GETTING STARTED
Before we dive in, let’s lay out some terminology and walk you through a couple of steps to help you get familiar with Auvik.
Global view The central area for managing your Auvik account. After you sign up, you’ll automatically be logged directly into your global view.
Site The location of the network you’re managing.
Site-level The area for monitoring and managing the network for a specific dashboard site. It’s set up this way to make it easy for you to add and manage multiple sites.
Multi-site A special kind of site for advanced deployments.
Collector A lightweight application that uses a number of protocols to gather information about a network, such as topology details, configurations, and network statistics. The collector summarizes and sends that information to the Auvik servers over an encrypted connection.
ADD YOUR FIRST AUVIK SITE
For your first Auvik site, you’ll see the First Site Setup wizard.
- Enter a site name that corresponds with one location that you’ll deploy Auvik to.
- Pick a site URL prefix with at least four characters. Only letters and numbers are allowed—no special characters.
- Click Add Site.
If this isn’t your first Auvik site, then follow these steps from your global view:
- Click Add Site (blue button on the All Sites page) to create a site.
- Pick a domain prefix (URL) that has at least four characters. Only letters and numbers are allowed—no special characters.
- Select Site as the type. Don’t select Multi-site for your first installation. This is an advanced option you can revisit later.
- Click Next. Here’s where you choose which Auvik users should have access to this site.
Beside each user name, you'll also see the level of permission a user has. To change a user’s permission level, select that person then use the Roles drop-down menu to pick a new level.
- Click Save. Your site has now been created.
LAUNCH THE COLLECTOR SETUP WIZARD
Once you’ve added a new site, Auvik will automatically redirect you to the deployment wizard, as you’re now ready to install your first collector.
You’ll see a few options for downloading your Auvik collector but we highly recommend using the Windows service as your primary installer method, as it’s the fastest and easiest way to get Auvik running.
If you can’t or don’t want to use the Windows service to deploy Auvik, you have other deployment options to choose from, as outlined on page 8.
DEPLOY AUVIK USING THE WINDOWS SERVICE
(recommended)
WHAT IS IT?
The Windows installer is a three-step application that installs Auvik’s Windows service. It can run on any server or workstation with network connectivity. It’s the easiest Auvik deployment method.
DEPLOYMENT PROCESS
Click Install Windows service on the deployment wizard screen to see the detailed instructions for installing Auvik with the Windows service.
Here’s how to install the Auvik collector:
- Click Download Windows Installer to download the AuvikInstaller.exe file.
- Click Save File to finish the installer download.
- Open your downloads folder from your browser, or navigate to your downloads folder. This is usually something like...
C:\Users\<username>\Downloads
- Double-click on the Auvik installer file.
- You may see a prompt asking to allow the Auvik installer to make changes to the device. Click Yes.
- Depending on your Windows Defender Firewall settings (or your third-party Windows firewall), you may see a prompt requesting to allow the Auvik installer access to private and public networks. Select both, and click Allow access.
- Enter your email address—the same one you used to sign up for your Auvik account.
- Enter the API key that’s displayed on the collector setup wizard by clicking the Copy icon in the collector setup wizard and pasting the key into the Auvik installer.
You can quickly confirm the collector is properly connected and approved by navigating to Auvik Collectors on the side navigation bar. There you’ll find the collector’s unique ID and IP address. You should see Connected and Approved in green.
- Enter the site URL prefix you selected in the first site setup wizard. You can validate this site prefix by reviewing the URL.
- Click Authenticate.
- Click Confirm to use the default installation folder of C:\Auvik. Alternatively, you can select a different folder through the drop-down, then click Confirm.
That’s it! Now go back to the dashboard for this site in Auvik. Once the collector is connected, you’ll be automatically redirected to your Auvik site-level dashboard.
If you get stuck, click the Support icon in the bottom right of your screen. Our team will be happy to help you get the collector installed.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
- Windows installer: Installing the Windows collector using the Windows installer
DEPLOY AUVIK USING AN ADVANCED DEPLOYMENT METHOD
Since this is a quick start guide, we’ll give you some references for the advanced deployments, but won’t walk through all the steps.
WINDOWS COMMAND LINE INSTALLER
The Windows command line installer is a simple Windows service that enables you to install the collector from the command line, rather than the Auvik installer.
Detailed instructions: How to install the Auvik collector using the Windows command line
OVA INSTALLER
The OVA installer is an OVA file you download and install on a VMWare ESX / ESXi host. Download the OVA, import into vCenter, and you’re good to go.
