<LDAP Client Oracle home path>/bin/

LDAP Host

The host name of the machine where the LDAP server is running.

LDAP Port

The port where the LDAP server is running.

LDAP User

The username of a test user account that is needed for the ldapsearch and ldapcompare commands. It is possible to use the default user setup for Enterprise Manager monitoring:

"cn=emd admin,cn=oracle internet directory"

LDAP Password

The password of a test user account that is needed for the ldapsearch and ldapcompare commands. For the Enterprise Manager user, the default is welcome.

Domain Component (DC)

The domain component, that is, the domain name of the component in a Domain Name System (DNS). For example:

dc=uk,dc=acme,dc=com


5.7 Creating the Oracle Email Group Target

After all the Email targets are configured, you can create the Email group target, which provides a custom user interface for managing your Oracle Collaboration Suite environment.

The Oracle Collaboration Suite Email group home page contains the alerts table, followed by a table of rows of component targets and columns of key metrics. There is also a Performance tab where key metrics are charted for the email group. Metric charts will not be available for the IMAP service, SMTP IN service, SMTP OUT service, and the POP service. The IMAP Operations tab contains a summary of all IMAP operations in bar chart style.

To create the Email group target:

  1. Click the Targets tab in the Grid Control.

  2. Click All Targets.

  3. Select Collaboration Suite Component from the Add box, then click Go.

    Grid Control displays the Create Collaboration Suite Component page.

  4. Select E-Mail from the Component Type box.

  5. Enter a name for the Email group in the Name field.

    For example, enter Email Group.

  6. Select the targets that you want to add to the group from the Available Targets list and add them to the Selected Targets list.

    Be sure to add the following target types to the Email group:

    • The host targets where the Email servers reside

    • The database and listener targets that support the email servers

    • An IMAP Service and IMAP Server

    • An SMTP IN Service and SMTP In Server

    • An SMTP OUT Service and SMTP Out Server

    • A POP Service and POP Server

    • An Email Collaboration Suite Database for the mail store

    • An OID Client

    • The Oracle Application Server Containers for J2EE (OC4J) and Oracle HTTP Server instances on the Email host

  7. Click OK to create the group target.

  8. Add this group to the Oracle Collaboration Suite group you created in Section 3.4.4.

5.8 Changing the Mail Server Listener's Status to Up

In Grid Control, listeners for IMAP and POP servers have a status of Down after they are discovered. These two sections show how to change the Mail listener's status to Up on UNIX and Windows operating systems.

5.8.1 Changing the Status of a Mail Listener on UNIX to Up

To change the status for Mail listeners on the UNIX operating system to Up in Grid Control, follow these steps:

  1. Use the Net Merge utility to modify the listener.ora file to create one or more TCP addresses for the same listener without the presentation, that is, add the following to the end of the description list:

    (description=(address=(protocol=tcp)(port=<any_available_port_above_1024>)(host=127.0.0.1)))

    Note that the port can be any port above 1024 that is available on the system for the listener, such as 1522 or 1526, but it has to be different than the one with presentation. Make sure that the port you choose is not being used by any other listener running on the system, otherwise the tnslsnr command described later in this section will fail.

  2. Restart the Mail listener by performing the following steps:

    1. Log in as root.

    2. Check if sendmail is running by using this command:

      ps -ef | grep sendmail

      If it is running, kill the process.

    3. Execute the following command, where userid is the UNIX account that owns the Oracle software:

      id userid

    4. Issue the following command, where listener_es is the name of the Mail listener:

      tnslsnr listener_es <uid_value> -group <gid_value>


      Note:

      The Mail listener cannot be started using lsnrctl from a user shell. Since it has to listen on ports below 1024, it has to be started by the superuser on UNIX operating systems. When restarting the Mail listener following the listener.ora change, you should use the same command, with the same command line arguments, as was used to start it up initially.

  3. In Grid Control, navigate to the All Targets page and and select the listener_es target that shows a status of Down.

  4. Click Configure. On the Monitoring Configuration page, change the Machine name property to 127.0.0.1 and change the Port number property to the port number used in the new TCP address without presentation.

5.8.2 Changing the Status of a Mail Listener on Windows to Up

To change the status for Mail listeners on the Windows operating system to Up in Grid Control, follow these steps:

  1. In Grid Control, navigate to the All Targets page and select the listener_es target that shows a status of Down.

  2. Click Configure. On the Monitoring Configuration page, make sure that the Port number property is set to the port number corresponding to the port number used in the new TCP address without presentation (that is, the port number corresponding to the entry in listener.ora which has HOST=127.0.0.1).

5.9 Purging Monitored Data from the Oracle Email Mail Store

When you monitor your Oracle Email targets with Grid Control, the Management Agent gathers monitoring data about the Oracle Email targets and uploads them to the Management Service, which loads them into the Management Repository.

However, the Oracle Email mail store itself also gathers monitoring data about your Oracle Email targets. After you start monitoring your Oracle Email targets with Grid Control, the data saved in your mail store database is redundant with the information available in the Management Repository.

