Release Notes - New Features -
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SNMP v3 behavior models

NerveCenter v3.7 ships with six new behavior models from Southernview Technologies designed to monitor system resources with the SNMP v3 entity, CIAgent from SNMP Research.

These new models are documented in the Behavior Models Cookbook. For additional information, contact Southernview Technologies, Inc., http://www.southernview.com, 877-795-7958, sales@southernview.com.

UNIX Registry replaced with XML

NerveCenter no longer uses WINDU's registry daemon on Unix. Instead, setup creates a file called NerveCenter.XML in the /opt/OSInc/conf directory during installation with the default values for all the NerveCenter keys.

The first time the NerveCenter Client (or Administrator) runs, NerveCenter creates a file with the default data for the user (UserName.XML) in the /opt/OSInc/conf directory.

During upgrades to NerveCenter 3.7, the install script imports the registry data to a flat file and parses this file for NerveCenter-specific data. All NerveCenter data under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE tree is converted to XML and written to the NerveCenter.XML file in the /opt/OSInc/conf directory. The install script also upgrades all previously installed NerveCenter components. (For exceptions to this upgrade, see Configuration settings lost during upgrades.)

Ovpa enhanced

The NerveCenter OpenView Platform Adapter (OVPA) has been enhanced to send more information to the NerveCenter Server so that Server can process node updates on the map more efficiently.

New scope for NerveCenter alarms

Users can now select a new scope when defining an alarm. NerveCenter transitions an Instance scope alarm if the instance number of the alarm matches the instance number of the trigger, regardless of the name of the base object.

Support for new SNMP v2c data types

NerveCenter 3.7 now supports the following new data types: Unsigned32 and Counter64. These values can appear in variable bindings and be used in Perl expressions.

IP filters applied for node import

IP Filters as specified in the NerveCenter Administrator can now also apply to nodes imported via the NerveCenter Client or via ImportUtil.

Backup files for NCDB and registry (UNIX only)

On UNIX, in case problems occur writing to the NerveCenter database and registry files, whenever database and registry changes are made, NerveCenter creates a companion file with a .bak extension that contains the data from the last successful write to the file. NerveCenter saves these backup files in the same location where the original files exist (db directory for NCDB and config for XML registry files).

Ordinarily, you will not see any backup files as NerveCenter immediately deletes these bak files -- unless the registry file or NCDB file cannot be written.

Setting node versions and security

Nodes can be set with a version (SNMP v1, v2, or v3). For any v3 node, the user can set a security level (Auth/Priv, Auth/NoPriv, NoAuth/NoPriv) and authentication protocol (MD5 or SHA) for NerveCenter to use in communicating with a v3 node.

NerveCenter polls v3 nodes using keys that are generated from this node-specific security data and the server's security data as specified in the NerveCenter Administrator.

New NerveCenter Administrator page to specify SNMP v3 node communication

The NerveCenter Administrator contains a new page to allow you to specify user, context, authentication password and privacy password to be used in generating keys for SNMP v3 communications.

From the Administrator, it will be possible to direct NerveCenter to update the keys of all v3 nodes, using the security data specified in the Administrator. When a key change operation is performed, NerveCenter pauses all polling of v3 nodes until it successfully updates the keys.

SNMP v3 operations logged

NerveCenter logs SNMP v3 operations to an ASCII file residing on the NerveCenter Server. This log includes activities (such as a key change initiated by the user) and errors.

In the NerveCenter Client, the Node List now includes a column for SNMP errors that monitor the current status of all nodes (v1, v2c, and v3). Possible error status values are: AuthKeyFail, PrivKeyFail, AuthPrivKeyFail, V3InitFail, ClassifyFail, TimeSyncFail, TestVersionFail, Configuration Mismatch, and AutoClassifyFail.

NerveCenter 3.7 supports these new built-in triggers for some SNMP v3 operations

The new SNMP v3 built-in triggers are based on RFC 2573, 2574, and 2575:

• SNMP_UNSUPPORTED_SEC_LEVEL -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because the requested security level is unknown or unavailable. The 32-bit counter, usmStatsUnsupportedSecLevels, is greater than zero.
• SNMP_NOT_IN_TIME_WINDOW -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because the boots and timeticks sent in the PDU appeared outside of the authoritative SNMP agent's time window. The 32-bit counter, usmStatsNotInTimeWindows, is greater than zero.
• SNMP_UNKNOWN_USERNAME -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because they referenced a user that was not known to the SNMP v3 engine. The 32-bit counter, usmStatsUnknownUserNames, is greater than zero.
• SNMP_UNKNOWN_ENGINEID -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because they referenced an snmpEngineID that was not known to the SNMP v3 engine. The 32-bit counter, usmStatsUnknownEngineIDs, is greater than zero.
• SNMP_WRONG_DIGEST -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because they didn't contain the expected digest value. The 32-bit counter, usmStatsWrongDigests, is greater than zero.
• SNMP_DECRYPTION_ERROR -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because they could not be decrypted. The 32-bit counter, usmStatsDecryptionErrors, is greater than zero.
• SNMP_UNAVAILABLE_CONTEXT -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because the context contained in the message was unavailable. The 32-bit counter, snmpUnavailableContexts, is greater than zero.
• SNMP_UNKNOWN_CONTEXT -- The SNMP v3 engine dropped packets because the context contained in the message was unknown. The 32-bit counter, snmpUnknownContexts, is greater than zero.

