AI Data Advisor (AIDA)

Content

• Introduction
• Prerequisites
• Resources required
• Supported platforms
• Accessing the container images
• AIDA structure
• AIDA Installation
• Managing Workload Automation server credentials
• Updating AIDA installation
• Uninstalling AIDA
• AIDA.sh script
• Configuration parameters
• Troubleshooting

Introduction

AI Data Advisor (AIDA) is a component of HCL Workload Automation since V10.1, based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques. It enables fast and simplified data-driven decision making for an intelligent workload management. By analyzing workload historical data and metrics gathered by HCL Workload Automation and predicting their future patterns, AIDA identifies anomalies in KPIs trend (such as the jobs in plan by status and the jobs in plan by workstation) and sends immediate alerts to prevent problems and delays. Alerts show up on the Workload Dashboard and can be notified via email.

For more information about AIDA, see AIDA User's Guide.

Prerequisites

• HCL Workload Automation V10.1 or higher exposed metrics.

  • For information about HCL Workload Automation exposed metrics, see Exposing metrics to monitor your workload.

  • For information about HCL Workload Automation for Z exposed metrics, see Exposing metrics to monitor your workload.

• Docker Compose 1.28 or higher.

• Docker from version 20.10+ to version 24.0+.

  Verify that Docker and Docker Compose are installed, configured, and ready to use.

• Supported browsers are:

  • Google Chrome 67.0.3396.99 or higher
  • Mozilla Firefox 61.0.1 or higher
  • Microsoft Edge 79 or higher

• External container image for OpenSearch 2.3.0 (an Elasticsearch based technology).

• External container image for Keycloak V22.0.0. (only for HCL Workload Automation users). Optional, if you want to access AIDA UI from outside the Dynamic Workload Console. Note: HCL Workload Automation for Z users can only access AIDA UI from the alert widget in the Workload Dashboard of the Dynamic Workload Console.

• Before starting AIDA installation, verify that vm.max_map_count parameter for Elasticsearch is at minimum 262144 on the host machine (not inside the container).

  • To get the current value, run the command: sysctl vm.max_map_count

  • To set the new value, run the command: sudo sysctl vm.max_map_count=262144

Resources Required

The following resources correspond to the default values required to manage a production environment. These numbers might vary depending on the environment.

Component	Container resource limit	Container memory request
AIDA	CPU: 6, Memory: 32Gi, Storage: 50Gi	CPU: 2, Memory: 8Gi, Storage: 20Gi

Supported platforms

Linux intel based 64-bit, and Linux on Z.

Accessing the container images

You can access AIDA docker file and container images from the Entitled Registry (online installation):

• Contact your HCL sales representative for the login details required to access the Entitled Registry.

• Execute the following command to log into the Entitled Registry:

   docker login -u <your_username> -p <your_entitled_key> hclcr.io
  
  

The images are as follows:

• hclcr.io/wa/aida-ad:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-exporter:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-email:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-nginx:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-orchestrator:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-predictor:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-redis:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-config:10.2.1
• hclcr.io/wa/aida-ui:10.2.1

From HCL Flexera (offline installation)

Only if you are accessing the images from HCL Flexera source repository (offline installation), run the following steps:

1. Untar the package locally.

2. From the [docker_deployment_dir] load all the docker images into your environment by running the following commands:

   For linux:

   ./AIDA.sh load

   where AIDA.sh is the AIDA installation script: it provides options to run Docker Compose operations and AIDA configuration steps. You can find the script in the installation package or on the HCL TECH SOFTWARE public github repository.

   For zlinux:

   tar -xvzf aida-images.tgz for f in ./aida-images/aida-*.tar*; do cat $f | docker load; done

AIDA structure

AIDA package includes the following containers:

• aida-ad - Anomaly detection and alert generation service
• aida-exporter - Exporter service
• aida-email - Email notification service
• aida-nginx - As a reverse proxy for AIDA components
• aida-orchestrator - Orchestrator service
• aida-predictor - Predictor service
• aida-redis - Internal event manager
• aida-config - AIDA configuration
• aida-ui - AIDA UI

Also, AIDA uses:

• Keycloak - To manage security and user access, for HCL Workload Automation only (not for HCL Workload Automation for Z). Keycloak is optional: if used, it enables the creation of AIDA administrators who can access AIDA UI from outside the Dynamic Workload Console. Otherwise, AIDA can only be accessed from the alert widget in the Workload Dashboard of the Dynamic Workload Console. Note: For HCL Workload Automation for Z, AIDA can only be accessed from the alert widget.

