1. General
1.1 Extract the NED package
1.2 Install the NED package
1.2.1 Local install
1.2.2 System install
1.3 Configure the NED in NSO
2. Optional debug and trace setup
3. Dependencies
4. Sample device configuration
5. Built in live-status actions
6. Built in live-status show
7. Limitations
8. How to report NED issues
1. General
This document describes the cisco-ise NED.
Additional README files bundled with this NED package
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Name | Info |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| README-ned-settings.md | Information about all run time settings supported by this NED. |
+---------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Common NED Features
+---------------------------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Feature | Supported | Info |
+---------------------------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| netsim | yes | |
| | | |
| check-sync | no | |
| | | |
| partial-sync-from | no | |
| | | |
| live-status actions | no | |
| | | |
| live-status show | no | |
| | | |
| load-native-config | no | |
+---------------------------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
Verified target systems
+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Model | Version | OS | Info |
+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Cisco Identity Services | 3.2.0 | | |
| Engine for VMWare | | | |
+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+---------------------------------------------------+
1.1 Extract the NED package
It is assumed the NED package ncs-<NSO version>-cisco-ise-<NED version>.signed.bin has already
been downloaded from software.cisco.com.
In this instruction the following example settings will be used:
NSO version: 6.0
NED version: 1.0.1
NED package downloaded to: /tmp/ned-package-store
Extract the NED package and verify its signature:
> cd /tmp/ned-package-store
> chmod u+x ncs-6.0-cisco-ise-1.0.1.signed.bin
> ./ncs-6.0-cisco-ise-1.0.1.signed.bin
In case the signature can not be verified (for instance if no internet connection),
do as below instead:
admin@ncs(config)# devices device dev-1 sync-from
result true
If the sync-from was not successful, check the NED configuration again.
2. Optional debug and trace setup
It is often desirable to see details from when and how the NED interacts with the device(Example: troubleshooting)
This can be achieved by configuring NSO to generate a trace file for the NED. A trace file
contains information about all interactions with the device. Messages sent and received as well
as debug printouts, depending on the log level configured.
NSO creates one separate trace file for each device instance with tracing enabled.
Stored in the following location:
The log level 'info' is used by default and the 'debug' level is the most verbose.
IMPORTANT:
Tracing shall be used with caution. This feature does increase the number of IPC messages sent
between the NED and NSO. In some cases this can affect the performance in NSO. Hence, tracing should
normally be disabled in production systems.
An alternative method for generating printouts from the NED is to enable the Java logging mechanism.
This makes the NED print log messages to common NSO Java log file.
IMPORTANT:
Java logging does not use any IPC messages sent to NSO. Consequently, NSO performance is not
affected. However, all log printouts from all log enabled devices are saved in one single file.
This means that the usability is limited. Typically single device use cases etc.
3. Dependencies
This NED has the following host environment dependencies:
Java 1.8 (NSO version < 6.2)
Java 17 (NSO version >= 6.2)
Gnu Sed
Dependencies for NED recompile:
Apache Ant
Bash
Gnu Sort
Gnu awk
Grep
Python3 (with packages: re, sys, getopt, subprocess, argparse, os, glob)
4. Sample device configuration
4.1 Perform a sync-from
Perform a sync-from to get the configuration from the device:
admin@ncs#config
admin@ncs(config)#devices device dev-1
admin@ncs(config-device-dev-1)# sync-from
result true
When ned_test_policy_set_01 will be created on the device the Default authorization will be also created.
To avoid a diff in config between NSO and the device we create this Default configuration:
Since the device allows adding new policy sets only above the Default one the newly created entries need to be moved:
admin@ncs(config-config)# top move devices device dev-1 config ise policy network-access policy-set ned_test_policy_set_01 before Default
admin@ncs(config-config)# top move devices device dev-1 config ise policy network-access policy-set ned_test_policy_set_02 before Default
Commit:
admin@ncs(config-config)# commit
Commit complete.
4.2 Modify policy network-access policy-set
Modify the condition of the newly created 'ned_test_policy_set_02'. We will create a more complex condition with multiple children.
Please note that the name of the condition children is an integer and it must represent the position of the child within the list. For more details about this please see the Limitations section 7.5 from this document.
admin@ncs(config-policy-set-ned_test_policy_set_02)#no condition children 0
admin@ncs(config-policy-set-ned_test_policy_set_02)#condition children 0
conditionType ConditionOrBlock
isNegate false
children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Microsoft
attributeName MS-CHAP-CPW-1
operator equals
attributeValue 1243
exit
children 1
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName DEVICE
attributeName "Device Type"
operator equals
attributeValue "All Device Types"
exit
exit
admin@ncs(config-policy-set-ned_test_policy_set_02)# commit
Commit complete.
