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CHAPTER
13-1
User Guide for Resource Manager Essentials 4.1
OL-11714-01
13
Tracking Network Changes Using Change Audit
Change Audit tracks and reports changes made in the network. Change Audit allows other RME
applications to log change information to a central repository. Device Configuration, Inventory, and
Software Management changes can be logged and viewed using Change Audit.
RME applications write change records to Change Audit. Change Audit stores these records in the log
tables (summary and details) for later use with reports.
For example, Software Management records a change for each completed device upgrade. If a job has
ten devices, then Software Management writes ten entries to the Change Audit log, but the Change Audit
report shows only one job with ten devices. You can then access individual device information.
Each application writes its own change records to Change Audit. For example, in Inventory you can set
inventory change filters to filter out all kinds of information for different device types. Change Audit
record maintenance is controlled by the Change Audit Delete Change History option.
You can convert change records into SNMP V1 traps and forward them to a destination of your choice.
This allows system administrators to forward critical network change data to their own NMS.
You can define automated actions (e-mail and automated scripts) on creation of change audit record. The
automated action gets triggered on creation of the change audit record.
How Does it Differ From Syslog?
Syslog clients or message suppliers are Cisco devices that have been configured to log messages to RME.
Syslog Analyzer receives messages from routers and other Cisco devices configured to send messages
to the syslog server in RME. The messages are sent either directly or through a remote syslog collector
installed in the network. These messages originate from the device in response to some activity that
affects it.
Change Audit clients are RME applications that record change information. Applications, such as
Software Management, send messages to Change Audit when they make a change to the network, for
example, uploading a new Cisco IOS image.
Often these changes and users who make changes from the command line interface also trigger syslog
messages. The messages are logged in the RME syslog facility and are also passed on to other RME
applications for processing.
For example, a device sends a syslog message about a device configuration change. This is passed on to
Device Configuration, which determines the exact nature of the change and then writes a change record
into the Change Audit log.