Getting a Quick Start with NerveCenter - Preparing To Use NerveCenter - Adding Nodes to the Database -
Starting the NerveCenter Client      Working with Behavior Models

Adding Nodes to the Database

This section describes how to add nodes to the NerveCenter database and assign attributes to those nodes. You will verify your connection to these nodes by sending ICMP messages and listening for responses.

Later in this book, you will use one or two of these nodes to cause an alarm condition, which you can monitor in the client.

The following sections describe procedures for:

• Defining Nodes
• Querying Nodes

Defining Nodes

NerveCenter's database contains definitions of attributes for every device it manages. Generally, if you have a sizable network, you'll use a discovery mechanism to gather this information and populate the database. For now, however, you will enter definitions manually for one or two network devices. Defining nodes manually helps you understand the attributes associated with nodes, such as property group and IP address.

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   In order to complete the next sections of this book, at least one node must be a workstation -- either Windows or UNIX -- that contains one or more software applications. This node can be the one on which you installed NerveCenter. Additional nodes can be workstations or other network devices, such as routers, hubs, or bridges.

All nodes you define for this exercise must be running an SNMP agent for SNMP v1. As mentioned in Installing NerveCenter on page 7, this book does not include instructions for managing nodes using SNMP v2c or v3.

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  To define a node manually:

1. From the client's Admin menu, choose Node List.

   The Node List window is displayed. Note that it contains only one device -- the machine on which you installed NerveCenter.

   

2. In the Node List window, do either of the following:
   • To configure the node that appears in the list, select that node and select Open. Then, skip to step 4.
   • To define a new node, select New. Proceed to the next step.

     The Node Definition window is displayed. If you are defining a new node, the Name field is blank.

     

3. Type the name of the node in the Name field.
4. Select the MIB-II property group from the Property Group drop-down listbox. You can start typing the first few letters, and NerveCenter scrolls down to the first item that starts with the letters you typed.

   The property group you assign to a node determines which set of NerveCenter polls and alarms manage the node. The MIB-II group contains properties associated with the information you're going to monitor. By selecting the MIB-II group, you enable NerveCenter to poll this node for the related MIB attributes.

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      NerveCenter allows you to modify property groups by adding, changing, and removing properties. You can also create new property groups. This feature will be useful later as you create and customize behavior models to fit your network management strategy.

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5. Type the node's IP address in the New IP text field and select Add to add the address to the IP Address list.
6. Check the Managed checkbox. Otherwise, you will not be able to monitor this node.
7. Select Save, and then close the window.

   The node is added to the Node List window.

Repeat the above steps for every device you want to add to the NerveCenter database.

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   Instead of creating a completely new definition for each node you want to add, you can copy node definitions. In the Node List window, select a node you've already defined, right-click, and choose Copy. Then enter the information that is unique to the new node.

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Querying Nodes

After defining a node, you may want to query the node. To query a node, you can send an ICMP Echo request (ping) or SNMP GetRequest message. There are two reasons for doing this:

• To ensure that there is a connection with the node
• To obtain system information about the node

 
  To query a node:

1. From the client's Admin menu, choose Node List.

   The Node List window is displayed.

2. Highlight one of the nodes you defined and select Open.

   The Node Definition window appears.

3. Select the Query Node tab.

   The Query Node page is displayed.

   

4. If you entered more than one IP address for the node, choose the address you want to check from the IP Address drop-down listbox.
5. Select Ping.

   If the ping is successful, the Ping Result field displays the reply IP address and response time.

6. Select Get.

   If the command is successful, NerveCenter displays the node's description, its SNMP system object identifier, and length of time the node has been up (in hundredths of a second).

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      NerveCenter must know the node's SNMP version before it can perform a GetRequest message. When you define nodes manually, NerveCenter sets the version to SNMP v1 by default.

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If your commands failed to obtain responses, check to be sure that the node is turned on. If the ping was successful but the GetRequest was not, make sure the node is running an SNMP agent. You can also check the node's network settings to be sure its community name matches the name in its definition window.

If you want to do repeated communication requests, select Clear to empty the result fields before performing each operation.

When you are finished, repeat this process for the other nodes you've defined.