CBU-NM
User Manual
Fivemere Ltd. Cabletron Systems Ltd.
Fivemere House Network House
161 High Street Newbury Business Park
Aldershot London Road, Newbury
Hampshire, England Berkshire, England
GU11 1TT RG13 2PZ
Telephone: [44] (0)1635 580000
Fax: [44] (0)1635 44578
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-02ii
Publication — 80-60100000-02
Publication Notice:
This manual has been compiled and checked for accuracy. However the
information contained in this manual does not constitute a warranty of
performance. Cabletron Systems Limited reserves the right to revise this
publication from time to time without notice. Cabletron Systems Limited
assumes no liability for losses incurred as a result of out of date or incorrect
information contained in this manual.
Proprietary Notice:
© 1996-1997, Cabletron Systems Ltd, all rights reserved.
This document may not in whole or part be copied, photocopied, reproduced,
translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form
without prior consent from Cabletron Systems Limited.
Acknowledgements:
Kilostream™ is a trademark of British Telecom PLC.
Chameleon TCP/IP for Windows is a trademark of Netmanage.
Windows and MS-DOS are trademarks of Microsoft.
CBU-NM
User Manual
80-60100000-02 iii
History Sheet
80-60100000-01 V 0.26 software 23 September 1996
80-60100000-02 V 0.27 software 01 July 1997
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-02iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION 1–1
1.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
1–1
1.2 F
EATURES OF
PCNC 1–1
1.3 O
VERVIEW
1–2
1.4 G
ETTING STARTED
1–2
1.5 H
OW
PCNC
WORKS
1–3
1.5.1 A
LARMS
1–4
1.6 W
HAT
PCNC
DOES
1–4
1.7 S
YSTEM REQUIREMENTS
1–6
1.7.1 H
ARDWARE
1–6
1.7.2 S
OFTWARE
1–6
2 MAIN COMPONENTS 2–1
2.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
2–1
2.2 M
AIN WINDOW
2–1
2.3 S
PEED MENUS
2–2
2.4 T
HE NETWORK DATABASE
2–2
2.5 T
HE NETWORK INSPECTOR WINDOW
2–3
2.6 T
HE ALARM DATABASE
2–3
2.7 A
LARM WINDOWS
2–3
2.8 A
CKNOWLEDGING / SELECTING ALARMS
2–4
2.8.1 T
O SELECT A SINGLE ALARM
2–4
2.8.2 T
O SELECT A GROUP OF ALARMS
2–4
2.8.3 T
O SELECT/DESELECT ADDITIONAL ALARMS
2–4
2.9 P
ORTS
, L
INKS AND TERMINALS
2–4
2.10 D
RIVERS
2–5
3 ALARMS AND FILTERS 3–1
3.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
3–1
3.2 T
HE ALARM DATABASE
3–1
3.3 SNMP T
RAPS
3–1
3.3.1 A
LERT PROCESSING
3–2
3.3.2 A
LARMS
3–3
3.3.3
UNKNOWN DEVICE
/
U
NRECOGNISED ALERT
ALARMS
3–4
3.4 A
LARM WINDOWS
3–5
3.4.1 N
ETWORK ALARM LOG WINDOW
3–5
Table of Contents
80-60100000-02 v
3.4.2
DEVICE ALARM LOG WINDOWS
3–5
3.4.3 U
NACKNOWLEDGED ALARMS WINDOW
3–6
3.5 A
RCHIVING
3–6
3.5.1 A
RCHIVED ALARM LOG WINDOWS
3–6
3.6 R
EADING THE DATABASE FROM OTHER APPLICATIONS
3–7
3.7 H
ARDWARE ALERT DISABLING
3–7
3.8 F
ILTERS
3–8
3.8.1 G
ENERIC
/ D
EVICE FILTERS
3–9
3.8.2 S
ETTING UP A FILTER
3–10
3.8.2.1 C
HOOSING WHICH TYPES OF ALARM CAN BE FILTERED
3–10
3.8.2.2 S
HOWING AND HIDING ALARMS
3–11
3.8.2.3 S
PECIAL COMMANDS
3–11
3.8.2.4 W
HEN YOU HAVE FINISHED
3–11
4 COMMUNICATIONS 4–1
4.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
4–1
4.2 C
ONNECTIONS
4–1
4.2.1 L
OCAL DEVICES
4–1
4.2.2 R
EMOTE DEVICES
4–1
4.2.3 O
THER DEVICES
4–3
4.2.4 L
INK DISABLING
4–3
4.3 C
ONTROL TERMINAL
4–3
4.4 A
UXILIARY TERMINAL
4–4
4.5 C
ONNECTING TO NETWORK DEVICES
4–4
4.5.1 L
OCAL DIRECT CONNECTION
4–4
4.5.2 R
EMOTE DIRECT CONNECTION
4–5
4.5.3 T
HE TALKWIRE LIST
4–5
4.5.3.1 E
DITING THE TALKWIRE LIST
4–6
5 THE SNMP LINK AND CHAMELEON 5–1
5.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
5–1
5.2 O
VERVIEW
5–1
5.3 R
EQUIREMENTS
5–2
5.3.1 NDIS-
COMPLIANT NETWORK INTERFACE CARD
5–2
5.3.2 NDIS
DRIVER
5–2
5.3.3 C
HAMELEON
5–2
5.3.4 PCNC E
XTENSIONS
5–3
5.3.4.1 PCNCSNMP.EXE 5–3
5.4 H
