User Guide:Monitoring Devices
From Netmon
Monitoring Devices
Netmon has a wealth of features for monitoring highly detailed performance metrics on network-connected devices such as routers, firewalls, switches, servers, printers, UPS systems and more.
Introduction to Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
Effective network monitoring encompasses a broad range of responsibilities. You need to understand your network traffic from several vantage points, but it also becomes important to monitor the health, availability and load of many different kinds of mission-critical devices.
The solution is the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP): a widely supported monitoring and management protocol for network-aware devices. Managed devices, as SNMP-capable devices are otherwise known, can include things like switches, routers, multi-function printers, fax stations, firewalls, thin clients, wireless transmitters, and much more. Thousands of different devices support the SNMP protocol.
SNMP provides the ability to query and update a managed device remotely. Using this protocol, you can retrieve a potentially rich set of information about a particular device: data such as inbound and outbound traffic levels, current connections, CPU load, memory status, usage history, error messages, device status, and countless other details. This is really nice stuff to know. Furthermore, SNMP 'write' operations can even allow devices to be configured and managed remotely.
Devices can also be configured to automatically 'push' SNMP data to a remote monitoring or management system. For example, you might configure a laser printer to send information about current toner level. These UDP datagrams are known as SNMP traps, and they're generally sent to a remote monitoring system where they're collected and handled appropriately. (Netmon 3.5 will feature an SNMP trap handling engine.) The SNMP Protocol
The SNMP protocol itself is a relatively simple request-response protocol. It works at the application layer, and typically utilizes UDP ports 161 and 162.
The choice of UDP may seem a bit unusual for a request-response protocol, but SNMP was designed from the outset to move across the network as 'non-critical' traffic. In high load situations, UDP packets that are dropped from the network are not resent by the originating host. This reduces network congestion in critical load situations. To ensure that SNMP traffic doesn't unnecessarily burden a network, its designers skipped the higher overhead of a full-blown TCP connection in favor of a more graceful failure scenario.
Every managed device keeps a hierarchical database of values, known as a Management Information Base (MIB). These MIBs are sent as numerical indexes (known as object identifiers, or OIDs) in the SNMP packet payload, and each one represents some type of configuration detail. Each MIB has an associated meaning, such as the following:
MIB: Cisco Router OID: 1.3.6.1.4.1.9.1.1
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
While it is certainly true that SNMP can provide you with a rich source of information for every managed device on your network(s), it also comes with a few drawbacks.
First off, while SNMP is indeed a ‘simple’ protocol, its real world implementation is not very simple at all. SNMP data is built around the idea that any kind of information can be stored and communicated by a managed device. Of course, different devices will want to communicate different kinds of data. Switches will tell you how much traffic is going in and out of each port, and so will firewalls, but printers might tell you how many pages have been printed today, or how much ink is left in each of the cartridges.
The result is that every device implements SNMP data structures in their own unique way, and there are only a handful of standard OID/MIB interfaces which are available across all types of devices. This makes the task of using SNMP data in a comprehensive monitoring or management system a non-trivial undertaking. SNMP management systems tend to be large, unwieldy and tremendously expensive systems, and their complexity can make one question the benefits of using SNMP in the first place.
SNMP and Security
The introduction of any new protocol on the network merits some attention, and SNMP deserves more scrutiny than most. Unfortunately, the most popular implementations of SNMP (known as SNMP v1 and SNMP v2) are not particularly well known for their strong security. In fact, SNMP's security record is so dismal, it has picked up a new dual meaning: Security Not My Problem (SNMP).
SNMP services and protocols are not necessarily a direct security threat themselves: attacks on SNMP are relatively uncommon. This is probably due to the fact that there are thousands of different implementations out there - any kind of attack would likely have to be narrowly focused at a single device, or class of devices.
However, a much larger security threat exists with the information that SNMP makes available to a potential intruder. SNMP data is transmitted in clear text, which could pose a problem if you're sending certain kinds of information over a non-private, unprotected network such as the Internet. In fact, unfettered SNMP read access could allow an attacker to gather hundreds of configuration details about your network.
Many SNMP-capable devices are shipped and installed with weak (or well-known) SNMP community strings. A community string is the closest thing to a password in SNMP v2 and earlier devices, so it's incredibly important to ensure that you change these strings to strong passwords that meet modern security standards.
