Table Of Contents
Monitoring Voice Network Health
Using the Real-Time Dashboard
Managing Data in the Real-Time Dashboard
Real-Time Dashboard Buttons
Sorting the Data in a View
Searching for a Device or a Device Group
Sharing Data from the Real-Time Dashboard
Accessing Help
Using the Summary View
Grouping Devices: Voice Device Groups
Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Summary View
Using the Status View
Examining Fault Categories
Determining the Severity Level of a Fault
Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Status View
Using the Device Detail View
Using the Monitoring Console
Starting the Monitoring Console
Displaying Alarm Notifications
Managing Events in the Monitoring Console
Changing Your Subscription Profile
Configuring the Monitoring Console to Remove Cleared Events
Monitoring Voice Network Health
These topics describe how to use the fault event browsers within the VHM folder to monitor the health of your voice network:
•
Using the Real-Time Dashboard
•Using the Monitoring Console
Using the Real-Time Dashboard
The Real-Time Dashboard provides an overall picture of voice network health. The Summary View displays managed voice device groups and the number of devices in the groups with faults in each fault category. Starting from the Summary View, you can open more detailed views:
•Status View—Displays the status of managed devices in the selected voice device group. From this view you can open a more detailed view of a particular device, called the Device Detail View.
•Device Detail View—Displays relevant details for a particular managed device.
Note Unmanaged device components do not appear in the Real-Time Dashboard.
Both the Summary View and the Status View use System Status indicators to display VHM system health. The status indicator is green if all the processes in the VHM system are communicating with each other correctly. The status turns red if one or more of the processes in the VHM system are not communicating with each other correctly. When you move the mouse over the System Status indicator, system status information is displayed as a tooltip.
The DFM System Status Indicator shows the status of the DFM Server that VHM is connected to.
While you are browsing the status of voice devices on the Real-Time Dashboard, you can quickly open an Administration Console (if you have administrative privileges), a Monitoring Console, or other Cisco applications, to provide:
•More data, such as alarms that have been logged—for example, you can view alarms on the Monitoring Console.
•The ability to take an action based on what you have already seen—for example, you can send email about an alarm from the Monitoring Console.
See the "Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Summary View" section and the "Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Status View" section for more information.
Managing Data in the Real-Time Dashboard
To help you organize and search the information in the views that the Real-Time Dashboard offers, you can sort the information in any order. You can also use the Find capability to look for a particular device group or device.
For more information, see the following topics:
•Real-Time Dashboard Buttons
•Sorting the Data in a View
•Searching for a Device or a Device Group
Real-Time Dashboard Buttons
In the VHM Real-Time Dashboard, certain file menu commands can be performed through a toolbar button. They are summarized in the Real-Time Dashboard Toolbar Buttons table.
Table 2-1 Real-Time Dashboard Toolbar Buttons
Button
|
Description
|
|
Search for a device or device group
|
|
Print summary information
|
|
Display legend
|
|
Display Monitoring Console
|
|
Display Status View
|
|
Display Device Detail View
|
|
Display CiscoView
|
|
Launch Fault History
|
Sorting the Data in a View
The Real-Time Dashboard views present information in a tabular format. You can sort the information by any column or by the contents of the entire table, in ascending or descending order. In the Status View, you can also sort by severity level or device type.
To sort the data in the Summary View or Status View in the Real-Time Dashboard:
•To sort by column, select any column header. You can toggle the sort order between ascending and descending by selecting the column header again.
•To sort the entire table, select View > Sort Table and select either the Ascending or Descending radio button.
•To sort by device type or severity level, in the Status View, select View > Sort Table. Select either the Ascending or Descending radio button and select either the Device Type or Severity Level radio button.
Searching for a Device or a Device Group
The Real-Time Dashboard-Summary View displays a table of voice device groups, while the Status View displays a table of devices within a selected voice device group. You can search either table for specific entries.