OW THE TRAPS ARE SENT AND RECEIVED
5–4
5.5 I
NSTALLING THE CHAMELEON PACKAGE
5–5
5.5.1 T
EST THAT CHAMELEON IS INSTALLED CORRECTLY
5–7
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-02vi
5.6
INSTALL THE
MIB
INTO YOUR
NMS 5–7
5.7 T
HE NEXT STEP
5–7
5.8 T
HE NETWORK DATABASE
5–8
5.9 T
RAP FORMAT
5–8
6 INSTALLING PCNC 6–1
6.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
6–1
6.2 I
NTRODUCTION
6–1
6.3 R
EQUIREMENTS
6–2
6.4 W
HAT’S ON THE DISTRIBUTION DISKS
? 6–2
6.5 I
NSTALLING
PCNC
FOR THE FIRST TIME
6–3
6.5.1 B
EFORE YOU START
6–3
6.5.2 * S
ET UP THE
TCP/IP N
ETWORK
6–4
6.5.2.1 * I
NSTALL THE NETWORK HARDWARE
6–4
6.5.2.2 * C
ONFIGURE THE
NDIS
DRIVER
6–4
6.5.2.3 * I
NSTALL CHAMELEON
6–4
6.5.3 I
NSTALL THE FILES
6–4
6.5.3.1 * I
NSTALL THE OPTIONAL
SNMP
EXTENSIONS
6–4
6.5.4 C
USTOMISE
PCNC.INI 6–5
6.5.5 C
REATE THE WINDOWS ICON
6–5
6.5.6 C
ONFIGURE AND TEST
PCNC 6–5
6.5.7 * E
NABLE THE
SNMP L
INK
6–5
6.5.7.1 * I
NSTALL THE
MIB 6–5
6.5.7.2 * RE-
CONFIGURE
PCNC.INI 6–5
6.5.7.3 * T
EST
PCNC
WITH
SNMP 6–6
6.5.8 E
NTER THE NETWORK INFORMATION
6–6
6.6 U
PGRADING TO A NEWER VERSION OF
PCNC 6–6
6.6.1 C
OPYING THE FILES
6–6
6.6.2 U
PDATING THE
PCNC.INI
FILE
6–6
6.7 D
RIVERS
6–7
7 CONFIGURING PCNC.INI 7–1
7.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
7–1
7.2 I
NTRODUCTION
7–1
7.3 C
ONNECTING THE PORTS
7–2
7.3.1 COM P
ORTS
7–2
7.4 F
ORMAT OF THE
PCNC.INI F
ILE
7–3
7.5 C
HANGING THE
PCNC.INI
SETTINGS
7–3
7.6 C
ONFIGURING
PCNC.INI 7–3
7.7 S
ETTINGS
7–4
7.8 [C
ONTROL LINK
] 7–4
Table of Contents
80-60100000-02 vii
7.8.1
PORT=<NAME
>:<
RATE
>,<
PARITY
>,<
DATA BITS
>,<
STOP BITS
> 7–4
7.8.2 L
INECOUNT=<INTEGER
> 7–5
7.8.3 RXQ
UEUESIZE=<INTEGER
> 7–5
7.8.4 TXQ
UEUESIZE=<INTEGER
> 7–5
7.8.5 H
ANDSHAKING=<BOOLEAN
> 7–5
7.8.6 D
IRECTCONNECTTIMEOUT=<INTEGER
> 7–6
7.9 [A
UXILIARY LINK
] 7–6
7.9.1 C
OLUMNCOUNT=<INTEGER
> 7–6
7.9.2 E
MULATION=<STRING
> 7–7
7.9.3 B
REAKHANDLING=<BOOLEAN
> 7–7
7.9.4 B
REAKLENGTH=<INTEGER
> 7–7
7.9.5 H
ANDSHAKING=<STRING
> 7–7
7.9.6 F
OREGROUNDCOLOUR=<INTEGER
> 7–7
7.9.7 B
ACKGROUNDCOLOUR=<INTEGER
> 7–8
7.9.8 T
RANSLATEBACKSPACE=<BOOLEAN
> 7–8
7.10 [R
EMOTE LINK
] 7–8
7.11 [D
EVICE DRIVERS
] 7–9
7.12 [O
PTIONS
] 7–9
7.12.1 A
UDIBLEWARNINGBUTTON=<BOOLEAN
> 7–9
7.12.2 C
ONTINUOUSAUDIBLEWARNING=<BOOLEAN
> 7–9
7.12.3 A
LARMLOGGING=<BOOLEAN
> 7–10
7.12.4 M
INUTESBETWEENSAVES=<INTEGER
> 7–10
7.13 [SNMP L
INK
] 7–11
7.13.1 F
ORWARDTRAPSTONMS=<BOOLEAN
> 7–11
7.13.2 F
ORWARDTRAPSTOPCNC=<BOOLEAN
> 7–11
7.13.3 R
ECEIVETRAPS=<BOOLEAN
> 7–11
7.13.4 T
RAPTXOIDPCNC
=<G
ROUP OBJECT IDENTIFIER
> 7–12
7.13.5 T
RAPTXOIDNMS
=<G
ROUP OBJECT IDENTIFIER
> 7–12
7.13.6 T
RAPRXOID
=<G
ROUP OBJECT IDENTIFIER
> 7–12
7.13.7 N
AMESINTRAPS
=<B
OOLEAN
> 7–12
8 THE NETWORK DATABASE 8–1
8.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
8–1
8.2 T
HE ROLE OF THE NETWORK DATABASE
8–1
8.2.1 A
LERT PROCESSING
8–2
8.2.2 C
OMMUNICATING WITH THE NETWORK
8–2
8.3 T
HE NETWORK INSPECTOR WINDOW
8–2
8.3.1 M
EANING OF THE NETWORK INSPECTOR FIELDS
8–3
8.3.2 I
NDEPENDENT CHANNEL NAMING
8–3
8.4 D
EFINING THE DATABASE
8–4
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-02viii
8.4.1
ADDING AN ENTRY
8–4
8.4.1.1 C
OMMENTS
8–5
8.4.1.2 R
EMOTE ADDRESSING
8–5
8.4.1.3 C
HANNEL NAMING
8–5
8.4.2 M
ODIFYING THE DATABASE
8–5
9 EQUIPMENT SETUP 9–1
9.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
9–1
9.2 I
NTRODUCTION
9–1
9.3 KBU 64 9–2
9.4 C
ABLETRON GENERIC SHELF PRODUCTS
9–2
9.5 O
THER CABLETRON PRODUCTS
9–2
10 COMMANDS 10–1
10.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
10–1
10.2 G
ENERAL
10–1
10.3 H
ELP
10–1
10.4 N
ETWORK
| N
EW DEVICE
... 10–3
10.5 N
ETWORK
| E
DIT DEVICE
... 10–3
10.6 N
ETWORK
| D
ELETE DEVICE
10–3
10.7 N
ETWORK
| S
ORT ORDER
... 10–4
10.8 N
ETWORK
| R
ESET DEVICE STATUS
10–4
10.9 N
