Exploring Your Nexus Dashboard

System update notifications

Beginning with release 4.2.1, Nexus Dashboard provides automated alerts to notify you when a new recommended software version is available.

To receive these alerts, Nexus Dashboard must retrieve version metadata through an Intersight connection or an air-gapped update process. You must maintain an Intersight connection to receive the latest software update notifications automatically. For more information, see Upload metadata using air-gapped mechanism.

You can view the system update notifications in the following locations.

When you click Snooze, the system hides the notification banner for the specified snooze period but keeps the notification bell icon alert visible. The notification bell icon alert stays visible until you update the system to the latest software version. Nexus Dashboard automatically removes both the banner and the notification bell icon alert after you successfully update the system to the latest software version.

Customize color themes

Nexus Dashboard allows you customize color themes to personalize the visual appearance based on your preference. Choosing a suitable color theme makes it easier to view Nexus Dashboard in low-light environments, such as Network Operations Centers (NOCs).

Follow these steps to customize color themes.

Nexus Dashboard immediately applies the theme across the entire UI, displaying the changes instantly. You can switch themes at any time to suit your needs and preferences.

Nexus Dashboard does not apply the Classic dark and Midnight dark themes when you navigate to Admin > Intersight.

The following images illustrate the Classic dark and Midnight dark themes in Nexus Dashboard.

Color themes are associated with individual user preferences. The login page remains in the default theme. Nexus Dashboard applies the color theme that you choose only after you log in.

Updates to password management

Nexus Dashboard now has these updates to password management:

Manage

This category contains these pages.

Analyze

This category contains these pages.

Admin

This category contains these pages.

Layout selection

You can choose two types of predefined layouts by navigating to Actions > Layout.

These figures show examples of both types of layouts.

The vertical layout allows scrolling only along the vertical axis, while the horizontal layout allows scrolling along the horizontal axis. Depending on the layout you choose, the other axis remains constant according to your page size. When you zoom in or out, certain elements may shift to ensure all the elements are visible within the selected layout.

If neither of the layout provides the desired view, click the Edit icon in the navigation controls at the lower-right corner of the Topology page to switch to freeform edit mode. In Edit mode, you can move the elements around the page until you achieve the desired arrangement, then click the Save Layout icon to save your layout. Nexus Dashboard automatically displays this saved layout each time you return to this view.

Follow these guidelines when you are in freeform edit mode.

After you save a freeform layout, the Custom option appears and is selected by default under Actions > Layout. The Delete Custom Layout option also appears, that allows you to delete your freeform layout when you no longer wish to use it.

Topology legend

Click the Info icon in the navigation controls at the lower-right corner of the Topology page to access the Topology Legend drawer. Refer the legends under Node health status and Node type to understand the icons associated with the elements displayed in the Topology page.

Tooltips

Tooltips provide quick and relevant information about elements in the Topology page to enhance usability and navigation. Single-click on an element (such as a node, link, or device) to view the tooltip that provides a general summary of that element, including key details such as its name, status, and type.

For example, single-clicking on a node displays tooltip that provides information about the existing connections and a summary of general information. You can scroll through the content of the tooltips.

You can also click View details to view the Fabric Overview page.

Clicking on a link provides information about the connected interfaces and the names of the connected devices.

Contextual menus

Right-clicking on any element in the topology view displays a contextual menu with options relevant to the specific element.

Filtering

The Filter by attributes drop-down list displays possible filters and operators that you can apply to the current view. The filter options vary depending on the view you are in.

Link aggregation

Link aggregation enables you to simplify the visualization of network connections in the topology view by combining multiple links into a single, aggregated representation.

In the Actions drop-down list, a toggle is available for Aggregate links option, which is enabled by default.

When Aggregate links option is enabled, all the individual full lines representing separate links are merged into one thick full line and all the individual dotted lines, typically denoting secondary or backup links, are combined into one thick dotted line.

This figure shows an example scenario where the Aggregate links option is enabled.

This figure shows an example scenario where the Aggregate links option is disabled.

Click on the line to view a detailed summary of all the connections within an aggregated link.

To perform specific actions on the aggregated links, click View all from the depicted content. This action redirects you to the Connections page in Nexus Dashboard, which lists all connected interfaces.

Navigate to a fabric group

Fabric groups provide a hierarchical representation of fabrics and their components. They are visually depicted as gray boxes that encapsulate all of their child fabrics.

Locate the gray box representing the desired fabric group in the Topology view.

Double-click on the gray area of the fabric group. This displays a detailed view showcasing all child fabrics within the group, down to the switch level.

