RoutePlotter Manual

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.

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.

Entering the RoutePlotter license key

When RoutePlotter runs for the first time it will start in a 15 day trial mode. To purchase a key click here. To enter a key go to the 'Help' menu and choose the 'License Key' option as shown below:

By clicking on this the license key dialog box will appear as shown below:

To enter a license key correctly the following needs to be done:

1. Open the Visualware confirmation email received upon ordering
2. Highlight the entire key by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor over it
3. Hold down the 'Ctrl' button and press the 'C' key to copy the key
4. Click the mouse cursor into the license key dialog box and hold down the 'Ctrl' button again, but this time press the 'V' key to paste the key. (the key may automatically paste when the license key dialog box is clicked in.)

Once this is done click the 'Ok' button and RoutePlotter will be registered.

RoutePlotter Display and Toolbar

The main display of RoutePlotter is shown above and consists of main server details in the middle of the screen, plus quick links and help links to the right and the main toolbar across the top. The help links will open the RoutePlotter help file to the subject chosen. The quick links will open other features in RoutePlotter that are explained later. First of all RoutePlotter needs to be installed as a service. To do this see the section below.

Many of the RoutePlotter windows will contain icons like the ones below in the top right hand corner.

The first icon in line is essentially a 'back' button. When clicked it will go back to the window shown before.

The second icon in line is the 'home' button. When clicked it will go back to the main RoutePlotter GUI (above).

The third icon in line, when clicked, detaches the current window view and opens another dialog box. This is useful when wanted to view numerous windows at once.

Installing RoutePlotter as a service

With RoutePlotter installed on the server of choice it needs to be installed as a service. To do this is simple, go to the 'Options' menu and choose 'Install as a Service' as shown below:

Once this has been clicked a confirmation dialog box will pop up as shown below

The dialog box above mentions the Windows services panel. To get to this right click on the 'My Computer' icon on the desktop and chose 'Manage'. From here click on the 'Services' option denoted by the number 1 in the image below:

Once 'Services' has been selected a list of services will appear in the right hand side frame. In this list search for 'Visualware RoutePlotter Service', as denoted by the number 2 in the image above and right click. Then choose 'Properties' which will bring up the dialog box shown below:

From the drop down menu denoted by the number one on the image above choose 'Automatic' then click the 'Start' button denoted by the number two. This will ensure that the service is started and that it will start automatically when the machine is rebooted.

Server Settings

To setup the server settings click on the 'Server Options' link in the Quick Links area of the main GUI (as shown below). The server options can also be accessed by going to the 'Options' menu and choosing 'Server Options' from there.

Once the link has been clicked the following window will open:

On the left hand side of this window there is a summary of the current settings for both the HTTP Server and the Agent Server. On the right hand side is the settings area.

For both the HTTP Server and the Agent Server the IP address, port number and the username have to be chosen. For the IP address just select the IP wanted from the drop down menus and type in the port number required too. To change this click the 'Change Password...' button; a standard password change dialog box will pop up.

The password for both servers is to ' hello ' by default. It is recommended that this is changed as soon as possible.

Once the settings are chosen start the servers; this can be done by clicking the 'Start' buttons under both the HTTP Server and Agent Server areas. The screenshot above shows 'Stop' buttons as the servers are already started. If the settings were changed whilst the servers were running then restart them for the settings to take effect.

Monitored Routes

To add, remove, edit and generally manage the trace routes click the 'Monitored Routes' links from the main window as shown below or go to the 'Options' menu and choose 'Monitored Routes'.

By clicking the 'Monitored Routes' link the window below will appear

The Monitored Trace Routes window lists all the server routes you have added and all the RTA routes (explained later) as well. To the left hand side of the window are various options that include adding new routes, editing routes and viewing rules for certain routes.

To add a new route click the 'Add a new route' link at the top of the options list and the window below will appear

The options for this dialog box are explained below:

Description: the new route needs to be given a description that will appear at the beginning of each listing to identify one route from another. It is advisable to use names that are brief as long names can make certain views look more complicated.

