Getting Started

1. Last updated
Sep 15, 2021
2.

Welcome to Cisco Meraki! This guide will walk you through how to get started in the Meraki dashboard, the
centralized cloud management platform for all Meraki devices and services. It is intended for network
administrators who will be monitoring and managing Meraki products.

Getting Started Checklist 

As opposed to traditional hardware that requires physical access to be configured, you can configure
everything before you even have your devices, thanks to the Meraki cloud. Meraki devices get their
configuration settings from the Meraki cloud, which means the only prerequisite to getting a device up and
running is an uplink connection on the device itself. As long as your device can get to the internet and has the
appropriate firewall rules configured, as outlined in our article, Upstream Firewall Rules for Cloud
Connectivity, your device will be able to contact the Meraki cloud and report on its performance, as well as
check for and download its latest configuration.

All of your configuration settings can be set up in the dashboard, either before you have the
device or after. There is a tremendous amount of flexibility with the initial setup for a Meraki deployment.
Here's a list of the things you'll need to set up for your first devices and networks while following this
document:

 A Meraki dashboard account and organization: you'll create an organization at the

same time you create your account
 An order number for a Meraki purchase or the serial numbers of your devices
 An idea of what you want to do with your devices and how to group them
 An uplink to the internet for your devices with valid firewall rules configured so
they can talk to the Meraki cloud

That's all you need to get started with Meraki! Before moving into creating a dashboard account, let's address
some terminology that will come up throughout documentation and the dashboard itself.

Introduction to the Meraki Cloud and Dashboard

The Meraki cloud is the backbone of the highly available, secure, and efficient Meraki solution, enabling
instant onboarding access to all features inside the Meraki dashboard. It is comprised of highly reliable
servers at various data centers around the world. The Meraki dashboard itself is a centralized, web browser-
based tool used to monitor and configure Meraki devices and services. A dashboard account is what you use
to log in to the dashboard in order to manage and configure your organizations, networks, and devices.

It is important to note that "organization" and "network" in this sense are from the perspective of the
dashboard. In the Meraki dashboard, an "organization" is a logical container for Meraki networks managed by
one or more accounts. A dashboard "network," on the other hand, is a logical container for a set of centrally
managed Meraki devices and services. Devices go in a network, networks go in an organization,  and
organizations are managed by user accounts from the Meraki dashboard. All of this information, as well as
device configuration settings, is stored in the Meraki cloud.

We highly recommend the Meraki Cloud Architecture article for additional information regarding the Meraki
cloud and how devices communicate with it.

Creating a Dashboard Account
In order to begin, you'll first need to create an account in the Meraki dashboard, if you don't have one already.
For more information about how the dashboard is organized, please refer to our documentation on the Meraki
Dashboard Organizational Structure.

1. Navigate to https://dashboard.meraki.com.
2. Select Create an account.
3. Select the region your Meraki dashboard account and organization will reside in.
All data related to your dashboard organization will reside on servers in the selected
region. Ensure that this is accurate, as it cannot be changed later.
4. Provide the requested information.
o Email - The email address that will be used to log in to the dashboard, and
for administrator communication.
o Full Name - The name that will be displayed for your account in logs,
selection fields, and when contacting Meraki Support.
o Password - Passwords must be at least 8 characters long. We recommend
using a mix of lower- and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
o Company - The name of your company or organization; e.g., Cisco
Systems, Inc.
o Address - (optional) An address that can be used as the default for network
locations and maps within the dashboard.
5. Select Create account at the bottom of the page. 
 

Congratulations! You've successfully created a Meraki dashboard account and organization. In the above
example, we created the organization "Colonel Panic, Inc." under the dashboard account
"[email protected]" - note that in reality, a valid email address is required when making the
account. Before continuing, check your email and interact with the confirmation link to verify your account.
You will be unable to access the newly created dashboard organization or log in to your account until
the email address is verified.

Creating a Network
Now that you have a Meraki dashboard account and organization, it's time to create a network. Networks are
used to contain devices and their configurations. It's common practice to create a device network for each
physical location. For example:
  NYC - wireless and security appliances
 SF - switches, cameras, wireless and security appliances

To create a hardware or device network:

1. Log in to https://dashboard.meraki.com using the account created earlier.

2. From the prompt window, choose Register Meraki devices and select Next.

Note: If you do not see this prompt in your Meraki dashboard, navigate to Organization > Configure >
Create network in the left-side pane instead.

