Table Of Contents
Archiving and Managing Configuration Files
Performing Configuration Archive Administrative Tasks
Roles Required to Perform Configuration Archive Tasks
Understanding Configuration Archive Tasks
Understanding the Device Archive Browser User Interface
Icons in the Device Archive Browser
Retrieving the Device Configuration File
Understanding Configuration Retrieval and Archiving
Deleting Archived Configuration Files
Algorithm for Configuration Retrieval and Archiving
Using the Device Archive Browser
Viewing the Configuration
Performing a Configuration Archive Search
Comparing Configuration Files
Deploying a Configuration
Synchronizing the Configuration Archive with a Device Configuration
Identifying Devices with Out-of-Sync Running and Startup Configurations
Performing Sync Device Operation
Comparing Running and Startup Configurations
Configuration Archive Log File
Archiving and Managing Configuration Files
The Configuration Archive feature provides your network administrator with tools and data to effectively monitor the changes in the configuration files of the devices that are managed by ANA. It enables you to perform the following tasks:
•
Fetch and maintain an active archive of the device configuration file.
•Deploy the device configuration file.
•View the history of changes and restore the device to any of the previous configurations available in your archive.
•Search and generate reports on the archived data.
Performing Configuration Archive Administrative Tasks
The administrative tasks for Archive Management are:
•Configuring Exclude Commands—List the commands that have to be excluded while comparing configurations.
•Setting up parameters for purging configuration files from the archive—Enable or disable the purge task and modify the schedule. This frees disk space and maintains your archive at a manageable size.
See Configuration Archive Preferences, page 14-20 for details.
Roles Required to Perform Configuration Archive Tasks
Table 7-1 lists the roles that are required to perform Configuration Archive tasks. For more information on roles, see Creating and Managing ANA User Accounts.
Table 7-1 Roles Required to Perform Configuration Archive Tasks
Task
|
Role Required
|
Viewing Configuration
|
Any of the following roles:
•Viewer
•Network Operator
•Configurator
•Administrator
|
Search Configuration Archive
|
Any of the following roles:
•Viewer
•Network Operator
•Configurator
•Administrator
|
Compare Configurations
|
Any of the following roles:
•Viewer
•Network Operator
•Configurator
•Administrator
|
Deploy Configuration
|
Any of the following roles:
•Configurator
•Administrator
|
Synchronize Archives
|
Any of the following roles:
•Network Operator
•Configurator
•Administrator
|
View Out-of-Sync Summary
|
Any of the following roles:
•Configurator
•Administrator
|
Compare Running Configuration to Startup Configuration
|
Any of the following roles:
•Viewer
•Network Operator
•Configurator
•Administrator
|
Understanding Configuration Archive Tasks
The Configuration Archive allows you to:
•View archived configurations. See Using the Device Archive Browser for details.
•Synchronize the archive—In addition to scheduling a configuration archive update, you can also update the archive manually. This ensures that you have the latest configurations. See Synchronizing the Configuration Archive with a Device Configuration for more information.
•Determine out-of-sync configuration files—List the devices for which running configurations are not synchronized with the startup configuration. See Identifying Devices with Out-of-Sync Running and Startup Configurations for more information.
•Search for device configuration files—Search the archive for configurations containing text patterns for selected devices. See Performing a Configuration Archive Search for more information.
•Compare configurations—Compare startup configurations with running configurations, and running configurations with the latest archived configurations. You can also compare two configuration versions of the same device, or two configuration versions of different devices. See Comparing Configuration Files for more information.
•Deploy a configuration—Create a job to deploy the version of a configuration that you are viewing on the device. You can deploy the configuration in either the Overwrite or Merge mode. See Deploying a Configuration for more information.
Understanding the Device Archive Browser User Interface
Figure 7-1 shows the Device Archive browser.
Figure 7-1 Device Archive Browser
Icons in the Device Archive Browser
Table 7-2 explains the buttons found in the Device Archive browser.
