Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Monitoring

BMC Helix Network Management  can directly communicate with a Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) to automatically discover and add devices managed by it to BMC Helix Network Management  for monitoring.

The types of devices that can be added using this method include the following:

• Cisco ACI Controller
• Cisco ACI Leaf Switch
• Cisco ACI Spine Switch

The following general* metrics and statuses can be collected from the ACI for the above-listed devices:

Metrics

• CPU
• Interfaces (Note: Interface metrics are not collected for ACI Controller device types)
  • Bandwidth Utilization
  • Errors
• Memory

Statuses

• CDP Status (disabled by default)
• Fan status
• Interface Status
• LLDP Status (disabled by default)
• Modules Status
• PSU Status

*Please refer to the documentation for each individual device type for specific metrics collected for that type.

Procedure

Perform the steps in the following procedure to add an ACI to BMC Helix Network Management .

1. Log in to BMC Helix Network Management  as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. If your Cisco-managed devices use a different set of login credentials than those stored in the "Default" device template, for each additional set of credentials required, create a new device template and add the necessary credentials to it. (See here for more information about storing device credentials in device templates.)
3. From the main menu, select Administration >> Modules >> Cloud Services to navigate to the Cloud Services Administration page.
4. Locate the Cisco ACI section and click the Add ACI button.
5. In the pop-up dialog that appears:
   1. In the NAME field, enter a unique name to identify this ACI within BMC Helix Network Management .
   2. In the HOSTNAME OR IP field, enter an address for the ACI (either IPv4 or FQDN).
   3. In the USERNAME field, enter the user name of the account used to access this Cisco ACI.
   4. In the PASSWORD field, enter the password for the previously entered account user name.
   5. Click the Save button.

BMC Helix Network Management  will shortly begin detecting the devices in your ACI and adding them as managed devices for monitoring.

Notes on discovery and display of metrics:

• New devices are discovered during each BMC Helix Network Management  polling cycle, which occurs roughly every 5 minutes.
  • Please allow at least that long for BMC Helix Network Management  to begin device discovery.
• It can take an additional 5-15 minutes for devices to begin being added as managed devices to BMC Helix Network Management , depending on the number of devices to be added.
• Please allow an additional 15 minutes (3 polling cycles) for BMC Helix Network Management  to begin graphing data in the UI and updating status checks.