Tandem Systems, Ltd. WinAgents HyperConf. User s Guide

Tandem Systems, Ltd.

WinAgents HyperConf

User’s Guide

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Table of Contents

1. Set default parameters to access devices ... 4

2. Add devices to HyperConf catalog ... 5

3. Set up backup of device configurations ... 5

Start! ... 5

HyperConf Components ... 5

HyperConf Manager ... 5

Network Discovery Wizard ... 7

Devices Catalog ... 8

Working with Groups ... 10

Adding, Editing and Removing Devices ... 10

General ... 11 Logon ... 12 Advanced ... 15 Telnet ... 16 SSH ... 16 SNMP ... 18 HTTP ... 19 Terminal Emulation ... 20 Terminal Keyboard/Mouse ... 21 X/Y/Z Modem ... 23 Connection Profiles ... 24 General ... 25 Telnet ... 25 SSH ... 26 SNMP ... 26 HTTP ... 27

Operations with Multiple Items ... 27

Group Overview ... 28

Working with Favorites ... 28

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Backing-up Device Configuration Files ... 29

Backing-up Configuration Files by Schedule ... 29

Manual Configurations Backup ... 30

Detecting Configuration Changes via SYSLOG ... 31

Working with Devices ... 33

Device Overview ... 33

Terminal Shell ... 34

Principles and Advantages of HyperConf Terminal Shell ... 34

Connecting to Device with CLI... 35

Terminal Window ... 36

Configuring Devices in Terminal Shell ... 37

Retrieving Running and Startup Configurations ... 37

Online Configuration Editor ... 37

Adding Commands ... 38

Editing Commands ... 40

Negating and Resetting Commands to Default ... 41

Negating Commands ... 41

Resetting Commands to Default ... 41

Saving the Configuration to NVRAM ... 42

Editing Access Control Lists ... 42

Editing Multiline Strings in Commands ... 42

Verbose Mode ... 43

Edit Device Configuration Off-Line ... 43

Downloading Configuration Files from Device ... 44

Editing Device Configurations ... 45

Bookmarks ... 46

Uploading Configuration Files to Devices ... 47

Configuration History ... 47

Connecting to Device with Web Browser ... 49

Saving Device Configuration to NVRAM... 49

Comparing Devices Configurations ... 50

Executing Scripts on Device... 51

What Is a Script? ... 51

Automating Devices ... 51

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Creating and Running Script in Microsoft JScript ... 53

Working through NAT ... 53

WinAgents HyperConf is Inside the Protected Network ... 54

WinAgents HyperConf is Outside the Protected Network ... 56

Operation Log ... 56

Application Log ... 57

SYSLOG ... 57

Program Options ... 57

WinAgents HyperConf Server Options ... 58

General ... 58

Database Connection ... 58

Change Detection ... 58

Built-in TFTP Server ... 59

Built-in SYSLOG Server ... 59

SSH Server for SCP ... 59

FTP Server ... 60

WinAgents HyperConf Manager Options ... 61

General ... 61

Terminal ... 61

Fonts & Colors ... 62

Additional Functions ... 62

Decrypting Type 7 Passwords on Devices Manufactured by Cisco Systems ... 62

Terminal Connection ... 62

Regular Expression Syntax ... 63

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Overview

According to Gartner, about 80% of all network failures are caused by the internal factors such as incorrect configurations, weak policies or human errors. It is extremely difficult to protect the network from the administrators’ mistakes because they have many privileges in network management. In this situation system failure is only a matter of time. One of the possibilities to minimize the consequences of failures is to constantly monitor configuration files of network devices, track changes in

configurations, and have up-to-date configuration backups.

WinAgents HyperConf is a universal solution to manage the configuration files of network devices from different hardware vendors. WinAgents HyperConf performs 24/7 network monitoring, detects changes in it configuration, and maintains configuration backups in up-to-date state. Using the program you can examine the history of changes and, if necessary, return immediately to the stable version of the device configuration. Thus, WinAgents HyperConf greatly improves network availability and minimizes losses caused by various internal and external factors.

WinAgents HyperConf contains a set of tools to configure your devices. The program keeps the Catalog of Devices that stores information about the addresses, access methods and authentication parameters for every device. With the built-in tools you can connect to devices via TELNET, SSH and HTTP/HTTPS protocols, retrieve device configuration files to edit and upload modified configurations back. Using built-in scripting features you can change configurations of many devices almost instantaneously. WinAgents HyperConf centralizes configuration management for your network.

System Requirements

The following minimum system configuration is recommended for WinAgents HyperConf:

 CPU: Intel P4 (or greater)  Memory: 512MB RAM or more

 Disk space: not less than 30 MB to install the program, recommended 100 MB  Platform: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7

Quick Start

It is very easy to start using WinAgents HyperConf. You need to make only three steps to get the program to work.

1-2-3-Start!

1. Set default parameters to access devices

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To enable the program to work with devices it is necessary to add them into the devices catalog. The easiest way to do this is to use the Discovery Wizard. This wizard performs network scan by means of the SNMP protocol. Discovered devices may be added to the devices catalog. You can also add the devices manually. In the Device menu, click Register New Device to add a new device into the catalog. Refer to Discovery Wizard and Adding, Editing and Removing Devices to get additional information. 3. Set up backup of device configurations

On the Device menu, click Configure Backups to set up options for device configurations backup. You can specify devices, for which backup procedure will run automatically, set the schedule and configure additional backup parameters. Refer to Backing-up Device Configuration Files to get additional

information.

Start!

With a single click you can connect to devices, examine the history of device configuration changes, compare and modify configuration files, and do many other things!

HyperConf Components

WinAgents HyperConf contains the following components:

 WinAgents HyperConf Server – Windows® service running in background which implements

HyperConf core functions, runs automatic backup operations, etc.

 WinAgents HyperConf Manager – Windows® application that provides GUI for WinAgents

HyperConf features: allows operations with devices, examining SYSLOG messages and work with backup copies of device configurations.

