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Table Of Contents
Release Notes for CiscoWorks Network Compliance Manager, 1.2.1
NCM High Availability System Requirements
Installing the Enhanced PERL API
Known Limitations and Problems
Administrative Settings - User Authentication Page Crypto Key Exception
Banner Handling Strings Require Device-specific Passwords
BayRS Device Can Lose Ability to Provide Snapshot
BayStack 450 Could Stop Responding to Telnet, SNMP, or ICMP
Cisco Banner Messages Special Characters
Command Line Interface: connect Command
Command Line Interface: Set Telnet or SSH Client Width to 500
Console Server: SSH Access is not Supported
Deploy to Startup Config and Reboot not Supported Using SNMP
Diagnostics: When to Run ICMP Tests
Distributed System Performance
Duplicate IP Addresses with Multiple Sites
Extreme Devices: Configuration Comments Can Cause Misconfiguration
Inventory: Data from Device Overwrites Manually Entered Values
Juniper Devices with SCP Enabled do not Capture Running Configurations
RADIUS External Authentication
Reports: Checkpointing Can Cause Reports to be Inflated
Scripts: Cannot Save Command Scripts with Quote Marks in the Name
Scripts: Cannot Save Template or Command Scripts with a Period in the Name
Scripts: Command Scripts and Templates for Cisco Aironet VxWorks Devices
Scripts: Output Results in HTML Format
SecurID Software Token Software, Version 3.0.5
Sending Reports to External Email Addresses
Software Center: Cisco IOS 2500
Software Center: Cisco IOS Devices
Software Center: Deploying Software
Software Center: Downgrading Nortel OS and Rebooting Could Leave Device Inaccessible
Software Center: Image Set Name Requirements
Software Center: Reboot Option
SQL Server 2005 Password Requirement
Tasks: Running External Application Tasks Presents a Possible Security Risk
Tasks: Task Scheduled for the 31st Might Run on the 1st
Unresponsive Script Warning Message in Mozilla Firefox 1.5 (or Higher)
Obtaining Documentation, Obtaining Support, and Security Guidelines
Release Notes for CiscoWorks Network Compliance Manager, 1.2.1
August, 2007
These release notes include important information regarding CiscoWorks Network Compliance Manager (NCM), Release 1.2.1. NCM provides network configuration and change features, policy-based workflows, best of class compliance reporting capabilities, and APIs. NCM includes integration with CiscoWorks—initially launchable from the CiscoWorks home page and interoperability with other CiscoWorks applications such as the LMS bundle through the CommonServices Device Credential Repository (DCR).
Note
All documentation, including this document and any or all of the parts of the NCM documentation set, might be upgraded over time. Therefore, we recommend you access the NCM documentation set using the Cisco.com URL: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6923/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.
In addition, the Docs tab visible from within Network Compliance Manager might not include links to the latest documents.
Contents
This release note contains the following sections:
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Features in This Release
NCM Release 1.2.1
The NCM 1.2.1 release includes the following enhancements:
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To configure this new setting, you must have NCM configured to use AAA credentials for snapshot tasks. To do this, navigate Admin Settings >Device Access >Task Credentials and uncheck the Allow Standard Device Credentials option for Take Snapshot. Then, check the corresponding option for Allow User AAA Credentials for Take Snapshot.
To enable a specific user account to be used in cases where NCM does not have AAA credentials to collect a snapshot, do the following:
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NCM Release 1.2
The 1.2 release includes the following features:
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System Requirements
This section includes the following:
Linux Server Requirements
The following tables provide the recommended requirements when installing NCM on a Linux platform. Keep in mind that the application server and the database server can be configured together or separately depending on the size of the network.
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Summary Reports
Summary reports are generated in the Microsoft Excel XLS format. Excel does not run on Linux. You can either run the Summary reports from a Windows client computer connected to your NCM server or you can use one of the following products that run on Linux and can open Excel files:
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Solaris Server Requirements
The following tables provide the recommended requirements when installing NCM on a Solaris platform. Keep in mind that the application server and the database server can be configured together or separately depending on the size of the network.
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Summary Reports
Summary reports are generated in the Microsoft Excel XLS format. Excel does not run on Solaris. You can either run the Summary reports from a Windows client computer connected to your NCM server or you can use one of the following products that run on Linux and can open Excel files:
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Windows Server Requirements
The following tables provide the recommended requirements when installing NCM on a Windows platform. Keep in mind that the application server and the database server can be configured together or separately depending on the size of the network.
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NCM and LMS Co-residency Requirements
The following are the recommended requirements when you are enabling co-residency of NCM and CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS):
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For detailed information on NCM and LMS co-residency, refer to the Configuration Guide for Network Compliance Manager and LMS Co-residency.
