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Issues are so important in NetMRI that a specific administrator user account is defined to manage them. For information, see Understanding Users and Roles.
The Issues pages are probably the most frequently used of all NetMRI features, designed to quickly and conveniently monitor the overall health of the network. In the Network Analysis –> Issues tab, the Network Scorecard shows the results of the daily analysis process and all issues generated for the latest time period. Issues can also be filtered.
Note: NetMRI evaluates over 250 discrete Issues, plus custom Issues defined by the admin user. You can find a description of all Issues supported by NetMRI by opening the Comprehensive Issue List under Additional Documentation in online Help. Issues are listed alphabetically.
NetMRI performs analysis of collected data during specified periods or in real-time. For issues processed during an analysis period, the system analyzes all network data collected since the last analysis process, looking for anything that might indicate an issue. For real-time analysis, NetMRI checks for issues while it collects data from the device. If an issue is found, it is raised immediately. As a result of analysis activity, NetMRI generates a collection of issues that summarize the type of problem discovered and all the devices or interfaces associated with that issue. Issues are automatically closed every night just before the new analysis processing is performed. If the same problem persists, NetMRI generates a new issue.
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| Issues and the Network Scorecard |
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| Issues and the Network Scorecard |
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Issues and the Network Scorecard
Note: The Network Scorecard appears in both the Dashboard and in the Network Analysis –> Issues page.
The Network Scorecard (Network Analysis tab –> Issues tab) provides a high-level performance metric for the managed network. NetMRI measures the network's daily stability and correctness and calculates the normalized Scorecard value based on a statistical analysis of all issues discovered for that day. Counts of the three primary Issue types (Info, Warning and Error) also are shown.
The Network Scorecard shows the scorecard value for the current day, and a two-color graph showing the stability and correctness values over the selected time period, which by default is the last day's measurement.
Stability and correctness values are two data sets that cumulatively add up to the Overall Score in the Scorecard. Each data set has a maximum value of 5.0.
Stability issues are caused by events such as excessive spanning tree topology changes, unstable links, congestion and excessive CPU/memory utilization. Correctness issues are derived from configuration or design errors such as duplicate VLAN ID/name pairs or inconsistent routing protocol timers. Stability and correctness are measured across a variety of functional areas of the network.
The Network Scorecard table shows correctness and stability values by component area (hover over an indicator rectangle to see the numerical values). Stability and correctness "penalties" associated with each issue depend on the type and severity of the issue. Stability and correctness penalties for all components of the network combine to create the overall Network Scorecard value, expressed as the Overall Score in the upper right corner of the Scorecard.
Note: Select a device group in the right pane of the Issues page; the Network Scorecard adjusts to show the score and the Issues for that device group.
The value in the Network Scorecard indicates trends, for the entire network, for a selected device group or for one of nine distinct Issue types. To make historical comparisons, the scorecard value is plotted in the Scorecard History chart. The scorecard value varies somewhat from day to day, but the desired trend over time should be rising, not falling. After two or three weeks of operation, the variability of the scorecard value should become evident.
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| Viewing the Issue List |
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| Viewing the Issue List |
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Viewing the Issue List
The Issues page provides several different views based on the type of data you wish to view. Click the down-arrow menu for Issues and select from Issues by Type with Scorecard, Issues by Type, Issues by Device with Historic Chart, or Issues by Device. The Issues by Type page displays the currently active Issues list in a table sorted by priority— Errors, Warnings and then Info. Issues by Device is helpful when you want to isolate issues appearing on a specific device.
The Issues by Device with Historic Chart view provides an adjustable view of Issue trends for any selected device group. The time period resides on the horizontal X axis, and the measurement, in number of issues, is on the vertical Y axis. Click the Time Selector drop-down menu to change the X-axis time period for the Historic chart.
The Historic chart displays up to four data sets: Adds, indicating the quantity of new Issues for each time period, Same, indicating Issues the time period that remain from the preceding time period; Cleared, indicating Issues that have been cleared from the system due to administrative remediation or other causes; and Suppressed, which shows the relative quantity of Issues that have been suppressed due to admin configuration of Issues that may be deemed to produce excessive notifications in each time period. Issue counts for each time increment appear as stacked bars in the chart. Move the mouse over any colored bar section to view the count for that Issue type.
