interface_traffic
Monitor network interface traffic

The interface_traffic probe will query the configured hosts for SNMP data on every predefined interval. Network traffic data will be collected according to a user-setup. The probe may be configured to monitor the network interface (on a PC, UNIX system, router, switch etc.) and report whenever the traffic breaches a predefined threshold.
In addition to monitoring the interface traffic, the probe will monitor error packets, discarded packets, queue length and interface status. It will also report on "dead" lines (no traffic).
The interface_traffic probe is QoS (Quality of Service) enabled. This means that the traffic information recorded by the probe may be used with the Nimsoft SLA (Service Level Agreement) product line and the Nimsoft Alarm Console. A configuration tool (UI) is included in the package, and gives the administrator current interface status, as well as a simplified way of configuring the various profiles.


This probe requires Nimsoft Robot 3.00 or newer.

Note

SNMP v3 requires that your network community strings are at least 8 characters long.


Known Issue


Before configuring template on UMP, Please ensure that probe is deployed on the robot

This issue relates to profiles (devices) added to interface_traffic before v4.35:
A problem regarding automatic re-mapping of indexes after an index shift has been detected on devices that use ifName (from ifXTable) instead of ifDescr as interface name(s).
In order for the probe to operate properly (if an index shift occurs), a "Rediscover Interfaces"(available in the probe GUI) is needed to generate new checksums of interface names.

If ifDescr is not unique on the device and ifName contains only 1 character (i.e. "1") as the name for an interface, it could lead to false "interface index change" alarms.
Workaround: Set ifName on the affected interface(s) to a string with at least 2 characters, and then do a "Rediscover Interfaces" from the probe GUI.
Revision history
Date Description State Version
15.03.2017

Fixed Defect:

  • On a pure IPv6 environment, the probe did not accept the IP address in bulk configuration.

md5: 52b59fb7c257e221b6f82bf78c052496
Unsupported 5.46
17.10.2015 Fixed Defects:
1. The probe generated false alarms for the operational state of interface. Salesforce cases 70000904, 70000825
2. The probe used the default values instead of the specified timeout and retry values in a profile. Salesforce case 00168659
3. The probe incorrectly calculated the current percentage of interface errors when monitoring errors and discarded packets. A key, incerrdistototal, has been added in Raw Configuration to calculate this value correctly. Salesforce case 00159962
Note: For more information about this key, see the interface_traffic Troubleshooting article.
4. Updated information about probe behavior for bandwidth utilization. Support case number 323739

For Detailed Release Notes-Please refer
http://wiki.ca.com/rest/ca/product/latest/topic?hid=interface_traffic_RN&space=UIMPGA&language=&format=rendered

Note: Salesforce case(s) may not be viewable to all
5.45
28.07.2015 Fixed Defects:

1. Incorrect utilization was displayed for some interfaces. Salesforce Case 00152619
2. Probe crashed when editing virtual interfaces. Salesforce Case: 00162089
3. Incorrect alarm displayed for IndexShift in USM. Salesforce Case: 00161338

For Detailed Release Notes-Please refer
http://wiki.ca.com/rest/ca/product/latest/topic?hid=interface_traffic_RN&space=UIMPGA&language=&format=rendered

Note: Salesforce case(s) may not be viewable to all
5.44
20.04.2015 Fixed Defects:
The probe did not save multiple changes to an existing interface. (Salesforce Case: 00157651). Improved the formula to remove negative values of QoS/alarm. (Salesforce Case: 00145339) The probe was displaying the default name in the alarm message and not the updated one. (Salesforce Case: 00154506)
Starting with version 5.43, the probe supports pure IPv6. For Detailed Release Notes-Please refer
http://wiki.ca.com/rest/ca/product/latest/topic?hid=interface_traffic_RN&space=UIMPGA&language=&format=rendered
Note:Salesforce case(s) may not be viewable to all
5.43
14.01.2015 Fixed Defects:
1. Even after configuring the probe to use host address as the QoS identifier instead of profile, the actual metrics were generated using the profile name as the QoS identifier. (Salesforce Case: 00148492)
2. Incorrect percentage was calculated for the alarm messages (Salesforce Case: 00145415)
3. Enhanced the logsize upper limit to 2 GB. (Salesforce Case: 00150857)
For Detailed Release Notes-Please refer
https://wiki.ca.com/rest/ca/product/latest/topic?format=rendered&language=&space=UIMPGA&hid=interfacce_traffic_RN
Note:Salesforce case(s) may not be viewable to all
5.42
18.08.2014 Added a Use Alias check box on the Setup tab to provide an option of getting the interface description in the Name column and interface alias in the Description column on the probe GUI and getting interface description as QoS target in Nimsoft SLM database and USM view (like version 5.32) along with SNMP_v3 support. (Salesforce Case: 00129782)
For Detailed Release Notes-Please refer
http://docs.nimsoft.com/prodhelp/en_US/Probes/AdminConsole/interface_traffic/ReleaseNotes/index.htm
5.41
16.06.2014 Added a Use IfDescription for CI Name check box on the probe configuration Setup tab to avoid the issue of getting different entries in Nimsoft SLM and different graphs for the same interface. This issue was identified while upgrading from version 5.32 to version 5.33.
Fixed a defect were the clear alarm token is changed from #network.interface_traffic.in_octets_fail to #network.interface_traffic.in_octets_ok. (Salesforce Case: 00125910)