Fortunately, some of the most pressing security issues have been resolved with SNMP v3, the latest and greatest implementation of this protocol. Encrypted traffic is now supported, along with much stronger authentication mechanisms. However, there are still relatively few devices which support this new implementation of the protocol, despite its age - nearly 7 years at the time of writing.
In the meantime, you should review your managed devices, and evaluate their roles in your monitoring strategy. Check for the following:
1. Does the SNMP service on this device need to be active at all? Do I really need to gather performance data from this device? (In many cases the answer is Yes.)
2. Is the Community String set to a strong password phrase?
3. What kind of SNMP data is being polled from this device? Is it safe for this information to traverse the LAN/WAN/Internet?
4. Have SNMP write operations been disabled?
SNMP's Role in Network Monitoring
SNMP has a few warts, but can nevertheless occupy a very effective role in an overall network monitoring strategy.
Despite the rich variety of information it makes accessible, SNMP really shouldn't be used to monitor the network itself. Many monitoring and management systems use the SNMP protocol exclusively to gather information about the network, but if this is the only way you are monitoring, then you’re likely to be missing out on the big picture.
Think about it. In most cases, you will probably value the integrity of your entire network over that of any individual host. SNMP is great to gather data about devices, but in these situations you just can't beat a packet sniffer to get a real understanding of your network's actual state. Nevertheless, SNMP plays an important role in an overall network monitoring strategy.
Netmon is capable of retrieving traffic-related information from a wide variety of SNMP-capable devices, and the nice part is that it can grab data for each distinct network interface. This is especially helpful for switches, firewalls and routers, where you’ll want to monitor traffic levels across each physical port. To work with this information, you’ll need to take two steps.
To gather SNMP traffic data from your device, first enable SNMP on your managed device, and configure it to allow SNMP read (or "polling") operations. This process varies greatly by manufacturer. Some devices (like switches and routers) may need to be configured through a command line interface, while other devices (such as printers and other multifunction products) may provide a nice slick web interface. Be sure to specify a strong community string pass phrase wherever possible.
The second step is to add your SNMP device in Netmon’s SNMP Device Explorer. You'll have to supply your device's community string to Netmon. Once you have added your device, the Netmon SNMP Service will begin polling that device for information. For additional configuration information, see the Netmon User Guide.
Once these steps are completed, you should start to see SNMP traffic data within a few minutes. Netmon’s SNMP viewing tools allow you to easily spot trends and spikes for each distinct device interface, and you can historical charts and graphs as well.
Using the SNMP Automatic Discovery Service
The simplest and easiest way to add new SNMP-capable devices to your Netmon server appliance is to let Netmon do most of the work for you. In most cases, Netmon can identify a large number of SNMP-capable devices automatically in just a few minutes.
The SNMP Auto Discovery service scans your local network range(s) for SNMPv2-capable devices, and attempts to connect to them with the default community string public. If a successful connection is made, Netmon automatically adds the device to your Device Explorer collection. Devices which have been discovered in this fashion have a icon next to them in the Device Explorer tree.
Using a Different Community String?
Netmon's automatic discovery service can be configured to use any community string you wish. To make changes to the community string used by the SNMP Auto Discovery service, take the following steps:
1. Click Settings > Netmon Services.
2. Locate the SNMP Autodiscovery service in the list, and click the Configure link next to it.
3. Enter your custom community string in the community text box, and then click the Update button next to it.
4. Click Settings > Netmon Services again.
5. Locate the SNMP Autodiscovery service in the list, then stop it using the Stop Service button. When the page reloads, click the Start Service button. This will restart the SNMP Autodiscovery Service using your new Community string [1].
- ↑ It is not strictly necessary to restart the Autodiscovery Service after changing the Community string. However, doing so will ensure that the service begins scanning using your new Community string right away. If the service is not restarted, Netmon will complete its current scan using the old Community string.
Using the Devices Explorer
Netmon displays all SNMP devices in a tree format in the Device Explorer. You can reach the Devices console by clicking the Devices button in the top toolbar.
Within the Device Explorer, you can create groups of devices for organizational purposes. These groups can be manipulated through drag-and-drop and via the buttons at the top of the Device Explorer interface.
To create a new group in the Device Explorer, click the "New Group" button. A new group will appear in the device explorer with the "empty group" icon, and the label of the group will filled in with the text "New Group". When first created, the name text will be highlighted and you can type a new name for the group.
You can add devices or existing groups to the group by clicking on the device's icon and dragging it onto the group icon. Once a group has at least one device or group inside it, the icon will change to a "folder" icon.
