Managing Devices and Hosts

Managing Your Device Inventory

The Device Inventory window displays the results of the discovery scan. To access the Discovery window, from the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.

Figure 1. Device Inventory Window


Note
The information that is displayed depends on the Layout that you selected.

After the initial discovery, network devices are polled every 30 minutes. Polling occurs for each device, link, host, and interface. Only devices that have been active for less than a day are displayed. This prevents any stale device data from being displayed. On average, polling 500 devices takes approximately 20 minutes.

Name

Description

Device Selection check boxes

Allows you to select devices to perform tasks.

Filters

Allows you to refine the list of devices that are displayed in the table by name, location tag, and IP address.

Layout

Allows you to choose from three predefined layouts or a customized layout:

  • Status—Layout shows the device name, IP address, state of the device, how long it has been up, and the last time it was updated.

  • Hardware—Layout shows the device name, IP address, device family, platform, serial number, MAC address, and role, along with its IOS/firmware version and a link to its configuration file.

  • Tagging—Layout shows the device name, IP address, MAC address, device role, location, and tags.

  • Customize—Layout shows the information in the columns that you have selected to display.

For descriptions of the columns of information that you can display, see the Device Inventory Information table below.

Below the Device Inventory table, you can adjust the number of devices displayed in the table (10, 25, 50, 100), and you can click First, Previous, Next, Last, or the page number to navigate through the table.

The Device Inventory table displays the following information for each discovered device. All of the columns, except the Config column, support sorting. Clicking on the column header sorts the rows in an ascending order. Clicking on the column header again sorts the rows in descending order.

For more information, see the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Eneterprise Module Configuration Guide.

Table 1 Device Inventory Information

Column Name

Description

Device Status

State of the device.

  • Connecting—Controller is connecting to the device.

  • Reachable:

    • Discovered—Controller has connected to the device and is able to execute Cisco commands using the CLI .

    • Failure—Controller has connected to the device, but is unable to execute Cisco commands using the CLI. This status usually indicates that the device is not a Cisco device.

  • Authentication Failed—Controller has connected to the device but is unable to determine what type of device it is. This device status also usually indicates that the device is not a Cisco device.

  • Unreachable—Controller is unable to connect to the device.

    Note    If credentials are not provided at the time a discovery request is made or earlier, then the device status could be displayed as "Not reachable." You need to perform a new discovery with the correct credentials.

Device Name

Name of the device. Click the device name to display the Device Overview dialog box with the following information:

  • Device serial number

  • Device IP address

  • MAC address

  • Cisco OS version

  • Up time

  • Product ID

  • Vendor

  • Memory size

Note   

The device name appears red for any device whose inventory has not been updated for more than 30 minutes.

The Device Overview dialog box also includes an Interfaces tab with the following interface data:

  • Status—Up or down

  • Interface name—Name of the interface.

  • MAC address—MAC address of the interface.

MAC Address

MAC address of the device.

IP Address

IP address of the device.

IOS/Firmware

Cisco IOS software currently running on the device.

Platform

Cisco product part number.

Serial Number

Cisco device serial number.

Up Time

Period of time that the device has been up and running.

Config

Click View to display detailed configuration information similar to the CLI show running-config command output.

Note   

This feature is not supported for access points and wireless LAN controllers, therefore configuration data is not returned for these device types.

Device Role

Role assigned to each discovered device during the scan process. The device role is used to identify and group devices according to their responsibilities and placement within the network. If the controller is unable to determine a device role, it sets the device role as unknown.

Note   

The controller can change the device role as the network topology changes, but if you manually change the device role, then the role will not change as the network topology changes.

If desired, you can use the drop-down list in this column to change the assigned device role. The following device roles are available:

  • Unknown

  • Access

  • Core

  • Distribution

  • Border Router

Location

Tag that you can apply to a device to denote its geographic location. By applying the same tag to several devices, you can group them based on a common attribute. The Device Inventory window and Topology window support location tags.

