Orion NCM Version 7.0.2 Release Notes

Congratulations on your purchase of SolarWinds Orion Network Configuration Manager (Orion NCM). Orion NCM is a comprehensive, intuitive solution designed to streamline and automate network configuration management. Orion NCM increases availability, saves time, improves security, and ensures policy adherence. The automation capabilities of Orion NCM reduce the amount of time network engineers spend on mundane network tasks, allowing them to focus on business-critical network projects.

Orion NCM version 7.0.x differs from other Orion NCM releases in that it is integrated with a core platform of components that are common to all Orion products. The Orion NCM software interacts with two separate databases: an NCM database for storing NCM-related data and an Orion Core database to manage information such as account information that can be shared across all Orion products.

All Orion NCM nodes must always also be managed in Orion Core. During device discovery, unless you manually turn-on "Enable Import from Discovery" (in Settings > NCM Settings > Manage Nodes), the Orion node discovery software only adds new nodes to the Orion Core; you need to use Add or Manage NCM Nodes (from Discovery Central) to make Orion nodes also NCM nodes.

Having nodes managed in both databases enables you to use both the Orion common features (Node Discovery, Account Management, Network Topology Mapping, Syslog/Trap Message Handling) and specific Orion NCM features (for example, the new Config Change Approval system). Keep in mind that you cannot manage network devices in Orion NCM without simultaneously managing them in the Orion Core database; and if you were to remove a node from Orion Core that node would also be removed from Orion NCM along with all currently stored data about inventory, configs, etc. In short, DO NOT delete any node from Orin Core (HOME) for which you want to retain such historical data. The fact that NCM nodes are defined in the Core database makes them visible and managed by an NPM module (if you chose to integrate NCM and NPM) that would leverage the same Core database.

Additionally, during installation and configuration of Orion NCM 7.0.x, all previous Orion NCM accounts and Orion accounts are unified as Orion accounts; all Orion NCM accounts become Orion accounts while retaining their previous NCM privileges; Orion administrator accounts are given the NCM Administrator role, and all other Orion accounts are given the 'WebUploader' role. If you do not want Orion accounts to access NCM in any way, then you must edit the Orion Network Configuration Manager Settings for those accounts (Settings > Manage Accounts) so that the accounts have 'None' as their NCM role. Also, keep in mind that any Orion account that performs node discovery while "Enable Import from Discovery" is checked will automatically add the newly discovered nodes to NCM. So if you are operating in an environment in which some Orion accounts can discover nodes but should not access NCM in any way, you should uncheck "Enable Import from Discovery"(in Settings > NCM Settings > Manage Nodes).

Upgrading to 7.0 integrates NCM with any existing Orion products

If you are currently running Orion NCM on a server with other Orion products such as Orion NPM, but Orion NCM is not currently integrated with those products, upgrading to Orion NCM version 7.0 on your current NCM server, because it uses a common core platform, will automatically integrate Orion NCM with all Orion products. If you do not want to integrate Orion NCM with other Orion products, install Orion NCM version 7.0 on its own server. To do that, consult the section “Moving Orion NCM from Non-Integrated Single to New NCM Server”.

Integrating NCM 7.0.2 with other Orion products

For NCM version 7.0.2, if you want to integrate with NPM, you must upgrade NPM to version 10.2.2.

Single NCM deployments can no longer integrate with multiple Orion NPM instances

Due to the new Orion NCM architecture, any existing Orion NCM integration with multiple instances of Orion NPM are not sustainable in their current form. As Since there is no NCM Integration Module with Orion NCM version 7.0, you cannot use a single instance of NCM to manage nodes across multiple on different NPM instances. It is still possible to emulate this kind of topology, but to do so you must purchase separate Orion NCM licenses for each Orion NPM instance. Depending on your objectives, this may require a different licensing strategy; you may need to license Orion NCM in multiple smaller bundles than in the a single larger one.

This Orion NCM version adds the following key features:

7.0.2

• Node adding via API: Provides you with a verb to programmatically insert new nodes into your Orion Core database in a way that NCM processes can use them.
• 'Imported_from_NCM' Custom Property: Automatically assigns to existing NCM nodes upon import into the Orion Core database during the node synchronization step of installation or upgrade. This property is useful when you have many NCM nodes for all of which you want to change a certain attribute (for example, polling cycle) at the same time.
• Node grouping: Lets you group nodes in the Add or Manage Nodes resource by other custom properties, and in other new ways that logically enhance management.
• Node edit: Allows you to access and alter node properties from the Add or Manage Nodes resource.
• Node search: Helps you quickly find a node in the Add or Manage Nodes resource.
• Japanese language support: Facilitates using a Japanese OS and database.

7.0.1

• Orion NCM 'None' Role (New): Allows you to use prevent specific Orion accounts from having access from NCM features and functions.

7.0.0

• Config Change Request and Approval (New): Allows you to use an approval system through which all device config changes are approved before being executed against the relevant device(s).
• Node Discovery and Management (Migrated from NCM application): Allows you to discover and manage nodes through the Orion Web Console in an interface common to all Orion products.
• Account Management: Supports Windows Active Directory and streamlines account management by including NCM properties in the page of account properties common to all Orion products.
• Compliance Report Output Controls: Gives users greater control over the presentation of report data.
• Network Atlas: Now part of all Orion products, and so available to standalone Orion NCM users, this components enables you to create topology maps of your network. It is an component now common to all Orion products and so available to all Orion NCM users
• Message, Event, Trap, and Syslog Tools: Also part of all Orion products, these configuration and visualization tools enables you to more effectively track device error states and configuration changes.

