Crystal Reports Server Status Test

The Crystal Reports Processing Server responds to page requests by processing reports and generating encapsulated page format (EPF) pages. The key benefit of EPF is that it supports page-on-demand access, so only the requested page is returned, not the entire report. This improves system performance and reduces unnecessary network traffic for large reports. If this server is not running or is slow in processing page requests, EPF pages will either not be generated at all or may take hours to be generated. As a result, report generation will take longer than normal, thereby adversely impacting user experience with the reporting tool. This is why, it is imperative that administrators are notified of even the slightest deviation in the availability and performance of the Crystal Reports Processing server. This is exactly what the Crystal Reports Server Status test does. This test sends out email/SMS alerts to users when the Crystal Reports Processing server switches to an abnormal state suddenly or when it runs out of free threads for processing subsequent page requests. In the process, the test makes sure that the administrator promptly addresses these issues and quickly restores normalcy.

Target of the test : A SAP BOBI Node

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Crystal Reports Processing server running in the node monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

Host name of the server for which the test is to be configured.

Port

Enter the port to which the specified host listens. This should be the port at which the web application server hosting SAP BOBI listens.

JMX Remote Port

Specify the RMI port number of the BOBI monitoring application.To know the RMI port number of the monitoring application, refer to Enabling the Monitoring Application of the SAP BOBI Platform.

JNDI Name

Specify the lookup name for connecting to the JMX connector of the BOBI monitoring application. To know the JNDI name, refer to Enabling the Monitoring Application of the SAP BOBI Platform.

JMX User and JMX Password

Enter the credentials of an enterprise authenticated BOBI user belonging to the default monitoring users group.

Confirm Password

Confirm the password by retyping it here.

Node Name

Specify the name of the BOBI node being monitored.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Health state

Indicates the current health state of the Crystal Reports Processing server in the monitored node.

 

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Danger 0
Caution 1
Healthy 2

If the server is not healthy, then the detailed diagnosis of this measure, if enabled, provides the process ID and processing plugin name of the server.

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the health state of the server. In the graph of this measure however, the same is represented using the numeric values only.

Server running state

Indicates the current running state of the Crystal Reports Processing server.

 

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
STOPPED 0
STARTING 1
INITIALIZING 2
RUNNING 3
STOPPING 4
FAILED 5
RUNNING_WITH_ERRORS 6
RUNNING_WITH_WARNINGS 7

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the running state of the server. In the graph of this measure however, the same is represented using the numeric values only.

Server enabled state

Indicates whether/not the Crystal Reports Processing server is enabled. 

 

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Disabled 0
Enabled 1

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not the server is enabled. In the graph of this measure however, the same is represented using the numeric values only.

Busy server threads

Indicates the number of server threads that are currently servicing requests.

Number

If this measure reaches the configured maximum thread pool size for the server, new requests to the server would have to wait until a server thread becomes free. If this happens often, it may significantly slowdown request processing by the server. In such a situation, you may want to consider resizing the thread pool.