Creating an SNMP Performance Dynamic Application

In this section we will create an SNMP Dynamic Application. Our Dynamic Application will:

Collect information about file systems from the Host Resources MIB.
Include collection objects that get size and usage values.
Include a presentation object that displays percentage used.
Include a collection object to of type "label", to label the graph.
Include a discovery object.

Use the following menu options to navigate the SL1 user interface:

To view a pop-out list of menu options, click the menu icon ().
To view a page containing all of the menu options, click the Advanced menu icon ().

Defining the Dynamic Application Properties

To create the Dynamic Application and define the general properties for this Dynamic Application, perform the following steps:

Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications).
Select the Actions button, and then select Create New Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Applications Create New Application page appears.
Supply values in the following fields:

Application Name. Enter "SNMP Performance Dynamic Application" in this field.
Application Type. Select SNMP Performance.
Poll Frequency. Select Every 1 Minute to see data as quickly as possible.

For this example, you can leave the remaining fields set to their default value. Select the Save button to save the Dynamic Application.

Adding the Discovery Object

This Dynamic Application includes one discovery object. A discovery object helps SL1 to align the Dynamic Application to devices that use the Host Resources MIB.

A discovery object is a variable that is unique to a specific hardware component or software application. Ideally, a discovery object is a variable that is always available if SNMP is running on a device, regardless of the processes running on the device or the state of the device. For example, an OID that contains a serial number of a hardware version number would make a good discovery object.

During initial discovery and nightly auto-discovery, SL1 checks each discovered device against the list of already-defined Dynamic Applications. SL1 searches each discovered device to find "discovery objects" and aligns devices with the appropriate Dynamic Application(s).

For example:

Suppose your network includes servers from Dell.
Suppose your SL1 system includes a Dynamic Application for Dell servers.
Suppose the Dynamic Application for Dell servers uses the SNMP variable for chassis ID to create a discovery object. This chassis-ID variable is defined by Dell and published in their MIB files. Following SNMP standards, the variable will have a unique, numeric name, used only for Dell servers.
Because a chassis is included with each Dell server and because the chassis is not affected by software processes or the operating system, the chassis-ID variable will always be available if SNMP is running on a Dell server.
During initial discovery and nightly auto-discovery, if SL1 can retrieve a value for the unique chassis-ID variable, SL1 concludes that the device is a Dell server. SL1 will then assign the Dynamic Application for Dell servers to the device. SL1 will later use the Dynamic Application for Dell servers to retrieve information from the device.
During initial discovery and nightly auto-discovery, if SL1 cannot retrieve a value for the chassis-ID variable, SL1 concludes that the device is not a Dell server. SL1 will not assign the Dynamic Application for Dell servers to the device.

For more details on discovery, see the section on Discovery and Credentials.

To create the discovery object to the Dynamic Application:

Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications).
Select the wrench icon () for the SNMP Performance Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Applications Properties Editor page appears.
Select the Collections tab. The Dynamic Applications | Collections Objects page appears.
Supply values in the following fields:

Object Name. Enter "Discovery Object" in this field.
SNMP OID. Enter ".1.3.6.1.2.1.25.2.3.1.3" in this field. This is the OID for Storage Description, as specified in the Host Resources MIB. We chose this OID to use for the discovery object because a device that uses the Host Resources MIB to report file system information will always include this OID
Class Type. Select 100.Discovery. SL1 will gather values from all objects in the Dynamic Application.

Select the [Save] button, and the new object will be added and new fields will appear. Supply values in the following fields:

Alignment Condition. Select Align if OID is present. SL1 will align the Dynamic Application with a device only if the discovery object returns a value.
Validity Check. We did not specify a value in this field.

Select the Save button to save the discovery object.

Adding the Collection Objects

Our example Dynamic Application contains three collection objects:

Storage size
Storage used
Storage description

To create these collection objects, perform the following steps:

Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications).
Select the wrench icon () for the SNMP Performance Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Applications Properties Editor page appears.
Select the Collections tab. The Dynamic Applications | Collections Objects page appears.
To create the collection object for storage size, supply values in the following fields:

Object Name. Enter "Storage Size" in this field.
SNMP OID. Enter ".1.3.6.1.2.1.25.2.3.1.5". This is the OID for storage size, as specified in the Host Resources MIB.
Class Type. Storage size is a number that can go up or down between polls. Select 4 Performance Gauge in this field.
Group Number. Select Group 1. For performance Dynamic Applications, SL1 uses the Group Number setting to associate performance values with the appropriate labels. For the performance graph for this example to display labels correctly, all the collection objects must be in the same group.