Fixes in this Release

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

This release of Orion Network Configuration Manager includes the following fixes:

Version 7.0.2

Orion NCM Fixes

• An incorrect version number displayed in NCM settings.
• An issue with the management web resource for Energy Wise devices failing to load when Orion NCM is integrated with Orion NPM and running on a Japanese OS.
• An issue associated with NetSuite 311892 involving NCM's erroneous use of device level login credentials instead of user account device login crendentials to access a device--for example, in the course of backing-up a device configuration.

Orion Core Fixes

Note: Besides NCM fixes, this release also includes the following fixes and updates to the Orion Core (Orion Core version 2011.2) components shared by all Orion products:

• Errors arising when deleting orphaned objects during database maintenance have been resolved.
• Values returned by selected date and time variables have been corrected.
• Network Sonar Discovery and Node Management no longer truncate node names to 32 and 40 characters, respectively.
• Orion Report Scheduler now correctly shows existing jobs as scheduled for the current Windows user, even when they are scheduled for other users. Changing the account name under which a job is scheduled no longer defines a completely new job under the new user account name.
• An issue resulting in the display of incorrect text in exported PDFs has been fixed.
• An issue causing errors when previewing reports in the web console has been traced to a failure to translate Wahr/Falsch, in German, as True/False boolean values. Report schemas have been updated accordingly.
• Database Manager now allows Orion user accounts with dbo_owner and public permissions to access the SolarWinds database. Previously, sysadmin privileges were required.
• It is now possible to use the Select All checkbox, without causing errors, to select more than 250 objects in Node Management.
• The SolarWinds MIB database (MIBs.cfg) has been updated Alvarion OIDs.
• The Seed Router selection method available in Network Sonar Discovery now properly handles seed routers requiring SNMPv3 credentials.
• The correct NetObjectID property was added to trap templates that were not properly updated for a previous release.
• An issue resulting in the requirement of an excessive period of time to add a single monitored object has been corrected.
• With improvements to Network Discovery, the full name of nodes with names longer than 32 characters is now stored in the SolarWinds database.
• An issue preventing the successful get of required security identifiers (SIDs) for group accounts has been resolved. SolarWinds no longer allows Active Directory authentication or account creation for groups that do not have non-empty SIDs.
• The Export to PDF feature now functions correctly when the web console is assigned to a specific IP address and the PDF is exported from a remote machine accessing the web console by hostname and not by IP address.
• An issue resulting in failures to poll volumes after performing database maintenance has been corrected.
• The contact SolarWinds link provided on the Completing the Orion Configuration Wizard view has been corrected.
• Negative values supplied by the VMware API for memory usage statistics are properly handled to provide correct results.
• Learn more links on the Add New Account page have been fixed.
• The acknowledge alert link in emails sent by triggered Orion APM application alerts now functions as designed.
• The Unmanage Scheduling Utility now properly handles the case when default custom properties are deleted.
• Schemas for selected Inventory reports have been updated to correctly report polling engines.
• New Scheduled Report tasks can now be created without error for Active Directory users.
• The web console now properly handles the maintenance of multiple Edit Object Properties views, each in different tabs in the same browser.
• Updates to the SolarWinds poller have improved polling completion percentages.
• A website script error that is thrown when managing groups containing large numbers of devices on the Manage Groups view has been fixed.
• The Configuration Wizard no longer deletes existing https bindings on upgrade or repair.
• An issue where domain names for DHCP nodes were truncated before insertion into the SolarWinds database has been corrected.
• New Scheduled Report tasks can now be created without error when the Terminal Server Windows component is installed.
• Network Atlas no longer fails to complete file synchronization with the Orion database. This failure had been linked to Network Atlas users who had insufficient permissions to access the Network Atlas synchronization folder.
• Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches (Model WS-C2960S-48FPS-L) are now correctly identified by Network Sonar Discovery.90^, 94
• SolarWinds now polls the correct object identifiers (OIDs) for monitoring IBM AS/400 disks.
• The web console now properly handles the maintenance of multiple list resources, each in different tabs in the same browser.
• Updates to Network Atlas improve how Network Atlas handles groups and custom properties.
• Spaces are no longer removed from messages supplied to the Modify Syslog Message action.
• Updates to the SolarWinds Information Service (SWIS) enable the Configuration Wizard to more gracefully handle corrupt performance counters when validating the NetPerfMon service.
• An error that left the To: field out of email messages sent as alert actions has been fixed.
• The machine types for multiple American Power Conversion Corp. devices--including back-ups, matrix-ups, and smart-ups devices--are now correctly recognized.
• Events for node name changes have been restored.
• Clicking displayed results in the Nodes with High Memory Utilization resource now displays the correct Memory Utilization chart.
• The web console now proparly handles resources assigned a ResourceID of 0. Previously, resources with a ResourceID=0 would cause web console errors.
• Removing a VMware DataCenter from monitoring no longer generates an error in the VMware Assets resource. ESX hosts on the removed Datacenter are automatically reassigned to their new DataCenter for monitoring.
