Congratulations on your purchase of SolarWinds Toolset. The SolarWinds Toolset provides the tools you need as a network engineer or network consultant to get your job done. Toolset includes best of breed solutions that work simply and precisely, providing the diagnostic, performance, and bandwidth measurements you want, without extraneous, unnecessary features. SolarWinds was founded by network professionals and continues to design tools for the network professional by listening to and enlisting the help of network professionals.

Why Install this Version

Engineer's Toolset provides the following compelling feature additions based on your feedback:

Toolset NPM Database Enhancements

The Network Performance Monitor tool now warns you when your database reaches 1.3GB, provides another warning at 1.7GB, and then stops saving polled data to the database at 1.9GB. This feature gives you numerous reminders to compact your database and avoids database corruption at the 2GB limit.

Community Integration

Allows you to search Thwack, the SolarWinds user community, directly from the Launchpad. If you are wondering if others have run into similar issues or need help with troubleshooting scenarios, you can directly launch a Thwack search with a click of your mouse.

Toolset Launchpad Enhancements

Providing the ability to independently edit the shared credentials database, create your own tool groups, and access the Administrator Guide, the community forum, check your Toolset version, and access solarwinds.com.

NetFlow Configurator

Provides a simple, wizard-driven Cisco configuration modification tool focused solely on enabling NetFlow version 5 on your devices. NetFlow Configurator safely and securely opens the door to NetFlow data without the complications of multiple configuration updates and edits.

Bandwidth Gauges

Offer 64-bit counter support and SNMPv3 authentication support.

IP Address Management

Allows you to disable the automatic scanning of your subnets.

SNMPv3 Support

Added to the following tools:

• Bandwidth Gauges
• Cisco Config Download
• Cisco Config Upload
• Cisco Config Viewer
• Compare Running vs. Startup

TFTP Server

Regained the speed previously experienced with the product while retaining the larger download and upload capabilities of version 9.

Fixes in Toolset 9.2

The fixes delivered with previous versions of the Toolset have been expanded and are included with version 9.2:

• Includes all TFTP Server vulnerability fixes from previous hotfixes.
• Resolves Cirrus integration issues in which the TFTP server provided with Cirrus Configuration Manager and the TFTP server provided with Toolset conflicted.
• Corrects an issue in which the Advanced Subnet Calculator was not able to be minimized, maximized, or resized.
• Fixes an issue in which specifying SNMPv3 credentials in the IP Address Management tool caused the tool to sporadically close without warning.
• Fixes an issue with IP Network Browser returning all the appropriate information when specifying SNMPv3 credentials.
• Corrects the message that The specified device does not support exporting NetFlow data when the IOS of the device is not supported by NetFlow Configurator.
• Solves an issue in which starting another computer with the same IP address as the TFTP Server computer could cause the TFTP Server to close unexpectedly.
• Fixes a number of issues surrounding having more than one instance of the Config Viewer tool running.
• Corrects an issue using SNMPv3 credentials in which the encryption settings were not being respected.
• Fixes an issue in which manually changing the state of an IP address was not saved in the IP Address Management tool.
• Solves an issue in which the addition of certain HP and Cisco resources could cause polling to never complete and the resource list to become unresponsive in Toolset NPM.
• Corrects an issue in which CPU Load and Advanced CPU Load gauges could display Error 13 - Type Mismatch and refuse to start.
• Fixes an issue in which saved bandwidth gauges did not retain the setting to display the data table with the gauge.
• Resolves an issue in which Cisco 6509 devices were not recognized correctly in the Advanced CPU Load tool.
• Solves an issue in which Realtime Interface Monitor values display incorrectly in the SNMP Realtime Graph tool.
• Corrects an issue in which Toolset NPM was incorrectly changing SNMPv1-only nodes to SNMPv2 in the database.
• Fixes an issue in which network node and interfaces were not switching from the Machine Type icons to Node Status when an interface or node went down.
• Resolves an issue in which creating an alert to monitor up/down status displays the incorrect status in the notification, subsequent to the initial alert.
• Corrects an issue in which updating the Alias field using the read-write string through Realtime Interface Monitor did not update the Cisco interface description.
• Fixes the display of an erroneous license dialog when pressing Walk in the MIB Walk tool.
• Resolves an issue in which the bandwidth gauge, when transparency is enabled, could display an error dialog and close: Run-time error '401': Can't show non-modal form when modal form is displayed.
• Solves an issue in which entering an IP address outside of the local subnet in NetFlow Configurator failed.
• Corrects an issue where the MIB Browser tool did not display the dot11manufacturerOUI value.
• Fixes an issue involving the IP Address Management tool in which devices that were unassigned or unresponsive could be displayed as responding and assigned.
• Resolves an issue in which PINGing from within the IP Address Management tool caused the following dialog message: Run-time error '91': Object variable or With block variable not set.
• Corrects an issue in which the IP Address Management tool did not respect the Publish Only setting when publishing an HTML document, resulting in all information being published.
• Solves an issue in which unresponsive IP addresses that come back online and are found again by the IP Address Management tool shows a response time of never during the rescan, even if the addresses had responded before.
• Fixes an issue in which rescanning a subnet using the IP Address Management tool causes IP addresses marked as reserved to revert to being available.

