Quick start

In this section will describe basic configuration to be performed after server and agent clean install. Configuration for monitoring some common metrics like CPU usage of file system free space will also be shown.

Default Credentials

Server login default credentials

Login: admin

Password: netxms

Basic agent configuration

Minimal configuration that should be set for agent is server address and path to log file. Action differ depending on a platform where agent is installed. On Windows systems configuration file is automatically generated and populated by installer, on UNIX systems it should be created/edited manually.

See below for editing agent configuration file on Windows and UNIX/Linux platforms.

Windows

In case if while installation MasterServer was set correctly no action is required from user.

Automatically generated configuration file can be found there: installation directory\etc\nxagentd.conf (by default C:\NetXMS\etc\nxagentd.conf.)

Configuration file for Windows should look like this:

#
# Sample agent’s configuration file
#
MasterServers = 127.0.0.1
LogFile = {syslog}

UNIX/Linux

After agent is installed on a UNIX/Linux system it is required to create/edit file /etc/nxagentd.conf. This file should contain at least this information:

#
# Sample agent’s configuration file
#
MasterServers = 127.0.0.1
LogFile = /var/log/nxagentd

Basic server tuning

Server has two types of configuration: configuration file parameters and server configuration variables.

For server configuration file minimal requirements are path to log file, database driver name and all required credentials depending on database. Location and required actions depends on what OS is used. More about OS specific configuration search in OS subsections of this chapter.

List of possible database drivers:

  • mssql Driver for Microsoft SQL database.

  • mysql Driver for MySQL database.

  • odbc ODBC connectivity driver (you can connect to MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL, and Oracle via ODBC).

  • oracle Driver for Oracle database.

  • pgsql Driver for PostgreSQL database.

  • sqlite Driver for embedded SQLite database.

See below for editing server configuration file on Windows and UNIX/Linux platforms.

Windows

For Windows systems this information is added to configuration file while installation procedure. It can be check that all data was set correctly in this file: 'installation directory'\etc\netxmsd.conf (by default C:\NetXMS\etc\netxmsd.conf.)

Example of sample Windows configuration for mysql:

#
# Sample server configuration file
#

DBDriver = mysql.ddr
DBServer = localhost
DBName = netxms_db
DBLogin = netxms
DBPassword = password
LogFile = {syslog}

UNIX/Linux

For UNIX based systems /etc/netxmsd.conf file should be created/populated manually.

Configuration file example for oracle database:

DBDriver = oracle.ddr
DBServer = ServerIP/Hostname.DomainName #Here is service (full database name), not SID
DBName = netxms
DBLogin = netxms
DBPassword = PaSwD
LogFile = /var/log/netxmsd

Server configuration variables

There are quite a few important server parameters to be set right after installation. These parameters are accessible through the Server Configuration window in the management client. To open it, click on Configuration ‣ Server Configuration. To edit a setting, double click on the row in the table or right-click and select Edit. The following parameters may need to be changed:

Parameter

Description

ThreadPool.Poller.MaxSize

This parameter represents maximum thread pool size. This pool provides threads for all types of polls: Status poll, Configuration poll, etc. In case of big load on a server number of threads will be increased up to this size. When load come back to normal, number of threads will be automatically decreased down to base size. If you plan to monitor large number of hosts, increase this parameter from the default value to approximately 1/5 of host count.

ThreadPool.Poller.BaseSize

This parameter represents base thread pool size. This is minimum number of threads that will always run. If you plan to monitor large number of hosts increase this parameter from the default value to approximately 1/10 of host count.

ThreadPool.DataCollector.MaxSize

Maximum number of threads that perform data collection. If you plan to monitor large number of hosts, increase this number to approximately 1/5 of host count. Use larger value if you plan to gather many DCIs from each host.

ThreadPool.DataCollector.BaseSize

Minimum number of data collection threads what will always run. For large number of hosts increase to approximately 1/10 of host count.

Syslog.EnableListener

Set this parameter to True if you want to enable NetXMS built-in syslog server.

Notification channels

Various ways how to send notifications - email, messengers, SMS, etc are configured via Notification Channels. This allows to create actions that will send notification on defined events.

Notification channels are configured on Configuration ‣ Notification Channels. Each channel has textual configuration, e.g. for SNMP driver configuration may look like this:

Server=smtp.example.com
FromAddr=[email protected]
FromName=NetXMS Server
IsHTML=no
TLSmode=TLS
Login=smtp-username
Password=password

Information about notification channel configuration parameters is available here: Notification channels.

Actions and Alarms

In this section we will configure alarm automatic creation and termination and message sending via a notification channel on predefined SYS_THRESHOLD_REACHED and SYS_THRESHOLD_REARMED events.

Given that a notification channel is configured, we can create an action in Configuration ‣ Actions. Recipient address is specified in action’s properties, it’s possible to set several recipients separated by semicolon (;). Subject and message fields support Macros for Event Processing - in below example when message will be sent, macros “%n” will be substituted with name of the node and “%m” will be substituted with event message. Value of event message is specific for each event and can be found in event template (Configuration ‣ Event Templates).

