Register the Dashboard to your Smart Account

To register the Dashboard with your Smart Account, follow the steps below:

1. Log on to your Smart Account at https://software.cisco.com.

   Select the Smart Software Licensing link located under the License section.

2. Select the Inventory page, and if necessary, change the selected virtual account from the default.

3. Click on the General tab.

4. Create a new Product Instance Registration Token by clicking on the New Token… button. Optionally add a description and change the Expire After time.

5. Click Create Token.

6. Copy the newly created token to the clipboard by selecting Copy from the Actions drop-down located at the right of the token.

7. Navigate to the Cisco Business Dashboard user interface and select System > License.

8. Click the Register button and paste the token into the field provided.

9. Click OK.

The Dashboard will register with Cisco Smart Licensing and request sufficient licenses for the number of network devices being managed. If there are insufficient licenses available, a message will be displayed on the user interface, and you will have 90 days to obtain sufficient licenses before system functionality is restricted.

Remove the Dashboard from your Smart Account

To remove the Dashboard from your Smart Account and return any licenses allocated back to the pool, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to the Cisco Business Dashboard user interface and select System > License.

2. Select Deregister… from the drop-down list located at the top right. Click Deregister in the pop-up to confirm.

Immediately Check for Licenses

Cisco Business Dashboard checks daily to ensure there are still sufficient licenses available for the network, and will update immediately if the number of licenses required decreases. However, if the number of licenses required increases, or if licenses are added or removed from the pool, it may take up to a day before the Dashboard will be updated. To force the Dashboard to update its license allocation immediately, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to the Cisco Business Dashboard user interface and select System > License.

2. Select ReCheck License Now… from the drop-down list located at the top right. Cisco Business Dashboard will query Cisco Smart Licensing immediately to ensure that there are sufficient licenses available for the Dashboard to operate.

Renew Authorization Now

The Renew Registration Now action cause the Dashboard to refresh the certificates used to authenticate communication with Cisco Smart Licensing. Typically, this will only be required at the request of Cisco Support when rectifying an extended communications outage. To renew the registration, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to the Cisco Business Dashboard user interface and select System > License.

2. Select Renew Authorization Now… from the drop-down list located at the top right.

Renew Registration Now

The Renew Registration Now action causes the Dashboard to refresh the certificates used to authenticate communication with Cisco Smart Licensing. Typically, this will only be required at the request of Cisco Support when rectifying an extended communications outage. To renew the registration, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to the Cisco Business Dashboard user interface and select System > License.

2. Select Renew Registration Now… from the drop-down list located at the top right.

Transfer the Dashboard to a Different Account

Re-registering a Dashboard allows it to be moved from one Virtual Account to another. To move a Dashboard between accounts, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to the Cisco Business Dashboard user interface and select System > License.

2. Select Reregister... from the drop-down list located at the top right.

3. Enter the new registration token in the box provided. If the Dashboard is currently registered to another account, ensure the Reregister this product instance if it is already registered checkbox is selected, then click OK.

Automatically Install a Certificate from Let's Encrypt

From release 2.2.1, Cisco Business Dashboard can automatically obtain and renew a domain-validated certificate from the Let’s Encrypt Certificate Authority (https://letsencrypt.org) and in release 2.5.0, these certificates can be managed through the Administration page.

Important

You must have a fully qualified domain name registered and a DNS record that points to the public IP address. Refer to Managing Platform Settings for more information.

To install a Let’s Encrypt certificate using the administration GUI, do the following:

1. Navigate to System> Certificate and select the Update Certificate tab.

2. Select the Let’s Encrypt Certificate radio button.

3. Check the box to enable the use of a Let’s Encrypt certificate.

4. Enter one or more fully qualified domain names into the fields provided. The names must be defined in the domain name system (DNS) and resolve to the address of the Cisco Business Dashboard server.

5. Provide an email address to be used for urgent renewal and security notices.

6. Review the Let’s Encrypt Subscriber Agreement using the link provided and then check the box to accept the agreement.

7. Optionally check the box to share the email address with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (https://www.eff.org).

8. Click the Get Certificate button.

The Dashboard will contact the Let’s Encrypt Certificate Authority and obtain a certificate using the HTTP verification method. The page will update to show the details of the certificate along with the expiry date. The certificate will be automatically renewed approximately 30 days before expiry.

If you need to update the certificate at any point, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to System>Certificate and select the Update Certificate tab.

2. Select the Let’s Encrypt Certificate radio button.

3. Use the check-boxes and the fields provided to update the name(s) to be applied to the certificate.

   Or you can update the contact details at the bottom of the screen.

4. Click the Get Certificate button.

You can also force the certificate to be regenerated before the normal renewal time by leaving the fields on the page unchanged and clicking the Force Renewal button.

