Conference netcad::hub_mgnt

    I do not blame you for being ticked off.  As one who has worked the MCC
    issue for a year, I can understand your frustration.  Dick Andersen of
    the MCC development group has now offered to make MCC (VMS) have a
    usable SNMP stack just like the ULTRIX version of MCC.  The issue we
    are working now is when.  I expect we will have an answer in a few
    weeks.  I am hearing everything from no big deal to Q3, 93.

    Does the HUBwatch/ULTRIX application actually use the MSU and MCC/ULTRIX 
    SNMP API, or does it use a private UNIX SNMP library, and it doesn't 
    work on VMS?  The goal is indeed to provide a SNMP library for MCC
    on both ULTRIX and VMS, however I suspect that of the many IP for VMS
    vendors that exist, there may be a usable SNMP library around to be
    used as a private API.
    
    bill

	As I understand it (I'm no Unix guru), HUBwatch has its own private 
	SNMP library - but it's essentially the same library that MSU is 
	using in V1.2. We had to incorporate it into HUBwatch in order to 
	ship before MSU V1.2 comes out.

	Since we've done that, the HUBwatch application will also run 
	under the DECmcc ULTRIX Director. However, the SNMP library was 
	not written to run under VMS. Ideally, we would like to have the 
	same library (from SNMP Research) ported to VMS.

	The SNMP AM does not handle proxy agents, and the DECagent 90 is 
	a proxy agent. That is one reason we need a callable SNMP library.

	jack

    Hi,
    
    	I'm caught in the same situation, working with a customer to decide
    which mcc platform is best. They want the TSAM to support existing
    terminal servers, and also some other third-party AM's that currently
    are on VMS only. They are also installing DEChub's with DECbridge 90's
    and DECrepeater 90's. If they use the SNMP AM on VMS with a DECagent
    module what functionality will they get through the SNMP AM. For
    example :-
    
    1/ Will they be able to manage multiple hubs/bridges ?
    2/ Is the management capable of sets as well as show ?
    3/ Is the management of the repeater ports maintained (ie. status,
    	last seen address etc)
    
    Thanks for any help,
    
    	Euan

    as to MCC (VMS) using the SNMP AM...
    
    1. multiple hubs/bridges- NO- need one community (entity/ hub) pre
    agent.  SNMP AM does not support multiple communities per address.
    
    
    2. sets as well as shows- YES
    
    3. repeater ports- YES?  If I understand you question, ports can be
    managed thru SNMP AM  (as well as DECelms).  Port status is maintained
    in DECagent 90 SRAM.  Addresses are in DECbridge 90.
    
    Bill

    It appears to me that the multi-million dollar question has been side
    stepped here.  When exactly will the functionality and graphics be
    available through DECmcc/VMS???  Anywhere from tommorrow to next year
    is not what I can tell my customer when trying to justify why we must
    use the DECagent 90 to manage the hubs down to the port level, versus
    DECmcc/VMS (the supposed GOD of networking management products).  Our
    situation is the same as that expressed in the original 58.0 note and
    we need a firm answer.
    Thks  Bruce Cyca

    				STOP THE PRESSES!!!
    
    
    I have a test version of HW running on VMS _TODAY_ (!).  It requires two
    things, specifically (and others, generally):
    
    	o  UCX (the "ultrix connection") version 2.0
    	o  Motif 1.1.3 (or better)  (aka DECwindows Motif)
    
    
    UCX is required for BSD sockets functionality to work (ie, UDP
    datagrams, which is where SNMP packets are piped thru).  Motif is
    required (to be installed, as sharable libraries), since I need to link
    with it for my widget toolkit needs.  Note, that any "conformant"
    window manager (ie, twm or mwm) would be ok.  Even the window manager
    that comes with the 'old' decwindows (ie, XUI) will work, but not as
    well.
    
    The only bit of functionality I currently don't have support for (under
    vms) is the {DECnet nodename <-> DECnet address} lookup routines. 
    Under ultrix, there are supported callable interfaces for such.  To my
    knowledge, DECnet-VAX has never supported such as callable interface. 
    So, if you saw an address like "5.443", 'callable' VMS can't translate
    this to "nohost::".  Ultrix can.
    
    
    SOAPBOX/KUDOS:
       (The porting of the 'pure' ultrix code to VMS took only a
       day -- a minor miracle in itself.  Thanks go to Andy Levin [no
       immediate relation] of MSU/ASDS/DSE [pick one!] for his VERY speedy
       conversion of his callable snmp code on ultrix to vms/ucx.  This was
       estimated by the 'experts' to take weeks or longer.  Andy did it in
       less than a week!!
    
    
    Now for the 'bad' news.  UCX is a pain to install and configure.  Not
    to mention manage.  But, if your friendly vms system mangler can handle
    all this nonsense, and get it working to the point where you can 'ping'
    nodes, and telnet to them, we should be all set.
    
    NOTE: this is _not_ a field test announcement -- just a statement to
    the field that it _is_ possible, and, that other applications that use
    Andy's synchronous snmp libraries should be able to port to vms/ucx
    without much pain.  However (!), if the SNMP programmer decided to use
    the Asynchronous version of snmp, he can expect to wait quite a
    looooong time before there will be a similar interface available on
    vms.
    
    
    At this point, I have a test version running, with full GETs and SETs.
    As soon as I've done enough sanity checking on my conversion, I'll open
    up the binaries for field testing.  Since VMS can be configured in more
    drastic ways than Ultrix, I figure the bigger variety of field-test
    sites the better.  (Contact Bill Seaver or Jack Forrest to register).
    
    
    
    cheers,
    
    .bl

    One more thought.  I do not know if 'launching' from MCC/director (VMS)
    is similar to that of the ultrix director.
    
    I have not addressed any MCC integration issues yet.  I'll leave the
    launching from the vms map up to those in-the-know about MCC/vms.
    
    But, the 'hard' part is done.
    
    .bl

HUBwatch has now been launched from the DECmcc VMS map.

Our plans are to make HUBwatch for VMS a product in conjunction with the 
next ULTRIX release - probably in December.

jack

    and the HUBwatch you get from VMS will be the same as the one you get
    from ULTRIX  (warts and all).
    

    Are there any dates planned for the VMS release of HW 1.0?
    
    (Field: how long are you willing to wait?)
    
    .bl

    Currently release of VMS is planned for January for version 1.1.  Seeds
    in mid_december.