Solution Guide for Cisco Network Plug and Play

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Solution Guide for Cisco Network Plug and Play

First Published: November 23, 2015 Last Updated: May 17, 2018

Solution Guide for Cisco Network Plug and Play

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Solution Overview

Enterprises and campus deployments incur major costs to install and deploy the large number of networking devices that go into their data center, branch networks and campus rollout. Typically, every device has to be pre-staged by a skilled installer and loaded, through a console connection, with a CLI configuration that allows it to connect to the rest of the network. This process is costly, time consuming, and error-prone. At the same time, customers would like to increase the speed and reduce complexity of the deployment without compromising the security. The Cisco Network Plug and Play solution provides a simple, secure, unified, and integrated offering for enterprise network customers to ease new branch or campus device rollouts or for provisioning updates to an existing network. The solution provides a unified approach to provision enterprise networks comprised of Cisco routers, switches, and wireless devices with a near zero touch deployment experience. It reduces the burden on enterprises by greatly simplifying the process of deploying new devices. An installer at the site can deploy a new device without any CLI knowledge, while a network administrator centrally manages device configuration. The Cisco Network Plug and Play solution offers these features:

Solution Components

The Cisco Network Plug and Play solution includes the following components:

Solution Workflows

This section describes workflows for the following typical use cases:

A prerequisite is an operating Cisco APIC-EM controller with the Cisco Network Plug and Play application.

Remote Branch/Site Deployment

The following steps summarize how to use Cisco Network Plug and Play to deploy a Cisco network device in a remote branch or site.

Before you begin

Cisco network devices are running Cisco IOS images that support the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent.

Procedure

On the APIC-EM controller, the network administrator uses the Cisco Network Plug and Play application to pre-provision the remote site and device information in the application.

This includes entering device information and setting up a bootstrap configuration, full configuration, and IOS image for each device to be installed. The bootstrap configuration enables the Plug and Play Agent and typically specifies the device interface to be used and configures a static IP address for it. For details on using the Cisco Network Plug and Play application, see the Configuration Guide for Cisco Network Plug and Play on Cisco APIC-EM .

(Optional). If the central network operations center is behind a DMZ, the network administrator should configure a generic HTTP proxy or a VPN link to the network operations center so that the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent in devices at remote sites can communicate with the Cisco Network Plug and Play application.

This is a one-time task, because once set up, the proxy or VPN can be used for all subsequent device deployments at remote sites. For details on setting up an HTTP proxy, see Generic HTTP Proxy Set Up.

At the remote site, the device installer installs and powers up the Cisco network device, then connects their mobile device to the console port of the Cisco network device with the special serial cable.

For Cisco wireless access point devices, the bootstrap configuration is not supported, so this step and the Cisco Plug and Play Mobile App is not needed.

The device installer uses the Deploy Devices function in the Cisco Plug and Play Mobile App to deliver the bootstrap configuration to the Cisco network device and trigger deployment. For details on using the Cisco Plug and Play Mobile App to deploy devices, see the online help in the mobile app.

You can also deliver the bootstrap configuration to a Cisco router or switch by using a USB flash drive, however, USB autoinstall is a platform dependent feature. For details on using a USB flash drive, see Overview of Cisco 800 Series ISR Deployment. For platforms that do not support USB (such as the Cisco Catalyst 2000 Series and 3000 Series switches), we recommend using the Cisco Plug and Play Mobile App.

The network device connects to the Cisco Network Plug and Play application on the APIC-EM controller, identifies itself by serial number, and downloads its full configuration and, optionally, an IOS image, which were pre-provisioned by the network administrator.

By using DHCP or DNS, Cisco network devices can automatically discover the APIC-EM and download their full configurations when powered on, and the Cisco Plug and Play Mobile App is not needed in such cases. Using DHCP requires that there is layer 3 connectivity to the Cisco APIC-EM controller and a DHCP server is configured with Cisco Network Plug and Play option 43. Alternately, the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent can find the Cisco APIC-EM controller by using DNS. Sometimes, these requirements are not met in a remote site deployment, so this use case focuses on using the Cisco Plug and Play Mobile App. For DHCP configuration details, see Configuring DHCP for APIC-EM Controller Auto-Discovery.

Campus/LAN Deployment

The following steps summarize how to use Cisco Network Plug and Play to deploy a Cisco network device in a campus or LAN, where network devices can auto-discover the Cisco APIC-EM controller.

Before you begin

Cisco switches are running Cisco IOS images that support the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent. If any switches are running older Cisco IOS images, you must use the SMI Proxy. For details, see SMI Proxy Set Up.

Procedure

The network administrator sets up a DHCP server in the network to respond to client discover requests with DHCP option 43, which contains the APIC-EM controller IP address and port information.

Alternatively, DNS can be used to locate the controller. For DHCP and DNS configuration details, see Configuring DHCP for APIC-EM Controller Auto-Discovery.

The network administrator uses the Cisco Network Plug and Play application to pre-provision the remote site and device information.

This includes entering device information and setting up a bootstrap configuration (optional), full configuration, and IOS image for each device to be installed. The bootstrap configuration enables the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent and typically specifies the device interface to be used and configures a static IP address for it. For details on using the Cisco Network Plug and Play application, see the Configuration Guide for Cisco Network Plug and Play on Cisco APIC-EM .

The device installer installs and powers up the Cisco network device.

The device auto-discovers the APIC-EM controller by using DHCP or DNS, identifies itself by serial number to the Cisco Network Plug and Play application, and downloads its full configuration and, optionally, an IOS image, which were pre-provisioned by the network administrator.

