Using the Change Control Module

The Change Control module selects and executes a group of tasks that you want to process simultaneously. Selecting tasks and creating Change Controls function similarly in Change Control and Task Management modules.

Change Controls provides the following benefits:

Sequencing tasks
Adding unlimited snapshots to every device impacted by the Change Control execution
Adding custom actions
Pushing images via Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation (MLAG) In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) or Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) maintenance mode
Reviewing the entire set of changes to approve Change Controls

Note: Snapshots display the state of impacted devices before and after the execution.

For more information about Change Controls, see:

Accessing the Change Control Summary Screen

The Change Control summary screen is used to manage Change Controls.

To access the Change Control screen, go to the Provisioning screen, and click Change Control in the left menu.

The Change Control screen consists of the following entities:

Open Change Controls and Executed Change Controls tables - Lists corresponding Change Controls with the following information:
- Name - Displays the Change Control name
  Click the Change Control name to go to the appropriate Change Control details screen.
- Devices - Displays devices used in the Change Control
  Click the device name to go to the appropriate Device Overview screen.
- Action - Displays types of actions to be executed by the Change Control
- Last Updated - Displays when the Change Control was last updated
- Status - Displays the Change Control status
  Note:
  - Under the Status column of the Open Change Controls table, a pending Change Controls is represented with a doc-edit icon and an approved Change Controls is represented with a user-check icon.
  - Under the Status column of the Open Change Controls table, a failed Change Control is represented with a cross mark and a completed Change Control is represented with a tick mark.
  - Hover the cursor on the status icon in Open Change Controls table to view how long ago the current approval status was updated. When you hover the cursor on the status icon in Executed Change Controls table, it also displays the approver's name.
In the Open Change Controls table, click Delete to delete the appropriate Change Control.
Note: After you delete an open Change Control, the system returns any tasks used by the deleted Change Control to the assignable tasks pool for reallocation.
Recent Activity pane - Lists most recent activities like updated, executed, and deleted Change Controls.
Note: Click on the Change Control name to go to the appropriate Change Control details screen.
+ Create Change Control - Click this button to create a Change Control
Export to CSV - Exports the summary data to a CSV file.

Accessing the Open Change Control Details Screen

The open Change Control details screen performs the following functions:

Displays Change Control information
Adds actions to Change Control
Adds, edits, and deletes child stages
Reviews and approves Change Control

Perform the following steps to access the Change Control details screen:

On the CloudVision Portal, click Provisioning > Change Control.
The system displays the Change Control summary screen.
Under the Open Change Controls table, click one of the listed Change Controls.
The system displays the Change Control details screen.
Figure 2. Change Control Details Screen

The Change Control details screen consists of the following panels:

Header Panel

This primary panel provides the following basic information on the Change Control:

Edit icon to update the Change Control name
Change Control information -
- The open Change Control details screen displays the status, scheduled date, last editor, count of affected devices, and Universally Unique Identifier (UUID).
  Note:
  - Click the Scheduled for field and select the date to run the Change Control.
  - Hover the mouse cursor over the clock icon to view the last time of action.
  - Hover the cursor on the count of affected devices to view their list. Clicking on an affected device opens the corresponding Device Overview screen.
  - Clicking the copy icon next to the UUID copies the UUID to the clipboard.
- The executed Change Control details screen displays the status, approver, time of start, last editor, and count of affected devices.
  Note:
  - Click Review next to the status for details on review and approve process.
Review and Approve - Click Review and Approve in open Change Controls for assessing Change Control updates. These updates include configuration differences, and image bundle changes when appropriate.
Figure 3. Review and Approve Pop-Up Window

Click Approve to accept Change Control updates.
Note: (Optional) Approver can leave comments in the Notes: field.
On the approved Change Control details screen, click Unapprove to revert the approval status and Execute Change Control to run approved Change Controls.
Figure 4. Approved Change Control
Note: CVP executes Change Controls in the following ways:
- Runs approved Change Controls immediately if sufficient privileges are set for the Change Control Management permission.
- Stops the change automatically if an action fails.
- Runs actions in progress until complete.
On the failed Change Control details screen, click Rerun to repeat the execution of a completed but failed Change Control. This creates a new Change Control that must be approved again.
Figure 5. Rerun Change Control

Note: Click Remove when CVP prompts you with Remove all actions for devices that have no failures? for skipping the rerun of completed actions.
Click Rollback in executed Change Controls to open the Rollback Change Control pop-up window. To create a rollback after evaluating the executed Change Control, select tasks to rollback from the table and click Create Rollback Change Control.
Figure 6. Rollback Pop-Up Window

Note: CVP rolls back only completed configuration updates and image upgrade tasks.

