System Error Log and Event Log

Error Log Administration

Event Log

Event Categories

Event Configuration Window

Events Defined

System Error Log and Event Log

This chapter describes the two main methods of monitoring network events, the Cisco StrataView Plus (SV+) System Error Log and the Event Log.

Error Log Administration

The Cisco SV+ System Error Log is displayed in the User Administration window. To display this window, select the Cisco SV+ Admin button from the Cisco SV+ Desktop window.

This window provides a time-stamped list of each Cisco SV+ process, along with a text message describing the process. The log can be cleared so you can watch current Cisco SV+ messages. When you close the window and re-open it, all of the previously cleared messages are again displayed.

Figure 3-1: User Administration Window

Event Log

The Cisco SV+ Event Log displays descriptions of network- and operator-generated occurrences. This log can be viewed only in an HP OpenView window.

Event Categories

When you start an OpenView session, two windows are displayed, the OpenView Root window, which displays the Cisco StrataCom Network icon, and the Event Categories window.

Figure 3-2: Event Categories Window

This window categorizes events for the Event Log display. Click on the square button adjacent to a category to display the Event Browser window for all events belonging to the selected category.

The color of the button indicates the level of severity of the worst case among the events listed in that category.

You can also display the Event Browser window for all events by selecting the Events option from the OpenView window's Fault menu.

Figure 3-3: Events Browser Window

Information is displayed in the All Events Browser window in the following columns.

Ack

When you click on an entry in the Severity column, a check mark is placed in the Ack column for that row, as a reminder you have acknowledged the severity of the message.

Severity

This column displays the severity of the event. Severity values are: critical, major, minor, warning, and normal. You can modify event severity by selecting the Action menu's Assign Severity option.

Date/Time

This column displays the day of the week, the calendar date, and the time of day the event occurred.

Source

This column displays the object identifier affected by the event.

Message

This column displays a description of the event.

The Events Browser window has the following menu options:

File - Save

Select this option to display a submenu with the following options:

Selected Events---saves to a file all of the events currently selected in the displayed list.
Filtered Events---saves to a file all of the events meeting the currently set filter conditions.
Acknowledged Events---saves to a file all acknowledged events.
Unacknowledged Events---saves to a file all unacknowledged events.
All Events in Category---saves to a file all events in the currently displayed category.

Each of these options opens a window which allows you to name the file to which the data is saved. The Messages pane reports back the results of the save operation.

Figure 3-4: Save... Window

Enter a valid path and file name in the File Name field then click on the Save button to save the events.

Click on the Close button to dismiss this window without taking any further action.

File - Save Browser State

Select this option to save the current set of undeleted events to a file so the next time a restore operation is performed, the same set of events (plus any new events) are loaded.

File - Restore Browser State

Select this option to reload the set of events saved when you last chose the Save Browser State option; or by either a map change or an exit of xnmevents (assuming the session was not read-only). The Browser displays this saved set of events ---including any events you may have deleted in the interim---plus any new events that have occurred. This operation is useful when you accidently deleted an event, or you performed a Reload Event Log operation and you want to restore the state of your Event Browser.

File - Reload Event Log

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Filtered---loads as many events as possible into the browser using the all events filter, including events which were deleted in pas sessions of the event browser (xnmevents). When you have a read-write event browser, you may want to first save the current state using the Save Browser State option on the File menu so the current state of undeleted events can later be restored.
Unfiltered---does the same as the Filtered option except without the all events filter.

File - Close

Select this option to close the Events Browser window.

Action - Highlight Source on Map Menu

Select this option to highlight the source of selected events in the Network Topology window.

Action - Acknowledge

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Selected Events---marks all selected events as acknowledged.
Filtered Events---marks all events meeting the current filter conditions as acknowledged.
All Events in Category---marks all events in the current category as acknowledged.

Action - UnAcknowledge

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Selected Events---removes acknowledgment marks from all selected events.
Filtered Events---removes acknowledgment marks from all events meeting the current filter conditions.
All Events in Category---removes acknowledgment marks from all events in the current category.

Action - Delete

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Selected Events---deletes all selected events.
Filtered Events---deletes all events meeting the current filter conditions.
Acknowledged Events---deletes all events marked as acknowledged.
All Events in Category---deletes all events from the category.

Action - Configure Event

Select this option to display the Event Configuration window, which allows you to manage event details (add, edit, and other operations). This window is described elsewhere in this chapter.

Action - Assign Category

Select one or more events in the Events Browser window, then select this option to display the Assign Category window. This window allows you to change the category to which the selected events belong.

Figure 3-5: Assign Category Window

Action - Assign Severity

Select one or more events in the Events Browser window, then select this option to assign one of the following severity levels to the selected events:

Critical
Major
Minor
Warning
Normal

Action - Additional Actions Menu

Select this option to display the Additional Actions window. This window allows you to pipe selected events into user-written shell commands via standard input.

Figure 3-6: Additional Actions Window

Select a button from the Scope of Action group (choose whether you want to perform an action on the selected events in the Events Browser window, all events meeting the current filter conditions, all acknowledged events displayed in the Events Browser window, all unacknowledged events displayed in the Events Browser window, or all events in the category.

Select an action from the list in the Action pane, then click on either the OK or Apply button. When you click on the OK button, the Additional Actions window is dismissed. When you click on the Apply button, the action is performed and the window remains displayed.

Select an action from the list then click on the Describe button to display an information window explaining the action, or click on the Help button to display an OpenView help topic for the selected action.

