You can configure the RulesFile property in a probe rules file to
download rules files over HTTP from a central repository or file system.
Before you begin
Note: From version 8.1.0.21, the probe can download rules files over HTTPS. It
can also send user name and password information in a Basic Authentication header, if specified
within the URL.
Note: For security reasons, it is advisable to run probes that use the HTTP interface only in a
secure private network environment.
Procedure
- In the probe properties file, set the RulesFile property to the URL
of the rules file. For example:
http://testhost.ibm.com:8080/ibm/console/omnibus/repository/probes/rules/simnet.rules
To specify a rules file that is stored on an IPv6 web server, use square brackets ([ ]) to
delimit the server address in the URL. For example:
http://[fed0::7887:234:5edf:fe65:348]:8080/ibm/console/omnibus/repository/probes/rules/simnet.rules
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From version 8.1.0.21, you can use HTTPS URLs, for
example:
https://testhost.ibm.com:8080/ibm.console/omnibus/repository/probes/rules/simnet.rules
The probe makes an HTTPS connection with the host and is presented with an SSL certificate by the
remote HTTPS server. The probe validates the remote certificate using the Certificate Authority (CA)
and/or intermediate certificates in its repository. For a successful HTTPS connection, import the
appropriate certificate into the key store. For more information, see Using SSL for client and server communications.
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To specify a URL that contains user names and passwords, use the following
format:
http://user:pass@testhost.ibm.com:8080/ibm/console/omnibus/repository/probes/rules/simnet.rules
User names and passwords in this format are removed from the URL and sent as a Basic Authorisation
header in the HTTP request. If you want to specify user names or passwords which contain special
characters, use RFC 3986 style encoding, for example, use
specialcharpassw%40rd
in
the URL instead of
specialcharpassw@rd
.
- Restart the probe or force a running probe to reread the
rules file.
Results
The rules file is loaded from the remote file system. If the probe fails to read the rules file,
a message similar to the following message is written to the probe log
file:
Error: E-UNK-000-000: Failed to open Rules file: http://testhost:9080/ibm/console/omnibus/repository/probe/rules/simnet.rules
If
rules file caching is enabled, the probe reverts to a cached copy
of the rules file. Otherwise, the probe shuts down.
You can
use the nco_http utility that is provided with Tivoli
Netcool/OMNIbus to
find the HTTP status of the repository or file system server. Use
the following command to return the HTTP status code that indicates
the cause of the failure:
$OMNIHOME/bin/nco_http
-uri path
Where path
is
the directory path or URL that the probe is attempting to use to download
the include file.