HP Systems Insight Manager - Manual (Page 75)

17 Systems Insight Manager custom tools
General concepts
Custom tools are tools that can be created by the user to run on the CMS or on target systems. For
example:
•
Remote tool
A tool that runs on selected target systems. It might copy files to the target systems or run
specific X-Window applications on the target systems. You can schedule this tool.
•
CMS tool
A tool that runs on the CMS. It is usually a script or batch file and can pass in environment
variables. Using Automatic Event Handling, you can configure this tool to run when events
are received. You can schedule this tool.
•
Web page tool
A tool that launches a web URL. The URL is launched in a separate browser window on the
CMS. You cannot schedule this tool.
To add custom tools, you can either use the Tools
→Custom Tools→New Custom Tools menu in the
GUI, or edit the tool definition files (tdefs) in a text editor and register them with the CLI mxtool.
Both procedures are explained in this chapter.
Tool types
As delivered, Systems Insight Manager provides an administrator with unified management control
of any number of servers and storage devices from a single console in the data center or in a
remote location. When customized with specialized tools or HP Insight Essentials plug-ins, Systems
Insight Manager becomes a comprehensive, easy-to-use platform for controlling Microsoft Windows,
Linux, or HP-UX enterprise environments.
A key method of administering multiple systems is through scripting. Systems Insight Manager
features a modular architecture that uses
tool definition files (TDEFs) written in the XML data file
format. A TDEF contains the definitions of one or more tools used by Systems Insight Manager and
define how a tool launches and executes. A tool can be a script or an executable file. Creating
custom tools enables you to extend the use of Systems Insight Manager to your specific business
environment.
General concepts 75