1. Installing RoutePlotter   

First, make sure that you meet the minimum requirements for your platform, including the proper Java VM. Then install RoutePlotter:

Run the 'routeplotter.exe' install program provided with your download (download now), by double-clicking the filename or by opening the file, then follow the instructions prompts to install on the hard drive.

2. Running RoutePlotter    

Once you have completed the install (step 1) you may run the RoutePlotter Server application using the windows start button: Go to Start / Programs / RoutePlotter and click on RoutePlotter.

3. Running RoutePlotter for the First Time    

When RoutePlotter runs for the first time you will need to obtain a license key. You will see a dialog box like the one below (fig3.1) prompting you for your key choice.

1. Request a free 15-day trial key
2. Purchase a product license
3. Apply a license key already recieved

Fig 3.1: Opening Dialog Box

Fig3.2: License key dialog box

When entering your key we recommend that you copy and paste the key from the email you received to avoid typing errors. As there are no menu options to copy and paste you will have to use the keyboard shortcuts. Simply drag your mouse across the key string in your email so it is highlighted and then hit the 'ctrl' and 'c' keys together (ctrl-c) to copy. Then place your mouse cursor in the License Key edit panel (fig 3.2) and hit the 'ctrl' and 'v' (ctrl-v) to paste the key.

Click 'OK' when finished and the key will be validated and the license key dialog will close. If you get a key error validate that you copied the entire key string and if necessary contact support.

4. RoutePlotter Display and Toolbar   

After entering the license key you should see the RoutePlotter server application window shown below in fig 4.1:

Fig 4.1: RoutePlotter Server Application Window

While the main user interface to RoutePlotter is provided via a browser interface, the RoutePlotter server interface is comprised of four display panels:

Monitored Trace Routes: Lists the domain names and/or IP addresses being traced. You may click on any item in this list to select it for review.

Last Traceroute to: When selecting a route from the monitored Traceroute List panel the last the traceroute details (all the hops) will appear as a table in this panel for you to review.

Global Rules: RoutePlotter allows you to define rules by which the route is monitored and measured. This allows you to trigger alerts when deviations occur. Global Rules are rules that apply to all routes being monitored.

Private Rules: This is the same rule setting process as Global Rules but Private Rules only apply to a single user selected route.

There are three menu options in the RoutePlotter server application window. These are 'File', 'View' and 'Help'.

File Menu

Exit - Exits RoutePlotter and closes the application. If installed and running as a Windows service with the 'interact with desktop' option turned on then the exit menu selection will be rejected. You must close a Windows service from the Windows Services option in the system Control Panel. Select the Visualware RoutePlotter Server and  click stop.

The View menu option has two types of views, Server views and GUI views. Server views are delivered via the browser. Before you can select these views you must configure and start the RoutePlotter internal web server. GUI views appear on the server workstation.

Server Views (above the separator line)

Timeline... - This opens a browser window to the RoutePlotter server applet page on the 'Timeline' view. This view shows a timeline summary of the alerts that have occurred.

Log Entries... - This opens a browser window to the RoutePlotter server applet page on the 'Log Entries' view. This view shows the detail entries of the alerts that have occurred which can be selected for review.

VisualRoute View... - This opens a browser window to the RoutePlotter server applet page on the 'VisualRoute' trace view. This view shows a trace table of the hops to the destination as well as a world map.

Graph... - This opens a browser window to the RoutePlotter server applet page on the 'Graph' view. This view shows the performance of the route showing Latency, Packet Loss and Hop Count over time.

Network... - This opens a browser window to the RoutePlotter server applet page on the 'Network' view. This view shows the schematic of all the routes being monitored and color codes hops as red, yellow or green.

 

GUI Views (below the separator line)

Event Viewer... - This brings up the RoutePlotter Event Viewer dialog box which lists all the logged events from the defined rules.

RoutePlotter Server... - Launches the RoutePlotter Server Preferences. This is the method used to configure the web server to deliver the main user interface via browser access.

