Cisco Active Network Abstraction Administrator Guide 3.6 Service Pack 4 - Managing Global Settings [Cisco Active Network Abstraction]

Table Of Contents

Managing Global Settings

Managing Client Licenses

Viewing Client License Properties

Viewing Database Segments

Customizing a Message of the Day

Managing Polling Groups

Polling Groups Overview

Customizing a Polling Group

Modifying a Polling Group

Deleting a Polling Group

Adaptive Polling

Managing Protection Groups

Checking Assignment of Protection Groups to Cisco ANA Units

Changing Protection Groups for Cisco ANA Units

Viewing and Editing Protection Group Properties

Deleting a Protection Group

Managing Global Settings

This chapter describes how to define and manage the Cisco ANA Manage global settings, including client licenses, polling groups, protection groups, and customizing a message of the day.

•Managing Client Licenses—Describes how to install and uninstall a client license. In addition, it describes viewing client license properties.

•Viewing Database Segments—Describes how to view the database segments table.

•Customizing a Message of the Day—Describes how to customize a message of the day (service disclaimer).

•Managing Polling Groups—Describes how to customize and modify polling groups using Cisco ANA Manage. In addition, it describes how to view polling group properties.

•Managing Protection Groups—Describes changing the default setup of units by customizing protection groups (clusters) and then assigning units to these groups.

For more information about the Global Settings branch, see Global Settings Branch, page 2-17.

Note The Global Settings branch can be expanded to view the required sub-branch in the tree pane.

Managing Client Licenses

Cisco ANA client applications and BQL connectivity is based on installed license files. Cisco ANA Manage enables the administrator to control and monitor the number of client and BQL connections over a limited or unlimited period of time based on the client licenses installed. The following license types are supported:

•Fixed—Users are identified by usernames or IP addresses or both.

•Floating—The number of defined users operating concurrently.

•Floating User—The number of defined users operating concurrently (unspecified) on the Cisco ANA GUI client applications.

For more information, see Client Licenses Branch, page 2-18.

The Cisco ANA license mechanism looks for a license file for a user who has logged in and successfully passed the user authentication. It goes through the licenses one by one until it finds a license that fits the user; the user is then associated with that license.

The priority is the order in which the Gateway checks the licenses. After the license is created, the priority can be set in the Registry or by using BQL.

This priority is important, for example, if you have two licenses as follows:

•Floating License 1—All of the concurrent users can log in 20 times.

•Fixed License 2—User A can log in an unlimited number of times.

If Floating License 1 has priority over Fixed License 2:

1. When user A tries to log in, the Gateway checks License 1. The user matches the requirements for that license, and that license is attached to user A.

2. 19 more concurrent users log in, so License 1 is full.

3. When user B tries to log in, the Gateway checks License 1 but there are no further licenses available. The Gateway then checks License 2 but user B does not meet the requirements for this license, so user B cannot log in.

If you reverse the priority of the licenses, and Fixed License 2 has priority over Floating License 1:

1. User A can log in an unlimited number of times.

2. The concurrent users can use License 1, and user B can then log in using License 1 (all users can log in 20 times).

To install a license:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Client Licenses. The Client Licenses table is displayed.

Step 2 Open the New Client License dialog box:

•Right-click Client Licenses, the select New License.

•Select File > New License.

•Click New License in the toolbar.

The New Client License dialog box is displayed.

Step 3 Copy the key from the file provided to you.

Step 4 Paste the information into the New Client License dialog box.

Step 5 Click OK. The new license information is displayed in the workspace.

The administrator can uninstall a client license, for example, if it has expired.

Note The default license cannot be deleted.

To uninstall a license:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Client Licenses in Cisco ANA Manage.

Step 2 In the workspace, select the license you want to uninstall.

Step 3 Delete the license:

•Right-click the license, then select Delete.

•Click Delete in the toolbar.

The license is uninstalled and no longer appears in the workspace of the Cisco ANA Manage window.

Viewing Client License Properties

Cisco ANA Manage enables the user to view the properties of a license, such as the IP address and account name.

To view client license properties:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Client Licenses in Cisco ANA Manage.

Step 2 Select the required license in the workspace.

Step 3 Open the Client License Properties dialog box:

•Right-click the license, then select Properties.

•Select File > Properties.

•Click Properties in the toolbar.

The Client License Properties dialog box is displayed.

The following fields are displayed at the top of the Client License Properties dialog box:

•License Type—The license type:

–Fixed—The number of installed users are identified by usernames or IP addresses or both. For example, 5 users with the usernames a, b, c, d, and e.