• The Selected Node Properties resource now correctly provides all custom properties that are available for listing for a selected node.
• A condition where objects in a scheduled unmanage period are not restored to a managed state as scheduled, if the DataProcessor service is restarted during the unmanaged period has been corrected.
• Trap messages for email that include null characters (\0) in the values for listed variable bindings are no longer cut off at the null character.
• A condition preventing secured WCF sommunication between polling engines in a multiple polling engine environment, resulting in website errors, has been corrected.
• The Last XX Syslog Messages resource is now capable of displaying more than 25 messages at a time.
• IOS version information is now reported correctly on the Node Details view for selected Cisco devices.
• Grid lines have been restored to separate items listed in web console resources.
• Resources on the Node Details view now properly handle virtual machines returning null as the Powered State.
• SQL variables using the "@" prefix now function correctly when included in HTML-formatted email messages.
• Failures of the SolarWinds Collector Job Engine v2 due to incorrectly handling an error resulting from attempts to poll an incorrect OID for interface MAC addresses have been corrected.
• Updates to code in the Orion SNMP library enable the addition of SNMPv3 devices, as designed.
• The machine type for Cisco ASA5580 devices is now correctly recognized.
• URLs longer than 255 characters are no longer truncated when provided in the Orion Report Scheduler.
• The machine type for IBM P595 PowerPC devices is now correctly recognized.
• Node custom properties assigned floating point values, are now validated correctly in the web console.
• The web console now uses the UTF character set. This corrects a number of issues with how reports appear in the web console.
• Network Atlas running on Windows 7 now accepts Active Directory credentials, as designed.
• Network Atlas map resources now display correctly on the Group Details veiw of the web console.
• SolarWinds SSL certificates are now created using the SHA1 has algorithm, instead of the less-secure MD5 algorithm.
• SolarWinds APM variables ${ComponentsWithStatusFormatted} and ${ComponentsWithProblemsFormatted} are now translated correctly for use in email actions.
• The Send Syslog Message action now functions as designed when the Syslog Message Facility is set to local use - level 0.
• It is now possible to edit the filenames of PDFs exported by the Orion Report Scheduler.
• The compressed archive created for the SolarWinds Diagnostic Utility has been updated to enable extraction on Windows Server 2003.
• Network objects selected in Network Sonar Discovery to be ignored no longer display on the Devices to Import tab.
• The Send New Syslog Message alert action can now send messages to custom ports.
• An issue preventing the correct display of node states in the web console has been corrected.
• An error that regularly corrupts the collector SDF has been fixed, allowing the Collector Data Processor and Collector Polling Controller to start, as required.
• Job Engine v2 credentials are now correctly synchronized, allowing effective communication between polling engines.
• An issue resulting in errors in Syslog resources on the Network Summary page, has been traced to an incorrect translation of a localized date, using "." instead of ":", and it has been fixed.
• A security issue preventing valid user access to selected reports and views in the web console has been corrected.
• Failures in vCenter polling due to undetermined validity of provided credentials have been fixed.
• An issue resulting in stopped polling and 'VMware Guests with Problems" errors has been resolved.
• The titles of object properties, including custom properties, are now stored correctly, with spaces, in the database, preventing the collapse of Custom Property List resources into a single line.
• The correct timestamp is now displayed for syslog messages both in the Node Related X Syslog Messages resource and in the Last X Syslog Messages resource.
• The SolarWinds MIB database (MIBs.cfg) has been updated with the correct value for the cExtSnmpTargetAuthInetAddr OID.
• An issue that forced links to the Admin Settings view to instead open the Network Summary view has been corrected.
• A change in the format of forwarded Syslog messages has been corrected.
• Monitored objects with Chinese names are now correctly displayed with Chinese names in the web console.
• Cisco Catalyst 2960, 3560, and 3760 Series Switches are now correctly identified by Network Sonar Discovery.
• The alignment of labels in Network Atlas has been improved to better indicate object status.
• Network Sonar Discovery can now accept community strings of up to 250 characters in length.
• Virtualization monitoring now better handles credentials for wireless ESX hosts that regularly lose connection (drift in and out of range).
• Documentation has been updated to direct the installation of Additional Polling Engines and Additional Web Servers.
• An issue that has caused both the trap service and the SolarWinds Information Service to restart repeatedly when upgrading multiple poller environments has been fixed.
• An issue related to dependencies that resulted in polling delays has been fixed.
• An issue preventing the display of variables in triggered alerts has been fixed.
• An issue preventing the trigger of basic alerts from additional polling engines has been fixed.
• An issue with trap filters that prevented trap alerts from triggering has been fixed.
• The SolarWinds installer now deletes orphaned job scheduler results before completing an upgrade to the current version of SolarWinds NPM.
• Groups defined on a dynamic basis now update as required.
• A condition resulting in the display of negative polling completion rates has been corrected.
• An update to the SolarWinds Information Service corrects an error with serialized query results seen when the NCM web console integration is installed.

