Model Devices Overview

With the Model Devices feature, you can add multiple devices, specify connectivity parameters, upgrade schema-based configuration on the devices, and upgrade or downgrade the Junos OS version on the devices through a single workflow. This workflow creates a modeled instance and adds the devices to Junos Space Network Management Platform. Devices added using this workflow are known as modeled devices. You then activate these devices by initiating a connection from Junos Space or the device, or by manually copying the configlets to the devices and allowing the devices to connect back to Junos Space Platform. When the activation is complete, the devices can be managed from Junos Space Platform. You can also activate the devices when creating the modeled instance, using the Activate Now option. This option is available only for activation using a device initiated connection and the device is assigned the Waiting for deployment state on the Device Management table. If you choose to activate the device later, the device is assigned the Modeled state on the Device Management page.

Using the Model Devices feature, you can create a connection profile to specify a set of connectivity parameters of a device. A connection profile specifies the details of the device interface on which the IP address is configured, the NAT configuration details for Junos Space Platform, and the details of the protocol used to assign IP addresses to the devices. You can create a modeled instance using this connection profile. Devices created using this modeled instance use the common connectivity parameters specified in the connection profile. You can model devices both in the IPv4 and IPv6 formats.

A modeled instance is a set of modeled devices that share the same connection profile. A modeled instance defines the device family for which the configlets are applicable, the Junos OS version that the device will be upgraded or downgraded to, if needed, and the device template containing the common configuration that you want to push to the devices when they are discovered in Junos Space Platform.

You can activate the modeled devices immediately after they are added to Junos Space Platform. Use a Junos Space–initiated connection or device–initiated connection to connect to and activate these devices. If you use a device–initiated connection, you need to specify the credentials to manage the device in Junos Space Platform after the device connects to Junos Space Platform. If you use a Junos Space–initiated connection to activate the device, you need to specify the hostname or IP address details and user credentials for Junos Space Platform to initiate the connection to the device. You can also specify a different set of user credentials to connect to the device than the one used to manage the device on Junos Space Platform. You can choose whether to update the configuration on the device automatically during the activation or manually.