Orion NC Me Valuation Guide

SolarWinds
Network Configuration Manager Evaluation Guide
SOLARWINDS NETWORK CONFIGURATION MANAGER
Copyright 1995-2012 SolarWinds, Inc., all rights reserved worldwide. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means nor modified, decompiled, disassembled, published or distributed, in whole or in part, or translated to any electronic medium or other means without the written consent of SolarWinds All right, title and interest in and to the software and documentation are and shall remain the exclusive property of SolarWinds and its licensors. SolarWinds Orion and SolarWinds Toolset are trademarks of SolarWinds and SolarWinds.net and the SolarWinds logo are registered trademarks of SolarWinds All other trademarks contained in this document and in the Software are the property of their respective owners. SOLARWINDS DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OR OTHER TERMS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, ON SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION FURNISHED HEREUNDER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF DESIGN, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SOLARWINDS, ITS SUPPLIERS OR ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN TORT, CONTRACT OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY EVEN IF SOLARWINDS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Microsoft and Windows 2000 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Graph Layout Toolkit and Graph Editor Toolkit 1992 - 2001 Tom Sawyer Software, Oakland, California. All Rights Reserved. Portions Copyright ComponentOne, LLC 1991-2002. All Rights Reserved. Fluent is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation and the Fluent user interface is licensed from Microsoft Corporation. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager 08.20.2012 version 7.1
SolarWinds NCM Evaluation Guide
About SolarWinds
SolarWinds, Inc develops and markets an array of network management, monitoring, and discovery tools to meet the diverse requirements of todays network management and consulting professionals. SolarWinds products continue to set benchmarks for quality and performance and have positioned the company as the leader in network management and discovery technology. The SolarWinds customer base includes over 45 percent of the Fortune 500 and customers from over 90 countries. Our global business partner distributor network exceeds 100 distributors and resellers.
Contacting SolarWinds
You can contact SolarWinds in a number of ways, including the following: Team Sales Contact Information sales@solarwinds.com www.solarwinds.com 1.866.530.8100 +353.21.5002900 Technical Support User Forums www.solarwinds.net/support thwack.com
Conventions
The documentation uses consistent conventions to help you identify items throughout the printed and online library. Convention Bold Italics Specifying Window items, including buttons and fields. Book and CD titles, variable names, new terms File and directory names, commands and code examples, text typed by you Optional command parameters Required command parameters Exclusive command parameters where only one of the options can be specified
Fixed font
Straight brackets, as in [value] Curly braces, as in {value} Logical OR, as in value1|value2
About SolarWinds iii
QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM
SolarWinds SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager NCM Documentation Library

The following documents are included in the SolarWinds SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager documentation library: Document Administrator Guide Purpose Provides detailed setup, configuration, and conceptual information. Provides help for every window in the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager user interface Provides an introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager features and instructions for installation and initial configuration. Provides installation, setup, and common scenarios for which SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager provides a simple, yet powerful, solution. Provides late-breaking information, known issues, and updates. The latest Release Notes can be found at www.solarwinds.net.
Page Help
Evaluation Guide
QuickStart Guide
Release Notes
iv SolarWinds NCM Documentation Library
Contents
About SolarWinds ........................................................................................... iii Contacting SolarWinds ................................................................................... iii Conventions .................................................................................................... iii SolarWinds SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager NCM Documentation Library.................................................................................... iv
Chapter 1
Introduction to Orion Network Configuration Manager ............................. 1 SolarWinds NCM Overview ............................................................................. 1 SolarWinds NCM Design Goals ...................................................................... 2
Chapter 2
Installing SolarWinds NCM and Discovering Nodes.................................. 5 Requirements .................................................................................................. 5 Server Sizing ............................................................................................... 7 About the Orion Network Configuration Manager Database ...................... 7 SNMP Communication ................................................................................ 8 Installing Orion Network Configuration Manager ............................................. 8 Installing SolarWinds NCM for Evaluation .................................................. 8
Chapter 3
SolarWinds NCM Quick Tour ...................................................................... 29 Adding Nodes through Discovery .................................................................. 29 Viewing Your Configuration Files .................................................................. 31 Creating and Using a Config Change Template ....................................... 32 Setting up Automated Backups with Change Notification ............................. 38 Navigating the Web Console ......................................................................... 41 Exploring the Home Page ......................................................................... 42 Downloading and Uploading Device Configuration Files .......................... 46 Executing Scripts from the Web Console ................................................. 48 Creating and Using a Config Change Template ....................................... 51 Searching Devices and Configuration Files .............................................. 57 Running Configuration Comparisons ........................................................ 57
Contents v
Reviewing Inventory Reports .................................................................... 59 Auditing Policy Compliance ...................................................................... 60

Chapter 4
Exploring the SolarWinds NPM Integration .............................................. 61 Installing the SolarWinds NCM Integration for NPM ..................................... 62 Configuring the SolarWinds NPM Website Integration ............................. 63 Exploring the SolarWinds NPM Website Integration..................................... 64 Find Connected Port for a Host (Orion Web Console) ............................. 69 Reporting Node Connections.................................................................... 71 Using the Default NCM Alert..................................................................... 73 Managing EnergyWise Entities ................................................................. 78
Chapter 5
SolarWinds NCM Benefits Overview ......................................................... 81 Realtime Change Notification........................................................................ 84 Configuration Archiving ................................................................................. 84 Extensive Device Import Support .................................................................. 85 Immediate Last-Known-Good Rollback ...................................................... 86 Schedule Firmware and IOS Updates .......................................................... 86 User Activity Auditing .................................................................................... 87 Community Content ...................................................................................... 87 User Roles and Permissions ......................................................................... 88
vi Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

SolarWinds SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is a comprehensive, intuitive solution designed to streamline and automate network configuration management. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager increases availability, saves time, improves security, and ensures policy adherence. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager features automation capabilities that reduce the amount of time network engineers spend on mundane network tasks, allowing them to focus on business-critical network projects.
SoalrWinds NCM Overview

