netbrain technologies, inc. 2009-07-20...check store password, the system will remember the password...

NetBrain Discovery Appliance Manual

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NetBrain Technologies, Inc.

2009-07-20


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Table of Contents 1. Overview ......................................................................................................................... 4 2. Installation ....................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Installation Software ............................................................................................. 5 2.1.1 Install ActivePerl ........................................................................................ 5 2.1.2 Install PostgreSQL Database ..................................................................... 8 2.1.3 Install NetBrain Discovery Appliance ..................................................... 14

2.2 Activate NetBrain Discovery Appliance License ............................................... 18 3. Setup and run the discovery process ............................................................................. 25

3.1 Step 1: Import device configurations. ................................................................. 25 3.2 Step 2: Define Live network settings .................................................................. 26 3.3 Step 3: Run the Tune live access ......................................................................... 33

3.3.1 To tune live access ................................................................................... 34 3.3.2 View results and logs of tuning live access .............................................. 34

3.4 Step 4: Run the live network discovery process ................................................. 36 3.4.1 Discover via seed router ........................................................................... 37 3.4.2 Scan IP ranges .......................................................................................... 38 3.4.3 Schedule Auto Discovery ......................................................................... 39 3.4.4 View failed log ......................................................................................... 40

3.5 Step5: View discovery result and export the asset report ................................... 43 3.5.1 View discovery result ............................................................................... 43 3.5.2 View interface detail ................................................................................ 45 3.5.3 Create the asset report .............................................................................. 46

4. Optimize discovery operations ..................................................................................... 49 4.1 Import device configurations .............................................................................. 50 4.2 Use the known devices as seed routers ............................................................... 50 4.3 Customize subnet groups .................................................................................... 50 4.4 Support MPLS VPN............................................................................................ 52 4.5 Set the concurrent task numbers ......................................................................... 53 4.6 Multi-vendor support .......................................................................................... 53

5. Customize the asset report ............................................................................................ 54 6. Reset Discovery Appliance ........................................................................................... 55 7. Create tech support log ................................................................................................. 55 Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 56

Appendix 1. Device settings ..................................................................................... 56 Automatically set Device settings ..................................................................... 56 Manually set device settings ............................................................................. 57

Appendix 2. CSV file format .................................................................................... 59 Create a CSV file to import seed routers .......................................................... 60 Create a CSV file to import IP ranges ............................................................... 60


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Create a CSV file to import the Do-not-scan subnet group or must-scan subnet group ................................................................................................................. 60 Create a CSV file to import devices .................................................................. 61

Appendix 3. UI Operations ....................................................................................... 61 Network pane and device info window ............................................................ 61 MPLS table ....................................................................................................... 63 Subnet group ..................................................................................................... 64 Modify vendor and model ................................................................................. 65

Appendix 4. Import and export data ......................................................................... 66 Import data ........................................................................................................ 66 Export data ........................................................................................................ 68


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1. Overview

NetBrain Discovery Appliance (DAP) provides a reliable and fast discovery and document solution. DAP is able to discover the network according to the requirement defined by the user, run the discovery operation in predefined interval without the user’s intervention and report the result as CSV file. Compared with the traditional network discovery system, NetBrain DAP has the following advantages: (1) DAP supports accessing the network via CLI besides SNMP; (2) DAP parses the configuration files while doing the discovery and so greatly speed up the discovery process. NetBrain DAP discovers the network in two steps: first the DAP discovers the network devices via seed routers. The system allows you to manually enter IP addresses or use the imported or already discovered devices as seed routers. In this step, NetBrain DAP will discover neighbor devices of seed routers and then recursively use these neighbors as seed routers till no new device is discovered. After this step, the DAP will create a list of network subnets as candidates to scan. Secondly the DAP will scan every subnet in this list to discover the leaf nodes. The scan is time consuming and the DAP provides the user options and configuration to speed up this process. NetBrain DAP discovery process can be run flexibly. You can instruct the system to run discovery via seed router and scan process continuously without the intervention, or you can perform the operation step by step. Also you can pause the discovery process and check the result at any time and later continue the discovery operation. With NetBrain DAP, you can manually start the live network discovery process or set up a schedule to run discover operation in a predefined interval. We recommend that you run the discovery process manually for the first time and tune up the configuration or setting. After that, set up a schedule to run the discover operation automatically. The data discovered by NetBrain DAP can be imported to NetBrain Workstation. Combined the auto discovery function of DAP with the auto diagramming and map based trouble shooting functions of NetBrain Workstation, you have a powerful network management tools to make the network management much easier.


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2. Installation

This chapter covers the following topics: Installation Software Activate NetBrain Discovery Appliance License

2.1 Installation Software

NetBrain DAP uses ActivePerl and PostgreSQL. You must install them before installing NetBrain DAP.

2.1.1 Install ActivePerl

Find the subdirectory “perl” under your NetBrain Discovery Appliance setup directory and perform the following steps: Step1. Double click the file ActivePerl-5.8.8.822-MSWin32-x86-280952.msi to pop up the Active Perl installation UI shown in the following figure. Step2. Click the Next button.

Step3. Check the “I accept the terms in the License Agreement” and click the Next button.


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Step4. Select the directory to install ActivePerl and click the Next Button The default location is C:\Perl\

Step5. Keep the default Setup Options and click the Next button.


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Step6. Click the Install button to begin the installation.

Step7. Wait till the installation is finished. Click the Finish button.


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The ActivePerl programming will be displayed in the Start > Programs.

Note: you must add Perl module after ActivePerl is installed successfully. Just unzip the file lib.rar into the subdirectory site\lib in the installation directory of ActivePerl.

2.1.2 Install PostgreSQL Database

Step1. Create a window account for PostgreSQL You can create a new user for PostgreSQL. This user should NOT belong to the administrator groups.


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Step2. Appliance uses PostgreSQL 8.2 as the database management. To install PostgreSQL 8.2, please double click postgresql-8.2.msi.

Step3. Select language and then click on the Start button to start your installation.


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Step4. Set the features as the default and click on the Next button to continue.

