Orion Network Performance Monitor Version 9.5 Note

Congratulations on your purchase of SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor (Orion NPM). Orion NPM provides a comprehensive fault and performance management platform that allows you to collect and view availability and both realtime and historical statistics directly from your web browser. While monitoring, collecting, and analyzing data from routers, switches, firewalls, servers, and any other SNMP-enabled devices, Orion NPM successfully offers a simple-to-use, scalable network monitoring solution for IT professionals juggling any size network.

 Note: If you have applied Service Packs or Hotfixes to your product, they were delivered with readme.txt files. These files contain fixes that supercede the information found in the Release Notes.

Why Install this Version

In keeping with SolarWinds' commitment to provide a comprehensive fault and network performance management platform that scales with your network and expands with your network management needs, this version of Orion NPM provides many significant new features and improvements, including the following:

• Cisco EnergyWise-enabled device monitoring.
• New Network Atlas mapping tool replaces Map Maker.
• Wireless network monitoring capability is now included within Orion NPM.
• Expanded node management options include the following:
  • External status for nodes serving as application hosts.
  • Unpluggable Port Mode for regularly undocked nodes.
  • The ability to unmamage interfaces.
• Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 support.
• Network Sonar provides network discovery that includes volume discovery and SNMPv3 support.
• Other new features in this version include:
  • Chart trendlines.
  • Rollover tooltips for nodes and interfaces.
  • Orion server settings are now configured in the web console.
  • Advanced Syslog Parser and resources
  • Improved advanced alerts interface.

Orion NPM Features

The following sections provide an overview of features that are available in this version of Orion NPM, including features introduced in previous versions.

Features of This Version

Orion NPM version 9.5 has added the following features:

Cisco EnergyWise Support

Cisco EnergyWise technology allows you to responsibly manage energy usage across the enterprise. With Orion NPM, you can view EnergyWise device management data to measure, report, and reduce the energy consumption of any devices connected to EnergyWise-enabled switches.

Network Atlas

Network Atlas, the Orion network mapping application, gives you the ability to create multi-layered, fully customizable, web-based maps of your network to visually track the performance of any device in any location across your network in real time.

Integrated Wireless Network Monitoring

An integrated wireless device poller enables you to leverage proven Orion NPM alerts, reports, and web console resources as you monitor and manage wireless thin and autonomous access points in the same views in which you are already monitoring your wired network devices.

Expanded Node Management Options

Orion NPM now provides the following node management options:

• You can designate any node as External if you want to use Orion Application Performance Monitor (Orion APM) to monitor applications hosted on the selected node without using Orion NPM to monitor the performance of the node itself.
• Orion NPM enables you to designate selected ports as unpluggable, so you no longer receive unnecessary alerts when users undock or shutdown connected devices. This feature is particularly useful for differentiating lower priority ports connected to laptops and PCs from more critically important infrastructure ports.
• It is now possible to unmanage individual interfaces.

Network Sonar

Network Sonar, the improved wizard-driven device discovery utility, further simplifies the addition of devices and interfaces to Orion NPM. Answer a few general questions about your devices, and the discovery application takes over, populating the Orion database and immediately beginning network analysis.

Features of Previous Versions

Previous versions of Orion NPM added the following features:

VMware ESX Server Monitoring

Orion NPM now provides views and resources that are tailored for virtual machines, specifically VMware ESX Servers. These new views and resources give you immediate insight into the performance of VMware ESX Servers and the virtual machines they host on your network. This version of Orion NPM also allows you to create VM-specific alerts and track the performance of your virtualization solution with custom reports generated by Orion NPM.

Custom Views of External Websites

Orion NPM now gives you the ability to include views of external websites within your Orion Web Console. With an external website view, you can designate any website as an additional tab on the Views menu bar in the web console, giving you the ability to bring web content directly into the Orion Web Console.

Additional Universal Device Poller Transform Functions

The proven power and flexibility of Universal Device Pollers have been extended with additional poller transform functions. Now you can create your own poller transforms using the sum, minimum, maximum, and average of the values in any column of any polled table.

Performance and User Interface Upgrades

In keeping with SolarWinds' commitment to give you the tools you need to manage your network, the following performance enhancements have been included in this release:

• The Web Node Management utility has both a new search capability and new interface-only views.
• Orion Web Console views for Syslog messages, Traps, and Alerts all feature new, more informative Quick Start screens to introduce you to the many related features of Orion NPM.
• A new Thwack integration resource highlights the latest Universal Device Pollers, submitted by both users and SolarWinds developers, that are available for inclusion in web console views.
• The default Start menu listing of SolarWinds tools and applications is now more intuitively organized.

Universal Device Pollers

Universal Device Pollers are a significant improvement over prior Orion NPM custom pollers in terms of scalability, ease of use, and functional capability. With Universal Device Pollers you can now test poller results, poll MIB tables, and create your own powerful transforms that can manipulate results from multiple pollers to instantly provide custom network metrics. Additionally, Orion NPM 9.0 provides a more intuitive MIB Browser interface to use when creating pollers. Universal Device Pollers are fully compatible with older Orion custom pollers as well, offering full import and export, reporting, and improved alerting based on values polled from tables, transforms, and network devices.

Web Node Management

Orion NPM 9.0 users can now manage network devices directly from the Orion Web Console. An intuitive user interface gives you the ability to add, delete, and modify devices, both individually and in bulk, apply Universal Device Pollers, and assign custom properties, all from the Orion Web Console.

Improved User Interface and Orion Web Console Resources

The Orion Web Console user interface is continually being improved with the addition of new resources, improved charts and gauges, and more intuitive navigation features, including the following:

• A high-performance, AJAX-enabled All Nodes resource that minimizes view load times
• An Active Alerts resource listing alerts from the Application Performance Monitor and VoIP Monitor modules
• An updated Admin interface
• An option to run the web console without a session timeout
• A Custom HTML resource that now accepts variables
• A custom message that administrators can display on the Orion Web Console login screen

Thwack.com Integration

Thwack.com is the active online community for SolarWinds users, and Orion NPM 9.0 provides a resource integrated on the Network Summary Home view of the web console that gives you direct access.

