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1 Apex User Guide

2 Notice Every effort was made to ensure that the information in this manual was accurate at the time of printing. However, information is subject to change without notice, and Viavi reserves the right to provide an addendum to this manual with information not available at the time that this manual was created. Copyright Copyright 2015 Viavi Solutions Inc. All rights reserved. Viavi and the Viavi logo are trademarks of Viavi Solutions Inc. ( Viavi ). All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted, electronically or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. Copyright release Reproduction and distribution of this guide is authorized for Government purposes only. Terms and conditions Specifications, terms, and conditions are subject to change without notice. The provision of hardware, services, and/or software are subject to Viavi standard terms and conditions, available at Specifications, terms, and conditions are subject to change without notice. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Notice This product was tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This product generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this product in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case you will be required to correct the interference at your own expense. The authority to operate this product is conditioned by the requirements that no modifications be made to the equipment unless the changes or modifications are expressly approved by Viavi. Laser compliance This device is a class 1 laser product. Industry Canada Requirements This Class A digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003. Cet appareil numérique de la classe A est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada. WEEE and Battery Directive Compliance Viavi has established processes in compliance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, 2002/96/EC, and the Battery Directive, 2006/66/EC. This product, and the batteries used to power the product, should not be disposed of as unsorted municipal waste and should be collected separately and disposed of according to your national regulations. In the European Union, all equipment and batteries purchased from Viavi after can be returned for disposal at the end of its useful life. Viavi will ensure that all waste equipment and batteries returned are reused, recycled, or disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner, and in compliance with all applicable national and international waste legislation. It is the responsibility of the equipment owner to return equipment and batteries to Viavi for appropriate disposal. If the equipment or battery was imported by a reseller whose name or logo is marked on the equipment or battery, then the owner should return the equipment or battery directly to the reseller. Instructions for returning waste equipment and batteries to Viavi can be found in the Environmental section of Viavi web site at If you have questions concerning disposal of your equipment or batteries, contact Viavi WEEE Program Management team at WEEE.EMEA@viavisolutions.com. Technical Support North America GO VIAVI / Latin America EMEA APAC All Other Regions viavisolutions.com/contacts customer.care@viavisolutions.com Support hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (local time for each office).

3 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Understanding Apex...7 Learn about Apex... 7 Apex vs. Apex Lite...7 Understanding dashboards...8 Understanding widgets Understanding data sources...11 Understanding business groups Understanding thresholds...12 Ports used by Observer Platform v17 and later...12 System specifications Understanding the certificate trust model...13 How to view certificates How to change the trust of a certificate...14 Certificates and how they are used...14 Start using Apex How to begin using Apex How to add a data source...15 How to create a business group How to assign a data source How to create a dashboard How to send log events as SNMP traps How to configure thresholds...18 How to create a user Chapter 2: Activating and configuring Licensing How to license Apex How to send log events as SNMP traps... 21

4 How to modify baseline calculations...21 General and data transfer settings Chapter 3: Gather data from your products Understanding data sources...23 How to add a data source...23 How to assign a data source How to edit a data source...24 How to delete a data source...25 How to force the transfer of network trending data How to transfer older network trending data Data source settings Understanding business groups How to create a business group How to nest a business group...27 How to hide a business group How to halt a business group from retrieving data...28 How to add the GigaStor for drill-down...28 Business group settings Understanding dashboards How to create a dashboard How to promote a dashboard How to export a dashboard...32 How to import a dashboard How to filter a dashboard How to save a dashboard as PDF How to delete a dashboard...34 Understanding dashboard times Additional Apex dashboards Understanding widgets How to create a widget How to add a widget to a dashboard...41 How to filter a widget How to edit a widget...42 How to export a widget...42 How to import a widget How to delete a widget...43 Understanding key fields...43 Widget settings Widget types and categories Understanding status widgets...45 Understanding an application dependency map (ADM) Visualizing the components of multi-tier applications How to create an application dependency widget How to operate an application dependency widget...48 Understanding scheduled reports Table of Contents (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

5 How to create a scheduled report How to edit scheduled reports...51 Scheduled report options Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading...52 How to install Apex Understanding your deployment strategy...53 Installing the Apex appliance Setting the IP address Configuring the Lights Out Management port (newer revisions) Set up Apex for the first time How to begin using Apex How to license Apex How to create a user How to configure general settings...63 How to have Apex managed by OMS How to upgrade or downgrade Apex How to retrieve a list of available Apex versions How to download a version of Apex...65 How to install a version of Apex...65 Upgrade settings Chapter 5: Troubleshooting...67 Understanding logging in Apex...67 How to view event logs How to send Syslog messages How to send SNMP traps...68 How to send alerts How to return to the default log settings...71 Understanding alarms How to create an alarm...72 How to disable an alarm Alarm settings Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Is it the network? Is it the server? Is it the application?...79 Summary...81 Chapter 6: Backups and Secondary Configuring a failover or redundant Apex...83 Defining a failover Apex...84 Becoming a primary/secondary Apex...85 Understanding configuration backups How to create a backup How to restore configuration settings...86 How to schedule backups...86 How to change where backups are stored...86 Table of Contents (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version 5

6 Index Table of Contents (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

7 1 Chapter 1: Understanding Apex Learn about Apex Apex helps your organization create reports, called dashboards, from the data collected by Observer Platform products. These reports can assist your organization with troubleshooting, planning, performance, compliance, and more. Apex vs. Apex Lite Apex is a full-featured reporting engine for combining information from many assets while Apex Lite has limited functionality and can only be used for reports of the local asset. Table 1: Apex vs. Apex Lite Feature Apex Apex Lite System and user dashboards X X Import dashboards X X Filtering X X Event logging / notifications X X Tags X X Tables X X Graphs X X Charts X X Threshold graphs X GigaStor workflow integration X Site dashboards X

8 Feature Apex Multiple data sources X Business groups X Status widgets X Application dependency maps (ADM) X Failover / Redundancy X Multiple user configuration X Thresholds X Alarms X Scheduled reports X Works with Observer Analyzer (Expert and Suite) Observer GigaStor Apex Lite Observer (Expert and Suite) GigaStor Figure 1: Observer Platform Understanding dashboards A dashboard is a report populated with widgets, and these widgets show the information collected by your data sources. Dashboards are reports populated with widgets. Your reports your dashboards are populated with one or many widgets. The data shown by widgets in your dashboards belongs to Observer. To make use of dashboards, Observer must be collecting network trending data and be a data source to Apex. Without trending data, Apex will not have any data for the widgets in a dashboard. 8 Learn about Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

9 Figure 2: An Apex dashboard populated with five widgets System dashboards are available "out-of-the-box" for you and cannot be modified. Dashboards that are pre-made by Viavi are available to you as system dashboards. System dashboards are identical in function to dashboards you create on your own, but they cannot be modified. Additionally, system dashboards provide broad information and are useful for high-level analytics. A temporary filter can be used while viewing system dashboards, but a permanent filter cannot be added. Dashboards can be filtered. Any dashboard can have an always-on filter written into its properties. Dashboard filters force every widget in a dashboard to display only information that meets the filter. For example, you can filter a dashboard so that its widgets show statistics from a specific subnet only. Or you can filter a dashboard to search for a telephone number used in a VoIP conversation. A dashboard filter can be applied to the design of the dashboard itself (alwaysfiltered), applied during viewing of the dashboard (temporary), or applied as a combination of the two. User dashboards are only viewable by you. Each newly created dashboard is considered a user dashboard. User dashboards are unique to the user that logged in to Apex and created it, and it can only be viewed and modified by that user. To share a user dashboard with other Apex users, the creator must promote the dashboard. A promoted dashboard becomes a site dashboard that is viewable by other users. A promoted dashboard cannot be demoted. Promoting a dashboard does not simultaneously promote user widgets. This means you can promote a user dashboard to a site dashboard without promoting the underlying user widgets if any exist. This protects your personal user widgets from being altered and changed by others. If you want to share a Learn about Apex Chapter 1: Understanding Apex 9

10 dashboard with others (by promotion) and also allow changes to those widgets, the widgets must be promoted to site widgets. Understanding widgets Widgets are tables, graphs, pie charts, and more, made to display information collected by Observer Platform products. For widgets to have any effect, they must be put into dashboards. Widgets are the building blocks of your dashboards. Every widget type is designed to help you better understand the traffic of your network. For example, the graph widget type could help you visualize traffic over time, while a chart widget type could display which protocols contributed most of the traffic during the report period. Figure 3: The Widget Properties tab Widgets show the data collected by other products. Widgets show the data collected by data sources. Data sources are your other Observer Platform products. This retrieved data, from data sources, is parsed by Apex and displayed in dashboards that include the widget. Without dashboards to operate inside, widgets will not show any data. System widgets are available "out-of-the-box" and cannot be modified. Widgets that were created by Viavi are available to you as system widgets. System widgets are identical in function to widgets you create on your own, but system widgets cannot be modified. As your teams become comfortable with creating their own widgets, you might develop less reliance on these. We recommend using system widgets as needed, and even exploring how the system widgets were created can aid your learning about Apex! 10 Learn about Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

11 Widgets can be filtered. The purpose of widget filtering is to narrow the scope of reported criteria, so the end result, like a graph, is specific and easily understood by viewers. Any widget can have a filter written directly into its design. Widget filters force the widget to display only information that meets the filter. For example, you can filter a widget so that it shows statistics from only specific applications or ports. The filter can be applied to the design of the widget itself, which creates always-filtered results when viewing that widget. You can combine a widget filter with other filtering techniques, such as filtering the dashboard or business group, to further filter your results. The widget retains its filter regardless of the dashboards it is placed into. Finally, filtering a widget will not displace or modify your underlying data. The same widget can be put into different dashboards. Widgets can be reused by any number of dashboards. For example, if a widget is placed in one dashboard, the widget can also be put into a different dashboard. Each "instance" of a widget behaves exactly the same regardless of the dashboard, or dashboards, it was placed into. There are some exceptions, however. One example is if a dashboard or business group is being filtered, the information shown by the widget is influenced by the filter. Under these circumstances, it is possible for the same widget to display different information based on the filter of its parent dashboard or business group. Understanding data sources A data source is any Observer Platform product that feeds data into Apex. Data sources are configured in Apex, by you, and assigned to one or more business groups. Data sources must be configured. Apex must be connected to data sources for the application's core features to operate. Adding a new data source tells Apex about a new Observer Platform product from which you want to get data. For example, one Observer analyzer can be an aggregation point that gets data from several probes like a GigaStor or Observer Suite. Data sources must be added to business groups. It is not enough to just configure a data source and have Apex automatically connect to it. To transfer the data collected by data sources to Apex, your chosen data sources must be added to a business group. Understanding business groups Business groups are collections of data sources. By assembling multiple data sources into a logical grouping, you are creating a business group for that grouping. Business groups are a collection of data sources. Imagine you have 14 web servers across your network that are monitored by three different probe instances. You can create a business group that views the statistical data from those data sources the three probes instances. This allows you to view dashboards that combine the metrics from those web servers. Data sources only transfer trending data after being placed into a business group. It is not enough to add a data source to Apex and have Apex connect to it. To actually transfer data from your data sources, the data sources must be Learn about Apex Chapter 1: Understanding Apex 11

12 assigned to one or more business groups. This must be done for widgets and dashboards to show any data. Business groups can contain these data sources: Probe instances from Observer Suite analyzer, GigaStor, and other probes. Business groups can include other business groups. Business groups can be nested. This allows you the option of making smaller, more manageable business groups and still have them act as one large business group. Understanding thresholds Thresholds are defined values that determine if a statistic is above, below, or within a normal range on your network. Thresholds are also used when displaying colors in dashboards. Anything below the marginal threshold is green, anything between the marginal and critical threshold is yellow, and anything above the critical threshold is red. Thresholds can also be used as part of status widgets that are based on either performance or a baseline. Ports used by Observer Platform v17 and later Open inbound and outbound TCP 80, 443, and on your firewalls for Observer Platform products version 17 and later. Port Functionality TCP 80 Requests from product to Viavi to see if a new version or update exists. TCP 443 Secure web server traffic. TCP 8008 Default port for transfer of software upgrades. TCP All intra-observer Platform communication. System specifications The system specifications in the table applies to appliances from Viavi. If you want to use the software version of Apex on your own hardware or to put Apex in a virtual machine, the table below lists the minimum requirements with these changes (as appropriate): 12 DATA array: Four (4) disk RAID5. The more read speed you have, the better off you will be. Hard drives: 7200 RPM platter HDDs RPM HDDs and solid state drives (SSDs) are not recommended. Platform 2U 19-inch rack-mountable appliance. Memory/RAM 64 GB Processor(s) Single - Six Core Hard drive(s) OS: 500 GB / DATA: 8 TB (8 x 1 TB RAID5) Redundant Power Supply Yes; Standard Lights Out Management IPMI v2.0 Power consumption Input voltage: 100V-240V auto select Learn about Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