Table 7-2 Device Archive Browser Buttons
Icon
|
Description
|
|
View a configuration.
|
|
Edit an existing command.
|
|
Compare a a command with the latest version.
|
|
Deploy a configuration.
|
Retrieving the Device Configuration File
This section contains:
• Understanding Configuration Retrieval and Archiving
• Algorithm for Configuration Retrieval and Archiving
Understanding Configuration Retrieval and Archiving
The Configuration Archive feature supports three different ways to trigger the retrieval of configuration files from the device for archiving purposes:
•Automatic Configuration File Archiving—After a device is added to ANA, the configuration files are automatically archived. This happens immediately after a device has been added to ANA.
•Periodic Configuration File Archiving—The Configuration Archive feature archives the running, startup, and VLAN configuration files for all devices according to the schedule (daily, weekly, monthly) that you configure.
Since this method collects the full running, startup, and VLAN configuration files for the entire network, we recommend that you schedule archiving to run no more than once per day, especially if the network is large and outside the LAN.
•Manual Updates (Sync Archive function)—This feature allows you to force Configuration Archive to check specified devices for changes to the running configuration file only. Use Sync Archive if you need it to synchronize quickly with the running configuration. See Synchronizing the Configuration Archive with a Device Configuration for details.
You can also poll the device and compare the time of the change currently on the device with the time of the last archive of the configuration to determine whether the configuration has changed on a device. After a configuration file is fetched from the device, it is archived.
Other than Cisco devices, ANA 4.0 supports Configuration Archive feature only for Lucent, Redback, and UTStarcom devices. Unlike Cisco devices the configuration cannot be classified as running and startup because only one set of configuration exists in these devices.
Time Stamps of Configuration Files
The time stamps indicate the time at which Configuration Archive archived the configuration file. This is not the time at which the configuration actually changed on the device.
Startup configuration files are simply saved into the system as they are retrieved from the device (unlike running configurations, which are compared, versioned, and archived, if the running configuration files are different). The time stamps of Startup Configuration files are just the archive times and do not indicate the change time. In the version summary reports, the Running and Startup links, when clicked, retrieve (in real time) the respective configuration from the device. This column does not have a time stamp associated with it.
In the Out-Of-Sync report, the Startup configuration column indicates the last archived startup configuration along with its time stamp, and the Running configuration column indicates the last archived running configuration along with its time stamp.
Deleting Archived Configuration Files
If you choose to delete a managed device from ANA, all the collected data of this device is removed from the ANA database.
For devices in Maintenance state, device configuration files will not be deleted from the archive. Only when the devices are deleted from the system, the configuration files for these devices are removed from the ANA database.
Algorithm for Configuration Retrieval and Archiving
This section defines the algorithm that is used to retrieve and archive the configuration files:
• Archiving the Configuration of a Change Event
• Archiving the Configuration on Demand
Archiving the Configuration of a Change Event
Configuration archive in response to a change event occurs in the following sequence:
1. VNE detects the change in the time stamp of the configuration files on the devices.
2. Inventory Snapshot (IS) is notified of a configuration change on a VNE. IS, in turn, notifies the registered applications of the change, through the gateway.
3. On receiving the notification, Configuration Archive queues the configuration file fetch request.
4. The configuration file fetch request to the units are regulated and controlled at the application level based on certain collection settings (maximum number of requests and time interval). This prevents units from being flooded with retrieval requests that might otherwise use excessive bandwidth due to frequent configuration file transfers between units and gateways.
5. On receiving the file fetch request, the VNE transfers the latest running configuration available on the unit to the specified location on the gateway.
For other types of configuration—for example, startup, VLAN, and so on—the VNE collects the configuration from the device and copies it to the specified location on the gateway.
6. On successful configuration file transfer to the gateway, if there is a previous version of the same running configuration file type already archived for the device, Configuration Archive checks the difference between the fetched configuration and the predecessor version.
7. If a difference exists between the running configurations, Configuration Archive first analyzes the configuration files to generate an equivalent processed format of configuration files, then creates a new version number and archives the latest fetched configuration in raw, processed, and XML formats.
8. Configuration Archive checks the retrieved running and startup configurations to determine whether they are in sync. If not, a flag is set to indicate that the running and startup configuration files are out of sync.
Configuration file archiving fails if:
•The VNE is down.
•The VNE is reachable, but the configuration file not available on the VNE.
•The file transfer fails because of network issues. By default, file transfer fails after three unsuccessful attempts.
•The database connection fails.
