Configuring a Brocade SAN Integration for SNMP-SSH Discovery
When configuring Brocade SAN for SNMP over SSH, you configure a “seed switch”. From that switch, other interconnected switches on the network can be discovered, so you do not have to add and configure each switch individually.
Prerequisites
Because Brocade zoning information is not available through SNMP, IO discovers it via SSH by running the FOS commands shown below. IO also discovers virtual fabrics using SSH. This is required to discover switches in other virtual fabrics. IO requires a user with the chassis role of "user" and read-only access to the switches to run these commands.
FOS Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
lscfg -show | Discover virtual fabric ID; used to discover switches in other fabrics |
fabricshow -chassis | Discover chassis WWN and name |
zoneshow | Discover zone, zone set and zone aliases |
fcrproxydevshow -a lsanzoneshow -s | Discover proxy FC ports (routed fabrics) |
Note
An NPV-enabled switch cannot be used as a seed switch. Also, a Brocade Access Gateway cannot be used as a seed switch.
Note
IO assumes the fabric will have the same SSH credentials as the seed switch. If the credentials are not the same as the seed switch, the switches will not be discovered. To add switches with different credentials, there is an option to manually add switches. Refer to the Adding Switches to the SNMP Sources List section for more information.
From the Settings screen, click Integrations in the Probes and Integrations section.
The Licensed Integrations screen is displayed.
Click View for Brocade SAN.
The Brocade SAN screen is displayed.
Click New.
The New Brocade SAN screen displays, with some default settings.
Enter a name for the integration discovery instance.
A name is required. The Name field can be edited after the configuration is saved.
In the Discovery Settings section of the window, select Seed Switch using SNMP-SSH from the Discovery Mode drop-down menu.
You can provide an optional Description.
Enable or disable the REST API option for switch port discovery.
This feature uses the SSH credentials for accessing the REST API and collects information and discovers the ports, instead of using SNMP By default this feature is turned off.
Note
This is an experimental feature. Enabling it will only discover port information using the REST API; all other data discovery and collection will continue to use SNMP as the source.
Note
This feature is applicable with IO 7.2.6 and later versions.
Enter the Seed Switch SSH Credentials.
Field
Definition
Hostname / IP Address
Hostname or IP address of the switch.
Username
Username of the switch.
Password
Password of the switch.
Click Test Connection to verify that the switch is accessible with provided credentials.
Optional: Enter Secondary SSH Credentials and test the connection.
Verify or modify the Seed Switch SNMP Settings.
Field
Definition
Comments
SNMP Timeout (sec)
The timeout in seconds between retries
10 is default
Accepts an integer from 1 to 1,000
SNMP Timeout multiplied by SNMP Max Timeouts cannot exceed half of the Polling Interval.
SNMP Max Timeouts
Maximum number of retries
3 is default
SNMP Version
v1
v2c (default)
v3 (Auth Privacy, Auth No Privacy, or No Auth No Privacy options)
Community
Default is public
Only applies to v1 and v2c
SNMP Username
Required for all SNMPv3
SNMP Context Name
Optional for all SNMPv3
SNMP Auth Password
Optional for v3 Auth Privacy or No Privacy
SNMP Auth Protocol
Optional for v3 Auth Privacy or No Privacy
SNMP Privacy Password
Optional for v3 Auth Privacy
SNMP Privacy Protocol
Optional for v3 Auth Privacy
Enable or disable the SNMP GetBulk operation.
This feature is available only for SNMP versions v2c and v3.
GetBulk is enabled by default, and keeping this option enabled is recommended.
Click Next.
Discovery begins for all the switches accessible to the seed switch. This process can take several minutes, depending on the number of switches to be discovered.
The New Integration page opens to display the Configuration tab.
Enable or disable Discovery Time and Frequency.
By default, regularly scheduled discovery is enabled for integration configurations. If you would like to disable regularly scheduled discovery, uncheck the Enable scheduled discovery check box.
If you would like to have discovery scheduled regularly, keep the box checked and choose a discovery frequency and time of day. By default, the frequency and time of day is every other day and 2am appliance time.
Enable or disable Mini Discovery.
This setting is disabled by default.
Mini Discovery checks for dynamic changes in your fabric.
If you enable Mini Discovery, you must select a frequency.
Click on the SNMP Sources tab on the New Integration page.
Switches that are connected to the seed switch are discovered and listed in the SNMP Sources table.
Select the switches you want to use, and then click Configure.
You can configure multiple switches at one time.
If you selected one switch, the Switch Configuration dialog box displays. Proceed to Step 16.
If you selected more than one switch, the Bulk Switch Configuration dialog box displays. Proceed to Step 17.
If you select one switch, enter the values in the Switch Configuration dialog.
SSH credentials are pre-populated and the Password is encrypted.
Verify the Switch SNMP settings for the switch you intend to configure, and fill in the appropriate details.
When selecting the SNMPv3 provide the SNMP Username.
When a single switch is being configured and discovered with a logical fabric, then the SNMP Context Name must be set appropriately. This only configures and discovers the switch with the specified Context Name.
Example: Brocade switch has FID-1 needs to be configured with SNMP Context Name as ‘VF:1’.
When multiple switches are being configured and discovered, keeping the SNMP Context Name field blank is recommended, so all switches are discovered.
Proceed to Step 18.
If you select two or more switches, select the properties to configure in the Bulk Switch Configuration dialog and click Next.
A configuration dialog box displays with configurable fields.
Select the appropriate SNMP version.
When selecting the SNMPv3, provide the SNMP Username and the SNMP Context Name (optional).
With SNMP v1, the default username is public.
Confirm or modify the configuration settings and click OK.
The status of the switches changes to Configured in the SNMP Sources table.
Select the switches for which you want metrics and click Subscribe.
Subscribing to the switches starts the polling for metrics.
Integration licenses must be available to subscribe.
Click Save to save all of your changes.
The Start Discovery dialog box displays so you can initiate a discovery of the integration. VI recommend starting a discovery. Completing the discovery successfully creates the entities.
Click Yes to start a full discovery.
After clicking yes, you are returned to the Brocade SAN page that lists all configurations, and the integration that you just created has "Discovering…" in its Last Discovery column.
If you drill down into the configuration again, a banner displays on your screen saying that discovery is taking place. While the discovery is taking place you are in read-only mode. You cannot make any changes to the integration or switch configuration. A message similar to the following displays:
First-time discovery started at <date> <time>. This could take several hours to complete.
Note
If discovery completes with the error, “Illegal action: attempt to associate archived parent,” re-run discovery on the integration configuration that failed for it to unarchive the port.
Check the SNMP Sources list to verify that all switches you want to subscribe are listed and have the status Subscribed.
If a switch you want does not appear in the table, see Adding Switches to the SNMP Sources List.