Address: the actual domain/IP for the trace route needs to be chosen. If the chosen route is an IP address then there is no need to click the 'Resolve' button; if the entry is a domain name, such as www.visualware.com, then the resolve button needs to be clicked in order to resolve the IP address for that domain.

Monitor Service Port: This provides a simple port testing facility. When selected the port option defines a specific port number that will be monitored as an additional test when tracing the route to the device. The selected port number defined is tested to make sure it is responding to Application requests. For example using port 80 allows you to validate that the web server is responding on the IP device being tested.

Use UDP if ICMP traceroute fails: If ICMP fails to reach the device being monitored because of firewall issues RoutePlotter will try again using UDP as in some cases UDP may be allowed where ICMP is being blocked.

Interval: This option allows an interval to be set for when a new trace should be performed. The options range from 1 minute to 1 hour. When the interval expires RoutePlotter will refresh the trace route and update the database information accordingly.

There are some advanced options also available by clicking the Advanced button. The dialog box below will appear

This dialog allows the size of each ping packet to be set (bytes) and the ping timeout to be set (ms). The ping timeout value is the maximum time RoutePlotter will wait for a ping packet to return. Packets that exceed this time are reported as lost. The 'size' option allows you to set how many bytes will be sent in each ping packet. The default is 32. The minimum value is 4 bytes but setting higher values can be useful in gauging how applications are performing as this better mimics application data packets at the router.

Once the settings for the new route are complete click the Ok buttons until the Monitored Trace Routes window is back in view. The new route will now be listed in the server routes list and will appear on the server also.

Setting rules for a traceroute

To set a new rule select the traceroute from the list of monitored traceroutes and click the View Rules link to the left hand side of the monitored traceroutes window.

The following dialog box will appear

When a new rule is added it will appear in the Private rules for... list to the right hand side of the dialog box. To create a new rule click the Add a new rule link to the left side of the dialog box. This will bring up the dialog box below

The new rule window consists of 4 steps, conditions, actions, exceptions and configure rule. When options are checked in the first 3 steps RoutePlotter adds each option to step 4. When the options for the new rule are chosen the rule now needs to be configured.

When a rule is added that contains a variable value item that needs to be set for the rule (such as a millisecond alarm value) it will be shown as a blue underline placeholder. To configure the rule just click the blue underlined placeholder. This will either rotate through some options such as low, normal and high for the priority setting or provide an edit box for a value to be entered such as an email address needed for an email alert rule.

If the 'without loose source routing through <an ip path>' is selected the following dialog box will appear:

The 'Without loose source routing through' rule will be broken if the traceroute path doesn't include a set of IP's i.e. the route stops going through a server. Specify the IP's needed to route through by adding each IP to a different line in the text box. More than one IP on a line (separated by a space) means the route can go through any one of the IP's.

Creating a Remote Trace Agent (RTA)

A Remote Trace Agent (RTA) allows IP devices and routes to be tested from more than one location. In other words if you have an office in Boston and also an office in Paris you can test the route from Boston -to-Paris and also from Paris-to- Boston by downloading an RTA in either Paris or Boston depending on where the RoutePlotter Server is installed.

RTAs must first be created using the RoutePlotter Server before they can be downloaded. This creation process defines an agent and the IP devices it will monitor. Once an RTA is created it can be deployed in one or more locations as required. As an RTA is created with the routes to be monitored already defined then when the RTA is downloaded and installed it will immediately start monitoring the destinations declared.

Security Considerations

A deployed RTA cannot be used to change the devices being monitored. In order to change the IP devices monitored by one or more RTAs you must amend the RTA definitions at the RoutePlotter Server. If IP devices are changed by RTA type the changes will apply to all the agents that have been deployed of that RTA type.

The amount of agents that can be created or connected for an RTA type can be defined. This prohibits RTAs being downloaded and used incorrectly and also limits the number of concurrent connections. This is useful for example when providing RTAs directly to remote customers as it will limit and manage the number of concurrent connections. If an RTA type has reached the maximum number of agents that can connect then the next agent trying to connect will be put in a 'suspended' state. When an agent is suspended it doesn't monitor any routes nor does it ask for routes from the server. It will also attempt to connect less frequently to limit interruptions to the server. Note, when an RTA is resumed from a suspended state it may take up to a full minute before being registered online.

