Table Of Contents
User Access to Cisco PVM Functions
Enabling Non-Secure Access to the PVM GUI
Monitoring and Reporting Functions
Monitor and Reports Comparison
Available Data Views for Individual Reports
Column Sorting in Tabular Reports
Displaying the Cisco PVM Version Number
Cisco PVM Overview
This chapter provides information for getting started with the Cisco Performance Visibility Manager (Cisco PVM), a centralized network analysis application used to view, manage, and troubleshoot network traffic. This chapter contains the following sections:
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User Access to Cisco PVM Functions
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Cisco PVM Overview
Cisco PVM is a centralized network management tool that enhances the Network Analysis Module (NAM) for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches, 7600 Series routers, and Branch series routers by providing visibility into the network that aids troubleshooting and QoS management. Cisco PVM is designed to:
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Cisco PVM is a highly scalable and distributable real-time data collection, correlation, and aggregation engine providing a centralized and integrated end-to-end (E2E) network view. It adds value to the Cisco NAM Traffic Analyzer, as well as other applicable Cisco performance and traffic management product suites.
Before Using Cisco PVM
Before accessing the Cisco PVM Dashboard for the first time, verify that the following third-party software applications are installed on the client machine:
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http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html
The reader software is required to read and print documentation included with the Cisco PVM dashboard, such as reports and guides.
This section contains the following topics:
Database Archiving
You can set up Cisco PVM to archive configuration tables for either the online analytical processing (OLAP) or online transaction processing (OLTP) databases. To use this command-line utility, see Appendix C, "Database Archiving."
Client System Requirements
Access to the Cisco PVM dashboard requires Internet Explorer running on these operating systems:
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You can find more information about RHELv4 and download software at the following URL:
http://www.redhat.com/rhel/details/features/
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You can find more information about RHELv3 and download software at the following URL:
http://www.redhat.com/rhel/details/enterpriselinux3/
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The complete minimum software and hardware requirements for client machines (to view the GUI) appear in Table 1-1.
Caution
User Access to Cisco PVM Functions
Depending on whether you are a Cisco PVM Administrator or General User, you can access some or all system functions. Access permissions are set by the Cisco PVM Administrator. The Cisco PVM functions available to each user type are summarized in Table 1-2.
Logging in to Cisco PVM
The login ID and password that you receive from your system administrator determines whether you are a user with administrator or general access permissions. If you are unable to log in to the system, check with the Cisco PVM administrator for the correct login information.
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The Cisco PVM login window appears, as shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1 Cisco PVM Login Window
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Cisco PVM automatically opens the Overview display under the Monitor tab. If you are running Cisco PVM in Evaluation mode, you will see a message at the top of the window stating when the license expires, as shown in Figure 1-2.
Figure 1-2 Cisco PVM Evaluation Mode
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Enabling Non-Secure Access to the PVM GUI
To run Cisco PVM in HTTP mode instead of the default HTTPS, complete the following steps:
Step 1
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$JBOSS_HOME\server\default\deploy\http-invoker.sar\META-INF\jboss-service.xmland update each mbean InvokerURLPrefix and InvokerURLSuffix to use the proper protocol and port number (they occur four times). Following are examples using HTTP and port 8080:
<attribute name="InvokerURLPrefix">http://</attribute>
<attribute name="InvokerURLSuffix">:8080/...</attribute>
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<!-- SSL/TLS Connector configuration using the SSL domain keystore<ConnectorclassName="org.apache.coyote.tomcat4.CoyoteConnector"address="${jboss.bind.address}"port = "8443"minProcessors="5"maxProcessors="50"enableLookups="true"acceptCount="10"debug="0"connectionTimeout="50000"scheme="https"secure="true"><FactoryclassName="org.apache.coyote.tomcat4.CoyoteServerSocketFactory"keystoreFile="${jboss.server.home.dir}/conf/ssl.keystore"keystorePass="changeit"protocol ="TLS"/></Connector>-->
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<!-- A HTTP/1.1 Connector on port 8080 --><Connector className="org.apache.coyote.tomcat4.CoyoteConnector"address="${jboss.bind.address}" port="8080" minProcessors="5" maxProcessors="50" enableLookups="true" acceptCount="10" debug="0" connectionTimeout="5000" useURIValidationHack="false"/>
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Navigating the Dashboard
This section contains a general overview of the navigational features including navigational tabs, links, and submenu items available in the dashboard window. It contains the following topics:
Dashboard View
When Cisco PVM opens, the Monitor tab automatically displays a network Overview report. The report displays the system tabs and report result pane only, leaving menu items and report parameters hidden. You can expand the menu and report parameters pane to view other reports or change variables, as shown in Figure 1-3
Figure 1-3 Cisco PVM Dashboard—Monitor Overview Report Default
Expand/Collapse Icons
Whenever you run a report, the Cisco PVM GUI shows only the report display pane and hides all other GUI functions except the tabs. In the Monitor, Reports, and ART Reports windows, you can expand or collapse the Generate Reports menu, individual report suites, and the report parameters panes using the various icons shown in Table 1-3.