Use the following guidelines when creating location tags:

  • Location tag information is maintained on the controller only and not deployed to or dirived from the device itself.

  • A location defined on the controller is not the "civic-location" property that some devices support.

  • You cannot create, use, or search for location tags in the Topology window.

  • Location tags cannot be attached to hosts.

  • You can apply only one location tag to a device. However, you can use both a location tag and a device tag together.

For information about adding location tags, see Adding or Removing a Location Tag.

Along with the location tag, you can add a geographical marker on a world map to a device. For information, see Adding or Removing a Location Marker.

Device Tag

Tag assigned to devices to identify them by a common attribute. For example, you can create a tag and use it to group devices based on a platform ID or Cisco IOS release.

Tags are useful when applying policies; they allow you to apply policies to a single tag (and therefore multiple devices), instead of having to apply multiple policies to multiple devices.

A number in the Tag column indicates how many tags have been applied to that device.

Note   

You are permitted to use both a location tag and a device tag together.

For information about adding or removing device tags, see Adding or Removing a Device Tag in Device Inventory.

For information about deleting a tag from the controller database, see Deleting a Tag.

Policy Tag

Tag applied to a group of devices that will share the same policy.

After applying a policy tag, you need to configure the policies that will be applied to the devices with the same policy tag. For information about configuring QoS policies, see Configuring Quality of Service.

Last Updated Time

Date and time that the device was last scanned and the controller database was updated.

Device Family

Group of related devices, as follows:

  • Cisco Interfaces and Modules

  • Routers

  • Switches and Hubs

  • Third Party Device

  • Unsupported Cisco Device

  • Wireless Controller

Device Series

Series number of the device, for example, Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches.

Last Inventory Collection Status

Status of the last discovery scan for the device:

  • Managed—Device is in a fully managed state.

  • Partial Collection Failure—Device is in a partial collected state and not all the inventory information has been collected. Move the cursor over the Information (i) icon to display additional information about the failure.

  • Unreachable—Due to device connectivity issues, the device could not be reached and no inventory information was collected. This condition can occur when periodic collection happens.

  • Wrong Credentials—If the device credentials are changed after adding the device to the inventory, this condition is noted.

  • In Progress—Inventory collection is occurring.

Related Tasks
Changing the Device Role
Adding or Removing a Device Tag in Device Inventory
Adding or Removing Tags to Multiple Devices
Adding or Removing a Location Tag
Adding or Removing a Location Marker

Filtering Devices in the Device Inventory Window

You can filter the devices displayed in the Devices Inventory window by device name, location, IP address and VRF instance.

Before You Begin

Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

Procedure
    Step 1   From the Device Inventory toolbar, click Filters.

    The following filters display:

    • Device Name

    • Device Location

    • Device IP Address

    • Device VRF

    Step 2   Enter the appropriate value in the selected filter field.

    For example, for the Device Name filter, enter the name of a device.

    The controller presents you with auto-complete values as you enter values in the other fields. Choose one of the suggested values or finish entering the desired value.

    Note   

    You can also use a wildcard (asterisk) with these filters. You can enter values with the asterisk at the beginning, end, or in the middle of the string value.

    Step 3   Click the plus (+) icon to perform the filter.

    The data displayed in the Devices table automatically updates according to your filter selection.

    Step 4   (Optional) If needed, add more filters following the above steps.
    Note   

    You can filter on more than one value per filter or across several different filter types.

    Step 5   To remove the filter, click the x icon next to the filter value.
    What to Do Next

    Review the updated information displayed in the Device Inventory window. If required for your network configuration, make changes to the displayed columns within the Devices table view.

    Changing the Devices Layout View

    You can change the information that is displayed in the Devices table by selecting different layout views or by customizing a layout view for the devices in your network.



    Before You Begin

    Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

    Procedure
      Step 1   From the Device Inventory toolbar, choose a layout option.

      The following layout options are available:

      • Status—Displays general device status information, including up time, update frequency, and number of updates.

      • Hardware—Displays hardware information, including IOS/firmware, serial number, and device role.

