Device Setup

The setup of an initial device in the Kentik v4 portal is covered below in the following topics:

• About Device Setup
• Flow Export Method
• Direct Flow Export
• kproxy Export
• Setup in Multiple Sessions

Notes:
- For general information about setup tasks, see Setup Overview.
- For setup tasks related to onboarding cloud resources, see Cloud Setup.

Device setup is one setup task within the overall onboarding process that new Kentik customers (or trial users) go through to get up and running with Kentik (see Setup Overview). These tasks are listed at the left of the Welcome to Network Observability page. The process involves working through a wizard that gathers needed information. You will also need to configure the device itself to collect flow data and pass it to Kentik.

To begin the device setup task:

1. In the Setup Tasks list, click Connect a Router.
2. In the main display area to the right of the list, click the Set Up a Router button, which opens the Connect a Router wizard.

Note: When working through the wizard the information you enter is saved only pages with a Save button. On all other pages, if you use the Back button to go upstream in the wizard the information you've entered on the page will not be saved.

On the first page of the wizard, you'll be asked to choose how you'd like the router's flow data (NetFlow, sFlow, etc.) to get to Kentik. On this page you'll choose a method and click the Next button.

Two options are available. The subsequent steps in the device setup wizard vary depending on which export method you choose:

• Direct flow export: Send flow records directly to Kentik through the public Internet (see Direct Flow Export).
• kproxy export: Use Kentik's free proxy agent (kproxy), which can collect flow records and SNMP for multiple routers and encrypt the data locally before forwarding it to Kentik (see kproxy Export).

The direct flow export path of the device setup wizard is covered in the following topics:

• Device Setup Steps
• Device General Information
• Device Flow Setup
• Device SNMP Setup
• Device BGP Setup
• Configuration Snippets

If you choose direct flow export — or you are exporting via kproxy and you've completed the steps in kproxy Export — the next stage of the device setup process begins on the Register your flow source page. The page lists several steps representing categories of information that we'll gather to complete the device registration process:

• General Info: Your device's name, description, make, model, and location.
• Flow: Technical details such as the device's IP addresses and flow sampling rate.
• SNMP: Information needed to enable polling, including SNMP version, IP address, etc. SNMP polling enriches your Kentik-stored flow records with additional interface-specific data points that are queryable as dimensions (from information OIDs) and metrics (from counter OIDs).
• BGP: Information needed to enable correlation of the device's flow data with BGP routing data so you can apply customer-specific filters to query results, create routing-based tags, and run AS-oriented traffic analysis, including peering analytics.

Each of the above categories is represented in the device settings workflow as a set of pages that gather the required information and also provide you with the information you need to configure the device itself to send data to Kentik.

As you complete each device onboarding task you'll be taken back to the Register your flow source page, where you'll see your progress. Completed tasks are indicated as follows:

• A checkmark will appear in the list to the left of the category.
• The category's link at the right of the list will change from Get Started to Edit.

When all tasks are completed, the Create Device button at the bottom of the page will become activated. Click it to save your settings and finalize registration of the device.

Note: If at any point in the following steps you have questions or need assistance, click the Get Help link at the upper right of any onboarding screen.

The settings for device general information are accessed from the Register your flow source page:

1. Click the Get Started link in the General Info row.
2. On the Name Your Device page, enter a name and description for your device. Click Next when finished.
3. On the Device make and model page:
   - Click the card corresponding to the manufacturer of this device.
   - If the manufacturer offers more than one series or model that differs in configuration requirements, the Model popup will appear; choose the model of your device.
   - If there's no card corresponding to the manufacturer of your device, click the Other card.
   Note: Once you've specified your make and model the page will automatically advance to the next step.
4. On the Set device location page you'll tell us the location (street address) where the device is physically housed (e.g. a data center). We'll use this information to create a "site," which will enable location-based queries (see About Sites). Click Finish when you're done, at which point you'll be returned to the Register your flow source page.

Once you've entered Device General Information and returned to the Register your flow source page you can move on to flow settings:

1. Click the Get Started link in the Flow row.
2. On the Sending IP addresses page, enter a comma-separated list of one or more IP addresses from which the device will export flow data to Kentik. Click Next when finished.
3. On the Flow Sample Rate page, set the rate at which the device is (or will be) configured to generate flow records, which is expressed as a ratio of collected flows to all flows (i.e. 1:1000 means one flow record per thousand flows). The accuracy of all traffic volume calculations depends on this information. Click Next when finished.
4. On the Configure Flow on Device page, we provide you with configuration snippets, based on the make and model of the device, that you'll need to configure the device itself to send flow data to Kentik. When you've finished configuring the device, click Finish, at which point you'll be returned to the Register your flow source page.

