Is it possible to configure "Event Actions" on the network management cards via SNMP

[arb_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 6/13/2014

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I have a significant number of UPSs ( >70) in the field with AP9630 and a few older AP9617 network management cards.  Having so many units is beginning to get tedious to "fine tune" some of the event actions (specifically SNMP Traps) especially if I get asked to start reporting information to new network management systems.  I've been reading the PowerNET MIB for a few hours and I can't seem to find where I can get/set the event actions by using SNMP.

The config.ini file obviously has them, but I have to keep tweaking the file slightly between one UPS to another for naming and a few other differences between each UPS so using it as a "blanket" config gets to be just as tedious to hammer out the small differences some times.  I'd like to be able to use SNMP to fine tune all of the event actions from a script, but I can't seem to find the MIBs that control the Event Actions for neither SNMP, Emails, nor Logging.

Is this even possible?  If not, does anyone have a recommendation for accomplishing my goal otherwise?

Thanks!

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 6/13/2014

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Unfortunately no, it is not available because it is relatively complicated as far as configuration options go. And maybe nobody has ever asked for it via SNMP but I see it as very complicated to do - but perhaps not in a script.

Essentially, the easiest is to use config.ini and utilize one of the methods to push that config.ini, even just the [EventActionConfig] section to multiple Network Management Cards. Here is the knowledge base on mass configuration. The assumption is that the user configures notifications the way they want via the web interface, downloads a config.ini with that configuration and pushes it to multiple Network Management Cards via one of the methods in the knowledge base.

How can I mass configure an Network Management Card (NMC) or NMC embedded product? | FAQs | Schneide...

I'd definitely make sure to keep a template for AP9617 (NMC1), NMC2 v5 and NMC2 v6 as the differences related to notification configuration differ slightly but are somewhat the same. If you don't keep separate templates, you may notice slight inconsistencies or errors across each device depending on what you push.

[arb_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 6/13/2014

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Essentially, the easiest is to use config.ini and utilize one of the methods to push that config.ini, even just the [EventActionConfig] section to multiple Network Management Cards.

Expanding on this idea:  Would the NMC would be tolerant of the following as an example:

     [SystemDate/Time]

     DSTConfiguration=Traditional US

     NTPEnable=enabled

     NTPPrimaryServer=server1.example.com

     NTPSecondaryServer=server2.example.com

     NTPTimeZone=-05:00

     NTPUpdateInterval=96

     NTPManualOverride=enabled

     [EventActionConfig]

     E0001=ES,E[:::],T[:::::],P[:::]

The above example would merely be a partial upload.  The NTP definition would *only* have NTPTimeZone declared (the others are strikeout to express the fact they would not be in this partial config.ini) in the config and I would assume (know) that the other NTP settings such as the servers lines, etc. would already be be set in the NMC.  In this case, would the NMC accept the NTPTimeZone and the EventActionConfig changes and allow the other NTP options to remain as they are already set in the NMC?

EDIT:  Is there a way to also set protected credentials during this upload as well?  Such as the "apc" user password, SNMPv3 authentication/privacy passphrases, etc?

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 6/13/2014

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Yes, as long as you have the section name (the name with the square brackets) - so in your example, the SystemDate/Time section to tell the card where the keyword should be applied, NTPTimeZone being the keyword, it would work. It will fail without the section name. You can also rename your config.ini to anything with a .ini extension to help keep track of everything.

So you can upload just one section and one value or multiple sections - does not need to be the whole file all of the time.

The password stuff depends on the card and firmware but yes, you can do it. The config.ini actually tells you how to do it.

For AP9617/18/19 NMC1 and v5 firmware for NMC2 (AP9630/31), you'll find this in the config.ini in the applicable sections. They are essentially "write-only" keywords now.

[SystemUserManager]
;    To change the Administrator, Device, or Read-Only users 
;    passwords, use the AdminPassword, DevicePassword, or
;    ReadOnlyPassword keywords respectively. i.e., AdminPassword=password
AutoLogout=3 Minutes
AdminUserName=apc
DeviceUserName=device
DeviceUserAccess=enabled
ReadOnlyUserName=readonly
ReadOnlyUserAccess=enabled
[NetworkSNMP]
;    To change the User Profile Auth Phrase, or the 
;    User Profile Encrypt Phrase, use the UserProfile#AuthPhrase, or
;    UserProfile#EncryptPhrase keywords respectively where # is 
;    the number of the profile. i.e., UserProfile1EncryptPhrase=default crypt passphrase

This is also applicable for any password pretty much - user, SNMP, RADIUS, etc.

If you move to NMC2 v6, the SNMP and RADIUS stuff is the same as above but user management, including user passwords, is done completely separately as far as mass configuration. The only thing still in the config.ini for users is default user preferences to sort of create a "template" to make creating users via this method a little easier. I have a knowledge base on how to do it here -> Mass Configuration of Users and User Preferences on Network Management Card 2 (NMC2) v6.X.X | FAQs |...

The INI Util that we have in the first kbase I provided should help you if you don't want to build your own script and want to use FTP versus SCP.