 WinAgents TFTP Server – Windows® service running in background which is used to transfer the

configuration files between WinAgents HyperConf Server and network devices. TFTP server is essential for backing-up configurations and editing configurations off-line.

 WinAgents SYSLOG Service – Windows® service running in background which receives and

processes SYSLOG messages that are generated and sent by devices.

HyperConf Manager

WinAgents HyperConf Manager provides an integrated environment to manage configurations of network devices. It is the only component of WinAgents HyperConf with which the user works directly, and it has a set of tools and graphical user interface elements to access all the functions implemented in WinAgents HyperConf.

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Figure 1. WinAgents HyperConf Manager

1. Catalog of Devices – WinAgents HyperConf uses the Catalog of Devices to store access

parameters for network nodes it works with. You can use this to manipulate device registrations in HyperConf and manage registered devices’ configurations either by downloading them directly from the device or by retrieving them from the HyperConf database.

2. Catalog of Devices Toolbar – Use this to add, edit or remove device registrations manually or to fill the Catalog of Devices automatically with the help of the Network Discovery Wizard.

3. Actions for device – Use this to perform operations or run built-in and custom scripts for the device currently selected in the Catalog of Devices.

4. Favorites – Use this to place your favorites, which are links to the most commonly used devices, device configurations, or device features for quick access.

5. Favorites Toolbar – It contains commands to manage favorites. Use it to add a link to the device, device configuration or device feature that is already present in the Catalog of Devices. 6. New Configuration – Click this to open a new configuration editing window. It allows entering

configuration commands sequentially line-by-line, and then the resulting configuration file may be saved to a file or uploaded to one or more devices registered in the Catalog of Devices. 7. Open Configuration – Click this to open an existing configuration file. The configuration file can

be reviewed, edited and uploaded to one or more devices registered in the Catalog of Devices. 8. New script – Click this to open a new script editing window. WinAgents HyperConf can execute

a set of commands or small programs written in JScript programming language across network devices and gather results.

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10. Compare Configurations – Click this to open a new configurations diff window. It allows opening two configuration files side-by-side and comparing them by determining which lines were added, removed or changed. You can open configuration files for comparison from disk, retrieve them from the HyperConf database or download them from a device.

11. Open CLI – Click this to open a new terminal emulation window which can be used to connect to remote hosts via TELNET or SSH protocols or to hosts connected directly to your computer via COM ports.

12. Schedule Backups – Click this to open the Backup Configuration window. It allows specifying the schedule for automatic backups, select devices from the Catalog of Devices for which automatic backup is enabled, configure e-mail notifications, and set up additional backup options.

13. Logs – Click this to open Operation Log, Application Log or SYSLOG windows. WinAgents

HyperConf stores execution history for all operations with configurations, such as configuration downloads, configuration uploads, configuration backups, etc. in the Operation Log. It reports various system-level messages and events to the Application Log, which may be useful for troubleshooting. WinAgents HyperConf contains built-in SYSLOG server and received SYSLOG messages from network devices, stores them and displays in the SYSLOG window.

14. Profiles – Click this to open the Connection Profiles Manager. WinAgents HyperConf uses connection profiles to unify access to the network devices if they use the same set of

credentials. The Connection Profiles Manager allows creating, editing and deleting connection profiles. They later can be assigned to devices in the Device Properties window.

15. Work Area with windows – WinAgents HyperConf supports working with multiple open windows of various types displaying configuration files, terminals, logs, etc. All such windows are placed to the work area and for each of them tab with its name is placed to the panel above the work area. Use tabs for quick switching between windows.

16. Operation results – Most of the windows in WinAgents HyperConf perform operations with configuration files transferring them to and from devices, or execute a series of commands on devices capturing output. The whole operation progress is stored and displayed in the current operation log, which is present in the bottom of the window which initiated the operation. 17. Operations status – Use this to check the current status of running and failed operations with

configuration files of network devices. Click links to open the Operation Log window and examine operation results.

Network Discovery Wizard

You should register your network devices in the Catalog of Devices in HyperConf before the program can work with them and manage their configuration files. WinAgents HyperConf includes a special tool to make this task easier – the Network Discovery Wizard. Its purpose is to find and automatically register all network devices that can be controlled via the SNMP protocol and meet the criteria you specify. You can open the Network Discovery Wizard either by clicking Discover Network on the Devices toolbar, or by clicking Discover Network Devices on the Devices menu.

The Network Discovery Wizard guides you through the step-by-step process of specifying devices access parameters, scanning your network and adding discovered devices to the Catalog of Devices. The first step is to select which types of network nodes should be found:

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 Routers and switches – the Network Discovery Wizard will search for routers and switches only.

The second step is to specify the range of networks being searched for network nodes. You can choose one of three options:

 Discover only current network – scan the current local area network only.

 Discover IP networks – scan the network within the specified range of IP addresses. If you

choose this option, you should provide the Network Discovery Wizard with IP addresses and masks of the network being searched. You can specify several ranges of IP addresses by adding them to the networks list by clicking Add. Click Delete to remove the selected network from the list.

 Selected distance – scan networks within the specified number of hops from the current local

area network. The number of hops is the number of routers the packet from the computer where the program is installed goes through before it reaches the device being scanned. The number of hops is used to define the maximum size of the network being searched.

The third step is to specify SNMP parameters that will be used for connecting to network devices. While scanning the network, the wizard tries to establish connections to devices it finds using the settings specified at this step. In case the connection is successfully established, the device will be added to the result list. Connection settings include the following parameters:

 SNMP Port – the port number to use for establishing a connection, the default is 161.

 Timeout – the maximum amount time to wait for the response from the network node during

connection attempt, specified in seconds, the default value is 2.

 Community strings – the list of community strings used for authentication while connecting via

SNMP versions 1 and 2. If multiple community strings are used on your network, you can enter them all line-by-line, placing each community string on its own line.

At the next step, the Network Discovery Wizard scans the specified networks for devices. You can cancel the search by clicking Cancel.