SoalrWinds NCM extends the SolarWinds family of powerful network monitoring, alerting, and reporting capabilities to configuration management. Network engineers can proactively monitor their entire network infrastructure from a single intuitive pane of glass, viewing network monitoring statistics alongside enterprisewide configuration health indicators. SolarWinds NCM can help engineers quickly isolate network issues regardless of their origin. SolarWinds NCM leverages Orions agentless architecture to allow network engineers themselves to deploy and begin managing network device configurations in just minutes without requiring expensive consultants. SolarWinds NCM continues Orions tradition of providing easy to use software, a robust feature set, and enterprise scalability at an affordable price point. SolarWinds NCMs scalability and licensing flexibility allow network engineers to easily purchase and grow their monitoring solution whether their business has only a few network devices or thousands. SolarWinds NCM lets users manage network configuration files from multiple device vendors using a highly intuitive web interface. It continuously monitors device configurations and provides notification of any configuration changes to help you resolve problems before they impact users. SolarWinds NCM users can quickly fix issues without requiring engineers to manually Telnet or SSH change configuration parameters on the devices in question. SolarWinds NCM additionally allows users to quickly check compliance reports and confirm their devices are meeting regulatory and corporate standards. The standalone application can integrate with Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) to provide a comprehensive web-based network fault, performance, and configuration management solution.
Introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager 1
SoalrWinds NCM Design Goals

SolarWinds focuses on simplifying network management by creating products designed by network engineers, for network engineers. SolarWinds NCM was developed to meet customer demands for scalability and ease-of-use something that was not being addressed by alternative network configuration management products. SolarWinds NCM has several inherent differentiators: SolarWinds NPM Integration - Enhances SolarWinds NPMs fault and performance management capabilities with advanced configuration management to minimize downtime attributed to configuration changes or errors. View the entire node details evolution including a complete device change history along with advanced network fault and performance metrics on a single integrated web console. Setup SolarWinds NPM alerts that use NCM to run commands on the relevant device and include the results within the alert notification. Find the connected ports for a specific end host or run Orion reports that show what is one hop away from wired and wireless switches added through the Network Discovery engine. Intuitive Point-and-Click Interface - Visualize your enterprise-wide configuration health status including device details, configuration backups, policy violations, and event history all from a single intuitive web-based interface. With SolarWinds NCM, detailed device configuration information is always a few clicks away. Realtime Change Notifications - Automatically detect device configuration changes of monitored devices in realtime. Receive instant change notifications using SolarWinds NCMs built-in Syslog Server and SNMP Trap Sever to help you quickly determine if a configuration change caused a network problem. Multi-vendor Device Support - Leverage built-in configuration management support for network devices from more than 16 hardware vendors including Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Extreme Networks, Dell, HP, Adtran, and many more. Create config change templates that can generate accurate sequences of CLI commands for multiple devices of different vendors. Multi-vendor Device Support - Leverage built-in configuration management support for network devices from more than 16 hardware vendors including Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Extreme Networks, Dell, HP, Adtran, and many more. Policy Violation Detection - Easily detect device configuration policy violations against corporate standards or federal regulations such as HIPAA, SOX, CISP, PCI, and Cisco Security Audit.
2 Introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
Community Content Library - Leverage the SolarWinds online community, Thwack, to browse, download, and share device command templates, custom scripts, and configuration snippets.
Introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager 3
Chapter 2
Installing SoalrWinds NCM and Discovering Nodes

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager provides a simple, wizard-driven installation process. For an enterprise-class product, the requirements are nominal.
Requirements
The requirements for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vary based on a number of factors, including the following: The number of nodes The frequency of configuration downloads The length of time that configurations are maintained in the database
The following table provides the minimal requirements for an SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager installation.
Software/Hardware Operating System Requirements Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate Windows Vista Business Windows XP Pro SP2 (32 and 64-bit) Windows 2003 Server SP2 or later (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows 2008 Server Enterprise or Standard (32-bit or 64-bit), including R2 3GHz dual core dual processor 3GB 20GB
CPU Speed SoalrWinds NCM Server Hardware Memory Hard Drive Space Installing Windows Account File System Access Permissions SolarWinds SoalrWinds NCM Syslog Service Account
Requires administrator permission on the target server Ensure the Network Service account has modify access to the system temp directory (%systemroot%\temp). If you want realtime change detection triggered through devices sending Syslog messages, the account must have read-write access to the SoalrWinds NCM database. For more information, see Enabling Realtime Configuration Change Detection and Monitoring Syslog Messages in the Administrator Guide.
Installing SolarWinds NCM and Discovering Nodes 5

Software/Hardware SolarWinds SoalrWinds NCM Trap Service Account Requirements If you want realtime change detection triggered through devices sending SNMP traps, the account must have read-write access to the SoalrWinds NCM database. For more information, see Enabling Realtime Configuration Change Detection and Monitoring SNMP Traps in the Administrator Guide. Must be installed if you want realtime change detection triggered through devices sending SNMP traps. For more information, see Enabling Realtime Configuration Change Detection and Monitoring SNMP Traps in the Administrator Guide. Version 6 or later (Windows XP Professional is limited to a single active website and 10 simultaneous connections) Version 3.5 or later (if this is not found on the target computer, the setup program downloads and installs the component) The following database servers are supported as the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager datastore: SQL Server 2005 Express, Standard, or Enterprise SQL Server 2008 Express, Standard, or Enterprise Your database server must support mixed-mode authentication or SQL authentication and have the following protocols enabled: Shared memory TCP/IP Named Pipes When installed on Windows XP, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition does not enable these protocols. The following x86 components must be installed (if the components are not found on the target computer, the setup program downloads and installs the components): SQL Server System Common Language Runtime (CLR) Types Microsoft SQL Server Native Client Microsoft SQL Server Management Objects Browser To access the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager website, use one of the following browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later with Active Scripting Mozilla Firefox 3 or later
Microsoft SNMP Trap Service
Microsoft IIS Microsoft .NET Framework Database
6 Installing SolarWinds NCM and Discovering Nodes
Notes: The SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Information Service requires the Net. Tcp Port Sharing Service to be enabled and port 17777 open for TCP traffic to the SoalrWinds NCM computer. By default, the port sharing service is disabled. The setup program sets the service to manual. Resetting the service setting to disabled will adversely affect your installation. To take advantage of the numerous integration points in SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager, install the SolarWinds Engineers Toolset on the same server. You can also take advantage of integration points built into the Web Console by installing the Toolset on computers used to access the Web Console.
Server Sizing
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager can perform configuration management for any size network, from small corporate LANs to large enterprise and service provider networks. Most SoalrWinds NCM implementations perform well on Pentium-class 2GHz systems with 2GB of RAM using the default simultaneous transfer settings and no modification to node monitoring settings.
About the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Database

