How to check the NCM Last Capture in Spectrum

Products

• Network Observability
• Spectrum

Issue/Introduction

We want to monitor the Last Capture. Is there an attribute for the Last Capture time?

Environment

DX NetOps Spectrum: Any version

Resolution

The "Last Capture" value comes from the 0x4820146 pseudo-attribute that represents the "Last Capture" for a device model that is managed by Spectrum's Network Configuration Manager (NCM).

$SPECROOT/tomcat/webapps/spectrum/WEB-INF/scm/config/attr-config.xml file:

 <attribute>
    <id>0x4820146</id> <!-- Last Capture for a device model -->
    <reader>
    <class-name>
       com.aprisma.spectrum.app.scm.web.attribute.LastCapturedAttrReader
    </class-name>
    </reader>
    <volatile/>
  </attribute>

• id>0x4820146</id>: This is the unique identifier for the attribute within Spectrum. The 0x482xxxx range is typically associated with NCM-related attributes.
• <!-- Last Capture for a device model -->: This comment directly tells you its purpose: it indicates the last time a configuration was successfully captured (or "snapshotted") for a particular device.
• com.aprisma.spectrum.app.scm.web.attribute.LastCapturedAttrReader: This class is a "reader." This means the attribute's value isn't stored directly on the device model in the SpectroSERVER database. Instead, when this attribute is requested (e.g., when you view the device's attributes in OneClick), this class is invoked to dynamically retrieve or compute the "last captured" timestamp from the NCM system.
• <volatile/>: This tag further supports the idea that it's a pseudo-attribute. Volatile attributes are not persistently stored on the model itself but are generated or retrieved on demand.

"Last Capture" value is the actually the value of the HostConfiguration model Creation Time.

You can search for the HostConfiguration model in Locater Search:

A NCM capture is saved as a new HostConfiguration model in the Spectrum database.