Table Of Contents
Getting Started
Understanding the QPM Workflow
Starting QPM
Working with the QPM User Interface
Understanding the QPM User Interface
Dashboard: Overview
DashBoard: Device Details Portlet
Dashboard: Provisioning Portlet
Dashboard: Monitoring Portlet
Dashboard: Administration Portlet
Dashboard: Event Details Portlet
Dashboard: NCM Event Details Portlet
Dashboard: Changing Color Schemes
Dashboard: Changing the Look and Feel of a Portlet
Using QPM Tables
Using QPM Wizards
Working with Multiple Users
User Permissions
Exiting QPM
Getting Started
Before you begin to define your QoS policies, you should set up your QoS policy system.
The following topics describe how to start working with QPM.
•
Understanding the QPM Workflow
•Starting QPM
•Working with the QPM User Interface
•User Permissions
•Exiting QPM
Understanding the QPM Workflow
The QPM workflow is flexible and allows you to navigate between the QPM management applications. Figure 3-1 describes a common workflow for defining policies for data and IP telephony networks.
Figure 3-1 QPM Workflow
The main workflow tasks are:
•Installing QPM—QPM is installed over the CiscoWorks Common Services application. See the Installation Guides for QoS Policy Manager for details.
•Adding and importing devices—You add and import devices into the QPM device inventory. You can add devices manually, or you can import them directly from DCR. See Chapter 4, "Managing Devices" for information about adding and importing devices.
•Open or create a policy group—QPM QoS policies are defined within the framework of policy groups. When you begin working with QPM, a default policy group is automatically opened. You can create and manage multiple policy groups for phased deployment, or for testing what-if scenarios. See Chapter 5, "Provisioning: Working with Policy Groups" for more information.
•Create policies—Policies are constrained sets of QoS properties and traffic rules. You must define the device constraints and QoS properties for your policy before you can begin to define traffic rules. See Chapter 8, "Provisioning: Working with Policies, Properties, and Traffic Rules" for information about defining policies. You can upload the existing QoS configuration on your devices into policies. See Importing Device QoS Configurations to Policies, page 8-13.
•Define traffic rules—Traffic Rules contain traffic classifiers and actions. The traffic rule traffic classifier defines the traffic to which the traffic rule actions will be applied. The traffic rule actions can include marking, policing, queuing, and other traffic control techniques. (This step is optional, a policy's properties will be deployed to the devices, even when there are no traffic rules). See Chapter 8, "Provisioning: Working with Policies, Properties, and Traffic Rules" for information about defining traffic rules.
•Assign network elements to policy—You can assign network elements in the device inventory to a policy. On deployment, the policy's traffic rules will be downloaded to the assigned network elements. You can assign network elements to policies before or after defining traffic rules. See Chapter 8, "Provisioning: Working with Policies, Properties, and Traffic Rules" and Chapter 4, "Managing Devices" for information about assigning network elements to policies.
•Create voice policies for IP telephony networks—QPM provides an IP telephony wizard, which automatically creates the QoS policies required at each network point in your IP telephony network, according to the IP telephony network topology that you define. The QoS policies are defined using voice policy templates that follow the Cisco IP Telephony QoS Design Guide recommendations. See Chapter 7, "Provisioning: Configuring QoS for IP Telephony" for information about defining QoS for IP telephony networks.
•Deploy to network—After you have defined devices, policy groups, and policies, you can distribute the policies to devices in the network. See Chapter 9, "Provisioning: Deploying QoS Policies" for more information.
•Perform QoS Monitoring—After you have deployed your QoS configuration to the network, you can validate the effectiveness of your policies. Based on the monitoring results, you can refine your QoS policies to achieve optimum performance. See Chapter 10, "Monitoring: Using QoS Analysis" for more information.
Note You can use QoS monitoring as a starting point for defining QoS policies, to profile traffic by critical applications, or DiffServ classes.
Related Topics
•Starting QPM
Starting QPM
QoS Policy Manager is accessed from the CiscoWorks Homepage.
To launch QPM:
Step 1 In your web browser, start CiscoWorks. The default URL is http://QPMinstall:1741, where QPMinstall is the name of the computer with the QPM installation.
The CiscoWorks user login page is displayed.
The first time you start CiscoWorks on a CiscoWorks server or a client machine, the Java Runtime Environment is automatically installed.
Note Verify on the front page that Java, JavaScript, and cookies are enabled. If they are not enabled, change your browser preferences to enable them, then continue to the next step.
