-
Cisco Prime Network Administration Guide, 3.10
-
Preface
-
Set Up Prime Network and Its Components
-
Manage the Prime Network Software Image and Backups
-
Manage the Prime Network Components: Gateway, Units, AVMs, and VNEs
-
Manage Network Elements (VNEs)
-
Manage Redundancy for Units and Processes
-
Control Device Access Using Device Scopes
-
Manage User Accounts
-
Manage the Database and System Data
-
Control Event Monitoring
-
Manage Workflows and Activations
-
System Security
-
Perform Advanced VNE Configurations
-
Device Configuration Tasks for Proper Modeling
-
Prime Network Log Files
-
Manage the Prime Network Registry
-
VNE Properties Reference
-
Index
-
Feedback
Table Of Contents
VNE Properties: Adaptive Polling
VNE Properties Reference
The following tables provide a list of all VNE properties. The tabs that are listed depend on the device type—for example, the vCenter tab is displayed only for Cisco Unified Computing System devices.
Step 1
Expand the All Servers branch, then select the required AVM in the navigation tree.
Step 2
To edit VNE properties, see Change a VNE IP Address and Other VNE Properties.
VNE Properties: General
To view a VNE's General properties, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties. By default it opens to the General tab. Table D-1 describes the fields in the VNE General properties dialog box.
Table D-1 Fields in the VNE General Tab
Name
Name of the VNE, which will be used as a unique key in Prime Network. It is also used for commands that manipulate the VNE.
Note
You cannot change a VNE name once you have created the VNE. To change the name you must delete and add a new VNE.
IP Address
Device management IP address of the network element. You can change the IP address of an existing VNE by changing it in this field. You must stop and restart the VNE to apply your change.
Type
Defines the protocol Prime Network will use to model the element, and the extent to which you want the element to be modeled. For information on how Prime Network responds when an NE is unreachable, see Change Settings That Determine Device Reachability. In the drop-down list, choose the VNE device type:
•
•
•
•
Scheme
Defines the VNE modeling components investigated during the discovery process and then populated in the VNE model. This enables the administrator to define different behavior for some network elements; for example, some network elements poll only with SNMP, and other network elements poll with Telnet. Soft properties and activation scripts are also attached to a specific scheme. By default, the VNE inherits the VNE scheme from the default scheme. Where more than one scheme exists in the network, the VNE loads the selected scheme.
•
•
•
•
For more information, see Choosing a VNE Scheme (Check Technologies and Device Types).
State
Sets the initial disposition of the VNE. Normally you should set it to Stop, especially if you want to verify the VNE configuration, or if you know the VNE is very complex and might need extra processing to complete the loading procedure.
Note
•
•
To move an existing VNE to the maintenance state, see Stop, Start, and Move VNEs to Maintenance Mode.
Unit
IP address of the unit that hosts the AVM for the VNE.
AVM
AVM ID associated with this VNE.
Version
(Existing VNEs only) Version of the VNE device driver being used.
Device Package Name
For existing VNEs, this is the Device Package that is installed on the gateway server. You can use this and the driver file name information to verify whether a newer driver is available, which might supply additional functionality. See Find Out if New Device Support is Available.
For new VNEs, this is a drop-down list that displays all available Device Packages. By default, the VNE uses the latest DP that is installed on the gateway or unit. After creating the VNE, you can update it to use new driver files as described in Change the Device Package a VNE Is Using.
Driver File Name
(Existing VNEs only) Name of the VNE device driver being used (this driver corresponds to the DP that is listed).
Notes on Generic SNMP VNEs
The generic SNMP VNE is a VNE that is not related to any vendor, can represent any vendor (with certain limitations), and provides lightweight management support for network devices. A generic SNMP VNE does the following:
•
–
–
–
•
–
–
–
–
–
•
–
–
If a VNE is identified as unsupported (because its type was not recognized), Prime Network gives the VNE a status of Unsupported. You can either leave the VNE as Unsupported or load it as a Generic SNMP VNE.
Every VNE in agentdefaults/da has the entry "load generic agent for unsupported device type," where you can set the value as true or false (the default). If the value is true, it sets 1.3.999.3 as the property. It looks for this property in agentdefaults/da/deviceTypes and finds sheer/genericda. It then skips the investigation of the device software versions and builds the VNE (generic SNMP) from the default version.
VNE Properties: SNMP
To view a VNE's SNMP settings, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties, and click the SNMP tab. Table D-2 describes the fields in the VNE SNMP properties dialog box.
