NetBrain Quick Start Guide

For End Users

• Introduction
• Dynamic Mapping

• Runbook Automation
• More…

NetBrain Technologies, Inc.

© 2004-2017. All rights reserved

+1.800.605.7964 | support@netbraintech.com | www.netbraintech.com
Contents
1. Introduction
1) Install, Sign up and Log in
2) NetBrain PE Workstation User Interface
3) Common Workflow
2. Dynamic Mapping
1) Import Config/CLI to Map Devices
2) Discover Additional Devices
3) Map around a Device
4) View and Annotate Design Details
5) Observe a Device
6) Map Layer 2 Connections for an IP
7) Map Layer 2 Connections of a LAN Segment
8) Run Instant Qapp to Decode Network Design
9) Routing Analysis
10) Log in to a Network Device
3. Runbook Automation
1) Use Runbook to Troubleshoot Network
2) Visualize Layer 3 Design
3) Visualize Layer 2 Design
4) Monitor Devices
5) Qapp Center
6) Create a Qapp Instantly via Qapp Wizard
4. Others
1) Configuration Analysis
2) Batch Compare Configurations and Routings
3) IP Accounting
4) NetFlow Traffic Analysis
2
1.1 Install, Sign up and Log in to Workstation
• NetBrain Personal Edition is a full-featured free product
with limited nodes (at most 12 devices per map).

• The Workstation is a map-based troubleshooting

environment where you can diagnose, analyze and
troubleshoot network issues through a map.

Instructions:
1. Download and install the Workstation 1. Download the installation packet from the link.
software 2. Right-click the setup.exe file and select Run as Administrator to launch the InstallShield
Wizard.
3. Follow the wizard to install the Workstation.

2. Sign up Two ways to sign up:

• From the Login page, click Sign Up, enter required information and then click Sign Up.
Activate your account in received email.
• From NetBrain Exchange website, click Create an Account, enter required information and
click Sign up. Then activate your account after receiving an email from NetBrain.

3. Login 1. Launch the Workstation with the administrator privilege.

2. Enter your registered email address and password, and then click Login.
3
1.2 NetBrain Workstation User Interface
1 Quick access toolbar

2 Ribbon toolbar

3 Current working window

4 Context menu of map

5 Navigation pane

6 Search result pane

7 Properties pane

4
1.3 Common Workflow

Create a Map Dynamic Mapping Runbook Automation

Import configurations and CLI outputs into
NetBrain Workstation to generate a map:
• One map session at one time.
• Imported data and task-generated data
is stored in map data folder.
Mapping problem area and accelerate
root cause analysis, such as:
• Discover additional devices.
• View L2 and L3 topology, device and
interface properties.
• Highlight routing protocols.
Execute a runbook to collect required
information and collaborate:
• Network problem diagnosis.
• Devices performance monitoring.
• Collaboration for further analysis and
escalation.

Instructions:

1. Create a map On the Start Page, click

New Map > Import
Config/CLI.
2. Mapping You can select to use a
problem area variety of functions and
tools on this map based on
your needs.
3. Execute a Select Runbook > Browse
Runbook Runbook from the map
context menu to select a
runbook for automation.

5
2.1 Import Config/CLI to Map Devices
Objective:

• View layer 2 and layer 3 topology.

• Browse device and link details.

Use Case:

• Map devices by importing CLI outputs or

configuration files.

Instructions:

1. Click New Map > Import

Config/CLI on the Start
Page. A new map is created.

2. On the pop-up dialog box,

click Browse Config/CLI
Files to select your local
files.
3. Click Finish. The imported
devices are diagrammed on
the map.

6
2.2 Discover Additional Devices
Objective:

• Collect more information in problem area for

further analysis.

Use Case:

• Discover and map additional devices in the problem

area.

Instructions:
1. Click Discover Devices under the Home ribbon.

2. Specify the IP addresses of target devices as

seed routers.
3. On the pop-up dialog box, click Network
Settings to enter the necessary access
credentials.

4. Click Options to select whether to build layer 2

and layer 3 topology.

5. Select an access mode according to the

configurations on the devices.

6. Click Start Discovery.

7
2.3 Map around a Device
Objective:

• Map Layer 3 connections around a device.

Use Case:

• Troubleshoot a problematic router.

• BGP neighbors are down.

Instructions:

1. View the Click the icon located on the upper-

neighbors right of the device icon.

2. Draw the Double-click the target neighbor device in

neighbors the right pane of the pop-up dialog.

3. Draw the Repeat step 1 and 2 to diagram more

neighbor(s) of neighbors that you are interested in on the
the map.
neighbor(s)

8
2.4 View and Annotate Design Details
Objective:

• Zoom in on the map to view details.

• Browse and annotate the design.

Use Case:

• Create a design map for routing,

multicasting, and so on.

Instructions:

1. Zoom in the map Scroll the wheel of the

mouse forward.
2. View the Mouse over a network
configurations of a object such as routing
network object protocol, interface, or
ACL.
3. Annotate a network Click the icon.
design

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2.5 Observe a Device

Objective:

• Access device data quickly.

