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Adding WAN Link For Monitoring

Overview​

In order to monitor WAN Link statistics, you will need to add a supported network device to Motadata ObserveOps (formerly known as AIOps). Motadata ObserveOps supports WAN Link monitoring for Cisco IP SLA devices as well as Juniper RPM (Real-Time Performance Monitoring) devices. This guide will walk you through the entire process of adding and enabling a supported device to Motadata ObserveOps.

At a high level, this process includes creating a credential profile and adding the WAN Link from its corresponding provisioned monitor. Once the WAN Link has been added, you can then start monitoring it and receive all the network insights.

This will enable Motadata ObserveOps to continuously monitor the resources and generate alerts and insights based on their performance metrics. You can also customize the Monitor Settings for each monitor, such as the polling interval, threshold values, and alert notifications.

Prerequisites​

SNMP Protocol​

  1. Ensure the device you are adding has the IP SLA capabilities.
  2. Ensure Port 161 is enabled for the device you wish to monitor.
  3. Ensure you have the Write Community and Read Community string before creating a credential profile for WAN Link.

SSH Protocol​

  1. Ensure SSH is enabled on the network device you want to monitor.
  2. Ensure Port 22 is open and accessible from the ObserveOps server.
  3. Ensure you have the Username and Password or the SSH Key or the Passphrase, for the device before creating a credential profile.

Let us now look into the process to add a WAN Link device for monitoring.

Adding a Cisco IP SLA Device​

1. Create a Credential Profile​

We will start by creating a credential profile for the device we are trying to add.

Go to Menu. Select Settings . After that, Go to Discovery Settings and select Credential Profile. The credential profile screen is displayed. Select Create Credential Profile to create a new credential profile.

A pop-up for entering the credential profile details is displayed.

Credential Profile Parameters​

Creating an SNMP Credential Profile​

Enter the required details in the pop-up as follows:

FieldDescription
Credential Profile NameProvide a unique Credential Profile Name. This name is used to identify a credential profile.
Protocol

Select SNMP V1/V2c or SNMP V3 as Protocol from the drop-down based on the configuration of your device.The option to provide the credential details is then displayed based on the protocol selected.

- In case you select SNMP V1/V2C, enter the credential details including the SNMP Version, Read Community string, and Write Community string.

- In case you select SNMP V3, enter the credential details including Security User Name and Security Level.

note

If the Write Community field is blank, the IP SLA operation will fail.

Select Test to check if the credential details you provided are working against the device you want to discover by providing the details of the device IP.

Select Reset to erase all the current field values entered in the pop-up, if required.

Select Create Credential Profile to create the credential profile in the system. The credential profile is now created.

You can view the newly created profile in the credential profile screen by using the Search option available above the list of profiles.

Creating an SSH Credential Profile​

If you plan to monitor WAN Link using the SSH protocol, you will need to create a separate credential profile with SSH as the protocol. Follow the same navigation steps above to open the Create Credential Profile pop-up, then enter the required details as follows:

FieldDescription
Credential Profile NameProvide a unique Credential Profile Name. This name is used to identify a credential profile.
ProtocolSelect SSH as the Protocol from the drop-down. The fields for SSH credentials are then displayed.
Username and PasswordEnter the Username and Password for the network device you want to monitor.
SSH Key and PassphraseEnter the SSH Key and Passphrase if you want to authenticate using key-based access instead of a password.
Cli optionsSelect this checkbox to configure CLI-level access settings. The following fields are then displayed:

- Config Transfer Protocol — Select the protocol used to transfer configuration files from the drop-down.

- Enable User Name — Enter the username required to enter enable mode on the device.

- Enable Password — Enter the password associated with the enable mode user.

- Enable Command — Enter the command used to enter enable mode (for example, enable).

- Enable Prompt — Enter the prompt string displayed by the device when it enters enable mode.

- Config Mode Command — Enter the command used to enter configuration mode on the device.

- Config Password — Enter the password required to enter configuration mode, if applicable.