Table 1-3 Expand/Collapse Icons
Expand Reports Menu
Collapse Reports Menu
Expand Report Suite
Collapse Report Suite
Expand parameters pane
Collapse parameters pane
Sorting Lists
The dashboard view for tabs such as Setup, ART, Alerts, and Admin displays lists of groups or other elements, menu items, an area for filtering the list, and action buttons for adding devices, viewing alerts, and setting up data groups or other system parameters. Some users will not see all tabs or all functions, as described in Table 1-2.
You can click the name of a column header in any Cisco PVM table to sort the list in ascending or descending order. The appearance of the column header changes depending on the order in which the column has been sorted.
Table 1-4 explains how to use column sorting in Cisco PVM tables.
Table 1-4 Sorting Columns in Cisco PVM Screens
Ascending
Once
Descending
Twice
Pagination Links
In windows displaying tabular lists of more than 12 items (such as Alerts), Cisco PVM displays a set of pagination links above the upper right corner of the table. These links allow you to navigate backwards and forwards through the entire list of items.
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A summary statement above the upper left corner of the table displays the location of the current display in the entire list, such as, "22 items found, displaying 1 to 12."
System Navigation Links
Table 1-5 summarizes the system navigation links found on each window of the Cisco PVM GUI.
Navigation Tabs
Cisco PVM provides the following easy-to-use navigation tabs directing you to functional areas. The following sections display figures depicting the location of Cisco PVM navigation tabs and the menu items that appear beneath each tab.
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Setup
Setup allows users to:
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The Setup tab also provides access to the external NAM configuration web interface (see Figure 1-4).
Figure 1-4 Setup Tab
Monitor
The Monitor tab allows you to monitor resources based on information from a single NAM or from multiple NAMs across the network, in near real time. This gives you the ability to monitor specific sections of the network or to access an All NAMs view that displays multiple NAMs across the network for quick comparisons.
When the Monitor tab displays, as well as every time you run a report, the Generate Reports menu area and the report parameters pane are collapsed. Click the Expand/Collapse icons on the upper left and right sides of the window to open the list of available reports and the parameters pane. Figure 1-5 shows the default Monitor display.
Figure 1-5 Monitor Tab—Default Display
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Reports
The Reports tab provides an extensive set of web-based reporting features that allow you to take a snapshot of activity for a specified reporting period. Reports are automatically archived and can be retrieved and printed in the report viewer.
When the Reports tab displays, the menu of available reports (Generate Reports) is expanded and defaults to the Applications report. Every time you run a report, however, the menu area collapses. Click the Expand/Collapse icon on the upper left of the window to show or hide the list of available reports. Figure 1-6 shows the default Reports tab display.
Figure 1-6 Reports Tab—Applications Parameters Pane Default
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ART
The ART tab (see Figure 1-7) provides access to reports for Network Flight, Server Response, and Client-Server Response Times, as well as the Client Investigation Report. The reports under the ART tab allow specialized views of response time and other client/server data with links to protocol-specific information. Users can also set up ART Groups for aggregation of ART-specific data.