Detailed instructions: How to install the Auvik collector using the OVA file
BASH INSTALLER
The bash installer is a script that installs Auvik on top of a stripped-down Ubuntu server. The server can be a physical or virtual server, but note that Auvik requires an x86-based processor.
This deployment method does take a bit longer—you should plan for 30 to 60 minutes. And make sure you use the exact Ubuntu server revision mentioned in the instructions.
Detailed instructions: How to install the Auvik collector from a bash script
SHARED COLLECTOR
A shared collector is an Auvik collector installed in a central location (such as your data center) and shared with various sites. It’s recommended for managing multiple small networks where you have Layer 3 connectivity to the site, for example, through a VPN.
You can also use a shared collector to get optimal performance when managing a large site (more than 1,000 users). It’s best to segment based on physical or logical attributes, like separate buildings at your campus or parts of the network that don’t share physical network infrastructure.
Detailed instructions: How do I manage my shared collector?
AUVIK DISCOVERY BEGINS
Auvik begins scanning on the subnet where the collector is installed, so those are the devices it will find first. On average, it takes about 15 minutes to fully discover a network but it does depend on the size of the network. While discovery is happening, consider doing these two things:
- Adding more users
You may want to add more users to Auvik and give them access to your dashboard.
- In the side navigation bar, click Manage Users. Invite any new users and set permission levels for their access to your Auvik dashboard.
See How do I manage invitations for new users? in the Auvik Knowledge Base for details.
- Add network device credentials
If you have SNMP credentials, login credentials, or VMware credentials for devices on your network, you may want to add those in now.
- In the side navigation bar, click Manage Credentials, then SNMP Credentials or Login Credentials.
- Click Add SNMP Credentials, or Add Login Credentials to continue adding them.
In the end, we want a network diagram of predominantly blue wires (showing Layer 1 to Inferred connectivity) rather than a diagram of all black wires (showing Inferred connections only).
THIS IS WHAT A GOOD AUVIK MAP LOOKS LIKE
Notice all the blue wires. The firewall sits between the internet and the rest of the network. The devices are properly identified and labeled.
THIS IS WHAT A MAP WITH PROBLEMS LOOKS LIKE
Quite a difference! The wires are black. Most devices are represented by a generic grey lightning bolt, which means they haven’t been identified.
A map like this means Auvik needs more information from you. Read through the deployment tips below for guidance.
LOOK FOR DISCOVERY TIPS
As discovery progresses you’ll see blue banners across the top of the page. These are discovery tips. Follow the prompts to add credentials, add networks to scan, and so on. This keeps the iterative discovery process moving.
TIPS FOR A SMOOTH AUVIK DISCOVERY
While Auvik is discovering your site’s network, you’ll want to start from the outside in. Start with the firewall, then switch infrastructure, followed by the access points, and finally endpoints, such as servers. As you’re configuring devices, here are a few things to check on or complete to ensure the resulting network map is as accurate as possible.
MAKE SURE SNMP IS ENABLED.
Auvik uses SNMP to collect performance statistics and get make and model information so we know what commands to send to the device. Enabling SNMP is also required for automated configuration backups.
Auvik supports SNMP v2c and v3. SNMPv3 is a slightly newer and more secure protocol, but is a little more complex to set up. If you’re not familiar with SNMP, we recommend you start with SNMPv2c.
You should always enable SNMP on all network devices before adding login credentials for those devices.
If your initial scan shows a lot of black wires or gray “generic” devices, chances are you need to add SNMP credentials into Auvik or enable SNMP on one or more devices. If you aren’t sure which devices need SNMP credentials added, Auvik lets you know during discovery by creating a new message in the blue banner across the top of the screen.
If you need to enable SNMP on network devices, log into the device’s GUI interface, navigate to the SNMP section, and configure the relevant settings. Alternatively, if the device only has a terminal interface, log in and run the vendor-specific commands to turn it on.
If you aren’t sure how to enable SNMP on a particular device, check Auvik’s Knowledge Base. We have a large and growing number of articles on how to enable SNMP for various vendors and devices: Device setup and configuration
Not all vendors provide all management information over SNMP. Some vendors use APIs and non-standard protocols to access device data. Check the Knowledge Base for your specific vendor to see if there are additional steps to complete.
