User Guide for Device Fault Manager 1.1 (With LMS 2.0) - Working with the DFM Inventory [CiscoWorks Device Fault Manager]

Table Of Contents

Working with the DFM Inventory

Adding Devices to the Managed Inventory

Adding Devices Using the Add Agent Command

Adding Devices Using a Seed File

Adding Devices from the Resource Manager Essentials Inventory

Saving the DFM Inventory

Rediscovering Elements in the DFM Inventory

Scheduling Automatic Inventory Collection

Using the Rediscovery Schedule

Using the Automatic Inventory Collection Check Box

Performing Manual Inventory Collection

Synchronizing the DFM Inventory with the Essentials Inventory

Managing and Unmanaging DFM Inventory Elements

Rules Governing Manage and Unmanage Operations

How to Manage or Unmanage Elements

Determining the Managed/Unmanaged Status of an Element

Removing Managed Devices from the DFM Inventory

Creating a Seed File from a Domain Manager

Working with the DFM Inventory

These topics offer methods for managing your DFM inventory:

•Adding Devices to the Managed Inventory

•Saving the DFM Inventory

•Rediscovering Elements in the DFM Inventory

•Managing and Unmanaging DFM Inventory Elements

•Removing Managed Devices from the DFM Inventory

•Creating a Seed File from a Domain Manager

The DFM inventory consists of all of the elements contained in the repository of a domain manager. This includes devices such as switches, routers, and hosts, and device components such as ports, interfaces, and environmental test points.

Typical inventory-related tasks include:

•Saving the inventory to a file

•Rediscovering elements in the inventory

•Managing or unmanaging inventory elements

All inventory-related operations are performed using the Administration Console, which is described in Chapter 5, "The DFM Administration Console and Polling and Thresholds Console."

For information on how DFM assigns names to devices, refer to the "System Information Probe" section.

Adding Devices to the Managed Inventory

When a device is added to the managed inventory, DFM performs inventory collection to determine the device's configuration and its relationships to other managed elements. After inventory collection, DFM periodically performs ICMP polls to determine connectivity and performs SNMP polls to collect fault information.

You can use these methods to add devices to the managed inventory:

•Adding Devices Using the Add Agent Command

•Adding Devices Using a Seed File

•Adding Devices from the Resource Manager Essentials Inventory

Adding Devices Using the Add Agent Command

The Administration Console provides this simple method for adding a single device to the managed inventory. If you change a device's community string, you must also change the device's community string in DFM using either this method or the seed file method (the seed file method is described in "Adding Devices Using a Seed File" section).

Note When you use this method to add a device to the DFM inventory, the inventory information for that device is not available to other CiscoWorks2000 applications through the Essentials database.

Step 1 Click the Add Agent toolbar button or select Add Agent from the Inventory menu. This displays the Add Agent dialog box.

Step 2 Specify the hostname or IP address of the device by entering the hostname or IP address of the device to be managed into the Agent Name field.

Step 3 If the read community string is not the default, enter it in the corresponding field. DFM uses public as the default read community string.

Step 4 Click OK to add the device. This displays the Discovery Progress dialog.

Step 5 After DFM discovers the added devices, click the Save Inventory toolbar button to save the updated information.

Repeat this procedure to add additional devices to the inventory.

Adding Devices Using a Seed File

To add multiple devices to the DFM inventory, you can import a seed file listing the managed devices to initiate inventory discovery. A seed file consists of two columns (separated by spaces or tabs). The first column names the network device, and the second column defines the read community string, as in this example:
# Sample seed file
192.168.1.200
access-router-1 private
192.168.2.100 public
host1.example.com.
If you change a device's community string, you must also change the device's community string in DFM using either this method or the Add Agent method (the Add Agent method is described in "Adding Devices Using the Add Agent Command" section)

For additional information on the format of a seed file, including preparing a seed file, refer to Installing and Setting Up Device Fault Manager. To create a seed file from a running domain manager, refer to the "Creating a Seed File from a Domain Manager" section.

To import devices from a seed file:

Step 1 Select Device Fault Manager > Administration to open the Administration Console.

Step 2 Select Inventory > Import From Seed File or click on the Import From Seed File toolbar button. This displays the Import From Seed File dialog box.

