Network Configuration Manager

Format: 75 multiple-choice questions
Time allotment: 90 minutes

Study Resources
The intention of the resources provided is to supplement your experience with Network Configuration Manager (NCM). The included resources are not all-inclusive and should only aid as a starting place for your studies.

Use the available documentation to learn more about NCM.

• NCM Getting Started Guide
• NCM Administrator Guide
• For additional study resources, visit THWACK.

Use the SolarWinds Orion Installer to install or upgrade NCM. Know the system requirements needed to install NCM and how to add nodes.

NCM Licensing
Know the seven types of licenses available for NCM.

Install NCM
Use the SolarWinds Orion Installer to install or upgrade Orion Platform products.

NCM system requirements
Know the system requirements needed for NCM—including ports, server, and database requirements.

Getting Started with Network Configuration Manager – Video
Learn how to use NCM, such as navigating the web console, how to backup devices, how to check & compare configuration changes, how to set up the change approval process and run and customize reports.

Use the SolarWinds Orion Installer
Know how to install or upgrade Orion Platform products and scalability engines.

NCM port requirements
Know the NCM port requirements.

Supported software
Know which NCM versions are supported and which are end-of-life, end-of-engineering, or end-of-announcement.

Manage NCM nodes
After you discover devices and add them to the Orion Platform for monitoring, you also need to add the devices to NCM.

1. Which column can you view in Orion's Manage Nodes to verify you successfully added a router?
1. Status Column
2. NCM Licensed Column
3. Resource Column
4. Node Name Change
2. NCM can download and upload both XML and binary configs for Palo Alto devices.
1. True
2. False

Edit configs to streamline complex configuration changes and make bulk changes to multiple nodes. To edit a config, you can manually run a script against a node or use a config change template. Know how to download configs and execute scripts. Know how to run config comparison and check config file statuses.

The basics of config change templates
Use a change config template to accomplish a specific device configuration task for a set of NCM-managed nodes.

Create a config change template
How to create a config change template.

Schedule a recurring network config change report
Know how to create or schedule a report that would display configuration changes made based on a specified criteria.

Download an NCM configuration to a file
How to download a configuration to a file.

Download configuration files in NCM
Download configuration files to view the current configuration of your managed devices, compare current and previous configurations, or archive configuration files for backup.

Enable a new config type
If you have devices that use other config types, you can define custom config types to be used with NCM operations.

Edit a config using a script in NCM
Know how to add and edit a config change script.

Upload a network config
Use this resource to upload a configuration file you have previously downloaded from this node to NCM.

Search network config files or node properties
Know how to find a specific node or config, or all nodes or configs that share a common characteristic.

Establish baselines as a comparison point for network config changes
Information about creating and managing baselines.

Schedule daily backups of config files
Install an example job that downloads the configuration files nightly for all nodes in the database.

SolarWinds Information Service Data Entities
View the SWIS entities and properties that you can use in developing config change templates.

Troubleshoot issues with configuration files
Resolve issues with downloading and managing config files and viewing config file information.

Issue caused by a network config change
Troubleshoot a network issue caused by a network config change.

1. What part of the NCM Policy Report are nodes specified?
1. Report
2. Policy
3. Rule
4. Compliance Page
2. When are policy reports updated and cached to the Web for review? Select all that apply.
1. At the time specified in NCM Settings > Advanced Settings > Cache Settings
2. Every 7 Days
3. After you select Update all / Update Selected on the Compliance Policy Reports Page

NCM features help you manage critical changes and repetitive tasks across complex, multi-vendor networks. Use NCM to make sure your network is compliant and secure. Learn more about the different features NCM offers and uses.

Approval system for device configuration changes
Know how to define a semi-automated approval process for making configuration changes on network devices.

Set up config change approval in NCM
Specify an email server for notifications, addresses of change approvers, and accounts of team members who manage device configurations.

Create a device template
Create or edit device templates in NCM.

NCM command template commands and attributes
An overview of device command templates and how to implement them in your NCM deployment.

How NCM assigns device templates to nodes
Assign a device template to a node manually or allow NCM to assign templates to nodes automatically.

Best practices for device command templates
Review the best practices before modifying device command templates.

Assign a device template manually
Manually assign device templates to nodes to allow back up of the device configs.

Uses of NCM inventory reports
Use NCM inventory reports to access up-to-date device information and to manage the inventory of your network infrastructure.

NCM inventory report
View a list of NCM Inventory reports.

Run an inventory scan on a node
An inventory scan queries a node and gathers device information including the model and serial numbers, the operating system version, the number of NIC or interface cards, routing protocols, IP addresses, active ports, and much more.

