NetBrain Enterprise Server 5.0 Edition 4 Steps to Setup NetBrain

NetBrain Enterprise Server 5.0 Edition 4 Steps to Setup NetBrain

NetBrain Technologies, Inc. Technical Support: Page Updated 5/28/2013 [email protected] 1

Overview

The NetBrain system has four components: Customer License Server, Workspace Server, Network Server and

Workstation.

There are 4 quick steps to setup the entire system and make it ready to use:

Step 1 Install the Server and Client Software ~ 20 minutes for standard deployment

Step 2 Discover your Live Network ~ 30 minutes for 200 devices

Step 3 (optional) Import User Information from LDAP/AD ~ 10 minutes

Step 4 Tune Workspace for Everyday Use Depends on size of network

The following table lists the system specifications and connectivity requirements:

System Specifications

CPU Memory Hard Disk Operating System

Customer

License

Server (CLS)

2 GHZ

Dual Core

4GB (preferred)

2GB (minimum)

10GB free space

Windows 2003(SP2+) or Windows 2008

32-bit/64-bit, with IIS pre-installed.

VMware is supported.

Workspace

Server (WSS)

2 GHZ

Dual Core

(Quad Core for

5000+ nodes)

8GB (preferred)

4GB (minimum)

100GB (preferred)

10GB (minimum)



VMware is supported. Can coexist with

Customer License Server.

Network

Server (NS)

2 GHZ 4GB (preferred)

2GB (minimum)

10GB free space

Windows 2003(SP2+) or Windows 2008.

Can coexist with Customer License

Server and/or Workspace Server.

All-in-one

Server

(CLS/WSS/NS)

2 GHz

Quad Core

(Eight Core for

5000+ nodes)

8GB (preferred)

4GB (minimum) 100GB free space



VMware is supported.

Workstation

Client

1GHZ 4GB (preferred)

2GB (minimum)

10GB free space

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows

7, Windows 2003/2008

Network Server

collects data from

live network

Workstation is the

main user interface

Customer License Server

manages workspaces and licenses

Workspace Server manages all

data for shared workspaces

Network Server collects

data from live network



Network Connectivity Requirements

Source Destination Port

Workspace Server, Workstation Client Customer License Server HTTP/HTTPS

Customer License Server, Network Server, Workstation

Client

Workspace Server HTTP/HTTPS

Network Server Workspace Server TCP-7913

Workspace Server Network Server TCP-7813

Workstation Client Network Server TCP-9099

Network Server Live Network ICMP/SNMP/Telnet/SSH

Step 1 – Install the Server and Client Software

1.1 Install the Customer License Server and Workspace Server

a) Download ESv5.0

software to a Windows

2003 or 2008 server

Download the NetBrain software. Unzip the file after download.

b) Run the setup file and

follow the setup wizard

Important Note: If you only have one server workspace, we suggest installing

Customer License Server (CLS) and Workspace Server (WSS) on the same

Windows server. If you have multiple workspaces to be created under multiple WSS

servers, then please follow steps A1.1 and A1.2 in the Appendix to install CLS and

WSS on separate Windows servers.

For Windows 2008, we recommend that you right click on the setup file and select

the “Run as Administrator” option.

In the step of Select Features, select the Customer License Server and

Workspace Server options.

In the step for POSTGRES installation, use the default port “54321” and keep the

default username as “postgres” and set the password.

http://download.netbraintech.com/NetBrain_OE_setup.zip



c) Register the

Workspace Server on

Customer License

Server

In the step of Workspace Server, select the Register to License Server options.

d) Activate your license When the installation wizard is finished, NetBrain License tool will pop up.

For trial license (POC user): Click on the Trial Activate button. Fill in your Email

and Activation Key in the Register for Trial License window. (The Activation Key

has been sent to you in the Proof of Concept email)

For permanent license (Customer): Click on the Activate Permanent License

button. Fill in your License ID, password, name, and email address in the Activate

License window and then click on the Activate Online button. (The license ID and

password have been sent to you in the order delivery email)

Note: If your license server is NOT connected to the Internet, please email [email protected]

and we will send you instructions on how to activate the license offline.

e) Login to the Customer

License Server web

interface

Enter URL http://<IP or domain name of Customer License Server>/netbrain. The

default username/password is admin/admin.

