Supported Collectors and Tools

This section contains the following topics:

Collector Descriptions

Each collector in Cisco Crosswork Planning has capabilities that determine what it collects or deploys.

Table 1. Collector Descriptions

Collector

Description

Prerequisite/Notes

Configuration Steps

Basic Topology Collection

IGP database

Discovers IGP topology using login and SNMP.

This is a basic topology collection. The resulting network model is used as the source network for other collectors.

See Collect Topology Information Using the IGP Database Collector

SR-PCE

Discovers Layer 3 topology using BGP-LS via SR-PCE. It uses raw SR-PCE data as the source for the topology. Node and interface/port properties are discovered using SNMP.

  • The SR-PCE agents must be configured before running this collection. For details, see Configure Agents.

  • This is a basic topology collection for networks using SR-PCE. The resulting network model is used as the source network for other collectors.

See Collect Topology Information Using the SR-PCE Collector

Advanced Modeling Collection

LSP

Discovers LSP information using SNMP.

See Collect LSP Information

PCEP LSP

(Accessible only when SR-PCE collector is selected as the basic topology collector) Discovers PCEP LSPs using SR-PCE.

The Collect Topology Information Using the SR-PCE Collector must be completed before running this collection.

See Collect PCEP LSP Information Using SR-PCE

BGP

Discovers BGP peering using login and SNMP.

A network model with basic topology collection must exist.

See Discover BGP Peering

VPN

Discovers Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN topology.

A network model with basic topology collection must exist.

See Discover VPN Topology

Config parsing

Discovers and parses information from router configurations in the network.

A network model with basic topology collection must exist.

See Collect Port, LSP, SRLG, and VPN Information Using Configuration Parsing

Traffic and Demands Collection

Inventory

Collects hardware inventory information.

A network model with basic topology collection must exist.

See Collect Hardware Inventory Information

Multicast

Collects multicast flow data from a given network.

A network model with basic topology collection must exist.

See Collect Multicast Flow Data from a Network

Layout

Adds layout properties to a source model to improve visualization.

  • An aggregated network model.

  • After the Layout collector is configured, a plan file containing layout properties must be imported back into the Layout model.

See Improve Network Model Visualization

Traffic collection

Collects traffic statistics (interface traffic, LSP traffic, MAC traffic, and VPN traffic) using SNMP polling.

  • A network model with basic topology collection must exist.

  • If collecting LSP traffic, a network model with LSP collection must exist. See Collect LSP Information.

  • If collecting VPN traffic, a network model with VPN collection must exist. See Discover VPN Topology.

See Collect Traffic Statistics

Demand deduction

Collects information regarding traffic demands from the network.

Source DARE network containing traffic data must exist.

See Collect Traffic Demands Information

NetFlow

Collects and aggregates exported NetFlow and related flow measurements.

A network model with basic topology collection must exist.

See Configure the NetFlow Collection

Custom Scripts

External script

Runs customized scripts to append additional data to a source network model.

A source network model and a custom script must exist.

See Run External Scripts Against a Network Model

Collect Basic Topology Information

The network model resulting from basic topology collectors is used as the source network for additional data collections. There are two collectors in Cisco Crosswork Planning which are used for this purpose, IGP database and SR-PCE. For detailed information on how to configure these collectors to collect the topology information, see Collect Topology Information Using the IGP Database Collector and Collect Topology Information Using the SR-PCE Collector.

Collect Topology Information Using the IGP Database Collector

In Cisco Crosswork Planning, there are two topology collectors: IGP database and SR-PCE. In a single collection, you can choose any one of these collectors for collecting information related to topology. Selecting both collectors is not permitted.

To use the SR-PCE collector for topology collection, see Collect Topology Information Using the SR-PCE Collector.

The IGP database collector discovers network topology using IGP database with the collection of node properties and interface and port discovery using SNMP. This is typically the first collector that is configured before other collectors, because it provides the basic data collection needed. This collector provides full topology discovery. Collection of multi instances of OSPF and IS-IS is also supported. All links collected from routers will have an associated IGP process ID.

The network model resulting from topology discovery is used as the source network for additional collections, because it provides the core node, circuit, and interface information used by other collectors.

Before you begin

Follow these steps to configure the IGP database collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Select IGP database from the Basic topology section and click Next.

Step 3

On the Configure page, under the Seed router section, enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Index—Index number for the seed router.
  • Router IP—Management IP address of the seed router.
  • Protocol type—Select the IGP protocol that is running on the network. The options are: ospf, ospfv3, isis, and isisv6.

    If you choose either ospf or ospfv3 as the Protocol type, enter the value for OSPF area in the Advanced page (click ). The OSPF area option specifies the area ID or all. The default is area 0.

    If you choose either isis or isisv6 as the Protocol type, enter the value for ISIS level (1, 2, or BOTH) in the Advanced page (click ). The default is level 2.

  • Collect interfaces—Check this check box to discover full network topology. By default, this option is enabled.

Step 4

(Optional) To add more seed routers, click + Add router and repeat Step 3 for each seed router. Ensure that the index number is unique for each seed router.

Step 5

(Optional) To exclude or include individual QoS information from the nodes, under Advanced settings > QoS Node Filter section, click + Add node filter and enter the values as required.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the details in the relevant fields. For descriptions of these advanced options, see IGP and SR-PCE Collection Advanced Options.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Collect Topology Information Using the SR-PCE Collector


Note

In Cisco Crosswork Planning, there are two topology collectors: IGP database and SR-PCE. In a single collection, you can choose any one of these collectors for collecting information related to topology. Selecting both collectors is not permitted.

To use the IGP database collector for topology collection, see Collect Topology Information Using the IGP Database Collector.

