NetXMS Support Forum

Now that I have enough things added that I would not want to have to start again - what is the consensus on backups?

Just the DB? and if so, is there a standard command to use - or a sequence of commands?

The closest I found was this
https://www.netxms.org/forum/installation/netxms-server-backup-and-restore-process/

So for my postgres on Windows, it would be

1) Backup netxmsd.conf / nxagentd.conf
2) Backup /netxms (keep everything - much easier)
3) Backup database (pg_dump)
4) Backup copy of DB and NetXMS install files (for bare metal restore)

Restore procedure is:
1) Restore or recreate config
2) Restore files, if any
3) Restore database
4) Check data consistency: "nxdbmgr check"

Bare Metal restore:
1) Build server
2) Install DB - same DB as old
3) Install NetXMS - same version as old
4) Restore config
5) Restore DB
6) Check data consistency: "nxdbmgr check"

All good!!

Is this what others are doing?

Well - I bit the bullet and set up the main two traps I need. The fun and games are as follows:

1. Selecting the trap did not automatically import the OID's. Had to manually enter them.
2. When selecting by OID - make sure you get your order right. The move up / Move down does not work. I got the first one wrong - and therefore the following 12 as well. No way to fix.
3. If you know the order the OIDS will come in - much quicker just to select position and do them in order.
4. As the OID text is not carried across - don't waste your time entering it.
5. When formatting the Alarm in Event Processing Policy - watch out for 256 char limit. UCS traps, when including /n for new line, exceed 256 chars.
6. Copy and paste within  Event Processing Policy when you have used all 256 chars gives an error. Copy and paste from Notepad ++  instead.
7. Alarm log shows Event before Message however Alarm Browser does not - makes for a very busy and messy screen.
8. Alarm Detail is weird - it allows me to show my shortened version of Message in Related Events (without the event title) - in Overview - gives me the whole message only.
9. When hovering over the alarm in Alarm Browser - I get the line by line message - but again, I do not get the Event Message or the Event.
10. Nearly forgot - Creation Time and Modification time are Octet Strings - no way to have NetXMS interpret them - come through as rubbish chars.

So there it is - I managed to get two traps in - with significant effort. Hopefully some of these will be improved.

Here is example of correctly formatted trap with times in corrected format.

Well, between the excitement of success and the agony of defeat or which there has been plenty of both - I am still here - just!

NetXMS is a fantastic product with some fantastic capabilities - but - the initial learning curve is hard - for most, probably too hard.

I persisted due to a particular annoyance with traps but even then, without the invaluable assistance from Tursiops, absolutely invaluable, I would have also given up.

All I needed was two generic templates - Windows and Linux - both based on HOST-RESOURCE-MIB - tailored for the nuances of Linux and Windows. Although templates exist for agents, the fact none exist for SNMP suggest potential SNMP based users never got over that initial hump and simply went elsewhere and found something else. A shame really as NetXMS can do so much!.

I am at the point where my Linux generic SNMP template is about 98% there (just needs some tidy up) and my Windows generic SNMP template is about 80% there - some cleanup plus getting customized threshold per drive using first three letters of drive working - and that is it. Elapsed time for this part is just 8 days from when I first got my hands on the old Linux SNMP template. With the assistance of both Tursiops and Victor as I bumbled my way forward with questions that to others would seem very simple, but to me - stumped - these templates will now become a reality. An immense thank you to both of you.

Had these templates been available on day one - I would never have considered leaving. It is not that they do everything I would like - but they do provide me with the minimum that I need and that is the point - unless I can see a clear path from the problem I am trying to solve and the minimum that I need - I move on to any one of the many alternatives.

I was lucky - very lucky. I hope to return the favor once the templates are complete and post them where others can use them. As Tursiops has pointed out - these templates do not claim to be the best / fastest / neatest / cleanest ways of doing this - they are simply a start that can be built on and evolve over time so that better ones can be created.

So, two weeks on - I am still here. There is still plenty for me to do, but at least I know now that those who follow, who use SNMP for monitoring, will find a much easier experience getting up and going.

If I want to move to a new server - both old and new are using NetXMS and Postgres - what are my options?

From the doco - there are options if the new DB is local and old DB is local and is connected to existing installation.
https://wiki.netxms.org/wiki/How_to_migrate_to_another_database

I know I can do export import of templates etc, but what about collected data - how do I transfer that across?

I added a switch which picked up the Catalyst generic driver - but - why no DCI items?

When I add DCI at the individual interface level - I can see the output in the Last Values window - but nowhere else.

Am I completely missing something - like a template?

I assumed that the driver gave me template like benefits - but am I incorrect?

If I am incorrect - are there no sample / example templates for switches and routers?

As I have added the DCI items on the interfaces - but cannot see them anywhere other than in last values - how can I display these under performance - etc..?

Persistence does not overcome ignorance  - four hours later I accept defeat.

OK - so I walk .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2 and I get two OID's for my two processors. .3 and .4

I can add each OID as a parameter individually and they return the CPU load for each one.
I can add a table and point it at .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2 and it loads the CPU load for each CPU into the table.

The above - although working - is completely useless to me - it just proves that close is not close enough

If I try and add .1.3.6.1.2.1.25.3.3.1.2.{instance}  then I get unsupported error. This is so it can be used on a template and be number of CPU's independent.

