Net Inspector 2015 GETTING STARTED GUIDE. MG-SOFT Corporation. Document published on October 16, (Document Version: 10.6)

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1 MG-SOFT Corporation Net Inspector 2015 GETTING STARTED GUIDE (Document Version: 10.6) Document published on October 16, 2015 Copyright MG-SOFT Corporation

2 Introduction In order to improve the design or performance characteristics, MG-SOFT reserves the right to make changes in this document or in the software without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of MG-SOFT Corporation. Permission to print one copy is hereby granted if your only means of access is electronic. Depending on your license, certain functions described in this document may not be available in the version of the software that you are currently using. Screenshots used in this document may slightly differ from those on your display. MG-SOFT may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property. Copyright MG-SOFT Corporation. All rights reserved. 2

3 Introduction TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction Starting Net Inspector Client Connecting Net Inspector Client to Server Connecting and Logging On to Server Net Inspector Client GUI Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Discovering Network Devices and Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Discovering Network Devices by Using the Network Discovery Wizard Discovering Network Devices by Using Discovery Panel Dialog Box...22 Setting Discovery Parameters Starting the Discovery Operation Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Based on Received SNMP Notifications and NetFlow/sFlow Streams (Auto Configuration) Adding Maps and Managed Objects to Workspace Manually Adding Maps to User View Adding Managed Objects to Maps Adding Connection Lines to Managed Objects Importing Managed Objects from CSV File Configuring Polling Parameters Configuring Polling Profiles Configuring SNMP Profiles Monitoring and Managing Alarms in Events Window Viewing Alarms for All Objects Viewing Alarms for Selected Objects Viewing Alarm History To View Alarm History for Selected Objects Filtering Alarms Finding Alarms Monitoring Alarms and Status of Managed Objects in Maps and Explorer Windows Viewing Contents of Maps in Maps Window Viewing Link Status and Utilization Viewing Device Performance Tooltips Information Provided by Icons Displayed in Maps Window - Graphics View...80 Types of Objects New Alarms Alarm Balloons All Active Alarms Alarm Rectangles Example Monitoring Propagated Alarms and Statuses in Explorer Window Propagation Example Viewing Properties of Managed Objects Opening the Properties Window

4 Introduction 9.2 About the Properties window General View System View Settings View Services View Interfaces View Resources View Storage View Viewing Device Performance Data in the Performance Statistics Window Viewing Charts Appendix: About Users, Access Rights and User Views

5 Introduction TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Entering URL into Web browser to view the Net Inspector Java Client Web page... 8 Figure 2: Starting Net Inspector Client from a web browser... 9 Figure 3: Using Java Web Start Launcher to start Net Inspector Client... 9 Figure 4: Net Inspector Client main window (no connection to server) Figure 5: Connect to Net Inspector Server dialog box Figure 6: Login dialog box Figure 7: Change Password dialog box Figure 8: User view selection dialog box Figure 9: Net Inspector Java Client main window (connection with server is established) Figure 10: Network Discovery Wizard - Welcome screen Figure 11: Network Discovery Wizard - Specify SNMP Profile(s) screen Figure 12: Network Discovery Wizard - Configure Discovery Filter screen Figure 13: Network Discovery Wizard - Select Discovery Strategy screen Figure 14: Advanced Discovery Settings Figure 15: Network Discovery Wizard the last screen Figure 16: Discovery Panel Figure 17: Add Discovery dialog box Figure 18: A new discovery operation in the Discovery Panel dialog box Figure 19: A discovery operation in progress Figure 20: A discovered network displayed in the Maps window Figure 21: Setting Net Inspector auto configuration options Figure 22: Viewing new managed objects added to the map by the auto configuration feature Figure 23: Adding a new submap to a user view Figure 24: Setting the name of the newly added submap Figure 25: Example of a hierarchical structure of maps in the Explorer window Figure 26: Opening a submap Figure 27: Adding a new object to a map Figure 28: Adding a new managed object selecting the object type Figure 29: Adding a new managed object specifying object properties Figure 30: A new managed object icon on the map and the managed object Properties window Figure 31: Setting the profiles for polling a managed device Figure 32: New object is being managed (its status is Normal ) Figure 33: Connecting two icons with the Connection tool Figure 34: Selecting the connection endpoint network interfaces Figure 35: A connection line with interface status symbols and connection labels Figure 36: Editing the connection labels and endpoint interfaces Figure 37: Example of a network model with connections lines (some of them with labels) Figure 38: Selecting the Import from CSV File command Figure 39: The list of managed objects (devices) to be imported from a CSV file Figure 40: Net Inspector Server Settings dialog box, Profiles panel Figure 41: New/Edit Polling Profile dialog box Figure 42: New SNMP Profile dialog Figure 43: MIB Browser dialog box

