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ObserverInfrastructure (OI)User Guide

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mailto:[email protected]

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Getting started.................................................................................................................. 8

Overview of OI.............................................................................................................................................. 8

Key features of OI.................................................................................................................................... 9

Overview of the user interface.............................................................................................................10

How OI discovers and maps your network........................................................................................ 10

Ports used by Observer products v16 and earlier............................................................................. 11

What should you monitor?.................................................................................................................. 12

Installing and upgrading the software...............................................................................................15

Chapter 2: Discovering the Network................................................................................................17

Discovering your network......................................................................................................................... 17

Discovering network devices and creating a device group............................................................. 18

Discovering devices only...................................................................................................................... 21

Configuring Discovery’s default settings........................................................................................... 22

Topology Discovery tab.............................................................................................................................22

Viewing Discovery reports....................................................................................................................22

How to add application definitions......................................................................................................... 23

How to associate non-standard ports with an application............................................................. 23

How to import application definitions............................................................................................... 24

How to export application definitions................................................................................................25

Sharing application definitions with others........................................................................................... 25

How to export application definitions................................................................................................26

How to import application definitions............................................................................................... 26

Working with MIBs..................................................................................................................................... 27

Viewing and compiling MIBs using OI................................................................................................ 28

Walking a MIB using OI........................................................................................................................ 28

Chapter 3: Managing Devices and Device Groups..........................................................................30

Activating or de-activating your device group.......................................................................................30

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Using containers to organize your device groups.............................................................................31

Embedding device groups within another device group..................................................................31

Using Administrative Tools for a device.............................................................................................32

Monitoring tab.......................................................................................................................................32

Filtering your lists.................................................................................................................................. 33

Device properties...................................................................................................................................34

Backing up OI files.................................................................................................................................35

Creating a comma delimited file.........................................................................................................35

Modifying the device group’s properties.................................................................................................35

Renaming a device group.................................................................................................................... 35

Configuring the autopolling frequency..............................................................................................36

Scheduling inventory............................................................................................................................ 36

Automatically rediscovering your network and updating devices that use DHCP........................37

Enabling Response Time Analysis for device groups........................................................................ 37

Adding devices to an existing device group........................................................................................... 38

Running the Discovery wizard.............................................................................................................38

Manually adding known devices.........................................................................................................39

Adding IPFIX or NetFlow agent devices..............................................................................................40

Chapter 4: Using Routes to Track Performance.............................................................................. 41

Creating a route..........................................................................................................................................41

How OI maps a route............................................................................................................................ 42

Modifying a route’s properties............................................................................................................ 42

Using routes to verify SLA or identify route flapping........................................................................46

Merging routes within subnets.................................................................................................................46

Enabling real-time response time analysis for routes for QoS and SLA...............................................47

Viewing a route’s historical Response Time Report............................................................................... 48

Activating or de-activating your route....................................................................................................48

Chapter 5: Using Alarms for Notification........................................................................................ 50

Configuring Alarms.................................................................................................................................... 50

Configuring global inventory alarms................................................................................................. 51

Configuring a device-specific alarm................................................................................................... 52

Creating event-based alarms...............................................................................................................52

Creating inventory-based alarms....................................................................................................... 52

Configuring device hierarchy to prevent multiple alarms............................................................... 53

Configuring alarm actions................................................................................................................... 53

Viewing alarm reports.......................................................................................................................... 55

Defining marginal or critical conditions for an object.......................................................................... 55

Configuring thresholds at the program level.................................................................................... 56

Configuring thresholds at the device level........................................................................................ 56

Configuring e-mail server and pager settings........................................................................................ 56

Configuring the e-mail server.............................................................................................................. 56

Configuring the pager.......................................................................................................................... 57

Configuring the paging service........................................................................................................... 58

Pager Service Tray Icon........................................................................................................................ 58

Chapter 6: Tracking Hardware and Software Assets...................................................................... 60

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Configuring what is inventoried...............................................................................................................60

Using the Inventories tab..................................................................................................................... 60

Taking a Snapshot Inventory...............................................................................................................61

Viewing the Inventory reports............................................................................................................. 61

Checking inventory status and forcing completion..........................................................................62

Chapter 7: Configuring Security Settings........................................................................................63

Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMS............................................................................63

Setting a password to open OI............................................................................................................ 64

Configuring user groups.......................................................................................................................64

Creating, modifying, or deleting users............................................................................................... 65

Defining which user groups may view reports in a web browser....................................................65

Defining who may access your OI device groups and routes remotely.......................................... 66

Saving user names (credentials) to access devices........................................................................... 66

Chapter 8: Viewing and Creating Reports.......................................................................................69

Viewing reports in OI................................................................................................................................. 69

Viewing reports in a web browser.......................................................................................................69

Viewing a report for…..........................................................................................................................70

Viewing reports for the device group (or route)................................................................................ 71

Viewing a device status........................................................................................................................ 72

Creating a custom report.......................................................................................................................... 72

Copying a report....................................................................................................................................72

Creating an Availability report............................................................................................................73

Creating an Overview report............................................................................................................... 74

Creating a top N report........................................................................................................................ 75

Creating a custom monitor report...................................................................................................... 76

Creating an ORS drill down report......................................................................................................77

Creating a scheduled report................................................................................................................ 77

Creating a summary tree report..........................................................................................................78

Chapter 9: Monitoring Devices, Services, and Platforms............................................................... 79

Configuring monitors.................................................................................................................................79

Devices monitored by OI...................................................................................................................... 79

Properties monitored on the devices.................................................................................................. 82

Creating a custom monitor....................................................................................................................... 85

Copying elements from an existing monitor..................................................................................... 87

Monitoring disk drives.......................................................................................................................... 87

Configuring your Cisco IP SLA monitor.............................................................................................. 88

Defining a Database Query monitor element................................................................................... 90

Adding a custom MIB to use in a monitor..........................................................................................92

How to set up configuration management............................................................................................ 92

Understanding configuration management..................................................................................... 92

How to apply a verification profile to a device................................................................................. 94

How to apply a configuration monitor.............................................................................................. 95

How to create configuration verification rules..................................................................................96

How to add verification rules to verification policies....................................................................... 96

How to add verification policies to verification profiles...................................................................97

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How to interact with retrieved device configuration files................................................................97

Monitoring other Viavi products.............................................................................................................. 98

Monitoring ORS..................................................................................................................................... 99

Monitoring an Observer..................................................................................................................... 100

Monitoring an Observer probe..........................................................................................................101

Monitoring a GigaStor........................................................................................................................102

Monitoring Viavi Management Server (OMS)................................................................................. 103

Chapter 10: Configuring OI.............................................................................................................106

Using the Polling feature.........................................................................................................................106

Creating polling schedules.................................................................................................................108

Connecting to a remote OI......................................................................................................................108

Using the Log Window............................................................................................................................ 109

Simulating VoIP calls between IP SLA-enabled routers.......................................................................109

Monitoring a latency-sensitive or distributed application................................................................. 110

Icons and their meanings........................................................................................................................110

Using the General tab..............................................................................................................................112

Using the Probes tab................................................................................................................................112

Defining how IP Applications are identified......................................................................................... 112

Example HTTP application identifier................................................................................................ 113

ANSI escape characters...................................................................................................................... 114

Configuring how much hard drive space OI uses................................................................................ 114

Defining IPMI sensor definitions............................................................................................................ 115

Throttling SNMP requests....................................................................................................................... 115

Defining custom administrative tools................................................................................................... 115

I don’t understand dynamic parameters. Can you provide an example?.................................... 116

Integrating OI with Observer.................................................................................................................. 116

Configuring what Observer probe instance this OI uses................................................................ 117

Creating a filter to use in Observer based on a device................................................................... 117

Starting Observer to capture packets...............................................................................................117

Importing and exporting Observer Alias (.adr) files....................................................................... 118

Integrating with ORS............................................................................................................................... 118

Adding infrastructure data to ORS reports...................................................................................... 119

Creating sub-reports from infrastructure data............................................................................... 119

Using the monitoring map toolbars...................................................................................................... 121

Drawing tools...................................................................................................................................... 121

Layout tools......................................................................................................................................... 122

Chapter 11: Configuring Secondary OI..........................................................................................124

Configuring a failover or redundant Observer Infrastructure............................................................ 124

How to configure the failover cluster in Windows.......................................................................... 125

How to configure Observer Infrastructure Redundancy................................................................ 127

Understanding NLB failover and Observer Infrastructure redundancy fields............................. 128

How to configure Observer Infrastructure failover.........................................................................130

Understanding NLB failover and Observer Infrastructure redundancy fields............................. 131

Chapter 12: VBScript API for the Monitors................................................................................... 133

VBScript API for the Monitors................................................................................................................. 133

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Methods................................................................................................................................................ 134

Properties............................................................................................................................................. 142

SNMP Sample Scripts.......................................................................................................................... 142

Chapter 13: Backup and Restoration.............................................................................................146

Sharing application definitions with others......................................................................................... 146

How to export application definitions..............................................................................................146

How to import application definitions............................................................................................. 147

Backing up OI files................................................................................................................................... 147

Importing and exporting Observer Alias (.adr) files............................................................................ 148

Creating a comma delimited file............................................................................................................148

Glossary..................................................................................................................................................... 148

Index..................................................................................................................................................150

1

Chapter 1: Getting started

Overview of OIManaging a network of any size can be a difficult task. Even when the networkconsists of local machines, it can consist of dozens of devices running hundredsof services. You cannot manually monitor all of the devices, waiting for devices orservices to fail.

Then, when the network is distributed over a wide area, the already difficulttask becomes more challenging. The number of possible services increasesgeometrically with the increased number of devices. Monitoring is now moreimportant that ever, as many users expect these devices and services to beavailable at all times.

When devices or services fail, or are slow to respond, you cannot depend on usercomplaints as your notification. OI helps you remain the first to be notified for allof the devices, services, applications, and network infrastructure that you dependon. OI is particularly useful if you must maintain a network’s QoS or a serviceprovider’s adherence to the terms of an SLA. Any network administrator will findOI a useful tool to monitor these mission critical network devices.

OI gives you a visual overview of your network (LAN, WAN, WLAN), a selectedsubset of devices, and the routes between devices. Using user-configurablealarms and reports, you can react in real-time to issues and see trends fromhistorical data.

OI queries every address or device on your network using SNMP, WMI, knownports for IP applications (such as HTTP, FTP, DNS, SSH, etc.) to determine thedevice type and what services or applications are running on the device. Usingthis information, OI builds a network topology map.

If Observer Analyzer is installed on the same system as OI, you can launchObserver from within OI to capture packets on a device, allowing you to furtheridentify network issues. You can also use ORS to aggregate polling data from

Overview of OIChapter 1: Getting started 9

all OI installations to give you a comprehensive report of your network fromdifferent perspectives.

Key features of OIOI can actively monitor your network devices, discover new or changed devices,create routes and maps used for SLAs.

♦ Device health monitoring—Use a variety of standard and proprietaryprotocols to actively monitor your servers. Use Syslog to passively listen tostatus details from your routers and switches.

♦ Active Discovery—Find your routers, switches, servers, database servers,web servers, virtualization servers, and other devices easily using a wizard.Discovery is done through various methods including IP application portpolling, SNMP, WMI, VMware ESX server, and WAAS CM identification, andmore. Then, easily add new devices as you add them to your network—either individually or as groups.

♦ Mapping—A network topology map is automatically created of yournetwork during discovery. You can visually monitor the performance ofany device, in any location, across your network in real-time. You canexport the maps to Microsoft Visio to enlarge and print them. You can alsomodify the maps.

♦ Route Monitoring—Monitor the overall timing of a connection betweentwo systems and also the timing of each hop along the way. Using thisinformation, it is possible to identify which external link is the source oftrouble or where there is irregular service in a connection. This is necessaryfor managing any SLAs you may have, for example with your serviceprovider.

♦ Event notification—Alert yourself when a device is unreachable, has poorresponse time, or any of hundreds of potential conditions. This allows youto work proactively to solve issues before they become real problems.

♦ Inventory—Using the inventory feature you can track removablehard drives, RAM, installed software, and more, and then run periodicinventories automatically to take instant snapshots of your devices forcomparison.

♦ Reports—Quickly see if an issue is caused by a device, application, or thenetwork with the real-time reports. View real-time status and historicaldetails through reports either in OI or in a web browser. There are dozensof pre-built reports, or you can create your own custom reports.

♦ Distributed OI architecture—In addition to monitoring device groupsthat you created locally in your instance of OI, you can connect to otherinstances of OI and see their device groups and routes. You can also shareyours with them.

♦ Observer Reporting Server, Observer, and GigaStor integration—Use thepower of Observer to analyze packets, of Observer GigaStor to store thepackets and to go back in time to see what caused the problem, or ofObserver Reporting Server to correlate the information to create high-level reports.

♦ VMware ESX Server Monitoring—Monitor VMware ESX Servers and anyvirtual machines hosted on the VMware ESX Servers. Track the virtualmachines and the performance details for servers.

Overview of OI10 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

♦ Tracking WAAS—Overcome monitoring limitations created by WANoptimizations and identify the impact of WAN optimization onperformance. Easily track server and network performance in a WAN-optimized environment.

♦ Cisco IP SLA & NBAR—Track performance between IP SLA-enableddevices and monitor common operations such as UDP echo, IPv6 traffic,TCP connect time, DNS lookups, and HTTP get and response times.Additionally, obtain application metrics using NBAR from your Ciscorouters and switches.

Overview of the user interfaceOI is divided into three main areas: the device group and routes lists, the alertswindow, and the reports and maps section.

Figure 1: OI

1 Device Groups/Routes list2 Container. See Using containers to organize your device groups.3 Device Groups. See Managing Devices and Device Groups and Using Routes to

track performance.4 Remotely connected OI. See Connecting to a remote OI.5 Log window. See Using the Log Window.6 Reports, maps, and status lists

How OI discovers and maps your networkOI can only poll your devices and gather information while it is running. Werecommend that you add OI to your Windows start folder or run OI as a Windowsservice.

Do this by choosing Options > Program Options > General tab and enabling OIto run as a Windows service.


OI uses any of the following to discover devices on your network:

♦ ICMP echo requests (commonly called pings). It does this by using theICMP TTL (Time To Live) function, which sets the number of router hopsthat are allowed before the packet is considered stale and then discarded.This prevents packets with unreachable destinations from bouncingbetween routers indefinitely.

♦ Scanning known IP application ports.♦ Scanning NetBIOS/NetBEUI♦ Scanning systems for IPX addressing.♦ SNMP queries. Using the information derived from routers and switches

from SNMP queries, OI builds a very comprehensive view of your network.OI determines what is connected to each port and whether it is a directconnection or if the connection is through a hub or non-SNMP-enabledrouter or switch.

♦ WMI queries.♦ A “web service” API called “WSD” (web service data) to discover VMware

ESX Server and WAAS Central Manager, using HTTP queries, SSH queries,or proprietary protocols for devices hosting MySQL Server or Sybase ASE.

A device may be any Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, or Linux workstation, servers,routers, switches, network printers, addressable hubs, or anything connected toyour network that has an IP, IPX, or Microsoft address. Devices without networkaddresses, such as local printers, simple hubs, and basic power supplies cannot bedetected by OI.

Because routers can go down and routes can change between pings, the accuracyof a single trace route of a particular route cannot be guaranteed. For the mostaccurate picture of a route, it is best to analyze the results of multiple routetracing sessions (which OI makes easy).

Ports used by Observer products v16 and earlierObserver products v16 and earlier use many ports to communicate. If yourenvironment includes these products, open these ports on your firewalls.

Table 1: Ports used by Observer products v16 and earlierPort FunctionalityTCP 25901 OI to OMSUDP 25901 OI to OMSTCP 25902 OI-to-OI data

Redundant OIObserver Apex to OI

UDP 25903 Redundant OIOI license notifications

TCP 80 Observer reporting and reconstruction featuresTCP 3389 Remote Desktop connection.

OI polls other devices or applications for status. This table lists some, but notall, of the ports you may need to open on your firewall so that OI can retrieveinformation about the device or application. Additional firewall permissions


should be granted based on what must be monitored. The ports listed are thedefault ports for the application and may be different in your environment.

Table 2: OI portsPort Product NotesTCP 135 WMI For outgoing connections and

incoming data notifications.For more details, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa389286%28v=vs.85%29.aspx.

UDP 161 SNMP packets Send (from a random port)/receive SNMP packets fromSNMP ports (may be device-specific depending on thedefined SNMP credential).

UDP 162 SNMP traps Receive SNMP traps or sendSNMP traps to another device.

UDP 514 Sylog messages Receive syslog messages.UDP 623 IPMI Poll IPMI. Send to UDP 623

from a random port.TCP 3306 MySQL database Poll MySQL databaseTCP 5000 Sybase database Poll Sybase.User-defined User-defined application Poll IP applications (any stock

IP applications defined in OI orany user-defined applicationports)

What should you monitor?You may have hundreds or thousands of devices on your network. There aremany ways to get information about those devices. Depending on the device,different methods may be available and some may be more preferable thanothers.

The monitoring protocols OI uses are:

♦ ICMP/ping—A very basic management tool used to determine status,availability, and response time. When you ping a device, you are askingthe device if it exists; if it responds, you know that it exists (it is up). If itdoes not respond, it means the device is unavailable (it is down). However,it could also mean the device is configured to ignore pings and to notrespond to them for security reasons.

♦ SNMP—A more complex tool that exposes management data about thedevice. SNMP is supported on routers, switches, firewalls, and nearly everyoperating system that asks the device to “tell me about yourself.” UseSNMP to gather information about the health and activity on your device,including WAAS and NBAR. SNMP is important for troubleshooting andcapacity planning. SNMP is passive though, which means that it is notactively querying a device. The device reports information about itself;however, it does so in a “fire and forget” method. Usually, this is fine, butit is not assured that the SNMP trap gets to its destination. Therefore, youshould perform active port and log polling in addition to using SNMP.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa389286%28v=vs.85%29.aspx




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Control_Message_Protocol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNMP


♦ WMI—A management tool solely for Windows systems. It is very similarto SNMP in that it provides management data. WMI is better supportedon Windows systems than SNMP, as WMI can provide information at theWindows operating system level. For Windows systems, we recommendusing WMI instead of SNMP.

♦ WSD—Web Service Data is analogous to SNMP and WMI in that it isperformance statistics published by and retrieved from an application.These applications use a web service API (which is a SOAP data servicewith additional security extensions and an application-specific set ofdata requests and responses) to make the data available to third-partysoftware.

♦ MIB—A file with a tree structure that defines object attributes orinterprets them for software or hardware. MIBs are used in conjunctionwith SNMP on routers, switches, and in software to collect statusinformation such as whether something is up or down, what a device’sserial number is, or its CPU load is or the last one and five minute CPUload averages.

♦ NetFlow—A network protocol that collects IP traffic information. Typicallyfound on routers by Cisco, but also on devices by Juniper, as well as inLinux and some UNIX versions. Use NetFlow where packets cannot bedirectly inspected or where it is not practical to do so. By combining datafrom OI and Observer in ORS you have an integrated and aggregated viewof NetFlow data for troubleshooting.

♦ Port polling—A technique where ports of known applications are polledfor responsiveness. Like using ping for a device, you can verify anapplication is running. For instance, FTP uses port 21, SMTP uses port25, HTTP uses port 80. Collecting port statistics allows you to see userexperience-related information. Port polling might also be used for hostedapplications used by your company over which you do not have control(for example, www.salesforce.com).

♦ Syslog—A standard for logging device or software messages. It is thestandard logging mechanism on Linux and UNIX systems. It is alsosupported on many routers, switches, and firewalls. Syslog can provide animmense amount of information about a device, so it is critical that youfilter and alert on Syslog messages.

It is often difficult to tell whether a problem is being caused by a device, anapplication, or the underlying network infrastructure. OI can tell you whereto look. When you look at reports, OI displays whether the network, system,or applications are in a good, marginal, or critical state, then it lists how manymonitored parameters fall into each category.

Tip! A gray question mark means that OI knows about some element that itshould be monitoring, but cannot poll the device to get a status. This occursbecause of invalid credentials or when the monitored device is temporarilyunresponsive to queries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Management_Instrumentation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_Information_Base

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetFlow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syslog


Figure 2: Monitor reports

Using device groups, you can monitor applications across servers and whenthere is an issue, you can inspect the component having the problem and notworry about the functioning components. Monitor the processes and services;the routers, servers, and other infrastructure; and the network paths and trafficroutes for the application. By putting all of these together on a device groupmap in OI, you see the entire picture for your application. Then, ensure youconfigure alarms for the devices and services so you know when an issue occurs—or is about to occur.

Table 3 describes where and what you may want to monitor. It is not intended asa comprehensive list, but should give you things to think about when deployingyour network monitoring system. Some suggestions may require that you useanother monitoring tool like Observer or ORS in addition to OI.

Table 3: What to monitorFor this… Monitor this…Server Ensure the server is available by periodic polling. Use a one

minute interval for critical servers. Use a five minute interval forless critical servers. You might go so far as every 15 minutes fornon-critical servers.Monitor attributes like: CPU, memory and disk utilization, swapand paging space, temperature, and read/write performance.Use WMI for Windows-based servers. Use SNMP for UNIX-basedservers.Track bandwidth usage, including transfer rates, packet types,and total bytes transferred. When developing and comparingto your baselines, be sure to track both directions (in andout) separately. This allows you to see more exactly what ishappening with your server.Monitor SNMP traps and system logs.

Application path Track an application from beginning to end and back. It isespecially important if you must monitor latency-sensitiveapplications.Monitor the end-user workstation. Sometimes firewalls orantivirus on the workstation may interfere with an application.Monitor firewalls and for changes in Active Directory lists.Sometimes changes in Active Directory can cause unintendedconsequences and block previously approved access.Monitor network connections for status and performanceinformation.Monitor routers and switches along the path. Use IP SLA on thedevices when looking at devices on remote networks.

Application Ensure your applications are running by using port polling.


For this… Monitor this…Track your e-mail server’s send and receive queues.Use synthetic transactions to get a sense of what your usersexperience. Using this information gives you advance noticeshould there be a problem before a user calls to report it or tocomplain about a “slow network.”.

Installing and upgrading the softwareOI is available as a standalone appliance for monitoring up to 10, 100, 500, ormore than 500 devices. OI 100 or 500 can also be used as a collection device forremote sites to send information to an OI Enterprise (500+) system.

OI can also run on your own Windows XP (or later)-based hardware. Thefollowing are the specifications for the appliances. If you plan on installing OIon your own hardware, it must be equivalent or better to that shown here. Thisapplies to physical and virtualized servers. If you virtualize the server, each servermust meet these specifications. Up to 10

Appliances1100 or 500Appliance

500+ Appliance

Memory 4 GB 4 GB 8 GBForm factor -- 1.3U 2UProcessors Dual Core Single Quad Dual QuadDisk array 250 GB 1 TB 2 TBNumber of arraydrives

1 1 4

Size of arrays -- -- 500 GB

Operating system2

1. Installed on your own hardware. This version can monitor up to 10 devices and five routes. It doesnot support connecting to remote instances of OI.2. See Supported Operating Systems for a full list of supported operating systems.

To get the latest version of OI. copy the latest file from our FTP site.

ftp://ftp.observer.viavisolutions.com/pub/downloads/observer/

The installation for the OI software on your own hardware is straightforward.Follow the instructions on the installation wizard. The defaults are usuallysufficient.

Note: If you customize any of the default overview reports in OI, yourcustomizations are retained. However, they are retained in a renamed report.For example, if you modified the “Overview” report, the report is renamedto “Overview_Backup1” and the newest version from Viavi replaces thedefault Overview report.

Supported Operating Systems♦ Windows Vista (64-bit SP1 or higher)♦ Windows 7 (64-bit SP1 or higher)♦ Windows Server 2003 Enterprise, Standard, Web (64-bit SP3 or higher)♦ Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Standard, Web (64-bit SP2 or higher)

ftp://ftp.observer.viavisolutions.com/pub/downloads/observer/


♦ Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, Standard, Web (SP1 or higher)♦ Windows 8.1 64-bit

2

Chapter 2: Discovering the Network

Discovering your networkUsing Observer Infrastructure (OI), you can quickly discover and map all thedevices on a network and, within moments, begin monitoring response times ofdevices, services and other resources.

While it is certainly possible to discover and monitor every network segment—or even an entire WAN—most of the time it is more convenient and usefulto discover and monitor only those stations and devices that are significant orcritical to the network and therefore to your company’s business.

The primary limitation of how many devices you may want to discover or add toa device group is your computer display size (and its resolution). The larger yourmonitor, the more devices you can easily display on your map. However, you maywant to consider creating device groups based on location, function, or devicetype. The larger the network, the more preferable it becomes to limit the devicegroup to only those devices that affect the performance of the network and theenterprise—if only for simplicity of the map display. Additionally, the polling ofdevices does require CPU and network resources; the more devices polled, themore resources are required.

Tip! Where it is desirable to monitor a large number of stations and devicessimultaneously, screen clutter can be avoided by using OI’s device groupreference embedding features. For details see Embedding device groupswithin another device group

OI can automatically discover your network devices and topology. You can chooseto:

♦ Discover network devices and network topology♦ Discover network devices only♦ Create an empty business group and add devices later

Discovering your network18 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Discovering network devices and creating a device groupKnowing that OI can tell you if a system is down, if hard drive space is low, if aprinter is low on toner, or any number of messages about nearly any device onyour network, you want to create logical groups to segment your network. So, adevice group is a collection of routers, servers, and systems on your network thatallows you to present your network in a way that makes sense for you. It couldbe your entire network or a subset of it.

Using a device group, you can collect similar systems into a logical grouping formonitoring, such as department, function, or device type. Try creating severaldevice groups based upon specific services or system types. If you have too manydevice groups, you can place them in containers to group your device groups. SeeUsing containers to organize your device groups.

By using device groups, you can view reports, monitor resources, and trackinventory. Additionally, you can identify the source of a problem as either thenetwork, a specific system, or an application.

A route is the path taken between the OI system and another system.

1. Choose File > Create New Device Group/Route. The Discovery wizardopens.

2. In the Discovery Type section, choose Device Group and type a name. ClickNext.

3. Choose how you want to discover your network. These instructions assumeyou have chosen to discover the network devices and topology. Click Next.

● Discover IP network devices and topology—Finds all devices on yournetwork and the network’s topology. For every discovered device, OIattempts to find the NETBIOS name, workgroup, and any description.

● Discover network devices only—Finds all devices, but does not include anytopology information. All devices are placed on a map, but no connectionsare included.

● Create an empty device group—Creates an empty map for you tomanually add devices. Use this if you know the devices you want andwhere it may be quicker than pinging a range of systems.

4. Choose the discovery method. These instructions assume you have chosen thenetwork discovery with IP ranges method. Click Next.

● Network discovery with seed routers—Finds all devices that interact withspecified routers.

● Network discovery with IP ranges—Finds all devices between one or moreIP address ranges.

5. Choose an IP range or ranges to scan. Click Add to define the range andspecify whether the devices in that range use DHCP. Define separate rangesfor static addresses and dynamic addresses. OI assumes that any device foundin a static range keeps its IP address. It also assumes that any device found ina dynamic range may change its IP address, therefore OI periodically resolveseach devices DNS name to its IP address using DNS-to-IP lookups.

6. Select which IP Applications for which you want to scan. Many standardservices are already listed. Right-clicking the list allows you to check oruncheck all IP Applications. Click Edit IP Applications to add any custom or

Discovering your networkChapter 2: Discovering the Network 19

undefined TCP/IP services. Every address is queried for each service andwaits for a reply (by default, two seconds). If you are querying hundredsof addresses for each service listed, this can take a significant amount oftime. You may want to limit your discovery to known addresses and any IPapplications you want to monitor.

Clearing the setting “Discover services only for devices that respond to ICMPpings” causes the scan to be much more thorough because every address isscanned for every selected service; however, this can significantly increase thediscovery time.

OI can monitor IPX, but because IPX is rarely used, the features are hidden bydefault. IPX monitoring is not supported on 64-bit Windows nor on WindowsVista or 7. You can enable them by choosing Options > Program Options >General tab. IPX support is then found in: Monitoring map > IPX Applicationstab and Device > Device Properties > IPX tab.

7. OI automatically identifies routers on your network. By providing a host nameor IP address of a system that may be pinged through the router, OI moreaccurately maps your network and its topology. To have your routers appearon the topology map (along with its port address tables), provide a networkaddress or DNS name of a system outside the network to ping. The router’salarms are based on router utilization thresholds. Select whether you want toadd this host for any future discoveries.

The major difference between local and remote network discovery is thatMicrosoft’s NetBIOS/NetBEUI protocol is not routable by itself and thereforecannot be discovered remotely. A Microsoft network running on top of TCP/IP,however, can easily be discovered via IP mapping.

8. All supported Windows operating systems have Windows ManagementInstrumentation (WMI) that allows programs like OI to capture and displayinformation about that system. A user name and password to the system isrequired to collect WMI information. Provide a user name and password foreach system that you want OI to be able to access using WMI. Generally, thisis a domain administrator account with access to all systems. It could also bea local user account. If you specify multiple Windows credentials, the queriesare done in order until the first matching credential is found. Change thecredential order if desired.

9. OI can discover your VMware ESX Servers using a couple different methods.By default, an SNMP query is done. If the VMware ESX Server systemresponds with the @public, the information collected is used.

10. OI discovers any VMware ESX Server 3.5 and later or WAAS CM on yournetwork using a web service API (WSD). To discover any VMware ESX Serversor WAAS CM systems, you must provide a user name, password, and clientcertificate. This is required by the VMware ESX Server even if you have notconfigured the server to use it. In that case, use the OI certificate. For WAASCM, you must use its client certificate.

If enabled, VMware ESX Server 3.5 may also respond to the SNMP discoveryprocess. By default, only the VMware ESX Server (WSD) monitors are used.These two monitors track many more features than what is available through

Discovering your network20 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

SNMP, however, you may want to alternatively use the SNMP monitor. Afterthe discovery you may choose to add an SNMP monitor.

VMware ESX Server 4.0 and later has SNMP disabled by default. Regardless,the information available through its web service API is much richer than thatprovided by SNMP.

11. OI can identify which devices on your network are switches and what devicesare connected to each switch, but the discovery is dependent on SNMP. Ifyour network has SNMP devices that require specific credentials to accessthem, provide the credential information. Without SNMP, OI shows devicesspread over multiple switches as being connected to one or more subnetclouds. Generally, this would be a global account with access to all systems. Itcould also be a local user account. If you specify multiple SNMP credentials,the queries are done in order until the first matching credential is found.Change the order if desired.

12. Specify how long to wait for a response and how many times OI shouldping an address before considering no device to exist (or to be not running).Typically, the default values are sufficient. If you set the values too low, OImay not be able to discover all of the devices on your network. If you setthe values too high, OI may spend too much time waiting for non-existentdevices to respond—making the scan seem unnecessarily slow.

13. Choose whether any of the devices that are discovered are considered critical.All devices marked critical will have alarm responses enabled for monitorelements that are entering or exiting a critical state. In effect, you are alertedif the device, or a service on the device, stops responding. You can configurealarms for the device later.

14. OI makes reports available through a web browser externally or on theReports tab for any device group or route. Determine which user groups mayaccess the report externally, or you can connect to a device group from aremote OI. This can be changed later if you wish.

15. Determine whether you want auto-polling enabled. By default, the devicegroup is polled every three minutes. You can change the polling frequency.

16. Click Finish to begin the discovery process. Depending on the options youselected and the size of your network this could take some time.

After the discovery completes, OI creates the discovery map. Also available areany related tabs such as Subnets, Devices, and Reports.

How OI discovers a deviceObserver Infrastructure queries every network address by using a ping. If itresponds, further interrogation is done to determine what the system is andwhat is running on it.

A failure is when a device or device’s service fails to respond to OI’s discoveryattempt or poll. Because networks and devices vary in how quickly they canrespond, and because sometimes some packets are lost due to collisions or othernetwork issues, a device may not respond to the first attempt. By default, OItries twice to discover each device and waits four seconds before deciding adevice is not at that address.

