How to use NOVA NETWORK

1 Open the console

NOVA runs as a background service on your Windows Server and serves a web console. Open it in any modern browser:

On the server itself:   http://localhost:4010
From another PC on LAN:  http://<server-ip>:4010

2 First login

On the very first start, NOVA seeds an owner account and prints its generated password to the log file:

C:\Program Files\NOVA NETWORK\Campus\data\campus.log

1. Open the log, copy the one-time owner password.
2. Log in at the console with user owner and that password.
3. Go to Settings → Users and change the password immediately.
4. Optional but recommended: enable Two-factor (TOTP) on your account.

3 Activate your license

Until activated, NOVA runs in setup mode — the console is fully usable so you can get set up, but plan limits aren't enforced yet.

1. Go to Settings → Licenses.
2. Enter the license key we sent you — format NOVA-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.
3. Click Activate. NOVA contacts the license server and binds the license to this machine.

After activation the license is re-checked every few seconds. If the cloud is briefly unreachable, NOVA keeps running on a 24-hour grace window. Your plan sets the caps:

4 Add a switch (SSH)

Switches are managed over SSH. NOVA auto-detects the vendor and collects ports, PoE, QoS and config.

1. Open Switches from the home hub and click Add switch.
2. Enter the switch's host/IP, SSH username and password (or key).
3. Click Test — NOVA connects, detects the vendor, and confirms access.
4. Save. Live port status, throughput and error counters begin populating.

Supported vendors

Cisco IOS/IOS-XE, Ruckus ICX/FastIron, Aruba CX, HPE/Aruba ProCurve, Extreme EXOS, Huawei VRP, Juniper Junos, MikroTik RouterOS, D-Link and TP-Link JetStream. Cisco and Ruckus are the primary, verified pair; unknown vendors are reported honestly rather than guessed.

5 Add SNMP devices

Monitor UPS, PDUs, sensors and servers over SNMP.

1. Open Devices → Add device.
2. Enter the IP and choose the SNMP version:
   • v2c — provide the community string.
   • v3 — provide the user plus auth (MD5/SHA) and privacy (DES/AES).
3. Pick a profile (generic SNMP, generic UPS, APC UPS, or a cloud-synced one) that maps OIDs to readable metrics.
4. Save. Metrics render as cards, gauges and sparklines and poll every ~30s.

6 Add API monitors

Monitor any HTTP/JSON API the same way you monitor a device.

1. Open API Monitors → Add monitor.
2. Enter the URL and method (GET/POST/…), and choose auth: none, bearer token, basic, API-key, or a login flow.
3. Map the fields you care about by JSON path (e.g. data.temperature).
4. Set thresholds for edge-triggered alerts. Save — it polls every ~10s.

7 Topology & endpoints

Topology / Constellation

Once switches are added, NOVA stitches their LLDP/CDP neighbor tables into a live map automatically — no manual link drawing. Each link shows real bits-per-second. Open Topology (or Constellation for the interactive view).

Endpoints

Open Endpoints to see one row per end device, correlated from your existing data: MAC → IP → vendor → switch/port/VLAN → 802.1X session → LLDP identity → live traffic. No agents required.

8 Live traffic (sFlow / NetFlow)

To see top apps, top talkers and east-west vs. internet traffic, export flow data from your switches to the NOVA server:

1. On each switch, configure the sFlow/NetFlow collector to point at <nova-server-ip> on the port above.
2. Open Live Traffic in the console — flows appear within seconds and update every 2s.

9 Syslog & health

Syslog

Point your switches' syslog to the NOVA server on UDP 514. Messages are attributed to the right switch by source IP, shown live on the Syslog page, and used to react to port up/down/error events faster than polling.

Health

The Health page rolls CPU, memory, temperature, fans, PSUs and uptime into an explainable 0–100 fleet-health score, with per-factor deductions so you can see why a score dropped.

10 Alerts & email

1. Open Events / Sentinel to build rules. One engine covers device readings, syslog, port events, health, traffic and config changes.
2. For each source, enable it and set a minimum severity floor. Add threshold rules like CPU > 50 (edge-triggered, with cooldown and recovery notices).
3. To get emails, open Settings → Email and enter your SMTP server, port and credentials (stored encrypted). Alerts at/above your chosen severity are delivered.
4. Acknowledge and filter events in the Events timeline.

11 Config backup, diff & changes

For each switch, NOVA snapshots the running-config (deduplicated, keeping the last 40 versions).

• Diff any two snapshots side by side to spot exactly what changed.
• Revert to an earlier config — owner/admin only, with an explicit confirmation, and it's audited.
• Guarded changes (off by default): a safe pipeline of validate → dry-run preview → apply → verify → automatic rollback on failure, with strict allow-lists on what can be changed.

12 Browser SSH terminal

Open a full interactive SSH session to any switch directly in the browser from the Terminal page. It's restricted to operator and above, one shell per session, and every open/close is written to the audit log.

13 Users, roles & 2FA

Manage accounts in Settings → Users. Roles are explicit-allow (no inheritance):

Access groups

Owners/admins see everything; operators and viewers see only switches in their access groups — enforced server-side (hidden switches return 404, leaking nothing).

Two-factor (TOTP)

Each user can enable RFC-6238 TOTP 2FA (Google Authenticator, Authy, etc.) from their account for a second login factor.

14 HTTPS & audit trail

Enable HTTPS

1. Go to Settings → HTTPS.
2. Upload your PEM certificate (+ chain) and private key. NOVA validates that the key matches the cert before storing it (encrypted).
3. Restart the service to serve over HTTPS (TLS 1.2+).

Audit logs

Every privileged action — logins, user changes, switch edits, settings, TLS, terminal, config revert — is recorded in an append-only, filterable audit log under Settings → Activity Logs.

15 Manage the service

NOVA runs as the NOVA-Campus background service (auto-start at boot, self-restart on failure). Manage it from an elevated command prompt:

:: check status
schtasks /Query /TN "NOVA-Campus"
:: stop
schtasks /End   /TN "NOVA-Campus"
:: start
schtasks /Run   /TN "NOVA-Campus"

Update

Run the newer NOVA-NETWORK-Setup.exe as administrator — it upgrades in place and keeps your data.

Uninstall

Settings → Apps → NOVA NETWORK Campus → Uninstall. This removes the service, firewall rule and Defender exclusion.

# Ports reference

? Troubleshooting

The console shows a "service locked" screen

This only happens after activation, if the license was revoked/suspended/expired, or the cloud has been unreachable for over 24h. The login and license pages stay reachable — check Settings → Licenses and confirm the server has outbound HTTPS to cloudnm.novasecops.com.

A switch's syslog / flows aren't attributed

If a switch sends from a different IP than its SSH host, NOVA lists the unknown sender. Open the prompt and claim that IP to the correct switch (adds it as an alternate IP) or dismiss it.

Can't log in / lost the owner password

Read the generated password from ...\Campus\data\campus.log (Administrator access required). If the account is fully lost, contact support.

Nothing loads at :4010

From the server, check the service: schtasks /Query /TN "NOVA-Campus". Confirm the firewall allows inbound TCP 4010, and review ...\Campus\data\campus.log for errors.