Network topology is not updated

Eagleshockey
Conversationalist

Network topology is not updated

At some point I had a Cisco router connected to one of the switch ports on my Meraki switch. A couple of days ago I  disconnected the Cisco router and connected a non-Cisco router to that same port. The topology never got updated and still shows as if the Cisco router was still connected, showing the Cisco router software version, IP, platform information, etc.

Is there a way to force re-discovery of the network to correct the displayed topology information?

12 REPLIES 12
PhilipDAth
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

I don't believe so sorry. It takes quite a while before old devices drop out.

Is the new non-Cisco device connected to that same switch port running LLDP or capable of running LLDP?  I'd also check with Meraki Support and see if bouncing the port and/or rebooting the switch might be advised.  Shouldn't be necessary in an ideal world but just thinking of ways to clear the issue.  But it's also possible there could be something else going on, perhaps an incarnation of the uplink sampling issue described here https://documentation.meraki.com/MS/Monitoring_and_Reporting/Last_Seen_Switch_Port_of_Client_Keeps_C... which is not the issue you're having but wondering if there could be something indirectly related, so I'd do a quick check with Support for related cases to review.

The non-Cisco device is not capable of running LLDP. I already tried bouncing the port, but the information the Cisco router had provided persists.

Rebooting the switch did the trick, but it would be preferable if there was an option to force re-discovery of reenacted devices in a way that doesn't require a reboot.

Rebooting the switch wont make any difference.  From my experience, the old info tends to hang around for at least a month.

PhilipDAth, yes you are right. After closer inspection the topology now shows a change, but the information from the Cisco device still lingers. It's merely moved to a different device in the topology... 

Might pay to submit this through as a feature request, I asked for the same thing a few months ago. Being able to force rediscovery or at least have the equipment do so itself once a day or week would be nice.

 

 

I'm on it, will investigate and check with Support and MS team, if there's not already an FR I'll get one created, but also see if there's anything pending with Engineering.

I am also having this issue but in my circumstance it is all meraki equipment, and it has been connected for a while with no change. 

Ive just submitted a case to see if there is something that can be done to have a forced update.

 

All my MR switches connect directly to an MX but our topology is reflecting that some of our switches are conected via switches instead of directly to our MX. 

 

This is a little frustrating as it introduces doubt into me with regards to the rest of the information that is being displayed.

I am not feeling 100% confident everything that is show is accurate.

 

Would be good to get this fixed.

The only way we were able to remedy this is to turn of CDP completely, and install an aggregations switch (we used an MS425) in between the MX and the rest of the switches.  The LLDP still does not show correctly between the MX250 and the MS425 unless you use an API to pull the correct data from the MX.  It's really a function of the Meraki Dashboard not pulling the correct information, or not pulling information in a timely manner.

 

We have started moving away from the Meraki Dashboard in favor of API calls because we get much more accurate information than the Meraki Dashboard will ever give us.

 

I recommend not using the Meraki Dashboard, and build your own dashboard via API calls.  It is a lot of initial setup, but you'll pull less hair out than looking at inaccurate information in the Meraki dashboard.

Any updates to this? I just ran into this after relocating switches that were daisy chained. It’s pretty ridiculous that hardware at this price point and sold as enterprise gear can’t be shown with its current topology as that topology changes. Time to write a shame blog.  

It helped to shut lldp on Cisco classic devices and re-enable it again. Also shutting cdp and enabling lldp only helped (after waiting a couple of hours).

 

Cisco classic:

 

no lldp run (shutting lldp)

lldp run (reenable lldp)

 

no cdp run (shutting Cisco cdp)  helping when the topology view is confused

cdp run (reenabling Cisco cdp)

 

GIdenJoe
Kind of a big deal
Kind of a big deal

The L2 topo also shows some weird behavior on the MX'es going to the internet since a few months.

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