IntraVUE Configuration FAQs

Is there an easy way to Admin Verify all the devices?
Why are all or most the devices under an unresolved node?
Why are all or most the devices under an unresolved node?
I have many IntraVUE networks, can I only show one or two at a time?
Can Intravue scan through a firewall and if so, how ?
Can I backup IntraVUE from a DOS command prompt?
How can I get better port numbers for switches that are stacked, I have Cisco?

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Is there an easy way to Admin Verify all the devices?

Selecting each device and using the Device Configuration dialog can take a long time.

Go to the Scanner Tab of the System Configuration dialog and select the button 'Admin Verify All Devices'.

This will verify everything except the auto-inserted (n/a in IP view) nodes. If the n/a nodes really represent hubs they should be individually admin verified and given names.

Why are all or most the devices under an unresolved node?

As soon as a device responds to a ping request it is added to the unresolved node of that Intravue network. (Note: a bug from version 2.1.0b to 2.1.0b17 existed that sometimes prevented a device from appearing.)

The scanner then tries to find the mac address for the top parent or any device it can identify as a router that is configured for SNMP.

If you look at the properties for a device under unresolved and you do not see a mac address, you have probably selected the wrong top parent, the wrong router, or not included the router that "owns" the device.

There should be a green outline around any routers. If not the snmp is not configured correctly in Intravue or the router. The router may use Access Control Lists and the Intravue host is not in the list.

Try using the DOS command "tracert x.x.x.x" using the ip of a device in unresolved. The last router in the resulting list must be in the scan range and may have to be the top parent for that network.

Intravue Help has a good description of selecting the right top parent.

I have many IntraVUE networks, can I only show one or two at a time?

There are two options that can be added to the URL used to browse to Intravue. Below is the URL that will be in the address bar of your browser after launching Intravue.

http://127.0.0.1:8765/iv2/i-vue.jsp

To hide networks use ?h= and a comma separated list of networks to hide. The URL below hides network id 1 and 3

http://127.0.0.1:8765/iv2/i-vue.jsp?h=1,3

To ONLY show network that you, instead of hiding them, use ?n= and a comma separated list of networks to show. Only those networks listed will appear. The URL below only shows the network with an id of 1.

http://127.0.0.1:8765/iv2/i-vue.jsp?n=1

HINT: To easily tell the network numbers look at the Network panel in the Event Log's Show Filters mode. In the Network list box, the network number appears with each network name.

Can Intravue scan through a firewall and if so, how ?

First, we recommend you DO NOT scan through a firewall .

The ping data will include delays and characteristics of the router which are not seen on the other side of the firewall. There will also be unnecessary traffic going through the firewall. We recommend an Intravue be installed on the far side of the firewall and that you browse remotely to it.

If that is not possible, you can set up the firewall to allow certain traffic from the Intravue host computer to pass through the firewall to the target subnets.

The traffic which must be carried through a router or firewall for Intravue to work is as follows:

      ICMP request and response (so that PING works)
      UDP port 161 (SNMP)

In addition, if the firewall is used for routing, the firewall itself must have SNMP switched on, and must publish the ARP table as if it were a router. (The ARP data is where Intravue determines the MAC address of each target)

In most cases, firewall appliances do not satisfy this condition, which is why Intravue cannot normally see devices on the other side of a firewall. Or it may be possible but IT will refuse to allow it.

You can determine if the firewall has routing responsibility by using TRACERT to a device in the target scan range. If the firewall is listed as one of the 'hops' then it is being used as a router.

The ARP data from the 'last hop' router must be available to Intravue. This is by configuring the READ ONLY SNMP community. If the firewall is the last hop, then SNMP must be available to Intravue. Otherwise it will be a similar situation to forgetting to add a router to the scan range. Intravue will be able to determine if target devices themselves are 'up' or 'down', but will not be able to determine the topology (All devices will stay in 'Unresolved'). The user can compensate for this by using 'manual moves' but this is usually less than ideal.