For Detailed Release Notes-Please refer
http://docs.nimsoft.com/prodhelp/en_US/Probes/AdminConsole/interface_traffic/ReleaseNotes/index.htm
5.40
25.09.2013 Fixed: An issue where $ifDescr is returning $ifName value. Fixed: Wrong interface_traffic into USM Fixed SNPV3 Authentication issue 5.33
17.07.2013 Added issue related Network devices show up twice for cisco_monitor and interface_traffic. Fixed: Major issue the alert for lower threshold value in traffic tab got disabled, for all the interfaces while upgrading. Fixed: RunTime Overflow Error "6". Fixed minor issues in SOC conguration. 5.32
29.03.2013 Fixed: A crash issue on Windows. Fixed: Issue in Negative value of interface traffic QOS data. Fixed: Issue in CheckDataIntegrity - message dropped; samplemax found in data comes while inserting QOS into database. 5.31
13.03.2013 Added a feature to specify default settings for interface name (with regexp functionality) and/or interface speed. Added a feature to add a profile even if SNMP query fails. Added a feature to configure extreme alarm messages and severity from GUI. Ability to add the interface name, description, or user defined name for QOS target and QOS source. Added probe defaults. Added a feature to send the clear alarm if the interface is removed from monitoring. Added a feature to check the interface speed periodically. Added a feature to break non-unicast packets to multicast and broadcast packets. Added a feature to add the single threadhold. Added a feature to send alarm only once if interafce is down or unavailable. Fixed: Network devices discover with the IP as the name instead of the Profile name. Fixed: $ifDescr is returning $ifName value. Fixed: Actions that are prevented are implied by an error dialog. Fixed: Issue in adding devices in bulk in interface_traffic probe 5.30
11.09.2012 Fixed the problem of highlighting Send alarm option(after unchecking Enable Monitoring) The newly added profile now has all the default settings. Fixed UMP configuration issues 5.23
28.08.2012 Fixed QOS Issue which was not shown enabled on GUI 5.22
05.07.2012 Added functionality to ignore alarms when interface op state is down/not present/lower layer down 5.21
16.06.2012 Fixed a defect "maxspeed(ifSpeed) cannot be determined" false alarm. Added a callback get_profile_status which accepts regular expressions in profile name and returns information of all the active profiles matched and it's interfaces. Added support to AIX for 64 bit. Fixed "Temporarily out of resources" issue in get_system_info callback. Added functionality to ignore operational state alarms when admin state of an interface is not as expected. Removed autocold start of probe after 1 week in Unix like OS. GUI fix: QoS Settings for Interface Traffic are not saved when Publish QoS is not active. GUI fix: Cannot clear Low or High Threshold values on traffic tab. 5.20
27.03.2012 GUI fix: Added a functionality to remove the inactive interfaces from the list.
Number of interfaces are now showing the actual number of interfaces displayed in the list of a particular host.
The help button will now display online help instead of CHM
5.11
16.03.2012 GUI fix: Added a functionality to save Alarm / QoS settings for inactive interfaces. Added interfaces multi-edit functionality on right click. Added the functionality to apply the default settings when they are saved using "Set Default" button in the interface definition dialog box. 5.10
30.12.2011 Implementation of IPv6 Compatibility.
Snmp query related bugs fixes.
Updated libraries.
5.01
18.10.2011 Implementation for IPv6 Compatibility.
Snmp query related bugs fixed.
5.00
12.04.2011 Fixed "No traffic" threshold.
(The "No traffic" threshold was in previous versions erroneously compared to the "% of max speed" value, if other traffic alarms were specified in "% of max speed")
4.95
21.03.2011 Fixes for Service oriented Configuration (SOC). 4.94
21.01.2011 Added fixes for web-based Service Oriented Configuration
4.93
05.01.2011 Fixed get_samples callback (The issue was that GUI was not able to fetch samples from probe on 64-bit UNIX Robots).
4.92
29.12.2010 Added support for handling of extreme values in Error and Discarded Packets section.
Fixed minor bugs in the probe GUI.
4.91
09.12.2010 Added new feature for handling of extreme values in Traffic and Processed Packets section. Added fix to make "does not exist in the MIB" alarm message configurable. Added support to specify the traffic limit required to trigger "No Traffic" alarm.
Added support to monitor (Alarm and QoS) Error packets and Discarded packets as percentage (%) of total processed packets.
Added fix to allow one threshold value (both thresholds not mandatory now) in Traffic section.
Added support for a callback to get total number of active and inactive interfaces..
Added support for all known interface operational status (total 7 as per IF-MIB).
Added code to remove white space from all sections.
Added fix in alarm threshold field to show the correct value.
Added fix to avoid reloading of host profiles in the tree on expanding the group.
Added fix to uncheck 'alarm when no traffic is detected' checkbox on unchecking 'Enable Monitoring' checkbox of 'Traffic' tab.