• Support... - This opens a browser window to the RoutePlotter support page. From here you can review support issues and report a support problem.
• Product Feedback... - This opens up a browser window and brings up Visualware's Feedback Page. Please provide any feedback you feel will help us deliver better products.
• RoutePlotter Homepage... - This opens up a browser window and brings up RoutePlotter's home page. From the home page you have access to all the product information.
• Frequently Asked Questions... - This opens up a browser window and brings up RoutePlotter's FAQ page.
• Manual... - This opens up a browser window and brings up the RoutePlotter manual which you are currently reading.
• How To Purchase... - This opens up a browser window to the RoutePlotter purchase page when you want to purchase a license after evaluating the product.
• Newsletter Signup...- This opens up a browser window to the registration page for the Visualware Newsletter. This has special offers and other product related information such as new releases, helpful hints, etc.
• License Key... - Opens the license key dialog box as shown in fig 3.2 above. This allows you to enter your purchased RoutePlotter license key.
• About... - This brings up a dialog box with information about RoutePlotter version, build numbers and usage occasionally needed for support purposes.

5. Configuring RoutePlotter   

Configuring Monitored Routes

With RoutePlotter you can easily monitor a number of critical routes simultaneously and have them update at a time interval that you decide, anything from every minute to every hour. To configure a trace route using RoutePlotter you have to click on the 'New' button within the 'Monitored Trace Routes' panel of the server application window (see fig 4.1). This will bring up the dialog box below (fig 5.1)

Fig 5.1: New Trace Route Dialog Box

Enter the name to identify the route, for example Visualware, along with the destination IP address or Domain name. You can also choose the time interval for the monitoring period and the service port you want monitored. Defining an application port such as port 80 (HTTP) configures RoutePlotter to validate that the application service is responding. As RoutePlotter only monitors IP addresses you must click the '<- Resolve' button to resolve domain names to IP addresses if a Domain name has been defined.

The 'Advanced...' button opens the 'Traceroute Advanced Options' dialog which allows you to set values for Ping Packet Size (bytes) and the Ping Timeout (ms) as shown in fig 5.2..

Fig 5.2: Advanced Options

Once all details have been entered click the 'OK' button. If you want to add more than one route then just repeat the process until all the routes have been defined. Note: you cannot add more routes than provided for in the product license key.

Fig 5.3: RoutePlotter main screen with Routes added

The screenshot in fig 5.3 shows how RoutePlotter displays the routes you have just added. In the 'Monitored Trace Routes' dialog box you have a list of routes shown by name and IP address. By clicking on a defined route you will be able to see the most current trace route detail in the dialog panel opposite. This information will continually update at the time interval defined when route details was added.

You can view all the routes you have in a graphical view by going to the 'View' menu and choosing 'Network...'. This will display a new browser window like the one below (fig 5.4)

Fig 5.4: Current Network View Window

The Current Network View shows the entire route to each defined destination device with each router appearing as a small 'point'. Moving the mouse over any hop 'point' displays the IP address of the hop (router) selected.

Configuring Performance Rules

Another important feature of RoutePlotter is the ability to define sophisticated performance rules for an individual hop or destination. These can be for all monitored hops on a route or any individual route/hop. To configure a global performance rule click on the 'New' button within the 'Global Rules' panel of the server application window (see fig 4.1). This will bring up the dialog box below (fig 5.5). Configuring private rules is similar, however first select a monitored trace route from the 'Monitored Trace Routes' panel and then click on the the 'New' button within the 'Private Rules' panel of the server application window (see fig 4.1).

Fig 5.5: Rules dialog box

There are four steps to creating a new rule, the first is to specify the 'Conditions'. Simply check the box(es) you want then (step 2) specify 'Actions' to take when those conditions are met. Step 3 is to specify 'Exceptions' that may apply to the rule.

You will notice that when you check different options you can specify values in the 'Step 4' edit panel of the dialog, see example below (fig 5.6)

Fig 5.6: Rules example

To define the specific details for a new rule click on the underlined values in the 'Step 4' edit panel. This then provides a pop-up dialog to enter the desired values for the option being clicked. So, for the example above,  RoutePlotter will send an email if a trace goes over a certain number of hops, except if it has already occurred in the last x amount of minutes. Once you are happy with the rule you have created click 'OK' and the rule will take effect. At any time you can delete, edit or move a rule by using the buttons in either the 'Global Rules' window or the 'Private Rules' window (fig 5.3)

If you wish to duplicate your RoutePlotter settings onto another machine you can do so although there is no specific export facilitly.

There is one single configuration file in the install directory titled 'environment.env', this should be copied to the new directory where you wish to export the data. Make sure to copy it over when the destination copy of RoutePlotter is not running otherwise it will be overwritten when RoutePlotter closes down. Obviously any configuration information at the destination will be overwritten.

6. RoutePlotter Server   

To start the RoutePlotter Server go to the menu option 'View | RoutePlotter Server...' as illustrated in fig 6.1 below.

