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Create Internal System (Freeform)

Systems represent switches, routers, Linux hosts and so on. Managed devices that you add to a blueprint are called internal systems. You can create systems from scratch, or you can clone systems and customize them to create new ones. You can create (and clone) from the Topology view or from the Systems view. (Cloning from the Systems view is new in Apstra version 4.1.2).

Internal systems must be mapped to device profiles, so before creating systems, import the relevant device profiles to the blueprint catalog.

Create Internal System (from Topology Editor)

  1. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Topology and click Edit. (Images in this section are from Apstra version 4.1.1.)
    CAUTION:

    Be careful. If you click away from the topology editor without clicking Save, your changes are discarded.

  2. In the topology editor, click the Create internal system button (bottom-left). The system appears as a gray rectangle with a system-generated name. The red triangle indicates that information is needed for required fields. In this case, it's the device profile. You can move systems around on the canvas and when you save your changes in the editor and then reopen it, your systems will still be where you moved them to.
  3. Click the gear to open the parameters dialog.
  4. You can change the system color that displays in the topology. This is useful for designating different roles or anything else you'd like to visually differentiate.
  5. You can change the system label to customize it for your environment.
  6. Select a device profile from the drop-down list. (Device profiles come from the blueprint catalog. If you don't see the one you need, import it into the blueprint catalog.)
  7. You can assign the system ID now or later. To assign it now, select it from the System drop-down list. (The list includes managed devices that haven't been assigned yet. If you have your devices ready and they're not appearing in this list, you still need to bring them under Apstra management.)
  8. You can add tags, then later when you want to find systems you can use the Find by Tags feature (upper-right) to find them. You can also include tags in config templates, then systems with those tags will be rendered as specified in the config template.
  9. Click Save to stage your new system and return to the Topology view. (If you leave the page without saving, your changes are discarded.)

Next Steps:

  • Continue to create internal and external systems until you've added your devices to the topology.

  • Add links to systems.

  • Assign config templates to your internal systems. In Apstra version 4.1.2, only internal systems with deploy mode set to Deploy require an assigned config template. In versions 4.1.0 and 4.1.1, ALL internal systems require an assigned config template regardless of deploy mode.

Create Internal System (from Systems View)

  1. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Systems and click Create System. (The image below is from Apstra version 4.1.1.)
  2. In the Create System dialog, enter a name and select INTERNAL.
  3. Internal systems are associated with device profiles. You can either assign just the device profile now (and assign the system ID later), or if you've brought your devices under Apstra management, you can select the system ID now.
    • From Scratch - select a device profile (that was imported into the blueprint catalog.) (You'll assign the system ID later.)
    • From Managed Devices - select a managed device to assign its system ID to the system.
  4. Enter a hostname (optional).
  5. You can add tags, then later when you want to find systems you can use the Find by Tags feature (upper-right) to find them. You can also include tags in config templates, then systems with those tags will be rendered as specified in the config template.
  6. Click Create to stage your new system and return to the Systems view. The newly created system appears in the list.

Next Steps:

  • Continue to create internal and external systems until you've added your devices to the topology.

  • Add links to systems.

  • Assign config templates to your internal systems. In Apstra version 4.1.2, only internal systems with deploy mode set to Deploy require an assigned config template. In versions 4.1.0 and 4.1.1, ALL internal systems require an assigned config template regardless of deploy mode.

Clone Internal System (from Topology Editor)

You can clone systems and customize them to create new ones from the Topology view.
  1. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Topology and click Edit.
  2. In the topology editor, select one or more existing internal systems, then click the Clone selected nodes button. (The image below is from Apstra version 4.1.2.)
  3. The new system(s) appear as gray rectangles with system-generated names. You can move systems around on the canvas and when you save your changes in the editor and then reopen it, your systems will still be where you moved them to.
  4. Click the gear to open the parameters dialog, and change details to customize your new system.
  5. Click Save to stage your new system(s) and return to the Topology view. (If you leave the page without saving, your changes are discarded.)

Clone Internal System (from Systems View)

You can clone systems and customize them to create new ones from the Systems view, as of Apstra version 4.1.2.
  1. From the blueprint, navigate to Staged > Physical > Systems and click Clone System for the system you want to clone.
  2. Change details to customize your new system.
  3. Click Clone to stage your new system and return to the Systems view.