Configuration
Overview
Configuration management can be found at Management → Configuration and backs up the running configuration of managed network devices based on the defined trigger. Downloaded configuration is then available for viewing in full or sanitized formats, or for comparison. Only changed configurations are stored, and these report both the time of the last change and the time of the last configuration check for a change.
Configuration can be retrieved in full
or sanitized
forms. Sanitization removes all passwords and network identification information from the configuration to prevent sharing of sensitive information.
Credential Requirements
Network access credentials allowing the show run
command (or equivalent)
are necessary for configuration storage and configuration management to work properly. Please review Device Credentials.
These elevated credentials need Use for configuration management box checked.
Trigger
Trigger archiving can be configured in settings and can be based on a syslog message or a timed event.
How to read configuration management data
There are the following properties in the Management configuration table:
Serial Number
– Serial number of the deviceHostname
– Device hostnameLast Change At
– The last time before the very next config changeLast Check At
– The last config file check before the very next configuration changeStatus
– Config state indicator that tells us whether:changed
– the config changed within the last check (initial value)no change
– the config did not change within the last check
Hash
– Unique ID of the configuration file
We need to realize that every table row, once we filter output for a specific hostname, represents a modified configuration file. When new configuration is found (either brand new, or different from previous) for given device, it is committed to git and new record is entered to DB, with status set to changed
. Next time the device’s configuration is checked, there are two options:
- the configuration file remains the same, in which case status field of the DB record is set to
no change
, andLast Check At
is set to the current time; - the configuration file is changed again, in which case the new configuration is committed to git and new DB record is inserted into DB with status
changed
andLast Change At
andLast Check At
being set to current time, as described above.
Let’s consider following example:
Let’s go from the bottom of the output:
Last change At
is2022-06-11 01:02:11+02
andLast Check At
is2022-06-14 01:01:17+02
with statusno change
- it means there were no configuration file changes between these two timestamps
- configuration file was checked multiple times and status transitioned from
changed
tono change
Last Change At
is2022-06-15 01:02:08+02
andLast Check At
is2022-06-15 01:02:08+02
with statuschanged
- it means that configuration file changed
- the status is set to
changed
Comparing Configurations
Stored configurations are displayed in a table that shows information such as the serial number of the device, the device host name, the time when configuration change was detected (Last Change At
column), and the last time a particular configuration was saved in the Last Check At
column.
The table can be used to compare between two different configurations directly from the user interface. This is done by selecting the Before
and After
states to compare, and the resulting differences can be displayed side-by-side, inline with all rows, or inline with only rows where the changes have occurred.