Creating and Editing Device Groups

This section describes how to create and edit device groups.

Use the following menu options to navigate the SL1 user interface:

To view a pop-out list of menu options, click the menu icon ().
To view a page containing all of the menu options, click the Advanced menu icon ().

Before You Start

You might want to consider the following when planning your device groups:

How do you configure your devices? Can you group devices by their configuration? If so, you might want to create device groups based on their configuration and then use configuration templates to manage the configuration for all devices in the device group.
Remember that when you create a device group, you can control the actions that can be performed with the device group and control access to the device group. You should plan which users need access to the device group and what they will do with the device group.
Device groups can be nested. Remember that child device groups are not required to inherit the same set of actions as the parent device group. This feature allows you to fine tune actions and access for device groups.

Viewing the List of Device Groups

From the Device Groups page, you can view the list of existing device groups and access tools to create, edit, and manage device groups.

To view a list of existing device groups:

Go to the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups).

The Device Groups page displays the following about each device group:

Plus-sign icon (+). Expands the device group and displays a list of member devices and the name, IP address, device category, device class, device Id, and organization for each member device.
Device Group Name. Name of the device group.
ID. Unique, numeric ID, assigned to the device group automatically by SL1.
Owner. User who created the device group.
Access. Specifies whether users can view and use the device group. Shared device groups can be viewed by other users who belong to the same organization as the creator. Private device groups can be viewed only by the creator of the device group and administrators.
Dev Count. Number of devices in the device group.
Grp Count. Number of device groups included in this device group. If the number is greater than zero, the current group is a parent group and contains sub-groups or child groups.
Rule Count. Specifies the number of dynamic rules included in the device group.
Edited By. User who created or last edited the device group.
Last Edited. Date and time the device group was created or last edited.
Tools. For each device group, one or more of the following tools are available:

Edit this app (). Leads to the Device Group Editor page, where you can edit the parameters of the device group.
View IT Service(). Leads to the IT Service Summary page, where you can view the IT Service dashboards that have been configured for the IT Service that uses this device group. For details on the IT Service Summary page, see the section on IT Services.
Bulk configuration (). Leads to the Apply Device Configuration Template page, where you can make one-time changes to a configuration template and apply a configuration template to the device group.
Group Scheduling(). Leads to the Device Group Scheduling page where you can schedule downtime for maintenance for all devices in the device group.
List devices matching dynamic rules (). Displays the Matched Devices modal page. This page displays a list of all devices that match all rules in the device group.

To sort the list of device groups, click on a column heading. The list will be sorted by the column value, in ascending order. To sort the list by descending order, click the column heading again. The Last Edited column sorts by descending order on the first click; to sort by ascending order, click the column heading again.

Filtering the List of Device Groups

The following describes each filter on the Device Groups page:

Device Group Name. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have a matching name.
ID. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have a matching ID. SL1 automatically assigns this unique, numeric ID to each device group.
Owner. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have the specified.
Access. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have a matching access (Shared or Private).
Dev Count. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have a number or devices.
Grp Count. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have a matching number of child device groups.
Rule Count. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have a matching number of dynamic rules.
Edited By. You can enter text to match, including special characters, and the Device Groups page will display only device groups that have a matching user name in the Edited By field.
Last Edited. Only those device groups that have the specified creation date or last-edited date will be displayed. The choices are:

All. Display all device groups that match the other filters.
Last Minute. Display only device groups that have been created within the last minute.
Last Hour. Display only device groups that have been created within the last hour.
Last Day. Display only device groups that have been created within the last day.
Last Week. Display only device groups that have been created within the last week.
Last Month. Display only device groups that have been created within the last month.
Last Year. Display only device groups that have been created within the last year.

Special Characters

You can include the following special characters to filter by each column except those that display date and time:

When searching for a string, SL1 will match substrings by default, even if you do not include any special characters. For example, searching for "hel" will match both "hello" and "helicopter". When searching for a numeric value, SL1 will not match a substring unless you use a special character.

String and Numeric

, (comma). Specifies an "OR" operation. Works for string and numeric values. For example:

"dell, micro" matches all values that contain the string "dell" OR the string "micro".

& (ampersand). Specifies an "AND " operation. Works for string and numeric values. For example:

"dell & micro" matches all values that contain both the string "dell" AND the string "micro", in any order.

! (exclamation point). Specifies a "not" operation. Works for string and numeric values. For example:

NOTE: You can also use the "!" character in combination with the arithmetical special characters (min-max, >, <, >=, <=, =) described below.

* (asterisk). Specifies a "match zero or more" operation. Works for string and numeric values. For a string, matches any string that matches the text before and after the asterisk. For a number, matches any number that contains the text. For example:

"hel*er" would match "helpers" and "helicopter" but not "hello".

"325*" would match "325", "32561", and "325000".

"*000" would match "1000", "25000", and "10500000".

? (question mark). Specifies "match any one character". Works for string and numeric values. For example:

"l?ver" would match the strings "oliver", "levers", and "lover", but not "believer".