Installation Considerations
Note
http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cwncm-cryptoNCM Gateway Requirements
The Network Compliance Manager Gateway enables a NCM Core to manage servers that are behind one or more NAT devices or firewalls. The NCM Gateway is supported on the following platforms:
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NCM High Availability System Requirements
The NCM High Availability Distributed System is a multi-master system where the data from each NCM Core is available to all other NCM Cores. This collection of NCM Cores is called an NCM mesh. This configuration helps provides a comprehensive view of your data and allows for redundant data and failover in the event of a problem with the NCM Core. Each NCM Core consists of an NCM Management Engine, its associated services (Syslog and TFTP), and a single database.
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Upgrading the OS
Before performing server maintenance or upgrades, take steps to ensure that in the case of application or OS corruption, you will be able to restore critical NCM data.
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<NCM directory>\client\scripts\
<NCM directory>\addins\
<NCM directory>\jre\
<NCM directory>\server\lib\drivers
<NCM directory>\docs
If upgrading the server causes NCM to malfunction, contact Technical Support.
Backing Up User Files
During an upgrade, the NCM Setup program automatically backs up user files, such as the Summary reports and NCM scripts, to the following directories:
For Windows:
\winnt\temp\rendition\addins
\winnt\temp\rendition\images
\winnt\temp\rendition\log
\winnt\temp\rendition\scripts
For Solaris:
/var/rendition/addins
/var/rendition/images
/var/rendition/log
/var/rendition/scripts
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Installing the Enhanced PERL API
The following modules are provided on the NCM Distribution CD:
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Installation Requirements
PERL version 5.8 or later is required.
If you are using the Auto Installer, skip to the "Auto Installer Method:" section.
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If you are manually installing the PERL API, confirm that certain versions of PERL and/or PERL modules (that are not part of some core PERL distributions) are installed before you begin. Refer to the META.yml file within each package/tarball for its requirements.
If your PERL distribution does not contain all of the required PERL modules, they are available at http://www.cpan.org and/or via PPM. If you are using ActivePerl, try PPM first.
PPM (ppm.exe) is part of the ActivePerl distribution. If you are using ActivePerl, it is recommended that you use the PPM method. You can also run PPM without arguments and then issue the install command. You may need to do this for some PERL modules that have multiple versions to choose from, followed by install # (where # is the item in the list returned by the install command). Keep in mind that PPM prefers to use the - as a namespace separator in place of the PERL :: separator.
To install any of the required modules, use one of the following commands:
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Installation Steps
There are two methods for installing the PERL API modules. The first and easiest method is to use the Auto Installer. You can only use the Auto Installer, however, if you have installed the PERL API distribution via the NCM installer. Otherwise, you must use the manual installation method.
Auto Installer Method:
The Auto Installer installs all of the Cisco::NCM modules as well as their dependencies.
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perl client/perl_api/har/install.pl
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All of the Cisco::NCM modules are installed, as well as their dependencies. However, only pure PERL dependencies are provided. For example, SOAP::Lite is provided, which includes a minimalist lightweight XML parser. For the best performance, we recommend that you have the XML::Parser module installed.
If you are using ActivePerl (with a PERL version of 5.8 or better), the XML::Parser module is included with the distribution. Otherwise, you will need to use PPM, CPAN, or manually download and install the module.
Manual Install Method:
Keep in mind that the installation could fail if your PERL installation does not meet certain requirements. Refer to the "Installation Requirements" section. In addition, the Cisco::NCM PERL modules are distributed as compressed tarballs, similar modules on CPAN. They are located in the following directory: <NCM_ROOT>/client/perl_api/Cisco/.
To untar and uncompress all of the modules at one time, you can use the ptar command. ptar is distributed as part of the popular PERL module Archive::Tar, which is included in the standard ActivePerl distributions. To view the contents of the directory and to extract the contents into your current directory, enter: ptar -xzvf PATH/TO/whatever.tar.gz.
For each of the following modules, uncompress and untar the module(s) and change to the directory that was created:
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To install the PERL API on a Windows platform with ActivePerl, or any platform running a version of PERL that has the Module::Build module installed, enter:
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You may also use the traditional CPAN method. Enter:
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PERL Documentation
After installing the PERL API, you can view the following PERL POD pages:
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Your PERL distribution can also build HTML files for the documentation.
Examples
There are PERL API examples in the demo directory. These examples illustrate how to use the PERL API. Keep in mind that it is possible to run the examples without installing the PERL modules by remaining in the demo directory and supplying the relative (or full) path to each example, as in:
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Resolved Problems
NCM 1.2.1 includes the following fixes:
Discovering Network Devices
Detect Network Devices task no longer adds new devices with network and broadcast addresses
In previous releases, when the Detect Network Devices task was run with a CIDR range, NCM would add devices for the network and broadcast addresses. NCM has been enhanced to remove the first and last address from a scan when the address scan is specified as a CIDR range. This eliminates the broadcast and network range from being scanned, and erroneously adding new devices.