NumberOfAddresses x NumberOfServices x 4 seconds=EstimatedTime

Discovering your networkChapter 2: Discovering the Network 21

To determine the approximate amount of time required to discovery what is onyour network with the default discovery settings, use the above calculation as arough guide.

What do the colored lines represent for discovered devices?Colored lines seen in the discovery map represent discovered connections:

♦ Red, dashed lines indicate the same MAC address has multiple IPaddresses.

♦ Green, dashed lines connect devices representing different networkinterfaces from the same physical device.

♦ Blue, two pixel-width lines represent a “backbone” link (a switch or routerthat links to another switch or router).

♦ Blue, one pixel-width lines represent network devices, other than switchesor routers, that link to a switch or router.

Discovering devices onlyWhen performing a discovery, you may choose to discover devices only. If youdo this, you have some options that are different from the process described inDiscovering network devices and creating a device group, but most are the sameand you should follow that process after deciding which layout to use.

1. Choose Tools > Discover Devices. The Discovery wizard appears.2. Select “Discover network devices only” and click Next.3. Choose how you want OI to display the icons on the map, and click Next.

● A Ring layout places icons representing discovered devices equally spacedaround a circular drawing object connected to it with stretchable lines. Theinitial size of the ring will depend on the number of objects discoveredonto it, but it can be manually resized at any time after discovery hasbeen completed.

● A Bus layout places icons representing discovered devices equally spacedalong one or more thick, line-drawing objects, connected to it (or them)with stretchable lines. The initial size of the bus depends on the numberof objects discovered, but it can be manually resized at any time afterdiscovery has been completed. If the discovery of additional devicescauses the bus to stretch beyond the physical border of the map, OIautomatically creates an additional bus below.

● In a Freeform layout, OI places the icons representing discovered deviceson the map in rows, without linking them to drawing objects or to eachother. If in doubt, choose Freeform.

4. Select which type of discovery you want to perform, and click Next.

When a discovery is running, OI:

● Binds the IP address to the Microsoft network name through DNS-to-IP resolution.

● Identifies any devices with multiple IP addresses as belonging to thesame device.

● Binds the IPX address to the IP device (or Microsoft name device)through common MAC addresses, but for the devices on the local

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network (same as OIsystem) where MAC addresses are available viaARP requests or ipNetToMediaTable of switches/routers.

5. Continue with step 5 in Discovering network devices and creating a devicegroup.

Configuring Discovery’s default settingsThe discovery process has many defaults that you may change to suit your needs.These include items such as:

♦ When to consider devices as timed out and how many times to attempt tocontact a device

♦ What accounts to use to access a device♦ How devices are added to the topology map♦ What default hosts to ping

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Discovery tab.2. Change any settings you wish. For details about the credentials, see Saving

user names (credentials) to access devices.3. Click OK. These settings are used for all future discoveries, including those

scheduled to run automatically.

Topology Discovery tabUse the Topology Discovery tab after discovering your device group. TheTopology Discovery tab has several sub-tabs, described here. You can view othermaps and device lists by picking one from the Discoveries list.

♦ Discovered Map—Shows the map of the most current discovery.♦ Discovered Subnets—Lists all subnets found and the devices found in

them♦ Discovered Devices—Lists all of the devices found regardless of subnet.♦ Discovery Reports—Shows regular and comparison reports. See Viewing

Discovery reports.

Click the Discover Now button to run a new discovery. See Discovering devicesonly.

Viewing Discovery reportsThis section describes how to view a Discovery report or to compare two reports.A discovery report provides you counts and names for all routers, switches,wireless access points, computers, printers, and UPS devices. Devices that do notfit into one of those categories may be classified as “other.”

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group or route for whichyou want to view reports.

2. Click Topology Discovery > Discovery Reports.3. You can choose to display a specific discovery report, which shows you all

devices that were found during the discovery. Or, you can compare twodifferent discoveries.

How to add application definitionsChapter 2: Discovering the Network 23

How to add application definitionsTo add more application definitions:

1. Choose Options > Application Definitions.2. Choose an application definitions tab:

● TCP Definitions● UDP Definitions● SCTP Definitions

3. Click Add Application. The Add Application window appears.

Figure 3: Add an application from the list or define a custom application

4. Select an application from the list, and click Add. If your application is not inthe list, click Custom to create your own.

5. In the Add Application Definition dialog that appears, ensure these detailsare correct, (or type application details if you chose Custom), and click OK.

6. Click Apply Changes.

Choices are displayed that allow you to set the scope of your changes.7. Choose one of the following:

● Apply changes to this Device Group only● Apply changes across all Device Groups - (recommended)

8. Click OK to close the window and save your changes.

Your new application now appears in the list of application definitions.

How to associate non-standard ports with an applicationSome applications running on the network may be using a non-standard port. Ifyou are aware of these exceptions and want to add the port to an application’sdefinition, you can do so.

To associate non-standard ports with an application definition, complete thefollowing steps:

1. Choose Options > Application Definitions.

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2. Choose an application definitions tab:


3. Scroll through the list of application definitions, and find one that you wantto associate non-standard ports with.

4. Click the application definition to select it.5. Click Add Ports.

The Add Application Definition dialog appears.6. Type the port number, or port range, to associate with the selected

application.7. Click OK to confirm your changes.8. Click Apply Changes.9. Click OK to close the window and save your changes.

You successfully associated a non-standard port with an application. You canrepeat this process for any application definition at any time.

How to import application definitionsPrerequisite(s):

To import application definitions, you need access to an exported *.protodefs file.See Exporting app definitions for details.

To import application definitions, follow the import process:



3. Click Tools, and click Import Application Definitions.

The Open file dialog appears.4. Locate and select the *.protodefs file that you want to import, and click

Open.

Sharing application definitions with othersChapter 2: Discovering the Network 25

Figure 4: The final importing dialog

The Import Application Definitions dialog appears.5. Select the protocols to import and the importing behavior.

You successfully imported application definitions. The definitions you import arenow part of your local collection.

How to export application definitionsTo share application definitions with other users, you must first save them to afile.

Create your file by following this export process:



3. Click Tools, and click Export Current Application Definitions.

The Export Application Definitions dialog appears.4. Select the groups of definitions you want to export, and click Export.5. Type a name for your file, and click Save.

You successfully exported your application definitions to a *.protodefs file.

You can now share this file with other users and installations, or keep it as abackup copy.

Sharing application definitions with othersApplication definitions can be shared using the included import and exportfunctions. Sharing is useful for making your application definitions uniformacross multiple installations, and it can even be used as a backup tool.

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Open.

Working with MIBsChapter 2: Discovering the Network 27




Working with MIBsA Management Information Base (MIB) is a formal description of a set of networkobjects that can be managed using the Simple Network Management Protocol(SNMP).

The unit of data collected is called the SNMP object. For each device, a set ofSNMP objects and rules for addressing the objects are defined in a MIB file.MIBs are key to the logical, orderly functioning of SNMP. MIB objects (OIDs) arerepresented by a tree hierarchy; each object has a unique address based on itsposition in the tree. The address count begins from the root of the object tree;one number is added to the address with each new branch. The root of the treeis unnamed and splits into three main branches: Consultative Committee forInternational Telegraph and Telephone (CCITT), International Organization forStandardization (ISO), and joint ISO/CCITT.

These branches and those that fall below each category have short text stringsand integers to identify them. Text strings describe object names, while integersallow computer software to create compact, encoded representations of thenames.

The object identifier in the Internet MIB hierarchy is the sequence of numericlabels on the nodes along a path from the root to the object. The Internetstandard MIB is represented by the object identifier 1.3.6.1.2.1. It also can beexpressed as iso.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib. The format of the MIB is definedas part of the SNMP. (All other MIBs are extensions of this basic managementinformation base.) MIB-I refers to the initial MIB definition; MIB-II refers to thecurrent definition. SNMPv2 includes MIB-II and adds some new objects.

Each MIB has a name, a syntax, and an encoding.

♦ Name—identifies the object 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.1=the object identifier SYSDESCR=the object descriptor

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♦ Syntax—defines the object’s structure (e.g., octet string, integer).♦ Encoding—an object’s representation using the object’s syntax (e.g., the

local IP address for this TCP connection, Read Only, or Mandatory). Object: TCPConnLocalAddress Syntax: Integer Definition: The local IP address for this TCP connection Access: Read only Status: Mandatory

When requested, the SNMP agent transfers an SNMP message across thenetwork in a standard format, as specified by the set of SNMP Request forComments (RFCs). Related MIB objects often are combined into MIB groups. MIBgroups make it easier to manage a large number of MIB objects. Some MIBs, suchas the standard MIB-2, contain many MIB groups. Proprietary MIBs usually haveonly one, or a few, groups.

Viewing and compiling MIBs using OIManagement Information Bases (MIB files) are text files the creator of an SNMPagent provides to describe the variables the agent keeps track of. You can view—and even edit—them using any text editor.

Simply, MIB files are source code. You must compile the MIB before it is ready foruse in OI or similar applications.

Therefore, you should compile a MIB if:

♦ A MIB was distributed with your device♦ You receive a new MIB for an existing device♦ You modify an existing MIB

Compile the MIB file using the SNMP MIB Viewer tool in OI. There you can alsoview the compiled MIB tree. Follow these instructions to compile a MIB:

1. Choose Tools > SNMP MIB Viewer.2. Click Compile MIB(s).

The Select MIB Files to Compile window appears.3. Compile and click Finish.

Your compiled MIB shows in the SNMP MIB Viewer tool. You can view its SNMPobjects, corresponding OIDs, and more.

Walking a MIB using OIBy walking the MIB tree of a target device, you discover the SNMP objects (OIDS)the target device contains and the values it is capable of returning.

To walk a MIB tree, complete the following steps:

1. Choose Tools > SNMP MIB Walker.2. Type or select the IP address of the target device.3. Select the appropriate SNMP credential.

If you need appropriate credentials, see Saving user names (credentials) toaccess devices to create one.

Working with MIBsChapter 2: Discovering the Network 29

4. (Optional) Modify the initial OID. The initial OID is the location in the MIB treeto begin walking.

5. Click the Start button. This process may take some time to complete.

OI can attempt to match the sub-nodes of a selected node with the MIBnodes in your compiled MIB. To do this, complete these steps in the MIBWalker tool:a. Click the View button, and select Tree view.b. Right-click a MIB node, and select Identify MIB Nodes.

If successful, OI adds MIB node names, descriptions, and other MIBinformation from the compiled MIB to the discovered MIB nodes.

3

Chapter 3: ManagingDevices and Device Groups

Activating or de-activating your device groupWhen you create a device group, it is enabled or activated by default. If at somepoint you no longer need your device group, you have two options: delete it ordeactivate it. Deactivating allows you to re-activate the device group at a latertime.

When you delete a device group, it is completely removed from ObserverInfrastructure (OI). All historical information about the device group is alsodeleted, which means that no reports can be created. Unless hard drive space isan issue or you are certain the device group is no longer needed for any reason,including historical reports, we recommend you deactivate the device grouprather than deleting it.

To activate or deactivate a device group:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes list, select the device group that you want toactivate or de-activate.

2. Right-click and choose “Activate Existing Device Group/Route” or “De-activateDevice Group/Route.”

3. If you chose to activate a device group, the Activate Device Group/Routewindow appears. Choose the device group you want to activate and click OK.

The device group is now active again and you may start polling it or view reportsfor it.

Activating or de-activating your device groupChapter 3: Managing Devices and Device Groups 31

Using containers to organize your device groupsIf you have many device groups or routes and would like to better organize them,you can use containers. Containers are similar to file folders in Windows Explorer.You can add containers to your local device groups or to a remote OI.

1. Choose File > New Container. You can also right-click a device group andclick New Container. The Create Container window appears.

2. Type a name for your container. We recommend a name descriptive of thetypes of device groups or routes to be placed in the container.

3. Drag and drop the device groups or routes into the container.

Create one container and call it “Device Groups.” Put all of your devicegroups in it. If you have a lot of device groups, you can add containers withincontainers. Create a second container called “Routes” for your routes.

You may also consider creating a device group that reference one or moredevice groups. See Embedding device groups within another device group.

Embedding device groups within another device groupBy embedding device groups or routes within another device group—byinserting device group references—you can tell at a glance if there is a problemon the network, and then navigate to the source of the problem with a few quickmouse clicks.

With embedded device groups, you can monitor everything that a device groupprovides and everything that a route provides in one place, including deviceproperties and route response times. When you combine all of these attributesinto one place, you see a broad view, but can also quickly see where a specificissue is.

Tip! For multi-tier applications, create a device group with a devicerepresenting each tier. By separating the devices, you can see at a high-levelif the application as a whole has an issue and then click through to view theindividual tiers to identify where the issue is and which tiers are functioningfine.

Note: By default, adding devices that have multiple network interfacesplaces them in a Device Group Reference. To modify or disable this behavior,choose Options > Program Options > Discovery tab. There, clear theoption “Create group-boxes for devices with multiple network interfaces”.

1. Choose Tools > Add Device Group Reference. The Add New Referencewindow appears. Click OK. The cursor becomes a large + symbol.

2. Move your cursor on the map to the place where you want the new referenceto appear and click. It does not matter where you add it because you canmove it later. The Reference Properties window appears.

3. In the Reference Label box, type the name of the device group you want toreference.

4. In the Device Group/Route box, click the … to find and add your devicegroup. Circular references—where group A is embedded in group B, group B

Activating or de-activating your device group32 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

is embedded in group C, and group C is embedded in group A are not valid.They create an infinite loop.

5. Make any other changes to the icon and label, and click OK.

An icon appears on the map with the name of the device group. The iconindicates the device group’s overall status. That is, if there is a problem with anydevice within, the icon reflects that—allowing you to double-click to see what iscausing the issue. By creating a device group that has your other device groups init, you can easily see the status of your entire network and its devices.

Every time the device group is polled, the status of all groups is updated. If theembedded device group contains devices that are displaying both marginal andcritical states, the reference displays a red flag, as it is more important.

Using Administrative Tools for a deviceOI provides shortcuts for you to use many system or network administrativetools for network devices. These include:

♦ Attempting to connect to a web server or secure web server♦ Ping a system♦ Launch Windows Remote Desktop♦ Telnet♦ Run a trace route♦ Open, view, or modify Windows processes and services for WMI-enabled

systems♦ SNMP MIB Walker—see Walking a MIB using OI.♦ Any other custom tool you define. See Defining custom administrative

tools for details.

1. In the Device Groups/Routes list, select the device group with the device youwant to administer.

2. On the Monitoring Map tab, select the device you want to administer. Youmay also choose the device from the Devices or IP Applications tab.

3. Right-click and choose Administrative Tools.4. Choose your tool.

Monitoring tabThe monitoring tab:

♦ In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group with the deviceyou want to view.

♦ Click the Monitoring Tab.♦ Table 4 lists what is available on each tab.

Table 4: Monitoring tabTab DescriptionReports Provides access to all reports for this device group. Some typical

reports are Alarms, Top N, and By Monitor. If any device in yourdevice group has a monitor defined, a report for that monitortype is available under “By Monitor.”You can choose to have reports auto-refresh.

Activating or de-activating your device groupChapter 3: Managing Devices and Device Groups 33

Tab DescriptionFor more details about reports, see Viewing reports in OI.

Monitoring Map Use this tab after you have discovered your network or createdyour map to view any devices with issues.Double-click an icon to open its properties. If it is a reference,you jump to the referenced device group.

Devices Provides a table display of all of the devices in the device group.The columns are sortable so that you can view devices by status,type, address, or however you may wish to sort them. Theinformation in the Note field comes from the MIB for SNMP-enabled devices or from device connections found during thediscovery. You may change it if you wish.You can choose to filter the list if you wish. Pick a filter from theFilter list. See Filtering your lists.

Monitors Provides a table display of all the monitors associated with allthe devices in the device group. Each device shows each monitorand its status. Double-clicking a monitor also brings you to themonitor report.For more information about Monitors, see Configuring monitors.

IP Applications Lists all of the devices in your device group along with the IPapplications on each one as well as that application’s status.

IPX Applications Lists all of the devices in your device group along with the IPXapplications on each one as well as that application’s status.

Response Times Lists the response times statistics for each device, how manytimes it has been polled, how many of those polls failed, and,if enabled, provides real-time response time analysis. Historicalresponse time analysis is viewable on the Reports tab.

PollingPerformance

Filtering your listsIf you have a lot of devices in your device group so that it is difficult to seeeverything, you can create filters so that you can quickly focus on certain typesof devices. Use these steps to create your filter.

1. Click the … button to the right of the Filters list. The Edit Device Filterswindow opens.

2. Click the New button. The New Device Filter window opens.3. Type a name and description for the filter.4. Choose how you want to filter the list. You can choose to filter it by:

● Status● IP range● Property● Device type● IP application● Monitor type

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Device propertiesDevice properties:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group with the device youwant to view.

2. Click the Monitoring Tab.3. Select a device, right-click and choose Device Properties.

Table 5 provides a brief description of what is available on each tab.

Table 5: Device propertiesTab Allows you to set items such as…General Name, icon, MAC address, and additional device properties such

as dependent user and device subgroup. Some of these deviceproperties are used when generating Availability and otherreports. Dependent users is the number of users affected if thedevice goes down. If OI can identify the device, it automaticallyassigns the subgroup. You can choose to change or modify thesubgroup by picking one from the list. Some information inthe Additional Properties section is retrieved automatically byquerying the MIB on the device.

IP IP address, DNS name. Set one or the other, but never both. OIattempts to resolve the DNS name if you provide a IP address.Or it attempts to resolve the IP address if you provide a DNSname.Whether IP address is dynamic and which IP applications arediscovered.

IPX IPX address and which IPX applications run on the device. Notethat the IPX tab does not appear in Windows 7 environments.

Microsoft NetBIOS/NetBEUI names and workgroup information.Credentials User names for SNMP, VMware ESX Server, WAAS, CM, and WMI.

See Saving user names (credentials) to access devices.Alarms What alarms, if any, are set for the device, what responses

should be used, and whether any real-time response timeanalysis is done. If multiple devices are selected, you can changealarm settings for all of the devices. See Configuring a device-specific alarm and Enabling Response Time Analysis for devicegroups.

Inventory Whether SNMP and WMI inventory is taken for this device. SeeUsing the Inventories tab for more details about inventory.

Monitors What monitors run on this device. See Devices monitored byOI for more details about monitors. Monitors are configured atthe program level and enabled on a per device basis. If multipledevices are selected, you can add or remove common monitorsshared among the devices.

Poll Whether polling is enabled, how many connection tries shouldbe attempted, and the timeout duration. See Using the Pollingfeature for more details.

ObserverIntegration

Whether the device is integrated in Observer Analyzer. SeeIntegrating OI with Observer.

Caution: Use caution when manually changing the details on the IP, IPX,and Microsoft tabs. OI assumes the information you provide on these tabs is

Modifying the device group’s propertiesChapter 3: Managing Devices and Device Groups 35

correct. Lack of response during polling may indicate the device is down, orit could mean an incorrect configuration.

Tip! You can modify the device properties of multiple devices by selectingthem from the Monitoring Map tab (under the Monitoring tab). Then, withmultiple devices selected, right-click one of the devices and choose DeviceProperties. Any changes you make using this method affect all selecteddevices.

Backing up OI filesIt is recommended you periodically back up your device groups and routes. Ifthese files should become corrupt on the disk—and you have no backup—youronly recourse is to recreate them.

Instead, keep backups of the following directory: C:\Program Files(x86)\ObserverInfrastructure\maps. This allows you to replace anycorrupted map, should it happen, with a backed up copy. You may additionallyfind it useful to back up the entire root directory of OI.

Creating a comma delimited fileCreating a comma delimited file of your active device group or route allows youto use the exported data in other programs and in interesting ways.

To create a comma delimited file:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group or route you wantto create a comma delimited file for.

2. Choose Tools > Create Comma Delimited File.3. Select the data to include in the resulting file. Click OK.4. Type a file name and specify the save location. Click Save.

The data you selected, for the active device group or route, is successfully savedto a comma delimited file.

Modifying the device group’s propertiesThere are many things that you can modify regarding a device group:

♦ How frequently polling occurs♦ Whether any inventory is done♦ The background of the map and other display items♦ Whether pager notifications are used♦ Whether to integrate with Observer

Renaming a device groupIt is not possible to rename a device group using the user interface at this time. Itis, however, possible to manually rename a device group by changing the namesof some files.

Modifying the device group’s properties36 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Caution: Some settings like window placement, display preferences,column widths, and the like are lost when you rename a device group.However, no data about the device group is lost.

Use these instructions to rename a device group:

1. If autopolling is enabled for your device group, disable it by right-clicking thedevice group and choosing Autopolling.

2. Right-click the device group and choose “De-activate Device Group/Route.”A message appears. Click Yes. This removes the device group from the userinterface, but does not delete the map and log files for the device group.

3. In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\Program Files\ObserverInfrastructure\Maps.

4. Find the files having the device group name, and rename them to a name youwant to use. The files are:

● device_group.dat● device_group.lan● device_group.la3

5. In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\Program Files\ObserverInfrastructure\Logs. In this directory is a folder that matchesthe device group.

6. Rename the folder to match the new name you gave the files.7. In OI. right-click in the Device Groups/Routes list area and choose “Activate

Existing Device Group/Route”. Then, choose the renamed device group. Formore details, see Activating or de-activating your device group.

Configuring the autopolling frequencyBy default, autopolling queries your devices every three minutes. This may be toofrequent or not often enough for your needs.

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group for which you wantto change the polling frequency.

2. Right-click and choose Properties.3. Click the Poll tab.4. In the Polling period field, change the interval.5. You can change other things such as:

● the polling schedule● the device hierarchy. Use the device hierarchy to suppress alarms from

subordinate devices. See Configuring device hierarchy to preventmultiple alarms.

● whether the group periodically rediscovers devices

Scheduling inventoryThis section describes how to set up a scheduled inventory. For details aboutwhat a scheduled inventory is, see Using the Inventories tab.

Scheduling inventory is not the same as rediscovering devices. In fact, takingan inventory is not really an “inventory” at all in the sense of “one Dell laptop.”

Modifying the device group’s propertiesChapter 3: Managing Devices and Device Groups 37

It is collecting information about items such as hard drives, memory, and othercomponents of a system that can be easily removed or replaced. For instance, aninventory report can tell you if a machine that had 4 GB of RAM now has 2 GB. Itis an inventory of what is inside the Dell laptop, rather than the laptop itself.

1. In the Device Groups/Routes list, select the device group for which you wantto create the inventory schedule.

2. Right-click and choose Device Properties. Click the Schedule Inventory tab.3. Define when you want the inventory to run.

Objects that are automatically found are those devices that respond to theSNMP and WMI queries defined on the Options > Program Options >Inventory Objects tab. See Configuring what is inventoried.

Autopolling must be enabled for scheduled inventory to function. See Usingthe Polling feature and Configuring the autopolling frequency.

When you choose to schedule inventory “By day-of-week on specified days”or “Daily at specified hours,” you can choose when to start the inventory andhow long a scan may last. The purpose of the Duration setting is to allow timefor the network devices to come online, as some servers and workstations mayoccasionally go offline temporarily. The limit can range from minutes to hoursdepending on the scheduling options chosen.

Automatically rediscovering your network and updatingdevices that use DHCP

Your network probably has devices that connect and disconnect to it ratherfrequently, such as laptops or other mobile devices. You can automaticallydiscover these devices and add them to your group by scheduling a networkdiscovery.

For devices in your device group that use DHCP, you may want to periodicallyrediscover them so that OI has current address information. This can be donemanually or automatically.

To automatically find changes and add devices to your group:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes list, right-click a device group and choose DeviceGroup Properties.

2. Click the Poll tab.3. Enable autopolling.

● Enable “Periodically Rediscover devices every __ minutes” and choosehow frequently OI should query your network for changes to existingdevices (like DHCP addresses) and new devices that have come online.

Any changes to existing devices are automatically reflected in the device.Any new devices are added to the map, but are not connected to any otherdevices. You can manually add connecting lines if desirable.

Enabling Response Time Analysis for device groupsBecause response time analysis requires customization specific to your networkenvironment, it is disabled by default.

Adding devices to an existing device group38 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Figure 6: Response Times

To enable response time analysis for your device:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes list, select the device group for which you wantto enable response time analysis.

2. Click the Monitoring tab, and then click the Devices tab.3. Select the device or devices you want to change. Use Ctrl+click or Shift+click

to select multiple devices.4. Right-click and choose Device Properties. The Device Properties window

appears.5. Click the Alarms tab.6. Make your changes in the Response Time Analysis section.

The changes you make affect all of the devices you select.

Adding devices to an existing device groupYou should periodically rediscover your network because devices may have beenadded, removed, or IP addresses have changed.

There are a couple of different ways to add devices to an existing device group:

♦ Running the Discovery wizard finds the devices and services that respondto pings, network discovery, or network management protocols. You canchoose to add the newly discovered devices to your existing map, replacethe map with the new topology, or leave the map unchanged.

♦ If you know which devices you want to add to your map, and the list isshort, you may want to manually add them.

Note: OI limits the total number of devices to 5000 across all monitoringmaps.

Running the Discovery wizardThe Discovery wizard is an easy way to find any changes to your network. Unlikethe Inventory feature, the Discovery wizard finds any device responding to:

♦ IP application ports♦ Pings♦ Any polling methods using your credentials

Adding devices to an existing device groupChapter 3: Managing Devices and Device Groups 39

In the Device Groups/Routes list, right-click a device or device group and chooseDiscover Devices. The Discovery wizard opens.

The Discovery wizard has many of the same options and settings as the initialDiscovery wizard. The one difference is how to handle any changes that arefound. You may:

♦ Add the newly discovered devices to your existing map♦ Replace the map with the newly discovered map♦ Leave the monitoring map unchanged

Tip! You may want to automatically discover devices. If so, seeAutomatically rediscovering your network and updating devices that useDHCP.

Manually adding known devicesManually adding a device requires that you know quite a bit about the deviceyou are adding. Things that you will need to know include:

♦ IP address♦ Any network credentials♦ What IP applications are running on the device you want to monitor

Even if you do not have all of the information, you may add the device to yourmap and complete the properties later.

1. In the Device Groups/Routes list, select the device group to which you wantto add a device.

2. Ensure autopolling is turned off by choosing Tools > Autopolling.Autopolling cannot be running when you add a device to your device group.

3. In the Monitoring map section, ensure the Monitoring tab is selected and notTopology Discovery, Inventories, or Alarmed Devices.

4. On the Monitoring Map, right-click anywhere in the open space of the mapand choose Add Device. The Add New Device window appears. Click OK tothe message. The cursor becomes a large + symbol.

5. Move your cursor on the map to the place where you want the new device toappear and click. It does not matter where you add it because you can moveit later. The Device Properties window appears.

6. Complete the various tabs and click OK. At a minimum you should provide:

● General tab—Name● IP tab—IP address, any services on the device you want OI to monitor,

whether the device uses DHCP (automatically obtains its IP address)● Credentials tab—Any credentials you can provide.● Alarms—All fields if you want alarms issued for this device.

Other tabs may have fields that require information based on your device andhow you choose to monitor it.

To change the layout and connection of devices that you manually add toyour group, see Using the monitoring map toolbars.

Adding devices to an existing device group40 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Tip! The images for all devices are icons (.ico files) or png files. If you havedevices for which an image icon is not provided in the product, you can addthem. You can import them or create them using any tool freely available orby downloading icons from a site like http://www.xp-icons.com.

Adding IPFIX or NetFlow agent devicesPrerequisite(s):

To add IPFIX or NetFlow flow agent devices to your device group, first addthe devices using the instructions in Manually adding known devices and thenperform the following steps.

Whether you are using NetFlow or Internet Protocol Flow Information Export(IPFIX) flow agent devices in your network, the process for adding them to OI isthe same.

Note: The IPFIX/NetFlow ports should be available for OI to be able toreceive flow statistics as OI tries to open sockets and listen for incomingpackets on these ports.

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group with the device youwant to view.

2. Click the Monitoring Tab.3. Select a device, right-click and choose Device Properties.4. Click the IP tab.5. Configure the destination port and source ID. For the source ID, you can leave

it to “0” to accept any source ID.6. Click the Monitors tab.7. Add a monitor from the “IPFIX” branch.8. Click OK to save your changes.

In OI, all IPFIX and NetFlow formats are described in the software as “IPFIX”for simplicity.

To view the collected flow statistics, go to the device group report view andchoose the corresponding report branch in the root level of the report tree.

What else should I know about IPFIX/NetFlow in OI?The “Per Monitor Statistics” branch will display information regarding theperformance of the OI flow collection engine itself. It is important to watchthe “% Max Entries” statistics. If any such statistic is getting close to 100%, youmust reconfigure the “Maximum data in collection period” parameter for thecorresponding report in the “IPFIX Data Processing” area of Options > ProgramOptions > Data Management tab.

These parameters control the maximum number of entries that can be collected,per listed report, during one collection period. The collection period is same asthe “Collect trending data in periods of” setting in the “Trending Period” area ofOptions > Program Options > Data Management tab.

Also, OI comes with many predefined IPFIX/NetFlow flow reports. New reportscan be added in Options > Program Options > Reports tab.

http://www.xp-icons.com

4

Chapter 4: Using Routesto Track Performance

Creating a routeA route is created between the Observer Infrastructure (OI) system and thetarget system. A route map is the collection of seen routes taken between thatroute. It is not possible to create a route between intermediary systems becauseOI does not use deployed agents. OI must be installed on, and run from, theorigin system. You can still track route delays between two (or more) targetsystems by setting up a route to each one. If you see a significant delay in one ofyour routes, you know where you begin your troubleshooting.

1. Select File > Create New Device Group/Route. A wizard steps you throughroute creation, prompting you for some information about the route, thendisplaying the properties dialogs.

2. Type a descriptive name and select the Route discovery type.3. Click Next.4. Type the IP address or DNS name of the target site or device.5. Type a description of the router or device at the end of the route in the

Description box, and click Next.6. Configure who can view reports for this route, and click Next.7. Choose whether to enable autopolling and click Next.8. Click Finish to display the Route Properties dialog box. The Route Properties

window appears. You can choose to accept the defaults, which are usuallygood enough for most users. Or you can make specific changes. SeeModifying a route’s properties for details about the various options.

OI is limited to 75 active routes and device group maps. For example, you canhave 50 active routes and 25 active device maps, at which point you reach

Creating a route42 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

the limit. If you reach the limit, try de-activating some lesser used routes. SeeActivating or de-activating your route.

How OI maps a routeOI uses ICMP to find routers. This section provides details about how that isdone. Understanding this can help you interpret route maps and reports.

OI uses ICMP echo requests (commonly called pings) to discover the routersand the delay introduced by each router between the host system and thedestination address. It does this by using the ICMP TTL (Time To Live) function,which sets the number of router hops that are allowed before the packet isconsidered stale and then discarded. This prevents packets with unreachabledestinations from bouncing between routers indefinitely. Most routers andfirewalls respond to pings, but not all do. If a router does not respond to a ping,it is usually configured that way on purpose for security or performance reasons.

By sending out a sequence of ping packets starting with a TTL value of 1, thenincreasing the value for each subsequent ping, OI causes each router along thedestination path to respond with a time exceeded message.

Because routers can go down and routes can change for other reasons betweenpings, the accuracy of a single trace of a particular route cannot be guaranteed.For the most accurate picture of a route, it is best to analyze the results ofmultiple route tracing sessions (which OI makes easy to do).

In some configurations, the steps along the route between your system andanother station never varies, but that is not always the case. This is particularlytrue when packets are routed across the Internet. Routes may change eitherbecause an intermediate router is down or overloaded, or because a group ofintermediate routers are load-sharing to optimize connection times.

When polling route maps, OI records all the routes that it discovers. Whenmultiple routes are discovered, they can be examined by clicking on the Routestab on the main route map display.

Modifying a route’s propertiesThis section describes the various properties that can be configured for routes.

Select a route, right-click and choose Properties. The Route Properties windowappears.

General tabGeneral tab:

♦ In the Device Groups/Routes list, select a route.♦ Right-click and choose Device Group Properties. The Route Properties

window appears.♦ Click the General tab.♦ Use the information in Table 6 for details.