To install a Let’s Encrypt certificate using the command line, do the following:

1. Log on to the host operating system using SSH or via the console.

2. Execute the cisco-business-dashboard letsencrypt command and specify one or more fully qualified hostnames using the -d option. (For example, cisco-business-dashboard letsencrypt -d dashboard.example.com -d pnpserver.example.com.) All names listed in the command must resolve to the IP address of the dashboard server.

3. Follow the prompts to have a certificate issued and applied to the dashboard application. The certificate will be automatically renewed by the dashboard as it approaches expiry.

Note

The Let’s Encrypt service will need to connect to the dashboard web server to verify ownership of the hostname(s). To allow this, the dashboard web server must be accessible from the Internet. See Managing Platform Settings for details on how to restrict access to the dashboard application to only authorized IP addresses.

Generate a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

1. Navigate to System>Certificate and select the CSR tab.

2. Enter appropriate values into the fields provided in the form that is displayed. These values will be used to construct the CSR, and will be contained in the signed certificate you receive from the CA.

3. Click Create and the CSR will be automatically downloaded to your PC. Alternatively, you can download the CSR at a later date by clicking Download next to the CSR label.

4. If necessary, you can modify the CSR by returning to step 2.

Upload a New Certificate

To upload a new certificate using the administration GUI, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System>Certificate and select the Update Certificate tab.

2. Select Upload Cert radio button. The file containing the certificate can be dropped on the target area, or you may click the target area to browse the file system. The file should be in PEM format.

   You may also upload a certificate with the associated private key in PKCS#12 format by selecting the Upload PKCS12 option instead. The password to unlock the file should be specified in the field provided.

3. Click Upload to upload the file and replace the current certificate.

To upload a new certificate using the command line, do the following:

1. Copy the certificate and private key files to the Cisco Business Dashboard file system using SCP or similar. Ensure access to these files is restricted to authorized personnel only as the private key is sensitive information.

2. Log on to the operating system using the console or SSH.

3. Apply the certificate to the dashboard application using the command: cisco-business-dashboard importcert -t pem -k <private key file> -c <certificate file>. The certificate and private key will be loaded into the dashboard application and replace the current certificate. For more information on this command and its options, enter cisco-business-dashboard importcert -h.

Note

Some browsers may generate certificate warnings for certificates that have been signed by a well-known certificate authority, while other browsers accept the certificate without any warning. Network Plug and Play clients may also fail to accept the certificate. This is because the certificate authority has signed the certificate with an intermediate certificate that is not included in the browser or PnP client's trusted authorities store. In these circumstances, the certificate authority provides a bundle of certificates that must be concatenated with the server certificate before uploading to the Dashboard. During upload, the dashboard will remove any duplicates or unnecessary certificates from the chain and attempt to assemble it in the correct order. Select the Current Certificate tab after upload to confirm that the certificate chain is complete and correctly formatted.

Regenerate the Self-Signed Certificate

To regenerate the self-signed certificate, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System>Certificate and select the Update Certificate tab.

2. Click Renew Self-Signed Cert. Enter appropriate values into the fields provided in the form that is displayed. These values will be used to construct the certificate.

3. Click Save.

View the Current Certificate

To view the current certificate, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System>Certificate and select the Current Certificate tab.

2. Each certificate in the chain of trust for the dashboard is listed in the table at the top of the screen, along with its type, subject and expiry date. For a dashboard with a self-signed certificate, there will be only one entry in the table, while a dashboard using a CA-signed certificate may have several entries.

3. Click on a row of the table to display the details of the corresponding certificate in the box below.

4. You may use the icons in the Actions column to down the root certificate in the chain or copy it to the clipboard. The root certificate may be required when configuring devices to connect to the dashboard when the certificate is self-signed or signed by a private CA.

Downloading the Current Certificate Chain

To download a copy of the current certificate chain, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System>Certificate and select the Current Certificate tab.

2. Click the Download Certificate Chain button at the bottom of the page. The certificate chain will be downloaded in PEM format by your browser.

Automatically Install a Certificate from Let's Encrypt

From release 2.2.1, Cisco Business Dashboard can automatically obtain and renew a domain-validated certificate from the Let’s Encrypt Certificate Authority (https://letsencrypt.org) and in release 2.5.0, these certificates can be managed through the Administration page.

Important

You must have a fully qualified domain name registered and a DNS record that points to the public IP address. Refer to Managing Platform Settings for more information.

To install a Let’s Encrypt certificate using the administration GUI, do the following:

1. Navigate to System> Certificate and select the Update Certificate tab.

2. Select the Let’s Encrypt Certificate radio button.

3. Check the box to enable the use of a Let’s Encrypt certificate.

4. Enter one or more fully qualified domain names into the fields provided. The names must be defined in the domain name system (DNS) and resolve to the address of the Cisco Business Dashboard server.