Previous Version Fixes:

Version 7.0.1

• Fixes the confusion inherent in the presentation of Orion NCM account migration warning.
• Fixes a replication failure in which Customer properties (SolarWinds Information Service database objects) were not being replicated between the primary and backup sites defined with the SolarWinds Failover Engine .
• Fixes the Orion NCM and Orion configuration wizards failing to detect if the configuration process has been fully completed.
• Fixes a failure in node synchronization between the Orion Core and Orion NCM database when an NCM custom property does not conform to the custom property template as expected by Orion Core.
• Fixes node synchronization failure related to Cisco Catalyst cards.
• Provides access to Search feature if FTS is enabled.
• Fixes an issue with NCM login to Huawei routers.

Version 7.0

• Fixes an issue with config downloading via TFTP.
• Fixes an issue with the device template for the 3COM_4050.
• Fixes the issue with the ConfigAutoDownloader.exe generating zombie instances of itself in handling the real-time change detection workflow. NCM version 7.0 uses a different executable..
• Fixes inventory failure due to inability to initialize a socket.
• Fixes an error related to use of Config Change Templates due to duplicated data in the database.
• Fixes a config download issue with Enterasys switches.
• Fixes an issue with devices being displayed by an incorrect device name in the NCM node list.
• Fixes a limitation in device templates regarding switch to keyboard interactive authentication.
• Fixes a SSH login issue related to Cisco ASR1002.
• Fixes the delay in loading the list scheduled jobs.
• Fixes the listing of SolarWinds executables as being designated in UAC-enabled systems with "Publisher Unknown".
• Fixes an issue with device login credentials being erroneously changed.
• Fixes an issue with downloading a config via SNMP/TFTP from a Cisco Catalyst Express 500.
• Fixes an issue with a device reboot job failing to use specific target information.
• Fixes an upgrade issue with this release.
• Fixes the limitation of not being able to search the SNMP database in the Trap Viewer.
• Fixes an issue with special characters blocking execution of a command script.
• Fixes an issue with a device not being displayed in a report.
• Fixes issues related to the web console running slowly due to the need for database queries to sort the subset of nodes that are being monitored by Orion NPM and Orion NCM. In these cases, if you are monitoring a large number of nodes.
• Fixes an issue in which nodes already discovered and added to Orion NPM thorugh the Find Connected Ports resource do not show up in the NCM Nodes list under the integration resources in the Orion Web Console ('Configs').
• Fixes issue in which a search for an IP address known to be in a config file yields no results.

Version 6.1

• Fixes an error in the Download Config resource as accessed from the Config Summary (drilling to node details from the Overall Running vs. Startup Config Conflicts pie chart).
• Fixes an error in the Compare Configs resource as accessed from the Config Summary (drilling to node details from the Overall Running vs. Startup Config Conflicts pie chart).
• Increases the number of retries should Orion NCM encounter an error in downloading a config file from an SFTP host.
• Fixes device template issues with Motorola WS5100 WAP and ES3000 switches.
• Eliminates timeouts observed in the Find Connected Port for End Host.
• Disallows orphan data in the database.
• Resolves issues with the device template for Checkpoint firewalls.
• Resolves a problem with the MAC Forwarding table having no data following an inventory report.
• Fixes problems with downloading configs and errors in log entries with the Orion NCM TFTP server.
• Displays the appropriate success message after Juniper IOS upgrade.
• Fixes a problem in which configs were stored on the wrong node.
• Fixes non-obstructive error displayed in policy reports.
• Fixes an Orion integration issue regarding undiscoverable nodes.
• Fixes issue with incorrect machine type displayed for certain types of nodes (Cisco switches for IBM BladeCenter, Cisco 3945, Nexus 5000 series, Nexus 1000v, Cisco 4506-E, Cisco VG-202, and all Riverbed products).
• Extends the timeout for SWTelnet9 to a maximum of 60 minutes.

Version 6.0

• Fixes an issue in which NCM, following upgrade from NCM 4.x to 5.x, shutsdown while running an inventory.
• Fixes an issue observed with policy cache updating.
• Fixes an issue with white space being added to configurations during backup and resulting in irrelevant config comparison reports.
• Adds columns to a database table to stop a type of warning from being issued from the Syslog and Trap services.
• Adds support for the command prompt provided on HP Procurve switches.
• Added support for XML-based config files such as used in Extreme XOS.
• Fixes an error seen when compliance reports are run from the Orion Web Console.
• Adds special handling of non-alphanumeric characters and extends the character limit in defining customer node properties to 1000.
• Fixes an issue with MAC addresses not being displayed in inventory reports.
• Corrects the behavior of a Cancel operation so that the entire queue of devices to be inventoried is targeted, not just the inventories concurrently underway.
• Adds support for non-alphanumeric characters in defining scheduled jobs.
• Fixes an issue with node imports from NPM so that NPM default login settings are properly recognized.
• Fixes truncated display of configs with more than 2330 lines.
• Fixes mislabeling observed when scheduling jobs with the 'Weekly' option.
• Enables users with rights other than Administrator to use the SCP tool.
• Fixes an error seen in a specific workflow such that the Download Config resource in the integrated Orion Web Console was unavailable.

