<%text>

- NAME
- VERSION
- AUTHOR
- SUPPORT
- REQUIREMENTS

- OS

- UPGRADE
- INSTALL

- 1. Download Netdisco
- 2. Create a Unix User/Group for Netdisco
- 3. Add Unix Administrators to Netdisco Group
- 4. Postgres
- 5. SNMP

- 5.1. Net-SNMP
- 5.2. SNMP::Info
- 5.3. MIBs

- 6. GraphViz (Optional)
- 7. Setup Apache
- 8. Perl Modules
- 9. Netdisco Configuration
- 10. OUI Database
- 11. Restart Apache
- 12. Discover a Device in Netdisco
- 13. Create Network Topology
- 14. Test Web Side
- 15. Add Cron Jobs
- 16. Start the Netdisco Admin Daemon

- OS Specific Notes

- FreeBSD
- Mac OS X
- Linux - Generic
- Fedora
- CentOS / Redhat
- Mandrivia Linux
- Debian Linux
- Mandrake Linux 9.1
- Solaris

- SUCCESS

# NAME

Netdisco INSTALL -- Instructions for setting up the Netdisco application.

# VERSION

Netdisco 0.95

# AUTHOR

Developed by team of Open Source authors headed by Eric Miller and Bill Fenner. Originally created by Max Baker. See list at the end of README of all the contributors.

Netdisco was created at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), Networking and Technology Services (NTS) department. UCSC continues to support the development of Netdisco by providing development servers and financial support.

# SUPPORT

Netdisco is an Open Source project created and maintained by volunteer developers.

Please use the `netdisco-users` mailing list for all help, problems and comments. Developers, patches, and ideas are always welcome.

In Case of Problems

  In case of problems, the first thing you should do is search for answers on the mailing list at http://sourceforge.net/search/.

To ask a Question

  To subscribe to the `netdisco-users` mailing list to ask questions go to http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/netdisco-users.

To report a bug

  To report bugs, please use the Bug tracker on the Netdisco Source Forge project page at http://sourceforge.net/projects/netdisco.

To become a developer

  If you would like to help develop Netdisco, or have code to contribute, please submit your code to the `patches` tracker on the Source Forge Page and join us on the `netdisco-devel` mailing list.

To register your install of Netdisco

  The developers are now maintaining a registry of Netdisco installs. This is mainly for morale boosting purposes, but also helps us direct feature requests to our target audience. One drawback of the Source Forge system is that we have no idea how many people are using the software compared to the number of downloads. So after you have Netdisco up and running please spend a minute to let us know you're using it at http://netdisco.org/register.html.

# REQUIREMENTS

Netdisco is built using lots of fine Open-Source tools:

- Perl

  5.6.1 and newer advised. Whatever version that comes with your distro should be fine.

- Perl Modules

  Listed below

- Net-SNMP

  5.1.x and newer advised. Reported working on 5.0.x as well.

- Postgres SQL Server

  Version 7.4 or higher required. Version 8.x suggested.

  Reported working for versions 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8.0, 8.1

- Mason

  1.26 or newer required. 1.35 or newer advised, especially for Apache2 installs.

- Apache

  Netdisco 0.95 now supports Apache2!

  1.3.x and 2.x supported.

- mod_perl

  Get the mod_perl version to match your Apache:

  Apache 1.3.x

    mod_perl version 1.29 or higher is recommended.

Apache 2.x

  Do not install version 1.99! Make sure you have mod_perl version 2.02 or later.

- GraphViz (Optional)

  Version 2.8 or higher recommended.

See INSTALL below for details on how to retrieve and install each prerequisite.

## OS

Netdisco was developed on a FreeBSD system but should work on any system that Postgres, Perl, Apache, and Net-SNMP run on.

Linux is a sure bet. Successful installs have been reported under Redhat, Mandrivia, Gentoo and Debian. A beta RPM is available for Mandrivia, but may be out of date. One user has reported getting Netdisco running on OS X. Solaris has been successful for 8 and 10. Windows will take a lot of massaging but should be possible under Cygwin.

See OS Specific Notes below for details.

# UPGRADE

If you are upgrading your copy of Netdisco, please read through this file and then read the `UPGRADE` document in this directory.

# INSTALL

This is not a terribly easy install. If you aren't comfortable installing programs from source and using a text editor, get some help. Some packaged versions of Netdisco are available.

## 1. Download Netdisco

Get the newest version from http://www.netdisco.org.

[1.1] Unarchive Netdisco

          tar xvfz netdisco-x.xx_with_mibs.tar.gz

[1.2] Create a directory for Netdisco and move the files into that dir

          mkdir /usr/local/netdisco
          mv netdisco-x.xx/* /usr/local/netdisco

[1.3] Non-Standard install Directory

  If you plan to install to a directory other than `/usr/local/netdisco` then you must change a couple files. Otherwise Skip down to Number 2.