To see a longer description of any issue, hover over the hyperlink in the Title column. Columns that are displayed by default include the following:
Severity | Shows the severity level of the Issue: Error, Warning or Info. |
Last Seen | The timestamp of the last occurrence of the Issue. |
Title | A hotlink showing the title of the Issue, such as Config Difference. Hover the mouse over the Title link for an Issue to see a longer description. |
Status | The current state of the Issue. In most cases, an Issue will appear as Current indicating that the Issue is currently affecting devices in the network. |
Component | The category to which the Issue belongs. The Network Scorecard also provides a set of nine links (Configuration, Routing, VLANs, Devices, Security, VoIP, Interfaces, Subnets and Wireless) that allow separating of the Issues list into selected categories. |
| To simplify the list, issues that involve more than one device, interface or VLAN are combined into a single issue that lists all the affected network components. The number of network devices affected by a given issue is shown in the # Affected column. |
#New | The number of new instances for the Issue in the current time period. |
#Cleared | The number of instances of the Issue type that have been cleared due to remediation or other actions taken in the network. |
#Suppressed | Instances of the Issue that have been suppressed due to admin configuration. Suppression is often done to prevent excessive numbers of a particular Issue from displaying. |
Data columns that can be chosen for the Issues display but that are hidden by default include the following:
No Change | The number of devices reporting the Issue that did not undergo a configuration or status change. |
Stability | The statistical amount by which the number of reported Stability-related Issues of the specific type affects the Overall Score. Values reflected here will be equal to or less than zero. |
Correctness | The statistical amount by which the number of reported Correctness-related Issues of the specific type affects the Overall Score. Values reflected here will be equal to or less than zero. |
First Seen | A timestamp showing when the Issue first appeared in the network. |
The data set shown in the Issues page can be filtered in the following ways:
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Other methods for filtering and reorganizing Issues data are discussed in Using the Issue Viewer.
The Device Viewer also provides a substantial Issues page, which reports Issues specifically for a single device. See
Viewing Device Issues, Configurations and Changes for more information.
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Viewing Issue Summaries
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Click the export CSV icon at the top left of the Issues table to open the current Issues list in a spreadsheet-formatted file.
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| Viewing Details of an Issue |
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Viewing Details of an Issue
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See Using the Issue Viewer for more instructions on working in this window.
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| Defining Issue Thresholds |
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| Defining Issue Thresholds |
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Defining Issue Thresholds
You can control the thresholds NetMRI uses on certain device and interface related issues. Through the use of Device Groups and Interface Groups, you can modify the thresholds for any one of these issues to control when the issue is raised. This capability means th
at the same issue can be raised for different devices, but each device can have a different threshold for the issue.
Note: Specific Issue types can be set to fire only on specific device groups and on specific interface groups.
Set thresholds using the Criteria property available in the Settings icon
–> Issue Analysis –> Issue Group Settings –> Device Groups side tab and
Interface Groups side tab.
Click the
Comprehensive Issue List under Additional Documentation in online Help for more detailed Issue listings to assist in decisions on which issues to isolate to specific device groups or interface groups.
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| Managing Issue Notifications |
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| Managing Issue Notifications |
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Managing Issue Notification
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To delete a custom issue: In the Actions column, click the icon and choose Delete from the menu then confirm the deletion.
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| Adding a Device Viewer Hyperlink to a Cu |
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| Adding a Device Viewer Hyperlink to a Cu |
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Adding a Device Viewer Hyperlink to a Custom Issue
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Issue help files are stored in the Backup/IssueHelp directory as a collection of subdirectories, with each subdirectory devoted to a single issue. This allows multiple help files to be associated with each issue, and allows help files to be written in multiple languages.
The subdirectory name associated with each issue consists of the issue title with all non-alphanumeric characters removed. For example, the help files associated with the "Cisco Running Config Not Saved" issue would be stored in the CiscoRunningConfigNotSaved subdirectory, while the help associated with the "Bad Telnet / SSH Password" issue would be stored in the BadTelnetSSHPassword subdirectory.
All the help files stored in the subdirectory associated with a given issue are displayed as hyperlinks in the list. Each hyperlink label is derived from the name of the issue help file it references, and includes any spaces and special symbols.
Issue help file names must conform to the Unix file name convention, which does not allow certain characters, notably "/".
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| Help File Multi-language Support |
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Help File Multi-language Support
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Pages in the Issue Analysis section (Settings icon –> Issue Analysis) enable you to cross-check issues for device groups and interface groups, review issue suppression status, adjust reporting threshold values, and suppress issues that NetMRI can safely ignore.
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| Issue Group Settings |
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| Issue Group Settings |
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Issue Group Settings
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Note: You may need to maximize the Settings window to get a full view of the Group Settings for Issue: pane for individual Issue settings.