13 Input frequency: 50/60Hz 258w (880 Btu/h) Operating Temperature Range 32 F (0 C) to 104 F (40 C) Dimensions 19 in (W) x 3.48 in (H) x in (mounting depth) (Full probe depth with handles: 28 in) 48.3 cm (W) x 8.8 cm (H) x 66.1 cm (mounting depth) (Full depth with handles: 71.1 cm) Weight 55 lbs (25 kg) Operating system 64-bit Windows 7 Understanding the certificate trust model The certificate trust model allows Observer Platform products to securely communicate using TLS encryption. It is also provides resistance to man-in-themiddle attacks by requiring administrator intervention when a known certificate has changed. All product-to-product communication is encrypted by default. A web of trust between Observer Platform products is created by requiring certificates from each participating software application. The main benefit is that this ensures encryption of communication between all parts of the Observer Platform. Each software application owns a unique certificate. This certificate is automatically created during the first installation of an Observer Platform application. For example, Apex. The unique application certificate is labeled Local when viewed from inside that software application. Upgrading to newer software versions does not create a new certificate, so no certificate maintenance is typically needed. However, uninstalling and reinstalling (fresh installs) creates a new certificate. The new certificate will be automatically rejected by other products that had a pre-existing association with the asset ID of the reinstalled software. The first time two products communicate, each checks to see if they have the certificate for the asset ID of the other software application. If they do not, then certificates are exchanged, marked Trusted, and associated with the asset ID of the participating device. This enables the easy configuration model. After an association is made, each application will expect to see the same certificate (to remain trusted) when communicating. Note: Prior to version 17 of the Observer Platform, encryption was available but not enabled by default. This has changed to become the default out-ofthe-box behavior in Observer Platform version 17 and later, and it also uses a stronger cipher suite. Certificates are automatically rejected when trust cannot be verified. If a certificate is associated to an asset ID, and an inbound connection from that asset (determined by the asset ID) occurs using a different certificate, the administrator must inspect and manually accept the certificate because the certificate is in a Rejected state. A rejected certificate breaks the trust model, so any offending device(s) and software are banned from product-to-product communication until an administrator investigates and accepts the certificate. Understanding the certificate trust model Chapter 1: Understanding Apex 13

14 Certificates can be manually rejected by administrators. In the event that product-to-product communication must be immediately severed because of an imminent threat or other security risk, an administrator can manually reject certificates. How to view certificates You can view every certificate that Apex has collected. This information shows certificate trust state, certificate ID, fingerprints, last time seen, last network location, and more. To view certificates: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Certificates. 2. (Optional) Select a certificate and click Details to view its full details. 3. (Optional) Click Prefs to configure which columns appear in the table. You successfully viewed the certificates that this installation of Apex has collected. How to change the trust of a certificate The trust of a certificate can be changed between trusted and rejected states. The certificate must remain trusted for communication to occur. To change the trust of a certificate: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Certificates. 2. Click a certificate to select it. 3. Click Change State and Yes to confirm. You successfully changed the trust state of a certificate. Certificates and how they are used Certificates ensure secure communication between Observer Platform products. The certificates encrypt this communication and help you the maintain the authenticity of device communication. Certificates use public key infrastructure (PKI) to encrypt all product-to-product communication using the Transport Layer Security (TLS) cryptographic protocol. The communications that are encrypted include, but are not limited to: Probe instance redirections Capture data transfers Trending data transfers All other data transfers Note: The initial handshake between Observer Platform products is not encrypted. Start using Apex Apex allows you to accurately assess the impact of mission-critical applications on your business through extensive dashboards. Apex also provides auto- 14 Start using Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

15 baselining capabilities for establishing benchmarks, understanding typical performance levels, and running day-to-day comparisons. How to begin using Apex After Apex is properly installed, all interactions with Apex will occur through a web browser. To begin using Apex, log in to Apex. Prerequisite(s): A compatible web browser is required. Internet Explorer 9.0 or later Mozilla Firefox Google Chrome Tip! Do you need to license and activate Apex? See the instructions at How to license Apex. 1. Open a compatible web browser, and type the following URL into the location bar: replacing "ApexHost" with the host name or IP address of the system where Apex is installed and running. You may notice a security certificate warning; this is normal for a self-signed certificate. 2. Log in to Apex using a user name and password managed by Apex or OMS (sold separately). Tip! The default user name is admin, and the default password is admin, and it is case-sensitive. You successfully logged in to Apex. All of your interactions with Apex will occur in this web interface. How to add a data source Adding a new data source tells Apex about the Observer Platform product you want to get data from. At least one data source is needed for Apex to fully operate. To add a data source: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Data Sources. 2. Click New. 3. In the Edit pane, provide information about the data source and credentials to connect to it. 4. Click Accept. The data source is added to Apex, and Apex attempts to communicate with the data source. The Connection State indicator shows the connection status in real time; it is not necessary to refresh the web page. Note: No network trending data is transferred during this process. You must assign at least one data source to a business group to complete your configuration. This is because network trending data is only transferred to Apex Start using Apex Chapter 1: Understanding Apex 15

16 after a data source is assigned to a business group. For details, see How to assign data sources. How to create a business group Business groups can be created to organize your data sources by department, location, multi-tiered application, or for other reasons. A business group with data sources is required for widgets and dashboards to display data. To create a business group: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Business Groups. 2. Click New. 3. Type a name for your business group. 4. Ensure Trending Enabled and Selectable are selected if you plan to have this new business group selectable and able to retrieve data from data sources. 5. (Optional) If you want to combine other business groups into this business group, use a drag-and-drop operation in the Included Business Groups tab. 6. (Optional) If you want to immediately add data sources, complete the following: a. In the Edit pane, click the Data Sources tab. b. Move a probe instance from Available Data Sources to Selected Data Sources using a drag-and-drop operation. You can repeat the drag-and-drop operation to assign more data sources to the business group. 7. Click Accept. You successfully created a business group. You assigned, or will assign in the future, one or more data sources to the business group you created. All selectable business groups appear in a list in the upper-left corner of My Dashboards. How to assign a data source Data sources must be added to business groups before their data can be transferred to Apex. Prerequisite(s): You must have a data source before you can assign it to a business group. If you need to create a data source before continuing, see How to add a data source. To assign a data source: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Business Groups. 2. Begin editing a business group by clicking its name. 3. In the Edit pane, click the Data Sources tab. 4. Move a probe instance from Available Data Sources to Selected Data Sources using a drag-and-drop operation. You can repeat the drag-and-drop operation to assign more data sources to the business group. 5. Click Accept. 16 Start using Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

17 Apex contacts the data source to request and retrieve its trending data. The value of Data transfer delay (minutes) at Settings > General Settings controls the number of minutes to wait after Data transfer period (minutes) finishes before retrieving the trending data. For example, if Data transfer delay (minutes) is set to 2 minutes, trending data from your assigned data source will begin transferring two minutes after the data source has finished its statistics collection interval. How to create a dashboard You can report on metrics that matter to you and your organization. Do this by creating a dashboard and populating it with widgets. To create a dashboard and populate it with widgets: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Click Add. The dashboard designer starts, indicated by the words "Drag and drop a widget here" and the appearance of rightmost tabs. Figure 4: The dashboard designer can be identified by its rightmost tabs 3. Click the Widgets tab to show all available widgets. 4. (Optional) Add more places to drop widgets using the Add Rows tab. 5. From the list, move a widget to the dashboard using a drag-and-drop operation. 6. Click Accept. You successfully created a dashboard and populated it with one or more widgets. If data sources are configured and business groups are set, this dashboard will show data when run in the My Dashboards page. How to send log events as SNMP traps Events recorded in the Apex log can be sent as SNMP traps. Doing so allows you to monitor Apex activity and trigger automated processes to start when certain events occur. Add new SNMP trap recipients by completing the following steps: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Log Settings. 2. Select Export logged events to an SNMP Trap. The SNMP Trap Configuration area appears. Start using Apex Chapter 1: Understanding Apex 17

18 3. Provide details about your SNMP trap recipient(s) using the boxes and lists. 4. Click Accept. Events recorded in the Apex log will now be sent as SNMP traps to SNMP recipients. How to configure thresholds In Apex, the default thresholds are pre-configured, so additional setup is rarely needed. If necessary, you can change them to better reflect your network conditions. To configure a threshold: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Thresholds. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. The editing pane appears. 3. Edit one or more of the following choices: Threshold Type Threshold Type sets whether the threshold is crossed above or below its marginal and critical values. Marginal Value Marginal Value determines if a statistic is slightly out-of-range for your network. Based on Threshold Type, 'marginal' is either above or below this value, and widgets display a yellow color if a 'Marginal Value' is crossed. Performance based thresholds use actual values, while baseline thresholds use percentage values. Critical Value Critical Value determines if a statistic is greatly out-of-range for your network. Based on Threshold Type, 'critical' is either above or below this value, and widgets display a red color if a 'Critical Value' is crossed. Performance based thresholds use actual values, while baseline thresholds use percentage values. 4. Click Accept. You successfully configured a threshold to better reflect your network conditions. How to create a user User accounts allow people to view dashboards and create user widgets. Note: If you are using OMS, see How to add new users. The user name and password must be created there. Any user created in Apex is local to Apex. It is not connected in any way to a domain user account or local system account. If you want or require that sort of integration you must use OMS. Any local user wanting to log in to view or create dashboards must use the user name and password set here. To create a user: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Users. 2. Click 18. Start using Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

19 3. Complete the fields using the information in User settings if necessary. 4. Click Accept. The new user is created and is available to log in and begin using Apex. Start using Apex Chapter 1: Understanding Apex 19

20 2 Chapter 2: Activating and configuring Follow the specific details for installing the software and getting your product activated and configured. Licensing Licensing your product enables functionality and entitles you to support during your maintenance period. How to license Apex Apex is designed to be used as a server-based application. If Apex is installed along with an Observer Platform product but not licensed, you have Apex Lite. Apex Lite provides limited reporting capabilities. To license and activate Apex: 1. Install and launch the application. 2. Your default web browser will open to the following URL: localhost/oa If it does not, type the URL in the location bar of your web browser and press Enter. 3. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by your web browser to accept the self-signed security certificate. Your web browser must accept the self-signed security certificate to continue. 4. Type into the Contact/Department, Company, and License Information boxes exactly what is listed in your license document. 5. Click the License button. You successfully licensed and activated your product.

21 If licensing and activating your product remains unsuccessful, please contact Technical Support. How to send log events as SNMP traps Events recorded in the Apex log can be sent as SNMP traps. Doing so allows you to monitor Apex activity and trigger automated processes to start when certain events occur. Add new SNMP trap recipients by completing the following steps: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Log Settings. 2. Select Export logged events to an SNMP Trap. The SNMP Trap Configuration area appears. 3. Provide details about your SNMP trap recipient(s) using the boxes and lists. 4. Click Accept. Events recorded in the Apex log will now be sent as SNMP traps to SNMP recipients. How to modify baseline calculations Baselines help uncover how much a statistic has changed over time. You can change how much past information is used for these baseline calculations. To modify baseline calculations: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Thresholds. 2. Click Schedule. 3. Modify the Comparison Periods and Comparison Type to suit your needs. 4. Click Accept. Now any widgets that display a baseline metric will use the values above to calculate a baseline. General and data transfer settings Field Description Apex asset name This changeable name identifies Apex to other Viavi products. Data storage location Data transferred to Apex is stored in this directory. All dashboards are populated with the data inside. The default file path is C:\Program Files\Observer Apex \Data for software-only installations and D:\DATA if a hardware appliance. Data transfer period (minutes) The collection period in minutes. Data transfer delay (minutes) Sets the minutes to wait after completion of a data source statistics collection interval before the data is transferred to Apex. This value cannot be changed. Valid Input: Valid values are How to send log events as SNMP traps Chapter 2: Activating and configuring 21

22 Field Description Setting a delay can improve hard disk performance on the data source because data is transferred N-minutes after being written. Missing data files limit (days) Apex automatically retrieves up to this many previous days of data from data sources if any are missing. Valid Input: Valid values are This helps Apex recover 'missing' data from data sources if Apex experiences downtime, or when collecting data from a data source for the first time. 22 General and data transfer settings Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

23 3 Chapter 3: Gather data from your products Understanding data sources A data source is any Observer Platform product that feeds data into Observer Apex. Data sources are configured in Apex, by you, and assigned to one or more business groups. Data sources must be configured. Apex must be connected to data sources for the application's core features to operate. Adding a new data source tells Apex about a new Observer Platform product from which you want to get data. For example, one Observer Analyzer analyzer can be an aggregation point that gets data from several probes like a Observer GigaStor or Observer Suite. Data sources must be added to business groups. It is not enough to just configure a data source and have Apex automatically connect to it. To transfer the data collected by data sources to Apex, your chosen data sources must be added to a business group. How to add a data source Adding a new data source tells Apex about the Observer Platform product you want to get data from. At least one data source is needed for Apex to fully operate. To add a data source: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Data Sources. 2. Click New.