Table 6: General tabRoute name Name of the route that displays in the Local Device Groups/

Routes list.IP address The resolved IP address followed by the DNS name if you

provided one.

Creating a routeChapter 4: Using Routes to Track Performance 43

Description A general description of the route.Some routers maynot respond toPING

Some routers may be configured as silent, generally for securityreasons. When a route is mapped, OI first pings the destinationaddress directly, using a high TTL value. If the box is uncheckedand OI gets no response from a router along the way, it assumesthat the destination has become unreachable since the initialping and stops trying to map the route. If the box is checked, OIkeeps sending pings, incrementing the TTL value until actuallyreaching the destination.

Automaticallymerge routes

Choose the Automatically merge subnets option and enter asubnet mask if desired. This option is useful if you are onlyinterested in the hops between subnets rather than within aparticular subnet. When a link is load-balanced and packetstravel through multiple routers of a router farm, merging hopssignificantly reduces the number of routes in the route map. Italso allows you to see the big picture (instead of the details)when analyzing hop delays. If you choose not to have thesubnet hops merged here, you can merge them while the routesare being discovered by right-clicking a route on the Routes taband choosing Merge routes See Merging routes within subnetsfor details. Also see How OI maps a route.

Poll tabIt is possible to poll a route map either manually, or automatically, at user-defined intervals. To do so, click the Poll tab to set polling parameters. Bydefault, polling for routes is automatically enabled with a three minute interval.

♦ In the Device Groups/Routes list, select a route.♦ Right-click and choose Device Group Properties. The Route Properties

window appears.♦ Click the Poll tab.♦ Use the information in Table 7 for details.

Table 7: Poll tabEnable autopolling Choose whether to poll automatically or to manually poll.

Autopolling happens even if the device group window is closed.Apply autopollingschedule

Select when you want autopolling to occur. Click … to define aparticular schedule.

Polling period The interval at which a poll is taken. The more frequentlythe route is polled, the more quickly OI is able to alert you tosubstandard performance; however, the more WAN traffic thereis.When configuring autopolling, the conservative strategyis to assume that a critical device along the route will failimmediately after a successful poll, and that the poll itself andreceipt of the alarm will each take several seconds. If you wishto be alerted to a route outage in less than ten minutes fromit happening, you should set the autopolling to nine minutes(540 seconds) or perhaps nine minutes and thirty seconds (570seconds).

Timeout duration How long OI should wait before determining a device has timedout. Generally, you should be generous with both the time outduration and number of attempts when polling a route so thatan occasional polling failure does not trigger a notification thatthe route is down. Performance issues can best be addressed by

Creating a route44 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

setting response time parameters, which are set on the Alarmstab. See Alarms tab.

Number ofattempts

How many times OI should try pinging a device.

Set focus on thelast poll in chart

Whether the focus should set its focus to the last poll in thechart instead of wherever the focus may currently be.

Enable DNS lookup Attempts to resolve the DNS names of IP addresses along thetraced route. DNS name lookup can make the route display moreinformative, as it discovers names as well as IP addresses of thedevices along the route. On the other hand, DNS lookup willtend to slow down each poll, and will consume more networkresources during polling.

Pager tabThis section describes how to define OI when a route triggers an alarm that mustsend a message to a pager.

1. In the Device Groups/Routes list, select a route.2. Right-click and choose Device Group Properties. The Route Properties window

appears.3. Click the Pager tab.4. Choose one of the following:

● Pager settings that have been defined in Options > Program Options >Notifications tab.

● Pager settings specific to this route. Click the Configure Pagers button todefine your pager. See Configuring the pager.

Alarms tabWhile it is possible to choose on a device-by-device basis on a device group mapwhether or not a failure should trigger the yellow or red flag, this is not possibleon a route map. A polling failure on a route map will always red-flag the routebecause there is little point in monitoring a route if its failure is of no importance.

If you are concerned about some device or devices along the route, they canbe monitored with a device group, which monitors devices, rather than routesbetween them.

Both a response failure (no answer at the other end of the route) and aconfigurable acceptable response time failure (too slow an answer at the otherend of the route) can be used to configure alarms.

Typically, the time parameters will be set in accord with an SLA (Service LevelAgreement) or QoS (Quality of Service) standard.


appears.3. Click the Alarms tab.4. Alarms for routes for the most part are the same as alarms for device groups.

See Configuring Alarms for details. One difference, however, is that you canchoose to have an alarm trigger if the route changes.

Creating a routeChapter 4: Using Routes to Track Performance 45

Icons tabClick the Icons tab to configure the spacing of the icons on the route map display.


appears.3. Click the Icons tab.

The vertical spacing is the spacing between different routes on the Routesmap.

Background tabClick the Background tab to configure the background of the route map. Thistab permits you to choose among solid colors, textures, or bitmaps as thebackground of the map display.

As is true with device group maps, for most users, in most situations, the simplerthe better, as complicated bitmaps are often confusing to the eye. However,because most of the information in a route map flows from left to right alongthe mapped route line—unlike device group maps, where devices can be placedin any orientation—colorful or noisy bitmaps with few horizontal lines andobjects will likely be less objectionable to the eye.


appears.3. Click the Background tab.

Response Time GraphClick the Response Time Graph tab to configure the look and feel of the PollingResponse Times graph at the bottom of every route map.


appears.3. Click the Response Time Graph tab.4. Choose your plot type and design options for the x- and y-axis.

Renaming a routeIt is not possible to rename a route using the user interface at this time. It is,however, possible to manually rename a route by changing the names of somefiles.

Caution: Some settings like window placement, display preferences,column widths, and the like are lost when you rename a route. However, nodata about the route is lost.

Use these instructions to change the name of your route:

1. If autopolling is enabled for your route, disable it by right-clicking the routeand choosing Autopolling.

2. Right-click the route and choose “De-activate Device Group/Route.” Amessage appears. Click Yes. This removes the route from the user interface,but does not delete the map and log files for the route.

Merging routes within subnets46 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

3. In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\Program Files\ObserverInfrastructure\Maps.

4. Find the files with your route name and change their name to the new nameyou want to use. The files are:

● route.dat● route.lan● route.la3

5. In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\Program Files\ObserverInfrastructure\Logs. In this directory is a folder that matchesthe route.

6. Rename the folder to match the new name you gave the files.7. In OI. right-click in the Device Group/Routes list area and choose “Activate

Existing Device Group/Route” and choose the renamed route. For moredetails, see Activating or de-activating your route.

Using routes to verify SLA or identify route flappingRoute mapping lets you monitor not only the overall timing of a routedconnection, but also each step along the way—making it possible to identifywhich external link is the source of trouble or irregular service in a connection.

Route mapping allows you to create both a visual map and a tabular record ofthe performance of a routed IP connection. This allows monitoring and recordingof a service provider’s quality of service, and adherence—or lack of it—to aformal SLA (Service Level Agreement).

The map also shows you if a route is changing, and how frequently it is changing.If a route changes frequently, this is known as route flapping. Route flappingoccurs when a router advertises a destination network using one route thenquickly changes the advertised route. Another example of route flapping mightbe that the router advertises a route as available, then unavailable, and thenavailable again in quick sequence. Hardware errors, software errors, configurationerrors, or unreliable connections could all be sources of route flapping.

While an OI monitoring map can monitor the uptime and response time ofa remote server and its services, route mapping permits you to monitor theperformance of the connection between the OI system and the remote server.This allows you to pinpoint performance problems that are related to the routethat connects the devices, rather than the devices themselves.

In other words, monitoring maps look at devices, route mapping monitors theconnections between devices. This is particularly useful if you need to monitorthe performance of connections outside of your own immediate network, such asa third-party service provider’s web hosting server or a multi-site network.

Merging routes within subnetsSometimes, you are only interested in looking at hops between subnets ratherthan within them. For example, with a load-balanced router or server farm,the traffic can go through any one of them, thereby adding a new route forevery unique router. If there are a number of such hops in a route, the numberof possible routes grows exponentially, creating a potentially huge number ofroutes in the map.

Enabling real-time response time analysis for routes for QoS and SLAChapter 4: Using Routes to Track Performance 47

If a route takes the same hops through several routers, but each router is unique,you cannot merge the routes. For instance

Route 1:

192.168.35.6 > 73.115.254.168 > 84.164.177 > 68.86.231.62 >74.14.239.65 > 209.85.254.2 > 209.125.95.103

Route 2:

192.168.35.6 > 73.115.254.168 > 84.164.177 > 68.86.231.62 >74.14.239.63 > 209.85.254.17 > 209.125.95.103

The first four routers are identical, so they cannot be combined. The next tworouters are in the same subnet, so they can be combined by defining a subnetmask.

Caution: Generally, the idea is to merge routers in a subnet, but once aroute has been merged with another route, it cannot be separated later. Theonly way to remove the route is to erase all routes by right-clicking on theroute and choosing Reset All Routes.

To merge routers in a subnet:


appears.3. Click the General tab.4. Enable “Automatically merge routes” and supply a subnet mask.

Identifies a subnet where some paths were merged with one IP address rangeand others were merged with a different IP address range. In other words, notall IP address found at this router belong to the same IP range. Right-click theicon and choose Properties to view details about the different routes takenthrough the subnet.

Enabling real-time response time analysis for routesfor QoS and SLA

Real-time response time analysis allows to you respond to any issues with yourroute, but because response time analysis can be system resource intensive, it isdisabled by default.

Depending on your needs and requirements, you can use real-time response timeanalysis for your QoS and SLA, but most reports use captured historical data togenerate the response time minimum, maximum, and average values. Historicalanalysis is not resource intensive.

Viewing a route’s historical Response Time Report48 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Figure 7: Response times for routes

1 Real-time response time analysis section.2 Line bar indicates total time for the entire route.3 Each route is represented by a colored bar. The width of the bar corresponds

to the duration the route stayed the same during polling. The numberinside corresponds to route number of route seen. In this image, at least 166different routes were seen. Click the bar to go directly to that route to seemore details about it.

To enable response time analysis for your route:


appears.3. Click the Alarms tab.4. Make your changes in the Response Time Analysis section.

Viewing a route’s historical Response Time ReportThe Response Time Report show many details about the path or paths your routehas taken. The report also shows response times even if you have not configuredresponse time analysis because the data is analyzed based on stored statisticsrather than using real-time information.


2. Click Monitoring > Reports.3. Select the report you want to view.

Hyperlinks allow you to see more detail. Use the navigation path along the topof the report to display the previous report page. Use the Refresh button toupdate the report with the latest poll data.

Activating or de-activating your routeWhen you create a route, it is enabled or activated by default. If at some pointyou no longer need your route, you have two options: delete it or deactivate it.

When you delete a route, it is completely removed from the system. All historicalinformation about the route is also deleted, which means that no reports canbe created. Unless hard drive space is an issue or you are certain the route is nolonger needed for any reason, including historical reports, we recommend youdeactivate the route rather than deleting it.

Activating or de-activating your routeChapter 4: Using Routes to Track Performance 49

To activate or deactivate a route:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the route that you want to activateor de-activate.

2. Right-click and choose “Activate Existing Device Group/Route” or “De-activateDevice Group/Route.”

3. If you chose to activate a route, the Activate Device Group/Route windowappears. Choose the route you want to activate and click OK.

5

Chapter 5: Using Alarms for Notification

Configuring AlarmsAlarms allow you to proactively manage your network no matter where you arephysically located.

You can choose to have Observer Infrastructure (OI) send you alarms in manyways should a monitored object cross a threshold or reach a specific state. Analarm can be a pop-up on you monitor, starting an application, sending an e-mailor SNMP trap, or many other actions.

There are two ways alarms can be configured in OI. You can choose to configurean alarm globally—that applies to every device—or set an alarm on a specificdevice. If you set a device specific alarm, it takes precedence over any globalalarm.

If the alarm is configured to trigger when an object property changes, youcan specify additional conditions that must be met before the alarm triggers.Multiple conditions are evaluated in the order they are listed.

The Alarms tab allows you to set alarms for when a device or a service is red-flagged (either for a failure to respond, or for a failure to meet response timeanalysis criteria), or when it returns to normal or a marginal state.

Note: Configuring an alarm is not the same as defining when an objectreaches a marginal or critical state. For details about that, see Definingmarginal or critical conditions for an object.

Keep in mind that OI can use two different parameters for triggering an alarm: itsresponse time and how important the device is, known ascriticality. In the case ofa router or switch, you want the router to monitor its response time and it to bemarked as critical. However, other types of devices, such as printers, may also becritical, but their response time is less important. You can define your alarms totrack response time or by device criticality.

Configuring AlarmsChapter 5: Using Alarms for Notification 51

Note: All alarm responses that you define through Options > ProgramOptions > Alarm Responses tab apply only to the local OI. You cannotdefine an alarm for a remote device. This is because OI cannot know howto initiate some responses. For example, “Execute a program” launchesa program on the system where the device group is defined. You can,however, choose an existing alarm response for a remote device, you justcannot create a new one for it.

Configuring global inventory alarmsA global inventory alarm is an alarm that all instances of an inventory object use.There are several dozen inventory object types in OI. You can configure a globalalarm for all, some, or none of the inventory objects.

If you would prefer a device-specific alarm, see Configuring a device-specificalarm.

Regardless of whether you choose to define a global alarm for a specificinventory object type, we recommend defining the default inventory alarmresponse. This ensures that when an event triggers, regardless of object type,some type of notification is provided.

This list describes when an alarm is used, in order of precedence:

♦ Is a device-specific alarm defined? If yes, use it.♦ Is an global inventory object type alarm defined? If yes, use it.♦ If none of the above apply, use the default inventory alarm response. If it

is not defined, then no alarm is used.

To configure a global alarm:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Global Inventory Alarms tab.2. Select the object type for which you want to create a global alarm and click

Add. The Add Inventory Alarm window appears.3. Use the details in Table 8 to define the global alarm.

Table 8: Global Alarm optionsField DescriptionAlarm name Name of the alarm. It can be anything. Required.Description An optional free form section to briefly describe what the alarm

does.Trigger alarm when Choose when the alarm should be triggered. Three options exist:

When a new inventory object appearsWhen an existing inventory object disappearsWhen an object property changes when the followingconditions are met. When selected, you must define what theconditions are by clicking the Add button. All conditions that canbe defined are limited to the alarm type. For instance, the WMIObject alarm for Disk Drives includes a trigger for MaxBlockSize,because it makes sense to be able to trigger on that property fora disk drive. However, the disk drive does not have a Process IDtrigger like Processes do in SNMP Traps.

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Field DescriptionUse defaultinventory alarmresponse

Clear this option if you want to use a alarm response that isdifferent from the default inventory alarm. Leaving this optionchecked uses default inventory alarm response configured onthe Global Inventory Alarms tab.

Alarm response Specifies the unique alarm response. See Configuring alarmactions.

Configuring a device-specific alarmGenerally, alarms are set globally, but sometimes you may want to configurean alarm for a specific device. If a device-specific alarm is defined, it takesprecedence over any global alarm.

If you would prefer a global alarm, see Configuring global inventory alarms.

Tip! You can modify the device properties of multiple devices by selectingthem from the monitoring map. Then, with multiple devices selected, right-click one of the devices and choose Device Properties. Any changes youmake using this method affect all selected devices.

To configure a device-specific alarm:

1. On the monitoring map, select the device on which you want to set the alarm.2. Right-click and choose Device Properties. The Device Properties window

appears.3. Click the Alarms tab.4. Make any changes on the tab.

You can also configure the device group to emphasize the polling status of aparticular device. A device that has failed its most recent poll(s) is flagged asyellow. You can also set the number of seconds a device must be down beforetriggering a red flag. A critical—red flag—failure can also be used to trigger analarm.

Creating event-based alarmsIf you want to create an alarm based on some event or condition of a device inyour network, the use one of these processes to configure the alarm.

♦ If you want the alarm to specific to all devices, follow the processdescribed in Configuring global inventory alarms.

♦ If you want the alarm to specific to one device, follow the processdescribed in Configuring a device-specific alarm.

Creating inventory-based alarmsYou may want to create alarms based on collected SNMP or WMI inventoryinformation for a device.

To configure a device-specific inventory alarm:

1. On the monitoring map, select the device on which you want to set the alarm.

You can modify the device properties of multiple devices by selecting themfrom the Monitoring Map tab (under the Monitoring tab). Then, with multiple

Configuring AlarmsChapter 5: Using Alarms for Notification 53

devices selected, right-click one of the devices and choose Device Properties.Any changes you make using this method affect all selected devices.

2. Right-click and choose Device Properties. The Device Properties windowappears.

3. Click the Inventory tab.4. Choose whether to collect information using SNMP, WMI, or both.5. Enable Trigger inventory alarms and choose which triggers to use. You can

configure more device alarms by clicking the Configure Device Alarms button.

Configuring device hierarchy to prevent multiple alarmsWhen certain network devices (such as switches) fail, it makes it impossible for OIto communicate with the dependent devices, which causes such devices to ‘fail’the poll as well.

Rather than triggering multiple alarms in these situations, you can configure ahierarchy of alarms. For example, you can configure OI to only trigger one alarmwhen a switch fails and not trigger alarms for any of the downstream devices.

Ensure that the dependent devices have at least as long a critical down timeas the devices upon which they are dependent. If a device downstream from aswitch has a shorter downtime defined than the switch, the switch failure willstill trigger an alarm on the downstream device because it is displayed to failbefore the switch is defined as “down.”

To display the Device Alarm Hierarchy dialog


appears.3. Click the Alarms tab.4. Click the Configure Device Hierarchy button at the bottom of the screen.5. Drag and drop devices to configure a dependency tree. If you make a mistake,

you can either drag the mistaken branch and drop it on the Device AlarmHierarchy object at the top browser, or simply click the “Undo Last” button.Click OK to save changes and return to the Map Properties dialog, or Cancelto abandon the changes you made.

Configuring alarm actionsThere are many different actions that OI can take in response to an event. Thissection describes what those options are and how to configure each one.

There are several default responses that are defined, and many that you can add.

To configure an alarm response:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Alarm Responses tab.

After you configure an alarm action on the Alarm Responses tab the configuredaction is available wherever you can configure alarms.

An OI alarm can trigger one or more of several alarm actions. By default, an alarmwill cause OI to pop up, with the focus on the log.

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Tip! It is often desirable to configure multiple actions to be triggered by thesame alarm. Select as many actions as you want.

Popup OI and setfocus to Alarm Log

OI becomes the active application on your system and the focusis set to the Alarm Log.

Print to defaultprinter

OI prints the alarm log. By default to the message is sent to thedefault Windows printer. To choose another printer, click File >Printer Setup, and choose a printer from the Print Setup dialog,then click OK.

Execute a program OI starts a program. Typically, this program will initiate someother action to attempt to solve the problem. Click … and typethe path to the program or batch file. This is a command lineoperation, so you may add any switches or parameters to thecall.You might use a Windows batch file containing commands tostart several programs and call the batch file when the alarmtriggers.

e-mail OI sends an e-mail message with the log entry as the body ofthe message. Provide an address and subject for the message.Use a semicolon to separate multiple email addresses/recipients.See Configuring the e-mail server.

Dial a pager OI sends a page with the log file entry or a custom message.Who receives the message can be configured by day, by time ofday, and by map from which the alarm is sent. See Configuringthe pager.

Service action OI starts, stops, or restarts a Windows service on a given system.Click … to specify the device, credentials to connect to thedevice, what service to control, and what action should betaken.

Send SNMP trap OI sends an SNMP trap to the device you choose. You canintegrate with HP OpenView or Tivoli if they are part of yourenterprise management tools. Provide the IP address of thesystem to send the trap to and the credentials to access it.

Send syslogmessage

OI sends a syslog message to the system provided.

Sound a signal OI plays a user-chosen sound. Click … to choose a.wav sound fileto play when this alarm plays. See the “Alarm Sound” and “Backto Normal Sound” actions to see how different sounds can beused.

Text-to-speech OI uses Windows to translate the text you provide and uses avoice to speak the text. This is similar to playing a sound, excepttext is used.

Can device names appear in alarm email subject lines?This is possible. When you are configuring a “Send an E-mail” alarm response, youcan type the following variables in the e-mail subject field.

You must type the variables exactly as shown. When the e-mail is sent, eachvariable is substituted with the actual content:

♦ <Device Name>♦ <DNS Name>♦ <IP Address>♦ <MAC Address>

Defining marginal or critical conditions for an objectChapter 5: Using Alarms for Notification 55

♦ <Microsoft Name>♦ <sysObjectID>♦ <Vendor (Model)>♦ <Workgroup>

More parameters are listed in Options > Program Options > General tab byclicking Define Additional Device Properties.

Viewing alarm reportsThere are a couple of ways to view alarm reports:

♦ If any alarms have triggered, the OI main window displays an AlarmedDevices button. Click it to take you to the Reports tab.

♦ Monitoring tab > Reports tab

Figure 8: Alarms Report

The Alarms report lists all the devices for which alarms have been triggered. Clicka device to show more detailed information about the particular alarm.

Click the highlighted links to display more detail about a device, service, or alarm.

Defining marginal or critical conditions for an objectBy defining when a device or service is no longer operating within theparameters you set for it, OI will change an icon for that object when the deviceenters the marginal state (yellow exclamation mark). When the device entersthe critical state the icon will change again (red exclamation mark). You can alsochoose to have an alarm triggered when a device has reached a critical state.

At the program level you set:

♦ How often a device must fail the “marginal threshold” test—or for howmany minutes—before the device is considered to be in a marginal state.This is so that any device that goes in and out of a marginal state does notconstantly cause the device’s status icon to change.

♦ How often a device must fail the “critical threshold” test—or for howmany minutes—and which alarms, if any, should be triggered.

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At the device level, you can also set:

♦ Device/service availability♦ Response time analysis (for instance, did the device’s response time

exceed the defined threshold?)♦ You can also choose to override the program-level options.

Configuring thresholds at the program levelTo globally configure a threshold for an object:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Monitors tab.2. In the Monitors list, select an item. This populates the Monitor Elements

column on the right.3. Select the monitor element for which you want to set marginal and critical

thresholds and click the Edit button. The Edit Monitor Element windowappears.

4. Leaving the rest of the window untouched, make your changes in theMarginal and Critical States section.

After completing this task:

If you need details about configuring an alarm, see Configuring Alarms.

Configuring thresholds at the device levelTo configure a device-specific threshold alarm:


appears.3. Click the Monitors tab.4. Select the monitor element for which you want to set marginal and critical

thresholds and click the Properties button. The Monitor Element Propertieswindow appears.

5. Leaving the rest of the window untouched, make your changes in theMarginal and Critical States section.

If you need details about configuring an alarm, see Configuring Alarms.

Configuring e-mail server and pager settingsThis section describes how to use the Options > Program Options >Notifications tab to configure the e-mail server and pager so that warningmessages can be sent.

Configuring the e-mail serverThis section describes how to configure OI to work with your e-mail server tosend messages.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Notifications tab.2. In the E-mail Settings section, provide either a host name or IP address of

your mail server.

Configuring e-mail server and pager settingsChapter 5: Using Alarms for Notification 57

3. If your mail server uses a port other than 25, type it in the SMTP Port box.4. Type the address from that will be used to send the OI messages.5. By default the e-mail will appear to be from “OI.” If you want the name that

appears in your e-mail client to display a different name, type it in the Displayas box.

6. Choose the type of authentication your mail server requires. The choices are:

● None—No authentication required.● CRAM-MD5—The E-mail server requires that clients conform to the

Challenge-Response Authentication Mechanism described in RFC 2195.● Login—The E-mail server requires encrypted user name and password

login.● Plain—The E-mail server requires plain text user name and password login.

7. Type of the user name and password of the account used to send OI messagelogs. The fields are unavailable if you have selected an Authentication ofnone.

Configuring the pagerYou may have to modify some settings to adapt to the local environment. Itwill be necessary to choose among the provided services or install a new pagingservice and substitute the local pager access number, if any, for the supplied one.

Note: When OI starts, it also starts a separate Windows process called ViaviPaging Service, which you can find in the system tray. After configuringthe pager, verify the settings for the paging service match your needs. SeeConfiguring the paging service.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Notifications tab.2. In the Phone Pager Settings section, select the pager service from the menu.

If your pager is not on the list, click the New button and complete the detailson the Paging Service Properties dialog to add yours.

3. To view the initial pager configuration dialog, click the Properties button.The Paging Service Properties dialog appears.

4. Type the Service name. This is the name of the service used to access thepager. The Service name you selected from the list is your default.

5. Type the Service phone number—use the international number format (e.g.,+1 (123) 1234567) to allow TAPI to work with the Windows location settings.

This option does not appear if you are using an SNPP pager service, becauseSNPP uses TCP/IP to communicate with the paging service rather than amodem.

If it is necessary to have OI wait for an outside line, insert one or morecommas at the beginning of the string (e.g., ,,,+1 (123) 123-4567).

Additional spaces and the hyphen in the phone number are optional. Theymake the number more easily readable by the user, but are ignored whendialing. OI only dials the numbers and pauses for approximately one-halfsecond for each comma character.

6. Select a Service protocol from the list. OI supports four different pagerservice protocols: TAP, UCP, SNPP, and Voice. Selecting the appropriate service

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protocol and clicking the Configure button allows you to enter service-specificconfiguration data. Each protocol displays a different set of options that mustbe set.

7. Type the maximum message length for the pager and click OK.

Configuring the paging serviceChoose Options > Program Options > Notifications tab to display the pagersettings and change them. You may have to modify some settings for yourlocation and paging service. Choose among the provided services or install anew paging service and substitute the local pager access number, if any, for thesupplied one.

1. Select the Default pager configuration from the menu.

If your pager is not on the list, click the New button. The Paging ServiceProperties dialog will be displayed. See Configuring the pager.

2. To view the initial pager configuration dialog, click the Properties button.The Paging Service Properties dialog will be displayed.

3. Enter the Service name. This is the name of the service used to access thepager; the Service name you selected from the list is your default.

4. Enter the Service phone number—use the international number format (e.g.,+1 (123) 1234567) in order to allow TAPI to work with the Windows locationsettings.

This option will not be displayed if you are using a SNPP pager service, asSNPP uses TCP/IP to communicate with the paging service, rather than amodem.

If it is necessary to wait for an outside line, insert one or more commas at thebeginning of the string (e.g., ,,,+1 (123) 123-4567).

Additional spaces and the hyphen in the phone number are optional; theymake the number more easily readable by you, but will be ignored whendialing: OIwill dial only the numbers and pause for approximately one-halfsecond for each comma character.

5. Select a Service protocol from the list. OI supports four different pagerservice protocols: TAP, UCP, SNPP, and Voice. Selecting the appropriate serviceprotocol and clicking the Configure button allows you to enter service-specificconfiguration data. Each protocol displays a different set of options that needto be set. Those options are described below for each protocol.

6. Enter the maximum message length for the pager.7. Click the OK button.8. Check the Apply advanced pager settings and click the Advanced button to

display the Phone Pager Schedule dialog.9. Check the desired scheduling option. You can add or edit start times by using

the buttons at the bottom of the dialog.

Pager Service Tray IconWhen OI is launched, the Network Instruments Paging Server icon is displayedin the Windows tray. You can right-click the icon to display a menu or you candouble-click the icon to display the About Network Instruments Paging Serverdialog.

Configuring e-mail server and pager settingsChapter 5: Using Alarms for Notification 59

The Paging Server Setting dialog contains the following items.Wait for serviceconnection(seconds)

allows you to set the time for a service connection.

Retry delay(seconds)

allows you to set the interval between attempts to send a pagermessage.

Number of retries allows you to set the number of times to retry sending a failedpager message. When the pager message is successfully sent,further retries are aborted.

Discard messagesolder than(minutes)

allows you to set the number of minutes to attempt to keepsending a paging message. After this time period, if minutes arereached, the message, even if not sent, is discarded.

Days to keep pagerlogs

allows you to set the number of days to keep pager logs. Logentries older than this are purged.

Configure PagingService

allows you to configure your paging service. See Configuring thepager for more details.

The primary use of Send Page is to enable you to test the paging servicewithout creating an error event to trigger a page. It also can be used simply as aconvenient way to send a pager message from the Windows desktop.

6

Chapter 6: Tracking Hardwareand Software Assets

Configuring what is inventoriedObserver Infrastructure (OI) determines what devices respond to SNMP and WMIand internally stores information about them, you can configure OI to look forspecific types of WMI and SNMP objects.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Inventory Objects tab.2. Choose what objects you want OI to add to its inventory list. The next time

an inventory is taken, these selections will be used.

Using the Inventories tabDuring the network discovery process, OI determines which devices respondto SNMP and WMI and internally stores information about them. By creatingcomparison reports of multiple inventories you can see what changes haveoccurred to the hardware and software assets on your network.

The inventory process discovers and tracks items such as hard drives, memory,and other components of a system that can be easily removed or replaced. Forinstance, an inventory report can tell you if a machine that had 4 GB of RAM nowhas 2 GB.

You can take subsequent inventories either manually, or schedule them to occurautomatically.

Because inventory must access SNMP and WMI devices, proper credentials maybe required for the inventory process to capture everything on your network.

Select a device group and then the Inventories tab along the top.

Configuring what is inventoriedChapter 6: Tracking Hardware and Software Assets 61

Figure 9: Inventories tab

Taking a Snapshot InventoryTo get the most out of OI’s inventory capability, it is best to schedule periodicinventories to occur. Even if you do this, you can manually launch an inventory atany time by clicking the Take Snapshot Inventory button.

1. Select a device group and then the Inventories tab is along the top.2. Click the Snapshot Inventory button. OI begins querying devices that

respond to SNMP and WMI queries. This information is stored in a report witha date and time that you can use to compare with other reports.

Rather than taking a snapshot of the devices on your network on a manualbasis you should schedule the inventory. Follow the process in Schedulinginventory for details.

Also, you can configure exactly which WMI and SNMP objects are search foras part of the inventory. See Configuring what is inventoried.

Viewing the Inventory reportsInventory reports come in two forms: a simple report, which lists the resultsof a selected inventory scan, and a comparison report that highlights changesthat have occurred between two selected inventory scans (the scans must bedifferent).

For a simple report:

1. Select a device group and then the Inventories tab is along the top.2. Select an entry from the list in the top left and click Report.

A comparison report is generated with tracked inventory objects that havechanged highlighted in blue. Click the highlighted statistic to see furtherdetail.

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Checking inventory status and forcing completionWhen you select a device group then the Inventories tab along the top, there arefour buttons available to you:

♦ Take Snapshot Inventory♦ Active Inventory Status♦ Inventory Schedule♦ Manage Inventories

If inventory is actively being collected, the Take Snapshot Inventory button isdisabled and the Active Inventory Status button is enabled.

To check status of the inventory, click the Active Inventory Status button. Hereyou see the current status of the scan and you can force the inventory collectionto end by clicking the Finish Inventory Now button. This ends the scan regardlessof whether all of the devices on the map have responded to OI SNMP and WMIqueries.

7

Chapter 7: Configuring Security Settings

Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMSThe users, groups, and permissions set and managed in Observer ManagementServer (OMS) can be linked to Observer Infrastructure (OI)—replacing OI’s built-in user management tools. By doing so, all users, groups, and permissions arehandled by OMS and not OI. This option is highly valuable if you want to retainthe same users, groups, and permissions across multiple installations at all times.

To let OMS manage your users, groups, and permissions:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Remote Access tab.2. In the Configure Remote Access Rights area, enable “Use Observer

Management Server to control remote access”. Notice IP address fields replacethe standard user management interface.

3. Type the IP address of your primary OMS server. This primary address iscontacted before any secondary address.

4. (Optional) Type the IP address of your secondary OMS server. This secondaryaddress is contacted if the primary address fails to respond.

5. Click OK to save your changes.

OMS is now managing your users, groups, and permissions for OI. Your futuremodifications (such as adding and deleting users) must be performed inside OMS.

Note: There is no method for merging your existing OI users, groups, andpermissions into OMS. You must create them again (or modify users) usingOMS. However, if you return to OI’s built-in user management tools, youroriginal users, groups, and permissions take effect—just how you left thembefore integrating with OMS.

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Setting a password to open OIBecause OI may contain user account information to access sensitive devices onyour network, you may want to limit access to the product. You can require apassword be used to open the application.

