NetMRI collects large quantities of low-level device data that can be viewed at any time. During troubleshooting, experienced admins can use low-level device information to help solve problems. The tool for viewing any device's diverse array of information is called the Device Viewer.
To open the Device Viewer for any device: Click the device's hyperlink anywhere it appears in NetMRI displays.

Note: Because they are simple browser pop-up windows, multiple Device Viewers can be open simultaneously.

To view different kinds of information in the Device Viewer: Click the desired item in the right-side panel. Corresponding information appears in the main panel. Information in the Device Viewer depends on the device type.

Note: You can define individual devices' SNMP and CLI credentials in the Device Viewer. For more information, see

Adding and Testing SNMP Credentials for a Device and Adding and Testing CLI Credentials for a Device.







The Device Viewer
All devices discovered by NetMRI can be inspected using the Device Viewer, including LAN switches, routers of any type, security infrastructure, servers and virtual devices hosted by selected Cisco and Juniper systems.
When NetMRI successfully accesses a network device by SNMP, the top portion of the main Device Viewer panel shows the following information:



Note: To check the license status of any device (whether the device shown in the Device Viewer counts against the license limits for the NetMRI appliance), go to the Device Support page (Device Viewer –> Settings & Status

> Device Support).







Viewing Device Issues, Configurations and Changes


Note: You can define individual devices' SNMP and CLI credentials in the Device Viewer. For more information, see
Adding and Testing SNMP Credentials for a Device and Adding and Testing CLI Credentials for a Device.

The Device Viewer's Issues page (Device Viewer –> Network Analysis –> Issues) lists issues associated with the selected device in the network.
The Detected Changes chart provides an adjustable view of Issue trends for the current device. 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 Detected Changes 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 change the date covered by the display: Click the date hyperlink in the upper left corner.
To change the period covered by the display: Open the Period list (in the header) and click the desired period.
To view a description of an issue: Hover over the issue hyperlink. A description appears in a tooltip.
To view additional issue details: Click the issue hyperlink. The Issue Viewer opens for the specific issue and device. To filter the issues table by activity type:

  1. Click the Display Mode button (above the column headers).
  2. In the submenu, click the activity type you want to see in the table. Choices are:

All displays all issues that existed during the selected time period. This is an important view for real-time analysis because if an issue existed at one point in the day, but was later automatically cleared by NetMRI, it will only be listed by selecting All.
Active (Default) displays all currently active issues for the selected time period. Current displays all issues present at the end of each day for the selected time period.
Dropped displays all issues that were resolved during the selected time period, and that weren't open at the end of that period.
Suppressed displays all issues you have chosen to suppress.

Checking a Device's Policy Compliance

The Policy Compliance page (Device Viewer –> Network Analysis –> Policy Compliance) lists policies run against the device, and the outcomes of those policies. If no policies execute against the device during the time period set by the Date/Period drop-down menu in the Policy Compliance title bar, the page is blank.
Also see Policy Design Center for more information on NetMRI's Policy Compliance feature set.



Checking Basic Device Information
The Device Viewer's Device/Network Explorer section (Device Viewer –> Device/Network Explorer) shows a substantial body of critical information about a selected device relative to other network elements. Device/Network Explorer conveys many details about the relative location of the device in the network, and aspects of its operating state. The "location" of the device is described by its SNMP identity, with many other pieces of information about the network switch, router, or other entity.
Before device identification, NetMRI verifies SNMP, Telnet and SSH ports by access to these ports during normal operation. Any device that supports the tcpConnState SNMP table and is accessible are polled for additional open TCP ports.
Active port scanning can be enabled at the Settings icon –> Setup –> Collection and Groups –> Global tab.

Note: Additional information can be displayed using the Columns option available via column header menus.

To enter new custom data for the device currently shown in the Device Viewer:

  1. Click New. The Add new custom field data dialog appears.
  2. Open the Name field and select a field by name.
  3. Enter a corresponding Value.
  4. Click Save & Close. To edit custom data:
  5. Click the Edit button for the field.
  6. Change the data value.
  7. Click the Save & Close button.

To delete data: Click the Delete button, then confirm the deletion.