24 3. In the Edit pane, provide information about the data source and credentials to connect to it. 4. Click Accept. The data source is added to Apex, and Apex attempts to communicate with the data source. The Connection State indicator shows the connection status in real time; it is not necessary to refresh the web page. Note: No network trending data is transferred during this process. You must assign at least one data source to a business group to complete your configuration. This is because network trending data is only transferred to Apex after a data source is assigned to a business group. For details, see How to assign data sources. How to assign a data source Data sources must be added to business groups before their data can be transferred to Apex. Prerequisite(s): You must have a data source before you can assign it to a business group. If you need to create a data source before continuing, see How to add a data source. To assign a data source: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Business Groups. 2. Begin editing a business group by clicking its name. 3. In the Edit pane, click the Data Sources tab. 4. Move a probe instance from Available Data Sources to Selected Data Sources using a drag-and-drop operation. You can repeat the drag-and-drop operation to assign more data sources to the business group. 5. Click Accept. Apex contacts the data source to request and retrieve its trending data. The value of Data transfer delay (minutes) at Settings > General Settings controls the number of minutes to wait after Data transfer period (minutes) finishes before retrieving the trending data. For example, if Data transfer delay (minutes) is set to 2 minutes, trending data from your assigned data source will begin transferring two minutes after the data source has finished its statistics collection interval. How to edit a data source You can make edits to an existing data source if its IP address, DNS name, or user credentials have changed. This ensures continuity of its trending data even in cases when the address had changed. To edit a data source: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Data Sources. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. 24 Understanding data sources Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

25 3. In the Edit pane, provide information about the data source and credentials to connect to it. 4. Click Accept. You successfully edited a data source. If the connection is successful, widgets and dashboards that rely on data from this data source are provided the trending data. The Connection State indicator shows the connection status in real time; it is not necessary to refresh the web page. How to delete a data source Data sources can be deleted for any reason. Deleting a data source removes it from Apex, including any trending data that it already transferred. To delete a data source: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Data Sources. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. 3. Click Delete. 4. Click Yes to confirm. You successfully deleted a data source and its trending data. How to force the transfer of network trending data If you are unable to wait for trending data to automatically transfer, you can force its transfer. Apex frequently and automatically receives network trending data from data sources. Use this procedure if data transfer needs to be performed on-demand. To force the transfer of network trending data: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Data Sources. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. 3. Expand the Trending Data Commands area. 4. Click Get Latest Trending Data. The network trending data begins transferring to Apex. Apex should now have the latest network trending data. How to transfer older network trending data If you need to transfer trending data into Apex that is much older that what Apex currently has, you can do so. This allows you to view dashboards against much older reporting periods that, until now, you did not have trending data for. To transfer older network trending data: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Data Sources. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. 3. Expand the Trending Data Commands area. 4. Click either of the Time Range boxes Understanding data sources Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 25

26 5. Set your date and time range, and click OK. 6. Click Get Trending Data Range. The network trending data begins transferring to Apex. Apex should now have the network trending data that you specified. Data source settings Observer Type The Observer Platform application used as a data source must be specified. Observer Collect network trending data from a GigaStor, Observer, or Expert Probe. Name This name is configured and provided by the data source. Probe ID The unique probe ID generated during installation of Observer or Observer Infrastructure (OI), which it reported to Apex. Probe ID is not shown until the first time the asset connects. Connection State Displays the status of the network connection between Apex and this data source. This indicator always shows current information. You will not need to refresh the web page. The host address of the data source. Host Example: or- mintw028.example.net Valid Input: Valid addresses include IPv4, IPv6, or DNS name. Username This name is configured and provided by the data source. Password The password for the user name used to connect to this data source. These user names and passwords are maintained by the data source and not Apex. Understanding business groups Business groups are collections of data sources. By assembling multiple data sources into a logical grouping, you are creating a business group for that grouping. Business groups are a collection of data sources. Imagine you have 14 web servers across your network that are monitored by three different probe instances. You can create a business group that views the statistical data from those data sources the three probes instances. This allows you to view dashboards that combine the metrics from those web servers. Data sources only transfer trending data after being placed into a business group. It is not enough to add a data source to Apex and have Apex connect to it. To actually transfer data from your data sources, the data sources must be assigned to one or more business groups. This must be done for widgets and dashboards to show any data. Business groups can contain these data sources: 26 Probe instances from Observer Suite analyzer, GigaStor, and other probes. Understanding business groups Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

27 Business groups can include other business groups. Business groups can be nested. This allows you the option of making smaller, more manageable business groups and still have them act as one large business group. How to create a business group Business groups can be created to organize your data sources by department, location, multi-tiered application, or for other reasons. A business group with data sources is required for widgets and dashboards to display data. To create a business group: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Business Groups. 2. Click New. 3. Type a name for your business group. 4. Ensure Trending Enabled and Selectable are selected if you plan to have this new business group selectable and able to retrieve data from data sources. 5. (Optional) If you want to combine other business groups into this business group, use a drag-and-drop operation in the Included Business Groups tab. 6. (Optional) If you want to immediately add data sources, complete the following: a. In the Edit pane, click the Data Sources tab. b. Move a probe instance from Available Data Sources to Selected Data Sources using a drag-and-drop operation. You can repeat the drag-and-drop operation to assign more data sources to the business group. 7. Click Accept. You successfully created a business group. You assigned, or will assign in the future, one or more data sources to the business group you created. All selectable business groups appear in a list in the upper-left corner of My Dashboards. How to nest a business group A business group can be arranged so the data sources available to one business group can include those from other business groups. This is accomplished by nesting one or more business groups together. To nest one business group into another: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Business Groups. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. The business group is now editable. 3. In the Edit pane, click the Included Business Groups tab. 4. Move a business group from Available to Included Groups using a drag-anddrop operation. You can repeat the drag-and-drop operation to nest more business groups into this business group. Your business group is now including the business groups that you specified. Data sources from those nested business groups can be brought in. Understanding business groups Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 27

28 How to hide a business group Business groups can be hidden to avoid accidentally selecting them. This is useful when the purpose of one business group is to be part of another business group called nesting but it should not be directly selectable by users. A hidden business group performs all its normal functions. The only difference is that it cannot be selected from the list shown to users. There is typically no need to hide a business group unless it is nested in another business group. To hide a business group: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Business Groups. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. The business group is now editable. 3. In the Edit pane, click the Business Group Settings tab. 4. Clear Selectable. 5. Click Accept. This business group can no longer be selected from the business group list. Presumably, the business group you hid is hidden because it is not meant to be selected directly, which may be the case if you are nesting business groups. How to halt a business group from retrieving data To stop a business group from retrieving data, you can disable the business group. While the business group is disabled, any data that was already retrieved can still be used by widgets and dashboards. To halt a business group from retrieving data: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Business Groups. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. The business group is now editable. 3. Under the Business Group Settings tab, clear Trending Enabled. If cleared, this business group is disabled. While disabled, no trending data is retrieved from its configured data sources. Previously transferred trending data remains usable by widgets and dashboards. 4. Click Accept. You successfully disabled a business group. How to add the GigaStor for drill-down You must have a GigaStor configured with one or more GigaStor probe instances. To add the GigaStor for drill-down: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > GigaStor Integration. 2. Click New. The New GigaStor Integration Entry pane appears. 3. (Optional) Select a business group from the Business Group list. 28 Understanding business groups Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

29 4. Under the Configure Mapping area, type details into theasset IP/DNS, Username and Set password boxes. 5. Click Configure. 6. Choose the desired GigaStor instance from the list. 7. Click Accept. GigaStor integration settings Business Group Business group to map for GigaStor drill-downs. Data Source Data source to map for drill-downs. Probe for GigaStor drill-downs. Instance Probe instance to map for GigaStor drill-downs. Asset IP/DNS The IP address or DNS name of the remote Observer containing a list of GigaStor probes. Username The user name for the user. Set password The password of the user. Configure Clicking Configure connects to the remote Observer and lists its GigaStor probe instances. GigaStor Probe Instances GigaStor instance to map to data source. Business group settings Name The name of this business group. Description Descriptions are optional and displayed in the Business Groups table. Filter Trending Enabled If cleared, this business group is disabled. While disabled, no trending data is retrieved from its configured data sources. Previously transferred trending data remains usable by widgets and dashboards. Any other enabled business group configured to use some or all of the same data sources will still retrieve data. Selectable If cleared, users cannot select this business group from the list, but the business group remains fully functional. Clearing this box is useful when this business group is included in a different business group. Understanding dashboards A dashboard is a report populated with widgets, and these widgets show the information collected by your data sources. Dashboards are reports populated with widgets. Your reports your dashboards are populated with one or many widgets. The data shown by widgets in your dashboards belongs to Observer. To make use of dashboards, Observer must be collecting network trending data and be a data source to Apex. Without trending data, Apex will not have any data for the widgets in a dashboard. Understanding dashboards Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 29

30 Figure 5: An Apex dashboard populated with five widgets System dashboards are available "out-of-the-box" for you and cannot be modified. Dashboards that are pre-made by Viavi are available to you as system dashboards. System dashboards are identical in function to dashboards you create on your own, but they cannot be modified. Additionally, system dashboards provide broad information and are useful for high-level analytics. A temporary filter can be used while viewing system dashboards, but a permanent filter cannot be added. Dashboards can be filtered. Any dashboard can have an always-on filter written into its properties. Dashboard filters force every widget in a dashboard to display only information that meets the filter. For example, you can filter a dashboard so that its widgets show statistics from a specific subnet only. Or you can filter a dashboard to search for a telephone number used in a VoIP conversation. A dashboard filter can be applied to the design of the dashboard itself (alwaysfiltered), applied during viewing of the dashboard (temporary), or applied as a combination of the two. User dashboards are only viewable by you. Each newly created dashboard is considered a user dashboard. User dashboards are unique to the user that logged in to Apex and created it, and it can only be viewed and modified by that user. To share a user dashboard with other Apex users, the creator must promote the dashboard. A promoted dashboard becomes a site dashboard that is viewable by other users. A promoted dashboard cannot be demoted. Promoting a dashboard does not simultaneously promote user widgets. This means you can promote a user dashboard to a site dashboard without promoting the underlying user widgets if any exist. This protects your personal user widgets from being altered and changed by others. If you want to share a 30 Understanding dashboards Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

31 dashboard with others (by promotion) and also allow changes to those widgets, the widgets must be promoted to site widgets. How to create a dashboard You can report on metrics that matter to you and your organization. Do this by creating a dashboard and populating it with widgets. To create a dashboard and populate it with widgets: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Click Add. The dashboard designer starts, indicated by the words "Drag and drop a widget here" and the appearance of rightmost tabs. Figure 6: The dashboard designer can be identified by its rightmost tabs 3. Click the Widgets tab to show all available widgets. 4. (Optional) Add more places to drop widgets using the Add Rows tab. 5. From the list, move a widget to the dashboard using a drag-and-drop operation. 6. Click Accept. You successfully created a dashboard and populated it with one or more widgets. If data sources are configured and business groups are set, this dashboard will show data when run in the My Dashboards page. How to promote a dashboard To share a user dashboard with other Apex users, the creator must promote the dashboard. A promoted dashboard becomes a site dashboard that is viewable by other users. A promoted dashboard cannot be demoted. User dashboards are only viewable by you. Each newly created dashboard is considered a user dashboard. User dashboards are unique to the user that logged in to and created it, and it can only be viewed and modified by that user. Site dashboards are not viewable by anyone using Apex Lite. To promote a dashboard: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Click Promote. The dashboard is immediately promoted. Understanding dashboards Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 31

32 Note: If you accidentally promote a dashboard that you wanted to keep as a user dashboard, export the site dashboard, delete the site dashboard, then import your exported dashboard file. You successfully promoted a dashboard and it is now viewable by others. How to export a dashboard Every dashboard can be exported to a downloadable file. The file can be used for many purposes, such as archival, back ups, or to import back into Apex. The exported dashboard contains the properties, layout, and widget selections of the dashboard you are viewing, but it does not contain the underlying report data. All widgets referenced in the dashboard are included in the exported file. An issue may arise if some of the exported widgets are user widgets and the user account importing a dashboard is a different user. Ideally, all widgets on your dashboard are site widgets so that they can be shared. This process is not related to saving your dashboard as a PDF. That information is located at How to save a dashboard as PDF. Note: The exported dashboard file may contain sensitive information. This is especially true of the dashboard name and description, which are included in clear text inside the exported file. To export a dashboard: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Select a dashboard from the leftmost pane by clicking it. 3. Click Export. A file download begins in your web browser. The dashboard was successfully exported to a file and saved to a hard disk. How to import a dashboard Any dashboard that was previously exported can be imported into Apex. This creates a full dashboard, including its properties, layout, and widget selections, that existed when it was originally saved. To import a dashboard: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Click Import. If you select a dashboard, this button becomes hidden. Click Discard to deselect a dashboard if this happens. A file prompt appears in your web browser. 3. Locate a dashboard file (file extension.oad) and upload it. 4. (Optional) If the Import Conflict prompt appears, you must fix these the conflicts and click Finish Import. You successfully imported a dashboard into Apex. Any widgets included in the dashboard were also imported and appear as user widgets. 32 Understanding dashboards Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

