Configuring Run-Time Settings

• Overview

• Run-Time Settings

• Logging Level

• Log File Name

• SNMPv3 Configuration File

• Respond to v1 and v2 Queries

• One/Two way hand shake

• Character Encoding

• Manage using RMI

• Scramble the PDU

Overview

Before starting the network, configure the run-time properties that have to be used by the Network Simulation.  The options selected in the Runtime Settings dialog, will be automatically saved.

1. Choose Settings -> Runtime Settings in the menu bar.

2. The Network Properties dialog opens, showing the following run-time options that can be configured for SNMP devices.

Run-Time Settings

Logging Level

When the simulated agent is running, it will generate debug information to know about the agent processing. This information will be generated in your log file under <SimulatorHome>/logs directory. The following four levels of debug options are provided :

1. 1. OFF : This level indicates that the debugging mode is disabled. Hence, log messages do not get stored in the log file.  

   2. NON-CRITICAL :- Selecting this option will generate messages about the request made, the response received, trap details, etc., in your log file. Any information that might be required for reference is stored in the log file under this level and may not be useful for debugging errors.

   3. CRITICAL : Selecting this option will generate only critical error messages, such as details on Agent crash, Authentication errors, Agent already open in another session,  etc.,  in your log file.  

   4. DEBUG : Selecting this level will log every activity from entering a method to exiting, including critical and non-critical messages. Hence,  selecting this level may affect performance. The debug level should be used only to solve any complex problem.

Log File Name

Specify the name of the log file to be generated under <SimulatorHome>/logs directory. The Log file should be specified only when the debug level is selected. This field is disabled if the debug level is OFF.

Start Network in SNMPv3 version

Network Simulator supports SNMPv3. The details about the default v3 users is stored in XML file format in  <Simulator_Home>/conf directory.  You can add new users to this file using the v3 Configuration tool.

This tool can be invoked from the Network Designer, by selecting Settings -> SNMPv3 Security Settings.  Refer to the topic, Configuring SNMPv3 Security Settings to learn more about the default v3 users and the steps to add new users to the v3 agent.

Respond to V1 and V2 Queries

Network Simulator also supports the feature of Responding to V1 and V2 Queries even if the network is started in V3 mode.

To enable this feature, user has to select this option after enabling the option StartNetwork in SNMPv3 version. If it is not enabled then Simulator will not respond to v1 and v2 queries if network is started in v3 version.

One/Two way hand shake

The Simulator have two options as i) One-way Handshake & ii) Two-way Handshake in "Run Time Settings" for SNMPv3. As per our need, we can select any one of the options and proceed. By default, it will be two-way handshake.

SNMPv3 Discovery

        Inorder to add an UserEntry to the UserTable in Manager, discovery and time synchronization process must be done with the SNMP Engine. Here Discovery is to update the engineID value and TimeSynchronization is to update the EngineBoot and EngineTime value.

Two way handshake is to perform both discovery & Time Synchronization in two different requests, as per the SNMP standards for every v3 requests for the first time.

One way handshake - is to performe both the discovery & Time Synchronization in a single request.

To enable this feature, user has to select this option after enabling the option StartNetwork in SNMPv3 version. 

Character Encoding

The network simulator now supports various character encoding other than the UTF-8 encoding format previously supported. The required encoding format must be specified in the Character Encoding option, before starting the network.

For example, if you configure a Jython script which sends a trap including a Japanese word and specify the encoding format as MS932, the simulator can send a trap including an MS932 Japanese word.

The following link contains a list of character encoding formats http://www.iana.org/assignments/character-sets . Network Simulator supports all the encoding formats that are supported in Java language. If Network Simulator does not support the specified format, the default encoding specified in the system is implemented.

• Note: The options selected in the Runtime Settings dialog, will be automatically saved. After network startup, any changes in run-time settings will not be considered. Network has to be restarted.

Manage using RMI

The Network Simulator provides option to manage the SNMP agent from the remote, using Remote Method Invocation (RMI).  Selecting the option Manage using RMI  will register the network simulator with the RMI registry.

Refer to the topic Managing Agents via RMI, to learn more.

Scramble the PDU

The Network Simulator supports customization of SNMP PDU by providing the access to,

i. the request PDU from the socket layer (i.e., before sending it to the simulator)

ii. the response PDU in the buffer, before sending it to the socket layer.

The PDU scrambler interface also provides access to the SNMPScriptInterface object, using which the user can access all the behavior API  methods. The SNMP Script API is provided under the <simulator home>/examples/javadocs directory.  

Refer to the topic SNMP PDU Scrambler, to learn more.