How To – Push Device Configuration Changes

Fastest time-to-value and lowest TCO (total cost of ownership) are among the top 10 reasons that customers choose, love and continue using Netreo. Turning time-consuming administrative projects into simple tasks is one way Netreo consistently delivers superior value. 

But like all software solutions in use today, many Netreo features go unused or misunderstood by too many customers and would-be users. To help everyone get the most from the Netreo Platform, we are introducing our “How To” series on leveraging valuable Netreo features, starting with Network Device Configuration Changes.

Beyond Initial Device Onboarding

During initial onboarding, Netreo saves administrative IT time by automating identification and network device configuration. The system crawls your network, identifies end-to-end resources, creates a device configuration library and prompts users to customize templates for individual devices and device types.

Netreo uses templates for retaining compliance and simplifying network device configuration changes when spinning up new users or entirely new locations. For example, templates help you quickly bring a new office location online by enabling the same configuration rules to be in a single template that applies to any number of similar devices.

How To Push Network Device Configuration Changes to Devices

Whether or not you’re scheduling to push multiple changes to different device types or a one-time execution of a set of configuration commands on a chosen set of devices of a specific type, use the following procedure.

NOTE: Configuration Saving
Remember, any changes made to the device configuration by the command set will not be saved to non-volatile (stored) memory unless you specifically include a command to do so.

1. From Netreo’s main menu, select Quick Views > Config Manager to navigate to the Config Manager page

   

2. Click the Configuration Push Tool button to open the Configuration Push page

   

3. On the Configuration Push page, click the New Configuration button to open the Download Configuration CSV page
4. On the Download Configuration CSV page:

   

   1. In the DEVICE TYPE field, use the drop-down selector to choose the type of device to which to apply this command set
   2. In the DEVICE field that appears, select the specific device or devices that you would like the command set to be applied to (multiple selection is allowed)
   3. In the DESCRIPTION field, enter a descriptive name for this command set
      1. This name will be displayed on the command set table on the Configuration Push page
   4. In the COMMAND field, create a commandlet by entering the set of commands that you want executed on the configuration of the above devices
      1. Connect and disconnect commands are not required in the commandlet. Netreo will handle these on its own
      2. Begin the commandlet with a command to enter configuration mode for the device. End the commandlet with a command to exit configuration mode. For each deeper level of context you go (for example, accessing a specific interface) a matching exit command must also be included
      3. If you want to create a variable in the entered commandlet that will be automatically set to different values for each device, use the format $variableName$ in each location where the variable name should be replaced by its appropriate value. For each unique variable name used in the commandlet, a column will be added to the CSV file you will shortly download, allowing you to enter whatever value is required in the row for each device
         1. Even if you didn’t create any new variables, you must still download and then upload the resulting CSV file
      4. No error checking is done on the configuration commands used. Therefore it is imperative that you double-check the commands you enter to avoid doing something destructive
      5. If a command fails, the commandlet process will halt and return the output up to that point in the device list of the Configuration Upload page (see below)
   5. Click the Download CSV button
   6. Select a location to save the file and click Save
   7. You are then redirected back to the Configuration Push page where your command set is created and added to the schedule table with a status of “created”
      1. If you created any variables in your commandlet, you must now edit the downloaded CSV file and add the necessary values for each device. Simply open the file in your spreadsheet program of choice, fill in the required values for each device and save the file. Remember to save or export as a CSV
5. Once your CSV file has been properly edited (if necessary), it’s time to upload the file back into Netreo
   1. On the Configuration Push page, click the upload CSV icon in the ACTIONS column of your created config command set to open the Configuration Upload page

      

   2. Click the Browse button next to the CSV UPLOAD field, select your edited CSV file and click Open
      1. Your CSV file will be uploaded after you’ve finished configuring the push schedule
   3. In the TIMEOUT field, enter the number of minutes Netreo will wait for a command to finish executing before the push fails
   4. Using the SCHEDULE TIME fields, schedule a time for your config command set to be pushed to its respective devices
      1. Click in the left field to select a date, and then click in the right field to select a time
   5. Click the Upload CSV button to upload your CSV file and schedule your config command set to be pushed
   6. You are then redirected back to the Configuration Push page where your config command set is scheduled and is updated with a status of “configured”

When the scheduled time occurs, your config command set will be pushed to each device configuration and the command set’s status will be updated to “executed.”

The command set will then remain in the list for reference, but can be deleted if you wish.

To see how the Netreo Platform delivers maximum value as your infrastructure management solution, Request a Demo Today!