Manage Groups

Manage Groups

Glossary		Print Page		Document Feedback		Support & Services		Pluribus Networks		Pluribus Blog		LinkedIn		Facebook		Twitter

Manage Groups

There are features and functions used in UNUM Manager and UNUM Analytics that are common throughout the user interface (UI). Please refer to the Common Functions section for more information on the use of these functions and features.

The Manage Groups feature, a management simplification tool, assists users in adding multiple Fabrics and Switches to a group or series of groups. The user then performs configurations on these groups instead of the individual Fabrics or switches.

Manage Groups Overview

Fabric Resource Group (FRG)

User Group (UG)

•Administer groups of resources such as ports, switches, and fabrics as one logical entity.

– Example One - Create a VLAN across all switches in the FRG with a single operation.

– Example Two - Create odd and even switch groups for software upgrades.

•An FRG can exist across fabrics or within one fabric.

•FRGs are created and can be managed by the Super Admin.

•FRGs can be owned and managed by a User Group.

•Once created, an FRG will appear in drop-down menus during normal fabric operations.

•Manage access to UNUM dashboards and menus.

•Contains users, admins, and assigned privileges.

– Admin (UG) – can conduct fabric operations on the UG assigned resources.

– User (UG) – can conduct read-only operations on the UG assigned resources.

•A UG user/admin can only belong to one UG.

•A UG can be associated with one or more Fabric Resource Groups.

•A UG admin does not have access to Fabric level operations (upgrades) or settings and cannot create sub-UG/FRG.

Example - User Groups and Resource Groups

Example - Resource Groups - Automate Repetitive Configurations

Example - Resource Groups - automate Repetitive Configurations

Manage Groups Terminology and Nomenclature

User	A role with limited read-only capabilities in UNUM.
Admin	Administrator role.
Super Admin	Administrator with full UNUM management authority, can create FRG & UG, add or remove users and assign privileges.
Super User	User read-only role with full UNUM access.
User Group (UG) Admin	Administrator with access to UNUM dashboards and menus as defined by the assigned UG privileges.
User Group (UG) User	User with read-only access to UNUM dashboards and menus as defined by the assigned UG privileges.

Fabric Virtualization - Virtual Networks (vNETs) and vNET User Groups

Refer to the Understanding Virtual Networks (vNETS) section for more information about Fabric Virtualization.

vNET User Groups are a special case and the following conditions apply.

vNET User Groups

•A User Group (UG) is auto-generated when a vNET is created from UNUM and is auto-deleted when the vNET is deleted.

•A Fabric Resource Group (FRG) with defined resources is also created and linked to the vNET UG.

•vNET UG permissions are defined at the time of vNET creation or subsequent modification.

– The vNET UG auto created FRG means ports and switches assigned as part of vNET UG creation.

– vNET UG privileges means access to specific menus and point features.

•Access to UNUM Manager (Point Features) functions only and no access to Fabric Health, Topology VirtualWire, or Packet Broker Dashboards.

•Can be further restricted from access to UNUM Manager (Point Features) functions.

Lab Admin / Packet Broker User Group - vNET User Groups

•Created by the Super Admin.

•Fabric Resource Groups (FRG) with defined resources is created and added to the UG by the Super Admin.

•UG permissions are defined at the time of UG creation or subsequent modification.

– UG FRG means Fabrics, ports and switches assigned as part of UG creation.

– UG privileges means access to specific menus and Dashboards (Virtual Wire/Packet Broker).

•Access to UNUM VirtualWire and Packet Broker Dashboards only.

Guidelines & Limitations

•User Group (UG) names are unique and cannot be used when creating different groups.

•Fabric Resource Groups (FRG) filter selections are unique. Repeating the same filter combination in the same filter is not allowed.

•Overlapping filters are not allowed.

Limitation Examples

Duplicate User Group

In this example, the Kingston-UG already exists. The admin attempted to create a second UG with the same name.

Resolution: Do not use the same User Group name to create a different UG.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Limitations - Duplicate User Group Example

Overlapping Fabric and Same Fabric/Switch Combination

In this example, the Fabric_Switch_FRG uses just the fabric name (fab) as the first filter. The admin attempted to create a second filter using a combination of the fabric name (UNUM_8Node_FoL3) and a switch aries-unum-spine1).

Resolution: Create the filter using only the fabric names, or, create the filter using both fabric names and switches.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Limitations - Fabric Fabric/Switch Example

Overlapping Switch Port Combination

In this example, the Fabric_Switch_Port_FRG uses the switch name (aqua-unum-leaf3) and a port (34) as the first filter. The admin attempted to create a second filter using only a switch (aries-unum-spine1) without assigning a port.

Resolution: Create the FRG with only switches, or create the FRG using switch and port for all entries.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Limitations - Switch Port / Switch Example

Manage and Create Groups

Selecting Menu Bar → → Manage Groups displays the Manage Groups dashboard. The Manage Group tab highlights.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Default Dashboard

Create Groups

To create a Fabric Resource Group, click Create Groups.

