Using Threshold Manager

Threshold Manager provides an easy-to-use interface to access device-specific threshold settings. You can set thresholds for network devices using Cisco-provided, predefined default policies. These policies can be applied automatically to target devices. Threshold Manager also supports detailed customization of threshold settings.

Two types of policy files are available:

Threshold Manager is available only when CiscoView is invoked on devices that support RMON and have a Cisco  IOS image with RMON support built into it. The Tools menu is always enabled for non-Cisco  IOS devices such as Catalyst switches.

To start Threshold Manager from CiscoView, complete the following steps:

Step 1 Go to CiscoView - Main window.

Step 2 Select File>Open Device.

Step 3 Enter the IP address or host name from where Threshold Manager has to be invoked in the Host field.

Step 4 Enter the Read community string.

Step 5 Enter the Write community string.

Step 6 Click OK.

Step 7 Select Tools>Threshold Manager from the CiscoView menu bar.

The Threshold Manager window events list appears.

Each event occupies a single line in the Threshold Manager window events list and is displayed until one of the following situations occurs:

You can sort the event list by clicking on the field headers. You can also change the width of the columns by clicking on the dividers between the field headers and stretching the column to the desired size. If you are using UNIX, press the Shift key and click the middle mouse button while dragging the divider. If you are using Windows, click the left mouse button while dragging the divider.

The Single Event View dialog box appears, displaying complete information about a specific event. You use the Single Event View dialog box to determine what threshold settings in the RMON agent generated the event.

The Single Event View dialog box is divided into two panes: Profile Identification and Agent Log Information.

• The time the event was generated

• A description of the event

• The index number of the event

• The log index number of the event

Because the Agent Log Information pane contains information from the RMON agent log in the managed device, these values display whether a Threshold Manager policy file can be associated with the event.

• You launch an instance of Threshold Manager.

• The refresh interval ends.

• You request a retrieve operation.

When the application is operational, Threshold Manager automatically retrieves events from the RMON log at regular intervals. This interval is defined by the refresh timer parameter associated with that instance of Threshold Manager. This parameter is defined when you initiate a Threshold Manager session. The default is 360 seconds. If the refresh timer is set to 0, the Threshold Manager will not automatically retrieve events from the RMON agent.

Threshold Manager allows you to change the order in which you view events in the Threshold Manager window events list. This capability permits you to view events in a manner that is most meaningful to you. You can reorder the following fields:

• Log Time---Descending alphanumeric

• Profile---Ascending alphabetic

• Description---Ascending alphabetic

• Alarm Variable---Ascending alphabetic

• Priority---Ascending numeric

• Log Description---Ascending alphabetic

• EventIndex---Ascending numeric

• LogIndex---Ascending numeric

• Owner---Ascending alphabetic

Step 1 Highlight the event to be deleted by selecting it from any field within the Threshold Manager window events list.

Step 2 Select Delete>Selected Events.

To delete all events from the RMON agent log, select Delete>All Events.

You can also delete selected events from the Single Event View dialog box.

Any user who has launched an instance of Threshold Manager against a device can delete events from that RMON agent log. This means that your Threshold Manager window events list might not display the current contents of the RMON agent log of a device if that device is being managed by more than one Threshold Manager. Your Threshold Manager window events list reflects the change when

• You delete an event using Threshold Manager.

• Threshold Manager automatically updates the window at the end of the refresh interval.

• You force a retrieve operation by selecting View>Retrieve Events.

Threshold Manager allows you to delete selected events or all events in the log. When you delete a selected event, all events with the same EventIndex value are removed from the RMON log.

The content of this pane is specific to the instance of Threshold Manager and is visible only at your local machine.

This pane also allows you to do the following:

• View the default policies

• Add selected or all policies to the Current Threshold Settings pane

• Modify an existing policy

• Create a new policy

If Threshold Manager created the threshold settings, the fields displayed in the Current Threshold Settings pane will contain data provided by the policy file. If Threshold Manager did not create the policy or Threshold Manager cannot associate a policy with an event, only the information provided by the RMON agent will be displayed.

• Manipulate current threshold settings and policies

• Create new policies

• Obtain current information about the managed device

• Change the target device for this instance of Threshold Manager

To access the Configure Thresholds dialog box, select Config>Thresholds.

This device information is changed from the Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box allows you to do the following:

To access the Properties dialog box on a Windows platform, click the Properties tab from the Configure Thresholds dialog box. On a UNIX platform, select Config>Properties from the Threshold Manager window.

To add all policies in the Policies pane to the Current Threshold Settings pane, click Add All Policies.

To add selected policies to the Current Threshold Settings pane:

Step 1 Click on the selected policy.

Step 2 Click Add Selected Policies.

To add multiple selected policies to the Current Threshold Settings pane while using UNIX:

Step 1 Click on the selected policies.

Step 2 Click Add Selected Policies.

To add multiple selected policies to the Current Threshold Settings pane while using Windows:

Step 1 Hold down the Shift key and click on the policy at the beginning of the desired range.

Step 2 Hold down the Shift key and click on the policy at the end of the desired range.

