Administer > Administer the NNM iSPI Performance for QA > Manage QA Probes

Manage QA Probes

This topic includes the following sections:

Probe configuration form enables you to do the following:

  • Create a probe

    • Identify the type of test or probe to run on the node. For example, the QA probe service type, and Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) name etc. 

    • Define the duration details to run the test or probe. For example, the frequency, the life time of the probe etc.

    • Define the payload details (optional). For example, the size of the packet, inter packet delay etc.

  • Create a template for probe that can be reused and associated with any source and destination node
  • Deploy the probe, or save the probe details to a file and deploy at a later point of time
  • View the Real Time Line graph for the metrics of QA probes that are deployed successfully
  • Reconfigure the probes if the deployment for the configured probes fail
  • View the probe list and template list
  • View the pre-configured probes and launch the real time line graph (if required)

    The NNM iSPI Performance for QA supports multi-tenant architecture. Multi-tenant architecture establishes a node to tenant association and determines the nodes that can be accessed by the user. However, you can configure the QA probes for a source node irrespective of whether you can access the destination node or not. A user with administrator privileges can configure probes.

Tasks See
Configure Probes Use QA Probe Templates
Deploy Probes Deploy QA Probes
View Deployment Status View QA Probe Deployment Status
View Preconfigured Probes View Pre-configured QA Probes Available
Create a Template Create QA Probe Templates
View a Probe List View QA Probe List
View a Template List View Probe Template Inventory

View Pre-configured QA Probes Available

You can use the Preconfigured Probes tab to view the list of configured probes discovered and monitored by NNM iSPI Performance for QA. Also, you can launch the real time line graph for the probes.

To view the preconfigured probes list:

  1. Launch the Probe Configuration form.

    1. You can launch the Probe Configuration form from any one of the following ways:

      To launch from the Nodes Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Nodes.
      2. From the Nodes inventory, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from Network Overview

      1. Click Topology Maps → Network Overview.
      2. From the Network Overview, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the Interfaces Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Interfaces.
      2. From the Interfaces inventory, select the interfaces you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the IP Addresses Inventory

      1. Click Inventory → IP Addresses.
      2. From the IP Addresses inventory, select the required IP Addresses you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

    2. Select Actions → Quality Assurance → Probe Configuration.The Probe Configuration form opens.

  2. Select the Preconfigured Probes tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Probe Status

    The status that the QA probe returned. It can be one the following statuses:

    • Normal
    • Warning
    • Major
    • Critical
    • Unknown
    • Disabled
    • Not Polled
    • No Status
    Probe Name The name of the QA probe.
    Owner The owner of the QA probe.
    Source Host name The host name of the source node for which the QA probes are configured.
    Destination IP Address The destination IP address of the node.
    Service

    The service type of the QA probe. The valid service types are:

    • DNS
    • HTTP
    • ICMP Echo
    • TCP Connect
    • UDP Echo
    • UDP
    • VoIP
    • DHCP
    VRF Name The VRF name
    ToS The Type of Service specified for the probe.

  3. To launch the Real Time Line Graph for the probes:

    1. Select the probes and select the metric from the drop-down list.
    2. Select Launch Real Time Graph.
      The Real Time Line Graph opens in a new window.

Create QA Probe Templates

You can use the Template Definition tab to do the following tasks:

  • Define a QA probe template that can be reused and associated with any source and destination node
  • Edit or view an existing template
  • View the probe definition template based on the author name
  • Copy the template definition

To define a new probe template:

  1. Launch the Probe Configuration form.

    1. You can launch the Probe Configuration form from any one of the following ways:

      To launch from the Nodes Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Nodes.
      2. From the Nodes inventory, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from Network Overview

      1. Click Topology Maps → Network Overview.
      2. From the Network Overview, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the Interfaces Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Interfaces.
      2. From the Interfaces inventory, select the interfaces you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the IP Addresses Inventory

      1. Click Inventory → IP Addresses.
      2. From the IP Addresses inventory, select the required IP Addresses you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

    2. Select Actions → Quality Assurance → Probe Configuration.The Probe Configuration form opens.
  2. Select the Template Definition tab.

  3. Click New in the toolbar below the Template Definition tab.

  4. Select the author name to retrieve the template list based on the authors. NNM iSPI Performance for QA retrieves the author names defined in NNMi. The template list appears only if there is at least one existing template for the selected author.

  5. Specify the Protocol Details and Duration Details for the QA probe:

    Protocol Details

    Field Name Description
    Template Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the name of the new probe template.

    VRF Name Specify the VRF name.
    Service

    Mandatory information

    Select one of the following service types:

    • DNS
    • HTTP
    • HTTPS
    • ICMP Echo
    • Oracle
    • TCP Connect
    • UDP
    • UDP Echo
    • VoIP
    • PATH Echo
    • DHCP
    ToS Specify the Type of Service.

    Duration Details

    Field Name Description
    Frequency

    Mandatory information

    The frequency at which the probe must run the tests.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.
    Life Time

    Specify the life time of the probe.