• OpenSearch (an Elasticsearch based technology) - To store and analyze data.

AIDA installation

To install AIDA, run the following procedure:

1. To use custom SSL certificates for AIDA, in the <install_path>/nginx/cert folder replace aida.crt e aida.key with your own files (do not change the default names).

2. Verify that the DWC_PUBLIC_KEY parameter in the common.env file is set to the DWC public key of the Liberty SSL certificates.

   If you are using custom certificates for the DWC, replace the DWC_PUBLIC_KEY value accordingly.

3. In the common.env file, set the OPENSSL_PASSWORD parameter. This parameter will be used to generate an encryption key to hide the HCL Workload Automation engine credentials.

4. Edit the common.env file to set mandatory parameters (parameters whose value you must provide). For example, if you want to receive alert notification via email, properly set the configuration parameters in the aida-email section in the common.env file. For the non-mandatory parameters of the common.env file, you can use the default values. For details, see Configuration parameters.

5. To prevent HTTP Host Header attacks, in the common.env file add the string EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME=IP where IP is the IP address of the machine where AIDA is being installed.

6. Optionally, from [docker_deployment_dir], run the command

   ./AIDA.sh first-start

    This command starts a guided configuration procedure. Follow the guided procedure and answer the prompts to configure AIDA with your settings.
    Accept the product license when prompted.
   

7. Build, create, and start AIDA containers by running the following command

   ``./AIDA.sh build-start``
   

   Accept the product license when prompted.

8. AIDA is now up and running. Configure the first server to be monitored by running the command

   ./AIDA.sh add-credentials

 This command starts a guided configuration of the server. 
 For details, see [Managing Workload Automation server credentials](#managing-workload-automation-server-credentials).

9. If Keycloak is included in your AIDA deployment, you can connect AIDA user interface at the following link

   https://aida-ip:aida-port/

   Specify aida-port only if it is different from the default value (9432). Otherwise, AIDA can only be accessed from the alert widget in the Workload Dashboard of the Dynamic Workload Console.

   Note: The common.env environment file contains all the environment variables. For details, see Configuration parameters. After AIDA installation, if you want to modify the configuration parameters, edit the common.env file and then run the command: ./AIDA.sh restart.

Managing Workload Automation server credentials

You can manage the credentials needed to connect to a Workload Automation server using AIDA.sh script. With a single AIDA instance you can monitor hybrid environments with a mix of HCL Workload Automation for distributed and z/OS systems.

Limitations: With AIDA.sh script you can add, update, and delete credentials. You cannot list credentials since this function is not currently available.

To add new credentials, run the following steps:

1. From [docker_deployment_dir], run the following command

   ./AIDA.sh add-credentials.

   A guided configuration procedure will start.

2. Follow the guided procedure and answer the prompts to add your credentials, specify the engine type (if HCL Workload Automation for distributed systems or HCL Workload Automation for Z) and, for HCL Workload Automation for Z only, also the engine name.

Note: If you are connecting HCL Workload Automation for distributed systems, you must use the Engine credentials. If you are connecting HCL Workload Automation for Z, you must use the Dynamic Workload Console credentials instead.

To update existing credentials, run the following steps:

1. From [docker_deployment_dir], run the following command

   ./AIDA.sh update-credentials.

   A guided configuration procedure will start.

2. Follow the guided procedure and answer the prompts to add your credentials, specify the engine type (if HCL Workload Automation for distributed systems or HCL Workload Automation for Z) and, for HCL Workload Automation for Z only, also the engine name.

To delete existing credentials, run the following steps:

1. From [docker_deployment_dir], run the following command

   ./AIDA.sh delete-credentials.

   A guided configuration procedure will start.

2. Follow the guided procedure and answer the prompts to delete your credentials.

Updating AIDA installation

If you are using AIDA V10.1 or V10.2.0.0 with Keycloak V17.0.0 and want to update your AIDA installation to V10.2.1.0, you must first migrate your previous Keycloak V17.0.0 data to Keycloak V22.0.0. Run the following procedure.

