Introduction

Cisco Nexus Dashboard is a central management console for multiple data center sites and a common platform for hosting Cisco data center operation applications, such as Nexus Dashboard Insights and Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator. These applications are universally available for all the data center sites and provide real time analytics, visibility, and assurance for network policies and operations. Cisco Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator can also run on Nexus Dashboard as a hosted app.

Nexus Dashboard provides a common platform and modern technology stack for these micro-services-based applications, simplifying the life cycle management of the different modern applications and reducing the operational overhead to run and maintain these applications. It also provides a central integration point for external 3rd party applications with the locally hosted applications.

Nexus Dashboard API

The Nexus Dashboard REST API is a programmatic interface that uses REST architecture. The API accepts and returns HTTP or HTTPS messages that contain JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) payloads. You can use any programming language to generate the messages and the JSON that contain the API methods or Managed Object (MO) descriptions.

The REST API is also used by the GUIs of the Nexus Dashboard and the services running on it. So that whenever information is displayed, it is read through the REST API; and when configuration changes are made, they are written through the REST API.

Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller API

The Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) is the comprehensive management and automation solution for all Cisco Nexus and Cisco Multilayer Distributed Switching (MDS) platforms powered by Cisco NX-OS. NDFC provides management, automation, control, monitoring, and integration for deployments spanning LAN, SAN, and IP Fabric For Media (IPFM) fabrics. Fabric Controller Services were traditionally provided by Data Center Network Manager which became Nexus Dashboard fabric Controller in version 11.x​.

All supported APIs are available from the navigation menu on the left; for the full list of changes, see API Changelog.

Compatiblity

Not every version of a Nexus Dashboard service is supported on every version of the Nexus Dashboard platform. The following two tools provide full compatibility information related to the specific combinations of services' releases and platform releases as well as available co-hosting use cases: