7.2 Creating Notification Objects

Both filtered and heartbeat notifications are configured in Novell eDirectory™ using Notification Filter and Heartbeat objects.

Notification Filter objects store the criteria the logging server uses to filter system events. They also designate which Channel objects the logging server uses to provide event notification.

Heartbeat objects define which Event IDs the logging server is looking for and the interval at which those events must occur. You can also define the information that is returned in the heartbeat event’s Text1, Text2, Text3, Value1, Value2, and Value3 fields.

You must create a separate Notification Filter object for every event you want to filter. A single Heartbeat object, on the other hand, can monitor multiple events. In fact, you really only need to create one Heartbeat object in your logging system.

You can create Notification Filter and Heartbeat objects using iManager.

To create a Notification Filter object:

  1. Click the Roles and Tasks button iManager Tasks and Roles Button on the iManager toolbar.

  2. In the Roles and Tasks view, expand the Auditing and Logging Role and select the Logging Server Options task.

  3. Select the Secure Logging Server object and click OK.

    • Click the Object History button iManager Object History Button to see a list of Logging Server objects that have been selected during this iManager session.

      or

    • Click the Object Selector button iManager Object Selector button to locate the object in the directory tree. To move up or down in the tree, click the navigation arrows. You can also search the tree by specifying the object name and context in the Search tab.

  4. In the Logging Server Options page, click Notifications.

  5. Select the Notifications container and click Notification Actions > New.

  6. In the New Notification page, select Notification.

  7. Specify a name for the Notification object and click OK.

  8. In the Modify Object page, configure the Notification attributes.

    For more information about the Notification attributes, see Section 7.3, Notification Filters.

  9. When finished, click OK.

To create a Heartbeat Notification object:

  1. Click the Roles and Tasks button iManager Tasks and Roles Button on the iManager toolbar.

  2. In the Roles and Tasks view, expand the Auditing and Logging Role and select the Logging Server Options task.

  3. Select the Secure Logging Server object and click OK.

    • Click the Object History button iManager Object History Button to see a list of Logging Server objects that have been selected during this iManager session.

      or

    • Click the Object Selector button iManager Object Selector button to locate the object in the directory tree. To move up or down in the tree, click the navigation arrows. You can also search the tree by specifying the object name and context in the Search tab.

  4. In the Logging Server Options page, click Notifications.

  5. Select the Notifications container and click Notification Actions > New.

  6. In the New Notification page, select Heartbeat Notification.

  7. specify a name for the Heartbeat Notification object and click OK.

  8. In the Modify Object page, configure the Heartbeat Notification attributes.

    For more information about Heartbeat attributes, see Section 7.4, Heartbeat Objects .

  9. When finished, click OK.

Notification Containers

You must create Notification Filter and Heartbeat objects in Notification containers. The Notification container under Logging Services is automatically created during installation; however, additional Notification containers can be created anywhere in the tree.

Creating Notification objects in the central Notification container under Logging Services is ideal for organizations that need a simple, easy-to-manage logging system. It also suits organizations that are implementing Novell Audit as an auditing solution and, for security reasons, want to centrally manage their system.

If you want to distribute logging system administration, however, Notification objects can be created anywhere in the tree. For example, if administration is divided by logging server, you can create a Notification container under each Logging Server object. On the other hand, if administration is divided by application (for example, one person manages logging for iChain®, another Identity Manager logging, etc.), the Notification container can be created in any context assigned to its administrator.

If you create a Notification container elsewhere in the tree, you must add that container to the logging server’s list of supported containers. At startup, the logging server scans its list of supported Notification containers and loads the included Notification object configurations in memory so it can filter events, monitor Heartbeat events, and route notifications to the appropriate channels. If a Notification object is not in one of the logging server’s supported Notification containers, it cannot use it. For more information on the logging server’s Notification Container property, see Logging Server Object Attributes . For more information on creating channel containers, see Section 3.4.1, Creating Objects in iManager.

IMPORTANT:The logging server loads only the Notification object configurations at startup. Therefore, if you create a new Notification container or Notification object, you must first ensure that the Notification container is included in the logging server’s Notification Container list and then restart the logging server. For information on restarting the logging server, see Section H.3, Secure Logging Server Startup Commands.