PATROL Agent 9.5 - Part 6: Do I still need PATROL Event Management KM?

You have heard from BMC for a while that PATROL Event Management KM is being phased out.  You wonder if you still need to run PATROL Event Management KM with PATROL Agent 9.5.

What does PATROL Event Management KM do?  Here are five features offered by PATROL Event Management KM:

1) Check if a server is up and if PATROL agent is up through its AS_AVAILABILITY KM;
2) Manage event generation and format through PATROL console or pconfig variable editing with or without PATROL Notification Server;
3) Set parameter thresholds through PATROL console or pconfig variable editing;
4) Turn off certain parameters through PATROL console or pconfig variable editing;
5) Add recovery actions through PATROL console or pconfig variable editing.

In PATROL agent version 9.5, the above feature 1) is replaced by automatically generated  MC_CELL_HEARTBEAT_FAILURE and MC_CELL_HEARTBEAT_ON events in BPPM cell.  When a server or PATROL agent goes down, you will automatically receive a MC_CELL_HEARTBEAT_FAILURE event.  You no longer need AS_AVAILABILITY KM.

In PATROL agent version 9.5, the above feature 2) is replaced by a set of pconfig variables starting with /EventSetup and /EventRules.  These pconfig variables provide many different ways to control and format the events from PATROL agents.  You no longer need PATROL Notification Server or use PATROL Event Management KM to control and format your events.

In PATROL agent version 9.5, the above feature 3) is replace by "Agent Threshold Configuration" section of CMA (Central Monitoring Administration).  You no longer need to use PATROL Event Management KM to set parameter thresholds.

In PATROL agent version 9.5, the above feature 4) is partially replaced by "Monitoring Configuration" of CMA when you want to turn off the data collection for the entire monitoring type (application class).  However if you only want to turn off certain parameters in an application class, you still need to use PATROL Event Management KM.

In PATROL agent version 9.5, the above feature 5) still cannot be replaced by anything else.  If you want to add a recovery action in PATROL agent without modifying the KM source code, you still need to use PATROL Event Management KM.

In summary, whether or not you can drop PATROL Event Management KM from your PATROL agent 9.5 configuration depends on if you need to turn off individual parameters and if you need to add your own recovery actions.