4.4 Create a cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set authorization
Define 'ned_test_authorization_pol_00' under the Default policy-set:
Please note that the name of the condition children is an integer and it must represent the position of the child within the list. For more details about this please see the Limitations section 7.5 from this document.
admin@ncs# config
admin@ncs(config)#devices device dev-1 config
admin@ncs(config-config)#cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set Default
authorization ned_test_authorization_pol_00
default false
state enabled
securityGroup Contractors
profile [ DenyAccess Non_Cisco_IP_Phones ]
condition conditionType ConditionAndBlock
condition isNegate false
condition children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Cisco-VPN3000
attributeName CVPN3000/ASA/PIX7x-IE-Proxy-Server
operator equals
attributeValue 192.168.3.4
exit
condition children 1
conditionType ConditionOrBlock
isNegate false
children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Cisco-VPN3000
attributeName CVPN3000/ASA/PIX7x-WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-Enable
operator equals
attributeValue 2134
exit
children 1
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Cisco-VPN3000
attributeName CVPN3000/ASA/PIX7x-WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-HTTP-Proxy
operator equals
attributeValue 2314
exit
exit
condition children 2
conditionType ConditionOrBlock
isNegate false
children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Cisco-VPN3000
attributeName CVPN3000/ASA/PIX7x-WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-HTTP-Proxy
operator equals
attributeValue 2131
exit
children 1
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Cisco-VPN3000
attributeName CVPN3000/ASA/PIX7x-User-Auth-Server-Port
operator equals
attributeValue 2314
exit
children 2
conditionType ConditionAndBlock
isNegate false
children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Radius
attributeName Login-LAT-Port
operator equals
attributeValue 231
exit
children 1
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Cisco-VPN3000
attributeName CVPN3000/ASA/PIX7x-User-Auth-Server-Port
operator equals
attributeValue 13
exit
children 2
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
dictionaryName Cisco-VPN3000
attributeName CVPN3000/ASA/PIX7x-WebVPN-Port-Forwarding-Enable
operator equals
attributeValue 21
exit
children 3
name Wireless_802.1X
conditionType ConditionReference
isNegate false
description "A condition to match 802.1X based authentication requests from wireless LAN controllers, according to the corresponding 802.1x attributes defined in the device profile."
exit
children 4
name Switch_Web_Authentication
conditionType ConditionReference
isNegate false
description "A condition to match requests for web authentication from switches, according to the corresponding Web Authentication attributes defined in the device profile."
exit
exit
exit
exit
exit
Since the device allows adding new authorization rules only above the Default one the newly created entries need to be moved:
admin@ncs(config-config)# top move devices device dev-1 config ise policy network-access policy-set Default authorization ned_test_authorization_pol_00 before Default
Commit the changes:
admin@ncs(config-config)# commit
Commit complete.
5. Built in live-status actions
NONE
6. Built in live-status show
NONE
7. Limitations
7.1 cisco-ise:ise networkdevicegroup limitation
The NED user must mimic the behavior of the device API when creating resources
under "/ers/config/networkdevicegroup" endpoint.
When a POST is done to /ers/config/networkdevicegroup endopint with body:
To avoid a difference between the NED configuration and the device configuration
the NED user needs to mimic this behavior when using the NED by creating all the
hierarchy:
The same care must be taken when deleting entries from this hierachy.
For example, if we whant to delete "Location#All Locations#HRN"
we must also delete "Location#All Locations#HRN#3rd Floor" and
"Location#All Locations#HRN#3rd Floor#SE Lab":
no cisco-ise:ise networkdevicegroup "Location#All Locations#HRN"
no cisco-ise:ise networkdevicegroup "Location#All Locations#HRN#3rd Floor"
no cisco-ise:ise networkdevicegroup "Location#All Locations#HRN#3rd Floor#SE Lab"
For for both creation and deletion the NED will asure the right order of REST API calls.
Failing to mimic this device API behavior will result in a out of sync between
the device and the NED (there will be differences between the device config and NED config).
7.2 Default authorization rule limitation
When creating an entry in cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set,the ISE device will
automatically create a default authorization rule:
This will cause an out of sync situation where the device config will differ NSO config.
To mitigate this device behavior you need to create the Default rule in the same commit with the
policy-set like below.
7.3 Default policy-set must be the last in the list
For the cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set list the device is supporting adding
new entries only before the Default (so Default policy-set must remain the last item in the list).