Step5. After click "Next" button, a popup window asks to set the user with the login as service right, click ok to the next step.

Step6. At the phrase of Initialize database cluster, you should set the port number and superuser name. Set the database port number to be 5432 by default. The superuser is the internal database username and not the service account. Here, let us set both username and password to be postgres as the default. Click on the Next button and then go on.


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Step7. At this step, please choose PL/pgsql as the script language by default.

Step8. At this step, you need to enable contrib modules. Choose to enable Adminpack by default and then click on the Next button to continue.


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Step9. Click on the Next button to install.

Step10. Wait till the installation is finished Click on the Finish button.


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After successfully installing PostgreSQL, you can view the PostgreSQL 8.2 menu in the All Program menu list. Mouse over All Programs > PostgreSQL 8.2 and then choose pgAdmin III, you can logon into the Database management console.

After logging into the database management console, double click the database, the Connect to Server window will pop up In the window of Connect to Server, input the password postgres and then click on the OK button. Check Store password, the system will remember the password and you don’t need to input it again.


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The system will verify the password. If the password is matched, you can view the database details.

2.1.3 Install NetBrain Discovery Appliance

Step1. Double click the file NetBrainDAP_setup.exe to pop up the NetBrain Discovery Appliance installation UI. Step2. Follow instructions in the Setup Wizard. On the first page, click the Next button.


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Step3. On the system detecting page, the system setting is collected and displayed. Click Next.

Step4. On the License Agreement page, read the License Agreement. If you accept the License Agreement, click on the Yes button to continue, if you click on the No button, the setup will exit.


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Step5. Input username and your company name. Also you can specify that the application can be used by anyone who uses this computer or by yourself only. Click on the Next button to continue.

Step6. On the Choose Destination Location page, do one of the following: To install NetBrain DAP to the default folder, click the Next button. To select a different folder, click the Browse button. Select your desired directory and click the OK button, and then click the Next button.


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Step7. At this step, you need to input the username and password to access the database. The username and password is the same to that you have set when you install the database. By default, it is postgres/postgres. Click on the Next button to continue.

Step8. On the Start Copying Files page, you will see a summary of installation settings; to make any change to installation settings, click on the Back button. Click the Install button to begin installing.


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Step9. On the Installation Complete page, click the Finish button.

2.2 Activate NetBrain Discovery Appliance License

At the first time you use NetBrain Discovery Appliance 2.3, the system will pop up the following window.


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From this window, you can view the software demo, try the software or activate the software. The license expiration date is also shown in this window.

Click the View Demo button to connect NetBrain website and view the NetBrain Workstation Product Demo. If you have not bought the license, you can click the Register... button to try the

NetBrain Workstation. The Activate Trial License window will be popped up. The username and password are included in the email sent to you from NetBrain with the download link. However if you do not have them, you can do the followings to obtain the trial license:


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a. Click the Click here link in this window to access the URL https://online.NetBraintech.com/licsvc/order/downloadproduct.aspx .

b. Input the information. The fields with * are required, such as the First Name,

Last Name and Email address. Then click the Submit button, the system will send you the username and password of the trial license. The username is same as the email address.

c. Input the username and password and click “Next” to start the activation process in the Activate Trial License window. The username and password are included in the email sent to you from NetBrain with the download link.

After the verification, the trial license is activated successfully and you can use it up to 30 days.

If you bought the license, click the Activate... button to pop up the Activate License window to allow you activate the license. Or select Help > Activate product option on the menu of NetBrain Workstation when you are launching NetBrain Workstation.


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On the Active License window, NetBrain Workstation provides two ways to activate the software: online or by email.

If your computer is connected to the Internet, do the following steps to activate the license: a. Input the license ID, password and Email address. Please enter the

email address correctly. It will be used to send you the confirmation code and you will be asked to enter this confirmation code the next time you use NetBrain workstation. Note: If you bought the NetBrain Discovery appliance license, you should receive an e-mail to inform you the license ID and Password in the e-mail.

b. Select the Activate online option Click the Next button to start the activation process. If the license is verified successfully, the NetBrain license server will send the confirm code to your mailbox. The next time you login to Workstation, the system will pops up the Confirm License window. Input the confirm code then click the OK button to finish the activation.


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If you did not received the confirm code, NetBrain allows you to use another email address to activate the license again. Do the following steps: Click the I do not have a confirm code link to pop up the Change License Email window.

Enter the license ID and password again and another a valid email address, then click the OK button, the system will send the confirm code to your this email address. If your computer is not connected to the Internet, do the following steps to activate the license: Input the license ID, password and email address in the Activate License window. Select Activation by Email option. Click the Next button to pop-up the Activate By E-mail window.


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In the Activate By Email window, Click [email protected] link to invoke the email client in your computer and the generated identity file will be attached. This file is only used for NetBrain to bind the license with your PC and is not used for any other purpose.

If you can not access the Internet, you can send the identity file to other people who can forward it to NetBrain support team. After receiving the Email, NetBrain support team will create an activation file for your computer and send it to you via e-mail. Copy the activate file to your computer then launch the workstation, click Help > Activate


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Product option to pop up the Active license window, then select Activate by Email option and click the Next button to enter the activate by email page. Click the Browse … button to locate the activation file you just saved then click the Next> button，to import it into the system. Now NetBrain Discovery Appliance will be activated and is ready to use.


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3. Setup and run the discovery process

To setup and run the discovery process, perform the following steps: Step1. Import device configurations NetBrain Discovery Appliance allows you to import device configuration files. Later you can instruct the system to use these devices as seed routers to discover the network. This step is optional and you can safely skip this step. Step2. Define the live network settings Live network settings window allows you to define all possible device settings of your network, such as login credentials, SNMP strings, proxy and Jumpbox. These settings will be used in the discovery process to access live network devices. Step3. Run the tune live access If you have imported devices in step 1, you may want to run this step to speed up the discover process. You can also safely skip this step. Via tuning the live access, the system will poll the live devices automatically using the live network settings and then match and fill in device settings for all imported devices. Step4. Run the live network discovery process In this step, the system will discover all network devices and also retrieve the data according to your requirement. Step5. View discovery result or export the result to CSV file The detail of each step is described as the following.

