Variable Independiente (X3) Trabajo en Equipo

If you are going to do the same type of configuration over and over again, why not do it once and then just copy/paste for the rest of them? That is where templates can come in handy.

Suppose, for instance, that you have the perfect router configuration and want to repli- cate that configuration to five additional routers. What are the challenges with this? First of all, you do not want all the routers to have exactly the same name, and it is also very likely that you are not going to use the same IP addresses on each device. So, the tem- plate feature enables you to identify parts of a configuration that you need to change before putting the configuration on a second or third router. The elements you are going to change, such as the hostname, the template turns into a variable, then as you apply the template to new devices, you can just swap out those variables with the new values you want to use (for example, a new hostname for the third router and a different hostname again for the fourth router). Using this strategy, we could use the same template over and over again. The process of identifying the individual components that will change from router to router and converting them to variables is done through a process called

parameterizing .

Key Topic

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To create and apply a template, follow these steps:

Step 1. Select Application from the menu bar, and from the drop-down list choose

Template , and then Create .

Step 2. Choose one of your discovered routers from the Discovered Router drop- down list, or select a file that that can be accessed from your PC to use as the source for the template that is being created. Figure 5-6 shows an example. Click Next to continue.

Figure 5-6 Choosing the Source Content for the New Template

Step 3. Highlight the items that need to be replaced, before placing the configura- tion on another router, such as hostname and IP addresses. After highlighting each item, click the Parameterize button. This causes those items to be iden- tified as a variable that would need to be replaced before applying the con- figuration to another router. Figure 5-7 shows an example of this, where the hostname and IP addresses have been parameterized and have the double set of curly brackets. Just delete any content you do not want included in part of the new template, and then click Finish .

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Figure 5-7 Specifying Which Items Should be Parameterized

Step 4. Save the file, using an extension of your choice on a file system that is reach- able from your computer, such as the hard drive. You import this file in a later step.

Note You need to apply the template that was just created, for it to be used. That hap- pens in the next step. It is easier to find the saved document if you save it with a .txt extension as part of step 4.

Step 5. Select Application from the menu bar, and from the drop-down list choose

Template , and then Apply .

Step 6. Browse for and select the previously saved template file, and then click Next . Click the Find Parameterized Attribute button to search for and identify the previously identified variables and replace them with the values you want to use for the router that will receive this configuration. Then click Next to con- tinue.

Note If, after clicking the Find Parameterized Attribute button, you hover over the config, a pop-up will remind you of which parameterized values are from the template, as shown in Figure 5-8 .

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Figure 5-8 Replacing the Parameterized Items with the Values You Want for the New Router

Step 7. From the drop-down list, select the previously discovered router that you want to apply this new configuration to, as shown in Figure 5-9 . You can select to merge the configuration with the existing router configuration, or you can choose to completely override the existing configuration of the router receiving the template. Click Next to continue, followed by the Finish button.

Note Some parameters in a router configuration do not allow for duplicates. An exam- ple is a hostname. A router can have only one hostname for itself at a time. The host- name, if part of the template, overrides a previous hostname, even if you select a “merge” option. Other items from a template, such as a unique access list that does not exist in the new router yet, can be added or “merged” with the existing configuration so that any existing and the new access list from the template will exist in the final router configura- tion when you merge them.

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Figure 5-9 Selecting the Destination Device, and the Merge or Override Option

Note If you select the Override option, you are prompted about the router being reloaded for the new configuration to take effect. There is also a Rollback option pro- vided, to allow restoration of a previous configuration.