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Platforms

A Platform object can hold various information about a device, such as the OS, OS version, and NAPALM driver.

Further information is available in the Platforms section of the Nautobot docs.

While use of Platforms is optional, they provide great value in many use cases.

Creating a Platform

To create a Platform:

  1. Click on Devices in the top navigation menu
  2. Find Platforms and click on the + icon in the menu
    • This takes you to the Add a new platform form
  3. Provide a Name (required)
  4. Select a Manufacturer from the drop-down selector (optional)
  5. Provide the name of the NAPALM driver (optional) (Note: this must be the exact name of the NAPALM driver)
  6. Provide NAPALM arguments (optional)
  7. Provide Description (optional)
  8. Click on the Create button

Tip

NAPALM Driver Options include:

  • eos (Arista)
  • ios (Cisco)
  • nxos (used with nxapi feature)
  • nxos_ssh (used for ssh login)
  • junos

Add platform

Once completed, you will be sent to the Platforms page, where all the Platform variants are shown.

Tip

Different use cases for Platforms may require different information. For example, to use a specific Platform with the Device Onboarding Plugin, you may be required to override the default Name value with that of the Netmiko device_type

Platforms page

Adding a Platform to an Existing or New Device

The Platform attribute is optional for a Device.

It is quite easy to add a Platform to an existing Device or while creating a new Device.

A Device's Platform is specified on the Add a new device or Editing device page, depending on whether you are adding or editing a Device.

Reaching the Editing device page for an Existing Device

The quickest way to reach the Editing device page for a Device is to search for the Device name in the Search Bar.

Tip

See the Search Bar section of this guide for more information on using the Search Bar

  1. Type the device name in the Search Bar in the upper-right of the page
  2. Click on the device name on the results page
  3. Click on the Edit button on the main page for the Device

Device main page

Reaching the Add a new device Page

For a new Device, follow the steps to create a new Device to reach the Add a new device page.

Specifying the Device's Platform

  1. While on the Add a new device/Editing device page, scroll down to the 'Management' section
  2. In the Platform field drop-down selector, select the appropriate Platform
  3. Click the 'Update' (edit Device) or Create (add Device) button

Tip

The only choices that will appear in the Platform drop-down selector will be those Platforms that have the same Manufacturer specified in the Device's Hardware section.

Add platform