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Documentation to assist with the setup and configuration of the HaloPSA platform

Guides > Cisco Meraki Integration

Cisco Meraki Integration

In this Lesson we will cover:

- How to connect to the Cisco Meraki integration

- How to import customers from Cisco Meraki

- How to import assets from Cisco Meraki

- How to set up alerting with Cisco Meraki



The Cisco Meraki integration allows you to import customers and assets from Cisco Meraki into Halo. Alerting can also be configured using webhooks, allowing you to have any alerts triggered by events in Cisco Meraki log a ticket in your Halo instance. 


How to connect to the Cisco Meraki integration

First you will need to enable the integration by heading to configuration > integrations. Use the '+' symbol to enable the integration. 

Fig 1. Enable Cisco Meraki integration


Once enabled click into the integration module to begin configuration. 


To connect to the integration you will need to enter your Meraki URL and API key. To obtain an API key head to your 'My profile' page in Cisco Meraki (accessed via the avatar icon in the top RHS corner of dashboard). Here you can generate an API key ensure you copy your key once generating as you will not be able to retrieve it later. The key will inherit the permissions of the account you generate the key from, ensure you are generating the key using an administrator account. Once you have the key paste it into the relevant fields in Halo. 


Fig 2. Meraki URL and API key fields


Now you are connected you can being importing assets and customers.


How to import customers from Cisco Meraki

Head to the 'Organisations' tab under the integration configuration. 

Fig 3. Organisations tab


Here you will need to configure mappings to map a Cisco Meraki organisation to a Halo customer, this will ensure data from this organisation in Cisco Meraki will be imported into the mapped Halo customer. 


Mappings can be automatically generated using the 'Generate Mappings' button if your Halo customers and Cisco Meraki have the exact same name. If a Cisco Meraki organisation is imported without a mapping a new customer will be created for this organisation in Halo. 


The field 'Top Level for New Customers' can be used to assign a top level to any customers that are created from the integration.


Once you have added all the mappings you require hit the 'Import Organisations' button to bring up the import preview screen, then hit 'start' to begin the import. 


How to import assets from Cisco Meraki

Head to the 'Assets' tab to begin the asset import configuration. 

Fig 4. Asset tab


Asset Field Mappings

Mappings can be configured to ensure data from Cisco Meraki fields are imported into a chosen Halo field. Create a mapping by adding to the 'Field mappings' table.


Field Type - This will be the type of Halo field the data will be imported into. See our lesson on Asset Fields if you are unsure on the difference between asset fields and custom fields in Halo. 


Now choose the Cisco Meraki and Halo field you would like to map together. If you would like data from the Cisco Meraki field to create a new field in Halo select '*Create new field during the next import*' under 'HaloPSA Field'. 


Only apply this mapping to new Assets and Assets where the Asset field does not currently have a value - When this is enabled if the Halo field already has data within it, different to the data in the mapped Cisco Meraki field, the field data will not change. Fields will only be populassetated when they contain no data or when new assets are being created. 

Fig 5. Field mapping example


In the figure 5 example data from the 'serial' field in Meraki will be imported into the 'Serial number' field in Halo. 


Note: Ensure the field selected as the 'Asset Matching field' is mapped.


Determine an Asset's type

When assets are imported from Cisco Meraki a new asset in Halo will be created, as Cisco Meraki does not have a concept of 'asset types' like Halo we will need to configure how the type of new assets created from Cisco Meraki are determined. This is done using the 'Determining an Asset's type' field. 

Fig 6.  'Determining an Asset's type' field


Use the same type for all Assets

If you would like all imported assets to have the same asset type when imported set the 'Determining an Asset's type' field to be 'use the same type for all Assets' then set the 'Default Asset Type' field to be the asset type you would like assets from Cisco Meraki to be.