3.1 Step 1: Import device configurations.

NetBrain Discovery Appliance allows you to import device configuration files. Later you can instruct the system to use these devices as seed routers to discover the network. Importing configurations can speed up the discovery process. However if you do not have device configurations on your machine or do not want to import configurations, you can safely skip this step. To import configuration files, run the following steps: a. Click file > Import configurations to open the Import configurations window ,:


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b. Click From Folder button or From Files button to select device configuration files. c. Click OK Detail information for the Import configurations window is shown in the following table.

Field/Pane/button Description Imported configuration files pane

Display the files to be added into the NetBrain Discovery Appliance

From Folder Click this button to allow you to select a folder and add the files in the selected folder to the NetBrain Discovery Appliance

From Files Click this button to allow you to select one or multiple configuration files and import them to the NetBrain Discovery Appliance

Remove Select one or multiple files then click this button, the selected files will be

removed from the NetBrain Discovery Appliance

3.2 Step 2: Define Live network settings

Live network settings window allows you to define all possible device settings of your network. The defined live network settings can be used by Tune live access to poll the live devices and automatically match and fill in the device settings. It can be also used to access network devices in the live network discovery.


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The Live Network Settings window has the following functions: ● Set the Telnet/SSH login username/password pair ● Set the Privilege password ● Set the SNMP community strings ● Set the Proxy Appliance ● Set the Jumpbox

To set the telnet/SSH login username/password pair

1. Click tab to switch to the corresponding view.

2. Click the Add button. The Username/Password window pops up.

3. Input the username and password and confirm your password in the Username/Password window. Click OK. A username/ password pair item is added and shown in the live network settings entry pane.


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4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add all possible username/password pairs. If you want to edit a username/password pair item, select the item then click the Edit button, the Username/Password window pops up. You can modify username and password. After modification, click OK. If you want to remove a username/password pair item, select the item then click the Remove button, the selected item will be removed. Note: Make sure to collect all possible username/password pairs, otherwise, maybe you will not tune live access successfully or not discover all live network devices.

The username can be selected manually from the popup dialog while clicking button of

the username&password field in the device settings window. More information, refer to appendix 1.

To set the privilege password


2. Click the Add button. The Privilege Password window pops up.

3. Input an alias and an enable password and confirm your password in the Privilege Password window, Click OK, a privilege password item is added and shown on the live network settings entry pane.. 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add all possible privilege passwords. If you want to edit a privilege password item, select the item then click the Edit button, the Privilege Password window pops up. You can modify the privilege password. After modification, click OK.


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If you want to remove a privilege password item, select the item then click the Remove button, the selected item will be removed. Note: Make sure to collect all possible privilege passwords, otherwise, maybe you will not tune live access successfully or not discover all live network devices.

The alias can be selected manually from the popup dialog while clicking button of the

enable password field in the device settings window. More information, refer to appendix 1

To set the SNMP community strings


2. Click the Add button. The SNMP RO window pops up.

3. Input a RO string in the SNMP RO window, then click OK, a SNMP RO string item is added. 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add all possible SNMP RO strings. If you want to edit a SNMP community string item, select the item then click the Edit button, the SNMP RO window pops up. You can modify the RO string. After modification, click OK button. If you want to remove a SNMP RO item, select the item then click the Remove button, the selected item will be removed. Note: 1. Make sure that you input all possible SNMP RO strings. Otherwise, you will not tune live access successfully or discover all network devices using SNMP options. 2. The RO strings can be listed in the RO string drop-down list in the device settings window. More information, refer to appendix 1

To set the proxy appliance For some Network, NetBrain Discovery Appliance is not able access all or some of network devices. We develop Proxy Appliance to solve this problem. Proxy Appliance acts as an intermediary between a NetBrain Discovery Appliance and the live network devices.


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It forwards the operation request from the NetBrain Discovery Appliance to the destination device and then forwards the operation result from the destination device to the NetBrain Discovery Appliance.


2. Click the Add button to pop up the Ping/Trace/SNMP Proxy Server window.

3. Input the name, IP address and port number in the corresponding filed. The default port number of the proxy server is 9099, 4. Click the OK button to finish adding a proxy server and the added item is shown in the Live network settings entry pane. 5. Repeat step 2 to 4 to add all proxy servers. If you want to edit a proxy server item, select the item and click the Edit button, the ping/trace/SNMP proxy server window pops up. You can modify the parameters. After modification, click OK. If you want to remove a proxy server item, select the item then click the Remove button, the selected item will be removed. The status in the live network settings entry pane shows the connection status between


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local NetBrain Discovery Appliance and the proxy server. Connected indicates workstation is connected to the proxy server, disconnected indicated the NetBrain Discovery Appliance is not connected to the proxy server. Select a proxy server item and click information to view the detail information of this proxy server . Note： The proxy server settings may not be necessary. If the workstation can access the live network via local, you need not set the proxy server. You can modify the port number of a Proxy Server. If you are not sure what port it is, please consult with your administrator or whoever installing the Proxy Server. The proxy server names are listed in the Via proxy server drop-down list of the device settings window. You can select a proxy server to access this device. Also you can add a New proxy server entry via selecting new option in this drop-down list.

To set the Jumpbox information The Jumpbox works exactly as a proxy for telnet/SSH. NetBrain Discovery Appliance sends commands or operation requests to the Jumpbox. Then the Jumpbox forwards them to destination devices and sends the results or response back to the NetBrain Discovery Appliance.


2. Click the Add button. The Jumpbox window pops up.


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The following table describes the parameters set on the Jumpbox window：

4. Repeat step 2 to 3 to add all possible Jumpboxs


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Note: If the privilege login process needs two authentication steps, click Advance button, and input the correct commands in the corresponding fields.

If you want to edit a Jumpbox item, select the item then click the Edit button, the Jumpbox window pops up. You can modify the parameters. After modification, click OK.