Note: If the web page does not come up, please check the default IIS web page. If the default IIS web

page does not come up, check the IIS setting and maybe reinstall IIS. Click here for more info.

f) Allocate Seats and

Nodes for Shared

Workspace on

Customer License

Server webpage

Click the Workspace Server tab, one Workspace Server (on the left pane) and the

Workspace1 entry (on the right pane) will be displayed. Click Assign License

button to allocate seats and nodes for this workspace.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.netbraintech.com/netbrain-support/ProblemDetail.php?problemid=269



Note: Shared workspaces should be created on Workspace Server, and must be authorized in Customer

License Server, so that they can be operated in the OE workstation. If Workspace Server is not listed

under Workspace Server tab, please follow step A1.2b to register the Workspace Server on Customer

License Server manually.

If you want to create multiple Shared Workspaces on the Workspace Server, please follow step A1.2c and then

allocate Seats and Nodes for Shared Workspaces.

1.2 Install the Network Server (Note: If you want to install Network Server on the same machine as your CLS/WSS

servers, you just follow the wizard. If you want to install Network Server on a separate machine, please follow steps 1.2a-1.2b below)

a) Download the Network

Server installation

package

Open the Customer License Server homepage by entering URL http://<IP or

domain name of Customer License Server>/netbrain, and click on the Network

Server Download Setup link. Save the file.



For Windows 2008, we recommend that you right click on the installation package

and select “Run as Administrator” option.

1.3 Install NetBrain Workstation (Note: If you want to install Workstation on the same machine as your CLS/WSS/NS

servers, you just follow the wizard. If you want to install Workstation on a separate machine, please follow steps 1.3a-1.3b below)

a) Download the

Workstation

installation package

Open the Customer License Server homepage by entering URL http://<IP or

domain name of Customer License Server>/netbrain, and click on the Client

Workstation Download Setup link. Save the file.



For Windows Vista and Windows7, we recommend that you right click on the

installation package and select “Run as Administrator” option.

If you want to install multiple Network Servers on other machines, please follow step 1.2.

If you want to install multiple NetBrain Workstations, please follow step 1.3.

Step 2 – Import User Information from LDAP/AD (Optional)

2.1 Import Groups from LDAP/AD Server

a) Enter the LDAP/AD Info On the Customer License Server webpage, Click User Accounts > External

Authentication Server. Check the Enable LDAP/AD Authentication

checkbox. Fill in the server information.

Notes:

For the LDAP Authentication server, the server address should be entered

like this: 10.10.10.162/dc=example,dc=com

Where 10.10.10.162 is the server IP address, "dc" denotes 'Domain

Component'.

For the AD Authentication server, the server address should be entered

like this: 10.10.10.134/DC=NBTEST,DC=com

Where 10.10.10.134 is the server IP, NBTEST.COM is the domain name.



b) Import user groups on

demand

You can enter keywords to search groups, or you can leave the search field empty

to view all groups. Select the groups you want to add to NetBrain. Click the >

button to move it to NetBrain. Then, click the Submit button.

c) Edit the imported roles You can find the imported role info within the Roles tab. Edit the roles based on

your needs.

2.2 Sync the user info with the external server

a) SYNC the user info On the Customer License Server webpage. Click User Accounts > Users, click

the Synchronize with external server hyperlink. All users belong to the imported

groups will be displayed here with the Source field of AD or LDAP, as shown in the

picture below.

b) Grant special

permissions to

specific users

Click on a user to open the User Properties window. The user inherits the role

from its group. Apart from the default role, you can also add more roles to the

current user.



Step 3 – Discover your Live Network

3.1 Logon to the Workstation

a) Lunch OE Workstation Select a Workspace Server in the Server drop-down. Select a workspace to login

in the Workspace drop-down. The default username/password is admin/admin

which can be changed in the Customer License Server.

3.2 Run the Workspace Wizard (Note: The workspace wizard should automatically start by itself when you open the

Workstation for the first time.)



a) Wizard Step 1: Define

Telnet/SSH/SNMP

credentials and proxy

1. Click the Telnet/SSH login tag.

2. Click the Add button.

3. Enter the corresponding values. Alias can be any unique name.

4. Repeat step 2 and 3 to add all possible Telnet/SSH login credentials.

5. Click the other tags in the Live Network Setting window to add Privilege

Password, SNMP RO community string, and Network Server (Network Server

is the server you just installed in step 1.3).

