[Index]
Model: view/AboutLicense
License
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Use the Action search to navigate Automate
Overview
This topic covers the licensing of the Automate software product.
License enforcement is enabled on all Automate deployments, including production and lab environments.
Starting with Automate 21.4, a 7-day temporary license is issued for new installs or upgrades
to allow administrators to carry out the required licensing. You must replace the temporary license
with your new license token (license key) within 7 days from install or upgrade.
Important
You won't be able to log in to the system once the temporary license expires.
Each Automate deployment ships with a unique Deployment or Platform ID. The Platform ID is
required to generate a license token. A license token is only valid for a deployment with the related Platform ID.
Licensing workflow
Obtain the license tokens (JSON Web Tokens) from VOSS. These tokens are used to license your product.
Choose a licensing method:
Log in to Automate as sysadmin user.
Go to the Manage License page in the GUI. Follow the steps described in Manage Licenses on the GUI.
Note
This method is not available for license renewal when the existing license
token has already expired.
From the system Command License Interface (CLI), as platform user:
To update a license token from the system CLI, the following commands are available:
- license add token [<token string>]
- license add file <token_file>
Follow the steps in the Product Licensing topic in the Platform Guide. Follow this method for expired license renewal.
When your license expires, follow the steps for your license type to renew it.
Add a license on Automate via the GUI
This procedure adds a new license token (license key) on Automate, via the GUI.
Note
You can also add a license via the CLI. See the Platform Guide.
Obtain your license token from VOSS.
Log in as the system administrator user (sysadmin), then go to Manage License.
Note
You won't be able to log in to the system once your license expires. It is recommended
that you renew and apply your license prior to the expiry date.
Review the Manage License form details. The table describes the fields on this form:
Note
Date format of <date-time> is localized to the browser locale.
| Field |
Description |
|---|
| Platform ID |
<platform ID> - The ID to submit when renewing a license. |
| Licensed Application Name |
The name of your application, for example, "Automate". |
| License Status |
The status of your license. On install or upgrade, a 7-day temporary
license is provided. It is important that you apply your new license before
the expiry date.
When a valid license exists, and is outside of the expiry alert period, the
status is Licensed.
|
| Sync Status Last Changed |
<date-time> |
| License Last Checked |
<date-time> - The last time the license was checked.
Refer to the Product Licensing topic in the Platform Guide for details on
the use of the voss check-license command, which is used to check your
license with VOSS.
|
| License Sync Message |
The status messages of communication with the License service. |
| License Token Identifier |
<token ID> - Used by VOSS Support. |
| License Expiry |
<date-time> |
| Current License Token |
The <token string> for your current license (the license that will expire
or is due to expire). |
| New License Token |
The <token string> for the new license that you obtain from VOSS. Once you
paste the new license token into this field and save, it overwrites your
current (expired) license. |
| Licensed Applications |
The list of applications are shown, matching licensed application modes,
for example:
- Automate Collaboration
- Insights Netflow
- Insights Collaboration Assurance
- Insights Collaboration Analytics
For details on the available application modes, contact VOSS.
The available licensed applications also enable related data sources that
are available to dashboard widgets. For details, refer to the topic on
License modes and data sources in the guide.
|
At the New License Token field, paste your new license token (the license token obtained from
VOSS).
Click Save to apply your new license token.
License expiry alert notifications
Automate sends alerts to Provider administrators in the Automate Admin Portal to notify these users that
the system license will expire. The alert type depends on the number of days before the license expires:
| Alert type |
When sent? |
| Info |
120 days prior to license expiry |
| Info |
90 days prior to license expiry |
| Warning |
60 days prior to license expiry |
| Warning |
30 days prior to license expiry |
| Warning |
Daily, from two weeks prior to license expiry |
View your product license status
This section describes the ways in which you can access and view the status of your product license.
View your product license in the Automate GUI
You can access and view your product license in the Automate GUI via the About menu, Login screen, via alerts sent from the
system, via the Licensing menu, and via the Dashboard link (as sysadmin user):
About menu
On the License sub-menu, the License Information is displayed, as show in the example below:
Login screen
You won't be able to log in to the system and access the Admin Portal GUI once your license expires. It is recommended that you
renew and apply your new license before the expiry date. Your system administrator may log in via the CLI
to update the license. Once
the new license is applied, log in via the GUI is re-enabled. See the Product Licensing topic in the Platform Guide.
Alerts
When logging in during the license expiry notification period (up to 120 days prior to license expiry),
Provider admins (and above) are shown license expiry notices.