A copy of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is distributed with each copy of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition supports a maximum database size of 4GB, is limited to 1 GB of RAM use, and takes advantage of only 1 CPU in a multi-processor server. For more information about SQL Server installation, see the Microsoft website at http://www.microsoft.com/sql. If you are installing SoalrWinds NCM on the same server as SolarWinds NPM, consider using a remote database server for your databases. You will gain a number of performance enhancements through implementing this installation scenario, as the Orion server will no longer need to share resources with SQL Server. Warnings: The following characters cannot be included in the database name: asterisk (*) , closing square bracket (]), colon (:), semicolon (;), single quote ('), double quote ("), backward slash (\), forward slash (/), less than (<), greater than (>), and question mark (?).
Do not include the single quote (') or the semicolon (;) in the username or password of the database account.
SNMP Communication
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager takes advantage of SNMP communication to collect inventory information. Ensure all devices from which you want to collect detailed information have SNMP properly configured.
Installing SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Installing Orion Network Configuration Manager version 7.0 involves 5 processes:
Installing the NCM software Configuring NCM and the NCM database Configuring Orion Core components and the Orion Core database Discovering nodes to monitor in Orion and NCM Synchronizing the NCM and Orion Core databases
Notice that installing the configuring SolarWinds NCM involves running two sessions of the Orion Configuration Wizard; the first session to configure SolarWinds NCM and the NCM database, the second to configure Orion Core components and the Orion Core database. SolarWinds NCM 7.0 shares common components with all Orion products and reserves the Orion Core database for node and account management data. The SolarWinds NCM database proper is used to store configuration data.
Installing SolarWinds NCM for Evaluation

The following procedures take you through all five related processesas one set of numbered stepsfor installing SolarWinds NCM by itself on a single server. You must complete all the steps for SolarWinds NCM to be correctly installed for evaluation purposes. To install SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager:
1. Log on with a local administrator account to the computer on which you want to install and evaluate SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. Note: To ensure that SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager runs properly, do not install SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager on a domain controller. 2. Navigate to your download location and launch the executable. 3. Enter the email address you used in where SolarWinds can reach you, and then click Next.
4. Click Next on Getting Ready to Install.
5. Click Next after reviewing the Process Overivew. Notice that after installing the NCM software the Installer runs two successive configuration wizards. The first wizard configures NCM and the NCM database; and the second configures Orion common components and the Orion Core database. You must complete both configuration processes for the NCM product to function properly.
6. Click Next after reviewing the deployment options.
7. Review the Welcome text, click Next.
8. Accept the license agreement displayed on the License Agreement window, and then click Next.
9. Accept the default directory for the installation or Browse to another, then click Next.
10. Click Next to have the Setup Wizard start copying files.
You should see the blue progress bar advancing with annotations of which files are being copied.
11. Click Finish when the Setup Wizard completes its copying.
12. Click Next after reviewing your progress in the Process Overview. The first of the two configuration wizards launches The first wizard configures NCM and the NCM database; and the second configures Orion common components and the Orion Core database. 13. Specify the SQL Server instance you want to use for storing configurations and node details, the authentication method (Windows or SQL Server Authentication) used to communicate with the instance, and then click Next.
The SQL Server instance must support SQL authentication or mixed mode. Notes:
If you are using a local instance of SQL Server Express, use the following syntax to use the default instance: (local)\SOLARWINDS_ORION. If you select SQL Authentication, provide an account with sufficient rights to create new databases on the server instance. For example, specify the SQL administrator (sa) account.
14. If this is the first time you are installing SoalrWinds NCM, click Create a new database, and then click Next.
Otherwise, select an existing SoalrWinds NCM database you want to use, and then click Next.
15. Create a new database account and password, or select an existing account with owner rights on the database you created or selected. Then click Next.
Note: You must supply a strong password. For more information about strong passwords, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/ms143705.aspx. 16. If all three Service Settings are selected, click Next.
17. Review the actions to be taken with the Database and Services, click Next.
The dual blue bars show progress and annotations of the wizards current actions. 18. Click Next to begin setup of SolarWinds NCM global settings.
19. Enter credentials that provide access to your network devices.
If the global credentials you provide do not enable NCM to access all devices it manages then you must manually enter credentials for any device that does not use the global credentials. 20. Select an option for grouping the devices in your NCM nodes list.
21. Enter Windows administrator credentials for NCM to use in executing scheduled jobs.
22. Click OK to acknowledge that credentials have been set for scheduled jobs.
23. Click Finish to exit the SolarWinds NCM configuration wizard.
24. Click OK to acknowledge that a second configuration wizard, the Orion Core Configuration Wizard, will start in a few moments.
The Orion Core database stores all discovered nodes. This is a superset of nodes from which you will license specific nodes for NCM monitoring and configuration. 25. Click Next after reviewing your progress in the Process Overview.
The second configuration wizard launches The second wizard configures Orion common components and the Orion Core database. The configuration wizards immediately begins creating and configuring the Orion Core database.
. 26. Click Finish after you have reviewed the configuration summary.
Orion Web Console launches. 27. Enter an appropriate username and password.
The default credentials are admin with no password. 28. Click NETWORK SONAR DISCOVERY under NCM Nodes to discover the nodes for SolarWinds NCM to manage.
The software navigates to the Network Sonar Wizard. 29. Review and accept the defaults (public/private) for the SNMP read-only and read-write community strings; or click the pencil icon to edit a credential. Click Next when you are finished.
These default strings are tried first the software interactively requests a credential during node discovery. 30. Click Add New Credential under Windows Credentials and enter the appropriate values; as needed. Click Next when you are ready.
WMI is used to collect CPU, memory, volume and other data from Windows Servers that do not support SNMP. 31. Define an IP range, subnet, or a list of specific nodes for the wizard to use in discovering nodes. Click Next when you are finished.
32. Review and adjust discovery settings. Click Ignore nodes if you want to ignore nodes that provide no SNMP or WMI information.
Click Next when you are finished. 33. Click DISCOVER to start discovering nodes.
34. Click Import after you have reviewed and adjusted (as needed) the list of devices and volumes.
Details and progress of the import operation is shown in real-time in the Import Results window. 35. Click Finish when the import operation is done.
The software navigates to Discovery Central. 36. Click GO TO ORION HOME.
The nodes managed in NCM are the results of the Network Sonar Wizard session just finished. In discovering these nodes, the software has automatically added the nodes to the Orion Core database. SolarWinds NCM nodes must also be managed in the Orion Core database for the NCM software to function correctly. 37. Click CONFIGS in the toolbar to see NCM views and resources.
Chapter 3
SoalrWinds NCM Quick Tour

The following sections guide you through launching a new discovery, setting up an automated backup and change notification schedule, and a brief exploration of the Web Console. For more information about these functions, see the Administrator Guide. The Administrator Guide is available both as a PDF and through clicking Help either in the Web Console or the local user interface.
Adding Nodes through Discovery

