Nectar-SMGRSM10 1

 Avaya Solution & Interoperability Test Lab 

Application Notes for Nectar for Avaya with Avaya Aura® 

System Manager and Avaya Aura® Session Manager - Issue 

1.0 

Abstract 

These Application Notes describe the configuration steps required to integrate Nectar for Avaya

2022 with Avaya Aura® System Manager 10.1 and Avaya Aura® Session Manager 10.1. Nectar for Avaya is a performance monitor that provides a comprehensive view of unified communications and contact center environments. It automatically captures Avaya Aura® System Manager and Avaya Aura® Session Manager inventory and provides resource utilization information using Avaya Aura® Routing Web Service, Avaya Aura® Session Manager Element Manager Web Service, and SNMP Polling.

Readers should pay attention to Section 2, in particular the scope of testing as outlined in Section 2.1 as well as the observations noted in Section 2.2, to ensure that their own use cases are adequately covered by this scope and results.

Information in these Application Notes has been obtained through DevConnect compliance testing and additional technical discussions. Testing was conducted via the DevConnect Program at the Avaya Solution and Interoperability Test Lab.

Introduction

These Application Notes describe the configuration steps required to integrate Nectar for Avaya with Avaya Aura® System Manager and Avaya Aura® Session Manager. Nectar for Avaya is a performance monitor that provides a comprehensive view of unified communications and contact center environments. It automatically captures Avaya Aura® System Manager and Avaya Aura® Session Manager inventory and provides resource utilization information using Avaya Aura® Routing Web Service, Avaya Aura® Session Manager Element Manager Web Service, and SNMP Polling.

The Routing Web Service and Element Manager Web Service are RESTful Web Services that are part of the Avaya Aura® System Manager Web Services. The Routing Web Service provides programmatic access to Routing administration data available from the System Manager → Routing GUI. Nectar for Avaya (hereafter referred to as Nectar) collected the following Routing data from System Manager:

• Locations
• SIP Entities
• Entity Links

The Session Manager Element Manager Web Service provides programmatic access to Session Manager Dashboard and User Registration status data. Nectar collected the following data from Session Manager:

• Session Manager Status
• User Registrations

Nectar captured the following resource utilization data from System Manager and Session Manager using SNMPv3 polls.

• CPU Utilization
• Linux Physical Memory Utilization

The frequency of data polling is configurable via Nectar or may be performed on-demand.

General Test Approach and Test Results

The interoperability compliance test included feature and serviceability testing. The feature testing focused on the ability of Nectar to capture System Manager and Session Manager inventory data from the Routing Web Service and the Element Manager Web Service. In addition, SNMPv3 polling was used to capture the resource utilization data. The data was displayed on the Nectar Remote Intelligence Gateway (RIG) client.

The serviceability testing focused on verifying that the Nectar came back into service after reconnecting the Ethernet cable (i.e., restoring network connectivity) and restarting Nectar.

DevConnect Compliance Testing is conducted jointly by Avaya and DevConnect members. The jointly defined test plan focuses on exercising APIs and/or standards-based interfaces pertinent to the interoperability of the tested products and their functionalities. DevConnect Compliance Testing is not intended to substitute full product performance or feature testing performed by DevConnect members, nor is it to be construed as an endorsement by Avaya of the suitability or completeness of a DevConnect member’s solution.

Avaya recommends our customers implement Avaya solutions using appropriate security and encryption capabilities enabled by our products. The testing referenced in these DevConnect Application Notes included the enablement of supported encryption capabilities in the Avaya products. Readers should consult the appropriate Avaya product documentation for further information regarding security and encryption capabilities supported by those Avaya products.

Support for these security and encryption capabilities in any non-Avaya solution component is the responsibility of each individual vendor. Readers should consult the appropriate vendorsupplied product documentation for more information regarding those products.

For the testing associated with these Application Notes, the interface between Avaya systems and Nectar for Avaya utilized encryption capabilities of SNMPv3.

Interoperability Compliance Testing

Interoperability compliance testing covered the following Nectar features and functionality.

• Collecting System Manager Inventory (e.g., Locations, SIP Entities, and Entity Links) using the Routing Web Service and displaying the inventory on the RIG client.
• Collecting Session Manager Inventory (e.g., Session Manager Status and User Registrations) using the Element Manager Web Service and displaying the inventory on the RIG client.
• Verifying configuration changes made to the relevant data via the System Manager Web interface were updated on RIG client.
• Verifying Session Manager status, SIP user registration status, and SIP user configuration updates (e.g., adding/removing users) were updated on RIG client.
• Verifying resource utilization (e.g., CPU Utilization and Linux Physical Memory Utilization) captured from System Manager and Session Manager via SNMPv3 polling.
• Verifying proper system recovery after a restart of Nectar and loss of IP network connectivity.

