Config Context

Misconfigurations are a major cause of disruptions and outages. Being able to understand when changes occur dramatically reduces MTTI and MTTR.

The Config Context feature in Kentik NMS provides a contextual understanding of device configs and changes as they occur. It enables the autonomous scraping of configs from network devices, storing them as secret-redacted backups, comparing changes, and allowing you to talk to a config-informed AI Advisor.

IMPORTANT: Ensure your environment meets the Prerequisites (including Universal Agent deployment and TCP/22 reachability) before attempting to configure device synchronization.

Setup: Configuration Sync & Backup

To enable AI Advisor to "see" your device's state, navigate to the SSH tab in Device Settings.

1. Enable SSH command access: Toggle this On (the master switch).

2. Credential: Select your pre-configured SSH key or password.

3. Collection Agent: Select the agent (e.g., nomad-0) with reachability to the device.

4. Device Platform: Recommended setting is Autodetect.

5. SSH Hostname (or IP): The Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or IP address the agent will use to connect.

6. Enable device configuration sync and backup: Toggle this On so that Kentik periodically scrapes the running config.

7. Fetch Interval: Set the frequency. A interval of 5-minutes is recommended for high-visibility environments.

TIP: If the connection fails initially, verify that the Universal Agent has accepted the device's SSH host key or that your firewall isn't blocking the initial handshake on TCP/22.

Example AI Advisor Prompts

• Collect & Store: "When was the last successful backup for [Device Name], and were there any errors?"

• View & Read: "Show me the current running configuration for [Device Name]."

• Compare & Diff: "Summarize the impact of the configuration changes made to [Device Name] during last night's maintenance window."

• Historical Search: "Locate the last known working configuration snippet for VLAN 100 on any device in the branch office."

Example AI Advisor Response

Recent configuration changes for tor301.our1.kentik.com (Device ID: 483375) have been retrieved:

Configuration Revision Summary

Recent Activity Analysis

The most recent change (Revision 11) occurred just moments ago:

• When: 2025-12-23 19:34:32 UTC

• Size Change: Increased from 42,408 to 42,780 bytes (+372 bytes)

• Last Commit: 2025-11-18 23:47:11 UTC by user "alistair"

A pattern in the configuration sizes suggests that there may be configuration changes being applied and then reverted, or periodic updates occurring approximately every 5 minutes during certain time windows.

Key Configuration Details (from latest revision)

Device Information:

• Model: Juniper QFX5100-48S-6Q

• Location: iad1-dc3-5310 (Equinix DC3)

• Junos Version: 14.1X53-D46.7

• Serial Number: TA3718040593

• Autonomous System: AS4200000301

Active Protocols include:

• BGP (IPv4 and IPv6) with multiple peer groups

• OSPF and OSPFv3

• sFlow monitoring

• LLDP/LLDP-MED

• BFD for link monitoring