Creating path views

To create a path view, launch the Trace Network Path window, enter valid devices as start and end points of your path, and then launch the path trace.

Before you can work with network paths, the administrator must have successfully completed the first network discovery, and network views must be configured for your user ID.

A full list of network paths that have been defined is displayed in the Path View Administration and in the Path Views GUI windows in list format. From here, you can create new path views. The paths are displayed per user, and the user required can be selected from the drop-down list.

Restriction: Network path monitoring is not available for IPV6 addresses.
Note: You can only create or edit IP path views. MPLS TE paths are populated during discovery and cannot be edited or retraced. MPLS TE paths are displayed by default under the itnmadmin views. This can be altered by editing the $NMGUI_HOME/profile/etc/tnm/topoviz.properties file and changing the values for the following attributes:
  • topoviz.pathview.accesslevel
  • topoviz.pathview.accessid
Note: You can only trace a path across a single domain. All devices specified in the Trace Network Path window must be in the same domain.

To create a path view, complete the following steps.

  1. Go to one of the following windows.
    1. Click the Administration icon and select Network > Path View Administration.
    2. Click the Incident icon and select Network Availability > Path Views.
    The Path View Administration GUI or the Path Views GUI opens. Within the Path View Administration GUI, all monitored paths display in table format.
  2. Click Create and trace a path within Path View Administration , or click New Path within Path Views.
    The Trace Network Path window displays.
  3. In the Trace Network Path window, complete the trace criteria fields:
    Domain
    Select a network domain in which to trace a path.
    Name
    Type a name describing the network path. This name is displayed in the tree view of network paths in the Path View window, as well as in the table of network paths that are being monitored in the Path View Administration window.
    Start
    Enter the device that will be the start point of the network path to be monitored. Use the Browse button to open the Entity Search dialog, which helps you to find a device.
    End
    Enter the device that will be the end point of the network path to be monitored here. Use the Browse button to open the Entity Search dialog, which helps you to find a device.
    Click Swap to switch end and start device. As network paths are dynamic, the trace results could be different.
    Via
    Enter a specific device to be included in the route of the network path to be monitored . Use the Browse button to open the Entity Search dialog, which helps you to find a device.
    Get return path
    Select this option to trace the return path as well. As network paths are dynamic, the return path could be different.
    When selected, this options runs a trace from your Start device to your End device and back to you Start device. During the trace, the End device is treated as a Via device, and therefore the Via option is unavailable when this option has been specified.
    Perform out-of-band trace
    Select this option when tracing IP addresses that are utilised for out-of-band access. Selecting this option forces the trace to set the next-hop IP address for a device to the access IP address value stored for this device in the NCIM topology database. Note that specifying this option reduces the accuracy of the tool because the utility does not resolve the next-hop ingress interface and physical port if an out-of-band access IP address is used.
    Note: You can only specify an out-of-band End device. The Start and Via devices cannot be outside the domain.
    Ping-verify each hop
    Select this option to ping each device encountered on the route between two selected devices. You can use this option to troubleshoot the network path once a failure has occurred.
    Use Database, Not Live Network

    Select this option to use the discovered topology in the database instead of querying the network devices. The path trace uses connections on the converged topology layer. Enabling this option disables the Perform Out-Of-Band Trace and Ping Verify Each Hop checkboxes, because these options are not meaningful if the path trace is not querying the network devices.

    Note: Paths derived from discovered data might differ from paths derived from querying network devices, if the network configuration changed since the discovery ran, or if the MIB of one or more devices on the path does not contain all of the OIDs that the live trace attempts to read.
    Save and trace
    Click this button to save the path view and trace the path between the devices entered. If the trace fails, an error message is displayed.
If the path was not successfully traced, then you get a path trace error, indicating the reason that the path could not be traced. To see more detailed path trace output, click the error at the top of the Trace Network Path window. Detailed path trace output opens in a second window. To troubleshoot the path trace, refer to the related information on troubleshooting path views.