The SR-PCE collector discovers Layer 3 topology using SR-PCE. An SR-PCE agent is a Cisco Crosswork Planning component which will connect to SR-PCE server and process the telemetry data sent by server. SR-PCE agent uses two different REST connections with SR-PCE, one for LSP and the other for Topology data collection. After topology and LSP data collection, SR-PCE agent will (optionally) subscribe to SR-PCE and listen to further network change events.

Node and interface/port properties are discovered using SNMP. For testing purposes, you can also use the SR-PCE topology discovery using SR-PCE only (the Extended discovery field disabled) when no SNMP access is available. The network model resulting from topology discovery is used as the source network for additional collections, because it provides the core node, circuit, and interface information used by other collectors.

The SR-PCE collector also captures network updates for any changes in IGP Metric, Delay, and Node Overload.

It populates the FlexAlgoAffinities, FlexAlgorithms, SRv6NodeSIDs, SRv6InterfaceSIDs, NodePrefixLoopbacks, and NodeSIDPrefixLoopbacks tables. It does not populate the SRv6NodeSIDPrefixLoopbacks table as the loopback address associated with SRv6 is not obtained using SR-PCE.


Note

The default ISIS level is set to level2 for NodePrefixLoopbacks. The same is also populated for an OSPF network.

Cisco Crosswork Planning does not reflect the update of non-null to null value in the FlexAlgo columns. The values will start reflecting after a DARE re-sync.

The IPv4 metric value is populated in IGP metric table and the Ipv6 value is populated in IPv6-IGP metric table. The TE metric values will also be updated similarly.

The SR-PCE collector reads the LocalDomainIdentifier column of NetIntXtcLinks and populates the IGP Process ID in the Interfaces table.


Note

Dual stack support (capability to handle both IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously), and the configuration of OSPF or ISIS on an interface are populated correctly as part of data collection. However, during SR-PCE collection, when the dual protocol (OSPF and ISIS) is enabled on a single interface for data collection, dual stack and its interface resolution are not supported.

Before you begin

Follow these steps to configure the SR-PCE collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Select SR-PCE from the Basic topology section and click Next.

Step 3

On the Configure page, enter the following configuration parameters:

  • SR-PCE host—Choose an SR-PCE agent.
  • Backup SR-PCE host—Choose a backup SR-PCE agent. You can enter the same SR-PCE agent if you do not have a backup.
  • ASN—Enter 0 to collect information from all autonomous systems in the network, or enter the autonomous system number (ASN) to collect information only from a particular ASN. For example, if the SR-PCE agent has visibility to ASN 64010 and ASN 64020, enter 64020 to collect information only from ASN 64020.
  • IGP protocol—Choose the IGP protocol that is running on the network.
  • Extend discovery—Check the Enabled check box to discover the full network topology (nodes and interfaces).
  • Reactive network—Check the Enabled check box to subscribe to notifications from SR-PCE to update the addition or deletion of nodes or links.
  • Trigger collection—Check the Enabled check box to collect topology collection on new topology additions (nodes or links).

Step 4

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the details in the relevant fields. For descriptions of these advanced options, see IGP and SR-PCE Collection Advanced Options.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

IGP and SR-PCE Collection Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using the IGP database and SR-PCE collectors.

Option

Description

Options applicable for both IGP and SR-PCE collection:

Nodes

Node performance collection

Collects node performance data, if enabled.

Remove node suffix

Removes node suffixes from node names if the node contains the specified suffix. For example, 'company.net' removes the domain name for the network.

QoS queues

Allows interfaces (configured with QoS in the router) to display QoS information.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

QoS node filter

Indicates the filter for determining the nodes for which the QoS data is obtained.

Interfaces

Find parallel links

Finds parallel links that are not in the IGP database (when IS-IS TE extensions are not enabled).

IP guessing

Indicates the level of IP address guessing to perform for interfaces that are not present in the topology database. This is used when IS-IS TE extensions are not enabled.)

  • OFF—Performs no guessing.

  • Safe—Chooses guesses that have no ambiguity.

  • FULL—Makes best-guess decisions when there is ambiguity.

Port LAG discovery

Enables LAG discovery of port members.

LAG port match

Determines how to match local and remote ports in port circuits.

  • Guess—Creates port circuits to match as many ports as possible.

  • Exact—Matches based on LACP.

  • Complete—Matches based on LACP first, and then tries to match as many as possible.

  • None—Does not create port circuits.

Cleanup circuits

Removes circuits that do not have IP addresses associated to interfaces. Circuit removal is sometimes required with IS-IS databases to fix IS-IS advertising inconsistencies.

Copy description

Copies physical interface descriptions to logical interfaces if there is only one logical interface and its description is blank.

Physical ports

Collects L3 physical ports for Cisco.

Minimum IP guessing

Indicates the minimum IP guessing prefix length. All interfaces with equal or larger prefix lengths are considered.

Minimum prefix length

Indicates the minimum prefix length to allow when finding parallel links. All interfaces with equal or larger prefix lengths (but less than 32) are considered.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Debug

Verbosity

Indicates the log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

Net recorder

Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Option applicable only for SR-PCE collection:

Single-ended eBGP discovery

Discovers eBGP links that only have a single link end (not common).

Collect LSP Information

The LSP collector collects the RSVP LSP information in the network using SNMP.

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the LSP collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select LSP from the Advanced modeling section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click LSP in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

Enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Source—Choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

  • Get FRR LSPs—Check the Enabled check box to discover Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Fast Reroute (FRR) LSP (backup and bypass) information.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the details in the relevant fields. For descriptions of these advanced options, see LSP Collection Advanced Options.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

LSP Collection Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using the LSP collector.

Option

Description

Use calculated hops

Uses the calculated path hops table instead of the actual path hops table when discovering path hops.

Find actual path

Discovers actual paths for the LSPs.

Get extras

Collects additional LSP properties.

Use signaled name

Uses the LSP tunnel signaled name instead of LSP tunnel name (IOS-XR).