To mitigate this requirement you must first create the desired policy sets, then move it in the
desired position in the list and after that commit the changes. The NED will automatically generate the
"rank" parameter that is used to inform the ISE device about the policy position within the list.
admin@ncs(config-config)#admin@ncs#config
admin@ncs(config)#devices device dev-1
admin@ncs(config-device-dev-1)#config
admin@ncs(config-config)#cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set ned_test_policy_set_01
default false
description "NED TEST 01"
state enabled
condition conditionType ConditionAndBlock
condition isNegate false
condition children HP null HP-Command-Exception Deny-List
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
operator equals
exit
condition children "Network Access" null WasMachineAuthenticated False
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
operator equals
exit
serviceName "Default Network Access"
isProxy false
authorization Default
default true
state enabled
profile [ DenyAccess ]
exit
exit
cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set ned_test_policy_set_02
default false
description "NED TEST 02"
state enabled
condition conditionType ConditionAndBlock
condition isNegate false
condition children "Network Access" null Protocol RADIUS
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
operator equals
exit
condition children Radius null Port-Limit 200
conditionType ConditionAttributes
isNegate false
operator equals
exit
serviceName "Default Network Access"
isProxy false
authorization Default
default true
state enabled
profile [ DenyAccess ]
exit
exit
admin@ncs(config-config)# top move devices device dev-1 config ise policy network-access policy-set ned_test_policy_set_01 before Default
admin@ncs(config-config)# top move devices device dev-1 config ise policy network-access policy-set ned_test_policy_set_02 before Default
admin@ncs(config-config)#commit
Failing to move the policy-sets somewhere above the Default will result in following error:
device {
name dev-1
data External error in the NED implementation for device dev-1: Prepare error:
The list /ncs:devices/device{dev-1}/config/cisco-ise:ise/policy/network-access/policy-set does not support adding items at the end!
}
7.4 Default policy-set authorization rule must be the last in the list
For the cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set <policy_set_name> authorization list the device is
supporting adding new entries only before the Default (so Default authorization must remain the last item in the list).
To mitigate this requirement you must first create the desired authorization, then move it in the
desired position in the list and after that commit the changes. The NED will automatically generate the
"rank" parameter that it is used to inform the ISE device about the authorization position within the list.
Because of this the NED does not support creating a policy-set and a policy-set/authorization in the same commit.
Failing to move the policy-sets somewhere above the Default will result in following error:
device {
name dev-1
data External error in the NED implementation for device dev-1: Prepare error:
The list /ncs:devices/device{dev-1}/config/cisco-ise:ise/policy/network-access/policy-set{test}/authorization does not support adding items at the end!
}
7.5 Condition children name limitation
Conditions used in :
"cisco-ise:ise policy network-access condition ",
"cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set condition" and
"cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set authorization condition"
can be also defined using a series of children conditions.
In the cisco ISE REST API these children are defined in a list and these children do not have any name field.
Since NSO yang lists need to have an index, at sync-from, the NED will generate this index in form of an integer
that specifies the position of the child in the list.
When creating a condition that has childrens you must copy this behavior and specify an increasing index that
represents the position of the child in the list like bellow:
cisco-ise:ise policy network-access policy-set Default
authorization ned_test_authorization_pol_00
condition conditionType ConditionAndBlock
condition children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
condition children 1
conditionType ConditionOrBlock
children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
children 1
conditionType ConditionAttributes
condition children 2
conditionType ConditionOrBlock
children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
children 1
conditionType ConditionAndBlock
children 0
conditionType ConditionAttributes
children 1
conditionType ConditionAttributes
Failing to specify the children index as in the above example will result in an error when a commit is issued.
Also as it can be seen in the above example that there is a hierarchy of children that define a condition.
For now the NED only supports a depth of 4 in this hierarchy.
condition children 0
children 0
children 0
children 0
8. How to report NED issues and feature requests
Issues like bugs and errors shall always be reported to the Cisco NSO NED team through
the Cisco Support channel:
The following information is required for the Cisco NSO NED team to be able
to investigate an issue:
- A detailed recipe with steps to reproduce the issue.
- A raw trace file generated when the issue is reproduced.
- Access to a device where the issue can be reproduced by the Cisco NSO NED team.
This typically means both read and write permissions are required.
Pseudo access via tools like Webex, Zoom etc is not acceptable.
However, it is ok with device access through VPNs, jump servers etc though.
Do as follows to gather the necessary information needed for your device, here named 'dev-1':
Reproduce the found issue using ncs_cli or your NSO service.
Write down each necessary step in a reproduction report.
Gather the reproduction report and a copy of the raw trace file
containing data recorded when the issue happened.
Contact the Cisco support and request to open a case. Provide the gathered files
together with access details for a device that can be used by the
Cisco NSO NED when investigating the issue.
Requests for new features and extensions of the NED are handled by the Cisco NSO NED team when
applicable. Such requests shall also go through the Cisco support channel.
The following information is required for feature requests and extensions:
A detailed use case description, with details like:
Data of interest
The kind of operations to be used on the data. Like: 'read', 'create', 'update', 'delete'
and the order of the operation
Device APIs involved in the operations (For example: REST URLs and payloads)
Device documentation describing the operations involved
Run sync-from # devices device dev-1 sync-from (if relevant)
Attach the raw trace to the ticket (if relevant)
Access to a device that can be used by the Cisco NSO NED team for testing and verification
of the new feature. This usually means that both read and write permissions are required.
Pseudo access via tools like Webex, Zoom etc is not acceptable. However, it is ok with access
through VPNs, jump servers etc.
