Switchmap is a Perl program that creates HTML pages that show information about a set of Cisco Ethernet switches. It uses SNMP to gather data from the switches. Normally I install Switchmap in conjunction with CactiEZ and every time I am struggling to get Switchmap to work perfectly.

During another installation I wrote this step-by-step guide to configure switchmap correctly. This step-by-step guide is based on switchmap version 11.19. At first you have to download switchmap, extract it to the /var/www/html directory and rename the folder.

tar zxvf switchmap-11.19.tar.gz
mv switchmap-11.19 switchmap

Switchmap depends on multiple Perl modules, so install the necessary modules.

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Log::Log4perl
install Module::Build
install Net::SNMP
install Log::Dispatch::Screen

Make sure your routers and Catalyst switches are configured to speak SNMP.

snmp-server community read4switchmap RO

Now you have to define your site-specific variables in ThisSite.pm. I changed the following parameters.

@routers = ();
push @routers, ‘10.62.4.2’;

@LocalSwitches = ();
push @LocalSwitches, ‘10.62.4.2’;

$Community = ‘read4switchmap’;

$DnsDomain = ‘.booches.nl’;

$DestinationDirectory = ‘/var/www/html/switchmap’;

$DestinationDirectoryRoot = ‘/switchmap’;

$StateFileDirectory = ‘/var/www/html/switchmap’;

Change the configfile variable in index.php to the following:

$configfile=’/var/www/html/switchmap/ThisSite.pm’;

Switchmap has the option to search for IP addresses and MAC addresses, but you have to alter the configuration to get this functionality working. First change the following in FindOffice.pl.

use lib ‘/var/www/html/switchmap’;

Change the configuration of the web server to allow it to run CGI files from the switchmap directory. I added the following lines above the existing ScriptAlias in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf.

ScriptAlias /cgi/ “/var/www/html/switchmap/”

<Directory “/var/www/html/switchmap”>
AllowOverride None
Options None
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>

Edit SearchPortLists.html and change the following lines.

<link href=”/switchmap/SwitchMap.css” rel=”stylesheet”>

<form method=GET action=”/cgi/FindOffice.pl”>

Change the rights on the files FindOffice.pl and ThisSite.pm

chmod 777 FindOffice.pl
chmod 777 ThisSite.pm

Now you can test run your installation by executing the following 3 commands:

perl GetArp.pl
perl ScanSwitch.pl
perl SwitchMap.pl

When the commands are executed you can point your browser to:

http://<cacti-url>/switchmap/index.html

and you should have a working Switchmap configuration.

The last step is configuring a cron job to schedule switchmap. Change the cron configuration using the command

crontab –e

and add the following lines.

44 * * * * perl /var/www/html/switchmap/ScanSwitch.pl
49 * * * * perl /var/www/html/switchmap/GetArp.pl
05 14 * * * perl /var/www/html/switchmap/SwitchMap.pl

You are good to go!! I hope this step-by-step guides makes my life (and hopefully also your life) a bit easier when installing a new Switchmap under CactiEZ.

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René Jorissen

Co-owner and Solution Specialist at 4IP Solutions

René Jorissen works as Solution Specialist for 4IP in the Netherlands. Network Infrastructures are the primary focus. René works with equipment of multiple vendors, like Cisco, Aruba Networks, FortiNet, HP Networking, Juniper Networks, RSA SecurID, AeroHive, Microsoft and many more. René is Aruba Certified Edge Expert (ACEX #26), Aruba Certified Mobility Expert (ACMX #438), Aruba Certified ClearPass Expert (ACCX #725), Aruba Certified Design Expert (ACDX #760), CCNP R&S, FCNSP and Certified Ethical Hacker (CEF) certified. You can follow René on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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