ETWORK
| D
EVICE ALARM LOG
10–4
10.10 N
ETWORK
| T
ALKWIRE LIST
... 10–5
10.11 N
ETWORK
| D
IRECT CONNECT
10–5
10.12 N
ETWORK
| D
IRECT DISCONNECT
10–5
10.13 N
ETWORK
| E
XIT
10–6
10.14 A
LARMS
| F
ILTER
... 10–6
10.15 A
LARMS
| A
CKNOWLEDGE
10–6
10.16 A
LARMS
| A
UDIBLE WARNING
10–7
10.17 A
LARMS
| S
AVE TO ARCHIVE FILE
... 10–7
10.18 A
LARMS
| I
NSPECT ARCHIVE FILE
... 10–8
10.19 A
LARMS
| E
XPORT ALARM DATABASE
... 10–8
10.20 W
INDOW
| N
ETWORK INSPECTOR
10–8
10.21 W
INDOW
| N
ETWORK ALARM LOG
10–9
10.22 W
INDOW
| U
NACKNOWLEDGED ALARMS
10–9
10.23 W
INDOW
| C
ONTROL TERMINAL
10–9
10.24 W
INDOW
| A
UXILIARY TERMINAL
10–9
10.25 W
INDOW
| C
ASCADE
10–10
10.26 W
INDOW
| T
ILE
10–10
Table of Contents
80-60100000-02 ix
10.27
WINDOW
| A
RRANGE ICONS
10–10
10.28 W
INDOW
| C
LOSE ALL
10–10
10.29 H
ELP
| C
ONTENTS
10–11
10.30 H
ELP
| U
SING HELP
10–11
10.31 H
ELP
| A
BOUT
... 10–11
11 TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE 11–1
11.1 T
HIS CHAPTER
11–1
11.2 Y
OU CANNOT SEE ANY ALARMS
11–1
11.3 S
OME ALERTS ARE NOT BEING PROCESSED
11–2
11.4 T
HE COMMAND LINE ISN’T WORKING PROPERLY
11–2
11.5 Y
OU SET A FILTER, BUT THE ALARM STILL APPEARS
11–2
11.6 T
HE NETWORK DATABASE IS NOT VISIBLE
11–3
11.7 C
RASHES
11–3
11.8 T
HE
SNMP L
INK IS NOT WORKING
11–4
12 GLOSSARY 12–1
12.1 A
LARM
12–1
12.2 A
UDIBLE WARNING
12–1
12.3 D
EVICE
12–1
12.4 F
ILTER
12–1
12.5 L
INK
12–2
12.6 L
OG
12–2
12.7 M
ENU BAR
12–2
12.8 PCNC.DAT 12–3
12.9 PCNC.INI 12–3
12.10 P
OLL NUMBER
12–3
12.11 SNMP 12–3
12.12 S
PEED MENUS
12–4
12.13 S
TATUS BAR
12–4
12.14 T
ALKWIRE LIST
12–4
12.15 TCP/IP 12–4
12.16 T
RAP
12–4
12.17 T
OOLBAR
12–4
12.18 W
ORKING DIRECTORY
12–5
13 DATA FORMATS 13–1
13.1 A
LERT MESSAGE FORMAT
13–1
13.1.1 A
LERT MESSAGE FIELDS
13–1
13.1.2 A
LERTS WITHOUT TIME AND DATE INFORMATION
13–2
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-02x
13.1.3
ALERTS WITH TIME AND DATE INFORMATION
13–2
13.1.4 A
LERT MESSAGE RECOGNITION
13–2
13.2 SNMP T
RAPS
13–2
13.2.1 T
RAP GENERATION FORMAT
13–2
13.2.2 T
RAP RECEIPT FORMAT
13–3
13.2.3 T
RAP EXAMPLES
13–3
13.3 E
XPORTED ALARM DATABASES
13–4
13.3.1 .CSV
EXPORTED FILE FORMAT
13–4
13.3.1.1 T
EXT FIELDS
13–5
13.3.1.2 S
IGNED NUMERIC FIELDS
13–5
13.3.1.3 U
NSIGNED NUMERIC FIELDS
13–5
13.3.2 R
ECORD FORMAT
13–5
13.3.2.1 <D
ATE> FIELD
13–6
13.3.2.2 <T
IME> FIELD
13–6
13.3.2.3 <U
NACKNOWLEDGED FLAG> FIELD
13–6
13.3.2.4 <P
OLL NUMBER> FIELD
13–6
13.3.2.5 <C
HANNEL NUMBER> FIELD
13–6
13.3.2.6 <D
EVICE
ID>
FIELD
13–7
13.3.2.7 <A
LARM CODE> FIELD
13–7
13.3.2.8 <P
RODUCT NAME> FIELD
13–8
13.3.2.9 <D
EVICE OR CHANNEL NAME> FIELD
13–8
13.3.2.10 <A
LERT MESSAGE> FIELD
13–9
13.3.3 D
EVICE ALARM CODES
13–9
14 HANDSHAKING 14–1
14.1 C
ONTROL LINK HANDSHAKING
14–1
14.2 H
ANDSHAKING PROVISIONS
14–1
14.3 C
ABLING REQUIREMENTS
14–2
14.3.1 H
ANDSHAKING DISABLED
14–2
14.3.2 H
ANDSHAKING ENABLED
14–3
14.4 S
YMPTOMS OF INCORRECT CABLING
14–3
14.4.1 H
ANDSHAKING DISABLED
14–3
14.4.2 H
ANDSHAKING ENABLED
14–3
14.5 A
DDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
14–4
Introduction
80-60100000-02 1–1
1 Introduction
1.1 This chapter
The CBU-NM is the pr oduc t name for the Network Management sof tware
known as ‘PCNC’. All references throughout in this manual are as
‘PCNC’.
This chapter contai ns a brief descri ption of what PCNC does and how it
does it. You do not need to read to this chapter if you are already
familiar with PCNC. If you do bypass this chapter, you can use the
Glossary to learn the meaning of unfamiliar terms.
1.2 Features of PCNC
PCNC provides:
• A central site for monitoring and controlling a network.
• Alarm processing to make alert messages more meaningful.
• Alarm filtering to show only the information you want to see.
• A record of all alarm information for examination at any time.
