Q&A – Cisco External

Cisco Plug and Play Connect FAQ

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 Getting Started
Get the Cisco Plug and Play Connect Training document.
A. Cisco Plug and Play (PnP) Connect, a component of the Cisco Network Plug and Play solution, is a
cloud-based service that provides a discovery mechanism for a network device to discover it’s on premise
APIC-EM (PnP-Server) controller. It can also be used for configuration provisioning of devices directly
without the use of APIC-EM.* (See PnP terms at the end of this document.)
Q. What is Cisco Plug and Play Connect?

Q. What is a Smart Account and how do I sign up for one?

A. A Cisco Customer Smart Account is a new way to manage your Cisco assets. A Smart Account provides
your company with a central location where you can manage Cisco licenses across the entire
organization. Cisco Smart Accounts are required to use Cisco Plug and Play Connect.
1. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com).
2. In the lower right corner, choose “Request for new Smart Account” or “Request access to existing
Smart Account.” Follow the prompts.

Q. How do I order a Plug and Play device?

A. The Plug and Play enabled device can be order through Cisco Commerce Workspace (CCW), facilitating
automatic registration of the serial numbers, Product Type and PIDs of PnP enabled purchased devices.
1. While placing your order through CCW, Make sure to select order item “Network PnP license”.
Note: The selection of the PnP license option will trigger the requirement to assign a Smart
Account at the device level.

Using Plug and Play

Q. How do I log into Plug and Play, and Device Manager?
A. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com).
1. Choose the “Plug and Play Connect” link in the middle of the page under Network Plug and Play.
2. Choose a Smart Account and Virtual Account in the top right hand corner of the page.
Device Landing Page:
All the devices associated with the Smart Account and Virtual Account will be displayed with the following
values:
• Serial Number
• Base PID (Base Product ID)
• Product Group
• Controller (if associated)
• Last Modified
• Status
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 • Actions
Note: Device details (if any) can be viewed by clicking on the device serial number.

Q. How do I add a PnP HW Device?

A. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com)
1. Choose the “Plug and Play Connect” link In the middle of the page under Network Plug and Play.
2. Choose a Smart Account and Virtual Account in the top right hand corner of the page.
3. Click on “+ Add Devices...”.
4. Select “Enter Device Manually” or Import using a .csv file.
5. Select “+Identified devices” if it is manual upload.
6. Add the Chassis Serial Number and PID.
7. Click “Save,” review and click “Submit.”
8. Confirm the new device record was created in the Smart Account.

Q. How do I edit a PnP device?

A. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com).
1. Choose the “Plug and Play Connect” link in the middle of the page under Network Plug and Play.
2. Choose a Smart Account and Virtual Account in the top right hand corner of the screen.
3. To edit a single device, click on the down arrow in the Actions tab and select “Edit.” Go to Step 5.
4. To edit multiple devices, select the check box corresponding to the devices within the same
Product group and click on “Edit Selected” button
5. After step 3 or 4, Choose the following pull down from “Select Device Property.”
6. Enter a description (default), Controller Profile.
7. Provide new input in the “Provide a value” field and click on the “Apply” button.
8. Repeat the same if both Description and Controller Profile have to be updated.
9. Click “Submit.”
Note: The latest modified or added device will be displayed first.

Q. How do I delete a Device from PnP?

A. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com )

1. Choose the “Plug and Play Connect” link in the middle of the page under Network Plug and Play.
2. Choose a Smart Account and Virtual Account in the top right hand corner of the screen.
3. To delete a single device, click on down arrow in the Actions tab and select “Delete.” Go to Step 5.
4. To delete multiple devices select the check box of the devices.
5. Click on “Delete Selected” button.
6. Confirm by clicking on “Delete Selected Devices” button in the pop-up window.
7. A successful message will display confirming the device deletion.
Note: This is only a soft delete.
Confirm your device was removed from the Smart Account.
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 Q. How do I view the Device Log?

A. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com)

1. Choose the “Plug and Play Connect” link in the middle of the page under Network Plug and Play.
2. Choose a Smart Account and Virtual Account in the top right hand corner of the screen.
3. Click on the “Show Log…” button under Actions tab to view the logs generated for each action
performed on the device.
4. A new window Display Log showing all the logs generated for each action performed on the
device.

Working with Controller Profiles

Q. How do I add a Controller Profile?

A. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com)

1. Choose the “Plug and Play Connect” link in the middle of the page under Network Plug and Play.
2. Choose the link “Controller Profiles.”
3. Click “+Add a Profile.”
4. Choose a Controller Type: “PNP SERVER” or “VBOND” or “WLC” and click “Next.”
5. Provide the details in the mandatory fields with “*” as specified in watermarks.
6. SSL Certificate is mandatory only if “HTTPS” is selected. Click “Next.”
7. Review the page and click “Done.”
Note: Compatibility of controllers Profiles with Product Types
 VBOND - Routers with SDWAN images.
 PNP SERVER - Routers, Switches and NFVIS
 WLC - Access Points

Q. How do I edit a Controller Profile?

A. Go to Cisco Software Central (https://software.cisco.com)
1. Choose the “Plug and Play Connect” link in the middle of the page under Network Plug and Play.
1. Choose the link “Controller Profiles.”
2. Click “Edit Selected…” to edit the required details. Click “Next” to submit your changes.

Q. Which profile can I associate to my device?

A.
• PNP Server – All Switches, Routers and Access Points
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 • VBOND – Viptela Devices and Cisco Devices with SDWAN image
• WLC – Only devices of Access Points

Q. How many Vbonds can I create?

A. A user can create one Vbond profile per Virtual Account.

Q. I have On Premises and Cloud Vbond, can I use both of them?

A. The Default Vbond profile is considered the active profile and devices associated to the default Vbond
are visible in zPro server.

Q. How to differentiate OnPrem and Cloud Vbond profiles?

A. Click on the Vbond profile hyperlink.
A new pop up window displays with attribute “Deployment Type” showing whether the Vbond profile
is OnPrem or Cloud.

Troubleshooting
Q. Why don’t my devices sync with NTP servers?
A. The Firewall may block NTP traffic inbound from the internet. Unblock NTP on the firewall or use
internal NTP servers, e.g. time-pnp.cisco.com or pool.ntp.org.

Q. Why does the redirect fail even though my devices contact PnP Connect?
A. To troubleshoot a failed redirect try the following:
1. Click on the “Show Log” option for the device with errors.
2. Configure the device again if the error is due to Network/Environment.
3. If the issue persists reach out to Cisco Support.

Secure Device ID (SUDI) Details

Q. How do I look up Secure Device ID (SUDI) number on a device?
A. To locate a SUDI number, use the following steps:
1. Click on the device hyperlink. The Device Details popup window displays all the SUDI, Certificate,
IMEI and Board ID details associated with the device. (Locate a device in ordered from CCW with
VBond capability and blue link serial number.)
2. Click on the link to view the SUDI details.

Q. Why am I getting a SUDI missing alert?

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 A. If the SUDI details respective to the device are not displayed, then an alert is displayed. If you add the
SUDI details manually, the alert will be removed.

Q. What can I do if my SUDI details are not shown in the Device details?
A. Click on “Edit Devices” button and enter the SUDI details.

Q. Can I edit SUDI details?

A. You can only add or delete the SUDI serial number.

Q. The wrong SUDI is displayed, how can I correct the SUDI?

A. Select the device. Click on the “Edit Devices” button and delete the wrong SUDI, then add the correct
SUDI details.

Q. Can I add more SUDI details when the device is in “Redirect Success” status?
A. Yes SUDI details can be added and there will be no redirection required.

Certificate Serial Number

Q. Why don’t I see my Certificate Serial Number?
A. There are two possible reasons.
1. The device does not have a Certificate Serial Number.
2. The Certificate details are not retrieved to the application.
In both the cases, select the device, click on “Edit Devices” button and provide the Certificate
Serial Number.

