VLAN Manager Overview

The VLAN Manager allows Admin users to add domains and VLANs to their ProVision instances, and associate them with IP Blocks. Optionally, VLAN tags may be associated with ranges or individual VLANs under a domain, to help limit VLAN search results when enabling VLANs. 

Although some VLAN functionality occurs under the "standard user" area of ProVision (IPAM Tab), only Admin-level users may access the IPAM -> VLAN page and perform higher level VLAN Management tasks. 

Three work areas are available under the VLAN Tab: Domain Setup (default page), Metadata Fields, and VLAN Tags, accessed from the VLAN Tab navigation drop-down menu.

VLAN Manager Overview

Domain Setup

The Domain Setup page is the default page that displays when accessing the VLAN Tab. Here, you can add new domains, view/edit existing domains, or remove non-default domains (the "Default Domain" is not deletable).

To add a new Domain, click the "Add Domain" link above the Domain list. In the panel that appears, add your domain name, select a range, and click "Add".

When adding new Domains, the domain range may be one of the following range types:

  • "Standard" range (2-1001) with vlan 1 marked as reserved
  • "Extended" range (2-1001, 1006 - 4094), with vlans 1 and 1002-1005 marked as reserved

Once a domain is created, it will display in the Domain List, where you may click "Manage" edit the domain, or click "Remove" to delete the domain. 

If a domain already has VLANs enabled for it, clicking on the "+" sign in front of the domain name will expand the domain list to show enabled VLANs.

Manage Domain

Clicking "Manage" next to a Domain in the VLAN Domain list opens the VLAN Chart / Manage Domain page. 

Here, VLAN tags associated with VLANs in this domain will display in the VLAN chart. To see the details of each tag range, hover over a segment with the mouse cursor, and details will display at the bottom of the chart. Add or remove tag ranges from the "Edit VLAN Tag Range" area below the chart - just select the tag, the desired range, and choose whether to add  or remove that tag range to or from the chart. 

At the bottom of the page, you may edit the domain name if desired. Just type in the new name (30 characters or less), and click "Save". 

VLAN Tags

The VLAN Tags page is accessed from the VLAN Tab dropdown. Here, you may add, edit, or remove the vlan tags used in VLAN Chart View and in IPAM.

To add a new VLAN tag, click on "Add Item" at the top of the Edit List: VLAN Tags page and add the Tag Name. When saved, the tag will be added to the tag list, the VLAN chart, and VLAN tag filter options in IPAM.

The VLAN Tag list may be sorted Alphabetically or manually. To sort automatically by name, click the "Sort List Alphabetically" link at the top of the list. To manually sort, click the list icon (three lines) for the tag, then drag and release into the desired location. Delete tags by clicking the "Delete" icon to the right of the tag name. 

Metadata Fields

Metadata Fields allow for custom data to be saved for each VLAN, when accessed from the IPAM VLAN list. 

VLAN Metadata fields is accessed from the "Metadata Fields" link in the VLAN tab dropdown. 

To enable a new Metadata Field, navigate to the Admin section of ProVision, and select "Metadata Fields" from the dropdown. 

To enable a new field, type the desired field name in an empty text input box under "Field Display Name", and select the check box next to the new name. Then, click "Save" to save your changes. Field display names may be edited at any time by simply typing the desired change into the "Field Display Name" box and saving your changes. 

Once enabled, a metadata field displays for all enabled VLANs. 

To disable a metadata field, deselect the check box next to the Field Display Name and click "Save". Any data that exists under a disabled field is retained, and will reappear once the field is re-enabled. 


VLAN Manager Workflow

Most of VLAN Manager workflow is split between the Admin area of ProVision (VLAN Admin Tab), and the IPAM Tab, under the VLAN submenu. There are two types of workflow. One is the "Standard" flow, where the VLAN tag system is not used - the only primary tasks are adding domains, VLANs, and associating the domain/VLAN pairs with IP Blocks. The second workflow is using optional VLAN tags, which requires creating the VLAN tags and associating them with domains / VLANs during the domain / VLAN add processes. 

For detailed information on each of these workflows, click below:

Standard flow (without VLAN tags):

The workflow starts with creating a domain in the VLAN Admin section of ProVision. During creation, domains may be selected as "standard" or "extended" domains, declaring the size of the VLAN pool from which VLANs are available to be enabled.

Next, VLANs must be enabled and added to the domain. This is done under the IPAM Tab -> VLAN section of ProVision. Add VLANs to the domains by clicking "Add", searching for the desired range of VLANs to enable from the standard / extended pool, and selecting the desired VLANs to enable.

Once enabled, VLANs may be edited or have IP blocks associated with that VLAN. Editing VLANs and Direct / Smart Browse / Search IPs functions for adding blocks to VLANs are available from the Domain/ VLAN list under under the IPAM Tab -> VLAN section of ProVision by expanding the desired domain and clicking on the VLAN link. IP blocks may also be edited individually through the IPAM gadget, IPAM Manage, and VLAN Manage areas to add domain and VLAN information to the block. 

Optional flow (with VLAN tags):

The workflow starts with creating a domain in the VLAN Admin section of ProVision. During creation, domains may be selected as "standard" or "extended" domains, declaring the size of the VLAN pool from which VLANs are available to be enabled. VLAN tags may be added (from the VLAN Admin Tab -> Edit Tags submenu) before or after domain creation. Tags created in this area are available to all domains and VLANs. 

If the tags created need to be added to a large range of VLANs, the next step would be to add tags to the desired range(s) of VLANs from the VLAN Admin -> Domain "Manage" button. Domain Manage allows you to select an existing tag, type in the numeric VLAN start and end point, and assign that tag to that entire range of VLANs under the current domain.

Once a bulk range of tags is associated with VLANs, you can use the tag as a search criteria when adding VLANs to a domain. This is done under the IPAM Tab -> VLAN section of ProVision. Add VLANs to the domains by clicking "Add", using the tag name as a search field for the desired range of VLANs, and then selecting the desired VLANs to enable.

If tags are only desired for individual VLANs, they may be added when editing a VLAN after the VLAN has already been added/enabled for the domain. Editing VLANs may be accessed from the IPAM Tab -> VLAN section, then expanding the desired domain and clicking on the VLAN link, selecting "Edit". 

Next, VLANs must be enabled and added to the domain. This is done under the IPAM Tab -> VLAN section of ProVision. Add VLANs to the domains by clicking "Add", searching for the desired range of VLANs to enable from the standard / extended pool, and selecting the desired VLANs to enable. Once enabled, VLANs may be edited or have IP blocks associated with that VLAN. Editing VLANs and Direct / Smart Browse / Search IPs functions for adding blocks to VLANs are available from the Domain/ VLAN list under under the IPAM Tab -> VLAN section of ProVision. IP blocks may also be edited individually through the IPAM gadget, IPAM Manage, and VLAN Manage areas to add domain and VLAN information to the block. 


Additional Information:

For details on performing specific tasks with the VLAN Manager, proceed to Working with the VLAN Manager.

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