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For information about specifying privileges, see Defining and Editing Roles.
To connect to specific devices, users must also have permissions to the corresponding device groups to which the devices belong. Authorized users can use any SSH client to gain proxy connection using their NetMRI credentials, without the need to acquire the credentials for individual devices. With valid privileges, users can use the Connect command to connect to the devices from any SSH client. For information about the command, see Using the Connect Command bookmark386 bookmark386. The CLI proxy feature connects only through the management interface on the NetMRI appliance. This helps eliminate the need to gain access to the user's computer through various networks, VRFs, and VLANs. Note that all connections and commands issued to any network devices through the CLI proxy are audited and logged. For information about audit logs, see User Audit Logs.

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1. Start a PuTTy session.
2. In the PuTTy Configuration window, go to the Connection –> Data –> Category section.
3. As illustrated in Figure 14.1 bookmark387, perform the following in the Environment variables section:

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For more information, see Controlling NetMRI with Device Groups bookmark392 bookmark392.

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Default Device Groups Default Device Groups

Default Device Groups

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Basic device groups limit their processing options to a minimum. Basic device groups do not contribute to NetMRI Network Scorecard calculations and significantly reduce back-end processing. You can define group membership criteria. For more information, see Understanding Device Group Membership Criteriabookmark406.

Extended device groups provide a substantial collection of settings to determine how an extended device group processes its information. Along with defining group membership criteria, a number of options help determine the level and types of processing performed by an extended device group:

• Include non-network devices: Enables collecting end-host network segments into a basic device group to avoid expanding system processing cycles on network devices that do not require them.
• Rank: For more information, see Ranking Device Groups bookmark395.
• Polling Frequency: Allows you to modify the default polling frequency for all devices or for specific device groups. For more information, see Creating Extended Device Groups.
• Switch Port data collection: Enable this only for device groups with L2/L3 Ethernet switching devices as members. This allows you to enforce custom periodic or scheduled polling settings for specific groups. For more information, see Device Groups and Switch Port Management bookmark393.
• Collect performance and environmental data: Enable or disable device performance and environmental information. For more information, see Changing Performance Data Collection Settings.
• Probe for open ports: Allows NetMRI to probe for open TCP/UDP ports on member devices.
• Identify device using fingerprinting: For more information, see Defining Group Data Collection Settings.
• Probe for NetBIOS name: For more information, see Defining Group Data Collection Settings.
• Analyze for Issues: For more information, see Evaluating Issues in NetMRI and Viewing Device Issues, Configurations, and Changes.
• Test for default credentials: Allows NetMRI to test all devices in the group for the presence of vendor default SNMP credentials, which are a potential element for security breaches, but are also used for assistance in collecting device configurations. Credential default testing is also a compliance measure.
• Collect config files: For more information, see beginning with Configuration Management.
• Regard configurations as 'Locked': Disallows editing of any collection configuration files for members of the device group.
• Allow script execution: Allows the execution of Perl and CCS scripts on group member devices.
• Enable Discovery Blackout: Define time periods when NetMRI will not communicate with devices or networks for discovery.
• Enable Change Blackout: Define blackouts for CLI interaction, scheduled or run-now job executions, Telnet/SSH proxy, and port control UI features for all devices in the group. For more information, see Defining Blackout Periods.

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The complete list of data points provided for every device group at all nested levels includes the following:

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Creating a Top-Level or Sibling Device Group Creating a Top-Level or Sibling Device Group

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bookmark401 bookmark401

Creating a Top-Level or Sibling Device Group

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1. Open the Settings icon > Setup > Collection and Groups > Groups.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To add a top-level device group, click Add in the bottom-right corner of the groups window.
   • To add a sibling group, right-click a top-level group and select Add > Sibling Above or Sibling Below from the shortcut menu.
     The Add Device Group dialog appears.
3. In the Parent ID field, NetMRI automatically sets the ID of the parent group. It is "0" for a top-level or sibling group.
4. Enter a Name for the new group. The group name is shown in all group-related displays and reports, so the group name should be meaningful without being too long.
5. Enter a Membership Criteria regular expression. See Understanding Device Group Membership Criteria bookmark406 for details.
6. For Type, select either Basic or Extended. By default, Basic is selected. For more information about extended device groups, see Creating Extended Device Groups bookmark403.
7. Click Save & Close or Save & New.

