Use the network map

This page shows how to find a device on a client’s network map, follow the path its traffic takes, check the map against a diagram you already have, and see what changed on the network. For what the map is drawn from, see Network maps.

Before you begin

• You need discovery:read. To see endpoints on the map, you also need endpoint:read.
• Network discovery must be on for the client, with at least one trusted network. Until then the map shows No network data yet.

Open the map

1. Go to Endpoints > Network map. On the MSP plan, select the client first.

2. To draw part of the network, set any of the filters:

   Filter	Effect
   View	Combined, Physical (L1), Data link (L2), or Network (L3). See Views.
   Site	One site, or No site for devices not assigned to one.
   Network	One discovered subnet.
   VLAN	One VLAN, from 1 to 4094.

   A filter keeps the devices that match, plus every firewall, router, and switch between them and the internet, so the drawing stays connected.

3. To hide devices from the drawing on this page only, use Narrow the drawing: choose a Device kind, or clear Show devices and links not seen recently. Exports and Trace path still use the whole map. Show everything clears the narrowing.

Zoom with the controls above the drawing, and select Fit to view to see all of it. List view shows the same devices and links as two tables, which is easier to read with a screen reader or to search with the browser. Refresh rebuilds the map from the latest data. The time it was built is shown as Built.

A device’s border shows its status: online, offline, not seen recently, or unknown. A device Outpost knows only from another device’s announcements has status unknown.

Read a device’s details

Select a device on the map. The panel beside the map shows its kind, IP and MAC addresses, VLANs, site, and what discovery and SNMP know about it, such as vendor, model, firmware, and serial number. It also shows:

• Links, one line per link with the ports at each end, the VLAN, and how the link was found. Select a link to open its details. See Edit link details.
• Rack, when the device is placed in a rack. See Record rack elevations.
• Open the endpoint, Open the discovered device, or Open the documented asset, depending on what the device is.

Trace a path

A trace follows the physical links from one device to another, or to the internet, and lists every hop with its ports and VLAN.

1. Select Trace path, then select the device to start from. You can also select Trace from here in a device’s details.
2. Select the destination on the map, or select Trace to the internet.
3. Read the Path panel. Each hop shows the device, its ports, the VLAN, and the gateway where there is one, and under it how the next link was found. The path is highlighted on the map.

A hop marked Inferred crosses a link Outpost worked out rather than saw, and Check these links lists them. No path found means the two devices are not joined by any link Outpost knows about. Select Trace another path to start again, or Stop tracing to leave trace mode.

The trace uses the whole map, whatever filters or narrowing you set.

Compare the map with a diagram

If you already have a drawing of the network, Outpost can tell you what it is missing and what has moved. To keep a diagram that Outpost checks on its own, see Keep documented network diagrams instead.

1. Select Compare with document.
2. Under The diagram, choose where it is:
   • From this client’s documentation: search for the file under Find a diagram and choose it. This needs docs:read.
   • A file from this computer: choose a .drawio or .vsdx file under Diagram file, up to 10 MB.
3. Select Compare.

The result lists Missing from the network (on the diagram, not found), On the network, not on the diagram, Link differences (missing, new, and moved links), and Different details (IP addresses, VLANs, and MAC addresses that differ). Matched devices shows how each device was matched: by name, IP address, MAC address, or a similar name, with a confidence. Select Highlight on the map to show the differences on the drawing.

Comparing changes nothing, on the map or in the file.

See what changed

Outpost keeps a snapshot of each client’s map once a day, for each site, whenever something changed since the last one. Snapshots are kept for 90 days, and the newest one for each site is always kept.

1. Select the Changes tab.
2. Under Compare, choose a snapshot in From, and a later snapshot or The map now in To.
3. Select Compare.

The result lists Devices added, Devices removed, Moved (a host that is now on another switch or port), Changed (a device’s IP address, VLAN, status, MAC address, kind, or name), and links added and removed. Select Highlight on the map to show them on the drawing.

A workstation going offline is not a change, so laptops going to sleep do not fill the list. Other devices that go offline are.

The first snapshot is taken within a day of discovery finding devices on the client’s networks.

If something goes wrong

Symptom	Cause	Fix
You cannot view the network map	Your role lacks discovery:read.	Ask an owner to add it to your role.
No network data yet	Discovery is off for the client, or no network is trusted yet.	See Turn on network discovery.
Every host hangs off its gateway, with no switches	No agent reports LLDP or CDP, and no switch is under SNMP monitoring.	Turn on discovery.link_neighbor_collection, or monitor the switches over SNMP. See Where the map comes from.
An endpoint is missing from the map, or shows as a discovered device	Your role lacks endpoint:read. An endpoint discovery has seen is shown as that discovered device, and any other endpoint is left out.	Ask an owner to add endpoint:read to your role.
From this client’s documentation cannot be chosen	Your role lacks docs:read.	Upload the file instead.

Next steps

• Edit link details
• Keep documented network diagrams
• Export network maps and diagrams