- 23 Oct 2024
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Config Manager App Overview
- Updated on 23 Oct 2024
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Configuration Manager ("Config Manager") allows users to manage devices and configurations on their networks. The application is essentially a multi-functional interface to view devices, manage groups of devices, backup devices, and compare backup configurations, along with features for Golden Configuration tree management, compliance reporting, and remediation.
This article is written to assist with navigating and understanding the application components. This guide covers:
- What Config Manager contains.
- Config Manager navigation and shortcuts.
- How to view and edit device details.
- How to view and edit device groups.
- How to view diffs for device backups and edit backup details.
For related articles see →
Quick Start Navigation
Based on the type of entity the user needs to view or manipulate, there are five main page views in Config Manager:
- Devices
- Device Groups
- Device Backups
- Configuration Parsers
- Golden Configurations
From the top-left toolbar, click the "+" button to open the Create dialog to create a new config. Use the Search icon (magnifying glass) to search for items in a device collection. To return to the main landing page for Configuration Manager, click the Home button.
To identify the release version that is running in your environment, click the icon (☰) next to the application name and click the About menu option in the popup menu to open the About dialog.
Configuration Manager allows you to 'pin' elements from all pages by clicking the pin icon that corresponds to each item. These pinned elements can be found on the Home page.
The Home page also features a Quick Start card where you can search a a device Collection based on filter settings, or create a new collection. Last, click the Documentation icon to be directed to the Itential product documentation site.
Device Details
Devices are available from any southbound system registered through Itential Automation Platform (IAP). This includes the option of one or more instances of Cisco NSO and Itential Automation Gateway (IAG). This section provides an overview of how to access device details.
From the left-side navigation menu, click any device to open its details. On the Device Details page, helpful information is displayed in the card at the top and in one larger sized card with tabs displayed beneath.
The upper card section displays the following data.
Elements | Description |
---|---|
Origin | Displays the system from which the device originates. |
Address | The IP address of a device. |
Port | The port of a device. |
OS Type | The operating system of a device. |
Status | Displays the online/offline status of a device. |
Backup | Indicates the time since last backup. |
Groups | Indicates the device groups name that the device is contained in. |
GC Trees | Indicates the name of Golden Configuration trees that the device is contained in. |
Device Details
The Tabs in the bottom card section display the following data.
Tab Name | Description |
---|---|
Operational Data | Allows user to view the current operational data of a device. |
Configuration | Allows user to view the current configuration on a device. |
Backups | Allows user to view a history of backups on a device. For each backup listed, the user can quickly navigate to the respective backup with a linked button. |
Comparison | Allows user to view differences between backups, or between a backup and the live configuration of the device. |
Operational Data Tab
Configuration Tab
Backups Tab
Comparison Tab
Device Groups
Similar to other constructs used for inventory management and orchestration, device groups in IAP are a collective association of each device's id
. Based on network segmentation and other user-defined configurations, API calls can use these groups to manage various workflow operations such as the networks that manage a group of branch offices or individual departments in a company. Itential treats these groups as single units when applying compliance and remediation policies.
Editing Device Groups
When editing a Device Group, the user can update the list of devices that are available, or edit devices attached to a group.
The user can also update the description and name of the Device Group from the settings menu. To display this menu, click the blue vertical dots (icon) at the top.
Device Backups
Device backups are similar to existing backups in other Itential applications. They provide a reference point of a device's configuration at a given point in time. The details on each backup are unique to each device. Each backup card will show information that further delineates the history of the device's configuration. From this page, filtering, sorting, pagination and batch deletion actions are available.
Editing Device Backups
The Backup Details page of a specific device backup shows information on a card located at the top and one larger sized card with two tabs at the bottom.
UI Element | Description |
---|---|
Backup Details (card) | Displays backup information for a device. |
Configuration (tab) | Allows user to view the raw configuration of a selected backup. |
Backups (tab) | When the user selects a backup record for comparison, the Backup diff card is populated with a detailed, side-by-side view of differences between the two selected configurations. From this view, changes made over time to a device configuration, or the comparison of devices within a group, are made apparent. |
Details such as description, notes and access control of a device backup can be changed through the settings menu. To display this menu, click the blue vertical dots