Auto bandwidth

Discovers auto bandwidth.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Debug

Verbosity

Indicates the log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

Net recorder

Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Collect PCEP LSP Information Using SR-PCE

The PCEP LSP collector uses the data collected from the SR-PCE collector and appends LSP information, thus creating a new network model.

Before you begin

Follow these steps to configure the PCEP LSP collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Select SR-PCE from the Basic topology section.

Step 3

Select PCEP LSP from the Advanced modeling section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click PCEP LSP in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

Enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Source—Choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

  • Agents—Choose the relevant SR-PCE agents from the drop-down list. For information on creating agents, see Configure Agents.

  • Reactive network—Check the Enabled check box to subscribe to notifications from SR-PCE to update LSPs based on addition or deletion. This option is enabled by default.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the following information:

  • RSVP use signaled name—Check the Enabled check box to use the RSVP LSP tunnel signaled-name instead of LSP tunnel name (IOS-XR).

  • SR use signaled name—Check the Enabled check box to use the SR LSP tunnel signaled-name instead of LSP tunnel name (IOS-XR).

  • SR add index—Check the Enabled check box to add indexes to SR LSP tunnels from associated interfaces (IOS-XR).

  • Data collection timeout—Enter the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Collect Multicast Flow Data from a Network

The Multicast collector collects multicast flow data from a given network. It is a collection of the following collectors:

  • Login find multicast—Logs in to the router to fetch or parse multicast flow data.

  • Login poll multicast—Logs in to the router to get multicast traffic rate

  • SNMP find multicast—Collects multicast data for multicast flows using SNMP.

  • SNMP poll multicast—Collects traffic data rate for multicast flows using SNMP.

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the Multicast collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select Multicast from the Traffic and Demands section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click Multicast in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

Enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Source—Choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

  • Data collection source—Choose the collector using which you want to collect the multicast data. The options are: Login find multicast, Login poll multicast, SNMP find multicast, and SNMP poll multicast.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Collector settings panel and enter the details in the relevant fields. Based on the collectors that you selected in the previous step, the options differ. For descriptions of these advanced options, see Multicast Collection Advanced Options.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Multicast Collection Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using the Multicast collectors.

Option

Description

Login find multicast settings

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 30 minutes.

Use existing config

Uses existing collected multicast configurations from cache.

Force config update

Updates multicast configuration files even if they exist in the data directory.

Save configs

Specifies whether the multicast configurations are to be saved in the cache or discarded.

Overwrite files

Specifies if the existing files are to be overwritten.

Login poll multicast settings

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 30 minutes.

No of samples

Indicates the number of samples that will be taken.

Polling interval

Indicates the time delay between the login rate readings (in seconds).

Traffic level name

Indicates the name of traffic level.

Traffic filtering

Specifies how to filter multicast traffic from multiple sources for each S|G group.

Use existing config

Uses existing collected multicast configurations from cache.

Force config update

Updates multicast configuration files even if they exist in the data directory.

Save configs

Specifies whether the multicast configurations are to be saved in the cache or discarded.

Overwrite files

Specifies if the existing files are to be overwritten.

SNMP find multicast settings

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 30 minutes.

SNMP poll multicast settings

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 30 minutes.

No of samples

Indicates the number of samples that will be taken.

Polling interval

Indicates the time delay between the login rate readings (in seconds).

Traffic level name

Indicates the name of traffic level.

Traffic filtering

Specifies how to filter multicast traffic from multiple sources for each S|G group.

Debug

Verbosity

Indicates the log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

Net recorder

Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Discover BGP Peering

The BGP collector discovers BGP topology via SNMP and login. It uses a topology network (typically an IGP topology collector output) as its source network and adds BGP links to external ASN nodes.

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the BGP collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select BGP from the Advanced modeling section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click BGP in the Selected Collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

From the Source drop-down list, choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the details in the relevant fields. For descriptions of these advanced options, see BGP Topology Advanced Options.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

BGP Topology Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using the BGP collector.

Option

Description

ASN include

Allows you to enter the ASNs to include. By default, all ASNs are included.

Internal ASNs

Allows you to enter the inernal ASNs.

Protocol

Specifies the Internet Protocol (IP) versions. The options are: IPv4 and IPv6.

Min IPv4 prefix length

Indicates the minimum prefix length to control how restrictive IPv4 subnet matching is in discovering interfaces as BGP links.

Min IPv6 prefix length

Indicates the minimum IPv6 prefix length to control how restrictive IPv6 subnet matching is in discovering interfaces as BGP links.

Login multi hop

Indicates whether to log in to routers that potentially contain multi-hop peers.

Force login platform

Overrides platform detection and use the specified platform. Valid values: cisco, juniper, alu, huawei.

Fallback login platform

Indicates the fallback vendor in case platform detection fails. Valid values: cisco, juniper, alu, huawei.

Try send enable

Sends an enable password if the platform type is not detected when logging in to a router.

Telnet username prompt

Indicates the alternative custom username prompt.

Telnet password prompt

Indicates the alternative custom password prompt.

Find internal ASN links

Finds links between two or more internal ASNs. Normally this action is not required because IGP discovers these links.

Find non IP exit interface

Searches for exit interfaces that are not represented as next-hop IP addresses, but rather as interfaces (which are rare).

Note

 
This action increases the amount of SNMP requests for BGP discovery, which affects performance.

Internal exit interface

Discovers BGP links to internal ASNs.

Get MAC address

Collects source MAC addresses of BGP peers connected to an Internet Exchange public peering switch. This action is required only for MAC accounting.

Use DNS

Indicates whether to use DNS to resolve BGP IP addresses.

Force check all

Indicates whether to check all routers even if there is no indication of potential multi-hop peers. This action could be slow.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Debug

Verbosity

Indicates the log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

Net recorder

Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Login record mode

Records the discovery process. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as the tool runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the tool as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Discover VPN Topology

The VPN collector discovers Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN topology.


