Administering Application Policies

This chapter contains the following sections:

Understanding the Categorize Applications Tab

The Cisco IWAN application (IWAN app) operates with the NBAR2 Protocol Pack, which runs on routers within the IWAN network. NBAR2 categorizes network application traffic using the individual protocols in the Protocol Pack, in addition to any user-defined custom protocols. (Each protocol defines how NBAR2 will categorize a specific network application.) The IWAN app shows the applications defined by the NBAR2 Protocol Pack, grouped by application category.

The IWAN app release 1.4.0 operates with the NBAR2 Protocol Pack 27.0.0. See the Protocol Pack documentation for details.

Use the Categorize Applications tab to view, edit, move, and add custom applications as shown in the following table:

 

Table 7-1 Categorize Applications Tab
No.
Task
Reference

1

View all of the installed applications in an alphabetized list or view the applications by category.

View a summary of all applications.

Search for a specific application.

Viewing Applications

2

Move applications into different categories.

Moving Applications to a Different Category

3

Edit application information.

Editing Application Information

4

Add new custom application to an existing category.

Adding a New Application

 

Deleting Cisco IWAN custom applications.

Deleting NBAR2 Custom Applications

Note For a quick tutorial about what you can do on the Categorize Applications page, click Teach Me in the instructional text.

Viewing Applications

Use this procedure to view applications by list, by category, or view a summary of all installed applications.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Categorize Applications tab. All of the installed applications are displayed in an alphabetized list.

Step 3 To view the applications by category, click the By Application Category / By Applications drop-down list, and select View By Application Category .

Not all categories are shown by default. To view all categories, click the Show link in the instructional text .

Step 4 To view all of the applications in a particular category, click the down arrow for a category.

Step 5 To view a summary of the total number of applications, popular applications, and custom applications, see the Applications Summary area.

Step 6 To search for a specific application, enter one of the following parameters in the Search field: application short name, long description, ports, traffic class.

 

Moving Applications to a Different Category

To share bandwidth, you can move the application into a different category.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Categorize Applications tab. All of the installed applications are displayed in an alphabetized list.

Step 3 To view all of the applications in a particular category, click the down arrow by a category.

Step 4 To move an application into a different category, drag-and-drop it into the appropriate category, and then click Apply Changes .

 

Editing Application Information

Use this procedure to edit application information.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Categorize Applications tab. All of the installed applications are displayed in an alphabetized list.

Step 3 To view all of the applications in a particular category, click the down arrow for a category.

Step 4 To edit application information, click on the pencil icon next to the application. Information about the application appears.

Step 5 Click Edit . The Edit Application dialog box opens.

Step 6 Make your changes, and then click Save .

 

Adding a New Application

Use this procedure to add a new custom application.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Categorize Applications tab. All of the installed applications are displayed in an alphabetized list.

Step 3 To add a new custom application, click the Add Application tab. The Add Application dialog box opens.

Step 4 Enter the following properties, and then click Add :

 

Field
Description

Name

Name of the application.

Type radio button

Choose one of the following:

  • URL —Click the radio button, and then enter the application url in the URL field.
  • Server IP/Port —Click the radio button, and then enter the IP, port, and protocol for the application to use.
  • DSCP —Differentiated services code point (DSCP). Click the radio button, and then choose a value from the drop-down list.

Similar to

Click the field to display a list of available similar applications, and then choose an application.

Category

Choose a category from the drop-down list for the new application to reside.

Jitter

(Optional) Specify a different value or keep the default value.

Packet loss

(Optional) Specify a different value or keep the default value.

Delay

(Optional) Specify a different value or keep the default value.

 

Deleting NBAR2 Custom Applications

Use this procedure to delete NBAR2 custom applications.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Categorize Applications tab.

Step 3 To delete a custom application, do the following:

a. In the left window, change the View By filter from Application Category to Applications .

b. Click the Edit icon next to the application. The Edit Application dialog box opens.

c. Click the Delete button in the Edit Application dialog box.

Note The Delete button is available only for custom applications (not EasyQoS custom apps or default Protocol Pack applications).

d. Click OK in the confirmation box. The application is removed from the user interface. (The deletion is finalized in a later step with the Apply Changes button.)

Note If you change your mind, and do not want to delete the application, refresh the page. The application is restored with all of its configuration.

Step 4 To finalize the application deletion, click Apply Changes (top right corner).

Note After you click Apply Changes, the application cannot be restored.

Step 5 To delete multiple applications at once, delete them from the user interface, and then click Apply Changes . The Application Policy Summary page appears, listing all of the applications to be deleted.

Step 6 Review the information in the summary and then do one of the following:

  • Click the Apply Now radio button, and then click Continue .
  • Click the Schedule radio button, specify a date and time to delete the application, and then click Continue .

 

Understanding the Define Application Policies Tab

Use the Define Application Policy tab to define policies according to their relevance to the business. The application policies are categorized into the following three business groups:

  • Business Relevant—Applications such as email, voice-and-video, file-sharing, backup-and-storage that are critical to the business.
  • Default—Applications such as epayement.
  • Business Irrelevant—Applications that are not relevant to the business such as social media and gaming applications.

Use the Define Application Policy tab to do the following:

 

Table 7-2 Define Applications Tab
No.
Task
Reference

1

Move an application category to a different business group.

Understanding the Application Bandwidth Tab.

2

Modify application performance.

Modifying the Application Performance

Moving an Application Category to a Different Business Group

Use this procedure to move an application category to a different business group.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Define Application Policy tab. Applications are displayed in three categories: Business Relevant, Default, and Business Irrelevant.

Step 3 To move an application from one business group to another, use the drag-and-drop feature. For example, you can drag the epayment application from the Default group and drop it into the Business Irrelevant group.

 

Modifying the Application Performance

Use this procedure to modify the application performance parameters.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Define Application Policy tab. All of the applications are displayed in three categories: Business Relevant, Default, and Business Irrelevant.

Step 3 To modify the application performance, click the down arrow next to an application. The Application Performance dialog box opens as shown in the following figure.

 

Step 4 Do the following:

a. Click the Application Performance button to enable or disable it.

b. Choose the appropriate path preference radio button.

c. Choose primary and secondary path from the drop-down list. The secondary path can be Drop.

Step 5 Select a path preference, with Path 1 being the preferred path for traffic in this category. For example, Int (Internet).

Step 6 After updating the path preference, click Save .

Note The Save option does not check for validations in conflict with future scheduled workflows. Please reevaluate scheduled jobs based on these changes and update scheduled jobs as required. If there is a conflict when the scheduled job is activated, it may fail at that time.

 

Understanding the Application Bandwidth Tab

Use the Application Bandwidth tab to view the bandwidth used across various applications. Based on this information you can choose to move applications into different categories. See Moving Applications to a Different Category.

Viewing the Application Bandwidth

Use this procedure to view the bandwidth used across different applications in a graphical format.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have done the following:

  • Added the Cisco APIC-EM controller IP address on the Prime application.
  • Added the Prime credentials in Cisco APIC-EM.

Procedure

Step 1 From the Cisco IWAN on APIC-EM home page, click Administer Application Policy . The Application Policy page opens.

Step 2 Click the Application Bandwidth tab. The amount of bandwidth used per application category for each hub is displayed in a graphical format. You can also view the date and time the bandwidth is used the most.