******************************************************************************** README.TXT Active SNMP 3.0 Copyright (c) 1996-2004, CSCare Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide March 2004 ******************************************************************************** This file contains information about Active SNMP 3.0 ================================================================================ TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. OVERVIEW 2. REQUIREMENTS 3. ACTIVE SNMP LICENSING 3.1 Evaluating Active SNMP 3.2 Entering License Key(s) 4. INSTALLING ACTIVE SNMP 4.1 Installation on MS Windows Platforms 4.2 Installation from RPM package for Linux Systems 4.3 Installation from Raw Zip File 5. UPGRADING ACTIVE SNMP 5.1 Upgrading on Windows Systems 5.2 Upgrading on Linux Systems 5.3 Upgrading Active SNMP Using Raw Zip File Distribution 6. UNINSTALLING ACTIVE SNMP 7. STARTING ACTIVE SNMP 7.1 Starting Active SNMP Client on MS Windows 7.2 Starting Active SNMP Service on MS Windows 7.3 Starting Active SNMP on any System 7.4 Starting Active SNMP on a Port, other than the Default 6611 7.5 Starting Active SNMP in Daemon Mode 7.6 Command Line Parameters 7.7 Support for SSL Communication 8. STOPPING ACTIVE SNMP 8.1 Stopping Active SNMP from Java Console 8.2 Stopping Active SNMP from Web Browser 8.3 Stopping Active SNMP when Running as Service 8.4 Stopping Active SNMP Using the -stop Command 8.5 Stopping Active SNMP Using CTRL+C or CTRL+BREAK Key Combination 9. USING ACTIVE SNMP 10.e WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 3.0 10.e.1 Menu and Navigation 10.e.2 Login 10.e.3 Browse 10.e.4 Hosts 10.e.5 MIBs 10.e.6 Graphs 10.e.7 Graph Editor 10.e.8 Options 10.d WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.1a 10.d.1 Copying Graphs to another Folders 10.d.2 Remote Access to Graph Images 10.d.3 Shutdown Options Enhanced 10.d.4 Percentile Filters to Eliminate High or Low Spikes in Graphs Added 10.d.5 Using BigInteger for Processing Expressions 10.d.6 Scanning Period and Computing of the Base Value Changed 10.d.7 Displaying and Using OID for Variable Browsing 10.d.8 Mib File Names Changed to Lower Case 10.d.9 Classpath Changed to ActiveSNMP.Main 10.d.10 Further Console Commands Added 10.d.11 Option to Access Console Commands Remotely 10.c WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.1 10.c.1 Expressions in Graph 10.c.2 Two Variables per Graph 10.c.3 Using More SNMP Agents in one Graph 10.c.4 Organizing Graphs into Folder Hierarchy 10.c.5 New System of Graph Names 10.c.6 Optional Scanning Period 10.c.7 Vertical Timeline Grid 10.c.8 Custom Color Settings 10.c.9 Using JPEG Files as Graph Images instead of GIF 10.c.10 Integrated Graph Editor 10.c.11 User-modified Graph Pages 10.c.12 MIB Compiler - Console Command Changed 10.c.13 Counter Values 10.c.14 Changes in Setups 10.b WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.0b 10.b.1 MIBs Compilation Bug Fixed 10.b.2 Browse/get/Walk by OBJECT IDENTIFIER Added 10.b.3 'guest' Graphs Were Not Destroyed Always - Fixed 10.b.4 Graph Large Values Bugs Fixed 10.a WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.0a 10.a.1 MIBs Upload from Windows to Unix Fixed 10.a.2 MIBs Removal Fixed 10.a.3 Support for Non-standard SNMP Ports Added 10.a.4 Displaying Raw OBJECT IDENTIFIER Added 10.a.5 Option to Remove Addresses from the Address List Added 10.a.6 JNT Wrapper Compatibility Added 10.a.7 Optional SSL Operation Command Line Switch Added 10.a.8 MIBs Distribution Fixed 10.a.9 Printer MIB (RFC 1759) Cover Table Browsing Bug Fixed 10. WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.0 10.1 Support for SNMP v2 10.2 Windows NT Service 10.3 Option to Create Graphs 10.4 Enhanced User Management 10.5 The Default User for Active SNMP 10.6 Option to Provide Contact to the Administrator on the About Page 10.7 Improvements in the HTTP Server 10.8 Tuning the Active SNMP Performance 10.9 MIB Compiler 10.10 New Design 11. MORE INFORMATION? ================================================================================ 1. OVERVIEW Active SNMP is an SNMP management software with a Web browser user interface and runs as a server application on a network node. The user accesses Active SNMP via his/her Web browser. Active SNMP contains a full-featured SNMP Browser. It lets you select the SNMP agent in the network and navigate its MIB. You can read SNMP tables and variables, see their description and set their values. In addition, values of selected variables can be displayed in Active SNMP graphs. Active SNMP is implemented fully in Java technology. Because Java is portable between various platforms, you can install and run Active SNMP anywhere where Java Virtual Machine 1.4 can run. Active SNMP has been tested on Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Red Hat Linux 7.3 and SuSE Linux 8.2. ================================================================================ 2. REQUIREMENTS Minimum requirements to install and use Active SNMP are: * Any operating system installed where Java 2 Runtime Environment 1.4 can run, * Minimum 60 MB free hard disk space, * A Web browser supporting Java Script and CSS. The following browsers or their newer versions are recommended: MS Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape Navigator 7, Mozilla 1.4 or Opera 7.0. Note: As Trap Console requires Java 2 Runtime Environment (JRE) to run on, the installation file for MS Windows systems and the rpm package for Linux systems both install the necessary JRE inside the Active SNMP directory. In case that Active SNMP is installed from the zip file distribution, JRE 1.4.x has to be installed prior on the computer. We recommend installing the latest JRE version available for your platform, which can be downloaded from http://java.sun.com/getjava. JRE from Sun Microsystems is required. ================================================================================ 3. ACTIVE SNMP LICENSING Active SNMP licenses differ in the number of graphs that can be created by all users. If you have e.g. the 'Lite' license of Active SNMP, your Active SNMP users can create up to five graphs of various SNMP variables. If any of the users attempts to create an additional graph (the 6th graph in this case), Active SNMP reports an error. CSCare Inc. provides the following types of Active SNMP license: 1. Active SNMP Lite license allows full MIB browsing plus creating up to 5 graphs. 