[1.3.1] Shell Scripts

  The following shell scripts require you specify the Netdisco directory if it is not in the default location:

          sql/pg -d /path/to/netdisco
          bin/netdisco_daemon

[1.3.2] netdisco.conf

  Set the `home` option in netdisco.conf.

[1.3.3] netdisco_apache.conf

  Change all the appearances of `/usr/local/netdisco` in netdisco_apache.conf to match your new directory.

[1.3.4] netdisco_apache_dir.conf

  Change all the appearances of `/usr/local/netdisco` in netdisco_apache_dir.conf to match your new directory.

## 2. Create a Unix User/Group for Netdisco

[2.1] Create a user and group named `netdisco`

  Linux:

          useradd -d /usr/local/netdisco netdisco

  BSD:

          adduser netdisco

[2.2] User Permissions

  Give this user permission to the installed files

          chown -R netdisco.netdisco /usr/local/netdisco

## 3. Add Unix Administrators to Netdisco Group

Once Netdisco is up and running most administration can be done from the Web interface. Whoever will be doing the back-end administration will need to have write access and will need write access on Netdisco's files.

Add the unix account names of administrators that will modify the source code or use the command line interface interface to the `netdisco` group in /etc/group.

Don't forget to logout and login after adding yourself to a group.

## 4. Postgres

Netdisco runs Postgres as its database back-end. mySQL and Oracle ports have been rumored but have not yet surfaced.

[4.1] Install Postgres

  See the section OS Specific Notes below for any notes relating to your operating system of for a binary version.

  There is probably a binary package all ready for you. See your distribution's instructions for more help.

  If you cannot use a binary package, download and compile the source code from http://www.postgresql.org.

  If you are installing Postgres from source you may have to run these two commands in order to install the DBD::Pg Perl module later on :

          export POSTGRES_INCLUDE=/usr/local/postgres/include
          export POSTGRES_LIB=/usr/local/postgres/lib

  You may also have to modify your /etc/ld.so.conf to include your new POSTGRES_LIB directory. Don't forget to run `ldconf` afterwards.

[4.2] Configure Postgres

  Netdisco's settings in Postgres are

       Database User     : netdisco
       Database Name     : netdisco
       Database Password : you choose it

  Edit netdisco.conf and netdisco_apache.conf to match this user name and password.

  Follow these steps to setup Netdisco in Postgres.

[4.3] Permissions

  If you have just setup Postgres for the first time you may have to change the default permissions in $PG_DATA/pg_hba.conf. $PG_DATA might be in /usr/local/pgsql or in /var/db, depends on your OS. Check the postgres users' homedir files for the location of $PG_DATA.

  For installation you must give the database user access to the `template1` database. The following line will give all users who have logon permissions in Unix access to the `template1` database.

          local template1 all ident

  Restart Postgres. If you have permission problems try the following line which opens up access to all users.

          local template1 all all

  Next you must give the `netdisco` database user access to the `netdisco` database. The following line will give all database users access to a database that is the same name as them. This line must be put above all the rest of the uncommented lines in the pg_hba.conf file to take precedence.

          local sameuser all md5

  For older 7.3 or 7.4 installs of Postgres you may have to swap `md5` for `crypt`. Upgrade. Please.

  Finally if you would like to have `root` be able to access all databases, try this one :

          local all root trust

[4.4] Restart Postgres

  You must now restart Postgres

  Linux : one of these three

          /etc/rc.d/init.d/postgresql restart
          service postgresql restart
          /etc/rc.d/postgresql restart

  FreeBSD :

          /usr/local/etc/rc.d/*pgsql* restart

  If there are problems with this step you will receive an error that mentions something about pg_hba.conf.

[4.5] Create Database.

  Make sure Postgres is up and running.

  The `pg` command use netdisco.conf to find the database user name and password. Make sure that the database user name and password are set.

  As root, run `sql/pg --init` to create the database and user for Netdisco.

  When you are prompted for a password, enter the new password for the database user you are creating. This is the same password you set in netdisco_apache.conf and in netdisco.conf. The `pg` command has additional options shown in `pg --help`

          cd /usr/local/netdisco/sql
          ./pg --help
          ./pg --init

  If you get permissions errors, find out the name of your database user. This is the `unix` user that the Postgres database is running as. The default name for some Linux RPM versions is `postgres` and for some BSD installations `pgsql`. If yours is different, please specify it with the `-u` option to sql/pg.

[4.6] Check Settings

  Now as a non-privileged user (root) make sure you can get into the database by running `sql/pg`. The database user password given above will be retrieved from netdisco.conf.

          cd /usr/local/netdisco/sql
          ./pg

  You should see output similar to the below:

          Welcome to psql 8.0.6, the PostgreSQL interactive terminal.

