Direct Collection is the gathering of configuration data from network devices for the purpose of building a network model (as opposed to the purpose of gathering performance metrics). NetIM performs direct collection by means of the following:

As NetIM attempts to build a network model through Direct Collection of device configurations, it stores statistics on the success and failure of those attempts. Those statistics, plus per-device settings in the Device Manager, make it possible to troubleshoot Direct Collection on a per-device basis.

This section includes the following topics:

This section explains monitoring the direct collection of device data using the Device Manager, which you access by navigating to CONFGIURE->Device Manager, and consists of the following topics:

In the Device Manager you can determine the SNMP and WMI collection status by doing the following:

You can determine device status by scrolling through the column headings in the Device Table. For example, to see if a device is active, you can check the Active column the Device Table, as shown in the following screen:

To view the SNMP collection status for a device, review the relevant columns in the Device Table listed in the following table:

To view the WMI collection status for a device, review the relevant columns in the Device Table listed in the following table:

 

The Views filter, located in the left-most frame of the Device Manager, is a powerful tool that supports quick monitoring and troubleshooting by vectoring into the Device Table with the following filter options:

If, for example, you wanted to see if any WMI devices failed collection, you would click that box in the View menu and only those WMI devices that failed collection would appear in the Device Table, as shown in the following screen:

You can then drill-down to the device page by clicking on the Device Name, as well as check the entire WMI collection history as explained in “Viewing CLI, SNMP, and WMI Collection History" or continue to filter WMI views for additional troubleshooting information.

For detailed CLI, SNMP, or WMI collection history, do the following:

The System Event Dashboard, which you can access from CONFIGURE->All Settings->Administer->System Event Dashboard, presents a log of the adapters and schedule chains that ran in order to perform Direct Collection of device data, as shown in the following screen:

Drill down by clicking the boxes, as shown in the following screen which shows SNMP devices that had incomplete collection:

For more information on the System Event Dashboard, see Using the System Event Dashboard.

The Collection Status page, which you can access from CONFIGURE->All Settings->Administer->Collection Status, provides a high-level graphic overview of collection status, as shown in the following screen:

The Collection Status page also supports click throughs to the Device Manager displaying a list of appropriately filtered devices automatically selected from the View frame. For more information on the View filtering display, see Using the Views Filter.

For more information on using the Collection Status page, see The Collection Status Page.

If you discover problems with direct collection, you can attempt to remedy them before contacting Technical Support.

This section discusses the following troubleshooting actions you can take to resolve problems with direct collection:

In the Device Manager, you can reset connection statistics for selected devices. After connection statistics are reset, every SNMPand WMIstatus 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).

To reset connection statistics, follow these steps:

To autoconfigure a device is to automatically clear and re-populate 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.

To initiate automatic configuration of one or more devices, follow these steps:

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.

Before using this table, be certain that connection was attempted.

Before using this table, be certain that login was successful.

The following procedure describes the basic steps for accessing a device and checking its sysName.