2. Active SNMP Professional license allows together with full MIB browsing, creating up to 50 graphs. 3. Active SNMP Enterprise license allows full MIB browsing, as the previous licenses, plus creating an unlimited number of graphs. Active SNMP licenses come in the form of a special license key string. The license key can be applied only to a single installation of Active SNMP. To obtain the commercial version of Active SNMP and a license key, please contact CSCare Inc. on asnmp@cscare.com. ================================================================================ 3.1 Evaluating Active SNMP CSCare Inc. also provides an evaluation version of Active SNMP. It works as the licensed version, but has the following built-in limitations: After installation, Active SNMP works in the unregistered evaluation mode which expires after 7 days and Active SNMP's all functions become disabled. After expiration of the unregistered evaluation mode, registration at http://www.cscare.com/ActiveSNMP/registration.php is necessary in order to receive a registration key. The registration key then has to be entered in Active SNMP upon login or on the About page, and Active SNMP can be run in evaluation mode further. In evaluation mode, Active SNMP stops after 24 hours and it has to be restarted manually. Further restrictions include: - only three graphs in total can be created - evaluation notices appear in Active SNMP The evaluation version of Active SNMP is provided only for evaluation purposes as described in 'license.txt'. ================================================================================ 3.2 Entering License Key(s) Note: The license key manager is available only in the commercial version of Active SNMP and only if logged in as administrator. 1. Select the Options/Licensing page. 2. Enter the license key to the New License Key edit box. 3. Click the Add button. In case of upgrading from 'Lite' to 'Professional' version, the license key is added to the Registered License Keys list. There you can find a key serial number and the number of graphs permitted by the entered license key. ================================================================================ 4. INSTALLING ACTIVE SNMP Depending on the used platform, the appropriate installation file should be used: * ActiveSNMP30.exe file - a self extracting installation executable for MS Windows platforms * activeSNMP-3.0-0.i386.rpm - an RPM package for Linux systems * ActiveSnmp30.zip - a raw zip file In addition to the platform-specific installation packages, a universal raw zip file distribution (no setup) exists, which can be used on any platform, however it needs the required JRE installed prior on the platform. ================================================================================ 4.1 Installation on MS Windows Platforms To install Active SNMP on MS Windows XP/2000/NT/98, start the ActiveSNMP30.exe file and follow the dialogs to complete the installation. ================================================================================ 4.2 Installation from RPM package for Linux Systems Launch the activeSNMP-3.0-0.i386.rpm file using parameter -i to install the package: rpm -i activeSNMP-3.0-0.i386.rpm The rpm script installs all necessary files and the runtime environment to the Active SNMP directory. ================================================================================ 4.3 Installation from Raw Zip File To install Active SNMP from a raw zip file, unzip the ActiveSnmp30.zip file into a subdirectory on your system while preserving the subdirectory structure. Launch Active SNMP by using the "java -jar" command: java -jar asnmp.jar If launching Active SNMP from the included launch file "asnmp.bat", edit the file first according to the remarks inside the file. ================================================================================ 5. UPGRADING ACTIVE SNMP Please do not upgrade your existing licensed version of Active SNMP with any newer evaluation version. It will lead to losing the option to register license keys and consequently only three graphs in total will be allowed to be used. To obtain the commercial version upgrade, please contact CSCare Inc. on asnmp@cscare.com. ================================================================================ 5.1 Upgrading on Windows Systems In order to upgrade Active SNMP, use the installation file ActiveSNMP30.exe. The installation wizard takes care for proper upgrade. ================================================================================ 5.2 Upgrading on Linux Systems If upgrading Active SNMP 2.1 or 2.1a to 3.0 use the rpm package as follows: rpm -i --replacepkgs --replacefiles activeSNMP-3.0-0.i386.rpm If upgrading Active SNMP versions 2.0, 2.0a or 2.0b to version 3.0, follow the steps described below: 1. Uninstall Active SNMP 2. Rename the folder 'activeSnmp20' to 'activesnmp' and move it to folder '/usr'. 