When the scan is finished, the Network Discovery Wizard offers you to select the devices that should be added to the Catalog of Devices by picking them from the list of discovered devices. Click Finish to close the Network Discovery Wizard and place the selected devices to the Catalog of Devices. It is

recommended to review properties of the newly added devices, because some additional settings should be specified to manage their configurations and perform automatic backups.

Devices Catalog

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Figure 2. The Catalog of Devices

The Catalog of Devices is represented as a tree-like hierarchical structure (Figure 2). Registered devices can be organized in groups. Each device node in the tree can be expanded by clicking the “+” button. Under the device node HyperConf shows nodes for available configurations and tools for this device. You can open the configuration or tool window by double-clicking the particular node. The set of nodes for each device is determined by the following parameters:

 Device address and its name. HyperConf uses the specified address to perform all operations

with the device, such as transferring configuration files, open terminal sessions, performing configuration backups, etc. The name is displayed in the tree representing the Catalog of Devices.

 Vendor and device type. To perform various operations with the device, HyperConf must know

its manufacturer and model. Depending on this information the program uses different set of scripts to get device configuration and automate other tasks.

 Protocols, authentication and automatic logon. These settings are used by the program to

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Working with Groups

Groups in the Catalog of Devices are used to organize devices in logical categories. It may be convenient to create groups for subnets, structural units of your company, buildings, sites, etc.

To add a new group, click Add Device Group on the Device menu. In the Group Properties window the following parameters can be configured:

 Name – the name for the group. HyperConf uses it to display the group in the Catalog of

Devices.

 Type – one of Generic, Network, Site, Building, Floor, Room, Rack. HyperConf uses the type of

the group to display its icon in the Catalog of Devices.

 Comment – optional comment text.

 Parent – HyperConf allows including groups one into another. In the Group Properties window

you can select the position of the group in group hierarchy. It is also possible to select the parent group (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Editing Group Properties

To edit the group parameters select it in the catalog and click Properties on the Device menu. To delete the selected group, click Remove Selected Item on the Device menu.

Adding, Editing and Removing Devices

To add a device to the Catalog of Devices, click Register New Device on the Device menu or click the corresponding button in the toolbar. WinAgents HyperConf opens the Device Properties window, which is used to specify various parameters that WinAgents HyperConf needs to communicate with the device, transfer configuration files, show command-line interface, etc.

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Figure 4. Device Properties Window – General

Vendor and Model

WinAgents HyperConf must determine a set of operations supported by the device. Many functions are device-specific and require knowledge about commands, protocols, and ways of handling device

configuration files. For example, HyperConf should know how to gain access to the device command-line interface, which command use to copy a file from or to the device, or which MIBs are supported.

WinAgents HyperConf defines such kind of information about a device as a device template. Device template must be specified for every device registered in the HyperConf Device Catalog. You specify the template for the device by selecting its Vendor and Model.

Address

The IP-address or DNS-name of the device management interface.

Title

A friendly name which is displayed in the HyperConf Device Catalog.

This device is outside the NAT

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Access to command-line interface

Click to select this option to allow command-line access to the device in HyperConf. Choose a terminal protocol to use to establish connection to the device.

Automatically logon to device

WinAgents HyperConf can automatically implement a logon procedure to a CLI session by sending username and password to the device when they are requested. Click to select this option to run automatic logon while opening a new CLI session.

Automatically enter privileged mode

While implementing an automatic logon procedure, WinAgents HyperConf can automatically issue the command which switches the session to a privileged mode. Click to select this option to allow switching to the privileged mode. WinAgents HyperConf will automatically send the password for the privileged mode when requested.

Automatically show current configuration

For your convenience, when you open the Command-Line Interface window for the device, WinAgents HyperConf can automatically retrieve its current configuration and show it in the editor. Click to select this option to allow automatic configuration retrieval.

Download/upload configuration

Click to select this option to allow access to configuration files on the device in HyperConf. Choose a protocol to use to establish connection to the device. This option must be selected for all devices for which backup is activated.

Web access to device

Click to select this option to allow Web-based access to the device in HyperConf. Choose a protocol to use to establish connection to the device.

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Figure 5. Device Properties Window – Logon

Use connection profile

WinAgents HyperConf requires credentials information, such as username, password, encryption keys, etc. to connect to devices and perform operations with their configuration files. HyperConf offers 2 ways of specifying such credentials information:

1. Use of connection profiles. A connection profile is a set of credentials (usernames, passwords, keys, etc.), that may be shared across multiple devices. See Connection Profiles to get additional information.

2. Configure credentials individually for each device. All necessary credentials information must be provided in the device properties separately for every device not using a configuration profile. Click to select Use connection profile to assign a connection profile to the device registration and use its credentials information, instead of specifying it manually.

Logon method

WinAgents HyperConf supports three different procedures of automatic logon:

 Default logon script – Built-in procedure implementing standard logon, when remote host asks

for username and password. When connection to the remote host is established, HyperConf waits for username or password prompt from the device and replies with username or

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 Command sequence – This procedure allows you to specify a sequence of prompts received

from the remote host and replies that should be sent. After connection to the remote host is established HyperConf waits for the prompt, then compares received prompt against the configured sequence, identifies which reply it should send back to the remote host and sends it. Logon procedure completes when HyperConf receives the prompt which is the last in the sequence. You can also specify whether initial Carriage Return should be sent before any prompt is received.

 Custom script in JScript – After connection is established HyperConf executes the specified

script written in JScript scripting language. This script performs logon as needed. This is the most flexible way to specify and configure logon procedure.

Different logon methods require a different set of parameters. When you select a logon method, HyperConf displays which parameters must be configured.

Username

The username to use for logon.

Password

The password to use for logon.

Privileged password

The password to use for switching to a privileged mode.

Send Initial Carriage Return

Click to select this option to force WinAgents HyperConf to send carriage return before running the logon sequence, this may be useful for certain types of remote hosts or for connection via Console (COM port) interface.

Logon Sequence

The set of prompts that can be received from the remote host during logon, with reply strings that will be sent to the remote host when the corresponding prompt is received. You can add, edit and delete prompt-reply pairs and move them up and down in the list. Please note, that order of prompt-reply pairs matters, WinAgents HyperConf implements logon by waiting for prompts and sending replies from the first to the last as specified in the list.