    The default value is Forever.

    To override this value, click this field to enter the day, hour, and minute.
    Time Out

    Specify the maximum time period for the source node to wait for a response from the destination node.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.

    Based on the Service type that you selected, specify the following service details:

    DNS Details

    Specify the DNS address for the probe to resolve.

    HTTP and HTTPS Details

    Field Name Description
    Download Content Specify whether to download the content of the destination web page or not. Set the value to True or False.
    Proxy Server Specify the HTTP proxy host name if you want to use a proxy server.
    Proxy User Name Specify the HTTP proxy user name.
    HTTP URL Specify the HTTP URL that the probe must use.
    Proxy Port Specify the HTTP proxy port number.
    Proxy Password Specify the HTTP proxy password.
    Fail On Content Errors

    Specify whether to fail the probe if the download of the destination web page content is incomplete or is complete, but with errors. Set the value to True or False.

    Specify a value here only if Download Content field is set to True.
    HTTP Version Specify the HTTP version.
    HTTP Name Server Specify the IP address of the server to resolve the host name of the destination web page.

    ICMP Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    Oracle Details

    Field Name Description
    User Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the Oracle database user name.
    Database Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the name of the database running on the target Oracle server.
    Password

    Mandatory information

    Specify the Oracle database password.
    SQL Query Specify the SQL Query that the QA probe must run.

    TCP Connect Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    UDP and UDP Echo Details

    Specify the following information:

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    VoIP Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.
    Codec Type

    Mandatory information

    Select the codec type.

    PATH Echo Details

    Specify the packet size.

  6. Click Save in the Template Definition toolbar.

After you save the template definition details, the details appear in the template list.

You can select a template in the template list and open, copy, or delete the template.

Use QA Probe Templates

You can use the Probe Definition tab to do the following tasks for the selected source and destination nodes:

  • Create new probes
  • Create probes using a pre-defined template
  • Deploy the configured QA probes on the node
  • Copy the probe definitions

To create a new probe definition:

  1. Launch the Probe Configuration form.

    1. You can launch the Probe Configuration form from any one of the following ways:

      To launch from the Nodes Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Nodes.
      2. From the Nodes inventory, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from Network Overview

      1. Click Topology Maps → Network Overview.
      2. From the Network Overview, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the Interfaces Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Interfaces.
      2. From the Interfaces inventory, select the interfaces you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the IP Addresses Inventory

      1. Click Inventory → IP Addresses.
      2. From the IP Addresses inventory, select the required IP Addresses you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

    2. Select Actions → Quality Assurance → Probe Configuration.The Probe Configuration form opens.

  2. Enter the Source Node and Destination Node details.

    Source Node Details

    Field Name Description
    Hostname

    Mandatory information

    Specify the hostname of the source node for which you intend to configure the probes.
    Tenant Name

    Select an NNMi tenant from the list of tenants created in NNMi.

    NNMi provides a tenant named Default Tenant and assigns each newly discovered node to the Default Tenant and the Security Group attribute value configured for the Default Tenant. As an NNMi administrator, you can create new tenants and security groups. See Configure Tenants and Configuring Security in Network Node Manager i Software Online Help: Help for Administrators.
    IP Address Specify the IP address of the source node.
    Port Number

    Appears after you select the Service in the Probe Definition form.

    Specify the source port from which you intend to configure probes.

    However, this field does not appear if you select ICMP Echo service.

    Write Community String

    Specify the write community string to authenticate the source node.

    If you leave this field blank, NNM iSPI Performance for QA retrieves the SNMP Write Community String value from NNMi.

    Destination Node Details

    Field Name Description
    Hostname

    Specify the hostname of the destination node for which you intend to configure the iRA probes.

    IP Address

    Mandatory information

    Specify the destination IP address for the iRA probe.

    Port Number

    Appears after you select the Service in the Probe Definition form.

    However, this field does not appear if you select ICMP Echo service.

    Specify the destination port for the probe.

  3. In the Probe Definition tab, specify the following details:

    Protocol Details

    Field Name Description
    Probe Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the name of the new probe.

    VRF Name Specify the VRF name.
    Service

    Mandatory information

    Select any of the following service types:

    • ICMP Echo
    • PATH Echo
    • TCP Connect
    • UDP
    • UDP Echo
    • VoIP
    • HTTP
    • DNS
    • DHCP

    After you select a service, the Port Number field appears for the Source Node Details and Destination Node Details sections.

    However, the Port Number field does not appear if you select ICMP Echo service.
    ToS Specify the Type of Service.

  4. Enter the following Duration Details:

    Field Name Description
    Frequency

    Mandatory information

    The frequency at which the probe must run the tests.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.
    Life Time

    Specify the life time of the probe.

    The default value is Forever.

    To override this value, click this field to enter the day, hour, and minute.
    Time Out

    Specify the maximum time period for the source node to wait for a response from the destination node.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.

    5. Based on the Service type that you selected, specify the following service details:

    ICMP Details

    In the Packet Size field, specify the packet size.

