Monitor Wireless Interfaces

A few Monitoring configuration settings are required for NNMi to successfully monitor wireless interfaces. These setting ensure that wireless interfaces will be monitored even though those interfaces may appear to be unconnected.

To configure NNMi to monitor IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN interfaces:

1. Navigate to the Monitoring Configuration form.

   1. From the workspace navigation panel, select the Configuration workspace.
   2. Expand the Monitoring folder.
   3. Select Monitoring Configuration.
2. Navigate to the Interface Settings tab and Click the New icon.

3. In the Interface Group Settings form:

   • Configure an Ordering Number. Choose a small enough value (high enough priority) to ensure that wireless interfaces will match these settings first.
   • Choose the Interface group: WLAN Interfaces.

   • Enable  Enable Interface Performance Polling.

     Note The WLAN Interfaces group includes other types of wireless interfaces in addition to 802.11. If the default WLAN Interfaces group matches other types of wireless interfaces in your environment that you do not want to monitor, the unwanted types can be removed from the WLAN Interfaces group, or a new interface group can be created that only includes 802.11 interfaces (ifType: ieee80211).

   • Choose the Performance Polling Interval to establish frequency.
   • Enable  Poll Unconnected Interfaces.
4. Navigate to the Threshold Settings tab. See About Threshold Settings Provided by NNMi.
5. Click  Save and Close to return to the Interface Settings form.
6. Click  Save and Close to return to the Monitoring Configuration form.

7. Click  Save and Close. NNMi applies your changes. The amount of time required for this configuration change to take effect will depend on the number devices in the deployment with interfaces in the WLAN Interfaces group.

   Caution When you establish monitoring configuration settings, NNMi must recalculate the settings for all affected objects. This can take some time and slow down your system. Consider making this change during a slow time in your network environment

8. When the configuration settings have taken effect:

   • In the NNMi Console, select an 802.11 interface and click Actions > Configuration Details > Monitoring Settings to verify that fault and performance monitoring are enabled, with the desired polling interval.
   • Viewing 802.11 Metrics in Network Performance Server (NPS): see NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics and Wireless Interfaces.

Basics for Wireless Interfaces

Attribute	Description
Ordering	Enter a unique string (any length), characters 0 through 9. Consider using increments of 100 for the flexibility to insert additional items between existing items over time. NNMi decides which monitoring configurations apply to a node or interface based on the ordering number assigned to the configuration definitions. NNMi monitors the device according to the first match (checked from lowest number to highest number within each category). Categories are read in sequence. Click here for a description of the sequence. Interface Settings: NNMi monitors each of the Node's Interfaces and IP Addresses based on the first matching Interface Settings definition. The first match is the Interface Settings definition with the lowest Ordering number, then Baseline Settings. Node Settings: NNMi monitors each Node and each previously unmatched Interface or IP Address based on the first matching Node Settings definition. The first match is the Node Settings definition with the lowest Ordering number, then Baseline Settings. Note Child node groups are included in the Ordering hierarchy. This means that if the parent node group has a lower Ordering number (for example, parent=10, child=20), then the monitoring configuration specified for the parent node group also applies to the nodes in the child node group. To override a parent node group monitoring configuration, set the Ordering number for the child node group to a number that is lower than the parent (for example, parent=20, child=10). Default Settings: If no match is found for a Node, Interface, or IP Address in 1 or 2, NNMi applies the default Monitoring Configuration settings. No duplicate Ordering numbers are permitted. Each Interface Setting ordering number must be unique.
Interface Group	Choose WLAN Interfaces from the drop-down list.

SNMP Performance Monitoring for Wireless Interfaces (NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics)

Attribute		Description
Requires Network Node Manager iSPI Performance for Metrics Software (NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics). To populate performance data in the dashboard views or enhance NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics reports by sharing NNMi configuration settings, install the optional Network Performance Server (NPS).
LAN Performance Monitoring	Enable Interface Performance Polling	(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this attribute to extend the range of polling data that NNMi collects. NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics uses the additional data in a series of performance reports. See Purchase Network Node Manager i Smart Plug-ins and More for more information. When enabled, network traffic increases on your network because NNMi gathers performance data about each member of this group on a regular schedule. Configure this setting to  enabled, NNMi gathers basic Interface performance data from Interfaces in devices assigned to this level of the monitoring hierarchy. Note The Enable State Polling field must be enabled, too. By default the performance of connected interfaces and addresses is monitored. If you have unconnected interfaces that you want to monitor, expand NNMi monitoring behavior by enabling Poll Unconnected Interfaces.
Performance Polling Interval		(NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics) Use this field to set the time period that NNMi waits between issuing network traffic to gather performance data for the NNM iSPI Performance for Metrics. The default Performance Polling Interval is 5 minutes, except for the Node Group named Microsoft Windows Systems which is 10 minutes.

Extend the Scope of Polling Beyond Connected Interfaces

Attribute

Description

Poll Unconnected Interfaces

Configure this setting to  enabled, NNMi monitors all interfaces within discovered devices (both connected and unconnected). All interfaces are monitored for MIB-II ifAdminStatus and ifOperStatus. (ifAdminStatus is set by the device administrator. ifOperStatus indicates the operational status of interface health.)  Note The Enable State Polling field must be enabled, and SNMP polling of some type must be enabled (for example, Enable SNMP Fault Monitoring and Enable SNMP Performance Polling).