Step 3 Click Add Selected Policies.

A policy added to the Current Threshold Settings pane retains a pending status. This status does not change until you enforce the threshold settings to the RMON agent. Threshold settings with a pending status are viewable only from local machines.

Step 1 Select Config>Thresholds.

The Configure Thresholds dialog box appears.

Step 2 In the Current Threshold Settings pane, double-click on the selected threshold setting.

The Modify Threshold Settings dialog box appears. From this dialog box, you can do the following:

• Increase or decrease the threshold parameters.

• Change the sampling type to absolute or delta.

• Indicate the startup alarm as rising or falling.

• Specify the rising event type notification as trap, log, or both.

• Specify the falling event type notification as trap, log, or both.

• Modify the owner identification name of the policy file owner.

• Modify the event priority setting.

• Change the event community string to that of the managed device.

• Delete an existing threshold settings or enforce the changes.

• View policy identification.

• View miscellaneous information.

• View a description of the policy identification pane.

Threshold Manager lets you temporarily alter threshold settings for an alarm object instance. This is useful when you want to monitor network performance for a specific period of time or fine-tune threshold settings before applying them permanently. Changes to existing threshold settings are not saved in the associated policy file. Therefore, if the device loses power or is shut down, the modifications are lost. To make permanent changes to the threshold settings, alter the associated policy file, and add the new threshold settings to the Current Threshold Settings pane.

You can alter a threshold setting that has a pending or active status. A threshold setting with a failed status means the threshold setting was rejected by the RMON agent and cannot be altered.

To delete a threshold setting, regardless of status:

Step 1 Click on the threshold setting.

Step 2 Click Delete Selected.

A Threshold Manager Warning popup window appears. Click OK, or click Cancel to cancel the deletion.

To delete more than one threshold setting, regardless of status, while using UNIX:

Step 1 Click on the selected policies.

Step 2 Click Delete Selected.

A Threshold Manager Warning popup window appears. Click OK, or click Cancel to cancel delete.

Step 3 Click Delete All to remove all threshold settings, regardless of status.

To delete more than one threshold setting, regardless of status while using Windows:

Step 1 Hold down the Shift key and click on the threshold setting at the beginning of the desired range.

Step 2 Hold down the Shift key and click on the threshold setting at the end of the desired range.

Step 3 Click Delete Selected.

A Threshold Manager Warning popup window appears. Click OK, or click Cancel to cancel delete.

Step 4 Click Delete All to remove all threshold settings, regardless of status.

Threshold settings with a pending status are removed from the Current Threshold Setting pane when you do the following:

• Delete them.

• Retrieve threshold settings from the RMON agent.

• Exit the Configure Thresholds dialog box.

To understand the meaning of policies and to simplify file parsing, Threshold Manager imposes strict rules whenever a policy file is created either manually or through the Create Threshold Policy dialog box. It is strongly recommended that you customize policy files by using the Threshold Manager graphical user interface (GUI).

Target_Type = etherStats 

Rising_Threshold = 200

Falling_Threshold = 20

Sample_Interval = 60:0:300

The order of the keyword-value pair is not important. All white spaces are ignored during file parsing. If a keyword appears more than once, the last keyword-value pair takes effect. The only exception to this rule is keyword Interface_Threshold.

Interface_Threshold = ethernetCsmacd:375000000:187500000:100000000

Interface_Threshold = ethernetCsmacd:37500000:18750000:10000000

The syntax of this special keyword-value pair is as follows:

Interface_Threshold=interface_type:rising_thresh_value:falling_thres
h_value:interface_speed

where interface_speed is optional.

Threshold Manager uses interface-specific policies to set specific interface thresholds. If the interface speed is specified in the policy, the policy is applied to interfaces that match both the interface type and speed. If interface speed is not present, the policy is applied to the interface that matches the specified interface type, regardless of speed. The default policy is used to set thresholds for interfaces without an interface-specific policy defined.

Policy files are grouped into three types: global, device class, and host. All policy files are saved under the config directory of the Threshold Manager. Policy files under the config directory are global policy files and are used for all devices. Policy files under the device class subdirectory apply to devices that belong to the same device class family. Policy files that are saved in the host subdirectory are used to set thresholds against only the specific host.

When reading policies for a given device, Threshold Manager searches that host subdirectory to locate any host-specific policy files defined for that device. It then scans the device class subdirectory for policy files defined for that device class. Last, it picks up any policy files not defined elsewhere.

• Config Directory

Double-click the selected policy in the Policies pane of the Configure Thresholds dialog box to display the Modify Threshold Policy dialog box. From this dialog box, you can do the following:

• View profile identification.

• Increase or decrease the threshold parameters.

• Change the sampling type to absolute or delta.

• Indicate the startup alarm as rising or falling.

• Specify the rising event type notification as trap, log, or both.

• Specify the falling event type notification as trap, log, or both.

• Alter the event priority.

• Modify the owner identification name of the policy file owner.

• Change the event community string to that of the managed device.

• Determine the physical interface type against which the threshold settings are applied.

