You can specify the sm_gui command with -D parameter options from UNIX command line. You can also use sm_edit to add properties in the BASEDIR/smarts/conf/console/properties.conf file. When properties are added to the properties.conf file, the -D parameter options are not used. The tutorial information included in the properties.conf file provides additional information.

The -D option for the sm_gui command is: 

tsm_gui -Dproperty1=value1 -Dproperty2=value2-D ... 
-Dpropertyn=valuen s

Specify the -D option for each property/value pair. For example, to change the font to Arial and set the font to 20 points, specify: 

         sm_gui -Dcom.smarts.font=Arial -Dcom.smarts.fontSize=20

Properties and their acceptable values are listed in Properties and their values.

Table 1. Properties and their values

Property

Acceptable value

Description

com.smarts.securityMessage

string

Defines the name of the ASCII file containing the security warning message.

Note:

The file must be located in the directory where the HTML and properties files are located.

com.smarts.server.logMessages

true or false

True — Causes the server to write messages to the server log file.

False — Does not cause the server to write messages to the server log file.

Note:

The ServerMesg_<userid>.log is created when the com.somarts.server.logMessages parameter is set to true. This log contains all sever events associated with a specific user. For example, if UserA is logged onto the system and the com.smarts.server.logMessages parameter is configured to true, messages would be written to SeverMesg_UserA.log.

com.smarts.mapNodeText.font

string

Allows the user to define the map icon font.

Default value: Helvetica

com.smarts.mapNodeText.fontSize

integer

Allows the user to define the map icon font size.

Default value: 12 point

com.smarts.connectionTimeout

integer

(in seconds)

This property indicates the maximum amount of time that the console will wait for the Manager pulse check (the upTime attribute) to respond. If there is no response within the specified time, the console disconnects from the Manager.

The default is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

Any integer between 1 - 89 is changed to a minimum value of 90.

Zero (0) or any integer below disables the timeout.

com.smarts.font

string

Enables a user-specified font to display throughout the Global Console. The font must be a Java-supported font appropriate for the operating system or it is ignored. The font should reside in the directory location as described by Java documentation.

com.smarts.fontSize

integer

Enables a user-specified font size to display throughout the Global Console. The font size must be compatible with the com.smarts.font property or it is ignored.

com.smarts.java.log

fully qualified filename

If specified, the Java log contents are saved to the specified file. (The default is no file specified.)

com.smarts.informs

user-defined field

If specified, this property controls which underlying Managers are accessible by using Browse Detail from the Notification Log view. A user-defined field must be configured to contain the names of the underlying Managers. The VMware Smart Assurance Service Assurance Manager Configuration Guide includes information about customizing user-defined notification attributes.

com.smarts.map.showAllBusiness

true or false

True — Shows all nodes and edges in a Business Services map, including those that are not part of paths that originate from or terminate at the map central node. (This is the default.)

False — Shows the nodes and edges in a Business Services map that either originate from or terminate at the map central node.

com.smarts.map.showNormalBanner

true or false

True — Shows map nodes with the status of Normal with a green color bar underneath the icon.

False — Shows map nodes with the status of Normal without a green color bar underneath the icon. (This is the default.)

com.smarts.mapBackgroundColor

string

Enables you to specify a single background color for all maps. This parameter overrides the default color for all map types. Note that if the setting you enter is invalid, the background color for all maps will be white.

Use a six-character string, RRGGBB, where RR is a hexadecimal value between 00 and ff (= 0 to 255), specifying the red component; GG specifies the green component; and BB specifies the blue component. For example, to specify the beige color called “antique white” in Netscape, the string is:

com.smarts.mapBackgroundColor=FAEBD7

“Map background colors” on page 96 includes information on default background colors.

com.smarts.maxFilterInstances

integer

Enables you to change the maximum number of instances that will automatically display in the Topological Filter tab. 50 is the default. If a class has more instances than the maximum number, you need to click Get instances to retrieve a list.

smarts.maps.maxGroupMembers

a positive integer

A positive integer. This is the maximum number of members of a leaf group that will display for a Group Membership map without a prompt dialog box. The dialog box prompts the operator when there is a large number of members to display.

100 is the default.

com.smarts.maxTopoInstances

integer

Enables you to change the maximum number of instances that display for a class or relationship in the Topology Browser.

The default is 1000. VMware, Inc. recommends not changing the default unless it is necessary because it affects performance and usability.

com.smarts.viewer.hideToolbarText

true or false

True — Hides the display text for the toolbar buttons. (This is the default.)

False — Shows the text for the toolbar buttons.

com.smarts.viewer.map.disableMaps

true or false

True — Disables the display of maps.

False — Does not disable maps. (This is the default.)

smarts.allowBGjpegs

true or false

True — Allows map background files to be saved in jpeg (.jpg) format.

False — Does not allow map background files to be saved in jpeg format.

com.smarts.disable_keepalives

integer

Enables you to disable KeepAlive messages for the Global Console. Specify a non-zero number to disable KeepAlive messages. Zero (0) enables KeepAlive messages.

com.smarts.log.level

option

Defines the level of messages written to the console java log. Options include:

  • FATAL

  • SEVERE

  • SERIOUS

  • DEFAULT (default option)

  • WARNING

  • INFO

  • CONFIG

  • DEBUG

  • TRACE

    Note:

    Options are listed in order from display least information to display most information.

com.smarts.securityEnabled

true or false

True — Enables security. (This is the default when the sm_gui.exe is executed.)

