IMS Message Queues Test

The channel is the fundamental MTA component that processes a message in an Oracle Communications messaging server. A channel represents a connection with another computer system or group of systems. The actual hardware connection or software transport or both may vary widely from one channel to the next. Messages are enqueued by channels on the way into the MTA and dequeued on the way out. A channel might dequeue a message, process the message, or enqueue the message to another MTA channel.

This test will track the queued messages and .HELD messages in a channel’s queue directories.

Target of the test : An Oracle Communications Messaging Server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every channel in the Oracle Communications messaging server.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Port

The SMTP port of the Oracle Communications messaging server.

Version

This refers to the version number of the messaging server that is being monitored. By default, none will be displayed as the Version. If you are monitoring a messaging server that is of a version below 6.0, you need not change the default value of this parameter. However, while monitoring version 6.0 or above, the exact version number needs to be explicitly mentioned against this parameter.

InstanceDirectory

If you are monitoring a messaging server that is of a version below 6.0, then specify the full path to the directory that corresponds to the current messaging server instance. For example, in Windows environments, the path can be expressed as: C:\iPlanet\Server5\msg-egtest. In Unix platforms, the path can be specified in the following format: /usr/iplanet/server5/msg-sun08. On the other hand, if you are monitoring version 6.0 or above of a messaging server, then ensure that the messaging server's root directory is specified as the InstanceDirectory.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Messages attempted

Indicates the number of queued message files in  a particular channel's queue directories.

Number

A consistent high value in this measure is an indication that messages are not being delivered, are being delayed in their delivery, or are coming in faster than the system can deliver them. This may be caused by a number of reasons such as a denial of service attack caused by a huge number of messages flooding your system, or the Job Controller not running. Common symptoms of message queue problems are:

  • Disk space usage grows
  • User not receiving messages in a reasonable time
  • Message queue sizes are abnormally high

Messages held

Indicates the number of .HELD message files in a specific channel's queue directories.

Number

If the MTA detects that messages are bouncing between servers or channels, then delivery is halted and the messages are stored in a file with the suffix .HELD in <IPLANET_MESSAGING_SERVER_ROOT_DIR>/<SERVER_INSTANCE_DIR>/imta/queue/channel. Whenever you find a value for this measure you have to diagnose and clean up .HELD messages.

Space consumed

Indicates the total space occupied by the queued and .HELD message files

MB