Test Results

The compliance test passed with the following observations:

• Nectar throttles frequent data collections to System Manager using the Routing and Element Manager Web Services. If on-demand or scheduled data collections are requested too frequently, Nectar may suppress sending the requests to System Manager even though the Last Execution timestamp was updated in the Data Collections window. During the compliance test, on-demand and scheduled data collections were requested no more than once every 15 minutes.

• There may be up to an hour delay before Nectar updates and displays the latest data from System Manager and Session Manager retrieved using the Routing and Element Manager Web Services even though data collections are being requested periodically.

• Session Manager instances data is not supported by the Element Manager Web Service and should not be requested. Session Manager instances data collection should be disabled in Nectar as shown in Section 6.3. Nectar will remove Session Manager instances in the inventory report and the ability to poll for the data in a subsequent release.

• Currently, Nectar doesn’t support receiving SNMP traps from System Manager or Session Manager.

Support

For technical support and information on Nectar for Avaya, contact Nectar Support at:

• Phone: +1 (888) 811-8647 (US)

+1 (631) 270-1077 (outside the US)

• Website: https://support.nectarcorp.com 
• Email: support@nectarcorp.com

Reference Configuration

Figure 1 illustrates a sample configuration consisting of Nectar with an Avaya SIP-based network, including Avaya Aura® System Manager and Avaya Aura® Session Manager. Nectar captured data from System Manager and Session Manager using System Manager Web Services and SNMP Polling. The RIG client was used to display system inventory and resource utilization data.

Figure 1: Nectar for Avaya with Avaya SIP-based Network 

Equipment and Software Validated

The following equipment and software were used for the sample configuration provided:

Configure Avaya Aura® System Manager and Avaya Aura® Session Manager

This section provides the procedure for providing access to System Manager Web Services and enabling SNMP polling on System Manager and Session Manager. The procedures include the following areas:

• Add New Administrator for Nectar
• Verify System Manager Web Services
• Enable SNMP Polling

Configuration was performed by accessing the browser-based GUI of System Manager using the URL Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., where <ip-address> is the System Manager IP address, and logging in using the appropriate credentials.

Add New Administrator for Nectar

A user account is required by Nectar to retrieve SIP trunk and user registration information using System Manager Web Services.

From the main webpage, navigate to Users → Administrators. In the Administrative Users web page shown below, click Add.

In the Add New Administrative User web page, configure the following parameters:

After completing the form, click Commit and Continue.

On the next web page, assign the role to the administrative user. Scroll down and select Session Manager and Routing Administrator. Click Commit.

Log out of the System Manager web interface. Log back into the System Manager web interface using the administrative user created above. During the first login attempt, the user must change the password using the Change Password link under the login prompt (not shown).

Verify System Manager Web Services

No additional configuration is required to enable the Routing Web Service or Element Manager

Web Service. However, the steps in the following sections can be performed to verify that System Manager Web Services are running and that data can be retrieved using the Routing Web Service and Element Manager Web Service.

Verify System Manager Web Services is Running

To verify System Manager Web Services is running, perform the following steps:

• Log into System Manager using SSH.
• At the Linux prompt, enter the following command:

wget --no-check-certificate https://SMGR-

IP/ws/grservice/getgrstate/test, where SMGR-IP is the System

Manager IP address.

• A similar output to the one below should be displayed indicating that the HTTP request was successful.

cust >wget --no-check-certificate https://10.64.102.120/ws/grservice/getgrstate/test --2022-08-18 12:02:16-- https://10.64.102.120/ws/grservice/getgrstate/test

Connecting to 10.64.102.120:443... connected.

WARNING: The certificate of ‘10.64.102.120’ is not trusted.

WARNING: The certificate of ‘10.64.102.120’ hasn't got a known issuer.

The certificate's owner does not match hostname ‘10.64.102.120’

HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK 

Length: 700 [application/octet-stream]

Saving to: ‘test.2’

test.2 100%[=========================>] 700 --.-KB/s in 0s

2022-08-18 12:02:16 (37.2 MB/s) - ‘test.2’ saved [700/700]

Test Routing Web Service

Verify that data can be accessed from the System Manager Routing Web Service by requesting for SIP entity data using a web browser. Enter the following URL in the web browser:

https://SMGR-IP/NRP/admin/sipentities, where SMGR-IP is the System Manager IP address. Enter the appropriate login credentials, from Section 5.1, when prompted. System Manager should respond with a list of SIP entities in the web browser.

Test Element Manager Web Service

Verify that data can be accessed from the Session Manager Element Manager Web Service by requesting for Session Manager status using a web browser. Enter the following URL in the web browser: https://SMGR-IP/ASM/ws/asmstatuses, where SMGR-IP is the System Manager IP address. Enter the appropriate login credentials, from Section 5.1, when prompted. System Manager should respond with the Session Manager status in the web browser.

