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Software Configuration Guide—Release 12.2(25)EWA
OL-7659-03
Chapter 9 Configuring Switches with Web-Based Tools
Configuring and Using the Network Assistant
• Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) version 2 is enabled (the default) - if you want the device to be
autodiscovered.
• It has HTTP (or HTTPS) enabled.
Note A cluster member can be added to a community, but the reverse is not possible.
If the cluster commander is added to a community, the other member devices of the cluster are
not added automatically. The cluster members must be added to the community on an individual
basis in order to be managed.
Automatic Discovery of Candidates and Members
Network Assistant forms a community using CDP to locate or discover all the available devices in the
network. Beginning with the IP address for a starting device and the port numbers for HTTP (or HTTPS)
protocols, Network Assistant uses CDP to compile a list of community candidates that neighbor the
starting device. Network Assistant can discover candidate and member devices across multiple networks
and VLANs as long as they have valid IP addresses.
Note By default, Network Assistant in community mode discovers up to 4 hops away.
See the “Candidate and Member Characteristics” section on page 9-8 for a list of requirements that
network devices must meet in order to be discovered.
Note Do not disable CDP on candidates, members, or on any network devices that you might want Network
Assistant to discover.
Note PIX firewalls do not support the CDP, so they are not automatically shown as neighbors in the Topology
view. They are shown only after you add them to a community with the Create Community or Modify
Community window. To see a PIX firewall link to another community member, you must add the link
manually by selecting ADD Link in a Topology popup menu.
You can edit the list of discovered devices to fit your needs and add them to the community. As each
device is added to the community, its neighbors are discovered and added to the list of candidate devices.
If Network Assistant fails to discover a device you can add it manually via the IP management IP
address.
Community Names
When you apply the community configuration information to the list of member devices, Network
Assistant requests that you enter a name (or IP address) for the community. You need to assign a name
to the community before you can manage it. Network Assistant saves the name to your PC.
The community name can consist of the characters 0-9, a-z and A-Z, with spaces allowed between the
characters.