Documentation forNetwork Performance Monitor

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN — cEdge devices

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN uses two edge platforms:

  • vEdge – Runs the original Viptela OS and was Cisco’s first SD‑WAN edge platform. vEdge devices are now end of sale, end of life, and considered legacy. See Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN — vEdge devices.

  • cEdge – Runs Cisco IOS XE SD‑WAN (Cisco Catalyst SD‑WAN) and is delivered on standard Cisco routing platforms.

When you enable SD-WAN monitoring on your Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN orchestrators, you can monitor orchestrators, edge devices, and their interfaces polled via API. You can use alerts and reports relevant to SD-WAN monitoring.

SD-WAN setup and monitoring steps

Before you begin

Review what data you can monitor for individual entities and the API rate limits that may affect polling.

API rate limits

  • Each orchestrator is limited to 100 requests/second.

  • By default, SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted polling is limited to 50 requests/second. For details, see API polling limit was exceeded.

Polling options for edge devices

SNMP+API (mixed polling)

This method was used in earlier versions.

Uses the orchestrator API to collect SD-WAN data, such as tunnel details, and SNMP to collect edge device and interface details.

Use this method if SNMP is configured on edge devices.

API-only polling

Uses orchestrator API to poll all available metrics, including data previously collected via SNMP.

Use this method if SNMP is not configured.

Polled metrics

Metrics for entities (API/SNMP) Polled metrics
SD-WAN metrics (API)
  • Orchestrator inventory and status
  • General edge device information
  • Edge device uplinks (WAN interfaces)
  • VPN tunnels
  • VPN tunnel metrics

VPN tunnel names are created as follows:

{Source Interface Name} → {Peer System IP / Device ID}:{Peer Interface IP}

API-only metrics for edge devices
  • Device details information (name, model, contact, location, MAC addresses etc.)
  • Device status and response time
  • CPU/Memory information
  • IP addresses
  • Hardware information (manufacturer, model, service tag)

API-only metrics for edge interfaces
  • General interface information (name, type, speed, MTU, mode etc.)
  • Interface status
  • Traffic data (packets/bytes sent/received)

SNMP-polled metrics for nodes (SNMP+API)
  • Details via Device Studio ​
  • ICMP and SNMP Status and response time​
  • SNMP uptime​

SNMP-polled metrics for interfaces (SNMP+API)
  • Details
  • Status / availability
  • Errors & discards
  • Traffic
  • Percent utilization (regular and real time)​

Add new SD-WAN devices for monitoring

To monitor SD-WAN, add the orchestrator as a node, and then add edge devices.

Each monitored edge consumes one node license.

Add an orchestrator

  1. Log in to the SolarWinds Platform Web Console as an administrator.

  2. Click Settings > Manage Nodes, and then click Add a Node.

  3. Provide the orchestrator hostname or IP address.

  4. In Polling Method, select Orchestrators: API.

  5. Under Orchestrators, select Viptela Devices.

  6. Type your credentials into Username and Password fields and test the credentials.

    Certificate note

    Cisco vManage may use a self‑signed certificate by default. You can accept the certificate, but SolarWinds recommends installing a certificate signed by a trusted CA.

  7. Review and adjust the device properties, credentials, proxy settings, and polling intervals.

  8. (Optional): Configure custom properties and alert thresholds.

  9. Click OK, Add Node.

The added device is now monitored as an SD-WAN orchestrator. Add connected devices to complete the SD-WAN configuration.

Add devices connected to the orchestrator

When you have added the orchestrator for monitoring, add the edge devices you want to monitor.

  1. In SolarWinds Platform Web Console, click Settings > Manage Nodes.

  2. On the Manage Nodes view, click the orchestrator node you added.

  3. On the SD-WAN Orchestrator Details view, click Discover Viptela Devices in the Management widget.

  4. On Select How To Monitor Edge Devices, select a monitoring method and click Continue. See SNMP or API-based monitoring for Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN orchestrators (formerly Viptela) for details.

    • Use a combination of SNMP and API polling
    • Use API polling only

    If you are on an earlier version, select what you want to monitor on the devices.

    • vEdge
    • cEdge
    • vSmart
  5. If you selected Use combination of SNMP and API, complete the following steps.

    1. In Network Sonar Discovery, review the hostnames and IP addresses received from the orchestrator. Include only the devices you want to monitor and click Next.

    2. On SNMP, verify that SNMP credentials for the devices are listed and click Next. If appropriate credentials are not listed, click Add New Credential, and define a new set.

  6. If you selected Use API only polling, review the selected orchestrator.

  7. Complete the discovery wizard.

  8. Discovered devices are listed in the Network Sonar Results wizard. Complete the wizard to add the devices for monitoring.

When you finish the wizard, go to the SD-WAN Orchestrator Details page (Settings > Manage Nodes > click the orchestrator node). After the next poll, the page will display data not only for the orchestrator, but also for monitored edge devices.

Configure SD-WAN monitoring on edge devices already monitored with SolarWinds Platform

If you monitored SD-WAN edge devices in a previous version using SNMP and upgraded to SolarWinds Observability Self-Hosted, add the orchestrator to automatically pair the devices with the orchestrator.

View SD-WAN data for your environment

When SD-WAN monitoring is enabled, selecting the orchestrator opens the SD-WAN Orchestrator Summary view.

Available widgets include:

  • Edge Devices

  • Orchestrator Inventory

  • SD-WAN Map

  • Top Tunnels

  • VPN Connections

  • VPN Tunnels

  • WAN UpLinks