"135?" would match the numbers "1350", "1354", and "1359", but not "135" or "13502"

String

^ (caret). For strings only. Specifies "match the beginning". Matches any string that begins with the specified string. For example:

"^sci" would match "scientific" and "sciencelogic", but not "conscious".

"^happy$" would match only the string "happy", with no characters before or after.

"!^micro" would match all values that do not start with "micro".

"!^$" would match all values that are not null.

"!^" would match null values.

$ (dollar sign). For strings only. Specifies "match the ending". Matches any string that ends with the specified string. For example:

"ter$" would match the string "renter" but not the string "terrific".

"^happy$" would match only the string "happy", with no characters before or after.

"!fer$" would match all values that do not end with "fer".

"!^$" would match all values that are not null.

"!$" would match null values.

NOTE: You can use both ^ and $ if you want to match an entire string and only that string. For example, "^tern$" would match the strings "tern" or "Tern" or "TERN"; it would not match the strings "terne" or "cistern".

Numeric

min-max. Matches numeric values only. Specifies any value between the minimum value and the maximum value, including the minimum and the maximum. For example:

"1-5 "would match 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

- (dash). Matches numeric values only. A "half open" range. Specifies values including the minimum and greater or including the maximum and lesser. For example:

"1-" matches 1 and greater. So would match 1, 2, 6, 345, etc.

"-5" matches 5 and less. So would match 5, 3, 1, 0, etc.

> (greater than). Matches numeric values only. Specifies any value "greater than". For example:

">7" would match all values greater than 7.

< (less than). Matches numeric values only. Specifies any value "less than". For example:

"<12" would match all values less than 12.

>= (greater than or equal to). Matches numeric values only. Specifies any value "greater than or equal to". For example:

"=>7" would match all values 7 and greater.

<= (less than or equal to). Matches numeric values only. Specifies any value "less than or equal to". For example:

"=<12" would match all values 12 and less.

= (equal). Matches numeric values only. For numeric values, allows you to match a negative value. For example:

"=-5 " would match "-5" instead of being evaluated as the "half open range" as described above.

Examples

"!dell" matches all values that do not contain the string "dell".
"!^micro" would match all values that do not start with "micro".
"!fer$" would match all values that do not end with "fer".
"!^$" would match all values that are not null.
"!^" would match null values.
"!$" would match null values.
"!*" would match null values.
"happy, !dell" would match values that contain "happy" OR values that do not contain "dell".
"aio$". Matches only text that ends with "aio".
"^shu". Matches only text that begins with "shu".
"^silo$". Matches only the text "silo", with no characters before or after.
"!silo". Matches only text that does not contains the characters "silo".
"!^silo". Matches only text that does not start with "silo".
"!0$". Matches only text that does not end with "0".
"!^silo$". Matches only text that is not the exact text "silo", with no characters before or after.
"!^". Matches null values, typically represented as "--" in most pages.
"!$". Matches null values, typically represented as "--" in most pages.
"!^$". Matches all text that is not null.
silo, !aggr". Matches text that contains the characters "silo" and also text that does not contain "aggr".
"silo, 02, !aggr". Matches text that contains "silo" and also text that contains "02" and also text that does not contain "aggr".
"silo, 02, !aggr, !01". Matches text that contains "silo" and also text that contains "02" and also text that does not contain "aggr" and also text that does not contain "01".
"^s*i*l*o$". Matches text that contains the letter "s", "i", "l", "o", in that order. Other letters might lie between these letters. For example "sXiXlXo" would match.
"!^s*i*l*o$". Matches all text that does not that contains the letter "s", "i", "l", "o", in that order. Other letters might lie between these letters. For example "sXiXlXo" would not match.
"!vol&!silo". Matches text that does not contain "vol" AND also does not contain "silo". For example, "volume" would match, because it contains "vol" but not "silo".
"!vol&02". Matches text that does not contain "vol" AND also contains "02". For example, "happy02" would match, because it does not contain "vol' and it does contain "02".
"aggr,!vol&02". Matches text that contains "aggr" OR text that does not contain "vol" AND also contains "02".
"aggr,!vol&!infra". Matches text that contains "aggr" OR text that does not contain "vol" AND does not contain "infra".
"*". Matches all text.
"!*". Matches null values, typically represented as "--" in most pages.
"silo". Matches text that contains "silo".
" !silo ". Matches text that does not contain "silo".
" !^silo$ ". Matches all text except the text "silo", with no characters before or after.
"-3,7-8,11,24,50-". Matches numbers 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 24, 50, and all numbers greater than 50.
"-3,7-8,11,24,50-,a". Matches numbers 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 24, 50, and all numbers greater than 50, and text that includes "a".
"?n". Matches text that contains any single character and the character "n". For example, this string would match "an", "bn", "cn", "1n", and "2n".
"n*SAN". Matches text the contains "n", zero or any number of any characters and then "SAN". For example, the string would match "nSAN", and "nhamburgerSAN".
"^?n*SAN$”. Matches text that begins with any single character, is following by "n", and then zero or any number of any characters, and ends in "SAN".

