Device Templates

What are device templates?

Once you have added a network monitor, you can keep track of all the performance metrics of critical network devices, such as routers, switches, and firewalls, using SNMP. You can also help network teams visualize, monitor, optimize, and manage network devices and interface performance. An important step is selecting a suitable device template as it describes the device for the network to recognize. 

Site24x7's device templates contain a predefined set of monitoring parameters for each network device type. Exclusive templates are available for each vendor, and Site24x7 supports more than 450 vendors. You can also create new templates and add them as custom templates to the existing set of 10,000 default templates.

Site24x7 categorizes device templates into different types:

• Generic templates natively available in Site24x7 
• Custom templates that users create
• Global templates, which are custom templates created by the users and shared with other Site24x7 users
• Admin templates (only for MSP users), which are custom templates created by MSP admins

Additionally, our custom SNMP monitoring allows you to monitor any device and any attribute of that device with support for custom device templates and custom performance counters.

Here is a video to demonstrate device templates:

Where can I use device templates?

Get to know where to use device templates.

Where can I view device templates?

Both default and custom templates are listed in the Device Templates screen. It is easy to navigate to them as the option is available on the main Network tab.

1. Log in to your Site24x7 account.
2. Navigate to Network > Device Templates.

How can I add a device template?

If no preset template describes your device accurately, you can create a custom one that fits the device.

1. Navigate to Network > Device Templates.
2. On the Device Templates screen, click Add Device Template, located in the top-right corner, and enter the following details as shown in Figure 1.
   Figure 1. Adding a device template.
3. Device Template: Provide a name to identify the template.
4. Share this template globally with other Site24x7 users: Select Yes if you wish to share your custom template with Site24x7 users.
5. Vendor: Select a vendor from the drop-down menu or add one by clicking +.
6. Category: Select the category to which the device belongs.
   • You can also add a new custom category by clicking +. In this case, you will have to add a Parent Category first, and then the Category will be a subtype of the parent.
   The device will be classified based on the Category or the Parent Category. For instance, if you select Desktop, Server, or Domain Controller in the Category or the Parent Category, the device will be categorized as an agentless server. If you select another option, the device will be categorized as a network device.
7. Device Identifier: Enter the system object identifier (sysOID).
   • You can also click Fetch from device beside the field to fetch the details from the device. To do so, provide the device information as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.
     
     Figure 2. Fetching the device identifier by providing the monitor name.
     
     Figure 3. Fetching the device identifier by providing the IP address.
8. Performance Counters: Add or import performance counters.
   1. Add Custom Performance Counters: To add custom performance counters, click the Add Custom Performance Countersbutton.
      • In the MIB BROWSER section, select GENERIC MIBS or CUSTOM MIBS.
        1. GENERIC MIBS: These management information bases (MIBs) are available by default in Site24x7. Select the Vendor and the MIB from the drop-down menus (Fig. 4).
           
           Figure 4. Selecting generic MIBs.
        2. CUSTOM MIBS:You can upload MIBs from your system and use them to add custom performance counters.
           • On-Premise Poller: Selecting an On-Premise Poller will list all the MIBs inside the folder Poller-home/NetworkPlus/mibs. Select the On-Premise Poller that stores the MIB files you have uploaded. If you select Recently Viewed, all the recently used MIBs will be shown.
           • MIB: Select an already uploaded MIB from the drop-down menu.
           If you click Upload MIB, select files and upload them from your computer on the Upload MIB screen (Fig. 5). Also, select the On-Premise Poller that has to store the MIB files.
           
           Figure 5. Uploading MIBs on the Upload MIB screen.
           If you click Delete MIB, you can select a MIB file that you wish to delete and click Delete.
      • The performance counters can be SCALAR, TABULAR, or in TABLE VIEW(you can view them as a table).
        1. SCALAR: Any SNMP object identifier (OID) that returns a single (or scalar) value will be monitored as a scalar performance counter. Add scalar performance counters by entering the values for the SNMP OID, Name, Description, Unit, Functional Expression, Type, Save Absolute, and Format Value fields. You can enter them manually or use the built-in MIB browser.
        2. TABULAR: Any SNMP OID that returns a list of values that belong to the same column of a table will be monitored as a tabular performance counter. Add tabular performance counters by entering the values for the SNMP OID, Name, Description, Unit, Functional Expression, Type, Save Absolute, and Format Valuefields. You can enter them manually or use the built-in MIB browser.
           • Selecting a table on the MIB allows you to create a table view that includes all the corresponding tabular performance counters. Select Yes for the Show in Monitor Summary Page field if you wish to show the performance counters on the monitor summary page.
           • Unit: Enter the unit of the performance counter to be displayed on the alerts.
           • Functional Expression: Select an option from the drop-down menu to convert the performance counter value to the appropriate metric—for example, Celsius to Fahrenheit (Fig. 6).
             
