Create Templates to Automate Device Configuration Changes

About Template Editor

Cisco DNA Center provides an interactive editor called Template Editor to author CLI templates. Template Editor is a centralized CLI management tool to help design a set of device configurations that you need to build devices in a branch. When you have a site, office, or branch that uses a similar set of devices and configurations, you can use Template Editor to build generic configurations and apply the configurations to one or more devices in the branch. With Template Editor, you can:

Create, edit, and delete templates
Add interactive commands
Validate errors in the template
Version control the templates for tracking purposes
Simulate the templates

Create Projects

Projects are a logical grouping to a set of templates.

Procedure

Step 1	From the Cisco DNA Center home page, choose Tools > Template Editor.
Step 2	In the left pane, click > Create Project.
Step 3	In the Add New Project window, enter a name, description, and tags for the project.
Step 4	Click Add. The created project appears in the left pane.

Create Templates

Cisco DNA Center provides regular and composite configuration templates. CLI templates let you choose the elements in the configurations. Cisco DNA Center provides variables that you can replace with actual values and logic statements.

Create a Regular Template

Procedure

Step 1

From the Cisco DNA Center home page, choose Tools > Template Editor. By default, the Onboarding Configuration project is available for creating day-0 templates. You can create your own custom projects. Templates created in custom projects are categorized as day-N templates.

Step 2

In the tree pane, select the project under which you are creating templates, and click the gear icon > Add Templates. Alternately, click > Add Templates.

Note

The template that you create for day 0 can also be applied for day N.

Step 3

In the Add New Template window, click Regular Template.

Step 4

In the Name text box, enter a unique name for the template.

Step 5

In the Project Name drop-down list, select the project.

The drop-down list is enabled if you are navigating from the > Add Templates path. The drop-down list is disabled if you select a project and click the gear icon > Add Templates in the tree pane.

Step 6

In the Description text box, enter a description for the template.

Step 7

In the Tags text box, enter an intuitive name to tag the templates. Tagging a configuration template helps you to:

Search a template using the tag name in the search field.
Use the tagged template as a reference to configure more devices.

Note

If you use tags to filter the templates, you must apply the same tags to the device to which you want to apply the templates. Otherwise, you get the following error during provisioning: "Cannot select the device. Not compatible with template."

Step 8

Click Edit to view the selected device types and choose the device types that you want to apply to the template.

To view the selected devices, choose Selected from the Show drop-down list. By default, all device types are displayed.

There are different granularity levels for choosing the device type from the hierarchical structure. The device type is used during deployment to ensure that templates deploy devices that match the specified device type criteria. This lets you create specialized templates for specific device models.

Template Editor does not show device product IDs (PIDs); instead, it shows the device series and model description. You can use cisco.com to look up the device data sheet based on the PID, find the device series and model description, and choose the device type appropriately.

Step 9

After choosing the device types, click Back to Add New Template.

Step 10

From the Software Type drop-down list, choose the software type: IOS, IOS-XE, IOS-XR, NX-OS, Cisco Controller, Wide Area Application Services, Adaptive Security Appliance, NFV- OS, and Others.

For more information on the Cisco Wireless Controller supported software versions and the minimum supported version, see Cisco DNA Center Supported Devices.

For example, if you select IOS as the software type, the commands apply to all software types, including IOS-XE and IOS-XR. This value is used during provisioning to check whether the selected device conforms to the selection in the template.

Step 11

In the Software Version text box, enter the software version. During provisioning, Cisco DNA Center checks to see if the selected device has the software version listed in the template. If there is a mismatch, the provision skips the template.

Step 12

Click Add. The template is created and shown in the tree view under the project you selected.

Step 13

You can edit the template content by selecting the template that you created in the left menu. To edit the template content, see Edit Templates.

Step 14

In the Template Editor window, enter content for the template. You can use the Velocity Template Language (VTL) to write the content in the template. For information about using VTL, see http://velocity.apache.org/engine/devel/vtl-reference.html.

After saving the template, Cisco DNA Center checks for any errors in the template. If there are any velocity syntax errors, the template content is not saved and all input variables that are defined in the template are automatically identified during the save process. Local variables (variables that are used in for loops, assigned though a set, and so on) are ignored.

