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Archives are stored in the Oracle database. The Archive Manager, also known as Version Control Manager (or VCM), works with these archives. The most recently archived version is stored as full text. Previous versions can be stored as deltas---only the differences between the stored archive and its successor version are retained in the database. This allows as much as a tenfold decrease in disk space requirements. Storing previous versions as deltas occurs when the VCM server is launched with the -g option.
To manage a network with 10,000 network elements, it would take 100GB of disk space to store the full text of 100 versions of configurations 100K in size. (Configurations in an actual working network tend to be somewhere between 5 and 100K.) By storing only the deltas between versions, disk space demand could be an order of magnitude less. This is considered a manageable size for the Oracle 8.0 Enterprise Version database required by Cisco IP Manager.
The Solaris 2.6 operating system limits the size of any one file to 2 GB. If you anticipate the need to store more than 2GB in the archive, you should create multiple Oracle data files and assign them to the same tablespace.
To purge or un-check-in, the Archive Manager checks archive delete permission. To read the archive, the Archive Manager checks archive read permission. To check in or create objects, the Archive Manager checks archive create permission. To modify label information, the Archive Manager checks archive modify permission.
As administrator, you should give a user archive delete permission only if you also give that user archive read permission. Without archive read permission, a user cannot see the archive data, so the user cannot use the archive delete permission to delete data.
Use the Archive Manager window to worked with archived configuration files. To open this window, click the Archive Manager button on the Main Window.
Initially the window appears with several buttons and menu options grayed out, and no table entries. After you perform certain operations within this window, those buttons and options become active. The remainder of this chapter describes the operations you can perform with the Archive Manager.
When records appear in the Archive Manager window, you can perform sorts on any column. Click on the column heading to perform an ascending sort; hold down the shift key and click on the column heading to perform a descending sort.
The Archive Manager window contains six menus and nine buttons. The buttons correspond to some of the functions of the menus.
The Archive Manager window has the following menus:
The File menu has the following commands:
Closes the Element Manager window.
Closes all Cisco IP Manager windows and exits the GUI application.
The Edit menu contains the following commands:
Brings up the Search Archive dialog.
All fields of the Search Archive dialog are optional. Fill out as many as you wish to refine your search, and click the Search button. This causes the Archive Manager to display those configuration files that meet your criteria. You can then perform various operations on one or more of the records.
In the Domain Name, Element/Template Name, Creation Source, and User fields, you can use a percent sign as a wildcard character in a search. For example, you could restrict a search to those domains that start with the characters LAB by entering LAB%.
The default for File Type in the Search Archive dialog is <ALL>; you can also choose startup or running configuration, or template. The default for Version is <LATEST>; you can also choose <ALL>.
The complete date format for both From Create Date and To Create Date is YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS Time Zone, as, for example, 1999/11/29 15:19:54 PDT. You need be only as specific as YYYY/MM/DD, however.
The other fields are self-explanatory; you can see a tool tip for each by placing the cursor within the field.
When you have filled in as many fields as you wish, click Search to apply your criteria to the search, or Cancel to close the dialog without performing a search.
Brings up the Search Latest Version By Text dialog.
Use the Search Latest Version By Text dialog to do a text-based search of the contents of configuration files, using the exact strings specified.
In the Domain Name and Element/Template Name fields, you can use a percent sign as a wildcard character in a search. For example, you could restrict a search to those domains that start with the characters LAB by entering LAB%. The Pattern fields do not support wildcard specifications. To refine a search, fill in as many of the Pattern fields as is appropriate. You then click on the Any pattern(s) radio button to specify an "or" condition, or All patterns.
The Domain Name and Element/Template Name fields of the Search Latest Version By Text dialog are optional, but you must enter data into at least one of the Pattern fields. Fill out as many as you wish to refine your search, and click the Search button. This causes the Archive Manager to display those configuration files that meet your criteria. You can then perform various operations on one or more of the records.
The default for File Type in the Search Archive dialog is <ALL>; you can also choose startup or running configuration, or template.
You can see a tool tip for each field by placing the cursor within the field.
When you have filled in as many fields as you wish, click Search to apply your criteria to the search, or Cancel to close the dialog without performing a search.
Deletes all versions of the configuration prior to the highlighted version. This choice remains grayed out until you highlight one or more files in the Archive Manager window. If you select this option, a confirmation message appears. Click Yes to complete the operation.