Once you've completed Device Flow Setup and returned to the Register your flow source page you can move on to SNMP settings:

1. Click the Get Started link in the SNMP row.
2. On the SNMP Settings page, activate SNMP polling for this device and choose the SNMP version. SNMP v3 is more secure than SNMP v2, and is recommended for customers with concerns about using SNMP v2 over the public Internet. Click Next when finished.
3. On the SNMP Details page, click Next after making the following settings (see Device SNMP Settings):
   - SNMP v2: IP Address and Community.
   - SNMP v3: IP Address and User Name (both required), as well as (optionally) Authentication and Privacy (see About SNMP V3).
4. On the Configure SNMP on Device page, we provide you with configuration snippets, based on the make and model of the device, that you'll need to configure the device itself to allow SNMP polling from Kentik. When you've finished configuring the device, click Finish, at which point you'll be returned to the Register your flow source page.

Once you've completed Device SNMP Setup and returned to the Register your flow source page you can move on to BGP settings:

1. Click the Get Started link in the BGP row.
2. On the BGP Settings page, activate BGP for this device and specify the IP type (e.g. IPv4) of the device's peering address. Click Next when finished.
3. On the BGP Details page, set the Device BGP Settings, then click Next.
4. On the Configure BGP on Device page, we provide you with configuration snippets, based on the make and model of the device, that you'll need to configure the device for BGP peering with Kentik. When you've finished configuring the device, click Finish.
5. When you return to the Register your flow source page, you'll now see that for each item in the setup list (see About Device Setup) there's a checkmark at the left and the link at the right says Edit. The Create Device button at the bottom of the page will also be activated. Click it to save your settings and finalize registration of the device.

Configuration snippets are pre-written pieces of configuration or commands that are used to help set up and complete your device setup. These snippets allow you to swiftly configure devices to export flow, SNMP, and BGP data. Each snippet is specific to the make and model of the device selected during initial onboarding (see Device General Information).

Note: The snippets are sourced from Kentik’s public configuration repository in GitHub. Kentik customers are welcome to explore the repository, branch it, and submit a pull request for any update.

Exporting device flow to Kentik via kproxy involves the following additional steps:

• Deploy kproxy Instance
• Set Up kproxy

If you choose kproxy export the next stage of the device setup process begins on the Deploy a kproxy instance page. Fill in the following fields for the kproxy instance:

• kproxy Instance Name: Your name for the instance.
• Description: Your description of the instance.
• Private IP: The IP of the router that the agent will see the flow being received from.
• Site: A drop-down from which you can choose the site to which this kproxy is assigned.
• Create a New Site: If a site hasn't yet been defined for the location where the agent host is located, click the button to create a new site (see Configure Site Fields).

When the fields are filled, click the Next button to go to the next step in the wizard.

The next step in the kproxy wizard path is the Set up kproxy page. This page is equivalent to the Adding a kproxy Agent dialog on the v4 portal's Settings » kproxy agents page. For information on how to complete this step, see Add kproxy Agent. When setup of your kproxy agent is complete you'll be taken to the Register your flow source page (see Device Setup Steps), at which point the setup steps for devices become the same whether the device exports flow directly or via kproxy.

The onboarding of a device with Kentik need not be completed in a single session. If you log out before your organization's device settings are complete, your destination when you log in again will depend on where the process was left:

• Data source not started: If you haven't yet started to register a data source, you'll be taken to the initial post-login page for new accounts. At this point you'll be in the new customer Setup workflow, which is covered in Setup Overview.
• Data source incomplete: If your first data source is a device and you started (but didn't finish) onboarding you'll be taken directly to the Register your flow source page for the partially onboarded device, in the Setup workflow, so that you can complete the remaining settings (see Device Setup Steps).
• Data source complete: If you've completed the registration and settings for at least one data source (device or cloud) then upon subsequent login you'll be taken to Network Explorer. If you've initiated registration for multiple data sources, and the settings for any devices are incomplete, then you'll see a callout (orange rectangle) at the top of the page notifying you of that fact. For next steps, see Using Device Status.

Note: Regardless of which of the above states apply when you return to the portal, the main menu will include a Setup Tasks section at the lower right until all setup tasks for your organization are complete. Click the See all link in that section to go to the Welcome to Network Observability page, where you'll see your organization's remaining Setup Tasks.