outline
In this episode Ongoing Catalyst Center Automation SeriesSet up a lab or production environment to enable this feature, with a focus on PnP readiness with the Wired Automation lab. This lab is the first in a series of labs, so the goal is to understand the various concepts required to support Plug and Play (PnP). As previously mentioned, the labs referenced in this series are designed for use in a DCLOUD environment. However, the same can be leveraged as part of a proof-of-concept setup in customer labs. These procedures may also help you form part of your deployment or implementation. Before onboarding a device within Catalyst Center, you can use the following procedure to ensure that all necessary steps have been completed.
This series covers:
- Preparing for PnP – Describes the steps for a complete Plug and Play setup.
- Onboarding Template – Details how to deploy the Day 0 template.
- Day N Templates – Learn about configuring Day N templates using both regular and complex templates and use cases.
- Application Policies – Explore Catalyst Center’s application policies and SD-AVC and their use.
- Telemetry – Describes how to deploy telemetry for assurance purposes.
- Advanced Automation – Explore advanced automation technologies
- Dynamic Automation – Deployment Lab for Dynamic Automation
What do you learn in the PnP Preparation Lab?
In this lab, you will gain a thorough understanding of the various services required to support Plug and Play with Catalyst Center. These are some of the concepts we’ve previously discussed in the Catalyst Center template repository or in another Cisco blog by Adam Radford. Within the lab, we will focus our efforts on gaining a practical understanding of how to set up our environment to ensure successful testing and make it easier to adopt automation.
The PnP Readiness Lab walks you through setting up the various requirements for Plug and Play. The description and various configuration pieces allow the device to successfully discover the Catalyst Center. The lab was built using DCLOUD as described in Part 1 of this series. Connection details:
seed device
We first set up the necessary Layer 3 and Layer 2 connections through various examples, starting with upstream devices. We also set up a seed device to provide a direct connection to the target. The example assumes that the seed device is a distribution switch with an SVI for the management network. Additionally, all configurations are in piece form that can be used in a standalone way or as part of a larger script to help with PnP preparation.
DHCP and DNS services
This guide walks you through setting up the required services that Plug and Play onboarding leverages. DHCP is required to automatically configure the addresses of devices that will connect to the Catalyst Center. During the lab, we will set up DHCP on a switch or server. The lab explores both methods and provides configuration pieces to choose from.
Discovery Methodology
Depending on the environment you’re working in, you may prefer one search method over another. Within the labs and other sections of the GitHub repository, we discuss one method over another and provide configuration snippets to help you quickly set up your preferred method, with additional support services provided. The various discovery methods include:
DHCP with option 43 – ASCII connection string that provides the Catalyst Center address to the target device. 
DNS lookup – A pnpserver host entry that allows Target to resolve the address to the Catalyst Center.
Each of these methods has dependencies and configurations, and these are covered equally within the lab.
How to test
The lab then ensures success through a variety of testing methods that can be utilized to verify that each service is functional. Additionally, at the end of the lab, the device will be placed in the Catalyst Center.
How do I get started?
There are several sandbox-like labs within DCLOUD. These self-contained environments exist to ensure that you can use them as you wish within a scheduled time frame. This also allows you to practice different concepts without worrying about impacting the production environment.
So, to help our customers transition to automation, we’ve put together a small set of helpful labs within our GitHub repository. As a result, we hope to help you understand the complexities of setting up Plug and Play and guide your customers through the complexities and caveats. In this way, these self-paced exercises provide a quick overview of the basics of building speed templates and provide examples that you can download and expand. Additionally, the sample templates and JSON files provided can be easily imported into Catalyst Centers’ template editor for faster adoption. Finally, some scripts are ready-made snippets of code that help you build an environment for testing.
First, a practical lab guide walks you through template building concepts and methodology for using both Onboarding and DayN templates. Second, it provides answers and explanations to many of the questions raised during the automation workshop. We hope you find this information helpful and informative. Therefore, we aim to provide a comprehensive description of automation methods and concepts that can be easily extended for production purposes. Finally, Wired Automation Lab’s PnP Readiness content explains the complete Plug and Play setup steps.