Device Identification

The Identificati.0.0.0, it indicates that the service is configured to run on all ports on the device.
Many devices that operate as switches or routers will not run any additional services, and will show no records on this page.

Viewing CDP Neighbors

The CDP Neighbors page (Device Viewer –> Device/Network Explorer –> CDP Neighbors) lists information from any Cisco devices that support and transmit announcements from the proprietary data-link-layer Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP). The table lists all remote devices that have exchanged information with the current device using CDP announcements, including the local interface ID receiving CDP announcements; the neighbor's IP address; the neighboring device's DNS name and interface ID; the reported neighbor's "platform," which is the model of the CDP-supporting switch or router; and the Neighbor Capabilities, which indicates the basic functions of each
CDP-neighboring device.

Note: This menu item will not appear in the Device Viewer for non-Cisco devices.

You can also select additional columns of information for detected CDP neighbors, including the following:

Many device vendors do not support CDP; in those cases, they usually support the IEEE standard Link-Layer Discovery Protocol.

Viewing Link-Layer Discovery Protocol Neighbors

The LLDP Neighbors page (Device Viewer –> Device/Network Explorer –> LLDP Neighbors) supports all devices running the LLDP protocol. The table lists all remote devices that are LLDP neighbors of the current device, listed against all local interfaces that report LLDP neighbors; and provides collected information regarding those devices from LLDP, including their identity, capabilities and their own respective neighbors.

Note: This menu item will not appear in the Device Viewer for devices that do not support the LLDP protocol.

You can also select additional columns of information for detected LLDP neighbors, including the following:


Viewing Layer 2 Neighbors

The Neighbors page (Device Viewer –> Device/Network Explorer –> Neighbors) lists devices that NetMRI determines to be adjacent to the device at Level 2. This feature does not describe neighboring devices at Level 3.
Layer 2 neighbors can report a substantial body of information. Typically, only the VLAN ID, VLAN Name, Neighbor (in its resolved DNS name) and the Neighbor Interface ID are reported. You can display many more data columns, including (but not limited to) the following:


Checking Custom Data Settings for the Device Viewer

The Custom Data page (Device Viewer –> Device/Network Explorer –> Custom Data) displays any configured custom data fields that are used to provide additional information for user visibility in the Device Viewer. Custom data fields are represented by new columns that can be selected for display in a table.
Custom data also appears in tables available in the Network Explorer –> Inventory page. Define custom data in the Settings icon –> General Settings –> Custom Fields page.
See Defining and Using Custom Fields and Verifying Field Content In Device Viewer & Interface Viewer for more information on the use of custom fields in the Device Viewer.

Checking Connected Device Histories

For Ethernet switches and L2/L3 switch-routers, NetMRI provides the device management history for the device currently shown in the Device Viewer. The key values are the First Seen and Last Seen values, which show the date and time when the device was first discovered and polled by NetMRI and the timestamp for the most recent device polling occurrence.
In rare cases you may see this option in the Device Viewer for a Firewall. By default, the Device History table shows eight columns of data, including the following:

Other fields can be selected for appearance in the table.

Inspecting Device Interfaces




Note: The Switch Port Management feature set makes heavy use of the Interface Viewer for checking interface configurations and status. The information in the Device Viewer –> Interfaces page, discussed in this section, is only a subset of the information available in the Interface Viewer.

The Interfaces section (Device Viewer –> Interfaces) provides a survey of key discovered data for all interfaces of the chosen networking device. Each interface link in the table provides a shortcut menu with several useful port management features:
Interface Viewer–Opens an Interface Viewer window for the selected port; Interface LIve Viewer–Opens the Interface Live Viewer for the selected port;
Set Admin Status–Allows the NetMRI user, if they have the correct privileges, to set the chosen port to administratively Up or administratively Down without requiring a command-line connection to do so;
Edit Description–Edit the interface description field of the chosen interface in the table;
Edit VLAN Membership–Change the VLAN assignment for the chosen port, without requiring an SSH or Telnet connection to the device.