If you want to remove a Jumpbox item, select the item then click the Remove

button, the selected item will be removed.

If you want to edit a Jumpbox item, select the item then click the Edit button, the Jumpbox window pops up. You can modify the parameters. After modification, click OK. If you want to remove a Jumpbox item, select the item then click the Remove button, the selected item will be removed. Note: 1. The jumpbox server settings may be not necessary. If the NetBrain Discovery

Appliance can access the live network locally, you need not set jumpbox. 2. The jumpbox name will be listed in the Via Jumpbox drop-down list of the device

settings window. You can select a jumpbox to access this device or add a new jump box via selecting new option.

3. You need input all possible jumpboxs in order to tune live access successfully and discover all live devices.

3.3 Step 3: Run the Tune live access

Tune live access function allows you to poll the live devices automatically using the live network settings and then automatically match and fill in device settings. Click File > Tune live access to open the tune live access window.


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3.3.1 To tune live access

1. Select the devices Select the device by clicking the checkbox before the device name what you want to select. 2. Select the task type and tasks Click the Options button to pop-up the Option window. Select the task type you want to tune, setup device settings or verify device settings, and select detail tasks. 3. Click the Start button to start tuning live access settingss. The lower progress bar indicates the progress. 4. After finish tuning live access settingss, the system prompts a message "Check devices' settings finished". Click OK to finish.

3.3.2 View results and logs of tuning live access

When tune live access process is completed, the results are displayed in the corresponding filed on the device and result pane. The information is shown in the following table in detail. Column Description Device name Display the device name Ping Display the return result for sending a ping command to the device


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indicated in the device name field. When the Auto set management ip and ping via local tasks are selected, the ping operation will be performed. Succeed : Indicates that the NetBrain Discovery Appliance can ping the selected device Failed : Indicates that the NetBrain Discovery Appliance can not ping the selected device

Telnet/SSH Display the result whether the device can be accessed via telnet/SSH. When one or more of the following tasks were selected, then the option is selected and the result will be shown in this column. auto set login password auto set enable password Telnet/SSH login password Enable password Succeed: The selected device can be accessed via telnet/SSH. Failed: The selected device can not be accessed via telnet/SSH.

Login Display whether the system can login the selected device successfully. If set up device settings options is checked, all live network settings are tried. If verify current device settings option is checked, then the device settings is used. Succeed: If setup device settings option is checked, it indicates that at least one pair of username/password pair defined in the live network settings window can be used to login to the selected device successfully. If verify current device settings option is checked, it indicates that the username/password pair specified in the device settings window can be used to login the corresponding device. Failed: If setup device settings option is checked, it indicates that no one a username/password pair can login to the selected device successfully. If verify current device settings option is checked, it indicates that the username/password pair specified in the device settings window


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can not login the corresponding device successfully.

Enable Display whether the system can enter the privilege mode successfully. If set up device settings option is checked, all live network settings are tried. If verify current device settings option is checked, then the device settings is used. Succeed : If setup device settings option is checked, it indicates that at least one enable password item defined in the live network settings window can be used to enter the privilege mode of the selected device successfully. If verify current device settings option is checked, it indicates that the username/password pair specified in the device settings window can be used to login the corresponding device. Failed: If setup device settings option is checked, it indicates that no one a username/password pair can login to the selected device successfully. If verify current device settings option is checked, it indicates that the username/password pair specified in the device settings window cannot login the corresponding device successfully.

SNMP RO Display the SNMP RO string. Hostname Display the hostname retrieved via SNMP. Vendor Display the vendor info retrieved via SNMP. Model Display the model info retrieved via SNMP.

3.4 Step 4: Run the live network discovery process

NetBrain DAP discovers the network in two steps: first the DAP discovers the network devices via seed routers. The system allows you to manually enter IP addresses or use the imported or already discovered devices as seed routers. In this step, NetBrain DAP will discover neighbor devices of seed routers and then recursively use these neighbors as seed routers till no new device is discovered. After this step, the DAP will create a list of network subnets as candidates to scan. Secondly the DAP will scan every subnet in this list to discover the leaf nodes. The scan is time consuming and the DAP provides the user options and configuration to speed up this process.


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NetBrain DAP discovery process can be run flexibly. You can instruct the system to run discovery via seed router and scan process continuously without the intervention, or you can perform the operation step by step. Also you can pause the discovery process and check the result at any time and later continue the discovery operation. With NetBrain DAP, you can manually start the live network discovery process or set up a schedule to run discover operation in a predefined interval. We recommend that you run the discovery process manually for the first time and tune up the configuration or setting. After that, set up a schedule to run the discover operation automatically.

3.4.1 Discover via seed router

Seed router, as the name implies, is a seed which is as the starting point of live network discovery. With it, according to some algorithm, you can find other live devices associated with this seed router. At first, the NetBrain Discovery Appliance will try to login to the seed router then try to retrieve the configuration file and routing table or CDP table of the seed router. After that, the NetBrain Discovery Appliance will retrieve the configuration files of the next hop in the routing table of the seed router or the neighbors in the CDP table of the seed router. As a similar way, at last the NetBrain Discovery Appliance can find all the device’s configuration files and add them to the NetBrain Discovery Appliance. Setp1. Select menu file > live network discovery to open live network discovery window, :

Setp2. Check Use manual input as seed routers or check use all imported or discovered devices as seed routers option. If you check use all imported or discovered devices as seed routers option, skip step 3 and the system will use all known devices as seed routers.


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Step3. Enter one IP address for the seed router, or more than one IP addresses separated by the space. IP addresses can be also imported from a CSV file. To import an IP list, just click the Import IP list button. Refer appendix 2 for the text format of CSV file. Step4. Check the start button to start the discovery process. Note: To instruct the system to automatically continue the scan operation, click the Options button and check the scan after discover option.

3.4.2 Scan IP ranges

Setp1. Select menu File > Live network discovery to open live network discovery window.