To modify a group click on its name in the Device Explorer. The center pane of the Netmon interface will be replaced with a group management interface, where you can edit the group name or delete the group. When deleting a group you will be given the option to either delete all the devices and groups existing inside the group, OR to delete only the group and place the devices and groups in it at the top level of the Device Explorer interface.
SNMP-capable devices are identified with the following icons:
Designates a host/device which has been automatically detected by Netmon as SNMP- or NetFlow-capable. It is then up to you to activate one (or both) of these services on the device, and assign the appropriate Device Dashboard .
Designates a host/device that supports SNMP.
Designates a host/device that supports NetFlow packet streams.
Designates a host/device that provides sFlow packet samples.
Designates a host/device that is not responding to SNMP queries.
To view a high-level overview of a device and all of its interfaces, simply click the device in the SNMP Device Explorer, which displays a global view of the device, along with a summary view for each interface. Input and output is displayed on an LED-style graph.
To drill further down and view detailed information for each individual interface, simply click the port icon next to the device, and select an interface node from the tree by clicking on it. This will bring up the SNMP Interface Explorer window, which provides a detailed view of that specific interface.
Adding a New SNMP Device
First, you must enable SNMP v2 GET requests (or polls, as they are sometimes known) on your managed device. This process varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, so consult the documentation for your device to determine what steps are necessary to enable this capability.
Be sure to specify, or take note of, the device's Community string. The Community string is essentially a password for retrieving SNMP data, and this string will need to be provided to Netmon.
Once you have enabled SNMP on your managed device, take the following steps in Netmon:
1. Click the New Device button at the top of the SNMP Device Explorer.
2. Enter the IP address of the device into the IP Address field.
3. In the Label field, specify a friendly name for your device, such as 'London Office Router'.
4. Choose a sampling interval and enter it into the Sample Every: text box. Netmon uses a default value of 180 seconds, but you can specify any interval you like.
5. Enter the community string that your SNMP managed device requires in order to answer SNMP v2 queries.
6. Be sure the Enable SNMP checkbox is checked.
7. If you anticipate receiving NetFlow data streams from this device, check the Enable NetFlow checkbox. Otherwise, leave it unchecked. Alternately, if you anticipate receiving sFlow packet samples from this device, check the Enable sFlow checkbox. Only one of these two checkboxes can be enabled at one time.
8. Click the Add Device button.
Note: Once you have added a new SNMP device, it can take Netmon several minutes or more to discover all of the interfaces and begin gathering SNMP data. In some cases, it could take as long as one hour for data to appear in Netmon's console.
Updating an Existing SNMP Device
You can update the sampling frequency, community string or friendly label of any SNMP device by doing the following:
1. Locate the device you wish to modify in the SNMP Device Explorer, and click on the main device node.
2. Update the necessary fields, and click the Update button or press ENTER to save your changes.
Removing an SNMP Device
To remove an SNMP device, take the following steps:
1. Locate the device you wish to remove in the SNMP Device Explorer, and click on the main device node.
2. Locate the Remove Device button in the detail window and press it. You'll be asked to confirm that you really want to delete this device. If you're sure, click OK to proceed with the delete operation.
Caution: Deleting an SNMP device can take a long time, because all of the historical data that was collected for it must also be deleted. Depending on the size of your database, this procedure could take anywhere from 10 seconds, to several minutes or more.
Using the Device Toolbar
The device toolbar appears at the top of all device-related pages. It corresponds to the collapsing menu which can be seen in the Device Explorer tree, so you can use whichever navigation style you prefer.
To see a brief description for any toolbar button, simply hold your mouse over it.
Device Dashboard Return to the home dashboard for this device.
Device Notes View notes history for the selected device.
Network Activity View network activity statistics for the selected device, or manage network activity monitoring preferences. (If the selected device does not have a Dashboard associated with it, this page becomes its dashboard.)
Events and Logs Review Syslog and Event Log history for the selected device.
SNMP MIB Walk (Full) Performs an SNMP walk on all known branches of the management tree. Depending on the amount of management information exposed by the selected device, this operation can be a resource-intensive operation. In extreme cases, it can take up to one minute for the walk to complete.
SNMP MIB Walk (Enterprise) Performs an SNMP walk on the enterprise-specific branches of the management object tree. This operation is less resource intensive than a full SNMP walk.
SNMP Object (OID) Trackers Browse OID object trackers for the selected device.