Figure 1-7 ART Tab—Setup Default
Alerts
The Cisco PVM Alerts tab (Figure 1-8) displays service alerts. Cisco PVM polls data flows to detect user-defined thresholds that have been violated. Using the filter feature, you can display a list of threshold and system alerts occurring within a specific time period. You can select a start and end date during which the alerts occurred and specify the severity of the alert to display only those records meeting the specified criteria. Details of an alert management record can be viewed from the Alerts list. Additionally, you can stop or resume monitoring for specific alerts by enabling and disabling Thresholds under Setup.
Figure 1-8 Alerts Tab
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Admin
The Admin tab (see Figure 1-9) allows you to view security events and change passwords, as well as add, edit, view, and delete user accounts.
Figure 1-9 Admin Tab
Understanding Data Views
The Cisco PVM Monitor function displays near real-time traffic data views for applications, hosts, conversations, switches/routers, VLANs, and response times. You can view network resources based on these types and drill down to access details about a particular resource. The GUI allows you to select key traffic views based on NAM aggregation data types.
This section contains the following topics:
You select which data to view on generated reports using the drop-down selection menu available in the parameters pane at the top of the Monitor window. You can select a Data Source Group (DSG) and one of the following types of data views:
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To supply traffic information to the Monitor and Reports functions, Cisco PVM uses the Data Source Group, a logical collection of raw data sources that users can customize into groups for NAMs, switches, and routers. Cisco PVM uses DSGs for those system functions that require calculating statistics over multiple data sources, such as Thresholds and reports.
When you set up a DSG, you can view all existing data sources by NAM or supporting device, and you can specify only those sources you want to include in the group. You can therefore combine similar data sources from multiple NAMs or supporting devices into a single DSG.
The following figures show a DSG example and the possible data views that can be generated in reports. The red line in Figure 1-10 shows the numbered data sources selected from specific NAMs that define the DSG:
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Figure 1-10 Schematic of a Data Source Group
The following three figures depict which data sources from the DSG are selected for each of the available data views. The red circle in Figure 1-11 indicates that data source 3 only has been selected from the DSG as the source to use to generate the report.
Figure 1-11 Single Data Source View
The red ovals in Figure 1-12 show that data sources from all NAMs in the DSG have been chosen as the source to generate the report.
Figure 1-12 All NAM View
Figure 1-13 shows that the entire DSG has been chosen as the data source for generating the aggregated (collated) data view.
Figure 1-13 Aggregated View
Monitoring and Reporting Functions
The Monitor and Reports tabs present many of the same report suites and can display data from the same sets of sources. This section contains the following topics:
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Monitor and Reports Comparison
The generated reports under both tabs also appear with similar layouts and drill-down capabilities. However, the purpose of the Monitor function is to provide a dynamic view of current network activity, including an auto-refresh function that regenerates the report based on a user-specified time interval. The Reports function allows you to schedule current and historical snapshots of network performance for business and network management reporting purposes, including an archive function that stores each report generated. Table 1-6 displays the key differences between the two functions.
Table 1-6 Monitoring and Reporting Comparison
General Purpose
Real-time monitoring of data sources
Historical reporting
Available data ranges (report scope)
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Overview display
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Reports Run Automatically1
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Display Auto-Refresh
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Real-Time Charts link
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Trending Reports link
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Scheduling
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Archiving
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1 When you click on a report name, the report generates based on the last set of selected parameters.
Reports Navigation
Whenever you run a report, you will see a Progress Indicator (Figure 1-14) that shows the system is calculating report values based on the parameters you have chosen and is in the process of displaying the report view.
Figure 1-14 Report Progress Indicator
Report Types
After you have selected the Data Source Group and data type you want to view, select a Report Type for generating the report:
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Available Data Views for Individual Reports
Table 1-7 shows the report types available for reports available under both the Monitor and Reports tab. The reports support each data view:
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Navigation Links
After you have run a report, navigating through generated reports is accomplished using the navigation links available in every report header (see Figure 1-15).