Monitoring Support for New Devices

Additions to the SolarWinds MIB database ensure that Orion NPM 9.0 supports monitoring dozens of new devices, including VMware ESX Server.

For more information about any of these features or the many other features of Orion NPM, see the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.

Installing and Upgrading Orion NPM and Orion Modules

The following sections provide required information to consider before installing or upgrading Orion NPM, including information relating to the interaction between Orion NPM and Orion modules.

Migrating Maps and Reports for Upgrades from Older Versions of Orion NPM

If you are uninstalling a pre-8.0 version of Orion NPM before upgrading to this version, the configuration wizard neither finds nor migrates your maps and reports to the new directory structure. You will not see maps or reports in the web console until you copy your maps folder and reports folder from the previous directory structure to the new directory structure. The old default location was: Volume:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Network Performance Monitor v7. The new default installation location is: Volume:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion.

Upgrading Orion NPM

Backup your database before performing any upgrade of Orion NPM, regardles of whether you are upgrading from version to version or you are upgrading the licensed number of elements you can monitor. The following sections provide guidance for completing an upgrade to the latest version of Orion NPM, regardless of your current version.

 Warnings:

• Though the upgrade of version 7 and its point releases to Orion NPM version 8.5 should be blocked on a server running Microsoft Windows 2000, it is not. Do not upgrade your Orion NPM implementation until you upgrade your server to Windows 2003. Windows 2000 is not a supported operating system, and the database upgrades cannot be rolled back.
• When upgrading from versions prior to 8.0, you must first upgrade to an 8.X version of Orion NPM before you can upgrade to the current version. Contact to obtain required Orion NPM versions.
• When upgrading from version 8.0.2 or earlier, database changes required to improve performance cause the database update to take longer than in previous upgrades. For example, a database of 10GB can take over an hour to upgrade.
• Orion NPM does not support the use of case-sensitive database servers.
• Whenever you install a new module or upgrade Orion NPM, ensure you first back up your database.

Upgrading from Orion NPM Versions Before 7.8.5

If your currently installed version of Orion NPM is older than version 7.8.5, you must upgrade to Orion NPM 7.8.5.

Upgrading from Orion NPM Versions 7.8.5 through 8.5

If you currently have Orion NPM version 7.8.5 through 8.5 installed, you must upgrade to Orion NPM 8.5.1.

Upgrading from Orion NPM 8.5.1

If you currently have Orion NPM version 8.5.1, you must upgrade to either version 9.0 or version 9.1.

Upgrading Orion NPM Modules and Components

To ensure proper operation of your Orion NPM installation, upgrade all Orion NPM Additional Web Servers, Additional Pollers, and Hot Standby Engines to the current Orion NPM version. This version of Orion NPM also supports the following versions of Orion NPM modules:

Orion Component	Version
Application Performance Monitor	2.5
IP Address Manager	1.0
NetFlow Traffic Analyzer	3.1
Network Configuration Manager	5.5
VoIP Monitor	2.1

 Note: Download the latest module and component versions for which you are licensed from the .

Installing this Version

You do not need to uninstall your previous version before installing this version of Orion NPM. Shutdown any running Orion NPM applications, and then run the setup program provided in your download. The setup program will detect and uninstall your previous version without a loss of customizations.

Warnings:

• Orion NPM does not support the use of case-sensitive database servers.
• Whenever you install a new module or upgrade Orion NPM, ensure you first back up your database.

 Notes:

• For more information about upgrading Orion NPM, see .
• This version of Orion NPM requires Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. The Configuration Wizard can download this automatically from Microsoft, but download and installation can take 20 minutes or more to complete.

Uninstalling SolarWinds Products

If you need to uninstall NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, Network Configuration Manager (formerly Cirrus Configuration Manager), or Toolset, perform a repair on Orion NPM after uninstalling the selected application, as shown in the following procedure.

To repair Orion NPM after uninstalling another SolarWinds application:

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
2. Select your SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor installation, and then click Change.
3. Select Repair, and then click Next.
4. Complete the wizard to repair your Orion NPM installation.

Orion NPM and Orion Databases

The following sections provide information covering the interaction between Orion NPM and Orion databases.

SQL Server Requirements

The following database servers are supported as the Orion datastore:

• SQL Server 2005 SP1 Express, Standard, or Enterprise
• SQL Server 2008 Express, Standard, or Enterprise

Your server must support either mixed-mode or SQL authentication.

Use the following database select statement to check your SQL Server version, service pack or release level, and edition:

select SERVERPROPERTY ('productversion'), SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'), SERVERPROPERTY ('edition')

The following x86 components must also be installed (if the components are not found on the target computer, the setup program downloads and installs the components):

• SQL Server System Common Language Runtime (CLR) Types
• Microsoft SQL Server Native Client
• Microsoft SQL Server Management Objects

 Notes:

• If SQL Server System Common Language Runtime (CLR) Types are not already installed, Orion NPM will install them. This installation will require a restart of the SQL Server service for your Orion database.
• For improved performance, Orion NPM uses secure SQL CLR stored procedures for selected, non-business data operations.
• If you are using SQL Server 2005 SP1 Express Edition on a Windows XP operating system, enable the following protocols: Shared memory, TCP/IP, and Named Pipes.

Case-Sensitive Database Servers

There are a number of known issues that may be encountered when installing the Orion NPM database on case-sensitive database servers, therefore the use of case-sensitive database servers is not recommended.