Version 5.5.2

• SNMP v3 password length limitation is now fixed. You can now create and use passwords of 30 characters or fewer.
• Policy Reports Cache Generation Improvements.
• The Date/Time format now reflects regional settings in website resources.
• Config change report containing RegEx patterns correctly displays on NCM website.
• The 'AllResults' file now references macros ${SysLocation}, ${Caption} as a file name.
• Fixes an issue with newly created scheduled jobs not appearing in the job list.
• Fixes an issue with the NCM EVAL version being installed on servers with non US regional settings.
• Fixes an issue with TFTP server reporting a port 69 conflict.
• Fixes an issue with custom properties that contained '-' symbols causing NCM resrouces to ask for credentials.
• Fixes an issue with the NCM Job results file containing macros not saving in "AllResults' file.
• Compliance reports are now generated correctly on the additional Orion web server with NCM integration.
• Fixes an issue with Windows 2008 - UAC: NCM Config Wizard not launching with administrator's permissions when launched manually.
• Fixes an issue with the incorrect number of lines displayed in configuration change notifications for downloaded jobs and RTN logs.
• Caching service now collects information for all granularities in the 'Policy Report Violations' and 'Devices Backed Up vs. All Devices' chart resources.
Resolves an issue when installing on SQL 2008 would require an instance name.
• Resolves an issue when the Node List would constantly refresh, resulting in poor web console performance.
• Resolves an issue on Windows 2008 platform with importing devices during the Config Wizard.
• Resolves an issue with Avara Device login failure.
• Resolves an issue with NCM Integration breaking the APM App Builder application.
• Resolves an issue where the Help buttons on the NCM web site for users with Win 2008 x64 platform wouldn't work.
• Resolves an issue which SSH Downloads would timeout on banner.
• Resolves an issue with Orion NPM import jobs not merging properly with SSH/Telnet settings.
• Resolves an issue with Orion NPM Integration: Inventory reports results page hangs and shows IE error instead of appropriate message in case no Inventory is done.
• Orion NPM Integration - Compare Configs: Change is not tracked at all on the Node Details page of Orion NPM web in case user modified 'Comparison output Width' value in NCM Settings.
• The policy recurrence time format is displayed according to regional settings set in the browser on machines with non-US regional settings.
• Resolves an issue when installing on SQL 2008 would require an instance name.
• Resolves an issue when the Node List would constantly refresh, resulting in poor web console performance.
• Resolves an issue on Windows 2008 platform with importing devices during the Config Wizard.
• Resolves an issue with Avara Device login failure.
• SNMP v3 password length limitation now fixed.
• Resolves an issue with NCM Integration breaking the APM App Builder application.
• Resolves an issue where the Help buttons on the NCM web site for users with Win 2008 x64 platform wouldn't work.
• Resolves an issue which SSH Downloads would timeout on banner.
• Resolves an issue with Orion NPM import jobs not merging properly with SSH/Telnet settings.
• Resolves an issue with Orion NPM Integration: Inventory reports results page hangs and shows IE error instead of appropriate message in case no Inventory is done.
• Orion NPM Integration - Compare Configs: Change is not tracked at all on the Node Details page of Orion NPM web in case user modified 'Comparison output Width' value in NCM Settings.

Version 5.5

• Offers support for Cisco VPN Concentrator menu-drive devices (3002, 2005, and 3030) for configuration transfer using the following protocol combinations: Telnet\Telnet, SSH1\SSH1, Telnet\TFTP, SSH\TFTP.
• Added more CAT OS templates to the builtin device templates (5000, 5500, 5509, 4006, 6006, and 6500).
• Provides the ability to change the minimal config length. To adjust the minimal length for a configuration file, launch the Orion NCM client user interface, and then click File > Setting. Expand Configs, and then click Config Transfers in the left pane. Adjust the Config Min Length slider to change the minimal number of lines to keep as a configuration file.
• Improved script execution on Dell PowerConnect switches.
• Enhances the logic used to ignore multiline crypto strings, hex data, and certificate information when executing configuration comparisons. These settings can be found by clicking File > Setting. Expand Configs, and then click Comparison Criteria in the left pane.
• Corrects an issue in which the term Error was used instead of Critical for critical policy violations.
• Compares configuration files against the last downloaded config if a match cannot be made on a specified period. This allows you to successfully run the change comparisons even when your nightly backup is set to discard unchanged configurations.
• Removes the truncation of change detection line descriptions in emailed reports. Line allowance was raised to 250 characters.
• Enhanced performance of the realtime change detection feature to correct excessive CPU usage in some configurations.
• Fixes an issue surrounding the inclusion of building configuration... when comparing running versus startup configurations on Aruba devices.
• Adds the As of last update time period to a number of chart resources in the Orion NCM Web Console and the Orion NCM integration for Orion NPM. This time period removes the confusion caused by config conflicts shown through time, instead of a comparison only against the last configuration.
• Corrects an issue in which extra spaces at the end of lines were counted as changes when running configuration comparisons using the Config Change report.
• Provides the ability to disable email notification for Real-Time Change Detection.
• Resolves an issue in which the ${SysName} variable was overwriting the node Caption when running an inventory that includes system information.

Version 5.1.1

• Provides an updated Cisco Catalyst 1900 device template to correct an issue downloading configurations.
• Provides an updated Cisco Catalyst 4000 device template to correct an issue communicating with the device.
• Corrects an issue with transferring data to and from the Cisco VPN Concentrator 3000 series.
• Resolves a problem in which selecting the Search last downloaded Config from each Node only could result in empty search results in the Web Console.
• Enhances the speed at which the Select Routers / Switches dialog returns results in the local client and the speed at which results of matching devices specified through the Specify a Selection Criteria are returned.
• Fixes an issue launching the Cisco Cards report from the Node Details view.
• Corrects an issue in which logging in from the Configuration Change Report view, after the Web Console times out, could cause an unhandled exception.
• Resolves an issue where transfers could be performed for unmanaged nodes.
• Fixes an issue in which the Download Configs resource was not respecting Windows local and domain accounts in Orion NPM through the Integration module.
• Corrects an issue where the Last Month range of the Advanced Search in the Web Console offered a range that was off by one day.
• Fixes an error when attempting to designate a website root directory other than the default during the Configuration wizard.
• Provides the ability to reconfigure Orion NCM to use a SQL Server 2000 database after using a SQL Server 2005 database server.
• Corrects an issue in which user settings were not properly migrating when upgrading from version 3.5.
• Fixes an issue when searching within configurations for a selected node when the NCM database is configured on SQL 2005 Server and configuration snippets exist in the database.

