1—Quick Start Guide
1
Quick Start Guide
Overview
The Transaction Trace Warehouse stores continuous transaction trace data
harvested from application tiers being monitored by AppInternals Xpert.
Transaction traces record the execution sequence and timing of individual
method calls in an application. In transaction traces, a “transaction” refers to a
stream of application calls within a single thread of execution. Transaction
traces capture a continuous call-execution sequence for Java or .NET
applications in your environment.
Trace data is initially generated by instances of the AppInternals Xpert JIDA and
dotNet data adapters. The data adapters write trace data in a highly
compressed format on the application system, effectively creating a distributed
rolling buffer of transaction traces. The Transaction Trace Warehouse
continuously captures these traces and indexes them for search and analysis.
The Transaction Trace Warehouse provides powerful search features in a Web
user interface to make finding any transaction of interest easy and fast.
Figure 1-1 Transaction Trace Warehouse Stores and Serves Transaction Traces
The Web user interface displays a response time chart and a summary for
transactions that match your search. These charts show general trends in
performance and outlier transactions that you may want to analyze further:
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• Using the Transaction Details Window within Transaction Trace Warehouse.
This window provides a variety of details about the currently-selected
transaction and any related cross-tier transactions that Transaction Trace
Warehouse detected.
• Using the Transaction Trace Analyzer to diagnose problems. The
Transaction Trace Analyzer is a separately-installed application that runs on
your local system. (Download the Transaction Trace Analyzer from the
AppInternals Xpert support page. Follow the prompts to install it on your
system.)
An important capability of the Transaction Trace Warehouse is that it can detect
when one application thread (“transaction”) calls another, even if that
transaction is running in another Java or .NET instance (JVM or CLR
processes).
Application logic often spans several such “tiers”, and these cross-tier
transactions typically span different systems. The ability to see application
activity down to the method level across multiple systems is a valuable
diagnostic tool.
Figure 1-2 Cross-Tier Transactions
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The Transaction Trace Warehouse copies raw trace files from a set of managed
nodes you configure it to monitor. It processes the files and indexes them based
on individual transactions.
Typical Workflow
The Transaction Trace Warehouse user interface provides a summary of all
traced transactions and lets users search for specific transactions of interest.
You analyze performance of the transactions (and related cross-tier
transactions) in the Transaction Details Window. For in-depth troubleshooting,
download the same transactions and open them in Transaction Trace Analyzer.
Figure 1-3 Transaction Trace Warehouse Workflow
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The following procedure shows how to use Transaction Trace Warehouse to
locate transactions of interest and analyze them further using the Transaction
Trace Analyzer.
Procedure 1-1 Transaction Trace Warehouse Quick Start
1 Log in. The default user name and password is admin and opnet:
2 The Search screen opens, where you search for a transaction of interest. You can
simply click Search to find the slowest transactions in the last hour. Or, use
auto-complete (see Basic Search and Auto Complete) to search transactions
started by a specific user:
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3 The matching search results are displayed as a scatter chart showing response
times, a pie chart showing what type of application calls took the most time over
the time range, and as a table with details of individual transaction:
4 The slowest transaction is automatically highlighted. Click click the
view
transaction details icon for the row. The Transaction Trace Warehouse detects any
related cross-tier transactions it has stored, combines them with the selected
transaction, and displays data for them in the Transaction Details window:
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5 The transaction map shows which component called others in each tier. Tabs show
different details, described in the Transaction Details Window topic. For in-depth
troubleshooting, click the
download icon in the upper right of the Transaction
Details window.
If you have the Transaction Trace Analyzer installed, it will open automatically with
the downloaded trace file with the details of all the tiers involved in the transaction:
The Search Screen topic describes using search screen in more detail.
Summary of Required Configuration
Before the Transaction Trace Warehouse can access continuous trace data on
individual managed nodes, make sure the following configuration steps have
been completed:
• Install the AppInternals Xpert managed node software on all systems that run
application tiers and add those managed nodes to an AppInternals Xpert
SMP. See the AppInternals Xpert Installation Guide for details.
• Configure all the JVM and CLR processes on the tiers to start with the JIDA
and dotNet data adapters. Each such process is a data adapter instance that
can potentially generate continuous traces. See the chapters describing
JIDA and the dotNet data adapters in the AppInternals Xpert Configuration
Guide for details.
• Enable continuous transaction traces for all data adapter instances involved
in the application. See Enabling Continuous Tracing for JIDA and dotNet
Data Adapter Instances for details.
• Specify the managed nodes from which the Transaction Trace Warehouse
will collect continuous trace file. You do this in Configure screen of the
Transaction Trace Warehouse user interface. See Configure Screen
(Administrative Accounts Only) for details.
• Install the Transaction Trace Analyzer on client systems that will download
traces from the Transaction Trace Warehouse. See Adding a Download Link
for Transaction Trace Analyzer to the Tool Bar for details.
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2
Search Screen
The Transaction Trace Warehouse stores continuous transaction trace data
harvested from AppInternals Xpert managed nodes. See the Quick Start Guide
for an introduction to the Transaction Trace Warehouse.
The Search screen is the main screen of the Transaction Trace Warehouse.
Use it to search for specific transactions of interest. From the Search screen,
you can open the Transaction Details Window to further investigate the
transaction in the context of related cross-tier transactions.
The Search screen displays response time charts for transactions that match
your search. These charts help identify general trends in performance and
outlier transactions you may want to analyze further using the Transaction
Details window and Transaction Trace Analyzer.
This topic describes the elements of the search screen. There are three main
areas:
• Search Area: Specify search criteria here and click Search.
• Results Area: The Transaction Trace Warehouse displays matching
transactions here.
• Refine Results: Click here to further limit the results displayed by the current
search.
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Figure 2-1 Elements of the Search Screen
Inactivity Time Out: User sessions expire after 10 hours of inactivity. After that,
any subsequent actions (such as clicking Search) will automatically end your
session and display the log-in screen:
Search Area
Specify search criteria in the search text area. You can do this directly or by
expanding the “add criteria” Option settings and selecting multiple criteria there.
Click Search to run a new search or after changing any other settings in the
search area.
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Search text is not case sensitive. For example, category = 'ado' is the
same as category = 'ADO' is the same as CATEGORY = 'ado'. Text you
type is converted to lowercase.
Time Range Settings
The time range settings display the current time range for searches. The time
range limits the results returned when you click Search. It also limits the values
shown by auto complete (see Basic Search and Auto Complete for details on
auto complete).
When you first log in to the Transaction Trace Warehouse, the default time
range is the most recent hour.
You can change the time range in the following ways. Remember that changes
you make to the time range do not take effect until you click Search:
• Click one of the icons to quickly set the time range to the most recent 15
minutes, hour, day, or week.
• Type a new time and date in From and To fields.
• Click in the time fields and choose an hour and minute from the list that
appears.
• Click in the date field (or click the calendar icon) and choose a date. In the
calendar, click “<<” or “>>” to advance to the previous or next month.
“Find the top”: Maximum Results and Limit Criterion
These settings limit the number of transactions the search will return and how
to limit the results to that number.
The first setting specifies the maximum number of results to for the search to
return in the Results Area. The second setting specifies an overall limiting
criterion for including transactions in the results:
• Slowest Transactions (decreasing response time)
• Fastest Transactions (increasing response time)
• Most Exceptions (decreasing number of exceptions)
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This overall criterion does not guarantee that the results will include transactions
you might expect. For example, if you choose Most Exceptions and none of
the transactions had any exceptions, specifying Most Exceptions has no
effect. Similarly, if you choose Fastest, search results may all have a response
time of zero. Use Filter Conditions to guarantee that results include transactions
you want.
