Inventory

This chapter contains the following sections:

Viewing Device Inventory

Access the Inventory page to view, monitor and support all of the device inventory in your network. The Inventory page displays a complete list of the devices and their details in a tabular view. Additionally, it also provides action buttons to perform configuration tasks and apply the latest firmware updates for supported devices. The following table provides details of the information displayed:

Table 1. Inventory Details
Item

Description
Hostname

Displays the name of the device.
Type

The type of device such as a switch, router or wireless access point (WAP).

Tags

Lists any tags associated with the device.

IP

The Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the device.

MAC

The Media Access Control (MAC) address is a standardized data link layer address that is required for certain network interface types. These addresses are specific and unique to each device and are not used by other devices in the network.

Serial Number

The serial number for the device.
Version

The current firmware version of the device.
Vendor

The vendor that manufactured the device.
Model

Model name of the device.
Notification

A count of the outstanding notifications for the device

The following additional controls are available on the Inventory page:

  • Select columns button—Use this button located at the top left of the table to choose which columns to display.

  • Filter Box—You may use the Filter box to limit the display by typing device names, device types, serial numbers and so on. By default, the inventory is filtered to display only network devices.

  • Refresh button—Click this button to update the table to show the latest available information.

  • Action button —Allow you to perform actions on one or more selected devices. Action buttons are only displayed when one or more devices supporting actions are selected. For more details on these actions, see next topic.

Performing Device Actions

You can perform actions such as firmware update, configuration backup & restore and reboot easily on devices in the network. To perform these actions, do the following:

Procedure

Step 1

On the Inventory page, click on a network device such as a switch or a router.

Step 2

In the Basic Info panel, select the Actions tab. Depending on the device capabilities one or more of the following actions are displayed:

Update firmware to latest

Allows you to apply the latest firmware update to the device. Cisco Business Dashboard Lite will download the update from Cisco and then upload it to the device. The device will reboot at the completion of the update.

Upgrade From Local

Allows you to upload a firmware upgrade file from your local drive. Cisco Business Dashboard Lite will upload the file to the device, and the device will reboot at the completion of the update.

Backup Configuration

Allows you to save a copy of the current device configuration on the Dashboard.

  1. Click Backup Configuration.

  2. In the Backup Configuration window, optionally, you may add a note in the text box for the backup you wish to perform.

    Note

     

    This note is displayed whenever the backup is listed in the GUI.

  3. Click Save Backup to complete this action or Cancel if you no longer wish to proceed.

A backup configuration job is created and may be viewed in the Task Center.

Restore Configuration

Allows you to restore a previously backed up configuration to the device.

Click Restore Configuration.

The following backup configuration options are provided:

  • Backups for device name—Lists all available backups to configure for a specific device

  • Backup for other device—Lists all available backups to configure other devices of the same type or same Product ID

  • Backup for other compatible device—Lists all available backups to configure other devices in the series that are compatible with the selected device

To perform the backup configuration, do the following:

  1. In the Restore Configuration window, select the backup you wish to restore to the device.

    Use the scroll bar to view all the available backups and click the corresponding radio button. This enables the Restore Configuration button.

    Alternatively, you may choose to upload a configuration file. To do so, drag and drop the configuration file onto the target area, or click on the target area to select a file from the file system.

  2. Click Restore Configuration to complete this action.

    A restore configuration job is created and may be viewed in the Task Center.

Reboot

Restarts the device.

When you click this button, you will be prompted to click again to confirm.

Save Running Configuration

For devices that support separate running and startup configurations, this action copies the current running configuration to the startup configuration. This ensures any configuration changes that are retained when the device next reboots.

Delete

Remove an offline device from the Topology and Inventory.