To find a particular device or device group:
Step 1 To search for a specific group from a list of voice device groups, or for a device from a list of devices, select Edit > Find or click the search button.
Step 2 Enter the device name or device group name in the search field. (Substring matching is also available.)
Sharing Data from the Real-Time Dashboard
A user in a Network Admin or Network Operator role can export data from Real-Time Dashboard views. Users in any role can print information from the views.
To export data:
Step 1 Select File > Export.
Step 2 In the Export dialog box, select the location where you want to save the file. Doing so creates a file with data from the view that is currently displayed.
To print data:
Step 1 Select File > Print or click the Print Summary Info button.
Accessing Help
Selecting the Help button provides the following options in addition to online help:
•Using Voice Health Monitor—Displays the Voice Health Monitor User Guide.
•Legend—Explains the color schemes and device icons. You can also click the Display Legend button on the toolbar to access this information.
•About—Displays product information such as version, copyright, and date.
Using the Summary View
The Real-Time Dashboard-Summary View presents the overall status of the voice network. It is updated in real time; if a device status is changed (from managed to unmanaged or vice versa) the Real-Time Dashboard-Summary View will update automatically.
Table 2-2 lists all the elements available within the Real-Time Dashboard-Summary View window.
Table 2-2 Real-Time Dashboard—Summary View Elements
Element
|
Description
|
Voice Device Group
|
See Table 2-3.
|
Number of Devices
|
The number of devices in the voice device group.
|
Critical
|
The number of devices that have Critical as their highest fault level.
|
Warning
|
The number of devices that have Warning as their highest fault level.
If a device displays both Warning and Critical faults, the device will display a fault level of Critical.
|
Indeterminate
|
The number of devices that have a fault level of Indeterminate.
|
For more information about the Summary View, please see the following topics:
•Grouping Devices: Voice Device Groups
•Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Summary View
Grouping Devices: Voice Device Groups
Table 2-3 lists the voice device groups used throughout VHM.
Table 2-3 Voice Device Groups
Group
|
Description
|
VC (voice clusters)
The VC group is displayed in the following format:
VC-<Cluster Name>.
For example: VC-SanJose_Cluster1
|
Consists of all the members of a CallManager voice cluster and the voice gateways that are registered with any of the CallManagers. In the Summary View each cluster is summarized into one row.
|
VoiceServices
|
Voice-enabled PCs running workflow applications. There is only one workflow application entry.
|
PhoneAccessSwitches
|
Catalyst switches with Ethernet ports that support IP phone connections and can supply power to IP phones. There is only one phone access switch entry. In the Summary View, all phone access switches are summarized in one row.
If a switch has both Ethernet and Voice Gateway modules, the switch will only appear under Voice Gateway in the Administration Console. On the Real-time dashboard, it will appear in both the Voice Gateways and the Phone Access Switch groups.
Only Phones Access Switches with IP Phones connected to them will appear in the Real-time dashboard. Switches with no IP Phones will only appear in the Administration Console and will be in the unmanaged state.
|
VoiceGateways
|
Catalyst switches that have both Ethernet modules as well as Voice Cards (Voice Gateways). In the Summary View, all voice gateways are summarized in one row. These include:
•Catalyst switches with:
–Voice T1/E1
–Transcoder
–Conference bridge
–Media termination points (MTPs)
–Voice FXS
•IOS routers with:
–FXS
–FXO
–T1 PRI/E1 PRI
–BRI
|
VoiceMailGateways
|
Digital PBX Adapter (DPA) devices that provide Octel Voice Mail integration to Cisco CallManager. In the Summary View, DPAs are summarized in one row.
|
MonitoredPhones
|
Specific IP phones monitored. In the Summary View, all key phones are summarized in one row.
|
Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Summary View
Select any of the following options from the Tools menu, or right-click any row in the Summary View and select among these options:
•Administration Console—Change administrative options. You must be logged on to CiscoWorks2000 in a Network Admin or Network Operator role to open this console.