- ENABLE SNMP ON WIRELESS CONTROLLERS AND STANDALONE APs
- Select SNMP
- Add the credentials for your device(s)
To pick up wireless connections to access points (APs), make sure wireless controllers or standalone APs have SNMP enabled. Wireless connections are drawn as blue dashed lines between APs and devices.
- ENABLE NETFLOW OR sFLOW
Auvik TrafficInsights uses flow data to provide an overview of network traffic, and lets you see who’s on the network, what they’re doing, and where their traffic is going. TrafficInsights currently supports NetFlow v5 and v9, IPFIX, J-Flow, and sFlow.
You’ll need to configure your network devices to send flow data to the Auvik collector. To find your collector’s IP address, click Auvik Collectors from the side navigation bar. If you aren’t sure how to enable flow data on a particular device, see Device configuration for Auvik TrafficInsights in Auvik’s Knowledge Base.
- ENABLE SYSLOG
Auvik’s syslog feature gives you more network context and allows you to get to the root cause of an issue faster by providing centralized access to device logs.
You’ll need to configure your network devices to send syslog to the Auvik collector. To find your collector’s IP address, click Auvik Collectors from the side navigation bar. If you aren’t sure how to enable syslog on a particular device, see Device configuration for Auvik syslog in Auvik’s Knowledge Base.
- MANAGE SNMP CREDENTIALS
Auvik automatically tries the default community strings of “public” and “private” on all devices for which it recognizes active SNMP. If the string is different, have it ready to input. Or, if you’re using SNMPv3, have the username, auth protocol, and passphrase credentials ready.
After Auvik’s initial scan, you can go to Discovery > Credentials > SNMP Credentials to see how many devices have successful SNMP credentials, how many devices are missing credentials, and how many devices are currently trying credentials. Click on any of the numbers for a list of the devices in that category.
You can add additional SNMP credentials by clicking on the Add SNMP Credentials button. We recommend leaving the Devices field blank so that Auvik tries that SNMP community string on any device that has SNMP enabled.
- MANAGE LOGIN CREDENTIALS
Login credentials are important for features such as the terminal and configuration backup and restore. Login credentials also pull route, ARP, and FDB data from switches, which can help with accurate discovery. While Auvik will use either SSH or Telnet, we do prefer SSH and will use that whenever possible. Only enable Telnet on older devices where SSH is not available.
There are four things that need to be in place before login credentials can be authenticated.
- The credentials for the user you add must have full access, rather than read-only access, on the account. (You should be able to execute commands such as “show running-config.” You can test this by going into the terminal and trying a few show commands.) You’ll also need to add the device’s CLI elevated “enable” credentials for Auvik to be able to run the necessary commands.
- SNMP must be enabled on the device, and the device must be properly classified in Auvik. If it’s not properly classified, you can change the Type field manually by editing device details through the Manage Devices menu.
- Telnet or SSH must also be enabled on the device.
- Auvik needs to be able to detect the service. The service status will show as a grey line instead of a circle with a line through it if the device is ready.
If the above four things are true, Auvik attempts to authenticate.
- MANAGE VMWARE CREDENTIALS
Have SNMP enabled on your VMware hypervisors? Great—you’re likely already being prompted for VMware credentials.
The credentials you add should be the VMware credentials for the hypervisor host itself, not for a guest or the vCenter server. Once your credentials are properly entered,
Auvik should show the hypervisor at the top and all hosts organized underneath it.
If you don’t have SNMP enabled on your VMware hosts, it’s easy to manually classify the host as a hypervisor. Search for the ESXi host IP address in Inventory > All Devices. Select the device name to open the device dashboard. Click Edit next to the device name and change the type field to Hypervisor.
- MANAGE WMI CREDENTIALS
Servers often have WMI turned on by default, but not workstations. If you’d like to monitor all Windows endpoints, you’ll want to turn on WMI through a group policy.
Here’s how to do it: How to enable WinRM with domain controller Group Policy for WMI monitoring
If you want WMI on just a few devices, follow these directions for enabling WMI on a single device: How to enable WMI monitoring on a single Windows device
Once you have WMI enabled, go to Discovery > Credentials > WMI Credentials to add a domain administrator or similar credential that has access to those servers.
- MANAGE API CLOUD CONTROLLERS
Have devices that are managed via a cloud controller such as Meraki or Datto? You’ll want to ensure that Auvik can talk to your cloud controller. Go to Discovery > Manage
Credentials > API Credentials to set up the integration.
Detailed instructions here: How do I edit API credentials?
