Creating a device from the administrator console

Before you add devices, have the following information available:

• A list of devices (by type) to add 
• DNS names, if you want to add devices by name 
• IP addresses, if you want to add devices by their IP address 
• For servers, a list of applications running on each server and a checklist of applications that you want to monitor 

• For adding SNMP devices, a list of MIBs and community strings for each device. Infrastructure Management Server uses the community string as a password for MIB access. If you do not enter a community string, the default community string, public, is used.

To create a device

1. In the administrator console, select the Devices folder, right-click, and select Add> Device.
2. In the Add Device window, enter the required information in the Configuration tab.

   • Device Type—Select a device type from the list.

     Note

     Ensure that you select the correct device type. It is used by Probable Cause Analysis algorithm to determine correlations between events and abnormalities within the system. If the device type is not accurate, it alters Probable Cause Analysis behavior. Example, if a computer is a Web Server, set Device Type as WebServer (not Server).

   • Device Name—Specify the name of the device. If the device name is a DNS name, then the device name is filled in automatically if it has not already been set. This might take a few moments.

     Note

     Ensure that you do not use any special characters, such as / (forward slash), in the device name. If the device name includes special characters, then you cannot see the monitors for the device when you click the device name in the Grid view of the Operator console.

   • DNS Name / IP Address—Specify the IP address of the device. The address 127.0.0.1 is the loop back address for any computer and should not be added to the Device List. If the device IP address has a DNS name, then the device name is filled in automatically if it has not already been set.
   • Tag—Select a descriptive tag appropriate for the device that you are creating. Click the + button  to display the Enter Tag Details dialog box, where you can select the Tag Class as None, Location, Building, Department, or Owner, and enter a Tag Value. For example, if the device that you are creating is located in a particular city, you would select Location as the Tag Class and then specify the city where the device is located as the Tag Value. Click Add to enter the values that you specify, and then click Finish to return to the Add Device dialog box.
   • Aliases—Add one or more aliases to the device that you are creating. Use device aliases to associate events to the device, so that remote actions can be performed on those associated events. For details about remote actions, see Configuring remote actions.

   • Secondary IPs—View any secondary IP addresses associated with the device that you are creating, if that device has multiple IP addresses. The first IP address that is associated with the Device Name that you specify is used as the primary IP address. Any additional IP addresses are used as secondary IP addresses. If no secondary IP addresses exist, then N.A is displayed in this field. To view all secondary IP addresses, click the ...(ellipses) button.

     Note

     Only devices that have been synchronized with the BMC Atrium CMDB display secondary IP addresses. Manually created devices do not display secondary IP addresses even if multiple IP addresses exist for that device.

   • Device Description—Enter a description for the device that you are creating.
3. Select the Control tab to edit the control attributes.
   
   Information in the Control tab tells the Infrastructure Management Server about the data collection and polling frequencies for the device. You can accept the defaults or change them as required.
   • SNMP Data Collection—Select this option to enable Infrastructure Management Server to collect data for the entire device. If this option is not selected, data collection for the device stops (or for new devices, never starts). This flag lets you set up monitors for devices that might not yet be online. Or, you can conduct maintenance on existing devices without generating events.
   • SNMP Read Community String—The community string acts as a password for Infrastructure Management Server access to the device MIB. To change this entry, you must have prior knowledge of how this device is set up. For example, if this device is set up with the community string snmpget, then enter snmpget.
   • SNMP Retries—Specifies how many times (count) Infrastructure Management Server must request data from the device before reporting an event. The default value is two retries.
   • SNMP Timeout—Specifies the duration (seconds) Infrastructure Management Server must wait for data from the device before reporting an event. The default value is two seconds.
   • SNMP Use V2—Select this option if the device is using version 2 of the protocol.
4. Select the Group tab and enter the required information.
   
   This tab enables you to add a device and its monitors to one or more groups. Optionally, you might associate the device with a group. A group is used to logically organize devices and monitors by department, geographic area, or service. Assigning a device to a group also enables the system administrator to restrict or allow access to certain devices by group. If you want the device to be associated with a group, select the group name here.
5. Select the Remote Actionstab and enter the required information.
   • Protocol Types—Select a protocol type from the list. The supported protocols are psExec, ssh (Secure Shell), and telnet.
   • PortNo—Default port number of the selected protocol type is displayed.
   • Remote User Name—Enter the remote user name. This is mandatory for all protocol types.

   • Remote User Password—Enter the remote user password. Mandatory for psExec, ssh, and telnet protocol types. Confirm the remote user password.

     Note

     You should enter a complete remote system prompt while using telnet protocols. For example, if the remote system prompt is [root@kadamba root]#, then you should enter the entire system prompt in the remote system prompt field. You should not use a partial system prompt, for example, # instead of [root@kadamba root]#, which might prevent the system from logging into the remote device. The maximum number of characters supported for a remote system prompt is 512 characters.

     For detailed information about Remote Actions, see Configuring remote actions.

6. Select the Baseline tab.
   
   By default, no device is selected when you access the Baseline tab. When you select a device to copy baseline values from, then for all monitors being added to the new device, a corresponding monitor is searched on the selected device. If matching monitors are present, then all baseline values (hourly and weekly) are copied from the existing monitor to the new monitor instances being created.
7. Click Finish to save your actions and run all remaining actions (using defaults).
   
   A summary screen is displayed. Click Finish to close the summary screen.