Basic Search and Auto Complete
The simplest search is to simply click Search with an empty search text area.
This returns all transactions for the specified Time Range Settings and “Find the
top”: Maximum Results and Limit Criterion.
However, a wide-open search such as this is not often useful. The search text
area (and the Advanced Search fields) have an auto complete feature that
makes it easy to limit the search. Simply start typing in the search text area, and
the Transaction Trace Warehouse will suggest matching field names and values
from traces that it has stored during the time range specified in Time Range
Settings.
Auto Complete for Field Names, Operators, and Values
Use auto complete to guide you in composing the field name, operator and
value for Filter Conditions. When you type any characters in the search text
area, auto complete shows both field names and values that start with the
characters you type.
Auto complete indicates matching field names in blue and matching field values
in black. For example, the character “c” in this search text matches several field
names and values:
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The black list of field values also shows the field name (see Search Fields) and
the number of transactions that contain it in parentheses. The list is sorted to
show the value matching the most transactions first. If auto complete can not
determine the number of matching transactions within a half second, it shows
the greater-than symbol ( > ) before the count.
Suppose you want to match the category field. You can continue typing (“cate”)
and auto complete eliminates all other field names and values:
At any point, you can use the down-arrow key to select the category field. Type
a space to continue constructing a filter condition. Auto complete suggests valid
Filter Condition Operators:
Use the down-arrow key to select an operator (the “:” starts-with operator in this
example). Auto complete shows all values that match the category field:
Type “a” to narrow the auto complete options to the ado category (you can also
use the down-arrow key to select a value):
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Press RETURN or click Search to find all the transactions that match the filter
condition (in this example, categories that begin with “a”, or the ado category).
Auto Complete for Field Values
You can also use auto complete by simply typing a field value without a field
name or operator. For example, if you want to find transactions that originated
on the system VH14-W2K8-3, type “vh” and the Transaction Trace Warehouse
displays a list of values (20 maximum) that start with “vh”:
Continue to type to further narrow the search. Use arrow keys to select the value
you want and then click, or press RETURN or TAB.
Click Search to find all the transactions that match what you typed. If you do not
specify a filter condition (with a field name, operator, and value), the Transaction
Trace Warehouse compares what you typed with values for all indexed fields in
stored traces. So, when you specify VH14-W2K8-3 in the search text area and
click Search, the results will include transactions where VH14-W2K8-3 was the
server, or client, or any other field with a value of VH14-W2K8-3.
Advanced Search
Advanced searches specify one or more filter conditions that limit which
transactions will be included in the search results. Each filter specifies a field
name and corresponding value. The search compares the value with the
contents of that field.
Field names and values are not case sensitive. For example, category =
'ado' is the same as category = 'ADO' is the same as CATEGORY =
'ado'. Text you type is converted to lowercase.
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Construct advanced searches using one of the following approaches:
• Click the > icon next to “add criteria” Option to create a filter condition by
choosing valid options from lists. This is an easy way to construct a search
string you can adapt.
• Type Filter Conditions directly in the search text area.
• Combine both approaches and adapt the search string generated using the
“add criteria” Option.
“add criteria” Option
Expand the add criteria option in the search area to show options that guide
you in creating a valid filter condition:
• If the search text area already has one or more filter conditions, choose a
logical operator to add this filter condition and create (or add to) a compound
filter condition. See Compound Filter Conditions for details. If the search text
area is empty, this option has no effect.
• Choose a field name from the list. The Search Fields table describes the
fields and values.
• Choose an operator from the list. The Filter Condition Operators table
describes the operators.
• Specify the value you want the filter to match. Use the down-arrow key to see
matching values for the time range. You can use the same auto complete
feature here as with the Basic Search and Auto Complete.
Click the + icon to add the filter condition in the search text area. Until you click
the + icon, specifying the filter condition has no effect.
Note—Search values cannot specify any wildcard characters.
You can edit the search text directly to create additional or click “add criteria”
Option again to specify additional filter conditions. Any filter conditions that you
add are appended to the search text when you click Search.
Filter Conditions
Search strings are made up of one or more filter conditions. Each filter condition
specifies a field name, operator and value:
filtercondition:
fieldname operator 'value'
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See the Search Fields table for details on valid field names and values. See the
Filter Condition Operators table for details on operators.
It is good practice to always enclose the value in single quotation marks. You
must do this if the value contains colons (:) or other characters used in filter
condition syntax. For example, this filter condition specifies a URL as its value.
Since the URL contains a colon, you must enclose the value in single quotation
marks:
url : 'http://mini/ctauthservice/service1.asmx'
The following examples show some different filter conditions:
Filter Condition
Matches
server:'vh8'
All server field values that begin with the string ‘VH8’
server!:'vh8'
All server field values that do NOT begin with the string ‘VH8’
server='vh8-w2k8-1
/192.168.175.3'
Only the server with the name (as displayed in the Server column
of the results table) matching ‘VH8-W2K8-1/192.168.175.3'
duration< 8.0
Response time faster than 8 seconds
duration> 8.0
Response time slower than 8 seconds
exceptioncount>=1
Transactions with exceptions
exception:'system.
timeoutexception'
Transactions with exceptions starting with the string
'System.TimeoutException'
See the Search Fields table for valid field names and corresponding values. The
following table describes all the operators.
Table 2-1 Filter Condition Operators
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Operator
Meaning
:
String field value: starts with (not case sensitive)
=
String field value: string matches entire field value (not case sensitive)
Numeric field value: equals
!:
String field value: does not start with
!=
String field value: does not match entire field value (not case sensitive)
Numeric field value: not equals
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Operator
Meaning
<
Numeric field value: less than
<=
Numeric field value: less than or equal
>
Numeric field value: greater than
>=
Numeric field value: greater than or equal
Compound Filter Conditions
You can combine multiple filter conditions using parentheses and the logical
operators AND, OR, and ! (not). The search evaluates logical operators in the
following order:
1) Conditions in parentheses
2) Conditions preceded by !
3) Conditions joined by AND or OR
AND and OR precedence is not defined. Use parentheses to specify which
group you want evaluated first.
Example: Match All But Certain Exceptions:
exceptioncount>=1 and !(exception:'system.timeoutexception' OR
exception:'javax.naming.NamingException')
Other Examples:
(server:'mini') AND (exception:'System.TimeoutException')
(server:'mini') AND
(classname:'com.TrADEFAST.AUTHENTICATION.AUTHENTICATIONHANDLER')
exceptioncount!=0 AND server:’vh8’
(user:'kirk.james') OR (user:'janice.white')
(duration > 80000) AND (server !: vh5)
exceptioncount>=2 and !(category:servlet)
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Search for '' (Empty String) to Search for only NULL or non-NULL values
You can use the : (starts with) operator and an empty string (two single
quotation marks) as the value in to screen out null values. Similarly, use the !:
operator and an empty string to match only null values.
Filter Condition
Matches
<field> : ''
Only non-null values. This is logically the same as "IF <field>
EXISTS"
<field> !: ''
Only null values. This is logically the same as "IF <field> DOES
NOT EXIST"
Search Field Reference
The following table describes the search fields you can specify in Filter
Conditions.
Table 2-2 Search Fields
Field Name
Description
apptype
The application type, either Java or .NET. The Transaction Trace Warehouse infers the
application type from the data adapter monitoring the application, JIDA (Java) or the dotNet
data adapter (.NET).
category
The category of class (such as EJB, JDBC, or Servlet for Java; ADO or Web for .NET) called
during the transaction. These categories are the same as those used in the Summary of
Delays: Active Time Pie Chart. The Transaction Trace Analyzer also displays the category in
the Component column in its tree view.