- VRF Name — Enter the VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding) name associated with the device, if applicable.

Use Reset to clear all inputs, Test to validate the credentials against the device, and Add Credential Profile to save the profile.

After creating the credential profile, you will need to add the WAN Link to start monitoring it. Do note, the WAN Link you wish to monitor must be linked to an existing monitor. You will not be able to add a WAN Link that is not associated with an existing monitor.

Go to Menu. Select Monitors. After that, select the Network option. Then, select the monitor from which you wish to monitor the WAN Link. Finally, click on the WAN Link button in the top right hand side corner.

A new screen to Add WAN Link will be displayed. The SNMP protocol is selected by default. Selecting it monitors WAN link performance by collecting key metrics through SNMP, offering insights into network behavior. If you want to monitor WAN link health by capturing performance data via SSH, providing visibility into network operations, you can select the SSH protocol.

The Single WAN Link Configuration is selected by default.

Now, let us look into the setup of both Single WAN Link Configuration and Bulk WAN Link Configuration.

Enter the required details in the screen as follows:

FieldDescription
Credential ProfileSelect an already created Credential Profile to assign it to the discovery profile. You can also create a new credential profile from this screen using the Create Credential Profile button. In this case, we will select the credential profile we created in the 1st step while creating a credential profile.
WAN Probe

Select the Probe type using the drop-down. Every Probe type provides different insights and statistics of WAN link. Choose one according to your requirements:

ICMP Echo: The ICMP Echo operation measures end-to-end response time between a Cisco router and any devices using IP. Response time is computed by measuring the time taken between sending an ICMP Echo request message to the destination and receiving an ICMP Echo reply.

ICMP Jitter: ICMP Jitter uses two ICMP time stamp messages, an ICMP Timestamp Request and an ICMP Timestamp Reply, to provide jitter, packet loss, Round Trip Time (RTT), and latency. IP SLAs utilizes the time stamps to calculate jitter for each direction, based on the difference between arrival and departure delay for two successive packets.

ICMP Path Echo: ICMP Path Echo monitors end-to-end as well as hop-by-hop response time between source and destination routers. ICMP Path Echo operation determines the hop-by-hop response time using the Traceroute facility. The results of the ICMP Path Echo operation can be analyzed to determine how ICMP is performing.

Internet Service ProviderEnter the name of destination Internet Service Provider. This will help in bifurcation of WAN Links coming from same source.
Source InterfaceChoose the specific interface of the device for the originating link. If none is chosen, by default, Motadata ObserveOps will select the default IP which can generate unwanted results if your device has 2 or more interfaces.
Source Router LocationYou can enter the city, office location, or any other geo-location related information that will help you identify the router location. The location will be displayed on the monitor screen which will help you quickly identify where the device is situated.
Destination IPEnter the IP address for the destination device.
Destination Router LocationSpecify the location of the destination device.
PayloadDefine the size of ping packet that will be exchanged between the source and destination devices.
Type of ServiceType of Service value defines the type of IP SLA operation you wish to perform. The default value for ICMP operations is 30.
FrequencyDefine the time interval (in milliseconds) between two consecutive pings between source and destination device.
TimeoutSpecify the time interval Motadata ObserveOps will wait after a failed ping to assume the destination is in the down state.
We have created a credential profile in the 1st step. After that, we have added the WAN Link parameters in the 2nd step using a credential profile. After selecting, **Add WAN Link**, we have initiated a discovery run which leads us to our next step, which is, Provision the Discovered Devices as Monitors.

After initiating the adding of WAN Links, ObserveOps starts the process to look for all availaible WAN Links.

Once the discovery execution is complete, the list of all the links discovered is displayed. Select the devices that you want to be listed as Monitors in the system.

Click on Add Selected Objects to add the selected links as Monitors. These WAN links listed as Monitors will now be monitored further by ObserveOps.

These devices can be viewed under the Monitor tab from the Main Menu. Select the Monitor tab from the main menu. After that, Select WAN Link to view all the monitors that are added to the system.