3. Provide the requested information to create the network and register the devices on-
hand.
o Name - The name that will be used to identify this network in the Meraki
dashboard, e.g., "NYC - Wireless" or "SF Office"
o Network type - Choose which type of Meraki device(s) will be managed in
this network. Note: This drop-down is not shown unless you are creating the
network through the Organization > Configure > Create network page. If
you used the prompt shown above, the created network will automatically be
the correct type for the device(s) added. If two or more device types are
added, the network will be created as a Combined network.
 Wireless - Wireless access points (MR series)
  Security appliance - Security appliance (MX series) or teleworker
gateway (Z Series); please note only one of these devices can exist
per network
 Gateway - Cellular Gateway (MG series)
 Switch - Access and aggregation switches (MS series)
 Camera - Security cameras (MV series)
 Combined hardware - These networks can contain a mix of any (or
all) of the above devices; please note that the limit of one MX or Z-
series device still applies
o Devices (optional) - If you have an order number or device serial number on
hand, it can be added here, otherwise, refer to the Adding Devices and
Licenses section once this information is available. Adding a device at this
stage will allow you to add it directly to the network.
 Enter an order number (e.g. 5S######) or device serial number(s)
(e.g. Qxxx-xxxx-xxxx) in the box next to the blue Claim button, one
per line. 
 Select Claim.
 Tick the checkbox next to any desired devices and they will be added
to the network once created.
 4. Choose Create network. 

With that, you've successfully created a Meraki dashboard device or hardware network. This is where you'll
be able to configure and manage your Cisco Meraki devices; look in the left-side panel to access your newly
created network. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of combined networks and how to
combine networks after creation, please refer to our Combined Dashboard Networks article.

Creating a Systems Manager Network

To create a Systems Manager network for endpoint management, a slightly different process is followed.

1. Log in to https://dashboard.meraki.com using the account created earlier.

2. From the prompt window, choose Set up Systems Manager and select Next.

  

Note: If you do not see this prompt in your Meraki dashboard, navigate to Organization > Configure >
Create network in the left-side pane instead.

3. Give the network a name, for example, "Company Phones." If the page has a drop-
down for Network type, select EMM (Systems Manager).
4. Review the page, then select Create network at the bottom of the screen.
Once complete, you've successfully created a Meraki Systems Manager network. This is where you can
configure profiles, payloads, applications, and many other features for endpoint management. This network
type can be combined with hardware networks if desired, but is generally kept separate for ease of
administration. Endpoint management is rarely tied to a single location, so having a standalone network for all
managed endpoints is a common practice. For an overview of common questions and additional links to
getting started, please consult our Systems Manager FAQ article.

Adding Devices and Licenses

While a network can be configured without any devices in it, devices need to be added to a network to
download their configuration. You'll also need to add the licenses for those devices. This can easily be done in
one step using the order number associated with your devices and licenses.

1. Within the Meraki dashboard, navigate to Organization >

Configure > Inventory using the left-side navigation bar.
2. In the box next to the blue Claim button, enter order numbers, one per line.
o If this box does not appear, devices were added already. Select Claim in the
upper right corner of the page to bring up the dialog.
o If an order number is not available, serial numbers for devices can be
entered instead, one per line. We advise entering order numbers when
possible, as this will also claim any corresponding licenses that were part of
the order, as opposed to needing to add them manually.
3. Choose Claim. 

At this point, a list of devices should appear in the inventory. These devices can then be added to networks,
like the one created earlier.

1. Tick the checkbox next to any devices that should be added to the network.
 2. Select Add to above the inventory list.
3. Under Existing network, choose the network that was created earlier.
4. Select Add to existing. 

Note: Remember that only a single MX or Z-series device can be contained in a given network, unless a
secondary MX is to be used as a warm spare. To configure two MX appliances for warm spare functionality,
follow these instructions to add the first MX appliance, then refer to our documentation on the
MX Warm Spare feature for more info.

Once this step is complete, the device(s) selected will now be located in the network and are ready to be
configured. 