6 Introduction Figure 44: Events window and Event Details sub-window Figure 45: Add Comment dialog box Figure 46: Viewing alarm acknowledgement details Figure 47: Opening a map from the Explorer window Figure 48: Choosing the option to view active alarms for selected managed objects Figure 49: A new tab in the Events window displaying active alarms for selected objects Figure 50: Choosing the option to view alarm history for selected managed objects Figure 51: Viewing the alarm history for selected objects Figure 52: Create Filter dialog box Figure 53: Viewing filtered alarms in the Events window Figure 54: Find Events dialog box Figure 55: Viewing results of the search operation in the Events window Figure 56: Selecting a map view Figure 57: Adjusting the zoom level Figure 58: Viewing the contents of a map in the Maps window Graphics view Figure 59: Viewing the contents of a map in the Maps window Details view Figure 60: Enabling options to display connection labels and traffic Figure 61: Connection lines and labels provide information about the current network traffic Figure 62: Viewing the device performance tooltip Figure 63: A pinned device performance tooltip window Figure 64: Example of the Explorer window contents Figure 65: Properties window General view Figure 66: Properties window System view Figure 67: Properties window Settings view Figure 68: Properties window Services view Figure 69: Properties window Interfaces view Figure 70: Properties window Resources view Figure 71: Properties window Storage view Figure 72: Opening Performance Statistics window for the selected device Figure 73: Viewing device performance statistics Figure 74: Selecting a chart from the Chart Panel dialog box Figure 75: Viewing a chart Figure 76: Closing a chart

7 Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION This guide contains instructions for completing basic operations in Net Inspector Java Client. Instructions are provided on a step-by-step basis, which should help the reader start using the software effectively. It is supposed that you are familiar with basic actions in a graphical computer environment, such as choosing a main menu command or a pop-up command, selecting items, closing windows and dialog boxes, etc. All program commands in this manual are written in bold and italic letters. Individual commands in combinations of commands are separated by the / character. For example: View / Events which means: click the View entry in the menu bar and select the Events command from the View menu. All hyperlinks in text are marked with blue colored letters, e.g., Events window. Clicking a hyperlink opens the page which the hyperlink points to. The content of this guide is listed in the Table of Contents. 7

8 Starting Net Inspector Client 2 STARTING NET INSPECTOR CLIENT Net Inspector Client is started via the Java Web Start mechanism, that lets you launch Net Inspector Client from any computer in the network using a Web browser, as described in this section. System requirement: Java Runtime Environment (JRE), version 6.0 (a.k.a. 1.6) or later must be installed on the computer that will run Net Inspector Client. JRE for various operating systems can be downloaded from the following Web page: 1. Start your Web browser application (e.g., MSIE, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc.) on the computer where you want to run Net Inspector Client. Tip: To run Net Inspector Client on the same computer as Net Inspector Server, select the MG-SOFT Net Inspector/Net Inspector Client command from the operating system start menu. Skip the following step and continue in step 3 below. 2. Into the Web browser URL input line enter the IP address and port (separated by a colon) on which the Net Inspector HTTP Server listens to for incoming HTTP connections (by default, the port number is 5228 ) and press the Enter key (Figure 1). Note: Net Inspector comes with its own HTTP (Web) server program that installs to the same computer as Net Inspector Server and other components of the package. Net Inspector HTTP Server serves a Web page that enables launching Net Inspector Client by using the Java Web Start framework. Figure 1: Entering URL into Web browser to view the Net Inspector Java Client Web page 3. Net Inspector Client Web page is displayed in the Web browser. Click the Start MG-SOFT Net Inspector Client link in the displayed Web page (Figure 2). 8

9 Starting Net Inspector Client Figure 2: Starting Net Inspector Client from a web browser 4. Web browser may prompt you with dialog box asking if you want to start Net Inspector Client (i.e., ni.jnlp file) with Java Web Start Launcher. Click the OK button to confirm the selection (Figure 3). Figure 3: Using Java Web Start Launcher to start Net Inspector Client 9

10 Starting Net Inspector Client 5. Java Web Start Launcher downloads the Net Inspector Client application from the Net Inspector Client Web page to the local computer. When starting Net Inspector Client for the first time on a given computer, the software also offers you the option to create a desktop shortcut for the downloaded Net Inspector Client application. Select the Yes option to create the shortcut. When the Net Inspector Client application finishes downloading, it is automatically started and the Net Inspector Client main window appears (Figure 4). Figure 4: Net Inspector Client main window (no connection to server) Please proceed to the next section for instructions on connecting and logging on to Net Inspector Server. 10

