1

Let%20us%20begin%20by%20creating%20a%20Freeform%20Blueprint

Let%20us%20begin%20by%20creating%20a%20Freeform%20Blueprint

Click Edit to create a new Blueprint

%3Cp%3EWe%20will%20use%20the%20canvas%20to%20add%20systems%20to%20the%20topology.%20These%20systems%20can%20be%20internal%20systems%20which%20are%20managed%20by%20Apstra%20or%20external%20systems%20which%20are%20not%20managed%20by%20Apstra.%3C/p%3E

%3Cp%3EWe%20will%20use%20the%20canvas%20to%20add%20systems%20to%20the%20topology.%20These%20systems%20can%20be%20internal%20systems%20which%20are%20managed%20by%20Apstra%20or%20external%20systems%20which%20are%20not%20managed%20by%20Apstra.%3C/p%3E

Click%20to%20arrange%20the%20systems%20on%20the%20canvas

Click%20to%20arrange%20the%20systems%20on%20the%20canvas

We%20can%20choose%20a%20device%20profile%20to%20model%20the%20hardware%20characteristics

We%20can%20choose%20a%20device%20profile%20to%20model%20the%20hardware%20characteristics

Click to start modelling the system

Choose%20a%20device%20profile%20from%20the%20drop%20down%20menu

Choose%20a%20device%20profile%20from%20the%20drop%20down%20menu

Choose the desired Device Profile

Complete desining by adding links between the systems as desired

Enrich the topology

For this example, we will click on the Spine 1 device to enrich it further. The same process can be repeated for all the other devices.

Click to choose the desired color

Click to assign a tag for easy identification

Choose a tag

Topology viewing options

The topology that we designed can be inspected in multiple views, such as the systems view and the links view as seen here. Click on the Systems tab to view the systems view.

%3Cp%3EOnce%20we%20have%20finished%20the%20topology%2C%20we%20can%20create%20a%20config%20template%20which%20can%20later%20be%20assigned%20to%20each%20system%20for%20deployment.%20Config%20templates%20can%20be%20typed%20in%20the%20GUI%2C%20copy%20and%20pasted%26nbsp%3B%20from%20another%20text%20editor%20or%20imported%20from%20a%20JSON%20file.%3C/p%3E

%3Cp%3EOnce%20we%20have%20finished%20the%20topology%2C%20we%20can%20create%20a%20config%20template%20which%20can%20later%20be%20assigned%20to%20each%20system%20for%20deployment.%20Config%20templates%20can%20be%20typed%20in%20the%20GUI%2C%20copy%20and%20pasted%26nbsp%3B%20from%20another%20text%20editor%20or%20imported%20from%20a%20JSON%20file.%3C/p%3E

Click to create a config template

Add a name for the config template

%3Cp%3EConfig%20templates%20can%20be%20typed%20in%20the%20GUI%2C%20copy%20and%20pasted%20from%20another%20text%20editor%20or%20imported%20from%20a%20JSON%20file.%3C/p%3E

%3Cp%3EConfig%20templates%20can%20be%20typed%20in%20the%20GUI%2C%20copy%20and%20pasted%20from%20another%20text%20editor%20or%20imported%20from%20a%20JSON%20file.%3C/p%3E

Copy the template text

Paste the configuration

The configuration template is now saved

Support for Jinja templates

The topology that we designed can be inspected in multiple views, such as the systems view and the links view as seen here. Click on the Systems tab to view the systems view.

Click on Junos interface Jinja config

Click on property sets

Property sets provide a way for users to define their own set of variables to be consumed by the config templates. 

Click on the desired property set as shown

View the Property set details

Notice the configuration editor

The three pane config template editor allows you to browse through the many Jinja variables that are automatically generated by the blueprint and supports real time previews of Jinja template rendering.

Close the editor

%3Cp%3EBefore%20deploying%20the%20blueprint%2C%20we%20will%20bring%20all%20the%20devices%20under%20Apstra%20management.%20This%20is%20done%20easily%20by%20Apstra%5C%27s%20existing%20set%20of%20device%20management%20capabilities%20like%20the%20GUI%20based%20agent%20installation%20or%20the%20Asptra%20Zero%20Touch%20Provisioning%20of%20the%20server.%20We%20can%20also%20use%20the%20GUI%20to%20upgrade%20device%20OS%20versions.%3C/p%3E