1. Download data from Keycloak V17.0.0 to a file named aida-realm.json by running the following commands:

   timeout --preserve-status -s SIGINT 60 docker exec -it aida-keycloak /opt/jboss/keycloak/bin/standalone.sh -Djboss.socket.binding.port-offset=100 -Dkeycloak.migration.action=export -Dkeycloak.migration.provider=singleFile -Dkeycloak.migration.realmName=aida -Dkeycloak.migration.usersExportStrategy=REALM_FILE -Dkeycloak.migration.file=/opt/jboss/aida-realm.json; docker cp aida-keycloak:opt/jboss/aida-realm.json aida-realm.json

2. Save the file aida-realm.json to a disk drive.

3. Remove the data volume from Keycloak V17.0.0 by running the following commands: ./AIDA.sh down; docker run --rm -it --entrypoint /bin/sh -v docker-deployment_aida-keycloak-data:/keycloak docker-deployment_keycloak -c 'mkdir keycloak/old_backup_data; mv keycloak/* keycloak/old_backup_data'

4. Download AIDA V10.2.1.0 images from the source repository.

5. Copy the file aida-realm.json to the keycloak/ folder in the [docker_deployment_dir].

6. From [docker_deployment_dir],run the following command: sed -i 's+"loginTheme" : "custom"+"loginTheme" : "keycloakTemplate_HCL"+g' ./keycloak/aida-realm.json

7. Complete AIDA V10.2.1.0 installation by running the following commands: ./AIDA.sh load ./AIDA.sh build-start

Uninstalling AIDA

To uninstall AIDA, run the command

./AIDA.sh down

This command will remove AIDA's container, saving data and configuration. To remove AIDA's containers and volumes, run the command

./AIDA.sh down-volumes

AIDA.sh script

AIDA.sh script is available to manage AIDA deployment. It provides options to run Docker Compose operations and AIDA configuration steps. For the command usage, run

./AIDA.sh --help

Usage: ./AIDA.sh COMMAND [OPTIONS]

Commands:

load Loads AIDA's container images (required before the first start)

first-start Helps setting up AIDA configuration for the first start

build-start Builds, creates, and starts AIDA's containers (recommended for the first start)

build Builds and creates AIDA's containers (without starting them)

start Starts AIDA's containers (without building and creating them. Before the first start, run build or directly use build-start)

stop Stops AIDA's containers

restart Restarts AIDA's containers

down Removes AIDA's containers (but not volumes)

down-volumes Removes AIDA's containers and volumes

add-credentials Lets you add credentials to connect to a HCL Workload Automation engine

update-credentials Lets you update previously added credentials

delete-credentials Lets you delete previously added credentials

set-custom-port Sets a custom port to access AIDA (default value is 9432)

Configuration parameters

AIDA configuration parameters in the common.env file are divided in three categories:

1. Parameters whose value users must provide (Mandatory=Y)
2. Parameters with a default value that users can optionally customize ( Customizable =Y)
3. Parameters with a default value that users should not change ( Customizable =N)

• Common parameters

The following table lists the common configurable parameters in the common.env file and their default values:

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default value
LOG_LEVEL_INFO	Log level in AIDA. It can be DEBUG, INFO, ERROR, WARNING, CRITICAL	N	Y	"INFO"
ESCONFIG	The Elasticsearch host	N	N	["https://admin:admin@aida-es:9200"]
REDIS_HOST	aida-redis host name	N	N	"aida-redis"
REDIS_PSWD	aida-redis password	N	N	"foobared"
REDIS_PORT	aida-redis port	N	N	6379
DEFAULT_SHARD_COUNT	The default number of OpenSearch shards	N	N	1
DEFAULT_REPLICA_COUNT	The default number of OpenSearch replicas	N	N	0
OPENSSL_PASSWORD	This password will be used to generate an encryption key to hide the Workload Automation server credentials. (According to ISO, passwords must be encrypted inside the database)	Y
WEB_CONCURRENCY	Number of workers of the web server (trading). The more they are, the more there is parallelism (and the more RAM is consumed). Suggested value: [(2 x <number_of_cores>) + 1]	N	Y	2

• AIDA parameters

The following tables list the configurable parameters of each service in the common.env file and their default values:

aida-predictor parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
Model	The Machine Learning model used for predictions	N	N	neural (for AIDA on Z Linux, only Prophet ML model is supported)

aida-ad parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
AIDA_UI_URL	AIDA UI url	N	N	"https://aida-ui:9432/"
TOLERANCE_MILLIS	The maximum number of milliseconds between a real data point and a predicted data point in order to consider them close and, therefore, usable by the alert detection algorithm	N	Y	240000
MINIMUM_SEVERITY_FOR_MAIL	The minimum level of severity above which an alert will be sent by email. Can be high, medium or low	N	Y	high