11 Connecting Net Inspector Client to Server 3 CONNECTING NET INSPECTOR CLIENT TO SERVER Before you can start using Net Inspector Client for effective fault management, you need to connect and successfully log on to Net Inspector Server, as described in this section. 3.1 Connecting and Logging On to Server 1. In the Net Inspector Client main window choose the File / Connect command or click the Connect toolbar button. 2. The Connect to Net Inspector Server dialog box appears (Figure 5), which is used for connecting Net Inspector Client to Net Inspector Server. Figure 5: Connect to Net Inspector Server dialog box 3. In the Address drop-down list in the Connect to Net Inspector Server dialog box, enter or select the IP address or the hostname of the computer that runs Net Inspector Server (engine) you wish to connect to. 4. Into the Port input line, enter the TCP port number on which the Net Inspector Server listens to for incoming client connections. The default port number is Click the Connect button. Net Inspector Client will try to establish a connection with the Net Inspector Server using the connection settings configured above. Figure 6: Login dialog box 11

12 Connecting Net Inspector Client to Server 6. Once the connection is established, the Login dialog box appears (Figure 6). Enter your username and password into the Username and Password input fields (note that both fields are case sensitive!). Note: The Design mode checkbox lets users with administrator access rights run Net Inspector Client in design mode, which allows users to have more than one user view active at the same time an copy objects between active user views. 7. Click the Login button (Figure 6). 8. Net Inspector Server checks if the account with the specified username exists and if the entered password is correct. The login procedure then proceeds as follows: If the entered username and/or password is incorrect, the Login dialog box is displayed again, so you can re-enter the login data. If the entered username and password are correct and the user account is configured so that the user must change the password upon next login, the Change Password dialog box appears (Figure 7). This dialog box lets you change your password by entering the old password into the Old password input line and a new password into the New password and Retype password input lines and clicking the Change button. Figure 7: Change Password dialog box If the entered username and password are correct and there is only one user view assigned to the user, this user view is automatically activated and one or more windows (depending on the user view configuration) open in the Net Inspector Client main window. You can start working with Net Inspector in accordance with the assigned user view and access rights. 12

13 Connecting Net Inspector Client to Server Figure 8: User view selection dialog box If the entered username and password are correct and there is more than one user view assigned to the user, the user view selection dialog box appears (Figure 8). Select the desired user view from the dialog box and click the Open button. One or more windows (depending on the user view configuration) will open in the Net Inspector Client main window. You can start working with Net Inspector in accordance with the selected user view and assigned access rights. Tip: To change your password after a successful logon, select the Tools / Server Settings command from the Net Inspector main menu and click the Users entry in the navigation tree in the Server Settings dialog box that appears. This displays the Users panel where Net Inspector users are managed. Select your user account in this dialog box and click the Change Password button. Enter the new password into the New password and Retype password input lines and click the OK button to close the dialog box and apply the password change. 13

14 Net Inspector Client GUI 4 NET INSPECTOR CLIENT GUI The Net Inspector Client graphical user interface (GUI) is composed of typical graphical user interface components, like the title bar, menu bar, toolbar, one or more windows and the status bar. The following windows form the Net Inspector Client main window: Maps Explorer Events Event Details The above listed windows are arranged side-by-side in the main window. Windows can be resized by dragging their borders. All windows listed above, except the Maps window which is always displayed, can be displayed or hidden by using the View menu commands or the corresponding toolbar buttons. Additional windows and dialog boxes can be opened from the program menu, toolbars and the pop-up (context) menus. Menu Bar Toolbar Explorer Window Maps Window Graphics Toolbar Events Window Events Details Sub-Window Status Bar Figure 9: Net Inspector Java Client main window (connection with server is established) 14

15 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 5 ADDING MANAGED OBJECTS TO WORKSPACE After logging on log on Net Inspector Server, network administrator needs to configure Net Inspector workspace. The workspace is a conceptual environment that allows you to model the managed network according to your preferences. It allows you to group managed objects in maps and to structure such maps in a hierarchical manner within user views, e.g., to depict the logical topology of the managed network. A user view is a particular view of objects registered with the Net Inspector system. User views differ in respect to what objects they display and how those objects are grouped and hierarchically structured. A user view can display either all managed, action and system objects registered with Net Inspector (e.g., an administrator user view), or any subgroup of those objects (e.g., user views assigned to users with limited access rights). An object can be displayed (included) in more than one user view. A user view displays only those alarms, which are associated with the objects included in that user view. See also section About Users, Access Rights and User Views. To start managing the network, a user with administrator access rights needs to add the managed objects that represent actual network devices to Net Inspector configuration, add those objects to the workspace and enable their monitoring. One can create different user views for different users. Managed objects can be added to the workspace either manually or by using the Net Inspector network discovery functionality. In this section network administrators will learn how to add maps and managed objects to the workspace. There are several ways to add managed objects to the workspace in Net Inspector, as described in this section: First, you will learn how to use the Network Discovery Wizard and the Discovery Panel window to discover devices on the network and add managed objects that represent discovered devices to the Net Inspector workspace. Next, you will learn how to set the auto configuration feature to enable adding of new managed objects to the workspace by receiving SNMP notifications and NetFlow/sFlow streams from the network. Next, you will learn how to add, configure and enable managed objects on the workspace manually. Finally, a process of importing managed objects from a CSV file is described. 5.1 Discovering Network Devices and Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Managed objects can be added to the workspace automatically by means of the network discovery operation that actively scans and discovers the network and by means of the auto configuration feature, which adds new object to the system and workspace when Net Inspector receives SNMP notification messages and NetFlow or sflow packets from unknown sources. 15

