Cisco Expressway Monitoring Guide

Overview

This guide is designed to assist Nectar Unified Communications Platform (UCMP) users in the monitoring of Cisco Expressway. Cisco Expressway is often deployed as a pair:

• Expressway-C
• Expressway-E

However, it can also function as a standalone Expressway or be used with other systems, such as other Expressways, gatekeepers, and SIP proxies. It can be clustered with up to six Expressways to provide n+1 redundancy and up to four times individual capacity.

About this Guide

This guide provides instructions that should be performed on each Expressway element in the environment, including how to:

Configure Expressway SNMP

Configure Nectar Foundation

Supported Software Versions

• Nectar UCMP v8.7 and prior
• Cisco Expressway r8.6 and later (with minor variations)

Configure Expressway SNMP

Follow these steps to configure the Expressway SNMP parameters:

1. Navigate to the IP address/FQDN of the Cisco Expressway.

2. Login to the Web Administrative Interface.

3. Navigate to System > SNMP. 

The following window appears.

Cisco Expressway-C

4. Complete the following parameters:

Table - Configure SNMP

5. Click Save to apply the changes.

Configure Nectar Foundation

Configuring the Nectar platform includes the following tasks:

• Add an Expressway Agent
• Define the Expressway Agent
• Update Pollers
• View Dependency Tree

Add an Expressway Agent

This section explains how to add a new agent.

1. (Optional) Add a folder to contain all Expressway elements/agents:

• Navigate to Health > Elements > Folders.
• Right-click in the Root Folders pane and select New Folder.

Add Folder  

• Enter the name of the new folder, such as Cisco Expressway.
• Click OK.

2. Perform one of the following:

• Navigate to Health > Elements > Folders; then select the Root folder added in Step 1. Right-click in the Infrastructure pane and select Add Agent.
• Navigate to Health > Elements > Agents; then right-click in the All Agents pane and select Add.

The Add Agent window appears.

Add Agent 

3. Enter the following data:

Table - Add Agent 

4. Click OK.

Define the Expressway Agent

Follow these steps to select the server metrics and running processes to be monitored:

1. Select the new Expressway Agent (Expressway-C).

2. Right-click and select Host Wizard.

The following Host Wizard window appears.

Host Wizard  

3. Enter the following information:

Table - Hot Wizard

4. Click Next.

The Host Wizard - Disks/Memory window appears.

Disks/Memory 

 5. Select the following:

Disk/Memory Selections 

6. Click Next.

The Host Wizard - Processes window appears.

Processes 

7. Select the following processes:

Processes

8. Click Next.

The Host Wizard - Layer 3 Status (Ping) window appears.

Layer 3 Status (Ping) 

9. Select the IP address(es) of the Expressway server to ping for Layer 3 status, shown in Layer 3 Status (Ping)

10. Click Next.

The Host Wizard - Layer 2 Status window appears.

Ethernet Ports 

11. Select the Ethernet ports (eth*) for Layer 2 Status, shown in Figure 3-9.

12. Click Finish.

The Expressway Agent is built and the dependency tree is automatically created.

Add Missing Processes

If your review of the Expressway Agent shows that you are missing any recommended or desired process(es), follow these steps to add them. If not, proceed to Update Pollers.

1. Navigate to Health > Elements > Agents; then select the Expressway Agent.

2. Right-click in the Poll Functions pane and select Add.

The Add Poll Function window appears.

Add Poll Function

3. Expand the SNMP folder.

4. Click Process Active.

5. Uncheck Recreate dependency tree, if selected.

6. Click Next.

The Add Process Active (SNMP) window appears.

Add Process Active (SNMP) 

7. Select the missing process(es); then click Add.

The pollers that will monitor the additional process(es) will be created. However, they will not appear in the dependency tree.

Update Dependency Tree with Missing Processes

Follow these steps to update the dependency tree with the missing process(es):

1. Navigate to Configure > Dependency Trees.

Dependency Tree 

2. Double-click on the name of the dependency tree in the Name column to be updated. The dependency tree appears in the pane to the right.

3. Click the + icon in the top right corner of the Dependency Tree pane to pop out the window.

4. In the right pane, scroll to show the Services branch. Leave this window open.

5. Navigate to Health > Elements > Agents; then select the Expressway Agent.

6. In the Poll Functions pane, select a process that was added.

In Select Process, the selected process is bioset.

Select Process 7. Drag the process onto the Services node of the dependency tree.

8. Repeat Steps 6 and 7 for each missing process.

Update Pollers

Follow these steps to add the monitored processes to the pollers to simplify troubleshooting and identify a failed process within an event.

1. Navigate to Health > Elements > Agents; then select the Expressway Agent.

2. Right-click on the Process Active Poller and select Edit. The following window appears.

Update Poller 

3. Enter a new description for the poller; then click Update.

View Dependency Tree

Follow these steps to view the dependency tree for an event:

1. Navigate to Health > Events.

2. Filter on Expressway.

3. Right-click on the Expressway event and select Goto Dependency. The View Dependency window appears.

Services Node 

Notice the Services node is collapsed due to the large number of processes being monitored.

The Expressway Agent is now being monitored. You can incorporate the Dependency Tree element into your Dashboard. You can also set or modify thresholds on any of the pollers within the Expressway Agent.