33 How to filter a dashboard Filtering a dashboard helps you isolate just the object of interest for you, such as a specific application, IP or MAC address, or telephone number in a VoIP conversation. You can choose to permanently filter a dashboard or temporarily filter it using an ad hoc filter. An ad hoc filter is typed in the filter box at the top of a dashboard. It searches through the data in the widgets and displays any matching results. It remains in effect until it is cleared. Figure 7: Ad hoc filter dashboard for telephone number To permanently filter a dashboard: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Select a dashboard from the lefmost pane by clicking it. The dashboard is now editable. 3. Click Properties in the rightmost tabs. 4. Type filter criteria into the Dashboard Filter box. For more information about filters, see Apex Filters. 5. Click Accept. The dashboard is now filtered. The permanent filter remains in effect on the dashboard at all times. How to save a dashboard as PDF You can save what a dashboard is currently showing you by saving it as a PDF. Apex has a feature for producing a PDF in just a few clicks. To save a dashboard as a PDF: 1. In the web interface, click My Dashboards. 2. Click a dashboard, from the leftmost panel, to view it. 3. Set your data source, reporting period, and apply any temporary dashboard filters (if desired). The goal is getting your dashboard to show the data you want saved in a PDF. Understanding dashboards Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 33

34 4. Click PDF. 5. In the dialog box that appears, configure how the PDF should appear. 6. Click OK. The PDF is being generated for your dashboard. After it generates, the PDF becomes available for download. All time values are specified in UTC using the ISO8601 time format: " T04:06:16Z". The Z at the end of the format indicates that there is no time offset from UTC. UTC does not observe summer time (daylight savings time). It is also possible that UTC may be several hours different from your local time. The web UI client uses its local browser time, but all API requests use UTC. How to delete a dashboard You can delete a dashboard to permanently remove it from Apex. If you have authorization to delete dashboards, you can delete site dashboards and your own user dashboards. Deleting a user dashboard removes it from your user, while deleting a site dashboard removes it from all users. Note: System dashboards cannot be deleted. 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Select a dashboard from the leftmost pane by clicking it. 3. Click Delete. 4. Confirm the deletion by clicking Yes. You successfully deleted the dashboard, and it was permanently removed from Apex. If you deleted a site dashboard, no users will be able to view that dashboard. Understanding dashboard times Dashboards are very time sensitive. The data that appears on a dashboard changes or updates when the time frame changes. This can lead to different results. If your dashboard time frame is too short, your network may look better (or worse) than it actually is. A dashboard may take some time to load if you loading a longer period of time that contains a lot of data and reporting intervals. The data and reporting intervals used are determined by the time frame selected at the top of the dashboard. Data on the dashboard only changes when a new time frame is selected or when you manually reload it; it does not automatically update. 34 Understanding dashboards Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

35 Figure 8: Dashboard time frame Custom Last Allows you to create a unique time frame from minutes to years. Hour: If the current time is 11:48, then last hour is 10:00-11: Hours: If the current time is 11:48, then last twelve hours is 23:00 to 11:00. Day: If today is Wednesday, then last day is Tuesday. Week: If today is Wednesday, then last week is from two Sundays ago to the most recent Saturday. Month: If this month is August, then last month is July. This Hour: If the current time is 11:48, then this hour is 11:00-11: Hours: If the current time is 11:48, then last twelve hours is 23:00 to 11:00. Day: If today is Wednesday, then last day is Tuesday. Week: If today is Wednesday, then last week is from two Sundays ago to the most recent Saturday. Month: If this month is August, then last month is July. To Date Week: If today is Wednesday, then To Date is Sunday until now on Wednesday. Month: If today is August 22, then To Date is August 1 until August 22. Trailing Hour: If the current time is 11:48, then trailing hour is 10:49-11: Hours: If the current time is 11:48, then trailing twelve hours is 23:49 to 11:48 (now). Day: If today is Wednesday at 11:48, then trailing day is from Tuesday (yesterday) at 0:00 to 11:48 Wednesday (now). Week: If today is Wednesday at 11:48, then trailing week is from last Wednesday at 0:00 to now. Month: If today is August 22, then trailing month is July 23 to August 22. Additional Apex dashboards Use these contributed dashboards to quickly enhance how you use Apex to troubleshoot network, application, and server issues in your environment. Importing a user-contributed dashboard A dashboard s file extension is.oad. When you import a dashboard, it is a user dashboard and only viewable by you. If you want others to be able to use of the Understanding dashboards Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 35

36 information displayed on these dashboards you must promote each one to a site dashboard. 1. Right-click any dashboard name from the table and save the.oad file to your system. 2. Import the dashboard. See How to import a dashboard. 3. (Optional) Promote the dashboard. See How to promote a dashboard. List of user-contributed dashboards Right-click the dashboard name to save the file to your system. 36 Dashboard name Description Network Performance Apex Lite compatible? Created in Helps you determine if network roundtrip and latency are impacting server response time to users. It focuses on networkcentric information like network latency and delay, network roundtrip, device byte counts, retransmissions, and utilization. See Is it the network? Yes Server Performance Helps you determine if a server is impacting performance and is having slow response times that are affecting users. See Is it the server? Yes Application Transaction Analysis Helps you determine if application transaction Yes Understanding dashboards Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version Sample/ Layout

37 Dashboard name Description Apex Lite compatible? Created in Device Health Analysis Comprehensive network, server, and application information for a device, all in one dashboard. It also shows detailed application performance between a client/ server pair for in-depth analysis. Yes VoIP/UC Analysis Summaries for VoIP/ UC Analysis performance. Yes Web/HTTP Analysis Details from an HTTP perspective. Yes Forensic search table Shows data source, client and server IP and MAC addresses, IP protocol, link protocol, completed and dropped requests, observed connections, Yes response times and application error conditions and the impact they can have on application server response times are the source of the problem affecting users. See Is it the application? Sample/ Layout Understanding dashboards Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 37

38 38 Dashboard name Description Apex Lite compatible? Created in VoIP/UC search table Shows VoIP calls by name, number, IP type, station, jitter (ms) maximum, average packet loss, codec, and data source. Yes Forensic ADM Shows total requests between network devices in a map layout. Perfect for focused searching and troubleshooting! No Multi-tier system analysis Intended to track performance of multitiered applications using an application dependencymap at top for identification with client/ server/ applicationfocused tables below to identify application and inter-tier performance issues based on network response time, application request times, and application response times. No and packets sent (client and server) in a table. Understanding dashboards Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version Sample/ Layout

39 Dashboard name Description Traffic sent/ received by site or subnet Sample/ Layout Apex Lite compatible? Created in Having both bits/sec and % util on the same dashboard you get to see the actual traffic rate and you can calculate the total bandwidth. Yes Alarms 1 A dashboard showing the current status of web response times with a table of the corresponding data. Current status and entries are shown for database and SQL averages, file server and CIFS/ SMB response times, and VoIP MOS average and VoIP quality. No Alarms 2 Another dashboard showing HTTP, SQL, file server, data center, VoIP, and application status. No Understanding widgets Widgets are tables, graphs, pie charts, and more, made to display information collected by Observer Platform products. For widgets to have any effect, they must be put into dashboards. Widgets are the building blocks of your dashboards. Every widget type is designed to help you better understand the traffic of your network. For example, the graph widget type could help you visualize traffic over time, while a chart widget type could display which protocols contributed most of the traffic during the report period. Understanding widgets Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 39

40 Figure 9: The Widget Properties tab Widgets show the data collected by other products. Widgets show the data collected by data sources. Data sources are your other Observer Platform products. This retrieved data, from data sources, is parsed by Apex and displayed in dashboards that include the widget. Without dashboards to operate inside, widgets will not show any data. System widgets are available "out-of-the-box" and cannot be modified. Widgets that were created by Viavi are available to you as system widgets. System widgets are identical in function to widgets you create on your own, but system widgets cannot be modified. As your teams become comfortable with creating their own widgets, you might develop less reliance on these. We recommend using system widgets as needed, and even exploring how the system widgets were created can aid your learning about Apex! Widgets can be filtered. The purpose of widget filtering is to narrow the scope of reported criteria, so the end result, like a graph, is specific and easily understood by viewers. Any widget can have a filter written directly into its design. Widget filters force the widget to display only information that meets the filter. For example, you can filter a widget so that it shows statistics from only specific applications or ports. The filter can be applied to the design of the widget itself, which creates always-filtered results when viewing that widget. You can combine a widget filter with other filtering techniques, such as filtering the dashboard or business group, to further filter your results. The widget retains its filter regardless of the dashboards it is placed into. Finally, filtering a widget will not displace or modify your underlying data. 40 Understanding widgets Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

41 The same widget can be put into different dashboards. Widgets can be reused by any number of dashboards. For example, if a widget is placed in one dashboard, the widget can also be put into a different dashboard. Each "instance" of a widget behaves exactly the same regardless of the dashboard, or dashboards, it was placed into. There are some exceptions, however. One example is if a dashboard or business group is being filtered, the information shown by the widget is influenced by the filter. Under these circumstances, it is possible for the same widget to display different information based on the filter of its parent dashboard or business group. How to create a widget You can create a widget to track the performance of your networks. The completed widget should be added to a dashboard. To create a widget: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Widget Library. 2. Click Add. If you select a widget, this button becomes hidden. Click Discard to de-select the widget. 3. Use the menus and options shown to configure a widget. You can click the Next and Previous buttons to navigate through these menus, or you can click the tabs. 4. Save your widget by clicking the Edit Fields tab and clicking Finish. You successfully created a widget that can be added to a dashboard. How to add a widget to a dashboard To add a widget to a dashboard: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Select a dashboard from the list by clicking one. 3. If there are no empty slots in the dashboard, add more by clicking Add Rows and choosing an option. An empty slot is necessary whenever adding a widget. 4. Click Widgets to display a list of available widgets. 5. Place a widget into an empty slot using a drag-and-drop operation. You successfully added a widget to a dashboard. When viewing this dashboard, the widget that was added will display its metrics. How to filter a widget You can filter individual widgets if desired. Meaning, the smallest building-blocks of your dashboards, like tables and graph widgets, can be filtered to focus on specific portions of your network, protocols, and more. The intended purpose of widget filtering is to narrow the scope of report criteria, so the end result (like a graph) is specific and easily understood by viewers. Filtering a widget does not displace or modify any underlying network trending data. Understanding widgets Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 41

42 To filter a widget: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Widget Library. 2. Select a widget from the leftmost pane by clicking it. The widget is now editable. 3. Ensure the Widget Properties tab is selected. 4. Type filter criteria into the Filter box. For more information about filters, see Apex Filters. 5. Click Accept. The widget now has a filter. Anywhere the widget is used any dashboard the filter remains in effect. How to edit a widget Editing a widget changes its behavior in any dashboard it is used in. You can edit a widget at any time. To edit a widget: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Widget Library. 2. Select a widget from the leftmost pane by clicking it. The widget is now editable. 3. Use the menus and options shown to configure a widget. You can click the Next and Previous buttons to navigate through these menus, or you can click the tabs. 4. Click Accept. The widget was successfully edited. Any dashboard the widget is used in will immediately reflect your changes. How to export a widget Every widget can be exported to a downloadable file. The file can be used for many purposes, such as archival, back ups, or to import back into Apex. The exported widget contains all the properties, fields selections, and configuration of the widget you are viewing. Note: The exported widget file may contain sensitive information. This is especially true of the widget title and customized names for fields, which are included in clear text inside the exported file. To export a widget: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Widget Library. 2. Select a widget from the leftmost pane by clicking it. 3. Click Export. A file download begins in your web browser. The widget was successfully exported to a file and saved to a hard disk. 42 Understanding widgets Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

