Step 2: Up and Running

This section walks you through the preparatory steps that a Super User or Network Admin must perform before onboarding a device and moving the device to production.

Add Network Resource Pools

A network resource pool defines values for network resources, such as IPv4 loopback addresses, interface IP addresses, and so on that are assigned to the devices in your network during device onboarding and for provisioning services (L2VPN, L3VPN, and L2 circuit).

You can create a network resource pool in Paragon Automation in one of the following ways:

By configuring the resource pool in the Paragon Automation GUI.
By uploading JSON files to Paragon Automation.
By using REST APIs.

This section guides you through the steps to add network resource pools from the Paragon Automation UI. For information about adding resource pools by using JSON files or REST APIs, see Add Resource Pools.

To configure network resource pools in the Paragon Automaiton GUI:

Click Orchestration > Services > Resource Instances in the navigation menu.

The Resource Instances page appears.
Click the + (Add) icon above the Resource Instances table.
The Add New Resource Instance page appears.
In the Add New Resource Instance page:
- Enter a name for the resource instance in the Instance Name field. For example, vpn-resource.
- Enter the name of the customer for whom you are creating the resource instance in the Customer field. For example, for-abc-corp.
  
  The default name is network-operator.
- Select the type of resource that you want to create from the Resource Design field.
  
  For device onboarding, you must create L3-Addr, L2-Addr, and Routing resource pools. Start by selecting any one of the resource design (for example, select L3-Addr to create layer 3 IP address pools).
Click Create.

The resource instance is created and the Modify Resource-Instance-Name page appears. The Modify Resource-Instance-Name page lists an editor with the parameters that you can configure for the resource. For example, for the L3-Addr resource instance, configure the IPv4 prefixes and loopback addresses that can be assigned to the devices.

Alternatively, you can upload a JSON file populated with the resource values by using the Upload option on the top-right corner of the Resource Editor.

See Configure Resource Pools for more details.
Click Proceed.
The Compare Resource Definition page appears displaying the resources you have added.
Verify the resources you have added and then click Save and Commit.
Paragon Automation generates a service order to create the resources.
Repeat step 2 through step 6 to add the other two resource pools (for example, L2-Addr and Routing resources).

Add a Label

Labels can be used to identify devices of the same type or role and can be used as a reference in a device profile. For example, you can tag all provider edge devices with the label PE. Then, within a device profile, you can define that BGP sessions or MPLS LSPs should be established with any other device with the same label. When a provider edge device is onboarded using this profile, it gets tagged with label PE and automatically configured to peer with all the other devices also tagged with the label PE. At the same time, all these other devices also get configured to peer with this new device.

To add a label:

Navigate to Inventory > Devices > Device and Interface Profiles.
On the Devices and Interface Profiles page, click Add > Labels.
The Create Labels page appears.
On the Create Labels page, enter Plan Name (name for network implementation plan) and Label. For example, acx-onboarding-plan for the plan name and provider-edge-devices for label,
Click Save.
The label is created and listed on the Device and Interface Profiles page.

Add a Device Profile

A device profile defines global configuration elements that are added to the device during onboarding. The configuration elements include hostname, IP address of the loopback, router ID, AS number, and protocols such as BGP and PCEP.

Before you add device profiles, ensure that you have

Configured labels in Paragon Automation.
Defined the resource pools. See Add Network Resource Pools.

To add a device profile:

Navigate to Inventory > Devices > Device and Interface Profiles.
In the Device and Interface Profiles page, click Add > Device Profile to create a device profile.
Enter the required information as explained in Add a Device Profile.
Click Save.
The device profile is created and appears on the Device and Interface Profiles page.

Add an Interface Profile

An interface profile defines interface-specific configuration elements that are added to the device during onboarding, including the interface’s IP address, whether the interface will be used for management or Internet connectivity, or whether the interface will be running OSPF, IS-IS, LDP, or RSVP protocols.

To add an interface profile:

Navigate to Inventory > Devices > Device and Interface Profiles.
In the Device and Interface Profiles page, click Add > Interface Profile to create an interface profile.
In the Create Interface Profile page, enter the required parameters as explained in Add an Interface Profile.

