Agents

When you add a new agent to TrafficDirector, you specify several parameters, including the agent name, hardware interface number to monitor, IP address, shared properties file, and number of retries. You can also edit agent parameters or remove agents from TrafficDirector.

When you connect an agent to a network segment, the agent continuously collects and records segment data. When you add the agent, TrafficDirector can retrieve and display the data into figures and tables for detailed monitoring and analysis.

Adding a New Agent

To add a new agent to TrafficDirector, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch Configuration Manager, if you have not already done so. See Chapter 4, "Configuration Manager."

Step 2 Select the Agent radio button.

Step 3 Click Add.

The Add Agent window opens (Figure 5-1).

Figure 5-1: Add Agent Window

Enter the agent information:

Agent Name	A name for the agent. Can be up to 15 alphanumeric characters and is case-sensitive. You can use dashes and underscores. On Windows, the first eight characters of the agent name must be unique.
IP Address	A valid IP address for the agent; must consist of numbers separated by decimal points.
Interface	The number of the interface you want to monitor. The default is 1. WAN and high-speed interfaces are always 3 or above.
Network	The topology that the specified interface is monitoring.
Description	A description of up to 30 characters.
Read Community	The Read Community string for the agent. The default is public.
Retries	The number of times TrafficDirector tries to reach the agent if it gets no response. The value must be an integer and be equal to 1 or greater. The default is 2.
Write Community	The Write Community string for the agent. The default is public.
Timeout	The length of time (in seconds) that TrafficDirector waits before retrying an SNMP request. The value must be an integer and be greater than or equal to 1. The default is five seconds.
Startup File	The name of a startup file. This is a script that reinstalls both the shared and custom properties files defined for the agent if the agent reboots. To reinstall the properties files on an agent, the startup script must contain a line that runs the dvcfg command-line tool against the selected agent. For example: dvcfg agent_name or dvcfg $1.
Properties File	The shared properties file that contains the configuration you want to install on the agent. The default shared properties file is default, which matches the default monitoring configuration the probe boots up with.
SQL Server	The SQL server logging the agent. On Windows, this is the SQL server to which TrafficDirector polling the agent is logging data. There is no default value on Windows, as all SQL servers must be defined using the TrafficDirector Configure SQL Servers application, even if the SQL server resides on the same station as the TrafficDirector that is logging the agent.

Step 5 Do one of the following:

• Click OK to add the agent and return to the Configuration Manager main window.

• Click Apply to add the new agent to TrafficDirector without exiting the Add Agent window.

• Click Cancel to quit and return to the Configuration Manager main window without adding the agent.

If you selected OK or Apply, the name of the newly added agent is displayed in the Configuration Manager main window.

Step 6 Select the new agent.

Step 7 Click Test to confirm that the new agent is reachable. See Chapter 16, "Testing the Operational Status of an Agent."

Editing Agents

When you have added an agent to TrafficDirector, you can edit it at any time. You can change any of the agent parameters, except for the name. For example, you may want to change the timeout or retry times in order to meet changing network conditions or monitoring requirements.

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Note You cannot rename an existing agent. To change the name of an existing agent, create a new agent with the same parameters and the name you want, then delete the original agent.

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To change one or more parameters in an existing agent definition, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch Configuration Manager, if you have not already done so. See Chapter 4, "Configuration Manager."

Step 2 Select the Agent radio button.

Step 3 Click Edit.

The Edit Agent window opens. This window is the same as the Add Agent window (Figure 5-1), except that the fields are already filled in.

Step 4 Change the fields you want to edit. See "Adding a New Agent."

Step 5 Click OK to replace the original agent with the modified agent, or Cancel to return to the Configuration Manager main window without modifying the agent.

Step 6 Select the agent you just modified and click Test to test the agent. See Chapter 16, "Testing the Operational Status of an Agent."

Deleting Agents

As your network monitoring requirements change, you may no longer need to monitor a certain network segment. In this case, you can delete the agent from TrafficDirector. When you delete an agent from TrafficDirector, the actual agent remains connected to the network segment, and continues to gather information, but TrafficDirector can no longer monitor the data it collects.

To delete an agent from TrafficDirector, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch Configuration Manager, if you have not already done so. See Chapter 4, "Configuration Manager."

Step 2 Select the Agent radio button.

Step 3 Select the agent you want to delete from the Agents list box.

Step 4 Click Delete.

Step 5 Click Yes to delete the agent or No to return to the Configuration Manager main window without deleting the agent.