•Monitoring Console—View and take action on alarms: send a page or mail, or start a script. You can also open a Monitoring Console by clicking the Display Monitoring Console button.
•Real-Time Dashboard-Status View—Open a Status View for a voice device group listing each device in the group and its status. You can also open a status view by clicking the Display Status View button.
•Fault History—Generate historical reports of voice faults that occur on devices. You can also open Fault History by clicking the Launch Fault History button. Fault History an additional product, it is not provided with VHM.
Using the Status View
From the Summary View, you can get more information about a particular voice device group by starting a Status View. The Status View lists details for all devices in a selected voice device group. It is updated in real time; if a device status is changed (from managed to unmanaged or vice versa) the Status View will update automatically.
To view the status of a voice device group:
Step 1 Perform one of the following steps from the Real-Time Dashboard-Summary View window:
•Double-click any row that includes the voice device group of interest to you.
•Right-click any row that includes the voice device group of interest to you and select Status View from the newly displayed menu.
•Select a voice device group and click the Display Status View button.
The Real-Time Dashboard-Status View is displayed. You can start additional status view windows for other voice device groups in the same way.
Step 2 From a Status View window, view another voice device group by selecting one from the drop-down list box.
Examining Fault Categories
The Real-Time Dashboard-Status View window groups faults into seven categories. Table 2-4 lists each fault category and describes what a fault in each category means.
.
Table 2-4 Fault Categories
Fault Category
|
Description
|
Reachability
|
Reflects whether or not DFM can reach the device. If DFM can reach the device, it checks the status of the SNMP agent on the device. If DFM can reach the agent, then the device is considered reachable. Reachability includes both IP and SNMP connectivity.
Note When VHM and DFM are running on separate systems, if DFM cannot reach the device, VHM will show the device as unreachable. This fault occurs even if you can ping the device from the VHM system, because the fault shows reachability from DFM, not from VHM.
|
Environment
|
Reflects device parameters. The following environment parameters are monitored:
•Power Supply
•Fan Status
•Chassis Operating Temperature
•Battery State
•Temperature Sensor Status
Note Depending on the system class that the device belongs to, these parameters may vary.
|
System
|
Reflects those attributes of a device that impact the normal functioning of software on the device. The following system parameters are monitored:
•CPU Usage
•Memory Free (physical and virtual)
•Disk Utilization (does not apply to all devices)
|
Interfaces
|
Reflects the status and connectivity of the interfaces (ports on NIC, Voice cards) on the device. Interfaces are monitored to determine whether the interface types are functional or nonfunctional.
|
Applications—Specific to Media Servers, ICS 7750 (SPE)
|
Reflects synthetic transaction results, as well as the conditions of the applications on the Media Servers. The following applications are monitored:
•CallManager
•Workflow Application
•TFTP Server
•Database Server
|
Connectivity
|
Reflects whether gateways are registered with the CallManager. For Gatekeepers, it reflects the CallManager connectivity to the Gatekeeper.
Applies to:
•Media Servers that have Cisco CallManager running on them
•Voice Gateways
•Voice Mail Gateways
•Gatekeepers
•Digital Voice Gateways
•Monitored Phones
|
RegistrationConflict
|
Reflects whether any unauthorized devices tried to register with the selected device.
Applies to:
•Media Servers that have Cisco CallManager running on them
•System Processing Engine (SPE)
•Voice Gateways—Reflects which Cisco CallManager the voice gateway tried to register with.
|
Determining the Severity Level of a Fault
When a fault is detected in any category for a device, the cell for that device and that fault category changes color to reflect the severity level of the fault in that particular fault category. Table 2-5 lists the colors for each severity level.