Version 5.1

• Provides the No Group category in the Web Console when policy reports contain nodes that are not assigned to groups.
• Allows you to click a violation on a policy violation report in the Web Console and navigate to the configuration details view of the offending device.
• Corrects an issue in which mass config changes could cause high CPU and memory use when Realtime Config Change Detection is enabled.
• Resolves an issue in which certificates in downloaded configurations could not be ignored. All certificate lines are now ignored.
• Fixes the services not restarting after the server reboots when installed with Orion NPM.
• Corrects a problem in the Web Console when mousing over a violation in which the device name was shown surrounded by HTML anchor tags.
• Resolves an issue executing scripts on menu-based devices while in CLI mode.
• Adds node name and system name to the search in nodes capability of the Web Console.
• Fixes an issue in which correcting the community string of a node was ignored and the node would not respond correctly to an inventory request.
• Resolves an issue where the Inventory Report could time out when run against very large data sets through the Web Console.
• Corrects an issue in which only groups were displayed in certain reports when Automatically expand Node list to 'Group' level was selected.
• Fixes an issue in which the node grouping selected in the Execute Script user interface was not retained after being closed.
• Updates the behavior of the baseline action to update the cache on which the Baseline vs. Running Config Conflicts chart is based.
• Corrects an issue in which cancelling the editing of a custom HTML resource in the Web Console would add extraneous HTML code to the view.
• Fixes an issue in which variables were not correctly parsed and replaced when used in scheduled jobs.
• Correctly displays backed up configuration information in the Devices Backed Up vs Not Backed Up chart in the Web Console when the option to only backup configurations that have changed is selected.
• Fixes an issue in which different Cisco vendor icons were displayed for different devices, causing strange node tree behavior.
• Resolves an issue in which creating snippets would not correctly update the Devices Backed Up vs Not Backed Up chart in the Web Console.
• Corrects an issue in which extra carriage returns were added after every line when adding a banner on some Cisco routers.
• Fixes a problem in which the Orion NCM Web Console related to the incorrect SQL security schema being set by the configuration wizard resulting in an unhandled exception.
• Resolves a performance issue when running the Policy reports.
• Corrects intermittent download failures on Cisco 4006 CatOS.
• Fixes an issue caused by the use of non-US date formatting.
• Saves configurations in the correct location when the nodes do not have a system name value.
• Updated the Search Whole Word option to return only what is declared and nothing more. For example, searching for 10.199.1.1 only returns 10.199.1.1 and does not return 10.199.1.10.
--->
• Removes confusing message declaring No SNMP Support for unmanaged nodes with valid SNMP credentials.
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Known Issues in this Release

The following issues have been identified in version 7.0.x:

This feature in the Orion NCM integrated web resources is currently unavailable. This feature depends on ongoing work to Orion and will return in a future release.

Failed Upgrade Blocks Access to Existing NCM Installation

In following the upgrade path from NCM 5.5 (through NCM 6.0 and 6.1 to 7.0), when the upgrade fails, the NCM instance becomes inaccessible due to the license being in an error state. See this KB article for information and workarounds. For help resolving this problem contact support.

Export to PDF Unavailable

This feature in the Orion NCM integrated web resources is currently unavailable. This feature depends on ongoing work to Orion and will return in a future release.

Access to Orion Web Console Blocked After NCM Installation

This happens if the SQL account you have assigned to your Orion Core database has not been configured with apppropriate permissions. You must create a new SQL account with required permissions as detailed in this Knowledge Base article.

NCM Policy Reporter Loads Slowly

At start-up the Policy Reporter loads all reports, policies and rules. There will be a delay in presenting the interface when the reporting logic involves a dataset with hundreds of reports, policies, and rules. SolarWinds recommends using the NCM web-based policy management features, which loads pages of data as needed instead of loading it all at once during an application start-up.

Backup of Citrix Netscaler 9.3 Doesn't Capture Entire Config

If the command prompt is defined as ">" and that character appears within the config being transferred, the Netscaler device responds to the character as a 'Quit' command and immediately terminates the operation. The solution is to define the prompt as string that does not appear within the config being uploaded.

Config Download Aborts

When downloading a config from a device, if the config line (for example, the hostname on a line by itself in the banner text) exactly matches the length of the device's prompt, the download ends.

Since the issue is almost always triggered by banner text, make sure that you surround any such text with comment operators. For example, if your hostname appears in the banner text as LGC6509E, you would change it to "*LGC6509E*

No Support for User Created Databases

Orion NCM does not support user created databases. In installing Orion NCM, you have the option either to let Orion NCM create a new database for the instance, or to associate the new instance with an existing database previously created by Orion NCM.

NCM Repair and Change Processes

If you are running NCM server on Windows 2008, and you need to repair NCM or change its installation, follow the steps in this Knowledge Base article.

Internet Explorer Issues

The following issues have been identified with Internet Explorer and are being investigated.

Telnet Icon

The Telnet icon on the NCM Node Details page and the Configuration Change Report results page of the Orion NCM Web Console does not launch the Telnet window. To correct this issue, add the following registry value: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_DISABLE_TELNET_PROTOCOL] "iexplore.exe"=dword:00000000. This is a known issue with Internet Explorer 7.

Search Does Not Find Partial Word Values

Due to the use of Full-Text Search, partial word searches are not supported. You can find the beginning of a word, but you cannot specify the middle or end of a word on which to search.

EnergyWise

The following EnergyWise issues are being investigated:

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.