Deployed RTAs can be managed while running. RTAs can be set to a state of 'Online', 'Suspended' or 'Offline' directly by the user from the RoutePlotter Server. In addition an RTA can be instructed to 'shutdown' by the user. The 'shutdown' request not only stops the RTA but also uninstall's the RTA.

RTAs deleted from the RoutePlotter Server are removed from the RoutePlotter RTA available list. Any running RTAs are automatically shutdown and uninstalled. All future requests from a deleted RTA will be rejected by the RoutePlotter Server and if necessary also uninstalled.

To begin the process an RTA needs to be created. To do this click the " My Agents " link in the main RoutePlotter Server GUI (as shown below) or choose " My Agents " from the Options menu.

Once the "My agents" link has been clicked the dialog box below ill be displayed

The next stage is to create a new RTA. To do this simply click the "Create a new Agent" link as shown in the image above. This will launch the dialog below

Type a name for the new Agent into the text box and click the 'OK ' button. It is best to use 'short' meaningful names as long names make some of the network views more complicated. Once 'OK' is clicked the new RTA will be added to the RoutePlotter Server 'available' agents list as shown below.

New options appear on the left hand side. These include Create a new Agent, View Agent, Agent Options and Delete Agent.

Using an Agent

Now an RTA has been created its time to setup the Agent on a remote system or another server on the network. Obviously the RTA needs to be distributed to the location/system of choice. The RTA ( as shown in the image above ) can be sent by email, posted for download, moved across a network (FTP) or even burned on to CD. The RoutePlotter Server is a fully functional Web Server and provides support for downloading an RTA via the browser if required without the use of a commercial web server such as Apache/IIS.

Once it has been copied to the system of choice, simply double-click the RTA ICON to execute as shown below:

When the Agent is started on the new machine the server that created the Agent will now register it as being online (shown below) as opposed to offline as shown above.

When the Agent is selected, as it is above, the Agent Summary box will give you 'last contact' details and how many routes it is running as shown below:

Installing the Agent as a service

The Agent can also be installed a service on the machine of choice. This can be done by clicking the 'Install agent as a service' link in the left hand side panel of the agent as shown below:

Once this has been done a confirmation dialog box will appear confirming that it has been installed as a service. Then, as with the main RoutePlotter, settings can be changed in Computer Management - see installing RoutePlotter as a service

Add a new route to an Agent

For security reasons adding or changing an RTA route cannot be done using the RTA agent directly and can only be done from the RoutePlotter Server panel.

To add a new route to an Agent click the ' View Agent ' link in the main Agents window as shown below

This will bring up the window below where the "Create a new route" link needs to be clicked, as shown in red below

Once 'Create a new Route' has been clicked the 'Trace Route' details dialog will appear as shown below

The options for this dialog box are explained below:

Description: the new route needs to be given a description that will appear at the beginning of each listing to identify one route from another. It is advisable to use names that are brief as long names can make certain views look more complicated.

Address: the actual domain/IP for the trace route needs to be chosen. If the chosen route is an IP address then there is no need to click the 'Resolve' button; if the entry is a domain name, such as www.visualware.com, then the resolve button needs to be clicked in order to resolve the IP address for that domain.

Monitor Service Port: This provides a simple port testing facility. When selected the port option defines a specific port number that will be monitored as an additional test when tracing the route to the device. The selected port number defined is tested to make sure it is responding to Application requests. For example using port 80 allows you to validate that the web server is responding on the IP device being tested.

Use UDP if ICMP traceroute fails: If ICMP fails to reach the device being monitored because of firewall issues RoutePlotter will try again using UDP as in some cases UDP may be allowed where ICMP is being blocked.

Interval: This option allows an interval to be set for when a new trace should be performed. The options range from 1 minute to 1 hour. When the interval expires RoutePlotter will refresh the trace route and update the database information accordingly.