             Figure 6. Selecting an option for Functional Expression.
           • Type: If the value fetched by the SNMP OID is numeric, then select Numeric for the Type. Otherwise, select String. Please use the Test button (as explained in the "Import Performance Counters" section of this help doc) to verify the type of value returned (Fig. 7).
             
             Figure 7. Adding tabular performance counters.
           • Save Absolute: This option is available for scalar and tabular performance counters and is useful for OIDs that are like counters for a specific metric. If you select No, this will fetch the value as the difference between the last two polls. To fetch the value from all the data procured, select Yes.
        3. TABLE VIEW:A table view displays selected performance counters as a table. Provide a name and select the tabular performance counters to be displayed as individual columns in a table. You can also select a table directly from the MIB and view it here.
           A table can contain a maximum of nine columns. The rest of the selected counters will be added as individual tables.
           • Column of the Table View to be displayed in the Alert: Select a column name to include in the alerts generated so that you will clearly see which tabular performance counter in the table generated the alert.
             For example, consider a table view with two tabular performance counters (columns): Sensor Failures and Sensor Description. If you select the Sensor Description column, your alert will say, "Sensor Failures-.3 for (Power Supply 2 Sensor) exceeds 5 units."
           • Show in Monitor Summary Page: Select Yes if you want the performance counter to be displayed on the monitor summary page.
      • Click Add. Then click Save.
   2. Import Performance Counters: You can also import the performance counters available in other device templates by clicking the Import Performance Countersbutton.
      • Select the performance counter you want to import from Generic, Custom, or Global templates on the Import Performance Counters screen. Then click Import. You can now see the performance counter has been added to the device template.
      • To verify that the performance counter can fetch data for your device, click the pencil icon beside it.
      • Click Test beside the SNMP OID field on the Edit Custom Performance Counter screen.
      • On the Test Performance Counter screen, select an option in the Test usingfield.
        1. If you select Monitor Name (Fig. 8):
           • Select an option for Monitor Name from the drop-down menu.
           • Select the credential in the Credential Name field.
           • Verify the SNMP OID and the Type of the performance counter.
           • Click Test.
             
             Figure 8. Testing a performance counter with the monitor name.
        2. If you select IP address (Fig. 9):
           • Enter the value in the IP address field.
           • Select the correct On-Premise Poller.
           • Select the credential in the Credential Name field.
           • Verify the SNMP OID and the Type of the performance counter.
           • Click Test.
             
             Figure 9. Testing a performance counter with the IP address.
9. Table Views: View consolidated tables of the tabular performance counters you added while adding custom performance counters. You can create an all-new table view from here if you have not created one yet.
10. Custom Monitor Metrics: You can configure monitor-level metrics for your device type by providing a custom performance counter. Click Configure Custom Monitor Metrics. On the Custom Monitor Metrics screen, select the custom metrics for the performance counters of CPU Utilization, Memory Utilization, Manufacturer, Serial Number, Model Name, and System Uptime (hours) from the drop-down menus (Fig. 10). You can also click the Test button for each to see if the right value is fetched before adding it.
    
    Figure 10. Configuring custom monitor metrics.
    CPU Utilization and Memory Utilization can only be numeric values, while the rest can be either numeric or a string.
11. Show in Monitor Summary Page: If you selected this on the Add Custom Performance Counters screen, you can view the performance counters that will be displayed on the monitor summary page. If needed, you can also add more to your desired performance counters and tables.
12. Click Save to save the custom template. Click Save and Associate to associate the template with a set of network devices.

Next steps

• Modifying/editing device templates
• Deleting device templates
• Associating a device template
• Associating device templates in bulk

Troubleshooting tips

• Device types supported for network monitoring
• Finding the sysOID using the MIB browser
• Checking the SNMP reachability using the MIB browser
• Finding tabular OIDs using the MIB browser