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager offers you the ability to add nodes individually, using the import functionality, and through automated discovery. During the execution of the Configuration wizard, you ran a discovery of your network. This functionality is available at any time through the locally installed user interface. To launch the Discovery wizard: 1. Start SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager in the SolarWinds SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager program folder.
2. Click Continue with demo.
SolarWinds NCM Quick Tour 29
3. Click File > Discover Devices.
4. If you want to execute the discovery using a different router or discover devices within another subnet, complete the Discovery wizard. For more information, see Step Error! Reference source not found. on page Error! Bookmark not defined..
30 SolarWinds NCM Quick Tour
Viewing Your Configuration Files

SoalrWinds NCM offers you two different access points from which to view your configuration files. You can view device configurations in the locally installed application or through the Web Console. The following procedure walks you through navigating and viewing a backed up configuration file within the local application. For more information about the Web Console, see Exploring the Home Page on page 42. To view configuration files: 1. Expand the Vendor in the navigation tree, and then expand the device for which you want to view backed up configurations.
2. Select the configuration file you want to view, and then click Configs > Edit Configs.
As you can see, you can perform many actions on configuration files, including edit, delete, compare, and search. For more information about searching and comparing configuration files, see the relevant sections in Chapter 4, Managing Configurations, in the Orion Network Configuration Manager Administrator Guide.
Creating and Using a Config Change Template

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows you to create, use, and manage config change templates that significantly streamline making recurrent and complex configuration changes across many network devices. With a single config change template you can generate and execute accurate sets of CLI commands to perform a specific task on many different machine types in a network of variable size. Consider the following tasks you can simplify by using config change templates. Changing VLAN membership by device port Configuring device interfaces based on description Enabling IPSLA for VOIP implementations Managing NetFlow collection at the source devices
For detailed information on working with config change templates, including a reference of all SolarWinds Information System (SWIS) objects that you can use in creating advanced script logic, see Chapter 7 of the SolarWinds NCM Administrator Guide.. To create a config change template: 1. Navigate to the Config Change Templates resource on the Orion web console.
2. Click Create New Config Change Template.
3. Enter an appropriate name for this template in Config Change Template Name.
This is the name that appears in the Config Change Template Name list. 4. Provide a succinct sentence or phrase in Description that will help users quickly understand what your template helps them do.
This description appears when a user checks a config change template in the resource list and clicks on its name.
5. Enter one or more Tags that will help users easily find your template by its tags.
Templates can be displayed by the tags applied to them at their time of creation or through editing. To be useful, your tagging scheme should be known to the user community and applied as consistently as possible. 6. Create your Config Change Template.
Presented as simple text the full script is:
When executed this script will enable NetFlow exports on a Cisco ASA device. As needed, consult the section Understanding Config Change Template Semantics in Chapter 7 of the SolarWinds NCM Administrator Guide. 7. Click Validate to check syntax in your new template as you work.
8. When finished, click Submit to merely save the template. Otherwise, click Execute to validate, save and run it.
9. Check the nodes against which to execute the template and click Next.
10. Enter appropriate values for the interface fields presented by the script and click Next.
11. If desired, click + beside a device to see the list to CLI commands to be executed on that particular device. Alternately, to see the same list in a separate window, or click the link beside a device.
12. If desired check the option to write the config to NVRAM after it executes.
13. When you are ready to execute CLI commands, click Execute. If you opened a separate window with a list of CLI commands you may need to minimize that window in order to access the Execute button.
Searching Devices and Configuration Files on page 51 and Running Configuration Comparisons on page 57. For more information about editing and deleting configuration files, see the Administrator Guide.
3. Review your configuration file in the results pane.
Setting up Automated Backups with Change Notification

One of the many powerful features of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is the ability to schedule configuration file backups. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager ships with an example job which downloads the configuration files nightly for all nodes in the database. During the Configuration wizard, you provided a user account and password (credentials) to associate with the Nightly Config Backup scheduled job. Complete the following procedure to review the job and configure change notification. Note: To complete the email notification section of this procedure, you will need access to an SMTP server. If you cannot secure credentials to the server, you can leave the default settings on the Notifications tab. This will designate that SoalrWinds NCM write notifications to a file. To review your nightly configuration backup job for all nodes and enable change notification: 1. Click Schedule > Display/Edit Jobs. 2. Click Nightly Config Backup, and then click Schedule > Edit Job.
3. Click Edit Schedule, and then review the General tab.
4. Select the Nodes tab, you can select specific nodes against which to run a job. The default for this job is to run against all nodes, creating a nightly backup of your configuration files.
5. Select the Download Config tab, and then check Last Config in the Changed Configs grouping of the dialog. Leave the other options at their defaults.
6. Select the Notifications tab, and then check E-Mail Results. Supply an appropriate To address.
7. Select the Email From tab, and then provide appropriate From and Reply addresses.
8. Select the SMTP Server tab, and then provide the appropriate SMTP server information, including hostname or IP address, port, user name, and password.
9. Click OK. You do not need to modify the user name and password on the Security tab. Your configuration files are now scheduled to be backed up automatically every evening, and an email will be sent containing the details of the process, including a configuration change report and a report of any errors.
Navigating the Web Console

One of the most exciting aspects of SoalrWinds NCM is the addition of a Web Console through which you can access your device details. To launch the Web Console: 1. Click SoalrWinds NCM Web Console in the SolarWinds SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager program folder.
2. Type Administrator in the Account field and the password you designated in Step Error! Reference source not found. on page Error! Bookmark not defined..
3. Click LOGIN. You are taken to the Home page.
Exploring the Home Page

The Home page of the SoalrWinds NCM Web Console offers a number of resources displaying at-a-glance policy, change, baseline conflicts, event history, and backup status. All Nodes The All Nodes resource offers you a navigable list of your managed devices and their configuration files.
You can navigate to a detailed configuration view by simply clicking on the appropriate one.
Policy Violations The Policy Violations resource provides an overview with links to detailed reports.
Clicking a Policy Report takes you to a detailed policy report. Hover over the icons for detailed information about the violation.
Devices Backed Up vs. Not Backed Up Devices Backed Up vs. Not Backed Up offers at-a-glance graphing, with a detailed list of specific nodes one click away.
Click the pie chart to see the specific nodes represented by the chart.
Last 10 Config Changes Last 10 Config Changes provides a list of the last 10 changes.
Click the configuration name to immediately see a difference report providing added, changed, and deleted line notification.
Take some time to explore the many other resources available, including the following: Most Recent SolarWinds NCM Thwack Posts, a direct RSS feed supplied from our User Community (Thwack.com) Custom HTML resource Configuration Changes Snapshot resource
Click Help for more information about configuring these resources.
Downloading and Uploading Device Configuration Files

