INTERNET-DRAFT C. Kalbfleisch OnRamp Technologies, Inc. C. Krupczak Empire Technologies, Inc. R. Presuhn BMC Software, Inc. J. Saperia BGS Systems, Inc. 18 December 1996 Application Management MIB Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.'' To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the ``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet- Drafts Shadow Directories on ftp.is.co.za (Africa), nic.nordu.net (Europe), munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ds.internic.net (US East Coast), or ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast). Abstract This memo defines an experimental portion of the Management Information Base (MIB) for use with network management protocols in the Internet Community. In particular, it defines objects used for the management of applications. This MIB complements the System Application MIB, providing for the management of applications' common aspects which could not typically be observed without the cooperation of the software being managed. 1. Introduction This draft seeks to further the work begun in the systems application mib [11]. In its current form, it identifies far more issues and capabilities than can reasonably be addressed in one MIB. It is hoped that the first round of discussion of this document will trim Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 1] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 this feature set to an essential core that will provide the most "bang for the buck" in making applications manageable. The development of [1], [2], [3], [4], [8] and [9] provides us with a base of experience in making a variety of applications visible to management; this specification abstracts out the common aspects of applications management and provides a generic base usable for the management of almost any application. 2. Overview Many important topics were not handled in system application MIB [11]. The following topics are within the scope of the this document: - Support for generic application throughput measurements; - Providing MIB definitions that allow managed entities to report what they considered to be units of work; - Providing support for generic application response time monitoring capabilities; - Provide explicit support for the management of applications distributed within a single managed system ("local" distri- bution); - Address generic resource management issues, including: - files in use; - I/O statistics (from the application's perspective, not at the operating system or device driver level); - other resources are open to discussion, possibilities include: - various system calls; - heap usage; - stack penetration; - networking resources. - Providing access to dependency information, both in the form of MIB objects to report dependencies on Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 2] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 "mission critical" processes, as well as the logging of failures due to dependencies. - Provide a generic logging (stderr) capability: - Identify common application log entries interest; - Permit use of specialized log entries where appropri- ate; - Provide generic facility for the management of this log; - Provide generic facility to control notification gen- eration by the application; - Facilities for the control of applications, including: - Starting and stopping applications and their elements; - Suspending and resuming applications and their ele- ments; - Configuration of application parameters; - A "mission critical process" MIB to identify processes that are of particular interest; - Reconfiguration (e.g., SIGHUP) request capability. Note that these issues are addressed at least in part by other stan- dards work, including [12] and [13]. Some topics were identified as being of interest to the applmib work- ing group, but outside the scope of this document. - Providing MIB definitions that allow management to define what is to be considerred an error. This includes mechanisms for filtering and selective forwarding of information from notifi- cations or log entries. Topics identified as specifically out of scope include: - Providing MIB definitions to allow dynamic control of the def- inition of units of work; - Explicit support for the management of applications Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 3] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 distributed across multiple systems; (The indexing structure and semantics of the system application MIB [11] are not suf- ficient for this task.) - Issues of backup and recovery; - Issues of software request, delivery, installation, activa- tion, patching, version update, reversion, and removal; - Issues of software validation and integrity checks; - Issues of software licensing. 3. Architecture To emulate the object-oriented modeling techniques of subclassing and multiple inheritance, the SNMP information model provides for the use of tables with common indexes. The challenge for the developer of management applications is to recognize those situa- tions in which various aspects of a single logical resource are represented in several different tables, possibly defined in dif- ferent MIBs. Most of the management information defined here may pertain to any number of applications in a managed system. The simplest way of supporting this requirement within the SNMP information model is to use tables. This means that the management information for a par- ticular resource may be found in one or more rows of one or more tables; the fact that this information pertains to a single resource may be deduced from the index values