Performing topology administration

From the Topology Viewer, you can obtain direct-launch URLs, perform a system health check, and set user preferences.

Before you begin

Before you perform administration tasks, access a topology view.

About this task

You can perform the following administrative actions:

Share direct launch URL: You can copy and save a URL to quickly access a currently defined topology view.
Export a topology snapshot: You can share a snapshot of a topology in either PNG or SVG format.
Set user preferences: You can set user preferences that define the default settings for rendering your topology.

Procedure

You perform the following actions from the Navigation bar > Additional actions or Navigation bar > Sharing options menus.

Sharing options

You can share a topology either by obtaining a direct URL linking to the topology view, or by exporting a view of the topology as an image.

Obtain direct URL: Open the Sharing options drop-down menu, and then use the Obtain direct URL option to display the Direct topology URL dialog.; The displayed URL captures the current topology configuration, including layout type (layout orientation is not tracked).; Click Copy to obtain a direct-launch URL string, then close the dialog (click X) to return to the previous screen.; Use the direct-launch URL for quick access to a given topology view.
Tip: You can share this URL with all DASH users with the required permissions.
Export as PNG / SVG: You can share a snapshot of a topology in either PNG or SVG format, for example with someone who does not have DASH access.; Open the Sharing options drop-down menu, and then use either the Export as PNG or the Export as SVG option.; Select or browse to a program to open the image, or use Save File to save the image. Specify a name and location, then click Save to create a snapshot of your topology view.; You can now share the image as required.

Settings > Topology configuration

Opens the Topology configuration page, from where you can customize a number of Agile Service Manager UI elements.

Settings > Create exact template

Opens the Using resource group templates page already populated with the current view elements including the preview pane to the right of the Template builder. From here, you can create a new exact resource group template.

Restriction: While viewing topologies, you can only create exact templates based on element-to-element topologies. The Create exact template option will not appear in the Settings drop-down for other views.

Settings > User preferences

Open the Settings drop-down menu, and then use the User preferences option to access the User preferences window, where you can make changes to the Updates, Layout and Miscellaneous sections.

Click Save when done to return to the topology.

You can customize the following user preferences to suit your requirements:

Updates

Default auto refresh rate (seconds): The rate at which the topology will be updated.; The default value is 30.; You must reopen the topology before any changes to this user preference take effect.
Maximum number of resources to load with auto refresh enabled: When the resource limit set here is reached, auto-refresh is turned off.; The maximum value is 2000, and the default is set to 500.
Tip: If you find that the default value is too high and negatively impacts your topology viewer's performance, reduce this value.
Auto render new resources: Enable this option to display new resources at the next scheduled or ad-hoc refresh as soon as they are detected.
Remove deleted topology resources: Enable this option to remove deleted resources at the next scheduled or ad-hoc refresh.

Layout

Set Default layout type including the layout orientation for some of the layout types.

You can choose from a number of layout types, and also set the orientation for layouts 4, 6, 7 and 8.

Tip: A change to a layout type is tracked in the URL (while layout orientation is not tracked). You can manually edit your URL to change the layout type display settings.

The following numbered layout types are available:

Layout 1: A layout that simply displays all resources in a topology without applying a specific layout structure.
Layout 2: A circular layout that is useful when you want to arrange a number of entities by type in a circular pattern.
Layout 3: A grouped layout is useful when you have many linked entities, as it helps you visualize the entities to which a number of other entities are linked. This layout helps to identify groups of interconnected entities and the relationships between them.
Layout 4: A hierarchical layout that is useful for topologies that contain hierarchical structures, as it shows how key vertices relate to others with peers in the topology being aligned.
Layout 5: A force-directed (or 'peacock') layout is useful when you have many interlinked vertices, which group the other linked vertices.
Layout 6: A planar rank layout is useful when you want to view how the topology relates to a given vertex in terms of its rank, and also how vertices are layered relative to one another.
Layout 7: A rank layout is useful when you want to see how a selected vertex and the vertices immediately related to it rank relative to the remainder of the topology (up to the specified amount of hops). The root selection is automatic.; For example, vertices with high degrees of connectivity outrank lower degrees of connectivity. This layout ranks the topology automatically around the specified seed vertex.
Layout 8: A root rank layout similar to layout 7, except that it treats the selected vertex as the root. This layout is useful when you want to treat a selected vertex as the root of the tree, with others being ranked below it.; Ranks the topology using the selected vertex as the root (root selection: Selection)

The following orientations for layouts 4, 6, 7 and 8 are available.

Layout orientation

For layouts 4, 6, 7 and 8, you can set the following layout orientations:

Top to bottom
Bottom to top
Left to right
Right to left

Miscellaneous

Information message auto hide timeout (seconds): The number of seconds that information messages are shown for in the UI.; The default value is 3.
Tip: If you are using a screen reader, it may be helpful to increase this value to ensure that you do not miss the message.
Screen reader support for graphical topology: Disabled by default.; You can enable the display of additional Help text on screen elements, which can improve the usability of screen readers.; You must reopen the page before any changes to this user preference take effect.
Client side debug logging (on supported browsers): Disabled by default.; If enabled, additional debug output is generated, which you can use for defect isolation.
Tip: Use this for specific defect hunting tasks, and then disable it again. If left enabled, it can reduce the topology viewer's performance.; You must reopen the page before any changes to this user preference take effect.
Maintain zoom level on render configuration changes: Disabled by default, which means that when a topology is rendered, it is returned to its original zoom level (that is, 'Zoom fit').; If enabled, keeps your current zoom level each time the topology is rendered.

Settings > Refresh configuration

Refreshes the topology, and also clears all user-specific session data, thereby ensuring that any manual configuration changes imported by, for example, the REST API, are rendered and displayed immediately.