CXTM is the result of years of innovation in Cisco services. Built specifically for testing, CXTM optimizes every step of the test and validation life cycle, from the initial documentation of requirements to the end of test report. CXTM handles test case definition, test plan creation, automation development and execution, reporting, and archival. As a result, test and validation assets such as detailed test plans, test automation, and even past test results and artifacts are conveniently organized and accessible from a single interface.
CXTM supports a wide range of device types and interfaces to truly test interoperability and end-to-end solutions. Cisco devices, 3rd party test tools, and other vendor's networking equipment are all supported. In addition to supporting interfacing with devices through a traditional command line interface (CLI) over telnet and ssh, CXTM also supports NETCONF, APIs, GUI-based validation, and more.
CXTM is built on a micro-services architecture that can be deployed in a variety of ways in order to meet adaptive scale requirements. From a single host to Kubernetes clusters, this flexibility allows CXTM to be easily installed in on-prem environments while meeting reliability, scale, and performance requirements. CXTM also offers a multi-tenant, cloud-based option for even greater flexibility.
On the front-end, CXTM offers an intuitive GUI. Built on top of REST API, any action done through the GUI can also be done through the API, allowing for integration into CI/CD pipelines and customized workflows as you'll see later in this lab.
CXTM has undergone rigorous testing to become fully Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle (CSDL) compliant and ISO 9000 certified. It supports authentication protocols and role-based access control to provide security, segmentation, and data integrity. When it comes to the actual automated testing, CXTM uses vault services to ensure that login credentials used to access devices during automation execution are properly protected and not accessible to users of the platform.
Continue to the next section to login to CXTM and get started in your own project.