One of the concerns clients have when they go to the cloud is the degree of access they have to the underlying infrastructure to control and generally administrate their MAS instances. The Tools API provides a few of the commonly needed actions an Administrator would need to perform, without them having to ask for permission. The ability for you to make the connection and requests is contingent upon the nature of your cloud hosting agreement and provider. Start by asking this question before trying to set up and make the connection on your own.
For full disclosure, much of the detail for this article can be found from IBM here.
However, indulge us a bit as we walk through what the Tools API brings to you as a MAS client, whether your instances are on-prem or being hosted in the cloud by someone.
What is the Tools API?
Starting way back with Manage 8.1, the Tools API provides many of the Cloud Command Line Interface (CLI) tools that a client could execute on their instances which are hosted in the cloud. As a side note, Manage is now at release 8.6 under the MAS 8.10 umbrella.
Commands such as running the Integrity Checker, starting/stopping Manage pods, uploading logs, etc. are all common operations that an Administrative User might wish to perform. Depending upon your hosting situation, your host may require you to submit a request to execute these commands, or they may give you access to do on your own. Best to check your hosting agreement before you try to set up what the IBM URL suggests.
Setup
The first thing you are going to need to do is download a REST command/request application such as Postman or the like. These applications enable you to connect to servers (via URLs) and execute REST requests such as POST, GET, etc. You can form, execute, and then save your requests, so once you have your key functions in place, you simply execute the requests as needed. Tools such as Postman have many useful functions when it comes to interacting with APIs.
The URL provided by IBM points to the need to configure the Logging app within Manage to provide the necessary application access to the User(s) you expect to execute the Tools commands. We strongly recommend that the list of Users granted this degree of access is very small and are Administration level Users.
You will also need to generate an API Key for the Postman app to use to authenticate with the server when it attempts to make a connection. This is done via the API Key application under the Integrations module of Manage. It is a simple matter to generate the key for a particular User (most likely MAXADMIN) and copy it for use later.
Making the connection
Armed with Postman and your API Key, you can configure your first REST request. As a side note, you are making these requests to the maxinst pod that is running under the Red Hat OpenShift environment that is supporting your MAS instance. This detail may be important if you must work with your hosting provider to gain access.
You will need to know the hosting details to form proper URLs to execute your REST requests. This can be frustrating because the URL must be exact. A sample REST request URL would look like:
Note that the “host:port” section of the URL is very specific to the instance you are attempting to connect to.
Executing Requests
Now comes the fun part… executing REST requests. If you are new to applications like Postman, there will be a small learning curve to understand how it works, and then some learning to understand the results that the CLI tools return to you.
Leverage the IBM link to walk through each of the Tools to get a feel for what they do for you.
… do just that. They stop the Manage pod! If you just did this in your Production instance, your phone would certainly start ringing. Best to learn on your non-production instances before moving over to the ones your business depends upon. Use the managestart request to restart the pod if you make this error.
One function that is nice to have is the ability to capture logs and then access them for analysis without having to ask for them or enter tickets to the host. When the submit upload log request is made, all the Manage Liberty (the underlying MAS application server that replaced WebSphere) pod logs are zipped up and uploaded to the underlying cloud object storage. The logs of the cron, UI, MIF, and RPT pods are included all at once.
Of course, you will need to have access to this storage location to retrieve the zipped files. More discussions with your Cloud host for sure.
Wrap up
TRM, being a cloud host, fields requests for this degree of system access on a very regular basis. We certainly help our clients achieve the access they need to manage their instances. Some need access, while others are perfectly happy having us do all the work!
John Q. Todd
John Q. Todd has nearly 30 years of business and technical experience in the Project Management, Process development/improvement, Quality/ISO/CMMI Management, Technical Training, Reliability Engineering, Maintenance, Application development, Risk Management, & Enterprise Asset Management fields. His experience includes work as a Reliability Engineer & RCM implementer for NASA/JPL Deep Space Network, as well as numerous customer projects and consulting activities as a reliability and spares analysis expert. He is a Sr. Business Consultant and Product Researcher with Total Resource Management, an an IBM Gold Business Partner – focused on the market-leading EAM solution, Maximo, specializes in improving asset and operational performance by delivering strategic consulting services with world class functional and technical expertise.
During Academy of Infrared Training courses, we see many students who have purchased an infrared camera that is not suited for their intended use. These students have put their trust in a camera salesperson, and, many times, that salesperson was solely interested making a sale. Later, these students are disappointed to find out that the camera is not truly suited for their application. This article aims to help the camera buyer understand what basic camera specifications mean, and also help them determine what type of camera and options are suitable for their application. If you note your answers to questions throughout this article, by the end you should have a custom list of applicable specifications and options.