Viewing Interface Configuration for a Device

The Device Viewer –> Interfaces –> Configurati, the records from the device's Neighbor Discovery Protocol processes are shown.
Should you display this page for a firewall device, you will see a list of the Inside, Outside and DMZ interfaces for the firewall, appearing as the standard interface information for the device, including the Interface name, Description, IP Address and MAC Address.
Should you display this page for a switch, the Interfaces table also lists the VLAN assignment for each port. To view comprehensive data for an interface: Click a hyperlink in the Interface column.

Viewing Performance Ratings for an Interface

The Device Viewer –> Interfaces –> Performance page shows performance statistics, including utilization rates, error rates and broadcast levels for each of the interfaces supported by the device. You can also access performance charts for any interface on the chosen device. The table also lists each interface's VRF membership, where applicable.
By default, the table lists configured speed, throughput, percent utilization, percent errors, percent broadcasts and percent discards, but additional information can be displayed using the Columns option available via column header menus.


Inspecting Firewall Vendor License Status in the Device Viewer

You can check licensing status for NetMRI–managed firewall devices in the Device Viewer. The License page (Device Viewer –> Firewall –> License) applies only to Firewall devices and the information provided is derived from the vendor license information for the device itself (e.g. licensing purchased from Cisco), not for any licensing in NetMRI.



Inspecting Routers in The Device Viewer

The Router section (Device Viewer –> Router section) provides protocol and connectivity information for the router or switch/router currently displayed in the Device Viewer, including the complete routing table, information on any dynamic routing protocols the device is running, ARP (IPv4) and Neighbor Discovery records (IPv6). All tables in this category apply for devices supporting both IPv4 and IPv6.

Viewing the Device's VRF Table

For devices with routing capability that are locally configured to support virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) instances, the VRF Table page provides the complete list of present VRF instances in the device. The VRF Table pane lists the VRF instance with columns in the following order:

The OSPF Area Table panel displays the following relevant data columns:

OSPF authentication operates on a point-to-point basis, usually using MD5 hashing;

The OSPF Neighbor Table displays the following information:

The Quality of Service Viewer provides charts showing dropped packets (quantity and percentage) versus time.



Inspecting Ethernet Switches and VLANs

NetMRI divides Ethernet switch information into a separate Switch section (Device Viewer –> Switch) to provide discrete information for the switch currently shown in the Device Viewer.
The Switch pages provide a substantial amount of information, divided into five categories: VLAN, VLAN Trunks, VLAN Changes, Port Config and Forwarding. Consult the topics below for more information.

Viewing Active VLANs and VLAN Configuration

The device viewer's VLANs page (Device Viewer –> Switch –> VLANs) provides a summary table for all of the VLANs provisioned in the selected switch.
The Active VLANs (Device Viewer –> Switch –> VLANs –> Active VLANs) table provides some important information for checking the switch's VLAN configuration and its status in the network.
The Active VLANs table lists all VLANs being supported by the device, including the root bridge for each VLAN and elements such as the Root Priority, Switch Priority, Root Cost, and the Spanning Tree Protocol. Root Bridge Priority values are used in the election process of a root bridge for a particular VLAN.
A root bridge is selected by setting a switch's root priority value to a lower value in comparison to other switches. The root bridge priority value defaults to 32768 for most platforms and the maximum value is 65535; the minimum value is 0. The bridge priority value is combined with the MAC address ID for the switch to determine the spanning-tree root bridge for the network. This resulting value propagates through the switched network in Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDUs) from the root bridge, to ensure that the devices in the switched network agree on the identity of the root bridge.
Should all switches in the network retain the same value, an election takes place in which the switch with the lowest MAC address becomes the root bridge. Many older Ethernet switches may have lower Ethernet MAC address values and may thus be automatically elected as the root bridge for many VLANS in the network, even though the switch will not have the processing or memory to handle the load. To ensure the 'correct' switch is elected as the root, the best practice is to set the desired core switch's bridge priority to a relatively low value such as 8000; then, a second root bridge is chosen as a backup root and its priority set to a slightly higher value.
Listed in the Active VLANs page, the switch priority of a VLAN is the value defined in the local switches' configuration as the candidate value for election as the root.
The root cost value in the table is the cumulative cost of all links in the current VLAN leading to the root bridge. VLANIDs that show a value of 0 are not participating in the spanning tree.
The Spanning Tree Protocol column reports the version of the spanning tree protocol being run on each switch interface. A normal value for this column is ieee8021d.