To check the collation and case-sensitivity of your database and your server, run the following query using the Database Manager shipped with Orion NPM:

select databasepropertyex( db_name(), 'Collation') as DatabaseCollation, serverproperty('Collation') as ServerCollation

To run a query in Database Manager:

1. Click Start > All Programs > SolarWinds Orion > Database Utilities > Database Manager.
2. Expand your Orion NPM database in the left pane to view database tables.
3. Right-click on any table in the database and click Query Table.
4. Type the query in the Query window, and then click Refresh to run the query.

If you have either Enterprise Manager or SQL Server Management Studio Express, the following procedure will display the current collation settings for your Orion NPM database.

To view collation settings in Enterprise Manager or SQL Server Management Studio Express:

1. Open Enterprise Manager or SQL Server Management Studio Express.
2. Connect to your database server.
3. Expand Databases.
4. Right-click the name of your database server, typically NetPerfMon, and then click Properties.
5. Click General and the collation for your database server is listed under Maintenance.

In the following example, the letters CI show that the database is case-insensitive:

SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS

If the database were case-sensitive, the letters CS would be present, instead.

 Note: If you are experiencing issues and your database server is case-sensitive, SolarWinds recommends that you install the Orion NPM database on a case-insensitive database server.

SQL Express Databases

SQL Express, a free version of SQL Server 2005 that has a 4GB database limit, is a supported database platform for Orion NPM, and it is made available for evaluation installations. However, SolarWinds does not recommend the use Of SQL Express in production environments or with the NetFlow Traffic Analyzer module, due to the 4GB database limit.

Specifying a SQL Express Instance

During the database section of the Configuration Wizard, it is possible that the browse function of the configuration wizard will not find your database. If you experience difficulty browsing to your SQL Express instance, type ServerName\sqlexpress in the SQL Server field on the Login to SQL Server dialog, where ServerName is the pre-Windows 2000 name of your SQL Server.

Strong Passwords for SQL Express Instances

The selected SQL Express instance must support mixed mode or SQL authentication with strong passwords. For more information about authentication with strong passwords, see .

Orion NPM Configuration and Device Discovery

The following sections provide required information relating to Orion NPM configuration and device discovery.

Bulk Upload

When using the Bulk Upload method for adding devices to the Orion database, Network Sonar may not actually discover all discoverable devices on your network. This is an issue that is currently being investigated, and it will be corrected, if necessary, in a future release.

SNMPv3 Passwords

At this time, SNMP v3 passwords are limited in length to 14 characters.

Regional Settings in Firefox 3.0+

Mozilla Firefox versions 3.0 and higher do not automatically respect regional systems settings. As a result, dates and other regional data may not display correctly. If Firefox is not correctly displaying regionally-influenced data in the web console, complete the following procedure to configure Firefox with the appropriate regional settings.

To configure appropriate regional settings in Firefox versions 3.0 and higher:

1. Open the Mozilla Firefox version 3.0 or higher browser you are using to view the Orion Web Console.
2. Click Tools > Options.
3. Click Content.
4. In the Languages area, click Choose.
5. If the language you want to use for viewing the web console is not listed, select your preferred language from the Select a language to add menu, and then click Add.
6. If the language you want to use for viewing the web console is already listed, confirm that your preferred language is listed first, by clicking your preferred language in the list, and then clicking Move Up until your preferred language is listed first.
7. When your language preference list is ordered correctly, click OK.
8. Click OK on the Options window to return to the web console.
9. Refresh your web browser to enable your new regional settings.

Special Characters in Machine Names

Due to limitations based on that are maintained by Windows Internet Information Services (IIS), the machine names of monitored network devices may only be composed of the following:

• Alphabetic characters (a-z or A-Z, case-insensitive)
• Digits (0-9)
• Minus sign (-)
• Period (.)

 Note: For more information about permitted machine names, see .

Orion Web Console

The following sections provide information related to the Orion Web Console.

Node Status Rollup on Maps and in All Nodes Resources

By default, in the previous version of Orion NPM, if any interface was down or in an otherwise defined problem state, the status icon of the parent node reflected the problem state of the child interface by displaying as red. In other words, node status icons reflected the worst state of any and all child interfaces on the selected node. This status rollup change was intended to more clearly highlight nodes where problems may exist.

This version of Orion NPM provides two options for reflecting the status of child objects in the status icon of a parent node. You can either show the worst status of the child objects (red if any of the nodes are down) or you can show warning (yellow) if some child objects are down and some are up. The following steps configure the status rollup mode for your Orion Web Console.

To configure the status rollup mode for the Orion Web Console:

1. Log on as an administrator to your Orion Web Console.
2. Click Admin in the Views toolbar.
3. Click Web Console Settings in the Settings grouping of the Orion Website Administration page.
4. Select either of the following options as your Status Rollup Mode:
   • If you want the parent node status icon to show the worst status of all child devices, select Show Worst Status.
   • If you only want the parent node status icon to show as yellow (warning) if there are problems with any or all child devices, select Mixed Status shows Warning.
5. Click Submit.

Custom Text Properties in All Nodes Resources

With the introduction of the AJAX-enabled All Nodes resource in Orion NPM version 9.0, the ability to group devices using the Comment or Memo custom properties was deprecated in order to maintain resource performance. The Memo custom property has been enabled for use with non-AJAX All Nodes resources. If you require the ability to group nodes on the basis of an otherwise undefined text property, create a Text property in Custom Property Editor and apply it as necessary to your monitored nodes. For more information about custom properties in Orion NPM, see "Creating Custom Properties" in the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.

Viewing Charts and Chart Thumbnails

Regardless of the actual size of a web console chart resource, if the width of the column in which the chart is displayed is set narrower than 300 pixels, Orion NPM replaces the chart with a chart thumbnail. The following procedure shows how to avoid this issue by setting appropriate column widths for any Orion NPM Web Console view.