Note

Currently, only P2P-VPWS xconnect discovery is supported for Layer 2 VPN.

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the VPN collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select VPN from the Advanced modeling section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click VPN in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

Enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Source—Choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

  • VPN type—Choose at least one VPN type:

    • VPWS—Choose this type when Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS) is being used in the network.

    • L3VPN—Choose this type when Layer 3 VPN is being used in the network.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the following information:

  • Data collection timeout—Maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

  • Verbosity—Log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

  • Net recorder—Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off. If set to 'Record', SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging. If set to 'Playback', the recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Collect Hardware Inventory Information

The Inventory collector collects hardware inventory information.

Collected Hardware

The Inventory collector creates a series of NetIntHardware* tables that store the collected hardware information based on hardware type. Each of the following objects are defined by node IP address and SNMP ID.

  • NetIntHardwareChassis—Router chassis objects identified by node IP address and SNMP ID.

  • NetIntHardwareContainer—Each entry represents a slot in a router (anything that can have a field replaceable unit (FRU) type device installed into it). Examples include chassis slots, module slots, and port slots.

  • NetIntHardwareModule—Hardware devices that can be installed into other hardware devices. Generally, these devices directly support traffic such as line cards, modules, and route processors, and do not fall into one of the other function-specific hardware tables.

  • NetIntHardwarePort—Physical ports on the router.

Hardware Hierarchy

The hardware has a parent-child relationship based on where the object resides within the router. The chassis has no parent and is considered as the root object. Other than the chassis, each object has one parent and can have one or more child objects. Objects with no children are called leaf objects, such as ports and empty containers. This hierarchy generally reflects how hardware objects are installed within other objects. For example, a module representing a line card might have a parent object that is a container representing a slot.

The parent is identifiable in the NetIntHardware* tables by the ParentTable and ParentId columns. Using these two columns along with the Node (node IP address) column, you can find the parent object for any hardware object.

Example: This NetIntHardwareContainer entry identifies that container 172.23.123.456 has a chassis as a parent. In the NetIntHardwareChassis, there is an SnmpID entry that matches the container’s ParentId of 2512347.

NetIntHardwareContainer
Node SnmpID ParentID Model Name NumChildren ParentTable SlotNumber
172.23.123.456 2503733 2512347 slot mau 0/0/0/5 0 NetIntHardwareChassis 0

Tracing the hierarchy from each leaf object to its corresponding root object based on the parent-child relationships results in a series of object types that form its hardware hierarchy. It is this trace that the Inventory collector uses to determine how to process the hardware devices. This is also the process you must use if adding an entry to the HWInventoryTemplates table.

Example: Chassis-Container-Module-Module-Container-Port

Tables for Processing Inventory

The Inventory collector constructs the NetIntNodeInventory table by processing the NetIntHardware* tables. The collector requires two configuration files and can additionally use an optional one.

  • Template file (required)—This file contains these tables.

    • HWInventoryTemplates—Contains entries that categorize the devices in the final NetIntNodeInventory table, as well as prune from inclusion.

    • HWNameFormatRules—Contains entries that format the hardware object names to make them more usable, as well as correct unexpected SNMP results.

  • Exclude file (required)—Contains the ExcludeHWList table that prevents (blocked lists) hardware objects from being included in the final NetIntNodeInventory table. This can be useful when for excluding hardware that does not forward or carry traffic.

  • Hardware spec file (optional)—Contains the HardwareSpec table that can be used to adjust collected data in terms of the number of slots in a specified device when the slots returned by SNMP is inaccurate.

If you modify the template or choose to exclude files, ensure these changes persist across software upgrades.

Configure Hardware Templates

The Template file option under the Build inventory options section calls a file containing both the HWInventoryTemplates and the HWNameFormatRules tables.

HWInventoryTemplates Table

The HWInventoryTemplates table tells the Inventory collector how to interpret hardware referenced by the NetIntHardware* tables. It enables the Inventory collector to categorize objects into common, vendor-neutral hardware types, such as chassis, linecards, and slots, as well as to remove hardware types that are not of interest.

Inventory hardware is categorized as a chassis, slot, line card, module slot, module, port slot, port, or transceiver. A container is categorized as either a slot, module slot, or port slot. A module is categorized as either a module or a line card. All other hardware objects are categorized by their same name. For instance, a chassis is categorized as a chassis.

The Inventory collector looks at the following columns of the HWInventoryTemplates table for matches in the NetIntHardware* tables in this order.

  • DiscoveredHWHierarchy, Vendor, Model

  • DiscoveredHWHierarchy, Vendor, * (where * means all entries in the Model column)

You can further enhance the search using the Guess template option. In this instance, if no matches are found using the first two criteria, Cisco Crosswork Planning collector then looks for matches only for DiscoveredHWHierarchy and Vendor, and does not consider Model.

If a match is found, the subsequent columns after DiscoveredHWHierarchy tell the Inventory collector how to categorize the hardware. These latter columns identify hardware object types: chassis, slot, line card, module slot, module, port slot, port, or transceiver. Each column entry has the Type,Identifier,Name format.

  • Type is the discovered hardware type, such as “container.”

  • Identifier specifies which object (of one or more of the same type) in the hierarchy is referenced (0, 1, ...).

  • Name specifies a column heading in the NetIntHardware* table. This is the name that appears in for that object in the NetIntNodeInventory table.

Example: Module,0,Model. "Model" is a column heading in the NetIntHardwareModule table)

Multiple name source columns can be specified with a colon.

Example: Container,0,Model:Name

If a hardware category does not exist or is empty, the Inventory collector does not include it in the final NetIntNodeInventory table.

Example:

Using the first row of the default Template file, the Cisco Crosswork Planning collector searches the NetIntHardware* tables for ones that have entries that match the Vendor, Model, and DiscoveredHWHierarchy columns as Cisco ASR9K Chassis-Container-Module-Port-Container-Module.

