Resource types
Use this information to understand the available resource types on which Netcool Configuration Manager operates.
Purpose
The resources described here require a VTMOS. The resources described here are also referred to as general resources.Parameters
- Command Set
- Allows the user to apply resource configuration changes to multiple network resources.
- Native Command Set
- Allows the user to send native commands (CLI) to more than one resource at a time.
- Network Resource
- Creates a network resource based on the available VTMOS.
- Shortcut
- Creates a shortcut to any other type of general resource.
- Authentication
- Allows the user to specify user login credentials, as well as SNMP device login community strings.
- Command Generation Data
- Enables the user to define Key and KeyRef definitions for ordering commands during native command generation.
- Device Script
- Allows the user to amend and configure any of the default values in the device script.
- File Transfer
- Allows the user to specify an FTP server to use when transferring configurations.
- OS Registry
- Creates a database of compatible OS image files that have been approved for a particular VTMOS.
- OS Specification
- Allows the user to detail the specification which must be used for that particular image file.
- OS Upgrade Device Script
- Allows the user to make modifications to a device script.
- Realm
- Creates a new realm for managing resources. Realms are helpful
in organizing the resources and other information with the application.
For example, you can have a realm named Shortcut, where you house
all the shortcuts within the application.
Realms provide a logical way to better manage large networks with many resources. Often, realms are based on geographic divisions.
By default, Netcool Configuration Manager is set up with a root realm (the default is ITNCM). Additional realms should be set up, and used to define scope for groups/users.
Any user who has access to a realm also has access to the contents of this realm, including any sub-realms.
It is not possible to rename, move, or delete realms that were created at installation time.
- Resource Access
- Allows the user to create an XML document that Netcool Configuration Manager uses to communicate with devices on the network.
- Search Set
- Creates a search set allowing the user to search resource configurations
for specific command criteria.
Search sets allow you to search network resource configurations for specific command criteria which can be data from the configuration itself or from configuration tag data.
For example, using a search set you could quickly determine which CISCO routers in a particular realm have at least one “ntp server” with the “prefer” option.
Another powerful use of search sets is to query a set of resources for the current values of certain elements, and then plug those values into one or more command sets.
Search Sets can be parameterized so that some values can be modified at run time.
Note: When creating a modeled command set, the list of VTMOS labels from which you can select has been filtered to only display the labels for Smart Model drivers. Standard driver VTMOS are excluded. - Security Set
- Allows the user to control which nodes are visible on the Configuration tree.
- Work Server
- Allows the user to specify which work servers are allowed to process work for the realm.
XPath Criteria
Within a search set, you must use XPath notation to specify which part of the configuration you are searching. Similar to an SQL “select” statement with a “where” clause, the XPath language allows you to specify which nodes should be selected based upon the existence of other criteria in the XML (the “where” clauses are called predicates).
For example, an XPath statement to find all “ntp server” commands with the “prefer” option would look like the following:
/configuration/ntp/server[prefer]An XPath statement to find a configuration tag with the value of “acme” on any interface, regardless of type, would look like the following:
/config/interface/*[idm:tag/idm:name=”acme”]/banner/login[arg.001=”*”]/banner/login[arg.001=”foo”]Only one XPath statement is allowed per search set. The XPath statement is required.
For more information on XPaths, refer to this URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath.
Annotations
Annotations allow you to specify that certain values from a configuration are returned as key value pairs that can then be plugged into a command set or another search set. The following two types of annotations are available:
- elementNameKey — Used to return the name of an element.
- textValueKey — Used to return the value of an argument.
Each search set can contain multiple annotations. Annotations are optional.
Search Set Example
The following search set example shows the proper XML syntax to use for specifying an XPath and annotations.
<searchSet xmlns:ssm="http://www.example.com/ns/searchSetMarkup">
<xpath>/configuration/interface/*</xpath>
<annotation ssm:elementNameKey="INTERFACE_TYPE">
<xpath>/configuration/interface/*</xpath>
</annotation>
<annotation ssm:textValueKey="INTERFACE_NUMBER">
<xpath>/configuration/interface/*/ARG.001</xpath>
</annotation>
</searchSet>In this example, the XPath notation specifies that the configurations with any type of interface should be searched and returned. For each configuration snippet that is returned, the annotations specify that two key/value pairs also be returned: the interface type and the interface number.
The following results indicate that one configuration was found, with an interface type of “Tunnel” and a value of “5.”
<configuration xmlns:ssm="http://www.example.com/ns/searchSetMarkup">
<interface>
<Tunnel ssm:elementNameKey="INTERFACE_TYPE">
<ARG.001 ssm:textValueKey="INTERFACE_NUMBER">5</ARG.001>
</Tunnel>
</interface>
</configuration>