To set a password to open OI:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > General tab.2. Enable the “Use security password” option.3. Click the Change Password button. The Enter Security Password window

appears.4. Type a password and confirm it. Everyone who uses OI on this system must

use this password.

Strong passwords are important. The keys to password strength are lengthand complexity. An ideal password is long and has letters, punctuation,symbols, and numbers.

● Whenever possible, use at least 14 characters or more.● The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better.● Use the entire keyboard, not just the letters and characters you use or

see most often.

Caution: Remember your password. If the password is lost or forgotten,there is no way to recover it!

Configuring user groupsThis section describes how to create a user group, but the process is similar tomodify or delete one. User groups control what access level its members haveto remote OI probes. A user group does not control what a user can do locally,because all users have full administrator rights to their local OI.

Tip! If you use OMS, you can let OMS manage OI’s users, groups, and theirpermissions. See Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMS forinstructions.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Remote Access tab.2. Click the User Groups button. The Edit Remote Access Group window

appears. Table 9 lists the default groups and their permissions. The leftcolumn show the existing groups. Expand a group to see what users are itsmembers.

3. Click Add and complete the Edit Remote Access Group window ensuring thatyou add at least one user to the group.

Table 9: User group optionsUser group Access levelWeb Reports View web reports of allowed device groups in a web browserGuest Web Reports access, plus

Connect to allowed device groupsPower User Guest access, plus

Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMSChapter 7: Configuring Security Settings 65

User group Access levelConnect to allowed device groups and view its status andpropertiesEdit allowed device groupsStart/stop polling

Administrator Power User access, plusCreate, delete device groups and routesActivate device groupsEdit mapsAllows ORS to connect to OI to configure ORS business groupsand download polling data.

Creating, modifying, or deleting usersThis section describes how to create a user, but the process is similar to modify ordelete one. A user receives its permissions to remote OI probes through its groupmembership. If a user is a member of more than one group, the least restrictivepermissions apply. For instance, if a user is a member of Guest and Power User,then the user has all of the rights of the Power User group. This only applies toremote OI probes. A user always has full administrator rights to its local OI.

Tip! If you use OMS, you can let OMS manage OI’s users, groups, and theirpermissions. See Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMS forinstructions.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Remote Access tab.2. Click the Users button. The Configure Remote Access Users window appears.

Table 9 lists the default users and their permissions. The left column show theexisting users. Expand a user to see what user group or groups it is a memberof.

3. Click Add and complete the Edit Remote Access User window ensuring thatyou add the user to at least one group.

Defining which user groups may view reports in a webbrowser

Controlling who may access the reports, which is often done in a web browser, orwhat your instance of OI is called is set on the Remote Access tab.

Tip! If you use OMS, you can let OMS manage OI’s users, groups, and theirpermissions. See Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMS.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Remote Access tab.2. Make any changes on the tab using this table if necessary.

Name of this OI By default a random string of letters and numbers is usedto identify the OI system. If you want to connect to this OIinstance remotely through another OI. we recommend changingthe name to something more meaningful to you.

Use OI Key Specifies whether an encryption key must be used. In theinstallation directory of OI. use EncryptUtil.exe to generate theObsEnKey.oek file. All OI instances must use the same .oek file,which must be in the root installation directory. These options


and encryption key files on both ends must be the same forcommunication to succeed.

Configure RemoteAccess Rights

Defines the users and user groups and what access the grouphas to various features of OI. See Configuring user groups andCreating, modifying, or deleting users.

Web ServerSettings

Specifies whether to run the OI web server as a Windows serviceand on which port to run it. The web server allows you to viewhistorical data and current maps from any web browser inprecisely the same way that you can view it from within OIitself. Viewing these reports is protected from unauthorizedaccess by a user name and password, or made available toanyone who has a web browser.

Defining who may access your OI device groups and routesremotely

This section describes how to edit a device group (or route) so that only certainuser groups can access it through their remote OI. This does not control who canview reports about a device group or route. See Defining which user groups mayview reports in a web browser.

Tip! If you use OMS, you can let OMS manage OI’s users, groups, and theirpermissions. See Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMS.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Remote Access tab.2. Click the Device Groups/Routes button. The Configure Access Rights for

Device Groups/Routes window appears.

This window lists all existing device groups and routes. Expand the devicegroup to see who has access to it and the type of access they have.

3. Select a device group and click the Edit button to change who has access tothe device group.

Saving user names (credentials) to access devicesYou must provide a user name, password, and sometimes a security certificate(in the case of VMware ESX Server or WAAS CM) to access a device to gather itsinformation. OI saves that information in its Credentials Library.

To add a user name and password to access a device:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Credentials Library tab.2. Click New to start a wizard to walk you through the process of saving your

user name and other information for all defined network credential types. OIdoes not confirm or verify that the credentials you provide are accurate. Ifyou do not receive monitoring data from your device, one place to check isthe Credentials Library.

OI never saves or sends passwords as plain text; they are always encrypted.AmazonCloudWatch

Use the Amazon CloudWatch credentials when you mustconnect to your Amazon CloudWatch service. We highlyrecommend enabling the option: “Use HTTPS to communicatewith Amazon Web Services server”. Doing so encrypts the datastream end-to-end.

Managing users, groups, and permissions with OMSChapter 7: Configuring Security Settings 67

Cisco UCS Use this credential when connecting to a Cisco UnifiedComputing System (UCS) Manager (via XML API).

CloudKick Use this credential when connecting to a CloudKick service.

Database Query1 Use the Database Query credential when you must connect toany database servers using Windows OLEDB or ODBC drivers.

Google App Engine Use this credential when connecting to a Google App Engineservice.

HTTP1 Use when connecting to some of your web servers, suchas Apache HTTP Server, Apache Tomcat, IBM WebSphereApplication Server, IIS, or SMI-S Providers. If your device requiresbasic access authorization, you must use HTTP to provide yourcredentials.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_access_authentication

IPMI Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is an interfaceto lights-out management (LOM) devices. If your deviceperforms lights-out management functions and supports IPMI,provide the IP address, user name, and password.

JMX Java Management Extensions (JMX) is for monitoring networkenvironments. Use the JMX credentials when connecting to aJMX-enabled management application.

MySQL Use when connecting to your MySQL Server database as a client.SNMP Several credentials exist by default for SNMP v1 and SNMP v2.

Unless you have a specific reason that you must use the SNMPv1 credentials, we recommend using the SNMP v2 credentials ifa device supports it. Devices supporting SNMPv2 may supportSNMPv1, but it is based on their configuration.

SSH Secure Shell (SSH) is a secure method to connect to a system. Ifyour device or service requires SSH authentication, provide theuser name and password. If the device or service requires publickey authentication (PKA), also supply the private key file.

Sybase Use the Sybase OpenClient credentials when you must connectto your Sybase ASE database.

WMI Logging into a WMI-enabled device can take up to two minutes.WMI is susceptible to occasional corruption, which sometimesresults in degraded performance or non-responsive loginsessions.To ensure WMI is configured correctly on your Windows system,see these Microsoft Knowledgebase articles:http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa389290%28VS.85%29.aspxhttp://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;180548http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875605http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290403

WSD WSD is web service data (also known as “web service API,” whichis a SOAP data service with additional security extensions andan application-specific set of data requests and responses). Anydevice that provides its monitoring or management informationusing SOAP, HTTP GET/POST, or MIME likely uses web servicedata. This is how VMware ESX Server and WAAS CM publishestheir monitoring data.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_access_authentication

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa389290%28VS.85%29.aspx


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;180548

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;180548

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875605

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290403


1. This credential type can only be created from Options > Program Options > CredentialsLibrary tab.

8

Chapter 8: Viewingand Creating Reports

Viewing reports in OIThe reports available in a web browser are the same as the ones on the Reportstab for a device group or route. How you choose to access a report will dependon what type of access permission you have and whether you have OI installedon your local system.

By looking at the Monitoring Map, Devices, IP Applications, or Response Timetabs for a device group or the Polling Statistics tab for a route, you can see whatis happening to that device (or subgroup of devices) or route in real-time. If youclick the Reports tab, however, you are viewing summarized data, which hasbeen compressed based on settings defined on the Data Management tab.

Several reports are available for device groups or routes. Each device can producea report as well.

Other reports that may be of interest include:

♦ Discovery♦ Routes♦ Inventory

If the report you want does not exist in OI, you can create a custom report.

Viewing reports in a web browserPrerequisite(s):

A compatible web browser is required.

♦ Internet Explorer 9.0 or later

Viewing reports in OI70 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

♦ Mozilla Firefox♦ Google Chrome

To view a report in a web browser, type this into the Address bar of your webbrowser, where oi_hostname is the IP address or host name running OI.

http://oi_hostname/ObserverInfrastructure/default.html

If your web server is running on a port other than 80, use this URL, where port isthe port number.

http://oi_hostname:port/ObserverInfrastructure/default.html

If you want to restrict to who may access reports through the web browser, seeDefining which user groups may view reports in a web browser.

When OI starts, it automatically starts a web server in the background. The webserver is in the Windows system tray (it may be hidden).

The web server uses port 80 by default, so anyone wanting to view reportsfrom this OI may do so. You can change the default port or even disable theweb server altogether. Reports can still be viewed locally in OI though. ChooseOptions > Program Options > Remote Access tab to change the port the webserver uses. If you disable the web server, no reports are available for OI (or anyother Viavi product, including Observer Analyzer) through a web browser.

Note: When attempting to view a web report and you receive the message"The username or password is incorrect," the issue may not be account-related. If you are positive that the user name and password are correct,then verify that your web browser accepts cookies. Cookies must beenabled (specifically: not set to Block All Cookies) in your web browser toview web reports for Observer Infrastructure.

Viewing a report for…Assuming you are monitoring a device or application,OI is collecting metrics for it.A report is automatically created for the monitor.

To view the report:



To verify your device has the monitors you expect:4. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group or route for which

you want to view reports.5. On the monitoring map, select the device on which you want to set the alarm.6. Right-click and choose Device Properties. The Device Properties window

appears.7. Click the Monitors tab.

Viewing reports in OIChapter 8: Viewing and Creating Reports 71

Viewing reports for the device group (or route)OI has many reports available directly in the product. Reports that you can seeare:

♦ What alarms have triggered for the device group♦ The device group status♦ Whether any events have happened for the device group♦ A response time report for a device group or route♦ An alarm log♦ Several reports that show the top or bottom n, including response time

● Router Port Utilization In/Out● Switch and Host Port Utilization● Windows % Disk Free Space● Windows % Disk Time

♦ Based on any monitor in your device group, such as:

● Router utilization● Switch utilization● Application or server-based reports



Hyperlinks allow you to see more detail. Use the navigation path along the topof the report to display the previous report page. Use the Refresh button toupdate the report with the latest poll data.

Tip! In web reports, you can click any reference group icon (in the devicegroup map’s bitmap image) to be brought to the corresponding map imageof the reference group.

Figure 10: Monitoring > Reports tab

Creating a custom report72 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Viewing a device statusTo quickly see the status of a device that displays the latest poll, inventory ofWMI-, SNMP-, VMware ESX Server-, and WAAS CM-enabled devices, and monitorinformation for the device:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, expand the device group or route for whichyou want to view reports.

2. Select the device, right-click and choose Device Status. The Device StatusReport window appears.

3. Select the details you want to see on the report. OI queries the device andproduces a report.

Creating a custom reportIf the numerous reports available in OI do not suit your needs, you can edit anexisting report or create a custom report. This section describes how to create acustom report. There are many categories of reports available:

♦ Availability reports—These reports show you whether your servers orservices were active and available or inaccessible over a given time frameusing a colored bar.

♦ Monitor reports—Every monitor has its own report. If you created acustom monitor, a report was also created and added to this list.

♦ ORS Drill Down reports—These are reports that are linked to from reportsin ORS. Generally, these have more specific details about a given device.

♦ Overview reports—These reports give you the big picture bird's-eye viewof your network.

♦ Top N reports—These reports show the top five of ten objects that meetthe report’s definition.

♦ Scheduled Reports—These are reports that are updated automaticallybased on a schedule.

♦ Summary Tree Reports—These are reports that show devices and thestatus of monitors bound to them.

♦ Drill Down Reports—These reports show a grid of specific monitorelements for specific devices of a device group.

Copying a reportIf there is a Monitor or Overview report that you like, you can copy it. Theprocess is different depending on which type of report you want to copy.

Creating a custom reportChapter 8: Viewing and Creating Reports 73

Copying a Monitor reportAll reports in OI are very specific to the device group or devices being monitored,so it is not possible to copy a Monitor report and simply change what elementsare monitored.

1. In Options > Program Options > Reports tab, find the Monitor reportyou want to copy, select it and click Edit. The Edit Monitor Report windowappears.

2. Choose the User-formatted report option. Then in the Layout section, right-click and choose Copy Default Report Layout to User-Formatted. This copiesthe default format into your layout that you can change.

Copying an Overview reportYou can choose to modify the default “Overview” report if you wish, or you canmake a renamed copy of the report. If you do customize the “Overview” reportwithout copying or renaming it, you will never lose your changes when updatingto a new version of OI. We back up and rename your version before overwritingthe report with the new version. To avoid having your report overwritten infuture upgrades, we recommend that you customize a renamed copy of thereport.

1. Select the Monitor or Overview report you want to copy, right-click andchoose Copy As. This opens the Edit Report window with the overview reportand all of its layout intact.

2. Type a new name for your report and make any other changes to the reportyou wish.

Creating an Availability reportAn Availability report shows you whether your servers or services were activeand available or inaccessible over a given time frame. Availability reports alsoshow you what percent of the time over the time frame the device was downand how many users are affected if a device is inaccessible. A color bar is used toindicate the status of the device and whether it had exceeded any thresholds.

Figure 11: Availability Report

Devices on the report are listed by subgroup. When you click the name of thesubgroup, you see details pertaining to that subgroup and its availability basedon device. You must assign each device to a subgroup. That is set on the deviceitself.


To create your own availability report:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Reports tab.2. Select the Availability Reports folder, and click New. The Edit Availability

Report window appears.3. Complete the options on the window. Use this table if necessary.

Option DescriptionName Name of the report. This name appears on the Reports tab in the

“Top N Reports” list.Monitor element Click … to open the Choose Monitor Element window to choose

which element you want to graph. You can only have oneelement per graph.

Report time range Choose the time range.Graph Style If Pie chart is selected, the report time is shown as a pie chart

instead of a horizontal bar chart.Show Time Statistic Choose whether you want the report to show the amount of

time a device or service was unavailable, usually consideredcritical, or the amount of time it has been running. At a glanceyou can tell how long out of the selected time frame a devicehas been up or down.

Tip! The Availability reports show you how many users are affected if adevice is down. This can be very useful information when determiningwhich devices need the most attention. The number of dependent users isnot set here. Instead it is set on the device itself. See Device properties.

Creating an Overview reportOverview reports give you the bird’s-eye view of your network by embeddingseveral other reports into one place. You can choose to embed any of theAvailability, Monitor, Top N, or Status and Events reports, including any customreports you create.

Tip! Copying an overview report can save a lot of effort rather than startingfrom scratch. For details, see Copying a report.

To create your own availability report:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Reports tab.2. Select the Overview Reports folder and click New. The Edit Overview Report

window appears.3. You have many options available to you. They are described in this table.

Option DescriptionName Name of the report. This name appears on the Reports tab in the

“Top N Reports” list.Folder Provide a folder name if you have several overview reports that

you want to organize on the Reports tab where you view yourreports or in a web browser.

Description Type a short summary about what is found on the report. Itappears in the Details column of the Reports tab and near thetop of the generated report.


Option DescriptionApplies to DeviceGroups

Choose for which device group this report should be available.This is useful if your report uses elements of a specific devicesubgroup. You can choose to have the report available to alldevice groups or to select ones.

Layout Choose whether you want to include the device group map onyour report. If chosen, the map appears at the bottom of thereport.For two-column reports, you can set at which screen resolutionthe report should automatically reformat into a one columnreport. Not everyone viewing the report has the same monitorwidth or uses the same screen resolution. This allows the reportto flow vertically instead of horizontally, as it’s more natural toread a report down, rather than across a monitor.

First Column Choose what reports to include. You can also add comments andbreaks to your report.

Second Column Same options as in First Column.

Creating a top N reportReports that show you the top n items from a group of data points can be veryuseful. They can show you most active or least active devices, among otherthings. To create your own top n report:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Reports tab.2. Select the Top N Reports folder and click New. The Top N Report Properties

window appears.3. Complete the options on the window. Use this table if necessary.

Option DescriptionTitle Name of the report. This name appears on the Reports tab in the

“Top N Reports” list.Folder Provide a folder name if you have several overview reports that

you want to organize on the Reports tab where you view yourreports or in a web browser.

Applies to DeviceGroups:

Choose for which device group this report should be available.You can choose to have the report available to all device groupsor to select ones.

Applies to devicesubgroup

Choose which device subgroup, if any, with which you want toassociate this report.

Response time Choose this option if you want a response time report and not areport based on monitor elements.

Monitor element Click … to open the Choose Monitor Element window to choosewhich element you want to graph. You can only have oneelement per graph.

Windows process If applicable, choose a Windows process type and any processesit should apply.

Windows service If applicable, choose a Windows service type and any processesit should apply.

Number of topitems

Number of items to appear on the report.

Top items aredefined as

Choose whether the items are the largest or smallest in thesample.


Option DescriptionReport time range Choose the time range.Display Choose whether to display the graph as a graph, table, or both.Chart Y-Axis scaling If you choose a graph, choose the scaling option.

Creating a custom monitor reportAny device group configured to use monitors has a report for each type ofmonitor in the device group.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Reports tab.2. Expand the Monitor Reports list. Select your monitor and click Edit. The

Monitor Report window appears.

There are three types of reports available:

● All Monitor Elements table reports contain a flat list of monitorelements in any monitor.

● Default reports that have data to be of interest to most users.● User-formatted reports are user-configurable reports. If there is

a default report that you like, look at how it is created and createyour own version. You can copy aViavi -created report to a user-configurable. See Copying a report.

3. Select User-formatted report. This enables the rest of the window.4. Type a description for your report. The description might be a short summary

about what is found on the report. It appears near the top of the generatedreport.

5. In the Layout section, choose what you want to add to your report. You canchoose:

● Graphs● Grids—Tables that you can customize to your needs. These tables can

include a status icon, last value, small chart, or a gauge of the last value.● Tables—Tables with data specific to wireless access points and VMware

ESX Server. Generally, it does not make sense to use these tables in yourown reports.

● Comments—Use these areas as static text, perhaps to provide furtherdetail or description about the information in your graphs and tables.

● Breaks—Use these to add horizontal spacers between your graphs andtables.

6. If you have many tables in your report that may not contain data, choose“Skip grids with no data rows” to hide those tables for that report. If a tablehas data, it is displayed.

7. Click OK to save your report. It is immediately available. Follow the steps inViewing reports in OI and expand the “By Monitor” list.

Adding a graph to your reportThis section describes the options available for graphs.


Option DescriptionMonitor element Pick one of the elements from the list of available elements. If

your monitor includes event-based elements, they will not bedisplayed because they cannot be used in reports.

Report time range Pick the default time range you want the report to show. Afterthe report is generated you can choose to change the timerange to show different ranges if you wish.

Graph type Pick whether you want a bar or pie graph.Show top items Choose the number of items you want to appear on the report

and whether they are the largest or smallest items that meetthe element’s criteria.

Append a summarytable

Select whether you want a summary table appended to yourgraph. The summary table shows the minimum, average, andmaximum data for the chart items in a table.

Bar Y-Axis scaling If you choose a bar graph, choose the scaling option. Autoscalingsets the maximum recorded Y-value as close to the top of thegraph as possible. For example, if your port utilization is lessthan 10%, autoscaling causes the Y-axis to have a maximumvalue of 10.The “Scale to” option allows you to set what you the maximumY-value percentage (1-100), which stays fixed regardless of thedata values shown.

Adding a table to your reportThis section describes how to add a grid (or table) to your report. The detailsapply to all reports.

1. Click Add Grid. The Edit Grid Report Element window appears.2. (Optional) Type a name for your grid.3. Click Add. The Add Monitor Elements window appears. From the list of

elements, choose the elements you want and click OK. Use Ctrl+click or Shift+click to select multiple elements. If your monitor includes event-basedelements, they will not be displayed because they cannot be used in reports.

By default the table on the report will show the status icon, last value, and achart of the elements over the preceding four hours. If you want to changeany of these or to show the last value as a gauge, click the Edit button.

Creating an ORS drill down reportThe process of creating a drill down report is very similar to creating a custommonitor report. The only difference is that tables and graphs on drill downreports allow you to choose elements from all monitors rather than a specificmonitor and group them in ways that may be meaningful to you.

Creating a scheduled reportYou can create reports that are generated based on a defined schedule. Thissection describes how.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Reports tab.2. Select the Scheduled Reports folder and click New. The Scheduled Report

Properties window appears.3. Type a report name.


4. (Optional) Type a description for your report. The description might be a shortsummary about what is found on the report. It appears near the top of thegenerated report.

5. Choose the device group for which you are creating this report.6. From the Report data list, choose the type of data you want on the report.7. If the Details button is enabled, click it to choose the time frame of the report

(such as “last hour”) and which devices in the device group will appear on thereport. You can choose to include all or only some of the devices. Click Next.

8. Add when you want your reports to be generated. Click Next.9. Choose how you want the report to be delivered. Your choices are:

● Send report as an e-mail attachment● Send an e-mail message with a link to the report viewable in a web

browser● Save the report, and do not send any notification about it

10. If you are sending an e-mail message, choose which group(s) will receivenotification.

Creating a summary tree reportSummary Tree reports show devices and the status of monitors bound to them.This report type cannot be viewed by itself; you must add your Summary Treereports to an Overview report to view them. See Creating an Overview report.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Reports tab.2. Select the Summary Tree Reports folder and click New. The Edit Summary

Tree Report window appears.3. Type a report title.4. (Optional) Type a folder name.5. Choose the device group for which you are creating this report.6. Add any monitors.7. (Optional) Select a monitor, and click Edit. From here, you can choose to

display objects (instances) and status for selected monitor elements.8. When you finish, click OK to save your report.

9

Chapter 9: Monitoring Devices,Services, and Platforms

Configuring monitorsIn Observer Infrastructure (OI) a monitor is a part of the program that watchesspecific performance parameters known as elements of a device or softwareapplication.

OI can monitor and create reports for devices, services, and platforms which itcan monitor. OI includes a number of pre-configured monitors that should meetmany of your basic requirements (such as for Exchange Server, Switch and RouterResources, etc.). If you need a monitor that does not exist by default, you cancreate one.

OI monitors many types of performance parameters and system events.Performance parameters consist of counters, percentages, and other suchmeasurements that OI tracks in reports and charts, and can also be used as alarmtriggers. System events can be tracked in reports and used as alarm triggers.

To view what is available, choose Options > Program Options > Monitors tab.

Devices monitored by OIThe following list shows the devices that OI can monitor.

The lock symbol in OI indicates the given monitor is pre-configured; you cannotmodify these. See Properties monitored on the devices and Creating a custommonitor for other options for monitoring devices. 3Com HP-3Com-H3C Switch ResourcesAmazon Auto Scaling Group DynamoDB

Configuring monitors80 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Elastic Block Store Elastic Compute Cloud Elastic Load Balancing Relational Database Service Simple Notification Service Simple Queue ServiceAnue Anue Net Tool OptimizerApache Apache HTTP Server Apache Tomcat Apache Tomcat (JMX)Areca Areca ARCAruba Wireless LAN ControllerAvaya Avaya GatewayBrocade Brocade Device Brocade Fabric SwitchCisco Cisco ASA Cisco CallManager Cisco CBQoS Cisco Device Memory Pools Cisco Entity FRU Control Notifications Cisco MDS Switch FC Name Server Statistics Cisco MDS Switch Traps Cisco MDS Switch Zone Statistics Cisco Medianet (NetFlow) Cisco NBAR (NetFlow) Cisco NBAR Raw Protocols (HC) Cisco Nexus Switch Traps Cisco UCS (XML API) Cisco UCS Alarm Counts (SNMP) Cisco UCS Traps Cisco Unified IP Phone Discovered IP SLA Operations Flow Statistics (NetFlow) WAAS CM (WSD) WAAS Core Server (SNMP) WAAS Edge Server (SNMP) Wireless LAN ControllerCitrix Citrix NetScaler AppFlow Citrix Secure Gateway Citrix XenApp Citrix XenServerDell DELL EqualLogicEMC EMC Celerra EMC CLARiiON (SMI-S) EMC Symmetrix (SMI-S)f5 f5 BIG-IP GTM f5 BIG-IP Interface f5 BIG-IP LTM Pool

Configuring monitorsChapter 9: Monitoring Devices, Services, and Platforms 81

f5 BIG-IP LTM Pool Member f5 BIG-IP LTM Virtual Server f5 BIG-IP System f5 BIG-IP Web AcceleratorGigamon GigamonGlassFish GlassFishGoogle Google App EngineHP HP-3Com-H3C Switch ResourcesIBM DB2 Database Informix Database Lotus Domino Server NetApp & IBM N Series WebSphere Application ServerInfortrend InforTrend EonStor seriesJBoss JBoss ServerMicrosoft Active Directory Server Exchange Server (2000 and 2003) Exchange Server (2007 and 2010) Hyper-V Server 2008 Internet Information Server Lync Server 2010 Microsoft .NET Microsoft Virtual Server SharePoint Server SQL Server Windows SystemMulti-Vendor Host Resources HP-3Com-H3C Switch Resources IPMI Sensor Information Net-SNMP Enabled Device Network Interfaces Printer Router Resources SAN Fabric Switch Switch Resources sysUpTime UPS WAN Accelerator Wireless Access PointMySQL MySQL ServerOracle Oracle Database Weblogic ServerParallels Parallels VirtuozzoRackSpace CloudKickRIM BlackBerry Enterprise Server (SNMP)


BlackBerry Enterprise Server ServicesRiverbed Riverbed Interceptor Appliance WAN AcceleratorSonicWALL SonicWALL VPNSun Java Runtime Sun SolarisSybase Sybase ASEVMware VMware ESX Server (SNMP) VMware ESX Server-Host (WSD) VMware ESX Server-Resource Pool (WSD) VMware ESX Server-VM (WSD) VMware for Windows (WMI) VMware vCenter Server

Properties monitored on the devicesOn those devices listed in Devices monitored by OI you can choose to monitorthese types of properties.

CloudInfrastructureServices

Amazon CloudWatch

Amazon Cloudwatch Custom Metrics CloudKick Google App Engine Quota DetailsCisco IP SLA For details when defining an element, see http://

www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/ipsla/configuration/guide/sla_roadmap.html.

DHCP DLSw+ DNS FTP HTTP (Get) HTTP (Raw) ICMP Echo ICMP Jitter ICMP Path Echo LSP Echo LSP Path Echo Metro-Ethernet Echo Metro-Ethernet Jitter TCP Connect UDP Echo UDP Jitter UDP Jitter for VoIP VoIP Call Setup (Post-Dial Delay)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/ipsla/configuration/guide/sla_roadmap.html



Configuring monitorsChapter 9: Monitoring Devices, Services, and Platforms 83

VoIP Gatekeeper Registration Delay VoIP RTP-Based Look up from a deviceCisco NBAR For details when defining an element, see

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6616/products_ios_protocol_group_home.html.

Protocol Aggregate (HC)–high capacity counters Raw Protocol (HC)Cisco UCS For details when defining an element, see http://

www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/index.html. Cisco UCS MonitorsCisco WAAS CentralManager

For details when defining an element, see http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6870/index.html.

Device Status (WSD)Citrix XenServer For details when defining an element, see http://

www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1681747.

Performance Monitor (WSD)Database Query For details when defining an element, see Defining a Database

Query monitor element. Database Query (via Windows OLEDB or ODBC drivers)MySQL MySQL Status

Performance1 WMI—Windows Management Instrumentation provides awide variety of information about the host system and theapplications running on it.For details when defining a WMI performanceelements, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394582%28VS.85%29.aspx.SNMP—Simple Network Management ProtocolFor details when defining a SNMP performance elements, seehttp://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3584.

IPMI Sensor Monitor Script Based SNMP—Expression

Expressions are statistics derived from the raw data stored inthe MIB. Depending on the resulting data type, the results canbe used to generate reports and charts, and also serve as alarmtriggers. OI includes a number of pre-configured expressionsfor the most common types of statistics (for example, port andstorage utilization on stations, routers, and switches).

SNMP— MIB objectSimple Network Management Protocol is one of the mostwidely-supported mechanisms for device performancemonitoring. OI provides a number of standard, pre-compiledMIB files. You can also compile your own MIB files if needed.Check with your device or software manufacturer for a MIB.

SNMP—NotificationThese types of monitor elements are notifications via SNMPtraps.

SNMP—Printer alert

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6616/products_ios_protocol_group_home.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6616/products_ios_protocol_group_home.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/index.html




http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1681747





http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3584


A special class of SNMP objects dedicated to managing printers.Check with your printer manufacturer for a MIB.

SNMP—ScriptThese types of monitor elements allow you to use Visual Basicor JavaScript code to retrieve and manipulate agent-supplieddata. For most devices, you will not need to write scripts. If youhave created your own device agent, or want to monitor someother device that is not yet supported by OI. custom scripts canbe a solution.

SNMP—Wireless Access PointA special class of SNMP objects dedicated to managing wirelessaccess points for signal strength, and bytes and packets sent orreceived. Check with your wireless access point manufacturer fora MIB.

SNMP—Wireless LAN Controller WMI—Object property

This varies based on the element selected. See Monitoring diskdrives.

WMI—Script WMI—Windows processes WMI—Windows servicesSystem Events SNMP Trap—Most SNMP agents are capable of generating traps,

which are a method of asynchronous event notification. Youcan set OI alarms that are triggered by particular SNMP traps,identified by its OID.Check with your device or software manufacturer for a MIB.

Syslog—OI can monitor log messages sent in the syslog format,which is the de-facto standard for sending/receiving logmessages from Unix and Linux systems. You can set OI alarmsthat trigger on syslog events filtered by priority or severity, orby pattern matching on the message itself.For details when defining an element, see http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3164

Windows Log Event—OI can monitor the Windows Event Log foreach system that it has access to. You can set OI to respond tolog events by name classification, or by pattern matching on themessage itself.For details when defining an element, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa385780%28VS.85%29.aspx.

VMware ESX Server For details when defining an element, see http://www.vmware.com/products/esx/.

SNMP performance monitor—A monitor that gathers theperformance and statistics data about VMware ESX Serverthrough SNMP.

WSD performance monitor—A monitor that gathers theperformance and statistics data about VMware ESX Serverthrough the web service API that VMware ESX Server uses.

1. Monitor elements of the Performance type are grouped together regardless of interface.





http://www.vmware.com/products/esx/

http://www.vmware.com/products/esx/

Creating a custom monitorChapter 9: Monitoring Devices, Services, and Platforms 85

Creating a custom monitorIf one of the many existing monitors does not meet your needs, follow thisprocedure to create a new one.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Monitors tab. Click New button atthe bottom of the Monitors column. The New Monitor window appears.

2. On the General tab, type a name for the monitor and select the folder(category).

3. In the Folder box, select a category. OI has many monitors. The list is quitelong and by using folders or categories you can group similar monitor types.If one of the existing categories does not meet your needs, type the name ofa new one in the field.

4. (Optional) Type a description for your monitor.5. Click the Detection tab and choose how you want to identify the devices

on your network. You may manually select what types of devices should beassigned to the monitor or allow OI to find an SNMP OID, a WMI class, or usea Visual Basic script to query the device and wait for a response.

You can add your custom monitor to multiple folders (categories)by separating each with a comma. For example, typing NetworkDevices,Miscellaneous places the custom monitor into both the NetworkDevices folder and the Miscellaneous folder. Notice the lack of a spacecharacter on either side of the comma. Also, if a folder does not exist, it iscreated.

Table 10 describes the different methods available.

Tip! You can use VBScript to detect and poll your devices. We recommendyou develop your scripts in a text or script editor and then copy the scriptinto OI. Also see VBScript API for the Monitors for details about parametersand keywords.