Where can I test and try out these practices?
DCLOUD Lab Environment
Designed to work within DCLOUD’s Cisco Enterprise Networks Hardware Sandbox Labs to help customers succeed with Cisco Catalyst Center automation, the above labs can be leveraged from either:
- Cisco Enterprise Networks Hardware Sandbox West DC
- Cisco Enterprise Networks Hardware Sandbox East DC
DCLOUD Labs allows you to run these labs and provides an environment to try out a variety of code samples. You can choose to develop and export your code for use in a production environment. Additionally, it provides an environment where POC/POV methods and steps can be safely performed without harming the production environment. The DCLOUD environment also negates the need for shipping equipment, lead times, and licensing issues required to move quickly. Follow best practices when using the DCLOUD environment.
laboratory connection
This environment can be used with a web-based browser client for VPN-free connectivity and access, as well as AnyConnect VPN client connectivity for users who wish to do so. When you choose West US, you can choose from labs hosted at our San Jose facility. Select Cisco Enterprise Network Sandbox. To access this or other content, including demos, labs, and training in DCLOUD, please work directly with your Cisco account team or Cisco partner account team. Your account team will schedule sessions and share them with you for your use. Once your reservation is complete, follow the guides within GitHub to ensure compliance with best practices for your DCLOUD environment.
content
Wired Automation Lab content is located within the existing DNAC-TEMPLATES repository, providing a one-stop shop for all the tools, scripts, templates, and code samples you need. Within it are six modules that build on the tutorial to test the method in a hands-on environment. This repository was featured in a previous post on the Cisco blog about Catalyst Center templates in early May 2021.
Additional information
catalyst center Template Lab
Previously named DNAC Template LABS DNAC-template The GitHub repository aims to guide you through the general steps required to enable the various automation tasks provided by Catalyst Center. This lab provides examples of templates that can be modified for use in the Catalyst Center and tested on equipment within the lab environment. Additional information within the lab provides a comprehensive explanation of how to automate using templates. Finally, this lab allows customers to practice deploying onboarding, DayN templates, and application policy automation across both wired and wireless platforms using Catalyst Center workflows.
This Wired Automation Lab provides examples of templates used in the Catalyst Center to modify for use and test equipment within a lab environment. Additional information within the lab provides a comprehensive explanation of how to automate using templates.
The goal of this lab is to be a practical guide to help engineers quickly use Catalyst Center automation and create a template strategy. The lab also provides customers with a permanent place to try out templates and include configurations for a variety of use cases. Finally, this environment allows engineers to reduce the time and effort required to instantiate a network.
The result is a plug-and-play onboarding and template setup experience. You will also use advanced template methods and troubleshooting tools. This can help you figure out what’s failing in your deployment while you’re looking for defects.
Catalyst Center Lab
Use this menu to navigate through the various sections of this GitHub repository. Several folders contain example and explanatory readme files for your reference. We currently have two sets of labs and are constantly expanding.
New Catalyst Center Lab Content
This new, more modular lab approach is designed to process and embed the concepts of legacy labs into a newer, more modular format.
- Lab 1 Wired Automation – Covers green and brown field use cases. (4.0 hours allowed)
- Lab 2 Wireless Automation – Covers traditional wireless automation. (4.0 hours allowed)
- Lab 4 Rest-API Orchestration – Covers Cisco Catalyst Center automation with Postman and Rest-API. (2.0 hours allowed)
- Lab 7 CICD Orchestration – Covers Python with JENKINS Orchestration via REST-API. (4.0 hours allowed)
Legacy Lab Content
In this section, you can continue to browse all the existing labs that we cover in detail in separate, easy-to-follow labs.
We will be sharing additional labs and content as part of our ongoing effort to meet all your automation needs through the Catalyst Center.
In conclusion, if you found this set of exercises and repositories helpful,
Please leave comments and feedback on how we can improve.
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