Creating a Device Group

This section contains the following topics:

• Creating a New Device Group
• Configuring the Settings for a Device Group
• Assigning Devices to a Configuration Device Group

Table 3-1 describes the process for creating a new device group.

Creating a New Device Group

Before you create a device group, make sure you understand the unique properties that you want the group to contain. For example, you may want to set up two device groups that have different authentication settings or different time zone settings.

To create a device group, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Device Groups > All Device Groups. The Device Groups window appears.

From this window you can perform the following tasks:

• Click the Edit icon next to the device group that you want to modify.
• Create a new device group as described in the steps that follow.

Step 2 Click the Create New Device Group icon in the taskbar. The Creating New Device Group window appears.

Step 3 In the Name field, enter the name of the device group.

The name must be unique and should be a name that is useful in distinguishing the device group from others/other groups on your system. Otherwise, an error message stating that the name already exists is displayed. The name cannot contain characters other than letters, numbers, period, hyphen, underscore, and space.

Step 4 Choose either WAAS or WAAS Express for the Configuration Group Type. This sets the type of devices that the group can contain. A WAAS Express group can contain only WAAS Express devices. A WAAS group can contain all types of devices except for WAAS Express devices.

Step 5 Check the Automatically assign all newly activated devices to this group check box to set this device group as the default device group for all newly activated devices.

Step 6 If you chose the WAAS Express group type, you can copy policies from another existing group by choosing the group in the Copy Policies from the device group drop-down list. If you copy policies from a WAAS group, only basic optimization policies are copied, not application acceleration policies.

If you chose the WAAS device group type, you can copy policies from another existing WAAS device group by choosing the WAAS device group in the Copy Configuration from the device group drop-down list. This copies only the WAAS policy configurations from the selected device group. Note that only those WAAS device groups that have configured policies are listed here.

Step 7 (Optional) Enter comments about the group in the Comments field. The comments that you enter will appear in the Device Group window.

Step 8 Click Submit.

The page refreshes with additional options.

Note The Pages configured for this device group arrow lists the configuration windows in the Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI that have been configured for this device group. Because this is a new device group, no pages will appear in this list.

Step 9 (Optional) Customize the menu options for this device group by completing the following steps. Use this feature to remove from view any configuration windows that you do not need for that particular device group:

a. Click the Select pages to hide from table of contents for this device group arrow.

A list of windows in the Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI appears.

b. Check the windows that you want to hide for this device group. You can click the folder icon next to a window to display its child windows.

c. Click Submit.

Step 10 Configure the settings for this device group as described in Configuring the Settings for a Device Group.

Configuring the Settings for a Device Group

After creating a device group, you need to configure the settings that you want to be unique to this group.

Consider the following when you configure device group settings:

• If you have a general device group that contains all your Cisco WAAS devices of a specific type, configure only the settings that you want to be consistent across all the devices of that type.
• Settings that apply to a single device should be configured on that device only and not on the device group.
• When a device group is created, no policies are assigned to that group unless the administrator adds them.
• Note the following about the class-default policy and creating or changing device group settings:

– After policies are added to a device group (either custom or the default set), a class-default policy is also created.

– All of the policies in a default policy set or custom policy set except the class-default policy can be modified or deleted.

– The class-default policy cannot be modified or deleted. To change the class-default policy, you must delete the device group, and then create a new device group with a new class-default policy.

To configure settings for a device group, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Device Groups > device-group-name.

The Modifying Device Group window appears.

Step 2 Click the Pages configured for this device group arrow button to view which configuration windows have already been configured for thegroup.

A list of pages that are configured for that device group appears. If this is a new device group or if there are no pages configured for this device group, the list displays Null.

Step 3 Customize the menu options for this device group by completing the following steps:

a. Click the Select pages to hide from table of contents of this device group arrow.

A list of windows in the Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI appears.

b. Place a check next to the windows that you want to hide for this device group. Use this feature to remove from view any configuration windows that you do not need for this particular device group.

Step 4 Use the menu bar to choose each configuration option that you want to modify for this device group.

If the configuration option has not been configured for this device group, the message There are currently no settings for this group appears at the top of the window.

Step 5 Make the necessary changes on the configuration option window, and click Submit when finished.

After a particular setting is configured, the configuration window is listed under Pages configured for this device group in the Modifying Device Group window.

Step 6 Assign devices to this new group as described in Assigning Devices to a Configuration Device Group.

Assigning Devices to a Configuration Device Group

After you create a configuration device group, you need to assign devices to the group. The Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI provides two methods to assign devices to a configuration group. You can either select the device first, then assign a group to the device, or you can select the device group first, then assign devices to the group.

