N-Tron iSNMP Suite User Manual

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iSNMP Suite

User Manual

10/04/2005 page 1 of 45

iSNMP Suite Help

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Getting Started with iSNMP Editor Page 2

1.1 Auto-Discovery

1.11 Unmanaged Devices

1.12 Managed Devices

Chapter 2 – Manual Device Configuration Page 9

2.1 Unmanaged Devices

2.2 Managed Devices

Chapter 3 – Tag Configuration Page 13

3.1 Polled tags

3.2 Trap tags

3.3 Finding tags

3.4 Filtering tags

Chapter 4 - MIB Template Generator Page 20

Chapter 5- SNMP traps and Event Notification Page 22

Chapter 6 - Network Analyst Configuration Page 25

Chapter 7 – User-Defined derived tags Page 26

Chapter 8 –Advanced iSNMP Settings Page 28

Chapter 9- iSNMP Communicator Page 30

Chapter 10– iSNMP DataViewer Page 35

Chapter 11 – iSNMP OPC Interface Page 39

Appendix A – COM Call Tracing Using TraceHook Components

Chapter 1 - Getting Started with iSNMP Editor

Before you can begin to monitor the health and performance of your Ethernet network, IndustrialSNM P must first be made aware of the network device s that you wish to monitor. Setting up a database o f network data is easy and quick with IndustrialSNMP Editor. The procedure is as follows:

1. Auto-discover or manually define the network devices that you have.

2. Define the data points that you want to read from the network devices.

3. Monitor the configured devices in the iSNM P DataViewer, or

4. Set up your HMI to read the OPC tags from the IndustrialSNM P OPC server.

When you first start IndustrialSNMP Editor, you will see the Explorer-like screen as shown below:

To define the devices in your network, you hav e t w o choices. You can either Auto-Discover the network devices (easiest way), or you can define the network devi ces manually (harder way).

1.1 Auto-Discovery of Network Devices

1. Make sure that the iSNMP computer is con nected to the Ethernet network that you want to Auto-Discover network devices on!

2. Press the Auto-Discover button on the ta skbar or select Auto-Discover from the Operations menu

. Note: The Auto-Discover button is the green eye on the iSNMP menu bar.

The Search Network dialog box should appear. In order to search the network, you will nee d

to tell IndustrialSNMP the range of IP addresses to search. Enter the starting and ending IP address range of the Ethernet devices in your network and press the Beg in button.

you haven’t defined an IP range, IndustrialSNMP won’t allow you to search the network.

After iSNMP has searched the network, a list of both SNMP manageable and unmanaged

devices will be shown in the New Devices dialog box, as shown below.

Note: If you have already defined or auto-discovered a device before, it will not appear in the New Devices dialog box, but instead will appear in the lower Current Devices dialog box.

Note: If

Using the Auto-Discovery feature of IndustrialSN MP assumes that you have already configured the IP address(es) of your network devices. Most manufacturers ship their devices w ithout an IP address preassigned. For help on how to configure your network devices, please consult th e network management manual for the device, or contact your supplier for the hardware. Additionally, while m ost Windows 2000 and XP Professional operating systems have SNMP Services enabled by default, monitoring SNMP data from Windows NT workstations often requires that the SNMP services be installed. Detailed instructions are available from the Microsof t help files.

If you wish to add any of the de vices that the auto-discovery tool has found into the IndustrialSNMP editor, then double-click on the device’s IP address in the New Devices dialog box. If the device is unmanaged, follow this link to the un-managed device Help file section. If the device is SNMP manageable, then turn to the Managed Device Setup Help section.

1.11 Auto Discovering Unmanaged Device Setup

If you have auto-discovered an unmanaged device, by default the Device name that iSNMP will

assign it will be

Replace the default device name with a brief logical Name.

Leave the Device field as

Leave the IP address field unchanged!

Type a brief description of the device in the Description field if you wish.

(Unmanaged Device) - xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx.

(Unmanaged Device).

Below is a screen capture of an example completed Device Wizard screen:

ADVANCED TAB

The advanced tab includes advanced settings primarily concerned with how IndustrialSN MP reacts if a field device is not responding promptly. If you are having problems communicating with a field device adjusting some of these settings may resolve your issues. It is recommended that the settings are left at the default values unless you are asked to make changes by an iSNMP tech support engineer!

The following is a list of definitions for the selections on the Advanced Tab:

Device Timeout (ms): This value is the amount of time allowed

to complete an SNMP get. In situations where there may be a lot of traffic on the network, a longer timeout b efore iSNMP assum es a communication failure has occurred might be help ful. The default setting of 500 ms has been found to be suitable for most

applications.

Device Retries: After an attempt to get data has timed out, th e

Device Retries value represents the number of times that iSNMP

will attempt to retrieve the data before d eciding that the de vice has failed.

Skip Count: This is the amount of time that i SNMP will wa it bef ore

attempting another GET from a device that has fail ed. T he time unit

is defined in the Device timeout setting.

Example ( 800 ms device

timeout with 30 skip count =2400ms before new attempt)

1.12 Auto-Discovered SNMP-Managed Device Setup

In addition to the “Heartbeat” data that iSNMP makes available for all network devices, SNMP-manageable devices have a wealth of additional detailed network data that can be accessed. This section will help you configure your SNMP manageable devices:

DEVICE TAB

If IndustrialSNMP recognizes the managed device from our pre-defined list of supported network devices, much of the information required will be filled in, as illustrated below.

If not, follow the steps below to complete the device configuration:

1. By default, IndustrialSNMP creates a default device name by merging the type of

2. The second field in the Device Wizard is a drop-down Device me nu, which allows you

network device that it discovered wit h the device’s IP address. Since the device name often is used as part of an OPC address string in your HMI, it is a good idea to now change the Device Name to a shorter unique string.

to select from a list of predefin ed SN MP-manageab le dev ices. If the network device tha t you are configuring is one of the devices that IndustrialSNMP has in its predefined device list, this field should already be auto-populated with the type of network device that iSNMP detected. If the network device that you are setting up is not part of the predefined list, you have three choices:

a. You can leave the Device field blank, in which case you w ill have to create each

SNMP data tag individually (the most difficult route.)

b. You can scroll down the list and select from the list of

(x being the number of Ethernet ports that the device has.) For example: let’s assume that IndustrialSNMP has discovered a network switch, but it is not one of the predefined devices in the iSNMP database. If the field device happens to be a 24 port Ethernet switch, you can select the drop-down device menu. Most Ethernet devices support MIBII, which is an industry-standard list of SNMP “tags”. Using the generic MIB template, you sho uld

Generic 24port MIBII device

Generic x-port MIBII

devices

from the

be able to have iSNMP create a large number of useful tags for the device without having to create each data point individually. You can add unique system device tags to the predefined MIBII tags later. (See the SNMP Tag Setup section of Help explaining how to do this.)

c. If you purchased iSNMP Expert Edition, y ou can use the MIB Template Generator

to automatically create a unique template for the device you are configuring. Please read the Using MIB template Generator He lp file.

3. The third field that should be auto-populated is the IP Address for the device. Since

you have auto-discovered the device, you should not change this address (unless you like to create trouble for yourself!) This address follows standard IP addressing format (for example: 192.168.0.30).

