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Change Control Template

Change Control Template allows you to build and structure common change control operations, and to repeat them without having to rebuild or re-specify the actions and sequences. The template is easily modified which enables you to execute evolving change control operations quickly and efficiently.

To configure a Change Control Template, use the Action Bundle and Stage Rule tools. Each Stage Rule depends on an Action Bundle for its content, so at least one Action Bundle must be created before you can start using Change Control Templates.

Stage Rules

A Template is defined by a list of Stage Rules. Stage Rules can be executed in Series or Parallel at the root of the change control. Each Stage Rule is linked to one Action Bundle, which supplies the content for that stage.

Action Bundles

An Action Bundle is a specific sequence of actions that contain up to one task action and a limitless number of non-task actions. Action Bundles are reusable across multiple Templates and allow you to construct a specific sequence of actions without defining the tasks or devices that they will be applied to.

For more information, refer to:

Workflow

Creating and implementing a change control event with a Template, requires five basic steps:
  1. Create or select one or more Action Bundles.
  2. Assign each Action Bundle to a Stage Rule.
  3. Configure the Stage Rules of the Template.
  4. Save the Template.
  5. Apply the Template in Change Control.

Once the Template has been saved, it will be available to apply repeatedly. For future change control operations with the same actions and sequence, you will only need to follow Step 5.

Action Bundles

Action Bundles are a determined sequence of actions that can include up to one task action and an unlimited number of non-task actions. The Action Bundles are assigned them to the Stage Rules of a Template, which means that you will want to create, edit, and delete Action Bundles.

For more information, refer to:

Accessing Action Bundles

You can manage Action Bundles by selecting Provisioning in the navigation bar and then selecting Action Bundles.

Figure 1. Action Bundles

Creating a New Action Bundle

When creating a new Action Bundle, one task action and unlimited non-task actions can be added.

  1. Click + Action Bundle
  2. In the side panel that opens, enter a bundle name and an optional description and then click the Add Action menu.

  3. Select an action from the available list.
    Figure 2. Select an Action
    Note: Every action except for Execute Task is a non-task action. You can only add one task action for each Action Bundle.
  4. Depending on the action type selected, you may have some additional options for what devices you can assign the action to.
    Note: The task action will always have its device assigned in the Stage Rule of the Template that the Action Bundle is applied to. For more information on these options, see Device Placeholders and Static Arguments.
  5. Select the actions of this Action Bundle to be executed in series or parallel.
  6. Review the list of actions, and click Save. The Action Bundle will now be available to be assigned in the Stages Rules of Templates.

Editing an Action Bundle

To edit an Action Bundle.

Note:Upon saving the edits, any template that the Action Bundle is a component of will be updated.
  1. Click Edit on the Action Bundle to be modified.
    Figure 3. Editing an Action Bundle
  2. From the side panel, add new actions, modify the order of existing actions, or delete existing actions.
  3. Click Save to update the Action Bundle.

Deleting an Action Bundle

Note: The following procedure does not remove the Action Bundle from any assigned Template.
  1. Select Delete.
    Figure 4. Deleting an Action Bundle
  2. A modal that will ask you to cancel or remove. Click Remove.

Device Placeholders and Static Arguments

When creating or editing the actions of an Action Bundle, you can assign device placeholders instead of specific devices to the action. These placeholders are then defined when the Action Bundle is added to the Stage Rule of a Template. This gives you the flexibility to assign the same Action Bundle to multiple Templates.

The following is a complete list of device placeholders, along with a sample list of devices you can statically apply the action to:

Figure 5. Device Placeholders

The placeholders available to you vary based upon the combination of action types that you have already selected. Consequently, additional placeholders may become available for an action after you have added more actions to the Action Bundle. Specifically, ‘Match task device’ and ‘MLAG peer of selected task’ only appear when the Action Bundle contains a task.

Provide via Template

When this action is assigned as a placeholder, you will configure it when building the Template. You can use the Device Filter field in the Stage Rule that the Action Bundle is applied to.

Figure 6. Provide via Template
Select one of the following options:

  • All Devices in Change Control: This option matches all devices associated with the change control (defined by which tasks are linked to the change control)

  • Regular Expression: This option allows you to select certain devices from Change Control by defining a regular expression to evaluate against the device hostname

Match Task Device

An Action Bundle can contain a maximum of one task action. The device of the task is assigned in the Template using the Device Filter field.