There are some advanced options also available by clicking the Advanced button. The dialog box below will appear

Once the settings for the new route are complete click the Ok buttons until the Agents window is back in view. The new route will now be listed in the server routes list

The new route now appears in the 'Agent Routes' list as shown above. More options are now available in the left hand side column. These new options are edit route, view rules and delete route. By clicking 'View Rules' you can set a new rule for the Agent or edit old rules.

Setting a new rule for an Agent

First of all select the Agent route for the new rule as shown below. To get to this screen from the main RoutePlotter GUI click on the 'My Agents' link, then click the Agent in question and then click the 'View Agent' link. Then the screen below will appear

Select the Agent route wanted (red arrow above) then click the 'View Rules' link as shown above. This will show the dialog box below, where the 'Add New Rule' link needs to be clicked, this will bring up the window below.

When a new rule is added it will appear in the Private rules for... list to the right hand side of the dialog box. To create a new rule click the Add a new rule link to the left side of the dialog box. This will bring up the dialog box below

If the without loose source routing through <an ip path> is selected the following dialog box will appear:

Note: The route table is only displayed if the route in question has been tested. In the case were an agent route is being selected and no agents are deployed the route table will not be displayed. IP's then need to be entered manually.

RoutePlotter Agent Server

Once the RoutePlotter Server has been configured and started then the RoutePlotter Agent Server can now be used by accessing the correct URL (IP address or domain name) using the browser. Using the browser allows a RoutePlotter RTA to be downloaded and used from anywhere in the world.

The RoutePlotter Agent server page looks like the one below:

There are two main options provided:-

Download and install an Agent

Manage Deployed Agents

Download and install an Agent

RoutePlotter RTAs created for download and distribution appear in the drop down list as shown above. To download an RTA,

1. Select the RTA required using the drop down menu,

2. Enter a Unique name to identify the agent location

3. Click the download button.

Once the download button has been clicked a 'run'/'save' dialog will appear. Clicking 'run' will load and run the agent directly from the RoutePlotter Server, clicking 'save' will prompt for a 'save folder' location of your choice.

Note: It is recommended that an agent is 'saved' rather than directly 'run' from the RoutePlotter Server as this will allow you to start the RTA if the server where the RTA is running has to be rebooted for any reason.

Once an RTA is running it can be monitored and viewed in the browser using the 'Manage Deployed Agents ' selection.

Note: when an RTA is processing all data collected is automatically reported to the RoutePlotter server.

Manage Deployed Agents

From this RoutePlotter Agent Server web page all running RTA can be monitored. From name and status to route names and IP's. For security reasons although routes can be monitored they cannot be changed using the browser. All changes MUST be done directly at the RoutePlotter Server

As shown above each RTA is listed by name along with the routes the RTA is monitoring which are listed below. Each RTA has a number options,

· Delete , can be clicked at any time. If the agent is offline it will uninstall itself once it comes online.

· Online or Suspended , if an agent is shutdown the status cannot be changed until it comes online

From this page all Agents can be monitored. From name and status to route names and IP's.

As shown above each agent is listed by name and the routes the agents are monitoring are listed below them. Each agent has numerous options, the first of which is delete, which can be clicked at any time. If the agent is offline it will uninstall itself once it comes online. The other option is to change the status, to do this click on either online or suspended, if an agent is shutdown the status cannot be changed until it comes online.

The status change will not take effect until the next time the agent connects. If the option ' Shutdown ' is chosen the agent in question will have to be manually re started for it to run again. The other options are online and suspend . Click the accept button to accept the changes made.

RoutePlotter Server

The RoutePlotter Server provides a browser interface for the RoutePlotter reporting options. These are

Timeline - A daily/hourly view of alerts and alarms

Log Entries - A search report of alerts and alarms

VisualRoute - A search report of trace route alerts

Graph - A search graph report of specific routes

Network - A schematic view of monitored routes

Detach button
By clicking the detach button in the bottom left corner the applet will detach itself from the browser. This allows the user to extend the RoutePlotter panel to the full size of the monitor.