Create an NCM job to execute a command script on devices
Learn how to create an NCM job to execute a command script on devices.

Create and Manage NCM jobs
NCM provides job scheduling to automate the management of network devices and configuration files.

How to create an NCM Purge Old Configs from Database job
Learn how to create an NCM Purge Old Configs from Database job.

Set up a job that saves the results to a file
Learn how to set up a job and save results to a file.

NCM Compliance Policy Reports
View information on the NCM Compliance Policy Reports and its features.

Select nodes to include in a policy or compliance report
Learn how to select nodes to include in a Policy or Compliance report in NCM.

Create and manage policy rules
Rules are used to ensure that device configurations comply with policies.

Ensure compliance to policy rules
Use policy reports to verify that device configurations comply with internal policies and external regulations.

Find remediate policy violations
You can use policy reports to find device configurations that do not comply with policies.

Audit your Cisco routers
Use the NCM compliance policy reports to verify and maintain compliance within your network.

Set connection profiles as auto-detect
Set a connection profile to Auto-Detect and set a node to connection profile to Auto-Determine which profile to use.

Firmware upgrades
Use NCM to upgrade the firmware on multiple devices.

View firmware vulnerability data
NCM helps identify risks to network security by detecting potential vulnerabilities in multiple device types.

NCM Firmware Upgrade Guide
View the commands and macros used by the Firmware Upgrade feature introduced in NCM 7.6.

Ensure HA serves have complete firmware vulnerability data
If you have implemented High Availability (HA) backup servers in your SolarWinds deployment, you must make sure that all servers have comprehensive firmware vulnerability data.

Network Insight for F5 BIG-IP – Video
Learn how to set up and use this feature of NPM with NCM.

Network Insight for Cisco ASA Firewalls Getting Started Guide
Learn about the network monitoring capabilities of NPM with the configuration capabilities with the configuration capabilities of NCM.

NetPath – Video
Learn how to configure and use NetPath.

Orion integration with NetPath
NetPath displays additional information about NCM nodes with backed-up config files.

1. Policy reports verify that _____________ comply with internal policies and external regulations.
1. Jobs
2. Inventory
3. Network Configurations
4. Device Configurations
2. SolarWinds NCM helps identify risks to network security detecting potential vulnerabilities for which device types? Select all that apply.
1. Palo Alto
2. Cisco IOS
3. Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)
4. Cisco Nexus
5. Juniper

Understand how to use real-time change detection and firmware update settings for NCM.

About real-time change detection
When you configure real-time change detection, SolarWinds NCM sends an email notification whenever a device configuration changes.

Configure real-time change detection
Learn how to configure real-time change detection.

What is real-time change detection?
Learn about the real-time change detection requirements.

Troubleshooting NCM real time change detection
Learn to configure network devices to send a syslog message or a trap message when the configuration on the device changes.

Configure NCM for real-time change detection
Learn how to configure SolarWinds NCM for real-time change detection after you configure a Cisco device to send syslog messages and configure alerts and filters triggered by syslog and trap messages.

Set up real-time change detection based on syslog
Know how to set up NCM real-time change detection.

Examples of commands to send syslog or trap messages to the Orion server
View examples of commands used for some device types.

Configure a Cisco device to send syslog messages
Real-time change detection provides instant notification through email whenever a change to any of your device configurations occurs.

Configure alerts and filters triggered by syslog and trap messages
NCM uses a built-in syslog server and SNMP trap receiver to notify you when it detects configuration changes to your monitored devices.

Access firmware vulnerability settings
NCM imports the firmware vulnerability warnings provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and correlates vulnerabilities with managed nodes.

Set up the storage location and firmware repository
Complete the initial setup before you perform a firmware upgrade operation.

Manage firmware upgrade templates
Each firmware upgrade template defines a set of device-specific commands and options that NCM uses to upgrade the firmware on a device of that type.

Perform a firmware upgrade operation
After you set up your storage location and firmware repository, and firmware upgrade templates, you can perform an upgrade operation.

1. When you set up Real-Time Change Detection, you must configure your devices to send which type of messages to the Orion server? Select all that apply.
1. TCP
2. Trap
3. DDS
4. Syslog
5. UDP
2. The firmware upgrade storage location cannot be the same as which root folders? Select all that apply.
1. TFTP
2. Serv-U
3. SFTP/SCP
4. ESX
5. MFT

Installation

1. B
2. A

Configuration Management

1. B
2. A, C

Features

1. D
2. B, C, D, E

Settings

1. B, D
2. A, C