- By Device Groups: Issue reporting is organized into the defined Device Groups in the NetMRI system. By default all issue types are associated within all device groups. Suppression of issues within specific groups has some utility here; Many Issue types do not appear on certain device types and do not need to be suppressed.
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- Click the byIssue side tab.
- In the Issues panel, expand the tree and choose the issue of interest. Associated groups are listed in the GroupSettingsforIssue table.
- To edit a group's settings for that issue: Click Edit for the group. To determine the issues associated with a group:
- Click the byDeviceGroups or byInterfaceGroups side tab as appropriate.
- In the left panel, click the group name. Associated issues are listed in the IssueSettingsforGroup table.
- To edit an issue's settings for that group: Click Edit for the issue.
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| Performing Issue Suppression |
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| Performing Issue Suppression |
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Performing Issue SuppressionIssue suppression enables users with Issues:ModifySuppressionParameters privileges to indicate which issues should be ignored by NetMRI for purposes of reporting and scorecard generation. Suppressed issues are still analyzed internally (because the associated analysis may be looking for multiple issues), but they are not displayed (by default) or used to compute scorecard values.
Issue suppression status is listed at Settings icon –>IssueAnalysis section –>Suppression. The table in this page lists all issues defined in the system, and the analysis and penalties associated with that issue. The check box at the left end of each row indicates suppression status: if checked, the issue is suppressed.
To suppress an issue: Click the check box for that issue. Settings are committed automatically.
To see a full description of an issue and review suppressed instances: Click the hyperlink in the IssueName column. To view analysis task details: Click the hyperlink in the AnalysisTaskName column.
Note: It is possible to suppress all issues, which ensures a perfect score. Infoblox does not recommend this practice. Click the Component column header to sort Issue Names by their respective categories.| Anchor |
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| Details of Issue Suppression |
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Details of Issue Suppression
Note: Group-based Issue Suppression settings recognize Device Group priority settings. NetMRI suppresses an Issue for any device if the Issue Suppression is enabled for the highest-ranking device group to which the device belongs. For example, consider a device that belongs to two device groups: Firewalls and Routing. Under Settings–>IssueAnalysis–>ByDeviceGroups, you will see that Firewalls is the highest-ranking device group. Should a particular Issue be suppressed in that device group, all devices participating in that group will have that Issue suppressed, regardless of the suppression settings in any lower-ranked device group to which the device(s) belong.
Suppressed issues continue to be analyzed internally (because the associated analysis may be looking for multiple issues) but they are not automatically displayed or used to compute scorecard values.
NetMRI supports two styles of issue suppression: full and partial.
Fully suppressed issues will not appear in any issue list, nor will they be used in any network or group scorecard calculation. A specific issue can be suppressed in the Settings icon –> Issue Analysis section –>
Suppressi Suppression page.
Doing so suppresses reporting for that issue throughout the NetMRI system.
•Partially suppressed issues are suppressed on specific devices using check boxes in the Issue Viewer. issues can be partially suppressed through Device Groups and Interface Groups at Settings icon –> Setup section –> Collection and Groups –> Groups tab. For groups, issue instances can be suppressed before issues are even raised for a device or interface, because group settings are dynamic and dictate which issues should be suppressed.
Partially suppressed issues appear in issue lists and are used in all Scorecard calculations containing at least one unsuppressed issue detail. If all issue details are suppressed, then the issue will not appear in issue lists and will not be included in Scorecard calculations.
Partially suppressed issues can be used to temporarily ignore known problems that won’t be fixed for some time, while still tracking the problem. The issue instances are still recorded in the database and can be seen at any time by un-suppressing that instance, at which point it will appear in all past and future issues.
Note: Scorecard values are only computed once, so any issues that are either fully or partially suppressed “at the time the scorecard is generated” are taken into consideration. If an issue is subsequently suppressed, either fully or partially, the old scorecard values will not be retroactively updated.
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| Introducing Network Explorer |
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| Introducing Network Explorer |
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Introducing Network ExplorerThe Network Explorer tab displays everything NetMRI learns about the network. Network Explorer is a good starting point for inspecting the results of a Network Discovery process, viewing the topology of the discovered network, and obtaining information about how the network is behaving in each network segment.
