Get Started with Cisco DNA Center

Cisco DNA Center Overview

Cisco Digital Network Architecture offers centralized, intuitive management for designing, provisioning, and applying policies across your network environment. The Cisco DNA Center GUI provides end-to-end network visibility and uses network insights to optimize network performance and deliver the best user and application experience.

Log In

Access Cisco DNA Center by entering its network IP address in your browser. For compatible browsers, consult the Cisco DNA Center Release Notes. This IP address connects to the external network and is configured during Cisco DNA Center installation. For more information, refer to the Cisco DNA Center Installation Guide.

Idle session timeout is an administrator-configurable option. For details on configuring idle session timeout, see "Account Lockout" in the Cisco DNA Center Administrator Guide.

Step 1: Accessing the GUI

Enter your web browser's address bar in the following format: https://server-ip, where server-ip is the IP address or hostname of your Cisco DNA Center server.

Example: https://192.0.2.1

Depending on your network configuration, you may need to update your browser to trust the Cisco DNA Center server security certificate to ensure a secure connection.

Complete the Quick Start Workflow

After installing and configuring the Cisco DNA Center appliance, you can log in to its GUI using a compatible, HTTPS-enabled browser.

The Quick Start workflow automatically begins upon the first login as the admin superuser (username admin with SUPER-ADMIN-ROLE). This workflow helps discover devices and enable telemetry collection.

Before You Begin

To log in and complete the Quick Start workflow, you will need:

• The admin superuser username and password configured during installation. This may involve procedures like configuring the Primary Node using the Maglev Wizard or the Install Configuration Wizard (for various appliance core counts), or the Advanced Install Configuration Wizard.
• Information from the installation guide's "Required First-Time Setup Information" topic.

Steps for Quick Start Workflow:

1. Step 1: Launch Browser

   After the Cisco DNA Center appliance reboots, launch your browser.

2. Step 2: Enter IP Address

   Enter the host IP address to access the Cisco DNA Center GUI using HTTPS:// followed by the IP address displayed at the end of the configuration process.

   Upon entering the IP address, your browser may display a security warning:

   • Google Chrome: "Your connection is not private"
   • Mozilla Firefox: "Warning: Potential Security Risk Ahead"

   Ignore these messages and click "Advanced" or "Accept the Risk and Continue" as appropriate. These messages appear because the controller uses a self-signed certificate. For more information on certificate usage, see the "Certificate and Private Key Support" section in the Cisco DNA Center Administrator Guide.

3. Step 3: Login

   The Cisco DNA Center login window opens. Log in using one of the following credentials:

   • If you used the Maglev configuration wizard (Start using DNAC pre-manufactured cluster): username admin, password maglev1@3.
   • If you used the Maglev configuration wizard (Start configuration of DNAC in advanced mode): username admin and the password you set during configuration.
   • If you used the Install configuration wizard: username admin and the password copied from the wizard's final window.
   • If you used the Advanced Install configuration wizard: username admin and the password you set during configuration.
4. Step 4: Set New Admin Password

   You will be prompted to set a new admin password for security. You can either click "Skip" or enter a new password (which can be the same as the previous one for confirmation) and click "Next".

5. Step 5: Cisco Account Credentials

   Enter your cisco.com username and password (used for software downloads and system communications) and click "Next". You can skip this step if you prefer not to enter credentials at this time.

6. Step 6: Accept Terms & Conditions

   Review the Terms & Conditions, including the End User License Agreement (EULA), and click "Next" to accept.

7. Step 7: Quick Start Overview

   The Quick Start Overview slider opens. Click the next indicator (▶) to view a description of the workflow's tasks.

8. Step 8: Complete Workflow Tasks

   Click "Let's Do It" to begin.

   • Discover Devices: Provide IP Ranges: Enter a name for the discovery job, IP address ranges for devices, and specify if your appliance's loopback address should be the preferred management IP. Refer to the "Preferred Management IP Address" topic in the Cisco DNA Center User Guide for more details.
   • Discover Devices: Provide Credentials: Enter credentials for device discovery. This includes sections for:
     • CLI (SSH) Credentials: Username, Password (min 8 characters), Name/Description, and Enable Password (if required for higher privilege levels).
     • SNMP Credentials: SNMPv2c Read: Name/Description, Community String (read-only). Note: SNMPv2c is not supported in FIPS mode; use SNMPv3 instead.
     • SNMP Credentials: SNMPv2c Write: Name/Description, Community String (write).
     • SNMP Credentials: SNMPv3: Name/Description, Username, Mode (No Authentication, Authentication Only, Authentication and Privacy), Authentication Password (min 8 characters, potentially 12 for some controllers), Authentication Type (SHA or MD5, MD5 not supported in FIPS), and Privacy Type (AES128, CISCOAES192, CISCOAES256).
     • NETCONF Port: The port for discovering Cisco IOS-XE controllers.
   • Create Site: Group discovered devices into a site for telemetry.
   • Enable Telemetry: Select network components for telemetry collection. If options are grayed out, devices may not support telemetry.
   • Summary: Review configuration settings. Click "Edit" to make changes. Click "Start Discovery and Telemetry" to proceed. Cisco DNA Center will validate settings.