To set column widths in an Orion NPM Web Console view:

1. Log on to the Orion NPM Web Console as an Administrator.
2. Click Admin in the Views toolbar.
3. Click Manage Views in the Views grouping of the Orion Website Administration page.
4. Select the view containing the column you want to configure, and then click Edit.
5. Click Edit next to the list of column widths.
6. Provide an appropriate width, in pixels, for the column you are configuring, and then click Submit.
7. Click Done.

Clicking a chart thumbnail produces the same result as clicking a full-size chart, opening the Custom Chart page in a new window. The Custom Chart page allows you to customize the appearance of the selected chart. For more information, see "Custom Chart View" in the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.

Custom Menu Items After Upgrading

Orion NPM 8.5 introduced a new website directory structure to the Orion Web Console. Because of this, some of your custom menu items in the Orion Web Console may need to be updated. Previous versions of Orion NPM used the /NetPerfMon directory for all files which allowed you to use relative links such as View.asp?ViewID=24. These URLs will need to be updated to an absolute URL starting with /Orion. For example, /Orion/SummaryView.aspx?ViewID=24. For information on how to edit your menu bar items, see "Customizing Menu Bars" in the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.

Variables in Custom HTML and User Links Resources

Variables, or macros, of the form ${Variable} or ${TableName.Variable}, are not currently available in Custom HTML and User Links web console resources. This issue affects nodes, interfaces, and volumes, and it will be fixed in a future release.

Network Atlas and Orion NPM Maps

Orion Network Atlas may be installed on Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008.

The following sections provide information related to Network Atlas and maps in Orion NPM.

Node Status Rollup on Maps

By default, in the previous version of Orion NPM, if any node in a mapped group of nodes is down or in an otherwise defined problem state, the status icon of the group reflects the problem state of the member node by displaying as red. In other words, group status icons reflected the worst state of any and all nodes in the selected group. This status rollup change was intended to more clearly highlight groups with nodes where problems may exist.

This version of Orion NPM provides two options for displaying the status of a group of nodes on a map. You can either show the worst status of the group (red if any of the nodes are down) or you can show warning (yellow) if some nodes are down and some are up. The following steps configure the status rollup mode for your Orion Web Console.

To configure the status rollup mode for the Orion Web Console:

1. Log on as an administrator to your Orion Web Console.
2. Click Admin in the Views toolbar.
3. Click Web Console Settings in the Settings grouping of the Orion Website Administration page.
4. Select either of the following options as your Status Rollup Mode:
   • If you want the parent node status icon to show the worst status of all child devices, select Show Worst Status.
   • If you only want the parent node status icon to show as yellow (warning) if there are problems with any or all child devices, select Mixed Status shows Warning.
5. Click Submit.

Network Map Resource Error in the Orion EOC Web Console

If you are upgrading an installation of Orion NPM version 9.1 that is currently monitored by an Orion Enterprise Operations Console (Orion EOC), the Network Map resource in the Orion EOC Web Console may not display network maps correctly. The following steps correct this issue.

To restore the Network Map resource in the Orion EOC Web Console:

1. Click Download Network Atlas in the Network Map resource.
2. Run the Network Atlas installation executable file.
3. Click Repair.
4. Complete the Configuration Wizard.

Open Issues Related to Network Atlas

The following known issues are related to the interaction between Orion NPM and Network Atlas.

• Orion Network Atlas does not support Orion NPM login credentials that use Integrated Windows Authentication. To connect Orion Network Atlas to Orion NPM servers, you must provide an Orion NPM credential that was created in the Orion Account Manager.
• Setting the label text font size to 0 in Orion Network Atlas crashes the program.
• Pressing F5 twice in rapid succession in Orion Network Atlas crashes the program.
• Orion Network Atlas does not prevent you from using cat and paste in a map to add itself as its own child object. Saving and reopening such a map crashes the program.
• The EOC Map converter tool only converts MapMaker Maps. You can use the converter tool to convert maps prior to upgrading to Orion NPM 9.5, but after you upgrade, all existing maps are converted to Orion Network Atlas maps and can no longer be converted with this tool.
• The status of Orion APM objects displayed on the maps are incorrect for the following states: critical, warning, not licensed, disabled, unmanaged, and unreachable.
• The Configuration Wizard sometimes fails to convert Orion NPM MapMaker maps to the new Network Atlas format. The workaround is to manually convert the map: Click File > Open in Network Atlas to open the MapMaker .OrionMap file, change something in the map, and then click File > Save to save the map to the Orion NPM database.
• Objects in Orion Network Atlas with an icon size smaller than 10 points are drawn only with simple shapes.
• Performing more than ten Undo actions in a row in Orion Network Atlas marks the map as having been saved.
• The background color in Orion Network Atlas is not saved if the map also has a linked background.
• If a link in Orion Network Atlas is assigned the status from two objects and you cancel the assignment of the first object, both assignments are canceled when you save the map. Canceling the assignment of the second object works properly.
• Orion Network Atlas does not automatically synchronize with changes made to the Orion server Status Mode Rollup setting. Restart Orion Network Atlas to resynchronize after changing the Status Mode Rollup setting.
• Clicking on a submap opens the submap in a new browser tab or window.

Orion NPM and Orion EOC

The following sections provide information related to the interaction between Orion NPM and the Orion Enterprise Operations Console (Orion EOC).

UTC Server Time Synchronization

The coordinated universal time (UTC) of the Orion NPM server must be within five minutes of the UTC of the Orion EOC server. If there is a time discrepancy greater than five minutes, a secure connection to the Orion NPM server cannot be established. If you receive an invalid credential error even though you are sure the credentials are correct, check the UTC of both servers.

Network Map Resource Error in the Orion EOC Web Console

If you are upgrading an installation of Orion NPM version 9.1 that is currently monitored by an Orion Enterprise Operations Console (Orion EOC), the Network Map resource in the Orion EOC Web Console may not display network maps correctly. The following steps correct this issue.