Table D-2 Fields in the VNE SNMP Tab
Enable SNMP
If checked, enables the SNMP communication protocol so that the user can work with it. A VNE can have SNMP enabled or disabled at any time; however, when the Auto Detect check box is checked (in the General tab), it cannot be disabled.
SNMP V1 and V2 fields are available only when SNMP is enabled.
Read
SNMP read community status, public (default) or private, as defined by the user.
Write
(Optional) SNMP write community status, public or private (default), as defined by the user.
SNMP V3 fields are available only when SNMP V3 is chosen. Make sure you have performed the required SNMPv3 device configuration tasks listed in SNMP Traps and Informs—Required Device Settings.
Authentication
Type of authentication to be used:
•
•
•
User
Authentication username.
Password
Authentication password. This field is enabled if you choose md5 or sha.
Encryption
Type of encryption method to be used. These choices are disabled if you choose No authentication.
•
•
•
•
•
Password
Encryption password. This field is enabled if you choose des, aes128, aes192, or aes256 encryption.
VNE Properties: Telnet/SSH
To view a VNE's Telnet/SSH settings, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties, and click the Telnet/SSH tab.
You can find out if a VNE is using Telnet or SSH (along with the specific version) by opening the device properties window and click VNE Status. The VNE Status Details window provides details about the protocols. (You can open the device properties window from both Prime Network Administration (right-click the VNE and choose Inventory) and Prime Network Vision (right-click the device and choose Inventory.)
Table D-3 describes the fields in the VNE Telnet/SSH properties dialog box.
For examples of how to enter Telnet or SSH prompt information, see Telnet and SSH Login Sequences: Notes and Examples. For more information on SSHv2 host key algorithms, also see Notes on SSHv2 Public Key and Private Key File Formats.
Table D-3 Fields in the VNE Telnet/SSH Tab
Enable
Enables the communication protocol so Prime Network will investigate the network element. Checking this check box activates the other fields in this tab.
Protocol
Type of protocol to be used: Telnet (default), SSHv1, or SSHv2.
Note
Port
Port the protocol will use. This field is prepopulated depending on your protocol choice. If you are not using the default port, enter the appropriate port number.
•
•
Prompt and Run
The network element's expected prompt, and the string Prime Network should send to the network element (when the expected prompt is detected). The table shows the current settings; you can change the settings using the controls below the table. Entering a string in the Prompt field activates the Run field. After making your entries in the Prompt and Run fields, check Mask if you do not want the password entered as clear text. Finally, click Add to add them to the login sequence. Click Remove to remove any lines. Use the up and down controls to the right of the table to change the order.
Note
If you selected Telnet:
Telnet prompt information. The sequence (the order of the commands) must end with a line that includes only the prompt field. Prime Network VNEs can handle partial device prompts as well. For examples, see Telnet and SSH Login Sequences: Notes and Examples.
The Prompt field should contain the prompt expected from the device; the Run field should contain the response to the expected prompt. When entering the Run information, you must confirm the entry in the Confirm field. The values in Run and Confirm are displayed as clear text if you have not checked the Hide the Run value while typing check box.
If you selected SSH V1 or V2:
SSH prompt information. This sequence is usually shorter than the corresponding Telnet login sequence, because the username or password may already be sent during the process of establishing the SSH session. We recommend that you first use any SSH client application (such as UNIX SSH or OpenSSH) to determine the device SSH login sequence, and then enter that information.
Mask
Masks the password so it is not displayed as clear text in the Run and Confirm fields.
Add and Remove
Used to manipulate the order of the prompt and run strings.
User Name
Device name.
Password
Device password.
Cipher
Encryption algorithm to be used. By default, all methods are used.
•
•
•
Authentication
Authentication method; currently password is the only supported method.
User Name
SSHv2 username.
Client Authentication
Client-driven authentication method to be used.
password
Use a password to authenticate the client. Enter the password in the Password field.
public-key
Optionally, use public key authentication, which uses a key pair system in which the client application is configured with the secret private key, and the device is configured with the public (non-secret) key (of this pair). To create a pair of keys:
1.
2.
–
–
–
Server Authentication
Server authentication method to be used.
none
No server authentication. (This method does not do any authentication and is not recommended, because it poses a security risk for "man-in-the-middle" attacks.)
save-first-
authUses the public key that was used for the first connection attempt with the server. This method assumes the first connection was legitimate. (A security risk exists if the connection was compromised.) After the first connection, the server authentication method is changed to preconfigured, and the public key data is inserted as the preconfigured data.
preconfigured
Uses the server public key or fingerprint that was configured in the application event before the first connection was attempted. This is the default and is the recommended method. Selecting this method activates the Finger Print or Public Key field.