Table 2-5 Color Code for Fault Severity Levels
Severity Level
|
Color Code
|
Critical
|
Red
|
Warning
|
Yellow
|
Normal
|
Green
|
Indeterminate
|
Grey
|
NotApplicable
|
White
|
Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Status View
You can open the Administration Console and the Monitoring Console from either the Summary View or the Status View, using the same methods described in the "Starting Additional Consoles and Views from the Summary View" section.
Note To restore the default view for the current device group, select Restore Default under the View menu.
The Status View additionally provides a starting point for applications that can provide more details for a specific device:
•Real-Time Dashboard-Device Detail View—Opens a detailed view of the device. See the "Using the Device Detail View" section for more information.
•Display CiscoView—Starts the CiscoView application for the selected device.
•CallManager Administration—Applies only to devices running the CallManager. Opens the CallManager Administration pages.
•Workflow Administration—Applies only to devices running a workflow application. Opens the Workflow Application Admin pages.
•Fault History—Launches the fault history application for the selected devices. If Fault History is not installed, the button is grayed out.
Note CiscoView, CallManager, Fault History, and Workflow Applications are additional products that are not provided with VHM. These products can be started from the Status View if they are already available.
To start an application for a particular device from the Status View:
Step 1 Click a device to select it.
Step 2 Perform one of the following steps:
•Click the button for the application you want to start.
•Select the application from the Tools menu.
•Right-click the device and select the application from the context-sensitive menu that is displayed as a result.
Using the Device Detail View
For each device listed in the Status View, you can start a Device Detail View. The Device Detail View window provides the status reported for the device, as well as general device information. The status values in the Device Detail View window are updated only when you click the Refresh button.
To display the Device Detail View for a device:
Step 1 Perform one of the following steps:
•Double click on the device in the Status View window.
•Right-click a device on the Status View window and select the Device Detail View option.
•Select a device on the Status View window and click the Display Device Detail View button.
•Select Tools > Real Time Dashboard-Device Detail View.
•From a Device Detail View window, view another device by selecting one from the drop-down list box.
Note The Device Detail View is not real time; use the Refresh button to update the current device status.
The Device Detail View window displays one tab with status information for each applicable category for the device:
•Environment
•System
•InterfaceStatus
•Application
•Connectivity
•RegistrationConflict
•DeviceInformation (or PhoneInformation)
See the "Examining Fault Categories" section for a description of each fault category.
The number of categories varies with each device. For example, for the ICS 7750, the Device Detail View window contains only two tabs: Environment and Device Information. Other than the power supply, the ICS 7750 device has no system level entities or interfaces and applications; therefore, other tabs are not displayed for this particular device.
To open the HTTP service (if available) for a monitored phone, click the Launch button from the PhoneInformation tab.
Note In the Device Detail View for a device registered to a Cisco CallManager cluster, the Connectivity tab does not indicate a critical status (red rows or columns) until the device has lost contact with all Cisco CallManagers in the cluster.
Using the Monitoring Console
From the Monitoring Console, you can view alarm logs, obtain more information about alarms and the conditions that may be causing them, and take action in response to alarms. Some examples of voice-specific alarms that may appear in the alarm logs are:
•Voice application problems such as voice applications failing or not responding.
•Gateways losing connectivity with CallManager.
•Virtual memory usage on a media server reaching high levels.
For more information, see the following topics:
•Starting the Monitoring Console
•Displaying Alarm Notifications
•Managing Events in the Monitoring Console
•Changing Your Subscription Profile
•Configuring the Monitoring Console to Remove Cleared Events
Starting the Monitoring Console
To start a Monitoring Console:
Step 1 Use one of the following procedures:
•From the Voice Health Monitor drawer, select Monitoring Console.
This opens a Monitoring Console that by default:
–Displays two alarm logs: one with VHM alarms only and one with VHM and DFM alarms combined
–Does not display an Inventory Browser
•From any running Administration or Monitoring Console, select File > New > Monitoring Console. This opens a Monitoring Console that displays two views: one with VHM alarms (top view) and one with VHM and DFM alarms (bottom view).