Note: For Cisco devices, the root switch on the spanning tree network may be found by entering a show spanning-tree command on the switches participating in each VLAN. You can use the Open Telnet Session or Open SSH Session features in NetMRI to connect to managed devices.

VLAN Configuration Page

The VLAN Configuration table (Device Viewer –> Switch –> VLANs –> VLAN Configuration) lists configuration information for each VLAN supported by the device. Configuration settings for each VLAN include the three key STP timers Hello Time, Max Age and Fwd Delay for both the local bridge (on each VLAN, these are called Current values) and its root bridge (called Bridge values). For the current switch's VLANs, the Current Hello Time shows the time intervals between the transmission of configuration bridge PDUs (BPDUs), which flow outward from the root bridge as notifications of its root status to the other switches in the spanning tree.
The Current Max Age is the time period that an installed root's BPDU is stored by the selected switch. (The Cisco default value is 20 seconds.) The Current Fwd Delay value is the time period, in seconds that the current device spends in the Listening and Learning states. Among other things, it indicates how long the bridging table ages before the device switches from Forwarding mode to Listening mode. Fwd Delay also affects how quickly the switch responds to a change in topology.
The Bridge Hello Time, Bridge Max Age and Bridge Fwd Delay values are the corresponding values dictated by the root bridge through its BPDUs to all the other bridges in the switched network, including to the current device. Most deployments require careful consideration before changing spanning tree protocol timing values, and such values should normally be modified only at the root bridge.
The figure above illustrates the principles. The root bridge advertises its Bridge Max Age = 2000, Bridge Hello Time
= 200, and Bridge Fwd Delay = 1500 in the BPDUs it sends to the other switches in the network through VLAN 60. Those values are in turn used by the other switches in the network to configure their respective Max Age, Hello Time and Fwd Delay settings (all labeled as Current in the table). In the current switch, those three STP timer values are set to the same values because they are determined by the three values communicated through the root bridge BPDUs.

Viewing VLAN Trunk States

The VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) is a Cisco-proprietary method for communicating VLAN information across switch ports between Catalyst switches. Other solutions to the same problem include the non-proprietary 802.1Q. NetMRI supports and reports upon both varieties of VLAN trunking depending upon the switch vendor.
The VLAN Trunks page (Device Viewer –> Switch –> VLAN Trunks) presents all ports on the current switch that have 802.1Q or VTP configured in some way, whether the protocol in operation or is simply enabled. The complete list of interfaces in the current switch device appears, showing both the Dynamic State (on, off or auto) and the Dynamic Status of each port (trunking or notTrunking). Should a port be set as a VLAN trunk, its Dynamic Status will show trunking. The VLAN Trunks page also lists links for each Peer switch and Peer Interface.
Clicking the link for the trunking interface in the VLAN Trunks list displays the Interface Viewer. Its VLAN Name listing appears as TRUNKING, along with the peer switch name, the neighbor MAC address (not the MAC for the neighboring interface), and the neighboring port ID.

Viewing VLAN Changes

The VLAN Changes page (Device Viewer –> Switch –> VLAN Changes) presents a zoomable bar chart reflecting the frequency of VLAN topology changes in the network. You can perform basic troubleshooting of problems in the spanning tree network, as VLAN changes usually occur as a result of topology changes in the network, as for example when a switch port goes down and the spanning tree has to reconverge around a different set of designated ports. To display the history for a specific VLAN, open the VLAN list (in the header), then click the VLAN name. Clicking a bar object in the chart displays the event log describing the change.
Click and drag the mouse across any part of the chart to zoom into a data set. To zoom back out, click Show All in the chart.