Step 2 Log into CiscoWorks with your user name and password.
The CiscoWorks Homepage appears.
Step 3 Click the QoS Policy Manager link in the QoS Policy Management panel.
QPM opens in a separate browser window.
Note When you launch QPM using the above steps, the first page to appear depends on the following:
•At the first launch after installation, the Getting Started page appears
•For subsequent launches:
–If QPM does not contain any devices, the Device Summary page appears.
–If you have installed QPM independently and if devices are present in QPM, the Dashboard appears.
–If you have installed QPM over LMS (on the same server) and if devices are present in QPM, the Policy View page appears.
Related Topics
•Working with the QPM User Interface
•User Permissions
•Exiting QPM
•Problems Starting QoS Policy Manager, page 14-3
Working with the QPM User Interface
The following topics familiarize you with the QPM user interface:
•Understanding the QPM User Interface
•Dashboard: Overview
•Using QPM Tables
•Using QPM Wizards
•Working with Multiple Users
Related Topics
•Starting QPM
•Exiting QPM
•Troubleshooting User Interface Problems, page 14-4
Understanding the QPM User Interface
All the pages in the web-based QPM user interface have a consistent look and feel.
Figure 3-2 shows an example of a QPM page.
Figure 3-2 Example of a QPM Page
Table 3-1 describes the common elements in each page.
Table 3-1 Common GUI Elements in a QPM Page
Number
|
Name of the Element
|
Description
|
1
|
Navigation Pane Tree
|
Displays hierarchical data in the form of an indented outline whose nodes can be expanded (to display the next level in the hierarchy) or collapsed (hiding levels in the hierarchy).
|
2
|
Navigation Pane Drawer
|
Groups elements that are logically related. When a drawer is open, its content opens below it as a tree.
The following drawers are available in QPM:
•Getting Started—Displays basic information about the various features in QPM
•Devices—Contains options for managing devices and device groups in the QPM inventory and also provides launch point to the Device Credentials Repository
•Provisioning—Contains options for defining policy groups and policies, configuring QoS for IP telephony, and working with global library policy components.
This drawer also contains options for deploying QoS policies and for previewing the CLI configuration on the devices.
•Monitoring—Contains options for monitoring traffic on devices with QoS policies attached to them. You can perform Real-time, Historical, and Threshold analysis of the traffic
•Administration—Contains additional administration options.
|
3
|
Object Selector
|
Enables selection of objects so that the corresponding information appears in the Content Area.
This element, even though a part of the Content Area, may not be present in all pages.
|
4
|
Content Area Title Bar
|
Displays the title of the Content Area, based on the node you selected under a drawer
|
5
|
Content Area
|
Displays information and controls or components, based on the node you selected under a drawer.
This element frequently serves as a launch point for wizards, dialog boxes, message boxes, or other secondary windows.
|
6
|
Header
|
Separates the application from the browser components (that is, the browser toolbar), to brand the application, and to provide access to items that apply to the application as a whole.
The following items are displayed in the Header:
•Host—Name of the machine where you have installed QPM
•User—Name of the user that is currently logged in
•Dashboard—Click to go to the QPM Dashboard page that serves as another launch point to the various features in QPM
•Close—Click to close the QPM application window
•About—Click to know the details like Version, Installed Time, and License Type
|
7
|
Help icon
|
Click to open the corresponding Online Help page for the information displayed in the Content Area.
|
Note It is not recommended to use the browser Back button to navigate in QPM.
Related Topics
•Using QPM Tables
•Using QPM Wizards
•Working with Multiple Users
Dashboard: Overview
The Dashboard is the QPM homepage and provides a snapshot view of the commonly used QoS management operations.
To open the Dashboard page, from the CiscoWorks Homepage select QoS Policy Management > Qos Policy Manager.
The Dashboard allows you to navigate to QoS management tasks using the following portlets:
•DashBoard: Device Details Portlet
•Dashboard: Provisioning Portlet
•Dashboard: Monitoring Portlet
•Dashboard: Administration Portlet
•Dashboard: Event Details Portlet
•Dashboard: NCM Event Details Portlet
•Dashboard: Changing Color Schemes
•Dashboard: Changing the Look and Feel of a Portlet
DashBoard: Device Details Portlet
The Device Details portlet provide launch points to the device management features in QPM, and also provides necessary information about the devices in QPM inventory.