4. The fourth field is the Community field.

level that you will be using when communicating to the network device. In an SNMPmanageable device, you can limit the access that an SNMP manager application( such as iSNMP) can have, based on the manager software’s password level. There are generally two default “password” (community) levels; Read and Read/Write. In most SNMP devices, the default community for Read-only privileges is called “Public,” and the default community for Read/Write privileges is “Private.” Some SNMP-manageable devices can be configured to have custom levels of access. Please make sure that the community level you choose is in accordan ce with the access privileges that y ou need. If you want only to limit access on a few SNMP tags, you can select t he highest access level for the device, and then limit the access level for specific SNMP tags within IndustrialSNMP Editor.( See the Ta g Configuration help for mo re details on how to limit access on a tag-by-tag basis.)

5.The fifth field is the Description field. It is not necessary to have a description, b ut i n larger networks, it may help to sort out which device you are looking at in the IndustrialSNMP Editor.

6. The sixth field is the Network Analyst selection. N etwork Analyst is only available

with iSNMP Expert Edition. Whe n the Netw ork analyst b ox is selec ted, iSNMP wi ll create extra OPC tags that represent calculations such as bandwidth utilization and device status. These Network analyst tags are available only when monitoring a network switch. (There is detailed information about the configuration of these points in the

Network Analyst Tag Set-up

ADVANCED TAB

The “community” is actually the control access

The Device Wizard advanced tab includes advanced settings primarily concerned with how iSNMP reacts if a field device does not respond. If you are having problems comm unicating with a field device adjusting some of these settings might resolve your issues. It is recommended that the settings are left at the default values unless you are asked to make changes by a iSNMP tech support engineer!

The following is a list of definitions for the selections on the Advanced Tab:

Device Timeout (ms): This value is the amount of time allowed

to complete an SNMP get. In situations where there m ight be a lot of traffic on the network, a longer time before a communication failure might be helpful. The default setting of 800 ms has been

found to be suitable for most applications.

Device retries: After an attempt to get data has tim ed out, the

device retries value is the amount of time s the SNMP manager will attempt to retrieve the data before failing.

Skip Count: This is the time that the manager will wait before

attempting another GET from a device that has fail ed. T he time unit is defined in the Device timeout setting.

Example ( 800 ms device

timeout with 30 skip count =2400ms before new attempt)

No. of Items/ Message: The IndustrialSN MP software requests

data in groups of OID’s. The number of items / messages refers to the numbers of OID’s requested in one SNMP GET. For most networks, 25 items has been found to be the ideal size of message for the best performance.

After you have finished filling out the field defini tions, press the OK button. At this point if you selected a predefined tag database from the drop-down menu, IndustrialSNMP will ask you if you want to auto-import the tag databa se f or the defined network device. Press OK.

If you selected a predefined tag database, iSNMP will auto-populate the tag list for the device, as seen in the example below:

The Auto-import function will automatically populate your tag database with all the SNMP data that can be accessed from the device.

imported, and in other cases there may be only a few tags

tag database, then you are finished with this device! You can proceed to add additional network devices or simply save your configuration and exit the IndustrialSNMP Editor. If you need to define the MIB data for the device, please reference the SNMP Tag Data Setup Help

file section of Help.

Note: In some cases there may be many tags

. If you have a predefined device

Chapter 2 - Manual Network Device Configuration

If you are trying to define a device that ha s not yet been installed on the network or if you want to create a device without using Auto-Discovery, you will need to use the following procedure:

First place the mouse over the Network Devices tab in iSNMP Editor, and right-click the mouse. Select the New Device selection. You will be given the choice to either select a managed or unmanaged device.

If you are setting up a SNMP-manageable device, skip below to the Help section for the Manual

device setup - Managed.

2.1 Manual Network Device Setup- Unmanaged

1. In the Device Wizard name field, type a brief logical alias for the device.

2. In the Device Field, use the drop-down menu to select

3. Type the IP address of the unmanaged device into the IP Address field.

4. Type a brief description of the device in the Description field if you wish.

Below is a screen capture of a completed Device Wizard screen:

(Unmanaged Device).

Unmanaged device Advanced tab

The advanced tab includes advanced settings primarily concerned with how IndustrialSN MP reacts if a field device does not respond. If you are having problems communicating with a field device adjusting some of these settings might help resolve your issues. It is recommended that the settings are left at the default values unless you are asked to make changes by a iSNMP tech support engineer!

For advanced users the following is a list of definitions for the selections on the Advanced Tab:

Device Timeout (ms): This value is the amount of time allowed to complete an SNMP ge t. In situations where there might be a lot of traffic on the network, a longer time out setting might be helpful. The default setting of 500 ms has been found to be suitable for most applications.

Device Retries: After an attempt to get data has timed out, the d evice retries value is the amount of times the SNMP manager will attemp t to retrieve the data before failing.

Skip Count: This is the time that the manag er w ill wa it bef ore a tte mp ting an other GE T from a device that has failed. The time uni t i s defined in the Device timeout setting.

ms device timeout with 30 skip count =2400ms before new attempt)

Example (800

2.2 - Manual Network Device Setup- Managed

1. In the Device Wizard Name field, type a brief logical alias for the device.

2. The second field is a drop-down Device menu, which allows you to view and select from a

3. Type the new device’s address in the IP Address field.

4. Select th e appropriate SNMP access level in is the Community field.

list of predefined SNMP-manageable devices. If the network device that you are configuring is one of the predefined devices that IndustrialSNMP supports, then sele ct it from t he list and proceed to the IP Address field. If the network device that you are setting up is not part of the predefined list, then you have three choices:

a. You can simply leave the Device field blank, in w hich case you will have to create each

SNMP data tag individually (the most difficult route.)

b. You can scroll down the list and select from the list of

being the number of Ethernet ports that the device has.) For example: let’s assume that IndustrialSNMP has discovered a network switch, but it is not one of the predefined devices in the IndustrialSNMP database. If the field device happens to be a 24 port Ethernet switch, you can select the Device menu. Most Ethernet devi ces suppor t MIBII, which is an industry-standard list of SNMP “tags”. Using the generic MI B template, you should be able to have iSNMP create a large number of useful tags for the device wi thout having to create each data point individually. You can add unique system device tags to the predefined MIBII tags later. (See the SNMP Tag Setup section of Help explaining how to do this.)

c. If you have iSNMP Expert Edition you can use the MIB Template Generator to create a

unique template for the actual device you are configuring. Read the How to use

is actually the control access level that you will be usi ng when communi cating to th e networ k device. In an SNMP- manageable device, you can limit the access that an SNMP manager (such as IndustrialSNMP) can have, based on the manager software’s password level. There are generally two default “password” (community) levels; Read and Read/Write. In most SNMP devices, the default community for Read-only privileges is called “Public,” and the default community for Read/Write privileges is “Private.” Some SNMP-manageable devices can be configured to have custom levels of access. Please make sure that the community level you choose matches the device configura tion for the access privileges you expect. If you want only to limit access on a few SNMP tags, you ca n selec t the hig hest acce ss leve l for the device, and then limit the access level on each SNMP tag within Ind ustrialSNMP Editor.( See the Tag Configuration help for more details on how to limit access on a tag-by-tag basis.)

Generic 24port MIBII device

Generic x-port MIBII

from the drop-down

The SNMP community

devices (x

5. Type a brief description of the network device in the Description field. It is not necessary to

6. The sixth field is the Network Analyst selection. When the Network analyst box is selected

have a description, but in larger networks, it may help to sort out which device you are looking at in the IndustrialSNMP Editor.

iSNMP will create extra OPC tags that create derived calculations such as bandwidth utilization and device status. These Network analyst tags are available only when m onitoring a network switch. (There is detailed information about the configuration of these points in the Network Analyst Tag Set-up

Managed Device Advanced tab

The Advanced tab includes advanced settings primarily concerned with how IndustrialSN MP reacts if a field device does not respond. If you are having problems communicating with a field device adjusting some of these settings might help resolve your issues. It is recommended that the settings are left at the default values unless you are asked to make changes by a iSNMP Software tech support engineer!

