Objects

Overview

All network infrastructure monitored by NetXMS inside monitoring system represented as a set of objects. Each object represents one physical or logical entity (like host or network interface), or group of them. Objects organized into hierarchical structure. There are 30 different object classes:

Object Class	Description
Entire Network	Abstract object representing root of IP topology tree. All zone and subnet objects located under it. System can have only one object of this class.
Zone	Object representing group of (usually interconnected) IP networks without overlapping addresses. Contains appropriate subnet objects.
Subnet	Object representing IP subnet. Typically objects of this class created automatically by the system to reflect system's knowledge of IP topology.
Node	Object representing physical host or network device. These objects can be created either manually by administrator or automatically during network discovery process.
Cluster	Object representing cluster consisted of two or more hosts.
Interface	Object representing network interface of node. These objects created automatically by the system during configuration polls.
Network Service	Object representing network service running on a node (like http or ssh).
VPN Connector	Object representing VPN tunnel endpoint. Such objects can be created to add VPN tunnels to network topology known y NetXMS server.
Service Root	Abstract object representing root of your infrastructure service tree. System can have only one object of this class.
Container	Grouping object which can contain nodes, subnets, clusters, conditions, or other containers. With help of container objects you can build object's tree which represents logical hierarchy of IT services in your organization.
Condition	Object representing complicated condition – like "cpu on node1 is overloaded and node2 is down for more than 10 minutes".
Template Root	Abstract object representing root of your template tree.
Template Group	Grouping object which can contain templates or other template groups.
Template	Data collection template. See Data Collection section for more information about templates.
Network Map Root	Abstract object representing root of your network map tree.
Network Map Group	Grouping object which can contain network maps or other network map groups.
Network Map	Network map.
Dashboard Root	Abstract object representing root of your dashboard tree.
Dashboard	Dashboard. Can contain other dashboards.
Report Root	Abstract object representing root of your report tree.
Report Group	Grouping object which can contain reports or other report groups.
Report	Report object.
Business Service Root	Abstract object representing root of your business service tree. System can have only one object of this class.
Business Service	Object representing single business service. Can contain other business services, node links, or service checks.
Node Link	Link between node object and business service. Used to simplify creation of node-related service checks.
Service Check	Object used to check business service state. One business service can contain multiple checks.

Every object has set of attributes; some of them are common (like id and name), while other depends on object class – for example, attribute "SNMP community string" have only node objects.

Top Level Objects

NetXMS has three top level objects – Entire Network, Service Root, and Template Root. These objects served as an abstract root for appropriate object tree. The following table represents possible child object classes for top level objects:

Object	Possible childs
Entire Network	Subnet
Service Root	Container Subnet Node Cluster Condition
Template Root	Template Group Template

All top level objects has only one editable attribute – object's name.

Subnet Objects

Subnet objects represent IP subnets. These objects created automatically by NetXMS server to represent known IP topology. Subnet objects can only contain node objects. The system places node objects inside an appropriate subnet object based on an interface configuration. Subnet objects have only one editable attribute – an object's name.

Container Objects

Container objects (or simply containers) serve as building blocks for creating logical service hierarchy. Containers can have subnets, nodes, conditions, or other containers as child objects. Containers can be created in All Services tree. Existing nodes and subnets can be added to containers by using Bind operation, and removed by using Unbind operation.

Node Objects

Node objects (or nodes) represent computers and other network-enabled devices (such as routers and switches) in your network. They have a lot of attributes controlling all aspects of interaction between NetXMS server and managed node. For example, the attributes specify what data must be collected, how node status must be checked, which protocol versions to use etc. Node objects contain one or more interface objects. The system creates interface objects automatically during configuration polls.

Interface Objects

Interface objects represent network interfaces of managed computers and devices. Usually these objects created automatically by management server during configuration polls.

Custom Attributes

Every object can have custom attributes defined either by user or integrated application via NetXMS API. Custom attributes distinguished by names (an attribute name can contain up to 127 printable characters), and have string values of unlimited length. However, if you wish to access custom attributes in NXSL scripts as properties of node object, you should name them conforming to NXSL identifier naming constraints. To create or change value of custom attribute manually, right-click object in NetXMS console, select "Properties", then select "Custom Attributes" tab.