7 The Monitor and Trace Tab Display and Operations

The Monitor and Trace tab displays links to tools that help you see system and session data on the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC). The Monitor and Trace link provides summary reports that include session data, ladder diagrams of call and media flows, and Quality of Service statistics.

Monitor and Trace

The Monitor and Trace tab displays the results of filtered SIP session data from the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller in categorical lists. Each of the lists displays the results in a common log format for local viewing, which you can export as HTML and text files.

When you click the Monitor and Trace tab, the Web GUI displays links to the available lists in the navigation pane and defaults to Sessions. In the white space below the list, the GUI displays the total number of entries in the list and the numbers of the entries currently in view. The counter is dynamic and changes the enumeration as you scroll through the list. The following screen capture shows the Monitor and Trace default display.

This screen capture shows the Monitor and Trace page with its links to the Sessions, Registrations, Subscriptions, and Notable Event summary lists. The Sessions list displays by default.

Each summary provides sorting, searching, paging, and exporting functionality, as well as a ladder diagram view where you can see a session summary, session details, and QoS statistics. You can choose which columns that you want each summary list to display by right clicking any column header and selecting column names from the pop-up list. The available column names vary according to the list type.

This screen capture shows an example of the pop-up list that displays when you right click any column header in a Monitor and Trace list. The list shows all of the column headers available. Each header has a check box where you can select or deselect the header.

Monitor and Trace can store messages per session and it can store cumulative sessions across all report types. When the sessions maximum is reached, the system removes the oldest call and adds the newest call.
  • On systems with less than 4GB of RAM, the system can store:
    • 50 messages
    • 2,000 sessions
  • On systems with more than 4GB of RAM, the system can store:
    • 50 messages
    • 4,000 sessions
The call database does not persist when you change the number of rows in a Ladder Diagram and Save and Activate the change.

The system can perform live paging from Monitor and Trace tables.

Note:

Only one user at a time can view Monitor and Trace information. Monitor and Trace does not support multiple, simultaneous viewers.

SIP Monitor and Trace for Ingress and Egress Messages

SIP Monitor and Trace operations allow the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC) to monitor SIP sessions in your network. The system processes SIP Monitor and Trace data on incoming messages first, and then sends the data out on outgoing messages. This process allows the ESBC to capture SIP Monitor and Trace data for display in the Web GUI.

The ESBC captures a SIP message in ingress, applies the Header Manipulation Rules (HMR) that you configured, and applies the Session Plug-in Language (SPL). When the ESBC sends the message on egress, the ESBC applies the SPL, applies the HMR, and sends out the captured SIP message.

This illustration shows the SBC processing incoming messages, passing them through header manipulation rules, and sending them out.

SIP Sessions Summary

The SIP Sessions Summary summarizes all logged call sessions on the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC). The columns that display on the Sessions Summary page depend on the columns that you specified in the "Customizing the Page Display" procedure.

The following table describes the columns on the SIP Session Summary page.

SIP Registrations Summary

The SIP Registrations Summary displays a summary of all logged SIP registrations sessions on the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC). The columns that display on the Registrations Summary page depend on the columns you selected in the "Customizing the Page Display" procedure.

The following table describes the columns available on the Registrations Summary page.

SIP Subscriptions Summary

The SIP Subscriptions Report displays a summary of all logged SIP subscription sessions on the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC). The columns that display on the Subscription Report page depend on the columns you selected in the "Customizing the Page Display" procedure.

The following table describes the columns on the Subscriptions Report page.

SIP Notable Events Summary

The SIP Notable Events Summary contains all logged sessions that have a notable event on the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC) associated with the session. The columns that display on the Notable Events Summary page depend on the columns that you selected in the "Customizing the Page Display" procedure.

The following table describes the columns that Notable Events Summary page can display.

Ladder Diagrams and Display Controls

A ladder diagram is a graphical representation of the flow of call and media packets on ingress and egress routes through the Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC). Viewing ladder diagrams can help you with troubleshooting and system monitoring. The Web GUI can display ladder diagrams for each of the summary reports available through Monitor and Trace.

The ESBC can store up to 4,000 calls on a system with more than 4GB of memory and up to 2,000 calls on a system with less than 4GB of memory. A ladder diagram can display an unlimited number of rows, but the relationship of calls to rows is inverse. The more rows you see per call, the fewer calls the ESBC can display. You cannot set the number of rows displayed.