Thereafter, it categorizes each entry in the hardware hierarchy (DiscoveredHWHierarchy column), and defines its location in the hardware types columns.

The first Module entry is defined as a line card, it is identified as #0, and the name that appears in the NetIntNodeInventory table is the one appearing in the Model column of the NetIntHardwareModule table. The second module is defined as a transceiver object and is identified as #1. It uses the same name format.

Notice that there are two containers in the hierarchy, but there is only one defined as a Type. This means that the second container would not appear in the NetIntNodeInventory table.

Add HWInventoryTemplates Entries

If the Cisco Crosswork Planning collector encounters an inventory device that is not in the HWInventoryTemplates table, it generates a warning that specifies pieces of the hardware hierarchy, including the SNMP ID of the leaf object and the IP address of the router. You can use this information to manually trace the objects from the leaf to the root and derive an appropriate entry in the HWInventoryTemplates table. For information on tracing hardware hierarchies, see Hardware Hierarchy.

  1. Copy the warning message for reference, and use it for Step 2.

  2. Using the router’s IP address, as well as the SNMP ID, name, and model of the leaf object, find the leaf object referenced in the warning in either the NetIntHardwarePort or the NetIntHardwareContainer table.

  3. Use the leaf object’s ParentTable and ParentId columns to trace the leaf back to its parent. For each successive parent, use its ParentTable and ParentId columns until you reach the root object (chassis) in the NetIntHardwareChassis table.

  4. Once each object in the hardware hierarchy is found, add it to the DiscoveredHWHierarchy column of the HWInventoryTemplates table. Complete the Vendor and Model columns.

  5. For each object in the hardware hierarchy (DiscoveredHWHierarchy column), classify it into one of the standard hardware types, which are the columns listed after the DiscoveredHWHierarchy column.

HWNameFormatRules Table

The HWNameFormatRules table specifies how to format the names in the NetIntNodeInventory table. This is useful for converting long or meaningless names to ones that are easier to read and clearer for users to understand.

For each entry in the HWInventoryTemplates table, the HWNameFormatRules table is searched for a matching vendor, hardware type (HWType), name (PatternMatchExpression). Then, rather than using the name specified in the HWInventoryTemplates table, the NetIntNodeInventory table is updated with the name identified in the ReplacementExpression column.

If multiple matches apply, the first match found is used. Both the PatternMatchExpression and the ReplacementExpression can be defined as a literal string in single quotes or as a regular expression.

Example:

HWNameFormatRules
Vendor HWType PatternMatchExpression ReplacementExpression
Cisco Chassis \A4\Z ‘7507’
Cisco Linecard 800-20017-.* ‘1X10GE-LR-SC’
Juniper Chassis Juniper (MX960) Internet Backbone Router $1

The entries in the table work as follows:

  • Replaces all Cisco chassis name with 7507 if the name has four characters where A is the beginning of the string and Z is the end of the string.

  • Replaces all Cisco linecard names that match 800-20017-.* with 1X10GE-LR-SC.

  • Replaces all Juniper chassis named “Juniper (MX960) Internet Backbone Router” with MX960.


Note

SNMP returns many slot names as text, rather than integers. It is a best practice to remove all text from slot numbers for optimal use.

Exclude Hardware by Model or Name

The Exclude file option under the Build inventory options section option calls a file containing the ExcludeHWList table. This table enables you to identify hardware objects to exclude from the NetIntNodeInventory table based on model, name, or both. This is useful, for instance, when excluding management ports and route processors. The model and names can be specified using regular expressions or they can be literals.

Example:

ExcludeHWList
HWTable Vendor Model Name
NetIntHardwarePort Cisco \/CPU0\/129$
NetIntHardwareModule Cisco 800-12308-02
NetIntHardwarePort Cisco Mgmt

The entries in the table work as follows:

  • Exclude all objects in the NetIntHardwarePort table where the vendor is Cisco and the name ends with CPU0/129.

  • Exclude all objects in the NetIntHardwareModule table where the vendor is Cisco and the model is 800-12308-02.

  • Exclude all objects in the NetIntHardwarePort table where the vendor is Cisco and the name is Mgmt.

HardwareSpec

The Hardware spec file option under the Build inventory options section calls a file containing the HardwareSpec table. This table enables you to adjust data returned from SNMP. You can adjust both the total number of slots (TotSlot) and the slot numbering range (SlotNum). For instance, SNMP might return 7 slots for a chassis when there are actually 9, including route processors.

This table looks only for hardware that contains slots, module slots, or port slots, and thus, the hardware type (HWType column) must be chassis, line card, or module. SlotNum indicates the slot number range. For instance, some routers start with slot 0, whereas others start with slot 1.

Example:

HardwareSpec
Vendor HWType Model TotSlot SlotNum
Cisco Chassis 7609 9 1-9

This table entry sets the Cisco 7609 chassis to have a total of 9 slots and to start the slot numbering with 9.

Configure Inventory Collection

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the Inventory collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select Inventory from the Traffic and Demands section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click Inventory in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

From the Source drop-down list, choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the details in the relevant fields. For descriptions of these advanced options, see Inventory Collection Advanced Options.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Inventory Collection Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using the Inventory collector.

Option

Description

Get inventory options

Login allowed

Allows logging in to the router to collect inventory data.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 30 minutes.

Build inventory options

Exclude file

Indicates the file containing ExcludeHWList table that defines hardware characteristics to match against for exclusion in the output.

Click the Download sample file link to download a sample file containing ExcludeHWList table.

Guess template

Indicates whether to broaden the search when processing raw inventory data.

Template file

Indicates the hardware template file containing HWInventory Templates and HWNameFormatRules tables.

Click the Download sample file link to download a sample template file.

Hardware spec file

Indicates the file containing HardwareSpec table that defines slot counts for specific types of hardware to verify SNMP data returned from routers.