Viewing Switch Port Configuration

The Port Config page (Device Viewer –> Switch –> Port Config) lists all the ports on the chosen switch, the VLAN provisioned for each port, and basic information such as the port state, the Port Fast state, and the administrative and operational state of each switch port (Up or Down). Non-normal data appears in red. The port state can show one of five different values: forwarding, in which the port is sending and receiving user data; learning, in which the switch is building the bridging table; listening, in which the switch port is sending and receiving bridging PDUs in an effort to determine the active switching topology; blocking, where the port is only allowed to receive bridging PDUs but otherwise passes no user traffic; and disabled, in which the port is administratively down.
In a stable spanning tree network, only Blocking and Forwarding states will typically be seen. The Forwarding state is the only state in which the switch port transmits user data PDUs
The Interface column provides links to the Interface viewer for every switch port. The VLAN ID and VLAN Name columns column provides links to the VLAN viewer, in which you see the list of devices participating in the VLAN.

Viewing Switch Port Forwarding Status

This page provides a quick view of the forwarding configuration for all switch ports in the current device. The Forwarding page lists the VLAN ID, local interface IDs, MAC address, IP address, neighboring device name and device type, and the neighboring interface ID for each switchport in the current device. Each Local Interface and neighboring Interface listing is a link to the Interface Viewer for the port.



Inspecting Wireless Infrastructure

The Wireless section (Device Viewer –> Wireless section) provides information about a wireless access point when displayed in the Device Viewer. This accordion menu appears in the Device Viewer only when a wireless access point device is detected and added to the managed complement of devices.

Viewing Wireless Access Point Configuration

The Config page displays information about the selected wireless access point device. Information includes:

For devices running Aironet or Cisco IOS based software, the page displays information about the auxiliary SSID configuration and algorithms used on the device.

Viewing Access Points SSIDs (Service Set Identifiers)

The SSIDs page lists the service set identifiers defined on the current wireless access point device. The SSID is a unique identifier that wireless networking devices use to establish and maintain wireless connectivity. Multiple access points on a network or subnetwork may use the same SSIDs. As an example, Cisco Aironet devices support up to 16 SSIDs and support different configuration settings for each SSID. All SSIDs are simultaneously active; depending on configuration, wireless client devices can associate to the access point using any SSID. Data points include:


Viewing Access Points Authentication Settings

Collecting Troubleshooting Data.



Note: The General Settings page can be accessed only by users with the Admin role.

The Device Group Membership section lists the device groups of which the device is a member.
The Device Group Settings section lists the settings for the highest ranking device group that includes the device as a member, and a number of scanning and discovery-related statuses specific to the device, including the following:

In all cases, a state of N/A indicates either the device has not been fully discovered and cannot currently support the feature, or the feature does not apply to the device.

Note: You can define individual devices' SNMP and CLI credentials. For more information, see Adding and Testing SNMP Credentials for a Device and Adding and Testing CLI Credentials for a Device.

Changing Device Settings
To rename a device: Type a new name in the Name field, then click the Update Device button. You can also define the network through which the device will be managed by NetMRI, change its discovered device type. and change the device's data collection settings.

By choosing a different Management Address, the associated NetMRI appliance uses the scan interface on which the Management IP is defined. This feature is useful for devices that participate in multiple network views, as it enables the administrator to define which network view the device is managed through. (In many cases the Management Address list shows only a single network view such as the default Network 1; in these cases, all available addresses exist only in the single network view.)

NetMRI attempts to determine the device Type when the device is first discovered. If this determination is incorrect, you can override the device type as described above. To change the device type determined by NetMRI, open the Type list, click the correct device type, then click the Update Device button.
If a device matching the new type already exists for this IP address, NetMRI deletes the current device and no further action is allowed in the current Device Viewer window.

Note: The Type list shows only the device types known to NetMRI. If no appropriate type exists in the list for the current device, please contact Infoblox Technical Support so they can add that type to the automatic discovery process.

To stop collecting SNMP data from the device: Set the SNMP Status option to Disabled, then click Update Device.

To show or hide passwords: In the Show Passwords field, select Yes (to show) or No (to obscure).
To change the community string: Type the correct string in the RO Community field, then click Update Device.
NetMRI automatically attempts to determine the SNMP community string for each discovered device, and periodically checks the community string to determine whether the string has changed.

Note: If the SNMP community string cannot be determined, enter it in the RO Community field as described above, or add it in the Settings icon –> Setup –> Credentials page.

