AMA: Demystifying Cisco Catalyst Center PnP and LAN Automation

[Brooke Hammer]

Ask Me Anything Event

Welcome to the Cisco Community Ask Me Anything conversation. Submit your questions from  Friday, March 15, 2024 through Friday, April 5, 2024. Our colleagues Pandian Ponnuswamy, Gautami Sinai Neureker and Sankkar R will be waiting to assist you and resolve any questions that have not been clarified, or answer any new questions that you may have. We are waiting for you!

More about this event:

Join us for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) event where you can dive deep into Cisco Catalyst Center Plug-and-Play (PnP) and LAN Automation!

What is it?

• Cisco Catalyst Center offers innovative features to streamline network management.
• PnP simplifies device onboarding, eliminating manual configuration for new Cisco Catalyst switches. Imagine powering on a new switch and having it automatically discover its role and configure itself - that's the magic of PnP!
• LAN Automation builds upon PnP, automating the configuration of your entire underlay network, saving you hours (or even days) of manual configuration.

Get Expert Advice!

• This AMA session is your chance to get expert insights on these powerful features.
• Whether you're a seasoned network pro or just starting out, feel free to ask any questions you have about PnP, LAN Automation, or Cisco Catalyst Center in general.

Official Resources:

• Onboard and Provision Devices with Plug and Play

• Cisco Catalyst Center SD-Access LAN Automation Deployment Guide

• Youtube: Cisco Catalyst Center - PNP

• Youtube: Cisco Catalyst Center - LAN Automation

Note: Please post your post as a comment below no later than March 29, 2024.

Post your question below by clicking "Reply"

(Answers will be processed depending on the availability of the experts)
Don't forget to thank the expert by giving it a helpful vote!

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Our experts

Pandian Ponnuswamy Leader, Customer Delivery

Gautami Sinai Neureker Technical Consulting Engineer

Sankkar R Technical Consulting Engineer

For more information, visit the Cisco Catalyst Center discussion forums . If you have questions or are experiencing technical problems with any of the Cisco products, post your question, request information or use the Cisco Community before opening a case with the TAC.

[vinothk3]

What are the ways we can discover devices via PNP ?

[paponnus]

Hi Vinod,

With PnP, new network devices can automatically discover the PnP server and download the necessary configuration and firmware upon initial connection to the network. This enables a "zero-touch" deployment process, streamlining the addition of new devices to the network.

Regards,

Pandian

[vinothk3]

In case if we want to discover via domain name, where should the domain name point towards , whether it is DNAC ?

[gpairait]

if you want to discover via domain name, you need to use the DNS options.
in your DNS server, the "pnpserver" should be able to resolve to the DNAC IP address.

the DHCP server will provide your device [pnp agent] with the IP address of the DNS server.
The DNS server will further resolve the hostname , pnpserver => IP of the DNAC server.

once resolved, it will append the pnpserver.domain.com and reachout to the DNAC server.

[vinothk3]

What ports need to be opened for PNP ?

[gpairait]

TCP 22, 80, 443

for more details on ports and on the certificate requirements for pnp, refer : https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/dna-center/hardening_guide/b_dnac_security_best_practices_guide.html

[vinothk3]

What methods are required for PNP ?

[gpairait]

When the device is plugged into the network, the PnP agent on the device will connect to DNAC using either of the 3 options.
DHCP option 43
DNS or
Cloud Connect.

[NagiT]

Hi ,
Could you please let me know how to resolve this IP address conflict.

Thanks.

[gpairait]

Hi,

this looks like a conflict due to the DNAC inventory already having an entry in its DB for the same SN.
you can do a global search [you will find the global search at top right corner of the DNAC page] with the same SN and check where it exists in the DNAC inventory.
You can delete it if not needed. else you may need to raise a TAC case to get the DB entry validated.

[NagiT]

Hi ,
Thank you for your information.
Unfortunately, we could not delete, we also have SD access.
Regards.
Nagi Turkmen

[gpairait]

please submit a TAC SR to investigate the issue.

[vattanassov]

Can the Management Ethernet interface of a device be used for PnP (the agent side)?

/Later the rest of the config can  be deployed via Day-N templates/

[sankkr]

Yes this is possible. There is no limitation of using the Management port (Gi0/0) for PnP.

[vattanassov]

Can the PnP be used for unsupported device type? For example C1127 router with IOS XE 17.9.4a is indicated as unsupported device type in Catalyst Center 2.3.5.5. What limitations will be hit? Will this router be supported ever?