need a solution to update configs every night

shirwaziri1_2 · ‎08-17-2007

I am looking for a solution for one of my clients where configs get backed up every night. We have configs from like 3 years old and when something goes down, we use them and nothing works. Any input from the forum as usual is appreciated.

Thank you

rryali · ‎08-17-2007

Hi,

I didn't get the question entirely. What is the mechanism of backup currently? manual? And you are asking if there is an automated way of backing up configs every night? Also, I would appreciate if you could share some details on how big the network is in terms of number of devices and what kinds of devices?

thanks,

Ravi

gng4life · ‎08-17-2007

Hello,

Yes, I'm also looking forward to more details about your situation.

In the meantime, I wanted to suggest Kiwi Cattools. I setup a site that had about 75 routers and switches. It was fairly simple and you can't beat the cost of it. It will also send you reports every day to let you know what was backed up and if there were any config changes.

Another option is to use SecureCRT and write a .vbs or Perl script to login to each device and copy the config. I would only recommend this on smaller sites or where it's not as mission critical.

Of course the best way is CiscoWorks. It will archieve all your configs, IOS',etc,etc.

Thanks and let us know...

shirwaziri1_2 · ‎08-18-2007

We are a solution center and have clients that have very small networks, such as 3 rotuers, 4 switches, etc. We also have large clients with 100 switches, 20 routers, etc. So there is a large range.

And yes, we need to back the configs every night or have some process setup to back up the concifgs. I will look into Kivw Cattols. Also, We are considering cisco works as a sales pitch to clients.

Thanks for both of ur inputs. I will keep open till I see more feed back.

How does Kiwi Cattols differ from cisco works.

gng4life · ‎08-19-2007

Hello again,

Kiwi Cattools is a simple program that will run either built-in jobs, such as config backups or you can run scripts from it. You add devices, set the job(s) to run then start the "timer". It will run however you like, every hour, every day, every week and at the time you specify. For one of our legacy networks, I set it up to run config backups every morning at 0200. Then you set how many revisions of the config you want to keep, I keep 5. I have an e-mail sent out to our network group to tell them about the config changes, if any (it will only backup another revision if there is a diff). It works for simple tasks like this.

How it's different from CW2K? It's like comparing a Hyundai to a Ferrari. CW is a complete enterprise network management tool with so much functionality, I can't list it all here. I run our LMS 2.6 on our large networks with the following modules; CS, RME, CM, DFM, and IPM. With Cattools, it's a quick and simple fix to a common problem.

I hope this helps out...Let me know

rryali · ‎08-19-2007

Hi,

There are a good number of other network management tools from cisco like Cisco Network Assistant. But as was observed correctly in the previous mail, these tools are meant for much more than archiving alone. I am sure you will have other requirements too while managing your networks. You might want to consider CNA (it is free) for your network management needs. You could configure switches, routers, firewalls with it and the UI is pretty easy to use. You have features like viewing your network topology, individual device panel views etc. Archiving of configurations is supported in it but unfortunately not scheduled archiving. What you want could definitely be incorporated as an enhancement down the road.

I will also try to dig a little deeper and see if there are any other management tools which could address your specific issue.

thanks....