3. Install Active SNMP 3.0: rpm -i --replacepkgs --replacefiles activeSNMP-3.0-0.i386.rpm ================================================================================ 5.3 Upgrading Active SNMP Using Raw Zip File Distribution In case that the raw zip file distribution is used, unzip the file and replace the existing Active SNMP directory. The existing graphs and data will be retained. ================================================================================ 6. UNINSTALLING ACTIVE SNMP On MS Windows platforms, - choose 'Start/Programs/Active SNMP/Uninstall Active SNMP' from the Start menu, or - open the Control Panel and choose the Add/Remove Programs icon. In the Add/Remove Programs dialog box, select 'Active SNMP' from the list of installed software and click the Change/Remove button. Follow the dialogs to continue with uninstallation. On Linux systems, uninstall Active SNMP using the following command: rpm -e activeSNMP-3.0 To remove Active SNMP completely, including user configuration and log files, delete its entire directory tree manually. ================================================================================ 7. STARTING ACTIVE SNMP Active SNMP installation utility creates a launch script (batch file or shell script) in its home directory. Use this file to launch Active SNMP. ================================================================================ 7.1 Starting Active SNMP Client on MS Windows Select the 'Active SNMP' item from the Start/Programs menu and choose 'Active SNMP Client'. This starts the client which activates the Web browser as the user interface. Note: You can start Active SNMP from DOS command line prompt by running the asnmp.bat file from the Active SNMP directory. To start the user interface, open the Default.html file in your Web browser. ================================================================================ 7.2 Starting Active SNMP Service on MS Windows Start Active SNMP service from the Start Menu choosing 'Start/Programs/Active SNMP/Start Active SNMP Service'. Another way how to start Active SNMP service is to open the Control Panel and click on the 'Services' icon. Select the 'CSCare Active SNMP' item from the list, and start the Services window. The service can be started either by right-clicking on the item and selecting start from the pop-up menu, or clicking the Start button on the main toolbar. ================================================================================ 7.3 Starting Active SNMP on any System It is possible to launch Active SNMP manually using the command line. - launch Active ANMP from the command line: java -jar asnmp.jar - start the Default.html file with your Web browser. Alternatively, open the address http://127.0.0.1:6611 in your browser. In order to set the correct working directory for Active SNMP, use the "-d " command line parameter: java -jar /home/user/activesnmp/asnmp.jar -d /home/user/activesnmp If launching Active SNMP from the included launch file "asnmp.bat", edit the file first according to the remarks inside the file. ================================================================================ 7.4 Starting Active SNMP on a Port, other than the Default 6611 Active SNMP listens on the port 6611 by default. To make Active SNMP listen on a different port, modify the command line used to start Active SNMP. Add command line parameter "-p " in order to start Active SNMP on a specific port. Example of the command line that starts Active SNMP on the HTTP port 80: java -jar asnmp.jar -p 80 ================================================================================ 7.5 Starting Active SNMP in Daemon Mode Active SNMP contains a console window, where information about the application is available. This information includes the number of running threads, amount of free memory, version of Java VM used and more. However, in order to run Active SNMP as a background process, it may be desirable to hide the console screen. You can do so by appending the command line argument "-daemon" at startup: java -jar asnmp.jar -daemon ================================================================================ 7.6 Command Line Parameters Active SNMP command line parameters allow customizing Active SNMP at its startup. The command line with a parameter looks as follows: java -jar asnmp.jar -parameter The following parameters can be used: -h - print the list of all command line parameters. -p - specifies the HTTP port on which the Active SNMP web server listens to (see also 6.4) -d - specifies the Active SNMP working directory (see the previous paragraph) -daemon - starts Active SNMP as a background process without the console screen (see also 6.5) -ssl - specifies the SSL operation mode for the HTTP server -if - binds the local interface to the specified server. This is useful when there are more interfaces connected to the server and you wish to allow clients connecting to Active SNMP console with their browsers via only one particular interface (specifying its host or IP address) -stop - stops the running service -t - time correction in milliseconds ================================================================================ 7.7 Support for SSL Communication Active SNMP supports SSL communication on server's default HTTPS port. Command line parameter -ssl can be used to launch Active SNMP over SSL. ================================================================================ 8. STOPPING ACTIVE SNMP Active SNMP can be stopped either from the Java console or from the web browser. ================================================================================ 8.1 Stopping Active SNMP from Java Console To stop Active SNMP from Java console, type "q" on the console and press Enter. ================================================================================ 8.2 Stopping Active SNMP from Web Browser 1. Log into Active SNMP as 'administrator'. 