Tabs within Network Explorer offer different ways to examine network data:
•The Inventory tab provides basic information about all active devices, interfaces, operating systems and models in the network, including virtual devices, which are instances of virtual routers, virtual switches and other types that are supported by selected devices from some networked system vendors;
•The Summaries tab lists routes, subnets, VLANs, HSRPs/VRRPs, route targets, network views, VRFs and ports in the network;
•The Topology tab provides an interactive viewer in which you can visually explore your network’s topology and interconnectivity;
•The Discovery tab provides detailed information about NetMRI’s discovery processes, including the ability to affect Discovery settings for individual devices, perform/repeat Discovery on a single device, set licensing for a managed device and remove a device from NetMRI management. (For more information on device-related Discovery functions, see the section Viewing Device Discovery Status and Re-Discovering a Device);
•Switch Port Management is a key feature set for compiling, monitoring and controlling the devices, ports and end hosts throughout an enterprise’s switched Ethernet network. Consult the topics under Switch Port Management for many more details.
Note: If you know exactly what you are seeking, try typing a few characters in the FindIT search box (upper right corner of the main NetMRI page).
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Viewing Network InventoryNote: Network Explorer supports the use of custom data fields for adding additional data to tables of information about network inventory. See Defining and Using Custom Fields for more information.
After Discovery runs its course, the Inventory tab shows the complete list of network devices with which NetMRI successfully communicates. The network Inventory includes the following classifications:
•Devices–The broadest information category, includes five distinct subcategories to allow for more-specific exploration: Infrastructure Devices, Device Components, Connected End Hosts (client systems connected to access ports on switches, for example), Connected IP Phones, and All Devices. Click the View All Virtual Devices link to list all virtual hosts and their respective virtual device contexts in the same table.
All Devices tables show common elements, including the device IP Address, the Network View to which the device management IP address is associated; the Vendor, Device Name and Device Model;
•Virtual Devices–All network infrastructure devices discovered by NetMRI that possess virtualization capabilities. Each device in this category hosts one or more virtual device contexts, which are virtual machine-based switches, firewalls and routers housed by each virtual host. See Understanding Virtual Device Contexts for more information.
•Interfaces–A listing of all network interfaces, divided into four functional categories: Interface Config, Unused Down Ports, Unused Up Ports, and Recently Changed Ports. See Viewing Network Interfaces for more information.
•OSs–Counts of operating systems and OS versions from all devices discovered and catalogued by NetMRI. See Viewing Network Operating Systems for more information.
•Models–Counts of all hardware models discovered and catalogued by NetMRI. See Viewing Network Device Models for more information.
The Inventory tab (Network Explorer –> Inventory tab) provides basic information about four key categories of network elements managed by NetMRI: devices, interfaces, operating systems and device models discovered in the network. From here, you drill down to features such as the Device Viewer to inspect details about individual devices and their current states.
•To list inventoried items: Click the desired category in the left panel.
•To restrict the center panel table to a specific device group: Click the group name in the Select Device Groups panel (on the right side of the window).
Note: During initial discovery, device counts listed in the Select Device Groups panel may differ from the number of devices displayed in the center table. The table displays real-time data about the discovery process, but the Select Device Groups panel is only updated periodically.
The Devices section lists network devices, device components, connected end hosts and connected IP phones found on the network (“connected” = connected to a device in the selected group).
—To view detailed data for a device: Click the IP address hyperlink in the center panel. The Device Viewer appears, listing any current Issues associated with the selected device.
The Device Viewer is not limited to this information. Seven categories of detailed information are provided by the Device Viewer for the displayed network entity. For more, sees under Inspecting Devices in the Network.
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| Viewing Date-based Data Set |
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Viewing Date-Based Data SetsSome Network Explorer –> Inventory pages (Connected End Hosts, Connected IP Phones, Interface Config) provide Date/Period menus that enable flexible measurement and reporting for any device, interface or end host. You can go backwards in time to view data sets for any device, interface or end host phenomena.
Calendar dates shown in Green represent an immediately available data set to display in a Network Explorer –> Inventory table. The most current date in the chosen Inventory page (such as the most recent 7 days for the Daily selection) is always available by default and appears highlighted in green. Older data may require a wait for the user while NetMRI generates the requested data. After generation, the requested date appears in green, indicating the data is available.
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| Understanding Virtual Device Contexts |
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| Understanding Virtual Device Contexts |
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Understanding Virtual Device Contexts
Note: NetMRI must have reachability to all virtual device contexts hosted by virtual hosts to discover and catalog them. During data collection for VDCs, NetMRI determines the existence of virtual hosts (the device hosting the virtual contexts–the virtual router, virtual switch or other device context types–via command-line access on Cisco devices and through SNMP on Juniper devices.