Though I would be happy with the outcome from the table if it gave me the AVG of the table - that gives me the device average CPU load -  I cannot seem to work out how to do that.

Why do I persist??

Once I have this working - I will have my first cut of an implementable default Windows template built as I have Memory and Drives already working. It is just this - soooo frustrating

https://wiki.netxms.org/wiki/Creating_SNMP_table_DCI did not help enough. It got me to columns but other than having the values in the columns - I could not give them the ID's of the CPU's.

My preference would be to have the CPU's listed using instance type of DCI - and to have a summary transformation somehow.

Although there was a Linux template previously included - it is not now.

As a site that is SNMP based, I have had to start from scratch was lucky to have been provided with the old Linux template which has helped greatly. A windows one would also help.

Even though agents provide more details, SNMP is very quick and easy - especially if you already use SNMP via an alternate product.

With the Linux template and my 1st cut Windows template - plus some containers based on some criteria -  I was able to add over 500 devices tonight without touching any of them.

I disable discovery and simply set add node via trap to yes - switched a CNAME over to my netxms - and let the existing product poll my devices - which then sent SNMP auth fail traps - which now go to netxms - which then auto added them and auto assigned the templates.

It is likely that I will look into netxms agents, but as it stands - I can get 99% of my existing SNMP based monitoring transitioned by using two SNMP templates.

Considering the front page of the netxms screen says that netxms includes the "basics" of CPU / disk / Memory - I genuinely was surprised these two templates did not exist.

I suggest that each template include the capability for custom override such as specific file systems / mounts being excluded and having different thresholds.

The benefit to any prospective person that has windows devices is that they can add / modify the snmp settings on their devices via group policy and once that is pushed out - however discovery happens - the SNMP template will work immediately without having to install the agents.

What am I doing wrong here? - the OR is not working in Automatic Bind Rules.
left($node->name,4) == "rawd" || left($node->name,4) == "rawq";

These on their own work. left($node->name,4) == "rawd"; and left($node->name,4) == "rawq";   but not when I add the OR (or what I thing is the OR).

my understanding is based on this:
https://www.netxms.org/documentation/adminguide/data-collection.html#instance

Can anyone point me in the direction of where any of this is in any doco?

As the Alarm Comment window is a window to the right of the main tabs in the left view, it would make sense for the Alarm Comments window to align with the alarm being viewed.

I have three comment windows that do not align with my alarm tabs, and when I scroll to a different alarm, the comment effectively is orphaned.

Would be simpler just to use Alarm Detail for detailed comments view / update and hover over the comment in Alarm tab to show current comments.

As it currently stands, you
find the mib from somewhere
put it in the mib folder
compile the mib
go into snmp trap configuration
find the trap based on the OID or trawl through the list, going own the tree which starts at the top
configure the trap
configure the paramters
configure event configuration
configure event processing policy
configure alarm.

What about:
Select MIB to load - selects from one of the 8600 publicly available that could be included in a mib library
It copies the mib to the mibs folder (this being the active mibs) and compiles it.
After ticking box for Open SNMP Trap Processor after loading" - opens trap processor.
List of traps from the MIB are in list view - multiple traps can be selected.
Tick box at top - create alarm from trap based on mib details - including severity.
Automatically loads the trap, its parameters, and severity, all the way through - for each of the multiple traps selected.

Drops the 20 minute process down to 20 seconds.

When we define a snmp trap for processing, we import the definition from the mib and make it look nice.

when I then look in the SNMP trap log - all I can see is the raw data. I don't know about anyone else, but I can only remember so many OID's - and that is already too many!!

Can we please include an extra column after the trap processor has parsed the trap with the view based on what the trap processor has formatted it as.

Or, for every trap where a mib is loaded, simple present the trap as per the format that the MIB has it - as per the Vendors intended view.

Either way, we get a more useful view within the trap log window.

Having added a few traps now, these things slow me down the most.

1. In the tree can we simply start at enterprises when selecting load. I am sick of typing .1.3.6.1.4.1 and 99.99% of traps we load will be from an enterprise mib.
Next - this one is very painful.
1. When we select a trap from the mib, can we have it auto populate the description from the MIB into the description for the trap.
2. Once we have selected that trap OID, can it automatically populate the Parameters from the MIB definition. Each Mib defines which parameters are included - so can we automate this?
3. Same for Parameter Mapping - auto load that from the Mib - the description and the parameter.

These seem to be  obvious omissions given the laborious nature of doing thes - especially since each mib defines, for the traps, what the parameters are that are passed.

In every display option whether it is Alarm Browser, Event Log, Event Details, the Message field is only one line. This is fine for exception alarms - but not for traps.

We have traps, for example, from CISCO UCS as well as APC powernet traps that are up to 20 lines long - one varbind per line.

Is there any way that we are able to display these events and alarms with each oid on a separate line?

It seemed like a simple idea. Replace existing clunky snmp based monitoring product with netxms. With all devices already setup for SNMP - no need for agent installs - just use templates.

Although the netxms preference clearly is for using local agent, has anybody gone down the path of using SNMP only for Linux and Windows devices for CPU / Disk / Memory monitoring - or is everybody using agents?

The reason for asking is that installing agents locally is not an option, so wanting to know now whether to progress with using netxms with SNMP or stop now.