    PATH Echo Details

    In the Packet Size field, specify the packet size.

    TCP Connect Details

    In the Packet Size field, specify the packet size.

    UDP Details

    Specify the following information:

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds

    UDP Echo Details

    In the Packet Size field, specify the packet size.

    VoIP Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds
    Codec Type

    Mandatory information

    Select the codec type

    HTTP Details

    Field Name Description
    Download Content Specify whether to download the content of the destination web page. Set the value to True or False.
    Proxy Server Specify the HTTP proxy hostname if you intend to use proxy server
    Proxy User Name Specify the HTTP proxy user name
    HTTP URI Specify the HTTP URL that the probe should use
    Proxy Port Specify the HTTP proxy port number
    Proxy Password Specify the HTTP proxy password
    Fail On Content Errors

    Specify whether to fail the probe if the download of the destination web page content is incomplete or is complete with errors. Set the value to True or False.

    You have to specify a value only if Download Content field is set to True.
    HTTP Version Specify the HTTP version
    HTTP Name Server Specify the IP address of the server to resolve the hostname of the destination web page

    DNS Details

    In the Address to resolve field, specify the address to be resolved.

    Oracle Details

    Field Name Description
    User Name Specify the user name
    Password Specify the password
    Database Name Specify the database name
    SQL Query

    Specify the SQL Query
  1. You can also create a probe using a pre-defined probe template by following the step below:

    Select the template in the Select Template list.

  2. In the Probe Definition tab, click Deploy to deploy a single probe. The Deploy operation performs the SNMP set operation on the selected source node.
  3. To deploy multiple probes, follow these steps:

    1. Click Add to add the probes temporarily to the Probe List table.

    2. Select the probes, and click Deploy.

  4. You can view the deployment status the QA probes that you configured in the Deploy Status tab.

  5. Alternatively, you can save the probe configuration details to a file and deploy the probes at a later point of time. To save the probe configuration details to a file, you must click Save in the Probe Configuration toolbar.

View Probe Template Inventory

You can use the Template List tab to do the following tasks for the selected source and destination node:

  • View the template definition in a new window
  • Delete the selected template definition
  • Select all the templates from the Template List

To access the template list:

  1. Launch the Probe Configuration form.

    1. You can launch the Probe Configuration form from any one of the following ways:

      To launch from the Nodes Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Nodes.
      2. From the Nodes inventory, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from Network Overview

      1. Click Topology Maps → Network Overview.
      2. From the Network Overview, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the Interfaces Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Interfaces.
      2. From the Interfaces inventory, select the interfaces you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the IP Addresses Inventory

      1. Click Inventory → IP Addresses.
      2. From the IP Addresses inventory, select the required IP Addresses you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

    2. Select Actions → Quality Assurance → Probe Configuration.The Probe Configuration form opens.

    You can view two tabs below the Probe Configuration form; Probe List, and Template List

  2. Select the Template List tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Template Name The name of the QA probe template.
    Service

    The service type of the QA probe. It can be one of the following:

    • UDP Echo
    • ICMP Echo
    • UDP
    • TCP Connect
    • VoIP
    • HTTP
    • DNS
    • DHCP
    VRF Name The name of the VRF.
    ToS The Type of Service specified in an IP packet header that indicates the service level required for the packet.
    Frequency The frequency at which the specific QA probe test must be repeated.
    Life Time The life time of the QA Probe.
    Time Out Maximum time the source node will wait for a response from the destination node before stopping the probes to run on the node.
    Codec Type The type of codec.
    Packet Size The size of each packet.
    Number of Packets The number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (milliseconds) The inter packet delay in milliseconds.

  3. You can perform the following actions:

    Icon Description
    Open Opens and allows to edit the selected template in the Template Definition form.
    Copy Copies the selected template that appears in the Template Definition form.
    Delete Deletes the selected template definition.
    Select All Selects or deselects all the templates in the template list.

Deploy QA Probes

You can deploy the probes using the Probe Definition or Probe List form.

To deploy a probe using the Probe Definition form:

  1. Enter the probe definition details.

  2. Click Deploy in the Probe Definition form.

To deploy the probes using the Probe List form:

  1. Enter the probe definition details .

  2. Click Add. This adds the probes temporarily to the Probe List table.
  3. Select the Probe List tab.
  4. Select the probes you want to deploy.
  5. Click Deploy in the Probe List form.

Alternatively, you can click Open in the Probe Configuration form. This opens a dialog box where you can specify to open a file with the probe configuration details. Select the Probe List tab, and select the probes to be deployed. Click Deploy in the Probe List form.