Step 15

To validate the template, from the Actions drop-down list, choose Check for errors.

Cisco DNA Center checks for the following errors and reports them:

Velocity syntax errors.
Conflicts with blocked list commands. See Blocked List Commands.

Step 16

To save the template content, from the Actions drop-down list, choose Save.

Step 17

To commit the template, from the Actions drop-down list, choose Commit. You can see only the committed templates in the network profile section.

Note

You can associate only a committed template to a network profile.

What to do next

Enter additional information for variables in the template. For more information, see Template Form Editor.
Edit templates. For more information, see Edit Templates.
Assign templates to profiles. For more information, see Associate Templates to Network Profiles.

Blocked List Commands

Blocked list commands are commands that are added to the blocked list category. You can use these commands only through the Cisco DNA Center applications. If you use blocked list commands in your templates, it shows a warning in the template that it may potentially conflict with some of the Cisco DNA Center provisioning applications.

These are the blocked list commands in this release:

Router LISP is supported on Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst 3000 Series Switches, Cisco Catalyst 4000 Series Switches, and Cisco Catalyst 6000 Series Switches.
Hostname is supported on Cisco Integrated Services Virtual Router (ISRv) and Cisco Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (ASAv).

Sample Templates

Configure Hostname

hostname$name

Configure Interface

interface $interfaceName
description $description

Configure NTP on Cisco Wireless Controllers

config time ntp interval $interval

Create a Composite Template

Two or more regular templates are grouped together into a composite sequence template. You can create a composite sequential template for a set of templates, which are applied collectively to devices. For example, when you deploy a branch, you must specify the minimum configurations for the branch router. The templates that you create can be added to a single composite template, which aggregates all the individual templates that you need for the branch router. You must specify the order in which templates that are in the composite template are deployed to devices.

Note

You can add only a committed template to a composite template.

Procedure

Step 1

From the Cisco DNA Center home page, choose Tools > Template Editor.

Step 2

In the left pane, select the project under which you are creating the templates. Choose > Add Templates or click > Add Templates.

Step 3

In the Add New Template window, click the Composite Template radio button to create a composite sequential template.

Step 4

In the Name text box, enter a unique name for the template.

Step 5

In the Project Name text box, enter a unique name for the project .

The text box is enabled if you are navigating from the > Add Templates path. The text box is disabled if you select a project and choose > Add Templates in the tree pane.

Step 6

In the Description text box, enter a description for the template.

Step 7

In the Tags text box, enter an intuitive name to tag the templates. Tagging a configuration template helps you to:

Search a template using the tag name in the search field.
Use the tagged template as a reference to configure more devices.

Note

If you use tags to filter the templates, you must apply the same tags to the device to which you want to apply the templates. Otherwise, the following error occurs during provisioning: "Cannot select the device. Not compatible with template."

Step 8

Click Edit to view the selected device types and choose the device types that you want to apply to the template.

You can view the selected devices by choosing Selected from the Show drop-down list. By default, all device types are displayed.

Step 9

Click Back to Add New Template.

Step 10

From the Software Type drop-down list, choose the software type. You can select the specific software type (such as IOS-XE or IOS-XR) if there are commands specific to these software types. If you select IOS as the software type, the commands apply to all software types, including IOS-XE and IOS-XR. This value is used during provisioning to check whether the selected device confirms to the selection in the template.

Step 11

In the Software Version text box, enter the software version. During provisioning, Cisco DNA Center checks to see if the selected device has the similar software version listed in the template. If there is a mismatch, the provision skips the template.

Step 12

Click Add. The composite template is created and is listed in the left menu under the project you selected.

Step 13

Click the composite template that you created in the tree view pane.

Step 14

In the Template Editor window, drag and drop templates from the tree view pane to create a sequence. The templates are deployed based on the order in which they are sequenced. You can change the order of templates in the Template Editor window.

Note

By default, the Applicable option is chosen in the View filter and only the applicable templates that can be added to the composite template are shown in the Template Editor window. You can choose the All option in the View filter to view all the templates in the Template Editor window. In the All option view, the templates that match the chosen device types and software version are marked by a plus icon.

