The Right Tools for the Right Job – For FREE

No matter what you do, like building a house, SNMP walk a network device, repairing a car or doing some raw XML-editing, good tools are an absolute requirement to get the job properly done.

In my field of work I came across a couple of tools which are really good and should be present in the toolbox of any person who’s deeply involved in SCOM. Meaning, when you’re a SCOM Operator you’ll probably won’t need them that much or even at all.

• Editing raw XML
  Even though I used XML Notepad 2007, it doesn’t even come close to Notepad++. This tool really rocks BIG time and has made editing raw xml of MPs way much easier for me. Tool can be downloaded from here, for FREE :). I have uninstalled XML Notepad 2007 because I don’t use it anymore.
  

• SNMP Walk and stuff like that
  This tool is really awesome. Works like a charm and is capable of many other network related stuff as well. Whenever you want SCOM to monitor a SNMP enabled device and need OIDs to get a deeper look into the device, Getif is THE tool. It’s free, fast and easy to use. Tool is to be found here.
  
  • But of course, OIDs are crucial. In order to get the most out of this tool, MIB files are required as well. A collection of them can be downloaded from the website of Getif as well. Besides using Google as a good source in order to find many obscure MIB files, there is a website which brings many MIB files together: www.oidview.com/mibs. Download and unzip the required MIB files and place them in the MIB folder of the Getif tool (C:\Program Files (x86)\Getif 2.3.1\Mibs). Now you’re ready to rock. Don’t forget to run Getif with elevated permissions or you’ll get an error on W2K08/W7 systems.

Let me know when you use some good tools as well and would like to share them with the community. I will update my blog posting accordingly.