• A clear picture of the current status of every device on the network.
• Terminal emulation for direct communication with network devices.
• A user-friendly interface to make network supervision easier and
more intuitive.
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-021–2
1.3 Overview
The Cabletron Network Controller (PCNC) collects information from a
network of Cabletron dev ices. W henev er an al ert m essage arriv es from
a device, PCNC will notify you. The message is processed, recorded
and displayed as an ‘Alarm ’, and you c an then deci de whether or not you
need to act on the i nformati on. All alarm s are recorded in a database
which can be viewed at any time.
PCNC also allows easy comm uni cat ion wit h al l devi ces on your net work,
using the Control Term i nal . I t al l ows you to tal k to l ocal devic es direct l y,
and to remote devices using a ‘Talkwire List’ of local devi ces which in
turn communicate with the remote devices.
The PCNC program runs under
Microsoft
Windows
on an IBM-
compatible PC and provides a user-friendly interface to the network.
1.4 Getting Started
After installi ng PCNC, you fi rst need to conf i gure a fi le cal led PCNC. INI,
as described in Chapter 7. This done, you can custom i se the progr am to
work with your network, using the Network Inspector window. The
information you enter fills the ‘Network Database’ - PCNC uses this to
communicate with all your devices individually, and process the alarms.
When you run PCNC, you will see a window like this:
Title bar
Menu bar
Alarm Pan e l
& Tool bar
Workspace
Status bar
Figure 1.1 - Main Window
Introduction
80-60100000-02 1–3
You will find all the commands in the menu bar, and on the t oolbar j ust
below are many of the commonly used commands. To f ind out what
each icon means, place the mouse over the relevant button, and a
message will be displayed in the Status Bar. In addition, clicking the
right button of the mouse over a window brings up a selection of
commands (a ‘Speed Menu’) relevant to that window.
1.5 How PCNC works
PCNC allows easy network moni tori ng by c onv er ti ng al ert m essages into
‘Alarm s’. It contai ns two m ain databases - one to store information about
your network, and one to store al l incoming alarms. These databases
can be viewed through the Network Inspector window and the Alarm
windows respectively. Terminal windows allow you to communicate
directly with devices on your network. Software ‘Links’ transfer
information between the program and the network ports.
The connections between these elements of PCNC are shown in the
schematic diagram below. Each component is more fully described in
Chapter 2.
Network Inspector
Alarm
Database
Network
Database
Auxiliary Link
Alarm WindowsTerminals
Auxiliary
Port
Control link
Local
Port
SNMP link
TCP/IP
Remote
Port
Remote Link
Figure 1.2 - PCNC Program Structure
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-021–4
1.5.1 Alarms
When a network al ert message arriv es, PCNC uses the inf ormati on you
have entered into the Network Database to identify the source of the
message. It then passes the message to a separate module which
decodes the alert. Finally it logs the message as an alarm i n the Alarm
Database. Once the alerts have been translated and logged, you can
view and filter the resulting alarms using the alarm windows.
Alarm
Database
Network
Database
Alert
Processor
Remote
Link
Local
Port
Remote
Port
TCP/IP
Control
Link
SNMP
Link
Figure 1.3 - Alarm Processing
1.6 What PCNC does
When an alarm arrives, PCNC alerts you with an audible warning (if
enabled) and a flashing panel on the tool bar. An al arm i con f l ashes next
to the originating device in the Network Inspector window.