16 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Discovering Network Devices by Using the Network Discovery Wizard This section describes how to use the Network Discovery Wizard to configure and run a discovery operation and add the discovered devices to the workspace (default user view). The Network Discovery Wizard starts automatically when you connect to Net Inspector Server for the first time (i.e., when no managed objects exist in Net Inspector configuration). You can also start the Network Discovery Wizard at any time later, as described in this section. To discover devices on the network: 1. Connect to Net Inspector Server as a user with administrator access rights (e.g., admin). 2. If the Network Discovery Wizard Welcome screen does not appear automatically, use the Tools / Discovery Wizard command to display it (Figure 10). Figure 10: Network Discovery Wizard - Welcome screen 3. Click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to proceed to the next step of the Network Discovery Wizard. 16

17 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 4. In the Specify SNMP Profiles screen, you need to select the SNMP access profiles that will be used for discovering the network devices. Please note that the SNMP access profile with which a device has been discovered, is automatically assigned to that device, so Net Inspector Server will use it to poll that device. Note: The order in which SNMP profiles are listed is important. During the discovery, the toplisted SNMP profile is used first in an attempt to discover your network devices, if unsuccessful, the second-listed profile is used, etc. The SNMP profile with which a device has been discovered is automatically used for the subsequent polling of that device. It is recommended to move more secure SNMP profiles (e.g., SNMPv3 profiles) to the top of the list. Figure 11: Network Discovery Wizard - Specify SNMP Profile(s) screen To use a profile in the discovery operation, enable it by checking the checkbox in front of its name in the SNMP profiles list. You should enable those profiles that contain the SNMP settings accepted by your SNMP devices (SNMP version, port, community name, or SNMPv3 user settings). To create a new profile and add it to the list, click the Add button and configure the parameters for the new profile in the New SNMP Access Profile dialog box that appears. To edit a profile, select it in the list, click the Edit button and edit the profile parameters in the Edit SNMP Access Profile dialog box that appears. If you want to import SNMP access profiles from a file, click the Import button and select the desired SNMP access profiles XML file in the Open dialog box, 17

18 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace To move a profile up or down on the list, select the profile and click the Up or Down button, respectively. 5. After you have selected the desired SNMP profile(s), click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to proceed to the next step. 6. The Configure Discovery Filter screen appears (Figure 12). In this step you can optionally select or configure a filter that will narrow down the discovery results by filtering out devices that do not match the filter criteria. To skip using a discovery filter, leave this screen empty or select the <No Filter> entry from the Discovery filter drop-down list. To configure the filter, follow the instructions displayed by the wizard. For more details, please refer to the Net Inspector Client Reference Manual, Manage Discovery Filters dialog box section. Figure 12: Network Discovery Wizard - Configure Discovery Filter screen 7. After you have configured the filter (optionally), click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to proceed to the next step. 18

19 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 8. In this step of the Network Discovery Wizard, you need to select one of the following strategies for discovering your network (Figure 13): Figure 13: Network Discovery Wizard - Select Discovery Strategy screen To perform the discovery operation within the subnet, which the Net Inspector Server computer is a member of, select the Scan local subnet radio button. To perform the discovery operation within the user-specified range(s) of IP addresses, select the Scan IP range(s) option. Click the Add button next to the list of IP ranges. Into the IP Range dialog box that appears, enter the first and the last IP address of the range, which you want to scan for network devices. Optionally, repeat this procedure to add more IP ranges to the list. Optionally, use the Delete and Edit buttons to edit or delete the selected IP ranges. To use the progressive network discovery operation that starts querying a single SNMP device and progressively discovers its neighbors and subnets, select the Progressive network discovery option. Into the Start SNMP agent address input line, enter the IP address of the SNMP device to be scanned first. 19