You can drag and drop templates that have the same device type, software type, and software version as that of the composite template.

Step 15

To abort the deployment process upon failure of the first template, select the first template in the Template Editor window and check the Abort sequence on targets if deployment fails check box.

Step 16

From the Actions drop-down list, choose Commit to commit the template content.

Edit Templates

After creating a template, you can edit the template to include content to it.

Procedure

Step 1

From the Cisco DNA Center home page, choose Tools > Template Editor.

Step 2

Select the template that you want to edit in the left tree pane.

The Template Editor window appears in the right pane.

Step 3

In the Template Editor window, enter the template content. You can have a template with a single-line configuration or a multi-select configuration.

Note

Velocity template framework restricts the use of variables starting with a number. Hence, you must ensure that the variable name starts with a letter and not with a number.

Step 4

Validate the template by selecting Check for errors from the Actions drop-down list.

Cisco DNA Center checks for these errors and reports them:

Velocity syntax errors
Conflicts with blocked list commands

Step 5

From the Actions drop-down list, choose Save to save the template content.

Step 6

From the Actions drop-down list, choose Commit to commit the template content.

What to do next

Assign templates to profiles and provision the template. See Associate Templates to Network Profiles.

Template Simulation

The interactive template simulation lets you simulate the CLI generation of templates by specifying test data for variables before sending them to devices. You can save the test simulation results and use them later, if required.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Tools > Template Editor.

Step 2

From the left menu, choose the template that you want to edit.

The Template Editor window appears in the right pane.

Step 3

In the top-right corner, click the Simulator icon to run simulation on commands.

From the Actions drop-down list, choose New Simulation. In the New Simulation window, enter a name for the simulation, and click Submit.
In the Simulation Input form, complete the required fields, and click Run. The results are displayed in the Template Preview window.

Template Form Editor

Procedure

Step 1	Select the template in the left tree pane. The template window opens.
Step 2	Click the Form Editor icon to add metadata to the template variables. All the variables that are identified in the template are displayed. You can configure the following metadata: Check the Required check box if this is a required variable during the provisioning. All the variables by default are marked as Required, which means you must enter the value for this variable at the time of provisioning. If the parameter is not marked as Required and if you do not pass any value to the parameter, it substitutes an empty string at run time. A lack of a variable can lead to command failure, which may not be syntactically correct. If you want to make an entire command optional based on a variable not marked as Required, use the if-else block in the template. Choose the variable and check the Not a Variable check box if you don't want the string to be considered as a variable. Enter the field name in the Field Name text box. This is the label that is used for the UI widget of each variable during provisioning. Enter the tooltip text that is displayed for each variable in the Tooltip text box. Enter the default value in the Default Value text box. This value appears during provisioning as the default value. Enter any instructional text in the Instructional Text text box. Instructional text appears within the UI widget (for example, Enter the hostname here). The text within the widget is cleared when you click the widget to enter any text. Choose the data type from the Data Type drop-down list: String, Integer, IP Address, or Mac Address. Choose the type of UI widget you want to create at the time of provisioning from the Display Type drop-down list: Text Field, Single Select, or Multi Select. Enter the number of characters that are allowed in the Maximum Characters text box. This is applicable only for the string data type.
Step 3	After configuring metadata information, from the Actions drop-down list, choose Save.
Step 4	After saving the template, you must version it. You must version the template every time you make changes to it. From the Actions drop-down list, choose Commit. The Commit window appears. You can enter a commit note in the Commit Note text box. The version numbers are automatically generated by the system.
Step 5	To view the history, from the Actions drop-down list, select Show History to view previously created and versioned templates. A pop-up window appears. Click View in the pop-up window to see the content of the old version. Click Edit in the pop-up window to edit the template.

Variable Binding

While creating a template, you can specify variables that are contextually substituted. Many of these variables are available in the Template Editor drop-down list. In Cisco DNA Center Release 1.1, you had to manually enter values for every variable defined in the template.

In Release 1.2 and later, Template Editor provides an option to bind or use variables in the template with the source object values while editing or through the input form enhancements; for example, DHCP server, DNS server, and Syslog server.