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1. Click the Settings icon > Setup > Collection and Groups > Groups.
2. Right-click a device group and select Add > Child from the shortcut menu.
   The Add Device Group dialog appears.
3. Select either Basic or Extended. By default, Basic is selected. For more information about extended device groups, see Creating Extended Device Groups bookmark403.
4. In the Parent ID field, NetMRI automatically sets the ID of the parent group.
5. Enter a Name for the new child group. The group name is shown in all group-related displays and reports, so the group name should be meaningful without being too long.
6. Enter a Membership Criteria regular expression. For more information, see Understanding Device Group Membership Criteria bookmark406.
7. Click Save & Close or Save & New.

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1. Click the Settings icon > Setup > Collection and Groups > Groups.
2. Click Add to create a top-level, sibling, or child extended group.
3. In the Parent ID field, NetMRI automatically sets the ID of the parent group. It is "0" for a top-level or sibling group.
4. Enter a Name for the group. The group name is shown in all group-related displays and reports, so the group name should be meaningful without being too long.

5. Define a Membership Criteria regular expression.

   Note
   title Note
   Infoblox recommends using regular expressions for refining the membership in device groups. The topic Understanding Device Group Membership Criteria bookmark406 provides the information you need to understand and define regular expressions for device groups.

   
   

6. If you want the device group to include collections of discovered non-network devices, select Include non-network devices. Leaving this setting unselected prevents non-network devices from occupying valuable licensing space.
7. Next to Type, click Extended.
8. Rank: Displays the Ranking value as the default sort order. For more information, see Ranking Device Groupsbookmark395. Ranking value is used as the default sort order for all group-related tables, with the highest rank shown first. Rank is also used to determine the individual device settings controlling processing for each device.

9. Polling Frequency: Allows you to slow down or speed up the device polling frequency. For more information, see the following section, Setting Polling Frequency for a Device Group.

10. For Switch Port data Collection, choose from the following:

    • Use Global Settings: Select this to enable the device group to inherit global settings for switch port data collections. To find the global settings, click the Settings icon > Setup > Collection and Groups > Global > Switch Port Management. For more information, see Global Switch Port Management Polling Settings.
    • Specify Polling Interval: Overrides the global polling interval with a custom polling interval for the current device group. You can define an interval of 1-60 Minutes or 1-24 Hours in the fields that appear.
    • Specify Schedule: Overrides the global scheduled polling setting with a custom schedule for the current device group. Existing schedules may appear in the list or, click Add New Schedule to create a new polling schedule instance. Choose a Recurrence Pattern of Once, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. In all cases, you must choose an Execution Time and select at least one day of the week checkbox.
    • Poll Now: Click to execute switch port polling on the device group right after it is created.

    • Disable: Completely disables switch port polling for the device group.

    Note
    title Note
    The polling frequency modifier described in the previous step does not affect settings for switch port data collection frequency.

    
    

11. Activate the processing options for the new Extended group:

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Device Groups also determine how its member devices will be interacted with by NetMRI. For example, if SNMP Collection or Config Collection are disabled for the highest ranking group containing a given device, then no SNMP data collection or Configuration file collection is performed for that device (beyond the initial collection needed to detect its existence). You use the same processes and settings to define Interface Groups (described in Creating Interface Groups bookmark412.) The process for Device Groups is straightforward.

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1. Go to Settings icon –> Setup –> Collection & Groups –> Interface Groups side tab.
2. Click the Add Group button (below the Interface Groups table). The Add Interface Group dialog appears.
3. Type a Name for the interface group. The group name is shown in all group-related displays and reports, so it should be meaningful without being too long.
4. Enter a Rank for the interface group. For more information, see Ranking Device Groups bookmark395 for details.
5. Type a Membership Criteria expression. For more information, see Understanding Device Group Membership Criteriabookmark406.
6. Activate the processing options for the group.
   Performance Statistics Collection: If enabled, NetMRI collects performance data for interfaces in the group. If disabled, the appliance gathers minimal data for interfaces in the group. This setting can be overridden for an individual interface in the Interface Viewer –> Settings icon –> General Settings page.
   Frequency: Select the performance statistics collection interval. The default is set as Daily.

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Exercise caution when deleting groups, because any associated group settings such as filtering and other attributes will also be deleted. For related information, see Expressions in Group Definitions.

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Gathering Performance Data from Interfac Gathering Performance Data from Interfac

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Gathering Performance Data from Interface Groups

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