%3Cp%3EBefore%20deploying%20the%20blueprint%2C%20we%20will%20bring%20all%20the%20devices%20under%20Apstra%20management.%20This%20is%20done%20easily%20by%20Apstra%5C%27s%20existing%20set%20of%20device%20management%20capabilities%20like%20the%20GUI%20based%20agent%20installation%20or%20the%20Asptra%20Zero%20Touch%20Provisioning%20of%20the%20server.%20We%20can%20also%20use%20the%20GUI%20to%20upgrade%20device%20OS%20versions.%3C/p%3E

Click on Managed Devices

Choose the device we wish to upgrade the OS version

Click to choose the OS version

We will choose the OS image from the drop down menu

Choose the desired OS image

Associating the devices to the systems and topology

We will now deploy the blueprint by associating the devices to the systems and the topology, and then commit the staged blueprint.

Click commit to deploy the configuration to the devices

Click Commit

Monitoring the deployment status

Once the blueprint is committed, the deployment status is monitored in real time and the active network topology is validated against the design. The result of these validations are presented in the active blueprint and are updated in real time, which includes link and cabling status, configuration deviation monitoring etc.

Click on config to monitor the configuration deviation

Notice the actual config deviation information in the two panels

Next we will take a look at the TIme Voyager feature.

%3Cp%20class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%20style%3D%22margin%3A%200in%3B%20font-size%3A%2012pt%3B%20font-family%3A%20Calibri%2C%20sans-serif%3B%22%3E%3Cspan%20style%3D%22font-size%3A%2014px%3B%22%3EApstra%20self%20documents%2C%20so%20every%20time%20we%20commit%20the%20blueprint%2C%20a%20snapshot%20of%20the%20network%20is%20saved%20as%20a%20blueprint%20revision.%3C/span%3E%3C/p%3E%0A%3Cp%20class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%20style%3D%22margin%3A%200in%3B%20font-size%3A%2012pt%3B%20font-family%3A%20Calibri%2C%20sans-serif%3B%22%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C/p%3E%0A%3Cp%20class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%20style%3D%22margin%3A%200in%3B%20font-size%3A%2012pt%3B%20font-family%3A%20Calibri%2C%20sans-serif%3B%22%3E%3Cspan%20style%3D%22font-size%3A%2014px%3B%22%3ETo%20roll%20back%20the%20configuration%20of%20the%20entire%20network%20to%20a%20previously%20saved%20state%2C%20Simply%20select%20a%20revision%20and%20click%20on%20rollback%20.%3C/span%3E%3C/p%3E

%3Cp%20class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%20style%3D%22margin%3A%200in%3B%20font-size%3A%2012pt%3B%20font-family%3A%20Calibri%2C%20sans-serif%3B%22%3E%3Cspan%20style%3D%22font-size%3A%2014px%3B%22%3EApstra%20self%20documents%2C%20so%20every%20time%20we%20commit%20the%20blueprint%2C%20a%20snapshot%20of%20the%20network%20is%20saved%20as%20a%20blueprint%20revision.%3C/span%3E%3C/p%3E%0A%3Cp%20class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%20style%3D%22margin%3A%200in%3B%20font-size%3A%2012pt%3B%20font-family%3A%20Calibri%2C%20sans-serif%3B%22%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C/p%3E%0A%3Cp%20class%3D%22MsoNormal%22%20style%3D%22margin%3A%200in%3B%20font-size%3A%2012pt%3B%20font-family%3A%20Calibri%2C%20sans-serif%3B%22%3E%3Cspan%20style%3D%22font-size%3A%2014px%3B%22%3ETo%20roll%20back%20the%20configuration%20of%20the%20entire%20network%20to%20a%20previously%20saved%20state%2C%20Simply%20select%20a%20revision%20and%20click%20on%20rollback%20.%3C/span%3E%3C/p%3E

Confirm the rollback action

VIew the health and network performance dashboard

Advanced analytics for device health and network performance are available under the analytics tab and automatically enabled dashboards.

%3Cp%3EAlerts%20are%20generated%20when%20Apstra%20detects%20anomalous%20behavior%20of%20the%20network.%20We%20can%20also%20drill%20down%20into%20each%20dashboard%20for%20both%20real%20time%20and%20historical%20views%20of%20the%20raw%20data.%3C/p%3E

%3Cp%3EAlerts%20are%20generated%20when%20Apstra%20detects%20anomalous%20behavior%20of%20the%20network.%20We%20can%20also%20drill%20down%20into%20each%20dashboard%20for%20both%20real%20time%20and%20historical%20views%20of%20the%20raw%20data.%3C/p%3E

Click to choose the Data source as an example

Thank you