[Index]

Model: data/DataSync

Data Sync

The data of the various devices can be updated on VOSS-4-UC, or also directly on the device. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically synchronize cached VOSS-4-UC data with the data on devices.

Consider an example: when an instance of a Unified CM is added to the system, its data is imported and cached. However, when instances are added, updated or removed from the Unified CM, the cached data in VOSS-4-UC becomes out of sync with data on the device.

If data is deleted from Unified CM before it is deleted from VOSS-4-UC, the error "The specified resource could not be found" is displayed. This means the resource is out of sync and VOSS-4-UC may need to re-sync with Unified CM to delete or update it.

The Data Sync feature provides a means to dynamically synchronize cached VOSS-4-UC data with data on devices. The data sync instance is associated with the connection parameters of a device type in VOSS-4-UC.

Supported devices include:

• HCM-F (if installed)
• Cisco Unified CM
• Cisco Unity Connection
• LDAP
• WebEx

Individual Add, Update and Delete operations carried out by a data sync instance can be disabled on the user interface. If no operation is selected, the default behavior is maintained.

Refer to the Best Practices Guide chapter on Data Sync for additional considerations when managing your data syncs.

Key Settings for Data Sync

A number of key settings that are available for data sync:

• Model Type lists - define which entities to pull in a given sync (for example, only pull in device/cucm/User records from Cisco Unified CM).
• Model Instance filters - limit a sync to a subset of entities in a sync (for example, pull in users with a primary extension starting with 1). This setting requires a system level administrator to expose it on the GUI.
• Actions - select which actions (Add/Update/Delete) are active for a sync. Update tends to be the most effort to run, because for most systems this involves a GET API call for each record and comparing to our data. Add/Del can be determined from the initial list API calls. If you are really only need the Add and/or Del action, then disabling the Update action will likely save considerable time on the sync.
• Quick Import - use the list API responses to update the VOSS-4-UC cache and will not do individual GET calls for each entity for the update. This works well where the list response contains all the values for the entity or only key settings need to be updated. The removal of all the individual GETs means the sync occurs much faster, because VOSS-4-UC is not waiting for the API responses when there are a many entities to update. This is useful if the list and GET responses are needed or if you only need the summary data from the list view.

Data Sync Types

Data synchronization is available with the following functionality:

• Merge data by pulling data that is on the device but not in the cache, to the cache and vice versa
• Pull all data from the device
• Pull only the schema from the device (used for LDAP)
• Pull data from the Change Notification Feature local data collection
• Purge data from the cache
• Push data in the cache to the device

A quick import option is available to fetch only summary data that is contained in a list operation response and not the data for all instances/fields.

For all the syncs in general, the VOSS-4-UC system builds up the lists of entities from both VOSS-4-UC and the device (for example Unified CM) for comparison. The field that is used for this comparison is the key for the device entity, which is typically the unique identifier for the record in the device we that are syncing with. For example, for Unified CM, the identifier is the pkid which is the internal Unified CM database id.

In the case of subscribers, a sync will build up the list of device/cucm/Users in VOSS-4-UC and then request from the Unified CM the lists of users it currently has for the comparison. The differences in the lists are then handled according to each sync type.

Details of the sync types are listed below:

• Pull from Device - The VOSS-4-UC resource is updated where the same key is present in both lists. In this case, the device data is the master and the VOSS-4-UC system model data is updated with the device data.

  • For example, if new data is added to the Unified CM so that the VOSS-4-UC system data state for a Unified CM device/cucm/User does not show instances that are shown on the Unified CM, pull data synchronization synchronizes the system data with the Unified CM data. For example, a user's Department may be updated on the Unified CM, but this update will only show on the system after Pull from Device synchronization. If a user resource is created in Unified CM but not in VOSS-4-UC, this will add the device/cucm/User instance into VOSS-4-UC at the level the pull sync was run from, for example at the customer level.
  • In the case where you delete a VOSS-4-UC resource from the device so that the key is in the VOSS-4-UC list but not in the 'device' list, a pull sync will remove the resource in VOSS-4-UC. For example, if the resource is a user in VOSS-4-UC but not in Unified CM, the pull sync will remove the device/cucm/User record in VOSS-4-UC.

  If you are pulling device data, for example LDAP users from an LDAP device, the results returned to VOSS-4-UC are dependent on the LDAP server configuration. For example, if the returned results exceed the LDAP server configured maximum and if the server does not support paging, then an appropriate error message is returned.

• Push to Device - The VOSS-4-UC system data state is the master and devices are synchronized with it.