View QA Probe List

You can use the Probe List tab to do the following tasks for the selected source and destination node:

  • View the configured probe definition in a new window
  • Delete the selected probe definition
  • Open the selected probe
  • Deploy the selected probes on the node
  • Enable to select all the probes in the Probe List

To access the probe list:

  1. Launch the Probe Configuration form.

    1. You can launch the Probe Configuration form from any one of the following ways:

      To launch from the Nodes Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Nodes.
      2. From the Nodes inventory, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from Network Overview

      1. Click Topology Maps → Network Overview.
      2. From the Network Overview, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the Interfaces Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Interfaces.
      2. From the Interfaces inventory, select the interfaces you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the IP Addresses Inventory

      1. Click Inventory → IP Addresses.
      2. From the IP Addresses inventory, select the required IP Addresses you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

    2. Select Actions → Quality Assurance → Probe Configuration.The Probe Configuration form opens.

    2. You can view three tabs below the Probe Configuration form; Probe List, Template List, and Real Time Graph.

  2. Select the Probe List tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Probe Name The name of the QA probe.
    Source IP Address The source IP address of the node.
    Destination IP Address The destination IP address of the node.
    Service

    The service type of the QA probe can be any one of the following:

    • UDP Echo
    • ICMP Echo
    • UDP
    • TCP Connect
    • VoIP
    • HTTP
    • DNS
    • DHCP
    ToS The Type of Service specified in an IP packet header that indicates the service level required for the packet.
    VRF Name The name of the VRF.
    Frequency The frequency at which the specific QA probe test must be repeated.
    Source Port The source port from which the QA probes are configured.
    Destination Port The destination port until which the QA probes are configured.
    Life Time The life time of the QA Probe.
    Time Out Maximum time the source node will wait for a response from the destination node before stopping the probes to run on the node.
    Codec Type The type of codec.
    Source Hostname The host name of the source node for which the QA probes are configured.
    Destination Hostname The host name of the destination node for which the QA probes are configured.

  3. You can find a list of options on the left-side below the Probe Configuration form. Select any one of the following options (if required):

    Icon Description
    Deploy Deploys the selected configured probes on the selected node.
    Open Opens and allows to edit the selected probe definition.
    Copy Copies the selected probe that appears in the Probe Definition form.
    Delete Deletes the selected probe definition.
    Select All Selects or deselects all the probes in the probe list.

View QA Probe Deployment Status

You can use the Deploy Status tab to do the following tasks:

  • View the probe deployment status
  • Launch the real time graph
  • Select the probes to be reconfigured. You can only reconfigure probes whose Deploy Status is Failure.

To view the probe deploy status:

  1. Select the Deploy Status tab in the Probe Configuration form.

  2. On the left pane, you can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Total Count The total number of probes that you attempted to deploy irrespective of the status.
    In Progress Count The number of probes that are being deployed.
    Success Count The number of probes that were successfully deployed.
    Failed Count The number of probes that did not get deployed successfully.

  3. On the right pane, you can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Operational Status

    The deployment status of the probe. The valid statuses are:

    • In-progress: Indicates the SNMP set operation is in progress
    • Success: Indicates the SNMP set operation is successful
    • Failure: Indicates the SNMP set operation is a failure
    Source Hostname The host name of the source node.
    Probe Name The name of the QA probe.
    Owner The owner of the QA probe.
    Status Details Displays a message after successful deployment of the probe, or indicates the reason for failure in the event of failure.

    You can view the percentage of QA probes deployed irrespective of the deployment status in the status bar.

  4. You can perform the following actions:

    Icon Description

    Edit

    		 Allows to reconfigure the selected QA Probe details for which the deployment status is Failure.

    Launch Real Time Graph

    		 Launches the real time line graph in a new window for the selected probes and metric.
    Refresh Status Refreshes the details.

Maintain QA Probes

The probes that are discovered can be enabled, disabled, or deleted using the Probe Maintenance form.

The Probe Maintenance form displays the following four tabs on the top of the user interface:

  • Probe List
  • Enable Status
  • Disable Status
  • Delete Status

View the List of Probes

To view the list of probes:

  1. Launch the Probe Maintenance form.

    1. Click Quality Assurance workspace. The list of probes that are discovered in your network appears in the content pane.

    2. Select a probe and click Actions > Quality Assurance > Probe Maintenance. The Probe Maintenance form opens.

    3. Enter the following Node details:

      4. Field Name Description
      Hostname

      Select the host name of the source node.
      Tenant Name Specifies the NNMi tenant selected for the source node.
      Write Community String The write community string to use for authentication on the node.

  2. Click on the Probe List tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Probe Status The status of the QA probe.
    Probe Name The name of the QA probe.
    Owner The QA probe owner name.
    Source Hostname The hostname of the source node.
    Destination IP Address The destination IP address of the node.
    Service

    The service type of the QA probe. The valid service types are:

    • UDP Echo
    • ICMP Echo
    • UDP
    • TCP Connect
    • VoIP
    • DNS
    • HTTP
    • DHCP
    • Oracle
    VRF Name The name of the VRF.
    ToS The Type of Service specified in an IP packet header that indicates the service level required for the packet.

  3. You can perform one of the following tasks from the Probe List tab:

Icon Description
Select All Selects all the probes.
Enable Enables the selected probes and resumes the suspended operation.
Disable Disables the selected probes and suspends the operation.
Delete Deletes the selected probes from the device.