Table 10: Custom monitor optionsAssign to devicetype

When OI runs its discovery to find new or updated devices, youcan choose to automatically apply this monitor to certain typesof devices. Select those device types here.

HTTP script If you want to use an HTTP script to detect your device, copy ortype your script in the window. See the Apache Tomcat monitorfor an example of how the HTTP script is implemented.

SNMP OID If you want to use an SNMP OID to detect your device, followthese steps. See the SonicWall VPN monitor for an example ofhow the “SNMP OID” is implementedChoose SNMIP OID exists or SNMP OID contains from the list,then click Add.Choose the vendor of your device.If you chose SNMP OID contains, then add a regular expressionin the Contains field. OI uses this to find and detect yourdevices.

SNMP script If you want to use an SNMP script to detect your device, copy ortype your script in the window. See the Wireless LAN Controllermonitor for an example of how the SNMP script is implemented.

Creating a custom monitor86 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

SSH script If you want to use an SSH script to detect your device, copyor type your script in the window. See the DB2 monitor for anexample of how the SSH script is implemented.

Sybase OpenClientscript

If you want to use an Sybase script to detect your device,copy or type your script in the window. See the SybaseOpenClient monitor for an example of how the Sybase script isimplemented.

WMI class If you want to use a WMI class to detect your device, completethis step. See the Citrix Secure Gateway monitor for an exampleof how the WMI class detection is implemented. Choose WMIclass exists from the list, then type the name of the WMI classto which these devices belong. You must know what WMI classyou want, and you can find what WMI classes are available onyour system by using a third-party tool such as WMI CIM Studioavailable from Microsoft.

WMI script If you want to use an WMI script to detect your device, copy ortype your script in the window. Although there are no examplesof a WMI script for you to review, a WMI script would be similarto an SNMP script.

WSD script If you want to use an WSD script to detect your device, copy ortype your script in the window. See the Citrix XenServer monitorfor an example of how the WSD script is implemented.

6. Click the Polling Script tab and choose a script to use to poll the devicesfor this monitor. Other monitors can use different polling scripts to identifydevices.

Using a polling script can improve performance over normal device pollingbecause a polling script can request many items at once affecting OIperformance by just milliseconds. Whereas normal device polling may takeabout half a second for each poll. If you have many things to poll on thedevice, this could be significant.

7. Polling can be done through, some of which may require that you havespecific credentials defined. See Saving user names (credentials) to accessdevices.

● HTTP—Use the API method HttpGet. See the Apache Tomcat monitorin Application Servers for an example of how the HTTP script isimplemented.

● MySQL—Use this to establish a connection to your MySQL Serverdatabase using the proprietary MySQL API.

● SNMP—Use the API method SnmpGetList. See the Network Interfacesmonitor (Network Devices) for an example of how the SNMP script isimplemented.

● SSH—Use the API method SshGet. See the DB2 Database monitorin Database Servers for an example of how the SSH script isimplemented.

● Sybase OpenClient—Use the API method OCQuery. See the SybaseASE monitor in Database Servers for an example of how the SybaseOpenClient script is implemented.

● WMI—Use the API methods WmiGetValue and WmiGetValueSet. Seethe SQL Server monitor elements for an example of how the WMIscript is implemented.


● WSD—Use the API method WSDPost.

Detecting devices is different than polling devices. Devices are polled afterthey have been detected.

8. Test your scripts to ensure they detect and poll the devices as you expect.9. Click OK. This adds your monitor to the Monitors list, but it does not have any

properties yet.10. Select your monitor and click the New button at the bottom of the Monitor

Elements section. The New Monitor Element wizard opens.11. Select the element you want to add to your monitor. Click Next and provide

the details for your device.12. Repeat until you have all of the elements added to your monitor that you

want.

A custom report is automatically created when you create a unique monitor. Tomodify that report, see Creating a custom monitor.

Copying elements from an existing monitorIt is not possible to modify many of the default monitors, but you can copy theelements from them or any monitor you create to a new monitor.

1. After creating a new, blank monitor, select the monitor from which you wantto copy some or all of the elements.

2. Select the elements you want to copy.3. Right-click and choose Copy.4. Select the monitor to which you want to copy the elements, right-click and

choose Paste.

You may also export and import elements from one OI system to another byselecting the monitor, right-clicking and choosing Import or Export.

Monitoring disk drivesSome system administrators are only interested in specific drives or partitions intheir systems. For instance, you may place the operating system or pagefile.sysfile on its own partition and have applications or log files written to a differentone. You can choose which drives OI monitors.

1. Select the device on the Monitoring Map or Devices tab.2. Right-click and choose Device Properties.3. Click the Monitors tab.4. Ensure the “Host Resources” monitor is assigned to the device. If not, add it

by clicking Add.

One of the elements of the Host Resources monitor is “Hard Disk Utilization.”5. Select “Hard Disk Utilization” and click the Objects button at the bottom.

This opens the Monitor Elements - Objects window.6. Choose which drives you want to monitor.


Configuring your Cisco IP SLA monitorIP SLA operations have cycles and lifetimes. A cycle is the time sufficient forcollecting statistics once and adding that information to a MIB. A lifetime is adefined period of time during which any statistical data is available it is added toa MIB. A lifetime may be: once, one hour, two hours, forever, or any other definedtime period. There is a limitation with lifetimes though. There is a limited amountof space in the MIB and eventually older records get pushed out to make roomfor the new records.

OI only discovers IP SLA operations on your router that have a lifetime defined as“forever.” All other lifetimes are ignored by OI during discovery. OI then capturesthe latest data and publishes it in its reports. OI does not start, stop, or restart IPSLA operations that already exist on the router.

You can create your own IP SLA operations on the router that OI can control.These operations have a lifetime of “once,” and this has the advantage of notproducing any load on the network when OI is not running. When an operationreaches a “completed” state OI restarts the operations by setting its lifetime to“once.”

Tip! See also Simulating VoIP calls between IP SLA-enabled routers.

OI cannot automatically discover any IP SLA operations running on your Ciscorouter, but you can add those operations to OI to monitor. You must know allof the operations configuration parameters or be able to access them whenconfiguring this IP SLA monitor.

IP SLA operations can have a limited lifespan (run once), or unlimited lifespan(indefinite). In the latter case, the operation is automatically restarted by therouter everyx minutes. OI monitors for such operations without you needing tocreate or restart them, and the monitoring data is available for you in reports andin OI.

To add your own custom monitor for Cisco IP SLA:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Monitors tab. Click the New buttonat the bottom of the Monitors column. The New Monitor window appears.

2. Type a name for the monitor and select Cisco IP SLA. Click OK. This adds yourmonitor to the Monitors list, but it does not have any properties yet.

3. With the Cisco IP SLA monitor selected, click New at the bottom of theMonitor Elements list. The New Monitor Element wizard opens.

4. Select one type of Cisco IP SLA element, like UDP Echo, then click Next.5. Type a name, and choose “Create operation with these parameters (active

mode).”6. Specify the threshold and other values for the parameters, then click Next.7. In the “Select Data Items to Monitor” section, choose at least one item. Then

define the marginal and critical state conditions for this element and clickFinish.


8. Repeat until you have all of the elements added to your monitor that youwant.

You have finished defining the Cisco IP SLA monitor, but you must still applythe monitor to your devices.

9. In your device group on the Devices tab, select one Cisco device, right-clickand choose Device Properties.a. Click the Monitors tab then click the Add button and choose the Cisco IP

SLA monitor you created. Click Add.b. In the Monitors list, select the monitor you just added, then choose a

monitor element and click the Operations button. The SLA MonitorElement window appears.

c. Click the New button. The New SLA Operation window appears.Providing an operation name is required and must be unique for thismonitor element. Complete the rest of the window as necessary for yourenvironment, then click OK. The name is limited to 16 characters (perCisco). Set your input parameters. In the LifeCycle field, 2147483647 means“forever.”

d. Notice that the element is enabled and its status is Pending Active. ClickApply. The Cisco device is queried and monitored operations are updated.Click OK.

Click Refresh All to query the device for a list of operations running on thedevice. After you have a list, you can use the Add to Monitored button tohave OI monitor them.

Additional information:

The Match button is enabled if you select a monitored operation and theoperation parameters on the device do not match the ones configured in OI.This happens when some parameter values are changed on the device usingthe command line interface, which causes the values to differ from those inOI. There are two situations and different ways to handle the mismatch:

● The monitor element parameters of an SLA operation on the devicediffer from the monitor element parameters for this monitor element.

♦ Replace the device’s configuration with the OI’s configuration. Thisreplaces the device’s operations with the one’s from the MonitoredOperations list.

♦ Change the operation ID in the Monitored Operations list to removethe conflict and leave the other operations running on the device.

♦ Remove the operation with this ID from the Monitored Operationslist and leave the other operations running on the device

● The SLA operation parameters on the device differ from the ones in theMonitored Operations list.

♦ Replace the device operation configuration with the localconfiguration (the one from the Monitored Operations list).

♦ Keep the device operation and assign a new ID to the localoperation (the one from the Monitored Operations list).

♦ Replace the local operation parameters with the device operationparameters.

♦ Remove this operation from the Monitored Operations list.


Tell me more about the Match buttonThe Match button is enabled if you select a monitored operation and theoperation parameters on the device do not match the ones configured in OI.

This happens when some parameter values are changed on the device using thecommand line interface, which causes the values to differ from those in OI. Thereare two situations and different ways to handle the mismatch:

♦ The monitor element parameters of an SLA operation on the device differfrom the monitor element parameters for this monitor element.

● Replace the device’s configuration with the OI’s configuration. Thisreplaces the device’s operations with the one’s from the MonitoredOperations list.

● Change the operation ID in the Monitored Operations list to removethe conflict and leave the other operations running on the device.

● Remove the operation with this ID from the Monitored Operations listand leave the other operations running on the device

♦ The SLA operation parameters on the device differ from the ones in theMonitored Operations list.

● Replace the device operation configuration with the local configuration(the one from the Monitored Operations list).

● Keep the device operation and assign a new ID to the local operation(the one from the Monitored Operations list).

● Replace the local operation parameters with the device operationparameters.

● Remove this operation from the Monitored Operations list.

Defining a Database Query monitor elementThe benefit of creating a Database Query credential is vast: doing so allows youto define and send a SQL statement to a database server.OI can then monitor thereturning result set. Plus, Database Query is a flexible credential type; you cancreate one to be a credential for any OLEDB database servers, including:

♦ Microsoft SQL Server♦ Oracle♦ MySQL Server♦ IBM DB2 Server♦ Sybase Adaptive Server

To define a Database Query monitor element, follow the instructions in thissection.

1. Create a Database Query credential:a. Choose Options > Program Options > Credentials Library tab.b. Click the New button. The New Credential window appears.c. Select the “Database Query” credential type, and click Next.d. Type a descriptive name for your new credential.e. (Optional) Configure this credential to be device specific instead of global.

If you are unsure of which to choose, select Global Credential (the default).


f. Select an OLEDB Provider by clicking the nearby button.

g. Type your user name, password, and database name. The database namemust be its actual name—not a description.

h. (Optional) Type any additional parameters you want to add to theconnection string.

i. Click Finish. You return to the Credentials Library tab.j. In the Credential Library tab, click OK to close the window.

2. Create a new monitor for the credential to associate with:a. Choose Options > Program Options > Monitors tab. Click the New

button at the bottom of the Monitors column. The New Monitor windowappears.

b. Type a name for the monitor.c. From the “Credential type” list, choose “Database Query” to indicate that

this monitor requires a database query credential.

Subsequently, when adding a “Database Query” credential to a device,prior to that you must add to the same device a monitor with the“Database Query” credential type. You associate a database credentialwith a concrete database query monitor as one device may have multipledatabase servers installed on it, and each one may require a differentdatabase credential for queries.

d. In the Folder (category) box, select a category. OI has many monitors. Thelist is quite long and by using folders or categories you can group similarmonitor types. If one of the existing categories does not meet your needs,type the name of a new one in the field.

e. (Optional) Type a description for your monitor.f. Click OK to save your monitor. You return to the Monitors tab.

3. Create a Database Query monitor element:a. With your new monitor selected, click New at the bottom of the Monitor

Elements list. The New Monitor Element wizard opens.b. Select the Database Query monitor type, and click Next.c. Type a descriptive name for your monitor element.d. Type your SQL statement or simply paste the code using your clipboard (if

applicable).e. (Optional) Click the Test button to interactively test your SQL statement.f. Click Finish to save your monitor element. You return to the Monitors tab.g. Click OK to close the Program Options window.

4. Assign the monitor—now containing the monitor element—to a device, andprovide the appropriate Database Query credential:a. Locate your target device in OI. You can find it in your monitoring map or

device list.b. Right-click the device and select Device Properties. The Device Properties

window appears.c. Click the Monitors tab.d. Click the Add button. The Add Monitor to Device window appears.

How to set up configuration management92 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

e. Locate the monitor you created, select it, and click Add. You return to theDevice Properties window.

f. Click Apply.

You must follow 4.f for the rest of the procedure to work.g. Click the Credentials tab.h. Click the appropriate button near Database Query. The Database Query

Credentials window appears.

i. Select the appropriate Database Query credential, and click OK to add it.You return to the Device Properties window.

j. Click OK to save your changes.

Adding a custom MIB to use in a monitorOI contains many MIBs for many devices, but follow these instructions to addyour own custom MIB to OI:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Monitors tab. Click the New buttonat the bottom of the Monitors column. The New Monitor window appears.

2. Type a name for the monitor and select the device category. Click OK. Thisadds your monitor to the Monitors list, but it does not have any propertiesyet.

3. Select your monitor and click the New button at the bottom of the MonitorElements section. The New Monitor Element wizard opens.

4. Select Performance > SNMP - MIB Object and click Next.5. Complete the details for your MIB. To insert your MIB:

a. Click Add. The SNMP MIB Object window appears.b. Click the Compile MIB(s) button. The Select MIB Files to Compile window

appears.c. Type name for your MIB.d. Click Add. Locate your file, then click Open. Then click Next.

How to set up configuration management

Understanding configuration managementAuditing changes to the configuration files of routers, switches, and more,against rules and policies you design is called configuration management. Thispractice can greatly increase your awareness of relationships between deviceconfiguration and network performance.

Use configuration management to do the following:

♦ Easy alerting (through alarms, reports, and log files) when deviceconfigurations change or fail audits.

♦ Proactive monitoring for unauthorized device configuration changes.♦ Simple versioning of device configuration files—see differences between

now and an earlier version.

How to set up configuration managementChapter 9: Monitoring Devices, Services, and Platforms 93

♦ Help maintaining hardware configuration throughout the network.♦ Increased awareness of the relationships between device configuration

and network performance.

Figure 12: Differences between configuration management and simplemonitoring

Configuration Monitoring:Retrieves device configuration. Does not compare against previous versions.

Configuration Verification:Watches for changes in device configurations; validates against rules; reports violations through alarms.

CFG

CFG

CFG No change/OK

Config changes

Failed to retrieve CFG

CFG

CFG

CFG

CFG

Profile

CFG

CFG

CFG

CFG

The configuration monitor retrieves the runtime and start configurations frommonitored devices, reports configuration changes, validates configurations basedon verification rules (if configured), and reports violations.

The configuration monitor identifies the vendor and model of the device, andthen chooses the monitoring method suitable for retieving its configuration. Avalid SNMP credential for the device is required to retrieve sysObjectID fromthe device, and this sysObjectID must be listed in VendorModelOIDs.ini forvendor model identification to work. If no SNMP credential is available for thedevice, you can manually set the vendor model of the device by setting the"Vendor-Model" custom property in its device properties.

Retrieval of device configurations happens any of the following ways:

♦ SNMP/TFTP—Sends SNMP SET commands to the device, requestingthe device to send their configuration files to the built-in TFTP serverin Observer Infrastructure. SNMP credential with "Write" permissions isrequired for the target device.

♦ SSH/CLI—Establishes an SSH communication channel with the device,and then sends CLI (Command-Line Interface) commands to retrieveconfigurations. A valid SSH credential is required for the monitored device.


For Cisco devices, a CLI login or CLI enable credential may be required forprivilege elevation.

♦ Telnet/CLI—Establishes a Telnet session with the device, and then sendsCLI (Command-line Interface) commands to retrieve configurations. A validTelnet credential is required for the monitored device. For Cisco devices, aCLI login or CLI enable credential may be required for privilege elevation.

Table 11: Required credentials for configuration retrievalPolling method Transfer method Credential

type(s) requiredWhy are thesecredentialsrequired?

SSH SSH SSH and CLI loginor CLI enable

SSH communicateswith the targetdevice andtransfers theconfigurationdata. CLI login orCLI enable allowsnecessary privilegeelevation for Ciscodevices.

Telnet Telnet Telnet and CLI loginor CLI enable

Telnetcommunicates withthe target deviceand transfers theconfigurationdata. CLI login orCLI enable allowsnecessary privilegeelevation for Ciscodevices.

SNMP TFTP SNMP (read andwrite)

SNMP read andwrite acess isnecessary foridentifying thevendor type, devicemodel, and forestablishing a TFTPsession betweenthe device and OIfor transfer.

How to apply a verification profile to a deviceTo apply a verification profile to a device:

1. Starting in a device group, right-click a target device and choose DeviceProperties.

2. Click Monitors.3. In the Device Monitors list, select Runtime and Startup Configuration.

The monitor elements available to this monitor appear in the rightmost panel.4. Select a monitor element, and click Properties.5. In the Configuration verification profile and alarm responses area, enable

the option: Use device-specific marginal and critical state settings.


6. Click the ellipsis button near the Verification Profile box.

The Select Configuration Verification Profile window appears.7. Expand a folder (category), select a profile, and click OK.8. Click OK to associate the verification profile with the monitor element.

You successfully applied a verification profile is to a monitor element, and arenow able to use the full extent of OI configuration management features.

Continue to How to interact with retrieved device configuration files.

How to apply a configuration monitorApplying a configuration monitor to a device allows OI to poll its configurationdata. The configuration data you retrieve serves as a platform for configurationmanagement practices such as hardware policy audits.

The configuration monitor polls the device(s) using a polling script and retrievesthe configuration data file. If the polling script is configured to use SSH or Telnet,the credentials required include CLI login and CLI enable. If the polling script isconfigured to use SNMP, the polling script in your configuration monitor onlyrequires an SNMP credential—specifically read and write—and the configurationdata file is retrieved through TFTP.

Note: You can globally configure a configuration monitor from Options >Program Options > Monitors tab. However to configure anything devicespecific, you must configure a configuration monitor directly within theDevice Properties window.

To apply a configuration monitor to a device:

1. Starting in a device group, right-click a target device and choose DeviceProperties.

2. Click Monitors.3. Click Add.

The Add Monitor to Device window appears.4. In the Monitor list, expand Configuration Monitors.5. Select Runtime and Startup Configuration, and then click Add.

You successfully applied a configuration monitor to a device.

You can repeat this process for additional devices. Although polling devicesand retrieving their configuration data is now possible, you may want to useretrieved data for configuration management.

See How to apply a verification profile to a device for details.


How to create configuration verification rulesTo create a configuration management verification rule:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Configuration Verification tab.2. Click the Verification Rules subtab.3. Below the left panel, click New.4. Type a name and a folder (category) name.5. Choose the severity of the event if this rule is broken. Your choices include

(from least severe to most severe):

● Informational● Marginal● Critical

6. Type a description for the item you are creating.7. Type instructions for the person(s) who could receive notice that the rule is

broken.

The instructions are for aiding the person or team responsible for reactivelyfixing a device configuration.

For example: a rule states that DHCP should be disabled on a device.Someone enables DHCP on the device, causing the rule to be broken and analarm to trigger. Now, the instruction that was created with the rule displaysto the network administrators. It communicates that DHCP should be disabledon the device and how to accomplish this.

8. Click OK to save your changes.9. In the rightmost panel, double-click the empty rule rule to edit it.10. Edit the rule to your liking, and then click OK.11. (Optional) Right-click your rule and add an AND, OR, or BRANCH statement,

allowing you to make complex rules.

You successfully created a verification rule.

Combine any rules you create into verification policies—a collection of rules. SeeHow to add verification rules to verification policies.

How to add verification rules to verification policiesTo create a configuration management verification policy:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Configuration Verification tab.2. Click the Verification Policies subtab.3. Below the left panel, click New.4. Type a name and a folder (category) name.5. Type a description for the item you are creating.6. Click OK.7. Below the right panel, click Add.8. Select a verification rule to add to your new policy, and click Select.

The rule is added to your policy.


9. (Optional) Add more rules to your policy by repeating the process.10. (Optional) Click Apply or OK to save your changes.

You successfully added a verification rule to a verification policy.

Add your verification policy or policies to a verification profile. You apply profilesto your devices to establish your configuration management setup. See How toadd verification policies to verification profiles.

How to add verification policies to verification profilesTo create a configuration management verification profile:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Configuration Verification tab.2. Click the Verification Profiles subtab.3. Below the left panel, click New.4. Type a name and a folder (category) name.5. Type a description for the item you are creating.6. Click OK.7. Below the right panel, click Add.8. Select a verification policy to add to your new profile, and click Select.

The policy is added to your profile.9. (Optional) Add more rules to your policy by repeating the process.10. (Optional) Click Apply or OK to save your changes.

You successfully added a verification policy to a verification profile.

Apply your verification profile to a device or devices. See How to apply averification profile to a device.

How to interact with retrieved device configuration filesThe simplest way to view and interact with retrieved device configuration files isby viewing the monitor report. The report also provides tools for configurationcomparisons, version history, baselining, and auditing against verificationprofiles.

Tip! If you have experience viewing reports inside OI, navigate to theRuntime and Startup Configuration Report in the Per MonitorStatistics report category. Click a device to see its polling data. You caninteract with the polling data by clicking a value in the Value column.

To view retrieved device configuration files and interact with them:

1. Choose Tools > View Reports.2. Log in to Web Reports if necessary, and select the device group containing

your target devices.3. Ensure the Monitoring tab is selected.4. Click the Per Monitor Statistics report branch to expand the list.5. Click Runtime and Startup Configuration to open that report.6. Click a device listing in the Device column to view its polling data.7. Click a monitor element.

Monitoring other Viavi products98 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

8. Click a value in the Value column.

You are presented with a list of configuration management tools.9. Choose one of the following:

View configuration View the selected device configuration version.View verificationresult

View any critical, marginal, and informational conditions asdefined by a verification profile. (A verification profile must beapplied.)

Set as baseline Sets the chosen device configuration version to be the baselineversion. This is helpful for designating one version to be the"last known good" configuration.

Compare withbaseline

Compares a selected version with the baseline version.

Compare withprevious version

Compares a selected version with the version that precedes it.

Compare with nextversion

Compares a selected version with the version that follows it.

Compare withanother version

Compares a selected version with another version of yourchoosing.

Select as left sideto compare

You successfully viewed and compared retrieved device configuration files.

Monitoring other Viavi productsOI is capable of monitoring other Viavi products. These include Observer Analyzerprobes, Observer GigaStor appliances, ORS (appliance), and OMS. Doing so allowsyou to further integrate Viavi products—making management of these productseasier.

Before you can monitor other Viavi products, you must add the followingapplications to the IP Applications tab:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > IP Applications tab.2. Click Add.3. Type Observer Console for the application name.4. Type 25901 for the TCP port.5. Click OK.6. Click Add.7. Type Observer Probe / OMS for the application name.8. Type 25903 for the TCP port.9. Click OK.10. Click OK to save your changes.


You are ready to monitor other Viavi products. From the following list, choose theproduct you want to monitor and complete the necessary steps:

♦ ORS—Monitoring ORS.♦ Observer probes—Monitoring an Observer probe.

Monitoring other Viavi productsChapter 9: Monitoring Devices, Services, and Platforms 99

♦ Observer—Monitoring an Observer.♦ GigaStor appliances—Monitoring a GigaStor.♦ Viavi Management Server—Monitoring Viavi Management Server (OMS).

Monitoring ORSTo monitor an ORS installation using OI. complete the following steps. Thisprocess allows you to monitor the up/down availability of your ORS.

Note: For WMI polling to function in Windows XP, you must disable “Usesimple file sharing” in the Windows Explorer Folder Options.

1. Download the Viavi Monitor Pack from http://niuserforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5458658.

2. Unzip the contents of the Viavi Monitor Pack to a directory of your choice.3. In OI. choose Options > Program Options > Monitors tab.4. Right-click the monitor list. The monitor list is the leftmost panel of the

window.5. Click Import, and navigate to the directory you chose in step 2.6. Double-click the file ReportingServer.OiMonitor. The monitor is imported

to the Viavi folder (category). If the folder does not exist,OI creates it.

The monitor is imported. You must now create monitor elements for themonitor, which are specific to your environment.

7. Ensure your ORS monitor is selected (the one you imported) and click New inthe monitor elements list. The monitor elements list is the rightmost panel ofthe window.

8. Do one of the following:

● If you run ORS as a Windows service, expand the Performance branchand double-click “WMI - Windows Services”. The New Monitor Elementwindow appears.

● If you run ORS as a Windows process (you do not run ORS as a Windowsservice), expand the Performance branch and double-click “WMI -Windows Processes”. The New Monitor Element window appears.


● If you run ORS as a Windows service, click the

● button near the Service Name field. The Enter WMI Connection Parametersdialog appears.

● If you run ORS as a Windows process (you do not run ORS as a Windowsservice), click the button near the Process Name field. The Enter WMIConnection Parameters dialog appears.

10. Type a host name (or specify one using the button), and type your user nameand password. Click OK.


http://niuserforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=5458658



● If you run ORS as a Windows service, select the NI ORS service from thelist, and click OK. You return to the New Monitor Element window.

● If you run ORS as a Windows process (you do not run ORS as a Windowsservice), selectObserverReportingServer.exe, and click OK. You returnto the New Monitor Element window.

12. Ensure either “Availability” or “Process Count” is selected for Statistics Type.13. Configure the rest of your settings, including display name, monitor category,

and alarm conditions.14. Click Finish to save your monitor element.15. Click OK to close the Program Options window.

The final steps involve adding the monitor to your ORS appliance in OI.16. In your device list, right-click the target ORS appliance and choose Device

Properties. The Device Properties window appears.17. Click the IP tab, and ensure HTTP is enabled in the IP Applications list.

If the Viavi IP applications do not exist in your list, follow the instructions atMonitoring other Viavi products to add them.

18. Click the Monitors tab, then click the Add button and choose the monitoryou created. Click Add.


OI is now monitoring your ORS appliance. You can add more monitor elements tothe ORS monitor, such as CPU utilization, using the same process.

Monitoring an ObserverTo monitor an Observer using OI. complete the following steps:

Note: In order for WMI polling to function in Windows XP, you must disable“Use simple file sharing” in the Windows Explorer Folder Options.



window.5. Click Import, and navigate to the directory you chose in step 2.6. Double-click the file ObsAnalyzer.OiMonitor. The monitor is imported to

the Viavi folder (category). If the folder does not exist,OI creates it.


7. Ensure your Observer monitor is selected (the one you imported), and clickNew in the monitor elements list. The monitor elements list is the rightmostpanel of the window.

8. Expand the Performance branch, and double-click “WMI - WindowsProcesses”. The New Monitor Element window appears.

9. Click the button near the Process Name field. The Enter WMI ConnectionParameters dialog appears.





11. Select the Observer.exe process from the list, and click OK. You return to theNew Monitor Element window.

12. Ensure “Process Count” is selected for Statistics Type.13. Configure the rest of your settings, including display name, monitor category,


The final steps involve adding the monitor to your Observer (the host device)in OI.

16. In your device list, right-click the target Observer host device and chooseDevice Properties. The Device Properties window appears.

17. Click the IP tab, and ensure both HTTP and Observer Console are enabled inthe IP Applications list.




OI is now monitoring your Observer. You can add more monitor elements toObserver monitor, such as CPU load, using the same process.

Monitoring an Observer probeTo monitor an Observer probe using OI. complete the following steps:




window.5. Click Import, and navigate to the directory you chose in step 2.6. Double-click the file ObsProbe.OiMonitor. The monitor is imported to the

Viavi folder (category). If the folder does not exist,OI creates it.


7. Ensure your Observer Probe monitor is selected (the one you imported),and click New in the monitor elements list. The monitor elements list is therightmost panel of the window.





● If you run the Observer probe as a Windows service, expand thePerformance branch and double-click “WMI - Windows Services”. The NewMonitor Element window appears.

● If you run the Observer probe as a Windows process (you do not run theObserver probe as a Windows service), expand the Performance branchand double-click “WMI - Windows Processes”. The New Monitor Elementwindow appears.


● If you run the Observer probe as a Windows service, click the button nearthe Service Name field. The Enter WMI Connection Parameters dialogappears.

● If you run the Observer probe as a Windows process (you do not run theObserver probe as a Windows service), click the button near the ProcessName field. The Enter WMI Connection Parameters dialog appears.



● If you run the Observer probe as a Windows service, select the NI ExpertProbe service from the list, and click OK. You return to the New MonitorElement window.

● If you run the Observer probe as a Windows process (you do not run theObserver probe as a Windows service), selectObserver.exe, and click OK.You return to the New Monitor Element window.

12. Ensure either “Availability” or Process Count” is selected for Statistics Type.13. Configure the rest of your settings, including display name, monitor category,


The final steps involve adding the monitor to your Observer probe in OI.16. In your device list, right-click the target Observer probe and choose Device

Properties. The Device Properties window appears.17. Click the IP tab, and ensure Observer Probe / OMS is enabled in the IP

Applications list.




OI is now monitoring your Observer probe. You can add more monitor elementsto the Observer Probe monitor, such as CPU utilization, using the same process.

Monitoring a GigaStorTo monitor a GigaStor appliance, using OI. complete the following steps:





window.5. Click Import, and navigate to the directory you chose in step 2.6. Double-click the file GigaStor.OiMonitor. The monitor is imported to the

Viavi folder (category). If the folder does not exist,OI creates it.


7. Ensure your GigaStor monitor is selected (the one you imported), and clickNew in the monitor elements list. The monitor elements list is the rightmostpanel of the window.

8. Expand the Performance branch, and double-click “WMI - Windows Services”.The New Monitor Element window appears.

9. Click the button near the Service Name field. The Enter WMI ConnectionParameters dialog appears.


11. Select the NI Expert Probe service from the list, and click OK. You return tothe New Monitor Element window.

12. Ensure “Availability” is selected for Statistics Type.13. Configure the rest of your settings, including display name, monitor category,

and alarm conditions.3.014. Click Finish to save your monitor element.15. Click OK to close the Program Options window.

The final steps involve adding the monitor to your GigaStor in OI.16. In your device list, right-click the target Observer probe and choose Device

Properties. The Device Properties window appears.17. Click the IP tab, and ensure Observer Probe / OMS is enabled in the IP

Applications list.




OI is now monitoring your GigaStor. You can add more monitor elements to theGigaStor monitor, such as CPU utilization, using the same process.

Monitoring Viavi Management Server (OMS)To monitor a Viavi Management Server device, complete the following steps:







window.5. Click Import, and navigate to the directory you chose in step 2.6. Double-click the file ManagementServer.OiMonitor. The monitor is

imported to the Viavi folder (category). If the folder does not exist,OI createsit.


7. Ensure your OMS monitor is selected (the one you imported), and click New inthe monitor elements list. The monitor elements list is the rightmost panel ofthe window.


● If you run OMS as a Windows service, expand the Performance branchand double-click “WMI - Windows Services”. The New Monitor Elementwindow appears.

● If you run OMS as a Windows process (you do not run OMS as a Windowsservice), expand the Performance branch and double-click “WMI -Windows Processes”. The New Monitor Element window appears.


● If you run OMS as a Windows service, click the button near the ServiceName field. The Enter WMI Connection Parameters dialog appears.

● If you run OMS as a Windows process (you do not run OMS as a Windowsservice), click the button near the Process Name field. The Enter WMIConnection Parameters dialog appears.



● If you run OMS as a Windows service, select the NIAuthSrv service fromthe list, and click OK. You return to the New Monitor Element window.

