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  • By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic - for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components - to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set the DATA OVER TCP flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

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      Agents Administration - Tests
     

    Default Parameters for HostProcessTest

    The HostProcessTest monitors the processes executing on servers that support the Host Resources MIB, and reports the resource usage of specific processes. This page depicts the default parameters that need to be configured for the HostProcessTest.

    • The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed. 

    • In the SNMPPORT text box specify the port used to poll for SNMP statistics (default 161) . 

    • By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPVERSION list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

    • The community string of the target host has to be provided in the SNMPCOMMUNITY text box. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVERSION chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

    • The USERNAME parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges - in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to the MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against the USERNAME parameter.

    • The CONTEXT parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the USERNAME provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the USERNAME in the CONTEXT text box. By default, this parameter is set to none.

    • Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned USERNAME in the AUTHPASS text box. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPVERSION selected is v3.

    • Confirm the AUTHPASS by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

    • The AUTHTYPE parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. From the AUTHTYPE list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified USERNAME and PASSWORD into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

      • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm
      • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm

    • The ENCRYPTFLAG appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the ENCRYPTFLAG is set to NO by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the YES option.

    • If the ENCRYPTFLAG is set to YES, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the ENCRYPTTYPE list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

      • DES - Data Encryption Standard
      • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard

    • Specify the encryption password in the ENCRYPTPASSWORD text box.

    • Confirm the encryption password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

    • The PROCESS text box should contain the specific processes to be monitored. Each process to be monitored is specified in the format "name:pattern". The regular expression pattern denotes patterns that will be used to match processes on the server. For instance, to monitor all the Java processes on a server, specify the argument "java_processes:*java*". . 

    • In some operating systems (example, OpenVMS), the process name in the HOST RESOURCES MIB will be an empty string, and the process path will include the process name. In such cases therefore, the test should be explicitly instructed to search the process path strings for the configured process names/patterns. To ensure this, set the USEPROCESSPATH parameter to true. By default, this parameter is set to false. Operating systems where process name (in the HOST RESOURCES MIB) is not an empty string can go with this default setting.

    • Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in the TIMEOUT text box. The default is 10 seconds.

    • Once the necessary values are provided, click on the UPDATE button to register the changes made.