Click the Download sample file link to download a sample file containing HardwareSpec table.

Debug

Verbosity

Indicates the log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

Net recorder

Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Collect Port, LSP, SRLG, and VPN Information Using Configuration Parsing


Note

The Config parsing collector is not a base topology collector. It must only be used to augment details missing from other methods of collection like SNMP and SR-PCE.

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the Config parsing collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select Config parsing from the Advanced modeling section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click Config parsing in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

From the Source drop-down list, choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

Step 6

Expand the Get config and Parse config panels, and enter the details in the relevant fields. For field descriptions, see Configuration Parsing Advanced Options.

Note

 

  • L2VPN config parse is not supported.

  • When L3VPN information is collected by Config Parsing collector, it is assumed that all VPNs are connected to each other.

  • If the Config Parsing collector is collecting VPN information and VPN collector is also being run, make sure that VPN collector is before Config Parsing collector in the collector chain.

  • Single ended SRLGs with other end missing will be collected via SR-PCE. SRLGSCircuits table is not updated for the same though.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Configuration Parsing Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using the Config parsing collector.

Option

Description

Get config options

Collect configuration

Collects configuration from devices or routers.

Force login platform

Overrides platform detection and uses the specified platform. Valid values: cisco, juniper, alu, huawei.

Fallback login platform

Indicates the fallback vendor in case platform detection fails. Valid values: cisco, juniper, alu, huawei.

Try send enable

Sends an enable password if the platform type is not detected when logging in to a router.

Telnet username prompt

Indicates the alternative custom username prompt.

Telnet password prompt

Indicates the alternative custom password prompt.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Parse config options

Protocol type

Allows you to choose the IGP protocol running in the network. The options are: isis, ospf, and None. The default is isis.

ISIS level

Indicates the ISIS level to use. The agent can read IS-IS Level 1, Level 2, or both Level 1 and Level 2 metrics. If both are selected, the agent combines both levels into a single network. Level 2 metrics take precedence.

OSPF area

Indicates whether to collect a single OSPF area or all areas. This option specifies the area ID or all. The default is area 0.

ASN

Indicates the Autonomous System Number (ASN) to collect. ASN is ignored by default. However, for networks that span multiple BGP ASNs, use this option to read information from more than one IGP process ID or instance ID in an ASN.

Include objects

Allows you to select the configuration objects that you want to parse. The available options are: LAG, SRLG, RSVP, VPN, FRR, SR LSPS, LMP, and SR Policies.

Circuit match

Indicates the criteria to use to form circuits.

LAG port match

Determines how to match local and remote ports in port circuits.

  • Guess—Creates port circuits to match as many ports as possible.

  • None—Does not create port circuits.

OSPF process ID

Indicates the OSPF process ID to use when there are multiple OSPF processes.

IS-IS instance ID

Indicates the IS-IS instance ID to use when there are multiple IS-IS instances.

Loopback interface

Indicates the loopback interface number to use for the router IP.

Resolve references

Resolves IP address references, if enabled.

Multithreading

Indicates whether to use multithreading.

Filter showcommands

Filters multiple show commands.

Build topology

Builds network topology after parsing the configuration.

Shared media

Creates pseudonodes for shared media.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Debug

Verbosity

Indicates the log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

Net recorder

Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Improve Network Model Visualization

The Layout collector adds layout properties to a source network model to improve visualization when importing the plan file into Cisco Crosswork Planning. The collector automatically records changes to the layout properties. When the source network model changes, the layout of the destination model is updated.

The layout in the destination network serves as a template that is applied to the source network. The resulting network is saved as the new destination network. If the source layout contains no layout information, the layout from the destination network is simply added to the source network. If the source network contains layout information, that layout is maintained unless there is a conflict with the layout in the destination network. If a conflict exists, the layout information in the destination network takes precedence over the information in the source network.


Note

The Layout collector saves only the node and site mappings. It does not save the node's coordinates.

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the Layout collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select Layout from the Traffic and Demands section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click Layout in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

Enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Source—Choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

  • Template file—Enter the template plan file path from where the layout details are copied.

    Note

     
    If you are migrating the collector configuration either from Cisco WAE or from another Cisco Crosswork Planning instance, ensure that the Template file field is updated with the correct file after importing the collector configuration. This is necessary because, after importing the configuration, the server restores only the file name and not the actual file. If the field is not updated with the correct file, then the collection fails.

Step 6

(Optional) Expand the Advanced settings panel and enter the following information:

  • Timeout—Maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Collect Traffic Statistics

The Traffic collection collector collects traffic statistics (interface traffic, LSP traffic, MAC traffic, and VPN traffic) using SNMP polling.


Note

After configuring the Traffic collection collector, you can view the traffic poller agent details in the Collector > Agents page. The agent's name is the same as that of the collection.

Before you begin

Follow these steps to configure the Traffic collection collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select Traffic collection from the Traffic and Demands section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click Traffic collection in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

Check the Traffic collection check box to enable the traffic poller.

Step 6

From the Source drop-down list, choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

Step 7

To run continuous traffic collection for interfaces, enable Interface traffic poll and then enter the following:

  • Polling period—Enter the polling period, in seconds. We recommend starting with 60 seconds.
  • QoS—Check the Enable check box if you want to enable queues traffic collection.
  • VPN—Check the Enable check box if you want to enable VPN traffic collection. If enabled, confirm that the source network model has VPNs enabled.

Step 8

To run continuous traffic collection for LSPs, enable LSP traffic poll and then enter the following:

  • Polling period—Enter the polling period, in seconds. We recommend starting with 60 seconds.

Step 9

To run continuous traffic collection for MAC accounting, enable MAC traffic poll and then enter the following:

  • Polling period—Enter the polling period, in seconds. We recommend starting with 60 seconds.