Fixes in Toolset 9.1

The following fixes were incorporated into version 9.1:

• Resolves an issue in which installing Toolset and Cirrus on the same computer caused export to HTML data to show a Cirrus header.
• Fixes an issue in which exporting from Network Monitor using the CSV option with icon export checked resulted in a CSV that could not be imported.
• Allows the inclusion of the ampersand (&) in community stings used with Real Time Graph and the SNMP MIB Browser tools.
• Resolves an issue in which Network-Wide Response Time Summary Charts were displaying data as points on a line graph instead of a bar chart.
• Corrects an issue using CPU Gauges to monitor Windows workstations in which the gauge did not render. Two skins exhibit some graphical limitations, but the gauge now appears in every CPU Gauge skin.
• Fixes an issue in which using scripts to automate the download of Cisco configs did not respect changing the TFTP root directory from the default.
• Corrects an issue in which a custom packet size was not respected when set in the Enhanced Ping tool.
• Resolves an issue in which the Network Performance Monitor configuration file (SWNetPerfMon.CFG) could not grow past a certain point and nodes could no longer be added.
• Fixes an issue with Toolset Network Performance Monitor database maintenance which could cause the nightly maintenance to fail.
• Corrects an issue in which creating multiple Bandwidth Gauges for a single device could cause the tool to become unresponsive during discovery.
• Resolves an issue in which existing nodes discovered in a previous version of Toolset Network Performance Monitor using SNMP v1 are not recognized and must be readded. Readding these nodes could cause the tool to become unresponsive.
• Fixes an issue when viewing Network-Wide Summary charts in which the graph points were limited to 4.
• Corrects an issue where installing on Windows 2000 Server could result in error 1904 and the inability to complete the installation of Toolset.

Fixes in Toolset 9.0.1

The following fixes were incorporated into version 9.0.1:

• Fixes an issue in which Cisco routers returning noncontiguous interfaces caused the NetFlow Realtime tool to unexpectedly quit.
• Resolves an issue where Bandwidth Gauge, Switch Port Mapper, Realtime Interface Monitor, Network Performance Monitor, and MIB Browser would ignore the setting to use SNMP v1 protocol.
• Corrects an issue in which the Switch Port Mapper tool did not allow MAC address to IP address mapping when using SNMPv3 credentials.
• Resolves an issue in which Switch Port Mapper, upon discovering a blank base MIB table, would not discover the VLAN MIB table. Individuals who were experiencing this issue did not experience it with version 8 of the Switch Port Mapper.
• Fixes the inability to start the TFTP Service from the system tray on Windows Vista computers.
• Resolves an issue in which the TFTP server service timed out and did not start on computers with restricted internet access. The lack of a working TFTP service could also cause the Cisco config tools not to work.
• Corrects a runtime error in the Map Maker component of Orion NPM after uninstalling Toolset.
• Fixes an issue occurring during the editing of port mappings where clicking Cancel caused the port mappings to clear.
• Corrects an issue in which the right-click option to hide an interface in Realtime Interface Monitor was unavailable.

Standard Toolset

With the introduction of Toolset 9.0.1, SolarWinds has made Standard Toolset available. Standard Toolset includes the following tools:

• Advanced Subnet Calculator
• Bandwidth Gauges
• CPU Gauges
• DNS/WhoIs Resolver
• Enhanced PING
• IP Network Browser-Standard
• NetFlow Configurator
• PING
• PING Sweep
• Router CPU Load
• Subnet List
• TFTP Server
• Trace Route
• Wake-on-LAN
• Watch It!