   Discovery and telemetry enablement can take 30 minutes or more. A message will appear on the homepage upon completion.

   After completion, you can:

   • Click "View Discovery" to confirm devices have been discovered.
   • Click "Go to Network Settings" to verify credentials.
   • Click "View Activity Page" to see scheduled tasks.
   • Click "Workflow Home" to access guided workflows.

User Profile Roles and Permissions

Cisco DNA Center uses Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). User profiles are assigned roles that define their permissions. The three main default roles are:

• SUPER-ADMIN-ROLE: Broad capabilities, including creating custom roles.
• NETWORK-ADMIN-ROLE: More limited capabilities.
• OBSERVER-ROLE: Restricted capabilities.

If you cannot perform an action, your user profile may have a role that does not permit it. Consult your system administrator or the Cisco DNA Center Administrator Guide.

Default Home Page

After logging in, the Cisco DNA Center home page displays key areas: Assurance Summary, Network Snapshot, and Tools.

Note: The login name is displayed by default. You can change it via "My Profile and Settings > My Account".

Assurance Summary

This section includes:

• Health: Enterprise health score (network devices, wired/wireless clients). "View Details" leads to the Overall Health window.
• Critical Issues: Count of P1 and P2 issues. "View Details" leads to the Open Issues window.
  • P1: Critical issues requiring immediate attention.
  • P2: Major issues impacting devices or clients.
• Trends and Insights: Network performance insights. "View Details" leads to the Trends and Insights window.

Network Snapshot

This section includes:

• Sites: Number of discovered sites and DNS/NTP servers. "Add Sites" leads to the Network Hierarchy.
• Network Devices: Discovered devices, including unclaimed, unprovisioned, and unreachable counts. "Find New Devices" leads to the Discovery dashboard.
• Network Profiles: Number of discovered profiles. "Manage Profiles" leads to the Network Profiles window.
• Application Policies: Number of policies and deployment success/error rates. "Add New Policy" leads to the Application Policies window.
• Import Images/SMUs: Number of discovered images, including untagged/unverified. "Import Images/SMUs" leads to the Image Repository.
• Software Image Updates: Status of software updates. "Update Devices" leads to the Image Update workflow.
• Cisco DNA Licensed Devices: Count of licensed devices (switches, routers, wireless). "Manage Licenses" leads to the License Manager.
• EoX Status: Scanned devices and EoX alerts. "Authorize Consent to Connect" initiates scanning for EoX alerts.
• Field Notices: Number of hardware/software field notices affecting devices. Clicking the number leads to the Field Notices window.
• AI Endpoint Analytics: Information on connected endpoints, including profiled endpoints, trust scores, and AI rules. "View Details" leads to the Policy > AI Endpoint Analytics > Overview.
  • Fully profiled endpoints show Endpoint Type, OS Type, Hardware Model, and Hardware Manufacturer.
  • Partially profiled endpoints are missing at least one of these.
  • Unprofiled endpoints are missing all of these.

Tools

Use the Tools area to configure and manage your network.

Different Views of the Home Page

The home page appearance can vary based on Cisco DNA Center's stage and the user's role. The "day-zero" view appears when no devices are present or the getting started workflow was skipped.

Menu Bar: Access menu items by clicking the menu icon (☰) in the top-left corner.

Icons: Icons on the right of the menu bar perform common tasks:

• Search Icon: Search for devices, users, hosts, menus, and other items in the Cisco DNA Center database.
• Favorite Icon (⭐): Add windows to "My Favorites" for easier navigation. See "Add a Window to My Favorites" on page 17.
• Help Icon: Access various help resources:
  • About: Displays software version, release notes, packages, serial number, and member ID.
  • API Reference: Opens Cisco DNA Center platform API documentation on Cisco DevNet.
  • Developer Resources: Opens Cisco DevNet for developer tools.
  • Contact Support: Opens a support case with Cisco TAC.
  • Remote Support Authorization: Grants remote access for troubleshooting. See "View the Remote Support Authorization Dashboard" on page 12.
  • Help: Launches context-sensitive online help.
  • Cisco CX Cloud Success Tracks: Access the Cisco CX cloud success tracks website.
  • Keyboard Shortcuts: Displays keyboard shortcuts.
  • Make a Wish: Submit suggestions to the Cisco DNA Center product team.
• Software Updates Icon: View available software updates.
• Notifications Icon: View event notifications. A red circle indicates new notifications.

Interactive Help

Interactive Help provides onscreen guidance for specific tasks. The widget is usually at the bottom-right and can be moved.

Cisco DNA Center Journey Map

The Journey Map visualizes Cisco DNA Center capabilities and usage.

Launching the Journey Map:

• Click the menu icon (☰) and choose "Explore".
• On the home page, click "Begin Your Journey".
• On the home page, click "Explore".

Features are grouped into tabs: AIOps, NetOps, DevOps, and SecOps. Hover over the info icon (ℹ️) for details.

Click the pie chart icon (?) to view the journey map as a pie chart. The chart shows recommended steps (indicated by numbers like 1) and allows viewing feature descriptions and statuses.

