Managing Cisco SMB Switches with Prime Infrastructure
Kai Ma
Table of contents
1 Downloading Cisco Prime Infrastructure server......................................................... 3
2 Installing Cisco Prime Infrastructure server................................................................ 4
3 Accessing Cisco Prime Infrastructure Server
........................................................... 4
4 Add Devices into PI...................................................................................................... 5
4.1 Add Devices Manually............................................................................................. 5
4.2 Run Quick Discovery................................................................................................ 7
5 Check Device Details.................................................................................................... 9
6 Archive Configuration................................................................................................ 10
7 Configure switches through Configuration Archive tab............................................ 12
8 Image management.................................................................................................. 13
Cisco 100-500 series switches support a variety of management capabilities to help Small and Midsize Business customers easily configure and monitor their networks. This ranges from the on-device web interface and Smart Network Application to FindIT Network Discovery Utility, FindIT Network Manager and Cisco Active Advisor.
For larger deployment, or a mixed environment with Cisco Catalyst switches, Cisco Prime Infrastructure can also be used to manage Cisco SMB switches and other Cisco products in a single, intuitive interface for the whole network.
Cisco Prime Infrastructure 3.2 provides basic support for Cisco 550, 500, 350 and 300 series switches. It is able to discover the device, check its health status, do configuration archive and deploy, and execute image upgrade.
This document provides a quick guide to start managing Cisco 550, 500, 350 and 300 series switches with Prime Infrastructure. For more detailed user guide, please refer to
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/net_mgmt/prime/infrastructure/3-2/user/guide/bk_CiscoPrimeInfrastructure_3_2_0_UserGuide/bk_CiscoPrimeInfrastructure_3_1_0_UserGuide_chapter_00.html
1 Downloading Cisco Prime Infrastructure server
Go to www.cisco.com and search for “Cisco Prime Infrastructure”.
Click “Downloads Software” link to download Prime Infrastructure.
If you have installed Prime Infrastructure for the first time you may try it out using the built-in evaluation license that is available by default. To continue to use Prime Infrastructure after evaluation period, you need to install proper licenses that match the features and number of devices you need to manage. Please consult with your Cisco sales representative or partner for more details on licensing.
2 Installing Cisco Prime Infrastructure server
Please refer to the link Installing Cisco Prime Infrastructure to install it,
http://www.cisco.com/c/m/en_us/training-events/training-vods/prime-infrastructure-2-2-module-2.html?dtid=osscdc000283
3 Accessing Cisco Prime Infrastructure Server
To log into the GUI, enter the following in your web browser address field, where <server-ip> is the IP address of the server:
https://<server-ip>
Depending on your network configuration, the first time your browser connects to the web server, you may have to update your client browser to trust the server’s security certificate. This ensures the security of the connection between your client and the web server.
To log out, click at the top right of the window and choose Log Out.
4 Add Devices into PI
4.1 Add Devices Manually
Procedure:
Step 1 Click icon on top left of PI window, and choose Inventory > Device Management > Network Devices.
Or click on top-right, then click Network Devices in Manage Network section as shown below.
Step 2 Click the icon above the Network Devices table, then choose Add Device.
Step 3 In the Add Device dialog box, complete the required fields. Click the "?" next to a field for a description of that field.
Note Telnet/SSH information is mandatory for devices using compliance policy. Even if the default timeout for Telnet/SSH (60 seconds) and SNMP (10 seconds) differs between devices based on the network latency, the devices can be configured.
Step 4 (Optional) Click Verify Credentials to validate the credentials before adding the device.
Step 5 Click Add to add the device with the settings you specified.
Step 6 After a while, device synchronizing will turn to completed, and admin state will turn to Managed .
4.2 Run Quick Discovery
Use this method when you want to perform a ping sweep using a single seed device. Only the device name, SNMP community, seed IP address and subnet mask are required. If you plan to use the configuration management features, you must provide the protocol, user name, password, and enable password.
Procedure
Step 1 Click icon on top left of PI window, and choose Inventory > Device Management > Discovery, then click the Quick Discovery link at the top right of the window.
Or click on top-right, then click Discover Devices in Manage Network section.
then click Quick Discovery.
Step 2 At a minimum, enter the name, SNMP community, seed IP address, and subnet mask.
Step 3 Click Run Now.
What to Do Next
Click the job hyperlink in the Discovery Job Instances area to view the results.
5 Check Device Details
Step 1 Click on top-right, then click Network Devices in Manage Network section as below figure shows.
Step 2 Click device name to show Device Details.
Step 3 You can check all the details for supported Features by clicking the related tab.
6 Archive Configuration
When in Device Details page, the Configuration Archive tab could be seen on top of the window, click it and get to Archive Details.
by clicking Details under Running Configuration, you get to see all the detailed command line configurations as below.
Archived configuration file can be exported by clicking Export button at the bottom right as below.
7 Configure switches through Configuration Archive tab
Following the previous section to go to Configuration Archive tab, click Schedule Deploy. In the Schedule Deploy window, choose the configuration file you need to deploy, fill in the required fields, and click Submit as shown below.
Check job status to make sure the deployment is successful.
8 Image management
Click icon on top left of PI window, select Inventory-> Software Images, you can see below window. Just follow the procedures - Add/Import, Distribute, Activate and Commit to deploy a new image to the switch.
Add/Import
Distribute
Once distribution job is done, follow Activate and Commit, and the image will be deployed to the switch you selected.