To restore the Network Map resource in the Orion EOC Web Console:

1. Click Download Network Atlas in the Network Map resource.
2. Run the Network Atlas installation executable file.
3. Click Repair.
4. Complete the Configuration Wizard.

Orion NPM and the Orion NCM Integration

The following sections provide information about the Orion Network Configuration Manager (Orion NCM) Integration for Orion NPM.

Orion NCM Integration for Orion NPM - Inventory Reports

If you are using Internet Explorer 8, you need to be running in Compatibility mode to ensure Inventory report navigation works correctly.

Removing the Orion NCM Integration for NPM

Removal of the Orion NCM Integration for NPM component requires manual interaction with the Orion NPM website. Complete the following procedure to completely remove the integration component.

To remove the Orion NCM Integration component:

1. Stop the Orion NPM website using the Microsoft Internet Information Service Manager.
2. Stop the IIS Admin Service using the Service Control Manager (services.msc).
3. Delete the NCM folder in the \inetpub\SolarWinds\Orion folder.
4. Restart the IIS Admin Service.
5. Restart the Orion NPM website.
6. Navigate to http://hostnameOrIPaddress/orion/admin/listviews.aspx and remove Orion NCM resources from the following views:
   • Network Summary Home
   • Node Details

EnergyWise

The following sections provide information about using Orion NPM to monitor Cisco EnergyWise-enabled network devices..

• Recurrence Policies and Chron Jobs

Importance

Currently, the importance of policy updates is hard coded to 100. At this time, this is caused by a limitation imposed by the EnergyWise MIB data collection mechanism.

EnergyWise Device Time

The time returned by an EnergyWise device is based on the device time. Therefore, recurrence policies (based on chron jobs) respect the time set on the device, not the time of Orion NPM or Orion NCM.

Recurrence Policies and Chron Jobs

Do not use a 7 to represent Sunday in the day of the week option of your recurrence policy. At this time, 7 is not recognized by Orion NPM as Sunday. Using 7 to represent Sudnay will cause problems with your EnergyWise Policy Overview Calendar resource.

Other Known Issues

The following sections provide information related to previously unmentioned, known issues in Orion NPM.

Scheduled Tasks in Windows 2008 Server

The Orion Report Scheduler uses the Windows Task Scheduler technology to execute scheduled tasks. These scheduled tasks are configured to run in user-based contexts, and, by default in Windows Server 2008, they will only run when this user is logged in. In the event that the currently logged-in user is different from the user of the configured task, the scheduled task may not proceed as expected. The default configuration of any scheduled task may be edited as shown in the following procedure:

To modify the configuration of a scheduled task in Windows Server 2008:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Task Scheduler.
2. Right-click scheduled task, and then click Properties.
3. Check Run whether user is logged on or not.

   Note: You may need to change the context of the job to enable the ability to change this settings.

4. Click OK.

Charts in Orion Application Performance Monitor

Labels on the y-axis of Orion Application Performance Monitor charts may display as misaligned or staggered. Chart data is not affected by this misalignment. This is a known issue to be fixed in a future release.

Incorrect Virtual Machine Status Reports

The running status of a virtual machine is dependent on the VMWare-VMINFO-MIB, OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.6876.1.1.8. There is a known issue where the running status is not consistently reflected by this OID for VMs with Linux or Windows Vista operating systems. The running status is correct, however, in the 1.3.6.1.4.1.6872.2.1.1.6 OID. This difference will be corrected in a future release. At this time, some monitored virtual machines may report an erroneous Not Running state.

Sending Alert Emails

When configuring an alert to send an email, a valid email address must be provided in the To: field. This is a bug with the Send an Email/Page action that will be fixed in a future release.

Internationalization

A number of areas in the Orion Web Console, including the Orion NCM Integration for Orion NPM, display the wrong time format when you change the system settings to display an international time setting. This is a known issue and will be corrected in an upcoming release.

Orion NPM Fixes

The following sections provide information related to fixes in this and previous versions of Orion NPM.

Fixes in Orion NPM Version 9.5

This release of Orion NPM includes the following fixes and updates:

• The Select All and Select None functions have been restored to the web console Syslog view.
• Details tables in the Orion database are now indexed to improve performance during database maintenance.
• The loopback address for a selected device may now be used for discovery with Network Sonar.
• The Configuration Wizard no longer overwrites existing, user-defined reports with the default reports provided during the initial Orion NPM installation and configuration.
• Interface captions on Cisco Catalyst devices are now reset automatically whenever an existing caption is deleted.
• Web Node Management availability has been restored for remote users using Integrated Windows Authentication.
• The evaluation period countdown clock in System Manager is now consistent with the same clock in the Orion Web Console.
• Objects linked from within reports emailed using Orion Report Scheduler are now referenced using a full URL, instead of merely a path relative to the Orion server.
• The host server and port number are now included in object links within reports emailed using Orion Report Scheduler.
• Universal Device Poller alerts now respect reverse thresholds as designed.
• An issue resulting in unnecessarily high CPU load during database maintenance has been fixed.
• Orion NPM now triggers multi-conditional alerts on VMware ESX servers as designed.
• Web Node Management corrects an issue seen in System Manager where SNMPv1/v2 nodes reconfigured as SNMPv3 revert to SNMPv1/v2 when System Manager restarts.
• The Universal Device Poller now correctly handles transforms of counter-type pollers.
• An issue where administrative links were unavailable to accounts using Windows Pass-through authentication has been fixed.
• Orion NPM charts now honor interface-based view limitations in the same way that account limitations are respected.
• Users no longer require administrative privileges to change their own web console account passwords.
• The Current Percent Utilization of Each Interface resource now correctly displays interface data to account-limited users.
• The ability of account-limited users to filter alerts has been restored.
• The Web Configuration Backup now properly handles install paths that include spaces or dashes.
• Interface names now display correctly, even when the corresponding interface alias is undefined or absent.
• The Last XX Traps resource now properly respects column widths imposed by the view in which it placed.
• Network Atlas corrects an issue where exceeding a specific zoom level on a map renders map icons unclickable.
• An error resulting in incorrect reports of memory utilization for VMware ESX servers has been corrected.
• Word wrapping has been restored to long custom property values and descriptions.
• Icons for Aruba, ComTechEFdataMoxa, IWatsu, Sensatronics, Sofaware, and Twente have been added for use in the Orion Web Console.
• An issue preventing the display of icons for some American Power Conversion Corporation devices has been fixed.
• The Network Overview now displays correctly for both account-limited users and users with administrative rights.
• Report Scheduler no longer emails reports before confirming that Orion NPM has been able to load all requested data.
• The Alert Variables and Examples section of the Orion NPM Administrator Guide has been amended to state that some variables may require table names in the variable reference, as in ${TableName.VariableName}.
• For users with Orion modules, custom properties are no longer overwritten upon install or upgrade.
• The Orion Web Console now properly respects both user accounts using Windows Pass-through Authentication (IWA) and the DirectLink user, when both are available.
• A validation dialog has been added to confirm that a Subject is provided whenever an action is defined for a Syslog rule.
• Network Atlas corrects an issue where a number is displayed instead of a requested map.
• The ability to use host headers in Internet Information Services (IIS) has been restored.
• An issue preventing the display of reports in the web console has been fixed.
• The polling engine version for Hot Standby Engines now displays correctly in the web console.
• A deadlock condition occurring when alert definitions are updated has been corrected.
• Report Scheduler now sends Syslog reports from the web console as designed.
• The Hot Standby Engine has been updated to correct an issue related to basic alerting.
• The ViaVideo icon has been updated to display as Polycom, the Colubris icon has been updated to display as HP, and the icon for Fore systems has been added for use in the Orion Web Console.
• Availability reports that include COUNT functions are now generated correctly.
• The Orion Web Console no longer requires COM+ objects.
• Audible alerts now function correctly on remote Orion servers.
• The ability of advanced alerts to trigger the execution of external applications has been restored.
• The ability to edit the title of the Custom Properties for Nodes resource has been restored.
• Events sorted by device type now display correctly in the web console.
• Custom Node Chart resource titles now correctly update to match newly selected node chart types.
• The ability to group traps by type in the Traps Summary view has been restored.

Fixes in Previous Releases

Previous releases of Orion NPM include the following fixes:

Version 9.1

• Alerts, Syslog, and Traps views in the Orion Web Console currently display dates in accordance with regional settings.
• An issue involving differences among SQL Server, Outlook Express, and the Orion Web Console with respect to character encoding settings that resulted in incorrect characters appearing in emailed reports has been fixed.
• The Syslog Viewer now properly supports the Copy action from right-click context menus for viewed Syslog messages.
• A SQL error commonly seen with node alerts generated for the Application Monitor or with a Custom Poller on older versions of Orion NPM has been fixed.
• An incorrect link has been fixed for VoIP events in the Events resource on the Network Summary Home view of Orion NPM installations that include VoIP Monitor.
• It is now possible to create reports of filtered tables of data collected by Universal Device Pollers.
• Time Frame options are now respected, as designed, by custom Syslog reports created using the Syslog Viewer.
• Cisco Bridge BR500DE V8.80 bridges now display the correct machine type in Orion NPM.
• Custom charts with custom date/time periods now correctly display the date in accordance with existing regional settings.
• A duplicate "Interface Changed" event type icon has been removed.
• Web Node Management (Manage Nodes) and Application Performance Monitor links now work correctly when pass-through authentication is configured for the Orion Web Console.
• The resolution of Interface Total Bytes Transferred and Interface Total Packets Transmitted/Received charts for time intervals less than one hour has been fixed.
• Memory usage charts are now available, as designed, in the web console of Orion NPM upgrades.
• The performance of AJAX-enabled All Nodes resources has been improved for installations using many defined custom properties.
• Orion NPM has corrected the MIBs used to poll Cisco CatOS devices for interface port information.
• The Custom Property Editor is now available on Orion NPM Additional Web Server installations, allowing for the use of custom properties created in a primary installation on Additional Web Servers.
• An issue where the Universal Device Poller splash screen closes before it fully loads has been fixed.
• The ability to generate images of custom charts using URL query strings has been restored.
• An issue that resulted in website timeouts when Orion NPM attempted to create CPU Load charts for certain types of nodes has been resolved.
• The scale of the Packet Loss axis on Average Response Time and Packet Loss charts has been corrected.
• The Universal Device Poller now exhibits improved performance, including faster startup, more efficient execution, and the ability to properly poll large numbers of SNMPv3 devices.
• A duplicate key issue in the Universal Device Poller has been corrected.
• The Trap Viewer now properly respects configured trap destination ports other than 162.
• The default bandwidth value for VLAN interfaces has been corrected to 0.
• The Active Alerts resource on a Node Details view now only shows alerts for the viewed node, as designed.
• The alignment of status items in the All Nodes resource has been corrected.
• The Availability of Each Node resource now properly respects applied SQL filters.
• The Group By function in Web Node Management now works correctly for larger node groups.
• The Configuration Wizard now confirms that the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor service has stopped before continuing, so that it is no longer necessary to restart the service after configuration completes.
• Min/Max/Avg charts now properly respect axis modifications made to corresponding *.charts files.
• Orion NPM now correctly converts variable values between bytes and megabytes (MB).
• The source field of forwarded Syslog messages is now correctly populated with the IP address of the Syslog message source, instead of the IP address of the forwarding Orion NPM server.
• An issue where user-created charts caused the web console to crash has been fixed.
• Web console view limitations no longer carry over to limit subsequently viewed reports if the report is not also subject to the same limitations.
• Orion NPM now properly handles custom properties with either null or empty string values.
• True/False custom properties now default to False for nodes added using Web Node Management.
• Orion NPM is now more forgiving of poorly formatted Syslog packets.
• Grouping devices using true/false custom properties no longer generates errors when creating Universal Device Pollers or when using Web Node Management.
• An issue involving the disappearance, on rediscovery, of interfaces on monitored Juniper routers has been corrected.
• Labels for Universal Device Pollers of tables are now determined and displayed correctly, even when the polled device truncates empty values at the end of the table column.
• Interface limitations no longer affect data displayed on node poller resources.
• Custom properties are now maintained on upgrade without opening Custom Property Editor.
• Min/Max/Avg charts now properly display min/max bars on charts with longer time periods.
• The search function on the web console Syslog view has been improved to provide more relevant results.
• Universal Device Poller resources have been modified to better handle specific situations when the poller is deleted.
• An issue where interfaces on deleted nodes remained in the database has been fixed, so that now, all interfaces on any deleted node are also deleted automatically.
• An icon for SONET/SDH interfaces has been added to Orion NPM.
• Bold, red highlighting has been restored for values beyond the error level threshold on packet loss chart data views.
• True/False or Yes/No custom properties now default to False or No for nodes added using Web Node Management, instead of defaulting to NULL.
• An issue where the Define SQL Variable feature of the Advanced Alert Manager was not properly forming SQL variables has been fixed.
• The datetime format used for Orion NPM charts has been changed for better international compliance.
• When creating a poller transform, the Universal Device Poller now properly respects a user selection to not display intermediate poller results in the web console.
• An SNMP timeout is now being set appropriately for interface pollers, eliminating the gaps in monitoring data that were occurring when SNMP requests were timing out before responses could be received.
• The default timeout of the AJAX-enabled All Nodes resource has been increased for better handling of nodes with large numbers of interfaces.
• Changes to the port names of Cisco devices with both CatOS and IOS are now accurately recorded.
• An issue resulting in a 404 website error in Internet Explorer 7 when Web Node Management is used to list the resources on a node has been fixed.
• The Orion Web Console now accepts multiple Custom HTML or Text resources in a single view.
• The final time period for web console charts now displays correctly.
• Advanced Alert Manager processes now stop correctly when clicking File > Exit to close the Advanced Alert Manager application.
• An issue where the x-axis on some charts was not scaling correctly over different time periods has been fixed.
• The Traps view in the Orion Web Console now correctly summarizes received trap messages.

