Clicking on any device's name in the Name column, you open a set of tabs revealing information about the selected device:
The Interfaces tab (see Viewing Interface Information for Discovered Devices below)
The Networks tab (see Viewing Networks Associated with Discovered Devices below)
The IP Addresses tab (see Viewing IP Addresses Associated with Discovered Devices )
The Assets tab (see Viewing Assets Associated with Discovered Devices below)
The Components tab (see Viewing Components of Discovered and Managed Devices below)
Viewing Interface Information for Discovered Devices
This panel lists all discovered interfaces associated with the selected device. Interfaces are detected whether they are loopbacks, unnumbered, or numbered with one or more IP addresses. Interfaces may be listed for either managed or unmanaged devices.
From the Data Management tab, select the Devices tab. The Devices Home page displays a list of all devices currently found and catalogued by discovery.
Click the Action icon
for a chosen device and choose Interfaces from the drop-down menu, or simply click the device name to display the Interfaces list. Click Devices Home to return to the main Devices page.
This panel displays the following information for each interface. Note that some data may appear for some device types and not for others.
Name: The name of the interface (usually a switched interface) associated with the discovered device.
Reservation: Indicates whether the port has been reserved by NIOS as part of a Port Control operation.
IP Address: Detected IPv4 or IPv6 address of the interface.
VRF Name: The name of the VRF associated with the interface, if applicable.
Network View: The name of the network view to which the VRF instance belongs, if applicable. If there is only one network view in the Grid, which is the default view, the Network View column is hidden by default.
VRF Description: The description about the VRF instance, if applicable.
VRF RD: The route distinguisher associated with the VRF instance, if applicable.
MAC Address: The hardware address associated with the interface.
Description: Port description associated with the interface, such as ge-0/0/5 or FastEthernet0/13.
VLAN ID/VLAN Name: The data VLAN identifier and VLAN name that is bound to the interface, if applicable.
Port Speed: Interface speed, in Mbps.
Port Type: Type of interface as detected by NIOS Discovery. Examples include ethernet-csmacd, propPointToPoint Serial, l2vlan, tunnel, and others.
Admin Status: Shows whether the interface is administratively Up or administratively Down.
Operating Status: Shows whether the interface is operationally Up or operationally Down.
Trunk Status: Where applicable, shows the trunking status of the interface.
Link Aggregation: Shows if the interface is part of a Link Aggregation Group, also known as port channel.
Aggregated Interface: Shows the port channel name, if the interface is part of a port channel or virtual port channel.
vPC Peer: This field is applicable to Cisco devices with virtual port channel. It shows the name of the second aggregated interface of the port channel. The aggregated interface and vPC peer values are identical as aggregated interfaces on a vPC device must have identical names. Clicking the link in the vPC Peer column takes you to the Interfaces tab of the device to which the peer interface belongs. Also see IP List Neighbor Information for vPC data displayed in the Attached Device Port Name field for an end device.
Status: Shows whether the interface is Used or Unused.
IPAM Type: The object type that is associated with the IP address for the interface. Possible values can be Lease, IPv4 DHCP Range or Fixed Address.
Usage: Indicates whether NIOS has configured the IP address for DNS or DHCP.
Managed: Shows whether the interface is managed under IPAM, by being associated with a managed IPAM object such as a Fixed Address. Check the IPAM Type field for related information.
Reservation: Indicates whether the interface has a port reservation bound to it. For information, see Creating Port Reservations for IPAM Objects.
Capabilities: Describes the capabilities of each interface in the selected device. Hover the mouse over each entry to view the complete listing. For information, see Determining Interface Capabilities below.
Site: This is a predefined extensible attribute.
You can also click the Action icon 
next to an interface name and select one of the following to perform the specified task:
Edit: This option is enabled if the network is in managed state. This opens the network editor.
Show Assets: This option is only available for switched Ethernet interfaces with no IP Address. This opens the Assets page for the selected device, and shows a list of end host devices or neighboring linked to the interface. Network Insight filters the asset list for the device by the interface name.
Show Multiple IP Addresses: Opens the IP Addresses page specifically for the interface, listing all IPv4 and IPv6 addresses associated with the interface. This option appears only if the interface has IP addresses.