A description of the alarm appears in the Unacknowledged Alarms
window and in the Alarm Log windows. Clear information about the
source and type of alarm allows you to decide qui c k ly what action ( if any)
needs to be taken. You can then i nform PCNC t hat you have read t he
message by ‘acknowledging’ the alarm, and the alarm then disappears
from the Unacknowledged Alar ms window. When al l alarm s have been
acknowledged, the panel no longer flashes and the sound stops.
You can view all recent alarms (before and after they have been
acknowledged) by looking at either the Network Alarm Log or Device
Alarm Log windows. An alarm i con, identi cal to that displayed next to
the device, flashes beside unacknowledged alarms.
Introduction
80-60100000-02 1–5
The inf ormation i n the Alarm windows comes f rom the Al arm Database
through inter nal fi lters. In addi tion, t he Alarm Log windows (but not t he
Unacknowledged Alarm s window) can be filter ed to display only certai n
alarm t ypes. For exampl e, if you are inv estigating how of ten a device
has been in backup, you can choose to hide all alarms except
Performing Backup
alarms. For m ore details, see Chapter 3 -
Alarms
and Filters
.
The Alarm Database is described full y in Chapt er 3. The diagram below
shows an overview of the database and its related windows.
Alarm Database
Unacknowledged
Alarms Window
Network Alarm
Log Window
Custom Filter
Unacknowledged
Filter
Custom Filters
Archived Alarm
Log Window
Custom Filter
Device Alarm
Log Windows
Single Device
Filters
Archived Alarm
Database
Figure 1.4 - The Alarm Database
The Alarm Database can store up to 5000 alarms. If this count is
exceeded, the database ‘overflows’ and the earliest alarm information
will be lost from the log. To prevent this happening, the database can be
cleared and stored to a disk f ile (Archiv ed) for ex amination at a future
CBU-NM
User Manual
ii 80-60100000-021–6
date. The program will warn you when the database is nearly ful l, but i t
is a good idea to archive the database frequently. This ensures you
have a complete log of alarms, and keeps the program running
efficiently.
1.7 System requirements
To install and run t he PCNC progr am you will require an IBM-compat ibl e
PC. We recommend that it is of the following type or superior.
1.7.1 Hardware
•
66MHz 80486DX PC with 8MByte of RAM.
•
At least 10 MByte of free fixed disk space.
•
Colour VGA gr aphic s card and com pati bl e m oni tor (hi gher resolut i on
displays will show more information).
•
At least one unused COM port, with W indows COM driv er support,
for connection to a Cabletron network.
•
A 3.5" 1.44 MByte floppy disk drive to read the supplied disks.
1.7.2 Software
• MS-DOS
5.0 or later already installed.
• Microsoft
Windows
3.1 or 3.11 already installed.
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80-60100000-02 2–1
2 Main Components
2.1 This chapter
This chapter cont ains inf ormati on about how and why you use the main
components of PCNC outlined in
Figure 1.2 - PCNC Program Structure
.
2.2 Main Window
This is the main control console for PCNC. It contains all the PCNC
commands and windows.
Title bar
Menu bar
Alarm Pan e l
& Tool bar
Workspace
Status bar
Figure 2.1 - Main Window
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All the PCNC com mands and windows can be accessed using the menu
bar. Many commands can also be used by clicking on buttons in the
toolbar just below. When you move the mouse over a button, its
functi on is displayed i n the status bar at t he bottom of the screen. The
commands are all described in Chapter 10 -
Commands
.
The toolbar also contains a large alarm symbol that f lashes whenever
there is an unacknowledged alarm.
The network is controlled and m onitored using the windows which appear
inside the Mai n window’s workspace. Each of these windows is created
using a toolbar button or menu opt ion. Onc e creat ed, t hese windows are
either open to display inf orm ation, or represented by i cons at the bot tom
of the workspace area. A window that has been reduc ed to an i con can
be restored either by double-cli cking it with the mouse, sel ecting i t f rom
the Window menu, or clicking on its toolbar button.
2.3 Speed Menus
Many PCNC commands can also be accessed using ‘Speed Menus’,
which are v ery simil ar to those in the menu bar . Click the r ight mouse
button over the Network Inspector window to bring up the Network
Inspector Speed Menu. Click ov er any Alarm window to see the Alarm
Log Speed Menu. The Contr ol Term inal also has a Speed Menu whic h
contains commands relevant to direct network connections.
2.4 The Network Database
The Network Database stores information about devices on your
network, and identifies each one using a unique ‘Poll number’. This
information is vital to PCNC’s processing of incoming messages, and
must accuratel y reflect your net work configurati on in order for PCNC to
run properly. See Sec tion 8. 4 -
Defining the Database
for detai ls of how
to set it up.
Network messages contain the Poll number of the dev i ce that generated
them. W hen it r eceives an aler t message, PCNC ‘looks up’ the dev ice
with that number in the database. It can then use the i nf ormat ion stored
for that device to convert the message into an Alarm.
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80-60100000-02 2–3
2.5 The Network Inspector Window
The Network Database can be v iewed and modifi ed using the Network
Inspector window. Each line i n thi s window displays infor mati on about a
particular device, such as its location and type. It can also display a
description of the device ent ered by t he user, al l owing each device t o be
identified easily.
The window also shows clear information about the present status of
each device, allowing you to tell at a glance the current state of the
network. For exampl e, each dev ice has a grey alar m symbol next to i t,
which flashes pink if the device has any unacknowledged alarms.