The procedures in this section describe how to assign devices to a group. To assign a group to a device, choose Devices > device-name and choose Assign Device Groups from the device-name menu. You can then assign a group to the device using the same method described in steps 4 and 5 below.

You cannot assign the Cisco WAAS Central Manager to a device group. You must configure the Cisco WAAS Central Manager separately from other devices.

You cannot assign Cisco WAAS Express devices to a WAAS group and you cannot assign WAAS devices to a WAAS Express group. Invalid devices are not shown in the device list when assigning devices to groups.

Note By default, all devices automatically join either the AllWAASGroup or AllWAASExpressGroup when they are activated. If you do not want a device to belong to one of the default device groups, you should unassign that device from the default device group, and then assign that device to a custom device group.

Generally, when assigning a device to two different Device Groups, have the same page configured in it, either have the page configured in single Device Group or it is expected to have Force Device Group (FDG) settings enabled in the other Device Group. The Cisco WAAS Central Manager pushes the latest changed Device Group's configuration to the device.

When a device is moved from a Device level to Device Group level, the configurations of the Current applied settings from Device are applied to the Device Group. In such conditions, the Force device group icon appears in the respective device group configuration pages for that device.

This Force device group icon depicts that there is difference between Device and Device group configurations and can be resolved using the Procedure for Forcing Device Group Settings.

Additionally, they show up in the Force Device Group Detection window. This Force device group icon depicts that there is difference between Device and Device group configurations. The Cisco WAAS Central Manager provides an easy way to identify, view and resolve these configuration conflicts.

Use care when you are assigning devices that have different Cisco WAAS software versions to a device group. Some features configured for a device group may not be supported by all devices in the group or, in some cases, devices may be prevented from joining the group if the group is configured with policies that they cannot support. In such cases, we recommend that you upgrade all devices to the same software version or create different device groups for devices with incompatible versions.

To assign a device to a device group, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Device Groups > device-group-name.

The Modifying Device Group window appears.

Step 2 Choose device-group-name > Assign Devices.

The WAE/WAAS Express Assignments window appears, displaying the devices assigned to various locations. If you are editing a WAAS group, only Cisco WAAS devices are shown. If you are editing a WAAS Express group, only Cisco WAAS Express devices are shown.

The assignments window lets you filter your view of the items in the list. Filtering allows you to find items in the list that match the criteria that you set.

Step 3 Assign a device to the device group by doing either of the following:

• Click
in the taskbar to assign all available devices to the group.

• Click
next to each device that you want to assign to the group. The icon changes to when selected.

Step 4 Click Submit.

A green check mark appears next to the assigned devices.

Step 5 Click the Unassign icon (green check mark) next to the name of the device that you want to remove from the device group. Alternatively, you can click the Remove all icon in the taskbar to remove all devices from the selected device group. Click Submit.

If there is any mismatch in the configuration between a Device and Device group configured pages, then Force Device Group icon will appear in the respective device group configuration page after assigning the device to the device group.

To correct this, use the Force Group Settings, described in Procedure for Forcing Device Group Settings to ensure that all devices in the specified group have the same configuration.

FDG is seen on the optimization policy page of the device group, when a device configured with a certain class-map match for source/destination IP address is upgraded from software version 6.4.3b to 6.4.3d. To resolve this, click on FDG, edit the policy and enter the port number version and submit the changes to take effect.

Deleting a Device Group

To delete a device group, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Device Groups > device-group-name. The Modifying Device Group window appears.

Step 2 In the taskbar, click the Delete Device Group icon. You are prompted to confirm your decision to delete the device group.

Step 3 To confirm your decision, click OK.

Viewing Device Group Assignments

The Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI allows you to view the groups that a device belongs to, as well as the devices that belong to a specific group. This section describes both of these procedures.

To view the groups that a device belongs to, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name.

The Device Dashboard window appears.

Step 2 In the Assignments field on the Device Dashboard window, click the link that displays the groups to which the device is assigned.

The Device Group Assignments window appears, which shows all the device groups in your Cisco WAAS network that match the device type (WAAS or WAAS Express). The device is assigned to the device groups with a green check mark next to them.

You can also go to the Device Group Assignments window by choosing the Assign Device Groups option in the menu bar.

To view the devices that are assigned to a specific group, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Device Groups > device-group-name.

The Modifying Device Group window appears.

Step 2 Choose device-group-name > Assign Devices.