–Floating—The number of installed users operating concurrently (unspecified). For example, 5 users.

–Floating user—The number of installed users operating concurrently (unspecified) on the Cisco ANA GUI applications. For example, one user operating with a single instance each of Cisco ANA NetworkVision, Cisco ANA EventVision, and Cisco ANA Manage counts as a single license.

•Client Type—The applications the user is authorized for, such as BQL or client applications.

•User Count—The number of users allowed to operate the client applications, as defined in terms of the license. The exact number of users is displayed if the number is limited while 0 (zero) indicates an unlimited number of users.

•Creation Date—The date the license was implemented.

When the properties of the license are displayed in the workspace table. the properties of the allocated users are displayed as follows:

•IP—If the license is location-based (limited to a specific seat), this is the IP address from which logins are allowed for this license.

•BQL Enabled—Indicates whether the license includes BQL connections or only client applications.

•Account Name—The username for login.

Step 4 Click OK.

Viewing Database Segments

Cisco ANA Manage enables the administrator to view and monitor:

•Database segments' storage allocation information

•Database disk usage

•Database growth

The information is automatically checked by the system.

To view database segments, select Global Settings > DB Segments. The database segments are displayed in the Workspace.

For more information about the columns displayed in the DB Segments table, see DB Segments Branch, page 2-21.

Customizing a Message of the Day

Cisco ANA Manage enables the user to define a message that is displayed when the user logs into any client application. The user must accept the message before logging in. If the user does not accept the message, the user cannot login. The message supports HTML format.

The message can be changed as required. However, only one message is applied at a time.

To customize a message of the day:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Message of the Day. The Title and Message fields appear in the workspace.

Step 2 Enter a Title for the message.

Step 3 Enter a Message.

Note Abort and Continue buttons are displayed in the message dialog box by default, so the message must be related to these actions. For example, "Do you accept the terms of use in the Product License Agreement? Click Continue to proceed or click Abort to cancel."

Step 4 Click Save. A confirmation message is displayed.

Step 5 Click OK. The message is displayed when the user logs into any client application.

To remove a message of the day:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Message of the Day.

Step 2 In the Workspace, delete the text in the Message area.

Step 3 Click Save. A confirmation message is displayed.

Step 4 Click OK. The message no longer appears when a user logs into a client application.

Managing Polling Groups

This section includes:

•Polling Groups Overview—Provides general information about polling groups.

•Customizing a Polling Group—Describes how to customize new polling groups using Cisco ANA Manage.

•Modifying a Polling Group—Describes how to modify existing polling groups using Cisco ANA Manage and view polling group properties.

•Deleting a Polling Group—Describes how to delete polling groups.

•Adaptive Polling—Describes adaptive polling for VNEs.

Polling Groups Overview

Unit servers poll NEs to discover and display accurate and up-to-date information of the network. The system periodically triggers polling at set intervals. Polling rates can be customized or optimized by the administrator.

Cisco ANA provides the ability to fine-tune the frequency at which information is retrieved from the managed elements thereby enabling a high degree of control and flexibility over the amount of network traffic used by the various VNEs. Different polling intervals can be set for gathering information for:

•Status—Sets the polling rate for status-related information, such as device status (up or down), port status, or admin status. The information is related to the operational and administrative status of the NE.

•Configuration—Sets the polling rate for configuration-related information, such as VC tables or scrambling.

•System—Sets the polling rate for system-related information, such as device name or device location.

•Topology Layer 1 Counters—Sets the polling rate of the topology process as an interval for the Layer 1 counter. This is an ongoing process.

•Topology Layer 2 Counters—Sets the polling rate of the topology process as an interval for the Layer 2 counter. This process is available on demand.

Note All polling rates are expressed in seconds.

In addition to the defined polling intervals, the VNEs implement adaptive polling to ensure that the element is not overloaded. Checking the device CPU might defer specific polls to avoid an additional load on the managed element. See Adaptive Polling.

Users can define polling profiles by setting customized polling intervals that can be applied to managed elements. The VNE then polls the network element according to the preset values. This ensures polling of devices for different information consistently and in accordance with technical and business requirements.

Core devices can be assigned to a polling group (all devices use the same polling profile) that specifies a higher frequency for status but a lower frequency for configuration-related information while edge or access devices can be polled more frequently for system and configuration-related information. For example, managed network service operators can use polling groups to reflect their agreement with customers so that premium customer devices are polled more frequently than normal devices.

For the administrator's convenience, Cisco ANA includes the pre-configured polling groups default and slow which cannot be deleted. Table 7-1 identifies the settings for the default and slow polling groups.

