Network Configuration Manager Device Templates

Device Templates for Site24x7's Network Configuration Manager (NCM) define the commands to connect, back up, restore, or perform other configuration-related operations on a device. To perform these operations, the On-Premise Poller connects to the device using protocols like SSH, SSH - SCP, SSH - TFTP, TELNET, and TELNET - TFTP.

Device Templates provide device-specific commands for backing up device configurations, discovering devices in NCM, syncing startup and running configurations, and obtaining hardware details.

Selecting the correct Device Template will ensure smooth functioning for various operations. Configuration-related operations like backup and restore will not function correctly if an incorrect template is selected. If the selected Device Template is not working correctly, you must execute and verify the commands provided on the Device Template details page for that device.

Where can I use NCM Device Templates?

Use case 1

Let's take a Device Template from Cisco as an example. The Cisco IOS router performs various operations as shown below. Each vendor supports a different set of protocols for backing up or uploading configurations and performing other actions. The commands for an operation will differ depending on the protocol and device type.
Figure 1 shows the operations performed using SSH - TFTP/TELNET - TFTP, like Backup Running Configuration, Backup Startup Configuration, Upload Running Configuration, and Upload Startup Configuration.

Figure 1. Commands for operations using SSH - TFTP/TELNET - TFTP

You can view the commands that will be executed for each operation under different protocols for that device. Say the configuration backup fails despite providing the right credentials. In this case, you only need to verify if the commands displayed on this page for the selected protocol have executed correctly on the device. If not, select the appropriate device template. 

Use case 2

1. Let's take a look at the Brocade Switch Device Template, which supports the following protocols: SSH and SSH - SCP. Other protocols are not displayed, as they are not supported.
2. Click SSH/TELNET (see Figure 3). This page displays the commands for Backup Running Configuration. However, there's no option to backup startup configurations here.
   
   Figure 2. View the Brocade Switch SSH/TELNET commands
3. Click SSH - SCP (Figure 5). This page displays the commands for Backup Running Configuration, and Upload Running Configuration.
   
   Figure 3. Brocade Switch SSH - SCP commands

Viewing NCM Device Templates

1. Log in to your Site24x7 account.
2. Navigate to Network > NCM > Device Templates.
3. Click each template name to view the supported protocols and the commands used for the operations (Figure 5).
   
   Figure 4. Viewing Device Templates

${UserInput:tftp_server_address}

${UserInput:EnablePrompt}

${UserInput:file_name}

${UserInput:HostIpAddress}

${UserInput:LoggingLevel}

${UserInput:scp_server_address}

${UserInput:scp_username}

${UserInput:scp_password}

Figure 8. Setting command variables

Excluding configuration content from NCM Device Templates comparison

While comparing two device configurations or configuration versions in Site24x7's NCM, you will see all the differences between those versions. These differences include empty lines, inconsequential lines (like the created date), expected differences (like the hostname), or even the certification section of the configuration version. 

Sometimes, these differences might cause unexpected changes to a device's status. Figure 6 shows an example of a difference between startup and running configurations that could change the status of the device to down, trouble, or critical, as configured in the Threshold Profile.

Figure 9. Pinpoint differences while comparing device configurations.

To avoid unexpected status changes and to exclude such configuration content from comparison so it does not show up as a difference, Site24x7's NCM uses regular expressions to ignore this content during comparisons.

To modify the criteria to exclude specific content during configuration comparison:

1. Log in to your Site24x7 account.
2. Navigate to Network > NCM > Device Templates.
3. Click the Device Template for which you wish to set the exclude criteria.
4. Click Exclude Criteria. You will see the default Exclude Criteria provided in the Device Template and custom criteria if it has been added already. Close the Exclude Criteria pop-up to go back to the Device Template details screen.
5. To add, edit, or delete custom criteria, click Edit Device Template on the top-right of the screen. Alternatively, you can click the pencil icon  beside the appropriate device template as shown in Figure 4 (marked as 2).
6. Then, click Exclude Criteria. You can edit any existing custom criteria here by modifying the details in the editable fields.
7. Click the X icon beside the Description column to delete a previously added criterion.

To add a new criterion: 

1. Click Exclude Criteria on the Edit Device Template screen.
2. Enter the details in a row with blank fields. Or, to add more than one criterion, click the + icon.
3. Provide a display name.
4. Next, provide the regular expression pattern in the RegEx  column. To exclude the configuration content previously shown in Figure 9, you can enter the details as shown below in Figure 10.
   
   Figure 10. Add Exclude Criteria.
5. Provide details in the Description column.
6. Click Save. 

Related Articles

• Site24x7's Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
• Network Configuration Manager (NCM) Credentials
• NCM Configuration Summary

Troubleshooting Tips

• Troubleshooting issues with Site24x7's Network Configuration Manager (NCM)