Starting the Management Web Interface

Physically Connecting to the Sensor Control

Before logging in to the unit via the Management Web interface, you must first establish communication between your workstation and the Cisco Provider Connectivity Assurance Sensor Control (formerly Skylight sensor: control), which is running on a virtual machine:

• Connect your workstation's LOCAL-1 network interface to the LAN where the physical server (i.e., hypervisor or virtual machine monitor) running the Sensor Control's virtual machine is also located.
• Bridge the LOCAL-1 network interface of the physical server running the Sensor Control's virtual machine to the corresponding interface on the virtual machine.

Once the virtual machine is powered on and actively running, you are ready to log in and configure the Sensor Control for the first time.

Logging In

Once you have established a physical connection to the equipment, you are ready to log in. There are various ways to log in, depending on how the unit has been configured. You would usually connect to the Sensor Control for the first time using the Management port. You would then configure another interface for in-band management through the network.

When logging in for the first time

1. Assign the Sensor Control a static IP address belonging to the same subnet as the equipment to which you want to log in. The address 192.168.1.254 is used in this procedure.

2. Start your Web browser and enter the following IP address in the address bar: https://192.168.1.254.
   The login page for the Sensor Control opens.
   

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   Note: This is the factory default IP address of each instance of the Sensor Control.

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3. Login with the default credentials:

   • Username: admin
   • Password: admin

   You will be redirected to a forced password change page.

4. Change the default password. See Changing the Default Password for more information.

5. If you are using static IP addresses, modify the Sensor Control instance’s IP address to be unique, thereby avoiding duplicate IP addresses with other factory default units. As an alternative, you can configure the Sensor Control to use DHCP.

   For more information on modifying IP addresses, using DHCP, and other options for logical interfaces, refer to Configuring Logical Interfaces.

Changing the Default Password

Upon logging in with the default credentials, you will be redirected to a forced password change page:

1. Enter new password between 1 and 128 characters (all characters are accepted). For specific details, see also, Password Considerations below.

2. Confirm a new password.

Your password has now been successfully changed.

Example Error Messages

Mismatch Error
If the new password and the confirmation do not match or do not meet the complexity requirements, the user will receive the following error message:

Password Reuse Error
The password can not be identical to the default password admin nor can you select a password you have already used.

Concurrent Password Change Error
If there are multiple sessions attempting the first login password change and one of them is successful, the system shall prevent the other sessions from continuing with the password change process. In this case you will be redirected to the login page with the following error message:

Once you have successfully updated the password, you will will be redirected to the default WebUI home page.

Important
If you try to access any other URL without finishing the initial password change, the system will refuse the request and redirect you to the password change screen.

Logging into the Web Interface

When logging in for the first time (if another logical interface is configured)

1. Ensure your management station has a route to the equipment.

2. Launch your Web browser and enter the equipment address in the address bar, e.g. https://192.168.1.25 (or host_name.domain_name if you are using a DNS).
   The login page opens.

3. Log in using the admin username and account password.

Password Considerations

The Management Web Interface supports a variety of authentication methods and allows you to set the order in which these methods are applied. You can indicate your preferred authentication order in the System ▶ Session ▶ Configuration page.

The maximum permitted password length varies, depending on the authentication method you specify:

• Local Authentication: 48 characters
• RADIUS Authentication: 48 characters
• TACACS+ Authentication: 64 characters

If you choose to include a fallback method in your authentication order, you must ensure that the user password you choose is valid for all authentication methods that you want to use. For example, if you want to use TACACS+ authentication when logging in—with local authentication as the fallback method—your TACACS+ password cannot exceed 48 characters. Any passwords that are longer than 48 characters will be truncated and unusable by the local authentication system, even if they are supported by the TACACS+ server.

If you remove local authentication and the remote system is not working, you will lose access to the Sensor Control. To ensure that authentication is working on the remote server, log in then out from the Sensor Control, then access the System ▶ Agent ▶ Syslog page. You should see a syslog message indicating a successful login attempt.

Character Limitations in URLs and User Input Fields

Limitations are in place to prevent utilization of specific special characters in URLs and user inputs fields throughout the Management Web interface. These limitations are:

• The following special characters are not allowed in any user input fields: "&","<", ">", "\n", "\r", "\t ", "'' and " " ".
• The following special characters are not allowed in the URL input: "<", ">", "\n", "\r" and "\t".

Viewing System Information in the Home Page

The home page provides general information about the Sensor Control.

To view the Home page shown in the figure below, select Home in the first level menu.

Home Page

For information on specific parameters displayed on the home page, refer to the following table.

Home Page Parameters (Home)

Board Info

Modifying the Sensor Control's Unit Identifier (Hostname)

The default host name (or unit identifier) is the serial number assigned to the Sensor Control; it is displayed in the banner at the top of the screen after logging in. You can change the host name to a name more meaningful to your organization or use other DHCP host name options. The Host Name identifies the Sensor Control on the network and can be used when you log in to it, as shown in the figure in the section "About the Management Web Interface".

To modify the Sensor Control's unit identifier

1. Access the page System ▶ Configuration ▶ DNS.

2. Enter the new unit identifier in the Host Name field.

3. Click Apply to save your changes.

For information on specific parameters, refer to the following table.

DNS Parameters (System ▶ Configuration ▶ DNS)

Managing SSL Certificates

The SSL protocol is used to secure communication over the Internet between the management station and the Sensor Control. In order to provide secure communication, a valid SSL certificate from a certificate authority must be imported into the Sensor Control. To learn more about certificates, refer to the certificate authority and ITU-T Recommendation X.509.

In other cases, you may want the Sensor Control to communicate with other applications such as an FTP server. You can configure the Sensor Control for secure communication with these applications by using the Application Management section, which manages the validation of certificate use.

Access the page System ▶ Maintenance ▶ Certificates to manage SSL certificates.

System ▶ Maintenance ▶ Certificates

You can view the SSL certificates installed on the Sensor Control in the Certificate Management section. To view the details of the installed certificates, click the View button.

To delete a certificate, click the Delete button.

To import a new certificate, select the certificate by using Browse in the Certificate Import section, complete the other fields and click Upload when ready. The certificate will be installed on the Sensor Control and will appear in the Certificate Management section.

To assign a certificate to a specific application such as an FTP server, select it from the Common Name drop-down list in the Application Management section. Complete the other parameters as required, then click Submit to assign it to the application.

For information on specific parameters, refer to the following three tables.

Certificate Management (System ▶ Maintenance ▶ Certificates)

Application Management (System ▶ Maintenance ▶ Certificates)

Certificate Import (System ▶ Maintenance ▶ Certificates)