Configure SNMP

This section provides the procedure for enabling SNMP polls on System Manager and Session

Manager. Configuration was performed by accessing the browser-based GUI of System Manager using the URL Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., where <ip-address> is the System Manager IP address. Log in using the appropriate credentials.

From the main webpage above, navigate to Services → Inventory. In the subsequent webpage, select SNMPv3 User Profiles under Manage Serviceability Agents in the left pane to display the webpage below. Click New.

Configure the User Details for SNMPv3 polls to be used for System Manager and Session Manager. Nectar requires that the SNMPv3 credentials match for System Manager and Session Manager. The following user profile will be used by System Manager and Session Manager.

Under Manage Serviceability Agents in the left pane, select Serviceability Agents. Select the serviceability agents, which should include System Manager and Session Manager, by selecting both checkboxes as shown below. This step selects the serviceability agents to which the SNMP user profile configured above will be attached. Click on Manage Profiles.

In the SNMPv3 User Profiles tab, select the entry in the Assignable Profiles section and click Assign to push the SNMP details to System Manager and Session Manager. Click Commit to submit the changes.

Configure Nectar for Avaya

This section covers the Nectar configuration to collect Session Manager Inventory and resource utilization data from System Manager and Session Manager using SNMPv3 polling. The configuration was performed via the RIG client. The procedure covers the following areas:

• Launch the RIG Client
• Configure System Manager Web Services and SNMP Polling Access
• Disable ASM Instance Data Collection

Launch the RIG Client

In an Internet browser, enter the Nectar IP address in the URL field. The RIG client software is downloaded. Install and run the RIG client. In the Nectar Portal Login screen, enter the user credentials and click Login.

Configure System Manager Web Services and SNMP Polling Access

Navigate to Modules → Avaya → System Manager and right-mouse click on the screen and select Add from the pop-up menu shown below to add a System Manager and Session Manager connection.

The Add System Manager dialog box is displayed as shown below. This configuration allows the System Manager Web Services access credentials and the SNMPv3 polling credentials for both System Manager and Session Manager to be specified.

Configure the following fields:

• Version: Select r7.1 or above.
• Name: Provide a descriptive name (e.g., System Manager).
• IP: Specify the System Manager IP address (e.g., 10.64.102.120).
• Port: Specify HTTPS port 443.
• Username: Specify the user name configured in Section 5.1.
• Password: Specify the password configured in Section 5.1.
• Description: Provide an optional description (e.g., DevConnect Test).

In the Community section, specify the SNMPv3 polling credentials from Section 5.3. Click Test to test the connection and verify the credentials. Click Add to submit the form.

Disable ASM Instance Data Collection

Navigate to Modules → Avaya → System Manager and right-mouse click on the System Manager connection and select View Collections… from the pop-up menu as shown below. ASM Instance data collection is not supported.

In Collections, right-mouse click on ASM Instance for agent 0 and select Disable from the pop-up menu as shown below.

Verification Steps

This section provides the tests that can be performed to verify proper configuration of Nectar with System Manager and Session Manager.

1. Navigate to Reports → Inventory → Avaya → System Manager (r7.1 or above) and select either SIP Entity, Entity Links, or Location to verify that Session Manager Inventory was retrieved using the System Manager Routing Web Service. The following screen displays the list of SIP entities.

1. Reports → Inventory → Avaya → System Manager (r7.1 or above) and select either Session Manager Status or Registrations to verify that Session Manager Inventory can be retrieved using the Session Manager Element Manager Web Service. The following screen displays the user registrations.

1. Health → Elements and select Agents in the leftmost pane. In the All Agents pane, select the System Manager agent. In the Poll Functions tab, the CPU Utilization and Linux Physical Memory Utilization, derived from SNMPv3 polls, should be displayed.

1. Health → Elements and select Agents in the leftmost pane. In the All Agents pane, select the Session Manager agent. In the Poll Functions tab, the CPU Utilization and Linux Physical Memory Utilization, derived from SNMPv3 polls, should be displayed.

Conclusion

These Application Notes described the configuration steps required to integrate Nectar for Avaya with Avaya Aura® System Manager and Avaya Aura® Session Manager using Avaya Aura® System Manager Web Services and SNMP polling. The compliance test passed with observations noted in Section 2.2.

Additional References

This section references the Avaya documentation relevant to these Application Notes.

1. Administering Avaya Aura® System Manager, Release 10.1.x, Issue 6, June 2022.
2. Administering Avaya Aura® Session Manager, Release 10.1.x, Issue 3, April 2022.
3. Avaya Routing Web Service API Programming Reference, Release 8.1, Issue 1, June 2019, available at http://support.avaya.com.
4. Avaya Aura® Session Manager Element Manager Web Service API Programming Reference, Release 7.1.1, Issue 1.0, August 2017, available at http://support.avaya.com.

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