          Type:  \copyright for distribution terms
                 \h for help with SQL commands
                 \? for help with psql commands
                 \g or terminate with semicolon to execute query
                 \q to quit

          netdisco=>
          netdisco=> \q

[4.7] Optimizations

  If you have freshly installed Postgres then the default memory usage NEEDS to be increased for efficiency. See the Postgres documentation for postgresql.conf. Newer versions may have options to turn on for automatic tuning.

  Specifically, you really need to up the maximum connections and shared memory settings. After you have Netdisco running on a large installation it would be of great benefit to get a Postgres guru in there to tune things for you. See README for more info about how to speed things up now and again.

  See http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/kernel-resources.html for kernel settings related to Postgres that you should check.

[4.8] Postgres Startup

  Make sure that Postgres is set to start on reboot of the server.

Linux

          chkconfig postgresql on

BSD

  Make sure that the file in `/usr/local/etc/rc.d` is alright and you have added

          postgresql_enable="YES"

  to /etc/rc.conf.

[4.9] Postgres Maintenance

  Read the section in README about Database Maintenance... every once in a while you may have to run a `VACUUM` and `REINDEX` by hand if things get too slow. This appears to be less necessary in Postgres 8.0 and up.

[4.10] Remote Database (Optional)

  If you have Postgres installed in a remote location then all you have to do is add that host information to the `db_Pg` line in netdisco.conf.

          db_Pg = dbi:Pg:dbname=netdisco;host=HOSTNAME;port=PORT;

  On the Postgres machine, allow your remote front end to contact the back-end database. Here is a sample line in pg_hba.conf.

       #TYPE  DATABASE          USER            IP-ADDRESS              IP-MASK           METHOD
       host   netdisco        netdisco         101.102.103.104         255.255.255.0       md5

  Don't forget to restart Postgres after changing the pg_hba.conf file.

## 5. SNMP

There are three components to set up for SNMP:

### 5.1. Net-SNMP

Net-SNMP lives at http://net-snmp.sourceforge.net.

There are two known bad versions: 5.2.3 and 5.3.1 !

Please use the older working versions 5.2.2 or 5.3.0.1, or try the newer 5.2.4, 5.3.2 or 5.4 when they're available. See http://www.net-snmp.org/dev/schedule.html for release schedule plans. You can also use a nightly version from the appropriate patch branch, from http://www.net-snmp.org/nightly/tarballs/.

The symptom of the failure is getting an error `Not an ARRAY reference at SNMP/Info.pm line xxx`.

A workaround if you must use a buggy Net-SNMP version is to use SNMPv1 or turn off bulkwalk with `bulkwalk_off: yes` -- but the best thing to do is change your Net-SNMP version.

You can update the perl SNMP module seperately from the libraries and binaries, using CPAN. As of this writing, the current module on CPAN is 5.0301002 which does not have this bug. Only try to use this module with a matching Net-SNMP version - i.e., if you get a warning like this when you try to install:

            ERROR:
            Net-SNMP installed version: 5.2.3 => 5.0203
            Perl Module Version:        5.0301

then please try a different method.

[5.1.0] Binary Install

  Check the Net-SNMP page for binaries and see OS Specific Notes below for details.

[5.1.1] Source Install

  Download Net-SNMP from http://net-snmp.sourceforge.net

  This used to be called ucd-snmp. However, don't download ucd-snmp; it is too old.

[5.1.2] Install Net-SNMP to include Perl module that comes inside the distribution.

  When you run `./configure`, make sure you add the switch `--with-perl-modules`

          ./configure --with-perl-modules --enable-shared
          make
          make install

  If you already have Net-SNMP installed, then go to the source directory and in the `perl` subdirectory and run `perl Makefile.PL`

          cd /path/to/net-snmp-5.1.x/perl
          perl Makefile.PL
          make
          make install

       ********************************************************************

  DO NOT INSTALL the `SNMP::` or `Net::SNMP` modules off of CPAN. These modules are not related to Net-SNMP and are not compatible with Netdisco.

       ********************************************************************

[5.1.3] Configure Net-SNMP for a non-standard setup (Optional)

  You probably will not have to do this step unless you have installed Net-SNMP somewhere other than /usr/local/ or have some specific SNMP defaults to change for these tools. Usually the settings in netdisco.conf are more than enough.

          snmpconf

  Make sure to set the MIB dir if non-standard or you are not using the MIBS that come with Netdisco.

       (Textual mib Parsing -> Specifies directories to be searched for mibs)

  Make sure this newly created snmp.conf lives in /usr/local/share/snmp or wherever you put a custom install.

### 5.2. SNMP::Info

SNMP::Info is one half of the Netdisco application.

SNMP::Info holds all the device-specific code to retrieve data from network devices via SNMP. A wide variety of devices are supported. You may need to add support for other devices if they do not follow a standard interface. This is not too complex. See SNMP::Info and consult the mailing list archives for more details.