20 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Check the Scan entire subnets (not larger than B class) checkbox if you want the Net Inspector to scan entire subnets (up to B-class size) it detects during the progressive discovery operation (this might be time consuming). Note that independently of this setting, Net Inspector always scans entire C-class subnets it discovers, and never scans entire subnets that are larger than B-class. To limit the depth of the progressive discovery operation to a specific number of hops, click the Advanced button, and set the number of hops into the TTL (Time-to-Live) input line in the Advanced Discovery Settings dialog box (Figure 14). 9. If you do not want the discovered devices and their interconnections to be added to the default user view, click the Advanced button at the bottom of the Select Discovery Strategy screen. 10. The Advanced Discovery Settings dialog box appears (Figure 14). Figure 14: Advanced Discovery Settings From the Target user view drop-down list, select the user view to which you want the discovered devices (managed objects) and their interconnections to be added. In the Submap drop-down list, select or enter the name of the submap to which you want the discovered devices (managed objects) and their interconnections to be added. If the specified submap does not exist yet, it will be created. 20

21 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Check the Create submaps for subnets checkbox if you want Net Inspector to automatically create subnet maps and put the discovered devices into subnet maps when devices are added to the selected user view. Check the Preserve connections checkbox if you want Net Inspector to preserve manually added connections between managed objects when adding discovered managed objects and their interconnections to the submap. This option is relevant only if the target submap already contains (some) managed objects and connections between them. In the Connection labels drop-down list, select what information will be displayed in connection labels. You can choose to display the IP address or the name or the IP address and name of the endpoint network interface. One can hide the connection labels later by clicking the Connection labels checkbox in the graphics toolbar. Check the Display tunnel connections checkbox if you want Net Inspector to display also the discovered tunnel connections between managed objects. Click the OK button to apply the settings and close the Advanced Discovery Settings dialog box. For more details about the advanced discovery parameters, please see the next section. 11. Click the Next button at the bottom of the screen to proceed to the final step. 12. In the final step (Figure 15) you can review the discovery settings and start the discovery operation. Figure 15: Network Discovery Wizard the last screen 21

22 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 13. After you have reviewed the discovery settings, click the Start Discovery button at the bottom of the screen to start the network discovery operation and finish the Network Discovery Wizard. 14. While the discovery operation is in progress, the Discovery is running message and a progress bar is displayed in the status bar of the Net Inspector Client main window. To view the intermediate results (discovered devices and subnets) of the discovery operation, select the Tools / Discovery Panel command to display the Discovery Panel dialog box (Figure 16) and open the relevant discovery operation in it. When the discovery operation finishes, the newly discovered devices are automatically added to the selected user view (Figure 20) Discovering Network Devices by Using Discovery Panel Dialog Box This section describes how to discover network devices without using the Network Discovery Wizard. Note: Before running the discovery operation, it is recommended to enable SNMP on all switches and routers in your network. This enables discovering the physical network topology. Users with administrator access rights are permitted to open the Discovery Panel dialog box to view and manage discovery operations, as well as add discovered devices and their interconnections to the workspace and to the system (Device Panel dialog box). Discovery operation is a procedure that systematically scans the network for network devices and their (inter)connections by means of ICMP ping and/or SNMP queries. The search is performed in accordance with the user-specified discovery parameters. Net Inspector supports three different network discovery methods: local - discovers the network (devices and their connections) within the local subnet range - discovers the network within the specified range of IP addresses progressive - discovers the network by means of the progressive SNMP-based network scan operation. This operation starts by querying one SNMP device and continues by progressively discovering its neighbors and subnets by examining the routing tables and other relevant data on scanned objects. More than one discovery operation can exist and run simultaneously in Net Inspector (e.g., each discovery operation being performed on a different part of the network, storing results to different configuration database and adding devices to different user views). Setting Discovery Parameters To discover network devices without using the Network Discovery Wizard: 1. Select the Tools Discovery Panel command from the main menu. 2. The Discovery Panel dialog box opens (Figure 16). 22

23 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Figure 16: Discovery Panel 3. Click the Add button in the Discovery Panel dialog box, to add a new discovery operation to the Discovery Panel. 4. The Add Discovery dialog box appears (Figure 17), where you can configure discovery settings, as follows: 23

24 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Figure 17: Add Discovery dialog box Into the Name input line, enter the name (short description) of the discovery operation you are adding. If you want to enable running the discovery operation repeatedly every day at the same time, check the Run discovery every day at checkbox in the Schedule frame and enter the corresponding hours and minutes into the accompanying input lines. If this option is enabled in combination with the Automatically add discovered devices option, Net Inspector will automatically add the newly discovered devices in each run to the selected user view and start monitoring them. In the Results frame, check the Automatically add discovered devices checkbox. If this option is enabled, Net Inspector automatically adds newly discovered devices to the workspace (i.e., selected user view) and Device Panel dialog box (i.e., selected configuration), as follows: 24