Select one of the following (and be sure to read the description, provided later in this table, of the Host Key Algorithm field):
•
•
By default, the SSHv2 Key, MAC, ciphers, and host key algorithms1 are allowed (enabled):
•
•
•
•
For information on how to change these settings, see Communication Security with Devices: SSH and SNMPv3.
1 You can select multiple algorithms by pressing Ctrl while choosing a method. If more than one is selected, the application will try to use all of the algorithms until one is accepted by the server. There is no priority in the way the algorithms are tried.
Telnet and SSH Login Sequences: Notes and Examples
When you add a VNE, Prime Network uses the specified communication protocol to connect to the network element and gather modeling and status information. You must provide the information Prime Network will need: the characters and order of the network element's expected prompts, and the string Prime Network should send to the network element in response (so that you can get to enable mode for Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE devices, and XML mode for Cisco IOS XR devices).
Before creating the login sequences, check for device-specific prerequisites and other details in Device Configuration Tasks for Modeling.
Note
After an SSH session is established between the VNE and the device, the VNE starts the SSH login sequence. This sequence is usually shorter than the corresponding Telnet login sequence.
This topic provides two examples (with complete procedures) that show how to enter Telnet sequences:
•
•
A Telnet sequence (the order of the commands) must end with a line that includes only the enable prompt (for Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE devices) or the router CLI prompt (for Cisco IOS XR devices). Not all device families will have the same Telnet sequence; this is especially true for Cisco IOS devices. For RAD ACE-2300 devices, because SNMP is used for device modeling, we recommend disabling Telnet to avoid unnecessary queries.
Telnet Login Sequence for a Cisco IOS Device: Example
This sample procedure describes how you could enter a Telnet sequence for a hypothetical Cisco IOS device or Cisco IOS XE device.
Step 1
Step 2
Note
a.
Note
b.
c.
Step 3
a.
b.
c.
Step 4
a.
Note
b.
c.
Step 5
a.
Note
Leave the Run field blank.
b.
Telnet Sequence for a Cisco IOS XR Device: Example
This sample procedure describes how you could enter a Telnet sequence for a hypothetical Cisco IOS XR device.
Step 1
Step 2
Note
a.
b.
c.
Step 3
Note
Note
d.
e.
Step 4
a.
Note
Leave the Run field blank.
b.
Notes on SSHv2 Public Key and Private Key File Formats
There are several file formats for public and private RSA and DSA keys. The same key can be written differently according to the format that is used.
This application officially supports the openSSH format. For more details, see http://www.openssh.com/manual.html.
Make sure that the keys you provide as input parameters are in this format. If they are not, you need to convert them to the open SSH format before applying them.
Use Case Example: When working with Cisco IOS, the public key is retrieved using the show crypto key mypubkey command. This format is not compatible with the OpenSSH format, and is not supported. There are several ways to convert the format.
The easiest solution is to use public key scan by the (free) openSSH application to retrieve the public key in the supported format. For more details, see http://www.openssh.com/manual.html.
Another option is to convert the files to the required format either manually or by using a script.
The following are examples of valid file formats.
RSA- private key-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----MIICWwIBAAKBgQDvdpW8ItfbSp/hTbWZJqCPmjRyh9S+EpTJ0Aq3fnGpFPTR+........TiOfhiuX5+M1cTaE/if8sScj6jE9A0MpShBrnDU/0A==-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----DSA private key-----BEGIN DSA PRIVATE KEY-----MIIBuwIBAAKBgQDNGO+l2XW+W+YtVnWSYbKXr6qkrH9nOl+.........7wO4+FR9afoRjDusrQrL-----END DSA PRIVATE KEY-----DSA public keyssh-dss AAAAB3.........HfuNYu+ DdGY7njEYrN++iWs= aslehr@aslehr-wxp01RSA - public keyssh-rsa AAAAB3...lot more...qc8Hc= aslehr@aslehr-wxp01VNE Properties: XML
To view a VNE's XML properties, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties and click the XML tab. XML is used by some devices such as those that use Cisco IOS XR. Table D-4 describes the fields in the VNE XML properties dialog box.
Table D-4 Fields in the VNE XML Tab
Enable
Enables the XML communication protocol so Prime Network will investigate the network element. Checking this check box activates the other fields in this tab.