5. Provide an email address to be used for urgent renewal and security notices.

6. Review the Let’s Encrypt Subscriber Agreement using the link provided and then check the box to accept the agreement.

7. Optionally check the box to share the email address with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (https://www.eff.org).

8. Click the Get Certificate button.

The Dashboard will contact the Let’s Encrypt Certificate Authority and obtain a certificate using the HTTP verification method. The page will update to show the details of the certificate along with the expiry date. The certificate will be automatically renewed approximately 30 days before expiry.

If you need to update the certificate at any point, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to System>Certificate and select the Update Certificate tab.

2. Select the Let’s Encrypt Certificate radio button.

3. Use the check-boxes and the fields provided to update the name(s) to be applied to the certificate.

   Or you can update the contact details at the bottom of the screen.

4. Click the Get Certificate button.

You can also force the certificate to be regenerated before the normal renewal time by leaving the fields on the page unchanged and clicking the Force Renewal button.

To install a Let’s Encrypt certificate using the command line, do the following:

1. Log on to the host operating system using SSH or via the console.

2. Execute the cisco-business-dashboard letsencrypt command and specify one or more fully qualified hostnames using the -d option. (For example, cisco-business-dashboard letsencrypt -d dashboard.example.com -d pnpserver.example.com.) All names listed in the command must resolve to the IP address of the dashboard server.

3. Follow the prompts to have a certificate issued and applied to the dashboard application. The certificate will be automatically renewed by the dashboard as it approaches expiry.

Note

The Let’s Encrypt service will need to connect to the dashboard web server to verify ownership of the hostname(s). To allow this, the dashboard web server must be accessible from the Internet. See Managing Platform Settings for details on how to restrict access to the dashboard application to only authorized IP addresses.

Changing the Hostname (Network Settings tab)

The hostname is the name used by the operating system to identify the system, and is used by Cisco Business Dashboard to identify the Dashboard when generating Bonjour advertisements.

To change the hostname for the Dashboard, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System > Platform Settings, and select the Network Settings tab.

2. Specify a hostname for the Dashboard in the field provided.

3. Click Save.

Changing Network Settings (Network Settings tab)

Note	This does not apply to Cisco Business Dashboard for AWS or Azure. To modify the network configuration, use the EC2 console in AWS for an AWS instance, and the Azure Portal for an Azure instance.

To change the network configuration for the Dashboard, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System > Platform Settings, and select the Network Settings tab.

2. Select the method for IP address assignment. The available options are DHCP (default) and Static IP. If you choose the Static IP option, then specify the address, subnet mask, default gateways and DNS servers in the appropriate fields.

3. Click Save

Changing Time Settings (Time Settings tab)

The Time Settings manage the system clock for the Dashboard. To adjust the system clock, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System > Platform Settings, and select the Time Settings tab.

2. Select the appropriate timezone for the Dashboard.

3. Select the method for time synchronization. The available options are NTP (default) and Local Clock. If the NTP option is chosen, then optionally modify the NTP servers to use for synchronization.

   If Local Clock is selected, the you may manually adjust the date and time using the controls provided. Alternatively, click clock to synchronize the time with your PC.

4. Click Save.

Note

If the virtual machine is configured to synchronize the local clock with the host machine, any changes to the local clock done through the Platform Settings page will be overwritten by the hypervisor. If the hypervisor in use is VirtualBox and the VirtualBox Guest Additions are installed in the VM, the NTP service - timesyncd - will not operate.

Changing Port Settings (Ports and Security tab)

The Port Settings control the TCP ports the Dashboard’s user interface is hosted on. To change the default web server ports, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System > Platform Settings, and select the Ports and Security tab.

2. Change the ports used by the web server for the HTTP and HTTPS protocols.

3. Change the ports used to provide remote access to network devices through Cisco Business Dashboard.

4. Click Save.

Restricting Access to the Dashboard (Ports and Security tab)

You may limit the IP addresses that may access the Dashboard using the Access Control settings. You may specify different IP ranges for the Dashboard GUI, the Dashboard API, and for connections from probes and managed devices.

To limit access to the Dashboard, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System > Platform Settings, and select the Web Server tab.

2. Enter a network prefix and mask into the fields provided. If multiple prefixes are required for any section, click the (+)plus icon to add additional entries. Similarly, you may click the trashcan icon to remove existing entries.

3. Click Save.

Managing System Variables (System Variables tab)

Cisco Business Dashboard uses system variables to provide certain parameters related to the Dashboard when generating configuration templates and other tasks. Some system variables may be determined by the Dashboard automatically, but there are other variables that require user input. In particular, if the Dashboard is deployed behind a web proxy or NAT gateway, it will be necessary for the administrator to provide external addressing information for the Dashboard.

