Installing HP 3PAR Management Console(IMC)

Inform Management Console(IMC) is the management software, which we use to manage HP 3PAR storage arrays. Though we have CLI options (PuTTY, 3PAR CLI) available, administrators normally use IMC GUI console for easy management tasks.

In this article, we will explore the installation procedure of 3PAR IMC console which is normally a routine thing while performing new 3PAR installation.

3PAR IMC can be downloaded from HP Software Depot site.  To download the software you need a registered user ID(if you don't have one, create it!)

once IMC executable is downloaded, the real process begins.

Execute the setup executable to begin the installation wizard. Click through any Security Warning if you see it.

Installing HP 3PAR Management Console

The files will be extracted to a temp folder with in few minutes. Once you see the Introduction screen, Click Next to continue
Installing HP 3PAR Management Console

Next scree will take you to the installation location. You can type the location you like or you can accept the default installation location and click Next to proceed

The default location is always going to be C:\Program Files(x86)\3PAR\inform_mgmt_console

Installing HP 3PAR Management Console

The next screen will show a pre-installation summary. Verify the installation location and ensure that, it is according to your choice or the default one. Then click "Install" to start the actual software installation.
Installing HP 3PAR Management Console

The installation will commence and will be completed in few minutes. Once everything is completed, you will be taken to the installation confirmation screen, click Done to quit the installer.

Installing HP 3PAR Management Console

Once the software is installed, you can launch the 3PAR IMC by double-clicking the imc desktop icon.

Brocade SAN switch SNMP configuration and testing(How to Article) Part 2


STEP 4:-
Once the SNMP server IPs are configured and settings are applied, the next step is to verify the settings and do modifications in case required.

To check the SNMP settings, issue the command as below,

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --show snmpv1
SNMPv1 community and trap recipient configuration:
  [...]
  Community 5: public (ro)
    Trap recipient: 192.168.1.110
    Trap port: 162
    Trap recipient Severity level: 4
  [....]
Note:- Output is truncated

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --show snmpv3
SNMP Informs = 0 (OFF)
SNMPv3 USM configuration:
User 1 (rw): snmpadmin1
        Auth Protocol: noAuth
        Priv Protocol: noPriv
[...]
SNMPv3 Trap configuration:
Trap Entry 1:     192.168.1.10
    Trap Port: 162
    Trap User: snmpadmin1
    Trap recipient Severity level: 4
[....]
Note:- Output is truncated

Once the configuration is in place, the next step is to identify the traps which has to be forwarded to generate tickets. to perform that task we have to modify the MIB capability of the Brocade swith.

STEP 5:-

The management information base (MIB) is a database of monitored and managed information on a device.For Brocade, there are two main MIB trap choices:
• FibreAlliance MIB trap - Associated with the Fibre Alliance MIB (FA-MIB), this MIB manages SANswitches and devices from any company that complies with Fibre Alliance specifications.
• Brocade-specific MIB trap - Associated with the Brocade-specific Brocade MIB (SW-MIB),manages Brocade switches only

To read in depth please click here

TO view the traps which are currently enabled for a switch, issue the command as below.

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --show mibcapability
FE-MIB: YES
SW-MIB: YES
FA-MIB: YES
FICON-MIB: NO
HA-MIB: NOFCIP-MIB: NO
ISCSI-MIB: NO
IF-MIB: YES
BD-MIB: NOSW-TRAP: YES
[...]
Note:- Output is truncated.
Observe that, HA-MIB and BD-MIB are turned off here.ideally, this should be enabled to receive status change notifications.

To modify the MIB capabilty for a brocade switch, we have issue snmpconfig command along with the --set option as described below.

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --set mibcapability
[...]
FE-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
SW-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
FA-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
FICON-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [no]
HA-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [no]
FCIP-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [no]
ISCSI-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [no]
IF-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
BD-MIB (yes, y, no, n): [no]
SW-TRAP (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swFault (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swSensorScn (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swFCPortScn (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swEventTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
                DesiredSeverity: (0..4) [0]
        swFabricWatchTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
                DesiredSeverity: (0..4) [0]
        swTrackChangesTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swIPv6ChangeTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swPmgrEventTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swFabricReconfigTrap (yes, y, no, n): [no]
        swFabricSegmentTrap (yes, y, no, n): [no]
        swExtTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        swStateChangeTrap (yes, y, no, n): [no]
        swPortMoveTrap (yes, y, no, n): [no]
        swBrcdGenericTrap (yes, y, no, n): [no]
FA-TRAP (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        connUnitStatusChange (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        connUnitDeletedTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        connUnitEventTrap (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        connUnitSensorStatusChange (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
        connUnitPortStatusChange (yes, y, no, n): [yes]
IF-TRAP (yes, y, no, n): [no] yes
        linkDown (yes, y, no, n): [no] yes
        linkUp (yes, y, no, n): [no] yes
Operation succeeded
Operation succeeded