Protocol
Type of protocol to be used: Telnet (default) or SSL.
Note
Port
Port the protocol will use. This field is prepopulated depending on your protocol choice. If you are not using the default port, enter the appropriate port number.
•
•
Prompt and Run
The network element's expected Telnet or SSL prompt, and the string Prime Network should send to the network element (when the expected prompt is detected). The table shows the current settings; you can change the settings using the controls below the table. Entering a string in the Prompt field activates the Run field. After making your entries in the Prompt and Run fields, check Mask if you do not want the password entered as clear text. Finally, click Add to add them to the login sequence. Click Remove to remove any lines. Use the up and down controls to the right of the table to change the order.
Note
The sequence (the order of the commands) must end with a line that includes only the prompt field. The Prompt field should contain the prompt expected from the device; the Run field should contain the response to the expected prompt. When entering the Run information, you must confirm the entry in the Confirm field. The values in Run and Confirm are displayed as clear text if you have not checked the Hide the Run value while typing check box.
Mask
Masks the password so it is not displayed as clear text in the Run and Confirm fields.
Add and Remove
Used to manipulate the order of the prompt and run strings.
VNE Properties: HTTP
To view a VNE's HTTP and HTTPS settings, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties, and click the HTTP tab.
Table D-5 describes the fields in the VNE HTTP properties dialog box.
VNE Properties: ICMP
To view a VNE's ICMP settings, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties, and click the ICMP tab. Table 4-6 describes the fields in the VNE ICMP properties dialog box.
Notes on ICMP VNEs
ICMP VNEs are used to test the reachability to a device. For ICMP VNEs, Prime Network does not poll the device to create a physical and logical inventory. But to connect the ICMP VNE to another VNE and visualize a link on the map, the ICMP VNE must have a port in its physical inventory. Therefore, when Prime Network creates an ICMP VNE, it creates a physical inventory model that contains only an Ethernet port.
You can use static links to connect ICMP VNEs to other VNEs.
Prime Network will autodiscover physical links between the ICMP VNE and other VNEs if the following conditions are met:
•
•
To specify a MAC address for an ICMP VNE, use the following procedure.
Step 1
# cd $ANAHOME/MainStep 2
# ./runRegTool.sh -gs gateway-IP set unit-IP site/sheericmp/base/product/software versions/default version/spec/dcs/com.sheer.metrocentral.coretech.common.equipment.dc.Chassis/ethMacAddress mac-addressStep 3
VNE Properties: TL1
TL1 is used by the Prime Network Change and Configuration Management feature. To view a VNE's TL1 settings, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties, and click the TL1 tab.
Table D-5 describes the fields in the VNE TL1 properties dialog box.
VNE Properties: Polling
To view a VNE's Polling settings, right-click the VNE in the Servers drawer and select Properties, and click the Polling tab. This tab is disabled if you chose ICMP as the VNE type (in the General tab). In addition to controlling the intervals at which a network element is polled, this dialog box specifies the adaptive polling settings, which specify how a VNE should respond to high device CPU usage.
Note
Table D-8 describes the fields in the VNE Polling properties dialog box.
Table D-8 Fields in the VNE Polling Tab
Polling approach for model updates
Specifies whether to use normal or reduced polling. The reduced polling mechanism polls a device only when a configuration change syslog is received (which results in less polling overall). You can verify whether a device supports reduced polling by clicking the Supported on selected devices only link.
By default, reduced polling is enabled. For more information see Reduced Polling.
Always use reduced polling
Prime Network will define the settings based on the recommended offset of model fidelity vs. interference. If the device type does not support event-based polling, Prime Network generates a Device Unsupported event.
Use this when you want to be notified if the device type does not support reduced polling.
Used reduced polling if possible
Prime Network will define the settings based on the recommended offset of model fidelity vs. interference. If the device type does not support event-based polling, Prime Network uses regular polling.
Note
Use this when you do not want to be notified if the device type does not support reduced polling.
Use regular polling
Instructs Prime Network to proactively poll configuration data using a configuration interval (usually every 15 minutes). This means that even in extreme circumstances where events are lost, the VNE would be synchronized after a maximum of 15 minutes (not 24 hours).
Use this when you want the device to use regular polling regardless of whether its device type supports reduced polling.
Group
Use polling rates from one of the polling groups listed in the drop-down list. This allows you to apply polling rates more globally, to devices of similar type. By default, Prime Network uses Group (not Instance), and the polling group named default (which is provided out-of-the-box).