● If you run OMS as a Windows process (you do not run the OMS as aWindows service), select NIMgmtServer.exe, and click OK. You return tothe New Monitor Element window.

12. Ensure either “Availability” or “Process Count” is selected for Statistics Type.13. Configure the rest of your settings, including display name, monitor category,


The final steps involve adding the monitor to your GigaStor in OI.




16. In your device list, right-click the target Observer probe and choose DeviceProperties. The Device Properties window appears.

17. Click the IP tab, and ensure Observer Probe / OMS is enabled in the IPApplications list.




OI is now monitoring OMS. You can add more monitor elements to the OMSmonitor, such as CPU utilization, using the same process.

10

Chapter 10: Configuring OI

Using the Polling featurePolling is when OI gathers status information on the objects in the device groupby sending an eight-byte packet ping. Polling is only done on discovered devicesin your device group and can be done manually or automatically. Polling is setautomatic or manual while performing an initial discovery, but it can be changedat any time.

Polling that is done automatically is called autopolling. By default, it occurs everythree minutes. Autopolling should be used when you want to constantly monitora device group. This is the recommended setting.

Autopolling uses a timing interval to poll your devices. The interval begins at theinitiation of the poll. For instance, if a poll takes 30 seconds to complete and thetiming interval is 60 seconds, the poll will happen every 60 seconds. Autopollinghappens even if the device group window is closed. On the other hand, if thepolling interval is 60 seconds and it takes 85 seconds to complete the poll, thenext poll happens as soon as the previous poll completes.

Along with the mapping feature to visually show you your network, the abilityto poll a device or group of devices and alert you if the device responds slowly orfails to respond at all is the most important feature of OI’s functions and can beused to trigger alarms.

When a device is polled several things can happen:

♦ If it responds, then its color is maintained on the map and no alerts aregenerated.

♦ If the device does not respond, it is grayed out.♦ If the device is marked as critical and does not respond, then it is marked

with a yellow or red flag. A yellow flag means that the device did not

Using the Polling featureChapter 10: Configuring OI 107

respond to the most recent poll(s). A red flag means that the device didnot respond within the set time period.

Tip! The same status color codes for devices (green, yellow, red, gray) areused on connecting lines in the discovery map.

Note: Because OI sends WMI and SNMP queries, it is possible that theWindows Firewall or an Active Directory security policy could interfere withthe polling feature. If you suspect that your packets are being blocked oryou are not receiving syslog messages or SNMP traps, add OI to the “Allow”list on the firewall or contact your network administrator to add an ActiveDirectory exception.

Polling can be set at the device group or device-level. Choose one depending onwhat you need to configure:

♦ Device Group > Device Group Properties > Poll. Anything changed hereaffects all devices in the group.

♦ Device Group > Device > Device Properties > Poll. Anything changed hereaffects just this device. These settings take precedence over any group orprogram-wide setting; however, only within time frames allowed by thedevice group or program-wide settings.

♦ A device’s schedule takes precedence over, but cannot override, a devicegroup’s schedule. For example, if the device group is set to poll between7:00 and 17:00 and the device is set to poll between 8:00 and 18:00,polling only occurs between 8:00 and 17:00. This is because the device’s8:00 takes precedence over the 7:00 time from the device group, butpolling stops at 17:00 because polling can only occur within time framesset by the device group.

How do I… ...do thisTurn polling on oroff for a devicegroup

Choose Tools > Polling (or Auto-Polling). These options are onlyavailable if you are on the Monitoring tab of the device group.If you are on the Topology Discovery, Inventories, or AlarmedDevices tab, these options are disabled. This affects the entiredevice group.

Change the pollinginterval for a devicegroup

Select a device group, right-click and choose Properties. Thenchoose the Poll tab. Change the polling interval to suit yourneeds.In many situations, an interval of 10 minutes (600 seconds)provides sufficient warning of device outages withoutovertaxing the network or your OIsystem. Also 10 minutesprovides enough useful data points for reporting if logging isenabled.

Update devicesusing DHCP

See Automatically rediscovering your network and updatingdevices that use DHCP.

Configure pollingoptions for aspecific device

Select a device group, then the device you want to change.Right-click and choose Device Properties, then the Poll tab.Here you set when polling should occur, how long to wait for aresponse, how many times to attempt contact, as well as whattype of polling.

Change the pingpacket data size

Choose Options > Program Options > General tab.

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Creating polling schedulesThe Polling Schedules tab lets you schedule when OI is polling device groups ordevices. This can be done at preset times and only certain days of the week.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Polling Schedules tab.2. Click New at the bottom of the Schedules column. The New Schedule dialog

appears.3. Type a name for the schedule and click OK. Ensure your new schedule is

selected.4. In the Selected Polling Schedule area on the right, define the schedule.

● Always● Daily at specified times● By day-of-week at specified times

5. To add or edit a time interval to a schedule option, choose that option (inother words, select daily or the day-of-week) and click Add or Edit.

A time interval specification dialog is displayed that allows you to set thetime period for the capture to be performed. Time intervals include the lastminute of the interval. All time periods are specified in 24-hour (also known asmilitary) time.

6. To delete a time interval from a schedule option, simply highlight the intervalyou wish to delete and click the Delete button.


For more information about polling, see Using the Polling feature.

Connecting to a remote OIYou can connect to a remote OI system and view the device groups and routesfrom that system in your local OI. This allows you to deploy OI throughout yournetwork.

To add a device group or route from a remote OI:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select a device group (or click anywhere inthe white space in the Device Groups/Routes list).

2. Right-click and choose Connect/Redirect Probe. The Probes window appears.3. Click New. Provide the following for the remote OI:

● IP address● User name and password. This is your OI user name on the remote

system, not your domain or remote operating system’s user account.4. Click Next. OI queries the remote OI instance and displays all available device

groups for which you have permission.5. Select the device groups you want to add to your local OI and click Finish.

Alternatively, choose Options > Program Options > Probes tab to add anew remote OI instance from which to monitor your devices.


Using the Log WindowChapter 10: Configuring OI 109

Whenever you are working with or modifying a device group on a remote probe,you are making changes that affect anyone else who may also be connected tothat probe. Things to be aware of before making any changes include: startingor stopping autopolling, de-activating the device group or route, deleting thedevice group or route.

♦ Starting or stopping autopolling♦ De-activating the device group or route♦ Deleting the device group or route

Another thing to be aware of when working with device groups, devices, androutes on remote OI s is that you cannot use any custom alarm responses createdon your local OI. Only alarm responses created on the remote OI may be used.

Using the Log WindowThe log window at the bottom lists all events for every device group and routesince OI was started. You can search for a specific log entry using the Find button.You may also filter the list.

1. Click the Log Settings button. The Log Window Settings window appears.2. On the Filter Settings tab, select whether you want OI events to be shown,

which events to show, and for which devices.3. On the Startup Settings tab, choose whether any records should be loaded

when OI starts. This will load any historical event entries.

Simulating VoIP calls between IP SLA-enabled routersOI provides reports for IP SLA-enabled routers about VoIP quality when youenable those features on your router. After enabling the feature on your IP SLArouters, OI provides reports for you to view.

OI provides reports for IP SLA-enabled routers about VoIP quality when youenable those features on your router. After enabling the feature on your IP SLArouters, OI provides reports for you to view.

1. Read the information in Configuring your Cisco IP SLA monitor for moreinformation about how OI monitors IP SLA operations on your router.

2. See Cisco documentation for enabling the features on your IP SLA-enabledrouter.

3. In OI. ensure your devices have the “Discovered IP SLA Operations” monitorenabled, or have a monitor with these monitor elements enabled. To create acustom monitor, see Configuring monitors.

● VoIP Call Setup● VoIP Gatekeeper Registration Delay● VoIP RTP-Based

4. Begin collecting polling data, then view reports. See Viewing a report for….View the “By Monitor” reports, the “Discovered IP SLA Operations” report oryour custom monitor report.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps6537/ps6555/ps6602/prod_white_paper0900aecd804fb392.pdf

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Monitoring a latency-sensitive or distributedapplication

With latency-sensitive or distributed applications you want to monitor themfrom beginning to end and back so you know what happens at each step alongthe way.

Here are the general steps to take to monitor your application:

1. Define any custom IP Applications. OI can query the application to ensure thatit is running and alert you if the application has stopped. See Defining how IPApplications are identified.

2. Define routes. OI can track network delays along the application’s path usingroutes. Set up a route from the OI system to each system in the applicationpath. See Creating a route.

3. Track application and system performance. Use SNMP, WMI, or WSD to collectperformance metrics about the application. You will need a monitor for eachapplication and system along the path. See Devices monitored by ObserverInfrastructure to use the pre-defined monitors or to create your own.

4. Set up your alarms. If you are tracking a latency-sensitive application, you willwant to know when there is a problem. See Configuring Alarms.

5. Create your reports so that you have the overview and the details you want.See Viewing reports in OI.

Icons and their meaningsTable 12 lists several icons in OI and their meanings.

Table 12: OI icons

Gray question mark Device or service has not beenpolled or it has been polledand its status is unknown.For example, if you have a 24port switch that OI has polledbefore OI knows to expect 24port values. The gray questionmark indicates that not all 24values are known or has thatthe values it does have areolder than 30 minutes.

Yellow arrow Device or service is operating,but marginally, accordingto thresholds set in DeviceProperties > Alarms tab.Attention is suggested, butnot immediately needed.

Red arrow Device or service is downor failing set thresholdsaccording to thresholds setin Device Properties > Alarms

Icons and their meaningsChapter 10: Configuring OI 111

tab. Immediate attention isrequired.

Yellow exclamation mark Response time analysis for thisdevice is marginal as definedin the Device Properties >Alarms tab.

Red exclamation mark Response time analysis for thisdevice is critical as defined inthe Device Properties > Alarmstab.

Green arrow Autopolling is enabled.

Pause icon Autopolling is disabled for thedevice in Device Properties >Poll tab.

Asterisk Device group or route haschanged since it was lastsaved. If you close OI withoutsaving a changed devicegroup, you are asked if youwant to save the changes.

Green line Two or more devicesconnected by a green lineindicate a single device withmultiple network interface.

Red line An interface has multiple IPaddresses. This may be thecase with a virtualized system.

Dark green line Devices are usually routersor switches connected to asubnet cloud icon.

Blue line Devices are connected to arouter or switch.

Green dot Remote probe is connected.

Red dot Failed to connect or is notyet connected to remoteprobe. This could be becausethe OI is not running on theremote probe or there was anauthentication error.

Red X Remote probe is disconnected.This is different from the reddot, because this probe isintentionally disconnected,usually because you do notwant to monitor any of thedevice groups or routes onthe remote probe, but donot want to delete the probeconfiguration. Whereas the reddot indicates a problem.

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Using the General tabThe General tab allows you to set numerous basic settings for OI. Additionally,you may also set:

♦ Security password♦ Anonymous login permissions♦ Polling options, including SNMP request throttling. See Throttling SNMP

requests.♦ Defining custom administrative tools. See Defining custom administrative

tools.♦ Defining additional properties for devices. Define additional device

properties to be inserted into e-mail messages, text-to-speech messages,or in command line calls of user-defined administrative tool menus.

♦ Run OI as a Windows service. When OI runs as a service, it isObsInfrSrv.exe in Task Manager.

♦ IPMI sensor definitions. You can define or edit sensor definitions from thistab. See Defining IPMI sensor definitions.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > General tab.2. Make any changes and click OK.

Using the Probes tabThe Probes tab lists any remote OI instances in your network that you haveadded or connected to.

To add a remote OI probe:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Probes tab. Click New button at thebottom of the Probe Name column. The New OI Probe window appears.

2. Click New. Provide the following for the remote OI:a. IP addressb. User name and password. This is your OI user name on the remote system,

not your domain or remote operating system’s user account.3. Leave the Probe name box empty. The first time you connect to the remote

probe, the name will automatically be retrieved and saved.


To connect to a remote probe, see Connecting to a remote OI.

Defining how IP Applications are identifiedThis tab lists all of the IP applications that OI identifies during the discoveryprocess.

These applications include:

Tip! Some IP applications are defined by scripts, such as the example inthis section. In those cases, refer to ANSI escape characters for help buildingyour scripts.

Defining how IP Applications are identifiedChapter 10: Configuring OI 113

DNS DNS (TCP) FTP GopherHTTP HTTPS IMAP4 IMAP (SSL/TLS)Lotus Notes LPD NNTP POP3POP3 (SSL/TLS) Radius RPC RTSPSMTP SNMP SNPP SSHTelnet Custom-defined

1. Choose Options > Program Options > IP Applications tab.2. Click Add to add a new application. The application must be a TCP

application.

You may not edit any of the default applications. For instance, if HTTP runson a port other than 80, you must create a new IP application to identify it."When discovering applications, disable the search for the default one (ex.HTTP port 80) and enable the search for your custom application (ex. HTTPport 8080).

3. Complete the information in the IP Application Properties window. The restof the section describes how to use the Script box.

In the Script box, click Add or Edit to add any commands or scripts to sendwhen searching for your IP application. OI sends it, and if OI receives anexpected reply, then the application is added to that device for monitoring.

The Expression box has many options available for it. Right-click in the box tosee them. You can change the reading order from right to left, plus show andinsert numerous Unicode characters.

Each TCP application is associated with a TCP port number, but OI cannotguarantee that a specific application is running on a given port. Additionalinformation is required to identify the application. This is done through therequest/response packet content.

There are two operations defined in the script engine for packet contentgeneration and verification:

● Send—Defines the content to send to the open TCP port.● Expect—A regular expression to verify the response packet.


The maximum waiting period between each request/response packet is definedin the device’s timeout duration. This is set in the user interface, not as part ofthe script. To configure it, see Using the Polling feature. During the verificationprocess if the maximum waiting period is reached without the expected packetcaptured, the script engine stops and the corresponding TCP application ismarked “unavailable.”

Example HTTP application identifierThis example shows how the script for the HTTP protocol (port 80) wasdeveloped.

1. Check port availability on 80.

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2. Generate and send out a HTTP request packet. The request packet is definedby:

Send=HEAD / HTTP/1.0\r\nAccept: */*\r\nUser-Agent:Mozilla/4.0\r\n\r\n

3. Analyze the response packet. If a response packet is captured and it matchesthe expected content defined as Expect=^HTTP/, the HTTP protocol status isconsidered up. If it does not match, HTTP is not running on port 80.

The full example for HTTP protocol: Send=HEAD / HTTP/1.0\r\nAccept: */*\r\nUser-Agent: Mozilla/4.0\r\n\r\n; Expect=^HTTP/;

ANSI escape charactersThere are some escape sequences that may be used. Character combinationsconsisting of a backslash (\) followed by a letter or by a combination of digits arecalled escape sequences. Table 13 lists the possible ANSI escape sequences:

Table 13: ANSI escape sequences\a Bell (alert)\b Backspace\f Formfeed\n New line\r Carriage return\t Horizontal tab\v Vertical tab\' Single quotation mark\ “ Double quotation mark\\ Backslash\? Literal question mark\0oo ASCII character in octal notation, o is an octal number, [0-7]\xhh ASCII character in hexadecimal notation, h is a hex number, [0-9,

A-F]; Semi-colon is used to end every Send and Expect statement

Configuring how much hard drive space OI usesOI stores its trending and polling data on the hard drive in the C:\ProgramFiles\ObserverInfrastructure\Logs directory. A separate directory iscreated for each device group and route. Inside of each of those directories iswhere all of the data is kept. With autopolling enabled it is possible that a lot ofdata could be collected. If you find that too much data is being stored, you canconfigure how much data to keep. Another option may be to reduce the pollinginterval. See “Using the Polling feature” for details.

Defining IPMI sensor definitionsChapter 10: Configuring OI 115

The data is also used to create all reports. Some reports use the original poll data,while others use hourly or daily statistics (the trending data). The statistics takeup much less space.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > Data Management tab.2. Make any changes to the different options as needed.

Defining IPMI sensor definitionsOI is pre-loaded with many IPMI sensor definitions. Sensor definitions are whatOI uses to interface with IPMI devices, so this list must be maintained. Forexample, if you own an IPMI device which has a unique sensor—and therefore isnot defined in OI—you must manually define it before OI is able to interface withthat sensor.

OI supports IPMI 1.5 and IPMI 2.0.

To define an IPMI sensor type or units (or edit existing ones), complete thefollowing steps:

1. Choose Options > Program Options > General tab.2. Click the IPMI Sensor Definitions button. The IPMI Sensor Definitions

window appears.3. Do any of the following:

● Define a new sensor—click Add in the Sensor Types area.● Add a sensor event to an existing sensor—select a sensor definition and

click Add Event. Only sensor definitions that are not threshold based canhave multiple events.

● Define a new sensor unit—click Add in the Sensor Units area. A sensor unitis simply a unit of measure you define.



After adding a sensor definition, OI can recognize it during interaction with IPMIdevices. Remember, you must use credentials when connecting to IPMI devices.See Saving user names (credentials) to access devices.

Throttling SNMP requestsBy default, OI throttles SNMP requests to prevent them from being blocked byfirewalls, routers, or security appliances preventing a denial of service attack.These options do not need to be changed unless necessary. For example, if youcannot poll SNMP devices successfully, try a value greater than the default 20 ms.

1. Choose Options > Program Options > General tab.2. In the Polling Options area, change the settings to fit your needs.

Defining custom administrative toolsRight-clicking a device in OI allows you to execute several administrative tools,such as Telnet, Windows Remote Desktop, trace route and more. You can also

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define your own custom administration tools and have them appear in the samemenu. To do this, follow the instructions in this section.

1. Choose Options > Program Options. The Program Options window appears.2. Ensure the General tab is selected, and click the Define Additional

Administrative Tools button. The Additional Administrative Tools windowappears.

3. Click the Add button.4. Type a descriptive title for your menu item. The title should describe either

the tool or the action it performs.5. Type the target location of a batch file or executable to open when a user

selects the menu item. You can type Windows command line tools withoutthe full path. For example,cmd opens Command Prompt; the full path isunnecessary.

6. Type any additional command line parameters. For example, if netstat isyour command line, try typing /? as the parameter. This parameter shows youa list of all parameters for the Windows tool Netstat.

OI includes built-in dynamic parameters that can be used in step 6. Forexample, typing <IP Address> (exactly as shown) causes the IP address ofthe target device to be passed to the command line as a parameter. Moreparameters are listed in Options > Program Options > General tab.

Also, if the output of your administration tool closes to quickly for you toview, we recommend running your command from a batch file and having itslast line bepause.

7. When you are finished, Click OK.8. Click OK once more to save your changes.

Now, you can right-click any device and perform your custom administrationtools directly from OI.

I don’t understand dynamic parameters. Can you provide anexample?

Dynamic parameters are parameters that are context sensitive. They work inplace of a normal parameter.

Remember, though, dynamic parameters can also be used in conjunction withnormal parameters.

This is an example of a normal parameter: 10.0.0.10. It is an IP address, and itdoes not change. So, if you use the ftp command line with that parameter of10.0.0.10, you attempt to establish an FTP session with 10.0.0.10 regardless ofthe device you right-click in OI .

This is an example of a dynamic parameter:<IP Address> It represents an IPaddress, but the IP address it uses is that of the device you right-click. So, if youuse the ftp command line with that parameter of <IP Address>, you attempt toestablish an FTP session with the IP address of the device you right-click in OI .

Integrating OI with ObserverUsing Observer, you can capture packets on a device or create a filter specific toany device, pair, or group.

Integrating OI with ObserverChapter 10: Configuring OI 117

If Observer Suite 9.0 or greater is installed on your system, OI provides thefollowing features that allow you to use the programs together:

♦ Perform packet capture on any device, device pair, or group of deviceslisted in OI

♦ Create a packet capture filter for any device, device pair, or group ofdevices listed in OI

● Import alias files (“.adr” files) created by Observer● Export alias files for use with Observer

Configuring what Observer probe instance this OI usesBefore you can start a packet capture from within OI, you must first connect OIwith an Observer probe instance. This is done on a device group-by-device groupbasis.

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group for which you wantto set which Observer probe instance it uses.

2. Right-click and choose Properties. Click the Observer Integration tab.3. Select which probe instance you want to use.

Creating a filter to use in Observer based on a deviceIn any of the OI views, you can select one or more network devices and set anObserver address filter (Hardware or IP) for those devices.

To select a device for packet filtering:

1. On the monitoring map, select the device you want to filter.2. Right-click and choose Observer Integration > Create Filter, then choose

how you want to filter the device:

● By hardware (MAC) address● By IP address

You can see your filter in Observer by choosing Actions > Filter Setup forSelected Probe. It is in the Auto Created Filters list.

Starting Observer to capture packetsTo launch Observer from OI to capture packets, follow these steps.

1. From any of the OI map or table displays, select one or more network devices.To select more than one device, hold the Control key down as you click eachdevice.

2. Right-click and choose Observer Integration > Start Packet Capture, thenchoose how you want to capture packets

● On Station(s) by Hardware Address—sets the filter to capture all packetsto and from the selected address(es).

● On Pair by Hardware Address (grayed out unless you have selected exactly2 devices)—sets the filter to capture all packets conversing between theselected pair of addresses.

● On Station(s) by IP Address—sets the filter to capture all packets to andfrom the selected address(es).

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● On Pair (s) by IP Address (grayed out unless you have selected exactly 2devices)—sets the filter to capture all packets conversing between theselected pair of addresses.

Observer comes into focus (or starts if the program was closed). The NewFilter dialog appears.

3. Type a name for the filter and click OK. The Edit Filter window appears. Youcan review or modify your filter.

4. Click OK and choose whether to make the filter the active filter on the probeinstance.

The packet capture starts immediately.

Importing and exporting Observer Alias (.adr) filesOI can exchange alias lists with Observer. To import an alias list from (or exportan alias list to) Observer, select Tools > Observer Integration > Import Alias listfrom (or Export alias List to...).

A file dialog is then displayed, allowing you to select the file to import (or supplya filename to export).

Alias list files must have the extension .adr for Observer and OI to recognizethem.

Integrating with ORSThe data you collect in OI can be used in your ORS reports. Specifically, you canconfigure reports in ORS to show device group, monitor, and Top N data collectedfrom OI. See to understand how OI monitors are shared with ORS.

Figure 13: Monitors are shared between ORS and OI

Integrating with ORSChapter 10: Configuring OI 119

To enable this functionality, complete the following:

♦ Add an OI probe as a new data source in ORS.♦ Then, edit any business group to include your OI device group(s).

Furthermore, if you use an Observer Encryption Key for secure connections, youmust also configure OI to use the same key. In OI. do this by choosing Tools >Program Options > Remote Access tab.

Adding infrastructure data to ORS reportsOI can share its data with ORS. In effect, the reports you create in ORS candisplay data collected from OI.

Adding a web page1. In ORS, create (or edit an existing) Network Trending report.2. Click the Add Item button. The Add Report Element dialog appears.3. Select Embedded Web Page, and then click OK.4. Select a device group. Only active device groups can be selected.5. Select a report.6. Click OK to confirm your changes.

Adding a current status element1. In ORS, create (or edit an existing) Network Trending report.2. Click the Add Item button. The Add Report Element dialog appears.3. Select Current Status, and then click OK.4. Type a name for your element title.5. Click the New OI Multi Status Element Row button. The OI Monitor

Elements window appears.6. Type a name for your element row.7. Click New, and then select your data source.8. Click OK to confirm your changes.9. Click OK to save your changes.

Adding a table, grid, or graph1. In ORS, create (or edit an existing) Network Trending report.2. Click the Add Item button. The Add Report Element dialog appears.3. Select any standard report element, and then click OK.4. Select an OI related trending source from the Data Source Selection area.

Creating sub-reports from infrastructure dataSub-report functionality is available for ORS reports using OI data. Enabling thisfunctionality is the key to creating sub-reports. Depending on the report elementin view, the process to enable sub-report functionality varies.

Enabling sub-report functionality in a table, grid, or graph1. In ORS, create (or edit an existing) Network Trending report.2. Click the Add Item button. The Add Report Element dialog appears.

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3. Select any standard report element, and then click OK.4. Select an OI related trending source from the Data Source Selection area.5. Type a name for your element title.6. Click OK to confirm your changes.7. In the Report Drill Down area of the Report Layout window, click Select, next

to OI. The Select Drill Down Reports window appears.8. Double-click a report to select it as a sub-report.9. Select the new sub-report from the Selected Reports for Drill Down area.10. Finally, perform a sub-report association; use a drag-and-drop operation to

pair a drill down element with its matching source element ().

Figure 14: Sub-Report Association

Enabling sub-report functionality in a current status element1. In ORS, create (or edit an existing) Network Trending report.2. Click Add Item. The Add Report Element dialog appears.3. Select Current Status, and then click OK.4. Type a name for your element title.5. Click New Status Element Row. The Current Status Element Row Setup

window appears.6. Type a name for your element row.7. Select an OI related trending source from the Data Source Selection area.8. Click OK to confirm your changes.9. Click Select, next to OI Drill Down Report.10. Double-click a report to select it as a sub-report.11. Select the new sub-report from the Selected Reports for Drill Down area.12. Finally, perform a sub-report association; use a drag-and-drop operation to

pair a drill down element with its matching source element ().

Using the monitoring map toolbarsChapter 10: Configuring OI 121

Figure 15: Sub-Report Association


Using the monitoring map toolbarsIf you manually add devices to your device group, or want to change the wayvarious icons look, you can change them using the drawing and layout tools. TheObjects toolbar can be turned on or off by choosing View > Toolbars > Objects.

Figure 16: Monitoring map toolbar

Drawing toolsThe OI Objects toolbar includes a suite of drawing tools that allow you to arrangethe map in functional and logical ways.

By selecting the arrow tool, and clicking on a device’s icon, the icon can bedragged and dropped to any portion of the map, or moved or copied to anothermap.

Object DescriptionLine Permits you to connect devices or groups of devices with a

stretchable line. Click the icon, then drag-click to create a line.To remove the line, click the line, then press the Delete key, orright-click and select Delete from the pop-up menu.

Text Places a text box on the map. The cursor will turn into a crossbar.Click anywhere on the map to place the label there.

Rectangle Places a rectangle on the map. Then click-drag on the mapto create the rectangle. Hold down the shift key to force therectangle to be a square.

Ellipse Places an ellipse on the map. Hold down the shift key to forcethe oval to be circular.

Rounded cornerrectangle

Places a rounded corner rectangle on your map. Hold down theShift key to force the round-cornered rectangle to be a round-cornered square.

To change formatting properties such as the font of text, or the border and fillcolor of any object on the map, right-click the object and choose Properties fromthe pop up menu. Set the options as desired, and check the Save as default box ifyou want these changes to become the defaults when new objects are created.

Holding down the Shift key while click-dragging will cause the object to besymmetrical: a square, circle, rounded square, or square box.

Using the monitoring map toolbars122 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Layout toolsThe Ring, Bus, and Group layout tools enable the network administrator toorganize sets of devices within a device group.

These layout tools are intended to help you arrange the icons on a map ina logical or visually useful way. They do not necessarily indicate the actualtopology of the network, and will do so only by coincidence. (A group of iconsconnected by a ring, for example, need not be part of a Token Ring network.)

Map item DescriptionDevice Ring Circle on the monitoring map around which other devices are

connected using a line. To modify the properties of a ring, right-click the ring and select Properties from the pop-up menu.This dialog permits the network administrator to modify theproperties of the ring. The length of the lines can be modified,as can the length, width, and color of both the lines and the ringitself. Uncheck the Automatically resize when icons are arrangedoption, if desired.To quickly and easily move a ring and its attached devicesaround the map, leave this box checked. When moving a ring,if you resize it even a tiny amount, OI will automatically evenlyspace the icons around the ring.

Bus Straight line on the map to which devices are connected. Usea bus when you want items connected to a line, so that anychanges to the line will affect the devices connected to it.To connect a device to the bus, drag the icon next to the bus;OI will automatically connect the icon to the bus. To modifythe properties of a bus, right-click the bus and select Propertiesfrom the pop-up menu. The Bus Properties dialog box isdisplayed.The General tab allows you to modify the width and color of thelines. Click the Icons tab to modify the placement and spacing ofthe icons along the bus.

Group Holds many devices that you do not want as part of your map.Presumably, you would place a Reference icon on the map andhave it link to the devices in the group. Use the General tabto set the look of the group box. Use the Title tab to add asummary and set the text’s color.

Reference Shortcut to a device group, route, or device group reference.Subnet Icon representing a subnet. Use lines to connect devices to the

subnet.Device Icon representing any number of devices on your network. See

Manually adding known devices for more details.

Tip! Rings, buses, and groups can be created and configured directly froman existing monitoring map. Select several devices by control-clicking themor drawing a bounding outline around them. Then right-click and selectNew Group from the menu. Choose between type of layout: horizontal orvertical bus, ring, or group box.

Moving rings, buses and groupsIt is often desirable to move a ring, bus, or group and the devices connected toit without disturbing either the order or the physical arrangement of devices in

Using the monitoring map toolbarsChapter 10: Configuring OI 123

or around the ring, bus, or group. Right-click the ring, bus, or group, and chooseSelect All from the pop-up menu. The ring, bus, or group can then be click-dragged to another position on the map.

The ring, bus, or group and its contents can also be selected by clicking on thering, and then clicking Edit > Select All or pressing the Select All shortcut key, Ctrl+A.

Arranging devicesThe devices in the ring, bus, or group can be arranged or rearranged, either toreorder them by name or address, to make the display more regular, or both.For example, if you move a ring apart from the devices associated with it, theresult is long and unsightly line connections to the devices. To correct, right-clickthe ring, select Arrange Devices from the pop-up menu. Select the desired sortoption (Name or IP Address). The devices will then be evenly spaced around thering.

11

Chapter 11: Configuring Secondary OI

Configuring a failover or redundant ObserverInfrastructure

If you need a high degree of availability for Observer Infrastructure, then enablethe Observer Infrastructure redundancy feature. Redundancy, also known asfailover, helps maintain a high “up” time for your Observer Infrastructure system.

The redundant Observer Infrastructure feature relies on features within theWindows Server 2008 R2 operating system called Network Load Balancing (NLB).Although load balancing can be used for scalability in other systems, ObserverInfrastructure uses the feature exclusively for failover services.

The systems in a Network Load Balancing cluster send “heartbeat” packetsbetween each other to confirm that each system is available. Systems in a clusterare constantly exchanging heartbeat packets. A system is marked as failed ifit has not responded to a heartbeat packet within five seconds. If the clusterdetects that the primary Observer Infrastructure system is not responding, thesecondary Observer Infrastructure system is immediately brought online, usuallywith users being unaware that there was a problem.

Configuring a failover or redundant Observer InfrastructureChapter 11: Configuring Secondary OI 125

Figure 17: Example of failover operation

Failover

Config/Logs

HeartbeatPrimary

Normal Operation: A heartbeat confirms primary system is available. Primary sends configuration data to failover at regular intervals. Failover is online, but passive.

Failover Operation: A heartbeat is no longer detected. Failover assumes primary system’s responsibilities.

To learn more about the clustering and failover features in Windows Server 2008R2, see observer.viavisolutions.com/failover. Also on the page is a white paperthat contains many details and is recommended reading.

Enabling and configuring Observer Infrastructure redundancy requires makingchanges to the Windows operating system and Observer Infrastructure programitself. The changes must be made on both the primary Observer Infrastructuresystem and the failover system. The operating system changes must bemade, which may require system restarts, before configuring the ObserverInfrastructure program.

How to configure the failover cluster in WindowsObserver Infrastructure uses the failover feature from Network Load Balancing(NLB) in Windows to manage when failover should occur. NLB is not installed aspart of Windows by default. This is part one of a two part procedure.

Prerequisite(s):

♦ Windows Server 2008 R2 installed.♦ The computer system must have two network adapters. Each must

be configured to use different subnets. One adapter is for ObserverInfrastructure communication and the second is for responding to HTTPrequests and for maintaining the failover configuration.

http://observer.viavisolutions.com/failover

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1. On the primary Observer Infrastructure system, open the Server Manager bychoosing Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager.

2. In Server Manager, click Action > Add Features.3. In the Add Features Wizard, select Network Load Balancing (NLB) and then

click Next to complete the wizard. It may be necessary to restart the systemfor the Network Load Balancing feature to be fully enabled.