View - Describe Event

Select this option to display the Describe Event window, with a detailed explanation of the currently selected event.

Figure 3-7: Describe Event Window

View - Set Filters

Select this option to set the filter conditions which determine which events are listed in the Event Browser window.

Figure 3-8: Set Filters Window

View - Clear Filters

Select this option to restore the filter conditions to their default values.

Event Configuration Window

To configure an event, select it in the Event Browser window, then select the Action menu's Configure Event option. The Event Configuration Window is displayed. Use this window's menu options to access the event configuration tools.

Figure 3-9: Event Configuration Window

File - Save

Select this option to save any changes you have made using the Event Configuration window. This option is disabled when you have not made any changes.

File - Close

Select this option to close the Event Configuration window. When you have made changes in the Event Configuration window and have not used the File menu's Save option, your changes are lost.

Edit - Add

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Enterprise Identification---allows you to create a new enterprise.
Event---opens the Add Event window, which allows you to create a new event record.

Figure 3-10: Add Event Window

Enter data for the event in the medium grey fields, then click on the OK button. (The event record is not saved until you select the Save option from the Event Browser's File menu.)

Edit - Delete

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Enterprise Identification---deletes the selected enterprise in the Event Configuration window's Enterprise Identification pane.
Event---deletes the selected event in the Event Configuration window's Event Identification pane.

Edit - Modify Event

Select this option to display the Modify Event Window for the selected event in the Event Configuration window's Event Identification pane. The Modify Event Window is the same as the Add and Copy Event windows, except all of its data fields are filled in with data for the selected event.

Edit - Copy Event

Select this option to display the Copy Event Window. This window is the same as that used for the Add and Modify Event windows; the data fields are filled with data for the selected event in the Event Configuration window, except for the Event Name. This field is blank. You should assign the event a unique name so as to save it as a copy of the selected event.

Edit - Describe Event

Select this option to display the Describe Event window. This window displays information about the event selected in the Event Configuration window's Event Identification pane.

Figure 3-11: Describe Event Window

Edit - Configure

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Event Categories---opens the Event Configuration: Event Categories window, which allows you add new event categories, or delete categories.

Figure 3-12: Event Configuration: Event Categories Window

Additional Actions---opens an Additional Actions window which allows you to manually perform various actions on events.

Figure 3-13: Event Configuration: Additional Actions Window

View - Sort

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Sort by Event Identifiers---sorts events in the Event Identification pane of the Event Configuration window by Event Identifier.
Sort by Event Name---sorts events in the Event Identification pane of the Event Configuration window by Event Name.

View - Event Identifiers

Select this option to display a submenu with the following choices:

Display as Object Identifiers---causes Event Identifiers in the Event Identification pane of the Event Configuration window to be displayed in Object format (for example, .1.3.6.1.4.1.351.120.0.2002).
Display as SNMP Traps---causes Event Identifiers in the Event Identification pane of the Event Configuration window to be displayed as SNMP Traps (for example, Specific 20002).

Events Defined

Internally, event descriptions are generated as a result of trap information, which transpires between the network management system and the network agents. These traps are controlled by Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) processes.

An SNMP agent is software capable of answering valid queries from an SNMP station (such as your Cisco SV+ workstation), about information defined in the Management Information Base (MIB). A network device that provides information about the MIB to Cisco SV+, has an SNMP agent.

Cisco SV+ and the SNMP agents exchange messages over the network's Transport Layer protocol. SNMP conducts five valid types of messaging:

Get-Request

Used by Cisco SV+ to retrieve information from network devices with SNMP agents.

Get-Response

Response by a network agent to the Get-Request message. The response typically includes system information such as the name of the system, how long the system has been running, and the number of network interfaces on the system.

Get-Next-Request

Used with Get-Request, when compiling the list of objects, to ask for the next object in the table.

Set-Request

Enables remote configuration of parameters on a device.

Trap

An unsolicited message by an SNMP agent to Cisco SV+. Trap messages inform the server about the occurrence of a specific events.

Get-Request	Used by Cisco SV+ to retrieve information from network devices with SNMP agents.
Get-Response	Response by a network agent to the Get-Request message. The response typically includes system information such as the name of the system, how long the system has been running, and the number of network interfaces on the system.
Get-Next-Request	Used with Get-Request, when compiling the list of objects, to ask for the next object in the table.
Set-Request	Enables remote configuration of parameters on a device.
Trap	An unsolicited message by an SNMP agent to Cisco SV+. Trap messages inform the server about the occurrence of a specific events.

The Cisco SV+ SNMP traps are enhanced by a Robust Trap Mechanism (RTM) to ensure detection and retrieval of missed traps. With RTM, Cisco SV+ can maintain sequential tracking of traps from specific agents. Cisco SV+ detects missed traps based on sequence numbers, and uploads the missing number from the agent using SNMP Get-Requests.

Note HP OpenView expects to receive SNMP traps only on port 162. Therefore, the RTM front end registers with the agent on a different pre-configured port (default: 2500) for receiving traps.

The AXIS node reports the aggregate shelf alarm status. This is evident at the LED on the node which is affected by a specific new trap.

Ack	When you click on an entry in the Severity column, a check mark is placed in the Ack column for that row, as a reminder you have acknowledged the severity of the message.
Severity	This column displays the severity of the event. Severity values are: critical, major, minor, warning, and normal. You can modify event severity by selecting the Action menu's Assign Severity option.
Date/Time	This column displays the day of the week, the calendar date, and the time of day the event occurred.
Source	This column displays the object identifier affected by the event.
Message	This column displays a description of the event.

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