For a list of all the valid categories, see the metric reference appendix of the AppInternals
Xpert Configuration Guide. The categories correspond to the object component of the
AppInternals Xpert metric namespace for the JIDA and dotNet data adapters. For example:
category = 'web service|web method'
category : 'w'
The first example (with the = operator) matches the Web Service|Web Method category only.
The second example uses the : operator, which matches all categories that start with the
supplied string (see Filter Condition Operators for details). In this case, it matches transactions
that called classes categorized as Web and Web Service|Web Method (and any other
category beginning with ‘w’).
classname
The fully-qualified name of a class called during the transaction. This corresponds to classes
shown in the treeview pane of the Transaction Trace Analyzer. For example:
classname = 'com.TradeFast.Web.dataTableBonds'
classname.methodname
A class and method called during the transaction. Use this field to search for a specific
combination of class name and methodname. (This is more specific than a compound filter
condition such as classname=foo AND methodname=bar, which will match more
transactions, such as those with calls to both foo.this AND that.bar.)
For example:
classname.methodname = 'com.tradefast.web.datatablebonds.addrows'
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client
The IP address and port of a client system whose request initiated the transaction. The Client
IP column of the results table displays the value of this field. For example:
client = 'fe80::1d08:70cf:e53a:1792%15'
client : 192.168
The first example (with the = operator) exactly matches the specified IP address only. The
second example uses the : operator, which matches all addresses that start with the supplied
string (see Filter Condition Operators for details).
cookie
A cookie name-value pair present in an HTTP request within the transaction. Separate the
name and value with a colon (:) and be sure to enclose the entire argument in single quotation
marks (‘).
For example, search for transactions with a complete cookie name-value pair (a specific
ASP.NET session identifier):
cookie = 'asp.net_sessionid:p5unbmnicf3u3lqkwvh43145'
Search for transactions with any ASP.NET session identifier (omit the cookie value to match
all session identifiers):
cookie : ASP.NET_SessionId
driverurl
A database connection string for ADO.NET or JDBC calls in the transaction.
The driverurl string is the same string used in the objectinstance component of the
AppInternals Xpert metric namespace for ADO and JDBC category metrics.
The connection identifier uses names from the connection string and varies depending on the
database and specific connection syntax. The connection identifier may include a combination
of the system name, data source name, catalog name, and database name.
Search for an ADO connection string:
driverurl = 'vh8-w2k8-1/tradefast'
Search for a JDBC connection string:
driverurl = 'sqlserver:vh6-w2k8-1:1433;TradeFast'
duration
Length of the transaction, in seconds. This corresponds to values shown in the Response
Time Graphs and in the Response Time column in the Results Table. It is also the same as
the Duration column in the table pane of the Transaction Trace Analyzer.
Search for transactions longer than 3.5 seconds:
duration > '3.5'
exception
An exception string for an exception generated by a call in the transaction. These values are
the same as shown the Duration column in the table pane of the Transaction Trace Analyzer.
Match any exception string beginning with ‘java’:
exception : 'java'
Or match a specific complete exception string:
exception : 'java.net.sockettimeoutexception: read timed out'
exceptioncount
The number of exceptions in the transaction. This value is shown in the # Exceptions column
in the Results Table.
Search for transactions with any exceptions:
exceptioncount > '0'
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header
An arbitrary header value in an HTTP request within the transaction. Separate the name and
value with a colon (:) and be sure to enclose the entire argument in single quotation marks (‘).
For example, search for transactions with an HTTP request referred by a particular site:
header = 'Referer:http://vh17-w2k3-3/TradeFast/Login.aspx'
httpstatus
The HTTP status code returned by the application's Web page (servlet or ASP.NET page).
Search for transactions where the page returns the Not Found status code:
httpstatus = '404'
Search for transactions where the page returns any client error status code:
httpstatus > '400'
instance
The data adapter instance name. For JIDA and the dotNet data adapter, each data adapter
instance corresponds to a Java Virtual Machine or .NET Common Language Runtime
instance. This value is shown in the Instance column in the Results Table
The instance string is the same string used in the dainstance component of the AppInternals
Xpert metric namespace. Since a particular data adapter instance typically represents a tier in
a multi-tier application, the Transaction Trace Analyzer also displays this value as the Tier
Name column in the tree view screen.
Search for transactions that executed on the ctnamedpipeservice instance:
instance = 'ctnamedpipeservice'
localaddr
An IP address and port that identifies local socket-based network communication. This field is
populated in the trace file when a remote service connects to the application through the
specified IP address and port. The application may open different ports and IP addresses for
services to access particular functionality.
Separate the IP address and port with a colon (:) and be sure to enclose the entire argument
in single quotation marks (‘).
For example:
localaddr = '192.168.175.149:8080'
managednode
The name of the managed node (also called “DSA” in AppInternals Xpert terms). This is
typically the prefix dsa- followed by the same value as in the server field for the transaction.
methodname
The name of a method called during the transaction. The Transaction Trace Analyzer displays
this value in the Method column of the tree view screen.
For example:
methodname = 'get_TableBonds'
methodname : 'get_Table'
The second example uses the : operator to match all method names that start with the supplied
string (see Filter Condition Operators for details).
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remoteaddr
An IP address and port that identifies remote socket-based network communication. This field
is populated in the trace file when:
• The application opens a socket on the specified remote IP address and port.
• A remote server with the specified IP address connects to the application using the
specified port
Separate the IP address and port with a colon (:) and be sure to enclose the entire argument
in single quotation marks (‘). For example:
remoteaddr = '192.168.175.124:35765'
rootcomponent
The category of the top-level call in the transaction.
server
The system name of a system running the AppInternals Xpert managed node software that
generated the trace data. Typically, this is also the system running the monitored application
that services the request made by a client. The Server column of the Results Table displays
the value of this field. For example:
server = 'vh8-w2k8-1'
server = 'mini'
serverip
The IP address of a system running the AppInternals Xpert managed node software that
generated the trace data. Typically, this is also the system running the monitored application
that services the request made by a client. For example:
server = '192.168.175.3'
server : '192.168.175.'
The second example uses the : operator to match all addresses in the .175 subnet (see Filter
Condition Operators for details).
soapfault
An error in a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) communication. The following links have
more detail about SOAP faults:
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/SOAP-fault
http://www.w3schools.com/soap/soap_fault.asp
You can directly search for specific SOAP faults as in this example:
soapfault : 'i/o error: connection refused'
It is also useful to search for any transactions that have both a SOAP fault and an exception.
Matching transactions are good candidates for more detailed examination. This example
specifies an empty string to match non-null values (see Search for '' (Empty String) to Search
for only NULL or non-NULL values):
soapfault : '' and exception : ''
sql
An SQL statement or procedure executed as part of a JDBC or ADO.NET call. The
Transaction Trace Analyzer displays this value in the SQL column of the tree view screen.
For example, search for transactions with any SELECT statement:
sql = 'UPDATE traders SET stockwatchlist=\'DE,MMBMX\' WHERE
userid=\'neil.hobbs\''
Search for a specific SQL stored procedure name:
sql = 'GetStockQuote'
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sqlfamily
An SQL statement group executed by the application. JIDA and the dotNet data adapters
group SQL by the statement type and tables involved. Ellipses substitute for specific table
names and row values. For example:
insert into orders(...))values...
select...from inventory where...
AppInternals Xpert displays these statement group “families” in the objectinstance component
of the metric namespace for JDBC and ADO metrics. See the metric reference appendix of the
AppInternals Xpert Configuration Guide for details. These values are also visible in the Other
column of the Transaction Trace Analyzer tree view.
