Working with Event Rules

The following procedures explain how to add, create, edit , remove and export event rules.

Important:

In order to define a n Event Rule. the Zend Monitor component must be installed and running. To verify, go to Monitoring | Settings | Events.

To better understand the procedures described in this topic, watch this video:

The following procedure describes how to add a new monitoring rule.

Note:

By definition, event rules function differently from one another since they are monitoring different aspects of your development and production environment. Therefore, they are displayed differently and can be configured differently. For example, the Custom Event rule does not display functions. For reference, see Global Event Rules .

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To add a new rule:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules .
  2. Hover over, or select, the relevant rule group from the list, and click .
    The New/Edit Rule page is displayed.

  1. Enter general properties for the new rule:
    • Rule Name - Enter a name for your new rule.
    • Type - Select the rule type for your new rule (e.g., Function Error).

    • Application - This field is set and cannot be configured.

    • Email - Enter an email address to receive event information for triggered events (overrules any email address entered on the Monitoring | Settings page).

    • Custom Actions - Enter a callback URL to execute a customized action for triggered events (overrules any URL entered on the Monitoring | Settings page).
  1. Select a severity level for your rule by selecting the check-box on the relevant trigger container (Critical, Warning, Notice).
  1. In the selected trigger container, select the triggered actions you wish to be executed for each event triggered by the rule:
    • Send email - Select to send an email for each triggered event to the email address entered in the rule's general properties area above.
    • Call URL - Select to execute the custom action at the URL entered in the rule's general properties area above.
    • Trace code - Select to execute code tracing for triggered events:
      • Activate Code Tracing for triggered events for a set amount of time (120 seconds by default) - better for production environments.
      • Always activate Code Tracing for triggered events - better for development and staging environments.

      Note:

      Code Tracing will not be activated if disabled on the Monitoring | Settings page. For more information, see Configuring Code Tracing.

    • Execute Time/ Execute Time % (Slow Function Execution and Slow Request Execution rule types) - Enter the threshold for triggering an event.
    • Memory Usage/ Memory Usage % (High Memory Usage rule type) - Enter the threshold for triggering an event.
    • PHP Error Type (PHP Error rule type) - Click to select a type of PHP error to be monitored.
  1. Configure the rule's monitored functions (Slow Function Execution and Function Error rule types):
    1. Enter a function to be monitored in the designated field.
    1. Click Add Function.
    2. Remove functions by clicking the X button to the left of any given function.
  2. Click .
    The new rule is added to the selected applications group, and automatically enabled.
  1. Click to return to Monitoring | Event Rules. 

  2. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

Note:

Adding a new rule to the Global rules group, applies the rule to all deployed and defined applications on your server.

The icon appears next to the rule in the Rules list, indicating a customized rule.

Rules can be configured according to each environment’s specific characteristics. The main configuration changes that should be performed relate to tuning rule values and defining a list of functions and PHP errors to monitor.

Note:

By definition, event rules function differently from one another since they are monitoring different aspects of your development and production environment. Therefore, they are displayed differently and can be configured differently. For example, the Custom Event rule does not display functions. For reference, see Global Event Rules .

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To edit a rule:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules. 
  2. Expand the relevant rule group by selecting it from the list, or clicking the Expand View arrow on the right, and click the link to the rule you wish to edit.
    The New/Edit Rule page is displayed.
  1. Configure the rule. See Creating a New Rule above.
  1. Click .
  1. Click to return to Monitoring | Event Rules.

  2. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

Note:

Changes made to a child-rule, override global rule settings only in the application group the rule belongs to. The overridden icon is displayed by the rule, indicating the rule status. You can revert the rule back to its parent settings. See Reverting to Global Configurations.

The rule will now start generating events based on the new settings.

The following procedure describes how to activate an existing monitoring rule.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To enable a rule:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules. 

  2. Expand the relevant rule group by selecting it from the list, or clicking the Expand View arrow on the right.

  3. Select the check-box to the left of the rule and click .

  1. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

The rule status changes to , and begins to generate events.

The following procedure describes how to add a new trigger to an existing rule.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To enable a trigger:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules. 
  2. Expand the relevant rule group by selecting it from the list, or clicking the Expand View arrow on the right, and click the link to the rule you wish to edit.
    The New/Edit Rule page is displayed.
  3. Enable a trigger according to the required severity level by selecting the relevant container (Critical, Warning, Notice):

  1. Configure the thresholds for the new trigger. See steps 5-6 in Adding a New Rule for configuration options.
  2. Click .
  3. Click to return to Monitoring | Event Rules.

  4. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

Note:

This action cannot be performed for some of the Global rules. See Global Event Rules for more information.

 

Changes made to a child-rule override the global configurations in the specific application rule group that the rule is associated with, and are not applied to the respective parent-rule. These changes may be reverted to match the parent-rule configurations.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To revert a rule:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules. 

  1. Expand the relevant rule group by selecting it from the list, or clicking the Expand View arrow on the right.

  2. Hover over, or select, the overriding rule you wish to revert, and in the Actions column click .

  1. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

 

In some cases, there may be events that are either not applicable to your system or unnecessary. When a rule is disabled, the Event is not monitored and information is not stored.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To disable a rule:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules. 

  1. Expand the relevant rule group by selecting it from the list, or clicking the Expand View arrow on the right.

  2. Select the check-box to the left of the rule, and in the Action bar, click .

  1. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

Note:

Disabling a Global rule does not disable its inheriting rules (child-rules).

The rule status changes to .

The rule will now stop generating events based on the rule's settings. Disabled rules will not generate trace file information.

The following procedure describes how to remove a rule.

Note:

Only customized rules can be removed. Global rules cannot be removed unless they have been overridden.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To remove a rule:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules. 
  2. Expand the relevant rule group by selecting it from the list, or clicking the Expand View arrow on the right.
  3. Select the check-box to the left of the rule, and in the Actions column, click .
  4. Click OK when prompted.
    The rule is removed from the Zend Monitor and the database and will no longer generate events.

  1. In the toolbar, the restart icon lights up , indicating a restart is needed to apply changes. Click to restart server and apply changes.
    For information on restarting in Zend Server, see Server Restart.

The following procedure describes how to export application rule groups to your file system.

Instructions on how to complete a procedure

To export rules:

  1. In the UI, go to Monitoring | Event Rules. 
  2. To export an entire rule group, hover over the relevant group, and click in the Actions column.
  3. Browse to the required location on your file system, and click Save.

The exported rules are saved as an .xml file, and can now be included in an application package, and deployed.