Creating a Device Group

To define a new device group, perform the following steps:

Go to the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups).
In the Device Groups page, click the Create button.
The Device Group Editor page appears.

In the Device Group Editor page, supply values in each field and select devices to include in the device group. You can also select other device groups to include in the new device group. The selected device groups will be children device groups to the new device group.

Device Group Name. Specify the name of the new device group.
Icon. Select an icon to represent the new device group. To add an icon to this list, go to the Device Icon Browser modal page (System > Customize > Device Classes, click the Icon button) and then select the Import button.
Force Child Visibility. If the current device group includes another device group, that nested device group is considered a "child" device group. A device group can contain multiple children device groups. Those children device groups can also contain nested device groups. The Force Child Visibility feature specifies whether or not all nested device groups will inherit the Visibility settings of the parent device group. This field affects all Visibility settings except Maps/Views and Discovery. Choices are:

No. Child device groups will not inherit the Visibility settings of the parent device group. When SL1 performs actions on the parent device group, devices in the child device groups will be acted upon only if the child device groups have the appropriate Visibility setting.

For example, suppose a device group parent_groupA includes a nested device group called child_groupB and another nested device group called child_groupC.

Suppose parent_groupA has Force Child Visibility set to No.

Suppose parent_groupA has Visibility set to Notification/Automation.

Suppose parent_groupA is aligned with an Automation Policy.

All the devices in parent_groupA can be acted upon by that Automation Policy.

Suppose child_groupB has Visibility set to Views/Maps only.

The devices in child_groupB will not be acted upon by the Automation Policy, because child_groupB does not have the required Visibility setting and because child_groupB does not inherit the Visibility settings of parent_groupA.

Suppose child_groupC has Visibility set to Notification/Automation.

All the devices in child_groupC will be acted upon by the Automation Policy, because child_groupC has the required Visibility setting.

The value in Force Child Visibility for parent_groupA is recursive and affects all child, grandchild, great grandchild etc. device groups nested under the parent group

Yes. Child device groups will inherit the Visibility settings of the parent device group, regardless of the Visibility settings for the child device group. When SL1 performs actions on the parent device groups, all devices in each child device group will also be acted upon, regardless of the Visibility settings for each child device group.

For example, suppose a device group parent_groupX includes a nested device group. called child_groupY.

Suppose parent_groupX has Force Child Visibility set to Yes.

Suppose parent_groupX has Visibility set to Device Schedules.

Suppose you define a maintenance schedule for parent_groupX that says "stop collection for parent_groupX on October 17, from 3:00 AM until 3:30 AM.

On October 17, from 3:00 AM until 3:30 AM, all the devices in parent_groupX will have a Collection State of "Maintenance".

Suppose child_groupY has Visibility set to Maps/Views only.

On October 17, from 3:00 AM until 3:30 AM, all the devices in child_groupY will have a collection status of "Maintenance", even though child_groupY does not have Visibility set to Device Schedule. This is because child_groupY inherited the Visibility of parent_groupX. However, because child_group_Y does not have Visibility set to Device Schedule, a user cannot explicitly schedule maintenance for child_group_Y.

Suppose child_groupY includes a nested device group, called grandchild_groupZ. Suppose grandchild_groupZ has Visibility set to Discovery only.

On October 17, from 3:00 AM until 3:30 AM, all the devices in grandchild_groupZ will have a collection status of "Maintenance", even though grandchild_groupZ does not have Visibility set to Device Schedule. This is because grandchild_groupZ inherited the Visibility of parent_groupX. However, because grandchild_group_Z does not have Visibility set to Device Schedule, a user cannot explicitly schedule maintenance for grandchild_group_Z.

The value in Force Child Visibility for parent_groupX is recursive and affects all child, grandchild, great grandchild etc. device groups nested under the parent group . However, inherited Visibility settings only apply to child, grandchild, great grandchild and so forth device groups if the action controlled by the Visibility setting is performed on the parent device group.

The Force Child Visibility feature affects only actions that expand a device group into a list of devices. The Force Child Visibility feature does not affect the Visibility settings for Maps/Views and Discovery. Children device groups cannot inherit the Visibility settings for Maps/Views and Discovery, even if Force Child Visibility is set to Yes. If you want a parent device group to appear in the Views pages, set Visibility to Maps/Views. If you want children device groups to appear in the Views pages, you must explicitly set Visibility to Maps/Views for each child device group. If you want a parent device group to appear in the list of device groups in the Discovery Control Panel page (System > Manage > Classic Discovery), set Visibility to Discovery. If you want children device groups to appear in the list of device groups in the Discovery Control Panel page (System > Manage > Classic Discovery), you must explicitly set Visibility to Discovery for each child device group.