The inf orm at ion stor ed about t he Dev i ce’s l ocati on al l ows you to connect
automaticall y to each dev ice, as described i n S ec tion 4.5 -
Connecting to
Network Devices
.
2.6 The Alarm Database
When an alert message is received by PCNC, it is decoded and
conver ted into an Al arm whic h is stored in t he Alarm Database. Ex actl y
how this is done is described in Chapter 3 -
Alarms and Filters
.
2.7 Alarm windows
Information stored in the Alarm Database can be viewed through the
vari ous Al arm windows. Each alar m is shown as an entry in the window,
with inform ation regarding its ti me of arri val, source and nature. If the
alarm has been acknowledged, its alarm symbol (on t he l ef t) is grey, and
if not it flashes pink.
You can choose to hide certain types of alarm from most of these
windows by means of the Alarm Filters (see Section 3.8 for details).
The Network Alarm Log window displays the complete contents of the
current Al arm Database. The Dev ice Alarm Log window shows all t he
alarms generated by a particular device. Both these windows can be
filtered to hide unwanted information.
All
unacknowledged alarms are
displayed in the Unacknowledged Alarms window, which cannot be
filtered.
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2.8 Acknowledging / selecting alarms
To acknowledge an alarm, select i t f r om any Al arm window, then use the
Acknowledge
command from the Alarms menu, the Alarms Speed
menu, or the tool bar butt on. As a short cut, you can sim ply doubl e-cli ck
on the alarm. You can also select multiple alarms.
Once acknowledged, the alarm’s entry in the Unacknowledged Alarms
window will be removed, and the relevant symbols in the Alarm Log
windows will stop flashing. When all alarms for a certai n device have
been acknowledged, the Al arm sym bol nex t t o the devic e i n the Network
Inspector Window will stop flashing. When all alarms for the whole
network have been acknowledged, the Alarm Panel in the toolbar will
stop flashing.
2.8.1 To select a single alarm
Click on the alarm with the left mouse button - any previous
selections will be cleared
2.8.2 To select a group of alarms
Click on the first alarm with the left mouse button. Press and hold
down the
Shift
key while you select the last alarm in the group.
2.8.3 To select/deselect additional alarms
Press and hold down the
Ctrl
key while you click on the alarm you
wish to select/deselect.
2.9 Ports, Links and Terminals
PCNC can receiv e alert messages either through serial COM ports or
from a TCP/IP network via a Network Interface Card. To receive
messages over TCP/IP you will need to install the SNMP extensions
which are an optional feature of PCNC. Note, however, that PCNC
cannot communicat e directl y with your NIC. T o use P CNC’s S NM P Link,
you need to install the Chameleon package from NetManage Inc.
PCNC communi cates with the physical network using soft ware modules
called Links. The Control Link is connected to l ocal Cabletron dev ices.
The Remote Link is connected to a KBU that can receive alerts from
off-site KBUs via the ISDN network. The Auxiliary Link is used to
connect to non-Cabletron dev i ces which do not generate al ert m essages
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80-60100000-02 2–5
PCNC can understand. These three l i nks int erf ac e PCNC with the serial
ports.
The optional SNMP Link al lows PCNC to comm unicate with the TCP /IP
software which manages the NIC. See Chapter 5 for details.
The Control and Auxiliary Links have Terminal windows that allow you to
comm unicate directl y with network devices. T he Control Termi nal is a
dumb Terminal and displays all incoming alert messages unprocessed
as they arrive. You can poll devices on the local network and issue
comm ands to them using this window. The Auxiliary Terminal offers a
number of emulations including DEC VT-100 for connection to other
devices.
For further inform ation on Links, and on how to com municate with y our
network, read Chapter 4 -
Communications
.
2.10 Drivers
PCNC versions 0.26 and earl ier used separate Dev i ce Driv er fi les which
contained code and information relating to Cabletron devices. These
files (eg KBU64.DLL) are not needed for this version of PCNC, since
their functionality has been implemented in the main program.
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80-60100000-02 3–1
3 Alarms and Filters
3.1 This chapter
This chapter describes how alarm s are processed and displayed. I t also
explains the role of filters and how to use them.
3.2 The Alarm Database
The Alarm Database contai ns inf ormat ion about al l the al erts PCNC has
received and processed. The database is stored within PCNC, but is
saved peri odical ly (at interv al s defi ned in PCNC. INI) to a disk fi le call ed
PCNC.DAT. When you exit the program, the latest version of the
database is saved. W hen you reload, PCNC automatically reads the
database back from this file.
3.3 SNMP Traps
PCNC is also capable of translati ng alarm s to SNMP ‘Tr ap-PDU’ f ormat .
This facility is available as an extension to the basic PCNC program, and
runs parallel to normal alert processing. The traps can be sent to any
standard NMS over TCP/IP, and they are forwarded automatically as
soon as they are processed.
If you use an NMS as the primary network monitor, you can prevent
PCNC storing the alarms it receives. This stops the Alarm Database
filling up with information that you will never use. The logging of alarm s
is turned on or off by a setting in PCNC.INI (see Section 7.12.3).
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3.3.1 Alert Processing
When an al ert message arrives, i t is processed and converted into an
alarm as shown in Figure 3.1.
Incoming
message
Legal alert
for device?
Poll number
in Database?
Valid alert
format?
Discard as
unreadable
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Create Alarm:
'Unrecognised Alert'
Create Alarm:
'Unknown Device'
Create appropriate SNMP Trap
No No
Create Alarm from
the Alert message
Modify the Network Database
Add alarm to Alarm Database
Legal alert
string?
