NerveCenter Version 6.0.03 (bld17) New Features

NerveCenter Version 6.0.03 includes the following new features. 

Download the full Release Notes NerveCenter-6.0.03.03-Release-Notes.

New Features:

NC6.0

NerveCenter 6.0 release contains everything included in the NC5.1.06 and NC5.2 releases. NC6.0 adds the following additional functionality, relative to NC5.1.06:

The NerveCenter Server for Windows product installation process has been replaced. The new installer enables installation and operation of NerveCenter Server for Windows on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.

The NerveCenter Client application now contains a MIB Browser capability. The MIB Browser can be run on a per-node basis from the Query tab of a node’s dialog window within the Client application. Queries can be made by MIB name or by OID.

The Server’s Poll Scheduling and Poll Response Handling functionality has been rewritten.

–  The Server’s live Polling Schedule can be viewed through the Administrator application.

–  Polling occurs on-time for normal situations. A report can be viewed through the Administrator application showing if/when scheduling is falling away from on-time.

–  Per-node and per-Poll Polling Schedules can be viewed through the Client application.

A feature called AddVarBinds API has been added for NC6.0. This API, called from Perl environments within NerveCenter, allows for the addition of VarBinds to SNMP data received from an SNMP Agent through either a poll or a trap.  Poll Functions and Trap Masks can be written to utilize the AddVarBinds API in order to enhance the data being reported by a NerveCenter system.

The VB(n) feature on Alarm transitions has been extended to the Command Action.  You may now specify VarBinds to be passed by a NerveCenter system to a command-line process or script.

The NerveCenter Administrator application allows uploading of key NerveCenter Logs and Reports for viewing on the desktop where the Administrator is running.

Timeout period handling for ICMP is separated from SNMP. The two protocols have independent retry and timeout interval settings.

Payload sizing for ICMP and ICMPv6 Ping (ICMP Echo / Echo Response) operations is configurable.

Optional per-Node configuration is provided for ICMP and SNMP timeout handling. The ICMP and SNMP settings for each node can be configured in the Client application.

Optional per-Node configuration is provided for ICMP and ICMPv6 Ping payload sizing. The ICMP/ICMPv6 Ping settings for a node can be configured in the Client application.

SNMP and ICMP protocol-layer operations can be optionally logged for any node.  The Client application allows enable/disable of this feature for any managed node. The recorded log is viewable through the Client application.

A wider set of Perl modules is included.

A provided script allows the NC5.2 database to be returned to NC5.1 format. (No script is needed for moving from NC5.1 to NC5.2 – the NC5.2 product automatically performs this as needed.)

The ncversion command, introduced in NC5.1.06, is enhanced to support reporting versions for all NerveCenter tools.

A Poll Throttle is introduced. The throttle controls the maximum number of logical polls that can be started by a NerveCenter Server in the course of one second. The default value for this throttle is 1,000. It can be set in several manners, defined in the NC6.0 User’s Guide.

Seven sample Perl scripts have been added to the Samples area, showing how to use trapgen to issue the ColdStart, LinkDown and LinkUp traps in SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c.   The scripts build and then issue the SNMP v1/v2c Trap by invoking NerveCenter’s ‘trapgen’ utility. The scripts can be used from a Linux, Solaris or Windows terminal session within a NerveCenter Command action.

Location:

/opt/OSInc/Samples/trap-generation/

C:\Program Files\LogMatrix\NerveCenter\Samples\trap-generation\

Files: SNMPv1ColdStartTrap.pl SNMPv1LinkDownTrap.pl SNMPv1LinkUpTrap.pl

SNMPv2cColdStartTrap.pl SNMPv2cLinkDownTrap.pl SNMPv2cLinkUpTrap.pl

For Linux systems where ‘ldconfig’ is used to configure the system’s permitted run-time share library collection, the NC6.0.03 BLD16 installer offers to perform the steps of registering the NerveCenter shared library locations. This optional step can be skipped and performed later by the user under their own control. The operation copies the file ‘nervecenter.conf’ from /opt/OSInc/conf/ to /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ and then runs ‘ldconfig’.