View Probes with Enabled Status

You can use the Enable Status tab to do the following tasks for the selected source and destination node:

  • View the probes that are enabled
  • View the percentage of QA probes enabled in the status bar

To access the probes that are enabled:

  1. Launch the Probe Maintenance form.

    1. Click Quality Assurance workspace. The list of probes that are discovered in your network appears in the content pane.

    2. Select a probe and click Actions > Quality Assurance > Probe Maintenance. The Probe Maintenance form opens.

    3. Enter the following Node details:

      4. Field Name Description
      Hostname

      Select the host name of the source node.
      Tenant Name Specifies the NNMi tenant selected for the source node.
      Write Community String The write community string to use for authentication on the node.

  2. Click on the Enable Status tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Operational Status The operational status of the QA probe.
    Source Hostname The hostname of the source node.
    Probe Name The name of the QA probe.
    Owner The QA probe owner name.
    Status Details The status of the QA probe.

    You can view a status bar which displays the percentage of QA probes that are enabled.

View Probes with Disabled Status

You can use the Disable Status tab to do the following tasks for the selected source and destination node:

  • View the disable status

  • View the percentage of QA probes disabled in the status bar

To access the probe list:

  1. Launch the Probe Maintenance form.

    1. Click Quality Assurance workspace. The list of probes that are discovered in your network appears in the content pane.

    2. Select a probe and click Actions > Quality Assurance > Probe Maintenance. The Probe Maintenance form opens.

    3. Enter the following Node details:

      4. Field Name Description
      Hostname

      Select the host name of the source node.
      Tenant Name Specifies the NNMi tenant selected for the source node.
      Write Community String The write community string to use for authentication on the node.

  2. Click on the Disable Status tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Operational Status The operational status of the QA probe.
    Source Hostname The hostname of the source node.
    Probe Name The name of the QA probe.
    Owner The QA probe owner name.
    Status Details The status of the QA probe.

    You can view a status bar which displays the percentage of QA probes that are disabled.

View Deleted Probes

You can use the Delete Status tab to do the following tasks for the selected source and destination node:

  • View the deletion status

  • View the percentage of QA probes deleted in the status bar

To access the probe list:

  1. Launch the Probe Maintenance form.

    1. Click Quality Assurance workspace. The list of probes that are discovered in your network appears in the content pane.

    2. Select a probe and click Actions > Quality Assurance > Probe Maintenance. The Probe Maintenance form opens.

    3. Enter the following Node details:

      4. Field Name Description
      Hostname

      Select the host name of the source node.
      Tenant Name Specifies the NNMi tenant selected for the source node.
      Write Community String The write community string to use for authentication on the node.

  2. Click on the Delete Status tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Operational Status The operational status of the node.
    Source Hostname The hostname of the source node.
    Probe Name The name of the QA probe.
    Owner The QA probe owner name.
    Status Details The status of the QA probe.

    You can view a status bar which displays the percentage of QA probes that are deleted.

Manage QA Probes using Command Line Utility

You can use nmsqaprobeconfig.ovpl command to configure QA probes on a node for the following test types or services:

  • ICMP Echo
  • UDP
  • UDP Echo
  • TCP Connect
  • HTTP (supported by Cisco, Juniper, and iRA)
  • HTTPS (supported by iRA only)
  • Oracle (supported by iRA only)
  • DNS (supported by Cisco and iRA)
  • DHCP (supported by Cisco and iRA)
  • VoIP (supported by Cisco only)

Usage

For NNM iSPI Performance for QA

nmsqaprobeconfig.ovpl -u <username> -p <password> -c <write community string> -n <hostname> -da <destination address> -tn <test name> -fr <test frequency> -tt icmp_echo [-htn <Host Tenant Name> -da <destination address> -dp <destination port> -sa <source address>] [-si <source interface name>] [-sp <source port>] [-vn <VRF name>] [-tos <type of service>] [-lt <test life time in seconds>] [-to <test time out in milliseconds>] [-ps <packet size>] [-pn <number of packets> [-pd <inter packet delay in milliseconds>] [-ct <Cdec type>]

Option -dp is not valid for ICMP Echo.

Option -ct is valid only for VoIP tests.

For iRA

nmsqaprobeconfig.ovpl -u <username> -p <password> -c <write community string> -n <hostname> -da <destination address> -tn <test name> -fr <test frequency> -tt icmp_echo [-htn <Host Tenant Name> -da <destination address> -dp <destination port> -sa <source address>] [-si <source interface name>] [-sp <source port>] [-lt <test life time in seconds>] [-to <test time out in milliseconds>] [-ps <packet size>] [-pn <number of packets> [-pd <inter packet delay in milliseconds>]

Option -dp is not valid for ICMP Echo.

