Tame Your Patch Cable Nightmare
Thank you for your interest in PatchCableMgr, a web-based patch cable management application designed with simplicity and usability in mind.
This documentation will help you setup, maintain, and get the most out of your account. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
There are 2 different ways to get started with an PatchCableMgr account:
A hosted account is hosted on PCM servers. Everything related to server maintenance and support (server configuration, OS updates, app upgrades, SSL certificates, etc.) is handled by PCM. Upon registration, a tenant is created with a unique domain name (ie. acme.patchcablemgr.com) and database creating an isolated environment.
Register for a hosted account here.
A hosted account stores information on servers not owned by you or your organization. This may violate the security policies of your organization. Consult your organization before entering any information in a hosted account. Consider using a self-hosted account if you are unsure.
A self-hosted account runs on a virtual machine hosted on your server and is maintained by you.
Download the PCM virtual appliance here. Import and run the OVA in your hypervisor and navigate to https://<SERVER_IP> where you will be able to create an account. Please note that it could take 5 to 10 minutes for the application to become available after booting.
If you don't know your <SERVER_IP>, follow the instructions in the FAQ below.
The Dashboard provides a quick overview of your organization's environment.
The Port Utilization table displays all devices deployed in your PCM environment and can help identify patch panel availability issues before they become a problem.
The Build menu group contains pages where your environment is modeled by creating object templates and racking those templates into cabinets.
Use the Template page to create and edit custom templates which represent objects in your environment. The template page is separated into 4 cards:
The "Properties" card contains all the configuration properties needed to create a template.
The "Preview" card displays the template as it is created.
The "Sticky" switch determines if the preview box scrolls with the page keeping the template visible even when working at the end of the long list of properties. The "Front" and "Back" radio buttons toggle the face of the template being displayed. A yellow highlight appears around the selected partition and indicates that any partition specific configuration will be applied to it.
The "Template Details" card displays information about the template selected in the "Templates" card.
It also allows for some configuration as well as the ability to delete a selected template.
The "Templates" card lists all templates grouped by category.
"Front" and "Back" radio buttons toggle the face of all available templates. Clicking on an object will highlight the selected partition and display information in the "Template Details" card.
The "Filter" field allows you to display only templates containing one or more strings of text.
The "Environment" page allows you to create a hierarchical representation of your environment's locations, pods, cabinets, floorplans, and objects as well as their relationship to each other. The "Environment" page is separated into multiple cards depending on location tree selection:
The "Location Tree" card contains an editable tree of locations and cabinets.
Right click on a location to rename, delete, or create a new location, pod, or cabinet nested within it.
A location can represent a physical region, building, floor, or room. Locations can only be nested under other locations.
A pod represents a group of cabinets within a location. Pods are assumed to have cable path between adjacent cabinets. Pods can only be nested under locations.
A cabinet represents a physical rack or cabinet that can contain objects. Cabinets can be nested under locations or pods.
A floorplan represents the floor of a building. Floor plans can be nested under locations.
The "Cabinet" card displays the selected cabinet and all of the objects it contains.
The "Sticky" switch determines if the preview box scrolls with the page keeping the template visible even when working at the end of the long list of properties. The "Front" and "Back" radio buttons toggle the face of the template being displayed. To install an object in the cabinet displayed, drag and drop a template from the "Templates" card.
The "Cabinet Details" card displays information about the selected cabinet.
The "Object Details" card displays information about the selected object and partition.
The "Object Name" and "Trunked To" properties are editable. Connectable object partitions can be trunked to other connectable object partitions. When trunking a passive object partition to another passive object partition, the number of ports must be equal and the media type must match. When trunking a passive object partition to an endpoint object partition, the number of ports must be equal and the endpoint object partition port type must be RJ45. An endpoint object partition cannot be trunked to another endpoint object partition. The "Actions" dropdown contains a delete button which will remove the selected object from the cabinet after confirmation. The "Templates" section displays a list of templates available to install in the cabinet grouped by category. Drag and drop a template into the cabinet to install it as an object. An insert template can only be installed in an enclosure partition.
The "Explore" page allows you to navigate the environment and display information about objects and how they are connected. The "Explore" page is separated into multiple cards depending on location tree selection:
The "Locations and Cabinets" card contains a tree of locations and cabinets.
A location can represent a physical region, building, floor, or room.
A pod represents a group of cabinets within a location.
A cabinet represents a physical rack or cabinet that can contain objects.
A floorplan represents the floor of a building.
The "Cabinet" card displays the selected cabinet and all of the objects it contains.
The "Sticky" switch determines if the preview box scrolls with the page keeping the top of the cabinet visible when scrolling. The "Front" and "Back" radio buttons toggle the face of the template being displayed.
The "Object Details" card displays information about the selected object.
Object details are not editable in the "Explore" page.
The "Port Details" card displays information about the selected object port.
The "Actions" dropdown contains an option to connect the selected port to any other compatible port. Use the "Selection" select box as an alternative method of choosing a specific port within the currently selected partition. Use the "Description" field to add a short note about the port. Use the "Populated" checkbox to mark the port as populated when the actual cable path is unknown.
The "Connection Path" card displays the cable path of the selected object port.
Trunks are indicated by lines connecting object boxes while patch cables are indicated by lines connecting port icons.
The "Admin" page allows organization administrators to perform privileged functions and is separated into 5 cards.
ipconfig eth0
to display the current server IP address.
pcmuser / [email protected]