      • Tagging—Displays tagging information, including device role, location, and tag.

      • Customize—Displays a list of options to choose from to create your own layout.

      APIC-EM displays the information for the chosen layout.

      Step 2   To customize a specific layout, choose Customize and select the desired display options. Display options toggle on and off. Blue options with checkmarks indicate that the option is on and is displayed in the table.
      What to Do Next

      Review the updated information displayed in the Device Inventory window. If required for your network configuration, make any adjustments.

      Changing the Device Role

      During the scan process, the controller assigns a role to each discovered device. The device role is used to identify and group devices according to their responsibilities and placement in the network.

      A device can have one of the following roles:

      • Unknown—Device role is unknown.

      • Access—Device is located in and performs tasks required of the access layer or first tier/edge of the network.

      • Border Router—Device performs tasks required of a border router.

      • Distribution—Device is located in and performs tasks required of the distribution layer of the network.

      • Core—Device is located in and performs tasks required of the core of the network.

      Figure 2. Device Roles and Network Locations

      You can change the device role in the Device Inventory window.


      Note

      You can also change the device role from the Topology window. See Changing a Device's Role From the Topology Window.

      Before You Begin

      Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

      You must have administrator permissions to perform this procedure. For information, see Managing Users and Roles.

      Procedure
        Step 1   From the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.

        The Devices Inventory window appears.

        Step 2   From the Device Inventory toolbar, choose one of the options from the Layout drop-down list.

        Valid options are Hardware, Tagging, or Customize > Device Role. The table refreshes and includes a column for the Device Role.

        Step 3   Locate the device you want to change and choose a new role from the drop-down list in the Device Role column.

        Valid choices are Unknown, Access, Core, Distribution, or Border Router.

        What to Do Next

        If required, change the role of other devices in the Device Inventory window.

        Related Concepts
        Managing Your Device Inventory

        Deleting a Device

        You can delete devices from the Cisco APIC-EM database.

        Before You Begin

        You must have administrator (ROLE_ADMIN) permissions to perform this procedure.

        Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

        Procedure
          Step 1   From the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.
          Step 2   Click the check box next to the device that you want to delete.

          A toolbar opens.

          Note   

          Even after the toolbar opens, you can select multiple devices by clicking additional check boxes, or you can select all devices by clicking the checkbox at the top of the list.

          Step 3   From the open toolbar, click Delete.

          Adding or Removing a Device Tag in Device Inventory

          You can group devices according to common attributes by applying device tags. For example, you may want to apply device tags to group devices by their platform ID or Cisco IOS release. A single device can have multiple device tags; similarly, a single device tag can be applied to multiple devices.


          Note

          For information about Policy tags and Location tags, see the Device Inventory table in Managing Your Device Inventory.

          Before You Begin

          You must have administrator (ROLE_ADMIN) permissions to perform this procedure.

          Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

          Procedure
            Step 1   From the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.
            Step 2   From the Device Inventory toolbar, choose Layout > Tagging from the drop-down list.

            The table refreshes and displays a Device Tag column in addition to other columns.

            Step 3   Select the check box to the left of the desired devices and click Set Device Tags.
            Note    For a single device, you can also click the number displayed in the Device Tag column.
            Step 4   Do one of the following:

            • To apply a device tag, from the Available Tags list, click the tags that you want to apply to the selected devices.

            Note    If the desired tag is not in the list, enter a name for the tag and click +New Tag.

            • To remove a device tag, from the Applied Tags list, click the Trash can icon next to the tag that you want to remove from the selected devices.

            Note   

            The Applied Tags list is populated only if at least one of the selected devices has a tag applied to it.

            Step 5   Click x to close the dialog box.
            What to Do Next

            If required for your network configuration, add location or policy tags to your devices.

            Related Concepts
            Managing Your Device Inventory

            Adding or Removing a Policy Tag in Device Inventory

            You can apply a policy tag applied to a group of devices so that you can deploy the same QoS policy to those devices at the same time.