Without ever needing to log on to the SoalrWinds NCM server, you can download configuration files from and upload configuration files to your devices. You must be granted the WebDownloader role or the WebUploader role to download configuration files, and you must be granted the WebUploader role to download, upload, or run scripts. If you have the correct role, the Web Console then offers you upload and download abilities through your supported browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox). For the purpose of the evaluation, it is understood that you are logged on to the Web Console as Administrator. Engineer and Administrator roles have download, upload, and script running capabilities. To download a configuration: 1. Expand the appropriate grouping in the All Nodes resource, and then click the device for which you want to download a configuration.
2. Select Running or Startup in the Download Config resource, and then click Download.
3. If you want to view the downloaded config, click the config listed in the Latest Config field. To upload a configuration file: Select the appropriate configuration file, and then click Upload.
These actions are also available from the Configuration Management tab of the Web Console, as can be seen in the following illustrations. From the Configuration Management tab, you can upload to single or multiple nodes and download from single or multiple nodes.
Executing Scripts from the Web Console

You also have multiple ways of running scripts against devices from the Web Console. The following procedure walks you through running a very simple script against multiple nodes. To run a script against multiple nodes: 1. Navigate to the Configuration Management tab of the Web Console, and then click Execute Script.
2. Type your script in the text field, or you can load a file containing your script by clicking Load Script. For example, type sh ver. 3. Click Next. 4. Check the devices against which you want to execute the scripts, and then click Execute.
5. Confirm your choices by clicking OK.
6. You are automatically navigated to the Transfer Status page.
7. When the task completes, click Script Results.
8. Review your script results.
Creating and Using a Config Change Template

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows you to create, use, and manage config change templates that significantly streamline making recurrent and complex configuration changes across many network devices. With a single config change template you can generate and execute accurate sets of CLI commands to perform a specific task on many different machine types in a network of variable size. Consider the following tasks you can simplify by using config change templates. Changing VLAN membership by device port Configuring device interfaces based on description Enabling IPSLA for VOIP implementations Managing NetFlow collection at the source devices
For detailed information on working with config change templates, including a reference of all SolarWinds Information System (SWIS) objects that you can use in creating advanced script logic, see Chapter 7 of the SolarWinds NCM Administrator Guide.. To create a config change template: 1. Navigate to the Config Change Templates resource on the Orion web console.
2. Click Create New Config Change Template.
3. Enter an appropriate name for this template in Config Change Template Name.
This is the name that appears in the Config Change Template Name list. 4. Provide a succinct sentence or phrase in Description that will help users quickly understand what your template helps them do.
This description appears when a user checks a config change template in the resource list and clicks on its name.
5. Enter one or more Tags that will help users easily find your template by its tags.
Templates can be displayed by the tags applied to them at their time of creation or through editing. To be useful, your tagging scheme should be known to the user community and applied as consistently as possible. 6. Create your Config Change Template.
Presented as simple text the full script is:
When executed this script will enable NetFlow exports on a Cisco ASA device. As needed, consult the section Understanding Config Change Template Semantics in Chapter 7 of the SolarWinds NCM Administrator Guide. 7. Click Validate to check syntax in your new template as you work.
8. When finished, click Submit to merely save the template. Otherwise, click Execute to validate, save and run it.
9. Check the nodes against which to execute the template and click Next.
10. Enter appropriate values for the interface fields presented by the script and click Next.
11. If desired, click + beside a device to see the list to CLI commands to be executed on that particular device. Alternately, to see the same list in a separate window, or click the link beside a device.
12. If desired check the option to write the config to NVRAM after it executes.
13. When you are ready to execute CLI commands, click Execute. If you opened a separate window with a list of CLI commands you may need to minimize that window in order to access the Execute button.
Searching Devices and Configuration Files

From within the Web Console, you can search nodes, all configurations, and specific configurations. You can select all configuration types or limit your search to running or startup configurations. For even more granularity, you can search only the most recently downloaded configurations or specify a date range in which to search. The following example search shows you how easy it is to find an IP address within the most recent configurations. Consider a case in which the IP address is having trouble accessing a portion of your network, and you need to find out if it exist in the access control list (ACL) for that section of the network. To search all node configurations for an IP addresses: 1. Click Advanced Search in the top right of the any Web Console page.
2. Type the IP address for which you want to search in the Search for field, and then select Configs from All Nodes in the field to the right.
3. Click Search, and then review your results. Search terms are highlighted in the results.
Running Configuration Comparisons

Access to everything was fine yesterday. Today, one of your most important employees, clients, colleagues cannot access their database. You need to quickly see what changed. Comparing configurations through the Web Console allows you to do this from anywhere. To compare configurations:
1. Click Configuration Management on the Web Console tool bar.
2. Expand your Node in the Compare Selected Configs resource. 3. Check the configurations you need to compare, and then click Compare Selected.
4. Review the side-by-side comparison for changes. Changed lines are highlighted in yellow; added lines are highlighted in green; missing lines are highlighted in red.
Reviewing Inventory Reports

SoalrWinds NCM provides detailed inventory reporting from any location that can browse to the Web Console. Inventory reports are based on data collected during network inventory jobs. By default, an inventory job runs nightly. To run an inventory report: 1. Click Inventory on the Web Console tool bar.
2. Select one of the numerous inventory reports. SoalrWinds NCM automatically adds any custom reports you create to the listed reports. The following figure shows the ARP Tables report.
Auditing Policy Compliance

SoalrWinds NCM includes numerous policy reports, all of which are available through the Web Console. As with inventory reports, custom policy compliance reports you create are immediately available through the Web Console. To run a policy compliance report: 1. Click Compliance on the Web Console tool bar.
2. Select a policy report. The following figure illustrates the Cisco Policy Report. If you create a custom report, ensure you click Update All to refresh the report list.
Chapter 4
Exploring the SolarWinds NPM Integration

SolarWinds NPM is a comprehensive fault and performance management platform that allows users to view realtime and historical statistics and availability of the network from any web browser. SolarWinds NPM monitors, collects, and analyzes data from routers, switches, firewalls, and other SNMP-enabled devices to provide network engineers with a comprehensive view of network health. SolarWinds NPM modules extend its management capabilities to NetFlow data, servers and application performance, VoIP, and wireless devices. SolarWinds NPM uses several different methods to collect data about the health and performance of the network, including ICMP, SNMP, Syslog, and NetFlow. There are no proprietary agents or appliances installed on the network. As SolarWinds NPM learns about the network it stores this data within an open SQL database and provides a user-friendly Web Console for accessing the data. SolarWinds products, including SolarWinds NPM, Engineers Toolset, and SolarWinds NCM, are designed to work together providing network engineers with a comprehensive solution that can be customized based on the specific needs of their organization. Customers take advantage of the integration between SolarWinds NPM and SolarWinds NCM to gain realtime visibility into changes occurring across network devices.
Exploring the SolarWinds NCM Integration 61
Installing the SoalrWinds NCM Integration for NPM