2. Select the 'Options - Shutdown' item from the menu. 3. Click the Shutdown button. ================================================================================ 8.3 Stopping Active SNMP when Running as NT Service If Active SNMP works as NT service, it can be stopped from the Start menu choosing 'Start/Programs/Active SNMP/Stop Active SNMP Service'. Another way how to stop Active SNMP service is to open the Control Panel and stop it in the 'Services' applet. Right-click on the Active SNMP row in the list and then either choose 'stop' from the pop-up menu, or press the Stop button on the main toolbar. ================================================================================ 8.4 Stopping Active SNMP Using the -stop Command On Linux systems preferably (works on MS Windows as well), Active SNMP can be stopped using the command line switch -stop [] where timeout is in seconds and is optional. If the timeout is not specified, the default value (5 seconds) is used. Let's presume that Active SNMP is running. It can be stopped by starting a new instance with parameter -stop, e.g. java -jar asnmp.jar -stop 2 where the already running instance of Active SNMP will be stopped in 2 seconds provided the both instances run in the same working directory. ================================================================================ 8.5 Stopping Active SNMP Using CTRL+C or CTRL+BREAK Key Combination It is also possible to kill Active SNMP activating the Active SNMP screen and entering the Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Break key combination. ================================================================================ 9. USING ACTIVE SNMP As mentioned earlier, Active SNMP is a server application running on some network node. The user accesses Active SNMP with the standard web browser from any other (or the same) machine in the network. * Connect to Active SNMP: Start your web browser and open the communication with the port on the server where Active SNMP is running. Example of the URL to open: http://server:6611/ (opens Active SNMP running on host with the name 'server') http://www.cscare.com:6611/ (opens Active SNMP demo running on 'www.cscare.com') http://127.0.0.1:6611/ http://localhost:6611/ (opens Active SNMP on the local machine) ================================================================================ 10.e WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 3.0 Active SNMP 3.0 introduces a brand new design of the graphical user interface, simplifying thus the use of the application, providing more efficient access to the application's functions and giving a better overview of the Active SNMP features. ================================================================================ 10.e.1 Menu and Navigation After selecting a menu, the further options to select from are listed in the left navigation frame. ================================================================================ 10.e.2 Login Upon login, a list of users is displayed, with a settable default user already filled in the login name edit box. The list of users is configurable in Options/Configuration. ================================================================================ 10.e.3 Browse Browsing SNMP variables is now based on the left navigation frame where from particular SNMP variables can be selected. ================================================================================ 10.e.4 Hosts An option to predefine hosts has been included in the application. The predefined hosts are listed both in the left navigation frame as well as in the main frame. Host properties can be edited after selecting the particular host. ================================================================================ 10.e.5 MIBs MIBs listed on the MIBs page can be viewed, compiled, deleted, as well as assigned to the current host or to all hosts. ================================================================================ 10.e.6 Graphs The graphs are listed according to the users and their respective folders. Graphs can be quickly selected from the list in the left navigation frame. ================================================================================ 10.e.7 Graph Editor All editable properties of the graphs can be managed on one page by unrolling the wished section. Testing of expressions and variables are performed on the main page as well. ================================================================================ 10.e.8 Options All configurable parameters of Active SNMP is concentrated under this menu option and are divided in several groups listed in the left navigation frame. ================================================================================ 10.d WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.1a Active SNMP 2.1a introduces the following new features and bug fixes compared to the last release of Active SNMP 2.1. ================================================================================ 10.d.1 Copying Graphs to another Folders On graphs detail page, an option to copy graphs to a selected folder has been added. The new graph name has to be unique. ================================================================================ 10.d.2 Remote Access to Graph Images Graphs assigned to a read-only user in Active SNMP can be accessed