ACI change implementation guidelines

[nileshgore25]

Hi,

I want to know what steps can be followed for change implementations in Cisco ACI

1) to capture the pre and post change logs
I am following - configuration snapshot, screenshot of the System health and APIC health, screenshot of the Tenent faults

2) to verify the change
I am following - check the routing table on switches for change related to L3OUTs, check the leaf switch VLAN table for change related to EPG static binding, in some cases just verify whether the configuration is applied correctly via GUI

Change types -
Modify L3OUTs Interface profile add/remove interfaces, Node profiles add/remove leaf switches, modify static routes,
Adding new leaf / interface profiles
New BD / EPG configuration
etc.

Can these steps be improved ? are there any best practices or guidelines for this ?

[Sergiu.Daniluk]

Hi @nileshgore25 

I would suggest to use the State Change Checker app as well: https://dcappcenter.cisco.com/statechangechecker.html 

With this app you will be able to make 2 snapshots of your fabric - one before and one after the change, and compare them.

There are 4 options which can be used for comparison:

• Full default definition that includes all MOs defined within the app
• Access This definition collects access information including basic interface status, switch inventory information, along with L1/L2 state.
• Routing This definition collects basic information about L2/L3 local endpoint and route reachability state. This includes protocol status, adjacency information, and routing information base (RIB) state.
• VMM This definition collects virtual machine manager (VMM) information focusing on hypervisor connectivity, inventory, and topology state.

Stay safe,

Sergiu

[nileshgore25]

Hi @Sergiu.Daniluk,

Thank you for the reply.

This app seems would be very helpful. I will try out this in lab this week.

I am still interested in knowing what other options we have if not using this app.

[Sergiu.Daniluk]

Well, what you already mentioned is good, and pretty much on the right track. I would add the following:

+ check for any new Faults after the change (from System tab - to have a holistic view of the fabric)

+ check EP learning (before and after) and if any stale EP are present

+ check EP connectivity (east-west & north-south) for critical services, which are impacted by the change

Regards,

Sergiu

[nileshgore25]

hi @Sergiu.Daniluk 

understood. Thanks again !