To display one or more ladder diagrams, select one or more rows in the Session, Registrations, Subscriptions, or Notable Events lists and click Ladder Diagram. The Web GUI adds a tab to the top of the page for each ladder diagram. Click the tabs to see the ladder diagrams.

Note:

You can also right-click a row and click Ladder Diagram on the pop-up menu or click the ellipses at the beginning of a row and click Ladder Diagram on the pop-up menu.

The following illustration shows a sample ladder diagram with notations about the controls for viewing and exporting.

This screen capture shows the pop-up menu that displays when you right click a row in a summary table. Ladder Diagram is the first item on the list.

Ladder diagrams contain the following sections.

Session Summary—Displays session data. Use the [+] and [-] controls to toggle between show and hide. The default is hide.

Ladder Diagram—Displays SIP message and call flow information. Hover over a line in the ladder diagram to see more information about the highlighted flow.

QoS Stats—Displays Quality of Service (QoS) information. Use the [+] and [-] controls to toggle between show and hide. The default is hide. You must enable Quality of Service (QoS) on your system to see the QoS Statistics information.

The following screen capture shows an example of a ladder diagram as initially displayed with the Session Summary and QoS Stats sections hidden.

This screen capture shows the ladder diagram as it displays initially with the ladder diagram shown and the Session Summary and the QoS Stats sections hidden.

The following screen capture shows an example of an ESBC ladder diagram with the Session Summary and QoS sections expanded. This screen capture also shows an example of the pop-up that displays detailed SIP Message Details when you hover over a row in the diagram.

This screen capture shows the controls you can use on a ladder diagram to view session, call flow, and Quality of Service information.

Note:

The ESBC captures SIP messages, applies the Header Manipulation Rules (HMR) that you configured on the ESBC, and applies the Session Plug-in Language (SPL) to that message. When the ESBC sends the message, it applies the SPL, the HMR, and sends the captured SIP message. When viewing the session detail on a Ladder Diagram, the HMR and SPL information may be present.

Ladder Diagram Controls

Ladder diagrams display the following controls at the bottom of the page.

Refresh—Use to refresh the data in the ladder diagram.

Export diagram—Use to export the ladder diagram to an HTML file.

Export session details—Use to export the session details to a text file.

Close and Remove Ladder Diagram Tabs

To remove an individual tab you can either click the X on the tab or right-click and click Remove on the pop-up menu.

To remove all tabs, right-click a tab and click Close All on the pop-up menu.

Display a Ladder Diagram

You can display a ladder diagram of call and media flow data from the Sessions, Registrations, Subscriptions, and Notable events lists in Monitor and Trace. Each list page displays a table, where each row represents one session. You can view a ladder diagram for each session with the following procedure.

The Monitor and Trace tab can display multiple ladder diagrams in separate tabs. You can either select multiple rows from the list initially or repeat the procedure later to display more ladder diagram tabs.
  1. Access the Monitor and Trace tab.
  2. On the Monitor and Trace tab, select one of the following lists:
    • Sessions
    • Registrations
    • Subscriptions
    • Notable Events
  3. On the list page, do one of the following :
    • Double click a row.
    • Select one or more rows and click Ladder Diagram.
    The Web GUI adds one or more tabs above the list that you can click to view the contents.
  4. (Optional)—On the ladder diagram, click the [+] to expand the Session Summary and QoS Stats sections.
  5. (Optional)—Refresh the diagram, export the diagram, or export the session details, using the buttons at the bottom of the page.
Session Summary

To see a Session Summary, open a ladder diagram from a record in a Summary report and click the [+] control that precedes "Session Summary" at the top of the page. Monitor and Trace displays the session data and statistics.

The following screen capture shows a sample Session Summary page generated from a selected item on a ladder diagram.
This iscreen capture shows a sample Session Summary.
The following table describes each field in the Session Summary report.
Display a Session Summary

You can view data and statistics about a call or media session by displaying the Session Summary from a ladder diagram.