43 How to import a widget Any widget that was previously exported can be imported into Apex. This creates a full widget, including its properties and field selections, that existed when it was originally saved. To import a widget: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Dashboard Library. 2. Click Import. If you select a widget, this button becomes hidden. Click Discard to de-select the widget. A file prompt appears in your web browser. 3. Locate a widget file (file extension.oaw) and upload it. 4. (Optional) If the Import Conflict prompt appears, you must fix these the conflicts and click Finish Import. You successfully imported a widget into Apex. How to delete a widget Deleting a widget removes it from every dashboard it is used in, and it also deletes the widget entirely from Apex. Note: System widgets cannot be deleted from Apex. To delete a widget: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Widget Library. 2. Select a widget from the leftmost pane by clicking it. The widget is now editable. 3. Click Delete. 4. Confirm the deletion by clicking Yes. The widget was successfully deleted from Apex. Understanding key fields A key field provides context for your measurements. For example, measuring Bits Received from your web server can be helpful, but it is extra helpful to categorize those bits received by the application used. Application is a key field that makes this happen. Understanding widgets Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 43

44 Figure 10: Editing a widget - this is where you select key fields Most widgets have no context until a key field is added. Most measurements your data sources collect and pass to Apex are just numbers they are pieces of information. After you give the numbers some context, like a key field will do, you begin to create knowledge. This is the difference between knowing your average VoIP MOS score is low and determining which UC Manager is responsible for lowering the average. Generally, you can think of key fields as legends, like the legends included in a bar graph. That statement is not always true, though, because it depends on the widget type you choose to use. For example, status widgets do not even use key fields. Here are some examples of where key fields are seen: Bar graphs by summary the key fields combine to represent each bar. Line graphs by time the key fields combine to represent each line. Pie charts the key fields combine to represent each piece of pie. Tables by summary each key field is a column, and even the data fields get columns too. Adding more than one key field is acceptable. Suppose you want to see packet volume over time by application. Your data field would be Packets/ sec Total and your key field Application. But what if you want more than just packet volume over time by application? What if it is important to know the MAC address as well? Just add MAC Address - Client and/or MAC Address - Server as key fields, depending on which endpoints are important to you. If you were editing a table widget, the table would begin showing the MAC addresses. Filters will interact with your chosen key fields, and sometimes that is unwelcome. For example, having a key field of VLAN Tag ID and a dashboard or widget filter that ignores all measurements from VLAN 1, VLAN 2, and VLAN 3, can show you VLAN tag IDs from VLAN 4 or greater only. Maybe this is what you intend, but sometimes it might cause confusion or negatively influence your understanding. Widget settings Widget settings determine what your widget looks like, what type it is, how many items appear in the widget, and more. Title 44 The name of this widget. The name shows on the widget when viewed in a dashboard. Understanding widgets Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

45 Widget titles are all you see when making dashboards, so be descriptive. Widget Type Build a widget from one of several base types. For details about widget types, see Widget types and categories. Reporting Interval Reporting Interval controls how data is displayed by this widget. Summary Sum of all values collected during the reporting period By Time Individual values collected during the reporting period Graph Type Sets or changes the graph type. Max Items Sets the maximum number of results drawn in the widget even if more results are available. Valid Input: Valid values are The default is 10. The types of items drawn differ between widget types and field combinations. Filter Filter strings can be added to narrow your results. For details about filter strings, see Apex filters. Hide empty columns If selected, this widget hides fields that contain no data. Fields can hide if no data was collected or no activity occurred during the reporting period. Widget types and categories Each widget type displays information differently. Table widgets report any type of data by summary or by time. Reporting Interval controls how data is displayed by this widget. Graph widgets expose trends and correlations hidden in your data. Chart widgets illustrate the distribution of a total value. Status widgets provide the best indication of current performance. ADM widgets display the observed dependencies of a multi-tier application, such as the servers involved and clients served. Understanding status widgets Status widgets show current performance or current performance relative to a known baseline. There are important differences to be aware of when looking at a status widget. First, you must know whether you are looking at a widget showing actual current performance or a widget showing current performance relative to a baseline. Second, you must be aware of the From/To time frame for the entire dashboard because all widgets and especially baseline widgets are based on the time frame (and the number of data periods) in the time frame. Third, baseline status widgets show a numeric value, but whether that value is green, yellow, or red is determined by the percentage difference in the variance from the baseline value. Widget types and categories Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 45

46 Performance widgets are also green, yellow, or red, but their status is determined by whether the current value is higher or lower than threshold value for that category. Whether the widget is green, yellow, or red is based This is a subtle but important distinction between performance widgets and baseline widgets. When a status widget combines multiple data fields the status shown is for the worst-performing component. For example, consider a status widget for an application. That application is really comprised of a database, some middleware, and several servers. Each one of those components has its own status. If any one of them shows a yellow or red status, then the top-level application status will also show yellow or red based on the worst performing component. In case there are multiple statuses that are equally bad, then the top-level status shows the worst of the worst. This is so you know where to focus your attention first. When no current value is available for a status widget, the widget displays a No data message. For baseline status widgets, if there is a current value but no baseline is available, the widget appears grayed out with the current value also shown as gray. If a status widget s current value and its threshold data are zero (0), the widget will either be green or red depending on the above or below threshold setting. Figure 11: Status Dial and Arc Understanding an application dependency map (ADM) An application dependency map widget (ADM) allows you to discover and map the connections responsible for a functioning multi-tier application. Multi-tiered applications typically rely on multiple servers passing information. In complex network environments, it can be difficult to track or realize the dependency one server has on another server. The application dependency map element can help expose those dependencies. 46 Understanding an application dependency map (ADM) Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

47 For example, you may have legacy equipment in your network environment. This equipment has been on your network for years, but what exactly is it responsible for? Would removing it from the network harm any existing applications and solutions? The answers may have been lost over time, but Apex can help you understand those dependencies before you act. Visualizing the components of multi-tier applications Using data from Application Performance Analysis, multi-tier applications can be automatically parsed and visualized as a diagram. Each diagram displays the observed dependencies of a multi-tier application, such as the servers involved and clients served. The workflow requires steps be performed from Libraries > Dashboard Library and some steps while viewing the widget from My Dashboards. These are the high-level steps required: 1. Add a application dependency map widget to a new or existing dashboard. For details, see How to create an application dependency widget. 2. Begin your discovery from the widget. For details, see How to operate an application dependency widget. The connecting lines interact with the thresholds set in Settings > Thresholds. Green lines indicate no marginal or critical threshold has been crossed. Understanding an application dependency map (ADM) Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 47

48 Yellow lines indicate a marginal threshold has been crossed. Red lines indicate a critical threshold has been crossed. How to create an application dependency widget An ADM widget must be created and added to a dashboard before it can be fully configured and viewed. To create an application dependency map widget: 1. In the web interface, click Libraries > Widget Library. 2. Click Add. 3. Under Widget Type, click the ADM widget type. 4. Use the menus and options shown to create a widget. You can click the Next and Previous buttons to navigate through these menus, or you can click the tabs. 5. Save your widget by clicking the Edit Fields tab and clicking Finish. You successfully created an ADM widget. The ADM widget can be added to a dashboard and then configured to operate. How to operate an application dependency widget After adding an application dependency map widget to a dashboard, further use of the widget now occurs while viewing the dashboard. Prerequisite(s): These steps assume you have already added an application dependency map widget to your dashboard and are viewing that dashboard from My Dashboards. For details, see How to create an application dependency widget. To operate an application dependency map widget: 1. In the web interface, click My Dashboards. 2. In the leftmost panel, click any dashboard that includes an ADM widget. 3. Unlock the ADM widget by clicking the Lock icon in the upper-right corner of the ADM widget. Some new icons and functionalities now appear. 4. Click. The Discover Servers window appears, allowing you to configure the criteria for your server search. 5. Set the criteria for your server search as broad or narrow as necessary, and click OK to start the discovery. For example, to discover all stations that used LDAP or MySQL this week, type LDAP, MySQL into the Application(s) box. Then click inside the Time Range box and select This and Week from the resulting prompt and click OK. 6. Select the servers of interest from the resulting list, and click OK to add them to the ADM widget. 48 Understanding an application dependency map (ADM) Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

49 7. Right-click any of the servers (nodes) that appear in the ADM widget, and click Discover Connections. 8. Select the servers or clients of interest from the resulting list, and click OK to add them to the ADM widget. This process should be repeated for every server node of interest. Connecting lines appear between the original node and its servers and clients, exposing the relationships between the addresses. 9. When you are finished, click the Save icon in the upper-right corner of the ADM widget. 10. Lock the ADM widget by clicking the Lock icon in the upper-right corner of the ADM widget. The connecting lines interact with the thresholds set in Settings > Thresholds and the reporting interval. Each line can be clicked for additional information. After you are finished, you can rearrange the nodes on the ADM widget by clicking and dragging. The widget must be unlocked for rearrangements to be made. Understanding scheduled reports A scheduled report is a report that is sent out by at specified times. You can specify what is included; who should get the report; and how often it will be sent. Scheduled reports are static, which means they do not change even if the underlying data changes. A PDF attachment is sent to recipients specified in the scheduled report, and the content inside the PDF is a snapshot of data from your dashboard and data source. Using the Apex web interface, you can also find the data dynamically, but having Apex do so automatically is a convenient way to get information without having to search for it. It simply arrives in your inbox. The scheduled report contains data for the time frame you selected, relative to the time you set the scheduled report to execute. So when creating a scheduled report, you must specify the report schedule intervals, which are the times the report executes and a PDF is prepared. For most of these schedule intervals, there are Execution Frequency and Execution Period lists that must be configured to your liking. For example, if you schedule the report to execute every one hour (Execution Frequency is 1 Hour) for the last one hour (Execution Period is Last 1 Hour) from 13:00 to 15:00, it will execute at 13:00 against trending data from the time period 12:00-13:00; at 14:00 for the period 13:00-14:00; and at 15:00 for the period 14:00-15:00. The scheduled report itself will typically be sent to recipients about minutes after each execution, to allow time for the data to be transferred the wait is usually Data transfer period (minutes) plus Data transfer delay (minutes) but the data it runs against is from your specified times, always. Understanding scheduled reports Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 49

50 Figure 12: Execution times from our example Optionally, a filter can be applied to any scheduled report. The filter on your scheduled report is in addition to other applicable filters like dashboard filters and widget filters. The scheduled report filter takes effect after all other filters, so it is equivalent to using the ad hoc filter that looks like a search box when viewing dashboards normally. If the business group or dashboard selected in your scheduled report is deleted, the scheduled report is also deleted. For example, if you delete a business group from which three scheduled reports are using, all three scheduled reports will be deleted. These deletion events appear in the event log, but no explicit notifications of deletions are sent to the recipients. How to create a scheduled report A scheduled report is a snapshot of a dashboard that is sent out by at specified times. recipients can then view the dashboard as a PDF. To create a scheduled report: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Scheduled Reports. 2. Click New. 3. Configure the options for your scheduled report. See Scheduled report options for reference. 4. Click Accept. 50 Understanding scheduled reports Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

51 You successfully created a scheduled report. During each scheduled time frame, a PDF is created and an is sent to recipients. How to edit scheduled reports After creating a scheduled report, you may need to periodically edit it to meet your needs. To edit a scheduled report: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Scheduled Reports. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. 3. Make any edits you need. 4. Click Accept. You successfully edited a scheduled report, and the changes take effect immediately. Scheduled report options There are several options that affect your scheduled reports. Scheduled Report Name The name of this scheduled report. Business Group The business group must be specified. Dashboard Sets which dashboard a scheduled report is made from. Filter Filter strings can be added to narrow your results. PDF Orientation Sets the orientation of the PDF output. PDF Layout Sets how widgets are displayed in the resulting PDF. addresses Scheduled reports are sent to the specified address or addresses. Example: chris@example.com -orchris@example.com;pat@example.com multiple recipients by separating each address with a semi-colon ';' or comma ','. Report Schedule Set the times and days when this scheduled report executes. Understanding scheduled reports Chapter 3: Gather data from your products 51

52 4 Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading How to install Apex Apex is an intelligent reporting solution that users connect to using a web browser. We recommend you install Apex on a server or rack-mounted appliance. Prerequisite(s): Ensure you have the latest version of Apex before continuing. Download the latest version from our FTP site: ftp://ftp.observer.viavisolutions.com/pub/ downloads/observer/ Apex can only be installed on computers that use one of these operating systems: Windows Vista (64-bit SP1 or higher) Windows 7 (64-bit SP1 or higher) Windows bit Windows Server 2003 Enterprise, Standard, Web (64-bit SP3 or higher) Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Standard, Web (64-bit SP2 or higher) Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, Standard, Web (SP1 or higher) Windows Server bit Caution: Do not uninstall your product prior to or after upgrading unless you intend to remove the product from your system. Beginning with Observer Platform 17.0, each Observer Platform product creates a security certificate that uniquely identifies it when it is installed. If you uninstall your product prior to upgrading, you will lose the trust relationship established by the security certificate and must re-authenticate. Uninstalling and reinstalling creates a new certificate. The new certificate