Convert: Convert a network in the unmanaged state to be managed under IPAM and (optionally) DHCP. Unlike devices and interfaces, you do not assign objects such as fixed addresses or PTR records to a managed network. Conversion enables a network to be fully manageable under IPAM and DHCP. For more information, see Converting Unmanaged Networks to Managed Status.
IPAM Networks: Choosing this option lists all IPAM networks associated with the current interface.
Device Details: A basic list of information about the chosen device, including the IP address by which the device is discovered, operational status, IPAM Type (whether the device is Managed or Unmanaged), the Device Type and the number of Interfaces.
You can also do the following:
Modify some of the data in the table. Double click a row, and either modify the data in the field or select an item from a drop-down list. Click Save to save the changes or click Cancel to exit. Note that some fields are read only. You can modify the following fields in this table: VLAN ID/VLAN Name, Admin Status and Description.
Sort the data in ascending or descending order by column.
Select an interface checkbox and click the Edit icon to manage device properties.
Click the Export icon to export the list of discovered devices to a .csv file.
Click the Print icon to print the list of discovered devices.
Use filters and the Go to function to narrow down the list. With the autocomplete feature, you can just enter the first few characters of a device name in the Go to field and select the device from the possible matches.
Create a quick filter to save frequently used filter criteria.
Determining Interface Capabilities
One key piece of information that Network Insight compiles from discovery involves an assessment of interface capabilities. The Interfaces table provides a hidden column titled Capabilities with a description of the relevant capabilities of each interface in the discovered device.
From the Data Management tab, select the Devices tab. The Devices Home page displays a list of all devices currently found and catalogued by discovery.
Click the Action icon
for a chosen device and choose Interfaces from the popup menu.
Click the right end of a column header and choose Columns –> Edit Columns from the drop-down menu.
Select the Capabilities checkbox and click Apply.
The text listing for the Capabilities field may be too long to display in the Interfaces table. Hover the mouse over any table row to display the complete entry for the Capabilities field:
Capabilities information for the selected interface
Critical values in the Capabilities field include the following:
Provision IPv4 Network – Yes or No
Provision IPv6 Network – Yes or No
De-Provision IPv4 Network – Yes or No
De-Provision IPv6 Network – Yes or No
Interface has no IP Address – Appears only if no IP address is defined for the interface
Edit Data VLAN – Yes or No
Edit Voice VLAN – Yes or No
Edit Admin Status – Yes or No
Edit Description – Yes or No
The values you see in this field provide notification when you are unable to set certain values for any interface. When discovery queries devices for their device type, OS version support and other factors, Network Insight compiles the information into table formats that help you to determine issues or exceptions in the network.
For example, loopback interfaces are "always up" and hence do not support an Admin Status configuration and show Edit Admin Status = No. If an interface does not have an IP address, it cannot be de-provisioned and hence shows a De-provision Network = No. That same device may not support IP addresses or VLANs because it is only a L2 Ethernet switch, and shows Edit VLAN = No and Provision IPv4 Network = No, among others.
If a device shows a Provision IPv4 Network = Yes and Provision IPv6 Network = No, it indicates that the device supports only IPv4, perhaps due to OS software version.
Other cases may involve the following reasons:
Edit Admin Status = No:
Device not supported
Vendor not supported
Model not supported
Port does not support Admin settings (Loopback, Virtual)
Edit VLAN = No:
Device not supported
Device type not supported for VLAN assignment (Router, L2 switch)
Vendor not supported
model not supported
Edit Voice VLAN = No:
Device not supported
Vendor not supported (Cisco is the only supported device type)
Device not licensed
Model not supported
Provision IPv4 Network=No/Provision IPv6 Network=No:
Device not supported
Vendor not supported for network provisioning
De-Provision IPv4 Network=No/De-Provision IPv6 Network=No:
Device not supported
Vendor not supported for network provisioning
Device type not supported for network provisioning (Router)
Edit Description=No
Device not supported
Vendor not supported
Model not supported
Viewing Networks Associated with Discovered Devices
To view all discovered networks associated with the selected device, complete the following:
From the Data Management tab, select the Devices tab. The Devices Home page displays a list of all devices currently found and catalogued by discovery.
Click the device name.
Click the Networks tab.