Within the child fabrics view, locate the gray areas representing individual fabrics. Double-click on the gray area of a specific child fabric to navigate into it.

Intra-fabric navigation

Intra-fabric navigation allows you to explore and interact with the topology of individual fabrics at a detailed level. While in the All fabrics view, you can double-click on any of the nodes marked with a globe icon to open the topology for that specific fabric, displaying its connections down to the switch level.

To view the topology for a given switch, double-click on any of the nodes.

To display endpoints, such as hosts or other connected devices, within the topology of the fabric, click the Actions drop-down list and toggle the Show hosts option on.

Overlays

Overlays are visual elements represented as nodes within the interface. Each node includes a number badge displayed to its right, indicating the total number of associated elements. The text label accompanying the node functions as an interactive link. When you click the text label, it opens a drawer where the corresponding data is organized and displayed in a table format for detailed viewing.

In addition to clicking the text link, you can access the same drawer through these alternative actions.

Nexus Dashboard currently supports network, VRF, and security group overlays only for NX-OS fabric groups. It does not display these overlays for VXLAN-ACI fabric groups or at the MSD level when you integrate ACI and NX-OS fabrics.

Network overlays

Network overlays provide a visual representation of the network topology and allows you to interact with and manage various networks.

Double-click the number displayed on the network overlay node to open the side drawer. This side drawer lists all the available networks for easy navigation. The first column displays a spin icon for each network. Clicking this icon opens the specific topology associated with the chosen network.

Click the spin icon next to the network name to render the topology for this network. Upon accessing the topology of the network, you are automatically placed in Configuration mode. In this mode, the layout selection option is disabled by default, ensuring that configurations are prioritized.

VRF overlays

VRF overlays provide a visual representation of Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) instances within the network topology.

Double-click the number displayed on the VRF overlay node to open the side drawer. The first column displays a spin icon that you can use to access the topology of each VRF.

Click the spin icon to render the topology for this VRF. Upon accessing the topology of the VRF, you are automatically placed in Configuration mode. In this mode, the layout selection option is disabled by default, ensuring that configurations are prioritized.

Security group overlays

Security group overlays provide a visual overview of all the configured security groups within the network topology.

Double-click the number on the security group overlay node to open the side drawer. The first column displays a spin icon that you can use to access the topology specific security group.

Click the spin icon to render the topology for this security group. You are placed in the Configuration mode by default with the layout selection disabled and the layout changed to horizontal.

VM overlays

VM overlays provide a visual representation of all virtual machines (VMs) within the network topology.

Double-click the number on the VM overlay node to open the side drawer. The first column displays a spin icon that you can use to access the topology of each VM.

Click the spin icon to render the topology for this VM, with the layout selection disabled.

The Topology page does not display connectivity between FEX devices and ESX hosts or VMs. Although the switch view on the Topology page includes FEX switches and displays connectivity between leaf/spine switches and ESX hosts, it does not represent the direct links from FEX devices to ESX hosts or VMs. This limitation applies when FEX devices are connected to ESX hosts managed by vCenter, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and other endpoints.

Multi-node selection

The multi-node selection allows you to choose multiple nodes within a visual interface efficiently.

Click and hold the left mouse button in an empty area near the nodes you want to choose. Drag the mouse to form a rectangular selection box around the desired nodes. Release the mouse button once all the required nodes are within the selection area.

On macOS, press and hold the Cmd key on your keyboard, then click each node you want to choose.

The chosen nodes displays a highlighted background to indicate they are part of the current selection.

Right-click on any of the highlighted nodes to access the context-specific actions for your selection.

Enable topology snapshots

Follow these steps to enable topology snapshots.

Search Topology

Use a combination of search attributes and search criteria in the search bar for an effective search. As you enter a combination of search attribute and search criteria in the search bar, the corresponding devices are highlighted in the topology.

You can apply the search criteria such as equals (=), does not equal (!=), contains (contains), and does not contain (!contains).

The search attribute that you can use for SAN fabric is fabric name.

When a device displays on the topology, double-click it to navigate further into the topology. For example, when the fabric (cloud icon) you searched displays on the topology, double-click on the fabric to navigate inside its topology. Furthermore, after the fabric is displayed on the topology, you can continue to search based on a combination of criteria and various search attributes such as switch name, IP address, model, serial, software version, and up time.

Certain levels of the topology allow filters only; that is, filters take the place of Search. The topology listing for these levels displays a limited number of entities.