SNMP Trap Messages View SNMP trap messages which have been sent by the selected device to your Netmon system. Click here to learn more about Netmon's SNMP Trap Handler Service.
Using the Interface Explorer
The SNMP Interface Explorer provides a detailed view of a specific device interface. For switches, routers, firewalls and other networking-oriented devices, each of these interfaces could represent a physical Ethernet network jack, or they could also be 'virtual' interfaces, such as those used for VLANs and local loopbacks.
Basic Interface Information
Netmon displays the following information for the selected interface:
Interface This is the interface number reported by the device.
Speed This is the maximum speed of the interface, measured in bits per second (bps).
MAC Address If Netmon is able to resolve the MAC address of the interface, it is displayed here. Otherwise, you'll see the text Unresolved.
Technical Note: To attain the MAC address of a port, first Netmon determines if the device is a Cisco switch or not. If so, it first acquires a list of operational VLANs using CISCO-VTP-MIB::vtpVlanState (1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.46.1.3.1.1.2). It then uses each VLAN index in this list to query BRIDGE-MIB::dot1dTpFdbPort (1.3.6.1.2.1.17.4.3.1.2) using a community string composed of 'community@VLAN_INDEX' to obtain a listing of MAC addresses and virtual ports. It uses the virtual port number to query BRIDGE-MIB::dot1dBasePortIfIndex (1.3.6.1.2.1.17.1.4.1.2) which returns a physical port number. If the device is not a Cisco switch, it skips the step of querying the VLAN states.
Connected IP/MAC If Netmon is able to determine the IP or MAC address of the host that is connected to this interface, it is displayed here. Otherwise, you will see Unresolved.
Label This is the interface's friendly label. By default, Netmon displays the label provided by the SNMP host. However, you can override this label by typing your own text into the textbox, and clicking the Update button.
Display on Home Page This checkbox allows you to show recent activity for this interface on your Netmon home page. For example, you may want to display all of your outside Internet interfaces on the Home page. Simply toggle the checkbox on or off, and click the Update button to save your changes.
Interface Monitoring Options
Several different options can be set for monitoring specific interfaces. To set these options, click the desired interface in the Device Explorer, and you will see available options in the Settings Editor window in the top right of the screen.
Label By default, Netmon uses the ifDesc value in the MIB tree to label the interface. However, you can apply your own custom labels to an interface by entering a new value here.
Display on Home Dashboard This checkbox sets whether or not a graph will be shown for this interface on the Netmon home dashboard.
Enable SNMP Logging This checkbox sets whether or not to record historical bandwidth utilization data for this interface in the database. The length of time that data is kept depends on the historical data policy you set for the SNMP Interface Monitoring Service, and can range from 1 day to forever. When this checkbox is selected, you'll see a 
icon next to that interface in the Device Explorer.
Enable NetFlow This checkbox sets whether or not Netmon should expect incoming NetFlow packets from this interface. When this checkbox is selected, you'll see a 
icon next to that interface in the Device Explorer.
SNMP Interface Graph
The SNMP interface graph shows the input/output information for that interface. To view the interface graph, click on the interface itself in the Device Explorer (or locate it in the Network Interfaces branch of the Device Explorer tree) and you’ll be brought to the Interface Explorer.
The type of graph you'll see depends on whether or not you've enabled SNMP logging for that interface. If SNMP logging is enabled for the interface, you'll see a line chart showing inbound and outbound bandwidth utilization going back 30 minutes. If SNMP logging is not enabled, you'll see a bar graph showing the last inbound/outbound traffic statistics for that interface.
Did you know? You get an exact traffic figure for each point on the graph by holding your mouse over the data point.
Configuring Alerts for an Interface
Netmon can send an email or pager alert when any specified interface goes above a user specified % utilization.
To add or remove email or pager alerts, simply click the appropriate selections from the Alert Management panel, and choose Add or Del, respectively.
Device Dashboards
Device dashboards allow you to view key performance metrics (such as CPU usage, RAM and much more) for several common platforms. Expensive SNMP walks are no longer required to review the most common metrics.
Assigning a Dashboard to a Device
To use a built-in dashboard for your device, take the following steps.
1. Ensure that there is a dashboard for your particular device.
2. Click the Devices button in the top toolbar.
3. Locate your device in the Device Explorer on the left side of the screen. When you find your device, click on its name. This will open the device's current dashboard.