Change Detection and Configuration Management
Edit & Deploy Configuration feature now correctly tracks the most recent configuration on a device
When using the Edit & Deploy Configuration feature, previously the configuration scheduled for deployment would erroneously show as the most recent configuration. This has been fixed.
Change Notification email now attributes the correct username
The Change Notification email from NCM no longer attributes the wrong username with configuration changes.
BayRS drivers no longer fail to parse binary configurations if circuit name starts with 0
The BayRS driver no longer fails to parse the binary configuration if a circuit name contains a number that starts with 0.
Parsing of syslog messages from Cisco devices improved for real-time change detection
In previous releases, if the msec in the timestamp of the syslog message was less than 255, NCM change detection failed. This has been fixed.
NCM now correctly displays more than one configuration in the configuration audit trail
In NCM 1.2.1, it was possible for NCM to only display one configuration for the device configuration audit trail, even if the device had many historical configurations. This has been fixed.
Searching and Reporting
Compliance Center reports now correctly list port availability
NCM Compliance Center reports now correctly report Port availability. Previously, the Free Ports column was not always accurate.
Advanced Search now contains the current number of context lines in mailed and CSV reports
Advanced Search reports now display the correct number of context lines in mailed and CSV reports based on search criteria.
Summary reports displayed last run date now matches filestamp date
The Summary reports, Summary tab, and Last Run: date now report the actual date when a report was run.
Links to Summary reports from Compliance Center and User & System reports now work correctly
In previous releases, the Compliance Center reports and the User & System reports had invalid links to the Summary reports.
Context lines are not maintained across multi-page search results
In previous releases, when searching for configurations that contain specific text, the option to specify the number of context lines did not work across pages in a multi-page search result display. As a result, when the Next Page button is selected to move to the next page of a multi-page search results display, the previously entered number of context lines reversed back to the default value of 3. This has been fixed.
The Application Switch device type is now a searchable option
The Application Switch device type is now listed as an option when searching for a device by device type.
Users are now able to run the Diagramming report from My Favorite reports
In previous releases, you could not run Diagramming reports from My Favorite reports. This has been fixed.
Device search for `Ports in Use' no longer fails with SQL error
In a previous release, a Search for Devices where the criteria included Ports in Use failed with a SQL error. This has been fixed.
Policy Manager and Compliance Violations
Configuration Policy Activity page now shows the most serious importance rating for a device with multiple compliance violations
The Configuration Policy activity page now shows the most serious importance rating for devices with multiple compliance violations. For example, if a device has a Medium and a Critical violation, the rolled up report shows the device as Critical.
Dynamic device group criteria based on device compliant state now works
For dynamic device groups where the filter is defined as "non-compliance with specific policy rules," the filter now works as expected.
Batch Changes and Task Management
Run Script command in the CLI/API now runs correctly with double-quotes
The Run Script command in the CLI/API now runs correctly when double-quotes are used. For example, previously Run Script would fail if double-quotes with a single character were used.
Software Update task page refresh no longer results in a page error
When updating a Software Update task, upon refresh, an error would occur: failed to save task: $1$. This has been fixed.
Checking the Show Task Detail checkbox no longer breaks multi-page task browsing
In previous releases, when viewing a list of Child tasks (subtasks) of a Group task, if you select the Show task detail checkbox and then move to the next page of the task, the page is not displayed. This has been fixed.
Saving a new template with more than 4,000 characters no longer returns an error
In previous releases, saving a new template with more then 4,000 characters returned the error: ORA-01704: string literal too long. This only impacts Oracle installations. This has been fixed. [
Event Rules
Event Rule emailing contents of a diagnostic task no longer fails to include actual diagnostic information
In previous releases, the event variables for diagnostics, $CurrentDiag$, $PreviousDiag$, and $Diff, were only valid for the Device Diagnostic Changed event. These event variables are now available in Event Rules from any Diagnostic event (Device Diagnostic Changed, Device Diagnostic Completed Successfully, and Device Diagnostic Failed).
Permissions
View Partition device view abilities enhanced
You can no longer set View Partition permissions to users for View Partition Permissions that they have not been granted or set View Partition Permissions on Partitions that they cannot view.
Users can no longer run scripts from the CLI/API without explicit permission
Users can no longer run scripts from the CLI/API without being granted Script Permission.
Granting a user Command Permission to "Run External Application" now enables this capability as an Event Rule for that user
Granting a user Command Permission to Run External Application now enables this capability as an Event Rule function for that user.
Performance
Event Pruner on Oracle can now delete more than 10K records
The Event pruner no longer stalls when deleting more than 10,000 records.