Searching on statement groups is useful because you can easily match multiple SQL
statements of interest by specifying one in a single search condition.
transactiontype
A custom category of URLs. The Transaction Type column of the Results Table displays the
value of this field, if any. Valid values for this search field must be configured by an
administrator as described in Adding Custom Transaction Types in mapping_rules.cfg.
url
A URL served by the transaction.
Inbound vs. Outbound URLs: An “inbound” URL is served by the transaction. Typically, a
Web transaction has a single inbound URL. In contrast, it may have zero or more “outbound”
URLs representing requests the transaction made to other tiers. The Transaction Trace
Analyzer displays the inbound URL value in the URL column of the tree view screen. Other
fields with the url prefix, described below, provide greater control in searching for specific
components of both inbound and outbound URLs.
For example, search for a complete inbound URL:
url = 'http://mini/ctauthservice/service1.asmx'
Use the : operator (see Filter Condition Operators for details) to search for any URLs that start
with “http://mini/ctauthservice”:
url : 'http://mini/ctauthservice'
urldomain
The domain-name component of an “inbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the url
field description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches the value
following the http:// prefix in the URL and ending before the colon or next slash character.
For example, consider the following URL with the domain name in bold:
http://vh10-w2k3-4/TradeFast/StockTrade.aspx?action=buy&symbol=DE&pr
ice= 87.24
To search for the domain:
urldomain : 'vh10-w2k3-4'
urloutbound
An “outbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the url field description for details on
inbound and outbound URLs.) Other fields with the urloutbound prefix, described below,
provide greater control in searching for specific components of outbound URLs.
For example, search for a complete URL:
urloutbound = 'http://mini/ctauthservice/service1.asmx'
Use the : operator (see Filter Condition Operators for details) to search for any URLs that start
with “http://mini/ctauthservice”:
urloutbound : 'http://mini/ctauthservice'
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urloutbounddomain
The domain-name component of an “outbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the
url field description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches the value
following the http:// prefix in the URL and ending before the colon or next slash character.
For example, consider the following URL with the domain name in bold:
http://vh10-w2k3-4/TradeFast/StockTrade.aspx?action=buy&symbol=DE&pr
ice= 87.24
To search for the domain:
urloutbounddomain : 'vh10-w2k3-4'
urloutboundparam
A parameter in the query string of an “outbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the
url field description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches a single
name-value pair following the question mark in a URL. Multiple parameters are separated by
ampersand characters (&). Do not include either the question mark or ampersand and in the
filter condition.
For example, consider the following URL with three parameters (action, symbol, and
price):
http://vh10-w2k3-4/TradeFast/StockTrade.aspx?action=buy&symbol=DE&pr
ice= 87.24
To search for transactions that issued a buy action:
urloutboundparam : 'action=buy'
urloutboundpath
The path component of an “outbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the url field
description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches the value following
the domain name, including the starting slash.
For example, consider the following URL with the path name in bold:
http://vh10-w2k3-4/TradeFast/StockTrade.aspx?action=buy&symbol=DE&pr
ice= 87.24
To search for the entire path:
urloutboundpath : '/tradefast/stocktrade.aspx'
urloutboundport
The port number in an “outbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the url field
description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches the number
following the colon following the domain name in a URL. For example, consider the following
URL with the port in bold:
http://saab:8080/manager/401.jsp
To search for transactions with URLs using port 8080:
urloutboundport : '8080'
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urlparam
A parameter in the query string of an “inbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the url
field description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches a single
name-value pairs following the question mark in a URL. Multiple parameters are separated by
ampersand characters (&). Do not include either the question mark or ampersand and in the
filter condition.
For example, consider the following URL with three parameters (action, symbol, and
price):
http://vh10-w2k3-4/TradeFast/StockTrade.aspx?action=buy&symbol=DE&pr
ice= 87.24
To search for transactions that issued a buy action:
urlparam : 'action=buy'
urlpath
The path component of an “inbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the url field
description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches the value following
the domain name, including the starting slash. The URL Path column of the Results Table
displays the value of this field.
For example, consider the following URL with the path name in bold:
http://vh10-w2k3-4/TradeFast/StockTrade.aspx?action=buy&symbol=DE&pr
ice= 87.24
To search for the entire path:
urlpath : '/tradefast/stocktrade.aspx'
urlport
The port number in an “inbound” URL requested by the transaction. (See the url field
description for details on inbound and outbound URLs.) This field matches the number
following the colon following the domain name in a URL. For example, consider the following
URL with the port in bold:
http://saab:8080/manager/401.jsp
To search for transactions with URLs using port 8080:
urlport : '8080'
user
The user name that issued the request in the application, if applicable. For example, search
for a specific user:
user = 'neil.hobbs'
In general, the User column of the Results Table displays the value of this field. However,
there are cases when a search will match transactions for a user name but the User column
displays a different value. This typically occurs for transactions in .NET "fat client" applications,
where the user name is the user name for the process. In this case, the user name displayed
in the User column may be different.
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webservicemethod
The name of a web service method called during the transaction. The webservicemethod
string is also used as part of the objectinstance component of the AppInternals Xpert metric
namespace for Web Service|Web Method metrics. The following example shows the object
and objectinstance component of the AppInternals Xpert metric namespace with the web
service method name shown in bold:
Web Service|Web
Method\com.TradeFast.DataAccessService.TraderDataAccessService|GetOr
ders
For example, search for transactions that called the GetOrders web service method:
webservicemethod = 'getorders'
Search for any web service method names that start with ‘getorders’:
webservicemethod : 'getorders'
webservicename
The name of a web service called during the transaction. The webservicename string is also
used in the objectinstance component of the AppInternals Xpert metric namespace for Web
Service and Web Service|Web Method metrics. The following example shows the object and
objectinstance component of the AppInternals Xpert metric namespace with the web service
name shown in bold:
Web Service|Web
Method\com.TradeFast.DataAccessService.TraderDataAccessService|GetOr
ders
For example, search for transactions that called the TraderDataAccessService web service:
webservicemethod =
'com.TradeFast.DataAccessService.TraderDataAccessService'
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Refine Results
The Refine Results panel lets you further limit the results displayed by the
current search:
The panel shows a summary of the search results, grouped by important
categories (each category is described in the Search Fields topic) such as
application type (see the apptype search field) and instance name (see the
instance search field).
Each category includes a list of corresponding values for transactions during the
time range (if necessary, click show more... to see a complete list). Each entry
in the list includes these details:
• The value (the number in parentheses shows the number of occurrences of
the value).
• The maximum response time for any transaction with that value.
• A thumbnail graph of response times for the transactions with that value, with
the maximum value emphasized.
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Click a value of interest to select it. It automatically moves to group of selected
values called Your Filters. The results area updates with results limited to that
category. You can click additional values and add them to Your Filters and to
the results. Click the X next to a value in Your Filters to remove it.
Note—Clicking Apply cancels any zoom operation in the Response Time
Graphs.
Results Area
When you click Search in the Search Area or change selections in the Refine
Results area, the Transaction Trace Warehouse updates the results area.
The results area includes the following elements:
• Update Search and Share Search Buttons that preserve search
characteristics
• Response Time Graphs that plot the response time for individual
transactions over the time range
• Summary of Delays: Active Time Pie Chart that divides the total active time
for all transactions into categories
• Results Table with a list of matching transactions and links to open them in
the Transaction Details Window
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• Details Pane and View Button (Open Desktop Console) that launches the
desktop console
• A link to open the Unfinished Transactions Table (if there are any unfinished
transactions)
Update Search and Share Search Buttons
Update Search
The “Update search” button changes settings in the Search Area to match
changes you made using the Refine Results pane or by Zooming in to
Temporarily Narrow the Time Range.
