What is the Automation Gateway module?

Automation Gateway allows users and automation code to discover and manage IP-based management interfaces via the Opengear management system, with the same level of simplicity and efficiency as if they were serial consoles.

Automation Gateway is currently available for free evaluation and testing, request a trial licence by contacting: [e-mail]

Background

Managed devices like firewalls and servers may present an IP-based management interface in addition to (or sometimes instead of) the traditional serial or USB console port. This interface may serve a web-based GUI, SSH-based CLI and/or a programmable network API like RESTful HTTPS. The device itself may be physical or virtual.

By their nature, the IP-based management interfaces are more dynamic (e.g. they may change IP address), varied (e.g. protocols vary from device to device) and harder to reach (e.g. on an unroutable private network).

The Automation Gateway module addresses the challenges of discovering, auditing and connecting to IP-based management services in a distributed, heterogenous network.

Architecture

Once a node is activated with the Automation Gateway module, it scans all directly connected network segments for management services (e.g. HTTPS web GUI or REST API running on a device such as a firewall appliance). These discovered management services are published on Lighthouse via its API and web GUI.

When a user or automation code needs to access the remote device, Lighthouse proxies the connection via its local IP address, through to the remote device IP.

More simply put, when a user needs to access the web UI of a firewall on a remote, unreachable network, they browse to Lighthouse, search for the firewall, click a link, and the web UI is displayed.