Logon Script

The full path to the file with script in the JScript programming language, implementing a custom login procedure.

Run Script After Logon

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Figure 6. Device Properties Window – Advanced

Enable Level

The access level of the privileged mode access.

Username Prompt

The prompt that the device sends when it requests a username, this value is a regular expression and can contain special regular expression operators;

Password Prompt

The prompt that the device sends when it requests a password, this value is a regular expression and can contain special regular expression operators.

Command Prompt

The prompt that the device sends when it is in the non-privileged command mode, this value is a regular expression and can contain special regular expression operators.

Enable Prompt

The prompt that the device sends when it is in the privileged command mode, this value is a regular expression and can contain special regular expression operators.

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Location of the device in the HyperConf Catalog of Device. Telnet

Figure 7. Device Properties Window – Telnet Protocol

Port

The port number for the TELENET protocol to use, 23 by default.

Don't negotiate Telnet options

If this option is selected, WinAgents HyperConf won’t attempt to send or respond to TELNET options requests. This may be useful when establishing connection to a remote host that requires raw text-based connection, e.g. POP3 or SMTP server.

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Figure 8.Device Properties Window – SSH Protocol

Port

The port number for the SSH protocol to use, 22 by default.

Version

The version of the SSH protocol, you can choose from SSH version 1 (SSHv1), SSH version 2 (SSHv2) and auto detection. In the last case, WinAgents HyperConf tries to decide correct protocol version based on the identification string sent by the device.

Authentication methods

This option specifies which authentication methods should be used. WinAgents HyperConf supports SSH authentication based on Password, DSA/RSA keys, and Keyboard Interactive authentication. If the

DSA/RSA Key option is checked, you should provide a private key file in OpenSSH, IETF, or PuTTY format

and Passphrase for the key, if any. The program will try to use the supplied key for authentication. You can also generate public/private keys pair by pressing the Generate key button.

Encryption algorithms

This option specifies which encryption algorithms should be used. WinAgents HyperConf supports AES, Blowfish, 3DES, and DES algorithms. You can specify which algorithms should be used for the session and configure their priorities by moving up and down in the list by pressing the Up and Down buttons.

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Specifies whether data compression should be used. If the Enable Compression option is selected, WinAgents HyperConf will try to compress all data transmitted over the network. It is also possible to specify the level of compression, the higher the level, the higher is the compression. Higher levels of compression require more processing power and may cause significant performance penalty on the device.

SNMP

Figure 9. Device Properties Window – SNMP Protocol

Port

The port number for the SNMP protocol to use, 161 by default.

Version

The version of the SNMP protocol, you can choose from SNMP version 1, SNMP version 2c and SNMP version 3.

Read Community

The community string to authenticate read operations.

Write Community

The community string to authenticate write operations.

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Security Level

Specify the level of authentication and encryption that should be used for connections.

Authentication

Select the algorithm for authentication. MD5 or SHA1 may be used.

Auth Password

The password to use for authentication.

Priv Password

The password to use for encryption.

Engine ID

The SNMP Engine ID of the deivce. HTTP

Figure 10.Device Properties Window – HTTP Protocol

HTTP Port

The port number for the HTTP protocol to use, 80 by default.

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The port number for the HTTPS protocol to use, 443 by default.

Username

The username to use for a connection.

Password

The password to use for a connection. Terminal Emulation

Figure 11. Device Properties Window – Terminal Emulation

Terminal Type

The type of terminal to emulate, the following terminal types are supported: ANSI, XTerm, VT100.

Allow ANSI Colors

Click to select this option to turn on color support for terminal emulation.

Use System Colors

Click to select this option to use system colors configured in Windows for the terminal window instead of built-in colors.

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Columns, Rows, and Scrollback size of the terminal window. Resize Behavior

Specifies which action is performed when the terminal window is resized. WinAgents HyperConf can

Change number of rows and columns automatically depending on the terminal window size, making

more rows and columns for larger window and less rows and columns for smaller window; Scale the

font changing the font size and preserving number of rows and columns; or Retain number of rows and columns automatically displaying vertical and horizontal scroll bars when window is resized.

Encoding

Specify the code page to use in the terminal window.

Passthru Printing

Specify the printer to redirect print output. WinAgents HyperConf supports Passthru printing technology, allowing redirecting print output to a locally connected printer. All printing processing should occur on the remote host, and prepared page may be sent to the local printer using ANSI passthru print codes.

Terminal Keyboard/Mouse

Figure 12.Device Properties Window – Terminal Keyboard/Mouse

Functional Keys & Keypad

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Backspace Sends DEL

If this option is selected, the code for DEL key will be sent to the device when Backspace key is pressed.

Home & End Keys RXVT Mode

If this option is selected, the rxvt-compatible codes will be sent to the device when Home or End is pressed, instead standard codes.

Add CR to Incoming LF

If this option is selected, carriage return code will be added to incoming line feed characters

Local Echo

Local echo mode that is used in terminal emulation, can be Auto, Force On, or Force Off. Usually, the device sends back characters when a key is pressed and the corresponding character code is sent to it. In this case local echo should be turned off; otherwise, if the remote host doesn’t send back characters to the terminal and nothing is displayed when you type on the keyboard, this option should be turned on. WinAgents HyperConf can also automatically detect the status of local echo and decide whether turn it on or off.

Local Line Editing

Line editing mode that is used in terminal emulation, can be Auto, Force On, or Force Off. This

determines how line editing is working when you pressing keys on the keyboard. When local line editing is off, each press of a key sends the corresponding character code to the remote host. When local line editing is on, character codes are note sent immediately to the remote host, but they are placed in a local editing buffer instead, and all line editing is handled locally. Then when Enter key is pressed the whole buffer is sent to the remote host. Usually, this setting should be configured alongside with Local

Echo.