Once logged in, Provider admins (and above) can view pending license expiry notices via the toolbar Notifications
icon. These alerts are also posted via the Notifications icon when Automate is unable to communicate with the
license service.
Alerts are generated if a license is within 120 days of expiry. The image shows
an example of a license expiry warning:
Example of license service error message:
"alert_id": "AUTOMATE_LICENSE",
"alert_severity": "ERROR",
"alert_category": "Automate License Service Error",
"alert_message": "Automate License Service communication error since <date-time>"
Note
- Alerts can also be configured to send email messages - see the notify command
in the Platform Guide.
- SNMP traps are also generated - see the License section under Notification Messages
in the Platform Guide.
Menu for sysadmin user
The sysadmin user can view license expiry details via the Manage License page.
Dashboard link for sysadmin user
The sysadmin user can view license expiry details via the Manage License link on their
Dashboard.
Adaptations
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Overview
This topic is a guide to the standard functionality found in the Automate Admin Portal user interface
toolbars, forms, and lists.
Note
Automate 25.1 ships with role-based GUI layouts, available by default on new installs, that can be enabled for
different roles. For details, refer to Role-based dashboards and menus.
Related topics
Role-based dashboards and menus, in the Core Feature Guide
Introduction to Themes in the Core Feature Guide
Theme Customization topics in the Advanced Configuration Guide
Search in Automate in the Core Feature Guide
Admin Portal toolbars
In the Automate Admin Portal, icons on the main toolbar are always available, regardless
of the form or list you're viewing.
Important
Some icons (and related functionality) are available only if your access profile permissions allow it. For
example:
- The Transaction icon is available only if you have read permissions on tool/Transaction
- The Saved Searches panel is available only if you have read permissions on data/UserSavedSearch
- You'll only receive alert notifications if you have read permissions on data/Alert
- The Help book icon displays only when you have access to the general help (Misc Permissions)
A form/list-based toolbar displays additional icons, depending
on the model you're working with (which defines the content on the form or list you're viewing),
and on your access profile and permissions. For example, if it's not
possible or allowed that you move certain items, the Move icon won't display.
Main toolbar
The table describes the graphical controls and icons on the main Admin Portal toolbar:
The table describes the icons on the main toolbar in the Admin Portal:
- Home
|
The Home button displays a customizable dashboard that serves as a
landing page. See "Automate Dashboards" for details.
- The system displays a welcome message the
first time a user logs in with a new
account.
- When a non-SSO or non-LDAP user logs in,
a system message alerts the user to any
failed login attempts.
- When SSO or LDAP users log in, the
system displays the last successful login
time.
|
- Organization Selection
|
Launches a hierarchy (organization) tree view that displays a tree
or list of available nodes.
See Navigating the Hierarchy
Note that the accent color is used for this element.
|
- Hierarchy element
|
A hierarchy element displaying the highest
hierarchy level. The associated child hierarchy
element display in a similar field display
box adjacent to the main hierarchy element.
If there is more than one level or node at a
specific hierarchy, you can search and
navigate the hierarchy.
See Navigating the Hierarchy.
|
- Search
|
The toolbar Search bar. Fill out search criteria to use the default search
(Action search), or click the down arrow at the filter icon
to choose an alternative search mode:
- Action search - perform a fuzzy, free text, actions search,
for example, Modify Voicemail or Create user.
- Filter search - choose from a predefined list of entities
- Global search - available only to users with appropriate
permissions; allows querying of the API for models and
search criteria
|
- Transactions log
|
Displays the Opens the Transactions Log, where you can view a list
of in progress and recent completed transactions, and drill-down
to view transaction details.
The pulsing counter above the icon indicates the number of transactions
currently in progress. The spinner adjacent to the icon indicates
that your transactions are in progress.
|
- Messages
|
A notification indicator and menu for accessing
the Transaction log and Alerts (if alerts are
enabled). A pop-up notification displays when a
transaction is done. You can click on the message
to inspect transactions. Alert notifications
display until all alerts are removed from the list. |
- Wingman
|
Opens Wingman Chat if enabled. Refer to VOSS Wingman. |
- Help
|
Opens the system online Help in a new browser tab. |
- Settings (Cog icon)
|
Provides a menu with items for:
The logged in user's Account Settings (read-only),
Quick Actions to sign out or change password,
and Preferences where you can set the Browser Console Log Level.