53 will be automatically rejected by other Observer Platform products that had had a pre-existing association with the asset ID of the reinstalled software. For more details about the certificates, see Understanding the certificate trust model. To install Apex: We recommend backing up your existing installation if applicable. Simply run the self-extracting executable and follow the installation prompts. You may be prompted to license the application during its first launch. This can happen when performing a clean installation, such as after a hard drive reformat. Provide your credentials if prompted. Understanding your deployment strategy To use Apex effectively, you must understand how you have data sources deployed in your network. Where you install Apex, Observer Suite, and probes will depend on the size and traffic levels of your network. In general,high-traffic installations should have a dedicated Apex system, resulting in a three-tier distribution of Apex functionality: Apex Observer Suite analyzer(s) Probe instances that actually collect the data We highly recommend that any probe, Observer Suite, or Observer Infrastructure (OI) be installed on a system with a static IP address. Having a dynamic address may cause confusion with reports should the address for a system change. It becomes very difficult to correlate problems or history when addresses change. Tip! Create a unique probe instance on every probe that will be used for the sole purpose of collecting network trending data for Apex and call it Apex instance. Example 1. For larger networks or heavier traffic For larger networks, or networks with heavy traffic,apex can be installed on a different system than the Observer Analyzer analyzer used to collect network trending statistics. This forms a three-tier collection and reporting hierarchy with probes passing information to Observer and Observer passing information to Apex. Example 2. For smaller networks or lighter traffic For smaller networks, or networks with light traffic, the Apex appliance has Apex and Observer Suite pre-loaded to form a two-tier collection/reporting hierarchy. Installing the Apex appliance Getting your appliance installed is the first step to greater visibility of your network. This topic covers installing your appliance in the cabinet and connecting it to your network. How to install Apex Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading 53

54 Caution: Do not attempt in-cabinet repairs of your appliance. The appliance is very heavy! 1. Take the appliance and all other components out of their packing materials. 2. Install the rail kits. See How to install the Viavi rail kits. 3. Install the appliance into the rails in your cabinet. Caution! The appliance is heavy. Lift with care. Do not turn on the appliance yet. 4. Install the drives into your Apex appliance. The RAID is pre-built and each drive must be installed in a very specific location. To install a drive, slide the drive in until it clicks firmly in place. See Installing the drives in your Viavi appliance for details. 5. Use the Ethernet cable to connect the management network interface card (NIC) in the appliance to the network. The next step is to set the appliance s IP address. How to install the Viavi rail kits Viavi rail kits are used with its 2U and 5U 19 inch rack-mounted appliances in four post L-bracket or U-bracket cabinets. Prerequisite(s): Identify whether the mounting posts in your cabinet are an L-bracket or Ubracket. This determines whether you must use the U-extension. If they look like a "U" (Figure 15), you have a U-bracket cabinet. If the mounting posts in your cabinet look like an "L" (Figure 16), you have an L-bracket cabinet. The Uextension is only used in L-bracket cabinets to provide extra length and support due to the weight of some of the appliances. The appliance ships with the long rail component attached. This provides a useful handhold when unpacking these larger appliances. Viavi manufactures its rails using high-grade, heavy duty materials. The parts of the rail kit include: Long rail component (2) Short rail component (2) U-extension (2) 8-32 flathead screws (8) panhead screws (4) 1. Measure the length of your cabinet from front mounting post to rear mounting post. 2. Remove the long rail component from the appliance. 3. Attach the short rail component to the long rail component. Adjust to the length between your mounting posts and set using the 8-32 flathead screws. Note: The rails are designed to be used in any manufacturer's cabinet. The width between the mounting posts can vary greatly from cabinet to cabinet. If loosening the screws and sliding the rails does not provide the correct length for your cabinet, you may need to separate the two rail components and flip the short piece and reattach it. 54 How to install Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

55 4. L-cabinets only: Attach the U-extension to the long rail component using the panhead screws. The rough side of the U-extension with the small protruding nodules must face towards the long rail component. The U must face towards the outside of the cabinet and away from the appliance (Figure 16). 5. Attach the rails securely to the cabinet using screws (not provided) appropriate for your cabinet to the front and rear mounting posts. 6. Insert the empty appliance, then install any hard drives (if applicable). Figure 15: U-bracket Cabinet How to install Apex Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading 55

56 Figure 16: L-bracket Cabinet with U-extension Installing the drives in your Viavi appliance Failure to install the drives in the proper location will result in poor read/write performance until the RAID array volume is rebuilt. Follow these instructions to install the drives correctly before starting the appliance. Stickers on each drive identify which slot it should be installed in. The drive labeled A1 must be installed in the upper left slot of the appliance. 1. Make sure that the appliance is turned off. 2. Locate the drives that comprise the array. The drives are labeled to show you where they should be installed in the drive cage. (Image may not exactly match your product.) Figure 17: Appliance front 56 How to install Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

57 3. To install a drive, slide the drive in until it clicks firmly in place. Repeat until all of the drives are firmly installed as labeled. To install the bottom row of drives, the door may need be hanging down or completely level. 4. Turn on the system. Check that every LED light is blue. If not, turn off the system and reinsert the drive into its cage. Confirm that it clicks into place. Tug each drive slightly to ensure that it is properly seated. It should not move or come out. Additionally, you may want to visually inspect all of the drives from the side to verify that they are all sitting at the same approximate depth. Check any that are protruding. The RAID drives are now in place and you can turn on the appliance. How to handle hard drives properly Be especially careful when handling and installing the hard drives. Proper handling is paramount to the longevity of the unit. The internal mechanism of the hard drive can be seriously damaged if the hard drive is subjected to forces outside its environmental specifications. Caution: When transporting the hard drive, always use the original packaging in which the hard drive was delivered to you, and avoid exposing the hard drive to extreme changes in temperature to minimize the risk of condensation. Each drive for the appliance is packed in shock-resistant boxes. Never drop the unit. Handle it with care. Never place the hard drive in the vicinity of equipment giving off strong magnetic fields, such as CRT monitors, televisions, or loudspeakers. Always use an anti-static mat and wrist strap when handling the hard drive. Hold the hard drive by the base and never touch the components on the circuit board assembly. If the temperature difference between the storage location and installation location exceeds 50 F/10 C, for temperature acclimation purposes, leave the hard drive in the new location over night (or at least two hours) before turning it on. Setting the IP address It is unlikely that the default address will be the one you want to keep for it. Configuring the IP address allows you to put the device on your network and to connect to it using an Observer analyzer or Windows Remote Desktop, both of How to install Apex Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading 57

58 which can be very useful since most devices are in distant or physically secure locations. At this point you have physically installed the hardware and connected all the cables. Now, you must turn on the device and configure the software. After this is complete all of your interaction with the device can now be done remotely by connecting to the device using an Observer or Windows Remote Desktop depending on what you want to accomplish. 1. Connect a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to the device and ensure the device is plugged into a power outlet. These are only needed temporarily to set the IP address. You can disconnect them when you are finished. Alternatively, you can use Windows Remote Desktop to connect to the device to make these changes. The default IP address is Turn on the system. For some devices, such as the Apex, you may need to ensure the power switch is in the ON position on the back of the device. Then on the front of the device, press the power button until the system starts to turn on. 3. Log in to the Windows operating system using the Administrator account. The default Administrator password is admin. After logging in, you may change this. See the Windows documentation, if necessary. 4. Click Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet Connections > Network Connections. Choose Local Area Connection and right-click and choose Properties. 5. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Figure 18: Default TCP/IP settings 6. Set the IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and DNS server for your environment and click OK. Click OK again to close the Local Area Connection Properties dialog. Close the Network Connections window. Configuring the Lights Out Management port (newer revisions) Your appliance comes with an on-board Lights Out Management (LOM) port that provides you a dedicated management channel for device maintenance. It allows you to monitor and manage your appliance by remote control regardless of whether the appliance is powered on. 58 How to install Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

59 If you want to use Lights Out Management features, you must first configure the IP address for the LOM port from the BIOS. Then, you should change the administrator password to something different than the default. 1. Ensure the LOM port is connected to your network using a straight-through Ethernet cable. A crossover cable will not work. 2. When starting your appliance, press Delete during POST to enter the BIOS setup. 3. In the BIOS, choose IPMI > BMC network configuration. 4. Set Update IPMI LAN configuration to Yes. 5. Set Configuration Address source to Static. How to install Apex Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading 59

60 6. Configure the Station IP address, Subnet mask, and Gateway IP address. These values must be valid and usable on your network! 7. Press F4 to save your changes and to exit the BIOS setup. The LOM port is now accessible from the IP address you chose. Now you can log on to the LOM web interface and change the default password. 8. To change the default password, open a web browser to and log on with the user name ADMIN and password ADMIN in caps. Note: The user name and password boxes are always case-sensitive. 9. Choose Configuration > Users, and select the second user account (ADMIN account). 10. Click Modify User, and change the password. You configured the LOM port and changed the default password. Set up Apex for the first time How to begin using Apex After Apex is properly installed, all interactions with Apex will occur through a web browser. To begin using Apex, log in to Apex. 60 Set up Apex for the first time Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

61 Prerequisite(s): A compatible web browser is required. Internet Explorer 9.0 or later Mozilla Firefox Google Chrome Tip! Do you need to license and activate Apex? See the instructions at How to license Apex. 1. Open a compatible web browser, and type the following URL into the location bar: replacing "ApexHost" with the host name or IP address of the system where Apex is installed and running. You may notice a security certificate warning; this is normal for a self-signed certificate. 2. Log in to Apex using a user name and password managed by Apex or OMS (sold separately). Tip! The default user name is admin, and the default password is admin, and it is case-sensitive. You successfully logged in to Apex. All of your interactions with Apex will occur in this web interface. How to license Apex Apex is designed to be used as a server-based application. If Apex is installed along with an Observer Platform product but not licensed, you have Apex Lite. Apex Lite provides limited reporting capabilities. To license and activate Apex: 1. Install and launch the application. 2. Your default web browser will open to the following URL: localhost/oa If it does not, type the URL in the location bar of your web browser and press Enter. 3. Follow the on-screen instructions provided by your web browser to accept the self-signed security certificate. Your web browser must accept the self-signed security certificate to continue. 4. Type into the Contact/Department, Company, and License Information boxes exactly what is listed in your license document. 5. Click the License button. You successfully licensed and activated your product. If licensing and activating your product remains unsuccessful, please contact Technical Support. Licensing settings Identification The identification number shown should match the identification number in your license document. Set up Apex for the first time Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading 61

62 If the numbers do not match, examine the Licensed to and Company boxes for typing errors. Contact/ Department The contact or department as written in your license document. Company Company name must be accurately typed here for successful licensing. Company name is an item found in your license document. The license number is included in your license document. License Valid Input: License numbers are always case-sensitive. How to create a user User accounts allow people to view dashboards and create user widgets. Note: If you are using OMS, see How to add new users. The user name and password must be created there. Any user created in Apex is local to Apex. It is not connected in any way to a domain user account or local system account. If you want or require that sort of integration you must use OMS. Any local user wanting to log in to view or create dashboards must use the user name and password set here. To create a user: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Users. 2. Click. 3. Complete the fields using the information in User settings if necessary. 4. Click Accept. The new user is created and is available to log in and begin using Apex. User settings The User settings control how and whether a user may log in and use Apex. Username The case-sensitive user name for this user. Valid Input: The length must be between 2-50 characters. Space characters cannot be used, but you may Description Descriptions are optional and displayed in the Users table. Consider a real name, or a department name if the user name is shared. addresses are optional and displayed in the Users table. Login enabled As an alternative to deletion, a user can be disabled. Only enabled users may log in. The 'admin' user cannot be disabled. Set password Password to be used with the user name. Valid Input: The length must be between 2-50 characters. Space characters cannot be used. 62 Set up Apex for the first time Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

63 How to configure general settings General program settings control the Apex name, data transfer settings, and data storage location. 1. In the web interface, click Settings > General Settings. 2. Complete the fields using the information in General and data transfer settings if necessary. 3. Click Accept. General and data transfer settings Field Description Apex asset name This changeable name identifies Apex to other Viavi products. Data storage location Data transferred to Apex is stored in this directory. All dashboards are populated with the data inside. The default file path is C:\Program Files\Observer Apex \Data for software-only installations and D:\DATA if a hardware appliance. Data transfer period (minutes) The collection period in minutes. Data transfer delay (minutes) Sets the minutes to wait after completion of a data source statistics collection interval before the data is transferred to Apex. This value cannot be changed. Valid Input: Valid values are Setting a delay can improve hard disk performance on the data source because data is transferred N-minutes after being written. Missing data files limit (days) Apex automatically retrieves up to this many previous days of data from data sources if any are missing. Valid Input: Valid values are This helps Apex recover 'missing' data from data sources if Apex experiences downtime, or when collecting data from a data source for the first time. How to have Apex managed by OMS If your organization uses OMS and wants Apex to be a managed asset, you must integrate Apex into OMS. Doing so allows functionality like user authentication and authorization, plus software version control. Caution: By following these steps, Apex will be managed by OMS. After the connection is made, you will be unable to disable the management within Apex. Therefore, the only way to remove Apex from being managed is to remove the asset from within OMS. To change Apex to be managed by OMS: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Manage By OMS. 2. Select Manage Asset with OMS Set up Apex for the first time Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading 63