To update the external address information for the Dashboard, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to System > Platform Settings, and select the System Variables tab.

2. Enter IP address and port information into the External System Settings parameters as required. If left blank, the Dashboard will use the platform address and port information for the corresponding system variable.

3. Click Save.

Lifecycle Reporting

Cisco Business Dashboard provides information on the lifecycle state of each of the Cisco devices in the network. To do this, the Dashboard must provide Cisco with the product ID, serial number, and hardware and software versions for each Cisco device. The IP address of the Dashboard may also be recorded. No personal or sensitive information will be intentionally collected during this process.

To disable the generation of lifecycle reports, follow the following steps.

1. Navigate to System>Privacy Settings.

2. Uncheck the check box for the reports that you wish to disable.

3. Click Save.

Product Improvement

By enabling this feature, Cisco Business Dashboard periodically sends hardware and software product usage information to Cisco. The IP address of the Dashboard may also be recorded. No personal or sensitive information will be intentionally collected during this process.

To disable the generation of product improvement data, do the following:

1. Navigate to System > Privacy Settings.

2. Uncheck the Send product improvement data to the Cisco check box.

3. Click Save.

Software Updates

Use of this feature requires Cisco Business Dashboard to send the product ID and hardware and software version information for each device to Cisco. Your local IP address may also be recorded. No personal or sensitive information will be intentionally collected during this process.

To disable the use of automatic software updates, do the following:

1. Navigate to System>Privacy Settings.

2. Uncheck the check box for both device firmware checks and Cisco Business Dashboard application checks.

3. Click Save.

Logging to Syslog

From release 2.2.1, Cisco Business Dashboard application logs may be sent to the host’s syslog service and from there may be directed to external syslog servers.

To enable sending files to the host syslog service, follow the steps below.

1. Log on to the host operating system using SSH or via the console and edit the file /etc/ciscobusiness/dashboard/cisco-business-dashboard-logger.conf

2. Edit the xxx.logger lines to specify file or syslog or both (comma separated). The following modules are available: redis,mongo , rabbitmq, nginx and cbd. If file is specified, log messages will be directed to the default log files in the /var/log/ciscobusiness/dashboard/ directory. If syslog is specified, log messages will be directed to the syslog service in the host.

   Note	The mongo module does not support multiple logging destinations. If multiple destinations are listed, the first entry takes precedence. Also, the cbd module will always log to the file system regardless of the presence or absence of the file keyword in the logger configuration.

3. Optionally, modify the xxx.syslog.facility lines to specify the syslog facility used for each of the modules. By default, each module logs to a separate local<n> facility where <n> ranges between 1 and 5.

4. Restart Cisco Business Dashboard using the command cisco-business-dashboard stop followed by cisco-business-dashboard start.

Once the logging configuration has been modified to direct log messages to syslog, the /etc/rsyslog.conf file should be updated to receive the logs and direct the dashboard log messages to the desired destination. For a detailed information on the configuration file, refer to https://www.rsyslog.com/doc/v8-stable/configuration/index.html.

Execute the following steps:

1. The /etc/rsyslog.conf file should be updated to allow log messages to be received across the loopback interface. Edit the file to include the following lines to enable this and to restrict the server to listen only on the loopback interface:

   # provides UDP syslog reception
   module(load="imudp")
   input(type="imudp" port="514" address="::1")
   input(type="imudp" port="514" address="127.0.0.1")
   
   # provides TCP syslog reception
   module(load="imtcp")
   input(type="imtcp" port="514" address="::1")
   input(type="imtcp" port="514" address="127.0.0.1")
   

2. Create a new file in the directory /etc/rsyslog.d/ to contain the configuration directives specific to Cisco Business Dashboard. The file name should be of a form similar to 40-cisco-business-dashboard-syslog.conf.

3. Edit the file created in step 2 to contain directives to send log output to the desired destinations. For example, assuming the use of the default facilities in the cisco-business-dashboard-logger.conf file, the following configuration would direct the warning level and above messages from the dashboard application to the syslog server with the name logger.example.com:

   local2.warning		@logger.example.com

4. Restart the rsyslog daemon to apply the changes using the command sudo systemctl restart rsyslog.service

Cisco Business Dashboard may be integrated with a variety of applications and services provided by Cisco and other vendors. When integrated with an application, data and events may be exchanged between the applications and network actions performed.

Integration is supported with the following applications and services:

• Professional Service Automation (PSA) Tools

  • Connectwise Manage

• Collaboration Tools

  • Webex

The functionality offered by each type of integration is largely common across all integrations of the same type – PSA or collaboration tool. However, some differences do exist, and you should consult the appropriate sections in Available Integrations below to see the functionality supported by each individual application. To understand the functionality supported for each class of integration, read the following sections.