Table Of Contents
IPM FAQs and Troubleshooting Tips
FAQs
General
Installing, Migrating, and Backing up IPM 4.1
Devices
Operations
Collectors
CLI Commands
Admin
Reports
Troubleshooting Tips
IPM FAQs and Troubleshooting Tips
This section provides answers to the frequently asked questions (FAQs) and tips on troubleshooting for IPM 4.1.
FAQs
This section contains the FAQs for the following topics:
•
General
•Installing, Migrating, and Backing up IPM 4.1
•Devices
•Operations
•Collectors
•CLI Commands
General
This section provides the general FAQs for IPM 4.x.
•What is IPM?
•How can I access the IPM functionality?
•What are the Cisco IOS software releases that support IP SLA operations?
•What are the network performance statistics that I can measure using IPM 4.x?
•Does IPM require a dedicated hardware probe to measure and monitor network performance statistics?
•What are the MIBs used by IPM?
•What network protocols does IPM support?
•How frequently I can take network performance measurements?
•Is the data averaged or summarized when IPM collects the data from IP SLA using SNMP?
•How many data collectors can IPM support?
•Does IPM support data export?
•What is the difference between Active and Passive FTP session modes?
•Does IPM receive traps?
•Do I run a Cisco IOS software release with the IP SLA feature on all my routers to get hop-by-hop performance statistics?
•Does IPM 4.1 support SNMPV3?
•Does IPM take measurements from the management workstation?
•How does IPM interact with IP SLA operations of Cisco IOS software?
•Is IPM 4.1 integrated with LMS Setup Center?
Q. What is IPM?
A. Internetwork Performance Monitor (IPM) is a network management application that allows you to monitor the performance of multi-protocol networks.
IPM monitors the network performance by configuring collectors on IP SLA (IP Service Level Agreement) capable source devices (routers) and collects the performance-related statistics from these devices.
Q. How can I access the IPM functionality?
A. You can access IPM functionality using:
•Web-based CiscoWorks User Interface.
•IPM CLI scripts by logging on to IPM server using Telnet or SSH.
Q. What are the Cisco IOS software releases that support IP SLA operations?
A. Table A-1 maps the Cisco IOS releases to IP SLA operations.
Table A-1 IP SLA Operations Mapped to Cisco IOS Releases
IP SLA Operations
|
Cisco IOS Software Releases
|
Echo
|
12.3(14)T
|
Path Echo
|
12.3(14)T
|
UDP Jitter
|
12.3(14)T
|
DNS
|
12.3(14)T
|
FTP
|
12.3(14)T
|
DHCP
|
12.3(14)T
|
UDP Echo
|
12.3(14)T
|
HTTP
|
12.3(14)T
|
TCP Connect
|
12.3(14)T
|
DLSw
|
12.3(14)T
|
RTP
|
12.4 (4)T
|
VoIP Gatekeeper Registration Delay
|
12.3(14)T
|
ICMP Jitter
|
12.4(6)T
|
VoIP Call Setup Post Dial Delay
|
12.3(14)T
|
EthernetJitter / EthernetJitter AutoIPSLA
|
12.2(44)SE
|
EthernetPing / EthernetPing AutoIPSLA
|
12.2(44)SE
|
Q. What are the network performance statistics that I can measure using IPM 4.x?
A. You can measure the following network statistics using IPM 4.x:
•Latency
•Availability
•Jitter
•Packet Loss
•Errors
•Mean Opinion Score (MOS)
•Calculated Planning Impairment Factor (ICPIF)
Q. Does IPM require a dedicated hardware probe to measure and monitor network performance statistics?
A. No. IPM uses the IP SLA probes embedded in the Cisco IOS software.
Q. What are the MIBs used by IPM?
A. IPM extensively uses CISCO-RTTMON-MIB, which is a part of IP SLA in the Cisco IOS software. Almost all tables in CISCO RTTMON-MIB are queried by IPM. The SYSTEM-MIB is used minimally.
Q. What network protocols does IPM support?
A. IPM supports IP monitoring. It also supports high-level IP protocols including:
–DHCP
–DLSw
–DNS
–HTTP
–FTP
–TCP Connect
–UDP Echo
–UDP Jitter
–Echo
–Path Echo
–RTP
–Gatekeeper Registration Delay
–Call Setup Post Dial Delay
–ICMP Jitter
Q. How frequently I can take network performance measurements?
A. IP SLA generates several measurements every hour. IPM polls the router once every hour and collects the summarized statistics for that period.
You can set the sampling interval for IP SLA for as often as every 10 seconds, but for optimal performance, we recommend a sample interval of at least 60 seconds (1 minute). This is the default value.