NetMRI supports discovery and management of Cisco and Juniper device types that offer virtualization. Similar to servers that run VMware to run multiple instances of operating systems and data services in the same physical host, some Cisco and Juniper device types support multiple instances within the same device, each running the complete suite of protocols, configurations and operating system. NetMRI calls these instances virtual device contexts (VDCs). NetMRI detects devices that support virtual device contexts and provides the same management and cataloguing features that apply to conventional switches, routers and firewalls.
The Inventory page –> Virtual Devices menu item provides a list of all VDC–supporting devices that are discovered and catalogued by NetMRI. It displays the following values:
IP Address: the IP for the virtual device;
Device Name: The name detected for the virtual device;
Collector (for OC systems only): the Collector appliance in the Operations Center that detected and manages the virtual device;
Network View: the network view for which the detected virtual device is a member.
Each individual virtual device context appears in the Device Viewer, in the Network Explorer –> Inventory page, and in other locations of the NetMRI UI. NetMRI treats virtual device contexts identically to conventional routers, switches and firewall appliances, including the ability to send commands, schedule and execute jobs, display running configurations, view change histories and issues reported from the virtual device, apply compliance policies, run traces and SNMP walks, and many other operations.
NetMRI supports detection and management of the follow
ing virtual device context-provisioning devices:- Cisco Nexus 7000 Series multiservice switches (NX-OS);
- Cisco Pix 525, 535 Security Appliances (Cisco 8.0 and up);
- Cisco ASA 5500 Series Security Appliances;
- Cisco ACE load balancers;
- Juniper M5/M10 Routers (JunOS 10.0 and up).
Note: Click the View All Virtual Devices link at the top of the Virtual Devices list to display the virtual hosts and all of their associated virtual device contexts in the Inventory.
By default, the Virtual Devices list shows the IP Address for each virtual host, their provisioned Device Name and the Count of virtual device contexts for each Virtual Host managed by NetMRI. Click the IP address for any item in the Virtual devices list and the list of virtual device instances appears in the right pane.
The Virtual Host Details pane describes the basic information for the router, switch or firewall that is hosting the virtual device contexts, including its Network View, MAC Address ID, Model, assigned device name, OS version, the device type (Firewall, Switch, Router) and Context Name if any.
The Virtual Host Details pane also shows the context list, which are the actual virtual routers or other instance types that are being run by the hosting system. Each context is shown by its assigned IP address.
The pane also lists its assigned Device Name for each context (separately defined from the name of the hosting device) and the associated Context Name.
Click any IP address in the table and the Device Viewer popup window appears for that virtual device context.
You can also right-click on any virtual device instance to display the shortcut menu. Open the Device Viewer for any context, open the Config Explorer, view the current running configuration for the context, open its associated Issues List, execute a command, select a Telnet or SSH command-line session, and other operations.
Check the Virtual Asset Inventory report (under Reports –> Standard Reports) for more information on the virtual hosts and their respective VDCs.
Virtual Hosts can act as a proxy for access. If NetMRI is unable to connect to a Virtual Device directly, or the credentials are not known, NetMRI attempts to access the Virtual Device via the Virtual Host. CLI-based operations against a Virtual Device can be successful when connectivity is blocked to the Virtual Device, but not blocked to the Virtual Host. CLI operations include Job execution, Config Collection and in-browser CLI connections.
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| Topology Maps and Virtual Device Context |
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| Topology Maps and Virtual Device Context |
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Topology Maps and Virtual Device Contexts
The network topologies for virtual hosts (i.e. the Cisco Nexus 7000 switch, Cisco ASA firewall, Juniper router, etc.) will often bear no connectivity relationship or topology resemblance to the network topologies for the virtual device contexts maintained by the virtual host.
Cisco's ASA firewalls use the term "Admin Context" to describe a top-level container that can run one or more virtual devices (VDCs). The ASA firewall's Admin Context is termed a virtual host in the NetMRI system, and it provides the management interfaces (SSH or Telnet) into the more-detailed virtual devices. (An ASA firewall can run more than one Admin Context/Virtual Host.)
The Cisco ASA uses the term "Customer Context" as a label for all virtual firewalls with their own discrete configurations and allocated interfaces. These entities are labeled as Virtual Device Contexts in the NetMRI system. These virtual "devices" support their own distinct topologies that can differ significantly from the hosting ASA firewall.