Single device tasks scheduled via the Device Selector are no longer erroneously scheduled as a group task
When using the Device Selector to schedule a task, if you schedule a task on a single device, NCM now schedules a standard single device task.
Batch editing on device groups
Performance has been improved by enabling batch editing on selected device groups (as opposed to using the select all option).
Search for devices no longer fails if search criteria equals more than 2,048 characters
You can now perform searches in NCM where the search criteria provided is greater than 2,048 characters. For example, Search for Devices where Device Group is <select long list of different device groups>.
Device Snapshot event filter no longer causes snapshot failures
In previous releases, enabling the Device Snapshot event filter in the Admin Settings caused snapshots to fail. This has been fixed. You can now disable this event to improve performance without any adverse effects.
Displaying large device list
When NCM displays a large device list, it now avoids a large CPU performance hit.
Syslog_wrapper.log file
The start_syslog_wrapper.log file now includes a pruning method to restrict file growth.
Security
Console Server password is now masked on output
The console server password is considered to be sensitive data and is therefore masked on output as {SECURE STRING}.
API/CLI
Perl API list-modules command now returns the correct type
The list_modules command in the NCM Perl API now returns the correct type and data.
Perl API list-ports command now returns the correct type
The list_ports command in the NCM Perl API now returns the correct type and data.
list_site command added to Perl API
The list_site command now exists in the NCM Perl API.
Table 10 lists the problems that were resolved in CiscoWorks Network Compliance Manager, Release 1.1. Table 11 lists the problems that were resolved in CiscoWorks Network Compliance Manager, Release 1.2.
Known Limitations and Problems
This section contains information about the limitations and problems known to exist in the NCM 1.2 product.
CSCse09644—The cwncm_import script does not parse the hostname as present in the CSV file.
Description: When exporting some devices from DCR into the CSV file using dclr_export.sh or from Device Management UI of LMS, the cwncm_import script does not parse the hostname (present) in the CSV file; instead, it substitutes the IP Address as the hostname for all these imported devices.
Workaround: You can manually change the Hostname by looking up the corresponding name in the CSV file. This issue will be fixed in a future release.
CSCse09092—Clicking Perform Test does not launch a new window.
Description: From Policies > Policy List > Add New rule > Test > Added Devices from Device Selector, select Perform Test. A browser window does not launch to display the Test Results screen.
Workaround: The problem only happens when you select a UNIX driver for the UNIX end hosts. Selecting any other device type will resolve the issue.
CSCse11820— Installation hangs if you provide incorrect Database credentials.
Description: Oracle is installed successfully and you proceed with NCM installation. If you provide any incorrect database credentials (port number, DB name, or password) while configuring the NCM Database, then NCM hangs while trying to connect to the database.
Workaround: Stop the installation using the Windows task manager. Restart the installation and enter the correct credentials.
CSCse14518—When you attempt to delete a large number of devices from the NCM database, it fails.
Description: Devices are imported into NCM, which uses Oracle database. Go to the Device > Inventory window, select a large number of devices that you wish to delete, and select Delete. NCM prompts you confirm the deletion. Click yes. After sometime, only 200 devices are deleted.
Workaround: Delete a smaller number of devices at each attempt (< 500 devices).
CSCse16371—An error message incomplete command displays when you try to get hardware information for a CRS-8/S device.
Description: From Inventory, select a CRS-8/S device. Go to View > Diagnostics > Hardware Information. No hardware info gets displayed, instead an error with the message incomplete command is displayed.
Workaround: There is no known workaround for this issue. Please avoid using this feature for this device type.
CSCse16848—Duplicate entries are seen in the software updates report.
Description: When adding more than one image set from Devices > Device tools > Software Images, the weekly report incorrectly reports two successful updates when this is not the case.
Workaround: There is no known workaround for this issue.
CSCsg79893—License monitor results column updated only after browser manual refresh.
Workaround: This is how all the System Monitors work. By default the monitor data is updated every 6 hours but this is configurable.
CSCsh28136—Installer fails to copy licenses from a directory whose name has spaces.
Workaround: Make sure that the directory and directory path where the license files are being copied do not have spaces in their names. If you must use directory and directory path names containing spaces, make sure to quote the entire path.
Caveats
Please read the following usability issues before using NCM. These issues are listed in alphabetical order.
Administrative Settings - User Authentication Page Crypto Key Exception
It is possible that after upgrading to NCM 1.2, you will not be able to access any of the menu items under Administrative Settings. This is due to a corrupted encryption option in the site_options.rcx file.