Grid Manager displays all networks to which the chosen device connects. You see the following types of networks based on their managed or unmanaged status:
Unmanaged: These networks are displayed in yellow rows with the value of No in the Managed column. Shows that the network is not managed under IPAM, but enough network information is catalogued so that the network can be converted to managed status. You can provision these networks onto devices.
Managed: These networks are displayed in white rows with the value of Yes in the Managed column. These networks are currently managed under IPAM, converted to an IPAM network. You can provision and de-provision managed networks.
The so called "non-NIOS networks": These networks are displayed in grey rows with a blank value in the Managed column. Indicates that the network is discovered but available network information is not sufficient to identify and catalog the network in IPAM at the present time. If you encounter such networks and you want them to appear in IPAM, do the following:
Check the admin or operation status of the corresponding interface. It should not be disconnected physically or disabled by administrator.
Ensure that the prefix length for the network is other than /32 (ipv4) or /128 (ipv6). Network Insight treats named prefixes as a route to a specific device rather than a subnet, therefore it does not create such network in IPAM.
Ensure that the route for this interface is configured correctly.
Check that the route is a direct or local one based on the routing table and is not learned from a remote source via BGP, OSPF and so on (i.e., indirect next hop), nor comes from a static route using the netmgmt protocol.
If the network is within a VRF, ensure that the VRF is mapped to the correct network view. VRF mapping is required in this case for the network to appear in IPAM. After the VRF is correctly mapped, the network turns from non-NIOS to unmanaged, or managed if the network is already present in IPAM.
Grid Manager displays the following information for each network found on the selected device, if applicable:
Network: The network IPv4 or IPv6 address.
VRF Name: The name of the VRF associated with the interface, if applicable.
Network View: The name of the network view to which the VRF instance belongs, if applicable. If there is only one network view in the Grid, which is the default view, the Network View column is hidden by default.
VRF Description: The description about the VRF instance, if applicable.
VRF RD: The route distinguisher associated with the VRF instance, if applicable.
Comment: Any information entered by admins about the network.
Managed: Shows values of Yes or No for managed status.
Using the Action icon , you can perform the following tasks in the Networks page:
Show IPAM Network: Opens the IPAM IP MAP that illustrates the IP states for all IPs in the network.
De-provision Network: Available for managed networks that are provisioned and active on a device. Allows you to de-provision (delete) the selected IPAM network from all devices connected to the selected network. See Provisioning and De-Provisioning Networks.
Edit: Opens the network editor for the selected network. This option is enabled if the network is in managed status.
Delete: Select Delete to delete the network now or select Schedule Deletion to schedule the deletion at a later time. Note that the deletion function allows you to de-provision the actual network from the device. By default, when you choose Delete or Scheduled Delete, the network is de-provisioned from all interfaces listed in the panel. Exercise caution when using this feature!
Extensible Attributes: Provides access to the extensible attribute settings for the selected network.
Permissions: Provides access to admin permissions settings for the selected network. This option is enabled if the network is in managed status.
Convert: Converts unmanaged network to a managed network in NIOS. All discovered networks on each device are automatically listed as Unmanaged after a discovery. This means that the discovered network, though visible, does not have its identities resolved by NIOS, nor are its IP address managed through IPAM or leased through DHCP. After converting the unmanaged network to managed status, Grid Manager uses the discovered router IP address to populate the same value under subsequent DHCP configurations for the network. You can also select an unmanaged network and convert it to managed status by clicking Convert from the Toolbar.
Device Details: Provides information about the device to which the selected network belongs. The list includes information such as the IP Address and Device Type for the device, and in the IPAM Type field whether the device itself is a managed or unmanaged object in NIOS. It also provides the following status counters for the device:
Administrative Up - Operational Up: The number of ports that are fully up and passing traffic
Administrative Up - Operations Down: The number of ports that are administratively up, but have some kind of connectivity issues.
Administrative Down - Operational Down: The number of ports that are administratively taken down.
The horizontal navigation bar and the Toolbar also provide the following functions:
Provision Network
: Available for managed networks and for unmanaged networks that are recognized by IPAM. For information, see Provisioning and De-Provisioning Networks. Clicking this icon opens the Provision Network feature, allowing you to provision the network onto the actual device by selecting a device interface, and enabling DHCP Forwarding and/or assigning a VLAN. Grid Manager creates a new port control task under Task Manager, and you can choose the interface on which the network is provisioned, along with VLAN configuration and other settings.