Device Retries: After an attempt to get data has timed out, the d evice retries value is the amount of times the SNMP manager will attemp t to retrieve the data before failing.

Skip Count: This is the time that the manag er w ill wa it bef ore a tte mp ting an other GE T from a device that has failed. The time unit is de fined in the Device timeout setting.

Example:

(800 ms device timeout with 30 skip count =2400ms before new attempt)

Chapter 3 - Tag Configuration

There are two major types of tags that can be created within iSNMP. Polled tags are tags t hat iSNMP actively “gets” from network devi ces on a r eg ular b asis . Trap s tag s are tag s tha t iS NMP is co nfig ured to receive from devices that will not be polled, but instead will broadcast alarm messages whenever alarm conditions occur.

3.1 Polled tag Configuration

You can define your polled tags manually if you are not auto-discovering your network devices or if auto-discovery did not find an OID that you need. To manually define an SNMP OID, first highlight the network device that you want to add an SNMP tag to in the iSNMP Editor left screen frame. With the corre ct device highlighted, move your mouse to the right screen frame, right-click, and select New Item, as shown below:

The dialog box for creating a new SNMP database tag will appear, as seen below:

To configure the tag, you must do the following:

1. Give the data point a Name. The tag name should be a logical and brief description of the MIB object data being read. (

For example, if the MIB data represents the current link status for Por t Number 1 on a network switch, a brie f tag name would be PortLink1.)

2. The second field is the ObjectID for the tag. The ObjectID is the specific data address for the information that you are req uesting from the SNMP agent. Most MIB addresses follow an Object ID nomenclature that has a series of whole numbers separated by periods.

(For example: .1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7.1

) Note: You can find the MIB Object ID addresses and descriptions in the network management manual supplied with your SNMP-manageable device. Be aware that some network component vendors have two product manua ls – one for installing and operating the network device, the other detailing netw ork management information.

ObjectID for the tag does not reference a table, the offset is 0. In those cases where the ObjectID references a table, the offset is the number of SNMP g et calls needed to access all the data of the table. The information detailing the structure of a MIB is available from the manufacturer of the device you are monitoring.

3. The third field is the Data Type for the MIB data you are going to be requesting. By pressing the drop-down arrow on the right side of this dialog box, you will be able to choose the data type from a pre-defined list. The Data Type for MIB data can be found in the management manual for your network device.

If the

4. The fourth field is the Description field. It is not necessary to have a tag description, but in larger networks it may help to sort out which tag you are looking at in the IndustrialSNMP editor.

5. The next choice you must make is the Access selection for the tag. If you click in this box, you can limit any communication to this tag to allow only reading of the data. Some MIB data can be set, such as a System Contact fi eld or to reset a counter in the SNMP agent. Leaving this box un-checked will allow write commands to be sent to the MIB data point.

Note: The SNMP agent residing on the network device may just support Read-Only for all or some tags, and selecting write privileges from within IndustrialSNMP does not guarantee that write commands will be executed. Please consult the network management man ual for your network device to be sure of the functionality supported.

6. The last section allows you to crea te some additional OPC tag s that can help in network History applications. Selecting the previous value box creates an OPC tag that holds the previous SNMP get value in an OPC tag. The Delta Time box creates a tag based on the delta in time between the values of the current and last SNMP Object ID. The Moving Average section creates an OPC tag for a moving average of a particular SNMP value.

Note: In most applications it will not be necessary to select any of the History options. Please consult a iSNMP tech support engineer for assistance with these tags.

After you have filled out the field definitions, press the OK button. At this point you should see the tag that you just created appear on the first line on the right frame of the IndustrialSNMP interface, as seen in the example below:

interface and follow the preceding procedure again.

3.2 - Creating Trap tags within iSNMP

name instead, then you can define the Trap tag manually by:

To add additional tags for this device, right click on the right frame of the iSNMP Editor

Once you have created all the tags that you wan t for the netw ork device, yo u can ei ther add another network device or you can close IndustrialSNMP Editor and begin to view the SNMP data from your OPC client program. IndustrialSNMP includes a powerful network visualization tool called IndustrialSNMP Dataviewer. You ca n use this tool quickly and easily to view th e SNMP and RMON data in your configured system. Please refer to the IndustrialSNMP Dataviewer Help file to learn how to use this powerful tool.

If a network agent has been configured to generate traps, the network agent b roadcasts a string of data to all configured SNMP manager applications whenever specified trap conditions occur. The trap string includ es the unique SNMP object identifier (OID) address of the trap condition. When iSNMP receives a trap from a field device, it compares the incoming trap string to the defined Trap tags for tha t field device. For traps that have been defined within iSNMP Editor, the incoming OID stri ng is converted from the raw x.x.x.x.x.x format into the associated OPC tag name for the trap. iSNMP makes the trap name available as part of the Event string to be displayed within your HMI. If a matching OID address for an incoming trap cannot be found, iSNMP displays the raw OI D in the trap string a longside the timestamp and trap condition value.

If you do not want to receive a raw OID in the Event string from a trap, and want a Tag

1. First highlight the network dev ice that you want to add an SNM P trap tag to in the iSNMP Editor left screen frame. With the correct device highlighted, move your mouse to the right screen frame, right-click, and select New Item, as shown below:

The dialog box for creating a new SNMP database tag will appear, as seen in the example below:

To configure the trap, you must do the following:

1. Give the trap a Name. The tag name should be a logical and brief description of the trap condition. (

For example, if the MIB data represents an overheat sensor, a simple name could

be Overheat.)

2. The second field is the ObjectID for the tag. The ObjectID is the sp ecifi c data ad d ress f or the information that you are requesting from the SNMP agent. Trap addresses follow an OID nomenclature that has a series of whole numbers separated by periods. .1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7.1

) Note: You can find the MIB Object ID addresses and descriptions in

(For example:

the network management manual supplied with your SNMP-manageable device. Be aware that some network component vendors have tw o product manuals – one for installing and operating the network device, the other d etailing network management information.

ObjectID for the tag does not re ference a table, the offset is 0. In those cases where the OID references a table, the offset is the number of SNMP get calls needed to access all the data in the table. The information detailing the structure of a MIB is available from the manufacturer of the device you are monitoring.

3. The third field is the Data Type for the MIB data you are going to be requesti ng. Select Trap/Notification.

4. The fourth field is the Description field. It is not necessary to have a trap description, but in larger networks it may help to sort out w hich tag you are looking at in the Industria lSNMP Editor.

5. The next choice you make is the Access selection for t he tag. If you clic k in this box, you can limit any communication to t his tag to allow only reading of the data. Some MIB data can be set, such as a System Contact f ield or to reset a counter in th e SNMP agent. Since you are receiving traps, you cannot write to the device, but you can write to the iSNMP value to clear the strings. Leaving this box un-checked will allow write commands to be sent to the MIB data point.

If the

6. The last section allows you to create some add itional OPC tags that can help in network History applications. The History section is not applicable t o SNM P T r ap s.

After you have filled out the field definitions as illustrated in the screenshot below, press the

OK button.

