Live VLANs
RackTables can be used to ease access switches management by presenting a user with current VLAN membership for each switch port and letting him change the configuration and submit for instant activation. This functionality was implemented through a "gateway" for Cisco devices with an intention to add more vendor support later. Configuration consists of several steps:
- Pick a [Cisco Catalyst] switch and set its hardware and software types in Properties. This will trigger the "Live VLANs" tab to appear for this object.
- Decide on the so called "endpoint", which will be used to connect to the device. The safest approach is to have FQDN sticker set for each switch. However, if you always have one (and only one) IP address listed for each managed switch, you can omit setting FQDN, because the IP address will be used. Furthermore, if you don't list IPv4 allocations at all (not a good idea), object's common name is the last resort for the endpoint. If more than 1 IP address is listed, FQDN is a mandatory attribute to set.
- Change to the gateways/switchvlans directory and prepare gateway's own configuration files. The syntax should be straightforward, it isn't the best possible, but it lets configure things.
$ cp cisco.secrets.php-sample cisco.secrets.php $ cp userauth.php-sample userauth.php $ touch changes.log $ chmod 666 changes.log # to keep track of changes $ vi cisco.secrets.php userauth.php
- Get back to browser, click the Live VLANs tab and enjoy.