Visibility. Specifies where in SL1 the device group will be visible. Choices are:

Maps/Views. If selected, the device group will appear in the Device Group Map page (Classic Maps > Device Maps > Device Groups), the Custom Device Group Map page (Classic Maps > My Customized Maps), and the Device Group Views page (Classic Maps > Classic Views > Device Groups).
Config Policies/Bulk Edit. If selected, the building blocks icon () is visible in the Device Groups page. This allows you to configure all the devices in the device group using a device template.
Notification/Automation. If selected, the device group will appear in the list of device groups in the Automation Policy Editor modal page (Registry > Run Book > Automation > Edit/Create). This page allows you to trigger an automatic action if specified criteria are met on all the devices in the device group.
Discovery. If selected, the device group appears in the field Auto-add Devices to Device Group in the Discovery Control Panel page (System > Manage > Classic Discovery). This allows you to automatically add newly discovered devices to a pre-existing device group during the discovery process.
Device Schedules. If selected, the calendar icon () is visible in the Device Groups page. This allows you to schedule downtime for all the devices in the device group. The scheduled downtime will appear in the Maintenance Schedule page for each device in the device group.
Event Suppression. If selected, the device group will appear in the Suppressions tab in the Event Policy Editor page (Registry > Events > Event Manager > create or edit). In this page, you can suppress the event for all devices in the device group.
IT Services. This is a view-only option. If this option is selected when the Device Group Editor is loaded, the device group is associated with an IT service and was created automatically by SL1. Do not select or deselect this option.

Sharing Permissions. Specifies whether other users can view and use the device group, in both the Device Groups page and in the pages in SL1 where the device group is visible. Choices are:

Shared with users in your organization. The device group can be viewed and used by other users who belong to the same organization as the creator.
Private (visible only to you). The device group can be viewed and used only by the creator of the device group and administrators.

Permission Keys. If you selected Shared with users in your organization in the Sharing Permissions field, you can specify the Access Keys that a user of type "user" must have to view the device group. The Permission Keys field will display a list of all the Access Keys in the EM7 System Administration category and all the Access Keys in the Device Group category.

If you select one or more Access Keys in the Permissions Keys field, each user must meet the following criteria to access the device group:

The user must have at least one of the selected Access Keys to access the device group.
The user must be granted one or more Access Keys that contains the Access Hooks "Registry" and "Registry > Devices > Device Groups"
The user and creator of the device group must be members of a common organization.

For both the user and the creator of the device group, the common organization can be either the primary organization or an additional organization membership. For example, the user could have a primary organization of "East Coast NOC" and an additional organization membership in the organization "Headquarters". The creator of the device group could have a primary organization of "West Coast NOC" and an additional organization membership in the organization "Headquarters". In this situation, the user and creator of the device group are both members of a common organization.

If you do not select one or more Access Keys in the Permissions Keys field, any user meeting the following two requirements can access the device group:

The user must be granted one or more Access Keys that contains the Access Hooks "Registry" and "Registry > Devices > Groups".
The user and creator of the device group must be members of a common organization.

Users of type "administrator" will be able to view and access all device groups, regardless of the settings in the Shared field and the Permission Keys field.

Optionally, add static devices and child device groups to the new device group.
Optionally, add dynamic rules to the new device group.
Click the Save button in the Device Group Editor page to save the device group. The new device group will appear in the Device Group page. You can now perform actions upon all the devices in the device group simultaneously.

Adding and Removing Static Devices and Child Device Groups

You can explicitly assign one or more devices or child device-groups to a device group. These devices and device groups are considered static because they will remain in the device group until you manually remove them.

To manually add a device to a device group:

Open a device group from the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups) and go to the Static Devices and Groups pane.
Click the Add button then select Add Devices.
The Device Alignment modal appears and displays a list of all devices in SL1.
In the Device Alignment modal, select the checkbox of each device you want to include in the device group. Click the Add/Remove button in the lower right.
The selected devices will appear in the Static Devices and Groups pane.

To remove one or more static devices from the device group:

Open a device group from the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups) and go to the Static Devices and Groups pane.
Select the checkbox for each device you want to remove.
Click the Del button (in the upper right).
The selected device(s) no longer appear in the Static Devices and Groups pane.

If you remove a static device from a device group while the device is in maintenance mode, the device will stay in maintenance mode until you disable it. You must disable the maintenance schedule on the device itself in the Device Manager (Registry > Devices > Device Manager by clicking on its calendar () icon. For more information, see the section on Device Maintenance.

To manually add a child device-group to a device group:

Open a device group from the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups) and go to the Static Devices and Groups pane.
Click the Add button then select Add Groups.
The Device Group Alignment modal page appears and displays a list of all device groups in SL1.
In the Device Group Alignment modal page, select the checkbox of each device group you want to include in the device group. Click the Add/Remove button in the lower right.
The selected device groups will appear in the Static Devices and Groups pane.

To remove one or more static device-groups from the device group:

Open a device group from the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups) and go to the Static Devices and Groups pane.
Select the checkbox for each child device-group you want to remove.
Click the Del button (in the upper right).
The selected device group(s) no longer appear in the Static Devices and Groups pane.