25 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Configuration (drop-down list) Lets you select the configuration file, which the discovered devices will be stored in. Select the Config0 option. User view (drop-down list) Lets you select the user view, which the discovered devices will be added to. Select the default option. Submap (drop-down list) Lets you select or enter the name of the target submap, i.e., submap, which the discovered devices and their interconnections will be added to. If the specified submap does not exist yet, it will be created. Preserve connections (checkbox) Check this checkbox if you want the Net Inspector to preserve manually added connections between managed objects when adding discovered managed objects and their interconnections to the submap. This option is relevant only if the target submap already contains (some) managed objects and connections between them. Connection labels (drop-down list) select what information will be displayed in connection labels, i.e., labels on the ends of lines connecting managed objects. You can choose to display the IP address or the name or the IP address and name of the endpoint network interface. One can hide the connection labels later by clicking the Connection labels checkbox in the graphics toolbar. Display tunnel connections (checkbox) checkbox if you want Net Inspector to display also the discovered tunnel connections between managed objects. Discovery filter (drop-down list) Lets you select a discovery filter in order to discover only those devices that match the filter conditions. Select the <no filter> option. For more details, please refer to the Net Inspector Client Reference Manual, Manage Discovery Filters dialog box section. In the Strategy frame, specify the preferred discovery strategy, as follows: ICMP Ping (checkbox) Check this checkbox to enable using ICMP Ping queries for discovering the network devices. SNMP (checkbox) Check this checkbox to enable using SNMP queries for discovering the network devices and their interconnections. Scan ENTITY-MIB (checkbox) If this checkbox is checked, Net Inspector scans the ENTITY-MIB on discovered devices via SNMP protocol and creates a managed object for each discovered entity. If this checkbox is not checked, entities are ignored and a single managed object is created for each discovered device. 25

26 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Scan local subnet (radio button) If this option is selected, Net Inspector discovers the network (devices and their connections) within the local subnet, i.e., subnet the computer running Net Inspector Server is a member of. Scan IP range(s) (radio button) If this option is selected, Net Inspector discovers performs the discovery operation within the specified IP range(s). To add the desired IP ranges use the following controls: Add (button) Click this button to open the IP Range dialog box, where you can specify the IP range into the following input lines: Start address (input line) The start address of the IP range. Stop address (input line) The end address of the IP range. Delete (button) Deletes the selected range. Edit (button) Opens the IP range dialog box where you can edit the selected range. Progressive network discovery (radio button) The Progressive network discovery starts by querying a single SNMP device and progressively discovers its neighbors and subnets by examining the routing tables and other relevant data on scanned objects. You have to enter the IP address of the SNMP device to be scanned first. SNMP agent address (input line) The IP address of the SNMP-enabled device that will be scanned first. Scan entire subnets (not larger than B class) (checkbox) If this checkbox is checked and Net Inspector discovers a device that has a network mask that is larger than traditional class C network mask and does not exceed the size of class B mask, it will scan also the entire subnet, which the discovered device is a member of (this can be time consuming). Note that Net Inspector will always scan entire C class subnets it discovers, however, it will not scan entire subnets that are larger than B class. Click the Advanced button to open the Advanced Discovery Settings dialog box where you can specify advanced discovery parameters, as follows: Timeout (input line) Sets the timeout interval in seconds for ICMP ping and SNMP requests. Retries (input line) Sets the retries count, i.e., the number of times the ICMP ping and SNMP requests will be retransmitted after the first timeout occurs. 26

27 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace TTL (input line) Sets the time-to-live parameter that limits the lifetime of discovery packets to the specified number of hops (number of routers over which the discovery packets will be passed. This parameter is important for limiting the depth of the SNMP scan discovery operation. Max queue size (input line) Specifies the maximum number of concurrent SNMP queries. By using this parameter, you can control the CPU usage and the speed of discovery. By increasing this number, the CPU load and speed will increase and vice-versa. After viewing/modifying the above parameters, click the OK button to close the Advanced Discovery Settings dialog box and apply the settings. In the SNMP Profiles frame, check the Use all configured SNMP profiles checkbox. This way, all existing SNMP profiles will be used in the discovery operation. First, the network will be scanned using the SNMPv3 profile(s), then using the SNMPv2c, and finally by using the SNMPv1 profile(s). Every managed object will be automatically assigned that SNMP profile with which is has been discovered. If the required SNMP profile for accessing your network devices does not exists yet, you should create it in the Server Settings dialog box, Profiles panel before starting the discovery operation. If the Use all configured SNMP profiles checkbox is not checked, you can specify what SNMP profiles will be used in the discovery operation and in which order. For more details, please refer to the Net Inspector Client Reference Manual, Discovery Panel dialog box section. 5. After specifying the discovery parameters, click the OK button to close the Add Discovery dialog box and add the newly configured discovery operation to the Discovery Panel (Figure 18). Figure 18: A new discovery operation in the Discovery Panel dialog box 27