Timeline tab

When the RoutePlotter server is browsed to the initial view is the Timeline tab as shown above. The Timeline tab allows you to view the over all status for one or more monitored routes/devices by Month, Day, Hour or Minute.

When the RoutePlotter server is browsed to the initial view is the Timeline tab as shown above. The Timeline tab allows you to view the over all status for one or more monitored routes/devices by Month, Day, Hour or Minute.

In the above example the timeline is showing data for the Visualware-Server route with all rules. The user can focus and zoom in on any particular Month, day, hour by simply double-clicking a particular time-line segment. This will drill-down the timeline view to cover the selected segment (in the example above the hour is divided into 5 minute segments). The user can zoom in or out between the hourly, daily and monthly views by using the 'Zoom In' and 'Zoom Out' links under the timeline panel. Note : The Zoom links only appear when a specific timeline segment has been selected.

Note: All timeline segments are color coded (red, Yellow, Grey) by the alarm content within the time period selected. In other words if there were many critical alerts the segment would be mostly red. If it was a mixture of critical and warning alarms then the color would be a mixture of red and yellow etc.

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

You can filter the information being displayed in the time-line to reflect different routes and rules by using the drop-down menu and clicking the ' Apply Filter ' button. You can search through relevant data by using the ' Next ' and ' Previous ' links. By clicking on a time-line segment you will be able to see the data legend in the yellow box below the timeline, see example below.

The yellow box tells you the exact number of critical, warning and information log entries for the selected segment. If the ' Display all log entries for this period ' link is clicked it will open the 'Log Entries' tab to review the selected data.

Log Entries

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

Once a timeframe, a route and rules have been selected, a table of results similar the one above will show. The list will contain all the alerts and alarms that have been occurred for the selected filter (namely time, route and rules). Clicking on a date/timestamp in the log entries list will select and show the captured trace route details associated with the logged event. See example below.

VisualRoute tab

The VisualRoute tab allows traceroute details for a specified route captured at a specific date and time to be reviewed. This includes the entire route from source to destination (see above example).

To locate a user selected trace route (as opposed to a trace route found by clicking on an alert in the timeline view).

1. Select the destination

2. Select the date/time for the traceroute.

3. Click ' Go '

The trace route for the selected filter will be displayed. The user can then scroll forward and backward from the selected traceroute detail by using the ' Next ' and ' Previous ' record links shown just above the table. The table contents show the number, the IP address, Network Node Name, Location, Response time (in milliseconds) and Packet loss% for each hop between the source and the destination. Note: The Response Time measurement and Packet Loss measurement as well as the length of the route (number of hops) are important performance metrics.

Graph tab

The Graph tab shows 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.

This graph is plotted in real time and automatically updates although timeframes can be specified 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.

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.

Network tab

The Network tab shows the monitored routes in a schematic view and the current state of the rule alerts defined.

Alerts
The network view shows all the hop 'points' for every route being monitored in what looks like a train track schematic. Hovering your mouse over any hop 'point' will display device IP address in a tool-tip. The color of the hop 'point' (red yellow or white) 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 route (i.e. a list of all alerts for the time period).

Filter
If you want to show the routes only passing through a given node then simply click that node. The network map will redraw itself showing only those routes that pass through the selected node. To show all nodes again simply double click anywhere in the background.

Highlight
If you want to see the path of the routes monitored by a specific Remote Testing Agent (RTA) or indeed the path back to any RTA/RoutePlotter monitoring a given IP device then click the RTA/Server name. To remove this highlight simply click anywhere in the background.

Node Spacing
You can change the spacing of nodes to large/medium/small by selecting the size in the 'Node Spacing' drop down box. This can be useful if you find that all your monitored routes don't fit inside the window.

Moving the node map
You can move the node map around to view off screen items by left mouse clicking and dragging on the background. Note : Use the 'detach' button to release the RoutePlotter window from the browser thus enabling the full size of the viewing monitor to be used independently of the browser window limits.