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager provides a module-like integration for your current Orion Network Performance Monitor website. The following diagram provides a pictorial representation of the integration and how it fits within your existing SolarWinds NPM and SolarWinds NPM architectures.
If you want to add SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager-specific information to your Node Details and other views, complete the following procedure. Notes: The integration requires SolarWinds NPM version 9.5 or later. SoalrWinds NCM must be installed, allowing the integration component to attach to an SoalrWinds NCM server. Installation order is not important, but the integration will not work without connecting to an SoalrWinds NCM instance. Ensure port 17777 is open between the SolarWinds NPM Web Console and the SoalrWinds NCM computer. You do not need to use different servers for SolarWinds NCM and SolarWinds NPM. They can coexist on the same server.
62 Exploring the SolarWinds NCM Integration
To install the integration: 1. Log on to your Orion server with a local administrator account. 2. If you downloaded SoalrWinds NCM from the SolarWinds website, navigate to your download location and launch the SolarWinds-Orion-NCMversion#-NPM-Integration.exe executable. 3. If you received physical media, navigate to the SoalrWinds NCM Integration for the Orion Web Console or browse to the SolarWinds-OrionNCM-version#-NPM-Integration.exe executable file and launch it. 4. Review the Welcome window, and then click Next. 5. Read and accept the license agreement, and then click Next. 6. Click Install. 7. Click Finish when the setup wizard completes. 8. Complete the Orion Configuration Wizard, launched automatically after the extension installs.
Configuring the SolarWinds NPM Website Integration

After installing the extension, you need to point the Orion website to your SoalrWinds NCM location. Complete the following procedure to update the website with your SoalrWinds NCM location. To configure the SoalrWinds NCM Extension: 1. Log on to the SolarWinds NPM website with an administrator account, and then click Admin in the Views toolbar. 2. Locate the Settings grouping, and then click NCM Settings. 3. Click Connection Information. 4. Type the hostname or IP address of the server hosting the SoalrWinds NCM information service in the Hostname or IP Address field. Do not designate a port in this field. 5. Type the URL, including the port number, in the Website URL field, and then click Submit. For example, type http://192.168.1.45:8888, ensure you include the port number when designating the URL. 6. Click Network Configuration Manager in the Modules menu bar. 7. Click Credentials in the Node List resource, and then specify a user name and password used to access the SoalrWinds NCM Web Console. For example, type Administrator and the administrator password used to access the SoalrWinds NCM client application. For more information, see "Configuring User Access Control" in the Administrator Guide.
Exploring the SolarWinds NPM Website Integration

The entire Web Console of SoalrWinds NCM is provided within SolarWinds NPM.
All of the previously mentioned Web Console capabilities are available from the SolarWinds NPM Web Console, including the following. Last X Config Changes Provides a list of nodes on which configuration changes were detected. This list is added to the main Orion Web Console summary page and is created by finding all the nodes shared between SolarWinds NPM and SolarWinds NCM.
Policy Report Violations Provides a stacked bar chart of status of your devices in relation to a specific policy report.
Policy Violations Provides a list of the policy reports available. Click a report title to see the associated report. On the summary screen, a brief overview of the contents of the report is displayed. For example, at a glance you can see how many informational, warning, and error events were detected.
Configuration Changes Snapshot Provides a pie chart representing the percentage of changed versus unchanged configurations over a specific period of time.
Devices Backed Up Vs All Devices Provides a bar chart designating the number of devices that have been backed up using the SolarWinds NCM application in comparison to those that have not been backed up and are managed by SoalrWinds NCM.
Devices Backed Up Vs Not Backed Up Provides a pie chart representing the percentage of backed up devices versus devices which have not been backed up over a specific period of time.
Running versus Startup Configurations Provides a pie chart designating the percentage of devices running different configurations than their startup configurations. If the device reboots, the startup config will be used and will not represent the currently running settings on the device. Use this chart to help you pinpoint those devices that need their configurations committed to NVRAM.
For more information about these resources, click Help on the resource.\
Find Connected Port for a Host (Orion Web Console)

The NCM integration with Orion allows you to search for currently connected ports on wired or wireless end hosts. This resource is exclusively available from the Orion Web Console. The information returned is based on the data available in the Orion database as of the last scheduled discovery of network nodes, which is specified at the top of the table in which search results are presented, in this form:
As of last discovery [MM/DD/YYYY] [HH:MM:SS] [AM/PM] .
You can search for connected ports by these node properties: IP Address DNS Hostname MAC Address Port Description
To search for connected ports:

1. Go to the Orion web console.
2. Click Configs.
3. Locate the Find Connected Port for End Host resource.
4. Select the Search By filter and enter an appropriate value in Find.
5. Click the Edit button to adjust the columns of data to include in your search results, then click Submit when you are finished editing.
6. Click Find.
Reporting Node Connections

Another exclusive feature available in the Orion Web Console through NCM integration is a report that shows connections among wired or wireless nodes that are added through the Network Discovery engine. You must add nodes with the Network Discovery to have their connections scanned and recorded in the database. For detailed information on adding nodes with the discovery engine, see Adding Nodes through Discovery.
Currently, two types of reports are automatically generated based on connections discovered: Discovered Links This report shows all the port level connections to network switches. Wireless Host Mapping This report shows all hosts wirelessly connected to your network. You can view these reports in the Reports resource of the Orion Web Console. To view the Discovered Links report: 1. Go to the Reports resource of the Orion web console.
2. Click Topology Reports in the tree.
3. Click Discovered Links.

