Intro

This page is supposed to document the needed steps in order to setup SLS alarms at CERN.

Service DB

First step is to get a valid service DB account. This is associated with your CERN account, but you need to talk to Jorge to get special privileges, and make an initial request with CERN IT.

Overview

This part, has only to do with your service/alarm registration, it is not a part of SLS, but rather a database that is queried by it.

There you should create "services", and aggregate them in "meta-services".

• There are different departments for services, I never knew what was the proper for CMS Computing, so I have been using PH-DI (PH -- physics)
• Realize that sub-services of a meta-service can be weighted.
• Every service will have 3 levels : 1 - good, 2 - degraded, 3 - critical
  • It is up to you to define what are the numbers from 0 to 100 are the thresholds for that. It will be weighted up to the super-service.
• Every change to Service DB takes 1h to be synchronized with SLS/dependent systems

Registering a service

A lot of details here, start logging into service DB.

• Go to the "Services" tab
• Below the table, there is a button "Create a new service"

You will see this:

Explaining non-obvious fields :

1 - Department, I use PH-DI, good luck finding the right one.

2 - Egroup email, if any. It also works as a CC for the service status change mails (degraded, critical)

3 - Never knew what it was used for, related random string in ID in CDB works, your mail in IT contact works

4 - IMPORTANT - name that will be in SLS and in its URL. Learnt with time that is good to avoid capitals there.

5 - URL to fetch through HTTP your XML update file for SLS.

6 - Read SLS manual, but those are the 3 thresholds from 100 to 0 for service status change.

TYPE(METASERVICE) - For example Tier 0. It will be only used to aggregate related sub-services. Select this is if this is what you want to do.

Managing meta-services

Only potential pitfall here is the department -- all services/metaservices should belong to the same department.

Before you manage it, you should create it, then it will appear in your "home" page, as "services I manage", click on it and do the rest. Remember that sub-services are weighted.

SLS

Not much to say here, most of the management is done via Service DB, everything concerning how SLS works, possibilities, features, examples, is very well documented on its manual

Getting alarms into Egroups (tricky)

Thanks for all the suggestions, I tried one by one and the only one that worked was Jorge's, and it really has to be like that :

• Don't put the egroup mail as the mail e-mail in serviceDB, put yours
• Egroup mail HAS to be "alternative email"
• Egroup configuration on the tab "Email properties" has to be set as "Everyone (SPAM!)"