[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Regions tab on the Communication Configuration form.]
Configuring communication protocols for regions is optional unless you want NNMi to monitor hypervisor devices that are authorized using CA Certificates - which requires configuration shared across an entire region (NNMi Advanced).
If you provide an SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c read community string or an SNMPv3 USM Setting for a specific device, NNMi honors your choice and does not try any Region or Default settings for that device.
Use the Regions tab to fine tune communication protocol usage and settings for particular regions of your network (for example, buildings, floors within those buildings, workgroups within a particular floor, or private IP addresses). When you leave a field blank in a region definition, NNMi uses the next applicable configuration setting in the following order:
- The value for each field as defined in the first Region definition that matches, Regions are checked according to the Ordering number. The match with the lowest Ordering number applies.
- If no Region definition provides a value for an attribute, the default value is used.
NNMi enables you to set up one or more SNMP Proxy Servers when an SNMP node is otherwise unreachable (for example, when a node you want to manage is behind a firewall). To enable NNMi to use the SNMP Proxy Server, when you configure communication protocols for network regions, you must include the IP address and port number on the SNMP Proxy Server.
To configure communication protocols for a particular region of your network:
-
Navigate to the Communication Region form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
Configuration workspace. - Select the Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To establish a region definition, click the
New icon, and continue. - To edit a region definition, select a row, click the
Open icon, and continue. - To delete a region definition, select a row and click the
Delete icon.
- To establish a region definition, click the
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
- Provide the required information. Define the regions with wildcard address, wildcard device names, or literal addresses and names .
- Click
Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form. - Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Communication Region form.]
To configure communication regions:
-
Navigate to the Communication Region form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select the Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To establish a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To establish a region definition, click the
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
- Provide the basic communication region definition.
- Make your configuration choices. Click here for a list of choices .
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
enabled, the Discovery Process and State Poller Service generate network traffic with SNMP protocol to discover and monitor your network devices in this region.
disabled, NNMi does not generate any SNMP traffic on your network in this region.
[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Included Address Range form.]
To configure an address range for this region:
-
Navigate to the Region Included Address Range form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To establish a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To establish a region definition, click the
- In the Communication Region form, navigate to the Included Address Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To establish an address range setting, click the New icon.
- To edit an address range setting, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To delete an address range setting, select a row and click the Delete icon.
- To establish an address range setting, click the
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
-
Provide address range definition.
If you provide multiple IP address ranges for a region, each device must pass at least one to meet the criteria.
If you provide both IP address ranges and hostname wildcards, each device must pass at least one in either category (not both) to meet the criteria.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Region form.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| IP Range |
To specify a range of IP addresses for this Communications Region, use one of the following. Pick one address notation style, combinations of wildcards and CIDR notation are not permitted within one address range. You can provide multiple address range settings:
|
Define the Communication Region with hostname patterns.
To establish a Hostname Filter setting:
-
Navigate to the Region Hostname Filter form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select the Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To create a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To create a region definition, click the
- In the Communication Region form, access the Hostname Filters tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To create a hostname wildcard definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a hostname wildcard definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To delete a hostname wildcard setting, select a row and click the Delete icon.
- To create a hostname wildcard definition, click the
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
-
Type an appropriate hostname filter.
If you provide multiple hostname wildcard expressions for a region, each device must pass at least one to meet the criteria for the Region.
If you provide both hostname wildcards and IP address ranges, each device must pass at least one in either category (not both) to meet the criteria for the Region.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Region form.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Communication Community String form.]
If more than one SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c "get" community string is used within this region, repeat this step any number of times. Order does not matter because all community strings defined for this Region are checked in parallel.
During initial discovery, NNMi tries many community strings until a match is found. After a match is identified for a Node, the information is recorded to prevent future authentication errors.
NNMi uses the SNMPv2c settings to discover the SNMPv2c information about your network. This also determines whether NNMi receives or discards incoming SNMPv2c traps. Click here for more information.
- If the incoming trap's Source Node (and sometimes Source Object, such as card or interface) has not yet been discovered by NNMi, NNMi discards the trap.
- If the Source Node was not discovered using SNMv3, NNMi discards any incoming SNMPv3 traps from that Node.
- NNMi discards traps that have no incident configuration or with an incident configuration set to Disabled. To ensure that NNMi retains all received Trap instances when your network environment includes SNMP agents using a variety of SNMPv1, SNMPv2c, and SNMPv3 protocol, you must configure two Incidents: one for the SNMPv1 version and one for the SNMPv2c/3 version of that trap.
