To distribute multiple policies

Purpose

Use this procedure to distribute a group of policies in one action. When you distribute a group of global policies:

  • The policies must all be of the same type.

  • The same conditions and restrictions that apply to the distribution of a single policy exist. See To release and distribute a policy for more information.

  • You can set a limit to the maximum number of tasks involved in the bulk policy distribution. Perform To configure the maximum number of tasks for distribution to set this limit.

  • The default behavior when you release a policy for distribution is the Distribute window opens, and you select the NEs required for distribution. Alternatively, you can enable the Auto Distribute Global Policy when Released parameter in the System Preferences to automatically distribute the Global policy to NEs that already have a local version of the policy. See the NSP System Administrator Guide for more information.

  • Local NE versions of policies that use the Sync With Global distribution mode will allow the NE to receive the distribution of a global policy. However, local NE versions of policies that use the Local Edit Only distribution mode will not allow the NE to receive the global policy. You must ensure that the policy distribution mode for the local policy is set to Sync With Global if you want the NE to receive the global policy distribution.

  • Multiple distribution is currently not supported for routing or firewall policies.

Steps
 
1 

Choose Policies→Policy Type from the NFM-P main menu, where Policy Type is the type of policy that you want to distribute. The appropriate policies manager form opens.

2 

Choose Global from the Policy scope drop-down menu.

3 

Click Search and select the policies that you want to release or distribute.

Note: If you select a combination of policies that are in Draft and Release mode, the Release and Distribute button will be disabled. The policies you select must be in one mode or the other.

4 

Perform one of the following:

  1. If the selected policies are in the Draft Configuration Mode, go to Step 5.

  2. If the selected policies are in the Released Configuration Mode, go to Step 6.

5 

When the selected policies are in the Draft Configuration Mode, the policies cannot be distributed to the NEs. You must first release the policies for distribution. Click Release. The Release form opens. Go to Step 9.

6 

When the selected policies have previously been released (they are in the Released Configuration Mode) and you want to redistribute them, click Distribute. The Distribute form opens. The Network Elements (Network) option from the drop-down menu is displayed by default.

7 

Perform one of the following:

  1. If you want to select individual NEs for the distribution, go to Step 9.

  2. If you want to use a policy distribution group for the distribution, go to Step 10 .

8 

Click Distribute. The policy is distributed to the NEs.

A progress bar at the lower right of the GUI displays the overall distribution progress. Distribution states for individual NEs are shown in the Status column of the Selected Objects panel.

Note: Depending on the size of the policy, the number of NEs the policy is being distributed to, and the number of deployers used to distribute the policy, the progress bar status may not be noticeable and the policy may take considerable time to distribute. The progress bar reflects more than just the policy deployment; it also tracks the progression of the following events:

  • polls the initial state of the NE to determine a baseline which is used to track the overall progression of the policy deployment on the NE

  • the deployment of the policy to the NEs

  • the resynchronization of the MIB tables that were changed on the NE

Note: If you are using a Policy Distribution Group for the distribution after you click the Distribute button, the NEs in the group are listed in the Available Objects panel. This allows you to monitor the distribution progress for specific NEs.

Note: Distribution failures are reported in a pop-up message. Distribution failures are also reported using JMS.

9 

Select the NEs to release/distribute the policies to and click on the right-arrow. This moves the required row entries between the Available Objects and Selected Objects panels.

Observe the following behavior:

  • The Available Objects panel is populated with a list of compatible NEs to which all the selected policies can be released/distributed.

  • When local definitions exist, the list of NEs to which the policies have already been released and that have their Distribution Mode set to Sync with Global will appear in the Selected Objects panel. These are ready for distribution. Go to Step 11.

10 

Select the Policy Distribute Group option from the drop-down menu and click Search. The available Policy Distribute Groups are displayed in the list.

Note: You cannot use a Policy Distribute Group and then add further individual NEs. See To create a policy distribution group for more information on Policy Distribute Groups.

11 

Click Distribute to distribute the global policies to the selected devices.

If you are using a Policy Distribute Group for the distribution, once you click Distribute, the NEs contained in the group are listed in the Available Objects panel. This allows you to monitor the distribution progress for any specific NE.

A progress bar displays the overall percentage of distribution progress completion to the selected sites. Distribution states (In Progress, Succeeded, or Failed) for individual sites are shown in the Status column for the Selected Objects.

Note: Distribution failures are reported in a pop-up message. You can view the error message to determine the cause of the failure and which NE or NEs were affected. Distribution failures are also reported using JMS.

12 

To stop the distribution of the policies, perform To stop a policy distribution currently in progress.

13 

Close the policy manager form.

End of steps