Setp2. Select Scan manual input IP range or check Scan discovered IP ranges option. If you check Scan discovered IP ranges option, skip step 3 and subnets to be scanned are automatically created by the system. You can click the View Scan subnet group to view these subnets. You can customize these subnet groups. Please refer 3.3 Customize subnet groups for details on how these subnet groups are created and how you can customize them. Step3. Enter one or more IP ranges. The IP range can be formatted as 10.10.10.0/24 or 10.10.10.1-10.10.10.255. Each IP range is separated by the space. IP range can be also imported from a CSV file. To import an IP range list, just click the Import IP list button. Refer appendix 2 for the text format of CSV file. Step4. Click the start button.


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Note: If you the system to automatically continue the scan operation after discovery via seed router, then the scan process will automatically scan the system created subnet groups.

3.4.3 Schedule Auto Discovery

To schedule an auto discovery operation, perform the following steps: Step1. Select the file > Schedule Auto Discovery to open the Set discovery schedule window.

Step2. Select one scheme to run the operation. There are three schemes: Every xxx day: the discovery operation will be run once at the interval of days as you define. Every week: the discovery operation will be run once every week on the weekday you define. Every month: the discovery operation will be run once every month on the day you define. Step3. Click Enable scheme Step4. Click OK. The auto discovery operation will use all imported or discovered devices as seed routers. If the option scan after discover option is checked, the auto discovery operation will scan all system created subnets. After the discovery is finished every time, the result will be saved at the directory NetBrain\DiscoveryAppliance\DataFolders\Asset Report\DiscoverReport\xxx under the directory to install NetBrain, where xxx is defined by the time to run the discovery, for example, 2009-01-20 18-10-18. Also any exception or error occurring in the discovery process is also recorded. You can find and view the result according to the discovery time. For more information, refer to 4 View failed log


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Note: You must click Enable scheme to auto start the discovery operation. You can have only one schedule. To disable auto discovery operation, just unclick Enable scheme.

3.4.4 View failed log

After the discovery is finished every time, the result will be saved at the directory NetBrain\DiscoveryAppliance\DataFolders\Asset Report\DiscoverReport\xxx under the directory to install NetBrain, where xxx is defined by the time to run the discovery, formatted as <yyyy-mm-dd hh-mm-ss>, for example, 2009-01-20 12-22-34.. Also any exception or error occurring in the discovery process is also recorded in the same folder. You can find and view the result according to the discovery time. :

There are five files in each folder to save the discovery result and exceptions and errors in the discovery process. These files can be opened via Microsoft excel and their contents are listed as the followings: DeviceReport: to report the network assets: As seen in the following figure, the asset report has ten columns corresponding to ten types of device data. The column names are explained as following:


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HOSTNAME : the name of the device. DEVICE_TYPE: the type of the device. VENDOR_MODEL: the vendor and model of the device INTERFACE: the name of the interface corresponding to the management IP address MAN_IP_ADDRESS: the IP address of the management interface MAN_SUBNET_MASK: the subnet mask of the management interface SERIAL_NUMBER: the serial number of the device SOFTWARE_VERSION: the software version of the device MAC_ADDRESS: the MAC address of the management interface Last Update Time: the last modification time DiscoverSummary: to report the status of network discovery tasks: As seen in the following figure, the discovery summary has eleven columns. The columns are explained as following:

IP Address: the IP address to be discovered.


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Discover From: the seed device from which this IP address is discovered Ping: was this IP address successfully pinged. SNMP: SNMP RO string for this device. If the column is blank, then no SNMP RO string was matched for this device. Hostname: the hostname of this device. If the column is blank, then the hostname was not retrieved. Device Type: the type of this device. If the column is blank, then the device type was not retrieved. Vendor: the vendor of this device. If the column is blank, then the vendor was not retrieved. Model: the model of this device. If the column is blank, then the model was not found. Telnet/SSH: was this device successfully accessed via telnet or SSH. Configuration: was the configuration be successfully retrieved. Sys OID: the system OID of this device. PingFailed: report all IP addresses that the system failed to ping and the reason of the failure: As seen in the following figure, this report has two columns. The column names are explained as following:

IP Address: the IP address that the system failed to ping. Reason: the reason why the system failed to ping this IP address. The reason is just the best guess of the system and may not be accurate. SNMPFailed: report all IP addresses from which the system failed to retrieve the data via SNMP and the possible reasons of failure. The reason is empty by default since the most probable reason is that the SNMP is not enabled in the device:

TelnetFailed: report all IP addresses from which the system failed to retrieve the data via


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Telnet or SSH and the possible reasons of failure:

3.5 Step5: View discovery result and export the asset report

After the live discovery, you can view the result in the network pane and export the result as an asset report.

3.5.1 View discovery result

All discovered devices are displayed under network panel > network devices. Click icon at the left the device type of network panel > network devices to list all devices of this type。 You can also double click the device type to pop up device info window for all devices of this type. In the device info window, you can view useful information of a device, such as hostname, interface, management IP , mask , vendor & model , device type , serial number , software version , MAC address , device status . For other parameters, you have to import the result to CSV file and view them at CSV file:


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You can find a device via hostname or IP address. To find a device, click, do the following: Click File > Find device:

Enter the device name or IP address. Check the option Match case for case sensitive search. Check the Match whole world so that only hostnames matching the whole world are listed. View the result in network panel > network devices > search result. You can also manually add a device. To add a device, do the followings: Step1. Click add button to pop up the add device information window. : Step2. Enter the following information: a. hostname b. management ip c. vendor and model d. device type e. device serial number Step3. Click OK button


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You can also import devices from CSV file. Refer Appendix 2 for the detail.

