Help us improve your experience.

Let us know what you think.

Do you have time for a two-minute survey?

 
ON THIS PAGE
 

Step 2: Up and Running

Access the GUI

  1. From the latest web browser version of Google Chrome or Mozilla FireFox, enter the URL https://<server_ip> where <server_ip> is the IP address of the server (or a DNS name that resolves to the IP address of the server).
  2. If a security warning appears, click Advanced and Proceed to the site. The warning occurs because the SSL certificate that was generated during installation is self-signed. We recommend that you replace the SSL certificate with a signed one.
  3. From the log in page, enter the username and password. The username is admin. The password is the secure password that you created when configuring the server. The main GUI screen appears.
    Screenshot of Juniper Apstra dashboard showing navigation menu with sections like Blueprints, Devices, Design, and Resources. Main area offers options to Build Racks, Design the Network, and Create and Deploy Blueprint. Annotations with red arrows explain interface elements.

Design Your Network

The design process is highly intuitive because you base your design on physical building blocks such as ports, devices, and racks. When you create these building blocks and specify what ports are used, Apstra has all the information it needs to come up with a reference design for your fabric. Once your design elements, devices and resources are ready, you can start staging your network in a blueprint.

Design Elements

First, you design your fabric using generic building blocks that don't have site-specific details or site-specific hardware. The output becomes a template that you use later in the build stage to create blueprints for all your data center locations. You'll use different design elements to build your network in a blueprint. Keep reading to learn about these elements.

Logical Devices

Logical devices abstract physical devices, allowing you to map ports, speed, and roles without vendor-specific information. This helps you plan your network based on device capabilities alone before selecting hardware vendors and models. You can use logical devices in interface maps, rack types, and rack-based templates.

You have access to many predefined logical devices. You'll find them in the Design (global) catalog. From the left menu, navigate to Design > Logical Devices, then check the table for ones that meet your requirements.

Screenshot of Juniper Apstra interface's Logical Devices section under Design, showing a table listing logical devices with details like name AOS-1x1-1, capabilities 1 x 1 Gbps.

Interface Maps

Interface maps link logical devices to device profiles, which detail hardware model characteristics. Before checking the Design catalog for interface maps, know which models you'll use. You assign interface maps when you build your network in the blueprint.

You have access to many predefined logical devices. You'll find them in the Design (global) catalog. From the left menu, navigate to Design > Interface Maps, then check the table for ones that meet your requirements.

Juniper Apstra Interface Maps section showing navigation panel, breadcrumbs, Show relationship and Create Interface Map buttons, interface maps table with example entry, pagination, and Datacenter Only toggle.

Rack Types

Rack types are logical representations of physical racks. They define the type and number of leafs, access switches and/or generic systems (unmanaged systems) in racks. Rack types don't specify vendors, so you can design your racks before selecting hardware.

You have access to many predefined rack types. You'll find them in the Design (global) catalog. From the left menu, navigate to Design > Rack Types, then check the table for ones that meet your requirements.

Screenshot of Juniper Apstra interface showing Rack Types section for managing data center network design. Features include a navigation menu with expanded Design options, a table listing rack types with details like Name and Description, a search bar, a Create Rack Type button, and icons for editing in the Actions column.

Templates

Templates specify a network's policy and structure. Policies can include ASN allocation schemes for spines, overlay control protocol, spine-to-leaf link underlay type and other details. The structure includes rack types, spine details and more.

You have access to many predefined templates. You'll find them in the Design (global) catalog. From the left menu, navigate to Design > Templates, then check the table for ones that meet your requirements.

Screenshot of Juniper Apstra Design section in Templates, showing tools for managing network templates. Key features include navigation panel with options like Logical Devices and Interface Maps, a list of templates, Show Relationship button, search bar for templates, and options to create AI Cluster or regular template. Example template L2 Virtual MLAG 2x Links is displayed with type Rack Based and protocol Pure IP Fabric.

Install Device System Agents

Device system agents manage devices in the software environment. They manage configuration, device-to-server communication, and telemetry collection. For our example, we'll use Juniper Junos devices with off-box agents.
  1. Before creating the agent, install the following minimum required configuration on the Juniper Junos devices:
  2. From the left navigation menu in the GUI, navigate to Devices > Managed Devices and click Create Offbox Agent(s).
    Juniper Apstra Managed Devices interface showing sidebar and breadcrumb navigation, action buttons for creating agents, and pagination controls.
  3. Configure the OffBox System Agent(s) parameters:
    User interface for creating Offbox System Agents in software. Includes fields for device addresses, platform type, username, password, agent profile, list of packages, and options. Create button at bottom right.

    1. Enter the device management IP addresses.

    2. Select Junos from the platform drop-down list.

    3. Enter a username and password.

    4. Click Create to create the agent and return to the managed devices summary view.

  4. Select the check boxes for the devices, then click the Acknowledge selected systems button (first one on the left).
    Juniper Apstra Managed Devices UI showing a table with device details like Management IP, Hostname, OS, and State, plus toolbar actions.
  5. Click Confirm. The fields in the Acknowledged column change to green check marks indicating that those devices are now under Apstra management. You'll assign them to your blueprint later.

Create Resource Pools

You can create resource pools, then when you're staging your blueprint and you're ready to assign resources, you can specify which pool to use. Apstra will pull resources from the selected pool. You can create resource pools for ASNs, IPv4, IPv6 and VNIs. We'll show you the steps for creating IP pools. The steps for the other resource types are similar.
  1. From the left navigation menu, navigate to Resources > IP Pools and click Create IP Pool. Juniper Apstra interface showing IP Pools section under Resources. Displays IP pool list with columns: Pool Name, Total Usage, Per Subnet Usage, Status, and Actions. Create IP Pool button is visible.
  2. Enter a name and valid subnet. To add another subnet, click Add a Subnet and enter the subnet.
  3. Click Create to create the resource pool and return to the summary view.

Build Your Network

When you've got your design elements, devices and resources ready, you can start staging your network in a blueprint. Let's create one now.

Create a Blueprint

  1. From the left navigation menu, click Blueprints, then click Create Blueprint.
    Juniper Apstra interface showing highlighted Blueprints in sidebar. Main area states no blueprints yet, with teal Create Blueprint button visible.
  2. Type a name for the blueprint.
  3. Select Datacenter reference design.
  4. Select a template type (all, rack-based, pod-based, collapsed).
  5. Select a template from the Template drop-down list. A preview shows the template parameters, a topology preview, network structure, logical structure, and policies.
  6. Click Create to create the blueprint and return to the blueprint summary view. The summary view shows the overall status and health of your network.
    Screenshot of a data center management interface showing a blueprint dashboard with categories like Deployment Status and Anomalies. It includes a section labeled DatacenterExample detailing physical and virtual structures. A Create Blueprint button is visible.
    When you meet all the requirements for building the network, the build errors are resolved and you can deploy the network. We'll start by assigning resources.

Assign Resources

  1. From the blueprint summary view, click the blueprint name to go to the blueprint dashboard. After you deploy your blueprint, this dashboard will show details about the status and health of your networks.
  2. From the top navigation menu of the blueprint, click Staged. This is where you'll build your network. The Physical view appears by default, and the Resources tab in the Build panel is selected. Red status indicators mean that you need to assign resources.
  3. Click one of the red status indicators, then click the Update assignments button.Network management interface with staged blueprint. Navigation shows Blueprints > my-blueprint > Staged > Physical > Build > Resources. Topology view displays nodes spine1 and spine2 with virtual nodes. Red warning icons indicate configuration issues like unassigned ASNs and missing resource pools. Sidebar menu provides access to analytics, settings, and help.
  4. Select a resource pool that you created earlier, then click the Save button. The required number of resources are automatically assigned to the resource group from the selected pool.
    When the red status indicator turns green, the resources are assigned. Changes to the staged blueprint are not pushed to the fabric until you commit your changes. We'll do that when we're done building the network.
  5. Continue assigning resources until all status indicators are green.

Assign Interface Maps

Now it's time to specify the characteristics for each of your nodes in the topology. You'll assign the actual devices in the next section.
  1. In the Build panel, click the Device Profiles tab.Network management interface showing unassigned spine nodes and incomplete interface map assignments in the Physical tab of network topology design.
  2. Click a red status indicator, then click the Change interface maps assignments button (looks like an edit button).
  3. Select the appropriate interface map for each node from the drop-down list, then click Update Assignments. When the red status indicator turns green, the interface maps have been assigned.
  4. Continue assigning interface maps until all the required status indicators are green.

Assign Devices

  1. In the Build panel, click the Devicestab.Network management interface screenshot showing a breadcrumb navigation bar, tabs like Dashboard and Staged, a topology diagram with nodes labeled spine1 and spine2, a panel for system ID assignments marked Not assigned, and warning icons indicating configuration issues.
  2. Click the status indicator for Assigned System IDs (if the nodes list is not already displayed). Unassigned devices are indicated in yellow.
  3. Click the Change System IDs assignments button (below Assigned System IDs) and, for each node, select system IDs (serial numbers) from the drop-down list.
  4. Click Update Assignments. When the red status indicator turns green, system IDs have been assigned.

Cable Up Devices

  1. Click Links (towards the left of the screen) to go to the cabling map.Network management interface for Juniper Apstra, showing Links tab under Physical in blueprint apstra-pod1. Uncommitted changes layer with network link details, including name, role, speed, tags, and endpoint info.
  2. Check the calculated cabling map and cable up the physical devices according to the map. If you have a set of pre-cabled switches, ensure that you have configured interface maps according to the actual cabling so that calculated cabling matches the actual cabling.

Deploy the Network

When you've assigned everything that needs to be assigned and the blueprint is error-free, all status indicators are green. Let's deploy the blueprint to push the configuration to the assigned devices.
  1. From the top navigation menu, click Uncommitted to review staged changes. To see details of changes, click one of the names in the table.

    Blueprint editing interface showing uncommitted changes with highlighted commit button. Tabs include Dashboard, Analytics, and Time Voyager.
  2. Click Commit to go to the dialog box where you can add a description and commit changes.
  3. Add a description. When you need to roll back a blueprint to a previous revision, this description is the only information available regarding what has changed.
  4. Click Commit to push the staged changes to the active blueprint and create a revision.
Congratulations! Your physical network is up and running.