-
If either the Source Node or Source Object has Management Mode set to Not Managed or Out of Service in the NNMi database, NNMi always discards the incoming trap.
NNMi provides the Management Mode workspace so that you can quickly view lists of all nodes, interfaces, IP addresses, chassis, cards, node sensors, or physical sensors that NNMi is not currently discovering or monitoring.
- NNMi discards most incoming traps from network objects that are not monitored. For example, you can configure NNMi to exclude specified interfaces from being monitored.
To provide a community string for this region:
-
Navigate to the Communication Region form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To establish a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To establish a region definition, click the
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
- In the Communication Region form, navigate to the SNMPv1/v2c Community Strings tab.
-
To provide a read community string, navigate to the Read Community Strings table and do one of the following:
If you do not provide any community strings, NNMi uses the default community strings.
- To establish a community string setting, click the New icon, and provide the required information
- To edit a community string setting, select a row, click the Open icon, and provide the required information
- To delete a community string setting, select a row and click the Delete icon
- To establish a community string setting, click the
-
To provide a write community string for this region, navigate to the Write Community String attribute.
If you do not provide any community strings, NNMi uses the default community strings.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Region form.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
| Attribute |
Description |
|---|---|
| Read Community String |
Note As an NNMi administrator, you can over-ride this setting and specify the Read Community String on a per-node basis using the SNMP Agent Form. The SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c "Get" (read-only) Community String that is used for this region (case-sensitive). If no values appear in this table, the default settings are used. Many proxy vendors use the read community string for specifying remote target information. NNMi supports substitution parameters within read community strings for SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c proxy environments.
 Click here for more information.
Copy and paste these codes at the end of your read community string to provide the values required by your proxy environment. NNMi substitutes the actual attribute values from the NNMi database at runtime: ${contextName} = Used for specifying VLAN context for switches (VLAN associated with the remote target node) ${managementAddress} = Node form, Management Address attribute value (the remote target node) ${snmpPort} = SNMP Agent form, UDP Port attribute value (SNMP agent associated with the remote target node) Type a maximum of 255 characters. Alpha-numeric, spaces, and special characters (~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _+ -) are permitted. |
| Ordering | Optional. During the Discovery process, NNMi tries Read Community Strings in priority order (lowest to highest). Then, NNMi tries all unordered Read Community Strings (treated as though they had the same Ordering number). These unordered requests are sent in parallel, with NNMi using the first response. |
| Write Community String |
Optional. For use with the nnmsnmpset.ovpl command line tool. The SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c "Set" (write) Community String that is used for the SNMP Agent for each node in this region (case-sensitive). Tip SNMP Agents are often configured with different community strings for "Set" requests than for "Get" (read) requests. SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c require that you know the SNMP agent's write community string before you can change settings on any device. The nnmsnmpset.ovpl command can use the value you provide here, rather than requiring that you type the write community string each time you invoke the command. If no value is provided here, the default settings are used. Type a maximum of 255 characters. Alpha-numeric, spaces, and special characters (~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _+ -) are permitted. Because this is a type of password, you must enter the value twice. |
NNMi can use SNMPv3 user-based security model (USM) settings to access devices.
To view the current list of SNMPv3 USM settings for a Region:
-
Navigate to the SNMPv3 Settings tab on the Communication Region form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select the Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To create a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To create a region definition, click the
- In the Communication Region form, access the SNMPv3 Settings tab.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
-
The displayed table lists the Unique Name of each SNMPv3 USM setting for this region.
NNMi tries to use the Specific Node SNMPv3 Settings. If none match, NNMi tries the Region SNMPv3 Settings provided here. If none match, NNMi tries the default SMNPv3 settings.
-
You can also do the following:
-
To establish a new setting, click the
New icon.Click
Save and Close to return to the Communication Region form. -
To edit an existing setting, select a row, click the
Open icon. Click
Save and Close to return to the Communication Region form. -
To delete a setting from the Region's list, select a row and click the
Delete icon.The record remains in the database for possible use elsewhere and is simply removed from this Communication Region's list.
-
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
Communication Region SNMPv3 Settings form
NNMi can use SNMPv3 user-based security model (USM) settings to access devices.
NNMi tries to use the current SNMPv3 Settings attribute value from Specific Node Settings. If none match, NNMi tries the Region SNMPv3 Settings provided here. If none match, NNMi tries the default SMNPv3 settings.
To configure an SNMPv3 Setting for a Region:
-
Navigate to the Communication Region SNMPv3 Settings form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select the Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To create a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To create a region definition, click the
- In the Communication Region form, navigate to the SNMPv3 Settings tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To create an SNMPv3 Setting definition, click the New icon.
