We are a small ISP and use a Cisco 3725 router for DSL customers. The Cisco assigns a virtual interface number to each login by username (PPPoE) and a corresponding IP address, which may change with each login. We need to track whether individual users are logged in, but I can't figure out a way to do that except by IP address. The Dude works well with static IP customers, but we have not been able to figure out a way to link the PPPoE login with the dynamically assigned IP and have the Dude track that information.

Your assistance will be appreciated.

Radius....

Radius....

Please excuse my stupidity, but can you be a little more specific than a one word answer?

Has anyone ever figured out a way to answer my question with more than one word?

It would appear that you are attempting to perform accounting with monitoring software. The Radius comment was in reference to your needing a server to provide this information, as opposed to using something like The Dude, which is not specifically designed to do what you ask.
Your C3725 is handling access, how are you authenticating users?
Are you familiar with AAA (not the automobile people)?

It would appear that you are attempting to perform accounting with monitoring software.

We would like The Dude to be able to give us a visual indication and alert functions regarding whether a particular user account is logged in or not. We are interested in the monitoring function, not accounting functions, through The Dude. We have a radius server handling authentication, and accounting software already in place.

I have created a map with shows each individual DSL customer by IP address, but since the IP's are assigned dynamically, it is quite possible that the numbers may change and I may find myself monitoring different users unexpectedly. We would like to be able to have The Dude monitor by PPPoE login rather than by IP address, or use the PPPoE login to obtain the IP address in some fashion, so that the account can be properly monitored.

I thought that was what monitoring software was supposed to do -- monitor accounts. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The Radius comment was in reference to your needing a server to provide this information, as opposed to using something like The Dude, which is not specifically designed to do what you ask.

So The Dude is not designed to monitor customer connections? It certainly does a good job of it for our customers with static IP addresses, whether DSL, T1, MetroE, or wireless.

Are you familiar with AAA (not the automobile people)?

Sadly, no. Please educate me.

It may be that the tone of my reply was misunderstood, or I misunderstood your last posting.

Have you tried selecting the map object, going to Settings, and then set DNS Lookup to Name to Address or Address to Name? You may even be able to use the MAC Lookup field to do this since the MAC shouldn't change (at least not on a regular basis).

On another board, there is a thread dealing with a similar subject http://forums.cacti.net/about12280.html You might find that information helpful. You might also want to read this thread http://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12402 as it deals with creating probes in The Dude.

Have you tried selecting the map object, going to Settings, and then set DNS Lookup to Name to Address or Address to Name? You may even be able to use the MAC Lookup field to do this since the MAC shouldn't change (at least not on a regular basis).

Yes, I have tried both to no avail. Name to address returns nothing but 0.0.0.0 for the IP, and address to name returns dsl-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-dynamic.ourdomain.net where the x's represent the IP address and "ourdomain" is the name of our ISP. For most of the customers, the MAC address returns nothing but 0's; where there is a successful lookup, it is of the port on the router, which is not significantly helpful.

An SNMP walk on the router takes well over an hour before the user name (that is, the PPPoE login string) appears, and then it is for all users attached to the router by virtual interface. When I use the "show users" command in the router itself, it returns the virtual interface, PPPoE login, method of connection (PPPoVPDN), idle time, and IP address. I know the information is there, but I don't know how to relate it in a method that The Dude can use to monitor the connection. I was hoping someone else had been able to do it successfully so I wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel.

I will check out the other threads you mentioned. Thanks for the information.