Use a field to determine each Asset's type

If you would like all imported assets' types to be determined by a particular field, set the set the 'Determining an Asset's type' field to be 'Use a field to determine each Asset's type'. Then in 'Field for determining an Asset's type' choose the field you would like the type to depend on. The field you choose must contain the name of the desired asset type, if this name can be matched to an existing asset type in Halo, it will be assigned this asset type. If the name is not the same as an asset type in Halo, a new asset type will be created. Note that the names must be identical in order to match. This setting is used if you have a field in Cisco Meraki that already determines an asset's type and you would like the types to be consistent between Halo and Cisco Meraki. You will still need to populate the default asset type and group fields as assets that do not have the selected field populated will be imported as the default asset type. 


In the figure 7 example new assets will be assigned to an asset type in Halo based on their 'productType' field. If the data in the productType field matches the name of an asset type in Halo this asset will be created under the matched asset type. If a match cannot be made a new asset type will be created, under the asset group 'Network Equipment'. If the asset does not have the 'productType' field populated the asset will be created under the default asset type, 'Workstation'. 

Fig 7. Using field to determine asset's type example


Determine Asset type using rules

If you would like asset types to be determined by asset rules set the set the 'Determining an Asset's type' field to be 'Determine asset type using rules'. Now you will be able to set asset's types based on rules, These rules are based on field values, and if matched will assign an asset to the chosen asset type. When creating a rule first add criteria for the rule, select the Halo field that you would like to base the criteria on, then set the rule type and the outcome needed in the field to match the rule. If an asset matches this rule it will be imported as this asset type.


If an asset is imported that does not match any of these rules, it will be created under the default asset type. Alternatively, if you would like to not import assets that do not match these rules, set the 'Default Asset type' to 'Don't import assets that do not match any rules'.


Asset Matching field

Use the 'Asset Matching Field' field to set an asset matching field, this is the asset field in Halo that will be matched on during the import. If the field value in Halo matches the value of the mapped Cisco Meraki field, an existing asset will be updated, if no match can be made a new asset will be created.


Asset Sites

When assets are imported from Cisco Meraki they will be imported to the main site of the customer they are assigned to. If you would like certain assets to stored under a different site the assets will need to be moved to the desired site in Halo after the import has taken place. Then you can enable the setting 'Do not update an Asset's Site if the Asset already exists' on the integration configuration page. This setting will then ensure the assets are updated when a sync/import takes place but the asset's site will not change.  


Import Assets

Once your asset configuration is complete use the 'Import Devices' button to pull up the import preview screen. You can then start the import. Assets can either be imported manually using this button, or they can be imported/updated on a scheduled basis using the Halo integrator (see the 'Importing on a schedule' section of this lesson). 


Import Organisations and Assets on a schedule

Head to the 'halo integrator' tab within the integration setup page. Here you can enable the Halo integrator for each Organisations and Assets to have these entities import/update automatically on a schedule. 

Fig 8. Halo integrator for integration


Check 'Enable the Halo Integrator for the Meraki integration' and add 'Organisations' and/or 'Devices' into the 'Entities to sync' field, to enable the sync. Once enabled organisations and assets will be imported/updated on a daily basis. 


Alerting

Navigate to the 'Alerting' tab and make sure all three defaults are set (asset matching field, ticket type and default user) else the integration will error. These defaults will determine the defaults used for tickets logged from Cisco Meraki alerts. 

Fig 9. Alerting tab


Next Copy the URL from the integration page in Halo and use the 'generate' button to generate and copy the shared secret, do not lose the secret as you will have to regenerate a new one if it's lost.


Now head into Cisco Meraki and navigate to Network-wide > Alerts in Meraki and scroll to the very bottom or until you find the "Webhooks" section:

Fig 10. Alerts in Cisco Meraki


Add a new webhook with an appropriate name, enter the URL and secret from earlier, you can also choose a template to use for the webhook, the Meraki template will pull through standard information. Now save. 

Fig 11. Webhook creation in Meraki


When a webhook is triggered a ticket will be created in your Halo instance containing the alert type id, network name, organisation name, alert data, device serial, device name and network tags.


If the alert has come from a device in Cisco Meraki this will match onto the asset in Halo. If the alert is not associated with a device this will match on the Organisation/customer name, so the ticket will be assigned to the customer it is associated to (overriding the default end user) (v2.174+). 


Try sending a test webhook, this should generate a new ticket in Halo, if it does this your Meraki is now setup correctly going forward.

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