remotely. The read-only user can access the graph pages (either graph folder or graph details pages) or place the graph images on any HTML page without any need to log in Active SNMP. In order to place an image of a graph on a web page, an tag for remote access of the graph image has to be created. For example: explanation: myServer:6611 - host address and port of the computer where Active SNMP server is running RemoteImage.jpg - command for Active SNMP, do not change it! user=test - name of the read-only user, graph owner graphid=test1 - name of the given graph type=HOUR - graph image type (HOUR, HOUR6, DAY, MONTH, WEEK, YEAR) Note: Images can be retrieved and displayed from running Active SNMP only! ================================================================================ 10.d.3 Shutdown Options Enhanced Another option to stop Active SNMP has been added: using the -stop [] command where timeout is in seconds and is optional. If the timeout is not defined, the default value (5 seconds) is used. ================================================================================ 10.d.4 Percentile Filters to Eliminate high or Low Spikes in Graphs Added Percentile filters can be used to eliminate high or low spikes in graphs. If percentile filters are set, the upper/lower percentile is calculated for every graph value before being displayed. If the 'input' value is higher (for upper percentile) or lower (for lower percentile) than the calculated percentile, then the percentile itself is displayed in the graph instead. Values from 0 to 15 may be used for the lower percentile filter and values from 85 to 100 may be used for the upper percentile filter. ================================================================================ 10.d.5 Using BigInteger for Processing Expressions For internal calculation of scanned values, the BigInteger number is used. It means that values scanned and then calculated according to set expressions may exceed the value of 2^63, though this value remains as the maximum displayable value in graphs. ================================================================================ 10.d.6 Scanning Period and Computing of the Base Value Changed Active SNMP monitors the scanned SNMP variables at regular time intervals (from 5 to n second, set to 10 seconds by default) and calculates the obtained values as differences for 1-second intervals as follows: difference = (value 2 [t2] - value 1 [t1]) / (t2 - t1) where the time intervals t1, t2 are the real time periods between sending the scan request and receiving the scanned value. Further, the set expressions are calculated based on the difference and the answer is stored in a graph log file. ================================================================================ 10.d.7 Displaying and Using OID for Variable Browsing On Browse/Browse and Browse/Command pages, OID is displayed and can be used instead of the variable name to browse the variables. ================================================================================ 10.d.8 MIB File Names Changed to Lower Case In order to avoid malfunction on some operating systems, all MIB file names has been changed to lower case. ================================================================================ 10.d.9 Classpath Changed to ActiveSNMP.Main ActiveSNMP.Main has to be used instead of Main when starting Active SNMP with classpath definition. ================================================================================ 10.d.10 Further Console Commands added The following console commands were added: wse - print web server sessions wcfg - print web server settings winit - re-initialize web server configuration wqstat - print web server queue statistics wxqinit - reload transformation queue parameters wxqstat - print XSLT queue statistics replacing the console commands below: s - print active sessions d - dump HTTP server queue stats h - print HTTP server settings Console command "r" for re-compiling MIB files was changed to "e". ================================================================================ 10.d.11 Option to Access Console Commands Remotely Active SNMP "console commands" can be accessed remotely via Web browser. This option is available for the administrator only. ================================================================================ 10.c WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.1 Active SNMP 2.1 introduces the following new features and bug fixes compared to the last release of Active SNMP 2.0b. ================================================================================ 10.c.1 Expressions in Graph Previous version allows to use only a single SNMP variable as graph variable. Version 2.1 now allows to use expressions that contains SNMP variables, mathematical operators, and numbers. Values displayed by graph and saved to log files are the results of this expressions. ================================================================================ 10.c.2 Two Variables per Graph Graphs can now calculate and display two variables (expressions) at the same time. The first variable is displayed as a colour-filled area, the second variable is displayed as a line. Both variables use different colours. ================================================================================ 10.c.3 Using More SNMP Agents in one Graph This feature gives more flexibility to users. Each SNMP variable used in expressions can read values from different SNMP agent, defined by host address, port etc. Due to this feature, users can create graphs where states on more SNMP agents are