Documentation forSolarWinds

Advanced CPU Load tool

The Advanced CPU Load tool in ETS for the Desktop uses SNMP to monitor network device CPU usage and provides both real time and historical views of this data. Using the tool, you can monitor the processor use of your routers, switches, servers, and other SMP-enabled network devices. In addition to monitoring CPU usage, you can monitor response time, running processes, uptime, errors, and several other statistics.

If your device does not support the HostResourcesMIB, it may not be possible to gather some of the information.

See the following sections:

Open the Advanced CPU Load tool

  • To launch the tool from the Toolset Launch Pad, locate the Advanced CPU Load tool and click Launch.

  • You can add the tool to a tab in the Workspace Studio, and access it from there.

  • To launch the tool from the Windows Start menu:

    1. Click Start > All > SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset.

    2. Right-click Advanced CPU Load, click More, and click Run as administrator.

Create the database

The Advanced CPU Load tool requires a database to store the statistics it gathers. The database enables you to keep load statistics and use that data for trend analysis. Before you can add your first devices to the Advanced CPU Load tool, you must create the database.

  1. Click File > New CPU Load Database.

  2. Provide the name and location for your database, and then click Save.

    The database is created and opened.

Open the database

If the database is not already open, you can open it manually.

  1. Click File > Open CPU Load Database.

  2. Select the name of your database, and then click Open.

    The database opens.

Add devices to monitor

After creating the database, you can add the devices you want to monitor.

  1. Click Devices > Add Device.

  2. Specify the IP address or host name of the device to monitor and the SNMP community string.

    To update information such as the location or contact for a device, you must supply the read and write community string for your device. The information you can modify is displayed in blue.

    Changing the IP address changes the device you are monitoring. It does not change the IP address of the target device.

  3. Click OK.

Manage device credentials

Enter device credentials that can be used by the Advanced CPU Load tool, and by other tools.

  1. Click File > Credentials Management.

  2. Click Add New.

  3. Select the communication protocol.

  4. Enter a name for the credential set.

  5. Enter the community string.

    To see the community string as you enter it, click Show.

  6. Enter the following details:

    Value Description
    Username The name of the user with access to the device.
    Context A named designation, similar to a group or domain name, to which the user name belongs. Context is mandatory if it has been defined for the object being managed.
    Authentication The authentication to be used when logging in to the device, for example, MD5.
    Authentication Password The password or key that corresponds to the selected authentication.
    Encryption The encryption used when communicating with the device, for example AES (128 bit) encryption.
    Encryption Password The password or key that corresponds to the selected encryption.

  7. To test the SNMP credentials, enter or select the IP address or host name of a device, and then click Test Credential.

  8. To ensure your credential details are secure, select Encrypt Credentials.

  9. Click Apply Changes.

Modify Advanced CPU Load settings

By modifying your Advanced CPU Load settings, you can change global configuration information such as the polling interval, what columns are displayed, and how long data is retained.

  1. Click File > Settings.

  2. Click the SNMP Polling tab, and then specify the values:

    • CPU Load Poll Interval: Specify the amount of time the tool waits between polling devices for current CPU load statistics.

    • SNMP Timeout: Configure the amount of time the tool waits for a response after querying for status.

    • SNMP Retries: Configure the number of times the tool tries to collect statistics from a device.

  3. Click the Display Columns tab, and then specify the columns to add to the main monitoring window.

    All data is collected at each poll. Changing this setting only changes what is displayed. Use the up and down arrows to modify the column order.

  4. Click the Database Archive tab, and then specify the information:

    • Statistics Retention: Designate how long statistics are kept in the database. You can keep statistics up to 1500 days for trend analysis and historical purposes.

    • Log Current CPU Load to Database every XX minutes: Specify how often the database is updated with the current CPU load information.

    5. The Advanced CPU Load database is a standard Microsoft Access database and can be accessed for custom queries and reports.

Monitor multiple processor devices

The Advanced CPU Load tool monitors multiple processor devices and keeps CPU-specific loads separate. You can display the number of processors that the device has and the load on a per processor basis.

  1. Select the device.

  2. Click Devices > % Load on each Processor.

  3. To refresh the displayed information, click Edit > Refresh Entire List.

  4. To close the display, click File > Exit.

View running processes on the target device

When you monitor CPU loads, you can also view the processes running on a device. This can help you determine what is taxing your systems.

  1. Select the device.

  2. Click Devices > Processes Running on.

  3. To refresh the displayed information, click Edit > Refresh List.

  4. To close the display, click File > Exit.

View the client session on the target device

When monitoring CPU loads, you can also view the client sessions open on a device. This can help you determine what is taxing your systems.

  1. Select the device.

  2. Click Devices > Client Sessions.

  3. To refresh the displayed information, click Edit > Refresh List.

  4. To close the display, click File > Exit.

View running services on the target device

When you monitor CPU loads, you can also view the services currently running on a device. This can help you diagnose CPU load spikes.

  1. Select the device.

  2. Click Devices > Services on.

  3. To refresh the displayed information, click Refresh .

  4. To close the display, click File > Exit.

View installed software on the target device

When you monitor CPU loads, you can also view the software currently installed on a device. This can help you diagnose CPU load spikes.

  1. Select the device.

  2. Click Devices > Software Packages installed on.

  3. To refresh the displayed information, click Edit > Refresh List.

  4. To close the display, click File > Exit.

View historical graphs

You can view a graph of the data captured about your devices. The graph is derived from the database created while monitoring CPU loads. This graph performs trend analysis, and it can be modified to display specific time periods, allowing a clear view of before and after upgrade performance.

  1. Select the device.

  2. Click Devices > Historical Graph.

  3. To change time periods, click Period, and then click the period you want, including a custom period.

Modify displayed columns

A quick and easy way to change the column order of the data displayed is to drag columns where you want them. You can also right-click a column head, and then select or deselect the columns to display.