Step 3 Specify the complete path and the name of the seed file and click OK. This displays the Discovery Progress dialog box.

Note The seed file must be stored on the host where the domain manager runs.

When DFM imports devices from the seed file, it probes them to discover their configuration and adds their manageable elements to its inventory. For a large number of elements, this process may take several minutes.

Adding Devices from the Resource Manager Essentials Inventory

When Resource Manager Essentials 3.3 is installed locally (or, remotely, Resource Manager Essentials 3.x), the DfmChangeProbe process automatically queries the Essentials database that is used by CiscoWorks2000, and sends device information to the DFM repository. If a device is added to the Essentials inventory, DFM immediately probes the device to analyze its properties and status, and adds it to the DFM inventory. If the synchronization causes DFM to exceed its device limit, the Essentials device list will be truncated. For information on the device limit, see the appropriate Installing and Setting Up Device Fault Manager guide.

The log file for this DFM and Essentials synchronization is NMSROOT/conf/dfm/DfmChangeProbe.log. For more information on how the DFM inventory is synchronized with the Essentials inventory, refer to the "Synchronizing the DFM Inventory with the Essentials Inventory" section.

To disable the DfmChangeProbe process (or re-enable it):

Step 1 Select Server Configuration > Administration > Process Management > Stop Process. (To re-enable the process, select Start Process.)

Step 2 Highlight the DfmChangeProbe process and click OK.

If you disable the process and reboot your system, the DfmChangeProbe process will be restarted. To disable the process from automatic startup after reboot, unregister the process.

•To unregister the process on Solaris, use this command:
# NMSROOT/bin/pdcmd -u DfmChangeProbe
•To unregister the process on Windows 2000 and Windows NT, use this command:
# NMSROOT\bin\pdcmd.exe -u DfmChangeProbe
If you unregistered the process and want to reconfigure to start DfmChangeProbe upon reboot, you must reregister the process.

•To reregister the process on Solaris, use this command (which is one line):
# NMSROOT/bin/pdcmd -r DfmChangeProbe -d 
EssentialsDbEngine,EssentialsDbMonitor -e NMSROOT/bin/cwjava -f 
"-Xnoclassgc com.cisco.nm.dfm.changeprobe.DfmChangeProbe"
•To reregister the process on Windows 2000 and Windows NT, use this command (which is one line):
# NMSROOT\bin\pdcmd -r DfmChangeProbe.exe -d 
EssentialsDbEngine,EssentialsDbMonitor -e NMSROOT\bin\cwjava -f 
"-Xnoclassgc com.cisco.nm.dfm.changeprobe.DfmChangeProbe"
To query a remote Essentials database, you must use the remote RME Adapter. For information on installing this adapter, refer to Installing and Setting Up Device Fault Manager.

Saving the DFM Inventory

DFM automatically saves important inventory information to a file every six hours. In addition to inventory information, DFM also saves information regarding the group and settings applied to the managed elements. If DFM is restarted, it tries to load the saved information from the inventory file.

The inventory file is saved to the $NMSROOT/objects/smarts/repos/icf directory. The name of the saved inventory file is taken from the name of the domain manager.

To manually save the inventory, do one of the following from the Administration Console:

•Click the Save Inventory toolbar button.

•Select Inventory > Save Inventory.

Rediscovering Elements in the DFM Inventory

DFM can reprobe the managed inventory using these methods:

•Scheduling Automatic Inventory Collection

•Performing Manual Inventory Collection

•Synchronizing the DFM Inventory with the Essentials Inventory

These methods cause a domain manager to reprobe all managed devices or the Essentials inventory to discover any changes. For example, if a card is added to a switch, a probe is necessary for DFM to discover the new card and add it to the inventory.

Scheduling Automatic Inventory Collection

DFM provides two ways to schedule inventory collection:

•Using the Rediscovery Schedule

•Using the Automatic Inventory Collection Check Box

Which choice you use often depends on where you are in the graphical user interface (GUI), whether you want to reprobe the entire managed inventory or only devices in the update pending list, and whether you want to start collection on a specified date.

Using the Rediscovery Schedule

The Rediscovery Schedule option allows you to schedule regular inventory collection by specifying a specific date, time, and duration for the discovery. When you use this selection, the entire inventory is reprobed.

