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Custom Map

LibreNMS has the ability to create custom maps to give a quick overview of parts of the network including up/down status of devices and link utilisation. These are also referred to as weather maps.

Viewer

Once some maps have been created, they will be visible to any users who have read access to all devices on a given map. Custom maps are available through the Overview -> Maps -> Custom Maps menu.

Some key points about the viewer are:

  • Nodes will change colour if they are down or disabled
  • Links are only associated with a single network interface
  • Link utilisation can only be shown if the link speed is known
  • Link speed is decoded from SNMP if possible (Upload/Download) and defaults to the physical speed if SNMP data is not available, or cannot be decoded
  • Links will change colour as follows:
  • Black if the link is down, or the max speed is unknown
  • Green at 0% utilisation, with a gradual change to
  • Yellow at 50% utilisation, with a gradual change to
  • Orange at 75% utilisation, with a gradual change to
  • Red at 100% utilisation, with a gradual change to
  • Purple at 150% utilisation and above

Viewer URL options

You can manually add the following parameters to a URL to alter the display of a custom map.

The following URL options are available:

  • bare=yes : Removes the control bar from the top of the page.
  • screenshot=yes : Removes all labels from the nodes and links

e.g. If you want bare and screenshot enabled, https://nmsserver/maps/custom/2 becomes https://nmsserver/maps/custom/2?bare=yes&screenshot=yes

Editor

To access the custom map editor, a user must be an admin. The editor is accessed through the Overview -> Maps -> Custom Map Editor menu.

Once you are in the editor, you will be given a drop-down list of all the custom maps so you can choose one to edit, or select "Create New Map" to create a new map.

Map Settings

When you create a new map, you will be presented with a page to set some global map settings. These are:

  • Name: The name for the map
  • Width: The width of the map in pixels
  • Height: The height of the map in pixels
  • Node Alignment: When devices are added to the map, this will align the devices to an invisible grid this many pixels wide, which can help to make the maps look better. This can be set to 0 to disable.
  • Background: An image (PNG/JPG) up to 2MB can be uploaded as a background.

These settings can be changed at any stage by clicking on the "Edit Map Settings" button in the top-left of the editor.

Nodes

Once you have a map, you can start by adding "nodes" to the map. A node represents a device, or an external point in the network (e.g. the internet) To add a node, you click on the "Add Node" button in the control bar, then click on the map area where you want to add the node. You will then be aked for the following information:

  • Label: The text to display on this point in the network
  • Device: If this node represents a device, you can select the device from the drop-down. This will overwrite the label, which you can then change if you want to.
  • Style: You can select the style of the node. If a device has been selected you can choose the LibreNMS icon by choosing "Device Image". You can also choose "Icon" to select an image for the device.
  • Icon: If you choose "Icon" in the style box, you can select from a list of images to represent this node

There are also options to choose the size and colour of the node and the font.

Once you have finished choosing the options for the node, you can press Save to add it to the map. NOTE: This does not save anything to the database immediately. You need to click on the "Save Map" button in the top-right to save your changes to the database.

You can edit a node at any time by selecting it on the map and clicking on the "Edit Node" button in the control bar.

You can also modify the default settings for all new nodes by clicking on the "Edit Node Default" button at the top of the page.

Edges

Once you have 2 or more nodes, you can add links between the nodes. These are called edges in the editor. To add a link, click on the "Add Edge" button in the control bar, then click on one of the nodes you want to link and drag the cursor to the second node that you want to link. You will then be prompted for the following information:

  • From: The node that the link runs from (it will default to first node you selected)
  • To: The node that the link runs to (it will default to the second node you selected)
  • Port: If the From or To node is linked to a device, you can select an interface from one of the devices and the custom map will show traffic utilisation for the selected interface.
  • Reverse Port Direction: If the selected port displays data in the wrong direction for the link, you can reverse it by toggling this option.
  • Line Style: You can try different line styles, especially if you are running multiple links between the same 2 nodes
  • Show percent usage: Choose whether to have text on the lines showing the link utilisation as a percentage
  • Recenter Line: If you tick this box, the centre point of the line will be moved back to half way between the 2 nodes when you click on the save button.

Once you have finished choosing the options for the node, you can press Save to add it to the map. NOTE: This does not save anything to the database immediately. You need to click on the "Save Map" button in the top-right to save your changes to the database.

Once you press save, you it will create 3 objects on the screen, 2 arrows and a round node in the middle. Having the 3 objects allows you to move the mid point of the line off centre, and also allows us to display bandwidth information for both directions of the link.

You can edit an edge at any time by selecting it on the map and clicking on the "Edit Edge" button in the control bar.

You can also modify the default settings for all new edges by clicking on the "Edit Edge Default" button at the top of the page.

Re-Render

When you drag items around the map, some of the lines will bend. This will cause a "Re-Render Map" button to appear at the top-right of the page. This button can be clicked on to cause all lines to be re-drawn the way they will be shown in the viewer.

Save Map

Once you are happy with a set of changes that you have made, you can click on the "Save Map" button in the top-right of the page to commit changes to the database. This will cause anyone viewing the map to see the new version the next time their page refreshes.

Adding Images

You can add your own images to use on the custom map by copying files into the html/images/custommap/icons/ directory. Any files with a .svg, .png or .jpg extension will be shown in the image selection drop-down in the custom map editor.