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EP-4738774-A1 - AUTOMATIC ONBOARDING OF A PLURALITY OF DEVICES

EP4738774A1EP 4738774 A1EP4738774 A1EP 4738774A1EP-4738774-A1

Abstract

Techniques are described for onboarding a plurality of devices using a network management system (NMS). The NMS has memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to obtain onboarding information of a first device of a plurality of devices; assign, based on obtaining onboarding information of the first device, the first device to a group of devices to be managed by the network management system; and based on assigning the first device to the group of devices to be managed by the NMS, automatically assign a second device of the plurality of devices to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system.

Inventors

  • GUPTA, MANOJ
  • PETROV, Daniel
  • Jiang, Jie C
  • YANG, BO-CHIEH
  • LO, JUEI CHENG

Assignees

  • Juniper Networks, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20250926

Claims (13)

  1. A network management system, comprising: memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to: obtain onboarding information of a first device of a plurality of devices; assign, based on the onboarding information of the first device, the first device to a group of devices to be managed by the network management system; and based on assigning the first device to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system, automatically assign a second device of the plurality of devices to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system.
  2. The network management system of claim 1, wherein to automatically assign the second device of the plurality of devices to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system, the one or more processors are configured to: obtain a network address of the second device of the plurality of devices, wherein the second device is connected to the first device; and assign, based on the network address of the second device, the second device to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system.
  3. The network management system of claim 2, wherein the network address of the second device comprises a MAC address of the second device.
  4. The network management system of any of claims 2-3, wherein to obtain the network address of the second device, the one or more processors are configured to: obtain the network address of the second device from the first device.
  5. The network management system of claim 1, wherein to assign the first device to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system, the one or more processors are configured to: obtain an IP address of the first device, obtain a geographical location of the first device based on the IP address of the first device; obtain a physical address of the first device based on the geographical location of the first device; generate the group of devices to be managed by the network management system based on the physical address of the first device; and assign the first device to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system.
  6. The network management system of claim 5, wherein to automatically assign the second device of the plurality of devices to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system, the one or more processors are configured to: receive, from the second device, traffic comprising a source IP address associated with the first device; and assign, based on the traffic comprising the source IP address associated with the first device, the second device to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system.
  7. The network management system of any of claims 5-6, wherein to generate the group of devices to be managed by the network management system, the one or more processors are further configured to: generate a group name of the group of devices to be managed by the network management system based on the physical address of the first device.
  8. The network management system of any of claims 5-7, wherein the first device comprises a network device at an edge of a network for a site.
  9. The network management system of any of claims 1-8, wherein the first device and second device are directly connected.
  10. The network management system of any of claims 1-9, wherein the second device routes traffic to the network management system through the first device.
  11. A method comprising: obtaining, by a network management system, onboarding information of a first device of a plurality of devices; assigning, by the network management system and based on the onboarding information of the first device, the first device to a group of devices to be managed by the network management system; and based on assigning the first device to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system, automatically assigning, by the network management system, a second device of the plurality of devices to the group of devices to be managed by the network management system.
  12. The method of claim 11, further comprising steps corresponding to the functionality recited in any of claims 2-10.
  13. A computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for causing one or more programmable processors to become configured to perform the method recited by any of claims 11-12.

Description

This application claims the benefit of US Patent Application No. 18/933,154, filed 31 October 2024, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure relates generally to computer networks and, more specifically, to providing onboarding devices to networks. BACKGROUND Commercial premises, such as offices, hospitals, airports, stadiums, or retail outlets, often install complex wireless network systems, including a network of wireless access points (APs), throughout the premises to provide wireless network services to one or more wireless client devices (or simply, "clients"). APs are physical, electronic devices that enable other devices to wirelessly connect to a wired network (e.g., of routers and/or switches) using various wireless networking protocols and technologies, such as wireless local area networking protocols conforming to one or more of the IEEE 802.11 standards (i.e., "WiFi"), Bluetooth / Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), mesh networking protocols such as ZigBee or other wireless networking technologies. Many different types of wireless client devices, such as laptop computers, smartphones, tablets, wearable devices, appliances, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, incorporate wireless communication technology and can be configured to connect to wireless access points when the device is in range of a compatible wireless access point in order to access a wired network. SUMMARY Particular aspects are set out in the appended independent claims. Various optional embodiments are set out in the dependent claims. In general, this disclosure describes techniques that enable automatic onboarding of a plurality of devices for management by a network management system (NMS). An organization may include one or more sites, each including different types of devices, such as APs, routers, switches, and/or edge devices. To manage the devices of the organization, the NMS may onboard the devices, for example, by adding (otherwise referred to as "claiming") devices to a device inventory maintained by the NMS and assigning one or more devices from the device inventory to a group of devices to be managed by the NMS, such as a group of devices of a given site of the organization. Devices are typically claimed and/or assigned to the site individually, which for an organization with a large number of sites and/or a site including a large number of devices, may require a significant amount of time and cost, and may be prone to error. In accordance with the techniques of the disclosure, the NMS may automatically onboard a plurality of devices to a group of devices to be managed by the NMS. In some examples, the NMS may automatically onboard one or more devices that are connected to a device that has been onboarded. For example, the NMS may obtain onboarding information associated with a first device (e.g., router or switch), such as a code (e.g., claim code or activation code) of the first device, to add the first device to a device inventory from which the NMS may assign one or more devices in the device inventory to a group of devices to be managed by the NMS (e.g., a group of devices of a site). In response to claiming the first device, the first device may receive a network address of a second device (e.g., an access point) connected to the first device. For example, the first device may learn a MAC address of the second device that is directly connected to the first device, e.g., by utilizing a discovery protocol such as Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP). The second device may also learn the address of the first device utilizing the discovery protocol. The NMS may obtain the MAC address of the second device from the first device and determine, based on the MAC address of the second device, whether the second device is claimed. For example, the NMS may determine whether the NMS previously obtained the MAC address of the first device from the second device, which may indicate that the second device is connected to the first device. Based on determining that the NMS has obtained the MAC address of the first device and the MAC address of the second device, the NMS may claim the second device and, if the first device is assigned to a site, automatically assign the second device to the same site. In some examples, the NMS may automatically onboard one or more devices that route traffic through a device that has been onboarded. For example, the NMS may obtain onboarding information associated with a plurality of devices and add the plurality of devices to a device inventory from which the NMS may assign one or more devices in the device inventory to a site. The NMS may obtain a network address (e.g., IP address) of a given device (e.g., a switch or edge device) of the plurality of devices and determine geographical coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude) of the given device based on the IP address of the given device. Based on the geographical coordinates of the given device