To use the Rediscovery Schedule option:

Step 1 Select Administration > Device Discovery > Rediscovery Schedule.

Step 2 Enter the desired start date, time, and frequency, and click OK.

If the Rediscovery Schedule job is stopped by the CiscoWorks2000 Job Manager, you must remove the job and then repeat the Rediscovery Schedule procedure. To remove the job:

Step 1 Select CiscoWorks2000 Server > Administration > Job Management.

Step 2 Select the job and click Remove Job.

If you want to reprobe only the devices in the update pending list (versus the entire managed inventory), refer to the "Using the Automatic Inventory Collection Check Box" section.

Using the Automatic Inventory Collection Check Box

The Automatic Inventory Collection check box, located in the Administration Console under the Inventory tab of the domain manager's property sheet, allows you to choose the extent to which the inventory is reprobed, and the interval between reprobes. By default, DFM does not periodically reprobe its inventory.

These check boxes let you specify the magnitude of the collection:

•Short Inventory Collection Interval—Determines the interval between reprobes of devices in the update pending list. You can schedule intervals in days, hours, minutes, or seconds.

The update pending list consists of devices that are managed but have not yet been probed. For example, when DFM receives a Cold Boot trap, the device that sent the trap is added to the update pending list. Devices that have not yet been probed are referred to as pending.

•Long Inventory Collection Interval—Determines the interval between reprobes of the entire managed inventory. You can schedule intervals in days, hours, minutes, or seconds.

Note Since a scheduled probe of the inventory updates the Essentials database and directs DFM to update its repository, it is recommended that the Long Inventory Collection Interval remain disabled.

To schedule regular collection of the entire managed inventory starting on a specified date, use the Rediscovery Schedule GUI option as described in the "Using the Rediscovery Schedule" section.

Performing Manual Inventory Collection

Note If you remove and reattach an element (such as a switch), the element's status will not be updated until the next scheduled inventory collection. You should manually rediscover the element, as described in this section.

There are three methods for manually triggering an inventory update from the Administration Console:

•Select a device in the left panel and select Inventory > Rediscover, which forces a domain manager to probe the selected device.

•Select Inventory > Inventory Collection Pending, which forces a domain manager to probe elements in the update pending list (not the entire inventory).

•Select Inventory > Inventory Collect All, which forces a domain manager to reprobe all managed devices as well as any devices in the update pending list.

After DFM probes the elements, click the Save Inventory toolbar button to save the updated information.

Note Unscheduled manual updates to the DFM inventory are local operations. Scheduled updates to the Essentials database, and the synchronization of the DFM inventory with the Essentials database, can erase manual updates.

Synchronizing the DFM Inventory with the Essentials Inventory

When the DfmChangeProbe process is running (which happens regardless of when Essentials is installed), it automatically queries the Essentials database for device information, causing DFM to probe the devices to analyze their properties and status. If a device is added to the Essentials inventory or an Essentials device configuration is changed, DFM immediately probes the devices to analyze their properties and status, and adds this information to the DFM inventory. The DFM inventory is not updated with devices deleted from Essentials; these devices must be manually deleted from the DFM inventory.

Note If the synchronization causes DFM to exceed its device limit, the Essentials device list will be truncated. For information on the device limit, see the appropriate Installing and Setting Up Device Fault Manager guide.

The synchronization is allowed with a local version of Resource Manager Essentials 3.3, or a remote version of Resource Manager Essentials 3.x. If you decide you do not want DFM to manage Essentials devices, disable the DfmChangeProbe process. For information on disabling and re-enabling the process, refer to the "Adding Devices from the Resource Manager Essentials Inventory" section.

Managing and Unmanaging DFM Inventory Elements

The term managed element refers to an instance of the inventory whose IsManaged attribute is set to TRUE, meaning that it is monitored by a domain manager. This means that the element is regularly polled to determine its status and connectivity. Conversely, an unmanaged element refers to a member of the topology whose IsManaged attribute is set to FALSE. Unmanaged elements are not polled.

The manage and unmanage operations enable you to control whether a domain manager monitors a particular device or element. It is useful to unmanage a device when, for example, a switch or a card is taken offline for maintenance and you do not want to receive error or performance notifications regarding that device.

