Datapower File System Test

The IBM DataPower Gateway's file system is split primarily into 4 sections; Encrypted space, Unencrypted space, Temporary space, and Internal space. The encrypted space is the internal persistent storage on the device. The following is included in the encrypted space:

  • Local, store, logstore, cert, pubcert, sharedcert, chkpoints, config, and tasktemplate directories

  • Audit logs

  • Persisted internal firmware files.

  • Rollback Firmware Image

The “temporary” and “internal” spaces are not persisted storage. If the device reboots or powers down, the files in the spaces are lost. If the “Reload” option is used, the files will not be cleared.

  • The temporary space includes these user accessible directories: temporary, image, export, and logtemp.

  • The internal space is not accessible by the user.

Both the “temporary” and “internal” space is also used for various processing actions during operation.

DataPower constantly monitors system resources, including memory and temporary file space. When free file space falls below the throttle-threshold, the DataPower Gateway refuses to accept new connections. If the amount of free file space does not rise above the threshold in the defined duration, the DataPower Gateway restarts. Therefore, administrators will have to closely track how each space in the file system is utilized and proactively detect any potential space shortage. This can be performed using the Datapower File System test. This test auto-dicovers the file systems of IBM Datapower and reports the space usage on each file system and the exact file system that may run out of space very soon.

Target of the test : IBM Datapower

Agent deploying the test : An external agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the target IBM Datapower.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the target switch that is being monitored.

SNMPPort

The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; the default is 161.

SNMPVersion

By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

SNMPCommunity

The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the switch. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

Context

The CONTEXT parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the Username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the CONTEXT text box. By default, this parameter is set to none.

Username

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter.

AuthPass

Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.

Confirm Password

Confirm the AuthPass by retyping it here.

AuthType

This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

  • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm
  • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm
  • SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit
  • SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit
  • SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit
  • SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit

EncryptFlag

This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option.

EncryptType

If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

  • DES - Data Encryption Standard
  • 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard
  • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
  • AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit
  • AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit
  • AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit

EncryptPassword

Specify the encryption password here.

Confirm Password

Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.

Timeout

Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.

Data Over TCP

By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

EngineID

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Total encrypted space

Indicates the total amount of encrypted storage space on the device.

MB

All files placed in encrypted storage are automatically encrypted for security by the device.

Used encrypted space

Indicates the total amount of encrypted space that is currently being used by this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be low.

Free encrypted space

Indicates the amount of encrypted space that is currently available for use on this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be high.

Encrypted space usage

Indicates the percentage of encrypted space that is currently being used by this device.

Percent

A value close to 100% is indicative of excessive usage of file system space. This can significantly degrade the performance of the device.

Total unencrypted space

Indicates the total amount of unencrypted storage space on the device.

MB

All files placed in encrypted storage are not encrypted for security by the device.

Used unencrypted space

Indicates the total amount of unencrypted space that is currently being used by this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be low.

Free unencrypted space

Indicates the amount of unencrypted space that is currently available for use on this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be high.

Unencrypted space usage

Indicates the percentage of unencrypted space that is currently being used by this device.

Percent

A value close to 100% is indicative of excessive usage of file system space. This can significantly degrade the performance of the device.

Total temporary space

Indicates the total amount of temporary storage space on the device.

MB

The device uses temporary storage for processing, logging, and debugging.

Used temporary space

Indicates the total amount of temporary space that is currently being used by this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be low.

Free temporary space

Indicates the amount of temporary space that is currently available for use on this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be high.

Temporary space usage

Indicates the percentage of temporary space that is currently being used by this device.

Percent

A value close to 100% is indicative of excessive usage of file system space. This can significantly degrade the performance of the device.

Total internal space

Indicates the total amount of internal storage space on the device.

MB

The device uses internal storage for import, export, firmware upgrades and debug captures.

Used internal space

Indicates the total amount of internal space that is currently being used by this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be low.

Free internal space

Indicates the amount of internal space that is currently available for use on this device.

MB

Ideally, the value of this measure should be high.

Internal space usage

Indicates the percentage of internal space that is currently being used by this device.

Percent

A value close to 100% is indicative of excessive usage of file system space. This can significantly degrade the performance of the device.