Monitoring Network Devices and Troubleshooting Software Issues with Junos Space Network Management Platform

Systems of Record

A network managed by Junos Space Platform contains two repositories of information about the devices in the network: the devices themselves (each device defines and reports its official state) and the database (which contains information that is reported by the device during device discovery). This is known as systems of record.

The systems of record operate in the following two modes depending on where the repository of information is stored:

• Network as a system of record (NSOR)—By default, the network is the system of record (NSOR). In this mode, when a user commits a change in the configuration of a network device, the commit operation automatically triggers a report through the system log to Junos Space Platform.

• Junos Space as a system of record (SSOR)—In this mode, when you perform any out-of-band commit operation, Junos Space Platform receives a system log message from the device, but the values in the Junos Space Platform database are not automatically changed or synchronized with the values on the device. Instead, you can choose whether or not to overwrite the device's local changes by pushing the accepted configuration to the device from the Junos Space Platform database. For more information about systems of record in Junos Space Platform, see Systems of Record in Junos Space Overview.

System Snapshot

You can use the System Snapshot feature to create a snapshot of the current state of the Junos Space system. The snapshot includes all persistent data on the hard disk including data in the database, system and application configuration files, and application and Linux executables. You can roll back the Junos Space system to a predefined state or an older release if the system reaches an unrecoverable error state caused by undesirable behavior due to corruption of system files, interruption of critical processes, and so on. The System Snapshot is a fabric-wide operation that maintains consistency of data across all nodes in the fabric.

You can create a snapshot before a significant action is performed—for example, adding or deleting a Junos Space node, installing a Junos Space application, and so on—because the action can precipitate the system into an undesirable state. You can delete the snapshot after you have ascertained that the action was performed successfully. For more information about system snapshots, see Creating a System Snapshot.

Backup and Restore

You use the Backup and Restore feature to back up (or schedule the backup of) and restore the data in the Junos Space database. You can set up an hourly, daily, or weekly schedule. The database backup can be stored on the local Junos Space system or transferred to a remote system automatically using the Secure Copy mechanism.

You can restore the backup in any of the following circumstances:

• Junos Space data is corrupted and you need to replace the corrupted data with uncorrupted data.

• Junos Space software is corrupted and unstable after a reinstallation or an upgrade and you need to populate the Junos Space database with uncorrupted data.

For more information about backup and restore operations, see Backing Up and Restoring the Database Overview.

Maintenance Mode

Maintenance mode is a mode in which you can perform database restore and debugging tasks while all nodes in the fabric are shut down and the Junos Space Network Management Platform Web proxy is running. You need to be an authorized Junos Space administrator to put the system into maintenance mode. You can put the system into maintenance mode only after you initiate a restore task by using the Backup and Restore feature.

The Junos Space system goes into maintenance mode in the following situations:

• Junos Space Network Management Platform software goes down.

• You initiate a restore operation by using the Backup and Restore feature.

• You upgrade the Junos Space Network Management Platform software.

For more information about maintenance mode, see Maintenance Mode Overview.

Audit Logs

The Audit Logs workspace of Junos Space Platform displays the login history and tasks initiated by a local or remote user. Through this workspace, you can track login history, view the list of device management tasks, view the list of services that were provisioned on the device, and so on. However, tasks that are not initiated by users, such as device-driven activities (for example, resynchronization of network elements), and changes made from the Junos Space CLI are not recorded in audit logs. Audit logs can be used by administrators to review events—for example, to identify which user accounts are associated with an event, to determine the chronological sequence of events (that is, what happened before and during an event), and so on. For more information about audit logs, see Junos Space Audit Logs Overview.

Jobs

You use the Jobs workspace of Junos Space Platform to monitor the status of jobs that are run in Junos Space Platform and all Junos Space applications installed on Junos Space Platform. You can view the status of the jobs on the Job Management page. A job is a user-initiated action that is performed on any object that is managed by Junos Space Platform, such as a device, service, or customer. Typical jobs in Junos Space Network Management Platform include discovering devices, deploying services, prestaging devices, and performing functional and configuration audits.

You can trigger jobs immediately or schedule jobs for a later date and time. Junos Space Platform maintains a history of job statuses for all scheduled jobs. When a job is scheduled from a workspace, Junos Space Platform assigns a job ID that serves to identify the job on the Job Management page. For more information about jobs, see Jobs Overview.

Secure Console

The Secure Console feature on the Devices workspace provides a secure remote access connection to managed and unmanaged devices. Secure Console initiates an SSH session from the Junos Space user interface by using the SSH protocol. Secure Console is a terminal window embedded in Junos Space Platform that eliminates the need for a third-party SSH client to connect to devices. Secure Console provides additional security while connecting to your devices by initiating an SSH session from the Junos Space server rather than from your Web browser. You can access the Secure Console feature either from the Device Management page or the Secure Console page. For more information about Secure Console, see Secure Console Overview.

Looking Glass

You use the Looking Glass feature from the Devices workspace to view device configurations by executing basic CLI commands from the Junos Space user interface. You can execute these commands on multiple devices and compare the configurations and runtime information of these devices. You can execute the following types of commands by using Looking Glass: show, ping, test, and traceroute. The commands that are supported and stored in the Junos Space Platform database are displayed on the Looking Glass page. When you type the first few letters of the command, the suggestion list displays the commands that are supported, are stored, and begin with the letters that you typed. For more information about Looking Glass, see Looking Glass Overview.

Reports

With the Reports workspace of Junos Space Platform, you can generate customized reports for managing the resources in your network. You can use these reports to gather device inventory details, job execution details, user accounts, and audit trails. You first create a report definition to specify what information to retrieve from the Junos Space Platform inventory database. You then use this report definition to generate, export, and print the reports. Junos Space Platform provides some predefined categories to create report definitions. You can combine multiple categories to create a report definition. By default, a predefined set of attributes is included in a report definition. You can choose to add or remove the attributes according to what information you want from the final generated report. You can group, sort, or filter data based on specific attributes available with the report definition. For more information about reports, see Reports Overview.

Junos Space Debug Utilities

Junos Space debug utilities are a collection of scripts and Java applications to fetch details that cannot be viewed on the JBoss CLI or from the Junos Space user interface. These scripts and Java applications are stored at /var/log/space-debug/debug-utilities and categorized under deviceConnection, jobManagement, deviceImport, and HornetQ directories. When you execute these scripts or Java applications, you can view details such as device-connection or node-connection issues, device XMLs fetched from the Junos Space Platform database, and jobs triggered and nodes that execute these jobs. For more information about Junos Space debug utilities, see Junos Space Debug Utilities Overview.