Interface Groups Action Menu

The Interface Groups page provides an Actions column, populated with a series of gear icons. Clicking each icon displays a shortcut Actions menu offering group editing features: for interface groups, View Members lists the interfaces within the group. Copy, Edit, and Delete perform their respective functions on the selected group.

Use caution when deleting interface groups; the Admin Down, Trunk Ports, Active Router Interfaces, and Switch Ports groups are built-in groups with NetMRI and should not be removed without first having developed new groups with the desired functionality to take their place.

You create and configure interface groups on the Interface Groups page (Settings icon > Setup > Collection and Groups > Groups tab > Interface Groups side tab). The benefits of using interface groups include the following:

• Collect performance data at specific time intervals for particular port types (trunk ports, VLANs of a specific switch, router interfaces of a specific type, or any other arbitrary designation).
• Use regular expressions to strictly define the interfaces that qualify to be part of the group, ensuring accurate group membership.
• Obtain flow connection information.

The table in the Interface Groups side tab lists all interface groups, with default sorting by Rank. Each row shows group configuration settings, with a green check indicating that the option is enabled, and a red X indicating that the option is disabled.

Rank determines the process settings for individual interfaces that belong to multiple interface groups. An interface is assigned the process setting associated with the highest-ranking group that includes the interface as a member.

To create an interface group, perform the following:

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.
5. Type a Membership Criteria expression. For more information, see Understanding Device Group Membership Criteria.
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 on the Interface Viewer > Settings icon > General Settings page.
   Frequency: Select the performance statistics collection interval. The default is set as Daily.

7. Click the Save & Close button.

or

Click the Save & New button to save/close the current group definition and start a new group definition.

• • To view a list of group members, click the View Members button for the group.
  • To edit a group, click the Edit button for the group.

To view a list of interface group members, complete the following:

1. Click the Action icon for the group, and choose View Members from the shortcut menu. A new browser popup window appears, displaying the list of member interfaces.
2. Click the Device IP for any device to open the Device Viewer. Each interface listing provides a link for its respective Interface Viewer and its VLAN Viewer, where applicable.

To copy a group (to use as the basis for a new group), complete the following:

1. Click the Action icon for the group, and choose Copy from the shortcut menu. The new group is initially named "Copy x of <original name".
2. Edit the new group's name and settings.

To delete a group, complete the following:

1. Click the Action icon for the group, and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
2. Confirm the deletion.

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.