You can view the latest real-time statistics in the Real Time Statistics window as IP SLA gathers the data from the collector. However, IPM does not store the real-time data in the IPM database. IPM stores only the hourly summarized data in the IPM database.
Q. Is the data averaged or summarized when IPM collects the data from IP SLA using SNMP?
A. The data is summarized and averaged in many ways. IPM displays the data in the Historical Statistics window in hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly increments.
IPM also displays average, minimum, and maximum calculations of the data over the monitoring period. IPM also provides consolidation facility for purging and summarizing older data.
Q. How many data collectors can IPM support?
A. IPM supports 10000 collectors. You can create a maximum of 5000 historical (data) collectors and the remaining as real-time collectors.
Q. Does IPM support data export?
A. Yes. IPM CLI allows you to export files with user-defined delimiters.
Q. What is the difference between Active and Passive FTP session modes?
A. The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) has multiple modes of operation that can affect its operation and, as a result, the security of your network.
These modes of operation determine whether the FTP server or FTP client initiates the TCP connections that send information from the server to the client. The FTP protocol supports two modes of operation:
•Active Mode
•Passive Mode
Active Mode
In Active FTP, the client opens a control connection on port 21 to the server. Whenever the client requests data from the server, the server opens a TCP session on port 20.
The Active mode of operation is less secure than the Passive mode. This mode of operation complicates the construction of firewalls, because the firewall must anticipate the connection from the FTP server back to the client program.
The steps in the Active mode are:
1. The client opens a control channel (port 21) to the server and informs the server which port number it should respond to. This port number is a randomly determined port that is greater than 1023.
2. The server receives this information and sends the client an acknowledgement. The client and server exchange commands on this control connection.
When the user requests a directory listing or initiates sending or receiving a file, the client software sends a PORT command. This command includes a port number that is greater than 1023. This is the port number that the client wants the server to use for the data connection.
3. The server opens a data connection from port 20 to the client's port number. This is the number given in the PORT command.
Passive Mode
In Passive FTP, the client opens the data sessions, using a port number supplied by the server. This mode of operation is assumed to be more secure because all the connections are being initiated from the client, so there is less chance that the connection will be compromised.
It is called Passive because the server performs a "passive open".
The steps in the Passive mode are:
1. In Passive FTP, the client opens a control connection on port 21 to the server, and then requests the Passive mode by using the PASV command.
2. The server agrees to this mode, and then selects a random port number (greater than 1023). It sends this port number to the client for data transfer.
3. The client receives this information and opens a data channel to the server assigned port.
Q. Does IPM receive traps?
A. No. IPM does not receive traps. You can configure IPM to raise a trap when a threshold violation or timeout occurs. However, you should configure a separate NMS (Network Management Station) to receive and process these traps.
Q. Do I run a Cisco IOS software release with the IP SLA feature on all my routers to get hop-by-hop performance statistics?
A. No. Only routers sourcing the network performance measurements or routers defined as Targets for UDP Jitter measurements must run the IP SLA feature.
Q. Does IPM 4.1 support SNMPV3?
A. Yes. IPM 4.1 supports SNMPV3 in AuthNoPriv as well as AuthPriv mode. That is, you can configure the source router with SNMPV3 AuthNoPriv/AuthPriv and add it into IPM to create collectors. While creating collectors, the communication to the device occurs using V3.
Q. Does IPM take measurements from the management workstation?
A. No. IPM configures IP SLA operations in Cisco IOS software to take measurements. These measurements are taken within the network instead of from the management workstation.
Q. How does IPM interact with IP SLA operations of Cisco IOS software?
A. IPM uses SNMP to configure IP SLA in Cisco IOS software to gather network performance statistics. IPM uses SNMP to collect the statistics from IP SLA and stores the information in a database for future reference and analysis.
Q. Is IPM 4.1 integrated with LMS Setup Center?
A. Yes. You can view and modify the purge settings for historical and audit reports from the LMS Setup Center page.
Installing, Migrating, and Backing up IPM 4.1
This section provides the following FAQs on installing, migrating, and backing up IPM 4.1.
•How can I install IPM 4.1?
•Should I install the router component of IPM on a backbone router so that it intercepts all paths?
•What are the processes that should be running after I install IPM?
•What are the earlier versions of IPM that IPM 4.1 restore?
•Why the collectors are not migrated?
•What is the purpose of Job Manager?
•What can I restore while backing up or restoring the same version?
•Where is IPM 2.6 data backed up during the inline upgrade to IPM 4.1?
•Where is IPM 2.6 data backed up during the inline upgrade to IPM 4.1?
•Where do I find the server log file in IPM 4.1?