  1. Under the Monitor and Trace tab, select one of the following summaries:
    • Sessions
    • Registrations
    • Subscriptions
    • Notable Events
  2. On the Summary page, select a row in the table and right-click.
  3. On the pop-up menu, click Ladder Diagram.
  4. (Optional)—On the ladder diagram, click the [+] to expand the Session Summary section.
QoS Statistics

The Quality of Service (QoS) Stats section of the Session Summary displays information about the quality of the service for a selected call session or media event. To see the QoS statistics, open a ladder diagram from a record in a Summary report and click the [+] control that precedes "QoS Statistics" at the bottom of the page.

Expand QoS Stats section with the [+} control.

This image is a screen capture of a session summary report that shows Quality of Service statistics. The report displays a ladder diagram of a call flow for a session. Below the ladder diagram. the SBC displays Q O S statistics such as flow id, direction, total packets received, total octets received, RTCP packets lost, RTCP average jitter, RTCP maximum jitter, RTCP average latency, RTCP maximum latency, RTP packets lost, RTP average jitter, RTP maximum jitter, Q O E r factor and Q O E M O S.

The following table describes each column in the QoS Stats report.

Display QoS Statistics
When you want to view QoS statistics for a call or media flow session, you can do so from a ladder diagram in Monitor and Trace.
  1. Under the Monitor and Trace tab, select one of the following summaries:
    • Sessions
    • Registrations
    • Subscriptions
    • Notable Events
  2. On the Summary page, select a row in the table and right-click.
  3. On the pop-up menu, click Ladder Diagram.
  4. On the ladder diagram, click the [+] to expand the QoS Stats section.
SIPREC Call Data Example

The following example shows SIP Monitor and Trace output for a call with media forwarded by way of SIPREC.

This image is a screen capture of a session summary report for media forwarded by way of SIPREC.
Hairpin Call Data Example

The following example shows SIP Monitor and Trace output for a hairpin call. The Media Flow Hairpin indication is highlighted.

This image is a screen capture of a session summary showitng hairpin calls.

Configure SIP Monitoring

You must enable SIP Monitoring and configure the options for displaying session data and notable event data on the Monitor and Trace page.

  • Configure any filters that you want, if you don't want to monitor all SIP traffic. See "Filter Configuration."

The only required setting is State, which enables SIP Monitoring. You can optionally monitor all filters and you can specify one or more filters to monitor. You can specify a time for short session duration monitoring and you can configure interesting events to monitor.

  1. Access SIP Monitoring: Configuration, Session Router, SIP Monitoring.
  2. On the SIP Monitoring page, do the following.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Save the configuration.
  • View the SIP Session Summary and SIP Notable Event Summary on the Monitoring tab.

Search for a Report Record

Use the Search button located above the report table to help you find a specific record in an Oracle® Enterprise Session Border Controller (ESBC) Monitor and Trace report. When you click Search, the Web GUI displays a dialog where you specify criteria for the search.

You can specify a value for any or all of the fields in the Search field. The search process searches for records with all of the values you specify and displays only the records with all those values. When you perform a Global Search and specify values in other fields, the search process searches the other specified fields first and then filters on the Global Search field.
  • If you specify the “*” character in a search string, the search is performed on that exact string. For example, if you search for “123*45”, the search shows results for all strings containing “123*45”.
  • You can use quotes (“ “) to specify a search. For example, you can enter Smith and the search finds all of the records that match Smith, such as: John Smith field<sip:sipp@192.168.1.70:5070>;tag=12260SIPpTag001.
  • When you enter a space before or after a quotation mark, (for example, “Smith “), the search returns no data.
  1. On any reports page, click Search and do the following in the Search dialog.
  2. Click Search.

Export Monitor and Trace Information to a Text File

Monitor and Trace allows you to export Monitor and Trace information to a text file from the Sessions, Registrations, Subscriptions, and Notable Events Reports.

To export report information, do one of the following:
  • Select a row and click one of the export buttons displayed above the report list.
  • Select a row, right click, and click an export operation on the menu.
  • Click the ellipses on a row and click an export operation on the menu.

The following list describes the export commands.

Export Report Information to a Text File

To export information from a Monitor and Trace report to a text file:

Note:

The GUI exports Ladder Diagrams as HTML files.
  1. Access the Monitor and Trace tab.
  2. On the Monitor and Trace page, select a report type.
  3. On the report Summary page for the selected report type, select a report from the list, right-click, and click one of the following:
    • Click Export diagram.
    • Click Export session details.
    • Click Export summary.
    The system downloads the report in a file at the bottom of your screen.