Adding Dynamic Rules

You can create dynamic rules for the device group. Each device that meets the criteria in the rule is automatically included in the device group.

For example, suppose that you define a rule that specifies "include all devices in the System organization, with an IP address that starts with '10.100.100'. SL1 would automatically assign all devices from the System organization with an IP of "10.100.100.*" to the new device group. When a new device is added to the System organization with an IP that begins with "10.100.100.*", that device will also be included in the device group. If a device with an IP that starts with "10.100.100.*" is removed from the System organization, that device will also be removed from the device group.

Starting with version 11.1.0, SL1 reduced the amount of time it took to evaluate dynamic device group rules, which in previous versions of SL1 caused SL1 to refresh the membership of the device group too slowly, resulting in events not being suppressed for devices in the device group.

To add a dynamic rule:

Open a device group from the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups) and go to the Dynamic Rules pane.
Click the Add button (in the upper right of the pane). The Device Group Rule Editor modal page appears.
You can select one or more Active Selectors. To be included in the device group, a device must match all the Selector Definitions.
Depending upon your selection, you can enter the following options in the Selector Definitions pane.

Organization. Displays a list of all organizations in SL1.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more organizations, SL1 will search for devices that are members of at least one the selected organization(s) and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two organizations, all devices from each organization will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that are not members of the selected organization(s) and include those devices in the device group.

Device Class. Displays a list of all device classes in SL1.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more device classes, SL1 will search for devices that are members of the selected device class(es) and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two device classes, all devices from each device class will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that are not members of the selected device class(es) and include those devices in the device group.

Device Category. Displays a list of all device categories in SL1.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more device categories, SL1 will search for devices that are members of the selected device categories and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two device categories, all devices from each device category will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that are not members of the selected device categories and include those devices in the device group.

Device Name. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices with matching device names. If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices with a device name that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any device name that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any device name that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any device name that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any device name that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any device name that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Device IP. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices with matching IP addresses. If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices with a device IP that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any device IP that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any device IP that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any device IP that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any device IP that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any device IP that contains either "term1" or "term2".
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that do not have a matching IP address and include those devices in the device group.

Device State. Displays a list of all device states in SL1 (Notice, Healthy, Minor, Major, Critical). Each device's state is the same as the highest severity event associated with the device..

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more device states, SL1 will search for devices that are members of the selected device states and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two device states, all devices from each device state will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that do not have the selected device state and include those devices in the device group.

Collection State. Displays a list of all collection states in SL1 (Active, NOT Active, User-Disabled, NOT User-Disabled, Unavailable, NOT Unavailable, Maintenance, NOT Maintenance, System-Disabled, NOT System-Disabled)..

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more collection states, SL1 will search for devices that are members of the selected device states and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two collection states, all devices with the first collection state and all devices with the second collection state will be included in the device group.

Collector Group. Displays a list of all Collector Groups in SL1.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more Collector Groups, SL1 will search for devices that are members of the selected Collector Groups and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two Collector Groups, all devices from each Collector Group will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that are not members of the select Collector Group(s) and include those devices in the device group.

Open TCP Ports. Displays a list of all open TCP ports that SL1 has discovered on at least one device.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more ports, SL1 will search for devices have that have those ports open and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two collection ports, all devices where the first port is open and all devices where the second port is open will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that do not have the selected port(s) open and include those devices in the device group.

Running Process. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that are running a matching system process. If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices running a process that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any process name that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any process name that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any process name that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any process name that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any process name that contains either "term1" or "term2".
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that are not running the selected processes open and include those devices in the device group.

Windows Service. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that are running a matching Windows service. If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices running a Windows services that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any Windows Service name that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any Windows Service name that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any Windows Service name that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any Windows Service name that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any Windows Service name that contains either "term1" or "term2".
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that are not running a matching Windows service and include those devices in the device group.

Subscribed Product. Displays a list of all product SKUs in SL1.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more SKUs, SL1 will search for devices that subscribe to at least one the selected SKU(s) and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two SKUs, all devices that subscribe to one of the two SKUs will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that do not subscribe to the selected SKU(s) and include those devices in the device group.

Active Event. Displays a list of all active events in SL1.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more active events, SL1 will search for devices for which that event is currently active and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two events, all devices for which one of the two events is active will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices for which the event is not currently active and include those devices in the device group.

Aligned Dynamic App. Displays a list of all Dynamic Applications that are currently aligned with one or more devices.

To filter the list, you can enter a string in the field under the title.
If you select one or more aligned Dynamic Applications, SL1 will search for devices that are aligned with those Dynamic Applications and include those devices in the device group. For example, if you select two Dynamic Applications, all devices that are aligned with each of the Dynamic Applications will be included in the device group.
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that are not aligned with the selected Dynamic Application(s).