aida-email parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
SMTP_SERVER	The smtp server. Example: smtp-mail.outlook.com	Y (if you want to receive anomaly notification by email)
SMTP_PORT	The port of the smtp server	Y (if you want to receive anomaly notification by email)
SENDER_MAILID	The email account of the alert sender	Y (if you want to receive anomaly notification by email)
SENDER_MAILPWD	The email password of the alert sender	Y (if you want to receive anomaly notification by email)
RECIPIENT_MAILIDS	The list of recipient emails. Example: jack@gmail.com,jessie@live.com	Y (if you want to receive anomaly notification by email)
HOST_IP	AIDA Host IP address and Port. Example: 10.14.32.141:9432	Y (if you want to receive anomaly notification by email)

aida-orchestrator parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
PROPHET_URL	aida-predictor connection url	N	N	"http://aida-predictor:5000"
ALERT_URL	aida-ad connection url	N	N	"http://aida-ad:5000"
PROPHET_ORCHESTRATOR	interval in minutes between two subsequent predictions, and between two subsequent alert detections	N	Y	{"schedule":1440},{"schedule_alert":15}
DAYS_OF_PREDICTION	How many days to predict in the future	N	Y	1

aida-ui parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
DEBUG	Log level in AIDA UI	N	N	"ERROR:,INFO:,-TRACE:*"

aida-nginx parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
LICENSE	Before starting AIDA deployment, change into accept to accept the product license.	Y	Y	notaccepted
CLIENT_SECRET	AIDA secret	N	N	AIDA-SECRET
KEYCLOAK_URL	aida-keycloak connection url	N	N	"http://aida-keycloak:8080"
UI_URL	aida-UI connection url	N	N	"http://aida-ui:9000"
DWC_PUBLIC_KEY	By default this variable is set to the DWC public key of the Liberty SSL certificates. If you are using custom certificates for the DWC, replace the default value accordingly.	N	Y	(DWC Public Key)

aida-exporter parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
WA_OMETRICS	Connection url to WA exposed metrics	N	N	https://WA_URL/metrics
WA_METADATA	Connection url to WA metadata	N	N	https://WA_URL/twsd/engine/historical_metric/metadata
WA_RECORDS	Connection url to WA records	N	N	https://WA_URL/twsd/engine/historical_metric/record
ALERT_CONFIG_URL	Connection url to alert configuration file	N	N	https://WA_URL/twsd/engine/definition/alert
KPI_CONFIG_URL	Connection url to kpi configuration file	N	N	https://WA_URL/twsd/engine/definition/kpi
WA_CATALOGS	WA Catalogs	N	N	https://WA_URL/twsd/engine/definition/aida_catalog
ENDPOINTS_CONF	For KPIs configuration	N	N	{"KPI_CONFIG": "twsd/engine/definition/kpi", "ALERT_CONFIG": "twsd/engine/definition/alert", "WA_OMETRICS": "metrics", "WA_METADATA": "twsd/engine/historical_metric/metadata", "WA_RECORDS": "twsd/engine/historical_metric/record", "WA_CATALOGS": "twsd/engine/definition/aida_catalog"}
ENDPOINTS_Z_CONF	For KPIs configuration	N	N	{"KPI_CONFIG": "twsz/v1/aida/definition/kpi", "ALERT_CONFIG": "twsz/v1/aida/definition/alert", "WA_OMETRICS": "metrics", "WA_METADATA": "twsz/v1/aida/historical_metric/metadata", "WA_RECORDS": "twsz/v1/aida/historical_metric/record", "WA_CATALOGS": "twsz/v1/aida/definition/aida_catalog"}
MAXIMUM_DAYS_OF_OLDER_PREDICTIONS_AND_ALERTS	How many days of prediction and alert data to keep in the past	N	Y	14
MAXIMUM_DAYS_OF_OLDER_DATA	How many days of metrics data to keep in the past	N	Y	180
RESOLVE_ALERTS_AFTER_DAYS	Number of days after which alerts will automatically go in "resolved" status	N	Y	1

Debugging parameters

Parameter	Description	Mandatory	Customizable	Default
PREDICT_EVERYTHING	For debugging purposes	N	N	false

Troubleshooting

1. If the Elasticsearch container fails to get up, verify the vm.max_map_count parameter is at minimum 262144 on the host machine (not inside the container).

   To get the current value, run the command: sysctl vm.max_map_count.

   To set the new value, run the command: sudo sysctl vm.max_map_count=262144.