            Before You Begin

            Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

            Procedure
              Step 1   From the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.
              Step 2   From the Device Inventory toolbar, choose Layout > Tagging from the drop-down list.

              The table refreshes and displays a Policy Tag column in addition to other columns.

              Step 3   Select the check box to the left of the desired devices and click Set Policy Tag.
              Note    For a single device, you can also click Add displayed in the Policy Tag column.
              Step 4   Do one of the following:

              • To apply a policy tag, from the Available Tags list, click the tag that you want to apply to the selected devices.

              Note    If the desired tag is not in the list, enter a name for the tag and click +New Tag.

              • To remove a policy tag, from the Applied Tags list, click the Trash can icon next to the tag that you want to remove from the selected devices.

              Note   

              The Applied Tags list is populated only if at least one of the selected devices has a tag applied to it.

              Step 5   Click x to close the dialog box.
              What to Do Next

              If you added a policy tag to devices and now want to configure QoS policies, see Configuring Quality of Service.

              Adding or Removing a Location Tag

              You can apply a location tag to a device to denote the device's geographic location. By applying the same tag to several devices, you can group them based on a common attribute. The Device Inventory window and Topology window support location tags.

              Use the following guidelines when adding location tags:

              • Location tag information is maintained on the controller only and not deployed to or dirived from the device itself.

              • A location defined on the controller is not the "civic-location" property that some devices support.

              • You cannot create, use, or search for location tags in the Topology window.

              • Location tags cannot be attached to hosts.

              • You can apply only one location tag to a device. However, you can use both a location tag and a device tag together.



              Before You Begin

              You must have administrator (ROLE_ADMIN) permissions to perform this procedure.

              Procedure
                Step 1   From the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.
                Step 2   From the Device Inventory toolbar, choose Layout > Tagging from the drop-down list.

                The table refreshes and displays a Device Tag column in addition to other columns.

                Step 3   Select the check box to the left of the desired devices and click Set Device Tags.
                Note    For a single device, you can also click the number displayed in the Device Tag column.
                Step 4   Do one of the following:

                • To apply a location tag, from the Available Tags list, click the tags that you want to apply to the selected devices.

                Note    If the desired tag is not in the list, enter a name for the tag and click +New Tag.

                • To remove a location tag, from the Applied Tags list, click the Trash can icon next to the tag that you want to remove from the selected devices.

                Note   

                The Applied Tags list is populated only if at least one of the selected devices has a tag applied to it.

                Step 5   Click x to close the dialog box.
                What to Do Next

                If required for your network configuration, add or remove other location tags to other devices or add location markers.

                Related Concepts
                Managing Your Device Inventory
                Related Tasks
                Adding or Removing a Location Marker

                Adding or Removing a Location Marker

                You can add a location marker to the devices in the Device Inventory window.

                Before You Begin

                You must have administrator (ROLE_ADMIN) permissions to perform this procedure.

                Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

                You have already added location tags to your devices.

                Procedure
                  Step 1   From the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.
                  Step 2   From the Device Inventory toolbar, choose Layout > Tagging from the drop-down list.

                  The table refreshes and displays a Location column in addition to other columns.

                  Step 3   (Optional) To display devices with a specific location tag, from the Device Inventory toolbar, click Filters, enter a location tag in the Device Location field, and click the + icon.
                  Step 4   Select the desired location from the Locations column.
                  Note   

                  Because you are not assigning a location tag, it is not important which device you choose. When you add or remove a location marker, the change is applied to the location tag, and all devices that have the location tag will be updated.

                  Step 5   Do one of the following:
                  1. To add a location marker, position the map as close to the desired location as possible and click Add Marker. When the location marker is in the desired location, click Set Coordinates.
                    Note   

                    You can position the map using your mouse to drag the map and to zoom in and out on the map. If needed, drag and drop the location marker (building icon) to where you want it.

                    Note   

                    To add additional location markers, close the Location dialog box and, from the Device Inventory window, click another location from the Location column. If you select another location in the current Location dialog box, you will apply that location to the currently selected device.

