StackMaker

Table Of Contents

StackMaker

Starting StackMaker

Understanding the StackMaker Main Window

Building the Stack

Configuring Stacks

Getting Help

StackMaker

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StackMaker works within CiscoView to allow management of device membership in a CiscoView stack and simplifies the administration of Cisco's NetBeyond devices. When you use StackMaker, CiscoView retrieves the stack name for the devices and displays the individual devices in the StackMaker window.

StackMaker enables you to:

•Enhance device manageability.

•Display a set of individual stackable devices.

•Create a stack containing individual stackable devices.

•Support devices which support StackMaker MIBs.

•Identify conflicts within a stack.

•Display a list of stackable neighbors that can be added to a stack.

•Reconfigure stacks by adding devices, removing devices, clearing all devices, and restoring all devices.

Table 3-1 lists StackMaker tasks and descriptions. For more information about each task, refer to the online help.

Table 3-1 StackMaker Tasks

Task	Description
Starting StackMaker	Displays stackable devices
Understanding the StackMaker Main Window	Lists the Main Window components
Building the Stack	Adds the StackMaker MIB to the stack as a stack member
Configuring Stacks	Adds devices to or remove devices from the stack

Starting StackMaker

When you start StackMaker, the StackMaker Main window displays all devices in the stack in the order given in the StackMaker MIB. StackMaker also displays every device and hardware platform for the device. The seed device is highlighted in the list by default. The seed device is the starting point of the stack and is used to locate the stack and all members within the stack.

Once you start StackMaker, you must display a stackable device. A stackable device is a device containing the StackMaker MIB. However, a device cannot be a member of more than one stack at the same time. You must remember that you need to have separate IP addresses for each device, and you must preset the SNMP community strings by using the command line interface (CLI) for the device.

Table 3-2 lists tasks you can perform with StackMaker.

Table 3-2 Starting StackMaker Tasks

Task	Action
Go to CiscoView Main window.	Start CiscoView.
Display a stackable device.	Open a device that supports StackMaker.
Create, access, or change stack information.	Click StackMaker.

Understanding the StackMaker Main Window

Table 3-3 lists StackMaker Main window components.

Table 3-3 StackMaker Main Window Components

Component	Description
Entry Field	Provides the StackMaker application name and the IP address for the seed device in the stack. By default, the seed device is highlighted with an asterisk by the IP address.
Button Fields	Provides access to all StackMaker dialog boxes.
Table Fields	Provides a list of devices by IP address, displays the name of the device, and the type of hardware platform for the device.

StackMaker Main window Configuration buttons as well as StackMaker fields are described in Table 3-4 to Table 3-7.

Table 3-4 StackMaker Main Window Configuration Buttons

Button	Description
Add From Neighbors	Adds new members to stack from the Neighbor table.
Add New Device	Adds new devices to a stack. Enter the IP address of the new device in the dialog box.
Remove Device	Removes a device from a stack.
Clear Devices	Clears all devices from a stack.
Restore Original Stack	Restores all removed and cleared devices to a stack. If you make changes after removing or clearing devices by clicking Apply Stack, those devices cannot be restored to a stack.

Table 3-5 Stack Table Fields

Field	Description
Stack Name	Displays the name of the stack
Stack Members	Lists each device (by IP address) in a stack
Device Name	Provides the host name for the device
Hardware Platform	Displays the Cisco model name and number
Device Description	Describes the device

Table 3-6 Neighbor Table Fields

Field	Description
Neighbor Address	Lists each device by IP address in Neighbor table
Neighbor Name	Displays the name of the device
Neighbor Platform	Displays the type of hardware platform for the device
Refresh Neighbors	Views the Neighbor devices of a particular stack member

Table 3-7 Action Buttons 

Button	Description
StackView	Opens all the devices in the CiscoView stack.
Apply Stack	Stack buttons in the previous row of the StackMaker window modify the stack in memory only. To write to the modified stack devices, click this button.
Cancel	Cancels the last action.
Help	Accesses online help for StackMaker.

Building the Stack

A device containing the StackMaker MIB can be added to the stack as a stack member. However, a device cannot be a member of more than one stack at a time.

Each device you add to the stack must have an IP address, and you must preset the SNMP community strings by using the device CLI. When you click Apply Stack, StackMaker looks for each stack member. If StackMaker cannot find one of the stack members, the MIB information in that stack member does not change when you click Apply Stack. StackMaker updates all other stack members it finds.

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Caution Make sure that all other stack members are updated. Unless all stack members are updated, conflicts within the stack can occur.

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If CiscoView is not integrated with an SNMP Manager platform, all members of a stack must share the community string, timeout, and retry values specified in the StackMaker Properties dialog box. Because StackMaker accepts the data you supply, you must ensure that stack members meet the requirements for inclusion in the stack. For example, you must ensure that devices have not been added to multiple stacks. StackMaker only verifies whether a device can belong to a stack. It does not check the StackMaker MIB table to determine if the device has already been added to another stack.

If an SNMP Manager platform is not available, all members of a stack must share the same community string, timeout, and retry values.

Configuring Stacks

To configure stacks, you must add devices to or remove devices from the stack and use the StackMaker Properties dialog box to provide specifications for the various settings. When you configure stacks, you can add devices, remove devices, clear devices, and restore devices.

Getting Help

Click the Help button from the StackMaker Main window to get more information about StackMaker.