General

This section provides an introduction to the web interface, requirements, and frequently used interface elements of Operations Monitor.

Requirements

Operations Monitor runs in any major web browser without extra plug-ins or add-ons.

Note:

Operations Monitor does not require Flash, Java or Microsoft Silverlight.

The following list contains the web browsers in which we regularly test the web interface:

• Internet Explorer: version 8 or higher.
• Firefox: 1.5 or higher running on any operating system (Windows, Mac, Oracle Linux).
• Safari: any version, including Safari for the iPad.
• Google Chrome: any version.
• Opera: 9 or higher running on any operating system (Windows, Mac, Oracle Linux).

In order to use the web interface of Operations Monitor, you must enable Javascript. It is recommended that you enable HTTP cookies for features such as remembering login credentials and the state of tables.

Interface Arrangement

On the left side of the Operations Monitor web user interface is the navigation pane. This navigation bar allows access to many of the features of Operations Monitor.

The right side of the Operations Monitor menu bar displays your username, which contains a list with following options:

• My Profile for user settings.
• Settings for administrative features.
• License for the Oracle Communications Session Monitor license terms.
• About the product for the Operations Monitor copyright information.
• Help for access to the Operations Monitor online manual.
• Setup to access the Session Monitor Platform Setup Application.
• Logout to sign out.

Language Selection

The right side of the Operations Monitor menu bar contains the selected language code. From the locale list, select the language to display in Operations Monitor.

Panels

When you click an element in the navigation pane, a panel appears in the center of the browser window. This panel is a user interface element that displays data.

Many panels can be added to your dashboard for at-a-glance viewing. For more information, see the Dashboard section.

To collapse panels and display titles only, you can click the up-arrow in the upper-right hand corner.

Another common user interface element is the tab panel.

Tooltips and Help

In the title bar of each panel is a gray i-symbol. This is the information box. When you hover over the information box, a question mark symbol appears and a tooltip provides a brief description of the panel. When you click the information box, the corresponding section of the user manual appears in a new browser window or tab describing the panel and its functions.

Other user interface elements support tooltips. Hovering over an element with the mouse pointer often brings up a small box explaining the element underneath.

Windows

You may encounter modal windows overlaid on the user interface, similar to the windows of your desktop environment. These windows can be dragged by their title bar, and closed by clicking on the x -symbol or pressing the ESC key. These windows also contain Help and Close buttons at the bottom. The Help button opens the online Help in a new window, describing the current page and its functionality.

Refresh Button

Some areas of the interface contain a Refresh button that controls the update interval for the content of the page, panel, or section. It is identified by a circle of dots (flashing during refresh). Click the button once to refresh the corresponding content. It also contains a drop-down list to set the interval for the Auto Refresh.

Tables

The tables used in the Operations Monitor user interface offer some features to make the data most useful to you.

To adjust tables, hover above a column header. A down-arrow appears on the right side of the column header. To access the table menu, click the down arrow. The table menu options may differ depending on the data presented in the table.

Filters

Some tables support filters. If a table column can be filtered, the column menu contains a Filter submenu.

Below are possible options in the filters sub menu (depending on the column type):

• String Filter Filters the table to display rows that contain the entered value as a sub-string. The input value is not exclusive. This filter menu provides a text field for entering the string.
• Numeric Comparison Filter Restricts the table to rows where the comparison of the column value with the entered numeric results is 'true'. This filter menu provides three fields, one for each of the supported operators ( >, <, =). The = field cannot be used simultaneously with any of the other fields.
• Date Comparison Filter Restricts the table to rows where the column value in the selected date range. This filter menu provides three items for choosing a date ( Before, After, On). With Before and After you can select the rows where the timestamp of the column values lies before and/or after the chosen day. With On you can select the rows of only the chosen day.
• List Filter Restricts the table to rows where the column values contains the selected value. This filter menu provides a list of possible values, which you can choose by selecting or deselecting the corresponding check box.

You can choose to hide certain columns in each table. Every column drop-down menu contains a Columns submenu that lists all available columns for this table. Select or deselect the check box to the left of each entry to show or hide the corresponding column.

Note the paging toolbar at the bottom of tables. The presence of this toolbar means that the table offers page-wise access to its data. The paging toolbar displays the total number of pages, and to the right, the total number of items in the table.

Quick User Inspection

Tables such as Recent calls, Registrations, and the user table in User Devices have context menu entries to quickly trace or track a user. You can right-click on a table row to track or trace the user (in the Recent calls table, you can quickly inspect both the caller and the callee). For more information, see the Recent Calls, Registrations, and User Devices sections.

Charts

You may encounter metric charts that display values of a numeric property over a certain time span. Metric charts provide two important features:

• Adjusting the temporal resolution.
• Panning of the visible portion along the time line.

Adjusting the temporal resolution can be achieved using the Zoom buttons in the bottom-right corner of the chart. The buttons correspond to resolutions of five minutes to thirty days.