• Launch relevant operations easily.

Instructions:

1. Display Observer Focus Scroll mouse wheel to zoom in

to 280% on a Qmap.
2. Display Observer Pane When zooming in to 300%, the
Observer Pane will open. Keep
zooming in the Qmap, the
Observer pages will fade away
one by one to provide a quick
view on each type of data.
3. Switch the Observer Click another object (device or
pane among objects LAN segment) on the map to
on the map observe it.

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2.6 Map Layer 2 Connection for an IP Address
Objective:

• Find the switch port connected to an IP

address and map the connection.

Use Case:

• Block the traffic from a virus-infected

server.

Instructions:

1. Search the IP Enter the IP address in the Search

address field and press the Enter key.
2. Create a Layer 2 Hover your mouse pointer over a
map from the device in the search results pane.
search results Click Map > L2 Neighbor and then
click Map.
3. Switch to L2 page By default, both L3 neighbors and L2
neighbors are mapped. Click the L2
Page2 tab to view layer 2 neighbors.
4. Draw other switch Click the icon of the switch to
neighbors extend other neighbors.
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2.7 Map Layer 2 Connections of a LAN Segment

Objective:

• Map the Layer 2 connections of a LAN segment.

Use Case:

• Document a data center.

Instructions:
1. Search the LAN segment Enter the LAN segment subnet
address (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24) in
the Search field and press the
Enter key.
2. Create a Layer 2 map In the search result pane,
from the search results mouse over a network segment.
Click Map > L2 Neighbor, then
click Map.
3. Switch to L2 page By default, both L3 neighbors
and L2 neighbors are mapped.
Click the L2 Page2 tab to view
layer 2 neighbors.
4. Highlight the LAN Select Design > LAN Segment
segment from the map context menu. 12
2.8 Run Instant Qapp to Decode Network Design
Objective:

• Instant Qapp is used to search static or dynamic variables

from various types of data sources then retrieve the values of
the variables from the live network or cached DataFolders,
and finally visualize them as device labels and interface labels
on a map.

Instructions:
1. Open the Instant Qapp Click the Instant Qapp button on a map.
pane

2. Search for variables Enter the variable keyword in the

search box of the Instant Qapp pane
and press the Enter key.

3. Drag variables to the map Select a variable from the search

results and drag it to the map. The
system retrieves the values of the
variable for all available devices on the
map from the live network. Drag more
variables to the map based on your
needs. 13
2.9 Routing Analysis
Objective:
• View the route table and find the route to
a destination quickly.
• Find out how a route is propagated.
Use Case:
• Discover a flapping route.
Instructions:
1. Open the route table
2. Sort the route entries
3. Find the route by a
destination IP address or
subnet
4. Map the route on the map
5. Find out how a route is
propagated
Click a device on your map and select Device
Data > Route Table from the map context
menu.
Click on a table header to sort route entries.
For example, click Metric to sort route entries
in ascending order to find any flapping routes.
Enter the destination IP address or subnet in
the Filter field, and then press Enter on your
keyboard.
Drag a route entry to the map.
Click Go To Next-hop to discover how this
subnet is routed to the next hop device.
Continue this process till the destination is
reached.
14
2.10 Log in to a Network Device
Objective:

• Work on the old CLI window and the

map side by side.

Use Case:

• Disable a switch port connected to the

a virus-infected server.

• View the output of a BGP routing table

of a router and its topology map side
by side.

Instructions:
Log in to a device Click the target device on your
map and select Telnet/SSH
from the map context menu.

Note: The system uses the credentials in the Network

Settings to automatically log in to a device. Click
Workspace > Settings to add needed credentials
before logging in to a device.

15
3.1 Use Runbook to Build Troubleshooting Flow
Objective:

• Execute a Runbook to collect

network data and troubleshoot your
network step by step when problems
occur.

Instructions:
1. Browse and On the Start Page, click Browse Runbooks.
select a runbook Then select a runbook and click Run.

2. Create or import From the pop-up dialog box, click Import

a map to run the Config/CLI or Discover Devices to create a
runbook on new map, or click Open Map.

3. Run the runbook Click the icons to run each node in the
Runbook pane to collect network data and
troubleshoot your network problem step by
step.

16
3.2 Visualize L3 Design
Objective:

• Visualize the network’s design such as routing,

MPLS VRF, and multicasting.

• Analyze the configurations of a network design.

Use Case:

• Visualize the routing design for a core network.

• Determine if a network is QoS/VoIP ready.

Instructions:
1. Highlight routing Select Design > Highlight Routing
protocols Protocol from the map context menu.

2. View the configuration Click a device on map and select

of devices Device Data > Configuration File from
the map context menu.

3. Filter the configuration Select a filter condition such as All BGP

Configuration to show the BGP
configuration.
Tip: You can select the configuration,
and select Display on Map in the right-
click menu to display the configuration
17
as configlet note on the map.
3.3 Visualize L2 Design
Objective:

• Highlight the VLAN, the STP blocked ports,

or voice VLAN.