Table 7-1 Polling Rates for default and slow Polling Groups

Attribute

default Polling Group Setting

slow Polling Group Setting

Status polling rate

180 seconds (3 minutes)

360 seconds (6 minutes)

Configuration polling rate

900 seconds (15 minutes

1800 seconds (30 minutes)

System polling rate

86400 seconds (24 hours)

172800 seconds (48 hours)

Layer 1 polling rate

30 seconds

30 seconds

Layer 2 polling rate

30 seconds

30 seconds

Customizing a Polling Group

Cisco ANA Manage enables the user to create and customize new polling groups. These new polling groups can then be used when defining a VNE. For more information, see Defining VNEs, page 6-9.

Warning Changing the polling rates can result in excess traffic and Network Element crashes.

To create and customize a polling group:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Polling Groups.

Step 2 Open the New Polling Group dialog box:

•Right-click Polling Groups, then select New Polling Group.

•Select File > New Polling Group.

•Click New in the toolbar.

The New Polling Group dialog box is displayed.

The following fields are displayed at the top of the New Polling Group dialog box:

•Name—The polling group name defined by the user.

•Description—A description of the polling group.

Step 3 Enter the name and description of the polling group in the appropriate fields.

The following fields are displayed in the Polling Intervals area:

•Status—Sets the polling rate for status-related information, such as device status (up or down), port status, or admin status. The information is related to the operational and administrative status of the NE.

•Configuration—Sets the polling rate for configuration-related information, such as VC tables or scrambling.

•System—Sets the polling rate for system-related information, such as device name or device location.

The following fields are displayed in the Topology area:

•Layer 1—Sets the polling rate of the topology process as an interval for the Layer 1 counter. This is an ongoing process.

•Layer 2—Sets the polling rate of the topology process as an interval for the Layer 2 counter. This process is available on demand.

Step 4 Define the properties for the new polling group.

Step 5 Click OK. The new polling group is displayed in the workspace.

The new polling group can be used when defining a new VNE. See Defining VNEs, page 6-9.

Modifying a Polling Group

Cisco ANA Manage enables the user to modify a polling group and view polling group properties.

To view and optionally modify a polling group:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Polling Groups.

Step 2 Open the polling group Properties dialog box:

•In the workspace, right-click the polling group you want to view or modify, then select Properties.

•Select File > Properties.

•Click Properties in the toolbar.

The Update Polling Group dialog box is displayed.

For more information on the fields displayed in the Update Polling Group dialog box, see Customizing a Polling Group.

Step 3 Edit the properties of the polling group as required.

Note If any VNEs are using this polling group, a warning message is displayed.

Step 4 Click Apply.

Step 5 Click OK. The polling group's settings are modified accordingly.

Note Modifying the polling group settings affects all VNEs and devices using the selected polling group.

Deleting a Polling Group

Cisco ANA Manage enables the user to delete polling groups.

Note You cannot delete a polling group being used by a VNE.

To delete a polling group:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Polling Groups.

Step 2 In the workspace, right-click the polling group you want to delete, then select Delete. A warning message is displayed.

Step 3 Click Yes. A confirmation message is displayed.

Step 4 Click OK. The polling group is deleted from the Polling Group table.

Adaptive Polling

VNEs implement adaptive polling to ensure that the element is not overloaded in addition to defined polling intervals. Checking the device CPU usage can defer specific polls to avoid an additional load on the managed element.

When a VNE exceeds the maximum CPU usage threshold value, an alarm is sent, the VNE is polled less regularly, and a delay is added between sending the commands to the NE:

•In SNMP the delay is between SNMP packets sent to the device.

•In CLI (Telnet/SSH) the delay is between CLI commands sent to the device.

When the CPU usage threshold values for the VNE fall below the clear threshold value, an alarm is sent and the VNE returns to normal polling.

The values for any VNE can be customized through the system registry, for example, for the minimum and maximum CPU usage threshold values. When the defined values are reached, an alarm is sent. A clear value can also be defined so that when the CPU usage threshold value drops below the maximum value or rises above the minimum value, a message is sent clearing the original alarm. These values are defined in the registry.

In addition, the maximum and minimum tolerance levels can be customized through the system registry. When a VNE is using normal polling and CPU usage is high, the VNE moves to slow polling when the maximum CPU usage threshold value (upper tolerance level) is exceeded five times (default), as shown in Figure 7-1.