Note

 

If MAC traffic poll is enabled, make sure that the source network model has MAC addresses.

Step 10

(Optional) Expand the SNMP traffic computation panel and enter the details in the relevant fields. For field descriptions, see Traffic Collection Advanced Options.

Step 11

Click Next.

Step 12

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

You need to configure a schedule to populate the collected traffic data in the plan files. The traffic details are updated in the plan files only on running the scheduled jobs. If a job is not executed, the traffic data is not updated in the plan files.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

Traffic Collection Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using Traffic collection.

Option

Description

Minimum window length

Indicates the minimum window length for traffic calculation, in seconds. The default is 300 seconds.

Maximum window length

Indicates the maximum window length for traffic calculation, in seconds. The default is 450 seconds.

Raw counter TTL

Indicates how long to keep raw counters (in minutes). The default is 15 minutes.

Discard over capacity

Discards traffic rates that are higher than capacity.

Net recorder file max size

Indicates the maximum size for the net record file.

Data collection timeout

Indicates the maximum time allowed for data collection (in minutes). The internal tools used for data collection will time out and exit if the specified limit is exceeded. The default is 60 minutes.

Debug

Verbosity

Indicates the log verbosity level. It refers to the degree of detail and information provided in log messages. The default is 30, and the valid range is 1 to 60.

Net recorder

Records SNMP messages. The options are: Off, Record, and Playback. The default is Off.

  • Record—The SNMP messages to and from the live network are recorded internally as discovery runs. It is used for debugging.

  • Playback—The recorded messages are played back through the collector as if they came from the live network, thus providing offline debugging of network collection.

  • Off—No recording or playback is performed.

Collect Traffic Demands Information

The Demand deduction collector collects information regarding traffic demands from the network.

Before you begin

Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Follow these steps to configure the Demand deduction collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select Demand deduction from the Traffic and Demands section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click Demand deduction in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

From the Source drop-down list, choose the source collector whose output model serves as the input for this collector.

Step 6

Under Demand mesh steps, click + Add step to add a step. In the Add Mess Step window, enter the following details:

  1. In the Name field, enter the name for the step.

  2. In the Step number field, enter the order in which this step must be performed.

  3. From the Tool drop-down list, choose the required tool. The available tools are: Demands for P2MP LSPs, Demand deduction, External executable script, Copy demands, Demands for LSPs, and Demand mesh creator.

  4. Check the Enable check box to run the selected tools.

  5. Update or enter the details in the Tool configuration section. Based on the tool you selected, the options differ in this section.

  6. (Optional) Expand the Advanced panel and enter the details.

  7. Click Continue.

Repeat this step to add more steps to the configuration.

To remove any of the steps added, select the step and click the Delete button in the Mesh Step window.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

NetFlow Data Collection

Cisco Crosswork Planning can collect and aggregate exported NetFlow and related flow measurements. These measurements can be used to construct accurate demand traffic data for Cisco Crosswork Planning Design. Flow collection provides an alternative to the estimation of demand traffic from interfaces, LSPs, and other statistics using Demand deduction. NetFlow gathers information about the traffic flow and helps to build traffic and demand matrix. Importing flow measurements is particularly useful when there is full or nearly full flow coverage of a network’s edge routers. Additionally, it is beneficial when accuracy of individual demands between external autonomous systems (ASes) is of interest.

Network data collected separately by collectors, including topology, BGP neighbors, and interface statistics, is combined with the flow measurements to scale flows and provide a complete demand mesh between both external autonomous systems and internal nodes.

Cisco Crosswork Planning gathers the following types of data to build a network model with flows and their traffic measurements aggregated over time:

  • Flow traffic using NetFlow, JFlow, CFlowd, IPFIX, and Netstream flows

  • Interface traffic and BGP peers over SNMP

  • BGP path attributes over peering sessions

NetFlow Collection Configuration

The flow collection process supports IPv4 and IPv6 flows captured and exported by routers in the ingress direction. It also supports IPv4 and IPv6 iBGP peering.

Routers must be configured to export flows to and establish BGP peering with the flow collection server. Note the following recommendations:

  • NetFlow v5, v9, and IPFIX datagram export to the UDP port number of the flow collection server, which has a default setting of 2100. Export of IPv6 flows requires NetFlow v9 or IPFIX.

  • Define a BGP session on the routers configured as iBGP Route Reflector Client for the flow collector server. If configuring this in the router itself is not feasible, then a BGP Route Reflector Server with a complete view of all relevant routing tables can be used instead.

  • Configure the source IPv4 address of flow export datagrams to be the same as the source IPv4 address of iBGP messages if they are in the same network address space.

  • Explicitly configure the BGP router ID.

  • If receiving BGP routes, the maximum length of the BGP AS path attribute is limited to three hops. The reason is to prevent excessive server memory consumption, considering that the total length of BGP attributes, including AS path, attached to a single IP prefix can be very large (up to 64 KB).

Configure the NetFlow Collection

Before you begin

Follow these steps to configure the NetFlow collector.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

Select NetFlow from the Traffic and Demands section and click Next.

Step 4

On the Configure page, click NetFlow in the Selected collectors pane on the left.

Note

 

Ensure that the Basic topology parameters are updated as per your needs. Update the parameters, if required.

Step 5

Enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Source—Choose the source collector whose output serves as the input for this collector.

  • Agents—Select the applicable agents from the drop-down list.

Step 6

Under the Common config section, from the Split AS flows on ingress drop-down list, select the traffic aggregation strategy for external ASNs.

(Optional) Enter the information in the other fields. For field descriptions, see NetFlow Collection Advanced Options.

Step 7

(Optional) Expand the IAS flows and Demands panels, and enter the details in the relevant fields. For descriptions of these options, see NetFlow Collection Advanced Options.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.

NetFlow Collection Advanced Options

You can configure several advanced options when using the NetFlow collector.