•While restoring the IPM 2.6 backed up data onto IPM 4.1, the devices from both Common Services and IPM appear to exist in IPM. What should I do if I want only IPM devices to exist in IPM?
•Which Cisco hardware platforms support IP SLA feature of Cisco IOS software?
Q. How can I install IPM 4.1?
A. IPM 4.1 is available as part of LMS 3.1 DVD. To install IPM 4.1:
Step 1 Insert the LMS 3.1 DVD.
Step 2 Run setup.exe or setup.sh.
Step 3 Select 1 (Common Services), 8 (Internetwork Performance Monitor), 9 (Portal), and 10 (CWA), options from the list of applications.
Step 4 Proceed with installation.
For more information, see the Installing and Getting Started with CiscoWorks LMS 3.1.
Q. Should I install the router component of IPM on a backbone router so that it intercepts all paths?
A. It depends on the number of collectors being used at a time. A collector is an entity that IPM creates on a router to collect performance statistics.
The router component of IPM uses memory and CPU cycles. Owing to this, we recommend that you run the router component on multiple edge routers instead. This setup is a better method to distribute the load across multiple routers and simulates typical network traffic patterns.
Q. What are the processes that should be running after I install IPM?
A. The following processes should be running after you install IPM 4.1:
•IPMProcess—Main process that contains Operation Manager, Device Manager, Collector Manager, and Poller.
•IPMOGSServer—Process that contains IPM grouping services.
•IpmDbEngine—IPM Db engine.
•IpmDbMonitor—DB Monitor process that checks for DB Engine status.
Q. What are the earlier versions of IPM that IPM 4.1 restore?
A. IPM 4.1 restores IPM 2.5, IPM 2.6, IPM 4.0 and IPM 4.0.1. However, it supports only remote upgrade for IPM 2.5.
Q. Why the collectors are not migrated?
A. Check whether:
•The source devices available in the backup are still reachable by SNMP.
•The SNMP credentials of the source devices were changed before migration.
•The devices have enough low water mark memory. Low water mark memory is a memory on the source router. This memory decides the number of collectors that you can configure on the source router. To know the source router memory:
Step 1 Log on to the device.
Step 2 Go to config mode.
Step 3 Run show ip sla monitor application to know the device memory.
If all the above cases are through, then enable debug and run the migration again.
Or
Contact TAC with the following log files:
•restorebackup.log
•ipmprocess.log
•ipmclient.log
•migration.log
These log files are at the following location:
•Windows: $NMSROOT/log
•Solaris: $PX_DATA_DIR/log
Q. What is the purpose of Job Manager?
A. Job Manager (jrm) is a component of Common Services. As IPM 4.1 is fully integrated with Common Services, it also contains this component.
For more information on Job Manager, see Common Services FAQ on Job Manager.
In IPM 4.1, the reports are consolidated on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, and scheduled as jrm jobs (called system jobs). These jobs are run daily, weekly, and monthly to consolidate the hourly data collected from the devices. You can also create Immediate or Scheduled jobs.
For more information on creating Report jobs, see IPM Reports and Graphs chapter in IPM 4.1 User Guide.
Q. What can I restore while backing up or restoring the same version?
A. You can restore the following while backing up or restoring the same version:
Windows
–All files and folders under NMSROOT/files/ipm
–All files and folders under NMSROOT/MDC/tomcat/wepapps/ipm/system_reports
–IPM DB
Solaris
–All files and folders under /var/adm/CSCOpx/files/ipm
–All files and folders under $NMSROOT/MDC/tomcat/wepapps/ipm/system_reports
–IPM DB
Hence, you can restore all IPM system reports, jobs, consolidated reports, latency/jitter/availability reports, configuration details stored in DB, and log level settings in the new LMS server.
Q. Where is IPM 2.6 data backed up during the inline upgrade to IPM 4.1?
A. During inline upgrade from IPM 2.6 to IPM 4.1, you are prompted to specify a backup folder.
If you specify d:/backup or /opt/backup as the backup folder location, then the IPM 2.6 data will be backed up in the following directory:
–d:backup/automatic/backup/cmf/backupipm
–/opt/backup/automaticbackup/cmfbackup/0/ipm/
Q. Where do I find the server log file in IPM 4.1?
A. You will find the server log file in the following location:
•Windows: NMSROOT\log, where NMSROOT is CiscoWorks Installation directory.
•Solaris: /var/adm/CSCOpx/log
Q. While restoring the IPM 2.6 backed up data onto IPM 4.1, the devices from both Common Services and IPM appear to exist in IPM. What should I do if I want only IPM devices to exist in IPM?
A. You can install IPM 4.1 and then disable the Automatically Manage Devices from Credential Repository option from IPM Administration before restoring the IPM 2.6 data to IPM 4.1. This will ensure that only IPM devices are available in IPM.
