Cisco Crosswork Network Controller 7.2.x Administration Guide

Manage tags

Updated: August 14, 2026

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Use the Tag Management page to create, import, export, and delete device tags for organizing devices by attributes such as location or administrator.

A tag is a text identifier that you can attach to objects in the system. It helps

group and categorize those objects, and
enables users to identify, locate, and organize devices for varied purposes.

Crosswork Network Controller comes with a predefined set of tags (such as cli, mdt, reach-check, snmp, and clock-drift-check), which are automatically assigned to every device that is managed. These default tags cannot be selected, edited, deleted, or manually associated with any device.

You can create custom tags to group devices by type, geographic location, their network role (for example, spine vs. leaf), or function (Provider vs. Provider Edge)

Tag management page

Tags can provide information such as the device’s physical location and its administrator’s email ID, and are used to group devices. Use the Tag Management page to easily create and manage them.

To navigate to this page, choose Administration > Tag Management.

Table 1. Tag management page items
Item	Description
1	Click to create new device tags. For instructions, see Create tags.
2	Click to delete currently selected device tags. For instructions, see Delete tags.
3	Click to import the device tags defined in a CSV file into the Cisco Crosswork application. For instructions, see Import tags. You can also download a CSV file template by clicking this icon. The template includes sample data that you can use as a guide for building your own CSV file.
4	Click to export a CSV file that lists the tags that are currently configured and their attributes. You can update this file and import it back into the Cisco Crosswork application to quickly add or edit multiple tags. For instructions, see Export tags.
5	Displays the tags and their attributes currently available in the Cisco Crosswork application.
6	Indicates the number of tags that are currently selected in the table.
7	Click to refresh the Tag Management page.
8	Click to choose the columns to make visible in the Tag Management page.
9	Click to set filter criteria on one or more columns in the Tag Management page.
9	To clear a filter, click the corresponding [X] in the Filters menu.

Create tags

Creating tags makes it easier to organize, search, and filter managed objects. You can create up to 100 tags.

You can use a CSV file to efficiently import multiple tags. For instructions on importing multiple tags, see Import multiple tags using a CSV file.

Note

Tag and tag category names are case-insensitive. They can contain up to 128 alphanumeric characters, as well as dots (.), underscores ("_"), or hyphens ("-"). No other special characters are allowed.

To create a tag, complete these steps:

Procedure

	1.	Choose Administration > Tag management > . This displays the Add tags pane.
	2.	Choose the tag category from the Select tag category drop-down list or type a new category's name in the text field and click Add.
	3.	In the Add tags for <category name>, type a name for the new tag and press Enter.
	4.	Click Save. Note If you enter a duplicate tag, the Save button remains disabled.

Import tags

You can create a CSV file that lists the tags you want to apply to your devices, and then import it into the Cisco Crosswork applications. Importing multiple tags using a CSV file lets you efficiently create and update many tags and tag categories. This feature is valuable when you need to rapidly apply organizational tags to devices or make global tagging changes. The system automatically adds all new tags and tag categories from the CSV file to the database. It overwrites any existing tags with the same name. Consider exporting a backup of your current tags before starting the import.

Before you begin

Export a backup copy of your current tags. See Export tags.

CSV file requirements

Your CSV file must include these fields:


Field	Description	Required or Optional
Tag Name	The name of the tag. For example: `SanFrancisco` or `Spine/Leaf`.	Required
Tag Category	The tag category. For example: `City` or `Network Role`.	Required

Note

Tag Name and Tag Category fields are case-insensitive and can contain a maximum of 128 alphanumeric characters, plus dots (.), underscores ("_") or hyphens ("-"). No other special characters are permitted.

To import multiple tags using a CSV file, complete these steps:

Procedure

	1.	From the main menu, choose Administration > Tag Management > .
	2.	If you have not already created a CSV file: Click the *Download sample 'Tags template (.csv)' file link and save the CSV file template to a local device. Open the template in your preferred editor. Add a row for each tag, using a comma to separate fields and a semicolon for multiple entries in the same field. Check that your file meets the formatting rules above. Tip** Be sure to delete the sample data rows before saving the file, or they will be imported along with the data you want. The column header row can stay, as it is ignored during import. Save the new CSV file.
	3.	Click Browse and select your completed CSV file.
	4.	Click Import to upload it. The tags and tag categories appear in the Tag Management page.

What to do next

Assign imported tags to devices. See Apply or remove device tags for instructions.

Apply or remove device tags

Tags and their categories are your main tool for grouping devices. Once you have tagged a set of devices with the same tag, they are considered part of a group, and you can manage them more easily. You can apply a maximum of 15 tags to any one device.

In order to apply a tag to a device or group of devices, the tag must already exist. See Create tags for more information.

For efficiency, Cisco Crosswork automatically updates inventory data, including topology, for all the devices in a tagged group, as a single set of inventory collection jobs. But please note that tag-group membership is static for other functions. For example, if you add or remove a device from a tagged group after applying a KPI, the KPI will monitor only the original group members. If you change group membership and want the KPI to monitor all the members of the group, re-apply the KPI to the changed group.

To apply tags to a device or set of devices, complete these steps:

Procedure

	1.	Choose Device Management > Network Devices. The Network Devices tab is displayed, showing the list of devices.
	2.	(Optional) If the list is long, click to set one or more filters and narrow the list to only those devices you want to tag.
	3.	Check the check box next to the device(s) you want to tag. If you select multiple devices, any changes you make will be applied to all the devices you selected.
	4.	Click . The Edit tags window opens, showing the tags currently applied to the device(s) you selected.
	5.	Click in the Associate tag field and type the name of the tag you want to apply.
	6.	Click on tag in the search result list to associate it with the device. To delete an applied tag, click the X icon shown next to that tag.
	7.	Click Save.

Delete tags

Tags are used to group devices. Deleting them can affect which KPIs are monitored and which Playbooks are run when using Change Automation. Carefully review tag associations before deleting any tags.

To delete tags, complete these steps:

Note

If the tag is mapped to any devices, then the tag cannot be deleted.

Procedure

	1.	Export a backup CSV file containing the tags you plan to delete. See Export tags for instructions.
	2.	Choose Administration > Tag Management. The Tag Management page is displayed.
	3.	Select the check box next to the tags you want to delete and click .
	4.	Review the confirmation dialog box. It lists the number of devices currently using the tag(s).
	5.	Click Delete to confirm deletion.

The selected tags are deleted if not mapped to devices.

Export tags

You can export tags and tag categories to a CSV file for backup and editing. This allows you to create backup copies or edit tags offline, then re-import to overwrite existing tags. Note that after re-importing, you may need to re-associate devices and tags.

Procedure

	1.	Choose Administration > Tag Management.
	2.	(Optional) In the Tag Management page, filter the tag list as needed.
	3.	Select the check boxes for the tags you want to export. To select all tags, use the check box at the top of the column.
	4.	Click . Depending on your browser, you will be prompted to select a path and file name for saving the CSV file, or to open the file immediately.

The selected tags and tag categories are exported to a CSV file.

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