4. Complete step 1 through step 3 on the failover Observer Infrastructuresystem.

5. On the primary Observer Infrastructure system, open the Network LoadBalancing Manager by choosing Start > Administrative Tools > NetworkLoad Balancing Manager.

6. Choose Cluster > New. Type the IP address of the primary ObserverInfrastructure system and click Connect. The available network interfacenames and IP addresses appear.

7. Select the interface to be used for NLB. It will respond to ObserverInfrastructure HTTP requests. Click Next.

8. In the Host Parameters window:

● Keep Priority at 1. This sets the primary system in the failover cluster. Forthe failover system, set Priority to 2.

● In the Dedicated IP addresses section, remove any addresses if theyexist. This ensures that only one IP address is configured for the networkadapter.

● In the Default State field, set the state to Stopped. ObserverInfrastructure handles when to start and stop the NLB service.

9. In the Cluster Parameters window, you may change the Full Internet Nameif you wish, but it is not necessary. If you do change the name, you mustalso change it on the failover system. The names must match. This allowsboth Observer Infrastructure systems in the cluster to respond to a domainname (rather than just an IP address) in your web browser when viewingdashboards. In the Cluster Operation Mode, leave it as “Unicast.” Click Next.


10. In the Port Rules window, if there are any rules, select each and remove it.Observer Infrastructure does not use this feature , and therefore any rulesmust be removed. Click Finish.

11. In the Cluster list, select the cluster IP address (192.168.5.100 in above figure).Right-click and choose Add Host to Cluster.

12. Type the IP address of the failover Observer Infrastructure system and clickConnect.

13. Repeat step 7 to step 10. It may take a moment before the failover systemappears in the NLB cluster.

Now the Windows portion is complete; it is time to begin configuringObserver Infrastructure.

How to configure Observer Infrastructure RedundancyYou can enable Observer Infrastructure Redundancy so that should your primaryObserver Infrastructure lose power or connectivity, the failover ObserverInfrastructure becomes active. This is part two of a two part procedure.

Prerequisite(s):

♦ Network Load Balancing configured. See How to configure the failovercluster in Windows.

♦ All Observer Infrastructure configurations complete, except ObserverApex Redundancy. Most Observer Infrastructure settings from theprimary system automatically transfer to the failover system after theredundancy feature is completed.

1. On the primary Observer Infrastructure system, choose Options > ProgramSettings > General tab and select “Enable Apex redundancy.” Click OK.This adds the Apex Redundancy tab to the user interface. The Enable Apexredundancy option is only available if NLB has been installed and configured.


2. On the Apex Redundancy tab, click the Make this the Primary Apexbutton. This sets this Observer Infrastructure system to be the primaryObserver Infrastructure.

3. Click the Edit button and provide the following:

● The IP address of the management interface on the other ObserverInfrastructure system, not the NLB interface

● How many days should be synchronized (0-365)● The local Windows user name, which must have administrative privileges,

and password under which NLB is running4. On the failover Observer Infrastructure system, complete step 1 and step 3. Do

not complete step 2.

The Observer Infrastructure redundancy feature is now configured. It maytake several minutes (10 or 60 based on your settings) before the failoverObserver Infrastructure is synchronized.

To ensure that your failover process is working, you should test it from timeto time to verify it functions as expected. For production servers, you wouldwant to test at a slow time, such as on a weekend, late at night, or holiday. Tominimize any risk to the system itself, shut down any programs or processesthat are not essential to the failover test.

Understanding NLB failover and Observer Infrastructureredundancy fields

The table provides greater detail about each of the fields on the ObserverInfrastructure Redundancy tab. It also answers common questions such as whatis synchronized and what happens when the primary Observer Infrastructuregoes offline.

Table 14: Observer Infrastructure redundancy fieldsNLB heartbeat The NLB heartbeat between all systems in the cluster is

constant, but failure is determined when there is no responsereceived within five seconds. This is part NLB, not ObserverInfrastructure.

ObserverInfrastructureheartbeat

The primary Observer Infrastructure sends a health requestperiodically to confirm the failover Observer Infrastructureis available. If the failover Observer Infrastructure does notrespond, the primary Observer Infrastructure logs the eventand disables failover services until the problem is resolved. Ifthe failover Observer Infrastructure detects that the primaryObserver Infrastructure has failed, then it initiates an NLBfailover and the failover Observer Infrastructure becomes active.

ObserverInfrastructuresynchronization

The Observer Infrastructure settings is synchronized every10 minutes. This is configurable to 60 minutes by changingthe value on the Schedules > Data Transfer tab. The ObserverInfrastructure trending data is checked at the same rate but onlydata from yesterday and prior is synchronized. This is becausefiles from today are actively being updated, whereas yesterday’sfiles are not. Should the primary Observer Infrastructure failoverbefore today’s data has been synchronized with the failoverObserver Infrastructure, the failover Observer Infrastructurewill request the data from the data sources directly. Today andyesterday are relative terms based on UTC, not your local time.


Synchronize Now A manual way to initiate a transfer of the latest ObserverInfrastructure settings from the primary Observer Infrastructureto the failover Observer Infrastructure. The ObserverInfrastructure trending data that is synchronized is fromyesterday (based on midnight UTC) and prior. It does not gettrending data from today.

Get Data Range Enabled only on the failover Observer Infrastructure. Allows youto choose a date range from which to transfer data. It does nottransfer Observer Infrastructure settings.

Make this theprimary ObserverInfrastructure

Enabled only on the failover Observer Infrastructure. Makes thefailover Observer Infrastructure become the primary ObserverInfrastructure after a negotiation, when possible. This optioncan be used to switch roles so that the primary ObserverInfrastructure can be taken down for maintenance.

Edit Allows you to set IP address of the management interfaceon the other Observer Infrastructure system, not the NLBinterface; how many days of data should be synchronized (0-365days); and the Windows user name and password under whichNLB is running. The user account must have administrativeprivileges and is required if Observer Infrastructure is running asa Windows service.

What issynchronized

All data and settings, except:

♦ Whether you want Observer Infrastructure to run as aWindows service.

♦ The Observer Infrastructure name and security settings(from Options > Program Settings). If you use securitysettings, you must manually duplicate the encryption key orObserver Management Server (OMS) options on the failoverObserver Infrastructure. The security settings of the failoverObserver Infrastructure will be used should it become active.If the failover Observer Infrastructure’ security settings donot match those of the primary, Observer Infrastructure willnot be able to get any data from its data sources or providedashboards.

♦ Licensing. You must have a separate license for eachObserver Infrastructure system.

What happenswhen theprimary ObserverInfrastructurecomes back online

When the failover Observer Infrastructure determines thatthe primary Observer Infrastructure is unavailable, it becomesthe primary Observer Infrastructure. The system that used tobe the primary Observer Infrastructure becomes the failoverObserver Infrastructure and it stays the failover ObserverInfrastructure even after it comes back online. Even thoughthe failover Observer Infrastructure has become the primaryObserver Infrastructure, minimal changes should be made to itsconfiguration.

Shut down order To prevent the failover Observer Infrastructure from becomingthe primary Observer Infrastructure, shut down the systemsin the following order: failover system first, then the primarysystem. Start them in the reverse order (primary first, thenfailover). This prevents NLB from switching their prioritysettings. Whenever the systems are shut down and restarted,you should verify that each has its correct role (primary/secondary), and that they are connected and synchronizing.

Logging Observer Infrastructure logs all redundancy actions in theObserver Infrastructure event log. When performing certain


manual actions, check the Observer Infrastructure log to confirmthey have completed.

How to configure Observer Infrastructure failoverYou can enable Observer Infrastructure failover so that should your primaryObserver Infrastructure lose power or connectivity, the failover ObserverInfrastructure becomes active. This is part two of a two part procedure.

Prerequisite(s):

♦ Network Load Balancing configured. See How to configure the failovercluster in Windows.

♦ Observer Infrastructure installed on both the primary and failoversystems.

♦ All Observer Infrastructure configurations complete, including Users andRemote Access Groups. Most Observer Infrastructure settings from theprimary system automatically transfer to the failover system after theredundancy feature is completed.

♦ The user account used for the failover probe connection must belong tothe local Windows Administrators group on Windows.

Caution: Observer Infrastructure on the failover system can only be usedfor browsing and changing the Failover Role. It may not be used forpolling or discovery while in a secondary, failover-ready role. It can if itshould become the primary installation either during a failover event or byremoving the redundancy.

1. Click Credential Library and add credentials for a member of localAdministrators security group. This account is for Observer Infrastructure tomanipulate NLB services during failover operation.

2. Click General and select the credential you just added as the Failoveraccount.

The next two steps create two failover connections between the primaryand failover systems. The first is from the primary to the failover system andthe second is from the failover to the primary system. Be sure to test bothconnections!

3. On the primary Observer Infrastructure, click Options > Program Options >Remote Access. Add the user group to the Observer Infrastructure Probegroup. This ensures that the failover connection always works regardlessof map settings. Also ensure users, groups, and access rights are properlyconfigured for your environment.

4. Click Probes. Add a failover connection.IP Address DNS name or IP address of the remote computer that will be the

failover system.User name User account on the failover systemPassword Password for the user account.Failover When checked, these settings define the remote system as a

failover system. If left unchecked, then the remote system isconsidered a regular remote probe. This must be checked for thefailover system!


5. Test the connect you just created. Local Device Groups > Connect/RedirectProbe > Next > Redirect Probe - Select Device Group. Wait for theconnection to establish and ensure that it is successful. The connection issuccessful if the progress bar disappears and no error message appears in itsplace. Do not click Finish. Click Cancel.

6. Repeat #wys_x3q_qj/step_tz2_1df_rj to #wys_x3q_qj/step_x5r_5nq_qj on thefailover system.

7. On the primary system, click Options > Program Options > General. Changethe Failover Role to Primary.

Failover File SyncMax Days

Defines how many days of past log files are synchronizedfrom the primary to the failover system. If the primary isdown, this value is how many days of log files are available forviewing from the failover system (which is handling primaryresponsibilities during of the outage). Zero (0) means only thecurrent day's logs (in other words, no history before today). Thisoption should be configured on both the primary and failoversystem. If the values are different, whichever is smaller takeseffect.

8. On the failover system, click Options > Program Options > General. Changethe Failover Role to Secondary.

Wait about 10 seconds. Check the Log Window on the primary system.Confirm there is an entry that reads: "OI Failover - Failover State Change: fromprimary disconnected to primary connected." And on the failover system thereshould be this entry: "OI Failover - Failover State Change: from secondarydisconnected to secondary connected."

The failover configuration is complete with the roles of each system defined.The roles may change later if you purposefully change their role on theGeneral tab or if one of the systems is shut down or unplugged from thenetwork.

Understanding NLB failover and Observer Infrastructureredundancy fields

The table provides greater detail about each aspect of the ObserverInfrastructure failover process. It also answers common questions such as what issynchronized and what happens when the primary Observer Infrastructure goesoffline.

Table 15: Observer Infrastructure redundancy fieldsNLB heartbeat The NLB heartbeat between all systems in the cluster is

constant, but failure is determined when there is no responsereceived within five seconds. This is part NLB, not ObserverInfrastructure.

ObserverInfrastructureheartbeat

The primary Observer Infrastructure sends a health requestperiodically (every seven seconds) to confirm the failoverObserver Infrastructure is available. If the failover ObserverInfrastructure does not respond, the primary ObserverInfrastructure logs the event and disables failover services untilthe problem is resolved. If the failover Observer Infrastructuredetects that the primary Observer Infrastructure has failed,then it initiates an NLB failover and the failover ObserverInfrastructure becomes active.


ObserverInfrastructuresynchronization

Statistics and configuration changes on the primary ObserverInfrastructure synchronized with the secondary/failoverObserver Infrastructure any time a change is made. Thesecondary node, the synchronization is limited to the fileson the disk, so not the live data the program is using. Forthis reason, the failover Observer Infrastructure node is notoperational. The Observer Infrastructure interface still operates,but only for browsing and failover role change purposes. Whena failover switch occurs, and during the failover start up, a fullsynchronization (only the changes) is made. This ensures theprimary system always has the latest data.

What issynchronized

Data and settings any time a change is made, except:

♦ Whether you want Observer Infrastructure to run as aWindows service.

♦ For the failover system, the synchronization is limited to thefiles on disk, not the live data that Observer Infrastructureis using. For this reason the failover system is not a fullyoperational Observer Infrastructure probe. ObserverInfrastructure on the failover system can only be usedfor browsing and changing the Failover Role. It maynot be used for polling or discovery while in a secondary,failover-ready role. It can if it should become the primaryinstallation either during a failover event or by removing theredundancy.

♦ Licensing. You must have an Observer InfrastructureEnterprise license and a separate license for each ObserverInfrastructure system.

Changes to the Options > Reports may not be available untilthe failover system switches and becomes the primary ObserverInfrastructure.Synchronization only occurs in one direction: from the primarysystem to the failover system. Changes on the primary systemare transferred automatically, including polling results.

What happenswhen theprimary ObserverInfrastructurecomes back online

When the failover Observer Infrastructure determines thatthe primary Observer Infrastructure is unavailable, it becomesthe primary Observer Infrastructure. The system that used tobe the primary Observer Infrastructure becomes the failoverObserver Infrastructure and it stays the failover ObserverInfrastructure even after it comes back online. Even thoughthe failover Observer Infrastructure has become the primaryObserver Infrastructure, minimal changes should be made to itsconfiguration.

Shut down order To prevent the failover Observer Infrastructure from becomingthe primary Observer Infrastructure, shut down the systemsin the following order: failover system first, then the primarysystem. Start them in the reverse order (primary first, thenfailover). This prevents NLB from switching their prioritysettings. Whenever the systems are shut down and restarted,you should verify that each has its correct role (primary/secondary), and that they are connected and synchronizing.

Logging Observer Infrastructure logs all redundancy actions in theObserver Infrastructure event log. When performing certainmanual actions, check the Observer Infrastructure log to confirmthey have completed.

12

Chapter 12: VBScriptAPI for the Monitors

VBScript API for the MonitorsObserver Infrastructure (OI) supports VBScript scripting to define monitor items.The device script object is used to retrieve and process SNMP or WMI data for anetwork device. The script samples are provided for reference when creating newscript monitor items in OI.

The device object has the following methods and properties:

Methods:

♦ void AddInstance(LPCTSTR pszInstance, LPCTSTR pszName, LPCTSTRpszExtraInfo)

♦ void AddInstanceProperty(LPCTSTR szInstanceIndex, LPCTSTR szProperty,LPCTSTR szValue)

♦ void AddLabeledInstance(LPCTSTR szLabel, LPCTSTR szInstanceId, LPCTSTRszInstanceName, LPCTSTR szExtraInfo)

♦ void AddLabeledInstanceProperty(LPCTSTR szLabel, LPCTSTRszInstanceIndex, LPCTSTR szProperty, LPCTSTR szValue)

♦ BOOL AddMsSqlServerInstances(BOOL bFormattedCounter, LPCTSTRszCategory)

♦ void AddToResult(LPCTSTR pszInstance, LPCTSTR pszName, VARIANT*pVal)

♦ double CalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiff(__int64 nCur, __int64 nLast)♦ double CalcWmiSys100NSTimeDiff(__int64 nCur, __int64 nLast)♦ BOOL GetInstances()

VBScript API for the Monitors134 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

♦ BSTR GetInstancePropertyValue(LPCTSTR szInstanceIndex, LPCTSTRszProperty)

♦ BSTR GetLabeledInstancePropertyValue(LPCTSTR szLabel, LPCTSTRszInstanceIndex, LPCTSTR szProperty)

♦ LPCTSTR GetLastValue(LPCTSTR pszObject, LPCTSTR pszInstance)♦ BOOL GetTimeOfLastValue(LPCTSTR pszObject, LPCTSTR pszInstance)♦ BOOL HasLastValue(LPCTSTR pszObject, LPCTSTR pszInstance)♦ BOOL HttpGet(LPCTSTR szUrl)♦ BOOL IsXenServer()♦ BOOL OCQuery(LPCTSTR szSQLCommand)♦ BOOL SetLastValue(LPCTSTR pszObject, LPCTSTR pszInstance, LPCTSTR

pszValue, __int64 nTimeCount)♦ void SetValueForLabel(VARIANT* val, LPCTSTR szLabel, LPCTSTR

szInstanceLabel, LPCTSTR szIndex, LPCTSTR szName)♦ BOOL SnmpGetList(LPCTSTR pszSnmpOids)♦ BOOL SnmpGetTable(LPCTSTR pszSnmpOids)♦ BOOL SnmpGetTableBulk(LPCTSTR pszSnmpOids, UINT uNonRepeaters)♦ BOOL SshGet(LPCSTR szCmd)♦ BOOL WmiGetValueSet(LPCTSTR pszNameSpace, LPCTSTR pszClass,

LPCTSTR pszProperties)♦ BOOL WmiGetValue(LPCTSTR pszNameSpace, LPCTSTR pszClass, LPCTSTR

pszProperties, LPCTSTR pszRelPath)♦ BOOL WSDPost(LPCTSTR szUrl, LPCTSTR szData)

Properties:

♦ ReceivedData♦ Instances

MethodsThis section describes the methods used in the API.

AddInstancePurpose Adds an instance to the monitor item instance list. The

saved instances may be turned on/off in OI GUI andretrieved with the GetInstances() call.

Parameters pszInstance The instance of the monitor item. If it is a single instanceobject, pszInstance can be an empty string.

pszName The name of the instance. pszExtraInfo Any additional information about the monitor element

instance that may be determined in the monitor elementinstances script might need to be passed to the monitorelement values script. If not used, set it to ““.

Remarks AddInstance() adds an instance to the monitor iteminstance list.

Use void AddInstance(LPCTSTR pszInstance, LPCTSTRpszName, LPCTSTR pszExtraInfo)

VBScript API for the MonitorsChapter 12: VBScript API for the Monitors 135

AddInstancePropertyPurpose Call AddInstanceProperty() to set a property value to

szValue for the property named szProperty of the monitorelement object (instance) with ID equal to szInstanceId.

Parameters szInstanceId A unique ID (string) identifying a monitor element object(instance).

szProperty A property name is defined by this parameter andits value. It can be subsequently retrieved by callingGetInstancePropertyValue().

szValue A value for the property that is being set. Thisvalue can be subsequently retrieved by calling toGetInstancePropertyValue().

Use void AddInstanceProperty(LPCTSTR szInstanceId,LPCTSTR szProperty, LPCTSTR szValue)

AddLabeledInstancePurpose Call AddLabeledInstance() in a monitor polling

script to associate an instance with the instancelabel. Each instance of the label is associated withan array of instances defined by one or more calls toAddLabeledInstance().

Parameters szLabel A unique string associated with an array of objectinstances in the monitor instance polling script.

szInstanceId A unique ID (string) identifying an instance. szInstanceName An object instance name. szExtraInstanceInfoExtra information associated with the object instance.

This extra information can be subsequently used inthe monitor value polling script.

Use void AddLabeledInstance(LPCTSTRszLabel, LPCTSTR szInstanceId, LPCTSTRszInstanceName, LPCTSTR szExtraInstanceInfo)

AddLabeledInstancePropertyPurpose Call AddLabeledInstanceProperty() to set a property

value to szValue for the property named szPropertyof the monitor element object (instance) with ID equalto szInstanceIndex for the object instance arrayassociated with szLabel.

Parameters szLabel A script label. When a monitor element is defined in OIuser interface, it is associated with a script label and aninstance label.

szInstanceIndexA unique ID (string) identifying a monitor element object(instance).


szValue A value for the property that is being set. Thisvalue can be subsequently retrieved by calling toGetInstancePropertyValue().

Use void AddLabeledInstanceProperty(LPCTSTRszLabel, LPCTSTR szInstanceIndex, LPCTSTRszProperty, LPCTSTR szValue)


AddMsSqlServerInstancesPurpose Call AddMsSqlServerInstances() to query the list of

object instances of specific category (szCategory) throughWMI.

Parameters bFormattedCounter

Indicates whether to get instances for objects of theWin32_PerfFormattedData_MSSQL kind or of theWin32_PerfRawData_MSSQL kind.

szCategory A suffix appended to the class name with the prefixdetermined by the bFormattedCounter flag.

Use BOOL AddMsSqlServerInstances(BOOLbFormattedCounter, LPCTSTR szCategory)

AddToResultPurpose Adds a value to the monitor item result list.Parameters pszInstance The instance of the monitor item. If it is a single instance

object, pszInstance can be an empty string. pszName The name of the instance. pVal The value of the monitor item instance.Remarks AddToResult() adds an instance’s result value to the

monitor item data. All such data, added as a result of thescript execution, are saved by OI and analyzed for alarmswhen the script execution completes.

Use void AddToResult(LPCTSTR pszInstance, LPCTSTRpszName, VARIANT* pVal)

CalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiffPurpose Calculates the time differential (in seconds) of SNMP

sysUpTime based on two time tick counts.Parameters nCur Current time count. nLast Last time count.ReturnValue

The time differential in seconds.

Remarks When calling GetList or GetTable to get SNMP objectvalues, it is sometimes necessary to calculate a rateof change with time. For this, sysUpTime must beretrieved along with the values for which the rateof change is calculated. With two sysUpTime values,the time difference (in seconds) is calculated bycallingCalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiff and passing the twosysUpTime samples as parameters.To calculate thedifferential seconds between the current retrievingdata time and the last retrieving data time, callCalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiff method.

Use double CalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiff(__int64 nCur,__int64 nLast)

CalcWmiSys100NSTimeDiffPurpose Calculates the time differential (in seconds) of WMI

Timestamp_Sys100NS between two time tick counts.Parameters nCur Current time count. nLast Last time count.ReturnValue

The time differential in seconds.


Remarks When calling WmiGetValueSet or WmiGetValue to get WMIProperties value, get the Timestamp_Sys100NS propertyvalue. The Timestamp_Sys100NS property is inheritedfrom WMI Win32_perf class. To calculate the differentialseconds between the current retrieving data time and thelast retrieving data time, call the CalcWmiSysUpTimeDiffmethod.

Use double CalcWmiSys100NSTimeDiff(__int64 nCur,__int64 nLast)

GetInstancesPurpose Retrieves the monitor item instance list. The instances

must have been saved with the series of calls toAddInstance().

ReturnValue

TRUE if successful; otherwise FALSE.

Remarks GetInstances() can only be used for multiple instancemonitor items. It calls the script to retrieve the savedinstances or, if there no instances saved yet, to requestthe instance list from the network device and save it.You can check or uncheck an instance in OI’s ”DeviceMonitor Item” property page. Subsequently, the call toGetInstances will only return the checked instances. Ifit returns TRUE, you can get the returned instances byreferencing the Instances property of the Device object.The Instances property is a two-dimensional VBArray. Eachrow of the array is an array with the instance properties.The first value in each instance array is the instance index,the second value is the instance name, the third value isthe extra instance information (a string), which can be anyadditional information “attached” to the instance by theprevious AddInstance() call.

Use BOOL GetInstances()

GetInstancePropertyValuePurpose Call GetInstancePropertyValue() to retrieve the

object (instance) property set with the previous call toAddInstanceProperty().

Parameters szInstanceId A unique ID (string) identifying a monitor element object(instance).


ReturnValue

A value for the object(instance) property.

Use BSTR GetInstancePropertyValue(LPCTSTRszInstanceId, LPCTSTR szProperty)

GetLabeledInstancePropertyValuePurpose Call GetLabeledInstancePropertyValue() in the

monitor polling script to retrieve a property value for theproperty.

Parameters szLabel A script label. When a monitor element is defined in OIuser interface, it is associated with a script label and aninstance label.


szInstanceIndexA unique ID (string) identifying a monitor element object(instance).


ReturnValue

The value set previously with the call toAddLabeledInstanceProperty().

Use BSTR GetLabeledInstancePropertyValue(LPCTSTRszLabel, LPCTSTR szInstanceIndex, LPCTSTRszProperty)

GetLastValuePurpose Retrieves the last value of SNMP or WMI property of a

certain instance.Parameters pszProperty The SNMP item or WMI property. pszInstance The instance of the SNMP object or WMI object.ReturnValue

A string with the value remembered from the previous callto the SetLastValue method.

Remarks GetLastValue gets the last remembered value of theSNMP item or WMI property. Call SetLastValue to save thelast value and its corresponding time tick on the networkdevice.

Use BOOL GetLastValue(LPCTSTR pszProperty, LPCTSTRpszInstance)

GetTimeOfLastValuePurpose Retrieves the last value of the time tick count of SNMP or

WMI property.Parameters pszProperty The SNMP value (OID) or WMI property. pszInstance The SNMP object (e.g., SNMP table row OID) or WMI

object.ReturnValue

The time tick count.

Remarks GetTimeOfLastValue gets the time count of the lastremembered value. Call SetLastValue to save the last valueand its time tick count.

Use BOOL GetTimeOfLastValue(LPCTSTR pszProperty,LPCTSTR pszInstance)

HasLastValuePurpose Tells you whether there is a previous poll result stored in

memory for this property. Some properties require twopoll results to calculate rates of change and by callingHasLastValue, you can

Parameters pszProperty The SNMP item or WMI property. pszInstance The instance of the monitor item. If it is a single instance

object, pszInstance can be an empty string.ReturnValue


Use BOOL HasLastValue(LPCTSTR pszProperty, LPCTSTRpszInstance)


HttpGetPurpose Use HttpGet() in a monitor polling script to send an HTTP

GET request to a monitored device. If successful, thedevice object's ReceivedData property receives the bodyof the HTTP response.

Parameters szUrl A URL of the HTTP GET request.ReturnValue

TRUE if the HTTP response has been received.

Use BOOL HttpGet(LPCTSTR szUrl)

IsXenServerPurpose Use IsXenServer() in a monitor detection script to check if

the device is running Citrix XenServer software.Parameters None.ReturnValue

TRUE if the device is a Citrix XenServer

Use BOOL IsXenServer

OCQueryPurpose Use OCQuery() in a monitor polling script to execute an

SQL query or command against an Sybase ASE server. Ifsuccessful, the device object's ReceivedData property willcontain the result in a two-dimensional array where firstindex identifies rows and second index identifies columnsof the resulting data set.

Parameters szSQLCommandThe SQL command or query to be executed.ReturnValue

True if successful.

Use BOOL OCQuery(LPCTSTR szSQLCommand)

SetLastValuePurpose Updates the last value and the time count for the

specified property or instance. See Remarks.Parameters pszProperty The SNMP item or WMI property. pszInstance The instance of the monitor item. If it is a single instance

object, pszInstance can be an empty string. pszValue The value. nTimeCount The time tick count of the value.ReturnValue


Remarks SetLastValue saves the value and its time tick count forlater retrieval with GetLastValue andGetTimeOfLastValue.

Use BOOL SetLastValue(LPCTSTR pszProperty,LPCTSTR pszInstance, LPCTSTR pszValue, int64nTimeCount)

SetValueForLabelPurpose Calls SetValueForLabel() to assign a value to the

monitor script label for the collection of object instancesassociated with the label.

Parameters val A value.


szLabel A script label. When a monitor element is defined in OIuser interface, it is associated with a script label and aninstance label.

szInstanceLabelA monitor script can define multiple instance labels.When a monitor element is defined in OI user interface, itis associated with a script label and an instance label.

szInstanceId A unique ID (string) identifying a monitor element object(instance).

szName The name of the monitor element object (instance).Use void SetValueForLabel(VARIANT* val, LPCTSTR

szLabel, LPCTSTR szInstanceLabel, LPCTSTRszInstanceId, LPCTSTR szInstanceName)

SnmpGetListPurpose Retrieves SNMP list.Parameters pszSnmpOidsA string with the SNMP OID list. It uses a comma to

separate each OID.ReturnValue


Remarks SnmpGetList gets the SNMP list values. If it returns TRUE,you can get the received data by calling the ReceivedDataproperty of the Device object. ReceivedData is a one-dimensional VBArray.

Use BOOL SnmpGetList(LPCTSTR pszSnmpOids)

SnmpGetTablePurpose Retrieves an SNMP table.Parameters pszSnmpOidsA string with the SNMP OID list. It uses a comma to

separate each OID.ReturnValue


Remarks SnmpGetTable gets an SNMP table from a SNMP-enablednetwork device. If it returns TRUE, you can get the receiveddata by calling theReceivedData property of the deviceobject. ReceivedData is a two-dimensional VBArray. Eachrow of the array is a row in the SNMP table. The first valuein the row is a table row index, the second value is thevalue of the first SNMP OID, the third value is the value ofthe second SNMP OID (if it has the second SNMP OID), etc.

Use BOOL SnmpGetTable(LPCTSTR pszSnmpOids)

SnmpGetTableBulkPurpose Use the SnmpGetTableBulk method to retrieve an SNMP

table via SNMP GETBULK request (for SNMP versions 2 and3). GETBULK is not available in SNMP v1.

Parameters pszSnmpOidsA string with the SNMP OID list. It uses a comma toseparate each OID.

UnnonRepeatersA number of OID items that are “non-repeaters” in theSNMP GETBULK request.

ReturnValue


Remarks SnmpGetTableBulk gets an SNMP table from a SNMP-enabled network device. If it returns TRUE, you can get the


received data by calling the ReceivedData property of thedevice object. ReceivedData is a two-dimensional VBArray.Each row of the array is a row in the SNMP table precededby non-repeaters, i.e. each row will include the same non-repeaters as first items in the row. The next value in therow is a table row index, the following values are valuesfor OIDs following the non-repeaters.

Use BOOL SnmpGetTableBulk(LPCTSTR pszSnmpOids, UINTuNonRepeaters)

SshGetPurpose Use SshGet() in a monitor polling script to execute a shell

command. If successful, the device object's ReceivedDataproperty receives the resulting text.

Parameters szCmd The shell command to be executedReturnValue

TRUE if any text has been received following theexecution of the shell command szCmd (usually in the textformat).

Use BOOL SshGet(LPCSTR szCmd)

WmiGetValuePurpose Retrieves WMI property values of a certain instance.Parameters pszNameSpaceThe WMI name space string. pszClass The WMI class name. pszProperties The list of WMI properties of the WMI class. It uses

commas to separate each property. pszRelPath The instance’s RelPath property of the WMI class. The

WMI class’s key is __RELPATHReturnValue


Remarks WmiGetValue gets the values for WMI properties of acertain class instance. If it returns TRUE, you can get thereceived data by calling the ReceivedData property of thedevice object. If the pszProperties has just one property,the ReceivedData is a value. If thepszProperties has two ormore properties, the ReceivedData is a one-dimensionalVBArray. The first value is the value of the first WMIproperty, the second value is the value of the second WMIproperty (if it has the second WMI property), etc.

Use BOOL WmiGetValue(LPCTSTR pszNameSpace, LPCTSTRpszClass, LPCTSTR pszProperties, LPCTSTRpszRelPath)

WmiGetValueSetPurpose Retrieve the set WMI properties values.Parameters pszNameSpaceThe WMI name space. pszClass The WMI class name. pszProperties The WMI properties list of the WMI class. It uses a comma

to separate each property.ReturnValue


Remarks WmiGetValueSet gets the WMI properties value of theWMI class. If it returns TRUE, you can get the return databy calling theReceivedData property of the device object.


ReceivedData is a two-dimensional VBArray. Each row ofthe array is an instance of the WMI class. The first value isthe instance index, the second value is instance name (ifthe WMI class has the name property, otherwise it is anempty string), the third value is the value of the first WMIproperty, the fourth value is the value of the second WMIproperty (if it has the second WMI property), etc.

Use BOOL WmiGetValueSet(LPCTSTR pszNameSpace,LPCTSTR pszClass, LPCTSTR pszProperties)

WSDPostPurpose Use WSDPost() in a monitor polling script to send an

HHTP POST request to a monitored device. If successful,the device object's ReceivedData property will receive thebody of the HTTP response.

Parameters szURL A URL of the HTTP POST request szData XML/text MIME type data that will be sent in the HTTP

POST request.ReturnValue

TRUE if the HTTP response has been received (usually inthe XML format).

Use BOOL WSDPost(LPCTSTR szUrl, LPCTSTR szData)

PropertiesThis section describes the properties of the API.

