Checking for unclassified devices

Use reports to check that all devices found have a device type classification within Network Manager. Device type classifications are based on the MIB variable sysObjectId retrieved from the device during discovery.

1. Click the Reporting icon and select Common Reporting. Within the widget, select Network Manager. A list of folders display. These folders contain all Cognos reports for your access.
2. Click Troubleshooting Reports.
3. Select the Devices with Unclassified SNMP Object IDs report.
   The report displays a list of devices with sysObjectId values that are unrecognized by Network Manager. The data in the report is grouped by sysObjectId. Let's assume you see data in the report similar to the following, under the sysObjectId 1.3.6.1.4.1977.1.6.1279.1.

   Table 1. Unclassified device data for the sysObjectId 1.3.6.1.4.1977.1.6.1279.1

   Entity Name	IP Address	System Description	CLASSNAME
   group-1-b2.class.example.org	10.40.15.113	Hardware: x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 8 AT/AT COMPATIBLE - Software; Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195 Uniprocessor Free)	NetworkDevice

   The report shows that the device with IP address 10.40.15.113 has the generic classification of NetworkDevice. The device has been assigned this generic classification because the system does not recognize the sysObjectId. Network Manager uses a class hierarchy to model and organize network devices. The Network Device class is a superclass for all device types, and contains a hierarchy of subclasses such as Cisco and Juniper that group network devices by manufacturer and then by device type and model.

   In order to correctly classify the device with IP address 10.40.15.113, the first step is to determine the manufacturer of the device. You can determine the device manufacturer by identifying the manufacturer associated with the sysObjectId. The sysObjectId is an SNMP MIB variable, and includes information within it that identifies the device manufacturer.

4. Click the Incident icon and select Network Availability > SNMP MIB Browser.
   The SNMP MIB Browser enables you to browse the SNMP MIB tree. Each SNMP MIB variable, such as the sysObjectId, corresponds to a node on the tree. The SNMP MIB Browser opens with the MIB tree in the top left panel. By default, the MIB tree is open to the iso > org > dod > internet node.
5. Click the internet node in the MIB tree.
   The MIB Variable Information panel at the bottom left now displays the OID value for the internet node as 1.3.6.1. You are now going to "walk" the MIB tree until you get to the sysObjectId value of 1.3.6.1.4.1.1977, which is the sysObjectId that contains the manufacturer of the unclassified device from the Devices with Unclassified SNMP Object IDs report.
6. Click the private node in the MIB tree.
   The MIB Variable Information panel at the bottom left now displays the OID value for the internet node as 1.3.6.1.4. The number 4 at the end of this sysObjectId value refers to the fourth subnode (private) within the internet node.
7. Expand the private node.
   The private node expands to display a single enterprises node.
8. Click the enterprises node.
   The MIB Variable Information panel at the bottom left now displays the OID value for the internet node as 1.3.6.1.4.1. The number 1at the end of this sysObjectId value refers to the first (and only) subnode (enterprises) within the private node.
9. Expand the enterprises node.
   The enterprises node expands to display a list of device manufacturers.
10. Click each manufacturer node in turn.
    Review the resulting OID value in the MIB Variable Information panel. You get results similar to the information in the following table:

    Table 2. Enterprises and their sysObjectIds

    enterprise	OID (sysObjectId)
    synernetics	1.3.6.1.4.1.114
    bicc	1.3.6.1.4.1.170
    wellfleet	1.3.6.1.4.1.18
    alteon	1.3.6.1.4.1.1872
    extremenetworks	1.3.6.1.4.1.1916
    networkharmoni	1.3.6.1.4.1.1977
    foundry	1.3.6.1.4.1.1991
    alliedTelesyn	1.3.6.1.4.1.207

    The enterprise corresponding to the sysObjectId 1.3.6.1.4.1977 is Network Harmoni. This means that the manufacturer of the unclassified device from the Devices with Unclassified SNMP Object IDs report is Network Harmoni.

    Device classifications are created using active object class (AOC) files. The next step is to check whether any AOC files exist for NetworkHarmoni devices.

11. Go to the directory that contains the AOC files:

    cd $NCHOME/precision/aoc/ 
    ls Net*

    A listing of the files in this directory with filenames starting with the letters Net shows no AOC files for NetworkHarmoni devices.
12. Run the following command to see if the NetworkHarmoni enterprise number is used in any of the AOC files:

    grep 1977 *.aoc

    This search retrieves two files: EndNode.aoc and EndNode.NCOMS.aoc.