Key Mappings

The user-defined table of key-mappings. You may Add, Edit, and Remove mappings in the list. Each time when a key is pressed, WinAgents HyperConf checks if a mapping for this key is configured, and if it finds the mapping it sends the corresponding mapped characters to the remote host instead of the original code of the key.

Mouse Emulation

Specify actions assigned to Right and Middle mouse buttons.

Shift Overrides Mouse Behavior

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Figure 13. Device Properties Window – Terminal X/Y/Z Modem

Upload Folder

Specify the full path to a folder, where HyperConf should search for files that are transferred to the remote host.

Download Folder

Specify the full path to a folder, where HyperConf should store files that are received from the remote host.

XModem Upload

The command that is sent by WinAgents HyperConf to initiate a file transfer from the local host to the device via X-Modem protocol.

XModem Download

The command that is sent by WinAgents HyperConf to initiate a file transfer from the remote host to the local host via X-Modem protocol.

YModem Upload

The command that is sent by WinAgents HyperConf to initiate a file transfer from the local host to the device via Y-Modem protocol.

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The command that is sent by WinAgents HyperConf to initiate a file transfer from the remote host to the local host via Y-Modem protocol.

ZModem Upload

The command that is sent by WinAgents HyperConf to initiate a file transfer from the local host to the device via Z-Modem protocol.

ZModem Download

The command that is sent by WinAgents HyperConf to initiate a file transfer from the remote host to the local host via Z-Modem protocol.

Upload and download commands can contain “%s” pattern, when a file transfer is initiated this pattern is replaced by the actual list of file names.

Connection Profiles

Connection profile is a set of authentication and authorization parameters being used to connect to a

device. Connection profile includes users' names and passwords to access via TELNET, SSH and HTTP/HTTPS protocols, and also authentication and encrypting parameters for SNMP.

To configure connection profiles click Connection Profiles on the Device menu.

Figure 14. Managing Connection Profiles The Connection Profiles Manager window displays a list of profiles.

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To create a profile click New. You can also copy the existing profile by clicking Copy. To edit the existing profile select it in the list and click Edit. To configure a connection profile the Connection Profile

Settings window is used (Figure 15). It contains the following groups of parameters:

Figure 15. Connection Profile Settings General

Name

The name of the profile.

Username

The username to use for logon.

Password

The password to use for logon.

Privileged password

The password to use for switching to a privileged mode. Telnet

Port

The port number for the TELENET protocol to use, 23 by default.

Don't negotiate Telnet options

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Port

The port number for the SSH protocol to use, 22 by default.

Version

The version of the SSH protocol, you can choose from SSH version 1 (SSHv1), SSH version 2 (SSHv2) and auto detection. In the last case, WinAgents HyperConf tries to decide correct protocol version based on the identification string sent by the device.

Authentication methods

This option specifies which authentication methods should be used. WinAgents HyperConf supports SSH authentication based on Password, DSA/RSA keys, and Keyboard Interactive authentication. If the

DSA/RSA Key option is checked, you should provide a private key file in OpenSSH, IETF, or PuTTY format

and Passphrase for the key, if any. The program will try to use the supplied key for authentication. You can also generate public/private keys pair by pressing the Generate key button.

Encryption algorithms

This option specifies which encryption algorithms should be used. WinAgents HyperConf supports AES, Blowfish, 3DES, and DES algorithms. You can specify which algorithms should be used for the session and configure their priorities by moving up and down in the list by clicking Up and Down.

Compression

Specifies whether data compression should be used. If the Enable Compression option is selected, WinAgents HyperConf will try to compress all data transmitted over the network. It is also possible to specify the level of compression, the higher the level, the higher is the compression. Higher levels of compression require more processing power and may cause significant performance penalty on the device.

SNMP

Port

The port number for the SNMP protocol to use, 161 by default.

Version

The version of the SNMP protocol, you can choose from SNMP version 1, SNMP version 2c and SNMP version 3.

Read Community

The community string to authenticate read operations.

Write Community

The community string to authenticate write operations.

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Security Level

Specify the level of authentication and encryption that should be used for connections.

Authentication

Select the algorithm for authentication. MD5 or SHA1 may be used.

Auth Password

The password to use for authentication.

Priv Password

The password to use for encryption.

Engine ID

The SNMP Engine ID of the device. HTTP

HTTP Port

The port number for the HTTP protocol to use, 80 by default.

HTTPS Port

The port number for the HTTPS protocol to use, 443 by default.

Username

The username to use for a connection.

Password

The password to use for a connection.

Operations with Multiple Items

While working with the devices and groups in the Catalog of Devices, it may be required to perform the same operation for more than one item. For instance, you may need to change the connection profile for several devices, change their vendor and model, etc. WinAgents HyperConf simplifies such a task by allowing selection of multiple items in the Catalog of Devices. To select multiple devices and groups do one of the following:

 To select consecutive devices or groups, click the first item, press and hold down SHIFT, and then click the last item.

 To select nonconsecutive devices or groups, press and hold down CTRL, and then click each item.

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For example, to change connection profile for multiple devices follow these steps:

1. Select the necessary devices in the Catalog of Devices using one of the techniques described above.

2. On the Device menu, click Properties. The program will open Device Properties window. 3. In the Device Properties window select the required connection profile and click OK. The

program will change connection profile for each of the selected devices.

Group Overview

Every group in the Catalog of Devices contains the Overview node. Double-click it to open the Group

Overview window. This window contains information about status of backup operations for all devices

within the group. The following information is available for each device:  Device – the device name and its IP-address;

 Type – the device vendor and model. It is possible to filter the list of devices in the Group Overview window. To apply a filter, click the down arrow in the Type column caption. When the

filter is applied and active, the filter management pane is shown in the bottom of the device list;  Last backup – date and time of the last successful backup of the device configuration file;

 Last attempt – date and time when the most recent backup operation was performed for the

device;

 Last attempt status – short message describing status of the most recent backup operation for

the device;

 Last configuration change – date and time of the most recent device configuration file backed

up and stored in the HyperConf database.

Double click on a device in the list opens the Device Overview window for it.