Yes
No
Discard as
unreadable
Figure 3.1 - Alert processing
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80-60100000-02 3–3
First, PCNC must decide whether or not the incoming message is both
• In a valid ALERT format (See Chapter 13)
• A legal ALERT string
If not, PCNC can make no sense of it and will discard it as unreadable.
If t he m essage is v ali d, PCNC will extract the Poll number and look it up
in the Network Database to find out which device sent the message.
Once it k nows the Device’s nam e and product type, P CNC decodes the
message as an alarm.
If the device type s pecified is not supposed to produce the ALERT that
PCNC has received, it means that the Database is not configured
correctly. PCNC then c reates its ow n alarm to indicat e t he problem (see
Section 3.3.3).
At this stage, i f requi red, the alar m is conv erted int o an SNMP trap and
forwarded to an NMS (see Chapter 5).
Alert messages often indicate a change in device status, eg that a
devi ce has gone off li ne. PCNC stores the c urrent status of each dev i ce
in the Network Database and updates the r elev ant one whenever an alert
comes in. Thus the latest information is always displayed in Network
Inspector window.
Finally, the alarm is stored in the Alarm Database.
The logging of PCNC alarms and the creation of SNMP traps can be
enabled or disabled in PCNC.INI (see Chapter 7).
3.3.2 Alarms
When an alarm has been processed, PCNC stores it in the Alarm
Database and notifies you of its arrival - with the Audible warning (if
enabled) and a fl ashing panel i n the tool bar. The stat us of the dev i ce is
decoded from the message and shown in the Network Inspector window.
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The Alarm Database stores the following information:
•
The device’s Poll and channel numbers.
•
The device’s name and product type, both extracted from the
Network Database using the Poll number contained in the alert.
•
The alert’s time and date of arrival.
•
The nature of the alert, stored internally as a number (see
Section 13.3.3 -
Device alarm codes
).
•
Whether or not the alarm has been acknowledged.
This information can be viewed through the Alarm windows (see
Section 3.4).
3.3.3
Unknown Device / Unrecognised Alert
alarms
These two alarms show that an alert message could not be processed
properly - either the poll num ber is not in t he Network Database, or the
device type is inconsistent with the alert received.
In either case, the alarm is still presented in the usual way, but the filters
treat it as being of t ype
Unknown Device
or
Unrecognised Alert
rather
than as the type of alert received (eg
Performing Backup
).
An
Unknown Device
alarm i s generated if a v alid m essage contains a
Poll number for which ther e is no entry in the Network Database. The
device name is then shown as ‘Unknown Device’.
An
Unrecognised Alert
alarm shows that the Device type is wrongly
specifi ed in the Network Database. PCNC knows which alert m essages
can be produced by each device type, since this is defined in the file
PCNC0003.DLL. From the Network Database, it knows which device
types correspond to which Pol l numbers. T hus P CNC can check the Poll
number contained in the alert against t he alert message itself. If it thinks
an alert has come from a device that should not have been able to
produce it, PCNC generates an
Unrecognised Alert
alarm.
For exam ple, if PCNC recei ved the alert message ‘
00102-1: ALERT
Link down
’ but the Network Database had dev ice number 102 def ined
as a KBU 64, PCNC would creat e the
Unrecognised Alert
alarm. This
is because PCNC knows that KBUs do not generat e
Link down
alerts.
If t he Network Database did not contai n a dev ice wit h Poll number 102,
PCNC would generate the
Unknown Device
alarm.
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80-60100000-02 3–5
The traps
Poll number not found in database
, and
Unrecognised by
Device Driver
are the SNMP equivalents.
3.4 Alarm windows
Information stored in the Alarm Database can be viewed through the
various Alarm windows, each of which shows a different part of the
database. Each alarm is shown as an entry in the window, earliest first.
From left to right, the fields are:
• the Alarm Indicator icon*
• the date and time of arrival
• the Poll number and channel number of the device
• the user name given to the device
• the nature of the alert received
* If the alarm is unacknowledged, its Alarm Indicator icon flashes pink,
otherwise it is gr ey . The Archived Alar m Log w indows do not display this
icon, since all Archived alarms have to be acknowledged (see
Section 3.5).
Clicking the right mouse button over any Alarm window invokes the
Alarm Speed menu, which is identical to the standard Alarms menu.
3.4.1 Network Alarm Log window
The Network Alarm Log window presents alarm i nf orm at ion for the ent ir e
network. In its default state it shows the compl ete contents of the cur r ent
Alarm Database, but it can be filtered to hide unwanted information.
To create the window, select the
Network Alarm Log
command from
the Window menu or the toolbar.
3.4.2 Device Alarm Log windows
These windows display alarms that originated from one par ticular dev ice,
and are otherwise exact ly the same as the Network Alarm log window.
One possible use for these is to examine a data path between two
devi ces at either end of a l ink. You can cr eate the Dev ice Alarm Log
windows, one for each device, and examine the alerts they have
generated.
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To create a Device A larm Log window, select the relev ant dev ice i n the
Network Inspector window and then select the
Device Alarm Log
comm and from the Network menu or tool bar. Y ou can have any num ber
of Device Alarm Log windows, each with its own filter.
3.4.3 Unacknowledged Alarms window
This window shows only the new alarms in the database, and cannot be
filtered. When you acknowledge an alarm, its entry automatically
disappears from this window.
To create the window, select the
Unacknowledged Alarms
command
from the Window menu or the toolbar.