The Text Diff and GUI Diff menu choices remain grayed out until you highlight exactly two records. For information about how to select contiguous and noncontiguous records, refer to "Procedural Conventions" in the preface ("About This Guide)."
The View menu contains the following commands:
Brings up the Archive Config window, which shows the content of the configuration file. This window serves only as a viewer; you cannot edit the configuration file.
After viewing the contents of the window, click Close to close the window.
Brings up the Version Detail window, which displays information about the configuration file. This window serves only as a viewer; you cannot edit any of its fields.
If the file has one or more labels, the label name or names appear in the Label field. For more information about labels, see "Label Menu." The Comment field contains the text you entered (if any) when you created this version.
After viewing the contents of the window, click OK to close the window.
Brings up the File Diff window, which displays the differences between two configuration files in UNIX diff format. This window serves only as a viewer; you cannot edit any of its fields.
You might use this window to compare the differences between the running config and startup config of the same device, for example, or two versions of a template stored in the archive. At the top of the window, a left angle bracket indicates the file to which the other is being compared, while a right angle bracket indicates the file being compared. Below the double line of equals signs appear the differences, with a left angle bracket showing lines that appear in the first file but not the second, and a right angle bracket showing lines that appear in the second file but not the first. Before each line, the numbers refer to the affected line number, while the symbols have the following meanings:
After viewing the contents of the window, click Close to close the window.
Brings up the GUI Diff window, which displays the differences between two configuration files in graphical format. This window serves only as a viewer; you cannot edit any of its fields.
This window has two halves, with the first file appearing in the left pane and the second in the right. The window initially opens with the first point of difference appearing at the top. The name of each file appears at the top of its respective pane. Two scroll bars appear, one at the right of each pane. They work in tandem; you can use either to scroll through the files.
In the two views, a red entry indicates a deleted line, a blue entry indicates a changed or updated line, and a green entry indicates an added line. Black lines are unchanged between the two panes.
To see all of both files (the default), click on the Complete Diff button. To see only differences, click on the Difference Only button. To display line numbers, click, click on the Show Line Number button. This button is a toggle; when line numbers appear, this button becomes the Hide Line Number button.
After viewing the contents of the window, click OK to close the window.
Executes the previous search command, without prompting the user.
Labels are a conceptual way of grouping files. Use the Label menu options to perform operations on files according to their label groupings.
The Label menu contains the following commands:
Brings up a dialog that contains a list of existing labels on which to initiate a search.
Highlight one of these labels to display in the Archive Manager window all files with that label.
Click OK to perform a search on the highlighted label. Click Cancel to close the dialog without performing a search.
Brings up a dialog that contains a list of existing labels. This dialog is for informational purposes only.
Click Cancel to close the dialog.
Brings up a dialog that contains a list of existing labels. This dialog is for informational purposes only.
Brings up a dialog that allows you to add files to an existing label, or create a new label.
To use this dialog, first highlight in the Archive Manager window those files to add to a label, and then select this option from the Label menu. When the dialog appears, type a new label into the label field, or click on the down arrow at the right of the field and choose an existing label from the drop-down list. As you move the cursor, the highlight moves over the list. When you click a label, that label appears in the label field. For example, Figure 8-9 shows the Archive Manager window with several files selected, then brought up the Add Selected Files To A Label, displayed the drop-down list, and highlighted the desired label, just before clicking on that label.
Click OK to add the highlighted label to the selected files. Click Cancel to close the dialog without performing an action.
Brings up a dialog that allows you to remove files from an existing label.
To use this dialog, first highlight in the Archive Manager window those files to remove from a label, and then select this option from the Label menu. When the dialog appears, highlight one of these labels to remove those files highlighted in the Archive Manager window from that label. For example, in Figure 8-10, the files highlighted in the Archive Manager window are about to have their association with the PS-RUNNING label removed.
Click OK to perform remove the files from the highlighted label. Click Cancel to close the dialog without performing an action.
Brings up a dialog that allows you to delete an existing label.
Click OK to delete the highlighted label. Click Cancel to close the dialog without performing an action.
The Report menu contains one command:
Brings up a dialog that contains a list of existing labels among which to make a comparison. Select two labels, and click OK to generate a report showing the differences between these two labels. You might, for example, have created one label for all your startup config files and another for all your working config files. A report comparing the two would show when the labels were created, which files were added and which deleted.
After viewing the contents of the window, click OK to close the window.