6. Click the Next button to go to next step of the Wizard.

b) Wizard Step 2:

Discover your network

from a seed router

1. Click Telnet and SNMP and select how the system should access your live

network from the drop down menu. If you are not sure, select Telnet/SSH and

SNMP.

2. Enter the IP address of a seed router.

3. Click the Start Discovery button.

4. Select an entry to view the log.

Note: NetBrain Network Server must have SNMP access to a device to discover the device type

and vendor/model as well as CLI access to the device to retrieve configurations and L2 data for L2

topology. One common issue for NetBrain to discover a device is that Network Server is not

allowed in the ACL to access the device. Please refer to this link for details.

5. View the discovery statistics and summary.

Note: The discovery process includes three steps: discover the network devices and retrieve live

data from your network; build L3/L2 topology in the Workspace Server; refresh workspace data

from the Server to Workstation. Depending on the size of your network, the time it takes for each

step varies (from a few minutes to 20 minutes).

6. Click the Finish button to exit the Wizard.




Step 4 – Tune Workspace for Everyday Use

4.1 Verify L3/L2 Topology

a) Map L3 connections for

a device group

1. Click on the Workspace pane on the left side and extend Device Groups and

then System nodes.

2. Right click on a device group in Workspace pane and select Topology Map.

b) Map L2 connections for

a site

1. Click on the L2 Topology pane on the left side and extend switch groups.

2. Right click on a switch group in L2 Topology pane and select Map.

4.2 Create a Virtual MPLS Cloud (if your network uses ISP)

a) Add a new MPLS

cloud

Go to the Workspace menu tab, click on the Manager icon. Select MPLS Cloud at

the left pane and click the Add button at the bottom of the right pane.

b) Add CE devices Fill in the BGP Remote AS number and click on the Create button. All devices

pointing to this BGP AS will be added to the list automatically.

CE device scan also be added manually by clicking on the Add button.

c) Setup auto update for

the MPLS cloud

Check the Auto update if new CEs added option to automatically update the

MPLS cloud.

4.3 Setup a Benchmark Schedule

a) Setup a schedule to run

benchmarking

On the Workspace Server web page, select Workspace > System Benchmark.

Fill in a schedule and click on the Enable Benchmark button.

Note: The benchmarked data is used for historical comparison to identify what has changed in the live

network.



4.4 Tune Discovery Results

a) Rediscover unknown IP

1. Go to the Workspace menu tab, click on the Manager icon.

2. Select Unknown IP at the left pane and then Username/Password

Mismatch. At the right pane, the system lists all IP addresses discovered as

the neighbor IP address in the discovery process but was not accessible due to

the fact that none of the defined username/password pairs worked.

3. Click the Rediscover button at the top right. Add the username/password pairs

at the Shared Network Settings window.

4. Close the Shared Network Settings window and click the Start Discovery

button in the Live Network Discovery window.

Note: Using a similar approach, you can also resolve unknown IPs due to Privilege

Password Mismatch or others.

b) Rediscover devices

that were discovered

only by SNMP

1. Go to the Workspace menu tab, click on the Manager icon.

2. Select Discovered by SNMP at the left pane. At the right pane the system lists

all devices discovered by SNMP but not accessible by Telnet/SSH.

3. Right click a device and select Live Access Log menu to view why the system

could not telnet/SSH to the device. If the Telnet/SSH login credentials were

missing, click Workspace menu tag from the menu bar and then the Settings

icon for Shared Network Settings to add the credentials.

4. Select one or multiple devices (press the Shift or Ctrl key to select multiple

devices) and from the right click menu select Discover Selected Devices.

What’s next?

For trial license (POC user):

Once the NetBrain system is fully setup in your network, you can invite other colleagues to try NetBrain using this form.