- MANAGE NETWORKS
If there are multiple subnets at this site, Auvik has likely already found them. You can see the networks Auvik found under Discovery > Manage Networks. You’ll see some of the networks are awaiting approval.
Auvik can scan networks of nearly any size, but we recommend sticking to smaller subnet ranges. If you see networks that are /16 or larger, we recommend breaking the network into smaller /24 ranges to scan—provided that only a portion of the subnet is in use. If you must scan a larger subnet, keep in mind that discovery will take a bit longer, and may result in a map that’s a bit overwhelming.
Technically, you can scan public networks, but we don’t recommend it—so if that’s what you want to do, you’ll need to actively opt in by adding the network manually. Keep in mind that Auvik defines a public subnet as anything not in an RFC 1918 address name, so any internal network that uses a non-RFC 1918 range will have to be manually added as well.
If a network you want to scan is missing from the list, you can add it using the Add Network button. Remember to add the subnet mask in its CIDR format. Auvik then begins its scan.
- USE THE DEVICE TROUBLESHOOTING PAGES
If credentials don’t authorize properly, you can diagnose the issue using the device dashboard. The troubleshooting screens under Discovery > Troubleshooting on the device dashboard walk you through the steps to authorize devices.
For more details on how to use the troubleshooting pages for each discovery service that requires credential authentication, please see:
- Troubleshoot SNMP credentials
- Troubleshoot login credentials
- Troubleshoot WMI credentials
- Troubleshoot VMware credentials
- WHITELIST AUVIK’S IP ADDRESS ON YOUR FIREWALL OR PROXY
Has discovery not started yet? Are you not seeing anything on your Auvik dashboard? There could be a proxy blocking traffic. Revisit the collector install steps to configure Auvik to work with a proxy.
Users that have a proxy with SSL inspection will absolutely need to whitelist Auvik. If you’re unsure whether you have a proxy or how to whitelist on a proxy, please contact support@auvik.com.
- CHECK THE INTERNET CONNECTIONS DASHBOARD
Auvik discovers your internet connections automatically but if our discovery isn’t yet complete, you can configure them manually. From the home dashboard, look at the Internet Connections widget to make sure the interfaces listed are in fact associated with your internet-facing WAN connections.
If not, you can edit a connection, delete one entirely, or add a new internet connection through the Add Connection link within the widget.
From Inventory > Services > Internet Connection Check, also make sure the public IP address for the endpoint is correct and that when you click on the IP, the Packet Loss and Round Trip Time widgets are successfully polling data.
- TROUBLESHOOT MISSING DEVICES AND NETWORKS
If there’s a network missing from your map, it may be because that network is connected over a VPN or MPLS. See the point above on managing networks to get those networks added.
If you’re missing a device, try to ping it from the Auvik console. If that doesn’t work, use the Nmap command. If both results are negative, the device may be in stealth mode and blocking port scans. Make sure Auvik can use port scanning on that device.
Other known issues can be found in the Auvik Knowledge Base: Known issues
- TROUBLESHOOT MAPS WITH LOTS OF BLACK WIRES
We mentioned earlier that we want to see blue wires showing physical connections. Your map may already show lots of blue wires and very few black wires. If so, that’s great. But what if you’re still seeing a lot of black wires?
You probably need to enable SNMP on some of your network devices.
Here’s how to find devices that might need SNMP enabled.
- There are some special IP addresses that are often used for network devices. Check under Discovery > Manage Devices. Do you see any IP addresses ending in .1 or .254? These may be a firewall or router. Other IPs like .250 - .252 and .2 - .5 may be used as well.
- Auvik can often discover the make of a device before we fully manage it. Under the Discovery > Manage Devices, you’ll see make and model information. You can search for known network vendors like Cisco, Netgear, and Ubiquiti. You should see a green check mark beside all the network devices. If not, there’s more credential-adding work to do.
Alternatively, you can search the map for common vendors, such as Cisco. If a device from a known vendor is showing up on the map as a generic device, it might be a network element without SNMP enabled. Enable it.
3. If you’re not sure which devices are network gear, try using Auvik’s remote browser feature to see the web interface on a device. This often provides visual cues. Instructions here: How do I launch a remote browser connection?
Auvik also leverages discovery protocols like CDP and LLDP to discover physical connections. Review your switches and routers to confirm if they support CDP or LLDP and enable it if they do.
Find additional information at this link: Auvik Deployment Guide