Add a Device Group

• To add a device group:

1. Choose Associations > Device Groups. The Device Groups Manager window opens. Existing device groups appear in the left panel.
2. Click the New Group icon in the toolbar. The Device Group: New panel appears.
3. In the Group Name field, type a name for a device group you want to create. See Naming Conventions for details on CC-SG's rules for name lengths.
4. There are two ways to add devices to a group, Select Devices and Describe Devices. The Select Devices tab allows you to choose which devices you want to assign to the group by selecting them from the list of available devices. The Describe Devices tab allows you to specify rules that describe devices, and the devices whose parameters follow those rules will be added to the group.

• To add a device group with the Select Devices option:

1. Click the Select Devices tab in the Device Group: New panel.
2. In the Available list, select the device you want to add to the group, then click Add to move the device into the Selected list. Devices in the Selected list will be added to the group.
   • To remove a device from the group, select the device name in the Selected list and click Remove.
   • You can search for a device in either the Available or Selected list. Type the search terms in the field below the list, and then click Go.
3. Select the Create Full Access Policy for Group checkbox to create a policy for this device group that allows access to all devices in the group at all times with control permission.
4. To add another device group, click Apply to save this group, then repeat these steps. Optional.
5. If you have finished adding device groups, click OK to save your changes.

• To add a device group with the Describe Devices option:

1. Click the Describe Devices tab in the Device Group: New panel. In the Describe Devices tab, you can create a table of rules that describe the devices you want to assign to the group.
2. Click the Add New Row icon to add a row to the table.
3. Double-click the cell created for each column to activate a drop-down menu. Select the rule components you want to use from each list.
   • Prefix - Leave this blank or select NOT. If NOT is selected, this rule will filter for values opposite of the rest of the expression.
   • Category - Select an attribute that will be evaluated in the rule. All categories you created in the Association Manager are available here. If any blade chassis has been configured in the system, a Blade Chassis category is available by default.
   • Operator - Select a comparison operation to be performed between the Category and Element items. Three operators are available: = (is equal to), LIKE (used for find the Element in a name) and <> (is not equal to).
   • Element - Select a value for the Category attribute to be compared against. Only elements associated with the selected category will appear here (for example: if evaluating a “Department” category, “Location” elements will not appear here).
   • Rule Name - This is a name assigned to the rule in this row. It is not editable; it is used for writing descriptions in the Short Expression field.
4. To add another rule, click the Add New Row icon , and then make the necessary configurations. Configuring multiple rules will allow more precise descriptions by providing multiple criteria for evaluating devices.
5. The table of rules only makes available criteria for evaluating nodes. To write a description for the device group, add the rules by Rule Name to the Short Expression field. If the description requires only a single rule, type that rule's name in the field. If multiple rules are being evaluated, type the rules into the field using a set of logical operators to describe the rules in relation to each other:
   • & - the AND operator. A node must satisfy rules on both sides of this operator for the description (or that section of a description) to be evaluated as true.
   • | - the OR operator. A device needs to satisfy only one rule on either side of this operator for the description (or that section of a description) to be evaluated as true.
   • ( and ) - grouping operators. This breaks the description into a subsection contained within the parentheses. The section within the parentheses is evaluated before the rest of the description is compared to the node. Parenthetical groups can be nested inside other parenthetical groups.

     Example1: If you want to describe devices that belong to the engineering department, create a rule that says Department = Engineering. This will become Rule0. Type Rule0 in the Short Expression field.

     Example 2: If you want to describe a group of devices that belong to the engineering department or are located in Philadelphia, and specify that all of the machines must have 1 GB of memory, you must create three rules. Department = Engineering (Rule0) Location = Philadelphia (Rule1) Memory = 1GB (Rule2).These rules must be arranged in relation to each other. Since the device can either belong to the engineering department or be located in Philadelphia, use the OR operator, |, to join the two: Rule0 | Rule1. Make this comparison first by enclosing it parentheses: (Rule0 | Rule1). Since the devices must both satisfy this comparison AND contain 1GB of memory, use the AND connector, &, to join this section with Rule2: (Rule0 | Rule1) & Rule2. Type this final expression in the Short Expression field.

     Note: You should have a space before and after operators & and |. Otherwise, the Short Expression field may return to the default expression, that is, Rule0 & Rule1 & Rule2 and so on, when you delete any rule from the table.

   • To remove a row from the table, select the row, and then click the Remove Row icon .
   • To see the list of devices whose parameters follow the rules you have defined, click View Devices.
6. Click Validate when a description has been written in the Short Expression field. If the description is formed incorrectly, you will receive a warning. If the description is formed correctly, a normalized form of the expression appears in the Normalized Expression field.
7. Click View Devices to see what nodes satisfy this expression. A Devices in Device Group Results window opens, displaying the devices that will be grouped by the current expression. This can be used to check if the description was correctly written. If not, you can return to the rules table or the Short Expression field to make adjustments.
8. Select the Create Full Access Policy for Group checkbox to create a policy for this device group that allows access to all devices in the group at all times with control permission.
9. To add another device group, click Apply to save this group, then repeat these steps. Optional.
10. If you have finished adding device groups, click OK to save your changes.