Activities types
The sections below include the type and description of all activities that can be selected in CatTools.
Database Activities
DB.Backup.CatTools
Creates a backup copy of the CatTools database file and save it to a specified location. This activity allows you to automate the backing up of your CatTools database.
It does not run against your physical network devices as most of the other activities do. Instead it takes a backup of your existing CatTools database and makes a backup to the specified location. It also tries to squeeze the backup after completing the copy.
DB.UpdateDevice.Password field
Updates all passwords contained in the CatTools database device password field. This activity allows you to maintain your passwords in the CatTools database device password fields.
It does not run against your physical network devices as all the other Activities do but is instead used to do batch processing against multiple devices within the CatTools database Device table.
For example, your network devices use a RADIUS or TACACS server for remote authentication. You have just changed the password on the RADIUS/TACACS server and you now need to update all of your devices within CatTools with this new information. Instead of editing each device individually you would create a new DB.UpdateDevice.Password field activity which applies the new password to all of your Devices at once.
DB.UpdateDevice.Text field
Updates the CatTools database device text field with specified values. This activity allows you to update any of the text fields in the CatTools database Device table.
It does not run against your physical network devices as all the other Activities do but is instead used to do batch processing against multiple devices within the CatTools database Device table.
For example, your network devices use a RADIUS or TACACS server for remote authentication. You have just changed the user name on the RADIUS/TACACS server and you now need to update all of your devices within CatTools with this new information. Instead of editing each device individually you would create a new DB.UpdateDevice.Text field activity which applies the new user name to all of your Devices at once.
Device Activities
Device.Backup.Running Config
Captures and saves the current running configuration of selected devices to a specified location.
This activity makes a backup of a device's running configuration and compares it to the current config file on disk. If there are differences, the current config is moved to the "Dated Configs" folder and the file name is appended with the current date. The newly downloaded config then becomes the current config. An HTML "diff" report is created in the "Reports" folder and a copy is e-mailed to the nominated person.
Device.Backup.TFTP
Transfers files from a device to a TFTP server with an option to compare the content with the current existing file on a disk. This activity is designed replicate the Device.Backup.Running config activity via TFTP, however it is not limited to the device-config. You can specify other files, such as VLAN.dat. You also have the option whether to do the compare. Some files may be in binary format and so can't be compared. You can also specify your own command set to TFTP the file.
SolarWinds recommends using the Device.Backup.Running config activity to backup your config files. The Device.Backup.TFTP activity may serve as a useful alternative in certain circumstances.
Device.CLI.Modify Config
Modifies the configuration of selected devices by sending CLI commands. This activity allows you to modify the configuration of device or a selection of devices.
CatTools logs in to each selected device in turn, execute the configuration changes you describe, and will log any failures to the report file: ...\Reports\Device.CLI.Modify Config.txt
Whereas the Device.CLI.Send commands activity does this from the normal command line prompt (or Enable mode if that option is checked) the Device.CLI.Modify Config activity executes commands in the Config mode (Config terminal).
Device.CLI.Send commands
The Device.CLI.Send commands activity allows you to issue a series of CLI commands to the selected devices as if you were typing them from the normal command line prompt, or Enable mode, if that option is checked.
Device.ConnectivityTest.Login
The Device.ConnectivityTest.Login activity allows you to log in to a selection of devices. This activity is similar to Device.ConnectivityTest.Ping in that it does not change anything on the device but simply confirms connectivity plus the ability to log in.
Device.ConnectivityTest.Ping
The Device.ConnectivityTest.Ping activity allows you to ping a selection of devices. CatTools pings each selected device in turn, and logs any failures to the Report file \Reports\Device.ConnectivityTest.Ping.txt
The ping test is a simple Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo request, sent from the machine running CatTools to the selected device(s). It tests the operation of your network between CatTools and the selected device, but only at the IP level. This activity is a useful test of your network, or your users' ability to use the network, depending on your specific network design. The activity report file provides a historical record of the status of the tested devices.
Device.InterDevice.Ping
The Device.InterDevice.Ping activity allows you to ping a list of hosts from the selected devices. CatTools logs into each device in turn and performs a ping test to each device listed. Alternatively, it can ping multiple selected devices.
CatTools creates a report in the form of a table, listing each device and the results of each ping originated by that device. Under the Options tab, you can also check the option to have CatTools report only on failed ping requests. This keeps the report as small as possible and draws attention only to fault conditions.
Device.TFTP.Upload Config
The Device.TFTP.Upload Config activity enables you to upload text config files to the specified device.
Device.Update.Banner
The Device.Update.Banner applies a banner to your devices. CatTools passes the banner command to each selected Device in turn. This activity supports the use of Command Variables.
Device.Update.Password
The Device.Update.Password activity enables you to change some of the passwords on devices.
A report gives you the status of each device selected for the activity after the activity is completed. The report shows both the new and old passwords. These passwords are shown by default in plain text on the report. You may elect to hide the reported passwords by selecting the Hide password change report passwords option in the Misc tab in the CatTools Setup dialogue.
Report Activities
Report.ARP table
The Report.ARP table activity builds a report using the ARP table from selected devices as source data. On a Cisco IOS device it uses a simple "Show IP ARP" command and builds a table of results over time.
This activity automatically indexes MAC addresses against IP addresses and device interfaces, and then resolves their host names via DNS, if required. By default, the table is updated after each run of the activity, providing a historical record of the devices attached to your network over time. Each entry is time stamped, and "First Seen" and "Last Seen" columns included in the report.
Report.CDP Neighbors table
The Report.CDP.Neighbors table activity produces a report of all networked devices that can be seen by the specified device using the CDP neighbor command.
Report.Compare.Running Startup
The Report.Compare.Running Startup activity compares the running and the startup configs of your device(s) and reports on the differences found.
The activity works by first connecting to your selected devices, then issuing the commands which show the running and startup configs. These configs are saved into the ClientTemp folder while the activity is running. When the configs have been retrieved from the devices, a compare is run against the two captures and a report is generated.
Report.Compare.Two files
The Report.Compare.Two files activity runs a compare against two files which you define and reports on the differences it finds.
Report.Error info table
The Report.Error info table activity collects and reports error counter information for all interfaces of each selected device.
Report.MAC address table
The Report.MAC address table activity gathers MAC address entries (CAM table entries) from switches and bridging routers and can builds a table over time.
CatTools gathers information from every command that succeeds and ignores any command that does not produce a valid result.
Report.Port info table
The Report.Port info table activity creates a snapshot of the interface configuration and state of the selected devices and stores the data in a tab delimited report file. The data is stored in a text file. The information gathered includes name, VLAN, port type (Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Full Duplex, etc), status, and speed.
Report.SNMP.System summary
The Report.SNMP.System summary activity produces a summary report of data available from any device that supports standard system SNMP.
Report.Version table
The Report.Version table activity creates a tab delimited report of all the software and hardware version information from the selected devices.
Report.X-Ref.Port MAC ARP
The Report.X-Ref.Port MAC ARP activity creates a cross reference report of MAC and IP addresses against ports on a network. If IP addresses have been resolved to host names on the ARP report, the host names are reported as well.
This report collects all port information from the Port report and matches MAC and ARP information against the ports. These report activities must be run before the cross reference report can be run. The report does not require any devices to be selected. It uses the devices selected for the port report as its starting point.
System Activities
System.File.Delete
The System.File.Delete activity allows you to automate the deletion of files. It is primarily designed to allow the management of the dated config files, although it can be run against any folder. The activity does not run against your physical network devices.