Workaround:
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<option name="twist/password"><title>Twist Password</title><section>Cisco Server Automation System Authentication</section><size>30</size> <type>EncryptedText</type><comment>Web Services Data Access Engine Password for finding connected servers.</comment>encrypted:sQAHLgjGjdGIbvNB18NEoQ==</option>
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<option name="twist/password"><title>Twist Password</title><section>Cisco Server Automation System Authentication</section><size>30</size> <type>EncryptedText</type><comment Web Services Data Access Engine Password for finding connected servers.</comment></option>
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Banner Handling Strings Require Device-specific Passwords
If you enter banner handling strings, Devices > Inventory > Edit > Show Device Access Settings (device-specific settings) > Setting > Banner skip regex option and enter common prompt strings, such as password or username, you cannot apply network-wide Password Rules to the device. If you do, the banner handling fails without generating any errors, and the device does not work with NCM device drivers. Tasks such as Snapshot and Driver Discovery do not work.
Workaround: Always use device-specific passwords on the Edit Device window.
Batch Insert ACL Line Option
When using the Batch Insert ACL Line option (Devices > New Device Task > Batch Insert ACL Line), the Task Options section on the New Task - Run Command Script window does not contain script content. While the Command Script to Run field correctly displays Cisco IOS Insert (or Remove) Line into (or from) ACL by handle, it does not present the script or script variables for execution until a device or device group for which the script supports is selected.
BayRS Device Can Lose Ability to Provide Snapshot
Occasionally, the BayRS device can enter a state in which it cannot provide a snapshot. Snapshot tasks fail with the following error message.
File retrieval error
Workaround: Rebooting the BayRS device restores the normal state on the device.
BayStack 450 Could Stop Responding to Telnet, SNMP, or ICMP
If you connect using a console to a BayStack 450, the allowed Telnet/SNMP Manager List is unexpectedly cleared out, indicating all management traffic is denied. This occurs when the device configuration file is downloaded repeatedly using TFTP. Nortel confirms this is an OS bug in some versions. The Nortel bug reference is CR 031215-85145.
Workaround: Do not snapshot more frequently than four times per day (the default). Be sure to turn off IGMP snooping if not in use. In case the BayStack 450 is unresponsive to Telnet, the switching function of the BayStack 450 is not affected. You should schedule a non-peak hour to reboot the device (or use terminal access to gain access).
Canceling or Deleting Tasks
Some NCM tasks will spawn external processes to run PERL or Expect scripts, or to run user-provided executables or shell scripts. Under certain circumstances, NCM may not be able to kill these external processes when the spawning task is cancelled or deleted. This could include scripts that spawn sub-processes or processes that are coded to catch kill signals.
Workaround: Manually stop the external process on the NCM server.
Cisco Banner Messages Special Characters
Cisco uses a superscript L (L) special character to begin and end banner messages in its configuration files. This character is not typically supported by XML. Consequently, when you create a policy enforcement rule, incorporating the L special character, you are able to export the policy, but not import the policy using this rule.
Workaround: You can manually edit the XML before importing the policy by adding a delimiting character before and after the banner, as long as the delimiting character does not occur in the banner itself.
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Catalyst switches running CatOS 8.3(3) could crash when you connect to them using SSHv2 (for example from an SSH client, such as SecureCRT or Putty). By default, NCM uses SSHv2 as the primary access method to network devices. Therefore, there is a substantial risk that a Catalyst switch running 8.3(3) could be reset when managed by NCM.
Workaround: Upgrade your Cisco Catalyst to CatOS 8.3(4). If this is not possible, edit your Catalyst devices running 8.3(3) in NCM to use only SSHv1 or Telnet for device access.
Command Line Interface: connect Command
The connect command in the NCM Proxy now accepts a device ID. This is needed because device IP Addresses are no longer required to be unique. If you pass an invalid device ID, such as an ID that is not a number, with the connect command the NCM Proxy session is abruptly terminated.
Workaround: Reconnect to the NCM Proxy and enter a valid device ID.
Command Line Interface: Set Telnet or SSH Client Width to 500
The NCM CLI has very wide output. For maximum ease in viewing the data, set your client's buffer width to 500.
Console Server: SSH Access is not Supported
NCM does not support console server access using SSH. If you use a console server to access a device, you must use the Telnet connectivity. In other words, in the New Device window /Edit Device window, if Use to access device is checked in the Console Server Information section, you should make sure that the Telnet option in the Connection Information section is also checked.
Deploy to Startup Config and Reboot not Supported Using SNMP
NCM can deploy a configuration file to the startup configuration and reboot the device using the command line only. If the device is configured for SNMP access only (see the Device Driver Reference for Network Compliance Manager for Network Compliance Manager), deploy startup and reboot will fail.
Detect Network Devices Task
The NCM system prevents you from inadvertently running more than one Detect Network Devices task concurrently. Although the Detect Network Devices task generates only a minimal level of traffic, NCM provides this protection to help minimize additional traffic when running duplicate or additional Detect Network Devices tasks simultaneously. If a second or third Detect Network Devices task is scheduled while an earlier Detect Network Devices task is running, NCM will place the new task(s) in the Waiting state. The task(s) will run individually after the first Detect Network Devices task has completed.