During Academy of Infrared Training courses, we see many students who have purchased an infrared camera that is not suited for their intended use. These students have put their trust in a camera salesperson, and, many times, that salesperson was solely interested making a sale. Later, these students are disappointed to find out that the camera is not truly suited for their application. This article aims to help the camera buyer understand what basic camera specifications mean, and also help them determine what type of camera and options are suitable for their application. If you note your answers to questions throughout this article, by the end you should have a custom list of applicable specifications and options.
Condition Monitoring when used to drive reliability improvement offers diagnostics, information and data for Root Cause Analysis and equipment redesign, along with verification of defect or design correction. Condition monitoring applied proactively is a context embracing world class reliability maintenance concepts.
Condition Monitoring when used to drive reliability improvement offers diagnostics, information and data for Root Cause Analysis and equipment redesign, along with verification of defect or design correction. Condition monitoring applied proactively is a context embracing world class reliability maintenance concepts.
Following this meeting, a professional consultant visited Schmid to determine if the right oil and lubricants were being utilized to meet maintenance goals. After much testing and analysis, the consultant determined that the oils in use were not as high quality as the company originally thought. With hard work and determined mechanics, every piece of equipment and every truck was changed over to the new brand of oil and the company seemed to have fewer lubrication related problems. Still, large amounts of money were poured into repairs and the desired results were not fully achieved.
Following this meeting, a professional consultant visited Schmid to determine if the right oil and lubricants were being utilized to meet maintenance goals. After much testing and analysis, the consultant determined that the oils in use were not as high quality as the company originally thought. With hard work and determined mechanics, every piece of equipment and every truck was changed over to the new brand of oil and the company seemed to have fewer lubrication related problems. Still, large amounts of money were poured into repairs and the desired results were not fully achieved.
Mirant Mid-Atlantic’s condition-monitoring team consists of a central group of four technicians and one team leader. The team’s primary responsibilities are the company’s four coal-fired power plants; as resources and priorities permit, the team also provides support to other assets.
Mirant Mid-Atlantic’s condition-monitoring team consists of a central group of four technicians and one team leader. The team’s primary responsibilities are the company’s four coal-fired power plants; as resources and priorities permit, the team also provides support to other assets.
Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to tell if lubricants have been mixed unless they have vastly different viscosities, such as ISO 32 and ISO 680. The best solution would be to avoid this problem in the first place by having trained staff members and well-labeled/color-coded equipment. Using a different sealable and reusable container for each lubricant can help to prevent cross-contamination.
Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to tell if lubricants have been mixed unless they have vastly different viscosities, such as ISO 32 and ISO 680. The best solution would be to avoid this problem in the first place by having trained staff members and well-labeled/color-coded equipment. Using a different sealable and reusable container for each lubricant can help to prevent cross-contamination.
Rotating-element bearing manufacturers measure the reliability of their bearings using a Load-Life calculation rating, which is known as the L10 rating life. To achieve its design rating, the manufacturer assumes the bearing will be run in a clean operating environment. This takes into account providing an adequate lubricant film (adequate described as a film equal to, or greater than, the composite roughness of the two mating surfaces) of the correct viscosity for the designed maximum bearing speed and operating temperature ratings.
Rotating-element bearing manufacturers measure the reliability of their bearings using a Load-Life calculation rating, which is known as the L10 rating life. To achieve its design rating, the manufacturer assumes the bearing will be run in a clean operating environment. This takes into account providing an adequate lubricant film (adequate described as a film equal to, or greater than, the composite roughness of the two mating surfaces) of the correct viscosity for the designed maximum bearing speed and operating temperature ratings.
The next step that we talked about was, "How did the component fail…the grid coupling?" This is something that a lot of times, once we start doing this, for a grid coupling, if we set up a PM for this you can probably step straight to what kind of inspections would you do and you guys could tell me in three minutes and they’re probably pretty much right on. But I’m using something simple because I didn’t know who’s going to be in the class and what kind of technical skills you guys have. But using something simple and showing you the steps of how we break this down. I think if we say how would you inspect a coupling that’s going on the run or doing what kind inspections do we need to do and shut down. I think you guys can tell me that. I’ll show you steps anyways so you can see the thinking process using something fairly simple.
The next step that we talked about was, "How did the component fail…the grid coupling?" This is something that a lot of times, once we start doing this, for a grid coupling, if we set up a PM for this you can probably step straight to what kind of inspections would you do and you guys could tell me in three minutes and they’re probably pretty much right on. But I’m using something simple because I didn’t know who’s going to be in the class and what kind of technical skills you guys have. But using something simple and showing you the steps of how we break this down. I think if we say how would you inspect a coupling that’s going on the run or doing what kind inspections do we need to do and shut down. I think you guys can tell me that. I’ll show you steps anyways so you can see the thinking process using something fairly simple.