False — Disables security.

Note:

This property must be specifically declared and set to true in the Web Console and in the viewlets.

smarts.remote.broker

host:port

Defines the default broker for domain attach dialog boxes.

com.smarts.writeable

path string

Defines the location of console logs.

com.smarts.debugConnection

true or false

True — Causes the server to write all console operation invocations received from the console to the server log file.

False — Does not cause the server to write console operation invocations received from the console to the server log file.

com.smarts.highLatency

true or false

True — Reduces the number of calls to the server to obtain property values. Returns larger packets of data containing bundled property values.

False — Smaller multiple calls are sent to the server to obtain multiple property values.

The highLatency parameter can be added to any Service Assurance Manager related dxa configuration file used to import data from an underlying server that is part of a high latency network environment. Examples of applicable dxa configuration files include dxa-conn.conf, dxa-sam.conf, and dxa-oi.conf. For the majority of configurations, the highLatency parameter will apply to the presentation Service Assurance Manager server (dxa-sam.conf) when the underlying aggregation Service Assurance Manager server is remotely located.

Note:

Before updating the dxa-conn.conf file, back up the file.

com.smarts.user.timezone

timezone name

Causes the console to format all times and timestamps according to the specified time zone.

Examples of acceptable values are: PST for U.S. Pacific Standard Time and GMT for Greenwich Mean Time.

The default is the time zone where the console is running.

Class TimeZone at the Java website includes additional information.

Note:

Older versions of the console used the Java user.timezone parameter to change the time zone, but the user.timezone parameter does not work with the Web Console or Java Web Start.

com.smarts.timestampFormat

pattern-format string

Overrides the default formatting of timestamps in the console, for example, the First Notify, Last Notify, and Last Change fields in the notification view.

An example of the default format is 28 Mar 17:08:09.

Using the new parameter, you can change this to a different format. The following examples illustrate different configurations of the com.smarts.timestampFormat parameter:

  • 03.28 17:08:09-0500 — Displays the local time zone offset from GMT.

  • 28 Mar 17:08:09 EDT — Displays the local time zone as text.

  • 07.03.28 17:08:09 — Displays the year.

To configure the com.smarts.timestampFormat parameter, enter a Java SimpleDataFormat pattern-format string as the value of the parameter.

The format language for constructing the pattern string is specified in the Java J2SE 5.0 documentation, available from the Sun website, in the description of the java.text.SimpleDateFormat class.

For example, the console’s default timestamp format is: dd MMM HH:mm:ss. The alternative formats illustrated above have the following pattern strings:

  • "03.28 17:08:09-0500" "MM.dd HH:mm:ssZ" (to display the local time zone offset from GMT)

  • "28 Mar 17:08:09 EDT" "dd MMM HH:mm:ss z" (to display the local time zone as text)

  • "07.03.28 17:08:09" "YY.MM.dd HH:mm:ss" (to display the year)

    Note:

    Characters in the format string are case sensitive: "Z" means something different and will produce different strings than "z".

com.smarts.oldGetMap

true or false

Defines whether the console retrieves map data as a string or as formatted data. If set to true, the console retrieves map data as formatted data.

Default value: False

com.smarts.getMap.timeout

integer

Defines the time, in seconds, that the Get Map function tries to retrieve map data before the function times out. Once the Get Map function times out, the Get map timed out message appears.

Default value: 120

com.smarts.clientTool.setEnv

true or false

Defines the method of passing parameters to client scripts. If configured to true, the console directly loads parameters passed to the client script into the environment.

If configured to false (or when a value is not specified), the console passes parameters to the client scripts as command line arguments and requires the client script to parse the parameters to load them into the environment.

Note:

Setting this property to false is backward compatible for existing scripts that parse the command line parameters and create environment variables. When this property is set to true, the script does not receive any command line parameters to parse, because the properties already exist as variables in the environment, as if the script had parsed and set them but without the script actually having to do so.

com.smarts.fasttopologybrowse

option

Defines whether the topology browser performance is enhanced for displaying related instance information. Options include:

  • Off — Default value

  • On — Speed up enhancement is activated with instance information sorted

  • Nosort — Speed up enhancement is activated with instance information not sorted

    Note:

    When configuring this property to nosort, relation information displays more quickly in the topology tree in high latency environments because instance names are not sorted. When many related instances for a class are displayed, specific instances may be difficult to locate because instance names beginning with identical characters may not be grouped together. For example, when this property is configured to nosort, not all router instances beginning with the characters Chicago may be displayed together.

com.smarts.showDomainConsistsOf

true or false

Defines whether the InChargeDomainConsistsOf relationship displays in the topology view. If configured to false, the InChargeDomainConsistsOf relationship does not display in the topology view reducing the possibility of the console not responding. If configured to true, all the information for the ConsistsOf relationship displays in the topology view.

Default value: False