SNMP::Info is available from http://snmp-info.sourceforge.net and from CPAN. You must have Net-SNMP installed before installing it.

You have four different options in installing SNMP::Info

[5.2.1] CPAN

          perl -MCPAN -e shell
              o conf prerequisites_policy ask
              install SNMP::Info

[5.2.2] From Source

  Download newest version from http://snmp-info.sourceforge.net

          tar xvfz SNMP-Info-1.x.tar.gz
          cd SNMP-Info-1.x
          perl Makefile.PL
          make install

[5.2.3] From CVS

  If you plan to add or change device support in SNMP::Info to customize Netdisco to your devices, you should install SNMP::Info this way.

          make snmp

  This will create the SNMP/ directory where SNMP::Info will live. Periodically you should re-run

          make snmp

  To update to the most current CVS version.

[5.2.4] From Package

  See OS Specific Notes below for details.

### 5.3. MIBs

MIBs that are required for SNMP::Info are included with Netdisco in the mibs/ directory if you installed the `netdisco-0.95_with_mibs` package.

If you installed the `netdisco` package without included MIB files, then please download the `netdisco-mibs` package from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php. Place these files in `/usr/local/netdisco/mibs`.

## 6. GraphViz (Optional)

GraphViz is used to create the Network Map.

It lives at http://www.graphviz.org/.

[6.1] Download

  Get the newest version from http://www.graphviz.org/pub/graphviz. Unarchive and install. Some binary versions are available.

[6.2] True Type Font

  Copy a True Type Font file (.ttf) into the Netdisco directory and change `node_font` in netdisco.conf to match.

          cp /path/to/windows/fonts/lucon.ttf /usr/local/netdisco

  You can grab arial.ttf or lucon.ttf out of the c:\windows\fonts directory of any Windows machine.

[6.3] Graph Settings

  Review other graph settings in netdisco.conf. See README for details on the settings.

[6.4] Check Path

  Make sure that `neato` or `twopi` is in your path, and in the path in netdisco.crontab.

          which twopi
          which neato

  After the Perl Modules step below, make sure the Graphviz Perl module got installed

          perldoc GraphViz

  NOTE: You can safely ignore all warnings about `size too small for label`.

## 7. Setup Apache

[7.1] Apache2

  Using recent versions of Mason and mod_perl, Netdisco runs fine under Apache2. Uncomment the lines at the top of netdisco_apache.conf that are related to Apache2.

[7.2] Apache1

  See the O/S specific notes at the bottom of this document for a binary install or install Apache 1.3.x From Scratch:

  Install Apache 1.3.x and mod_perl 1.x and mod_ssl

  Netdisco is designed to work in a secure (https) or non-secure environment. Due to the security and privacy concerned associated with this data, using a secure server is recommended.

  Below is my method if you haven't installed apache and mod_perl before. I statically compile mod_perl, and mod_ssl then leave the rest of the modules as dynamically loadable objects (DSO).

[7.2.1] Download and Unarchive

  Get Apache from http://httpd.apache.org

  Get mod_perl from http://perl.apache.org

  Get mod_ssl from http://www.modssl.org

  Unarchive all three to the same directory, maybe /usr/local/src

[7.2.2] Inital Apache Setup

  This step makes the framework that mod_ssl and mod_perl need.

       cd apache_1.3*
       ./configure

  No need to make it yet.

[7.2.3] mod_ssl

  Mod_SSL gives us a secure server (https) for Netdisco to run under.

  The OpenSSL library is a prerequirement for mod_ssl and may or may not already be on your system. See OS Specific Notes at the bottom of this document.

  To use a source version, you need to point the apache1 installer to the install. First follow the instructions in the INSTALL that comes with `mod_ssl`. Then use the command below:

       SSL_BASE=/path/to/openssl-0.9.x \
       ./configure \
          --with-apache=../apache_1.3.x \
          --disable_rule=SSL_COMPAT

[7.2.4] mod_perl

  This step sets up mod_perl for this copy of apache :

       cd ../mod_perl-1.x
       /usr/local/bin/perl Makefile.PL \
              APACHE_SRC=../apache_1.3.x/src \
              EVERYTHING=1 \
              DO_HTTPD=1 \
              USE_APACI=1 \
              PREP_HTTPD=1 \
              PERL_SECTIONS=1

       make

[7.2.5] Apache Again

  Now we're ready to make the main apache and install all of the above (mod_ssl, mod_perl, and Apache).

       cd ../apache_1.3*
       ./configure \
              --prefix=/usr/local/apache \
              --enable-module=most \
              --enable-shared=max \
              --activate-module=src/modules/perl/libperl.a \
              --with-perl=/usr/local/bin/perl \
              --enable-module=ssl
       make
       make certificate
       make install

[7.2.6] Install mod_perl

       cd ../mod_perl*
       make install

[7.3] Apache Configuration Files

  Add the following lines in your `httpd.conf`.

