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User Guide for Resource Manager Essentials 3.5 (With LMS 2.2/RWAN 1.3)
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Preface
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Overview
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Resource Manager Essentials Applications
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VPN Security Management Solution
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Network Address Translation Support
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Monitoring Your Devices
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Upgrading Your Device Software
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Performing Maintenance on Your Essentials Server
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Performing a NetConfig Job with the Job Password Policy Enabled
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Making a Device Configuration Change Using a Template
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Configuring Multiple Devices
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Importing Device Data to Inventory
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Managing PIX Devices through Proxy Server (Auto Update Server)
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Checking Device Configuration Changes and Who Made Them
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Creating a Syslog Custom Report
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Maintaining Your Inventory Information
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Troubleshooting Essentials
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File Import Format
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Essentials Command Reference
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User Guide for Resource Manager Essentials 3.5 Index
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Table Of Contents
Essentials Database and Functions
Essentials Task Usage Workflow
Adding Functionality and Incremental Device Support
Overview
The Resource Manager Essentials (Essentials) suite is part of the CiscoWorks family of products. It is an Enterprise solution to network management. Essentials is a powerful suite of Web-based applications offering network management solutions for Cisco switches, access servers, and routers. The Resource Manager Essentials browser interface allows easy access to information critical to network uptime and simplifies time-consuming administrative tasks.
Essentials is based on a client/server architecture that connects multiple web-based clients to a server on the network. As the number of network devices increases, additional servers or collection points can be added to manage network growth with minimal impact on the client browser application.
Taking advantage of the scalability inherent in the intranet architecture, Essentials supports multiple users anywhere on the network. The web-based infrastructure gives network operators, administrators, technicians, Help Desk staff, IS managers, and end users access to network management tools, applications, and services.
Essentials allows the network administrators to view and update the status and configuration of all Cisco devices from anywhere on the network through a standard Web browser as the Essentials client.
Essentials maintains a database of current network information. It can generate a variety of reports that can be used for troubleshooting and capacity planning. When devices are initially added to the Essentials inventory, the network administrator can schedule Essentials to periodically retrieve and update device information, such as hardware, software, and configuration files, to ensure that the most current network information is stored. In addition, Essentials automatically records any changes made to network devices, making it easy to identify when changes are made and by whom.
Essentials applications provide the network monitoring and fault information you need for tracking devices that are critical to network uptime and application availability. They also provide tools that you can use to rapidly and reliably deploy Cisco software images and view configurations of Cisco routers and switches. Essentials applications, together with links to Cisco.com service and support, automate software maintenance to help you maintain and control your Enterprise network.
Features
Essentials works in conjunction with the CiscoWorks Server, which contains a set of management services shared by multiple management applications. These management services are enabled when a suite is installed and an application that relies on one of these services is opened.
If a particular suite of applications does not use a service or does not use it to the fullest extent to which it is available, this service might not appear on the CiscoWorks desktop.
Essentials uses these CiscoWorks services:
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Database engine and utilities
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For detailed information, see User Guide for Common Services 2.2.
Table 1-1 lists Essentials applications in alphabetical order, not the order in which they appear in the navigation tree:
Functional Architecture
The Essentials web-based infrastructure consists of the following main components:
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See Figure 1-1 for a general view of the Essentials Functional Architecture:
Figure 1-1 Essentials Functional Architecture
CiscoWorks Server
Essentials relies on the CiscoWorks Server for common functions such as the database engine, online help, security, login, application launching, job and process management, and the Web server. This provides a common framework and interface for all CiscoWorks products. For detailed information, see User Guide for Common Services 2.2.
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In addition, the CiscoWorks Server should remain on line at all times in order to poll devices, monitor events, and perform scheduled data collection. If the server goes down, there will be an interruption in the network management information gathered and stored in Essentials.
Essentials Database and Functions
Essentials stores all critical network management information in a central database, including device inventory, software images, configuration files, syslog messages, and change records. Essentials functions interact with the database and with network devices to collect information, display reports, and automate many repetitive network management tasks.
Many Essentials functions can also be configured to periodically poll network devices and update the database automatically.
Essentials uses common protocols such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), SSH, Telnet, Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), and remote copy protocol (rcp) to access devices and retrieve configuration files and software images from devices.