Fig 6.1: View --> RoutePlotter Server

Selecting 'RoutePlotter Server...' will display the RoutePlotter Server dialog box (fig 6.2). This dialog is used to define the IP address and port to use for browser communications as well as the ability to start/stop the server engine.

Fig 6.2: RoutePlotter Server Dialog

By default the server is not running. To setup the server click on 'Preferences...' button (fig6.3) to open the 'Server Preferences' dialog which allows you to configure the IP address, port number and the remote user access username and password. Without this username and password you cannot use any of the remote server reporting options delivered via a browser.

Fig 6.3: Server Preferences

Once you have setup your server preferences click the 'Start' button and RoutePlotter will start the web server engine. This allows you to communicate with the RoutePlotter server via a browser. If you see a message indicating 'Java bind error' then you have selected an IP address and port number that is already in use. This means RoutePlotter is unable to start the server web engine.

When the server engine is correctly configured and running you will get a clickable link on the main GUI window of RoutePlotter that reads 'click here to use the RoutePlotter Server'. Clicking this link will start up a browser window and take you to the RoutePlotter logon page. Clicking the 'Test' button in the RoutePlotter Server dialog will also take you to the login page in a browser.

Fig 6.4: RoutePlotter Web Interface

The first thing you need to do is login using the username and password you set in the server preferences, once you have done this you will see the Timeline screen (see fig 6.5 below).

Fig 6.5: Initial screen once logged in

There are five application views in the RoutePlotter Applet panel.

Timeline - this option allows you to view a summary of all the alarms by 'timeline' over the last 24 hours. This represents an hour by hour view of all logged events (alerts and alarms). For more details view the Timeline Tab section below.

Log Entries - this selection allows you to view the detailed log entries created by the defined rules. The selection can be for any  timeframe for a specific route or all routes. For more details view the Log Entries Tab section below.

VisualRoute - this option allows you to view the traceroute for a specific route at a specific date and time. For more details view the VisualRoute Tab section below

Graph - this option allows you to view the performance of a route over time like a day or week. A graph showing number of hops, round-trip time and average packet loss for a specific trace can be selected. For more details view the Graph Tab section below.

Network - this option allows you to see the network schematic view of all the routes being monitored and color codes hops as red, yellow or green. For more details view the Network Tab section below.

7. Timeline Tab   

The Timeline tab allows you to view what has been logged on a certain hour, day or month for a specified route or all routes.

Fig 7.1: Timeline tab

In the above diagram (7.1) the timeline is showing data from all routes with all rules. The user can focus and zoom in on any particular hour by simply double-clicking a particular oen-hour segment. This expands the timeline view to cover the selected hour divided into 5 minute segments. You can also zoom in and out between the hourly, daily and monthly views by using the 'Zoom In' and 'Zoom Out' links under the timeline panel. If you wish to zoom in you have to select a partition on the timeline to enable the zoom link and define the time period).

Double clicking on a 5 minute segment will automatically take you to the 'Log Entries' detail view for the time period selected.

You can change the information being displayed by selecting different routes and rules from the drop down menu and clicking the 'Apply Filter' button.  You can easily search through data by using the 'Next' and 'Previous' links to see data previously recorded. By clicking on a partition you will be able to see the data in the yellow box below the timeline, see fig 7.2 below.

Fig 7.2: Timeline Data

The yellow box tells you the exact number of critical, warning and information log entries for the selected segment. If you click the 'Display all log entries for this period' link you will be taken to the 'Log Entries' tab.

8. Log Entries Tab   

The Log Entries tab allows you to view log entries created by the defined rules between a specific timeframe for a certain route or all routes.

Fig 8.1: Log Entries Tab

Once you have specified the timeframe, the route and the rules you will get a table similar the one above in fig 8.1. Its shows all the log entries for your selection in a table providing the Date/Time, the type of entry, the rule it applied to, the route it applied to and the message text. You will see that the date entry is linked; by clicking on any link in the Date/Time field you will display the actual traceroute detail captured at the time selected.

9. VisualRoute Tab   

The VisualRoute tab allows you to view the captured traceroute details for a specified route at a specific date and time.

Fig 9.1: VisualRoute Tab

You can select the destination and the date/time for the traceroute detail you wish to examine. When specified click the 'Go' button to display the Traceroute. You can scroll forward and backward from the selected traceroute detail by using the 'Next' and 'Previous' record links. The table shows the hop number, the IP address, network node name, hop response time (in milliseconds) and percent packet loss for each hop. Response Time and Packet Loss as well as the length of the route (number of hops) are crucial performance metrics.