Working with Favorites

It is quite common in a large networks for administrators to work actively only with a few number of devices. In this case, all of the network devices should be registered in the HyperConf Catalog of Devices, so HyperConf will be able to perform backups for them. However, the large number of registered devices makes it hard to locate a necessary one, and regular searches make work less effective. Use of Favorites bookmarks saves time and allows accessing the devices, their features and configuration files in a more effective way.

To show the Favorites panel, click Favorites on the View menu. The Favorites panel is above the tree of the Catalog of Devices, and it contains bookmarks to access necessary tools for devices with a single click. To add a bookmark, select a node in the devices tree and click Add in the Favorites panel.

HyperConf will display the Add Favorite window, where you can set name, comment and placement for the bookmark. Clicking OK saves the bookmark in the Favorites. You can also drag and drop any node from the devices tree using mouse.

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To jump to the necessary device, left-click the corresponding bookmark.

Actions Panel

Actions Panel shows a list of commands for the currently selected device in the Catalog of Devices, and

allows you to select and run the particular command simply by clicking it. This speeds-up

implementation of common tasks and makes work with HyperConf more effective. The Actions Panel is located under the Catalog of Devices. The contents of the Actions Panel is dynamically changed based on vendor and model of the device selected in the Catalog of Device, to show the commands which applicable for it. If multiple items are selected in the Catalog of Devices, then the Actions panel displays only a subset of commands, which are common for all selected items.

Backing-up Device Configuration Files

One of the most important functions of WinAgents HyperConf is implementation of automatic backups of network devices configuration files. The program runs the backup procedure according to a schedule or when the built-in SYSLOG server receives a message indicating the configuration change. Besides, you can run the backup process manually.

HyperConf maintains the history of configuration changes for each device registered in the Catalog of Devices. When performing the backup for a configuration file for a device, HyperConf checks its database for previously backed-up configurations, analyzes changes in the configuration file, and if detects any, stores the downloaded configuration file in the database and assigns the version number to it.

When WinAgents HyperConf compares configuration files, it can ignore some configuration commands, comments and other information. This may be useful when the configuration file contains automatically generated data, such as timestamps, descriptions, etc., which is updated every time the configuration file is downloaded, but this data isn’t affect the device configuration itself. You can configure templates for lines that must be ignored for every device vendor and model supported by HyperConf, using the

HyperConf Options window. To configure exclusion templates, on the Tools menu, click Program Options. In the HyperConf Options window click Changes Detection, and then click Configure Exclusions. Exclusion templates are regular expressions. Refer to Regular Expression Syntax to get additional information.

To browse the configuration files for a device, locate the device in the Catalog of Devices, expand its node, and double-click Configuration History. HyperConf will open the Configuration History window that contains a list of current and saved device configurations. Double-click the configuration in the list to open it in the editor.

Backing-up Configuration Files by Schedule

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Figure 16. Backup Configuration

You can select devices for which automatic backup is enabled, configure schedule and other backup options using this window.

The following settings are available:

 Store … backup files per device – the number of configuration backups stored by the program

for every device. If the number of files exceeds the specified number, HyperConf deletes the oldest configuration backup from the database;

 Copy configuration to NVRAM after backup – select this options to store the device

configuration to the device non-volatile memory every time the backup is performed and HyperConf finds changes in the configuration since the last backup;

 Detect configuration changes using SYSLOG – WinAgents HyperConf includes the built-in

SYSLOG server and listens for incoming SYSLOG messages. When this option is selected, HyperConf analyzes the incoming messages and detects if they indicate changes in device configurations. If a message about configuration change is received, the program automatically backs it up. Refer to the Detecting Configuration Changes via SYSLOG for more information;  Send backup notification by e-mail – if this option is selected, HyperConf will send notifications

via e-mail with the results of backup operations. Click Configure to specify e-mail options.

Manual Configurations Backup

You can run the backup process manually by selecting devices in the Catalog of Devices and clicking

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containing progress and log of the backup process. After the process completes, you can examine newly created configuration backups for each device by expanding the node for the device on the Catalog of Devices and double-clicking the Configuration History node.

Detecting Configuration Changes via SYSLOG

WinAgents HyperConf can monitor devices for changes in their configurations using built-in SYSLOG server. Most devices when their configuration changes send a message to the SYSLOG server. WinAgents HyperConf can identify such messages and immediately start the backup operation for a device.

To use this features you need to setup the following:

1. Configure the device to send SYSLOG messages to the computer with WinAgents HyperConf.

 For Cisco IOS Device:

Use the command logging ip_address, where ip_address is the IP-address of the computer with WinAgents HyperConf

 For Cisco PIXOS Device:

Use the command logging host interface ip_address, where interface is the nearest device network interface to the computer with WinAgents HyperConf, and ip_address – the IP-address of this computer.

 For Cisco Catalyst Device:

Use the following commands to configure SYSLOG messages sending:

set logging server enable set logging server ip_address

where ip_address is the address of the computer with WinAgents HyperConf. 2. In the Configure Backup window select Detect configuration changes using SYSLOG. To open

the Configure Backup window, click Configure Backups on the Device menu.

3. (Optional). Configure message templates that WinAgents HyperConf uses to detect changes in device configuration files. HyperConf already has pre-configured message templates for the most number of supported devices. However, different versions of device firmware can send different SYSLOG messages, and they may be not recognized by the program. In this case you should add appropriate templates. You can do this in the HyperConf Options window, in the

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Figure 17. Changes Detection

On the Tools menu, click Program Options. In the HyperConf Options window click Changes Detection, and then click Configure Message Patterns. HyperConf will open the Configure SYSLOG Patterns window (Figure 18).

Figure 18. SYSLOG Patterns.

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Working with Devices

WinAgents HyperConf provides a set of tools to work with network devices and their configuration files. These tools are displayed under the device node in the Catalog of Devices when you expand it.

Device Overview

The Device Overview window contains the most important information about the status of device configuration files and device operation. The information is represented in three sections: Device,

Backups, and SNMP variables.

