Network Management as a Service

Discovery Profiles

The Discovery Profiles Screen displays all configured Discovery Profiles and is used to create, edit, and delete profiles. A Discovery Profile is used when discovering network devices. A Discovery Profile contains the parameters that are used by OmniVista when performing a discovery (e.g., SNMP version used to discover devices, CLI/FTP passwords needed to connect to a device).

Creating a Discovery Profile

Click on the Add icon to bring up the Create Discovery Profile Screen. Complete the fields in each section as described below, then click on the Create button.

General

Name - The profile name.
CLI/FTP User Name - The CLI Scripting (Telnet)/FTP user name that OmniVista will use to establish CLI Scripting and FTP sessions with the discovered devices.
CLI/FTP Password - The CLI scripting (Telnet)/FTP user name that OmniVista will use to establish CLI Scripting and FTP sessions with the discovered devices. Note that the user name and password specified will be used to auto-login to devices when CLI Scripting sessions are established. They will also be used to perform FTP with the device when configuration files are saved and restored.
Confirm CLI/FTP Password - Re-enter the CLI/FTP Password.
Secondary Password - Optional Secondary Password used to connect to devices.
Confirm Secondary Password - Re-enter the Secondary Password.

Note: If you do not define the CLI/FTP user name and password, and you attempt to save, restore, or upgrade configuration files for AOS devices, you will be individually queried for the FTP login name and password of each individual switch for which configuration files are being saved, restored, or upgraded. In addition, OmniVista will be unable to auto-login to the device when establishing CLI Scripting sessions.

SNMP

SNMP Version - The SNMP version used to discover devices (v1, v2, v3). (Default = v2)
Timeout - The time period, in milliseconds, that OmniVista will wait for a switch to respond to a connection request before assuming that the request has timed-out.
Read Community (v1 and v2 only) - The Read Community Name, which is used to read information from a device.
Write Community (v1 and v2 only) - The Write Community Name, which is used to write information to a device.
Retry Count - The number of times OmniVista will attempt to attempt to connect to a switch.
User Name (v3 only) - The SNMP version 3 user name.
Auth and Priv Protocol (v3 only) - Select the authentication protocol OmniVista will use for SNMP communications with the discovered switches (None, MD5, or SHA).
Auth Password (v3 only) - The password that OmniVista will use for the MD5 or SHA authentication protocol (if applicable).
Confirm Auth Password (v3 only) - Confirm the authentication password entered above.
Priv Password (v3 only) - The password that will be used as the secret key (if applicable).
Confirm Priv Password (v3 only) - Confirm the privilege password entered above.
Context Name (v3 only) - The unique context name for this context. (An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity, in this case OmniVista.)
Context ID (v3 only) - The unique context ID for this context. Each context must be identified by a unique context name and a unique context ID.

Note: If a device's Read and Write Community Names are "public" (Default), you can leave these fields blank (OmniVista uses the default name, "public" when the field is blank.) Read and Write Community Names are not configurable from OmniVista; they can only be configured by logging onto a device. Also note that when you use SNMP v3, Read and Write Community Names are ignored.

Advanced Settings

Trap Station Name - The device user name that will be used when an AOS device is configured to send traps to OmniVista. AOS devices require that a valid device user name be specified with the trap station configuration entry. If this field is left blank, the following switch user names will be used by default for trap station configuration entries:
- If OmniVista is configured to use SNMP version 3 with this device, the SNMP version 3 user name entered for the device will be used as the switch user name in the trap station configuration entry.
- If OmniVista is configured to use SNMP version 1 or SNMP version 2 with this device, the read community string for the device will be used as the switch user name in the trap station configuration entry.
Discover Link - Specifies how OmniVista will discover the physical links associated with the discovered devices. Links to other switches are displayed graphically on OmniVista's Topology maps.
- Normally - This setting is used for devices that support adjacency protocols, such as AOS devices. Adjacency protocols (such as XMAP and AMAP) enable OmniVista to discover the physical links associated with specific devices.
- As OEM Device - This setting enables you to use the new "end station search" functionality from the Locator application to automatically discover links for devices that do not support adjacency protocols. If this setting is used and the device does not support an adjacency protocol that enables OmniVista to discover physical links, the end station search algorithms used by the Locator application are invoked at each polling cycle to discover the device's links. All links discovered are displayed on Topology maps automatically.
Shell Preference - Specifies the default command line interface to be used for discovered devices. OmniVista's CLI Scripting application supports both the Telnet and SSH command line interfaces. SSH (Secure Shell) is a Telnet-like utility that provides encryption and is far more secure than Telnet. When the SSH setting is used, SSH will be used as the default command line interface for the device. If the Telnet setting is used, Telnet will be used as the default command line interface for the device (Default = SSH). Ensure that devices are capable of SSH before you use the SSH setting. OmniVista does not verify devices' SSH capabilities. All AOS devices are SSH-capable. (Default = SSH)
Use Get Bulk - Enables (Yes)/Disables (No) the "Get Bulk' operation. When enabled, the "Get Bulk" operation is used for retrieving large amounts of data, particularly from large tables. The Get Bulk operation performs continuous "Get Next" operations, each time requesting the number of table rows specified by the value in the Max Repetitions field (described below). For example, if the value in the Max Repetitions field is ten, each Get Next operation will request 10 rows of table data. Note that the number of rows of data actually returned by the switch will be determined by the amount of memory the switch has available at that time.
Max Repetitions - The number of rows of table data that the "Get Bulk" operation will request in each "Get Next" operation.

