Create and manage NCM jobs

Network Configuration Manager provides job scheduling to automate the management of network devices and configuration files. You can schedule numerous operations, including configuration file uploads and downloads, node reboots, and command script execution.

If NCM is configured to connect to nodes with user-level login credentials, when NCM processes a job it connects to the node using the credentials of the user who last edited the job. Otherwise, NCM connects to the node using settings in the device connection profile or the associated global connection profile.

See the following sections:

Required roles and privileges

If NCM Configuration Management Approval is enabled and the approval mode is Two-level approval for all users, all of the following privileges are required to view, create, and manage NCM jobs:

• SolarWinds Platform administrator rights
• The NCM role of Engineer or Administrator

If NCM Configuration Management Approval is enabled and the approval mode is either One-level approval or Two-level approval for non-privileged users, users with the NCM role or Engineer or Administrator can view, create, and manage NCM jobs. (SolarWinds Platform administrator rights are not required.)

If NCM Configuration Management Approval is not enabled, users with the NCM role of WebUploader or higher can view, create, and manage NCM jobs.

How node limitations affect jobs

A user's node limitations can affect what nodes a job runs on:

• If a job is executed by a schedule, NCM checks the limitations of the job owner to determine which nodes the job runs on.

• If a job is executed manually, NCM checks the limitations of the user who manually executed the job to determine which nodes the job runs on.

For example, an Administrator creates a job, selects Node 1 and Node 2, and schedules the job. When the job runs as scheduled, it runs on both Node 1 and Node 2. Another user has a limitation that excludes Node 1. If that user executes the job manually, the job runs only on Node 2.

How node limitations affect viewing job logs

If limitations prevent a user from accessing a node, the user cannot view NCM job logs for jobs that ran on the node.

For example, a job runs on 10 Cisco nodes and 10 Palo Alto nodes. A user has a limitation that excludes all Palo Alto nodes. When the job runs, that user will be able to view the job logs on the 10 Cisco nodes but not on any of the Palo Alto nodes.

If a node is deleted, NCM can no longer determine whether a user had limitations that would have restricted access to that node. Therefore, only users with SolarWinds Platform Administrator rights can view logs for jobs that ran on a deleted node.

When a node is deleted, logs associated with that node are not automatically deleted. You can manually delete job logs, or schedule the Default Database and Archive Maintenance job to automatically purge older job logs.

Create a job

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Click Create New Job.
3. Name the job, but do not use special characters in the name.
4. Select a Job Type.

5. Specify when the job runs:

   • To run the job once or on a simple schedule, select Basic. Click the tab that identifies how frequently the job runs, and then specify the start time and (if needed) the day(s).

   • To create a more complex schedule, select Advanced and then use the five fields to create a CRON expression.

6. Add a comment if this job relates to a business rule, and click Next.
7. Select the nodes to target with this job, and click Next.

8. Select one or more notification options, and click Next.

   Option	Description
   Save Job Log	Select this option to save the results of the job to the database. To view the job log, click the icon in the History column of the Jobs List.
   Save Results to File	If you select the option to save the job results to a file, a default path and file name are provided. The file name is based on the name of the job. To change the default path: Credentials to give NCM write access to the new location must be specified in Advanced Settings. If valid credentials have not been specified, the job results location is read-only. Credentials are necessary for both network storage locations and local directories. NCM must have read and write privileges to the path. The path must exist. NCM can create the file but not the folders in the path. Supported file extensions include .txt, .csv, .xls, .doc, and .htm. You can use Date and Time or Global variables (also called macros) in the file name. For example, include ${DATE} or ${DATETIME} to prevent NCM from overwriting the file each time the job runs. To save job results to a file on a network share, make sure the following requirements are met: The network share must be accessible by all polling engines. All NCM machines must be in the same domain as the machine where the network share is located.
   Email Results	If you click Email Results, the default email notification and SMTP server settings are populated. These settings can be overridden in each job. You can use Date and Time or Global variables (also called macros) in the Subject.

9. Add details based on the specific job, and click Next.

   In an Export Configs Job:

   • To change the default location where the config is exported and the default file name, credentials to give NCM write access to the new location must be specified in Advanced Settings. If valid credentials have not been specified, the export location and file name fields are read-only.

   • The exported file name can contain Date and Time, Node, and Global variables (also called macros).

10. Review the settings for the job, and click Finish.

Edit a job

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Select the job and click Edit.
3. Update the job definition as needed.
4. Review the settings for the job, and click Finish.

Enable a job

The enable operation applies to jobs that run according to a schedule. You must enable a job in NCM before you can start it. A job that is not enabled will not start.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Select a disabled job in the list.
3. Click Enable.

Disable a job

The disable operation applies to jobs that run according to a schedule. Disable a job to prevent it from running without deleting it.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Select a scheduled job in the list.
3. Click Disable.

Start a job

Though using a schedule is the most efficient way to manage jobs, you can manually start a job if necessary.

You can start any job that is enabled.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Select a job in the list.
3. If the job is disabled, click Enable.
4. Click Start Job.

Stop a job

Though using a schedule is the most efficient way to manage jobs, you can manually stop a job if necessary.

A job currently running shows the status: running.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Select a running job in the list.
3. Click Stop Job.

View job logs

View the job log to verify that a job was run as scheduled, or to view the history of the job.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Select the job in the list.
3. Sort by the Last Date Run column.
4. Click the page icon in the History column to view the log.

Delete a job

You can delete any job in NCM that you no longer use.

1. Click My Dashboards > Network Configuration > Jobs.
2. Select a disabled job in the list.
3. Click Delete.