But if you want both IPM and Common Services devices to appear in IPM, you can install IPM 4.1 and then enable the Automatically Manage Devices from Credential Repository option from IPM Administration before restoring the IPM 2.6 data to IPM 4.1.
Q. Which Cisco hardware platforms support IP SLA feature of Cisco IOS software?
A. All platforms supporting Cisco IOS software also support IP SLA except:
•Cisco 700 series router
•Cisco 90 series router
IPM supports all Cisco IOS platforms that support IP SLA. If new platforms are released, you should verify whether your devices are running IP SLA. For information about verifying whether IP SLA is running on your Cisco IOS software, see Verify IP SLA Version.
Note Since IPM uses processor memory to create collectors, if a source router (such as 805 running 12.2T or 12.3 versions) only has virtual memory, IPM will not be able to configure IP SLA agent using SNMP.
Devices
This section provides the following FAQs on the Device Management module in IPM 4.1.
•Are adhoc target devices included for device license count?
•What are the device attributes that I can edit?
•Can I edit adhoc target device attributes?
•Can I retrieve the device that I have deleted from IPM?
•Does IPM support Advanced search for devices?
•What does Responder Enabled target device mean?
•Does a target device need to be a router that supports IP SLA?
•How do I add Source and target devices in IPM with Automode enabled?
•What if the IPM Process is down when devices are added, modified, or deleted from DCR?
•Can I add external target devices in IPM 4.1?
Q. Are adhoc target devices included for device license count?
A. No. Only DCR devices are included for the device license count.
Q. What are the device attributes that I can edit?
A. You can edit the device information, such as SNMP Retry and SNMP Timeout, but you cannot modify the device name.
Q. Can I edit adhoc target device attributes?
A. No. You can edit only DCR device attributes.
Q. Can I retrieve the device that I have deleted from IPM?
A. Yes. You can retrieve the devices from DCR. This is because the devices after being deleted from IPM are still available in DCR. However, you cannot retrieve adhoc target devices after you delete them.
Q. Does IPM support Advanced search for devices?
A. No. IPM 4.1 supports only Simple search for devices.
Q. What does Responder Enabled target device mean?
A. This is a component embedded in a Target Cisco device running version 12.1 or later of the Cisco IOS software. It responds to IP SLA request packets from a Source device and provides accurate results.
Q. Does a target device need to be a router that supports IP SLA?
A. No. IPM supports target devices as long as they are reachable through IP. These target devices can be Web servers, PCs, printers, routers, switches, network devices, or any other device with an IP address.
However, if you are measuring UDP Jitter statistics for applications such as Voice over IP or VPN monitoring, the target devices must be a Cisco router running a release of the Cisco IOS software that supports the IP SLA Responder feature Cisco IOS version 12.1(2)T or later. We recommend version 12.1 or later.
Q. How do I add Source and target devices in IPM with Automode enabled?
A. Add devices to Common Services DCR. After devices are added into Common Services DCR, the Source and target devices get imported into IPM if the Auto mode is enabled (Internetwork Performance Monitor > Admin > Application Settings > Automatically Manage Device from Credential Repository).
For more information, see Automatically Importing DCR Devices.
IPM contacts the device by getting credentials from DCR. Devices with valid credentials are added as Source devices. If the credentials are wrongly updated in DCR, then the device gets added as Target.
Q. What if the IPM Process is down when devices are added, modified, or deleted from DCR?
A. When the IPM process is up, IPM contacts DCR and updates the device information.
Q. Can I add external target devices in IPM 4.1?
A. Yes. You can add external target devices directly into IPM 4.1 as in IPM 2.6 from the IPM Devices page (Internetwork Performance Monitor > Collector Management > Devices > Add Adhoc Devices).
For more information, see Adding Adhoc Target Devices to IPM.
You can add any IP device as external target device. These devices are not managed by DCR, hence they have only a Device ID and not DCRID.
Operations
This section provides the following FAQs on the Operation Management module in IPM 4.1.
•What is IOS IP SLA?
•What are the new operations supported in IPM 4.1?
•What is a sample interval?
•Does IPM 4.1 provide predefined operations for all IP SLA operations?
•What port numbers does IPM support for UDP operations?
•Can I delete the default operations?
•Where do I specify the DNS Lookup Name in IPM 4.1?
•Where do I specify the DHCP server in IPM 4.1?
•Where do I specify the HTTP server in IPM 4.1?
•Where do I specify the FTP server in IPM 4.1?
•When should the target port number be a even number?
•Is the DefaultDNS operation available in Windows platform?
•Why do collectors created with ICMP Jitter operation move to Config Failed state?