Figure 7-1 Polling Threshold Levels

If the VNE is using slow polling after it has been checked five times, the VNE is checked an additional 10 times (default) to see if the CPU usage is still high. If so, the VNE is moved to maintenance mode. Once the VNE is in maintenance mode, the user must manually return the VNE to normal polling, (it does not automatically return to regular polling). When the VNE is in maintenance mode, the NE is not polled.

In Figure 7-2:

1. CPU usage is polled five times and is running above the maximum threshold value.

2. The VNE moves to slow polling.

3. The CPU usage is polled 10 additional times.

4. CPU usage remains above the maximum value, so the VNE moves to maintenance mode.

Figure 7-2 CPU Usage—Example 1

When the VNE is using slow polling and CPU usage drops to a regular level (or below the minimum value), Cisco ANA waits for the VNE to drop below the maximum CPU usage threshold value twice (default) before returning the VNE to normal polling.

In Figure 7-3:

1. CPU usage is polled five times and is running above the maximum threshold value.

2. The VNE moves to slow polling. CPU usage drops to a regular level and then below the minimum threshold value.

3. The CPU usage is polled an additional two times.

4. CPU usage remains below the maximum value, so the VNE returns to normal polling.

Figure 7-3 Example 2 CPU Usage

If CPU usage is high and a slow polling interval is used, and an AVM goes down and is then restarted, the AVM remembers its previous polling interval. When the AVM is restarted, uses the same polling interval that it was using before it went down.

Managing Protection Groups

By default, all units in the Cisco ANA fabric belong to one cluster, the default-pg protection group. The administrator can change the default setup of the units by customizing protection groups (clusters) and then assigning units to these groups.

For more information, see the Cisco Active Network Abstraction High Availability User Guide.

Cisco ANA Manage enables the user to create new protection groups. These new protection groups can be used when defining a unit. For more information, see Adding New Cisco ANA Units, page 5-3.

To create a protection group:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Protection Groups.

Step 2 Open the New Protection Group dialog box:

•Right-click Protection Groups, then select New Protection Group.

•Select File > New Protection Group.

•Click New in the toolbar.

The New Protection Group dialog box is displayed.

The following fields are displayed in the New Protection Group dialog box:

•Name—The protection group name defined by the user.

•Description—A description of the protection group.

Step 3 Enter the name and description of the protection group in the appropriate fields, then click OK.

The workspace displays details of the new protection group and all currently defined protection groups in the Protection Groups table.

Note The default-pg protection group displayed in the workspace is the default protection group. All units in the Cisco ANA fabric belong to this protection group by default.

Checking Assignment of Protection Groups to Cisco ANA Units

The administrator can view the protection groups to which the units are currently assigned to confirm that the configuration or assignment matches the initial deployment plan.

To check the units-protection groups assignments, select ANA Servers in the tree pane. The properties of the ANA Servers branch are displayed in the workspace, including the protection group to which each unit and standby unit belongs.

Changing Protection Groups for Cisco ANA Units

The administrator can easily and quickly change the protection group to which a unit has been assigned.

To change the protection group setting of a unit:

Step 1 Select ANA Servers in the tree pane.

Step 2 Expand the ANA Servers branch, then select the required ANA Unit sub-branch.

Step 3 Open the Properties dialog box for units:

•Right-click the required unit, then select Properties.

•Select File > Properties.

•In the toolbar, click Properties.

The ANA Unit Properties dialog box is displayed.

The Protection Group list displays the currently customized protection groups. For more information about defining a new protection group, see Managing Protection Groups.

The Enable Unit Protection check box enables the administrator to define whether a unit is enabled (check box is selected) for high availability.

Note We recommend that you do not disable this option.

Step 4 In the Protection Group field, select the protection group you want to assign the unit.

Step 5 Click OK. The Cisco ANA Manage window is displayed.

Viewing and Editing Protection Group Properties

The administrator can view and optionally modify the properties of a protection group, such as its description.

To view or edit a protection group's properties:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Protection Groups.

Step 2 Open the Properties dialog box for the protection group:

•Right-click Protection Groups, then select Properties.

•Select File > Properties.

•Click Properties in the toolbar.

The Properties dialog box is displayed.

Step 3 View the properties of the protection group and edit the description.

Step 4 Click OK. The Cisco ANA Manage window is displayed.

Deleting a Protection Group

Cisco ANA Manage enables the user to delete protection groups.

Note Confirm that no units are using the protection group you plan to delete.

To delete a protection group:

Step 1 Select Global Settings > Protection Groups.

Step 2 In the workspace, select the protection group you want to delete.

Step 3 Delete the protection group:

•Right-click the protection group, then select Delete.

•In the toolbar, click Delete.

The protection group is deleted.