View Topology

To pan, click and hold anywhere in the whitespace and drag the cursor up, down, left, or right. To drag switches, click, hold, and move the cursor around the whitespace region of the topology.

In case of multiple switch selection, you must release the modifier keys (cmd/ctrl) before releasing the mouse to drag to end the switch selection.

You can view the following information for the devices and links in the View pane.

View the topology for a node depending on the chosen scope. Each scope is shown in hierarchical order. An example hierarchy might be All fabrics > msd > fabric-name.

You can view these scopes.

When you deploy a VXLAN fabric group with child fabrics, to view the multi-fabric topology, double-click on a fabric node. Choose the MSD scope or double-click on the gray MSD node to view the MSD topology.

View elements in SAN topology

1. Navigate to Home > Topology.

2. Double-click on a fabric.

   You can view a VSAN node and the connected switches in the topology diagram.

This section provides information about various elements or entities displayed on the Topology page for SAN fabrics.

VSAN

1. Double-click on a fabric to view the fabric topology.

   A SAN fabric contains VSAN nodes and switches. The VSAN node has a number displayed in parens, which indicates the number of VSANs in the fabric.

   The VSAN topology displays zones and switches connected to the VSAN.

   

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   You must have configured the VSAN and the links with VSAN membership to view the VSANs.

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2. Single-click on the VSAN node to view a slide-in summary pane of the individual VSANs in the VSAN-node topology.

   After the VSAN slide-in summary pane appears, you can search for VSAN attributes or by search criteria in the Search by Attributes field. For more information, see Search Topology.

3. Click any VSAN in the VSAN summary slide-in pane to display the VSAN.

   You can view the grouping of the VSAN and any connected switches or zones in the topology diagram.

   VSAN summary fields and descriptions

   Field	Description
   Name	Specifies the name of the VLAN.
   Id	Specifies the ID of the VLAN.
   Status	Specifies the ID of the VLAN. If you click the tooltip in the Status column, you can see the status of the switch and if the switch is a principal switch. The pagination bar at the bottom of the VSAN summary slide-in pane displays the number of VSANs for the fabric.

Zone

1. Click on the VSAN node in the fabric topology diagram to display the VSAN summary slide-in pane.

2. Click on a VSAN node to display the Zone Devices summary slide-in pane where you can view the connected host and storage devices.

   You can also view the grouping of the VSAN with the connected host and storage devices in the fabric topology diagram.

   You can advance to the next page in the Zone Devices summary slide-in pane by clicking a zone name.

Hosts and storage

1. Single-click on a zone in the fabric topology diagram to view the Zones Devices summary slide-in pane where you can view the connected hosts and storage devices.

   You can also view the grouping of hosts and storage devices in the fabric topology.

2. Click on a switch directly in the fabric topology to view a summary of the switch.

   The switch topology displays the hosts and storage devices connected to the switch.

Hosts

1. Click on the host device to view more information about the host in the slide-in pane.

2. From the Zone Devices slide-in pane, you can click on a host to open the Host Overview dashboard.

3. You can also right-click on the host device and click the Detailed View to open the Host Overview dashboard.

Storage

1. Click on the storage device to view more information about the storage in the Zone Devices slide-in pane.

2. From the Zone Devices slide-in pane, you can open the Storage Overview dashboard.

3. You can right-click on the storage device and click the Detailed View to open the Storage Overview dashboard.

Links

In the switch topology, click on the link that connects two devices, for example, the switch and the storage to open the Link slide-in pane.

This slide-in pane displays the details related to the last polling of the performance data.

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You must have configured performance monitoring for the fabric in Performance Data Collection Settings.

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Performance monitoring allows the Nexus Dashboard to collect the traffic information and the aggregated information is displayed along with a graph showing traffic utilization. The Nexus Dashboard updates the last poll metric every five minutes for all the ports, links, and so on for all the switches in the fabric. If the date and time displayed in this slide-in pane is current, then the last poll metric details are up to date.

Link summary fields and descriptions

Field	Description
General Information	Specifies general information such as link capacity, VSAN, and status.
Information	Specifies information about the traffic for the last 24 hours with details such as average, maximum, and minimum Rx and Tx in bytes. The slide-in panel includes the following poll metrics details: Time Rx Tx in a graph on the Graph tab and in table format on the Table tab. Note that the table is paginated.

Understand data source parameters

Data source selections consist of four main components.

The Source and Scope fields appear depending on the widget you choose, and Fabric Name, Switch, and Interface fields appear depending on the Scope you choose. The By field is present for all the widgets.