For this example, you can leave the remaining fields set to their default values.
Select the Save button.
Select the Reset button to clear the form fields.
To create the collection object for storage used, supply values in the following fields:

Object Name. Enter "Storage Used" in this field.
SNMP OID. Enter ".1.3.6.1.2.1.25.2.3.1.6". This is the OID for storage description , as specified in the Host Resources MIB.
Class Type. Storage size is a number that can go up or down between polls. Select 4 Performance Gauge in this field.
Group Number. Select Group 1. For performance Dynamic Applications, SL1 uses the Group Number setting to associate performance values with the appropriate labels. For the performance graph for this example to display labels correctly, all the collection objects must be in the same group.

For this example, you can leave the remaining fields set to their default values.
Select the Save button.
Select the Reset button to clear the form fields.
To create the collection object for the storage description label, supply values in the following fields:

Object Name. Enter "Storage Description" in this field.
SNMP OID. Enter ".1.3.6.1.2.1.25.2.3.1.3". This is the storage description OID specified in the Host Resources MIB.
Class Type. Select Label (Always Polled) in this field. In performance Dynamic Applications, collection objects that use this class type are string values that SL1 uses to label the lines on a performance graph.
Group Number. Select Group 1. For performance Dynamic Applications, SL1 uses the Group Number setting to associate performance values with the appropriate labels. For the performance graph for this example to display labels correctly, all the collection objects must be in the same group.

For this example, you can leave the remaining fields set to their default values.
Select the Save button.

Creating the Presentation Object

When you create a collection object in a Dynamic Application of type Performance, SL1 automatically creates a presentation object that corresponds to that collection object. In this example, we will remove these presentation objects and create a new presentation object that displays file system usage in percent.

To create the presentation object:

Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications).
Select the wrench icon () for the SNMP Performance Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Applications Properties Editor page appears.
Select the Presentations tab. The Dynamic Applications Presentation Objects page appears.
In the Dynamic Applications Presentation Objects page, the Storage Size and Storage Used collection objects have been created by default. Select each presentation object's delete icon () to delete them.
Select the Reset button. To create a new presentation object that displays storage used, in percent, enter values in the following fields:

Report Name. Enter "Percentage Used" in this field.
Active State. Select Enabled. SL1 will generate a report of the presentation object.
Data Unit. Enter "Percent" into this field.
Abbreviation/Suffix. Enter "%" into this field.
Show as Percent. Select Yes. The graph will display percent values.
Formula Editor. We want our graph to display Percentage Used, so we will use the following formula:

Storage Used/Storage Size * 100

We can enter this formula manually, or by selecting the Object IDs in the Formula Editor and selecting the Add button. Using the Object IDs provided by SL1, enter the following into the Formula Editor:

(o_9223)/(o_9222)*100

NOTE: The object IDs in your Dynamic Application will be unique to your system. In the provided formula, you must replace "o_5511" and "o_5513" with the object IDs for the Storage Used and Storage Size collection objects in your system.

In this example, you can leave the remaining fields at their default value.
Select the Save As button to save the presentation object.

Manually Aligning the Dynamic Application to a Device

In this example we will align the Dynamic Application to a device that supports the Host Resource MIB. By manually aligning the Dynamic Application to a device, we can immediately view the Percentage Used data in the presentation object we defined.

To manually align the Dynamic Application to a device:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface).
In the Device Manager page, find the device you want to align the Dynamic Application to. In this example, we are aligning the Dynamic Application to a server. Select the device's wrench icon ().
The Device Properties page appears. Select the Collections tab.
In the Dynamic Application Collections page, select the Action button and select Add Dynamic Application.
The Dynamic Application Alignment page appears. Select SNMP Performance Dynamic Application to align this Dynamic Application with the server in the left pane. In the right pane, select Default SNMP Credential.
Select the Save button to add the Dynamic Application to the device.

Viewing the Report

After the Dynamic Application has collected data from the aligned server, you can view the performance report for that device. To view the performance report for a device with the SNMP Performance Dynamic Application aligned to it:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface).
In the Device Manager page, find the device you want to align the Dynamic Application to. In this example, we are aligning the Dynamic Application to a server. Select the device's wrench icon ().
The Device Properties page appears. Select the Collections tab.
From the Dynamic Application Collections page, select the Reset button to update the page with the latest information.
Locate the SNMP Performance Dynamic Application. If the graph icon () is colored, the performance report is available. Select the graph icon for the Percentage Used presentation object.

Or:

Go to the Device Manager page (Devices > Classic Devices, or Registry > Devices > Device Manager in the classic SL1 user interface).
In the Device Manager page, find the device you aligned the SNMP Performance Dynamic Application to. Select the device's graph icon ().
The Device Summary page appears. Select the Performance tab.
In the left NavBar, select SNMP Performance Dynamic Application, then select Percentage Used.
The SNMP Performance Dynamic Application | Percentage Used report is displayed.

The report returns collection objects as a percentage value. You can mouseover different data point on the report, and the report will display the percentage values for the given time
The percentage is displayed to the left of the report. The values for each label object are displayed in the graph key at the bottom of the report.

To learn more above device performance reports, see the Device Management section.