De-Provision Network
: Available for discovered networks that are not visible under IPAM. A dialog box appears summarizing the task.
Show Active Users: For Microsoft Management only. Displays the Active Users dialog box. You can view all the active users on the Active Directory domain for the selected device. For more information, see Viewing Active Network Users.
Modifying Networks
Grid Manager enables the user to edit select DHCP configurations, including the following:
IPv4 DHCP Options/IPv6 DHCP Options: DHCP options provide specific configuration and service information to DHCP clients. For more information, see About IPv4 DHCP Options.
DHCP Forwarding: Enables routers connecting multiple networks to act as a silent DHCP relay and forward DHCP packets between them. The DHCP Forwarding page lists the interfaces on the currently selected network on which DHCP Forwarding is enabled. If more than one device on the selected network also enables DHCP Forwarding, they also appear here. DHCP Forwarding configuration involves simply enabling or disabling the service for a network endpoint on the device. In order for DHCP forwarding to work, you must restart the DHCP service on the Grid member that is serving the network; If you run DHCP service on both LAN1 and LAN2 of the Grid member, then both addresses are written to the device.
From the Data Management tab, select the Devices tab.
Click the Name link for the device you want to inspect.
Click the Networks tab.
Click the Action icon
for a network in the table, and choose Edit. This feature is enabled only for networks that are managed under IPAM.
Click the DHCP Forwarding tab.
Select the checkbox for any listed instance and do the following if necessary:
Click Configure. Grid Manager queries you to confirm that DHCP Forwarding are configured on the selected network (A task will be created to configure DHCP forwarding for this network on these devices: <device_name>. You can view the execution log for the task in the Task Manager to see the results).
Click Delete to remove the selected DHCP Forwarding instance from the network.
DHCP Forwarding confirmations
Click Yes to confirm the activating or deletion of DHCP forwarding on the selection, or No to reject the change.
Click Save & Close.
Viewing IP Addresses Associated with Discovered Devices
You can view the complete list of discovered IP addresses bound to all interfaces for any device, discovered and managed devices alike.
Note
One useful trick for interfaces is to pick out an interface from the Interfaces page that has multiple IPs and open the IPAddresses tab; or sort the IP addresses table by its IPAddress column, and locate the interface name that bears multiple IPs. Frequently, an interface with multiple addresses can have IPv4 and IPv6 addresses bound to it. Loopbacks are another example.
From the Data Management tab, select the Devices tab. The Devices Home page displays a list of all devices currently found and catalogued by discovery.
Click the Action icon
for a chosen device and choose Interfaces from the drop-down menu, or simply click the device name to display the Interfaces list. Click Devices Home to return to the main Devices page.
Click the IP Addresses tab. Grid Manager displays all IP addresses associated with the chosen device. Grid Manager displays the following information for each IP address:
IP Address: The IP address for each discovered interface as managed by NIOS and IPAM. The table supports IPv4 and IPv6 values. Each IP address is a link to the home IPAM page for the interface. If an IP address does appear but is not a link, this indicates the discovered IP is not recognized under IPAM.
VRF Name: The name of the VRF associated with the interface, if applicable.
Network View: The name of the network view to which the VRF instance belongs, if applicable. If there is only one network view in the Grid, which is the default view, the Network View column is hidden by default.
VRF Description: The description about the VRF instance, if applicable.
VRF RD: The route distinguisher associated with the VRF instance, if applicable.
Interface Name: The name of the interface (usually a switched interface) associated with the discovered device.
MAC Address: The hardware MAC address associated with the interface.
VLAN Name/VLAN ID: The data VLAN name and VLAN identifier to which the interface is bound, if applicable. In most cases, you see both the VLAN name and the VLAN ID as two values in the same field. Multiple VLAN entries may be present for an interface or IP Address.Some interfaces may have a large number of associated VLANs. By default, Network Insight does not automatically show all of them, instead providing a Show all... link for reference within the table cell. All VLAN ID/VLAN name values appear within the table cell, with a Hide... link provided to shorted the list back to original length.
AdminStatus: Lists whether the interface is administratively Up or administratively Down.
OperationStatus: The operational status of the interface (operationally Up or operationally Down).