28 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Starting the Discovery Operation Note: Before running the discovery operation, it is recommended to enable SNMP on all switches and routers in your network. This enables discovering the physical network topology. 1. To start the discovery operation, select it in the Discovery Panel dialog box and click the Start toolbar button. 2. To see the results, select the discovery operation in the Discovery Panel dialog box and click the Discovery results button. 3. The Discovery dialog box for the selected discovery operation appears (Figure 19). Figure 19: A discovery operation in progress 4. A Discovery in progress. Found X hosts in Y subnets message appears in the status bar and the Discovery results area starts displaying the interim results, i.e., discovered subnets and devices (Figure 19). Discovered devices appear as child items of the subnet maps, except in cases where devices are members of two or more subnets. 28

29 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace You can close the Discovery dialog box and the Discovery Panel dialog box and leave the discovery operation running in the background. While the discovery operation is running, the Net Inspector Client status bar displays the Discovery is running message and a progress bar. You can reopen those dialog boxes at any time to view the status and most recent discovery operation results. If you want to stop the discovery operation before it finishes, click the Stop button in the Discovery Panel dialog box. 5. When the discovery operation is finished or stopped, the managed object icons representing discovered devices are automatically added to the workspace (if the Automatically add discovered devices option is enabled in the discovery operation configuration). More specifically, managed objects are added to the selected user view in the Maps window and Net Inspector starts automatically monitoring those devices. Managed objects are also connected with lines that represent connections between them (Figure 20). Figure 20: A discovered network displayed in the Maps window 5.2 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Based on Received SNMP Notifications and NetFlow/sFlow Streams (Auto Configuration) Net Inspector incorporates the auto configuration feature, which automatically adds new object to the system and (optionally) to the workspace when Net Inspector receives SNMP Trap and Inform notification messages and NetFlow or sflow packets from unknown sources. The auto configuration feature is enabled by default for both 29

30 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace SNMP notification messages and NetFlow/sFlow messages. This section describes the auto configuration feature settings and functioning. 1. To determine if auto configuration is enabled, select the Tools / Server Settings command and click the Auto Configuration entry in the navigation tree in the Server Settings dialog box to display the Auto Configuration panel (Figure 21). 2. In the Auto Configuration panel, make sure the Add devices on received SNMP notifications from unknown sources to configuration checkbox is checked and the correct configuration is selected in the accompanying drop-down box (e.g., Config0). Check also the Add devices to user view checkbox to enable adding managed objects for newly discovered devices to the selected user view. In the accompanying drop-down list select the user view which managed objects will be added to and optionally, enter the name of the map which the devices will be added to into the accompanying map input line. If the map input line is left empty, managed objects will be added to the root of the selected user view. Figure 21: Setting Net Inspector auto configuration options 3. Ensure the Add devices on received NetFlow streams from unknown sources to configuration checkbox is checked and the correct configuration is selected in the accompanying drop-down box (e.g., Config0). Check also the Add devices to user view checkbox to enable adding managed objects for newly discovered NetFlow/sFlow devices to the selected user view. In the accompanying drop-down list select the user view which managed objects will be added to and optionally, enter the name of the map which the devices will be added to into the accompanying map input line. If the map input line is left empty, managed objects will be added to the root of the selected user view. 4. Click the OK button to apply the changes and close the Server Settings dialog box. 5. Configure remote SNMP devices to send SNMP Trap or Inform notifications messages to the computer where Net Inspector Server runs. In case of a distributed configuration where two or more Net Inspector polling engines are used, direct the SNMP notification sending to the nearest polling engine. 6. Configure remote devices to send NetFlow or sflow packets to the computer where Net Inspector Server runs. In case of a distributed configuration, where two or more Net Inspector polling engines are used, direct the NetFlow/sFlow packets to the nearest polling engine. 30

31 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 7. Net Inspector will automatically add a new managed object to the system (Device Panel) and to the workspace (user view and map) when it receives an SNMP Trap and Inform notification message or NetFlow/sFlow packets from a new device. Net Inspector will check the SNMP version and community name or username (in case of SNMPv3) in the received SNMP Trap or Inform notification message and assign the matching SNMP access profile (if it exists) to the new managed object. If no SNMP profile with matching SNMP access parameters exists in Net Inspector, the default SNMP profile is selected. In addition, the default polling profile is automatically assigned to all new managed objects. Managed objects that have been automatically added to the system are marked with the New label displayed in the upper-left corner of the managed object icon. New Netflow managed objects are also marked as NetFlow sources with the NF label displayed in the lower-left corner of the managed object icon (Figure 24). Figure 22: Viewing new managed objects added to the map by the auto configuration feature 8. To remove the New label from managed objects, right-click the respective managed object(s) and choose the New Device toggle command from the pop-up menu. Tip: Users with administrator access right can view all new objects in the system. To view all new managed objects, select the View / Device Panel to open the Device Panel window and select the New Device filter from the Show drop-down menu in the upper-left section of the Device Panel toolbar. 31

