Using the Topology Map in ObserveOps
Once you load a topology map by clicking an entry in the sidebar, the canvas shows you the full picture of how that entry point connects to the rest of your infrastructure. You can interact with nodes and links directly on the canvas, adjust how the map looks, and export the data for offline use. The toolbar above the canvas gives you all the controls you need.
Toolbar Controls
The toolbar appears above the canvas on every topology tab.
| Control | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Search (Ctrl + F) | Highlights a specific node on the canvas by name or IP. The canvas pans to the matching node and brings it into focus. Use this when your map has many nodes and you need to locate a specific device quickly. |
| Expanded | Loads the entire topology at once. All nodes appear on the canvas simultaneously. Use this for smaller topologies where you want the full picture immediately. |
| Progressive | Loads the topology level by level, starting from the central seed node and expanding outward one hop at a time. Use this for large topologies where loading everything at once makes the canvas too dense to read. |
| Full View | Switches the canvas to a force-directed layout where nodes arrange themselves based on their connections. All nodes and their links are visible at once. |
| Tree View | Switches the canvas to a hierarchical tree layout that shows parent-child relationships with the seed node at the top. Use this to understand the depth and hierarchy of your topology. |
| Export As XML | Downloads the current topology as an XML file. Use this to import the topology into network documentation tools or to archive a point-in-time snapshot of your infrastructure layout. |
| Topology Settings | Opens a right-side drawer with two tabs, Security and Visualization Settings. Use this to control who can see the topology, whether system-generated sub-topologies are visible on the Network tab, and every canvas visualization option. See Topology Settings for the full details. |
| Create Topology View | Saves a filtered, named version of the current topology to the sidebar. Available when a seed topology is selected. |
Layer 3 Toggle (Network Tab Only)
The Layer 3 switch in the toolbar appears only on the Network tab. Toggle it ON to include Layer 3 routing devices and inter-subnet paths on the canvas. Toggle it OFF to show only Layer 2 switch connections. Use it when you want to isolate your switching topology from your routing topology for clearer analysis.
Canvas Navigation
| Action | How to Do It |
|---|---|
| Pan | Click and drag on an empty area of the canvas |
| Zoom in / out | Scroll the mouse wheel, or use the + and - buttons in the bottom-left corner |
| Center the map | Use the navigation arrows at the bottom-left of the canvas to move the viewport |
| Click a node | Opens the node detail panel showing real-time health, monitor status, and alerts |
| Hover a node | Shows a tooltip with the device name and IP address |
| Click a link | Opens the link detail panel showing interface names, link status, and In/Out traffic |
| Minimap | The small map in the bottom-right corner shows your current position within a large canvas. Click and drag inside the minimap to move quickly across the canvas. |
Node Health Colors
| Color | State | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Clear | All monitors for this node are healthy |
| Red | Critical | One or more critical monitors have failed or the device is unreachable |
| Orange | Warning | At least one monitor is in a warning state |
| Purple / Gray | Unknown | The device is monitored but current status data is not available |
Link States
Links between nodes are color-coded to show the status of the connection:
| Color | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Green | The link is up and operating normally |
| Red | The link is down or the interface is reporting a critical state |
| Gray | The link status is unknown |
Click any link to open its detail panel. The panel shows the source interface, the target interface, link protocol, and current In/Out traffic values. Click the interface name in the detail panel to drill down to the full interface monitor page.
Overlays, Force Simulation, Zoom, and Labels
All overlay toggles, force simulation sliders, zoom limits, and label settings now live on the Visualization Settings tab of the Topology Settings panel. Open the panel from the toolbar to configure them. See Topology Settings for the full behavior of every option, including the admin-only Lock Topology Visualization control.
Troubleshooting
A node I clicked shows no detail panel or blank metrics
Cause: The monitoring data for that node may not have reached the topology view yet, or the monitor may have been deleted after the topology was last built.
Fix: Refresh the Topology page and try clicking the node again. If the panel is still blank, open the monitoring module for that device type and confirm the monitor still exists and is actively polling.
The canvas is very slow to respond with a large topology
Cause: Very large topologies with hundreds of nodes loaded in Expanded mode can be resource-intensive for the browser.
Fix: Switch to Progressive view so nodes load incrementally. Use the Search bar to navigate to specific nodes instead of scrolling the full canvas. Disable overlay labels when working with large maps to reduce rendering overhead.
Link detail shows no traffic data
Cause: Interface-level traffic collection may not be enabled for the link's interfaces, or the interfaces may not support SNMP counters.
Fix: Open the device monitor for the source device and confirm that interface-level monitoring is enabled. If the device supports it, enable SNMP interface polling in the monitor configuration.