You can use the Topology Viewer (Network Explorer –> Topology) to look at the links between the Virtual Hosts and other devices in the network. Drilling further down, you use the Topology Viewer to examine the network linkages for the virtual device contexts themselves. Their topologies will often bear no relationship to the topologies of the virtual hosts upon which they are running. See Using the Topology Viewer for more information.
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Viewing Network Interfaces
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The Device Viewer is not limited to this information. Seven categories of detailed information are provided by the Device Viewer for the displayed network entity. For more, see Inspecting Devices in the Network.
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| Viewing Network Device Models |
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Viewing Network Device Models
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The Device Viewer opens, listing any current Issues associated with the selected device.
The Device Viewer is not limited to this information. Seven categories of detailed information are provided by the Device Viewer for the displayed network entity. For more, see Inspecting Devices in the Network.
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| Summarizing Network Topologies |
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| Summarizing Network Topologies |
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Summarizing Network Topologies
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The Device Viewer is not limited to this information. Seven categories of detailed information are provided by the Device Viewer for the displayed network entity. For more, see Inspecting Devices in the Network.
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| Summarizing VLANs, Ports, Virtual Groups |
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| Summarizing VLANs, Ports, Virtual Groups |
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Summarizing VLANs, Ports, Virtual Groups and NIOS Grids
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You can list all HSRP/VRRP Groups managed by NetMRI, or the HSRP/VRRP groups that are associated with a particular device group.
The HSRPs/VRRP Groups section lists Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) groups and Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) groups found in the network, starting with the Virtual IP address of the group. Types are labeled in the Type column as HSRP or VRRP. The protocols are used for fault-tolerant
default gateway configuration across two or more devices in case the primary gateway router becomes inaccessible.
— To view details for an HSRP or VRRP: Click a group in the left panel. The corresponding viewer opens in a popup window. The devices participating in the group are listed in the viewer.
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| Summarizing Route Targets |
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Summarizing Route Targets
Note: Click the View All Route Targets link to list all route targets in the center panel. Then apply a filter to isolate them for a device or a network view.
VRFs use route targets to specify how routes will be shared between different VRF networks. The typical format of a Route Target is two numeric values separated by colons, for example:
27000:100
The Route Targets summary in the left panel shows the list of Import and Export route targets that are defined in VRF-aware devices in the managed networks. The VRF RD (route distinguisher) values are listed in a separate column, and you can click on the link for each VRF's network view, which opens the Network Viewer window. This window also lists all devices forming the VRF network.
Selecting a route target causes the center panel to display all the instances where it is being used, along with details of the device and the VRF. This is helpful to understand how VRFs and particularly VRF-Lite are configured across the network.
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| Summarizing Network Views |
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Summarizing Network Views
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Note: Most Likely Path and Path Analysis options require the selection of a source network view.
Search, CSV Export and Refresh Grid tools appear for all lists in the left pane of the Topology page. The Search feature allows contextual search from within any list for an IP address or a string of characters within the specific list of polled information. CSV Export enables exporting the current tabular list to a tab-delimited data file suitable for opening in Microsoft ExcelTM. You can also refresh any list by clicking the Refresh Grid tool. If changes occur after a refresh, the topology will redraw.
In all topology types (L2 nHop Network Topology, L3 nHop Network Topology, and so on) clicking on a device in the left-pane list displays a Hop Count selector. This selector changes its fields based on the protocol. (The figure to the left shows an L3 n Hop selector, in which you can choose a Hop Count from 1 to 4, and the protocol to view. The protocol you choose may or may not be active for the current device.
The Hop Count selector does not apply to the Path Analysis feature.
After you generate a graph, follow the topics below to change and enhance the graph.
Devices of different types appear differently in the View. Firewalls and virtual hosts such as Cisco ASA security devices and Nexus switches will show different icons.
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| Using Refine View |
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Using Refine View
The Refine View tool is handy for narrowing down the possibilities for path tracing, and for avoiding errors when attempting a possibly lengthy path analysis operation.
First, consider that Path Analysis is a L3 tracing feature. Before you perform any path analysis, click on Network Explorer –> Topology –> Network accordion menu –> Aggregate and click the Refine View button.
The Edit View dialog appears, displaying the Device Group tab.
Hover the mouse over the Action icon for the device group that you want to use as the basis for your path analysis. Choose Select Blue or Select Yellow from the Actions pop-up menu. The color for the Group appears under the Selections column. Click OK, and the Topology map redraws to add color markers to all devices in the map corresponding to the chosen device group. Apply colors to different device groups to help in a broader search across a large network.