compared. ================================================================================ 10.c.4 Organizing Graphs into Folder Hierarchy All graphs created by user were previously stored in one folder. In case that more graphs were created, the overview of graphs became obscure. Now, user can create a customised folder hierarchy, storing graphs into appropriate folders, moving graphs between folders, deleting graphs as well as folders. ================================================================================ 10.c.5 New System of Graph Names Previously created graphs were named by SNMP variable and SNMP agent. For new graphs with more SNMP variables and agents this is not possible of course. Therefore, user has to enter a name for a new graph. The name must be unique for the current user. User can also rename the graph. ================================================================================ 10.c.6 Optional Scanning Period The default period for SNMP variables scanning is 5 seconds. User can set the scanning period to a custom value (minimum 1 second). ================================================================================ 10.c.7 Vertical Timeline Grid Graphs in version 2.1 contain vertical timeline grid, for better orientation. ================================================================================ 10.c.8 Custom Color Settings Active SNMP 2.1 allows to set colors in each graph individually. User can set the background color, grid, axis, labels and graph values. ================================================================================ 10.c.9 Using JPEG Files as Graph Images instead of GIF ================================================================================ 10.c.10 Integrated Graph Editor Graph editor represents a new way to creating and editing graphs in Active SNMP. Previous versions, after having created a new graph, allowed only one operation with the graph - delete. Graph editor allows to change many graph properties such as expressions, used SNMP variables, colours, scanning period, etc. Graph editor also allows to check the correctness of used SNMP variables and expressions. ================================================================================ 10.c.11 User-modified Graph Pages The design of graph pages (folder page and detail page) is pre-defined, but user can change this design as needed. Each graph folder and graph detail page is built by an associated template file. Each folder contains a file named "folder.html", and for each graph a _det.html file exists. These files contain the HTML code and pre-defined macros, required for building the result HTML page. Modifying these templates cause changes in the design and content of the result pages. ================================================================================ 10.c.12 MIB Compiler - Console Command Changed Console command "c - " has been changed to "r - " ================================================================================ 10.c.13 Counter Values Counter values from now on represent differences between two consecutive values during one-second intervals (instead of five-second intervals previously). These differences are calculated as an average of the scanned values during the set scanning interval and divided by the scanning period. E.g. if the scanning period is n = 10 seconds, then two consecutive values are averaged and divided by 10 in order to obtain values for one-second interval. Therefore if you have upgraded your ASNMP to version 2.1 and you wish to use your previous graphs with the same values as before, you will need to multiply the appropriate graph expressions by 5. ================================================================================ 10.c.14 Changes in Setups For all Windows platforms only one setup is now used, named ActiveSnmp21.exe. This setup installs Active SNMP as NT service on Windows NT/2000/XP. Generic Self-Extracting Java Class setup and Installation Applet was removed. ================================================================================ 10.b WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.0b Active SNMP 2.0b introduces the following new features and bug fixes compared to the last release of Active SNMP 2.0a. ================================================================================ 10.b.1 MIBs Compilation Bug Fixed In the previous version the MIB files were compiled twice on the first run. This has been fixed - the compilation runs just once now. ================================================================================ 10.b.2 Browse/get/Walk by OBJECT IDENTIFIER Added There has been added the possibility to enter SNMP variable identification by OBJECT IDENTIFIER (for example 1.3.6.1.2.1.4.3) in the Browse/Commands pages. ================================================================================ 10.b.3 'guest' Graphs Were Not Destroyed Always - Fixed Graphs created by a user logged in via the 'guest' account are supposed to be destroyed on session close. It did not occur when the session was timed out by the application, instead of logging out manually. This bug has been fixed. ================================================================================ 10.b.4 Graph Large Values Bugs Fixed Graphs displaying SNMP counters with extensive values were not working properly. Occasionally, there was a large spike generated, or drop-out and even negative values. This has been fixed. ================================================================================ 10.a WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.0a Active SNMP 2.0a introduces the following new features and bug fixes compared