• View L2 port configuration.

Use Case:

• Understand the L2 design.

Instructions:
1. Highlight LAN segment Select Design > LAN Segment
from the map context menu.

2. View the port Move your mouse pointer over a

configuration port and the port information
will be displayed in the tip
window.

3. Annotate the Click the icon.

configuration in the
map
18
3.4 Monitor Devices
Objective:

• Visualize the device/interface status and performance data on the

map.

• Visualize the routing protocols and routing neighbors on the map.

Use Case:
• Identify a down/unstable device or interface.

• Identify any interfaces with high bandwidth or devices with high CPU
or memory usage.

• Monitor BGP/OSPF/EIGRP/IS-IS neighbors and routes.

• Monitor Multicast changes.

Instructions:
1. Turn on monitoring Select Monitor > Overall Health
Monitor from the map context menu.
Then click Run.

2. View specific data Click an item in the Monitor Result

table. The corresponding monitor result
chart will be displayed in the right pane.

3. Turn off Click Stop.

monitoring
19
Note: If the interface delay or bandwidth usage is not visible, you
can zoom in on the map or drag the link longer to make it visible.
3.5 Qapp Center
Objective:

• Store and manage the Qapps and their components in Qapp Center.

Use Case:

• Categorize, define, manage, and share Qapps in the Qapp Center.

Instructions:
1. Open Qapp Center Click Qapp > Qapp Center from the ribbon
toolbar, the Qapp Center pane opens on
the left of your Workstation.

2. Browse Qapp files in There are two types of Qapp organized

Qapp Center under the Qapp’s hierarchical tree:
• Sample Files
• My Files

3. Click a Qapp to preview The Qapp Preview pane provides

information such as the Qapp name,
author, description, sample Qapp/picture.

20
3.6 Create a Qapp Instantly via Qapp Wizard
Objective:

• Write a Qapp in just three steps by following a task wizard.

Instructions:

1. Open Qapp Wizard and Click Qapp > Qapp Wizard from the ribbon
select task toolbar, and then select Monitor as the
Qapp type and then click Next.

2. Enter CLI commands and
select Parser
1) Enter Show interface and select Show
interface (Cisco Router and Cisco IOS
Switch) from the drop-down list.
2) Select the variables such as $interface,
$input_error and $crc.
3) Click Next.

3. Select positions for Select positions for selected variables,

selected variables specify the variable $intf as interface name
for command and click Save & Run to save
and run the Qapp.

21
4.1 Configuration Analysis
Objective:

• View the current and historical configurations.

• Compare the current and historical configurations.

Use Case:

• Identify configuration changes before and after

implementing a network change.

• Identify recent configuration changes during

troubleshooting.

Instructions:
1. View the configurations
2. Select a source such as the
current baseline or a
historical benchmarked
data
3. Search the configurations
4. Compare two
configurations
Click a device on your map and
select Device Data > Configuration
File from the map context menu.
By default, the displayed
configuration is from the current
baseline or map data. You can
select another source DataFolder.
Click the icon to search the
configuration by a keyword.
Click Compare and then select two
source DataFolders to compare. 22
4.2 Batch Compare Configurations and Routings
Objective:

• Compare configurations and routings for all devices on

the map.

Use Case:

• Identify any missing routes after implementing a

network change.

• Identify configuration changes that may cause a

network problem.

Instructions:
1. Compare configurations and
routings for all devices on a map
2. Select two source DataFolders
and the data to be compared
3. View the routing change
statistics and the routing changes
4. View the configuration changes
On a Layer 3 map, select Change > Compare
Historical Data from the map context menu.
Select two Data Folders (::Current Baseline and
Benchmark DataFolder) and the data to be
compared (Configuration File and Route table).
Click Compare.
Double-click the router NY-Core in the Batch
Compare Route Tables pane to view its routing
changes. You can filter the routing change by a
destination IP address, for example 10.83.20.100.
Switch to the Batch Compare Config table.
Double-click an entry to check the configuration
change details.
4.3 IP Accounting
Objective:

• Find the top talker via IP Accounting.

Use Case:

• Troubleshoot high bandwidth usage.

Instructions:
1. Launch IP Accounting Right-click the bandwidth usage of
an interface and select IP
Accounting when the Over Health
Monitor is running.
Note: The interface must have IP
Accounting configured.

2. Sort the IP accounting Click a table header such as Packets

results per Second to sort the results.
3. Create the path Right-click an entry and select
Create Path to map out the path for
this entry.
24
4.4 NetFlow Traffic Analysis
Objective:

• Find the top talker using NetFlow.

Use Case:

• Troubleshoot high bandwidth usage.

Instructions:
1. Launch NetFlow Right-click on the bandwidth
usage of an interface and select
NetFlow when the Over Health
Monitor is running.
Note: The interface must have
NetFlow configured.

2. Sort the NetFlow results Click a table header to sort the

results.
3. Create the path Right-click an entry and select
Create Path to map out the path
for this entry.