Diagnostics: When to Run ICMP Tests
Use ICMP tests only to verify connectivity occasionally or after a change. They are not a replacement for monitoring software. You should schedule ICMP tests no more than once per 10 minutes.
Diagramming
NCM applies an absolute value for the text height attribute for interface and port labels shown in Visio diagrams. When the Visio VDX file is loaded, Visio assigns an incorrect formula to the text height attribute. As a result, when you have more than two lines of annotated text, such as a label, for an interface or port and you attempt to copy and paste, the label of the new interface or port is displayed improperly and could hide the interface or port icon.
Workaround: Click the Text Tool option on the Visio tool bar and move the label so as to expose the interface or port icon.
Displaying Diagnostics
Most NCM diagnostics are stored in text format. For a list of NCM diagnostics, from the Reports drop-down menu, select Search For and click Diagnostics. The following NCM diagnostics, however, are stored in binary format, and therefore are not searchable:
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Workaround: Because the issue is that built-in diagnostics are not stored as clear text, you can create a custom diagnostic that performs the appropriate command (for instance, Show Interfaces for the equivalent of Module Status). As a result, the custom diagnostic will be searchable.
Distributed System Performance
When running a Distributed System, if you are deleting many objects simultaneously, the system may take a while to push transactions for large delete operations.
Duplicate IP Addresses with Multiple Sites
If your system is configured with multiple Sites in different Realms, you could see duplicate IP addresses if you select the Multiple Devices/Groups option on a New Task window when browsing the Inventory Group using the Device Selector.
Workaround: Using the Device Selector, browse to devices using the specific Site Group.
Extreme Devices: Configuration Comments Can Cause Misconfiguration
On Extreme devices, adding inline comments between multi-line commands, such as user account commands or set banner commands, can cause serious problems if the resulting configuration is deployed.
Workaround: Do not add inline comments between multi-line commands. Add comments on the line above the start of a command.
Installing NCM on Linux
When installing NCM on a Linux platform, the install might fail because there is no access to the MySQL database.
Workaround: When installing NCM on a Linux platform, perform the following steps prior to starting the installation.
Step 1
Step 2
3. Save and close the /etc/hosts file.
If you have already started the installation, use the Linux command line to run the following commands:
#mysql -h <device ip - not 127.0.0.1> -u root mysql
mysql> GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO root@localhost.localdomain IDENTIFIED BY '<password>' WITH GRANT OPTION
mysql> exit
Inventory: Data from Device Overwrites Manually Entered Values
Certain data on the Device Details window (and other windows) is auto-populated. If you manually change the data, NCM overwrites the values when the next snapshot occurs. The device-specific values are listed per device in the Device Driver Reference for Network Compliance Manager.
The automatically populated data includes:
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JRE Versions
NCM uses JRE 1.4.2_08 to support I18N character sets. I18N (Internationalization) means modifying software or related technologies to potentially handle multiple languages, customs, and so on. Several NCM connectors, such as the HP OpenView Connector and SMARTS InCharge Connector, are installed with the NCM Client-only version, and must have the same JRE version as the NCM Server and the NCM Client for the API calls to work properly.
Note
Juniper Devices with SCP Enabled do not Capture Running Configurations
If your Juniper device has SCP enabled, the copied configuration may not be the one running on the device.
Workaround: Always save the current configuration using the Save Configuration command.
NetScreen Devices
NetScreen devices could timeout during the discovery process. This does not occur on all platforms, however.
Workaround: Edit the NetScreen device information and set the standard_timeout device variable to five seconds. This will enable the NetScreen device to complete the discovery process using the Command Line Interface (CLI).
When monitoring NetScreen devices, for NCM to detect that the device's interfaces are administratively down, the interface must be configured as down using the set interface untrust ident-reset command.
Nmap Requirements
Solaris and Linux Installations—When installing NCM on Solaris or Linux, the version of Nmap distributed with NCM (Nmap 3.81) is required for Nmap scanning when running the Detect Network Devices task. Refer to Chapter 1 of the User Guide for Network Compliance Manager 1.2.1 for Nmap installation instructions.
Nmap Scanning
Careful consideration should be taken when identifying the network range you are going to scan. Some network topologies can result in very long scans. In addition, it is recommended that you do not scan Internet addresses. If you think your Nmap scan will take more than a few minutes, you can use several Nmap options, for example --max_scan_delay <milliseconds>, setting <milliseconds> to a value between 1 and 1000. Nmap will throttle up to 1000ms max as packets are dropped.