64 3. In the OMS Server IP/DNS Name box, type the IP address or DNS name of the OMS server. 4. Type OMS administrator credentials into the User Name and Password boxes. The credentials must have permission to add new assets and/or licenses to OMS (depending on which is needed), or the asset must already be defined and the user must have access to the asset and a license number must be present. 5. Click Accept. If successful, Apex should now be managed by OMS. Manage by OMS settings Manage By OMS If selected, this installation is an asset managed by OMS. OMS Server IP/ DNS Name The IP address or host name of OMS. User Name A user name that has authorization to add assets to OMS. Password The password for the user in User Name. How to upgrade or downgrade Apex New and past versions of Apex software are made available to you directly from Viavi. Use the Apex upgrade tool to check for, download, or install a version of Apex. The Apex upgrade tool allows you to: Check the Viavi upgrade repository for old and new versions of Apex. Download any available version of Apex for offline installation. Install any available version of Apex without needing to leave the Apex interface. How to retrieve a list of available Apex versions A listing of Apex software versions to upgrade or downgrade to is available directly in Apex. Connect to the Viavi upgrade repository to retrieve the latest listing of available versions. Note: Interacting with the upgrade repository requires web connectivity over TCP port 80 on the Apex system. This can be achieved with direct connectivity from OMS to the web or by configuring a proxy in the proxy configuration settings of OMS for downloads. The upgrade repository is hosted by Viavi and no public mirrors are used. To retrieve a list of available Apex versions: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Apex Updates. 2. Click Check For Upgrades. Apex connects to the upgrade repository and displays the versions available for download. Release notes for each version are available for viewing. 64 How to upgrade or downgrade Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

65 How to download a version of Apex New or old versions of Apex can be downloaded from the upgrade repository. Apex is not automatically installed after downloading a version using this method. Instead, this method is suitable for scheduled installation or installation from Windows Explorer. To download an available version of software for later installation, visit the repository and download any self-extracting setup executable: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Apex Updates. 2. (Optional) Click Check For Upgrades. Doing this ensures all available versions are shown. 3. Select one by clicking a table row. 4. Click Download. If not previously downloaded, the download begins, and you can view its transfer progress. You successfully downloaded a software upgrade. How to install a version of Apex Installing a software upgrade downloads the self-extracting setup executable and immediately installs the upgrade. To install a software upgrade: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Apex Updates. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. 3. Click Install. The download begins, and you can view its transfer progress. After the download completes, the software upgrade begins installing. You successfully installed the selected software upgrade. A notification appears if any errors occur during the upgrade. Upgrade settings There are several settings that change the behavior of version upgrades. Check for upgrades If selected, Apex periodically checks for upgrades. Scheduled transfers and installs rely on knowing if new versions exist. If cleared, users must manually check for available upgrades before any scheduled transfers or installs can occur. Show downgrade options If selected, any available downgrade versions are displayed in the available versions list. It is recommended to leave this cleared (disabled) if downgrading to previous versions is not desirable. Preferred speed (Kbps) Sets the preferred maximum transfer speed in kilobits per second. Use the value '0' to disable this bandwidth restriction. How to upgrade or downgrade Apex Chapter 4: Installing and upgrading 65

66 Use proxy server If selected, a proxy server is used for downloading upgrade versions. Proxy type Sets which type of proxy server to connect to. Proxy address The IP address or DNS name of the proxy server. Proxy port The port number accepting connections to the proxy server. Proxy user Sets the user name expected by the proxy server for authentication. Leave this box empty if authentication is not required. Proxy password Sets the password used to authenticate with the proxy server. Leave this box empty if authentication is not required. Download upgrades Schedules the download of available upgrade versions. Install upgrades Schedules the installation of downloaded version upgrades. Downloaded versions will not automatically install unless an installation schedule or upgrade policy allows it. This setting affects version upgrades that are downloaded both automatically or manually. 66 How to upgrade or downgrade Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

67 5 Chapter 5: Troubleshooting Understanding logging in Apex Logging captures events that occur in the application and between assets. These events may range from informational to critical. Logging creates an audit trail, or transaction log, allowing you as an administrator to see who did what and when they did it. You may need this information for compliance or other reasons. Another reason logging can be useful is if you have a problem with the application, the log events will help identify where the issue is occurring. How to view event logs Event logs are useful for troubleshooting, compliance, and more. View the event logs at any time. To view event logs: 1. In the web interface, click Log. 2. (Optional) Type in the Filter box to show log events containing your text. For example, type Info to show informational events only. The events logs are now showing. How to send Syslog messages Syslog is widely used for message logging and separates the application generating the messages from the program that reports and analyzes them. Apex can send messages to your Syslog server.

68 To send log events and alarm notifications, first configure your server and recipient settings. After configuring these settings, you can enable and disable the sending of automated messages. Configure your server settings: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Notification Settings. 2. Select Configure a Syslog server. 3. Configure the options. For details, use the information in Syslog settings. 4. Click Accept. Enable the sending of log events and alarm notifications: 5. In the web interface, click Settings > Log Settings. 6. Select Export logged events to a Syslog server. 7. Configure the options. 8. Click Accept. Apex will send logged events to your Syslog server. Syslog settings Export logged events to a Syslog server If selected, system logs are forwarded to a Syslog server. Target IP address The host address of the Syslog server. System logs remain accessible through the dashboard and CLI interfaces. Include up to 10 Syslog servers by separating each with a comma ','. Target port The port number of the Syslog server. If more than one Syslog server is specified, this port is used for each. Format Sets which Syslog protocol is used. Severity The minimum severity level of log events sent to the Syslog server. Informational: Contains normal operational messages. No action is required. Warning: Contains cautionary messages. No error has occurred but an error may occur if no corrective action is taken. Critical: Contains fault-finding messages. Corrective action should be taken promptly. Log events of lower severity are not sent. How to send SNMP traps SNMP traps are widely used for sending notifications from one application to another, generally for alerting or notification purposes. Apex can send traps to your SNMP server. 68 Understanding logging in Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

69 To send log events and alarm notifications, first configure your server and recipient settings. After configuring these settings, you can enable and disable the sending of automated messages. Configure your server settings: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Notification Settings. 2. Select Configure an SNMP Trap. 3. Configure the options. For details, use the information in SNMP trap settings. 4. Click Accept. 5. In the web interface, click Settings > Log Settings. 6. Select Export logged events to an SNMP Trap. 7. Configure the options. 8. Click Accept. Apex will send logged events to your SNMP Trap server. SNMP trap settings Export logged events to an SNMP Trap If selected, system logs are forwarded as SNMP traps to a trap recipient. Target IP address The host name or IPv4 or IPv6 address of the SNMP trap recipient. Include up to 10 SNMP trap recipients by separating each with a comma ','. Target port The port number of the SNMP trap recipient. Example: 162 If more than one SNMP trap recipient is specified, this port is used for each. Community String Community string for your SNMP trap server. SNMP version Sets the SNMP trap version. Severity The minimum severity level of log events sent as SNMP traps. Informational: Contains normal operational messages. No action is required. Warning: Contains cautionary messages. No error has occurred but an error may occur if no corrective action is taken. Critical: Contains fault-finding messages. Corrective action should be taken promptly. Log events of lower severity are not sent. How to send alerts To send log events and alarm notifications, first configure your server and recipient settings. After configuring these settings, you can enable and disable the sending of automated messages. Configure your server settings: Understanding logging in Apex Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 69

70 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Notification Settings. 2. Select Configure an server. 3. Configure the options. For details, use the information in settings. 4. Click Accept. Enable the sending of log events and alarm notifications: 5. In the web interface, click Settings > Log Settings. 6. Select Export logged events via Configure the options. 8. Click Accept. Apex will send logged events to your SMTP server. settings Export logged events via If selected, system logs are forwarded as messages. SMTP Server The host address of the outgoing server. Example: or- smtp.example.com Valid Input: Valid addresses include IPv4 or DNS name. SMTP Port The port number of the outgoing server. Security The connection to the outgoing server can be encrypted to prevent eavesdropping. PlainText Connection is not encrypted. SSL, TLS, or DTLS Connection is encrypted. STARTTLS Negotiates an encrypted connection. If negotiation fails, the connection is not encrypted. Authentication The authentication type for connecting to the outgoing server. Try choosing 'Auto Detect' if you experience authentication problems. User Name The user name used to connect to the outgoing server. Password If 'User Name' requires a password to connect, type the password here. Leave this box blank if 'User Name' does not require a password. Sender Name If specified, this sender name appears in the 'From' field of the sent . Setting Sender Name to 'OMS Security' or similar could help recipients categorize the s. Sender The sender address appears in the 'From' field of the sent . Recipients Log events are sent to the specified address or addresses. Example: chris@example.com -orchris@example.com;pat@example.com 70 Understanding logging in Apex Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

71 multiple recipients by separating each address with a semi-colon ';' or comma ','. Severity The minimum severity level of log events sent as messages. Informational: Contains normal operational messages. No action is required. Warning: Contains cautionary messages. No error has occurred but an error may occur if no corrective action is taken. Critical: Contains fault-finding messages. Corrective action should be taken promptly. Log events of lower severity are not sent. How to return to the default log settings You can return the event log to its default settings if necessary. The default behavior is to not forward any log events to , SNMP, or Syslog, so these will be disabled in the process. To return to the default log settings: 1. In the web interface, click Log. 2. Click Reset. 3. Click Accept. The log settings have been returned to their default settings. Understanding alarms An Observer Apex alarm monitors the thresholds of widgets in a dashboard. If any widget crosses a set threshold, the alarm is triggered. A triggered alarm sends notification messages to the server and recipients you specify. If any widget within a chosen dashboard crosses a threshold, the alarm is triggered. Not every widget in a dashboard needs to be in an alarmed state for the alarm to trigger. One widget crossing a threshold is sufficient for the alarm to trigger. This means you might receive multiple alarm notifications depending on how many widgets are crossing thresholds in the dashboard. Also, because there are marginal and critical thresholds, you can choose if the alarm should trigger from crossing the marginal threshold or the critical threshold. This is configurable in the alarm. A triggered alarm sends an alarm notification to specified servers and recipients. The servers and recipients receive alarm notifications as soon as a specified threshold is measured to be crossed, such as a marginal threshold. A short delay may occur between when the network events occur and the alarms are sent. This is due to the nature of a data collection transfer interval. Mission critical alarms, where timing is most important, should be made directly in Observer Analyzer. An alarm can be filtered. Filtering can help narrow or broaden what actually triggers the alarm. For example, typing app http in the filter box of the alarm settings means HTTP metrics are all that may trigger an alarm because it is the only application of interest. This filtering is additional to any filtering done on Understanding alarms Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 71

72 the business group, dashboard, or widgets. Therefore, if a dashboard or all of its widgets are always filtered to show MySQL traffic, giving this dashboard an alarm for HTTP is not meaningful. Using narrowly-filtered alarms on broad, unfiltered dashboards and widgets may be a good method to follow unless you are comfortable managing filters at each level. Your web browser can be closed and alarms will still operate. Alarms have no dependence on you actually being present in a web browser session for the alarm to trigger. Because alarm triggering and alarm actions, like sending an SNMP trap or , are performed entirely server-side, you only need to create or edit the alarm from your web browser and that is all. Apex will do the rest. How to create an alarm Prerequisite(s): To successfully create an alarm, these items are needed: A dashboard with threshold-supporting widgets added to it. At least one type of notification setting has been configured. To create an Apex alarm: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Alarms. 2. Click New. 3. In the Edit Alarm Settings pane, do the following: a. Under the Alarm Settings area, configure the business group and dashboard that the alarm will associate with, plus any other options. Every option shown here requires configuration except Alarm Schedule, as it already defaults to Never. To enable this alarm, you must set a schedule. b. Under the Actions area, select and configure where the alarm notifications should be sent. At least one selection must be made. These selections use your notification settings. 4. Click Accept. You successfully created an alarm for the selected dashboard and business group. If a widget in the dashboard crosses the threshold you specified, the alarm will trigger. A triggered alarm sends notifications to the servers and recipients you specified. How to disable an alarm You can disable an alarm that is producing too many alarm notifications. Or, the problem has been identified and your team is now troubleshooting additional notifications are unnecessary. Instead of deleting an alarm to avoid receiving more notifications, you can choose to disable it. This method allows you to reenable the alarm at a later time. To disable an alarm: 1. In the web interface, click Settings > Alarms. 2. Select one by clicking a table row. 72 Understanding alarms Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

