NetMRI discovery depends on a collection of under-the-hood features to ensure that polling and addition of devices in the network proceed smoothly and accurately. This chapter describes three critical tasks:
Defining Data Collection and Device Groups–You must define important settings for network polling. Emphasis in this topic area involves the processes of data collection and polling of devices across the network, including polling of switched Ethernet devices. Definition of device and interface groups is discussed in other topics later in this Guide. The topic Defining Group Data Collection Settings provides more information.
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- Including Addresses from ARP Tables into IPAM Sync
- Overlay/Overwrite Logic
- Delivering NetMRI Discovered Data to IPAM
Configuring IPAM Sync
To add a sync configuration, do the following:
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- Network sync: Newly-imported subnets are imported as “managed”.
- If the imported subnet conflicts with an existing subnet, it is not accepted. The imported subnet can go into a container as long as there is no conflict.
- If the subnet already exists, no changes are made.
- If the subnet is in IPAM but not in NetMRI, it is left in IPAM.
- IP Address sync: New IP addresses are added and marked as “unmanaged”. If an IP address already exists, the field values is overwritten during the import.
- Before NetMRI 7.1.4 and NIOS 8.1: If the IP address exists in IPAM but it is not in the import file, it is left in IPAM.
- As of NetMRI 7.1.4 and NIOS 8.1: If the IP address exists in IPAM but it is not in the import file, its discovered data is cleared out. You can control the time that the IP address stays in the NetMRI database after it is no longer discovered under NetMRI. To do so, go to Setup -> General Settings -> Advanced Settings.
Delivering NetMRI Discovered Data to IPAM
Fields related to Cisco ACI data (tenant, bridge_domain, endpoint_groups) are specific for SND elements and controllers. Fields Wireless Access Point Name, IP, and SSID are related to the wireless access points to which a device is connected. Attached device information usually means neighbor switch or router to which a given device is directly connected. Only IP Address, MAC Address, Last Discovered, and First Discovered fields are filled for end hosts collected from ARP tables. VRF information is specified for corresponding interfaces of infrastructure devices.
The following table helps to locate places in NetMRI where the discovered data appears.
| Discovered Data Field | Where Exported Data Appears in NetMRI |
|---|---|
| IP Address | Network Explorer -> Discovery |
| Last Discovered | |
| First Discovered | |
| MAC Address | Interface Viewer |
| OS | Device Viewer |
| Discovered Name | |
| Device Model | |
| Device Vendor | |
| Device Location | Device Viewer -> Device/Network Explorer -> Device Identification |
| Device Contact | |
| NetBIOS Name | — |
| Device OUI | — |
| Attached Device Data | |
| Attached Device Vendor | For attached device: Device Viewer |
| Attached Device Address | |
| Attached Device Name | |
| Attached Device Type | |
| Attached Device Model | |
Attached Device Description | For attached device: Device Viewer -> Device/Network Explorer -> Device Identification |
| Attached Device Location | |
| Attached Device Contact | |
| Attached Device Port Description | For attached device: Device Viewer -> Interface -> Configuration |
| Attached Device Port Name | |
| Attached Device Port | |
| Port Data | |
| Port Duplex | Interface Viewer |
| Port Link | |
| Port Speed | |
| Port Status | |
| VLAN Name | Device Viewer -> Interfaces -> Configuration |
| VLAN ID | |
| Cisco ACI Data | |
| ACI tenant | Device Viewer -> ACI |
| ACI bridge domain | |
| ACI endpoint groups | |
| VRF and BGP Data | |
| VRF Name | Device Viewer -> Router -> VRF table |
| VRF Description | |
| VRF RD | |
| BGP AS | Device Viewer -> Router -> BGP |
| Wireless Access Point Data | |
| Wireless Access Point Name | Device Viewer -> Wireless |
Wireless Access Point IP | |
| Wireless Access Point SSID | |
| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Anchor | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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NetMRI automatically supports an Infoblox utility, Cisco Discovery Service, that enables network administrators to provide Cisco-validated reporting and analysis. NetMRI operates as a Cisco Discovery Service-enabled system supporting discovery of network systems for analysis and management. You can use the CDS Integration Tool as part of a new NetMRI installation, or use the tool to extract further insight and value from an existing deployment. Cisco Gold Partner status is required for effective use of the software utility.
NetMRI supports CDS API version 2.0 and uses a NetMRI device or virtual machine to inspect all aspects of a network's Cisco infrastructure to collect the following information:
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