To view the Wireless Hosts Mapping report: 1. Go to the Reports resource of the Orion web console.
2. Click Wireless Reports in the tree.
3. Click Wireless Host Mapping.
Using the Default NCM Alert

When you install SolarWinds NCM 6.0 and integrate it with Orion 10, the software automatically creates in the Orion Alert Manager a predefined alert called Alert me and trigger an NCM action. The primary purpose of this alert is to determine if the changes in device configuration are responsible for the alert triggering issue. Accordingly, by default, this predefined alert does these three things in order: Backs up the running config on the alerting device Determines the last config changes made on the device
Sends an email regarding the alert to a relevant administrator that includes the results of both NCM actions
The instructions in this section assume you are familiar with the Orion Alert Manager and already know how to setup an advanced alert. For steps on creating an advanced alert see the sections on advanced alerts in Chapter 11, Creating and Managing Alerts, in the Orion Performance Manager Administrator Guide. For more information on integrating NCM actions with your Orion alerts, see Chapter 13, Integrating NCM Actions into Orion Alerts, in th e SolarWinds NCM Administrator Guide. To use the default NCM alert: 1. Open the Orion Alert Manager in the Orion program group.
2. Click Configure Alerts.
3. Select Alert me and trigger an NCM action and click Edit.
a. On General, check Enable this Alert and select an appropriate Alert Evalutation Frequency.
b. On Trigger Condition, define the conditions in which the software launches the alert.
The default condition is a node that responds in 200 ms or more. You can adjust this condition or add conditions.
c. On Reset Condition, define the conditions in which the software resets the alert.
The default condition the node responds in 100 ms or less. You can adjust this condition or add conditions. d. On Alert Suppression, define the conditions in which the software suppresses the alert.
The default condition is no suppression.
e. On Time of Day, define the days and times during which the software actively evaluates the database for trigger conditions.
The default range is 24/7. f. On Trigger Actions, create actions to execute when the software triggers the alert, and enter your NCM credentials.
As discussed, the default actions are to back up the config running on the alerting device, determine the last config changes, and send an email to an appropriate contact. Note: For the NCM credentials you enter here to work, you must already have the location of the NCM server itself correctly setup in the Orion web console. For more information setting up and configuration NCM with Orion, see Error! Reference source not found..
g. On Reset Conditions, define actions to execute when the software resets the alert.
4. Click OK and then click Done.
Managing EnergyWise Entities

You can use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager in conjunction with Orion Network Performance Manager to enable and manage your Cisco EnergyWise entities. What is EnergyWise? EnergyWise is Cisco's response to the call to cut energy costs, address environmental concerns, and adhere to government directives around green technologies. By purchasing EnergyWise capable devices and enabling their energy-saving features, you can retain business critical systems in a fully powered state while allowing less critical power over ethernet (PoE) devices to power down or drop into standby during off hours. EnergyWise gives you the ability to control your energy cost. SoalrWinds NCM gives you the ability to remotely apply recurrence policies and schedule power usage, helping you use less power. And, SolarWinds NPM allows you to monitor your energy use and power levels. SolarWinds perfectly partners with Cisco and the EnergyWise technologies to help you save more and monitor your savings. Managing and Enabling EnergyWise Nodes Cisco devices that support the EnergyWise technology can be enabled and their EnergyWise settings managed through the SoalrWinds NCM Integration for SolarWinds NPM. For more information, see the Administrator Guide.
Chapter 5
SoalrWinds NCM Benefits Overview

The following chart provides a feature breakdown with a brief feature and benefit overview.
Feature SolarWinds NPM Integration Feature Description Enhances SolarWinds NPMs fault and performance management capabilities with advanced configuration management to minimize downtime attributed to configuration changes or errors. View the entire node details evolution including a complete device change history along with advanced network fault and performance metrics on a single integrated web console. Include the results of NCM actions within Orion alert notifications. Quickly survey port mappings for your core switches. Visualize your enterprise-wide configuration health status including device details, configuration backups, policy violations, and event history all from a single intuitive web-based interface. With SolarWinds NCM, detailed device configuration information is always a few clicks away. Automatically detect device configuration changes of monitored devices in real time. Receive instant change notifications using SolarWinds NCMs built-in Syslog Server and SNMP Trap Sever to help you quickly determine if a configuration change caused a network problem. Leverage built-in configuration management support for network devices from more than 16 hardware vendors including Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Extreme Networks, Dell, HP, Adtran, and many more. Create templates that allow batch config updates to multiple devices across vendors. Benefit Leverage a single comprehensive application to seamlessly manage network fault, performance and device configurations across your enterprise network.
Intuitive Pointand-Click Interface
Save time by quickly isolating and diagnosing device configuration problems
Realtime Change Notifications
Quickly investigate any device configuration changes to proactively maintain network performance
Multi-vendor Device Support
Rest assured knowing that all of your network devices can easily be managed
SolarWinds NCM Benefits Overview 81

Feature Policy Violation Detection Feature Description Easily detect device configuration policy violations against corporate standards or federal regulations such as HIPAA, SOX, CISP, PCI, and Cisco Security Audit. Leverage the SolarWinds online community, Thwack, to browse, download, and share device command templates, custom scripts, configuration snippets, and config change templates. Leverage the functionality of SolarWinds Engineers Toolset directly from SolarWinds NCM simply by using the "right-click" mouse option or by selecting a tool from the SolarWinds NCM toolbar. Integrated applications include IP Network Browser, Real-Time Interface Monitor, and MIB Browser. Additionally, you can easily customize the SolarWinds NCM toolbar to include direct access to any of the 49 tools within the Engineers Toolset. Compare network configuration files between two devices or compare a running config to a startup config on a single device. SolarWinds NCM makes it simple to baseline network configurations and to compare newer versions to the baseline as they are distributed. Schedule and automatically backup network configurations on routers, switches, firewalls, access points, and other network devices. Each job performs backups of network device configurations based on naming convention, machine type or other custom groups. Quickly scan your entire network and automatically import the devices into the SolarWinds NCM database. Deploying SolarWinds NCM is simple. First, install and configure SolarWinds NCM. Next, discover your network. Finally, begin checking your network devices for configuration issues and policy violations in minutes. No consultants required. Benefit Quickly detect network device policy violations before you get audited
Community Content Library
Relax knowing that you will never need to investigate a device configuration issue alone again. Quickly isolate and remediate any network issue
Engineers Toolset Integration
Side-by-Side Comparisons
Easily visualize device configuration differences to investigate network problems
Configuration Backup Scheduler
Rest assured knowing your configuration files are always backed up regularly
Network Discovery Do-It-Yourself Deployment
Save time by quickly setting up and monitoring your devices Spend time managing your network devices instead of managing your software.
82 SolarWinds NCM Benefits Overview