used, possibly with the support of mapping tables. This also means that a single table may contain management information relevant to a number of applica- tions. This has significant implementation implications; see the implementation issues section below for more information. Relationships to other MIBs This section will outline the relationships of the components of this MIB (usually in the form of common indexing structures) to: - the systems applications MIB [11] - the host resources MIB [1] - the entity MIB [8] - the network services monitoring MIB [2] Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 4] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 Relationship to NSM The Network Services Monitoring MIB is defined as the base set of attributes for managing network applications. This MIB extends that set of attributes to include information normally obtainable only from the managed resource itself, rather than the supporting system. The nsmToSysApplElmtRunTable is defined to provide the relationship between the NSM and sysApplMIB frameworks. Relationship to sysAppl The sysApplMIB defines attributes for management of applications which can be realized without instrumenting an application. This sepcification extends that framework to include additional attributes which will typically require instrumentation within the managed resource. 4. MIB Structure The open files table The open files table contains one entry for file in use by the man- aged application. If multiple applications open the same file, it will appear as many times in this table as there are applications opening that file. Entries in this table are indexed by the applica- tion run index and an arbitrary integer, chosen so that taken together the application run index and this integer yield a unique key for each open file. The following information is available in this table: - file name - number of read requests - number of bytes read - timestamp of last read operation - number of write requests - number of bytes written - timestamp of last write operation - number of seek operations Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 5] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 - file size Special cases to consider: stdin, stdout, stderr, etc. The open connections table This table extends the capabilities provided by the network services monitoring MIB [2]. It includes: - - The transaction statistics table Entries in the transaction statistics table are indexed by the appli- cation run index and an arbitrary integer, chosen so that taken together the application run index and this integer yield a unique key for each transaction stream. A transaction stream may be a file or a connection; a column in this table contains the OBJECT IDENTI- FIER of the instance in the open files table or open connections table. The information recorded in the entries of this table includes: - Transactions received / read - Transactions transmitted / written - Transaction response time (definition gets tricky...) The application component details table This table provides time stamps, current size, ownership, and other information as it extends the sysApplInstallElmt table. 5. Definitions APPLICATION-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN * * note: this MIB will not compile in its current form! * IMPORTS MODULE-IDENTITY, OBJECT-TYPE, Unsigned32 FROM SNMPv2-SMI MODULE-COMPLIANCE, OBJECT-GROUP FROM SNMPv2-CONF; applicationMIB MODULE-IDENTITY Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 6] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 LAST-UPDATED "9611200000Z" ORGANIZATION "Application MIB Working Group" CONTACT-INFO "Randy Presuhn BMC Software, Inc. 1190 Saratoga Avenue, Suite 100 San Jose, CA 95129 USA Telephone: +1 800 841-2031 Facsimile: +1 408 556-0735 Email: rpresuhn@bmc.com " DESCRIPTION " " ::= { bogus 1 } UTF8String ::= TEXTUAL CONVENTION STATUS current DESCRIPTION "A string of IS 10646 characters encoded in the UTF-8 (see [10]) format. " SYNTAX OCTET STRING (SIZE (0 .. 1024)) -- -- nsmToSysApplElmtRunTable -- -- The table that defines relationships between NSM's applTable -- and sysApplMIB's sysApplRunElmtTable. -- nsmToSysApplElmtRunTable OBJECT-TYPE SYNTAX SEQUENCE OF NsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry MAX-ACCESS not-accessible STATUS current DESCRIPTION "The table that defines relationships between the applTable of the Network Services Monitoring MIB [2] and the sysApplElmtRunTable of the System Application MIB [11]." ::= { nsmToSysAppl 1 } nsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry OBJECT-TYPE SYNTAX NsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry MAX-ACCESS not-accessible STATUS current DESCRIPTION Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 7] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 "An entry in the table that defines relationships between the applTable of the Network Services Monitoring MIB [REF] and the sysApplElmtRunTable of the System Application MIB [REF]." INDEX { nsmToSysApplElmtRunIndex } ::= { nsmToSysApplElmtRunTable 1 } NsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry ::= SEQUENCE { nsmToSysApplElmtRunIndex Unsigned32, nsmToSysApplElmtRunApplIndex Unsigned32, nsmToSysApplElmtRunSysApplRunIndex Unsigned32, nsmToSysApplElmtRunSysApplRunElmtIndex Unsigned32 } nsmToSysApplElmtRunIndex OBJECT-TYPE SYNTAX Unsigned32 MAX-ACCESS not-accessible STATUS current DESCRIPTION "An arbitrary integer used for indexing purposes. Each entry in this table represents a relationship between an entry in applTable of NSM and sysApplRunElmtTable of