When you complete your modifications, you can save the changes in the host-specific, device class, or global directories. Saving a policy file automatically updates the existing policy file in the Policies pane. Clicking Continue applies the altered policy directly to the Current Threshold Settings pane without saving the changes.

You create new threshold policies to do the following:

• Set new thresholds for an alarm OID.

• Define configuration files for alarm OIDs supported by the RMON agent but not covered by an existing policy.

• Apply new thresholds to one or more interfaces on a device.

Cisco maintains a list of all SNMP MIBs supported by Cisco  IOS Release  10.2 and later. This list is located at

ftp://ftp.cisco.com/pub/mibs/supportlists/

The SNMP MIBs are organized by device class for both routers and switches.

The Create Threshold Policy dialog box contains the following fields:

• Profile---the name of the profile to which the new policy file will belong. The value of this field is customized and cannot be altered.

• Policy---a string of any alphanumeric characters used to describe the policy file. You must enter a value in this field.

• Alarm Variable---a string of any alphanumeric characters representing the name of the SNMP MIB object. If the policy file is saved, the value of this field is used as the policy file name.

• Alarm OID---uniquely identifies the threshold variable. You must enter a value in this field. You may or may not have to qualify the instance ID, depending on the value of the next field.

• Target Type---defines how Threshold Manager manipulates the alarm object ID. If this value is one of the five Threshold Manager target types, you do not have qualify the instance identifier for the OID. These target types are known variables to Threshold Manager, and the application provides the mechanism to access the instance identifier of the object in the SNMP MIB. If you define this value as customized, you must provide the instance identifier for the alarm object.

The Create Threshold Policy dialog box lets you define the following fields:

• Sampling Interval---sets the minimum and maximum values, in seconds, for the boundaries of the sampling interval.

• Rising and falling thresholds for the sampled data. You must enter a value in these fields.

• Interface Type---determines the type of physical interface against which the threshold settings are applied. You can define multiple interface specific thresholds within a single policy file. This field is optional and can be used only if the variable is part of an interface table or the Ethernet statistical table.

• Interface Speed---used to calculate the line usage. Like the Interface Type, this field applies only to interface-type variables and is optional.

• Interface List---indicates the specific threshold values for each interface you selected.

• Sampling Type.

• StartUp Alarm.

• Rising Event Type and Falling Event Type.

• Event Priority.

• Owner Identification.

• Event Community.

The syntax of the Interface_Threshold keyword is

<interface type>:<rising threshold value>:<falling threshold value>:<interface speed>

The following is an example of the Interface_Threshold keyword and value:

Interface_Threshold = ethernet Csmacd:375000000:187500000:100000000

Policy configuration files are secured using the standard file security procedures in the host operating system.

After you create a policy file, you can do the following:

• Save the policy file.

• Apply the policy file to one or more interfaces.

• Add the policy file as a current threshold setting.

You can save a threshold policy file in the host-specific, device class, or global directory. Remember that the host-specific directory takes on the name of the managed device. This name can be the host name or IP address of the device, depending on how you identified the device when you launched Threshold Manager. Policy files previously saved under the host name of a device will not appear in the Policies pane if you specify the IP address of the managed device when you launch Threshold Manager.

You cannot save a policy file that has a customized target type.

If the policy file is of an interface variable type, you can apply the threshold settings to one or more interfaces.

You can also add a policy file directly as a threshold setting without saving it to disk. This feature lets you create and add temporary threshold settings. However, there is no permanent record of these policies. They are lost when the managed device is turned off or goes down or when you delete the threshold settings from Threshold Manager.

After creating the policy file, click Continue to add it to the Current Threshold Settings pane. The new threshold setting will have a status of pending.

To add multiple interface threshold settings within a single policy file:

Step 1 Define the first set of threshold parameters.

Step 2 Select the interface type of the target interface.

Step 5 Select the target interface type and add it to the interface list.

Repeat Step  3 and Step  4 as many times as necessary to add interface threshold settings.

After you have defined each specific threshold setting, you can apply it to one or more physical interfaces. Click Continue to access the Interface Selection dialog box. This dialog box displays all available interfaces in an up state for that device. Select the desired interfaces, and click OK to apply the threshold settings to the physical interfaces. This action also places the threshold settings in the lower pane of the Configure Threshold dialog box with a status of pending.

The policies are located in the Threshold-Mgr/Config directory. Depending on how you saved the policy file, it can be found in one of the following subdirectories:

• Global

• Device Class

• Host-specific

All default policies in this release of Threshold Manager are found in the global directory.

/CWW/etc/cview/devices/Threshold-Mgr/

To filter one or more profiles:

Step 1 Select Config>Profiles to access the Filter Profiles dialog box.

Step 2 Highlight the desired profiles in the Show Profile pane.

Step 3 Click the right arrow.

Profiles appearing in the Hide Profile pane are no longer available to this version of Threshold Manager, and policy files contained in these profiles will not be displayed in the Policies pane of the Configure Thresholds dialog box. However, any threshold settings active in the RMON agent that belong to the filtered profile are not affected.