User Guide:Installation and Deployment Guide
From Netmon
Contents |
Netmon SE Installation
Beginning the installation
To begin installing Netmon SE, insert the CD that came in your retail package (or that you burned from the ISO image you downloaded) into the computer you will use to run Netmon and start the computer. Before doing so, you should ensure that your computer's BIOS settings are configured to boot from the CD drive.
A boot screen will appear almost immediately. At this screen you will be warned that the installation process is destructive and will erase any existing data on your computer's hard drive. Consider the warning, then type "install" at the prompt and press 'Enter' to begin the installation process.
Debian-installer
The software which performs the automated operating system installation is known as "Debian-installer". It uses a text-based user interface. In this interface, the Tab or Right-Arrow keys move "forward" and the Shift-Tab or Left-Arrow keys move "backward" between displayed buttons and selections. The Up-Arrow and Down-Arrow keys select different items in a scrolling list.
The automated Debian Linux installer will perform various hardware auto-detection routines, and download some basic software packages that are required for installation. No intervention is required until you reach the "Partition Disks" prompt.
NOTE: the following virtual console access should only be used by advanced users or under the direction of Netmon Support.
In the Debian-installer, there is a separate virtual console which error messages and logs are directed to. You can see the output of this console by pressing Left Alt-F4. To return to the main installer process, press Left Alt-F1.
You can also access a separate virtual console to issue operating system commands by pressing Left Alt-F2. To return to the main installer process, press Left Alt-F1.
For more information on the Debian-installer itself, review the Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide, Chapter 6.1 How the Installer Works.
If the automated Debian Linux installer does not suit your needs, you can perform an unsupported manual installation by typing "manual" at the boot prompt. Similar to installing Netmon SE on your own Linux installation, you will not be supported for any issues relating to the operating system if you choose to perform a manual install. For some classes of hardware or unique situations (for example, if you would like to use LVM to manage disk partitions) a manual installation may be your only option.
Network configuration with DHCP
The Netmon installer will attempt to configure your network interface card with DHCP, for the purpose of downloading required software packages. Once Netmon is fully installed, you may manually configure the network using the graphical desktop environment.
If you do not have DHCP in your environment, or if your DHCP server takes too long to respond, the automated Debian Linux installer will display an error message, and you will have the option to retry network autoconfiguration, or to enter network settings manually.
Partitioning disks
The Netmon installer will attempt to automatically partition your disk with the following partitions:
- A small "swap" partition (1.5 times the size of RAM)
- A 5 GB "root" partition
- A partition consuming the remainder of the available free space, mounted as "/var", with the noatime mount option enabled.
In the event that the guided partitioning does not work, you will have to manually partition your disks. For best performance, use the XFS file system and the partitioning scheme described above. It is possible to use other file systems such as ReiserFS or Ext3 with Netmon SE, however there can be a significant loss of performance if a different file system is used.
For details on using the Debian utility for disk partitioning, refer to the Debian Installation Guide for Debian 4.0, Section 6.3.2 Partitioning and Mount Point Selection.
Package Installation
Once you have partitioned disks, software installation will commence. Software packages come from multiple sources and hence, there are varying ways that package installation is represented on-screen. Some packages are installed from within the Debian installer and are represented with colourful progress bars. Other packages (namely security updates) are installed by the Netmon installation script and are represented with text-based progress indicators.
During the second phase of package installation, the Linux console's built-in screen saver may become active and blank the console. Pressing any key on the keyboard will de-activate the screen saver and restore the console view.
Completing the installation
Once all operating system packages are installed, you will be prompted to take out the installation CD and reboot your system. After the reboot, the Netmon software is downloaded and installed for you. Once this installation is complete, the system will reboot once again and you will be presented with the GNOME graphical desktop login. At the login prompt, enter the username "netmon" and the password "netmon" to gain access to the desktop.
Configuring the network card
On the Netmon GNOME desktop you will find a number of icons, including one labeled "Network Admin". To configure your network card with a static IP address, double-click this icon. You will immediately be prompted to enter the root password, which is "netmon".
Once in the network administration tool itself, on the tab labeled "Connections", select the network interface you would like to use with Netmon and click the "Properties" button. You can now choose between DHCP and static settings, and fill in the appropriate settings for your network. You can also use Network Admin to configure your DNS settings. Click the "OK" button in the "interface properties" window, then click "OK" in the "Network settings" window.
Activating Netmon
Once initial setup tasks are complete, you will be prompted for your product activation key as well as your contact information.
Once you have activated Netmon, the Deployment Wizard will start.
Netmon Deployment Wizard
On the Netmon desktop, you will find an icon labeled "Web Browser". Double-click this icon to launch the Debian fork of the Firefox web browser, which will open the Netmon web interface by default. The first time you connect to the Netmon web interface you will be presented with the Netmon Deployment Wizard. This is a set of four forms which will take care of the initial Netmon setup tasks for you.
Administrator Account
The first form in the deployment wizard is the Administrator Account. On this form, enter your contact information and a desired username and password. This will be the first administrative account for Netmon. Once you have completed filling out the form, click 'Next Step' to proceed to the next form.
Network Ranges
After the administrator account has been created the Configure Network Ranges form will appear. In this form you can add any significant network ranges for your environment. In the "Label" field, enter a meaningful value for your environemnt (like "Wired LAN"). In the field labelled "Starting IP Address", enter the first usable IP address in this range. In the field labelled "Ending IP Address", enter the last usable IP address in this range (be sure to avoid including the subnet broadcast address).
If you would like to auto-discover SNMP devices in this range, check the "SNMP Discovery" checkbox. If you would like this network range included in the port scan report, check the "Port Scanning" checkbox.
Once you've completed the values for a network range, click the button labelled "Add Range". Do not click "Next Step" without first adding the network range to the list, or you will lose your work.
Configure SNMP Auto-Discovery Settings
Once you have defined network ranges, the Configure SNMP Auto-Discovery form will appear. This form allows you to identify your SNMP settings.
In the "Community String" field, enter a comma-separated list of community strings that are in use in your network. In the "Scanning port" field, enter the port used for SNMP by your network devices.
In the "SNMP Version" dropdown, select the version of SNMP which you would like to use on your network.
Once you have selected the appropriate values, click "Next Step" to proceed to the final form.
Network Diagnostics
The "Network Diagnostics" form will process then present you with a couple of important diagnostic messages. A sample of network traffic will be taken to determine whether port mirroring is configured on your network, and the wizard will ensure that the Netmon Update Service is reachable from your Netmon device.
Review all status messages and close the wizard with the "Close Wizard" button when finished.
Your installation is now complete. You are ready to move onto the next section, Getting Started
Navigation