  Your `httpd.conf` will live in `/usr/local/apache/conf` if you installed using the method above. For system installed packages, try `/etc/httpd` or `/usr/local/etc/httpd`.

[7.3.1] In the Global Section

  Add this line once in the end of `httpd.conf` not in a VirtualHost section.

          Include /usr/local/netdisco/netdisco_apache.conf

[7.3.2] No virtualhosts

  If you do not have virtual hosts setup and/or you have a main server, add this line right after the first include :

          Include /usr/local/netdisco/netdisco_apache_dir.conf

[7.3.3] In each VirtualHost

  If you have Virtual Hosts or are setting up a secure server, put the following line in each of them that you want Netdisco turned on for:

  If you are not using Virtual Hosts, then add this line under the netdisco_apache.conf line.

          Include /usr/local/netdisco/netdisco_apache_dir.conf

  Make sure you have this include line for the secure server virtual host *:443 at the bottom of http.conf.

[7.3.4] Apache2 additions

  Make sure that something similar to the following `LoadModule` commands are in your httpd.conf or netdisco_apache.conf:

          LoadModule perl_module  libexec/apache2/mod_perl.so
          LoadModule apreq_module libexec/apache2/mod_apreq2.so

  (Note that these should have been done as part of installing mod_perl and libapreq2, but not all installations do this).

  Make sure the following two lines are included in the top of netdisco_apache.conf.

          PerlModule Apache2::compat
          PerlModule Apache2::Request

[7.4] Mason Data Directory

  Set the Mason data directory writable to the apache user that does the requests.

  Assuming `nobody` is the user that the apache web server runs under, run this command as `root` :

          mkdir /usr/local/netdisco/mason
          chown nobody.netdisco /usr/local/netdisco/mason

  The name of the user is listed in `httpd.conf` under the `User` directive. Some distros use the name `apache` as the web server unix user.

## 8. Perl Modules

Below is a list of required modules for Netdisco, freely available from CPAN http://www.cpan.org. Many of these modules have prerequisite modules.

[8.1] Install required Perl modules from CPAN

  Use the CPAN module that comes with Perl to install the modules and their prerequisites automatically:

          perl -MCPAN -e shell

              o conf prerequisites_policy ask
              install Digest::MD5
              install Bundle::DBI
              install Apache::DBI
              install DBD::Pg
              install DB_File      (for Apache::Session)
              install Apache::Session
              install HTML::Entities
              install HTML::Mason
              install MasonX::Request::WithApacheSession
              install Graph        ( > 0.50 )
              install GraphViz     ( > 2.02 )
              install Compress::Zlib (probably already have this one)
              install Net::NBName

  For Apache1 install these modules:

              install Apache::Test (for Apache::Request, you may need to do a 'force install')
              install Apache::Request

  For Apache2 install this module:

              install Apache2::Request

  Some of these you will probably already have installed. Others you may need to force with `force install ModuleName`. Do Not include the comments in (parens)!

[8.2] Non-Standard Perl Location

  If you don't have Perl installed in `/usr/bin`, you will need to modify the first lines of netdisco and bin/doc_munge to point to the version of Perl you would like to use.

## 9. Netdisco Configuration

[9.1] netdisco.conf

  Modify netdisco.conf to match your site.

  See README for detailed configuration descriptions.

[9.2] netdisco_apache.conf

  Change the follow lines in netdisco_apache.conf to match your database user name and password that you picked in step 4.2:

          session_user_name
          session_password
          session_cookie_domain

[9.3] netdisco.crontab

  Use this crontab to control the frequency of data collection done by Netdisco. See section 15 of this document for details.

  Change `center_network_device` to a network device that is well connected to the main segment by a supported discovery protocol (CDP/FDP/SONMP/LLDP).

[9.4] Add a web user in Netdisco

  Add a user to the Netdisco application that will be the administrator account.

          /usr/local/netdisco/netdisco -u joebob

  Add more users from the web `Admin Panel` once Netdisco is up and running.

[9.5] Make Documentation (CVS Versions Only)

  This step is only necessary if you have installed from CVS.

i. Perl Location

  Make sure that the `POD2TEXT` lines in Makefile point to where your Perl binaries are installed.

ii. Create Docs

  This step will create documentation files from the source `.pod`, `.pm`, and `.pl` files.

       cd /usr/local/netdisco && gmake doc

  Run this step if you would like the SNMP::Info documentation available from Netdisco.

[9.6] Change Permissions on Config files

  Since the config files contain SNMP community strings and database passwords, you must make them only available to the administrators for security.

       chgrp netdisco /usr/local/netdisco/*.conf
       chmod 660 /usr/local/netdisco/*.conf

## 10. OUI Database

The `Organizationally Unique Identifier` (OUI) database allows Netdisco to identify the manufacture of a network card using the first 24 bits of the MAC address.