To add additional traps for this device, right click on the right frame of the iSNMP Editor

interface and follow the preceding procedure again.

3.3 – Finding tags

If you have an OID that you wish to quickl y find in the complete list of tags for that device, you can use the

FIND

tag feature. Press the Find Tag button, as shown below:

A Dialog window will pop-up that will allow you t o find any tag in the list by typing in the OID name. For example, if you wish to find the sysUptime tag (A counter that co ntinually increments to display device uptime), you can type in a portion of the OID name and press the Find Next button. The find feature will take you to all tags which include the string of characters that yo u typed.

3.4 – Filtering tags

SNMP-manageable network devices often have a large number of OIDs that can be cumbersome to navigate. If you wish to find a group of OIDs which include a specific string of characters, you can select the Filter tags feature by pressing the Filter button on the iSNMP Editor interface, as shown below:

Once you have the Filter dialog box, type the string that you wish to filter by into the text box. For example, to find all OIDs that include the string “sys” , type the string into the text box and press the OK button.

iSNMP will return all tags for that device that include the string.

Chapter 4 - Using the MIB Template Generator

To generate a custom template for the device selected in the device wizard press the Generate Device Template button. The screen below will appear:

1. Select the appropriate device type and number of Ethernet ports on the device.

2. Press the next button to advance to the next step.

3. The next screen asks the user to designate the loc atio n of the p riva te MI B d ata file(s ) to be integrated into the custom iSNMP device temp l a te, as seen below:

Press the ADD… button to browse the file system to locate the private MIBs related to the network device. If you do not have any private MIB data p ress th e Next button to proceed to the next step, since IndustrialSNMP has the abi lity to create a basic template for the network device despite having no private MIB da ta. It should be noted that some templates req uire multiple MIB documents, and some MIBs are dependent on the inclusion of other MIB documents to be functional. Make sure that you incl ude all necessary private MIB files!

Note: In the process of generating a template, iSNMP MIB Temp late Generator will identify m issing MIB files. If files are missing you can continue with the generation process, but the template created may not be complete. In some applicati ons this might not be a problem. If the templa te is non-functional after finishing the process, run the generator again and include the missing MIB files.

4. Once iSNMP MIB template generator has complet ed parsing the private MIB files, you

will be prompted to give the newly created te mplate a name

. Note: Sometimes iSNMP MIB template generator will be working for a minute or two parsing the files patient!

5. When the file parsing is completed, you will be prompted to give the newly created

6. After pressing OK, you will return to the De vice Wizard. Select the template yo u have

template a name. It is a good idea to choose a template name that describes both the model number and manufacturer of the device, since many manufacturers ha ve unique MIBs for their different product lines. Th e template file that you have created will be installed in the iSNMP template file with the pre-existing templates provided with IndustrialSNMP. With the new template now “learned” by iSNMP, it will not be necessary to run the MIB template generator again for similar devices to be discovered!

created and proceed to the next field.

Please be

Chapter 5 - SNMP Traps and Event Notification

Note: If you plan to configure iSNMP to receive traps, then Windows 'SNMP Trap Service' on the same PC must be disabled. Running both iSNMP trap reception and Windows Trap reception will cause traps not to be received.

iSNMP supports both active polling of SNMP Agents and the receipt of unsolicited event messages from SNMP agents. Unsolicited event messages sent by network agents to network manager applications are commonly called “traps”. A netw ork agent transmit s traps whenever a configured event, such as a link up/down change occurs.

network agent, so if you are sharing network hardware with your IT department, traps can be sent to both iSNMP and the IT network management application simultaneously!

To configure an SNMP Agent and receive SNMP traps from it within iSNMP you should:

1. Configure the SNMP agents on the network manager(s) to send SNMP traps to the network manager application. The network device should be powered up, and its management menu accessed. All devices are configured slightly differently, but the example shot screen below shows an Ethernet switch being configured via it’s web browser interface to send traps to an iSNMP application running on a PC with IP address 192.168.1.15.

Note: SNMP Agents can be configured to send traps to more than one

2. Verify that the network device is connected onto the sa me network as

the iSNMP server. Launch iSNMP Editor and run the auto-discovery t ool

(if you cannot run the Auto-discovery tool, then skip to the manual trap configuration screen below.) Assuming that the network device has been correctly configured with an IP address, it should appear in the Discovered Devices window. If the device has a pre-defined iSNMP MIB template, iSNMP should recognize it, and pre-build the tag database, including trap data. If the device is not supported as a predefined iSNMP device, then you will have to manually defin e the traps you wish to receive, which you can verify by following step 3 below.

Note: The manual trap definition procedure is described in Events Advanced Settings section below.

3. Verify that iSNMP is receiving the trap data from the target device. If you

still have open the iSNMP Editor Application, save and close now. Launch the iSNMP Dataviewer application from Start > Progr ams > IndustrialSNMP > Tools > iSNMP Dataviewer. “Explode” the tree next t o the device that you wish to test, and scroll down until you see the Events group.

Note: There are often many tags, iSNMP Dataviewer lists the tags and groups alphabetically, so scroll down until you find Events.

active monitoring portion of the screen as shown below:

Select and move the

Events Count

and

Event_xxx

tags over to the

Initially, you may not have any values in the trap ta g s to vi ew. Begin to crea te trap conditions. For example, if the network device is a switch, and it is configured to send Link up and Link Down traps, then you can connec t and disconnect devices from the switch to create trap conditions. As trap conditions o ccur, you should see the trap counter increment, and the traps string s ent by the network agent wi ll be displayed in the value column of the Events detail tags. As SNMP traps are received from the network, iSNMP places the most current trap in the Events_001 field, and moves the previous traps down by one on the range. This way you can have a “first-in first-out” alarm log history easily displayed in your HMI.

Note: The default number of Event strings is 10. If you wish to increase or decrease th e number of Event strings available, open iSNMP Ed itor, and right click on the Events tab under the target device, as shown below:

4. If you are receiving traps, you can now repeat th e process for any other network devices that you wish to receive traps from.

Chapter 6 - Network Analyst Tag Set-up

Network Analyst tags are derived tags based on the raw data provided from certain SNMP Object IDs. To activate this feature the Network Analyst check box must be selected on the Device W izard box.

Note: Network Analyst functionality is only available on Ethernet Switches

variables associated with the Net work Analys t tags, op en up the tree stru cture und er the swi tch on th e left side of the screen. Highlight the Network Analyst and the available tags will appear on the right side of the screen. Double clicking on a specific tag will bring up a properties box. For the individual port bandwidth utilization ( box will display the current settings of the user definable variables. The properties box that allows you to adjust the thresholds for the 3-level status tags as well as the multipoint average of the inbound bandwidth utilization percentage.

buPctIn.nn

(buPctOut.nn)

or port status (

. To adjust some of the

buStat.nn

) a read-only properties

switchBUStat

tag has a

The value for the buPct tags is a moving point averag e of the raw inbound or outbound bandwidth utilization calculated by iSNMP. You wi ll notice when you browse the available tags in the OPC Serv er that there are more Network Analyst tags available to use in your OPC client application. iSNMP also makes the raw bandwidth utilization value available. It is not recommended that the raw bandwidth utilization value be used in an alarming application. The inherent behavior of network traffic on an Ethernet network involves momentary spikes in band width utilization. Typi cally, network admini strators should be concerned with high network traffic loads for an extended period of time. A more appropriate “tag” to monitor for network load alarm purposes would be the rolling average tag

Within iSNMP the default sampling rate for the average bandwidth uti lization tag is 30 seconds.