Q. How can I add a Certificate Serial Number?

A. There are two methods to add a Certificate Serial Number.
1. While adding a new device, provide the Certificate details and complete the add devices flow.
2. For an existing device, click on the “Edit Devices” button. Click on the pencil icon in the
“Selected devices” grid to:
a. Provide the Certificate Serial Number for an existing SUDI, double click on “—” in the
Certificate Serial Number column and provide the details.
b. Add a Certificate Serial Number along with the SUDI.

Q. Can I edit my Certificate Serial Number?

A. Yes, click on “Edit Devices” button:
a. To edit the device Certificate details, click on “Certificate Serial Number” in the “Selected” grid.

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 b. To edit the SUDI Certificate details, click on pencil icon and double click on the Certificate Serial
Number.

Q. Can I add a Certificate Serial Number when the device is in “Redirect Success” status?
A. Yes Certificate details can be added and there will be no redirection required.

Plug and Play Terms

Terms / Acronyms Description

PnP Plug and Play acronym
APIC-EM Application Policy Infrastructure Controller – Enterprise Module
Cisco software that delivers software-defined networking to the enterprise
branch, campus, wireless, and Wide Area Network (WAN).
SA A Customer Smart Account is a data repository providing visibility and access
control to Cisco software licenses, entitlements, and product instances across
the company. A Partner Holding Account is used by Partners to manage orders
and order lines temporarily until a Customer Smart Account is assigned.
VA Virtual Accounts are sub-folders within a Smart Account used to organize and
manage software assets in a Customer Smart Account, or orders in a Partner
Smart Account, according to a structure based on the company’s business
needs.
NTP Server Network Time Protocol Server: used to synchronize the clocks of computers to
a time reference.

Network ID Equivalent to OverylayID in Viptela. Auto-Generated when a profile is present

in Plug-and-Play. Can be edited only when no profiles exist in a Virtual account.

Organization name Attribute which used to tie all the controllers together. Organization Name is
associated to a Bond controller in Plug-and-Play portal.
PID Product Identification Number
Bond Controller Represent the Bond IP or Domain Name. Only IPv4 Supported today.
Secure Device ID Secure Unique Device Identity - Secure Board ID which is used to validate
(SUDI) anti-tampered devices.
Certificate Serial Secure Board ID serial number used in Viptela products. Used for
Number authenticating devices in zPro.
SD-WAN Software-Defined Wide-Area Network connects organization’s data centers,
branch offices and cloud environments.
NFVIS Network Function Virtualization Infrastructure Software – a Linux-based
infrastructure software designed to dynamically deploy virtualized network
functions, such as firewall and WAN acceleration.
Vbond Viptela Controller
vEdge Viptela Devices
zProv Viptela Configuration server
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 WLC Wireless LAN Controller
CSV Comma Separated Value
SSL Secure Socket Layer

Basic Functionalities
Q. How can I add a software device?
A. In the Devices tab click on the “+ Add Software Devices…” button and provide the PID and number of
devices to be added.

Q. How can I add a Virtual Router?

A. Virtual Router is a software device, follow the steps for adding “Software devices” flow.

Q. Can I delete a configured device?

A. Yes, you can delete the device.

Q. Can I move my device from one Virtual Account to another Virtual Account?
A. To move a device, delete it in the current Virtual Account and add it in the target Virtual Account. Be
aware you will lose existing the log for the device due to the deletion.

VEdge Devices
Q. How do I add a hardware vEdge device?
A. The method is the same for all hardware devices.

Q. How do I add a software vEdge device?

A. The method is the same for all software devices.

Q. Why is a Network ID required?

A. A Network ID is the overlay name (unique identifier) to identify the devices mapping zProv.

Q. Who can provide a Network ID?

A. The Network ID is auto-generated when a Vbond profile is created for the Virtual Account. For a user
specific network ID, reach out to Cisco Support.

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 Q. Can I edit my Network ID?
A. Contact Cisco Support for editing a Network ID.
Note: A Network ID can be edited only if the Vbond profile does not exist in the Virtual Account.

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