Run the following command to import the contents of oui.txt into your database.

        cd /usr/local/netdisco
        netdisco -O

[10.1] Updating oui.txt (Optional)

  The database of OUIs is needed by Netdisco and is available from the IEEE.

  This will use `wget` to download oui.txt from the IEEE and import it into the Netdisco database.

          cd /usr/local/netdisco
          gmake oui

  If you do not have `wget` download oui.txt manually and run `netdisco -O`.

## 11. Restart Apache

Now that you have everything setup, ``cold'' restart the web-server.

        apachectl stop
        apachectl start

Check the apache error_log for errors. See OS Specific Notes below for details.

## 12. Discover a Device in Netdisco

Pick a device that you can access with the command `snmpwalk`. Tell Netdisco to discover that device:

        cd /usr/local/netdisco
        ./netdisco -d devicename

Make sure that this step actually works. This is a good metric that you have now installed Netdisco correctly. Add the -D flag to get copious debugging info.

## 13. Create Network Topology

See README for a description of Topology Information.

If your network uses a supported topology discovery protocol (CDP/FDP/SONMP/LLDP) pick a device that you consider close to the center of the network and start an auto-discovery from there:

        cd /usr/local/netdisco
        ./netdisco -r myrouter

If your network is not CDP friendly, then see README for how to use the manual topology file netdisco-topology.txt.

You MUST supply Netdisco with a working topology or MAC addresses will show up on uplink ports instead of end ports.

## 14. Test Web Side

First restart Apache so that Netdisco will see the changes that you have made in netdisco.conf. Note that a graceful restart will not re-read the configuration file. A full restart is required. See Step 11.

Next, point a browser to /netdisco on the server you have Netdisco installed on.

        http://localhost/netdisco

If everything is working you should be able to login with the user name and password you added in Step 9.4. You should also be able to access the Admin Panel.

If you have problems, check the error_log of apache for messages.

        tail /usr/local/apache/logs/error_log

## 15. Add Cron Jobs

Once you're sure Netdisco is setup correctly, modify netdisco.crontab.

     vi netdisco.crontab

Network Discovery

  Change `center_network_device` to one of your core routers or switches.

Data Collection

  You may want to fine-tune these jobs to your network. If jobs run too frequent and overlap, nothing bad will happen, it's just higher load on your network devices and Netdisco server.

  Once Netdisco has been running for a day, look at the `BackEnd Log` in the web browser and see how long each of the jobs is taking to finish. If there is overlap, for example if your arpnip is taking over 60 minutes or your macsuck is taking over 120 minutes, then consider decreasing the frequency of these jobs as to not cause extra load on your network devices.

Now, as `root`, load the crontab for the `netdisco` user.

        su
        crontab -u netdisco /usr/local/netdisco/netdisco.crontab

## 16. Start the Netdisco Admin Daemon

The admin deaemon performs administration jobs that are requested from the web front-end. See README for a full description of the admin daemon.

        /usr/local/netdisco/bin/netdisco_daemon start

The daemon will be respawned daily in the Cron job listed above. The restart is not 100% necessary, it is added as a precaution in case any of the prerequisite libraries have memory leaks.

[16.1] Make the Admin Daemon start at every boot

  If you would like the daemon to be started upon bootup, then do the following:

Linux

  This is for Redhat/Mandrake/Fedora. Debian and Gentoo might be a little different.

          ln -s /usr/local/netdisco/bin/netdisco_daemon /etc/rc.d/init.d
          chkconfig --add netdisco_daemon
          chkconfig netdisco_daemon on

  Now you should be able to use this command:

          service netdisco_daemon {stop,start,restart,status}

FreeBSD

          ln -s /usr/local/netdisco/bin/netdisco_daemon /usr/local/etc/rc.d/netdisco.sh

Other

  Add the following line to your /etc/rc.d/rc.local file :

          /usr/local/netdisco/bin/netdisco_daemon start

# OS Specific Notes

## FreeBSD

A port is available for FreeBSD in `/usr/ports/net-mgmt/netdisco`. Make sure that the port is up to date with this version of Netdisco. This is the best way to install Netdisco on FreeBSD.

- Postgres

  Install Postgres from ports:

          cd /usr/ports/databases/postgresql81-server
          make install

  Make sure Postgres is configured to start at system startup time by putting

          postgresql_enable="YES"

  in /etc/rc.conf.

  Next initialize the database:

          /usr/local/etc/rc.d/010.pgsql.sh initdb

  And start the database server:

          /usr/local/etc/rc.d/010.pgsql.sh start

- Net-SNMP

  Install Net-SNMP from ports.

          cd /usr/ports/net/net-snmp && make install

- Make

  Anywhere in this document you see a reference to make you should run gmake.

