Configuring a NetMRI Appliance

I am currently in the middle of working on a project that involves configuring a NetMRI appliance and a accompanying event collector. So far I am finish configuring the appliance along with a test switch "Cisco 3560".This blog posting will briefly go over some of the steps I took to accomplish this task.

What is NetMRI?

NetMRI enables organizations to take control of network configurations and changes–making it easy to identify hard-to-find configuration problems that are lurking in the network and meet internal standards and external compliance requirements. Instead of just logging changes, NetMRI utilizes built-in subject matter expertise to audit, analyze and automate network change.

Prior to starting the configuration process for the NetMRI appliance you need to install an SSH client and have a cross over cable, or a switch with the correct VLAN configured. NetMRI always listens on the private IP address 169.254.1.1,with subnet 255.255.255.0. Simply configure your machine to 169.254.1.3 or any address in that range within this range that’s lower than .254 with a subnet of 255.255.255.0.

Once you are finish try to ping 169.254.1.1 if you are able to communicate with the appliance you can use your favorite SSH client and connect to the appliance on port 22 using  the following credentials admin/admin and from there run the “configure server” command.

During this process you will be asked several questions:

·         Network , Server and Domain name

·         Two DNS address

·         Time server/ time zone

·         Management port IP address and gateway

·         Scanning port IP address an gateway if you choose to use both ports

Once you are finish you can now login into the appliance using the newly assigned IP address that was selected during the setup above. Ex http://172.29.19.4

Select next to continue. 

Step 1:   Chose a new admin password.
Choose a difficult password, since the username cant be changed its advisable to use a password that's not easily guessed.

Step 2: License file
Browse to the location on your computer where you have the file and click next.

 Step 3: IP Addresses/CIDR Blocks
You can either add a whole subnet or individual IP addresses using a /32 at the end of the IP address.

Setp 4: Community Strings
Here is where you will enter the string that you will be configuring on your router and switches.

Step 5: CLI Credentials

Here is where you need to enter the user name and password that the NetMRI appliance is going to be using to access your infrastructure devices; you will also need to enter your Enable password here to. 

Once you are done click finish.

After the NetMRI setup process has been completed, review the Network Explorer tab > Inventory tab > Devices / Interfaces section > Devices page. If the Default Gateway, CIDR blocks, SNMP credentials and Telnet/SSH credentials were entered correctly, you should start to see devices listed in this table within a few minutes. Periodically refresh your browser to see the progress of the discovery process.

Troubleshooting

If you don’t see any devices within a few minutes, you should verify the accuracy of the network information added during the configuration process as follows:

1. In the NetMRI header panel, click the Settings button. In the menu along the right side of the Settings window, click the Setup section, then click Discovery Settings. Ensure that the given CIDR blocks cover the desired parts of your network. Also, ensure that the Default Gateway is covered by one of the Included CIDR blocks, but not by one of the Excluded CIDR blocks.

2. In the menu along the right side of the Settings window, click Collectors and Groups (just above Discovery Settings). Ensure that SNMP collection is Enabled. In the Settings window, click SNMP Credentials and verify that the community strings for your network devices are entered properly (e.g., check spelling and case-sensitivity).

3. If NetMRI was configured using a crossover Ethernet cable and NetMRI was not on the network following completion of the configuration process, then NetMRI may not have been successful in its initial probes of the network. Navigate to Settings > Settings section > Discovery Settings page and click the Reset Discovery Counters button (below the table) to kick off the initial network probes again, then continue to monitor the discovery process as before.

Any changes made using the forms described above will be automatically used by the discovery process. If the new information is correct, you should start to see devices appearing in the table at Network Explorer tab > Inventory tab > Devices / Interfaces section > Devices

  

Cisco Device Configuration

Create Username on the Cisco 3560 switch

======================================

username mriuser password 7

aaa new-model

aaa authentication login default local

Configure SNMP Cisco Catalysis 3560

===================================

config t

snmp-server group nmri v2c read mrigp

snmp-server community mr131 RO

snmp-server user mriuser nmri v2c

snmp-server enable traps syslog

Doing an SNMP Walk

In order to do a SNMP walk you need to replace the Root OID system with 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.

Reference links:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst3560/software/release/12.2_20_se/configuration/guide/swsnmp.html 

http://tools.cisco.com/Support/SNMP/do/BrowseOID.do?objectInput=system&translate=Translate&submitValue=SUBMIT&submitClicked=true