Managed device identification

Each message in the system is associated with a unique device identifier, typically the IP address of the device, but potentially some other keyword such as the unique device name or label for the device. The device identifier for each device is found on the Messages > Catalogs > Devices screen.

By default, the Device Identifier is the IPv4 address of the device that sent the message, that appears on the Messages > Catalogs > Devices screen of the system and appears as part of all message screens. This identifier or address is always a hyperlink can be clicked to display the Device Information screen, described as follows, that allows the operator to inspect (or provide) data associated with the device, including optional name, description, associated URL, and settings.

In some cases (such as in a DHCP environment, or when using IPv6 addresses) you might want to substitute the IP address for some other value, such as the hostname, using Address Overrides. In this case, you must first modify the behavior of BMC Defender Server by setting the value of Require Standard IP Addresses (on the Messages > Config > Parms screen) to be No (that disables error checking of IP addresses during message reception.) You can then override the message address with some other value.

More information on this function is available in this section. (See Auto-Overriding Device Names discussion, provided elsewhere in this section.) This function is likely required for any BMC Defender Server implementation that uses DHCP and is also useful at sites that want to eliminate or substitute certain IP address references with more user-friendly labels.

Device Information Screen

Since one of the most useful things to know about a message is the nature of the device that sent the message, the BMC Defender Server provides a Device Information function, that is accessed by clicking on an IP address hyperlink throughout the system. The Device Information screen provides various fields, including the following: 

• IP address—This is the IP address of the device, identical to that displayed on the calling screen. In some situations this can also be a device name, depending upon the setting of the Require IPv4 Addresses switch (on the Messages > Config > Parms screen) 

• DNS device name—This is the official Domain Name Server name for the device, acquired via a DNS lookup. If the device does not have a domain name, the value is None. 

  If DNS services are slow, or the device does not have a registered name, the access time of the screen can be degraded.

• Ping response time—This is the time for the ping packet to make its round trip between the device and BMC Defender Server platform. The time is useful in determining the general response time of the target device and network. The value is available only if the device is accessible via a standard ping. 

• Associated URLs and extra tabs—The administrator can configure miscellaneous URLs, and also extend the tabs associated with the device so that the operator can conveniently click down on information that might be related to the device. 

  The administrator can configure an optional and arbitrary URL to the device that might reference the web interface of the device, a lower-level BMC Defender Server (when operating in a multi-tier operation) or any other URL that is associated with the device.
  

DN Helper Program

The DNS Device Name is displayed beneath the IP address (that is device identifier hyperlink) wherever that value appears on the system. To add a DNS device Name, you provide a value on the Device Information screen as described.

On large systems, with many devices, you might spend a lot of time drilling down into devices and providing a DNS name for each device. To facilitate this activityBMC Defender Server includes the DNHelper.exe program in the BMC Defender Server\system directory. This program, when executed, automatically fetches the Domain Name for each device and applies this value to the system.

The DNHelper.exe program can be executed at a command prompt or can be executed at scheduled intervals (via the System > Scheduler screen, discussed elsewhere.) The DNHelper.exe program requires a single argument as follows:

• DNHelper.exe –merge—When executed with the -merge option, the DNHelper.exe program updates any IP Address with the DNS name for the device, providing that the device does not already have a name. (If the device already has a configured name, the existing name is not modified.) 

• DNHelper.exe –replace—When executed with the -replace option, the DNSHelper.exe program updates all IP addresses with the DNS name for the device, regardless of whether the device has already been assigned a name. This option replaces all DNS names with their current value, as needed.

Therefore, on systems with many thousands of devices, execution of the DNHelper.exe program might take several hours to execute. If the DNHelper.exe program is configured for periodic execution on the System > Scheduler screen, the administrator might want to execute this program no more than once each day at midnight (by setting the Daily execution mode for the program.)

SNMP Device Information

Additionally, if you have installed the BMC Defender Server/net-snmp tools, the Device Information screen attempts to perform several SNMP queries of the device. The read community used for this is configured in the Messages > Configure > Parms screen (along with the location of the net-snmp tools on the system.) The read community must be configured and net-snmp tools installed in order to see the following additional fields on the Device Information screen:

• SNMP description—This is the authoritative description for the device acquired from the SNMP agent. Specifically, it is the value of the sysDescr.0 SNMP MIB object. 

• SNMP up time—This is the up time of the device acquired from the SNMP agent. (It is actually the uptime of the SNMP agent itself, but can generally be taken to be the uptime of the device that started the agent on boot up.) Specifically, it is the value of the sysUpTime.0 SNMP MIB object. The field value is displayed in Timeticks (100^th second intervals) and also in hh:mm:ss:hh format, that is hours, minutes, seconds, and hundredths of a second. 

• SNMP contact—This is the system contact of the device acquired from the SNMP agent sysContact.0 MIB object value. This value is usually configured by the device administrator and might be blank or erroneous, depending upon the diligence of the network admin to configure proper values. 

• SNMP location—This is the system location of the device acquired from the SNMP agent sysLocation.0 MIB object value. As before, the value is usually configured by the device administrator and might be blank or erroneous. 

To refresh the screen with the latest information, you click on the navigation tab for the screen, that acquires new data.

If the enterprise is not using SNMP, the value of the read community can be set to none, or the location of the net-snmp software removed from the system. This cannot affect other functions and eliminates the SNMP values from this screen.