Keep in mind that Nmap settings can be changed using the Administrative Settings option under Admin on the menu bar, and selecting the Device Access option. Please refer to the Nmap documentation at www.insecure.org for detailed Nmap information.
RADIUS External Authentication
When setting up a user to authenticate using RADIUS, if the RADIUS server does not respond, NCM still authenticates the user against the NCM local password, even if you instruct NCM not to fail-over on external authentication.
Reports: Checkpointing Can Cause Reports to be Inflated
The Make Snapshot a Checkpoint option on the Snapshot Task window (Task > New Task > Take Snapshot), stores the configuration file regardless of whether it changed. However, even if there is no change, the snapshot still appears as a configuration change on the Home window, Summary reports, Configuration Change search results, and so on. As a result, the number of configuration changes includes the check-pointed configurations, and therefore these counts may not be accurate.
Scripts: Cannot Save Command Scripts with Quote Marks in the Name
Do not use quote marks when naming command scripts. If you do, you will not be able to select and run the command script.
Scripts: Cannot Save Template or Command Scripts with a Period in the Name
Command Scripts, Templates, and Custom Diagnostics cannot have a period in the name. Use underscores or dashes in place of a period.
Scripts: Command Scripts and Templates for Cisco Aironet VxWorks Devices
NCM supports command scripts and templates for Cisco Aironet wireless access points running VxWorks software (for example, OS versions 11.23T & 12.01T1). Because scripts and templates are deployed differently to Cisco Aironet devices, NCM uses TFTP to deploy a file containing the script to the device. Some OS versions on Cisco Aironet devices accept only a limited size file using TFTP. In these cases, any excess commands are ignored and will not be run on the device. However, the script will still report successful execution. Devices exhibiting this behavior will accept no more than approximately 130 lines of text and ignore the rest without reporting an error.
Workaround: Use scripts smaller than 100 lines, or use multiple scripts to deploy larger sets of configuration commands to the device. If possible, upgrade the device to a newer version of code, ideally a version of IOS (12.2).
Scripts: Output Results in HTML Format
When executing an advanced script or a Run External Application task, any text that the advanced script or external application writes to stdout is stored in NCM as the task result. Typically, this output is treated and displayed as plain text. Before NCM displays the task results, it will escape any characters that would affect the HTML rendering, for example converting < to <.
However, you may want to create an advanced script that outputs its results in HTML format. In this case, none of the output characters would be escaped, so the results displayed would include any applicable HTML formatting. To indicate to NCM that your script outputs HTML results, the first item that your script writes to stdout must be <html>. If your script output begins with anything other than <html>, the script results will be treated as plain text.
SecurID Device Access
If you are using SSH to access devices, SSH connectivity will not work if a software token is in Next Token mode. Be sure to reset your software tokens to Normal mode before attempting SSH connectivity to devices.
SecurID Software Token Software, Version 3.0.5
If the NCM server is installed with the 3.0.5 SecurID token software, turn off copy protection when exporting SecurID software token keys on the RSA server. Otherwise, NCM reports an error when accessing SecurID software tokens. A patched version of the SecurID software is available at RSA's website (http://www.rsasecurity.com).
Sending Reports to External Email Addresses
Even though you may have properly configured NCM to contact your SMTP server, for network security reasons your SMTP server could have been configured to reject messages from the NCM server address. In this case, you would see the following error message, and any NCM messages would not be delivered.
Error occurred when sending email. Please check the email address and/or your SMTP server settings.
If this occurs, you will need to configure the SMTP server to enable the NCM server to relay email messages through it.
Software Center: Cisco IOS 2500
A problem with the Cisco IOS 2500 can affect NCM's Software Update Center. With a Cisco IOS 2500, running Version 12.3(3) (distributed as c2500-i-l.123-3.bin), some file systems are inconsistently reported. The Software Update Center is not able to retrieve a list of files on devices running this software version. Additionally, the Software Update Center cannot deploy software to the Cisco IOS 2500 running Version 12.3(3) because the Software Update Center cannot query the device for the available locations (dir ? does not return flash: and copy tftp ? does not list flash:).
Workaround: Although the Software Update Center cannot execute a software upgrade to the Cisco IOS 2500 running Version 12.3(3) by specifying a single device (the missing flash: slot information prohibits it), you can perform a software upgrade by creating a device group that contains only the Cisco IOS 2500, and then execute a software upgrade to that group.
Software Center: Cisco IOS Devices
Software Center does not support 11.x drivers for Cisco IOS 11.x. Although it is possible to downgrade a Cisco device from 12.x to 11.x, it is not possible to upgrade from 11.x to 12.x. In addition, if you try to perform a software upgrade, the existing image on the device can be deleted, and the software update task will fail. Consequently, there is no way to upload an image to the device.
Workaround: Use a TFTP server to manually recover the lost image to the device.
