Setting Up the Network for Cisco Business Dashboard
Setting Up Device Credentials
For Cisco Business Dashboard to be able to manage the network devices, you must provide suitable credentials to allow access to each device.
When the Probe discovers a device, it will initially attempt to access the device using the default credentials with the username: cisco, password: cisco and the SNMP community set to: public. However, if the device is not using default credentials, then correct credentials must be supplied as detailed in the following steps:
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Navigate to Administration > Device Credentials. The first table on this page lists all the devices that have been discovered that require credentials, while the second table lists all the discovered devices for which working credentials are known.
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Enter a username and password combination and/or SNMP credentials in the respective fields at the top of the page. If more sets of credentials are required, then click the +(plus) icon. This allows up to three sets of each type of credential to be entered.
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Click Apply. The Probes will test each credential against each device for which a credential is required. Working credentials are saved for each device.
The Probes will discover each network and generate a topology map and inventory for the network after being provided with the working credentials.
Learn About Your Network
Cisco Business Dashboard provides a high-level view of your network as either a map or a list of networks. To see the high-level view of all networks, perform the following steps:
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Make sure you have associated your Probes with the Cisco Business Dashboard as described in the previous chapter.
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Click Network in the Dashboard navigation. Click the button to display either the Map View or the List View.
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In Map View, you may click and drag the map to reposition it, and use the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out. Each network with a Cisco Business Dashboard Probe installed will be displayed as an icon on the map. Each icon contains a number showing the number of outstanding notifications for that network, and the color of the icon shows the highest severity level outstanding. Click on an icon to see more details about that site. If multiple icons are too close to be easily distinguished, they will be replaced with a cluster marker showing the number of Network icons in that cluster. Click on the cluster marker to zoom in on the sites in that cluster.
In List View, you can click the icon at the top left corner of the table to select the columns to be displayed, and you can click on the column headings to sort the table.
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Use the Search box to find a specific network or to find the network that contains a particular device. You may enter the name, address or IP address of a network in the Search box, or the name, IP address, MAC address or serial number of a device.
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When you click on a network, the Basic Info panel appears showing you more information about that network. This information includes the network name and address, and a list of outstanding notifications for the network.
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You may click More in the Basic Info panel to open up the Network Detail a detailed information about that network, including the network topology diagram and floor-plans. It also allows you to modify settings for this network and view all the devices discovered in this network.
You may also use the Inventory to see detailed information about all the devices in your network. The Inventory page provides a list of all discovered devices in a tabular view. You can filter the list to restrict the devices displayed, and click on individual devices to see more information about that device.
Discover the Network by Scanning IP Addresses (Optional - Direct Managed Networks Only)
For direct managed networks, Cisco Business Dashboard may not always be able to discover network devices in other VLANs or subnets using only the automated discovery processes. When this occurs, it can be beneficial to have the dashboard explicitly search the IP address ranges associated with those VLANs or subnets. To search an IP address range, do the following:
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Log on to the dashboard administration interface and open the Job Center by clicking on the hourglass icon in the top right corner of the screen.
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Select the Schedule Profiles tab and click the plus (+) icon to create a new schedule profile.
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Set the Job Type to Search IPv4 Range for Devices.
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Select the appropriate organization and chose the network to search.
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Set the schedule for the job. Optionally set it to recur periodically if you want to search the network regularly.
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Specify the credentials to use when discovering devices and specify the IP address ranges to search.
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Click Save.
Based on the schedule, the dashboard will search the specified address ranges for devices with an active web server and attempt to connect to the device using the credentials provided. If the dashboard is successful in accessing the device, it will be added to the inventory and will be managed in the same way as any other device in the network.
Customizing the Topology Map (Optional)
Once working credentials are provided, the Probes or direct managed devices will discover each network and generate a Topology map. You may adjust the map as necessary.
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Navigate to Network and select the network of interest. Click More to display the topology.
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You may drag individual device icons to improve the layout. Any changes you make to the layout are permanent. Cisco Business Dashboard will not make further changes to the location of the icons. If you wish to re-enable automatic placement of icons, then click Relayout Topology.
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Click Overlays to open the Overlays and Filters panel and use the check boxes to limit the device types that are displayed in the topology diagram.
Uploading Floor Plans (Optional)
You may upload floor plans for each network and place your network devices in order to document the location of your equipment. The following steps guide you through this process:
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When viewing the topology diagram for a network, click Floor Plan.
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Enter a name for the building and the floor, and then either drag an image file into the drop zone or click inside the widget to select an image file on your PC. Image formats supported include .png, .gif, .jpg
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Click Save to save the changes.
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To place a device on the floor plan, click Add Devices and type the device name or IP address into the search box at the bottom of the screen. Matching devices will be displayed, where grayed out devices have already been placed on a floor plan.
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Click and drag a device to add it to the floor plan in the correct location.
Customizing the Monitoring Dashboard
You may customize the monitoring dashboard to suit your requirements using the following steps:
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Select Dashboard from the navigation at the left of the screen. The default dashboard will be displayed.
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To relocate individual widgets within the dashboard, click on the gear icon at the top right of the dashboard and select the Edit Mode option. Click and hold to drag each widget to the desired location. To resize a widget, click and hold on the edge or corner of the widget to resize.
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To add a new widget to the dashboard, click the gear icon at the top right of the dashboard and select to add a widget. Select the desired widget from the list. To remove a widget from the dashboard, click remove widget ✖ icon in the top right corner of the widget when in edit mode.
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Once the dashboard is laid out correctly, click the gear icon at the top right of the dashboard and select View Mode to lock the changes in place.
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To change the behavior of a widget, click edit widget configuration icon in the top right of the widget. Use the drop down lists to select the specific device, interface or network the widget should monitor.
Customizing Notification Display
You may customize the behavior of notifications using the following steps:
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Navigate to
and select the organization where you want to customize notification behavior. -
Click Notification
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Unchecked the Inherit from Notification Defaults checkbox. Use the check boxes to control which notifications generate a pop-up alert in the user interface, and those that generate an email notification. If you use email notifications, you must ensure that the email settings are correctly configured. Click Save.
You may also customize the Notification Defaults by navigating to .