_images/action_send_notification.png

Next step is to configure event processing policies. It is done in Configuration ‣ Event Processing Policy. A number of rules is included out-of-the-box, including rules that react to SYS_THRESHOLD_REACHED and SYS_THRESHOLD_REARMED events. In these rules we will add email sending action that we have configured above.

Alarm created by the rule for SYS_THRESHOLD_REACHED has a key which is composed from “SYS_THRESHOLD_REACHED_” text, id of DCI and ID of node. This allows to resolve or terminate alarms automatically - for example rule for SYS_THRESHOLD_REARMED automatically terminates alarm using the key.

After all configuration is done Event Processing Policy should be saved.

_images/quickstart_epp.png

SNMP Defaults

If you have a number of SNMP devices with same credentials on your network, you can configure default community strings and authorization credentials. This information is set in Configuration -> Network Credentials.

When performing configuration poll, provided commynity strings, USM credentials and network ports will be tried sequentially until a combination that allows comminication with a device is found.

Passive discovery

It is recommended to enable passive discovery when it is required to add all nodes in local network. In case if NetXMS server has access to switches and routers via SNMP, all devices in network will be added automatically by discovery process.

To enable passive network discovery open Configuration –> Network Discovery. There in General section select Passive only option. Network discovery will be using default SNMP credentials that were discussed above in SNMP Defaults section. Other options that can be set depending on requirements:

  • Option to use SNMP trap source for further network discovery

  • Option to set filer that will define rules for not adding nodes to NetXMS server

In our configuration we will not use filter to add all node available on our network and turn on option to use SNMP trap source address for discovery. After all configuration is done remember to save it.

Notes

If you have enabled automatic network discovery, wait for initial network discovery completion. This process can take time, depending on size and complexity of your network. For large networks, we recommend that you let NetXMS run over night to gather the majority of network information available. Once devices are discovered, they appear under appropriate subnets in the Network perspective.

Please note that for successful network discovery your network must meet the following requirements:

  • NetXMS server must have access to switches and routers via SNMP.

  • All your network devices credentials (community string and credentials for SNMP v3) should be added to default credential list in Network Credentials.

Manually add node

If the automatic network discovery does not detect all of your hosts or devices, or you decide not to use network discovery at all, you may need to manually add monitored nodes to the system. The easiest way to accomplish this is to right-click on Infrastructure Services in the Infrastructure perspective and select Create node. You will be presented with the following dialog window:

_images/create_node.png

Create Node window

Please note that adding a new node object may take some time, especially if a node is down or behind a firewall. After successful creation, a new node object will be placed into appropriate subnets automatically. As soon as you add a new node to the system, NetXMS server will start regular polling to determine the node status.

Data Collection items

In this section we will add data collection items (DCIs) for CPU usage monitoring and interface incoming traffic via NetXMS agent or SNMP. Threshold configuration for these DCIs will be shown. This threshold will generate SYS_THRESHOLD_REACHED event when defined condition is met and SYS_THRESHOLD_REARMED when collected data value returns to normal.

Earlier we already described how to configure notification sending and alarm generation and termination based on events. This chapter describes data collection and event generation based on collected data.

To add DCI for a node select the node, open Data Collection tab and click + button on the toolbar.

CPU usage

Add CPU usage metric from agent metrics:

  1. Check that as origin is selected NetXMS Agent.

  2. Click on Select button - list of available agent metrics will open. Note: this list is populated on configuration poll.

  3. Type in the input box “CPU”

_images/quickstart_search_cpu.png

Metric Selection

_images/quickstart_general_cpu.png

Properties

  1. Select System.CPU.Usage

  2. Go to Threshold tab

  3. Click Add

  4. Set that if last one polled value is gather than 85, then generate SYS_THRESHOLD_REACHED event, when value is back to normal generate SYS_THRESHOLD_REARMED event.

_images/quickstart_threashold_cpu.png

Threshold

  1. Click OK

Add CPU usage metric from SNMP metrics:

  1. Check that as origin is selected NetXMS Agent.

  2. Click on Select button

  3. Type in the input box “.1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.109.1.1.1.1.4” (this OID can may be not available for some devices)

  4. Click Walk

_images/quickstart_walk_result_dci.png

Mib Walk Result

  1. Select CPU that should be monitored in our case it is “.1.3.6.1.4.1.9.9.109.1.1.1.1.4.1”

_images/quickstart_walk_dci.png

Select Window For SNMP DCI

  1. Click OK

_images/quickstart_general_trafic.png

Properties

  1. Go to Threshold tab

  2. Click Add

  3. Set that if last one polled value is gather than 85, then generate SYS_THRESHOLD_REACHED event, when value is back to normal generate SYS_THRESHOLD_REARMED event.

_images/quickstart_threashold_cpu.png

Threshold

  1. Click OK

Now you configured data collection of metric for CPU usage that will be collected every 60 seconds, data will be stored for 30 days, with 1 threshold that will be activated when CPU usage is mote than 85%.

Interface traffic

There is shortcut to create all required DCIs for interface traffic for nodes where you have either NetXMS agent or SNMP. Select interfaces for which should be created traffic collection DCIs and select Create data collection items from context menu. Select checkboxes for the metrics that you need - DCIs will be created automatically.

_images/quickstart_create_trafic_dci.png