Time

The time returned by and 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 Policy 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 and will cause problems with your EnergyWise Policy Overview Calendar.

Internationalization

A number of areas in the Local Client application, the Web Console, and 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.

Adding Orion NPM Resources to Orion NCM Node Details or Summary views

Adding Orion NPM summary or node details resources to Orion NCM views can result in the Orion NPM resources no longer respecting node filtering, essentially providing a network-wide view.

Installing this Version

This version of Orion NCM 7.0 depends on Orion common components (most notably, the polling engine, network sonar discovery, the alert engine) with which Orion NCM is tightly integrated during the installation and configuration processes. As part of this new architecture, regardless of whether or not Orion NCM is integrated with another Orion product (such as Orion NPM), the installation software creates a new Orion Core database where nodes are primarly managed. So, essentially, Orion NCM uses an Orion Core database to manage all nodes, and an Orion NCM database to manage node configs. During the installation/upgrade process, two different Configuration Wizards run; one for the Orion Core database, the Orion website and services; and another for the Orion NCM database and services.

If you are aware of your own deployment type and the installation process it entails, installing this version of Orion NCM should go smoothly. However, SolarWinds strongly recommends that you carefully follow the procedures in the "Installing Orion Network Configuration Manager" section of either the Orion Network Configuration Manager Administrator Guide or the Orion Network Configuration Manager QuickStart Guide as you are installing and configuring this version of the product.

You do not need to uninstall your previous version before installing this version of Orion NCM. Shutdown any running Orion NCM applications, and then run the setup program. The setup program will detect and uninstall your previous version without a loss of customizations, other than customizations to the toolbar. Toolbar customizations are overwritten to ensure new toolbar options are included.

Licensing Orion NCM

You must license Orion NCM from the appropriate server in your deployment.

• If you are deploying Orion NCM on one server and integrating with Orion products on a different server, then you must install the Orion NCM license on the server running the other Orion product.

  For example, if you are integrating Orion NCM on one machine with Orion NPM on another, you would install your Orion NCM license on the machine that is hosting Orion NPM.

• If you are deploying Orion NCM standalone or on a single integrated server, then you must install the Orion NCM license on that server.

See "Obtaining a Software License Key" in the Orion Network Configuration Administrator Guide for details on licensing Orion NCM.

Upgrading Orion NCM

Backup your database before performing any upgrade of Orion NCM.

If you are an existing customer, and your current version does not qualify for a direct upgrade to Orion NCM version 7.0, you first need to install the versions of Orion NCM that at least bring your installation to Orion NCM version 6.0. For example, if you are running Orion NCM version 5.5, you need to install Orion NCM versions 5.5.1, 5.5.2, and 6.0 before you can install Orion NCM 7.0. Additionally, in this case, should you want to gain access to the latest NCM/NPM integration features, you would need to upgrade your SolarWinds Network Performance Manager software to version 10.2 or higher.

If you need previous versions of Orion NCM, Contact Customer Service and Support (customerservice@solarwinds.com).

During the upgrade process, the NCM installer checks your existing Orion NCM database for duplicate nodes. You must remove duplicate nodes from your database for the Configuration Wizard to complete successfully.

Note: In upgrading a deployment that is already integrated with Orion NPM, the Orion NCM installer will shutdown all SolarWinds services on the host machine where Orion NPM is running. Bear this in mind in choosing a time to perform your upgrade.

Upgrading Real-time Change Detection

Orion NCM version 7.0 uses the SolarWinds Orion Syslog and Trap Services to process syslog and trap data received from devices. As a result, to conform the operation of real-time change detection and notification to the filtering rules you setup in a previous standalong version of NCM, you must replicate those rules.

If you were already using Orion NPM to handle syslog and trap messages, you were already using the SolarWinds Orion Syslog and Trap Services and you do not need to replicate your rules.

In either case, as an existing user of Orion NCM standalone or as a user of Orion NCM integrated with Orion NPM, you should redefine your Alert Actions to use the new SolarWinds.NCM.RTNForwarder.exe instead of the AutoConfigDownloader.exe. For detailed steps on correctly enabling real-time change detection, see "Configuring Realtime Configuration Change Detection" in the Orion Network Configuration Administrator Guide.

If you were an Orion NCM standalone user, use the procedures relevant to your RTCD implementation as a guide to replicating your Alert Action rules.

To replicate syslog filtering logic:

1. Open both the Orion NCM Syslog Server(SolarWinds Orion Network Configuration Manager > Orion NCM Syslog Server) and the SolarWinds Syslog Viewer (SolarWinds Orion > Syslog and SNMP Traps > Syslog Viewer).
2. Click View > Alerts/Filter Rules in both applications.
3. Use the existing filtering logic in Orion NCM Syslog Server as a reference as you setup the same logic in SolarWinds Syslog Viewer.
4. In creating your Alert Actions in SolarWinds Trap Viewer, instead of the AutoConfigDownloader.exe used in previous releases, use SolarWinds.NCMRTNForwarder.exe to execute your actions, as follows:
• On the Alert Actions tab, select Execute an external program, and then click OK
.

• Type the following in the Program to execute field:

  Path\Orion\SolarWinds.NCM.RTNForwarder.exe [...]

For details on setting up Alert Actions for SolarWinds Syslog Viewer and SolarWinds Trap Viewer, see "Configuring Realtime Configuration Change Detection" in the Orion Network Configuration Administrator Guide.