Unplanned Device Deployment

In some cases, such as small sites or where pre-provisioning is not needed, devices can be deployed without prior set up on the Cisco Network Plug and Play application and then claimed and configured later.

The following steps summarize how to use Cisco Network Plug and Play to deploy a Cisco network device by using the unplanned device option.

Before you begin
Cisco network devices are running Cisco IOS images that support the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent.
Procedure

The network administrator sets up a DHCP server in the network to respond to client discover requests with DHCP option 43, which contains the APIC-EM controller IP address and port information.

Alternatively, DNS can be used to locate the controller. For DHCP and DNS configuration details, see Configuring DHCP for APIC-EM Controller Auto-Discovery.

The device installer installs and powers up the Cisco network device.

The device auto-discovers the APIC-EM controller by using DHCP or DNS.

The device is listed as an unplanned device in the Cisco Network Plug and Play application, identified by IP address and product ID.

The network administrator uses the Cisco Network Plug and Play application to claim the device and configure it with a new configuration and IOS image.

For details on using the Cisco Network Plug and Play application, see the Configuration Guide for Cisco Network Plug and Play on Cisco APIC-EM .

Plug and Play Connect Device Deployment

In situations where automatic APIC-EM discovery is desired but using the DHCP or DNS discovery methods is not an option, Plug and Play Connect allows devices to discover the IP address of APIC-EM controller.

When the network device boots up, if it cannot locate the APIC-EM controller through DHCP or DNS, then it tries Plug and Play Connect by contacting devicehelper.cisco.com to obtain the IP address of the appropriate APIC-EM controller that is defined for your organization. To secure the communications, the first thing that the device does when contacting Plug and Play Connect is to download and install the Cisco trustpool bundle.

The following steps summarize how to use Cisco Network Plug and Play to deploy a Cisco network device by using Plug and Play Connect.

Before you begin

Cisco network devices are running Cisco IOS images that support the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent and have connectivity to the Cisco Plug and Play Connect service.

Procedure

The network administrator configures the controller profile for the appropriate APIC-EM controller for your organization with Plug and Play Connect.

This can be done through the Cisco Smart Account, Plug and Play Connect web portal or through the Cisco Network Plug and Play application. For details, see the appropriate documentation.

If you order plug and play network devices through Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW), these network devices are automatically registered with Plug and Play Connect as long as a Cisco Smart Account is assigned to the order and you include the NETWORK-PNP-LIC option for each device that you want to use with Cisco Network Plug and Play.

This option causes the device serial number and PID to be automatically registered in your Smart Account for plug and play. If you have specified a default controller, then the devices are automatically assigned to that controller when the order is processed.

If you want to be able to manually add other devices in Plug and Play Connect, you can request access to this functionality by sending an email to Pnp-access-request@cisco.com.

When you manually add a device in the Plug and Play Connect web portal, you can optionally associate the device with a configuration or configuration template that you have uploaded to the web portal by using the Configurations or Configuration Templates tabs. The configuration is applied to the device when it contacts the Plug and Play Connect web portal.

This feature is in Beta release and can be used with Cisco network devices that support SUDI. You must enter the SUDI serial number of the device in the Plug and Play Connect web portal. You cannot use this feature of defining a configuration in Plug and Play Connect at the same time as redirecting devices to your own APIC-EM controller.

In the Cisco Network Plug and Play application in the APIC-EM controller, click the Settings tab, choose Smart Accounts and register your APIC-EM as the default controller for your Smart Account.

This step is required if you order plug and play network devices through CCW and these network devices are automatically registered with Plug and Play Connect through your Smart Account. For details on using the Cisco Network Plug and Play application, see the Configuration Guide for Cisco Network Plug and Play on Cisco APIC-EM.

In the Cisco Network Plug and Play application in the APIC-EM controller, choose the Devices > Cloud Synced tab, and click the Sync button.

Devices registered in the Plug and Play Connect web portal are synced to the controller, appear in the list, and can be moved to a project by selecting them and clicking Move to Project.

This step is not necessary for devices that you have manually added and associated with a configuration as described in Step 4.

Pre-provision the devices by going to Projects, choosing the project, and editing the newly added devices to assign a configuration and image.

You can assign a bootstrap configuration (optional), full configuration, and IOS image for each device to be installed. The bootstrap configuration enables the Cisco Plug and Play IOS Agent and typically specifies the device interface to be used and configures a static IP address for it.

This step is not necessary for devices that you have manually added and associated with a configuration as described in Step 4.

The device installer installs and powers up the Cisco network device.

The device discovers the APIC-EM controller by querying the Plug and Play Connect service, then identifies itself by serial number to the Cisco Network Plug and Play application, and downloads its full configuration and, optionally, an IOS image, which were pre-provisioned by the network administrator.

The device will fail to contact Plug and Play Connect if the device cannot synchronize with the predefined NTP servers time-pnp.cisco.com or pool.ntp.org. To resolve this problem, either unblock NTP traffic to these two host names, or map these two NTP host names to local NTP server addresses on the DNS server.

Deploying the Cisco Network Plug and Play Solution

This section discusses deploying the Cisco Network Plug and Play solution.

Prerequisites

The following are prerequisites for using the Cisco Network Plug and Play solution:

The Cisco Plug and Play Mobile App is not used for deploying Cisco wireless access point devices and is optional for other devices.

Guidelines

Follow these recommendations when deploying the Cisco Network Plug and Play solution: