How to draw a network map
How the picture is assembled, why you have to ask several devices, and how to read it honestly.
Every network device already remembers a few things: who is next door, which address belongs to which network card, which wireless devices are attached to it. This feature goes and asks for exactly that, to answer "what is plugged into what". It is read-only throughout: nothing is configured, enabled, or switched on to make the picture look better.
Capture a map#
- Tick the devices you want to ask. The more vantage points, the more complete the picture.
- Choose Network topology.
- Run the capture.
It reads what each ticked device remembers, then merges those one-corner-at-a-time views into a single picture.
| Kind of connection | Supported |
|---|---|
| The one WinBox uses (8291) | Yes |
| API | Yes |
| SSH | Yes, provided /ip service ssh is on at the device |
| REST | RouterOS 7.x only, with /ip service www or www-ssl on |
Why you have to ask several#
A single device only sees what is next to it. Asking several and merging the answers is what turns a set of partial views into a map.
And the merge has to cope with real-world messiness: the same device turning up under different network card addresses, one IP address appearing with several of them, a device reporting a different identity on different interfaces, or an access point that has been moved to another controller. A device reported by more than one source becomes one node, not several duplicates.
Reading the map#
- Nodes are devices. The ones you actually connected to and asked are shown differently from the ones that
were merely *seen* by somebody else.
- Links are drawn as right-angle routes rather than diagonals, so a busy map stays readable.
- Devices it could not identify get a dashed outline — meaning "something reported this, but I cannot work
out what it is", rather than a guess.
Alongside the map, Devices on the map lists every node as text along with whether it can be reached, so you can work through the whole thing without a mouse. Selecting a node opens its details; clicking empty space clears the selection.
How it works out what something is#
While it captures, it also works out what each thing is: name, address, network card address, model, kind, operating system, manufacturer. And each of those comes with how sure it is and what it based that on.
That "what it based that on" panel is the point. A conclusion you cannot check for yourself is one you cannot act on — something inferred by watching from the side is a guess with reasons attached, not a fact. So open it before you rely on a label.
Export#
Export SVG writes the whole map to a vector file, ready for a handover document or a ticket. A vector file stays sharp at any size, which matters for a diagram someone will print or zoom into.
Next#
- Health check — check over the devices you just mapped.
- Port monitoring — watch those links live.