Operations Monitor's time-lined charts can be updated by clicking the Refresh button. This button also offers Automatic Refresh functionality from the button's drop-down list. For more information, see the Refresh Button section.

Panning

To pan the chart, click and drag the mouse pointer inside the chart itself. When you click the chart and drag it to the right, the visible area will be shifted further left (further in the past) on the time line. When you drag it to the left, the visible area is shifted further right (nearer to the present) on the time line. While dragging, a gray overlay indicates the direction of the chart, and how far on the spectrum you are dragging.

Note:

Panning stops the automatic refresh of a chart. Automatic refresh is re-enabled after clicking on the Go to now button at the bottom of the chart.

Working with Message Flows

A message flow is a diagram of a call event or a registration event. The message flow displays the network devices involved in the call event or registration event and the protocol messages that have been exchanged between the network devices. For more information on how to configure the hosts on which the network devices run, see the Platform Devices section.

Displaying a Message Flow

To display a message flow of a call event or a registration event:

1. In a web browser, log in to Operations Monitor.
   The Operations Monitor window appears.
2. In the navigation pane under Operations , do one of the following:
   • To display a message flow for a call event:
   1. Click Calls.
      The Calls page opens in the main display.
   2. In the Recent calls table, right-click the row for which to display the call event's message flow and select Message flow.

      The Message Flow for Call: caller and callee window appears.

      where caller is the number that initiated the call and callee is the call number that received the call.

      Note:

      Message flows for a call event can also be displayed by right-clicking on the call row and selecting Message flow in the Calls going through this device tab on the Devices page.
   • To display a message flow for a registration event:
   1. Click Registrations.
      The Registrations page opens in the main display.
   2. In the Registrations table, select a registration event for which to display a registration message flow.
   3. From the Registrations table tool bar, click the Message flow button.

      The Registration registration_number window appears.

      where registration_number is the number of the registration event.

3. Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Arranging Message Flows

In order to compare the network devices and protocol messages contained in multiple call events or registration events, you can open multiple message flows to view side-by-side in the same browser window, or you can open multiple message flows to view side-by-side in multiple browser windows.

To adjust the message flow window to fit in your browser screen, view a message flow in a new browser window, resize the message flow window, or view more of the message flow, do one or more of the following:

• To adjust the width of the sequence diagram within the message flow window. In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Zoom in or Zoom out icons accordingly.
• To resize the message flow window. In the message flow window's title bar, toggle between the Maximize and Minimize icon, or expand or contract the message flow window's borders.
• To view more of the message flow without resizing the message flow's window. Inside the message flow window, drag the message flow, or use the message flow window's scroll bar.
• To view the message flow in another browser window. In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Open in a new window button.
• To refresh the message flow window. In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Refresh button. For more information, see the Refresh Button section.

Customizing the Display of Contents within Message Flows

The contents displayed in the sequence diagram, protocol messages, and network devices within the message flow are customizable.

To customize the display of contents within message flows:

1. Verify that the message flow is displayed.
2. In the message flow window's toolbar, select the View menu.
3. From the View menu, select or de-select one or more of the following check boxes:
4. Enter the text of the second step here.
   • Pin Devices

     When enabled, the devices are always visible at the top of the scrolling area.

   • Unwind messaging

     By default, each network device appears only once and a transaction arrow is drawn for each message that passes between the hosts. When several messages are exchanged between two particular network devices, it becomes difficult to distinguish the call legs. When enabled, each call leg is drawn separately, which results in a wider diagram. Hosts that appear multiple times contain a number suffix, which is the number of times the host appears.

   • Resolve IP addresses

     When enabled, Operations Monitor creates a reverse DNS lookup on the IP addresses of the network devices.

   • Duplicates

     For retransmissions, only one SIP message appears. Enable this option to display all duplicate messages.

   • Transport protocol

     When enabled, the message flow displays the transport protocol (TCP or UDP).

   • IP addresses

     When enabled, the message flow displays the IP addresses for the source and destination of the message.

   • MAC addresses

     When enabled, this option displays the MAC addresses for the source and destination of the message. In a scenario where one server is realized by several machines, this can be used to determine which machine was used to process the request.

   • OPC/DPC

     When enabled, this option displays the originating point code (OPC) and the destination point code (DPC) for the source and destination of the message.

   • Codecs

     When enabled, the message flow displays the media codecs of the caller and the callee. If the codecs are the same for the both the caller and the callee after the INVITE transaction is completed, the codecs are grouped.

   • Absolute Time

     By default, the information below a transaction arrow displays the time that has passed after the first message was seen. When enabled, the date and time are displayed for each transaction arrow.

   • Media

     When enabled, protocol messages for media transport, such as RTP, are displayed in addition to the signal.

     Note:

     For some protocols, the raw message is not available.
   • DTMF Events

     When enabled, protocol messages for RTP events of the type DTMF are visible. The DTMF event will show the name and code of the tone. For tones 0-9 the name and the code are the same.