Other tabs that you can use to outline parts of the network topology include the following:
VLAN–Select a VLAN form this tab, associate a color with it, and you can outline the path of a L3 switched VLAN in the network;
Network View–Select a network view from this tab, associate a color with it, and all devices participating in the network view will be labeled;
Issues–Enable the Show All Issues check box to show all devices in the network that are currently sustaining issues. Hover the mouse over the device icon to see an Issues Seen summary;
Change–Enable a checkbox, Show All Changes, to change the topology map to show an icon next to all devices that have sustained recent configuration changes. Hover the mouse over the Change icon to see a Changes Seen summary;
Policy–Enable a checkbox, Show All Policy Violations, to change the topology map to show an icon next to all devices that are currently sustaining policy violations. Hover the mouse over the Policy icon (icons are a green Pass checkmark icon or a Fail "X" icon) to view a summary of the device and its policy information;
By checking for Issues and general network connectivity characteristics, you can more easily choose the source and destination devices for a Path Analysis that have a correct L3 configuration to provide a likelihood of a successful path analysis operation.
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| Network Views Information in Topologies |
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Network Views Information in Topologies
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Right-clicking on any device icon on the Topology pane provides a selection of device exploration features. Its contents change based on the selected device.
Device Viewer–Opens the Device Viewer for the chosen device.
Config Explorer–Opens the Device Viewer's Config Explorer page for the chosen device. You can browse the list of configs in the device and edit existing config files.
View Running Config–Displays the currently running configuration for the chosen device in a Configuration Viewer window.
Changes–Opens the Device Viewer's Network Analysis –> Changes page for the chosen device.
Issue List–Opens the Device Viewer's Network Analysis –> Issues page for the chosen device. This page lists all Error, Warning and Info issues for the chosen device.
Policy Compliance–Opens the Device Viewer's Network Analysis –> Policy Compliance page for the chosen device. The current device's status in DISA-standard security and stability levels is outlined here, with links to configuration policy analysis functions from this page;
L2 nHop–Displays the L2 nHop Network Topology in a separate window, showing the Layer 2 switching paths directly associated with the current device.
L3 nHop–Displays the L3 nHop Network Topology map in a separate window, showing the Layer 3 routed switching paths directly associated with the current device.
L2/L3 Path Viewer–Displays the L2/L3 Most Likely Path Network Topology map in a separate window, indicating the VLAN spanning tree paths directly associated with the current device.
L3 Path Viewer– Displays the L3 Most Likely Path Network Topology map in a separate window, indicating the L3 routed paths directly associated with the current device.
Schedule Job–Schedule a job script (CCS or Perl) to run on the chosen device, from the Script Run Now wizard. See
Creating and Scheduling Jobs for more information about job scripting.
Execute Command–Opens the Script Run Now wizard, with the Commands to be Executed section active. Type in any configuration command.
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| Using Different Network Topologies |
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| Using Different Network Topologies |
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Using Different Network Topologies
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In the resulting topology chart, the root bridge is displayed at the top and the leaf nodes are displayed below. Active and disabled links are indicated in the chart. The farther the distance from the root bridge, the higher the cost in the L3 VLAN path. All possible connections are shown, including disabled ones. Spanning tree port blocking is indicated by a gray X at the end of a connection. If a port shows an error, it is indicated by a red X.
Note: VLANs can have identical names as long as the root bridge is different.
— To modify the view: Click the Refine View button above the graph.
VLAN graphs cannot be filtered by device group names in the Select Device Groups panel.
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| Performing Path Analysis |
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| Performing Path Analysis |
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Performing Path Analysis
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| Simultaneous Path Calculations |
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| Simultaneous Path Calculations |
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Simultaneous Path Calculations In a large network, more than one possible path my exist between two devices. You can control the number of path calculations performed for the same Source/Destination pair. The default number of simultaneous path calculations is 2, with a maximum value of 10. Go to Settings icon
–> General Settings –> Path Analysis and edit the
Number of Calculated Paths setting. Avoid setting this value to too high a number, as multiple active path calculations can affect performance.
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| Resuming a Path from a Different Source |
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| Resuming a Path from a Different Source |
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Resuming a Path from a Different Source Device
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A blank Topology Viewer window appears, with Source and Destination fields on the top of the center panel.
- Enter the Source and Destination values for the two devices whose common path(s) you want to trace. In this context, the relevant Source value is the device from which you want to resume the trace.
- Choose the Source Network View from the drop-down menu.
- Choose Start from the drop-down menu.
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The Topology Viewer window refreshes to show the continuation of the path analysis. NetMRI appends the result to the end of the previous path trace attempt and the results appear in the Tree page and in the Topology page.