Enter the required details for the group including:

Name – Unique Name for the Fabric Resource Group.

Description – The description of the Fabric Resource Group.

Group Options – Select Fabric Resources, Privileges, or Owner.

Note: When Group Options left blank, Privileges, becomes the default value.

Create multiple User Groups and Fabric Resource Groups by entering a unique Name, Description, and the required Group Options.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Create Group - Group Options

Click the to enter and configure multiple group combinations.

Enter the required information:

Fabric – Assign a Fabric to the group.

Switch – Select a switch from the drop-down list.

Ports – Use the interactive port selector to select the specific ports to be managed by the group.

Owner - Provides a method to assign an owner to the Fabric Resource Group (FRG) when a previous User Group (UG) exists.

Click Apply to continue. The configuration menu includes the fabric name, switch name, and managed ports.

When selecting Owner, choose the desired owner from the drop-down list and click Apply.

In the following example, UNUM creates three groups, TechPubs_Group_1 with Privileges (note Group Options can be left blank and specific privileges to be assigned later), TechPubs_Group_2 with assigned Fabric Resources (UNUM_8Node_Fol3 as the fabric, and switch aqua-unum-leaf3) and TechPubs_Group_3 with a designated owner (Kingston_UG).

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Create Fabric Resource Group

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The dashboard updates with the new Groups, TechPubs_Group_1 with blank Privileges, TechPubs_Group_2 with assigned Fabric Resources, UNUM_8Node_Fol3 as the fabric, and switch aqua-unum-leaf3 and TechPubs_Group_3 appearing under the designated owner, Kingston_UG.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Dashboard

Edit Group

To edit a Group, click the cog icon icon and select Edit.

UNUM will assign the group, TechPubs_Group_1, privileges to access the VirtualWire and Packet Broker dashboards in the following example.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Edit Groups - Privileges

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

Edit Fabric Resource Group

To edit a Fabric Resource Group, click the cog icon icon and select Edit.

UNUM will reassign the group, TechPubs_Group_2, specific Fabric Resources, switch aqua-unum-leaf3 and ports 25, 53, 65, in the following example.

Click Apply to continue. The updated information appears in the configuration menu.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Edit Group Applied Update

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The dashboard updates with the new Fabric Resource Group contents.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Updated Dashboard - Fabric Resource Group

Delete Fabric Resource Group

To delete a Fabric Resource Group, click the cog icon icon and select Delete. Confirm the deletion clicking OK.

If you do not want to delete theFabric Resource Group, click Cancel.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Delete Group

Assign Users to A User Group

Assign Users to a User Group using Manage Users.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Assign User To Group - Unassigned to Group

In this example, use following steps to add the user, techpubs_user, to the TechPubs_User_Group.

To add the user, click the cog icon icon and select Edit.

Select the User Group. In this example, TechPubs_User_Group.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Assign User To Group

Enter the admin password.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Assign User To Group- Assign Group and Enter Password

Note: The Default Page and Default Fabric are not applicable to User Groups and remain grayed out.

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The Manage Users and Manage Groups dashboards update with the User and User Group information.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Assign User To Group- Updated Manage Users Dashboard

UNUM Settings Manage Groups Assign User To Group - Updated Manage Groups Dashboard

Delete A User Group

To delete a User Group, click the cog icon icon and select Delete. Confirm the deletion clicking OK.

If you do not want to delete the User Group, click Cancel.

Caution: Deleting a User Group disables user accounts associated to the Group. To activate the account you must assign it to another User Group.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Delete User Group

Deleting the User Group updates the Manage Groups dashboard.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Deleted User Group - Updated Dashboard

The Manage Users dashboard updates and shows the user account previously associated to the User Group as disabled.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Deleted User Group - Disabled User Account

Add a Resource Group to a User Group (UG)

Configuration Note: The following instructions assume no prior non-vNET User Groups or Fabric Resource Groups exist.

To create the User Group and the Fabric Resource Group, click Create Groups.

Enter the required details for the group including:

Name – Unique Name for the Fabric Resource Group.

Description – The description of the Fabric Resource Group.

Group Options – Select Fabric Resources, Privileges, or Owner.

Note: When Group Options left blank, Privileges, becomes the default value.

Enter the required information:

Fabric – Assign a Fabric to the group.

Switch – Select a switch from the drop-down list.

Ports – Use the interactive port selector to select the specific ports to be managed by the group.

Owner - Provides a method to assign an owner to the Fabric Resource Group (FRG) when a previous User Group (UG) exists.

Click Apply to continue. The configuration menu includes the fabric name, switch name, and managed ports.

When selecting Owner, choose the desired owner from the drop-down list and click Apply.

Click the icon and enter:

Menu – Page(s) assigned to the User Group. Leave blank to select all.