•From any Summary View or Status View in the Real-Time Dashboard, select Tools > Voice Fault Monitoring Console. This opens a Monitoring Console that displays two views: one with VHM alarms (top view) and one with VHM and DFM alarms (bottom view).
When presented with an alarm log that includes both VHM and DFM alarms, you can identify the server that generated the alarm by examining the domain manager column. The domain manager will be either VHM or DFM.
The following related topics are described in User Guide for Device Fault Manager:
•Customizing and saving a console for later use
•Opening a remote console; that is, a console that was saved on another VHM server host
Note For descriptions of all menu options and toolbar buttons in the Monitoring Console, refer to User Guide for Device Fault Manager.
The Monitoring Console gives users the ability to specify which notifications they want to receive on the alarm log display and to further filter those alarms interactively as they view them. See the "Managing Events in the Monitoring Console" section for more information.
Displaying Alarm Notifications
VHM generates notifications for two kinds of events:
•Symptoms—Indicate fault conditions.
•Compounds—Indicate one or more symptomatic events associated with a managed object.
Events are correlated to symptoms for analysis. Notifications are displayed in an Alarm Log whenever events occur, and on the Events Tab of the property sheet for the object where the event occurs. Table 2-6 lists the types of notifications and how they are color-coded in the Alarm Log.
Table 2-6 Alarm Log Color Coding
Notification
|
Description
|
Displayed in Console
|
Compound Event
|
Represents one or more specific events
|
Purple
|
Symptomatic Event
|
An event that DFM uses as a symptom for root-cause analysis or for compound events
|
Orange or yellow
|
Inactive Cleared
|
State changes to inactive and notification turns transparent
|
White with blue text
|
Inactive Unsubscribed
|
State changes to inactive as a result of unsubscribing using a subscription profile
|
White with gray text
|
Selected
|
Clicking on the notification
|
Blue
|
Managing Events in the Monitoring Console
To use the Monitoring Console most effectively, you must be able to perform the following tasks:
•Apply filters to the alarm log—A user can further refine the list of displayed events by applying alarm log filters while viewing an alarm log.
•Take actions based on an alarm—A user can send email or a page or start a script for a particular alarm.
Instructions for setting up the system to perform these tasks, and instructions for the tasks themselves, are provided in the User Guide for Device Fault Manager.
Changing Your Subscription Profile
A subscription profile is a saved list of events that have been subscribed to for notification. The events you subscribe to determine the notifications that are displayed in the Monitoring Console. By editing a profile, you can change the notifications that are reported. All users automatically subscribe to the default profile, which subscribes to all types of events (symptoms and compounds). If a user edits the profile, the profile is named according to the user's login and saved in the VHM repository (when you save the inventory). If a user has edited the profile, it is applied whenever the user opens a console.
Caution Be careful when modifying a subscription profile, because changes can have a major effect on what is displayed by your consoles.
Note You can also directly edit the VHM adapter configuration files to either use an existing subscription profile or establish specific classes, instances, and events you want the adapters to track. This information is provided in the User Guide for Device Fault Manager.
You can subscribe to (and unsubscribe from) the events you want to be notified of by changing your individual subscription profile, as described in the User Guide for Device Fault Manager.
Configuring the Monitoring Console to Remove Cleared Events
To configure the Monitoring Console to automatically remove events on unmanaged devices, you must create a filter.
To create a filter to automatically remove cleared events:
Step 1 Start the Monitoring Console. See the "Starting the Monitoring Console" section.
Step 2 Select an event from the VHM pane of the Monitoring Console.
Step 3 Select Log from the menu bar.
Step 4 Select Filter from the drop-down menu.
The Alarm Filter Criteria dialog box opens.
Step 5 In the dialog box, under the General tab, select the Automatically remove cleared events check box.
Step 6 Click OK.