Main Panel

This main panel consists of the following entities:

Search bar - Enter a string to perform a search in the Change Control tree.
Expand icon - Click to expand all stages.
Collapse icon - Click to collapse all stages.
Information icon - Click to get help on Change Control.
Change Control tree - Change Controls are composed of actions and stages. Action types include tasks, CLI snapshots, health checks, custom scripts, enter BGP maintenance mode, and exit BGP maintenance mode, and other custom actions.
Note: Different icons represent various task types like adding a new device, updating configuration on a device, and updating software image bundle on a device. Actions are represented with a bolt symbol.
Actions are grouped and nested within stages via drag and drop.
Note:
- Tasks being executed in parallel do not block subsequent actions in that branch.
- In a series execution, the Change Control execution starts from the first item and works its way from top to bottom. The next action starts only when the previous action completed successfully.
- You can toggle the option by clicking the stage type dropdown menu in the edit panel.

Edit Panel

This panel edits stages and actions.

Edit a stage - Click the required stage in the main panel. The edit panel provides the following options:
- Show details icon - Click to view associated configuration differences, image bundle changes, and action details.
- Remove icon - Click to delete the stage.
  Note: Select multiple tasks to view details and delete multiple tasks simultaneously. Use command-click or Ctrl-click to select multiple items. To select a range of items, click the first item and then Shift-click the last item.
- Group icon - Select multiple tasks to group them into sub-stages.
- Edit icon - Click to edit the stage name.
- Change Control stage type dropdown menu - Click to select the Change Control stage type.
  Note: By default, all tasks and actions execute in series.
- Plus icon - Click to add a child stage.
- Status - Displays telemetry of each device in the stage.
  Note:
  - Hover the cursor on n metric group to view selected devices.
    Note: n represents the count of selected metric groups.
  - Hover the cursor on n device(s) to view selected metric groups.
    Note: n represents the count of selected devices.
- Add actions - Adds actions to open Change Control. Select the required action and placement from corresponding dropdown menus; and click Add to change control to update selected changes.
  Figure 7. Add Actions to Change Control
- Logs - Displays logs of each update in the executed Change Control process.
  Figure 8. Change Control Logs
  Note:
  - Use the search logs bar for filtering logs based on a string.
  - Click the download icon to download logs to your local drive.

Creating Change Controls from the Change Controls Summary Screen

The first step involved in using the Change Control module to manage tasks is to create a Change Control. While creating a Change Control, you add tasks with pending or failed status to the Change Control. By default, all tasks in the same Change Control are added in parallel. If you want to change the execution order, you can drag and drop the action cards on the Change Control Details screen. You can execute grouped tasks after a Change Control is created, reviewed, and approved.

Note: If you do not add any tasks, the system creates a Change Control without tasks.

Complete the following steps to create a Change Control from the Change Control Summary screen:

On the CloudVision Portal, click Provisioning > Change Control.

The system displays the Change Control Summary screen.

Figure 9. Change Control Summary Screen
Click + Create Change Control button at the upper right corner.

The system displays the Assignable Tasks dialog box.

Figure 10. Assignable Tasks Dialog Box with No Tasks Selected
Select tasks you want to include in the Change Control by selecting appropriate checkboxes.

Note: If you do not select any tasks, the system creates a Change Control without tasks.
Click + Create Change Control with n tasks where n is the count of selected tasks.

Figure 11. Assignable Tasks Dialog Box with Tasks Selected

The system displays the appropriate Change Control Details screen.