3.5.2 View interface detail

The NetBrain discovery appliance also retrieves the device interface information for devices. However the appliance may not be able to retrieve the device information for all types of devices. To view the interface detail info, do the following steps: Step1. Click a device type in the network pane to list all devices. :

Step2. Select and right click a device. Select interface detail option from the drop down menu to pop up interface detail window. :


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Interface detail includes nine types of data： Hostname: the device hostname for this interface. Module #: the module number of the interface. Module Type: the module type of the interface Interfacename: the interface name IP Address: IP address configured in the interface Status: the interface status. Speed: the speed of the interface Duplex: the duplex mode of the interface Description: the description configured in the interface Note: You can select whether to retrieve the interface detail info in parameter manager and whether to export the interface detail info to the asset report. Please refer to parameter manager

3.5.3 Create the asset report

Create the asset report is used to export the discover result to the report. Step 1: Click file > Create asset report. A window is popped up for you to browse the file directory. Step 2: Select a directory to save the report and click OK button on the browse for folder window. The device information of current workspace will be exported to a file. Step 3: To view the result, open the exported file with Microsoft excel. The system creates four asset reports, illustrated in the following figures:


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a) DeviceReport: list all network devices. It includes ten columns corresponding to ten types of device data. The column names are explained as following:

HOSTNAME : the name of the device. DEVICE_TYPE: the type of the device. VENDOR_MODEL: the vendor and model of the device INTERFACE: the name of the interface corresponding to the management IP address MAN_IP_ADDRESS: the IP address of the management interface MAN_SUBNET_MASK: the subnet mask of the management interface SERIAL_NUMBER: the serial number of the device SOFTWARE_VERSION: the software version of the device MAC_ADDRESS: the MAC address of the management interface WRITELOGTIME: the last modification time b) Retrieve_If_Summary_Report: lists the interface summary for all devices. It includes 14 columns corresponding to 14 types of data. The column names are explained as following:

Device Type: the device name Device Name: the devicehostname


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Man IP: the device management IP address Vendor Model: the vendor and model Total # of Module: the total number of modules the device has. Total # of Interface: the total number of interfaces, including interfaces belonging to the device itself and modules. # of up/up: the total number of interfaces of which the status is up/up. # of up/down: the total number of interfaces of which the status is up/down # of down/down: the total number of interfaces of which the status is down/down. # of admindown: the total number of interfaces of which the status is administrative down. # of connected:CatOS: the number of connected ports for Catalyst Switch. # of notconnect:CatOS: the number of unconnected ports for Catalyst Switch. # of disabled:CatO: the number of disabled ports for Catalyst Switch. # of unknown: the number of interfaces or ports of which the status is unknown. c) Retrieve_Router_If_Report: lists the detail information of all discovered router interfaces. It includes 12 columns corresponding to 14 types of data. The column names are explained as following:

DEVICE_TYPE: the router type Device Name: the router hostname Man IP: Management IP address of this router Vendor Module: the router vendor and model Module #: the module number of the router interface Module Type: the module type of the router interface Interface Name: the interface name Interface IP: the IP address configured in this router interface Interface Status: the interface status, that can be up/up, up/down, down/down and


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administrative down. Speed/Duplex: the interface speed and duplex mode. Interface Description: the description of the interface. d) Retrieve_Switch_If_Report: lists the detail information of all discovered switch ports. It includes 12 columns corresponding to 10 types of data. The column names are explained as following: The column names are explained as following:

DEVICE_TYPE: the switch type Device Name: the switch hostname Man IP: the switch management IP address Vendor Module: the switch vendor and model Module #: the module of the switch port Module Type: the module type of the switch port Interface Name: the switch port name Interface IP: the switch port IP address Interface Status: the switch port status, that can be up/up, up/down, down/down and administrative down Speed/Duplex: the switch port speed and duplex mode Interface Description: the description of the switch port

4. Optimize discovery operations

The discovery operations especially scanning IP subnets can be time consuming for a large network. NetBrain DAP provides you options and configurations to improve the discovery performance. Also the DAP provides a solution to help you discovery devices across MPLS VPN.


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4.1 Import device configurations

If you already have configurations of some network devices, you can import device configurations into NetBrain DAP and select using these imported devices as seed routers. This can lead a better performance than discovering via one or a few manually input seed routers. Run the following steps: Step1. Import cisco configuration Step2. Set the live network settings Step3. Perform tune live access Step4. Perform the live network discovery In the live network discover window, check Use all imported or discovered devices as seed routers option

4.2 Use the known devices as seed routers

In the live network discovery window, check Use all imported or discovered devices as seed routers option to instruct the system to use the known devices as seed routers for discovery operations. The known devices can be imported network devices or already discovered devices. This can lead a better performance than discovering via one or a few manually input seed routers.

4.3 Customize subnet groups

If the option scan after discover option is checked in the live discovery window, the auto discovery operation will scan all system created subnets. Or you can check Scan discovered IP ranges option in the live discover window to instruct the system to scan s scan all system created subnets. While the system discovers the network via seed routers, the system will look into device data and create a list of subnets existing in the network. These subnets are candidates to be scanned in the next step. You can view these subnets by clicking network panel > subnet groups > global subnet groups. :


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DAP allows you to customize subnets to be scanned. You can define Do-not-Scan subnet groups and Must-Scan subnet groups. Do-not-Scan subnet group includes subnets you do not want the system to scan and Must-Scan subnet group includes subnet to be always scanned. And subnets to be scanned will be subnets in Must-Scan group plus those in global subnet group minus those in Do-not-Scan subnet group. You can click the View subnet groups to be scanned button in the discovery subnet groups to view subnets to scanned. To add a subnet into the Do-not-Scan subnet group or Must-Scan subnet group, do one of the followings: 1. Select and right click an item in the global subnet group and select add to Do-not-Scan subnet group button or add to Must-Scan subnet group button. 2. Manually add a subnet. A. To add a subnet to the Do-not-Scan subnet group, do the followings: Step1. Click Network panel > Subnet groups > Do-not-Scan subnet group to open Do-not-Scan subnet group. Step2. Click the add button to pop up the add subnet window:


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Step3. Enter IP address and subnet mask in the add subnet window. Step4. Click OK button. B. To add a subnet into the Must-Scan subnet group, do the followings: Step1. Click Network panel > Subnet groups > Must-Scan subnet group to open the Must-Scan subnet group pane. Step2. Click the add button to pop up the add subnet window:

Step3. Enter IP address, subnet mask and SNMP RO string. Step 4: Select the scanning method. Step 5. Click the OK button. 3. Import from CSV file. Refer appendix 2 for the text format of CSV file.

