Overview

This chapter contains the following sections:

Network Device Management Tasks You Can Perform in Cisco UCS Director

You can use Cisco UCS Director to perform management, monitoring, and reporting tasks for network devices within a domain.

Configuration and Administration

You can configure the following network device protocols and components in Cisco UCS Director:

  • Ports and trunks

  • Multiple Spanning Tree (MST), Per VLAN Spanning Tree (PVST), and VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP)

  • Storage area network (SAN) zones and zonesets

  • Virtual device contexts (VDCs), virtual Fibre Channels (VFCs), and virtual port channel (vPC) domains

  • VLANs and private VLANs

  • Virtual storage area networks (VSANs)

  • Virtual extensible local area networks (VXLANs)

Monitoring and Reporting

You can also use Cisco UCS Director to monitor and report on network devices, including:

  • Service detail requests

  • Configurations

  • Modules

  • Interfaces

  • Port capabilities and profiles

  • Pool policies and usage

  • MAC address table configurations

  • Quality of Service (QoS) policy and class maps

  • Service detail requests

  • SAN zones and zonesets

  • vPC information

  • VSAN, VLAN, and Private VLAN information

Network Device Management Tasks You Cannot Perform in Cisco UCS Director

You cannot use Cisco UCS Director to perform certain network device management tasks within a Cisco UCS domain, such as the following:

  • Firmware upgrades

  • User management

Orchestration Tasks for Network Device Management

Cisco UCS Director includes orchestration features that allow you to automate configuration and management of network domain devices in workflows.

A complete list of the network device orchestration tasks is available in the Workflow Designer and in the Task Library.

For more information about orchestration in Cisco UCS Director, see the Cisco UCS Director Orchestration Guide.

Adding a Network Device Account

In order to create a network devices account, first add a network element in Cisco UCS Director. After a network device is added as a network element in Cisco UCS Director, it appears under the Managed Network Element tab.

Before You Begin

You must be logged in to the appliance to complete this task.

    Step 1   On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.
    Step 2   Choose the Managed Network Elements tab.
    Step 3   Click Add Network Element.
    Step 4   In the Add Network Element dialog box, complete the following fields:
    Name Description

    Pod drop-down list

    Choose the pod to which the network element belongs.

    Device Category drop-down list

    Choose the device category for this network element. For example: F5 Load Balancer.

    Device IP field

    The IP address for this device.

    Use Credential Policy check box

    Click the check box to use a policy to assign the credentials for the device instead of manually entering them. You may browse and choose an existing policy or create a new policy.

    Note   

    Ensure that you have provided the appropriate protocol value for the device category. For example, if the device category is F5 Load Balance, the protocol value could be HTTP or HTTPs. If the device category is Cisco ASA, the protocol value could be Telnet or SSH.

    The following fields appear if you have not clicked the Use Credential Policy check box.

    Protocol drop-down list

    Choose the protocol to be used to communicate with the device. The list may include the following:

    • Telnet

    • SSH

    • HTTP

    • HTTPS

    Note   

    The values in this drop-down list vary based on the selected device category. For example, if the device category is F5 Load Balance, the available options are HTTP and HTTPs. If the device category is Cisco ASA, the available options are Telnet and SSH.

    Port field

    The port to use to access the device. This value appears based on the value selected in the Protocol field. You can modify this value, if necessary.

    Login field

    The login name for the device.

    Password field

    The password associated with the login name.

    Enable Password field

    The password to enable access to the device. This field appears only for the following category of devices:

    • Cisco ASA

    • Brocade Fabric OS

    • Brocade Network OS

    • Cisco IOS

    Step 5   Click Submit.

    Adding the device triggers the system task inventory collection. The polling interval configured on the System Tasks tab specifies the frequency of inventory collection.

    What to Do Next

    To test the connectivity to the device, choose the device, then click the Test Connection button. To edit the credentials of the network device, choose the device, then click the Edit Credentials button. To remove a network device, choose the device, then click the Delete Network Element button.

    Collecting Inventory for a Network Device

      Step 1   On the menu tab, choose Physical > Network.
      Step 2   In the Network pane, choose the pod.
      Step 3   Click the Managed Network Elements tab.
      Step 4   Select the network device for which you want to collect inventory.
      Step 5   Click Collect Inventory.

      Configuring the Polling Interval

      The polling interval specifies the frequency of inventory collection.

        Step 1   On the menu bar, choose Administration > System.
        Step 2   Click the System Tasks tab.
        Step 3   Choose an inventory task of the account and click Manage Task.
        Step 4   From the Minutes drop-down list, choose the polling interval.
        Step 5   Click Submit.

        Viewing Connectivity and Topology for Network Devices

        You can view the connectivity and topology diagram for any network device. You can choose to view a hierarchical, concentric, circular, or force-directed mode.

          Step 1   On the menu tab, choose Physical > Network.
          Step 2   In the Network pane, choose the pod.
          Step 3   Click the Managed Network Elements tab.
          Step 4   Select the network device that you want to view.
          Step 5   Click View Connectivity.
          Step 6   In the Topology View - Network Device Connectivity dialog box, complete the following fields:
          Name Description

          View Mode drop-down list

          Choose one of the following:

          • Hierarchical

          • Concentric

          • Circular

          • Force directed

          Show Link Labels check box

          Check this check box to show link labels in the topology.

          Allow Item Spacing check box

          Check this check box to allow line spacing in the view.

          Step 7   Click Close when you are finished verifying the connectivity of the network devices and determining their topology.

          Verifying Network Device Details in a Pod Environment

          After the network device is added to the pod, all discovered components of the pod environment are displayed at the account level.

            Step 1   On the menu bar, choose Physical > Network.
            Step 2   In the Network pane, click the pod.
            Step 3   Click the Managed Network Elements tab.
            Step 4   Click the network device, and click View Details. All information about the device appears in the Summary tab. You can choose other tabs to see specific details, such as interfaces, modules, VLANs, port profiles, and so on, depending on the network device.