PRTG Manual: Understanding Configuration Capture Scripts
When capturing device configurations UVexplorer needs to connect to the Command Line Terminal of the device and issue commands to show the appropriate configurations. When the configuration is displayed to the terminal UVexplorer can read the results and store them on the device properties.
Each device can provide different command line terminal prompts, and can require a different set of commands to show the configurations. UVexplorer is configured with a set of command line settings and command scripts to run depending on the device the configuration capture is run against. Each script and command line settings contains command and settings appropriate for capturing the config of the given device.
To determine which settings and script to use UVexplorer maps the devices SNMP System Object Identifier (SNMP OID) to the corresponding script and settings. In-order for configuration capture to work the device SNMP OID must be available and the device must be supported by UVexplorer. UVexplorer will discover the device OID when valid SNMP credentials are provided during Network Discovery.
See Network Discovery for more information.
Capturing multiple configurations
When capturing multiple device configurations UVexplorer will establish a connection to the device for each configuration to be captured. Command Line Terminal sessions and commands can have a state, such as the enabled state, or the terminal state. Since configurations scripts have to be written to assume the terminal session is in the initial state they could possibly fail if they are run in the same session with another script which changed the state. To avoid the possibility of this occurring a new session is created for each script.
If capturing multiple configurations at the same time fails on a device you could try increasing the timeout value for the credential/protocol or, ensure that the device is configured to allow simultaneous connections.
Configuration Capture Script Commands
When UVexplorer runs a command script against a device, it connects to the device using the provided credentials protocol. Upon connection UVexplorer typically attempts to login by waiting for a prompt for the user name, sending the user name, then waiting for a prompt for the password and sending the password, and finally by waiting for a prompt for the first command, referred to as the command prompt. Once the command prompt is reached UVexplorer can run the first command in the script.
Running script commands is a similar process, when the command prompt is read, UVexplorer runs the next command, and reads the input until the next command prompt is read, at which point the next command will be run. Occasionally commands responses such as 'show run' will print a page of the configuration then prompt the user if they want more. If network explorer sees the more prompt it will send the more response and continue reading the command response until the next command prompt is seen.
Since each device may have different prompts for the user name, password, more and command prompts, along with different responses, UVexplorer allows command line settings for specific devices to be mapped to the configuration capture task, based on the device SNMP OID. If a command fails, it is most likely caused by the device sending an unexpected prompt or not understanding the command or response UVexplorer sent. These settings are based on the provided device support. If your device is failing while running a command contact UVexplorer customer support to request device support for your device.