to the last release of Active SNMP 2.0. ================================================================================ 10.a.1 MIBs Upload from Windows to Unix Fixed Upload MIB files did not work when uploading cross-platform, from Windows to Unix and vice versa. This has been fixed. ================================================================================ 10.a.2 MIBs Removal Fixed In the previous version there were MIB browser links accessible even after the appropriate MIB was removed. This has been fixed. ================================================================================ 10.a.3 Support for Non-standard SNMP Ports Added Active SNMP 2.0a allows to specify the target SNMP agent address/name including the port number. This is to allow operability with SNMP agents listening on non-standard ports, including graphs. ================================================================================ 10.a.4 Displaying Raw OBJECT IDENTIFIER Added Raw OBJECT IDENTIFIER is now displayed along with variable name, value and description. This has been requested by multiple customers. ================================================================================ 10.a.5 Option to Remove Addresses from the Address List Added There has been added a new button for removal of all addresses from the URL addresses cache. This was requested by multiple customers from security reasons. ================================================================================ 10.a.6 JNT Wrapper Compatibility Added Active SNMP 2.0a is compatible with JNT Wrapper from: http://www.eworksmart.com/jnt There has been added new shutdown method to the Main class: public static void doShutdown() Note that JNT has been tested and works. This seems to be a viable option for running Active SNMP in the NT service mode under Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. ================================================================================ 10.a.7 Optional SSL Operation Command Line Switch Added Now it is possible to run Active SNMP 2.0a web server over SSL. Use the '-ssl' command line parameter while starting the application. ================================================================================ 10.a.8 MIBs Distribution Fixed In the previous version Active SNMP the distribution packages contain all MIBs sources along with compiled binaries. This is redundant. Now only MIB sources are distributed. During the first-time application start this is detected and all MIBs are compiled automatically. ================================================================================ 10.a.9 Printer MIB (RFC 1759) Cover Table Browsing Bug Fixed There was a problem with a particular printer when browsing its cover table. While the cover table variable prtCoverIndex is declared in the MIB as not-accessible, Active SNMP 2.0 was ignoring it and reading the variable value. Result was that on some printer agents the MIB browser ended up in a loop. This has been fixed by generally ignoring all not-accessible table columns while browsing tables. ================================================================================ 10. WHAT'S NEW IN VERSION 2.0 Active SNMP 2.0 introduces the following new features compared to the last release of Active SNMP 1.1. ================================================================================ 10.1 Support for SNMP v2 Active SNMP 2.0 supports SNMP v2. Integrated MIB compiler is now able to compile SNMP v2 MIB files. In addition, Active SNMP is shipped with basic SNMP v2 MIBs included. ================================================================================ 10.2 Windows NT Service Active SNMP 2.0 can now be installed as Windows NT service. If you are running Windows 2000 or Windows NT, we recommend that you install Active SNMP as NT service. ================================================================================ 10.3 Option to Create Graphs Active SNMP 2.0 enables you to collect and display data over long time periods. A selected SNMP variable is read at regular time intervals on background. Collected values are displayed in Active SNMP graphs. You can watch variable trends in hour, 6-hour, day, week, month and year graphs. You can create graphs for all integer SNMP variables including the ones from SNMP tables. Variable values can be displayed in either one of two modes: * absolute - this shows the plain value of the variable. This mode is useful for variables the values of which do not rise steadily. * delta - this mode displays only the changes of the variable's value. It is especially useful when observing network counters. ================================================================================ 10.4 Enhanced User Management Active SNMP 2.0 allows you to assign to individual users specific access rights. The idea behind this is that only selected users can create/delete graphs and set SNMP variables. Users with read-only access rights assigned are allowed to monitor SNMP variables and previously created graphs only. Therefore two new user account types have been added to Active SNMP: * the read-write user - he/she can browse, upload, delete and compile MIBs, perform the SNMP Set commands, create and manipulate his/her own graphs, and change his/her password. * the read-only user - he/she can browse MIBs and is allowed to change his/her password. The read-only user can monitor the previously prepared graphs. First, the administrator enables the read-write rights for this user account. The user (or the administrator) creates required graphs. Then the administrator changes access rights for this account to read-only. The user of