- To edit an SNMPv3 Setting, select a row, click the Open icon.
-
To remove an SNMPv3 Setting from this Region, select a row, click the
Delete icon.The record remains in the database for possible use elsewhere and is simply removed from this Communication Region's list.
- To create an SNMPv3 Setting definition, click the
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
-
Click the SNMPv3 Settings
Lookup icon and select one of the options from the drop-down menu:-
Show Analysis to display Analysis Pane information for the currently configured (selected) SNMPv3 Setting name. -
Quick Find to view and select from the list of all existing SNMPv3 Settings. -
Open to display the details of the currently configured (selected) SNMPv3 Setting.
-
New to create a new SNMPv3 Setting.
-
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Region SNMPv3 Settings form.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Region form.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Device Credentials tab on the Communications Region form (and the Region Device Credentials form).]
NNMi uses the Device Credentials settings for the following:
- Device discovery of some vendor-specific devices that require non-SNMP communication, such as Netconf over SSH. For a list of the these devices see the NNMi Device Support Matrix.
-
Device Diagnostics
Requires Network Node Manager iSPI Network Engineering Toolset Software (NNM iSPI NET) and requires installation of a Diagnostic Server.
NNMi uses the following sequence to determine Device Credentials:
- Use the node-specific device credentials. If none match, continue.
- Use the Region Device Credentials (provided here). If none match, continue.
- Use the default credential settings.
To provide credential settings for this region:
-
Navigate to the Region Device Credentials form.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To establish a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To establish a region definition, click the
- In the Communication Region form, navigate to the Device Credentials tab.
-
Do one of the following:
- To establish a credential setting, click the New icon, and continue.
- To edit a credential setting, select a row, click the Open icon, and continue.
- To delete a credential setting, select a row and click the Delete icon.
- To establish a credential setting, click the
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
- Provide the attribute values of credentials for this region.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Region form.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
NNM iSPI NET uses the Default Credentials setting to access devices when running Diagnostics either automatically or when the Actions > Run Diagnostics option is used.
You can also right-click any object in a table or map view to access the items available within the Actions menu.At each level in the sequence to determine the Device Credentials (see bullet list above), NNMi first uses Secure Shell (SSH) to establish a secure connection, and if the SSH attempt fails, NNMi tries Telnet protocol as the communication method.
Caution By default, neither Microsoft Internet Explorer nor Mozilla Firefox defines the telnet command nor the SSH command, so using either of these menu items produces an error message.
[This is the Context-Sensitive Help topic for the Device Credentials tab on the Communications Region form (and the Region Device Credentials form).]
(NNMi Advanced) NNMi uses certificates to securely communicate with virtual machines running on hypervisors. By using the Trusted Certificates tab, you can upload trusted certificates that help NNMi create this secure communication channel. You can use one or more CA-signed certificates for this purpose.
By default, NNMi communicates with virtual machines running on hypervisors by using the HTTPS protocol. If your hypervisors are specifically configured to support HTTP communication, you can configure NNMi to use the HTTP protocol while communicating with virtual machines, and in that case, you do not need trusted certificates.
NNMi uses the following sequence to determine which certificate to use while communicating with virtual machines:
- Use the Specific Node Trusted Certificates. If none match, continue.
- Use the Region Trusted Certificates (provided here). If none match, continue.
- Use the Default Trusted Certificate settings.
To provide Trusted Certificate settings for this region:
Navigate to the Trusted Certificates tab.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
- Select Communication Configuration.
- Navigate to the Regions tab.
Do one of the following:
- To establish a region definition, click the New icon.
- To edit a region definition, select a row, click the Open icon.
- To establish a region definition, click the
- In the Communication Region form, navigate to the Trusted Certificates tab.
- From the workspace navigation panel, select the
Click
Upload Certificate. The Open window appears.Select a file to upload the certificate to the NNMi management server, and then click Open. The certificate information appears in a table in the Trusted Certificates tab. You can upload multiple certificates.
You can use only the following certificate formats:
.pem.crt.cer.der
If you upload multiple certificates at this tab, NNMi uses one out of all uploaded certificates to establish HTTPS connection with Web Agents.
The table in the Trusted Certificates tab shows basic attributes of all uploaded certificates.
- Select a file and upload the certificate into the NNMi database.
- Click Save and Close to return to the Communication Configuration form.
- Click Save and Close to apply your changes.
The table in the Trusted Certificates tab shows basic attributes of all uploaded certificates. To view additional information about each certificate, click the certificate in the table in this tab.