Option

Description

Common config settings

Split AS flows on ingress

Indicates the traffic aggregation strategy for external ASNs.

ASN

Indicates the ASN of the internal AS in the network.

Address family

Indicates the protocol version to include in IAS flows and demands computation.

Ext node tags

Allows you to enter one or more node tags. Click + to enter a list of one or more node tags.

Split AS flows on egress

Splits Inter AS flows on egress through all the interfaces connecting to the egress AS.

Extra aggregation

Allows you to select the list of aggregation keys from the drop-down list.

Log level

Indicates the log level of the tool. The options are: Off, Fatal, Error, Warn, Notice, Info, Debug, and Trace.

Number of threads

Indicates the maximum number of threads to be used in parallel computation.

IAS flows settings

Trim inter AS flows

Indicates the value in MBits/sec below which the Inter AS flows for traffic is strictly discarded.

Match BGP external info

Indicates whether to match egress IP addresses in the BGP peer relation.

Ingress interface filter

Indicates a filter of node and interface in the form Node:InterfaceName that will be applied while reading the flow matrix to filter in only those ingress interfaces.

Egress interface filter

Indicates a filter of node and interface in the form Node:InterfaceName that will be applied while reading the flow matrix to filter in only those egress interfaces.

Back track micro flows

Indicates whether to generate files showing a relationship between micro flows from the input file and those demands or inter-as-flows that aggregate them.

Flow import IDs

Allows you to enter comma separated flow IDs to import data from.

IAS computation timeout

Indicates the timeout for IAS flows computation (in minutes). The valid range is 1-1440. The default is 60 minutes.

Demands settings

Demand name

Indicates the name for any new demands.

Demand tag

Indicates the tag for any new demands, or to append to the existing demands.

Trim demands

Indicates the value in MBits/sec below which the demands are strictly discarded.

Demand service class

Indicates the demand service class.

Demand traffic level

Indicates the demand traffic level.

Missing flows

Indicates the path where the file with interfaces that are missing flows is generated.

Run External Scripts Against a Network Model

The external scripts let you run a customized script against a selected network model. You might want to do this when you want specific data from your network that existing Cisco Crosswork Planning collectors do not provide. In this case, you take an existing collection model created in Cisco Crosswork Planning and append information from a custom script to create a final network model that contains the data you want.

Before you begin

Follow these steps to run external steps against a network model.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections and Edit Collections.

Step 2

Choose one of the basic topology collector, as per your requirement.

Step 3

On the Configure page, click + Add external script under the Advanced Modeling or Traffic and Demands section.

Step 4

Enter the following details:

  • Collector name—Enter the name for this collection.

  • Is source a plan file?—Check this check box if you want to run the script on a plan file. If you have selected this option, then enter the plan file details in the Input plan file field.

  • Source—Select the collector on which you want to run the external script. For example, if you select BGP as the Source, then the custom script is executed on the BGP collector. The output model from the BGP collection is updated based on the specifications mentioned in the custom script.

  • Input file—Upload any supporting file that is required for the custom script to execute successfully.

  • Executable script—Enter the custom script details.

  • Script language—Select the language of the custom script. The valid script languages are: PYTHON, SHELL, and PERL.

  • Aggregator properties—If you want to specify any tables or columns to be aggregated, then specify them in a .properties file and upload the file using this field. By default, all columns and tables are aggregated.

  • Timeout—Specify the action timeout. The default is 30 minutes.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

Merge AS Plan Files

The Merge AS tool helps to merge plan files from different Autonomous Systems (AS). The Merge AS tool resolves any conflicts across the plan files. Plan files in native format are also supported.

Each AS can be on a different Cisco Crosswork Planning server.


Note

  • Only Autonomous Systems (AS), Circuits, Nodes, Interfaces, External Endpoints, External Endpoint Members with virtual nodes and unresolved interfaces are resolved.

  • The following demands are resolved:

    • Source or Destination associated with virtual node that are resolved with real node.

    • Source or Destination associated with the interface in a specific format.

    • Source or Destination associated with the External Endpoints.

  • The following demands are not resolved:

    • Source or Destination associated with ASN number only.

  • For a given plan file, the internal AS number must match what other plan files see as an external AS number, and all the Autonomous Systems that are going to be merged need to be discovered in all the plan files.

Before you begin

  • Collect topology and traffic information for different Autonomous Systems (AS).

  • The plan files from different AS have to be present on the same Cisco Crosswork Planning server and the path to the plan files must be mentioned.

  • Complete the steps mentioned in Workflow: Preconfiguration Steps.

Procedure

Step 1

Determine if you want to create a new collection or edit an existing one. For details, see Create Collections or Edit Collections.

Step 2

Click that the Tools radio button at the top.

Step 3

Select Merge AS from the Tools section and click Next.

Step 4

Enter the following configuration parameters:

  • Retain demands—Check the Enabled check box to merge the demands.
  • Tag name—Enter a tag name to help identify the updated rows in the .pln file. The tag column in the .pln file gets updated with the tag name for rows that are modified.

Step 5

Under the Source collector section, click + Add source collector, and select the relevant Collection and Collector names.

Step 6

Under the Source DB section, click + Add source DB, click Browse, and choose the source plan file located on your system.

Note

 
If you are migrating the configuration either from Cisco WAE or from another Cisco Crosswork Planning instance, ensure that the DB file field is updated with the correct file after importing the configuration. This is necessary because, after importing the configuration, the server restores only the file name and not the actual file. If the field is not updated with the correct file, then the collection fails.

Step 7

Click Next.

Step 8

Preview the configuration and then click Create to create the collection.

What to do next

  • Configure schedules for the collection job. You can schedule the collection job to run immediately or schedule it to run at specific intervals. For details, see Schedule Collections.

  • Use this collection as the source network to configure additional collections. For details on configuring different collectors, see the relevant topics in this chapter. For details on editing the collection, see Edit Collections.