Installing and Upgrading

Installing and uninstalling SolarWinds Toolset requires you to have administrator privileges on the target computer. The following installation and upgrading scenarios are supported:

Automated Upgrading

The following upgrade scenarios supersede the information provided in the Administrator Guide. This list provides the supported in-place upgrades to version 9.2:

• 9.2 Beta --> 9.2 licensed
• Standard Toolset 8 --> Standard Toolset 9.2
• Standard Toolset 8 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2
• Standard Toolset 8 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Engineer's Toolset 8 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2
• Engineer's Toolset 8 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Engineer's Toolset 9 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2
• Engineer's Toolset 9 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Engineer's Toolset 9 evaluation --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Standard Toolset 9.1 --> Standard Toolset 9.2
• Engineer's Toolset 9.1 evaluation --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Engineer's Toolset 9.1 evaluation --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2
• Engineer's Toolset 9.1 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Engineer's Toolset 9.1.0.2 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Engineer's Toolset 9.1.0.2 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2
• Standard Toolset 9.2 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Standard Toolset 9.2 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2
• Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2
• Free Tools 9.1 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2 evaluation
• Free Tools 9.1 --> Engineer's Toolset 9.2

Files in Use Dialog

If you receive an error indicating a number of files are in use as you attempt to upgrade, ensure you have stopped the Toolset Launchpad. The icon should no longer be in your system tray.

Installing Standard Toolset 9

After installing Standard Toolset, the folder created in the Program Files\SolarWinds folder is named Engineers Edition.

Uninstalling Orion NPM from a Toolset Computer or
Uninstalling Toolset from an Orion NPM Computer

A number of components can become unstable after the removal of either Orion NPM or Toolset from an environment in which they coexist. After uninstalling Toolset from an Orion NPM implementation, reinstall Orion NPM. Any configurations changes you have made will not be lost. After uninstalling Orion NPM from a SolarWinds Toolset computer, reinstall Toolset.

Uninstalling Orion NPM and Installing Cirrus Configuration Manager
on a SolarWinds Toolset Computer

If you install SolarWinds Toolset and SolarWinds Orion NPM, and then uninstall Orion NPM and install Cirrus Configuration Manager, you must use the repair option triggered through Add/Remove Programs to repair your SolarWinds Toolset installation.

General Notes

The following issues have been found in the current release of SolarWinds Toolset:

User Account Privileges

You must be logged on to the Toolset computer with an administrator account to successfully run all of the tools.

Delays Launching Tools

If your DNS service is unable to resolve the signed .net runtime components of the following tools you may experience delayed start times:

• The Launchpad
• TFTP Server
• NetFlow Realtime
• NetFlow Configurator

This is a DNS issue and has nothing to do with the tool malfunctioning. Contact your network administrator for more information.

Send To

Because the Toolset tools dynamically load the Send To options from the registry, some Send To options do not exhibit the appropriate results. For example, if you have loaded Skype on your Toolset computer, the Send To Skype option becomes available in your Toolset tools. This Send To option does not work.

Invalid Characters

Specifying invalid characters, including invalid IP address characters and ports outside of the port range, can cause unexpected behavior.

Home Routers

Toolset is designed to gather data from enterprise and server class hardware. Personal routers with SNMP enabled may not be detected by the tools.

Launching Toolset

If you have minimized the Toolset Launchpad to the system tray, you cannot relaunch the launchpad from the Start menu. To relaunch the Launchpad, double click the Toolset Launchpad icon in the system tray.

Engineer's Toolset Icons in Standard Toolset Launchpad

When running Standard Toolset, it is possible to encounter the shortcuts for tools only included in the Engineer's Toolset in the Recently Used Tools grouping. The links do not launch Engineer's Toolset tools. To correct the behavior, shutdown and restart the launchpad. Shutdown the launchpad by right-clicking the system tray icon and selecting Exit.

Coexistence Notes

The following issues have been discovered when installing Toolset with other SolarWinds products:

Installing on an Orion Server

The following issues have been identified when Toolset resides on the same server as Orion NPM.

• If you install Toolset on an Orion Server, you may be required to reboot the server.
• The Send Page tool, found in the Ping and Diagnostic tools grouping of the Toolset, no longer can send email after installing Orion Server.

Uninstalling Cirrus Configuration Manager

If you uninstall Cirrus Configuration Manager from your Toolset computer, certain shared DLLs may inadvertently be uninstalled. To correct this issue, repair Toolset using Add/Remove Programs.

Uninstalling ipMonitor

If you uninstall SolarWinds ipMonitor from your Toolset computer, certain shared DLLs may inadvertently be uninstalled. To correct this issue, repair Toolset using Add/Remove Programs.