Note
Instance
Uses a user-specified polling rate created by changing the polling rates of any one of the built-in polling intervals displayed in the dialog box. When you select Instance, the Polling Intervals and Topology areas are activated. These settings are applied to only this VNE.
Note
Note
Status
Polling rate for status-related information, such as network element status (up or down), port status, administrative status, and so on. This is typically the most frequently polled information, reflecting the current operational and administrative state of the element and its components. The default setting is 180 seconds.
Configuration
Polling rate for configuration-related information, such as VC tables, scrambling, and so on. These reflect more dynamic element configuration such as forwarding, routing, and switching tables. The default setting is 900 seconds.
System
Polling rate for system-related information, such as network element name, network element location, and so on. These reflect element configurations that are less dynamic in nature. The default setting is 86400 seconds.
Layer 1
Polling rate of the topology process as an interval for the Layer 1 counter. This is an ongoing process. The default setting is 90 seconds.
Layer 2
Polling rate of the topology process as an interval for the Layer 2 counter. This process is available on demand. The default setting is 30 seconds.
VNE Properties: Adaptive Polling
Table D-9 describes the fields in the VNE Adaptive Polling tab.
Table D-9 Fields in the VNE Adaptive Polling Tab
Prime Network Settings
Uses the default settings for controlling VNE adaptive polling (see Adaptive Polling).
Device Type Settings
(Default) Uses the VNE adaptive polling settings specified for this device type (as delivered with Prime Network). If no setting exists for the device type, the Prime Network Settings are used.
Local Settings
Overrides the default settings and uses the values specified in the Upper and Lower Threshold fields. Any values you specify here are used only for this VNE instance.
•
•
You must click Apply and restart the VNE for your changes to take effect.
Thresholds
Upper Threshold
When CPU usage exceeds this value, the adaptive polling mechanism is triggered. The VNE switches to slow polling or maintenance mode.
Lower Threshold
When CPU usage drops below this value, the VNE moves to normal polling and related alarms are cleared.
Upper Tolerance
When upper threshold is crossed this number of consecutive CPU polls, move the VNE to slow polling. To be more conservative, enter a lower number.
(Using the settings in this table and in Table 12-4, this means the VNE would move to slow polling after 5 minutes.).
Lower Tolerance
When CPU utilization falls below the lower threshold for this number of consecutive polls, move the VNE to normal polling. To be more conservative, enter a higher number.
Maintenance Tolerance
When upper threshold is crossed this number of consecutive CPU polls, move the VNE to CPU-only polling. (This number will include the upper tolerance polls, which is 5 by default.)
SNMP Delay
Delay (in milliseconds) between SNMP commands that are sent from the VNE to the device.
Telnet Delay
Delay (in milliseconds) between Telnet commands that are sent from the VNE to the device.
VNE Properties: Events
Note
The VNE Event settings configures the VNE to listen to additional IP addresses. If your deployment has virtual entities that generate events, such as applications running on virtual machines, add the entity's IP address here. For example, if you are running Cisco Policy Manager (CPM) on a Cisco Unified Computing Server (UCS) and you want Prime Network to process the SNMP traps from the CPM application, you must configure the CPM application's source IP address as an Event-Generating IP Address in this dialog box.
If a device components that have IP addresses that are different from the management IP address, enter them here, especially if the device driver cannot automatically detect these additional addresses.
Traps and syslogs maybe dropped if any of the VNEs managed by Prime Network are configured in such a way that the following addresses are different:
•
•
To avoid missing any traps or syslogs, configure the VNE to receive traps and syslogs using both IP addresses. For Cisco IOS XR devices, if the device has a configured virtual IP address and the VNE was added using that address, the device can receive the traps and syslogs through the virtual IP address. You do not need to configure the source for the SNMP traps and syslogs.
Table 4-10 describes the fields in the VNE Events properties dialog box.
Enter the new address in the Enter IP Address field and click Add, and the new IP address is listed under Event-Generating IP Addresses. When the VNE is saved, it will be begin listening for events at the new IP address.
VNE Properties: vCenter
Prime Network uses the VMWare vCenter to obtain information about virtualization inventory and events information for Cisco UCS devices. Table D-5 describes the fields in the VNE vCenter properties dialog box. This tab is displayed after the UCS VNE is created. For information on the prerequisites and the overall procedure for creating UCS VNEs, see Cisco Unified Computing System Devices—Required Settings.
