Agent Categories

Agent Categories Categories are user configurable containers for organizing ELM Agents. Monitor Items are assigned to Categories which then assign them to any Agents in the Category. group Agents for easy management and can be customized to your particular needs.

ELM has many pre-configured Categories, and will import Categories found during an upgrade.

The default All Agents category has special significance to ELM and should not be altered. However the other pre-configured Categories can be renamed, deleted, or otherwise altered. New Categories can be created as necessary.

Agents can exist within multiple categories. For example, an Agent monitoring SQL Server 2005 could be in the following categories:

•	Windows 2003 Servers

•	Service Agents

•	Database Servers

•	Corporate Servers

Monitor Items Monitor Items determine the type of information or activity to monitor. Examples include Event Collector (which collects events), Service Monitor (which watches the state of Windows services), and Performance Collector (which gathers performance counter values). can be assigned to agent categories. Agents inherit the Monitors that are assigned to an Agent Category. Adding a Monitor to the Agent Category automatically assigns the monitor to each agent in the category. If the agent cannot run the Monitor, for example a Windows XP agent in a category with a Cluster Server monitor, nothing will happen. The agent will ignore the monitor and there is no adverse effect or additional processing.

To create a new Agent Category

1.	Right click on the Monitoring container and select New \| Category. The New Category Wizard will appear. Click Next to continue.

2.	The Item Name and Description dialog will appear. Enter the Name for the new Category, and an optional Description. Click Next to continue.

3.	A list of Agents will appear. Select the Agent(s) you want in this category. Click Next to continue.

Note
You are not required to select any Agents. Categories can be created and assigned Monitor Items before Agent installation occurs.

4.	A list of Monitor Items will appear. Select the Item(s) you want to assign to the Category.

5.	Click Finish to create the category.

You can also create a new category from the Agent Categories tab inside the properties of an Agent, or from the Categories tab inside the properties of a Monitor Item. To do this, right-click anywhere in the tab dialog, select New Agent Category, and complete steps 2-5 above.

Agents Tab

In the properties of a Category, the Agents tab will show all the configured Agents. Checkmarks appear next to Agents assigned to the Category.

Monitor Items Within a Category

The Monitor Items container below an Agent Category lists all the Monitor Items assigned to the Category or at least 1 Agent in the Category. The columns Category Assignment and Agent Assignment indicate how the Monitor Items are assigned to the Category and Agents within the Category. The table below lists the possible values for the Assignment columns and the resultant meaning:

Category Assignment	Agent Assignment	Meaning
Yes	All	The Monitor Item is assigned to the Category and to all Agents in the Category.
Yes	Some	The Monitor Item is assigned to the Category and to some Agents in the Category.
Yes	None	The Monitor Item is assigned to the Category, but not to any Agents in the Category.
No	All	The Monitor Item is not assigned to the Category, but is assigned to all Agents in the Category.
No	Some	The Monitor Item is not assigned to the Category, but is assigned to some Agents in the Category.
No	None	IMPOSSIBLE - Monitor Items must be assigned to the Category or at least 1 Agent to appear.