Hello cloudlogics,
Before you know how to enable the Draft Mode, it's important to understand the problem that is being solved with this feature.
Please remember that you have CLI templates (containing the full operational device configuration) and Device Templates (which are a collection/aggregation of several Feature Templates, and can be attached to multiple devices).
The Draft Mode feature applies to Device Templates.
Prior to enabling this feature (Draft Mode disabled):
- Each time you edit/change a feature template associated with a device template that was having devices attached to it, the operation will result in a push of the config-diff to the devices. If you are changing multiple feature templates, then you'll end up having multiple config-diff push operations (one for each change, and one at a time, not simultaneously) to the devices.
- When you attach or edit a Device template that is having devices attached already, vManage will convert the intent of what you have defined in the templates into the actual device(s) configuration (this takes some time) and then it will need to push (or notify the devices to pull) the configuration to all the devices (taking again a certain amount of time).
With Draft Mode enabled:
- You can change multiple templates without the config-diff being pushed to the devices. The corresponding configuration will be generated and all the changes will be aggregated in a single config-diff (instead of a config-diff for each change). The push will only happen when you disable the draft mode.
- Since the previous step already generates the required configuration, you will be saving time once you decide to implement the changes by disabling Draft Mode on the Device Template. This will normally happen during a scheduled maintenance window in which the operation time will only be related to the task of pushing the configuration to the devices.
So, to enable Draft Mode:
- Go to Menu > Configuration > Templates > Device Tab (for Device Templates)
- Choose the Device Template of interest and click on the More icon (...) and select Enable Draft Mode
- A new window opens showing some information regarding the feature. Click on Enable
- Check the Draft Mode column. It should show as Enabled for the selected device template.
- Now, you can click on the More Icon (...) again and select Edit to edit the device template by changing the feature templates as required. The workflow will remain the same, you will be able to preview the configuration changes. The only difference is that when you click on Configure Devices, vManage will be only generating the config and not pushing the same to the devices. The details of the task will show you that.
- You can repeat the previous step to perform all the required changes. You can go to Menu > Configuration > Devices > WAN Edge List Tab, then click on More Actions (...) for the desired device, and click on Local Configuration. Then, a new window will open, and there will be a Draft Config option (or tab) at the top that will show you the configuration that vManage has saved for this device to be pushed later.
- Once you are ready to finally implement all the changes (during a scheduled MW, following best practices), then you can go to the Device Template, click on More Actions (...), and select Disable Draft Mode to start the workflow that will actually implement the changes.
Note: you can always cancel the implementation of the changes by the end of the workflow in case you need to add another change or if you decide to not implement the changes for some reason.
If you wanna try this feature, please consider doing so during a MW. You could generate a copy of your original template (prior to enabling draft mode) to easily roll back if required. If you are having a non-critical site or a testing site, then that would be the ideal one to choose while you become familiar with the feature.
I hope this helps. Please let me know.
Regards,