Managed: Indicates whether or not the IP Address is managed by Grid Manager. If the IP address is unmanaged, you will be able to Convert the IP address to an Object that is managed by Grid Manager.
Site: This is a predefined extensible attribute. Extensible attributes may also appear in this table.
Click the IP Address link for any interface to open the Related Objects page for the chosen port.
Click the Action iconnext to an IP address and select one of the following to perform the specified task. Note that some of these actions are not applicable to the IP address.
Edit Interface: Opens the interface general settings page. You can view and modify basic interface settings such as Admin Status (on the General page), Data VLAN and Voice VLAN (on the VLAN page), and add or modify extensible attributes.
Convert: Depending on the address type and its IPAM status, you may be able to convert the selected IP to a Host Record, A Record, PTR Record or a Fixed Address. Otherwise, Grid Manager shows This object cannot be converted. You can also perform the same action by selecting an IP address checkbox and clicking Convert from the Toolbar.
Device Details: Provides information about the device to which the selected IP address belongs. The list includes information such as the IP Address and Device Type for the device, and in the IPAM Type field whether the device itself is a managed or unmanaged object in NIOS. It also provides the following status counters for the device:
Total Available Interfaces: The total number of interfaces associated with the device.
Administrative Up - Operational Up: The number of ports that are fully up and passing traffic
Administrative Up - Operations Down: The number of ports that are administratively up, but have some kind of connectivity issues.
Administrative Down - Operational Down: The number of ports that are administratively taken down.
Viewing Router Redundancy Information
Some discovered devices may support router redundancy. After discovery, some IP addresses are indicated as a VIP (virtual IP) in the device's IP Addresses page with router redundancy. In the IP List page, Router Redundancy in the Action icon menu lists the IP addresses associated with the VIP. For each IP, there are various menu items as shown in the below figure.
Virtual IPs and discovered redundancy information
Active: lists the active interface in the redundancy pair;
VIP: The Virtual IP for the router redundancy pair;
Standby: The standby IP interface for the router redundancy.
Discovery of all three IP components of the Router Redundancy instance also provides related information for all three IP entities:
Show IPAM Address: opens the IPAM page to the listed IP address;
VIP: Opens the virtual interface in the host device's Interfaces page;
Device name: The third item lists the device name of the router for each of the three IP address entities comprising the redundancy instance. The currently active router is identified with the Active and VIP objects; the second Standby router is identified with the Standby IP address.
Viewing Assets Associated with Discovered Devices
During discovery, Network Insight classifies end hosts and any other devices connected to switchport interfaces as "Assets" directly associated with each discovered interface. On the device level, the Assets page shows all network devices reachable by the selected network device, including switchports supporting end hosts. In practice, most Asset tables show end hosts and devices that populate Ethernet network segments.
The Assets table lists all managed end hosts and application servers detected through discovery and identity resolution by Grid Manager, that are connected to each network infrastructure device. The records listed in this table date from the Last Seen discovery time stamp of each end host or other device. In many cases, you see neighbor devices to the current device appearing on this page.
To view assets associated with discovered devices:
From the Data Management tab, select the Devices tab. The Devices Home page displays a list of all devices currently found and catalogued by discovery.
Click the Action icon
for a chosen device and choose Interfaces from the drop-down menu, or simply click the device name to display the Interfaces list. Click Devices Home to return to the main Devices page.
Click the Assets tab. Grid Manager displays all assets associated with the chosen device.
Note the list of assets at this level may include devices that are trunked to the current device, including end-user host computers or routers and switch-routers neighboring the currently selected device.Grid Manager displays the following information for each asset:
Name: The asset name on the network as discovered by Grid Manager. If the name is that for another infrastructure device, you may click on it to see its associated assets.
Interface Name: The name of the interface (usually a switched interface) associated with the discovered device.
VRF Name: The name of the VRF associated with the interface, if applicable.
Network View: The name of the network view to which the VRF instance belongs, if applicable. If there is only one network view in the Grid, which is the default view, the Network View column is hidden by default.
VRF Description: The description about the VRF instance, if applicable.
VRF RD: The route distinguisher associated with the VRF instance, if applicable.
IP Address: The IP Address for each discovered asset as managed by NIOS and IPAM. The IP address is a link to the home IPAM page for the interface.