To specify the SNMP version understood by the device: Choose the correct SNMP Version option, then click Update Device.
To specify whether a configuration change is authorized for the device: Select the appropriate Config Change option, then click Update Device.
By default, Config Change is set to Group Default (i.e., configuration authorization is inherited from the group settings). If the device's Config Change setting should differ from the group, select Locked or Unlocked, as appropriate.
To enter the correct reboot time: Type the time (in YYYY-mm-dd hh:min:ss syntax) in the Reboot Time field, then click Update Device.
The SNMP sysUpTime counter wraps back to zero at about 497 days, making it difficult to determine exactly how long the device has been operating. Use the Reboot Time field to record the true uptime, as described above.
To remove the device from the network database: Click Delete Device, then click OK in the confirmation window. This deletes the device and closes the Device Viewer window.

Note: When a network device is not responding, NetMRI generates an issue indicating the device is down. If the device has actually been removed from the network, or its address has been changed, remove the device from the network database as described above.

If a non-network device (e.g., workstation, printer) doesn't appear in the network-wide ARP table during a given day and NetMRI can't contact during that day, the device is automatically removed from the database. Further, any device (regardless of type) is removed from the database if the appliance hasn't been able to contact it for seven days in a row.



Collecting Troubleshooting Data

On rare occasions, Infoblox Technical Support may ask you to collect information about SNMP communications between NetMRI and a device. You will then be directed to send the SNMP log to Infoblox for analysis.
1. Open the Device Viewer and go to Settings & Status –> General Settings.

  1. Set the SNMP Debug option to Enabled, then click the Update Device button.
  2. Allow NetMRI to run for a time (typically an hour or two) specified by Infoblox Technical Support.
  3. As directed, send the SNMP log to Infoblox for analysis.
  4. Set the SNMP Debug option to Disabled, then click the Update button.


Viewing a Device's Management Status

The Management Status page (Device Viewer –> Settings & Status –> Management Status) displays the same visual indicators as shown for the device in the Network Explorer –> Discovery page. Each discovery indicator shows a related status message.
Device credentials are a critical element in ensuring a device can be managed. You can add SNMP and CLI credentials to any individual discovered device. For more information, see Adding and Testing SNMP Credentials for a Device and Adding and Testing CLI Credentials for a Device.

Viewing Device Event Logs

NetMRI provides an intelligent interface to the selected device's event logs. Event logs are collected only for interactions that the device has with NetMRI.
The Logs page (Device Viewer –> Settings & Status –> Logs) displays logs documenting interactions NetMRI has had with the device.
To download the log: Click the Text hyperlink above the left corner.
After a moment, the browser will show a dialog requesting to download an archive file for the logs from the selected device. The archive contains a concatenated text file, with the logs from the last few days of device operation.
Device credentials are a critical element in ensuring a device can be managed. You can add SNMP and CLI credentials to any individual discovered device. For more information, see Adding and Testing SNMP Credentials for a Device and Adding and Testing CLI Credentials for a Device.



Checking Device Support and Collection Times

You can verify data collection activity in the Device Viewer. The Device Support page (Device Viewer –> Settings & Status –> Device Support) contains three tabs:

Licensed: Indicates whether the selected device is counted toward the limit allowed by the NetMRI license. A No listing indicates that NetMRI has discovered more network devices than the license allows.
Network Device: Indicates whether the device is considered one of the device types that are fully analyzed and eligible to be counted as a licensed device.

You manage data collection settings through Device Group configuration (see Creating Device Groups for information about group settings for data collection). For example, a simple Cisco router does not support VLANs, and its listing shows No under the Supported column, and a Last Collected: Never message in the Value column. In this case, NetMRI will not attempt to collect VLAN data as the device is not classified as a Switch. When NetMRI encounters a device that it classifies as a Switch but hasn't previously supported, the system will attempt VLAN data collection from the device. The Supported column will reflect No but the Last Collected value may reflect that data collection was possible.
Device credentials are a critical element in ensuring management for a device. You can add SNMP and CLI credentials to any individual discovered device. For more information, see Adding and Testing SNMP Credentials for a Device and Adding and Testing CLI Credentials for a Device.