Web Clients
The server can be accessed from any client with appropriate system requirements. Essentials clients are platform independent, allowing a UNIX client to access a Windows server or a Windows client to access a UNIX server. The only client software required is a supported web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Cisco.com
Essentials also connects to the Cisco.com system to obtain up-to-date product updates and technical assistance information. Access to Cisco.com is not mandatory for users of Essentials but will greatly enhance its capabilities. The following Essentials functions require access to Cisco.com, or provide enhanced features if you have access to Cisco.com:
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Getting Started
After you configure the devices, CiscoWorks Server, and client, you must invoke the CiscoWorks desktop through a web browser and log in to access Essentials.
After you have successfully logged into the server, the Login Manager dialog box changes to illustrate the major applications or functions installed. These applications or functions are organized in drawers. You can open a drawer and then view the various functions or open additional folders that hold more functions.
When the Essentials software is installed on the CiscoWorks Server, a new Resource Manager Essentials drawer is added to the CiscoWorks desktop. The Resource Manager Essentials drawer contains folders and related tasks for each of the Essentials functions. In addition, the Device Navigator and Case Management functions are added to the Management Connection drawer and a VPN Management Solutions drawer is added to support reports directly related to active virtual private network (VPN) devices.
RME Functions
All CiscoWorks and Essentials applications and services are provided and organized in drawers. When you open an application drawer, you will find functional group folders, and individual tasks. Open a folder, and you will find more functional group folders or individual tasks.
RME functionality can be found in one of these drawers:
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Each of the RME applications provides a set of features that can be used to simplify and automate many network management tasks.
Within the Resource Manager Essentials drawer, tasks are divided into two categories: administrative tasks and user tasks.
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User Tasks
User tasks (reports) are grouped into appropriate functional folders seen when the Essentials drawer is first opened (main level). For example, to run the user task of creating or viewing a detailed device report for a set of devices, select Resource Manager Essentials > Inventory > Detailed Device Report. User tasks are often performed by multiple people on a daily basis to view network information and manage and monitor Cisco devices.
Administrative Tasks
Administrative tasks are also grouped by major functions, but are located in similar folders under the Administration folder. For example, to see the devices within the Essentials inventory, select Resource Manager Essentials > Administration > Inventory > List Devices. Administrative tasks should be performed by a central person and should be performed only once when the application is first set up, or infrequently when major changes are made to the network.
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Essentials Task Usage Workflow
All Essentials tasks follow a simple task-oriented workflow (see Figure 1-2):
Figure 1-2 Essentials Task Usage Workflow
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General System Configuration
You must define several system parameters on the server to use some Essentials features.
For example, if access to outside networks requires a proxy server, then you must define the proxy server address in Essentials in order to access Cisco.com from various Essentials functions.
If you want to use e-mail to automatically notify network administrators when certain tasks and jobs are completed, then you must define your Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server in Essentials.
If you wish to use rcp (instead of TFTP) to retrieve configuration files or software images, you must define the rcp username defined on the devices within Essentials.
You must also verify the default SNMP timeout and retry values that will be used to poll and collect information from all devices in the inventory. These values might need to be adjusted, depending on the size of your network and the number of devices that are being polled.
You must ensure that SNMP timeout values are higher than the average response time to most devices. In general, these values should be conversely related. For example, if you have a high timeout value, you should have a low number of retries or you could end up with long delays on the server waiting for SNMP messages to be processed.
To set up all these parameters, which are shared by many of the Essentials functions, follow these steps:
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Supported Devices
Devices supported by this suite of applications can be found in these locations:
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Adding Functionality and Incremental Device Support
If you have Cisco.com access, you can go to the Essentials web page to download software enhancements and incremental device updates (IDU).
Consult the package readme files for additional information on installing new features and enhancements.
Before performing the scenarios in this document, be sure your administrator has set up the Essentials applications and performed the administrator tasks described in the installation guide. If, for example, the proxy URL is not set, you might be unable to complete Essentials tasks outside your network.
Time Zone Implementation
Many time zones are supported in Essentials. However, it is important to note that Essentials applications that have scheduling and reporting functions and that produce a time stamp will vary depending on:
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