•Why I am unable to see the MOS and ICPIF values for UDP Jitter collectors?
•Is target device required for operation types, namely VOIPCallSetup, VOIP Registration delay, and RTP?
•Is it possible to set alarm thresholds for MOS levels?
•What is the DNS server address for defaultDNS operation after restore?
Q. What is IOS IP SLA?
A. IP SLA (formerly known as SAA) is a feature built into Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS), used by most Cisco routers and IOS switches. IP SLA has been available since IOS version 11.2.
For more information, see Overview of IP SLA Operations.
Q. What are the new operations supported in IPM 4.1?
A. IPM 4.1 supports Ethernet Ping, Ethernet Jitter, Ethernet Ping Auto IP SLA, and Ethernet Jitter Auto IP SLA operations in addition to the existing operations in IPM 4.0.1.
Q. What is a sample interval?
A. This is a frequency with which IPM source device polls the target device to retrieve the statistics. These statistics are based on the IP SLA operations configured by you.
For more information, see General Settings for a User-Defined Operation.
Q. Does IPM 4.1 provide predefined operations for all IP SLA operations?
A. No. IPM 4.1 does not provide a predefined operation for HTTP, FTP, or RTP. Therefore, before you create a HTTP, FTP, or RTP collector, you must first create the respective HTTP, FTP, or RTP operation.
Q. What port numbers does IPM support for UDP operations?
A. For UDP connections, the valid port numbers are 7, and 1025 to 65535.
If the target device is a Cisco router running version 12.1 or later of the Cisco IOS software, you can specify any port. That is, you can specify any port number greater than 1024 to communicate with the IP SLA Responder, as long as some process is listening on that Target port.
The only known port allowed is UDP port 7.
If the target device, whether a Cisco or a non-Cisco IP host, is not running version 12.1 or later of the Cisco IOS software, you must specify UDP port 7 as the Target port.
Q. Can I delete the default operations?
A. No. You can delete only user-defined operations.
Q. Where do I specify the DNS Lookup Name in IPM 4.1?
A. As the workflow has changed in IPM 4.1, you must specify the DNS Lookup Name while creating collectors as part of the Target.
Q. Where do I specify the DHCP server in IPM 4.1?
A. As the workflow has changed in IPM 4.1, you must specify the DHCP server while creating collectors as part of the Target.
Q. Where do I specify the HTTP server in IPM 4.1?
A. As the workflow has changed in IPM 4.1, you must specify the HTTP server while creating collectors as part of the Target.
Q. Where do I specify the FTP server in IPM 4.1?
A. As the workflow has changed in IPM 4.1, you must specify the FTP server while creating collectors as part of the Target.
Q. When should the target port number be a even number?
A. If you have specified the codec type as 1, 2, or 3 while defining a UDP Jitter.
Q. Is the DefaultDNS operation available in Windows platform?
A. No. After installing IPM 4.1, the DefalultDNS operation is not be available for Windows platform. It is available only in Solaris platform, because for Solaris platform the DNS servers are stored under /etc/resolve.conf.
In case of Windows, there is similar file where your can find the DNS server. Hence, DefaultDNS is supported only on Solaris platform.
However, you can customize the DNS operation and configure it with DNS servers as targets on Windows platform.
Q. Why do collectors created with ICMP Jitter operation move to Config Failed state?
A. ICMP Jitter is supported only from IOS versions 12.4(6)T. Hence, you cannot configure collectors on source devices with ICMP Jitter versions less than 12.4(6)T. If you try to configure them, the collectors move to the Config Failed state.
Q. Why I am unable to see the MOS and ICPIF values for UDP Jitter collectors?
A. You cannot view the MOS and ICPIF values if you have defined a collector with default UDP Jitter operations such as default60ByteVoice or default160ByteVoice. This is because the codec type is `0' for these operations.
To view the values of MOS and ICPIF, you should define collectors with customized UDP Jitter with appropriate codec type values such as 1, 2, or 3.
Q. Is target device required for operation types, namely VOIPCallSetup, VOIP Registration delay, and RTP?
A. No. You need not specify the target device for these operation types because the Target refers to the called number.
Q. Is it possible to set alarm thresholds for MOS levels?
A. Yes. It is not possible to set MOS level thresholds in IPM 4.1.
Q. What is the DNS server address for defaultDNS operation after restore?
A. After the Restore operation (same version Backup-Restore), the defaultDNS operation points to the DNS server which was available in the backup archive.
Hence, after Restore, you need to add the restored server to the DNS server in the backup. If you do not add the server, all the collectors configured with that DNS server in backup become invalid. That is, they will not generate statistics or skewed statistics based on whether the DNS server is reachable or not.
