How do I create, manage, and delete the steps of configuration management tasks?

Introduction

To create a new step for a configuration management task

To view steps

To edit a custom step

To delete a custom step

Introduction:

You can create, view, edit, import, export, and delete the steps of configuration management tasks from the Steps tab of the Configuration Management page.

These steps can then be applied to any number of custom configuration management tasks that you create and can also be applied to the duplicates of system configuration management tasks.

To create a new step for a configuration management task:

1. From the Main Menu, click Administration, and then click Configuration Management.
2. Click the Steps tab and then click New at the top of the tab (or from the Overflow Menu or right-click Context Menu).
   
   
   The New Step window is displayed.
    
3. Enter the name and description of the step in the Name and Description fields respectively. 
   From Entuity v21.0 P01 upwards, a step name cannot contain the following characters: |, /, \, ", *, <, >.
   
   
    
4. Select the context of the step from the Context dropdown field. 
   If you select device or port, then the step can be used with device tasks and port tasks respectively. If you select none, the step can be used with both device and port tasks.
5. In the Script field, enter the Groovy script for the step.
   You can optionally click the pop-out icon   to open a larger text area in the center of the screen.
   For information on using Groovy scripts with Entuity configuration management, see this article. 
   
   
    
6. Click Save at bottom of the pop-out window to save your changes and return to the New Step form or click the X in the top-right of the window to return to the form without saving.
7. Click OK to save the step. Otherwise, click Cancel.

To view steps:

1. Navigate to the Configuration Management page and click the Steps tab.
   
   
    

2. Review the values in the table. 
   The table lists all your custom and system steps.
    

   Column Name	Column Description
   Name	unique name (case insensitive comparison) on the selected server.
   Description	optional description of the step.
   Category	if the step is system or custom.
   Context	if the step is device, port, or none. If the context is device or port, it can be used with device or port tasks respectively. If the the context is none, then it can be used with both device and port tasks.
   Tasks	number of tasks that are using this step. Hover over the number to see a list of tasks that are using this step.
   Script	the entire Groovy script.
   Last Edited	(Entuity v21.0 P02 upwards) timestamp of the last edit to the step.

3. To view the script of a step, select a step in the table, and click View at the top of the tab (or from the Overflow Menu or right-click Context Menu).
   
   
   
   The step form is displayed, showing the details of the step.
4. Review the step details. 
   
   
5. To more easily view the script of the step, click the popout icon .
   The script is displayed in the popout window.
   
   

To edit a custom step:

You can only edit custom or copied steps.

1. Navigate to the Configuration Management page and click the Steps tab.
2. Select the step in the table that you want to edit and click Edit at the top of the tab (or from the Overflow Menu or right-click Context Menu).
   The Edit Step form is displayed.
3. Make your changes and click OK. Otherwise, click Cancel.

To import custom steps:

As of Entuity v23.0 P01, you can choose whether to import a custom step, or steps, from the command line or from the Configuration Management page. You can only import custom or copied steps from the UI, not system steps. For information on importing both custom and system steps from the command line, see this article.

Note, the configuration management step file(s) that you import must have the required XML file formatting. For information about the required formatting for the XML files, see this article.

1. Navigate to the Configuration Management page and click the Steps tab.
2. Click Import at the top of the tab (or from the Overflow Menu or right-click Context Menu).
    
3. 
    
4. On the Upload CM Tasks or Steps form that is displayed, click Browse Files.
   
   
    
5. Navigate to, and select, the configuration management step XML files that you want to import.
6. Click Import on the Upload CM Tasks or Steps form to import the selected files. Otherwise, click Cancel.
   A confirmation message is displayed, and the imported steps are then displayed in the Configuration Management table.

To export custom steps:

As of Entuity v23.0 P01, you can choose whether to export a custom step, or steps, from the command line or from the Configuration Management page. You can only export custom or copied steps from the UI, not system steps. For information on exporting both custom and system steps from the command line, see this article.

1. Navigate to the Configuration Management page and click the Steps tab.

2. Select a step, or steps, and click Download at the top of the tab (or from the Overflow Menu or right-click Context Menu).
   
   
   
   The download starts, and based on your browser settings, you might be prompted several times to specify the location in which to download each file.
   Note, Entuity doesn't create a zip file, rar file, or other archive file when downloading custom configuration management steps.

    

To delete a custom step:

You can only delete custom or copied steps.

1. Navigate to the Configuration Management page and click the Steps tab.
2. Select the step that you want to delete and click Delete at the top of the tab (or from the Overflow Menu or right-click Context Menu).
3. Click Yes at the confirmation message window to confirm the deletion. Otherwise, click Cancel.