To replicate trap filtering logic:

1. Open both the Orion NCM Trp Server(SolarWinds Orion Network Configuration Manager > Orion NCM Trap Server) and the SolarWinds Trap Viewer (SolarWinds Orion > Syslog and SNMP Traps > Trap Viewer).
2. Click View > Alerts/Filter Rules in both applications.
3. Use the existing filtering logic in Orion NCM Trap Viewer as a reference as you setup the same logic in SolarWinds Trap Viewer.
4. In creating your Alert Actions in SolarWinds Trap Viewer, instead of the AutoConfigDownloader.exe used in previous releases, use SolarWinds.NCMRTNForwarder.exe to execute your actions, as follows:
• On the Alert Actions tab, select Execute an external program, and then click OK
.

• Type the following in the Program to execute field:

  Path\Orion\SolarWinds.NCM.RTNForwarder.exe [...]

For details on setting up Alert Actions for SolarWinds Syslog Viewer and SolarWinds Trap Viewer, see "Configuring Realtime Configuration Change Detection" in the Orion Network Configuration Administrator Guide.

Updated Requirements

Orion NCM no longer supports Windows 2000, nor does Orion NCM support SQL 2000, SQL 2000 MSDE, or Microsoft Access database as datastores.

Typically you can monitor between 8,000 and 10,000 devices with a single NCM instance; however, the total depends on your system hardware, the types of devices monitored, and the number and concurrency of the jobs you run. Should you need to manage more devices, and you decide to add NCM instances, please consider consolidating your views of multiple instances with the Orion Enterprise Operations Console. For more information about scaling NCM, please contact your account manager.

Documentation Updates

For the Nortel 520-48T (1.2.6.1.4.1.45.3.59.2) and 470-48T-PWR (1.2.6.1.4.1.45.3.64) switches, the device templates included in the Orion NCM installation directory ( C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Configuration Management\Device Types, by default) contain a value for the EnterCLI command that is valid only if the device is running as a standalone switch. In this case, as a user needs to do in order to enter CLI mode, the template inputs 14 consecutive down arrow keystrokes.

However, if either Nortel device is configured in stack of two or more devices, the result of 14 down arrow keystrokes is a reboot of all devices in the stack. When configured in a stack, to enter CLI mode, the user (in this case, the template) must input 16 down arrow keystrokes. To edit the existing device templates, you would add two additional ${DownArrow} instructions to the value of the EnterCLI command:

<Command Name="EnterCLI" Value="${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${DownArrow}${CRLF}" Delay="300" RegEx=""/>

A new device template command is available in Orion NCM 5.5. If your device does not use the Username: prompt when waiting for the username, you can add the following lines to your device template: <Command Name="CustomUserNamePrompt" Value="Username:"/>

A new time frame, As of last update, was added to the Web Console charts provided in both the Orion NCM Web Console and in the Orion NCM Integration for Orion NPM. This time frame lets you see data based on the latest action, for example, the last download of a configuration file will be used for the Devices Backed Up Vs Not Backed Up resource.

Administrator Requirement to Run NCM Windows Console

Your user account must be a member of the Administrators group in the operating system to run the NCM Windows console.

SQL Express

SQL Express, a free version of SQL Server 2005 with a 4GB database limit, is a supported database platform for Orion NCM.

Specifying Your Instance

During the database section of the Configuration wizard, it is possible that the browse function of the 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.

Creating Data Directories

The Configuration wizard does not create nor offer to create data directories for the database you install during the Setup Database section of the wizard. If you create new data directories using Windows Explorer or some other tool while on the Create/Connect to Database dialog, you must click Back to return to the Login to SQL Server dialog, then click Continue. You will be able to select the newly created directory for your database data.

Cisco Catalyst Issues

The following issues have been identified with the use of Orion NCM and Cisco Catalyst devices.

Indirect Download

The device template provided with Orion NCM was designed for software version 8.1(3). If you are experiencing issues downloading a config using TFTP from a CatOS device, change the DownloadConfigIndirect command in the device template to the following: <Command Name="DownloadConfigIndirect" Value="copy ${ConfigType} ${TransferProtocol}://${StorageAddress}/${StorageFilename}${CRLF}${StorageAddress}${CRLF}y"/>. For more information about command template variables, see the Administrator Guide.

Last Transmitted/Last Received

Cisco Catalyst switches do not provide Time since last data Received nor the Time since last data Transmitted values to the Orion NCM client user interface.

Script Error When Editing Jobs

When editing a job, you may receive an error stating: An error has occurred in the script on this page. Click Yes to confirm that you want to continue running scripts on the page. This will allow you to continue working without losing data.

Connections and Cancellations

When Orion NCM experiences connection loss and when operations are cancelled, dialogs and notifications may not always clearly reflect the appropriate message.

Scheduled Jobs and Node Filters

When creating a scheduled job and specifying a condition of "Where Node Name starts with ABC". Devices that begin with ABC are not being selected when the job runs. As a workaround, change the filter for the node selection to be "Where System Name starts with ABC".

Realtime Changes and Baselines

When utilizing the Realtime Configuration Change Detection feature, if a baseline configuration has not been established for a node, the last configuration file received will be used for the comparison.

Indirect Transfers with Multiple IP Addresses

When using indirect transfers on a server that has multiple IP addresses (for example, a main IP and a vpn IP), the retrieved TFTP IP address may not be the desired IP address. To manually specify a TFTP IP address, click File > Settings > TFTP Server, and then clear Do not automatically retrieve IP, and then type the desired TFTP IP address.

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