When configuring the Action Bundle, a non-task action with the placeholder Match Task Device can be assigned. This means that the device associated with the task will be applied to the non-task action.

MLAG Peer of Selected Task

This placeholder enables you to sequence MLAG upgrades. You can run non-task actions on the MLAG peer of the device that the task in the Action Bundle is assigned to.

By using this placeholder, the MLAG Health Check can be run against the MLAG peer before running the task.

The following figure is an example of how actions can be arranged so that the MLAG health of both the task device and the task device’s MLAG peer are checked before running the task. The last action checks the MLAG health of the task device after the task has been performed.

Figure 7. MLAG Peer of Selected Task

Static Action Arguments

Static arguments can be applied in an Action Bundle by assigning certain non-task actions with a specific device. This enables you to always have a particular action run against a specific device when the Action Bundle is applied to a Stage Rule in a template.

Figure 8. Static Action Arguments

Templates

Action Bundles will be assigned to a Template. With the Template you will bundle and sequence specific actions and group those action bundles into stages to define the upgrade sequence.

Note:Applying a Template to a change control is a single operation. The Template is not permanently linked to the change control; therefore, making changes to a Template after it has been applied to a change control will have no effect on the existing change control.
  • A Template can be applied multiple times. Each time the existing structure will be completely overwritten, and only the tasks will remain as the sole input to the Template.
  • This feature cannot be used to craft arbitrarily complex change controls, and advanced users may want to leverage the Change Control API to construct custom layouts.

Accessing Templates

Select Provisioning and select Templates. The following screen will be displayed.

Figure 9. Accessing Templates
For more information, refer to:

Create a New Template

When creating a new Template, an unlimited number of Stages Rules can be added using at least one Action Bundle.

  1. Select + Template from the Templates screen.
  2. Each Stage Rule is associated with a single Action Bundle.Select an Action Bundle from themenu or create a new one.
    Figure 10. Create a New Template
  3. Once you have assigned an Action Bundle, complete any additional fields associated with the specific Action Bundle.
    Note: If the Action Bundle contains device placeholders, a Device Filter will appear. This is used to define which devices will be applied to this Action Bundle.
  4. A sub-stage will be created for every populated Action Bundle. Arrange the sub-stages in Series or Parallel.
    Figure 11. Stage Rule

  5. You can repeat Steps 2-4 to create a Stage Rule for each Action Bundle to be added to the Template, and then arrange the order of the Stage Rules.
    Figure 12. OrderStage Rules
    Note: The same Action Bundle can be applied to multiple stages, each with a unique Device Filter.
  6. Set the Stage Rules to execute in Series or Parallel.
    Figure 13. Set Stage Rule
  7. When done, select Save Template.

Edit a Template

Note: Any changes made to a Template will not be updated for any change control operations it has been applied to. The Template will need to be reapplied.
  1. Click Edit on the Template to modify. The Template screen will display its current Stage Rules and details, how they are ordered, and the manner in which they will be executed.
    Figure 14. Edit a Template
  2. Edit any of the details by amending the fields, using the up and down arrows, or deleting Stage Rules.
  3. Click Save Template when done.

Delete a Template

Click Delete on the Template you wish to remove.
Figure 15. Delete a Template
Note: Deleting a template will not affect change controls that were previously generated using that template.

Creating a New Change Control with a Template

Follow these instructions to create a change control and apply a Template at the same time.

  1. Select Tasks or Change Control under the Provisioning tab, and click Create Change Control.
  2. In the screen that is displayed, enter a name for the change control and select the tasks that should be included in the change control.
  3. To build the change control with a Template, click Template.
    Figure 16. Creating a New Change Control with a Template
  4. From the menu, select a Template and select Create Change Control.
  5. The Change Control screen will be displayed. Revise to the change control format, review and approve the proposed changes as needed.When done execute the network changes.

Applying a Template to an Existing Change Control

If a change control has been created but not approved or executed, you can apply a Template to it.

  1. Select Change Control, and select the desired change control from the Open Change Control list.
  2. The Change Control edit screen of the selected change control is displayed. Click Select a Template to open up a menu of your Templates.
  3. Select the Template that you want to apply to the change control and click Apply Template.The Template configuration will be added to the change control for review and approval.
    Note: Applying a Template to a change control operation is a single operation. Any changes made to the Template will not be automatically applied to the change control.