Sometimes, you might need to group devices based on some logical criteria. For example, you may wish to create groups such as a group containing all cisco routers, or a group containing all cisco switches etc., This would help in carrying out certain common operations with ease.
A group can be based on some criteria or could be just a random collection of devices. This section explains how to group devices and perform various operations in bulk for the group as a whole.
Go to "Inventory" >> "Device Group" and click "New Group"
In the UI that comes, provide a name and description for the new group
The group should be assigned with devices. To associate devices with the group, select "By Specific Device" to simply select the needed devices from the list and form a group;
Choose "By criteria" if you want to group the devices based on criteria such as IP, Manufacturer, Model, Device Type and OS Type. Whenever a new device matching the criteria specified is added to the DeviceExpert inventory, it automatically becomes part of the group
By default, the groups are created as private groups - that means, only authorized users will be able to view the group.
On the other hand, if you have a requirement to make certain groups visible to all, you can create the group as a 'Public Group'.
If you select the checkbox "Make it as Public Group", the group will be created as a public group.
All users, irrespective of their roles, would be able to view the group. However, the device access restrictions for and 'Operators' will not be affected - that means, though they can view the public group, they will be able to access only those devices that have already been assigned to them within the public group.
Public groups, once created, cannot be reverted to private.
Click "Save"
Once you create a group, the name of the group will be listed under "Device Group" in the left pane.
DeviceExpert supports the following operations to be performed for Device Groups:
Setting Credentials for all the devices of the group
Configuration Backup for all devices of the group at one go
Configuration Upload for all devices of the group in bulk
Configuration change management for all devices of the group
Defining compliance rules/policies for all devices of the group
Go to "Inventory" >> "Device Group" and click the name of the group. Upon clicking this, the Associated Devices would be listed
Perform any operation as desired by choosing the relevant menu item
You can change any information pertaining to a particular group. For instance, you can change the group name, edit the description or modify the criteria. To do any or all of these tasks,
Go to "Inventory" >> "Device Group" and click the "Edit" link present against the group to be edited
Change the desired field and click "Save"
Go to "Inventory" >> "Device Group" and click
click the "trash bin icon" before the name of the group to be deleted. The group will be deleted once and for all
Note: If the device group you are trying to delete is referred by some other operation such as a Schedule, you will not be able to delete the group until all the references are removed. |