  • Where you delete device data from VOSS-4-UC so that the key is in the 'device' list but it is not in the VOSS-4-UC list, for example deleting a user in VOSS-4-UC, this will remove the user from Unified CM to match the user not existing in VOSS.
  • If new device data is added to the VOSS-4-UC system data so that the resource shows instances that are not shown on the device, push data synchronization synchronizes the device data with the VOSS-4-UC system data. For example, adding a device/cucm/User instance to VOSS-4-UC and running a Push to Device sync will add the user record to Unified CM.

  Keys found in both lists are ignored, for example no updates are made for existing records in either direction. So in the device/cucm/User example, if the same user exists in both the VOSS-4-UC and Unified CM system, then no update occurs in either direction. In other words, detailed settings may still not match after a Push to Device sync.

• Merge with Device - This is a combination of pull and push data synchronization and takes place in both directions.

  Merge data synchronization synchronizes data between the system and the Unified CM data without overwriting or deleting any data.

  • If you create a resource where the key is in the 'device' list but not in the VOSS-4-UC list (for example, the entity is in Unified CM but not in VOSS-4-UC), then the VOSS-4-UC resource is created. For example, adding a user in Unified CM will create the device/cucm/User record in VOSS-4-UC after the merge sync.
  • If you add to a device so that the key is in the VOSS-4-UC list but not the 'device' list (for example, the entity is in VOSS-4-UC but not in Unified CM), then the device resource is created. For example, creating a device/cucm/User record in VOSS-4-UC will create the user in Unified CM.

  Keys found in both lists are ignored, for example no updates will be made for existing records in either direction. So in the device/cucm/User example, if the same user exists in both the VOSS-4-UC and Unified CM system, then no update occurs in either direction. In other words, detailed settings may still not match after a Merge with Device sync.

• Change Notification Sync - A pull sync of changes stored in the local collection that is updated by the Change Notification Collector service.

  For more details on CNF, refer to the relevant CNF topics in the Data Sync chapter of the Core Feature Guide.

• Purge Local Resources - All resources or instances of device information that exist in the system will be deleted. However, the entities in the device will not be deleted. This option is typically used when cleaning up the system.

Synchronous and Asynchronous Data Sync

A Data Sync is by default set to be asynchronous, in other words other tasks can be carried out while the sync is in progress. However, it can be set to be synchronous so that a workflow step can for example wait for the sync process to complete.

Asynchronous imports initiated by a Data Sync are standalone transactions, in other words they aren't child transactions of the Data Sync execute transaction. Synchronous imports initiated by a Data Sync are children of the Data Sync execute transaction.

Full Sync

A full pull sync, when runs, empties the changes from the data collection as they don't need to be processed by the Change Notification Sync. Use the disabled operations and the model type list of the full sync to filter the changes to remove. If a model instance filter is included, no changes are removed.

Enable a Scheduled Data Sync

By default, when a Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Unity Connection device is set up in VOSS-4-UC, a full data sync instance is created to perform the initial sync of all data from the device. A Change Notification Sync type also gets created in the Data Sync page. In addition, a Schedule is created to execute that data sync every 14 days, but is disabled by default. We recommend running the full data sync manually only when necessary. However, if a regularly scheduled sync is desired, the schedule can be enabled as follows:

Procedure

1. Log in as provider administrator.

2. Choose Administration Tools > Scheduling.

3. Choose the schedule instance that matches this naming convention:

   HcsSync-<ip_address>-<device_name>-SCHED. For example:

   HcsSync-192.0.2.24-CUCM01-SCHED

4. Select the Active check box.

5. Click the Multiple Executions tab, and update the interval, if desired.

6. Click Save.

The full data sync executes immediately, and executes again according to the schedule.

Perform Publisher Actions

You can always manually run the default data sync when there have been updates to Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Unity Connection devices that need to be synced into VOSS-4-UC.

Procedure

1. Log in as provider or reseller administrator.
2. Choose Device Management > Advanced > Perform Publisher Actions.
3. From the Action drop-down, choose Import.
4. From the App Type drop-down, choose CUCM Device or CUC Device.
5. From the Available Clusters list, choose the device and click Select.
6. Click Save.

Controlling a Data Sync with a Model Type List

Using a Model Type List (MTL), you can control the types of data that are synced into VOSS-4-UC from Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Unity Connection devices. Controlling the types of data that are synced can greatly improve sync performance. The MTL is a list of device models associated with the device type, for example, Phone and Line device models that are associated with the Unified CM device.

