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Creating and Managing Baseline of Device Configuration Files

You can create a baseline device configuration and the device Junos (OS) version on the Network Director server. By creating a baseline configuration file for a device you define a reference point to save the device configuration and its OS version to a particular known state and later restore the configuration to that known state. You can select the devices at the scope level, custom grouping, or for individual devices and create baseline configuration files and images for all or for the selected devices. The baseline configuration file includes the entire configuration and image files. When you restore a device configuration, you restore both the baseline configuration file and the image of the file. However, restoring image is optional.

An alarm is triggered if there are any changes to the baseline configuration. The alarm contains the delta information for later reference. For example, when you add a new device an alarm of with minor severity is generated to inform user about the device addition. When you move a device from an unassigned category to a specific category, an alarm of major severity is generated.

To start baseline file management:

  1. Click Deploy in the Network Director banner.

  2. In the Tasks pane, select Baseline Management > Manage Baseline.

    The Manage Device Baseline page opens in the main window.

This topic describes:

Selecting Baseline Management Options

From the Manage Device Baseline page, you can:

Table 1 describes the information provided in the Manage Device Baseline table.

Table 1: Manage Device Baseline Table

Table Column

Description

Device Name

Name of baseline device.

Baseline Label

Name of the baseline configuration.

Baseline Update Time

Date and time when the baseline configuration file for a device is last updated.

Baseline State

Indicates whether the baseline configuration is same as or out of sync with the current configuration.

Baselining Device Configuration Files

To create baseline configurationfor devices:

  1. Click Baseline.

    The Create Baseline for Devices page opens in the main window.

  2. Type a baseline label name.
  3. Select the devices for which you want to create a baseline configuration files from the device tree.
  4. To back up configuration files immediately, click Create Baseline Now.

    The device baseline job runs. When it finishes, the Manage Device Baseline table shows updated information for the devices for which you performed the baselining.

  5. To schedule the backup to run later, click Schedule Baseline.

    The Schedule Baseline window opens.

    1. Select the Schedule at a later time check box.
    2. Specify when the baseline will run using the Date and Time fields.
    3. Optionally, configure the baseline job to repeat by selecting the Repeat check box, and then specifying the backup schedule by using the fields provided.

      Optionally, you can specify when repeated backups will stop by selecting the End Time check box, and then specifying the last date on which the repeated backup job will run, using the Date and Time fields.

    4. Click Schedule Baseline.

Restoring Baseline Device Configuration Files

To restore the baseline configuration file and the OS image of devices:

  1. Select the devices from the Manage Device Baseline list.
  2. Click Restore.

    The Restore Baseline(s) window opens.

  3. Click Restore Image to restore the OS image and select Reboot device after successful installation if you want to reboot the device.
  4. To view the device configuration summary, click Click to View Config File.
  5. Click Restore.

    The device baseline job runs. When it finishes, the Manage Device Baseline table shows updated information for the devices for which you performed the restore.

Viewing Baseline Configuration Files

To view the baseline configuration files for a device:

  1. Select the device from the Manage Device Baseline list.
  2. Click View.

    The Device Configuration Summary window opens, displaying the most recently baseline configuration file.

  3. To compare the baseline configuration with the current configuration, click Compare With Current Config.

Comparing Baseline Configuration with Current Configuration

To compare the baseline configuration with the current configuration:

  1. Select the configuration files to compare from the Manage Device Baseline list.
  2. Click Compare With Current Config.

    The Compare Baseline With Current Configuration window opens.

  3. The baseline versions and the current version are displayed in the window. The device name and version appear at the top of each file. The differences between the configuration files are color-coded. The color-coding legend appears at the top of the window.
  4. Click Close.

Deleting Baseline

When you delete a baseline configuration file, all its corresponding versions are also deleted.

To delete baseline configuration file for a device:

  1. Select the device name from the Manage Device Baseline list.
  2. Click Delete.

    The Delete Baseline(s) window opens.

  3. Verify that the correct devices are listed, then click Delete to delete the device configuration.

Managing Baseline Management Jobs

Each time you create baseline configuration files, a baseline management job is also created.

To manage device configuration file management jobs:

  1. Click Deploy in the Network Director banner.
  2. In the Tasks pane, select Device Configuration Files > View Baseline Mgmt Jobs.

    The Device Configuration Jobs page opens in the main window, listing the device configuration file management jobs.

  3. To view the details of a job, select the job name and click Show Details.

Managing these jobs is similar to managing other types of jobs using the System mode. The advantage of accessing the jobs this way is that the jobs list shows only configuration file management jobs. See Managing Jobs for more information about managing jobs.