. Note:

Chapter 7 – User-Defined Tag Set-up

iSNMP User-Defined iSNMP tags are derived OPC tags that require the user to define a new tag by manipulating the value of existing iSNMP tags.

To add a user-defined tag:

Expand the device detail view of the target device on the left hand window in iSNMP Editor, highlight the User-Defined icon, m ove your mouse to the right scr een frame, right-click, an d select New Ite m, and the dialog box for creating a new SNMP database derived tag will appear, as seen below:

iSNMP uses Microsoft JScript as the syntax for der ived tags that offers tremend ous flexibility for creating derived tag equations. iSNMP has added an extension to Jscript in order to use the current values of certain OPC tags in the Jscript equations. To use the iSNMP Jscript extension:

the value of that tag into the equation variable.

returns the current value of that OPC tag into the eq uation.

The Val ( ) function takes the name of an iSNMP OPC tag and returns

Example: x = val(ifOutUcastPkts.01);

If the input to the Val ( ) variable is a valid OPC tag name, Val ( )

If the equation that is created in the derived tag includes tags from multiple devices the full OPC tag name (< bring in the current values from multiple devices.

For information on the syntax for Jscript plea se visit the Microsoft website and search for Jscript. Below is the most current link to the section of the Microsoft website with instructions on Jscript.

device>.< tag name>)

will

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/script56/html/js56jsoriJScript.asp

Chapter 8 – Advanced iSNMP Features

Every network is different, and occasionally you must tune the iSNMP engine to best perform o n your network. Advanced polling features are detailed on the OPC Server Settings page. Select the OPC Server Settings button from the EDIT menu item:

The OPC Server settings page will appear:

Do not change the default settings on the OPC Server Settings page unless you are experiencing problems with polling devices on your network. A brief description of OPC server settings:

Trace Level: In cases where you wish to maintain a log file of server operations, you can select

the level of Server Operating Tracing. The different levels of Server Operating Tracing in the drop-down are:

• None – (Default) No trace messages are output.

• Connect - Log trace messages associated with client connectivity and

• server activation.

• Group - Log trace messages associated with creating / deleting / modifying OPC groups.

• Item - Log trace messages associated with item transactions. For example: read, write,

and subscription transactions.

• All - Log all message types.

Trace File Path: Select the destination where the server operation log file is stored.

OFF

COM Call tracing: Turns COM call tracing on and off. Default is details.

Base UDP port: This is the first port that the server uses for multithreaded polling. The server will use this port and the next 100 ports above it (if needed) to execute the multi-threaded poling of network devices.

Run Server as Windows Service: By selecting this option, iSNMP will run as a Windows service, which can be configured to start automatically when Windows starts.

. Go to Appendix A for more

All: Log all message types.

Run Server as application: By selecting this option, iSNMP will run whenever

an OPC client requests data, and will shutdown within seconds of no demand. This is the default setting.

Disable Auto shutdown: By selecting this checkbox, if iSNMP is running as an application, the OPC server will not shutdown once started, even if no OPC clients are requesting data.

Enable initial polling: By selecting this checkbox the iSNMP OPC server will not display a value to an OPC client application until a verified value has been returned. This can increase server startup time greatly. Default setting is

Note: COM Call tracing is distinct from server operation tracing. COM Call tracing is lower-level than server operation tracing and sends its output to a different log file. See Appendix A for Comm. call tracing functionality.

OFF

Chapter 9 - IndustrialSNMP Communicator

During system troubleshooting, you may wish to communicate to your SNMP-manageable network devices without having to start the I ndustrialSNMP OPC Server. One advantage to the Communicator is that you do not have to configure your SNMP database using the IndustrialSNMP Editor. This allows you to verify any SNMP data directly from the PC Network Interface Card. If you have an existing IndustrialSNMP Editor configuration set up, then you will be able to browse the tag database you have already set up.

When you first start IndustrialSNMP Communicator, you should notice that the IndustrialSNMP OPC Server screen does not open. This is normal. IndustrialSNMP Communicator is a stand-alone SNMP communication product, and it accesses the PC’s Network Interface Card directly.

There are two ways to use Communicator. One is to browse a network that has already been configured using IndustrialSNMP E ditor. The other is to manually fill in the required SNMP MIB data fields. We will cover browsing an existin g configura tion first. To use Industria lSNMP Communicator without browsing, please jump ahead to Spot Checking SNMP Data

Browsing an Existing IndustrialSNMP Database

The Communicator screen is split into two major p arts. The left scre en is the device br owser area. This area will show a list of the available n etwork devices and the tags tha t you have configured in IndustrialSNMP Editor. The right par t of the screen is where you can view realtime data from any of the confi gured tags or from any tag for which you have the correct MIB address data.

To begin, you can browse the SNMP “tree” in the left screen. Start by left-clicking the mou se over the + sign to the left of the IndustrialSNMP Suite “tree” icon on the OPC Data Tree screen, as shown below:

probably have not configured any devices from within IndustrialSNMP Editor. Please exit IndustrialSNMP Communicator and configure the devices in your network first, or skip ahead to the Spot Checking SNMP Data section of this Help manual.

Note: If there is no + or – sign to the left of the “tree,” then you

In the network shown, a device called SwitchA has been configured. By left clicking on the “+” sign to the left of the SwitchA network d e vice, a listing of all the tags configured for that device should appear, as shown below:

Now that all the tags that have been configured are displayed, it is possible to add individual tags into the Communicator real-time view area. To begin viewing any tag, first simply highlight it by left clicking on the individual tag in the IndustrialSNMP Suite window. The MIB data for that “tag” will be automatically e ntered into the data fields on the right-hand side of the screen. In the screen below, a tag has been highlighted, and the MIB data automatically filled in.

Note: IndustrialSNMP Communicator allows access to one tag at a time. IndustrialSNMP Communicator is meant as a troubleshooting tool primarily. If you need to view multiple “tags” concurrently, use the IndustrialSNMP Dataviewer utility.

IndustrialSNMP Communicator display windows:

You will note that there are six i tems of information displayed about each tag within the

1. The first Window is the IP address of the SNMP agen t that is being polled.

necessary to have configured an SNMP address in the manageable network device to communicate to it. If you are unsure whether this has been done, please refer to the management manual for your network device.

2. The second text box is the Community field. The Community field is essentially a password field. The communit y setting in this field must match the community that is se t in the SNMP-manageable switch.

Note: Many device manufacturers will have a default community setting of Private for full a ccess privileges to their network device. Often there is also a default Public community, which will allow read-only privi leges from the SNMP agent. Many network devices will allow you to create a number of communities, all of which have varying levels of access to that device’s MIB data. If an IT group maintains the network device that you are communicating to you should coordinate with them to determine the correct community to use.

3. The third field is the SNMP Object Identifier for the tag. The SNMP Objec t Identifier is the specific data address for the information you are requesting from the SNMP agent embedded in your manageable network device. Most MIB addresses follow an Object ID nomenclature that has a series of whole numbers separated by periods (for example: .1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7.1.)

Note: You can find the MIB Objec t ID addresses and descriptions in

Note: It is

the network management manual supplied with your SNMP-manageable device. Be aware that some network component vendors have two product manuals–one for installing and operating the network device, the other detailing network management information.