These are the possible types of Model Type Lists:

• Include Selected Model Types - This list represents the device models to explicitly include in the data sync.
• Exclude Selected Model Types - This list represents the device models to explicitly exclude from the data sync.
• Ordered List - This list represents the device models to explicitly include in the data sync in the order they must be synced.

A data sync created with an empty Model Type List attribute results in the subsequent import(s) synchronizing all device models for the corresponding device.

Here's an example of an include MTL:

A data sync using this MTL will sync all Media Resource Group, Media Resource Lists, Music on Hold servers and audio sources, and Media Termination Points. No other data will be synced from Unified CM.

It is recommended to define MTLs for sets of data that are being modified on the device directly, particularly Unified CM because this is where the bulk of the configuration data for each customer resides. By defining MTLs that target specific data sets rather than doing a full sync, the performance of VOSS-4-UC can be maintained with better response times and quicker transaction execution. Some Unified CM device models to avoid unless needed are Users, Phones, and Lines, as there may be large numbers of these in the Unified CM and result in a lengthy data sync operation.

Data sync overhead can be further reduced if you want to sync only new and deleted instances of the device model and not updates to existing instances. This can be done by unchecking the Refresh Existing (Changed) Data check box on the Data Sync configuration page. This check box controls whether existing device model instances are updated in VOSS-4-UC in addition to importing new instances and removing deleted instances. If checked, all device model instances must be synced and examined. If unchecked, only new and deleted instances need to be imported and the data sync will run considerably faster.

Create a Targeted Model Type List

If you manage data on Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) or Cisco Unity Connection directly on a regular basis, perhaps for configuration that is not orchestrated from VOSS-4-UC, such as media resources, it is recommended to create a Model Type List and Data Sync specifically targeting the data items you are managing. This ensures each data sync is highly optimized for the data being changed on Unified CM directly and minimizing the load on VOSS-4-UC. To create a targeted Model Type List:

Procedure

1. Log in as Provider level admin or higher.

2. Select Administration Tools > Model Type List.

3. Click Add.

4. Specify the name of the Model Type List.

   It is recommended to use a naming convention that makes it easy to identity the MTL in a list view, such as Unified CM Media Resources.

5. From the List Type drop-down, choose the list type:

   • Choose Include Selected Model Types if the list of device models you want to sync is relatively short.
   • Choose Exclude Selected Model Types if the list of device models you want to sync is relatively long. Exclude device models that tend to have lots of instances, like users, phones, and lines.
   • Choose Ordered List if the list of device models you want to sync is relatively short and the order in which they are synced matters.

6. Add Model Types to the list of device models that are to be included or excluded according to the List Type selected.

   See View List of Device Models for information on how to see a list of available Unified CM and Cisco Unity Connection device models.

7. Click Save.

View List of Device Models

Use this procedure to see the device models available to use in Model Type Lists for custom data syncs from Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Unity Connection.

Procedure

1. Log in as entadmin.
2. Click the ? on the menu bar to open Online Help.
3. Select Model API.
4. Select Device/Cuc or Device/Cucm. All the applicable device models are listed for the selected device.

What to Do Next

When including the device model in a Model Type List, use the format: device/<device_type>/<device_model>. For example, device/cucm/BillingServer.

Create a Custom Data Sync

Create a custom data sync to use a targeted Model Type List.

Procedure

1. Log in as provider admin or higher.

2. Choose Administration Tools > Data Sync.

3. Click Add.

4. Enter the name of the Data Sync in the Name field.

   It is recommend to use a naming convention that makes it easy to identify the data syncs in the list view, such as C1Pull-CUCM01-DS where C1 is the customer name, Pull is the data sync type, CUCM01 is the name of the Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and DS stands for Data Sync. You could also include the type of data included in the sync, such as C1Pull-CUCM01-MediaResources-DS.

5. From the Device Type drop-down, choose the Device Type you are syncing from.

6. From the Sync Type drop-down, choose Pull from Device.

7. From the Dependency Resolution drop-down, choose Default.

8. Select the Execute Asynchronously and Refresh Existing (Changed) Data check boxes.

   Execute Asynchronously means that the sync request will return a reply before its complete when executed from the API. Refresh Existing Data means that all instances of the device models specified in the Model Type List will be updated.

9. Select the Force Refresh of Data check box if a data update is required regardless of whether data has changed on the device. This option would for example be used if it is required that update workflows be run upon a data sync.

10. From the Model Type List drop-down, choose the targeted Model Type List you defined earlier.

11. Leave Synchronization Order and Model Instance Filter blank.

12. Click + next to Device Filters to add an entry to the list.

    1. From the Attribute Name drop-down, choose host.
    2. From the Condition drop-down, choose Equals.
    3. From the Value drop-down, choose the hostname/IP address of the device.