4. Locate the SNMP Manager window on the top right corner of the screen.
5. Make the appropriate dashboard selection in the Device Dashboard drop-down box.
6. Click the Update Device button.
Troubleshooting Dashboards
- Device dashboards require appropriate SNMP support on the monitored host. If SNMP services are not enabled on your target device, you will not be able to retreive any dashboard data for that device.
- In addition to SNMP support on the target device, Netmon also requires the appropriate MIB file(s) which match the target device profile in its own MIB repository. These MIB files are, in most cases, stored in your Netmon system automatically, but it is possible to inadvertently remove them in Netmon's MIB File Browser.
- Not all metrics will necessarily be exposed by all devices which belong to a particular classification. In these cases, some metrics will be unresolved.
Browsing SNMP MIBs
How Netmon Retrieves Management Information
Netmon uses the SNMP Walk facility to explore the exposed Management Information Base (MIB) tree for a particular device.
Caution SNMP Walks can be very resource-intensive operations, and have been known to crash some older devices. You should always exercise caution when walking mission-critical devices, especially ones which are already under a heavy workload.
What is a MIB?
A Management Information Base (MIB) generally defines the set of parameters that an SNMP management station can query (or set) in in an SNMP-enabled device. It is essentially a collection (or more than one) of information that can be gathered from an SNMP-enabled device.
Common MIB Data Types
Netmon automatically recognizes the following common MIB data types:
32 Bit - Any 32-bit value. This value is generally expressed as an integer.
Gauge - Any 32-bit value. This value is generally expressed as an integer.
Hex - A 32-bit hexadecimal number.
Integer - Any valid integer.
Host Address - An IP address.
OID - A numeric OID reference string.
String - A string value.
Timeticks - usually expressed in milliseconds or microseconds.
Managing Custom SNMP MIBs
Netmon permits the uploading of custom MIBs to its repository. Once imported, OIDs specific in the MIB definition will be replaced with the translated, human-friendly representations.
Uploading a Custom MIB
To upload a custom MIB, click the Manage Custom MIBs button at the bottom of the SNMP Device Explorer panel. This opens the MIB File Manager in the middle pane.
Click the Upload New MIB button, which opens the SNMP Manager window in the rightmost panel. Click the Browse button to locate the MIB file on your local system. Once you have selected a file, click the Upload button to import it into Netmon.
In order to successfully import a MIB, all of its dependent MIBs must already be present in the system. If Netmon detects that a MIB being imported is missing any of these dependencies, it may reject the upload with an error message. You must identify the missing dependent MIBs (usually by examining the IMPORTS declaration at the very top of the MIB definition).
Viewing a MIB Definition
To view an uploaded MIB, simply click on its name, or select the View link in the Actions column next to the MIB you wish to examine.
Using the OID Tracker Service
Netmon's SNMP OID tracker service allows you to watch a specific OID management point for changes. This is an extremely flexible service that can be used to monitor hundreds or thousands of different performance metrics from SNMP-capable devices.
What is an OID?
An Object Identifier (OID) represents a single piece of information about your device. OIDs belong to a much larger information repository known as a Management Information Base (MIB). A MIB is a tree-like structure (similar to the Windows Registry) which has OIDs as its branches and leaves.
Many network devices can expose hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of OIDs, with each one representing some piece of data related to the configuration and operation of that device.
Browsing OIDs with the MIB Browser
You can browse different branches of the MIB tree with Netmon's built in MIB Browser. See Browsing SNMP MIBs for more information.
When you find an OID of interest in the MIB Browser, you can click the Add Tracker link next to it to have Netmon watch that object at any desired interval.
Creating an OID Tracker
Netmon allows you to track virtually any OID management point on the MIB tree. OIDs can contain different types of data. The most common data types are:
- Integer [Example: 125658]
- Counter [Example: 40002]
- Gauge [Example: 55]
- String [Example: "HP LaserJet 4600DN"]
When tracking OIDs, Netmon renders Integer, Counter and Gauge data types in a similar fashion. Text data types are displayed as a small datagrid.
When you find an OID of interest in the MIB Browser, you can click the Add Tracker link next to it to have Netmon watch that object at any desired interval. You will then be prompted to enter the following information:
Label Apply a descriptive label to this OID Tracker. Netmon will suggest a label based on the OID you have selected, but it can often be beneficial to add additional information here. This label is the main descriptive field used for Netmon’s email and pager alerts.
Sample Every The number of seconds between successive polls. Be sure to choose an appropriate value here.