4. The fourth field is the Data Type for the MIB data you are going to be requesting. MIB data is stored in a number of formats. Some data is stored in various types of integers, others in strings, and so on. By pressing the drop-down arrow on t he right s ide of t his dia log box, you will be able to choose the data type from a pre-defined list.

Note: The Data Type for your specific MIB data can be found in t he management manual or in the MIB defin ition file for your network device.

5. The fifth field of data is the Current Value of the tag. This column displays the data in real-time as often as it is updated by the SNMP d river.

Note: IndustrialSNMP Communicator only retrieves data from the mana geable network device whe n you press the trigg er button. It is normal to see a line of question marks until the Trigger button is pressed.

6. The sixth field is the Description field. This field will be populated with the text that was set in the Description field of IndustrialSNMP Editor. If there is no text, IndustrialSNMP Communicator will still work!

Reading SNMP Data

To initiate a poll of the SNMP MIB data click on the GE T button t o poll the SN MP age nt in the selected device. The GET NEXT b utton will increment thr ough the MI B and retrie ve the data. The Current Value text box will now reflect the state of the requested SNMP MIB Object Identifier. The read function is only triggered on ce at the mom ent that the GET or GE T NEXT button is pressed. To update the data, you must press the GET or GET NEXT button again.

Writing SNMP Data

To initiate a write to the SNMP MIB database, use the SET button on the bottom of the screen. You can change the value of an Object ID only if it is permitted by the configuration of the SNMP agent in the device you are interr ogating. You also have to configure the tag for write ability in the IndustrialSNMP Editor. You can view the status of the tag in the IndustrialSNMP Information section of t he Communicator.

Note: When attempting to SET a value in the SNMP MIB, you must be at the p roper community ( Read/Write or Write only) setting for the ability to set a va lue. This community settin g is configured when setting up the device.

Spot-Checking SNMP Data

You do not have to have set up a device in IndustrialSNMP Editor to be able to communicate to any SNMP- manageable device using IndustrialSNMP Communicator. To spot-check SNMP MIB data on a network, you will need four piec es of information from the SNMP ag ent about the MIB data item that you want to read:

1. The IP address of the SNMP agent that is being polled. Enter t his data in the SNMP Agen t field on the right side of the Communicator interface. There are four boxes, one for each of the four sections of the SNMP agent IP address.

Note: It is necessary to have configured an SNMP address in the manageable network device to communica te to it. If you are unsure whether this has been done, please refer to the network manual for the device and configure it before attempting to use IndustrialSNMP Communicator.

2. The Community for which that the managed network device is configured. The Community is essentially a password field. The community setting in this field must match the community that is set in the SNMP manageable sw itch.

Note: Many device manufacturers will have a default communit y setting of Private for full access privileges t o their network device. Often there is also a default Public c ommunity, which will allow read-only privileges from the SNMP agent. Many network devices will allow you to create a number of communities, all of which have varying levels of access to the device’s MIB data. If the network device that you are communicating to is maintained by an IT group, you should coordinate with them to determine the correct community to use.

3. The SNMP Object Identifier for the tag. The SNMP Object Identifier is the specif ic data address for the information you are requesting from the SNMP agent embedded in your manageable network device. Most MIB addresses follow an Object ID nomenclature that has a series of whole numbers separated by periods (for example: .1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7.1.)

You can find the MIB Object ID addresses and descriptions in the network management manual supplied with your SNMP-manageable device. Be aware that some network component vendors have two product manuals–on e for installing and operating the network device, the other detailing network management information.

4. The Data Type for the MIB data you are going to be requesting. MIB data is stored in a number of formats. Some data is stored in various types of integer s, others in st rings, and so on. By pressing the drop-down arrow on the right side of this dialog box, you will be able to choose the data type from a pre-defined list.

can be found in the management manual or in the MIB definition file for your network device.

Note: The Data Type for your specific MIB data

Note:

Chapter 10 - IndustrialSNMP DataViewer

IndustrialSNMP DataViewer is an OPC client application designed to assist iSNMP users in verifying that the iSNMP OPC Server is collecting and sharing data properly. iSNMP DataViewer can be a useful tool in troubleshooting potential problems with OPC communication. When you first start IndustrialSNMP Data Viewer, you should notice that the IndustrialSNMP OPC Server screen will flash open and then will minimize to run as a service on your computer.

SNMP database using the IndustrialSNMP Editor. Please refer to IndustrialSNMP Editor in the Help menu for instructions.

Reading Data

The DataViewer screen is split into two “windows”. The left screen is the device browser area. This area will show a list of the available n etwork devices and the tags that you have configured in IndustrialSNMP Editor. The right part of the screen is where you can view realtime data from any of the configured tags. To begin, you must browse the SNMP “tree” in the left screen. Begin by left-clicking the mouse over the + sign to the left of the IndustrialSNMP Suite “tree” icon on the OPC Data Tree screen, as shown below.

there is no + or – sign to the left of the “tree”, then you probably have not configured any devices from within IndustrialSNMP Editor. Please exit IndustrialSNMP DataViewer, and launch IndustrialSNMP Editor to configure the devices in your network firs t!

Note: Before using IndustrialSNMP DataViewer, you must conf igure your

Note: If

In the network shown, two devices have been configured. We will work with the device called SwitchA. By left clicking on the “+” sign to the left of the Switc hA network device a listing of all the tags configured for that device should appear. It is now possible to add individual tags into the DataViewer real-time view area. T o view an y tag , first le ft -cli ck on the individual tag in the OPC Data Tree window, th en press the -> in the taskba r. In the screen

below, six data tags that have been moved into the real-time data window: (Double clicking on the tag will also move the tag into the real time viewing area)

Note: To “clean up” the OPC Data tree window, you can press the “-“button to the left of any d evice’s icon. T his will hide the list of tags from this device, and help to navigate to other network devices more easily.

You will note that there are four items of information disp layed about each tag within the

Real-time display window:

1. First is the Tag name of the data.

window is displayed in OPC naming format. In this case, it shows the OPC name as <Device>.<Tag name>.

2.The second column is the Read/Write column. This column displays whether the tag is configured for read-only, or read/write privileges. If the device has read/write privileges, then you can actually set the tag value from within IndustrialSNMP DataViewer.

details.

3.The third column of data is the curr ent va lue of the tag . T his colu mn di splay s the data in real-time, as often as it is updated by the SNMP driver.

only getting “0”s or “*******” values, you probably have a problem communicating to your SNMP manageable network devices. Verify that you are attached to the network and then verify that the network device you have configured is powered.

4.The fourth column shows the times tamp for the last update time for data being retrieved from the SNMP manageable device. To increase or decrease the frequency of the data update, go to the Advanced Setting section below.

Now that you have begun to gather real-time data, you can easily change the data points that you are monitoring. To add a tag from another device, simply open the tag listing for that device by left-clicking o n the “+” sigh to the left of the device name, as you did for the first device, highlight the tag that you want to monitor, and press the -> button on the taskbar above the DataViewer windows.

Note: The tag name from within the real-tim e

See the Writing Data section of Help below for

Note: If you are

To remove a tag from the real-time window, highlight it by left -clicking on it and then press the <- button on the ta skbar. . If you wa nt to remove mul tiple tags, y ou can hold down t he Ctrl key on your keyboard, and then select each desired tag with the left mouse button. When you press the <- button on the taskbar, all highlighted tags will be moved out of the real-time DataViewer window.