It is highly recommended that the Intravue scanner be on the same side of the firewall as the target devices to be monitored. Much of the topology and performance data available through Intravue will be degraded if the scanner is remote.

Can I backup IntraVUE from a DOS command prompt?

YES you can.

BUT.... do not use the mysql utility mysqldump. If you use that you will backup some database tables that will cause problems if you were ever to restore the database.

Some IntraVUE users have wanted to make backups every 6 hours. In this way they will always have a backup to restore that will have threshold data using 1 minute resolution for pings and bandwidth.

The IntraVUE backup from the System Configuration dialog can be accessed, but commands are complicated.

With the help of John Palmer from Nestle Purina the commands below can be pasted into a batch file.

The batch file will create a backup having date and time information in the filename, so no parameters to the batch file are required.

The SET commands at the end can be changed if you have installed components in a different location. 

    set ctime=%Time%
    set cdate=%Date%


    for /f "tokens=1,2,3 delims=:." %%a in ("%ctime%") do (
      set chour=%%a
      set cmin=%%b
      set csec=%%c
    )

    
    for /f "tokens=2,3,4 delims=/ " %%a in ("%cdate%") do (
      set cmon=%%a
      set cday=%%b
      set cyear=%%c
    )

    
    SET IntraVue_Dir=c:\\intravue
    SET APACHE_DIR=%IntraVue_Dir%\\autoip\\tomcat6
    SET MYSQL_DIR=c:\\mysql


    java -cp "%APACHE_DIR%\\webapps\\ivConfig\\OrgNviUtil.jar;%APACHE_DIR%\\common\\lib\\mysql-connector-java-3.0.14-production-bin.jar" IntravueBackup %MYSQL_DIR%\\bin netvue netvue "%IntraVue_Dir%\\dbBackup\\backup_%cyear%-%cmon%-%cday%-%chour%.%cmin%.%csec%.dmp"

How can I get better port numbers for switches that are stacked, I have Cisco?

Technically, the port number reported by Intravue is the port number that is returned from the switch's bridge mib. A port number is translated into an interface number and the switch maintains information about the port and interface using numbers that do not always relate to what you see on the front panel of a switch. Normally port 3 is interface 3 and that agrees with the front panel.

When switches are stacked, you may find a port number like 193 or even 1103 on a 48 port switch.

Cisco has a special mib entry that provides stacking information and this is supported by a few other manufacturers. If this was a standard mib entry, IntraVUE would use it but because it is different or doesn't exist between manufacturers we do not.

IntraVUE's tools folder ( c:\\intravue\\tools ) contains several batch files. One is 'snmpwalk.bat'. You can use that to query a Cisco switch and get some information that looks like the sample below.

The syntax is 
              snmpwalk   ip_address   read_only_community    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7 

    For example

              snmpwalk    10.1.1.244    public    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7
For one of our Cisco switches the response is: 
    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.1:  "Cisco_Switch"  

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.2: "FastEthernet0/1"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.3: "FastEthernet0/2"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.4: "FastEthernet0/3"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.5: "FastEthernet0/4"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.6: "FastEthernet0/5"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.7: "FastEthernet0/6"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.8: "FastEthernet0/7"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.9: "FastEthernet0/8"

    1.3.6.1.2.1.47.1.1.1.1.7.10:  "FastEthernet0/9"


The last number in the string of numbers is typically, but not necessarily, the port number that will appear in the IntraVUE browser.

For more info, see Cisco's web site browse OIDs.

You may use this information to modify what Intravue shows you using the Intravue system file, trunkingdefs.txt in the ..\\intravue\\autoip folder. Refer to Intravue's help file and look for 'handling trunking' as the last item in the Admin section. You can also add this information as a second line in the 'hover text' that appears when you are over a connecting line, see the end of 'Hover Feature' in the User section of Help.