Table 3-2 Device Details Portlet
Field
|
Description
|
Add a Device
|
Click to go to the Device Summary page, so that you can add devices to QPM device inventory
|
Device Folder
|
Click to go to the Device Folder page
|
Device Group
|
Click to go to the Device Group page
|
Sync Privileges
|
Click to go to the Sync Privileges page
|
Discovery Status
|
Click to go to the Discovery Status page
|
Total Number of Devices
|
Displays the total number of devices imported into QPM inventory
|
Devices with Errors
|
Displays the total number of devices with errors while discovering
|
Devices with DCR Error
|
Displays the number of devices with errors related to DCR (Device Credentials Repository)
|
Devices with Other Errors
|
Displays the number of devices with other errors
|
Dashboard: Provisioning Portlet
The Provisioning portlet provides launch points to the QoS policy management features in QPM, and also provides necessary information about the policies and policy deployment jobs present in QPM.
Table 3-3 Dashboard - Provisioning Portlet
Field
|
Description
|
Create Policy
|
Click to go to the Policy View page to create and edit policies
|
TelePresence Policy
|
Click to go to the TelePresence Circuit Table page to deploy QoS Policy on a TelePresence circuit
|
Deploy policy
|
Click to go to the Deployment Wizard to deploy the policies to selected devices
|
Completed Jobs
|
Click to go to the Completed Jobs page where you can view the completed policy deployment jobs
|
Number of policies in QPM
|
Displays the total number of policies in QPM
|
Pending or Scheduled Deployment Jobs
|
Displays the number of pending or scheduled policy deployment jobs
|
Failed Deployment Jobs
|
Displays the number of failed policy deployment jobs
|
Completed Deployment Jobs
|
Displays the number of completed policy deployment jobs
|
Dashboard: Monitoring Portlet
The Monitoring portlet provides launch points to QoS monitoring features in QPM, and also provides necessary information about the current monitoring tasks in QPM
Table 3-4 Dashboard - Monitoring Portlet
Field
|
Description
|
Report Card
|
Click to go to the QoS Report Card page to view the monitorable policies deployed in the devices
|
Historical Monitoring
|
Click to go to the Historical Monitoring page to work with historical monitoring tasks
|
Event Browser
|
Click to go to the Snapshot View page to view the threshold violations of the traffic through the interfaces
|
Threshold Assignment
|
Click to go to the Threshold Assignment page where you can assign Threshold Sets to the interfaces
|
Devices with Threshold Sets Deployed
|
Displays the number of devices to which Threshold Sets are assigned
|
Threshold Sets available
|
Displays the total number of Threshold Sets available
|
Historical Jobs with RUNNING status
|
Displays the total number of historical monitoring jobs with status as "Running"
|
Historical Jobs with ERROR status
|
Displays the number of historical monitoring tasks with any error status
|
Dashboard: Administration Portlet
The Administration portlet provides launch points to the various administrative features in QPM.
Table 3-5 Dashboard - Administration Portlet
Field
|
Description
|
Schedule Backup
|
Click to go to the Schedule Backup page in Common Services
|
Audit Configuration
|
Click to go to the Audit page to view audit logs in QPM
|
Set User Roles
|
Click to go to the User Setup page in Common Services
|
Manage Licenses
|
Click to go to the License Overview page to view and add licenses
|
SNMP Settings
|
Click to go to the SNMP Properties page to edit the SNMP properties
|
Notification Groups
|
Click to go to the Notification Group Table page to create Notification Groups for receiving notifications for threshold violations in TelePresence circuits
|
NCM Integration
|
Click to go to the NCM Integration page to enable or disable the integration of QPM server with Cisco Network Compliance Manager (NCM)
|
Dashboard: Event Details Portlet
The Event Details portlet lists the last four events that occurred as a result of threshold violations, while the devices are being monitored by QPM.
Table 3-6 Dashboard - Event Details Portlet
Field
|
Description
|
Time
|
Displays the time at which the threshold violations occurred
|
Device
|
Displays the devices in which the threshold limits are violated
|
Interface
|
Displays the interfaces in which the threshold limits are violated
|
Dashboard: NCM Event Details Portlet
The NCM Event Details portlet lists the last four events from the NCM server registered with QPM. These events are a result of any configuration change or image upgrade on the devices, which are part of the active device group in QPM.
Table 3-7 Dashboard - NCM Event Details Portlet
Field
|
Description
|
Time
|
Displays the time at which the event occured
|
Device
|
Displays the IP address of the device on which the configuration change or image upgrade occured
|
Interface
|
Displays the number of interfaces on the device
|
Dashboard: Changing Color Schemes
You can change the color scheme for QPM Dasboard display.