4.4 Support MPLS VPN

If MPLS VPN exists in your network, you need manually add MPLS so that the discovery can find devices behind MPLS. To add a link to a MPLS cloud, do the followings:

Step1. Click Network panel > Global settings to open MPLS table window. Step2. Click the add button to pop up the add MPLS table window Step3. Enter the following information in the add MPLS table window:

a. MPLS cloud name b. CE interface IP address c. description d. CE management IP address Step4. Click OK: Note: If more than one CE interfaces are linked to a same MPLS cloud, repeat this step however make sure that MPLS cloud name to be same.


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Refer Appendix 3. UI Operations for more about MPLS.

4.5 Set the concurrent task numbers

You can modify the current task numbers for the discovery operations. Generally spoken, the higher current asks numbers, the better the discovery performance. However when the current task number is larger than a certain number, the performance will worsen. This number depends on DAP hardware and the network bandwidth. You can set the current task numbers for discover via seed routers and scan operations. To modify them, click file > option to open the option window. Enter the number for the concurrent tasks to discover via seed routers or the concurrent tasks to scan the IP ranges. The maximum task number is 32 for the concurrent tasks to discover via seed routers and 256 for the concurrent tasks to scan the IP ranges.

4.6 Multi-vendor support

NetBrain DAP has built in support for many vendors and models. Click menu Network panel > Global settings > vendor and model to view vendors and models supported by NetBrain DAP. If there exists a device not falling into vendor/models listed in this page in your network, you can dynamically add the support for a new vendor/model by following these steps:


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Step1. Click the Add button to pop up the add vendor and model window , : Step2. In the add vendor and model window, enter the following data: a. SNMP OID for this vendor/model b. The device type c. vendor d. model Step3. Click the OK button. Refer Appendix 3. UI Operations for more about multi-vendor support.

5. Customize the asset report

By the default asset report contains nine types of data. You can define what are included in the asset report. Click the network panel > global settings > parameter manager to open the parameter manager window. Currently the system only support nine types of parameters . :

To customize a parameter, do the followings: Step1. Select a parameter Step2. Click the modify button to pop up the modify parameter window Step3. In this window, you can a. Add or modify the alias b. Choose whether to retrieve this parameter from the network c. Choose whether to export this data to the asset report Step4. Click the save button.


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The followings are fields of the Parameter manager: Parameter name Alias: the column title of asset report for this parameter. Parameter name is used if alias is not defined. Retrieve: the flag to indicate whether to retrieve this parameter from the live network Export to asset report: the flag to indicate whether to export this parameter to the asset report.

6. Reset Discovery Appliance

NetBrain Appliance provides this function to clear all user data. Click File-> Reset Discovery Appliance from the menu and all user data will be removed. Note: The log files located at NetBrain\Discovery Appliance\DataFolders\Asset Report\DiscoverReport\ under the NetBrain installation directory will be removed.

7. Create tech support log

The Create tech support log functions collects the log files created by the NetBrain Discovery Appliance and compresses these files into a zip file. The user can send this zip file to NetBrain tech support team so that we can help you solve the problem quickly. To create the tech support log file, do the following steps: Step1. Click Help > Create Tech Support Log to pop up the Save As window。


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Step2. At Save As window, select the file folder to save the log file and enter the file name. The default name is DefaultTechLog.zip. Step3. Click the Save button. And then email the created zip file to NetBrain support team at [email protected].

Appendix

Appendix 1. Device settings

In order for a NetBrain Discovery Appliance to access the live network, you must configure device settings correctly. Device settings, including login credentials, SNMP community strings and access method settings, can be configured manually or automatically.

Automatically set Device settings

NetBrain DAP will automatically set a device setting in two operations: tune live access and live discovery. In both cases, the system will poll the live network settings against a device and fill in the correct value into the device setting.


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Manually set device settings

Double click a device in the network panel > network devices to pop up the device settings window. You can manually set all parameters of the device settings:

Set the management IP address and live status Select the management IP address from the Management IP drop-down list. The default value is the IP address of the loopback interface of the smallest number, usually loopback0, parsed from the configuration file. You can select any interface IP address of the device from the drop-down menu as the management IP address. Select the device status from the Live Status drop-down menu which contains six statuses: Unknown, Down, Up, Unstable, Shutdown, and Error. Click the Ping button on the right to refresh the live status of the device via the specified management IP address. Set the Telnet/SSH parameters Username: Name of the user accessing the device. You can select an entry from the defined


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live network settings. Click button on the right to pop up the menu containing the username/password pairs defined in the Live Network Settings window. Select a pair. The corresponding username and password are filled in the fields in the Device Settings window. Password: Password corresponding to the username. If you have selected a username/password pair, the corresponding password is automatically filled in this field.

Enable password: Password accessing the privileged mode. Click button on the right

to pop up the privileged password alias defined in the Live Network Settings window. Select an entry. The corresponding enable password is automatically filled in this field. Non-privilege prompt: Input the prompt for entering the non-privileged mode in this field, the default value is “>”. Privilege prompt: Input the prompt for entering the privileged mode in this field, the default value is “#”. Login prompt: Input the prompt for inputting the username in this field, the default value is “Username:”. Password prompt: Input the prompt for inputting the password in this field, the default value is “Password:”. Set the protocol to access the device. If Telnet is checked, port number 23 is automatically filled in the Port box; if SSH is selected, port number 22 is automatically filled in the Port box. You can modify port number. By default Telnet is selected. The example for telnet/SSH parameters

Set SNMP strings in the SNMP community strings pane RO: Input the SNMP RO (Read-Only) string in this field. Its drop-down list includes the SNMP RO Strings set in the Live Network Settings window. Select the right item. RW: Input the SNMP RW (Read and Write) string in this field. Its drop-down list includes the SNMP RW Strings set in the Live Network Settings window. Select the right item. Set the access method


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NetBrain Discover Appliance provides three types of access methods to access the live network devices: via local computer, via jumpbox (Telnet/SSH), and via proxy appliance (Ping/Traceroute/SNMP). Uncheck via jumpbox option and via proxy appliance options. The system accesses live devices via local computer, that is, directly accesses live devices. Check the via Jumpbox option. Its drop-down list includes the entries defined in the Live Network Settings window. Select the right one. Or you can click New to create a Jumpbox item. For more information, refer to Define Jumpbox. Check the via proxy appliance option. Its drop-down list includes the entries defined in the Live Network Settings window. Select the right one. Or you can click New to create a proxy appliance item. For more information, refer to Define Proxy Appliance. Click OK to save settings.

