---
title: "Use the network map"
description: "Filter the live network map, read a device's details, trace a path between two devices, compare the map with a diagram, and see what changed."
url: "https://support.outpostplatform.com/network-maps/use-the-map/"
product: "depot"
type: "how-to"
status: "draft"
ai_summary: "Using the Outpost network map page: View, Site, Network, and VLAN filters, Narrow the drawing, device details and links, list view, Trace path to a device or the internet with hop warnings, Compare with document against a .drawio or .vsdx file, and the Changes tab that compares daily snapshots."
availability:
  plans: ["home-lab", "essentials", "enterprise", "msp"]
  permission: "discovery:read"
  preview: false
source: "https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/edit/main/src/content/docs/network-maps/use-the-map.md"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# 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](/network-maps/).

## Before you begin

- You need `discovery:read`. To see endpoints on the map, you also need
  `endpoint:read`.
- [Network discovery](/endpoints/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](/network-maps/#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](/network-maps/link-details/).
- **Rack**, when the device is placed in a rack. See
  [Record rack elevations](/network-maps/racks/).
- **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](/network-maps/documented-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](/endpoints/network-discovery/#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](/network-maps/#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](/network-maps/link-details/)
- [Keep documented network diagrams](/network-maps/documented-diagrams/)
- [Export network maps and diagrams](/network-maps/export/)