Auto-Deploy Remote PacketShapers

At times, you may to deploy a unit at a branch office where no network administrators are available, or set up and configure multiple PacketShapers all at once, rather manually accessing each unit. Consider these examples:

• You want to install a unit at a branch office in another part of the country, but your IT staff does not have the resources to send a member over to install and configure the unit.
  
  
• You want to bring multiple units online all at once, rather than individually configuring each unit over a period of several weeks.
  
  
• You have created new PolicyCenter configurations for the unconfigured units in your network, and would like each unit to automatically subscribe to PolicyCenter and download its assigned configuration.

With the PolicyCenter auto-deployment feature, network administrators who want to deploy multiple PacketShapers at remote branch offices no longer have to travel to each individual site to set up and configure each unit. A network administrator at the central office can automatically assign a network identify and configuration to any unconfigured PacketShaper that has been installed on the network and powered on, greatly reducing the time and expense required for each deployment.

Basic setup and network identification information in the form of an RSVP auto-deploy message is sent a host machine behind the unconfigured unit. When the unit receives the auto-deploy message, it configures its network identity and subscribes to PolicyCenter, where it will automatically assign itself to any specified PolicyCenter configuration. (If no configuration is specified, the unit assigns itself to a blank PolicyCenter configuration at the root of the configuration tree).

Note: This feature requires PacketWise 7.1 or later on the unconfigured units.

Configure units via the PolicyCenter Auto-deployment Feature

1. Install the PacketShaper at the remote site. Installation does not require advanced technical knowledge; simply connect the two network cables and plug in the power cord.
   
   
2. Verify that your network routers are correctly configured for auto-deployment.
   
   
3. Create an entry for the unit in the PolicyCenter auto-deployment table. Each unit entry is comprised of a network identification for the unconfigured unit, and any additional information the information that unit needs to subscribe to PolicyCenter.
   
   
4. Enable the auto-deployment server. The auto-deployment server must be enabled before it can start sending auto-deployment messages to individual units.
   
   
5. Review the auto-deployment table. This table shows which units remain unconfigured, and can be used to identify units that either haven't received an auto-configure message, or that failed to respond to a message.