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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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• Script Execution: If enabled, Configuration Command Scripts or Perl scripts can be executed by NetMRI users with the correct privileges.
• Vendor Default Credential Collection: If enabled, NetMRI will automatically check for default vendor credentials at the interval specified in Frequency (Daily or Weekly). Checking for vendor default credentials ensures that the network meets compliance standards.

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Note: The topics under Configuration Management provide more information about configuration collection and related operations.

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During IPAM Sync operations, NetMRI uses the maximum timestamp for a given device (i.e. across all protocols) to populate the timestamp value that is sent to the NIOS system. This is defined as the last_discovered_timestamp IPAM Sync data field.

In versions prior to 7.3.1, NetMRI sent data collected from devices that were successfully polled within the last two hours. This restriction was removed in version 7.3.1. Also, you can request to export all data regardless of last successful polling time. Setting time restriction now implies including devices that were successfully polled in the last several hours, as shown in the picture below.

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Note: NetMRI supports synchronization of IPv6 subnet and address information between NetMRI and target NIOS systems, to automatically define networks in IPAM. Some subnetworks may not be reported to NIOS during IPAM Sync owing to their addressing being part of MPLS VPNs.

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Also, see the following sections for additional information about NIOS IPAM Sync:

• 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:

1. Click Add Sync Add Sync Configuration in the upper left corner. The Sync Configuration Wizard Sync configuration wizard opens.
2. In Step1 of the Wizard, enter the NIOS Grid Master IP address or host name, with user name and password. For standalone NIOS deployments, enter the IP address or host name of the NIOS device. The default login credentials are admin/infoblox.
3. Click Next.
   

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   Note:

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1.  Make sure the NIOS system is reachable before attempting a connection, and ensure you have the correct admin account and password. The specified username and password also must provide access to the Infoblox DMAPI (Data and Management API). Any NIOS administrator account can be set to allow API access from within NIOS with

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1. an Allowed Interfaces

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1.  setting of API. Consult

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1. the Infoblox API Documentation guide for the version of NIOS in the current operation for more details, and consult

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1. the NIOS Administration Guide for the procedure on defining API interface access for an admin account.

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2. In Step2

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1. , in NS1 Network View

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1. , select default as the view to which to export data. This information is obtained from the Infoblox Grid Master.

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1. In NetMRI Network View, select the required view.

5. Activate Synchronize Device Information if devices (IP addresses) are to be included in the synchronization.

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1. In Time restriction, select Include all data, regardless of polling time.
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   In versions prior to 7.3.1, NetMRI sent data collected from devices that were successfully polled within the last two hours. This restriction was removed in version 7.3.1. You can request to export all data regardless of last successful device polling time or data from devices successfully polled in the last several hours.
2. Activate Synchronize Device Information if devices (IP addresses) are to be included in the synchronization.
3. If you enabled the synchronization of device information and you want to include end host IP addresses into NIOS IPAM Sync,

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1. select Include addresses from ARP tables.
   By default, only routers IP addresses are included into NIOS IPAM Sync. Selecting this option allows you to export IP addresses of end hosts from ARP tables of discovered devices to NIOS IP Map

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1. , along with routers IP addresses.

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1. These end hosts are listed in a separate tab in NetMRI: Network Explorer -> Switch Port Management -> End Hosts -> End Host Present. If the discovery engine does not recognize a device as infrastructure or network device, it is treated as end host. Data displayed for end hosts collected from ARP tables includes the IP address, MAC address, and Last Discovered and First Discovered stamps.
   

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   Note: Retrieving end hosts IPs based on ARP entries does not guarantee accurate results as the lifetime of ARP tables entries on network devices is very limited (e.g., up to 5 minutes officially, 10 minutes in real life for Cisco IOS-based devices) and the amount of tables entries is relatively small.