Archiving the Configuration on Demand
You can trigger the configuration fetch operation on demand. You can also schedule jobs that get triggered at a predetermined time to collect the configuration from the devices and update the archive. These collection jobs can be scheduled as periodic jobs (that is, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis).
The following steps explain how on-demand configuration archiving is done:
1. From the NE selector, you select devices from which to fetch configurations.
2. You provide a description for the collection job and the schedule information, and set the job policies.
3. During the job execution, fetch requests for the devices are executed on the gateway either in parallel or sequentially, based on the job execution policy.
4. The gateway forwards the request to the appropriate unit where the corresponding VNE is hosted.
5. The VNE collects the latest configurations from the device and updates its local copy. The VNE notifies IS of configuration time stamp change. While this operation is in progress, the VNE sends intermediate status updates of the command execution to the gateway.
6. On receiving the notification, Configuration Archive queues the configuration file fetch request.
7. Configuration file fetch requests to the units are regulated and controlled at the application level based on certain collection settings (maximum number of requests, and time interval). This prevents units from being flooded with retrieval requests that might otherwise use excessive bandwidth due to frequent configuration file transfers between units and gateways.
8. On receiving the file fetch request, the VNE transfers the latest running configuration available on the unit to the specified location on the gateway.
For other types of configuration—for example, startup, VLAN, and so on—the VNE collects the configuration from the device and copies it to the specified location on the gateway.
9. On successful configuration file transfer to the gateway, if there is a previous version of the same running configuration file type already archived for the device, Configuration Archive checks the difference between the fetched configuration and the predecessor version.
10. If a difference exists between the running configuration, Configuration Archive first analyzes the configuration files to generate an equivalent processed format of the configuration files, and then creates a new version number and archives the latest fetched configuration in raw, processed, and xml formats.
11. Configuration Archive checks the retrieved running and startup configurations to determine whether they are in sync. If not, a flag is set to indicate that the running and startup configuration files are out of sync.
12. Job result shows the summary of the archive status for all the devices in the job.
Configuration archive jobs fail if:
•The job scheduler service is down.
•The authorization fails, license check fails, or device is in suspended sate and no longer managed.
•The VNE is down when the job execution starts.
•There is no response from the VNE to the collect request or no collection status update from the VNE. Before reporting the status. it waits till the time out occurs.
•The file transfer fails because of network issues. By default, file transfer fails after three unsuccessful attempts.
Using the Device Archive Browser
To view the device archive browser:
Step 1 Go to the Tasks tab in the Inventory perspective, and click the Configuration drawer.
Step 2 Expand the Configuration Archive node.
Step 3 Double-click Device Archive Browser. The Device Selector is displayed.
Alternatively, from the main menu choose Configuration > Configuration Archive > Device Archive Browser.
Step 4 Select the network element for which you need to view the configuration. You may select the network element from the network element tree.
Step 5 Click Next.
The Device Archive browser is displayed, listing all the archived configurations in the managed devices. The Device Archive browser has the following fields:
•Device—Device name.
•Version—Version number of the archived configuration. This number is internal to Configuration Archive.
•Mode—Mode of the archived configuration. Value can be Primary or Secondary.
•Type—Running, Startup, or VLAN configuration.
•Time Stamp—Time at which the configuration was archived.
From the Device Archive browser, you can perform the following tasks:
•View Configuration. See Viewing the Configuration for details.
•Search Archive. See Performing a Configuration Archive Search for details.
•Compare Configurations. See Comparing Configuration Files for details.
•Deploy Configuration. See Deploying a Configuration for details.
In ANA 4.0, viewing and analyzing configuration is supported for Cisco devices only.
Viewing the Configuration
To view the configuration:
Step 1 Open the Device Archive browser. See Using the Device Archive Browser for details.
Step 2 Double-click the selected configuration.
Or
Select the configuration you need from the Device Archive browser and click the View Config icon.
Or
Right-click the configuration and select View Config.
The Configuration Viewer is displayed. By default, it displays the raw configuration.
In ANA 4.0, viewing and analyzing configuration is supported for Cisco devices only.
Step 3 Do either of the following:
•To view the configuration in processed format, click the Processed Configuration tab.
•To view the configuration in XML format, click the XML Configuration tab.
You can perform the following operations from the Configuration Viewer:
•Deploy a configuration. See Deploying a Configuration for more information.