The WAE/WAAS Express Assignments window appears, which shows all the Cisco WAAS or Cisco WAAS Express devices on your Cisco WAAS network. The devices with a green check mark next to them are assigned to this group.

Viewing the Device Groups List

The Device Groups window lists all the device groups that have been created in your Cisco WAAS network. To view this list, choose Device Groups > All Device Groups in the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu bar.

This window displays the following information about each device group:

• Type of device group (WAAS Configuration Group or WAAS Express Configuration Group).
• Any comments that were entered when the device group was created.

From this window, you can perform the following tasks:

• Create a new device group. For more information, see Creating a New Device Group.
• Modify the settings of a device group by clicking the Edit icon next to the group that you want to edit.

Enabling or Disabling Device Group Overlap

By default, you can assign a device to multiple device groups. You can disable this functionality so a device can only belong to one device group, which eliminates the possibility of a device inheriting settings from more than one group.

To enable or disable device group overlap, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Configure > Global > System Properties.

The Config Properties window appears.

Step 2 Click the Edit icon next to the property name DeviceGroup.overlap.

The Modifying Config Property, DeviceGroup.overlap window appears.

Step 3 From the Value drop-down list, choose either true or false. (The default is true.)

When you disable device group overlap (set to false), existing overlapping device groups are retained and continue to be handled as though overlap were enabled; however, any newly added groups do not allow overlapping, and new devices cannot be added to the existing overlapping groups.

Step 4 Click Submit.

Overriding Group Configuration Settings

The Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI provides the following methods to override the current group configuration on a device:

• Forcing Device Group Settings on All Devices in the Group
• Selecting Device Group Precedence
• Overriding the Device Group Settings on a Device

Forcing Device Group Settings on All Devices in the Group

This section has the following topics:

• Operating Considerations for Force Group Settings
• Procedure for Forcing Device Group Settings

Operating Considerations for Force Group Settings

The Device Groups > device-group-name > Force Group Settings applies all settings configured for a specified device group to all the Cisco WAEs and Cisco WAAS Express devices assigned to it.

Note the following uses of Force Group Settings when you register a WAE to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager:

• Because all devices in a device group have the same configuration, the configuration you apply at the device group level gets assigned to all the devices in the group.
  
  However, if a device in a device group has local settings that were either configured manually using the CLI or automatically during upgrade, its device settings may be out of sync with the rest of the device group. To remedy this:

– Use Force Group Settings, described in Procedure for Forcing Device Group Settings, to ensure that all devices in the specified group have the same configuration.

– To avoid the need to use Force Group Setting after a device is registered to the Central Manager, restore device’s factory default settings before registering it to the Cisco WAAS Central Manager.

Procedure for Forcing Device Group Settings

To force a device group configuration across all devices in the group, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Device Groups > device-group-name.

The Modifying Device Group window appears.

Step 2 Click the Force Group Settings icon in the taskbar.

The Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI displays the following message:

Step 3 To force group settings across all devices in the device group, click OK.

Step 4 Click Submit.

Selecting Device Group Precedence

When a device belongs to multiple device groups that have conflicting settings, the device automatically inherits the settings from the device group that was most recently changed. For a more detailed description of how a device inherits settings when it belongs to multiple device groups, see Understanding the Impact of Assigning a Device to Multiple Device Groups.

When a configuration conflict occurs, you can edit a device’s configuration on a page-by-page basis and select which device group’s settings should take precedence.

To select the device group precedence, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name.

The Device Dashboard window appears.

Step 2 From the menu bar, choose the configuration option that contains the conflicting settings.

A drop-down list appears in the taskbar at the top of the window drop-down list allows you to select the device group that you want this configuration window to inherit settings from. The device group that is currently selected is the device group that has precedence.

Step 3 From the drop-down list, choose the device group that you want this configuration page to inherit settings from, and click Submit.

The configuration window changes to reflect the settings associated with the selected device group.

Overriding the Device Group Settings on a Device

The Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI allows you to override the device group settings and specify new settings that are unique to that device.

To override the device group settings on a device, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices > device-name.

The Device Dashboard window appears.

Step 2 From the menu bar, choose the configuration option that contains the device group settings you want to override.

Step 3 Click the Override Group Settings icon in the taskbar.

The settings in the configuration window are enabled.

Note The Override Group Settings icon only appears in configuration windows that have been modified on the associated device group.

Step 4 Make the necessary changes to the configuration window, and click Submit.

The device is now configured with settings that are different from the device group it belongs to.