Writing Data

To write data to a manageable network device fr om within IndustrialSNMP DataViewer, yo u should check that the point is read/write able in the first place. Yo u can do this by look ing at the R/W column in DataViewer. If the column has a R/W by the tag, then the tag was configured in IndustrialSNMP Editor to be able to be written to.

Note: The SNMP agent residing on the network device may only support read-only for all or some tags, and selecting write privileges from within IndustrialSNMP Editor does not guara ntee that write commands will be executed. Another factor that affects read/write privileges is the community “password” that you defined during the Network Device setup. Please consult the network management manual for your network device to be sure of the functionality supported).

Assuming that you have configured the tag to be write-able, you ca n write a value by simply double clicking on the tag from within the real-time Datav iewer window. When you double click on the point, a Write Value pop-up window will appear, as seen below:

button. Once you have done this, the new value should ap p ear on t he next scan of that tag.

Type the new value that you want in the New Item Value text box, and click the OK

Saving and retrieving Data view windows

After you have selected the tags that you want to monitor, you may want to Save the list, so that you do not have to re-browse and select the tags every time that you restart IndustrialSNMP DataViewer. To save your l ist, press the Save Data view button ( looks like a floppy disk), which is located above the real-time DataViewer window. You will see the pop-up Save As window. Type a file name for the DataView that you want to be able to recall and then click the Save button. At this point the DataView that you have created wil l be available any time you restart IndustrialSNMP DataViewer.

To recall a Data view after restarting IndustrialSNMP Da taViewer, press the Open Button, which is located above the real-time DataViewer window (or select Open from the File menu). You will see the pop-up Open window below. Select the Data view you want from the list and press the Open button. Your pre-selected tag database will automatically be loaded.

iSNMP System Tags

iSNMP creates a few “virtual” tags for each SNMP manageable device defined. These tags are not part of the devices MIB table, they are created by iSNMP. A brief description of each follows:

These tags reflect the device settings on the 'Advanced' tab of the Device Wizard d ialog.

$iSNMPMinimumPollTime: This tag reflects the 'Minimum SNMP Scan Rate (ms)' setting in the iSNMP OPC Server Settings dialog in SNMP Editor.

$iSNMPDeviceTimeout $iSNMPDeviceRetries $iSNMPDeviceSkipCount $iSNMPDeviceNoItems

$iSNMPDeviceStatus : This virtual tag is based on the sysObjectID OID (.1.3.6.1.2.1.1.2.0), which every

SNMP-manageable device supports. At each polling cycle, $iSNMPDeviceStatus attempts to get the value of the sysObjectID OID. If $iSNMPDeviceStatus does a successful SNMP 'Get' of sysObjectID from the agent, its value is '1'. If $iSNMPDeviceStatus is unable to do a successful SNMP 'Get', its value is '0'.

Advanced Settings

IndustrialSNMP DataViewer allows you to make changes to the base IndustrialSNMP poll rate, as well as the rate of update that IndustrialSNMP DataViewer OPC update rate. The difference between these two poll rates is as follows:

The Base SNMP Poll rate is the frequency with which the Ind ustrialSNMP driver will make requests of the network device for data. For example, a base SNMP poll rate of 1000ms will ensure that the IndustrialSNMP driver will attemp t to p oll the ne two rk d evice s that h ave b een configured no more often than once every 1000milliseconds.

The Sync Poll rate is the rate at which I ndustrialSNMP DataViewer requests inform ation from the SNMP polling engine. There are two selections within the Sy nc poll rate, the default is the Cache setting. allows the IndustrialSNMP DataVi ewer to display a cached value if the SNMP polling engine does not have a refreshed value from the manageable netw ork device. Selecting the device polling selection will make DataViewer wait for a refreshed SNMP data value. This can sometimes slow the performance of the application.

Do not change the base SNMP poll rate below 1000ms, unless you have discussed your application with iSNMP tech support.

In most circumstances, the Cache is the preferred polling method.

This

Chapter 11 - IndustrialSNMP OPC Server Interface

The IndustrialSNMP OPC driver will be started by any OPC client that requests data from it. If there is not an OPC client requesting information, the IndustrialSNMP OPC Server will be inactive. You can verify that the IndustrialSNMP OPC Server is running by looking for a small SNMP icon in the lower right hand taskbar of your O/S. This icon shows that the OPC driver is running. If you minimize the OPC client software application (And any other software windows you may have opened), you will see the IndustrialSNMP OPC Engine interface as seen below:

This interface has a few important tools, as well as an event log, which can assist you in troubleshooting your application. In the window, you will be told how many OPC clien ts are currently connected to the IndustrialSNMP OPC Server.

IndustrialSNMP OPC Server, so it is possible to have both IndustrialSNMP DataViewer and an HMI package communicating simultan eously to the SNMP-manageable device.

If any polling errors are occurring, they will be listed in the event log screen, with a Date and Time stamp for the event. You can easily view a history of errors (The log can hold up to 100,000 entries, and will then begin to write over the oldest entry.)

If you wish, you can save the event log at any time by pressing the Save button on the left side of the interface. This will save the log file as a text file. This can be helpful to our tech s upport staff, in the event you are having communication problems.

You can also print the event log out to a printer. P ress the Pr int but ton on the le ft sid e of the interfa ce, and follow up the instructions to print to one of your pre-configured printers.

If the OPC server has been configured to run as a service or not to shutdown automatically, you c an shutdown the server by pressing the Close button.

Note: Multiple OPC clients can connect to the

Appendix A - COM Call Tracing Using TraceHook Components

COM Call tracing is distinct from server operating tracing. COM Call tracing is lower-level than server operation tracing and sends its output to a different log file.

Introduction

TraceHook components provide a means to record COM method calls to a circular file, at varying levels of detail. The technology is implemented ‘out of band’ from, or orthogonal to, the actual method call. This means that there is absolutely no tracing code inside the COM method call implementation. Tracing is provided by means of pre and post call hooks that utilize type library data to interpret the stack when generating input and output parameter dumps. When the TraceHook components are configured to record the greatest level of detail, the trace file will contain particulars of each COM method call just prior to and just after its execution, including full input and output parameter dumps. The following is an excerpt of an actual trace log file generated while the OPC Browser browsed the namespace of the simulation server that is provided with the Toolkit. This example illustrates the highest level of detail available.

2001-07-31 12:58:51.093 LOG FILE OPENED! 12:58:51.213 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (207-1) IOPCServer::AddGroup("NDI_Browser", 0, 0, 0, [Ptr] NULL, 0, 2048, [out], [out], REC<968964692, 286, 4560, >, [out]) 12:58:51.233 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (207-1) hr=0x4000d IOPCServer::AddGroup([in], [in], [in], [in], [in], [in], [in], 12529312, 10, [in], [IUnknown] 0x00148E38) 12:58:51.283 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (311-2) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::QueryOrganization([out]) 12:58:51.283 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (311-2) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::QueryOrganization(ENUM<1>) 12:58:51.283 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (207-3) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs(ENUM<1>, "", 0, 0, [out]) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (207-3) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs([in], [in], [in], [in], [IUnknown] 0x015F0180) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (311-4) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (311-4) hr=0 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], "src", 1) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (333-5) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID("src", [out]) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (333-5) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID([in], "src") 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (207-6) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (207-6) hr=0 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], "trg", 1) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (311-7) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID("trg", [out]) 12:58:51.303 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (311-7) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID([in], "trg")

