Supported devices

BMC Network Automation is a multi-vendor solution that provides out-of-the-box support for routers, switches, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, load balancers, and other devices.

BMC regularly adds support for new devices. The Device Adapter Capabilities report shows the complete list of device types, the supported models, supported OS versions, access modes, file transfer modes, and other information.

This topic explains the following device access requirements for devices supported by BMC Network Automation:

Device access

BMC Network Automation accesses network devices using Telnet, SSH2, HTTP, HTTPS, or web services. It does not support SNMP. The most common method of access is SSH2 similar to how a network operator would SSH into a device for command-line access. When using Telnet or SSH2, you can specify a non-default port.

Logon credentials

When BMC Network Automation accesses a network device, it logs on similar to how a network operator would log on using logon credentials and if required privileged logon credentials. The logon credentials are stored in a Device Security Profile (DSP), which is stored along with the device record in the BMC Network Automation database. BMC Network Automation can also prompt the user to enter logon credentials manually prior to running a job or during a Telnet/SSH proxy session.

File transfer

BMC Network Automation supports FTP, TFTP, and SCP methods of file transfer for cases where a configuration, template, or OS image file needs to be transferred to or from the device. File transfer is initiated from the device so the device acts as the FTP, TFTP, or SCP client and the BMC Network Automation application server (or device agent) acts as the FTP, TFTP, or SCP server. If Network Address Translation (NAT) is used between the device and the BMC Network Automation application server or device agent, a NAT address can be specified on a per device basis. This allows the transfer to be initiated towards the NAT address vs. the actual address of the BMC Network Automation application server or device agent.

BMC Network Automation also supports a Tunneled transfer mode, which can be used if file transfer is not possible. During a Tunneled Snapshot, for instance, BMC Network Automation captures the results of one or more show commands. During a Tunneled Deploy, individual commands in a template are run as if typed on the command line, instead of transferring a file to the device for running.

During a snapshot operation, if the configuration file for a device (such as Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)) is generated and transferred with a naming convention that does not match the one which BMC Network Automation expects in the transfer directory, you can include a new property, filenameUsedByDevice in the device adapter. This property must be populated with a value that exactly matches the file being transferred. BMC Network Automation searches for a file with the name as populated by this property in the transfer directory and takes snapshot.

Syslog

BMC Network Automation includes an embedded Syslog server or can receive a feed from a third-party Syslog server. BMC Network Automation uses received Syslog events from devices, Syslog relays, or third-party applications to trigger job runs, correlate against other events, and include in Change Summary and Event Log reports. This is the method that BMC Network Automation uses to trigger a Snapshot of a device that was changed external to the product. This enables BMC Network Automation to record all changes, even if they are not made by using BMC Network Automation because BMC Network Automation parses the Syslog message and includes audits changes and the users who made them in the report.

Back to top

Device agents

If device access, file transfer, and/or Syslog communications paths are not available between the BMC Network Automation application server and the network device, BMC Network Automation supports a remote device agent. This can handle cases where the devices are in a demilitarized zone (DMZ) or when devices have overlapping management IP addresses. The remote device agent is installed on a Linux or Windows computer that is located close to the device and handles all device access, file transfer, and Syslog traffic. Communication between the BMC Network Automation application server and remote device agent is handled using a single SSL connection with a user-defined communication port number.