    Note: The EndNode.NCOMS.aoc file is a domain-specific version of the EndNode.aoc file. The EndNode.NCOMS.aoc file starts off as an exact copy of EndNode.aoc. The domain-specific version is created to enable domain-specific class hierarchy settings. Network Manager always looks for a domain-specific version of the file first. If it can't find a domain-specific version, then it uses the generic version.
13. Let's assume that we ran our discovery in the NCOMS domain. Open the NCOMS domain-specific AOC file EndNode.NCOMS.aoc .
14. Search for the text 1977 in the file. This retrieves a line that reads: EntityOID = '1.3.6.1.4.1.1977'
    A review of the code around that line shows the following:

    active object 'EndNode'
    {
    super_class = 'Core';
    instantiate_rule = "EntityOID like '1 \.3\.6\.1\.4\.1\.2021\.' OR
                        EntityOID = '1.3.6.1.4.1.2021' OR
                        EntityOID = '1.3.6.1.4.1.1575' OR
                        EntityOID like '1 \.3\.6\.1\.4\.1\.11\.2\.3\.9\.' OR
                        EntityOID = '1.3 .6.1.4.1.11.2.3.9' OR
                        (EntityType = 1 AND EntityOID IS NULL)OR
                        ... OR
                        EntityOID = '1.3.6.1.4.1.1977' OR
                        EntityOID like '1\.3\.6\.1\.4\.1\.2136\.' OR
                        ...

    The following table explains this code.

    Table 3. Description of the query 

    Line numbers	Description
    1	Name of the class is EndNode
    3	The parent of this class is the Core class.
    4-13	The instantiate_rule performs a series of matches for each device it encounters. If the relevant device MIB data (in this case each match is attempted with the EntityOID, which is the same as the sysObjectId) matches any of these lines, then the device is assigned to the EndNode class.

    Line 11 shows that this AOC file is looking for an exact match to the sysObjectId 1.3.6.1.4.1.1977, which is the sysObjectId for the Network Harmoni enterprise. However, this does not match our original unclassified device, because that device has a sysObjectId of 1.3.6.1.4.1977.1.6.1279.1.

    This is an error in the regular expression syntax in this AOC file. Line 11 should read:

    EntityOID like '1\.3\.6\.1\.4\.1\.11\.2\.3\.9\.'

    This regular would ensure that any devices that has a sysObjectId that begins with 1.3.6.1.4.1.1977 would be classified as an EndNode device. Instead of doing this, you can create a new AOC file that is specific to devices with sysObjectId 1.3.6.1.4.1977.1.6.1279.1 and that classifies this device type as Network Harmoni end node device.
15. Create a new AOC file in the $NCHOME/precision/aoc/ directory. Name this file EndNodeNetHarmoni.aoc.
16. Add the following text to the EndNodeNetHarmoni.aoc file.

    //*************************************************************
    //
    // File : EndNodeNetHarmoni.aoc
    //
    //*************************************************************
    active object 'EndNodeNetHarmoni'
    { 
      super_class ='EndNode';
    
      instantiate_rule = "EntityOID like '1 \.3\.6\.1\.4\.1\.1977\.1\.6\.1279\.'";
    
      extension for Fault = {
      rules = [] ,
      poll_list = [] };
    
      visual_icon = 'EndNode';
    }

17. Save the EndNodeNetHarmoni.aoc file.
18. Restart Network Manager using the following commands. This forces the AOC file to be read into the system.

    itnm_stop ncp
    itnm_start ncp

19. Run the following command to check that the Active Object Class manager, ncp_class, has restarted correctly.

    itnm_status

    The Active Object Class manager manages the AOCs and distributes them to any Network Manager process that needs them.
    • If ncp_class started OK, then it means that new AOC file was set up correctly.
    • If ncp_class does not start, check the following log file for any errors: $NCHOME/log/precision/ncp_class.NCOMS.log.
20. Specify entries in the NCIM topology database deviceFunction and mappings ncim database tables to provide the vendor, model, and function for the Network Harmoni end node device classification.
    See these two files for the appropriate data and syntax.

    • $NCHOME/precision/scripts/sql/data/populateDeviceFunction.sql
    • $NCHOME/precision/scripts/sql/data/populateMappings.sql