    Note

    Workflows can be added to, and executed by a custom data sync to perform specific data sync operations.

13. In the Workflows section, include workflows in the custom data sync if you want to perform specific data sync operations, otherwise leave the Workflows section empty. For example, if you want to move remote destinations from the Customer hierarchy level to the Site level, choose the RD_Overbuild_PWF_wrapper workflow from the Workflow drop-down.

14. Click Save.

What to Do Next

To run the custom data sync, click the data sync from the Data Sync list and click Execute.

Unified CM Change Notification Feature Alerts

The Unified CM Change Notification Feature (CNF) is enabled to display alerts. You don't have to configure the change notification feature alerts manually in the VOSS-4-UC. The administrator gets the alerts when something goes wrong with the collector process.

The administrators can view the alerts at the hierarchy level they log in and all the levels below that hierarchy. For example, if an alert is raised at the customer level (sys.hcs.provider.reseller.c1), then the provider, reseller, and customer administrators can see that alert but not site administrator. A Site administrator doesn't have access to view the alert. All the administrators have read and delete permissions to the alerts.

When a change notification feature alert is raised, the Notifications indicator on the VOSS-4-UC Admin GUI shows the alert. Clicking the Notifications button shows a pop-up and a message that alerts have been raised. Clicking on the message, the users are navigated to the list of alert messages under Administration Tools > Alerts.

CNF alerts have the following distinct properties:

• ID: A generated identifier of the target device of the collector For Unified CM, the ID shows the host name, port, and hierarchy
• Code: An error or warning code associated with the alert
• Alert category: The category of the alert - Device Change Notification Collector
• Severity: VOSS-4-UC displays severity codes and messages as follows (“{}” indicate device or number placeholders in the messages). Each alert has some properties, for example, severity (Error, Warning or Info), the number of times that the same alert has been raised, and the time stamp of the last alert instance.
• Message: Displays error message description and the statement to fix the error.
• Count: Displays the number of times the alert has occurred for a specific device.
• Latest Alert: Displays the last time this alert occurred.

VOSS-4-UC displays change notification feature alerts for the following error scenarios:

• Warning:

  45000: Unprocessed changes at 75% of limit for device {}. Please configure and run the necessary data syncs.

• Error:

  • 40000: Device change notifications are not supported for device {}.
  • 40001: Device change notification data for device {} has been lost. Tracking data has been repaired and collector process will continue. Some changes may have been lost, please run a full sync on the device.
  • 40002: Device change notification tracking data for device {} has become corrupted. Tracking data has been repaired and collector process will continue. Some changes may have been lost, please run a full sync on the device.
  • 40003: Device change notification tracking DB write for device {} failed. The collector process will continue to attempt DB writes. Please investigate the database write failure.
  • 40004: Device change notification data DB write for device {} failed. The collector process will continue to attempt DB writes. Please investigate the database write failure.
  • 40005: Unable to repair device change notification tracking data for device {}.
  • 40006: Too many unprocessed changes recorded for device {}. No new changes will be recorded until at least {} changes are processed. Please configure and run the necessary data syncs.
  • 40008: Could not update pending changes data for device {}. {}.

The administrator reads, inspects, acts on (for example, run a full sync on the device), and then manages alerts of the Change Notification collection service. The administrator can delete the alert from the list only when the issue that raised the alert has been resolved.

Alert Field Descriptions

Data Sync Blacklisted Attributes

Administrators with permissions to access the Global instance of the settings in the data/Settings model, can create a list of device attributes that will not trigger any update workflows that may have been defined to execute during the data sync. These attributes are here called "blacklisted" attributes.

The reason for blacklisted attributes is that while data sync operations can have a performance impact, some data sync attribute changes do not require data sync workflows to be carried out.

A number of blacklisted attributes have been added by default:

• For device/cucm/User:
  • status
  • primaryDevice
  • attendeesAccessCode
  • displayName
  • enableUserToHostConferenceNow
  • pinCredentials
  • passwordCredentials
• For device/cucm/Phone:
  • keyOrder
  • elinGroup
  • ecKeySize

Note however that the local device cache will still be updated with the updated attribute data. No update workflows will be run, though. The transaction logs will indicate the updated device cache, but the transactions for blacklisted attributes instances will show as:

"Device changes on blacklisted attributes only. Updating cache, skipping workflows."

Provides data synchronization capabilities with devices (eg. CUCM, CUC, LDAP)

Model Details