Click the button to:
• Update the search time range based on the zoom selection
• Update the search criteria to query based on Refine Results settings
• Submit the search with these new criteria
Share Search
The “Share search” button opens a new browser tab or window with a URL that
can be copied and sent to others.
The URL preserves all search settings including the time range, search criteria,
zoom range, and Refine Results settings. Users with Transaction Trace
Warehouse accounts can browse to the URL and see the exact same results.
Response Time Graphs
This area includes graphs that plot response time for individual transactions on
the vertical axis and the time the transaction started on the horizontal axis.
For each transaction, response time is the total time spent in method calls,
including time spent waiting for external calls (to other threads in the application
or to other tiers) to complete. (This is in contrast to “active time”, which the
Summary of Delays: Active Time Pie Chart uses in calculating its display.)
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Zooming in to Temporarily Narrow the Time Range
After you click Search, the results area contains a single response time graph.
You can click anywhere in the graph and drag the mouse cursor horizontally to
select a smaller time range.
When you “zoom in” in this manner, a second response time graphs appears
above the first. This upper overview graph always retains the time range
specified in the Search Area. You can select a region of either graph to cause
the lower graph to zoom in on a smaller area.
When you zoom in, the lower graph, the Summary of Delays: Active Time Pie
Chart, and the Results Table update to reflect the new time range. The upper
graph highlights the currently zoomed-in portion of the entire search time range.
(Note that the Refine Results panel does not update. It is based on the original
search.)
Figure 2-2 Zooming In on Response Time Graphs
To return to the original time range, click in the upper graph.
Summary of Delays: Active Time Pie Chart
This pie chart displays the percentage of “active time” that transactions spent in
various application categories.
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For each transaction, active time is the total time spent in method calls, minus
any time spent waiting for calls to other transactions (on other application
threads or other tiers). In other words, active time is the response time shown in
the Response Time Graphs minus time waiting.
The pie chart shows the percentage of active time for different application
categories (such as EJB, JDBC, or Servlet for Java; ADO or Web for .NET) for
transactions in the time range.
Figure 2-3 Summary of Delays Pie Chart
In the Response Time Graphs, when you zoom in to a smaller time range, the
pie chart recalculates its percentages based on transactions in the new time
range. (See Zooming in to Temporarily Narrow the Time Range for details on
zooming in.)
Labels in the pie chart correspond to values of the category search field. See
the category search field for more details. Most of the labels are the same as
the corresponding search field, with the following exceptions:
• Database (ADO) corresponds to the ADO search field
• Database (JDBC) corresponds to the JDBC search field
• Application code corresponds to the generic search field
Difference in How Pie Charts and Bar Charts Display Active Time
Pie charts adjusts their display so that long transactions do not dominate the
chart and thus mask categories contributed by short transactions. Instead, the
pie chart gives all transactions equal weight and does not show the active time
from long-running transactions proportionately.
In contrast, the bar charts in the results table represent a single transaction and
always show active time proportionately. The Delay Percentages: Active Time
Bar Chart topic has an example that illustrates this behavior.
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Comparing Pie Charts: Search Screen vs. Transaction Details and Transaction Trace Analyzer
Transaction Trace Warehouse uses pie charts to display relative percentages:
• The Summary of Delays: Active Time Pie Chart in the main search screen
shows active time for all transactions in the time range, grouped by
application category.
• The pie chart in the Summary Tab of the Transaction Details Window shows
active time for the currently-selected transaction and related cross-tier
transactions, grouped by category, tier, class, or method.
• When you download a transaction to Transaction Trace Analyzer, the pie
chart screen there shows active time for the downloaded transaction and
related cross-tier transactions, grouped by tier or method.
As described in this section, the pie chart in the main search screen accounts
for time spent on calls to other tiers differently than the other pie Charts.
The pie chart in the main search screen represents all transactions in the time
range. It simply shows slices for categories for all the transactions shown in the
Response Time Graphs. The other pie charts factor out time spent in calls to
other tiers.
For example, consider a simple application with a Web tier and a database tier.
When a user connects to the application using a Web browser, the application
queries the database.
The pie chart in the main search screen shows a bar and pie chart for the single
transaction in the Web tier that looks like this:
In the context of the Web tier, the Transaction Trace Warehouse represents all
the cross-tier activity as active time in the Remote category.
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However, when you open the Transaction Details window for the transaction, or
download it to Transaction Trace Analyzer, the Transaction Trace Warehouse
detects the cross-tier database transaction and provides details about
transactions across all tiers. The bar chart and the pie chart are able to show
the cross-tier activity:
The pie chart in the Transaction Details window and the Transaction Trace
Analyzer shows a much smaller slice of active time for the Remote category.
This reflects the fact that only a fraction of the time was spent executing classes
represented by the Remote category. The remainder of time in the Web tier was
spent waiting for activity on the database tier to finish.
Results Table
The search results table displays a table with the transactions that match the
criteria specified in the Search Area and Refine Results. Typically, the table
divides results into pages. Use the Table Controls to see more results and
change the columns in the table.
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Columns in the Results Table
Each row in the results table corresponds to a single transaction. Each row
includes the
view details icon and specifics about the transaction. The
results table contains the following columns. As noted in the list, values for many
of the columns correspond to Search Fields. Click the Customize Columns
button
to add, remove, or rearrange columns in the results table.
Opens the Transaction Details Window secondary window with details of
the selected transaction and related cross-tier transactions. Use this
window to further investigate the transaction and download it to
Transaction Trace Analyzer for in-depth troubleshooting.
Downloads transactions to your system. When you click the download
icon, the Transaction Trace Warehouse detects any related cross-tier
transactions it has stored and combines them with the selected
transaction. It then downloads the combined set of transactions to your
local system.
This icon only appears if it was configured by an administrator. (Adding
“Download to Transaction Trace Analyzer” Links to the Results Table
describes this configuration.) If it is not present, open the Transaction
Details Window and download it from there.
Start Time
The start time of the transaction. The start time is the time on the server
where AppInternals Xpert recorded the transaction, adjusted to the Web
browser’s time zone (see Time Synchronization Considerations for
Managed Nodes for more details).
Response Time
This value corresponds to the duration search field.
User
This value corresponds to the user search field.
Transaction
Type
This value corresponds to the transactiontype search field.
Server
This value corresponds to the server search field.
Managed Node
This value corresponds to the managednode search field.
Instance
This value corresponds to the instance search field.
URL Path
This value corresponds to the urlpath search field.
Client IP
This value corresponds to the client search field.
Exceptions
This value corresponds to the exceptioncount search field.
Delay
Percentages
A stacked bar chart for the transaction that shows the percentage of
active time spent in different application components for the transaction.
See Delay Percentages: Active Time Bar Chartfor details.
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Sorting Columns in the Results Table
By default, the results table is sorted by the column specified in the Find the top
settings (either Response Time or # Exceptions). Click a column heading in
the results table to sort the list by the values in that column. Click the column
heading again to change the sort order from ascending to descending (or back).
Delay Percentages: Active Time Bar Chart
In the Delay Percentages column, the results table also shows a stacked bar
chart for each transaction. This chart shows the percentage of active time spent
in different application components for the transaction. This is similar to the
Summary of Delays: Active Time Pie Chart, but is specific to each transaction.
For example, the following figure shows a search zoomed in to limit the results
to 3 transactions. You can see how the pie chart summarizes the active time for
all 3 transactions and the bar chart shows details for each transaction.
This example also illustrates how the pie chart adjusts its display to avoid hiding
categories contributed by short transactions. In the pie chart, Web dominates
the active time. This reflects the fact that Web activity accounted for the majority
of active time for two of the three transactions represented in the pie chart.