If the Browser Console Log Level is set to Debug,
your browser console (Inspect menu) provides
additional details when selecting menu items and instances
on the GUI, for example:
Model Type: relation/User, Field Display Policy: default,
Configuration Template: undefined, Fixed Filters: undefined
This setting reverts to None (default) when you sign out.
When set to None, the browser console Inspect menu
does not show these details. See the note below this table for
more information about this setting.
About form with version details - see: About.
Sign out button to log out the user.
|
Note
To view details for and of the following applied to any page in the GUI, on the Preferences page,
set Browser Console Log Level to Debug and save your changes. Then open the page where you want to
view these details, right click, and choose Inspect to open the browser console:
- Model
- Field display policy
- Configuration template
- Fixed filters
Forms and lists toolbar
For certain models, such as Roles or Credential Policy, the list view or detail
view of the record in the Admin Portal displays an additional toolbar with a number of controls.
The icons that display
on this secondary toolbar depend on your access profile and based on the functionality available for data on the
form or list (the model you're working with).
Standard icons
The table describes standard icons that typically display on all forms and lists.
System Message: ERROR/3 (<string>, line 210)
Malformed table.
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Icon | Description |
+===================+===========================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| Filter | Allows you to filter items on a list. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Refresh | Manually refresh a list view to load updated data. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Plus icon (+) | Creates a new record from a list view. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Delete | From a list, remove an entry or the selected entries. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Move | You can move some model instances (by default, device models) from the current hierarchy to another hierarchy. When moving device models, the system won't allow you to move a device model instance to a |
| | hierarchy node with a different device. For data models, move is allowed if you edit the data model's definition in the Operations section. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Clone | Make a copy of the current item, and rename it to create a new instance. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Export | From search results or any list view in the system, it is possible to select the entities required and export them with all attributes. The selected data can be exported to: |
| | |
| | * A JSON file that is archived into .json.zip format for external use. |
| | * Excel - an export containing data and Excel columns for all fields as shown in the JSON export format. |
| | * Excel(formatted) - an export containing data and Excel columns as arranged by any Field Display Policies that apply. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Save | Saves a new or updated record. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Cancel | Cancels triggered events such as transactions or bulk loads. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Back | On forms, this icon returns to the original list page position. The browser's back button also carries out this action. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Help | Open the on-line help page for the current model. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Overflow actions menu
On forms and lists that allow multiple actions, icons for key actions (for example, Filter, Add, Create, Update, Delete), are always visible on the toolbar,
whereas other available actions are accessible via a vertical ellipsis toolbar icon (), which displays a drop-down menu of the additional (overflow)
actions available for data on the form or list.
The image shows non-key actions available in the overflow menu when viewing or updating a user, for example:
Note
Accessibility support is provided for the overflow actions menu so that you can tab through the actions and
press Enter or space bar to select an action in the menu.
The table lists actions that may be available in an overflow actions menu on a form or list, if relevant for the
record and allowed for your access profile:
| Action |
Description |
|---|
| Bulk Load File |
Only used via the Bulk Load page, when bulk loading a preselected file. |
| Bulk Modify |
On the list view of certain items, the button displays a form to enter modifications to any selected list items and carries out a Bulk Modify. This is only available if your administrator has given you.
the required permissions. |
| Configuration Template |
For a form, create a Configuration Template for a model or carry out a task such as an advanced search. |
| Action |
Description |
|---|
| Export Bulk Load Template |
Export a model structure to a MS Excel bulk load file format. The file can be used as a template to bulk load instances of the model. Refer to the Bulk Load topic help. |
| Field Display Policy |
Add a Field Display policy to a selected model. The detail view of a Transaction displays this button to show sub-transactions. |
| Execute |
For an executable model such as a Provisioning Workflow, Macro, Wizard or for a script, run the execution. |
| Import |
For supported Network Devices, carry out an import of data from the device. |
| Package |
Create a package containing selected search results. |
| Refresh |
Click this button on the Transaction list to refresh the list of transactions. This would for example update the Progress of the transaction. |
| Refresh User |
On the User Management page, click Refresh User to align user data in relation/User with user data from source, caching from the UC application. This option is not exposed by default in the access
profiles. |
| Replay |
Transactions that have failed can, under certain circumstances, be replayed. This means that the transaction is re-submitted with the original request parameters. |
| Edit and Replay |
Available for completed transactions. Similar to the Replay button, but allows you to first make changes to the previously submitted form before the transaction is resubmitted. |
| Reset Phone |
Reset a phone. |
| Return |
Return - From the detail display of a selected instance of a model, select this button to return to the list display of the model instances. |
| Tag |
For a selected model instance, add a tag to it. |
| Tag Version |
For a selected model instance, add a version tag to it. |
| Test Connection |
For instances of models representing connection parameters such as connections to devices, click the button to test the connection. |
| Visualize |
Deprecated. |
| Purge |
Removes a record entirely. |
| JSON Editor |
Update a JSON file. |
| Apply |
Saves and updates the record. |
| Lock |
Disables editing. |
| Reset |
Clears the record. |
| Align Hierarchy to Sync
Source |
Used for managing users. See User added as Microsoft Active Directory LDAP User. |
| Align Hierarchy to User |
Used for managing users. See User added as Microsoft Active Directory LDAP User. |
| Restart |
|
| Vendor Config |
|
| Wipe |
|
Forms and lists
The Admin Portal displays information in forms (pages) and lists.
