Designing and Managing Behavior Models - Importing and Exporting NerveCenter Nodes and Objects - Importing Node, Object, and Behavior Model Files -
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Importing Node, Object, and Behavior Model Files

With the NerveCenter import feature, you can copy definitions of nodes, objects, or behavior models from a file into another NerveCenter database.

Node files (.node) contain node definitions that have been exported to a file with the NerveCenter export feature.

Object and behavior model files (.mod) contain definitions of objects and behavior models. Object/model files come from one of two places:

• Object or behavior model files created using NerveCenter's export feature.
• Models files shipped with NerveCenter. These files reside in NerveCenter's model directory.

For more information about the behavior models shipped with NerveCenter, refer to the Behavior Models Cookbook.

When you import a behavior model, you are also importing the objects associated with that model. For every object/model file (.mod) there is a text file that contains descriptions of the objects in the model. (This text file is the only documentation for the .mod file.)

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   Any existing object with the same name as an imported object is overwritten.

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Whatever the source of your node or object/model files, and regardless of whether they contain individual objects or behavior models, you use the same procedure to import the contents of these files.

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   You can also use the utility ImportUtil to import behavior models. This utility is discussed in the book Managing Managing NerveCenter.

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  To import the contents of a node or object/model file:

1. If the objects you are importing use base objects or attributes not in the current NerveCenter MIB, add the necessary MIB definitions and recompile the NerveCenter MIB before proceeding. Adding MIB definitions is described in the Managing NerveCenter guide and NerveCenter Administrator help.

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      Any IP filters set in the NerveCenter Administrator also apply to nodes imported via a node file. For more information, refer to Managing NerveCenter.

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2. Move the node or object/model file to a location available to the destination NerveCenter server.

   On Windows, if the destination NerveCenter server is running as a service under the system account, copy the node or object/model file to a directory that physically resides on the destination server, because a service under the system account does not have access to shared files.

3. From the client's Server menu, choose Import Objects and Nodes.

   The Import Objects and Nodes dialog is displayed.

   

4. In the File Name field, enter the path of the node or object/model file.

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      Any existing object with the same name as an imported object is overwritten.

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   If you don't specify a pathname, NerveCenter looks in the server's current working directory. On Windows systems, this working directory is \Winnt\system32 if the server is being run as a service, and the NerveCenter Bin directory otherwise. On UNIX systems, the server's current working directory is always the NerveCenter bin directory.

5. Select the OK button in the Import window.

   NerveCenter imports the node or object/model file definitions into the new server's database.

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      If you are missing objects in a behavior model you have imported, you will have to update the NerveCenter compiled MIB file. Adding MIB definitions is described in the Managing NerveCenter guide and NerveCenter Administrator help.
   (For any models that you imported before you updated and recompiled the NerveCenter MIB, the missing objects will not appear until the alarms they transition are instantiated or until you re-import the model/objects.)

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