The Help menu has the following command:
Displays information about the Cisco IP Manager software.
The Archive Manager window has the following buttons:
The Search button functions exactly the same as the "Search" item of the Edit menu.
The Text button functions exactly the same as the "Text Search" item of the Edit menu.
The Label button functions exactly the same as the "Add Selected Files To Label" item of the Label menu.
The View button functions exactly the same as the "File Content" item of the View menu.
The Detail button functions exactly the same as the "Detail" item of the View menu.
The TextDiff button functions exactly the same as the "Text Diff" item of the View menu.
The GUIDiff button functions exactly the same as the "GUI Diff" item of the View menu.
The Refresh button functions exactly the same as the "Refresh" item of the View menu.
The About button functions exactly the same as the "About" item of the Help menu.
You can invoke the Archive Viewer from the Element Manager. Highlight an element, right-click, and choose Archive Viewer.
If you highlight more than one element, you see multiple instances of the Archive Viewer window, one for each element highlighted.
The Archive Viewer window provides some parallel functions to those of the Archive Manager window. Until you highlight one or more files in the list, some of the buttons remain grayed out.
As in the Archive Manager window, when records appear in the Archive Viewer window, you can perform sorts on any column. Click on the column heading to perform an ascending sort; hold down the shift key and click on the column heading to perform a descending sort.
Click on running (the default) to see the running configurations associated with the element highlighted in the Element Manager window. (The name of the element also appears in the title bar of the Archive Viewer window.) Click on startup to see the startup configurations associated with the element.
When one or more files are highlighted, the View button becomes active. Click this button to bring up the Archive Config window. The View button here functions exactly the same as the "View" button in the Archive Manager window except that one Archive Config window appears for each highlighted file.
When one or more files are highlighted, the Detail button becomes active. Click this button to bring up the Version Detail window. The Detail button here functions exactly the same as the "Detail" button in the Archive Manager window.
When two files are highlighted, the Compare button becomes active. Click this button to bring up the Archive Diff window. The Compare button here functions exactly the same as the "TextDiff" button in the Archive Manager window.
The Archive Viewer window has no equivalent to the GUI Diff item.
Click this button to upload the running or startup config from the network element, and update the archive if the contents are different. Having the different version in the archive allows you to retrieve that version whenever you wish. The dialog contains a Comment field. You can add a short explanation of how this version changed; the comment appears in the Comment column of the Archive Viewer, and in the Comment field of the Version Detail window.
Click this button to remove the latest version from the archive. An alert box appears; click Yes to perform the action, No to cancel.
The Refresh button retrieves all versions of running or startup configuration for the highlighted network element.
Closes the Archive Viewer window.
You can invoke the Archive Viewer from the Template Manager. Highlight a template, right-click, and choose Archive Viewer.
The Template Archive Viewer window is similar in many ways to the "Archive Viewer." It provides some parallel functions to those of the Archive Manager window. Until you highlight one or more files in the list, some of the buttons remain grayed out.
When the Template Archive Viewer window first appears, it displays as many template files as are associated with the template highlighted in the Template Manager window.
As in the Archive Manager window, when records appear in the Template Archive Viewer window, you can perform sorts on any column. Click on the column heading to perform an ascending sort; hold down the shift key and click on the column heading to perform a descending sort.
When one or more files are highlighted, the View button becomes active. Click this button to bring up the Archive Config window. The View button here functions exactly the same as the "View" button in the Archive Manager window, except that one Archive Config window appears for each highlighted template.
When one or more files are highlighted, the Detail button becomes active. Click this button to bring up the Version Detail window. The Detail button here functions exactly the same as the "Detail" button in the Archive Manager window.
When two templates are highlighted, the Compare button becomes active. Click this button to bring up the Archive Diff window. The Compare button here functions exactly the same as the "TextDiff" button in the Archive Manager window.
The Template Archive Viewer window has no equivalent to the GUI Diff item.
Click this button to retrieve a saved template, and add it to the archive. The dialog contains a Comment field. You can add a short explanation of, for example, how this version changed; the comment appears in the Comment column of the Archive Viewer, and in the Comment field of the Version Detail window.
Click this button to remove the latest version from the archive. An alert box appears; click Yes to perform the action, No to cancel.
The Refresh button retrieves all versions the highlighted template.
Closes the Template Archive Viewer window.
Posted: Mon Feb 14 14:08:18 PST 2000
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