- SNMP::Info

  SNMP::Info is available on ports. Please check that the version listed there is as new as the version required by Netdisco.

          cd /usr/ports/net-mgmt/p5-SNMP-Info
          make install

- GraphViz

  GraphViz is available on ports:

          cd /usr/ports/graphics/graphviz && make install

- Apache Restart

  For the ports version of apache, to cold restart (ie. for Step 11) or for whenever you change the config file, use this command :

          /usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache2.sh stop
          /usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache2.sh start

  or

          /usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache.sh stop
          /usr/local/etc/rc.d/apache.sh start

  Also, double-check that Apache starts on its own at reboot. On BSD, make sure that you've added

          apache2_enable="YES"

  to /etc/rc.conf.

- Perl Modules

  You can install these Perl modules from Ports

          www/p5-HTML-Mason
          database/p5-DBI
          database/p5-DBD-Pg
          www/p5-Apache-DBI
          www/p5-Apache-Session
          www/p5-MasonX-Request-WithApacheSession

- Apache2

  Install these ports

          www/apache22
          www/mod_perl2
          www/p5-libapreq2

- Apache1

  If you choose to use apache1 from source you will need to install OpenSSL to provide a secure (https) server.

  Installing OpenSSL :

          cd /usr/ports/devel/mm && make install
          cd /usr/ports/security/openssl && make install

  Setup mod_ssl :

          cd /path/to/mod_ssl_1.x.x
          SSL_BASE=SYSTEM \
              ./configure \
                  --with-apache=../apache_1.3.x \
                  --disable_rule=SSL_COMPAT

## Mac OS X

- Postgres

  See http://developer.apple.com/internet/macosx/postgres.html for detailed instructions on installing PostgreSQL with OS X.

- GraphViz

  It is reported to be in `DarwinPorts` or you can check out http://www.phil.uu.nl/~js/graphviz/.

- Apache1

  See the very old, following three links in addition to this document to use Apache1 w/ OS X:

       http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/mac/2002/11/05/apache_osx.html
       http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/mac/2002/12/18/apache_modssl.html
       http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/mac/2003/02/07/libapreq_update.html

## Linux - Generic

Here are some notes for installing Netdisco on Linux. If your distro is not listed here, look over the install scripts for other distros at http://www.auburn.edu/~gouldwp/netdisco/ in the READMEs section.

- Net-SNMP

  If you have installed the Net-SNMP RPM from an `old` Redhat or Mandrake it does not include the Perl modules. Uninstall it and install a newer version by hand as below.

          rpm -e net-snmp

  Same goes for Debian. DO NOT use the apt-get version of Net-SNMP, install by hand (it's easy!).

- GraphViz

  For Redhat and Mandrake systems you will make sure that a lot of `-devel` packages are installed. For example, if you see errors about not having a PNG or JPEG library you must install the `-devel` packages of those libraries as needed:

          urpmi libjpeg62-devel libpng3-devel

  If you get some weird error in build about not having `intl.la` then make sure you have the gettext packages installed :

          urpmi gettext-devel

- Apache Restart

  For most Linux distros where you use the built-in apache web server use one of these commands to cold restart Apache in Step 11 :

        service httpd stop
        service httpd start

  OR

          /path/to/init.d/httpd stop
          /path/to/init.d/httpd start

  For the path try /etc/init.d or /etc/rc.d/init.d.

- Apache1

  Warning: Some Linux distributions such as Redhat 6.x install mod_perl as a Dynamic Shared Object (DSO). This is known to be unstable, especially with Mason. Compile mod_perl statically using the method listed above if your distro compiles mod_perl1 using DSOs. If you suspect yours is not compiled in, run `httpd -l` and see if `mod_perl.c` is listed (it should be).

  OpenSSL is required for a secure (https) server when using apache1. OpenSSL is installed by default on most Linux distros.

  You will have to tell the OS to look for the Kerberos libraries used in this version of OpenSSL:

          ./configure \
              --with-apache=../apache_1.3.x \
              --disable_rule=SSL_COMPAT
          make C_INCLUDE_PATH=/usr/kerberos/include

  (Thanks to David Martin for this info)

## Fedora

Please try the great install script for Fedora from Walter Gould at http://www.auburn.edu/~gouldwp/netdisco.

## CentOS / Redhat

Please try the great install script for CentOS from Walter Gould at http://www.auburn.edu/~gouldwp/netdisco. Note that if you choose not to install/update the RPMs using `yum`, you will have to do it yourself by hand. This script was reported working for AS 4.

In the case of Redhat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) AS as well as any of its clones, such as CentOS or Whitebox linux, most of the prerequisites are already included. However, there are two main caveats:

1. ) Packages

   Some of the packages are not installed by default - you need to check them off in the installation process when customizing the packages to be installed. If you choose all the packages to be installed, you'll only need to install a couple of Perl modules and Netdisco itself. Alternatively, you could use `yum` or `up2date` to install the packages or download and install the packages manually.

