Find and review differences between baselines and network configs

If you have assigned baselines to devices, NCM compares baselines to the associated configs and reports any differences. When NCM runs the comparison, it compares baselines to the most recently downloaded configs of the specified type.

• When does NCM compare baselines and configs?
• Manually run a comparison
• Enable or disable comparison to a baseline
• Find devices whose configs do not match the baseline
• Find baselines with mismatched configs
• Review differences between baselines and configs

When does NCM compare baselines and configs?

NCM automatically compares baselines and configs when:

• A config is downloaded from a device
• A baseline is assigned to a device

NCM does not automatically compare baselines and configs when:

• Comparison criteria are added or updated
• A config is removed from a device
• A baseline's content or ignored lines are edited

If you make these changes, you can manually run a comparison.

Manually run a comparison

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Configuration Management.
2. Click the Baseline Management tab.

3. Select one or more baselines.

   • Select the check box above the list to select all baselines on the current page.
   • Updating a large number of baselines can affect performance.

4. Click Update.

   NCM compares the baselines to the most recently downloaded configs from the associated devices.

Enable or disable comparison to a baseline

When a baseline is disabled, NCM does not compare configs to it.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Configuration Management.
2. Click the Baseline Management tab, and select one or more baselines.

3. Click Enable or Disable.

   Disabled baseline names are shown in pale text on the Baseline Management tab.

   

Find devices whose configs do not match the baseline

The Configuration Management tab identifies devices with one or more configs that do not match the baseline. You can click through to review the differences.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Configuration Management.

   The Configuration Management tab lists each device, and the Baselines column displays a status:

   Status	Description
   Mismatched lines	One or more baselines assigned to this device do not match the latest downloaded config of the corresponding type.
   No issues	All baselines assigned to this device match the latest downloaded configs.
   No configs	No configs have been downloaded from this device.
   No baseline set	No baselines have been assigned to this device.
   Updating	NCM is comparing the configs to the baselines.
   Error	An error occurred during the comparison. See the Error details and Suggested action columns for information about the issue. For more information, review the NcmBusinessLayerPlugin.log. The default location is: c:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\Logs\Orion\NcmBusinessLayerPlugin.log

2. If a device's status is Mismatched lines, hover over the status message to see which config does not match the baseline.

   In the following example, the device's startup config matches the baseline but the running config does not match.

   

3. Click the baseline name to review the differences in the Baseline Diff viewer.

Find baselines with mismatched configs

The Baseline Management tab identifies baselines with one or more mismatched configs. You can click through to review the differences.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Configuration Management.

2. Click the Baseline Management tab.

   The Baseline Management tab lists all baselines, with the following status information.

   Status	Description
   Mismatched lines	This baseline does not match at least one of the corresponding configs on an associated device.
   No issues	This baseline matches the corresponding configs on all associated devices.
   (Empty)	This baseline is not assigned to any devices, or no configs have been downloaded from the associated devices.
   Updating	NCM is comparing this baseline to the associated configs.
   Error	An error occurred during the comparison. Click Error to display more information.

3. If a baseline's status is Mismatched lines, click the status message to see which configs on which devices do not match the baseline.

   In the following example, a mismatch occurs on one device. The baseline matches the device's startup config but not the running config.

   

4. Click the Mismatched lines link in the dialog box to review the differences in the Baseline Diff viewer.

Review differences between baselines and configs

Locate mismatches by device or by baseline to view differences in the Baseline Diff viewer:

• Lines in the baseline that are missing from the config are highlighted on the baseline side, with a gray hash on the config side.

  

• Extra lines in the config are highlighted on the config side.

  

• Ignored lines have a gray background.

  

• For baseline snippets, the Baseline Diff viewer initially shows only the config lines that correspond to the baseline snippet. To view other lines in the config, click the + <number> unchanged line(s) link at the top or bottom of the viewer.

  

From the top of the viewer, you can:

• Click the baseline name at the top of the viewer to edit the baseline.

• Click the config name to display information about the device on the Node Details page.