The predefined object values can be one of the following:

Inventory
- Device object
- Interface object
Common Settings—Settings available under Design > Network Settings > Network. The common settings variable binding resolves values that are based on the site to which the device belongs.

Procedure

Step 1	From the Cisco DNA Center home page, choose Tools > Template Editor.
Step 2	Choose the template and click the Input Form icon to bind variables in the template to network settings.
Step 3	Select the variables in the Input Form pane and check the Required check box to bind variables to the network settings.
Step 4	From the Display drop-down list, choose the type of UI widget to create at the time of provisioning: Text Field, Single Select, or Multi Select.
Step 5	To bind variables to network settings, select each variable in Input Form, and check the Bind to Source check box under Content. Choose the Source, Entity, and Attributes from the respective drop-down lists. For the source type CommonSettings, choose one of these entities: dhcp.server, syslog.server, snmp.trap.receiver, ntp.server, timezone.site, device.banner, dns.server, netflow.collector. For the source type NetworkProfile, choose SSID as the entity type. The SSID entity that is populated is defined under Design > Network Profile. The binding generates a user-friendly SSID name, which is a combination of SSID name, site, and SSID category. From the Attributes drop-down list, choose wlanid. This attribute is used during the advanced CLI configurations at the time of template provisioning. For the source type Inventory, choose one of these entities: Device, Interface, AP Group, Flex Group, Wlan, Policy Profile, Flex Profile. For the entity type Device and Interface, the Attribute drop-down list shows the device or interface attributes. The variable resolves to the AP Group and Flex Group name that is configured on the device to which the template is applied. After binding variables to a common setting, when you assign templates to a wireless profile and provision the template, the network settings that you defined under Network Settings > Network appear in the drop-down list. You must define these attributes under Network Settings > Network at the time of designing your network.

Special Keywords

All commands executed through templates are always in the config t mode. Therefore, you do not have to specify the enable or config t commands explicitly in the template.

Enable Mode Commands

Specify the #MODE_ENABLE command if you want to execute any commands outside of the config t command.

Use this syntax to add enable mode commands to your CLI templates:

#MODE_ENABLE
<<commands>>
#MODE_END_ENABLE

Interactive Commands

Specify #INTERACTIVE if you want to execute a command where user input is required.

An interactive command contains the input that must be entered following the execution of a command. To enter an interactive command in the CLI Content area, use the following syntax:

CLI Command<IQ>interactive question 1 <R> command response 1 <IQ>interactive question 2<R>command response 2

Where <IQ> and <R> tags are case-sensitive and must be entered in uppercase.

#INTERACTIVE
crypto key generate rsa general-keys <IQ>yes/no<R> no
#ENDS_INTERACTIVE

Note

In response to the interactive command question after providing a response, if the newline character is not required, you must enter the <SF> tag. Include one space before the <SF> tag. When you enter the <SF> tag, the </SF> tag pops up automatically. You can delete the </SF> tag because it is not needed.

For example:

#INTERACTIVE
config advanced timers ap-fast-heartbeat local enable 20 <SF><IQ>Apply(y/n)?<R>y
#ENDS_INTERACTIVE

Combining Interactive Enable Mode Commands

Use this syntax to combine interactive Enable Mode commands:

#MODE_ENABLE
#INTERACTIVE
commands<IQ>interactive question<R> response
#ENDS_INTERACTIVE
#ENDS_END_ENABLE

#MODE_ENABLE
#INTERACTIVE
mkdir <IQ>Create directory<R>xyz
#ENDS_INTERACTIVE
#MODE_END_ENABLE

Multiline Commands

If you want multiple lines in the CLI template to wrap, use the MLTCMD tags. Otherwise, the command is sent line by line to the device. To enter multiline commands in the CLI Content area, use the following syntax:

<MLTCMD>first line of multiline command
second line of multiline command
...
...
last line of multiline command</MLTCMD>

Where <MLTCMD> and </MLTCMD> are case-sensitive and must be in uppercase.
The multiline commands must be inserted between the <MLTCMD> and </MLTCMD> tags.
The tags cannot start with a space.
The <MLTCMD> and </MLTCMD> tags cannot be used in a single line.

