Configuration
Change Management
Contents
Overview
Monitoring
the changes done to the
configuration is a crucial function in Configuration Management.
DeviceExpert provides convenient change management options. Once the
configuration change in a device is detected, it is important that
notifications are sent to those responsible for change management. It
also provides option to roll-back the changes.
DeviceExpert helps in
sending
notifications in four ways:
- Sending Email
- Sending SNMP Traps
- Generating trouble Tickets
- Rolling back to the previous version or the
baseline version
And
these notifications can be sent
whenever there happens a change in
- Startup or Running Configuration
- Startup Configuration alone
- Running Configuration alone
How to set up Change
Management?
Setting
up Change Management is a simple,
three-step process:
- Provide a name for the Change Management Rule
- Choose Change Management condition
- Specify the action
Providing a name for
the Change Management Rule
This
step deals with just providing a
name and description for the intended change management rule. 'Change
Management Rule' here refers to the condition based on which you would
like to get the notification. As stated above, notification could be
triggered when startup and/or running configuration of a device
undergoes a change. You may provide names such as "Startup Config
Changed', "Running Config Changed". This would be of help in
identifying the rule and for reusing it for other devices later.
To
provide a name,
- Go to "Inventory" >>
"All Devices" and click the
name of the device for which change
management has to be enabled
- Click the tab "Change Management"
- In the "Change Management"
GUI that opens up, click the button "New
Rule"
- Enter 'Rule Name'
and 'Description'
in the respective text fields
Choosing Change
Management Condition
Click
any one of the radio buttons -
- Startup or Running Configuration is changed -
to send notification when either Startup or Running configuration of a
device is changed
- Running Configuration is changed - to send
notification when the Running configuration of a device is changed
- Startup Configuration is changed - to send
notification when the Startup configuration of a device is changed
Specifying the action
After defining the
condition in the
previous step, you can specify any of the following three actions:
- Sending Email
- sending Email notifications to the desired recipients
- Sending SNMP
Traps - sending an SNMP v2 trap to specific host
- Generating
Trouble Tickets - generate a trouble ticket to help desk
- Rollback
Configuration - to revert to the previous configuration version
or to the baseline version
Sending Email
Notifications
To
send email notifications to the
desired recipients (based on the change management condition specified
earlier),
- Click the checkbox "Send Email
Notification"
- Enter the Email ids of the intended recipients.
If you want to send the notification to multiple recipients, enter the
ids separated by a comma. By default, the Email ids configured through
Admin >> Mail Settings page are displayed here. You may add new
Email ids if required
- Provide a subject for the notification and the
actual message in the respective fields. Here, in the subject and
message fields, you have the option to provide details such as Device
Name, IP, type of configuration that underwent change
(startup/running), and who changed the configuration
- For this purpose, DeviceExpert provides
replaceable tags -
$DEVICENAME, $DEVICEIP,
$CONFIGTYPE and $CHANGEDBY. You may use these tags to provide
exact details in the subject and message fields of the notification.
Example: $CONFIGTYPE of $DEVICENAME changed
Explanation: If the $CONFIGTYPE is "Running Configuration" and
$DEVICENAME is "Primary Router", the actual message in the notification
would be "Running Configuration of Primary Router changed". These tags
get replaced with the actual values at runtime.
- You have the option to append the configuration
diff in the message. The difference with the previous version would be
pasted in the message field. To enable this option, click "Append Configuration
Difference in Message". Click
"Save".
Sending SNMP Trap
SNMP
v2 traps could be sent to specific
host upon detecting a configuration change. To send SNMP trap to the
desired host (based on the change management condition specified
earlier),
- Click the checkbox "Send SNMP Trap"
- Enter hostname or
ip address of the recipient. Also,
enter SNMP port and community.
Default values 162 for port and public for community
- Click "Save"
Note
The SnmpTrapOid will be
.1.3.6.1.4.1.2162.100.4.1.2.1
Varbinds will include the display
name of the device whose configuration has been changed, its IP
address, the type of configuration that underwent change - startup or
running and the login name of the user who changed the configuration.
