Skip to content

Import/Exportđź”—

The Import/Export feature allows the user to import or restore all provisioning back to the system. The user can also export or save all provisioning of the system to a text file. Users can compare provisioning or view the differences between current provisioning and a text file to import.

To access the Import/Export feature go to Operations and select the tab titled Import/Export.

CSV Import Export Overview

The Verity system supports many ways of editing data objects. Examples include editing on the map of the network as well as editing in the provisioning object blocks. Verity also supports bulk edit modes both on the map with controls within each switch as well as changing provisioning from within the reports. However sometimes in the creation of new networks or in massive changes required to an existing infrastructure it is easier to use CSV import export functions to achieve a very efficient bulk editing activity. CSV files can be used to create new systems from scratch as well as handling updates by exporting files, editing offline, and re-importing.

Verity models provisioning with a collection of managed objects. This collection of managed objects is used by the system, along with live network topology discovery, to create the provisioning for the managed physical devices.

Files for the managed objects include:

  1. Tenants
  2. Services
  3. Ethernet Port Profiles
  4. Ethernet Port Settings
  5. Endpoint Bundles
  6. Switchpoints (Endpoints)
  7. Device Controllers
  8. Gateways
  9. Gateway Profiles
  10. LAGs
  11. Route Maps
  12. IP Prefix Lists
  13. Route Map Clauses

The files are database and system independent so they can be shared easily between systems. Additionally, the import processing is designed to allow for any order import and creates temporary references until the related managed objects are imported from the appropriate file. Each row of the file represents an instance of the object, and the columns represent the different parameters associated with the object as shown below.

Complete vs. Incremental

Types of CSV Imports are “Incremental” or “Complete”. “Incremental” allows the user to simply import only new items to be added to the system, while “Complete” assumes that the list being imported is the complete list and deletes and objects of that type if they are not included in the file. Incremental updates may include existing objects, and if the object and all its parameters match, the entry is ignored.

It is more common and safer in most cases, to use “Incremental” as it does not delete any objects from the system.

During the import process, the system performs basic validation of the content and then presents the user with the expected updates caused by the import. The changes can be reviewed in detail before committing to the changes.

As it is generally good practice to save your current state before starting any bulk updates, it is recommended that you use the system Time Traveler function to create a complete provisioning snapshot prior to starting.

Parameter Names and Field Valuesđź”—

In some cases, the parameters and the values used in the Verity UI do not match the CSV file column headers or values in the entries respectively. Because of this, it is best practice to create one or two objects of the types you are planning to import and export the CSV files for those objects to get a starting example to update. The files can be renamed to any name as long as they maintain the CSV extension. Also, the CSV file formats are Verity Software release specific and should not be used directly between releases without analyzing the formats for the various releases.

Optimal Use Cases and Practicesđź”—

CSV file imports can be used to create new systems from scratch. In most cases, however, it is easier to use the UI to create any objects where instances are approximately 10 or less. The typical case where the CSV import can help efficiently is for creating/modifying the switch port provisioning or the switch port labeling, where ports per switch can be more than 64. In the case of switch provisioning, it is helpful to create examples of single port and LAG provisioning in the UI before exporting the files to update.

Switch provisioning can be found in “Endpoint Bundles” CSV file and switch labels/port enable is in the “Switchpoint” CSV file.

Example CSV files can be provided by BE Networks upon request, or you can create your own by exporting.