STEP 6:-
It's time to test the setup. On older firmware versions, to test SNMP forwarding, we normally enable/disable the ports. With the latest versions, we have "snmptraps" which can be used to simulate the error condition.

Let's try it now,

you have to mention the trap name and ip address of the SNMP server while using snmptraps command.

switch01:FID128:admin> snmptraps --send -trap_name cp-status-change-trap -ip_address 192.168.1.110
Unable to send trap: cp-status-change-trap : MIB is disabled

Oops, the test is failed and the reason is the status change notification MIB is disabled(hope you have noticed it on the previous step!)

Let's see it once again,
switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --show mibcapability
[...]
HA-MIB: NO
[...]
HA-TRAP: NO
        fruStatusChanged: NO
        cpStatusChanged: NO
        fruHistoryTrap: NO
[...]

To enable this traps, we don't have go through all the way on setting the mibcapability. There is a non interactive approach available and its quite easy to set it up.
All you need the MIB name and the trap name and this can be enabled in a single line command.

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --set mibcapability -mib_name HA-MIB -bitmask 1
Operation succeeded

I have enabled HA-MIB, now I need to enable specific traps. here it goes,

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --enable mibcapability -mib_name HA-MIB -trap_name fruStatusChanged
Operation succeeded
switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --enable mibcapability -mib_name HA-MIB -trap_name cpStatusChanged
Operation succeeded
I have enabled frustatuschange and cpuchange traps. Now we can try to generate the traps.

switch01:FID128:admin> snmptraps --send -trap_name cp-status-change-trap -ip_address 192.168.1.110
Number of traps sent : 1

that's it. it worked well.


Brocade SAN switch SNMP configuration and testing(How to Article) Part 1

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an ideal method for monitoring and managing all types of mission critical devices which has higher SLA. SNMP traps makes it possible to use different tools to view, browse,and manipulate Brocade switch MIBs remotely as well as to set up an enterprise-level management mechanism as every Brocade SAN director supports SNMP.

Recipients for SNMP traps are restricted according to security levels and the levels can be changed according to the need. By default the security level is set to 0( No security). We can set different security levels for a switch using the snmpconfig --set seclevel command.
For this setup which I am using, the security level is set to be 0. This means that there is no authentication mechanism configured for sending traps.

let's see the configuration steps!

STEP 1:-
Login to switch as admin.
login as: admin
admin@192.168.6.5's password:

The first step is to check the switch status policy settings as the switch health status is based on Power supplies, Temperatures,Fans, WWN servers, Standby CP, Blades, Flash, Marginal ports, Faulty ports, Missing SFPs, and so on.

To view the current policy settings, issue the command as below,

switch01:FID128:admin> switchstatuspolicyshow
The current overall switch status policy parameters:
                   Down    Marginal
 ----------------------------------
     PowerSupplies    3           1
      Temperatures    2           1
              Fans    2           1
               WWN    0           1
                CP    0           1
             Blade    0           1
         CoreBlade    0           1
             Flash    0           1
     MarginalPorts  112           1
       FaultyPorts  112           1
       MissingSFPs    0           0

switchStatusPolicyShow is the Brocade CLI command, which displays current policy parameters that are configured on switch, which determines the overall switch status as Down or Marginal. If you want to change the policy settings, use switchstatuspolicyset  command

STEP 2:-
The next step is to check the current SNMP attributes and server address configured on the switch. In case of new switches, you can ignore the step. New switches won't have anything configured.
To check the current SNMP settings for SNMPv1, issue snmpconfig command with a privileged account(especially admin account)