Feature Bulk Change Management Global Configuration Search Feature Description Change a community string, access control list or block a MAC address across many devices simultaneously. Easily search for specific text in any of your configuration files or find any node with matching text and wildcards from anywhere in SolarWinds NCMs web console. Automatically export all device configurations in text file format which can easily be backed up or restored. Data is also stored in a Microsoft SQL Server database. Quickly create inventory reports with details such as IOS images, serial numbers, interface and port details, IP addresses, ARP tables, and more! Leverage multiple protocols to communicate with devices, including SNMP v1/v2/v3, Telnet, SSH v1/v2, and TFTP. Easily import data from CSV, text files, existing databases, or from other configuration management solutions including Kiwi and CiscoWorks. Immediately rollback to a previous known good device configuration with just a few clicks. Upload and download IOS images and firmware in real-time or schedule updates to run during a future time frame. View who made configuration changes, who backed up configurations, and when users logged in and out of SolarWinds NCM. Create multiple user accounts with different privileges, while leveraging your Active Directory infrastructure for authentication. Benefit Easily initiate bulk changes on 10 or a 10,000 devices Save time by easily searching all of your configuration information from the web console Rest assured that all configuration data is securely stored.
Configuration Archive
Inventory Reporter
Pay maintenance contracts based on real inventory, not based on inventory speculation. Rest assured that your network will have comprehensive configuration management coverage Quickly import your existing database to save time configuring SolarWinds NCM Proactively maintain network device uptime without lifting a finger Easily keep all of your network devices up-todate from a single console Quickly investigate configuration issues by knowing who made what changes and when Protect your network by giving only the appropriate personal authority to make configuration changes.
Standards-based Protocol Support
Device Import Wizard
Configuration Rollback Remote firmware and IOS Transfers User Activity Tracking
User Roles & Permissions

Feature Enhanced Device Support Feature Description Multi-vendor device support extends to several new devices including Riverbed Steelhead, Cisco VPN Concentrators, 3Com, Dell PowerConnect Switches and many more. Benefit Rest assured knowing that all of your network devices can easily be managed.
Realtime Change Notification

SolarWinds NCM detects changes to the configurations of monitored devices in realtime and notifies you instantly of these changes giving you more control, instant visibility, and improved security in your network environment. Additionally, this feature enables you to quickly isolate and eliminate a configuration change that causes a network problem. SolarWinds NCM works in conjunction with the SolarWinds NCM Syslog Server and the SolarWinds NCM Trap Viewer to log configuration change events and to immediately alert you. When SolarWinds NCM detects a configuration change on a device, the system can automatically download the new configuration and compares it to the existing baseline or the last downloaded configuration. You are then immediately notified of the differences between the new configuration and the old configuration, giving you complete control over the change management process. SolarWinds NCM realtime notifications will also work with other syslog servers that support third-party executables.
Configuration Archiving
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager can copy every configuration file downloaded to an archive location for backup purposes.
Extensive Device Import Support

You can import a list of nodes using several different file formats. Nodes can be imported from the following file formats: Text files Excel spreadsheets Network Sonar Discovery Database SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor databases SolarWinds Engineers Edition Network Performance Monitor databases Cirrus Configuration Management Database Enterprise Edition SQL Server Cirrus Configuration Management Database Desktop Edition Access SQL Server databases Microsoft Access databases CiscoWorks database exports Kiwi CatTools database exports
Immediate Last-Known-Good Rollback

A baseline is a configuration file that is known to be good for a particular device. When making node configuration changes, it is a good idea to establish a knowngood configuration as a baseline. To set an existing configuration file as a baseline, click the configuration file in the left pane, and then click Configs > Set/Clear Baseline Setting.
Schedule Firmware and IOS Updates

Enables quick changes to community strings, passwords, and black lists. With SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager, you can execute bulk changes either in realtime or within a scheduled change window. Uploads, changes, and global command scripting can be scheduled by device type, physical location, by owner, or by any custom property you create.
User Activity Auditing

Logging events associated with a specific function of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows you to keep a detailed record of events and helps you troubleshoot any anomalies you may encounter. A number of functional areas within SoalrWinds NCM provide verbose logging options, including the following: Database Updates Logs database events, including backup and connectivity events. Inventory Monitor Logs inventory events, including SNMP timeouts, SNMP community string error messages, and status changes. Node Monitor Logs node events, including ICMP timeouts and node status changes. Realtime Config Change Detection Logs relatime configuration change detection events, including change events, notification success and failure messages, and device connectivity events. Scheduled Jobs Logs scheduled job events, including time completed and individual item success or failure, for example, the failure to download an individual configuration file included in the job. Security Logs security events, including login failures, account modifications, and global security setting changes.
Community Content
SolarWinds NCM offers direct access to Thwack, SolarWinds user community website. Links to Thwack are located throughout the SolarWinds NCM application, enabling you to leverage the expertise of an extensive community of network engineers who are highly skilled with SolarWinds products. Integration between SolarWinds NCM and Thwack makes it quick and effortless to post a question or search for answers in the Thwack forums. Additionally, you can easily browse, download, and share device command templates, custom scripts, and configuration snippets directly from Thwack.
User Roles and Permissions

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager provides role-based user access control to manage permissions for each user. User access control allows you to limit access to the application through enabling access control and through the assignment of the following access roles: Administrator Grants access to the entire SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager application. Engineer Grants access to the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager application excluding the ability to create, modify, or delete user accounts, modify security settings, or alter device connectivity methods. WebDowloader Grants access to the Web Console, Download, and View Transfer Status operations. No access is grated to the native application installed on the SoalrWinds NCM server. WebUploader Grants access to the Web Console, Download, Upload, View Transfer Status, Execute Script, and Edit Config operations. No access is grated to the native application installed on the SoalrWinds NCM server. Web Viewer Grants access to the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Web Console only. No access is granted to the native application installed on the local computer.
For more information, see the Administrator Guide.

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SolarWinds

Network Configuration Manager Evaluation Guide

SOLARWINDS NETWORK CONFIGURATION MANAGER

SolarWinds NCM Evaluation Guide

About SolarWinds iii

QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM

SolarWinds SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager NCM Documentation Library

iv SolarWinds NCM Documentation Library

SolarWinds NCM Evaluation Guide

QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM

Reviewing Inventory Reports .................................................................... 59 Auditing Policy Compliance ...................................................................... 60

SolarWinds NCM Evaluation Guide

Introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

SoalrWinds NCM Overview

Introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager 1

QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM

SoalrWinds NCM Design Goals

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Introduction to SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager 3

SolarWinds NCM Evaluation Guide

Installing SoalrWinds NCM and Discovering Nodes

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QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM

Microsoft SNMP Trap Service

Microsoft IIS Microsoft .NET Framework Database

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SolarWinds NCM Evaluation Guide

About the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager Database

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QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM

Installing SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager

Installing SolarWinds NCM for Evaluation

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4. Click Next on Getting Ready to Install.

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6. Click Next after reviewing the deployment options.

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SolarWinds NCM Evaluation Guide

7. Review the Welcome text, click Next.

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QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM

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QuickStart Guide SolarWinds NCM

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19. Enter credentials that provide access to your network devices.

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23. Click Finish to exit the SolarWinds NCM configuration wizard.

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