Enable Logging When this box is checked, it tells Netmon to record all historical poll results for the specified OID Tracker. If the box is left unchecked, Netmon simply records the latest result to the database.
Display on Home Dashboard If this is an important OID Tracker, you can display it on the Netmon Home Dashboard. Depending on the logging selection you have made (see above) this tracker will appear as a line chart or a single-value panel.
Attaching Alerts to OID Trackers
In addition to tracking OID values, Netmon can notify you when the value of an OID exceeds a specific threshold. For example, you may want to be notified if CPU utilization exceeds 90%, or if temperature in a rack enclosure exceeds 85 degrees, or if the operational state of a service is anything except “running”.
To attach an Alert to an OID Tracker, take the following steps:
1. Locate the desired device in the Device Explorer window on the left side of the Devices console and click on it.
2. Click the OID Trackers button in the device toolbar.
3. Locate the Tracker you wish to attach alert parameters to, and then click the Alerts link next to it.
4. Enter the comparison value and expression in the boxes provided, and click the Add Alert button. Netmon will evaluate the comparison expression at each polling interval. If the comparison expression evaluates to false during any checkup, an alert message is relayed.
Modifying an Existing OID Tracker
To edit the tracker, click Edit. To delete the alerts for a tracker, click Alerts next to the tracker and then press Del next to the alert you wish to delete.
Note: It is not possible to edit existing alert parameters. To modify an alert, you must delete it and create a new one.
Removing an OID Tracker
To delete your new tracker, simply press Del next to your tracker in the list of OID Trackers for that device. All associated alerts for that OID will also be removed automatically.
OID Tracking Tips
- The OID Tracker service is ideal for monitoring specific metrics that may not be exposed on a Device Dashboard. In many cases, hundreds or even thousands of data points are available, but only a handful of the most common metrics are displayed on the dashboard.
- OID tracking is used to monitor the operating state of Windows services. See Monitoring Windows Servicesfor more information.
- Choose an appropriate monitoring interval for your OID tracking metrics. This saves processing resources and also keeps your database size optimized. For example, you may want to monitor RAM utilization on your router as frequently as every 60 seconds, while monitoring the pages printed on a network printer every 2 hours.
Processing SNMP Trap Messages
Traps are messages that are sent by managed devices automatically in response to some activity or condition taking place. Your Netmon system can process these incoming trap messages, and can (optionally) log them to the database and/or alert you when they arrive.
Sending SNMP Traps to Netmon
In order for Netmon to process SNMP trap messages, you must first configure your SNMP device to send trap messages to Netmon's IP address. Netmon expects to receive SNMP trap messages over UDP port 162, which is the most widely used port for this service.
Once you begin sending trap messages from your device, Netmon will identify unique traps that arrive, and record them in its database. Once Netmon identifies a trap, then you have the option of logging it and/or attaching an alert to it.
Logging SNMP Traps
In order to log an SNMP trap, Netmon must first recognize it. If you click the SNMP Trap Messages button, you will see a summary of all trap messages which Netmon has identified. To activate logging for a particular trap, simply locate it in the list, and click the Enable Logging button. Netmon will then record incoming traps from that OID to its database.
Trap Alert Services
If you'd like to be alerted when a particular type of SNMP trap message arrives, you must first enable logging for that trap (see above). Once you have enabled logging, click the Alert 
button next to the trap you wish to receive alerts for. The SNMP Manager panel opens, and you can add an alert recipient to the trap.
Using the Notes Manager
Starting with Netmon 4.0, you can now associate one or more notes to specific devices. Using this facility, you can record service histories, backup configurations, and virtually any information that can be stored in a plaintext format.
Adding a New Note
To add a new note to a specific device, take the following steps:
1. Locate the device in the Devices Explorer and expand the selection so that its sub-items are visible.
2. Click the Notes selection in the Device tree, followed by the Add New Note button in the middle panel.
3. Enter a subject line (required) for the note.
4. Enter (or paste) the contents of the note into the Note textbox.
5. Click the Save Changes button to commit the note to the database.
Modifying an Existing Note
To modify an existing note, take the following steps:
1. Locate the note you wish to modify in the Notes Explorer, and click the Edit link.
2. Make any necessary changes to the note's subject or contents in the SNMP Manager window on the right side of the screen.
3. When you have finished making changes, click the Save Changes button to commit the updated note to the database. Netmon also automatically records the date/time that the note was modified.
Removing a Note
To remove/delete an existing note, locate the note and click the Delete link next to the Note title.
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