Asset Make. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value in the Make field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Make field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any asset make that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any asset make that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any asset make that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any asset make that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any asset make that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Model. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value in the Model field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Model field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any asset model that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any asset model that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any asset model that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any asset model that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any asset model that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Function. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value in the Function field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Function field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any asset function that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any asset function that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any asset function that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any asset function that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any asset function that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Owner. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value in the Management Type field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Management Type field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any asset owner that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any asset owner that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any asset owner that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any asset owner that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any asset owner that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Location. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value in the Facility/Data Center field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Facility/Data Center field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any asset location that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any asset location that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any asset location that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any asset location that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any asset location that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Serial. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value in the Serial field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Serial field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any asset serial that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any asset serial that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any asset serial that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any asset serial that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any asset serial that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Tag. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value in the Asset Tag field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have an Asset Tag field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any asset tag that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any asset tag that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any asset tag that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any asset tag that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any asset tag that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Software Title. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching Software Title field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Software Title field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any software title that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any software title that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any software title that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any software title that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any software title that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset Software Version. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching Software Version field in their asset records (SL1 automatically creates an asset record for each device during nightly auto-discovery). If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Software Version field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any software version that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any software version that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any software version that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any software version that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any software version that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Asset

Model Number

SL1

Model Number

SL1

Model Number

term*. SL1 searches for any software version that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any software version that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any software version that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any software version that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any software version that contains either "term1" or "term2".

Software Title. Displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching title and version in the list of software defined in the Licenses tab in the asset record for the device. If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices that have a Software Title field that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any software title and/or version that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any software title and/or version that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any software title and/or version that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any software title and/or version that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any software title and/or version that contains either "term1" or "term2".
If you select the Invert checkbox, SL1 will search for devices that do not have a matching software title or version in the list of software and include those devices in the device group.

Custom Attribute. The Active Selectors field includes an entry for each custom attribute defined in your SL1 system. When you select a custom attribute, the Selector Definitions pane displays a field in which you can enter a string. SL1 will use the string to search for devices that have a matching value for this custom attribute. If you do not use wildcard characters, SL1 will return only devices with a custom attribute that exactly matches the string. You can use the following syntax in the field:

term*. SL1 searches for any attribute value that begins with "term".
*term. SL1 searches for any attribute value that ends with "term".
te?m. SL1 searches for any attribute value that contains the text "te[any single character]m".
!term. SL1 searches for any attribute value that does not include the text "term".
term1, term2. SL1 searches for any attribute value that contains either "term1" or "term2".

If you input !* in to the Dynamic Rule Operator Selector Definition field, your search returns all devices that have an empty value for that attribute.

After you have selected an Active Selector and the Selector Definitions, you can specify that you want to include children devices, all descendent devices, parent devices, or all ancestor devices. To do this do not click the OK button. Instead, click the Select related devices link next to the OK button. If you do not want to include related devices, click the OK button to add the new rule.
If you clicked the Select related devices link, the Relationship Selection modal page appears. In this modal page, you can select devices by relationship. The Matched Devices pane displays all the devices that match all the criteria in the rule. The list of devices changes as you add and remove criteria.
Click the OK button to add the new rule.

If a single dynamic rule includes multiple criteria, a device must match all the criteria to be included in the device group (like the SQL AND operator). If a single device group includes multiple dynamic rules, a device must match only a single rule to be included in the device group (like the SQL OR operator). To view a list of devices that are currently included in the device group based on the dynamic rules defined in the device group, click the Matched button.

The Relationship Selection Page

If you click the Select related device link in the Device Group Rule Editor page, the Relationship Selection page appears.

The Relationship Selection page includes the following panes:

Relationship Selector. You can choose to include child devices, all descendent devices (children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc.), parent devices, or all ancestor devices (parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc.). You can also choose to further filter by including only the children, descendents, parents, and ancestors devices that are related to the "Seed Devices" through one or more selected Dynamic Applications.

NOTE: For details on building relationships with Dynamic Applications, see the section on Dynamic Application Development.

Seed Devices. This is the list of devices you defined in the Device Group Rule Editor page. You can include these devices in the device group or include only the children, descendants, parents, ancestors.
Matched Devices. This is the list of devices that will be included in the device group when you click the OK button.

NOTE: As SL1 discovers devices and component devices that meet the criteria for the dynamic device group, SL1 will automatically add those devices and component devices to the device group.

Relationship Selectors

In this pane, you can specify devices to include in the device group based on their relationships to the Seed Devices:

Children of. If you select this checkbox, all child devices of the Seed Devices are included in the device group.
Descendents of. This checkbox is enabled only if you select the Children of checkbox. If you select this checkbox, all child devices, grandchildren devices, great grandchildren devices, etc of the Seed Devices are included in the device group.
Parents of. If you select this checkbox, all parent devices of the Seed Devices are included in the device group.
Ancestors of. This checkbox is enabled only if you select the Parents of checkbox. If you select this checkbox, all parent devices, grandparent devices, great grandparent devices, etc of the Seed Devices are included in the device group.

