Troubleshooting direct collection problems
If you discover problems with direct collection, you can attempt to remedy them before contacting Technical Support.
A best practice for troubleshooting collection problems is to start on the high-level Collection Status page and then drill down to the Device Manager.
Reset connection statistics
In the Device Manager, you can reset connection statistics for selected devices. After connection statistics are reset, every SNMP and WMI status and history for every device changes to unknown (a gray question mark), and remains unknown until collection is run again according to the defined schedule).
When you reset collection statistics, all historical direct connection statistics in the database are removed. The Device Manager will show unknown status for all devices until collection is run again (either initiated manually or by a schedule chain running with an appropriate adapter).
To reset connection statistics
1. Log in to the UI as a user with administrative privilege.
2. Choose Configure > Device Manager.
3. Select one or more devices of interest from the Device Table.
4. Click the action menu (
) at the top of the page, and select Clear.
5. Select Clear Collected Data. You are prompted with a warning.
This operation cannot be undone.
6. Click OK to delete all device statistics.
Autoconfigure devices
To autoconfigure a device is to automatically clear and repopulate its SNMP and WMI settings in the Device Manager. Assuming NetIM has network access to the device, it queries the Global Credentials List for one of several potentially correct login credentials, accesses and attempts to log in to the device, and repeats the process until a login is found to be successful. When login is finally successful, NetIM then ascertains additional settings for the device.
The technique of repeated attempts might be detected by a network security mechanism, which could result in the device locking out a particular username or blocking communication from NetIM’s IP address entirely.
1. Log in to the UI as a user with administrative privilege.
2. Choose Configure > Device Manager.
3. Select one or more devices of interest from the Device Table.
4. Click the action menu (
) at the top of the page, and select Collection. The following screen appears:
5. Select Auto-configure. A warning screen appears indicating that all existing access settings (username, password, login script, SNMP community string, and WMI credentials) and device driver associations will be erased and replaced.
6. Click OK to run autoconfig on the selected device or devices.
After Autoconfiguring devices, wait until the model is refreshed automatically.
Troubleshoot SNMP Collection
The SNMP Collection Status listings in the following tables match the columns in the device table of the Device Manager filtered by the Views menu, as explained in
Using the Views filter. Use the listings to troubleshoot problems with SNMP collection.
SNMP Collection status | Description | Next steps |
SNMP Collection Succeeded | NetIM connected, was authenticated, and queried the device’s MIBs by means of SNMP. | no action |
SNMP Collection Not Attempted | Alluvio Portal did not attempt collection. | |
SNMP Connection/Login Failed | NetIM could not establish a connection to the device, or could not log in, so Collection was not even attempted. | |
SNMP Collection Failed | NetIM connected and logged in to the device, but OIDs were not successfully queried. | |
Troubleshooting ‘SNMP Collection Not Attempted’
Possibility | Where to look | Resolution | Next steps |
The device’s Active flag was not set, so NetIM does not interact with it. | Device Manager > Active column | Set it in the Device > Action Menu > General > Edit check box in the appropriate tabs. | Wait until the model is refreshed automatically (by tomorrow). |
The device’s SNMP check box was not set, so NetIM does not attempt to perform direct collection by means of SNMP. | View/Edit Device > Action Menu > General > Edit > SNMP check box | Set it. | Wait until the model is refreshed automatically (by tomorrow). |
The v1/v2 Read Community String or v3 settings are missing. | Check Configure > All Settings > Global Discovery Settings | Verify that the community string for this device exists in the credentials list, and then see
Autoconfigure devices. | Wait until the model is refreshed automatically (by tomorrow). |
View/Edit Device > Action Menu > General > Edit > SNMP. Community strings always appear as ****, so you won’t know if a string is incorrect or missing just by looking on the SNMP tab. | Supply credentials by hand on this tab, or see
Autoconfigure devices. | Wait until the model is refreshed automatically (by tomorrow). |
Troubleshooting ‘SNMP Connection/Login Failed’
Before using this table, be certain that connection was attempted.
Possibility | Where to look | Resolution | Next steps |
SNMP v1/v2 or v3 settings are incorrect. | View/Edit Device > Action Menu > General > Edit > SNMP. Community strings always appear as ****, so you won’t know if a string is incorrect or missing just by looking on the SNMP tab. | Retype the community strings onto the SNMP tab if you know them. | Wait until the model is refreshed automatically (by tomorrow). |
Check Configure > All Settings > Global Discovery Settings and unhide the community strings, and then verify that the correct community string appears in the set. Then see
Autoconfigure devices. | Wait until the model is refreshed automatically (by tomorrow). |
Device is not reachable through network. | Check firewalls and network health. Verify that device is up and listening for SNMP on port 161. Use Wireshark to verify that packets are returning from the device. | | |
Device is reachable through network, but you’re not sure whether SNMP agent is returning requested OIDs. | | Verify that the device’s sysName can be queried. | |
Troubleshooting ‘SNMP Collection Failed’
Before using this table, be certain that login was successful.
Possibility | Where to look | Resolution | Next steps |
NetIM encountered unexpected SNMP response. | See
SNMP troubleshooting using the built-In MIB Browser and verify that the device’s sysName can be queried. | Set sysName on the device (which is required for correct operation of SNMP). | Wait until the model is refreshed automatically (by tomorrow). |
SNMP troubleshooting using the built-In MIB Browser
The following procedure describes the basic steps for accessing a device and checking its sysName.
1. To access any device’s SNMP agent, open a command prompt on NetIM core and run:
app.sh MIB_BROWSER
This is a UI-based utility. You must use X or an xrdp session.
2. In the MibBrowser’s Host and Community fields, enter the host name and read community string of the target host.
3. Press Enter and wait for the device’s MIB structure to load into the MibBrowser.
4. Navigate to and select the sysName variable in the MIB tree.
5. Click Get SNMP Variable in the toolbar.
See the result in the Display area. In this example, the sysName is NC-WIN-DVNES3.opnet.com.