this account is now able to monitor these graphs but cannot delete them or create new ones. The 'guest' (built-in account) can only browse MIBs and create/delete his/her own graphs. After installation, this account has an empty password and the 'guest' is not allowed to change it. In addition, all graph settings are destroyed on logout or the session timeout. ================================================================================ 10.5 The Default User for Active SNMP After connecting to Active SNMP the default user name appears automatically in the Name line on the Login page. You can login either as this default user or use your own account. After installation, the default user for Active SNMP is 'administrator' with an empty password. It enables you to get in easily with complete access rights, especially creating graphs, compiling MIBs and setting SNMP variables etc. Later you can learn how to create users, change passwords and limit access rights of other users. We strongly recommend you to change the administrator password as soon as possible. The administrator can set any standard user account as the default one later. The guest account may be used as the default one, too. ================================================================================ 10.6 Option to Provide Contact to the Administrator on the About Page Active SNMP 2.0 provides the contact to the Active SNMP administrator on the About Application page. The administrator can insert all necessary contact information including his/her email address to the application.cfg file in the Active SNMP directory. Active SNMP includes this contact information during its next start. All users can then contact the administrator using the Active SNMP page. To insert the Administrative Contact into Active SNMP: 1. Shutdown Active SNMP. Note: Please change the application.cfg file only if Active SNMP is stopped! Otherwise your configuration file may become corrupted. 2. Add a new keyword Administrative Contact="info" into the application.cfg file. Example: Enter AdministrativeContact=Tom SMITH, phone 123-4567 to the application.cfg file. The same information appears in the Administrative Contact line on the About Application page. 3. Save the application.cfg file. 4. Start Active SNMP. To provide an e-mail contact, enter the following line into the application.cfg file: AdministrativeContact= asnmp_admin@your_company.com , where asnmp_admin@your_company.com is the e-mail address of your Active SNMP administrator. ================================================================================ 10.7 Improvements in the HTTP Server Active SNMP makes the SNMP information available using its embedded HTTP server. This HTTP server has been improved from the last Active SNMP release. There is the new effective cache management, the authentication management and other internal improvements. It brings faster and more reliable access to SNMP information. ================================================================================ 10.8 Tuning the Active SNMP Performance Creating graphs requires periodical reading of SNMP variables in background. These background processes use system resources - threads and memory, of course. More graphs consume more system resources. At some point, when you create a lot of graphs, the system may become exhausted by Active SNMP. Therefore Active SNMP 2.0 provides means to limit the usage of system resources and to tune it, e.g. assign more resources to the application if your system's computing power is sufficient enough. When a request for reading an SNMP value arrives, Active SNMP hands it to one of its event processing threads. Active SNMP creates threads on an 'as needed' basis until it reaches the Maximum Threads counter. The Buffered Events counter indicates the number of events waiting for a processing thread to become available. If this number grows or stays nonzero for a longer time while the count of waiting threads is near to a zero value, you can raise the Maximum Threads value. This gives Active SNMP more power to handle more requests, while consuming more system resources. It must be handled carefully, so as not to clog the computer. When no thread is available, Active SNMP places a new event into an Event Buffer. As soon as a thread finishes processing an event, it retrieves the first waiting event from the buffer. Once the count of buffered events reaches the Maximum Event Buffer Length value, Active SNMP starts dropping the subsequent events. In order to prevent such a situation, consider increasing the Maximum Event Buffer Length as well as the Maximum Threads value. ================================================================================ 10.9 MIB Compiler A new console command /-c <"Compile All Files"> has been added to Active SNMP console. This compiles all MIB files from the /mibs subdirectory. ================================================================================ 10.10 New Design Active SNMP 2.0 has a new, more intuitive design of its HTML user interface. Simpler design of pages reduces the network overload and speeds up the network management. ================================================================================ 11. MORE INFORMATION? Should you need more information or help, we recommend you to consult the Active SNMP home page on the CSCare web site: http://www.cscare.com/activesnmp The preferred method to contact the Active SNMP team is via e-mail at asnmp@cscare.com ================================================================================ Copyright (c) 1996-2004, CSCare Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.