Instances

Reference the Instances property of the Device object to get the instancesafter the Device.GetInstances() call. TheInstances property is a two-dimensionalVBArray. Each row of the array is an instance properties array. The first value isthe instance index, the second value is the instance name. See the remarks to theGetInstances method.

ReceivedData

Reference the ReceivedData property of the Device object to get the dataobtained after calling the following data-retrieving methods of theDeviceobject: SnmpGetList, SnmpGetTable, WmiGetValue, and WmiGetValueSet.TheReceivedData property is of VARIANT type, it could be a value, a onedimensional VBArray, or a two-dimensional VBArray. See the remarks to thedata-retrieving methods of the Device object (SnmpGetList, SnmpGetTable,WmiGetValue, and WmiGetValueSet).

SNMP Sample ScriptsThis section has sample scripts for the OI API. Copy them.

VBScript using SNMP and multiple instances to monitor port utilization

Code://The code for retrieving monitor item instances:Dim arrInstancesDim bRetDim ubbRet = Device.SnmpGetTable("1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.2")If bRet = TRUE Then arrInstances = Device.ReceivedData


ub = UBound(arrInstances) For i = 0 To ub Device.AddInstance arrInstances(i,0), arrInstances(i,1), "" NextEnd If //The code for retrieving monitor item values: Dim bRetDim arrValueDim dtCurDim dtLastDim arrInstancesDim ubDim ubValuebRet = Device.GetInstances()If bRet = TRUE Then arrInstances = Device.Instances ub = UBound(arrInstances) For i = 0 To ub sInstId = arrInstances(i,0) sInstName = arrInstances(i,1) sOids = "1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10." + sInstId 'get ifInOctets sOids = sOids + ",1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16." + sInstId 'get ifOutOctets sOids = sOids + ",1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.5." + sInstId 'get the ifSpeed sOids = sOids + ",1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0" 'get sysUpTime bRet = Device.SnmpGetList(sOids) If bRet = TRUE Then arrValue = Device.ReceivedData ubValue = UBound(arrValue) If ubValue = 3 Then dtCur = arrValue(3) 'get system time first if (Device.HasLastValue("1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10", sInstId) = TRUE) Then dtLast = Device.GetTimeOfLastValue("1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10", sInstId) sInLastVal = Device.GetLastValue("1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10", sInstId) sOutLastVal = Device.GetLastValue("1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16", sInstId) nSeconds = Device.CalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiff(dtCur, dtLast) If nSeconds <> 0 Then ifInOctets = (arrValue(0) - sInLastVal) / nSeconds ifOutOctets = (arrValue(1) - sOutLastVal) / nSeconds ifSpeed = arrValue(2) If ((ifInOctets>= 0) And (ifOutOctets>= 0) And (ifSpeed <> 0)) Then Device.AddToResult sInstId, sInstName, (ifOutOctets+ifInOctets)*800/ifSpeed End If End If End If Device.SetLastValue("1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.10", sInstId, arrValue(0), dtCur) Device.SetLastValue("1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.16", sInstId, arrValue(1), dtCur) End If End If Next End If

VBScript, WMI, multiple instances, monitor as performance counter

Code://The code for retrieving monitor item instances:Dim bRetDim ub


Dim arrResultbRet = Device.WmiGetValueSet("Root\Cimv2", "Win32_PerfFormattedData_Tcpip_NetworkInterface", "PacketsReceivedUnknown")If(bRet = TRUE) Then arrResult = Device.ReceivedData ub = UBound(arrResult) For i = 0 To ub Device.AddInstance arrResult(i,0), arrResult(i,1), "" NextEnd If //The code for retrieving monitor item values: Dim bRetDim ubDim sInstRelpathDim sInstNameDim dValuebRet = Device.GetInstances()If bRet = TRUE Then arrInstances = Device.Instances ub = UBound(arrInstances) For i = 0 To ub sInstRelpath = arrInstances(i,0) sInstName = arrInstances(i,1) bRet = Device.WmiGetValue("Root\Cimv2", "Win32_PerfFormattedData_Tcpip_NetworkInterface", "PacketsReceivedUnknown", sInstRelpath) If bRet = TRUE Then dValue = Device.ReceivedData Device.AddToResult sInstRelpath, sInstName, dValue End If NextEnd If

JScript, WMI, single instance, monitor as performance counter

Code://The code for retrieving monitor item values: var bRet;var ub;bRet = Device.WmiGetValueSet("Root\\Cimv2", "Win32_PerfRawData_PerfOS_Memory", "AvailableMBytes");if(bRet){ arrResult = Device.ReceivedData; ub =arrResult.ubound(1); if(ub == 0){ Device.AddToResult("", "", arrResult.getItem(0,2)); }}

VBScript, WMI, single instance, monitor as performance counter

Code://The code for retrieving monitor item values: Dim bRetDim arrResultDim ubbRet = Device.WmiGetValueSet("Root\Cimv2", "Win32_PerfRawData_PerfOS_Memory", "AvailableMBytes")


If(bRet = TRUE) Then arrResult = Device.ReceivedData ub = UBound(arrResult) If ub = 0 Then Device.AddToResult "", "", arrResult(0,2) End IfEnd If

VBScript, WMI, single instance, monitor as string

Code://The code for retrieving monitor item values: Dim bRetDim sInstRelpathDim sValuesInstRelpath = "Win32_Service.Name=" + Chr(34) + "Alerter" + Chr(34)bRet = Device.WmiGetValue("Root\Cimv2", "Win32_Service", "State", sInstRelpath)If bRet = TRUE Then sValue = Device.ReceivedData Device.AddToResult "", "", sValueEnd If

13

Chapter 13: Backup and Restoration

Sharing application definitions with othersApplication definitions can be shared using the included import and exportfunctions. Sharing is useful for making your application definitions uniformacross multiple installations, and it can even be used as a backup tool.









Backing up OI filesChapter 13: Backup and Restoration 147








Open.




Backing up OI filesIt is recommended you periodically back up your device groups and routes. Ifthese files should become corrupt on the disk—and you have no backup—youronly recourse is to recreate them.

Instead, keep backups of the following directory: C:\Program Files(x86)\ObserverInfrastructure\maps. This allows you to replace anycorrupted map, should it happen, with a backed up copy. You may additionallyfind it useful to back up the entire root directory of OI.

Importing and exporting Observer Alias (.adr) files148 Observer Infrastructure (OI) (23 Jan 2016) — Archive/Non-authoritative version

Importing and exporting Observer Alias (.adr) filesOI can exchange alias lists with Observer Analyzer. To import an alias list from(or export an alias list to) Observer, select Tools > Observer Integration > ImportAlias list from (or Export alias List to...).

A file dialog is then displayed, allowing you to select the file to import (or supplya filename to export).

Alias list files must have the extension .adr for Observer and OI to recognizethem.

Creating a comma delimited fileCreating a comma delimited file of your active device group or route allows youto use the exported data in other programs and in interesting ways.

To create a comma delimited file:

1. In the Device Groups/Routes lists, select the device group or route you wantto create a comma delimited file for.

2. Choose Tools > Create Comma Delimited File.3. Select the data to include in the resulting file. Click OK.4. Type a file name and specify the save location. Click Save.

The data you selected, for the active device group or route, is successfully savedto a comma delimited file.

Glossarycredentials The user name, password, and, in the case of WSD, a certificate

used to access a device.

device Any Windows, Macintosh, Unix, or Linux workstation, servers,routers, switches, network printers, addressable hubs, oranything connected to your network that has an IP, IPX, orMicrosoft address. Things that do not have network addresses,such as local printers, simple hubs, basic power supplies, andsuch are not network devices and cannot be detected by anetwork monitoring program.

device group Collection of routers, servers, and systems on your network thatallows you to present your network in a way that makes sensefor you. It could be your entire network, or a subset of it.

elements The specific performance parameters of a device or softwareapplication watched by a monitor.

global inventoryalarm

Alarm that all instances of an inventory object use. There areseveral dozen inventory object types in Observer Infrastructure(OI). You may configure a global alarm for all, some, or none ofthe inventory objects.

ICMP (InternetControl MessageProtocol)

Protocol used by OI to poll for status using ping and echorequests of managed devices. If the device is operationally up,it returns a response time and record of any dropped packetsto OI. This information is used to monitor status and measure

GlossaryChapter 13: Backup and Restoration 149

average response time and packet loss percentage for manageddevices.

MIB The formal description of a set of objects that can be managedusing SNMP. MIB-I refers to the initial MIB definition, and MIB-II refers to the current definition. Each MIB object stores a valuesuch as sysUpTime, bandwidth utilization, or sysContact. Duringpolling, OI sends a SNMP GET request to each network deviceto poll the specified MIB objects. Received responses are thenrecorded and used in reports.

Most network devices can support several different types ofMIBs. While most devices support the standard MIB-II MIBs,they may also support any of a number of additional MIBs thatyou may want to monitor. With OI you can gather informationfrom virtually any MIB on any network device to which you haveaccess.

monitor Particular collection of settings in OI that watches specificelements of a device or software application.

polling How OI gathers status information on the objects in the devicegroup by sending an eight-byte packet ping. Polling is onlydone on discovered devices in your device group and can bedone manually or automatically. Whether polling is automaticor manual is set when doing an initial discovery, but it may bechanged at any time.

route The connection between the OI system and one remote system,and includes all of the hops in between the two systems.

SNMP (SimpleNetworkManagementProtocol)

Protocol used by OI for many network monitoring andmanagement tasks. SNMP-enabled network devices, includingrouters, switches, and workstations have SNMP agents thatmaintain a virtual database of system status and performanceinformation that is tied to specific object identifiers (OIDs). Thisvirtual database is referred to as a Management InformationBase (MIB), and is used by SNMP to identify, store, and retrievedata about the SNMP-enabled device. Access to MIB data maybe secured either with SNMP community strings, as providedwith SNMPv1 and SNMPv2, or with optional SNMP credentials,as provided with SNMPv3.

WSD (web servicedata)

Monitoring method by which some devices (such as VMwareESX Server, WAAS Central Manager, and others) provide theirstatistics through a web service API. OI uses that API to poll andgather the statistics. Often a security certificate is required aspart of the credentials to connect to the device for its statistics.

WMI The Microsoft implementation for accessing managementinformation in an enterprise environment for systems,applications, networks, devices, and other managedcomponents. In a practical sense, WMI is only used on Windowsoperating systems to provide management information aboutthat system. It is very similar to SNMP.

150 Index (23 Jan 2016)

Index

Numerics25901 (port) 11, 1125903 (port) 113.5 and SNMP 184.0 and SNMP 18

Aactions 53activating 30, 48

device group 30route 48

Active Directory 12, 106Add Device Group or Route Dialog 30adding 92adding devices 39adding devices to 38adding manually 39adding to device group 38AddInstance 134AddInstanceProperty 134Additional Administrative Tools Dialog 115Additional Device Properties Dialog 112AddLabeledInstance 134AddLabeledInstanceProperty 134AddMsSqlServerInstances 134AddToResult 134administrative tools 32administrator 64alarm actions 53

bring OI to front 53play a sound 53print 53send e-mail 53send page 53send SNMP trap 53start executable or batch file 53UNIX Syslog 53use Windows text-to-speech 53Windows service 53

Alarm Responses Page 53alarm thresholds 56alarms 9, 34, 108

actions 53conditions 55configuring 50device-specific 52e-mail 56, 56event-based 52global 51inventory-based 52multiple actions, using 53

pager 56, 57paging service 58preventing 53remote OI 50, 108reports 55thresholds 56, 56trigger 51

Alarms 34Alarms tab 44alarms, preventing 53alias files 118, 148Amazon CloudWatch 66Apache HTTP Server 66Apache Tomcat 66application 12Application Discovery, Server 23application path 12applications

monitoring 110applications, see server applications 23ArcaBook Multicast 23arranging devices 123arranging on map 123automatic 37automatic discovery 37autopolling 43, 108, 108

frequency 36remote device group 108, 108see also polling 106

availability 73, 73, 73Availability 72availability reports 72, 73, 73, 73

BBackground tab 45backups 35, 147blocked 106bring OI to front 53bus 122, 122Bus Properties General Tab 122Bus Properties Icons Tab 122

CCalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiff 134CalcWmiSys100NSTimeDiff 134CAPWAP Control 23CAPWAP Data 23caution 34changing settings for 22checking status 62Cisco 12, 88

Chapter : 151

Cisco IP SLA 9, 9, 12, 82, 109Cisco IP SLA monitor 88Cisco NBAR 82Cisco NBAR Protocols Dialog 82Cisco UCS 66Citrix XenServer 134CME RLC 23comma delimited file 35, 148conditions 55conditions, critical 55conditions, marginal 55Configure Remote Access Groups for Bisiness Group/RouteDialog 18Configure Remote Access Groups for Device Group or RouteDialog 66Configure Remote Access Permissions for Maps Dialog 65Configure Remote Access Rights for Device Group or RouteDialog 66Configure Remote Access User Groups Dialog 64Configure Remote Access Users Dialog 65Configure SNPP Settings Dialog 58Configure TAP Settings Dialog 58Configure UCP Settings Dialog 58Configure Voice Settings Dialog 58configuring 50, 60connecting to 108Connection Information Dialog 22containers 31, 31, 31copying 72, 87, 87CPU 12Create Container Dialog 31creating

device group 18credentials 66, 148Credentials Library 66Credentials tab 34credentials, see security 64critical conditions 55CSV 35, 148custom 15, 72Custom Device Properties Dialog 112custom monitor report 76

DDatabase Query 66, 90de-activating 30, 48, 108, 108

device group 30remote device group 108, 108route 48

Default Credentials Page 22Default Remote Hosts to Ping Page 22Default SNMP Credentials Page 22Default WMI Credentials Page 22Default WSD Credentials Page 22definition of 10, 18, 18, 79, 106, 148deleting 108, 108

remote device group 108, 108dependent users 34, 73device 122, 148Device Alarm Hierarchy Dialog 53device group 18, 30, 30Device Group 32Device Group Devices Tab 32Device Group IP Applications Tab 32Device Group IPX Applications Tab 32

Device Group Properties Background Tab 35Device Group Properties General Tab 35Device Group Properties Inventory Tab 36Device Group Properties Observer Integration Tab 35Device Group Properties Pager Tab 35, 44Device Group Response Times Tab 32device groups 71

activating 30adding devices to 38containers 31de-activating 30definition of 18, 148embedding 31multi-tier application 31polling 106properties of 35rediscovery 37renaming 35reports 71, 73, 114response time analysis 37working with remote 108

device hierarchy 53device properties

caution 34Device Properties 34Device Properties Alarms Tab 52Device Properties Credentials Tab 66Device Properties General Tab 34Device Properties Inventory Alarms Tab 52Device Properties Inventory Tab 60Device Properties IP Tab 34Device Properties IPX Tab 34Device Properties Microsoft Tab 34Device Properties Monitors Tab 79Device Properties Observer Integration Tab 116Device Properties Poll Tab 106device status 72, 72Device Vendor Model List Dialog 112devices 32, 122

adding manually 39adding to device group 38alarm thresholds 56Alarms 34alarms, preventing 53arranging on map 123automatic discovery 37Credentials tab 34definition of 10DHCP 106General tab 34icons for 39Inventory tab 34IP tab 34limit 38monitors 79Monitors tab 34Poll tab 34polling 106scheduling inventory 61what can be monitored 79, 82

devices only 21device-specific 52DHCP 37, 39, 82, 106, 106Dial Pager Dialog 53discovering 18, 18, 18, 18

devices only 21

152 Index (23 Jan 2016)

how OI finds devices 10network 17

discovering devices with 18, 18discovery 9, 22

automatic 37changing settings for 22scheduling 38starting 38

discovery reports 22Discovery Wizard Add Discovered Devices To Device GroupPage 21Discovery Wizard Contacting Devices Page 18Discovery Wizard Create New Device Group Page 17Discovery Wizard Credentials to Try Page 18Discovery Wizard Discovery Addressing Type Page 21Discovery Wizard Discovery Mode Page 18Discovery Wizard Discovery Settings Page 18Discovery Wizard Finish Page 18Discovery Wizard IP Gateway Discovery Page 18Discovery Wizard IP Ranges to Scan Page 18Discovery Wizard Layout Page 21Discovery Wizard Remote Access Rights Page 18Discovery Wizard Route Properties Page 41Discovery Wizard Select IP Applications to Poll Page 18Discovery Wizard SNMP Credentials to Try Page 18Discovery Wizard WMI Credentials to Try Page 18Discovery Wizard WSD Credentials to Try Page 18distributed . see remote 108DNS 9, 18, 34, 42, 82, 112DNS (TCP) 112DNS lookup 43down time reports 72, 73, 73, 73drawing tools 121

ellipse 121line 121rectangle 121text 121

drill down 77

EEdit Additional Device Property Dialog 112Edit Administrative Tool Menu Item Dialog 112Edit Alarm Condition Dialog 51Edit Amazon CloudWatch Credentials Dialog 66Edit Availability Report Dialog 73Edit Cisco UCS Credentials Dialog 66Edit CloudKick Credentials Dialog 66Edit Condition Dialog 79Edit Custom Device Property Dialog 112Edit Database Query Credentials Dialog 66Edit Device Filters Dialog 33Edit Drill Down Report Dialog 72Edit Google App Engine Credentials Dialog 66Edit Grid Report Element Dialog 76Edit HTTP Credentials Dialog 66Edit Inventory Alarm Dialog 51Edit Inventory Object Dialog 60Edit IP Range to Scan Dialog 18Edit IPMI Credentials Dialog 66Edit JMX Credentials Dialog 66Edit Monitor Element Display Options Dialog 76Edit Monitor Report Dialog 72Edit MySQL Credentials Dialog 66Edit Overview Report Dialog 74Edit Pager Entry Dialog 58

Edit Remote Access Group Dialog 64Edit Remote Access User Dialog 65Edit Remote Host to Ping Dialog 18Edit Report Element Comment 76Edit SNMP Credentials Dialog 66Edit SNMP Variable Dialog 60Edit SSH Credentials Dialog 66Edit Substring of MIB or WMI Object Value Dialog 112Edit Summary Tree Report Dialog 78Edit Sybase Credentials Dialog 66Edit Table Report Element Dialog 76Edit Top N Report Dialog 75Edit Vendor Model Dialog 112Edit WMI Credentials Dialog 66Edit WMI Object Property Dialog 60Edit WSD Credentials Dialog 66elements 79, 79, 148

copying 87exporting 87importing 87

ellipse 121, 121Ellipse Properties General Tab 121e-mail 56, 56e-mail server 56, 56embedding 31enabling in OI 18encryption 65encryption key 65Enter Connection Parameters - Cisco IP SLA Dialog 88escape sequences 114event-based 52events 52events, see alarms 9Execute Program Dialog 53exporting 87, 87

server applications 25, 25, 26, 146, 146

Ffilter 117firewall 11, 12, 106, 106forcing completion 62frequency 36FTP 12, 82, 112

GGeneral tab 34, 112GetInstancePropertyValue 134GetInstances 134GetLabeledInstancePropertyValue 134GetLastValue 134GetTimeOfLastValue 134GigaStor 9global 51global inventory alarm 51, 148Google App Engine 66Gopher 112graph 76graphs 76grids 77group 122, 122Group Box Properties General Tab 122Group Box Properties Title Tab 122guest 64

Chapter : 153

HHC (high capacity counters) 82how OI creates 42how OI finds devices 10HP OpenView 53, 53HTTP 9, 12, 66, 82, 85, 112HTTP script 85HttpGet 134HTTPS 112

IICMP 10, 10, 12, 82, 148icons for 39Icons tab 45identifying 112IIS 66IMAP (SSL/TLS) 112IMAP4 112importing 24, 26, 87, 87, 147

server applications 25, 146Instances 142integrating 34interval 106Inventories tab 60Inventories Tab 60inventory 9, 34, 52, 60, 60, 61

checking status 62configuring 60forcing completion 62reports 61scheduling 36, 61snapshot 61SNMP 60WMI 60

Inventory Reports Tab 60Inventory tab 34inventory-based 52IP address 18, 34, 39IP applications

identifying 112IP Applications

discovering 18IP Applications tab 32IP SLA 88IP SLA, see Cisco IP SLA 9IP tab 34IPFIX 40, 40IPMI 66

sensor definitions 115IPMI Sensor Definitions Dialog 115IPv6 9IPX 10, 34

enabling in OI 18monitoring 18

IsXenServer 134

JJMX 66Juniper 12

Llayout tools 122, 122

bus 122

device 122group 122reference 122ring 122subnet 122

limit 38line 121, 121Line Properties General Tab 121Link Analyst 15Linux 12Linux Syslog 82log files 114log window 109Log Window Settings - Filter Settings 109Log Window Settings - Startup Settings 109Lotus Notes 112LPD 112

Mmap

adding devices 39arranging devices 123drawing tools 121layout tools 122see also drawing tools, layout tools 122tools 121

map, creating 41maps 9marginal conditions 55Match 88, 90Merge Routes Dialog 46merging 42methods 134MIB 12, 34, 82, 82, 148

adding 92MIME 66monitor 148

elements 79Monitor Element Properties - SLA Page 79Monitor Element Properties Amazon CloudWatch CustomMetrics Page 79Monitor Element Properties Amazon CloudWatch Page 79Monitor Element Properties Cisco NBAR Protocol AggregatePage 79Monitor Element Properties Cisco NBAR Raw Protocol Page 79Monitor Element Properties Cisco UCS Page 79Monitor Element Properties Citrix XenServer Page 79Monitor Element Properties CloudKick Page 79Monitor Element Properties Database Query Page 79Monitor Element Properties Google App Engine Page 79Monitor Element Properties IPMI Sensor Page 79Monitor Element Properties MySQL Status Page 79Monitor Element Properties Perfmon Counter Page 79Monitor Element Properties Script Based Page 79, 79, 85Monitor Element Properties Script Page 79Monitor Element Properties SNMP Trap Page 79Monitor Element Properties VMware ESX Server Page 79Monitor Element Properties WAAS CM (WSD) Page 79Monitor Element Properties Wireless Access Point Page 79Monitor Element Properties Wireless LAN Controller Page 79Monitor Element Properties WMI Object Property Page 79Monitor Properties Detection page 85Monitor Properties General Page 85Monitor Properties Polling Scripts Page 85Monitor report 72

154 Index (23 Jan 2016)

monitoring 9, 18, 110Monitoring Map 32Monitoring Reports Tab 69Monitoring tab 32monitors 79, 79

application 12application path 12copying 87definition of 79exporting 87importing 87recommendations 12, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103reports, creating 76server 12what to monitor 12

Monitors tab 32, 34Multicast Pitch 23multiple actions, using 53multi-tier application 31multi-tier application, device group for 31MySQL 66, 85MySQL Server 10, 66

NNBAR 9, 12NetBEUI 10, 18, 34NetBIOS 10, 18, 18, 34NetFlow 12, 12, 40, 40network 17

rediscovering 37New Credential Dialog 66New Monitor Element Printer Alert Page 79New Monitor Element Select Monitor Type Page 82New Monitor Element Select Objects Page 79New Monitor Element SNMP Express 79New Monitor Element SNMP MIB Object Page 79New Monitor Element SNMP Object Page 79New Monitor Element SNMP Trap Page 79New Monitor Element syslog Event Page 79New Monitor Element Windows Log Event Page 79New Monitor Element WMI Object Property Page 79NNTP 112

OObserver 9

alias files 118, 148filter 117integrating 34packet capture 117ports used 11probe instance 117

Observer integration 117Observer Reporting Server 9ObsInfrSrv.exe 112OCQuery 134OI API 142, 142

AddInstance 134AddInstanceProperty 134AddLabeledInstance 134AddLabeledInstanceProperty 134AddMsSqlServerInstances 134AddToResult 134CalcSnmpSysUpTimeDiff 134CalcWmiSys100NSTimeDiff 134

GetInstancePropertyValue 134GetInstances 134GetLabeledInstancePropertyValue 134GetLastValue 134GetTimeOfLastValue 134HttpGet 134Instances 142IsXenServer 134methods 134OCQuery 134properties 142ReceivedData 142SetLastValue 134SetValueForLabel 134SNMP example 142SnmpGetList 134SnmpGetTable 134SnmpGetTableBulk 134SshGet 134VBScript example 142, 142WMI example 142, 142, 142WmiGetValue 134WmiGetValueSet 134WSDPost 134

OI password 64OI, space used 114OMS 63operating system 15ORS 72, 77overview 72, 74overview report 74

Ppacket capture 117packet size 106pager 56, 57, 57Pager Service Tray icon 58pager settings 56Pager tab 44Paging Server Properties Dialog 58paging service 57, 58, 58password 64, 64performance 82performance parameters 114Phone Pager Schedule 58ping 12, 32, 38

packet size 106routers that do not respond to 42

play a sound 53Poll tab 34polling 12, 43, 106, 106, 106, 148

blocked 106definition of 106interval 106see also autopolling 106timeout duration 43turning on/off 106

Polling Performance tab 32POP3 112POP3 (SSL/TLS) 112ports 12, 23ports used 11power user 64preventing 53print 53

Chapter : 155

Probe administration, port required 11probe instance 117Probes tab 112Program Options

General tab 112Probes tab 112

Program Options Alarm Responses Tab 53Program Options Credentials Library Tab 66Program Options Data Management Tab 114Program Options Discovery Tab 22Program Options General Tab 112Program Options Inventory Alarms Tab 51Program Options Inventory Objects Tab 60Program Options IP Applications Tab 112Program Options Monitors Tab 79Program Options Notifications Tab 56Program Options Probes Tab 112Program Options Remote Access Tab 65Program Options Reports Tab 72Program Options Schedules Tab 108properties 42, 142properties of 35

QQoS 46, 46, 47, 47

RRadius 112ReceivedData 142recommendations 12, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103rectangle 121, 121Rectangle Properties General Tab 121rediscovering 37rediscovery 37reference 122, 122Reference Properties General Tab 31remote

alarms 108connecting to 108

remote device group 108, 108, 108, 108, 108, 108, 108autopolling 108, 108de-activating 108, 108deleting 108, 108

remote OI 50, 108remote OI access 66Rename Container Dialog 31renaming 35, 45report access 65reports 9, 48, 55, 61, 71, 71, 73, 114

availability 73, 73, 73Availability 72copying 72custom 15, 72custom monitor report 76device groups 71discovery 22drill down 77graphs 76grids 77inventory 61overview 72, 74route 71scheduled 77sub-reports 77

summary tree 78tables 77top N report 75viewing in OI 69

Reports tab 32reports, creating 76reportsreports

remote 69viewing in web browser 69

response time analysis 37, 37, 47, 48route 47

Response Time Graph 45Response Time tab 32ring 122, 122Ring Properties General Tab 122route 47, 48, 48, 71, 148

activating 48Alarms tab 44Background tab 45de-activating 48definition of 18how OI creates 42Icons tab 45map, creating 41Pager tab 44properties 42QoS 46, 47reports 48, 71response time analysis 47, 48Response Time Graph 45SLA 46, 47

route flapping 46Route Polling Statistics Tab 42Route Properties Alarms Tab 44Route Properties Background Tab 45Route Properties General Tab 42Route Properties Icons Tab 35, 45Route Properties Polling Tab 36, 43Route Properties Response Time Graph Tab 45Route Reports Tab 42Route Routes Tab 42routers 10

discovering 18Routers Reports Tab 69routers that do not respond to 42routers, merging 46routes 10

merging 42monitoring 9renaming 45

RPC 112RTSP 112running as 112

Sscheduled 77Scheduled Report Delivery Page 77Scheduled Report Properties Page 77Scheduled Report Recipients Page 77Scheduled Report Times Page 77schedules 108, 108Schedules Page 108scheduling 36, 38, 61scheduling inventory 61, 61, 61security 66, 66, 66

156 Index (23 Jan 2016)

OI password 64remote OI access 66report access 65SNMP 66user groups 64users 65VMware ESX server 66WMI 66

Security Password 64see also autopolling 106see also drawing tools, layout tools 122see also polling 106Select Available Device Dialog 72Select Device and Instance Dialog 72Select Device Group Dialog 72Select Monitor Element Dialog 72Select Monitor Element Instance Dialog 72Select SNMP Credentials Page 18Select WMI Credentials Page 18Select WSD Credentials Page 18send e-mail 53Send E-mail Dialog 53send page 53send SNMP trap 53Send SNMP Trap Dialog 53Send syslog Message Dialog 53sensor definitions 115server 12Server Application Discovery 23server applications

adding 23exporting 25, 25, 26, 146, 146importing 24, 25, 26, 146, 147ports 23see also applications 23

Service Action Dialog 53SetLastValue 134SetValueForLabel 134Shoutcast 23simulating calls 109SLA 9, 46, 46, 47, 47SLA Mismatched Operations Dialog 88SLA Monitor Element - Operations Dialog 88SLA Monitor Element Operation Dialog 88SLA Monitor Element Operations Dialog 88SMTP 12, 112snapshot 61SNMP 9, 10, 12, 60, 66, 66, 85, 112, 148

discovering devices with 18firewall 106HP OpenView 53inventory 60MIB 82OI API 142performance 82scheduling inventory 61security 66throttling requests 115Tivoli 53trap 82traps 12

SNMP example 142SNMP OID 85SNMP script 85SnmpGetList 134SnmpGetTable 134

SnmpGetTableBulk 134SNPP 112SOAP 66Sound Signal Dialog 53SSH 66, 85, 112SSH script 85SshGet 134start executable or batch file 53starting 38subgroup 34, 69, 73, 74subnet 122, 122Subnet Icon Properties General Tab 122sub-reports 77summary tree 78Sybase 66Sybase ASE 10Sybase OpenClient 85Sybase OpenClient script 85syslog

firewall 106Syslog 12, 82system events 114

Ttable 77tables 77TCP 9TCP 25901 11TCP 25903 11TCP/IP

NetBIOS 18TCPIP Application Properties Dialog 112TCPIP Application Script Operation Dialog 112telnet 32Telnet 112Test MySQL Script Dialog 85Test Script Dialog 79Test SNMP Script Dialog 85, 85Test SSH Script Dialog 85Test Sybase OpenClient Script Dialog 85Test WMI Script Dialog 85Test WSD Script Dialog 85text 121, 121Text Properties General Tab 121Text to Speech Dialog 53thresholds 56, 56, 56throttling requests 115Time To Live 10timeout duration 43Tivoli 53, 53tools 121top N report 75Topology Discovery Devices Tab 22Topology Discovery Map Tab 22Topology Discovery Reports Tab 22Topology Discovery Subnets Tab 22Topology Discovery tab 22trace route 32trap 12, 82traps 12trending data 114trending period 114trigger 51triggers 51TTL 10

Chapter : 157

turning on/off 106

UUDP 82UDP 25903 11UDP echo 9UNIX 12UNIX Syslog 53, 82up-time reports 72, 73, 73, 73use Windows text-to-speech 53user group 64

administrator 64guest 64power user 64web reports 64

user groups 64user interface 10user names 34users 65, 65

VVBScript 85, 142VBScript example 142, 142viewing in OI 69Visio 9VMware ESX server 66VMware ESX Server 9, 9, 10, 66, 66, 82

3.5 and SNMP 184.0 and SNMP 18discovering 18security 66

VoIP 82simulating calls 109

WWAAS 9, 12WAAS Central Manager 10WAAS CM 9, 66, 66

discovering 18web reports 64web server 65, 69web service data 12WebSphere Application Server 66what can be monitored 79, 82what to monitor 12Windows 10 15Windows 2003 15Windows 2008 15Windows 2012 15Windows 7 15Windows 8 15Windows Firewall 106Windows Log Event 82Windows service 53

running as 112Windows system events 82Windows Vista 15WMI 9, 10, 12, 60, 66, 66, 85, 148

discovering devices with 18inventory 60OI API 142scheduling inventory 61security 66

WMI class 85

WMI example 142, 142, 142WMI Monitor Element Properties Windows Process Page 79WMI Monitor Element Properties Windows Service Page 79WMI script 85WmiGetValue 134WmiGetValueSet 134working with remote 108WSD 10, 12, 18, 66, 85, 148WSD script 85WSDPost 134

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