Keep documented network diagrams

A documented diagram is a network drawing that Outpost keeps for a client, with every saved version, and checks against the live network. When the network changes, Outpost proposes the edits that would bring the drawing up to date, and can raise an alert when the drawing falls too far behind. Use documented diagrams for the drawings you hand to a client, an auditor, or the next technician, so they stay correct without anyone redrawing them.

Documented diagrams are on the Diagrams tab of Endpoints > Network map, with racks.

Before you begin

• Viewing diagrams needs discovery:read. Creating, editing, and deleting them, and deciding proposals, needs network_map:edit.
• Network discovery must be on for the client to make a diagram from the live map or to check one. See Network discovery.
• Deleting a diagram deletes every revision and its proposals, and cannot be undone. Files you already exported are not affected.

Create a diagram

1. On Endpoints > Network map, select the Diagrams tab.

2. Under Diagrams, select New diagram.

3. Under Start from, choose one:

   Choice	Use it when
   The live map, laid out by Outpost	You want a drawing of the network as it is now. Choose the View: Physical (L1): cables and ports, Switching (L2): VLANs and trunks, or Routing (L3): subnets and gateways, and the Site to draw.
   A .drawio or .vsdx file from this computer	You already have a drawing. Choose it under Diagram file, up to 10 MB.
   A blank page	You want to draw from scratch in the diagram editor.

4. Enter a Title, up to 200 characters. For an upload, an empty title uses the file name.

5. Optional: choose a Site to file the diagram under.

6. Select Make the diagram.

The diagram opens on its own page as revision 1.

How each source becomes a diagram:

• From the live map, every device and link on the drawing is linked to the device or link it stands for. Outpost checks linked shapes first and most reliably.
• A .drawio file is kept as it is, with your layout. A file Outpost exported keeps its links to devices. Other shapes are matched to devices by name, IP address, and MAC address.
• A .vsdx file is read for its devices, links, and groups, and redrawn by Outpost’s own layout as a .drawio drawing. The Visio file’s own positions and styling are not kept. To keep a Visio layout, open the file in draw.io first, save it as .drawio, and upload that.

You can also save a drawing Pioneer AI made as a documented diagram. See Network maps with Pioneer AI and MCP.

Edit and save a revision

Every save makes a new revision. Nothing is overwritten.

1. Open the diagram and select Open in editor.
2. Optional: before opening, select Show live values to open the drawing with today’s status, addresses, VLANs, and ports on linked devices and links. The layout and styles are not changed. Saving keeps those values.
3. Optional: enter a Note for the next save, up to 500 characters. It is shown in the revision list.
4. Make your changes and select Save in the editor’s bar. See Edit a diagram in the diagram editor.

The page says Saved as revision and the number. If the drawing is the same as the current revision, it says Nothing changed since revision and the number, and writes no revision.

Restore an earlier revision

1. Under Revisions, find the revision. Each shows a picture, its author, date, and note.
2. Select Restore, then Restore again to confirm.

Restoring copies the old revision forward as a new one, so the revisions in between are kept.

Review proposed changes

Outpost compares each diagram with the live network every 6 hours, and after each save. What it finds becomes proposals under Proposals on the diagram’s page:

Proposal	Means
New device	A firewall, router, switch, access point, server, or other infrastructure device is on the network and not on the diagram.
New link	A link between infrastructure devices is on the network and not on the diagram.
Device gone	A linked device has not been seen for 7 days.
Link gone	A linked link has not been seen for 7 days.
Changed	A linked device or link has a different IP address, port, VLAN, or media.

1. Select Accept or Reject on a proposal. To decide several at once, select them, or Select all, then Accept selected or Reject selected.
2. Read the result:
   • Accepting draws the changes into the diagram as a new revision, noted Accepted and the number of changes. A new device is placed beside the device it links to, in your map style.
   • Rejecting keeps the change out of the diagram until the network changes again. A rejected proposal is not offered again while the device or link stays as it is.

A revision made by accepting proposals has no picture until you open it in the editor and save it.

Watch the drift score

The Drift card shows how much of the diagram still matches the network, such as 92% matches, and when Outpost last checked. The Matches the network column on the Diagrams tab shows the same score for every diagram. Not checked yet means Outpost has not compared it yet.

The score is the share of devices and links that match, out of everything matched, missing from the network, new on the network, or moved.

To be alerted when a diagram falls behind:

1. On the diagram’s page, in Alert below, enter a score from 0 to 100.
2. Select Save threshold.

When the score falls below it, Outpost raises a warning alert, Network diagram out of date: followed by the diagram’s title, in the Network discovery category. It resolves on its own when the score recovers, when you select Clear to remove the threshold, or when the diagram is deleted. See Alerts.

Share a diagram with the client

On the MSP plan, you can let the client’s own console users see a diagram.

1. On the diagram’s page, under Details, turn on Visible to client.

They see only the current revision and its drift score. They never see earlier revisions or proposals, and they cannot change the diagram. Diagrams are hidden from them until you turn this on. The Client can see column on the Diagrams tab shows which diagrams are shared.

Rename, move, or delete a diagram

• Rename or move it. Under Details, change the Title or the Site, then select Save.
• Delete it. Under Delete, select Delete diagram, then confirm.

Verify

On the Diagrams tab, the diagram is listed with its View, Site, Revision, and a score under Matches the network within 6 hours of creating it.

If something goes wrong

Symptom	Cause	Fix
No picture of this revision	The revision is an uploaded .drawio file, or was written by accepting proposals. Outpost keeps a picture only of drawings it draws itself or you save from the editor.	Open it in the editor and select Save.
The file is not a .drawio or .vsdx diagram Outpost can read.	The upload is another format, or damaged.	Open it in draw.io or Visio and save it again as .drawio or .vsdx.
The diagram is too large: at most 5,000 shapes and 10 MB uncompressed.	The file is past the size limit.	Split it into several diagrams.
The Visio diagram is too large to draw: at most 2,000 devices.	A .vsdx file is redrawn by Outpost, which draws up to 2,000 devices.	Split it, or convert it to .drawio in draw.io and upload that.
Exporting a revision as PNG, SVG, or PDF fails with “Open it in the editor and save it”	The same.	Open it in the editor and select Save, then export again.
This diagram is not here	It was deleted, or, for a client user, it is not shared.	Check the Diagrams tab.
An uploaded diagram scores low	Its device names do not match the names Outpost knows.	Accept the proposals, or rename the shapes in the editor to match the devices.

Next steps

• Edit a diagram in the diagram editor
• Export network maps and diagrams
• Record rack elevations