11 Replies Latest reply on Jun 16, 2016 12:04 PM by phillipcpatton

Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?

phillipcpatton May 20, 2016 9:46 AM

I would like to see the changes made to a Cisco device between 2/1/16 and 2/10/16. The configs are in my archived configs location. Is this possible in Orion?

Thanks

Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?

superfly99 May 27, 2016 1:35 AM (in response to phillipcpatton)

Yup all you need to do is go into Configs and select Configuration Management. Select the device and click on Compare node configs. Select Compare node configs.

This will open up a new window where you can select the 2 configs you wish to compare.
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- Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
  
  phillipcpatton May 27, 2016 9:22 AM (in response to superfly99)
  
  Superfly99,
  Thanks for taking the time to reply to my request, however the key here is “Archived” configs. These are the ones from months or weeks ago that have been moved to our archive configs location. This is different than the ones that have not been archived which I can compare easily.
  What I need to know is what Orion is using to do this comparison and create a report/job to compare two configs from the archive location. Our archive location is C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\Orion\NCM\Config-Archive\ These are archived using the Jobs – Weekly Export of Configs process.
  I hope this makes sense if not please let me know what information I can supply to that will help.
  Thanks
  
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  - Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
    
    superfly99 May 30, 2016 1:06 AM (in response to phillipcpatton)
    
    Sorry yeah I missed the vital word, archive.
    
    Only way I know then to compare 2 configs, is by using a file comparison program such as Diffchecker in that case. Cut and paste in the 2 files you wish to compare.
    
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    - Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
      
      phillipcpatton May 31, 2016 6:33 AM (in response to superfly99)
      
      Thanks for your response.
      I am curious how Orion compares the non-archived configurations. Can I replicate this process? I’m using ExamDiff now and that is ok but the Orion process is much more efficient and easy for users.
      Can I populate the Orion DB somehow with the configurations I would like to compare. I guess what I’m asking is how exactly does the Orion compare process work and what is the archive process doing. Knowing this may help me “reverse” the archive process do a compare and then rerun the archive process to maintain cleanup.
      Thanks
      
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      - Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
        
        superfly99 Jun 1, 2016 2:28 AM (in response to phillipcpatton)
        
        How old are your configs that you wish to compare? I keep 6 months worth of configs in NCM before they are deleted. I only copy them once a week and I use RTCD for instant downloads on changes.
        
        Let me know how you're using the tool to see if there's a better way.
        
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        Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
        
        phillipcpatton Jun 1, 2016 10:09 AM (in response to superfly99)
        
        We archive our configuration at 30 downloaded per node.
        Can you tell me what Orion is using to compare non-archived configurations. I know the GUI process, what I'm looking for is the code or procedure used behind the scene. With this I'm hoping to modify the process to work with archived configurations. Or temporarily place an older configuration into a location it can be used for comparison via the GUI.
        Thanks
        
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        Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
        
        superfly99 Jun 2, 2016 1:25 AM (in response to phillipcpatton)
        
        I don't know what Solarwinds uses for the comparision sorry.
        
        Maybe you could review your archive/downloading of configs strategy that will give you a longer time of having configs available for comparison.
        
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        Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
        
        phillipcpatton Jun 13, 2016 8:35 AM (in response to superfly99)
        
        Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you. Here is what I have found:
        While browsing the database manager I found a table called NCM_ConfigArchive - Where are the configs this table references stored? Can I manually create a routine to add archived configs to this table?
        My thought is I could copy my archived config to the above location and perhaps re-index the table and then do my comparison. Once complete remove the archived config and re-index again.
        What do you think?
        
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        Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
        
        superfly99 Jun 14, 2016 8:55 PM (in response to phillipcpatton)
        
        Sorry I don't know if that will work. Sounds ok but not sure.
        
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        Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
        
        phillipcpatton Jun 16, 2016 12:04 PM (in response to superfly99)
        
        I'll give it a whirl and let you know results and process I use
        
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- Re: Is it possible to do a comparison of archived running configs?
  
  Peter Monaghan, CBCP, SCP, ITIL ver.3 May 27, 2016 9:48 AM (in response to superfly99)
  
  Niiiice! Thank you for this!
  
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