32 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 5.3 Adding Maps and Managed Objects to Workspace Manually In addition to using the network discovery and auto configuration feature, users with administrator access rights may add maps and managed objects to the system and to the workspace also manually. Furthermore, action objects (Mail, Command, and SMS) and graphic objects (lines, rectangles, artistic text, etc.) can be added to the workspace only manually. This section will show you how to manually create maps on the workspace and how to place managed objects on these maps Adding Maps to User View Net Inspector uses the concept of maps, which are containers that can hold various types of objects (managed objects, system objects, action objects), graphic elements (lines, rectangles, bitmaps, etc.) and other maps (submaps). Using the maps, one can group objects into maps and structure such maps in a hierarchical manner within user views. After a fresh installation, Net Inspector workspace contains only the default user view and no maps. This section describes how to add maps to the default user view. 1. If the Explorer window is not displayed, select the View / Explorer command or click the Explorer toolbar button to display it. 2. Select the default user view icon in the Explorer window, right-click it and select the Add/New Submap command from the pop-up menu (Figure 23). Figure 23: Adding a new submap to a user view 32

33 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 3. A new submap icon with the default name Submap 1 will appear below the selected user view icon in the Explorer window and the Submap Properties window is automatically displayed prompting you to specify a different name for the newly created submap (Figure 24). Figure 24: Setting the name of the newly added submap 4. Into the Name input line in the Submap Properties window, enter the desired name for the new submap and click the Apply button (Figure 24). Close the Submap Properties window. 5. By following the above procedure, you can add more (sub)maps to the user view, e.g., to create a hierarchical structure of maps according to your preferences (e.g.: Figure 25). Figure 25: Example of a hierarchical structure of maps in the Explorer window 33

34 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Adding Managed Objects to Maps 1. If the Explorer window is not displayed, select the View / Explorer command or click the Explorer toolbar button to display it. 2. In the Explorer window navigate to the (sub)map to which you would like to add managed objects and double-click the submap or right-click it and select the Open pop-up command (Figure 26). Figure 26: Opening a submap 3. A new tab appears in the Maps window, displaying the contents of the opened (sub)map. Right-click inside this map in the Maps window and choose the Add/New Object command from the pop-up menu (Figure 27). Figure 27: Adding a new object to a map 34

35 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace 4. The New Object dialog box first screen appears. Select the type and class of the object that best match the device you are going to manage (e.g., IP server) and click the Next button at the bottom of the dialog box (Figure 28). Figure 28: Adding a new managed object selecting the object type 5. The New Object dialog box second screen appears (Figure 29). Specify the properties of the managed object you are adding, as follows: Figure 29: Adding a new managed object specifying object properties 35

36 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Into the Name input line, enter the name of the managed object, as it will appear in Net Inspector. Into the Address input line, enter the IPv4 or IPv6 address or the fully qualified domain name of the managed object. Into the Description input line, optionally enter a short description of the managed object. Into the Vendor input line, optionally enter the vendor of the managed device. From the Class drop-down list, select the class of the managed object, which can be one of the following: Workstation Server Printer Switch Router Gateway Equipment Multiplexer Transport Database Firewall Transmitter Any In the Submap drop-down list, the currently selected submap is displayed. If you wish to add the object to another submap, click the Browse button next to this drop-down list and select the desired submap from the Browse dialog box that appears. In the Configuration drop-down list, the name of current device configuration file is displayed (e.g., Config0). If you want to save the new object to another configuration file (must first be specified in the niengine.ini file please see the Net Inspector Installation and Configuration Guide), select it from this dropdown list. In the Polling engine drop-down list, select the IP address of the Net Inspector Performance Manager polling engine that will be used for polling the given device, or select the Built-in engine option in order for Net Inspector Server (fault manager) to poll the given device. The former option is available when using Net Inspector WorkGroup or Enterprise Edition, which include the Performance Management functionalities. If you select a Performance Manager polling engine in this drop-down list, additional performance statistics about the given device will be available via the Show Performance Statistics command. If you select the Built-in engine option, no performance history data will be available for the given managed object. 6. After specifying the properties of the managed object, click the Finish button in the New Object dialog box second screen to add the new managed object to the selected configuration and submap. The new object is added also to the Device 36

37 Adding Managed Objects to Workspace Panel dialog box (View/Device Panel), which lists all objects registered with Net Inspector. 7. A new managed object icon is added to the selected map and the Properties window of the managed object appears automatically (Figure 30). Note that the monitoring of the managed object is not yet enabled (indicated by the blue color of the managed object icon background). One needs to assign the correct polling profile and SNMP access profile to the new managed object before enabling its monitoring, as describe in the next steps. Figure 30: A new managed object icon on the map and the managed object Properties window 8. Select the Settings entry from the category drop-down list displayed in the upper section of the Properties window (Figure 30). 9. The Settings view is displayed in the Properties window (Figure 31). 37