• SNMP_AUTHORIZATIONERR -- An SNMP v3 authorization error occured because there is a mismatch between one or all of the rows of vacmAccessTable and the packet. Reasons include: context name mismatch (vacmAccessContextPrefix); security model is not used (vacmAccessSecurityModel); incorrect security level (vacmAccessSecurityLevel); unauthorized to read the MIB view for the SNMP context (vacmAccessReadViewName); unauthorized to write to the MIB view for the SNMP context (vacmAccessWriteViewName); unauthorized to notify the MIB view for the SNMP context (vacmAccessNotifyViewName)

NerveCenter 3.7 supports new built-in trigger

SNMP_ENDOFTABLE -- NerveCenter fires SNMP_ENDOFTABLE when it finds no more rows while performing an SNMP walk of a MIB table. For example, you could walk IfTable to determine the number of DSO interfaces a node contains.

Initializing SNMP v3 polling

Before SNMP v3 nodes can be polled, they must be initialized by NerveCenter.

Node initialization is done whenever the user changes some security parameter (authentication protocol, node version, or SNMP v3 passwords). NerveCenter also initializes SNMP v3 nodes when they are first added.

Smart Polling incorporates new node SNMP version feature

Before NerveCenter polls a node, it determines the poll's SNMP version using the poll data in the poll condition. NerveCenter does not poll a node when the node's SNMP version is:

• Less than the SNMP version of the poll.
• Unknown.
  (Although, the NerveCenter Server may send an SNMP request to try to discover the version of the node.)

Support for node classification

The NerveCenter Administrator enables users to enable and configure node classification. When node classification is enabled, NerveCenter classifies the SNMP version of all newly added nodes (discovered from a trap, added via the OpenView map, or imported). The Administrator also enables you to set the maximum SNMP version for which NerveCenter attempts classification.

Trap source configuration

NerveCenter setup asks users to configure trap options.

• Windows co-resident systems -- you have a choice of receiving traps from OpenView (OV). SNMP v1 and v2 traps will arrive from OV as v2 traps, and no v3 traps are forwarded from OV. When the user stops OVTrapD, and configures NerveCenter to manage port 162 (in which case no other application can get traps) then the Server will receive all traps.
• UNIX co-resident systems -- you must receive traps from OpenView ovtrapd. All traps from OpenView are SNMP v1 traps.
• Non-co-resident UNIX systems -- you have no choice but to use NerveCenter to receive v1, v2c, and v3 traps.
• Non-co-resident Windows systems -- you have a choice of using the Microsoft trap service and not receiving SNMP v2 and v3 traps. When the user stops the MS trap service and configures NerveCenter to manage port 162 (in which case no other application can get traps) then the NerveCenter Server will receive v2 and v3 traps.
  Note    Because HP OpenView does not yet support SNMP v3, whenever you shut down OVTrapD, OV's event list will not be updated with external traps or NerveCenter inform events. In this scenario, OV can only receive symbol updates.

  From the NerveCenter Administrator, users can change the trap source to MSTrap, OVTrap, or NerveCenter. Once you select the source, you must stop/start the related applications (such as OVTrapD), and restart the NerveCenter Server.

Version 3 Trap processing

NerveCenter processes all SNMP v3 traps provided that the user, context, authentication, and privacy passwords match NerveCenter's current values as specified in the NerveCenter Administrator.

NerveCenter processes v3 traps even when the Server does not contain the node. NerveCenter also discovers v3 (as well as v1 and v2c) nodes from traps.

Trap masks for v2/v3 traps are different than for v1. SNMP v1 traps require generic and specific numbers to be defined in the mask. SNMP v2c and v3 trap masks require that you specify a trap OID.

NerveCenter CLI support for v3

The NerveCenter command line interface (CLI) has been extended to support NerveCenter SNMP v3 enhancements.

Not all SNMP v3 operations can be performed from the command line, however. Refer to the section in the documentation that covers the CLI for specific commands.

ImportUtil support for v3

The NerveCenter ImportUtil application supports NerveCenter SNMP v3 enhancements such as password, user, and context changes. Node classification parameters (enable, retry interval, and so on) can be changed as well.

New option to clear pending triggers

Via a checkbox on the Alarm Definition window, the NerveCenter Client now enables users to automatically clear pending triggers for behavior models they have turned off or reset to the Ground state.

Unmanage nodes via Set Attribute alarm action

NerveCenter enables users to unmanage nodes via Set Attribute alarm actions. Once a node has been unmanaged in NerveCenter, models no longer apply to it; re-managing the node can only be done manually.

New CLI option for IPSweep

You can now adjust the default time to live (TTL) setting for IPSweep from the NerveCenter Command Line Interface (CLI). The new command line parameter is -ttl, where the valid value is between 0 and 255. The default value for -ttl is: 255 (128 for Windows 2000).