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --show snmpv1
SNMPv1 community and trap recipient configuration:
  Community 1: Secret C0de (rw)
    No trap recipient configured yet
  Community 2: OrigEquipMfr (rw)
    No trap recipient configured yet
  Community 3: private (rw)
    No trap recipient configured yet
  Community 4: public (ro)
    No trap recipient configured yet
  Community 5: common (ro)
    No trap recipient configured yet
  Community 6: FibreChannel (ro)
    No trap recipient configured yet
SNMPv1:Enabled

to check the SNMP V3 settings, use  --show snmpv3  option.


switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --show snmpv3
SNMP Informs = 0 (OFF)
SNMPv3 USM configuration:
User 1 (rw): snmpadmin1
        Auth Protocol: noAuth
        Priv Protocol: noPriv
User 2 (rw): snmpadmin2
        Auth Protocol: noAuth
        Priv Protocol: noPriv
User 3 (rw): snmpadmin3
        Auth Protocol: noAuth
        Priv Protocol: noPriv
User 4 (ro): snmpuser1
        Auth Protocol: noAuth
        Priv Protocol: noPriv
User 5 (ro): snmpuser2
        Auth Protocol: noAuth
        Priv Protocol: noPriv
User 6 (ro): snmpuser3
        Auth Protocol: noAuth
        Priv Protocol: noPriv
SNMPv3 Trap configuration:
Trap Entry 1:     192.168.1.10
    Trap Port: 162
    Trap User: snmpadmin1
    Trap recipient Severity level: 4
Trap Entry 2:     No trap recipient configured yet
Trap Entry 3:     No trap recipient configured yet
Trap Entry 4:     No trap recipient configured yet
Trap Entry 5:     No trap recipient configured yet
Trap Entry 6:     No trap recipient configured yet


"snmpConfig" is the Brocade switch CLI command  used to  manage the configuration of SNMPv1/v3 agent in the switch. CLI interface  is  interactive  for all parameters except mibCapability, which can be configured both interactively and with command line  options  on  switches and Directors running Fabric OS v6.4.0 and later.

Each event trap level is in relation with the event's severity level. When an event occurs and its severity level is equal to or below the set value, the SNMP event traps are forwarded to the trap recipients(SNMP servers).

Possible values for the event severity are the following:

0 none
1 critical
2 error
3 warning
4 informational
5 debug

STEP 3:-
Once we have verified the settings on the switch, it's time to do the SNMP configuration. We will be using same "snmpconfig" command  but the parameters will vary according to the need. 

To set SNMPv1, follow the steps mentioned as below. The CLI session is interactive for all step and you have to key in the SNMP server IP address, port number, trap severity and community string. If you have a community string other than "public", type the string and press enter to continue.

switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --set snmpv1
SNMP community and trap recipient configuration:
[....]
Community (ro): [public]
Trap Recipient's IP address : [0.0.0.0] 192.168.1.110
Trap recipient Severity level : (0..5) [0] 3
Trap recipient Port : (0..65535) [162]
[....]
Committing configuration.....done.
note:- output is truncated 

 To set SNMPv3, follow the process. you will get an interactive session for SNMPv3 as well, but the fields will change to accommodate the v3 attributes. You will need to type the correct attributes as and when it is asked. if your user name is different than snmpadmin1, you have to type the user name and press enter to continue.
switch01:FID128:admin> snmpconfig --set snmpv3

SNMP Informs Enabled (true, t, false, f): [false]
SNMPv3 user configuration(snmp user not configured in FOS user database will have physical AD and admin role as the default):
User (rw): [snmpadmin1]
Auth Protocol [MD5(1)/SHA(2)/noAuth(3)]: (1..3) [3]
Priv Protocol [DES(1)/noPriv(2)/3DES(3)/AES128(4)/AES192(5)/AES256(6)]): (2..2) [2]
[....]
SNMPv3 trap recipient configuration:
Trap Recipient's IP address : [0.0.0.0] 192.168.1.10
UserIndex: (1..6) [1]
Trap recipient Severity level : (0..5) [0] 4
Trap recipient Port : (0..65535) [162]
Trap Recipient's IP address : [0.0.0.0]
Trap Recipient's IP address : [0.0.0.0]
Trap Recipient's IP address : [0.0.0.0]
Trap Recipient's IP address : [0.0.0.0]
Trap Recipient's IP address : [0.0.0.0]
Committing configuration.....done.
note:- output is truncated 

Admin Helpline™ © , All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy