Add Devices Overview

You use the Add Device option to discover and synchronize all devices connected to your network. Paragon Automation classifies devices as managed and unmanaged.

• Managed devices refer to devices that Paragon Automation discovers by using hostname or IP address. Paragon Automation synchronizes configuration of managed devices by using NETCONF.

  For a complete list of managed devices, see Supported Devices and OS Versions.

• Unmanaged devices refer to devices that third-party applications (for example, Anuta ATOM) discover and that Paragon Automation supports. Paragon Automation cannot synchronize configuration of unmanaged devices.

  Paragon Automation lists the hostname and IP address of the unmanaged devices on the Devices page.

To discover and onboard a device by using Paragon Automation, you must provide the IP addresses, hostnames, and IP subnets to be discovered and the credentials to connect to the devices.

Note:

• Netconf over ssh should be enabled on Cisco IOS XR devices and you should have the privilege to manage Netconf on the devices.

• For devices with dual Routing Engines, Chassis Cluster, or Virtual Chassis, enter the Virtual IP address (VIP) or the IP address of the primary device

• The values that you enter to specify the targets, and credentials are persistent from one discovery operation to the next, so you do not have to reenter information that is the same from one operation to the next

You can add devices in a network to Paragon Automation in one of the following ways:

• Discover the devices already present in a network by providing the device credentials.

  You can use this option to discover devices that are already present in your network. You can discover the devices by providing a list of IPv4 addresses, subnet addresses, IP ranges or hostnames.

  You can also use a CSV file to provide the targets to discover the existing devices in a network.

  See Discover Devices for more information about discovering devices.

• Add devices manually by specifying their details such as serial number and device model and the root password.

  You can use this option to add a specific set of devices; for example, add a set of new EX Series devices. When you add a new device, the device is automatically provisioned by zero-touch provisioning (ZTP). For details on ZTP, see Zero-Touch Provisioning Overview

  You can also use a CSV file to specify the details of the devices to be added.

  See Add New Devices for more information about adding new devices.

When you add a device, Paragon Automation executes the following tasks:

1. Paragon establishes connection with the devices based on the specified device targets.

2. Deploys the default configuration templates included in the device template associated with the device-family to which the device belongs.

3. Deploys telemetry configuration for monitoring.

4. Captures and stores the device inventory data.

5. Captures and stores the device configuration.

6. Applies any additional configuration template, for example for configuring BGP, if the configuration template is assigned for the device.

7. Synchronizes the device configuration in the database.

8. Pins the configuration.

The time required to complete the discovery process or adding the devices depends on multiple factors such as the number of devices you are discovering, the size of configuration and inventory data on the devices, the network bandwidth available between Paragon Automation and the devices, and so forth.

After your devices are successfully discovered or added, you can view them on the Devices page (Configuration > Devices) of Paragon Automation.

• For managed devices, after the discovery, the Management Status should display “Up” and the Sync Status “In Sync”, which indicates that Paragon Automation has established a session with the devices and that the configuration and inventory data in Paragon Automation is in sync with the data on the devices.

• For unmanaged devices, the Management Status should display as “Unmanaged” and the Sync Status “Unknown”, which indicates that Paragon Automation has added the device details to its database.