73 3. In the Edit Alarm Settings pane, set the Alarm Schedule to Never. 4. Click Accept. The alarm is disabled. It is no longer active because the schedule was removed. Alarm settings Several settings affect the behavior of Apex alarms. Alarm Name The name of this alarm. Business Group Sets which business group is used against the chosen dashboard. Dashboard Sets which dashboard this alarm is monitoring. Filter This alarm can be filtered for specific applications, addresses, and more. Alarm Schedule Set when the alarm is active and can be triggered. This alarm can only trigger during dates and times that you include. Send Syslog If selected, alarm notifications are forwarded as Syslog messages. Configure the Syslog server settings at Settings > Notification Settings. Syslog Severity The minimum severity level of log events sent to the Syslog server. Log events of lower severity are not sent. Send SNMP Trap If selected, alarm notifications are forwarded as SNMP traps. Configure the SNMP trap settings at Settings > Notification Settings. SNMP Trap Severity The minimum severity level of log events sent as SNMP traps. Send If selected, alarm notifications are forwarded as messages. Log events of lower severity are not sent. Configure the server settings at Settings > Notification Settings. addresses Alarm notifications are sent to the specified address or addresses. Example: multiple recipients by separating each address with a semi-colon ';' or comma ','. Send Severity The minimum severity level of log events sent as messages. Log events of lower severity are not sent. Understanding alarms Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 73

74 Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Using a simple, flexible, and easy-to-understand workflow will help you troubleshoot many common network, server, and application issues. This will guide your process and help identify areas of interest while providing a working context for your investigation. The Observer Platform provides powerful and comprehensive tools and analytics that allow you to troubleshoot many IT and network issues. The Observer Platform provides two primary applications. The first is Apex, which is the dashboard report functionality that provides powerful Layer 2-7 analytics that can be used to quickly resolve many issues. Apex dashboards use statistical data (metadata) that Observer collects separate from packet captures using network trending. The metadata files can easily store weeks or months of trending statistics. The second application is Observer, which provides detailed packet-based analytics and tools for decoding and working with packets. Observer analyzes packet data and assesses more than 700 conditions and has powerful tools to help you determine the root cause of an issue. A logical and methodical workflow is needed to analyze and resolve issues. You need to know how to use your tools and understand what the analytics are telling you; it takes practice. It s important that you gather as much information as possible before trying to resolve a problem. Here are some suggestions on information to consider: Is it one user or many? One server or several? Is it a particular application? When does the issue happen? All the time or at a certain time? Does it impact local or remote users or both? Were there any recent changes? (Are you sure? How do you know?) We suggest that you always start your investigation from the Apex dashboard. Apex is easy to use and understand and can help you resolve many issues within minutes with only a couple mouse clicks. We encourage you to spend time practicing and learning how to use Observer and Apex. Documentation and free web based training are available. 1. From the interface first select the desired probe/location. 2. Select the desired time frame. It s best to use the smallest time frame that is relevant for the issue, usually a couple hours is ideal. This way the information will be more detailed and accurate. Tip! Apex lets you easily focus a dashboard on your area of interest by providing a dashboard filter or widget filter or using your mouse to select a key field. Apply the dashboard to the selected object (like application or IP address). Also, if you click a key field, you can pass that parameter to another dashboard for even more analysis. 74 Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

75 Learn to use the dynamic filtering ability and key field dashboard links so the dashboards show the metrics that are relevant for your investigation. It s an easy way to quickly get to the information you need. Many network engineers use a common best practice approach to troubleshooting. This approach typically starts with determining if an issue is related to a network, a server, or an application problem. After that determination is made, it then leads to more targeted investigation, analysis, and, ultimately, a resolution. This approach also is helpful from an organizational perspective so that appropriate resources and tools are engaged. We will illustrate this troubleshooting process by working through a common problem: Users are complaining that a server is slow. Is it the network? The Network Performance dashboard helps you determine if network roundtrip and latency are impacting server response time to users. It focuses on networkcentric information like network latency and delay, network roundtrip, device byte counts, retransmissions, and utilization. Select the Network Performance dashboard. To get the dashboard, see Importing a user-contributed dashboard. Let s look at some widgets on this dashboard from a slow server perspective. Total server response time is made up of two components: 1) network latency, the time it takes for the packets to traverse the network; and 2) server delay, the time it takes for the server to process that application request. These are calculated by analyzing the time it takes for the TCP three-way handshake to complete at the beginning of a user connection. The total server response time metric is an accurate indication of how efficiently your network is delivering packets as well as the latency of the network. Let s first look at a healthy network by using our dashboard widget for SQL servers. The network delay roundtrip metric is always a good starting point. The Server Network Delay- Round Trip widget shows server network delay metrics sorted by the longest round trip time. If that number is low, then your packets are moving efficiently through the network and the latency is low. Notice our round trip, maximum, and average delays are all low. This network is running well. We don t see network delay, latency-centric problems, or many retransmissions here. Figure 19: Healthy network Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 75

76 Now let s take a look at an unhealthy network using the same widget, but focused on HTTP servers. Our first HTTP server, , has an average Network Delay Round Trip time of 1719 ms, almost 2 seconds. The table shows network delay by direction: from client to server, from server to client, as well average and maximum values. Knowing the direction of the delay is helpful. It s also important to compare the average and maximum value. If the average value is high it suggests this problem is happening all the time. If the average is low but the maximum is high, it suggests that this may have been a temporary condition or just an anomaly, perhaps caused by a spike in network utilization. Also note that retransmissions are 0, so we know packets are not being lost. The servers in this table are showing high average and maximum network delays which suggests that the network is not running efficiently, this is indicative of a network issue. Figure 20: Unhealthy network To further troubleshoot round trip/latency issues, it s helpful to know additional information, such as what does the network topology look like, where is the server located, are users accessing the server over a WAN, what is the utilization of the various network segments being traversed. It s also important to know where the probe is located in the network for context of the network delay metrics. The network delay round trip value is usually the best metric to quickly assess network latency problems. Determining where the latency is actually occurring and why in a complex network is a bit more difficult. If you have deployed probes strategically, you can use the MultiHop Analysis tool in Observer to show you where the latency is occurring in your network. Below is an example MultiHop Analysis summary for four segments showing where the latency is occurring (a probe is deployed at each segment). 76 Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

77 Figure 21: MultiHop Summary Is it the server? In Is it the network? we used the Network Performance dashboard to take a close look at response time issues from a network perspective. Now we will focus on response time issues from a server perspective. The Server Performance dashboard helps you determine if a server is impacting server slow and is having slow response times that are affecting users. Select the Server Performance dashboard. To get the dashboard, see Importing a user-contributed dashboard. Slow server problems are typically caused by: Many users accessing an application server at the same time. The server not having enough resources (CPU, memory, etc). The server is encountering error conditions. Dependent front end or middleware, database, server or other systems are causing delays. This dashboard provides detailed server performance metrics as well as some metrics we previously examined for the network. Since network performance impacts server response times, it s convenient to have analytics from both in one dashboard. For Figure 22, we have filtered the dashboard to a single HTTP server. Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 77

78 Figure 22: Server Performance dashboard Looking at the Servers by response time max widget, we see the maximum response time is greater than four seconds. But just as important, notice that the average response time is only 159 milliseconds and the round trip delay is very low (40 milliseconds). This means that the majority of the time the server response time is low and our network is running efficiently, but we do have some performance spikes. Let s look at another widget in Figure 22: Server/client by response time max. These are the clients connecting to our HTTP server sorted by maximum response time. You can see that only one client has a high maximum response time value (4137 milliseconds), the rest are low. Also notice that the server had 536 retransmissions to that client. This suggests that the problem is limited to this server/client pair. Tip! Using additional tools like Connection Dynamics or Ad Hoc Application Transaction Analysis in Observer to look at the packet data between this client and server can provide detailed insight into a problem such as this. Let s look at another example: Figure 23. High average response time and low network delay is indicative of a slow server problem. The two servers not only have a high maximum response time, but their average response time is greater than one second. We know that the network round trip delay is relatively low so the problem is not the network. Figure 23: Server Response Time - Max A correlation chart can show if there is a relationship between the number of connections, traffic volumes, network delay, or retransmissions and the application server response time. 78 Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

79 Figure 24: Correlation chart: performance analysis by time You can also use the Server Analysis tool in Observer to get server details. In Figure 25, you can see values comparing the number of users and simultaneous requests. Notice that the response time is relatively linear and flat, indicating the server is handling the load well. If you saw a large or exponential increase in response time as simultaneous requests increased, that would suggest too many users or inadequate server resources. We know that the average response time is relatively flat, so the problem is not the network. Figure 25: Average response time Is it the application? We have looked at Is it the network? to assess network round trip and latency issues and Is it the server? to assess server response time issues. We determined that neither the network nor server were the culprit. The Application Performance dashboard helps you determine if application transaction response times and application error conditions and the impact they can have on application server response times are the source of the problem affecting users. Select the Application Performance dashboard. To get the dashboard, see Importing a user-contributed dashboard. This dashboard provides detailed application transaction information such as transaction types and errors, as well as detailed response times. This information helps you determine how the application is performing by transaction and whether it is the application that is impacting users. To see application level information in Apex, you must have application transaction analysis enabled for the desired servers on the Observer GigaStor or probe. Observer and Apex support application transaction analysis for many different enterprise applications such as DNS, SQL, HTTP, Citrix, LDAP, CIFS/SMB, SIP, and more. Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 79

80 Below are two tables from the Application Performance dashboard that show transaction responses and requests for an HTTP server of interest. You can see the request and response codes and description, plus the corresponding average and maximum response time for each transaction type. In Figure 26, if you look at the Request table (lower table), the most common request transaction is a GET, which is typical for HTTP. If you look at the GET request line the average response time is low, 120 ms, but the maximum is almost 10 seconds (9996 milliseconds). Clearly some user transactions are experiencing long response time delays. Figure 26: Application Analysis Server-Response Let s now look at the top table for transaction responses in Figure 26. We have sorted the response codes to show various HTTP transaction errors that show up in the 400 response code range. You will notice several transaction problems. We had Bad Requests that took almost 10 seconds max to process. But what is really problematic is that we had 2, Not Found response errors. The average response time was 166 milliseconds and the maximum response time was greater than 8 seconds (8320 milliseconds). These issues are causing user errors as well as slow response time. By looking at the Application Performance dashboard, we can determine if we have application errors causing user problems as well as the response time metrics associated with various transaction types. In this example, we identified a major application error problem from our Application Performance dashboard. We were getting many 404 File Not Found errors. We can use the ability to launch a drilldown connection from a dashboard to the packet data in the probe (this passes a context-based filter to the GigaStor), or we can just go to our probe and analyze the packet data for a particular server to find the root cause of any application error. Figure 27 shows the probe statistics for several monitored web servers. You can right-click the application error 404=Not Found and then choose Go to Request Packet or Go to Response Packet to decode the data. 80 Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

81 Figure 27: Application Statistics Figure 28 shows the packet decode and the HTTP request was for the file system_requirements_and_installation.html on networkinstruments.com. We now know what file was missing on our web server that caused 404=Not Found errors. Figure 28: 404 HTTP Request Summary Using some common sense troubleshooting techniques, and asking ourselves some basic questions, we were able to use Apex, Observer, and GigaStor to look at the network, server, and application to isolate the problem. Now that we know where the problem is, we can assign it to the appropriate team to resolve. In addition to the ones mentioned here, Apex has several dashboards that you can use and configure. The VoIP/UC Analysis dashboard provides summaries for VoIP/UC Analysis performance. The Web/HTTP Analysis dashboard provides Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Chapter 5: Troubleshooting 81

82 details from an HTTP perspective. The Device Health Analysis dashboard gives you a comprehensive network, server, and application information for a device, all in one dashboard. It also shows detailed application transaction analysis between a client/server pair for in-depth analysis. The dashboard library is dynamic and growing. See Importing a user-contributed dashboard. All dashboards are made up of widgets. The dashboards and widgets are very flexible and can easily be customized by you. We encourage you to design and customize your own widgets and dashboards after you have become comfortable with the use and design of them. 82 Troubleshooting network, server, and application issues Apex (16 Oct 2015) Archive/Non-authoritative version

83 6 Chapter 6: Backups and Secondary Configuring a failover or redundant Apex If you need a high degree of availability for Apex, then enable the Apex redundancy feature. Redundancy, also known as failover, helps maintain a high up time for your Apex system. If your primary Apex system becomes unavailable for any reason, then the secondary Apex system automatically becomes active and available for dashboards. By having a failover Apex system, you can help ensure that maximum availability is maintained.