Editing a Discovery Profile

Select a profile from the Existing Profiles Table and click on the Edit icon. Update any fields as described above and click on the Update button. Note that you cannot edit a profile name.

Deleting a Discovery Profile

Select a profile(s) from the Existing Profiles Table, click on the Delete icon, then click OK at the confirmation prompt.

Profile Information

Basic Discovery Profile information is displayed in the Existing Profiles Table. Click on a profile to display detailed information.

Basic Information

Name - The profile name.
SNMP Version - The SNMP version used to discover devices (v1, v2, v3). (Default = v2)
v1/2 Read Community - The SNMP v1/v2 Read Community Name, which is used to read information from a device, if applicable.
v1/2 Write Community - The SNMP v1/v2 Write Community Name, which is used to write information to a device, if applicable.
v3 User Name - The SNMP v3 user name, if applicable.

Detailed Information

Name - The profile name.
CLI/FTP User Name - The CLI Scripting (Telnet)/FTP user name that OmniVista will use to establish CLI Scripting and FTP sessions with the discovered devices.
SNMP Version - The SNMP version used to discover devices (v1, v2, v3). (Default = v2)
Timeout - The time period, in milliseconds, that OmniVista will wait for a switch to respond to a connection request before assuming that the request has timed-out.
Read Community (v1 and v2 only) - The Read Community Name, which is used to read information from a device.
Write Community (v1 and v2 only) - The Write Community Name, which is used to write information to a device.
Retry Count - The number of times OmniVista will attempt to attempt to connect to a switch.
User Name (v3 only) - The SNMP version 3 user name.
Auth and Priv Protocol (v3 only) - The authentication protocol OmniVista will use for SNMP communications with the discovered switches (None, MD5, or SHA).
Auth Password (v3 only) - The password that OmniVista will use for the MD5 or SHA authentication protocol (if applicable).
Confirm Auth Password (v3 only) - Confirm the authentication password entered above.
Context Name (v3 only) - The unique context name for this context. (An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity, in this case OmniVista.)
Context ID (v3 only) - The unique context ID for this context. Each context must be identified by a unique context name and a unique context ID.
Trap Station User Name - The device user name that will be used when an AOS device is configured to send traps to OmniVista. AOS devices require that a valid device user name be specified with the trap station configuration entry. If this field is left blank, the following switch user names will be used by default for trap station configuration entries:
- If OmniVista is configured to use SNMP version 3 with this device, the SNMP version 3 user name entered for the device will be used as the switch user name in the trap station configuration entry.
- If OmniVista is configured to use SNMP version 1 or SNMP version 2 with this device, the read community string for the device will be used as the switch user name in the trap station configuration entry.
Discover Link - Specifies how OmniVista will discover the physical links associated with the discovered devices. Links to other switches are displayed graphically on OmniVista's Topology maps:
- Normally - This setting is used for devices that support adjacency protocols, such as AOS devices. Adjacency protocols (such as XMAP and AMAP) enable OmniVista to discover the physical links associated with specific devices.
- As OEM Device - This setting setting enables you to use the new "end station search" functionality from the Locator application to automatically discover links for devices that do not support adjacency protocols. If this setting is used and the device does not support an adjacency protocol that enables OmniVista to discover physical links, the end station search algorithms used by the Locator application are invoked at each polling cycle to discover the device's links. All links discovered are displayed on Topology maps automatically.
Shell Preference - Specifies the default command line interface used for discovered devices. OmniVista's CLI Scripting application supports both the Telnet and SSH command line interfaces. SSH (Secure Shell) is a Telnet-like utility that provides encryption and is far more secure than Telnet. When the SSH setting is used, SSH will be used as the default command line interface for the device. If the Telnet setting is used, Telnet will be used as the default command line interface for the device. (Default = SSH)
Use Get Bulk - Enables (Yes)/Disables (No) the "Get Bulk' operation. When enabled, the "Get Bulk" operation is used for retrieving large amounts of data, particularly from large tables. The Get Bulk operation performs continuous "Get Next" operations, each time requesting the number of table rows specified by the value in the Max Repetitions field (described below). For example, if the value in the Max Repetitions field is ten, each Get Next operation will request 10 rows of table data. Note that the number of rows of data actually returned by the switch will be determined by the amount of memory the switch has available at that time.
Max Repetitions - The number of rows of table data that the "Get Bulk" operation will request in each "Get Next" operation.