| Detail |
During input, mandatory fields are highlighted in a red frame. |
| List views of details |
If the text in a column exceeds the defined column width, it is truncated
with an ellipsis (...), except for any column showing the row entry hierarchy. |
Tip
To easily copy data from a drop-down list or in a list view (provided you're using a mouse),
highlight the value while keeping the mouse button pressed down and use
the keyboard shortcut CTRL-C to copy, then release the mouse and paste the data where required.
Alternatively, a selected item (drop-down list selection box is active) from a drop-down list can be
copied with CTRL-C and pasted into another input field using Ctrl-V.
Form controls
The following controls are typically available on forms.
| Icon |
Description |
|---|
| |image41| |
Plus. Open another instance of the current form field or open a pop-up screen to add an item. |
| |image42| |
Minus. Delete the current instance of a field from a form or open a pop-up screen to confirm. |
| |image43| |
Down arrow. Move the selected instance on a form down in the order of field entries. In the case where a Position field is available, for example for Lines, the entered value determines the order in
the object. |
| |image44| |
Up arrow. Move the selected instance on a form up in the order of field entries. In the case where a Position field is available, for example for Lines, the entered value determines the order in
the object. |
System Message: ERROR/3 (<string>, line 384)
Malformed table.
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Icon | Description |
+======================+========================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| |image45| |image46| | Left arrow. Right arrow. On multi-tabbed forms, navigate to the previous or next tab. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |image50| | Warning. Used, for example, if a mandatory field is not filled in. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| \* | Next to an input control on a form, the asterisk indicates that the field is mandatory. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [Browse] | Next to an input control on a form, a button to open a file selection dialog. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [ V] | Drop-down input box. Typing into the box filters the drop-down list choices. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | URI link. A generated URI link you can click to open the related entity (``data``, ``device`` model) directly from the drop-down list. |
+----------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Note
On some parts of the user interface, when adding or deleting items via pop-up screens,
clicking the OK button typically completes the update; that is, you won't need to
also click Save on the main form.
Switching form layouts
The layout of forms in Automate is defined via a number of field display policies (FDPs). For groups of
fields, the default layout for the field display policies setting, Display Groups As, is Panels, except for the forms associated with the following models, which
have their default layout as Tabs:
- view/GlobalSettings
- data/SiteDefaultsDoc
- data/ucprep_UC_Profiles
- relation/DP_REL
- data/HcsDpDialPlanSchemaDAT
- data/HcsDpDialPlanSchemaGroupDAT
On forms where you're able to change the layout (depending on your user type and the model type), you can click the layout change icon (Switch to Panel Layout / Switch to Tab Layout)
to switch between
a tab layout and a panel layout. The layout you choose is preserved when you log out and log in again.
On some forms, the
action element to use for switching between tabs and panels may display in the overflow actions menu.
Note
This guide refers to the default layout for the model, unless otherwise specified.
Some form views do not have the action element available
to switch between tabs and panel form views. For details and the list,
see the "Display Groups As" topic at: Field Display Policies.
Related topics
Pop-ups and slide out notifications
A Please confirm pop-up notification appears in the middle
of an add or edit form of the interface if the Enter key is used
in the input field. This notification thus allows for the confirmation of
the data currently entered or edited prior to saving the form.
A Cached slide-out notification at the top right of the interface
displays when the locally cached data of a resource is used.
This slide-out notification can be minimized to a narrow bar on the
side of the screen.