3.5 Archiving
The Alarm Database can store up to 5000 al arm s, but i f it becom es f ull ,
PCNC has to discard the earliest alarm s to m ak e room f or t he new ones.
Archiving empties the database and saves its contents to a disk file,
which can be viewed at any time.
To archive the cur rent al arm s, use the
Save to Archive f ile.. .
comm and
from the Alarms menu or the toolbar. A dialogue box appears, allowing
you to specif y a f ilenam e - PCNC uses the extensi on
.LOG
for archiv ed
files.
A Warning Box will tell you when the database is nearly f ul l, and rem ind
you that it needs to be archiv ed. However, it is a good idea to arc hive
the database frequent ly, bef ore this happens. T his ensures you hav e a
complete log of alarms, and keeps the program running efficiently.
NB
: You can only archive the database once all alarms have been
acknowledged.
3.5.1 Archived Alarm Log windows
To view an archived log, select the
Inspect Archive File...
command
from the Alarms menu, or use the t oolbar. Thi s invok es a dialogue box
from which you choose the filename of the log you wish to see. The
contents of the log appear in a newly created Archived Alarm Log
window, with the name of the file in the Title Bar. You can have any
number of these windows open at once, each with its own filter.
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80-60100000-02 3–7
The Alarm Indicator icon is not di splayed next to t he entries, since al l
alarms must have been acknowledged in order to archive the database.
3.6 Reading the database from other applications
The PCNC Alarm Database can be saved as a text fil e f or exam inati on
by other applications. To save the database in this format, use the
Alarms | Export Alarm Dat abase...
command. This will invoke a
dialogue box where you can enter a name f or the f il e. W hen y ou hav e
entered a name (up t o 8 letters long), click on
Ok
or press
Enter
. The
file will be saved with a .CSV extension. Export ing the Al arm Database
has no effect on PCNC and does not clear the database.
Once the alarms are saved in this way, they can be read into other
applicat ions, such as Microsoft
Excel 5. Thi s allows you t o manipulate
the data collected by PCNC in many ways. For example, you can
perform detailed analysis of the alarm information or include alarm
tables in reports. See Section 13.3.1 for details of the format of the
exported database.
3.7 Hardware alert disabling
Any recognised alert m essages cause alarms. You cannot stop PCNC
producing alarm s for new messages by fi l ter ing - you can onl y hi de them
in the various Al ar m Log windows. However, most devices will allow you
to prev ent certain alert messages from being sent at al l. Consult your
hardware documentation for information about this facility.
NB: Turning messages off at the device can be a disadvantage. If a
message is hidden by a f il ter, i t rem ains in t he database and can still be
exami ned at a later date by simpl y remov ing the fi lter. Howev er, if t he
message was never sent, you have no record of it at all.
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3.8 Filters
Filters control the visibility of certain alarms in the Alarm windows. They
are used to hide common alarms you may not be interested in, or to
single out particular alarms to help trace a problem.
There are three alarm filters, which can be applied to show only:
1. Alarms from a particular device on the network (
Device
)
2. Acknowledged / Unacknowledged alarms (
Alarmed
)
3. Certain alarm types eg
Line active
or
Disconnected (Alarm type
)
Filter 1 is applied automatically by PCNC when you create a Device
Alarm Log window, and cannot be modified.
The other filters can, where applicabl e, be altered as required. PCNC
uses Filter 2 to display the Unacknowledged Alarms window, which is
essentially the Network Alarm Log window with all the acknowledged
alarms hidden from view. In the Device and Network Alarm Log
windows, Filter 2 allows you to hide all the acknowledged or
unacknowledged alarms as required.
Since the Unacknowledged Alarm s window and the Archived Alarm Log
window show only unacknowledged and acknowledged alarms
respectively, the option to alter Filter 2 is not available in these windows.
Filter 3 is available in all Alarm windows except the Unacknowledged
Alarms window. It allows you hide from view one or more types of
alarm. This filter is further split into Generic and Device type (see
Section 3.8.1.
Figure 3.2 -
PCNC Filtering
- shows an overview of the f ilters and the
windows to which they relate.
These three filters can be used in combination to show only the
information you are interested in. For exam ple, you can single out all
the unacknowledged
Unautho rised Access
alarms from the KBU64 in
Glasgow by creating a Device Alarm Log window for that device and
then selecting the appropriate filters from the window.
Alarms and Filters
80-60100000-02 3–9
Filt ers do not affec t the operation of the Alarm Database, merely which
parts of i t you see. All alarms rem ain in the database, even if they are
filtered and not visible in a window. Incoming alarms continue to be
added to the database and displayed in the Unacknowledged Alarms
window, regardless of filter settings.
NB: When you close a window, any modified filter settings will be lost.
The following diagram shows which filters can be applied to each
window. A ‘Custom Filter’ represents a user-definable combination of
the
Alarmed
and
Alarm type
filters.
Alarm
Database
Unacknowledged
Alarms Window
Network Alarm
Log Window
Device 1 Filter
+
Custom Filter
Device 1 Alarm
Log Window
Device 2 Filter
+
Custom Filter
Custom Filter
only
Device 2 Alarm
Log Window
Unacknowledged
Alarm Filter only
Figure 3.2 - PCNC Filtering
3.8.1 Generic / Device Filters
Many of the alarms PCNC processes can be generated by more than
one type of devi ce. You may be inter ested in cert ain alar m ty pes only if
they are sent by a parti cular dev ice. F or exam ple, you may wish t o see
a
Connected
alarm if it came f rom a KBU64, but not if it came from a
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