Figure 19. The Device Overview Window

In the Device section the device name and address are displayed. Click Properties to open the Device

Properties window and setup or update parameters of the device registration in HyperConf.

The Backups section contains the following information on backup state:

 The Last backup field shows the date and time of the last backup stored in the HyperConf database. Click the link to open the backup in the editor.

 The Last attempt field shows information about the date, time and result of the last backup operation performed for the device. Click the link to open the Operation Log window and examine the operation details.

 The Last change field shows the date and time of the last changes detected by HyperConf. This field is updated every time the program finds differences between the current device

configuration and its last backup. To open the list of the existing configuration backups click

Configuration History. Click Backup Now to start the backup operation.

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above the table to switch the table format. Not all devices support SNMP counters for CPU and memory load, and HyperConf doesn’t show counters for such devices.

If Auto refresh is selected, then HyperConf periodically polls the device, retrieving SNMP variable values and refreshed the contents of the interface table and load counters. If automatic refresh is disabled you can refresh data by clicking Refresh.

Terminal Shell

WinAgents HyperConf includes full-featured, convenient, and easy-to-use terminal emulation client. With WinAgents HyperConf you receive a flexible tool for accessing remote hosts and network devices via the TELNET and SSH protocols.

Main features of WinAgents HyperConf terminal shell include:

 Quick access to a remote host by automating logon procedures.

 Support of SSH, TELNET and Serial communication protocols.

 Emulation of different terminal types: ANSI, VT52, VT100, VT220, Linux, XTerm.

 RouterTweak™ technology – visual editing for configuration files of network devices manufactured by Cisco Systems.

Principles and Advantages of HyperConf Terminal Shell

WinAgents HyperConf terminal shell is based on the RouterTweak™ technology. WinAgents

RouterTweak™ is a technology that makes your work with Cisco routers and switches more visual and effective. Knowing the principles of the command line interface of Cisco devices, you can use WinAgents HyperConf to automate the most common tasks. This approach saves your time by allowing you to hand over routine operations to the program. Several benefits you get if you use WinAgents HyperConf are listed below:

 Reducing the time needed to connect to a device. Having specified the username and password

for connecting to a device only once, you will not have to spend time on entering them again when you connect to your router next time. WinAgents HyperConf will enter the account data automatically and switch to the privileged mode if necessary.

 Viewing the configuration of a device in a convenient form. Just click once to get the

configuration of your device in a visual form. Syntax highlighting and the structure of the device configuration will allow you to find various configuration sections and commands in the text of the configuration file more easily. For instance, all you need to do in order to locate section with settings of a certain interface is click this interface in the configuration tree.

 Increasing the speed of work with access control lists (ACL). WinAgents HyperConf allows you

to edit access control lists directly, without downloading the configuration file to the TFTP server. You can add, edit and remove commands in the beginning, in the middle and in the end of ACLs, and the program will build the resulting ACL correctly using the order of rules as they were entered, and send the ACL to the device automatically.

 Usability in editing the configuration of devices. WinAgents HyperConf simplifies configuration

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complete command more easily by selecting one of the offered options without typing the entire string.

 Usability in performing common tasks. Several mouse clicks are enough to print out the device

configuration, save it to a file or copy it to the non-volatile memory of the device.

WinAgents HyperConf offers you two ways to work with devices using terminal shell. You can work with command line interface directly, without visual editor. In this case you will have a standard set of command line tools enhanced by syntax highlighting. Syntax highlighting makes it easier to find what you need in the results of issued commands.

A more effective way is to use the full set of RouterTweak™ Extensions in the built-in online

configuration editor. In this case the program requests the configuration file from the device and allows you to modify it. All operations in the command line interface the program will perform automatically based on the modifications you made in the editor. But you can constantly control what the program does on the device, because the entire process of command exchange between the program and the device is displayed in the terminal window. WinAgents HyperConf allows simultaneous use of the online configuration editor and the terminal shell, you can switch from one to another and back any time and combine both ways of work.

Connecting to Device with CLI

Before terminal shell can be used for a device in HyperConf, it should be enabled it the device registration settings (Figure 20).

 Select the device in the Catalog of Devices, and on the Device menu click Properties.

 Click to select the Access to command line interface option in the Device Properties window. Select the protocol to use in the corresponding dropdown list.

 Click to select the Automatically logon to device option if you want HyperConf to logon to the device automatically after connection is successfully established. Please note, to make

automatic logon possible you need to specify username and password that HyperConf will send to the device during logon. You can configure username and password as well as additional logon options on the Logon tab in the Device Configuration window. Click Logon in the tree on the left to switch to this tab.

 Click to select the Automatically enter the privileged mode option to switch to the privileged mode in command line interface after successful logon. This option is available only if the

Automatically logon to device option is selected. This option may not be available for some

types of devices.

 Click to select the Automatically show current configuration option to retrieve the running configuration from the device and display it in the built-in online configuration editor. HyperConf will retrieve the configuration after logon and switch to the privileged mode are completed. This option is available only if the Automatically logon to device and Automatically

enter the privileged mode options are selected. This option is available only for devices running

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Figure 20. Configuring of terminal access to device

To open the terminal shell window, double-click the Command Line Interface node under the device node in the Catalog of Devices.

Terminal Window

The terminal shell window in HyperConf is divided into two work areas: terminal emulator in the lower part of the window and online configuration editor in the upper part of the window (Figure 21). Online configuration editor displays the configuration as a sequence of commands, how it was retrieved from the device, and as a tree-like structure representing its key points such as interfaces, access lists, etc. Click a node in the tree to jump to the corresponding commands in the configuration.

You can customize the terminal window by dragging splitters to arrange sizes of the terminal emulator and online configuration editor. You can also hide the online configuration editor completely maximizing the terminal shell and use it like regular terminal emulation software.

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Figure 21. The Terminal window

Configuring Devices in Terminal Shell

This topic describes typical tasks that network administrators perform while working with configurations and how to accomplish them using online configuration editor with RouterTweak™ Extensions in

WinAgents HyperConf.