However, the first of the three transactions takes over 99 percent of the elapsed
response time. From the bar chart, you can see it actually has very little active
time contributed by Web classes. Had the pie chart shown the active times
proportionately, the Web Services|Web Method category would have likely
hidden the other categories. Instead, the pie chart gives all transactions equal
weight, regardless of their active time.
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Table Controls
Page Navigation Buttons
By default, the results table displays pages of 10 transactions. Use the
navigation buttons above the table to display the first, next, previous, and last
pages.
Last page
Next page
Previous page
First page
Change Rows in Result Table
Use the Show: drop-down setting to change the number of transactions in each
page of the results table.
Customize Columns
Click the customize columns button
to open a window where you can add
or remove columns from the results table display.
Details Pane and View Button (Open Desktop Console)
When you select a transaction in the Results Table, the details pane displays
additional information for the transaction and the View button that open the
desktop console.
The details pane displays the following additional information for the
transaction:
• The application type. This is the value of the apptype (either Java or .NET)
for the transaction.
• The complete URL served by the transaction. This is the value of the url for
the transaction.
Choose one of the options from the list and click the View button to open
another window with more details on the transaction:
View: Open Desktop Console Options
The View button options open the AppInternals Xpert desktop console using the
same time range. Use the desktop console to see metrics-based performance
data related to the transaction.
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The desktop console View options display different AppInternals Xpert metric
data pertinent to the transaction:
• Contextual Application Performance opens the Application
Performance insight with drill-downs into details for the Java Virtual
Machine (JVM) instance or .NET app domain
• Contextual Server and OS Performance opens the System Performance
insight with drill-downs into details of system resources
• Most Abnormal Application Component Metrics opens a Deviating
Metrics table that lists metrics with values that have been the most outside of
their expected range
See the online help in the AppInternals Xpert desktop console for details on
insights and tables.
View: Launching the Desktop Console
If you have not installed the desktop console on your system, clicking the View
button will download it from the SMP managing the DSA (as shown in the
Managed Nodes list in the Configure screen). If the desktop console is already
running, clicking the button will use the running instance.
If there is already a project connected to the appropriate SMP, clicking the
button will use that project. Otherwise it opens a new project.
(You must have enabled socket connections for the desktop console in order to
connect to a running instance. This is the default configuration. However, if
socket connections are not enabled, clicking the button will create additional
desktop console instances. See the desktop console documentation topic
“Accessing the Desktop Console with HTTP Requests” for details on enabling
socket connections.)
Unfinished Transactions Table
If the Transaction Trace Warehouse detects that there were transactions that
did not finish during the search interval, it displays the Unfinished
Transactions link below the details pane of the main search results table.
Click the link to open a list of transactions that did not finish. The table has the
same format and controls as the Results Table. It does not include the Details
Pane and View Button (Open Desktop Console).
This table contains only transactions that did not finish during the interval
specified in Time Range Settings (and that meet any Filter Conditions). (If the
time range is less than an hour, it contains transactions that did not finish in the
hour prior to the To: time.)
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Transactions that did not finish are likely candidates for further investigation in
the Transaction Details Window and analysis using Transaction Trace Analyzer.
They appear in a separate table because they do not have a meaningful
response time.
Navigation Links: Links to Other Components
AppInternals Xpert BrowserMetrix is a separate component that monitors web
page performance (“end-user experience” or “EUE”) for web applications,
including cloud environments and mobile users.
In environments with BrowserMetrix, there will be a Front-End View link at the
top of the user interface:
(See Adding Navigation Links To and From BrowserMetrix for details on
configuring the navigation links.)
Click Front-End View to open the BrowserMetrix user interface in the same
browser tab or window. Similarly, the Back-End View link is used from
BrowserMetrix to open Transaction Trace Warehouse. Within Transaction
Trace Warehouse, the link only refreshes the search screen.
(In addition, if BrowserMetrix is configured to share data about the application it
is monitoring with Transaction Trace Warehouse, the Transaction Details
Window will include details from BrowserMetrix for applicable transactions.)
Note—BrowserMetrix Links Require BrowserMetrixView Role
If the account you use to log in to Transaction Trace Warehouse does not have
the BrowserMetrixView role, clicking the link will display the BrowserMetrix
login screen and an error. See Account Roles in Transaction Trace Warehouse
for a summary of roles.
The More link is available only if an administrator configured it. It provides
additional links to open other components, such as the AppInternals Xpert Web
user interface or the AppInternals Xpert desktop console. See Adding
Navigation Links To and From BrowserMetrix for details on adding those links.
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Tool Bar: Links to Other Screens
Links and icons at the top of Transaction Trace Warehouse screens provide
navigation between screens:
• Search links to the Search Screen in the same browser window
• Status links to the Status Screen in the same browser window
• Configure links to the Configure Screen (Administrative Accounts Only)
• Account opens the OPNET Authentication Service in another browser tab
or window. The OPNET Authentication Service is a required,
separately-installed component for OPNET products that manages user
accounts and roles and integration with LDAP or AD authentication servers.
For details on OPNET Authentication Service, click the help icon in the
screen that opens. As described in Account Roles in Transaction Trace
Warehouse, accounts are assigned roles that authorize accounts to perform
specific actions.
If configured by an administrator, the tool bar will also have a link to download
the Transaction Trace Analyzer. See Adding a Download Link for Transaction
Trace Analyzer to the Tool Bar for details.
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3
Transaction Details Window
The Transaction Details window opens when you click the
view details
icon in the Search screen Results Table. The window provides a variety of
details about the currently-selected transaction and any related cross-tier
transactions that Transaction Trace Warehouse detected.
• The Overview Pane always includes the Back-End: Transaction Map area.
in environments with BrowserMetrix configured to monitor Web-page
response time for the same application, the upper pane also include a
Front-End: Timeline of Delays area.
• The Details Tabs contains more details about the cross-tier transactions.
Click tabs in the lower pane to see detailed charts and tables.
These details are similar to those available when you download the transaction
and open it in the Transaction Trace Analyzer (see Download to Transaction
Trace Analyzer). The Transaction Trace Analyzer is a separately-installed
application that runs on your local system. (Download the Transaction Trace
Analyzer from the AppInternals Xpert support page. Follow the prompts to install
it on your system.)
Use the Transaction Details window in Transaction Trace Warehouse for quick
performance analysis. It is faster and easier than using the Transaction Trace
Analyzer. In addition, the different tabs in the Transaction Details window
provide details not available in the Transaction Trace Analyzer.
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For in-depth troubleshooting, download transactions to the Transaction Trace
Analyzer. It offers features not available in the Transaction Details window:
• Hierarchical tree view of all instrumented method calls
• Sequence diagram showing the flow of transactions across tiers from start to
end
• Python scripting interface to add custom features
Overview Pane
Front-End: Timeline of Delays
This area appears in the Transaction Details window in environments with
BrowserMetrix configured to monitor Web-page response time for the
application. The bar chart shows a timeline with the specific delays that
contributed to the overall Web page response time.
Click the bar chart to open the BrowserMetrix analysis screen with more details
about that specific Web page response time:
Back-End: Transaction Map
The transaction map shows the server and instance names representing tiers in
a cross-tier transaction. It is similar to the Layout View in the Transaction Trace
Analyzer and shows the interaction of application tiers. The transaction map
provides an overview you can refer to when browsing the more detailed
information available in the tabs below.
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The active time for the entire cross-tier transaction appears above the
transaction map along with the initiating URL. (The Summary of Delays: Active
Time Pie Chart topic describes active time.)
Tiers that are being monitored by AppInternals Xpert are enclosed in shaded
boxes in the transaction map. Transaction Trace Warehouse attempts to infer
the presence of other tiers and also shows them in the map.