Associate Templates to Network Profiles

Before you begin

Before provisioning the template, ensure that the templates are associated with a network profile and the profile is assigned to a site.

During provisioning, when the devices are assigned to the specific sites, the templates associated with the site through the network profile appear in the advanced configuration.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Design > Network Profiles, and click Add Profile.

There are three types of profiles available:

Routing & NFV—Select this to create a routing and NFV profile. See Routing &NFC for more information.

Switching—Select this to create a switching profile.

Click the Onboarding Templates or Day-N Templates as required.
Enter the Profile Name.

Click +Add and select the device type, tag, and template from the Device Type, Tag Name and Template drop-down lists.

Note

If you do not see the template that you need, create a new template in Template Editor as described in Create a Regular Template.

Click Save.

Wireless—Select this to create a wireless profile. Before assigning wireless network profile to a template, ensure that you have created wireless SSIDs.
- Enter the Profile Name.
- Click + Add SSID. Those SSIDs that were created under Network Settings > Wireless gets populated.
- Under Attach Template(s) area, select the template you want to provision from the Template drop-down list.
- Click Save to save the profile.

Step 2

The Network Profiles page lists the following:

Profile Name
Type
Version
Created By
Sites—Click Assign Site to add sites to the selected profile.

Step 3

For Day-N provisioning, choose Provision > Devices. The Device Inventory window appears.

Check one or more check boxes next to the device name that you want to provision.
From the Action drop-down list, choose Provision.
In the Assign Site window, assign a site to which the profiles are attached. In the Choose a Site field, enter the name of the site to which you want to associate the controller or select from the Choose a Site drop-down list.
Click Next.
The Configuration window appears. In the Managed AP Locations field, enter the AP locations managed by controller. Here you can change, remove, or reassign the site. This is applicable only for wireless profiles.
Click Next.
The Advanced Configuration window appears. The templates associated with the site through the network profile appears in the advanced configuration.
- Use the Find feature to quickly search for the device by entering the device name or expand the templates folder and select the template in the left pane. In the right pane, select values for those attributes which are bound to source from the drop-down lists.
- To export the template variables into a CSV file while deploying the template, click Export in the right pane. You can use the CSV file to make necessary changes in the variable configuration and import it into Cisco DNA Center at a later time by clicking Import in the right pane.
Click Next to deploy the template. You are prompted to deploy the template now or to schedule it to a later time.
To deploy the template now, click the Now radio button and click Apply. To schedule the template deployment for a later date and time, click the Later radio button and define the date and time of the deployment.
The Status column in the Device Inventory window shows SUCCESS after a successful deployment

Step 4

For Day-0 provisioning, choose Provision > Devices > Plug and Play. The Plug and Play window appears.

Choose a device and click Claim from the Actions drop-down list.
Click Next, and in the Site Assignment window, choose a site from the Site drop-down list.
Click Next, and in the Configuration window, choose the image and the Day-0 template
Click Next, and in the Advanced Configuration window, enter the location.
Click Next to view the Device Details, Image Details, Day-0 Configuration Preview, and Template CLI Preview.

Cisco DNA Center User Guide, Release 1.3.1.0

Bias-Free Language

Book Title

Cisco DNA Center User Guide, Release 1.3.1.0

Chapter Title

Create Templates to Automate Device Configuration Changes

Results

Chapter: Create Templates to Automate Device Configuration Changes

Create Templates to Automate Device Configuration Changes

About Template Editor

Create Projects

Procedure

Create Templates

Create a Regular Template

Procedure

What to do next

Blocked List Commands

Sample Templates

Configure Hostname

Configure Interface

Configure NTP on Cisco Wireless Controllers

Create a Composite Template

Procedure

Edit Templates

Procedure

What to do next

Template Simulation

Procedure

Template Form Editor

Procedure

Variable Binding

Procedure

Special Keywords

Enable Mode Commands

Interactive Commands

Combining Interactive Enable Mode Commands

Multiline Commands

Associate Templates to Network Profiles

Before you begin

Procedure

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