Device Credentials

IP Fabric interacts with the network infrastructure devices by running show commands through CLI using SSH or Telnet. Credentials added in Settings → Discovery & Snapshots → Discovery Settings → Device Credentials will be used by IP Fabric to access the CLI of the network devices.

Credential Selection Logic

If multiple credentials are specified, a top-down algorithm is used when trying to log in to a network device, or the credential priority can be changed using drag and drop.

flowchart TD
    A([Start]) --> discoveryHistory{Is the IP address in<br/>the <strong>Management →<br/>Discovery History</strong><br/>table?}
    discoveryHistory --> |Yes|previousUsername[Try the previously discovered username.]
    discoveryHistory --> |No|configuredAuth{Does the IP address fall within<br/>the <strong>Use in subnets</strong> range in<br/>the <strong>Settings → Discovery & Snapshots →<br/>Discovery Settings → Device Credentials</strong><br/>table?}
    configuredAuth --> |Yes|tryAuth[Try the configured <strong>Device Credentials</strong><br/>starting from top to bottom.]
    configuredAuth --> |No|loginFailed([<strong>Login failed.</strong>])
    tryAuth --> |Login succeeded|loginSucceeded([<strong>Login succeeded.</strong>])
    tryAuth --> |Login failed|otherCreds{Are there other<br/>credentials to try?}
    previousUsername --> |Login succeeded|loginSucceeded
    previousUsername --> |Login failed|configuredAuth
    otherCreds --> |Yes|tryNext[Try the next credential.]
    otherCreds --> |No|loginFailed
    tryNext --> |Login succeeded|loginSucceeded
    tryNext --> |Login failed|otherCreds

    style loginFailed fill:#dd3300
    style loginSucceeded fill:#33dd00
    linkStyle 2,4,6,8,10,12 stroke:red;
    linkStyle 1,3,5,7,9,11 stroke:green;

Configure Network Infrastructure Access

Read-only (Privilege 1) credentials are sufficient for basic functionality. Security-sensitive operations and advanced functionality might require higher privileges. See the full list of used command in the documentation.

When adding new credentials, you can limit the validity of the credentials just for a part of your network using the Use in subnets and Don’t use in subnets fields.

Provided credentials can be used for configuration change tracking and saved configuration consistency (i.e., they allow commands such as show run and show start).

To use these credentials for configuration change tracking, please check the Use for configuration management box.

(Optional) Passwords for Enable Mode

Privileged credentials are generally only necessary for configuration management. However, some platforms require privileged credentials to access basic network state information, such as MST spanning-tree state or 802.1X session information.