Specifications

Ridgeline Concepts and Solutions Guide

Optionally, you can use SSH2 instead of Telnet to communicate with Extreme Networks devices. This

requires that you run a version of ExtremeWare or ExtremeXOS that supports SSH.

You can disable Telnet polling if necessary through the Server Properties for Devices in Ridgeline

Administration. However, you will lose the ability to collect edge port information via FDB polling, as

well as netlogin information.

Edge Port Polling Using the MAC Address Poller

Ridgeline can maintain information about the MAC and IP addresses detected on Extreme switch edge

ports by polling the FDB tables of the Extreme switches it is managing. If MAC address polling is

enabled, Ridgeline uses Telnet polling to retrieve FDB information at regular intervals based on the

settings of server properties in the Ridgeline Administration.

MAC address polling can be enabled or disabled globally. If enabled, it can then be disabled for

individual devices or for specific ports on devices.

Ridgeline distinguishes edge ports from trunk ports based on whether the port is running the Extreme

Discovery Protocol (EDP) or the Link layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP). Ridgeline assumes that ports

that run EDP or LLDP are trunk ports, and ports that do not run EDP or LLDP are edge ports.

However, trunk ports on non-Extreme devices that do not support EDP or LLDP may be identified

incorrectly as edge ports. You can disable MAC address polling on individual ports to prevent Ridgeline

from polling these trunk ports for MAC addresses.

Updating Device Status with the Ridgeline Database

A user with an appropriate role (a role with read/write access) can use the Update devices option

under the View menu to update the device status in the Ridgeline database when the user believes that

the device configuration or status is not correctly reported by Ridgeline. The Update Devices action

causes Ridgeline to poll the switch and update all configuration and status information except for

uploaded configuration files. The SmartTraps rules are also reset in case the user has accidentally

deleted the trap receiver or any SmartTrap rules.

Extreme Networks Device Support

Extreme Networks devices running the ExtremeXOS or ExtremeWare software (version 6.2 or later) are

supported by most features in Ridgeline. Some features, such as the EAPS monitoring function, require

more recent versions of the software. See the Ridgeline Release Notes for specific information about the

hardware and software versions supported by this release of the Ridgeline software.

Third-Party Device Support

Any device running a MIB-2 compatible SNMP agent can be discovered by Ridgeline, and saved in the

database. All devices in the database can also appear on a topology map. The Alarm Manager can

handle basic MIB-2 SNMP traps from any device in the database, including RMON traps from devices

with RMON enabled. The Statistics feature can display statistics for any device with RMON enabled.

Ridgeline’s third-party integration framework allows selected devices to be integrated into Ridgeline

with a higher level of functionality. Devices integrated through this framework may include device-

specific front and rear panel views, additional SNMP trap support, and the ability to launch external

applications from within Ridgeline, if appropriate.