Please also contact us to schedule a free 1.5-hour web training session with you and your colleagues to walk through

the key NetBrain features in your own environment. During this web session, we will reference the NetBrain POC

Walk-Through Guide. In the meantime, please feel free to download this guide and start trying out the exciting

features.

http://www.netbraintech.com/register/oe-onsite-trial/invitation.php

http://www.netbraintech.com/ftp/OE50/NetBrain_POC_Walk_Through.pdf

http://www.netbraintech.com/ftp/OE50/NetBrain_POC_Walk_Through.pdf



For permanent license (Customer):

Once the NetBrain system is fully setup in your network, you can invite other colleagues to use NetBrain. Please also

contact us to schedule a free 1-hour web meeting to review your setup and answer any questions you may have.

Additional information for POC users and customers:

Please reference the End-User Quick Start Guide on how to use NetBrain for dynamic documentation, visual

troubleshooting, and network change management. We also offer free live web training class to help you master the

NetBrain system so you can tackle your daily network management tasks with ease.

http://www.netbraintech.com/ftp/OE50/NetBrain_End_User_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf

http://www.netbraintech.com/netbrain-support/training.php



Appendix

If there are multiple workspaces to be created under multiple Workspace servers, then, please follow the instruction

below to install Customer License Server and Workspace Server on separate Windows servers.

A1.1 Install the Customer License Server separately

a) Download ESv5.0

software to a Windows

2003 or 2008 server

Double click the same setup file downloaded in step 1.1 and start to install the

Customer License Server. For Windows 2008, we recommend that you right click

on the setup file and select the “Run as Administrator” option.



For Windows 2008, we recommend that you right click on the setup file and select

the “Run as Administrator” option.

In the step of Select Features, only select the Customer License Server option.



c) Activate your license When the installation wizard is finished, NetBrain License tool will pop up. Click on

the Activate Permanent License button. Fill in your License ID, password, name,

and email address in the Activate License window and then click on the Activate

Online button. (The license ID and password have been sent to you in the order

delivery email.) If you have skipped the Activation step when installing the OE

System, you can activate it using the NetBrain License Tool. Click on Start >

NetBrain > License Tool for Enterprise Server.

Note: If your license server is NOT connected to the Internet, please email [email protected]

and we will send you instructions on how to activate the license offline.

d) Login to the Customer

License Server web

interface

Enter URL http://<IP or domain name of Customer License Server>/netbrain. The

default username/password is admin/admin.

Note: If the web page does not come up, please check the default IIS web page. If the default IIS web

page does not come up, check the IIS setting and maybe reinstall IIS. Click here for more info.

A1.2 Install the Workspace Server separately

a) Run the setup file on Double click the same setup file downloaded in step 1.1 and start to install the

mailto:[email protected]




another machine and


Workspace Server. For Windows 2008, we recommend that you right click on the

setup file and select the “Run as Administrator” option.

In the step of Select Features, only select the Workspace Server option.



b) Register the

Workspace Server on

Customer License

Server

1. Login to the Customer License Server web interface by entering URL http://<IP or

domain name of Customer License Server>/netbrain with default credential

admin/admin

2. Click the Workspace Server tab then click the Add button at the bottom of the

Server pane (on the left) to open the Workspace Server Properties window. Input

IP address/Port number of the workspace server.

Note: You may need the Customer License Server administrator to do this step for you.

c) Create Shared

Workspaces

On the Workspace Server, click Start > All Programs > NetBrain > Netbrain

Enterprise Server > Add Shared Workspace to launch the Create Shared

Workspaces tool. Choose a folder location, and click Add to add a workspace.



d) Allocate Seats and

Nodes for Shared

Workspace on

Customer License

Server webpage

1. Click the Workspace Server tab; choose a Workspace Server on the left pane

to switch to the corresponding Workspace List view.

2. Click Refresh button to ensure all shared workspaces are listed properly.

3. Choose the Workspace entry, click Assign License button to allocate seats

and nodes for this workspace.

Note: Shared workspaces should be created on Workspace Server, and must be authorized in Customer

License Server, so that they can be operated in the OE workstation.

Please refer to steps 1.2 and 1.3 to install Network Server and NetBrain Workstation.

If you want to create multiple Shared Workspaces on the Workspace Server, please follow steps A1.2c - A1.2d.

If you want to create multiple Workspace Servers on other machines, please follow steps A1.2a – A1.2b.

Documents

NetBrain Enterprise Server 5.0 Edition 4 Steps to Setup NetBrain