12:58:51.353 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (146-8) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:51.353 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (146-8) hr=0x1 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], [NULL], 0) 12:58:51.353 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (333-9) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs(ENUM<2>, "", 0, 0, [out]) 12:58:51.373 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (333-9) hr=0x1 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs([in], [in], [in], [in], [IUnknown] 0x015F0180) 12:58:51.373 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (146-10) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:51.373 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (146-10) hr=0x1 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], [NULL], 0) 12:58:53.005 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (311-11) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::ChangeBrowsePosition(ENUM<3>, "src") 12:58:53.005 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (311-11) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::ChangeBrowsePosition([in], [in]) 12:58:53.016 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (146-12) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs(ENUM<1>, "", 0, 0, [out]) 12:58:53.026 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (146-12) hr=0x1 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs([in], [in], [in], [in], [IUnknown] 0x015F0180) 12:58:53.026 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (333-13) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:53.026 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (333-13) hr=0x1 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], [NULL], 0) 12:58:53.046 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (207-14) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs(ENUM<2>, "", 0, 0, [out]) 12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (207-14) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseOPCItemIDs([in], [in], [in], [in], [IUnknown] 0x015F0180) 12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (146-15) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (146-15) hr=0 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], "Tag01", 1) 12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (333-16) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID("Tag01", [out]) 12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (333-16) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID([in], "src.Tag01") 12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCGroup$NDI_Browser >> (146-17) IOPCItemMgt::ValidateItems(1, ARRAY< ELEM[0] REC<"", "src.Tag01", 0, 0, 0, [Ptr] 0x00000000, 0, 0> >, 0, [out], [out]) 12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCGroup$NDI_Browser << (146-17) hr=0 IOPCItemMgt::ValidateItems([in], [in], [in], ARRAY< ELEM[0] REC<0, 11, 47789, 1, 0, [Ptr] 0x00000000> >, ARRAY< ELEM[0] 0 >)

12:58:53.066 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (311-18) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseAccessPaths("src.Tag01", [out]) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (311-18) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::BrowseAccessPaths([in], [IUnknown] 0x015F0180) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (146-19) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (146-19) hr=0 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], "Path1", 1) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (207-20) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (207-20) hr=0x1 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], [NULL], 0) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (207-21) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (207-21) hr=0 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], "Tag02", 1) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (146-22) IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID("Tag02", [out]) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (146-22) hr=0 IOPCBrowseServerAddressSpace::GetItemID([in], "src.Tag02") 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCGroup$NDI_Browser >> (333-23) IOPCItemMgt::ValidateItems(1, ARRAY< ELEM[0] REC<"", "src.Tag02", 0, 0, 0, [Ptr] 0x00000000, 0, 0> >, 0, [out], [out]) 12:58:53.086 NDISimServer:OPCGroup$NDI_Browser << (333-23) hr=0 IOPCItemMgt::ValidateItems([in], [in], [in], ARRAY< ELEM[0] REC<0, 11, 47789, 1, 0, [Ptr] 0x00000000> >, ARRAY< ELEM[0] 0 >)

12:58:55.619 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (146-1215) IEnumString::RemoteNext(1, [out], [out]) 12:58:55.619 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (146-1215) hr=0x1 IEnumString::RemoteNext([in], [NULL], 0) 12:58:57.652 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 >> (333-1216) IOPCServer::RemoveGroup(12529312, 1) 12:58:57.702 NDISimServer:OPCServer@bf1450 << (333-1216) hr=0 IOPCServer::RemoveGroup([in], [in]) 2001-07-31 12:59:01.007 LOG FILE CLOSED!

Each trace statement in this example contains the following information: Timestamp The time at which the trace statement was written. When both pre and

post call tracing is enabled call duration can then be determined.

Process The process name from which the trace output originates. For the OPC

Server Toolkit, this will always be the process name of the OPC server on which the COM call is being made. In the example above, we see that

NDISimServer

Object ID A unique identifier for the COM object on which the method call was

is the process name from which the trace output originates.

invoked. For the OPC Server Toolkit, this will always be OPCServer@<address> or OPCGroup$<GroupName>. <address> is the actual virtual memory address of an OPCServer object instance, <GroupName> is the name of a particular OPCGroup object instance, so specified by the client that created the group.

Directional Indicator Call ID The combination of the ID of the thread from which the call is being made,

Return Value In post call statements only, the .hr=<HRESULT>. entry appears. The Interface Name The name of the interface to which the COM method call belongs.

Method Name the name of the method being called. Parameter Values

‘>>’ indicates a pre-call trace statement and ‘<<’ indicates a post call trace statement.

and a globally unique call sequence number. For example, in the first trace statement we see that the call is made from thread ID #207 and that the call sequence number is 1. For the OPC Server Toolkit, the thread ID will always be that of a thread in the RPC thread pool that services incoming COM calls for the multi-threaded apartment.

HRESULT value is the actual return value from the COM method call.

A dump of the parameter values. For pre-call trace statements, the ‘[out]’ placeholder marks output parameters. For post call trace statements, the ‘[in]’ placeholder marks input parameters.

Trace Output Configuration

Trace output is configured by means of the ‘NDITraceHook.ini’ file. This file is installed in the ‘<CommonFilesDir>\Northern Dynamic\NDITraceHook’ directory by the TraceHook Setup (<CommonFilesDir> represents the location for common shared files on the system e.g. C:\ProgramFiles\Common Files).

Listed below are the contents of the file, as provided by the TraceHook Setup utility: [Config]

; Full path to the trace log file LogFile=c:\temp\NDITraceHook.txt

; Maximum trace log file size (in bytes). It will wrap to the beginning upon reaching this limit MaxFileSize=10000000

; A trace filter string, using the same syntax as the VB "Like" statement. Only trace ; messages matching the filter will be written to the trace log file Filter=

; The trace level setting. The following values have meaning: ; 0 - no tracing ; 1 - trace only failed method calls ; 2 - trace all method calls (HRESULTs only) ; 3 - provide both pre and post method call trace messages (gives call timing) ; 4 - provide both pre and post method call trace messages, with full parameter dump TraceLevel=4 ; Trace log file truncate flag. If non-zero, the trace log will be truncated to a zero ; length when it is first opened. Truncate=0

The INI file is read when the TraceHook component DLLs are first loaded by any process. As such, changes will not be recognized until the DLLs are unloaded and reloaded again. A utility is provided, however, to adjust the configuration during run-time (see below). By specifying a filter string, only events of interest will be captured in the log file. For example, suppose you’re only interested in IOPCAsyncIO2 interface method calls. Then setting the Filter value equal to ‘*IOPCAsyncIO2*’ will cause the TraceHook components only to log message strings that match this pattern.

Run-time Configuration Utility

The TraceHook Setup also installs a run-time configuration utility (NDITraceHookCfg.exe) in the ‘<SystemRoot>\Program Files\Common Files\Northern Dynamic\NDITraceHook’ directory. As described earlier, the ‘NDITraceHook.ini’ configuration file is read when the TraceHook component DLLs are first loaded by any process. NDITraceHookCfg.exe therefore provides a means to change the TraceHook configuration while it is in use. The following screenshot illustrates the capabilities provided by this simple utility.

Here we see that the filter, trace level, and maximum log file size may be changed at run-time. When any field value is modified the ‘Apply Changes’ button is enabled. Pressing this button will make the changes take effect immediately. After applying any changes, the ‘Persist Settings’ button will then be enabled. If this button is pressed, the current settings will also be saved to the NDITraceHook.ini file, thereby making the changes remain in effect the next time the TraceHook components are utilized.

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