Related by. This checkbox is enabled only if you select the Children of checkbox or the Parents of checkbox. You can further filter the devices in the device group by including only the children, descendents, parents, and ancestors devices that are related to the Seed Devices through one or more selected Dynamic Applications. If you select this checkbox, you can select one or more Dynamic Applications from the list of Dynamic Applications that can create relationships. Only those devices that meet all the criteria will be included in the device group.

Include seed devices. This checkbox is enabled only if you select the Children of checkbox or the Parents of checkbox. If you select this checkbox, the related Seed Devices are included in the device group. Seed Devices with no relationships are not included in the group.

Seed Devices

This is the list of devices you defined in the Device Group Rule Editor page. You can include these devices in the device group or include only the children, descendants, parents, and ancestors of these devices.

For each Seed Device, the Relationship Selection page displays.

To sort the list of devices, click on a column heading. The list will be sorted by the column value, in ascending order. To sort by descending order, click the column heading again.

Device Name. Name of the device. For devices running SNMP or with DNS entries, the name is discovered automatically. For devices without SNMP or DNS entries, the device's IP address will appear in this field.
Category. The ScienceLogic category assigned to the device. Categories include servers, routers, switches, firewalls, printers, etc. The category is automatically assigned during discovery, at the same time as the Device-Class/Sub-Class.
Class / Sub-class. The manufacturer (device class) and type of device (sub-class). The Device-Class/Sub-Class is automatically assigned during discovery, at the same time as the Category.
ID. Device ID. This is a unique number automatically assigned to the device by SL1.
Organization. The organization to which the device is assigned.
Collection State. The current condition of data collection for the device. The device can have one or more of the following Collection States:

Active. SL1 is collecting data from the device.
Unavailable. SL1 cannot connect to the device, and will not collect data from the device until the device becomes available. A physical device falls back to executing the availability ping every five minutes, unless you have critical ping enabled. Component devices get their availability calculated by the component discovery Dynamic Application of the parent device.
User-Disabled. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because the user has disabled collection.
System-Disabled. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because the system has disabled collection.
Maintenance. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because it is currently in scheduled maintenance mode.
User-Initiated-Maintenance. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because it has manually been put into maintenance mode by a user.
Component Vanished. The component device has vanished, i.e. is not currently being reported by its root device. SL1 cannot collect data from the device at this time.

Depending on the circumstances, more than one collection state might appear for a single device. For example, if a device is in a scheduled maintenance mode, the Collection State might be Unavailable / Maintenance / System-Disabled.

Tools. Displays icons for managing devices. The choices are:

Device Management (). Leads to the Device Summary page, where you can see reports and logs related to the device. From the Device Summary page, you can also access the other pages in the Device Management tools.

Matched Devices

This is the list of devices that match all the criteria in the Relationship Selection page.

For each Matched Device, the Relationship Selection page displays:

To sort the list of devices, click on a column heading. The list will be sorted by the column value, in ascending order. To sort by descending order, click the column heading again.

Device Name. Name of the device. For devices running SNMP or with DNS entries, the name is discovered automatically. For devices without SNMP or DNS entries, the device's IP address will appear in this field.
Category. The ScienceLogic category assigned to the device. Categories include servers, routers, switches, firewalls, printers, etc. The category is automatically assigned during discovery, at the same time as the Device-Class/Sub-Class.
Class / Sub-class. The manufacturer (device class) and type of device (sub-class). The Device-Class/Sub-Class is automatically assigned during discovery, at the same time as the Category.
ID. Device ID. This is a unique number automatically assigned to the device by SL1.
Organization. The organization to which the device is assigned.
Collection State. The current condition of data collection for the device. The device can have one or more of the following Collection States:

Active. SL1 is collecting data from the device.
Unavailable. SL1 cannot connect to the device, and will not collect data from the device until the device becomes available.
User-Disabled. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because the user has disabled collection.
System-Disabled. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because the system has disabled collection.
Maintenance. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because it is currently in scheduled maintenance mode.
User-Initiated-Maintenance. SL1 is not currently collecting data from the device because it has manually been put into maintenance mode by a user.
Component Vanished. The component device has vanished, i.e. is not currently being reported by its root device. SL1 cannot collect data from the device at this time.

Tools. Displays icons for managing devices. The choices are:

Device Management (). Leads to the Device Summary page, where you can see reports and logs related to the device. From the Device Summary page, you can also access the other pages in the Device Management tools.

Click the OK button to accept all changes and exit the Relationship Selection page.

Editing and Deleting Dynamic Rules

To edit a dynamic rule:

Go to the Dynamic Rules pane.
Find the dynamic rule you want to edit. Click its wrench icon ().
The Device Group Rule Editor modal page appears.
In the Device Group Rule Editor modal page, you can edit existing criteria, delete existing criteria, or add new criteria.

To delete one or more dynamic rules:

Go to the Dynamic Rules pane.
For each dynamic rule you want to delete, select its checkbox.
Click the Del button.
Each selected dynamic rule is no longer displayed in the Dynamic Rules pane. The device group will no longer include devices that matched the deleted dynamic rule(s).