•Compare with the next configuration.
•Compare with the previous configuration.
See Comparing Configuration Files for more information.
Performing a Configuration Archive Search
You can search the archive for configurations containing text patterns for the selected network elements. The search can be a boolean combination of keywords, or based on partial strings.
The following examples show the various search patterns:
•set banner motd and set banner exec.
•set banner motd and set banner exec and set password.
You can also opt to ignore or consider case sensitivity.
Only ASCII-based configuration files are searched for the pattern-matching criteria.
To perform a search operation on Configuration Archive:
Step 1 Open the Device Archive browser. See Using the Device Archive Browser for details.
Step 2 Select the configurations you need to perform the search operation on.
Step 3 Click the Search Archive icon. The Config Search window is displayed.
Step 4 You can perform a simple search or an advanced search.
•To perform a simple search:
In the Pattern field, enter the pattern that you need to search for, and click Search.
•To perform an advanced search:
a. Click Advanced Search.
b. From the Pattern drop-down list, choose Contains or Does not Contain.
c. Click Add to add the pattern, or, if you want to remove a pattern, click Remove.
d. For the Match Patterns option, click the Any or All radio button.
e. If you want to consider case, check the Match Case check box.
f. For the Search Configuration option, click the Latest or All radio button
g. Click Search. The Search Results window is displayed. It contains the search results with the same fields as in the Device Archive browser.
Comparing Configuration Files
You can compare two network element configuration files from version to version or from device to device. You can compare the configuration in place when a device was started with the current configuration, and the current configuration with the most recently archived configuration.
Figure 7-2 shows the configuration comparison options available.
Figure 7-2 Configuration Comparison Options
The comparison of configuration files may fail if:
•The configurations being compared belong to different operating systems; for example, comparing Cisco IOS configuration with Cisco IOS-XR configuration.
•Database-related problems occur.
You can list the commands that have to be excluded while comparing configurations. See Configuration Archive Preferences.
You can perform the following operations on a selected configuration, from the Device Archive browser:
•Compare with the latest running configuration
•Compare with the previous configuration
•Compare with the next configuration
You can also compare any two configurations.
To compare configurations:
Step 1 Right-click the selected configuration and choose from the options available.
Step 2 Do either of the following:
•To compare a selected configuration with the latest running configuration, double-click the Compare with Latest Config icon after selecting the configuration.
•To compare any two configuration files, select both of the configurations, right-click the selection, and click Compare with Each Other.
The Config Compare window is displayed. The configurations are compared side by side.
Any change is highlighted in a color other than the default font color.
Deploying a Configuration
You can deploy a configuration to a selected device. There are two different modes for deployment:
•Overwrite Mode—Replaces the existing running configuration on the device with the selected configuration.
The configuration that you have selected is compared with the latest running configuration in the Configuration Archive. If the latest version in the archive is not in sync with the configuration retrieved, the archive is updated with the latest configuration.
Overwrite mode ensures that the running configuration on the device is overwritten with the selected configuration. This means that after the configuration is successfully deployed, the selected and the running configurations on the device are the same.
•Merge Mode—Adds incremental configuration to the device.
The configuration that you have selected is deployed on the device as is. This means that the existing running configuration of the device is updated incrementally with the commands in the selected configuration. The selected running configuration is not compared with the running configuration in the Configuration Archive.
We recommend that you use this option on newly deployed devices, because the Merge option effectively deploys the entire configuration from the archive onto the device.
The deployment fails if the Configuration Archive feature is unable to lock the device.
To deploy a configuration:
Step 1 Choose any of the following navigational paths:
a. Click the Object tab in the Inventory perspective, and right-click the network element.
b. Choose Config Archive > Deploy Configuration.
Or
a. Click the Tasks tab in the Inventory perspective.
b. From the main menu, choose Configuration > Configuration Archive > Deploy Configuration.
Or
a. Click the Tasks tab in the Inventory perspective.
b. Expand the Configuration Archive node, and choose Deploy Configuration.
Or,
a. Open the Device Archive browser. See Using the Device Archive Browser for details.
b. Select a configuration and click the Deploy Config icon, or right-click and choose Deploy Config.
The Deploy Config window is displayed.
Note You can deploy a configuration on only one network element at a time.