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| Other Network View Operations |
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| Other Network View Operations |
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Other Network View Operations
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The Neighbors page (Interface Viewer –> Interface –> Neighbors) lists the MAC addresses, associated VRF Name and Neighbor VRF Name (if any), the Network View, IP addresses, interfaces and other data for neighbors of the currently displayed interface. If you select an interface that is administratively On and is active in the network, the Interface Neighbor information automatically appears. Otherwise the neighbor information remains blank.
Associated information provided includes the VLAN and/or trunk interface, the neighbor's MAC address, the neighbor type, and the Neighbor Assurance value.
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| Viewing Network Performance Measurements |
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| Viewing Network Performance Measurements |
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Viewing Network Performance Measurements
Under Performance in the Interface Viewer, the Summary page (Interface Viewer –> Performance –> Summary) lists high-level statistics for inbound and outbound traffic for the selected interface. A table appears in the Interface Viewer, showing Counts, Rates and Percentages for Inbound and Outbound Octets, Packets, Unicast packets, Non-Unicast packets, Multicast packets, Broadcast packets, Discards, Errors, Changes, Alignment Errors, FCS Errors, and Late Collisions. These statistics cover the entire selected interface, cumulative for all subinterfaces if any.
The Rates page (Interface Viewer –> Performance –> Rates) shows inbound and outbound throughput and related rates for the interface, including Packet Rate, Broadcast Rate, Discard Rate and Error Rate;
The Percents page (Interface Viewer –> Performance –> Percents) shows inbound and outbound traffic statistics expressed as a percentage of total throughput, including % Utilization, Broadcast Percent, Discard Percent and Error Percent;
The Counts page (Interface Viewer –> Performance –> Counts) displays inbound and outbound traffic statistics expressed as counts, including columns of statistics for Octet Count, Packet Count, Broadcast Count, Discard Count and Error Count;
The Charts page (Interface Viewer –> Performance –> Charts) provides charts that show throughput, broadcasts/second, errors/second and discards/second. Use the Measure list at the tope of the page to select Rate or Percent for the charts' vertical axes.
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| Changing Performance Data Collection Set |
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| Changing Performance Data Collection Set |
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Changing Performance Data Collection Settings
The General Settings page (Interface Viewer –> Settings –> General Settings) enables you to apply or override the parent group's performance data collection setting, under the Performance Statistics Collection setting (group settings are defined in the Settings icon –> Setup section –> Collection and Groups page –> Groups tab –> Interface Groups side tab).
To ensure collection of all performance data for the specific device, choose the Enabled option.
Choose the Use Default option if you want performance information collection to only use the parent Interface Group's settings.
Interface performance data covers a broad selection of network phenomena, including but not limited to the following: port throughput, bandwidth utilization, packet errors percentage, broadcast packet percentage, and packet discard percentage.
A second option, Switch Port Management Control, enables or disables the current interface from management by Switch Port Manager.
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| Viewing Interface Histories |
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| Viewing Interface Histories |
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Viewing Interface Histories
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The Collector Status page (Settings icon –> Setup –> Collector Status) shows the internal processing being performed by NetMRI. This page is used primarily for technical support purposes.
A property group is a collection of SNMP variables that NetMRI polls from a given device type and vendor at a given frequency. The collection of SNMP variables in a property group are not visible to the user.
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| Using the Interface Live Viewer |
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| Using the Interface Live Viewer |
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Using the Interface Live View
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Note: If the display remains paused after 24 hours, data collection will stop.
- To change the vertical axis units: Select the desired units in the Display Mode drop-down list.
- To export data used to create the graph: Click the CSV Export button.
- To export the graph as an image: Click the Image Export button.
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| Interface Live Viewer settings |
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| Interface Live Viewer settings |
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Interface Live Viewer settingsTwo settings for the Interface Live Viewer are provided in the Settings icon –> General Settings –> Advanced Settings page under Data Collection:- Live Interface Poll Frequency sets the SNMP polling frequency (5 seconds to 60 seconds in 5 second increments).
- Live Interface Poller Limit sets the maximum number of interface pollers that can run simultaneously (1 to 10).
The polling engine continues to run for 15 cycles (where one cycle = Live Interface Poll Frequency) after the Interface Live Viewer window is closed. If you reopen the Interface Live Viewer before the 16th cycle, you'll see live data collected during that time. If reopened after the 15th cycle, the Interface Live Viewer will start displaying a fresh data set.