Launching Toolset Tools from the Orion Web Console

If you have not launched a SolarWinds Toolset tool independent of the Orion Web Console and try to launch the tool from the console, you may receive a message stating that the tool is not installed. For example, launching CPU Gauge from a Nodes Details web resource could exhibit this behavior. To correct the issue, launch each tool you want to use one time using the Toolset Launchpad or the Start menu. All preceding launches of the tool from the Web Console will behave correctly.

IP Address Management Notes

To enable automatic result publishing to a web resource, that is, to save results in HTML, you must be running the tool as the user that installed the tool. You can manually publish to the web while running under any credentials with access to the tool.

Network Discovery Tools Notes

The following Network Discovery tool issues are known:

Switch Port Mapper

When specifying a large number of credentials from the shared credentials database on the Credentials tab of the TraceRoute Settings window, selecting more than 10 SNMP credentials from the database may result in a run time error. Selecting a few credential sets at a time remedies the issue.

When attempting to map a VLAN-enabled Cisco device with Switch Port Mapper, you must use community string based authentication. Because you need to specify credentials in the following syntax: communityString@VLAN# to map the VLANs, SNMPv3 is not a supported authentication method.

The Switch Port Mapper tool may display an erroneous error message when the SNMP version 3 credentials are incorrect. The displayed message refers to the Bridge-MIB being unsupported on the target device, though the target may support the MIB. Ensure you enter the correct credentials.

Cisco-Specific Tools Notes

The following Cisco-specific tool issues are known and being researched by development:

Config Tools

To ensure the correct transfer of config data from your devices, ensure port 69 is open and accessible on your Toolset computer.

Downloading configs from Motorola Vanguard 6560 devices does not currently succeed. Development is aware of the issue and researching the cause.

TFTP Server

The TFTP server does not support a mapped drive as a valid transfer location, neither to nor from the mapped location. Because the server is a service, it does not have the appropriate access permissions, nor can it be ensured access with the credentials under which it runs.

Unlike the behavior in previous versions of Toolset, opening the TFTP Server does not automatically start the server service. To ensure the server is started, click File > Configure and review the Status section of the General tab.

NetFlow Realtime

The Windows Desktop Search feature of Windows Vista and available as an additional component for Windows XP interferes with NetFlow Realtime application causing the following error: Could not use file ''; file already in use. To avoid this issue, turn off Windows Desktop Search and ensure capture files are not saved to indexed directories.

To turn off indexing:

1. Right-click on the directory.
2. Click Properties on the right-click menu.
3. Click the General tab, and then click Advanced.
4. Uncheck the appropriate entry:
• Index this folder for faster searching
• For fast searching, allow the Indexing Service to index this folder
5. Click OK.
6. Click OK.

Network Monitoring Tools Notes

The following issues have been found in the Network Monitoring tools:

Network Monitor

It is possible to receive more than one notification from Network Monitor when you enable Event Notification. For example, you may receive 2 emails for a critical event, instead of a single email.

Network Performance Monitor

While Engineer's Toolset provides detailed statistics collection for analysis, troubleshooting, and diagnostics, the embedded database is not intended for long-term monitoring of networks with more than 500 network elements and has a 2GB limit on stored data.

If you have a larger network and/or require data retention longer than 30 days, we highly recommend upgrading to Orion Network Performance Monitor (Orion NPM). Orion NPM is the perfect complement to Toolset's realtime network analysis and diagnostic capabilities. Orion NPM provides support for thousands of interfaces, virtually unlimited storage using a Microsoft SQL database backend, and includes a web-based interface to allow you and your entire team access to network availability and both realtime and historical statistics.

Realtime Interface Monitor

The following issues have been identified in the Realtime Interface Monitor tool:

• If a refresh interval is set to less than 10 seconds, your Received Percent Utilization and Transmit Percent Utilitzation columns may incorrectly display 100%.
• If you have designated an invalid location in the auto-publish to web feature, an Export HTML error window is presented to you. This dialog must be closed by using the X in the top right corner, as clicking OK does not dismiss the dialog.

Syslog Server SQL Server Additional Component

This additional component, which allows you to take advantage of a SQL Server database as a datastore for Syslog messages, works with case-insensitive databases. It is possible to switch a database from case-sensitive to case-insensitive. For more information, see your Microsoft SQL Server enterprise manager help.

SNMP Tools Notes

When you close the SNMP Set right pane of the SNMP MIB Browser tool, you cannot edit the shared credentials database. To re-enable the ability to edit the shared credentials database, reopen the SNMP Set pane by clicking SNMP Set. Then, click Edit > Shared Credentials Database to edit the database.

End of Life Announcements

Support for Toolset installed on the Windows 2000 operating system will be discontinued in early 2008.

Legal

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