Juniper EX4550: Convert SCOM Network Device from GENERIC to CERTIFIED with Extended Monitoring Capability

Scenario

There is some way how to get CERTIFIED status and extended monitoring capabilities in SCOM 2012+ for non-certified GENERIC network device Juniper EX4550 using just Notepad and no XML MP (Management Pack) development effort. 

I guess following method would work for another GENERIC network device that you might have. Just take an idea of my approach. 

Juniper EX4550:

• is missing from the list of the network devices supported by Operations Manager 2012R2 and 2016, however Juniper vendor is present in that list along with other models; 
• is not discovered as "Certified" devices in SCOM initially and has "Generic" status.

Note: Although MS published list for SCOM 2012 and SCOM 2012R2/2016 neither contains whole device list which SCOM will discover as "Certified" and with extended monitoring capabilities. Refer to my previous article if you want to get full list of "Certified" devices for your particular SCOM environment.

The idea is to find similar device from the Juniper which is already "Certified" and to use its configuration for SCOM Generic network device.

Solution

Juniper EX4550-48T 
(System OID: .1.3.6.1.4.1.2636.1.1.1.2.92)

Step 1. After initial SCOM network discovery you have something similar to the picture below:

SCOM:

• cannot determine Model, Vendor;
• has GENERIC Certification status for the device
• there is no CPU/RAM/Network extended monitoring for the device
• make a note it has System Object ID: .1.3.6.1.4.1.2636.1.1.1.2.92

Step 2. Juniper EX series contains of EX2200, EX3300, EX4200, EX4500 and EX4550 models. Each device has its unique system OID and characteristics. However, the whole device family is managed by the same OS called "JunOS" and it makes me think they have similar SNMP MIBs (or maybe even the same), could be monitored by SCOM (or any SNMP monitoring software) in the same way using the same SNMP OID trees and counters.

Step 3. There is the folder "C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center 2012 R2\Operations Manager\Server\NetworkMonitoring\conf\discovery" (for SCOM 2012R2) on SCOM Management servers which contains a lot of specific vendor files with prefix "oid2type" and file extension ".conf". Our focus will be on "oid2type_Juniper.conf" file.
Make a copy of this file for backup purposes.

Step 4. Open oid2type_Juniper.conf file with Notepad or with your favorite text editor (you should run Notepad as Administrator and navigate to folder path mentioned in Step 3) and search for string "EX4". You find the device: Juniper EX4200 (we detected it was in the same device family in step 2) which is present in the list of the network devices supported by Operations Manager 2012R2 and 2016

Step 5. Copy the whole # Juniper EX4200 section and duplicate (paste) it under "}"

Step 6. Change configuration strings to device specific that you want to "certify".

In my case:
# Juniper EX4200 changed to # Juniper EX4550-48T (it's just a comment string, you can type anything you want)
.1.3.6.1.4.1.2636.1.1.1.2.31 changed to .1.3.6.1.4.1.2636.1.1.1.2.92 (OID was taken from Step 1)
EX4200-48T changed to EX4550-48T (Model's DisplayName which will be shown in SCOM console)
Do not change "HEALTH = Juniper-EX4200" or anything else!

Changes summary in txt format:

# Juniper EX4550-48T

.1.3.6.1.4.1.2636.1.1.1.2.92 {

     TYPE = Switch

     VENDOR = Juniper

     MODEL  = EX4550-48T

     CERTIFICATION = CERTIFIED

     CONT = Juniper-EX-Series

     NEIGHBOR = LLDP-ATM-Peer

     HEALTH = Juniper-EX4200

     VLAN = Juniper-Vlan-Mib

     BRIDGE = Dot1q

INSTRUMENTATION:

     Environment                = JuniperEnvMon:DeviceID

     CPU/Memory                 = JuniperRouter:DeviceID

     Card-Fault                 = Juniper

     Interface-Fault            = MIB2

     Interface-Performance      = MIB2SNMP

     Port-Fault                 = MIB2

     Port-Performance           = MIB2

     Port-Ethernet-Performance  = dot3_Ethernet

}

Step 7. Save file changes in oid2type_Juniper.conf  
If you haven't run Notepad as Administrator in Step 4 you get "Access denied" error and it doesn't allow you to save file.

Step 8. Repeat oid2type_Juniper.conf changes on each SCOM Management server which participates in Network Discovery Pool.

Step 9. Restart SCOM Management Server.

Step 10. Run "Rediscover Device" from SCOM console.

In a few moments Juniper EX4550 network device will be shown in SCOM as "Certified" and in a few minutes you see all network, memory and CPU performance counters and their health.

Summary, you see that:

• SCOM network device is "Certified" which was "Generic" previously
• extended monitoring capabilities are present (such as: Processor, Memory and Network monitoring)
• it was no complex MP XML development effort

Things to remember:

• always make backup of *.conf file before changes
• article is not an official guide
• your customization maybe overwritten with SCOM update rollup or Service Pack (you may need to re-add txt sections again if it's happened)

References:

• System Center Operations Manager Network Devices Supported for Monitoring
• Juniper EX2200, EX3300, EX4200, EX4500 and EX4550 models
• Juniper Enterprise MIBs