Navigate to related entities from drop-downs
Automate provides clickable links adjacent to drop-down fields that reference related entities,
that is, drop-downs that have a direct URI link, or a macro that uses a model type:
Note
The links are not relevant for drop-downs that have functions in the macro since that does not
allow the system to determine the underlying model type.
- These links allow direct navigation to the relevant configuration template (CFT) or model type at the same
hierarchy.
- The system determines the target model and attribute, then applies a filter to show the correct list view.
- Link icons are shown only when the field is populated and accessible to the user.
This feature applies broadly across drop-downs in the GUI, particularly in Quick Add Groups, to streamline admin workflows for provisioning
tasks.
Sessions and authentication
Since Automate sessions are cookie based, it is possible to share the same
session across different tabs or windows of the same browser. However, it is not
possible to have different authentication sessions in different tabs. In
other words, login as different users in different browser tabs is not supported.
On-line help
To access the full online help website from the Automate Admin Portal, press the toolbar Book icon. To access
help for a page you've viewing in the system, click the Help icon.
The page-level (context) help also includes a Full HTML Help link for the entry on the online help
website and the model help (as seen in the GUI tooltips).
Note
- To access the online help website URL, you may need to request that the website be made accessible by your network administrator.
- Your view of the system help depends on your hierarchy level, role-based access permissions, and the
field display policies applied to your system.
About (system details)
The About menu provides details for your system, including version, patches,
and adaptations.
Note
The About toolbar icon provides only version details.
Version
Release: Installed product release version.
The version naming convention is:
- new: <YY>.<num>, for example: 19.3 is the 3rd release of 2019.
- legacy: <major>.<minor>.<revision>, where major=YY,minor=num,revision=revision of num.
Patch Bundle: The installed Patch Bundle (PB) number, if any.
Build Number: Product build number.
Release Date: Date when this version was released.
Deployed Mode: Current deployment mode type, for example:
Note
You can use the toolbar Copy icon to copy version release text to the clipboard.
Patches
If any patches have been installed on the system, these are listed
under the Patches menu. Details of installed patches are
also provided for reference and enquiries, for example:
- Version: in this context, the patch version
(there can be multiple versions of the same patch).
- Defect IDs: Automate internal IDs for reference
- Models: any models and model Instances added or affected by the
patch
Adaptations
If any adaptations are installed on the system, these
are listed. Select an adaptation from the list to
see more details, for example:
Adaptation Tag(s): the tags can be used to find all models
that are a part of the adaptation, using a search query such as
(tag IS <tag1>) or (tag IS <tag2>)
where <tag1> and <tag2> are the names of tags.
Note
The search for models is carried out from the user hierarchy and down.
Upgrade Risk: an indication of the impact of an adaptation on
an existing system:
- High: Core changes
- Medium: Standalone adaptation using core workflows
- Low: Standalone feature
License
This menu provides details for your current license, including the platform UUID, license status,
and expiry date. See also, Product License Management.
License counts
This menu provides a chart with details, for example:
- Weekly Automate license usage totals trends
- A chart showing the breakdown of the Automate license usage by metric
- License information table
- A table showing the full data set of license audit details
- A table showing the Microsoft user information fields
- Counters for Automate Platform license usage totals
For details, see the Licensing and User Data Export Guide.
To modify the dashboard, refer to the topic on managing dashboards and widgets.
Docutils System Messages
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Undefined substitution referenced: "image41".
System Message: ERROR/3 (<string>, line 375); backlink
Undefined substitution referenced: "image42".
System Message: ERROR/3 (<string>, line 377); backlink
Undefined substitution referenced: "image43".
System Message: ERROR/3 (<string>, line 380); backlink
Undefined substitution referenced: "image44".
Model Details: view/AboutLicense
- An asterisk * in the title indicates the field is mandatory.
- If a field has a default value, it is shown in the Description column.
- If the field type is an array, the Field Name has a .[n] suffix, where n is the array index placeholder.
- Object and array field names are listed to provide context. If a field belongs to an object or an array,
the full field name is shown in dot separated notation.
|
Platform UUID |
Application or platform deployment UUID.
|
- Field Name:
License Information.platform_uuid
- Type: String
|
|
License status |
Current status of the license for this platform.
|
- Field Name:
License Information.status
- Type: String
|
|
Expiry date |
Date/time when the current license will expire.
|
- Field Name:
License Information.exp
- Type: String
- Format: date-time
|
|
Licensed Applications |
Licensed Application Modes
|
- Field Name:
License Information.lmodes
- Type: String
|