                    Figure 3. Adding a Location Marker

                    Figure 4. Placing the Location Marker

                  2. To remove the location marker, click Remove Marker.
                    Figure 5. Location Window

                  Step 6   Click X to close the dialog box.
                  What to Do Next

                  Access the Topology window to view the location markers on a map.

                  Related Concepts
                  Managing Your Device Inventory
                  Topology
                  Related References
                  Topology Icons
                  Topology Toolbar

                  Deleting a Tag

                  When a device tag, policy tag, or location tag is no longer needed, you can delete it, and it is removed permanently from the controller. You can delete device tags using the Device Inventory window or the Topology window. Policy tags and location tags can be deleted only from the Device Inventory window. This procedure shows you how to delete tags from the Device Inventory window.

                  Before You Begin

                  You must have administrator (ROLE_ADMIN) permissions to perform this procedure.

                  Make sure that you have devices in your inventory. If not, discover devices using the Discovery function.

                  Before you can delete a tag, you need to remove it from all devices that have been assigned the tag.

                  Procedure
                    Step 1   From the Navigation pane, click Device Inventory.
                    Step 2   From the Device Inventory toolbar, choose Layout > Tagging from the drop-down list.
                    Step 3   Do one of the following:

                    • To delete a device tag, click any number in the Device Tag column. From the Available Tags list, click the Trash can icon next to the tag or tags that you want to delete.

                    • To delete a policy tag, click Add or the name of a policy tag in the Policy Tag column. From the Available Tags list, click the Trash can icon next to the tag or tags that you want to delete.

                    • To delete a location tag, click Add or the name of a location tag in the Location column. From the Available Locations list, click the Trash can icon next to the tag or tags that you want to delete.

                    Step 4   Click OK to confirm the deletion.

                    The tag is removed permanently from the controller.

                    If the deletion fails, the tag might still be assigned to devices. Remove the tag from these devices and try to delete the tag again.

                    Step 5   Click x to close the dialog box.

                    Managing Your Host Inventory

                    Cisco APIC-EM displays information about the discovered hosts in the Host Inventory window.

                    The following table describes the information that is displayed about the hosts in your inventory.


                    Note

                    Use the filters located below the Host Inventory table to limit the number of hosts displayed in the table (10, 25, 50, 100) or to view groups of hosts at a time (First, Previous, Next, Last, or 1-3).

                    Figure 6. Host Inventory Window

                    The following table describes the information that is displayed about the hosts in your inventory.

                    Table 2 Host Inventory

                    Host Inventory

                    Description

                    Host Name

                    Name of the host.

                    Host MAC address

                    MAC address of the host.

                    Host IP address

                    IP address of the host.

                    Host type

                    Type of host (wired or wireless).

                    Connected Network Device IP Address

                    IP address of the device that is connected to the host.

                    Note   

                    IP addresses of only wired devices are shown.

                    Connected Interface Name

                    Name of the interface that the device is connected to. For example, GigabitEthernet1/0/24.

                    Related Tasks
                    Changing the Hosts Table View

                    Changing the Hosts Table View

                    You can change the information that is displayed in the Hosts table by accessing a Hosts checklist and choosing the data that you wish to display.

                    Before You Begin

                    Access the Host Inventory window to change the information that is displayed within the Hosts table.

                    Procedure
                      Step 1   Place your cursor over the Wheel icon at the top left of the Hosts table in the Host Inventory window to access a Host Inventory checklist.

                      After placing your cursor over the Wheel icon, the Hosts checklist appears.

                      Step 2   Choose the information that you want displayed in the Hosts table by checking the appropriate box on the list. For example, if you want the Hosts table to display the host type (wired or wireless), choose Host Type from the list by checking it.
                      Step 3   Close the Host Inventory checklist by clicking anywhere outside of it.
                      What to Do Next

                      Review the updated information displayed in the Host Inventory window.

                      Related Concepts
                      Managing Your Host Inventory