These topics provide guidelines and procedures for managing and unmanaging inventory elements:

•Rules Governing Manage and Unmanage Operations

•How to Manage or Unmanage Elements

•Determining the Managed/Unmanaged Status of an Element

Rules Governing Manage and Unmanage Operations

You can explicitly set the managed or unmanaged status for the following types of devices or elements:

•Systems such as routers, switches, and hosts

•Logical devices such as processors, interfaces, and ports

The following rules govern the interaction between the managed and unmanaged states of elements:

•A service cannot be managed if it is hosted by or part of an unmanaged system.

•A logical device cannot be managed if it is a part of an unmanaged system.

•If a managed service or logical device is later associated with an unmanaged system, the service or logical device automatically becomes unmanaged.

Note Manage and unmanage operations are recursive. For example, if you unmanage a switch, all of the ports and cards that belong to that switch are also unmanaged.

•When a system is managed (unmanaged) all associated services, service access points, components, and physical packages are managed (unmanaged). However, when managing a system, any service or logical device that was explicitly unmanaged remains unmanaged.

Note If you manually change a null interface to managed, it will switch back to unmanaged after being rediscovered.

•When a service is managed (unmanaged), all service access points associated with the service are managed (unmanaged).

•When a network adapter is managed (unmanaged), all related service access points are managed (unmanaged).

Note DFM allows you to manage ports belonging to a group that has no settings. Although the port can be managed, it will not be polled.

How to Manage or Unmanage Elements

Step 1 Right-click on the device or element that you want to manage or unmanage.

Step 2 Select Manage or Unmanage from the pop-up menu.

Step 3 Select Rediscover from the Inventory menu.

Step 4 After DFM discovers the newly managed or unmanaged device, click the Save Inventory toolbar button to save the updated information.

Determining the Managed/Unmanaged Status of an Element

The value of the IsManaged attribute shows the managed status of an element. IsManaged is a Boolean attribute: TRUE when an element is managed and FALSE when the element is unmanaged.

To check the value of an element's IsManaged attribute:

Step 1 Select the element in the left panel of the Administration Console.

Step 2 Select the Attributes tab in the right panel of the Administration Console and locate the IsManaged attribute in the Name column. The value of this attribute indicates the managed (unmanaged) status of the element.

Removing Managed Devices from the DFM Inventory

Devices can be removed from DFM's inventory through the Administration Console or from any console listing inventory elements. However, since the removal of devices may produce unexpected side effects and incorrect analysis results, it is recommended that you:

•Unmanage devices that are unused but remain in the inventory. See the "Managing and Unmanaging DFM Inventory Elements" section for additional information.

•Rediscover the inventory when devices, or one or more of their components, have been physically removed from the inventory, and save the updated information.

Note Deleting devices is a local operation. It does not delete devices from the Essentials database. Deleted devices will re-appear in the DFM repository whenever the Essentials collection process probes the full inventory and sends that information to DFM.

To remove devices from the DFM inventory:

Step 1 Right-click on the device to be deleted.

Step 2 Select Delete from the pop-up menu.

Creating a Seed File from a Domain Manager

You can extract the IP addresses and read community strings of the SNMP agents managed by DFM by using a seed file. This is useful when you want to pass DFM device information to another application.

To extract the list of SNMP agents, use the sm_tpmgr command. The Solaris command is:
# NMSROOT/objects/smarts/bin/sm_tpmgr -s DFM --dump-agents > seedfile.txt
The Windows 2000 and Windows NT command is:
# NMSROOT\objects\smarts\bin\sm_tpmgr.exe -s DFM --dump-agents > seedfile.txt
This command must be executed on the host where the domain manager is running. The resulting text file lists the SNMP agent IP addresses in one column and their corresponding read community strings in a second column.

The sm_tpmgr command has the following arguments:

Table 6-1 sm_tpmgr Arguments

Argument

Description

-s domain_mgr

Specifies the name of the domain manager (DFM).

--dump-agents

Extracts the information regarding the SNMP agents from the domain manager.

> file

Redirects the output to the specified file. If omitted, the output is displayed.

--help

Displays sm_tpmgr help.

For information on adding devices to DFM using seed files, refer to the "Adding Devices Using a Seed File" section. For additional information on the format of a seed file, including preparing a seed file, refer to Installing and Setting Up Device Fault Manager.