     DTMF Event '2' (2)
     DTMF Event '#' (11)

     Requires the View DTMF tones permission to be visible. See User Permissions.

   • SIP URIs

     When enabled, the transaction arrows display the recipient's URI.

   • Hide SIP Methods

     This submenu allows you to hide certain types of SIP messages based on their method. For example, enabling OPTIONS will remove all SIP messages from the diagram that have the method OPTIONS.

   • MEGACO

     This submenu allows you to hide selected MEGACO message properties.

5. Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Customizing the Visibility and Position of Network Devices within Message Flows

By default, all networking devices are displayed in the message flow in the order of the call event transaction or the registration event transaction. The visibility and position of a network device is customizable in a message flow.

To customize the visibility and position of network devices within message flows:

1. Verify that the message flow is displayed.
2. In the message flow window's toolbar, select the Devices menu.
3. Do one or both of the following:
   • To hide a network device, deselect the check box of the network device you want to hide. Alternatively, select the check box of the network device you want to display.
   • To reposition a device in the sequence diagram, select the check box row of the network device you want repositioned and drag the check box row to the position you require. See the following figure.
4. Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Viewing Individual Protocol Messages

Protocol messages of the sniffed packet can be viewed and saved. For more information on saving a protocol message, see "Saving a Message Flow as an HTML File".

Each protocol message is numbered in brackets in the order of the call event transaction or the registration event transaction between the network devices.

To view individual protocol messages:

1. Verify that the message flow is displayed.
2. In the message flow, click the message type you wish to view, which appears above the message transaction arrow.
   The Message transaction_number window appears.

   where transaction_number is the number associated with the order of the transaction between the network devices.

3. (Optional) Resize, or move the protocol message by dragging the title bar of the protocol message's window to the required position within the message flow.
4. When you have finished viewing the protocol message, click the Close icon in the protocol message window's title bar.
5. Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Note:

The maximum number of messages for a flow is limited. You can change the limit value in System Settings. For more information, see "System Settings".

Viewing Call Event ISUP Protocol Messages

When a call event contains ISDN User Part (ISUP) binary content, you can view the ISUP binary content as human readable text.

To view call event ISUP protocol messages:

1. Verify that the message flow is displayed.
2. In the message flow, click the message type identified by [1], which appears above the message transaction arrow.
   The Message transaction_number window appears.
3. Scroll down the protocol message until you see the Content-Type header. Do one of the following:
   • If the Content-Type header's value contains either, multipart/mixed and one of the multiple parts is application/ISUP, or application/ISUP, go to step 4.

     For example:

     Content-Type:application/ISUP;boundary=A6B35A2329D0F2312C9F4692

   • If the Content-Type header's value does not contain either, multipart/mixed and one of the multiple parts is application/ISUP, or application/ISUP, close the protocol message and click the next message.
4. Scroll down the protocol message until you see the decode ISUP body link.
5. Click the decode ISUP body link.
   The ISUP binary content is decoded into human readable text and an ISUP message contained in Message transaction_number window appears.
6. When you have finished viewing the ISUP message, click the Close icon in the ISUP protocol message window's title bar.
7. When you have finished viewing the protocol messages, click the Close icon in the protocol message window's title bar.
8. Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Saving a Message Flow as an HTML File

You can save a message flow as an HTML file on your computer to view at another time or share with others. This is important when diagnosing issues.

To save a message flow as an HTML file:

1. Verify that the message flow is displayed.
2. In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Download button.
   The Save As dialog box appears.
3. Browse to the directory in which you want to save the HTML file.
4. (Optional) In the File name text box, enter a file name for the HTML file.
   By default, HTML files are named message-flow.html.
5. Click Save.
6. Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Saving a Call Event Message Flow as a PDF File

You can save a call event message flow as a PDF file.

To save a call event message flow as a PDF file:

1. In the navigation pane under Operations, click Calls.
   The Calls page opens in the main display.
2. In the Recent calls table, right-click the row for which to create a call event PDF report file and select PDF report.

   The Create Report window appears.

   By default, all the Report Content options are selected.

3. In the Report Content section, deselect the options you do not require in your report. Do not deselect the Messages option.
4. (Optional) In the Additional Info section's Report Comment (optional) text box, enter information about the report.
5. (Optional) In the Additional Info section's, Filename (optional) text box, enter a file name for the report.

   By default, PDF files are named CallReport- YMDHMS-callid .pdf

   where

   • YMDHMS is the syntax for year, month, day, hour, minutes, and seconds that the file was generated.
   • callid is the call event's identifier.
6. Click the Create button.
   The Save As dialog box appears.
7. Browse to the directory in which you want to save the call event PDF file and click Save.
8. Click the Cancel button, which closes the Create Report window.

Note:

Because the decoded binary ISUP content can be lengthy, only two levels of information are displayed in the PDF report.