Parameters

  • -u <username>: Type the user name.
  • -p <password>: Type the password.
  • -c <write community string>: Type the write community string to use for authentication on the remote node. If you leave this field blank, the value is retrieved from NNMi.
  • -n <hostname>: Type the host name of the node. This is a required parameter.
  • -tn <test name>: Type the name of the probe.This is a required parameter.
  • -tt <test type>: Type the test type or service for which you want to configure QA probes. This is a required parameter.
    • The valid test types for NNM iSPI Performance for QA are icmp_echo, udp_echo, http, dns, dhcp, tcp_connect, udp, and voip.
    • The valid test types for iRA are icmp_echo, udp, udp_echo, tcp_connect, http, https, dns, dhcp, and oracle.
  • -fr <test frequency>: Type the frequency at which the specific QA probe test must be repeated in seconds. This is a required parameter.
  • -htn <host tenant name>: Type the tenant name for the host node. If you do not specify a tenant name, NNM iSPI Performance for QA uses NNMi default tenant.
  • -sa <source address>: Type the source address of the probe in the node.
  • -si <source interface name>: Type the source interface name of the probe in the node.
  • -sp <source port>: Type the source port of the probe in the node.
  • -da <destination address>: Type the destination address of the node for which you intend to configure QA probes. This is a required parameter.
  • -dp <destination port>: Type the destination port. This is a required parameter if you have selected udp_echo, tcp_connect, udp, or voip service or test type.

  • -vn <VRF name>: Type the name of the VRF.

    This parameter is not valid for iRA probes.

  • -tos <type of service>: Type the type of service.

    This parameter is not valid for iRA probes.

  • -lt <test life time>: Type the life time of the probe in seconds.
  • -to<test time out>: Type the maximum time the source node will wait for a response from the destination node before stopping the request in milliseconds.
  • -ps <packet size>: Type the size of the packet sent.
  • -pn <number of packets>: Type the number of packets sent.
  • -pd <inter packet delay>: Type the inter packet delay in milliseconds.
  • -ct <CdecType>: Type the codec type you want to configure the QA probes. The valid codec types are g711_u_law or g711_a_law or g729a. This is a required parameter if you have selected the voip service.

The probes configured will be discovered in the next discovery cycle.

-u <username> -p <password> are optional parameters.

Batch Upload of QA Probes

Use the following command to do a batch upload of a number of QA probes in NNM iSPI Performance for QA

nmsqaprobeconfig.ovpl -u <username> -p <password> -f <qa probe setup input file>

You can find the input file format qaprobeconfig.tmpl in the following directory:

On Linux: /var/opt/OV/shared/qa/conf

On Windows: %NnmDataDir%\shared\qa\conf

This file gives you the format to enter the probe configuration details and upload the QA probes.

While you enter probe configuration details for a specific test type or service type in the QA probe setup input file, the user needs to enter only those parameters that are required and delete the other parameters. However, you must specify the test name in the QA probe setup input file for all the test type or service type.

-u <username> -p <password> are optional parameters.

Manage iRA QA Probes

You can do the following to manage the iRA probes:

  • Define an iRA probe template that can be reused and associated with any source and destination node.
  • View the status of the deployed IRA probe.
  • View the list of configured IRA probes discovered and monitored by NNM iSPI Performance for QA.
  • Launch the real time graph.
  • Reconfigure iRA probes that failed to deploy.

For more information, see the following topics:

Create iRA QA Probe Templates

Use the Template Definition tab to perform the following tasks:

  • Define an iRA probe template that can be reused and associated with any source and destination node
  • Edit or view an existing template
  • View the probe definition template based on the author name
  • Copy the template definition

To define a new probe template:

  1. Launch the Probe Maintenance form.

    1. Click Quality Assurance workspace. The list of probes that are discovered in your network appears in the content pane.

    2. Select a probe and click Actions > Quality Assurance > Probe Maintenance. The Probe Maintenance form opens.

    3. Enter the following Node details:

      4. Field Name Description
      Hostname

      Select the host name of the source node.
      Tenant Name Specifies the NNMi tenant selected for the source node.
      Write Community String The write community string to use for authentication on the node.
  2. Select the Template Definition tab.
  3. Click New in the Template Definition toolbar.

  4. Select the author name to retrieve the template list based on the authors. NNM iSPI Performance for QA retrieves the author names defined in NNMi. The template list appears only if there is at least one existing template for the selected author.

  5. Specify the Protocol Details and Duration Details for the iRA probe:

    Protocol Details

    Field Name Description
    Template Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the name of the new probe template.

    VRF Name Specify the VRF name.
    Service

    Mandatory information

    Select any of the following service types:

    • DNS
    • HTTP
    • HTTPS
    • ICMP Echo
    • Oracle
    • TCP Connect
    • UDP
    • DHCP
    ToS Specify the Type of Service.

    Duration Details

    Field Name Description
    Frequency

    Mandatory information

    The frequency at which the probe must run the tests.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.
    Life Time

    Specify the life time of the probe.

    The default value is Forever.

    To override this value, click this field to enter the day, hour, and minute.
    Time Out

    Specify the maximum time period for the source node to wait for a response from the destination node.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.

    6. Based on the Service type that you selected, specify the following service details:

    DNS Details

    Specify the DNS address for the probe to resolve.