Hence, you need to add the restored server into the DNS server available in the backup or you must customize the DNS operation with newly available DNS server and create collectors for that.
Collectors
This section provides the following FAQs on the Collector Management module in IPM 4.1.
•Can I configure collectors that use IP SLA targets and NNTP, POP3, or SMTP operations?
•What does Historical or Statistical collector type mean?
•What does Monitored or Real-time collector type mean?
•What is a polling interval?
•How many collectors are supported for the various polling interval in IPM 4.1?
•Do minute (1, 5, 15, 30) based collectors poll every hour also?
•Why do I see two collectors in IPMProcess.log file after creating a minute-based collector (1, 5, 15, or 30)? Why is the extra collector created for every minute-based collector?
•Why is the Poller Settings section disabled in the Collector Configuration wizard when I select the Monitored or Real-time option?
•How do I make the collector configuration available on the source routers even after I reboot?
•Can collectors in Config Failed status move back to Running status?
Q. Is the target device a must for creating collectors?
A. No. The target device is not required for operations, such as Gatekeeper Registration Delay, Call Setup Post Dial Delay, and RTP.
Q. Can I configure collectors that use IP SLA targets and NNTP, POP3, or SMTP operations?
A. No. IP SLA targets are routers, and routers cannot perform NNTP, POP3, or SMTP services.
If you configure a collector with an IP SLA target and an NNTP, POP3, or SMTP TCP Connect operation (such as DefaultNNTP, DefaultPOP3, or DefaultSMTP), IPM displays No Connection error messages and does not collect data.
Q. What does Historical or Statistical collector type mean?
A. The collector type specified while creating a collector. This collector type archives the collector statistics in the IPM database to generate custom reports.
Q. What does Monitored or Real-time collector type mean?
A. The collector type specified while creating a collector to view the collector statistics in real time. The real-time statistics are not stored in the IPM database.
Q. What is a polling interval?
A. The frequency with which the IPM server polls the source router to retrieve the statistics and update the IPM database. IPM 4.1 also supports 1, 5, 15, and 30 minutes polling frequencies to the fixed 60 minutes polling frequency in IPM 2.6.
Q. How many collectors are supported for the various polling interval in IPM 4.1?
A. IPM 4.1 supports:
•1 Minute Collectors = 60
•5 Minute Collectors = 100
•15 Minute Collectors = 300
•30 Minute Collectors = 500
•1 Hour Collectors = 2000
Q. Do minute (1, 5, 15, 30) based collectors poll every hour also?
A. Yes, apart from polling during the specified polling intervals (such as 1, 5, 15, or 30 minutes), it is also polled every 60 minutes. As the consolidation of statistical data into daily, weekly, and monthly tables are done only from hourly collection tables.
Hence, you must populate the hourly tables, as well. However, for a collector with polling interval 60 minutes, the polling is done only every 60 minutes.
Q. Why do I see two collectors in IPMProcess.log file after creating a minute-based collector (1, 5, 15, or 30)? Why is the extra collector created for every minute-based collector?
A. RTTMon MIB provides very minimal information on the latest data, whereas historical data polled every hour contains adequate information for you to generate reports and graphs.
Hence, IPM creates one-hour collector for every minute-based collector, and polls the device every hour during the polling period. It stores the information in the Hourly statistics table.
These hourly statistics consolidate data into the Daily, Weekly and Monthly statistics tables. With the minute-based polling interval, you cannot consolidate the statistical data for the collectors.
Q. Why is the Poller Settings section disabled in the Collector Configuration wizard when I select the Monitored or Real-time option?
A. The real-time collectors will not poll automatically. They are only configured on the source router based on the Start and End Time details that you have specified.
Hence to view the real-time collectors statistics, click the Monitor button on the Collector Management page. The statistics of the collectors are displayed as a graph. The real-time statistics are not stored in the database.
Q. How do I make the collector configuration available on the source routers even after I reboot?
A. You need to enable the Copy IP SLA Configuration to running-config option on the Application Settings page (Internetwork Performance Monitor > Admin > Application Settings).
Q. Can collectors in Config Failed status move back to Running status?
A. Yes. It can happen in the following scenarios:
•When the IPM processes are restarted, all the collectors in Config Failed status are reconfigured. During this process, the collectors are moved to Running status if the conditions for creating collectors are satisfied.
•When a device associated with a collector is rebooted, all the collectors are reconfigured. Hence the collectors can move from Config Failed to Running status if the conditions for creating collectors are satisfied.
The conditions for creating collectors successfully are:
•Device should be reachable while configuring the collectors.
•Device should be reachable through SNMP.
•Device should support the operations.
CLI Commands
This section provides following FAQs on IPM 4.1 CLI reference.
•What is the command to list IPM CLI commands?