Details Tabs
Sorting Columns in Tables
For any table in the details tabs, you can click a column heading to sort by the
values in that column. Click the column heading again to change the sort order
from ascending to descending (or back).
Summary Tab
This tab summarizes the active time for the tiers that make up the transaction.
The tab shows an exploded pie chart with separate sectors representing the
percentage of active time spent in different transaction tiers (data adapter
instances). The sector for each tier is subdivided to show active time spent in
each application category.
Delays Tab
This tab contains a pie chart that shows the percentage of active time spent by
method calls, grouped by a criterion you choose.
Choose the grouping criterion in the drop-down list to the right. The default
(By Method) groups by the most active method.
You can also group by both tier and category (By Tier and Category), which
shows the same exploded pie chart as in the Summary Tab. Other choices are
to group by tier (choose By Tier in the list), by application category
(By Category), or classname (By Class).
SQL Tab
This tab lists up to 100 SQL statements executed by calls in all transaction tiers
and how many seconds they took (the Total Duration column). By default, if the
same SQL statement was executed multiple times, the duration is the total for
all executions and the Number of Calls column shows how many times it
executed. Clear the Group calls by statement setting to see the duration for
the 100 slowest executions.
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Inbound URLs Tab
This tab lists “inbound” URLs for transactions in all tiers and how long the
transactions took (the Duration column). (The discussion of the url search field
describes inbound and outbound URLs.)
Outbound URLs Tab
This tab lists “outbound” URLs for transactions in all tiers and how long the
transactions took (the Duration column). (The discussion of the url search field
describes inbound and outbound URLs.)
Top Calls Tab
This tab lists the 100 slowest method calls across all transaction tiers and their
active time (the Total Active Time column). (The Summary of Delays: Active
Time Pie Chart topic describes active time.)
By default, if the same method was executed multiple times, the active time is
the total for all executions and the Number of Calls column shows how many
times it executed. Clear the Group calls by method name setting to see the
active time for the 100 slowest individual call executions.
If configured by an administrator (see Adding “Open Source Code” Links in the
Transaction Details Window), this tab will include a download icon
. If you
have Visual Studio or Eclipse on your system, with additional configuration, you
can click the icon to open with the source code for the method:
See Linking Between Source Code and AppInternals Xpert Data for a general
description of this feature. Configuring LinkToSource describes specific
configuration steps.
Remote Calls Tab
This tab shows details of calls made by transactions that are not otherwise
visible in the Back-End: Transaction Map or other tabs (or in Transaction Trace
Analyzer). It shows remote calls that are not already shown in the Outbound
URLs tab or in the transaction map as remote calls to databases.
Exceptions Tab
This tab lists up to 100 exceptions for method calls for all transaction tiers.
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Performance Metrics Tab
This tab shows thumbnail graphs for several AppInternals Xpert metrics whose
values are stored in transaction traces. The graphs show relative values for the
metrics for all tiers. They give an indication of application performance through
resource consumption by the .NET CLR (Common Language Runtime) or Java
Virtual Machine (JVM) process.
By default, the time range for the graphs is:
• From 5 seconds before the beginning of the earliest transaction in the
cross-tier sequence
• To 5 seconds after end of the last transaction
The graphs show activity for their corresponding tier in color so you can easily
see when tiers had active transactions relative to other tiers. Note that the time
alignment of these graphs requires synchronization of the system times on each
tier. See Time Synchronization Considerations for Managed Nodes for details.
You can broaden the 5-second before-and-after buffer using the Time Margin
list to the right. This helps you see if values during the transaction are typical.
The metrics correspond to these metrics for the JIDA and dotNet data adapters:
Heap Consumed (MBs/sec): Rate (in megabytes per second) at which the
process is consuming physical memory.
JIDA: Memory Management\\MBs heap consumed / sec
dotNet: Memory Management\\MBs consumed / sec
% Garbage Collection Time: The percentage of time spent on garbage
collection. Note that for .NET CLR versions earlier than 2.0, this metric always
reports values of zero.
JIDA and dotNet: Memory Management\\% time garbage collecting
% Memory Free: The percentage of memory allocated to the process that is not
currently in physical memory.
JIDA: Memory Management\\% free heap
dotNet: Memory Management\\% free memory
% CPU: The percentage of CPU time that the process consumed during the last
second. On Windows systems, this metric is parallel to the Windows System
Monitor Process\% Processor Time performance counter. For multiple
processor systems, this metric divides the performance counter value by the
number of processors.
JIDA: Process#java#CPU\\Busy (%)
dotNet: Process#DotNet#CPU\\Busy (%)
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3—Transaction Details Window
Toolbar Buttons
Report
Click the Report
icon in the upper right of the Transaction Details window
to open a separate browser window or tab (depending on how your Web
browser is configured). This window contains with same information as the
Transaction Details window in a single pane, as opposed to the tabbed display
in the Transaction Details window.
This window is useful for printing because all the details are contained in a
single page. Also, the Transaction Trace Warehouse saves the data for these
reports. By copying the URL for the report in the browser, you can see the
details for the same cross-tier transactions later, or share them with other users
by sending them the URL.
Download to Transaction Trace Analyzer
Click the Download
icon in the upper right of the Transaction Details
window to download transactions to your system. When you click the download
icon, the Transaction Trace Warehouse detects any related cross-tier
transactions it has stored and combines them with the selected transaction. It
then downloads the combined set of transactions to your local system.
If you have installed the Transaction Trace Analyzer and configured your Web
browser, the combined trace will open automatically. If you have not installed
the Transaction Trace Analyzer, download it from the AppInternals Xpert
support page. Follow the prompts to install it on your system.
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4—Status Screen
4
Status Screen
The Status screen shows statistics about the transactions stored in the
Transaction Trace Warehouse and the resources they consume.
Indexed Transactions shows the number of transactions the Transaction
Trace Warehouse has stored and the dates of the earliest and latest
transaction.
When the Transaction Trace Warehouse first begins retrieving continuous
transaction trace data from a managed node, there may be a large backlog of
accumulated data. By refreshing the display (click on a link to another screen
and then click the Status screen link again), you can gauge progress. The
Transaction Trace Warehouse add the oldest transactions first. When the Time
of latest transaction value is the current time, the Transaction Trace
Warehouse is up to date with all the managed nodes.
Disk Usage shows the disk space used by the data directory that contains
transaction trace data. (This directory is specified during installation; see
Required Information for Installation for details.) Specifically, it shows the disk
space used by the data\ and index\ subdirectories.
The Managed Nodes area shows a list of managed nodes that the Transaction
Trace Warehouse is retrieving transaction trace data from. This list is nearly
identical to the managed nodes list in the Configure Screen (Administrative
Accounts Only). See Columns in the Managed Nodes List for details.
OPNET AppInternals Xpert/Transaction Trace Warehouse/Version 2.1
TTW UI-4-1
5—Account Roles in Transaction Trace Warehouse
5
Account Roles in Transaction Trace Warehouse
The account you use to log in to Transaction Trace Warehouse has different
capabilities depending on the roles it has been assigned.
Accounts are created and assigned roles in the OPNET Authentication Service,
a required, separately-installed component. (Click the Account link in the Tool
Bar: Links to Other Screens to open the Authentication Service.)
The default admin account is assigned all roles and can perform any operation.
You can use that account to create other accounts with less authority.
Transaction Trace Warehouse recognizes two roles, TTWAdmin and
TTWAccess.
The following table summarizes available roles and the capabilities that
Transaction Trace Warehouse associates with them.
Role
Capabilities in Transaction Trace Warehouse
BrowserMetrixAdmin
None. Required for administrative tasks in BrowserMetrix.
