Table of Contents

Overview

Overview

The Resource Manager Essentials (Essentials) package provides an enterprise solution to network management. This suite of web-based network management tools enables administrators to collect the monitoring, fault, and availability information needed to track devices that are critical to the network. Essentials also provides the administration tools needed to rapidly and reliably deploy and upgrade Cisco devices.

Essentials is based on a client/network architecture that connects multiple web-based clients to a server residing on the network. As the number of devices on the network increases, additional servers or collection points can be added to manage network growth with little impact on the client browser application.

By 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.

Administrator Privileges

The Essentials package features five privilege levels:

The tasks described in this guide require various privilege levels. Your ability to perform these tasks depends on your assigned privilege level. Contact your system administrator to find out what your privilege level is and which tasks you have access to.

If you have just installed the Essentials package and are logging in for the first time, you can use the reserved "admin" username and password. To log in, perform the following steps:

Step 1 Enter "admin" in both the User Name and Password fields of the Login Manager.

Step 2 Click Connect. You are logged in.

Essentials Features

Essentials lets you do the following:

• Inventory
  
  
  • Add, delete, change, and list devices in your network inventory.
    
    
  • Import devices from databases or files.
    
    
  • Display reports and graphs of your hardware and software inventory.
    
    
  • Schedule polling and collection to update your network inventory.
    
    
• Availability
  
  
  • Monitor the reachability and response time of user-selected devices on the network.
    
    
  • Collect fault and performance information for routers and switches.
    
    
• Syslog Analysis
  
  
  • Troubleshoot and track device problems.
    
    
  • View summaries of real-time reports on events that are being logged to syslog on behalf of a router.
    
    
  • Process these messages to generate reports and statistical summaries.
    
    
  • Configure automatic actions that occur when certain message types are filtered.
    
    
• System Administration
  
  
  • Create, modify, and browse device views (groups of devices).
    
    
  • Review your package options before installing or deinstalling task sets.
    
    
  • Collect server information.
    
    
  • Check log file status.
    
    
  • Back up, move, and restore data.
    
    
  • Manage user accounts.
    
    
• Change Audit Service
  
  
  • View and search a central repository of network changes, set up periods of time to monitor network changes, and maintain the repository.
    
    
• Software Management
  
  
  • Schedule, download, and monitor software image upgrades for Cisco devices on your network.
    
    
  • Validate images with devices before initiating downloads, and define and monitor the progress of scheduled jobs.
    
    
• Device Configuration
  
  
  • Maintain an active archive of switch and router configuration files.
    
    
  • Search the archive for configuration files based on user-specified criteria.
    
    
  • Create custom reports for repetitive tasks.
    
    
• Troubleshooting
  
  
  • Start, stop, and check the status of processes running on the back-end server .
    
    
  • Understand and solve problems using error messages.
    
    
• Tools
  
  
  • CCO tools, including technical tips, troubleshooting, a bug toolkit, open forum, and connections to the TAC and CCO software.
    
    
  • Case Management tool linking you to Cisco's Customer Service department.
    
    
  • Connectivity tools to check device connections to the CRM server.
    
    
  • Contract Connection to verify which of your Cisco IOS devices are covered by service contracts.
    
    
  • Device Navigator tool for connecting to Cisco routers and access servers.
    
    
  • Management Connection tool linking Essentials to external applications.
    
    

Navigation Tree

Access to all Essentials tasks and operations takes place through the navigation tree. The navigation tree consists of one or more drawers, each of which contains folders. These folders contain groups of associated or similar tasks, tools, or other options. The drawer you select determines the folders you see.

To use the navigation tree, follow these conventions:

• A closed drawer is indicated by a gray box to the left of the drawer name. To open the drawer, click the box or the drawer name.
  
  
• An open drawer is indicated by a (green/lighted?) box next to the drawer name and a list of folders below the drawer name.
  
  
• A closed folder is indicated by an icon of a closed folder to the left of the folder name. To open the folder, click the folder icon or name.
  
  
• An open folder is indicated by an icon of an open folder and a list of options below the folder name.
  
  
• Once you have opened a folder and clicked a task name in the navigation tree, you can use the up and down arrow keys to move between the options of open folders. Press Enter to open or close a folder or to select an option.
  
  

Step 1 Click Home.

Step 2 Open several folders.

Step 3 Click one label (either a folder or an option). If you click a folder, no change occurs in the main frame (the frame on the right side of the screen). If you click a task name, that task appears.

Step 4 Press the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard. Notice how the contents of the main frame change to display the selected topic.

Installing Added Functionality

If you have CCO access, you can refer to the Essentials web page for any available software enhancements by clicking Home > Cisco Connection Online > Cisco Resource Manager [needs new name]. Alternatively, open the following URL in your browser:

http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/rm-planner.shtml [needs new URL]

Consult the package README files and Resource Manager Essentials Release Notes for additional information on installing new features and enhancements.