We discussed the beta availability of the patch panel management in device42 in the last post. In this post, we discuss two ways that you can use device42 capabilities to save time. Let’s start with documenting patch panel ports. This can be a very time-consuming activity if done manually. For each port on the patch panel, you would associate a device and mac address. Then you would indicate (on paper or through a documentation tool) that the port is connected, for example, to a switch port that has the same mac address as the device on the patch panel. You’ve probably said to yourself many times “since the mac address is the same, why can’t this linkage be documented automatically”.
Associating a device port with a network port
With device42, you can do exactly that. If you have run the device42 auto-discovery tool (or imported the switch port/mac address associations via API’s or via the Import tool, all you have to do is to assign the mac address to the patch panel port. The system knows from auto-discovery (or APIs or Imports) which switch port has the mac address you just associated with the patch panel port and makes that association for you automatically.
Easy data entry with RESTful APIs
A second time-saver is to populate the patch panel ports with connection info via API’s. Details are below:
Url: /api/1.0/patch_panel_ports/
Method: POST
Arguments:
patch_panel_id : This is the ID of the patch panel you are working on and is a required parameter. It can be obtained via GET call to /api/1.0/assets/
number: This is the port number for the patch panel and is a required paramter.
Additionally, you will need at least one of the following parameters specifying which device (optionally with mac id), switch port, or other patch panel port this patch_panel_id is connected to:
1. mac_id, device_id or device (processed in that order). If you enter mac_id which is available from GET call to /api/1.0/macs, you don’t need device_id. The device_id association would be made automatically. Alternatively, you can enter device_id or device (as device name).
2. switchport_id : ID for the switch port. Available via GET to /api/1.0/switchports/
3. patch_panel_port_id : The ID for the patch panel port. This can be obtained via GET call to /api/1.0/patch_panel_ports/<patch_panel_id> . The patch panel id can be obtained via GET call to /api/1.0/assets/.