Figure 1-15 Report Header
TOC—(Table of Contents) Displays a list of NAMs used to generate the current report, as assigned in the selected Data Source Group. For example, if the report was generated using a data from four different NAMs, the TOC pane displays the name of each NAM as a link to a separate page in the report. Clicking TOC once opens the list in a pane to the left of the report; clicking TOC again closes the left pane.
First—Navigates to the first window of a multi-window report.
Prev—Navigates to the previous window of a multi-window report.
Next—Navigates to the next window of a multi-window report.
Last—Navigates to the last window of a multi-window report.
Goto Window ___ of N—Navigates to a specific report window number when you enters the number and clicks Goto.
Size drop-down box—Displays zoom drop-down options (25% to 400%).
Download—Enables downloading and saving of reports in various formats.
Print—Enables printing of reports from the Acrobat Reader report viewer.
Back—Returns to the original report to which the current display is linked.
Column Sorting in Tabular Reports
Column header names in Cisco PVM reports contain sorting arrows that display a new window with data sorted in either ascending or descending order, as shown in Figure 1-16.
Figure 1-16 Sorting Arrows
Downloading Reports
Reports can be downloaded and saved in Portable Document Format (PDF), Microsoft Excel, and Rich Text Format files. To download reports, complete the following steps:
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The download window opens.
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he File Download window opens. Clicking Open in the Windows File Download window opens the file in an application according to the file type you chose to download.
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The Save As File window opens.
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The data is exported to the selected format and saved in the selected location.
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Printing Reports
The print function available in the report opens the current report using Acrobat Reader launched in a new window, then opens the dialog for printing the report as a PDF document. To print reports, complete the following steps:
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Dynamic Data Displays
This section explains the two ways that Cisco PVM displays dynamic data:
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Real-Time Charts
Cisco PVM displays access to real-time data through links available in report displays. Monitoring reports that are displayed in tabular format contain a link in each table row that opens a Real-Time Chart pop-up window for the corresponding report element (such as host or protocol). Clicking the link opens a new window to monitor the details for the selected report element graphed in real time. Once opened, the chart continually refreshes to give a running view of changes in real-time traffic over the network.
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For more information about Real-Time Chart functionality, see Real-Time Charts, page 3-14.
Trend Reports
Cisco PVM enables you to analyze problematic areas of the network by providing access to raw data displayed with a normalizing trend line directly from aggregated data views. Reports displaying aggregated data in tabular format contain a link in each table row that opens a Trend Report for the corresponding report element (such as VLAN ID). Clicking the link in the report display opens the Trend Report for the selected row. The report displays raw data for the selected network component (such as protocol, host, or interface) with a superimposed line showing the data trend over time, offering a magnified view of the data flow for analysis of abnormal or problematic patterns.
For more information about Trend Report functionality, see Trend Reports, page 3-18.
Enhancing Filter Operations
When filtering lists in Cisco PVM display panes, the percent symbol (%) or the asterisk (*) can be used as a wildcard character to broaden the search, but it is not required. It can be typed both before and after a variable (such as a parameter or an IP address), or it can be typed by itself to list all items available for a particular field. Leaving a field blank will return all results for that field, as constrained by other filter parameters. Filter operations in Cisco PVM are not case-sensitive.
The use of a wildcard character is not required in Cisco PVM, but you can use either the percent character (%) or the asterisk (*) as wild cards if desired. For example, to find the user "Virginia" in a list of users, you could enter any of the following strings as search criteria:
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Leaving the field blank will return a list of all users. If you want to return to the original, unfiltered list, click Clear, then click Filter.
Displaying the Cisco PVM Version Number
If you need to contact Cisco Technical Support, please have the Cisco PVM version number ready. To obtain the version number, select the About link in the upper right portion of the Cisco PVM Dashboard. To close the About box, click OK. The About box (see Figure 1-17) opens as a pop-up window; the version number appears at the end of the first line of text and the current build number appears in the last line of text.
Figure 1-17 About Box
Closing the Dashboard
To close the dashboard:
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