sysApplMIB." ::= { nsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry 1 } nsmToSysApplElmtRunApplIndex OBJECT-TYPE SYNTAX Unsigned32 MAX-ACCESS read-only STATUS current DESCRIPTION "The index into the applTable of NSM. This is used to identify an entry in applTable which relates to an entry in sysApplRunElmtTable which is indexed by nsmToSysApplElmtSysApplRunIndex and nsmToSysApplElmtSysApplRunElmtIndex" ::= { nsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry 2 } nsmToSysApplElmtRunSysApplRunIndex OBJECT-TYPE SYNTAX Unsigned32 MAX-ACCESS read-only STATUS current DESCRIPTION "The application index into the sysApplRunTable of sysApplMIB. This is also one of the primary indices of the sysApplRunElmtTable. This is used in conjunction with the value of nsmToSysApplElmtSysApplRunElmtIndex Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 8] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 to identify an entry in the sysApplRunElmtTable that is related to an entry in the applTable." ::= { nsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry 3 } nsmToSysApplElmtRunSysApplRunElmtIndex OBJECT-TYPE SYNTAX Unsigned32 MAX-ACCESS read-only STATUS current DESCRIPTION "The element index into the sysApplRunElmntTable of sysApplMIB. This is used in conjunction with the value of nsmToSysApplElmtSysApplRunIndex to identify an entry in the sysApplRunElmtTable that is related to an entry in the applTable." ::= { nsmToSysApplElmtRunEntry 4 } END 6. Implementation Issues Unlike the system application MIB [11], in many environments support for much of this MIB requires instrumentation built into the managed resource. Some tables may be implemented by a single monitor pro- cess; for others, the implementation may be distributed within the managed system with the resources being managed. As a practical matter, this means that the management infrastructure of the managed system must support different subagents taking respon- sibility for different rows of a single table. This can be supported by Agentx [14] as well as other subagent protocols [15]. 7. Security Considerations By making potentially sensitive information externally accessible, the capabilities supported by the MIB have the potential of becoming security problems. The capabilities supported by this MIB include several that may be of value to a security administrator. These include the ability to mon- itor the level of usage of a given application, to verify licenses, and to check the integrity of application components. 8. Acknowledgements This document was produced by the Application MIB working group. The author gratefully acknowledges the comments and contributions of Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 9] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 the following individuals: Carl Kalbfleisch John Saperia Cheryl Krupczak 9. Editors' Addresses Carl Kalbfleisch OnRamp Technologies, Inc. 1950 Stemmons Frwy 2026 INFOMART Dallas, TX 75207 USA Phone: +1 214 672-7246 Fax: +1 214 672-7275 E-Mail: cwk@onramp.net Cheryl Krupczak Empire Technologies, Inc. 541 Tenth Street, NW Suite 169 Atlanta, GA 30318 Phone: +1 770 384-0184 E-Mail: cheryl@empiretech.com Randy Presuhn BMC Software, Inc. PEER Networks Division 1190 Saratoga Avenue San Jose, CA 95129 USA Phone: +1 408 556-0720 Fax: +1 408 556-0735 E-Mail: rpresuhn@bmc.com Jon Saperia BGS Systems, Inc. 128 Technology Center Waltham, MA 02254 Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 10] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 USA Phone: +1 617 891-0000 ext 340 E-Mail: saperia@networks.bgs.com 10. References [1] Grillo, P., and S. Waldbusser, "Host Resources MIB", RFC 1514, September 1993. [2] Freed, N., and S. Kille, "Network Services Monitoring MIB", RFC 1565, January 1994. [3] Freed, N., and S. Kille, "Mail Monitoring MIB", RFC 1566, January 1994. [4] Brower, D., Purvy, R., Daniel, A., Sinykin, M., and J. Smith, "Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) Management Information Base (MIB) using SMIv2", RFC 1697, August 1994. [5] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Structure of Management Information for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1902, January 1996. [6] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Textual Conventions for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1903, January 1996. [7] Case, J., McCloghrie, K., Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Conformance Statements for Version 2 of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv2)", RFC 1904, January 1996. [8] McCloghrie, K. and A. Bierman, "Entity MIB", RFC 2037, October 1996. [9] C. Kalbfleisch, "Applicability of Standards Track MIBs to Management of World Wide Web Servers", RFC 2039, November 1996. [10] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of Unicode and ISO 10646", RFC 2044, October 1996. [11] Krupczak, C., Saperia, J., and R. Sturm, "Definitions of Managed Objects for Applications", , November 1996. [12] ITU-T Recommendation X.744 | ISO/IEC IS 10164-18:1996, Information Technology - Open Systems Interconnection - Systems Management: Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 11] Internet Draft Application Management MIB 18 December 1996 Software Management Function, 1996. [13] IEEE P1387.2, POSIX System Administration - Part 2: Software Administration. (Draft) [14] Francisco, D., Daniele, M., and B. Wijnen, "Agent Extensibility (AgentX) Protocol", , November, 1995. [15] Rose, M. "SNMP MUX Protocol and MIB", RFC 1227, May 1991. 11. List of Things Left To Be Done - Put in real MIB definitions, verify compilability. Applmib Working Group Expires June 1997 [Page 12]