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How To Automate Configuration Management Using Software

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3 views

How To Automate Configuration Management Using Software

Uploaded by

robertkwanya378
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to automate

configuration management
using software
Manual configuration management activities are often
error-prone, slow, and costly. Automation tools can
streamline network management operations by allowing
your network teams to execute multiple tasks from a
single interface. Automation tools can also strengthen
your overall network security by restricting unauthorized
access to sensitive configuration files or data through
access control.

Outlined below are some ways to automate configuration


management activities:

Robust network assessment: Automation tools can


perform device discovery to populate your network
inventory with crucial device details like IP address,
serial number, etc. This saves your IT staff from hours
of manual work compiling and storing device
information. Storing critical device data such as end-
of-life information allows your network administrators
to identify and replace damaged devices quickly,
helping avoid costly network downtime. Ultimately,
such tools streamline network assessment activities
with bulk data collection, analysis, reporting, and
visualization.
Easy configuration backup and restoration:
Network configuration backup means safely storing
critical network device information, so you can
quickly recover from network failure or disaster with
minimum service disruption. With network backup
software, instead of visiting network devices
individually to save their most recent configurations
or settings, you can schedule automated backups for
all of them. You can also organize backups in the
archive by applying filters such as device type and
quickly restore them in case of interruptions. Such
tools provide timely alerts for failed backup
schedules, allowing you to fix errors rapidly.
Real-time configuration change alerts for
improved security: The frequency of configuration
changes across dynamic networks is often high.
Continuous monitoring of such changes is crucial to
minimize their impact on other systems or processes.
With network automation tools, you can receive real-
time alerts or notifications of every change in your
network with details such as change time, persons
involved, etc. Real-time monitoring also ensures
every corrective action taken complies to your
internal and external policies.
Baseline configuration and drift management: A
baseline configuration is the most optimal setting of a
device. Applying baseline configurations to network
devices helps ensure they run without performance
issues. Network automation tools simplify baseline
configuration management by allowing
administrators to set up, view, and compare baseline
configurations with the current configuration of
devices. This makes tracking new changes in device
settings and reversing unauthorized alterations
simpler. Admins can also compare running and
startup configurations to identify unsaved changes.
Network vulnerability detection: Network
automation tools can scan firmware vulnerabilities in
your network devices and subsequently fix them via
upgrades. For example, you can detect common
vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) in iOS and Cisco
network devices and rectify them via patches and
updates using automation tools.

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