BrowserMetrixView
None. Required to log in and view data in BrowserMetrix. Users
with the TTWAccess and TTWAdmin roles that do not have the
BrowserMetrixView role cannot log in to BrowserMetrix. As a
result, the Front-End View link (see Navigation Links: Links to
Other Components) will not work for those users.
guest
None. The guest role is not supported. Accounts with only the
guest role cannot log in to Transaction Trace Warehouse or
BrowserMetrix.
RootAdmin
Not directly used by Transaction Trace Warehouse. Required to
log into OPNET Authentication Service and create accounts and
grant roles to accounts. Accounts with only the RootAdmin role
cannot log in to Transaction Trace Warehouse.
TTWAdmin
Log in, view data, and access the Configure Screen
(Administrative Accounts Only) screen in Transaction Trace
Warehouse.
TTWAccess
Log in and view data in Transaction Trace Warehouse. Accounts
that are assigned only the TTWAccess role are limited as follows:
• They can only change their password when they click the
Account link. They cannot create or modify accounts or roles.
• The Configure Screen (Administrative Accounts Only) screen is
not available.
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6—Configure Screen (Administrative Accounts Only)
6
Configure Screen (Administrative Accounts Only)
Overview
The Configure screen is accessible only when you log in to the Transaction
Trace Warehouse using an administrative account. See the Account Roles in
Transaction Trace Warehouse topic for details on administrative and
non-administrative accounts.
The Configure screen specifies the systems that the Transaction Trace
Warehouse harvests trace files from. The Performance Parameters area
specifies disk usage limits.
The Transaction Trace Warehouse retrieves continuous transaction trace data
from AppInternals Xpert “managed nodes” that monitor Java or .NET
applications of interest. You add managed nodes indirectly, by specifying the
SMP system that is managing them. (In other words, the system running the
AppInternals Xpert Service Management Platform console.)
When you add an SMP, the Transaction Trace Warehouse connects to it and
retrieves a list of all the managed nodes the SMP is managing. Click Update
List in the Managed Nodes area to add the managed nodes to the list. The
Transaction Trace Warehouse starts retrieving continuous transaction trace
data from managed nodes that have any.
Note that the managed nodes list includes all managed nodes known to each
SMP, even those that may not be monitoring any Java or .NET applications, or
that are monitoring applications that do not have continuous transaction tracing
enabled. This behavior insures that the Transaction Trace Warehouse will
automatically retrieve continuous transaction trace data if it becomes available.
If you know that a managed node is not and will not be a source of continuous
transaction trace data, select it in the Managed Nodes area and click Pause.
The Transaction Trace Warehouse will stop trying to retrieve data from that
managed node.
Service Management Platforms (SMPs)
Use this area to configure which SMPs the Transaction Trace Warehouse will
contact for a list of managed nodes when you click Update List in the Managed
Nodes area.
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6—Configure Screen (Administrative Accounts Only)
You must click Update List after adding or deleting entries in the SMP list for
those changes to take effect in the managed node list. Similarly, if managed
nodes are added or deleted on the SMP, you must also click Update List for the
managed node list to reflect those changes.
Add
Opens the Create SMP dialog box where you specify details for the SMP entry
in the list:
Name:
A descriptive name that is displayed in the SMP list. This name is required but
does not have to be the SMP name.
Host Name/IP Address:
The system name or IP address of the system running the AppInternals Xpert
Service Management Platform console.
Port:
The port number used by the SMP for HTTP connections. The default SMP port
is 3433.
Description:
An optional description displayed in the SMP list.
Edit
Opens the Modify SMP dialog box where you can change the Host Name/IP
Address, Port, and Description settings for the SMP. You cannot change the
Name setting. Changes are not saved until you click Update List.
Delete
Deletes the SMP entry from the list.
Managed Nodes
This area shows a list of the managed nodes being monitored by SMPs in the
Service Management Platforms (SMPs) area.
The list shows the managed nodes at the time Update List was last clicked. You
can also pause and restart retrieval of continuous transaction trace data on
managed nodes.
Update List, Start, and Pause Buttons
Update List
Causes the Transaction Trace Warehouse to contact all of the SMPs in the
list in the Service Management Platforms (SMPs) area and update the
managed node list to match what those SMPs are currently managing.
If an SMP is no longer monitoring one or more managed nodes in the list,
clicking Update List will delete that managed node from the list. Similarly, if
an SMP is not reachable, updating will remove all the managed nodes for that
SMP from the list.
TTW UI-6-2
Start
Starts retrieval of continuous transaction trace data on any managed nodes in
the list that are currently paused and whose check box is selected.
Pause
Stops retrieval of continuous transaction trace data on any managed nodes in
the list that are currently started and whose check box is selected.
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6—Configure Screen (Administrative Accounts Only)
Columns in the Managed Nodes List
The managed node list contains the following columns. Note that you can click
a column heading to sort the list by the values in that column. Click the column
heading again to change the sort order from ascending to descending (or back):
• Check box that controls which entries in the list that Start and Pause
operations affect
• Name The managed node name. This is typically the prefix DSA- followed
by the name of the system being monitored. However, the managed node
can be configured to use other names.
• IP Address The IP address of the system being monitored.
• Port The port number on which the managed node listens for connections
from the Transaction Trace Warehouse to retrieve continuous transaction
trace data.
• Status Whether the Transaction Trace Warehouse is currently trying to
retrieve continuous transaction trace data (Started) or not (Paused)
• SMP The name of the system running the AppInternals Xpert Service
Management Platform console.
Page Navigation Buttons
If there are more than 10 entries in the list, it is divided into pages and page
navigation buttons appear above the list. Use the navigation buttons to display
the first, next, previous, and last pages.
Last page
Next page
Previous page
First page
Old Managed Nodes Show as Paused
If any of the managed nodes that are being monitored by an SMP are older
earlier than Version 8.0 of AppInternals Xpert, they will not generate transaction
trace data for the Transaction Trace Warehouse. Any such managed nodes will
appear in the list as Paused. There is no indication in the user interface that this
is because the managed node is too old. However, the download.log file will
contain a message similar to the following:
2012-04-16 11:47:59,151 INFO
harvester.download Managed node DSA-oldnode has
version less than 8.0, pausing it
2012-04-16 11:47:59,151 INFO
harvester.util DSA-oldnode has been paused
OPNET AppInternals Xpert/Transaction Trace Warehouse/Version 2.1
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6—Configure Screen (Administrative Accounts Only)
See Transaction Trace Warehouse Log Files for details on the log files.
Performance Parameters
This area has settings that limit the disk space that the Transaction Trace
Warehouse will use. If either limit is exceeded, the Transaction Trace
Warehouse deletes the oldest transactions in its data directory. (This directory
is specified during installation; see Required Information for Installation for
details.)
Note—The Transaction Trace Warehouse requires and will use a minimum of
4 GB of disk space, regardless of the settings you specify here. This minimum
value is configurable in the <datadir>\config\silo.cfg file. 4 GB is the minimum
recommended value.
Disk Quota
(GB)
The maximum disk space that can be used, in GB
Maximum
Disk Space
Usage (%)
The maximum disk space that can be used, as a percentage of the total disk
space available
When these quotas are exceeded, the Transaction Trace Warehouse writes
messages to the silo_query-<date>.log file (see Transaction Trace Warehouse
Log Files for a summary of the log files). For example:
2012-03-12 09:37:51: Less than 10% of free disk space is remaining. Attempting to
retire 5% of data [0.33GiB]
2012-03-12 09:37:51: Retiring index data older than 2012-03-06 16:25:43
2012-03-12 09:37:51: 0.13GiB of data retired [0.13GiB of traces and 0.00GiB of index
data]
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