Retrieving Running and Startup Configurations

To retrieve the running or startup configuration from the device, click Show running configuration or

Show startup configuration respectively. These commands are available only when the terminal session

is established and terminal shell is connected to the device. Please note that you should specify the username, password and password for switching to the privileged mode in the device registration properties.

When you click Show running configuration or Show startup configuration, HyperConf retrieves the configuration from the device by issuing an appropriate command and captures the configuration file that the device displays in the terminal session, and opens online configuration editor containing the received file. It is impossible to edit the startup configuration directly, and it is displayed in the editor in the read-only mode. If you need to modify the startup configuration, you should edit the running configuration first and then save it to non-volatile memory of the device. Refer to Saving Device Configuration to NVRAM for details.

Online Configuration Editor

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Figure 22. Editing the running configuration The editing features provided by the online configuration editor include:

 Direct configuration editing in real time.

 Configuration commands are represented as editable lines, which make editing them more natural and intuitive.

 Automatic switching to the configuration mode and to the necessary configuration level when needed.

 Context list of available commands with their description.

 Context help for commands and parameters in the line being edited.  Errors and typos detection and indication.

 Extended support for editing access control lists.

 Convenient way of entering and editing commands with multiline string parameters.

The online configuration editor also uses various presentation techniques to make the configuration text more readable:

 Highlighting key items (addresses, strings, numbers, etc.).

 Presenting configuration modes as a tree of embedded commands.

 Displaying the key points of the configuration (interfaces, lines, access control lists, etc.) in the separate tree for quick and easy navigation.

 Highlighting recently modified commands. Adding Commands

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tools to make them easier and intuitive to accomplish. This topic describes how to add a command using features of the online configuration editor.

To add a new command:

 Select the position in the configuration where the new command should be placed, by clicking an existing line in the editor. The command will be added right below this line.

 Click Add command on the CLI menu. The command will be added to the same configuration mode as the selected line.

 Enter the command and press Enter.

Configuration files of some device models has commands that switches the configuration mode and the following lines are applied for the corresponding configuration mode (for instance, devices running Cisco IOS software has separate configuration modes for interfaces, lines, etc. You can notice switching between configuration modes by checking the command line prompt. The device displays different prompts in the different modes). The online configuration editor in WinAgents HyperConf supports multiple configuration modes and allows you to enter configuration commands in different modes. To add a new command that requires switching to a configuration mode:

 Select the command in the configuration that enters the necessary configuration mode by clicking an existing line in the editor. HyperConf highlights commands that switch configuration modes (in dark blue by default).

 Click Add Command from Mode on the CLI menu. The configuration mode on the device will be switched automatically.

 Enter the command and press Enter.

Figure 23. Adding a command

To make change tracking easier, all commands entered during the current editing session are displayed in italic and highlighted in green by default. All changed commands are highlighted until the

configuration is refreshed or the connection to the device is closed.

Please note that when you refresh the configuration by clicking Refresh or reconnect to the device, the added command may change its position in the configuration file. It is normal because the device sorts configuration commands in its own way.

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To obtain detailed information about entering and editing commands refer to the Editing Commands section.

Editing Commands

To start editing a command, you should select the corresponding line in the configuration text by left-clicking and on the CLI menu click Edit command. Another way to start editing is to double-click the line of the configuration file in the editor window.

Figure 24. Editing a command.

HyperConf displays tooltips and lists of possible commands and parameters as you type in the editor to help you in editing commands. These help items are shown automatically. If you need to open them manually, use the Ctrl+Space key combination.

Tooltips are context-dependent and they provide you with the short description, type and possible values of the command or parameter you edit.

The list of possible commands may be used to speed up entering the command. Instead of typing its full text, you can type only a few starting characters and select the whole command or parameter value from the list using either keyboard or mouse. The selected command will be automatically added to the line.

Press Enter to end editing. If the command is correct, the corresponding changes will be applied to the device configuration and the online configuration editor will display the command in italic and highlights it (in green by default). If there is an error in the command, HyperConf places the caret to the position where the problem is, and displays the error description.

You can cancel configuration line editing by pressing Esc.

Please note, if you delete entire command text in the editor line, and type a new command instead of it, the newly entered command may change its place in the configuration file after you refresh the

configuration file by clicking Refresh or reconnect to the device. It is normal because the device sorts configuration commands in its own way.

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With terminal shell, it is much easier to negate commands and reset them back to their default state. These operations may be performed with several mouse clicks, so there is no need to type commands or use the command line interface. HyperConf will switch to the configuration mode and send necessary commands to the device automatically.

Negating Commands

To disable some function on the device or execute the command opposite to the existing one, you should negate the command.

To negate a command, select the corresponding line in the configuration text and on the CLI menu click

Negate command.

When negating a command, HyperConf sends a series of commands to the device: commands to enter the configuration mode, the selected command with the no prefix, and commands to exit the

configuration mode.

As for the other lines of the configuration file modified during the current editing session, the negated command will be displayed in italic and highlighted (in green by default). The highlighting remains until the configuration is refreshed or the connection to the device is closed.

Please note that after you refresh the configuration file by clicking Refresh or reconnect to the device, the command may completely disappear from the configuration if its negation resets it to the default state. Devices don’t include commands in the default state into configuration files.

If Negate command is used for a command already starting with the no prefix, then the prefix will be removed and the command will be sent to the device without it.

Resetting Commands to Default

Almost any command has the default state, this means that the feature the command controls is configured in a way the manufacturer of the device implies. Such commands are not included to the running configuration of the device.

To reset a command to its default state, select the corresponding line in the configuration text and on the CLI menu, click Set Command to Defaults.

When resetting a command to the default state, HyperConf sends a series of commands to the device: commands to enter the configuration mode, the selected command with the default prefix, and commands to exit the configuration mode.

The modified command will be displayed in italic and highlighted (in green by default). The highlighting remains until the configuration is refreshed or the connection to the device is closed.

Please note that after you refresh the configuration file by clicking Refresh or reconnect to the device, the command will be removed from the configuration, because devices don’t include commands in the default state into configuration files.