    HTTP and HTTPS Details

    Field Name Description
    Download Content Specify whether to download the content of the destination web page or not. Set the value to True or False.
    Proxy Server Specify the HTTP proxy host name if you want to use a proxy server.
    Proxy User Name Specify the HTTP proxy user name.
    HTTP URL Specify the HTTP URL that the probe must use.
    Proxy Port Specify the HTTP proxy port number.
    Proxy Password Specify the HTTP proxy password.
    Fail On Content Errors

    Specify whether to fail the probe if the download of the destination web page content is incomplete or is complete, but with errors. Set the value to True or False.

    Specify a value here only if Download Content field is set to True.
    HTTP Version Specify the HTTP version.
    HTTP Name Server Specify the IP address of the server to resolve the host name of the destination web page.

    ICMP Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    Oracle Details

    Field Name Description
    User Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the Oracle database user name.
    Database Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the name of the database running on the target Oracle server.
    Password

    Mandatory information

    Specify the Oracle database password.
    SQL Query Specify the SQL Query that the QA probe must run.

    TCP Connect Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    UDP and UDP Echo Details

    Specify the following information:

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    VoIP Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.
    Codec Type

    Mandatory information

    Select the codec type.

  6. Click Save in the Template Definition toolbar.

After you save the template definition details, the details appear in the template list.

You can select a template in the template list and open, copy, or delete the template.

Use iRA QA Probe Templates

Use the Probe Definition tab to do the following tasks for the selected source and destination node:

  • Create a new iRA probe
  • Create a probe using a pre-defined template
  • Deploy the configured iRA probes on the node
  • Copy the probe definition

To create a new probe definition:

  1. Launch the Probe Configuration form.

    1. You can launch the Probe Configuration form from any one of the following ways:

      To launch from the Nodes Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Nodes.
      2. From the Nodes inventory, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from Network Overview

      1. Click Topology Maps → Network Overview.
      2. From the Network Overview, select the nodes you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the Interfaces Inventory 

      1. Click Inventory → Interfaces.
      2. From the Interfaces inventory, select the interfaces you want to configure the QA probes on.
      3. Go to step b.

      To launch from the IP Addresses Inventory

      1. Click Inventory → IP Addresses.
      2. From the IP Addresses inventory, select the required IP Addresses you want to configure the QA probes on.

      3. Go to step b.

    2. Select Actions → Quality Assurance → Probe Configuration.The Probe Configuration form opens.

  2. Specify the Source Node and Destination Node details.

    Source Node Details

    Field Name Description
    Hostname

    Mandatory information

    Specify the hostname of the source node for which you intend to configure the probes.
    Tenant Name

    Select an NNMi tenant from the list of tenants created in NNMi.

    NNMi provides a tenant named Default Tenant and assigns each newly discovered node to the Default Tenant and the Security Group attribute value configured for the Default Tenant. As an NNMi administrator, you can create new tenants and security groups. See Configure Tenants and Configuring Security in Network Node Manager i Software Online Help: Help for Administrators.
    IP Address Specify the IP address of the source node.
    Port Number

    Mandatory information

    Appears after you select the Service in the Probe Definition form.

    Specify the source port from which you intend to configure probes.

    However, this field does not appear if you select ICMP Echo service.

    Write Community String

    Specify the write community string to authenticate the source node.

    If you leave this field blank, NNMi retrieves the SNMP Write Community String value from NNMi.

    Destination Node Details

    Field Name Description
    Hostname

    Specify the hostname of the destination node for which you intend to configure the iRA probes.

    IP Address

    Mandatory information

    Specify the destination IP address for the iRA probe.

    Port Number

    Appears after you select the Service in the Probe Definition form.

    However, this field does not appear if you select ICMP Echo service.

    Specify the destination port for the probe.

  3. In the Probe Definition tab, specify the following details:

    Protocol Details

    Field Name Description
    Probe Name

    Mandatory Information

    Specify the name of the new probe
    VRF Name Specify the VRF name
    Service

    Select any one of the following service types:

    • DNS
    • HTTP
    • HTTPS
    • ICMP Echo
    • Oracle
    • TCP Connect
    • UDP
    • DHCP

    After you select a service, the Port Number field appears for the Source Node Details and Destination Node Details sections.

    However, the Port Number field does not appear if you select ICMP Echo and DNS service.
    ToS Specify the Type of Service

    Duration Details

    Field Name Description
    Frequency

    Mandatory information

    The frequency at which the probe must run the tests.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.
    Life Time

    Specify the life time of the probe.

    The default value is Forever.

    To override this value, click this field to enter the day, hour, and minute.
    Time Out

    Specify the maximum time period for the source node to wait for a response from the destination node.

    Click this field to enter the hour, minute, and seconds.

    Service Details

    Based on the Service type that you selected, specify the following service details:

    DNS Details

    Specify the DNS address for the probe to resolve.