   RHEL version ES and WS do not have all the packages that AS has. Some of these may be prerequisites for Netdisco, in which case you'll need to install the packages from a different RPM repository or install from source.

2. ) mod_perl

   You need to remove the `mod_perl` RPM if it is installed, as it will conflict with the `mod_perl2` package.

## Mandrivia Linux

An RPM is available for Mandrivia Linux, but may be out of date. Please check that the RPM for Netdisco 0.95 is marked at least 200611 or newer.

## Debian Linux

Please try the great install script for Debian from Walter Gould at http://www.auburn.edu/~gouldwp/netdisco.

Also see the script bin/debian_install.sh. It is out of date, but is a good starting point for everything you will need to do.

- GraphViz

  Jordi Guijarro reported that the version that comes with Woody is too old. Install a newer version from source.

## Mandrake Linux 9.1

Netdisco has been tested with Mandake 9.1

- Perl 5.8.1

  Perl 5.8.1 on Mandrake 9.x may be a problem (if you get an `out of memory` error, you may need to change to 5.6.1 or 5.8.3+).

- Postgres

  Installing Postgres the easy way:

          urpmi postgresql postgresql-devel postgresql-server postgresql-docs

  The files you will need to edit below are in /var/lib/pgsql/data.

  If you lost / don't have install CDs :

  The following line uses an FTP site that has the 9.0 RPMs because I lost the CDs. Check the current mirror list at http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3 and choose a mirror close to you.

          urpmi.addmedia ftpsite ftp://mirror.mcs.anl.gov/pub/Mandrake-old/9.0/i586/Mandrake/RPMS \
              with ../base/hdlist.cz

  Now you have to add `--media ftpsite` in each `urpmi` command like so :

          urpmi --media ftpsite postgresql postgresql-devel

  Remember this for the Apache setup too.

- Apache

  Mandrake 9.1 comes with Apache2. It also has the option of installing a version of Apache1/mod_perl on a different port and then reverse-proxying it.

  Install Apache1 and Mod_Perl 1 and their development packages :

          urpmi apache-devel-1 mod_perl-devel-1 apache-mod_perl-1 mod_perl-common-1

  Mandrake 9.1 - Do this for the DB_File Perl module

          ln -s /usr/include/db1/* /usr/include
          ln -s /usr/lib/libdb1.so.2 /usr/lib/libdb.so

  Configure Both Apaches:

  Mandrake and some Redhats come with two copies of Apache installed. The mod_perl server sits on a weird port and is reversed proxied by a normal Apache server.

  Mandrake 9.0 uses two Apache1 servers, while Mandrake 9.1 uses an Apache2 server that sits in front of the apache1/mod_perl server.

  Configuration files for Mandrake live in /etc/httpd/conf

  In the file httpd-perl.conf add the two `Include` lines:

          Include /usr/local/netdisco/netdisco_apache.conf
          Include /usr/local/netdisco/netdisco_apache_dir.conf

  In the file httpd.conf (httpd2.conf for 9.1) add the final `RewriteRule` line:

          <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
          RewriteEngine on
          RewriteRule ^proxy:.*  -  [F]
          RewriteRule ^(.*\/perl\/.*)$  http://%{HTTP_HOST}:8200$1 [P]
          RewriteRule ^(.*\/cgi-perl\/.*)$  http://%{HTTP_HOST}:8200$1 [P]
          RewriteRule ^(.*\/netdisco\/.*)$  http://%{HTTP_HOST}:8200$1 [P]
          </IfModule>

  In the file commonhttpd.conf add the Alias line :

          Alias /netdisco /netdisco/

  Restart Apache.

          /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd restart

## Solaris

See http://www.saintmarys.edu/~dmckeown/netdisco_solaris10.htm for a great document on getting Netdisco 0.94 to work with Solaris 10.

- Make

  Anywhere in this document you see a reference to make you should run gmake.

- GraphViz

  Make the JPEG and EXPAT libraries first and when making the JPEG library make sure you have

          ./configure --enabled-shared --enabled-static

# SUCCESS

Now that you have spent ten hours of your life installing this go drink a Beer, you deserve it.

Once you have or have not succeeded, come join the Netdisco User's mailing list at http://netdisco.org and pass on any hints you may have in the INSTALL process. It's a good place to keep up on new features and releases, and it's the place to ask any questions.

The developers are now maintaining a registry of Netdisco installs. This is mainly for morale boosting purposes, but also helps us direct feature requests to our target audience. One drawback of the Source Forge system is that we have no idea how many people are using the software compared to the number of downloads. So after you have Netdisco up and running please spend a minute to let us know you're using it at http://netdisco.org/register.html.