Module – Active when a specific Menu assigned to User Group, otherwise blank if Menu left blank.

Ports – Use the interactive port selector to select the specific ports to be managed by the group.

Create the User Group (UG)

In the following example, we first create Kansas Data Center User Group with Privileges to access all Manager dashboards.

Click Apply to continue. The updated information appears in the configuration menu.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Create User Group with Manager Privileges

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The dashboard displays the newly created Kansas_Data_Center_User_Group. Review in Group Details the new UG has access to the UNUM Manager dashboards.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Updated Manage Groups Dashboard - UG Details

Create the Fabric Resource Group

We then create Kansas Data Center Fabric Resource Group with Group Options Fabric Resource to access specific devices.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Create Fabric Resource Group with Specific Device Access

Click Apply to continue. The resources appear in the configuration pane.

Select Owner from Group Options and then choose the Owner from the drop-down list, in this case, Kansas_Data_Center_User_Group. Click Apply.

The configuration pane updates with the Owner.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Assign FRG to UG Owner

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The Kansas_Data_Center_FRG appears in the dashboard under the Kansas_Data_Center_User_Group name. Review in Group Details the new FRG has access to specific devices.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Updated Manage Groups Dashboard - FRG Details

Add Users to the User Group

Proceed to Manage Users to add users to the Kansas_DC_UG as needed using Local User Management.

Select Add User.

Enter the account details and select User Group - Kansas_Data_Center_User_Group.

UNUM Settings Manage Users - Create User Account for UG

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The Local User Management dashboard updates with the new user account.

UNUM Settings Manage Users - Create User Account for UG - Updated Dashboard

In the Manage Groups dashboard the newly created kansas_ug_admin user account in the Users column.

UNUM Settings Manage Groups - Updated Manage Groups Dashboard - User Group User Account

vNET User Groups

For more information refer to the Fabric Virtualization topic group and Manage vNET.

Create vNET

Please refer to the Understanding Virtual Networks (vNETS) section for more information about vNETs.

In the following example we create a VNET named Anchorage_Data_Center using the default seed switch with a fabric-scope and a private VLAN. Shared ports are assigned to the vNET.

vNET Example

Fabric Manager - Fabric Virtualization - Manage vNET - Create vNET - Example

Click Save to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The new entry displays in the dashboard.

Fabric Manager - Fabric Virtualization - Manage vNET - Create vNET - Example Dashboard

UNUM automatically creates an associated User Group (UG) and Fabric Resource Group (FRG) during the vNET creation process, subsequently viewed on the Manage Groups dashboard.

Fabric Manager - Fabric Virtualization - Manage vNET - Create vNET - Manage Groups Example Dashboard

The FRG also appears in the Topology Details dashboard, as shown in the example below. For more information on managing UGs and FRGs, please refer to the Manage Groups Overview section.

Note: When using a fabric-scope, the managed and shared ports configure on the default Seed Switch.

Fabric Manager - Fabric Virtualization - Manage vNET - Create vNET - Topology Details Example Dashboard

Use the icon to collapse the vNET User Group row.

Edit a vNET User Group

To edit a vNET User Group, click the cog icon icon and select Edit.

Manage Groups Dashboard - Edit vNET User Group

Enter the updated information as shown in the following example using the X to remove the menu / module item:

Manage Groups Dashboard - Edit vNET User Group - Remove Menu / Module Items

Click Submit to continue or Cancel to return to the previous screen without making any changes.

The dashboard updates with the new Group Details.

Manage Groups Dashboard - Edit vNET User Group - Updated Group Details

Menu / Module items are added using the same procedure. Use Edit, add the new Module item, click Apply and Submit.

Manage Groups Dashboard - Edit vNET User Group - Add Module Item

The dashboard updates with the new Group Details.

Manage Groups Dashboard - Edit vNET User Group - Module Item Added

Dashboard Access Example

When creating a UG (User Group) and assigning a user to that UG along with a Fabric Resource Group (FRG), only those assigned resources appear in the dashboard map after the user logs in.

This process is illustrated in the example screen below.

Using Manage Groups a UG named Kingston was created. An FRG was assigned to the Kingston UG having access to a fabric named "Fab" and switch named "leo-colo-42".

Manage Groups - UG and FRG - Dashboard Access Example

Using Manage Users a user named robert_kingston was created with admin-level privileges and assigned to the Kingston UG. Note the "Kingston" tag assigned to user robert_kingston.

Manage Users - Create User and Assign to User Group - Dashboard Access Example

Upon logging into UNUM, user "robert_kingston" is taken to the Packet Broker dashboard. They only have access to the VirtualWire and Packet Broker dashboards. Note in the Left-hand Navigation (LHN) pane, their access is limited to fabric "fab", switch "leo-colo-42", and associated resources assigned to the switch.

UNUM Login - User Group, Fabric Resource, Packet Broker - Dashboard Access Example