Version 9.0

• Both the Orion Web Console and System Manager user interfaces have been improved.
• Event icons in the Orion NPM Web Console have been updated.
• With the new Universal Device Poller, area charts for Universal Device Pollers now display correctly when changed from the linear format.
• Old custom pollers improperly formatted data of type IP Address. Data of this type is now formatted correctly in Universal Device Pollers.
• An issue where the old custom poller service would wait for ten minutes after failing to establish a connection with the database has been with fixed with the new Universal Device Poller.
• Custom poller starvation issues have been fixed with the new Universal Device Poller.
• Since MSDE is no longer supported by Orion NPM, it is now blocked by the Configuration Wizard, which does not continue until an installation of SQL Express, SQL Server 2000, or SQL Server 2005 is detected.
• Errors in Orion NPM components related to the uninstallation of Cirrus Configuration Manager have been fixed.
• A issue with the location of navigation buttons in the Configuration Wizard has been fixed.
• The Orion Web Console now properly respects the selection of a Home Page View on the Default Menu Bar and Views page.
• The default value for Allow account to acknowledge events and alerts? option on the Account Settings page has been changed to YES.
• The Search Interface resource now functions correctly with all options.
• The IP address of the source node is now included with all forwarded SNMP traps and Syslog messages.
• The latest MIBs for multiple Cisco, Juniper, and Adtran devices have been included in the SolarWinds MIB database.
• The new Universal Device Poller fixes an issue where no data is reported for a custom poller of APC devices when there are more than 16 devices.
• Map Maker now correctly lists node and interface vendors when clicking Show All Nodes and Interfaces.
• An issue where edits to the Down Nodes resource in a Node Details view generated an error has been fixed.
• Advanced Alerts can now send messages with forwarded SNMP traps.
• Map Maker now respects the automatic hyperlink option for map objects.
• The Volume Details view now displays the node name, next to the volume caption, in the view title.
• The Configuration Wizard now enables the COM+ System Application service, if necessary.
• ICMP Echo packets are no longer sent with empty payloads.
• The status of unmanaged nodes is now properly updated and correctly reported in both System Manager and the Orion Web Console.
• The Configuration Wizard now enables the SQL Server Browser service when SQL Express is installed.
• The Configuration Wizard now properly handles ASP extensions in French and Polish versions of Windows.
• The username and password of DirectLink users is now fully validated before login.
• Triggered alerts no longer stop firing after only eight hours of activity when the alert trigger persists.
• Nodes are now properly updated with complete information when they are promoted from ICMP to SNMPv3 in both System Manager and the Orion Web Console.
• The DirectLink user is no longer logged-in automatically when activated for the Orion Web Console.
• Devices listed in the Traps Summary resource now actively link to the SNMP Traps view where all traps from the selected device are listed.
• The predefined interface status advanced alert now reports interface status correctly.
• A security issue with the report scheduler has been fixed.
• The Execute External Program action now works correctly for advanced alerts.
• The predefined Syslog Messages report now works correctly.
• A security issue with the event viewer has been fixed.
• Vendor icons for Extreme Networks, Linksys, and SNMP Research devices now display correctly.
• An error that occurred when clicking either Execute SQL Query or Preview while editing predefined Historical Traffic reports in Orion Report Writer has been fixed.
• Nordic characters now display correctly when used in node names.
• Advanced alerts, traps, and Syslog messages now pass variables through the VBscript action as designed.
• An error that would occur when filtering nodes on certain machine types has been fixed.
• Predefined 95th percentile reports now properly respect account limitations.
• An issue involving alerts not respecting escalation rules involving time offsets has been fixed.
• An issue involving the failure of a triggered percent utilization alert to reset has been fixed.
• An arithmetic overflow error encountered with 95th percentile reports has been corrected.
• Alerts that are configured to email a web page upon trigger now function correctly with Time of Day instructions.
• The traps retention period has been reduced to 30 days to limit unnecessary expansion of the database.
• An issue involving the parsing of available volume space variables has been fixed.
• Orion NPM currently polls Cisco 6500 devices correctly for utilization data.
• Orion NPM now correctly handles non-ASCII characters in maps and web console resources.
• SQL queries using custom properties in reports now function correctly.
• A database maintenance issue related to retention settings on a 64-bit system has been resolved.
• The email URL action now works correctly.
• Summarization and count reports currently display correct results.
• An issue related to the calculation of memory utilization for Net-SNMP devices has been fixed.
• Value sorting for predefined Orion reports has been fixed.

