You can add Cisco Catalyst switches as a data source in VMware Aria Operations for Networks.

Prerequisites

  • You must verify the following information:

    • The data source and its version is supported in VMware Aria Operations for Networks. For more information, see Supported Products and Versions.
    • The data source follows VMware Ports and Protocols supported in VMware Aria Operations for Networks. For more information, see VMware Ports and Protocols.

  • You must have the following permissions:

    • SSH user: VMware Aria Operations for Networks requires an SSH account with a privilege level 15 to get the CLI data. You can have a privilege level lower than 15 but the SSH account must be able to execute all show commands that VMware Aria Operations for Networks needs like show running-config view full.
      For the privilege levels less than 15, you must configure the following command to run the show command show running-config view full: 
      privilege exec level <privilege_level> show running-config view full
      For example: privilege exec level 10 show running-config view full.
    • Read-only SNMP user: VMware Aria Operations for Networks uses SNMP to collect metrics information from third-party devices (switches, routers, firewalls, and so on). The third-party devices must have SNMP enabled and be accessible from VMware Aria Operations for Networks.

Procedure

  1. From the left navigation pane, go to Settings > Accounts and Data Sources.
  2. Click Add Source.
  3. Under Routers & Switches, click the Catalyst switch you want to add and provide the required information.
    Option Action
    Collector VM Select a collector VM from the drop-down menu.
    IP Address/FQDN Enter the IP address or the FQDN details.
    Username Enter the user name.
    Password Enter the password.
    Note: Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches that are part of the StackWise virtual environment must be added as a single switch in VMware Aria Operations for Networks.
  4. Click Validate.
  5. To enable a richer data collection, click Use SNMP (recommended for richer data collection) check box, and do the following:
    1. Form the SNMP Version drop-down menu, select an SNMP version. Depending on which version of SNMP you have selected, do the following:
      Option Action
      2c In the Community String text box, enter a community string.
      3
      1. Enter Username, Context Name.
      2. From the Authentication Type drop-down, select an authentication type and enter the Authentication Password.
      3. From the Privacy Type drop-down, select a privacy type and enter the Privacy Password.
  6. Define the polling interval for the configuration data collection. You can set the polling interval from 10 minutes to 7 days.
    • Preset - Select the interval time from the predefined time set.
    • Custom Interval - Set a value and select Minutes, Hours, and Days.
    • Fixed Schedule - Select the days and set the time to schedule the interval.
  7. (Optional) In the Nickname text box, enter a nickname.
  8. (Optional) In the Tags (Optional) key-value pair text box, enter a key and a value.
    Key-value pair could be any text. For example, you can use Layer Access as key-value pair where layer is the key and access is the value.
    1. To apply the tag in all the associated entities, click the Apply above tag operations to all associated entities check box. For more details about the associated entities, see Working with Local Tags.
      If you clear the Apply above tag operations to all associated entities check box, the assigned tag is removed from all the associated entities.
  9. (Optional) In the Notes text box, add a note if necessary.
  10. Click Submit.

What to do next

VMware Aria Operations for Networks supports the following features of Cisco Catalyst Switch:
  • Neighbor Discovery (CDP and LLDP)
  • Layer 2 Switching
  • VLAN
  • Layer 3 Routing (IPv4)
  • VRF (Virtual routing and forwarding)
  • Redundancy (HSRP and VRRP)
  • Access Control List (in network assurance and verification)
  • MPLS - BGP VPNv4