RPING Monitor

The RPING monitor tests the availability of network devices by pinging them remotely from a router. It provides maximum, minimum, and average round-trip time performance data.

The monitor supports Cisco, Juniper routers, and RFC2925-compliant routers.

The following table lists the RPING Monitor files.

Guidelines for configuring RPING monitor

The RPING monitor acquires data by configuring the router to ping a network device, then periodically polling the router to obtain the results of the pings.

The monitor configures the ping tests by using an SNMP SET command to create a control row in the router's ping MIB, then it retrieves the ping data from the MIB by using SNMP GET commands. All communication with the router is over SNMP.

The following image shows an example of the messages that are exchanged between the monitor and the network device.

Enabling remote Ping request on Cisco routers

By default, remote ping SNMP requests on Cisco routers are disabled. However, for the RPING monitor to do an SNMP SET request and to start pinging, this request must be enabled.

To enable the request, log in to the Cisco router and enter the following commands:

enable
config terminal
snmp-server community communitystring rw
write mem
logout

The communitystring configured in the router must match the string that you enter in the R/W Community String field of any RPING profile elements that are created for that router. The write mem line ensures that the settings are saved when the router is rebooted.

Enabling remote Ping request on Juniper routers

By default, remote ping SNMP requests that on Juniper routers are disabled. For the RPING monitor to operate by using a Juniper router, you must enable SNMP requests.

To enable SNMP request on the router, ensure that the SNMP section of the JUNOS configuration match:

[edit snmp] 
view ping-mib-view {
  oid .1.3.6.1.2.1.80 include; # pingMIB
  oid jnxPingMIB include; # jnxPingMIB
}
community communitystring {
  authorization read-write;
  view ping-mib-view;
}

The communitystring configured in the router must match the string that you enter in the communitystring field of any RPING profile elements that are configured for that router.

Properties

Properties options specific to the RPING monitor are described in the following table.

Table 2. RPING properties options 

Property name	Property parameter	Description
MibDir	string	The directory that contains MIB files used by the monitor. Default: $ISHOME/mibs.

Configuring the RPING monitor service tests

Use the RPING monitor configuration parameters to define service tests.

Table 3. RPING monitor configuration

Field	Description
server	The name or IP address of the router. For example, rt1.mycompany.com.
routertype	The type of router: CISCO Juniper RFC2925
host	The name or IP address of the server you want the router to ping.
communitystring	Specifies the SNMP community string that is used to communicate with the router. For example, server1.mycompany.com.
description	A text field for providing descriptive information about the element. For example is, RPING monitor.
vpn	The optional name of a VPN to use for sending pings. The router uses the VPN specified instead of the default route configured.
version	The SNMP version to use: 1 - SNMPv1 2 - SNMPv2c 3 - SNMPv3 Default: 2
numberofpings	The number of pings to send. Default: 5
packetsize	The size of the packets to send, in bytes. Default: 64
packettimeout	The time to wait between pings in seconds. Default: 500
securityname†	The username for the SNMP session.
authenticationphrase†	The authentication password for the user.
privacyphrase†	The privacy password for the user.
authenticationprotocol†	The protocol to use to authenticate the user: MD5 SHA1 Default: MD5
privacyprotocol†	The protocol to use for encrypting the session. Default: DES
timeout	The time, in seconds, between each poll. Default: 10
retries	The number of times the monitor retries to contact the server. Default: 3
poll	The time to wait between pings in seconds. Default: 300
failureretests	The number of times to retest before failure is indicated. Default: 0
retestinterval	The time, in seconds, to wait between each failure retest. Default: 10
† Applicable only to SNMPv3.

Service level classification

Service level classifications define the rules for determining the level of service that is provided over RPING.

Available service level classification options for the RPING monitor are:

totalTime
lookupTime
numPacketSent
numPacketsRecv
maxRTT
minRTT
averageRTT
respondPercent
message

In service level classifications:

• Specify more service level classifications by manually entering the name of the monitor element. The name must match the name that is shown for the element in the Monitor elements section.
• message can be any message that is forwarded in the $message element to IBM® Application Performance Management server if used in any widget. For a list of possible values, see Status messages.
• The operand is a string or a positive number.

Monitor elements

In addition to the test results common to all elements, the RPING monitor generates a set of test results that contain data specific to RPING service tests.

The following table lists the additional elements for the RPING monitor.

Table 4. RPING monitor elements 

Element	Description
$authProto	The authentication protocol as specified when the element was created.
(AverageRTT)	The average round-trip time in seconds.
$community	The SNMP community string for the router.
$communityString	The SNMP community string used to communicate with the router.
(MaxRTT)	The maximum round-trip time in seconds.
(MinRTT)	The minimum round-trip time in seconds.
$numPacketSent	The number of packets sent by the monitor.
$numPings	The number of pings sent, as specified when the RPING element was added.
$packetSize	The size of packets to send.
$packetTimeout	The time to wait between sending packets.
$privProto	The privacy protocol as specified when the element was created.
$remoteHost* (RemoteHost)	The name or IP address of the server you want the router to ping.
(RespondPercent)	The percentage of pings sent for which there was a response.
$routerMan* (RouterName)	The router type selected when the RPING element was added: CISCO Juniper RFC2925
$securityName	The security user name as specified when the element was created.
(SnmpVersion)	The version of SNMP used to send SNMP packets (version 1, 2c, or 3).
(SourceRouter)	The name or IP address of the router.
$timeout	The number of seconds in which the server must respond. Taken from the configuration file.
$vpn* (Vpn)	The name of the VPN specified in the vpn field of the RPING profile element.

Status messages

The RPING monitor provides status messages in the ResultMessage attribute when using IBM Application Performance Management. These messages indicate the result of the test.

The following table describes the RPING status messages.

Table 5. RPING monitor status messages

Message	Description
Got Response	The monitor received a response from the Cisco device.
Error in packet - exiting thread	There was an error in one of the packets.
Timed out while trying initial sets	There was no response from the router when you try to create the rowEntry field.
Internal Error	Error in the router.
Host poll did not finish	The network device did not finish the pings.
Response Failed Operation Failed	The router was unable to ping the network device.
Timed out on Get requests	The monitor timed out when you try to get the results from the router.