Step 2 Specify the following details to schedule the configuration deployment job:
•Start Date—If you want to perform the job immediately, click the Perform Now icon provided at the top right of the page.
•Number of times the job should be run.
•Delay interval between jobs.
Step 3 Click one of the following radio buttons to specify the deployment mode:
•Overwrite
•Merge
A job is created for the configuration deployment.
Step 4 Check the Commit check box to write the configuration to the startup.
Note This step is not applicable for devices running Cisco IOS XR software.
Step 5 To view the job details, choose Administration > Jobs > Job Management.
Synchronizing the Configuration Archive with a Device Configuration
To synchronize the configuration files residing in the Configuration Archive with the configuration files running in the device:
Note This procedure is not applicable for devices running Cisco IOS XR software.
Step 1 Choose any of the following navigational paths:
a. Click the Object tab in the Inventory perspective, and right-click the network element.
b. Choose Config Archive > Sync Archive.
Or
a. Click the Tasks tab in the Inventory perspective.
b. In the main menu, choose Configuration > Sync Archive.
Or
a. Click the Tasks tab in the Inventory perspective.
b. In the main menu, choose Configuration > Configuration Archive > Sync Archive.
The Sync Archive window displays the Device Selector.
Step 2 Select the network elements for which you want to synchronize the configuration archive.
Step 3 Add the network elements to the Selected Network Elements pane.
Step 4 Click Next. The Schedule Job page is displayed.
Step 5 Schedule the synchronization job. To do this, specify the following details:
•Start date
•Number of times the job should run
•Delay interval between jobs
Step 6 Check the Fetch Running Config Only check box if you want to synchronize only the running configuration with the configuration archive.
Step 7 Click Finish.
Identifying Devices with Out-of-Sync Running and Startup Configurations
To get details of the devices for which running and startup configurations are not in synchronization:
Step 1 Choose any of the following navigational paths:
a. Click the Tasks tab in the Inventory perspective.
b. Expand the Configuration Archive node, and double-click Out of Sync Summary.
Or
a. Click the Tasks tab in the Inventory perspective.
b. In the main menu, choose Configuration > Configuration Archive > Out of Sync Summary.
The Out of Sync Summary window is displayed, listing the network elements whose running and startup configurations are not synchronized.
The summary has the following details:
•Device Name
•Type—Primary or Secondary.
•Running Version No.—Version of the latest running configuration as shown in the Configuration Archive.
•Running Time Stamp—The time at which the running configuration was archived.
•Startup Version No.—Current version number of the startup configuration as shown in the Configuration Archive.
•Start up Time Stamp—The time at which the startup configuration was archived.
You can perform the following tasks:
•Sync Device—This operation synchronizes the running and startup configurations.
•Compare running and startup configurations.
See Performing Sync Device Operation and Comparing Running and Startup Configurations for details.
Performing Sync Device Operation
From the Out of Sync Summary window, you can perform a sync device operation. This operation synchronizes the running and startup configurations.
The Out of Sync Summary window displays the network elements whose running and startup configurations are not synchronized. See Identifying Devices with Out-of-Sync Running and Startup Configurations for details.
To perform a sync device operation:
Step 1 Select the desired row and click the Sync Device icon, or right-click the row and choose Sync Device.
The Schedule Job page is displayed.
Step 2 Schedule the Sync Device job. To do this specify the following details:
•Start Time
•The number of times the job should be run
•Delay interval between job
To initiate a sync device job, click the Perform Now icon at the top right corner of the page.
Comparing Running and Startup Configurations
From the Out of Sync Summary window, you can also compare the running and startup configurations. The Out of Sync Summary window displays the network elements whose running and startup configurations are not synchronized. See Identifying Devices with Out-of-Sync Running and Startup Configurations for details.
To do compare running and startup configurations, select the desired row and click the Compare Running and Startup Configuration icon, or right-click the row and choose Compare Running and Startup.
The difference between the running and startup config is displayed in the Config Compare window.
Configuration Archive Log File
There is no specific log file for Configuration Archive. However, you can use the common log file:
•On the client, the log file is located at:
$User Home Dir\.ana\.metadata\
The log filename is .log.
•On the server, the log file is located at:
$ANAHOME/Main/logs
The log filename is jboss.log