Appendix 2. CSV file format


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Create a CSV file to import seed routers

Open a text file and enter all IP addresses, one per line. Save the file as .csv. :

Create a CSV file to import IP ranges

Create a text file and enter the subnet address (formatted as IP address/mask length, such as 10.10.10.0/24) or IP range (formatted as 10.10.10.1-10.10.10.25), each per line。Save the file as .csv file. :

Create a CSV file to import the Do-not-scan subnet group or must-scan

subnet group

Create a text file and enter the subnet address (formatted as IP address/mask length, such as 10.10.10.0/24), each per line。Save the file as .csv file. The format for the Do-not-scan subnet group is the same format for the must-scan subnet group. :


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Create a CSV file to import devices

Create a text file and enter the device parameters, each device per line. There are nine parameters for each device and each parameter is separated by comma (“,”). Even if a parameter has no value or you just do not care, you still need put in a comma so that there are exactly eight commas per line. The order to enter each parameter is restrict: hostname, interface, management IP address, management IP subnet mask, vendor model, device type, serial number, software version and MAC address. The first line of text is not the data but titles of each column. You are not required to enter exactly this line, for example, you can just enter a blank line. Save the file as .csv file. :

Appendix 3. UI Operations

Network pane and device info window

All imported or discovered devices are listed in network pane. Click the device type to display device info of all devices of this device type.


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Five parameters are displayed in the device info window: hostname,management IP address,vendor and model,device type and serial number. Devices can be displayed in multiple pages and the following buttons at the bottom of this page help you switch pages.

Go to the previous page

Go to the next page

Go to the first page

Go to the last page

Or you can just enter the page number in the field right to “To” to jump to the certain page. 1.1 Edit device information Do the following to edit device info: Step1. Select the entry to edit in device info window. Step2. Click the modify button to pop up modify device information window: Step3. Edit the following information in the Modify Device Information window: a. Management IP b. Vendor and model c. Serial number


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Step4. Click the OK button 1.2 Delete a device entry To delete a device entry, perform the followings: Step1. Select the entry to edit in device info window. Note: you can select more than one entry by pressing Ctrl key simultaneously. Or by pressing shift key and simultaneously selecting two entries, you can select all entries between these two entries. Step2. Click delete button

MPLS table

2.1 Modify a MPLS Table To modify a MPLS table, do the followings: Step1. select a MPLS table. Step2. click modify button to pop up the modify MPLS table window , : Step3. In the modify MPLS table window, edit the following parameters: a. MPLS cloud name b. CE interface IP c. description d. CE management IP Step4. click OK button


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2.2 Delete a MPLS table Step1. Select the entry to delete in MPLS table window. Note: you can select more than one entry by pressing Ctrl key simultaneously. Or by pressing shift key and simultaneously selecting two entries, you can select all entries between these two entries. Step2. Click delete button

Subnet group

3.1 Delete a subnet from the Do-not-Scan subnet group Step1. Select the entry to be deleted in Do-not-Scan subnet group Note: you can select more than one entry by pressing Ctrl key simultaneously. Or by pressing shift key and simultaneously selecting two entries, you can select all entries between these two entries. Step2. Click the delete button 3.2 Modify the subnet in Must-Scan subnet group Step1. Select a subnet in the Must-Scan subnet group Step2. Click the modify button to pop up the modify subnet window Step3. Modify RO string and change access method.


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Step4. Click the OK button 3.3 Delete a subnet from the Must-Scan subnet group Step1. Select the entry to be deleted in Do-not-Scan subnet group Note: you can select more than one entry by pressing Ctrl key simultaneously. Or by pressing shift key and simultaneously selecting two entries, you can select all entries between these two entries. Step2. Click the delete button

Modify vendor and model

Step1. Select an entry of vendor and model Step2. Click modify button to pop up the modify vendor and model window , : Step3. In the modify vendor and model window, edit the following fields: a. Device type b. Vendor c. Model


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Step 4 Click OK to save.

Appendix 4. Import and export data

NetBrain DAP allows the discovered data to be imported and exported. This function allows the DAP data to be shared among network engineer.

Import data

Step1: Click File > Import data to pop up the Import Data window. :

Step2: Click the button to pop up the Select Share Folder window .


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Step 3: In the Select Share Folder window, click and select the folder. Click OK.

Note: NetBrain DAP can automatically detect the device type by looking into the configuration file. Step 4: Select devices to import the data. Note: you can select more than one entry by pressing Ctrl key simultaneously. Or by pressing shift key and simultaneously selecting two entries, you can select all entries between these two entries. Step 5: Select the content to be imported. You can import device configuration files, device setting and live network settings. :

Step 6: Check the rules to resolve the conflict between local files and imported files. In most cases you can keep the default rules. Step 7: Click the Import button. You can view imported devices in network panel.


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Export data

Step 1: Click File > export data to pop the export Data window.

Step2: Click the button to pop up the Select Share Folder window .

Step 3: In the Select Share Folder window, click and select the folder. Click OK.

Step 4: Select devices to export the data. Note: you can select more than one entry by pressing Ctrl key simultaneously. Or by pressing shift key and simultaneously selecting two entries, you can select all entries


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between these two entries. Step 5: Select the content to be imported. You can import device configuration files, device setting and live network settings. : Step 6: Check the rules to resolve the conflict between local files and imported files. In most cases you can keep the default rules. Step 7: Click the Export button.

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