Get Started with Cisco DNA Center

About Cisco DNA Center

Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) offers centralized, intuitive management that makes it fast and easy to design, provision, and apply policies across your entire network environment. It also delivers end-to-end visibility and uses network insights to optimize network performance and deliver the best user and application experience. DNA Center allows you to

  • Move faster—Provision thousands of devices across your enterprise. Act fast with centralized management, and automate device deployment.

  • Lower costs—Reduce errors with automation. Policy-driven deployment and onboarding deliver better uptime and improved security.

  • Reduce risk—Predict problems early. Use actionable insights for optimal performance of your network, devices, and applications.

Log In

Access Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) by entering its network IP address in your browser. The IP address was configured during the DNA Center installation. This IP address connects to the external network.
Procedure
    Step 1   Enter the following address in your web browser address field, where server-ip is the IP address (or the hostname) of the server on which you installed DNA Center:

    https://server-ip

    For example, https://192.0.2.1

    Depending on your network configuration, the first time your browser connects to the DNA Center web server, you might need to update your client browser to trust the server's security certificate, which ensures the security of the connection between your client and the DNA Center server.

    Step 2   Enter your username and password, which you configured during the installation.
    Step 3   To log out, click the gear icon in the top-right corner and click Sign Out.

    Default Home Page

    After you log in to DNA Center, you are taken to the DNA Center home page, which is divided into two main areas—Applications and Tools:

    Applications include:

    • Design—Model your entire network, from sites and buildings to devices and links, both physical and virtual, across campus, branch, WAN and cloud.

    • Policy—Create policies to automate and simplify network management, reducing cost and risk while speeding rollout of new and enhanced services.

    • Provision—Provide new services to users with ease, speed and security across your enterprise network, regardless of network size and complexity.

    Tools—Include all the installed tools that help you configure the network such as Discovery, Device Inventory, Topology, etc.

    Figure 1. DNA Center Home Page

    From the DNA Center home page, you can also search for applications and tools by entering an application or tool name in the Search field.

    Start Using DNA Center

    To start using DNA Center, you must first configure the DNA Center settings so that the server can communicate outside the network. See Configure Site Network Settings.

    After you configure the DNA Center settings, your current environment determines how you start using DNA Center:

    • Existing infrastructure—If you have an existing infrastructure, start with Discovery. After running Discovery, all your devices are displayed on the Design screen.

    • New or nonexisting infrastructure—If you have no existing infrastructure and are starting from scratch, see creating your network hierarchy.