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2. To add internal subnets as networks in NIOS: activate

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1. the Add IPAM

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1.  networks for subnets within NetMRI discovery ranges option. This will export subnets discovered by NetMRI and classified as internal (i.e., within the defined discovery ranges). To export all internal subnets, select

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1. the All

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1.  option. To limit the exported internal subnets, select

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1. the Restrict to subnet s within the following summary routes

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1.  option, and enter a list of summary routes. Separate each route with a comma, or put each on a new line. Subnets within a listed summary route are exported. For example, to export only the subnets in a class A 10 network, enter 10.0.0.0/8.

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1. To add external subnets as networks in NIOS: Activate

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1. the Add

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1.  IPAM networks for subnets outside of NetMRI discovery ranges option. This will export subnets discovered

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1. by NetMRI

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1.  and classified as external (i.e., outside the defined CIDR blocks). To export all external subnets, select

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1. the All

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1.  option. To limit the exported external subnets, select

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1. the Restrict to

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1.  subnets within the following

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1.  summary routes

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1.  option, and enter a list of summary routes as described above for internal subnets.

9. Click Next. (Steps 10–12 are optional.)

10. To schedule synchronization, activate the Enabled option. This option applies only to the schedule. You can execute any synchronization, even ones without this option activated, at any time, by clicking Sync in the configuration list.

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1. Click Next.
2. In Step 3, if you want to schedule synchronization, select Schedule Enabled. This is optional. If you do not schedule a synchronization, you can execute a synchronization at any time. For information, see the next section.
3. Select a Recurrence Pattern, Execution Time, and day (this is the starting day for repetitive synchonizations).

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1. Click Next.

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1. In Step 

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1. 4, review the sync configuration.

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1. Click < Previous

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1.  if you need to change any settings.

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1. Click Finish.

For how to run a configured synchronization between NetMRI and a NIOS appliance, see the next section, Synchronizing Between NetMRI and NIOS Appliances.

To edit a sync configuration, do the following:

1. Click Edit In Settings –> Setup –> NIOS IPAM Sync, select Edit in the Actions column for the required sync configuration. This displays a summary of the current configuration.
2. Click Edit in the lower right corner. This starts the .
   The Sync configuration wizard (see above). To synchronize a grid master: Click Sync, then confirm the synchronization is started. See the procedure for addig a sync configuration above for the wizard steps.

To delete a sync configuration: Click Delete, then confirm

1. In Settings –> Setup –> NIOS IPAM Sync, select Delete in the Actions column for the required sync configuration.
2. Confirm the deletion.

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Synchronizing Between NetMRI and NIOS

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Appliances

To configure IPAM synchronization settings prior to running a synchronization, see the previous section.

To run a synchronization between NetMRI and a new NIOS appliance, do the following:

1. Choose In Settings icon –> Setup –> NIOS IPAM Sync.
2. Click Add Sync Configuration.

3. Add the IP address of the fresh NIOS appliance [the default login is admin/infoblox].

4. Click Next and select the Network View as "default." Select all checkboxes and leave the 'all' options as the default.

5. Click Next and disable the Schedule option.
6. Click Next and save the configuration.
7. Click the Sync Icon , select Sync in the Actions column for the required sync configuration. 
8. Click Yes to confirm.
   The IPv4 and IPv6 Networks will automatically be are added to the NIOS appliance database and will also perform . Also, the CSV import of discovered data is performed.
9. Open the NIOS GUI and verify all the data are imported in the NIOS appliance.

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Including Addresses from ARP Tables into IPAM Sync

Including addresses from ARP tables into IPAM Sync means including data about end hosts that are located in a separate tab in NetMRI (Network Explorer -> Switch Port Management -> End Hosts -> End Host Present). These devices were collected from ARP tables of already discovered devices. If the discovery engine did not recognize such devices as infrastructure or network devices, they are treated as end hosts.

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Overlay/Overwrite Logic

The following overlay/overwrite logic applies to IPAM Sync:

• 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 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.

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Supporting Cisco Discovery Service Supporting Cisco Discovery Service

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Supporting Cisco Discovery Service

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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