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Add Generic System

Generic systems and external generic systems are systems that are not managed in the Apstra environment. They can be external routers, firewalls, or whatever else you want; you specify their roles with tags. If you add the system to a leaf in a rack topology, we call it a generic system. If the system is not part of a rack topology, we call it an external generic system. This page shows you a couple ways that you can add generic systems.

Note:

You can also create generic systems during the Design phase before creating your blueprint. For more information, see Rack Types.

Add Generic System (from Topology View)

  1. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Topology and select the leaf to link to the new generic system.
    Note:

    You can also get to the selection page from the Nodes view. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Nodes, click the leaf name in the table (not the check box), then click the leaf name that appears at the top of the Selection panel (on the right side of the page).
  2. Click Add links.
  3. For the source, select New System and for the new system type, select Generic, then click Next.
  4. Select how to represent the new system, then select the logical device or interface map from the drop-down list.
    • Apstra Logical Device - specifies interfaces, speed, and telemetry from the leaf node towards the new system.
    • Apstra Logical Device with an Interface Map - also includes device profile information.
  5. Select a system group label from the drop-down list or create a new one. A group label is a way to group things together that share certain characteristics. For example, if a leaf and a server have two physical links between them and these physical links have the same group label, then these two links are considered to be bonded and configuration is rendered accordingly. Grouped systems have the same logical devices and identical uplinks (the same number of links with the same speed bonded the same way).
  6. Optionally, enter a port channel ID range and tags, then click Next.
  7. Select available port(s) and transformation(s). The gray Add Link button turns green.
  8. Click Add Link. The link is added to the link table.
  9. Click Create to stage the change and return to the Topology view.
When you're ready to activate your changes, commit them from the Uncommitted tab.

Copy Existing Generic (from Topology View)

  1. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Topology and select the leaf to link to the new generic system.
    Note:

    You can also get to the selection page from the Nodes view. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Nodes, click the leaf name in the table, then click the leaf name that appears at the top of the Selection panel (on the right side of the page).
  2. Click Add Links.
  3. For the source, select Copy generic, then click Next.
  4. Select an existing generic system from the drop-down list. The links table appears.
  5. Select an interface (previous screenshot), select a port and transformation, then click Confirm.
  6. The interface turns green in the links table. Repeat the steps to assign the port and transformation for the other interface, as applicable.
  7. Click Submit to stage your changes and return to the Topology view.
When you're ready to activate your changes, commit them from the Uncommitted tab.