As a result, to save space and improve the performance of your mail store database, you can purge this redundant data from the mail store database on a regular basis. The following sections describe how to purge this data:

5.9.1 Executing the es_perf_purge PL/SQL Procedure

The first step in purging data from the mail store database is to run the es_perf_purge PL/SQL procedure shown in Example 5-4.

To run the procedure:

  1. Create a new file containing the PL/SQL code shown in Example 5-4.

  2. Save the file using the following suggested path and file name in the Oracle Home for your mail store database:

    $ORACLE_HOME/bin/es_perf_purge.sql
    
    
  3. Use SQL*Plus to connect to the mail store database as the es_mail user:

    $PROMPT> cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus
    SQL> connect <username> AS es_mail
    
    
  4. Execute the PL/SQL procedure:

    SQL> @es_perf_purge.sql
    
    
  5. Quit SQL*Plus:

    SQL> quit
    

Example 5-4 The es_perf_purge PL/SQL Procedure

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE es_perf_purge(cutoff IN NUMBER) AS
  sample_index INTEGER;
  computed_tstamp DATE := SYSDATE;
BEGIN
 
  -- Use this procedure to purge the oldest "cutoff" days worth of data.
  -- So if the value of 7 is passed for "cutoff" in this procedure, then
  -- the oldest 7 days worth of data will be deleted.
  -- If the oldest 14 days worth of data needs to be purged, pass in 14
  -- for "cutoff" in this procedure ...
  -- NOTE: If the value of cutoff is large, this procedure takes a long time
  --       to complete. To delete all the data from the tables - es_perf_sample
  --       and es_perf_timestamp, use the following sql commands:
  --       %SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_sample;
  --       %SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_timestamp;
  --       %SQL> COMMIT;
  --       This is a faster way of deleting all the data in the es_perf_sample
  --       and es_perf_timestamp tables. Use the above "TRUNCATE" sql
  --       statements only if there is no need for the data in these tables.
 
  -- first determine the timestamp based on cutoff number of days
  BEGIN
    SELECT MIN(timestamp) + cutoff
      INTO computed_tstamp
      FROM es_perf_timestamp;
 
    EXCEPTION
      WHEN OTHERS THEN
        computed_tstamp := SYSDATE;
  END;

  -- now use the value of computed timestamp to delete data from
  -- es_perf_sample and es_perf_timestamp
 
  -- delete data from es_perf_sample
  FOR record IN
    (
      SELECT timestamp_id
        FROM es_perf_timestamp
       WHERE timestamp <= computed_tstamp
    )
  LOOP
    DELETE
      FROM es_perf_sample
     WHERE timestamp_id = record.timestamp_id;
  END LOOP;
 
  -- delete data from es_perf_timestamp
  DELETE
    FROM es_perf_timestamp
   WHERE timestamp <= computed_tstamp;
 
  COMMIT;
END; 

5.9.2 Using the Grid Control Job System to Automatically Purge the Mail Store

After you initially run the es_perf_purge PL/SQL procedure, you can configure the Grid Control Job system to automatically perform the purge operation on a regular basis.

To create a Grid Control job to perform this action:

  1. From the Grid Control Home page, click the Jobs tab.

  2. From the Results section of the page, select SQL Script from the Create Job box.

    Grid Control displays the Create 'SQL Script' Job page.

  3. Enter a name and a description of the job in the Name and Description fields.

  4. Enter the following in the SQL Script field:

    EXEC es_perf_purge( <number_of_days> );
    
    

    For example, to delete the past seven days of monitoring data, enter the following:

    EXEC es_perf_purge ( 7 );
    
    
  5. In the Databases section of the page, click Add.

    Grid Control displays the Add Targets page.

  6. Click Search to display a list of all available databases; or, enter the name of a specific mail store database and then click Search.

  7. Select the mail store database you want to purge and click Add.

    Grid Control returns you to the Create 'SQL Script' Job page; the mail store database you selected appears in the list of databases against which the job will be run.

  8. Provide the required host and database credentials.

    Optionally, use your preferred credentials to define the connection to the mail store database.


    See Also:

    "About Preferred Credentials" in the Grid Control online help

  9. Click Schedule to determine when the job will be run.

    For example, you can schedule the job to run once a week, or every day. Click Help for information on defining a schedule for a job.

  10. Click Submit or Submit and Save.


    See Also:

    "About Jobs" in the Grid Control online help

5.9.3 Deleting All Monitoring Data from the Mail Store

Purging monitoring data from the Oracle Email mail store can take a long time to complete. Alternatively, you can delete all the monitoring data from the es_perf tables using the SQL TRUNCATE command.


Caution:

Use the TRUNCATE statement with caution. When you issue the TRUNCATE statement, a COMMIT is performed automatically. As a result, you will not be able to rollback the data you are deleting.

Be sure the object name you provide for the TRUNCATE statement contains only the name of the tables described in the procedure. Use the TRUNCATE statement only if you are sure that you no longer need the data in the es_perf_sample and es_per_timestamp tables.


To remove all the existing monitoring data from the mail store database:

  1. Connect to the mail store database as the es_perf user, using SQL*Plus:

    $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus
    SQL> connect <username> AS es_mail
    
    
  2. Execute the following SQL commands:

    SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_sample;
    SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_timestamp;
    
    
  3. Quit SQL*Plus:

    SQL> quit