    HTTP and HTTPS Details

    Field Name Description
    Download Content Specify whether to download the content of the destination web page or not. Set the value to True or False.
    Proxy Server Specify the HTTP proxy host name if you want to use a proxy server.
    Proxy User Name Specify the HTTP proxy user name.
    HTTP URL Specify the HTTP URL that the probe must use.
    Proxy Port Specify the HTTP proxy port number.
    Proxy Password Specify the HTTP proxy password.
    Fail On Content Errors

    Specify whether to fail the probe if the download of the destination web page content is incomplete or is complete, but with errors. Set the value to True or False.

    Specify a value here only if Download Content field is set to True.
    HTTP Version Specify the HTTP version.
    HTTP Name Server Specify the IP address of the server to resolve the host name of the destination web page.

    ICMP Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    Oracle Details

    Field Name Description
    User Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the Oracle database user name.
    Database Name

    Mandatory information

    Specify the name of the database running on the target Oracle server.
    Password

    Mandatory information

    Specify the Oracle database password.
    SQL Query Specify the SQL Query that the QA probe must run.

    TCP Connect Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    UDP and UDP Echo Details

    Specify the following information:

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.

    VoIP Details

    Field Name Description
    Packet Size Specify the packet size.
    Number of Packets Specify the number of packets sent.
    Inter Packet Delay (Milliseconds) Specify the inter packet delay in milliseconds.
    Codec Type

    Mandatory information

    Select the codec type.
  4. You can also create a probe using a pre-defined probe template by following the step below:

    Select the template in the Select Template list.

  5. In the Probe Definition tab, click Deploy to deploy a single probe. The Deploy operation performs the SNMP set operation on the selected source node.
  6. To deploy multiple probes, follow these steps:

    1. Click Add to add the probes temporarily to the Probe List table.

    2. Select the probes, and click Deploy.

  7. You can view the deployment status the iRA probes that you configured in the Deploy Status tab.

  8. Alternatively, you can save the probe configuration details to a file and deploy the probes at a later point of time. To save the probe configuration details to a file, you must click Save in the Probe Configuration toolbar.

View iRA QA Probe Deployment Status

You can use the Deploy Status tab to do the following tasks:

  • View the probe deployment status
  • Launch the real time graph
  • Select the probes to be reconfigured. You can only reconfigure probes for which the deployment failed.

To view the probe deploy status:

  1. Select the Deploy Status tab in the Probe Configuration form.

  2. On the left pane, you can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Total Count The total number of probes that you attempted to deploy irrespective of the status.
    In Progress Count The number of probes that are being deployed.
    Success Count The number of probes that were successfully deployed.
    Failed Count The number of probes that did not get deployed successfully.

  3. On the right pane, you can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Operational Status

    The deployment status of the probe. The valid statuses are:

    • In-progress: Indicates the SNMP set operation is in-progress
    • Success: Indicates the SNMP set operation is successful
    • Failure: Indicates the SNMP set operation is a failure
    Source Host name The host name of the source node.
    Probe Name The name of the probe.
    Owner The owner of the probe.
    Status Details Displays a message after successful deployment of the probe, or indicates the reason for failure in the event of failure

    You can view the percentage of probes deployed irrespective of the deployment status in the status bar.

  4. You can perform the following actions:

    Icon Description

    Edit

    		 Enables you to reconfigure the details for the selected probe for which the deployment status is marked as Failure.

    Launch Real Time Graph

    		 Launches the real time line graph in a new window for the selected probes and metric.
    Refresh Refreshes the deployment status details.

View iRA Pre-configured QA Probes Available

You can use the Preconfigured Probes tab to view the list of configured probes discovered and monitored by NNM iSPI Performance for QA. Also, you can launch the real time line graph for the probes.

To view the pre-configured probes list:

  1. Launch the Probe Maintenance form.

    1. Click Quality Assurance workspace. The list of probes that are discovered in your network appears in the content pane.

    2. Select a probe and click Actions > Quality Assurance > Probe Maintenance. The Probe Maintenance form opens.

    3. Enter the following Node details:

      4. Field Name Description
      Hostname

      Select the host name of the source node.
      Tenant Name Specifies the NNMi tenant selected for the source node.
      Write Community String The write community string to use for authentication on the node.

  2. Select the Preconfigured Probes tab.

    You can view the following details:

    Field Name Description
    Probe Status

    The probe status

    A probe may return any of the following status:

    • Normal
    • Warning
    • Major
    • Critical
    • Unknown
    • Disabled
    • Not Polled
    • No Status
    Probe Name The name of the probe.
    Owner The owner of the probe.
    Source Host name The host name of the source node for which the probes are configured.
    Destination IP Address The destination IP address for the probe.
    Service

    The service type for the probe. The valid service types are:

    • DNS
    • HTTP
    • HTTPS
    • ICMP Echo
    • Oracle
    • TCP Connect
    • DHCP
    • UDP
    VRF Name The VRF name
    ToS The Type of Service specified for the probe.

  3. To launch the Real Time Line Graph for the probes:

    1. Select the probes and select the metric from the drop-down list.
    2. Select Launch Real Time Graph
      The Real Time Line Graph opens in a new window

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