![\"Infoblox](\"https:\/\/live-infoblox-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/infoblox-job-wizard.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMy name is Lou, and I have the good fortune of running a product management team here at Infoblox.\u00a0 We focus on advancing network automation solutions and helping our customers achieve an ever increasing level of automated network control.\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned a lot from our customers, and I\u2019m proud that so many features we\u2019ve delivered have stemmed from customer needs and finding innovative ways to solve them.\u00a0 Before I describe an example, I want to take this opportunity to recruit more of your input.\u00a0 Please share your ideas, examples, and challenges on our community site.\u00a0 Infoblox is investing heavily in this strategic direction, and I need to make sure what we build will solve your problems.<\/p>\n
I can remember the specific customer who first requested this ability to use lists in change automation.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great example, and\u00a0I\u2019ll admit it has been very rewarding for me to go back to this and other customers to show their ideas come to fruition.\u00a0 The idea is how dynamic variable lists work and why. . .<\/p>\n
Imagine you need to roll out a configuration change to multiple routers.\u00a0 Now imagine those routers reside in different key sites, perhaps 5 primary locations.\u00a0 The change you need to make is the same, but some of the detailed attributes of that change, say perhaps the DHCP IP address, primary DNS server IP, or local logging server, vary depending on which site the router is located.\u00a0 How do you do this today?\u00a0 The answer varies from customer to customer, but what I hear most is either the use of a template engine tool or home grown scripts.\u00a0 In most cases the user selects the template or script to execute. \u00a0\u00a0As in the screenshot below, the user is then prompted to type in values to customize the change template or script for the individual router being changed:<\/p>\n
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The user must type in, or copy and paste from another source, the IP addresses, server names, or other required parameters, then push the change.\u00a0 Not a big deal.\u00a0 But wait, now we have to make the same change to the 2nd<\/sup>, 3rd<\/sup>, 4th<\/sup>, and 5th<\/sup>\u00a0sites in this case while making sure you get the list of routers for each site correct.\u00a0 In each case, the process starts again, with a new input form, and the user types or pastes new and different information for each.\u00a0 A bit tedious.\u00a0 Now imagine making this sort of change every week, or more frequently, or imagine having more sites.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the chance that just ONE time, the user makes a typo, or copy and pastes, but misses the last character?\u00a0 What can the implications be?\u00a0 Not good in many cases.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s not just tedious or inefficient, it\u2019s also dangerous!\u00a0 Any repetitive and manual task can be problematic. \u00a0Especially when your team is busy, stressed, and fighting fires.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s change the example.\u00a0 In this same scenario\u2026 shouldn\u2019t it be true that a good network data model that is up to date and correlated already knows the answers to the questions that template input form is asking?\u00a0 Why should you have to type in the answer?\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of ridiculous if you think of it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Using\u00a0dynamic list variables<\/strong>\u00a0in Infoblox network automation scripts and templates combined with our network data model allows you to configure change jobs to look up the answers themselves, rather than prompting the user for manually typed input<\/em>.\u00a0 As shown in this screenshot, the list looks like a spreadsheet (yes, you can import one).<\/p>\n In this example, the list is keyed off a site code which might be derived from a DNS name pattern, syslocation value, sysdecription value, IP scheme, or any other method you might apply.\u00a0 Then for each site, the key unique parameters are stored for ready lookup by the change job.\u00a0 You run a single job for all 5 sites.\u00a0 As the job is processed against each device, the system automatically looks up the correct value and applies it to complete the change.\u00a0 Simple.\u00a0 Fast.\u00a0 Fewer jobs.\u00a0 Fewer human touches.\u00a0 Authoritative data.\u00a0 More efficient.\u00a0 Safer.<\/p>\n I\u2019d also point out this dynamic variable lookup technique in our products is not limited to this embedded list example, change jobs can look up information directly in the Infoblox discovered data model, your own files, or even 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0party apps or DB\u2019s via API calls or SQL calls.<\/p>\n I hope this can help you, and I look forward to your ideas and feedback.\u00a0 You can find some examples on our community site.\u00a0 Please post and share any more you come up with!<\/p>\n Lou<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My name is Lou, and I have the good fortune of running a product management team here at Infoblox.\u00a0 We focus on advancing network automation solutions and helping our customers achieve an ever increasing level of automated network control.\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned a lot from our customers, and I\u2019m proud that so many features we\u2019ve delivered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":2317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-3464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"tag-infoblox","9":"tag-security","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Infoblox](\"https:\/\/live-infoblox-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/demo-infoblox-config-management.png\")
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