Manually Adding Licenses

If the order number associated with a license is not known, or the license was ordered separately from the
devices, it may be necessary to add a license manually. This license key should have been received via email
from [email protected] or your authorized Meraki distributor.

1. Within the Meraki dashboard, navigate to Organization > Configure > License

info.
2. Select the link to Add another license.
3. For the Operation, choose "License more devices."
4. Enter the License key in the box provided. Enter the key exactly as provided,
including dashes. License keys are provided in the format Zxxx-xxxx-xxxx.
5. Choose Add license.
 

6. On the following page, confirm the accuracy of the details shown; if everything
looks correct, select Add license.

The license key will now be added to the organization. If additional licenses need to be added, repeat the steps
above. For more information about license management and guidelines, please consult our article. Cisco
Meraki Licensing Guidelines and Limitations.

Device Setup
If you have Meraki devices in-hand that have not yet been installed, please refer to our quick-start guides for
first-time setup. These will provide information about mounting and initial configuration. 

 MR series access points

 MS series switches
 MX series security appliances
 MG Cellular Gateway
 Z series teleworker gateways
 MV series smart cameras

Once the device is installed and online, it is ready to communicate with the dashboard to download available
firmware updates and initial configuration.
For information about setting up Systems Manager—Meraki's endpoint management platform—please refer
to our article, Systems Manager Quick Start.

Next Steps
If you've been following along with this document - congratulations! You've successfully created your
dashboard account and dashboard organization, the first dashboard network contained in that organization,
and have added your first device(s) to that network. You've also added the appropriate licensing to your
organization. At this point, you're ready to start configuring and setting up your devices. This section will help
direct you toward the right documentation to keep moving forward - and if you have questions that aren't
answered in the below articles, check out our documentation library.

Configuring a Network
To begin configuring your network, navigate to the desired configuration options in the Meraki dashboard and
make your changes. Once your devices are online, they will automatically download their latest
configuration within one to two minutes after saving the changes in the dashboard. For more information
about the configuration options available for each type of Meraki device, refer to the respective product
manuals below. 

 MR series access points

 MS series switches
 MX series security appliances
 MG Cellular Gateway
 MV series smart cameras
 Z series teleworker gateways
 Systems Manager (SM) - Meraki's endpoint management solution
 Meraki Insight (MI) - performance monitoring of web applications and WAN links
(requires an MX security appliance and additional licensing)

Using the Local Status Page

Meraki MX/MR/MS series devices have a local status page that can be accessed to perform limited local
configuration changes, monitor device status and utilization, and perform simple local troubleshooting. This
page is useful when initially deploying new devices, as it allows for IP assignment on the device as well as
basic status information during first-time setup. A breakdown of the options on the local status page for each
of these devices, as well as how to access them, can be found in our Using the Cisco Meraki Device Local
Status Page article.

Adding and Managing Administrators

Now that you have an organization with a network and devices, we recommend that you add at least one other
administrator. This provides redundancy in the event one administrator is locked out due to failed password
attempts or is otherwise unable to access the Meraki dashboard. Details on adding additional administrators
and the various permissions and roles they can have are covered in our Managing Dashboard
Administrators and Permissions article.
Recommended Reading and Additional
Resources
The following list of articles will help to further your knowledge regarding the Meraki dashboard and how
things work. We recommend these articles so you can leverage the full functionality and features of the
Meraki dashboard and your devices.

 Best Practices for Meraki Firmware - Meraki has always prided itself on delivering
powerful networking and IT solutions in a simple, easy-to-manage fashion. This
extends to firmware management on Meraki devices.
 Licensing FAQ - This article answers common questions regarding Meraki
licensing and supplements the guidelines and limitations article linked earlier in this
document.
 Cisco Meraki Dashboard API - The Meraki dashboard API is an interface for
software to interact directly with the Meraki cloud platform and Meraki-managed
devices. The API contains a set of tools known as endpoints for building software
and applications that communicate with the Meraki dashboard for use cases such as
provisioning, bulk configuration changes, monitoring, and role-based access
controls.
 Managing Multiple Networks with Configuration Templates - Configuration
templates allow many Meraki devices to be deployed using a single base
configuration. This makes it much easier to roll out new sites/users and maintain
consistency across each site's configuration. It is most useful in cases where a large
number of sites exist that share a common network design.