Configuring Remote Agents

The TrafficDirector Remote Login application lets you reach agents throughout the network from your local network management console, regardless of where they are located around the world.

Remote Login is a configuration console that lets you enable and configure options to customize how a probe monitors and gathers data. Remote Login uses SNMP running over User Datagram Protocol (UDP)/IP to connect to the probe.

When a SwitchProbe is first installed, the agent automatically starts running with no further action. However, you may want to initialize certain parameters or perform software upgrades later. You can do this directly from your TrafficDirector console using the Remote Login utility.

Caution The Remote Login application works only with SwitchProbes.

Remote Login

Use Remote Login from your main network management console to do the following:

• Change the IP address of an agent

• Set the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) address for a firmware upgrade

• Set interface speed, encapsulation, or other parameters

• Change read and write community strings on an agent

When you log in to an agent from TrafficDirector, a menu is displayed in the Remote Login console window. To perform any of the listed tasks, enter the corresponding menu number at the prompt, press Enter, and follow the directions displayed in the console window.

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Note For more information about agent configuration tasks, see the publication SwitchProbe Installation and Configuration Guide.

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Launching the Remote Login Utility

To launch the TrafficDirector Remote Login utility, take the following steps:

Step 1 Select the agent or Frame Relay agent you want to configure from the Name list.

Step 2 Click the Remote Login icon.

The TrafficDirector Remote Login window (Figure 5-2) opens.

Figure 5-2: TrafficDirector Remote Login Window

Step 3 Enter the menu number that corresponds to the task you want to perform and follow the instructions displayed.

Step 4 To make your changes take effect, enter the menu number that corresponds to Reset Agent.

Step 5 To exit Remote Login, enter exit.

Working with Agent Groups

You can create logical groupings of agents, or agent groups, which are collections of agents that you define. You can create new agent groups, modify groups, view group definitions, and delete groups. Depending on your requirements, an agent can belong to one or more groups, or to no groups at all.

When you have defined an agent group, you can use the TrafficDirector monitoring and analysis tools with that group just as you would with an agent. The difference is that you can compare traffic from different agents in the same graphical presentation. For example, if you want to monitor and compare enterprise-level traffic in three different segments, you can put agents on all three segments, add them to TrafficDirector, create an agent group for them, and use Traffic Monitor to compare the traffic from all three segments on a single graph.

Creating an Agent Group

To create a new agent group, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch Configuration Manager, if you have not already done so. See Chapter 4, "Configuration Manager."

Step 2 Select the AgentGroup radio button.

Step 3 Click Add.

The Add Group window opens (Figure 5-3).

Step 4 Enter a group name. The name can include up to 15 characters and is case sensitive. On Windows, the first eight characters must be unique.

Step 5 From the Agent List box, select the agents that you want to include in the agent group.

Figure 5-3: Add Group Window

Step 6 Do one of the following:

• Click OK to create the agent group and return to the Configuration Manager main window.

• Click Apply to add the new agent to TrafficDirector without exiting the Add Group window.

• Click Cancel to quit and return to the Configuration Manager main window without adding the agent.

If you selected OK or Apply, the name of the new agent group is displayed in the Configuration Manager main window.

Editing an Agent Group

You can change the agents that are included in an agent group. To edit an agent group, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch Configuration Manager, if you have not already done so. See Chapter 4, "Configuration Manager."

Step 2 Select the AgentGroup radio button.

Step 3 Select the agent group you want to edit from the Agent Group list box.

Step 4 Click Edit.

The Edit Group window opens. This window is the same as the Add Group window, except that the agents are already selected for the group.

Step 5 Edit the agent group. See "Creating an Agent Group."

Step 6 Do one of the following:

• Click OK to replace the agent group with the modified group and return to the Configuration Manager main window.

• Click Cancel to quit and return to the Configuration Manager main window without adding the agent.

If you selected OK, the modified agent group is displayed in the Configuration Manager main window.

Deleting an Agent Group

An agent group is just a logical grouping; when you delete an agent group, the individual agents in it are still listed in the Agents list box in the Configuration Manager main window.

To delete an agent group from TrafficDirector, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch Configuration Manager if you have not already done so. See Chapter 4, "Configuration Manager."

Step 2 Select the AgentGroup radio button.

Step 3 Select the agent group you want to delete from the Agent Group list box.

Step 4 Click Delete.

Step 5 Click Yes to delete the agent, or No to return to the Configuration Manger main window without deleting the agent group.