Type: The type of device. Infrastructure devices such as routers and switches may also be categorized as an Asset.
Username: The User Name for the asset, as defined from the host's DHCP lease.
Asset MAC Address: The hardware MAC address associated with the asset.
VLAN Name/VLAN ID: The VLAN identifier from which the asset is reachable.
Admin Status: The administrative status (Up or Down) of the management port that identifies the asset device.
Operation Status: Normally reads Up or Down. Asset records may appear as Down because they are disconnected from the network or being rebooted.
Managed: Indicates whether the asset is managed by NIOS.
Reservation: Indicates whether the interface has a port reservation bound to it.
Capabilities: Describes the capabilities of each interface in the selected device. Hover the mouse over each entry to view the complete listing.
Site: This is a predefined extensible attribute.
Using the Action icon , you can perform the following tasks in the IP Addresses page:
Edit IPAM Object: For managed objects, this opens the editor for the object so you can modify its properties.
Edit Interface: Opens the interface general settings page. You can view and modify basic interface settings such as Admin Status (on the General page), Data VLAN and Voice VLAN (on the VLAN page), and add or modify extensible attributes.
Show IPAM IP Address: Shows discovered data, related objects, and audit history of the selected asset. This option is disabled for devices that have a management IP that is not part of an IPAM network. Discovered data may or may not appear for the asset, depending on the device type.
Convert: Depending on the asset type and its IPAM status, you may be able to convert the selected asset to a Host Record, A Record, PTR Record or a Fixed Address. Otherwise, Grid Manager shows This object cannot be converted. You can also perform the same action by selecting an IP address checkbox and clicking Convert from the Toolbar.
Device Details: Provides information about the device to which the selected IP address belongs. The list includes information such as the IP Address and Device Type for the device, and in the IPAM Type field whether the device itself is a managed or unmanaged object in NIOS. It also provides the following status counters for the device:
Total Available Interfaces: The total number of interfaces associated with the device.
Administrative Up - Operational Up: The number of ports that are fully up and passing traffic
Administrative Up - Operations Down: The number of ports that are administratively up, but have some kind of connectivity issues.
Administrative Down - Operational Down: The number of ports that are administratively taken down.
Viewing Assets Associated with an Interface
You can narrow down an Asset list to individual interfaces on any managed network device. On the interface level, the Assets page shows all devices associated with the chosen interface, including switchports supporting many end hosts. In practice, most Asset tables show end hosts and devices that populate Ethernet network segments.
From the Data Management tab, select the Devices tab.
Click the Name link for the device you want to inspect.
Click the Action icon
for an interface in the table, and choose Show Assets. (Applies only to switched interfaces that do not have an IP address.)
Values listed in the Assets table include the following:
Name: The asset's name on the network as discovered by Grid Manager. If the Name is that for another infrastructure device, you may click on it to see its associated Assets.
Interface Name: The name of the interface (typically a switched interface) associated with the asset (by which the asset was discovered).
IP Address: The IP Address for each discovered end host as managed by IPAM. The IP address is a link to the home IPAM page for the interface.
MAC Address: The hardware MAC address associated with the asset.
VLAN ID/VLAN Name: The VLAN identifier from which the asset is reachable.
Operation Status: Normally reads Up or Down. Asset records may appear as Down because they are disconnected from the network or being rebooted.
In the Interfaces page, if you select an interface for a switch that is only connected to a neighboring switch, router, or switch-router, and then choose Show Assets, the Assets page displays only the neighboring device that is reachable from the chosen port.
Viewing Components of Discovered and Managed Devices
Network Insight provides a table of hardware components for each discovered/managed network device. Elements listed in the Components table include the following:
Name: The discovered name of the device component.
Description: The description string associated with the component. In many cases, this value is the same as the Name field.
Class: Type of component. Possible values include, but are not limited to, Port, Power Supply, Fan, Module, Stack, RoutingEngine, powerEntryModule, Chassis, and more, based upon the collected SNMP data.
Serial Number: The discovered vendor serial number for the component.
Model: Describes the model number or model name of the component, based upon collected SNMP data.
Note
Note To view information about the device, including its IPAM Type and the operating status of its ports, click the Action icon
for a chosen device and choose Device Details in the drop-down menu.