Version 8.5.1

• Orion NPM no longer polls nodes designated as "unmanaged".
• You no longer have to wait for Map Maker to load all nodes before you can continue with map creation or editing.
• Hot Standby Engine now takes over, as designed, even if the primary poller goes down multiple times.
• Configuration Wizard no longer shows “unknown software exception” at the end of configuration.
• Alert suppressions using “yes/no” custom properties now work correctly.
• Configuration Wizard now opens in front of other open windows.
• Configuration Wizard is now better able to detect the presence of SQL Express, even when the SQL Browser is not running.
• Advanced Alerts dialog now opens in the middle of System Manager rather than offset.
• System Manager no longer stops responding after an incorrect read/write community string is entered.
• Various typographical errors have been corrected.
• The variables ${MessageType} and ${Message} now work for the “Send an SNMP Trap” action in the Syslog Viewer.
• Resource list spacing on Manage Views pages in the Web Console has been improved for greater readability.
• The SolarWinds Alerting Engine service now tries to reconnect with the Orion NPM database after a timeout error, reducing the likelihood of service failure.
• Account limitations now apply correctly to Overview page.
• The third column of 95th percentile reports now correctly shows values based on both inbound and outbound traffic.
• Upgrades from versions of Orion NPM prior to 7.8.5 are now explicitly blocked.
• The Web Console now displays dots and dashes correctly.
• Map Maker has improved handling of nodes from unknown vendors.
• Alerts configured with time of day restrictions now fire as expected.
• Now, both the Temperature custom MIB poller and the Fan and Power Supply custom MIB poller correctly look for nodes instead of interfaces.
• Orion NPM now works as intended when configured to use https.
• The Web Console now supports custom logos of up to 150 pixels in height.
• Passwords containing # or & characters are currently accepted.
• Fixed an issue where installing Orion NPM and then installing Orion VoIP Monitor, without first configuring Orion NPM, generated an error.
• SNMPv3 now works properly with all monitored devices.
• Account limitations based on groups of nodes no longer generate errors.
• Groupings of nodes within the All Nodes resource now properly account for the inclusion of custom properties.
• Fixed performance issues encountered in the Nodes with Problems resource.
• Changes to thresholds in the NPM Settings section of the Web Console are now appropriately reflected in threshold-related resources.
• The Availability of Each Node resource now allows you to properly set a custom time period.
• In Report Scheduler, checking Retrieve a Printable Version of this Page on the Orion Web Login tab of the New Job Wizard now omits the web header from the report as described.
• Clearing large numbers of events in the Web Console no longer generates errors.
• Orion NPM now performs several permissions checks during setup and configuration to prevent problems resulting from insufficient permissions.
• Default report graphics have been updated.
• The Configuration Wizard now checks the target database for case-sensitivity and warns you that Orion NPM does not work well with case-sensitive databases.
• Toolset integration has been upgraded properly.
• The Configuration Wizard no longer incorrectly identifies a SQL Server as local when the SQL Server name is a substring of the Orion NPM server name.
• Orion NPM now correctly handles blank passwords.
• The Web Console no longer creates a persistent cookie, which was rejected by some browsers.
• Fixed an issue where interfaces would sometimes disappear from System Manager.
• Fixed an issue where the number of interfaces on a device was sometimes limited to 100.
• DirectLink functionality has been restored to Orion NPM, but it has been changed from version 8.1, as documented in the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.
• Interfaces that have been “shut down” are no longer treated as “unknown” in the All Nodes resource.
• Wireless Client History now correctly displays “Today” instead of a full date.
• Toolset Integration applications Ping and TraceRoute now launch properly from the Web Console.
• Fixed an issue where CPU Load resources were inaccurately displaying 100% load on certain devices.
• Fixed an issue where acknowledged alerts would sometimes re-trigger.
• In All Nodes resources, nodes monitored with ICMP no longer flash as though there were an interface in an unknown state.
• NetFlow Realtime now appears on the Toolset integration menu as expected.
• Account limitations based on Node Name Pattern now function as expected.
• Nodes with DHCP enabled are no longer placed into a single record during the upgrade process.
• Orion NPM variables now work correctly in the Custom HTML resource.
• In Map Maker, selecting Network Link Properties now filters the list of available nodes down to the two being linked.
• The Web Console now handles the case where an account references a non-existent view.
• Fixed an issue where Map Maker displayed some Cisco interfaces incorrectly.
• The Web Console now correctly supports Windows pass-through authentication.
• Charts have been adjusted to not extend beyond the edge of narrow columns on the Web Console.
• The Web Console now handles duplicate objects correctly.
• A date and time display has been restored to the upper-right corner of the Network Summary page.
• The data portion of ICMP packets is now empty by default.
• Appending &dataformat=excel to a URL now prompts you to open or save the data file.

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