•Does IPM CLI require CiscoWorks authentication?
Q. What is the command to list IPM CLI commands?
A. To view the list of IPM CLI commands, go to NMSROOT/bin and enter ipm -help.
Q. Does IPM CLI require CiscoWorks authentication?
A. Yes. IPM CLI requires CiscoWorks authentication.
For more information, see IPM Online Help or type ipm -help at NMSROOT/bin on any LMS 3.1 server.
Admin
This section provides the following FAQ on the Admin module in IPM 4.1.
Q. How can I enable debugging in IPM 4.1?
A. Do the following:
Step 1 Go to Internetwork Performance Monitor > Admin > Log Level Settings.
The Log Level Settings page appears.
Step 2 Select the module and log level from the Module and Logging Level drop-down lists.
The various log levels available are FATAL, ERROR, WARN, INFO, and DEBUG.
Step 3 Click Apply.
Reports
This section provides the following FAQs on the Reports module in IPM 4.1.
•What is a Report job?
•What is a Report archive?
•What is a Report granularity?
•What is the function of the Overlay graph?
•What is a real-time graph?
•What are Minute reports and graphs?
•What are Historical reports and graphs?
•What is the purge period for minute, hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly reports?
•Can I get historical statistics that are less than an hour?
•What is the frequency at which the values are plotted on a real-time graph?
•How can I modify the Refresh interval of a real-time graph?
•Why the graph is not displaying properly?
•What type of graph IPM 4.1 uses?
Q. What is a Report job?
A. They are jobs for which reports are scheduled to run at the specified date and time.
Q. What is a Report archive?
A. A report is archived when a scheduled report job is completed successfully and stored in archive for future reference.
Q. What is a Report granularity?
A. This is the level of report detail that the you want to view from the archived statistics. The various levels available are Minute, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly.
Q. What is the function of the Overlay graph?
A. The Overlay graph provides a comparative view of the latency of one or more collectors.
Q. What is a real-time graph?
A. This is a graph that allows you to monitor the statistics of a collector when polling.
Q. What are Minute reports and graphs?
A. These are reports and graphs that contain the statistical data that IPM generates for a single or a group of collectors on a minute basis.
For more information, see Working with Minute/Historical Reports and Graphs.
Q. What are Historical reports and graphs?
A. IPM generates these reports and graphs that contain statistical data for a single or group of collectors based on the granularity, such as hourly, daily, monthly, or weekly.
IPM generates statistical data for a single or group of collectors based on the granularity such as hourly, daily, monthly, or weekly.
For more information, see Working with Minute/Historical Reports and Graphs.
Q. What is the purge period for minute, hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly reports?
A. The purge periods are:
•Minute report - 1 day. The minute reports are purged every day and you cannot modify the purge period for the minute reports.
•Hourly report - 32 days
•Daily report - 180 days
•Weekly report - 12 weeks
•Monthly report - 12 months
•Audit trial purge - 180 days
Q. Can I get historical statistics that are less than an hour?
A. Yes. It is possible in IPM 4.1. You need to create collectors with polling interval 1, 5, 15, or 30 minutes to view the trend that is less than an hour.
Q. What is the frequency at which the values are plotted on a real-time graph?
A. The frequency at which the values are plotted on a real-time graph depends upon the sampling interval of the operation specified while creating the collector.
For example, when a collector RTCOLL is created with a custom Echo operation, `custEcho' (which has a sampling interval of 30 seconds) then the real-time graph for the collector, `RTCOLL' is plotted every 30 seconds.
Q. How can I modify the Refresh interval of a real-time graph?
A. By default, it refreshes every 60 seconds. To modify this value, you need to create a collector using customized operation with a sample interval (for example 120 seconds).
As a result, the device polls the target device every 120 seconds to collect the statistics. Hence, the real-time graph also gets the data every 120 seconds.
Q. Why the graph is not displaying properly?
A. This may be caused by any of the following reasons:
•Your browser may not support the Flash objects.
The browser should be either IE 6.6 (and above) and Mozilla FireFox 2.0.
•The data is not populated for that collector.
Restart your browser and check the browser installation.
Q. What type of graph IPM 4.1 uses?
A. IPM 4.1 uses a third party tool, `FusionCharts' for graphs. Fusion Charts deliver high performance graph using Flash objects. It provides the following:
•Trend graphs (Historical graphs, using IPM terminology)
•Real-time streaming chart (Real-time graph)
•Overlay graphs
Troubleshooting Tips
This section provides the following troubleshooting tips for IPM 4.1.
•I have problems while migrating the IPM data. What should I do?
•I am unable to migrate the customized operations properly. What should I do?
•I am not able to migrate the collectors. What should I do?
