What is a Device Template?

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Device templates allow you to save a device configuration, apply it to one or more devices, and reuse the same configuration over and over again. A device template contains the following tabs and settings:

  • Config. Contains all the fields in the Device Properties page (except device name and device IP) and all the fields in the Device Thresholds page. When you apply a device template to a device group or selected devices, you do not have to manually define any settings in the Device Properties page or the Device Thresholds page for the devices that use the template. All the devices that use the template will inherit the field values from the device template.
  • Interface. Contains all the fields in the Interface Properties page that define how SL1 will monitor one or more network interfaces, and the thresholds for those network interfaces. When you apply a device template to a device group or selected devices, you do not have to manually define any settings in the Interface Properties page for the devices that use the template. All the devices that use the template will inherit the field values from the device template.

  • CV Policies. Specifies one or more web-content policies that can be applied to all devices that use the template. These web-content policies enable SL1 to monitor a website. SL1 will periodically check the website for specified content. If the content cannot be found on the website, SL1 will generate an event. When you apply a device template to a device, you do not have to manually define any web-content and availability policies in the Monitoring Policies page for the devices. All the devices that use the template will inherit the web-content policies from the device template; SL1 will automatically create these web-content policies for each device that uses the template.
  • Port Policies. Specifies one or more TCP/IP Port policies that can be applied to all member devices. These TCP/IP Port policies tell SL1 to monitor a specified port for availability every five minutes. Availability refers to the port's ability to accept connections and data. When you apply a device template to a device group, you do not have to manually define any TCP/IP port policies in the Monitoring Policies page for the member devices. All the devices in the device group will inherit the TCP/IP port policies from the device template; SL1 will automatically create these port policies for each device that uses the template.

  • Svc Policies. Specifies one or more Windows service policies that can be applied to devices that use the template. These Windows service policies tell SL1 to monitor the device and look for the specified service. You can define a service policy so that SL1 monitors whether or not the service is running and then performs an action (starts, pauses, or restarts the service, reboots or shuts down the device, triggers the execution of a remote script or program). When you apply a device template to devices, you do not have to manually define any Windows service policies in the Monitoring Policies page for those devices. All the devices that use the template will inherit the Windows service policies from the device template; SL1 will automatically create these Windows service policies for each device that uses the template.
  • Proc Policies. Specifies one or more Process policies that can be applied to devices that use the template. These Process policies tell SL1 to monitor the device and look for the process. You can define a process policy so that SL1 monitors whether or not the process is running, and optionally, how much memory a process can use and how many instances of a process can run simultaneously. When you apply a device template to devices, you do not have to manually define any Process policies in the Monitoring Policies page for those devices. All the devices that use the device template will inherit the Process policies from the device template; SL1 will automatically create these process policies for each device that uses the template.

  • Dynamic Apps. Specifies one or more Dynamic Applications that can be aligned with devices that use the template. SL1 will use the specified Dynamic Applications to retrieve data from the devices that use the template. (Note that each device that uses the template might also be aligned with additional Dynamic Applications that have been aligned with the device in other ways; for example, from the automatic alignment that occurs during discovery.) When you apply a device template to devices, you do not manually have to align Dynamic Applications in the Dynamic Application Collections page for those devices. All devices that use the device template will be aligned with the Dynamic Applications specified in the device template.

  • If you select a Dynamic Application in a Device Template, and that Dynamic Application has associated thresholds, you can change one or more of those thresholds from the Device Template. The thresholds you specify in the Device Template will override the thresholds defined in the Dynamic Application. When you apply a device template to devices, you do not manually have to edit the Dynamic Application Thresholds in the Device Thresholds page for those devices. All devices that use the device template will inherit the Dynamic Application Thresholds specified in the device template.
  • You can change the frequency at which SL1 will poll all devices that use a device template to retrieve the information specified in a Dynamic Application. This value will override the default value specified in the Dynamic Applications.

You can apply device templates to:

  • One or more device groups.
  • One or more devices, selected from the Device Manager page.

NOTE: You can add device templates to PowerPacks. To learn how to add device templates to PowerPacks, see the section on PowerPacks.

You can also apply device templates to automate the initial configuration of multiple devices. If you change a device template, you can use it to automate the editing of the configuration of multiple devices.

Device templates are not dynamic. That is, when you update or change a device template, no changes are made to any devices that have used the template in the past.

You can make temporary changes to a device template, apply the template to a devices, and then exit the device template without saving the temporary changes. In this way, you can apply settings to a device group but not permanently save the settings in the device template.

NOTE: If you make changes to a device template or simply apply the device template a second time, SL1 will not create duplicate policies on the member devices. However, if you edit a device template and make a change to a policy, the policy will be updated on the member devices.

The section on using device templates describes in detail all the ways you can use a device template in SL1.