Table Of Contents
Menu Bar, Toolbar, and Feature Bar
GUI Features
Configuration Assistant simplifies the management of a community by offering different views of the community, a menu bar, toolbar, feature bar, two modes for configuring devices, and comprehensive online help. Figure 2-1 shows the main features of the GUI.
Figure 2-1 Configuration Assistant GUI
The following sections describe the Configuration Assistant features.
Topology View
When Configuration Assistant connects to a standalone device or to a community, the Topology view appears by default. If you change this default, you can see the Topology view by clicking Topology view on the toolbar or by choosing Monitor > Views > Topology.
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You can change the preferences in Configuration Assistant to show the Front Panel view by default by choosing Application > Preferences > Show Front Panel View when connected to network. If you no longer want Configuration Assistant to show the Topology view by default, deselect Show Topology View when connected to a network.
The Topology view shows how the devices within a community are connected. You can see the VLAN links within the community by highlighting them. You can make neighboring devices members of the community, and you can remove members.
The Topology view in Figure 2-2 shows a community, neighboring devices, and the popup windows that appear when you right-click a device or a link icon. (You can open only one popup window at a time.)
Figure 2-2 Topology View and Popup Windows
Front Panel View
When Configuration Assistant connects to a standalone device or to a community, you can display the Front Panel view by clicking Front Panel on the toolbar or by choosing Monitor > View > Front Panel on the feature bar. You see the front-panel image of the standalone device or the community members. The left pane of the view is a tree diagram. In it, you can select the devices that you want to see in the right pane.
By using the Front Panel view, you can
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Figure 2-3 shows a community with these members: a Catalyst Express 520 switch, a Unified Communications 500 Series platform, and a 526 WLAN Controller.
Figure 2-3 Front Panel View and Port Popup Window
Menu Bar, Toolbar, and Feature Bar
The menu bar has features for configuring Configuration Assistant itself. The feature bar has features for configuring, monitoring, troubleshooting, and maintaining a standalone device or a community. The toolbar has a combination of the most often used Configuration Assistant features and Ethernet features.
Menu Bar
The menu bar provides these options for managing Configuration Assistant, navigating among windows, and accessing online help:
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Feature Bar
The feature bar shows the Ethernet features that are available for the devices that you are managing. By default, the feature bar is in standard mode. In this mode, it is always visible, and you can reduce or increase its width. In autohide mode, the feature bar appears only when you move the cursor to the left edge of the Configuration Assistant workspace.
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Figure 2-4 shows a feature bar.
Figure 2-4 Feature Bar
The features are grouped under menus. When you click a menu item, the configuration window for the feature appears.
Access modes affect the availability of features; some are not available in read-only mode. For more information about how access modes affect Configuration Assistant, see the "Privilege Levels" section.
Toolbar
The toolbar has icons and buttons for commonly used configuration options and for information windows such as the legend and the online help. Table 2-1 lists the toolbar options from left to right on the toolbar.
Table 2-1 Toolbar Icons and Buttons
Connect
Connect Configuration Assistant to a standalone device or to a community.
Refresh
Update the views with the latest status.
Print a Configuration Assistant window or a help topic.
Preferences
Set Configuration Assistant display properties, choose the views to open when Configuration Assistant is connected, and choose how often Configuration Assistant searches for an update.
Save Configuration1
Save the running configuration of a managed device to its startup configuration.
Voice
Configure options for voice communication.
VPN Server
Configure a VPN server and send security policies to a device.
Firewall and DMZ
Configure a firewall and create a DMZ.
Wireless Networks
Configure security features on a WLAN controller and its associated access points.
Smartports1
Quickly configure the essential security, availability, and manageability features of your network port connections.
Port Settings2
Display and configure the port parameters on a device.
Inventory
Display the device type, the software version, the IP address, and other information about all the active devices in the community.
Health
Monitor measurements that show the health of your managed devices (excluding WLAN controllers and Aironet autonomous access points).
Event Notification
Display messages about network and device events.
Front Panel
Display the Front Panel view.
Topology
Display the Topology view.
Legend
Display the legend, which describes the icons, labels, and links.
Help for Active Window
Display the help topic for the active, open window. You can also click Help from the active window or press the F1 key.
Feedback
Open a web page where you can leave feedback about your experience with Configuration Assistant.
Search
Enter terms in the field at the right of the toolbar, and click the Search button to search the online help.
1 Not available in read-only mode. For more information about the read-only and read-write access modes, see the "Privilege Levels" section.
2 Some options from this menu option are not available in read-only mode.
Interaction Modes
There are two modes for interacting with the Configuration Assistant GUI: guide mode and expert mode. Guide mode presents feature options one step at a time, with accompanying help information. Expert mode presents all the options for configuring a feature in a single window. For help, click Help in the window.
Guide Mode
Configuration Assistant is in expert mode by default. If you choose Guide on the Application menu and select a feature with a signpost icon (see Figure 2-5), you see a series of configuration steps—guide mode. If you choose a feature without this icon, you see a configuration window—expert mode.
Figure 2-5 Guide Mode and Expert Mode Examples
Examples of features that are available in guide mode and expert mode
Examples of features that are available only in expert mode
Guide mode is not available if your switch access level is read-only. For more information about the read-only access mode, see the "Privilege Levels" section.
Expert Mode
If you prefer to see a configuration window for every feature, choose Expert in the Application menu. Even the features that appear with a signpost on the feature bar appear in expert mode. If you want to see guide mode again, choose Guide in the Application menu.
To start a guide-mode feature in Expert mode, you must choose Expert before selecting the feature.
Smartports
Configuration Assistant detects where you have not used Smartports to configure a device connection and provides this information in the Event Notification window. You can configure the connection either manually or based on suggestions provided by Configuration Assistant. Open the Smartports window to either select a role to apply, or use Smartports to suggest a role to apply. See the online help for more information on Smartports.
Privilege Levels
Configuration Assistant provides two types of access to configuration options: read-write and read-only. Your access type is determined by your privilege level, a number from 1 to 15. Level 15 gives you read-write access. Levels 1 to 14 give you read-only access. At these levels, you cannot modify the configuration shown in Configuration Assistant windows.
By default, Configuration Assistant tries to log you on with privilege level 15. However, this normally requires that you pass the authentication process with a proper username and password. Lower levels do not generally impose this requirement.
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Application Updates
Configuration Assistant can search Cisco.com to see whether updates are available. Use either of these actions to request a search:
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If an update is found, you can install it through Configuration Assistant.
Online Help
Configuration Assistant provides comprehensive online help that explains set up, configuration, monitoring, troubleshooting, and maintenance tasks.
Sometimes the information in a help topic differs for different devices. In these cases, the right pane of the Help window contains all the versions of the topic, each labeled with the hostnames of the devices it applies to.
Online help includes these features:
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