•Why are the collectors not moved to a Running state?
•The devices are not migrated? What should I do?
•What are the files that the backup directory of IPM2.5 or IPM2.6 must contain?
•When IPM configures the routers, it seems that the configuration is a running configuration and not saved. What happens when the router is rebooted?
•Why I am unable to delete the target devices?
•What if I accidentally create a collector that uses all remaining memory in the source router?
•What should I do when all DHCP IP Address leases are exhausted?
•When I attempt to generate reports, I get an error message, No data available for the selected time period. What should I do?
•When does the system consolidation happen?
Q. I have problems while migrating the IPM data. What should I do?
A. Check the following log files for information:
–restorebackup.log
–migration.log
–ipmclient.log
–ipmprocess.log
Q. I am unable to migrate the customized operations properly. What should I do?
A. Check whether:
–ipm2.x backed up DB contains custom operations.
–Predefined or custom SNA Operations are migrated.
–Alerts of NMVT type are changed to None.
–Alerts of NMVT and SNMP trap are changed to snmp trap.
Q. I am not able to migrate the collectors. What should I do?
A. Make sure that:
–Source devices, target devices, and operations are migrated properly.
–Collectors configured with SNA operations are migrated.
Q. Why are the collectors not moved to a Running state?
A. Check whether:
–The devices are SNMP reachable from IPM4.1.
–There is sufficient memory in the router to configure probes. If not, remove some probes on the router CLI.
Q. The devices are not migrated? What should I do?
A. Make sure that the IPM2.x backed up database contains source and target devices.
Q. What are the files that the backup directory of IPM2.5 or IPM2.6 must contain?
A. The backup directory must contain the following files:
–ipmdb.db
–.dbPassword
–ipmdb.tmpl
–ipm.env
Q. When IPM configures the routers, it seems that the configuration is a running configuration and not saved. What happens when the router is rebooted?
A. IPM handles configuring the source router using running configurations. IPM automatically reconfigures the router after a reboot. You need not do anything from the router command line after a reboot. Also, IPM does not interact with or destroy any manually generated collectors.
For more information, see Copying IP SLA Configuration to Running-Config.
Q. Why I am unable to delete the target devices?
A. If you try to delete a target device and IPM issues an error message such as Could not delete the target, appears, it could be because:
•The target device is being used as a final target by one or more collectors.
•The target device is being used as an intermediate hop by one or more Path Echo collectors.
Q. What if I accidentally create a collector that uses all remaining memory in the source router?
A. The IP SLA in IOS 12.1 or later provides a low watermark feature to prevent collectors from using all the memory in the source router. Low watermark memory is a memory on the source router.
Q. What should I do when all DHCP IP Address leases are exhausted?
A. When you use DHCP operations with certain DHCP servers, all DHCP IP address leases on the servers can be exhausted. To reduce the likelihood of this problem occurring:
•Reduce IP address lease times on your DHCP servers. Long lease times increase the likelihood of this problem occurring.
•Change the frequency of the DHCP operations from the default of 60 seconds to 5 minutes.
•Do not configure a large number of DHCP operations on the same subnet (using the same DHCP server).
Q. When I attempt to generate reports, I get an error message, No data available for the selected time period. What should I do?
A. It may be caused by any of the following:
•You have tried to generate report for a collector that has no data in the database for the selected time period (From and To time specified while creating the report) and granularity (such as minute, hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly).
•The selected collectors and the report type are different. For example, you cannot select UDP Jitter as the report type for generating report on a collector with ICMP Jitter as the operation type. However, report types, namely Latency and Availability support all collectors.
•You have tried to generate minute reports and graphs for collectors with polling interval 60 minutes. You can generate minute reports and graphs only if you have set the polling interval as 1, 5, 15, or 30 minutes while creating the collector.
•You have tried to generate reports for real-time collectors that do not store data in the database.
Q. When does the system consolidation happen?
A. The system consolidation happens everyday based on the granularity:
•Hourly to Daily
•Daily to Weekly
•Daily to Monthly
Hourly to Daily
During the hourly to daily consolidation, the system consolidates the Daily statistical data everyday at 12:30 AM. At the end of every day, the statistical data collected every hour is consolidated and averaged for the day and stored in the Daily table.
Daily to Weekly
During the daily to weekly consolidation, the system consolidates the Weekly statistical data every Sunday at 1:00 AM. At the end of every week, the statistical data collected every day is consolidated and averaged for the week, and stored in the Weekly table.
Daily to Monthly
During the daily to monthly consolidation, the system consolidates the Monthly statistical data on the first day of every month at 2:00 AM. At the end of every month, the statistical data collected every day is consolidated and averaged for the month and stored in the Monthly table.
