This activity allows you to Login to a selection of Devices.
(It is similar to a Ping test in that it does not change anything on the device but simply confirms connectivity plus the ability to Login).
CatTools will Login to each selected Device in turn, and will log any failures to the Report file: C:\Program Files\CatTools2\Reports\Connectivity.Login test.txt
The Time, Devices, and Email tabs operate for this Activity in exactly the same way as for all other Activities.
Under the Options tab are two options (both check boxes):
1. "Enter enable mode if possible"; if the Device has an Enable mode and the appropriate passwords are configured in the Device file, then CatTools will attempt to enter enable mode each time it logs in to each Device.
2. "Only record Login failures" keeps a record only of failures of the Activity. This keeps the Report file to a minimum size, conserving hard-drive space.
In general, the reasons for performing Login tests are similar to those for performing Ping tests, with some differences.
The Login test goes a little bit further than a simple Ping, confirming that interactive terminal access to the device is working, as well as confirming the network operation between you and the device, in the process. It also confirms that your passwords have not changed. You may want to check that your staff are still able to login to the selected device, or you may want to check that the login passwords have not been altered without your knowledge or authorization, or both.
The report file provides you with an historical record of the status of the tested devices, which may be useful for later forensic purposes.