10. Graph Tab   

The Graph tab allows you to view a plot of the performance of the route over time such as an hour, a day or even a month. The plot view can include the number of hops, round-trip response time and average packet loss for the selected destination.

Fig 10.1: Graph tab

This graph is plotted in real time and automatically updates although you can specify timeframes in the configuration for this tab. Also, clicking on any part of the plot body and holding the left mouse button down will display a tool tip displaying the metric values for the time period where the mouse was clicked. Moving the mouse while still holding the left mouse button down automatically updates the metric readings for the timer periods covered.

Fig 10.2: Plot Configuration

The Plot Configuration screen is very simple and mostly self explanatory. The user can choose the route to plot. The metrics to include and the time period to cover. Clicking the 'Go' button plots the details selected.

11. Network Tab   

The Network tab allows you to see a schematic view of the monitored routes and the current state of the rule alerts defined.

Fig 11.1: Network Tab

Alerts
The network view shows hop 'points' for every route being monitored in what looks like a train map. Hovering your mouse over any hop 'point' will display device IP address in a tool-tip. The color of the hop 'point' reflects the state of the rules defined for the route. For example a red filled 'point' indicates a critical alarm is currently in effect. Clicking the magnifying glass for a route showing an alert will display the actual traceroute detail for the alert displayed in the 'VisualRoute' view. Alternatively clicking the 'diamond' symbol for a route will display the 'Log Details' view for the alert.

Layout
Each of the hop nodes can be dragged to better organize the network view if the nodes get clustered. Clicking the 'Save' button will store the new node positions.

Filter
All the routes originate from the RoutePlotter server location (the root). If you click any hop 'point' RoutePlotter will filter the network view to only those routes that pass through the hop 'point' clicked. (see fig 11.2 below shows a single route). Clicking the route 'point' (color green) will re-display all routes as they originate from the root.

Fig 11.2: A singular traceroute in its own view

12. Installing RoutePlotter as a Server   

To run RoutePlotter Server as a Windows 2000/XP/2003 service, just follow these steps:

1. Run RoutePlotter to configure Server and verify that it runs properly; This will allow you to access RoutePlotter via a browser when it is running as the server. Then exit RoutePlotter. See important note below.
   
   
2. Start a Windows DOS prompt and navigate to the RoutePlotter installed directory. For example

   c:> CD \Program Files\RoutePlotter     and press Enter

3. Type "RoutePlotter -install" and press Enter
    
4. Run the Services Manager (Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services) and start the "Visualware RoutePlotter Server" service. Alternatively from the DOS prompt in step 3 type  'Net start visualware routeplotter server' and press Enter.

TIP: Enabling the 'interact with desktop' option in the Windows services 'logon' tab for the RoutePlotter service properties dialog will allow you to use the RoutePlotter GUI interface even when running as a Windows service.

Similarly, to uninstall the service, first stop the windows service and then follow steps 2 and 3 above, substituting "RoutePlotter -uninstall" for "RoutePlotter -install".

Release History   

1.4g - June 3, 2005 (build 541):

• Removed network graph view from GUI (now all features are in browser views)
• No trial license key registration required
• Uses a local location database rather than the online server
• Improved server efficiency
• Fixed problem causing data loss when RoutePlotter is improperly shut down

1.4f - March 26th, 2005 (build 440)

• Stops RoutePlotter being shutdown when running as a service
• Adjusts the hop count when a hop does not respond
• Support multiple email address on a single rule
• Fixes trial message from preventing the service from starting
• Performance Enhancement

1.4e - March 21st, 2005 (build 437)

• Bug Fix

1.4d - February 7th, 2005 (build 391)

• Node dragging. In the Network view, nodes can now be individually dragged to a new position, providing more control and greater flexibility of network route displays.
• Dragging of node branches or groups with the right mouse button (Network view).
• Node layout saving option. Click the 'Save Layout' button to save any changes via a cookie. When the Network view is next accessed from your system, your customized view will appear.
• Map option shows the geographical path of a network route (VisualRoute view).
• City/country locations of network nodes are shown in the routing traceroute table (VisualRoute view). Location reporting may be turned off in the Server, Preferences window.
• Routing Replay option. In the Network view, select 'Replayer' from the Plot drop-down list. After selecting the start/finish time and replay speed, the route is replayed -- clearly showing routing changes as time passes.