Note The Force Settings on all Devices in Group icon appears in the device group view of an overridden configuration window. You can click this icon to reapply the device group settings to all devices in the device group.

Step 5 To reapply the device groups settings to this configuration window, choose the device group from the drop-down list in the taskbar, and click Submit.

Understanding the Impact of Assigning a Device to Multiple Device Groups

If a device belongs to multiple device groups, a configuration conflict might occur if the groups are not configured exactly the same. In this case, the device will inherit the settings from the device group that was most recently changed. In some cases, however, a device can retain settings from more than one device group depending on how the changes were implemented.

The following scenario describes how a device can retain settings from multiple device groups:

Action 1: Device A is assigned to Device Group 1 (DG1).

Result: Device A automatically inherits all the configuration settings of DG1.

Action 2: Device A is assigned to Device Group 2 (DG2) so it now belongs to two device groups (DG1 and DG2).

Result: Device A inherits all the settings from DG2, but it remains a member of DG1.

Action 3: The standard time zone setting on DG1 is changed to America New York.

Result: The time zone of Device A changes to America New York, but the device maintains all its other configuration settings from DG2.

In this scenario, Device A’s configuration is a hybrid of DG1 and DG2. If you want to specify which device group settings a device should inherit, you can use the override features described in Overriding Group Configuration Settings.

Moving a Device Between Device Groups

The Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI provides two methods to move a device from one device group to another device group.

• From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, select the device and go to Devices > device-name> Assign Device Groups and assign a group to the device. Similarly you can also un-assign the device from the group and assign to a new device group.

OR

• From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, select the Device Group first, go to Device Groups > device-group-name > Assign Devices and assign devices to the device group. You can also un-assign the device from one device group and assign to a new device group

However, when you do any of the above, configuration conflicts can occur. These are available in the configuration page for the device as a FDG icon and can be resolved using the Procedure for Forcing Device Group Settings.

Additionally they show up in the Force Device Group Detection page. This Force device group icon depicts that there is difference between Device and Device group configurations. The Cisco WAAS Central Manager provides an easy way to identify, view and resolve these configuration conflicts.

To move a Cisco WAAS device between two device groups that have different optimization policies, you must reassign the device to a different device group and then force the device group settings on the device.

To move a device between device groups, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices Groups > old-device-group-name.

Step 2 Choose DeviceGroup > Assign Devices.

Step 3 Click the green check icon next to the device that you want to reassign. The icon changes to a red arrow pointing left.

Step 4 Click Submit.

Step 5 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Devices Groups > new-device-group-name.

Step 6 Click the blue X icon next to the device that you want to reassign. The icon changes to a green arrow pointing right.

Step 7 Click Submit.

Step 8 Choose Configure > Acceleration > Optimization Policies.

Step 9 Click the Force Settings on all Devices in Group taskbar icon.

Creating Locations

To create a new location or modify an existing one, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Locations > All Locations. The Locations window appears.

Step 2 In the taskbar, click the Create New Location icon.

The Creating New Location window appears.

Step 3 In the Name field, enter a location name.

The name can contain letters, numbers, period, hyphen, underscore, and space.

Step 4 From the Parent Location drop-down list, choose a parent location (or choose None).

A location with no parent is a level 1 location. A location with a level 1 parent becomes a level 2 location, and so forth. The location level is displayed after you choose a parent location (or choose None) and click Submit to save the configuration.

Step 5 (Optional) In the Comments field, enter comments about the location.

Step 6 Click Submit.

Step 7 Modify a location by going to the Locations window and clicking the Edit icon next to the name of the location that you want to modify.

Step 8 Assign a device to this location. For more information, see Modifying Device Properties in the chapter “Configuring Other System Settings” .

Deleting Locations

You can delete locations as needed, as long as they are not the root locations of activated Cisco WAAS devices.

Note If a location has a device assigned to it, you can first assign the device to another location and then delete the original location.

To delete a location, follow these steps:

Step 1 From the Cisco WAAS Central Manager menu, choose Locations > location-name.

The Modifying Location window appears.

Step 2 In the taskbar, click the Delete Location icon. You are asked to confirm your decision to delete the location.

Step 3 To confirm the action, click OK. The location is deleted.

Viewing the Location Tree

The location tree represents the network topology you configured when you assigned a parent to each location. The Cisco WAAS Central Manager GUI graphically displays the relationships between the locations configured in your Cisco WAAS network.

To view the location tree, choose Locations > All Locations. In the taskbar, click the Location Trees button. The location tree shows an expandable list. For each tree node, the corresponding icons show the location or device name.