You can view the journey map in a table format by clicking the table icon (?).

View the Remote Support Authorization Dashboard

Remote support authorization allows granting remote access to Cisco specialists for troubleshooting.

Note: Supported with RADKit version 1.2.1 or later.

1. In the Cisco DNA Center GUI, click the help icon (❓) and choose "Remote Support Authorization".
2. The "SUMMARY" area shows total, scheduled, and completed authorizations.
3. Click "Create New Authorization" to create one.
4. Click "Current Authorization" to view active authorizations (All, Scheduled, Active).
5. To cancel an authorization, click "Cancel Authorization".
6. Click "View Logs" to see authorization logs.
7. Click "Past Authorizations" to view historical data.

Configure SSH Credentials

SSH credentials enable Cisco specialists to access your Cisco DNA Center setup for troubleshooting.

1. Navigate: Menu icon (☰) > "Remote Support Authorization" > "Manage SSH Credential" > "Add New SSH Credentials".
2. In the "Add New SSH Credentials" pane: Enter a password and a Name/Description.
3. Click "Add".
4. Note: The number of nodes affects the maximum SSH credentials. Credentials only need to be created once if all nodes share the same password. You must delete an existing credential to add a new one if the limit is reached.
5. To edit credentials: In the "Existing SSH Credentials" area, click "Edit", make changes, and click "Save".
6. To delete credentials: In the "Existing SSH Credentials" area, click "Delete", then "Confirm".

The Remote Support Authorization dashboard shows connectivity status: a green check mark (✔️) indicates connection to the Remote Support Cloud service; an exclamation point (❗) indicates no connection.

Use Global Search

The global Search function helps find items across Cisco DNA Center in categories such as:

• Activities, Applications, Application Groups, Authentication templates
• Devices (by status, location, tag)
• Fabric, Help topics
• Hosts and Endpoints (by name, IP, MAC)
• IP Pools, Model Configurations
• Network Devices (by name, IP, serial, version, platform, MAC)
• Network Profiles, Network Settings, Device Credentials
• IP Address Pools, Service Provider Profiles
• Wireless Network Settings
• Policy, Sites
• Traffic copy, Transits
• Users (by username, case-insensitive, substring search not supported)
• Workflows
• Other items as released.

To start a search, click the Search icon (?) in the top-right corner. Enter identifying information (name, address, serial number, etc.). The search is case-insensitive.

Cisco DNA Center displays matching targets, sorted by category. You can view details by clicking on a target or "View All" for categories with more than five items.

Search supports full or abbreviated IPv6 addresses, including using double colons (::) for prefix, postfix, or both. MAC addresses can also be searched in various formats.

Click the close icon (❌) when finished.

Apply Light or Dark Appearance

You can switch between light (default) and dark appearance modes for the Cisco DNA Center GUI.

1. Navigate: "My Profile and Settings" > "Display Settings".
2. In the "Set Appearance" area, select "Light" or "Dark".
3. Click "Save".

The chosen appearance is cached in the browser. If the cache is unavailable (e.g., different browser, first login to a secondary node in a cluster), the GUI may briefly display in light appearance.

Enable Localization

The Cisco DNA Center GUI supports English (default), Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

To change the default language:

1. In your browser, change the locale to a supported language (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean).
2. Google Chrome: Settings > Languages > Add languages > Select language > Add.
3. Mozilla Firefox: Settings > Language and Appearance > Language > Choose > Select language > OK.
4. Log in to Cisco DNA Center. The GUI will display in the selected language.

Add a Window to My Favorites

Add any Cisco DNA Center window to "My Favorites" for quick access.

1. Navigate to the desired window.
2. Click the star icon (⭐) in the top-right corner.
3. In the "THIS WINDOW IS FAVORITED" dialog, you can keep the default name or type a new one.
4. (Optional) Click "View My Favorites" to see your favorited windows. The "My Favorites" pane will appear.
5. Use the keyboard shortcut q + f to quickly display the "My Favorites" pane.
6. Click "Done" to save changes.

To remove a window, deselect the star icon (⭐) in the "THIS WINDOW IS FAVORITED" dialog or manage them in the "My Favorites" window.

Manage My Favorites

Manage your favorited windows via the "My Favorites" window. Refer to "Add a Window to My Favorites" on page 17 for adding windows.

Subscribe to Cisco DNA Center Insights

Subscribe to Cisco DNA Center Insights for product announcements, network highlights, and performance information. Publications are sent via PDF to your specified email address.

Note: In air-gapped networks, certain metrics may be omitted. Internet and telemetry connectivity are required for complete insights.

Before You Begin:

• Configure callback URL hostname/IP address under System > Settings > Integration Settings.
• Configure SMTP servers under System > Settings > External Services > Destinations > Email.

1. Navigate: "My Profile and Settings" > "Communication Preferences".
2. Click the "Subscription Off" toggle to "Subscription On".
3. Enter your email address and click "Save".

Insights are archived for one year. Past publications can be downloaded via "Actions > Download PDF".

You can change the email address (pencil icon ✏️) or unsubscribe (toggle to "Subscription Off").