Note:
Enable the Internet Connected option for interfaces that connect with the Internet. Enabling this option allows Paragon Automation to initiate connectivity tests from the ports on which the interface profile is applied. We recommend that you enable this setting when you add the profile because you cannot enable or modify it later. For more information, see section Device Connectivity Data and Test Results.
Click Save.
The interface profile is created and appears on the Device and Interface Profiles page.

Add a Network Implementation Plan

To onboard a device, and enable health, connectivity, and compliance monitoring of the device after onboarding, you must create a network implementation plan that includes the device.

Network implementation plans define which device and interface profiles should be applied to a device or a group of devices during onboarding. The profiles define which interfaces to configure, which protocols to enable, which IP addresses to assign, and so on.

To add a network implementation plan:

Navigate to Inventory > Device Onboarding > Network Implementation Plan.
On the Network implementation Plan page, do one of the following:
- Select the implementation plan that was created automatically after you created the device plan (the name of the plan will be the plan name you entered in the device profile), and then click Edit (pen) icon.
- Click + (Add) to create a new network implementation plan.
  
  If you create a new plan instead, the device profiles that you created before are not available for selection within the implementation plan.
To create a new network implementation plan, enter a name for the plan and select a device profile and an interface profile.

If you want to set a default device profile and interface profile for the plan, select the names from the drop-down lists. If you are editing an automatically generated implementation plan, the default interface and device profiles are already populated.
Click Next to add devices to the plan.
In the Devices section click + (Add).
On the Add Device page, enter values for the hostname, IPv4 address, site, serial number, device vendor, and model, and select the device profile.

The serial number is used to map the device to this profile when it is added to the inventory (during adoption which is described later), and the onboarding process is started. The hostname, and IPv4 address that you enter here, along with all the other attributes included in the selected profiles are configured on the device during onboarding.
Click Next to go to the Physical Ports tab.
In the physical ports section:
1. Click + (Add) to enter the interfaces to be configured during onboarding.
2. Enter the interface name (include the unit number), a description for the interface, the IPv4 address, and select the interface profile.
  
  You can also enter instructions for the installer to follow when physically installing the device and connecting the cables. Also, the pluggable field describes which type of optical transceiver is required.
3. Click OK to close the interface’s configuration. Repeat this step for all the interfaces that will be part of the onboarding.
4. When you are finished entering all the interfaces, click Next to go to the Chassis tab.
5. In the Chassis tab, enter details about the power supply modules, fans, linecards, and optics.
6. Click Done when you are finished.
7. Repeat the steps 6 and 7 as needed to include all the devices, and its interfaces that you want to onboard under this implementation plan.
Click Next after you finish adding all the devices to the network implementation plan.
The Links page appears.
Click + (Add) to add links between devices.
Click Next to view a summary of the configuration.
If you want to modify the plan, you can click Edit and make the required changes.
Click Save.
The plan is created and appears on the Network Implementation Plan page.

For more information about adding a network implementation plan, see Add a Network Implementation Plan.

Install a Device

A field technician should install the device at the site. For information about installing Juniper devices, see the Hardware guide of the respective device at https://www.juniper.net/documentation/.

For installing Cisco Systems devices, refer to Cisco Systems documentation.

Onboard a Device

A superuser or network administrator can onboard a device by committing the outbound SSH commands to connect with Paragon Automation, on the device. This method of onboarding a device by committing the outbound SSH commands is also referred as "Adopting a Device".

You can onboard a device by any of the following methods:

Onboard a device by using ZTP.

In this method, you commit the SSH configuration on the device during ZTP.
Onboard a device without ZTP.

In this method, you manually commit the SSH configuration on the device.

For information on how to onboard a device, see the Up and Running section in the Onboard Juniper Networks Devices to Paragon Automation Quick Start Guide.

Approve a Device for Service

After a device is onboarded, a user with the superuser or network administrator can move the device to production and provision services on them.

To move a device to production:

Click Inventory > Device Onboarding > Onboarding Dashboard.
Filter the Ready for Service devices by selecting Ready for Service in the Operational State filter.
Click the Hostname link of the device to view the result of the automated tests that are performed on the Device-name page.
Analyze the results of the tests and view the alerts raised for the device.

If there are no critical or major issues, you can move the device to production.
Click Put into Service to move the device to production.
Paragon Automation changes the status of the device to In Service and moves the device to production. You can monitor the device for any alerts or alarms from the Device-Name (Observability > Troubleshoot Devices > Device-Name) page.

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