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Onboarding NIOS Services
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Onboarding NIOS Services

Owned by Sri Raghu
Last updated: Sept 11, 2024
3 min read

Network Identity Operating System (NIOS) is the operating system that powers Infoblox core network services, ensuring non-stop operation of network infrastructure. The basis for Next Level Networking, NIOS automates the error-prone and time-consuming manual tasks associated with deploying and managing DNS, DHCP, and IP address management (IPAM) required for continuous network availability and business uptime.

The IPAM Federation feature is available in NIOS version 9.0.4 and above. Create a role with Global/B1DDI Admins or B1DDI IPAM/DHCP Manage permission to allow the user to configure IPAM Federation.

The network assets managed by NIOS can be managed using Universal DDI through the Infoblox Portal. To manage NIOS network assets using Universal DDI, you must deploy and configure NIOS, and finally enable the Network Discovery service. Complete the following steps:

  1. Install NIOS. For more information, see Installing NIOS.

  2. Deploy a Grid in NIOS. For more information, see Deploying a Grid. Complete the following:

  3. Create a Join Token in the Infoblox Portal and add it to NIOS. For more information, see Establishing Connectivity Between NIOS and Infoblox Portal.

  4. Enable Federation in NIOS.

  5. Go to Grid Properties > CSP Config > Advanced and click Enable Cloud Grid Management. Click Save & Close. IPAM Federation empowers you to establish routable networks across various IPAM providers like Universal DDI, NIOS, AWS, Azure, and GCP. Failure to enable IPAM Federation will result in the inability to create routable networks and could potentially lead to conflicts due to overlapping IP addresses.

  6. Go to the Infoblox Portal and navigate to Configure > Servers. You can view the Grid Master and the Grid Member in the list. The following information is shown for the Type and Tags:

    • Grid Manager:

      • NIOS Grid Manager

      • NIOS Grid Connector

      • NIOS DHCP

      • NIOS DNS

    • Grid Member

      • NIOS DHCP

      • NIOS DNS

    • Tags:

      • Grid Manager: Shows the tag GM.

      • Grid Member: Shows the tag GMC.

If there is an HA pair in NIOS, and a failover occurs, the properties of the active node and the passive node will switch accordingly. The same is reflected on the Infoblox Portal. For more information on HA in NIOS, see About HA Pairs.

The NIOS Grid Connector is automatically enabled for the NIOS-X Server. For more information, see NIOS Grid Connector.

If you have enabled High Availability on NIOS, the NIOS Grid Manager, NIOS Grid Connector, NIOS DHCP, and NIOS DNS services are shown on the corresponding NIOS-X Server for Active node in the Infoblox Portal. The NIOS Grid Connector service is shown on the corresponding NIOS-X Server for Passive node in the Infoblox Portal. On the Grid Member, the NIOS DNS, and NIOS DHCP services are shown. The NIOS DNS and NIOS DHCP services are stopped by default. Before performing any NIOS action through the Infoblox Portal, start the NIOS DNS and NIOS DHCP services.

If you upgrade NIOS to 9.0.4 from 8.6.2, you will see that the Service Names for Grid Master and Grid Master Candidate are updated to an auto-generated service name in CSP. Please note that during a revert to 8.6.2 the service name will not be reverted.

NIOS Grid members which have not connected with Join Token will be shown in the Infoblox Portal as mentioned below:

  • Platform Management and Application Management will not be displayed.

  • The status will be indicated as Offline (Unregistered), indicating the member is not connected with the Infoblox Portal.

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