Refer ADVENTNET-DEVICEEXPERT-MIB
present under <DeviceExpert Home>/protocol/mibs directory
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Generating Trouble Tickets
Upon
detecting changes in configuration,
you have the option to generate trouble tickets to your Help Desk. To
generate trouble tickets,
- Click the checkbox "Generate Trouble
Tickets"
- Enter the Email id of the help desk. By
default, the Help
Desk id configured through Admin >> Mail Settings page are
displayed here. You may add new Email ids if required
- Provide a subject for the notification and the
actual message in the respective fields. Here, in the subject and
message fields, you have the option to provide details such as Device
Name, IP, type of configuration that underwent change
(startup/running), and who changed the configuration
- For this purpose, DeviceExpert provides
replaceable tags -
$DEVICENAME, $DEVICEIP, $CONFIGTYPE and $CHANGEDBY. You may use these
tags to provide exact details in the subject and message fields of the
notification.
Example: $CONFIGTYPE of $DEVICENAME changed
Explanation: If the $CONFIGTYPE is "Running Configuration" and
$DEVICENAME is "Primary Router", the actual message in the notification
would be "Running Configuration of Primary Router changed". These tags
get replaced with the actual values at runtime.
- You have the option to append the configuration
diff in the message. The difference with the previous version would be
pasted in the message field. To enable this option, click "Append
Configuration Difference in Message". Click "Save"
Rollingback
Configuration
Upon
detecting changes in configuration,
you have the option to revert to the previous version or to the
baseline version. To revert to a configuration version,
- Click the checkbox "Rollback
Configuration"
- If you want to rollback to the previous version
- that is, the version immediately preceding the current version (the
changed version), choose "Rollback to previous version". When you
choose this option, whenever a configuration change is detected, it
will immediately be rolled back to the previous version. For example,
if a change is detected in the running configuration of a device, and
the new version number (changed one) is 7, it will be automatically
rolled back to version 6
- If you want to rollback to the baseline version
- that is, the version labeled as the best one, choose "Rollback to
version labeled baseline". When you choose this option, whenever a
configuration change is detected, it will immediately be rolled back to
the baseline version
Note: The
rollback feature is for preventing unauthorized configuration changes.
So, when you have enabled this feature for a particular device, even a
well intended configuration change will also be rolled back. So, if you
want to do a genuine configuration change, you need to disable the
change management rule.
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Important
Note:
- With the
completion of the above step, the rule thus created gets automatically
associated with the particular device from whose device details page it
was created.
- By following
exactly the same steps as above, rules can be created from Device
Groups page. When doing so, the rule will be automatically associated
with all the devices of the group.
- The
Change
Management rule associated with a device/device group can be
disassociated anytime
from the "Inventory" >> "All Devices" >> "Change
Management" GUI
Associating More Rules with
a Device/Group
The
rules created as above can be
associated with other devices/groups. Also, a single device/group can
be associated with multiple rules.
To
associate a single device with a rule/rules,
- Go to "Inventory"
>>
"All Devices" and click the hostname of any of the device
- Click the tab "Change
Management"
- In the "Change
Management"
GUI that opens up, click the button "Associate
Rules"
- In the page that opens up, the names of
available rules are listed. Select the rule/rules, which are to be
associated with the device
- Click "Associate".
The rule is associated with the required device
To
associate a device group with a rule/rules,
- Go to the "Inventory"
>> "Device
Group". Click the name of the
required device group
- In the page that opens up, go to "Change Management"
tab and slick "Associate
Rules"
- In the page that opens up, the names of
available rules are listed
- Select the rule/rules, which are to be
associated with the device group and click "Associate". The rule/rules are associated with the
device group. The rule applies to all devices that are part of the group
Important
Note:
If a rule is modified, the change
takes effect for all the devices/groups associated with it.
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Managing Change Management
Rules
Disabling, Enabling
& Removing a Rule
All
the change management rules created
in the application can be viewed and managed from the "Admin" tab. You
can do actions such as temporarily disabling the execution of a rule,
enabling it again later or removing the rule altogether.
To
manage rules,
- Go to "Admin" tab.
Click the link "Change
Management" present under the
"Device
Management"
section in the LHS
- Select the rule(s) to be
disabled/enabled/removed from the list of rules and click the
appropriate button
Warning: When
you click "Remove", it removes the rule permanently from the database.
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