Step-by-Step

Step 1. Import the SNMP MIB(s)

Click on “Load MIB” in the Toolbar and select the MIB files to import into Module Builder.

Step 2. Scan the Device

Click on “Scan Device” in the Toolbar and enter the address and SNMP Community string of the device you want to build a module for.

Step 3. Drag and Drop

Drag and Drop the SNMP Object IDs from the left-hand-side column to the right-hand-side column to create the structure of the Lithium Module.

Step 4. Save and Upload

Save the Document and then click on “Export” in the Toolbar to upload the new Module to Lithium Core.

Using Module Builder

Module Builder is a stand-alone application for Mac OS X that allow you to create Device Modules for Lithium using third-party SNMP MIBs. For those not familiar with SNMP, a MIB is a text-file document that describes what monitoring data is presented by a particular device using the Simple Network Monitoring Protocol (SNMP).

To start creating a new Device Module, open Lithium Module Builder.app. A new blank document will be created ready to import the MIB files, scan the device, setup the layout of the new Device Module and then upload it to your Lithium Core installation when completed. First, import the SNMP MIB files for the device into Module Builder. This will help Module Builder to understand and organize the SNMP data received from the device. Without the MIB files, Module Builder will not be able to interpret the way in which the device manufacturer has decided to present monitoring data via SNMP.

Next, scan the device to determine what monitoring data is available from the device using SNMP. This process perform an SNMP Walk operation where all available SNMP Objects are read one by one stepping through the hierarchy of data available. This process examines both the industry-standard SNMP data trees as well as the ‘enterprises’ and ‘experimental’ data trees that are used by device manufacturers to present monitoring data specific to their devices.

When the scan is complete, Module Builder will arrange the SNMP Object IDs received into a data tree where Object IDs that are deemed to be related by way of representing the same logical or physical entity are grouped together. This grouping is immediately evident in the Outline View shown in the left-hand-side of the Module Builder window. At the top level are the groups of SNMP Object IDs that represent an individual physical or logical entity or group of entities. For example Fibre Channel Interfaces or CPU Statistics would each be a top-level group.

Setting up the structure of your Lithium Device module is as simple as dragging groups of or individual SNMP Object IDs into the right-hand-side pane of the Module Builder window. Lithium uses a per-device data tree of Containers, Objects, Metrics and Triggers. Containers are groups of logical or physical entities of the same type. An Object represents a single physical or logical entity such as a single network interface. A Metric is a unique value that is polled or calculated relating to the operation of the object. Triggers are the conditions under which an Incident or fault condition will be reported by Lithium.

Clicking on ‘Console Layout’ or ‘Web Layout’ in the Module Builder Toolbar displays a sheet which allows you to setup how monitoring data will be displayed in Lithium Console and Lithium Web.

And finally, when you are ready to put your new Device Module to use you can click on ‘Export’ in the Toolbar to upload the module to your Lithium Core installation. Once uploaded, the new Device Module will appear in the Device or Vendor Module drop-down menu when configuring new or existing devices in either Lithium Console or Lithium Web.

Case Study: Module for a Liebert UPS

In this video, James goes through creating a custom module to monitor a Liebert UPS with Module Builder. This work was done without having seen the Liebert MIB before and is based of a Module Builder document created by a customer and sent to us.

Wathcing this screencast will take you through the through process that goes into looking at what data is available in the MIB and crafting a module to use with Lithium for that device.

We are always happy to help with custom module setups, please start a discussion at support.lithium5.com if you’d like some help.

The second video shows how to take the basic module structure and add Triggers or thresholds to have Lithium raise an alert when a particular condition is present.