Introduction
TKINED and SCOTTY are freely available software packages developed by Juergen Scoenwalder from Braunschweig Technical University in Germany.
Both TKINED and SCOTTY utilise the power of TCL (Tool Command Language) and TK (Tool Kit). TCL/TK was developed by SUN laboratories in America to provide users with a universal scripting language (TCL) to write applications, and also the necessary tools (TK) to produce good graphical user interfaces.
TKINED is responsible for drawing the network diagrams . The user is provided with a map on which he can place one of six different entities ( nodes, networks, references, text, connections, and groups) to represent the layout of their network.
SCOTTY is responsible for network monitoring functions. It integrates with TKINED so that it can be set up to gather information on the nodes defined on the TKINED map. The original TCL language did not have sufficient TCP/IP functionality to be used in network monitoring so SCOTTY was written as an extension to TCL so that SNMP and other TCP/IP tools are now available.
Despite the need to install two separate packages the integration between TKINED and SCOTTY is seamless and efficient . However, because TKINED and SCOTTY run on top of TCL and TK it is necessary to install a total of four packages ( TCL, TL, TKINED, and SCOTTY) . Installation of all four packages is easy, and largely automated, but if you don't have much disk space then this could be a problem.
Installation of TCL and TK
TKINED and SCOTTY require at least TCL version 7.4, and TK version 4.0 to operate successfully. The best place to obtain the packages is from SUN lab web site. This site also gives detailed information on installation, and changes you may need to make if porting the code to other platforms.
Several mirror ftp sites are available, but it is best to contact the SUN labs web site at http://www.sunlabs.com to find out more details.
The author obtained the tar files for TCL and TK, together with some patch files which rectify bugs in the code. The patches were applied first and then the code was successfully installed with no problems on a PC running LINUX. Full installation instructions come with each package, but most of the process is automated and it is only necessary to change anything if you want to install the packages in a non-standard location.
Installation of TKINED and SCOTTY
Once TCL/TK has been successful installed then the tar format of TKINED and SCOTTY can be obtained and installed. The code can be obtained form the Braunschweig Technical University web site.
This web site contains installation and porting information, together with some interesting links to other network monitoring activities.
During Installation SCOTTY requires access to raw TCP/IP sockets so it is necessary that you install it as super user. To fully utilise the power of SCOTTY you have to make sure that you install a part of the program called NTPING. At first this is not too apparent, but if you read the instructions carefully, and check the installation information, then there should be no problems.
The author installed all four packages in standard locations with no difficulties at all . The entire process took approximately forty minutes.
Creating a network diagram
As was mentioned previously, the inter-operation of TKINED and SCOTTY is seamless and efficient. To run both program it is only necessary to execute TKINED.
When TKINED is running the user is provided with a blank network map on which they can place one of the six different network entities that are available. Down the left hand side of the screen is the palette which contains the default settings for each of the 6 entities. The entities are:
Text
The text object allows the user to place simple text on the map. Various fonts, colours and sizes are available.
Nodes
Nodes are the actual machines that make up your network. You can assign a name and IP address to each of the nodes that you place on the map. If you don't assign a name or address for a node then a default name is used and no address is assigned. However, if you wish to fully utilise the network monitoring capabilities of SCOTTY then it necessary to assign an IP address to the node.
Network types
You can choose from a variety of network types (FDDI, Ethernet , token ring etc.) to show the layout of departmental LANs and wiring runs.
Connections
You can use the connection entity to represent the connection between a node and a network, such as an AUI cable on an Ethernet LAN.
Groups
You can draw part of your network and then place it within a group icon. Then, if you click on the group it expands to reveal the detail within it. Groups allow you to hide a small amount of information, but they are not suitable for complex drawings.
References.
References are similar to groups in that they hide information within them. References can be assigned to point to a local file, an ftp site, or even a URL. When you click on a reference the current drawing is closed completely, and the new file is fetched and loaded. References are useful because it means that another person can be responsible keeping a drawing up-to-date but still be able to make the file accessible without having to ensure that they send you the most recent update.
The palette shows the default settings for each of the network entities but it is easy to change these by clicking on the icon menu and selecting a new picture . You can choose from a long list of pre-defined pictures for each node. If the picture you want is not available then you can create one on another drawing package and save it in X11 bitmap format. You must then make a small change in the TKINED default file and you can now use your new icon.
Most of the other menus and options are common to the majority of drawing packages., but If you do experience problems then there is a comprehensive help menu.
Setting up network monitoring activities
Once you have created your network map you can use the functionality of SCOTTY to set up network monitoring processes to various nodes. If you click on the tools menu you can activate a variety of IP and SNMP monitoring tools.
IP tools
The most basic IP tool is to ping a node. You must ensure that you have assigned an address to the node that you want to ping. Select the node using the mouse pointer ( the node should become highlighted) and then choose ping from the IP trouble menu. The response time is shown in a pop up window. Similarly you can conduct traceroutes, and multiple pings etc.
You can conduct continuous monitoring by selecting the IP monitor tool. If you select a node and then choose "Check Reachability" then SCOTTY will periodically ping the node to check if it is active. If the node is down then various functions can be set to alert the user. You can vary the frequency of pings, and also say whether you want the node to flash red, send an email, or open a dialogue box when the alarm is activated.
If you select a node and then choose "Response Time" then a small stripchart appears next to the node. This chart plots the round-trip time to the node you selected. You can vary the scale on the strip chart, the frequency of pings, alarm thresholds etc.
There are several other IP tools included with SCOTTY such as IP discover and IP layout. These tools require you to enter a network number and they then attempt to discover which other machines are on the network, and what they are connected to. World Map is another IP tool which uses traceroute. It displays a world map and shows the trace taken by a packet as it travels to a remote site. The effect is good , but World map is very basic, and of little practical use .
SNMP tools
To use SNMP you must ensure that your selected node is running an SNMP server. You can use SNMP trouble to retrieve single SNMP MIB variables and display them in a dialogue box similar to the ping information. If you want to do continuous monitoring of SNMP variables then you can use the "Monitor Variable" function. This function produces a stripchart on the drawing which shows the value of one of the MIB variables. You can vary the SNMP polling rate , the MIB variable which is retrieved etc.
Other SNMP tools allow the user to walk the MIB tree and even view some of the manufacturer specific MIB variables.
Each of the IP and SNMP tools has help menus, and although these are not fully comprehensive , they do provide an indication of what each item does.
Remote connections
TKINED has a function which allows it to accept connections from remote TKINED programs. This allows a remote user to log on and see what the latest network status is. This means that you can assign one machine to be a central server and allow remote machines to log on and view the network diagrams and status reports.
Conclusion
On it's own, TKINED is a very comprehensive drawing package. It does not have the polished look of a commercially produced package, but it is still very user friendly and comprehensive. However, when you add the network monitoring functions of SCOTTY to the network diagrams of TKINED then you create a very useful package with a very good user interface. It takes a while to obtain , install, and learn about the packages, but the effort is well worth it, and you will be able to produce some very good drawings combined with useful network monitoring tools.