To change the color scheme:
Step 1 In the QPM Dashboard, click the 
icon at the top right corner of the page.
The View Settings portlet appears.
Step 2 In the Look and Feel tab screen, select the radio button corresponding to the color scheme you want.
Step 3 In the Views tab screen, click Update.
Step 4 Click the 
icon to go back to the Dashboard page, and view the changes.
Dashboard: Changing the Look and Feel of a Portlet
You can change the look and feel of the portlets available in the QPM dashboard.
To change the look and feel of an individual portlet:
Step 1 In the QPM dashboard, move the mouse over the title bar of the portlet.
The icons for that portlet appear.
Step 2 Click the 
icon.
The Look and Feel tab screen for the selected portlet appears.
Step 3 Change the look of the portlet by using the Show Borders, Portlet Background, or Header Text options.
Step 4 Click the icon to go back to the Dashboard page, and view the changes.
Using QPM Tables
In QPM, lists of items are displayed in tables. A table consists of a table header with filtering criteria, column headers with the column titles, a table footer with the table action buttons, and one or more table pages containing the table contents.
In general, you must select a table item before you click an action button. (Some actions do not require any item selection, for example, creating a new item.)
When an action can apply to more than one item, for example, deleting items, you can select multiple items in a single page, and then click the action button. You can select all items in a table by selecting the check box in the column header row.
Note If you select items in a table page, and then attempt to open another table page without clicking an action button, a warning message appears.
You can change the table display in the following ways:
•Display a subset of items using the filtering option in the table header:
–Choose the item by which you want to filter in the Filter list box.
–Enter the matching string in the field.
–Click Go.
The filtering option operates on all pages in the table.
•Sort items in the entire table by clicking the column headers.
Related Topics
•Understanding the QPM User Interface
•Using QPM Wizards
•Working with Multiple Users
Using QPM Wizards
QPM wizards guide you through the steps required to complete configuration tasks in QPM.
Each step in a wizard can consist of one or more pages and dialog boxes. A step can also contain substeps. You can navigate through the wizard steps using either the Next and Back buttons, or the wizard navigation TOC in the left pane.
Note We recommend that you do not use the browser Refresh button when working in a wizard. Using the browser Refresh button might result in loss of data.
When you open a wizard, some steps might be disabled depending on previous configurations you have made. As you progress through a wizard, some steps might become disabled depending on the choices you make in each step.
The configuration settings that you define in a wizard are saved only when you complete the wizard by clicking the Finish button. If you click the Cancel button in the wizard, or if you choose another QPM option while in the wizard, your wizard settings will not be saved.
Note In the IP Telephony wizard, new policy groups are saved when you complete each step.
Related Topics
•Understanding the QPM User Interface
•Using QPM Tables
•Working with Multiple Users
Working with Multiple Users
Multiple users can work with QPM at the same time. Whenever you save changes, for example, when you complete a wizard, or edit an item, QPM checks whether you are modifying the latest version of that item. An item might be a policy group, policy, global library item, and so on.
If you are not editing the latest version, meaning another user has saved changes to the item since you accessed it for editing, QPM displays a message informing you that you are not working with the latest version of the item, and will not let you save the changes. This mechanism prevents a user from unintentionally overwriting changes made by another user working at the same time.
Related Topics
•Understanding the QPM User Interface
•Using QPM Tables
•Using QPM Wizards
User Permissions
QPM can work with either Cisco Access Control Server (ACS) permissions or CiscoWorks permissions. QPM permissions for user authorization are mapped to CiscoWorks permission roles or ACS permissions as specified.
User permissions and authentications for QPM are handled by the Cisco Common Services application. Before you begin to work with QPM, you should ensure that you have the appropriate permissions. Verify your user permissions in the CiscoWorks Homepage (Server > Security), or in ACS (depending on the method you are using for user authentication).
To view the types of tasks allowed for each user type in QPM, select Administration > User Permissions. See User Permissions Report, page E-5, for detailed explanations of each user type.
See the Installation Guide for QoS Policy Manager for more information about user permissions.
Exiting QPM
When you finish working with QPM, you must log out of CiscoWorks to close the application.
To exit from QPM application:
Step 1 Click Close in any open QPM windows to close them.
Step 2 Click Logout in the CiscoWorks Homepage.
The CiscoWorks session ends.
