Assess Cisco Catalyst Center with cnspec

Rely on cnspec to discover and assess network devices managed by Cisco Catalyst Center (formerly known as Cisco DNA Center).

Prerequisites

To connect to Cisco Catalyst Center with cnspec, you must have:

• cnspec installed on your workstation
• Network access to the Catalyst Center management interface
• Valid credentials (username and password) for API authentication
• A user account with appropriate permissions to access the Catalyst Center APIs

Give cnspec access to your Catalyst Center

To scan a Catalyst Center instance, cnspec connects through the Catalyst Center REST API. Ensure that your user account has API access.

Test your connection

Before running a full scan, verify that cnspec can connect by opening a cnspec shell:

cnspec shell ciscocatalyst catalyst.example.com --user admin --ask-pass

If cnspec connects successfully and shows a prompt, you're ready to scan.

Connection options

Scan Cisco Catalyst Center

To scan a Catalyst Center instance, use the cnspec scan command:

cnspec scan ciscocatalyst catalyst.example.com --user admin --ask-pass

Provide the password when prompted.

You can also create your own policies to meet your specific requirements.

Example queries

You can interactively explore and test checks using the cnspec shell. To open a shell connected to your Catalyst Center:

cnspec shell ciscocatalyst catalyst.example.com --user admin --ask-pass

List managed network devices

cnspec> ciscocatalyst.devices
ciscocatalyst.devices: [
  0: ciscocatalyst.device hostname="switch1.example.com"
  1: ciscocatalyst.device hostname="router1.example.com"
  ...
]

Retrieve device details

cnspec> ciscocatalyst.devices { hostname managementIpAddress platformId softwareVersion }
ciscocatalyst.devices: [
  0: {
    hostname: "switch1.example.com"
    managementIpAddress: "192.168.1.10"
    platformId: "C9300-48P"
    softwareVersion: "17.3.4"
  }
  ...
]

Learn more

• To learn more about how the MQL query language works, read Write Effective MQL.

• For more information about Cisco Catalyst Center, see the Cisco Catalyst Center documentation.