Creating Device Groups From Views

You can also create a new device group from an existing device group in the Device Group Map page. To learn more about creating a device group from an existing device group, see the section Creating a Device Group from an Existing Map in the section on Using Device Group Views.

You can also create a view in Classic Maps > My Customized Maps. That new view will be saved as a device group.

A Customized Map allows you to view the devices and links that are most important to you.

When you create a Customized Map, you are also creating a new device group (which appears in the Device Group page). You can add devices and other sub-device groups to the new map, just as you would to a standard device group.

To learn more about how to use Customized Maps, see the section on Views.

Editing an Existing Device Group

You can edit the properties of an existing device group, including adding or deleting devices from the device group and adding or deleting other (child) device groups from the device group.

To edit an existing device group:

Go to the Device Group page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups).
In the Device Group page, find the device you want to edit. Click its wrench icon ().
The Device Group Editor page appears, populated with values from the selected device group.
You can edit the values in one or more of the fields in this page. For details on each field, see the section on Creating a Device Group.
Click the Save button to save your changes to the device group.

You can also add devices to a device group from the Device Manager page. To add devices to an existing device group from the Device Manager page:

Go to the Device Manager page (Registry > Devices > Device Manager).
In the Device Manager page, select the checkbox for each device you want to add to an existing device group.
In the Select Action drop-down list, the Add to Device Group list shows each device group the device(s) can be added to.
Select the device group you want to add the device(s) to. To add the device(s), click the Go button. Depending on the Visibility setting for the device group, the selected device(s) will then appear in the Device Group Editor, the Group Maps View, the Device Group Views (Classic Maps > Classic Views > Device Groups), and the Custom Device Group Map (Classic Maps > My Customized Maps) and will inherit the properties of the device group, including scheduling, event suppression, and automation policy membership.

Assigning Devices to a Device Group During Discovery

You can add devices to a device group during discovery. To learn more about assigning devices to a device group during discovery, see the section Assigning Device Groups and Applying Device Templates During Discovery.

Controlling Access to a Device Group

When creating or editing a device group, you can define the actions that can be performed with the device group and also determine which users will be allowed to access the device group. These sections will describe how to control access to a device group.

Defining the Actions for a Device Group

The Visibility field in the Device Group Editor page defines which actions can be performed with the device group.

NOTE: Users who are allowed to view the device group will automatically be allowed to perform the selected actions on the device group.

Visibility. Specifies where in SL1 the device group will be visible. Choices are:

Maps/Views. If selected, the device group will appear in the Device Group Map page (Classic Maps > Device Maps > Device Groups).
Config Policies/Bulk Edit. If selected, the building blocks icon () is visible in the Device Group page. This allows you to configure all the devices in the device group using a device template.
Notification/Automation. If selected, the device group will appear in the list of device groups in the Automation Policy Editor modal page (Registry > Run Book > Automation > Edit/Create). This page allows you to trigger an automatic action if specified criteria are met on all the devices in the device group.
Discovery. If selected, the device group appears in the field Auto-add Devices to Device Group in the Discovery Control Panel page (System > Manage > Classic Discovery). This allows you to automatically add newly discovered devices to a pre-existing device group during the discovery process.
Device Schedules. If selected, the calendar icon () is visible in the Device Group page. This allows you to schedule downtime for all the devices in the device group. The scheduled downtime will appear in the Maintenance Schedule page for each device in the device group.
Event Suppression. If selected, the device group will appear in the Suppressions tab in the Event Policy Editor page. In this page, you can suppress the event for all devices in the device group.
IT Services. This is a view-only option. If this option is selected when the Device Group Editor is loaded, the device group is associated with an IT service and was created automatically by SL1. Do not select or deselect this option.

Deleting a Device Group

You can delete a device group. Deleting a device group does not delete its member devices or affect the configuration of the member devices. When you delete a device group, you can no longer manage the member devices as a group.

NOTE: When you delete a parent device-group, the child groups are not deleted.

To delete a device group:

Go to the Device Groups page (Registry > Devices > Device Groups).
In the Device Groups page, find the device group you want to delete. Select its checkbox. To select all device groups, click the gray checkmark ().
In the Select Action drop-down in the bottom right of the page, select DELETE Device Groups.
The device group is deleted and no longer appears in the list of device groups.

Example of Creating a Device Group

Here is our example device group:

Title. We named our device group "windows_servers".
Icon. We chose the Microsoft Windows icon.
Force Child Visibility. We selected "Yes", so that the settings for the device group will apply to any future child device groups.
Visibility. We selected all options, so our new device group is visible in all areas of SL1.
Sharing Permissions. We selected "Shared with users in your organizations", so other users of type "user" can view the use the device group.
Permission Keys. We did not select any permission keys for the device group. This means that any user who has permission to view the Registry > Devices > Device Groups page and is a member of our organization can view the device group.
Add Remove Devices. We selected four Windows servers to be members of this device group.