Added fix to set interface speed after every interval of timer.
Added support for SNMP V2 and V3 credential details to perform bulk discovery.
Added option in bulk configuration window to remap interfaces after an index shift.
Added code to allow decimal numbers in threshold fields of 'Traffic' tab.
Added a checkbox 'Send QoS in Kbps' in Setup tab.
Added button in toolbar to execute interface status callback.
4.90
01.11.2010 Added support for internationalization.
Added support for reading alarm tokens from cfg.
Increased SNMPWalk limitation from 300 to 3000 entries (added key /setup/max_oids in config file).
Support for Web based Service Oriented Configuration (SOC).
4.80
30.06.2010 Fixed occasional crash situation. 4.70
29.01.2010 Fixed probe restart when monitoring number of interfaces.
Fixed potential probe restart situation.
4.64
21.01.2010 Fixed memory leak. (Introduced in version 4.60)
Fixed probe restart when the profile has no active interfaces configured and probe tries to send clear alarm.
4.62
30.12.2009 Added support for extended NIS database information. 4.60
14.07.2009 Always send QoS of interface traffic as Bytes/second in addition to kbit/second. This is due to other Nimsoft components requiring the Bytes/second dataseries.
You may disable the above functionality (if you know that Bytes/sec is not needed) by adding the following configuration key using Raw Configure: /setup/only_kbits = 1.
4.52
16.06.2009 Fix potential program failure when using "Monitor" interface. 4.51
29.04.2009 Added Alarm/QoS options on interface administrative status. Added option of sending QoS messages on interface traffic in kbit/sec. Fixed use of alarm severity other than 'major' on "Processed Packets" alarms. Added support for x64 Windows platform. Added support for 64bit platforms on SOLARIS, LINUX. Added support for LINUX on 64bit PowerPC (glibc = 2.3). Discountinued support for Solaris 2.5, 2.6 and 7. 4.40
03.04.2009 Added support for "Virtual Interfaces". 4.50
14.11.2008 Changed interface checksums to MD5.
Added utility "Generate Checksums" (update checksums on multiple profiles).
4.36
21.05.2008 Fixed "No Traffic" alarm when ifSpeed is unknown.
Added alarm when ifSpeed is unknown and probe is configured to alarm on Traffic in % of ifSpeed
Fixed remapping of interfaces where ifName is used instead of ifDescr.
4.35
02.04.2008 Fixed 'Rediscover Interfaces' and 'Query Agent' for SNMPv3 AuthPriv agents.
Fixed fetching of operstate on inactive (in probe config) interfaces for SNMPv3 AuthPriv agents.
Fixed 'Monitor' window for SNMPv3 AuthPriv agents. Added logging of thread id's.
4.34
05.03.2008 Added critical sections around SNMPQueryCreate if SNMPv3
Added terminating -1 to SNMPQueryCreate.
Added platforms (missing in v4.30) LINUX and SOLARIS 8,9,10 (sparc).
Added support for privacy (SNMPv3).
Added SNMPv3 support in "bulk-configure".
Added SNMPv3 support in "add-range".
Fixed saving of default interface definitions.
Updated libraries.
4.32
30.10.2007 Fixed saving of Defaults.
Updated libraries.
4.25
10.09.2007 Fix: Do not save alarm and QoS settings of inactive interfaces (when inactive interfaces are set to be saved) Fixed fetching of operstate on inactive interfaces when using SNMPv3. 4.23
07.09.2007 Fixed fetching of High Performance counters when using SNMPv1 (bug introduced in version 4.20)
Added support for SNMPv2c and SNMPv3.
Added retries setting for SNMP Get requests.
Added timeout setting for SNMP Get requests.
Fixed community string issue when longer than 20 characters.
Improved Message Pool Manager to handle SubsystemIds.
Added possibility to send Traffic QoS messages as % of max interface speed.
Added possibility to send Packet QoS messages as total packets counted.
Added possibility to set default interface settings per interface type.
Added possibility to override outbound and inbound speeds.
Added possibility to hide community strings from GUI.
Added NoTraffic on 'Any interface' alarm option.
Rediscover/Merge has been enhanced with UI feedback when interfaces has different names than configured.
Fixed samplemax on Traffic QoS messages when no traffic was detected on interface.
Fixed bulk-configurator.
Fixed alarm not being sent when configured to alarm in UP state.
Fixed dashboard filter settings.
Dashboard discovery template enhanced to use 'friendly' names of devices and interfaces.
4.22
10.03.2006 Fixed update problems with the uptime variable in 'get_samples' command. Fixed default interface settings to keep the 'unit' variable. Added $group as a variable to be used in the message pool. Added support for a user defined text per interface ($user1). 4.12
20.05.2005 Added NULL QoS values for traffic metrics when interface was reported 'down'. Added support for more operational states. Fixed problem when configuring probe through a NimBUS tunnel. 4.02
Requirements
Platform: Please refer to the Platform Support Matrix located in the Download section of http://support.nimsoft.com
Software: The target SNMP agent must support the MIB-II ifTable.
Requires Nimsoft Robot 3.00 or newer.
Hardware: None