Locations:

/opt/OSInc/nc/install/

/etc/ld.so.conf.d/

Files: nervecenter.conf

The script ncpermissions is provided so as to allow a system to be configured for permitting not-root accounts to run ‘ncstart’. The script needs to be run by the ‘root’ account. It changes directory and file ownership and permissions so as to allow users for the ‘ncadmins’ group to successfully run ‘ncstart’.

Locations:

/opt/OSInc/nc/bin/

Files: ncpermissions

Sample usage:

% su

Password: *********

# cd /opt/OSInc/nc/bin

# ./ncpermissions

The ‘ncstart’ command is updated with two optional abilities, both aimed at restricting the accounts that should be running the ‘ncstart’ command.  The first update is a means to avoid having NerveCenter Server (ncserver) being started by the ‘root’ account. With this update the ‘ncstart’ command can detect that the ‘root’ account is attempting to run the ‘ncstart’. In reaction, the command switches to a named user before continuing. This enhancement is useful for when a booting system attempts to auto-start NerveCenter – boottime operations are performed by the root account and this enhancement can be used to cause the ‘ncstart’

to switch itself to a named user account. The second update is a means to limit which user accounts can run ‘ncstart’. The ‘ncstart’ command checks a registration file and will continue only if the account executing ‘ncstart’ is listed. These two enhancements to ‘ncstart’ do not change the requirement that for ‘ncstart’ to be successfully run, the invoking account must  be either the root account or an account that is a member of the ‘ncadmins’ group.

Locations:

/opt/OSInc/bin/ncstart

Files:

/opt/OSInc/conf/ncstart-user

/opt/OSInc/conf/ncstart-authorized

Setup:

‘ncstart’ will switch itself to the user account named in the file ncstart-user if the file is present and ‘ncstart’ has been invoked by the root account.  If this file ncstart-user is not present or if ncstart is not started by the root account, then no switch-user action occurs. ‘ncstart’ will check the name of its invoking user account against the list of names provided in ncstart-authorized.  If the user account is listed, then the command continues.  If the ncstart-authorized file is not present, then ncstart does not limit which user accounts may run the command. If the file is present and the invoking user account is not found in the file, then ncstart halts and does not start the NerveCenter Server.

Sample ncstart-user file: Itadmin

Sample ncstart-authorized file:

:itadmin:

:jadams

Additional files are added /opt/OSInc/nc/bin that can be called up on to have a user trace the execution of ncserver or other NerveCenter commands. These scripts are being quietly provided for use by Customer Support.  Both command use the Linux ‘strace’ command to record command executions.

Locations:

/opt/OSInc/nc/bin/

Files: ncstart-trace ncrun-trace

Two files are added to the set of tables being produced by NerveCenter Server. The files show the run-time performance of the Action Manager.

Locations:

/var/opt/NerveCenter/tables/

Files:

ActionMgr-Messages.csv Actions-Performance.csv

BLD17 repairs a long standing issue with the “V3InitFail” testing. All nodes set to v3 undergo this test when ncserver starts or whenever a node is added or moved to the v3 level. In order to avoid false-positive results, the “V3InitFail” outcome is narrowed to include only a range of specific responses from the probed SNMP Agent. Results such as timeouts are excluded as being a reason for a “V3InitFail”. A “V3InitFail” outcome now occurs only for a set of SNMP v3 Report responses:

  • Unknown Username
  • Unknown Context
  • Unsupported Security Level (the choice of Auth/Priv, Auth/NoPriv, NoAuth/NoPriv is incorrect)
  • Unknown Digest (the Authentication password or protocol choice is incorrect)
  • Decryption Error (the Privacy password or protocol choice is incorrect)
  • Not In Time Window (NerveCEnter and SNMP Agent cannot get in agreement on time sequencing)

Further, the “V3InitFail” test is now conducted using the node’s defined Security Level (Auth/Priv, Auth/NoPriv, NoAuth/NoPrive). Before it was always done using NoAuth/NoPriv.