Software Center: Deploying Software
When deploying software to a device, it is possible for the configuration file currently on the device to no longer be acceptable to the device. This is more likely during an OS downgrade. (OS upgrades are usually handled through upwards compatibility.) It is always a good idea to test the functionality of a given OS version before deploying it on a production network. When downgrading OS versions, the device configuration file may need to be manually updated. It is very important to make this change before rebooting the device, otherwise the device could attempt to use the invalid configuration file and become unresponsive.
For the Aironet 1100, if you deploy software with the Reboot option, the Aironet 1100 might not restart correctly. In fact, the Aironet 1100 might be left inaccessible and the Deploy Software task could continue running for up to an hour. This can also occur when manually deploying software.
Workaround: Turn the device off and back on to restore connectivity. Alternatively, you can avoid the problem by turning the radio off before deploying software.
NCM does not support BayRS software downgrades from 15.x to 14.x. Although the software update will function, the device configuration file after the reboot is not valid for the new software image. The device will need to be rebooted, and the configuration file saved with the new code using a console connection.
Workaround: You can pre-deploy a valid configuration file for a software update. The configuration file should be built by SiteManager for the particular version of code you are deploying.
Software Center: Downgrading Nortel OS and Rebooting Could Leave Device Inaccessible
When you deploy an earlier version of an OS to a Nortel device, you could experience unexpected results, including the device becoming inaccessible. This occurs because commands and configuration methods might have changed, and these might not work correctly for the earlier OS when downgrading.
Be sure to review the configuration file before downgrading and possibly test the procedure in a lab before migrating the change to your production network. You should also configure out-of-band access using a console port before downgrading a device OS.
Software Center: Image Set Name Requirements
Do not enter special characters, such as $ or &, when naming an Image Set. In addition, do not include any characters outside of the alphabet or number scale in the Image Set name. These characters are mishandled in the URL and are not parsed correctly.
Software Center: Reboot Option
The Software Center reboot option is not supported when a BayRS device is configured to receive its configuration file from the network. The BayRS device returns an error message when NCM attempts to reload the device.
[1:TN]$ boot - 1:config
Configuration source is network - override allowed only when source is local.
Workaround: Configure the BayRS device to use the locally stored configuration file.
SQL Server 2005 Password Requirement
When installing NCM using a SQL Server 2005 database, you are prompted for the username and password NCM uses to connect to the database. If you enter a password that is not complicated enough for the existing Windows security policy, SQL Server 2005 discards the password and the NCM installation fails. A sample error message is: The password does not meet Windows policy requirements because it is too short.
Workaround: Enter a complex password that includes both lowercase and uppercase letters, several digits, and perhaps a special character. For example: PvyJ319?&
Syslog Messages
Certain Syslog messages (compliant with the Syslog RFC) sent from devices could have the same sender IP address as the IP address in the Syslog messages. In this case, NCM does not process the Syslog messages or schedules events. As a result, change detection will not work as expected on these devices.
Tasks: Running External Application Tasks Presents a Possible Security Risk
All Run External Application tasks run the application with root (UNIX) or system (Windows) privileges. This is a potential security risk that should be acknowledged by the System Administrator before using the Run External Application feature. Contact Technical Support to learn how to run NCM without root/system privileges.
Tasks: Task Scheduled for the 31st Might Run on the 1st
If you schedule a monthly recurring task for the 31st of every month and that task runs during a month that contains fewer than 31 days, NCM will run the task on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd day of the next month depending on how many days less than 31 the previous month contains. For example, if you schedule a task in February (with 28 days) for the 30th, the task will actually run on March 2nd. If you want to run the task on the last day of the month, you must set the date correctly.
UNIX Host Commands
UNIX host commands, such as cursor and color commands, can result in unusual characters. As a result, the unusual characters are captured in NCM proxy sessions, configurations, diagnostics, or script results. For example, if your ls command is configured as an alias to ls --color $@, saved configurations could include the corresponding color commands which may cause the output to be difficult to read.
Workaround: Configure ls so that it is not an alias or utilize a command that does not use control characters to format the screen.
Unresponsive Script Warning Message in Mozilla Firefox 1.5 (or Higher)
When uploading a software image (New/Edit Software Image Set window) or any NCM window that requires file uploading, if you are using Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or higher and the file size is relatively large, you could see a warning message during uploading that indicates a script may be busy or has stopped responding.
Workaround: Click the Continue button.
If you want to avoid this warning message in the future, do the following.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Obtaining Documentation, Obtaining Support, and Security Guidelines
For information on obtaining documentation, obtaining support, providing documentation feedback, security guidelines, and also recommended aliases and general Cisco documents, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses. Any examples, command display output, and figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.
© 2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Posted: Fri Aug 17 15:13:29 PDT 2007
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